Crazy! Butter Live from GIYIreland

Late yesterday afternoon, Julia and I tuned into "Butter Live" on the GIYIreland website. It just sounded like such a kooky idea - making butter with people all over the world via a live feed from an elementary school somewhere in Ireland. We picked up a quart of heavy cream at the store, hooked up with the feed and we were ready to go.

I heard about this from Ella McSweeney. And there she was on the computer sitting on the island in our kitchen in western Massachusetts. How wild! The original instructions said we would need a whisk. I was thinking we were going to have to "whisk" the cream into butter all by hand. When the feed started, I realized that a "whisk" in Ireland is actually what we call a hand mixer. The program began with a great little demo with a real farmer named Alan Kingston who actually makes butter (along with many other products) and sells it to consumers. American Imen McDonnell, author of the blog I Married an Irish Farmer, was along too They all explained why cream turns to butter and did a demo so everyone would know what they were supposed to do. 

Ella has the entire video of it on her blog here. She says to start 10 minutes in..... It's fun to hear the accents and see the school children. You can follow along with the video and do this with your kids or grandkids. Julia was totally into it....

She mixed her little heart out. All of a sudden, the cream started turning yellow and the "buttermilk" began weeping out of it. We had done it! It's really nice to see her have interest in something like this.

 

We then had to squeeze the extra liquid out of the butter with our hands. The Irish folks had "butter paddles" and made some great looking rectangles of butter. We put our butter in a ceramic bowl. From the quart of cream (which cost $5.59), we got 10 ounces of butter. As with so many homemade things, it isn't cheaper to make butter this way but it was a good lesson in how farm products are turned into items we rely on in the kitchen every day.

Annika the cat was fascinated by the whole thing. I think she was trying to figure out where the people were that were talking on the computer screen.

And she started drinking the buttermilk before I had time to jar it up. Score one for the cats.

I was looking forward to breakfast this morning - homemade sunflower oatmeal whole wheat bread with homemade butter. If I had been really organized, I would have gotten the milk from my brother-in-law, separated the cream off of it, and really had homemade butter.

I don't think there is an organization quite like GIYIreland in the States. Too bad. It looks like they are really doing a lot to promote growing veggies and animals for real homegrown food. I will be looking on to see how their campaign progresses this year as the growing season ramps up.

And look what I found in my garden this morning - wow. There is hope that the winter will be over soon!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Summer Stitching with Kids

Julia and her friends have finished up their class at Cherscapes Studio. I snapped this photo on the last day of the three girls and Cheryl, their wonderful teacher. Don't they all look so happy with their beautiful textiles?

Here's a close-up of Julia's stitching. The kids drew the stitching lines through a template and then used floss for stitching.

I could not believe how good she did. She printed or painted the fabrics and then applied the fabrics to muslin with fusible web and then did all the hand-stitching and machine stitching with Cheryl's guidance. I'm hoping I can get her to do a little bit on her own this summer.

If you want some ideas for stitching with some of your little friends this summer, look for my book Kids' Embroidery. Sadly, the publisher has taken it out of print but I have copies for sale in my shop.

Julia's Fiberart Experience at Cherscapes Studio in Greenfield

This spring Julia has been taking a series of Fiberart classes at the new "Cherscapes" Studio in Greenfield. It has been a great three months for her. She's met some similarly aged girls from other towns who are interested in sewing, surface design, and crafting things. I must admit, this was my idea but Julia has gone along for the ride and has actually looked forward to each Wednesday afternoon.


Cheryl has worked as a teacher with kids with learning issues so I thought she would be a great person to help Julia learn more about the things I like to do. Julia is never much interested in what I make and I haven't had a lot of luck getting her to learn to make and do. Cheryl on the other hand has.

Julia has made tie-dyed and painted fabrics, she made and printed from a silkscreen. She has learned to use a sewing machine and how to stuff a pillow, and she is even learning some basic sewing.


Here she is in a photo by Cheryl embroidering on a hoop.


The class is over for this school year but I'm hoping I can swing getting Julia to go back again. Thank you Cheryl for all your help, patience, and kind nature.


You can check out Cheryl's blog here and her classes here. I have several friends who are taking the adult series of Surface Design Classes and they are loving it!

I hope I can take one of her silk screen workshops one day as that is something I have always wanted to do. Maybe next year. Have a peek at Cheryl's silk scarves here on her website.

Books for Tween Girls and Brattleboro, VT

I guess I have to finally admit that Julia has reached the "tweens." She's been telling me this for a while but I refused to agree with her. It's not so bad - in fact yesterday when we were walking down the street in Brattleboro, on our way to Knit or Dye, I was telling Julia how I loved the age she is now. I much prefer it to the two's, the three's the four's. This is so much more fun for me and I think for her too.

Julia and I just listened to Time's Up (#12 in The Beacon Street Girl Series) on CD borrowed from our local library. I was skeptical about it thinking it wouldn't be of much interest to me but I was pleasantly surprised. Knitting plays a huge part in the story. There are some nice story lines about inter-generational relationships and about time management too. A good book for knitters to share with their tweens - so says this mom!

Julia is into reading series books and I think it is great. Currently she is working her way through The Beacon Street Girls, The Main Street Series (Ann Martin), and the old 1970's Babysitter's Clubs (also Ann Martin). Haven't been able to get her into Nancy Drew yet. Oh well.

It's not often I find something in the NY Times for Julia to read but this article caught my eye about the re-issuing and updating of The Babysitter's Club Books for girls. Much to our local librarian's chagrin, Julia is trying to read everyone of this series. She is up to #84 she tells me. They were all withdrawn from our library. Interlibrary loan has been very busy filling her requests. She reads one or two a day.

I say, great literature or not, if she loves them and wants to keep reading - kudos. She is so excited about the new pre-quel mentioned in the NYT article. I never read the BSC books - I missed them. Did any of you? Any other ideas for reading for tween girls that you have found?

If you are local, you might like to visit the relatively new shop called Knit or Dye in Brattleboro. Owned by a lovely young woman Rachel, the shop is well-lit, well-stocked and really pleasant. Rachel is even stocking my Julia Yarn (thank you Rachel). In the basement there is a lovely little tea room called The Twilight Tea Lounge. Brattleboro is loaded with all kinds of interesting independently owned stores including a slew of bookstores. It is worth a drive if you have the time. Delectable Mountain is another not to miss fabric store. There's a Gallery Walk too the first Friday of the month in the evening. We are lucky to live so close...... Good weekend everyone.

The Day Before Real Life Starts Again

Oh, how I remember the night before I had to go back to school after Christmas vacation. My stomach was all tied up in knots and I could barely sleep. The entire Sunday before the Monday my four sisters and I would play with our Christmas toys and anticipate going back to school the next day, wishing beyond hope that Sunday or January 1st hadn't arrived. I’m sure there was a lot of bickering as there always was. I’m also sure my mom couldn’t wait for Christmas vacation to be over so she would have a bit of time to breathe. I remember crying in bed while trying to go to sleep. Sleep was so hard to come by that night…… I remember this all as if it were yesterday.

But it isn’t yesterday. It is over 40 years later. Yesterday, I spent a wonderful day with my daughter doing absolutely nothing. We didn’t leave the house except for a quick walk up the hill in the whipping wind and blowing newly fallen snow.

Julia lay on the couch working on her finger knitting, watching her new favorite DVD Full House (she has a crush on John Stamos). I worked a bit on my computer fixing an upcoming pattern for you all (stay tuned later this week).


Late in the morning, I made chicken stock. I emptied the bags out of the freezer full of all kinds of odd chicken bones, chicken carcasses and leftover cooking liquids. I save all the leftover bones from any meal we have with chicken, toss them in a plastic bag and stow them in the freezer until there are enough to make a huge pot of chicken stock. Sometimes I have to fight the cats for the bones – it’s pretty even – the cats are sometimes quicker than moi. How’s that for frugal? I always feel good about making chicken stock because I am actually making a meal out of something many people would throw away.

When The Farmer came home from checking on the new lambs, our chicken soup was ready for lunch complete with homemade egg noodles. Did you ever make homemade egg noodles? Really easy, no special tools required except for a rolling pin. Follow an egg fettucine recipe……

Then I coerced Julia into modeling her Christmas gift of “slipper socks” from my book. “Oh, Mommy, please….” Me, “please….” Her, “Should I do it just like Margaret?" Margaret is the model on the couch from Color by Kristin. “Yes, thank you.” It wasn’t much of a stretch for her considering she was already laying on the couch working on her finger knitting.


We watched our new Christmas DVD Julie and Julia, baked a batch of chocolate shortbread cookies, and drank tea and hot cocoa. It was a perfect day.


(Pillow in the background of the photo above from Color by Kristin too.)

Now it is today, the day life gets back to “normal." I couldn't sleep last night, just like when I was a little kid -- except that I was worrying about lots of grown up things that I hadn't thought about in a couple of weeks. I think that is the great thing about the holidays. You can suspend your life and forget about all the real pressures that are out there all around you every day - paying bills, visiting doctors, getting to school or work on time, changing the bald tires, paying the mortgage and taxes, worrying about the world, and of course, eating whatever you want. And so it is a whole year now until next year at Christmas when we can sink into our own little holiday heaven.

I hope you all have a Happy 2010 ahead full of color and knitting and stitching and creating. From our farm to yours.......

p.s. Susan B. Anderson of the Itty Bitty Series of knitting books is having a giveaway over on her blog of TWO copies of Color by Kristin. Check it out! Thanks so much to Susan for all the kind words about my book. She is one of the most talented designers I know and super nice to boot!

Julia's Finger-Knitted Bookmarks

Every night for the past few evenings, while I knit, Julia sits next to me finger-knitting. I’m not exactly sure how she is starting the knitting because she is no longer asking me for slip-knots. Somehow, she wraps the yarn around her finger and begins. It doesn’t un-chain itself. This project has turned into such a success. I can't tell you all how proud I am of her. Last night she made a chain at least 36 inches long! Wow.

With all these pieces of chained wool around the house, we decided to make them into bookmarks for Christmas gifts for all Julia’s teachers. I made the pom poms (she could have done them because she knows how to wrap yarn around the pom pom maker) but we were running out of time. I am such a last minute person and I'm afraid I am passing on my habits to my daughter.

She stayed up late, finger-knitting away until she had eight longish chains. (Julia has a lot of teachers who work with her!) I kept wrapping the pom poms and attaching them to the chains.

I won't tell you what time she went to bed but suffice it to say, it was late. I wanted to share the bookmarks with all of you before they were sent on to new homes. I set them up and tried the flash on the camera. Horrible, horrible, horrible - I must say. Then I decided to see what would happen with only light from across the room, no tripod and a bunch of shaking.


Wow, those bookmarks look otherworldly, don't they?


In the morning i snapped a few photos in daylight.

Then I ran a filter on one of them and here's what I got.


They are rather festive looking, aren't they?

Julia's bookmarks are off to their new homes. I hope the teachers like them. They all have been so wonderful to Julia and I can't thank them enough. All you teachers out there, and I'm sure there are some, know that you are so appreciated for what you do!

Caps, Caps, Caps for Sale - A Children's Story

The other day before the big snowstorm Julia's friends Bridget and Matthew came over for the afternoon. It gets so dark early (only a few more days until we go the other way, thank goodness!). I asked the kids if they would bring the Quarters Caps I made them last year so I could take some photos.

The kids asked me what I was going to do with the photos. I explained that I would be putting them on my blog as a sales tool for selling my Quarters Cap Pattern (the pattern is available here). They got it because their Dad Stuart is a musician and he is constantly trying to sell his own CD's and schedule gigs. I think my explanation made it all the more fun for them. (Julia knows about where her photos end up and I think deep down, she is pretty proud that she can be helping me out with the family business.)


Here they are dipping their heads so you all can see the swirly top of the Quarters Cap. (Their idea!)


Here's my favorite though. Matt's idea, I think although the ideas were spouting out of their 3 mouths at rapid speed so it's hard to remember......

Do you remember the book Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina? This was one of Julia's favorites picture books when she was little. Our friend Cathy gave her a tape of the story and she would listen to it over and over and over again in the car. I can still hear her little voice chiming up from the backseat "Again, Mommy, again!" When Julia was in First Grade, the kids did a play of this folk tale. It was priceless.


The cute thing the other day was that all three of these kids started reciting the lines from the book after I told them about my website sales of the pattern. It made me think about how important children's literature is to a child's development and what an impact it can have on them for the rest of their lives. But I guess you all know that....

Just when you think kids aren't paying attention, they astound you, don't they? Here's a really interesting "autobiography" of Esphyr Slobodkina that you might want to check out. Fascinating woman, talented artist. WOW!

Think Pink - A Better Way of Life

Have you heard this saying before? “Think Pink, it’s a better way of life.” Here at our farmhouse, Julia is constantly reminding me of this. She heard it on the Eloise Christmastime Movie many years ago which has been replayed numerous times each Christmas season. It has become Julia’s mantra. I do love a girl with a color opinion, I must say! Diana Vreeland, the fashion icon, made an even more famous statement about pink. She said “Pink is the navy blue of India.” I love that, don’t you?

Color is a big thing here at our house – the walls, the fabrics, the knitwear designs, the paintings…. I like lots of colors, you all know that. For years, I got away with making and buying Julia's clothes in my own color aesthetic. Milk it I did….. I figured it wouldn’t last and I was right. Around about the age of seven, Julia began taking a real interest in the color pink. The interest grew and grew. Back then, if it wasn’t pink, she wouldn’t wear it. I expected pink to morph into a love of purple. Well, I am still waiting…. No purple love in her life yet. Julia will still only wear clothes that are pink – especially sweaters and tops. Pants, I can get away with neutral shades of denim, black, brown and an occasional purple. But “Pink Rules” around our house, as I am constantly reminded.

I’m trying to take the pink thing in stride. I’m not much of a pink girl. I wear lots of dark colors mostly because they don’t show the dirt and I’m a pretty lazy dresser and shopper. I hate to shop. Both The Farmer and I are wearing clothes that we’ve had for probably 15 years. Just the other day, he sadly said, “I guess I’ve got to throw this shirt away.” I looked at it – the collar was frayed, there were rips caused by some kind of farming implement from the shoulder to the chest. I agreed and sadly it hit the trash can, not even good enough to give to the Salvation Army. Julia mentioned that we should save it for next year’s scarecrow. “Yes Honey, what a great idea,” I responded. But then I decided it was best to toss the shirt because by next summer there surely would be another “scarecrow worthy” shirt. Besides, by then, I would never remember where I had put the tattered thing.

Back to the pink thing. I’ve been busy knitting every night in anticipation of the holidays and the incoming cold weather. In my vague memory, I remembered that the mitten situation for Julia wasn’t very good. Last year she wore two different pairs of pinkish handmade mittens and by the end of the year there was only one of each pair left. Better get busy Mom, I said to myself. And besides, the school has sent home warning notes about sending in your child with proper warm hats and mittens.

Here is what I came up with.

I decided to make Julia a new Winter Wonderland Hat and Mitten Set. I couldn’t use the same exact color as last year’s set – that would give me no reason to write about it nor show you all a new color combination possibility. I pulled out a different shade of pinkish yarn from my Julia stash. Actually it isn’t very pink at all but a lovely autumn inspired faded rose called Berry Berry. “What do you think Julia? Will you wear this?” She answered “Yes Mommy, it looks pink to me.” Ah, success.


For the past two nights I have been knitting madly away using 2 skeins of my Julia Yarn in NHJ 0124 Berry Berry and one skein of my Best Foot Forward Sock Yarn in Color NBF 7329 Fruit Salad. I eeked out the mittens with just a few inches left of one skein. There was a bit more leftover from the hat which I could have used if the mitten yarn ran out.


This set is made using 1 strand of a worsted weight yarn and two strands of standard sock yarn. I chose to wind all the yarns into one ball to make it easier to knit from. First I wound the Julia with 1 strand of the sock yarn. Then I wound this new ball into another ball adding a second strand of sock yarn. After winding both balls of Julia with two strands of sock yarn, I still have more sock yarn. Boy, does sock yarn go a long way!

For my crochet flowers, I used an odd ball of Julia Lady’s Mantle NHJ 3961. The French knots are made of Julia Pretty Pink NHJ 8141. This morning it turned cold and the Winter Wonderland Set was put into warming service. I’m hoping they last a few months because I’ve got other projects to knit. If need be though, I know I can make a pair of mittens in a night and a hat the second night. The crocheted and embroidered flower trim took another hour and a half or so. I so love a big gauged project!

If you’re looking for a quick knit for a Christmas gift and you have some worsted weight wool and odds and ends of sock yarn sitting in your stash, hop on over to my Shop Page to purchase and download my Winter Wonderland Pattern.

Has anyone else heard any more fun quotes about pink? Do you have any pink girls living at your house? It seems our cat Mr. Hannah seems to like pink too!

Crafty Ideas for Thanksgiving Weekend

Our farmhouse is the site for the annual Nicholas Thanksgiving Feast. As many Nicholas-related family members as can get here come and we celebrate my favorite holiday by eating, walking, and taking an old-fashioned hayride. I cook the turkeys and everyone else contributes one of their specialties. The worst part for me is cleaning the house before they all arrive!

The day after Thanksgiving, my sisters, Mom, the brother-in-laws and all the cousins descend upon my sister Nancy's house in New Hampshire. We spend the day eating left-over turkey, taking walks, talking, laughing, and doing a craft project together. Last year, we all sat around making little birch houses.

I loved seeing the spin all the kids put on it. It truly was a day to remember, as every holiday is. This year, my sister Laurie has something up her sleeve for us to make. Can't wait to see it! Last year I did a Tutorial on My Birch Houses which you can find here. Maybe your family will make a Birch Cottage on the day after Thanksgiving. You'd better get collecting natural materials soon!


FYI - the glittery animals are just made by applying glue and glitter to little plastic animals you can find at kids toy stores.

Kids in Knitting Photo Shoots and Another Preview from Color by Kristin

Photo shoots with kids are always dicey. Over the years, I have been involved in my fair share of shoots jampacked with little toddlers, babies and grade schoolers. When I was in my 20's - I really didn't have a clue how to make it work - little kids were a mystery to me. Now, over 25 years later and after living through a kid, I know their little quirks. Some kids just aren't interested in having their photos taken even though their parents want them to be in the photo. Some kids can be coerced with a bit of bribery. Some kids have a photo shoot time of availability of about 5 minutes. And then some kids are stellar models. Now that I take so many photos of Julia for this blog, I have learned to be really fast. I check her mood and bribe her with ice cream bonuses (and now some cash!).

Color by Kristin had been in the works for way over a year before the photo shoot happened. I knew I wanted to include two sweaters for kids in the book - one zippered cardigan and one pullover. They were both modeled on drop shouldered colorful designs that I have been knitting for Julia since she was an infant. I designed a striped pullover and had it knit up to fit Julia in shades of Geranium, Rock Henna, Chartreuse, Golden Honey, and Espresso. It was the first design I did for this new book. I figured Julia could model it. And then she grew..... it was over a year later and of course that happened - what was I thinking?. A month before the shoot, I designed a second pullover variation and had it knit big enough so it would fit Julia. And it was - then. Sadly she has grown some more and now it doesn't fit anymore. I sent it off on the Color by Kristin Trunk Show and it may be coming to a store near you.

As the photo shoot drew near, I knew I had to find a second model to show off the other little sweaterl Luckily, Julia's little friend Bridget fit into the first sweater and so I had two - slightly willing - models. Bridget and Julia are the best of pals so I kept my fingers crossed that magic would happen. I picked the kids up at school, brought them home and helped them change into the clothes Julie The Stylist had left for them. This was dicey to say the least - they weren't much into changing out of their own clothes into clothes that they couldn't keep. Somehow I talked them into it.

Out the door they went. And then they promptly refused to have their photos taken. I must admit, it must be a little scary - two strange men holding big black cameras and enormous white scrims, one nervous mother, and an Art Director dressed all in black from NYC.

Luckily John Gruen, The Photographer, is a Dad and is great with kids and tells funny stories. His assistant was a Dad too so we had a chance. We set the girls up in the doorway. This is Julia's crossed arms position - "No Mommy, I'm not going to do that" even with a smile on her face.

Next, we asked them if they were friends. "Oh yeah, we are Best Friends." And that's where the name of the sweater duo came from - the girls named it "Best Friends Pullovers."


The girls were warming up and becoming comfortable in front of all the equipment. Next we tempted them with kittens.

Things were getting better but the kittens covered up the sweaters.... I asked them if they wanted to take a little walk. The sun was starting to get low in the sky and the light was awesome. The brightly colored sweaters popped against the gray November day and scenery. They were warming up a little more.

Please girls, walk slowly. Oh, yeah - like kids will slow down..... But they did and magic happened. Here's my favorite photo of the day.


Aren't they just the cutest little girls? And the sweaters are quite nice too....

I'm going to Stitches in Hartford tonight and am teaching classes on Friday and Saturday. I don't have any book signings set up but if you want me to sign a book, just ask. I should be hanging around the Westminster Fibers Booth in between classes or looking around the market. The last few times I have done signings at Stitches they were pretty poorly attended. It's quite embarassing to sit in someone's booth and have noone come - bad for the booth and no fun for me! I think there is just too much stimulation there for knitters to even think about having a book signed.

If you aren't going to Stitches, you can order a signed book from my website here.

Busy Summer.....

Things are extremely busy here and my poor little blog is suffering. I’m sorry all. Just know I am thinking about you and trying to fit a post in here and there. Preparations are continuing for the upcoming classes at the farm. There is still room in both the Aug 1/2 and Aug 15/16 classes so if you are up for an adventure in the country, check out the website here.

Julia is now officially on the insulin pump. We spent all day at the hospital on Tuesday, testing out her pump and seeing how she would react to the continuous insulin. For the first few weeks, there is a massive amount of record keeping including getting up every two hours all night long. I am hopeful that in the long run, the insulin pump will keep her healthy and more regulated. But right now, the pump is running our lives. You’ll probably notice that Julia’s pump is PINK. She wanted to wait until she could get a pink one instead of black. Once they were available, she signed right up.

The Farmer and I are taking turns at the four Farmer’s Markets we committed to this summer. We’re trying to be at Bernardston (Tuesday 4 to 7), Turner’s Falls (Wednesday 3 to 6), Northfield (Thursday 4 to 7), and South Hadley (Thursday 1 to 6). The photo below shows our little set-up at Turner's Falls. All these markets are running us ragged but we are getting lots of nice comments, repeat customers, and some people are even driving up to our self-serve farmstore to purchase meat. It is encouraging.

Yesterday was a long and really hot day of sheep shearing. I’ll be back to you next week with photos of that. We are relieved it didn’t rain and that it is all over. What an exhausting day. We had to miss two Farmer's Markets but it had to be done.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Kids' Butterflies for the Carle

Last weekend I took Julia and her friend Bridget to the Eric Carle Picture Book Art Museum. It was the beginning of the birthday celebration for The Caterpillar's 40th Birthday and Eric's 80th Birthday. There's always something fun to do there. They have started a project that everyone can participate in - even you who live far away.

They are collecting butterflies that kids make and hanging them on the beautiful glass walls of the museum. There were quite a few already hanging but I can envision thousands more. The next day, Julia and her friends Matthew and Bridget and I worked on this project. We used oil pastels (like Craypas) and made colored papers in the style of Eric Carle. We used colored construction paper as the base and the kids had a great time layering colors on top of each other. Then we did a little smearing and scratching with knitting needle.


They were about done after the paper making paper so I took directions from them and did the fine cutting and gluing. It was a fun project and we're going to drop the butterflies off in Amherst within the next week.



If you want to participate, send your butterflies to:
Batches of Butterflies
The Eric Carle Museum
125 West Bay Road
Amherst, MA 01002

Have fun!