A Very Personal Post
Now Playing: Perry Como "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
Topic: Thoughtful

Many of you probably wonder where I have been lately. The past two weeks have been a time of reflection for me.

Wednesday, December 14th, was the first anniversary of the death of my friend Jimmie. He was the shepherd for True North Farm up in Worthington, MA. Many of my friends knew Jimmie because of Harry, his husband whom we met on the ST list many years ago. Jimmie's death came as a surprise to all who knew him, when he was killed in a farming accident. It shocked and saddened me that this wonderful person was taken from us too soon. And last Wednesday was a time for me to think about Jimmie, his wonderful spirit and friendship and how much I've missed him this last year.

And on Monday, I attended the funeral for Mr. Jim Ostendarp, the former football coach for Amherst College. I only knew Jim in the last year of his life, and although he had Alzheimer's disease, and we weren't sure that he knew who we were, we always made time to talk to him. Sometimes we were rewarded with a smile or even a "Hello". Many of you don't know that my father has Parkinson's disease. I try to visit him every weekday, and sometimes on the weekends. During this past year of visiting my father at his care facility, we became friends with the Ostendarp family. Shirley, Jim's wife, and his 7 children would come to visit him as often. And in that time, we became friendly with them. The bonds you make with residents and family at care centers continues to amaze me. I've made friends with several residents at the home, getting to know about their lives, and families. They appreciate that someone takes the time to talk to them (other than the wonderful staff that works at the home) and I appreciate the wisdom and friendship that they have imparted on me.

During this holiday season, I have taken the time to really think about what people want. During the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, many people spend hours shopping online or in the stores looking for presents for their friends and family. Some people even go over their budget and into debt to try to procure the perfect present for that someone special in their lives.

But when you think about it; what do people really want? Look deep inside, and seriously consider this. Do they really want a material possession, or do they really just want a bit of your time?

How many of us have taken the time to sit down with one of our older family members or friends, and ask them about some happy time in their childhood? Or what were the holiday traditions in their family were before you were born? How many of us wish that we could do that, but can't because those people are gone now? I know that I wish I had spent more time with my maternal grandmother, asking her about her childhood. All I really know is that she used to clean houses at the age of 8 for 5 cents a day and that she married my grandfather when she was 16. She was born in 1901, and lived to be 95. And in that time, I really didn't ask much about her life. Now I really wish I had talked less and listened more. And with my father having lost the ability to talk much, I wish I had taken the time to ask him more about his childhood, and the farms he lived upon with his family. Or on how he used to live at a parochial school in town, because it was too far to walk from the farm, so he was living away from home during the week at the age of 6. Or his time in Germany, where he was a soldier during the Korean war. These were all stories that he'd tell us when we were kids and many of them were repeated so often, that we'd roll our eyes when he'd start to retell the story. Now I wish I had asked to hear them again as an adult, but now it's too late.

After really considering things, this past week I have spent more time with my family than in recent months. My husband was home at the end of last week, and we went out and did things together, including taking our kids on a drive through the Quabbin where we saw some deer.
My brother, who lives in California is home for the holidays. I miss him terribly when he's away, and so I've been at my mom's house every day for the past week that he's been home. Today we are going Christmas shopping, something that we've planned to do for several years, but work has always interfered for us.
I've taken my mom to visit my dad, and last Sunday, I took my mom, brother and my two boys up to Ashfield to look for a Christmas tree for my mom's house. My brother Luke, my son Cal and I walked all over the tree farm, looking for the perfect tree. We had a lot of fun doing that, and I created memories for my boys that they will never forget. And with my boys, I've read them stories, we went shopping for their cousin's Christmas presents (the boys picked out what they wanted to buy for their cousins), and we decorated our own Christmas tree listening to Christmas carols on the CD player.
And I've spent a lot of time with my dad, telling him about what we've been doing. He enjoys listening to what is going on, hearing the kids tell him about their days at school.

So here I sit, asking that you give your family the gift of your time. It is the one thing that doesn't cost anything, but is more precious than any other gift you could give.

May you all find peace and happiness this holiday season.

How I spent my weekend, and a new knitting book on the front
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Toto "Ninety Nine"
Topic: A bit of everything

No knitting to speak of. Saturday was spent visiting my father, and then we went up to Ashfield to Cranstons Christmas Tree Farm. We picked out a lovely balsam fir and brought it home. We'll be decorating it tonight I believe.

Sunday was spent visiting my dad, and then I took my mom and kids out to lunch at Applebees. We finished up the day watching the Philadelphia Eagles football game (they lost unfortunately).

Like I said; no knitting or anything fibery happening. However, I will be getting this knitting book in the next few days, and I'll be reading it and reviewing it for Sandy. All proceeds go to her Warm the Children project and Relay for Life for Franklin County Massachusetts; both very worthy causes! I'm really looking forward to getting the book. There is even an angora headband pattern in it. :)

Frappr Me!
Mood:  chatty

I've joined the rest of the lemmings in the Frappr maps. When I first saw this on ST 2 months ago, it never occured to me to add it to a blog; and then it popped up on a blog one day about 3 weeks later.

I've been having fun adding my name to the various maps, and since I know I'm getting hits from all over, I thought it would be more fun to make it personal (and I'm seriously hoping that the Belchertown, Westfield and West Springfield people will give a shout out!). :)

Click here to sign in.

Snow Day!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Frankie and the Knockouts "Sweetheart"
Topic: A bit of everything

There will be knitting content at the end of this, but I have to say how much I'm enjoying XM radio! AOL has something called Radio AOL; you turn it on while online, and they have 120 different types of stations to listen to. Then a month or so ago, they teamed up with XM radio. I had my doubts, and really didn't listen to the XM stations, except the Oldies Holiday station. I have my favorite AOL stations: Awesome 80's, 90's Pop, Super 70's, Motown Sounds and One Hit Wonders. These stations keep me entertained throughout my day on the computer. And then earlier this week, Awesome 80's and Super 70's were replaced by the equivalent XM radio stations. I wasn't pleased. But upon logging on this morning, I hear the above mentioned song playing. "Sweetheart" was a hit in 1980; the group was pretty much a one hit wonder, but I bought the ALBUM (yes, remember those???) at the age of 13. I loved the entire thing. I even found a CD for the group a few years ago, and listen to it on occasion. Imagine my surprise upon hearing it on XM this morning! I've heard a few other songs that were favorites of mine in the past few days; remember Saga "On the Loose"? Yep, heard that yesterday too. They were another favorite group of mine in 1981. So, I'm really beginning to enjoy XM radio. Would I buy it and listen to it in my car or home? I'm not sure. I LIKE not having to pay for listening to the radio; I mean, who needs another bill? But it is something I may consider in the future.

Now, for the fiber content. Christmas shopping for my husband is difficult at best. So, this year, I'm working on making him some items he can wear. The first thing I'm going to be working on is a pair of fingerless mitts. So, a trip to Webs yielded this:

Brown Sheep's Superwash in Shane's Red and a 12" #5 Addi Turbo. If I haven't said it before, I LOVE knitting with 12" Addi Turbos; these are my needles of choice, but because they are so expensive, I don't have a complete set (yet). I will be working on these mitts today; maybe even get one done.

And since we have a snow day, the kids are home and I told them we could bake cookies. And I should clean up a bit too. But I'm feeling like a kid myself knowing that because of the snow, I probably won't get many calls regarding work, so in essence, I have a day off too. :)

I'll sign off now as I listen to Ambrosia "You're the Only Woman". Aaaah, great 80's tunes!

Shearing party and felting classes!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Toto "Africa"
Topic: Class information

I was out and about today and saw this at the end of my day. How is this for a sky picture?

Now, for those of you that have angora rabbits, have you ever wanted to learn shearing techniques, but were afraid to ask? Now is your chance!

District 7 within IAGARB is hosting a shearing party with potluck lunch on January 15th in Amherst. We'll be there shearing our rabbits, but anyone with an angora rabbit that is mite free and healthy is welcome to attend and learn how to clip the rabbit's wool. Shearing can be a fun and rewarding experience for you and your angora, and we are willing to show anyone that wants to learn. You'll learn how to settle your rabbit so that you are both relaxed and we'll also share how to make bunny coats for the rabbits to wear until they have grown back enough wool to not need a coat.
Charlene and I will be able to certify any IAGARB members that want to put their rabbits up for registration on April 14th. We'll also have a bit of show and tell, so if you have any thing that you've made from your angora, please bring it along to show off! This is a party, so come join us! If you want more information, please e-mail me directly at Baycolonyfarm @ aol . com

Now, since we are having a registration on April 14th, Leslie Samson will be here to teach some classes. We'll be doing the Felted Mittens on Saturday, April 15. Leslie has new techniques to teach since she last taught this class here in November of 2003 and I can't wait to learn them! On Sunday, April 16th, we'll be doing a Felted Hat class. I don't have pictures of a felted hat yet, but I'm bugging Leslie for one. Leslie has over 20 years experience in felting, so come learn from one of the best! She'll have interesting stories from her recent Japan trip to share with us. Her trip included 2 gallery shows of her beautiful felted coats, and she also taught several felting classes too.

The classes are $85 per day, or $160 for both days and run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. We break for an hour lunch around 1 p.m. and there are lots of area restaurants to choose from, or bring your lunch and relax. The final registration date is March 15th, so get your registrations in early! Again, e-mail me for more information or a registration form.

Yes, elementary school CAN be fun!
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Hall & Oates "Private Eyes"
Topic: History

This past week, my oldest son's class took a field trip to Old Deerfield. This is a really fun field trip for both the kids and adults, and Cal's teacher, knowing I'm a fiber person, requested that one of the events would have to do with spinning or weaving.

Our first stop there was with Mr. Wells, who talked about how the Native Americans would have lived around the time that the Deerfield outpost was built.


Here is Mr. Wells telling the children about hunting practices for food and clothing. He is holding a deer skin.

Here is the dedication plaque in the Indian House Memorial.

Our next stop was in the Bloody Brook Tavern, which is now where they have the fiber arts.

Our demonstrator showed the children how to card wool, finger spin and weave.

Then on to the kitchen, were our next demonstrator showed the children how one would cook using similar tools such as a birch branch whisk.

The children made a cheese omelet and baked pumpkin with spices. Both items were delicious!

Our last stop was at Dame School, where our dame teacher talked to us about how a child would have gone to Dame School to learn how to read and recite. Unfortunately, the picture came out too dark, but we had fun in this area too.

I'm grateful to my son's teacher for introducing the children to Historic Deerfield. She has brought out an intense interest in my son for colonial history, something I have myself due to my father's influence during the Bicentennial in 1976. My dad took us on trips around Boston, Philadelphia and Valley Forge that year showing us historic sites. Since then, I have loved colonial history and now I see that happening in my own son.

I must share that during the cooking demo, my son told the demonstrator that he was part of the sheep and wool festival, and that his Mom raised rabbits. :) This lead to a quick discussion between the demonstrator and I about angora rabbits, and spinning, which was fun for me.

This next week at Deerfield, they will be hosting a tea for people to learn how a "tea" would have been done back in 1705. It sounds like fun, and I hope to get there!

TA-DAH!
Mood:  special
Now Playing: Duran Duran "Hungry Like The Wolf"
Topic: Knitting

Finally finished. The lack of a needle to weave in the ends delayed the final result by a day, but wah-lah! Here we are with my son modeling them.

O.k. So you're looking at them and saying "What is the big freaking deal? They're mittens, so?"

Ooooh, but it is a big deal. Mittens have evaded me for several years now. My first "real" project when I got back to knitting in 1997 was a sleeveless top made out of Egyptian cotton. It turned out just fine until I washed it, and it got W-I-D-E-R instead of growing length wise. Throwing it into the dryer didn't help. I had followed that pattern down to the last word, even using the suggested yarn (I was SUCH a blind follower then). ;-) My second project that summer were a pair of hand knit socks, with a short rowed heel, knit on 12" circulars. This began my love affair with circulars. The sock yarn was double stranded with alpaca yarn. They were stunning socks! The fit was perfect. I could try them on while knitting with those circulars, something I was sure would never have happened on DPNS. It took me three whole days of beach knitting to get those puppies done. They did have a nice (but short) career keeping my feet warm for a couple of winters until my husband put the first one into the washer on HOT water, followed by a trip through the dryer on HIGH heat. Poor socks were never the same again.

Various other projects followed. Hats, scarves, shawls, the occasional sweater. Mostly things that I could knit using circulars. Large things for adults. The kids hats I made only needed dpns at the very end. My friend Marcy even gave me several pairs of lovely short dpns one year. I knew that she was trying to make me jump off that cliff with the rest of the lemmings. I believe her chant at the time was "socks, Socks, SOCKS!" But I was not to be a lemming! I even tried making my mom a pair of mittens several years ago on 12" circulars, but never finished the first one, feeling a sort of superiority in thinking that mittens were really for kids, not adults. That thinking prevented me from having to knit the thumb using dpns.

But these blue mittens represented the final frontier for quick knit projects this past weekend. I saw the need, I bought the yarn, and I conquered DPNS and mittens!

I think I can hear Marcy laughing all the way over here. :)

Actual knitting content!
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Air Supply "Lost In Love"
Topic: A bit of everything

Well, it's been another long weekend.

Thanksgiving went well, in spite of the early snow. I spent lunch with my dad and I know he appreciated my being there. I'm thankful he is still here and that he still laughs at my jokes. :)

I came home and made dinner for the four of us. The cookbook said that a 20-24 pound turkey without stuffing should take 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 hours to cook. So, I put the bird in at 1 p.m. At 4:30, I decided to go up and check on it and get the potatoes cooking. Oops, the thermometer says 177 degrees (a turkey is cooked at 170!) and I forgot to set the alarm on the thermometer. Great. So we had Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, stuffing, corn, homemade cranberry sauce and two kinds of olives. Usually, I have 2 more side dishes to go with all that, but not this year and it was actually o.k. My husband pronounced this the best Thanksgiving meal I've made yet, so I guess it was a success. And even though the turkey cooked longer than it was supposed to, it was still a juicy turkey. Buying a fresh turkey directly from the farm really does make a difference instead of one of those "fresh-frozen" ones at the grocery store.

Here is a picture I took on Thursday afternoon while the turkey was cooking. It was beautiful outside, and perfect weather for doing some barn chores. I couldn't resist taking this photo as I thought the sky looked beautiful behind the bare trees.

Friday was spent doing some work, and I did take a trip to Webs. One of the things we discovered with the snow is that our youngest son doesn't have any mittens that fit him. So I promised that I would make him a pair. I picked up a skein of Brown Sheep Lambs Pride yarn, and some dpns (which those of you that know me, know that I really don't' like knitting with them. But, for my son, I'll do that.

Here is what I have so far:

Not too bad for someone that hates dpns. :) And my son is enjoying sitting next to me while I knit, asking to try on the mittens every 15 minutes or so. ;-) I will say that I'll never use this mitten pattern again. This is my first pair of completed mittens, and I pulled a free pattern off the web. I'm not finding it to be a user friendly pattern, as the designer makes assumptions that the knitter is familiar with knitting mittens. I'm one of those people that learns best being shown how to do something, but if I have detailed instructions, that is good too. I should have just looked in my bookcase, as I have a copy of "The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns" by Ann Budd, and that gives detailed instructions on mitten knitting. Next time though, I'll call Marcy and we'll do a mitten knitting session.

All I need is a needle for weaving in the ends, and I'll have these babies done later this morning.

Look what followed me home
Mood:  bright
Topic: Knitting
O.k., I'm seriously bummed out because my AOL Radio isn't working. It is probably corrupted somewhere, and I'm not about to reload AOL. I'm hoping that I'll be able to figure it out before too long. I miss my tunes!

I did get over to Webs yesterday. A while ago, I purchased a Denise Interchangeable needle set. I like it (although I do like the Addi Turbos better, but the Denise needles wind up being a lot less expensive in the long run), but I've misplaced my original set. It could be anywhere from in my office, to inside the trailer if I packed it up to take to a show sometime. And since I'm not unloading the trailer until at least this weekend, I bit the bullet, and purchased another set.

But look at what else I found!

Actually, I spotted the Yarntainer and the Suri Merino on Monday, when I stopped in, but resisted. Yesterday, I decided that the Yarntainer would be perfect for holding the new yarn in it as I design a pair of fingerless mitts. That is all I'm saying, but the mitts will have a design on them that I haven't seen elsewhere. :)

And how is this for a sky picture? I was out in Richmond, MA yesterday morning for my job, and passed this lake. It was raining, and it looked very dramatic. On the way home, it was sleeting and raining. Not exactly nice weather for driving on the MA Pike, but I made it home safely, which is all that matters.

Today I'm doing a spinning/bunny/felting demo for the kids at my son's preschool class, then shopping for Thanksgiving, visiting my dad, and finally home to start cooking for the big feast tomorrow!

We should do this more often!
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: Alphaville "Big In Japan"
Topic: Fiber Friends
Yesterday, I had a few friends over for a fiber gathering. When I used to hold these on a regular basis up until a couple of years ago, we'd have upwards of 25 people here, but today was just a few, and that was fine, because we had the chance to sit and visit without the shouting over one another. ;-) And the food people brought was great too.

Laura brought corn muffins, Cath brought Wallace and Gromit Wensleydale cheese (how cool is that?!), green apples and three kinds of chocolate; ivory, milk and dark (YUMMMMM!), Deanna brought my favorite pea salad and Terry brought two pies, pecan and pumpkin (Terry, my son Nathaniel seriously thanks you; he had two slices tonight after he ate dinner!). I made black bean soup and marinated tofu. We actually had too much food, but it was all delicious. And we got to meet a new fiber friend of Deanna's named Susannah, who is a spinner and knitter and she works with Deanna. I look forward to seeing her at the local SnB soon! :)

These types of gatherings have always left me energized. I feel like I could knit on 10 projects at once! I did get some spinning done today. I plied most of the black/green/blue Magical Roving that I spun up at Rhinebeck. Then I spun up another Magical Roving which is white, lavendar and peach. I have no idea what this will be, but I like it anyway. It reminds me of early Spring.

Terry was working on a pair of socks, Cath was working on spinning a beautiful batt by Indigo Moon, Deanna was spinning a batt from Spinners Hill, and Susannah was working on what looked like the beginning of a sweater. Laura was knitting; I can't remember what she was knitting, but she was also getting ready to go see Harry Potter in Boston. We also got to see Cath's gloves from Pam Allen's pattern in IK 2003. And Laura brought me an autographed pattern for fingerless mitts. I want to make a pair for my husband for Christmas and a pair for me (these work SO well during bunny feedings and watering!).

Anyway, I think I'm going to go back to working on my knitting.