Plugging Away ...

I may have been on vacation this week but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy.

The week before the break Little Squid's favorite sweater was declared dead. Little Squid promptly went into a state of deep mourning that evoked the only response possible from his mother.

But first, I tried to convince him that repair was beyond my abilities and, could I please take the two hanks that remained of the original yarn and start knitting him a replica -- which would require, at some point, the unraveling of the original sweater.

He wasn't having it.

And so, I embarked on an eight hour adventure where I turned a badly spun and inexpertly knit sweater into a (if I must say so myself) fairly decent one. (I feel free to critique the sweater since I spun and knit it for myself -- it also fit (me) badly.)
Both cuffs were reknit (the old ones practically fell off),Wonky raglan increases were double stitched and tightened up and repairs were made all over to spots that had been worn into almost non-existence.

The result ... one happy Little Squid and a sweater that we now swear is a Zombie. (It was dead, after all.)

Next up, Mike's "felted" (actually fulled) socks.
Knit of homespun Jacob which has been marinating in the stash for so long that I remember teasing the locks while sitting in a playground watching the kids play. (It's been a few years since I've been with them to a playground.) They were also finished before the break but had to wait until I had time to put them through their first washing. The pattern? Just a basic garter rib sock knit on size 4 needles to about an inch or so longer than I would usually knit Mike's socks and with much more ease. The yarn is roughly a dk weight. I'm hoping they will full more with subsequent washings but didn't want to push it for right now.

Next up ... I'd had a partial warp on the warping board since late August. Yes, 4 full months. It started just in case I needed to try Little Squid's tallis a third time. Since I didn't ... so it sat there.

I finally wound enough ends to justify a 10 inch wide scarf warp and set up the loom.



I'm not sure how I wove the tallis so quickly. This is a lot of yardage! I threaded a straight 8 shaft twill and played with some 4 treadle patterns, weaving two complete scarves and about 24 inches of additional fabric. Eventually (probably next December), I will cut them apart and hem them for gifts.

Then I finished a pair of socks that has been hanging out as my purse project for a few months (no photo, they are in the laundry cart). Next up was supposed to be a pair of socks for Little Squid -- he of the no-longer-the-smallest feet. He'd chosen a lovely roving batt at Rhinebeck last October (yes, over a year ago) and I'd spun it up this summer but kept pushing his socks to the end of the queue because I was not crazy about the yarn and had a sneaking suspicion that it would not knit up well.

I was right. To get a nice tight sock fabric I'd have had to drop to my 000 needles. Not an option for socks that would be outgrown in a few months. So, I approached Little Squid with some trepidation. After all, this is the child who had gone into deep mourning over a sweater. I showed him another scarf that I'd woven with hand spun yarn and got his permission to weave the yarn instead of making socks out of it.I scored!

I love how the natural color progression of the yarn works in the woven fabric. Turns out, he'd completely forgotten about choosing the batt for socks!

Now on the needles, a pair of brown socks (to match the sweater but of better yarn) for Little Squid and a pair of yellow socks for me -- to eventually be stolen by Squidette.

On the wheel -- Squidette's next sweater.

In the dye pot, two warps for my first experiments in warp "painting." And only a few days left of the break.

Stocking Up

Earlier today I predicted a long, cold winter. Having thus predicted, it was imperative to make sure that the apartment was fully provisioned.Squidette's new hat

Fun Fiber for me

It was pretty!

It shouted "take me home" so loudly that I had to buy it to shut it up.

These whispered "make your son a sweater" (And there is so much that I might get one, too!)

Squidette's new sweater. Yes, it does sparkle. Why do you ask?

Comfort spinning for those times when I really don't want to worry about consistency. I see a woven shawl coming from these ...

I am now totally prepared for multiple snow days ... yeah, right, like that'll happen!

(A preknit pair of gloves for Little Squid also found their way into my bag as did some beef jerkey. But that's it. I swear!)

Crafting Update

Yes, there has been knitting, sewing, spinning and weaving going on -- just not much photo uploading!

So, for your crafting fix ...



Baby Blanket with Lamby thrown in for size contrast. Handwoven center. If you look close you can see where I stopped for a week and then forgot which way I was treadling. It's actually more obvious in the photo then it is in real life.

Back side of the blanket.

And an oldie but a goodie ...
The first shawl I ever knit. I used a blue coned cotton that my mother-in-law was given by a friend. It was knit about 10-12 years ago using Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl pattern and has been well worn. I broke it out to wear to synagogue this weekend and received several compliments on it Those prompted me to wash it and think about repairing a few of the snags that it has accumulated over the years. It is not my best work but I love it!

More Dish Towels

I've been admiring Dave's weaving and absolutely had to try one particular pattern. So, I threaded the loom in a straight twill, alternating white and blue cotton.

Unfortunately, to get the pattern to come out the way that I wanted, I had to beat very firmly, resulting in a rather stiff fabric. (look at the bottom 20 inches)
Then I started playing with different tie ups. The last one (on the left and at the top) is my favorite. It has a nice drape and looks really cool.

I also really like the second from the left but I ran out of white 14 inches in so it will be more of a dish cloth then a dish towel.

Next up, baby blankets!

Snow Day Redux

Yup, for the second time in a month, we have a snow day. We'll ignore the fact that the last snow day was off by a day (we should have been off the day after and not the day of).

Plans for the day? Maybe to weave off this warp that has proved to be a challenge.
There have been broken warp thread galore, threading issues and the challenge of weaving off a 39 shot repeat. The challenge there is that I keep getting interrupted and lose my place in the pattern. Despite all these issues, however, I love how it is coming out.

The yarn is some that has been marinating in the stash for 10 years or so. The weft is a slubby, loosely spun yarn, the warp, a nice wool two-ply that keeps breaking.

Next up on the loom, some more blue and white cotton for, I think, baby blankets. I have some cotton of unknown provenance that has been marinating in the stash for even longer than the wool above. My only questions are: is it thick enough for baby blankets and ... what pattern?

Just Strolling Along ...

Schacht did not ship my stroller at the same time as the loom. Why? I have no idea but the good folks at The Woolery were on top of it even before I emailed them and the stroller arrived last night.

This morning, with no warp on the loom to worry about, I tackled the stroller installation.

Forewarned by Dave, I paid close attention to the pictures and gave up early on interpreting their badly written instructions. (I also kept Dave's post on the subject open on my laptop near at hand.)

After a minor misstep or two, I was finally on the right track. With the assistance of my fabulous husband, I managed to get everything together in about half an hour.

See?
Just a note to the folks at Schacht ... wouldn't it make more sense if there were a notch at the bottom of each brace instead of a slot? This is something that we may attempt to "remedy" with the dremel tool. Just not now.
And this? Look closely at the "middle" bolt. It snapped off as Mike was putting the nut on. I'll hit home depot tomorrow and replace it. Can't blame the manufacturer for this one and not worth contacting them for something I can get easily right here.

And there you have it, a loom on wheels. Something to make my downstairs neighbor a little happier as I fold and unfold the loom. It also now makes it possible to easily bring the loom into the living room should I so desire. But not out on to the terrace. Navigating the narrow door is still a bit more effort then I think I want to tackle right now even though I LOVE weaving outside.

Back to threading my third warp!

I'm going to have to figure out ...

... what to do with all this fabric!

Just a taste of the latest to come off the loom. Better pictures after I wash both sets of yardage.

(Tho most of this is a scarf for Little Squid who chose the pattern, helped warp the loom and wove a fair amount of the yardage.)

Point Twill threading on 4 shafts -- I've ordered a book on 8 shaft weaving and it should arrive on Monday.

First Efforts

A 3 yard sampler of twills and tabby-twills.


I threaded the loom with straight twill draw on 4 shafts (let's pretend that I have the language down) and played with different tie-ups and patterns. We did about 3 inches or so of each pattern or until we got bored of it.


We? Yeah, the kids took turns too. Especially Little Squid. He's taken to weaving like a Squid to water. He's enjoying it so much that the next warp is a scarf for him. We will thread the loom in a point twill and he will either pick a single pattern or we will weave it as a scarf-sampler.

(For all those weaving mavens out there, please excuse our wonky weaving. It was our first effort and still needs to be washed, cut apart and hemmed into usable, if interesting, dish towels. Hey, I believe in everything being used, even one's first efforts if possible. The sett was probably too loose for the yarn that I used and there are other issues but hey, we had fun!)

Loom Love

Yes, yes I have spent the entire day setting up my new loom.


Why do you ask?

Snow and Song

Today we had something totally unprecedented ... a snow day announced at 11:00 a.m. the day before the storm. No kidding. That said, here in Manhattan, the storm was rather unremarkable except for it's exceptional ability to get one wet. After standing for a mere hour in the snow while Little Squid sledded with friends, I was totally soaked. As in my parka was dripping and my double layered glove-mitten combo had soaked through to my skin. Good thing the kids threw in the towel when they did.

Meanwhile ... the squidlings performed last week, turning their annual violin recital into the Squid show. The highlight was this clarinet-oboe duet.

Yes, I did say it was a violin recital. There were 5 other kids who all played the violin -- as did my offspring. Want to see?

Little Squid Solo

Little Squid - Squidette Violin Duet

Squidette Solo ... Squidette Solo ... Squidette Solo ... Squidette Solo (it was an entire sonata and could not be uploaded to Youtube in one piece)

As for my loom (because I know it is as much at the top of your mind as it is on mine ... (yeah, right)) ... it is held up due to the weather and is currently paused somewhere in Pennsylvania. It was supposed to arrive in the area tomorrow but that just is not happening. Oh well, I couldn't arrange for delivery before Monday anyway ...

Yogurt

I've been looking for something really deep to post about and even had a huge monologue going on last night as I was trying to fall asleep. Unfortunately, it was all about work stuff which I really can't post about. Sorry! Let's just leave the work stuff with this: there was a public hearing regarding the fate of my school last week. It goes up for a vote on the 26th.

On the home front, I'm still plugging away on Little Squid's sweater -- front, back and right arm are done. Left arm is about halfway up his forearm. My rigid heddle loom is now clear of weaving and the final product will be run through the wash tomorrow. And I've started spinning the alpaca-merino blend that I bought at Rhinebeck.

I've also made some yogurt.

You may remember this post where Little Squid and I experimented with frozen yogurt using our homemade product. We never did master it but hey, that's what next summer is for. Right?

Meanwhile I have continued to make yogurt every week or two using the same method. Recently I've seen some posts on other blogs raving about a Crock-pot method of making yogurt.

I studied it, thought hard about it, and decided that I will stick with my method. It is fairly simple and only requires about 2 hours of my time depending on the temperature of my kitchen. In cooler weather the cooling processes occurs much more quickly then it does in the heat of summer.So, for those who are interested, this is my adaptation of Harold McGee's yogurt making technique as originally published in the New York Time on April 15, 2009.

***

First, heat the milk to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I do this by heating about 12 ounces milk at a time on high in the microwave for 1 minute (in a 4 cup measuring cup) and then dumping it into a pot on the stove with the flame at a medium setting. (I make a gallon of yogurt at a time. You can easily make less.)

While it is heating, I monitor the temperature and twiddle my thumbs. This is actually why I microwave the milk. The one minute intervals keep me interested enough that I do not walk away and then forget that I have milk heating.


Once the milk reaches 180 degrees it is time to cool it. I do this in two or three or, when making 2 gallons at a time as I do during the summer, 4 bowls.


During the warmer weather I surround the bowls with reusable cold packs to help it cool faster. I also stir it frequently to increase the amount of milk that comes in contact with the cooler parts of the bowl (and the air).

When the temperature of the milk reaches 120 degrees, I take yogurt that I've set aside from the last batch (2 tablespoons of yogurt for every quart of milk used) and mix it with some of the warm milk to thin out the yogurt.



This yogurt-milk slurry then gets mixed into the warm milk and the mixture gets put into a large container. I use a gallon Tupperware pitcher that we've had forever.


The pitcher gets a lid (I have no idea where the official lid is these days) and then gets wrapped in towels.


Usually I use three towels but this time I used four -- one underneath the pitcher to insulate it from the cold counter. Our kitchen was really cold.


Then the wrapped pitcher of pre-yogurt sits on the counter for about 6 hours, more or less. More if you like it tarter, less if you like it more naturally sweet.

The neo-yogurt then chills overnight in the fridge and is ready for eating in the morning.

I, personally, take it one step further and strain the yogurt in a HUGE fine meshed strainer that we got at a restaurant supply store. Mike cut the handle off of it so that the strainer, sitting on top of a storage container, fits in the fridge. Half a gallon of yogurt fits in the strainer at a time.

One hour usually makes it thick enough for my taste but you can strain longer if you want. Half of the last batch strained overnight by accident. It is incredibly thick and smooth and luscious!

And there you go. A gallon of milk costs between $2.39 (Costco) and $3.50 (Whole Foods 365 brand). A quart of my previous favorite yogurt, Greek Goddess, costs $5.99 at Fairway -- more elsewhere. A gallon of milk makes 2.5 to 4 quarts of yogurt depending on how much you strain it. Monetarily it makes sense but that's not why I do it.

I do it because it is too easy and too good not to.The only down-side is the cleaning of the pan. The stuck on milk can be tough to clean with a regular sponge or dishrag so I use this curly thing. It gets it right off and then I toss the curly thing into the dishwasher to get all the milk-curd crud out. Hey, it works.

Goals: Update #4

Done! All of the goals that I posted at the start of break have been accomplished.

• Little Squid now has new, warm mittens
• Papa Squid has a big sack of homespun sweater yarn
• and we finished the puzzle.

In addition:

• I'm almost done with the woven scarf(?) (might be 2 or 3, it seems to be taking forever!)
• I built another airlift hydroponic system
• I made a fresh batch of yogurt
• I figured out how I'm conducting my last 3 weeks of classes
• I graded the papers that I brought home
• I played lots of Wii with the kids and Mike
• I played a few board games with the kids (and Mike)
  
• I slept until 7 or (gasp!) later almost every day
• I started a major cleaning of the kitchen which will ultimately lead to a paint job during either February or Spring break (I'm taking it in small chunks so it is not too overwhelming. 15 - 20 minutes a night of serious cabinet and wall scrubbing.)
• and I ordered a big-girl Loom.

My goals for the next month are:

• To spend lots of time at work making sure that the student programs are ready to go on February 1.

That's it. I really can't put anything else on the list with that looming. Oh, and maybe warp my loom once it arrives at the end of the month. (Like that won't happen!)

I'll try to get some pictures of the yarn posted later, and maybe the yardage if I manage to finish it off.

Goals: Update #3

This was not one of my goals. Nor was it executed by my nimble fingers.

What is it? It's the mascot of the Stuyvesant Computer Science teachers. It does not have a name but there is a school-wide contest in full swing to name it.

And this handsome fellow is a red green velvet whoopie pie.

Mike and Squidette have been on a whoopie pie tear for about 2 weeks now. Yum!

Finally, I give you Little Squid who is mostly back to his fairly sunny and strange self.
I love my family!

(And as to my own goals -- more weaving has been done and the end of the road is in sight on the spinning front. I've even made some progress on Little Squid's sweater.)

Long, Productive, Weekend

I'd love to show you what I've done this weekend but I keep losing my camera! It reappears, briefly, but disappears when I most want to photograph something. Like, say, the sweater that my mother-in-law made for Mike which I have now mostly ripped out in order to reknit the wool for a sweater for Little Squid.

(The sweater was huge on Mike, made when he was ... um ... huge. He is 60 pounds lighter then when the sweater was knit and mom never got around to reknitting it for him. And, since I am in the process of spinning and then knitting a new, custom sweater for Mike, Little Squid will reap the rewards of the recycled yarn.)

And you also don't get to see the weaving that I finally finished. And the rewarped loom, now set for scarves for holiday gifts. Or the gallon of yogurt that I made.

In addition, you do not get to see the wonderful cleaning and waxing job that I did on my Minstrel. She's so nice and shiny -- and no longer dusty and dingy. And spinning a bit better, too.

Nor do you get to see the lesson plan I wrote. Tho I suppose you could if you asked nicely. But it's really not that exciting -- thought it does include some neat pictures of nerve cells. (I love google docs! So easy to share things!)

And you really can't see the grades that I worked so hard on.

Oh wait ... I didn't actually work on those ... well, you won't get to see them after I finish them on Wednesday night ... right before they are due. Or maybe Thursday, well after they are due. Rank has it's privileges ...

And you also can't see the cute knitting sheep that the kids gave me for my birthday.

But I got a lot done. Really!

Crafting Over the Break

The break was not totally about going and seeing. There was some crafting going on.

Dumbo had another hat-ectomy. His hat attachment system (snap tape) was removed and replaced with buttons. Each new hat (made by Squidette) had two holes-worth of button elastic sewn into the bottom. They are not easy to put on but it does, indeed, work.

Then there were my experiments with HotSnapz wear.
First was the ear-flap hat. Double knit, it includes earlaps that are open on one side to allow the insertion of activated HotSnapz.
With the HotSnapz in place they act more as cheek warmers but were, apparently, a huge help as we crossed the Manhattan Bridge in below freezing temperatures.

Then there are the Footwarmer Slippers. Also double knit (after the cuff), they include a pocket for a HotSnapZ.
The one on the right has a HatSnapZ in it. (Please ignore the hairy legs.)
As you can see, they have the Little Squid seal of approval.
Yes, I ran out of green near the second toe.

Last on tap, my shopping bag. Initially I took out the sewing machine to go over all of the seams on our grocery bags. After a close examination, they all got a bit smaller as I worked my repair magic. Knowing that eventually they will be too small to be worth using, I grabbed some stash fabric (I have a small fabric stash) and, copying the bags that we love so much, set out to make one.
I even made an attached stuff sack but the thicker cotton does not fit in the bag. This bag is larger then the ones we have but it is doing a good job so far.

There was some more crafting, including attaching a border of squares to the woven blanket and some dye sampling. Mike has finally settled on a pattern for his next sweater so it is up to me to dye, spin and knit it.

Tomorrow ... back to work.