A group hug, in yarn.

A bit before Thanksgiving, one member of the online fiber group I oversee announced that she suddenly lost kidney function and was having to navigate a very new normal.  She couldn't knit, and was frustrated and depressed and a couple people wrote privately to give her encouragement.

As the group is wont to do, we decided to send her what can be considered "a group hug", in the form of a blanket.  The member lives in Minnesota and we saw her with a blanket in one photo on her Facebook page.  A close friend of mine who has been on dialysis for years told me that everybody gets a thin blanket as part of a "welcome to dialysis" package, because you have to lie there for several hours and the rooms are always cool so the machines work better.  We figured a group blanket would be something this person could use and which would remind her she's cared about when her spirits are low.

We agreed on a colour scheme of mostly jewel colours, which I would put together with gold yarn because of a picture the recipient had posted on her social media:

We agreed on making the squares about 8" on a side, of DK or worsted weight washable yarns of any fiber, depending upon what people had available.  This size can be made from leftovers fairly easily, if people didn't want to start a new ball or skein.  It's big enough that we don't need many, because I didn't want to sew together a hundred pieces!  Also, I wanted them big enough that the border wouldn't overwhelm the squares.

First intended deadline was Christmas, but of course with the holidays not all the squares arrived.  Not only were people busy, but a couple packages went missing in the mail.  So those contributors decided to make more, and I had to wait for them to arrive.

Then I had to add borders.  It might have made sense for me to work on them as squares arrived, or when most of the squares were here, but of course I waited until I had all of the pieces here.  I worked three rows of single crochet around most of the squares.  I didn't block the squares, either before or after adding the border, because the different stitches and weights and patterns meant it would be difficult to do, plus the time involved.

Finally, I could try arranging them.  First I divided the squares into colour families:

Clearly, some of the borders need to be redone.  They were.

I found I had many in shades of deep rose, so I arranged those into a checkerboard:

  

The first one was great until I realized I had only four columns, and I needed five.  So, a re-do, adding in another red square for the grid to work.

Then I added the other squares, trying to avoid having the same square of a given colour next to another.  I also tried to keep the few lacy squares away from each other, for blanket integrity.  This is what I thought would be the final arrangement:

Of course that's not what happened, as I did a bit more arranging as I sewed the blocks into rows.  I also had to finish the topmost row, which is where I'd put the blocks that were not to the size requirements and I knew I'd have to adjust.  One is a heavily ribbed, reversible cable block that pulled in quite a bit.  Another is one of the replacement blocks; the sender sent a leftover from another project.  Two were knit on the diagonal, which can be difficult to measure and often come out odd-sized.  The one with a heart I wanted to keep in a special place.  So I worked those together with different amounts of the border on each block, and a fill-in panel, and made sure that row ended up the same width as the others:

You can see a sewing tail I left at the bottom.

Now it is time to sew the rows together, and I noticed that I'd sewn the end block on the final row backwards from the others.  See that four blocks aren't showing a tag?  It turns out I'd done the border from the back instead of the front, and my OCD compelled me to not only take the block off, but to re-do the border before reinstating it.

Then one more big error: instead of sewing the bottom row under the next row, I sewed it on top!  Rather than re-do a long row (a single block is one thing, the row is another) I decided to keep going in that manner, so the blanket would be flipped, except for the second row of odd-sized blocks and the panel.  I want to be sure the heart goes in the correct direction.  This did cause an issue with the green-and-white block, as those are sheep and I didn't want them to be upside-down.  So again, cut off the block and sew it back into place.

Finally, all the squares are together, and mostly blanket-shaped:

Not perfectly even, but not bad given the variations.  Also, most of
the blanket photos are taken from one end and not directly overhead.

After that photo I decided to remove all the tags, as they were no longer needed.  I put each person's name on it, then when I set up the layout I added a code for row (letter) and position (number) to keep them in order as I sewed.  As I removed the tags I created a chart showing who had made each block, in case somebody wanted to know later.  Since some people did one block and others did several, I decided not to include it with the blanket.

Then I added the border:

Close-up of the border - a simple finish.

Also the embroidery, which I am pleased is very neat on the back.  I used chain stitch which I knew would be fast, and adjustable around curves, and fairly thick so the letters would be legible.  More-or less, anyway.  I wrote the message on waxed paper (I didn't have tissue paper handy), pinned it to the blanket, and embroidered, then pulled away the paper:

As we were working on this, another group member announced that she has to undergo chemo due to a cancer diagnosis.  I gently inquired, and no, she has plenty of blankets that she has made over the years - I was relieved to hear it!  But her hair is falling out, as often happens with chemo, and the infusions tire her so much that she can knit on a few stitches on a chemo cap at a time.  So I let the group know and she is likely to have a wardrobe in an assortment of colours very soon.  I mentioned my no-new-projects-during-Lent commitment during our Sunday meeting and a couple people stated that this is charitable work and it shouldn't count.  I have a very soft hat handy but it's colours this member said she doesn't like, so I will have to think about what to do - maybe after I finish one or two other projects.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The box did arrive safely; the recipient posted this message:

I came home from dialysis and I was tired. Driving home on the freeway I missed my turn and ended up in a residential area of a Minneapolis suburb - lost and frustrated. I got home and there was a big box waiting for me. In it was a gorgeous blanket knitted in squares by members of the KT family. I can't believe that  you all would make me this blanket; you guys hardly know me!! I am gob-smocked. 

For those who do not know, I lost my kidneys last July. No one knows why. I am one in a million the docs say. Then I spent 3 months in and out of the hospital; mostly in. The docs kept sending me home w/o fixing me. They sent me to a rehab facility and there I spent 3 weeks of very little rehabilitation After an "event" at my daughters house I ended up in another hospital for a week and they sent me to a rehab facility that was more aggressive. After 4 weeks I finally came home much stronger. I am staying with my daughter and family for more recuperation.. I had more in-house physical/occupational therapy. I am stronger than ever but continue to keep active by exercising.

Thank you to Afton, Alison, Annette, Diann, Donna, Helena, Jen, Jill, Kathleen (Hi), Kathy, Kim, Maura, Minerva, Robin, Sue T, Susan A, Trish, Vickie and Margo Lynn. I love all of the squares and the golden trim. I cannot thank you knitters enough. It reminds me of all the good there is in this world. I am still amazed. 

During my physical breakdown, I could not walk, write, had brain fog and lost some memory. That is all better but my knitting skills are not up to par. I will try and post some projects but most of mine are in time-out. Seems like I make so many mistakes in my knitting.

Thank you all for the blanket; I will use it when I go to dialysis to keep me warm.

I love  you all.

Skinny and Stripey.

Another busy week of work, and other things, and heading to visit my parents before I go to the North Texas Irish Festival.

I finished the long piece that will be part of a scarf.  It is skinny and about 75" long:

I chose to end on the same colour where it starts, so there is a bit of the dark navy remaining.  Now to find the deep grey that will go on one or both of the long sides.

Last night in the KnitTalk call, one of our members announced that her daughter - who is an honorary niece to many of us - commences high school in the fall.  After we picked our stunned selves off the floor, she explained that in Canada, where they live, you are in primary school for sixth grade, then move to high school for five years.  So the girl is not quite as old as we feared!  Also, Canada apparently doesn't have Grade Seven, at least not in Quebec, just K-6 then 8-12.

Almost twelve years ago, when the mother was about to give birth and had just moved to a new city and was feeling lonely and unsupported and unmoored - all bad for a mother-to-be and then new mother - a group of us decided to throw a virtual baby shower and shipped a carton of gifts of all kinds.  Last night the mother said she still has many of the items from the box.

Almost twelve years later, the mother is in a better state of being, the child is thriving (and showed how she is now learning to crochet, with a scarf for a friend in almost neon-bright red yarn), and we still get referred to as her "aunties".  It's a proud title.

Thankfuls, Part 1

I was busy enough with things last weekend (including enjoying some surprise summery weather) that I didn't remember to post.  Then we had the last few days before the midterm elections, and work has been scrambling to meet some deadlines.

I did start posting Thankfuls on Facebook, thanks to a friend's reminder, and here is what I have so far:

1: A good meeting of the leadership for the Association of Corporate Counsel's Intellectual Property Network. I enjoy working with these colleagues, they are bright and energetic and we accomplish wonderful things for the IPN members.

2: Attending Robert C Fullerton's monthly concert with my grandmother. She really enjoys his music.

3: Thankful for local farms such as Clatter Ridge Farm, which delivered many yummy things for me today from their "online farmer's market", and The Farm Truck at Hein Farm, whose 2023 CSA has just opened for registration. I look forward to their farmstand being open for the holidays, so I can get some goodies as gifts, and a few treats to tide me over until they reopen in the spring.

4: Thankful that I found out in time that my local pharmacy closes on Sunday and I'll need to find another if I have a prescription. This one was conveniently within walking distance from the post office I use, so I will definitely miss the convenience.

5: Thankful to be able to celebrate with others at Congregation Beth Israel for the 18th anniversary of our Rabbi Pincus' arrival. It was good to see Rabbi Dena Shaffer, if briefly, as she joined the festivities.

6: Thankful for technology that allows me to hang out virtually with people I never would have gotten to meet in the Before Times. Today it included people from all over the world who are Franklin Habit's Patreon subscribers, for his weekly "From the Workroom", then the KnitTalk group which is mostly a dozen or so regulars. While a few of us had met one or two others in the past (including with some only-fiber-people-understand stories), and some of us have supported others through group gifts or gift swaps, we likely wouldn't have seen each other's faces.

7: Thankful for lovely weather (unusually summery for the start of November, mid-70's F) and not having early meetings so I got in a nice walk before the work week began. I remember a couple years with major blizzards at the end of October, this is really quite a contrast.

8: Whatever the outcomes (and I am sure some will be unpleasant, given allegations and comments made in the last few months), thankful to be in a country where I have a right to vote as I choose.

9: Glad to have the opportunity to join people in online theatre! I started performing with Plague Mask Players after enjoying a number of their productions. I had a small part in last night's production of Sophocles' Antigone, and ten minutes before we began was asked if I would also take another role, filling in for a performer who had an emergency. It's slightly less nerve-wracking to do it when online, but not by much! I joked about how both of my characters (Haemon and Eurydice) ended up dead - as did most of that family.

I also stepped in to take minutes for the Illinois State Bar Association's Intellectual Property Section Council meeting, because the secretary couldn't attend.  I am glad that the secretary for the Association of Corporate Counsel's Intellectual Property Network attended and took minutes for that meeting. Doing chair and secretary at the same time is quite a task, although I did it for much of last year. Later in the day we had a planning meeting for the ACC IPN so it was quite a day of non-work meetings. I very much appreciate that my job allows me to do these extracurricular activities. Maybe that should be my next Thankful?

The finished leaf-yoke sweater

I finished the sweater on Wednesday, having added to the collar because I prefer something higher, not feeling as if it's halfway down my shoulders.  This is unblocked but I wore it to the knitting group Zoom meeting tonight and it fits well:

Closeup of a leaf.

   

This is much closer to the
actual colour.

     

Yarn is Lion Brand Woolspun in "Moss Mix" which I keep thinking of as "Swamp Mix".

The KnitTalk group is doing a very easy challenge during the Olympics:  State that you will do something, and do it.  Unlike some groups, you don't have to try to make something from start to finish during the two-weeks-plus timeperiod (February 4th through 20th), for which I'd end up declaring a hat.  It can be as simple as "five rows of a shawl" or as complicated as "three pairs of socks" or "finishing a UFO" or whatever a person wishes.

I said that I would make some mitts, which have been percolating in my brain and needed to get OTN.  This is the first pair, for which I am working from alternating ends of the cake:

The yarn is from Lithuania and is scratchy in
the ribbing but soft in the stockinette part.

These will definitely be fraternal because you can see that one is more purple and the other more blue.  I pulled the ball in half and flipped them for the second one, so the fingers part of the mitts should match, or be close.  Time will tell.

Resolution Update (Already!)

Yes, it's just Day 2 of the year, but I have an update on the resolutions.  These two are COMPLETED:

The book is one of the two I mentioned as being in-progress, and there were about 140 or so pages to finish.  I woke early this morning and decided that snuggling in my blankets and reading was the perfect thing to do on the Sunday before I return to work.  So I did just that, and finished the book.

The story is a bit confusing, especially if you pick it up midway through after several months' hiatus, but I found my bearings quickly enough.  Overall I enjoyed the book, but I'm somebody who has a love of history who moved into law after a "History of Law" class in my second year at university.

The mittens are one of last year's UFOs, and I completed the weaving-in of ends during tonight's KnitTalk virtual get-together.  This is a better picture of the colours:

Buffalo Wool doesn't do this sort of sampler anymore.  The yarn is a bit scratchy and the mittens are too big for me, so I will sell or donate them.  Yes, the righthand one does need a bit of blocking to sort out the panel of colourwork.

We talked about our resolutions in the KnitTalk get-together, and I gave the ones about finishing my two carry-over UFOs and the pullover.  I'd shown the mittens during show-and-tell 

This leaves the Magical Miniskeins socks and seven more books to finish.  Plus, yes, the other items listed, but I wanted to keep it to these two categories.

The final month of the year

I know that I should do a review of last month (this post was started on December 2nd, not the first as I try to do with the beginning-of-month posts) and have new resolutions for December, but I really cannot think of anything other than "more of the same".

I forgot to take a photograph of my grandmother's shawl before mailing it as part of her Channukah gifts package, so I don't have that to show.

It's a good thought.

I've been doing my usual posting of Hanukah songs on social media, so maybe once the holiday is finished I'll add the list here.

Resolutions Report

I've decided that since I really don't like the border on the Omega Shawl, I'm going to pull it out and simply do some garter stitch and call it done.  It's long enough, since I'm short, and the yarn is at a black band which I think will be good for the bottom.  Otherwise I'll have to go through the shades and I'm not that interested in hundreds of stitches in stockinette, over and over.  Therefore this UFO should become a FO before the end of the year.

My one resolution to the KnitTalk group was to do the Falling Leaves Cardigan by end of year.  I've had the yarn for a while, I found some great buttons in my stash, now time to cast on.  Of course, I keep getting distracted by other things.   Thirty days and counting down....

Challenge Issued

As last year wound and we continued to be in various degrees of isolation, a number of knitters and crocheters I know got into make-alongs, where a designer issued a pattern and people did it and reported progress.  Sometimes you could get a prize for completing, other times it was just the finished item.  Most of the time these are mysteries, where you work a step and then another and at the end hopefully have a finished object that looks as it should.  I don't like those because I worry that I will put much time into something that isn't to my liking.  Also, the immediate time commitment can be pretty daunting, and not always possible depending upon what work requires.

They do seem to be a way for people to strengthen a community, so with the isolation requirements stretching into this year I thought of trying a make-along for a (mostly) knitting group I founded online in 2005.  Given how I feel about make-alongs, what would I do?  Not everybody wants a shawl, or socks, and I didn't want to design a pattern that would intimidate people or have "I don't like that style" responses.

And given how the year is likely to go, I wanted to develop a series of make-alongs that people could do, but without requiring one in case somebody joined the group later or didn't have time for one, or was on medical time-out, or any other reason.

So today I announced the first make-along for 2021, with the theme of 

Make Something Using The Colour BLUE.

And that was it.

No restrictions on shade, except that it has to be clearly BLUE.  No restrictions on design, except that the BLUE must be evident and not just a row or a few stitches or a button added.  Something new, something in progress, doesn't matter as long as it contains BLUE.

None of my in-progress items contains a clear blue; the "We Knit In Texas Y'All" vest contains grey-blue but I want to use something definite.  So I cast on the Dots hat from Berroco using these supplies:

I've had the KFI yarns in my stash for a long time.  It's thinner than the yarn the pattern calls for, but I knit a bit loosely when in the round so hopefully it will be fine.  If not, I'll frog and try something else.  Not as if I am lacking for yarn.

Midmonth Resolution Report 

I've done some reading but not finished a book.  I have worked on the "Omega" shawl, spending two days untangling the current ball of yarn as it collapsed badly near the end.  I've work in the remainder and am now on the second ball of yarn and somewhere around Row 50 of the seventy-six or so rows of the last plain (mostly stockinette, only the single increase at each edge) section.  I may make it slightly longer before I do the border.

A personal resolution I didn't mention was to achieve 7/7 for my tracker: one week (which starts on Monday) of at least 6h30m of sleep each night; getting at least 250 steps each of the nine assigned hours (during workday, which can be more difficult); achieving my minimum exercise minutes; and if possible meeting the new metric of "mindfulness".  Last year I had exactly ONE week where I met the three metrics that existed:  Sleep, steps per hour, and minutes of exercise per day.  Often I miss out on sleep or steps, especially when I have a lot of cameras-up meetings - or in the before times, when we were doing in-person meetings.

This week I was 7/7 on the first three and 4/7 (but I am assigned for only three days, so in a way it was 4/3) for the mindfulness.  Next goal will be to get 7/7 on all four metrics.

Not that I want this blog to be political, but.....

It's a rough time for many of us, not just in the USA, but since I live here, it's what I know about the most.  The abovementioned online group has people in other countries which are also going through elections and other political activity, on top of the pandemic.  We have people who work in the USA government who are having a lot of distress right now.  And since the group is not limited in the type of persons allowed, we have differing political opinions.

I had to ask people to back off a bit after the events of January 6th, which got some upset, and one demanded that I remove her.  I said that I don't remove people but she could leave if wanted, and in the end, she didn't.

Another person did leave.  Somebody posted about the "Inauguration Celebration" shawl pattern, and this person responded only "Why would any thinking person celebrate the inauguration?", without signing the message.  While not forbidden, I ask that people include knitting or other fiber-working content in their messages (so, a shawl pattern is fine, a response to it might not be) and to sign their messages.  I politely asked the person to send her message directly to the person to whose message she was responding, or to repost it with some knitting content ("OKC" = obligatory knitting content) and her name.

No, instead the person left.  I'm a bit offended as I wasn't telling her that she couldn't voice her opinion on the list, just asking her to follow some simple rules about posting.  I have friends all over the political spectrum, some of whom believe that the certified results of the USA's November 2020 election are not accurate, and some who believe that the president-elect isn't going to do enough for the country.

As for me, I will do what I can, where I can.  I'll get the vaccine when they finally get to my group.  This weekend, I am participating in some Day of Service activities in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  So I think I'll end with a quote of his:

And given that this week's parsha or Bible passage for my religion is Vayera, this seems appropriate as well:

Samhain, Dia de los Muertos, and Hallowe'en again

KnitTalk had an online (day after) Hallowe'en party tonight.  I used the same costume I'd done for work:

I asked people to bring something orange to wear or show.  One woman loves orange, and had quite a pile of items.  Others had to scrounge for things.  I'd planned to wear a shawl I finished earlier this year, but having finished my latest item I was ready for something new, and had just received The Periwinkle Sheep's Rhinebeck 2020 colourway from The Spinning Room.  Usually I don't immediately think of what to do with a commemorative colourway, but I've wanted to do this shawl for a while:

The fabric is a bit tight, so I've debated switching to a US#8 needle instead of the called-for US#7, but this will be a dense and warm shawl and that will be very useful.

Today was the Second Annual Knitting With Sheep day at Clatter Ridge Farm.  They were attempting to hang onto their world record, which another farm said they would be breaking but ended up canceling the attempt due to local gathering restrictions.  It was nice to be doing something with others, even though we were socially distant.  Well, except for the sheep, who checked us for snacks when they tired of pumpkin:

In past years there was a festival and people were encouraged to bring their jack-o-lanterns to donate to the sheep for snacking.  Hopefully they will be able to do it next year.

Things I forgot to report earlier

Every year for Banned Books Week I try to read a banned or challenged book.  This year, I wasn't going to the library or bookshops so I thought I'd end up re-reading Huckleberry Finn.  Then when looking up the lists of books, I realized that I had one in my pile of books to be read, so I pulled out Bless Me, Ultima and read it.  I was pleased that with the exception of a couple of words, I remain sufficiently bilingual to read without pausing for the dictionary.  This is definitely adult, although told from the viewpoint of a young boy, but a worthwhile read.

I did the Foodshare Virtual Walk Against Hunger, and managed to collect enough pledges to bump my goal twice.  On my daily walks I participated in the themed shirts, except on Friday when I walked in regular clothing and put on the outfit for work:

Monday's theme was "American Football" so I wore an old and beloved University of Chicago Maroons T-shirt.  Tuesday was "Hartford Yard Goats" day, and I don't have any of their gear, so wore one of the baseball shirts I do have.  For "Civic Pride" on Wednesday, since I don't have any town regalia, I chose a Connecticut shirt from Hartford Prints!  Thursday we were supposed to wear a shirt from a past Walk Against Hunger, and I don't have any, so I wore a shirt that had been a fundraiser for Foodshare earlier this year.  Instead of Casual Friday we ended with Fancy Friday, and I wore the gown that had been a bridesmaid's dress over twenty years before.  Happily, we were not stuck with something that couldn't be worn again - and at fancier occasions.

Status of my Resolutions

I am happy to report that the Boneyard Shawl is finished, completed last night:

It has a bit of a ruffle because I did a crocheted bind-off and was hurrying.  And it's more of a shawlette than a proper shawl, since I used fingering weight yarn instead of DK.

November Mini-Resolutions

I suppose I should do something Election-related - voting, definitely.

I need to finish the shawl of my grandmother's set, and I would like to finish my Rhinebeck 2020 Textured Triangle Shawl.  It should be a fairly easy knit.  And I'd like to finish something out of my UFO pile - the other Magical Miniskeins sock?  The other mitten from a set of Buffalo Wool samples?  The Omega Shawl?  It looks like these will continue into 2021, doesn't it?

Harvest Moon Night

 It feels just fall, a bit cool, but perfect for a movie outside:

Real Art Ways has been holding movie events and concerts in its parking lot, with bubbles painted on the pavement.  Tonight was a special event, a showing of "RBG" in memoriam, and for only women members.  Plus a couple toddlers and at least one small dog.

We sheered, we applauded, we cried.  Even those of us who have seen the film before.  And parts were made so much more poignant by her death the Friday before last, especially her reaction to the 2016 election.

It was my first big event since March.  I went to tashlich but it was small.  I knew that I could leave if I needed to, but I felt safe in my bubble, and people were respectful of others.

Mini-Resolution Update

I did not finish the Boneyard Shawl, but I did finish one of my UFOs.  And quite a few hats, mittens, and at least one other scarf.

October Mini-Resolutions

On the KnitTalk list we call this "Aftober" because a woman started encouraging people to finish things in October.  Anything.  Something old, something new, any color, red or blue.....  You get the point.  Since some of the others on the list made Boneyard Shawls I should finish mine.  They've been encouraging it.  But first, the third hat I started on Yom Kippur; part of my way of distracting myself during all the discussions and services and other services and ......  I finished two crocheted ones on Monday, having started the first on Sunday evening.

How did September get here?

I don't know whether it's because I haven't been traveling, or just because time is warped this year, but it doesn't seem as though it should be September.  And yet, here it is.

I also don't feel as though I have much more to report than I did in the previous post.  Work has continued, and we signed one deal but another has taken quite a turn, so I'm busy with it but in a different way.  I found out that eBay was offering sellers extra free listings in August, and that gave me incentive to go through my stash and post a number of auctions.  Many years ago somebody sniffed that you never receive what you paid for the yarn, so why bother?  My thought is that I get the advantage of more space in my home, a bit of money in return, and somebody else may love getting yarn at a good price.

So far, it seems to be working that way.  I've also sent boxes to people who make items for charity, and donated a bunch more (do you know the IKEA Dimpa bag? we'd had one of those donated to a local makerspace, and after sorting out the yarn it included I filled it with other yarn to donate) to a local thrift/charity store.  A woman on KnitTalk has been posting about the good things she is excited to find at her local charity/thrift store, so I don't mind donating to mine.  Again, somebody benefits.

August mini-Resolutions Update

As I said, no progress.  I didn't finish the Boneyard Shawl, nor any of my own UFOs, although I did finish several that were in the Dimpa bag with the yarn.  In addition to the striped hat in the last post, I finished the hat with the entrelac top, and put together some granny triangles into a scrappy scarf:

Also shown are a hat and mittens made of scraps of a multi and some royal blues, and an in-progress scarf of (not mine) handspun.  So I've made plenty of things this month, just not the ones I resolved to finish.  So........

September Mini-Resolution

Easy ones, just rolling over from August:  Finish the Boneyard Shawl, and at least one of my own UFOs.  I've made some progress on one UFO, but not to finishing.

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.

February, a bit late, on International Women's Day

I was going to write this in February, but am traveling and couldn't remember the current password, and it took Google several days to send a link so that I could set a new one.  So here it is, International Women's Day, and even though I didn't plan it this way, an update.

(And yes, because I have snarky male friends, there is an International Men's Day - so there.  No saying "well, every day is Men's Day, which is why they don't have one", because they do.)

A quick update on my resolutions:  I finished The Fortune Cookie Chronicles and have recommended it to someone who wanted to know the origins of some Chinese-American food we were having.  The book also talks about chow mein and other well-known items, not just the cookies.

Currently working on charity items due to a delivery deadline.  DFW Fiber Fest is not doing Knit Your Bit this year, so I am going to send the scarves I am making to them anyway, or donate them locally.  Keep Hartford Warm is doing another distribution next weekend and I've donated a number of scarves to them, and a friend's church collects for the local shelter.  I'll get back to my UFOs soon, and I am trying hard not to join Marly Bird's Tournament of Stitches make-along although I am collecting the pattern pieces for the future; I'm already working on Franklin Habit's lace scarf-along, but not in the pattern yarn - I had a special hank waiting for a project like this.

Plus I have added to my want-to-do list, especially after going to Stitches West.  I helped some friends in their booth, which cut down seriously on shopping, which is good because I wanted to save funds for DFW Fiber Fest, where they have lots of terrific indie dyers, several of whom do only-at-DFWFF colourways, which of course I have to collect.  So this is the sum of my purchases:

They had Girl Scouts doing a coat-and-bag check, and of course selling cookies.  The buttons are glass, the Princess Leia being the last one the artist had, the others going on some mitts I am designing.  the Apple Fiber Studio yarn is in a colourway called "Notorious" after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, so I had to buy it.

I had other adventures at Stitches West.  First, I kept very quiet about going, because of this woman:

Alison Hyde is a lace designer and someone who has been part of the KnitTalk list since the beginning.  She goes to Stitches West every year, and when I started talking to my friends about helping, I decided to surprise Alison.  So I had to keep a sharp lookout for her, and since I had to work on Friday which necessitated me hiding out in an upstairs corner of the conference center for some random hours, I was afraid I would miss her.

Serendipitously, as I came back into the vendor hall once things were sorted, there she was!  Alison wrote her view of it.  Mine is that I knew she doesn't hear well, so when she didn't react to me telling her my name, I just held out my badge.  In the photo above Alison is holding some bamboo laceweight that I was saving just for her.  In response, she gave me the last two Meyer lemons she'd brought from her tree, and knew there was a reason she was still holding them after distributing all the others she'd brought.  Alison also had some chocolate she'd made, but I'm allergic to chocolate so she shared with others.  And the next day, knowing I am usually in a very cold and snowy land, Alison brought a wool hate which I think will go nicely with all my winter coats - black, grey, or teal:

It's much more glorious in person.

On Sunday, I had a surprise.  Many years ago, when I went to Santa Clara regularly on business, I was part of an online group of historical reenactors from various periods, one of whom worked as a printer at Old Town San Jose.  She and I got to be friends, and then lost touch after my travel out there abated and she moved to another part of the state.  She was a tatter, and has taken up knitting since we were in touch, because I noticed a very familiar-looking person coming through the booth looking properly dazed and overwhelmed at options.

"Marjorie?" I asked.  And sure enough, it was!

She's wearing both knitted and crocheted items of her own making, and I am wearing the shawl of handspun bamboo that I'd just finished, which is vastly simpler.  We did some catching up and I ended up going to supper with her and two friends, the wife a quilter and the husband who'd spent some time in our booth considering which yarn to get to work with some other he had in stash.  They took us to the kind of place where we were the only anglos in the room, and we all ate as much as we could hold and still had leftovers going home.  Well, they did, as I was in a hotel and heading to Texas the next day for work, so didn't really have the means to keep anything.  Except some of the bread, which became a tasty breakfast at the airport.

So that was February.  March began with a trip to see my grandmother.  Saturday the weather was wonderful so my grandmother and I did a lunch cruise.  The people were really kind and helped get my grandmother (and her wheelchair) on and off the boat and we got a prime window seat.  Sunday we went to my honorary nieces' school production of "Anything Goes".  It was really good, and we had a celebratory Chinese food dinner and cake afterwards.

This weekend is the North Texas Irish Festival, and I'm back as a Performer Products manager.  It looks like we will have great weather for it - the temperatures have warmed up quite a bit from the below-freezing numbers earlier in the week.

I haven't been home since I left for California, and after this I go to Chicago for a couple of days.  Much of this has also been for work, and happily in the Dallas area so I was able to attend a Dallas Winds concert after many years of not being in town on the correct night.  I splurged on a box ticket (still quite inexpensive compared to Chicago and Hartford) and made friends with the people around me, so that a couple invited me to the special donors-only reception afterwards.  It turns out I am well remembered from my days as patron, volunteer, and donor (OK, I do still donate, just not at the same level) when I lived here, so it was a great evening.  They played about twice as much music as was on the official program, with two encores and an unannounced premiere.  I hope work brings me here on the appropriate weeks again, so I can attend more of their concerts.