Vintage Embroidery Uses

Vintage embroidery work fascinates the observant appreciator of the needle arts. Some gorgeous and intricately worked old pieces can be found at estate sales, rummage or garage sales, etc.

Many bloggers write only of embroidery. Here are a few blogs that showcase lovely snippets of such work:

Sue's Tree House
Lucykate Crafts
Karina's bird-embroidery
Cates Linens

This is a work shirt which I repurposed, using nine different pieces of vintage embroidery found on antique table runners and linen napkins to cover the front panels, back yoke and sleeve cuffs. Some of the embroidery was so old it was frayed, so using the Wonder Under product helped insure fabric stability.

Incorporating vintage hankies on pillows top: can be found at this post a year ago:

And here is a picture of a new pattern I am working on for application to the front of a plain white blouse, followed by embroidery work in various stitches, finishing off with crayon coloring on the shirt:

The fairie was sketched by Michelle at Michelle's Blog. She will dress up that shirt front, for sure.

After it is embroidered, I will color it with crayons using this technique from the TintedLinenTutorial:

...Trace your pattern onto your fabric very lightly with a pencil or a water soluble marker... Tape the fabric down on the corners to a flat smooth surface.Take out your crayons and color! You may need to color a little harder in the fabric because the ironing will soften the crayon. Experiment with shading to add depth or only color a few things to really make a bold statement. Try to color in the same direction because the strokes will show (unless this is the effect you are trying to achieve).

When you are satisfied with yourself, sandwich the fabric between 2 pieces of plain paper. Set your iron to the "cotton" setting. Press the fabric sandwich slowly and smoothly. This will 'set' the crayon. You may need to press a few times to get the results you want. I did mine a few times to soften and melt the crayon for a smoother effect. From this point you can either back the design with another piece of fabric or place in an embroidery hoop. Embroider your heart away! Use different stitches,beads, sequins, etc.

Thanks again to Tracy at GiggleFace Studios for her tutorial on using crayons on fabric.

I have several items of vintage embroidery that I would love to give to others. Drop me a comment or email me with your address if you would like some!

Alpaca and Llama Wool Yarns

Consider this free advertisement for Knitters Review, because that weekly magazine is a wealth of information. It has "timely, in-depth, and insightful reviews for knitting and fiber enthusiasts", and is chock full of goodies, all relating to products dealing with fiber.

This week, buffalo fiber is showcased on their webpage:

What do you knit for someone truly special? If you can, you save your pennies and splurge on a glorious yarn, taking your time to knit an equally glorious gift from it. You try to find a yarn that, even in its natural state, whispers sweet nothings into the ears of its wearer.

I love working with different animal fibers. New blogger friend, Brenda at Split Rock Ranch, raises, trains, shears, and sells llama furs, and she even dyes and spins their fiber. One smart cookie, that Brenda. Here is what she sold me yesterday:


You can find her Etsy Store at this website: Split Rock Llama and Alpaca on Etsy.

This yarn is merino wool, handpainted and handspun in colors of fuchsia, burgundy, black and gray. I will combine it with a purple merino wool to create another baby sweater.

I asked Brenda at Split Rock Ranch about the properties of alpaca wool, and she replied with this:

Llama and alpaca are hollow fibers so they trap air and act as an insulator, very much like down. They are best spun fine(r) and knitted in smaller projects like scarves, hats, etc. unless they are spun laceweight. Because they don’t have “memory” like sheep’s wool, they can tend to get stretched out of shape if your garment is too bulky and heavy.

An open-work shawl done in llama wool would be gorgeous. Tip to make that skein stretch a bit farther - use big needles! That leaves a bit of space between stitches so the garment doesn’t get too hot.

Llama fiber will be a new experience (in my limited repertoire, at least) to use in knitting winter garments, so come on cold weather... those knitting needles are anxious for a workout with animal fibers.

1941: Mom and Dad During Navy Years in War

OK, now it is sketched out.

Painting this portrait of my mother taken from a picture in the early 1940's has been slow work. It was started a year ago, and progess has stalled on it. Perhaps memories of an acrimonious divorce between my parents is creating hesitation on further painting, but I just can't get the impetus to finish it. By posting on this blog, maybe inspiration will come.

Don't they look happy? I especially like the Navy cap in the upper right corner of the original picture. That needs to be added into the canvas.

Dad was stationed in New York as an airplane test pilot when the top snapshot was taken.

Easy Crochet Flowers

Needing a specific color button, and wanting it knitted or crocheted, I looked for directions on how to make a button ornament. Here is an excellent tutorial video showing that within six minutes, one can be created:



So I got out my yarn stash, reviewed the video several times for accuracy, and made four buttons with beads as centers. I used a size G crochet hook and various weights of yarn in differing colors. Depending on the size crochet hook used, and the weight of the yarn and number of stitches, the flowers can be made as large or as small as desired.

Here is a picture of four of the completed flowers:

The center of the magenta colored ornament at the lower right of the picture was made with a small crochet hook and sock yarn, again using the same technique. Then the small pink rose was sewn into the center of the larger crocheted flower. If made about the size of a US quarter, they will look cute on a baby sweater.

Scrabble Tournament in Ohio

Competitive Scrabble playing is one of my time suckers. I. Love. It. If you'd like to play online with people from all over the world, go here to sign up, create a player name and begin the adventure. My name on the Internet Scrabble Club is "templeton7", so give me a shout and we can play an online game.

So, in two weeks I'm off to the beautiful city of Dayton, Ohio to compete in the 2009 National Scrabble Tournament (over five days, 31 games total). As of today, I will be competing with 483 registered entrants, having the opportunity to play with the best players from all over the world. If interested in this tournament and organization of players, visit Scrabble Players Organization.

While perusing a chat site for players who are addicted to this game, I came across the New York City Scrabble Club site. It gave me a laugh, and you might grin while reading it, too. Their website is: New York Scrabble.

Our mission, and what you should and should not expect from us:
1) To foster competitive Scrabble® play.

... our regulars include the highest percentage of the most skilled regular club attendees in NYC.

... all are welcome, we also have plenty of players at various lower levels of skill. Our players range from teenagers to octogenarians; from writers to chefs to dog-walkers. We also let in braggarts and blowhards, but we don't let them out without giving them their comeuppance.

... it's not a social club that also plays Scrabble, it's a Scrabble club that occasionally also fosters socialization outside of the club.

... you come to us because you're looking for a stimulating challenge, a genuine battle of wits, as you've run out of that among your relatives, friends and neighbors.

... we're not a substitute for something missing in your life, tho many do view competing at Scrabble as a form of therapy; we're the focal point of something you already had at least a minor obsession with.

... we're not going to take it easy on you just because you're a "beginner" -- lots of players are developing their skills online these days before they ever come in for face-to-face play, so we can no longer make assumptions that you're unskilled just because we've never seen you before. But if you are relatively unskilled, we hope you're mature enough to take a beating or several and view getting your revenge as an intellectual challenge, and we will gladly show you a few ideas to help you improve quickly.

2) To increase your awareness of the vastity of language, the variation in North American usage of English, and the amount of international culture it now absorbs.

... your degree in English doesn't mean you know the only way to use English, and more words than the average bear; our dictionary is THE dictionary, arguing with it is tiresome and pointless. Our dog-walker will defeat a surprisingly high percentage of English professors and scriptwriters, and he’s not even Hank Azaria.

3) To increase your understanding of how to mathematically optimize the application of your vocabulary and spelling skills in conjunction with values of the letter set and the geometry of the game board.

What a hoot. Those New Yorkers know how to say it.

This will be my third national tournament to attend. Over the past 13 years, I have competed in about 25 sanctioned tourneys; too bad my scores don't reflect that I am anything other than your average nerdy, obsessed, Scrabble player.

Endearing Geeky Spouse Habits

Husband sent me a link to a self serving post about geeky husbands. The original post can be found at top-10-endearing-habits-of-a-geeky-spouse. He gets lots of accolades from me, so the passing on of the article was not really necessary for him to get even more brownie points.

To summarize, here are a few highlighted endearing habits of a geeky spouse that hit right on:

Finding the best deals in grocery stores. Not everyone will notice that, even though the 12-pack of Coke cans is on sale for $3, it’s still not as good a deal per unit as the 2-liter bottle at its regular price of $1.29. But a geek will — we knew math skills would come in handy one day, even if nobody else thought so!

Not being glued to the TV when a sports event is on. Now, I realize that plenty of geeks love sports (I’m a baseball fan myself). But as a general rule, the typical geek is much less inclined than the typical non-geek (particularly the male variety thereof) to insist on watching every minute of every game their favorite team plays in a season

Providing technical support to friends and family. We may grumble and sigh about doing it so often, and we may get frustrated when our in-laws don’t know the difference between WEP and WPA. But don’t be fooled: We actually enjoy this on some level. Everyone — geeks included — likes to be needed, and geeks also love few things more than to look like an expert. So this is really a win-win: The non-geeks get their computers and gadgets fixed, and the geeks get to look like geniuses for doing things that wouldn’t impress a single one of their geek friends.

Cooking. I’m sure there are lots of geeks who don’t like to cook, or don’t think they do, but if you’re one such, I humbly suggest you give it another few tries. Cooking has so much geek potential it’s a wonder it’s not considered a “typical” geek activity: you’ve got lots of different ingredients to pick from, measuring implements, heat, chemical reactions, gadgets galore and a great deal of nuance. Plus, it’s like doing scientific experiments where you get to eat the results! And there are few things more endearing to potential life partners than being able to cook well (and not just on a grill).

So husband hit four out of the ten points. How geeky is your mate?

Ham Radio 101

Daughter Julie's husband, Jack, is a radio ham operator. He is always coming up with conversation on his radio and making contact with people from all over the world. There is a whole lot out there of which I know nothing, ham radios being one such subject.

Jack wrote an email today which I thought I'd share here about the subject of "ham radio in a nutshell". Every time he gets a contact, postcards are shared and the ham operators collect those cards, called QSL cards. He has several dozen neat ones from all over the world.

This is Jack's picture and his call letters:

USA, KA4WWN, JOHN P HENIFORD, 1729 CRICKET RUN RD, YORK, SC 29745; from his email:

My friend Joe, ham operator KP2AE, Extra Class licensee, says, "there's some science in it...". He means whatever contacts you get depend on the Ionosphere. We use High Frequency radio (HF) from 1.3 megahertz to 50 megahertz for long distance contacts. That part of the spectrum doesn't travel in straight line-of-sight paths - it bounces off the Ionosphere, maybe multiple times.

A lot of things affect how many bounces there will be. One factor over a period of years is sunspots. They are solar storms, and they cause heightened ionization in our atmosphere, and therefore , more radio bouncing in HF. Actually we're still in one of the seven - year low periods, probably starting to come out of it so long contacts should soon become more frequent. Medium long wave radio gets the bouncing too, but not as much. That's regular broadcast radio. Very High Frequency, like police use, hardly gets it at all except sometimes it might. Long wave , below half a megahertz, doesn't get it, it's used for sending code to submarines and other special applications. Some hams can use Extra High Frequency, up in the gigahertz range, that can go straight through the atmosphere and bounce off the moon.

I said Joe is an Extra Class. I'm a General Class. Joe passed a more difficult test than I did. The Federal government produces the tests, and we're licensed by the Feds. Some of the things we're allowed to do could interfere with government radio applications, so we have to follow the rules which have the force of law, to avoid such. CB used to be regulated, but there's so much trash on it I think they just gave up the regulation, and should probably abolish it..Family Radio, like campers use, as you know, is regulated only by power limitations. The Feds assign call signs, too. Joe's indicates he was licensed in the US Virgin Islands when he worked there, and he retains that call. Mine shows that I was licensed in the Southeastern US.

So, there you go - ham radio in a nutshell.

Enough said. Thanks, Jack, for sharing your expertise.

Moss instead of Grass for Lawns

Walking along and listening to podcasts this morning, NPR Science Friday had an interesting story about how one guy on the East Coast of the US (Pennsylvania) had ripped out all the grass in his lawn and replaced it with moss over forty years ago. Note that one must have a shady lawn in order to accomplish this green feat.

Here is the website from a researcher who looked into the problem from NPR Story.

...and this talks about cultivating moss on acid soil. Buffering is slow, but about half way into the video, you will see an amazing lawn of grass, so it may be worth your wait to view the show.

Painting a Day Lily in oils

This is one of our front yard day lilies blooming. Yellows, reds, rust colors, oranges, burnt sienna and greens set it off. The bloom lasts less than a day, so you have to admire it when you can.

Now to try to paint a likeness of a day lily.

Step 1: Outline the day lily in pencils, adding in some leaves and filling in the background with some color:Stretched canvas painting continues after a week of work with further definition of petals:

Here is a picture of the day lily still in progress after about three weeks:

It is about half finished at this point. It is 30" x 40", and there is still lots to do on it. Grounding the leaves from the base is a hurdle that needs to be overcome. Any helpful suggestions?

Finches, Flying the Coop

I have been amusing myself with watching the wrens over the past few weeks, from nest building to egg laying to bird hatching. And this morning, here is a picture of one of the little ones right before he flew the coop:

One of his siblings still in the nest about an hour ago:

Their size is deceptive in the picture, as they appear larger than their actual size of a silver quarter coin. That bird poop around the perimenter of the nest is disgusting, but they don't seem to mind.

This YouTube site, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMJIFYcru-E, shows 10 minutes of finches in their nest.

Mint in Dips and Salads

Tons of mint are grow in our back. What to do with it? From Indian Food Forever:

1 bunch fresh mint leaves
2 green chillies
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
Salt to taste, a little water

How to make mint (pudina) chutney :
To make tamarind pulp soak a little tamarind in water and keep aside for 2 hours. Then strain the mixture in a bowl with the help of a spoon. To make tamarind juice add a little water to the pulp. These days ready made pulp is available in the market.

Wash the mint leaves well. Grind it to a smooth paste with green chillies, salt and tamarind juice. You can add water if the mixture is thick.

This mixture is similar (or the same) to that green dipping sauce served with appetizers at Indian restaurants. It is delicious with Frito's!

And from Lowfat Cooking:

A bright green salad of sugar snap peas and sweet green peas in a light, mint dressing. Cook Time: 2 minutes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 pound sugar snap peas, strings removed
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp
white wine vinegar
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly chopped mint

Preparation: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add frozen peas and snap peas, and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water to stop cooking, and empty peas into a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine sugar, white wine vinegar, olive oil lemon juice and mint. Drizzle over peas. Toss, then refrigerate for 2 hours. Serves 8

Per Serving: Calories 83, Calories from Fat 17, Total Fat 2g (sat 0.2g),
Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 53mg, Carbohydrate 12.6g, Fiber 3.8g, Protein 4g

Here is a picture of this refreshing summer pea salad with mint sauce:

Another summer salad shown below is my husband's invention and can be found at his weblog recipe for pasta primavera salad. (no mint in this salad)

And here is our Tuesday Ladies' Auxiliary yesterday after our salad repast. Let's do it again soon, friends.

Faroese Shawl

Over the past couple of weeks, little progress has been made on a lace shawl I have been knitting because I have ripped out more stitches on it than have been accurately completed. But FINALLY, I'm about 10% through it.

It should end up quite large, if perseverance continues, roughly five feet at the top edge tapering down to a modified ending point four feet from the edging border.

The pattern begins by casting on 423 stitches and continues row by row for a bit less than 200 rows. Here it is at row 20 on size 7 circular needles:

The Faroese Shawl was named by Marily van Keppel as she translated the pattern from the Faroese language and has it published in A Gathering of Lace (complied by Meg Swansen). This shawl has its own thread on ravelery. Moderator Diane at Bella Vita Farm has been a great help in interpreting this pattern. Thanks, Diane.

House Finch: New Family Arrives

SIL Jack asked what kind of finch we had nesting in the arbor. Here is what Birdsource had to say:

The identification of these three finches of the Carpodacus genus can be extremely difficult. Each species is about the same size and shape, each is colored red with varying degrees of brown streaking, and each is common to feeder areas. What's more, the ranges of these birds overlap quite a bit, primarily owing to the ubiquitous distribution of the House Finch.

The picture of the male house finch, courtesy of Larry McQueen, appears to have similar colorings to the one I see going in and out of the nest.

Dragging out the ladder again, here is a picture of the newly hatched finches this morning:

It's off to fill the finch feeder again, so the hatch lings can receive supplements to their diet of insects from their parents.

Finches: Their Diner and Nest of Four Eggs

Look what I found in our honeysuckle arbor today: a tiny nest of finch eggs!

I have been feeding finches for about two months from one of those bird feeder net socks. The feeder sock is about five feet from the honeysuckle arbor, so it is a convenient diner for mom and dad and soon-to-be kiddos. There are four eggs in the nest, and I was very careful in not leaving my scent too near the nest.

Catherine wrote this blog post about wrens nesting in cactus, and it spurred me to get a ladder out and look up into the honeysuckle branches where finches seem to be nesting. Sure enough, there were the pretty little eggs in a wee little nest.

It takes 21 days for chicken eggs to hatch, but only 14-16 days, according to Yahoo Answers, for finch eggs to hatch.

What is hatching in your neighborhood?

Pink Day Lily Finished!

The pictures above were taken in January, 2009 in Auckland, New Zealand. Don't those colors create a riot in your head? Day lilies come in many varieties and colors, and these were absolutely spectacular. Here is a website that tells you everything you could want to know about this flower: The Day Lily Organization.

I had to try to paint that close up picture of the pink day lily because the colors captured me. Here is the project when I was about midway through painting it in April, 2009:

And it was completed yesterday (except for the glazing process), with a picture of the results below. It took four months to complete, what with my busy schedule of a retired diva.

It is painted with oil based fine art paints, and the picture is on a stretched canvas, measuring 11" x 14". Although I like those pinkish, mauve, purple and red colors, I am thinking of painting another rendition of a day lily in golden yellows, burnt sienna and reddish browns, similar to the day lilies in our front yard:


The canvas is prepared and I 'm about ready to sketch out the flower on it. This painting will be my opus, since the size is 30" x 40". Yikes! My husband was kind enough to spend a part of a day building me an easel large enough to hold that humongous canvas.

Wish me luck in painting it. I may be through with it by 2010, Lord willing.

Claire Lace Shawl (free pattern download)

The Claire Lace Shawl, designed by Yvonne Senecal, available at the Caffeineated Knitter for download at NO cost... is... ta da.... finished! Yvonne was kind enough to answer a few of my questions while knitting this little jewel.

The fiber was purchased in Dunedin, New Zealand and is 40 % possum fur, 50% merino wool, and 10% silk. This acquisition was blogged about in February at possum-fur-and-wool-fiber-blend and again at a later posting. Eight skeins were used in the body of the shawl (100 yd/skein).

Some minor modifications that I made to the pattern were to finish off the sides of the shawl in a coordinating multicolor wool and silk fiber. Then a single crochet stitch was added to the top of the shawl, covered over with a four stitch I cord.

This is the top of the shawl shown in greater visual detail. Thanks, the Caffeineated Knitter (Yvonne) and Ravelry, for such wonderful technical support.

Now I'm on to the next shawl project from Meg Swanson's A Gathering of Lace.

"The Scream" by Edvard Munch; Again Surfacing in Grand Junction, CO

Remember the theft of the iconic art ("The Cry", or "The Scream") representing existential angst in the form of a screaming face? That piece of art was created by Edvard Much around 1893. Its actual title is "The Cry", according to Web Museum Paris:

(b. Dec. 12, 1863, Löten, Nor.--d. Jan. 23, 1944, Ekely, near Oslo)
Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intense, evocative treatment of psychological and emotional themes was a major influence on the development of German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His painting The Cry (1893) is regarded as an icon of existential anguish.

A gifted Norwegian painter and printmaker, Edvard Munch not only was his country's greatest artist, but also played a vital role in the development of German expressionism. His work often included the symbolic portrayal of such themes as misery, sickness, and death. The Cry, probably his most familiar painting, is typical in itsanguished expression of isolation and fear.

And from Munch_Museum, a description of the theft almost five years ago is given:

On Sunday, 22 August 2004, two paintings by Munch, The Scream and Madonna, were stolen from the Munch Museum by masked men wielding firearms. The robbers forced the museum guards to lie down on the floor while they snapped the cable securing the paintings to the wall and escaped in a black Audi A6 station wagon, which police later found abandoned. The paintings were recovered by Oslo Police on August 31, 2006.

Above is a picture of "The Cry" and then a close up of the face by Munch is below:

...now look at a rock found on a neighborhood street in Grand Junction among a pile of bigger stones:

Do you see a similarity?

God has a sense of humor, if only we take the time to look carefully.

China Court & Other Read Aloud Books

Written by Rumer Godden in 1961, China Court: The Hours of a Country House was reviewed by The Book Diva at Viewpoints with this quick summarization:

Rumer Godden spins a complex and delicate tale of family, and time, and love. Past, present, and future weave around each other in layers of story centering on an old family home and the generations who live and hate and love there. I first read this story many years ago, and I still find many of Ms Godden's strong characters and unique turns of phrase vivid in my mind. I would recommend this book without hesitation - a re-readable joy.

Prolific reader, blogger, and all around marvelous personality and strong soul Julie, who writes at Forgotten Classics (and two other blogs!) has recorded this book on audio. I have recently downloaded her readings of China Court from this site: complete-episodes-listing, starting at episode number 23.

When downloading, each episode (a chapter or two) is copied automatically into my iTunes account. For some reason, it is saved to my "music" folder. But when saved onto my iPod, it is easy enough to pick up the first episode in that folder and begin listening to the book either in the car or my favorite easy chair (while knitting, of course).

These audible books in the public domain are easy to record onto a CD, or you could listen to the recorded podcasts/books on your computer, although those venues are not so portable.

Julie has recorded the entire China Court: The Hours of a Country House book (over 14 hours of recording time) in a clear voice, that although is not a professionally trained reading voice, Julie's tempo and lack of regional accent is very easy on the ears. What a gift to hear this read, and at no cost to the listener!

Try Julie's website, Forgotten Classics, and spend some time poking around there. She has a lot to offer.

Another of my podcast favorites, Craft Lit, hosted by Heather Ordover from Arizona, spends some time each week talking about things going on in her life (actually, quite interesting) and then either she or other readers read one or two chapters of a book each week. The past month or so, Heather has been reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. As a literature teacher, she has lots to add from her literary background which aids in content understanding.

Here is a listing of books which Heather has read/reviewed since 2008:

Frankenstein; Little Women; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Scarlet Letter (and probably one or two others I have forgotten or missed over the past 18 months)

You can find Heather's recordings at Craft Lit; just look on the left hand side under "Library".

Since April of 2006, Ms. Hardover has recorded many books in the public domain that have been read aloud by faithful followers of her blog. Like Heather says, "If your hands are too busy to pick up a book, at least you can listen to one." She is another amazing woman who has so many stars in her crown, like Julie at Forgotten Classics, it would be a full time job just to shine them.

There is a wealth of goodness at the sites of these two podcasters, and I encourage you to take advantage of them to increase your knowledge of the classics.

Dying Alone, a Memorial Cairn

Dying alone...it is a phenomenon that is not unusual. Perhaps you have not thought of this issue.

One provocative post can be read at the "Elderly Living and Dying Alone. Sadly, too many of us leave this world with no one at our side. "Elder orphans" are discussed in the article:

"the number of Americans between the ages of 70 and 85, without a living spouse, without any biological or stepchildren, and without living siblings or half-siblings, will total more than 2 million people by the year 2030."

One such person who died alone yesterday was Leona Taylor. Although I did not know Leona very well, the facts were that she had no family still living, having had her husband precede her in death ten years ago. She was 92 years old, and had few visitors come see her in the nursing home other than hospital and hospice staff. She must have been a Christian, since she asked that the Bible be read to her in her last days. And Leona liked dogs. Therapy Dog Libby Sweetpea and I visited her in working with the local Hospice & Palliative Care over the past few months, and knew that only health issues occupied her time during our visits. No funeral services were planned.

Thinking about her life and knowing she had few mourners, it seemed some tribute should be made to her long life.

On my morning walk yesterday, I constructed a rock cairn memorial (a place of meditation and reflection according to Rock Cairns). Although it looks a bit crude, it was made with respect as a memory to her life; it is a tangible awareness that someone is thinking of her as she continues her journey into eternal life.

In Memory of Leona Taylor (1916-2009); Rest in Peace

What will you leave behind as your legacy? It is a thought provoking question.

Microwave Baked Potato Fabric Bags

Have you tried a cloth bag for baking potatoes in the microwave?

Potatoes baked in the fabric really are delicious, and have a different texture than the usual baking process from sticking a naked potato in the microwave.

There is no trick to it (other than using the bag); just wash and dry potatoes. Then wrap them in a paper towel. DO NOT PIERCE SKIN! Place potatoes in bag and microwave, as usual, for about five minutes (for one potato) or until done. You can put up to four potatoes in one bag. Remove the potato(es) from the bag and fluff with a fork, applying your favorite slathering of fattening delicious toppings. They taste like those slow roasted stuffed potatoes popular on restaurant menus.

If you want to get one for yourself or as a gift, you can purchase a baked potato bag here at Country Collectibles Microwave Bakers on the internet.

Or make one yourself with directions from Garden Web.

I was lucky and received one from a relative. This is the one she made: Baking potatoes in a bag is a novel idea, and the potatoes are delicious...there must be some magic in the process!

Pictures of Knitting Madonnas

This picture may not be new to you, but after Googling "Knitting Madonnas", this was one of my favorite renditions. It was painted around 1390, according to Howard Schwartz. This website gives a concise history of not only the artwork, but also of the knitting craft.
The above renedition, found at WikiMedia, dates the wood cut at 1400-1410 AD.

Other pictures of knitting madonnas can be found at The Shawl Ministry. This site will link to each US state that has a shawl ministry. This is their picture depicting their mission:

On Flickr, you can click on the link and see the rendition dated from 1345, entitled "A painting of the Holy Family"; it is attributed to Ambrogio Lorenzetti (ca. 1345) of Siena. Size 54.5 x 25.5 cm.

This search was a fun find for me, and the illlustrations can be used in a number of ways with knitting projects.

Creamy Pesto Chicken and Pasta

Here is an easy and quick recipe using pesto sauce with chicken and pasta. How can you go wrong with those ingredients? I came across this recipe over at Purpled Sky's blog a few months ago. It is tasty! (Feel free to use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts for more flavor.)

Creamy Pesto Chicken Recipe

2 chicken breast fillet, quartered and sliced ...or dark meat!
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Prepare chicken slices thick or thin enough for a quick pan fry. Season with salt. Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Fry chicken slices until brown.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup creamer
3 tbsp pesto sauce
pinch of salt

In the same pan, heat olive oil. Saute garlic. Once fragrant, pour in stock. Bring to a soft boil. Add creamer little by little, stirring as you do. Turn off heat; then add pesto sauce. Season with salt.Place the pan-fried chicken slices onto the pan and turn the heat back on. Coat the chicken slices with sauce. Once the sauce starts boiling again, turn off heat.

Boil up your favorite pasta or risotto. Serve atop the starch. Yum.

It is almost time to make bunches of pesto sauce for freezing. This post explains how to make up basil or arugula pesto to freeze and use later.

Preparing Fleece for Spinning: Dog Hair and Alpaca Blend

In knitting-with-dog-hair, written about a year ago, the subject of knitting with dog hair was discussed. It was then I started saving my pups' fur for knitting into a new project. Like the book says, "better a sweater from a dog you know and love than from a sheep you'll never meet". The book Knitting with Dog Hair can be purchased at this site on Amazon. It is on my reference shelf, and is full of information about this rather esoteric subject.

Once the fur was gathered from our two dogs and their home-style groomings over the past 18 months, the obvious next step was what to do with it to get it into shape for spinning. It would need some other fiber to mix in with the fur in order to make a good blend.

Luckily, here in western Colorado, there is a farm with 14 alpacas on it. Shearing time was last week, and new acquaintance Cori Elam saved me enough alpaca fur (all white) for the blending. We rendezvous last night at our first weekly summer Farmers' Market in Grand Junction, and I gave her my bag of saved dog fur. It looked like this, and I had about a pound of it:

This fur will be mixed with Cori Elam's alpaca fiber. Cori's website can be accessed at Cori's Western Colorado Alpacas. She has all kinds of alpaca products for sale. Many of her alpaca fibers are imported from Peru; beautiful products were on display at her booth last night.

Back to the preparation process of the fibers: from the site how to prepare fleece for spinning, easy and concise information was gathered regarding the next steps:

Step 1 Take a chunk of fleece about the size of a basketball. Fill your sink with hot water and some dish soap. Step 2 Put the fleece in the sink and let it sink. If you are impatient, you can gently push it down. Slowly move it around but do not "agitate." Agitation will cause it to felt, making it useless for spinning. .... further steps .......remove the fibers and you are ready to spin.

Another website packed with information about using animals' fur is Spinning Straw into Gold. Take a gander at that site if you are interested in reading about one person's vocation with animal fur products. It is amazing.

But what would a knitted project with dog fur blended with wool look like? Sure enough, that source on the internet Ravelry with over 400,000 members world-wide was my best source for tracking down someone who had pictures AND and an explanation of her process of collecting fur. New friend Avedaggio on Ravelry from Boulder says about her dog Mulan's fur:

My mom has a shih-tzu, whom she keeps long-haired. Mulan’s fur is about 8 inches long. To keep her from becoming a matted mess, mom combs her every day and gives her a bath (complete with blow-dry!) every week. Since Mulan was a puppy, mom had been saving the fur she combed out in little plastic bags, and a couple years back she and my dad took it to the Estes Park Wool Market and got someone to spin it up (this was before I learned how to spin). Then I got 1200 yards of 2-ply Mulan yarn for Christmas! It smelled like Mulan right after the bath. It was so funny when we put a skein on the floor to let Mulan investigate– she sniffed and sniffed, and then picked it up, carried it to her favorite corner and curled around it as if it were a puppy! So cute. I ended up knitting a lap blanket for my mother out of it.

So the next steps of blending the alpaca and dog fur are in process. After the washing, carding, and spinning steps are completed, there should be more than enough yarn to whip up something as special as a Mulan's lap blanket shown above!

(Thanks, Avedaggio, for the use of your picture and your entertaining story.)

Hellen Keller: "In Light of a Brighter Day" essay in memory of Gale Barnwell

A brief acquaintance passed away this week. In memory and honor of her life, here is a podcast that I would like to share, written by Helen Keller, and found here at This I Believe:

I choose for my subject, faith wrought into life apart from creed or dogma. By faith, I mean a vision of good one cherishes and the enthusiasm that pushes one to seek its fulfillment, regardless of obstacles. Faith is a dynamic power that breaks the chain of routine, and gives a new, fine turn to old commonplaces. Faith reinvigorates the will, enriches the affections, and awakens a sense of creativeness. Active faith knows no fear, and it is a safeguard to me against cynicism and despair.
After all, faith is not one thing or two or three things. It is an indivisible totality of beliefs that inspire me: Belief in God as infinite goodwill and all-seeing Wisdom, whose everlasting arms sustain me walking on the sea of life. Trust in my fellow men, wonder at their fundamental goodness, and confidence that after this night of sorrow and oppression, they will rise up strong and beautiful in the glory of morning. Reverence for the beauty and preciousness of the earth, and a sense of responsibility to do what I can to make it a habitation of health and plenty for all men. Faith in immortality because it renders less bitter the separation from those I have loved and lost, and because it will free me from unnatural limitations, and unfold still more faculties I have in joyous activity.
Even if my vital spark should be blown out, I believe that I should behave with courageous dignity in the presence of fate, and strive to be a worthy companion of the beautiful, the good, and the true. But fate has its master in the faith of those who surmount it, and limitation has its limits for those who, though disillusioned, live greatly.
It was a terrible blow to my faith when I learned that millions of my fellow creatures must labor all their days for food and shelter, bear the most crushing burdens, and die without having known the joy of living. My security vanished forever, and I have never regained the radiant belief of my young years that earth is a happy home and hearth for the majority of mankind. But faith is a state of mind. The believer is not soon disheartened. If he is turned out of his shelter, he builds up a house that the winds of the earth cannot destroy.
When I think of the suffering and famine, and the continued slaughter of men, my spirit bleeds. But the thought comes to me that, like the little deaf, dumb, and blind child I once was, mankind is growing out of the darkness of ignorance and hate into the light of a brighter day.
As an infant, Helen Keller was struck by a fever that left her deaf and blind. But with the guidance of her teacher Anne Sullivan, she learned to communicate through the eyes and ears of others. After graduating from Radcliffe College, Keller became a renowned author, activist and lecturer.
In memomy and honor of Gale Elida Bardwell (February 15, 1940 - June 8, 2009)

Baby Surprise Sweater

That little Baby Surpise Sweater is completed. It turned out smaller than I had hoped, but it gives me a reason to knit another in a larger size. The pattern is available from Schoolhouse Press.

Its dimensions on a size 6 circular needle are: body width at middle: 8.5 inches; length 11.5 inches.

An applied I cord was attached around the edges, a single crochet edging was used for the sleeves, and three purchased buttons in accompanying colors to the yarn (Tuscany Colorway, hand dyed 100% superwash Merino Wool, 330 yr/skein, approx. 4 oz) completed the project.

Thanks, Marie at KnittedGems, for your help in pattern interpretation, as well as from the Ravelry Forum group!