Jennifer Raymond, Author at Tinking Turtle

Photographs from the farm, and the rare bit of snow we’ve gotten this year:

February 21, 2012 by Jennifer Raymond

My darling fiancee Michael’s family owns a farm in rural VA that they use as a retrat. Being within a few hours drive from DC, we are sometimes get to use the farm as a getaway from our own busy lives in the city. It’s refreshing for Michael and I, for different reasons. While I am pretty much happy living wherever, Darling Michael is a country boy at heart, and happiest in a place where you can’t see your next door neighbor, and it takes a car to get anywhere.

We went to the farm with a couple of friends, and it managed to snow that afternoon.
Naturally we had to play in the snow.

Because Ellie and Rob were with us, we had to make a snowasaurous. (pictured in the back). Rob decided to make his own dinosaur (pictured in the mid-ground). I was having so much fun rolling snowballs (which were being used for the two dinnosaurs) that after they said they didn’t need any more snowballs, I continued to roll balls for my own amusement.

I got rather tired.

But I had a lot of snowballs.

Last count I rolled upwards of 22 snowballs. Some with a little help.

One of the more interesting aspects of the farm is the old equipment dragged into the woods to die.

It is affectionately known as farm art.

Michael took a walk with me in the snow, a grand tradition we try to honor as much as possible. There he is in his trenchcoat, and one of the myriad of farm hats to wear at the farm. This is one of his many glares (sometime I’ll do a post about how Michael really only has three expressions, and all expressions are variations of those three).

This is a hurry up and stop taking my picture look, under-laid with an I’m amused but not trying to show it look.

I found a Whoville tree.

Updating Class List

February 8, 2012 by Jennifer Raymond

Hey Yarnies,

I was busy this morning updating my class list, which can be found HERE. There’s going to be some great classes heading your way this spring, and in the next few weeks keep your eye on my teaching schedule as it starts to fill up.

Hope to see you at the classes.

Michael’s Super Power

February 5, 2012 by Jennifer Raymond

Michael has a super power, which I don’t talk about often, but is just shy of miraculous. You see, Michael can find free food anywhere. I kid you not.

For example: My senior year, Michael was a junior and studied abroad (well, technically on a ship, but that is another story) and came back home a month before the semester was over. Rather than going home and bumming around, he persuaded his boss at work study to hire him as an intern for a month and a half. Then, he arranged to crash at a friend’s place (and really, let’s be frank, he mostly crashed in my room) while he worked on campus. The only problem? He didn’t have a meal plan, or even a place he could really cook meals, since dorm rooms are short on anything other than a microwave. Instead, he arranged to have various friends bring him sandwiches and wraps from the eating hall for brunch (our school had a rule that if it could fit in a coffee mug, you could take it out of the eating hall. You’d be amazed what you can fit into a coffee mug) and then for dinner, he would find some club or other event that was offering free food (like pizza, pancakes, hamburgers, etc). He managed to keep himself fed (and even gain a little weight) this way.

Nowadays, this manifests in Michael’s work network. You see, he has people at work who owe him favors or want to ensure that their computers get taken care of quickly. So they “bribe” Michael by inviting him to eat the leftovers from various luncheons, breakfasts, or other events. Most days Michael ends up bringing his packed lunch home because he’s managed to fill up on free bagels, cookies, sandwiches, cupcakes, and other sundry items.

It truly is a super power.

Another Great Class

January 24, 2012 by Jennifer Raymond

This past weekend I had a great time teaching my Dress Forms and Sweater Design class at A Tangled Skein. Despite the snow we had a really great turnout.

Dress Forms and Sweater Design is one of my favorite classes to teach, for a variety of reasons. First, it’s completely different than a lot of my other skill-based or project-based classes. It runs completely different than them, and it’s a refreshing change of pace.

Second, and perhaps even more important to me, is the type of students that like to take the class. While skill levels vary, most students take this class because they have a genuine curiosity about how knit, crochet, and even sewing work when put on a body. They are interested in more than just following a pattern. They are interested in WHY a pattern works the way it does, and want to be able to think critically about their knitting and crochet. It’s a great attitude.

But my most favorite part about the class? The way everyone looks halfway through. About half superhero and half avant-guard runway model. There’s no way not to laugh when everyone is in that state.

Thanks guys for heading out to Tangled Skein despite the snow. I look forward to seeing ya’ll again.

Yellowfarm Cowl

January 4, 2012 by Jennifer Raymond

Hot off the press, a cowl design for Yellowfarm.

Yellowfarm is a small but vibrant farm and yarn business back from my hometown Guilderland, NY (technically, they’re from Altamont, but Guilderland and Altamont are practically the same place). They grow Wensleydale and American Teeswater long wool sheep. Both breeds are know for their beautiful silky lock structure, which simply can’t be ignored.

Yellowfarm will be featuring this cowl design when they head to Vogue Knitting in NY, NY, and I will be releasing the pattern sometime this spring.

This versatile cowl can be used as both a button-up scarflet or a cowl, and uses thrumming and entrelac. But instead of thrumming to the inside of your piece (which creates some of the warmest mittens you have ever seen), the thrums go to the outside of the work, creating a distinctive pattern.

Working with Yellowfarm was truely a pleasure, and I hope to do it again in the future. Thanks guys for letting me work with your beautiful wool! Good luck at Vogue!

PS: Recognize the model? It’s Ellie again, being a great trooper as I pushed her around on a cold winter day.

Please. Don’t say you’re making a scarf.

December 22, 2011 by Jennifer Raymond

Many people come into the yarn store where I work, and will say it’s their first time knitting or crocheting and they want to make a scarf. I always try to steer them away from this.

Why?

Because a scarf takes a long time. And especially if you are doing a garter stitch scarf or a scarf in single crochet, after the first 8-10″, you’ve got knitting/single crochet down. Now you are going to be working that same stitch for at least another 50″. Chances are you want to move beyond that one stitch. Maybe learn to purl, double crochet, increase or decrease. You start loosing interest. And there, that scarf languishes. You might even give up knitting or crochet altogether.

Please don’t do this to yourself. It would be like a person who went into a weight loss program saying they needed to loose 100 lbs. Well, you might want to loose 100 lbs, but chances are you are going to focus on more attainable, small term goals. Perhaps just the first 5 lbs.

In a similar way, give yourself a more attainable goal. Perhaps you’d like to make a pair of finger-less mitts. Or a cowl. Here’s a list of a few different projects you can do easily, as a beginner, and still get satisfaction from completing a project.

A shopping bag made out of squares.

A Pair of slippers. – they fold up really easily, and then you just whip stitch them up the sides.

Another pair of slippers.

A knitted bunny pattern – made of squares.

A garter stitch kitty made out of squares.

A teddy bear made of squares.

A small crochet clutch

Crochet slippers

Crochet Hat

Fingerless Mitts

Good luck learning, and may you set some accomplish-able goals!

I really like Trisha’s Hats

December 8, 2011 by Jennifer Raymond

Every once and a while, I come across something really cool, and I feel the need to share it. About a week and a half ago, though Jennifer, of the Magpie Knitter, I met Trisha Paetsch. She was looking for someone to review her pattern. As someone who always loves to see what other designers are doing I was interested in taking a look at the pattern. And then, I found out that the pattern was about hats.

Seriously. I love hats. (Michael, my fiance, and I have a huge collection of hats. Standard rule in our household… you play a boardgame, you wear a hat. We can have more than 25 people over to play games with us, and not run out of hats. We love hats.)

So I was a little biased going into the pattern, because I really love hats. But I will also say that because I love hats, I’m rather picky about my hats. I want them to have nice shaping. I want them to be finished well. I want them to be stylish and functional. I became a little worried after I got the pattern from Trisha. What if her patterns didn’t match up with my expectations?

Let me break the suspense here, Trisha delivers a solid set of hat patterns in Grande Prairie Hats. The pattern is constructed as a narrative of several lovely ladies going out and getting photographed in their hats. And what hats they have! There’s a little something for everyone. Now, while I will admit, not all the hats are to my taste. I’m not too fond of the wide headbands that are featured (Bregdan and Leanne). They’re lovely, the color choice is great, and they’re definitely something say, my sister or mother would wear, but I like something that covers my head. However, the details and the color choices and both are lovely.

And that’s fine, because she also has some lovely traditional(ish) style hats, like Frippery or Frivolity. Much more my type of thing. Trisha also includes a few types of beanies to round the number of patterns out. There’s also a really cute, solid mitten pattern that you get in the ebook.

The only drawback is the document is rather large if you want to print it off in it’s entirety. It’s 35 pages, and parts of it are rather picture heavy. That isn’t necessarily a drawback because I can select which pages I want to print out, but as someone who (aims, but admittedly doesn’t always achieve to have) prefers a a few carefully chosen pictures instead of a bunch, it wasn’t necessarily my thing. But if you are the type of person who likes to see a project you are doing from every single angle, Tracy definitely delivers.

One of the parts I like the most about the ebook is actually all the finishing details Tracy includes. Part of the reason I like her hats so much (especially Frippery and Frivolity) is because of the details used to finish the hats with feathers and other little bits and bobs. Tracy walks you through finishing your own hat, and the details and decisions you make in regards to that.

Overall, I would say Tracy’s Grande Prairie Hats is a very solid new release, and I would encourage you to go purchase the book, or the individual patterns. I think you’ll get your money’s worth.

Engagement photos

November 21, 2011 by Jennifer Raymond

Last weekend after I ran Rosemary home after her visit (YEY sister visiting, but boo her leaving) I got together will Ellie and Rob, possibly my best friends from around the area.

On a side note, proving that the world is truly a small place, I met Ellie at the Yarn Spot about a year ago. After talking to her for about an hour, I pulled a “friend pick-up” maneuver, got her number, and told her we needed to hang out. You know how you sometimes meet people and you just know you’ll get along? She was one of them. Later we found out that we were born in the same small hospital in Vermont, and most likely was in the same playgroup when we were two.

We ventured out onto Sligo Creek, to the same park where I had my birthday. We were on a mission. You see, we needed some engagement and save the date photos for Ellie and Rob. We were going to do some traditional ones, and then we were going to do some fun ones, involving dinosaurs.

Now, I try to work on my photography all the time, taking pictures mostly outside of my two favorite little girls (Anna Elliot‘s little girls, Bella and Vivi). I’ve gotten pretty decent, and I try to work on this a lot because photography is a really important part of blogging, and selling patterns when you are doing it online or in magazines. Hey, and it can’t hurt.

So I thought I’d share some of the pictures from our shoot, and give you a glimpse of two of the best people in the world to have as friends.

Cookies and engagement rings make the best combination, I think.

I was using Ellie and her dog, JoJo to take some test shots. They turned out remarkably well.

Interestingly, it takes a longer time for adults to relax in front of a camera than children. It took Rob accidentally shoving a cookie in Ellie’s mouth to make them stiff.

Hey, I got to also play around and take some more artistic shots. It was a win-win.

Rob threatening the to-be-photoshopped in dinosaur.

Running from a dinosaur. Not a t-rex, but perhaps some other type of theropod. I was informed that the dinosaur we see most often portrayed as a T-rex is often another type of theropd. I’m sure I’m spelling theropod wrong.

Another lesson learned, if I change my settings, change them back. But not before this happy accidental shot happens.

Ahhhhh! Theropod!

		Things learned from this photoshoot: Happy accidents happen. Get people to do silly things. Get people to relax. Adults may perhaps he harder than children to work with. Ellie and Rob are really cute together.
Cuteness.

Apparently I don’t do lists right

November 17, 2011 by Jennifer Raymond

When I went with my grandmother on a cruise about a month ago, I created a list of things to do for Michael (now my fiancee!). It went a little like this (edited for brevity):

Use up the bananas in the fridge
Create delicious spice mixes for me to use
Miss Jen
Get together with Rob and Ellie (of Ellie Makes Cakes note: Ellie doesn’t update much, but her cakes are really pretty)
Miss Jen
Clean Room
Do Laundry
Finish all the things in your online course
Miss Jen. Take a picture of your sad face
Find the notes hidden around the house

Michael immidately looked at it and asked if it was an ordered list… ie, did you have to do one thing before you went on to the other. He then made note that some of the things were contingent upon other, while others were not. Could he race through the list and get everything done right away? And on and on. Clearly I needed to take a programing class so I knew how to make lists correctly. *rolls eyes* Apparently an “amalgamation of thoughts” is not a list.

So, this is a non-ordered list, with things not contingent upon previous things getting done. Instead, it is a list of thoughts for today.

I really dislike weaving in ends. Unlike most activities, some of which I dislike (like dish-washing), which I won’t mind as long as I’m entertained, weaving in ends is really tedious.
However, this design is going to rock when it is done, even if there are a boatload of ends to weave in. Why? Because it has beads. I think the beads are really great.
The apple tree is dying.

Now, I know, I’ve never claimed to have a really green thumb, but I thought the apple tree was going to pull through. It survived the cat nibbling on it, only to not get watered after I came home from the cruise. I noticed it was getting a little interesting today, and the leaves are getting rather crispy. I’m hoping it’s just transitioning to fall and not just dried up dead. We’ll see.

The avocado trees are doing well, and one more seed is getting ready to be planted. Dunno where I’m going to put it. Calabash trees are happy too, and the pineapple plant is doing all right also.
Pictures from Rob and Ellie’s Engagement photos came out really well. I really want a new camera.
I should write up a christmas wishlist.
I really should be working on e-mails. Ah well.

So what are ya’ll up to today? Got any thoughts to put out there?

Good News!

November 8, 2011 by Jennifer Raymond

I’m excited to announce that Michael, my boyfriend, is now my fiance (that’s the fifth time I’ve introduced him as such, and while it’s rather silly, I’m going with it).

He proposed at Camp Chimney Corners (it’s in the Berkshires of MA) while we were walking around Smith Pond. It was very romantic.

I’m pretty razzed about it, but I’ll try not to talk about it too much.

In other news, I’m in the process of submitting a few new designs to magazines. I’ll let you know when I can tell you more, and there’s some sneak peaks forthcoming!

Sign me up!

Thank you for visiting!

Tinking Turtle

Latest Posts

Social Feed

Email Signup

Don’t miss a stitch!