Two More Hexagon Afghans and Winter Restoration

I'm still in restoration mode as I call it. In the winter cold (and it has been cold this winter), I hunker down, try to keep warm (the woodstove helps), do a lot of reading and perusing of my book collection, cook some very nice meals and help out with the lambing when needed. We are used to the cold here in western Massachusetts. I really felt for the folks in Texas who struggled with the cold, snow, and lack of electricity and water. 

The days are getting longer each and every day. It has been very, very gray. We have had a lot of storms of sorts - mostly snow but not as much as in other parts of the the Northeastern US. The hills are about to come alive with "sugaring season." I can feel spring coming!

I can also feel the energy for creating coming back after its winter slumber. I've finished (!!!!!!) two hexagon afghans from the free pattern you can find on this blog here. Crochet hexagons are one of those carry along projects I take with me to meetings (when there were meetings), appointments, and the farmers market so that my hands have something to do while I am listening and watching. Evidently I have spent a lot of hours listening and watching because I had enough hexagons for two afghans (272 hexies each) and and extra 238 hexies for a start (and almost finish) on a third afghan. Not sure if I will get to sewing the third together this winter. Here are the piles of hexies I've got made for the next one. 

I've sorted all the hexies into color piles. When I am sewing the afghans together, I use the outer ring of the hexie to determine the color. I attach complementary colors next to each other so the colors pop and vibrate. I use the outer yarn color to sew them together when possible and the seam kind of disappears into the piece. 

I know a lot of folks like to crochet their pieces together. I've never done that because I'm not much of a crocheter. And I actually love the process of sewing the pieces together with a blunt pointed tapestry needle. I find it meditative and soothing. 

Our small hilltown recently got high speed internet service. It took years and years of planning for it to happen and I am so thankful to the townspeople who served on the committees to make it happen. It has been a game changer since we now can watch Netflix and Amazon Prime without buffering. Julia has got the television hooked up with all kinds of features that I don't know how to use. There is a mass of cables on the floor that is a serious eyesore. I try to not look at it but once in a while I sort it all out. And then it gets tangled again. 

A movie we watched recently is the 2015 Icelandic movie Rams. The cinematography is beautiful. This is not a feel good movie but a "makes me think" movie. In fact, I'm still thinking about it. There is an Australian remake of the movie out in 2020 with Sam Neill but I can't imagine it could be as poignant as the original version. Here is the trailer. 

Hope you are well. If you are looking for winter lambing photos, follow me on Instagram HERE. 

Fiber Optic Comes to Leyden - A Last Mile Town in Western Massachusetts

If you have read this blog for any length of time, you know we live in one of the most rural counties in Massachusetts. For years, I struggled with a dial-up connection internet connection. I started this blog in 2006. It was definitely a labor of love because it took forever to upload a photo or do a post. Eventually I got something called an air card which gave me a bit faster connection. At the Leyden Town Hall, they eventually installed some kind of high speed service. I spent many hours sitting in my car uploading blog posts and photos. Eventually I was allowed to sit inside the Town Hall and use their wifi. 

This went on for many many years. And then miraculously via the power of State Senator Stan Rosenberg's office, in 2013, we got DSL service. You can read all about this here. 

Since 2013, the world has changed. Internet speeds got faster and faster. More services were done exclusively on-line. Rural towns in Massachusetts and in states throughout the US were being left behind. And then the Pandemic hit. The digital divide became more and more obvious. Julia's college courses moved on-line. She constantly was bumped off or missed Zoom classes because of low speed and poor interconnectedness. The State of Massachusetts thankfully took the initiative to make available 5G high speed internet at many of the small Last Mile towns to help students and other residents. We went back to sitting in the car to upload photos, update the website, and Julia to work on her homework and watch classes. 

Our story is familiar to so many residents of rural towns. Happily, we have had an excellent outcome. After many years of work by tireless committee members, fiber optic broadband is being installed to homes who want it. The fiber optic cables began being installed in the spring. A couple weeks ago, they were attached to our home. Miracle of miracle -- I never thought I would see the day. At first we could only access the internet from the one room in the house where the wire was installed. Last week, a smart tech guy at Whip City Fiber helped me figure out that we needed a wireless mesh system to move the signal past the enormous stone and brick chimney to other parts of the house. It's a one time investment even if it was unexpected.

We are up and running now and we're feeling like we are part of the modern world. Thank you to all the Leyden Broadband Committee Members who have worked on this for years and years and years. Our farmhouse and other residents of our road were lucky to be in the first wave of installations. If you live in Leyden and have ordered service, hang on. It's coming and you will be happy.

End of October 2020

We are coming to the end of October. It feels it. The days are getting noticeably shorter. Some days are cold, clammy and the wood stove begs for a fire. Somedays the sun is out, the sky is a beautiful blue, and it seems like winter won't come. 

I can feel the year change in my moods and thoughts. I am not very affected by seasonal affective disorder but I live with someone who is. I know what a struggle it can be. 

When the days get shorter and the weather cools off, I feel a certain energy come my way. I was noticing it the other day and thinking what the heck is a matter with me. I have a list of to-dos a mile long and I actually feel like I can conquer some of them. I'm lucky -- and maybe you are too -- that I have plenty to do inside whether is be making or cooking or potting or sewing or..... 

I thought back to July and August when the days were very hot and humid. I was exhausted constantly and found that only a nap after lunch would get me through the day. So I gave in and napped. It was the heat that was doing this to me. I see why siestas are so de rigueur in Italy and Spain and other hot climates.  I suppose I could get an air conditioner for the summer and that could help but considering I have to be outside tending my garden and making pottery in a shed that has no air, it would be a waste of money. 

The sunflowers are done for the year. The birds have been out there picking them clean. The sunflower patch is so much fun to watch now - little birds diving in and out. I wish I could catch a photo of them but it hasn't worked out yet. Here are the sunflowers decaying now. I will till them into the earth next spring and we will begin again. 

I'm looking forward to really getting things done this winter. For now, I've got to keep making some pottery and sewing some tea towels so I can do another On-Line Sale. Sadly, I won't be hosting a Holiday Open House this year. I just don't feel comfortable filling my home with folks that I don't know their health situation. This year of 2020 has taught us all to be flexible and adapt and that's what I am trying to do. 

We just heard from Kevin Ford, our sheep shearer. He is coming in a few weeks to shear the sheep. Mark has started moving some of them to the winter barns in prep for shearing. Still more to go but there is time.

On a good note, the Amherst Farmer's Market where we vend every Saturday has been a breath of fresh air this season. Our booth has been busy selling both our farm-raised lamb and my pottery and tea towels. If you are up for a drive, stop by and see us. Hours are 8 to 1:30 every Saturday through November 21st. There are lots of fantastic vendors that you can meet and purchase from. Once the market is done for the season, lamb will be available here at our farm. 

With that, I'll close for now. Hope everyone is hanging in there. 

Fruit Crisp Recipe

It is "crisp season" here in western Massachusetts. Crisp as in the coming weather and the fall of the deciduous trees' leaves and crisp as in fruit crisp - that typically American dessert of fall and winter. 

For years, I searched for the perfect fruit crisp recipe. Every time I made one, it wasn't quite to my liking. One evening we were invited to our friends Peggy and Clara's house and they served the absolutely most perfect apple crisp. Clara passed along her recipe and each fall I make it. It is perfect for after dinner or breakfast the next few days. I've made it with apples and peaches, and plums, and frequently throw in odds and ends of frozen raspberries, blueberries, even grapes. Here's Clara's recipe and following are two picks of mine for most favorite local fruit orchards here in the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts.

Clara's Fruit Crisp

For the crisp topping:

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup flour

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup walnuts or more

For the fruit:

6-8 cups of peeled fruit

juice of a half a lemon (2-3 Tablespoons)

1/4 cup white sugar

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

pinch of salt

1. Mix the topping ingredients together. 

2. Peel and slice the fruit and place in a buttered deep pie plate or casserole dish. I use a deep pottery dish that is 10" wide. Add the remaining ingredients and still to get the cornstarch to smooth out. Sometimes the dish is really full of fruit and sometimes not. Scatter the topping over the fruit and tamp down slightly. Using a knife, put a few airholes in the topping.

3. Bake at 375 for about 45-60 minutes. Fruit should be cooked through and bubbling up on the sides. Let cool slightly. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or just plain. Very nice for breakfast too. 

And now for a couple recommendations.....

The apples are beginning to ripen here in western Mass and luckily for the fruit growing orchards, folks can socially distance and pick apples safely. There are many orchards to choose from. Here are two of my faves:

Apex Orchards in Shelburne where the view is unreal. They have recently built a new farmstore and if you don't want to pick, there are plenty of varieties of already picked fruit.

Clarkdale Fruit Farm in Deerfield is a fourth generation fruit farm that has over 100 varieties of apples, peaches and more growing on their hillsides. In the fall, they offer mixed bags of all kinds of fruit perfect for pies. Clarkdale was the orchard that my mother-in-law Betty always bought her fruit from and Julia and I have continued that tradition visiting their stand each year before Thanksgiving. 

Things I've Been Doing Since May 2020......

Hello Blog Friends! It has been a very long time since I have written here. So long that the blog platform I use has changed its format and I am bumbling around trying to figure it out! We humans all over the world have been living (with a little luck and care) through the Pandemic. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would write such words but here we are in the Autumn of 2020. The days are long with more and more news in the news cycle. It seems to be going faster and faster - sometimes I feel like I have news whiplash. But you all know that. 

I haven't written here, nor have I written any newsletters since May. I haven't felt like I have had anything to add to the world. What I have done is kept my family close. I've cooked a lot of meals - finding comfort in making and feeding my family. I've also been making a lot of pottery in my pottery shed. 

And I have planted, weeded, mulched, and harvested from my veggie and flower garden. The sunflowers and flowers and veggies are pretty much over for the season but there are dribs and drabs of color as you can see in the photo below. 

Like many former bloggers, I have stayed active on-line but have turned to the Instagram platform to share what I have been up to.  I did a 100 Day Project (#100DaysofPottery) which kept me creating, going and photographing. You can check out my project HERE. 

Most recently, I have been sharing photos of my sunflower garden which I used to share here with photos from my DSLR. I haven't picked up that camera since MAY! My phone is just too easy to use. You can see recent photos of the sunflowers on my feed HERE. I have added a couple videos on a IGTV channel which you can see HERE. 

We (Farmer Mark and I) have been doing the Amherst Farmers Market since May when it started up again. The Town of Amherst moved it onto the green grass common as opposed to the parking lot. There are lots and lots of health and safety precautions in place. It has been really nice to see people and help them feed their families with our pasture raised lamb. The market continues until the middle of November. I would love to see you if you are local or up for a drive. 

I've been bringing my pottery and tea towels too. It has widened our customer base because there are limited folks who will purchase lamb and so some new eyes have found my sense of color and pattern appealing. I love talking about color and pattern and the handmade and also about cooking lamb so every Saturday has been a bit of fun. 

I will try to post more here on the blog this fall. I miss hearing from you all and reading your comments. I hope you are healthy and safe. Drop a note in the comments to tell me how you are faring during what is now the new normal. 

XO to all of you -- my internet friends.     

Pottery, Digital Divide + Interesting Videos

Two vases - one from 2019 and one from 1997

Thank you so much everyone for the support of my ceramics. On Thursday, I added 32 new pieces of pottery to my website and in a flash they were all sold. I was overwhelmed and definitely encouraged that folks wanted to support me and my work. I got quite a few notes from people saying they wanted to purchase but everything was sold. That is a good problem to have I admit. I wish I could make more and make faster but it's just not possible. I'm a one woman business and my time is split in many ways. My 100 Day Project has really helped to keep me focused on my ceramics. Although I haven't posted 100 Days in a row, I'm keeping it up even if I have to miss a day or two because of other commitments. 

All this said, this brings me to the digital divide in rural America. Ever since people have been working from home (March 24th in Massachusetts), our internet has gotten slower and slower. I can barely stand to write a blog post or newsletter nor look for interesting things to read and share. It makes it so difficult to compete economically and socially with those who live in cities and suburbs where there is fast internet. The phone lines that bring us our internet were installed in the 1940's. These lines bring us the connectivity to the outside world. 

The State of Massachusetts placed some kind of high speed 5G service at the Town Offices so I am back to sitting in my car to work again. In order to get my ceramics on-line (photos take forever to upload at our house) and to ship them via my shipping platform, I've had to go to the Town Offices. Not complaining (really) - just stating the facts. 

Julia, our college student daughter has been finding it very difficult to take on-line classes since her college has gone 100% online because of the Pandemic. She frequently gets bumped off her Zoom meetings due to the slow internet speed. Julia doesn't drive so she is confined to home unless I have the hours to sit with her in the car as there is no place to sit outside at the Town Office Building. Her personality and learning style is not one which melds with on-line learning so I really don't know what she is going to do this summer or fall. I know there are so many people in the same situation. We've just got to be patient and see how everything goes and the Pandemic goes on. 

I have recently enjoyed these two videos about two different designers' homes. 

Robert Kime from House and Garden UK

Johnson Hartig of Libertine's home on Quintessence

Here is one from the UK - cows going out to graze after a winter in the barn. Such joy in seeing them run. It's probably how a lot of folks are going to feel when they are able to start moving around in public again.  

How are you faring these days? What is motivating or frustrating you? I hope you all are well and safe and healthy. 

New Pottery for Sale Thursday May 14 + Thoughts

Big News! Tomorrow, Thursday May 14th, I will be adding about 40 new pieces of pottery to my online webshop. Here is the link to check out my new pieces. The sale goes live at NOON EST on Thursday. 

Here are some of the pieces I will be adding to the shop. I am still making and hope to have Shop Updates more than once a year. 

I've been posting over on Instagram many of the new pieces as they have been decorated. I started doing one of those #100daychallenges which really helps me to keep working and going at it. I am going to continue to decorate and make more pottery as the months go by. 
Honestly though - I must say that I wonder if I am wasting my time making these pieces. So much time goes into each piece - especially with the hand painting of each design. Here are some of the things that go through my head as I paint......
• OMG - is anyone actually going to have any money to purchase this stuff during/after this Pandemic? Will the world go into a financial depression like the early 1900's? Will history repeat itself? 
• How relevant is my art and life considering that people are sick and dying in massive numbers all over the world?
• If people aren't interested in my pottery, what am I going to do to make a living? How am I going to replace that income? 
• Chances are I will not be able to have a Holiday Open House next December. 
• In these days of mass-produced junk, does anyone appreciate the one-off handmade object d'art that costs way more than a $3 mug at Target that is designed by some hip young thing or even Liberty of London. 

As you can see, I have lots of doubts and insecurities about my art. I think most artists do. Do you? I also think that the Pandemic is causing so many folks to reassess their lives and what they want out of them and where they will go next. This is a natural thing to do in times like these. I think back to other difficult times in our history - 9/11/2001, the financial meltdown of 2008. Those times shaped so many people's lives and futures. I worry about the young adults who are graduating college with huge student loan debt. Where will there be jobs? How will they pay back the loans they took out to make a better life? I think about all the small colleges throughout the USA - how are they going to keep their doors open if students don't enroll? Where will all those people find work who have been employed by those institutions? I worry about the different people in the USA and all over the world living in densely populated areas who can't get proper medical care. Oh gee, it all is just so much to take in and process. 

I know how fortunate I am to be able to walk out my door without a mask on.... to gather eggs from my chickens and eat one for breakfast, lunch and dinner.... to be able to stack wood for a fire that will keep us warm next winter..... to have a space to plant a garden to reap food and flowers and beauty from. How fortunate am I to be living in quarantine with two people I love and enjoy their company? How lucky I am that no one in our extended family has fallen ill yet?  

Through all of the thoughts, somehow, I keep making and painting the pots. Although it is not the road to riches, it is where I am now in my creativity and design life. I can spend hours lost in the colors and the patterns and the shapes and the object. I think about pots to come, patterns to come, ideas to try. It's easy for me to think about those things - it is how my brain works. It isn't as easy to think about how I am going to sell the output though.

So those are my thoughts for today. Check to see more pots tomorrow over on my website. As always, I appreciate your support of my work and life - whether financially or spiritually through your comments and through your reading. 

I hope you all are well and safe and enjoying the new spring color. 

Hello There!

I wrote this a week or so ago and forgot to post it!

...... So today it is close to the end of April 2020. I have only posted once this month. When the whole coronavirus thing started happening, I thought I would post a whole bunch. But then something happened. Nothing bad. Noone in my family is ill - thank goodnes. But something shifted in my inner self. I wasn't aware of it until now when I sat down to write this post. All the fear of the unknown and the illness spreading got to me. I hunkered down with my little family and watched the world around us. I was obsessed with the news and that took up a lot of energy. I decided not to write on this blog and turned a bit inward. I think a lot of folks may be having the same experience. I've baked a little bit but I have been all about the cooking and taking care of the family with generous meals. Lots and lots of soups, a nice leg of lamb for Easter, and lots of eggs and comfort food. My chickens are laying like crazy and there have been popovers a couple times. I need to make a Dutch Baby - I will admit - I never have. 

I feel so fortunate that I have a little family to spend the quarantine with. And lovely cats, dogs, chickens and sheep. Here's Daisy in front of the fire I built one afternoon. 

The weather started to change a little and spring began coming on. It has been a very chilly April. The daffodils have been blooming and lasting a very long time with the very cold nights and some rainy days. We've had a couple fires in the giant fireplace and the cats love that. We have a bunch of wood that is starting to go punky and it's either burn it or let it rot in the woods. The furnace has still been running. 

The grass is slow to start growing. My Farmer has been fencing areas for the sheep to move into. It's a huge job and slow going but he is getting it done. He's doing so much better than the past few years - he's able to move around without pain and is even able to do some chainsaw work which he hasn't been up to for quite some time. For the past 3 weeks, we have been moving sheep out onto the pastures. It's nice to see some life in the fields outside our farmhouse. 

The ewes that are moving from the barn to the fields are those who lambed back in January and February. Their lambs are 90 to 120 days old so they will keep growing without the milk from their mamas. We still have many ewes that need to stay with their lambs because they aren't old enough. In time, they too will be moved onto fields and the lambs will be weaned. 

The rest of the time that has passed this month, I've spent keeping in touch with family and friends. I think at times like this - not that there has ever been a time like this in my lifetime - it's normal to start thinking about old friends and family. We have figured out Zoom and have been having Sunday afternoon chats to catch up. It's not the same as being in person but it is helping us keep connected. My Mom is sequestered and is safe and healthy but she is going stir crazy not being able to see anyone. I wish she had more digital skills because that would be a good distraction for her but she doesn't and no matter how many times we show her, she doesn't get it. 

I've been obsessed with my ceramics and been painting up a storm. I had a lot of leftover thrown and slab pieces that I made last year that I didn't have a chance to decorate. It has been a perfect way to spend a quarantine lost in my patterns and colors. My kiln is firing a bisque load right now and I'm hoping to get everything glazed this week and to photograph and load the pieces onto my website to sell. I'm wondering if there will be any market for my handmade pottery as so many people have lost their jobs. Is it all for naught? I don't know but it is keeping me sane so I keep painting. 

The whole coronavirus thing is such a crisis for people's health and for their livelihoods. I wonder what the world and society will be like when we come out the other side. Will it be like 9/11 when so many people fled cities and changed their lives? Will the virus keep going round and round? How will people feed themselves? What will cities and small towns be like? I worry and think a lot about people I do not know who have lost their loved ones. It's all a whole bunch to take in and digest and I think we will be doing it for years. 

In the evenings I sit and make crochet hexagon after crochet hexagon. It is soothing and mindless and therapeutic. I had better start sewing them together because the pile is getting enormous. I think I have enough for another large afghan. I'll call it the Corona Afghan. Maybe you have made a Corona Afghan too. 

I've looked over and over and over at the image of the coronavirus. I'm a bit captivated by the spikes and the colors and the orbs. 

I've been selling a lot of my crewel wool and embroidery supplies.  It seems people are like me and finding solace in stitching. I need to start another crewel project. Our governor has just extended the Massachusetts shutdown until May 18th. That gives me some more time to get more done. 


The Farmers Market that we do has not opened and it doesn't look like it will for a while. Measures are being taken to make sure everyone is safe - both vendors and customers. On the other hand, we have been selling a whole lot of our farm-raised lamb. People have been coming by appointment to the farm and I do the mask and glove thing. We are almost out of lamb but there is more coming very soon. I keep wondering how long this interest in farm-raised meat will last. 

I hope you and yours are safe and healthy. Thinking of you all. 

Life, IGTV and Back at My Pottery

We are getting into the swing of isolation here at the farm. To tell you the truth, for The Farmer and me, it isn't a lot different than normal. We don't see many people during the day - maybe a wave hello to a neighbor or the UPS guy but we normally don't see or talk to many folks. Julia on the other hand is missing her friends at the community college she goes to. She's trying to keep in touch with them via FB and texting which seems to be a full-time job for her. I don't miss doing the drive to the school one bit and am finding I have much more time in my day. 

I've been FaceTiming with Mom who is in her mid-80's. I've been calling her from the barn when I'm done helping out and she has loved seeing the sheep and the new babies and learning about what goes on. It went so easy with her that I decided to try an Instagram TV video. It's 4 minutes long or so and YOU CAN WATCH IT HERE if you are interested. I may try to do another one of these. You can follow me on Instagram HERE. I love this platform and I think it is a real help in these times. Lots of bloggers from the old days are starting to do Instagram TV videos so check them out if you are trying to distract yourself from the news. Here are a couple folks I have enjoyed videos from:

Food Blogger David Lebovitz has been making cocktails
Block Printer Molly Mahon has been demoing potato printing
Melissa Weiss has a making pottery series

These links go to their Instagram pages. If you are looking at a computer, you will find a small little logo above above their feed which takes you to their IGTV channel. Or you can see in their feed the same logo on each little box which will let you watch the video. 

If you find any IGTV channels you think I might like, let me know. 

I'm back at my ceramics. Just before the State of Massachusetts closed down, I ordered 750 pounds of clay thinking that the supplier would be closed down and I wouldn't get it til who knows when. Surprise! The supplier also has a medical supply biz so my clay arrived in 2 days which meant I had to move 750 pounds of clay TWICE - to my car and then into the living room. I was wonder if I could do it because that's a lot of weight for me to move but I did it. Now to get my throwing muscles back again!

Here are some photos of the recent decorating I have done on pieces that were already thrown. I have a lot more pieces thrown that I need to get painted. 

Stacking it up on my bookcase:

Today's platter project. Each color needs to be painted three times to get nice bright colors.

The start of a big bowl decoration...... I used to just wing it and paint. Back in December, I decided to try to pre-plan each piece by sketching out what I was going to paint. The pencil lines will disappear when the piece is fired in the kiln. 

Here is is finished:

 

Stay safe everyone. Stay home. Stay healthy. 

Spring Snow and Beau

It's officially spring and Monday afternoon into the evening, we got a good 7 inches of spring snow. It is supposed to warm up some this week so I am hoping it will melt. We haven't had much snow this past winter and the moisture is much needed. Good thing those frogs didn't lay their eggs because the little pond is frozen again. Here are some pretty photos from the day after the storm. 

Here's Beau - one of our two Great Pyrenees Guard Dogs. Isn't he a handsome boy? He and his sister Sadie are quite camera shy but I got this nice photo of him in the snow. Both of them sleep outdoors and they have the thickest, long coats now. When it got warm for a few days, they were really minding the heat. I get them sheared usually in April or May because they really hate the heat. Hopefully I will be able to get an appointment for them. When their coats are removed, they look like Yellow Labs. 

If you haven't seen this, check it out. Pluto (a Schnauzer from Canada) has a YouTube channel HERE and it sure is a good diversion. 

Hope you are all surviving and are well. Thinking of you all. 

LIfe Goes On - Lambs Still Coming

It's a very foggy day here in western Massachusetts but it is supposed to be a nice sunny weekend. The geraniums I overwintered in my studio are starting to look more lively and beginning to put out blooms. I took a walk down into our pastures to check on the grass growth (nothing yet - still rather brown) and what life is there. The dogs loved it. My big takeaway was the lack of moisture in the fields. Usually I have to avoid certain places when I don't have boots on but not yesterday. Must be the lack of heavy snow this year. 

One of the things I look forward to so much in the spring is discovering the frog's eggs in the little ponds that the sheep drink out of during the summer. Each time I walk in the field, I wonder if they have been laid yet. Julia thinks I am nuts and has no interest in looking for frog spawn so I do it by myself. No spawn yet.

Yesterday I joined two conference calls with CISA, our local agriculture support organization which supports local food and farming. It was good to hear other voices and listen to how other farmers in our area are dealing with the Covid-19 situation. It's all a little overwhelming and there is so much uncertainty in every community throughout the world. The farming community is creative and good at boot strapping. Today, we are writing our legislators to let our voices be heard because honestly, our farm and family needs the farmers markets to open this year - once it is safe for customers and vendors. It's all very early and we will see how it will play out. Every day, I think of another way this crisis is effecting our country and world. I try not to think too much about it but I can't help it. 

Yesterday, I got back in my pottery studio and did some pottery decoration. I have a lot of already made pots to decorate and need to get busy with it. I turn on NEPR and listen to classical music all day long. If you like classical music, you can stream it here. They just started doing news updates at 10, noon, and 2. Before that, I didn't have to listen to what was going on in the world which was a bit of a respite to the news. 

Here are some photos of the sheep and lambs for you all. Enjoy. I'll be back with another update tomorrow.  Isn't this the sweetest brand new lamb?

What to do in this time of uncertainty? OMG - Knit a Farmer...

Hello all you fine folks! What a few weeks it has been and more to come. I don't have any sound advice to give you all in the wake of the coronavirus hitting our shores. No one knows how it will affect their families and friends and communities. It's all a bit crazy and out of the ordinary. I wish you and yours all the best as we struggle our way through the unknown. 

When all else fails, I say knit! I have been knitting a lot this winter. A few weeks ago, I wrote this hilarious post and then followed it up with this post. If you haven't read this blog in a while there is a lot to catch up on. I've been introducing the 15 patterns from World Knits Collection. I've been giving back-story to the different patterns and designs. All of the patterns are available by PDF Download on my website or over on Ravelry. 

These designs were all made almost 25 years ago over the span of 4 years. Unfortunately I have very few of the original designs. I've been going over the patterns and knitting some up. I'll post a few this week. Right now, I'm knitting a Farmer from The Ethnic Gift Collection. I found the original Farmwoman but could not find her mate. Here she is.....

She was a bit moth ravaged but I patched her up. Her apron lifts up to reveal a pocket and she can be used as a small purse or carrying bag. 

I looked high and low for her mate and could not find him anywhere. Here he is in progress. Sorry about some of the poorly lit photos. 

Two legs ready to be joined

Legs joined and hips knit

Belt knit

Chest begun

Neck shaped and head and hat begun. He has to be stuffed as you go because the knitting closes in on the pieces. I added some French knot buttons before doing the neck. 

The head is finished here and has been stuffed

The purl ridge is picked up and a brim is knitted for the hat

The arms are finished and ready to attach. A few ends to weave in. 

Here is my Farmer with facial features, laces, hair that needs to be trimmed. 

I took him down into my studio to my steamer to give him a little plump up and a hair trim. Guess what! He has disappeared. I cannot find him anywhere! Once again - I have looked high and low and he is in the miss. I'm wondering if one of the cats took him away. That is all I can think of. 

And so I began again. I knit another farmer. Here's what I have so far.......

The second one went much quicker than the first. I'm in a groove now. I'm going to keep knitting the Farm. 

To Be Continued........

Purchase the Eclectic Gift Collection on my website here or on Ravelry here. 

More tomorrow!