UPDATE

Hi,
I went to the alpaca show in May.  I didn't get much fleece.  There was very little of that for sale.  I got my fleece from Fort Collins though.
When I went, Carl and I had decided not to have an alpaca farm.  I talked to so many ranch owners there and was able to interact with the animals and loved it.  I came home wanting to have the farm again.
So we went to the bank on May 7th to find out what, if anything we qualified for.  That weekend we went to the alpaca fair in Elizabeth.  It was great and Carl got to talk with ranch owners and see the animals.  Now we are both hooked.  We loved Elizabeth.  On the 15th the Lord prompted me to look on the internet for property in Elizabeth.  At this point we still haven't heard from the bank.  I did and found 40 acres for $140,000!  Wow!  So I called the bank and found out we qualify for $160,000.  Awesome!  Now I call the realtor and get things going.  The lender informed us that this property qualifies for USDA financing.  That is 100% financing with no down payment!  They want people on farms and ranches.  That's us!
Our realtor's wife got sick.  So he gave us over to an expert in acrage.  Isn't God good?  We went to look at it on the 18th, but it had a cash offer on it so she found something else, in Deer Trail.  Where's that?  I've been here all my life and never heard of it.  It is 15 miles North East of Kiowa.  Which is about 10 miles East of Elizabeth.  Okay, let's go look.  After being lost for 2 hours, we finally get to the first house.  Cute, but not practical.  The 2nd house...  PREFECT!  God given.  5.5 acres, 4,100 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.  2 car garage, full unfinished basement.  So excited.  How much is this one?  I ask.  109.  What?!?  Okay.  So I drag Carl out that afternoon.  He loves it too.
On the way out of the drive way, we have a flat.  Bummer.  The day before when looking for boxes, the radiator hose busted.  Really?  But the Lord is good.  We fixed both with in about 30 minutes of it happening and were back on the road.
Now we don't know what to do.  Do we put in an offer?  It is 50 miles outside of Aurora.  Hmmm.  So we printed the pix and went to talk to my mom.  The Lord uses her greatly in our lives.  She said nothing hit her as no.  So prayed some more and then put in an offer.
Now we are 9 days from closing!  The Lord has done many things with this house.
We are getting a new septic system.  A friend at Carl's work sold us a dishwasher for cheap.  Another friend had her water heater go out and called Carl to replace it.  It was also while he was on vacation.  That will pay for the truck.  Carl wanted some wood to redo some trim and a friend we hadn't heard from in months called with a truck load her was getting rid of.  The exact wood.  Beetle kill!
The Lord has provided in so many ways.
We will have alpacas and run a mill in the basement.  Our specialty is Suri alpacas and fleece.  They make up only 17% of the alpaca population in the U.S.
We have even chosen a name.  Suriville Alpacas and Mill LLC.
We are so excited and can't wait.
Each of the kids will have their own room and Carl has his shop.  The Lord is great.
Reminds me of Psalm 37:3-6

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

Here are a few pictures.  Oh I forgot to mention that it is a walk out basement.  Lots of trees too.

Be watching for a new blog, just for the farm.
Stay cool!

Well so much for updating every Friday.  I have not yet finished the SugarPlumFairy.  The rounds are getting really long.
I am still working hard on my wedding shawl.
I rented a drum carder from the Recycled Lamb for 2 weeks.  Overall it was a great experience.  I completed a lot of carding.  I have been spinning the India that I carded.  She is a black alpaca in Byers, Colorado.  It is turning out wonderful.  I have spun it into a cobweb single.  I will be knitting a Shetland mourning shawl from it.  I was amazed at how black the yarn is, with no dye.  I did a small test knit this morning and got so excited I had to put it away before I started something else.
I was supposed to go to an 8 hour spinning class tomorrow at the Alpaca show, but I was the only one who signed up.  It is an exotic fibers class.  The instructor emailed me and asked if we could do it at her house on a different day so she could help with her booth.  I gladly said yes.  She is also en expert at washing and carding.  I am going to learn so much!
I am still going to the Alpaca show on Saturday.  I am getting fleece from Fort Collins and hoping for some Suri and some gray.
I will post pix of everything I get.
Happy weekend!

Ravelry Store!

I will be opening a Ravelry Store today!  I'm so excited!  It will only have one design to begin with because that is all I have completed.  Here is the link. http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sara-greer

Here it is.

It was knitted in the traditional style of a Haapsalu Shawl in Estonia.  I even blocked it in the traditonal way that they do.  It was great fun.

I'm doing good on most of my KALs.  I put the Heritage mittens away as they were driving me nuts.  My Orkeny is almost finished however.  I finished my LKA for January and have started a sweater for February.  I am on chart 4 of 6 for the Sugar Plum Fairy.

I ordered some great fiber and can't wait to get it.  Shetland, silk, paca mixed with tencel, and some blue face.

I also have more log wood and cochineal on the way and a different kind of indigo than what I used last year.

I had a small mishap Saturday night.  I was beading one of my up coming designs and had my crochet hook stuck in the side of yarn ball in my lap.  I went to pick something up and look what happened.

 This is a 0.4mm crochet hook stuck in my thumb.

 Carl, used some wire cutters to cut off the long part and then use tweezers to pull it all the way through.

 Here are the wire cutters and crochet hook side by side.
It is healing well and I can still do everything.  There was very little pain when it happened and none now.

Happy New Year!

Well, I know it's been forever.  I'm going to try to not do that.  My goal is to update every Friday with what's going on here.
I am part of 4 KALS.  The SugarPlumFairy with BadCatDesigns, Heritage Mittens on Ravelry, Lace Knitters Anonymous on Ravelry and an Orkney Lace KAL with Liz Lovick.  More information can be found on my Ravelry Project paged, linked below.  The only one not obvious is my Lace Knitters Anonymous project, it is labeled "LKA January".
I am also about to finish my first Haapsalu shawl.  It is grey, light weight 100% alpaca yarn and looks good.  It is the first design I am going to complete.
Speaking of designs, I have a new one that is a Pi shawl, on the needles right now.  It is Strawberry Supreme yarn the I dyed myself with Koolaid.  It is 100% merino.  I am using 6/0 beads in green and pink and maybe yellow, haven't decided yet.  The shawl has strawberries and flowers on it.  So far, so good.  Hoping to get that one out this year as well.
Just a quick up date from late summer.  I won the Best in Show at the Adams county fair, for my Purple Pi shawl.  For more information and pictures you can go to my project page on Ravelry here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Azariah
Nijah, my daughter is now knitting and crocheting also.  She has a Ravelry page under NijahG.
I am also looking into the Master Knitter Program through the Knitting Guild Association.
Hope you have a happy weekend!  GO BRONCOS!!!