More hats. And yarn. And soap.

 I am really loving my yarn swift! I don't know why I have never gotten one before. But it sure makes life a lot easier. I have been winding a lot of yarn lately. And knitting. I am addicted to knitting! I love it. It's about all I do anymore. And hats? Lots of hats.

This is yarn I hand spun from one of my ewes, Amarillo. It's SO soft and easy to work with.

I made this hat yesterday. And I still have lots left. I'll make a scarf or cowl to go with this. I've just discovered the basket weave technique. Is that what it's called? It's so pretty and easy to knit. Makes it have more texture.

And this is one I knit from the tan and white I bought at the fiber fair. I am also knitting a pretty cowl. But it's so boring. Just knit and knit. I cast on 30 so it's pretty wide. And I'm using huge needles so it's going pretty fast. But not fast enough. I got tired of knitting that so I knit the white hat.

And this is the chicory hat from yarn I bought at the fiber fair too. I made the fingerless gloves to go with this. And I also knit a cute little scarf. It needs to be blocked though.

More yarns I wound up today. It's so fun! My grand daughter, Chloe, did the face on the head, by the way.

SO I really think the bad bald spot on Olga's neck is from rubbing it on the stanchion. It already looks better since I haven't put her in it in a week. I was really worried about her. But other than this ugly spot, she's just fine.

I am making 2 more soaps today. A rosemary-mint and a cedarwood. I have 3 holiday markets the next 3 weekends, so I want plenty of soap. I'll have to make more oatmeal-honey too, but need more coconut oil.

And I want to make more lotion bars. Those are really good sellers at the markets. And so easy to make.

Y'all have a wonderful week! And a happy Thanksgiving!. I may not be back on here for several days.

What is this?

Can you see that on Olga's neck? I just noticed it yesterday. I have not seen this before. And I really don't know how long it's been there. Although I think it's just happened because I would surely have noticed something so big and horrible before, right? I saw it yesterday afternoon. I ran inside and got my calendula salve and slathered it on her. She immediately started scratching it off. So I wondered if it could be a hot spot? Then I remembered I had the sheep and alpacas in the back with the goats Sunday. When I was getting them out, Misha, the red alpaca, kicked Olga. I heard it and saw Olga walk away from him. SO I wondered if maybe he kicked the hair off her neck? Then I thought maybe it could be her stanchion. Her right side is against the wall, so I don't see that side in the milk room. Her stanchion is different than Freja's. I used it for horned goats. The top goes up and there's a piece that goes over it when it goes back down. Olga will try her hardest to get the top to go up just enough to get her head out. So I have to tie a piece of leather so she can't get it to come up. So I wondered if maybe she'd been rubbing it so much, she rubbed the hair off that place. It's at just the right spot to do it.

Then I remembered a call I had from a friend who has goats this summer. And it sounds like maybe it's what some of her goats went through. She spent about $500 on vet visits and lab work and still never found out what it was. She tried all kinds of things to help the goats. Not all her goats did this, just a few. She took those goats and put them in another barn and that helped. She said she used the strongest iodine she could find. It worked.

So I found my bottle of iodine and sprayed it on real good last night. Then again this morning. I hope it helps her. I just have no idea what it could be.

I wonder if anyone has ever seen this before in your goats? And what did you do about it? This is the only place she has like this. My friend said all her goats had it on their backs or sides. She has horses too, so thought maybe a horse was taking a chunk out of the goat's hide.

It came!!!

I ordered a yarn swift last Thursday from Knit Picks. It came today! I am so excited to finally have a swift! I've already wound up a ball of hand spun yarn and I love it. It's so much easier than laying the skein down on the table and it getting all tangled up. Or having my poor husband hold a skein in his hands so I can manually wind it up into a ball. I am sure this will be used a lot!

I also made my first ever finger-less gloves. I made a hat with this same yarn, so decided to make a set with hat, gloves and a scarf. I think the gloves could have been longer? What do you think? I've never made any before, so I am learning. And I knit them flat and sewed them together. I think next time I'll go ahead and knit in the round. And make them a bit longer. But it was fun and I will be making more.

What have y'all been working on? It's just the right knid of weather for knitting. Or crocheting. Or quilting. Or just making. Right?