Fabulous Fiber Arts

 

 

Great Barrington, MA is a sweet, small town with beautiful shops notably on Main St and Bank St. Particularly, noteworthy is Karen Allen’s store stocked with sumptuously soft cashmere sweaters, hats, fingerless gloves (you’ll just want to wear them all the time – yummy). I walked in an was recognized by Susan, who works there part-time, and who also is a landscape architect and designed my hillside of thyme, peonies, day lilies and ladies mantle 10 years ago.

But, back to the shop.

Karen is an actress (think Marion Ravenwood…Indiana Jones) who is also a talented artist. She is a student of ancient and modern textiles from aroudn the world. She designs and works with hand manipulated Japanese knitting machines to create her amazing sweaters, scarves and more using Scottish and Italian cashmere yarns.

All this beauty does come with a hefty price tag. Worth saving up for one wonderful sweater to savor through the winter and the rest of your life! Or even just some fingerless gloves? Hope some of my family members happen to read this post. Definitely worth a browse and squeeze, and tell Susan that I sent you.

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Red-winged Blackbird Symphony

I had a beautiful walk at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA. As I enter the trailhead there is a blackboard (not blackbird..) where visitors can chronicle the birds and mammals and reptiles they have seen on their visit; on the list were river otters, muskrats, ducks, geese, Grebes, snakes, hatched eggs. 

There were dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds at the edges of the marsh. Flying up and catching insects in midair, quite unafraid of my walking by. I now know the song of this bird- it was like a blackbird symphony. The call is like a yodel and a harsh trill.

To hear the song of the red-winged blackbird, click here.