On to the 4th

Every year (or nearly) for the past 5 years, we have gone to a lulu of a 4th of July party. The friends who host it live in an old farmhouse a bit north of here.

The crowd starts rolling in in the early afternoon, and the last stragglers weave away on the following day (having camped out in the nearby woods).

I like to bring a few food items. Everyone contributes. Sometimes it's booze-soaked fruit on skewers, sometimes a cake, or a salad. Too, we bring spirits or beer, and something for the grill.

Everyone lounges around, talks, has a few drinks, eats to repletion and beyond, plays croquet (on a very uneven lawn) and some bands play. (The host has a band of his own, and many other musician friends.) There's also a chance that some of us will forget we're glad the 80s are past, and we'll bop around to various 80s music...all kinds.

But right now I'm fixated on the dessert I'm bringing. It's going to be a three-layer cocoanut cake with a lavender cream cheese frosting. And my inner cornball is helping freely--one layer is red, one is white...and yes...the third is blue. The frosting is nearly white.

The recipe is delicious. I found it in a 1928 Royal Baking Powder book. Caveat: the damn thing sinks in the middle, whatever I do. I've made it five times so far, so I should know.

The oven is hot enough. Believe me, when your oven dates from 1938, you remember to pre-heat. Two possible culprits remain: the mixing technique, or too much baking powder. I've been following the basic cookbook directions, and melting the butter.

Usually when I make a butter cake, I cream it in with the dry, and then add the liquid gradually, beating for a minute or minute and a half between additions...I think I'll try that next time. And lessen the baking powder amount. It calls for 4 teaspoons! That's a lot for a one-layer cake.

If you're a baker, feel free to sound off and let me know your opinions, and/or what you're done to correct the same problem.

When the cake is assembled, I'll post a photo or two.

Caroline Cloche

This pattern is from Popknits...which is no longer publishing, sad to say, but is still available online.

It's the hat in the center (being the only knitted topper). I used 100% silk yarn instead of Silky Wool, and the trim is silk. The badge is embroidered in a pattern from one of my 30s needlework books--I used mercerized cotton. The trim around the badge is from my stash. According to the receipt it was wound around, it's from 1941. The badge is backed with facing, which I applied after embroidery, but before the edging.

I dipped the hat in heavy starch before blocking, and it's unlined.

(The photo was taken at Chifferobe's Bayoo Ballyhoo...I am sorry, but at the moment I can't track down the photographer's name.)

Picnic...and A Movie

Not just any movie, either. King Kong (1933). If the weather holds, we'll be going to watch it near Tazza in downtown Providence.

I've packed a picnic supper to bring. So far we have these sandwiches: chicken salad with fresh thyme, cheese & butter spread with cucumber, and red onion (all on various white and brown breads).

For dessert we have cocoanut teacakes and peanut butter cookies. Probably lemonade to drink.

All will be packed into a wicker hamper complete with plates and cutlery. I've also sprinkled paper towels with rosewater for clean-up after.

I hope it doesn't rain!

Harvest of beauty

A rose is a lovesome thing...

God wot, and I agree.

Here's a list of some of the things I've planted this year:

marigolds, violas, pansies, black pansies, nasturtiums, columbines, California poppies, marguerite daisies, shasta daisies, blue lobelia, forget-me-nots, (more) peonies, Japanese iris, sweet violets...and more roses.


In fact, today we bought a David Austin rose, the Winchester Cathedral. It's white and full-blown, with a rose-pink tinge around the edge as it starts to bloom.

Coggeshall Farms Fiber Fest 2010

As you can see, we had a beautiful day for it. Very breezy, but otherwise perfect.



Lots of healthy, happy critters.


I think I went round twice before I decided what to take home. DH started right in, though.


He got (machine knit) alpaca blend argyles, honey, a vintage card game (it's a lot of fun, we played three times after we got it home), and I think one or two other things.


I finally picked out a cone of orchid colored Shetland in fingering weight...it might be enough for a cardigan. And best of all, wood (sweet) violets. Finally! I've been trying to find some for a couple of years now...but most nurseries just don't bother to carry them.



We had a great day. And Sunday wasn't bad, either--plant sale, gardening, and even better weather. But I'll save that for another time.

My Favorite Fiber Festival

Honestly. It's the festival at Coggeshall Farms, in Rhode Island.

Google (or Blogger or whatever) is being useless again, and will not allow the link to post. Please just search for the place; you'll find it. Click on "Events" and you'll find the information.

It's in Bristol, RI, a gorgeous little town. We've been there the past three years, and loved it every time.

It's at a working Colonial farm, and the festival itself is worth your time. It's small, but the vendors are wonderful. We've found gorgeous fiber (of course), delicious honey, a charming vintage style apron, and more...including some of the most beautiful, inexpensive cashmere I've ever fondled.

In addition, you'll get to see horned cattle and sheep, chickens all over, striped, serious working barn cats and a lovely small house, complete with weaving, cooking on the hearth and exquisite Colonial furniture.

If I'm organized enough to remember, I'll bring the camera so as to give you some views from our perspective.

So...it's tomorrow, Saturday, May 15, 2010. If you're within an hour's drive, do yourself a favor and go. It's open from 9:00 am to 4 pm, and you'll have a fabulous time.

(Don't forget, it's in Bristol...and in Bristol and neighboring parts you'll also find antiques stores, great grocers, consignment shops and a very good yarn store!!!)

The Inimitable Miss Horne

Lena Horne was one of the greatest Hollywood entertainers ever. A fabulous, gorgeous, smoldering, funny, earthy, talented woman; and in her heyday especially, dragged down by idiotic racists.

Miss Horne, I'm glad you were out there, brilliant, funny, and wonderful. Thank you for illuminating our lives and showing us just how incredible you could be. (And what you could inspire...you even inspired fictional characters. I remember a genie in a sci-fi story who venerated you above anything he could have invented!!).

To your family I send my deepest sympathies; I'm sorry you lost her on Mother's Day. Thanks for sharing her with the rest of us.

Of Uncle Fred and Bakelite in the Springtime...or something like that

Today has been a great day. It's spring. May. Sunny. Blue Skies. And Good Weather.

In addition, I've been reading Wodehouse, which is enough to make a cloudy, cold, early winter day seem bright. In addition to THAT, a vintage Score was made.

The book is Cocktail Time. Good title, isn't it? It's an Uncle Fred, and not the earliest...he's married, but as bright eyed, bushy tailed and interfering as ever he was. Really, next to Jeeves he's Plum Wodehouse's best creation.

(And I'm reading it because, bless the place, the Providence Athenaeum still keeps it in the stacks.)

As to the vintage Score (aka Bakelite napkin rings)...I saw them a few days ago at a local antiques mall. Not the one where I hold a booth. It's a little less pricey, and if you're willing to dig, a great place for a bargain.

These napkin rings were jumbled together in a plastic bag. Twelve of them. And the price?




[Wait for it...]




$16.00. Really. I kid you not. For twelve Bakelite napkin rings, in near-mint condition. They're Scottie dogs. On wheels. With bright little eyes. Now, DH and I did consider selling them. (I'd make a killing.) But can you see them holding place of pride at a buffet supper? Fala eat your heart out (look up FDR if you don't follow that).

Vintage Kitchen

Believe it or not...there's a possibility that my kitchen will be the background for part of a fashion shoot.

For bathing suits. (No, I don't see the connection either.) I'll keep you posted on whether this odd and interesting thing actually happens.

Here's the kitchen in question:

Hamlet!

Finally.

The David Tennant / Sir Patrick Stewart RSC production will premiere in the US tonight on PBS. 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and it will show for a while after on the PBS website.

(And I'm knitting a pair of 1950 cable socks in khaki yarn. For me. I've sized them down by using #0 needles. I'm on the toe of sock one.)

Happy Birthday David Tennant, and Welcome, Matt Smith

Odd mix, really, but there you go.

Today (though with Blogger's vagaries, the date will probably show wrong) is David Tennant's 39th birthday. Happy Birthday, Mr. Tennant, and I'm greatly looking forward to seeing "Hamlet" on Wednesday, April 28th!

Next, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. Well done! You're marvelous--loony and scatterbrained and brilliant. I loved "The Eleventh Hour" and am looking forward to the rest of the episodes for this season.

(Knitting? Another Cozy. This one rather over sized, and made of a charcoal tweed. Not wool, an acrylic/cotton blend, as it's for my mother-in-law, who is, sadly, allergic to wool. It's coming along nicely. It's going to be lap afghan sized, and will be very easy to care for.)

Cozy

After approximately one year of knitting, on and off, as I worked on socks and things for gifts & etc., I finished the "Cozy" [see knitty.com] in laceweight.

It's washed and blocking now, and it's lovely. If I say so myself.

I used a merino single, very, very soft with a bit of halo. It's in an almost (but not quite) varigated aqua, incorporating shades of chartreuse, turquoise and sky blue. The original pattern calls for a tweedy worsted, but I used this...not that I didn't think the worsted was a good idea, but I didn't think I had enough in one color.

The resulting wrap/shawl is a rectangle, 5' by about 2.5'.

It should be dry tomorrow, and I can't wait to wear it.

Now to finish my 30s sweater and get the baby sweater off the needles!

Clarence Budington Kelland

Mr. Kelland was a writer of movie scripts, novels, and best of all, short stories. The ones that I love have a central character named Scattergood Baines.

I first read these stories in the old magazines that we collect. (That's one of the best things about vintage magazines. The stories were stories, and not exercises in peculiar ego or Angst.)

Mr. Baines was "born" in 1915, and Mr. Kelland wrote about him for years, first in the Saturday Evening Post, and then The American (Magazine). The character is a down-home, folksy fella who doesn't often impress onlookers favorably...at first. They then find out, to their chagrin or benefit, that not only is he clever, his brilliance is something to have on one's own side whenever possible.

Scattergood Baines likes to dabble. In people, primarily, but he likes to make a cash profit whenever possible as well. Combining the two is his favorite way of operating. Prodigal sons, orphaned babies, young lovers, old folks who've had their independence taken away...he saves them all, one way or another, and you only wish that he lived in your town.

Many of the stories have been collected in hardcover, and are even available in present day editions, though of course I prefer the originals. After finding the first collection at the Providence Athenaeum I trolled the Internet for a copy, expecting it to be available and not too expensive. I was wrong...I'm not the only one, even now, who appreciates him! However, I lucked out recently on a "new" collection, Scattergood Baines Returns.

Check your library's old stacks for it. Reading a few of these stories is almost a vacation, even for some time after you close the book. You'll be glad you made the effort.

Check List for Spring

Yes, the workroom is cleaned up. Not pristine, you understand, but I can work in there now. I even made a (sewn) hat last week. Birthday present.

And I worked on a blanket square for someone on Knitty. So it's back to the correct function. The cleared out "stuff" went to the thrift shop, too.

We've had (it would seem) a very early spring this year. Not only have I tidied up the front garden and sidewalk, DH and I cleaned up the yard. It's still ugly and asphalt, but the chairs are out, I scored lots of earthworms, which are now in the garden and a container where I plan to plant herbs this year, and many encroaching vines and tree branches have been cut back.

Knitting has suffered a bit. There's a WIP--a baby sweater--that's well on its way. I even have the buttons. But right now I'm working on a 20s style headpiece for the next Chifferobe, which we'll go to on Friday. The socks I started last week got frogged, when I realized the instep pattern wasn't properly centered. I'm afraid to start another pair, because I don't want to be led astray from the baby sweater, even though it's not needed just yet. The Sweater Curse, you know.

Speaking of which, the 30s sweater is still in pieces. Soon, though, I will finish it. Sure. I only hope that pigs don't fly first.

What's everyone else doing to celebrate the spring?

Pathetic, but mine own (excuse).

So...I did finish knitting the sweater. It's not finished, however. My excuse? My work room is so messy [read: a pig sty] that I have no where safe to block it. I always block the pieces before I sew seams and pick up neckline stitches.

Is that an excuse? Well, if you had a cat nicknamed Destructo the Wonder Kitty it would be.

I am currently knitting another pair of belated birthday socks for a friend because Than Chai helped himself to #1 as I was finishing sock #2 of the first pair.

Of course the real problem is me...I need to clean out the work room, which is presently "functioning" more as the house dump. Stock for my booth, clothes to be mended, books, gifts, and God-knows-what is covering nearly every square foot. Not to mention the ironing.

With any luck, admitting this online will be embarassing enough that I'll finally clean the place up and keep it that way. For a while, at least...

The Sweater Continues

I recommend knitting lots of socks if you want to make a small gauge sweater. I've become so used to sock gauge that this thing is just flying along. Front & back are done, and bound together by a three needle bind off at the shoulders.

I needed to re-write the sleeves, as the original pattern called for long and I wanted short, but that's just about done. The real question was whether to pick up and knit (using a certain amount of short row shaping) or knit and sew in. It's probably going to be the second. And the knitting will be from the ribbing up, as the alternative includes too much casting on for large increases from the top.

This isn't exactly scintillating copy, is it? But it's interesting to me because it's an examination of a creative process. At the end of it I'll also have not only a new sweater, but a new 1930s sweater.

Not uninteresting after all.

Left Out

New England and New York seem to be left out of the party this week. Not that it's a party everyone wants to attend: snowstorm.

Friends on the rest of the Eastern Seaboard and in the midwest are literally digging out. In Baltimore, for heaven's sake! And my sister in Texas tells me that snow is predicted down there. Again!

At the moment a few lazy flakes are floating down to die a lingering death on the brown grass and pavement. There's a tidy rim of snow around the perimeter of our yard (such as it is, asphalt and all).

In Rhode Island, a storm prediction usually means a run on milk and bread. DH and I both find this rather funny. Unless, of course, you live on milk toast. Then I'd be concerned, too.

However, I admit to making a grocery list a few minutes ago:

baking potatoes
soda water
fruit
salad greens
..and so forth. Ending in bread. I admit it.

More firewood, too. We use our fireplace for coziness and atmosphere, not a great deal for warmth, but I love having it. So do the boys, needless to say. They even "ask" for a fire by plopping down decisively in front of it, bundling front paws under and glancing back and forth from the nearest human to the dark, empty, cold bricks in front of the pathetic little (cold) feline face. Sometimes it works.

So...I'm getting ready for the possiblity of snow. Seems like the city fathers believe it's heading our way this time; there's a parking ban right now.

Which means I'll feel no guilt at hauling out the knitting and curling up with two feline lapwarmers this evening. I like snow.

Random Siamese Cats

Pictures of them, that is. Of my boys. (Yes, I'm one of those; other people are twee if they obsess over their pets, I think it's perfectly fine for me to act this way.)

Getting There

In spite of some difficulty (nothing like having a needle snap, especially when it's vintage and you can't be sure of the gauge of a new one) I'm moving along quite well on the sweater.

The armseye shaping is finished, and soon I'll be shaping the shoulders. Shall I be lazy and bind off (thereby landing myself with some nasty seaming) or do proper short-row shaping so I can use a three needle bind off? Probably I'll do the latter, and then add some ribbon to the inner seam for stability.

I had to buy a new--and I do mean new--needle. None of the straights at the shop were of the correct dimensions (I did have the presence of mind to bring a needle gauge with me), so I ended up buying an Addi circ. It's working very well. I don't like circs for knitting in the round, messing with cable lengths drives me mad, and I don't like interchangeable needles very well.

But...they're great for working back and forth on an item, especially when it gets some weight on it. And it turns out that marked "3" or no, the straights I was using were really 2s. Oho...just thought of something; I'll bet they were needles from New Zealand, and so the size marked was, of course, in mm. Because, yes, the one I bought is 3.0 mm. Mystery solved.

Would you still like some proof?



The young critic in the photo is Than Chai. He insisted on making an inspection.