Pischi Days

Ode to my Coat

I was tidying the closet and was pulling out some of my warmer items in anticipation of cooler temperatures. In so doing, I came across a favorite coat. I acquired this, my favorite sweater in 1978. I had just moved to America from Germany and couldn’t afford a place to live. I managed to find a spare room to rent on Merritt Island, lodging with a woman who was also economically challenged and single. It was a perfect fit. She was a wonderful soul, once a great beauty from California who had bit parts in the movies during the 50’s. Her closet was crammed with shoes, gowns and a host of other glamorous accessories from her salad days. Unfortunately, her evenings after work consisted of climbing into her “CraftMatic” adjustable bed with a meal of Fritos and Wink. Nancy was a compassionate woman who taught me independence, gave me driving lessons, and the schooled me in the finer points of backgammon.

Every now and then she and I would foray into her closet and I would play dress up. I was 19 and the wardrobe was a vast array of size 6 dresses. These moments were accompanied by fascinating stories of her past.Nancy passed away several years ago. Her coat was a gift to me when I moved out. It holds many memories and has traveled with me and kept me warm for almost 30 years. I marvel at the knitter who made it. It is knitted of worsted weight mohair, a simple design with raglan sleeves and a self facing collar. The coat is a classic and of such fine quality that it will remain timeless for many years.

Melons...In Season

I have been waiting for this since spring. Melons are back. Get yours now!

Goodbye November

Long weekends are an anomaly for me and they are entirely too short. I did manage to squeeze in a little knitting and lots of dinners with friends. My frequent knitting on the “Candle Flame Shawl” has resulted in a severe case of pain in my right hand. I also make my living using CAD and can’t afford the misery of a chronic ache in my right hand. Knitty has a good article on avoiding hand strain that often accompanies weekend warrior knitting sessions. I have increased my water intake and find delight in the fact that having a variety of projects in different needle sizes can aid in staving off pain in ones predominant hand.

So, its “Goodbye, Iris” and “Hello, Eleanor”. I sent my “Iris Garden” sock to the frog pond. The sock was too, small and knit too tightly. Erik wound the brown yarn while I wound the yellow.  I saved the tip so that I can restart using #2 needles.  To console myself, I decided to dive into the Noro SilkGarden. I bought 15 skeins months ago to cast on the “Lady Eleanor” from Pam Allen’s “Scarf Style” book. The book was recently purchased from the “DeStash for Cash” site. I have yet to “destash” anything. Instead I have spent entirely too much cash! The project will knit up quickly. The “Kaleidoscope Scarf” that I knit for my aunt flew off the needles. So I am rotating a pair of socks, the scarf, a jacket, and a sweater through the winter months and hope that I can finish some of them prior to spring.

I discovered a couple of new podcasts this week.  “Trueyarns”, “Unwound”, “Sticks and String”, and “Sleepy Eyes Knitting” have been added to the downloads in iTunes. So far I have only listened to “Trueyarns” and “Unwound”. They are both interesting and relaxing to listen to.

Much to my dismay Tom put up the house lights this weekend. I think that it’s too early for holiday decorations. It seems that whole weeks have fallen off the calendar. The lifestyle section had a great article on low key décor. I don’t like to deck the halls in candy cane lane fashion. I want to keep the clutter at bay and enjoy a few treasured items for the memories they hold. The article underwrites my holiday philosophy.

On that note, I tripped across a lovely site linked to “One Hour Crafts”. I just love the soft trees and the linen tree pictured suits our Florida lifestyle. I have always had trouble reconciling the snowmen ornaments with the 80 degree weather. I have an old linen skirt that is ripe for recycling...

Thanks for the Chill

Here in the South we have a few cold days to keep us humble. When the mercury dips below 60 degrees there is a sudden outbreak of parkas, coats, and sweaters. Since warm garments are seldom seen at this circle of latitude, fashion is often not part of the equation. At this writing, the temperature in my house is about 62 degrees. All our floors are tiled and serve to keep us cool during our frequent warm months. In the winter they are icy cold and slippers are a necessity. My slippers of choice are a pair of classic Dr. Scholl’s. This morning I am still clad in my flannel pajamas with an old black pashmina thrown around my shoulders.  From my seat in front of the computer I can gaze through the large glass doors onto wintry grey skies. I gave my few orchids indoor shelter for the night as weather report threatened possible freezing temperatures. Our old masonry fireplace saw its first logs and blazing fire of the season. This morning, while cradling a cup of hot coffee, I listened as the radio announcer reported that it snowed last night.

I will be making my part of a Thanksgiving meal this afternoon. On my portion of the menu are “Sweets a la Rector” and “Pumpkin Cheesecake”. The sweet potato recipe was given to my by a dear friends mother, a great lady, who abhorred the traditional marshmallow concoction usually found on the table. This is a sweet, flavorful blend of yams, sherry, butter and brown sugar. The cheesecake is a newly acquired recipe and was devoured after dinner last year.

Sweets a la Rector

8 medium sweet potatoes

½ C packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp butter

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp paprika

½ C sherry

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes. Arrange them in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with the sugar and dot with butter. Add the seasonings and the sherry. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 6.

You can find the cheesecake recipe here. Both are well worth the effort.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Winter Garden

My little corner of the world has been chilly this weekend. The weather is welcome; we have a large masonry fireplace that has been swept and the wood pile is stocked with seasoned oak. Let the winter weather begin. I greet the opportunity to move my chair in front of the fire, prop my feet on the hearth and knit!

Here are some impromptu shots of the garden. The narcissuses are sprouting. I have so many that I dig them up and place the bulbs into shallow bowls to place around the house. After they have bloomed, back into the garden they go until next year. Our grapefruit and valencia oranges are getting sweeter by the day. The globe basil is outgrowing its space. The orchids, passion flowers, and bird of paradise are in full bloom.

Yikes, November Already

Julie finished the Wild Stripes blanket. You can view the embroidered results here. I hope that the baby doesn’t drool!

Our holiday season has begun once we've visited the art show at Downtown Disney. Erik and I spent Friday playing hooky. We too a trip to the Festival of the Masters, the fine arts show that is put on by the folks at Disney. Fridays is the only day that I dare venture through, preferably early so that I can avoid the crowds that assemble there on the weekends. This years treat is a piece of jewelry from Robert and Theresa Nilsson, a couple from whom I’ve purchased beautiful simple pieces from in the past. I couldn’t resist the face.

I also couldn’t resist the “Perfect Pear”. Erik spotted these and I had to have a “pear” for myself! The artist, Victoria Sexton, uses a soft form cylinder construction to shape her pieces. I hope to see her at next years show and save my pennies for a more substantial piece.

I have started on the “Hippy Crunch” sock using the Peasblossom colorway from Socks that Rock. The pattern is slow going and requires a chart. Lots of K3tbl,s. I’m surprised that I haven’t broken a host of needles yet.

The “Candle Flame” shawl is also growing, albeit, slowly. I try to pick it up whenever I can. I have had a few “accidents” involving ripping and recovery. I have 2 more hanks of “Shimmer” to go!

DaCapo is also getting some attention. This is my favorite project to knit while talking. Mindless garter stitch! Unfortunately, it’s getting a bit unwieldy and less transportable.

On a late

Veteran's Day note, please listen to this wonderful story about an Iraq veteran, Adam Visher, who's knitting occupies his time no that he's home from the war. I heard this story on Weekend America. The audio uses RealPlayer.

Urban Sprawl

Our small slice of a suburban Saturday morning, now that the weather is more temperate, consists of breakfast on the porch and the newspaper in hand. My favorite indulgence is smoked salmon on a garlic bagel, slathered with cream cheese, topped with fresh tomatoes, capers and red onions. Just don’t expect daisy fresh breath.

I had some time to work on resurrecting my Candle Flame Shawl. Some kind folk wrote to tell me about life lines and lace. I really should investigate this further.

 

Here is #1 and only son relaxing and catching up on the comics.

Give Me a Break!

The planets must be out of alignment. My mood has been less than cheerful lately. A few of my kitchen jobs are not running as smoothly as they could be. Bad karma all around. I also bare resentment for not having the gumption to just go away and take a break by myself. I need time off to refresh and renew.

As Nancy and I were driving south to re-measure one of my kitchen jobs, I was regaling her with The Yarn Harlot’s packed travel itinerary. I had read her blog entry about her extensive travel and missing family events. I’m feeling a tad hard hearted and my feeling is that we just need to go on the remodeling lecture circuit and travel, travel, travel. Blow off the demanding clients, the primadonna installers, no show plumbers and electricians. At least it sounds good in theory. But to paraphrase Dorothy, “There’s no place like home”. Just get me outta here for a while!

I have been attempting to answer the 20 questions for the STR contest. As I stated in an earlier post, my packet (Marble Arches) arrived this week along with an invitation to Camp Cockamamie Sock Camp. I looked up the resort location and found that it is situated on the Puget Sound. Perfect. I also have an old friend that lives near by. Unfortunately I have a job that requires long term planning and a last minute escape is not always possible so I called Blue Moon Fiber Arts to get an advance notice on the dates. A much harried female voice answered the phone. Her mood was not blissful to say the least. I offered to call back but she sighed and graciously agreed to answer my questions. Tina and I had a nice conversation about “contractor hell” Evidently she had one foot in my construction world and was stepped on by a steel toed boot. She was also juggling jobs since part of her staff is currently at “Stitches”. I felt her pain and explained the above lecture circuit idea! I’m not sure that I would get adulation that Stephanie receives. She just might. Oh well... just get me through the holidays.

Knitting to Perdition?

Not being able to be present at the SFFA so that Tom Terrific could attend the Florida/Georgia game put me in a bit of a funk. Coupled with trips to NYC and the UF homecoming game... I’ve been working all year without a break and was looking forward to a weekend away.

I digress; I wanted to update the knitting progress. I knit rows amass on the Candle Flame Shawl at the last swim meet in Oviedo. After a beautiful day at the pool a group of us spent the rest of the afternoon at Loughman Lodge on the banks of the St. John’s. I should have put down the knitting after the first Corona.

Frogging lace is frightening and picking up the stitches is equally scary. The trauma woke me up at 4 AM and I frogged and knit until I was back to where I should have been. I have taken up early morning knitting and for those with a morning personality, it’s highly recommended. I listen to lapsed podcasts, NPR or knit in solitude. Just the purr of the cats and the ticking clock break the silence.

Tada! Susan’s socks are finished. The yarn was the Yarntini Cosmopolitan. The pattern was from the Sensational Socks book by Charlotte Schurch.

The Socks That Rock yarn is piling up. I just received another skein of a pretty pin/grey/vanilla colorway called Pink Granite. I am officially 3 skeins in arrears. I have the yarn. I must knit. I signed up for another year of sock yarn. This coupled with the Sundara yarn club...what am I thinking? I can’t even keep up with what I have on the needles. Time for a list of whats on the needles:

• Hanna Falkenberg DaCapo
• Iris Garden Socks
• Debbie Bliss Blue Cable
• Candle Flame Shawl