Well, almost May Apple flowers...buds are bursting everywhere. May Apple is also known as American Mandrake...and Indian Apple...once I heard someone call it Racoonberry. I wonder if raccoons eat it, I've never seen any critters eating the May Apples, but they must be, I never see the fruit of these flowers. A friend of mine once remarked that May Apples were eaten by the Native Americans, but I believe the plant can be poisonous if you don't know how to prepare it. Certain parts of the plant should not be ingested! Seeds and rind of the fruit should never be eaten. I shall have to watch carefully to see if any wildlife eats the May Apples.
There are more apple blossoms in the garden, these are from my Whitney Crabapple tree. My tree is 4 years old now. The old timer who sold it to us called it a sheepsnose crab. I cannot remember if he told me the fruit or the blossom looked like a sheep's nose, and that is how they got their nick name.
We had to collect blossoms from other trees to put in the branches with the tree to assure pollination. Our other dwarf apple tree was destroyed over the winter by rabbits, or perhaps a porcupine, girdling the trunk. So sad to loose that tree, it was 2 years old. Judy brought me another up to take its place.
Work continues on the Alpaca/Pashmina "scawl". Scawl is my unword for a cross between a scarf and a shawl..
The Alpaca has been hand combed, then dizzed and spun to a lace weight yarn on the Great Wheel. The panels have been woven using the continuous strand method on a square loom. I am using a lace background stitch to connect the panels.
The yarn is so light and soft, it seems I am working with air. I will be interested in finding out what the total weight of this finished product will be. This is my second project from "Allspice" that has been designed for Paco Fino and Finca Alta Vista.
8 comments:
This is so beautiful. It makes me want to bury my face in it.
So beautiful and soft.
Love the blossoms. I just remembered there's something else called Sheep Nose: the Sheep Nose Pimento pepper. :-)
I have heard of Pashmina..what is it Cyndy?
I can't wait to see your finished scawl :)
Scawl is an awesome unword!
You're making me want to put cotton aside and pull out some alpaca to knit!
I love the idea of having sheepnose apples! :)
I love to see your photos of spring time over there! The leaves are falling here, and its getting cold. The beautiful blue skies in the photos are a nice change.
The Scawl is lovely, looks so very soft.
Those apple blossoms are beautiful. They are such a pretty shade of pink.
I know your "Scawl" will be gorgeous.
Our apple is very nearly in full bloom now. The plum has been done for about 10 days, but I'm guessing we didn't set any due to a few freezing nights, including a few inches of snow. We've only gotten plums one year out of the 8 we've lived here. The peach tree looks like yet again it won't flower. I think the buds froze :-( We've had it 3 springs now and it only flowered the first spring. *sigh*
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