Don't Do What I Did!

Way before my hip replacement, I planned a project to put on the loom for my recovery. I'd totally forgotten that it would be weeks before I'd be cleared to weave again, so it was kind of a useless idea.  In the end though, it meant I had the warp almost ready to go when I needed it months later.

  It was 2/8 cotton and I did stripes, navy with painted warp stripes in between.   The painting of the warp was very successful.  It was a beautiful warp.  I started winding the navy stripes but only got halfway done before climbing up and down to the basement to my warping board  became difficult.   The project was left, semi-forgotten in a bag on the back of my desk chair.   Eventually though, time passed and I realized that I had 3 1/2 weeks left before the guild sale.    Discussion at the last meeting suggested that our stock of tea towels was low, so I decided to get this project on the loom.   It's an easy to weave project, the ubiquitous "friendship towels", from Schacht.  It's a delightful project, fun and fast, and also easy to change up the colour for each towel.  They've also provided the draft free, which was really nice of them.

See the twisting!  The navy was so much worse!

So step one -  When I dye warps I put tight figure 8 ties in the cross and also one at each end, to keep the yarns from slipping.   However all the rest of the figure 8 ties are tied loosely in a bow, so that a) it will be easy to dye the whole length without those white marks from a tight choke tie and b) using a bow so that when the warp is dry, I can tighten up the figure 8 ties to keep the warp contained and straight.  

  First mistake was not retying the figure 8 ties to make firm choke ties.   This allowed the painted warp to twist around itself, making for not so fun warping.   Secondly, I know that I painted the warp in a particular order.  I neither marked each of the painted warp chains with the order number, nor did I take proper notes.  I have a basic explanation of the project, a quick diagram with numbers etc, but absolutely none of the details which tell me what I was truly planning at the time.  My third mistake when starting this project, is that while I wound each stripe in the painted warp separately, I didn't do that for the navy stripes.  I wound about half of it in one bunch, and then because I neglected to note how many warp threads I'd wound, when I went to finish winding the warp 3 weeks ago, I figured it was easier to wind the second half of the navy stripes in one bunch too.   I'd counted my navy warp 3 times, and had 3 different numbers, so took the average and wound the rest of the stripes together as one warp.  This wouldn't have been such an issue if the navy cotton yarn hadn't been really over twisted, so it wound around itself something fierce and was so difficult to work with.   

painted warp and navy stripes, black weft.

After much fussing, winding, a few crossed threads and some broken threads from the over spun yarns twisting in the heddles, the warp was on the loom.  This was not a fun process and if I didn't absolutely love that warp, if it wasn't maybe 7 feet long, so 6 tea towels, so a lot of thread to waste, I might have cut it off.  Once it was on the loom though, it was very pretty.  I wove off two in a teal colour, one in a lighter green which was nice but not spectacular, two in purple which were awesome and one in black which is stunning.   I hadn't realized that I had any 2/8 black cotton in my stash or their would have been more of them.  I used all the purple I had.  My initial thoughts were to use the navy for the weft, thinking the navy on navy would give a sold stripe against the painted stripes.  However to my eye, because the navy is a broken twill, it just looked a bit messy to me.

1- take lots of notes, even if you don't think you'll need them.   If you put that project aside for a bit, you'll really want to know those details that don't jump out at you, including warp length, that the yarn is over twisted or delicate or just fine etc.

2- document numbers - how many are in each stripe, how long, did you add extra threads for use in breakage etc.

3 - don't wait until last minute and have to rush.  Give yourself time to enjoy the process. 

4- sometimes it's best to wind your stripes in the right number of threads to facilitate that enjoying the process bit :)

The towels have been washed and dried.  They are waiting for me to hem them.    I'm happy with the outcome.

Historical Kitchen Fun

I can't believe how busy it's been or at least seems to have been.   I thought after the fair demos things would settle down.   However it took a bit longer than that.   My car was acting odd on my last trip to Westfield and we took it in to get looked at and boy, were we lucky.   The hose to the transmission had worn and was leaking transmission fluid.   But it seems like we may have caught it in time and it was only $650 instead of $3000.   Hubby says this could be normal wear and tear.  I think though it's the excessive bouncing over the train tracks on the route I normally take to town.  The asphalt is always pitted and cracked around the tracks and you have to slow down to a crawl to go over them unless you are a huge farm vehicle with giant flat, seemingly solid tires!

Besides that, I've been dressing the floor loom and that is fodder for another post.   Just... next time.  I've made some socks.  I've planned a new Birka style bag on which I've planned some Bayeux stitch embroidery - also for another post.

A gorgeous and functional stove

However, last Sunday I took a cooking workshop at Dundurn castle.  It was much less a cooking workshop than a tasting class.   It was still fun though.   I got to cook on the stove which is a pretty awesome beast.   (Well, I stirred onions in a pan, but it's still cooking!)  It was about soups and it was quite informative.    I like the booklet we got, which has some new cookery sources in for me.   I also realized that the people running the  course are simply people like me, and while I didn't butt in or anything, I did know the answers to the information that they forgot.  There is another workshop coming up in December, on puddings, which could be fun, but it's a tad more expensive and I spent the rest of my discretionary, non- yarn budget inviting my daughter along with me.   I sure would like some other insight into steamed pudding though, considering the several recent failures I've had.

Some of the transferware in the kitchen

The soups were all easy to make and most were quite tasty.  Even though I'm not a huge fan of tomato soup, the fresh tomato soup was quite nice.  The pumpkin soup was good although I'd make it with broth instead of milk as the milk sort of overwhelmed the pumpkin flavour if that is possible.  The onion soup which I helped caramelize the onions for, was delicious but it was really just a lot of fried onions in broth.

There was a huge display of transfer ware.  I didn't get enough time to check out all the patterns, but gosh, it was beautiful.  I do love transfer ware and really wish I had a bit of time to check them out.

This is a picture of a cupboard in the kitchen which I really liked.   I could see this as a yarn cupboard - or yarn-oire which I've been asking for.   It was a decent size and would hold a lot of stuff, as well as keeping it out of sight.

The amount of period equipment in the kitchen was quite amazing.   It gave me a lot of ideas and inspiration.  In all, it was a good morning.   It did begin with the person escorting us into the kitchen telling us that the scaffolding on the outside was period in that in October of 1850something, they were planning for one of the daughter's weddings.  To make the house more grand looking, the front pillars were installed.   It was a fun bit of information to start the day.

Proof I got to use the stove!

Fall Fair Weekend

 Last weekend I was one of the hand crafters asked to demonstrate their craft at a local Fall Fair.   On the Saturday I was asked to demonstrate spinning.   This is my display table.  The colour wheel is of nature dyed yarns.  Almost all of them were either harvested locally or grown in my garden, except for the Cochineal reds and a logwood purple.  The rest of the yarns were examples of different yarn structures or different fibres.   Sadly this is the only photo I took.  It was a lot of fun.  I talked with a lot of people and even helped a few gals with some spinning issues they had.  It's amazing how many people see spinning as "keeping a skill alive", and don't realize that there are many modern spinners out there, making miles of yarn.

On Sunday - and I wish I had photos- but I forgot to bring my phone or a camera.  On Sunday, a bunch of us got together to do a Sheep to Shawl demo.   The demo was nice because we didn't have to rush things.  It also allowed us to have a beginner spinner with us, who learned but was under no pressure to produce yards upon yards of consistent yarn.   We had a shawl warp on a table loom and 4 spinning wheels.  I also brought the same table cloth  (which is an old sheet) and the nature dyed colourwheel.  The colour wheel became a good talking point, which lead to the spinning and weaving.   And the loom became a talking point which lead to the wheels and the yarns.  The spinning wheels became a talking point which lead to the dyed yarns and the weaving.   We talked with so many people.  At one point, 4 of the 5 of us were talking with small groups of people.  There weren't many slow times, but mainly steady people through.  

The whole team was comprised of SCA members and we were all dressed in garb; mainly viking.  People commented on how good we looked (yay us!) and how right it looked that we were weaving and spinning.   I had to appreciate that people recognized that the skills were ancient but no one realized that our equipment was thoroughly modern!  Still, a good impression was made and many people were amazed and intrigued by what we did.  And nope, we didn't finish the shawl.  I think we got it half woven.  However we went in with the goal of education, and there was no need to finish.   Regardless, it was an awful lot of fun, with much socializing.  We took lunch breaks and saw some of the fair.  It was a very good day.   I'm a bit sad that I didn't get photos though.

The fun stuff and not so fun

 

At our last Weavers Guild meeting we had a guest speaker.  Cat Haggert came to speak to us about processing flax.  After a brief introduction on how to grow flax, she showed us how to use her processing tools.  These were modern tools that were made by a fairly local gentleman who makes and repairs spinning wheels.   Cat also showed us how to process flax using easily available tools - an ice scraper and a dollar store pocket comb.  Of course these are only useful for small amounts but they did the trick.   These are some of our guilds results.   The top 2 small stricks of flax were processed by me and the bottom two were Iva's and Ashley's, who gave them to me to spin up.   It was a fun program.  Cat is incredibly knowledgeable and an excellent speaker.   

These are a few of the socks I've made this month.   I finally found the right tension for this yarn.   I've one more pair to make and I have all the Xmas socks done for my kids and their spouses. I was having issues with sizing in that they were coming out too small or odd.  One pair was even different sizes between socks, which were done in one shot.

  One day I read an online post from one of the prolific sock makers/teachers.  He said the weights should be changed up for different weights of yarn.  His thoughts were 1 weight for super fine or laceweight yarn, 2 for normal sock yarn and 3 for bulky sock yarn.  A single weight is 580g.   Adding the second is 1159g, and with the third weight it weights 1589g. The next piece of information he gave was that the spaces between stitches while you're knitting on the sock machine should be about the size of the yarn.  

I removed a weight while knitting up my regular sized sock yarn and all of a sudden, everything was good.  My sizing was spot on and as a bonus, there were also fewer dropped stitches.  The dropped stitches though could also be me reminding myself to pay more attention to needle latches and toe V hook weight placement too.

I asked for some info before trying out my ribber.  I was directed to search for videos.  I've been watching SockTV - yes it really is a thing, which was one of the suggestions.  However while this summer has been the summer of ribbing, it's all about different ribbing patterns.  As a hand knitter of socks, I already know I can do any ribbing patter that my stitch count will allow -and subsequently, how many stitch combos the ribber will accommodate.   What I didn't have information for was how to set up the ribber to get started.  Luckily there is a gal out in Vancouver who has put together a whole bunch of very beginner videos on sock machines. She had one on how to get the ribber set up her machine.   Happily I have the same machine that she used for her demo, so I don't have to work it out on a different machine.

Blackberry update -  2 kg of berries are in the freezer, waiting for me to make jam!   There are more on the brambles, but the weather has cooled dramatically and now they're starting to get smaller and seedier.  I may call it done for harvesting them.  

Tomato update -  The tomatoes in the garden are finally ripening.   I've managed to can 5 jars of the plum tomatoes.  They are really nice fruit, but ack, having them ripen this late and slowly is frustrating. I've no idea how many more will ripen in time to be used.

Threes - the oil light on the truck came on...  The lawn tractor will only run for 10 minutes at a time and periodically, the new battery dies...  The sole of my only pair of running shoes has detached from the shoe...  I hope that's it for now.   While I'm sure we can replace the shoes, a new truck and lawn tractor aren't in this year's budget :(

 

Preserving the harvest

 

The weather this August has been cool, wet and very grey.  Many people are saying how many plants in their gardens are slow to ripen.  My tomatoes are definitely on a slow pace to ripen.  So slow that I worry they may not ripen at all this year.   There were no Amish Paste Tomato plants in the garden centres this year, so I had to settle with the only Roma style tomato plant that I could find which was San Marzano which has a longer time to ripen.  Next year I may break down and start my own tomato plants, to get the ones I know will work in my garden and climate.

Because all the tomatoes are still green, I ended up buying 1/2 bushel of tomatoes at the market.   There were few to choose from because even the farmers are having issues with slow ripening this year. They were still not quite ripe enough, but luckily I was away all day after purchasing them.   I ducked out of the house until the evening on Saturday so when I started canning on Sunday, they were just starting to be perfect.   I got over half of them done, in 2 canning pot batches, and a third on Sunday finished them off.   I have 20 pint/500 ml jars in the pantry.  My hot water bath canner will do 7, 500 ml jars at a time.  If I can get at least two more batches done, there should be enough for the winter.  

The blackberries are also ripening this year.   The past few years  I haven't had enough berries to harvest, but this year the patch has finally matured enough.  They are late though and with the weather, I'm only able to harvest every 2 or 3 days.  However I already have 785 g of berries and there are still many more unripe berries on the brambles.   I'm washing them and tossing them in the freezer.  My plans are that when or if I get enough berries, I will let them thaw and push them through a sieve to remove the seeds.  Then I'll make seedless blackberry jam.  With the batch of apricot jam I made earlier, while not having a great variety, there will be more than enough jam and 2 of my favourite kinds.

Sewing tricks and csm grafting socks

 I sent in my volunteer availability to Westfield for the next couple of months, and got my building assignment already.   Since I'm in the Misener house, which means a great woodstove for cooking and baking, I decided to make myself a new work dress.   I've several dress lengths of 1860's prints from when a local store had put them all on clearance.  I got a couple of them on sale for buy 1 yard, get 2 free, and they were already reduced to begin with.

Anyway, I chose the blue one, not because it was my favourite print, but because I looked in the bag and I already had purchased the thread and notions.  That was a no brainer.  

I was trying to find my pattern, which already fits.  I obviously put it in that pit of despair known as a "safe place", and not my pattern file, so I'm redrafting a pattern.   Last week was a write off for getting anything worthwhile done, but today I picked it back up.  I was only able to get a fit that I liked by using an amscye dart, which I've not seen on any photos of that period of garment.   A bit of searching though, came up with instructions on swinging the dart to  a waist dart.   I wasn't sure about doing this, but I bravely cut the first dart and although I had to make it a tad longer, it worked a treat and the muslin now lies flat.   I'm hoping that it fits as nicely.

This is a toe that I just grafted closed with a kitchener stitch.   It's a lot more grafting with a cranked sock than with a hand knit sock.  In this case, 36 stitches on each side to graft together.    I'm not that fond of grafting but it's easier on the cranked socks because you have to do it from the back.   The stitches are held in place by waste yarn rather than needles, and there is no need to make sure you're picking them up on the correct side like pearling or stockinette side.   You do them from the backside and it's just stitching through the previous stitch and the new stitch, previous stitch and the new stitch, until you're one.

The downside is that there are things to get in your way.   If there isn't enough contrast with your waste yarn, you can't see the stitches to pick up.  If you don't have enough light, it's also difficult to see those stitches.  Plus, you have to be careful not to pick up the waste yarn when you're grafting the live stitches.   On the upside, it's pretty easy to do and I found it easy to get the tension pretty close so it's difficult to see where you've grafted.

Another downside is that it sort of looks like a hungry worm monster which wants to eat your arm when you don't get it stitched up quickly enough.   Once the seam is closed, I'll just pull out all the white waste yarn and the sock will be done!  Otherwise, that partially grafted sock could be inspiration for nightmares!

And Then There Were Two

 Last week on Thursday, hubby asked me if our kitty Phil was okay and I said I thought so but would check. On Friday, I thought that something might be wrong. On Saturday we realized he wasn't eating his kibble, so we gave him extra gushy food.  We even got him some special food just for him. We thought maybe he had a bad tooth or something.   Then on Sunday we noticed one pupil was larger than the other, that there was now a lump on his neck or under his chin and his breathing was odd.   We got him to the vet on Monday, in the only emergency time slot that was available.  Monday afternoon we brought him home to bury him. 

We were totally stunned and hadn't expected to lose Phil at all because a few days ago, he was his normal self.  An xray showed his lungs were full of fluid, so much that there was barely any clear area and it had pushed his esophagus along his spine.  The vet said that the pupil size differences suggested that this was an incurable virus that he'd picked up as a kitten and that there was no cure, at least that is available here.    We had to make the difficult decision right then.   We really weren't prepared for this and had no expectations that we wouldn't be bringing Phil home.

Phil was my lap cat.   He slept on my legs almost every night.  Many days he demanded that I let him nap on top of me in the afternoons, which lead to a lot of novels being read, with a cat snuggled on me. In the winter he would crawl under the covers at night.  He'd figured out that if he wiggled his head up near the pillow, so that his head wasn't under the blankets, he could sleep there for hours or all night. 

He chose us as a home.   One summer we kept seeing an orange cat around the property for a few weeks. 

Supervisor Phil asleep on the job

Then one morning I was outside and he came up to me on the deck, crying and meowing.  I didn't know what to do, but I brought him some food and water, as he was so very skinny.   The next morning he showed up with his brother.  After a couple of scary incidents with predators, the two boys became house cats.  

They were both sweeties and didn't act like feral cats.  We thought they may have been drop offs, which sometimes happens in rural areas.   They were both well socialized and accustomed to people.   They fit into our family perfectly.  Phil was such a character that he was best friend to all of his chosen people and shared his affection freely.   He was a helper kitty, curious and liked to supervise everything.  I will miss him thinking that every skein of yarn was his to play with.  I will miss his cuddles, his charm and his personality.  This loss will be difficult to get over as it just hit us without any notice or time to prepare. 

RIP Phil, and safe trip over the rainbow bridge.