When the wind gets going in the winter, my ears really ache and I find myself wishing for a longer hat. I’ve been working on this hat, a few rows here and a few rows there, since February and given all the sick time sitting around, it’s finally done. No more cold ears! This is bison yarn so it’s super toasty and soft.
(I’m posting a day in my life as part of a project that
Saturday April 20, 2013 was the 3rd New Jersey Garden State Yarn Crawl.
This was the 3rd one for Deb and me. Deb, by the way, has a great site where she reviews knitting books, go take a look.. Knitting Scholar.com
Now back to our scheduled crawl.
First stop.. The Stitching Bee in Chatham, NJ. Nice shop, nice people working there and they carry Juniper Moon Farm yarn. We are BIG fans of JMF and Susan Gibbs who started it.
Second stop, the beautiful town of Madison, NJ
Madison is home to three colleges… Drew University (where Deb graduated from)… Fairleigh Dickinson University and the College of St Elizabeth…. and
The Blue Purl knitting shop.. this is one of the nicest knitting shops… friendly people, lovely yarns, great location.
Time to refuel… one of us had yogurt, one had coffee and cake – not naming names.
Next stop… Trillium Yarns in Morristown, NJ.
Trillium just moved into a bigger space and it’s gorgeous. Trillium Yarns is large, airy, bright and a cheerful place with a hugh selection of yarns… it’s a delightful place for knitters. Beverly, the owner who is seated at the desk is talking with Deb who is a ‘new’ old friend.
Let me explain that…
Deb and Beverly were among the original shareholders at the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm which Susan Gibbs started before she began Juniper Moon Fiber Farm. Back in April of 2008 Deb and I were at the MV fiber festival as was Beverly… only we didn’t know that until last Sep when we stopped by Trillium and started talking about Juniper Moon Farm yarn. Love these small world moments. Continuing now with regular post.
By now we were done crawling and headed home to walk. This is Deb & Chappy but it’s not from this walk as I didn’t have my camera… obviously this is from a previous walk but the walkers are still the same.
Debs loot… can’t wait to see what she turns it all into.
Refueling time again… 2 slices of pizza and 1 eclair… and then…
Walking it off here… looking at this view…
8 p.m. is movie time on Saturday night… tonight’s feature…
which carries on the yarn theme of the day because look what Rapunzel’s doing…
And so a delightful Saturday in April comes to an end. By the way, Deb says I’m the best mom ever. Know why? Because with all the yarn crawls and visits to yarn shops and fiber festivals…. I don’t knit !! But she does and I love spending time with her.
- by Joan -
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Tagged crafts, Martha's Vineyard, New Jersey, Photographs
If you were one of the folks who subscribed to the first ever installment of the RAWR! sock club, then you know that I have started having fun with linocuts. Those few lucky ladies received my first two note card designs in their sock club packages, and now they are available to everyone in my shop!
The first design still makes me laugh, and I hope it puts a smile on your face too, 
We’ve all known Tiny Dino was too cool for school for ages, but now we can spread the message with a top-hat wearing Tiny Dino knitting away at a garter stitch scarf.
My other design is a bit more classic–and to me at least–the epitome of calm, serene, happy things.
I love this little sheep!
I am printing these cards made to order at the moment, in single goes or sets of four using kraft paper note cards and professional printing ink.
Here’s my sheep block. I have a few more uncut blocks, so be on the look out for more designs.
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Tagged Almost a Business, cards for knitters., lino cut cards, lino cuts, linocuts, note cards, thank you cards
I still had quiet a bit of white angora roving after my bobbin was full so I decided to add more to the tan angora bobbin that’s only half full. I finished up the angora I bought last February and then found some more in my fiber stash. This second batch of roving is very different having a more silky slippery texture. I wonder if it’s a breed difference?
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Tagged Spinning
Some week, huh?
Luckily I’ve had plenty to distract me and keep me busy so I wouldn’t sit around and worry about friends and relatives in Boston.
Paul did some tractoring in the area out back where the squash garden will be put in.
It will more or less double the garden space we already have, and this way the squash can spread all it likes and it won’t overtake the tomatoes and peppers like last year.
We also did tails, tags and testes this week.
We dock our lambs’ tails to avoid the potential for fly strike. Although we can do it ourselves, we prefer to let the vet take care of it. It’s done with the use of a very tight rubber band that disrupts blood flow to the tail. It’s uncomfortable for them, but not super painful. After a while the tail simply “dries up” and falls off. We do the testicles of our boy lambs and goats the same way. The vet gives them some pain killer at the time the banding is done, and after an hour or so they don’t seem to remember that the bands are there at all, and they are back to playing and eating normally.
Ear tags were done this week at the same time.
Darby. Lord I love that little lamb.
Doesn’t he look spiffy with his new tag?
We also had a lovely visit from my friend Theresa who came down from New Jersey with her little ones.
We played with lambs and the kids had a blast.
We are so fortunate to have wonderful friends and beautiful weather and adorable babies!
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Tagged Farm, garden, Pets, Uncategorized
Jason is just getting over a cold and Daniel is starting one. I about fell off my chair when Daniel asked me to make chicken soup for dinner so he’d feel better. I’d already had some CSA chicken breasts thawing so I used those. The CSA chicken does not have salt water injected into it so it can be a little dry, even when poached. I decided I would try roasting it until almost done and then shredding it back into my soup and that worked perfectly! I just hope I do not catch this on top of whatever else is going on now. I am finally starting to feel a wee bit better.
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Tagged Cooking
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Tagged gardening
Well, God, glad that’s over.
In the interest of talking about the most normal, friendly, innocuous things, here’s a picture of my friend Maggie wearing the sweater I knit her for Christmas to work:
It’s a Kristen Johnstone pattern; I knit it in the mountains this past fall.
More of the wonderfully banal:
