A long time ago, I was a civil litigator. It was a stressful job and I found myself returning to the craft I’d learned as a child: knitting. I barely remembered the knit stitch when I started up again but I found a how-to book and kept going. By the time I bought my first pattern book (by the wonderful Debbie Bliss) and ventured into my first yarn shop (Rosie’s Yarn Cellar in Philadelphia), I was well and truly hooked.
I put my legal career on hold after my first child was born. It was the late 1990s and the internet was starting to become a Big Thing. In the few hours I wasn’t changing diapers or going to the park, I found myself falling into the most delightful rabbit hole: the online knitting world. It all started with my blog, then called “Go Knit In Your Hat.”
I blogged about knitting because I loved it and because I was opinionated. At some point I began fiddling around with making my own designs and later on hand-dyeing yarn and spinning fiber. I was fortunate enough to begin selling my designs, writing articles and books, and selling hand-dyed yarn on the internet and at yarn shows and yarn shops.
A lot of things have changed in the intervening years. I’m back to being a lawyer, I’m divorced and my kids are pretty much grown, but I still knit and write and am obsessed with yarn. For the past couple of years, my blogging took a back seat to other facets of my life, and I had to discontinue my dyeing business. But now I’m feeling the urge to start blogging regularly again.
You can read about my books (including the latest, Yarn Substitution Made Easy) and other knitting-related work through the links at left. In the meantime, welcome. It feels good to be back.
Just read your wonderful column at MDK about Rambouillet. I should have known that Rams were of French origin from the name. I have always been a fan of the British breeds, especially BFL and other long hairs. I am now finding more and more Ram wool available in the US through US producers, farmers, etc etc so am buying some and learning more about Ram wool.
I knew something about the merinos and the Spanish and that merino had gotten out of Spain but the specific story about Louis XVI was news to me. Thanks for combining wool, sheep, and history.
BTW I went to Rhinebeck in 2015 and was told by some sheep people there that the dual purpose breeders have begun paying attention to the fleece side of the duality and trying to improve the wool while maintaining the quality and quantity of the meat. Hope this has continued as it sounds like a win win to me.