The Creative Connection in Minnesota

The Creative Connection is giving away 2 free spots at their event including hotel. You'll have to pay for your airfare but it's a great weekend for creative people, for sure. What a bang of energy you will leave with - I promise!

Here's the link to the contest. Good luck everyone! Check out all the great classes with the link on my sidebar.

And to leave you with a bit of eye candy... aaaawwwww.

The winner of Brett's new book Sewing in a Straight Line is Casey who wrote....
My first memory of sewing is sitting at my Grandmothers feet as she taught me to resew the hem on my dress, about six years old. I'll be sewing costumes for the local Children's Theater in my small town. Congrats Casey! Don't forget about Brett's great contest to win a sewing machine and serger courtesy of Simplicity! Her contest ends August 12th.

Back to cleaning the fridge and washing the floors.

Blue Hydrangeas in the Garden

Busy week getting ready for my first "Get Stitched on the Farm" Knitting Retreat coming up this weekend. So much to do, list so long, never will it all get done. Oh well. Check out the upcoming schedule here on my "Get Stitched Retreat Website." I'm especially looking for a few more students for the September 9/10th class.

It has been a wacky gardening year here as I assume all over the country. Just heard via our "farmers hotline" this: "Home Depot brought basil plants from down South which are infected with Downey Mildew. For anyone growing basil in the greenhouse or outside, this can completely devastate your crop. It is important to begin field scouting now. Once this spreads, it can become a real nightmare. Look for any yellow or chlorotic spots on the upper portions of the leaves, and the tell tale black "sooty" looking mold on the leaf undersides."

Check your basil plants if you are growing them!

That said - the blue hydrangeas here in western Massachusetts are glorious! 

I planted about 10 hydrangeas (all different varieties) several years ago. I usually have only one bush that blooms. Not this year.... a bunch of them are loaded. The gorgeous blue color helps to cool you down just by looking at it!

Don't forget to sign up for the Giveaway that ends Wednesday night for Brett Bara's new book.

My Friend Brett Bara's New Sewing Book! + a HOT, HOT GIVEAWAY!

A few years ago, when I first became involved with the PBS show Knit and Crochet Today, I met an energetic woman named Brett Bara. She had natural camera talent and appeal, knew how to crochet and knit, and after the first season of the show, she was asked to host it. At that time, Brett was the Editor in Chief of Crochet Today Magazine. I love being on the show with Brett because she knows what I am demonstrating and talking about and if I'm not being clear to the viewers, she helps out with the explanations. It's a good fit. 

But Brett's real love has always been sewing. And that's where we really have something in common. I learned to sew as a 9 year old one hot summer in NJ. Brett's Mom taught her to sew when she was young. You can read a great interview with her here. When I was a kid in the 1970's, sewing was taught in most schools so all the girls learned some of the basics. (It was a girls and boys world then.) I went on to continue to take sewing all through high school learning couture techniques from the wonderful Mrs. Airola. I was lucky my high school had a fabulous sewing teacher. In college, I majored in Textiles and Clothing. As you can see, sewing and creating with fabric and fiber has always been in my life. I don't tend to talk much about the things I sew here on the blog. For me, that's just what I do and there is no reason to blog about it. Making clothes for me to wear - well, I'm not a fashion model so it's not that that interesting. Necessary, yes, blog-worthy, no.

That's what cracks me up about the blogosphere - all these people thinking they invented sewing and knitting when only a generation ago, everyone had to know how to sew and even knit and crochet. (I guess I'm that way with my sheep, photography, gardening thing.) My, times have changed. I do not mean to put down anyone, I'm just saying - sewing and knitting really aren't hard or difficult or rocket science. Mostly, it takes the nerve to get over the fear to give it a go. I think it is a shame that the American school system has mostly dropped teaching sewing. I mean - really - who doesn't need to sew on a button and mend a seam in their life. Maybe it would help our throwaway society if they brought it back. But I digress.

So that's where Brett's philosophy and mine are the same. Sewing can be basic and easy and creative and fun. Brett has written the new book called Sewing in a Straight Line: Quick and Crafty Projects You Can Make by Simply Sewing Straight. Brett also writes the Sewing 101 Column for Design*Sponge. She's doing a lot to get people sewing, isn't she? Go Brett!

Her book is just hitting the bookstores this week. Last night I read it through, looked at all the very pretty and helpful colorful how-to illustrations, and said to myself, "This is just what some of these people need who are afraid to sew." It's all here - common sense sewing - taking the fear out of the machine, the scissors, the fabric. Brett has done it." Here are my favorite projects..... Love the pleated skirt on the cover with the fun big buttons down the front. Brett calls this the Sewing School Skirt.

This gorgeous quilt called Wonky Diamonds on Point. Wonky - that is one of my favorite words. Even an advanced quilter would have fun with this one.

These pretty turquoise curtains with ball fringe. They make me feel cool on this hot day.

The City Girl Tote (but of course, it could be for The Country Girl too!)  

 The Magic Sewing Kit

So there you have it. Lovely styling too which will appeal to many of the "decorating set." Many of you may already be great sewers and quilters but many of you may have that fear of sewing. Buy this book and Brett will help you get over it! I think many of the patterns in here will appeal to some younger women who may just be thinking about learning to sew. But there is something for everyone, trust me. The nice thing is you won't have to spend money on a pattern. All you'll need is some fabric, a tape measure, sewing machine, yard stick and some basic tools. Anyone can do it with Brett's Sewing in a Straight Line. This might be a nice thing to teach a child or even a teenager who is into fashion and wants to be crafty and stand out from the crowd.  There's still a lot of summer left to learn to sew!

Brett's publisher Potter Craft has kindly donated a copy of Sewing in a Straight Line for one of my lucky readers. Here's how you enter:

Leave a note in the comments answering this question:

What was your first sewing experience? Is there anything memorable to share with everyone? Or are you still thinking about sewing?

Make sure you leave an easy way to get a hold of you. U.S. Addresses only.

Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday July 27th

Contest is closed. The winner is Casey who wrote:
Casey said... My first memory of sewing is sitting at my Grandmothers feet as she taught me to resew the hem on my dress, about six years old. I'll be sewing costumes for the local Children's Theater in my small town.
Thanks everyone for entering. Get sewing!

Even better, hop on over to Brett's blog and sign up the the great SEWING MACHINE AND SERGER GIVEAWAY. Wow - how generous is that? Check out the cool sewing videos she has made and see how simple and fun sewing can be. YOU CAN DO IT! ANYONE CAN!

And don't miss her video on How to Make a Jello Mold! What a hoot! Congrats to Brett on all her successes!

Looking for Shade

Our farmhouse faces south. Someone long ago knew that it was a good way to position a house. Nice sun in some of the windows all day long. Thing is, back then in the 18th century they didn't do much with windows. Our cape is perfectly symmetrical with very small windows facing south. I suppose back then they were more worried about keeping the heat in and not worrying about the aesthetics of beautiful light pouring in.

In the summer, I spend most of my time outside on the south side of the house. The sun pours down and because it is a farm, there isn't much shade on the south side. Makes for a good garden and keeps the critters away but escaping the heat is difficult. When we moved here, I decided I wanted a pergola to grow grapes on to create some shaded seating areas. My friend Will built me a beautiful patio out of Goshen stone and on it, we built a sturdy pergola that unfortunately I painted white (way too much upkeep - I am letting it peel). I copied an pergola design I saw in an issue of House Beautiful. Here's a good link if you want to DIY.

 

I planted some green grapes in the pockets around the posts. I purchased them from Miller Nurseries. Planting grapes is such a leap of faith - sticking a twig in the ground and hoping for the best. I knew they wouldn't all take and I was right. But a few did and they are thriving today.

Unfortunately although these grapes look gorgeous, they always shrivel and fall off the vine. I took this photo last week and now they have all turned black and dropped to the ground. The Farmer says I should spray them but I'm not too into chemical treatments of plants my family and animals are going to be around. So I let them drop. After all, I planted the vines for the shade and I am getting that.

The vines took years to establish themselves and thrive. Now I have to hack away at them to control them. I've got more pruning to do - I know, wrong time of year - but it is getting difficult to walk beneath the pergola. Next to the veggie garden, I have more grapes and they have gone nutty this year. I love the way they grow out into space. They are so graceful looking, aren't they?

I took these photos on that foggy morning. The lambs were curious - as they always are.

It was foggy again this morning. So pretty but a sign of the upcoming heat and humidity. It is going to be oppressive here as it is throughout the country. I hope everyone finds a place to stay cool.

Late Start Gardening

I never get out into my garden until June sometime. Every spring, I look all around me and I see people scurrying to Greenfield Farmers Coop Exchange, buying everything they need to get their garden up and going. Me, I just never feel the urge until after Memorial Day. Could be because I'm doing other things. 

I've been in a full blown gardening craze the last couple weeks - trying to get things in before it is too late. Just last week, I found a beautifully illustrated package of "Heavenly Blue Morning Glories" and decided to plant them even though it is the middle of July. I have lots of morning glories that re-seed themselves but they aren't that drop dead gorgeous blue/purple color. They are more like this one - pretty but not that amazing blue.

Many years ago, I read that if you soaked morning glory seeds in water for a day, they would come up quicker. It's amazing how quickly they sprout. I've put them in around the yard now and with a little luck, I'll have lots of pretty blue flowers to photograph this coming fall. They grow like crazy. In fact, they are considered invasive in warmer parts of the country. Yikes - read about how hard they are to get rid of. But here in New England with our cold winters, I plant them and love them! 

I guess all plants are weeds somewhere and garden plants somewhere else! What are your thoughts on Morning Glories? Love or Hate? Do tell!

Fog and Webs

The other day I was up early in the garden with my camera before the heat. I had just helped pack the truck for the Saturday Farmers Market and decided to steal a little time with my camera before waking Julia and heading on down to the market to help sell. It was one of those dreamy misty mornings with everything covered in a heavy canopy of dew. The garden shed sat sturdily amongst the fog guarding my newly mulched veggie garden.

 I have been using cardboard and rotted leftover 800 pound bales of hay to mulch my veggie and cutting garden the past few years. It works great. I don't even weed before I mulch - just plop down the cardboard and pile the hay on top. Collecting enough cardboard is the toughest thing but I know where the local appliance store's dumpsters are! This year I went through 3 enormous bales. I'm lucky we've got a tractor to move them and we always have some bales left that aren't good enough for the sheep to eat.

As I walked around, Charlie my faithful feline followed close behind. All over the yard, all of the animals were busy. The lambs were grazing, chickens pecking away, guineas making their funny noise, and cats busy hunting. I know this place is busy but watching it that morning made me realize how really busy everything is here.

The light was so incredibly beautiful. The holly hocks are setting their buds, preparing for their show. 

I've been watching this strange plant which I assume is one of my old allium bulbs which has mutated. It has the oddest blooms on it. 

And that morning they were all wrapped in spider's web.

 

 Another busy creature!

Suddenly the sun appeared and the fog began to lift away. Charlie settled in on the rock wall to take a nap. 

I went inside to rouse Julia and we headed off into the busy hot day. Nice to have some photos to remember the stillness of the fog and the busyness of all the creatures' busy lives.

The Chihuly Exhibit at the MFA in Boston will be closing August 7th. It is certainly worth a special trip if you are planning any summer escapades. Here's the link for further info.The glass flowers below almost mirror the spiderweb in the photos above, don't they?

Heart to Heart Mittens - A 2 in 1 Pattern in Kristin's Shop

It hardly seems the proper season to introduce a new wooly, warm mitten pattern, does it? I was scheduled to do it on Monday but it was so scorchingly hot and humid here I couldn't even think about getting up the energy to write about my latest design. But on Wednesday, as I was sitting on our screened porch under the heat of my lap-top, I felt a cool breeze begin blowing in. Relief was here and now two days later I have the ability to blog about mittens! Oh, what a difference a few days and degrees will make. 

 Here you have it - Kristin's Heart to Heart Mittens. I previewed these a month back. Finally the pattern is ready for you all in my webshop. The PDF instant download includes two mitten designs for you. The first I've called the One Heart Mitten. It is sized in 4 sizes from toddler's to adults. The heart is knit in Fair Isle (there are 2 hearts on each mitten). This is a great project for beginning Fair Islers as the chart is only a small part of the knitting. It's a great Christmas or baby shower gift! Quick, fun and colorful.

Here's Julia this past winter snuggling with kitten Ziggy in her One Heart Mittens. Boy has he grown! He's a bruiser now. (The scarf is from my recent book Color by Kristin.)

The second mitten pattern included is called the Many Hearts Mitten. It is a bit more intense with a 5 heart Fair Isle Design. I originally made these for Julia but I couldn't resist adding them to my on-line pattern collection because they are really just so colorful and fun to knit. (Julia's sweater pattern is also available in my webshop - it is called the Cozy Cap and Pullover.)

You'll notice that each mitten has "Decorated Chain Stitch" added to the outside rim of each heart. Check out my video tutorials on YouTube on how to make chain stitch on knits and how to decorate it. It's not hard and it will take your knits over the top gorgeous!

Both designs included use my Julia Wool/Mohair/Alpaca which knits up at the friendly gauge of 5 sts per inch. Hop on over to my website for more pattern particulars. When you order the pattern from my shop via PayPal, you will automatically receive the link for the download. My downloads are provided by PayLoadz and if you ever have any problem, it is still possible to further downloads. Just contact me!

It's a beautiful weekend here. Hope you stay cool wherever you are. Maybe you'll be able to pick up some knitting and work up some of these mittens for holiday gifting. They're small and portable, great for stashbusting. Enjoy!

Monday - Monday..... Another Moving Sheep Day Here at Leyden Glen Farm

We had a busy Monday. The adult sheep (with a few recently born lambs) were to move to a pasture down in town (or as they say here "downstreet"). I was skeptical, to say the least. Down the Hill. People. Dogs. Fences. Whatever, I don't make THOSE decisions about these things. Go with it Kristin. Show up at 9 a.m. Help out. OK.

Eeyore leads the way. 

The sheep are close behind.

This is the first time they have ever gone down this hill. Sheep are creatures of habit. Their natural inclination would be to turn right. They needed to turn left. We strung a roll of electronet fence across the road, hoping no cars or trucks would come flying down. Speed limit? I don't think they know it exists. Luckily, it worked out okay. The sheep turned left and followed the others. No vehicles appeared.

The friends we enlisted owned 4 wheelers. They were awesome (friends and 4 wheelers). Secretly, I want one of these. The Farmer would never agree. Maybe when he is a decade older and his knees and hips really start to ache he will cave. We shall see.....

The sheep only had to travel on the paved road for about 1/4 mile downhill. Then we moved them into the woods to travel some woodroads. As a girl from NJ, I had never heard of a "woodroad." Now, I am quite familiar with the term and the thing. It's a wide path that is dirt and travels through woods. Someone actually logs in the woods and brings the wood out on the road - hence "woodroad." Must check to see if it is one word or two!

There was an awesome clearing which our longtime neighbors The Pratts call "The Air Field." The sheep couldn't resist the beautiful green grass.

Enter a 4 wheeler. John looked like he had done this before. The sheep moved off the hill, reacting just as if he were a barking sheep dog. But as you can see, there is a sheep dog (Phoebe) right behind them.

Back into the woods for a further adventure.

It was too dark to capture anything. In fact, the blurry sheep photo looks as if I remember it all. Crazy running sheep. People and 4 wheelers following.

After a few wrong turns (onto various "woodroads"), we got them down the hill and out into the clearing. Almost there.

Another false stop at a different grassy field. Jeremy the llama is pulling up the rear.

There's Bill Pratt. He's a cattle man but he had a great time chasing the sheep too. Old Border Collie Phoebe keeping everyone in check. That's my girl.

The last bit was crossing a stream. We pushed them forward so they didn't have a chance to turn around. Some went over the bridge....

Some went through the stream.

Oh man, I feel like I am living the "Sweetgrass" life. Watch it if you haven't.

Finally there!

Job well done Nessie, Phoebe, the extended Pratt Family, Pat and John Haviland, and David Nussbaum. Hope I didn't forget anyone!

When we were wrangling up some help, our neighbor David asked how long it would take. "Anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour." It took exactly an hour to move them down the road to their new pasture. It was a fast and furious trip. They are happy grazing this 9 acre field courtesy of our friends The Pratts. They'll probably be there for about a week and then we'll have to move them back up the hill. 

If you go by Kringle Candle towards the weekend, go down Barton Road and take a look on the right. There they will be. I'm really hoping the fences hold them in because it could be sheer havoc if they get out! They are basically in the midst of a suburban neighborhood. Wonder how everyone is sleeping at night? No complaints yet. Hey, Julia and I are going out of town for a family event. The Farmer gets to stay home. I'm sure there will be stories.

Early Morning at Leyden Glen Farm

Our roosters (currently there are 4 of them) get up early. In fact, they start crowing at around 4 a.m. It's very noisy every morning between the chickens and roosters, guinea hens, sheep, and all the wild birds. I'd like to do a "waking up" audioboo of it one day. In the meantime, this photo of Mr. Rooster crowing shot through the screened in porch window will have to suffice. Some Photoshop filters too. 

It's hot as anything here. As I hear it is all over the country. Oh, I hate the heat.

Strawberry Season Waning... Oh No! Ice Cream Please

A couple years ago I gave in and bought a Cuisinart Automatic Ice Cream Maker. My Mom had one and Julia's cousins were having just too much fun mixing up frozen concoctions for me to pass up having one for summertime fun at our house. I don't like too many gadgets in the kitchen - I don't even have a microwave. Although my kitchen may look roomy, there is precious little storage space and I think long and hard about adding some big or small appliance to the mix. I have been hankering over a KitchenAid Mixer for years but just can't do it. Just too big and nowhere to put it. I'm still using the hand mixer I had back in my first apartment in college. (Let's just say I have had two other hand mixers but they have broken because the motors got burned out. Nothing like the old appliances for workhorse quality - it is noisy as heck but it just keeps going.)

We're getting to the end of fresh strawberry season here in western Massachusetts. Every Saturday at the Amherst Farmers Market I pick up a couple of quarts, knowing it will be an entire year until I get real strawberries again. If they last til we get home, we are lucky. A couple weeks ago, I did have some extras. We pulled out the ice cream maker and mixed up a batch of strawberry chocolate chip ice cream for Father's Day. It didn't last long and this past Sunday, Julia and I mixed up another.

This is stupidly simple, eggless, no custard ice cream. You'll love it. It's just so good and easy. You can't miss! I usually make it in the morning so that it is frozen solid by evening.

Fresh Strawberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

1 quart fresh strawberries, stemmed, sliced and bad bits removed
     (reserve some slices for prettying up the dish)

juice of one large lemon

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk (I used 2%)

2 cups (one pint) heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips or 8 oz. chopped chocolate bar (with a hammer) 

   reserve some for topping if you want to make it pretty.

Clean, stem, and slice the strawberries and put in a bowl with 1/2 cup of the sugar and the lemon juice. Let sit in fridge for 2 hours. Remove and mash with a fork. Pour juice off into a bowl. 

Mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar with milk until sugar has dissolved. Mix in heavy cream and vanilla. Pour in the strawberry juice leaving the solid bits to add in at the end. Mix and fill your ice cream freezer with the mix. Freeze for about 20 to 25 minutes - until the mixture starts to thicken. Add remaining strawberries and chocolate chips. Mix in freezer for 5 more minutes. Remove to a new container which is suitable for freezing. Freeze to harden and eat later. You will have more than a quart of ice cream. 

Strawberries gone? Substitute raspberries, blueberries.  I think I would leave out the chocolate with the blueberries. And with the raspberries, I might strain the juice through a sieve so that all the seeds don't end up in the ice cream and just top it with a handful of berries.

p.s. I see that KitchenAid makes an Ice Cream Attachment for their stand mixer. Has anyone tried it?