Big Scrap Shawl

Yeah!! It's done! I love this shawl. It was made with Belfast Linen and Tatamy Tweed mill ends I purchased at Kraemer Yarns for $3 a ball. It took 7 balls to make this shawl. The pattern is very simple, Regina Shawl from Love of Knitting "5 Guides Pattern Booklet"

It is Chaos approved! Couldn't keep him off of it!

This is the shawl mentions in my September in Ocean City, MD post.

Stay warm! Happy Knitting

Nancy

Fall Cooking

Today is a nice fall day! It inspired some fall cooking. I roasted the last of the tomatoes and made puree for sauce. My mother brought me Butternut Squash from Scholl's in Bethlehem for soup. I like the Butternut Squash Soup recipe in William-Sanoma's Thanksgiving Entertaining. I fell in love with the soup at Hamersly's Bistro in Boston. This is the closes I have gotten to that soup. It is delicious (had it for lunch today). 

Tomatoes and Puree 

Butternut Squash Soup

Roaste apple and onion

Yum!!

Nancy

September in Ocean City MD

It has been some time since I've blogged! I need to stay current! UGH! What I have been up to...

In September Michael and I took our annual vacation to Ocean City, MD with my parents. We couldn't have asked for better weather! Of course I couldn't go on vacation without my fiber crafts! I finished the back of my white shell while on vacation. This project is now on hold until I get the Christmas gifts done.

 I also spun some of the watermelon fiber I dyed on my drop spindle (until I broke the spindle - no fears it can be fixed!). 

I also started a garter knit triangle shawl with Tatamy Twead and Belfast Linen mill ends from Kraemer's Yarns.  I worked on this project all the way down, back and anytime we were in the car! I have made considerable progress. It is huge and I'm loving it!

We play mini golf a lot on vacation. Usually I do pretty well. However, this year I was awful! I lost every round!

Michael took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent some time flying his RC helicopter.

Our condo is on the beach. 

GO RAVENS!

I haven't done any spinning since vacation, but will be taking anothe one day class at the Spinnery in November. Most of my crafting time has been spent working on Christmas gifts. No pics until Christmas!! Not sure who all is following this blog! :)

Until my next post! Be creative!

Nancy

New Jersey Sheep and Wool Show

Hunterdon County Fair Grounds served as host to this year's New Jersey Sheep and Wool Festival www.njsheep.org September 6 and 7, 2014. On Sunday, September 7th we took a road trip down to check it out. Walking into Barn 1 we were able to see the end of the showing and judging of Lincoln Sheep. Beautiful creatures!  After visiting a few of the vendors, we left Barn 1 and the Border Collie Demonstration was going on. The shephard had three Border Collies and was demonstrating their skills and personalities. All so different. She likened them to automobiles. The first was the Hummer, powerful and steady but unsure if you can control and handle. The second was the SUV, reliable, steady and controlable. This one was excellent in following the direction she gave with a whistle. The last was Jet. He was the Ferrari, fast, powerful, and barely controllable. He was so fun to watch. He took off like his namesake, a jet. She then brought out an 11 month old being trained. She demonstrated some training techniques. He did very well.

In Barn 2, 3, and 4 were vendors, spinners, spinning demonstrations, and English Angora rabbits for sale. They were the biggest rabbits I have ever seen! Size of a small dog! There even was an appearance of a famous Sci-Fi icon.

Yes that is Mr. Spock sporting his freshly knitted scarf. If you look closely, you can see he has Tardis knitting needles! Nice job Spock. Live long and prosper (and keep on knitting!). I saw some familiar faces Betty from The Spinnery, Amber from Tailored Fibers, and Verdant Gryphon (featured in my Vogue Knitting Live post). Enjoyed meeting the ladies at Bittersweet Woolery, Hum-Dinger Alpacas, the sheep from Swayze Inn Farms, and all the other vendors at the festival.

Made a new friend (he's a ham posed perfectly for me)

As we were leaving, the parade of sheep by the junior shephards was beginning. The sheep and young shephards were sporting the knitted and crocheted pretties.

Can't wait for next year!

Nancy

Tomatoes and Sauce...Oh My!

This year produced a bumper crop of tomatoes. My mother contributed her excess tomatoes to the cause. I have been roasting and pureeing tomatoes for a month! I froze the puree until there was enough to make sauce. Today I made sauce.

A large and medium stock pot full of puree. From the sauce I canned 14 pints of sauce and froze 1 quart. 

The darker ones are in blue jars. It makes the sauce look brown, but it is the same as the others.

Yesterday and today we picked more tomatoes.

I will be roasting and pureeing more soon, but not tonight. I am tired! I started before 10 am and finished at 8:30 pm.

Puree

Clean and core tomatoes. Cut in half. Place in pan cut sides up and drizzle with olive oil. Add minced garlic and fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and parsley). Dried Italian Seasoning works well too. 

Roast for 50-60 minutes at 350, reduce to 325 for 50-60 minutes, and then raise to 375 for 20-30 minutes. I check the progress every 20-30 minutes. I find when I have one 9 x 12 pan, the minimum times work. When I have the roasting pan and 3-9x12 pans I need to roast at the maximum times.

Let the tomatoes cool. Process through food mill. Freeze the puree until there is enough for sauce.

Sauce

Fill large stock pot with puree. Add 1-1/2 cups of white wine (I use Pino Grigio) and two bay leaves. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to a simmer. Let the sauce cook down. When almost done, add garlic (3-4 cloves) and Italian Seasoning (3 tbsp). At this point the sauce should have reduced 1/4 to 1/3 from where you started. Continue to simmer until reduces some more. Then put on low heat and let reduce some more. When the color is a deep red and it is thick (pulpy), it is done. 

Can - Eat - Enjoy!

Nancy

Spinning at The Spinnery

Saturday's in August 2014 were spent at The Spinnery (33 Race St, Frenchtown, NJ). The owner Betty held a Beginning Spinning class. Her knowledge of spinning and fiber is amazing! I learn so much. There were three of us in the class (the other two ladies were mid twenties/early thirties). We had a lot of fun.

The first class we learned about the wool we were using (uncleaned Romney). Betty taught us to pick the fiber clean and card it.

The carded fiber was rolled into rolags and drafted into nests for spinning. The nests need to be drafted sufficiently for the best spinning results. I learned I was not truly drafting my fiber. I was pulling it out, but near enough for it to be properly drafted for spinning.

The first spinning we did was on drop spindles. We used a 2 oz spindle she has made for classes and to sell in the shop. I have learned the importance of spindle weight. I like spin Alpaca and prefer a fine yarn. To accomplish this, I need to use a spindle under 1 oz, .7 or .8 oz. The lighter the spindle the finer the yarn and necessary for fine fiber. The heavier the spindle, the thicker the yarn. For medium weight wool a 1.5-2 oz spindle works well. Fine fiber or attempting a fine yarn on a 2 or 3 oz spindle will result in under spun yarn and a lot of "breakage" during spinning. The lighter weight spindles spin faster and longer putting more twist in the yarn, which is necessary for finer weight yarns.

The second class we began working on wheels. I took my Ashford Kiwi 2 to class. Have wheel will travel!! Betty had us treadle to get used to the motion and she went through the history of spinning. Archeologist have found evidence that spinning goes back 30,000-40,000 years. To the last Ice Age. First plant fibers were spun by rubbing the fiber with the palm on the leg. Then twigs were used and eventually the drop spindle. It was quickly discovered that animal fiber could be spun. The drop spindle was used as the primary method for spinning until the 1500's. At that point, the wheel was developed, but instead of the bobbin we use today, they put the drop spindle in the wheel. For those of you who are fans of fairytales, this is the spinning wheel Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on. In the movie versions, they depict a wheel with a bobbin. Since Sleeping Beauty was written in the 1500's, the wheel would not had a bobbin; it had a drop spindle. Bobbins and flyers were not invented until late 1600's or early 1700's. The spinning wheel was used to spin all the yarn for knitting, crocheting, and weaving. It was how the fiber for all material was spun up through the Industrial Revelolution in the late 1800's. Wheels were still used in some locations up through the 1930's. In Peru, yarn is still spun and plied on drop spindles. 

We also learned about the different types to wheels and how cultures dictated the wheel designs. While Betty told of this wonderful history, we began to spin. We learned about tension and drive.

We spun in the grease, meaning the lanolin and some of the dirt was still in the fiber. The lanolin aids the fiber to twist. 

The third class was all about plying. We had two bobbins full of yarn and plyed them together. Once we finished that, we took the yarn off the drop spindle and created a center pull ball. We plyed that. I ended up with 364 yards of DK 2 ply yarn and 34 yards of Bulky 2 ply yarn from approximately 1 lb of raw fleece.

The final class was sampling fibers and experimenting with blending. We blended various natural and dyed wool, blended wool with glitter, blended dog and wool, blended angora and wool, camel down, bamboo and dyed silk. We spun the dog and angora without blending. This is virtually impossible. These fibers need to be spun slowly with a lot of twist and are not stable. It was a demonstration of why certain fibers need to be blended. The bamboo and silk were very difficult to spin. They also need to be spun slowly with a lot of twist. Camel down is unbelievably soft and a dream to spin. Betty showed us the difference between Camel hair and Camel down. Camel hair is coarse and scratchy. It is not suitable for any wearables. 

The class is well work taking if you are interested in spinning and fiber. I enjoyed it very much and am sorry to see it end. I hope to take more classes at The Spinnery. Last spring she had a Spinning 2 class; I will be keeping an eye out for that! I might even take a dye class or two!  If you are in Frenchtown, NJ, stop in and say Hi to Betty! Great shop!

Happy Spinning!

Nancy

Shamrock Cardigan

Since I saw this pattern in Crochet! Magazine in Spring of 2012, I've loved this sweater! I was not crazy about the color of the yarn in the model (brown and pink). Then I saw this color, sachet (purple, cream, green) and fell in love with it! It is Patons Lace yarn. It took 4 skeins for a large size. I love working with this yarn and I love how the projects turn out. I found it on the Knitting Wharehouse site for half price!

The button on the sweater was made by local artist and friend Nancy Bossert. I love everything she creates! She inspires me!

It needs laundering. Then we are good to go!

Happy Crocheting!

Nancy