It's not blocked yet but:

Here it is off the needles, with all the steeks whipped and so on:

Minor crisis when finishing off the steeks. I trimmed the first one down to about 3 stitches like I usually would, and then found that wasn't enough for the slippery alpaca and llama yarns, which slipped and began leaving holes! I think I fixed it, and I didn't trim the other 3 sleeve steeks, just whipped them down. The neck ones are all wool and a little yak, and those I was able to safely trim.

Now I just need a chance to wash and block it.

And I finished the first hedgehog hat today, too:

Tirtze's big day

She gets her orthodontic braces tomorrow. I'm sure she won't let me take a picture since she won't let me take any now of her without braces.

I've finished the first sleeve and am on to the ribbing of the second!

I have to finish the knitting tomorrow, because I need the needle in it to finish the hat I'm designing for the Jan Brett lovers group on Rav:

sleeves with goats

Red alpacas

Both of my sweater sleeves now have beautiful red alpacas:

It's my favorite yarn of all. I love the natural red alpaca and llama variant.

And just to add to the general cuteness:

Started the sleeves!

Hip, hip hooray for more yaks. I've moved on to the alpacas now, in one of my favorite of the yarns, the natural red alpaca. I'm having to remember to work all the charts upside down now for the sleeves.

sheepish, with bees

I've finished the body of the sweater, 3 needle cast off to bind the shoulders, steeks cast off:

Now I have to mark and cut the steeks, work the neck ribbing, then tackle the sleeves, which are only going to have yaks, alpacas, goats, and sheep I think (yay for short arms!).

And I finished Gilad's "Bumblebee-nie"

embroidery detail:

All done yakking!

The border is red alpaca and white CVM lamb; the background is grey CVM lamb and the yaks are of course yak! This is one of my favorite of the charts because the yaks are just so very cute. Now I'm going to work white sheep at the top, and then the body will be done. I have to stop first though because I've gotten so much done I can take a break for a couple of days to knit Addie a bumblebee hat for a House Cup game homework assignment.

llama, llama, grey pajama

Here come the llamas; they grey llama yarn is indeed baby llama, spun worsted and incredibly soft and lustrous; the white background is alpaca (provided by Kathryn Coursey of the handpreparedfibers group); the dark charcoal grey in the border is CVM (from one of Marta Sullivan's lambs, she's also on the handpreparedfibers group I believe).

Next come the yaks, which are absolutely my favorite. Just wait until you see them; they are incredibly cute (and the yak yarn is wonderful; it's the dark brown in the border around the mohair goats if you glance above).

Much counting has occurred

I've finished the mohair goats, started the steeks, and begun the bottom border for the llamas (in which I already made a small counting error right at the beginning, but the border is so few rows it's easy to hide that it's one stitch off of where ideally it could be).

Where's the nearest oasis?

And here come the camels:

Sweater progress

The sheep are knit with Romeldale and llama for the border, Corrie and Icelandic wools for the main motif area. The bunny border is knit in mohair blend and camel, the background in mid-grey CVM and the bunnies alternating white CVM and angora/silk/merino (because I only had 30 yards of that which translated to 5.5 rows). I made a chart reading error but it only really shows right at the seam so I’ve been able to hide it I think. On the first row of the camel motifs I had to rip back one row for the first time; I gave a camel 5 legs (oops). All fixed now. The camel border is knit in 2 shades of CVM, and the camel has the background in white camel (I have just enough I think) and camel camel (I mean camel colored camel down yarn).