Yours 'til Niagara Falls

Michaelmas, Mitered Squares, Amaranth and Lambic

Yesterday was Michaelmas.  Raveloe's Fifth Wheel spinning group had an informal celebration which meant to fortify us for the short, dark days which winter will bring.  We also has a lovely blackberry cobbler.  The blackberries are part of Michaelmas lore.  Michael the Archangel wrestled with the Devil.  In the course of the scuffle, Lucifer landed in a briar patch.  Enraged, the story goes, he spit on the blackberries, rendering them inedible after Michaelmas.  Some sources infer that he might hav done something even worse to the fruit, but we choose not to entertain that thought.  Anyhoo, the cobbler was made with the Fanny Farmer recipe and It must have been good because it was eaten up by the group.  Here is a picture of it partway through the evening:

Tonight I had a wonderful night learning a new-to-me knitting technique.  It is a mitered square which will be turned into a lovely vest.  I am also using Noro yarn which is beloved by countless knitters.  Again, it is a first-time experience for me.  Muriel, the workshop instructor is kind and patient, just what a teacher should be.  Here is my progress so far:

After the workshop, regular knitting night began.  Kind Phyllis brought a loaf of homemade bread.  If that wasn't nice enough, the bread recipe had aramanth in the list of ingredients.  At first I thought she said absinthe which would have brought the whole notion of the green fairy into play.  I was mistaken, of course.  Amaranth is a seed from the pigweed family (imagine that!) which is very high in protein and low in gluten.  The loaf had a fine crumb and was pleasantly moist. I will certainly be experimenting with it in my future bread baking. 

During the course of the evening a bottle of lambic was opened.  Lambic is a

 Belgian fruit-flavored beer.  This particular bottle was apple.  Erica, a member of

the group is in the process of making blackberry lambic at home.  (Being that they were harvested before Michaelmas, the are, presumably, unsullied)  One suprising discovery in the course of the evening was that the aforementioned Phyllis does not leave her home without 1.) a church key type bottle opener and 2.) a corkscrew.  A former girl scout, no doubt.  Oddly enough, the lambic bottle required both tools before we could imbibe.  It was worth the effort.  Lambic turns out to be delicious. 

What a nice world it is that one can have four new experiences in one evening!

Seasonal Scrub

I am attempting to do some deep cleaning in my humble abode.  I have spent ninety minutes cleaning the living room which, to the casual observer was already passably clean. 

I could build a new dog with all the hair I vacuumed off the couch.  In addition, there had to be a full measuring cup of dust and dust bunnies.  Let's not discuss the spider webs.

The big issue, I think, is that I do not like my house.  In return, it does not like me.  It smells funny and is generally an uncomfortable place to live.  The last thing I want to do is lavish care on it.  But, I'm in no mood for a cautionary note from the county health department.

And so, I scrub. 

Knox Farm Fiber Festival

I had a lovely time at the Knox Farm Fiber Festival.  It is held at Knox Farm State Park near East Aurora.  The festival started small and has gotten bigger and better every year. I had a nice visit with my fiber-y friends and enjoyed meeting the animals:

 

 

I treated myself to some lovely locally grown shetland wool.  I love this shade of grey.  I hope to spin it into a fine wool and knit something lacey with it.

 

When I got home, I was able to scoot over to where my-favorite-little-boy-in-the-world was having a swimming lesson.  all in all, a very good day.

 

Under the Weather

It is a very good thing that I generally enjoy very good health, because when I am sick, I crumble, grumble, moan and complain.  With the help of several doses of over-the-counter remedies, I made it through the day.  Unlike our little friend Clara from Edward Gorey's Ghastleycrumb Tinies, I am not wasting away.

Despite my extreme pain and suffering (see what I mean?) I had a busy, enjoyable weekend.  Saturday was a family get-together.  I took my-favorite-little-boy-in-the-world who is exactly 25 months old.  He hit it off in a big way with another little boy who was at the party.  The boys share great-great-grandparents.  That makes them third cousins.  Imagine that!  Watching the two boys play together was really entertaining.

On Sunday, I went to the Hemlock Fiber Festival.  Again, I was honored to have the company of my little friend.  The weather was perfect and I picked up a few nice things.  I bought a product called Glitz.  That is mylar fiber which is spun along with your wool to add a little sparkle.  I was inspired by my friend Phyllis who made a version of La La's Simple Shawl using handspup with just a subtle little glimmer. 

 I also picked up four ounces of hand-dyed cormo.  If you haven't tried cormo, you are missing out on something wonderful.  It is soft enough to wear next to your skin and takes up color beautifully.  The red roving I bought will be made into mittens for someone special.

Gyotaku - Japanese Fish Prints

I belong to a fledgling surface design group.  As a group, it was decided that each member could lead a meeting and do a demonstration, arrange a lecture or something of that nature.  Tonight was my night.  I chose to demonstrate gyotaku.  That word is Japanese; gyo = fish and taku + impression.  Ages ago I had seen a demonstration on the Martha Stewart show (when the show was actually interesting to watch).  That prompted me to buy a rubber fish from Dick Blick.   Until my demonstration tonight, I hadn't really done much with it.

 

 

Anyhoo, you take the rubber fish and dab it with ink (further explaination to follow).  Then, place a sheet of paper over the fish and rub with your fingers, taking care not to shift the paper and making sure you get a good impression of the fins and tail.

 

Gyotaku was originally used over 100 years ago by Japanese fishermen.  They wanted to eat their fish and have it too.  The prints were used as a record of the size and species of the fish that were caught.  One source I read says that gyotaku stands have cropped up in places where tourists go fishing as an alternative to taxidermy.

The people who participated in the demo immediately started to generate ideas; print on fabric, use bleach gel for a color discharge technique, make forms with latex, etc. It was fun to listen to all the brainstorming.

I had a happy accident along the way, too.  I stopped at the craft store because I wanted a juicy new inkpad.  I snagged  this without carefully looking.  They are swell!  They give a pretty chalk effect without all the dust and the ink dries instantly.  It makes me want to do a little paper crafting.

Welcome Zoe and Thank You Lola

 

Sweet baby Zoe came into the world just after midnight last night.  It was a fairly eventful arrival, but my sister-in-law is recovering and the baby is healthy.  Jude, the 3-year-old big brother is very pleased with the new addition.

The shape note singing went well. One thing that happens in shape note singing is that people take turns leading the songs which are done in four-part harmony.  Every singing I have ever gone to it has been voluntary.  Not at this singing!  There was a facilitator who was, let us say, a little pushy and would not take no for an answer.  Here is a shape note singing tip you will probably never need.  When you choose a song to lead in front of a group, don't pick one that makes you get choked up.  I chose David's Lamentation which makes me think about how much I love my son.  Not a shining moment in my shape note singing career.

  Erie PA is about a two hour drive.  This brings us to Lola.  That is the name my husband gave to the GPS.  What a wonderful difference she has made for me.  I have no sense of direction.  I can get lost in a box.  With Lola, I am fearless.  We even did a thrift store crawl between there and home.  Alas, not a single thing did I buy.  I must say that thrift stores have lost that signature scent that used to punch you in the face as you walked in.  That is a good thing. 

My big find for the day was a sizable amount of raspberries I got from a roadside stand.  My daughter has expressed regret that she missed out on making raspberry jam in July.  Hurray!  She now has enough for one batch.  If she doles it out with extreme frugality, it should get her through the winter.

A Week of Emotions

It has been an emotional week.  I went to two funerals.  I was very fond of both of the people.  The first was the mother of my dear friend Donna.  Mrs. B. was 92 and had lived a life of industry and integrity.  She was also the most interesting political observer I have ever met.  Donna gave a beautiful eulogy which really captured her mother's spirit.

The other person we have lost was Amy, the sister of my dear friend Linda. Amy persevered lifelong medical problems which would have crushed the spirit of anyone else.  She created an amazing body of artwork including beadwork, sewing, knitting and crochet in the 49 years she had on Earth.  As an example, she could purchase an antique pineapple doily at a flea market and reproduce it exactly by thenext afternoon.  If you don't do needlework you might not understand.  If you do, you have fallen off your chair.

Well, life is full of profound contrasts.  My beautiful sister-in-law is, as I write this, in labor and will soon deliver a sweet little girl for us all to shower with love.  Someone else I love more than I can say went for an early sonogram this afternoon and heard the thump, thump, thump of a strong little heartbeat.

I will keep them all in my prayers.

Tomorrow I will drive to Erie Pennsylvania for a day of shapenote singing.  My contribution to "dinner on the grounds" will be phyllo triangles stuffed with spinach and feta.  I hope they won't be shunned like my last offering.

I Heart Madmen

For the first time in my adulthood, I look forward to Sunday night solely because of Madmen.  I love this show to the point that I am in total disbelief when I encounter someone who has never watched it.  I always have questions after I watch.  Why is Betty so darn mean to her kids?  Will Don do something despicable the night the new baby is born? Why did Joan marry such a jerk?  Is Peggy's character based on Helen Gurley Brown? Will November 22, 1963 be this season's cliffhanger?

Another Anime Suprise and a Knitting Magazine I Like

Pride and Prejudice anime style.  I'm sure this is exactly what Jane Austin had in mind.

Today I picked up a knitting magazine I had never purchased before.  It is the Winter issue of Debbie Bliss by Vogue Knitting.  There are at least two projects I'd like to make which is two more than usual. I'm really in the mood to make something bigger than a pair of mittens. And I am on a quest to be a well-dressed person.

Nancy Drew, Girl Sleuth

 Today was the first day of school; meetings, meetings, meetings.  Seems as though education is shifting toward a therapeutic approach.  By that I mean, students are assessed for strengths and weaknesses and if it is diagnosed that there is a delay, a prescriptive approach is used to teach the needed skills.  This is essentially what I've been doing in speech therapy for the past twenty years.  The result is... I will probably be immune to the philosophical shifts taking place.  OK by me.

My room is adjacent to the library.  When I perused the stacks of new books I saw the latest incarnation of every girl's favorite detective Nancy Drew.  Newly-appointed supreme court justice Sandra Sotomayor was greatly influenced by Nancy Drew as a girl.  So were Ruth Ginzberg, Sandra Day O'Connor and Oprah.  Anyhoo... Nancy Drew in 2009 is presented as the main character in a graphic novel (aka a comic book style format).  Not only that, but the visual rendering of Nancy is greatly influenced by Japanese anime.  The image above is today's Nancy Drew.  I really don't know what to think.