Laurie Lambkin

That's the official pattern name.I still need to sew and stuff her, obviously, but am holding off until I finish the headpiece, which requires about a day more of beading; then I need to add combs, cut the lining out, piece it, and whip stitch it into the headpiece.

When it's complete, then I'll go back to the toys. The bunny still needs to be washed and blocked. The bookmark is blocking.

Not bad for the Ides of March!

Golf Stockings: Finished

At long last! I began winding the yarn for these on Thanksgiving evening. (I should just be happy I finished before Easter, I suppose.) Lots of Christmas knitting, then the toys, and...life...intervened.

The socks pattern is one from Sensational Knitted Socks, with calf shaping added. I used a toe I came up with that's a variation on a simple toe usually finished with Kitchener stitch; one round of decreases, five knit rounds, decreases every other round until twice the number of ending stitches is achieved; then, k2tog for the first half; SSK for the second half. Cut the yarn, and run through snugly two times and weave in the loose end. No grafting required, and it's a round-ish toe that fits very well, even on my narrow feet.

The tops are afterthought. The pattern is from The Big Book of Needlecraft, ca. 1927, from the look of the patterns inside (Odhams Press, Ltd Long Acre, London W.C. 1). It's a hardcover from England. I first saw it at the Providence Athenaeum, and decided I wanted a copy for my own. It covers quite a bit, and also gave me the embroidery pattern I used for the Caroline Cloche I made a few years ago.

In order to furnish enough ease, I picked up the same number of stitches with a #4 needle. (The socks were made with #2s.)Then I resumed knitting with #2s, and bound off, after six rows of 1x1 ribbing, with the 4s, but with a small picot (one stitch added after every bind off stitch as I was binding off).

They're a good fit, but next time I will definitely begin with the stocking tops!

A Mark of Thanks

I love a mystery. The written sort, especially when it's real Golden Age, or set in that era. There are some wonderful authors doing the latter: Carola Dunn, Kerry Greenwood, and Rhys Bowen, for example. (Daisy Dalrymple, Phryne Fisher, and Lady Georgie.)

The most recent in Ms. Bowen's 30s series is Naughty in Nice, and it's as charming and interesting as all of her books are. I recently won a copy in a drawing from a librarian who reviews large numbers of books online and features them on her blog. She then very kindly gives them away in drawings. No strings attached. Not only that, they are sent with remarkable speed, and a hand-written note.

I wanted to send her something in return. Not another book, goodness knows how many she must have, not even including the ARC (advance reading copies) and other review copies she has lying around, but something book-related. As I knit, I thought a knitted bookmark would do the trick.

Firmly knitted lace, with a touch of starch, in fact. So I've been noodling around with various small "knitting pins" and crochet cotton. I started with American size 4s. Much too big. And quite floppy.

Then I choose the next extreme. I dug some Victorian steel DPNs out of my needle stash. They're so tiny that I don't have a needle gauge to size them, but at a guess they're at least 000s. Perhaps 0000s. Or smaller? (I have sewing needles that are thicker.)

The resultant fabric was beautiful, but it was murder just to make a knit stitch, to say nothing of a SSK. I couldn't even get beyond Row 8 of the pattern.

So I decided to slide back to the middle (in more ways than one); the first needles were from the 1960s, the second pair ca. 1860, and these needles are ca. 1930. These are size 15 Aero Knitting Needles, from England. They're coated and nicely pointed and slippery. The fabric is firm, but a touch of starch won't go amiss. And last night I sailed through the first two repeats with no trouble at all, so I think I'm on to something!

Still Progressing

Bunny is finished; that is, the knitting of. The golf stockings are finished, though not yet washed.

The work on the headpiece continues. I'm hoping to finish it entirely, soon, so that the bride can have it early; I know that she'll need to try out hairstyles before her big day.

Today, though, I gardened. For the first time in many months. No, I didn't uncover my still-mulched roses, but I cleared up dead vegetation and some leaves, and checked the two roses I started from cuttings. They made it through the winter!!

Things are looking up.

In Progress

That's the state of quite a few things right now. The lamb toy is (and has been) blocking. The bunny is finished, but for his ears. My golf stockings are plaguing me--it's far more difficult to add a stocking top after the stocking has been knitted; it's hard to get the right elasticity in the pick-up and bind off stitches.

And most importantly, I am making a bridal headpiece for a friend of mine. She's a young woman in the local retro and burlesque community, and she's marrying my favorite local dance partner. When she told me of their engagement I offered to make her a headpiece as a wedding gift.

As some of the wedding guests will be reading this, I won't be posting photos until after the ceremony. However, the piece is beaded, on white velvet. It's more of a tiara than a bead-heavy 20s look; she has a lovely dress that conjures up the 50s. I can't really say more without giving things away!

That's what I'm up to these days, as well as beginning to consider a costume for the next big Chifferobe event, which has a theme of Cleopatra!

Pictues of at least the lamb-in-progress to come, as I really need to get these toys off to the babies soon.

Deco Fangirl: Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester

If you are a devote of Art Deco era music, it's quite likely that you've heard of Max Raabe. Herr Raabe is a singer of cabaret and cabaret style music. He studied to be an opera singer, but in the mid 1980s, with a group of friends he got together to rehearse hot jazz charts and ballads from the 20s and 30s. They played their first gig a year later, and much to their surprise, were an instant hit.

He and the Palast Orchester tour not only Germany, but the US, London, (as of this year) and other places. He's brilliant--funny, charming, handsome, and a fine musician with the best comic timing.

My husband and I bought tickets in September of last year for this show, as soon as we heard about it. They played Symphony Hall, in Boston, this past Sunday, March 4. We decided to pull out all the stops, clothing-wise, and made a day of it. We had matinee tickets, so it was 30s daywear. It took me weeks to decide what to wear--I don't have many real 30s day dresses--and a day or two to put it together.

The show was terrific. They are all talented musicians, and the pace of the program was wonderful. Herr Raabe is an elegant figure and will make you think you've fallen into a German film from Weimar Berlin. He was in faultless white tie and tails, with the other men in the group in black tie, and the lovely violinist wore red.

After asking quite a few people inside, we located the stage door and joined the crowd of fans. He did come out, after one of the orchestra members noticed us. I suspect they're all weary of touring, and there was no place inside for a crowd. They probably hoped to get some rest for a change (and I don't blame them). However, he graciously told us he'd tell Herr Raabe, and off he went.

When Max Raabe came out he'd changed into street clothes, and he did look weary, but he was courtly and gracious, and he bent over my hand (fool that I am, I was still wearing gloves, so I did not get my hand kissed...just the same, I'm still fluttering). His charisma is...well. Wonderful. He also signed the new album for us, and was even kind enough to pose for a couple of pictures. From left to right: my husband (in glasses), me, and Herr Raabe.

The new CD is entitled One Cannot Kiss Alone, and it's not quite as much to my taste as the cabaret pieces, but it's clever. If you love 80s music, you should adore it. I don't know if it's available yet here in the normal course of things, but if you are curious about the title song, here is a video they created to highlight the English version.

(Please excuse the absence of a proper link; as usual these days, I can't get Blogger to accept one. Just copy and paste to get to the video.)

http://youtu.be/RdbGNttzP0I

...and joined the Circus

Cirque de Ville, anyway. At The Dorrance, in downtown Providence. Another spectacular Chifferobe event.


(B&W image courtesy of LuLu Locks, of Providence Pin-Up. The color pic is one taken by a friend of the snake's handler.)

Mardi Gras Brings You...

...masks.

I know. There should be pictures. (Sorry.) However, we're going to a Mardi Gras party tomorrow. DH doesn't want to wear a costume, but he thought he'd like a mask. Me, too.

He'll be in black tie, but I'm going a bit steampunk. Think Idris (Sexy. Mrs. Doctor [Who]). I've dug out an old--15 years or more--stage costume, including corset, and though I won't be as Suranna Jones was costumed, the look will be similar.

The masks are quite simple. I took a plain plastic mask and used it as a pattern. It has two layers: one of brown felt, for against the face, and one of burnt black velvet, for the outside. My husband's is very plain. It's velvet, with binding around the outide, and fabric ties. Mine is of the same fabric, but with beadwork around the eyes. The ties (not yet attached) will also be of fabric.

These are the second and third masks I've made from scratch, after the papier mache mask I made for a Halloween event.

Who else makes masks, and how? Of what fabrics?

Knitting for the Nursery

Ravelry to the rescue, again. Please excuse the lack of a link, Blogger is again being useless in that regard.

As several of my friends have presented the world with babies recently--girls, too!--I had a perfect excuse to look for something really fun to knit.

What's better than toys? Bearing that in mind, I went to work, and came up with a couple of charmers: Vintage Rabbit and Laurie Lambkin. The rabbit is a free pattern, but the lamb is from an OOP book, Nursery Knits, by Tessa Watts-Russell. The lamb is so adorable that I went straight out and found a copy online. The book also includes some good teddy bear patterns and baby and toddler sweaters, as well as plenty of bear wear.

The bunny is coming along on #3s. It's very appealing, much like the Velveteen Rabbit in looks, and adapted from a vintage pattern published by Patons, in the 40s. The lamb is written for #5 needles, but I went up to a #6 to get gauge. She's a very quick knit; I cast on yesterday, but am nearly half-way on the knitting.

Both require quite a lot of seaming, as most vintage style knitted toys do, but it's going to be worthwhile. When they're complete I will post photos. And, quite possibly, will cast on for a couple more, to keep!

Back to the Frog Pond, or, In Need of Instant Gratification Projects

Lately I can't seem to knit even the simplest item without ripping back. I began the heel of Gray Sock #2 before completing the leg. On the golf sweater I forgot to begin bind offs for the armseye while working on the front. I'm back on track with the socks, but haven't yet ripped back on the sweater.

It's time to make some small, quick projects, the kind of things that are finished so quickly and easily that they provide almost instant gratification. Baby socks, maybe (lots of new babies out there lately). Or lacy washcloths, or even doll clothes, though I don't know any doll parents or collectors!

I know I'm not the only one who ends up in this situation periodically. What kind of items would you make in like circumstances?

Thrift, thrift...

January 2012 hasn't exactly been an outstanding beginning to the year, but the last day is giving me hope.

After my second bout with a cold that DH & I have been passing back and forth I finally got out of the house today. I headed straight to the closest thrift shop. It's not always the best one, but it has its days.

Today was one of them. For a grand total of $4.01 I got a brand new edition of a Georgette Heyer Regency (her first, originally published in 1926), a pair of argyle socks for DH, and seven Limoges bread and butter plates!

They're perfect, and though I don't know the pattern they'll go nicely with the china I already have. At a guess, they're ca. 1900: white, with gold and misty green rims. According to the mark they were made especially for a store in Pennsylvania. I am very pleased; it's been a long time since I've found Limoges in a thrift shop.

Taken From Books

I imagine those of you who read this are also "readers". By that I mean you buy a book when you know you'll re-read it. You have a shelf of favorites-from-childhood, the books outnumber everything else, and somehow, there are never enough bookshelves.

This means that there are things in those books that you've always promised yourself you'll try someday. This past Christmas I made that Christmas Cake. I've been promising myself that since reading Betsy and the Great World, by Maud Hart Lovelace.

One of my favorite plays is "The Lady's Not for Burning", by Christopher Fry. I learned about that not in school, but in Tam Lin, by Pamela Dean.

Those are only two examples; I have more. Now, there are also the ones you can't understand: in spite of repeated readings of Little Women, I have never learned to love Milton or even The Pickwick Papers (the only Dickens I love is A Christmas Carol.

This gift within a gift of books suggested by favorite books is only one of the reasons I've been a lifelong reader, but it's a potent one.

Christmas Knitting 2011

Please excuse my abysmal photographic record keeping! This scarf and beret were gifts to my MiL this year. The beret (same alpaca silk blend as in the scarf, photo not withstanding) was for her birthday, and the scarf Christmas, but I made two other berets in very different yarns (but the same pattern) for dear friends.

One was in a burgundy homespun, to match a lace neck cowl I designed for her last year; the other in a Schiparelli pink with turquoise flecks (it was for a birthday); I designed a 30s style muffler with a narrowed neck to match as a Christmas gift.

The pattern information for the purchased patterns isn't to hand, but they're both modern.

January 1936 Golf Sweater

Not a whole lot is going on around here, though we finally got some snow. Mind, tomorrow it's supposed to be rainy and in the 50s, so it probably won't last. Welcome to New England in 2012!

The Long Gray Socks are coming along--I'm well into the leg on #2, past the calf shaping. Stocking tops, if I add them, still haven't been designed.

I've also begun a 1936 golf sweater, from the January 1936 issue of Home Arts Needlecraft. It's simply called "sweater with buttoned front". It's 4 sts = 1 inch, and I'm using a double strand of orchid colored Shetland. The back is finished and I am working on the first side of the front.

I hope your 2012 has begun on a good note!

Happy New Year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwT4GV9qkV8Sorry, this isn't the elegant solution, but Blogger is again acting up.

Just the same, if you were wondering with whom you should spend New Year's Eve, I can recommend Mr. and Mrs. Charles!

Happy New Year's Eve EVE

It's a great thing to celebrate, especially if you're in New York. There are some fantastic doings tonight at Patrick Soluri's Salon. Look it up in T.O.N.Y. or the Wall Street Journal, or Facebook if you're a vintage loving soul with a taste for good company and music. You won't be sorry!

We're staying here, I'm afraid, but don't plan to let it cramp our style. I spent today shopping for goodies. Tomorrow evening we're having a good dinner--filet mignon with some trimmings--and then we plan to nosh on some fabulous things: oysters, pate, caviar (flying fish roe), fruit and sweets, and wash it down with Champagne cocktails and Champagne.

As it's just the two of us we won't be going for black tie, but vintage pajamas instead. I haven't decided whether to go 20s, 30s, or 40s, but I've got them all, with slippers to match.

Another Christmas Gift

This is a box of marzipan I made for my husband with leftovers from the Christmas Cake. There are peaches, cherries, Delicious apples, avacado, and lemons.

I'll post photos of more knitted gifts as I find them. They're tucked away in various photo albums on my computer.

On this third day of Christmas, I hope you're having a merry time.

Merry Christmas...and Christmas Cake, Part III

Here it is...the final product. (And the star of tomorrow's Christmas tea.)

I wish the very best to you and yours, whether you celebrate Christmas, something else, or nothing at all. Enjoy your holiday!

Happy Booze Cart

These were taken at the request of a friend who is compiling a particularly boozy photo album. Yes, when this was taken we were out of gin (or as my husband likes to call it, martini juice). No longer...

A(n) F.O. for Christmas

If you're not a knitter, "FO" = Finished Object. This is the scarf I made for my MiL. The tan section is silk and alpaca, and the orchid is baby alpaca. It's from Boutique Knits. It's to be worn with the beret I made for her birthday, which is made of the tan yarn.

Christmas Cake, Part II

Here it is...now covered in almond icing; the holly leaves and berries are made from the leftovers. They're for the final decoration, after the royal icing is applied.

The almond icing needs to dry for several days before the royal icing goes on, as the oil from the almonds would otherwise stain it.

Yesterday I even bought a vintage cake plate to store and display the cake.

It's Coming

Christmas, I mean, and I can prove it.

1. I have baked five kinds of cookies, have a batch of dough in the fridge for number 6, and am running out of cookies already. (Christmas boxes to friends and family. I haven't even sent trays to the neighbors yet, or my husband's barber.)

2. The Christmas cake is now drunk enough, and is wearing its first coat of icing--almond (marzipan, really). I bought a glass cake plate and cover to show it off, I couldn't help myself.*

3. We're almost out of plum puddings...but we haven't eaten any. I did save four little guys for us. We'll eat the first two on Christmas eve.

4. All of the Christmas boxes have gone out. Nine this year. All containing gifts, plum pudding, cookies, and homemade jelly and marmalade.

5. It's cold. And about time, too!


*I do have photos, but the cord to upload them is upstairs and I'm not. Call me lazy (I do). There is also a photo of the scarf for my MiL. With any luck I'll get them posted before the New Year. Just in time to find photos of the other things I made and can't yet show off. If I can find them.

20th Century Christmas in the 21st Century

...sort of. Let's face it, I like streaming my Christmas music, so the cleaning and decorating aren't interrupted. And, yes, I do use Facebook.

But here's a list of some of the things I do in preparation for the holidays.

*Bake. A lot. For example (this year's plan): Christmas Cake, Plum Pudding, cookies (probably about 8 or 10 varieties), maybe a chocolate whiskey cake, and some savory crackers. Mushroom turnovers (hors d'ouvres sized).

*Make candy. Candied peels (clementine, some orange, lemon, grapefruit). Bourbon balls? Maybe brittle of some kind.

*Clean, THEN decorate (this is why I want a house elf for Christmas). Decorating does mean Christmas stockings (to be filled, yes: I look forward more to the stocking than other gifts).

*Christmas cards. Yes, real ones. (Who knows, the USPS is quite possibly about to be vintage.)

*Sending packages. No, almost no one sends them back to us. But I've been doing it for more than 20 years, and I don't intend to stop now. These go to close family, and our dearest friends. The boxes include gifts, cookies, candies, home canned goods (mostly jams & such). By the way, I don't mean our families forget us! But not everyone has the time or inclination to make homemade items, gift wrap everything, and ship it. I do have the time, and enjoy the process.

And...most of the ornaments are blown glass, or old fashioned (like real pine cones or gilded walnuts). I put a wreath or a spray on the front door. Sometimes I put one on the side door, too.

We go to parties, and we dress up for them. I'm lucky enough to be married to a man who doesn't think a necktie is a form of torture (I've worn them, they're not...on the other hand, try standing around in a drafty cocktail dress and ill-fitting heels some time). I even dress nicely on Christmas day, although I'm inclined to indulge my inner cornball. Plaids, fur trim, and some glitter...why not?

It's time-consuming, and old-fashioned, and sometimes it has to go by the wayside, but it's what I do for the holidays. (Yes; holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's--look, three!)

Christmas is a-coming

No goose, but there will be plum pudding (in addition to the Christmas cake). Between the two, I suspect there will be at least one more trip to the liquor store for brandy! This year I've made all small puddings. That way they won't go to waste...we never ate the large pudding last year, saying things like, "Oh, it's so rich, and it's just the two of us..." and other variations on that riff. Not this year!

The same recipe gave me 15 small puddings, so we'll have plenty to give away. I'm planning on sending some to family, and giving some to friends in the area, plus we'll account for a few.

I haven't yet started cookies, but that will kick off this week as well. Not a dozen varieties this year, I think, but a good selection.

The knitting is nearly done--I'll have photos soon of the scarf I made for my MiL (she's not online), but most of the other recipients read this blog, so the pictures will be posted after Christmas.

How are your baking/knitting/shopping plans proceeding? As planned? Better? Worse? Well, don't worry about it, there's nearly a month to go!

Not Christmas, but Christmas baking

This past week I did it again--made a traditional Christmas sweet that I've never made (or even tasted) before. Christmas cake!

For those Yanks who don't know what I'm talking about, it's a fruitcake---now, now---wait! Not that awful plastic and sawdust thing strangled in cellophane...this is a rich cake loaded with real dried fruit and candied fruit that I mostly candied myself, including real glace cherries. And I'm not using cheap cooking sherry to douse it, but a decent cognac.

After it's baked and then aged with the brandy, it's wrapped in an almond paste (marzipan) "icing". It must wait for its final wrapping for nearly a week, as the oil from the almonds will otherwise stain the royal icing yellow.

Right after its final icing, it's decorated. I'm still deciding, but am leaning in the direction of making marzipan holly leaves and berries...and maybe a sugar mouse or two.

Happy Halloween!

Dr Who Scarf, Finished!

AKA Myrna the Mannequin's new dress.

Frivolous Friday: Beading, 1920s Style

I call this frivolous because, well, there are only so many places these can be worn. But I do wear them!I've been doing this kind of beadwork for much longer than I've been knitting--I made the first one (the silver cap with fringe) about 20 years ago. My former MiL swore it was a waste of time and money, but I've since worn it for Halloween, New Year's Eve, Mardi Gras, 20s parties--more than once on each of these.

Dr Who Scarf...nearly

It's blocking. Mind you, it's been done (except for casting off & cutting the fringe) since the spring. No, really.

The big problem--or maybe the long problem--has been space for blocking. However, I've finally begun to clear out my workroom, and the floor has re-appeared!

Without the fringe it's just about 9' (yes, nine feet) long. With the fringe it'll be just under 11' long. I ran out of space, or it WOULD have been 11' long with fringe. If not longer. It's the series 13 scarf, as worn by the 4th Doctor (AKA Tom Baker).

And this year it'll be worn by an American fangirl in Rhode Island.

Autumn Pastry

I love the fall. It's my favorite time of year--the weather, the colors on the leaves, and the food all conspire to make it the best season.

With that in mind, I can never pass up leaf-shaped cookie cutters, and I use them whenever I can find an excuse.

These cheese pastry leaves are today's result. There just happened to be half a recipe of cream cheese pastry in the fridge and the parsley is still doing well in the garden. And there were odds and ends of cheese. Voila!--cheese pastry leaves.

Autumn Pastry
Pastry:
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup + 2 tbl. flour
1/2 tsp. salt (scant)

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup crumbled bleu cheese
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
flour

yolk of one egg, beaten with about 2 tbl. water and 1/2 tsp. paprika

leaf-shaped cookie cutter(s)

Make the pastry and chill for a minimum of 3 three hours. It's probably easiest to simply make it the day before. Take out to allow it to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle the pastry board with flour, bits of parsley, and bits of both cheeses. Roll out about 1/4 of the dough and place on a parchment covered cookie sheet (nine shapes to a sheet is good). Brush each cut-out with the egg mixture.

Bake at 425 F for about 12 minutes, turning half-way through to get the pastries evenly browned.

Repeat until all dough is used. This recipe makes about 50 leaves, but I can't give you a very accurate count...I started eating them early on. Taste-testing is important.

Frivolous (Belated) Friday

Those who know me (or even those who've only met me) realize quickly that frivolity is one of the things that makes me happy.

1. "Frivolous Friday"* sounds frothy.

2. We could all use something frivolous to make the day better.

3. Could this be the thing that will get me to write more than two blog posts a month?

Here's today's topic: facials.

I'm all about a decent facial, but I'm cheap. (Think about it...for the cost of a single no-bells-and-whistles facial at a salon you could pick up a decent bottle of Champagne. I rest my case.)

Make your own. It's easy, and chances are that you have many, if not all, of the ingredients already.

*large mixing bowl
*bath towel
*table with water-proof tray

*baking soda, water

See what I mean?

Here's what you do: wash your face and pat it dry. Put on the kettle. While the water is heating, put the tray on the table, the bowl on the tray, and the towel in easy reach of the spot.

When the water boils, fill the bowl 2/3 full; drape the towel over the top and put the kettle safely away. Sit down and steam your face, with the towel draped over your head and shoulders. Be careful not to lean too close. Steam burns aren't beneficial!

After three to five minutes, stop. Pat your face dry (put the towel back over the bowl).

Now dampen your face with warm water, and scoop up a small amount of baking soda. Massage it gently over your face and throat; be careful, it's more abrasive than you might think.

Leave it on your face and go back to the steaming for a minute or two. Rinse with warm water and pat dry.


There are many more facials I like to use, but this is the easiest and cheapest one I know. Don't worry, there's more to come...


*yes, I know...it is now Saturday.

More Apples

There's still a bag of RI Greenings in the kitchen, but I've made pork & apple pie (very good), apple marmalade, applesauce, crab apple jelly, and green tomato mincemeat. More to come, naturally, but I'm getting our winter treats, jellies, jams, and Christmas presents well under way. There are so many more I'd like to make, but I'm not sure just how much I'll manage in the next month or so. After that I'll be thinking about things like candied peel and plum pudding. Not to mention the sadly neglected garden and house!

I've also been getting back to the Christmas knitting. The latest FO is blocking right now--can't write about it at the moment, the recipient sometimes reads the blog, but I hope she'll like it.

OTN (on the needles) now is a two color scarf for my MiL, from "Boutique Knits", a feather & fan pattern. I'm using alpaca/silk and alpaca, in tan and lavender, and am plotting out a scarf for one of my nephews, per his request.

The Starboard Cape (from 'KnitScene' magazine) turned out beautifully. I'll try to get a photo up soon. I like it so well that I'm thinking about making another,in a different length and color. I got to wear it with a 30s outfit to an exhibit of 30s clothes a few weeks ago, and have been wearing it with modern and vintage clothes ever since. It's very versatile.

Now if I could just be a bit more versatile and get some laundry done...

Apple Season: Next

We haven't gone apple picking yet, but it's on the horizon: this coming Saturday, so long as the weather cooperates.

Unlike other years, though, I've already begun to can/preserve/pickle with a will. It started this summer.

Here's the "so far" listing:




spicy tomato-peach salsa
sweet pickled cherries
pickled crab apples
pickled hot zucchini
hot zucchini relish
hot pickled carrots
carrot cake jam
candied cherries
cherry lemon marmalade


I have about two pounds of crab apples waiting to become jelly, and if by some miracle I find more cherries, I'll candy those. (I also need to candy lots of lemon, orange, and grapefruit peel).

After we go apple picking I expect to make apple marmalade, apple pickles, cinnamon flavored apple jelly, apple salsa, and maybe pie filling (if I find good cooking apples), and applesauce. At least!

Then I want to make cranberry marmalade, cranberry catsup, green tomato or cranberry mincemeat, lavender jelly, and various other herbal jellies.

We're already running out of structured storage space in the cellar--we don't have a proper pantry down there--but that won't stop me.

I think I'm obsessed. But it's a useful obsession; its fruits (pun intended) will provide presents and good things for our own table. I've already promised my husband he'll have a carrot cake with carrot cake jam and cream cheese frosting for his birthday.

Irene and the Long Island Express

Sounds like a children's book, doesn't it?

It's not. Irene (of course) is the hurricane currently making its way up the East Coast here in the States. The Long Island Express is the name given in retrospect to the hurricane of 1938. The '38 hurricane was devastating. Even in upstate New York I grew up hearing about it--in the 1970s--and here in New England it was awful.

It's the reason that there are so few old-growth trees here. Also, indirectly, why the MacIntosh apple took off--the orchards of heritage varieties were ripped up and destroyed. Macs were just coming up in popularity, and easy to grow. Self-pollinating...and so...good-bye heirloom apples.

Buildings were destroyed, and many, many lives were lost. I've seen photos of the carnage. It was horrible. There are still reminders downtown in Providence, even a plaque documenting the flood lines.

We're worried here. Many New Yorkers have been ordered to evacuate. A state of emergency has been declared in Rhode Island, and to be honest, I've been filling containers with potable water and rounded up the crank flashlight and radio, and made sure I could put my hands on the cat carrier.

Irene is supposed to mean "peace". I'll close with the words of a drag queen who, I hope, is correct in her estimation:

"Who names these storms? I'm sorry, but Hurricane Irene doesn't sound very threatening... What does she do, fling a cocktail in your face!?"
--Jackie Beat

Apple Bourbon Slices

This is a recipe I came up with last year. I had lots of just-picked apples, a full bottle of bourbon, and...well...why not?

The recipe makes two generous pints, with a 1/2 cup or so left over. I gave one away to a friend and we kept the rest. Yesterday we had them over cinnamon pancakes--it was wonderful. The bourbon mellows quite a bit after cooking and processing, for those of you who are not big spirit drinkers.

Bourbon Apple Slices 2 pints

2 1/2 lb. peeled, sliced, cored apples (weigh before prep)
1 lb. sugar
pinch salt
2 c. bourbon
1 tbl. lemon juice
6 dashes orange bitters
6 tbl. butter, melted (optional)
_____________________________________________________________________

Prepare apples; toss with lemon juice. Mix bourbon, sugar, bitters & boil for five minutes. Add apples and salt. Simmer till just tender, stirring as little as possible. Stir in butter.

Ladle apples into jars and pour syrup over. Leave a generous 1/4" headspace at least.

Process for 20 minutes in a hot water bath. Let sit overnight and check seals after 12 to 24 hours before labeling and storing.

With this yarn...

...I will make [fill in the blank].

That's how most of my yarn-buying goes. I buy something because I'm quite sure that I know what it wants to be. And it could be that I'm right, though I seldom find out, because (A) I get sidetracked (B) the "something else I'm working on" takes over (C) LIFE takes over.

And so, weeks, months, or (more likely) years later I find this yarn again. In some vague fashion I can usually remember why I bought it, and even where, but now it wants to be something else.

Case in point: last Christmas I made a pair of boot socks as a gift. The main color was a natural superwash Irish yarn I picked up in Cambridge at a lovely Irish shop. It was destined to be a baby blanket...only I didn't have time. The intended recipient was a work acquaintance, not a close friend, so I didn't push myself into it. I did make a lovely pair of socks with ruffles, and a cotton washcloth. The washcloth was a big hit, so I think I made the right choice.

But the baby blanket became socks.

This year I'm making my MiL an alpaca and silk lace neck kerchief. I've already sent the hat off for her birthday present.

I'm closer this time, though...the yarn wanted to be a pair of gloves. (The first half of the first glove is still languishing in the depths of my work room, waiting to be frogged.)

Tomato-Peach Salsa

We found more good things at the farmers market, as you can see. Seven pints of hot salsa later...I still want to can some more. Maybe more salsa, but we'll see what's there this coming weekend.






























I am knitting, too--honestly! I made this beret for my mother-in-law, and just sent it off today for her birthday, which is Friday. It's the Sprinkle Stitch Beret.

Christmas in August?

Christmas knitting in August, anyway. Can't show it, of course, as some recipients might see it.

But I'm on item #2 now. If I can keep on the trajectory, the holidays should be a snap. (Except for the wrapping and shipping...not the easiest part of it all.)

This year most of our gifts--to the adults, in any case--will be handmade...knitted things, marmalades, etc.

I don't know whether I'll bake myself into another cookie coma, but it's just possible. I can feel the "putting up" (as in canning) urge settling in firmly, too. And today is Saturday, so off to the farmers market in a few hours....

The First Batch

(Please excuse the blurriness; for some reason, I absolutely could not get a sharp focus.)






It's the first batch of jellies/jams/marmalades, in any case. This is cherry-lemon marmalade. I dug through all of the recipes I could find in my books & on the web, and ended up basing it on this one.

I used half sour and half sweet cherries, and soaked the sliced lemons for two days rather than one. It still is a very loose set. When I make this again--and I will, it tastes terrific--I'll probably add a bit of commercial pectin, or use a chopped Granny Smith apple in the pectin bag.

My version made a dozen 4 ounce jars and two 6 ounce jars, with about 2 ounces left over, which I refrigerated.

Because of the pith used, it's probably a touch more bitter than most Americans like. If you don't like bitter marmalade, slice off the zest and sliver it, and remove the pith from the fruit before slicing and quartering it.

It's tart and rich and a trifle bitter. So far I've tried it on buttered toast and also with maple peanut butter on crackers. Next stop: trifle or cake filling!

A Vintage Workout

In my efforts to lose the (unwelcome) reminders of last year's Christmas baking, I've been trimming down. Running, walking, stretching, all of that. But it's a pretty easy task this time of year, with the exception of the occasional heat wave--and even that can be trumped, if I'm willing to wake up early enough.

Winter in New England, though, can be a tough time to exercise out-of-doors--shoveling excepted, of course. Therefore, I've been on the lookout for some kind of very simple exercise bike, not necessarily vintage, but if the Fates are going to be kind and present one, well, I'm not the sort to say no.
The front badge is missing--no doubt it was taken off and sold separately--and the wheel is going to need repair, it's somewhat warped.

Still and all, pretty good pickings for $29.99, wouldn't you say?

Not much knitting

...but some. I finished a plain pair of ribbed gray socks--perfect for running--and I'm working up a pair of medium blue socks, making up the pattern (ribbing w/a travelling yarnover) as I go.

The garden in back is coming along, though my back fence neighbor keeps draining his skimmed pool water into the yard, and I am not happy about it. Neither are the roses. If that continues, I'll be round the street with a big fake smile, a tin of cookies and a friendly "request" to cease and desist. Maybe he'd like to run that water over his own garden instead??

Our front garden is making a comeback from its problems. Our next-door neighbors had their place power-washed. And the overspray killed much of my garden. The roses all survived, but most had to be cut back to bare root, or nearly. Luckily, they are beginning to produce leaves again, and in a couple of cases, flowers.

I could be luckier with my neighbors, I think!

Nothing to report, except for desserts

Here's the cherry pie. I won "Mom's Best" again. Next year, I think I'll go with something less traditional, but it was fun.





This next one is a cocoanut cream pie with a cocoanut and graham cracker crust, topped with red raspberries, white meringues, and blackberries. Happy belated 4th of July!