Pischi Days

Of Caramels and Chemo Hats

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

I have a weakness for caramels and Susan saved a precious caramel for me. Her Mum brought them all the way from Iowa, one pound of soft, sweet, buttery goodness. The little package was part of her dowry for umpteenth  trip to the hospital for treatment. I have been hunting a recipe to rival the flavour and texture ever since. I think that I have found a recipe that closely resembles the taste but not the texture. Making caramels in 80% humidity is not always a success story. The first batch turned into caramel goo, sorry, I meant sauce. I presented my "sauce" to Susan upon her arrival home from the hospital. The glass dish was accompanied by several Granny Smith apples. It was lapped up by all and sundry. I had a hit. There was one more small glass jar that I had put in the refrigerator. When the daughter of the house arrived home she, too, wanted a sample. The door was opened and we heard the crash. The sauce was history. We wore two sad faces.

Back to the sauce pan and onto the recipe. It does harden if you take the time to really boil the concoction slowly and use the thermometer. I will be cutting these up and wrapping them this afternoon.
Susan is heading out for the beach on Monday morning for her second round of a five day chemotherapy treatment. I sending her off with more caramels. Here is a link for her CarePage.

I talked about my friend  in past blog posts. She is an aspiring knitter, garter dishcloths are her specialty. We will be working on the purl stitch soon, I hope! Here she is with her trusty cat, Bella, making sure that  garter doesn't get too easy.

 

So, as it happens, Susan has lost what was her crowning glory. The hair came out overnight in large patches on her pillow. Even though we live in mind numbing heat, hair keeps the body temperate. It was time to make some hats. My first attempt was the Belliveau Cove, a crochet bucket like hat. I was not pleased with the results due to the lack of depth in the crown, too Mother Hubbard. I like the pattern, it took two hours to whip up, so I made a second version with three extra rows of shell pattern. It looks much better. The flowers are a friends creation and make the hat extra special. Suz will be in the hospital all next week. I hope she remembers to take her knitting.

 

As I was boiling the caramel concoction above, Susan was sitting in my kitchen and telling me about the overwhelming feeling of walking into these cancer centers, head spinning, fear and confusion reign supreme.  On her last stay at Cape Canaveral Hospital, she was showered with visits and cards. She told me of one patient that had been there for months and had no one and no place to go. Her daughter found this to be so sad so she came up with the idea to set up a table at the race filled with paper and art supplies for anyone who wants to make cards to take to fourth floor next week. Susan talked about how she would like to be part of a network to help those without family to provide a hand to hold, a story read aloud at bedside, or a ride to a treatment. Here is the address should you feel inclined to send a card.

Cape Canaveral Hospital
4 E/W Oncology
701 West Cocoa Beach Causeway
Cocoa Beach, FL 32931

Our little town is coming together to partake in a special triathlon for cancer survivors and there caretakers. Lots of us will be racing for Susan. I know that knitters have big hearts so please just turn your thoughts south this Friday evening and send us positive energy.

Here is a recent article that ran in our local paper.

Titusville mother is one tough competitor
PATTI SPONSLER
FREELANCE

PATTI SPONSLER
FOR FLORIDA TODAY

Susan Slayman is a tough competitor -- both on a triathlon course and against cancer. One month after finishing the 2006 Family Challenge Triathlon, the Titusville mother of three was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma, requiring surgical removal of a tumor in her lung.
She returned to last year's race with a new appreciation for what she could do, even though an ominous lump had appeared on her leg and the results of her biopsy were not yet known.
"I had seen an article about a man who had lost his leg to sarcoma and was still doing marathons," she said. "I thought about how grateful I was to still be able to participate in the race."
During the last few months, Slayman has undergone surgery and radiation for the sarcoma that returned to her lung, as well as her diaphragm and leg. Her July 4 holiday was spent in the hospital receiving the first of several five-day rounds of chemotherapy.
The cancer has forced her to broaden her definition of participation this year.
"I was getting a little teary-eyed and feeling sorry for myself that I will probably have to be a spectator this year instead of a participant," said Slayman. "During my quiet time, though, God showed me that out of fear or because of lack of time management or whatever reason, many of us really don't participate in many areas of our lives. We just let life and opportunities to touch others pass by."
Slayman chooses to do otherwise and will be fully engaged while encouraging those who are well enough to swim, bike and run in the Cancer Challenge Triathlon.
"I know that even as a spectator, I can choose to participate while cheering others on," she said. "Cancer is not going to stop me from participating in life, no matter what."

DuhCapo... Oh, I Meant DaCapo

I can't quite remember when I first discovered the Hanne Falkenberg sweater collection. I think that I saw the Mermaid Jacket  written and pictured in a Woolworks catalogue. Anyway, I was in love. I trawled the internet and found a treasure trove of Hanne sweaters at a Danish company that shipped overseas. I found the DaCapo and was stunned at the range of colours on offer. I couldn't resist the pink/orange/red combination. It seemed very daring, so, decision made.  Ordering from Denmark turned out to be far less expensive than buying a  kit in the US.

I remember when the box arrived and I unpacked a clear tote filled with yarn and a 2 page instruction booklet. The presentation was minimal and the yarn was  thin and coarse. I loved the packaging but was still so naive about yarn and insecure about my skills and started to wonder if I were  foolish in spending so much money on a garment that I would have to make. Did I have enough know how?
The package sat on the buffet for several weeks while I shopped for the proper size circulars. Once the needles arrived, then I procrastinated some more. One day I just decided to cast on and be damned. The sweater starts in the middle of the back with 5 stitches and grows in a mitered triangle while incorporating a clever knitted I-cord  onto the bottom edge. After countless fits and starts I was on my way.

The jacket back grew quickly in the beginning, but slowed as the triangle grew to almost 300, tiny, tiny stitches. Garter stitches galore grated on my nerves. Soon other yarns and projects seduced me and I set the jacket aside. Early on I had it on display in a variety of containers, kind of like art. It would receive some attention and then be tossed back in the bowl. I would experience guilt every time the bright colours caught my eye. Soon I jumbled the jacket and the yarn into a closed basket.

As months passed I would pull it out and in a burst of energy, knit. Soon I was at a point where the geometry and holding needles came into play along with colour changes. Setting the jacket aside for long periods caused much confusion as to where I was in the pattern. At one point I was so lost and confused that I called the company to ask for clarification. They referred me to Hanne herself. I was shocked when the phone rang and she answered. She was gracious and patiently answered my frazzled questions. The jacket was momentarily back on track. I had knit a sleeve and joined it with the rest of the jacket and knit the placket. Then, fool that I am, set the whole thing aside again. By now a few years had elapsed. I was so close.
A few weeks ago I pulled to jacket out of its basket. This thing had been on my WIP list on Ravelry for far too long. I didn't want to move it the  ZZZ section at the bottom of my projects page. I wanted to finish, no matter what. I took the jacket to our group at the bread store. I received a few skeptical looks as to the size. It looked tiny. Mary Beth had me slip on the jacket, needles, holders, and all. It looked a tad small but not hopeless. I fed off the encouragement that my fellow knitters gave me. I sped through the placket and cast on the last bit, the orange band around the collar. Once I cast off, I cheered. Unfortunately I was the only one to hear. I sewed up the sleeves, the only two seams in this ingenious design. Then I tried it on. It fit! 

Yesterday I gave it a bath and spun out the extra water in the washer. I laid it out on my butcher block and hand blocked it into shape, trained a fan onto the surface and let it dry. By dinner time it was ready for a trip through the garden.

My model is a tough critic  and her approval was all I needed to top off my pleasure. I still can't believe that I am done. Don't get me wrong, there are mistakes. I read some of the instructions incorrectly, but only an experienced Falkenberger would know.

In my haze of accomplishment, I purchased a colour card for the entire Jamieson & Smith yarn line. According to several bloggers, the Spindrift Shetland 2 ply is the perfect match in fibre and weight to knit a Falkenberg. Is there another DaCapo in my future? Who knows, they say love is better the second time around.

Monumental

Construction may be slow in the rest of the country but Atlanta is getting its bit of Paris and so am I. Well not quite Paris but a bit of European architecture.

In the spirit of July 4th and in the wake of oppressing humidity, my neighbour strolled over for a chat. As we were sitting and talking about mindless things, Tom mentioned the Millennium Gate. He read about the project  in the paper. I had not heard about it but you can read about it here and make up your own mind. Evidently the placement is less than ideal and it frames an IKEA. Well, they tried.

Since the day was slow Lisa I had the bright idea to build our own monument.  I have been the proud owner of  3 boxes of Anker building blocks that I brought back from Germany in 2001. These blocks have a long, colourful history and are based on the father of kindergarten, Friedrich Froebel's, wood blocks. I purchased these thinking that my son would enjoy them but I m the one who secretly plays with them. To me they are a box of happiness from the moment I slide back the lid and inhale the first blast of linseed oil. I never cease to marvel at the precise order each box is in, all the pieces in their place according to the drawing on the lid.

The stones are still made in the same moulds that were used in the 19th century using an original recipe of quartz, chalk, linseed oil, and natural pigments. Unfortunately the stones are a little fragile and if dropped, they chip.

 

The plans, although accurate, are not always easy to follow. This makes for quite a challenge. We chose to make the guard house out of all the pieces in all three boxes. We started out on shaky ground. The Portico was tricky and fell apart on the first two tries. Once we had the roof going, the rest came together. It took us a good hour construct our monument and we cheered when the last block was in place. Now I'm ready for box 10A. Santa, baby, I'm putting this on my on my Christmas list.

I Can See Myself in This

On those days when I  want to keep the world out.

 

 

A Little Blue Swallowtail

The first weekend in November is always reserved for Pioneer Days in Barberville, a two day celebration of everything that is old time Florida. The Florida that was once home to sprawling cattle ranches, pineapple fields, and orange groves. We always go on a Saturday morning and get there right at 9:00 AM, just in time for the first batch of biscuits to come off the wood fire. My husband slathers his with home made apple butter and I always go for the country smoked ham.
Then we make our way to the old homesteads to admire the weavers, caners, lace makers, and listen to the sounds of the cracker cowboys snapping their whips.
This year I found a group of spinners on one of the front porches. In the background was a large rack of home spun wool of many breeds. What caught my eye was a small skein of teal blue. It turn out to be finely spun silk. I introduced myself to the spinner and told her that I really admired her work. At first she was cordial and then I showed her my knitting. Cordiality turned to mutual admiration and that we shared Ravelry. That was the magic that it took for her to sell me the precious hand-spun.  I know that I didn't pay enough. It took a few months to find just the right project for this special lace weight.
After plenty of Ravelry browsing, I chose  Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail Shawl. It is the currently the number one lace weight shawl according to Ravelry's pattern browser with 1856 shawl on and off the needles and ready to knit in 2052 queues. After I blocked my shawl and gave it a test twirl around the garden, I can understand why.

As lace goes, this is an easy and a rapid knit. I used a US 3 Knit Picks nickel circular, 32" in length. The yarn was fairly easy to knit with. As it is a hand made yarn it was filled with lots uneven thickness. This was a something that made knitting the silk special. I imagined how the yarn must have been difficult to spin and how difficult it must be to maintain and even thickness. I love the way the colours stripe and close up the ply is also subtly different.  This time I was successful in blocking points. Casting off as loosely as possible is the secret. I learned my lesson the hard way when I knit the Icarus Shawl and the points along the apex didn't point .

I am keeping this shawl for myself and plan to wear it at Pioneer Days this year. I just hope that Elayne will be spinning at her spot on the front porch. 

Forget Me Not, Forgot Me Not Me Shoes

I haven't knit cotton socks using anything other than Cascade Fixation. So, when Bonnie added some Panda Cotton to her stash and started to knit her daughter a pair of sock with it and raved about the experience, I was intrigued. My Christmas gift from her were a couple of skeins to become acquainted with. I chose to knit a summer anklet. Something I could wear to the gym.

Forget Me Not Socks are simple to knit and can offer a new sock knitter a  new technique to add to the knitting arsenal.The cuff has a subtle folded picot edge and is turned in and neatly finished. I didn't follow Laura' s instructions to the letter. I knit my cuff by casting on using the long tail method and once the cuff was knit, folded when asked to and picked up a stitch and knitted the two together to  result in a finished edge. The Panda gets a bit splitty and I had to be careful to pick up the right stitches.
Once I completed the round, the rest was easy. The lacy pattern was easy to memorize and the flowers stagger and stack in a predictable fashion. This was great because I didn't want to consult a chart, perfect travel knitting.

How do you like my new shoes? I tried on a pair of the clear Chuck Taylor's but I couldn't  get past the $60.00 price tag for a pair of novelty sneakers. Then, I read about these on Ravelry. They are Skechers Cali Surfer Girl and are available on the web site, free shipping, no tax and I paid $15.00. While they are cute, they can be hot. I wore them to work yesterday and had to shed the socks at lunch. Condensation was beading up in the toe. Not cute. They will be come in handy this summer when we're on the boat. When they get filled with ocean water, that's condensation I can live with.

A Week of Small Accomplishments

If Ravelry gives me anything, it's accountability. In the not so distant past, some of the projects I started were never completed. In the heady moments after finding that perfect pattern, the perfect yarn and after casting on, there were times when the romance ended quickly and the project was cast aside. This is a bad habit that I share with many knitters. When I found Ravelry I never thought that I would actually take the time capture each skein, hank, or ball of yarn digitally and then catalogue it with minute details. That went for my projects as well. Soon I found myself hauling out the yarn, projects completed and in flux. I remember spending several weekends taking pictures and raking my brain as to when I cast on, where I found the pattern, looking for old ball bands. Thank goodness that I had a blog to fall back on.
It's been almost a year since my Raverly marathon. I'm pleased with my progress and I feel that I finally have some oversight over what I knit and the supplies that I own. I don't think that I've ever stuck with a program for this amount of time.
In the spirit of celebrating my accomplishment, I've completed three very small items in the past weeks. Two of these items lingered in the snooze pile far longer than they should have.

Heart Sachet

My aim was for  Valentine's Day with this one. I was looking for a project that would eat up some of the many of the sock yarn remnants that I've managed to collect. My aim was off. I finished this last week. The yarn is STR's Fairgrounds, the pattern is a freebie found on the Interweave site. It took months to finish this up. Although I would not knit this again, I'm pleased with the results and filled it with sweet smelling balsam. It hangs off a knob in my kitchen. 

Honeycomb Scarf

 

My friend, Kathryn,  agreed to model the scarf.  She said it makes her feel like Samantha Jones.

I have a dear friend, Terri, who has a shop that sells all manner of vintage things. She clapped eyes on my Lantern Moon knitting bags and had to open an account. She offered to order items of my choice at cost. I decided to treat myself to Leigh Radford's Silk Gelato. I received the Honeycomb Scarf pattern with it. Knitting on giant hot pink US 35 needles was cumbersome and not portable. The stitches kept slipping off the needles. After revisiting other Gelato projects on Ravelry, I pulled this chestnut out of the  recesses and completed it in a few hours.I finally finished this and am really pleased with the results. While looking for links, I noticed that Lantern Moon now offers a box of Gelato in small "scoops" for embellishing. Maybe I need to consider another order.

  

Klee Scarf

 

This was a guilty splurge and I didn't drag my heels quite as much as with the aforementioned projects. This was a quick and simple knit using tiny balls of pure cashmere. I plan on knitting another using some of my leftover sock yarn scraps.

Another Wee Sock

There is a great Ravelry Group whose members are committed to swapping more tiny socks.The original swap took place a few months ago. It seems that it was so much fun knit a tiny sock, pop it in an envelope,  send it, and in return receive a small sock in the mail.

I still have several WIP's in that stare me in the face when I click on my projects page. Old habits are hard to break, but I can say that I've made peace with my habits and can control the chaos a little bit thanks to a little site called Ravelry.

My New Favorite Box Bag, Instructions Included

My Project Bag

Tools and Materials

    * Sewing Machine
    * Iron
    * Scissors
    * Pins
    * 2 pieces of coordinating cotton fabric, fat quarters work well
    * 1 yard light weight fusible interfacing
    * 1 nylon zipper, 12" long
    * 1/2" wide ribbon or seam binding to hide seams and for tabs
    * coordinating thread

Cut the following pieces

    * outer fabric to a 12" x 16" rectangle
    * lining to a 12 " x 16 ½” rectangle
    * handle 3” x 12”

How to

1. Make a handle by interfacing the wrong side. Fold lengthwise and stitch up the side. Turn inside out. Press and top stitch each long side a scant distance from the edge.

2. Iron the interfacing onto the wrong side of the lining fabric

3. Cut the lining in half across the middle to get 2 pieces, 12” x 8 1/4"

4. Place outer fabric face up, center zipper toggle side down along the 12” edge and place 12” edge of liner face down. Pin in place and sew 1/4” front the edge. Repeat for other side.

5. Fold fabric over so that wrong sides touch and the zipper is exposed. Press and top stitch about 1/4” from the edge.

6. Close zipper and seam the liner so that the bag does not pucker.

7. Turn bag so that the liner is on the outside and the zipper is centered down the center of the bag. Add pull tabs by cutting 3” pieces of ribbon folded in half and centered on the zipper with the loops facing in on the inside. Pin both outer edges and stitch 1/4” from the edge. Cut a 4” piece of binding and center to cover zipper and part of the raw edge. Stitch in the ditch and fold over and stitch again.

8. Refold ends origami fashion so that you achieve a square as in the illustration.

9. Slip the handle in to each of the triangles. Center and pin to secure. They will catch in the seams.

10. Measure 2 – 2 1/2” from each point and stitch on both sides. Repeat this on the bags opposite side.

11. Cut the tips off the triangles and bind the raw edges with ribbon or seam binding.

Blueberries R Us

 

One day, Little Patti went with her friends Bonnie and Lisa to Holland Farms to pick blueberries.
Little Patti and Bonnie brought along their small plastic pails and Lisa brought two plastic pails to put berries in. “We will take our berries to the bakery and freeze them,” said Bonnie.
“Then we will have food for the winter.”

With profound apologies to Robert McCloskey.

Its that time of year when the blueberries are ripe for the picking. We have the good fortune of having a local family open up their farm after the commercial harvest to the locals for a $2.00 a pound free for all. Bonnie, Lisa, and I pulled out our hats, sunscreen and coolers and spent  last Thursday on the ten acre farm harvesting the berries left behind by the pickers. This year yielded a bumper crop of berries. I was able to harvest about 40 lbs. Here is my favorite muffin recipe  Here's Bonnie making sure that we are harvesting the only the best.
We reconnoitered in the bakery later that night to spread our berries on ten large commercial baking sheets to flash freeze them in the walk in freezer. During the down time, we knit. I have started on another pair of socks. Surprise, surprise. The yarn, Panda Cotton, was a Christmas present from Bonnie and is aptly called Grapes and Blueberries. The pattern is a freebie online called Forget Me Not from Fiber Dreams blog. Its a little anklet with a lace pattern that knits up quickly.
Although I swore to my self to become a more monogamous knitter, I seem doomed to fail in this hopeless pursuit. I console myself by being true to my New Year's resolution and not purchase yarn, to knit from my stash instead. My only purchases this year were a new swift, ball winder, and OK. I caved in and bought a Vintage sock kit from the Tsock Tsarina. All the blather online about how great these socks are overwhelmed into the purchase. My overstock of yarn is slowly selling thanks to Ravelry. I go through the baskets every month and grit my teeth and add to the sales page. My baskets are still overflowing...I am happily rewinding yarn using my berry colander.
Here's to lots of summer knitting!

Merry Month of May, I Hope...

All in the merry month of May,
When green buds they were swellin',
Young Jemmy Grove on his deathbed lay,
For the love of Barbara Allen.

Enjoy this little snippet from a favorite movie, "Songcatcher".

It has already been a whirlwind Month' O' May. To begin, May 1st was not only "Tag der Arbeit", but the beginning of my 50th year on the planet. OY. Thanks to my wonderful friends and my kind husband for the lovely surprise party. In lieu of gifts all the food items, 10 bags full, were donated to our local North Brevard Charities. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I received a very special present from my aunt in Germany, a lovely Morgan silver dollar minted in 1884. I love that it has been passed down through the family. I feel you're with me when I hold you in my hand. 
Thank you Krista for the fabulous stiletto needles and the Noro. Where have you been all my life! You, dangerB, not the Noro...
My May 1st Thursday started out with knitting on the group, upstairs in the bakery. Susan, my friend and knitting ingenue, was having another tiresome tumour removed from her lung so we filled her spot with the lads from the flight school. They became tiresome and begged for cashmere and complained when we wouldn't share provisional cast on techniques. Come back Susan, they're not staying!
My month was further enhanced with a last minute trip to ever lovely Alabama and a trip through the Wellborn Forest plant. I processed much information on kitchen design, rift cut oak, as well as drink mixology prior to 10 AM. Some of us had the good fortune of flying back home in the corporate plane . Nutkins took a ride too. This method of travel superseded the six-hour car ride there.
I was hardly unpacked when Lisa whisked me to New Smyrna Beach and our favourite fish camp for real crab cakes, boiled shrimp, and pinot noir. Naughty Nutkin is stealing the lime light. We watched the dolphins play and the sun set before we headed back down US1 south in the old lime green del Sol, topless of course (the car, not us).
For the last surprise, a present to myself arrived, a new swift and woolly winder.
The only shadow on my reverie is the sale of our little shop to new owners. Nancy and our canine companions will be sorely missed. I am treading water and trying to conform into new environs and culture. The next 50 years will be telling...