Lamb, Chicks and Knitting

Not a bad day today - a bit of sun, a bit of wind, a bit of stillness and a bit of rain all mixed up together. The odd midgie nibbling around the edges, but generally quite acceptable.

Found the chicks having a morning snooze in the nettles today, and they looked so cute I snapped them looking relaxed and full up with breakfast. They are getting on outside very well. Mum is still taking them back into the nest box at night, so we know they won't come to any harm.
Another Buff Orpington has gone broody in the little barrel they use for laying. She is forcibly keeping out the other hens from laying there and is generally looking fierce and focussed on sitting there.

Remember the little black lamb who was left an orphan after her white mum first abandoned her, then reclaimed her, then died a few weeks ago? Well, here she is looking happy and well-fed. Her little friend the white lamb is out of camera shot but is also doing well. This lamb has just the two horns, and is more of a milk chocolate brown than black. But she still has the little white patch on top of her head. She is extremely friendly and is entertaining passing visitors by letting them stroke her.

And now, as promised, a shot of my new knitting. The wool is grey Hebridean, which we had spun up a couple of years ago by "Natural Fibres" in Launceston, Cornwall. Though it was spun as a 10c weaving weight, when you Peruvian ply it into three-ply it is like a heavy DK/light aran conventional knitting wool. I'm knitting on a circular needle - think its a 4mm turbo - and cast on 200 sts. After 8cm of double rib I changed to double moss-stitch to get a bit of texture into the fabric. Its supposed to be a working jumper, so there will be no seams to come undone (a really bad fault of mine), and theoretically I should be able to unravel the cuffs if they need replacing as I will be picking up round the armholes and working down to the wrists. At least, that's the idea. If it works it should be comfy, and it looks like it might even fit him - which is an added bonus!

So, that's my project for however long it is going to take.

Still tyeing in the green and yellow warp on the loom. Its going well, but I have lost a couple of ends that I had to replace with trailers, and that was a bit depressing. However, hopefully they will turn up as we carry on with the weaving.