She waited several hours

My grandmother did, she said, after my birthday package arrived, before she opened it.  "I knew it was something that squished" she said, which was true because I hadn't put the gift into a box before wrapping it, so it would fit into the box I was using to mail it.

This shawl: 

Patons 'Glam Stripes' in Navy

For the record, her birthday is next Monday, and I didn't expect her to wait that long.  It's a bit of a running joke that my grandmother doesn't deal well with curiosity - she wants to know what is in the package now.  Sometimes I wonder why bother wrapping it - but she does have fun unwrapping.

I didn't finish my vest, but I did finish and mail the Mittens for Akkol grad items:

The sweater is more person-shaped when it's not patted out for photographing.  For the scarf I used the same stitch pattern as in the borders on the sweater.  The socks are overdyed wool and I didn't realize the two hanks were slightly different shades until I wound them, so I alternated yarns every three rows, with the darker one used for ribbing, heels, and toe.  The pattern had a texture to it but I left it out given the striping.  I wanted these to be semi-mindless.

The vest is past the dividing at underarms, but it's not nearly mindless enough and I am trying to figure out what to do at the armholes.  That will depend upon how much yarn is left.  I may figure it out this weekend.  For mindless things I made five rectangles for The Linus Project, and two scarves that will be donated to shelters.  All but one scarf are in garter stitch - nice and mindless.

I've also been doing cooking, including some very nice bread and sandwich rolls:

I found out about a cooking group at a library, and they moved online.  We had a meeting this week and everybody showed what we've made from our pantry.  I did a soup with lots of kale, because I got a bag of it at the farmstand last Saturday.  We didn't get to taste each other's cooking this time but we did have fun getting recipe ideas and talking about what we miss being able to cook.

Resolutions for May

I am one for two on the April resolutions, because I made the shawl but didn't finish my vest.  So first up will be to finish the "We Knit In Texas Y'All" vest.

For other items, I will finish the baby blanket I was going to do in March and hand off to friends to deliver.  Of course, all the travel stopped, so pressure to finish was off.  The baby is already in this world but the month that includes Mother's Day seems a good time to get it finished and shipped.

For a new item for me I think I will take a set of red yarns from one of the DFW Fiber Fest vendors and make a pair of socks.  With the colours I can do a very plain pattern and let the yarn be the energy.  My mother loves red, so it seems appropriate - and somewhere I think I have some red socks I was making for her.  I sent a Mother's Day gift so I don't need to make one for my mother, and my grandmother loved a box of soaps I'd sent to her, so I'm done with gifts for a while.

Music for May

A friend posted this challenge, which she'd gotten from her son:

She posted partway through April, and note it has a bonus challenge, so I decided to wait and start it on the first of May.  I'll post the dailies on Facebook and a summary list here each week or two.

Setting a Record and Cooking Maple-Beans

Hello!  Today, just because we could, we had snow:

 

 

My neighbor's forsythia is sad that it's snowing.

Apparently it set a new record for snowfall of this date.  The previous record was 1.7" (4.5cm) and today we received 2.4" (6cm).

When I heard that we had a winter storm warning for today, I decided to make baked beans, using the mix I'd used before but following their recipe, scaled both for size of household and remaining beans.  I put a cup of the beans to soak overnight:

In a bowl, covered with about one inch
of water.  At right, after overnight soaking.

 

 I put them into my crockpot to cook.  They are really a pretty assortment of beans!

The original package (from Sweet Wind Farm, a local place, but you can order online) came with seasoning and maple syrup.  Scaling to the quantity of beans, I added a half-cup of maple syrup, and half the seasoning, plus a bay leaf.

Then I added water to cover and let it cook on high, which gave it a steady simmer, until the beans were done.  Unfortunately they lost some of the pretty colours while cooking: 

Although I like the taste of bay, a whole leaf was a bit too much for this quantity, but overall the beans are very tasty.  I made rice to go under it, and it's a solid meal.  I did add a couple pickles on the side for some contrast.  They are not blue; that's my grandmother's shawl, sitting next to my bowl.

The bowl is one of a set I got at the SouperBowl in Madison the year I lived there.  You could buy a ticket for a bowl and soup, or you could buy just a bowl.  They also had tables of extra items, including a set of these bowls, which I bought and have used very happily.

I have one portion of rice and probably two portions of beans left, which will be meals in the next couple of days.

In other news, I finished the sweater and scarf, which finishes my committed items for Mittens for Akkol.  When marking them on the spreadsheet I realized that I have some yarn I'd overdyed that will work for thick socks for one of the extra grads, so I wound it and cast on for those.  I'm also working on the border of my grandmother's shawl.  Pictures to follow once ends are run in.  Next Saturday I'll go to the post office, and hopefully mail everything.

Tonight is the weekly KnitTalk meeting, and earlier the local paper artists group met.  It's not as much fun to meet remotely, but I like how much more convenient it is for me time-wise and geographically.

The Fiber Fest that Wasn't - Day 4

Today I wasn't supposed to be at DFW Fiber Fest - I was going to jet out early (8:00am flight) for Raleigh to attend the North Carolina Opera's production of "Die Zauberflöte" or "The Magic Flute".  Of course, like so many things, that has been cancelled/postponed.

Because of this, I decided to wear my shirt from the Carolina Fiber Fest, which I attended last year, and of course this year's was cancelled.  Maybe next year I'll be there.

  

Instead, I watched movies, chatted with friends online, had a long talk with my grandmother (her cordless phone is as much technology as she can handle), took a long nap (because, why not?), read a bunch of things, watched some movies, and knit:

Not enough - if I focused I would be further along, at least into the second hank.  But it's not a race and that's as far as I've gotten.  I did spend some time playing with the yarn I brought in last weekend (the stuff I picked up yesterday is still on timeout in the garage) and looking at patterns and I think once I finish some obligatory items I will be having fun working on things out of my DFW Fiber Fest goodies.

Knittingwise, the next one OTN may be "RoadWarrior" by Carissa Browning, one of this year's teachers.  Buying patterns is a way to support them.

The Fiber Optic yarn has been aging, because I didn't get the pattern they were showing with it a few years ago, and I almost chose another pattern, but I think "RoadWarrior" will look very nice and is appropriate given how much I am usually traveling.  The BaaBoo colourway is "Black Gold" and it has a bit of greenish in it, so may get swapped - but I confess to not having many solids from independent dyers in my stash, so this may be the end result.

I have other yarns "kitted" for hats, socks, and other things, so once I am done with the obligatory items I may be working on a lot of things for me.  And of course some of the charity scarves and blanket bits that usually keep my hands busy when I am running errands and so forth, and now can keep my hands busy during online meetings.  It helps me to focus.

Before I go, a beautiful tribute, and a beautiful version of a song that means quite a lot to many right now.  Stay safe, y'all.  Stay home if you can.

The Fiber Fest that Wasn't - Day 3

Today at DFW Fiber Fest I was going to do an all-day class called the "I Am Dragon Trilogy" which teaches a format that looks like dragon scales.  I've tried a crocheted version and it's tedious and I was hoping for some hints and tricks.

Instead, I worked a bit on the vest, not enough to make a progress picture worthwhile because I also did some other things, including the weekly Torah Study, which included a discussion about whether it is acceptable to have somebody go to the grocery store for you.  While the rabbi didn't offer an answer, we had many opinions and views shared, including from one participant who is a healthcare professional and did catch COVID-19 at work.

After class, I went out to the post office, pharmacy, and farmstand.  I wore this outfit, with the sweatshirt zipped and hood up, and further accessorized with gloves and shoes:

At the post office I picked up a few more packages of goodies from DFW Fiber Fest vendors:

A Hundred Ravens.  A friend adores
their yarn and the one on right is the
commemorative show colour.

Brazen Stitchery - not sure why
I ordered the one with all the pink,
but I couldn't resist "Hermione".

LeRoo's yarn is REALLY soft.

moondrake added the pink; the lavender
and brown is their commemorative colourway.

That should be the end of it, but some vendors held out their offerings until this weekend, or have now added some show-special items.  Dang it.

Gnomespun isn't a vendor, but I was reading about the spinning wheel he made at 1/16th size, and wandering into his shop area, and somehow these showed up in my mailbox, too:

The blue is even more amazing in person than onscreen, and I am SO glad I gave in to temptation.

After that photo shoot the mail went back into the boot/trunk of the car to wait a few days.  then the packages get wiped down before coming into the house, and isolated in a corner for a few more days.  I took the photos to show the yarn during DFW Fiber Fest weekend.

Then I scrubbed off the veggies I'd gotten at the farmstand: two kinds of radishes, rainbow carrots, stripetti squash, brussels sprouts, rapini, mushrooms (gently soaked, not scrubbed, because they are delicate), golden beets, sweet potatoes, and parsnips.  I also got a dozen eggs, which I wiped before putting into the refrigerator.  They took a preorder  of a couple items I wanted to be sure to get and packed the rest while I was there; the farmstand is an open shed and they let one person in at a time, and do all the picking and packing for you.  Hurrah for supporting local farms.

Then I scrubbed myself and put on fresh clothing:
  

Closeup of the leggings.
I don't know why they look
so grey in the full-body photo.

At DFW Fiber Fest I wouldn't be wandering about in just a shirt and leggings, but at home, I can do it.  And with the day as sunny as it ended up being, I'm more than warm enough.  It's hard to see the shirt in the morning photo above, but it's the same saying, just on a different colour and the light grey has short sleeves.

And yes, I am planning a crochet project for some of the yarn I've gotten from the vendors this year, although the several ideas I've had are all knitting.  Back to the vest for now.

I'm knitting while watching streaming arts programs:  Met Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber, etc.  I'd planned to be at Rover Dramawerks for their "365 Women a Year" festival, but they have been shut down since mid-March, like most of north Texas nonessential businesses.  You can see the sign the City of Plano posted to their door at the top of their website.  They received permission to post video from some of their "10 Minute Plays Festival" and although I'd been to the shows, I'm enjoying watching them again.  I'll probably send the price of a ticket or two to them in appreciation - arts organizations are hurting now, and any bit that can help, really does.

The Fiber Fest that Wasn't - Day 2

On Friday night at DFW Fiber Fest is the big event.  There is a baked potato bar, and cake, and door prizes, and sometimes a raffle, and always a speaker.  In the early days we had trunk shows and fashion shows, but the last decade or so they've hosted a speaker.  Many times, it has been Franklin Habit and he's a favourite of mine.  So today I decided to wear an outfit drawn by him.

 

You can get the t-shirt in his Society6 shop, along with many other cool items, and Maker's Mercantile used to sell the leggings but they are sold out.

The shawl is from yarn I purchased a couple of DFW Fiber Fests ago, or more, from Knitting Lagniappe.  Misty spun one hank and Sony spun the other and they became one of my UFOs until late last summer.  I'd looked forward to showing them the end result this weekend - guess I will have to do it next year.  The two hanks go together so well they look like one:

 

The yarns are very soft merino, and the shawl is a nice size, and cuddly, and the kind of hug some of us need right now - especially on a very grey and rainy and chilly Friday.

Today at DFW Fiber Fest I was supposed to take a class similar to yesterday's but in another format: "Colorwork Crochet Cables".  My skills here are more basic than in knitting coloured cables so I was looking forward to learning some new skills.

The other class, which I was really interested in learning, was Franklin Habit's "Snip and Zip" class on steeking and insetting zippers.  I've inset zippers in fabric, but not knitting.  And steeking is scary but he does it often, so is a good person from whom to learn.




Lucky for his Patreons, he did a demo of steeking as a live feed, and luckily for me, I could watch it as a late lunch half-hour.  It was charming, and we can watch the preparation and video later also:

Work was less so, and busy enough that I was glad I put in my farmstand order for tomorrow instead of trying to go today.  So I didn't get very far with my knitting.

The instructions for the yarn is to use each colour completely.  I want to have smaller stripes 

and thought of doing five-row stripes because 3x5=15 and it's the DFW Fiber fest Quinceañera this year.  It's a two-row pattern stitch, though, and that would be problematic with the colour changes because they won't look clean every time.  So I decided on six rows of each colour, and this also works for me because 3x6=18 and in Jewish numerology (called gematria) this is propitious because the letters in the word תִּי, which means "life", add up to eighteen.  I'll take that as an omen.  "Next year in DFW," we're already telling each other.

The Fiber Fest that Wasn't - Day 1

Today I decided to wear my old shirt from when I was on the Board, back in the founding days when the logo looked much different, since it's also #tbt (ThrowBack Thursday) today.

The leggings are from Maker's Mercantile, and I don't usually wear my skirt hiked up, but I wanted to show as much of the pattern as possible in this photo.

Today I should have been in the class "Twists on Twists: Reversible, Color, and Multicolor Cables".  I've done that kind of thing before, and like it, and am always up for learning new tricks.

For my knitting, I couldn't decide among the new things, and I wanted something not too fiddly since it's a work day.  I remembered picking up the yarn for this two years ago, and since I couldn't find the pattern I bought it again in digital format, especially as it's a fundraiser.

This is supposed to be a cowl, but I have two yarn sets, and I think it's enough to turn this into a vest for me.  One row is plain knit, the other has the pattern which spells out in binary code "We Knit In Texas Y'all" and  it just seems to be what I need to knit right now, even though I'm not in Texas.

No Foolin'

As the lockdown increases, and more people are voluntarily staying home for as long as possible, I've seen a lot of suggestions about how to "stay normal" such as continuing to follow a normal routine to get ready for work in the morning, if you now work at home:  shower, breakfast, dress, hair, makeup, jewelry, whatever.  My routine has been a bit less normal, as I have made pancakes or waffles more often than not, and my usual workday breakfast is cold cereal and yoghurt, maybe fruit, a granola bar.

Pumpkin pancakes with blackberries.

Wild blueberry waffle.

Yes, I am still eating at my laptop, but it's much nicer than I usually consume.  I am trying to make a point of not "going to work" until 8:00am unless I have an earlier meeting or a hard deadline, and this gives me a bit more time to cook breakfast instead of grab-and-go.

One sadness is that today I should have been on my way to Texas for DFW Fiber Fest's Quinceañera, but like so many things, it was cancelled.  

It's a huge amount of work to put on an event like this, and just as much to tie up all the loose ends from cancelling it.  One loose end was the vendors and their wares; many planned for DFW Fiber Fest to be a major part of their income.  And yet, wonderfully, many are contributing to DFW Fiber Fest (which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, if you'd like to contribute also) some portion of sales, either from their commemorative colourway or otherwise.

So of course, I took the money I didn't spend on airfare (well, I have a credit that I'll use for a future trip), hotel, and car rental, and put it to purchasing from the vendors:

A Thing for String's show colourway,
on two different bases.

Crafting My Chaos.  The two on the
left will get worked into one garment.

Fiber Seed.  Such bright yarns!

Fiberlady - they got their start at
DFW Fiber Fest #2, and this is their
fundraiser colourways, all three of them!

        

Forbidden Fiber Co.

The colours in their Pandemic Survival set.

   

Hill Country Weavers - commercial
yarns, but they give discounts to fiber
people in need.  I paid full price.

Lazy Cat - my favourite show colourways.

I loved Leading Men Yarns' tote.

Mahogany Sheep does pins, including
sheep doing yoga.  We need yoga.

Schmutzerella

The Sexy Knitter.  Socks plus ?????

   

WhimzeeStitches one-off colourway.

I also picked up a few patterns from some of the teachers.  So now I have decided that since I cannot go to DFW Fiber Fest this year, I'll wallow in it by wearing, for the next four days, one of the fiberstuffs-related T-shirts and leggings that I would have worn had I gone.  And I am putting aside other knitting to work on yarns from DFW Fiber Fests past and cancelled.

Speaking of putting aside my knitting, given that my March mini-Resolution was to make a baby blanket for friends, and then finish items for the Mittens for Akkol grads, how did I do?

Well, the baby blanket is partly done but not finished.  I was going to hand it off to friends to deliver, since baby and parents live overseas, but all that was upended in mid-March.  So I'll finish the blanket and send it when it's ready.  Maybe later this month.  Photos to follow.

The grad items are done and not-done.  On Leap Day I set the intention to make four items:  a sweater and coordinated scarf in red and yellow or gold; a purple scarf; and a blue-and-orange hat.  While updating my progress of the items on a Google-docs chart, I noticed a couple other items that needed makers and which would also use up stash: a hat to go with a dark pink sweater, and another to match a navy/colours set.  I had some yarn that I wanted to use up that fitted both of these, so I claimed those and made them and mailed four items:

I'd planned a different pattern for the orange-and-blue hat, but couldn't find it, started what you see, and by the time I found the pattern I was well into the first band of slip-stitch and the stitch count was too different to switch, so I stayed with what you see.  The scarf is a lot of Shaker rib stitch in different shades of purple (hard to see, but different) and the pink hat is a slip-stitch honeycomb with a solid single-ply over a handdyed.  The other hat was the last ball and a half of an Italian yarn that feels lovely soft, and I did a bit of rib patterning.

The sweater is close to being done: 

MarlyBird was doing a knit-along, and while I knew I didn't have time to work on the sweater then, I liked one of the patterns and decided to use it for this sweater.  It's zooming along although I have to pay attention to the patterning.  You use a slightly larger needle to help compensate for the drawing-in that often happens with colourwork like this.  I like that there will be very little sewing-together at the end, just some underarm grafting.

So, I'm calling it good enough.  I should be able to finish the sweater and scarf in April.

For my proper

Resolutions for April

I plan to finish one item FOR ME, and out of yarn from a DFW Fiber Fest vendor.  With luck, I'll finish more than one.  As you can see, just from this year's shopping I have an embarrassment of source material, so to speak.

And I need to make at least one shawl for my grandmother, so I can mail it in time for her to receive it for her birthday, which is at the beginning of May.  But that's not really a resolution since I'd do it anyway, provided I select among the yarns and patterns queued.

Still no progress on the books.  There's too much to read online, plus work was madly busy between having to assist customers whose businesses are heavily affected by COVID-19, and it being the end of our fiscal year, so my eyes usually had enough reading by end of day.

Instead, I've been indulging in all the cool stuff available online, from the Met Opera and Playbill's weekend free musicals, to The Globe Theatre and National Theatre in the UK.