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.

Q3'23 finished things (7/17)

Done:

• 

  Two yards of 1/2" band

  Camp shirt from Kuala Lumpur batik
• Camp shirt from paper yarn
• Afternoon Tea Shawl 
• Sample from Inge Dam class at CNCH
• Card Woven Band
• Knitted Cowl
• Diversified Plain Weave sample for the study group.

I was listening to KQED a few weeks ago and heard an interview with  Jennifer Breheny Wallace, on her book "Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic -- and What We Can Do About It"

The talk focused the effects on our children of expecting constant achievement from them. What occured to me is that the people I'm in weaving classes with are likely the same parents she talks about. These are the people that expect to produce an expert piece the very first time they try a technique and who do not give themselves room for experimentation and the possibility of failure. This is just my opinion, not having read the book, but the same parents that are expecting this of their children are expecting it of themselves. 

Two key phrases resonated with me. One, that our "failures and setbacks become indictments of our worth to ourselves and those around us". The second was the affirmation that "I am not my achievements and I am not my failures."

I bring this up in the this blog because I am often paralyzed by the need to produce the perfect piece and I don't give myself enough room for experimentation. I'm not currently okay with mediocre or failed results, and I think that blocks my growth as an artist.

Given all of that, is counting finished projects on a quarterly basis toxic for me? I don't think so. Failed projects count the same and successful projects, and I need a representation of what I've been up to.  So I'll happily continue with this, but will also try to stop the dithering and get stuff done!

In the Queue for Q4 and beyond:

Weaving:

• 2 rugs on the big loom.
• The piece from the Mary Z class
• A double faced cardwoven band.
  

Knitting:

• Sand and Sunsets
• Shiny sweater

Quilting:

• There are a couple of quilts I'd like to finish. And I want to continue to explore continuous line designs with my embroidery machine.

Sewing: 

• Stash reduction (this would go better if I stopped buying fabric).
• Sheep shirt
• Shirt for Scott

Other:

• There are mosaic and linocuts I'd like to work on. I've started on the dancing girls. And I worked a tiny bit on the table.
• It occurs to me that I have a minimum of 2 nieces, their spouses, and 2 grand-niblings that live in cold climates. Maybe scarves this year? I suspect I'll also have to start thinking about a baby blanket...

Things From SOAR

I often take classes then don't practice what I learn, then I forget what I learned. I promised myself I wouldn't do this with the classes I just took at SOAR. So...

Here's a lovely finished object from SOAR... a tablet woven mask lanyard. It's 20 cards of 10/2 cotton in Egyptian diagonals pattern (iron age tech), started in a class with John Mullarkey. It's about 3/4" wide and 35" long with lobster clips. I sloppily zig-zaged it together by machine; I need to find a better way.  The double diamonds in the center section were a mistake! You'd think I could have watched my weaving and caught it... but I liked it enough to replicate it (with John's help). I have notes!

Speaking of card weaving, my new friend S. pointed out this delightful site: http://ladyelewys.carpevinumpdx.com/. She's hosting a weave-a-long for historical card weaving that includes historical or archeological information. I'm hooked.

I took a break from The Quilt That Must Be Finished this morning to practice a couple things from SOAR. I had cut up some pattern paper in 1/2" strips and tried spinning it on my Kromski wheel; it spins beautifully but will not feed on. The orafice is more convoluted than on the Louet, and all the little hooks seem to be a bit of an issue. I'll go back to the Louet and try it again. I've also bought some colored tissue paper from Target; one of the ladies had brought it to the workshop and Judith had declared it fabulous, so I'll give it a try some morning. 

I also tried some tweed. I took the green fiber from the CNCH Return to Sender challenge and carded it with about 15-20% Zwartbles wool  and some silk floor sweepings from John's class; it ended up being a lovely olive green with the little silk bits showing through. My spinning technique, however, needs some work... So I'll spin something else up with a woolen draft before I go back to this. The good parts are very good but there are some unattractive lumps...

Zwartbles

Zwartbles, by the way, are a Dutch sheep breed that are naturally black in their un-unburnt state; the wool goes a little brown on the older sheep.  Here's an awesome photo of them from https://zwartblesireland.com/. They're milk and meat sheep; the wool has a good crimp but is in the 30 micron diameter range which makes it a little itchy for next to the skin use.

The aforementioned quilt will be done this week!

Life is looking livelier!

Probably the most exciting news is that I just completed the two week waiting period after the 2nd Pfizer vaccine! Now I feel more comfortable being out and about, so will start catching up on doctors appointments, hair cuts, etc; we've booked dinner at a restaurant1 I got some seriously swollen lymph glands (yay! my body is making antibodies!) but things are starting to calm down and getting back to normal.

In no particular order, here's the rest of what's going on.

I finished and delivered the bootlaces to my beloved brother. I think he liked them. Here's some technical notes on the aglets: 

• Sew 1/2 inch or so into a tube with sewing thread
• With doubled 10/2 and a big honking knot, pull needle up towards tip of lace; whip stitch the end 3-4 times, take yarn down through the middle then back up again.
• Trim fuzz from tip, then thread needle through the shrink tubing; use the needle for tension, stroke the tubing onto the band until you're just past the whipstitching. Trim off the whipstitching.

Ready for basting

I've also finished the Pub quilt top (and basted it)!!! This is big news, having been in process for the last 27 or so years. 

I completed the knitting on the little summer jacket; it needs some finishing work, which has been languishing while I got the quilt top ready. I don't think this will ever be an attractive garment so I'm going to let it be what it is. Meanwhile, I dragged the knitted skirt out of hiding and have decided to re-start it as TV knitting.

I made some dal makhani from this recipe. DH think the clove is bit heavy in it; I think the clove and the cardamom amplify each other. It mellowed out after a couple of days and is now in the freezer. 

Procrastiweaving

Andean Pebble Weave band on the loom

I feel like lots has happened in the first two weeks of April!  Not surprisingly, I finished the doubleweave class sample and I've taken the towels off the loom (but not yet hemmed them).  I also finished the second Andean Pebbleweave band. 

Look! Brand new towels!

I've started some new things, or taken up old things:

• I wound the warp for the two huck lace baby blankets but haven't moved it to the loom yet. 
• I'd started a loom shaped garment (vest? sweater?) to combine with some knitting years ago but could not figure out how to finish it... I'm knitting away at that again. I'm still not sure if I'll end up adding a collar or any other touches but am happy adding length to the bottom with half linen stitch.

  

  Bootlaces of 
  the Pandemic

• I've completed all the simple star blocks for the Pub quilt, and all the stars for the side triangles. I'm currently worried about not having enough material, so am avoiding it my procrastiweaving.
• What is procrastiweaving? That's when you start a new weaving project because you don't want to work on anything you're supposed to be working on. I warped up the band loom with 4 yards of 10/2 cotton (54" of bootlace x 2 laces + 20% takeup plus 20" for loom waste). It's yellow and grey, which happens to be the Pantone colors of the year.  The yellow is for hope and the steely grey for fortitude.  The wavering borders are the path I've been walking the last year and the eye in the middle is the focus needed to stay on course. From the Pantone website: "As people look for ways to fortify themselves with energy, clarity, and hope to overcome the continuing uncertainty, spirited and emboldening shades satisfy our quest for vitality." 

On food news, I'm cooking from the Dishoom cookbook.  I would love to travel to London and eat at one of their eateries!  This week we had:

• Prawns Moilee (a coconut curry with shrimp) with cauliflower over rice with a lovely Italian Pinot Blanc, a good pairing.
• Grilled Spicy Lamb Chops with Gunpowder Potatoes last night with a Rioja (not quite as good of a pairing).
• For dessert, Kulfi, a lovely cardamon spiced ice cream. I may make daal and biryani before I'm done with the month.