...go east, young monkey, again....

Tomorrow morning at the bcod (butt crack of dawn) I'm leavin' on a jet plane, heading to Stitches East. I will be there as a rep for BMFA. The last time I was at Stitches East was three years ago and it took place in Baltimore, MD. Since then, it has been moved to Hartford, CT. I'm terribly excited as BMFA will be located in the WEBS booth! Can't wait to see Kathy and Steve! They are exceptional people as is their company! We are sure to have a great time.


Tina is sending a crap-load nice selection of yarn, patterns and samples. Most of these things have been shipped east with the MOTHER LODE inventory and will be there waiting, patiently for you to see. And see them you must!


Along with the beautiful Pond Scum Emerald, I will have this:

This is the beautiful Sasha by Louet. It has been knit in Seduction, STR Lightweight and

STR Silkie. All extraordinary yarns in their own right, but put together.......holy mother of *&$#!

This skirt is amazing. You have to see it to really appreciate it!

And, of course, this has been packed~

We have kits and patterns available for him. He's not quite as flashy as Sasha, but pretty cute anyway......

If you are anywhere near the Connecticut Convention Center on Thursday (evening), Friday, Saturday or Sunday, stop by and see me. I'll be in booths #Booths 301 303 305 307 309 400 402 404 406 (WEBS has a bunch of real estate!). Hope to see you there!

...honoring the past, celebrating the future...

October 14, 1934....Patricia Arlene Lockett was born.....

She was the first child of Leslie Leeland and Ida Maryjane Lockett. She was also my mother.

Here she is with her younger sister, Virginia, her mother and her grandfather, Gustave. They were crabbing on Tillamook Bay on the Oregon coast. Note the suit and tie my great-grandfather is wearing (while piloting the boat, no less). They did everything with style back then.

This is my mother entering the church to marry my Dad. That was June 2, 1956. That's her Dad, Lee and her ring bearer, Mike. Mike is my Dad's cousin. More on this part of the family later....

Here is my Mom and Dad with me in September of 1957. My parents drove from Oregon to Idaho to meet my Dad's parents and his youngest brother (they traveled east from Montana) so they could meet me. Note the little camp trailer behind them. My uncle Jim likes to refer to it as the "pregnant roller-skate"

Fast forward 30 years to September 22, 1979. Here is my Mom dancing at my wedding reception with the groom.

Here I am just before my trip down the aisle. Standing with me are my ring-bearer, Jordie and my flower girl Cari.

Cari is Mike's (my mother's ring-bearer) niece.

Here is Cari today. She is surrounded by her beautiful family. Lucas (who, by the way, was our daughter's ring-bearer in 2006), Jack, and Sam (who shares a birthday with me!) .

She is holding the newest addition to our big, well connected family. I'd like everyone to welcome Taylor Kennedy Walsh. Finally the boys have that little sister they've been wanting! You know that there will be something pink coming off the knitting needles for this little one, soon!

Taylor shares her birthday with two very special women. My Dad's mother, Faye, and my mother. She was born on what would have been my Mom's 75th birthday. I believe that she will do great things.

Welcome to the world, Taylor Kennedy. You are a very special young lady.....

...putting by...

~tomatoes~

put by ~ to save for later use: "Some crops were so abundant they could even be put by"

~fig jam~

When i was a child, my mother and my grandmother used to "put by" or can just about anything that was in season. I have vivid memories of the hot, steamy kitchen, filled with the most amazing aromas. Fruits, vegetables, jelly and jam, we canned them all. I didn't really appreciate all of the work that went into all that canning until the first jar was opened. I don't think I had ever had spaghetti with sauce made from anything but my Mom's home canned tomatoes until I went away to college. And I have to admit, I didn't realize you could buy jelly and jam at the grocery store, and after tasting the stuff we had at home, why would you?

After I was married and had a family of my own, I would can with my Mom and we would split what we made. It was great to go to the pantry and open a jar of applesauce that we had made together. Our family loved it.

As our kids got older, I found that I had less time for things like canning and making jelly and jam. It was "easier" to just pick up something at the store. And after a while we forgot what home canned things tasted like. And I forgot about the wonderful and warm memories I had that went along with putting things by.

Not long ago, while cleaning out a kitchen cabinet, I ran across my Mom's recipe for "Never Fail Dill Pickles". Looking at that recipe took me back to the kitchen of my childhood, and the trip down memory lane took me here...

~canned tomatoes, "never fail" dill pickles~

...and here...

~grape jelly, fig jam, canned pumpkin, apple pie filling~

...and let me tell you, the journey was a good one. Thanks, Mom...