all about anne (not me, the other anne)

Posted on Posted in designing, food and garden, lace/shawls, projects, spinning and fiber

i did a little spinning the other day . . not as much as i would have liked, but it was fun (oh, i haven’t been doing enough of it and oh, how i feel the void . . .).
anne sent me fiber samples for yarns she is designing that will be used in a few upcoming projects we have planned.

the yarns will be mill spun from anne’s fiber blends; i will not be spinning the yardage for the project. we just wanted to get a rough idea of what the fiber will look like in a yarn.

we like.
the brown sample in the middle will be the yarn for the stole i am designing for “lace in the woods”, a knitters retreat at big sur that is coming up in june. hosted by jackie of the knitting hutch (ravelry group here), this promises to be an exciting opportunity to spend a week revolving through lace-focused workshops taught by cookie A., mim, susan, and me.
participants will have the chance to purchase special-edition kits for this piece that include the artisan yarn, a blend of soft alpaca, some jacob wool, and silk . . . a real luxury fiber.

the stole i am designing will be an exploration of woodland flora, and will be introduced in my workshops during the retreat, along with instruction for the stitches involved and a discussion of design process. it was inspired in part by the tree scum socks of last spring, along with all the lovely browns and greens of our deeply shaded back yard.
in addition to the kits described above, there will also be a kit available to anyone which will include a hand-dyed yarn with a similar look, though not the artisan fiber blend.
we’ll talk more about specifics later in the spring when the project is actually underway.

the gray tweed yarn will be for a manLace selection for the fall installment of anne’s change of seasons lace club. it is a wonderfully soft alpaca (feels like bunny, i swear!) blended with slate-blue silk and silk noils in greens and black. love, right?
subscriptions for the club are open til the end of this month and i know there are some gorgeous projects happening for it, so if you are interested, better scurry.

and the black . . . hehehe . . . let’s just say anne and i should never tempt ourselves but tossing around ideas. the fiber sample was originally posed for the lace in the woods projects but i thought it was darker and more turquoise than i wanted for the forest floor.

however, after spinning it up the other day, it really struck a chord with us, and i threw the notion of meteor showers into the mix and, well, before we knew it we were planning another project. more on that when the time draws near.

i know. that’s a lot of chatter about such a little bit of spinning.

i spent most of yesterday concentrating on charting stitch patterns for the new shawl project. i love that part—it gives me pains in my head but then it feels so good when it stops, that i keep going anyway.
i have just a little more swatching to do and then i will be ready to reveal my plan.
but trust me, i am working on it—pretty hard, too.

the other night there was a swatching party at the new yarn shop in town and i went. the object was to grab something form a bag of unlabeled (and hopefully unfamiliar) yarn and knit a swatch for the store.

i got a beautiful soft, squishy merino sock yarn, that i instantly recognized—by the colorway alone—as . . . guess whose?? that anne.

you have to understand; not only do anne and i share a name, which is enough to confuse almost everyone when we’re working together, but we are ever-so-weirdly in sync much of the time. therefore, it felt kinda right that in a blind grab-bag of maybe 20 yarn balls, i would pick hers. of course i chose by how nice the fiber felt, too, which probably stacked the deck in her favor.

the funny thing is, i have NOT knit with anne’s sock yarn yet (you may have noticed that my sock knitting is way behind it’s usual production level; more on that in a near-future post), so i leapt at the chance to try it.
here’s my swatch

OMG—why hasn’t anyone pounded me over the head and told me to knit baby socks before?? hahaha! this was way too fun.

and so useful. you might have noticed that i don’t do much baby knitting. i like knitting baby stuff. and i DO have friends that make babies. i am always embarrassed when i don’t offer them knitted gifts, but for some reason, it’s hard for me to get into the deadline thing of it.
(actually, i’ll tell you a secret: i don’t knit baby stuff because i’m frightened to death that i won’t be able to stop, and i’ll never get another thing done. you know what i mean . . .)

so, here i think i have found the perfect solution. i can make funny baby socks from leftovers and send them to friends who make babies. little david sock replicas . . it’ll be a hit. for instance, i am awaiting news of an impending birth this very minute and this will be the perfect thing; it’s a friend from work who will be totally chuffed to get miniature handknit socks.

and, as opposed to a lace blanket that might be saved for “good” (til it rots from disuse, even), these will be used.

so anyhow, yeah—this yarn is perfect for that . . it is supersoft, warm, and i would totally use this colorway (red rock) on a boy or a girl.

ok, now chop-chop—i gotta get back to that swatching i was talking about.

UPDATE

and in the not knitting but geometrically adds to your knitting time department:

oh wow, i totally forgot to tell you about this fabulous meal we had last night that took—i swear—about 5 mins to put together.

take an unbaked pie shell (any kind, homemade or not)

in a bowl combine 2-3 packages of drained and squeezed cut spinach, 1/4 cup olive oil, half a pound of crumbled feta cheese, 2 sliced fresh tomatoes, and (optional) sautéed chopped onion and garlic.

add salt and pepper to taste and dump it in the pie shell; drizzle olive oil on top.

bake in a 350 oven til the crust and top are browned and a little bubbly, about 45 mins.
knit with smug satisfaction while waiting.

dumbest recipe ever, but sooo yummy. i’ve had it with and without the onion and it was delicious either way. you can totally have this stuff on hand to make it any time.

51 thoughts on “all about anne (not me, the other anne)

  1. Absolutley lovely spinning! I am so innnn for one of those special edition kits for lace in the woods. We can only purchase it while at the retreat right? Wow that means you are going tohave to carry a lot of yarn eh?

  2. Great gift idea for a present topper too! I did knit a baby pair from one of those pattern a day calendars last year…. actually the only pattern in the whole thing worth knitting… What pattern if any, did you use?

  3. I *love* the black and the brown yarns! You spun it beautifully. The little sock is extremely cute, and the pie looks so good… Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  4. I hear you about people saving things “for good”. I made my mom a super easy beaded mohair openwork scarf last year for Christmas. The moment that she said that it was “too nice to wear” I told her that I’d never knit her anything again unless I saw her using the darned scarf. I’d rather have her wear it to threads and have to make you a her one, than see my hours of work sitting on its shelf for the rest of my life.

  5. The other beauty part about making hand knit baby socks is that because they don’t do much more than wave their little feet about, the socks are never gonna wear out. Just make sure you use a yarn that won’t felt if sucked and chewed on.
    I am totally making that pie for myself next weekend when my hubby is away (serving spinach up to him would be considered grounds for divorce). It looks delicious!

  6. All three of those yarns are yummy but I really fixated on the brown one…mmmmmmm.
    Such a cute little sock, I love knitting the wee socks, super fast projects.
    I have so much drool to clean up now, between the yarn and the lace talk and the pie… :^)

  7. Love the yarn, love the baby sock and so love the food! Made home made pizza with roasted vegetables last night, thought of you while I made it because of the yummy food you always have on your blog.

  8. Oooh, that pie looks fantastic! I have to try that sometime soon. Darn kids won’t eat it, but that’s why we keep mac & cheese on hand.

    Love the yarns, they’re gorgeous. I am so envious of everyone who will be attending that lace workshop, it sounds like a dream!

  9. you seem to always have so many projects on the go, i don’t know how you keep them all straight! for that matter, i don’t know how you manage to sit with any of them for long enough to finish one.

  10. I am definitely going to make that pie soon. It looks delicious and healthy, and…I need to find more time to knit!!!

  11. Boy way to get me all hopped up about the Lace in the Woods retreat. I’m so excited I can’t type straight! Love all those yarns. Can’t wait for meteor showers – that is such a me thing you wouldn’t believe it.

    I think I’m going to have to make that pie for my mum’s sake someday. I bet she’ll love it. I’m not a big feta fan but I could cope.

  12. That looks SO delicious! The baby socks AND the food! It’s about dinnertime and I shoveled a big driveway today… best I make my way to the kitchen now! lol!

  13. Mmm, that pie looks great. We will definitely try that one!

    My heart is (quite literally) beating faster at the thought of going to the lace knitting retreat. I SO want to be there! Must go talk to Rick, NOW. Can’t wait to see the results of the idea germination going on over there 🙂

  14. Before you do the meteors shower, you MUST come to Arizona, I will take you up to Sunset Crater, it is the most amazing place to look at the stars any night and when you have a meteor shower it is really the best!

  15. OMG, Anne… this is the first I’m seeing the yarn and I am so in LOVE with it! That brown will be perfection combined with your ingenious design.

  16. Oh, I can’t *wait* for the meteor showers.

    And now I want to make something like that for dinner this weekend (except probably with peppers instead of tomatoes, since I’m me). That looks wonderful.

  17. Oh, I am so tempted. Retreats…lace clubs…meteor shower patterns…reading this blog is getting very, very dangerous. =)

  18. The yarns look georgeous ! Now I am even more hapyy that I already signed up for the Seasons Lace project.
    And guess what : I am having my first ever spinning lesson next week !

  19. That looks delicious! Going to try this out sometime this summer, when spinach is in season and a t more easier to find. Must put spinach seed on my list to buy . . . hopefully I’ll have better luck growing it this year.

  20. I love your baby sock idea! I do that too, kid and baby socks with leftovers. I often give a new mom 3 socks–not because her baby has three feet, but because the socks are so easy to lose. And then she still has a pair….

  21. Anne, you are so much fun to dream with..! Thanks for the recipe. Sounds like a fast lunch item for the spin guild meeting.

  22. Ooh, thank you for the recipe! I have been looking for things to do with spinach, and this looks delicious!

    You and The Other Anne are like chocolate and peanut butter. Perfect together. 🙂

  23. Thanks for the recipe. But Jeeez!!!!! Curse you for the enabling!!! I want to go to that retreat so bad, I can taste it (it would fall on my birthday, no less). And the lace club. Sob!!!!!

  24. Drool, drool, drool. All the yarns look fantastic, I don’t think I could choose among them! Thanks for the pie recipe, too!

  25. Anne- I SO wanted to sign up for the lace retreat, but I can’t swing it this year. Maybe you could make a little detour in Toronto…? Just slightly out of the way.

    The pie looks yummy, as does the yarn. Scrummy!

  26. Ooh, nice yarn. It looks really soft. Too bad I can’t touch it through my screen. The baby socks are Too cute.

  27. The yarn looks beautiful! My poor spinning wheels are getting dusty and calling out for me…

    The pie looks good too. Throw some artichoke hearts in there, too, and mmmmmm!

  28. Anne, I’ve GOT to remember that recipe… so easy and so delish.. know of any way to cut down on the fat from the pie crust??

  29. I am troubleshooting the neck to my son’s saddle shoulder shirt-back sweater (EZ system). The front of the neck is too high, and I am hoping to steek with a chain of crochet and then knit an insert to open it up. I showed him David’s Christmas sweater to give him ideas for the neckline, and his comment was “I want a sweater like that”. (high praise from this teenage boy). I agreed with him – David’s sweater is wonderful. Your designs are great, but then I’ve known that for a while.

  30. That’s IT! You finally put it in words for me, and I’m sitting here going, yes! Not knitting baby things because you’d never stop…when there are so many shawls to knit, too. That’s me, and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me that I was avoiding the whole thing.

    That quiche looks very very good.

  31. Love the little sock! And your pie looks delicious to me but my husband will not touch Feta, more’s the pity. Maybe a mild mozarella for him?

  32. You have inspired my knitting countless times. Today I just HAD to try a spinach pie! It was fantabulous, and I’d have never tried it without you. I used sundried tomatoes, a couple of eggs for binding and some red pepper sauteed with the onion and garlic before mixing everything together. I can’t wait for the leftovers tomorrow!! Thank you for all of it!! 🙂

  33. ooh-la-la that meteor showers sure does catch my eye 🙂
    and I made the spinach pie recipe last night for dinner. I sat smug and stuffed (after eating way too much of it) thanks so much for sharing – I loved it.
    I so wish that I could be joining you in Big Sur this summer. Maybe next year.

  34. The brown yarn is lovely, not that the other two aren’t, I just like it better…very tree dryad 🙂

    I like the thought of lace in the woods, but the logistics of getting there from here is difficult to say the least…sigh.

  35. I’m going to try your recipe tonight. I’m short meat in the house at the moment, but I have all those ingredients. Love it. Also all the fibery stuff too.
    I’m not often daunted by things, but I have to tell you I could cast on your ‘wings’ shawl, but I’m kind of waiting until I have no projects and my courage is ‘screwed to the sticking point’. (Shakespeare I think.) 🙂

  36. Stopping for spinach on the way home tonight…..

    I LOVE the fiber samples – reminds me of the yarn I was going to make for Moth. Hmmm.. What happened to that sample, anyway?

  37. my knitting-obsessed sister sent me your spinach pie recipe. i made it last night and it was delicious! i added some nutmeg to the filling (sounds crazy, tastes great)…

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