Charleen's Fiberblog

Meandering

These pictures were languishing in a draft since early October, but I actually took the machine quilting course right before Labor Day.

Since my return to quilting I've had the chance to assemble several quilt tops but a finished quilt is alluding me. Hand quilting is going to have to wait until I quit my day job and set up my big quilt frame again. I could send them out to be quilted - and for the larger ones that's what I'm going to do - but I like doing all the steps myself. Enter machine quilting! I tried it right before I packed away the quilt fabrics close to twenty years ago. Harriet Hargreaves and others were recommending a smoke colored monofilament thread that I just could not get the hang of. It was stiff, it wore against the fabric, and if you had an end work loose and stick you - jeez, that little bugger can hurt!

I used the walking foot that came with my Janome (much nicer than the optional one for my old Viking) and quilted the 20" block into quarters with plain sewing thread.

Then I switched to my darning foot and began free motion, stippling, and meandering. While you can find a variety of definitions for those two terms, the instructor/owner of my local quilt shop defined stippling as close stitching that doesn't cross over a previous line and meandering as .... just that - freeform, go with the flow!

I found the free motion fun but I would probably chalk out a general design first. I spent too much time worrying that my stippling might cross over a line so I went right on to the meandering. Very cool! Once I get a little more time (and that will be coming up soon) look for a finished quilt.

This summer, Marie showed me her very organized needle collection. She used a canvas ziplock setup that's sold for fishing accessories. This appealed to my stressed out, overworked, when I get a chance to sit down and knit I can't find the right needle (even though I own 3 or 4 of that size) self. Unfortunately time once again alluded me and before I knew it school started. While pulling out things for the start of the school year I came upon this.

At the end of the school year we have to inspect all of our homeroom students' lockers. You would not believe the things kids leave in there. Some too disgusting for words, but others could fill a clothes bank (which is where we send them). I pulled this notebook out a few years ago and stuck it in my closet. Someone's mother thought they were starting their child out on a good foot with with a nice zipped organizer/binder. Except the kid never used it! So, remembering Marie's little book of needles I set out to see if I could make heavy, zip-lock freezer bags fit the bill. I may have to spring for another one for dpns.

I think I'll run a strip of heavy packing tape along the folded area before I punch the holes to give it even more reinforcement.

Thanks to Claudia's recommendation I picked up a great new cookbook - Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Try this yummy soup! You won't be sorry.

1. Combine the bean mix, water, parsley, and bouquet garni bag in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring a few times, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add to the cooker, cover, turn the cooker to LOW, and cook the soup 4 to 5 hours.
3. Add the kale and stir to incorporate ((if you need to let the soup cook all day while you are gone, just add the kale at the beginning or substitute spinach and add at serving time). Cover and continue to cook on LOW until the beans are tender, another 4 to 5 hours.
4. Discard the bouquet garni. Stir in the wine, vinegar, and hot pepper sauce. Season with salt and plenty of fresh black pepper.
5. My mods: The night before I rinsed a bag of Goya 16 bean soup mix and soaked them overnight, in about 8 cups of water. I also cooked the onion and got the herbs ready to go. The next morning I drained and rinsed the beans and threw it all in. It cooked for about 9 hours on low. When I got home I cut up a pound of low-fat turkey kielbasa and tossed it a bit in a skillet before adding it to the beans. About 15 minutes before serving I added a pound of thawed frozen spinach, along with the wine, vinegar, Frank's hot sauce, and ground pepper.

Twist and Shout

My Minimalist cardigan is getting closer to the end. I have 1.75 skeins left and both fronts to do. Yikes! I'm finding that the moss stitch is really torquing but I can pull on the diagonal and it looks good. I'll block the pieces first and then the seams should hold it all in place. The picture is from last weekend, I finished the back last night.

I also started on my last fiber from Anne. This is Oberon - 40% gray alpaca, 30% gray angora bunny and purple/blue dyed angora, and 18% purple/blue dyed silk, 2% purple angelina. I'm spinning this in a laceweight.

I didn't spin when my kids were young. Now that Jackson can get around more I'm learning a few things!

You'll be happy to know that he pushed that car right behind the wheel without actually hitting it!

Tangled Yoke

I seem to be having the same blog paralysis that's plagueing Sue. I've taken lots of pictures and I have lots of ideas, the problem is being at a keyboard when the thoughts come together!

So here's a shot of the Tangled Web cardigan finished sans buttons. It's quite warm so I have a while to find the perfect ones. It's a little big (so say my daughters) but I like the wider neckline. It will be perfect for school because I never know what temperature my room will be.

After the buttons are on I will block the cables a little better.

I absolutely LOVE the Sailor's Rib vest. However I started last spring and thought I was making a smaller enough size. Once it was done I thought it would still look good, and it would if I wear it over a heavier sweater but I would be more likely to wear it over a blouse or turtleneck.

A bit big, no?

I loved working on this pattern. I knit this all sitting on the sofa at my mother's. I'm so happy Claudia suggested the 220 Superwash. I'm not a fan of superwash but on her suggestion I tried it. This is lovely. Soft, but not artificial feeling. Definitely a yarn that will becoome a favorite for Jackson knitting.

You can be assured that I will be posting soon. If for no other reason than to get my mug off the top of my blog!

Back to Knitting

I'm an evening away from finishing my Tangled Yoke cardigan. You might remember that I wasn't happy with the folded neckband. I didn't bother blocking - I knew I wouldn't like it, so I ripped back and bound off and I was much happier.

Then I followed the directions for the front band and despite my concern that there were too many stitches I blindly picked up the stated number of stitches and ribbed away. Once I started binding off I could see I was going to get ruffles.

I ripped out and picked up 2 stitches for every three rows and that did the trick. It looks quite puckered but after weaving in a few loose ends I'll give it a good soak and block. I still haven't found the right buttons but I've got plenty of time. I don't think I'll be wearing it until next fall - especially after today's 82° temps.

I found this almost finished cardigan in one of the bags I used to take to my mom's. I worked on it last summer and it only needs the front bands and a zipper but I don't think it will fit Jackson now. Guess it will go in the box for the next grandchild.

No Sausage Now!

After ripping out the old Fixation sweater (you might remember Jackson as an Oscar Meyer look-a-like) I knit it again in a larger size with a larger needle.

While he is, of course, cute as a button, the variegated yarn doesn't quite flatter his cute little Buddha belly.

It popped over his head like a charm and will probably fit him for a year or two as there is plenty of length in the arms and body. If he's like his daddy the middle will slim down as soon as he gets his running legs.

Now it's time to get back to the rest of the knitting projects. I must have six sweaters that I started during the time I spent with my mother. I was a little surprised at how difficult it was to pick them up at first. So many memories in those stitches.

Finally, I remembered! I've been meaning to post this recipe for awhile now. Someone passed it on to me a few months ago and I loved it so much I went out and bought the book - Eat, Drink & Be Vegan.

ONE WILD CHICK SOUP
1 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ cups red onion, diced
1 ½ cups celery, diced
¾ cup carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed
¼ tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
1 ½ tsp dried thyme
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried marjoram
3 ½ cups cooked chickpeas (I used canned)
4 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken)
3 cups water
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp fresh sage, minced (or ½ tsp dried)
1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced (or ½ tsp dried)

In a large pot on medium heat, add oil, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, wild rice, salt, pepper, dry mustard, dried thyme, oregano, and marjoram and stir to combine. Cover and let cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add 2 ½ cups chickpeas, stock, water, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Increase heat to bring mixture to a boil Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45-55 minutes, until rice is fully cooked and inner white of grain is exposed. With a hand blender, briefly pulse soup to add some body and creaminess if desired. Stir in the reserved 1 cup chickpeas, nutritional yeast, sage, and fresh thyme, and cook 2-3 minutes. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and serve. (I put all the chickpeas in at the beginning and don’t blend)

Ms and Os Finished

I finally cut off the Ms and Os and started the finishing process. This is the alabaster weft, before washing.

And here, after washing. Would have been nice if I had the same orientation.

And again, after pressing.

The baked clay weft, which will be a dresser scarf for the guest room:

and my sampling with thicker wefts. The variegated is 4/4 cotton, the brown and gold is 5/2 perle.

I like Dixon's suggestion of using a thicker weft. The 4/4 gives great coverage without making a stiff fabric.

These towels will be used but they would be even better with a thicker weft. I'd use the 5/2 for towels, go with 10/2 for the warp. A few years ago I used a structure similar to this and was not happy with the way the weft filled in. I never did finish that baby blanket. The 4/4 weft would make a nice baby blanket or pillow fabric. I'm sewing the hems by hand because there's no tabby header and machine stitching would be too visible.

Final thoughts? I can definitely see more Ms and Os in my future for table linens, blankets, and upholstery fabrics.

It Doesn't Really Go Away

If you're anything like me you have this ability to believe that if you wish really, really hard that the little flaw you noticed just might go away! WRONG!!

I should have taken a picture right away and then there would be no doubting the fact that you can see this and it's not acceptable. Oh well, at least it's pretty high up the sleeve, a 3/4 sleeve to boot! Ripping won't be that painful.

Apart from the obvious problem the Minimalist Cardigan is coming along very nicely. I'm using Cascade 220 in Bluestone (7920) with size 6 US needles. It's a lovely greenish blue, although you wouldn't know that from my washed out photo. Here's a better better view.

If you didn't read the comments on my M's and O's post Christine suggested floating selvages and Marie suggested a temple. I'll try both later this week.

Out With the Old

Rip, rip, rip! It's out with the old and in with the new!

You might remember Jackson in his sausage sweater. I was just going to give this to a younger baby but I realized it wasn't proportional. The arms are too short and the body too tight and long. I started this at a very stressful time last fall and I now realize that along with my gauge being off I was following several different sizes in the instructions. Doh! While looking for something else I found another ball of the Fixation so knowing I'll have enough for a size 2 I started ripping. I started over, going up a needle size and have progressed through the neck ribbing and short row shaping and am now doing the raglan increasing through the shoulders. In case you need a dose of cute, here's Jackson getting ready to watch the Super Bowl!

Inspired by Leigh's lovely M's and O's I starting winding a warp for some more towels using one of my favorites - WEB's Eight-Two in willow green.

It's a 128 end repeat and I have three repeats wound. Now I have to figure out my sett and decide if I need to play with the pattern a bit. That's wrapped pretty tightly and it's 36 wpi. I could have sworn I used 20 epi before with this yarn. You'd think I'd have records somewhere but apparently only pictures!

I'll mull it over while I rip up carpet. Yes, I'm doing another room makeover!

For those of you who are lucky enough to have a three day weekend, enjoy! And take some time to read Syne's new endeavor WeaveZine. Bonnie has a great Turned Weft Ikat article. Tonight it's back to the table of contents for more information and ideas.

Tangled Yoke

My Tangled Yoke Cardigan is coming down to the wire. Some of the modifications I made were knitting the ribbing on the sleeves and body a more traditional length and forgoing the waist shaping.

I've never done a neckband in this way. It's knit in a garter rib for 18 rows. Then you use a much smaller needle (I used US1) to pick up stitches from the base of the neckband and do a 3 needle bind off.

I'm tempted to graft the underarm stitches and block this puppy before knitting the button bands because I'm not sure I like the neckband. It looks a little thick but it might just need a good blocking. I know the cables will look a lot better!

I'm a little behind in my posting, but I wanted to thank Cathy for nominating me for a "you make my day" award. I really appreciate it. While the last year has been rather hit or miss, I've gained so much from my 4.5 years of blogging. I've been thinking about the 150 or so feeds on my Bloglines and realized that they are all my favorites! So I will have to pass on my personal list and just say

You ALL make my day!

Pollyanna has now left the room......

Reading

In response to my "What are you reading?" question Valerie gave a thumbs up for The Space Between Us, by Thrity Umrigar and for Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. I started Water for Elephants last year, right when my mother's health began to fail. I had to put it aside for a bit but when I picked it up again I found that it wasn't as sad as I thought - it was actually hopeful. I haven't heard much talk about Gruen's Riding Lessons or Flying Changes but I like that she donates some of the proceeds from her books to related causes.

Cathy put in a plug for James Gleick's Chaos: Making a New Science. By the looks of the summary I'll need to read this one, not listen to it.

Kim suggested The Blood of Flowers, by Anita Amirrezvani. Kim says there is lots of fiber and rug weaving in the story and the narator's accent just adds to the depth of the story. The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabron, along with Neil Gaiman's Nevermind and Terry Prachett's Making Money.

Rob suggested John Sanford's Dark of the Moon. I've read all of the Prey books (there's a new one coming out in May) but this one slipped by me. It will be one of my February Audible downloads.

I finished My Sister's Keeper last week. What a fascinating story! I felt like I could see the characters emerge little by little as the story peeled away their facades, the whole time wondering "what would I have done?" I'm almost finished The Senator's Wife, which was described as having a Picoult-like ending. Hmmm...

Waiting in the wings are four more books by Picoult. The Tenth Circle, Vanishing Acts, Second Glance, and The Pact.

Since I'm listening I had my hands free to start The Minimalist Cardigan (artfully posed on a lovely hotel ottoman).

WIPS

With nothing new on the fiber front, an update on my WIPS seems to be appropriate.

Knitting

Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke is nearing the end. Of course it would go a LOT faster if I wasn't reknitting each row 2 or 3 times! It's not the pattern, it's me - but at least I can see the beginning of the end. I also enlarged the graph and color coded it. I'd like to say that I didn't make a mistake after that - but I can't! I knit a few rows more after that picture and it's very cool watching the twisted stitches turn into the intended design.

I hope to finish the yoke before leaving for the weekend. The Minimalist Cardigan will be my traveling companion. I don't want to drag that whole sweater up there and work on the edging. That's a recipe for disaster.

Weaving

I don't have any weaving time coming up for a bit but that doesn't stop me from thinking about the next project. I was inspired by K. C. Alexander's table runner, Warp Rep Craftsman Style, in the Jan/Feb 2008 Handwoven (p. 40). I'm thinking about placemats and a runner and using 8/4 carpet warp and 10/2 for thin weft. Here's hoping that Fiberworks soon becomes available for Mac.

Quilting

I did get some time to work on my quilts before heading back to school and traveling. I can't seem to find the right fabric for the next, wider, border.

Nothing is doing it for me.

Even my much beloved green!

Can you say BLECH! It will be better as the backing. So on to the baby quilt.

It's small enough to fit on my cutting table. I used masking tape and binding clips. Thanks to Claudia for that tip!

It's all basted and ready to go.

I wasn't thrilled with the gold for the binding so I stopped on my way home Sunday and bought a brighter orange print. Looks much better.

All This in One Post

This is what happens when you take pictures but don't update your blog ...

The Fixation crew neck sweater was coming along fine but ...

Jackson is growing like a weed!

He looks like a little sausage.

The Tangled Yoke sweater seen here

is now up to the sleeve insertion point. One sleeve is done, one more to go.

The Embossed Leaves sock was too tight. I knew it but kept knitting anyway - somehow thinking that good thoughts would make it fit. I could put it on but it looked too stretched out. Rip, rip! I'm going to use the same pattern but I need to decide if I want to add a couple of purl stitches or go up from a size 1 needle to a 2.

So if I have no time, what am I doing buying fleece? I really can't answer that question except to say - wouldn't you?

Lovely lamb fleeces from Ewes in Color. A Wensleydale fleece

and a Teeswater fleece.

Part of what's keeping me so busy is that Laura bought her first house and we've been busy drywalling, sanding, and painting. My sister brought a bottle of wine to help us along, but Laura hadn't moved in her kitchen stuff - so no cork screw. One suggestion was to use a drywall screw and then pop it out. Sarah was game. First she tried a pry bar.

Then pliers.

Finally she went over to the guys next door and borrowed a corkscrew. Much easier!

Variegated Variations

Finally, I'm on the last of the False Damask variegated warp towels. These rather washed out photos don't do justice to the variety of looks I'm getting by changing up weft and treadling.

With black weft I treadled 1-8 with no repeats.

The terra cotta weft was my favorite. I used only 3 repeats each of 1-4 then 5-8, rather than the original 4 repeats.

The last two towels are striped, treadling only 1-4.
Kim's obsession with The Secret Life of Bees has led her to create a beautiful colorway which she named Tupelo Honey. While ensconced in my room (I was teaching a few hours from home) this past weekend I started Mona Schmidt's Embossed Leaves Socks from the Winter 2005 IK. Love the yarn, love the pattern!

The slightly out of focus picture captured with my iphone. While I had it out I had to snap a pic of why I'm finding teaching out of town to be a pretty relaxing weekend. I could get used to this! I just ran down the steps and there was pineapple and strawberries, oatmeal and dried cranberries. Oh my!

And just because I find it funny .... Someone sent this link to one of my psych lists. After watching that I noticed a link to the Colorectal Surgeon's Song. Come on, wouldn't you click too?

Back to Spinning

Once this last bit was plyed, the superwash from Crown Mountain was finally finished. I don't know if it's a characteristic of superwash, or just my inattentiveness, but it was terribly underplyed.

So on to the swift it went and I added more twist. Compare the re-plyed back skein with the underplyed front skein.

Much better, eh? So now I have about 1000 yards, 8 oz., and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.

Indecision abounds! I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing with the 3 ply corrie that I finished almost a year ago. It's just begging to be knit up with cables and texture stitches. I've got at least 2300 yards so I should have more than enough.

While rummaging around, looking for all those skeins of corrie I uncovered a finished sweater! According to my archives I finished this in April 2005 with the Beast I was spinning way back in 2002. Okay, it's not quite finished - but I've been wearing for the last week without any buttons. I remember buying them, but I can't remember where I put them. (Don't ask why I didn't remember that I finished it!)

Get At It Girl!

Holy crap! I just looked at my MT menu and I've got more draft entries than I have published these last few months. I've actually been doing things but getting the pictures, writing, etc. together just hasn't been happening! So let's see if I can get rolling.

With two weeks left before school started I decided I better do some traveling! I drove up to the Funny Farm and did some trichromatic samples with Marie. If you read Marie's blog you know that I was just a little clumsy! We're trying to work our way through our Sabracon dyes.

You get a lot of muddy neutrals - which I actually like - working with 10s so I'm thinking about trying a similar triangle but using 100, 80/20, 60/40, etc. Would save on dye and I think give a very good result. Of course I haven't tried it yet. So stay tuned.

The next week found me heading up to Marie's Monday night and Tuesday morning we pulled into ....

After a short detour at Southampton Quilts, more about that later, we arrived at WEBS!

I love their Eight Twos, a really great warp spun cotton, very similar to the 2/8 from Maurice Brassard. It doesn't shed like other unmercerized cottons and has a wonderful hand. I bought 3/2 perle for a blanket for Jackson. I also picked up several different cottons, spiral, 8/4 rug warp, etc for dyeing.

Once home there was major shopping at Countrywool. I picked out some Heilo for Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke Cardigan and Cascade220 for Ruthie Nussbaum's Minimalist Cardigan.

Some Fixation for Claudia's top down Wee Raglan (scroll way down) for Jackson fell into my bag too.

I've already finished the neckband and the short rows at the back of the neck. Now It's smooth sailing down the yoke, increasing every other row.

Sure, there were Margaritas and yarn, but really, can you beat a scene as peaceful and idyllic as this?

I'll let you in on a secret. I have a nifty new camera with a digital video setting and, just between us, I have plenty of material to make a few people squirm.....

Depending on how the blackmail proposal goes you might get to hear Marie singing selections from The Sound of Music as she models Claudia's new hat pattern.

What a great way to finish up the summer! School started this week for teachers, ninth graders come for orientation tomorrow, and after a four-day-weekend school is open for everyone.

Updates

While this close up was taken in progress, the hat, knitted from two Machine Knitting to Dye For blanks, is finished
.

Where's that Faroe Vine Cardigan? Well, I've picked up the stitches on for the right half of the front neckband. Once all the stitches were picked up and a couple of rows knitted I cut the neck steek and then pulled out the double pointed needles and let the stitches run down! After taking a break due to hyperventilation, I continued to knit and the band turned out great!

Try as I might I could not get a decent picture to show you the braids made with the excess yarn from the stitches. They will be encased in the finished neckband. I've had the buttons for a couple of weeks but I just can't bring myself around to cutting that front steek. I told myself that I wouldn't be wearing it until next fall so I had plenty of time, but with the cold weather we've been having lately I could have been wearing it now.

I finished the handspun corrie tweed cardigan that I was knitting at my mother's. Just need some buttons and blocking. Here's the start of the Sailor's Rib Vest (scroll way down). It's got a nice reverse stockinette stich hem which looks a little scalloped before blocking. I'm sure it's just the difference between the double moss stitch and cable sections.

Location, Location, Location

Location 1: That old adage applies to beading too.

I wanted to make another Jewel of India bracelet for my sister's birthday. I think she'll like these black/pewter/bronze delicas. I'm using a silvery gray fire polished bead as the center accent. I started with the sample on the left but didn't like the multicolored bead next to the accent bead. A little too messy looking. So I started over and put the matte pewter bead next to the accent and it looked much better.

Another hour or two and it will be finished.

Location 2: The corrie tweed cardigan returned home with me last weekend. I dyed and started blending this fiber almost two years ago. I finished spinning and started knitting a top down pullover. Last summer I decided to rip it out and use Claudia's percentage cardigan pattern. I've been working on it at my mother's since her health began to fail last fall.

I have yet to take a good picture of this yarn. It's showing too much red on my monitor. I'm waiting on an extra long size 3 needle to do the button band and neckband and I've still got to decide on buttons.

Location 3: I bought my Lendrum Saxony last March and as much as I loved it I was having trouble with a clunking sound. It bugged me enough that I drove up to Kingston in July. Gord sat down and it didn't make a sound, but when I sat down it got noisy. He couldn't figure out why it happened, maybe the length of my leg (pretty stubby) but he put a little piece of nylon bushing around the brass shaft and that seemed to work. A few weeks later it started up again. So this week I was poking around in the archives of the Online Guild looking for spinning information and found that someone put together a list of the different wheels that people had and comments they made about them. Someone (no names were attributed) mentioned that she had a Lendrum Saxony and loved it. However she noted that she couldn't use her spinning chair anymore but that it didn't bother her because the easy chair was more comfortable anyway. Hmmm. Now I remembered that when I sat at the end of my chaise that it didn't make any noise. So I tried it again and voilà! No noise. I sat on the sofa and spun. No noise! I sat back on my spinning chair and the noise reappeared.

Expect to see much more spinning as I won't have to grit my teeth everytime I hear the clunking. On the bobbin is some gorgeous roving from Anne. This is Peacock - 65% jet black alpaca, 25% dyed silk in royal blue and teal green, and 5% bronze angelina. Be sure to check out her etsy shop.

Now this is a stretch for the location theme but too bad. The sleeves and body of the Faroe Vine Cardigan are ready to be joined. I can't believe how fast this is coming together!

There's nothing sweeter than a well designed sweater and the increases are so organic.

Finally - A Snow Day!

Not too much snow but the ice was enough to give me a snow day. I got to use the new mittens and Calorimetry while shoveling. Both worked like a charm to keep my hands and ears warm, which was no easy task with the sleet and snow mix blowing all around. When I came back in I treated myself to this.

As you can see I couldn't wait until after I took the picture to start eating. My oldest, the papa-to-be, gave me the recipe. He makes it for mama-to-be, cuts it up, wraps it in foil, and freezes them. She takes them to work for a healthy snack. If you cut them into 16 bars they're about 75 calories and 8 grams of protein each. The recipe is below.

The Faroe Vine Cardigan is coming along well.

The easy-to-remember vine pattern is a delight. I also love the way Claudia has drafted the pattern to have the vines meet at the raglan decreases. Beautiful, yes?

Blueberry Bars

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground Flaxseed
1/4 cup wheat germ, oat bran, or ground nuts
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1 1/2 cups white grape juice concentrate
4 tablespoons butter -- melted
2 large eggs -- lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup dried or dehydrated blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 F Lightly coat a nonstick 9-inch square cake pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.

2. Place the whole wheat flour, flaxseed, wheat germ, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl and stir to mix well.

3. Place the grape juice concentrate, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract in another mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on a low speed or with a whisk until well mixed.

4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the grape juice mixture, continuing to beat at a low speed just until thoroughly blended; be careful not to over mix. Gently fold the fresh and dried blueberries into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

5. Bake the cake until the top springs back when lightly pressed, about 40 minutes.

6. Let the cake cool slightly in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to completely cool or let it cool and serve it straight from the pan.

Faroe Vine Cardigan

Don't you just love starting a new project? I'm starting Claudia's Faroe Vine Cardigan. You can read more about her steeking samples here. I'll let her do the research - I'll just knit! Be prepared for plenty of pictures because I'm already in love with this sweater. This is Heilo in Evergreen (discontinued) and medium brown heather. Claudia put the combination together for me. Guess she knows me pretty well, eh? The stitches between the two markers are the steek stitches. Since I took the picture I've finished the hem (yellow stitches are the provisional crocheted cast on) and border. I've also reversed the color combination to the evergreen background and the medium brown heather for the vine for the body of the sweater.

The short-row toe-up sock is starting to feel a little left out!

Catching Up

Oops, I did it again! I've uploaded pictures and started two posts, only to discover later that I never finished nor published them. Oh, well! So.....

After listening to the interview with Bonnie Tarses on WeaveCast last fall I was intrigued with the idea of Horoscope Weaving. I put it on the backburner until Marie brought up the idea again when she was planning a baby blanket. Now that I'm going to be a grandmother in June (like the way I slipped that in?), baby blankets are a top priority! ETA: Thanks, Sara, I forgot to include a link to Bonnie's blog!

I finally found some nice fabric for the Amy Butler messenger bag that Carolyn talked about a few months ago.

I've been getting in the habit of putting things in a big tote as I think about them then bringing them into my mother's. We're getting settled into this every fourth day routine and it's working out very well. When I have weekday duty it's from 4:30 until she's ready for bed, but weekends are all day and evening. While there's no sewing machine, loom, etc. I can get tons of prep work done.

One of the perks of the Online Guild is that you have access to archived notes from all of the past workshops. I've only done one toe-up sock before so I was eager to try some other variations. This is the crocheted provisional cast on with a short-row toe. You cast on half of the number of stitches you need and short row until you have 10-12 left in the center, then reverse the short rows until you are working all the stitches. Rip off the crocheted chain and pick up the other half of the stitches and you're on your way. I love this technique. I'm almost up to the heel which is also short-row. The other sock in the workshop uses a Turkish cast on and a Reverse Dutch Heel.

What about that boundweave sampler, you asked? Well, it is coming along, slowly. No sense posting pictures as I'm working my way up the back of the little purse I'm making and it's the same as the front only rightside up! I'll post more pictures after I change my tie up with the next sample. I also bought some more perle cotton in different colors at JoAnns (thanks, Sara, for the tip) which is good. I was getting tired with the blue/red/yellow/white scheme.

Calorimetry

I reknit Calorimetry and just in time as winter seems to finally be making an appearance around here. After several record breaking highs over the past few weeks it was actually cold this morning.

I used handspun from some of the first roving I dyed in the oven roaster. I cast on 80 stitches instead of 120 and recalculated the short rows by the same percentage. This one fits like a charm!

I had about 250 yards and I was able to make the hat, a pair of mittens, and I'm using the rest for a narrow scarf. We'll see how long it is.

After seeing what Leigh and Karen were creating with the Online Guild, I signed up and began working on Leigh's Computer Design Workshop. I'm starting to explore the filters on Photoshop and have come up with some pleasing results. More about that in my next entry.

To The Sea!

I'm quite secure in following my own path as I traverse through life, but show me a new tool, pattern, or book and my lemming tendencies shine right through!

I read that Carolyn wants to make Amy Butler's High Street Messenger Bag. Done. Pattern came yesterday. I'm not going to use it for my laptop though. I have a very cool backpack that also has a sling pouch for my laptop. What I need is a bag that will hold all the stuff I need when I'm taking care of my mom. Cell phone charger, iPod, etc. This is going to the head of the list.

When I heard someone mention micro-macramé on one of the DIY shows a couple of months ago I didn't think much of it, but then I saw Maus' new earrings. Before I could stop myself I was ordering the Joan Babcock's Micro-Macramé Jewelry and Sherri Haab's Beaded Macramé Jewelry. I quick order for some C-Lon and I should be in business by next weekend.

On one of my drives through blogland I saw a hat that I might actually wear. So I grabbed some handspun and started knitting Calorimetry. Since I have an absolutely huge head I tend to knit hats on the big side. Several years ago I posted this picture of a hat I crocheted for my sister (about 10 at the time). This was no exception. It's supposed to stretch out and meet at the nape of the neck with a button closure.

That's about an 11" overlap there folks.

Is anyone else thinking Mick Jagger??

But I really loved the way a rather blah ball of yarn knitted in this shortrow pattern, so I ripped it out and started over. I kept the size 8 needles which I felt produced a nice fabric. I cast on 80 stitches and short rowed until I had 28 in the center and 26 on each side. This fits perfectly but I couldn't get a picture with my cellphone so it will have to wait until I'm back from my mom's.

I finished another necklace yesterday. This was my own design. I did a base row and then three rows of scallops.

After the second row I was worried that it would be to ruffled but once I started on the third pass it started to look good.

I was going to do a square stitch across the base row but that distorted the neckline.

So I ended up going through the first row again for strength and added a pewter bead which stick ups a bit and looks rather like picot.

Kimono

After I accidently pulled the needle out of 1/4 of the stitches, I decided to bit the bullet and rip the Sheep Shawl. As you can see progress was slow. Although I enjoyed watching the pictures develop I knew I wouldn't enjoy wearing it as much. I want a lightweight shawl that will work for spring or summer. Meet Kimono from Folk Shawls.....

I finished a few more repeats since I took the picture, but I'll spare you repetitive blob pictures. If you want to be wowed you need to travel over to Snail Spirals and see Sue's Urchin Shawl! She charted the original design, knitted the fantastic shawl, and then dipped the finished shawl into the dye pot. What an undertaking!

Look What I Found

I opened a little used drawer last week and rediscovered a sweater that was almost done. I started it in 1998. I know that because I have the Knitware directions with a start date of January 8, 1998. Four years ago, after Claudia asked everyone to share their UFO's (see 9/16 entry). Sunday I devoted a couple of hours to seaming and sewing the button band on. Now I know why I love knitting sweaters in one piece. I HATE sewing sweater pieces. The band is a little wonky at the top of the button side, but I can fix that. I need to get buttons and it will be ready to go. The stitch definition of Bendigo Colonial is fantastic. I forgot how much I liked this yarn.

I don't know if this actually qualifies as Cooking with Intention, but after making a double batch of the Cheddar Broccoli Soup and a double batch of Vegetable Beef Soup I knew I had to make something to satisfy my mom's sweet tooth. Carrot cake baked as cupcakes with cream cheese icing.

3 cups grated carrots
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup crushed pineapple -- well drained
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts -- chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325. Line muffin tins with paper or spray with Pam.

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs until well blended. Add sugar, oil, carrots, pineapple, and vanilla.

Add flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Spoon into pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Dust with 10X sugar or frost with cream cheese frosting.

I got 24 cupcakes and enough leftover to fill two large custard cups. For those eagle eyed readers, Josh got to one before I could snap the picture. The containers are waiting to be filled with soup!

No picture, but I made some Cheddar Onion Bread to take in too. It's great right out of the oven or toasted later on. I use my bread machine through the first rise.

1 1/8 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
1/4 cup grated onion
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
3 1/3 cups bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Heat milk to 80 degrees. (30 seconds on high). Add ingredients to bread pan in order. Set for dough. Remove dough, punch down, knead gently and form into loaf. Oil bread pan and roll dough until lightly coated with oil. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until internal temperature is between 190 and 195.

New Necklace

I finished the necklace and wore it last week. The shiny beads are silver-lined blue zircon delicas, the main beads are olive iris seed beeds. This was an easy to remember pattern. I'm making it again in moss iris beads with bronze metallic seeds for the accent.

This lump is the finished, but unblocked, Swallowtail from the fall IK.

Here it is blocking, but I must have skipped a zero when typing in the thumbnail size. Since I'm at school I can't correct it.

I have to get some TIG wire (recommended by Sara) as trying to pin out the points was getting tedious. I can only imagine how tired I'd be if it were a full size shawl. This is from the singles I bought at WEBS last spring. There was so much energy in the yarn that I had to hold it up and let it unwind every row or two.

I finished Butterfly a month or two ago but finally got around to blocking that. This going to be a laprobe for my mom. I didn't keep any ball bands, but it's a German dk superwash I got in a swap a few years ago. Not enough for a sweater, but it blocked out to a 46" square. This was a very easy knit. I would do it again in a laceweight for a largerer shawl.

Just Because I Can

The inner geek is coming out as I sit in my mother's house, knitting, listening to my ipod and surfing the net connected to my cell phone. It's as slow as molasses but it keeps me happy! Mom has night wanderlust and then sleeps happy as a clam for the whole morning. Unfortunately I never learned to sleep in spurts so when I'm up I'm up. Here's how the corrie tweed cardigan is progressing (again via the cell phone):

I am so pleased at the way the colors are changing, with no unsightly pooling or striping. I'll have to remember to bring my real camera in for better pictures.

I was getting a little bored last week and brought some of my wool singles that I'm weaving with to start something new - meet my Swallowtail (and my right thigh)!

I had to take this home as it wasn't compatable with jumping up at a second's notice. Notice the wheels in the background. My mom has been able to stop using the wheelchair and gone back to using the walker. Um, well, except that I've been sitting next to it in the kitchen for two hours and only just realized that she must have slipped past me for a bit of wandering during the night. I'm sure she'll be a little confused when she wakes up with out it next to her bed.

Knitting Updates

Here are the two finished Claudia sweaters from the yarn that followed me home during the Excellent Adventure last March. I had my son take pictures because everytime I take them on timer mode I have the stupidest look on my face. So now I have weird coloring and the same stupid look. But Whitby looks good!

Here's another view showing the underarm gussets.

It was knit in Cascade 220 and was actually finished early in the summer but I never bothered weaving in the few ends or washing it since it was too warm to wear.

This is Northcott Rib knitted in Peace Fleece worsted weight. It was made in one piece with no seams to sew or stitches to graft. The only thing I had to do was sew on the buttons and weave a couple ends in. This will probably serve as a jacket until the temperatures really drop. Both patterns (and yarn) are from Countrywool and are easy to follow and were a joy to knit.

The Beginning of the End

I only have eight more days of school and since this summer I only have a couple of fairly easy online classes and one week long AP Psych class I'm looking forward to a real summer vacation. Yes, folks, I'll be weaving, sewing, spinning, dyeing, knitting, gardening, kitchen organizing, hell - I'll even throw in some attic and garage cleaning.

Despite writing exams (for my students) and papers (for my instructors) I still had some time to work on my Northcott Rib.

The other big news since I posted last was my mother's 90th birthday.

She thought only my one sister was taking her out for lunch but the rest of us took off work and met them there. Later all the grandkids and spouses stopped by for pizza and cake. Not the grandest party, but it's what she wanted.

Our present to her was to put a new roof on her house. She lives alone and would feel uncomfortable with lots of people she didn't know working on the roof. My brother has rehabbed several homes, including the one he lives in now, and thought this would be a good solution. Of course we had to pick Memorial Day weekend when the temperature was in the 90s.

The old man is in front, one of my nephews to the right, and my brother (the job foreman) on the ridge.

My oldest son, Dan, and my brother-in-law scrape the old layers of the kitchen my father added to the little ranch I grew up in.

I tried to go on the roof but punked out. My job, along with food prep, was to cut these sets so the pieces were staggered. Reminded me of strip quilting.

The supervisor watched over everthing. Yes, it was 90° but some of her meds make her feel cold. Funny, when I was growing up I never saw her wear a sweater unless she was using it as a coat.

Just in case it wasn't crazy enough, we had two little ankle biters running around the house. My daughter and niece thought it would be cute if their new dogs got to know each other. Looks like they did! (Don't worry, no damage done! My daughter's partner protected their little Bella from big, bad Marley!)

I Think I Like It

I'm on the second one of the not quite log cabin towels. My tension is wonderful and the selvedges are looking pretty good, too. Usually my sides get a little loose as I work my way through the warp, but this trapeze method really helps with even tension throughout.

I've got quite a list for this summer's weaving, including placemats, runners and a couple of rugs for the kitchen. I think this technique is going to save me a lot of fiddling with the warp.

Northcott Rib (scroll down the page to cardigans) is coming along well. I love the yarn and the pattern, but my hand and wrist are bothering me. Could it be because the yarn is bulkier and I need a longer needle? I feel like it's all scrunched up and I'm always pushing the stitches away from the ends. I'll have to see if I have a 40" around here.

Back to the Grind

Back to school and back to weekend classes, so the loom sits - still partially threaded. I have been able to finish one sleeve on Whitby and I'm heading down the other.

I ended up spinning all the tussah on one bobbin

and I'll ply it with some lovely purple corriedale.

I should have enough for a scarf and I have some green and purple beads that would look cool with it.

Whitby Progress

Claudia's pattern drafting is perfection! The gussets under the arms allow the drop sleeve to fit perfectly. It's big, but I only have a thing pj top underneath. I'll make sure I have, ahem, more support for the final photo. I can tell this will be a much loved, much worn sweater. I also love that I'll only have a few ends to weave in when the sweater is finished. How cool is that?

I received many comments about not spending too much time cleaning up. However one of the problems with a messy house is that you know you have equipment but somehow you can't find it. That's the case with my beautiful Kromski niddy noddy. Since I only have four bobbins for my new wheel this posed a problem. I crushed the scrap of foam board seen in the background while winding off one bobbin. I located my skein winder, but it was far back in the nether regions of my fiber storage room, locked in by bags of fleece. I was, however, able to find some pvc and T connectors and these plans. Works for me!

This is a very loosely spun Romney/mohair blend. I spun two bobbins while testing out the wheel. I'm going to use it for fulled mittens or a bag so the inconsistencies will disappear.

Anticipation

Although I was hoping that my new wheel would arrive on Friday, it's probably a good thing it didn't. I was able to finish two projects for my class and outline a new course I'm teaching next year.

I wasn't let down on Monday though!

After a few tense moments - from missing lines in the instructions to not knowing what some things were - it came together beautifully. Today I went over it with some superfine steel wool. All it needs is a little tung oil and I'm ready to spin!

Whitby update: I'm ready to divide for the sleeves. I'm loving this pattern.

Where Does It Go?

I always believed Mick when he said it was on my side, but looking at him now makes me realize that we're both getting a little long in the tooth. I've been working like crazy trying to get into the next salary class and I think it's about time for a little