Two Shear Spirits

things come full circle

It's amazing, sometimes, to look back and remember how small connections sometimes have big results a long time later. In 2007, when I was visiting Victory Ranch for Shear Spirit, Carol Weisner drove me around the picturesque town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, about a half hour away . She explained a bit of its history as a Spanish settlement on the Santa Fe trail and later as a railroad boomtown in the 1880s. I loved the old Plaza and the "painted  ladies" Victorian architecture, and it just happened that I was beginning to work on a book about beautiful small towns of the Southwest. Las Vegas went to the top of my list of places to include

A year later I was back with photographer Nik Wheeler to research the New Mexico towns for Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of the Southwest. (Along with Las Vegas, there are chapters on Taos; Chimayo, Truchas, and Las Trampas; Raton and Cimarron; and Mesilla.) I walked the old neighborhoods, ate at the gorgeously restored Plaza Hotel, window-shopped on Bridge Street
(that's one of Nik's photos above), and watched the salsa group practice in the gazebo in the central Plaza. And took lots of notes.

The next time I was in town, last fall, I was traveling with Gale, and we did a book signing for Shear Spirit at the wonderful Tome on the Range bookstore, on our way to the Taos Wool Festival. We arrived in town just in time to enjoy the homecoming parade, along with everyone else in Las Vegas, it seemed.
(this photo by Gale Zucker)
 And of course we got to spend time with Carol and Darcy Weisner at Victory Ranch, too. 

Well, The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of the Southwest has just been published. 
 No knitting patterns, but it's entwined with Shear Spirit all the same.

ahead of the hook, we are

When I was photographing at Lisa Shell's Kai Ranch in Blue, Texas for  Shear Spirit, I loved her kitchen. Aside from being a total sucker for her  vintage 40's tea towels,  and the great colors everywhere, she had a rack of cast iron pans hung with crocheted potholders. The yarn was, of course, her wonderful hand dyed mohair (I linked to her yarn, above). All the more beautiful to oggle.

Of course we had to include the patterns for them in the book.  It turned out they were basic crochet motifs, a granny square and a simple spiraling circle, crocheted with the fabulousness of her yarn and color sensibility. Truthfully, part of me was thinking, "um, I don't know, granny square  crocheted potholders? Is the hooking world ready to revive this artform??".

Apparently the answer is YES, if you check out the crocheted potholder swap here.
Some serious inspiration there.  So I'm flipping over to Lisa's chapter and giving the two patterns we included a whirl.
Trendsetters, we are. (and apologies for the Yoda-like grammar. In a mood, I am).
  Here are Lisa & Randy Shell, outside their colorful ranch house. This is one of two images in the book in which  I broke one of my own Big Rules: No Images Of People Clutching Coffee Mugs in Knitting Books. PUH-Lease!

Vote for Gale's Dream Assignment by April 3

If you liked Shear Spirit and the connection between people, animals & a livelihood, I hope you'll vote for  me in the Dream Assignment project- I want to take my storytelling approach to photograph the Heifer Project around the world.
Help me spread the word! Voting closes tomorrow, April 3,

mirjam's Noho Boho hats

photo courtesy of Daphne Geismar

Hi Gale
I'd be honored to have my hats on your blog.
So far I made 22 hats. I usually knit one hat in 2-3 evenings, while watching TV.
It's lots of fun.
xo mirjam

for the backstory, click here

in the gifting spirit: the Santa Fe bag

The Santa Fe Bag

Just the right size for a weekend knit or a quick gift. The bag was designed for Shear Spirit by Devra Wagner, to be knit with  Victory Ranch alpaca, but  it'll work up beautifully in almost any worsted weight or heavier, yarn. If you have enough yardage, you can make it larger, taller, or wider -  just make sure the chart repeat fits in the stitch count.

Download SantaFeBag

Our thanks to Steph for some speedy test knitting, and to our wonderful model, Brianna.

This was a hard cut to make from the book, we're glad to share it now. Let us see if you knit one!

in the gifting spirit: Leo's Roadtrip Scarf

All of the fiber artist/farmers we met are talented, creative, passionate people - they have to be in order to keep doing what they do. Perhaps none make it look as effortless as Linda Fox at Goat Knoll Farm in Dallas, Oregon. She raises the softest goats, and designed  this jaunty  striped pattern,  alternating textures in the stitches along with color in the stripes of her luscious cashmere yarns.

 We named it Leo's Roadtrip Cashmere Scarf. Leo,our model, is not prone to neckwear. We had to pry the scarf off him in order to get back on the road, heading south to Mendocino. It's manly enough for the dudes on your gift list but , c'mon, is there anyone who wouldn't want a striped cashmere scarf? Knit it in naturals and pastels and you've got seriously girly.

Download Leos Roadtrip Scarf pattern

The scarf as shown is knit in 3 ply Goat Knoll cashmere,  a sportweight, with a gauge of 6 stitches to  the inch. You can use a heavier weight yarn, your dimensions will vary. Gauge isn't critical for a scarf but pay attention to the yardage.

You can get Goat Knoll's cashmere for a superb treat by mail from the farm, Linda says she has colors as well as naturals in stock right now. Although it won't be quite the same, some good squooshy soft alternatives are  Berrocco Ultra Alpaca Light, or Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk or Misti Baby Alpaca Royal. You want a yarn with some halo and some sheen.

Enjoy the season!

 

listen up!

 The wonderfully talented Brenda Dayne reviews our book and talks with Gale on her podcast, Cast-On, uploaded today! Go take a listen.  If you're new to her professionally produced 'cast, you are in for a big treat. (oh, heck, let's throw modesty aside and say you're in for a treat either way, she did a spiffin' job with us). If we lived in Wales we'd take her out for a beer tonight to celebrate. And maybe some knitting. Wouldn't that be great- knit night in a pub in Wales with Brenda?

In other Shear Spirit news, we're going to be having a little holiday fling on the blog, we'll be posting  a couple of the patterns that would have been in the book had we not run out of space. First up will be the Santa Fe bag, a small purse knit in worsted weight alpaca -  or the yarn of your choosing. Sneak preview today, pattern coming along soon.

added later: We could use a test knitter. The pattern's been tech edited but not tested- anyone have some spare time on their hands this weekend for the cause?

fully invested

It was cool enough for a while to finish off my magnum opus (otherwise known as the Mendocino Vest, Ravelry link) and even to wear it to a friend's book signing. Then I just had to show it off to Celeste who owns Loop and Leaf, where I bought the Sheep Shop Yarn Company skeins that went into it. When I stopped by at lunch last week, there was a constant stream of people coming in, so I stayed a while and worked on wrist warmers made from leftover yarn from the vest. It turned out that several of my co-knitters had copies of Shear Spirit, so we talked about some of the farms in the book. What an ego boost!

I had been nervous about using a variegated yarn, because I didn't know if the pattern would show up. But it does.  And it fits. Of course, now the weather has turned hot again, and the vest looks a little odd with shorts. Still, at some point, I'm sure, winter will come, even to Santa Barbara.

I'll be ready.

on the wool trail

Well, no sooner did I get back home from Taos than I was off again to New York, to meet Gale – and so many of you – at Rhinebeck. For a fiber fair newbie like me, that's a lot of woolgathering. But thanks to the fall weather both in New Mexico and New York, I actually got to wear my Montana Tunic, (scroll down on that link for a shot of Joan in booksigning action )and even my Taos beret. It turns out Gale and I were mirror (well, sort of) images of each other. Happily, the chilly air was enough to get me knitting again – stay tuned for pictures soon of my Mendocino vest – though I've slowed down again since I got back to Santa Barbara, where fall means 80 degrees!!

Nanney Kennedy at her booth, center.

Anyway it was amazing to catch up not only with Nanney Kennedy at her Seacolors booth, but also to say hello to Harriet Knox and the Autumn House gang and Jody McKenzie from Botanical Shades. I even came home with a sweater commission from my non-knitting sister, Donna, who fell in love with one of Nanney's sweater patterns.

This knitting thing is catching.

howl!

Popping in  to point out the fab-u-lous Wolf Pack hat that designer Mary Lou Egan just put on her blog. I love it in those colors. Ahwoooooo!