Getting Stitched on the Farm

Fiber Twist and Fun Houseguests

The Second Franklin County Fiber Twist was this past Saturday and it monsooned all day long. Luckily, my booth was inside at the Memorial Hall in Deerfield and except for the loading and unloading, my stuff and I stayed dry. It was a totally lovely day meeting and greeting all kinds of people. I saw some locals I hadn't seen in awhile and met lots of new people who all love fiber, knitting, spinning, and yarn. I will definitely do it again next year.

My mom Nancy and our good friend Peggy drove up from NJ, met up with my sister Nancy and her daughter Celia from NH and they all travelled around the county with Julia in tow. They ventured to some farms that even on a good day are hard to get to (Tregyllys Fiber Farm and Keldaby Angora Goats). The dirt roads around here are always an adventure and amidst the monsoon, it must have been hairy. But they all had a great time buying yarn and fiber for projects.

I met Marcy who is the person behind the wonderful Habetrot blog. She is so much fun to talk to and is planning some great things for her blog. Check it out if you haven't - she posts antique photos and postcards all relating to sheep, yarn, spinning, and fiber. The images are quite beautiful.

Mom, Peggy, and I sat up every night after dinner around the lovely fire The Farmer built for us in our enormous fireplace in the living room. Last night we were hysterical with laughter. Peggy is teaching Mom to knit two socks at the same time on very long circular needles. Yikes - it looks so confusing and they were laughing so hard trying to figure out where she went wrong. Peggy teaches this method at a few yarn stores in NJ - something she figured out herself - she's a super clever woman - former art teacher, mother of four great kids, and obsessive knitter. I told her she should write a book about it. Her comment was that as I was witnessing, she doesn't quite have the teaching of the technique mastered. But Mom has made one pair already this way and Peggy knits socks like crazy. Perhaps there is already a book on this but I am so out of touch with everything that I don't know about it. I was just plain impressed. I think I will stick with my double pointed needles for socks and mittens - I am pretty fast at it and I just love the sinister look of all those sticks going every which way.

Here they are early this morning with Julia and her cat Zoe Sophia before the trip to school and their trip back to NJ. Julia is wearing a green mohair cabled sweater Mom made for me when I was Julia's age. I remember feeling like such a princess in that soft fluffy yarn. It's fun to see Julia wearing it now some forty years later. I had her school photo taken in it.

It's a little lonely and quiet here now after such a busy weekend. In three weeks though, Thanksgiving will be upon us and my family will descend upon our farm and we'll all be cooking up a pumpkin storm.