Tag Archives: Friends

Working On: Ben’s Mittens, A Red Hat

Posted on November 14, 2012 by | Comments Off on Working On: Ben’s Mittens, A Red Hat

Well, it’s been a while since I showed you what I’ve been knitting on.

I made this nice little red beret over four days in October, using some really beautiful Rowan Fine Tweed I bought at this summer at Knitting Sisters.

And for my friend Ben, I worked on a pair of mittens from a pattern book from the 1940′s, provided scanned by the V&A (WWII era; Essentials for the Forces). I guess this comes as no surprise, but I took them for a test drive (well, bike-ride) in the cold the other night, and was very impressed with how warm they were. Hands are still pretty much the same, 60 years later.


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50 Years …

Posted on November 8, 2012 by | Comments Off on 50 Years …

November 10, 1962

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With love & friendship always …

Happy 50th anniversary to dear friends Martie & Jerry

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Going to SAFF

Posted on October 29, 2012 by | Comments Off on Going to SAFF

Okay, first things first: I had a great time visiting my parents this weekend.

We went to SAFF and had a really wonderful time. I– perhaps disingenuously– told them that it was “more of an animal show,” which meant that when we talked in to the main building,

I thought, Man, I should not have come to this one.

- My Dad

I mean, if you’ve been to fiber festivals, you know. It was funny (to me) to hear them exclaim over the size of it:

“I had no idea there were so many people who are in to this sort of stuff!”

“Well, the Maryland one was even bigger, and I’ve heard that the New York one is even bigger than that.”

“No kidding!”

Since I’m going through some sheep withdrawal, I really did mostly want to see the animals. They were showing when we walking into the barn, which was so, so adorable to watch:

The little Shetlands and little children having broken the ice, we went inside to walk around to look at everything for sale.

It was like going to a boat show or something. It’s very obvious what everything is, but, on the other hand, there’s a specialized and specific vocabulary for everything– it was hard to know what to say to people. You know, ‘Nice… boat-thing?’ ‘Nice… yarn?’

- My Mom

We’d looked at pretty much everything, including the fleece show, and were on our way out, when I saw someone walking by wearing a gorgeous Vitamin D. I realized I knew her– it was Cris!

It was so nice to see a friend, and get to talk for a while. I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of running in to someone I knew, so seeing her was a really wonderful surprise.

You can see that I’m wearing my Cormo Rusticus.

I did go home with a little yarn– enough Corriedale from Sue Bundy of Solitude Wool– basically, the two women who run this are the stateside Sue Blacker, and I can’t say enough good thing about them– to make a sweater for a friend of mine who (I hear) has nearly worn his first sweater out.

And my parents?

By the end, once I saw how everything fit together? I got in to it. I was glad to get to see it all.

- Dad

So that makes it a success all around.


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Strike a pose

Posted on October 22, 2012 by | Comments Off on Strike a pose

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I was hoping to squeeze in a visit to Gale’s “Strike a pose” at some point during the day so when Kristen asked if we’d join her I jumped right in. I’d brought a handspun shawl and hat and I wore socks of my own pattern but when my friends saw the Orenburg shawl I’d bought they insisted I wear that and right they were. Gale took photos of the four of us together and then announced she’d like to photograph us individually as well at which point there was a mad stampede and I was left standing alone to go first. I don’t normally take very good people pictures but with Gale directing, I managed to get some nice ones when it was their turn. I can’t wait to see what she does with these!

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Rhinebeck meetups

Posted on October 21, 2012 by | Comments Off on Rhinebeck meetups

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There are a few nice vendors at the New York Sheep and Wool festival that I can’t see elsewhere but the real reason I endure the crowds and traffic most years is so that I can see friends I wouldn’t otherwise see and meet new ones. That always makes that long drive well worth it!

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Working On: Socks for Jay

Posted on September 26, 2012 by | Comments Off on Working On: Socks for Jay

I’m having so much fun with these.

Back in early July, my friend Maggie came to visit and casually let it slip that she’d just visited our friend Jay, and that the socks I’d knit him had seen better days (actually, verbatim: “So, I’m supposed to mention to you in a sort of an offhand way that they’re super worn-out, and that maybe you could just make another pair, if you have the time.”).

With that in the back of my mind, I went down to my old-but-new-again LYS last week, in search of something suitable. Lorna’s makes a spot-on Carolina Blue, it turns out (and exclusively for Yarns Etc!), but businesslike, it’s not.

I went with a yarn I’d never used before– Online Supersocke Silk in a granite-like gunmetal grey color. Online, a German yarn company (Ganze Banderole auf Deutsch? Absolutely.), is distributed by JMF’s distributor, so that extra familiarity made it all the nicer. The silk content– 20%– really made the slipped stitches shine, and gives (I think) an attractive look of precision & exactitude to the whole thing. You can tell that these don’t have any mistakes in them.

The pattern, aside from the skyp stitch, is a pretty uncomplicated one, but it’s very popular (also, it’s free! Thank you, Adrienne!). The herringbone running down the center of the ribs is really unusual, but looks especially great, I think, with this yarn.

I’m flying through these, so, soon!


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I’d Love to Knit: Things for Friends & Family

Posted on September 24, 2012 by | Comments Off on I’d Love to Knit: Things for Friends & Family

I’ve accrued a pretty large mental collection of people I ought to knit for, and I need to write everything down.

  • Back in July, at a trunk show in Williamsburg, I told my sister Charlotte to pick out some yarns, because I was going to make her a pair of socks and a hat for her birthday (less than a month away!).
  • I need to knit a pair of socks for my friend Jay, because he’s not only been a good friend to me, but also emailed me a photoessay called “Socks on a Train” (choice quote, “After a shower and commute to work, these socks give me the confidence I need to be successful in today’s competitive corporate environment.”), and also because I hear they’re wearing out.
  • I also hear that my friend Shaddi’s jacket is starting to wear out.
  • And Zac’s parents have been so incredibly good to us in the past few weeks that I feel moved to knit some nice things for them, too.

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An Announcement, and What’s Next

Posted on September 10, 2012 by | Comments Off on An Announcement, and What’s Next

As you might have read on the JMF blog, I don’t live or work at Juniper Moon Farm any more. It was a period of tremendous growth and transformation– looking back at who I was 18 months ago, I barely recognize my old self. I’ll be forever grateful for all the wonderful memories I made there. As our guests used to tell us: it really is a magical place.

Zac and I have moved back to Chapel Hill– actually, to Carrboro– and I couldn’t be happier. I am excited about:

  1. Living a 5 minute walk from some of my best friends in the world.
  2. Getting to be a part of a community again! Like, participate lightly in the lives of many people! Seeing them around town! Smiling at them! Know the names of the all the neighbor’s dogs!
  3. Having a public to go out in. Great restaurants! Bars! A community-based center for learning languages! The Weaver Strett lawn! Whatever! You can walk to them! On a sidewalk!
  4. Going to bury this bit of shocking news, but: Going to Medical School.
  5. That is to say, implementing my surefire 2-year plan to get in to med school.
  6. Getting to see my & Zac’s family more than twice a year. I’m especially glad that one of my sisters is currently at UNC, and the other might be at school in Durham next year– we’ll get to see each other all the time!
  7. Being able to ride my bike around everywhere again.
  8. Shoot, having a nice and pleasant place to ride a bike. Or to go for a run.
  9. Having the work/life balance that gives me the free time to exercise.
  10. Or read a book.
  11. Speaking of: UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CARD Y’ALL.
  12. Or, really, just as good: CHAPEL HILL PUBLIC LIBRARY CARD Y’ALL. My book budget is back to $0.
  13. But, back to exercising: I’m terribly excited  to volunteer with the kids’ cross country & track club I was a member of when I was little (seriously, 1996. Best year of my life.)
  14. Have I mentioned that I get to have friends again?
  15. How the whole town of Carrboro– but especially our new neighborhood– is seemingly locked in a battle for best garden. Since I’ve acquired a new pair of eyes– I’m newly able to see how much work & care goes into simple maintenance– I’m amazed by the gardens here! Both NC Botanical and Duke Gardens have undergone some seriously wonderful renovations in the past year and a half, and I am impressed.
  16. Walking to the Farmer’s Market. When I used to live here, I was too cool for the Carrboro Farmer’s Market, because I grew up going to that sucker. Now, I am proud to tell you, I am not too cool for anything. Something else I was always too cool for? The Tuesday cruiser ride.
  17. Living with Zac is always lots of fun, but especially now because he brings home wonderful things from the restaurant (duck cassoulet? butternut cheesecake? yes, please.).
  18. Getting to watch Zac work towards his dreams. Getting to work towards mine. Getting to build something together that’s ours.
  19. Getting to be back in Chapel Hill, period. In the Crito, when Socrates talks about in what sacred regard he holds the city of Athens? Dante’s ode to the city of Florence? I love this town in the same sort of you-made-me-who-I-am way (but of course, not as much as) I love my parents.
  20. Coming back to town and being welcomed, helped and listened to by our families and friends. Hearing, “We missed you,” and knowing that that’s true.

Thanks so much, guys, for your encouraging, hopeful, and helpful comments, emails, tweets, and phonecalls. They mean more to me than you know.


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Put me in the Zoo!

Posted on August 9, 2012 by | Comments Off on Put me in the Zoo!

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This week I finally got around to finish up a bag I meant to sew for a friend months ago. This is my favorite grocery bag pattern that I’ve used over and over so it’s even got it’s own folder. I’ve tweaked the size a bit so it’ll fit on her kicksled in winter which can come in pretty handy in Vermont in a normal year. She’s also got a fabulous guest room on her back porch which is glassed in so these eye masks should come in handy. Eye masks are a great way to use up scrap fabric and batting!

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On My Mind: North Carolina

Posted on August 4, 2012 by | Comments Off on On My Mind: North Carolina

I’ve been stumbling over all sorts of things in the past few weeks that remind me of home.

This flag, naturally. Featured on the Design*Sponge house tour of the folks who run The Old Try (whose “Root, Hog, or Die” poster my sister found for me a while back. It’s one of my favorite phrases.), it’s the only displayed flag I’ve ever seen and liked.

Photo © Shaena Mallett

There’s a new ceramics studio, Haand, in rural Orange County. I grew up all over the ruralest parts of rural Orange, so, what I want to know is, where are they? What does the extra ‘a’ in ‘Haand’ do? How exciting is the following statement of purpose?

Haand’s mission is to create high quality, durable, sensual pieces for every day use. Our designs are informed by a deep love of the objects shown in science fiction movies as well as historic English and European porcelain. At Haand, we strive to create objects that would be equally at home with an antique Wedgwood collection or holding a cocktail while orbiting a distant moon.

Emphasis mine.

I wish I were friends with these guys. I want to start collecting their pieces, then have a cocktail while orbiting a distant moon.

Photo © Jamie Hopper

I was bowled over by Rhiannon‘s latest installment of These Faded Things, a column for the Oxford American about the intersection of fashion and fiction in the South. This editorial is inspired by A Long And Happy Life, which I read only a few weeks ago. Maybe it’s because I already had Rosacoke on my mind, but every bit of the styling and photography hit a perfectly sweet spot: the dusty roads, the shady swimming hole, the waiting around on sun-bleached cushions on the porch, wearing seersucker and patchwork calico, and waiting for the sun to go down.

I’m currently living through one, and this makes me me long to spend a summer in the South.

Photo © Jamie Hopper

Speaking of wishful thinking:

I’d never heard of Preservation North Carolina until one of my friends tweeted about it, but it’s now one of my favorite places daydream, too. The sheer democracy of clicking a link and scrolling through all the options is intoxicating, and I have thoughts like:

I could buy the house pictured for the price of a not-too-nice car! I could buy a house I’ve often admired in downtown Hillsborough, or a grande dame of Winston-Salem! A 50-acre farm! Or a fancy plantation! A house with a turret! A mill!


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