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I sort of finished a sweater for Oona.
As in, it’s done but she won’t let me have it back long enough to properly block it.
The pattern is called Boheme, and I used Juniper Moon Farm’s Sabine. It knit up super fast, and I added two little i-cord flowers, similar to the Boheme sweater that was gifted to Oona in December by our friend Suzy Q.
The buttons were some adorable Jemima Puddleduck ones I found at JoAnns ages ago, and was thrilled to finally have something that matched so perfectly!
Hopefully at some point it will get blocked so I can get a decent picture of the lace portion on the bottom.
Let me start by saying that if you work with fabrics you should know Lizzy House. Because if you don’t, you are missing out BIG TIME. Lizzy has beautiful prints in beautiful colors – so much so that Susan collects hoardes bundles of it to display in her house. It’s that beautiful.
Lizzy came to the farm this weekend to give a quilting workshop (farm plus BFF’s plus quilting? I was SO in) and I was thrilled to be a part of it. I’ve not done a lot of quilting myself, and what I have done has been mostly frustrating because I never really bothered to figure out how to quilt, so when things went wrong I wasn’t really sure how to fix them. This class was perfect because I am not necessarily a beginner, but I needed to see people properly working a quilt to fill in the knowledge gap. And now that I know what I was doing wrong I realize how kind of simple the fixes were. Quilting is so very much easier than I was assuming it is, and so very much more fun!
Don’t you just love this Hello Kitty machine Virginia is sewing on?? Virginia owns “Gather Here” a beautiful yarn & fabric shop in Cambridge, MA. If you’re in the neighborhood, drop in and check it out. And tell her I said hi!!
The bonus? Aside from spending the weekend sewing at the farm, my dear friend Amanda came down from Boston.
I do not get to see Amanda nearly enough. That has to change.
I collaborated with Caroline and I am pretty sure a new quilting fiend has been born in her – she took right to it and loved it. Don’t be surprised if she’s designing quilts by this time next year!
Lizzy herself is just as beautiful and friendly and fun as her designs.
We were all working on making our own version of the quilt you see behind her – but not just “making” it. She shared a story of personal loss that spurred her to begin quilting, and how it saved her. How all of the emotion and love and sorrow and all of it went into the quilt until it became more than just “a quilt”. This is very familiar to me as a knitter, and to other knitters as well. Our craft is a kind of therapy and I have spent many hours knitting while mulling over whatever is happening in my life at that moment. From then on, that project always reminds me of that moment, like a snapshot. There are knitters I know who will call something their “angry scarf” or their “lucky socks” because that is what they remember most about knitting them. I oddly have a project that makes me think of Niagara Falls because I was listening to a “This American Life” segment about the Falls while I was knitting it.
Lizzy’s fabrics being bundled into a gorgeous stack.
This quilt project was about that, but in a more “intentional” way. Lizzy tasked us with deciding what we wanted our quilts to be about and to focus on that while working on it. I can tell you my intentions for it were all about my friendships at the farm (both old and new) and my hopes and feelings about finally getting my own farm underway. This will be an intentionally happy and lucky and grateful quilt. And Caroline and I worked on it together! I will remember that every time I see it and it will make me happy.
This is Lisa. Lisa lives locally (YAY!!!) and for all of you who are local, she and her husband own Revolutionary Soup. Right??!!! You can also check out their blog at Red Row Farm.
Caroline and I used a collection by Moda called “Papillon”.
I can’t wait to show off the project when it is all finished. We knocked out 12 of the 18 squares for the top. I’ll be machine quilting it once I’ve gotten the backing fabric and sandwiching material. Nothing fancy – I think the fabric does a knockout job on its own.
If you’re thinking about learning to quilt but are unsure – find a class. I can’t promise it will be as fun as this was, but it will take away much of the fear factor and get you going on the right track (if you live in the greater Boston area, Virginia’s shop is a great place to take classes, and you can use her machines there by the hour).
If Lizzy is going to be in your area giving a class or workshop – DO IT. I can’t speak highly enough of her. And for heaven’s sake if you find some of her fabric GET IT!!!
This is the post where I steal an entire bit from Susan’s blog and pass it on here. She and the crew at JMF are starting magazine. A beautiful, lovely, useful magazine centered around all things done by hand. Cooking, sewing, knitting, building…..you name it. I’m super excited about it (and having a hard time not boasting that I’ve known about it for quite awhile and have seen some of what’s going to go into it…..it’s too exciting to keep to myself!). Here it is in Susan’s words. There’s some lovely prizes to be had for those who can help get it off the ground.
Very Big News!
by Susan on March 2, 2012
So for months now I have been alluding to a big secret I’ve been keeping. I am thrilled that today I can finally share the news with all of you.
Juniper Moon Farm is starting a magazine called By Hand. By Hand will be a lifestyle magazine for people who make, with departments for cooking, crafting, DIY, gardening, and do-gooding, with a bit of travel and profiles of makers every month.
The idea is to celebrate creating things with our hands, and to explore the motivation to make things in a world where there are cheaper and immediate alternatives. It will be both practical (patterns, DIY projects, etc) and thoughtful, with a lovely and gentle aesthetic.
We have lots of amazing contributors and editors on board already, and the first issue is well underway. But before we go any further, we need your help!
We are holding a Kickstarter campaign to raise the rest of the money we need to make the magazine everything we want it to be. And as an added inducement, we have commissioned so amazing rewards! Our art director Michelle Lukezic has designed posters and t-shirts that are going to be incredibly popular with people who make things with their hands. Here’s a sample:
There are posters and t-shirts for each of the sections in the magazine!
If you like what you see and want to support us, great! If you can help us get the word out about the Kickstarter and the magazine we will be forever in your debt!
What’s going on right now:
- There’s 14 1/2 dozen eggs in my fridge right now. It’s getting dire, people. I am going to start doing egg drops on peoples’ doorsteps.
- I’ve been reading 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C Mann and I am loving it. There’s all kinds of great little – known facts about the impact that contact with the “New World” made globally. Did you know that at Columbus’ time (he was called Cristobal Colon then, btw) people had known for years the earth was round; Columbus (or Colon) insisted it was pear – shaped, with the very top resembling a woman’s nipple? Did you know earthworms were unknown in the Americas before the Europeans arrived? Or that Pocahontas’ name was actually “Mataoka”. The name “Pocahontas” was a nickname which meant “Little Hellion”?
- I’m working furiously on Wicked using the luscious Superfine Alpaca yarn Caroline and I bought from the Montpelier Fiber Festival in the fall. It’s very slow going, and normally I would be ultra bored with it by now, but the yarn is just so wonderful I can’t put it down.
- To assist with all that knitting – we got a new dvd player. Okay, we got it because our old one broke. Paul picked up a new one with all these crazy bells and whistles that I can barely figure out BUT. I can access my Amazon Prime account through the dvd player so that I can watch any of the streaming shows and movies from my online account ON MY TV!!! I know I am so late to the party on this but I am very much enjoying it! Now I don’t have to rely on my laptop to watch Downton Abbey!!! (And goodness, if you haven’t been watching Downton Abbey, please do. It is so very good!)
- I started working out every day back in January. I’ve been alternating between a strength – training Pilates program with resistance bands and an “Ease into 5K” program on the elliptical. I also gave up soda completely and have replaced it with green tea. My favorite is The Republic of Tea’s Blueberry Green Tea. I’m feeling pretty good. My goal is to run on the beach this August during my book club beach weekend. My super – fit friend Beth runs every morning while we are there, and this year I plan to join her.
- Today I got my spinach and broccoli planted. As last year, I am using all heritage non – GMO seeds from Baker Creek. We’ve expanded the vegetable garden site and I am excited for all the fresh veg we’ll have this year!
- Last but not least, I bought supplies to take to Juniper Moon Farm this weekend where I will get to meet Lizzy House! She’s giving a quilting workshop and I get to go sew with some of my favorite people (and meet Lizzy House!!!!!!)
What are you up to this week????
I didn’t think it would happen – I dismissed all talk of it.
But it happened – we got SNOW! Not only that, we should be around 4 inches by the time it stops – a positively HUGE amount for us!
The recipe for the French Onion Soup comes from Susan and it can be found HERE. It is AMAZING. I made some crusty bread today to go with it and pulled out my French Onion Soup pots, filled them with soup, stuck a thick piece of bread in each one, topped with grated gruyere and OH MY GOODNESS.
Best way to warm up on a snowy, blustery day!!!
My needles have been on fire!
Well.
Not in the Caroline Fryar sense of “on fire”. Seriously, that girl can knit. Not only that, but she is quite the up – and – coming designer. I’m ridiculously proud that my Emily got to model some of Caroline’s garments for the JMF spring books, because before long that girl’s name will be all over the place.
Anyway.
I have been keeping my head down and zooming through some projects I’ve had going for awhile. I’ve still got at least 5others going on needles now, but that’s a story for another day.
I finished a hat for myself while Paul was in surgery – I wanted a slouchy but simple thing to keep my head warm around the house (and possibly in bed) while the cold winter settled over us.
Unfortunately the cold winter never materialized, so the broken upstairs heat pump has been not much of an issue.
And I haven’t really gotten to wear my hat at all.
I got the pattern HERE.
The yarn is Debbie Bliss “Baby Cashmerino”. It’s light, it’s soft, it’s a perfect icy, wintery blue. If only it were really winter instead of fake spring.
The other finished thing was actually finished for quite awhile now but awaiting blocking. It’s a good thing I finally managed to get it done because it’s a very belated Christmas gift for my grandmother.
It’s another “Far Away, So Close” shawl, this time knitted in Malabrigo. I don’t remember which Malabrigo or even the colorway because I lost the tag.
Surprise grandma! I’ll have it in the mail ASAP.
It’s super – soft and warm, and Emily is upset that once again she was asked to model a shawl that she does not get to keep. Yes, I get the hint.
It’ll be nice and cozy with my grandmother, who lives not far from Buffalo, where it’s much colder than it is here.
Usually.
Just not this year.
I finished a sweater. Back in November. I actually wore it to Fall Shearing. Where I got baby goat poop all over one newly minted arm of it. But I digress.
It has taken me this long to get it nicely blocked and to photograph it so I can show it off. None of these things have stopped me from wearing it, but I realized I really needed to get it posted here before it didn’t look so nice and new anymore.
The pattern is Fair Enough by Wendy Bernard. The yarn is Fine Cormo wool from Juniper Moon Farm. And the model who was making a weird face that she wouldn’t have loved me posting for the world to see is Maddie.
I love the colors – I picked them out because they all looked so lovely together. I didn’t realize that the blue and pink in the fair isle portion would blend in so well. They were supposed to “pop” a bit more. But now that I’ve worn it and gotten used to ti I quite like the subtlety. It’s actually better this way because the main color has a lot of green and pink hues in it that look almost variegated in spots.
Also I got to use brighter – colored buttons (thank you Susan!) than I otherwise would have done.
Now if it would only stay cold enough for me to wear it!
It’s been a hectic, eventful couple of days for us here.
Yesterday morning Paul underwent his neck surgery at our beautiful new local hospital while I waited it out in the hospital lounge. I brought my knitting (and finished a hat for myself) as well as plenty of reading materials and the time flew by. It helped that my lovely friend Sallie brought me lunch and offered a friendly face amid the sea of waiting and worried strangers. Staying connected to the outside world via social media was a great help and I am ridiculously grateful to everyone who wished Paul well.
Maddie stayed with the girls and they got her hopelessly hooked on “Dr. Who”. In fact, they stayed up ALL NIGHT watching it (and eating ice cream).
I got to spend time with Paul as he recovered from the anesthesia and adjusted to having a neck full of staples (seriously – staples. They come out next week, thank GOD). I spent a lot of that time helping him in and out of bed for potty breaks and fluffing his pillows, switching out ice packs and holding a straw to his mouth so he could have water. He does fairly well on his own now for short bursts during the day, but it’s going to be a long couple of weeks for me helping him manage. So, if the winter gods would just smile on me and dump a bunch of snow right now, we’d all be pretty happy since we can’t go anywhere anyway!
I’m doing my best to enjoy the temporary quiet that has fallen around the house as the girls are reading by the fireplace, and Gully is curled up in his new dog Snuggie on my lap. I think it might even be time for a cup of Harney & Sons tea.
There’s a reason I love winter. Winter is made for comfort. Winter is made for cozying up next to the fireplace with your tea and toasted cinnamon bread, with your knitting, with your book (or with back episodes of the Doctor). It’s made for snuggling up with your pets and your kids and watching the snow fall out the window (well, it would be if the weather would cooperate).
So these days, in between cleaning and dentist visits and getting school plans back in order, we are enjoying the cozy. What are you doing to stay cozy?
Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Bread
Harney & Sons “Hot Cinnamon Sunset” tea – my absolute favorite.
Local Kitchen‘s version of Jamie Oliver’s Chicken in (Butter)Milk
Quick knitting project: a light hat I can wear around the house when I feel chilly.
I’ve been trying to think of a clever post to end the year and welcome the new one, but I can’t seem to rally any real creativity this week. I worked myself pretty thin leading up to Christmas and since then I’ve basically been couch – bound, resting up and relaxing and enjoying the lack of a deadline. It also doesn’t help that we have finally caught on to the “Dr. Who” craze, and have been watching it every night (starting with the 2005 season). The kids are obsessed and I couldn’t be happier.
So instead of something witty or profound, I will use this chance to catch up on a few things.
I’ll start with bread.
One of my early Christmas gifts this year (and Susan got me a second one in a different size!) was an enameled cast iron dutch oven pot. I’d been wanting one for quite awhile, after seeing this book about baking artisan bread in a pot rather than on a peel. I tried some when Zac made it at the farm and was in love with the results.
You pre-heat the empty pot in the oven and throw your risen dough into it. Once you place the lid on, the water in the dough creates the steam needed to properly bake and finish the bread. The crust in crispier without being too chewy or dense and the crumb is more reliably cooked through this way. Plus the pot is such a pretty green!
Thing number two I need to show off is the lovely ornament my friend Amy found for me.
I just love her! I love the creamy white colors, I love that it’s a shepherd with her sheep, and I love the vintage look about it (in fact, it just may BE vintage: Amy has quite a knack for finding amazing vintage and estate items for a steal). It’s so hard to find sheep – related trinkets that aren’t totally tacky. I don’t know where she found this, but I am thrilled she did!
Speaking of all things sheep-ish, I finished one of my super – secret holiday knitting projects in time to gift it!
A Sluggy Bonnett for my mother! I can’t even believe how fast this knit up – it only took me 2 days! I should have started earlier and made Sluggy Bonnetts for everyone! I still have 1 super secret project on the needles, but it’s just about done. I’ll be sending it off to its intended recipient just after the new year. But here’s a sneak peek of the yearn sitting on my new swift:
Today and tomorrow will be spent cleaning up the holiday clutter and making room for 2012. The girls and I are headed to a get – together this evening (after which I’ll have to talk them out of staying up until dawn watching Dr. Who) and then we’ll spend the first cold months of 2012 doing a lot of what we do best:
Reading! The girls all got Kindles for Christmas (mostly for school, but when you enjoy reading as much as we do……..).
Enjoy the rest of 2011 and I’ll see you all on the other side!
