Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Great Hat Adventure

I promised my friends I would make them hats from my handspun yarn...and one of them picked a thin single-ply sock yarn in reds and oranges and yellows and browns. I love it! Anyhow, I began knitting with it...on size 3 needles...and found that it just wouldn't make a good hat. No one wants a flimsy, thin hat...especially when our Vermont temperatures have been dipping so low (-18F the other day!). So...I plied it, navajo style. And now I love it even more!

There it is, freshly spun, still on my bobbin. I'll give the knitting another try, perhaps on some size 6 needles and hope it works up into a nice, thick hat. It's so soft and snuggly. Perhaps I'll feel compelled to make myself a hat some day soon.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Vermont

Two of my favorite things about Vermont: the food and the sense of community. I joined a CSA (Pete's Greens) not too long ago in my ongoing efforts to be a localvore. After signing up, I thought it may have been a mistake to start in the winter instead of during the warmer months...but then my first share came and it was amazing. Pete's Greens does an amazing job of providing a giant selection of fantastic produce and other local deliciousness throughout the snowy months (and newsletters with recipes and storage tips and other fun stuff). And now I can't ever move away, because I'm afraid I'll never find a CSA as great as Pete's Greens.

Exhibit A: a weekly share in November

Exhibit B: fancy striped beets in January (I plan to use some of these in a dyeing experiment, woo!)


And then! A new group on Etsy! A group of Vermont makers! I love communities of creative people. So..check out all the great stuff being made in Vermont by the good people of the Vermont Etsy Street Team: