Before I left the farm to teach at Marji's Ewephoric Knitting Weekend in CT this weekend, I took a nice long walk with the dogs. The sheep have been grazing our neighbor's giant hill for a few weeks now. It is a spectacular sight, as they slowly eat their way up and down this large expanse of grass. The field has really greened up since they have been intensively grazing the field, spreading manure as they go. 
It's a giant hill and quite a work-out to walk up. The Farmer is fit and can walk up it without huffing and puffing. Me? Not so good. I'll keep walking it though and it will get easier. Cheaper than a treadmill and way prettier.If I were a dog, I would be panting like Phoebe was. 
Nessie on the other hand is a speed demon flying up the hill. Do you see her? She is the little spec below the pine trees in front of the white birches. I told you, this is a big hill......
Here is the view when you get on top of the hill. You can see all the way down to Springfield and CT. 
When we reached the sheep, we climbed over the electronet fence. The sheep were already flocked together because Nessie had arrived before Phoebe and I. These sheep are all adults who are used to reacting to the dogs.
I doubt the sheep think about the hill, nor the view. They're all about the grass.
One ewe was off to the side, not with the flock. On closer inspection, she wasn't alone. She had lambed last night and was with her cute little lamb.
Here's Mama and baby. 
The Farmer swung on by to check to make sure everyone was okay. I'm pretty sure he's thinking, "Boy this beats winter lambing."
A few weeks ago when I was at The Wellesley Booksmith, I got a chance to see Wren Ross's musical performance devoted to knitting. I've known Wren for years - I met her when I worked at TYC and she knit a sweater for our pattern collection. Once in a while our paths cross as they did in March. Wren lives in Boston and besides being a wonderfully talented knitter, she also sings about knitting all while playing her guitar. I got a chance to listen to her whole presentation - who was to think you could make knitting become lyrical and fun to listen to.At the end of her presentation, she announced that she had written a song dedicated to Olympia, our little lamb. Evidently Olympia's total cuteness and crazy floral felted lei inspired her. Wow!
Today I got an email from Wren - she has professionally recorded the song and it is on her blog. Check it out here. It's easy to sing and you can teach your kids or fellow knitters! Wren also has a knitting CD! available on her website. Wouldn't this be a great idea as a giveaway at a knitting guild end of year party?Check out Wren's website. Besides being a knitter and designer, she is a voice-over artist, performer and entertainer, author and a lovely person to boot. Her book, which she co-wrote with Daena Giardella is called "Changing Patterns... Discovering the Fabric of Your Creativity." It explores and celebrates the creative process and knitting as a path to self-awareness. I'm reading it now and really enjoying reading about what I do.I can just imagine all of you folks going to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend..... singing Wren's Ode to Olympia and all her other four footed wooly friends.p.s. Postcards of Olympia are still available on my shop page here. Pattern coming soon, I promise.
We've been trying to get Olympia assimilated into being a sheep. Look how big she has gotten!
She's still getting milk (similar to infant formula) from the bottle but it's almost time to withdraw that. She also eats grain and hay. Every morning, after sleeping with her doggie pals Phoebe and Ness, we move her out into the field to be with the newly arrived lambs. She isn't happy but she doesn't have much of a choice. Olympia spends her day picking at grass, longingly looking at us every time we go in and out of the house or drive up in the car.
In the evenings, we let her out of the fenced in field and she wanders around with us. It's a curious site here - 100 lambs in a fenced pasture and the humans, dogs and one little lamb outside the fence. Pretty soon, she'll be sleeping in the field with the rest of the sheep.
Last winter, we fenced in the pasture right outside our house using 4 foot woven wire. In the past, we have used the electronet fencing pretty exclusively to control the sheep. It did an okay job but the lambs had to be moved everyday and they often would escape, breaking through the fence, or finding a way out of the marginal fencing that came with our farm when we bought it. We often lost lambs to coyotes. That number was 36 lambs last year. We're hoping that that lamb loss number shrinks and this new fence will help us save lambs that we can then sell to our customers at the Farmer's Markets coming up this summer and fall. We'd rather feed neighbors who enjoy our local, healthy farm raised lamb than the coyotes.
Here's another new opportunity for you to take a class with me. On Saturday May 1st, I'll be teaching at Marji's Yarncrafts in Granby, CT. Marji sponsors the "Ewephoric Weekend" usually every spring and I've been lucky to be invited to teach.
The two classes are:
Creative Embroidery on KnitsFair Isle Knitting with Optional Steeking
You can download the class brochure here on Marji's website. FYI, I have just decided TODAY to add the steeking component to the Fair Isle class so you won't see it listed on the brochure. I'll be bringing my sewing machine and help you through the fear of the steek, if you choose. If you don't want to do the steek, you can choose to just learn Fair Isle knitting.If you are wondering where Granby is, it's very close to Bradley Airport which is just outside of Hartford. It is really easy to get to and the classes are being given in a lovely setting, perfect for a day of knitting, learning and sharing. The knitting entertainment after the Saturday lunch is always fabulous too! Head on over to Marji's website and check it out. This is one of those wonderful small venues where you can really enjoy yourself and meet many new knitting friends.Here's another lovely spring scene of leaves turning green here in western Massachusetts.
A little while ago, I was interviewed by the lovely Alana for her "Never Not Knitting Podcast." The interview is now up and you can find it here: http://nevernotknitting.blogspot.com/2010/04/nevernotknitting-podcast-episode-34.html
Being on a podcast is always a thrill for me. I sit here all alone doing my thing, wondering if anyone cares a bit about the stuff I'm working on and then along comes an energetic young woman who wants to talk to me and broadcast me around the internet. How nice of Alana to be interested and so kind. And by the way, Alana found me through the always wonderful Susan B. Anderson. So thank you Alana and Susan!
And now to make the day even better, the fine folks at Westminster Fibers/Nashua Handknits donated 12 amazing colors of my Julia Yarn for a giveaway over on Alana's blog. Here's the link to sign up for the giveaway! Besides the yarn, if you win, you'll also get a copy of my new book Color By Kristin donated by the fine folks at Sixth&Spring Publishing. How's that for fun?
Stop on by Never Not Knitting to sign up and check out all the other podcasts Alana has done! As my Gram used to say, she's such a clever girl! Thank you Alana! The contest ends May 1st! Go sign yourself up!
A couple weeks ago I told you about the new art show opening at Smith College Art Museum called "A Room of their Own - The Bloomsbury Artists in American Collections." I've been to the exhibit 3 times in the last week. I was even able to go to two of the lectures including the one on Friday night given by Frances Spalding, the biographer of Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, and Vanessa Bell. I dragged The Farmer and Julia to this talk which was very well attended. It was fun to be back in a college atmosphere learning about something I am interested in. I do wonder though how I ever sat still long enough to sit through those college lectures. I surely don't have enough patience to go back to school now. I'd much rather be on the teaching side of things, I think. 
The show has a great collection of work including paintings, drawings, woodcut prints and more by Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Roger Fry, and Dora Carrington. I was so over the moon to see much of the work because I got to see IN PERSON many of the paintings that I have swooned over in my art books. I can't urge you enough to go and see this exhibit. Besides the paintings, there are also many watercolors and plans for the fabric, embroidery, and pottery that the Omega Workshop made in the early 20th century and a couple of pieces of furniture. Fabulous. You must go! If you knit and like color, you will like this show! If you can't get there, enjoy the photos on Alen Macweeney's website. He was the photographer on one of the definitive books on Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant's home Charleston.
Tuesday we continued the task of separating the larger lambs from their mamas. The lambs are large enough that they don't need to keep nursing and their mamas need a break. How do we accomplish such a task? First, we have to coral all the animals into one space. This job isn't possible without the help of a couple of Border Collies. After a few mis-steps, we got all the sheep into the greenhouse barn. My job was pretty non-stressful. I had to work the gate and help pick out the biggish lambs from amongst the "sea of sheep."
Here's another shot of the "sea of sheep." Can you pick out the Border Leicester Ram and the Cheviot Ram? Try - I dare you.
Clue - they look the most manly.... Answer at the end of the post......The smaller lambs that have been born mostly to yearlings over the past few weeks will be staying at the greenhouse barn. Here's a cute little one wondering what the heck is going on.
Eeyore, gentle donkey that he is, was watching all the action. Taking it all in. He's got a lovely shaggy winter coat which will shed soon.
Speaking of men, The Farmer did all the heavy lifting, as per usual. I admit, I'm not good at diving for fast moving lambs. The Farmer was a long distance runner and I swear his endurance he built up as a teen is carrying him through to this day - only now, he's running after and diving after sheep and lambs. Here he's carrying a Shetland/Romney cross-bred ram lamb. Do you see the horns on the lamb? This is the first lamb we have ever had with horns. The horn part comes from the Shetland breeding. The Romney stock we have are naturally "polled" which means no horns. 
Most of the lambs born in January are getting rather big. We have been moving them to the pasture in the front of our house slowly over the last couple weeks. We have to supplement them with hay because the grass at this time of year can't quite keep up with the number of animals. Plenty of hay left from last year's harvest though.Here's the trailer full of lambs arriving.
The dogs look pretty happy -- knowing they have something official to do all day long now.The freshly arrived lambs are getting acquainted with their old buddies now. You can see that their numbers have faded now that they have been out in the weather and their fleeces are growing.
In the evening, everyone looked pretty happy grazing away. The trees are showing signs of buds. It was an awesome night - lots of incredibly subtle colors in the landscape all getting ready to pop.
Phoebe, our older Border Collie slept well last night. She's turning 11 this month but she's doing fine - still interested in life and sheep if a bit gray around the muzzle.... but who isn't?
Ram Answer: The big bald headed sheep in the middle of the photo is the full-grown Border Leicester ram. The smaller, perky eared and bald headed sheep at the back left is the yearling Cheviot ram.
The National Needlework Association is doing a survey of consumers to help the needlearts industry keep a-chuggin. Here's the link - it will take you 10 minutes or less. Thank you from all of us who are keeping the needle biz alive and growing. P.S. There's a big prize for one lucky winner.P.P.S. Check out this video on long haul truckers who quilt! This article in the Wall Street Journal says long haul truckers are doing both knitting and quilting! Awesome.
Last week, I did a whole lot of looking at art. I haven't had a week like that since I went to London many years ago. It was quite fun to be doing it locally. I'm lucky to live close to many museums which don't cost an arm and a leg to get into. In fact, many of them are frequently free if you time it right. I felt like my museum hopping was a little vacation from my regular life and I have been in need of it to restore my creative energy which was totally zapped by preparing all that stuff for the tax man. Thank goodness that is over.A week or so ago, the art teacher at Julia's school asked me if I wanted to go on the field trip to Williams College Art Museum. I hadn't been in a while and made time for the trip in my schedule. I love this little museum - it is free to go to (always a plus) and they have a large collection of paintings by the Brothers Prendergast (Maurice and Charles). The kids were going to visit a special exhibit entitled "Landscapes of the Mind." Although the visit was really short, I thought it was great that the 3rd to 6th graders had a chance to actually see and visit art since many families don't have the interest or the time to open their children's lives to the visual arts. The "brain" exhibit was okay - I'm not much for modern and conceptual art, I admit. I got a chance to check out some of the paintings that rotate in and out of their vast holdings and Julia and I had a nice day.But here was the biggest surprise - literally.
In one of the galleries there was a life-size 50 foot white sperm whale made out of WOOL FELT! Oh, this thing was awesome. It was made by the artist Tristan Lowe in association with Philadelphia's Fabric Workshop and Museum.
Unfortunately, the whale wasn't part of the kids' tour. A big mistake, I think, because all of the kids could have really been inspired by this piece. You can read all about it here. How great that the whale is made of WOOL FELT. It was all I could do to keep my hands off of him. My favorite part were the barnacles which were made by layering felt and then stitching them to create the characteristic folds. From afar they look so real but up close, they look sewn. 
This whole sculpture is inflated. The felt pieces are zipped together with long, long zippers that become part of the the wrinkles and texture in the whale's skin. If you get a chance, go visit Mocha Dick - he'll be there at Williams College until August 8th, 2010. Another great use of the wool fiber, wouldn't you say?
I just received the newest issue of Knit Simple Magazine. This issue of Knit Simple is packed with lots of approachable projects that one could actually finish before it gets hot. Many of the designs look like they would work all year long in warmer climates. Carla Patrick Scott does a great job at making easy projects look good. I've been waiting for this package because I've been curious to see the article that Karin Strom wrote about me finally in print. Here it is.
We here at Leyden Glen Farm were not disappointed - it's a two page spread full of colorful photos of our farm, my knits from Color By Kristin, and a nice article entitled "She's A Rainbow." And there's a great introduction to my Classes on the Farm in the article! Yippee! This is just what I needed to get the word out to the general knitting public, besides all of you wonderfully loyal blog readers..... Karin came up to visit me at the end of last summer to research the article and this is one of the fruits of the visit. Speaking of fruits, here is the new cover of Yarn Market News. Aren't these yarn tomatoes great?
Karin is also the Editor of Yarn Market News, THE magazine for local yarn shop owners. It's a great publication that I look forward to every couple of months. Although most of the material isn't exactly for everyday knitters, some of you may find it fun to look through Karin's blog to see what makes the yarn industry tick. I especially love the very creative covers the team at YMN manages to put together. Check them out here on their "cover gallery." As I was flipping through the pages of the magazine, deciding what to read first, I of course gravitated to the article called "The Color of Money."
This was a fascinating article about the importance of color and merchandising in yarn stores. As I further explored the article, I thought to myself, oh, there's that egg cup idea of mine, using a ball of colorful yarn as an egg. I took a photo similar to that and it's on sale in my webstore here as a postcard, shown below.
As I looked further into the headlines of the photos in YMN, I then realized that they used my yarn Julia for the little yarn eggs. Cute. Glad they chose my yarn instead of someone else's!
The popularity of eggs, chickens, and all things egg related continues to be a trend that pops up all over the media, doesn't it. Here's an article from The New Yorker which is just fueling the fire. I just heard that the City of Holyoke just south of here is looking at letting people raise chickens in their yards too.I've been busy here - it's the time of year when the yarn companies and magazines are needing sweaters for next fall's collections. Just when it's getting warm and beautiful out and my yard is calling, I have to lock myself in to swatch and knit patterns. It will be over soon and then I can attack some outdoor projects. So there's some behind the scenes info into the yarn industry for you this beautiful sunny Monday morning. Good week everyone.
Here is the view when you get on top of the hill. You can see all the way down to Springfield and CT. 
