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Inspirations and Influences: Sweet Strawberries

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Sweet Strawberries is the first in a series of patterns, called collectively Crochet Cornucopia, that will be coming out this year involving food.  I want to talk about why this series of patterns is important – and why I’m passionately committed to releasing them seasonally – as each of the fruits and vegetables comes into season.

My mother is a registered dietitian.  In addition to working as a clinical dietitian (working in a I gave them to her for Christmas, and she was overjoyed (like many mothers would be when their children make them stuff).  But it got me thinking about other people, who might want children-safe playfood or just beautiful crochet pieces to put on display.
hospitality making sure that patients get the right food in order to become well), she is also passionate about children’s nutrition. Just before Christmas, she jokingly said to me that she wanted me to make her some fruits and vegetables – not realizing that I’d already started making some for her.

Meanwhile, Michael and I belong to a farm share.  You might remember some of our adventures in using the food from our farm share from last year.  Eating locally and seasonally is something that Michael and I are passionate about.  Not only is the quality of the food so much better, but belonging to a farm share (or finding another way to eat local) cuts down on transportation pollution  in addition to supporting local farmers and communities.  Even in the winter when our farm share isn’t running, we try our best to eat as many seasonally appropriate fruits and vegetables as possible.  We also do a fair amount of canning, freezing and preserving to hold us through the winter.

Food is important.  Where it comes from, what we eat – it’s not only about nutrition.  It’s about culture, history, values, economics, ethics and choice.  At least once a day – if not two or three or five times – you take time to feed yourself, and every single time you make choices about what you eat and why you eat it.  This, for me, is fascinating stuff – and important!

Sneak preview of the next pattern!

Michael and I weren’t always as fortunate to be able to eat at a farm share.  The first year I was out of college (Michael was still in college), we were on a tight budget, and we had to sometimes choose between the ethical and healthy option or the economic and convenient option.  It is a shocking state of affairs when it is cheaper to buy a doughnut than it is to buy a piece of fruit.  It is cheaper to buy processed and canned food than to buy fresh and local.  In other places that isn’t the case – the cheap option is the local option – you pay more for ease of use.

Crochet Cornucopia isn’t just about making cute fruits and vegetables – though that is part of it.  I’m releasing them seasonally to correspond to the growing season for each piece of produce, aiming for the beginning of the seasons so you have time to make them.  I’m using a yarn that is made in the United States – my effort to use “local” yarn.  And as part of my release schedule, I’ll be doing blog posts connected to the fruits and vegetables.  It’s my form of meditation on where our food comes from.

I’m looking forward to taking you along for the ride.

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This was going to be a post about how I desperately hoped that spring was around the corner, because I’m reading for this cold to end.

Then I got distracted by a picture of Sweetness, when she turned six, and I spent a good 15 minutes realizing that Light is the age of Sweetness when I first started watching the both of them.

Then I thought I’d do a recap of what has been going on the last few weeks – since it’s been a while, hasn’t it?

But I decided that all that can wait.  I want to tell you a story of some boxes in an attic.

You see, when Michael and I decided to move to the DC area nearly 3 years ago, we weren’t sure how much room we would have in our next place.  Living in Davidson, space was pretty cheap, in a way it isn’t in DC. We would be downgrading space.  So we took many of the non-essentials, and put them in the attic at Michael’s family vacation spot.  Once we move in, we could sort and figure out what else we wanted.

Fast forward three years.  We’ve occasionally gotten some boxes down from the attic (like Christmas decorations and a few things Michael wanted) and we still hadn’t brought home the boxes filled with my books, papers, and things from college.  Last weekend when we were at the farm, I’d HAD ENOUGH.

I carried them down from the attic, and began sorting them, right in the kitchen.

It was a blast from the past.  Letters I’d saved from Michael and my family.  The My Little Pony pictures my roommate and I had colored and put on our door.  Bank statements, and best of all, some of my writing which had been lost in a computer crash.  Here was all my work from my memoir class.  Hallelujah!

And books.  Books that were old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.  My favorite books from college, some that I wondered if I lost, were there.

Also, when I couldn’t find the glue Michael, and you told me I lost it?  That was there too.

This is where I would normally show a picture of the weekend, or at least a picture of the books, or something, but all the pictures of this last weekend turned out a blur.  I had my settings wrong, and forgot to change them… and well, it was like a blast from the past, when I’d develop a roll of film, and there would be ONE picture that was good.

So I’ll give you the view from the farm porch, not this trip, but it doesn’t change much.

https://www.tinkingturtle.com/2013/03/this-was-going-to-be-post-about-how-i/

Traveling by Train to New Orleans

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About a year ago Michael and I began planning a trip to New Orleans via train.  It was supposed to be a trip to celebrate Michael graduating from his Master’s program.  Unfortunately, his class schedule got changed around, and he has one class to do after the wedding.

Still, we weren’t going to cancel a trip just because of that.

This week we’re traveling via train from Washington, DC to New Orleans, then New Orleans to Chicago, and finally, Chicago back to DC again.  We’re taking sleeper cars for all the legs of the trip – which is probably Michael’s (and mine, to a lesser extent) preferred way to travel.  We get fed, sleep in comfortable beds, and best of all, don’t have to deal with US airports, which are a nightmare.

For me, I get concentrated stitching time while we are on the train.  I’m well on my way to finishing the second sock for a design I’m under contract for – the pattern is mostly written also.

The Quarter Stitch

Among the sights we’re taking in New Orleans, we visited The Quarter Stitch, a LYS in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

It’s a sweet small store – beautiful light.  They’d changed locations since the last time I visited them 5 years ago – but they have a very similar selection of yarns.  Many purples, greens and golds – nearly the colors of New Orleans, especially around Mardi Gras time.  Some solid workhorse yarns good for beginners, and then some hand dyed yarns – like Mountain Colors and Malibrigo.

The Quarter Stitch is interesting, because unlike a lot of other yarn stores, I think they rely on more tourist traffic than a typical yarn store.  As such, their selection is geared much more toward impulse buying and small projects – I would be hard pressed to find enough yarn for a something larger than a shrug.  Still, it was a treat to have a yarn store close enough to the tourist part of the city that I could go there while also exploring the rest of the Quarter.

Yarn Bowl and Ripping

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This MLK weekend Michael and I went home to his parents.  The trip was threefold: we wanted to exchange Christmas gifts with his family, Michael needed to do some work for his father’s company, and I needed to meet with the wedding photographer for wedding photos.  It was going to be a really packed weekend.

There were some great highlights to the weekend: I had a lot of fun with Michael’s mother and Michael’s family friend and neighbor (Sue).  We met with the photographer to do studio shots, and then went to the church that Michael’s parents help build for some “location” shots.  It was great.  We also worked on a surprise that I can’t talk about much more, because Michael might see.  We also did some great wedding planning with Michael’s parents, Sue and her husband Larry.  It was lovely.

There were also some real lows to the weekend.  I had a lot of nervousness about making sure my dress was ready and getting ready for the photos.  Doing hair and makeup is not my strong suit, and in previous occasions I’ve always had the luxury of having a room-mate, my mother or my sister available to help me.  (Or basically do it for me.)  I can style my hair, but nothing fancy.  I really spent a lot of time stressing about all those details before the photo-shoot  and it culminated in a bit of an emotional meltdown the morning of taking photos.  I ended up crying, which only distressed me more (because my eyes are getting red and face blotchy).  Michael managed to talk me down, and I was able to turn it around, but it was quite a bit of a low point.

Also, on the train ride home I managed to realize that my math was REALLY off for the sock design I’m working on right now.  It involves slipped stitch cables, which really draws the fabric in tight.  After getting a few inches into the ankle, I gave the sock a REALLY hard look, and decided I had to put the stitches for the afterthought heel on a holder so I could try on the sock.  The sock didn’t even get over my heel.

So… Rip rip rip went the entire weekend’s work.

Not a great feeling.

I came home really sulking about the need to rip.  Michael and I began unpacking, and that’s when my mood began to lift.  One of the things to come out of our suitcase was two Christmas gifts.  One, the yarn bowl that  you see at the beginning of the post.   Sue gave it to me, and it was a lovely gift.  A yarn bowl is something I’ve been wanting (we’ve had them at The Yarn Spot), but couldn’t justify buying for myself.  The one Sue gave me is lovely – SO my colors.

The second gift?  It involves a story.  Michael’s family is big on doing slideshows when they get together to share what has been happening in each others lives.  I love the tradition, both because I get to show off my photography, and because I like sharing our adventures.  When Michael and I went to Assanteague I took a picture as we watched the sunrise.  When we showed it to Michael’s parents it apparently left an impression. For Christmas they had it printed and framed for me.  It meant a lot – that they would treat my photography as something worthy of being framed and shown off.

So I guess you gotta take the highs with the lows – and hold the highs in your mind and let the lows go.  Meanwhile, I’ll be knitting.

In Conversation with Michael

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Me: *wanders into the bathroom to brush teeth and see that Peake is playing with the drops coming out of the shower*  “Michael, Peake’s still playing with the yarn droplets, and he’s all wet.”

Michael: Yarn Droplets?

Me (confused): Yarn droplets coming out of the shower.

Michael: Yarn Droplets?

Me: Yarn droplets.

Michael: Don’t you mean water droplets?

Me: *Blinks* Oh, yeah.

My brain just completely switched the word for water for yarn.  To be fair, I’m working on a design that has to do with water right now, and is in a waterish color, and I’d spent the last hour knitting and meditating on the intersection of water and land – yarn and water were kinda already twined in my mind.

But I’m kinda glad that it’s Michael who shares my space.  He has 5 years figuring this stuff out.

Making Pomander Balls and Decorating for the Holidays

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Things are happening around here lately.  On the professional front, I have a a due-date on Dec 21 – I’ve got a week and change to get things done.  Let’s be frank – it’s going to be close.  But I’ve already got a lot of the math done, and one of the sleeves done, so I think I’ll be good on turning this in on time.  It helps that the sample I’m making is only for myself – the company makes their own samples, so I don’t have to have my sample quite done by the time the written pattern is in.  The hard part?  My math has to be spot on.

Michael and I went and got a tree last night.  It’s fat and pretty and now dominates the apartment.  It smells of pine trees.  After we brought home the tree and set it up, Michael took to stringing lights right away, but I had some emails to send.  When I turned around after (well I’m not quite sure how long…) I’d finished, the apartment was a glowing belighted place.  Michael did a good job.

The only thing left for me to do was make a Pomander.  What’s a pomander?  Well, sources argue about its origins, but around the 15th century they were being used as air-fresheners in more fortunate homes.  Made of cloves and oranges (both expensive items) they were a classy way of spicing up the air.  I learned to make them in Sweden when I was abroad, though they pop up all over Europe and the United States.  I can’t vouch for anywhere else (so international readers, pipe up if you know what a pomander is, or if it has a different word).

What you basically do is take whole cloves, and poke them into any hard-skinned citrus fruit like oranges, clementines, mandarins, and more rarely lemons and limes.  They work like an air freshener, infusing the air with orange essential oils and the smell of cloves.

He’s the process of making mine:

What you’ll need: a medium sized orange
(one that looks nice and smells even better), about .75 oz of cloves,
string and a toothpick, small knitting needle or small grade nail.
Tie string around the orange.  I wrapped mine around several times,
securing the string each time I got  to where it crossed.
I had eight lines running around.
Some people like to use ribbon; if you go that route,
add it at the end so the ribbon doesn’t get  stained with orange juice.
Secure with a little glue.
For now, just mark where the ribbon is supposed to go so you don’t put cloves there.

Use the toothpick or other poke tool to poke holes in the
orange where you want the cloves to go. This makes it
easier not to break the cloves.  I like to use a few cloves to
secure the string so they don’t slip around.  Then, trace a design
onto your orange with the cloves.  I just followed the string.
You want to use as many cloves as you have. The more cloves
in the orange, the less likely it is to mold.  Also, the more fragrant.
Hang your pomander.
As it ages it will shrink, and you might have to push the cloves
further in or tighten the string/ribbon.

Have fun!

Knitting and Crocheting through Hurricane Sandy (Frankenstorm)

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my hair got in the way when I was working,
 hence the hairbrush

We interrupt the normally scheduled program to say that there’s a storm outside.  Those on the East Coast have probably noticed.  Even if you aren’t on the east coast, you’ve probably heard about it.  If you live in the US and haven’t heard about Hurricane Sandy… well, I’m in awe of you.  I thought I was the most disconnected person from the news, and even I heard about it a few days ago.

Anyhoo, Michael and I have holed up in the apartment with the cats.  We have plenty of everything, and are now just hoping the power doesn’t go out long enough that the stuff in our freezer thaws.

 I also stayed home from work, which feels much like a snow day did when I was a child: I get an extra day to catch up before I have to go back to real life.  I’ve been using the time to work on design submissions (mostly for Knitpicks, though also for Sockupied), blog posts, and various other things that normally don’t get done until the last moment.

swatches for propopsals –
tiny so I don’t give away too much.

This hurricane reminds me much of a Nor’Easter we had when I was 8? 7? 6?  Somewhere around there.  We had planted a new tree in the front yard at the end of Summer – not the best time to plant, but trees go on sale then, so cheaper.  The wind and snow was blowing such that the snow was going sideways, and we took bets throughout the two days we were holed up as to when the small tree would give up the ghost and go down.

The tree actually did stay up (and as far as I know it’s still beside the house.  But I feel like Michael and I are making bets as to how long the power is going to stay on.  Will it stay on until this evening so when we are done working we can watch M*A*S*H?  Or will it futz out sometime during the night?

It makes me really happy that my hobbies are not technology based.  Technology makes things easier, but it’s not impossible to get by without them.

What are you doing to while away the storm?  Were you able to work from home?  Are you watching from the West Coast?  Let me know.

Apple Butter and Orchards

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It seems that apple picking, apple butter, apple sauce, and canning are in the air.  In my blog reader alone I had sever people telling of their weekend orchard adventures.  But most eerie was Laura Nelkin talking about making apple butter just as I came back from stirring my own in the crockpot.

Our recipes are a little different, but the idea is the same – taking the fruits of the harvest and preserving them for the year to come.

My family lives in the Hudson Valley area of New York, and before that, we came from Massachusetts, where when I went to school, learning about Johnny Appleseed was part of the preschool, 1st and 2nd grade curriculum (it might have also had something to do with the fact that he was born in Leominster, MA, where I lived when I was young).  Apple picking is nearly a cultural thing in both those parts.  On apple picking days the four of us children would eat a light breakfast (As my mother knew we’d be eating apples in the orchard until we were practically sick) and then go picking.  In a good orchard picking wouldn’t take very long, so then we’d go run in the maize maze, eat cider doughnuts and become awful hellions.  The ride home would be sticky-faced children that had subsided into an exhausted post-applepicking haze.

Those types of memories stay with you, and when I found out Michael had never went apple picking it was clear that had to change.  He had to be educated – seeing as he thought apples were “okay” and he’d really only had red delicious and granny smith (both of which are really not representative of the best of apples).

We now go picking each year.

Last year we went picking and accidentally got just over 100 lbs of apples.  We were processing for DAYS.

This year we were much more reasonable – 50 lbs for canning, 10 lbs for eating.  It’s going to be a fun next few days.

Our Apple Butter Recipe:
To make 8 cups of apple butter:

Core and quarter 48 apples, skins on.
Boil until they can be poked with a fork.
Run through food mill, skins on (if using red apples, it gives the sauce a lovely pink color).  We normally run it through the coarse setting, and then again through the finest setting.
Add desired amount of sugar (approx 2 cps) and apple pie spice (well, actually, Michael has his own mix, but seeing as it’s won prizes at the Montgomery County Fair, he’s not sharing, even with me)
Put in crockpot and cook on high, stirring every 1/2 hour to full hour.  Cook all day, until it’s reduced by 1/2.
Can it in mason jars.

Enjoy all year.

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