she shoots sheep shots

A Traveling Rug

2026-08-27T20:24:16.957-05:00

My brainstorm to repurpose the 10 year old Jill Draper yarn, as reported in my last post, for a new sweater for NY Sheep & Wool as part of the Rhinebeck Sweaters for Good came together fabulously when I emailed Jill and discovered only two options for a contrast color: dust (shown, when it arrived) or polar white. I went with Dust, above. It's a hard-to-pin-down neautral; slightly pink/lavendar/grey, sort of like lint. Both the main color and the contrast color are now odd murky shades and I am loving them together!

The last couple of weeks have been full of travel and activity, and the yarn came along for the rides. First it went with me on my annual camping trip with Zoe. We started camping together when she was 8 and we found a small tent in the basement during the pandemic. No one else in the family was game for camping that year so just the two of us headed to the woods in Vermont. And we kept returning there. Now it's an annual tradition. This year, though, we went to Lake Damariscotta in Maine.

We upgraded the tent quite a bit this year.

And I cast on by the campfire. No notes!

A bougie lobster roll at a shack near Boothbay. No notes on this either! It's Shannon Unshelled , we've been there before and if you're in that area you won't regret eating there.

Some years we do mostly nature activities and lots of campfire cooking. Some years we head out and adventure around the area, eat out, explore towns and either way, we love it. This year we went to Popham Beach, another Maine fave of ours. When the tide is out you can walkwaaaay out to sand bars.

The colors are weird, right? The main color reminds me of a copper penny with green patina. Except fuzzy. I am super happy with my Rug so far.

A day or or two after I came back from Maine I went to Montana for a photo shoot. It needs it's own post--amazing adventures, sheep, yarn, everything and knitting progress too, as the yarn came along. A sweater on size 9 US needles isfun, I forgot how fast it goes!

And since this is Unraveled (a day late) I'll share my reading. I am halfway through Kin by Tayari Jones and recommend it. No notes again! This is quite the 10:10:10 post.

The other book I read...not so enthusiastic about it! On the camping trip drive I listened to the book 96 Miles by JL Esplin,. Zoe had been avoiding it as her assigned summer reading for school: it's YA survivalist vaguely dystopian suspense... meh. Neither of us loved it but it got the job done. Survivalists and dystopian novels for any level reader are not my jam! I guess I'd say it's Ok roadtrip listening.

Sweater for Good Unraveled

2026-08-13T12:16:04.032-05:00

Today we have some Unravel for real! A failed sweater from 2017 ish was returned to yarn balls, 1200+ yards of chunky weight yarn.

It's got a lot of variation in it and is sort of copper/chestnut/green brown/warm shades.....

Have you heard about Sweaters for Good, the initiative of the Hudson Valley Textile Project that asked knitters coming to Rhinebeck for NY Sheep and Wool to commit to knitting their "Rhinebeck Sweater" out of yarn with roots in NY State and/or the Northeast US. The word went out about this last year at the festival and has been bubbling along just below the surface all year. It's a lovely idea to support local fiber farms, wool producers, dyers and mills. And really the point is not about making a new sweater in order to attend the festival- the point is celebrating local yarn, which is itself the point of sheep and wool festivals in the first place.

All of which is to say I took the pledge and now the clock is ticking! IAlthough I have plenty of great local yarn, none seems to be in a sweater quantity unless I want multicolored stripes. I saw Kay's post on Modern Daily Knitting about her Sweater for Good considering Rug, I remembered that this sweater has been in my queue forever, would be a quick knit (chunky yarn ftw) and I had a failed sweater knit in Jill Draper Makes Stuff yarn,at exactly the right weight and vibe, and it is about as local to Rhinebeck as one can get!

That's what it looked like knit up, pre unraveling the failed pullover. Color more accurate here than at top.

Anyway, a quick check with Jill Draper for a skein of CC for the Rug yoke found me discovering she'd discontinued this yarn (Middlefield, its' a wool alpaca blend) but had a skein left that could work for me.. It's one the way. I am kind of excited to cast on. Let's ignore the fact that it has been pretty warm at the annual Rhinebeck sheep festival in recent years so knitting this may be more of an act of faith than a fashion statement in October!

READING: Kin by Tayari Jones. Wonderful characters, enjoying and recommend so far! It's a good follow up from Whistler by Ann Patchett . I am not the only one feeling this way: these two authors are speaking together (!!) at the National Book Festival in DC next weekend , wish I could attend! (aug 22nd) .

Folded crane covered wall!At a health center I was photographing at for a client earlier this week.

keeping on keeping on

2026-08-05T22:59:08.277-05:00

This simple sweater that simply needs sleeves completed is moving along ever so subtly.I get a kick out of random stuff accumulating on my kitchen table. Are you a clear it all off all the time person? I am not. And so you can see the sweater in question (left there so I'll knit a little while I have coffee), a long ago kid's penguin that resurfaced yesterday , it tickled me, my coffee mug, my new project bag from Yarn and Whiskey and two random vintage postcards promoting the "beauty" of modern wall-to-wall carpets.Here's a better look at them: I have an extensive old postcard collection, thanks to myself as a kid but mostly to my Uncle Jerry. I inherited his VERY robust collection about 30 years ago. He traveled all over the US picking up postcards new and old, and clearly anyone who knew him handed off their postcards, too. Sometimes I'll pull out a bunch to admire and get lost in time--yesterday I read one that a young girl sent in rural Maine in 1911, assuring her Grammie she'd "made it and only fell off once and wasnt hurt". (presumably a horseback ride to another town). The card was addressed to a name, and the name of a town..that's it!

I was looking through old cards as candidates for Zoe to bedazzle--here's a vintage easter card she did up as a gift for a neighbor.

And a glimpse at the impeccable penmanship on the back . Is there anything as bored and aimless as a 14 year old with nothing to do mid summer and noone to hang with ? She got a bug to bedazzle last week and who am I not to jump on that?

Reading: Kin by Tayari Jones, I liked her last book , this was recommended to me twice recently, and I'd forgotten that I already downloaded it. So far so good! Thanks to the Unravel reviews linked to Kat's blog, my reading queue is getting better every week..

In storytelling of the non-fiction kind: I've been getting notes from my KnitStars production team asking me for still images to intersperse with my video. I am very curious to see how they present me! Shelley Brander, KnitStars owner and lead creative wrote a lovely and lively substack post about her visit Meanwhile they keep on releasing single classes from past years to watch, they are so good! You may want to check some of them out, here is a link Look under the Masterclass Singles.

Please do use my link if you feel like buying a class, anyone who is a KnitStar subject gets royalties when any sale is made from their link, no matter what class or season you are buying. It's actually a good deal for creatives all around:-) and I appreciate the support!____________________

a satisfying pairing

2026-07-30T10:16:25.211-05:00

Maybe the first time ever, this week I completed a knit while simultaneously finishing listening to the final chapter of a book.

Sophie Scarf not yet blocked in Lang Premium Cashmere. It is a paler pink than it appears here, the very palest of pink. The stitches along the edge will settle in.It will be gifted to the person it was intended for when I started it in 2022.

If I were one to pair a project and fiber choice with a book I wouldn't have done wrong to match it to Whistler by Ann Patchett, which was also lovely and gentle and engaging and went by fast. Add a nice cool rosé and you'd be all set. Wish I'd though of that!

Next up in the "finish-or -reimagine-all-the-started-things-in '26" line up is this very lightweight cropped sweater, I am knitting it in a yarn I love, Coast by Holst Garn . Its a lofty, lightweight cotton wool blend, comes in fabulous shades- I've linked it to my favorite source, The Yarnery in St Paul MN. They ship super fast.

This yarn was originally knit into a Lavallette teeby Mary Lou Egan (spoiler alert this pattern uses so-called condo knitting on the faux lace part. SO fun to knit!)

I will honestly say it was a wonderful make however, I wanted it very oversized, and in 2020 I was larger myself as I ate and drank my way through the pandemic lockdown so...so it turned out too big to keep in 2021. I never got to weaving in ends and the final touches. In 2024 I frogged it and cast on for a light airy very simple pullover, using the Vanilla Sweater pattern. I'm knitting it on size US 6 needles even though it is a fingering weight, it's loftiness makes it hang nice and airy. I picture it as a layer with a tank top and shorts in the evening or over a sundress or high waisted baggy jeans. I may even leave the neckline somethinbg like it is instead of the shallow ribbing suggested in the pattern. Mostly though I am now picturing it finished!

Now I need a new book. As always I'll be reading through all of the Unraveling posts this week for suggestions (and to find out if anyone has reviewed Daniel Mason's new book).

next up

2026-07-23T09:11:33.890-05:00

The finish-what-you've-started mojo continues. T-shirts stitched! Two begun last November toward the end of my Tshirt modifying (upgrading?) bender of summer '25. They were intended as holiday gifts last December

I'd stalled deciding what to do after the neckline--I stitched the heart and didn't want to distract from the perfect message by being too decorative. This month I saw that running stitch around the letters was the solution. Boom: xmas in July for my sister and bro-in-law. Shirts from Mahogany Mommies.

KNITTING: I randomly picked up this started project. (I just struggled and failed to find a clever way to desccribe the areas of my office that have bags or baskets of wips, suggestions welcome.) Chosen by virtue of portability and if I'm being honest, the first thing my hand fell on. It's a Sophie Scarf*. I know, I know, many deride them . I am a fan and this is my 4th or 5th. Love the mindless pattern, love using up a luxurious skein or two and I find them super wearable especially in lightweight cashmere like this one. I love a cashmere scarf and a flannel shirt in winter. This one started in 2022 as a gift for a model I used to work with a lot , she chose the ballerina pink. We fell out of touch and so did the knit. * I use the darker piece of yarn to keep track of my increases or decreases, I flop it across the row where they occur and yank it out when the scarf is done.

READING: Whistler by Ann Patchett. You all are right. So good !

PLANNING!!: Ghost Ranch in Abiqui New Mexico Oct 4-10th , co-teaching a class on POWERFUL STORYTELLING: Words & Pictures with Beverly Army-Williams. Our dream come true teaching gig: if you're not familiar with it, this artful retreat ranch is Georiga O'Keefe's former hang-- the landscape is one you'll recognize from her desert painitngs.

Beverly and I met on her porch (with handsome husky Oskar supervising) to finetune our workshop--it is going to be truly wonderful. Our dream-come-true class would be filled with our virtual maker/knitter/blogger/creative friends (aka YOU) joining us. There's ample free time each day to enjoy the ranch and the stunning northern New Mexico environment . All the details here, there is still room in it. Wouldn,t an early October adventure in New Mexico amongst friends be just right?

Summer is summering! I'm looking forward to hopping on Kat's Unraveling links to see what others are making and reading!

finally finally finished with stripes + other recent events

2026-07-16T20:44:46.423-05:00

I'm back Unraveling , determined to keep up with the Wednesday habit. On late Thursday (shhh). It's been a constant -motion couple of weeks. I try to keep it chill in the summer and am failing this year. I am not mad about it. In the past two or so weeks:

The KnitStars folks came and filmed me and my master class for the new season! (that link is to a flipbook with an overview of all the seasons including "mine" which is still in production, Season 11). I was dorky and definitely talked with my hands extravagantly. I had fun, we covered A LOT of material. They were delightful to work with. We filmed a photo shoot of a shawl and a scarf (explaining as I went) , and made yarn still lifes at my local farm, and shot sheep shots (of course!)We filmed at my house (living room and..kitchen teaching some things, photo things of course NOT kitchen things(!) and we filmed around the neighborhood, I went kayaking with Zoe for local color. I did a little knitting in a favorite neighborhood knitting spot. My flowers behaved perfectly despite torrential rains the day before.

And in actual knitting news, I finished my Piilo! This is going to be a fave. I finished it at 11:45 pm on my birthday to give myself the gift of getting'er done!

Styling? What styling? The next morning it was hot, I'd just run in from the beach and so you get the sunglasses look and the half down hair selfie. I love how it fits me, it is the same ease-wise as the pattern but cropped in length. I LOVE the funnel style neck, I love the yarn, (Kelbourne Scout) and the muted stripes.

In other styling news: I took Zoe to see Megan Moroney (country pop, huge teen girl fan base)concert in NYC for her 8th grade graduation present. It's a 2 hour train ride for us so not a major trip but it was a happening-- I was coached to wear the right thing (pink! so much pink) and cowboy boots. I am glad I went along with it--the sold out arena was 100% pink. We also went to the Today show taping early early the next morning ans saw her perform right in front of us in the outdoor plaza so had you been watching the Today show last Friday you'd have seen us waving hi to America, we were right in front row. Moral of the story: if a 14 yo suggests you to go to her first concert even if its not your favorite musician, say YES.

Reading: while I was trying to decide between Ann Patchett's new book or Daniel Mason's new book, my bookgroup chose NorthWoods aka Daniel Mason's last book.

I'd already read it a couple of years ago. Can I recall details well enough to discuss? Not a chance. Thanks to a long drive down to Maryland & back this week listening to it I am in the last chapter -and it is even better the second time.

In other making: the annual ritual of a big jar of rhubarb gin cordial happened . It'll sit in the front closet until around Thanksgiving, when we'll remember it and enjoy it in cocktails into the holidays. Recipe (roughly) here.

peachy keen

2026-06-18T08:20:10.804-05:00

If you see this- my kitchen counters covered edge to edge- it can only mean one thing. The Peach Truck came to town

Uncoincidentally my making thoughts this week are peach-centric. The fruits all ripen at the same time,. Each one is the platonic ideal of a peach. We've eaten a ton as is. Made a peach cobbler yesterday (too much lemon, turns out juice of a half lemon was not a great idea) and I'll make another one (less lemony). Some might get frozen. One year we made a big pitcher of white wine sangria with peaches,...that was good! They are so juicy and never a bad one. Tell me your fave peach recipes please.

Knitting? Still on this sleeve. Reading? Forcing myself through the last 3 hours (audiobook) of Katabasis, on 1.3x speed to help it go. I'll only recommend it if you are deep in academia, it lampoons that world wickedly. For me? Tedious! I'm not a fantasy fiction person so there's that too. Next week I'll have a new knit and a new book!

Leaving you with this sweet goat who stopped to strike a pose on the way out to pasture. I was at Olympia Farm scouting, I plan to have my Knit Stars videos teaching photography for knitters segments filmed there, after the film crew visits me (GULP) at my home base. I thought why not lean into my She Shoots Sheep Shots tendencies?! We'll have a (real person) model with a shawl and also some lessons on still life shooting of their lovely farm yarn etc in the segments. I really really hope the weather will be good!

PS I am serious about the peach recipes!

other distractions

2026-06-10T09:09:42.439-05:00

Here again for Unraveling on Wednesday, thanks to Kat I am back in the blogging habit. (too soon to declare? hope not!) Not much progress in knitting or reading -at least not enough for interesting photos and you know that's how I roll. So I'm going to fill in with what's been filling in around here.

Some of my most favorite visitors are back in the 'hood! We counted about a dozen down the street on Sunday. Always thrilling, we call them our dinosaurs. They are horseshoe crabs, they come to lay eggs during the full moon/new moon this time of year.

With the clock ticking toward the Knit Stars filming, I jumped into refreshing the rusting vintage style metal porch furniture. The cheerfully mismatched colors (as I liked to think of them) were looking several notches below charming. Like every project of this kind, it is taking waaay longer, and needs more paint than estimated . And did the weather get humid and then have a major thunderstorm on me? Why yes it did. It is salmon /coral, not pink. And so are my hands!

When not in the yard sanding or spray painting metal chairs, this week, I am working this gig. Having a fascinating time listening to speakers and the attendees roleplaying. My work is 75% fiber/ wool/handmade photography and the rest is non-profits institutions or corporations. While working I hear a lot of reknowned experts speak. another reason I love my job! (aka sticking my nose in everywhere) . The Campaign School is for getting women up to speed as candidates. It is intense and inspiring, the kind of thing that builds hope!

Which brings me to a book for this week, look at me staying on topic. A little .

Link to the book. The author, Zoe Chance, was a presenter this week on building influence and how you present yourself in the world. Riveting! I am getting her book and diving in. 10:10 recommend.

As usual, we were the last to leave the beach Sunday, this is heading into 7 pm. with the tide heading way out. The girls are 4, 7 and 14(!) (not shown, Zoe and her BFF sitting a teen appropriate distance from us) .

I'm looking forward to seeing what you have been knitting and reading over at Kat's roundup of Unravelers !

Finish in'26 continues

2026-06-03T22:30:17.946-05:00

KNITTING: Next up in the Finish It in '26 project parade is my Piilo sweater. One sleeve done this past week, one underway. It's a very blocky fit and I think I'm going to love it. Especially that collar. Yarn is Kelbourne Scout and like all of their yarns it is pretty great. (Seriously have you tried Kelbourne Perennial?)

While looking for a flat box yesterdayI found this, which may just be next up. I'm trying to remember when I labeled it and put it on top of a cabinet in my office. 10+years ago? 15? (OMG I see it well underway on Ellen Bloom's blog while I was visiting LA...in 2010.) As promised it is done and just needs ends finishing...ETC. I wasn't sure at first what ETC meant...

It's really lovely airy bouclé mohair from Be Sweet, a South African yarn company, now out of business. It was a kit for a diagonal shawl, I quickly got bored of the even wide stripes and improvised. When I took it out of the box I remembered several things about it...

• It is very large as in at least 9 feet , and it'll grow more when blocked. I'm likely to wear it as a big squished scarf-y piece so all good there.

• It is very sherbert colored, this I do recall as a problem! Back then I'd regretted the colorway choice. At first I thought that's how it ended up done but not finished. At the time my hair was dark and these weren't "my" colors. Now that my hair is silver, I like to wear these colors a lot more.

Holes! from dropped stitches! That was the ETC and the real reason I put this in a box and ignored it. It all came back to me. I'd dropped a few stitches in the curly boucleé in several places. You know what didn't come back to me? Yarn in all the colors. I just have these two! Any suggestions ? I am considering embroidering a daisy or asterisk wherever there's a hole.

READING :I am warming up to Katabasis. It has nothing to do with the peonies, I just wanted to show them off.

More Unraveled Wednesday posts linked over at As Kat Knits!

two finishes

2026-05-26T11:10:09.422-05:00

The knits: Finish #1 , this quite belated xmas gift scarf ! It's riding around as shown in the passenger seat of my car until it is gifted. It's pretty, it'll be good company for a couple of days. The main yarn is Big Birdie from The Lamb & Kid, if you have never knit with this yarn, you might put it on your list to give yourself a treat.

(Admittedly not summer knitting materials except far north or in strong AC...it's a warm and fuzzy alpaca silk blend.The colors though!!)

I'm on to my next FINISH IT IN '26 (in which I revisit WIPs and either finish or repurpose materials) project, a Piilo sweater started last September.

The reads: Finish #2: The Women by Kristin Hannah. Her writing swirls you into a story and the characters in a cinematic way, she nailed the time period perfectly. I suspect there are people who learn history through her novels and that's a good thing! I'd recommend it especially as a vacation read.

I started Katabasis by RF Kuang, my bookgroup's choice for the month. It is not a genre I enjoy so let me know if you've read it and send a (hopefully) encouraging word!

On my mind: I'm going to be filmed for KnitStars *in about 6 weeks (early July). I need to prepare on all fronts. From fixing up my shaggy front yard to make a good first impression to breaking down the teaching modules for photographing your knits. It will be filmed while I am actually photographing knits! I have always wanted to teach this way. The end product is going to amazing but between now and July...yikes!

* I am new to KnitStars both as a customer and as a subject--and I am VERY impressed. One thing I never realized is you can purchase individual classes, after the season has ended for very reasonable prices ($ 67.). If you scroll down on this link you'll see so many good ones. I recommend Dawn Barker Assigned Pooling. It's a true pleasure.

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I'm trying SO HARD to blog every week using Kat's Unraveled as my prompt. I tried so hard this week that I posted this on Tuesday, a day early . (ugh! long weekend calendar dysfunction!). You can find others blogging with knits and reads at her Unraveled links.

doing the thing(s) !

2026-05-15T08:51:45.392-05:00

Another overdue gift almost ready for its giftee! In January I told myself this year is going to be about doing the things that I have already started or have been meaning to start. Keep the new projects to a minimum. In knitting and everything else.

Loving this scarf The main color is the delicious Big Birdie yarn , the contrast color is three strands of fingering weight yarns held toge ther, one has some bling in it. The pattern is my own-ish, inspired by this scarf inspired by Missoni. I added an as-you-go three stitch icord up each long edge, and instead of using self striping yarn I'm using my choices. It's one row repeated forever, the kind of knitting I enjoy when I'm tired or traveling or being social.

I wrote out the pattern in the ravelry project page if you're curious. You could make a fun super scrappy stash buster.

I'm trying to improve/expand my project bag situation. This one is from BeautifulSyster I never understood the greatness of this bag style till I visited their booth at Nash Yarn Fest. You can tie it up like a little dumpling and put it in a larger bag, or you can put your arm through the strap, and when open it sits nice and flat and wide open and holds a lot. No zipper, a dealbreaker for me (too many projects or yarns snagged in zippers, no thanks). Plus seaweed fabric print...I mean how could I not?

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I am trying to get on board , dday-wise, with As Kat Knits Unraveled which is WEdmnesdays...maybe next week! I'm reading The Women by Kristin Hannah. It sucks you in.

To everything there is a season...

2026-05-07T10:33:00.001-05:00

... it's spring, I finished a winter gift knit. (trombone sound here).

Dave's intended gift for last December., Finest Kind, details here. He loves it. This is his favorite color. In November I tried to hide I was knitting it for him, believing I'd finish in three busy weeks. Delulu as the youth say! He rarely remarks on whatever project I have going on however around Thanksgiving I had to answer the question "What are you knitting? I really like that color, I could use a new sweater)!

It is Juniper Moon Santa Cruz in Cinnamon. Not going to lie, I bought the yarn because I thought it was from California, (it's not) .I didn't read the label. It's a nice sturdy organic merino, dense and woolly, perfect for a winter sweater for our climate (maybe a little less bright than below) .

If I wait until I get a good photo of Dave in it, it could be another 6 months! We have a Cobblers Kids situation around here. Although we have been together since our 20th birthdays (ie. a good long while) he is still not at ease posing for me! He 'll readily selfie with me so we're good. TBH I probably couldn't share my life with a peacock personality!

Moss Stitch is not fast knitting for me and this yarn /garment is substantial. I really like the pattern. I pormise it won't take you as long as it did for me, I kept putting it aside! I may eventually knit one for myself.

Next up...finishing the (belated Xmas gift )scarf for my assistant.

We designed it together thinking I'd finish it in January. Do you see a theme here? I am closing in on her birthday mid-May! It' super luxurious- the purple yarn main color is Big Birdie from Lamb & Kid (LOVE this yarn, this winter I lived in a pullover vest type thing I knit in it) . The wavy stripes are three strands of light fingering weight yarn held together, all of them she acquired during jobs we shot last year: a sparkly brown.rose gold metallic alpaca from Tennessee, a hand dyed pink/purple/cranberry from Texas and a pinkish-purple skein of Baah Yarn.

It will feel good to gift this. The started projects around here can feel like they're yelling for my attention, I may just hit a few more deserving WIPs next.

What are you up to?

this, that and the other things!

2026-04-03T21:14:00.004-05:00

Winter was a slog and it is still wool wearing weather here, however, whew, spring is BUSTING out action -wise. So I am jumping in to share-if anyone still reads this ---are you there? Let me know!

In Deadlined* news first: I am a KNIT STAR: Season of Genius teacher. I was both surprised and flattered to be invited. I'll be honest, I've been aware of the series of subscription classes and admired the rosters however I'd never jumped in.

I was asked to teach Photography for Makers in a way that I've always want to: they will film me coming along on a photo shoot or two in real life and have me doing what I do, and teaching in the moment behind the scerns. I am 50/50 thrilled and uncomfortable (to be in front of the camera that much).

What sealed the deal for me were a couple things:

1) the roster of other teachers blew me away (Debbie Bliss?! Melanie Falick! check out the list- when you sign up you get the whole season, all 10 teachers' courses.

2) I was able to watch earlier seasons of Knit Stars and I am blown away by the quality of the presentations as well as the content.

2)because you may wonder: we are paid , and Knit Stars makes a nice sized donation to the charity of our choice -mine is Planned Parenthood- and we get a percentage of sales through our affiliate links, forever. And since this is how I make my living---it's a yes!

Details from link above or the one in the sidebar for earlybird sign up (if you do that in early April use the code GENIUS20 for an extra 20$ off)

Deadline #2 April 17-18th I'm bringing my popup photobooth back to Nash Yarn Fest from Modern Daily Knitting. It was a BLAST last year. Kay and Ann really know how to do up an event. I think it's the live music along with superb organization and thoughtfulness in pulling it all together. It's FUN. If you're going PLEASE stop by and say hi. And if you'd like a photo session, as I say pose alone or pose with your posse, you can sign up in advance or catch me in my corner.

Here's an article I wrote aboutposing, with more info, on Modern Daily Knitting.

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In other news: still knitting! Lately, other than hats, I feel like I never finish anything which might have the corollary I always seem to interrupt my bigger projects with quick hats or other smaller immediate gratification impulsey efforts. Case in point I really like stripey hats, this was for a friend I walk with.

I'm just a few lower sleeve inches away from completing a sweater for Dave, I guarantee it'll suddenly be TOO WARM FOR IT the minute I complete it.
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what’s happening in your Spring???

* Knit Stars has these Earlybird sign ups now in the first half of April and then enrollment closes until closer to the release date ( with a price increase) Thus the deadline!

CHECKING IN!

2025-10-09T23:26:00.004-05:00

Ignore the long absence. Sometime last February this blog turned....20?! Despite pointing my energies at other channels/commitments/activities, I miss blogging.It's good to write a little. I can draw a line from my 2005 awkward hop into the blogging world to truly wonderful present life connections. It's nothing short of amazing. So...here's what I am up to...

PHOTO BOOTH AT A WOOLEN AFFAIR OCT 16-17TH

Last March I had a photo booth at Nash Yarn Fest--it was a total blast. When Catherine Clark, who puts on A Woolen Affair, the yarn and music fest the day before NY Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck) asked me to bring it to her event, I didn't hesitate . Maybe I'll see you there? Come say hi !

If you want a photo session sign up in advance-- I'll only take a few walkups and I suspect it's going to get crazy (in a good way, chaos plus happy). I'm planning to be back at Nash Yarn Fest in April 2026, too.

Speaking of Modern Daily Knitting (Nash Yarn Fest's hostesses with the mostesses), I am thrilled to be teaching a MDK VIRTUAL PHOTO CLASS for Ann & Kay. It's rolling around soon- November 7th- and seriously, it is going to be a good one. Info (and sometimes a large picture of me) at the links.

Of course I am still knitting and making stuff! Above is my so-called Rhinebeck sweater. As in vaguely aimed at finishing it before next week Friday, accent on vague. This morning I upended a mug of black coffee into my knitting bag . It's drying from a quick bath rather than being worked on. It's a Piilo sweater, it'll be cropped and not gathered in at the bottom hem and maybe not fully long sleeved. I'm finding I like stripes a lot this year, what about you? I'm not print person for clothing normally.

(The yarn is Kelbourne Woolens Scout, I recommend it)

Still here! Or..somewhere!

2024-04-21T12:15:00.001-05:00

I'm still here and this blog is too!

Fast link to places I am teaching photo for makers coming up SOON maybe you'll join me???

Columbus OHIO 4/27/24 and Chicago IL 5/4/24

Here's a little behind the scenes from a Berroco photo shoot we did in late fall. It's a really wonderful fresh crochet collection, the theme was Summer Festival wear --and it being way beyond the summer festival season IRL, we created this kitschy set . And yes I want her boots!

We purposefully lit it to be as bright and pop as the astro turf and fake backdrop. I really love the collection.

Wait till you see the next season of collections we shot for Berroco that will be out soon for the Fall 24. All shot on location in amazing places, fab moels and styling and such good designs and yarns.

Some fun trends: more and more good crochet design made with good yarns. And more and more shades of yellow greens! And more attention paid to yarn sources and sustainability.

These three are from a photo shoot for the Hudson Valley Textile Project, showing off member products.

I'm even finding myself drawn to a bright almost not-quite yellow green! What colors are you falling for lately?

Why Not WEDNESDAY!

2023-11-01T08:51:00.010-05:00

Why not post ?Sharing this article from the Wonderful Machine blog

https://wonderfulmachine.com/article/close-knit-gale-zucker-for-berroco-inc/

Last spring I did this colorful crazy maximalist photo shoot as part of the lineup for Berroco, my dear client. I won't go on and on about the backstory for it because I already did! It's linked in this spotlight.

Here's a photo from my Rhinebeck weekend- it says it all!Accidentally twinning with Beverly Army Williams

A few more details about this

- I became friends with Beverly through blogging waaaaay back ! We both had very dark brown hair. Since then we've crafted, traveled, worked and taught together.and most years we meet up and do the sheep and wool festivals together. We live on opposite ends of our small state so I love that we have these...threads...to keep us connected.

-The twinning was 100% unintentional. We'd both acquired this gorgeous marled yarn from Starcroft Fiber when helping with a shearing years ago. Beverly knit her sweater not long after. I knit a sweater that was too large . I frogged it and did nothing till this year, when I knit this Felix , shown here unblocked hot off the needles. I am nothing if not consistently 11th hour!

- NY Sheep and Wool remains the one place you feel thrilled to walk around in almost identical outfits with a friend as a grownup, not a tween!

--Hot tip! Do NOT go through all your stash/WIPs the night before attending a sheep and wool fest because your housemates are doing a "bring yarn to swap " table! It totally killed my interest in getting the sweater quantity of yarn I thought I was going to shop for. OTOH here are just a few of the minis I brought home to make into stripey hats for my littles, from the swap table.

What are you up to? And what are you reading/ recommend to read?

18 and counting: Not Over Yet!

2023-04-10T20:46:00.002-05:00

I am still alive and kicking and having fun and making things and traveling...and working A LOT!

This was from a Berroco photo shoot on a farm. The horizon is never where I want it so I stand on my trusty step ladder.

Here's the Honeycomb Scarf I have been knitting off and on most of winter. It's a gem of a process knit. When I started, I figured I'd whip right through it.........I'm about 75% done now and a couple of weeks ago I took a good hard look and realized it doesn't look exactly like the samples in the pattern. Whatever I am doing wrong, I'm consistent so at this point, that's how it is!

I've been traveling a lot! Some trips for fun and some for work. Above was all FUN: we went to the Pacific Northwest and Vancouver. This was at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, which is what it sounds like plus walkways in the tree canopy, just on the edge of the city in North Vancouver. 10/10 recommend. I am normally not a fan of heights and walkways over sheer drops but it was so astoundingly beautiful I couldn't be bothered to freak out.

Some of that trip became a Knitters Weekend: Olympic Peninsula on Modern Daily Knitting.

This was a photo shoot for Madeline Tosh yarn, I love the styling on this. If you wonder whether I am constantly ohhing and ahhhing and saying "oh oh I want to knit this" while I am working for this client , the answer is YES.

I am glad to be back for this rare post, let me know if you saw this! This blog celebrated its 18th birthday in February, the least I can do is say hi.

This week: teaching Chicago in person!

2022-06-19T14:24:00.005-05:00

As much as I enjoyed teaching virtually these past two years, I am thrilled I'll be in front of a room of living breathing people teaching iPhonography in just a few days in Chicago!

If you'll be at H+H Americas, the trade show for handmade business please join me !

THURSDAY JUNE 23, 9:45-11:15 am Smartphone/IPhone Photo Confidence

FRIDAY JUNE 24, 9:45-11:15 am 10 + Tips for Product Photography

These will be fun, helpful, talks filled with actionable tips and time for Q&A. Not to mention so many images to look at!

And then if you're in the area, visiting or a local, I am so excited to be teaching hands-on Fabulous Phone Photography for Knitters and Makers SATURDAY JUNE 25, at STRING THEORY YARN COMPANY Chicago (Glen Ellyn) 9:30-Noon

If you're thinking about this one , don't wait too long, there were just a couple seats left when I checked in on Friday! I have wanted to visit this shop for ages, having met Janet Avila, the owner at past events and long admired her mission, attitude, events and style. Oh, and yarn selections! Going to be some new projects cast on here, I can pretty much promise that.

3 things on thursday: good things

2022-04-28T09:09:00.003-05:00

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

show and tell -with cookies!

2022-03-28T13:03:00.007-05:00

Show and tell! Click and order and treat yo'self:

My beloved cookie bakery client--the ONLY cookie bakery URL you need- AUNT COOKIE is doing a fundraiser for feeding Ukrainian refugees. For every 1 pound order of her NYC Confetti Cookies (rainbow or special blue and yellow) she is donating $15. to World Central Kitchen. Treat yo'self . And send some to a friend!

As Aunt Cookie says: Taste the Love--and Share the Love".

Answers to questions you didn't ask:

• the cookies are elevated sugar cookies with a sprinkly crust. You will not be disappointed.

• you can put them in the freezer to slow down eating the whole package in one day. Except they taste delicious frozen too. I mean it, these are really good cookies.

• there was some sprinkly exuberance at the photo shoot that could not be contained to the tabletop set up. A week later I am still finding the runaway sprinkles !

• in case you wondered about sprinkles and their place in history and global cuisine, I gotcha covered

• sunflowers are a symbol of Ukraine and pretty much SOLD OUT everywhere. It took an exhaustive search to get this lonely one in the photo, found in a bouquet. I couldn't persuade the florist to switch out a few from the other small bouquets she had. Every place I tried said they are selling out of sunflowers as fast as they get them in. And it turns out there is already a sunflower seed shortage so....

• • • MORE SWEETNESS• • • • • •

The finished Baby Fern Lake has the most important part: the baby! meet Raina Rose, born last Tuesday night. We are all in love.

(more about this excellent blankie here)

three things: random

2022-03-11T00:29:00.002-05:00

1) Baby Fern Lake Blanket

Done! As far as blanket knitting goes, this is a good one. The Remix yarn is all recycled, mostly cotton with a hand that even an animal-fiber-only type person like me can love. Even though knitting a small blanket is the same amount of stitches-or maybe even less stitches- than knitting a sweater, it has a bigger slog factor. It's a good knit and blab project though!

2) A Place to Knit and Blab (and Swim Outside in Winter in New England)

Heated pool in winter in the Berkshires. Heaven! I spent two days at the Red Lion Inn with a dear old friend (my college room mate ) last week. I feel like the luckiest person ever that after all these years, she and I are happy to spend a couple days hanging out together with this schedule: knitting in a suspended-in-time old inn sitting room followed by swimming laps in wool hats under a bluest of blue skies in 20 degrees F with steam rising from the pool. Followed by the hot tub. Blabbing the whole time. I know it's not everyone's idea of good times but it works for both of us and we may have been grinning like fools.

3) Patterns and Patterns

In our room at the inn.

State of the Making Report

2022-02-16T10:56:00.004-05:00

The Fern Lake Baby Blanket progress! On the upside I am loving this Berroco Remix yarn. The colors together and nubbiness are just exactly what I hoped they'd be. 10/10 recommend as an alternative to a woolly blanket, if you have non-woolly blanket people to please. Also it is 100% recycled fibers,!

I'm sticking to this till it's done. Might take a few days at my snail pace of an inch or two a night. If I had a good get together with friends I'd knit on this and blab and make all kinds of progress. True confession: I find blanket knitting a little on the boring. Even with a pattern that hits the right mark between engaging and simple. Thinking back, I can only recall two other blankets I've knit, ever! Maybe three if you count a collaborative mitered square blanket* tho making small squares is a different kind of thing.

One was on gigantic needles when I was in college...and the other, this baby blanket for Zoe, ten years ago. (!) and I am dying looking at the linked photos now....

I tell myself it's the same number of stitches as knitting a sweater and that item always engages me. It's the lack of shaping. With sweaters, you can tell yourself ooh I reached an armhole! I am almost to the hem, go go go. Conclusion: I am all kinds of immature and like a reward ahead to keep me motivated.

So, since I wouldn't let myself even think of another knit while working on this, my mind fixated itself on sewing flannel receiving blankets. If you're thinking "wow , I usually don't see sewing projects from gale" you'd be correct. I have sewing skills. I don't trot them out too often.

It would have been a fleeting impulse. Except I looked at the Joann's website. Turns out I could sit by my fireplace sipping wine late Friday night, choose all the flannels, order them, and pick it up all cut and ready for me first thing Saturday morning.

So. I did.

If I got nothing else out of these past two years of pandemic, I got fierce online shopping skills and no hesitancy to use'em.

This will be four double sided blankets--two will be backed in orange, two will be backed in the pink dots and one will be two shades of purple. I spent way way too much time watching online tutorials of making mitered corner borders....and hopefully my plan will work.

Had to share a clearer view of this one. Have I gone full granny with this post? YES I HAVE.

____________________________________

*looking back at that linked mitered square blanket..it's pretty cool. I may have to do one of those again!

3 Things about Knit for Food Knit-athon

2022-02-03T23:49:00.001-05:00

1) It's soon! Saturday FEBRUARY 12 2022 , organized by designer Laura Nelkin who has tons of info if you click on that logo above or here

Knit for Food Knit-a-thon is a 12 hour knitting marathon on February 12th, 2022 to raise funds and awareness for food insecurity. The money we raise will be equally divided between Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and Meals on Wheels.

Last year, when Laura tried this for the first time, the Knit-a-thon raised more than a quarter million dollars. How amazing is that?

Baby Fern Lake in Berroco Remix

2) It's virtual yet communal. You join other knitters (or makers, you're not boxed in) for a 12 hour 10am-10pm creative marathon while zooming with all sorts of entertainments/blab/presentations going on . I mean, you can do this by yourself without being online at all, or join with friends, or you can pop in for part of the time...last year I was a presenter and had a blast. You can participate by forming a team to fundraise or join an existing team ....check out the fundraising link for details.

Fern Lake Blanket in Berroco Lanas

3) This calls for just the right project, does it not? Yup, you get a bonus cast-on rationalization. Here's my main suggestion for Knit-athon-ing : Baby Fern Lake, top picture above, it is a free pattern from that link. I am cranking mine in Berroco Remix because I really like this yarn, it's machine wash /dry and I love the colors and its tweedy rustic-y look. There's a fourth color too, not shown- it's a sweet light pink. New girl arriving in March :-)

This project is ideal for screen watching or sitting around yapping or zoom knitting--a slip stitch pattern, 4 row repeat and flies by in that satisfying way as the colors switch without having to think too hard or get too sloggy with it.

If a baby blanket isn't your jam right now, there's the original grownup version, Fern Lake Blanket,. TBH I fell in love with it when I photographed it like this for the pattern a while ago, it's waffle-y in the soft wool yarn. Can't go wrong with this one.

_______________________

Don't forget the 1st Saturday in February is Ice Cream for Breakfast Day! Grab your pint and spoon. I'd hoped to have a big open house for the occasion this week however still plenty of covid around so....next year!

Brite Stripes Scarf Kit= happy knitting

2022-01-25T00:17:00.004-05:00

I may have made my favorite scarf photo ever! This was the last frame shot from the photo shoot for The Yarnery, Brite Stripes Kit, in October. The scarf feels so exuberant that I wanted to see if we could catch that vibe.

The kits released yesterday . I am thrilled ot share these, shot on a handball court in Brooklyn. I kind of love the location as a street studio setting. And I lovvvvve these models, Martine McKinney and Ariana McLean.

The yarn is pretty fabulous as well--it's knit in solid colors of Snefnug and a skein of self striping Lang Cloud yarn. It's bulky gauge knitting although very light and airy. I am crazy about the Snefnug because the colors, I mean take a look. And also that name, it sounds like a funny sneeze. It means snowflake in Danish.

This is a candidate for another Treat Yo'self project--and I say that as someone who feels the urge to knit a long scarf pretty much NEVER. It would fly.

3 Things About the Knits: past present future

2022-01-14T00:06:00.003-05:00

Not necessarily in that order

1) Pressed Flowers shawl by Savory Knitting Amy Christoffers. This mosaic design is so satisfying to knit. I am loving it. I'd heard that after the first repeat of the body chart I'd have it memorized and it'd just flow. As I cast on and messed up the first few repeats and then did that again and again, I highly doubted it. Then, as my friend Linda, the yarn whisperer owner of Knit New Haven told me "something happens and you crack the genetic code ". She was right. (She almost always is on many matters, not just knitting.) No more chart peeks needed. Although I look forward to finishing this and wearing it...I'm going to be a little sad when it's done. One for the process knitter list.

I cast on for it during a family trip to Minnesota this summer.

Seeing prairie flowers in a naturalized section of bison range in Minneopa State Park got me going on this colorway for the shawl. I am nothing if not concrete in my inspiration sources.

Then back home I got distracted by other projects and I went on (another) hat bender in the fall. It's a seasonal addiction I guess. Keep your pumpkin spice lattes, I have hats.....

2)I had to try a couple of Striped Marl Hats from Modern Daily Knitting Field Guide 19 . My sister requested, specifically, a pink and brown hat. I figured, sure why not, if that's what she wants --even though I wasn't holding out much hope for that color combo when I started it.

Turns out she had a whole vision for it! Isn't this great styling? Success.

Six or seven hats later, I impulse ordered a Plied Yarns kit to make a scrappy Trail Point Hat .

I ordered a few extra bobbins too, because a) I love that bobbins are an option and b) I love the colors and c) I love this yarn company and their dyed in Baltimore /spun in New Hampshire yarn.

It's a fingering weight knit, also a super quick knit. The shape has a retro vibe. It reminds me of ski hats that were de rigeur when I was in middle school. This one's getting a lot of 2022 head time !

One of my pandemic-acquired habits is doing "treat yo'self" online shopping. And I'm not mad about it. Until 2020, I only made carefully considered aka overthought purchases online. I can be annoyingly indecisive about retail. I mean, I draw out the decision a few beats too long, annoying others as well as myself. That indecisive!

Not a problem any longer . This was a good one! Def more Plied Yarns projects ahead. I'm thinking a colorwork sweater like Roost or a Shift Cowl. (am I the last to knit that one? or are you with me on the no-rush-I'll-get toit-somedaylist)

Bobbins. They're irresistible.