3 things on thursday: good things

 with photos, of course!

1) It's lamb season ! and the sheep and wool festivals are getting underway!  I'm going to swing by the tiny  Connecticut Sheep Wool & Fiber Fest this Saturday. It's just a one day event, and  makes my She Shoots Sheep Shots soul so happy.

The photo is from a quick visit last month to my LSF (Local Sheep Farm), Olympia Farm . Love that the little trio posed for me like that!  If you have a local farm that welcomes visitors, I highly recommend making it a stop from time to time. I'm going to be popping in again soon cause cheesemaking season just started. As if I need a reason beyond lambs and local wool.....

2) A long overdue new website is underway.  I am my own worst editor.  It's a truth that's led to many months years delay on this project.  I have help. It is pretty amazing to have a completely different set of eyes culling my work . I am super proud of myself for letting go of attachments to  the images and let them just be seen.  The website is still in process. Reveal soon!  This image is Fine Lines by Lori Versaci , pattern includes longer version.

3) Work has been bustling, including a big corporate project. For every day out photographing there are at least two solid days of desk work at my computer....which means lots of book listening while I edit. A recent favorite : The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton.  Fun, great characters, includes serious issues from various points of view, from the 70's and in the present --the kind of book that you think about the characters a couple of weeks later and wonder how they are doing. And then remember....wait, they are fictional ...Does that happen to you, too? I always feel that's the sign of a good writer.  

Here are some other 3 on Thursday posts

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/party/f37e7d0bf6a9416aa2ea723a841733c4

POP UP ! wood print sale

I'm trying something new! A POP-UP sale of some of my photographs on wood.

I've been selling these as limited edition prints on wood by special order for a couple of years but I thought it'd be fun to share them online for one day for a few days.  Why not?

All the INFO and DETAILS are on the order page here. Except it is unlikely that you will receive them before Dec 24th.

At first I worried that printing photographs on maple would be gimmicky or look tacky--but with some careful choice of which images I use, I love them.  The wood is lovely and heavy, and there's a keyhole so they are ready for hanging. The grain shows through the lighter parts of the imagery--which is why the choice of photo is so important. The finish is a matte laminate so it goes with the modern natural vibe.
These are 6x6" square, and are 1/2" deep.  

And I'm going to make all this disappear soon! Kind of fun. Let me know what you think!
Order from link here, or you can email me with questions gale@gzucker.com .

Back tomorrow with the usual content :-)

'tis the season! CT Sheep & Wool Festival

 

It's that time of year, to see all our favorite fuzzy faces and appreciate their fiber. For us, the Ct Sheep and Wool festival starts the spring and fair season. It's just a teeny little fiber festival, a mere smidge of a gathering. But it means winter is done.

My report:  Purple is big this year, no surprise there. The vendors here are smaller farms and local or regional dyers. I always admire  Tidal Yarns skeins. I love her patterns, too. There was a pullover sample at her booth I spent some time admiring *. You know how you look and think "ooh nice" but then the next day you're thinking " oooh nice and I really want to knit that.....it's stuck in my head....". Even though I've got my knitting pretty well planned out for the short term.  Note to self: follow her to another fair and do it.

There was some herding, of sheep.  And of a four year old.

My fave thing this year was Dancing Stick Man, and the dude who pulled the string as he played banjo.

The banjo playing was at one of our fave booths too- old timey stuff including what sister Lulu, who joined the fair-going expedition, called folk art and little spirit jugs. Many had faces on them, or tiny paintings.  You'll find a couple in our flower garden, if it ever gets warm enough to plant.
There was also  the Wearing of the Amazing Knits, Folks in Renaissance Clothes Doing Impossibly Intricate Needlework, Spinning In Group Formation, Shearing Demos and Really Good Buttons, along with all of the above. Want my 2¢?  Get out to some up and coming fairs .
- Maryland Sheep and Wool  May 7 & 8  --the big mama of east coast spring festivals

- Shepherds Harvest in Minnesota May 13-15 -  worth the trip from wherever you are

- New Hampshire Sheep & Woool Festival - May 14 & 15 - bring a sweater! it's in the woods- my memory of my two visits to this one is brrrrrr! and also- beautiful yarns & sheep

- Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair May 28 & 29th-- super charming

Taking a curtsy before we leave. Hope to catch you sipping lemonade and watching the sheep smile back sometime soon.

Just for funs : although I rarely miss a year of this festival, I sometimes skip blogging about it. oops! my first visit to this festival 11 years ago , back when my blog was a secret and I was purposefully posting small not terribly well made photos, to keep it separate from my professional commercial work (why? insanity??!!) . And also another,  sunshiney  lovely year there, on the blog seven years ago.

* so this pullover? It was worsted or DK weight looking, nice deep raglan sleeves, boxy cut, slightly scooped neck and an inset pocket (with contrast lining, I just love that)  on one side of the lower front. It was shown with color blocking near the lower quarter of the body but it'd be charming solid....

november post 8: when in doubt, show sheep shots

an old favorite, from Autumn House Farm

• • •  Teaching at Fibre Space in Alexandria VA in just a couple of days! 

 The workshops are close to full- jump on in!• • • •

 

• Thursday Evening 6-9 Smartphone Masterpieces - hands on & fun class to take with a non-knitter  

• Friday - 10-5 Photography for Knitters & Makers- soup to nuts, Shooting to Editing & review - get up close and personal with your camera. 
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book reviews & giveaway #1

I could go on about the gifts I'm cranking against time, or my Shell Seeker wanting a scant 3 inches of the hem re-knit, to be finished 4good and 4ever....but instead, December is a fine time to review books and do giveaways.

They've been piling up. Why is there a baseball there? I don't know...the stitching?

So..off we go 
 
50 Sunflowers to Knit Crochet & Felt
I’ve mentioned how much I admire the multi-talented Kristin Nicholas --I was a fan of her knit designs long before we became friends. I’ve visited her farm. I can tell you, she is the real deal.  

a sheep behind the house, and a bedroom-from my visit in May 2012

Artist, designer, farmer, decorator, photographer--all of it. She is one of few people I begrudge my sheep photography admiration (hardass I am). Her house isn’t a fake set just for the photo shoots, it really is her world. You may know she also grows and sells fields of sunflowers--and thus the inspiration for this book.

Kristin's felted sunflowers in her field.

This book is just what the title says--Kristin’s come up with 50 different sunflowers for us to create,

Although the title doesn’t let you know that there are also instructions to knit, crochet and otherwise embellish robins, ladybugs, leaves, butterflies, even a polka dot crocheted vase in which to stick your handcrafted flowers--all in her gorgeous color sense. There are also 15 projects to make, from decorative wall art to useful small gifts (washclothes and baby rattle) to cool home items (mailbox and door wreath).

It feels like a bounty-- I’m tired of books that only have a couple of ideas and streettttttttch them thin. Kristin’s book is the opposite. 

As always she is generous with the instructions, the technique, with a playful layout and excellent photos. Class act, this one. The only reason I can bear to give it away? She sent me an extra copy just for that purpose. I have this idea I’m going to make flowers to embellish holiday gifts this year. Better get cracking? yeah yeah, I know...
I'm giving away this book by mail , leave a comment below, by 6 am Saturday morning December 7th , with  your email address* or your Ravelry name.  I’ll choose a winner by random number generator.

(added 12-8-13  giveaway is over-thanks!!!)

___Stop by again soon, I'm going to keep reviewing and giveaway-ing all month.__________ 
*my blogging platform doesn’t reveal your email address with your replies normally, so I need it. if you are worried about it attracting a ‘bot scanning for addresses, feel free to leave it as JaneSewAThotstuffDOTCom  ok? Thanks

driving miss brenda

If you're reading this then you probably don't think it's entirely wacky to fetch a woman I’ve never met, visiting from Wales, and drive her 2 hours north to a farm in the rural Berkshires of Massachusetts. Just so I could, you know, hang out with the sheep peeps for tea.

But if I told you the sheep farm is Kristin Nicholas' home and studio, and the passenger was Brenda Dayne of the podcast Cast On , it’d seal the deal, right?

I've become friends with Kristin, loved her work forever, but  this was my first visit to their farm. We'd joked about people wanting to live her life and thinking her house was just perfect and the sheep were all fluffy and cute, and she plays with yarn all day but in reality.....

well....OMG... it is true.  No! just kidding! She and her husband The Farmer work hard, and farm life (as well as working for yourself) is at times difficult, gritty, messy and frustrating.  But, on a spectacular spring day, it looks idyllic. You should sign up for Kristin's  classes at the farm and see what I mean.

 Anyway back to Brenda. Our original plan: I was going to coach her on photography and she was going to interview me about shooting knitting and handcraft books.

 

 But we had way too much fun blabbing, just blabbing, on the way up. And then relaxing with a pot of proper UK tea and then walking the fields with the sheep while she recorded ambient sounds and interviewed The Farmer. We decided we just have to hang out again sometime.  (fyi, she sounds just the same, in person, as on her podcast. Mind blowing, it is).

It was a wonderful day. You really really need to try to see Brenda when she passes through your area on her US tour this month. Her classes are sure to be wonderful,  but definitely attend her performance piece,  A Memorable Yarn. (read about it on Kristin's blog, here ).

 

True confession: I got that line from Sweet Baby James*  , " the Berkshires seemed dreamlike on accounta' that frosting...."  as an earworm on the way home. And then  discovered,  I can remember all the words. No wonder there's no room for important facts in my brain.

 I

Had to end with the kitten. 

* go listen & look at that video from 1970 . So long ago!

the week ahead

I'm usually a live-in-the-moment type, but not this week. I'm looking ahead, and can you blame me?

 

Next weekend,  Shepherds Harvest in Lake Elmo MN ! I love me a sheep & wool fest, and I've been hearing about this one for ages. This is like a 3fer look forward. One I am honored to be the judge of the photo contest for this 15th year of the festival.   And Two I'll be teaching a Photo Safari class on Saturday  (still 3 or 4  seats left but you need to email the festival or try your luck at walk-in registration). We will be up to our eyeballs in good subjects. (They don't call me She Shoots Sheep Shots for nothin').  Also Three  I'm  book signing at 11 am on Saturday and at noon on Sunday. On each day I'll also go bother my Wear With All friends, who'll be selling and signing just after me on Saturday and just before on Sunday. Come by and say hi.

But that's the end of the week. Right now I'm  picking up Brenda Dayne, of Cast On, and driving her to Kristin Nicholas'  farm in Western Massachusetts. Check out her fab North American tour, she might  near you soon-she is at Webs all this week and The Yarnery later this month.. Lucky!   Any Monday that includes talented knitter/designer/authors, yarn, a road trip and a SHEEP FARM stands to have a lot of promise. (Also Kristin lives near the best ice cream stand I've visited in ages, and that is no small thing.)

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

she shoots sheep shots, yet again

* Coffee giveaway still in full swing--go enter. Java! *

Today's Photo Heavy Monday is from Beaver Brook Farm in Old Lyme,  CT.  I had a sheep & lamb visiting jones on Friday. What ? That doesn't happen to you ?

The back lighting through the ears slays me.

Sun worshippers? Or posing?

We were a day early for Open Farm Days, which features lots of shearing & kettle corn.
Fortunately, the shearing was already underway. Unfortunately, no kettle corn.
OTOH with no one else visiting, we got to meet the first lamb of the season up close & personal.
 They also have a cheese shop, and butcher counter.
Handspun mitts & hat. Love.
Thrummy.
 
• • • • • • • • • • • • • 

If you click on the link up top , you'll see you can go visit Beaver Brook Farm almost every day. It is the best antidote I can think of to the barrage of commercial, overwrought holiday stuff going on. Also, really excellent cheese. 

I like to serve their Pleasant Son because we are what we eat. 

If you don't happen to live around here, try googling "farms to visit" and your location.

in which she shoots sheep shots, again

 

first morning light at Gansvoort Farm in Clermont NY

Who cares if outside more snow fell and  the landscape's on hold in a palette of white, grey and...OK-that's-about-it. Inside, I'm on deadline editing a shoot from Gansvoort Farm from October. Green grass, the first frost, the last fall leaves, and early morning sun. Take me away.

 

Okapi.  Pretty cool markings for an Icelandic cross mix, doncha think?

I joined Jennifer Phillips, the farmer, for daybreak chores, on her beautiful farm. It's about  a half hour north of Rhinebeck in the Hudson Valley of NY, which is how I came to be staying there with her for the weekend. I hope you enjoy a vicarious vist with her as much as I am enjoying revisiting these images. More info about Jennifer and her farm, products and farming practices  below.  BTW? The wool comforters, made from her organic wool batts,  are to die for.

Antique orchard behind her pastures.  Teeeny bit sinister, like those trees in the Wizard of Oz.

from Jennifer Phillips' listing on Eat Wild.com

"Gansvoort Farm raises 100% grassfed beef and lamb in the Hudson Valley.

I rotationally graze my flock and herd on diverse, nutritious pastures. My beef cows are registered Devons, a heritage breed known to be the gold standard for grassfed meat. My sheep are Icelandic crosses—hardy, healthy, and excellent graziers. I use organic practices (no antibiotics, no hormones, organically managed pastures) but am not USDA certified organic. I am in the process of being certified by AnimalWelfareApproved.org.

I have lamb for sale every fall by the whole or half. Orders can be placed by phone or e-mail beginning in late summer. I usually sell out by November. My butcher says it is some of the nicest lamb he has ever seen. I sell registered Devon cattle breeding stock and grassfed beef on a limited basis. If you are interested in quarters, halves or a whole freezer beef, contact me for dates and prices.

I also have 100% wool comforters for sale made with the wool shorn from my flock each spring. These comforters make an ideal heirloom gift that will last a lifetime. Be the first person on your block to own a 100% grassfed wool comforter!"

Gansvoort Farm, Jennifer Phillips, 1830 Route 9, Germantown NY 12526. (518) 537-4668. E-mail: gansvoort@gmail.com.

digging in

my holiday making so far:

• survey loved ones who like receiving handknits as to what they wish for

• remind them  there're no guarantees

• receive a photo of multicolored radishes at a farm stand from one sister, saying these are the colors she likes for her gift request of a granny square scarf

• rejoice that they are an interesting combination, with odd green leaves. 

• consider it a definite upgrade from her request last year of grey. 

• nothing against grey but I don't actually think of it as a color.

• radish inspired yarn put together* , some newly purchased, some here already.

* when I say put together I mean gathered, put in one bag,  or looked  at in a pile with a satisfied nod of the head
One gift sprouting. It's a start.

gale goes goat geeking

 

When my just turning 20 (today! and, really?) son Leo came home for a month this summer, he reprised his role as traveling photo assistant. We had great adventures shooting for the book Shear Spirit four years ago (Texas, fr'instance, here).  Since I can barely stand to pass up a field trip enroute to a job, and we were heading up to Montpelier VT for a corporate shoot,  I found the.perfect. sidetrip. Goats! Goat cheese ! Open to visitors any time, and they are one of the only places in the northeast that make cajeta- goat caramel- which really piqued our curiousity.

Leo's in culinary college and  cooks passionately for work, so, you combine my appreciation of goat farms with love of artisanal foods and we are so there.

It's a self-touring kinda deal. If you're a photographer, this joint is hog heaven.  

The resident pigs seemed to agree.

First stop : the tasting room/shop with a refrigerated tray and do-it-yourself instructions. Some of this came home with us.  I doubt I can make it last til Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. It goes very well with ice cream. Just saying.

We hiked the rest of the farm in scorching heat, if for nothing else than to thank the goats for their labors. 

Freshly harvested garlic & onions drying. 

Taking a breather by the chicken coop. We tease him that he's gone Mr. Miami on us. 

It's my continuing disappointment that you don't get fiber from dairy goats, nor chevre from an angora. But if you did? wow.

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

 

We were at Fat Toad Farm.  There is an official VT CheeseTrail, so you can find other Vt cheese farms, too. Seriously! Get the map from  Vt Cheesemakers