Spring is Here and Links

Things are extra busy here at the farm. I'm off to Newburyport to teach 2 classes on Saturday. Maybe I will see some of you there. Here are some farm photos and some links that I have found that you may find interesting.

It was a gorgeous morning here at our farm. 

Here's a yearling with her little lamb. Love how it is looking at its mama all concerned about the person with the camera and all the dogs right beside me! Can't blame the little fellow.

Nessie looks small in this expanse of grass. She is always on the job!

The orchard is starting to bloom. Doesn't look like there will be too many apples this year. Love all the pretty light pink blooms.

Mark Bittman on Wendell Berry

Knitted Stop Sign Flowers in San Diego creating controversy

These super cute sheep measuring cups

One of our lambs on the spit at The Kitchen Garden's Spring Greek Lamb Roast. Spaces still available. Check it out if you are local.  

Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail Tour this Saturday and Sunday here in western Massachusetts

Have a great day everyone!

Judith and Mabon

Today I had an unexpected surprise. I had tea with Judith Jones and her Havanese dog Mabon. Yes, that Judith Jones - editor to Julia, Lidia, John Updike and scads more and rescuer of the Anne Frank diary. Author of The Tenth Muse and The Pleasures of Cooking for One.  Owner of Bryn Teg Farm, a grass fed beef farm in northern Vermont. How's that for a day? I'm still pinching myself. 

Now this isn't a typical day around here. Usually I take a long walk with our Border Collies, feed the chickens, commune with Archie and Winston, work on a project for a book or whatever, and do what is on the ever present to-do list. But today it was raining (thank goodness - we really need it). Instead, I started the day off on a whim by calling our neighbor David Nussbaum (as in kind neighbor I wrote about here). David is a cookbook writer who has worked with Judith for years on projects including many of Julia's and Lidia's books. I had heard that Judith would be in Greenfield speaking at the Community College this Wednesday (info here and it is free). I assumed David was involved in getting her to our neck of the woods. I thought it would be fun to have my signed Julia cookbooks also signed by Julia's Editor Judith. What the heck, I might as well ask, I thought to myself. 

David answered the phone, Judith said yes, and he said, come right down. Off I went, books in hand, my heart all a pitter patter because I don't do anything quite so exciting as this on a Monday. 

Me and Judith Jones with her dog Mabon

What a treat this was. I spent a couple of hours with David and his new dog, Judith and her two year old Havanese Mabon talking about dogs, books, farming, cooking, publishing and teaching Judith about blogging.

What a wonderful woman Judith is - still learning at 88, still writing. (She retired from Knopf just last year at 87.) For all you fans of Judith, here's some good news. She is at work on a new book. And she wants to incorporate a blog into the mix. As I was showing Judith how a blog works and typing away, she was editing my words. Listening to Judith and David bantering back and forth, composing words for a post - it was an education for me to see them work together - to see great literary minds at work crafting a sentence. To hear David breaking down the process, like he would a step by step in a recipe.

So that was my day. The rest of the week won't compare. Now my Julia books are signed with Judith's famous green editing pen. Thank you Judith. Thank you David. See you Wednesday afternoon at GCC. Hope some of you all can come. It should be a good talk. Bring some canned food for The Food Bank.

Here's what I need from all of you.... Judith and David asked me what my favorite cooking and food blogs are. I told them mine. Would you be kind enough to leave your favorites in my comments section for Judith.... Thanks so much!

The Little Room

During the fall and winter, we spend a lot of time in one little tiny room in our house. Call it the t.v. room or the library or Julia's lair.... whatever it is, it is cozy, full of books, favorite magazines for the three of us, current knitting projects, Julia's notebooks. The red jacquard couch is covered with a granny square afghan and littered with pillows I have made over the years. On one wall is a long bank of shelves which our friend Kevin built for us when we first moved here. The shelves are painted with Sherwin Williams Satin Impervo Oil Paint in the color of coal. They are jammed with knitting books, art books, farming books, biographies. Tacked onto the shelves are scraps of Indian shisha embroideries. There are some old pieces of English pottery I collected back when I had a real job and could afford such things. There are little statues of sheep that friends and family have given us. There are some crazy beaded daffodils that I bought at junk store back in the 1980's near Syarcuse, NY. I can still remember my mom's comment, "What are you going to do with those ugly things." FYI Mom, I'm still treasuring them.

 

The Little Room is also is home to our woodstove. On a winter evening, it is the only warm room in the house. I painted the walls of the Little Room a long time ago to resemble a tile pattern in shades of moss, geranium, clay, and robin's egg blue. This was before digital cameras and the rise of the internet. If I were to do it again now, I would probably have a tutorial for it. Wow, have things changed since 2003. People didn't document their food, their baking, their how-to projects. They didn't film their knitting and crochet with their telephone. Back then, I didn't know what a blog was nor did I have internet service. Back then, people just did their projects by themselves and got on with life. Back then, we looked to people like Martha and the DIY t.v. channels. Back then, we devoured print magazines and books. Now everyone and anyone can be an expert, a cookbook writer, a blogger, a designer.

I think about this frequently.... how things have changed in a very few short years and how things will keep changing. Back then, I didn't worry about money, about how to pay the health insurance, the car and truck payments and the taxes. Now I am selling patterns via the air. What is next? I don't know. Sometimes it scares me, thinking about how much I have to continue to learn, to keep up with..... so the world doesn't pass me by. 

The other evening, The Farmer and I were sitting in the Little Room. It was school vacation and I have a looming deadline. The Little Room was littered with balls of yarn, scribbled notes on floating pads of paper, piles of crochet. The Farmer and I were alone except for 10 cats, 3 Border Collies and an unknown number of mouths to feed in the dark pastures outside. 

A few weeks ago, I asked my Mom if she would like Julia to come to visit during spring break without me. She said she would love that. Then I asked Julia if she wanted to go and she said "I'll think about it." Julia is 13 and she has never been away from home without her Mom or Dad. It was time. For all of us - Julia, me, The Farmer. Julia has juvenille diabetes and an insulin pump but she is very good at monitoring her glucose levels. My Mom is no stranger to the complexities of diabetes because both Daddy and my sister Jenn were and are diabetic. This chronic disease makes things like visiting friends and family a little more complicated. Not impossible, just more complicated.

We picked a half way point (White Flower Farm in Litchfield, CT) and off we went on Monday. Julia was excited to spend time with all her NJ relatives and I was excited for her to be on her own. Except for one phone call to make sure they arrived safely, we didn't talk or text. No news is good news. 

So during the evenings, we sat in the Little Room, watching t.v., me wielding a needle, The Farmer dozing on the couch. Not much different than most evenings, Just a little quieter without a teenager expressing her opinion, telling us we didn't know what we were talking about. Telling us what shows to watch. In the bathroom, the towels were neatly arranged on the towel rack. There were no teenage acne products on the sink. In the kitchen, the empty yogurt containers, stray spoons, ripped alcohol foil envelopes and insulin pump supplies were not littering the kitchen table. The week wore on without a phone call. And then Thursday came and Mom and I made a plan to meet again, this time in Salisbury CT. 

Julia is home again and life is back to our new normal. Today is the first Amherst Farmers Market and we won't have a Saturday off until Thanksgiving. School starts again on Monday. Life is busy. Life is good. Julia is growing up. And we are too.

An Interview with Tanis Gray, Author of Capitol Knits and a Giveaway

Today I am really happy to have a special interview with Author/Designer/Editor and Mama to Callum Tanis Gray. 

Tanis Gray and her little sweetheart Callum

I met Tanis it seems years ago when she was the Yarn Editor at Soho Publishing - the umbrella to magazines Vogue Knitting and Knit Simple and the sadly departed Knit.1 (which Tanis co-edited). We developed one of those business/phone friendships which I am happy to say has continued due to the internet and both of us moving on professionally and personally. Tanis has been to one of my "Getting Stitched on the Farm" Retreats and since then, we have shared the woes and joys of book publishing, designing, and motherhood. Last spring Tanis and her husband Roger welcomed little Callum into their family and their lives have not been the same since. That's him in one of her handknits above.  Tanis and her family live in Washington, DC.


Last year, Tanis's book Knit Local was published by Sixth and Spring Books to rave reviews. This winter, she self-published her second book. Tanis is no stranger to having her work published. Her designs have been featured in gobs of books and magazines, many of them ending up on the covers. Today, Tanis is spending some time with all of us and she is sponsoring a Giveaway of her new book Capitol Knits.

Tanis' new book Capitol Knits

For all you locals, Webs is sponsoring a trunk show of Capitol Knits right now and through the next 2 weeks in their store. I have splashed photos of many of the projects from Tanis' Capitol Knits through this post. Check out Tanis' website here. You can listen to a podcast with Tanis here.


KN: Hi Tanis. Let's start with the age-old question most knitters want to know.....When and how did you learn to knit?

TG: My mom taught me when I was 8. She had always been a wonderful sewer and knitter but got busy with my brother and I and didn't have much time for it. She decided to get back into it and make me a sweater. I was absolutely enthralled with the process and would do any little thing I could to help, whether it was to wind her yarn, help her pick out buttons or just sit and watch. She taught me after finishing that little mohair cardigan for me and I've been addicted ever since.

KN: You know, my mom made me a little green mohair cardigan. She saved it and for awhile Julia wore it. Such nice knitting memories for us both! I know your mom has been rather influential in your creative life. She is a painter, isn't she? How has her work been an influence on your creative life?

TG:  Yes, my mom is a very talented painter and pastel artist. You can see her work at www.patriciamgray.com. My mom taught both children's and adult art classes and growing up I'd come to all her classes and "assist." Between going to class with her, volunteering at the local art centers, coming home from school every day to find her working in her studio and sitting there watching her while we rehashed our days to each other, or going on one of our many, many museum trips, she taught me to appreciate art, find beauty everywhere, understand and utilize color and respect other people's visions. Both she and my father were supportive of my going to art school, which changed my life.

KN: What is your best knitting tale.... either personal or professional? One of the most memorable things that has affected your knitting and real life simultaneously?

TG:  I went to RISD for college and freshman year is referred to as "foundation year." You cannot declare a major until you are a sophomore and everyone takes the same 4 classes, 3D, 2D, drawing and art history. For my final project in 3D at the end of the year, we had to create a "second skin for something." That was the only instruction given, so the concept could be wide open. I had really missed my knitting and anyone who knows about a RISD education knows that you work your butt off for 4 years and there's little time for anything but schoolwork and studying. I wished to somehow bring my knitting into this project and in the end decided to knit a "second skin for my hands," ie mittens. Holding fishing line, silver metal strips, silver wiring, cotton rope and twine together, I knit wearable mittens with copper cuffs.  Those were definitely my most memorable pair of mittens and I went through about 8 sets of DPNs knitting them! I got an A in that class and those mittens went on to win many sculpture awards. It married my love of art and my love of knitting.

KN: Wow, that is one great story. I love that you combined art and knitting. It is such a natural although many people don't think of it that way.
Tanis, you recently self-published a beautiful book called Capitol Knits! It is jam-packed with gorgeous sweaters and lots of accessories. What I really like is how all the sweaters and accessories are extremely wearable but stylish too. Congratulations! Great timing with the election coming up. I think you are very brave to self-publish considering you have come out of the corporate knitting/magazine world. What prompted you to do go off on your own and do it yourself?

TG: Thanks! We live in the heart of Washington, DC on Capitol Hill. It's an odd experience walking the dog and pushing a stroller passing senators, judges and important political figures on the street. This city is the beating heart of our nation and one of the most beautiful, historic places we have as a young country. I had just wrapped up my first book, Knit Local with Sixth & Spring, had a baby and REALLY wanted to do a small book where I had complete control. I wanted to do the photography, have final say on all decisions and see what I pictured in my head on a page in front of me. It was a giant leap of faith and I worked on it in fits and starts while my son slept, trying to challenge myself and see if I could do it. It was more or less my journals come to life in bound book form for all to see. I love history, plants, interesting facts, maps and knitting. I wanted to share that with other knitters.

 

KN: The book is very beautiful. You put so much of yourself in there. I love all the little drawings, the history of DC, the stories that are added. That is the kind of add-on that makes a book special but which unfortunately doesn't get into most knitting books done by large publishers. Are there any tips you would like to share with others about the process of self-publishing?

TG:  Have patience with yourself. When you're a one-woman show things take a lot longer than if you have a team behind you. There are many great things about working with a publisher, and there are also many great things about working on a book by yourself. They are both unique experiences, one not being better than the other, just different. I wanted to try both.

KN: I know about being a "one-woman show" - it's a tough gig, especially when you have high standards! What was the biggest learning curve you had in self-publishing Capitol Knits?

TG:  Finding the balance between my schedule, my model's, my husband's and my son's. I feel like I should have a degree in scheduling after getting a book done in 3 months with all those schedules!

KN: Wow - three months! That is phenomenal. You are amazing. Anything else really special in Capitol Knits that you would like to share with us?

TG: DC is a magical city. There are so many hidden gems and a wonderful sense of history and duty here. This book is my love letter to this city and I was inspired to do it after researching my family tree and being accepted into the DAR last year. There are write-ups about each location, facts, photos, history... I hope that if you haven't been to DC and you look over this book, you'll want to visit. There's a ton of writing in this book and I hope people take the time to read it. Also, the trunk show is currently at Webs in Northampton and has been traveling around the country. If you want your LYS to host it, let them know!

KN: Many readers here at "Getting Stitched on the Farm" are interested in things besides knitting. Tell us what else informs your design life? What else do you like to do that helps to keep you creating great knitting designs.

TG: With a dog and a baby I take 2, sometimes 3 walks a day. I like exploring the city and my neighborhood. There's so much inspiration here and most of the museums are free, so you can pop in for 30 minutes of inspiration or spend a few hours there. I wish all the museums in the world were free! I also like to bike with my family, am obsessed with jigsaw puzzles, watching sci-fi and when I get some free time (ha), sew.

KN: Jealous - all those museums for free! Nice. Now that you have been in Washington for 3 years, tell me what the secret is to knitting in the heat down there? 

TG: Ugh, the heat. Last summer was one of the worst summers on record. My son was born last April 2 months early with pnemonia. He spent the first month of his life in the NICU and we were instructed to not take him outside in anything over 90 degrees. That meant I spent 99% of my summer indoors in the air conditioning! Even though I've never been a fan of summer and the heat, I truly enjoy knitting all year round, no matter how hot it is! Keep the blinds closed, crank up the air conditioning and drink plenty of iced tea.

I want to thank Tanis for opening up her world to all of us. She has kindly donated a signed copy of Capitol Knits one of my lucky readers. Here's how to enter.....

Answer this question from Tanis in the Comments section. 

What is your favorite monument in DC?

Contest ends Sunday April 22nd at 11:59 p.m. US addresses only.
As always, please leave an easy way to get a hold of you - either blog, Ravelry id, or email address. Thanks for reading all! And thanks so much to Tanis for taking time out of her busy day and life.

What I love about the Web

A couple weeks ago I wrote here about not owning a ballwinder or umbrella swift. This isn't a hardship for me because most of the yarn I use is in ball format. But now I'm working on a new big project and have had to source different kinds of yarn. It has been really fun to see what is out there now. The big snafu was that many of the yarns I ordered came in twisted hanks. When I worked for the yarn company, this put-up was one of my favorites because it really showed the yarn off - the softness, the drape, the gorgeous quality of the natural fiber blends. 

Leave it to a deadline to get me cursing. Man, I had to wind all those hanks of yarn so I could knit from them (thank you Cathy for the use of your winder). After moaning about just this here on the blog, I got a message from an old knitting friend of mine. I've known Patience through knitting for over twenty years. I met her when I spoke at a knitting guild in New Hampshire way back when. We have kept in touch sporadically so when I got a note saying she had a few extra ball winders and swifts and would I like one, I jumped on the offer. 

On Sunday, Patience and her partner Mark Trumpler drove the tools on out. Just in time considering I just got a new box of Butterfly cotton on hanks that need to be wound. We had a great visit and catch-up and then I gave them the almost royal farm tour. Mark is a photographer and he had some fun taking photos of the sheep. I love this one of the running lambs. We were sorting sheep and when we do this, the lambs can't be in the pens with adults (they can get easily trampled). Since the lambs are barely without their mamas, they were having good fun chasing after each other - kind of like lunch recess.

Running lambs by Mark Trumpler

 Our neighbor Willie was helping The Farmer load some of the rams that will become our lamb meat for the upcoming Farmers Market Season. This shot catches the action and a bit of the physical strength needed to move a sheep.

Loading sheep by Mark Trumpler

Thank you so much Patience for the awesome gift. It will be well-used! 

If you are in Amherst Saturday, it is the first day of the Amherst (MA) Farmers Market. The three of us will all be there with smiles on this Saturday and every Saturday until the middle of November! Stop by and say hi.

Other interesting links I have found.

1. Via Swiss-Miss, a new website called Webbygram which lets you look at your Instagram photos on your computer. Cool. (You did hear that FB bought Instagram, didn't you?)

2. This article about food writing by Amanda Hesser is good (via Diane Jacob).....

as is this one about whether "food-blogging" is over.

3. This website about creativity called Brainpickings.

This is Really Good

Found this site called SlideShare which lets you take a Power Point presentation and turn it into a slideshow on the web (private or public). There are lots of slideshows you can watch. I liked the one below. I will have to remember this when I have a new book come out. Nice way to preview and not have to learn much of a new technology.

Inspiration Squared

View more presentations from David Crandall

via SlideShare

Has anyone used it or something similar and have an opinion to share?

Waiting for Rain

Kate is really growing, isn't she? She has that classic teenage look to her - lanky, giant growing nose (we're thinking she should be called Pinocchio), and her fur is becoming curly and less soft. She's also showing some awesome herding instinct!

The spring rains haven't come to western Massachusetts, like so many places in the USA. I am seriously worried about how the lack of rain is going to effect the local veggie farms, our hay crop, and our garden this summer, never mind the well which is our only source of water. It usually runs dry some days during a normal summer. Not a lot we can do about it. 

 

Our sheep in the front pasture have a couple natural spring fed sources of water. They are basically holes in the ground that have been dug out and fill with water and frogs' eggs. They make great watering holes for the sheep and the dogs love to lie down in the mud and cool themselves off. No wonder it is impossible to keep our house clean. 

When we moved here 12 years ago, we did a lot of renovation including buying an American Standard low water use toilet to replace an old water guzzling things. From the first day it was installed, we hated the thing. It was prettily styled (might as well have a nice looking toilet) but the darn thing never flushed properly. After 12 years of living with the non-working thing, I decided to go in search of a replacement, even though when I bought it I thought I was buying it for the duration of our time here. Our friend Mike is a plumber and he tipped me off that Toto makes a well-designed low water use toilet. So meet our new toilet...... Her name is Guinevere. She is cute, isn't she? A one piece beauty making her easier to clean.

And she flushes beautifully! What a relief that after 12 years of hating the works in that new/old one, we have a toilet that works. It's a little thing but it's making for a good day here on the farm. And now I won't have to explain the country plumbing issues to the knitting guests who come to the farm this summer and fall. Thanks Mike!

Quilled and we aren't talking crafts

For the second time this week, Archie and Winston, our Great Pyrenees Guard Dogs have been tangling with a porcupine sometime during the depth of night. 

Today's quilling wasn't as bad as the first. We used some needle nosed pliers and gently yanked on them. Poor guys - must not have been much fun. Good thing they have a pretty gentle temperament.

You would think they would learn, wouldn't you? Things that waddle in the dark in their territory are pretty irresistible though.

Little Lambs in the Pasture

Thanks so much for all those movie ideas. Looks like I will be keeping the Interlibrary Loan folks busy with lots of orders! If you haven't read the comments from the last post and you like movies, you should check out all the great suggestions.

The yearlings in the pasture in front of our house are slowly popping out lambs, one every 4 days or so. It's sweet to watch them all running around - some are very quick (the older ones) and some are slow and don't play as much as the others. 

Most of our sheep are cross-breds (except the rams) but each sheep usually has dominant traits of one of their parents. This ewe is a Cheviot cross and her lamb has those distinctive upright ears.

 

This ewe looks like a Romney but her lamb doesn't look quite so Romney-ish.

This year, for the mature ewes, we used four different rams - a Border Leicester, a Cheviot, a Polypay (new this year - he came from Wisconsin), and a Dorset/Texel cross. It's been interesting to see how the lambs of each of the different ram's do. One day, I plan to do a post with photos of all the boys. Someday.....

Back Light

We had a lovely Easter yesterday with lots of family and good food at my sister Laurie's house. I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend too. 

Took this photo of some of the yearlings and their lambs down in the orchard early one morning last week. I love backlight. I've been busy working on upcoming things that I cannot reveal and have been watching movies on my computer. I've been into the director's comments about some different favorite movies. Watched (well, mostly listened) to Sydney Pollack talking about the filming of Out of Africa. It is so great to get the back-story on how the film was made. (I'm a process person for sure.) Did you know they shot the entire movie with back-light because the sunlight in Africa was so harsh? That was the secret to how the film looked. Now I know why I loved the cinematography in that movie. If you haven't watched it in a while, it is worth a re-look. Gorgeous and the story holds up.

Does anyone have any ideas for good films to watch/listen to? Have a massive amount of time to sit on my butt in the upcoming few months and need stuff to listen and watch. 

I've notified the winners of the sock yarn. Thanks to all who entered. Boy - almost 200 entries. That is awesome. Thanks for playing everyone!

Kristin's Garden Effects Sock Yarn - New from Regia!

Exciting news today for you all! Drum roll please.......

 

Introducing my new Sock Yarn being distributed WORLD-WIDE by Regia.....

 

Regia Design Line Garden Effects by yours truly Kristin Nicholas

 

This project has been in the works for several years! From an initial meeting with the Regia Product Manager at least 4 years ago, it has finally happened and it is in local stores worldwide now.... 

 

Check your local yarn store. It should be there if they have ordered it. It comes in 50 gram balls so you will need 2 balls for a pair of socks.

And now for something really fun - I'm hosting a Garden Effects Sock Yarn Giveaway! Two lucky winners will receive 2 balls each of 3 colors of my new sock yarn. 

To enter, answer the following question in my Comments section.....

Question: What is your favorite summer knitting project?

As always, please leave an easy way to get a hold of you - blog address, Ravelry name, or email. Contest ends Easter Sunday at 11:59 p.m. 

Good luck everyone!

JP Knit and Stitch

Don't forget the Lamb Meat-Up tomorrow night at Webs for all you local lamb-lovers. Check it out here. 

Our farm was written up on the Local Pickins "craving it" blog. Check it out here. 

Some photos from my weekend visit to JP Knit and Stitch in Jamaica Plain/Boston, Massachusetts. Had a great turn-out for the Friday evening talk. I know some of you came - it was really nice to meet you in person. Now I have a mental picture of some of you! Went to a fabulous Indian dinner with my cousin Wendy, her hubby Jim and friends Cathy and Cynthia. Love Indian food and don't get it easily here..... 

JP Knit and Stitch is a new store - just one year old. Knitters and quilters are just discovering it. Located in a charming neighborhood, it has a wrap-around window so you can see all kinds of folks walking past.

The store is packed with beautiful fabrics and yarns in a dizzying array of prints and colors. 

The space is beautifully designed with a large cozy and inviting sitting area in the front of the store. We held the class at a nice wooden table in the center of the space.

The logo and space is bright and cheerful and oh so inviting. They have a lovely little kitchen too and served the lunch on real plates and coffee in real mugs. Nice touch for sure! Love this new children's book at the register called Extra Yarn.

 

In the morning, I taught ten knitters to embroider. Here are their samplers.

 

In the afternoon, we worked on edgings. Here is a beautiful couple of swatches from one of the students, Jin. She just learned to knit! I hope she keeps knitting because she surely is talented!

 What a great day we all had. Lovely lunch provided by the store. Continual coffee, all day! Then I dashed back to the farm and my reality. Thanks to JP Knit and Stitch for inviting me and making me feel so welcome. And if you are heading towards Boston, check out this new store in a fun neighborhood.  They teach lots of different classes, including for kids, both on knitting and sewing. 

Lamb Meat-Up at Webs - This Thursday Evening

The fine folks at Webs/America's Yarn Store are letting me use their parking lot for another pre-Easter and Passover Lamb Meat-Up. The one just before Christmas was extremely successful and many of you took the opportunity to shop at Webs and to buy your family a lovely meal of our pasture raised lamb.

I'll be there from 5 to 6:30 this Thursday evening the 5th of April.

Here's what you do to order....

E-mail me your order or call with questions.

kristinnicholas@gmail.com or 413.774.6514

We take cash, checks and credit cards. 

Meet me at the Meat-Up and shop at the huge Webs Anniversary sale. Fun evening, don't you think?

As always, I thank you for your support of our farming and creative enterprises. Please spread the word. Homegrown lamb for your holiday party! If you aren't a roast kind of family, lamb chops would be really fun on the grill. That is what my family is having!

BTW, Kathy and Steve Elkins are up for a retail video award. Check it out on their blog here. Support Webs by voting for them and help spread the knitting/fiber love in the greater retail world. (We all are a tiny speck on the retail world. Just think about that!) The more one of us succeeds, the better it is for our entire industry and craft.