Monthly Archives: February 2014

Not a Real Blog Post

This isn’t really a real blog post.

It’s an excuse.

Or an I.O.U..

Or maybe a cry for help?

 

I have been a really terrible blogger lately. Seriously. The WORST. There are a few reasons for this:

1. Last September I met the man of my dreams and fell crazy in love. If we are Facebook friends you have spent the last few months being nauseated by  treated to many adorable status updates and pictures of our relationship and I apologize for that   am sure you’ve enjoyed them! I won’t go on and on and on about how amazing this man is, and how indescribably happy he has made me but I will say that it has been really nice to focus my attention and time on my little family for a while.

2. (And this is the main one, so it probably should have been #1) I am working really hard to get the book I am doing for Sixth & Spring finished. The book is scheduled to release this Fall, and it has been a crazy push on everyone’s part to meet the schedule. What I’ve learned so far about making a book is that I had NO IDEA how complicated the process is or how time consuming! There are so many actors in play, so many people who actually know what they are doing, and all of them have been incredibly patient and supportive with me through this process.

The main thing I’ve learned about writing a book is that it is very stressful. (I should say here that I’m not doing too too much “writing” for this book; mostly I’m taking all the pictures, etc.) When I am not actively working on the book, my brain is bouncing around like a crazy pinball machine, worrying about deadlines and the quality of my work. Publishing a book is a lifelong dream of mine and I really don’t want to screw it up!

Lauria and Amy have been a champions during this crazy-rocky-stressful time and have kept the ball rolling here but I promise that I will be taking the reins back from her just as soon things settle down, which should be very soon. We will get back to animal posts and cooking post and “Living-with-Susan-is-like-an-episode-of-I-Love-Lucy” post ASAP. I promise!

Zooey Contest Winner

Zooey Yarn Hero

A big Congratulations to Diane who won the two balls of Zooey yarn we offered in last week’s giveaway!

ZoeeyContest Winner

Diane, shoot me an email at Lauria AT fiberfarm DOT com with your address!

Soon we’ll be showing you the next yarn and pattern lines, so be sure to check back. We might even have some yarn in it for you again!

Knitted Wire With Beads …

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- by Joan -

(if you’re interested in who knitted these for me please leave a comment)


Tutorial: A Quick Dye Job



A couple of years ago, I asked a friend of mine who is a professional yarn-dyer how she dyed one of her colorways into a gradient.  I just couldn't imagine controlling the flow of color using the tradition ways of dyeing skeins.  So, she told me.  She doesn't dye the yarn in the skein, she dyes it while it's knitted up like a blanket.

((brainpop))

Materials:

  • 100g skein of yarn meant for dyeing (or natural fiber yarn that can be over-dyed) knitted into a blanket or scarf (a knitting machine makes this faster)
  • gloves
  • kettle to quickly boil water and mix colors
  • Kool-Aid packets (5 to 15 depending on color intensity - this tutorial used 5 plus a pinch of a 6th pack)
  • a microwave
  • plastic bag or surface protector
  • microwave-safe bowl big enough to hold knitted blank
  • jars to mix Kool-Aid (how many depends on how many colors you want to mix)
  • yarn swift

Using a vague version of her technique, I used the knitting machine to knit up one skein of yarn into a kind of blanket or wide scarf.

1 skein of Knit Picks Bare
Then, I soaked it in warm water while I mixed the Kool-Aid colors.  I used 6 small packets of Kool-Aid, and the yarn color is still quite light.



Kool-Aid "Recipes"

1) basic light blue = 1 pack of Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade + 1 pack Berry Blue + a pinch of Cherry

2) darker green = three dips in the combo of 1 pack Ice Berry Blue Raspberry Lemonade + 1 pack Lemon Lime + a pinch of Cherry

3) yellow blending = 1 pack Lemonade

All colors used at least one full pack of Kool-Aid mixed in a small jar (about 1.5 Cups) of just-boiled water.


Dyeing Procedure

Once all my colors were mixed, I gently poured blue color onto blanket which was set atop a plastic bag big enough to cover my surface.  Note: I wish I’d rolled the wet blanket and dipped it into the bowl for more even coverage. Ah well!


Then, I poured some of the green dye into a bowl, and with a rolled blanketb I dipped the end of the blanket into the bowl with 1/3 green mix, then dipped again, but deeper, with 1/3 green mix, then even deeper with the last of the green mix to create a kind of gradient.

But, where there was a bit too much contrast, I added yellow, pouring directly from the jar and using my hands (in latex gloves) to kind of finger-paint the color.



Then, I cooked the blanket with enough water to slightly cover it in a Pyrex bowl in the microwave for about 3 minutes (checking on it and turning it every minute or so).

I rinsed the blanket in warm water, soaked in “Soak” then spun it dry in washing machine, and unwound gently to dry in hank-form.

after spinning it dry
winding slightly damp yarn is pretty easy

The colors came out much lighter than anticipated, but I'm still pleased with it.  If I want super-intense colors next time, then I could mix larger quantities of color (more Kool-Aid packs + more just boiled water).  But, this fairly non-toxic and relatively quick (with a knitting machine and microwave!) dyeing method appeals to me very much, and I think I will try it again in the future!


So... any ideas on what to make with the newly dyed yarn?


Flarkin’s Blackberry Cabled Cardigan – Sleeves!

Watching this sweater start to take shape and seeing the cables grow is completely addicting.  The cables look like intertwined vines to me.

I mean, look at them!  Aren’t they lovely?

As soon as I  finished up the body pieces for my cardigan, I immediately cast on for the first sleeve.  It didn’t take me long to realize that, if I wasn’t careful with my measuring and monitoring of my row counts, there was a real possibility my sleeves could end up different lengths.   (Keeping track of increases, decreases, row counts, and cable crosses in this pattern is a challenge. More on that in my next blog post.)  So,  I decided to knit both sleeves at the same time.

Only a few inches into knitting it, I slipped the first sleeve to a spare needle, and set it aside.  Then, I switched to a longer cable on my interchangeable circular needle, one long enough to accommodate both sleeves side by side.  Then, I started knitting the second sleeve on the circular needle.  Once I had the second sleeve up to the same row where I had left off on the first sleeve, I slipped the first sleeve back on my circular, so both sleeves were side by side, ready to be knit on the exact same row.

By knitting both sleeves at once, I am able to do exactly the same thing on each sleeve, row for row.  It makes it easier to measure accurately and to put my increases and decreases in the same row on each sleeve.  (This is an Important Thing for an OCD knitter, such as myself.) As an added bonus, both sleeves will be finished at the exact same time, and, as soon as I am done stitching them, I can move on to seaming.

Memory Correction …

Few years ago I put up this post:

I was in New York City and visited Grand Central Station, mostly to take photos of this magnificently restored building.  I thought I had never been there before…but in looking around something clicked in my brain !

When my mother and I would go to MV every summer we would take a train from Pennsylvania Station in Newark, NJ to, as it turns out, Grand Central Station in NYC where we would change trains.

We would have to run from one end of the station to the other to board the New York/New Haven & Hartford’s train on the Old Colony line called the Day Cape Codder, which would take us all the way from New York City to Woods Hole, MA. That’s right, all the way to Woods Hole.

Day Cape Codder

100_8757The train stopped at what is now the staging area for cars waiting to get onto the ferries. The tracks ran under the overpass in the left corner of this photograph.  It was literally only steps from train to boat.  A comfortable and luxurious way to travel in the days when lots of people didn’t have cars and the road system left a lot to be desired anyway.  The trains had dining cars with each table dressed in fancy tablecloths and crisply ironed napkins.  The waiters and conductors were always the same and seemed to remember me from year to year… made me feel special and grown up. Train service to Woods Hole ended in the 1960′s.

The ferry, the Nobska/Nantucket would take us to MV.

We’d land here in Oak Bluffs and our relatives would be there to greet us, and three glorious months on the Vineyard would begin.

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Well it turns out I was wrong !!!!  I don’t like  being wrong, even worse I don’t like admitting it… but I have to set the record straight because I know at least one person who did these trips as well and he’ll spot the mistake.

Recently I was watching the PBS program The American Experience about the ‘The Rise and Fall of Penn Station’    and I realized it wasn’t Grand Central Station we had taken the train to Woods Hole from…. it was Penn Station !!

Pennsylvania Station was built in 1910, covered nearly 8 acres, extended 2 city blocks and was one of the largest public spaces in the world.  Its 3 year demolition began in October 1963.  It was replace with another Penn Station which Madison Sq Garden sits atop.

  Functional but not beautiful :)

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The person I mentioned above is my life long friend Will Jones.  His parents Bill and Bertha owned the bowling alley in Oak Bluffs which was across from the Flying Horses.

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You might enjoy reading about our moms who grew up on Martha’s Vineyard and our dads who grew up in Newark, NJ …

 My friend Will Jones and I were always looking for things to keep us busy and out of trouble during our summers on MV.  Someone showed me how to make little flowers by using yarn and forks… I immediately showed Will.   We set about our tasks, me at my house, he at his.

The next morning Will’s mom called my mom asking if he was at my house ?  Seems she went looking for a fork and couldn’t find any !!!  A few moment later Will was at my door, and yes, he had all his mother’s forks with him and they were filled with yarn.  Seems I had neglected to show him how to get the yarn off the forks to make the little flowers…

                  

 Will had carried those forks from his house way on the other side of Oak Bluffs …

  up Circuit Ave …

 … to my house where we freed his mother’s forks of their yarn.  I have no recollection of what we did with the yarn flowers.
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(Will’s mom – my mom)

Our moms were childhood friends, as were Will and I.  Our moms graduated from Oak Bluffs High School together (long before the regional high school was built).  Our moms moved to Newark, NJ after graduation and it was there that they met their future husbands, our dads, who were also childhood friends.   (In 1907 Will’s mom, Bertha Carter, was the first girl baby born in Oak Bluffs after its name change from Cottage City.)

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(my dad – Will’s dad)

Will and I spent every day of the summer together. We went swimming, rode the Flying Horses, read, drove our parents crazy and were inseparable. For many years his parents owned a bowling alley in Oak Bluffs across from the Flying Horses.  Long before automation the pins had to be set by hand, I even did it from time to time myself.

Being a summer kid on the Vineyard was the best thing in the world… it still is.

Will and I live near each other in NJ and when we see each other we do a lot of talking about the Vineyard.

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Ahh, memories… whether they’re right or wrong I’m not telling :)


Curb Appeal

One of my favorite parts of our new house is that there is a yard. Yesterday morning I spent an hour and half outside enjoying the warm weather and sunshine while supervising the cat. (She loves to run and play in the yard, much to the chagrin of the neighborhood squirrels, but I don’t trust her to stay inside the fence when left to her own devices.) We do this with each day when the weather is nice. Wondering around the yard gives me a good opportunity to think about how to improve it through gardening.

We have our five little beds that should be ready for planting vegetables in the coming weeks, and while I’m still deciding what to plant and where, I’ve been thinking more about the rest of the yard. Our house has absolutely no curb appeal.

Curb Appeal
This is the left side of our house, which has been a rental house for at least the last ten years. There is no landscaping–of course all the grass is dead right now, but that patch of dirt next to the foundation runs all along the house, and was like that when we moved in last November when there was still just a hint of life left in the yard.

Since we moved in in late November, I didn’t plant any bulbs in these places like I wanted to, because I figured it would be too late. I figured we do some petunias or something, maybe some wildflowers later in the summer, and plant some tulips and gladiolus earlier in the fall for next year.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed this little bit of greenery coming up just to the left of the drainpipe in the photo above.
bulbs
Two little patches of some sort of bulb! These look to me like they’ve been neglected for a few years, and probably should have been thinned last year, so I’m hoping they still flower, because until they do, I have no idea what they are. I’m thinking hyacinth or narcissus from the shape of the leaves, but I could be totally wrong.

more bulbs
And then to the right of the drainpipe, I found these little guys who look like they must have just popped up through the soil. They’re different from the others, but I’m still not sure what kind of bulb they are. My guess is crocus, but really, I know nothing about flowers, other than I’m really excited that I don’t have to wait until next year for spring blooms.

ETA: They turned out to be day lilies and daffodils!

Flowers In A Window …

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- by Joan -


Sock Day Saturday

Saturday Sock
My job completely wore me out each day this week. When I get home from work is usually when I do the creative stuff whether for pleasure or profit. This week, Monday through Thursday I did absolutely nothing but eat dinner and stare at my tablet screen. I wanted to knit, but all of my projects on the needles involve cabling. I love cables, but this week they were just too much work. I haven’t been fit for anything other than stockinette in the round–if that.

Last night, I finally cast on for a pair of socks, my favorite kind of stockinette in the round.

Saturday Sock Yarn
I used this yarn, which is very similar to the stuff I just posted in my shop, so if you were wondering how it knits up, you’re welcome.

I dyed this last year for a sweater project for myself, which I have since cannibalized to knit this pair of socks and then to turn into another baby sweater/hat/bootie set.

Saturday Sock Through Heal Turn
I guess I was really jonesing for a simple knit, because as soon as I cast this on, the stitches starting flying, and so did the ideas for all the other projects I wanted to knit. In one evening I knit what you see above: cuff, five inch leg, heal and heal turn. Today I’m going to try to finish this one and see how far I can get on the second sock tomorrow.

In The Kitchen With Oona

With all the cold weather we’ve been having there’s been a lot of us craving comfort foods like soups, breads, and cookies.

Fortunately for me, my kids are all interested in learning how to bake, and since we homeschool it was a no-brainer to bring that learning into the kitchen.

Neve has been the break-out chef around here, making all manner of things for us and for herself (she makes great panini sandwiches!), but both she and Emily have been taught how to operate the espresso machine so we can always count on them for a caffeinated creation (smartest thing we ever did, right there!)

This week it has been Oona lending a hand with the baking and learning how things go together.  We made brownies and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cup cookies using recipes from King Arthur Flour.

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She’s pretty keen on the stirring part.

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We’re still working on cracking eggs in a manner that doesn’t end in disaster (not quite there yet).   She’s pretty proud of her accomplishments, though, even if mama is the one measuring out the ingredients.

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We have not yet found a recipe from King Arthur that we haven’t liked, but these cookies are among our favorites.

It’s pretty gratifying to know that by the time my kids are off in the world on their own they will be able to feed themselves (and well, at that!).

 


Tagged: food, Homeschooling