The yarn here is Malabrigo Gruesa in the colorway Plata - for the metal, not the philosopher.
A 65 yard quick hat, this one was. Only three inches remained!
12 November 2011
Plata, Plato, Playdough.
The yarn here is Malabrigo Gruesa in the colorway Plata - for the metal, not the philosopher.
A 65 yard quick hat, this one was. Only three inches remained!
11 November 2011
Textile Play: Experiments
Cork circles, on the right
Plastic "cedar" fronds
A foam rubber flower die cut, eventually with bits ripped off and out
Cork faced with haphazard netting of crochet cotton (held on the sides with pins, it looks very disturbing)
Plastic "cedar" fronds
A foam rubber flower die cut, eventually with bits ripped off and out
Cork faced with haphazard netting of crochet cotton (held on the sides with pins, it looks very disturbing)
10 November 2011
Losing Track, Staying on Course
I have more hand printing play underway. I'm tackling some embroidery for costume. Costumes are on schedule for several projects. Knitting a quick hat. Working on other knits.
BUT I'VE LOST TRACK OF MY FLICKR ID details. Honestly.
I just timed out my efforts into a 12 hour lockdown.
At least the important stuff is on course.
I'm just losing track of the passwords.
BUT I'VE LOST TRACK OF MY FLICKR ID details. Honestly.
I just timed out my efforts into a 12 hour lockdown.
At least the important stuff is on course.
I'm just losing track of the passwords.
04 November 2011
Knitting for Plays
I am a dork. Let it be said.
I'm now knitting another costume piece.
Urban Rustic gloves (pattern from Knitty)
from some very old stash wool
The pair will serve as another costume piece for an upcoming play. Actors are being asked to talk with us about what their characters would wear. We couldn't find gloves that were crude enough for one character without being fingerless. "I'm a survivor," she said. "I'd have the tips of my fingers covered."
FAST knit. Knitting up on 11's, and truthfully would be a lousy pair of gloves for serious warmth. Too loose for real winter. Still, they're a look that seems to work well for the occasion.
The costume shawls of previous posts - both in the same production. And one of the actors decided her character activity is knitting. Because of that, she picked the beige costume shawl made a couple years ago out of the shawl bin samples I pulled for her. As her knitting prop she is currently using a project she started a long time ago. Have to go stash diving quickly for a suitable knitting prop for her, as her current project is pretty pristine.
I am a dork. I am so amused.
I hope to be done tomorrow. What will amuse me then?
I'm now knitting another costume piece.
Urban Rustic gloves (pattern from Knitty)
from some very old stash wool
The pair will serve as another costume piece for an upcoming play. Actors are being asked to talk with us about what their characters would wear. We couldn't find gloves that were crude enough for one character without being fingerless. "I'm a survivor," she said. "I'd have the tips of my fingers covered."
FAST knit. Knitting up on 11's, and truthfully would be a lousy pair of gloves for serious warmth. Too loose for real winter. Still, they're a look that seems to work well for the occasion.
The costume shawls of previous posts - both in the same production. And one of the actors decided her character activity is knitting. Because of that, she picked the beige costume shawl made a couple years ago out of the shawl bin samples I pulled for her. As her knitting prop she is currently using a project she started a long time ago. Have to go stash diving quickly for a suitable knitting prop for her, as her current project is pretty pristine.
I am a dork. I am so amused.
I hope to be done tomorrow. What will amuse me then?
03 November 2011
Play
I have given myself permission to play a tiny bit this fall.
Here's one piece - I am taking part in a handpainted fabric swap, sponsored by Leslie Keating of onegirl - now Maze & Vale .
Last week I found a lovely piece of plain linen & cotton yardage in the remnants section of Vogue Fabrics. It could serve for the fat quarters, but I'm feeling indecisive. This past weekend I picked up some 100% cotton canvas yardage. (If I don't use it for this project, it's targeted for some cloth bags.) Will be going through some other on-hand yardage, as well, and have started the prewashing of the fabric I just picked up.
This decision-making sea of choices is part of play. I invited a friend over yesterday to meet me in the shop to play with some fabric paint printing. Tried our hand at using a variety of found objects. Decided that was the focus of the sampling activity for the evening.
It was good to play and think about what I might best do for this project.
Here's one piece - I am taking part in a handpainted fabric swap, sponsored by Leslie Keating of onegirl - now Maze & Vale .
Last week I found a lovely piece of plain linen & cotton yardage in the remnants section of Vogue Fabrics. It could serve for the fat quarters, but I'm feeling indecisive. This past weekend I picked up some 100% cotton canvas yardage. (If I don't use it for this project, it's targeted for some cloth bags.) Will be going through some other on-hand yardage, as well, and have started the prewashing of the fabric I just picked up.
This decision-making sea of choices is part of play. I invited a friend over yesterday to meet me in the shop to play with some fabric paint printing. Tried our hand at using a variety of found objects. Decided that was the focus of the sampling activity for the evening.
It was good to play and think about what I might best do for this project.
26 October 2011
Knitting Photo Finish; Or, Tricking a Smart Phone
Smart Phone photography isn't entirely Smart.
I've been playing games at tricking it into capturing better color. Well, different color.
Sunny day indoor location and truer color:
Same location, same time and day - totally faded out:
Fluorescent light, early evening - not great color:
Moments later, having figured out I can fake out the light meter by pointing it at the light and taking the picture quickly - better color:
Taken earlier before said experiment - crazily disappointing color:
Much better color. Also, THIS COSTUME PIECE is DONE. Done for a different show than the one for which it was started, but hey, done is good.
I've been playing games at tricking it into capturing better color. Well, different color.
Sunny day indoor location and truer color:
Same location, same time and day - totally faded out:
Fluorescent light, early evening - not great color:
Moments later, having figured out I can fake out the light meter by pointing it at the light and taking the picture quickly - better color:
Taken earlier before said experiment - crazily disappointing color:
Much better color. Also, THIS COSTUME PIECE is DONE. Done for a different show than the one for which it was started, but hey, done is good.
15 October 2011
09 October 2011
More Summer!
The beautiful days of the past week are continuing into the next. I am delighted, especially as I have a day off tomorrow. A DAY OFF. On a nice day. I intend to sleep, walk, and take care of my home environs.
Sleeping and walking may carry the day. The last weeks have been brutally full of work, but that's just because the projects are big. BUT, I am happy to say, I still carried on with the summer resolve. Cooking, a little knitting, still in practice.
Actually knit a hat during tech week. It's not the hat I wanted, but it can at least be a hat to wear while walking in the mornings when the weather turns. The weather will turn, I know. Working on a sweater as well. It's an out of season knit, but since it's miles of stockinette, I'll be able to get it done by spring. It's definitely a warm weather sweater wrap.
But that's enough of that. No pictures of knitting today, and those stories aren't incredibly compelling at the moment. Instead, I had promised myself aloud to share other stories with the picture parade of the last post.
A friend (former colleague and neighbor) bought a century farm with her husband as part of their empty nest transition. Visited them in the summer, and we made plans to have a can-the-harvest weekend. We put it on our calendars. As the date approached, I got a call: apples were done. They'd canned though, which was new for her, and she felt very good about her accomplishments. Long story not much shorter, we didn't cancel after all, I went out, and we planned to tangle with tomatoes and see if we thought we might still be able to pick a few apples.
I actually Left Work Early that Friday. I hear people do that. When I arrived we ate supper and read cookbooks at each other. There was a lot of chuckling. Her husband is a hoot. And, as is customary in my family in massive cooking adventures, we called my mother to check on a particular recipe.
My friend's property holds an incredibly diverse assortment of such old apple trees - not an orchard - so distinct that they defy easy identification. Think heirloom. Never-been sprayed trees. Tart ones, sweet ones, pear-like, perfumy, red, green, blush, and yellow.
My friend is delightfully an in-the-moment person. We drove the truck around to check out the trees, as there had been a pretty hard frost. Armed with bags, containers, a ladder, and an apple picker, four of us picked "just a few."
While I've picked a lot of wild fruit and farmed fruit over the years, somehow I had never been apple picking. I think I caught up.
A few here, a few more, oh, there are some here, and before we knew it, we'd probably picked about 10 bushels.
My friends had just picked up the new book Canning for a New Generation. We slow roasted paste tomatoes while we picked apples. (Fit for freezing. If they last.) We made chili with tons of veg from the garden, four colors of tomatoes, zucchini, peppers.
We cranked out apple sauce on the road to making apple butter, mixing up many types of apples in each pan full of sauce. We made and canned a red pepper and tomato relish from a familiar recipe I'm quite fond of. We made jars of apple butter and canned it as well as the balance of the apple sauce. We ate open face sandwiches of roasted tomato on slices of day old cheese bread bowls, toasted in the oven.
It was an excellent weekend.
I came home with a carload of produce and weeks of good cooking ahead of me. Of course, those are stories for another post. I need to check on the matinee.
Sleeping and walking may carry the day. The last weeks have been brutally full of work, but that's just because the projects are big. BUT, I am happy to say, I still carried on with the summer resolve. Cooking, a little knitting, still in practice.
Actually knit a hat during tech week. It's not the hat I wanted, but it can at least be a hat to wear while walking in the mornings when the weather turns. The weather will turn, I know. Working on a sweater as well. It's an out of season knit, but since it's miles of stockinette, I'll be able to get it done by spring. It's definitely a warm weather sweater wrap.
But that's enough of that. No pictures of knitting today, and those stories aren't incredibly compelling at the moment. Instead, I had promised myself aloud to share other stories with the picture parade of the last post.
A friend (former colleague and neighbor) bought a century farm with her husband as part of their empty nest transition. Visited them in the summer, and we made plans to have a can-the-harvest weekend. We put it on our calendars. As the date approached, I got a call: apples were done. They'd canned though, which was new for her, and she felt very good about her accomplishments. Long story not much shorter, we didn't cancel after all, I went out, and we planned to tangle with tomatoes and see if we thought we might still be able to pick a few apples.
I actually Left Work Early that Friday. I hear people do that. When I arrived we ate supper and read cookbooks at each other. There was a lot of chuckling. Her husband is a hoot. And, as is customary in my family in massive cooking adventures, we called my mother to check on a particular recipe.
My friend's property holds an incredibly diverse assortment of such old apple trees - not an orchard - so distinct that they defy easy identification. Think heirloom. Never-been sprayed trees. Tart ones, sweet ones, pear-like, perfumy, red, green, blush, and yellow.
My friend is delightfully an in-the-moment person. We drove the truck around to check out the trees, as there had been a pretty hard frost. Armed with bags, containers, a ladder, and an apple picker, four of us picked "just a few."
While I've picked a lot of wild fruit and farmed fruit over the years, somehow I had never been apple picking. I think I caught up.
A few here, a few more, oh, there are some here, and before we knew it, we'd probably picked about 10 bushels.
My friends had just picked up the new book Canning for a New Generation. We slow roasted paste tomatoes while we picked apples. (Fit for freezing. If they last.) We made chili with tons of veg from the garden, four colors of tomatoes, zucchini, peppers.
We cranked out apple sauce on the road to making apple butter, mixing up many types of apples in each pan full of sauce. We made and canned a red pepper and tomato relish from a familiar recipe I'm quite fond of. We made jars of apple butter and canned it as well as the balance of the apple sauce. We ate open face sandwiches of roasted tomato on slices of day old cheese bread bowls, toasted in the oven.
It was an excellent weekend.
I came home with a carload of produce and weeks of good cooking ahead of me. Of course, those are stories for another post. I need to check on the matinee.
28 September 2011
Summer meets September
This summer, I decided I would take better care. You could list just about anything there, and it would fit. Eat better, walk more, cook (I used to) more, separate from work more, connect with friends, write a letter, sew, clean, read...
The last few years I have been particularly unkind to myself, and it doesn't help me care for others particularly well. I got a little lost.
This summer I took a couple road trips. It sounds super ridiculous any way I type it, (and I've backspaced five times now), but I had lost track of my better me.
I'm happy to report that I'm hanging onto a bit of that summer resolution. The fact that I'm hanging onto a bit of it in what is usually a whirlwind month of activity is pretty remarkable.
My alarm just went off. I have to get a cup of tea going so I can get into my next several hours of work with lots of people.
Here's a glimpse of my September report:
I'll come back for story telling. In the meanwhile, I hope you'll make something yummy. I may make another apple crumble tonight!
The last few years I have been particularly unkind to myself, and it doesn't help me care for others particularly well. I got a little lost.
This summer I took a couple road trips. It sounds super ridiculous any way I type it, (and I've backspaced five times now), but I had lost track of my better me.
I'm happy to report that I'm hanging onto a bit of that summer resolution. The fact that I'm hanging onto a bit of it in what is usually a whirlwind month of activity is pretty remarkable.
My alarm just went off. I have to get a cup of tea going so I can get into my next several hours of work with lots of people.
Here's a glimpse of my September report:
I'll come back for story telling. In the meanwhile, I hope you'll make something yummy. I may make another apple crumble tonight!
05 September 2011
So International
The pattern designer is from Germany.
She gave the pattern an Italian name.
Frangiflutti. (Pattern on Ravelry.)
I picked up the yarn on a trip - Happy, by Wendy - at John Lewis in London.
So this is a British Breakfront. (Frangiflutti, translated, as I understand it.)
The yarn is bamboo - a little nylon for stability.
Really, you know, I think it looks kind of wabi-sabi.
======
Knitting details - used US 7 needles. Used up all but 2-3 yards.
It's now in a gift bag, ready to move on.
Enfin quoi?
(Oh this internet and it's fancy dictionaries....)
She gave the pattern an Italian name.
Frangiflutti. (Pattern on Ravelry.)
I picked up the yarn on a trip - Happy, by Wendy - at John Lewis in London.
So this is a British Breakfront. (Frangiflutti, translated, as I understand it.)
The yarn is bamboo - a little nylon for stability.
Really, you know, I think it looks kind of wabi-sabi.
======
Knitting details - used US 7 needles. Used up all but 2-3 yards.
It's now in a gift bag, ready to move on.
Enfin quoi?
(Oh this internet and it's fancy dictionaries....)
25 August 2011
About that Pagona post
My posting skills the other day were pretty sketchy. I lost part of the original post.
About that Pagona. The post title was not carried out in the post. I gave it away. (I also went back into the post to fix that.)
It did not need to be a scarf I should keep. It was the PERFECT prezzie for one of my costume grads. Even when I was knitting it, I kept thinking the color would REALLY suit her. And, as I said in the newly edited post, she's a good match for the spiky drama of a capelet sized Pagona.
Now knitting another giftie scarf out of Happy, a yarn from Wendy, the UK yarn distributer/manufacturer.
The pattern is Frangiflutti, an interesting little assymmetrical kerchief.
Almost done, actually. End of summer knitting push....
About that Pagona. The post title was not carried out in the post. I gave it away. (I also went back into the post to fix that.)
It did not need to be a scarf I should keep. It was the PERFECT prezzie for one of my costume grads. Even when I was knitting it, I kept thinking the color would REALLY suit her. And, as I said in the newly edited post, she's a good match for the spiky drama of a capelet sized Pagona.
Now knitting another giftie scarf out of Happy, a yarn from Wendy, the UK yarn distributer/manufacturer.
The pattern is Frangiflutti, an interesting little assymmetrical kerchief.
Almost done, actually. End of summer knitting push....
19 August 2011
Not a Keeper - and I'm okay with that
Finished the scarf.
Enjoyed the knitting. Both pattern, Stephen West's Pogona, and yarn, Tosh Light Merino, were pleasant to handle.
Love the color - richer than this photo, but I just want to post today and move along.
And I gave it away. It was the PERFECT prezzie for one of my costume grads. Even when I was knitting it, I kept thinking the color would REALLY suit her. And she's a good match for the spiky drama of a capelet sized Pagona.
08 August 2011
Own. Up.
Thanks to mittenfarce for the Habu Moire which inspired the whole deal!
07 August 2011
Nearly Done & Nearly Gone
Time to sleep. I may use up the yarn pretty nearly, but not this weekend.
Linen Fix
August can seem sometimes a month of Sundays. I love the drama queen "forever" of the phrase "a month of Sundays."
August holds a long deliberate stretch of heat and rest. It wants quiet and a book and a cold glass that tinkles with ice and leaves condensed pools of liquid on the table.
August demands the attention of the last preparatory stretch before the big Monday of school.
August tells me to hustle with all the things I've not yet readied.
August tells me to slow down before the real hustle begins.
This August weekend I paused for a little linen fixation.
Feels like August. Needs a great brim, one that goes forever.
August holds a long deliberate stretch of heat and rest. It wants quiet and a book and a cold glass that tinkles with ice and leaves condensed pools of liquid on the table.
August demands the attention of the last preparatory stretch before the big Monday of school.
August tells me to hustle with all the things I've not yet readied.
August tells me to slow down before the real hustle begins.
This August weekend I paused for a little linen fixation.
Feels like August. Needs a great brim, one that goes forever.
14 July 2011
Classics
Can't put a date to the cartoon, but it has been clipped to this page for a long time.
Food on a stick.
Food on a stick.
Expanded - more food, more fun!
So it's true. I have both of these.
Yes there is some crossover. Perhaps a fair bit.
But hey, it was on sale.
And as I was no longer living in Minnesota, it was an extra fix of food writing fun.
Yes there is some crossover. Perhaps a fair bit.
But hey, it was on sale.
And as I was no longer living in Minnesota, it was an extra fix of food writing fun.
Kathy's Uncle Al Has a Goofy Fan
Before there were food blogs, there was the lovely ritual of catching the Minneapolis Star Tribune food column by Mr. Al Sicherman.
I only lived in St. Paul for a year. I have a vague memory of reading it aloud: oh, those green days of being newly minted theatre grads trying to find jobs.
We'd read aloud, yes indeedy, at each other.
I only lived in St. Paul for a year. I have a vague memory of reading it aloud: oh, those green days of being newly minted theatre grads trying to find jobs.
We'd read aloud, yes indeedy, at each other.
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