Make It Stop (No, Don't)

I signed up for a class today at A Notion to Quilt. A quilting class in which I will learn how to use "the big machine" to top stitch my own quilts. This is probably good because quilting anything bigger than a wall hanging on my machine is not at all fun. But I am not planning to buy a $10,000 long-arm machine that takes up the whole house. And hand quilting - well, I toyed with the idea briefly, but since this is 2013, and we have the option of machine quilting, who am I to stand in the way of progress? I've got one project ready to go and another one soon to be ready, and plans for a minimum of three more right behind these two. There's no way I could quilt those all by hand AND write a book AND keep up with real life. My ancestors may be spinning in their graves, but polyester thread and machine quilting, here I come! I wish I could stop obsessively sewing fabric into quilted things. Or do I?

I am trying to take the edge off of my new-found quilt problem with some simple projects, like napkins, more place mats, and flannel baby blankets. I love flannel unreasonably and I have tons of scraps in my stash; enough to do a scrappy flannel quilt, which I plan to do someday - just not today. Today we focus on simple baby blankets. These blankets are super fast and easy. They are made from two layers of flannel and so don't really count as receiving blankets - they're more like a tummy time blanket, or a snuggle-down-for-the-night blanket.

I begin by cutting two pieces of flannel to 43" x 43" - or "width minus selvedge square". Pin neatly around, and then sew them right sides together with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, leaving open about 10 inches along one side to turn right side out. Clip the corners on the wrong side, and then turn the whole blanket to the right side. Then press all the way around to set the seams, and finally top stitch 1/4 inch from the seamed edge. The sewing part is done now, and really they could be considered finished at this point. I wanted to amp them up a little, so I am crocheting a simple edging on them. I haven't done this in ages - since my friends and I were all young and having babies of our own, in fact. I used to use the awl from an old leather working kit to poke holes around the edges to accommodate my hook.

But today I used the doffing pin from my drum carder and poked holes through the two layers of flannel about 1/2 an inch apart, and worked 3 sc in each hole, then a chain one between shells. At the corners I worked one 3 sc shell, ch 2, and a second 3 sc shell in the same hole.

I will probably change this a little for the second blanket. The gauge of the yarn for the second blanket is smaller, so I may make the holes closer together, or change the number of stitches in each shell. I am in love with both of these, and I still have four other pieces to make two more blankets from. The problem with flannel is that I see one I love and I buy it (and a coordinating piece to go with it), and I bring it home, and I sew it up or just ogle and pet it for a while until i decide what to do with it. But then I go out again, and the seasons change and new fabrics come into the shops, and the next thing you know I am buying more - and more and more and more. I always buy 1.5 yards of flannels because I know it's enough for a blanket OR for pj pants for me should I decide I can't part with a print. I wish I could stop buying flannel...but really I don't want to stop at all.

The garden has been kind of amazing this year. We didn't get anything in last year because we were busy just settling in. This year I planted in the "lasagna" beds I started last fall. I didn't expect much to come of them. It's been a pleasant - mostly - surprise to be wrong. But I wish I wasn't quite so very wrong. Well, what I mean is, this is probably not the best year for me to have a bumper crop of tomatoes, and a minimum of 6 small to medium eggplants every few days. I put about 8-10 lbs of tomatoes in the freezer some days, chopped up and put into zip lock bags. When the kitchen is done and I have counter space again, I will pull them all out, thaw them, and process them in proper canning jars. We've also had a huge outpouring of zucchini and cucumbers and baby lettuce from friends. The result is that we're eating salad daily, and there are three huge jars of refrigerator pickles tucked behind the raw dog food and bags of baby lettuce. Some mornings I think if I see one more eggplant, I will scream. Mostly I am grateful for the bounty, if a little tired from all the extra work. I could say no to friends, and I could hand the tomatoes and eggplant over to the chickens - but make hay while the sun shines, so they say!

It's fair season here, with our local county fair kicking off with a parade Thursday. That fair will end this weekend and will be followed by "The Big E", also known as the Eastern States Exposition. When my kids were small I spent the weeks leading up to fair time canning, sewing and baking like mad. I would enter things and come home with ribbons to show for all my efforts. I beat my mother more than once in the canned goods classes which always felt really good! One year I even entered "Homemaker of the Year", and won. I was so thrilled! I also had a couple of "Best in Show" items over the years - most notably a hand-crocheted infant's christening gown that someone later insisted on paying me $150 for. I would appear at the round house on Wednesday afternoon with my wares in hand. Everything would be neatly labeled with my exhibitor number, class number, and description. It was the focus of weeks for me, and I loved the simplicity of it - and the good honest competition. I miss that side of life. They changed the rules though - you have to enter weeks in advance - and I am more a last-minute, pull out all the stops and make something amazing sort of girl. It's how I got through college, and it's how I go through life, most of the time. Stop, think, plan, plot, debate, decide, stop again, discard, reevaluate, plan anew, plot, and at the last second, produce! 

I doubt if I will go to the local fair this year - it has changed so much in the past decade, and not much for the better, but I'll most likely make it to The Big E. Now that the kids are grown I've traded the round house and french fries with vinegar, for state buildings and smoked salmon on a stick. Now that I don't want to stop ever! 

A Recipe for Nothing Like Disaster

I've been trying to focus on designing and I am totally hung up on one pattern, so I am taking a mental health morning - and I guess that means I can blog! I recently finished this Elise Shawl.

I LOVE it. I added dagger beads along the edge because 1.) I had them and 2.) I love sparkly things. It was a fast crochet experience, blocked out beautifully, and even Yoshi approves.

Maybe a little too much on the Yoshi approval there...

Six year old me wishes I was my own grandma.

These are heading for Texas soon for Grandbaby April who is no longer any kind of a baby, but I still call her baby. I will have to work on giving that up soon, I think.

This past weekend was Father’s Day. It’s also shortly before Mr. W’s birthday, so it seemed a good time to gather the three local children around, with spouses, and celebrate the man. There was, as sometimes happens on these occasions, a fair amount of beer and wine. When it was all over, as I struggled to recover from being bitten by the wine bug, I concocted a really yummy seafood stew that I just have to share with you. Regardless of the brilliance of the stew, it’s a really good thing these sorts of events only happen a couple of times a year. Nothing slaps you in the gracefully maturing face like a long night.

Now, in order to properly prepare this recipe, you'd ideally have a clambake of sorts in your back yard, and get tanked with your adult kids. If you need to skip that step, I understand. The clambake part could probably also be avoided, but in case you want to indulge I am including that "recipe" too. For the clambake we used a combination of Martha Stewart and Ina Garten’s “Stovetop Clambake” recipes and came up with a fitting compromise, outlined below.

In the bottom of my big enamel canner we put three big Spanish onions, quartered. I set the canner rack on top of the onions and lined this with a large piece of cheesecloth – big enough so that the four corners of the fabric extend out of the pot and hang over a good bit. Next we added, in order, 1 ½ lb of small red potatoes (about 2 inches each), 1 lb of Andouille sausage (four links), 5 ears of corn (husked and cut in half), 4 pounds of steamers (scrubbed and rinsed) and 2 pounds of mussels (de-bearded and washed well). On top of this we placed 4 quarter lobsters. Quarters weigh between 1.25 and 1.5 pounds. We then poured a large (24 ounce) can of Rolling Rock (yes, Rolling Rock. Save the BBC for a glass, thank you very much) beer over all, and a second beer can of water for good measure. The cheesecloth was then tied twice on the diagonal, corner to corner, over everything to make it easier to retrieve the good stuff once steaming was complete. The canner was put on the side burner of our gas grill, which was set on high.

Unfortunately we lost track of time – I think it was the sangria - and our intended half an hour steam turned into something more closely resembling an hour. I don't recommend this step. Stick with the half hour. Set a timer. Anything. My rule is that when the lobster is red and the clams are open, it's all done. I am sure some official warning someplace says something different, but this is how I roll. We removed the neatly bundled shellfish and vegetables from the pot (the cheesecloth thing worked brilliantly) and dumped them into my big roasting pan. I squeezed two lemons over the whole mess. The broth from the clambake was strained into bowls, and a pan of melted butter was set out. On a platter to the side was a pair of very large, perfectly prepared (by stepson #2) sirloin steaks, my generous nod to Mr. W's birthday. I don't cook beef any more if I can avoid it. We all gathered, standing, around an eight foot banquet table, hacking into shellfish with various and yet entirely appropriate tools, and everyone ate until they were stuffed. There were leftovers. No matter how I fuss and plan, and think I am going to run short, there are always leftovers. The leftovers went into the fridge, and strawberry shortcake (the kind you eat, not the cartoon one) came out, followed by a not insignificant quantity of further imbibed cheer. I think the party drew to a close around 1:30am. I say “I think” because, well, I frankly wasn’t doing a lot of thinking by then. We all went to bed.

I woke up at around 5 am, definitely the worse for our evening’s debauch. As I lay there in my discomfort, I alternately contemplated my age vis a vis my stamina (is that the right word for 'complete inability to party anymore'?), and wondered what I could do with the leftovers. It came to me that a rich, beer-based, flavorful stew would hit the spot just right, if I could remain vertical long enough to prepare it. Not wanting to disturb the other members of my family - who were still recovering their feet - I slept (if you can call it that) until around 8. After I’d made breakfast for the stragglers, and everyone had headed off to their proper homes, and Mr. W. and I agreed that we are really much too old for this kind of behavior, I started the stew. It’s pretty amazing, and it definitely hit the spot at lunch time – and for a couple of days after! I even took some to my father and stepmother and they both expressed approval. So here I present to you this charming recipe, but only on condition that you follow the rules, including the above celebration of excess (with or without adult children), in order to make it.

Hair of the Dog Seafood Stew

Leftovers from the night before (or new if you're wimping out on the party part):

1 cup BBC Lost Sailor IPA, the dregs of a growler (feel free to substitute your own beer selection)

1 cup corn (previously steamed and stripped from ears)

2-3 small cooked red potatoes, cubed

3-4 ounces leftover lobster meat, chopped roughly

6-8 ounces leftover mixed clams and mussels, chopped roughly

4 ounces andouille sausage, chopped roughly

New stuff the morning after:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 carrots, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons salt-free Creole seasoning; we like Tony Chachere's (if salt is allowed in your house, feel free to use the regular kind)

1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 - 15 oz. can diced tomatoes 

1 - 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes (I used my own pints of canned tomatoes for these)

2 cups water

1 - 15 oz. can seafood stock

Prepare all leftover steamed seafood and vegetable from the previous evening’s clam bake. Chop potato and seafood and sausage, and remove corn from cob. Set aside in a bowl.

Chop onion and carrot. Add oil to 6 quart stock pot and set on high. When the oil is hot, add the carrot and onion and stir. Allow to cook down for a minute or so before reducing heat to avoid burning. Let sweat for a few minutes, and chop the garlic while you wait. Add garlic and sauté until garlic begins to change color and the onions are translucent. Add Cajun seasoning and stir all well.  Add beer and let reduce for 1-2 minutes.

Add seafood stock, tomatoes, water and tomato paste all at once. Bring back to a low boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, then add the leftover seafood and vegetables. When the leftovers are hot, the soup is ready! 

In fact, it was SO ready that before I could take a picture of it to show you it was all gone. Made me want to go buy a ton of expensive shellfish and start all over again. But maybe next year...

Diversions.

It started like this: yesterday I felt a deep need to procrastinate on three different projects. First, I did not want to proof read any more of Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting. It's not that this is a difficult thing, it's just that I have the head of a pig and once I decide today is not the day to do this or that, well, it's pretty much over. Actually, it is a difficult thing because I know if I miss something now, you'll all let me know later, but I digress.

I also was procrastinating on photographing the Blueberry Peak socks I shared with you the other day. Not because I do not love them; I do. In fact, the pattern is laid out and ready to go. All it needs is photos. But photos mean a drive to find either feet or photographer, and I am generally unwilling to make more than one foray from home in a week. I believe in clustering all errands into one day to save on gas and wear and tear on my car. And last I was procrastinating on a third and new project - an Artyarns design that I can envision in my head but I feel guilty playing with (all that sparkle and softness!!) when I should really be getting pictures taken of a pair of socks, or proof reading pages of a new book.

This left me at a bit of a loss. Desiring continued procrastination on all three projects but without anything to really excuse myself from getting the work done, I was becoming desperate. Then it came to me. What I really needed was a sweet little accessory made out of my sparkly yarn samples for, um, Valentine's Day. Yeah! Perfect! Knitting it would be out of the question because, after all, I was procrastinating on among other things a knitting project. Knitting would be like cheating. I trawled Ravelry and found a couple of things that I liked, but nothing that really was precisely what I was after. The one that looked the most likely was entirely in German. Das ist nicht gut.  My Deutsch is limited to about four phrases and a few words, none of them knitting related.

I picked up the closest hook and the closest sparkly yarn (Artyarns Cashmere Glitter) and began to play, and this is what happened.

A flower on a chain. And then another and another and another, and before you knew it there was a whole string of them! Nothing "meaningful" had been accomplished, but I had a string of sparkly flowers. Then I remembered that the 17th (today!) Is Mary Alice's birthday. So I decided that this was Mary Alice's Birthday Girl Garland, and now the it had both meaning and value. I sent a picture to Kristen who said it was cute, and did I write down the pattern. Well, no. Not wanting to disappoint, I grabbed the next closest sparkly yarn (Artyarns Beaded Cashmere and Sequins) and began again, this time recording what I did as I hooked away.

And that's what happened - a second garland, just in time for another birthday girl. I'll not say who just yet, since it's not quite THE day.

This left me wondering about something. If Kristen would like the pattern, would anyone else? And if they would, well, why not write it up! This led me here:

Which involved the loss of a clog and then the second one while standing almost knee deep in the snow in a short-sleeved t-shirt that says "I'm a Keeper" in big letters, trying to take pictures of garlands looking "springy" in weather that has not quite turned that corner just yet. This was followed by slipping and sliding on ice covered paths and barely making it back inside in one piece with snow-filled clogs and garlands in my teeth and my camera protected from falls and mishaps on my back. Which led to this:

And really, after this, can there be more words?

The pattern is available in my Ravelry store for $1.00. Help keep my model in kibble and download your copy today!

Many Pictures, Few Words.

Just things I love, or that are making me happy right now.
Sad small dogs in need of baths after a long long walk in the mud.
My labeler, even if some of the old ones won't come off...because it's so handy for labeling any and everything so beautifully, even Gene's sweetners.Gail's colors. This one is called Claypot, and it feels like a clay pot.Potholders and hotpads. "My First Swap". I am so nervous. But I forgot how much I love the hook, and this is reminding me.Boo-Boo, who thinks any fallen tree is a stick, regardless of size.
and who has the most beautiful face. I love this dog.Rooster tails.The wood pile. I love the texture and the color and the geometry of it.Eleanor. The oldest chicken I have ever had, having outlived Napoleon by a year, and she was older than he was when we brought them all home. But you'd never know it. I am not sure how she managed to avoid the coyote when many younger and more spry birds went down like so many bowling pins. She's something else entirely.Freshet. Or any water, really.If there is one thing I would deeply miss were we to move...
it would be the brooks.



And most importantly, April.

"We" were watching a documentary dvd of the Grand Canyon and Mel came over to visit.
That's all! I am working like a canine person, and don't have time for words, so I went with pictures instead. What do you love?

Patiently, she waits...

staring, staring at the mailbox and garage door (where larger parcels go) for a little package from Sweden. I am obsessed with a Radiance jacket for myself which helps to pass the time, and a crocheted baby set for April (due in December), and so my time is passed well enough. I am at least distracted from staring endlessly and pathetically at the mail. Two garments are on the docket for design, one in Colrain and one in Sheffield, and neither of them for Webs. I have not decided if they will be self-published, or sold away into magazine publication. Maybe one could be submitted to Knitty and I could keep one? This is where I am leaning. But I give you no details yet. More will be revealed!
This weekend Mr. Wonderful and I took a field trip around the region. We began Saturday morning in Brattleboro, VT buying a wood stove from Friends of the Sun and arranging for delivery. Oil continues to creep up with pellets right behind them. Meanwhile we live on 10 acres of woods, and trees fall regularly - either by design or by natural selection. Free fuel. And we're buying oil and pellets?? Seems sort of silly, really. So we found a lovely fireplace insert made by Jotul (I miss my Jotul, an F 300CB...sigh...) and the new insert will be installed in....about eight weeks. When you are stupid enough to wait for heating season to have a stove installed, well, you get what you get. Then we moved down to Mesa Verde (pant, pant, drool, drool) in Greenfield where I indulged in a Thai Burrito in a bowl with no tortilla. This is a hugely yummy thing. Next we headed for the bonus gift, the !reward for our earlier shopping trip (stove buying is not always a fun thing - you weigh environmental issues, cost, efficiency, size, etc. - it's really work). We made a visit to Pioneer Valley Vineyard. Linda greeted us and ushered us inside for a little sip. Or two. We saw the whole operation, the organic grapes out back, and one adorable granddaughter. I love the Cayuga which is a dry white made from ORGANIC grapes, not heavily astringent, crisp and alert in your mouth, that really mellows and gets more fruity and develops a little sweetness in your glass. We snagged a bottle of that, and also the cranberry (made from organic cranberries) for the holidays. I also bought a bar of red wine soap, because, well, really. Does that need any more explanation than buying chocolate soap?? Just so you know, they're open from noon to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday from October - December. The shop is lovely, the wine is good, and the people are just fantastic.
Then we shopped (boring) and I had a latte (dunkin donuts, but still yum!), and came home. Sunday was the awesomest day! Kim Werker launched her new book "Crochet Me" at Webs! Aside from the crochet part - which I dig as it is my first love - her message about empowerment really hits home with me. Listening to her is, for me, like listening to a kindred spirit in many ways (but not the creepy stalker way, really Kim, I swear). I am older, and did not have the opportunity to bail on grad school twice. But I never finished anything until the last few years - my mother too could heckle me from the back row with similar commentary on my relative lack of success in the areas she feels are important (following directions, completing projects, picking a single career path, preferably one that involves rich academic pursuits and a great deal of money) but am supported by a husband who just tips his head and smiles wryly and wonders what kind of a ride he's really in for. There's a reason why I never finish anything. Once begun, the realization that I can complete it dawns, and my mind is off and racing for the next new thing - finishing is never the point for me. STARTING is. In my brain it goes something like this: "Oh...pretty...start! Mmmm...fun. I can do this! Mmmm....okaaaaayyy....bored. Boorrred!! HEY!! REALLY BORED NOW!! Changing. Changing NOW!! Oh look!! New pretty!! START!!..." and so on into eternity. It's really just a well controlled adult ADD, which I am sure I had as a child. Back then, in the dark ages we didn't get Ritalin, we just got bad grades from strict teachers, good grades from liberal ones, and started and stopped a lot. And, frankly, I would not shut it off if I could because it's all of who I am. There is nothing I cannot do. I can do anything I choose to do, wish to do, or even dare to dream to do. It's not ego, I swear, it's just my brain - NOT on drugs!
Anyway - about the woman's book (book, right, that was the point of the party?!?!) - I like it. I actually want to make 2-3 things in it...I love the Babydoll Dress, but as a little tunic and with not so puffy sleeves, so mods will be in order. I LOVE the Messenger Bag, which I think would be perfect in Northampton. The Comfy Cardi looks it, and therefore needs to be made. Kristen(genius)Omdahl's Mesmerize sweater is just amazing. Now, I am not sure if a 4'1" 40-something grandmother of two can pull some of this off, but by God I can try!!
Also met Ravelry Jess, who was loving up the samples by the cash wrap (I am not even sure what's over there right now), and seemed to enjoy shopping-time at Webs. What is it about Webs that people like? Is it the yarn? The excellent customer service? The champagne? Even Kim was shopping. Something about Webs just makes people want to shop. It even does it to me and I should be immune by now!
In other VERY exciting news, I became a Loopy Groupie this week, receiving my bag of goodies from the Loopy Ewe with my skein of Fleece Artist Somoko in color earth (so classic for me - yarn the color of dirt.). I really love this yarn. It is squashy and begging for my attention which I cannot give right now, being obsessed with Radiance and two new designs rocketing around my brain, and RHINEBECK!! coming up this weekend and the new baby needing grandma knit and crochet things. The PO smashed up my box amazingly well, and I was a little surprised that my mail carrier left it. Big old hole in the back when I picked it up - my hand went right into it. Let it not be said the the PO spares any energy in getting our packages about the nation, as evidenced by my poor box. Oh. Panic. What if they did that to MY BOHUS!?!?!?! AKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!! They...they would not do THIS to yarn from Sweden, right? I mean, mail handlers totally know the importance of delivering yarn intact to it's new mom in the States all the way from Sweden, right? They're totally wonderful people who would not KILL INNOCENT YARN!?!? Would they??
I am going to go back to work (read: sitting and staring out the window waiting for the Bohus) now, and accomplish knitting and stuff so I have something to show you by the end of the week. I finished pieces of a garment but it's not together yet and pieces are sort of, well, boring really. Four More Sleeps Till Rhinebeck!