analog me

I resolve. . .

 Around about this time of year, I start to get pretty exhausted with all the making, cooking, cleaning and giving. Instead of the crochet hook, I wield the hockey laced tightener: 

 I have fantasies involving my home being clean, quiet and empty that get more involved as the season progresses. Before Christmas, I imagined myself sitting in My Chair quietly sipping a cup of tea as my children happily did something not involving fighting. Now, as New Years approaches, the fantasy has morphed to me barricaded in a fabulous studio (which bears no resemblance to my bedroom sewing area) reupholstering My Chair. Funny, I never have thought about that before. (Is upholstery in my future?)

Maybe that's one reason my New Year's resolutions can be pretty involved; after a couple of weeks of (relative) selflessness, I can get quite imaginative about what I wish I was doing instead. 

Also, I must say that blogging has facilitated Knowing Thyself . One thing that has come to my attention (some of my readers helped me a bit with this revelation) is that I can get a wee bit "intense."  (Or was that a polite way of saying obsessive?) Like that cornbread recipe? What was with that three different types of corn and whipping the egg whites? Wasn't that supposed to be a one-time thing the time I had no cornmeal? I made it tonight with the regular recipe (plus some leftover yolks) and it was lovely. I made vegetarian chili without onions and no one noticed.  I heard no comments that it was "too beefy" or that " the smell made me nauseous." 

Or those labor-intensive mittens. If I am so damn fussy maybe I should just be making things for my own fussy self. 

So here goes to being a bit more selfish in the New Year.  (With a nod of my head to the Selfish Seamstress, who has been an inspiration.)  I vow to spend a little less time getting "intense" about some things (things I do for other people) and spending a little more time and energy doing other things (things that I do for myself).

So, Happy New Year, and a special, mom-assisted (unselfishly mom-assisted), silk-screen message to you, the readers, designed by the eldest son.

For reading, and for reminding me when I get off track!

Pot Holders

When I was about 7 or 8 years old I had a romance with the pot holder loom. I remember weaving heaps of pot holders from sock loops, particularly every time I got (another case) of Strep Throat, or the Flu. My output was quite prodigious  and I'm not sure if my parents were proud--or dismayed. Was I a skilled crafty-type, or. . .  a pot holder savant with no other skills?  I'm still not sure myself sometimes. Am I just craft obsessed or is there some point to it? I guess I'll just keep making stuff.

Every couple years I get my old loom and some loops out and have a go at it with the boys. The pot holders really are the best and I think they make excellent additions to a gift basket.  Son the Second chose this cool sea theme. 

 

And as simple as the process is, I now realize  there is a bit of skill required to make a good potholder. Crocheting the last side as the loops shrink down and start to unravel requires a cool head and steady hands, and I wonder now if I actually did it by myself, or if my mom or dad finished them up.

This year we held some back. These oldies were made from the same loop source a few years ago.

 (Don't these these photos look as if I digitally faded the color?)  

 It seems like a good thing to start the New Year with a lovely  pile of the new pot holders.

P.S. I wrote about this and my granny-square disfunction( in a bit more depth) a few years ago and it was just "re-released" with other authors' great essays on a tape story for knitters . I'm incredibly happy with the way Greta Cunningham (the MPR celebrity) read this-- making my writing sound better than it is. 

Mitten Refashion for fussy people with cold hands

Cold Hand Weather Is Here.

 Last weekend a friend of mine hosted a sale of handmade gifts at her house. She always shines up her lovely house, makes a couple hundred cards and mails them out, and then cooks some amazing food for everyone. Her daughter handles all the money with aplomb.In other words, Irene seems very casual about all the transactions, but--at the end of the day-- the books are always balanced. All we craftspeople have to do is bring some handmade items to sell and hang out. I was in pretty amazing company with Jennie the Potter and Jeannie the printmaker. This year, I rounded up some of my crafting excess and also tried making a variety of things like the scarves, but it's always the mittens that people are drawn to. 

I make mittens from old, felted sweaters. Not just any felted sweaters, they must be windproof yet flexible--preferably merino. And because I am a fussy person myself, I have invented a method that uses a flat front and back and a tiny little thumb gusset so there are no seams on the palm, yet the thumb doesn't feel pinched. And I don't like it when the palm bunches up, so I make that side a bit shorter and narrower than the back so it fits better. Also, I hate cold wrists so the cuffs are long, but they can be folded back in case they interfere with one's coat cuffs. My hands are always very cold so I assume everyone else's are too, and most of the mittens must also have an identical--but smaller (so no bunching)--lining made from non-itchy cashmere. And the lining must not slip out when the mitten is removed, so I attach it with blind stitch. 

Wow, until I wrote this down, I knew I was fussy, but I had no idea. . . 

I always get really annoyed with myself for being so slow, but it also explains that. 

The fun part (apparently the only fun part--the part that makes it all bearable) is the embroidery. If there is a chicken sewn on the mitten, everyone is happy. I have some unadulterated fun and someone who has to bundle up in a practical, heavy coat for months on end, can look down and see something on the back of their hand that will make them smile. One rule, all the mittens come in one size: mine. 

Scarves

 A couple of years ago I bought a knitting machine. I was really excited about using it until I took a class. I am one of those people who always screws up whenever someone watches me and there was an excellent student/ teacher ratio, so someone was usually watching me. Back it went under my bed for a few years, until last week when I just suddenly and inexplicably decided I wanted to make something with it. Inspired by this artist, I made this:

 Of course, I couldn't remember how to thread it or cast on and disastrous ugly snarls resulted, while my internal narrator intoned, "Stupid. . . Loser." etc. It didn't help that the manual: "HOW TO USE KNITTING MACHINE" took on the same tone. As I was sinking into tearful despair, I remembered I do have internet access and a quick Google search of: "knitting machine cast on" put me in the competent hands of a nice lady with a funny accent who made it all clear to me.

One of my favorite parts about having a blog is tracking the Google searches that bring desperate people to my site. In the last few days I have had visits from "Boys mittens to have bare hands" (?), "shirt shrunken sew, "what does slip one," and two versions of: "pickles + what can go wrong." I hope they all found some help out there.

I did figure out "knitting machine how to make work" and decided to "products + screw-ups  accept all." 

 The results were all manipulated so the body would retain a transparent fineness while the edges were stretched around objects and then fixed by hand felting.  

 I hope to sell these knitted shibori scarves, and for the moment I am quite excited by the possibilities. 

And now I have a new scarf for myself, so I'm going right now to take a walk wrapped up in it.

Cranberry-Pomegranate-Grapefruit Jam/Marmalade Close-up

I have been having one of those weeks when things just don't work. Finally I decided damn it, I will just drop everything that is difficult  and recreate that cranberry-pomegranate jam I ate in Vermont. Of course, it's a little hard to recreate the actual taste, so I decided to just go for the general idea using whatever I had on hand. Did you know that one pomegranate yields very little juice? About 2 tablespoons. Scarcity being the mother of improvisation, I turned to grapefruit, which are very juicy and pulpy. Grapefruit pulp seemed to beg for a little orange peel and thus my jam turned into:

 Cranberry-Pomegranate-Grapefruit Jam/Marmalade Improvisation

(yeild: much less than you would expect, about three of those little jam jars) 

• 1 pint cranberries
• 1 pomegranate juiced ( a few tablespoons)
• Pulp of 2 large Rio Star grapefruits-approx. 1 cup
• peel of one organic orange
• 2 Cups sugar
• 1 Tablespoon honey (If you have some nearby)

Juice the pomegranate by whirring the seeds in a blender and then straining the juice. (Or just buy some juice.) Scoop the grape fruit sections out into a measuring cup. Use a vegetable peeler to remove orange part of the peel and then chop finely. Put all the ingredients into a heavy, wide pan with the two cups of sugar and slowly bring to a boil. (A dutch oven is ideal.)  

Clean off your counter and find some jars and lids. You won't need to process this jam because you will be eating or giving it all away within one short week. I swear! Start another pot of water to boil with the jars submerged. Put a cutting board next to the jam pan, and get out a ladle.

The jam will transform from this: 
 to this:

 When it starts to look like jam, use a thermometer to check the temperature. It should get to 218 to 220 degrees Farenheit. If it doesn't get that hot even after boiling for awhile, add some sugar: about 2 Tablespoons at a time. Science Tip: This creates a denser solution that can hold more heat/energy. If you don't feel like being scientific or live at a higher altitude, use the wrinkle test. There is a lot of pectin in these ingredients so, it should jell pretty easily. Once the jam is ready, sterilize your ladle and lids by putting them in the boiling water, remove the jars and fill them with the jam. Done!

 If you ever read books on canning, they always stress the importance of cleanliness. A lot. This is partly because of germs, but also because once you are in the process of lifting jars out from boiling water, ladling scalding hot liquids, and applying sterilized lids, you don't want to be searching under old toast for your lid lifter.  I thought I had done a pretty good job, but this is what my counter looked like. (I'm not sure why I needed butter or olive oil) I do find that an an old glove finger stretcher ( on cutting board) is the best tool for holding a thermometer over boiling water, but you may need to substitute.
For years, I have been reading craft and cooking blogs and wonder how those amazing women managed to be so creative, raise healthy children, have perfect looking homes, and have time to blog about it. Now, I have unlocked the secret: macro-photography and photo-cropping. Instead of including shots like that directly above, you zoom in very close, past the mess, to the creation.

    It may be deceiving but my cooking now does look much better since I know to zoom in past the dog bed with son's shoes, past the tattered place mat and right into that jar of jam. 

I am currently trying to apply this method to my outlook of the house in general.