Hail and Farewell 2012...

Hail and Farewell 2012, a year who has brought me to my knees in sadness, grief, struggle, betrayal and most of all knowing who is really there for me. The loss of my sister ripped my heart out and I will never be the same for that. The loss of a job who taught me just how horrible people and a corporation can really be. There was so much loss, it is hard to focus on the good things that happened this year. So as I have reflected all day, all there is left to do is to move on from here and leave this year behind, moving forward and hoping that life takes a reprieve from heart break and brings peace to us all...Happy 2013 everyone!

Coil Spun Dreamin'

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to get back to work. I did this before the Holidays and it was still sitting on the wheel.

Unfortunately I got the flu on Christmas morning and have not been myself for a few days. This evening I am feeling like myself again so I pulled this off and put it on my Niddy Noddy to set...

 What is great about Coil Spinning is you can use those yarns that didn't turn out right or some excess you may have as your core.

This is made from Llama, "Babydoll" Wool and Alpaca with pink dyed Corriedale Locks. I call it "Roses in the Darkness", think it may be the topper for some gloves, but not quite sure yet...

A Practice Egg!

Our little chicks from our July rescue have given us their first "practice egg"! I found it in the coop just a little while ago. It's half the size of a normal egg. Usually most chickens will lay their first egg right around 4 months but these little gals are 5 months old. I guess with the cold and late moult they are right on time for their time of year. Tim just made them two very nice nesting boxes made from milk crate idea a friend had forwared. Our other chickens have even started laying more as well!

Our Comminites loss and our Security Team!

As many of you know, Coon Hollow Farm is located in Connecticut, just one town over from the Horrible tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It has affected our Community as well as personally touched us. I have created this post as a way of maybe putting a little smile on every ones face. We pray for the families and people and hope that they can gain strength from each other and their memories of loved ones past. The healing process will be a long one hard one... 

Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, Safe Holiday Season from Coon Hollow Farm and it's Security Team(LOL) (who you can't get past without a kiss!).

Putting the bees to bed for the Winter...

This weekend we put the bees to bed for the winter with these very cool bottom boards

 Tim made these which we also use as Candy Boards to feed the bees during the winter...

It was a beautiful day this past Saturday and the bees were out enjoying the sun.

However, I had a little help from a new aspiring beekeeper, Rob. He has chosen beekeeping as his Senior Project in High School and is coming over learning the ropes. I hope he becomes inspired to become a good beekeeper, love bees as much as I do and realize their importance on our agriculture as well as the mark they make in our world.

It may be cold, but I am warm inside...

There is nothing better, than sitting by a wood burning stove and knitting a scarf with some beautiful hand spun yarn...warms my soul...we all need to take the time to keep our inner peace fullfilled. No matter how sad I get, or how stressed I am, this takes me to another place, what takes you there?

Crockpot Dying!

I am so exited to share crockpot dying with everyone! All you need is an old crockpot (you can buy them at yard sales, or in my case I got a new one last year and have been using this old one) some fleece or fiber, some vinegar and dye.

 Soak your fiber in hot water and a teaspoon of vinegar for about an hour, oopps I got a little dye on it before hand in this picture!

Start your crockpot up ahead of time while you are waiting for your fiber to soak, add vinegar and your dye and let it get hot on the highest setting, add your fiber and give at least a couple of hours to "cook".

 I am also going to show you how to over dye a darker fiber. I have some locks here in dark gray soaking in vinegar for an hour...

and here is the finished product! On the left the darker locks take on a more burgundy color while the wool on the right took on the Cherry Red dye I was going for with white wool.
I am terribly behind on my post and will post again some techniques I figured out. I was trying to make a long locks scarf and wanted to only half dye the locks and my journey to figure it out was a funny one and turned out to be an easy solution!

A Felted Star Santa Parade

I recently made these little guys for my Fiber Arts Group as holiday gifts. It was an original design I did but I forgot how I made them so I had to go back on my blog to 2009. They were so fun to make with detail even on his back side! I will be listing them on my Etsy shop which you can acsess on my blogs side bar.