May news

18 masks for ABQ

It's now a month later and I realized I'm neglecting this blog as time passes by... Here's a rundown on the projects I'm working on.

I went on a mask making spree, supplying masks to friends and family; I also sent 18 to my niece in Albuquerque who has been giving them to her friend and co-workers. I'm about masked-out. Today I made three more from some shibori fabric I dyed a few years ago. I'm quite proud of these.

A perfect trio of 3 shibori masks

On the spinning side, I finally finished spinning the 200g of silk I dyed in a Merike Saarnit class years ago; I still need to ply it up a bunch.  I'd like to order some silk from Redfish Dyeworks and use it together in a shawl.

I started knitting again; I cast on Laura Bryant's Double Your Pleasure cowl with a kit I bought at Stitches a couple of years ago; am knitting along with K and T from one of my knitting groups.  I finished the first couple of inches and have realized I need to pull back a couple of rows... Meanwhile here is the yarn.

Double Your Pleasure 

I've also been putting a lot of time into quilting on the Festivus quilt; I'm working on the border but will need to put a few more stitches into a couple of the blocks, as well as do the setting strips. I'd like to finish this soon!

And finally, I'm still weaving a shadow weave piece of fabric destined for clothing. It's slow going.

Double weave on the loom

I've spent considerable time in the garden in the last couple of months, and hoping to be spending more time doing other things in the next couple of months.

Bangkok chicken, rice with
turmeric, roast aspargus and
yummy Slovenian wine

Finally, the cookbook challenge! The April cookbook challenge was Lopez-Alt's The Food Lab. I made a butterflied roast chicken and some amazing crispy roasted potatoes that I'm craving now... I also set off the smoke alarm with the chicken and was forced to learn to clean the oven. May is Great Foods without Fuss by  McCollough and Witt; a fabulous cookbook!  I made the Bangkok Chicken with grilled chicken and will make a curried shrimp dish later this week. There's also a recipe for pot de creme as well that I'll try before the month is out.