Solstice

Yep, it's officially the first day of winter.



The huge snow flakes kind of gave it away. I'm really hoping that a lot of people left work early or stayed home in the first place. If not, then the commute will suck since the flakes are landing on a slick layer of ice!

I think I will be staying home tonight so shopping will happen tomorrow, along with making caramels and knitting a billion dish cloths. everything needs to be done by Saturday. Fortunately I have Friday off.
After my errands I can sit at home with the kitties, enjoy my tree, and celebrate the days getting longer.

Isn't this how everyone celebrates?

For my birthday I thought the best thing to celebrate would be to do what I always do each Monday; invite friends into my home, knit, drink coffee, eat cookies and watch something fun on TV.

I baked my "favoritest ever ever ever cake", which is a box mix of Dr. Oetker's German marble cake. I love it and am having the last piece with my lunch today. I picked up dinner from Mavericks. We watched Queen Live at Wembly Stadium, Abba in Concert and rounded out the evening with the Three Musketeers (Oliver Reed and Micheal York in case there was any confusion). I received lovely calls and cards from friends and family wishing me well. I bought a small tree and decorated it on Sunday. It meant having to put away the Halloween village ::sigh::

When I wasn't dancing around the place to "Dancing Queen" I did manage to do some knitting. I ripped apart the sleeve for the baby sweater that has been vexing me and re-started it. It looks 100% better and I'm so glad I did that. I also bought myself a new book for my birthday.



Only problem is I want to knit all the patterns in the book and I have other knitting I must finish first. I stayed up far to late, but it was a lovely day! Now if it could only snow sometime this week it would be perfect.

Sunday P and I went out to dinner at the Glockenspiel and it is deffinately worth a trip back with a large group. The food was great and the atmosphere was lovely. We both had beef rouladen and I had a side of herring while P had a warm pretzel. We rounded out the meal with a piece of Black Forest cake and I had a Weiss Beer. Heavenly.

Fingers crossed that I found a new home for the fuzzy kitty. It couldn't be soon enough as far as Lenny is concerned! None of my signs have been answered so I have to assume that whoever had him doesn't want him back, which is simply insane. He is so cute and sweet. He has no manners, which is a sure sign of his youth. He will shape up in time with some gentle correction and patience.

The owners

Over the last few years we have been adopted by a number of animals and presently count 2 cats and a bird in our family.

Lenny was the first. He came to our house in October in 2000 and decided that this was where he wanted to live. He was part of a litter born on our street and had been taken to live with one of the handymen for the rental complex. He chose to jump ship and went to live with the Petersons. Then he showed up on our doorstop and has stayed ever since.

Nehemiah came next.

He belonged to our neighbors who had more kids than sense and didn't seem too interested in taking care of a cat. This was further evidenced when he was left outside in sub-zero weather for hours at a time. I basically informed them that he was staying with us from now on, which was fine for the dad since he wanted a Rottweiler. Whatever. While Nehemiah and Lenny are not best friends they do sleep on the bed with us each night (one on either side of me or Tim) and spend time chasing each other through the house. It is rare that they end up in a skuffle.


This is Miss Kitty, who went to her new home last Tuesday. When I took her in she was skin and bones but with regular feedings she has fatten up quite nicely. I hear that she is settling in quite well in her new place and is making friends with the other cats.

"Mittens" is still with us and still wanting to be friends with Lenny and Nehemiah. He is an un-neutered male who is very affectionate and uses the litter box very well.

He has a bit of a belly, all of his claws and is increadibly sweet. I'm feeling less hopeful that someone is missing him since my signs have gone unanswered. I won't take him to the Humane Society (they have enough cats that need homes) so I am still working on finding him a home myself.

Some people call themselves pet owners, but anyone who has cats know who really owns who.

Welcome David John

born 11:06 pm (est) 8 lbs 11 oz via C-section.

My poor friend worked so hard to get ready to push and they had to take him out via c-section after all that. This is a good thing since the size of his head would have ripped her apart. I get to see the whole family at the end of the month!!

Welcome David!

St Nicholas Day

I hope all of you were good and woke to sweets in your stockings this morning. I woke to kitties by my feet so that is good enough for me.

Not everything was accomplished last night, but first news: My apprentice is having her baby today!!! Guess she found a baby in her stocking this morning cause DJ is on the way! I think it will be a long day for her so good thoughts are being directed towards IN and I will be distracted all day waiting for news.

I did not bake last night. This is very sad but I didn't nearly have enough molasses in the cubbard to make Great Grandma's cookies and I really didn't have any time. I'll see how the week works out. I'd like to bring something with me for my host this weekend, but that may mean I miss the knitting club on Thursday, which is sad indeed.

U and B came for Miss Kitty last night and took her to their vet. I am happy (and relieved) to report that she has a clean bill of health and they have made an appointment to get her shots and fixed. I really hope she gets on ok with their other kitties. I'm so happy that she is going to a good home with good people to take care of her.

P, A and I went to Big Lots and K-Mart to pick up toys for the Tournament today. We will have 2 members of the US Marines as our guest for the Tournament tonight and I can hardly wait. It was a LOT of fun last year and I suspect it will be just as much fun this year.

I wanted to do some more knitting on my shawl last night, but sleep had come upon me and I settled for turning in at a reasonable time. Tomorrow I need to finish stenciling Yeti tabbards so they can go to the event this weekend. Friday I am off to Calontir!

Verdict from the Vet

"Mittens" does not have a chip and HE is a un-neutered male. Basically I have removed a breeding pair from the street, probably preventing more litters of kittens without homes. This is good.

Heard from the caretaker's husband last night, and he sounds interested in the cats, but "Little Miss" is going off with friends tonight to be checked for bad diseases and have some play time with their cats. Fingers crossed that she is healthy and gets on with the current kitties.

More signs went up for Mittens and I have not heard anything. Maybe if Ingelief does not get the cats she is looking at she will take him. Too bad C and T are not ready for another cat cause I see Mittens with T.

I actually did knitting last night. Shock! I started the Icarus shawl for my godmother. So far so good. Tonight I need to go toy shopping for the Toys for Tots tournament on Wednesday. I'm also going to bake cookies for St. Nicholas Day, which is tomorrow.

Kitties everywhere

*Crikey!* I have now been named the "cat wrangler". First it was Miss Kitty (all black), now it is "Mittens" (sex TBD). Mittens (brown tabby striped, long hair, with white paws, bib and mustache) was in our back yard when I returned from the Humane Society with Miss Kitty (no chip, alas) Saturday night. With the help of a bowl of food I managed to get her to come closer and hold still long enough for me to grab her.

"Now think about this", P said, "where are you going to put THIS cat?"
"The upstairs bathroom off the sewing room." I replied.

This seemed satisfactory and I proceeded to do a dive, grab and roll and managed to sweep up the new foundling. He/She was very skiddish, but I think that was more from trama and fear than feral tendancies. He/She uses the litter box just fine, is happy being held, loves to be petted and seems to be simply lost. I can't imagine his/ her coat would be so well groomed if he/ she had been on it's own for a couple of months. "Mittens" appears to be older than the first and is very quiet. He/ she does not mind the other cats at all. Mittens will be making a trip to the vet tonight to get scanned for a id chip and I hope the owner sees my signs so I can get this cat home. Somone must be missing "Mittens".

Our leasing manager for the rental office offerred to take both cats, sight unseen, when I called today to see if any of the renters had reported a lost cat. I'm happy to give them the black kitty, but I'm holding out for "Mitten's" owners to come and claim her.

(In actuality I'm a bit uneasy that they would want to take both cats with no hesitations. Uneasy enough that I'm a bit put off. What does that say about me that I would be so suspicious?)

Personal day

Since I didn't really have any work today I decided to stay home and take some time to work on my resume, post it on Monster and speak to a recruiter. I don't know if she will be able to find anything for me, but I am detrrmined to make steps every day to find a different career path. I will have a new job soon: one that I enjoy and will fullfill my needs.

I also did some knitting (of course) and finished the second pair of wool stockings. They look pretty good and feel wonderful (had to try them on to check the fit of course) now I just need to block them.

Tomorrow I will be taking our little stray kitten to the humane society to check for general health and to see if she has a chip. Miss Kitty provided a great deal of drama this week. She came to us Sunday night and Wednesday she escaped our clutches and ran into the night. Ofcourse she had to pick the night when the temperatures dipped below zero, so I fretted all night and all day. I set out a bowl of food and this evening when I came home with Chinese for dinner, there she was. I had to follow her across the street and half way down before I could get her within arms reach and scoop her up. She is safely ensconsed back in the downstairs bathroom, but I want to get her to a permanent home soon. She devoured a bowl of food in a few minutes. Poor little thing. i am very relieved that she came back and is safe and sound inside where it is warm.

Now I need to start the next knitting project, what shoud I choose?

Less than an inch to go

...until I get to the heel flap. That's not bad in my book. I estimated that I knit 7-8 inches on each stocking over the weekend. If I knit some tonight I will easily be at the heel flap.

I looked at some silk yarn for stockings last evening. I'm considering the Halcyon Pearl Silk 2/5 in natural (it only comes in natural) for two silk stockings that I was asked about over the weekend. It's a sport weight so I could probably get the proper gauge for the pattern on 1's or 2's. I'm not sure if I would need one large cone for each pair, or if one large cone would complete both. Still need to contimplate that. I'm hoping to view some samples on Wednesday.

Teaching weekend

Turkey day was good. Drove to Chippewa falls and served meals with the Salvation Army at my mom's church with her and my dad. We served over 100 meals, which was great. When we were done I grabbed a package of lefse and hit the road back to MN to arrive just in time for another Turkey Day meal at C&C's. The turkey was succulant and we ate and then I watched some of the folks play video games and then we all (well those who stayed awake) watched Kung Fu Hustle. Dessert was a pear amaretto crumble concoction with vanilla ice cream. OMG! Wow!

Friday morning Isabella and I hit the road for Madison at 9:30. We got there around 1:30 and had a late lunch/early dinner at Noodles. We then went to the site, got changed, checked in and I got my classroom ready to go for my class at 6 pm. I sat in Melissant's class on ruffs/ starching and was deservidly chastised for being sassy. LOL! (damn that girl has nice hand sewing, wow!) My class on pattens was standing room only and I was very surprised. It seemed that people enjoyed it, even though it was focused on Northern Europe and Medieval English pattens. I was provided with a couple more sources for other countries so I am looking forward to exploring them at some time. I had a lot of people tell me that they were encouraged to try to make pattens for themself. Yay.

Friday night was the social/ meet and greet. I re-introduced myself to Drea, who was looking stylish in her German, not surprising. Friday night at R&A's we were treated to The Vikings and a rather interesting movie The Groove Tube. Enough said.

Saturday morning we were back at site shortly after 9. I taught my second session of Pattens and went to several other classes and the Key note: From Bills to Wills. Wonderful!!!! Wow! I put the completed stockings in the A&S display with G2's silk garters, which were gorgeous! I got third in the bean count, which was just lovely. Ivan got the most beans for his stunning embroidery and G2 received the next number down for her goldwork and blackwork. It was wonderful to present the finished stockings to her Majesty at the end of the day. If she suspected anything, she didn't let on. I also received some lovely compliments from Melisant and Drea so I'm going to touch base with both once I find some suitable silk for 2 more pairs. HH has expressed interest in some Turkish socks and I have been wanted to make a pair, so that will be fun.

I knit several inches over the weekend on stocking pair #2 and am only a few inches from the heel. Once they are done my official participation in the Evil Plan (tm) will be complete, but I may have a hard time not knitting more. It's a fun knit and fairly painless. Knitting them in silk will be a nice change.

I do need to finish M's baby sweater and the knitted clogs for dad. I should make something for the Quill raffle, maybe it will have to be a promissory for a knitted item or banner. I also need to finish 2 shade flys this winter.

That and find a new job.

Knitting for Babies

I think Yarn Harlot has tapped into some unseen power.

"Knit it and they will come"

A friend told me that upon completing a baby sweater, the recipient gave birth. Another friend has been trying to conceive and was told to "knit yourself a baby sweater", she just discovered that she is pregnant.

I think this is a disturbing trend, but it seemed to be a baby sweater related phenomena, until the following happened.

Saturday morning I was furiously knitting to finish the gifts for my friend's baby shower taking place at 3 that day. I finished the knitting at 1, got ready, and arrived at the party around 3:30. Upon my arrival I was informed that the guest of honor was in labor. Baby Jacob was born around 9pm. The items I made were a hat, booties and a knitted bear; no sweaters. Jacob wasn't due until December 28th.

I'm actually afraid to start on the sleeves of the Baby Dale sweater in case my completion will hasten the birth...although yesterday I started baby socks. I didn't know that yarn had this much power.

Baby shower recap

It was a lovely time. Wonderful food, dancing, lots of fun. One problem, the guest (s) of honor were unable to come. One was in labor and one was being born. ;^)

Jacob Daniel 5lbs 1 oz, 19" long, 8:54 pm

Happy and healthy boy and mom.

I guess she will get to open presents later. Those who came to the shower opened presents for her and re-wrapped.











The pattern for the felted booties I downloaded from the Winter 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. The bear pattern is from Knitty.

I finished the hat Saturday morning before the shower. I made up the pattern myself. I used size 5 needles and Patons Merino wool. I cast on 72 stitches and knit 1 inch of 2x2 ribbing. I then knit stockinette until the piece measured 3". To decrease I knit 10 stitches and then knit two together and repeat until the end of the row (6 stitches decreased). Next row knit. Decrease 6 stitches every other row until 6 stitches remain. Cut yarn and take string and thread through remaining stitches and pull tight. I made a small tassel and added it to the top.

Finished the grey socks

Kitchnered the toe on the second one this morning. Now to purchase something nice for P's mom, bake some cookies and ship it off for the holidays.

Tonight I am either participating in a demo, or I'm going shopping for yarn and baby shower gifts. Shower this Saturday for Misty. Hafla style baby! I'm planning to knit up something special for the baby to be. I'm also going to get some girly pampering things just for her since she has plenty of baby stuff from her other showers. I need to get something in the mail for my apprentice for her birthday on Sunday. ::plotting::

Last night I assisted in sewing with the college students. Brought the Singer that P bought on E-bay. I replaced the belt, oiled it and got it working several months ago and thought it should be utilized. Worked great! They were working on Japanese clothing, which I know zero about so I was not much help. There was one person who was working on a tunic and despite some issues with her pattern pieces we managed to complete it without much incident.

Just say NO to broadcloth! It's just wrong and icky.

The yarn for the Evil Plan (tm) is in!

FO's for the week

The most important FO is the handout for my class on pattens that I will be teaching at the Known World Costume Symposium on November 24th and 25th. I needed to have my handout complete and to the proceedings coordinator today and it was sent just after midnight this morning. That's a huge relief and I am relatively pleased with it. I just hope it is not too image heavy. I did stick to my 4 page or under.

I need to contact the class coordinator and explain that I am bringing MY LAPTOP (yay) and if I can use a projector that would be great. If not people can just crowd around the screen. I need to print out the Walk Through History sheets as well since I am in charge of that this year.

Onto knitting!



The stockings are done, washed, blocked and dry! I think they look wonderful and I am very pleased. Of course I won't be able to wait until Boar's Head and may just give them to the recipient at Clothiers. Either that or I'll wait until 12th night. The first photo is very yellow. My camera does not do well with low light for some reason. The detail of the clock shows the true color of the yarn, more cream. They are soft and fine and fit for a queen. ::grin::


These are not fo's, yet. They may be tonight. They will be heading off to Ohio for P's dad for a gift, along with some tea, tea cup and some home made cookies for his mom.



This is an FO to come, but I just wound the balls last night (thanks again Angie) and I am already in love with the color. It just shimmers. This will be made into an Icarus shawl for my godmother. The yarn is from Knit Picks, Alpaca Cloud in Stream. I think I may actually have time to finish all my holiday knitting this year, especially once my class is over. I need to focus on wood and leather projects for the next couple of weeks.

I also need to finish a certain person's baby sweater.

Some thoughts the night before the mid-term election

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.--

Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson, 1776. ME 1:29, Papers 1:315
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/jefferson.htm

Stocking #1

The first pair are finished and I am very pleased with the result.

I used the pattern for Stockings with Clocks out of Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I used Louet Gems Opal in Natural. The stocking falls just above the knee and is meant to be held in place with woven garters. The 100% Merino wool is just beautiful. I used size zero needles and knit both stockings at the same time using 2 circular needles. A bit tricky to get the hang of, but not that difficult.

The yarn for the other 9 pairs of stockings are ordered and I will start once my holiday knitting is complete.

The inspiration for the stockings comes from the tale of Queen Elizabeth 1, who supposedly received knitted silk stockings as a gift.

Happy New Year!!!

or Happy Halloween as some call it.

Halloween was much more relaxed this year as we did not do our massive haunted house. This was a bitter sweet decision. With Halloween falling on Tuesday it would require too much missed work for us and our fellow volunteers to do the haunt justice. Tim made an executive decision and decided to nix it. We still had people show up last night expecting it, but with nothing set up in the yard and cars parked in the driveway it was pretty evident that it was not happening.

We had close to 100 Trick or Treaters, with most in costume. I really dislike the teenagers who make no attempt. They get 1 small piece whereas the others in costume get a couple and a small toy. We hand out small stuffed toys to the really young children, who shouldn't be eating a ton of chocolate anyway. We had lots of superheros (Batman, Spiderman, Ice Princess?), pirates, princesses, soldiers, fairies, witches, devils, mermaids, the ocassional classic ghoul, ghost and zombie. It was pretty cold last night so many kids were wearing their jackets and a mask.

Tim removed the screen door and curtained off the entrance. He then ran a fogger into the space and lit it with red lights. When the doorbell rang we shot the space full of fog and opened the door. The kids were greeted with a figure standing in a glowing red mist... pretty effective. I scared a number of kids back to the end of the sidewalk a couple of times. Especially since I was wearing this.

I made this costume almost 15 years ago and it still fits. It is the worst constructed costume that I have ever made (I think I used lining fabric... just say NO!). It has been retired (ripped to shreads and stuffed in the garbage) and I'll make another one, with proper construction and fabric.

This was especially entertaining since we were watching the Addams Family (TV) season 1 DVD that I bought Tim for his birthday.

Almost all the groups asked about the haunted maze and expressed that they were sad that we were not doing it this year cause they really enjoyed it. That was very gratifying.

Because we did not do the maze we kept the decorating to a minimum, we didn't even carve pumpkins, which was very sad. I did set up my village.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday!

Mavericks

For those who live in the Twin Cities, Mavericks is SO worth the visit. I don't get over there as often as I like, I could go every day and be happy. Anyone who remembers Arby's when they first started will understand what Mavericks is like. Fresh sliced roast beef when you place your order. Fresh fries. All the toppings you would ever need: fresh onions, pickles, horseradish sauce, FRESH horseradish, jalopenos, relish, bbq sauce. They also have open faced sandwiches and shakes.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it...

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=3140

The huge irony is there is a Subway right next door. I don't know who in their right mind would choose Subway over Mavericks. Roast beef, onion and horseradish orgasm on a bun.

Stocking KAL

Evil...... The minions have been gathered, the yarn is chosen, the patterns distributed. We have over 3 months to complete our assignment. 10 pairs of wool stockings. Our inspiration.

My test pair is nearing the heel flap. I'm using Louet Gems Opal in Natural. It is so soft and nice. I really like how the clocks look. I think the three skeins should be enough for the pair. I will have them done in plenty of time for BH. For the KAL we will be using Jagger yarn from the Main Line in 2/8 weight and natural. We hope to use size 2 needles for the evil project, I am currently using zeros and it isn't that bad.

I finished the grey sock for my dad, need to start # 2. I just started the sleeves for the baby sweater when I was distracted by stockings so I need to get back to that too. The body is done except for steeking and button bands.

The Magic of Fire

My friend loaned me her book and I am seriously sorry that the camping/ open fire cooking season is quickly passing because there are a whole slew of recipes that I want to try. Look out cause I will be reading up all winter long and will be ready come summer to try out some string roasting.



The wireless is now installed on my lap top. LOOK OUT!

boo!

The weekend was wonderful. Finally a weekend at home with no worries, no appointments, no running about. Lovely. This did mean that I missed my friend becoming the next Princess of Northshield. poo!

Friday night (Friday the 13th) we started everything out right by going to 2 haunted houses. Our favorite was first: Fright Farm! This is run by the Ramesy County Police Dept and proceeds raised benefit DARE. Excellent time and well worth the $6. The other haunted house was on West 7th in Saint Paul and it was their first year in production. They were pretty good! The cost was $6 if you brought in a canned food donation and they had collected quite a stack by the time we got there. I hope that they do well and come back. The sets were really great.

A bunch of the group decided to go to Pine haven, which we went to last year. We decided to bail and go home.

Saturday I slept in late and woke to a call from friends to join them for lunch. We grabbed P from his artistic endeavors at Mosaic on a Stick and went to Mirror for Korean. YUM! I got dropped off at home and started back on the laundry and cleaning projects. Got the upstairs vacumed and the flannel sheets put on the bed for winter. I also dusted and swept everywhere and cleaned up the cat boxes. P surprised me with an early b-day present: my own LAP TOP! YAY! He got it free from work and boy is it sweet. Now I can have my own lap top to use for my classes. Now I just need to get the wireless hooked up. A. loaned me a mouse and I sat and played Diablo 2 Expansion Sunday night. Awesome!

Sunday was more of the same with a major overhaul of the Living Room including de-cluttering the desk from hell! I cleaned it off completely, filed papers, threw stuff in recycling and shredding and set up our Halloween Village. I put out decorations of the season around the living room as well. YAY festive!


This photo was taken last year and I think the village looks far better this year. I want to buy a couple more houses though.... All the items are from LEMAX Spooky Town. I just love setting up the village every year!

as the snow flys

We have intermittent flurrys today. Nothing is sticking, but the pavement is damp with flakes hitting and melting. It's supposed to jump back up into the 50's this weekend. Tonight T's work is treating the employees to a ride on the Mississippi on a river boat. I suspect that it will be chilly. Good thing the lower deck is enclosed. I believe we will be having dinner as well. Should be a good time. Too bad the colors are past peak, but we may see a Bald Eagle or two. We will be on the Betsy Northrup.

I am making tremendous strides on the Sirdal. I am really happy with how it is turning out. The body is almost done and soon I will be starting on the sleeves. Then the steeking....please send beer and chocolate.


The front.



Detail of the top pattern.

View of the back.

This is supposed to fit 12 months, but it looks a bit big to me. Oh well that means he just gets to wear it longer. He'll be at the perfect age for it in winter of 2007. Hopefully he will be back in MN/WI with his parents. ::fingers crossed::

Here are the socks in progress for Dad. I like the pattern and it is an easy repeat.


Of course the success on the baby sweater has distracted me from the socks. It will be done soon and then I can go back to my more portable project.

Must be the weather

I have been cooking like a mad fiend this week. I think it's a combination of the fact that I don't have to drive anywhere this weekend and that the weather is cooling off quite drastically.

Anyhoo, I made butternut squash soup Monday night. Yum! Found the recipe on Food Fit. Fabulous!!! and perfect for the cool evening. Unfortunately I found out that P does not care for squash soup. Good thing we had leftovers for him.

Last night I picked up my stuff for my CSA (Community Shares Agriculture). Next week is our last week. It's been an adventure and I have learned a lot about how to use up all the veggies each week, or most importantly that we need another couple to go in on this with us next year cause we have a hard time using up all the veggies each week.

Last night I baked 4 loaves of whole grain wheat bread. I have bison and veggie stew in the crock pot so we will have stew when we get home from work. Fresh bread with soup..... YUM!

The recipe for my bread is from my friend Anna in Norway.
Makes 4 loaves
Step One: Mix the following together and allow to sit for 8-10 hours or overnight.
2 pkgs of yeast
2 1/2 c. warm water (98-100 degrees)
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoon of flaxseed
1 cup Red River cereal (or 1/2 cup cracked wheat and 1/2 cup cracked rye) (I've also found that the 6 grain cereal from Bobs Red Mill works great as well)

Step Two: mix the following into the mixture from step one
Dissolve 2 pkgs of yeast into 2 1/2 c. water (98-100 degrees)
add 3-4 tablespoon of vegetable oil or soft butter.
2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 c. honey
2 lbs of whole wheat flour (or as much as you need to make a good dough, approx 6 cups)

Mix the dough and knead well. Cover the dough and allow to rise for 40-50 mn or double in size. Punch down and form four loaves (either in large loaf pans, or round/ oblong loaves on a pan). Let the loaves rise for 20-30 minutes.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes, or until the bottom of the loaves sound hollow.


Doesn't this look like a wonderful lunch?

its snowing....

Not a lot, but there are deffinately little fluffy white things floating about. i doubt we will have any accumulation. We had a LOT of rain and wind this morning as the front moved through. Good thing it was still relatively warm or we could have woken up to slush and ice for the morning commute.

Day of Arbeau

Very nice weekend, lovely weather and wonderful people.
The site was where Tarrach and Fina's coronation was held (low those many years ago). It's a beautiful site.





Shhhhh...Pyxis exploring nature....




Merouda and I near the ampitheater.




On the way home on Sunday my travel companion and I stopped in Chippewa Falls for ice cream and a drive through Irvine Park. The quick "10 minutes" turned into most of an hour.






We looked at all the animals, fed the ducks and geese, admired all the beautiful fall color and fed the Elk. Just like old times. :::sigh::: The big bull elk came right up to the fence, but he was far more interested in the female elk, then in our dandelion greens. Thought we were going to see nature in action. "Laurels gone wild!!!!"

Fall color

I think we have hit the peak color this week.




Too soon, says I! As much as I love Fall I know that it is a quick skip into winter. Don't get me wrong, I like winter too, but it would be nice if there was less of it.

I'm traveling this weekend again. This time I'm off to Janesville, WI for Day of Arbeau. It should be a fun time complete with a Pirate Party at a fellow sca persons resort Saturday night. Arrrrrrrrrrr!



The boys will be on their own again this weekend.

Home again

What a whirlwind this weekend. First I will start by posting the link to my apprentice's flickr folder with pictures that she took on Saturday and Sunday. I am especially pleased how my new red wool gown turned out, even though I now seem to have 40 chins, ick.

Can I just say how completely impressed I was with the stuff the Barony of Sternfeld did for this demo. WOW!!! There were roughly 35 (maybe more) members of the Barony present wearing period kit, demonstarting periods arts, using period tools and techniques and educating the public. I overheard one patron say the following Sunday morning, "oh good, here is the SCA display, they are my favorite." I kid you not!!!

Best moments of the weekend:
Cooking Welsh cakes over the fire
Chopping wood for the fire and feeling all butch
Showing a teen Boy Scout and Troop Leader how to use flint and steel
Speaking to people about period food
Getting a patron to realize that yes different foods require different levels of heat
Sucessfully roasting a joint of meat on a spit
Meeting everyone in Sternfeld

Saturday threatened to be stormy and Sunday was warm and sunny.
I am exausted from driving 11 hours on Monday, but it was so worth it. I deffinately want to go back next year if I can.

Happy Banned Books Week!

For more information on Banned Books Week please visit the American Library Association. Add a button on your blog and pass it on.



"Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."—Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas," The One Un-American Act." Nieman Reports, vol. 7, no. 1 (Jan. 1953): p. 20.

yawn....

Morning came too early.

I needed to get my new red wool fitted gown to a point where I could work on the hand sewing at the event this weekend. This meant cutting, pining and sewing way too late. I still think that this will be done in time for the Faire next weekend. LOL! It's possible, especially if I concentrate on the handsewing when I'm in Calontir. I also will need to make 16 or so buttons and button holes. My sleeves are one piece so no closures needed, yay!

SnB was fun last night, knitknot brought her wheel and taught R to spin, who looked like she was getting the hand of it. The Chalet socks from the Folk Socks book kicked my ass! Her charts are not intuative at all and I really had a hard time following them. It wasn't just me either, my firends who are more experienced knitters also agreed that they were odd. As much as I would like to make that particular pattern I frogged the whole thing last night. I think I will need to re-write the chart before I try again. I don't know what the author was thinking.

knitknot showed me another way to catch the yarn when knitting fairisle, but I have not had a chance to try it yet. No knitting fo me for a while, need to sew this week.

Completed projects, knitting and SCA

The Simple Stripes baby sweater is complete and I should have that in the mail tonight, along with some socks.

This is for my friend who just had baby #2. The sweater should fit her oldest and then it can be passed onto the younger brother. The socks are for the baby. It would be nice if I could whip up a stocking cap to go with, but I need to concentrate on my sewing this week and finish up my woodworking projects. I'm sad the self striping did not match on the baby socks, but I will try to get over it.

I finished my pattons last night. They actually are quite comfortable and I am excited to see how they hold up.

I glued up 2 layers of 1 x 4 poplar, cut the side profile on the band saw and then cut the top profile. I eased the edges slightly, sanded and smoothed. I added some cut nails to the sole to hold the two layers together and, perhaps, prevent wear. We will see. I clomped through the house last night and really like how they felt.

Here is a shot of the completed Northshield Shade Fly #2 from Autumn Rose.

Here is a shot of one of my work tables. I'm making 2 in total and the other one still needs the legs sanded and sealed. The top still needs another coat or 2 of shelac.