Mostly lino printing

Ich möchte gerne ein Kaffee bitte!

Here's my latest postcard.  I was playing with Chatgpt to generate the image, so the art is not my own. Here's my artistic critique:

What I like: 

I like the feel of the image, it reminds of that first sip of good coffee on a cold morning...  The brown, a mix of burnt sienna and black, is dark enough to work well as a print but feels much cozier to me.  I'm pleased with it and happy enough to send it out.  I also played with making less of a mess while printing so there's less ink on the backsides. Specifically I wiped my hands on a rag right before touching any paper...

Room for improvement:

I might have done a better job cleaning up the chatter marks in the border. I'm generally a big fan of chatter marks but they may be a bit distracting. 

Molly Hashimoto uses a T square to guide her border lines; that's probably a good idea. 

I never get tired of these

I'm still struggling with small cuts and this has a whole bunch of them. I had to recut a lot of the small spiky bits and they're still not clean. The very small cuts toward the right of the cup should be more parallel. 

A couple of things to mention... First, it would be good to check on my inventory of postcards before I start printing! I printed 9 and ran out.  Which is too bad because the ink had exactly the right consistancy and was printing super well. I'd mixed in a new (to me) ink thinner (burnt plate oil) and had gotten it just right. The second run of 9 today was not quite as successful and I fixed a couple of spots with a brush. 

I got tired of printing coffee cups and still had some ink left, so I printed 4 general purpose cards with an old image which used the last of the ink.  I've been needing some cards...

I also test printed a block I carved out while listening to a lecture. I wanted to try out this method for leaves.  I found it difficult to space the cuts correctly, and even to put the cuts exactly where I want them.  That's why this practice is a good idea. I think I'm going to print in black or dark green on a light green surface.

I still need to carve something for the Molly Hashimoto class; I have two ideas sketched up but haven't gotten to them yet. 

In the non-lino world, I'm still working on the last rice bag (almost done with 3rd side) and nearly done knitting the first of two panels for the Age of Aquarius poncho.  The Alabama Channin class got pushed out a month. I started an Andean Pickup Band and it's come back to me quickly, including how to work with a pickup cross. More on that in a later post.  I also started putting drywall tape on the edge of my mosaic substrate, which is annoying complex because it is round; I did about 1/4 of the table before giving up for the day.

I made this chicken and rice with carmelized lemons; it was tasty! But way too much rice. I think next time I would add more onion/shallot and garlic, more red pepper, more lemon, and 6 thighs, and maybe reduce the rice to 1.5 cups (and 3 cups of stock).  

Mid January status and new cookbook challenge, apparently I'm real busy

Slightly wonky basket, perfect for a beer cozy 

I made a basket in workshop taught by Barbara Shapiro. These are Japanese flower knots which are totally intimidating and seem impossible until you've made 4, then they're addictive. The base is a hexagonal weave. The basket benefitted from being sprayed with water, then allowed to dry with a pint jar inside; it's much less wonky now! Made from craft band, a Japanese recycled paper product. It was so addicting that I ordered a roll of the paper band (arrived) and a book from Japan (not arrived, and in Japanese) so I can try to make some more baskets.

Poor woven band

I finished a cardwoven band in 5/2 cotton (and a mystery fiber), started last year when I did the demo for a guild study group. For some reason I was incapable of counting to 8 reliably but I like the difference in the band as I varied from 4-12 or more turns. BTW, these always look better when ironed (this has been ironed). 

I'd intended to go to the Serendipity Spinners meeting this month with my little e-spinner, only to find that the drive band was busted. I thought I'd ordered new ones... and went looking... I found evidence in my email that I'd ordered bands and an extra motor, but could not find them in the studio.  I found them later, in the first place I looked, just after I'd ordered more (they're just O-rings) off the internet. I did go to the meeting, and I spun some on some blue wool I'd gotten at one of the SOAR conferences. I'm spinning really thin so I can weave with it....

Rice bag #4, Side 1... will it ever end? 

Still working on the Age of Aquarius Poncho; I'm guessing I'm about 16" into the 18" piece, which will be 1/2 of the finished poncho. It's going much faster than I'd anticipated. 

I'm taking another Molly Hashimoto block printing class but German has started and I'm fully occupied with that. I need to get organized...

I'm also working on that 4th rice bag; I have 2 of the 4 panels ready, and the base is ready to go.  I'm having fun with the stitches I learned in the first Alabama Channin class. When that's finished, I can put away the rice bag box; that's part of a (very) slow effort to declutter the studio.

There's a new cookbook challenge... I'll pick a cookbook this time, or ask DH for his recommendation, then cook from it, but only in months when I'm home enough. This month, I'm cooking from Madhur Jaffrey's Instant Indian Cookbook.  I made the Ground Lamb with Peas and the Stir Fried Green Beans in a South Indian style. and served it with rice and an 11 year old Gangloff Condrieu; the pairing was excellent.  I didn't cook the beans in the Instant Pot, and didn't precook them at all; instead I stir fried them in the spices and left them super crunchy. I could eat these beans every day.  In February, I'll go back to Georg Lang's Hungarian cookbook to try out the paprika I brought home with me.

What's up for the foreseeable future? 

• I have some prints to make for my class.
• Next Friday, I'm taking another Alabama Channin class, this time on beading. 
• I have to finish warping my loom and get that project underway.
• I'll work on the Poncho while watching TV in the evenings and while knitting in public.
• I'm giving a mini clinic on how to warp up for card weaving on Feb 1, so I'll warp up another band in 10/2 cotton. 
• K and I are going to play with Andean Pickup on the inkle loom while at our knitting retreat in early February, so I need to get ready for that.
• I have to get back to the mosaic studio. I don't think I'm ready to start tiling but I have to work on the substrate to make it rounder, and add the drywall tape to the border. I can realistically do the edging as well before I'm ready to transfer  the design and start laying real glass.

I've also got my Goethe class, the homework for my other German tutor, and I need to get out on the bike to prep for the bike trip in early summer. Yikes.

2026 New Years Resolutions?

It being the New Year and all, I should probably try to figure out some goals for the year. Yep, they're going to look a lot like last year, but hey, I'll spell them out anyways. 

I'm also feeling a little out of sorts; when I travel I lose momentum and can't get back into a rhythm. And travelling isn't as much fun as it was, it makes me a little anxious. These are mindset issues, and I must fix them.

Two things that will take up a lot of time in 2026;  learning German and getting in shape for that bike trip in June. I'm on it!!!

I'm also been cooking pretty much nonstop since December 18th. It's been fun but I've had enough and am ready to going to go back to cooking a couple of times a week.  But I will be resurrecting some sort of cooking challenge; maybe one where I pick the cookbook?

As for the studio...

The Easy Stuff:

• There's a blue sweater that just needs buttons. I can't celebrate it's one year anniversary unfinished.
• I'm in three classes: a basketry class, another Alabama Channin class (embroidery), and another Molly Hashimoto class (block printing).  All three classes produce samples/products. These will happen.
  
• 4 napkins still need hemming.

Some Things that Need to be Done.

• 

  This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius Poncho

  I'm partly through warping for 2 baby blankets, one of which is for a baby that has just arrived.
• I'm working on the Age of Aquarius Poncho, great for TV and travel knitting. I suppose it doesn't 
  "need to be done" but I need an idiot project.
• The bistro table for the pool deck must be done. I have a design, I have a substrate. Now I just need to get to it.
• I need some cards in my stationary stock. 

Other Things in Progress:

• I've carved 2 blocks and need to do test prints.
• I'm working on the Dissent sweater, nearly done with the yoke.
• That headband from the knitting cruise...

Other Things:

• More prints. Although I have 2 almost ready to test print, and will do 2 in Molly's class, so that puts me in a good position. I'm also thinking about holiday cards.
• 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.
• Stranded mittens.
• I bought some yarn for sweaters; one from a indie dyer in Budapest, and the other for a Julie Weisenberger sweater. I may cast one on at the retreat in Feb knowing that it'll take awhile for me to get to the idiot knitting.... 
• I'd like to weave a couple of throw blankets.

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

I'll continue to include the UFO LIST from way back just to keep me honest... I added a few things.

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 frogging! 
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 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 pieced a baby sized black and white drunkards path 35 years ago? Maybe more? It needs borders then quilting..

Sewing:

1. I bought a jacket sewing class
2. I'd like to do some Alabama Channin type embroidery on garments.

Spinning:

• Ugh. I need to eval. Spin all the stuff?

Mosaic:

Something 3d? Using Paltiya?

Q4'25 finished list 13/36

The "ugly duckling" towels

1) The Poppy table top. I think this table has been well celebrated, no need to continue here 

2) Postcards with the 6K year old pot motiv.

3-7) 5 towels, 4 of which now live happily somewhere else. Here's a photo of the two I liked the best. The light blue is actually a grey (but reads blue next to the other colors) and the bright green is mustard. I tried them together but didn't think the colors would look good together; I thought the mustard would overwhelm and the grey would wash out, but for some reason I tried it anyways. Super glad I did. 

Chemo cap to a Hungarian cancer center

8) Napkins, quantity 2/6. Why am I counting these as one item, but the towels separately? Not sure, it just felt right. Someday I'll hem the other 4.

9) Hat for me (there's no photo yet but the hat debuted in Europe and was quite warm).

10) Hat for charity; I knit the Hurricane hat in a worsted weight cotton. To be frank I was disappointed that they were only able to collect 40 hats (and some folks did more than one!) from the 120 of us on board.

11) Baby Sweater in a useless wool.

12) A wreath. Do I count that? Since it's not persistent?

13) A tiny weaving in a tapestry class offered by K.D. 

Did I add that right? 36 items this year?

I was going to rush to finish these items that are "almost" done, then decided not to rush just to mark them off the list.

• A sweater that needs buttons.
• 4 napkins that need hemming.
• A headband that needs finishing. 

I do have some ideas of what I want to work on in 2026; but also need to figure out how to keep momentum with all the travelling I'll be doing. More on that later.

Christmas Cooking!

 

I haven't been in the studio much, other than to carve a block, hem a couple of napkins and prep the design for the next table... I've been cooking instead. Here's the list since the 18th or so...

• Beef and pork ragu from Marcella Hazan's cookbook (double batch; we had it over pasta twice and I froze the rest). (With a Castello Di Ama Chianti)
• Lamb tagine (with 1991 Xavier Vignon Châteauneuf-du-Pape)

Sourdough sandwich bread

Sourdough discard crackers

Peanut brittle

Carmelized onion quiche, pieced together from a few recipes on the internet, with a nice Schmalz Wachauer Riesling. A+ for the wine pairing.

Cinnamon rolls https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/best-cinnamon-rolls/. (these are not Mom style rolls... they're the soft pull apart ones. I may have found a recipe for Mom's style https://www.onesarcasticbaker.com/schnecken/). These were great with coffee

Lasagna (home made noodles) with the ragu from earlier on this list. Homemade noodles apparently don't need to be prebaked and have a silky wonderful texture. Why would you ever buy them dried? Wine was a Castello di Ama Chianti, older than the last. 

Chocolate marshmallows from this recipe. I mixed up some of the black cocoa powder K. gave me and it didn't taste good; dumped that and went with regular cocoa powder. The recipe calls for a 9x9 pan but the marshmallows are about 1.5 inches thick! I had to cut them down.  Next time I'd use a flatter pan.  https://www.theflavorbender.com/homemade-chocolate-marshmallows-recipe/

Chicken, sausage, and shrimp gumbo from a Paul Prudhome recipe with cornbread from a Love and Lemons recipe.  We had this with a French white burgundy.

At this point I was a little tired of cooking. Plus the freezer is getting full. So I took a break:  an evening out in the city at Lers Ros (Thai) and some jazz, and the night out with my knitting buddies. 

I didn't mention DH's chocolate disaster... apparently when you get a little water into the chocolate you're tempering, it can seize which is a technical word for it gets a very nasty texture... It's still in the fridge, awaiting my decision on whether or not it can be saved. I'll see if I can use the wisdom of the internet to beat it back into smooth glossiness by adding a bit of cream and heat; if that works, it'll become pots du creme. I'm also planning on making tamales with a red chile pork filling for New Years... more on that later. 

DH also convinced me (after watching me search for a recipe) that I need a recipe log... Here it is!

The cat photo? They've been fighting over this pillow, and had just come to an uneasy truce. A bit later they curled up together and looked very cute indeed.

ETA: The pots du creme were not particularly successful... although tasty, they did not have the creamy texture I was looking for.  For New Years I made a Rustic Tamale from Rick Bayless's cookbook, with red chile pork inside and a tomatillo-chipotle salsa. Rick calls for masa para tamales, then has you beat in lard... Sadly I did not read the masa ingredients, as it already contained lard so the dish was edible but super fatty; we threw out the leftovers. To use up the banana leaves and masa, I made some black bean tamales (no additional lard) and they were darn tasty.  Thus ends the December cooking frenzy! The freezer is pretty full :)

GSC Winter 25, Budapest

Hungarian Parliament

Dear Future Self, You need to stay on top of travel updates, or you forget too much.

Anyways, we passed Bratislava just after dinner after leaving Vienna... Lovely fortifications right on the river...

Everyone on deck to see the sights

Our tour directors suggested we see Budapest just after dawn (about 8AM) as we approached by boat... On the left bank was the Parliament building and on the right bank, the old castle and the Hapsburg Imperial complex.

Later that day I did my last tour; we went up to the Castle Hill; viewed some of the imperial administration buildings and dwellings, including Sissi's riding arena; ended up on the Fisherman's Bastion next to the cathedral overlooking the river and Pest (the flatter side), and visited the Christmas Market there. There were a lot of spicy grey and black ravens, and in fact, the raven (with a ring in it's beak) plays some part in the cathedral... In the afternoon I visited the marketplace and bought some paprika.

We defend the homeland with weapons
and money.  Subscribe to a war loan

P left in the very early morning, and at a more reasonable hour, I was off the boat for good and exploring... I was gobsmacked by the buildings. So many Art Nouveau style buildings!!! I spent the morning at the National Museum, which was pretty good; I really enjoyed the early 1900's posters. The pre-history collection was good, but the basement containing the Roman era stuff was closed for renovation.  I then wandered over to the Musuem of Applied Arts which is a Art Nouveau style building and is supposed to house a lot of things from that era; it was "wrapped" for renovation and closed. I walked back through the Christmas Markets. The street food was a little different; really long sausages again, and I saw more than one vendor selling little cabbage rolls. 

2nd largest Synagogue in the world

In my wandering, I found an interesting motiv on a building, and a plaque. Thank you Google Translate!!! I found Radio Budapest, where the 1956 rebellion started. Atlas Obscura has a good article on it...

The next day I went to the Dohany Street Synagogue and took their free tour. Wow! It was built in 1859, designed by Catholic architects who didn't get the memo... So there's pulpits (never been used as far as our guide knew); the bima in the front, not the center, and behind the ark there's an huge organ. Apparently the synagogue technically ends at the back of the ark so the organ, while in the building, is technically outside the synagogue. And if someone happened to be playing it on the sabbath, who was going to argue? Liszt was one of the organists.  Directly next to the Synagogue was a stunning temple dedicated to the Jewish heroes from WWI.  

Ceiling of the heroes temple

In the afternoon, I walked up Castle Hill to see the National Gallery. Inside was a special exhibit of painting by Lajos Tihanyi... He never achieved success as an artist and I wonder how much that had to do with him being unwilling to part with his work? I captured several of those to show DH, they're in Photos. I didn't look at the early ecclesiastical work but focused mostly on the collection of painting since 1850 or so; it's a great collection.

And that's about it for Budapest. If I go again, I would find an architecture tour aimed at the end of the Belle Epoque through the Art Nouveau Period. And probably find a phone with a better camera.

Just some random building

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/E3facX1MQA3Tihhm8

I'm not sure how I feel about river cruises... My friend J says she and A look at them as an overview, then decide which places they may want to go back to. I don't really feel that I got to know any places well enough to tell if they're worth another visit. Passau? Regensburg? Would I have wanted to see more of Nürnberg? I don't think I've given them a fair chance. Would I want to eliminate towns on river tours as places to visit? Based on the bus traffic?

If I look at the number of photos I took in Nürnberg and Budapest, I think I was a lot more engaged when I wandered by myself than with a tour. But I learned a lot from the tours. So... yeah. Not sure :)

GSC Winter 25: Regensburg, Passau, Melk, Wien

Regensburg Roman tower

 I'm lumping these places together as I saw them all as part of the AMA tour. I'd hoped we'd have a day in each port, and move from port to port each night; that would have given me time to explore the city a bit. We did sail a lot at night, but most of our port calls were relatively short, giving time for the AMA tour, a quick dash through the Markt then back to the boat.  I'll just note what particularly struck me in these places...

There was a sizable Roman fort in Regensburg with well built walls that were incorporated into the later medieval wall.  This was an old Roman tower by one of the gates... the garrison held about 6000 people!

The bridge over the Danube was very old and very beautiful... 

Artists quarter in Passau

Three rivers come together in Passau at the Dreiflusseck... When the Inn is snowfed from the Alps it often flows much faster than the Danube, effectively damning it with water. When this happens, the area of town by the river floods profoundly! This area is home to a lot of artists who have their ateliers in the ground floor and live on the floor above; when a flood is coming, they can move everything to up to their living quarters.

I didn't take many photos in Melk... they were the process of taking all the books out of the library for renovation. The chapel is lovely and well documented by others. I am certainly coming to realize that my favorite type of church architecture is Gothic.

We stopped in Linz briefly to pick up the group who had spent the day in Salzburg but it was cold and dark and rainy and the Markt was closed anyways so I went to bed. 

Normally one would not dream of Vienna not having it's own page but... I took a tour of "Imperial Vienna" which was a drive around the Ringstrasse followed by a walking tour which completely ignored the beautiful Michaelertor, and allowed us 20 minutes of free time at Stephensplatz. What's sad to me is that folks will take this cruise and say they've seen Vienna.  I'm trying not to be judgy but this type of travel does not suit me. We did walk by the Spanish Riding School where I missed a photo of 3 Lipps going to workout; the lead one was showing off; I did see this one posing in his stall.

Lippazaner in his stall

I took the tour to Schönbrunn which was really a bus to the Christkindlmarkt (we saw St Nick!!!) and did not include a garden or Schloss tour. This was not my favorite market. I tried the Uhudler (Glühwein from Burgenland) which was WAY too sweet and not to my taste. 

Our plan is to visit Austria next fall, so I felt okay about not spending the day doing something useful. 

Regensburg: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9n2P4WWsyPSUdUur5

Passau: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eHUQCCA9fU2oW6TR8

Melk: https://photos.app.goo.gl/neo1yZhog6jqjnsb8

Vienna: https://photos.app.goo.gl/oa5yCJCJbRZoNaxC8