Trans Day Jesus

Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility, and this cartoon is extremely appropriate:

Naturally, the far right are having a meltdown about this, claiming the President took over Easter for the event, when March 31st has been the International Transgender Day of Visibility since 2009.  I guess that shows how little they've paid attention to the date in the past.  Easter is the date that moves all around the calendar.

Following up on last week's post, here are some photos I took while wandering around the UCLA campus.  Several buildings wear mosaics that align to the coursework inside:

Other buildings are just pretty:

Apparently there is a show being filmed on campus during break.

The conference center was filled with all kinds of art - sculpture, paintings, prints, photography, and so on.  Many of the artists have a connection to UCLA.  I may do a post later with some of the images but this one is getting long enough.

It was spring break, so most students were away, which meant most places on campus were closed.  This only affected me on Sunday evening when I decided to get some food, preferably takeout.  The restaurant in the hotel had a basic menu of burgers, pizza, and salads that I did not find appealing (apparently there is a better menu Monday-Friday), and when I asked about food options nearby I was directed (vaguely) to the student union.  Luckily I found it, but only a Carl's Jr was open, so I got a chicken sandwich.  The next night I learned that not far away were many eateries of all kinds, but the maître d' at the hotel restaurant wasn't about to send a guest to an appealing option.

The student union also had a vending machine room that featured Asian treats.  I was overwhelmed!

  

  

  

I chose preserved mango, which was
not what I expected. Edible but meh.

In addition to the architecture, there were lots of plants with which I am not familiar:

I could recognize wisteria - this is the seating area for
one of the food courts, closed due to spring break.

  

  

Monday night the event scheduled some "Dine Around" groups, and mine was sent to a pricey steakhouse.  We discussed quickly and decided to find a local place, ending up with hotpot that was tasty and much less expensive.  

Definitely a place to check out next year - and next door is a Korean quickstop that I noted for my Sunday meal because we're supposed to be in the same place next year.  Less than a mile away, so definitely an easy walk for me!

It's Easter today, for those who follow the Roman calculations (Western Christians count from the vernal equinox), and I bought a small treat for myself:

My mother suggested that we have our weekly soufflé today, and it was very well-risen, which seems in keeping with the holiday that some are celebrating:

This week it rose higher than the rim of the dish!

Knot quite there.

A report before I head out for some travel, including a cybersecurity conference.

First, I (nearly) finished some things - ends need to be woven in, and that might wait until I return:

  

Those are the very fraternal mittens made from a hank of handspun wool from The Knitting Buddha.  It was going to be a hat, then I changed my mind.  When I decided to make mittens instead I divided the skein in two with a knot at the halfway point - you can see that the second mitten finished just before the knot.  That is the restarted mitten, when that end was thinner enough that the mitten was coming out very differently from the first one.  The cut-off started bit is on top of the mittens, and below is the remainder of the ball of yarn, with the knot marked by a yellow pentagon in this second photo:

I also finished (but it also needs to be blocked) the "Age of Brass and Steam" shawl in Forbidden Fiber's Pride DK, colourway 'Merchant Dynasty' is no longer in production:

  

I changed the pattern by adding rows of eyelet between the stockinette bands, it should have been only one but most have two.  And I was tempted to frog back and make all of them two, but decided that was more reknitting than I wanted because it was almost done when I changed.  I'd been adding a row each time, but didn't have enough for four at the end, so frogged back to the third eyelet band and made it just two.

As for other projects:  The blue baby blanket is ready for it's I-cord bind-off, but I didn't like how the first two starts looked so I am going to wait until I return to try again.  I am down to the "don't think I'll need it" project from the six I quick-started on Fat Tuesday (technically, the red/white/blue C2C scarf isn't finished, but it's bulky enough to wait for my return), and am taking it plus the Caledonian Cardigan on this trip.  Plus a book.

I Read Harder

I finished the local library's challenge (read three books in different categories for a prize) and received my prize: a bookmark.

  

My third book was in the category "Choose a book from a library display."  The first two books I read were ones I have at home, and I wanted to read at least one library book for the challenge.  When I went into the building to select a book they had two displays near the entrance, one a general topic and another for Black History Month.  Since I am from Dallas, I instantly was drawn to this one:

I found it interesting both because I remember some of the time, having lived in the Dallas area then, and also for his personal journey.

Maybe next year I will read more than three books for the challenge; I thought about trying to read th4ree more quickly and get another bookmark, but there isn't time and I have a couple half-finished books I should finish first:  Charlie Wilson's War (still working on it from the course I took in November!) and The Catcher Was a Spy which I started on the trip to Spring Training.  I might take the latter on next week's trip to a cybersecurity conference, since the topic seems appropriate.

π day 2024

I wasn't sure what I would do to celebrate today, but a plan came together.

I had trouble deciding what type of pie to make, and how large.  I'm still not sure I can find all my pie plates, or should I use a small cake pan?  If I made a big pie, who would want to share it?  It came down to a chicken pie or a peach pie, because I have both in the freezer.  Then I got the crazy idea to try both.  Together.  In one dish.

I wasn't feeling excited about making pie crust, and when I took the peaches and chicken out to thaw, noticed a roll of puff pastry I'd stashed over the holidays.  Perfect solution!

The chicken part would be a riff on b'stilla, with a bit of some 14th-16th Century as well.  The peach pie would be much more traditional, other than the crust.  For the b'stilla I checked a couple of recipes, scaled them down, and decided to use some Penzy's Pie Spice in addition to the saffron and a bit of black pepper.  Most recipes just use cinnamin, saffron, and pepper.

First step is to cook chicken with onion, saffron, butter, and water:

  

While that simmered I lined the dish with pastry and saved the rest for on top:

I also mixed the peaches, about half the full recipe:

   

I made a wall of pastry to keep the two sides apart.  Yes, I should have chilled the pie, but I was heating the oven and didn't want to put a cold Corning Ware® item into a hot oven, just in case.

Next, I chopped almonds and added raisins (which are not traditional in b'stilla, but I like them and they fit with the additional spices), then chopped up the almost-cooked chicken, and put everything back into the pot to cook until the liquid was gone:

When that happened, I let it cool a bit, then added a beaten egg and the spices, stirred it all together, and spooned the filling into the other side of the dish, where it fit perfectly:

   

I added a suitably marked top and it was time for the oven - 350ºF for about 45 minutes.

It was very yummy, and the two sides hold together nicely:

I've got suppers covered for two more nights.

Carolina Fiber Fest 2024

I am not getting to much of the event this year, because I want to get back to Dallas for a show (or two) and several of the days are work days, which I cannot take off right now.  I debated about classes, and whether to go to the Friday event, and whether to try entering items in their competition.

In the end, I decided "no" to the Friday event, partly because it is just a hangout and I may be more comfortable after I know more people in the local fiber groups, and partly because of the difficulty I had on Thursday evening when I drove to enter the one item I decided to try.  There's a lot of road construction in that area, and my car navigation didn't acknowledge the Expo Building, then my phone navigation didn't handle the construction detours.  I got there with about twenty minutes to deadline (then had to find parking, and hope I didn't get towed for slipping into a "permit only" slot which appeared reserved for the next day), but managed to get the submission done.

This is what I entered:

Pattern is called "Granny's Not Square Cowl".

It's Category YC32, the Crocheted 2024 Craft-Along Pattern.  I did a slight variation by adding a row of single crochet at each edge.  Yarn is Louisa Harding "Amitola Grande", a silk-wool blend, in 'Tangerine Dream', an oddball purchased from a store in the DFW area.

Another lady was also entering her item (a lovely felted abstract picture that appears to be in natural colours of various wools, brown and black and cream) just then, so I felt better not being the only person to skid at the end of Thursday.  Items could also be entered on Friday morning, but I had to work.  If you are coming to the opening of the event, it's handy to deliver your item then.  While classes begin on Wednesday and run through Sunday, the vendor hall and other events are on Friday and Saturday only.

I thought about entering more items (you can only enter ones made between March 2023 and March 2024) but I cannot be there on Saturday afternoon for pickup.  They offer an option to mail it to you, but I didn't want to risk the box not being correctly calculated.  One cowl in an envelope with several stamps shouldn't be an issue.

Given my schedule I wasn't sure which workshop(s) to take.  I am very interested in the one to do a felted sheep or peacock table mat, but in the end decided on a beginning drop spindle class.  I keep trying to learn and hope that someday I'll get it to work.  Maybe this time?

I chose the early Saturday session, which ends just as the vendor hall opens.  I hope I can get in there and while I don't want to buy much, I expect I'll find a few interesting items.  I also want to browse the Used Equipment Sale and maybe find somebody who can help me get my wheel back in service.  I've had an offer to help balance it, but the pedal needs work also.

After Report

More report later, when I have time to take photos of the things I purchased: buttons, a magnet, lots of yarn.  And I think I've figured out drop spindle!

Plus I got to see my cowl on display:

Finishing Things

In addition to the cowl, I finished one of the scarves I had in my quickly-begun pile.  As I semi-suspected, one cake was not enough, so I included most of the second one.  This means there will not be another green scarf, although I might have enough (in the two bits in the middle of the photo) to make a hat to accompany it.

I worked on the scarf through the North Texas Irish Festival and it drew a lot of attention.

I also finished the Ghost Ranch Cowl:

I'd done the hat first, and am thinking about frogging it and reknitting in the stitch pattern so they match more closely.  It will wait until after Easter as that's not a started thing.

Speaking of started things, I decided that the second mitten of a pair doesn't count as a new start, but the progress is not encouraging:

The yarn isn't even thickness, so the new mitten is smaller than the other despite the same number of rows.  I may remove this bit and start further down where the yarn is thicker again.  Or I may reknit the hand with extra rows.  I am leaning towards the former so I can get to some bright colours more quickly.  Definitely fraternal mittens, whatever happens!

Another year of music.

Yes, I went to help at the North Texas Irish Festival this past weekend.  When I arrived Tuesday night it was cold and rainy, but quickly warmed up on Friday and was sunny all weekend - perfect festival weather.  I did my usual working and running errands and repeat all weekend, with a little bit of shopping at a local soap supplier:

Bath bombs (they also had some with gnomes
or shamrocks or hats), lip balms, and soaps.

I also helped with check-in at the annual 5K Fun Run, and while they ran out of the medal-cum-bottleopener (in addition to runners/walkers they had a "0K" version where you could just sign up to get the T-shirt and goody bag) I was given a T-shirt:

There is a cidery in Deep Ellum that provided this year's beverage (in addition to breweries and the inevitable Guinness) and it is very tasty.  I would be drinking it regularly if I lived there.

Once again I stayed at the main hotel and it was crazier than usual because the National Cheerleader Championships were in town and they shared the hotel.  Quite a mixture of high-energy people!  This also meant that both of my flights were about 2/3 full of cheerleaders and their parents and coaches.

Hurrah for earplugs.

Of course I wore masks all weekend, with Saturday's noting the March 2, 1836 founding of the Republic of Texas.

#OnThisDay in 1562 was chartered the entity
that would become Trinity College, Dublin.

I worked a bit for my real job on Friday, and then Saturday morning before going to help at the Fun Run, and Sunday evening.  Then I took off Monday morning to help set-build for the Plague Mask Players' show, "Taming of the Shrew".

As we were loading in the set pieces and getting organized.

I didn't do a lot, especially as I had to leave noonish for my return flight (I could have taken a later connection, but direct flights are preferable especially during work hours), but it was good to be back doing the kind of stage stuff I love.