GSC, Winter 25, Zürich and Frankfurt

 Here starts the travelogue… I’m calling it GSC for German Speaking Countries. 

I spent 2 nights in Zürich; I spent a lovely afternoon with M and then had coffee the next day with an ex co-worker. M and I toured the Christmas Markets, then share some fondue… Jeez, I really like cheese fondue but I think only once every 10 years or so… I stayed at the Townhouse Boutique Hotel which is about 2 blocks from the train station; it’s relatively inexpensive, and it was clean and mostly quiet. Next time I’d try to find someplace a little posher.

Zürich just turned on the Christmas lights, which are affectionately named Lucy. Here’s a view of Bahnhofstrasse, with Lucy, in the Sky with Diamonds. Yep, it was cold. I also stopped for some chestnuts. Note: Chestnuts are nearly impossible to feel once they’ve cooled, so eat them fast!

I had some extra time before my train to Frankfurt left, and it was raining, so I ducked into a church, and failed to record its name. It’s in the old town near the Fraumünster. I popped in to take a quick look; it’s a fairly plain church with a white and wood interior, and as I sat down to look around, the organist began to practice. It was lovely…

On to Frankfurt, where I’m trying to prove that you can easily fill 2 days with things to do. I visited the Städel and spent 3 happy hours looking at art. Not sure if it was the art (which was amazing) or the fact that I was listening to music through headphones… I grabbed this photo from the roof. Is that not the longest river boat you’ve ever seen? 

I spent a fair amount of time thinking about art and how pieces “feel” like each other and how artists view something then riff on it. I’ll put comments on the photos in the album…

Afterwards, I found the Christmas Market; it felt like it was a mile long, winding through the old town streets! I’ll put comments on the photos for that too. It was remarkably nostalgic and brought back fond memories of my mother, and I nearly cried a few times… I have no idea where all that  emotion came from!! What triggered it was the old style ornaments, the wood things that spin around when you put candles under them, the vanille kipfel, and those wreaths and stuff that are made out of spices.  And the advent calendars. I ate too many kipfel. (Gipfel?)  I didn’t photo the barriers everywhere to prevent a car/truck from terrorizing the Market, but I did get the long line of Polizei cars…

It feels like the Market is more about meeting friends for a drink and some street food before than about buying presents, but there were a lot of stalls selling small presents, or Christmas decorations. The street food was largely German (and the potato pancakes looked amazing!) but there were a few other stands including one selling Vegan German food and a couple offering burritos and tacos. Lots of Glũhwein.

On the way home I put my cookies in my pocket and ducked into the Archeology museum; it’s got a lot of well preserved artifacts from a Roman town nearby in the 200s or 300s. I believe a sign indicated they’re dug a trench and erected stone watchtower but had never built walls, like they did on the Scottish border. I thought the museum was interesting but I’m not sure it was on the must see list. 

I can’t easily move the photos around so I’ll fix that when I get home; I’ll do a second pass on the editing as well. 

A link to the photo album for Zürich and Frankfurt is here; I.m working on commentary. https://photos.app.goo.gl/23kARYq7uhg57Lh58

Leaving....

I have a short list of things to do before I leave town.... 

Towels are hemmed and the hat is done. I've started the Age of Aquarius Poncho, from a pattern we got at the Portland Retreat, and Scotland vacation yarn; that'll be my travel project.

I never got around to writing about the sweater class I took in Ashland. The shoulders are really the trick of this sweater.  The shoulders look like set in sleeves but the knitting is easy like raglan sleeves. The front looks like this.

The sleeve is supposed to sit more naturally on the shoulder, which is the point of the tailoring. I was unable to talk the cats into modeling, and there are no babies in my life at this point, so I can't show it on a warm body...

I also cooked for the freezer to assuage my guilt from leaving DH on his own for T-day. I made some sausage and lentil soup, and these baked beans, but in the slow cooker; I added a little garlic and mustard.  Definately make these beans again. I think I'll do them in the oven next time, it'll warm up the house and make the consistency of the beans a little different.

https://dancearoundthekitchen.com/baked-beans-from-scratch/

Travelogue to commence shortly :)

Events, projects getting finished, projects getting planned...

I just finished the second of two events I did for our guild members! I think I've mentioned the first; a weave-in, where 7 of us came together and wove (mostly) from the same pattern. I have 6 new napkins waiting to be hemmed (five of which are identical and one is lovely but confusingly different). I had input the pattern into my weaving software incorrectly, so the motif is wrong but a consistant manner; then I noticed one of motifs is just wrong. I didn't notice it until days later, and I'm disappointed but once it's covered with BBQ sauce, who'll know the difference? Most of the rest of the group is still weaving off their projects, I'm looking forward to the pictures! (I'll post a photos of mine here once they're hemmed). 

Now that the event is over, I can finish the 3 unhemmed towels that I have that were waiting for the weave-in; I had them set aside to show the difference wet finishing makes to that weave structure. Now they can be finished!

Looks like there's a lot of hemming in my future... There are also 2 King size pillowcases that are worn on the hem crease; I'll hem those down to Queen size and get them back into the linen closet. (Note: Queen size is 30" deep as opposed to Kind which are 36" deep)

The second event was a study group in our guild called "Creative Endeavors" and I gave a quick card weaving demo/lesson. J had asked me to do it and I didn't feel good about saying no... I only had 2 hours minus their time for socializing and "Show and Tell" but managed to cover a whole lot (I think) and everyone got to play with the cards. A couple of people are pretty excited about trying it again so I offered to do a little warping and weaving clinic on a simple band. Now I want to do more card weaving. I'll have to wait until after my trip...

These two events took a lot of planning and work but the participants were very grateful and it was totally worth it. I feel like the guild needs more members teaching members and I'm hoping that by modeling the behavior we'll get more of that. I'm wondering if the space is the issue? Maybe I'll see if anyone wants to teach something here next summer.

A Celebration of a Table

Recent history

 The table top is done!!! Once the grout has dried a bit, we'll mount it to the table base... I'll need to seal the grout next week as well but I'm counting it as done.

I'm very pleased with the finished product; it looks better in person that in the photo.  HOWEVER... If I didn't critique my work, then how would I become a better artistan?

I originally wanted a ring of poppies in a field of graduating color, but one I got the poppies ready to go the rest of the concept didn't work. The project went on timeout. Then one day I thought it would be awesome to do a bay laurel (a native species) leaf border, like you see on quilts; I guessed where to put it and was relatively pleased with it. That took awhile as I got tired of cutting leaves, and wasn't sure of the spacing. (More timeout.) Once I completed the leaves, I couldn't figure out what to put in the middled (Again more timeout). Somewhere in the middle of this, the garage bay that I affectionately call "Studio B" was used for storage for a variety of fiber things, sapping my gumption. Finally, I decided to put radiating leaves in the center, and almost put the table again figuring out out what to use as background; this time, I just went for it. The thin gap between the leaves and the outer border was problematic.  But I finished the table. And grouted it today.

Better in person than in the photo... Table is 2' in 
diameter (60 cm?)

So the biggest issue was the design. Had I gone into the project with a design that worked,  we'd have been using this table 5 years ago and I could have moved onto other projects that didn't make me feel bad about my decisions.

Other issues?

• I don't love the leaves in the center. But I don't hate them, and I don't know what I could have done otherwise. 
• For background areas, I need to pay attention to piece size; pieces should be fairly uniform in size, even with crazy piecing.  Also, the grout gaps should be more uniform. The ones around and between the leaves are particularly oversized, which made it hard to grout.
• The leaves are higher in some spots; I think I used more thinset under them. DH will not be happy about this! But really, neither am I.
• I don't care for the dark tiles in the outermost border; they would stand out less if they were closer to a uniform value. I almost pried them off but then decided to finish the table instead.
• The pieces between the outer border and the leaf wreath were super fussy to cut, and are a bit wonky. They only work because they're close to the color of the grout, which hides a multitude of issues. I'm happy with the result but the implementation is in response to bad design choices.
• If probably could have mixed the background color (going from light to dark) a little better.
• The background should have ended in an uninterrupted grout against the wreath. It's not bad, but it's not right.

And what pleases me about the piece?

• I really love the flowers, more so than before they were grouted. The dark grout ("Espresso") really makes them pop.  They're happy, they read to me as my beloved poppies.
• The wreath makes me happy. It gives motion to the piece, and frames the flowers nicely. 
• The dark brown border looks nice while not competing with the anything else. Instead of being a lame attempt to fill an awkward space, I think it's a nice finish.
• It's a lovely counterpart to the other table in the vicinity; different size and style but much of the same glass, and the same grout. 

The other poppy table

Postcards, knitting class teaser and mosaic table teaser!

 I finally got around to the next run of post cards. I recarved a block I'd already carved to fit the size constraint, and also for practice. I did a better job on the circles, but had a couple of spots where I carved too far (and one spot that I took out a chunk by mistake) but I touched up all of the mistakes... I printed these in a hurry before I left for Ashland and sent them just after I got back. The cards printed easily and were dry after 4 days. Here they are all together. Now they're all in the mail!

The motif is from a 6000 year old pot found in West Central Persia that is currently in the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. 

I don't know what they represent; I just liked their energy and rhythm. Plus it's from the Chalcolithic period (copper age) and I had to go look the word up, which was kind of cool. I take a lot of photos for inspiration when I travel, and set myself a goal to use one of them this year.

What about Ashland? I was there for a knitting class. The class sample was a baby sweater; I'm almost done with it, and will talk about the trip when I blog about the sweater. 

I also finished the tiling on the mosaic table top, should be able to clean it up tomorrow and grout later this week. I'm super excited about this.

Also, new in the freezer... I made it with Lamb merguez and it's super tasty. 

https://www.thehungrybites.com/spanish-white-bean-stew-with-chorizo-sausage/#recipe

Q3'25 FInished list (7/23)

Probably my last gnome

It feels like I haven't done much this quarter! But according to my list, I've done finished a few larger projects and some smaller ones. Here's the list:

Lily (photo in prev post).

The scarf from the Alabama Chanin class, and I've yet to photograph it.

Two Monksbelt towels in 10/2 cotton from Unspun and leftover 10/2 cottons (photo in previous post). Three more are woven but not yet wet-finished or hemmed; I'm saving them in loom state to show at the October Weave In. 

Art basket

Another knitted Gnome. 

Two baskets from a class I took with Barbara Shapiro; one is quite small and the other is here. It's clear to me that I need some technique practice. But when you make one basket every 3 years, you don't get good at it.

I have a few things that I wanted to or tried to finish. They're almost done.

• The next block is carved and ready to print the next run of postcards.
• The blue sweater is still missing it's button.
• The table is almost done; it lacks a 1.5" border (which is going to be super hard to make look right) and grout.
• The 3 additional towels can be completed (hemmed) after the weave in.

Things I'm definitely going to work on in Q4:

• The baby blanket warp from the hand painted warp ready to go on the loom; baby due in December.
• Hosting a Weave In in October, so there will be napkins for that. 
• Structures group is working on woven Sashiko, so I might try that.
• I'm heading to Oregon next week for a class with Julie Weisenberger (Cocoknits) and the sample project is a baby blanket, so that's coming. 
• DH is agitating for a new bistro table top for the pool deck. 

Note I'm also playing piano, working out a lot, and spending about 2 hours a day learning German. With the two trips I have planned and the whole holiday thing this is going to be a busy three months!!!

Almost done!!!

And f I have extra time:

• 2-3 more prints, hopefully a 2 color print in the batch. I'm thinking a monarch butterfly. Maybe some fish. Probably worthwhile thinking about the rest of the year
• Another rice bag, then I can get rid of the box of parts. The pieces are quilted and waiting for embellishment.
• Another little gnome, then I can get rid of the rest of the class yarn and get rid of the box all the bits and pieces are stored in.
• Doubleweave pillows; pattern is drafted, yarn is on the shelf waiting.
• Quilt the pink hawaiian baby quilt
• Finish one of the unfinished quilts. (niemeyer)
• Stepping stones.

===================

I'll continue to include the UFO LIST from way back just to keep me honest... Not shorter this quarter but.... it will be.

Knitting: 

1. Anna Zilboorg Sweater- I need to fish it out and make a plan 
2. A Capella- frog and return the yarn to the yarn pool 
3. Sunset and Sand- needs a decision frog or finish! 
4. The jacket with the embroidery that needs rework. If I recall correctly there's an issue with the collar, and the sleeves, and I'm not sure what else...

Weaving:

1. This is super easy, since it's either on the loom or not...  
2. There are have three ikat warps (two from Indonesia, and one from a friend) that need weaving. 
3. There are a number of warps I pulled for a dyeing class then got a sick and missed it.

Quilting (Can the list really still be this long?):

1. Fan blocks: I've been dithering about what to do with them for 25 years or so.
2. The first Judy Niemeyer quilt (straighter pieces): I may need to figure out setting strips but otherwise I think I photoed a layout and I should be ready to finish the top.
3. The second Judy Niemeyer class (curved pieces): I stopped while piecing the top together but I did photo the layout; so I need to remember what I was doing and do it.
4. Judy Niemeyer place mat kit: it's in the bookshelf, waiting to be made.
5. Chili pepper quilt: Ick. Maybe donate?
6. Around the Twist quilt: It's done except I think a couple of the corners need sewing? This'll probably go to donation
7. One or two Hawaiians? (small) that need quilting One blue, one pink Where is the blue hawaiian?
8. A cute but fussy quilt that I started in pinks and blues but I'm not sure I'm precise enough to finish
9. I thought of another but can't lay my hands on it or remember now what it was so...

• Sewing:

• Spinning:
• Ugh. I need to eval

Mosaic:

1. A table: Unsure of how I want the background to be
2. Stepping stones: there's an area I made that needs rework.

Meager update....

We've been travelling a bit... which has made it hard for me to keep up any sense of daily rhythm... Plus between learning German and practicing piano and working out and fighting off those summer colds, I haven't had much time for other things.  

I'm working on a stranded round yoked sweater... I'm partway through the stranded part, heading for the body.

I now have 2 naked looms again; I wove 5 towels on the warp I did for napkins; will post pics of those shortly. I have plans for the real napkins, plus two baby blankets and will start on that shortly.

Hoping to finish 3 of the towels, one gnome, and the table before the end of the month.... We'll see. 

I found a recipe for chipotle shrimp on corncakes with salsa fresca in a Santa Fe School of Cooking cookbook. Excellent! No photos. If I make it again I'll try to reduce the butter and figure out another way to infuse the shrimp with the smokey chipotle goodness...

Speaking of the southwest, I'll put the restaurant list from our last trip in here:

Lunches:

• Atrisco's  
• Kakawa (okay, we had ice cream for lunch)
• Canyon Cafe (new to us, very tasty lunch spot high up on Canyon)
• La Choza (ALWAYS a good idea)
• The restaurant at the top of the tramway in ABQ (go for the view, not the food)
• Duran Central Pharmacy in ABQ (go to Anita's instead)

Dinners:

• The Shed
• Pink Adobe
• Joseph's Culinary Pub
• Sazon
• Paper Dosa 
• Mesa Provisions in ABQ (used to be Zinc, super tasty)