Charitably

When I was at the Knitting in the Field with Sheep event last month, one of the woolies became very curious about what I was knitting - another Knit Your Bit scarf, since washable yarn seemed wise out in a field:

Yes, I do a lot of charity work - I just don't have enough people in my family who want items to keep up with my output.  In addition to the box of scarves to Knit Your Bit (finally mailed this week), I finished some more blocks for Warm Up, America! from the remaining Lion Brand Jamie (discontinued) yarn from my stash.  I donated ten blocks at DFW Fiber Fest:

The red-and-white striped is from leftovers of the Knit Your Bit scarves; the four around it are out of Jamie (mostly 'Mardi Gras Stripes' with white borders) and the others are from Red Heart Roll With It Tweed yarn.  I'd left them at a friends' house in Texas at the beginning of March 2020, thinking I would be back a month or so later for the 15th DFW Fiber Fest.  Little did we know that the Fifteenth would be delayed for over two years!

I also finished the last of my promised items for Mittens for Akkol.  Actually, I redid a set because the head Mamma has been uncertain about delivering items, and most of these are for Extra Grads.  I decided to keep one set, as it is nicely matching, to possibly sell at a crafts fair next year.  So I quickly made the blue set, using some old yarn from the stash, a partial ball of Tara Tweed that I finally finished (it's been in several items) and two balls of Elspeth Lavold Chunky Al that kept not turning into things.

The new blue set is top center, hat and mittens.  To the right is a scarf crocheted from Periwinkle Sheep yarn, matching a set I sent earlier.  Below that are pink-based hat and mittens, both striped.  In the center is a green hat with patterning (including a bit of the Tara Tweed) and below it a houndsooth hat to coordinate with items somebody else was making.  The colourful set on the left is from oddballs of Noro Kureyon and some other yarns, including light grey Lopi Lite.

I think I will shift to making Warm Up, America! items for a while.  I didn't realize they took things other than blanket pieces until I talked to their volunteers at DFW Fiber Fest.  It turns out they need a lot of scarves and mittens, since people tend to donate hats.  Scarves are one of my go-to items when I need to have something not requiring attention, so this will be easy for me, when I get tired of the limited range of options (colours, mostly) for the scarves for veterans via Knit Your Bit.

The volunteer for Warm Up, America! said that I can use washable wools for them also, as long as I mark it as wool in case of allergies.  So I am currently working on a scarf of Patons Classic Wool Superwash DK in gold.  I'd overdyed some of the yarn, but am not sure I can match it.  The dyed bits will be mittens, maybe a hat and mittens set.  I'll decide later.

I need to rewatch my classes from last month's Stitches Expo@Home before they expire tomorrow.  I think I remember everything I need to do, but a refresher and maybe some additional notes, now that I have had time away from it. wouldn't be a bad thing.

What better thing to do on I Love Yarn Day than to play with yarns?

Another New Year.

I've meant to post this, but had a busy week and didn't quite finish.  It's the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashonnah, and now almost Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  For those who cannot go a full calendar year, it can be a chance to have another beginning, to restart, to make new resolutions.

For some, the new year can be scary and challenging.  A friend send an article that tries to explain why.  Basically, all change is a challenge.  You can embrace the challenge, be overwhelmed by it, or something that is a combination.  I have had many challenges in the last year, as I changed jobs in April, and I have been wrestling with my uncle's death and the obligations it gave me, and more changes to come.  Others I know have faced greater challenges.  My rabbi emeritus is the rabbi of Bat Yam Temple of the Islands in Sanibel, Florida, which was all but wiped out by Hurricane Ian on Rosh Hashonnah and faces an unknown future of rebuilding.

The Torahs were rescued.

The Jewish New Year is not really a time for resolutions as January 1st is.  It's a time of reflection.  The Days of Awe that follow are a time to regroup, assess, and in many ways to look back instead of forward.  Jews are supposed to evaluate their lives of the past year, and whether they have anything for which to make amends.  These days you often see people post things like this on social media:

That was posted by a non-Jewish friend of mine.  I asked her why, and well-meaning people in her feed chose to answer: one gave a very simple explanation of Yom Kippur as learned from some of his Jewish friends.  Another cheerfully opined that "This sentiment, applies to All....No one religion, corners the market on Well-Wishing, or Forgiveness."  I thanked them both, but explained that I wondered why a non-Jew was posting this - it could be seen as cultural appropriation, or it could be a lack of knowledge of its significance and its place as part of ritual actions of this time in the Jewish calendar.  And I know my friend is thoughtful and not given to casual appropriation of sentiments, so I wondered.

My friend explained that she is aware of its meaning, even though she doesn't follow the practices that surround it.  She also told me that

it is also very similar to what is said during ho'oponopono ceremonies here in Hawai'i:

Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice that combines love, forgiveness, repentance, and gratitude in four powerful phrases when said reflecting to yourself. Yep, that’s it. Four simple phrases that heal the soul. They are:

I’m sorry.

Please forgive me.

I Thank you.

I love you

So I learned something, and I think others did as well.

We are now in year 5783 of the Hebrew calendar.  It's another new beginning for some of us.  Another turn of the wheel; another trip around the sun.  A chance for something new, a chance to embrace change, a chance to look back and assess, evaluate, adjust our sails.

Let us treasure the time we have, and resolve to use it well, counting each moment precious – a chance to apprehend some truth, to experience some beauty, to conquer some evil, to relieve some suffering, to love and be loved, to achieve something of lasting worth. Help us, God, to fulfill the promise that is in each of us, and so to conduct ourselves that generations hence it will be true to say of us: The world is better, because for a brief space, they lived in it.

                                                   ---<  Rabbi John Rayner  

For those who observe, may you have an easy fast.  For those who do not, may you have the opportunities the Days of Awe and Day of Atonement bring, to reflect and restart.

May you be written in the Book of Life for a good year ahead.

Of course, I shopped.

I went to DFW Fiber Fest last weekend, the first since 2019 as the 2020 edition was scheduled for early April, and was one of the first events to fall victim to the pandemic.

I did try - and learned! - LOTS of different things.

It was good to see people in person (even behind masks), good to learn things in classes, and good to do SHOPPING in person.  I've been saving up, and while I didn't get to every vendor, I did collect quite a pile of acquisitions:

Day 1 - I won a class door prize, which was a coupon for a skein of
yarn of my choice, and I liked one colourway so much I bought four
more so that I can make a sweater for myself.

Day 2 - The pouches have handwoven fabric as part; the op-art
weave on the lower one is really cool.  I learned how to use the
loom as well as several other shapes with a continuous strand.

Day 3 - The top row is all handspun.  I hit a couple of my
favourite handspinners and found a couple others this show.

A few of the smaller items, such as stitch markers and tea, are not in the photos.

When I went to The 100th Sheep's booth I was wearing the vest I'd knit from their kit, which they recognized and were very pleased to see.  Every day I wore a shawl (the classrooms get cold! and inevitably I saw where something blew on my neck) made from yarn I'd gotten at a previous DFW Fiber Fest, except that one day I wore one made from yarn picked up on a Craft Cruise.  They had a booth, and I am looking forward to going on another one in January.

Farewell, Your Majesty.

 

And now, join your Philip.

Knitting in the Field with Sheep

Tomorrow is the fourth annual event.  The first one happened as part of the Hill-Stead Museum's fall festival; the second one happened as a way to help people during the first year of the pandemic; the third happened last year because it was good to be outside with people - and sheep!  Although given how many people participated last year, the sheep were a bit freaked out and stayed mostly in corners of the field.

This is last year's official photo - I am on the left in the front in my sheep shirt:

In addition to preparing for this - I've made sheep-shaped soaps to hand out, which were very much appreciated the first year (when soap was difficult to obtain) and also last year - I have been packing for DFW Fiber Fest.  It's happening again!  Slightly modified, but in-person, and while I am nervous I am also excited to be there.  I have registered for classes, most of which do not require prework and for which teachers are providing supplies, so I have to take items for just two classes.  Plus the usual supplies pouch (measuring tape, snips, stitch markers, stitch holders, spare yarn, needles, etc.) and notetaking materials.

I wanted to make some additional blocks for the Warm Up! America collection, so did a bit of a stash-dive for appropriate yarn.  I found a small bin containing partly-finished baby blankets, and decided I would finish one and use the remainder of the yarn.  Here it is:

The yarn is Berella "4" in colourway "Rosebud" and I have no idea of the pattern.  I ended up with a ball and about a third left, so I am keeping it to make a sweater to match.  I found a few balls of Lion Brand Jamie yarn, discontinued, and differing dyelots, so I am using that to make blocks.

I also finished one of my resolution UFOs:

 

Originally I thought of wearing it (over a t-shirt), but the temperatures are supposed to be in the90's(F) with lows in the 70's(F) and even in a conference center I think I will be too warm.  I might change my mind before I depart.  😏

That means I have finished all but one of the UFOs I identified in January, plus at least one other.  I am going to try to focus on the final UFO next month, after I return.

I also finished, by running in ends, and tagging these, which I am going to mail to the Knit Your Bit campaign later today:

I have one more that didn't fit in the box, and since I am making a second of the same yarn I kept it back for the next box.  I have another of the "Americana" scarves (top left) OTN which I will be working on tomorrow while Knitting In The Field With Sheep.  Washable and fairly mindless.

It took less than two hours.

I was getting ready for work when my mother called.

"Are you watching the news?" she asked.  I said I wasn't, as I was about to leave for work.

"Turn on the television," she ordered.  I asked which channel.

"Any of them," she said.  "It doesn't matter."

That's when I knew it had to be something bad.

________________________________________________________

I've been reading all day, not just the expected news reporting (intermingled with reports of the transition of power in England, and the Commonwealth, and the movement of Her Majesty's coffin) but also stories from friends, many of whom were in New York, or have family who were, and the people they lost.  Some of them just barely getting away.  Some who were away, finally getting home days later.

My younger niece was born four days later.  My elder honorary niece was born on this date, nineteen years ago.  A friend who barely made it out of the city gave birth two days later.  Others who were pregnant wondered about the world into which they were bringing their children.

Twenty-one years ago today.

Jamming.

Today is the 42nd birthday of somebody I know and she was holding a backyard party.  I didn't attend due to being behind in a house project, and then a thunderstorm.  Earlier in the day, in case I was swallowed by the house project, while doing a project-related errand I swung by to drop off the items I'd made for the party plus a gift for the birthday person.

The sharing items were two batches of marshmallows, one based on honey and the other on maple syrup, both from local sources.  The honey batch came out less fluffy and a bit more like nougat, and too late I remembered that honey has less water and so I should have adjusted the ratios.  They are quite tasty!  I added a bit of imitation black walnut flavouring to the maple syrup ones but no actual nuts.  And because of the birthday, I cut each batch into 42 marshmallows.

For gifts, the birthday person asked for onions, as she usually does.  Then she posted a video of a long line of onions that she's grown.  I'm glad I decided to give her onion jam!  I created my own version based upon a couple of recipes, several of which were more bacon-heavy and I wanted to be sure there are plenty of onions involved.

First, I chopped up a pound of thick-cut bacon and put it into my cast-iron dutch oven:

Then I cooked the bacon until it was crispy and all the fat rendered out:

A couple of times I carefully poured off the bacon fat, so the bacon could crisp more easily, instead of braising in its own fat.  While this was happening I diced up four large onions.  Maybe five:

Once the bacon was crispy and on some kitchen toweling to drain, I added the onions to the pot with a bit of the saved bacon fat, covered the pot, and caramelized the onions, stirring every 5-10 minutes:

That photo is around the halfway point.  Once the onions were nicely browned, I added some maple syrup, the same amount of bourbon, a splash of vinegar, and a sprinkle of ground black pepper.  Then I stirred until the jam was dark and sticky:

After filling a jar I decided to stir some of the crumbled bacon back into the jam for the second jar:

Here is the end result, without the tags:

There was a tiny bit that didn't fit into the gift jars, so I kept it for me.    😋😁

A couple recipes talked about pulsing the jam in a food processor afterwards, but why make something else dirty?  It may be necessary if you just slice the onions; when diced the way I do it, there's no need.

I didn't remember to take any photos of the marshmallow-making, but it goes quickly so there's not a lot of opportunities.  You need to work speedily with the boiling syrup!