good folks, good music, good eats

Posted on Posted in designing, food and garden, lace/shawls, projects, yarn and dyeing

gardenEats07_20

look at this nice little haul from our garden. it’s so great to be in that season where i can go out with my colander and fill it with a variety of things for dinner. we’ve got squash, eggplant, a few okra, a couple tomatoes, a handful of peas, and some green beans—plus thai basil and a sheath of swiss chard.

i added a large onion, some shitake mushrooms, and a block of tofu and we had the perfect combination of things for a thai curry. which we cooked and ate last night, mmm-mm. how can you not have energy when you eat this way? i’m super excited to be cooking from our garden once again.

hunterAnne07_20

the other day, we had a visitor—our friend hunter hammersen, author of the knitter’s curiosity cabinet books, among others and a dear sweet colleague. she was down from cleveland to do some research for her new book project and we got to have lunch while she was here. which gave us time to talk for a few hours, which was wonderful.

confSportSamples07_20

her timing was perfect—we had just received a box of samples from the mill for our confection sport yarn, so i was anxious to show them to her. we had planned to have the sport version of our 3-ply corriedale confection worsted spun to about the same specifications—basically, the same yarn in a thinner diameter.

but then the mill thought the sport version might need some adjusting—maybe even a big adjustment to a 2-ply construction. i wasn’t so sure about that; i felt the two yarn weights should match in appearance and performance (and it turns out that every knitter i present the dilemma to agrees—don’t play around with the number of plies).

but i was willing to entertain the idea, so we got some samples spun.

confSport2ply07_20

now the 2-ply is squishier and airier; we particularly like the one on the right, which is spun a bit tighter. but wow, the difference in texture is a problem for me. plus, a 2-ply has several other traits that will make it perform differently from the 3-ply.

then there were three samples of 3-ply yarn, each spun  little more loosely to offset some of the stiffness that the miller felt was problematic.

confSport3ply07_20

the original yarn (top) with the three variations. truthfully, we all like the original yarn most and maybe the one spun just a tad looser. thanks to its lincoln lineage, corriedale fiber is a bit stiffer than say, pure merino, but that crispness provides incredible stitch definition and sheen, plus a sturdiness that merino on its own cannot offer. it still has lots of bounce; when knit on larger needles, it makes a lovely, soft fabric.

below, a swatch knit with the original 3-ply sample.

swatchesConfSportA07_10

it’s been a really busy week, so i haven’t had time to swatch the best three or four of the samples, but that’s on my agenda for tomorrow. i’m pretty sure thought that we will either stick to the original 3 ply construction or go with the next looser version.

storeProgress07_20

we showed hunter our new office and retails space, which is shaping up nicely—we are planning to be open for sales by friday, when activities are launched city-wide for hall of fame week and the enshrinement festival. we are located just blocks away from the football hall of fame, so if you are in town with a fan, please come by to say hello.

we’ll post lots more information about our opening as the week progresses . . . including contact information, hours, and any other pertinent news.

pedalPusher07_20

speaking of confection, now that my monthly club patterns are published and the purple club launched, i have finished my pedal pusher cardigan prototype and i love it.

pedalPusherEnds07_20

it still needs to be blocked but i’m waiting til all my ends are tucked in (working on that now)

pedalPusherSeaming07_20

and my underarm seams are sewn up (i have one done and one to go). i’ve been squaring away the finishing work during the late night hours while we watch each daily installment of the tour de france.

pedalPusherPocket07_20

my pockets are knit up but i won’t sew them on til after the sweater is blocked. since i knit the sweater all in one piece, it will be kind of hard to steam block the individual parts, so i’ll probably just steam the seams and then wet block the whole garment. once the pockets are sewn on, i’ll steam them as a finishing step. so exciting; i always love completing a new sweater, no matter what the weather (though it happens we are having a string of very cool nights).

now i just have to figure out what buttons i want to use; sarah has a whole bunch of my buttons somewhere in her sample stuff, so i have to wait til monday before finalizing that step.

i’m working on the pattern and should be able to send that to the tech editor before too long, yay.

empreinteProgress07_20

i’ve also been working on my cotton empreinte a little at a time, during classes and while chatting on the phone. in fact, after i finish this post, i’m calling my mom, so i’ll work on it while we talk. it’s really turning out lovely; i know i’m going to love it.

now that david’s cap is done, i need to begin a new one; i was thinking that i’d knit up the bocce cap from last winter in one of the cotton yarns next, giving me a good excuse to finally release that pattern.

neighborhoodParty07_20

the other night we went to a wonderful party at our neighbor’s home to celebrate their retirements and the completion of some projects around their home. bruce is part of a bluegrass group so anytime they have a get-together, entertainment is on hand. i just love this photo of the group, haha; they are so much fun.

neighborhoodPartyA07_20

and even more so when the women join in.

neighborhoodPartyC07_20

david and i enjoyed chatting with our neighbors, and listening to music (this is him smiling)

oculusProgressB07_20

i worked on my oculus scarf until it got too dark. i got two more repeats done so that wasn’t bad.

oculusProgress07_20

it’s such wonderfully lush piece, but incredibly light. the sweet georgia silk mohair that i’m knitting with is just gorgeous.

neighborhoodPartyB07_20

norma had the yard strung with colorful lights and had set up a memory tree that we could add to by making an ornament with a favorite memory written on it.

greenStreet07_20

today i got up early to do a few things in the kitchen and then set out for my long sunday run. i’m training for a couple of half marathons that are coming up in august and september. i always do a  long run on sunday, but between may and july, i didn’t do any runs longer than ten miles. so i’ve been working on increasing and today i finally hit the thirteen mile mark again. i went a little faster than i probably should have, but it felt good.

i’m pretty sure i’m going to be feeling that tomorrow, hehe.

well, time to talk to my mom now; have a good monday. i’ll be back with more in a few days.

7 thoughts on “good folks, good music, good eats

  1. Best of luck with the new store. I have a feeling that a trip back to NE Ohio will be coming along in the next few months, and perhaps I will get to shop in person, and perhaps by then I will have knitted up my Bare Naked Kent.

    Adding my unsolicited opinion : I am glad you are doing sport weight. There are so many patterns out there these days that use loosely knit fingering weight yarn to achieve 24 st/in and for those of us who live in truly cold climates, they just won’t do, For that same reason, a somewhat denser 3 ply is also a bonus. Loft and drape are swell, but they don’t make for as warm, or neat, a sweater.

    And for the record: Davids stalwart smile is part of the appeal 😉

  2. All those fresh vegetables and salad look delicious. We ate potatoes and broad beans from the garden yesterday, so good. I love your Empreinte – you have probably blogged about the size already but would you mind telling me again and also how many balls of the cotton you need for it. I love the photo of you and Hunter – are you wearing a knitted skirt? It looks amazing. I love David’s ‘smile’ too – it’s part of him!

  3. Beautiful yarn, beautiful knitting, beautiful food and nice neighbors — very inspirational post!

  4. I am very excited about the sport Confection and am fascinated by the 2-ply v. 3 ply issue. I am baffled by the different 2 plies and how they vary from the 3 ply. I will very much look forward to seeing those swatches. Must say, having done a sweater in Confection worsted, I really love it. The stitch definition on my cables was amazing and it is so warm and cozy.

  5. Lovely swatches and hooray for finishing a sweater…

    Also, I adore the brick street photo…

  6. I’m so excited about pedal pusher! Can’t wait for it.

    Congrats on your store (and the open space in your house, too!)

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