Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Knitting and Reading


Finished another Plain Vest using bits of leftover wool yarn.  I am finishing up a Pebble Vest using a heavier worsted weight wool and size 10 needles.  The vest making is for an arts and crafts fair December 7th.

I am still reading Happy Hollow Farm, published in 1914.
Here is a quote ~
"... a plan was made for the farm.  We have stuck to that plan..... The essence of it is this:  First of all, the farm must furnish food for our own table - not in a roundabout way, mind you, but directly.  Ninety percent of the farmers in our neighborhood were supplying their tables from the store - buying canned stuff, buying flour and meal and potatoes and salt meat, buying practically everything they ate.  The only way they had of paying their store bills was by selling their corn and wheat - which they did for a considerable loss.  Only a few of the farmers knew how to put up sugar-cured ham and bacon.  Gardening seemed to be a lost art....
We intended to change that.  No matter how much of our land it would take, we meant to make the farm furnish our table directly with milk and cream and butter, the best of meat, poultry and eggs, fruits and garden stuff.  Our land must do that for us in the end; so, we argued, why not let it be done directly?  In quality and cost we could do better for ourselves in that way than if we got our food second-handed.  The largest item in the cost of living must be taken care of first, and in a way that insured the greatest possible economy."

Joining in with Ginny.

15 comments:

  1. Love the vest colors and the books look like a good read.

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  2. Interesting looking book! Looks like just my cuppa tea! Your little stripey vest is so sweet!

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  3. Great colors on that vest! I love how they all look together.

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  4. love old books thanks for giving us a taste as to what is inside. Love when I use up left overs for another project! Love the vest.

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  5. Adorable little vest.. Looks like a fantastic book..Found you via Yarn Along ~ happy knitting!

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  6. Thanks for leaving us with that lovely quote from your book. I think I may have to add that one to my reading list. I love the wisdom found in old books. My husband just finished reading, Ten Acres Enough, written in 1864 and has passed it on to me. He said it was full of practical advise...even for today.
    I love the vest...lovely colors!

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  7. Love your vests! I love the Pickles pattern! That book sounds fun too!

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  8. That book sounds fantastic - a very progressive thinker. Is it craft fair you would recommend and does it happen to be in central or southern VT? We're looking to go to a good one - missed the Monadnock Waldorf one last weekend :(

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  9. Where did you find Happy Hollow Farm? I really, really want to read it but my library and its 62 affiliated libraries don't have it. Can't afford the cost of a used one. Have you read the books written by the Hoovers starting with "A Place in the Woods"? I love them so much.

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    1. You can get the book for free (a digital copy) here, https://archive.org/details/happyhollowfarm00ligh . :)

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    2. Wow Leah,
      Thank you so much for sharing.

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    3. Leah, thank you so much for the link - I saw it before I'd found a copy for $6 + 3.98 postage - so I told my daughter to tell my brother that is ALL I want for Christmas (she completed her chore this morning and stayed on the phone until he went on the internet and ordered it). So I won't read it online - I prefer to have it in hand and turn the pages and smell the old book smell. :-)
      Patricia

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  10. One other thing, your simple vest - where would I get a pattern for it? I'm not a great knitter and this looks like something I can tackle for my granddaughter.

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  11. our library had one copy...they save older books
    warmly,
    tonya

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