Red Sox Parade by Default

Julia had an eye doctor appointment in Boston yesterday. It was scheduled five weeks ago after her surgery. How were we to know the Red Sox would win the World Series? Chances were pretty slim after their history. We left a little earlier than normal after hearing that the parade going through the center of town. Julia’s doctor is smack downtown and I knew it would be dicey. When I got to Arlington, I knew things were bad - a traffic jam at Alewife like one I have never seen. I drove on, exiting Storrow Drive only to be turned away by a multitude of policeman and barricades.

At this point, I gave up all hope of getting to see the doctor. I had to surrender to the Red Sox hysteria and see what happened. I wound my way around several cattle paths (that’s what the streets are like in Boston). After 40 minutes of driving around and around, we got to the hospital which borders Chinatown very late. Not that we weren’t the only one with the same problem!

The doctor thinks Julia’s eyes are progressing nicely after the surgery. He said it takes about 3 to 4 month for everything to settle in. We go back right after New Years and we’re hoping for the best. She told us yesterday that she was seeing better.

Since we were there, we decided to go check out the parade. By the time we got to Boston Common, the Duck Boats and the players were long gone. But there were crowds of fans – young and old. Everyone had red shirts on and little socks decorated everything. You would have thought there was some kind of knitting event going on. The hysteria the Red Sox fans have for their team is the same kind of energy knitters generate at a big knitting event like Stitches or Rhinebeck.

I can’t say we are big baseball fans. We don’t even get the t.v. station you can watch the Sox on. But it was fun to land in the midst of the hysteria unexpectedly. I bet the little boys at school are going to be envious of Julia!

Someone is Moving

I never know what I’m going to wake up to. Friday morning, after only a half cup of coffee, The Farmer said to me, “I think I’m going to move the sheep up to The Krautwurst’s.” It sounds innocent enough. You see, we graze our sheep on our neighbors' pastures and sometimes not so close neighbors' fields. Even though our town was once full of hilltown farmers eeking out a living off the land, it’s not quite that way these days. People live in lovely old farmhouses surrounded by rolling pastures. But truth be told, they aren’t farming at all. Haying is a big deal because their equipment no longer works. They all earn their living off the farm in nearby and not so nearby towns. They have the choice to let the once hayed fields become weedy and then revert back to woodlands, or they can pay a landscaping service to brush-hog their fields.

Because The Farmer’s family has been around here farming for a very long time, the farming relationships with other farming families go deep. Luckily, some of our neighboring land-owners let us graze their fields. They don’t have to pay for someone to mow the fields and we can feed our sheep. It’s a good trade. And I must say, there aren’t many people who can resist a field full of sheep slowly grazing while they are also fertilizing the fields.

That said, sometimes the grass is gone and the sheep, of course, still need to eat. The Krautwurst’s fields are two miles from our farm. We have two options – either truck the sheep twenty at a time in a landscape trailer or they can walk themselves.

Friday was a day of Two’s. Two miles, two dogs, two adults, and two kids (we enlisted Julia’s friend Matthew to help who enjoys everything in life - it was a school holiday). It was quite the adventure, I must say. It was a beautifully clear day and not too hot, not too cold. The cooler fall temperatures still hadn’t hit yet and thank goodness the odd heatwave was gone.

Are you ready for the journey? If not, move on to somewhere else becaue this is a rather picture heavy post. I apologize but at least you have the option to leave as compared to sitting at a neighbor's slide show of vacation photos when you didn't want to appear rude.

The sheep don’t quite know what lies in front of them.



They’re off, hopefully taking the right road. (There's a choice of two!)


At this point the sheep have already eaten some prime pasture at the first neighboring farmhouse. It took a lot of nudging from the dogs and humans to move them along up the road.


Looks like they are going forward okay.


Oops – here’s the Mass. Fish and Game people. They had just released a whole bunch of pheasants for hunting. Bet we ALL surprised them. At least they pulled to the side of the road and the sheep kept plowing through.



This is a giant hill that they had to climb.




Down the other side after a quick snack in the field.


Oops, another diversion.....


No, no, go the other way....



Our helpers took their job very seriously.



A sea of sheep.

And so many sheep butts.


At this point, they are running down the hill. The kids and I lost them for the last 1 /2 mile. Who knew sheep could run so fast.


Mission accomplished. Tuckered out – all of us. But at least the sheep had a snack.


Here’s The Farmer and his dogs walking up a beautiful still green field after a job well done.


The dogs, the kids, and The Farmer and I walked the two miles back, pooped but happy after a successful day.

The Weekly Book Update

Just off the phone with Storey (my publisher) for my end of the week book update. Honestly, they must be sick of getting my calls, don't you think? Good news is the boat arrived from China and the books are on a truck on their way to the warehouse in Wisconsin. Sounds like I should have them within two weeks if all goes well.

If you are waiting for a book from me, please be patient. You can imagine, I am doing all the worrying for you! I'll be a mighty busy camper when they do come in wrapping and packing and shipping them. I was thinking about this last night - I'm so desperate to get these things to ship to you. Then they will arrive and it will just be normal life and the book will be no big deal.... Kind of like lusting after a new skirt in a catalog, ordering it receiving it, and the excitement is over.

I really appreciate your patience and thank you so much for ordering from me!

Sheep in late October

First of all - remember that this weekend is Franklin County's FiberTwist. I will be at the marketplace on Saturday all day and we're hoping to tour a couple of farms on Sunday. If you're coming, which I hope many people are, and want to visit the Scarecrows in the Park, they are at the intersection of Routes 5 and 10 in Bernardston, MA. Bernardston is the last town in Massachusetts and just off Route 91 - about 15 minutes north of Deerfield where the FiberTwist Marketplace is.

The other night, I walked up the road with Julia...


....to find The Farmer moving the portable electro-net fences. By the end of the day, the sheep are ready for a new section of grass. Do you see the difference in the color of the grass? The tan they have eaten off and the green is their new meal. We don't overgraze a field so the pasture can grow back quickly.


The scene is so pastoral and beautiful. I know the sheep don't see it that way. They are just trying to fill their stomaches. But we like to watch them graze quietly.



And then the sun went down and we left them to their business.

It's still October - Scarecrows Rule

And you thought my scarecrow posts were over. Sorry. Today I'd like to share with you some of the more amazing creations the really dedicated scarecrow builders made.

Here are Mr. and Mrs. Pumpkin Scarecrow done by the local bridal shop.


The Beatles are visiting again - this time as Sgt. Pepper.


My friends Clara and Peggy built Mustang Sally.


This wise old owl was so amazing - it was built out of pinecones, bark, fungus, cornstalks, and lots of other natural things. It stood about 8 feet tall.


My neighbor Joanne who is a dollmaker made a pumpkin family. She built the heads and props out of paper clay, painted them and waterproofed them.


Then she hand-stitched all the little signs in backstitch.


Joanne is an amazing craftsperson - a collector of all kinds of antiques and fabrics. She took the scarecrow challenge to the N-th degree. Here's Gordie and his pet spider in a jar.


Aren't they all totally amazing? Wouldn't you love to stumble upon Scarecrows in the Park and explore it with a young child? Thanks to the local Kiwanis for supporting and organizing such a great event for the community.

Now back to regularly scheduled yarn, farm and color activities.

Scary, scary sheepcrow

I know you all have been waiting in anticipation for my October scarecrow post. For those of you new to the blog, here's what I built last year. Here's what other people built last year.

The backstory for new readers..... In Bernardston, MA there is a Scarecrow Festival. The local Kiwanis Club sponsors it and the community is invited to build scarecrows on the Town Common. The first year, over 80 scarecrows appeared. It was so much fun to see the creativity in the community. In subsequent years, the numbers have sadly dwindled. My friend Mike is one of the organizers and being the good friend I am, I feel pressured to participate and not let him down. I know it is a good thing for the town and once in a while, I should do something nice for my local community. I was rushed as usual and grasped at straws, knowing if it wasn't easy, I wouldn't do it. This book thing is cutting into my free time. So, in the rain. late Friday afternoon, Julia and I set up this year's scarecrow....

We call it "Julia had a scary lamb." It may look a bit familiar to you. I re-worked "Julia at the scarecrow field." To make the lamb, I pounded together some scraps of wood and staple gunned some raw wool I felted in the washing machine for last year's scarecrow sheep. The skull, courtesy of the local coyotes, topped it off. Mom, what were you thinking?

I was thinking it would be another scarecrow body for people to look at. After all, that's what is all about - the fun of fall and the harvest.


There was a big festival on Saturday to celebrate the scarecrows. It was really well attended and I heard the food was fabulous. Maybe next year, we can arrive at the festival early so we don't miss the food.

A Book Bag for Bag Ladies

I've always been a bag lady. Most knitters and stitchers are, aren't they? I've got bags all over the house hanging on doorknobs and chairbacks filled with projects and yarn and needles all in varying states of doneness. They are kind of comforting - I never feel like I am alone because there are always projects waiting to be worked on.

Last year, Pam Allen asked if I would do a bag for a new book she was working on which has become Bag Style. She wanted it something like this one which has been really popular on Interweave's download site. I suggested a "book bag" size - not too big so the knit fabric wouldn't stretch when the back got heavy but big enough for knitting projects or books and magazines.

Here my bag is on the backcover of Interweave's new "Bag Style."


And here it is inside.


I wanted to add some embroidery to it but wasn't sure if she would like it. So I compromised and made one side decorated with embroidery and the other plain.

Pam showed it both ways. Here is the original swatch with two different ideas for the embroidery. I decided on the blue one.



Yes, it is the same swatch but different light - what a difference light makes with color!

When I make bags with "bottoms" I use plastic needlpoint canvas for the bottom. I cut it to size and then sew it into the bottom of the bag. The holes in the canvas make it easy to sew to the knit fabric. Then I line the bag with a washable cotton. If the plastic canvas is attached securely all the way around, it won't shift while you are schlepping stuff. It also washes beautifully - much better than cardboard which will disintegrate. It is also very reasonable and readily available at craft stores.

I didn't want the handles to stretch because when bags get heavy, they get heavy. I braided many ends of the yarn together and then felted the braids. Then I trimmed them to the length I wanted and sewed them on really securely.

I hope I get this bag back to add to my bag collection.

Meeting and Greeting in Rhinebeck

The NYS Sheep and Wool Festival at Rhinebeck was so much fun yesterday! I wasn't expecting much because lots of times I just sit alone at a book signing. But boy, were the people there. I met so many of you who read my blog and other bloggers. It was just so nice to put faces with the blog names and meaningless stat numbers! I thank everyone who came and said hi. It really was great to meet each and every person. And thank you to Scott Meyer and Merritt Books for hosting the event.

We had one little box of Kristin Knits books and blew through them early in the day. The rest of the day I talked to knitters, husbands, and kids. It was so busy I didn't get a chance to talk to the other authors who were visiting which was sad. When you do these things, you're supposed to meet the people and I take it pretty seriously. Missed opportunities though to network with other writers! I also didn't have a minute to walk around and had to wait to see a live sheep until I got home late last night!

Saturday night I went to Morehouse Farm in Red Hook for their annual party. The store is so beautifully merchandised and it was packed with knitters. I'm glad I got to visit it because sadly I heard from Albrecht that they are closing the shop and going to concentrate on their on-line business.


It was so great to see lots of old friends and meet some new ones - especially Woolamena the Sheep. Seriously, Woolamena, aka Millie Bankert, is a dear friend of mine. She even knit a pair of socks for the new book. It was a bit disconcerting talking to a sheep and trying to catch up with our lives so we will have to have a phone conversation soon!

Boston - quickly

Great trip and talk with the Greater Boston Knitting Guild in Boston. Walking down Commonwealth Ave and Newbury Street reminded me of all the time The Farmer and I used to spend in the city when my sister Nancy lived on Boylston Street above the Pour House. The city is a bit more fancy than it was back then. What I love best about Boston is the old buildings, winding cattle paths that became roads, and sense of history. There is so much to do and never enough time.

The shopping is very good. Saw lots of sweater inspiration at Anthropologie and Oilily. I stayed at a B&B which is owned by The College Club one block off Boston Common. This must be the best kept secret in town – reasonable rates and lovely building with ceilings that are probably at least 3 times the height of mine. The rooms are all being redone by Boston decorators.

Great group to speak with and teach although there were so many people that it was hard to get to everyone. I think everyone left with a good feeling. Thank you Boston Knitting Guild for inviting me!

Off to Rhinebeck – if you are there on Sunday, please stop by and say hi. I’ll be in the “author tent.”

(FYI, Anthropologie is doing a great campaign now called Stitch. If you are a knitter or a stitcher, it is worth a look for design inspiration. Most of the clothes have handwork somewhere on them. Although they are all made in some foreign country by underpaid workers, the creative direction the chain presents is fun to look at. Someone there must be into knitting and handcrafts. Their parent company is Urban Outfitters, another fun store that I should have outgrown by now but I guess I'm still wishing I was a college kid.)

A very nice surprise

I'm home from Boston to find this. I do so enjoy Carol's Book Reviews and was hoping she would like my book. Phew! I can go to bed now.

Love Lies Bleeding

I am very in love with a plant called "Love Lies Bleeding" also known as Amaranthus caudatus. I've grown it off and on for years, buying plants when I can find them. Once in a while, I pick up other colors including chartreuse and orange. There are many other related plants that give similar effects and I am crazy over all of them. I've got to try to plant some next year at the sunflower field because they blend so nicely with the yellow shades of sunflowers.


I plant my Love Lies Bleeding in my vegetable garden and then let the plants go without picking them until the end of the season. The flowers sometimes get big and gnarly and drippy. Some years my flowers have thinner tassels. Whatever the look and variety, they are spectacular in a vase at this time of year.


The Victorians were also crazy over Love Lies Bleeding and by looking at it, you should be able to tell why. What a totally decorative, showy, dramatic flower. I have it arranged here with my wacky Chinese Foo Dogs, some bottle gourds from last year, and an unmatched pair of cloisonne vases. I love how all the colors play together in this photo.


William Wordsworth wrote a poem about the plant.

Love Lies Bleeding
by William Wordsworth

You call it, Love lies bleeding, -- so you may,
Though the red Flower, not prostrate, only droops,
As we have seen it here from day to day,
From month to month, life passing not away:
A flower how rich in sadness! .........

Read the rest of the poem here:

In years past, I have used the blooms from my garden in oil paintings. It's fun to see how I portrayed the flower in the painting and what they look like in my garden this year. I hope I get to paint this year's crop this winter.




I'm off to Boston today for a talk and a class on Friday morning at the Boston Knitting Guild. Hope to see some of you there. The talk is at 10:30 at the College Club at 44 Commonwealth Ave.

Returning from Stitches

I’m back from Stitches East in Baltimore. It was a whirlwind trip and definitely worthwhile. I met a whole bunch of knitters who read my blog. I must say, that was one of the highlights of the two short days I was in Baltimore. I wish I had written down who I met, but I didn’t think that far ahead.

Once I got to the Convention Center, I helped my friend Linda Pratt from Westminster Fibers set up her booth. We did this together for many years when we worked at CEY and so it was definitely a blast from the past. After we got it all organized, it was time for the Kaffe Fassett presentation up in a giant room jam-packed with knitters knitting and eager to hear what Kaffe had to say. Linda’s company Westminster Fibers, distributors of Rowan, Nashua (where my yarn Julia resides), Regia, Schaenmayer, Gedifra, and a few more companies, generously sponsored the Kaffe event. That meant it was FREE to anyone who wanted to come. How nice was that of them? Bet you didn’t think about that, did you? It's not often you get to hear such a fabulous talk without paying anything!

Linda and Brandon Mably (Kaffe's studio manager, designer, and from what I hear, quite a fabulous teacher) did quick and humorous introductions and then Kaffe showed a wonderful slide show of his work. What I enjoyed most was seeing all that he produces. Seriously, when do these people sleep considering the travel schedule they also keep up? Kaffe showed mosaics, knits, textile design, oil paintings and amazing tapestry commissions which are housed in private collections all over the world. I found his tapestries most intriguing. He said he worked on 8 mesh canvas and used three ends of yarn at a time to cover the canvas quickly with large stitches. They were beautiful. It’s so great to see an artist who works in textiles and so many different mediums be so successful and well thought of. When I visit different cities, I like to take in a museum if I have time. I didn't need to this time - Kaffe's talk gave me enough cultural and artistic stimulation for days. Kaffe and Brandon are on a tour of the USA and if you have a chance to see them or take a class with them, I know you won’t be disappointed. Click here for their travel schedule.

Kaffe previewed his new book Kaffe Knits Again which was shot at Charleston House in Sussex, England. (As Kaffe said “Did I ever stop knitting?”) This fabulous home to the painters from the Bloomsbury Group - Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, children, and large extended family was the perfect setting for Kaffe's new knits. My friend Sally and I visited Charleston House several years ago and loved seeing the painted interiors, oil paintings, needlepoints, handmade pottery, antique furniture, and general creative atmosphere. If you are interested in knitwear and color and creativity, you will so enjoy this book. Many of the motifs are Kaffe’s signature designs, re-colored for this new book. There are garments for men and women and some lovely home décor.

The next day, I gave my speech at around noon. Benjamin Levisay, the CEO of XRX, Inc. did a little magic with my PowerPoint presentation and made it a bit spiffier – which I really appreciated – since I am a novice with PP. My Mom and my good friend Peggy surprised me by showing up at the talk which was fun and rather emotional. The attendees seemed very happy and I got many good questions. Friendly group and not too scary. After the talk, I signed the air-freighted copies of my new book down in the marketplace. It was so nice to talk with real knitters who enjoy what I do.

At the big Fashion Show at night, with 850 people in the audience, Alexis Xenakis (Publisher of Knitters Magazine) surprised me by introducing me and making me come up on the stage to say a few words. I had to think very fast – I had absolutely no warning – I told a quick version of this post. The lights were blaring in my face, I couldn’t see a thing, and I am hoping I made some bit of sense. One of my garments from The Book was in the Fashion Show and the audience seemed to love it – thank goodness.

The best thing about this visit to Stitches was seeing many old friends including David, Elaine, Benjamin, and Alexis from XRX, Nancy Thomas and Sally Harding, and several of the retailers I spent many years selling yarn to. I also loved re-meeting many of the knitters I met at the first few Stitches along with so many new faces. As I said to Alexis, it has been a decade since I was last at one of these shows. We’ve all gotten a decade older and hopefully wiser. I was feeling a bit self-conscious about seeing everyone again but thank goodness, they have more wrinkles too!

I think back to what Stitches was when it first began, a down-home event with enthusiastic knitters curious for all the knowledge they could gather. It isn’t much different now – but it is glossier, much better attended (there were probably 4 to 5 times the number of attendees since the last show I was at!), and the Convention Venue was so professional. The message was still the same though – live and love, knit and stitch, learn and share.

What a nice few days……

Don't Miss Fiber Twist October 27th & 28th

I love the month of October – the weather, the changing colors of the falling leaves, the anticipation of a fire in the fireplace and knitting on the needles. In New England, fall is a great time to be outside enjoying our landscape and celebrating at harvest festivals before the real weather sets in. This year, I’ll be doing a bit of traveling to promote my book - including Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Fair.

But there’s one very special event you might like to come to and its right here in my home county. Fiber Twist happens on the 27th and 28th of October. I’m setting up a small booth at the Marketplace and I’ll be signing books and selling kits. The marketplace is full of friendly vendors and exotic fibers. NOTE THAT THE MARKETPLACE IS ONLY OPEN ON SATURDAY THE 27TH! Several farms are open to the public both days. You can visit llamas, yaks, alpacas, sheep, angora goats and more. The farms are scattered throughout the county and the whole thing is a great adventure.

If you are looking for a place to stay, check out my friend Donna’s House on the Hill in Greenfield. We’re only 2 hours from Boston and 1 hour north of Hartford. Franklin County is one of the best kept secrets of Massachusetts – great food, agriculture, natural wonders, outdoor adventures. And if you do come, make sure you stop by my booth at Memorial Hall on Saturday.

Diane Kanzler has done a great job at organizing Fiber Twist. I think it is going to be one of those festivals that grows larger over the years. Right now, it still has a very friendly feeling – something that the big fiber fairs like Rhinebeck, Maryland and Stitches have lost. So if you can, discover this gem in its infancy when it is still fun and a giant secret.

And check out the Artwork page on my website where I now offer this postcard of our sheep in packs of 10 for $7.50. You can buy it with the handy dandy new shopping cart feature of my website (thanks again to Lori and Chris)!

"The Book" Update

Today was the day my new book was to ship from the warehouse to me. Unfortuantely, it is not happening. I have been on the phone with Storey, my publisher. The newest update is that “the book” will be in their warehouse October 31st. All I know is…. “there was a problem with the printer or the shipper in China.” But I have been told that, yes, now it is on a boat heading towards the USA.

I come to this whole author thing backwards. I worked for a yarn company for several years and I am no stranger to shipping delays. Here’s what we used to hear from our “freight forwarders” (the people who took the freight from the factory who made the yarn in a foreign country to the boat and tracked it until it got to a port in the States).

1. Your yarn got bumped for a load of roses. Roses have priority over yarn – they are perishable. (If yarn is perishable, what about books?)

2. The boat didn’t make it to the States yet. It took the slow route through the Mediterranean – stopping at every large port along the way, then stopped in Panama before it got to Boston. Yes, the trip took 3 months – that’s not unusual.

3. Your yarn is stuck in Boston. It came from Peru so they are opening every box and inspecting it with dogs for possible drugs. We're hoping they will be done with it by next week. And yes, the storage fees will continue to accumulate.

4. Remember that Letter of Credit you did for us so that we would get paid? Well, we were so late on the manufacturing that the L/C expired. You’ll have to open a new one and then we will ship to you.

As you can imagine, the list goes on and on. Stuff happens in business that is beyond control - especially an author's. I feel rather helpless at the moment. I have taken orders and I will keep you updated. But I promise you, the book is lovely and it will be worth the short wait.

In the meantime, I thank all of you who have ordered their own “autographed” copies from moi. It’s not too late to order and I will have them in stock, once they arrive in the USA, for a very long time. It has been great to have so much support from the on-line community in the way of personal orders.

To you, The Farmer, Julia, and I are eternally grateful.

Zinnias Now and Later

I know it is about over for the flowers in my garden. I have been so busy picking sunflowers and stocking our stand in Greenfield, I haven’t had any time to tend to my favorite zinnias. Lucky for me, the frost is late and I’ve had a few days of gathering bouquets. Normally I have bouquets in every corner of the house when the zinnias are doing their thing.


Last spring, when I was at the Westminster sales meeting, Adina Klein gave me a copy of Sasha Kagan’s new book Crochet Inspiration. I have looked through it several times and although I am not much of a crocheter, it has intrigued me. I have always held Sasha Kagan in high regard – her long career has been full of beautiful work. When I think of Sasha, I think of her knitted flower sweaters. This book is a departure and it looks like she had a very fun time creating it. The layout and the photos are amazingly beautiful. There are only a few projects in it but the stitch pattern photos make me want to try each and every stitch. It is a little higher in price than most stitch dictionaries but it is hardcover which means it will live on nicely in a hard used craft library. I don’t consider this a book for the beginning crocheter – there are no actual how-tos for each and every individual stitch (half double, treble….. etc.). But the book sure is beautiful and worth every penny. Because it has been over 30 years since I have crocheted very much, I used Candi Jensen's Hooked on Crochet to refresh my memory on the basic stitches. Another great book by a good friend of mine.

This past weekend, I grabbed some odd sample balls of Creative Focus Mohair from Nashua. Along with Sasha’s book and a crochet hook, I made these crocheted zinnias. They’re going to help remind me of my flowers after the frost finally comes. The mohair is super soft – crocheting with it was like crocheting with a spider’s silk. The finished flowers just floated to the ground when finished - the yarn is so light and has a lovely loft to it. I used a rather large hook (can’t remember which size, sorry).

I added a little contrasting embroidery stitches using Julia Yarn. I’m going to sew the flowers on some plain wool store-bought sweaters that Julia has. Then if anyone asks her if her mother made her sweater, at least she’ll be able to say I made the flowers. She has grown so much this summer that I know none of last year's handknits will fit her and I haven't started making her another handknit wardrobe just yet! The bigger she gets, the longer it takes to make a sweater. Oh, I wish they wouldn't grow so quickly - for many reasons!

Leaf Peeping?

Today is the 8th of October and by the history that I’ve got hidden somewhere in my little brain, this past weekend (the weekend after my birthday) should be peak foliage here in our corner of the world. But instead, it has been in the 70’s and 80’s with no rain for a very long time. Lots of the oak trees have dropped their leaves.

Instead of the red and orange and gold of the maples we usually experience on this past weekend, we still have zinnias blooming and blooming - oh how I love their exuberance. I'll take the extra blooms in my vases and kitchen while I can.


I really do look forward to leaf-peeping season every year. It is my very favorite time of year – I break out all the woolens and go for long walks in the crisp, newly cold air. Instead, we have…… Beautiful red dahlia’s blooming .....


And my tomatoes are still ripening. It seems I planted very few red tomatoes this year and the sauce I am putting away is more orange than red. Oh, the trouble with heirlooms tomatoes, nary a red tomato!


The sunflowers on the other hand, have finished their show and the birds are enjoying the fruits of their labors. We've put out some beautiful large pumpkins onto the self-serve haywagon and we're hoping they get purchased before they get squashed!

I never get to making pesto until frost is threatened. Since that hasn’t happened yet, my basil is still growing and blooming. But tomorrow I am going to get to that basil and mix up several batches of pesto to put away for the winter. Black fingernails without polish for sure.

Returning to Stitches

When I had a real job and I was in my 20’s, nothing was impossible. I worked with an odd but fun group of women – most but not all of us were young and willing to try and do anything to make the little yarn business a success. That’s the thing about youth, it knows no bounds and everything is possible. I still live my life that way to a certain extent (yes, let’s plant a field of sunflowers and maybe someone will buy some, let’s move to the country and try to make ends meet) but I am also a bit more careful and thoughtful about my hair-brained schemes.

Which leads me to my appearance next Friday at Stitches Market in Baltimore, Maryland. It has been years and years since I was at a Stitches Market. It was before Julia and our present farmhouse and 200 plus sheep and pigs. It was before Knitting for Baby, Kids Embroidery, Colorful Stitchery, and Kristin Knits. It was when I was idealistic about a lot of stuff and before life really whacked me in the face.

I think it was the late 80’s. The people at XRX, Inc. (my friends Alexis, Elaine, and David) cooked up a plan for Stitches Convention and Market. I was working for Classic Elite Yarns. We had always advertised with Knitters Magazine and I had enjoyed many a long, loud Greek dinner with the XRX gang. When they thought up this (at that time) crazy idea for a knitting convention and market, I was in total whole-hearted support. I signed us up for a booth not knowing what to expect but hoping for the best.

The first show was held in Cherry Hill, NJ at a race track. My co-worker Cathy and I borrowed our boss’s daughter’s van. We took out the seats and loaded it up with yarn and display items. When we got about 20 miles out of Lowell, we promptly ran out of gas. Thank goodness we weren’t too far from a gas station and we were able to con someone into getting us going again. We drove to Cherry Hill and met up with Linda Pratt who was selling yarn somewhere in NJ to stores.

We set up a booth on the first floor of the race track. Upstairs there was betting and racing, downstairs there was yarn. The specifics are a bit fuzzy to me. The Saturday evening gala banquet was held in a white tent outside the race track with heaters and fans - everyone was still freezing.

The whole trip and the first “Stitches” was a comedy of errors - everyone was finding their way – the vendors (at the first market there were even needlepointers and cross-stitchers), the students, and the people who were putting the show on. If the first show was any indication, they should never have done it again. Students were upset, the accommodations were pretty awful.

But as with failed knitting projects, you rip out, analyze and try again. There was a general good vibe about the possibility of the thing. I was still whole-heartedly in support of “Stitches” going on and offered as much moral support as possible to the people at XRX. I had the confidence that the XRX people could turn Stitches into something good. But that racetrack location had to go!

The next year, we rented a very large Ryder truck. I drove it, loaded with display items, mannequins and junk yarn we were going to consign to our customers. The location had been moved to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. My co-workers Cathy and Valerie and I drove this truck loaded from Lowell, en route to PA. Very late at night on Route 80 in NJ, about 10 miles west of NYC, the truck broke down. We were stuck, before cell phones, and stranded with a big truck and lots of yarn. Luckily, an immense 18 wheeler sensed our distress, pulled up behind us and offered us help. We sat in the truck, hoping someone nice was coming to save the day. The truck driver, a huge burly guy with the biggest arms I have ever seen, called Ryder for help. He waited with us while they came and towed the truck. My mom picked us up at the Ryder depot (thanks again Mom) and we stayed with my parents. The next day, we got a new truck but we had to shift all that yarn and stuff to the new truck. Then, off we went.

We met up again with Linda Pratt at Valley Forge and set up our booth and passed out all the junk consignment yarn to shopowners. Upstairs there was a gun show. Another odd combination – yarn and guns? My co-workers and I volunteered to run the fashion show at the banquet and became dressers, commentators and stylists. We met knitters from all over the country. I taught some of the most fun classes I ever have – the students were warm and happy to learn whatever it was I was teaching. It was a great time and everyone knew that something big was in the making. The hotel accommodations were pretty awful but it didn’t seem to matter to us.

I continued to attend and teach at Stitches events for several years – I went to the West Coast Stitches and Camp Stitches (very pregnant where I roomed and met Sally Melville for the first time – what a great woman). My company stopped doing supporting booths (where you only promote, don’t sell). The market became bigger and more crazy and frantic. Knitters were fighting over yarn and books. Book signing lines were a mile long. Knitters were dropping thousands of dollars in a weekend. It was quite a scene.

I lost my enthusiasm as the venue got bigger. I found that the students got more demanding and less friendly – they felt more entitled and the more you gave them, the more unhappy they got. I decided to “retire” from Stitches because it wasn’t any fun for me anymore.

So now, I am returning, next Friday the 11th at the Baltimore Stitches. I’m doing an author talk in a large room at 11:45. I’m struggling to learn PowerPoint and to produce a slide show that people will like. I’m hoping knitters won’t be disappointed because I’m only me, a knitter from the countryside dreaming up ideas for them to knit somewhere else, in lovely yarns and colors.

If you are going, look for me. There will be 250 copies of my book there, the first copies to hit these shores. I’ll sign them – at booths, at my talk, wherever you can find me. And I’ll try to put on an entertaining slide show letting you in on my creative process as a knitwear designer. I’m pretty sure there are still seats left. Click here for more information.

But most of all, I want to have the fun I had of the first Stitches, as crazy and disorganized and spontaneous as it was.

See you there!

A new year for me and lots of new things

My birthday was the other day and as with birthdays around here, we like to stretch them out into birthday festivals. The Farmer, Julia and I spent the actual day in Boston going to the Museum of Fine Arts, walking our big and little feet off around town, drinking tea and eating chocolate cake at Tealuxe on Newbury Street and visting the Copley Plaza Hotel and the Ritz on the Park (which is now the Taj). Julia’s comment on going to Boston was “Oh, this is great – I’m going to Boston and I won’t be going to the hospital or the doctor.” Guess we had better do some more fun trips to town…..


I want to thank the anonymous person who sent me this book this past summer. It came in a box from Nebraska with a note that said Happy Birthday! I haven’t known who to thank – so thank you Kind Person. Golden Fleece is a charming account of a young woman, Hughie Call, as she adapts to being the wife of a sheep rancher. She is a great story-teller and although sheep raising in The West is a bit different than raising sheep on a small farm in New England, I have found many similarities to our lives and the cycles of the farming year.

I met up with Amy Greeman from Storey last week very early one morning as she dropped her children off at a local school. Look what she gave me – my advance copy of Kristin Knits. I have been waiting with great anticipation to seeing the bound, finished book. There were many elements to the book which I didn’t know about and I was hoping I would be pleased. The back cover? Nice. Thanks to Amy at Knitty.com for the great quote. The endpaper? The hard cover binding? The index? The photographic reproductions and cropping? The chapter openers? Well, all my questions are now answered and I am relieved. I’m not going to reveal anything to you though – that would take all the surprise out of cracking open a new book, wouldn’t it? The book was a nice early birthday surprise.

One of the best birthday presents I got was from my friends, Lori and Chris. They built a “shopping cart” for my website. How cool is that? Now anyone can order directly from my site and check out with Paypal. I am so very excited about this gift – I feel like I have really entered big-time time internet commerce. Lori and Chris built my website a few years ago and keep tweaking and updating it for me. But this is the best! Thanks you guys! I am overwhelmed!

I'm thinking a chocolate cake may be due to add an extra weekend to the birthday celebration!