Coming soon!

Located in Old Town Village Antiques and Uniques

307 S. Rogers St, Waxahachie, TX

To my fellow Yarnies and Little Red Barn groupies:

 (and everyone else too)

I recently learned that there is no yarn shop in Waxahachie (horrors) so I am going to open one in a downtown antique mall. If all goes well (and with a little help from my friends), the shop will open in early February! The shop will be starting out on a shoestring budget so I am looking for beautiful hand spun / hand dyed yarns to feature on consignment. Let me know if you’d like to feature your wares in the shop and we’ll work out a fair system.

I also would like to nominate the shop as a recipient of the JRF Yarn Storming. I know there are some unique and wonderful yarns in your stashes that other knitters would love to have (especially those who are far away from larger yarn shops). Let Cindy know if you’d like part of your de-stash to be contributed to the shop. Of particular interest are natural fibers, organic and specialty yarns (in other words, it won't be found at the Waxahachie Walmart)!

If anyone is interested in teaching a class, I would love to know about it. I can teach basic knitting skills to get people started, but I’d like to offer some advanced and specialty techniques, spinning and so on. There is a cozy space in the antique mall with chairs and a couch where we can have classes.

If you have odds and ends of needles, notions, books, patterns, etc that you’d like to be free of, let me know. I can purchase things at a reasonable cost and donations are appreciated. If you happen to see interesting vintage knitting or sheep related items at estate sales or thrift stores, would you let me know? If they are a good bargain, I’d love it if you’d pick them up and I’ll buy them from you.

Save your yarn ends, scraps, feathers, lint, etc for Scraps for the Birds. A while back I received a large box of these from Cindy with the promise to donate initial proceeds to Ruthie’s Rags fund (and now also to the puppy transport fund). This will be the first charitable effort of the shop. 

The shop will feature:

☼ Locally made specialty yarns: hand spun and hand dyed from the fiber of locally raised animals

☼ The Stash Basket: re-purposed yarns donated by area knitters. The selection will vary, but will always contain unique and unusual finds.

☼ New and vintage knitting needles, notions, books, patterns and other supplies
☼ Hand Knit accessories for you and your home.
☼ Scraps for the Birds: colorful bits of recycled yarn, fiber, fur and feathers in a mesh bag to hang in your trees for the birds to include in their nests.
☼ Charity knitting collection - we will offer suggestions of projects for you to knit and return to us to be donated to area charitable organizations.
☼ Knitting classes, groups and workshops: held at the shop or at our relaxing country property (with overnight accommodations available).
☼ Knick knacks: you never know what else may be available in the shop - often with a knitting, fashion, country or farm feeling - we are always on the lookout for special things.

2010 Harvest

This lovely, frosty, wet, cold morning seems the perfect time to reflect on my garden harvest for the past year and plan for a bigger one in the coming year.
I had success with bell peppers of different varieties - standard and mini. They kept on going through the hot summer and into the fall (the last stragglers are out there under a sheet right now). The Basil did well; it has dried in the cupboard and is ready for winter use. 

The big winner of course was eggs! Oddly enough, the "crop" that required the biggest initial outlay of both time and money ended up producing effortlessly with minimal further intervention on my part.
The monthly egg tally:
May (the 1st month of laying): 4
June: 25
July: 43
August: 51
September: 53
October: 50
November: 45
December: 37
Grand Total: 308 eggs
Just like fruits, vegetables and herbs, chickens and eggs come in many varieties. This spring, a few new chickens will join the flock to bring variety to the harvest.  

In planning the food crops, I am enjoying the catalog from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. The descriptions and photos are lovely and they offer a great variety of rare and heritage seeds. I will order some from them as well as shopping locally for seeds and starter plants. In December, I layed the foundation of a new garden, "lasagna" style with layers of leaves / newspaper / compost / newspaper / leaves / newspaper / leaves / hay, shavings, poop mixture from the chicken house. This will sit for a few months until I add several inches of soil and more compost before planting the spring garden. This should be an especially fertile garden which I hope will lead to much better yields than in past years. 

Here are some more garden photos from 2010.

Best wishes to all the gardeners for a bountiful 2011!

Find Inner Peace - Learn to Knit

Ask me about individual or small group basic knitting lessons for adults and children.

Learn to knit for the first time or brush up on skills learned long ago.

Talk to your friends about joining you.

We will arrange a time and place that works well for all.

▪ Session consists of 4 lessons (1 ½ hours each) over 2 - 3 weeks.

▪ $75 per person, per session, paid in full at first lesson.

▪ Follow up sessions consist of 3 lessons for $50.

▪ Beginning materials and resource list are provided.

Consider this:

Knitting teaches patience and can be a mindful meditation practice.

Neurological research confirms that mobility and dexterity in the fine motor muscles, especially in the hand, stimulates cellular development in the brain, and strengthens the physical foundation of thinking.

Knitting and gardening reduce the risk of dementia in later life.

Knitting teaches children success through persistence, concentration, control, follow-through and mastery and improves fine-motor skills, hand-eye coordination and brain development.