There and back again - a knitters tale

Last weekend was the annual Stitches West convention in Santa Clara. Haven't been to a stitches? Picture thousands of knitters and fiber enthusiasts taking over a large hotel and convention center for 4 days. Just imagine. The hotel was overbooked, knitters were rearranging furniture and the baristing machine was out of milk. Not a one lost their temper. They just pulled out their knitting and in the words of Elizabeth Zimmerman, knit on through any crises.

Yes, four days with my people. We practiced the knitters handshake (petting of sweater, "Oh, did you make that?") without fear of reprisal. We exulted over beautiful, one-of-a-kind hand dyed skeins, and almost lost our dignity when we stuck our hands in the yak/silk roving. So soft! And we shopped.

Most importantly we knit. Everywhere. We knit at the table waiting for food, in the lounge with an alcoholic beverage, in our rooms. I'm sure some of us knit in the bathroom. I cast on a sock the first day during lunch and finished it at the Small Farm Conference on Monday.


I bargained shopped and hunted high and low for the special splurge yarn, which turned out to be Tactile's merino/silk laceweight in pomegranite. The picture doesn't do this color justice. The score turned out to be a mill end of lightweight Sock That Rock in an unknown colorway. Great bargains were also at Webs, where I scored sweater amounts of yarn to do two sweaters from the new book French Girl Knits.


Webs is also the source of my newest project, the Trumpet Flower Cardigan, which uses yarn I purchased last year. Nice, brainless knitting.


And then I made a tactical error. I went to the spinning guild's drop spindle demo. This would have been a good time for an intervention, because I think it's too late now. For just a $5 donation I acquired a starter drop spindle and some roving. I'm hooked. I've already spun the ounce I started with and had to get more at the Tin Thimble. And a friend is loaning me a better quality drop spindle. I can already see where this is headed...

Keep 'Em In the Dark

I got this from GardenRant over the weekend, and it's so succinctly written I'm just going to share the post in it's entirety.

Once more, the big agricultural supplier Monsanto seems to have
decided that the best way to keep its products selling is to control
the flow of information and terrify potential critics with its legal
muscle. In the past, Monsanto has sued dairies that tried to label
their milk free of the recombinant bovine growth hormone it sold, which
boosts cows' milk production, on the grounds that this "misled"
consumers into thinking something was wrong with rBGH.  When in doubt,
rough up the farmer and keep the consumer in the dark.

Today, the New York Times
reports that a group of agricultural scientists have complained to the
EPA that Monsanto, Syngenta, and Pioneer Hi-Bred choke off research on
their genetically engineered seed.  Scientists cannot study insect
resistance in these plants, for example, without the companies'
permission. 

As the Times notes, these are scientists
who see value in genetic engineering.  Yet they are still being
bullied.  I don't understand why these big companies cannot buy better
public relations advice.

So, where is the political leadership in
all this?  Everything Monsanto does affects the commons.  We all share
this ecosystem.  We have a right to know.

Knitting Classes - Math of Socks

I've been remiss setting up my knitting class schedule for the next couple of months.

I know I'm teaching Math of Socks (description below) twice in the next month, once at Meadowfarm Yarn Studio on Jan. 30th 11-1 and again at Courthouse Coffee in Auburn, date to be determined, although it will be on a Wednesday or Thursday evening. I still need to coordinate with the owner.

For Meadowfarm reservations call 530.470.8862.
For inquiries about the Auburn class, email me or post to the comments.

This class is designed for people who have made socks and want to understand how to make them fit and make their own socks patterns based on their measurements and gauge.

Math of Socks - 2 hours, $20
Aha! Don’t let the title scare you. If you can balance your check book (and even if you can’t), you’ll be a master of numbers and your knitting at the finale of this class. We'll discuss where to measure the foot, how to adjust for narrow ankles or wide arches, and how to calculate the number of stitches you'll need to make your sock fit. Bring a tape measure, a basic calculator, pencil, and a 2”x2” swatch of sock yarn (sport or fingering). This class is designed with previous sock knitting experience in mind. This is not a learn to knit socks class.

Rural Change for America

So the White House is an exciting place these days. A new president who's agreed to tear out five acres of lawn and put in a farm. If I didn't like him already, this would have won me over.

And have you seen his plan for rural change?
Rural communities face numerous challenges but also economic opportunities unlike anything we have witnessed in modern history. President Obama and Vice President Biden believe that together we can ensure a bright future for rural America. They will help family famers and rural small businesses find profitability in the marketplace and success in the global economy.

Here's the highlights:
°Strong safety net for family farmers
°Prevent anticompetetive behavior against family farms
°Regulate CAFOs (confined animal feed lots) - this is going to stick in the USDA's craw. They've been sooo negligent about enforcing these regulations...
°Establish country of origin labeling
°Encourage organic and local agriculture
°Encourage young people to become farmers
°Partner with landowners to conserve private lands

I really like this one! Connect rural America by modernizing phone lines to provide affordable broadband coverage.

For all the details check out http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/rural/

It's a boy! Again!

No, it's not twins, and I'm not pregnant. But once again one my young henlings has crowed. Can you pick out which one is not like the others?

Yep, about a week ago I heard an additional crow in the yard, and when I looked closer, I realized one of my "girls" was sporting pretty tail feathers! The latest batch of chicks is now 5 months old and are coming into their sexual maturity, and once again I have one more rooster than I bargained for.

So far Kazoo and the "new" rooster seem to be getting along well, without any fighting in the coop at night. Unfotunately, if it becomes a problem, one of them will have to go into the stew pot, as it's pretty hard to find homes for unwanted roosters. By the way, chicks are sexed at birth, but I've had a one in six rate of boys twice now, which is well below the stated oops rate.

Short row heel - no wraps!

This tidy little video showed up in my inbox this morning, and it looks to be such a great (and simple) technique that I wanted to share with all of my sock knitting friends. I'm going to try this on my current socks in progress, so I'll be able to let you know just how practical it is soon.

Auburn Festival of Lights Parade

Last weekend was the Auburn's annual holiday parade, the Festival of Lights. Often called the Electric Light Parade of Auburn, this is a well-attended event every year, often drawing visitors from far away locations. People pack the streets to watch the over 100 float entries in the parade.

Auburn Knit Night and Courthouse Coffee joined forces to be in the parade for the first time this year. The knitters used glow sticks to knit in the back of Courthouse Coffee's '69 Ford pick-up. People cheered our glow sticks, the knitting, and the owner of the coffee shop. We cheereed and waved back, feeling on par with our favorite knitting celebrities Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka The Yarn Harlot and the authors Kay and Ann from Mason-Dixon Knitting. (Psst, Santa: I still really want the new Mason-Dixon Kntting book.)

The group able to be in the parade left to right is Debbie, Gail, Earin, Luci and Sharon.
For more parade pics, check out this link.

Auburn Knit Night is open to knitters, crocheters, and other hand crafts. We meet Tuesday evenings at Courthouse Coffee in Auburn from 6-9pm.

And to plug Courthouse Coffee, let me just say that it offers so much more than coffee. There's an exciting variety of Fair Trade drinks and high quality salads, soups, sandwiches, pie and other goodies. Also, wi-fi internet access, space for local groups to gather, and is convieniently located adjacent to the year-round, Saturday morning farmers' market. And did I mention the wine and beer?

Nevada County Cookie Exchange

Here's a yummie local event to tempt you out on Sunday.

The new local Slow Food Chapter of Nevada County is presenting a Holiday Cookie and Recipe Exchange Sunday December 14 from 1:00-4:00pm at Linden Lea Ranch.

Bring your family and friends and 3 dozen of your favorite homemade cookes and copies of the recipe to share. $5/person or $10/family. Come enjoy cookie decorating, Polar Express story-telling, decadent hot chocolate, apple cider, and holiday music.

Directions:
From Grass Valley: Take Main Strees west for 7 miles (it becomes Rough & Ready Hwy). Turn right on Bitney Springs Rd and follow for 5 miles. Turn right at the Linden Lea Ranch.

RSVP or questions 478-1541 or thewellspring@sbcglobal.net

Gifts that keep on giving

This was printed in the Grass Valley Union Friday, November 25, 2005, and I wanted to share this great idea with everyone. Many people I know are cutting back on frivolous gifts and donations this year, but here is a gift idea that keeps on giving, long after the holidays are over. Of course, considering the joy my own flock has brought me, I may be slightly biased about wanting more people to experience chickens...

A Gift That Nourishes
A few years ago I received one of the best Christmas gifts of my life. My mother had bought in my name, from Heifer International, a flock of chickens for a family from a third world country. 20.00 had helped an entire impoverished family become more self-reliant by providing income-producing chickens along with a training program.

My own chickens do so much for my family. They lay eggs, fertilize, eat the bugs--including earwigs, scare the rattlesnakes away, go to bed by themselves and wake us up.
So this year, I gave 200.00 to Heifer International which purchased ten flocks of chickens for ten families somewhere in the world and I gave a flock, on paper, to each of my close friends and family members.

Heifer International is a nonprofit organization that works to end hunger and poverty by enabling people to start their own businesses. You have the choice of goats, llamas, pigs, water buffalo, cows, beehives, sheep, camels, chickens and more. Not only do these gifts provide better nutrition for children around the world, but then the families "pass on the gift" by giving one or more of their animal's offspring to another family in need.

"Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a life time." You too can give the gift that keeps on giving. Call Heifer International at (800) 422-0755 or go to www.heifer.org

Working Landscapes

I'm often amazed by the number of free programs that are offered that nobody seems to know about. Take for instance Nevada County Resource Conservation District (www.ncrcd.org). This is a government funded agency which promotes responsible resource management by educating and assisting landowner and land managers through education, leadership, technical and financial assistance, and project facilitation. And it's almost all free!

Today I attended a free brown bag lunch workshop entitled "Working Landscapes: The Environmental Benefits of Grazing" presented by NCRCD. What are working landscapes? Here's a quote from one of the handouts. "Working landscapes consist of farms, ranches and actively managed forestlands. California' working landscapes provide jobs, local tax base, a variety of environmental services, scenic open space, and much of the food and fiber Americans consume."

Today I'll summarize the first of the three speakers, Sheila Barry, UC Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor for the Bay Area. Her focus was on UC research documenting the many benefits of managed grazing, especially fire fuel management, watershed protection, wildlife habitat, increased biodiversity, maintenance of critical endangered species' habitat, recreation, and providing on going, consistent stewardship.

Unfortunately, there are many negative perceptions around ranchers and grazing, including leftover cow pies, overgrazing, and how to manage a changed landscape. Perhaps the most important part of these perceptions is that the successful stories are not connected in the minds of the public. However, there are only a few bad apples among ranchers and farmers. Most ranchers share environmental concerns; in fact, their livelihoods depend preserving clean water, biodiversity and healthy soils, and prove to be excellent stewards of the lands they own or manage.