Mersydotes

I was just pokin' around the city today without too much to do, so I decided that it was time to make my first New York yarn pilgrimage.  I figured I could at last visit some of the creative places that have so far only existed in the blogosphere!  My first outing was made on the recommendation of a friend: the Lion Brand Yarn Studio.   The display window was sooo impressive!  A knitted zodiac in bright and festive colors- yarn as art and art in yarn!!!!!  I just happen to be an Ares, and I loooooove the pink ram with pom-pom wool! Had to love the yarn-bombed main entrance! And once inside, what a glorious array of colors meets the eye! Lion Brand has so many different styles and fibers- many more than I ever saw in the big box craft stores.  It was such a treat to wander through the jewel-toned displays and squeeze all the different skeins.  And if you want to check and see how a yarn works up before you invest, they have a sampling wall- what an awesome idea!  You

The Mersydotes Blog will soon be migrating east to New York, and I happened to be on a bit of a scouting trip there this past week.  With millions of people perpetually milling about, I challenged myself to find tiny vignettes of calm, color, wonder, and joy.  These ranged from conversations with little old ladies in bagel shops to scoping out the fashion on the doggies walking around Chelsea.  I think this is going to be the way for the Mersydotes clan to survive "The City".  We will take it in small doses, focussing on what is good and warm, personal and lovely.  Would you like to see some of the tid-bits that I noticed this week? I hope you enjoyed our little walk through the Merry Christmas Market in Union Square! Lots o' love, ~Mersydotes

All week I was looking forward to our special Saturday: Prairie Day!    Mama and Papa Mersydotes are planning to restore an acre of farmland to a natural, indigenous prairie.  Land that was under corn for years will be slowly be nurtured back to its well-balanced, fruitful, diverse natural state.  It is such a wonderful feeling to be part of this project- I can feel a part of my own soul tying itself to the land. The first step was to clear the land of the detritus of the corn harvest- stalks, cobs, and husks-thousands of pounds of it! At first we thought we could rake it all up, but it proved to be too heavy for our rakes, so we all stood in a line across the field and began shuffling our feet along the grounds, so as to build up piles of corn bits.  It was like wading through a snow drift! Then we had a grand idea- scoop up all the corn bits and take loads of it in the pickup truck and create a mountain on the other side of the field.  A plus was getting to ride al

Last weekend, the Mersydotes clan took a wonderful walk along the river and through the woods, enjoying the swirling leaves and the crunch-crunch under our feet!  Here is a lovely picture of a sycamore and two oak leaves, one burr oak and one white oak leaf.  Isn't the sycamore leaf spectacular?! There's also been some colorful crochet going on around here.  Cotton potholders have been a wonderful outlet for brightness and cheery colors. In the evenings, the puppies have been curling up and snuggling in for a toasty night. And the humans have been enjoying oh so yummy lates in local cafes while the autumn winds and rains blow outside. Ta-ta for now! ~Mersydotes

Soon the Mersydotes clan will be moving to the big city, so I have started collecting images of my beautiful Midwest as autumn descends and before the big move.  Would you like to see the snapshots I've taken so far?   As the cool weather has settled in, Penny has become quite the little blanket monster.  I'm not sure if there is anything cuter than a rat terrier wrapped up in a crochet blanket. And outside, even though the skies are gray, the leaves on the maples are fluorescing as if giving off their own light.  Every color from scarlet and ochre to safron and plum. And our resident squirrel friend is busy fattening himself up for winter.  We placed out a dried ear of corn for him in one of the now-empty flower pots, and he has enjoyed coming by for a visit and a snack. In the meantime, the fields seem vaster than ever as the soil is tilled up in preparation for the long winter dormancy. What a season! ~Mersydotes