It has been a crazy week.......(when is it not??) And my youngest is fighting a stomach bug and I am so hoping and praying that it does not make the rounds!

My February socks flew off the needles this week! I knit these in the  January club colorway from Highland Handmades. The blend is Targhee and nylon and it was a joy to knit with. The pattern is the Blueberry Waffle Socks that everyone seems to be knitting at the moment!



The weather dropped to the coldest it's been all year. We were in the negative temps for a couple of days. I felt bad for my girls so we made them a big pot of oatmeal and they seemed to really enjoy it.


 On the coldest day of the year we ventured to a local Alpaca farm where we had an appt. to meet some adorable faces.



 Meet Apricot the newest member of our fiber family! We are sponsoring her for the year and we will learn all about how to care for her and what it is like to raise alpacas. Which might be something we want to do in the future. She is so cute and personable and the kids loved leading her around and getting to know her.




 And of course we came home with last years fleece! I think the kids made the perfect choice when they picked Apricot as she has one of the best fleeces in the herd! And the color is almost a soft pink cream.....mmmmmm. The kids and I are excited to know the animal whose fleece we are going to process and use!


This week we warped the loom for Hannah Grace. She has been weaving on my project and I knew she was ready for her own. She picked her yarns and I warped it and she has gotten quite a lot done on her scarf. She keeps telling me it is her loom now. I guess I will have to get her an account on Ravelry so we can keep track of her projects!!



I've been reading mostly cookbooks lately, trying to find some new recipes. At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen has been a great read. I picked it up when everyone was talking about it last year and just now am getting a chance to sit with it. I feel like I am in a cooking rut and need to get some new recipes into the rotation.

I'm joining Ginny over at Small Things for the weekly Yarn Along. Happy knitting everyone!

 Lot's of knitting got done this past week. I finished my first sweater steek and if you are interested in how that went you can click here. I am knitting the button bands right now and expect to have this done today!! I am so happy with how it turned out! And to those of you thinking of steeking....I say just do it! It really is an easy process!


My January socks came off the needles on the 30th. I've decided to try for a pair a month this year. I know it is doable and I would love to fill my sock drawer and also my kids!

I put some colors on my wheel this week that are not really in my comfort zone. I dug into the stash and came out with these 2 braids from Fat Cat Knits. The blend is black alpaca and polwarth and it was a joy to spin!



The first braid is gorgeous on its own and I love these colors but the other braid is dark greens and pops of neon gold that are not my go to colors!


So far they are really looking nice together! I am about half way done but super happy that those pops of neon gold are really toned down in the plying!


In the mail this week I got my first yarn from the Highland Handmades club!! I decided to go with the sock yarn subscription and I am so happy I did! I caked it up and cast on as soon as I got it! February's socks are on the needles!!!



I've been so busy with my steeking project that no reading really happened this week. So no new book to share this week! I did read lots of articles and tutorials on steeking though!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful fibery week!! Joining Ginny today over at the Yarn Along!