On Friday afternoon, I’m heading down to Granby, CT to teach two classes at the Ewephoric Knitting Weekend on Saturday sponsored by Marji's Yarncrafts. I’m teaching an edgings class and a color class. Both have space and so if you have been yearning to take a class with me and you have a free day, call Marji’s Yarncrafts at 860-653-9700. I'll be leaving my family and animals home to fend for themselves. I know they can do it even though they sometimes lead me to believe they aren't capable. Good thing I'm not too gullible.
I have taught at the Ewephoric Knitting Weekend several times. The annual weekend was started probably fifteen or more years ago by Phyllis Fishberg who owned The Wool Connection. I taught at her very first weekend event – I think I may have taught felting knits – way before it was an important trend and commonplace in the knitting world. I have returned several times since - if a bit sporadically - to spread my knitting knowledge. I love the knitters who come to this weekend – it’s more low key and relaxed than some of the larger conferences which makes it a lovely place for me to teach – not quite as stressful - and a great place for knitters to learn and share.Phyllis Fishberg and her husband Bob entertained me for many years in their home when I taught at their Ewephoric Weekend. I used to bring them lamb chops as a house gift which they always got a big kick out of. Phyllis and Bob were some of the kindest, hardest working people I met when I was doing my job at TYC (the yarn company). When I think of the job I had at CEY, some of my fondest memories are of the people I sold to and developed products for. When you work for a yarn company, you aren’t only working for your company – you are working for your retailers. You are trying to develop new products and new ideas that will bring them success and keep them in business. Of course, you too are trying to keep yourself in business, in a job that pays you, stocks yarn, and ships your product throughout the USA. But it is a mutual arrangement – making the retailers happy and interested usually results in them selling more of your particular product. The goal was for all of us to have success and make the knitter happy. Sometimes I miss those days.Now, I am on the other side of things and it is a bit different. As an author, I am thinking mostly about my creative self – about bringing my particular designs to fruition in the form of the printed page. I have to think about making a product that knitters will want to buy – designs that are original, enticing, interesting to knit. But I also have to like it myself - enought so that I don't mind my name and reputation being associated with the designs - for ever after. All the time I am designing, I am thinking about the cohesive collection I am creating. It’s a tall order, if I do say so myself. I always love what I am creating as I am creating it and always hope that the knitter will like it to – so much so that they will part with their money and buy my book and my yarn to knit with.Designers and authors are fed by their knitting public, whether they really think about it or not. That’s why I relish the upcoming weekend where I will have a chance to talk with knitters out there who are passionate about their craft. I will teach them some tricks but they will teach me too. Most times the class participants aren’t aware that they are teaching me, but they are. I’m always listening for comments, raves, complaints…. It puts me in touch with what knitters are looking for or not.Come and learn if you can. It should be a lovely day of sharing knowledge amongst ourselves. What a great way to start off spring. I’ll have lots of great samples from my upcoming book and I hope I will inspire everyone who takes my classes.
I've named this post Going Dotty because that is how I feel. Do you see how the dots are a bit blurry? That's what my brain feels like..... I've spent hours working in Adobe Illustrator, tweaking charts for my next book. Years ago, when I worked at CEY, doing pre-press charts and desk-top publishing was a major part of my job. As a designer and author for the past few years, I haven't had to worry about all the pre-press production of charts and schematics, nor the niggly little things I used to do in Quark to get our patterns to press. It was a mind-boggling amount of work but I got rather good at it.
This week, I've been doing all the clean-up of the knitting charts for my new book that is being published in the fall by Soho. It takes a long time - a very long time.... With every chart I get a little quicker, thank goodness. I'm on a crunch for delivering the project which makes me nervous and anxious - more anxious than some of the other book deadlines I have had.
This book has been in an on-going fashion for over two years now. This morning, I received a copy of the cover that Diane Lamphron, the Art Director, has designed. I was so excited to see one of the photos with type on it and with my name. This part of the book process begins to feel fulfilling as it starts to come to life. I shared it with my little family at breakfast and they approved.
I think this is a first try on the cover - I'm not sure this is how the book will actually look but it is nice to see progress being made. What do you all think?
I never posted the names of the winners from Thursday and Friday last week. Sorry 'bout that - this week has been chart heaven..... They were Carol from Boston area - she won the Baby Day. Katrina from Utah won the Grand Prize. Carol and Katrina - your boxes of yarn went out today by US Mail. Look for them soon. You'll be getting the books and DVD directly from the publishers and t.v. producer.
Thanks to all of you for entering - it was great fun and I am still digesting all the comments. What fabulous readers I have.
p.s. Yes, you will be able to order books directly from me on my website in the fall. The whole book is still quite a ways off - sometime in October or so. I can't deal with early orders with Paypal, etc. Just all too confusing and time consuming for my little brain. But I can promise you that about a month before the book is due, I will put signed copies up for sale on my website. In fact - I count on selling lots of signed copies and really appreciate it if my blog readers will buy from me and keep this old farm and blog going...... Thank you very much!
It’s been a good week for sugaring. The nights have been really cold and days up in the 40’s and 50’s. The cold evenings and warm days are key to a successful sugaring season. The sap runs good during the days. All through the little hilltowns, farmers are collecting the sap. They pump the sap out of the giant barrels into tanks on the back of their trucks. Some farmers still use galvanized buckets with lids to collect their sap. Being an old-fashioned girl I prefer seeing the buckets hanging on the trees. But pipeline is much more efficient and time-saving.
Just up the road from our house there’s a great look at past and current sugaring technology. On the left, you can see pipeline and a big plastic lidded barrel. On the right you can see the old-fashioned buckets hanging on the trees. They’re both doing the same thing, collecting sap.
Most farmers who make syrup do it for fun, for an additional income, and to be outside amongst the trees and all that nature has to offer. It’s a whole bunch of work but a project a whole family can help with. The season is short – about six weeks from start to finish. As The Farmer says, by the time they are sick of it, it’s over. That’s an easy way to farm, considering all the hours and months we put into our sheep and lambs. Most sell the syrup by direct marketing or many sell it over the internet. Most small producers I know have a list of customers who have found them while traveling through the area. The travelers become customers for life – having their syrup shipped to California, Florida, even Japan. Or they take a drive from Boston during sugaring season to pick up a half gallon to last them through the year. My neighbors just up the road tap many, many trees. Sugaring season is a family project for all of them. We sugar vicariously through them – like many of you said you “sheep farm” vicariously through my blog! We did make syrup for a few years when we first moved here which was great fun but when Julia was diagonosed with diabetes we decided to put away our evaporating pan for awhile. It didn’t seem fair to tempt her unnecessarily. Our neighbors are resourceful Yankee country people. They re-cycled way before it was cool. For them, re-cycling is just regular life. They may have piles of stuff around their barns, but for them, everything has a purpose and another life. We are forever asking them if they might have this or that…. The answer is always yes – it’s out in the barn. 
Here’s their sugar shack. One of their dairy farmer friends wasn’t using his silo anymore. They took the top off the silo and turned it into a funky sugar shack. Inside the wood is stacked around the edges. There’s a little boiler where they spend evenings feeding the fire. This year they’re getting lots of their wood from a business they know which is doing some demolition. They’re taking all the wood and using it for fuel. It is staying out of the landfill and turning their sap into sweet syrup.
If you can, take a drive to sugar country this weekend. You’ll partake in one of the rituals of spring. Here's a recipe for you I developed a few years ago. It's a great way to add a little maple flavor to pork or a roast chicken. Enjoy.
Kristin's Maple Spice Mud Rub
5 cloves garlic mashed with a little olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. I like this best on pork or chicken. Before grilling outside, I rub the mud all over the meat and then grill as usual. I also use it on pork roast that I cook in the oven.
Last weekend I took Julia and her friend Bridget to the Eric Carle Picture Book Art Museum. It was the beginning of the birthday celebration for The Caterpillar's 40th Birthday and Eric's 80th Birthday. There's always something fun to do there. They have started a project that everyone can participate in - even you who live far away.They are collecting butterflies that kids make and hanging them on the beautiful glass walls of the museum. There were quite a few already hanging but I can envision thousands more. The next day, Julia and her friends Matthew and Bridget and I worked on this project. We used oil pastels (like Craypas) and made colored papers in the style of Eric Carle. We used colored construction paper as the base and the kids had a great time layering colors on top of each other. Then we did a little smearing and scratching with knitting needle.
They were about done after the paper making paper so I took directions from them and did the fine cutting and gluing. It was a fun project and we're going to drop the butterflies off in Amherst within the next week.
If you want to participate, send your butterflies to: Batches of Butterflies
The Eric Carle Museum
125 West Bay Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Have fun!
All through the back roads of our little town, things are a-buzzing. Not exactly the bee variety but the tree variety of buzz. Maple trees to be specific, that is. It’s time for “sugaring.” I can sense the activity as I drive around. The enthusiasm for a ritual of spring has a rather festive feeling – even if there are no festivities of the formal matter. What’s actually going on is a very old-fashioned harvest. The maple trees are being tapped by drilling a hole or two in the trunk of the tree. The sap that rises during the day as the temperature increases runs out the drilled holes and into a collecting vessel of some type. After the sap is collected, it’s taken back to the sugarhouse where the real excitement - if a bit slow and really low key - takes place.
Tucked away in back yards, in the middle of the woods, by the side of the road, are these funny little structures – all built by hand by someone. They’re called “sugar shacks.” Some are new, some are very old (the one pictured above was built by a long gone farmer in 1938 - it's still in use today by the Johnson Family). Sugar shacks are by no means fancy – basically a roof and wood sides covering a rectangular metal evaporating pan. Sometimes there is a recycled window or two. There are always shelves along the sides for the few supplies needed. Under the metal evaporating pan, there is a furnace for a source of heat. Some folks use oil but the traditional way to sugar is by heating the pan with wood in a furnace. There is always a vent of some sort for the steam to escape.
Sugar shacks are warm places – the closer you get to the evaporator, the warmer they are. You’ve got to be careful not to trip which makes taking little kids to some of these home grown operations a bit dicey. But little kids love anything sweet and so the pull of the maple syrup is undeniable. For me, the pull of the sugar shack is the tradition that began with the Native American Indians who taught the colonists how to make syrup out of water that comes out of trees. A lot of townspeople I know, drive around town, checking to see “who’s boiling.” It's easy to spot - you look for a long plume of steam escaping into the blue sky. Then they stop in, catch up on a year’s worth of gossip, try not to distract the maple farmer too much for fear the sap will burn. There’s a fine line of done, or not done and you can’t leave the evaporator for a minute. Turn your back, and the whole batch can turn to char. The farmer stands there stirring, scooping, checking the consistency of the sap, seeing how close it is to syrup.
When it is just right, the syrup is released out the side of the evaporator. It’s pure gold – sweet and sticky. If you have never had real maple syrup, it’s one of the things you need to eat once in your life. It is nothing like that fake stuff they sell in the grocery store. Besides the normal uses like pancakes, I use it in marinades, to baste hams and pork, and in homemade bread as a substitute for sugar. 
If you're looking to take a ride this weekend, check out the "sugar shacks" of western Massachusetts. Many are open to the public and offer all day breakfasts of pancakes, waffles, and sugar on snow.
Here's The Jumper and her little ones. Aren't those little backends the cutest with their fluffy legs and long tails? There are two boys and one girl. They are still penned up by themselves but all are nursing and seem to be getting along well. It's a good thing her udder is so large and droopy and her wool isn't as long as many of our sheep. It makes it a little easier for the babies to get at the milk. I'm pretty sure there will be a pecking order on who gets the most food and who is nudged away by the more aggressive lambs. It's going to be interesting to see how they grow.
This is it - the last day of the big four day blogiversary giveaway here at "Getting Stitched on the Farm." Thanks so much to all who have entered and spent their time typing answers to questions in Blogger - I know it can sometimes be frustrating and things don't get through (like my mom's comments - she can never get it to work). It is very touching to know that you would take the time out of your busy day. I urge you, if you do have the time, the comments the past few days have been very interesting and are worth a read.You all know how I work alone.... putting this and that project together, waiting for them to get into print, hiding the projects until I can reveal them. It seems that I never do make anything, doesn't it? Keeping this blog has become a special part of my life and I thank every single one of you for reading and indulging me on my soapbox once in a while. One thing I did learn this week from running this contest is that I have very interesting blog readers! It has shown in the comments section!
Today, I have a really lovely set of prizes. I want this last question to make you think a bit... I've been thinking about "creativity" lately. I often hear people say as I travel around town "Oh, you're so creative... I just can't do it. I want to, but I can't." I always say to them that "Oh yes you can." When I go to teach classes, when I can get myself off the farm, I hear a lot of the same. Knitters will say "I'm not good with color. I can't do embroidery."
For me, that is all a bit hard to understand. I am so ensconsed in making things, designing things, all the time that I can't understand when someone says they can't do it. I personally think that everyone has a creative bone in their body - it is just buried under layers of supposed education, doing things the right way, feeling hemmed in by life's necessities and daily chores. I try to help people find their inner designer, help them to have the confidence to step outside their box. Even The Farmer last summer declared himself an artist. (I must be getting to him.) He told me that the sunflowers were his art. And I whole heartedly believe him - and have always thought so. Creativity can be found in many walks of life - it doesn't mean paper and paint, needle and yarn, guitar and voice. Art is everywhere - if you look for it.
So that is the topic of the question of the day? (It came to me at 2:05 a.m.) What makes you feel creative? Do you have any rituals you go through to get your creative juices flowing? Is there anyone you look to for inspiration? What is your art of choice? (Think outside and inside the box here folks.) Did you have a special mentor in your life that made you feel creative and helped to develop your talents? Do you find certain stumbling blocks to your creative path and how do you get over them?
That's it - run with it. Can't wait to see what you write. There are some fabulous prizes today! First off is the hot off the DVD press of the latest season of Knit and Crochet Today - Season 200B which is not even for sale yet. This has been kindly donated by my friend Candi Jensen, Producer of the K&CT Series for PBS.
The second part of the prize is some Julia Yarn donated by Nashua Handknits. Whoever wins this bunch of yarn is getting one skein each of the four new shades of Julia along with a few of the already established colors. What a coup - yarn colors even before the sales reps see them! (sssshhhhhhh - don't tell!) The third and fourth parts of the prize are copies of my books Colorful Stitchery and Kristin Knits donated by the kind folks at Storey Publishing. The fifth part of the prize is a complete set of my postcards - both knitting, floral, and sheep related.
You have until noon on Saturday to sign up. Have a great weekend everyone!
Shelly in Bellingham, Washington was the big winner of Wednesday's prizes. Congrats to her.
A lovely looking lamb on a grey day.....
On top of the manure pile - they don't mind - they think it is a mountain!
Well, this Blogiversary thing has certainly turned into a lot of fun. I hope that if you have time, you will read through all the comments that have been left. Yesterday's topic about FOOD certainly hit a chord. And I don't think it is about the prizes either - so many people are passionate about their food. I sense a general trend growing within the USA and it's good. So read through if you can find the time.....I actually started this Blogiversary Celebration because I have a pretty busy week happening with more book deadlines -- things to pull together and illustrations to tweak. Every night I go to bed wondering what I can dream up overnight for the next day's topic to win the prize. I've got my prizes under control due to the generosity of some fine folks. But the topics - that have now become very important for me and my family - those topics for the discussion! Last night I printed out all of Tuesday's comments and The Farmer is still reading through them (he is a Luddite and will not look at a computer).Today's topic is books and magazines. You all know we are rather bookish around here. Books spill out on every surface. They are piled up in stacks, holding up other objects. They are not categorized by section in the different bookcases - they once were but it is a jumble now. This is unfortunate because sometimes we go looking for a certain book and it eludes us - mostly because it is read so often and doesn't get put back to where it belongs.Last weekend, Julia and I went to Dedham, MA to stay with my niece while her family was away. It was a bit of a vacation for us from the mud and we got to spend three days with my mom which is always a joy. When we go to Dedham, we always make it a point to stop by The Blue Bunny. It is a kids bookstore and becoming a bit of a great resource for lovely, educational games and toys. It is located in Dedham Square and we can walk to it from Laurie's house. Sometimes we visit there two or three times. It is run by the lovely Janet Reynolds and way back when, I did a class for her on Kids Embroidery when they first opened.The Blue Bunny is owned by the Reynolds Family - as in Peter H. Reynolds and his twin brother Paul. They also run a company in Boston called Fablevision. You may recognize Peter's name if you have children. He is the illustrator of the very popular children's book series "Judy Moody." He also writes many books on his own including two of my favorite kids books - The Dot and Ish. The Reynolds Family is all about fostering creativity in the arts with children and helping them to become and stay creative. I must admit, Julia has become quite the stalker. Every time she goes to The Blue Bunny, she asks for Peter H. Reynolds. (She never forgets the H and he has told her what it stands for - I can't remember but I'm sure she can.) He is an extremely busy guy and I always explain to her that he probably won't be around. She writes him notes - well not exactly notes, but letters -- and leaves them for him to read including book reviews of his work. He sends her postcards in the mail. Last weekend, we went to the Blue Bunny and she did her thing.... "Is Peter H. Reynolds around?" And the answer was "Yes, he's across the street. I'm sure he would love to see you Julia!" You should have seen her smile. We purchased a few things and went across the street. Peter and his wife Diana are opening a gallery called "The Heart of the Square" and they were there working. He is the kindest man. He spent at least 30 minutes with Julia talking about all kinds of things. Julia is like a sponge and they have had a dialog going for a little while now. She remembers everything he ever said to her and frequently brings them up again. She asks about his new projects, what is happening to his old projects (like the Judy Moody movie she is really hoping will happen someday), when his next book is coming out. Then they talk about our sheep and animals and what she is doing. She told him about the script she is writing based on the Judy Moody and Stink books. And about the "adaptation" she is doing of another one of the Judy Moody books. He stood there listening intently. It was just lovely and I thank him for being so patient and encouraging with my little girl.Which leads me to my next topic - Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is turning 40 this year. It has just been published in a fabulous pop-up version which I saw last weekend. Those pop-up books are great. This weekend in Amherst at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, they are having a big shindig for the Caterpillar's Birthday. If you are local and have kids, you might want to stop by.Which leads me to today's topic. If you are interested in winning the prize, please answer the following question or questions:What is your favorite book or magazine? What was your favorite book when you were a kid? What are your kids favorite books? What is your favorite cookbook? What is your favorite knitting or craft book? You get the gist - write why if you have time. What do books mean to you? Are you worried about the "death of print"? Have you given up print to only read on-line? Do you have a Kindle?
As usual, anything bookish or magazine-ish goes and there is no judgement here!
Here are today's prizes are:
Five balls of Julia Yarn donated by my friends at Nashua Handknits
A copy of Nashua Handknit's Premier Magazine with a special article about me, also donated by Nashua - check out their new website here!
A copy of Knitting for Baby by me and Melanie Falick, donated by STC Craft.
Enter by noon on Friday to be counted. You don't have to answer all the questions but what I am looking for is a bit of dialog if you can find the time!
Tuesday's winner was Punkin. Congratulations to her.
Big prize tomorrow - come back if you can!
If you are here just for the prizes, go to the bottom of the post.....
Yes, you are counting correctly. There are three lambs in The Farmer's arms. For a couple of weeks now, there has been a ewe who has been "bagging up." This particular ewe was one of the two who had out of season lambs last September. We could tell she was going to have lambs soon because her "bag" or udder as it is mostly called was starting to droop and get larger and larger. The Farmer has been watching her - hoping everything would go alright.
Tuesday morning, I arrived at the barn to see if there was anything interesting going on. The Farmer was there, trying to figure out if what he was seeing was true. There were three little lambs and he thought they all belonged to this one ewe. We watched for a little while. Another ewe was trying to claim them. After a little more watching the behavior of the mamas and the three lambs, we decided that yes indeed, this ewe was the proud mama of three. We penned her up and we'll be watching - hoping she has enough milk for all of the lambs. One of the lambs looks a bit smaller and dumber than the other two. Our sheep don't often have triplets. There are some breeds and flocks that do breed for multiple births. Most of those flocks have Finnish Landrace blood in their lines. Finn sheep often have litters of babies and can have up to 7 lambs. That's not in our game plan. We don't mind twins but triplets can be a lot more work if the ewe doesn't have enough milk for all the babies. We'll see how this goes.This ewe is the one we call "The Jumper." She can escape any fence, no matter how high. She is always on the other side of the fence which can be problematic - all the other sheep want to be with her. She is also pretty impossible to catch when we are trying to move the sheep in our trailer. There has been many a Tuesday when The Farmer has almost "shipped her." (That means sending her to the auction to sell her.) But then he thinks back about how good she is at mothering her lambs and keeps her another year.This was not always so. When she was a teenage mother, she wanted nothing to do with her lamb. The lamb died. The Farmer kept her anyway. (The Farmer never gets rid of yearling mothers because he knows that the first time of being a mama isn't easy. Some sheep are naturals at it and others deserve a second chance. He's a patient man, mostly.) Then she started her jumping habit. She was living on borrowed time in his mind. The next year, she had a nice set of twins and did a fine job with them. And so, The Jumper lives on in our flock. Today, I'm really glad we kept her. This summer when she is making trouble - urging the other 150 sheep to break down the fence and find greener grass on the other side, I might not be so in love with her. I'll say "What do you think? Should we get rid of her?" The Farmer will answer "Sure would like too." I'll answer back "Yeah, maybe." He'll say "But she sure does raise good lambs." And she'll stay on. It's happened many times...... I know...... We repeat the same conversation over and over. The Jumper will stay and she'll raise more lovely little lambs and we'll curse her out and life on this farm will repeat itself. And the neighbors will call "Your sheep are out - they're in our garden." Most likely it will be The Jumper who caused it.....
And so now for today's Blogiversary Giveaway! Here are today's prizes.....
Colorful Stitchery by moi
Kristin Knits by moi
Made from Scratch, Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich - This is a relatively new book about a young woman discovering the handmade, homegrown life.
All three books are donated by my friends at Storey Publishing.
The question today?: It's all about FOOD! I'm wondering what you think about the Local Food Movement? Do you buy local food? Have you ever heard of the Slow Food Movement? Do you raise your own food? Have you read any books about the source of your food? Do you only shop in large supermarkets? How many times do you shop for food a week? Do you buy fresh or frozen veggies?
Absolutely anything goes here about FOOD. I do not mean this to be judgmental! I know that this question could be a tough one but there is no wrong answer. If you don't mind, also add your general location - city, town, or region.
Leave your answer in the comments. You have until noon on Thursday to enter. Make sure you leave an easy way for me to get a hold of you. Good luck!
Yesterday my blog turned 3! It's hard for me to believe that I have done anything so regularly as post on this blog for three straight years. But I have. I began my blog, March 16, 2006. When I first began, I thought of the blog strictly as a marketing opportunity. My book Kristin Knits was in the final stages of production. The blog was a great way to get the word out about my new book and the process of writing a book.
Slowly, my ideas for "Getting Stitched on the Farm" changed. As my readership grew, I realized that my blog was the perfect platform for me to share my life on a sheep farm living in western Massachusetts. Working alone as I do, I have come to treat my blog as my "watercooler." My blog sort of fills the space in my life I used to share with my co-workers, sharing my stories of lambing, raising chickens, and family stories. For the next 4 days (Tuesday to Friday), I'm going to be holding a giveaway. Instead of my blog receiving presents, I'm going to be giving things away to one lucky winner a day. You only have until noon of the following day to enter. I'll draw a winner and contact them by e-mail.
Tuesday's prize is: One lucky winner will receive a copy of Colorful Stitchery and Kristin Knits donated by my kind publisher Storey Publishing Co.
To enter, you have to answer a question and leave the answer in the comments.
Today's questions is: Why do you read Getting Stitched on the Farm? Write whatever you like......
Can't wait to hear the comments. Make sure you leave a way for me to get in contact with you easily. I'll announce the winner Wednesday (the 18th) at noon and you'll have another chance to enter again with more fun prizes.
And I thank all of you for reading so faithfully!
Added 3/18/09: Thanks to all of you who entered and sent such lovely well-wishes to me, my family, and this blog. I was overwhelmed with your kindness!
The lucky winner of this drawing was PUNKIN. Congratulations to her!
The response to my first French Knot Tutorial was very positive. Thank you all. Today I introduce to you my next video tutorial attempt. This week I bring you my "Crochet Flower Tutorial." In it, I show you how to make a small crochet flower like those shown above. This is also the crochet flower used on the mittens in my new Winter Wonderland Pattern I revealed on Friday.
I said I wouldn't do it again. I said it was over. No more, never again. But there I went - again.It has been almost ten years since I left my job at Classic Elite. It seems a lifetime ago. Although I loved that job as Creative Director, the time came to change my life, move on, try new things. That's how I came to live here on this farm with The Farmer and Julia. Am I happy now? Yes, I am. Are things perfect? No, they never are. But we are happy with our decision to uproot ourselves from eastern Mass and try something new.I've learned a lot living here - about the idiosyncrasies of life in the country, the communities that make up the Pioneer Valley, the weather, living in a rural community and on a working farm. Every day, I know there is more to learn and that's good. Never stop learning - one of my mottos. But sometimes it is hard to do it - you have to break out of your comfort zone and try new things.If you have gotten this far with my blabbering on, you're probably wondering where I am going. So here's what I have been learning the last month -a computer program called Adobe Indesign. Yikes - I was a wiz at a program called Quark XPress - I could desktop publish in my sleep. It'a a lot of what I used to do - put handknitting patterns together, design ads, produce marketing materials, the list went on and on. But I don't own Quark and Indesign came with my Adobe CS2 package. It's all I have and I felt like I had to give it a go.Last year I made it a goal of mine to start selling some downloadable patterns on my website. It has taken longer than I thought - doesn't everything though? But over the last few weeks I have been working in earnest - trying to figure out Indesign. It isn't very friendly, if you ask me. Where is that shortcut to jump a page? It was Control J in Quark. Why can't I find it? Now I remember why I used to curse frequently at my computer....... I still haven't mastered Indesign yet - I am far from there. But I did figure out text boxes, lines, using color a bit, dumping in photos.
And here you have it...... my first newly produced "Kristin Nicholas Design" available exclusively on my website..... Click on over to the Julia page to see some more photos and read some descriptions about the pattern.....
Then click on over to the Shop page to order the downloadable PDF.
So there you have it, one of my new ventures. Trying to develop some new products to make ends meet here on this little farm. We just got our health insurance bill and the renewal is sky high. But we need it for Julia and all her health issues. There are more patterns in the works and I am hoping they don't take as long as this one did to produce. Many thanks to my friend Lori Gayle who proofed all of this and helped make it happen technically..... And thanks to Julia who endured the photo shoot in December during the crazy beautiful ice storm.So I can honestly say, the moral of the story is.... Never say never......."
Yesterday three yearlings had babies. So far, so good for this batch. Here's a proud teenage mama with her sweet little prize. I'm wondering if you all are paying attention - can you tell that this is a youngster, not an older ewe? Do you see how her nose is smaller and less round - how her face looks less developed? Nothing on her has started to sag??
Wow, haven't these lambs grown? Can you believe they are the same ones that were born in January? They're snacking on the snow that falls off the greenhouse roof. Resourceful little things.
Mud season is here. This really is the worst time of year to live on a farm. We cannot escape the melting snow, the ground that is thawing out, the manure piles that are turning into giant piles of sloppy muck. Even I - queen of the non-chalant, nothing bothers me - type of girl, find the mud hard to take.
When I first moved to New England, I really didn't know what "mud season" was. I grew up in New Jersey and all the roads were paved with asphalt. When I lived in eastern Mass I heard friends complaining about "mud season." Let me tell you - they had not a bit to complain about. That mud is nothing compared to what it is like to really live through "mud season" in the country. Our road is barely passable - the town road crew tries by running the grader over the dirt road, dumping gravel. There are spots where there are giant sinkholes. I just grit my teeth and churn my truck through it. Sometimes I think we will be swallowed up by it.
The yard outside the sheep barn is a quagmire. You really haven't lived until your boot gets swallowed up in a winter's worth of manure and hay.... It happened yesterday. I thought I wouldn't escape. I've got to wear higher boots this time of year - my Blundstones just don't cut it.
The Farmer came home the other night totally demoralized. He said he has had enough of the mud. He never complains about anything so I could tell mud season was in high gear ......
His overalls are covered in mud and muck. On the way home, a neighbor was stuck so he helped get the little car with small wheels out of the muddy road. My Farmer is a good guy - he lay down in the mud and hooked a chain on the car, put his truck in four wheel and pulled the neighbor to his house. I think I had better put those Carhart overalls in the wash tonight. But then, maybe not, they'll just be covered in mud again in the morning......
I can't imagine how the sheep feel - every where they walk, they sink into the ground. It's not good for the pastures either. It's getting impossible to spread manure because the heavy tractor can sink in and compact the soil. That doesn't help the fertility of the soil, nor the roots of the grass. Pretty soon, there's going to be another giant pile of manure to be spread on the fields when it all dries out.....
It's a bit hard to go to town. Today I did and considering the state of my boots and mud on my pants, I was really hoping I didn't see anyone I knew. I didn't. And then I looked around and there were a bunch of people who were just like me - escaping mud season in the hills. They too had mud on their boots and pants..... As you can tell, we live in the fashion capital of the world......
I can't imagine how hard it must to be keep a proper establishment clean this time of year. I don't even try here. Our place is definitely not "proper" - it is a farm. And besides, who wants "proper?" Not me, for sure..... I know that mud season will pass one day. Then I'll get out the bucket and the mop and hose it all down.
My friends over at Nashua Handknits have totally revamped their website - it is beautiful and you should take a look at it here. Boy - there is a lot to explore - like this page showing their premiere issue of the Nashua Handknits Magazine. They shot a bunch of the photos in my house and on our farm. The model here is holding one of last year's little lambs which is all grown up.
Here's a pullover design I did for the magazine last year. I kept it simple by only having the colorwork at the bottom of the design. They shot that photo in my kitchen in front of my antique corner cupboard full of all my dishes. Good thing the dust didn't show.
They also revamped all the yarn pages. The new layout of the Julia colors on the website is astoundingly beautiful. Check it out here. For all you Ravelry addicts - there are tons of features just for you. If you become a member of the Nashua Handknits website, there are all kinds of advanced options and goodies available. Wow - living with dial-up - I never knew such things existed. Check it out today.
