A View from Sierra County

Of Burros and Capelets

I thought you might like to see/read a bit of how things went at yesterday's protest to keep open the state historic parks slated for closure under the Governor's proposed budget. There was a moderate outpouring of support, which was very colorful, both in front of Sutter's Fort and at the State Capitol.  Sutter's Fort, Railtown, the Governor's Mansion, and Ide Adobe all had docent contingents, as did Malakoff Diggings, which also had a group of school children from their nearby elementary, Grizzly Hill (about 2 hours northeast of Sacramento). 

Both the school and the park are just up the long and winding road into the mountains from where my Headstart program is located in North San Juan, and I had linked up their Place-Based Coordinator, Diana Pasquini, with my friend, Dave Freeman, a docent at Ide Adobe, back when he got the idea to put together this protest.  He had no idea at the time that it would involve three separate permits, as well as promises to the Capitol personnel that no firearms or animals would step foot on the Capitol grounds.  He must have put in hundreds of hours of work, and luckily got the attention of the California State Parks Foundation early on, and they helped him connect with other affected parks.

There were two wagons from Top Hand Ranch and a stagecoach belonging to the Auburn chapter of the Native Sons of the Golden West, pulled by Jeff Shinn and his four matching Percherons...  Jeff has been on the Henness Pass Wagon Train the past two years, and also appears with this team at the Draft Horse Classic). 

Dave was riding Emma and leading three other burros - Ashley, Blare and Rocky; most of his string representing BLM adopted animals.  Glenn and I agreed to walk along with him to make sure  they would do well in the parade.

 

David Miller, another EARs club member in attendance, rode his BLM-adopted mustang, Chief to bring up the rear of the parade.

We made it to the capitol without incident, where gunny sacks filled with more than 35,000 letters and postcards petitioning the Governor to save the parks from closure were delivered (along with one huge, handpainted postcard depicting Malakoff Diggings, created by the Grizzly Hill students) to the Governor.

We were competing for budget dollars, media attention, and the ears of our legislators, with supporters rallying to defend the California Community colleges.... all across our state many programs are in grave danger cuts that would fundamentally alter life here. 

We might not have been as numerous, but were certainly more colorful, and walking down the city streets and watching toddlers and grown men stop in their tracks, in awe of seeing wagons and burros walking in their midst was enough to remind me that not everyone has the chance to live with animals as I do, and that interacting with our state's legacy, including wagons, pack strings and equines is an important aspect of the state park experience that would be lost if these parks are closed.

The Grizzly Hill students on the capitol steps singing their version of "California, Here I Come" written in
honor of the state parks.

I was in costume, thoughnowhere near as authentically dressed as many, and the Vintage Capelet did get to make her debut in public.  The day was sunny but quite cool, and I was very glad to have her alpaca warmth draped over my shoulders!  This photo, at our arrival in front of the state capitol (well, actually, the west steps, as there are entrances on each of the four sides), doesn't do her much justice, but it was the best that DH got!!  The Capelet obviously deserves better.

California State Historic Parks Closure Protest

California has a long, rich history, even though it has only been slightly more than 150 years since it was granted statehood.  There was a plethora of native tribes here for centuries before the Spanish missionaries and their contingent arrived in the 17th century, and there has been a huge variety of cultures blending here ever since.

I have lived here almost all of my life, am a native, and as long as I can remember, California has celebrated its history through a network of state historic parks that preserve most of the Spanish missions, the Spanish colonial fort at Sonoma (site of the Bear Flag Revolt, declaring California independent of Spain), the fort on Captain John Sutter's land grant which later became the heart of Sacramento, as well as his mill site in Coloma where gold was first discovered, and a host of other significant and interesting places.  These sites serve as a window into former times, and how people lived here before us.  They also provide much-needed oases from the massive urbanization that has taken place here in California over the past century.

Now, many of these special places are threatened with closure under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 2008-09 budget for the state (I guess they don't call him the Terminator for nothing).  While it is true that California, a state that was 'in the black' when he took office in a special election a few years back is now facing shortfalls projected to be in the billions because of the recession, the Gov's take was to axe 10% of every state-funded program, pitting one against the other and likely leading to the worst fight in our state's history to get a budget passed (though we are notorious about that).  That list includes such famous sites as Sutter's Fort and the old Governor's Mansion, as well as lesser known ones, including two near and dear to me, the Malakoff Diggings SHP up the road from where I work, and the Plumas-Eureka SP, adjacent to my favorite summer haunt, the Gold Lakes Basin.

Many long-time readers of mine know that DH and I are strong advocates for protecting and preserving history.... even though our projects don't involve state parks.  Therefore, I was delighted when our good friend and donkey-packing buddy, Dave Freeman, who is a docent at Ide Adobe SHP, decided when these budgetary cuts were announced back in January that he wasn't going to just sit by and watch it happen... he began contacting docent groups throughout the state, as well as his personal friends.  I was able to help him make contact with both Malakoff supporters and another friend, John Schwartzler, who set up the Henness Pass Wagon Train Association a couple of years back.

Dave's efforts set in motion a larger network which will gather together tomorrow in Sacramento, to march in historic costumes along with wagons and pack strings, from Sutters Fort to the State Capitol, a distance of about 1 1/2 miles, to deliver 35,000 petitions and postcards protesting closure of these state parks.  Glenn and I (in my Vintage Capelet, which will finally get a photo shoot!) will be among the marchers.  If you live near Sacramento, and can attend, there will be a rally with many speakers in support of the parks and our California heritage at the Capitol at 11:30 AM, followed by an old-time picnic on the grounds, and visits to legislators.  If you cannot attend, but have ever visited any of our California state parks, please consider going to the State Parks Foundation website and sending a letter to your legislator or the California Gov.  It would be a tragedy to lose so much..... thanks, all, and pictures will follow.

Signs of Spring

Spring comes in fits and spurts here in the Sierras.... it can be almost 80 one afternoon and then snowing the next.... however, daffodils, fruit trees and other light-sensitive plants bloom either way.  You can travel up and down the mountains to find the plants you want to view, even!

Right now, daffodils are in bloom at our Forest City house, but little else... however, around the old camp in Camptonville, lilacs are popping out... and unfortunately, so is scotch broom.
I know this stuff looks beautiful to those of you not from around these parts, but believe me, it is as invasive as kudzu or water hyacinth, and a scourge of the foothills partly for choking out other plants and partly because it is highly combustible, something definitely NOT desirable in the Sierras.  It also makes me sneeze and wheeze.

We traditionally do not plant much in our garden until Mother's Day, but DH has been busy getting ready, hauling around donkey manure and tilling.  This opens up a food festival for the birds (and the neighbor's semi-feral cats, unfortunately).  We have spied as many as two dozen Brewer's Blackbirds at the bird bath in our inner yard at once over the past several evenings....

I hope spring finds you with equally magical sights to add wonder to your days, and that you get to have a fun-filled spring weekend!

Find of the Week

I have been trying to squeeze in visits to the local thrift stores in order to gather materials for my repurposed fashions the past few weeks... of course there is always the unexpected treasure that turns up amongst the pure rubbish, making the search all that more intriguing.  This has to be the find of the year, really, not just the week....
This piece is knitted of the finest thread, probably cotton, as it has held up very well even though it could easily be fifty or sixty years old... the center is threaded onto a piece of string, ready to be sewn to a round of muslin or linen for a finished doily.  I was amazed to stumble upon this, and it was very inexpensive because of its unfinished state.  My hands gave a few twinges just thinking about the tiny wires posing as knitting needles that must have been required to knit this work of art.

I could attach it to fabric, but it would lose its historic integrity... I will probably just figure out how to frame it in a shadow box one day, and preserve some hard-working knitter's labor of love for the future.  When I found this lacework while pawing through a bin of hankies, it was as if a knitter from the past, without the benefit of the blog-Ravely-Yahoo list community we are blest with these days, reached out and touched me; I had to take her work home with me.

Learning to Love Lace

I have had a love affair with lace knitting for many years, and one of my hopes in going to work part-time for Fibers, my local Grass Valley yarn shop a year ago was that I would be able to get the chance to transmit that love to others.  I have had customers admire and ask about the lace pieces I wear to work (usually small shoulder shawls).  I have managed to convert my co-Yarnista Gail to an addicted lace knitter who is right now working on the Hanami stole; if you haven't seen this pattern, go and look at it right now.... it is dedicated to the Japanese word for cherry blossom bloom viewing activities and I especially love that it is asymmetrical!  However, until this week, our shop owner, Allison, and I had not managed to get a beginning lace class scheduled.... we sat down over coffee on Wednesday afternoon, and mapped out three course sessions, starting on June 11th.  Each class will be on a Wednesday evening for two and a half hours, and there will be a two week gap in between each of the three class meetings to give knitters a chance to see some progress in their work before meeting again.

I had thought a lot about what project to select for a knitter's first lace piece.  I also wanted to make sure that what I selected matched with what our shop could secure for the knitters.  I wanted to start lace knitters with fingering weight yarn, as I have noticed that most beginning to intermediate knitters mainly work with worsted or bulky weight yarns, so dropping in needle and yarn size to even sock yarns has been intimidating for many of them, though our sock-knitting instructor, Luci, has been able to convince a lot of people to love making socks (which also means we have a good selection of fingering yarns on hand, with Colinette Jitterbug being my current favorite).

When I posted photos of my Victorian Shoulderette last month, and got a comment from Sivia Harding (still flushing with pride over that!), I began corresponding back and forth and our shop ended up ordering a few of her designs from her distributor and she generously forwarded a wonderful teaching summary to me as well... so, my spring Sunday afternoon was spent starting my teaching model for the Gothic Leaf Lace scarf, based on her stole pattern, which will be my students' first lace project!

I had some Mega Boots yarn in my stash that seemed like a good possibility, and sat in the sun on my porch at the high country house working my way through the first two pattern repeats.... and came to two important conclusions.  The first was that this pattern would require a bit of concentration at first but that the novice lace knitter would soon be caught up in the excitement of the 20-row repeat.  The second was that the yarn had a lovely and subtle color shift that I really like!

While I was knitting, I was thinking of the tips I use to help myself keep track of my chart, 'read' my lace as I go along to detect any mistakes, whether I decide to use markers or a lifeline or not (I won't on this pattern, since it is only two repeats across, but will periodically county my stitches to make sure I am keeping on track), and how I decide if I have selected the right needle size for the yarn... in this example I am using a size four Takumi bamboo needle, which works well for me to make a scarf that will still be lightly blocked, but if I were using laceweight and making the larger stole version, I would probably use a size three and block more vigorously in order to get a more ethereal version.  I have a few of my own lace projects waiting in the wings, but since I want to teach, will be spending some time in the next month with Gothic Leaf.  I hope to have enough time to swatch a few repeats in heavier yarn, so that my students can examine the stitch definition, as well as start a version in laceweight, to show that there really isn't all that much difference (except knitting time).

I would love to hear any lace knitting tips you have picked up so that I can share them and inspire new lace knitters to share our addiction passion with us.

We are hosting our second yarn tasting the last Sunday of this month, and having fun thinking about future possibilities for this event.  I am also making terrific progress on my Summer Cardi, with only a few inches of the body to go, and then I can start on my sleeves, which will definitely be three quarter length.

I forgot to mention above, that while this past weekend was gloriously warm and sunny, there was also still a LOT of snow around our cabin, drifts as high as three feet in the shade interspersed with open spots and daffodils.  It truly will be spring here in the Sierras, though the rainfall is only 50% of normal for this time of year.  I am praying for snow... rain would be good too.

Reminiscing, In the Moment, Gazing into the Crystal Ball

Reminiscing

I finished one of my two night classes almost two weeks ago, and now I get to come home every night of the work week, which has been a nice change.  I was sick through my spring break vacation week, though, so I didn't get caught up on my other night class the way I had hoped.  I still have until mid-May and am finished with most of the assignments; I have had a lot of fun making art with other adults and it certainly has stimulated my creativity.

Work at the LYS continues regularly on Saturdays, with this last one being a good day overall... got to knit with our sock class instructor, Luci, and a regular customer, Vail, for awhile in the morning when things were slow, then help an experienced knitter pick out yarn for Mr. Green Jeans, a great everyday sweater pattern, coach a returning knitter through an unusual series of steps in her pattern, and help another regular find yarn for her next project and teach her how to increase.  I just love it when people are ready to move beyond straight up and down scarves!

In the Moment

My favorite project of the moment has been a lovely everyday sweater of my own...
I started the Summer Cardigan from Knitting Pure and Simple ten days ago, and have been enamored of the pattern ever since.  It is worked from the top down and I have just gotten past the point of setting aside my sleeve stitches and working the body.  The pattern is for a short sleeve cardi, to hit just above the elbow bend, but I am planning to make mine a tad bit longer, as I want it to come to just below the elbows, for the extra coziness on summer nights.  I am using Knit One Crochet Two's 2nd Time Cotton, which is made from mill ends respun into a 75% cotton/25% acrylic blend and is a very nice yarn. 

After my "F is for Frugal" post, I started thinking of this WIP as my Earth Day project, but I know it is just the kind of summer into fall garment I will get a lot of use out of!  Then, I might make my own Mr. Green Jeans for a winter everyday cardi!!

My favorite read at the moment is A Pig in Provence... I had the good fortune to catch an interview with author, Georgeanne Brennan, on my local public radio station and had to order the book right away.... it is an entertaining and enlightening food memoir about a young mother who settles in Provence back in the late 1960s to make goat cheese along with her husband.  The country life was still very, very rich with tradition and food lore at that point and her recipes are inspiring.

I am feeling much better, though I am tired of being ill so much this winter, and working hard on rebuilding my immune system!  The fruit trees are all blooming around here, which means my poor system is struggling against seasonal pollen allergies, but I have been able to return to yoga and walking the dogs, and rely on vitamins and Zyrtec to help me cope with the great outdoors.

Gazing into the Crystal Ball

I am hoping to get my cardi finished by the end of the month, even with all of the little crafty things I am working on for the Plant Sale... however, some of my time will undoubtedly be spent with Flutter...

This is such a sweet little pattern, and the colors of my wonderful hand-dyed silk yarn keep me so pleased, that I find myself saying "just one more repeat" even though it feels like I am knitting with sewing thread (well, ok, maybe just a bit thicker than that!).

Miriam Felton is one of my favorite lace designers, and I still have several of her other patterns listed in my Ravelry queue; I just got enough Berroco Touche at our shop that will be perfect for a Logan River wrap to wear as a meditation shawl and plan to start on that next month.

F is for Frugal

I was born in California, but I believe in the manta "Use it up" as much as if I were from New England.  I have been living a less consumptive, resource-conserving lifestyle for most of the past few decades (there are those lapses into yarn consumption and occasional forays by air), and mostly do my part for the planet.  For me, the most critical part of the Earth Day theme song, 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle', is the reuse portion, because it is a creative act trying to keep things out of the waste stream.... in fact, I have been spending a lot of time thinking up new ways to use old things.

I got inspired by my friends who are part of Troupe de Trash, and also run the Ridgestop Cafe near me... they featured an art show of some of the extreme fashions designed from trash on the walls in March.  Go and take a look at their gallery of fashions, and then come right back... you will be amazed at how creative these women can get with spare garbage lying around (of course, they intend to educate and not to wear these creations daily!).

Then, I stumbled upon Subversive Seamster at my local library; it is full of ideas for re-working clothing found at thrift stores and yard sales into cute, new things, and has the same fun kind of voice to it as Stitch and Bitch.  I started looking around for things to re-make, and at the same time, Stephanie and I decided we would have a booth of our crafts at our community's annual plant sale on the first Saturday in May.  I have been knitting things up for the crafts cooperative in Downieville for a few years, and also making up greeting cards with my photos, but got to work this weekend on other possibilities...

First, I practiced making a lettuce edging around the bottom of a tank top I found at a thrift store last week - shirts are always too long on me unless they are petite-sized, so this is a great trick to learn.  You use a wide but close-together zigzag stitch, stretching the fabric a bit before it gets sewn.

I took my new-found edging skills and converted an infant onesie into a "dogsie" - little Jake would look really cute in this, but it still looks a bit too much like a baby shirt to be 'saleable', I think.  I will have to
put him in it and get a photo to share, but he was too dirty!

While up in my studio, I dug out a lot of little, leftover bits of yarn, and wound them onto cards, since they are the same kind of novelties I see offered in the scrapbooking sections of our local crafts stores.

They need labels, but a collection of yarn potpourri in this basket I found at another local thrift store looks pretty cute, I think!  I can't bring myself to throw these tiny bits away, or any other potential supply for knitting, sewing or the other crafts I have been creating over my long life, so my studio is a better source for future repurposing than any thrift store. 

I gathered together  leftover yarns from past projects to knit up some washcloths from Foxfibre cotton chenille and a few ballet Ts for young girls and a matching skirt! 

I am not sure if all of these items will be done by the beginning of March, but the lovely patterned fleece I picked up at a neighbor's yard sale a few years back will be sewn into pillows one upcoming evening, and I also 'discovered' several packets of Cushing's dyes I had gotten at the same sale.  I will also manage to finish at least two Jeans Purses... made from the top part of kid's pants, lined with re-purposed fabrics, including these red pillow cases (another thrift store find) I disassembled.  Bed linens are very good sources of yardage, whether bought brand new at full price, at a close-out store such as Ross or Big Lots, or a yard sale.  I have a lot more red than I will need to line one small purse, and also have some nice floral fabric  from a dress I found at the clothes closet our Headstart maintains (and that I clean out and take to other thrift stores monthly as part of my "other duties as assigned") and deconstructed last spring, simply because I thought the fabric was beautiful... I know that some of you are beginning to think I have a problem, so I hesitate to mention that DH is much the same way with saving parts and hardware.  However, he often has just what he needs to fix a problem out in the garage, without having to make a trip to town!

Shopping at home got me sorting through part of my huge button collection, and some of the vintage ones will be attached to cards to be sold off...

This is a small sampling of the bone buttons I have collected over the years, as well as a few of the random ones that have come with clothing purchased new.  Many of my favorite items have come from the Ananda Living Wisdom School's thrift store this year, though I have always bought underwear new, and most of my shoes and jeans (not to mention all that yarn).  I have learned over the years that the small thrift shops run by churches and volunteer fire departments have the best prices, followed by those run by local charities, while the larger chains have had a steady rise in prices over the years.

I also have collected textiles for years, not really knowing what I will do with them but just because they are beautiful... I decided to take four slightly yellowed damask napkins and dye them with some tea that had been in my cupboard for something like eight years... black tea with lavender flowers.  It smelled wonderful but tasted (at least to me) awful; the repurposed tea can will come in handy too!  There's that philosophy of wasting nothing, poking out from a corner again:)

I will sew all four napkins together to make a nice Shabby Chic tablecloth about 40 inches square... elegant and rustic at the same time, thanks to the tea dyeing.

These napkins must be linen, as they were a challenge to iron, one of my last tasks of the afternoon yesterday.  I got to put to use a great re-purposed find from an antique store. 

This bottle was probably originally a 7-Up bottle, and some creative, artistic, frugal person a lot like me decided about 50 years ago to paint it blue and apply the cute, little decal and the sprinkle top (which could be easily purchased at the local hardware store back then, probably for around a quarter) in order to have their own customized ironing accessory to cheer them through this job.  Ironing can be tedious, but also allows the mind to wander, and I got to thinking about how my frugal ways have allowed me to slow down sometimes, while making something new or re-purposed, and connect with where things come from and how they are made.  I hope that creating does the same for you.

I have been knitting, and am working on a post about my current projects for tomorrow... see you then!

E is for Elation

Elation is a hard emotion to define or to capture in a handful of words, or even a picture for that matter.  We all know when we are feeling it, but it is fleeting and can't be used to describe enjoying something routine, like morning coffee, or sitting down to that next row of knitting.  It is easy to feel happy, but elation is a whole other category.

Sometimes I feel elation briefly when I view something spectacularly beautiful... a waterfall, wildflowers, a painting or a beautifully worked piece of lace.  But really, a better word choice would be admiration or awe.  Elation comes unexpectedly and can't be sought or depended upon, though I did feel elated immediately after the delivery of each of my three children (but, then of course, everything had gone well!).

Elation does meet me in the high mountains, though... and getting out on the snow with my son and daughter to snowboard have brought some of those rare moments to me over the years....

Cody and I... I am wearing a hat that I made for him almost three years ago while he was staying with us and recuperating from emergency surgery for a bad break in his femur that occurred while out on heavy, wet, spring snow.  Sometimes, we are elated just because we live in an era when a person can be surgically healed and return to something that brought them so much joy.

Nikki and I... we have learned together over the years, and still are only barely intermediate, but for me the joy is in being there.  I heard some news about acquaintances last week that brought me up short, cleared the cobwebs of self-pity at being sick away and made my problems seem small and insignificant.  I could still get well (and am finally starting to!), I could still work and pay my own way, I could walk, in fact I could ride down the hill and bask in the mountain's sun... it was a good zen day.