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Molli, my Grandcat, is with me for the holidays. I've never had a cat, and it's been quite challenging to host Molli in a yarn-rich environment. She was especially interested in my knitting basket with its yummy handspun yarn.
By remaining vigilant at all times, I was able to finish a knitted shawl yesterday, and washed & blocked it.
Spinning is useful for the spaces in between—in between cooking, spending time with guests, folding things, putting away, all the business of life. Add the odd moments together and you get some serious yardage. Singles first...
Then plying.
Taking a short break from holiday cooking (I finally located s good approximation of my mother's tsimmes recipe). It feels good to sit down with ProWeave for a few minutes and doodle. Here are some broken twill polkadots for 16 shafts.
And while we're speaking of circles, there is one lone blossom hanging on in the front yard, long after all the others have died. I can't understand it. It's been there for at least a week. A message from the other side, no doubt.
It's time to get out my grandmother's chopping knife and bowl again. I use them twice a year, once at Passover for chopped liver, and again at Thanksgiving for cranberry orange relish. These tools are some of the few things left to me from my beloved Granny—aside from my love of knitting, of course—and I inevitably turn very nostalgic as I am using them.
The cranberry recipe gives a very aerobic workout. After half an hour of vigorous chopping, I have this:
It's just chopped cranberries, chopped whole oranges, and honey to taste. Then leave it in the refrigerator for a few days.
While in kitchen mode, I also put up a batch of refrigerator dough. Just AP flour, white whole wheat flour (from King Arthur), water, salt, & yeast. These will become dinner rolls next Thursday.
It looks like I'll have time for a few rows of knitting before lunch. So here's to you, Granny.
Final snapshot on the loom. Total: 15,696 picks.
Cut off! We went to Pat's, our favorite pizza place, to celebrate.
All tied up, ready for whatever inspiration strikes next.
Now for something completely diff'rent. Spindle spinning class announced for Winter term at OLLI. See Classes 2017 in sidebar.
At this time of year I can sometimes see the moon from my window as I lie in bed, preparing for sleep. Last night was the Supermoon. I grabbed my iPad and ran out the front door in my bedroom slippers to take a sky photo. Then I went back to bed and watched the moon some more. Small gifts from unexpected places.
In spite of the smoky atmosphere, the autumn colors show to good effect today. Outside the studio:
And inside the studio, more green than brown:
This morning we awoke to the welcome sound of rain. But it didn't last long enough, and the sun came out before noon. The air is still very smoky from all the forest fires in our region.
Weaving proceeding. I've been careful to pace myself. I quit after two hours today, and have this to show; the sixth (and final) panel is begun.
I've been looking for a jacket with a high visibility color for my neighborhood walks. Last night Bob & Suzanne came over and I admired Bob's orange jacket. "This would fit you," he observed. Want to trade?" We went down to the studio & looked through some longstitch books and he found one he liked with a lampas cover. Deal! Everybody happy, and I have a nice new (to me) orange jacket. Here's a detail of the sleeve.