Giving Away the Farm

Knitters gather. It's what they do. That means if you knit or crochet, you need to find Your People. Sounds like an easy assignment, with the yarn arts growing in popularity every day and groups popping up in every community room and Starbucks in town. But it's tough, actually, to find the right group with the right blend of people where you can feel immediately at ease and welcome.Jacob's Reward Farm challenges the status quo. The close but welcoming group of Barnies who gather at the...
More Description

Knitters gather. It's what they do. That means if you knit or crochet, you need to find Your People. Sounds like an easy assignment, with the yarn arts growing in popularity every day and groups popping up in every community room and Starbucks in town. But it's tough, actually, to find the right group with the right blend of people where you can feel immediately at ease and welcome.Jacob's Reward Farm challenges the status quo. The close but welcoming group of Barnies who gather at the Little Red Barn studio a couple of Saturdays each month hasn't fallen into the traps that close off or disintegrate many gatherings of crafters. There are no cliques, no queens, no divas.For the better part of those days, financial anxieties disappear. Marital struggles are quieted. Work deadlines erased. Health challenges relieved. Here, friends may ply their crafts free from racial, religious or social scrutiny or persecution. The protected environment of the farm shields them for a time from the battles that rage in their everyday lives. They enjoy acceptance and sisterly and brotherly love in a wildly diverse company of people who share a kindred artistic spirit. And yarn. Yarn knits them all together. "It's not that we're hiding from the scary world," says Kate, a long-time group member. "We're refueling and restoring ourselves to go back out and fight the battles like the warriors we are... Life is rough. The 'Barnies' simply refill our fuel tanks so we can take our creative, compassionate, fierce stand out there in the 'real' world." Through touching and hilarious real-life stories, Giving Away the Farm will show you: How a card-carrying introvert found herself called to shepherd more than sheep, How a wildly diverse group of yarn artists grew into a life-giving community, Why you need the companionship of like-minded artists, How to find a safe, authentic community where you live, How this unique farm environment has enriched our experience of community, How to find your home away from home as part of the Little Red Barn Community