Hearts and Flowers and other stuff

I did a knitalong recently from a favorite designer, Tiziana Sammuri. Her designs are always challenging and always visually stunning.

The project started in 2011 with this skein of yarn from the Tour de Fleece.

At the time I thought it was my best spinning to date. It may still be true, I can't think offhand of anything I've done that's objectively better. But by golly is it ever pink. And I'm not really a pink person, though I find myself spinning pink more than I thought I ever would.

Anyway, the yarn needed a very particular project. I thought of doing In the Pink with it but since it was a one way gradient, I had concerns about the wings matching or at least making sense. I finally just decided to wait for the right project to show up and sure enough it did with Flowery Hearts.

Starting with a long long long cast on, right directly into a tough pattern, then into lace mesh, beads (nupps are called for in the pattern but I don't like doing nupps) and flowers, the project was very difficult. It took me about a month and a half to knit, using all my home-knitting time to do it.

I think the results are pretty good.

(obligatory thrown up in a tree photo)




It was a very fussy knit but I'm glad I did it. Not sure how much I'll wear it, but I'm wearing it tonight to the opera. I don't care how cold it is outside.

I went to Rhinebeck again this year, and like a sensible person, stayed the entire weekend. I had a lot of fun for the most part (that's another post). One of the things I got was an Ashford Knitters Loom. I've been wanting to get more into weaving without spending $2k on a loom and this one was very reasonably priced. It's more versatile than the frame loom I have and I am really enjoying the process of getting to know it.

Here's my first real finished object from it. A scarf, warped with Dalegarn Baby Ull and Patons SwS as the weft. The edges are a tragic mess but I don't care. I think that happened because the weft yarn was so much thicker than the warp yarn but I'm not sure. It was fun to make (about an hour to warp and one movie to weave!) and warm and snuggly to wear. Next up, probably dishtowels for holiday gifts.





I also made a couple of hats for my daughter and her boyfriend. The hats are kind of boring but very very warm and soft.



And finally, what will probably be my last spinning before the end of the holiday season, sock yarn from Black Bunny fibers cheviot wool. 350ish yards in great fall colors.

The Cat's Meow

You may have noticed the adorable kitten at the end of yesterday’s post. For those who have not been inundated with pictures of his cuteness on my facebook feed, this is Higgs-Boson, our newest family member.



Higgs started his life as a semi-feral stray near our swim club. Mary, the woman who runs the place, feeds a crapload of feral cats that live in the surrounding woods, and she catches/vets them as possible. She makes particular efforts to capture new litters of kittens so they can go to good homes with people who will fuss over them and get them shots and special operations.



Just after my last blog entry before November’s blitz-to-be, Mary had caught two of the three kittens in a litter. One was a sweet little calico female and one a tan and white tabby. The cats are mixed DSH and Maine Coon Cat, unknown percentages, a lot of calico females and the males generally invisible, other than one friendly fellow named Prince, who deigns to be petted by anyone who will get close enough. The tan and white boy kitten looked a lot like Prince, and is a similar color to my personal Cat Hall Of Fame leader, Rameses, the tabby I had from age 17 to age 34, transcontinental relocations and all. Adding to his already almost irresistible appeal, he was ultra cuddly and ultra sweet. All he wanted to do was snuggle and purr. So we brought him home.



I decided to name him Higgs-Boson because we already have a Figment, and he’s bigger than a particle, but smaller than a Biscuit. He has a luxurious coat, incredibly soft. (He also brought fleas, which we are still working on vanquishing. You can apparently hide a lot of fleas in a coat like that.) He has a smaller version of the gorgeous Maine Coon ruff, the ear tufts, and tufts of hair between the toes of his incredibly big and adorable feet.



As an adolescent kitty, he is less inclined to cuddle unless it suits him but it suits him often enough, and he can often be persuaded. He has a huge personality, and a ton of confidence. He’s got the most beautiful tail, and he carries it high and proud. His purr is loud enough to be heard across the room. He’s almost done trying to climb me without warning, and has successfully negotiated the “all claws and teeth” phase of kittenhood. Figment is pretty much over him, but they get along well enough that Figment came into the bathroom for a concerned investigation last time we had kitten-bathing time. Biscuit tolerates him, and I think Biddy is terrified of him. He was terrified of Lily initially, but I think he’s decided she’s just a big, funny looking, odd smelling cat with no tail.




I told Bob I should have named him Derek Zoolander, because he really is really, really, ridiculously good-looking.

November Blogging Challenge

I’m going to try to have a blog entry a day during November. I’m not usually one for self imposed pressure as I am a firm believer that external pressure is quite enough thank you, but I’ve been very neglectful of this blog and that needs to change one way or another.

Posts might be long or short. They might be a photo and a quick line or two about it. They might be a series of links, or a series of tubes. They might be deep or supremely shallow. We’ll just have to see how it goes.

One of the things that keeps me from it is the inescapable reality of my hands. It’s getting more difficult to type. My accuracy is way down and the nerve pain makes typing very frustrating at times. I hate this almost more than anything else because I’m used to being strong. I’ve long prided myself on my strength. I can’t even open a bottle of vitamin water without a knife and a grippy thing now.

So anyway. Knitting, photographs, my brain being overtaken by Apple products, feminism, kittens, body image, a modicum of personal blathering as advertised, who knows. Stay tuned.

Julia's 100th

Julia Child would have been 100 years old last Wednesday, August 15th. Due to a hectic work schedule and other life busy-ness, I was unable to make anything special on that day. But Saturday, I planned to have my mother over for dinner and I prepared my take on Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguinon.

Julia was quite meticulous in her instructions. I do a few things differently. Instead of bacon lardons, I use pancetta. I like the way it tastes and the quality of it tends to be higher than most commercial bacon. Plus, pancetta isn't smoked, so I can skip the part of the recipe where you boil the bacon to get the smoky taste out. I'm all for avoiding extra steps.

So first thing is cook the pancetta.

Julia wants you to remove the bacon from the pan when you add the meat, but I just leave it.

For this batch of stew, I used chuck tenders that were on sale at the local grocery. I cut them into large bite sized pieces and dredged them in flour.



While the pancetta is cooking nice and crispy, I cut up two onions, one long purple onion and one sweet white onion. I cut them into large chunks and sautéed in butter until they were nice and soft.



Instead of making the mushrooms in a separate pan, I quartered them and added to the sauteed onions and let them cook until the meat was ready for them. I used crimini mushrooms.



I add some extra butter to the stew pot and start adding the pieces of meat. What you're doing here is twofold-you're cooking a nice piece of meat but you're also composing a roux in the bottom of the pan and cooking your flour a bit so the gravy will be smooth and velvety and not have that gritty raw flour taste.

I add the pieces of meat a bit at a time, making sure they get at least a little seared on both sides.



(I'm going to take this opportunity to apologize for the crappy cell phone pictures. My camera card went corrupt and I have ordered a new one, but it's not arrived yet.)

Once the beef is browned, I add the broth and the red wine. I keep a big jug of cooking wine in the kitchen at all times. The current red is a chianti, not a burgundy which is fine, because it matches the pancetta. Now I add the onions and mushrooms, and my celery and carrots too. I throw in a bit of herbs de provence and a little extra thyme and some fresh ground black pepper, along with a tablespoon or so of tomato paste.



And that's what it looks like once it simmers a bit. I usually let it cook on low for an hour or so then either put it in the fridge, or put it in the oven for 40 minutes at 300 depending on when dinner is. The oven step finishes reducing the gravy and brings everything together perfectly.

I don't have any pictures of that, since we ate it.

I served it with noodles. You can serve it by itself, with potatoes, with rice, pretty much any starch you want. We had a nice fresh heirloom tomato salad with garden herbs,and a loaf of crusty italian bread with butter. It was a great meal and a fitting tribute to Julia.

What a week

It's been one heck of a week.

I finished the tour de fleece with a personal record, seven skeins, two pounds, just under five miles of yarn.



When we last met, I had spun two.

This is a polwarth/silk blend, a two ply gradient, 817 yards. About five ounces.



Next was a lovely BFL. The fiber was a peach to pink to blue gradient and I split it to spin "fractal" three ply. One lengthwise third was left as is, one third divided in two lengthwise, and the last third divided by four lengthwise. The fractal color progressions will show up when it's knitted. It's 3 ply, so it's less yardage, 465 yards.



Next was a merino/silk gradient, the pictures do not do this skein justice, it is much prettier than it looks here. 652 yards, two ply.



Next, I did a gradient skein in two equal halves, then chain plied the singles to create a three ply matching sock yarn. This was a merino/bamboo/nylon blend and totaled 470 yards.



And finally, on the very last day, I spun this gorgeous camel/silk blend to a worsted weight 367 yards. I call it Champagne on the Champs, and I am in love with this blend.



The skein was still a little damp when I took the photos, it's shinier and more bouncy now.

We went to Hog Heaven Rescue's open house Saturday, we took my Mom along and it was a nice day. This pig tried to come home with us.



Here's a slideshow of the whole day. Hog Heaven does great work doing large animal rescue and I encourage you to check them out and donate if you can.



Healthwise, I'm not ok. Super stressed. Bob lost his job, which has thrown us into chaos. My face still hurts where I fell and my ear is still tender. I've been swimming and so on but my stomach issues are much worse when I'm stressed and I have not been sleeping well. This too shall pass, at least I hope so. He has quite a few leads and prospects coming up so please keep all applicable body parts crossed and if you have any leads for a help desk/tech writer type job please let me know.

For now at least we'll just keep buzzing along.

I want to ride it where I like

So the Tour de Fleece is underway. That means I am spinning, spinning, and spinning some more. Two skeins down and who knows how many more to go.

For the second year, I am spinning all Corgi Hill fibers, except for my traveling project, which is the Tsock Tsarina kit I got at MDSW.

The first skein was a UFO, I had one and a bit more plies done. I've been doing this a little at a time on my Fibership spindle so I finished it off, then plied it on the wheel. Huge yardage, 760 yards. The fiber is BFL/silk.



I'm pretty happy with it except I still need to add more plying twist even when I think I don't.



Pretty impressive yardage.

The second skein, didn't work so well for me, although the end result is good.



It's a merino/silk/yak blend. Also from Corgi Hill, this is one of the prizes I won for last year's tour. I only got about 300 yards out of it. It was hard to draft, I think the staple was weird for me, I was just glad to see the end of it. I did add adequate plying twist to this one, though.


The next one is a polwarth/silk blend, gradient, from bright teal through yellow into bright grass green. Not as jewel tone subdued as the prior two. Gotta mix it up now and then.

Needless to say all knitting projects are on hold until after the tour. I haven't decided if I'm going to knit in the Ravellenic Games yet.

Things are status quo otherwise, no further fainting spells and I've been careful to stay hydrated especially in this heat we've been having. We renewed our pool membership for another three months and plan to continue that as much as possible. Bob really gets a lot out of it and a day like today, it was wonderful to just get into the pool up to my neck in water, anything else was extra.

We've harvested our first green beans and our first tomatoes. (three wee cherry tomatoes but it counts!) The squash plants are fighting for life in the heat. We shall see if we get anything out of it. The collard greens look ok so far but it's hard to tell, they're small yet. Next year, we need to plant earlier.

We went to the Big Butler Fair last weekend. It was nice. Hot but nice. We saw a lot of horses, sheep, pigs, etc. A nice family day out.





Will update again soon!

They All Fall Down

Things are really coming to a head for me lately healthwise. Last week at work, I fainted. That’s a first for me, even back in my misspent youth when I was drinking heavily and doing inadvisable drugs while not eating, I never passed completely out. I passed completely out. I stood up from my desk, went to get a drink of water, everything went fuzzy, and I hit the floor. Woke up to find people fussing over me and my face feeling like it was on fire. It broke my fall, apparently. They called an ambulance and away to the hospital I went. Nothing broken, no heart or stroke issues, likely prognosis was dehydration due to the chronic gastric issues I’ve been having lately. So I have stern warnings to hydrate and a no-nonsense referral to a gastroenterologist.



My face is all black and blue and I have nine stitches behind my ear where my glasses ripped the skin away. It hurt like a mofo. I still can’t sleep on that side. My cheekbone is numb and hurts all around it. The doctor said I probably bruised that one facial nerve that hurts like battery acid when you do anything to it. I’m mostly ok now but it was a profoundly scary experience.

Adding to that fun is that I went to a neurologist for a consult on this neuropathy and the news is not good. Nothing to be done about it. It’s permanent and the best I can do is hope to keep it from getting any worse. Which entails keeping my blood sugar in a totally unrealistic place for me. He ordered some more detailed blood work and is going to see if something else is up that can cause the leg cramps I’ve been fighting for a while. It’s all very depressing and boring and I’ve said enough.

I spun some alpaca


I made an alpaca neck warmer/cowl...



...and I’m working on a shawl out of the yarn Bob got me for our anniversary.

I think it’ll be pretty even though I’m having to heavily adapt the pattern because I hate it. I’m also finishing up some BFL/Silk blend that I started on a spindle and am contemplating my next spinning project. Because I am going to run out of time way before I run out of fiber. That’s a fact, jack.

Here comes the sun (flower)

I finished the Sunflower shawl early last week but didn't get it blocked until last weekend. And have not had a chance to blog about it until now!

I actually carried it with me to work on when we went to Cincinnati for our anniversary. Spent many happy hours visiting with old and new friends and knitting. I had a bit of a scare at the end, as the yarn almost ran out and when I was finishing the petals, I had to decrease on both the knit and purl side to avoid running out.

This is how close that was.


That is not a lot of yarn, y'all! I went so far as to contact the woman who dyed the fiber at Corgi Hill Farm to see if she could do me up some more. But thankfully, I made it.


The yarn is handspun BFL/Silk from Corgi Hill Farm fiber. The pattern is Tuscan Sunflower, available on Ravelry. I spun the fiber to a laceweight two ply, spinning each braid separately to preserve the gradient. I used size 7 needles, interchangeable knitpicks variety, almost having a heart attack when one of the cables broke and I lost about 40 stitches. I can't even find where that happened, now, I managed to get them all back. But it was a lace knitter's worst nightmare, especially one who never uses lifelines.
The Ravelry page is here.

I'll just post a bunch of pictures now and let them speak for themselves. It's hands down the prettiest thing I've ever knitted.









The drape and shine of the yarn is incredible, Anna Marie makes the most wonderful fibers to spin and I put the yarn quality down to her. You can't spin bad fiber into beautiful yarn.

Speaking of spinning, I have done a couple of yarns the last week or so. This one is
the lovely Handspun by Stefania corriedale I got at MDSW. It's spun woolen long draw and much better than my first attempt at that technique.



It's over 300 yards and will be hats for my older daughter and her boyfriend.

The second is also an MDSW thing, the batts I got from Spinner's Hill. Nearly 400 yards, a sport weight or so. I am thinking a garter-based shawl with a lacy edging, one just came out in Knitty this week that might suit.


And that's been my last few weeks in crafting!