A peek at the goings on today on the farm...Come on by! National Alpaca Weekend

Here is a peek at what you will see here this weekend! We have an educational tent set up with displays, of course the animals will be here to greet you, Mike will be turning bowls, I will be spinning and tending shop..Join us for a farm fun weekend. So far we have had the nicest folks come by, very interested in what we do here. We love to share our farm, so come on by..

Needle felted pumpkin class!

Yea! I'm going to offer needle felted pumpkin class Sunday mornings! Per requests. It will be alternate Sunday mornings from knitting. Time 11:30, cost 20.00. We'll felt a pumpkin together for class then you will go home with enough supplies to felt 2-3 more! Call early, 1,2, or 3 in a class. This will be offered right through November. Call soon! Maybe we'll do needle felted Santa's for November and December. E-mail with your thoughts on that...
Check the left column for class schedule and events. Happy Fall my friends.

Fall brought with her a bunch of raspberries?

What a surprise! Raspberries on the bush in September. Actually the first day of fall brought this handful of raspberries to me this morning Thank you Fall and welocme to our farm. Thank you Fall! I see there are many more on the bush that are just turning...Is it me or is the first day of fall a little late to have a crop of raspberries? I have lots of yellow and orange leaves on the trees all around me and red berries on the bush! Has anyone ever heard of this? I'm truly baffled..Mother Nature has surprised me again. One of the reasons I adore her.....Happy Fall to all.

Farm fun weekend - National Alpaca Weekend

Our Open House for National Alpaca Days is this weekend! September 25th and 26th. The following farms have worked together to put together a day of farm fun. All the farms will be open (free) to educate the public on small scale farming and raising alpacas among other farm animals. Displays,farm shops, alpaca products demos, and loads of farm fun. Brochures or farm cards will be available here for additional farms and their address.... Here on our farm we will also offer a knitting circle, bring your knitting and sit and join in some knitting and maybe meet some new knitting friends. We will also have a number of hands on activities to help educate you as to what we do here. I hope to see you. Farm On!And good luck to all my farm friends!

*Dream Come True Farm, 82 Freeman Rd., Oxford

*Alpacaboose Farm at 12 East St. Oxford

*Alpaca Hill Farm, 8 Willow St. Seymour

*Coon Hollow Farm, located at 156 Punkup Rd. in Oxford

*Hubbell Farm at French’s Corner 61 East Village Rd. in Shelton (White Hills)

*Simple Gifts Farm, 1135 James Farm Rd. Stratford

Bragging again!

Im sorry to be bragging again, well maybe Im not really sorry. Im jumping for joy! Another Dream Come True item has been chosen for the Etsy Treasury page (naturally beautiful itmes). My hand carded alpaca batting for spinning!! My alpaca boys are so happy with themselves too! Click on the title above to be directed to the Treasury page
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c977fb7ca5e8eefa2f2caaf/naturally-beautiful

National Alpaca weekend here Spetember 25th and 26th

We will be celebrating our love for our alpacas this coming weekend. National Alpaca weekend is September 25th and 26th 10-5. Shop open with lots of new alpaca products,educational displays, questions welcome, visit our alpacas and other farm animals.Bring your knitting and sit and knit, meet new knitters and maybe new friends! Join us for a wonderful farm day! Other area farms will also be open for visits, pick up a brochure here with participating farm names and addresse so that you visit these farms as well, making this a wonderful farm fun weekend!

You just never know..........

Opening today was great. It started out very slow until Kate and her firend Mary showed up! The girls visited with the animals and as you will see were welcome in the barn yarnd. Dahli Llama who doesn't let anyone touch him, he's a hands off kind of guy let Kate pet, rub and kiss him. He blew kisses right back to her and loved the attention. All the other critters were quite interested in these visitors as well. There was some great kisses and rubbing going on until Mary decided to come between Dahli and his girlfriend Kate. Well, as you can see he let Mary pet him and then SPIT! Yes, he spit. Not a ugly smelly green spit (thank god) but a spit just the same. Mary was such a good sport even while it brought a mighty large laugh from myself and Kate! Another day in the barnyard, you just never know with that Dahli Llama. Mary purchased some yarn to make a couple of scarves, but I did notice none of the yarn was Llama, hmmmmmmm...
I guess Kate told folks on the way out that this was the place to visit becasue wow, we got busy for the last hour and a half. One right after another! As always the most wonderful people stop at this farm! Thanks to all the visitors today! And a special thanks to Kate and Mary who really sparked things up in the barnyard! Anytime girls, and Mary please come back!

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Newest gift items!

Hi all, its 2 am and here I am. I just had to get all these little knitted squares in the washing machine to get them felted tonight! And in the shop for tomorrow! A little OCD, maybe? I have decided I would like to make these felted coasters that I'm teaching as a beginner knitting class for the holidays in all the holiday colors. These will make such great hostess gifts and grab bag gifts. A simple but useful gift. Here are just a few that will be going into the shop.

NEW BEGINNER felted coaster knitting project!

OK, for those who expressed concerns about learning to knit the alpaca scarf and after speaking with my dear friend Marti about beginner knitting classes I have decided to offer two options, your choice for beginner knitters 101. The ribbed alpaca scarf or felted coasters, a set of 4! I love them, they work well and make wonderful gifts, especially hostess gifts. We will learn how to cast on the project, (co)learn the basic garter stitch and bind off (bo), which is to take the projects off the knitting needles. You may be able to complete two here. Then I will give instructions on how to put the coasters in the wash and send them through a wash cycle to felt and thicken them up to turn them into coasters. You will then take your project home and knit 2 or 3 more. We can also needle felt a design or initial on the coaster. I will update a photo of that when I complete one. Just another option with this project. I will of course be available any Sunday for you to return with any questions or problems...These can make great holiday gifts made in all assorted colors. I will have many colors available for you to choose from. Same as the scarf class, any Sunday, your choice 11:30, supplies included in cost which will be $28.00. What do you think? I have to say this is a wonderful project to learn the real basics of knitting. So you choose before your class which project is for you and I will have it all ready. Scroll down to alpaca scarf post for the info. on that class.................. Lets Knit!

As always e-mail me with any questions or call.

NEW! Spiral Pattern Neck Warmer!

This yarn is our mill spun alpaca yarn that we offer in our shop. I took the oatmeal yarn and over dyed it in a light purple dye. I love the shading that it produced. Last year we came up with the mobius and shawl pattern to be used with our mill spun alpaca so this year my thought was for a neck warmer. Spiral pattern was the choice so Marti and I sat and figured out the pattern. And here it is! Spiral neck warmer. Kits will be available for 20.00, offered in my farm shop, also through etsy www.Pamsfiber.etsy.com, and by e-mail request. Available colors are spruce green, cranberry, oatmeal and bark brown. while colors last. If your in our area, pop in on one of our open Sundays, open houses or call for an appointment anytime or day.

Pumpkin delight wool for spinning

It is Fall after all! I love the smell of the air, wearing a sweater and socks in the morning while doing the animals and then again at the end of the day. I love the wonderful spunky attitudes from my animals. I love watching the very slow change in the leaves. I love the thought of raking leaves and having a fire in the wood stove. So these fall thoughts led me to do this pumpkin delight wool batt for spinning or needle felting. Just a quick run today with the drum card to blend the white soft alpaca and the hand dyed orange pumpkin sheep wool. Im spinning some of the batt tonight with the thought of making a pair of wristlets for the upcoming season. I'm listing some on Etsy as well. I'm really feeling that fall is peeking out at us! If you look hard you'll catch her!!

NEW wool for spinning or needle felting

Hi All, I have been working on new batts for the fall for spinning or needle felting. I have number of them done. This is just a sample of some that are already listed in my Etsy shop www.Pamsfiber.etsy.com or in the farm shop. More to be listed, I just need the time to sit and get them up. So check Etsy often.. Its been so much fun blending and choosing fibers for these batts. All carded here by me on my drum carder. Visit my Etsy shop, by clicking on it in the left colmn. Now I have to go out and enjoy this wonderful fall like day and pick some new colors from nature to do some more batt blending.

Bragging Rights

Another post already? You bet! Im bragging now. Etsy one of the sites that sells my yarn and goat milk soap has chosen my brown and white Babydoll Southdown handspun yarn as a fall "Treasure Find" to fit in with their fall display add for browns. I was so excited when I was notified. This is actually the second time one of my yarns has been featured (out of thousands!) Humble you say, NO NOT ME! Im bragging, yes. Im happy, honored and now inspired to spin. Thanks for listening to me. Click on the title above Bragging Rights and it will bring you to the Etsy site Treasure page..

What a find!

We were on our way to a country fair this weekend and in the front of a consignment/antique shop was this great round oak table with pedestal, for FREE! I guess they just couldn't move it. I immediately pictured it my little shop with some knitting friends around it knitting. So in the back of the pick up truck it went! What a find. We put it in the shop this morning and I sat at it with a friend drinking tea and knitting. We broke it in nicely. So this will be the official class knitting table. So come, take a private beginner knitting class and enjoy a cup of tea.

Learn how to knit this beautiful alpaca scarf

Always wanted to learn how to knit?
I have been asked many times for knitting lesson. My schedule doesn't make the commitment to lessons easy. So I have thought long about how to offer beginner knitting. So for those of you who may want to learn how to knit, here is what I'm offering. Sunday morning beginner knitting lesson. The alpaca scarf shown below will be the project. Minimal time away from home to learn..This will come as a kit with the knitting needles, choice of bark brown or oatmeal natural colred alpaca yarn and pattern, oh yes and me on Sunday morning! Sign up, come at 11:30, first class will be learn to and practice CO casting on. Once this is accomplished we will do a practice swatch of K and P knit and purl. Once you are comfortable with that we will start the scarf. When you have a couple inches of scarf knit, you can take it home and knit the 42 in. required to complete it. Then call me and arrange your second lesson which will be learn to BO bind off and remove the scarf from the needles. Then if you have chosen another project we will CO cast on another. Viola you will have knitted a beautiful alpaca scarf and will be on your way to knitting your holiday scarf gifts!! What do you think? Interested call me and we can set your Sunday morning up... Time 11:30 total cost $38.00
includes, classes, alpaca yarn, knitting needles, pattern and a morning on the farm, maybe doing a chore or two! (only kidding about the chores)

Keeping the farm safe

On days like today as I ready the farm for a storm I realize how much these animals mean to me. My thoughts all day are on how to keep my animals safe with the pending tropical storm. I will close all barn windows, half doors will be shut, water buckets filled to the brim in case we loose power which means no water pump. I have hooked the monitor in the barn so when the predicted storm hits us at 2 am I can monitor the barn for safety. We are nestled among lots of big old trees which always scare me with high winds. I will be glued to the window in the spare room with a watchful eye. If the going gets tough, I will make several trips to the barn to make sure there is no water flooding. If so I will rake it out into a wheel barrel and put new dry bedding down for them all. Being a Shepard can be a worrisome job at times. I will not rest until the storm has passed and all is well here on the farm...I do love those faces!

Fall events at Dream Come True Farm

Hi folks, I wanted to drop a quick note with some happenings coming up on the farm for the fall. Details will be told to you as soon as everything is smoothed out.
First we will be opening most Sundays from end of September on. Only closing for family gatherings. Always opening for appointments anytime during the week.
September 25 and 26 will be National Alpaca weekend, visit our farm meet the alpacas, and learn all about alpaca fiber, enjoy spinning demos and this year we will offer a knitting circle all day. Bring your project and sit and knit with us a while. Meet knitters and share your project. Weather permitting of course. The shop will be full and we will have a list of all the alpaca farms that will be open in the area.
We will be open on Thanksgiving weekend again this year with activities just like last year. Maybe even Santa again? Hmmmmmm we'll have to check his schedule. Also end of September I will be offering beginner one on one knitting lessons Sunday mornings. This will consist of 3 Sunday lessons, you pick the Sundays and you will learn to CO cast on, knit and purl, and BO bind off. The project that you will complete will be an alpaca scarf! Details and sample scarf are being worked on.. So check back often for our upcoming events...We may even be offering one other knitting circle day... Let me know how that interest you?

We have our winners!

Six slices ready and waiting to be shipped!

Finally the names were put in a jar and pulled for our winners. Your chances were really good there were only 16 entries. Most of you e-mailed or entered through FB do to trouble with the blog comment area. For that Im sorry. So if the following ladies will e-mail me at pamsfiber@aol.com with your mailing address I will get your soap packed up and shipped to you. Thanks for reading our post and visiting our FB page and this blog. And yes, it is a toaster! We use a newer one while camping to make out toast over a low fire on a grill top. Works great. It would work great on a gas range also....

Sandra from www.plainfancymerchant, folks be sure to visit this blog, you will love it
Nancy B. FB entry
Maura M. FB entry
AND The Wool Pantry was stuck onto Maura's drawing so YOU WIN TOO! www.Thewoolpantry.blogspot.com folks visit this blog too, you will be glad you did....

A note from Montey Christo,shop open for a fall sneak preview

Hi everyone, It's me Montey Christo one of the alpacas here on Dream Come True Farm. I'm writing this blog because Pam has been very busy adding new items to the shop. So I needed to step in and help...The drawing for the goat milk soap will be this coming week, I promise even if I have to do it myself. Most responded to face book with their answers so we need to put all the names together for the drawing. I promise I will make sure its done this week.
This Sunday the 29th our shop will open for a sneak preview of some of the new items for fall. I will be there for this opening so step on over to the barnyard and say "hi" We have added a lot of new yarns, both hand spun and mill spun. New this year we have added some sock yarn, some great colors. We also have more lace weight alpaca then ever before. We are putting together our neck warmer and mobius kits that we offered last year but we will use new yarns, some great hand dyed colored yarn and of course natural as well, sheep and alpaca. We are waiting for an order of alpaca gloves that will also be new this year to the shop. Coming from a mill here in CT made from alpaca fiber we shipped them. So all in all we are ready for the fall and holiday season. Adding new yarns weekly, Mike will be doing some glass kiln work this weekend, after be brings us up the new second cut hay. I think we are ready. Our first open house will be National Alpaca weekend in September. Check back for details. I of course will be there to greet you as well as all the other critters. But lets face it, with this face who will you be gazing at??? Thanks for stopping by. Montey Christo

It's free give-a-way time!

I love this little gadget! Our free give a way this time is 2 slices of our farm made goat milk soap! All you need to do is be a follower of this blog, and tell me in the comments section what this gadget does. Your name will then be placed into a drawing pot. The drawing will be in a week or so. Just for fun, join in.....There will be 3 winners!!

News from the farm

I finally have found the time to update this blog! I was in Maine for 5 days on a art weekend. I stayed with 4 other women in a wonderful cabin on Belgrade lake. The setting was serene. Our instructor was from Fayettville, AR and boy did we paint! And paint, and painted some more. I will be posting pics of my trip in a few days. Meanwhile here is the latest project Im working on.
The scarf I have knitted is from Babydoll Southdown sheep wool and llama. The trim which is not quite finished is a sheep wool. It is from a fleece I purchased a couple years ago from a booth at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival which I had mill spun into a lace weight. So I'm finally spinning! I took a break for a while but started missing the relaxation from spinning and the feel of all the wonderful wool slipping through my fingers. I listed a few new ones in my Etsy shop. www.Pamsfiber.Etsy.com if interested. I'll try to get pics here on the blog of the new yarns, with more to come. The weather has cooled down with the sunset so I think I will take a walk out and visit with the animals. The sheep would like a few animal crackers so I think I will indulge them tonight. Have a wonderful week!

Another completed needle work

Here it is, another completed needle work piece. This one is done as a small wall hanging, which hangs on a stick, cotton batting in between the needle worked piece and a checkered back. Tea stained of course. Lots of fun to do.
Today was a beautiful summer day, little to no humidity again. Tonight Mike and I will go fishing and enjoy this gorgeous weather. Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Ahhhh, cooler temps, no air conditioner or fans and new shop items!

I'm so happy to report that the humidity is gone, the air conditioners are off, no fans and wide open windows. I even worked in the garden today without breaking into a terrible sweat! What a day. Thank you Mother Nature for the break.
However while I was tucked inside out of the heat I worked on some itty bitty X stitch items. My eyes just are not what they use to be so I only do little projects for a change of pace. So these are the itty bitty's that I have completed this summer. I'm still working on one more, or maybe two more ABC pin cushions. I use mostly scrap floss now all left over from years ago doing larger projects. I feel good about not buying new floss and using up all the left overs. So color choice comes from whatever is left. I came across a gorgeous antique quilt that I purchased many years ago so I decided to take the very worn half of the quilt and make some projects from it. So far I made the two tiny doll pillows or pin cushions.. I think next will be some ornament size Christmas stockings. Its nice to change things up a bit. Soon enough I'll be back on the spinning wheels! Heads up....soon there will be another free give-a-way on this blog! so be sure to sign on as a follower and check back often. Details will be posted soon. Happy Monday. Enjoy, Pam

Im finally getting my groove back! I have been a bit lacking in the creativity department lately, a little lazy to say the least. I have got myself together and these are the new handspun yarns I came up with. The black and white and white and black, hmm is there a difference between black and white and white and black? Anyway they are some of thickest yarn that I have ever spun. Its soft, and huge. The white is big and plump like marshmallow, with camp fire burn marks on it, exactly how I like a toasted marshmallow. The black is so soft, so big that Im going to have trouble letting it go. It is plied with a single spun novelty white. These would make the coolest hats for the winter. Or spectacular neck warmers. The shades os pink yarn is hand dyed alpaca, light worsted in weight. And well, lets face it alpaca speaks for itself. The tan and orange is hand dyed orange sheep wool spun in with tan alpaca, a blend. All will be going up on Etsy very soon, with plenty more to come. Pam's got her groove back on! Spin on.

Newest tenant! and Christmas in July?

Am I crazy? In this heat knitting holiday stockings? Some would say I am, and it's not just the stockings that makes them say so. These are the first 3 of the handspun, handknit heirloom stockings to be hung by the chimney with care. Spun and knitted from our alpaca, llama and or sheep fiber. They measure about 24 to 28 inches in length. Last year I hand dyed all the stockings, this year I will knit them all in natural colors. IM liking the all natural look to these. Kind of like old worn stockings that would have been hung long ago in much simpler times. These will all be hung out in the shop as they are completed. I hope to have many by our September and November Open House. But they are available in our shop now if you can possibly think "holidays" in this heat. Think cool and maybe you will stay cool. Have a great Monday.



Once again I came across a surprise tenant. This one is living in and and around my African Lilly of the Nile, which is on the deck in a large pot. I was checking on the plant one evening in the dark and I thought there was something on one of the leaves. I went to remove it and it moved! With much surprise I jumped back with a little gasp. The frog didn't move. So I welcomed him, misted the plant and can now find him there most nights.

Farm Day, a great success!

Open House day was a great success! A little hot, but with a fan in the shop, lemonade and great people the heat didn't matter much. Thank you to all that came. A special thanks to Todd Jackson who sent a video of farm days which you can see in the left column of the blog. Anastasia was here again to give the farm tours and educate folks on the animals and what we do here and did a wonderful job as usual. Her alpacas and llamas adore her! After our wonderful farm day we went with good friends to Jackson Cove on Lake Zoar, swam, grilled some great food, fished and floated around the lake in a blow up row boat. What a great day. Thanks to all, Pam

Open House reminder............

As a reminder: Dream Come True Farm Open House and area hobby farm tours! June 27th 12 noon to 4 pm Details on participating farms may be picked up at each farm

OPEN HOUSE Dream Come True Farm

We will have our summer open house On June 27th Sunday from 12 noon until 4pm Our shop is full of new items all made here on the farm by myself or Mike. We have both worked on projects all winter so the shop has many new items. We will have spinning demos at various times during the day and wood working demos. The alpacas, sheep and llamas are all sporting a new look, everyone has been shorn! We have new fiber for spinners, new yarns for knitters, pounds and pounds of goat milk soap, new hand knit hats from our handspun yarn, and many new hand crafted gift items. So stop on by for a farm visit. We will be one of a few farms open on this date. Join in on our hobby farm tour days. Support your local farmer! Call for directions or more info.All open houses are weather permitting, call if unsure 203-736-2630

Lucky us!

We have a new tenant here at Dream Come True Farm. In my herb garden I have a little pond with a solar powered pump which attracts many a frog. Well, for the past few days I have seen one in particular coming in and out of these boots. Today he posed for me so I could photograph him. He has moved into the boot which is filled with moss so its the perfect palace for him to live in. I hope he stays. Maybe he'll tell his friends about the one that's available next door to him? Or maybe he will take a wife, or a husband? I guess I will just have to watch. Im glad he's here.

Strawberries, strawberries, strawberries! mmmm

Today Mike is off from work so we went outside to pick strawberries which grow along side the farm shop on the hillside. We struck gold! A few had little tiny bites out of them, Im not sure if it was birds or one of the many chipmonks that live here in the stownwalls. Whoever it was we don't mind sharring as long as they leave us some. So Im going to sit and enjoy a bowl before my day begins.

New fibers!

Well, Im back to spinning. I have been a bit lazy lately. Kind of on vacation. Mike was off for a week and had a few day adventures and a camping trip! Now some of the newly shorn fibers have arrived from the mill to be spun and I can't wait to get started. i just love the natural colors of the these alpacas. I also purchased some beautiful dyed sheep roving at the CT Sheep and Wool Festival that needs spinning. So there will be more yarns added to the all ready full shop and some to be listed on Etsy. So check back for the yarn updates. Im also waiting on a new batch of almond and honey soap to cure!