Lucy Goosey doing what she does best; ignoring me.
Gnocchi and Sabine
In addition to being half siblings, these two are best friends.
Cini is far too busy making sure no one steals this enormous bale of hay to clown around.
Gnocchi, on the job.
Still no internet at the farm. I am going absolutely bananas without it Thank God for the public library!
P.S. Check out Amy’s blog post for more behind-the-scences pics from the photo shoot.
Comments Off on Today in Dogs
Tagged Features, In Pictures, Maremma
Come back later this week for something BIG !!!
Comments Off on Glass Variations …
Tagged glass, objects, Photographs, photoshop
With a little expert help from Riley, I was able to finish my Jacob’s Ladder squares and create a layout for my quilt top. Winnie observed the layout from her perch in the warm sun. She was so blissed out she let me get a rare closeup.
Comments Off on All squared up
Tagged Jacob's ladder, quilt, quilting, Sewing
In case you weren’t lucky enough to get one of the gorgeous club kits from Dragonfly Fibers, you can now get the Byzantine Cowl pattern by itself!
This gorgeously soft indulgent cowl was inspired by the geometric motifs and colors present in Middle Eastern architecture. Wear it with either side showing; it’s completely reversible.
If you’d like a cowl with a larger circumference, increase in repeats of 42 sts (which works out to be about 5.5”/14cm) and increase your yarn requirements proportionately.
Guidelines (pink lines) are shown on the larger chart (Chart 1) to assist with stitch counts and patterning.
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Tagged Knitting & Spinning
This weekend was the photo shoot for Juniper Moon Farm’s Spring and Summer 2013 collection. A lot of my favorite people were there, and it turned out to be much warmer than the last time we shot spring clothes in the winter! There were a lot of pictures taken in 3 short days, and though I cannot show you any of the garments, I can give you a peek at what it looked like “back stage”.
The incredible Lauria, getting Anna ready for a scene. Lauria kept us not only working on schedule, but kept us looking good while doing it.
Maddie and Ann getting lunch ready for the crowd.
Garment prep.
Tanya kept us well fed and happy in between getting her picture taken. When Paul showed up one morning to take care of fixing some props, she had a coffee ready and waiting for him, saying ” I heard you were coming so I made coffee”.
She’s pretty awesome like that.
Lovely Shirra, between scenes.
Cris kept us laughing even when we were exhausted and running out of steam.
Neve could occasionally be counted on to help.
Lisa brought her tiny new baby for everyone to snuggle, and looked amazing for her scene.
Even Paul got in on the baby snuggling.
Alston and Oona played and watched videos.
Lucy never failed to be in the way. Until we needed her. Such a diva.
Badminton time!
Some quick archery safety lessons pre – shoot.
Waiting.
Oona warmed up to Erin in short order and shadowed her the rest of the day.
Erin looks a bit chilly waiting for her scene.
Anna and Erin, catching up.
This picture cracks me up. Cris and Anna, looking hilariously judgmental in the background.
Now we are all going to sleep for a few days.
Cheers!
Comments Off on Behind The Scenes (Photo Heavy)
Tagged Knitting, Uncategorized
This weekend I got back into the sewing room to actually sew! I’ve done another set of 12 Jacob’s Ladder blocks with just one more set to go. It’s exciting to be almost done with these. I’m anxious to see how they look laid out together. I tried out the Angler2 for making my half square triangles and after a bit of modification for the size of my squares, it worked beautifully and is even faster than the other no-sew method I tried. I changed a bobbin in the middle of these blocks and found it quite easy to get things realigned. Of course, it has been a few weeks since I worked on these blocks and a cutting error meant one block has a little bit more piecing than originally intended.
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Tagged Jacob's ladder, quilting, Sewing
Lauria here again with a behind the scenes look at the photo shoot we just wrapped up this weekend. I’m at my boarding gate for my flight back home. Unfortunately the internet at the farm is still down so I couldn’t share these with you earlier. We’ve all been working very hard to shoot as many of the Spring 2013 garments as possible.
Thursday Shirra and I came down early and spent the day with Susan sewing on buttons, styling garments, and (my favorite) working on spreadsheets!
Friday we shot 16 garments! Our goal was 13 and we worked very fast and even after shooting all 16, we had sunlight to spare, but not any energy! In between garments, we got to chat with friends that came to help and admired a brand new baby.
I spent the entire day in full makeup and alternately in gorgeous outfits and in Susan’s sweats (I took only photoshoot-ready clothes to save room in my luggage). I alternated between readying hair and makeup, setting up locations and props, being on detail patrol for the shoot, modeling, and holding the reflector. And I was one of many alternating!
Poor Emily warmed herself by the fire between shots. It was nippy, but nothing compared to Boston weather, or even last year’s cold!
Lucy (Gnocci’s mom) always wanted to be a part of the show – until the exact moment in which we wanted her to! Then she’d get up and wander off!
Cris took tons of behind the scenes photos herself, as well as some fantastic shots that will end up in the books! (Here she’s modeling her Beaded Cowl, which was designed in Willa and beaded and buttoned from many of the “Aunties” in the JMF Ravelry Group!)
This was an AMAZING weekend and I’m so proud to have been part of it, but it couldn’t have been done without the good friends that came and joined us and worked their butts off! I might just have been a bossy-pants in order to ensure that we would complete the shoot on time (which we did!), but the ladies that followed my lead were sweet, caring, quick and considerate every minute of the long several days. Thank you Amy, Muffin, Cris, Shirra, Tanya, Erin, Maddie, Emily, Erin, Lisa, and of course, Susie. We also couldn’t have done it without Amy’s husband Paul! He was a rockstar and got to be in the books too. And when Susie’s Aunt Ann pitched in, too, we were an unstoppable force!
All these photos are from Susan and we have plenty more to show you! I expect that you’ll get another behind the scenes look with more photos when Susan has some time. Right now she has to get those photos edited so we can get the book to the printer! (Which means that I have to finish up the proofing the patterns project!)
Comments Off on Behind the Scenes at the Spring Summer 2013 Photo Shoot
Tagged photo shoot, spring 2013, Uncategorized
First, the facts:
Title: Knitted Farm Animals: 15 Irresistible Easy-to-Knit Friends
Author: Sarah Keen
Published by: Potter Craft, 2012
Pages: 127
Type: Knitted Toys
Chapters:
1. The Farm Animals
2. The Techniques
The In-Depth Look:
So … this is going to be quick and to the point.
This book is adorable.
Bright. Cheery. Cute. Lovable. Fun. Sweet.
Yes. All the adjectives I can think of are all of that “cute” variety because, well, it IS.
This is a happy little book filled with cute little faces of three-dimensional farm animals that you can knit and play with. They’re toys, and they seem happy to be so. They clearly all get along together when they pose together and, generally, it’s, well, cute!
I honestly wish there were more to say, but … what else is there other than “Awww!” The cover says “15 irresistible easy-to-knit friends” and, well, they ARE. Okay, the sheepdog looks a bit more like a panda and the cat looks a bit like a raccoon, but does that matter? They’re all kind of lovable.
They’re also knit out of light worsted-weight yarn on US size 3 needles, so they’re not impossibly small and tiny, either. And the primary-color-based photos really ARE cute.
This cheery bit of adorableness can be found at Amazon.com.
Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.
This review copy was kindly donated by Potter Craft. Thank you!
Comments Off on Review: Knitted Farm Animals
Tagged General
Everywhere you look this time of year there are words of encouragement, hope, and inspiration to help you along with those pesky new year’s resolutions so many of us fail to keep. We all know the sayings and catch phrases and remember them at least for awhile.
And then the other day I saw this card… it jumped right out at me… I read it… liked what it said and put it back. Then picked it up again. Put it back and walked away. It pulled me back and it was obvious I wasn’t leaving the store without it.
It’s not just the words, I like the colors, the contented look on the woman’s face.. peaceful and all knowing without being all preachy about it.
Some of these things will be easy to embrace, others not so much.
*embrace change – never an easy thing for me, I like things the way they are and fight against too much change… some would say all change but I disagree, I’m trying to accept some change.
*take the journey back to yourself – ahhh, it’s so easy to lose the ‘self’ we are, the one that is inside our heads talking to us. We lose ourselves and become someones mother, wife, sister, friend. The essence of our inner self gets overshadowed. I am definitely encouraging my inner self to stand out and up more often.
*speak of gratitude – I am grateful and do speak of it often and hope that it comes through to those I am grateful to.
*wear yellow shoes - – ah, now here’s one I’m looking forward to. I used to have yellow heels and yellow patent leather flats and they made me happy. They say you should always have a pair of red shoes and I agree with that, but yellow, now there’s a pair of shoes to dance among the stars in.
*unleash your creative spirit -I do unleash my creative spirit… here are two examples… this blog…and my photography blog http://throughjerseyeyes.wordpress.com/
*be positive - I’m not generally, I am a pessimist with optimistic leanings but I shall endeavor to switch that around. Really, I’m positive about that !
*believe in healing - definitely, no doubt about it…mentally, physically and spiritually.. we can heal.
*share your inner light - I try to do that everyday, a smile here, a smile there, it’s amazing how many people react positively to that… see, I’m being positive 
*surprise yourself and do things you didn’t think you could do - I’m always surprised at what I do that I didn’t think I could… I usually need a gentle push from loved ones..okay sometimes a shove. A few years ago I rode on the subway in NYC with my daughter for the first time, didn’t think I could but it was too bitter cold to walk and so I gave in and did it.
*live as if you only have one chance -we definitely only have one chance at this life, the life we’re living now.
Will see at the end of 2013 how well I have or haven’t done !
Comments Off on Words …
Tagged Inspiration, Photographs, words
