New starts, health update, skirt pattern

 Yesterday I put some sprigs of lemon balm into the rooting teapot, and noticed it has tiny flowers I'd never spotted before.

Why, you wonder, do you want to start a plant that currently runs wild, choking everything in its path, escaping the supposedly restraining pots? Because like the other mint relatives, it vanishes completely over Fall and winter, and I fancy trying to keep it as a houseplant, to have some available in winter.

Also I'm just starting to see improvement in my neck issues, where I can think about eventually starting with my fiber projects again. Not yet.

So I needed to create a paper pattern for the woven/knitted skirt. This meant tracking down a newspaper, which I don't have. Gary promised me some ready for recycling, and I went next door to collect.

There followed a lovely chat with a visiting family member I'd met before, where we established we: both alter thrifted clothes to suit, both add pockets where needed, both make clothes without patterns, both use newspaper where we need to make a pattern. Nice convo, punctuated by Gary exclaiming I don't know what you're talking about!

Home again, ready to measure, make paper pieces to try on 

Here's the Notebook Of Thinking, which was also the Notebook of Learning Hindi

The Hindi was an ill-fated local adult school class where the somewhat inept teacher went back to India after three weeks, and we all got refunds.

Anyway the notebook being one I'd made, it's gone on being useful, and here's the current project with math.

The original idea was to weave straight panels (note that panel means vertical strip, horizontal pieces having different names), and knit wedge shaped pieces to alternate with the woven panels, to create an A line effect.

This involves figuring out the measurements of the wedges,  top and bottom and doing some tricky decreasing to get a smooth narrowing. Hm 

Then a rush of brains to the head! Why not just knit straight pieces, the width of  the hem end, here 2.5", and do the adjustment when I stitch the parts together, slanting the woven sections together at the top to create the wedge shapes. This will increase the bulk at the waist and I have an idea how to fix that. 

So here's the nyt, more useful than usual

I've tried this around me, and it seems to work. The two sides come around to meet. One big advantage of weaving and knitting to size is; all selvedges, almost no seam allowance needed.

So much easier. Now all I need is the neck to calm down -- it's already buzzing and jabbing from yesterday's pattern making -- and I'll be off. This feels so great, to be making again. Everything else feels like treading water.

Today's Handsome Partner birthday celebration will be an indoor event, owing to endless thunderstorms and inches of rain. We did escape the local tornado warning.

Happy day everyone, whatever the weather.

I have some Handsome Partner birthday thoughts which I'll save till tomorrow, there being a limit to how much I can stuff into one post. I marvel at bloggers who comment that they have to look for material. Mine's like the lemon balm of ideas, escaping all over.

Exercise, manly work and the pursuit of happiness, also gloves

 While I was waiting for tea to heat this morning in the microwave, I did, as I often do, a bit of exercise. Today it was my close as I can get to a Tree Pose. 

That's the one where you balance on one leg, one foot resting on other thigh, or calf for me,  hands high over head. 

Very calming, terrific for maintaining balance in an aging bod. I alternate legs. No use having one stronger than the other, probably find myself walking in circles. 

Also, in my case, exercise is onan endless possible source of entertainment among passersby, since my kitchen window faces the street and I always have the curtains open.  I often do poses and stretches and shoulder flexing in the couple of minutes while the microwave hums. Micro exercise.

Meanwhile back in the yarn department, I've started to knit a pair of gloves for me.  After 20+ pairs of socks and half a dozen pairs of gloves for the Sock and Glove Ministry, over the last year, I think it's okay. 

I decided to use two strands of this lovely stuff

And, since this makes a finer yarn than the previous three strands I was using, I did a test knit then tried on.

 It slipped nicely over my hand, fits my wrist, so we're off.

While I knitted, I watched Atomic Shrimp on YouTube. He's an endlessly curious and enterprising and happy man, full of ideas. 

Today it's collecting seaweed and bringing it home to his garden, then doing some seed prep. He's planting pennywort in the crevices of his old garden walls while I knit along.

On the subject of knitting and anyone can knit, men too, I was in school with a family of five sisters, whose father was a merchant seaman 

He would be away at sea for months. Then when he came home, one sister would be wearing a new knitted dress.  He did a dress on each stint at sea, so everyone got her turn. 

They were beautiful, fine knitting, flared with knitted-in godets and lovely narrow  lacework each side of the godets. 

A godet, for them as don't know, is a triangular area created to make a fitted bodice flare out in the skirt. 

In dress making, they're inserted into the main skirt, but a skilled knitter can incorporate them while creating the skirt.

Always the right size and length for whichever sister was up for a dress. I think it kept him close to his family while he was away. I've never forgotten his expertise. A lot of long voyage sailors knit and do knotwork, too 

Then, back in the yarn dept, the sun came out, the wind dropped a bit, and I got my act together and went walking 

Here's Handsome Partner's daffodils starting. 

They're all over this local patch of woodland. After 9.11, he wanted to make a memorial that would improve our little bit of the world, so he bought a sack of mixed daffodils to plant.

At that time he was already losing mobility, could walk with Handsome Son and me, but couldn't dig. He pointed, we dug. We let him know this was a labor saving way to garden, for him! 

And they've come up and spread, year after year, some picked by people who didn't know they weren't for picking, some dug up and stolen by people who know better, but wherever they are, they'll still bloom and be meaningful. It's always good to survive another winter and see them.

When Handsome Partner died, I planted daffodils in his memory, in 2011, and the ones in my garden are for him. Quite a few friends did likewise, and I'd get updates from a couple of them in spring.

And here are the Stella d'Oro daylilies I started in the trees from my divisions.

Today's winnowing is about fabric, I think. Not yet done, but will be.

So that's where we are, and I found a great reminder on Richard Rohr's newsletter this morning. 

I thought you'd like to see it. Whenever I manage to remember it, my day improves. Disregard the first word, which belongs to a sentence saying much the same thing as our excerpt.

Happy day everyone, enjoy the exact moment you read this word!

Roast chicken, spinning, and yarn chicken

This is why I'm staying indoors, not even a brief round trip to the mailbox today.

Sunny, yesterday's cruel wind which kept the house cold has abated now, after felling trees, but it's not a good idea for me to be out.

Meanwhile I'm about to roast a plump little Misfits free-range chicken who had a brief life but a merry one, if the farmer is to be believed.  I literally thanked her as I seasoned and buttered.  First whole chicken I've had in decades.  Picture later when cooked with roast potatoes.

And aside from sleeping when I was sure I was knitting and listening to an audiobook, I've been spinning, knitting, and, halfway up the first glove realized that I was into yarn chicken. 

That's a knitting expression,  meaning knitting on feverishly in the hope of finishing before the yarn runs out.

No hope, as you see, with only this much matching roving left. So I tried my go-to Goats Magosh and found she was sold out, help. 

Another search through various Etsy shops in search of something approximating the color of spinning roving I need. So many sites only have roving suitable for felting or needle felting, not for spinning.

I did find something likely, and it will be here in a couple of days, with luck. I also fell prey to some beautiful sari silk reclaimed fiber for spinning, in a marvellous golden, yellow range. A present for me. Pictures when the rovings arrive. 

This afternoon I order Misfits and hope for eggs and various other items which will let me stay home. I made another batch of mix brownies, for which eggs are vital, so my supply is low. 

And there's my favorite supper of pita bread filled with egg salad. Last night's had blue cheese crumbles and kale. I freeze kale solid in a bag, then thump the bag angrily with my fist, releasing my annoyance with everything, and reducing the kale to splinters just right for mixing raw into egg salad.

So that's where we are Chez Boud, so thankful not to lose power,  fallen trees not having fallen on any power lines. I'm wearing gloves in the house though, even to knit and spin,  aged digits easily chilled. I even wore them sleeping last night and slept well. Who knew? 

Also thankful that my investment people who usually only put tax forms online making me scan and print, underwent a change of structure last year. 

This year I got actual paper tax reports in the mail. This saves my having to buy a cartridge for the printer, not in my current budget, and that's a cause of joy in itself.

I always do my own taxes, even back when they were more complex, hanged if I'll pay someone to do what I can do by keeping calm and following the instructions wherever they lead, also known as a merry dance.

One year a tax accountant friend of Handsome Partner was worried that I might be missing out on valuable deductions and persuaded me to show him the returns for his advice.

Two days later he came back and said how the heck did you do this? You found things I'd have missed. After that he didn't worry, I guess. 

The clever part about taxes isn't filling out the forms, which takes patience and calm more than anything. It's planning ahead to avoid accidentally incurring charges and missing legal  tax-abating opportunities. 

But if all you do is take a bag of receipts and pay someone at tax time hundreds of dollars to fill out forms, you're missing the most important part. 

Most of us aren't in the income levels where we need tax advisers moving money, postponing and timing income, all that. So we may as well diy. 

No criticism of people who hate it so much they gladly hire someone else to do it, none at all, different strokes, different folks. 

Keep warm or cool as the case may be where you are. Happy day everyone, may all the good stuff arrive in the mail. Keep well

And take a look at these women hand carding fleece for spinning. Look at their unlikely location, too!

Spinning, weaving, resting

I never made it to my knitting group today.  Tired after a busy week, I was in the mood to spin a bit. Then I thought I'd rest a few minutes before going out to my group. Woke at four pm. Half an hour after the group ends.

Anyway here's what's up

A spindle sticking up from an assortment of roving, that's the fluff you spin. It's a mixture of fibers including silk. 

You haven't seen me plying the spindle for a while because my shoulder was not happy for a couple of months and the actions of spindle spinning need a shoulder that works. But it's better now so I'm doing a bit.

I was reminded of this by a passage in Golden Fleece where she discusses spinning and her mother's expertise. 

She mentions the spindle but learns on her mother's wheel. And she and her editor both missed a flub: you usually spin singles z twist, clockwise. Then ply s twist, counterclockwise. She gets the names reversed, oops.

Anyway I've been wanting to spin a bit, but one thing and another, and this spindle among the roving is my highest tech one: 3D printed. It's a good spinner, light but balanced.

Here are my others. Some spinners have tons of these, but my collection is modest.

Left to right, three sizes of Schacht spindles. I usually use the big one for plying. 

The ones with points at both ends are beautiful handmade supported spindles I have yet to learn, my shoulder having intervened. 

You rest one point in a dish, spin off the other tip. This is good for very fine fiber, maybe silk.  And it's a whole new skill. The button and the metal thing are my versions of dizzes, used to draw roving through to smooth out and draft. The name is ancient.

While I was pawing through the spindle collection, I found myself reviewing fiber prep and weaving gear.

Here are my hand carders, for drawing out the fibers to lie parallel and creating rolags, little sausages of fiber ready to spin. Those are fine wire teeth.

Then can weaving be far behind

Here's a handheld craftsman made and signed tapestry loom. Left is a set of weaving sticks. I've taught kids stick-weaving using drinking straws instead of sticks. Mine are handmade, beautiful to use.

At the top of the picture are lovely weaving shuttles, one a rough homemade one, the others  craftsman made, which I've used with my rigid heddle loom.

Under there a lot of people will recognize the potholder loom, green metal, family made, on which I've made some interesting things in addition to potholders.

Then there's the collection of paperclips I used to fashion a four selvedge loom on which I created this tapestry, which was awarded a purchase prize in a regional juried show. I used embroidery floss for the weft. 

Little did the juror know how simple was the loom.

And these scary things are circular saw blades from my handyman artist friend Mike, on which I've created circular weavings, now in various collections.

One still at home is this mixed media, woven wire and roving with beads, mounted on a monotype. It's part of my Planet Series.  This was a series I made in honor of the centenary of the first performance of Holst's Planet Suite in 1918, and exhibited and sold in 2018. I'm a better artist than a photographer, sorry about the reflection and wonky pic. But you get the gist.

These are not stray bits of cardboard, as you might think, but left is the loom I made to weave this seamless bag, the handle made on the weaving sticks you saw earlier.

On the right of the picture is the loom on which I made the yoke (top part of the bodice)  of this vest. 

The rest is knitted, corner to corner rectangles.

I wove the yoke to keep the shape better than knitting, since it's heavy yarn. I spun and plied the yarn, and longtime blogistas followed me through the endless adventure.

Well, that musing led me far afield. For anyone still reading:

Gary stopped over to visit and I showed him the DNR on the fridge, just in case. And we arranged that one day granddaughter K will come over and learn to emboss cards. I showed him some.

He said doesn't this need a machine? Surprised when I said nope, she can do it by hand. He's quite excited, too.  I expect I'll be showing him, along with K.

So now I need to fix supper once I decide what.

Happy evening everyone, make stuff, or just buy stuff you need from artisans, next best. You'll have observed I either make my tools or buy from craftspeople. I like to support good work.

 

Jigsaw puzzles, small treasures, chocolate,

 First, to blogistas who observe 

The Freecycling yesterday was a love fest end to end. Such happy and courteous people. All the surplus plants gone and more than one recipient said they're happy in their new homes! Chairs to a very nice person who never fails to get back to thank. Anyway, very encouraging.

Probably more soon. Meanwhile the last piece of the San Francisco street scene goes in 

And the completed image is the one I'll use for Freecycle to show potential takers it's complete.

Yesterday's walk yielded beautiful lichen

And a discarded bluejay feather

There were local thunderstorms, but here just rain with sunny intervals. 

And the front path was getting narrower with sedum, chrysanthemums and spiderwort spilling over it.

So I pruned back the bits catching people's ankles and have a house arrangement

In the afternoon, time for a little something, and I hadn't got around to making banana bread, so I made a  chocolate spread for afternoon tea

In addition to what you see on the counter, I added a drop of milk and a spoonful of confectioner's sugar. Worked nicely. And later last evening, a spoonful blended with a mug of hot milk made a late night hot chocolate drink. 

Meanwhile here's my knitting group

Well, if you don't count the gracious living room, the hats and the knitting of blankets for the troops, that is! Otherwise exactly the same.

Notice the hatless lady near the window winding a hank of yarn off the skein held around her knees. Probably the kids were at school, otherwise this was a classic kid task, holding the yarn and learning to move back and forward to make it easier for your mother or Gran or older sister or aunt, you could be called on anywhere, to wind.

At this period the guests,  even relatives, kept their hats on. My aunts would, in our house. Only the lady of the house went unhatted. And everyone hatted up outside the house, even to run to the corner shop. 

Evelyn Dunbar was more than a wartime illustrator. She was an acute realist social historian. She's worth looking up.

Happy day everyone, tend to our knitting, glad for the friends in PEI who came through Fiona, many thoughts for all our Florida blog and rl friends facing Ian 

Photo AC