Saturday, November 27

Hard at Work






That, is if you call dyeing lots and lots of yarn & working on a bunch of new patterns hard work.  In some ways it is but it's also the best job I've ever had!
Anyway, there's lots more to be done so I'll leave you with some new stuff I've been working on.








New pattern - Late Fall, just a quick, easy, slouchy hat made with chunky yarn.

Splendor Sock - Yarmouth

















I'm also sharing handmade gift ideas over at Double Knot Studio, between Cal & I we'll give you 30 different ideas to either craft or shop handmade this year instead of the mall or giant retailers.

I wish you restful weekend full of turkey sandwiches (I like mine with dijon mustard, apples & NYS cheddar)!

Tuesday, November 16

From Sketch to Garment

I've found it impossible to keep up with blogging while teaching classes, attending fiber fests and my baby brother's wedding(!), all while also trying to design & keep my shop stocked!
Eeep. It has been a looong time between posts.
But I thought I would share a little of what I've been doing...

So that is the sketch I sent to Knitting Today when I pitched my cape idea, (man, it is a lot harder to draw kids!)

And here is their picture of the finished garment:


I love that the model is wearing rainboots & crazy tights like my sketch is! I have another pattern featured in this magazine for an adult cable sweater, a super quick knit in bulky yarn.
What's next you ask? Well you'll just have to stay tuned to my infrequent blog posts to find out.
In the meantime, you could always check out Double Knot Studio where Cal & I blog about all manners of crafty things. 

Thursday, September 23

Fiber Fest Season

What can I say, almost nothing in the whole world makes me happier than a few days of yarn-y, fiber-y goodness and I get two full weekends in a row!  Last weekend I headed out to Hemlock NY to the Finger Lakes Fiber Fest which although a long trip was well worth it.

Hemlock is about 30 miles from Rochester and in some of the most pastoral farm country imaginable.  The drive from the house of a friend I was staying with in Geneva to the fest was the most amazing way to start each day winding up & down hills surrounded by green and the slight smell of nearby farms which I will fully admit to kind of loving.  This is what I woke up to each morning the view out my window:


Not the best photography in the world but this view of Seneca Lake was amazing!

The day I went to set up I spotted this guy tied to a fence the same way people do with their dogs when they run in for a cup of coffee.



My dear friend Kristy accompanied me and made sure I was fully caffeinated throughout the show.  She was equally enamored with this llama but I'll spare her from posting her pic with the llama.  Kristy just had an absolutely beautiful knitting book published and if you are a lover of top down knitting and elegant silhouettes I highly recommend it.  



It's called Modern Top Down Knitting and includes some of the most beautiful projects I have ever seen.  There are knitted dresses included in this collection that could be straight off the runway but  easily wearable and finishing techniques explained that give beautiful couture touches that will make these garments favorite pieces in your wardrobe.


I've got to keep this post short because on Friday I leave for the Southern Adirondack Fiber Fest and I've still got lots to do....

This is some of what you will see this weekend:


Hope to see you in Greenwich!
(and if you are going, DO NOT pass up ice cream from the Icecream Man I grew up in the area and might be salivating just thinking about the cone I will be enjoying in a few short days)


Sunday, September 5

Cormos & the perfect drive

I went to White Barn Farm  - a new knitting store in Gardiner  - to drop off some yarn and I took a route I hadn't taken when driving that way before and found one of my favorite drives.  It has cliffs & low, wide, slow moving water, all the things I love about the Hudson Valley.  It reminded me that a whole group of 19th century painters found inspiration in this same landscape and there are still a few places that if you squint your eyes a little to blur out the phone wires & houses in the distance you can see some of the most beautiful views around.
I was driving, so no photos of the drive but...
Paula, the proprietor of White Barn Farm & caretaker of the Cormos that also reside on the grounds was kind enough to let me make a sheep visit to go out & see the flock.  I love shooting animals of all sorts and these Cormos were not only photogenic, I think they may have been posing for me:



More on White Barn Farm to come...

This weekend is a double market weekend for me! Kingston Farmers Market with Cal (of Hodge Podge Farm) and at the Woodstock New Paltz Craft Fair with the Ulster County Hand Spinners. Cal & I were nearly blown away at the Farmers Market but here are some shots form this month & August's market:
















Monday, August 9

Happy Birthday Elizabeth Zimmermann!

EZ revolutionized knitting before I was even around, much less a knitter, she would have turned 100 today!  So, as you work on today's projects don't forget to whisper a little thank you to EZ into your knitting.

EZ knitting on the sleeve of the jacket she is wearing, taken by Walter Sheffer.

What's that, you don't know who Elizabeth Zimmermann is?  I wrote a brief article for Etsy to get you stared but, really you should be heading to the library or bookstore to read her words for yourself.

I'd love to hear your thoughts & memories of EZ as well as see projects please, leave links to your EZ inspired knitting!

Tuesday, July 13

Long Time No See

Wow.
I'm slightly embarrassed when I see the date of the last post. Well, I'm not going to lie it's been a tough month.   I really needed some hope & the promise of good things to come...
and I found it, in the place I can almost always trust to be hopeful & inspiring: the garden.


I started a bunch of heirloom seeds way back in March and it seems like a loooong time coming but, the first signs of lots of veggies in the making are finally making an appearance.








This is a teeny tiny bud that soon will be producing one of my favorite scents...lavender!








 






Over here we have the first of many tiny cukes destined for salads & pickling










 





This (if it survives the nightly groundhog attacks!) will be a cosmos










The very first of my most treasured garden crop
TOMATOES!




Then there are 3 varieties of bush beans, green, wax & purple (!) They will make a show stopping bean salad. Yup, I called a bean salad show stopping. Just you wait...




Oh, and I've been dyeing lots & lots of yarn
Splendor by the dozen and a new addition that will be in my shop this week:
Hudson: a springy, silky, superwash Merino worsted weight. I love this yarn! I use it to teach my Hudson Valley Winter Socks class, an intro to sock making that uses worsted weight.  I think it is a less scary proposition for first time sock makers to use "normal" sized needles instead of those "toothpicks".



Stay tuned for lots of new yarns being introduced for Fall, larger dyelots & patterns for all sorts of cozy knits....


Thursday, June 3

I know it's officially Summer when...


Two things happen:
1. The farmers market in town opens - buh bye Southern peaches & California strawberries
2. I can start using my backyard as the florist shop it is meant to be

I'm happy to say both requirements finally being met, it is SUMMER!!!(evidence of both below)

Here's a pic of Cal & I in our booth at the Kingston Farmers Market last weekend.  It only sprinkled for a minute, otherwise it was a perfect day, and no, I have no idea why we are looking off camera & smirking...
We're both fair & freckle-y so the sunhats are definitely a necessity for long days outside, Cal sells them in her shop



Here are some amazing peonies that just needed to be cut & brought in I hate to see their droopy heads laying on the ground, fallen from their own weight.








I think these are weeds but they are pretty enough for me not to pull them...




And because really what would the internet be without some cute animal pics...

Tuesday, May 11

Craftiness in 2 time zones


This weekend I am lucky enough to have my yarn & kits in TWO craft fairs represented by the ladies of Clay Wood & Cotton, with a helping hand by the talented Knit Knit.










It's too bad I won't be able to make it to either. I love both Philly & Austin for completely different reasons.
Well if you're there, have an avocado margarita for me in Austin and clams on the half shell in Philly.

Tuesday, April 27

Chancellor's Sheep & Wool

I had a great Saturday at the Chancellor's Sheep & Wool Showcase.  The weather was absolutely perfect, I got to see lots of friends (even my mom, brother & sister in law to be showed up!) and meet some really nice people.
The show is held at the Clermont Historic Site which is probably the most beautiful location I've ever attended a craft fair or fiber fest at.


  









The pics are slightly dark - it was only 9am when I was shooting them...but you still get the idea.  Lots & lots of yarn!













I've also been hard at work coming up with some transitional patterns for the Spring/Summer season - which is making it very hard for me to attend to my baby seedlings & necessary garden preparation - if only there were a few more hours in each day!
Here's a little preview:




Patterns & Kits coming soon...




Friday, April 16

Teeny Tiny Designy

So I read a NYT article...
It was all about the "movement" towards mini-houses designed in a mid-century modern style.  Described in the article it is a hobby, partly as an escape a partly as another consumer based obsession, driven by the desire for Eames & Noguchi furniture that is out of reach.
I prefer to think about the escape-ism aspect.

This dresser is a little over 4" x 2" x 1"!

No green thumb? How about these already fruiting tomato plants? Or irises?
Both are under scaled like much in the miniature world to 1:12 meaning each inch represents a foot.


So these are super tiny and amazing works of art, right?
Check this out



That's a DIME people, next to a perfectly formed pull xylophone.

Or maybe you need a mission style bookcase to hold all your art & design books?




You could personalize your tiny environs with a monogrammed pillow measuring just over an inch



I love this salad set and can't believe they are hand carved

All this tiny, beautiful furniture & accessories without the commitment to have to "live" with it, all of these tiny perfect worlds that never need to be vacuumed or have laundry done to stay neat.  I get it, now to resist starting another collection that could easily take over rooms...







Saturday, April 10

Rainbows & Unicorns

Okay well that is totally false advertising but I do sort of have rainbows...

This is some Splendor sock yarn I have been dyeing to get ready for the Chancellor's Sheep & Wool Showcase on April 24th.  Obviously I have had Spring on the brain.  It has been lovely here, the perfect weather for drying yarn & roving in the sun.

I also spent more time than I'm willing to admit organizing my Flickr & Ravelry hand dyed yarn pages because once I saw the colors all laid out together I couldn't stop...

Maybe I should make thes for breakfast tomorrow in keeping with the theme:
I saw these on Swiss Miss but they are originally from here .
We don't even own food coloring but this is definitely an excuse to go out & get some! The crunchy side of me has been considering what natural stuff I could substitute for the coloring but, honestly I don't think a few drop of food coloring is all that bad for you.

As for the unicorns you are going to have to go out & find your own but, if they can find living "dinofish" thought to be extinct I guess anything is possible...