hehehe. i said i would swatch all weekend and knit on my sweater, but then beckie emailed me and said let’s go to spinning guild on saturday.
oh man, that sounded so good, i did not even hesitate one minute before throwing my saturday plans out the window. in fact, i got motivated by knowing i would be gone all day today, and got my butt out to the garden for some long-overdue re-arranging.
i had cut down the last of the swiss chard the other day, since it had not grown much larger all month. i made two of these thursday night with it
quiche with paper-thin slices of potato at the bottom, and layers of summer squash and chard . . . mmmm. one of them went inot the freezer so i could take it to rhinebeck next month.
in the place where the swiss chard used to stand, i planted spinach; it’s supposed to be a good cool-weather crop, and well, i just adore it. hopefully it will grow well. while i was out there yesterday i took in a small, varied haul of veggies
production is slowing with the shorter, cooler days, but i still get something or other every morning that i can use for dinner. that stuff was turned by late evening into this stuff
we love us some curry, especially on a crisp night. i am really liking the hot of those thin little red and green peppers for curry. i don’t know what kind they are, but they’re perfect for indian foods.
after dinner i worked on my red sweater for the rest of the evening and got about halfway through one of the fronts. i’ll show progress pix another day when there is more to see. i decided to use the size 3 needles and i’m very happy with the fabric in the larger piece. and they just feel more right than the 2s did; the sweater is fairly flying along.
i was enjoying myself so much i did not even notice that 4:30 am had come and gone when i started feeling sleepy. ooops. i got a few hours of shut-eye in and before i knew it, the sun was up and i had to get ready.
and off to the algonquin mill we went this morning, hauling wheels, fiber and dishes for lunch.
the mill spinning guild is fun . . they do a whole day meeting once per month, and everyone comes with wheels in tow to spin together and share lunch. it’s a nice long session and we always enjoy it. i’ve not been able to make it in many months because of work, so it was an especially sweet trip for me. i brought my old camera, so please excuse me if the pictures are a little less nice.
i brought this romney/alpaca swirled wool that has been hanging around for some time, waiting to be spun into heavy worsted yarn to knit a coat (i’ll tell you about that some other day).
it’s a soft locally-raised fiber from per ardua farms; the brown and white romney is soft and the black alpaca makes it even a bit silky. the three colors are made into one roving while maintaining their solid colors so the roving appears to be striped. it spins up into a wonderful mixed-tweed singles
i filled a couple of bobbins and will ply it tonight to see what i have . . i may decide to spin the rest as a 3-ply instead of the two-ply, i’m not sure. i want to wash the yarn and see how it knits up first. i did this before with another similar batch of wool, but the wool is not the same, so i need to re-sample it.
beckie brought some of her own home-raised romney (it’s so soft, you wouldn’t believe it) which she dyed in an array of greens and blues.
the resulting yarn was rich and wonderful. everyone else was working on various types of local wool, too. this guild has a lot of members who raise their own fiber animals, and it’s a good place to see and buy fiber right from our area (which i did not do today, thank you! i’m being SO good.).
kate and a friend are spinning wool from kate’s flock, while kate’s husband keith, who is a sculptor, plays the guitar for us all to spin by (he always answered some questions i had about the asparagus patch, which was extremely helpful). this addition was so awesome—it made the sunshine feel richer and the quiet of the spinners feel cozier.
here is beckie interrupting keith’s playing . . . uh, beckie, ahem?
joanne spins some of hollie’s wool, and make a mess, then fixes it. a little bobbin overflow caused by spinning in one spot for too long.
(her rhythm was probably broken by the lack of music . . . beckie)
by this hour most of the members had gone home but a few of us die-hards were left, frantically trying to get plied, or a bobbin filled, or just having too-nice of a chat with friends.
mike is the “keeper” at the mill, which is a historic site in carrollton, OH. we use the schoolroom for guild meetings. mike always makes himself available to open up, hang out, and close down, and joins us for lunch as well. he is a Nice Guy.
then i came home, took a nap, and wrote my post. now, i think it might be time to see what the leftovers are up to in the fridge . . .
31 thoughts on “playin’ hooky”
Sounds like you will be happier with the 3’s. The spinning day sounds so wonderful! I’ll take some leftover quiche 🙂
Oh, what an awesome spinning guild! Local fiber, historic site, spinners, sun, and music: what more could you ask for? That sure sounds like the recipe for a perfect day! And Mike must be a really Nice Guy, because we all know you don’t make use of capital letters lightly! 😉
I just dined on curried chicken with cashews, and your posting still makes me hungry. We obviously like the same things…chard, spinach, curry, etc.
Anxious to see the red sweater. Your spinning day at Algonquin looks idyllic, complete with guitar. But, I came over to get a couple of patterns, so I will just mosey over there and hope I can figure it out.
Very pleased you had a spinning day. I was thinking today there hasn’t been much spinning and you must be missing it. Spinach, yum! it is my favourite! when it grows please have some for me. As for the other food, looks divine. Hope you enjoyed it all.
And she cooks, too! You are totally amazing…makes me feel like a real slug!
I love the “feet” photo with your throw pattern on Knitty. And the pattern is lovely, too.
Where ever do you find such wonderful veggie recipes? I want to come eat at your house!! 🙂
Your spinning guild sounds delightful!
Spinning guild can be such a special time. Sounds like you had a great one! The guild I belong to only meets 5 times a year – next meeting is in a couple weeks. Your post reminds me how much I look forward to it.
I wanna come spin with you guys! Looks like lots of fun.
Your garden so plentiful…love the colors it produces.
You deserved this day off. The last thing we want, is for you to suffer any form of burn-out from NOT taking a day off once in awhile. Love the veggies! Reminds me of the poem. . . .
I woke up this morning in Atlanta with temps in the 50’s! It’s finally cooling down here. Today, I get to play hooky too and go to a friend’s house for a spin-in. I’m also going to help a couple of friends try their hands as spinning. Good food, friends, beer and fiber. What could be better!
Can’t wait to see pics of the sweater.
Wow!! What a great day for you Anne!! It amazes me how much you can get done on just a little bit of sleep!!! You are amazing. And that quiche…. I am soooooo excited……
Curry- yum! Care to share how you did yours? I have the same veggies in the garden and fridge and want to use theem up today. Lovely way to spend ones day-spinning. Love the Romney/alpaca mix spun up.
Enjoyed your spinning guild pics. My guild meets once a month too, for a 5 hour spinning session at a member’s home. Wonderful relaxing time. So very peaceful, isn’t it?
I’m with Manise…care to share recipes? 🙂 I’m drooling for the quiche more than for the curry but they both look fabulous!
That sounds like an absolutely delightful weekend! I’m very curious to hear about the knitted jacket–-a particular weakness of mine.
Every time you post pictures of your fresh produce I get incredibly jealous. Like, have to turn away from the screen jealous. I used to have regular access to a farmer’s market, but since I moved I’m completely dependent on the grocery store, and it’s a bit depressing. Grow on!
Delurking to say hello, and compliment you on your excellent garden and cooking skills. And knitting, of course, but currently my little garden is overflowing with summer squash, and I’m drawing an end-of-season blank as to what to do with them. Your quiche-to-freezer idea is an excellent one – thank you! Have you tried roasting your summer squash (in chunks, on a pan with olive oil and salt and pepper) and freezing them? I’m thinking I might go that way with everything that doesn’t end up in a quiche or soup.
Happy weekend.
Anne, it just sounds like you had the most lovely day yesterday! The quiche and veggies all look so yummy, you are sooo inspiring in this to me as well. I love hearing about your gardening, you are so talented in so many varied ways.
Can’t wait to see what your sweater is turning into. With all this lovely weather for inspiration, who can’t be in a good mood 😉
Knitting and cooking in one posting! You excel yourself. The quiche looks delicious [I hope that’s not just because I cooking supper?]
Best wishes
Sounds like a great time. Lovely colors from the garden. I bet they tasted even better.
Good. You got in some R&R time for yourself. You needed it!!
One sad aspect of the season ending is that I will miss your food porn.
love those skinny peppers. yum.
sounds like you had a great day – full of spinning!
You say you are going to Rhinebeck? Hopefully I’ll see you there! Your garden food looks so yummy. I’ve been gathering some extras from my mom’s garden this year. My yard is not so good for gardens sadly.
Love your website, Anne. Those peppers are what we call Thai chiles. Get ’em all the time here during the summer, but summer is winding down. They are also good dried or preserved in a bottle of vinegar, preferably coconut palm vinegar, as they would be in SE Asia. More lacy shawls and food pleeze!
Mmmm….
Good food, good fiber, good folks
What is the name of the white squash that is frilled around the middle edge? I love that stuff, but cannot remember the name to ask for it.
The spinning days looks like a lovely event, even though spinning seems to be one of the few things I don’t do – or try to do.
“i was enjoying myself so much i did not even notice that 4:30 am had come and gone”
Boy, do I recognize that situation.
The quiche looks yummy and so does the curry, any chance of you sharing the recipes?
The spinning guild looks like it was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday. I think I need to set aside a Saturday for spinning, thanks for the inspiration!
Oh, that quiche looks delicious! I haven’t had quiche in ages, it must be time to fix that!
The spinning group looks like so much fun! You have such lovely wool to spin, it looks so neat on the bobbin!
Playing hooky sounds delicious. I’m telling you, you will have to start sharing some of those recipes. M is a vegetarian and would love that quiche recipe, yummy!
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