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.

Husdon Superwash Merino - Cobalt

Hudson Superwash Merino - Volcanic

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)!

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. 

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)

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:

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!

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....

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...