New Friend

A new friend is visiting Knitsburgh...

...just in time for a Wee Birthday coming up soon! He is from a knitted gnome pattern from Plain and Joyful Living, with a few tweaks. He has a striped stockinette sweater and eyes, mouth and beard.

Here was the first harvest last week from the estate garden:

Along with some cherry tomatoes growing from the bottom of pots rigged into hanging baskets with some hemp twine. Basic instructions were here; I used whatever materials I happened to have on hand to make them. Basil tops off this one...

Oregano here...along with a couple of resting flies.

After a weekend away visiting family, we are settling back in the daily routine again. Everyone but Blue Molly, my trusty steed, my loyal vehicle. She is in the shop as she is not feeling well. We hope to have her back tomorrow as we miss her but honestly, I would not have used her yet this week. Luckily we pass many local shops on our daily walks, the Wee One and I, so we do most of our errands by foot. Now if the stroller were to break down, we would really be in a panic!

For Solstice this year, I really only harvested some green beans and peas from the garden and spent time out of doors in the sun with the Wee One under a fountain, walking, swinging, playing. We had our home grown veggies for dinner with seitan (me and Wee) and chicken (Nature Boy). In the evening before the sun went down, I worked in the garden, then relaxed on the porch with Nature Boy and a Blue Moon as the sun set. It was a lovely, lovely day. I hope you had the chance to enjoy the sun yesterday too!

Vignolis

I just finished reading a book today and thought I would share. Why? Because it moved me deeply. The stories, the people, the gardens. Anthropology, sociology, biology, psychology, history.

The Earth Knows My Name : Food, Culture and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans by Patricia Klindeinst.

Maybe it's because of Bill. Ever since I can remember, he had a garden. He grew things and taught us how to grow things. Bill is not an easy man to converse with or sometimes understand but in the garden, there was a connection, something to talk about and look at together. I remember getting the soil ready and following behind him as he manned the rototiller, picking out rocks by hand and taking them to the Rock Pile in the corner of the garden. I remember the planting, how he would show me how far apart to place the tiny seeds, then cover them and water them. I remember checking it every day to see what was new or who needed some love or to find evidence of any visitors who wanted to munch something too. And the harvesting, the best part! Eating tomatoes right there in the garden with a salt shaker and smiles.

Tomato seeds are a big deal to him and now to me. He got them originally from an Italian friend with the last name Vignoli and that's what we call them, Vignolis. Each tomato I harvest and slice that is a prime specimen has the seeds separated from the flesh. I rinse them and they dry on a paper plate in the kitchen, then are placed in a paper envelope for next year. Every spring I look at the calendar and pick the day they will be planted. I always plant on the full moon. This year Bill's seedlings did not fare well and we were quite proud to give him some of ours.

I've learned over the years not everyone cares about them like we do. I have offered the seeds to others and given plants to others to nourish but no one seems to understand their importance. They don't save the seeds and plant them again. They are heirloom seeds; they are not Early Girls you buy at the store already sprouted who will ripen quickly and have had pesticides poured on them. They have been saved with love and with hope year after year and it still seems impossible to get a whole plant out of such a tiny little thing, that seed. We alone seem to care about them.

Now I know other gardeners out there feel this way and more. They have come from far-away lands and brought tiny pieces of their lives and childhood to a place that worked to make them feel ashamed of where they are from, worked to make them forget it. Or for some, they were here first but had everything taken from them by strangers to their land, were marched west and given inhospitable desert lands to live on and have still managed to scratch the dusty earth and bring forth life. I don't have any seeds to plant from my own ancestors but plant some from an Italian man I've never met. Now I want to seek out other seeds, other ways of growing and planting. I am so inspired by this book I have to slow my mind down as I am already dreaming of next year's garden while this year's garden is still out there growing!

Anyone who would like some Vignoli seeds, please give me your email address and I will contact you for your mailing address and send them out to you this October after the harvest. They appear to us to be similar or the same as Oxheart tomatoes. The fruit is pink rather than red at harvest and they are heart-shaped. The plants themselves get really tall, you'll definitely need a large stake for them. They are a very late tomato, usually being harvested in September but I promise, worth the wait!

What I've Been Doing Besides Knitting...

1. Cooking and baking for a surprise picnic in the park on Friday! I made vegan potato salad, fried tofu, fried chicken for Nature Boy (yuck!!!) and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for desert, packed it up in our picnic basket, grabbed Wee and Nature Boy and headed outdoors. I have to say it was a lot of work so I don't know when I will go all-out with it again like that. Maybe some peanut butter sandwiches next time...

2. Gardening. Weeding, watering, transplanting. Blisters, poison ivy, back pain. I love every minute of it though!

3. Daily walks with the Wee.

4. Reading. This is a library book and I love it and hate it. Does anyone else have this relationship with Martha? I love the idea of it and reading it. I hate the front photo (gag me!! Who looks like that when they are sewing? Whose space looks like that as they are sewing?). I hate some of the wording (like anytime she uses the word "must"). I love the detail but hate the fussiness. I'm not sure I will make anything from it but it's fun to look at when I am in the middle of a nursing session. Wonder what you'd say about that, Martha?

I also scored this one from Half Price Books for $3! I've wanted it for years so this is particularly satisfying to me. It's on my bedside table in case I get into bed and don't fall asleep in 3 seconds flat...which is now never...

5. Sewing. Oh my where to start? The tragedy first.


Here lies the Flapper Camisole. So I sewed the shell together and then added binding from the top of one bust around the back and to the top point of the other bust. Before adding more binding around the front V section, I thought, hmm, maybe I should stop and try this one on? I did and it was skin tight. Completely unwearable. It hangs on the chair, mocking me as we speak. So Twinkle Sews went right on back to the library. I made the size 12 shirt, which normally would fit me and be a bit larger too. The next size up would be a 16. To me that would be crazy big (or at least I would hope so). I might try and sew the fabric strips onto another shirt, either one I just wing free handed or cheat and find a pre-made top at the thrift store. On top of the other 500 million billion things I aim to do and make...

I DID go up to the master bedroom of the estate, find a shirt in my closet that I never wear and transformed it into something wearable. This chick here was my inspiration; apparently she finds dresses at thrift shops and changes them into cuteness (shirts, skirts, dresses and coats, to name a few). Here is before:

The problem areas: weird "Hi I'm so corporate" tie along neckline that is not fun when trying to nurse a baby in public and sleeves that are much too tight. In fact, the button on one was missing as I must have popped it off while flexing my python arms. I mean, my arms are not the smallest but they are not so massively built that a sleeve shouldn't fit...

Here is AFTER:

So flex-able! I cut off the neck-tie deal and then cut off most of the sleeve, sewing close to the raw edge.

I think I might wear it now. I think I might try this sort of thing again with some other things I'm not wearing as it was more successful than the whole pattern thing...

Last, I also whipped up this little makeup bag. I lined the inside with clear vinyl layered over the lining fabric. My current makeup bag is really yucky inside, it's lined with a nylon you would think could be wiped clean but the spots are there to stay. I recently bought some awesomely vegan AND cheap (the two never meet this way) makeup by eyes.lips.face or e.l.f. At my local fricking drug store! I can't tell you the last time I bought makeup at the drug store...circa pre-vegan way way back...

Since I haven't shown what the new print from Strawberry Luna looked like post-framing (frame made by Nature Boy), here it is. The cuteness of it all kills me. I'm sure it won't be long before Wee One wants to paint his room black and hang up posters of bands and such so I'm glad I have this one pic. So when cute is no longer good, I can still go there.

I suppose I should now try and talk about knitting. Since this blog is named Knitsburgh and all. Well, there is not much to say here. I swatched for the Every Way Wrap but did so in stockinette instead of moss, so I swatched a second time. I'm not on gauge but close enough, especially for a wrap. I figure the most important dimension will be the length, not width, so I can make row adjustments easily enough as I go. At least with knitting, I feel like I know what I am doing. I have confidence. I can take comfort here and lick my sewing-project wounds.

Preoccupation

Things occupying my head and time of late....
-Trying to reduce our food budget by using lots of coupons and stockpiling sale items and visiting Farmer's Markets.
-Letterboxing! Where crafting meets hiking meets sleuthing.
-Violet; of course we are stuck on some sleeves right now....

-The garden. Veggie and flower seedlings are sprouting, peas and green beans are in the ground already, beds have been cleared of leaves from the fall.




-Sewing continues to be explored. Weekend Sewing now lives here. Twinkle Sews came on leave from the library. I have to say Twinkle Sews does not make me happy when you have to print out the printable pattern and find you have to print out 18 pages just for one shirt; you really don't want to know how many pieces of paper a dress pattern takes. Such a waste. We are in the preliminary stages of the Flapper Blouse. Of course, no silkworms are being harmed for this product, I'm using fabric with no animal content.

-Thrift store follies; I visited one last week and scored some vintage Singer tracing paper for 49 cents, a copper-colored aluminum food mold in a shamrock shape, a pair of shorts for $2 and a summer shirt for $2.
-Walking outside, strolling the neighborhood, visiting parks with the Wee, he loves it so.

What are you up to?

Snowed In!

So I think most of the eastern half of the US is getting buried under snow or rain, depending on how far north or south you live. Of course, we too have had our share here. We first got about 2 feet of snow, now we may be at 2 1/2 feet. It just keeps coming. It's beautiful and exciting. Then again we still have power and heat; not everyone in the city is so lucky right now. I've seen some great things happening too--neighbors helping one another. It's nice. Call me crazy, but I'm enjoying this.

Still working on the Hardanger curtains. Once I'm done with all the Kloster blocks and trees on the first panel, I'll take a photo, hold my breath and start cutting the threads between the blocks. If I have done things well it will be fine; if I have one little stitch on the Kloster blocks a smidge off, there will be some unraveling and I will cry or curse or both at once. You'll see the end result here either way. Once the threads get cut, the various wrapping and weaving of the threads left in place between the blocks ensues. Then I will repeat the whole thing for the second panel. I think I once again underestimated the time it will take to finish these; I told Nature Boy I hope to complete them before I die.

Sadly, I still have not sewn the pillowcase dresses for girls in Haiti yet. I have 10 cases bought at a discount store at $2 for a pack of two. So they will basically have cost $1 each to make, not counting the elastic. I have some so I didn't buy any and I think I may even have enough.

We did venture out between storms to hit the store and I picked up some organic seeds for our garden. We grabbed some cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans and snow peas. I also got some chives, a perrenial mix (which I get suckered into every year and it never grows where I put it), morning glories, sweet William and petunias because these were all 20 cents each (the organic veggies were $1.50 a packet). I want to try and start growing some indignous flowers around the estate too, we shall see.

So besides shoveling snow, playing in the snow, baking, eating, drinking hot tea, embroidering, reading, garden planning and watching the snow come down, not much is getting done here. No cleaning on a grand scale, that can wait til the snow stops. As a stay-at-home mom, I view cleaning the house as a my job so since I'm snowed in, I can't go to work and do my job, right? Right?

Plans

Some days just don't go the way you planned.

Rain cancelled my walk with Wee One to the library this afternoon and our walk in the park with Nature Boy this evening.

A kitchen sink catastrophe cancelled out my hopes to chill on the couch and watch a movie with Nature Boy when Wee One had gone to bed (which he is still working on right now at 10PM on Friday night and that is why I am here blogging...it's best to just stay out of the way).

All of our zoo pics and videos were lost due to a "format error" on the little disk thing that goes in the Webbie video camera.

It will be ok though...my sissie is sending a disk with all of her photos from the weekend! Nature Boy is good at fixing stuff! It will not rain all day long tomorrow and we can walk and get to the library then!

This week, Nature Boy turned to me and said maybe I should go buy some yarn. That's right and I almost spit my drink out all over him in disbelief. What could ever make Nature Boy utter such a thing?

A holiday stocking for the Wee One, that's what! The only thing Nature Boy ever asked me to knit for him was a holiday stocking. Not a hat or scarf or sweater or socks or earwarmers. A stocking. So we hang it over the fireplace every Yule/Winter Solstice/Christmas/Hanukkah/Hogmany season. This Yule/Winter Solstice/Christmas/Hanukkah/Hogmany season, Nature Boy gifted me a set of deer stocking holders. There were three, a stag, a doe and a fawn, in anticipation of the new addition to our family and cause we really dig the deer. So Wee One needs a stocking to hang on his little fawn stocking hook over the fireplace.

We looked at many a pattern and narrowed it down to three. I haven't been thinking of it lately since I have three current projects on the needles but Nature Boy expressed some concern it will not be finished in time. So this week I looked at the three patterns and chose "the one." Wee One and I went to the yarn store and got us some yarn for the stocking (Hempton by Hemp for Knitting) and some other yarn too...whoops. Once I start it I will blog more about it, I'm excited and scared at once because I'll be embarking on New Technique Territory. I've been there before with mixed feelings. Sometimes it's a nice trip; other times you need a vacation from it when you come back to Same Old Same Oldsville.

Finally, here are some other things besides making a stocking I need to do soon...or at least sometime...
-Make THESE!!! For camping. Or just for any old day.
-Get cracking hard-core on Wee One's baby book. Before I forget stuff...
-Sew some more stuff. Like the pillows for the porch swing. And maybe a cushion for the new radiator covers in the bedrooms so the kitties have a soft landing. And make THIS. AND THIS!!!
-Rearrange our bedroom furniture and paint the walls.
-Read more.
-Turn off the TV more.
-Blog more.
-Use spellcheck.

Would you believe the asters in the above photo were unplanned? I planted them last year and they bloomed and apparently, they self-seeded and bloomed yet again this year for me too! Thanks Mother Nature for keeping the estate grounds looking cheery, in an unplanned lovely way.

Return to Joy

Wanted to post about some of the wonderful good things that are also happening around Knitsburgh.

Look what I found for $4 at my favorite store that I can never afford anything at?

For the S and the P. Salt and Peppa. Spicy!

Look what Nature Boy gifted me on Mother's Day even though I'm not even a mommy yet for reals:

An MP3 player. For the stroller. That's right, we got ourselves a 4-wheeling kind of stroller that has a pedometer AND a speaker to play an MP3 player from (click here if you really need to see it). Dang, I think my butt just rolled over into the current century! Now if only I could figure out how to use it...

Here are the azaleas, in full bloom at dusk:

Finally, here is the Nursing Wrap, chugging along:

We also got our final delivery for the cloth all-in-one organic diapers we are going to be using! We ordered a wet bag and a diaper pail liner for them from the same company and are really pleased so far...after we test them out I will give a review of everything but I just want to say they are all really really cute!!! Hope you find your joy today too!

Afterthought...

I almost forgot...the flowers didn't die!

Periwinkle...

Daffodil...

Narcissus...my favorites!!

To quote a co-worker: "Don't worry, they won't die, they're Pittsburgh flowers!!!" as snow flurried all about...

Happy Valentine's!

Here is what Valentine's Day looked like at Knitsburgh:

My gift from Nature Boy--an orchid! It's huge! I hope I don't kill it, I'm very neglectful towards my indoor plants. I haven't named him/her yet.

Homemade vegan sugar cookies with some improvised strawberry mousse-like icing. I used some frozen berries and pureed them in the food processor, then added them to 1/4 cup of Earth Balance and 1/4 cup veggie shortening that was already whipped together. I added a ton of powdered sugar, between 3-4 cups and next time will cut back on the amount of berries I used as it made it more runny than I had hoped.

Homemade vegan candy. The strawberry mousse stuff was so good and I had so much left, I decided to make some filled candies. I melted some of the Whole Foods vegan chocolate chips in the double boiler, then coated the bottom and sides of each candy mold with the chocolate. I popped it in the fridge for a few minutes, then filled with the berry stuff and sealed the top with more chocolate. I had no idea making candy was this easy, I think I am in big trouble over here! Nature Boy really liked them too. Both of the above are good when berries aren't in season and you need to use the frozen stuff. I had wanted to make some strawberry tarts but when I couldn't get any good fresh berries, abandoned that idea for the cookies with icing.

Here was my vegan dinner: portabella "steak" with chivey mashed taters and some stir fried red and green peppers with onions.

I gifted Nature Boy a little watering can for the 'maters we started (to replace his tennis ball canister watering system--don't ask). I also splurged a little and gave him a book and a kit for Pysanka (Ukrainian egg decorating). His grandmother always made them with him and would take them on Easter to the Russian Orthodox church she belonged to for blessings. The story goes last year, the priest picked one of his eggs but his back was to the family and traditionally, you are supposed to nod that it's ok for the priest to take it if it's yours. Well no one saw it was his so the priest put it back and picked another. Nature Boy intends to try again this year. Stay tuned.

Happy Valentine's everyone!!!

Break in the Weather

Today felt like spring! I didn't get to spend much time out of doors, due to the whole working thing, but I enjoyed it as best I could nevertheless.

When I got home, I found a package in the letterbox. It was from Nature Boy's mother.

Here is what was in it, along with a new pic of the Natural Stitches sweater:

The pattern book on the left was printed in 1946, the one on the right in 1950. They belonged to Nature Boy's grandmother and were marked with little written comments by Nature Boy's mother. Apparently, she was an avid knitter and made countless sweaters, bonnets, booties and mittens in her lifetime. I was so touched to receive something like this! It's fun to look through the patterns at what was "in style" then and what is "in style" now. The colors, the types of yarn available, the price of the books (25 and 50 cents, respectively),the classics that we still wear today like argyle cardigans. There are also those strange things, like knit snowsuits and bathing suits, that make me itch and chuckle at the same time.

The Natural Stitches sweater body is almost done except from the trim along the opening. The sleeves are next, hopefully I will pick up and start one sleeve tonight. I am really taking my time on this which is probably not the best, since I still have many other things I want to make as well.

We also started our 'mater seeds on Monday. They are the ones we save year to year, the heirloom seeds my father grows and saves as well. They originally came from an Italian friend of my father's whose mother brought them from the Old Country. I blessed them in a small ritual first, then Nature Boy and I planted them in flats in the basement. I was tired but really wanted to get them started on the full moon. We both made guesses as to when the first sprouts will emerge.

Tomorrow brings snow again but I almost don't mind. I leave you with a view of the The Iz (Isabella Maria) monitoring the estate grounds, which is her job as the official Knitsburgh Estate Guard:

Out of the Trees

Back from a recent camping trip with Nature Boy, Ms. Knitsburgh feels rested and re-connected with the universe. Here are some highlights of the trip:
The lake:
Spores!
Little hop-toad:
No balloon but found the note:
Fuzzy caterpillar:
Salamander!

As you can see, some knitting was accomplished. I turned the heel of Sock #1 in Pair O'Sox. Now on to the toe...at this rate, I hope they are finished before flip flop season begins anew!

So I recently joined up with Ravelry. I "applied" back in March but never responded to the invite and decided to finally get in the door and see what the fuss is all about. Holy crikey! I've been in Ravelry almost non-stop. Why did I not listen to the whispers and rumors about the super goodness of it all? The patterns, the patterns, the patterns! Seems someone there stole my name from me. If you are on Ravelry, you can find me listed under "Knitsburgher." Friend me up!

In other news, I've been gathering flower seeds and tomato seeds in preparation for the Spring. It's been getting much colder here and is much darker in the morning when I wake up. It can only mean one thing...winter is at the doorstep. I like the turning of the wheel and the seasons changing and all that, but I'm sorry, I much prefer warm and hot weather than cold. And if it's gonnna be cold there better be snow covering everything.