Will It Work?

 Some months ago I watched a video of Katherine making a hexagon cloth bowl on her youtube channel, k3n. If you're into slow stitching, eco printing, upcycling, and various ways of working with textiles, it's an excellent and relaxing channel to watch. I love her approach to her work. But, but, but. I know myself well enough to know that while I love the bowl she created in this video, this particular process isn't for me. It's a bit too fussy for my taste. Obviously (and unbeknownst to me) the idea continued to rattle around in my brain because several days ago it popped back into my consciousness and I wondered whether I could make one using Tunisian crochet. There was only one way to find out so I grabbed some Tunisian hooks and a cone of bright yellow wool yarn that someone gave me and I started experimenting. I'm not fond of the yellow so I wasn't going to be bothered if I ended up with a mess that I had to rip out. Also, since the yarn is wool, I figured I could full or felt it if it turned out too floppy, which was my main concern. I knew that if I got to the point of attaching the hexagons, I'd use the green, which I do like, to make the bowl in Donegal colors. 

I had to swatch a bit and go down a few hooks sizes to a smaller one than I would normally use for this yarn, but then I was off, making 7 Tunisian crochet hexagons. I had planned to bring the hexies and the green yarn to our knit and crochet group at the library and attach them there, but I finished the last one whilst listening to a podcast and since that wasn't over, I decided to start the finishing process right then.  Once I'd started, I couldn't stop, finishing the bowl just before 2 am, so I just brought it with me to the group and wove in my ends there. I am thrilled with the end result and I will definitely be making more of these in different sizes. It occurs to me that they can be stacked as well, which will be useful.

the finished bowl--you can see how the hexies are attached together

detail of the Tunisian crochet

the bowl filled with wool roving--it holds quite a lot

In case anyone is wondering about Tunisian crochet, I used the basic stitch--sometimes called simple stitch or afghan stitch--to make the hexagons. They're constructed using short rows. I chained 13, but any number will do. The length of the chain will be approximately half the width of the finished hexie. Pick up a stitch in each chain, leaving the loops on the hook, then work them off. There are many videos around that show how to do this if you're interested. For the next row, pick up a loop in 12 stitches, leaving the last one unworked. Work off the loops. Next row, pick up 11 stitches, and so on until there is just one stitch remaining. There will be little stairsteps along one edge and the next segment of the hexagon is made by picking up a loop in each stairstep (13 stitches, including the loop left on the hook from the previous row) and working it off as before, until there's just one stitch. Repeat this until there are 6 wedges. At the end of the 6th wedge, slip stitch in each stairstep. Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail and use that to sew the row of slip stitches to the starting chain and there's your hexagon. I've used these hexagons to make bags, dishcloths, and now this bowl. They're fun to make and look quite nice, especially in a variegated yarn.

And now I'm off to gather some thread to make a smaller version of this. I think I will find these to be quite useful and I'm quite taken with the stacking idea. I guess I know what I'll be doing for a while--at least until some other idea leaps to the front of my mind and sends me off in another direction!

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The Things We Do For Love

 One thing about getting yarn from charity shops and from people who no longer want it, is the mystery that is sometimes involved. often there's no ball band so I have to guess about exact fiber content, although doing the burn test will tell me some basics. For example, acrylic and other man-made fibers will burn easily and leave a hard black bead at the burnt end. This is why making pot holders from acrylic yarn isn't a good idea. Cotton, linen, and other plant fibers will leave ash behind and will also burn easily. Wool and some other animal fibers will not catch fire easily and when they do will burn out, leaving a kind of crumbly black residue. To go back to the potholders, I made mine from wool. The information I get from the burn test is quite enough for me to go on.

Sometimes, in addition to the mystery of the fiber content, there's a little work involved to get a particular bit of yarn into a usable form. Recently, I was given some yarn which included a pull skein of a lovely grey-black variegated yarn that is all or mostly natural fibers. It's gorgeous to touch--very soft, squishy, and has a bit of a halo. It's also a bit slippery. This was a good sized skein and either full or very close to it--probably the latter for reasons which will become clear. As is so often the case, someone didn't want to pull from the middle when using this yarn, so they removed the ball band, found the outside end, and tried to do whatever they were doing with it. I get it--it's frustrating to start a center-pull skein sometimes. You pull and a big clump of yarn comes out because of the way it's twisted around inside (some people charmingly call this clump 'yarn vomit' 😶). But it's usually fairly simple to deal with that small bit of yarn and proceed with the project. Often people try to avoid this by starting on the outside and depending on the yarn, this can work. I happen to find that very annoying so I don't do it, but it doesn't matter much of the time--it's just personal preference. But with a slippery yarn like the one I had, doing this is almost certain to end in tears. As one pulls on the outside end, the skein rolls and flops around. With slippery yarn, twists, tangles, and bunches occur, as was the case here. It wasn't usable as it was. I wonder if that's the reason its original person didn't want it any more. Well, I love it and I do want it, so I sat myself down on a quiet afternoon and I started untwisting, untangling, and slowly eliminating the large clumps and bunches, just following the strand of yarn and letting my mind wander. Two hours later, I was close to the end, but I had other things to do so I set it aside. The following afternoon, I worked on it for about another half hour and then I had this:

I didn't have to cut it once. 🎉🎊It's ready to go whenever I'm ready to use it. I don't yet know what I'm going to make with it, but I'm very glad it ended up with me instead of in a trash can somewhere.

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Notebooks

 When I walked into the art gallery on the first day of my cloth journal workshop a couple months ago, someone handed me two bags of yarn. They were from the home of her partner's mother, who had recently passed away. Some members of her family were starting the process of going through her things. No one wanted the yarn, but this person said she knew someone who would and she brought it back for me. Inside one of the bags were two granny squares that this woman (I assume) had made. I set them aside and considered what to do with them. Then it dawned on me--duh!--I was tutoring a cloth journal class and my journal was dedicated to the textile and other work done by women from previous generations. I suspect that this woman was probably not older than me, or if she was then not by much, but I knew I'd add these squares to my journal. I decided to make a small notebook with them and then attach it to a page in the journal. 

I crocheted the squares together across one side, then cut some paper slightly smaller than the size of the attached squares side by side. I happened to have some heavy-ish, good quality blue paper, which belonged to the woman who knitted the sleeve I made into a journal page so I used that. I simply sewed it into the notebook with crochet thread and then sewed the back onto the journal page.

I used some of the yarn in the bags and some novelty yarns given to me by friends to make another notebook. First I wove two squares on my pin loom. On one square, I wove with some smooth acrylic and some novelty yarn and on the other I wove with the smooth acrylic and did some surface crochet with the green eyelash yarn. Then I crocheted a small yellow flower and sewed it on along with a plain button. Yellow and green are Donegal colors, so I think of this as my Donegal notebook. Inside I used some scraps of card stock and some mixed media paper.

i'm calling this the front

i'm calling this the back, but it really doesn't matter yet

Finally, I saw someone's tiny scrap cloth journal constructed in such a way that it kind of folds closed. I liked it, so I dashed off an experiment. I haven't finished the inside yet--I think I'm going to put paper inside, but I could change my mind. The one I saw was all fabric scraps and embellishments inside and out. I really like this format and will do a neater, more careful one soon, possibly woven or crocheted.

closed (the front embellishment was inside the button band of a shirt I got at a charity shop)

opened--the square in the middle is the back when the flaps are closed

partially closed (the flap on the left is the back of the front)

I brought all of these examples in to show the workshop participants so they could perhaps get some ideas for their own work, now or in future. I mentioned that these could be a fun way to add little photo albums to their journals. I suggested that if they have photos they can take photos of the photos and then they'd have digital copies that they could manipulate if they wanted or they could leave them as is. These could then be printed out at a pharmacy, many of which have kiosks where digital photos can be printed. Then either glue them to the notebook pages or used those little adhesive corners to stick the photos in. 

I do plan to make more of these. I will probably do collage in some but I plan to use them primarily for writing. It's possible that I'll do some combination of writing and photos as well. Who knows how they will evolve! I do know that they're fun to make and a great way to use scraps of stuff--yarn, cloth, paper, and more. And you know how I love to play with scraps 😏

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A Lovely Start to the Process

 Today I went with a friend from here to Killybegs with a load that consisted mostly of books. She came over last evening with her son so he could load them into her car and this morning I added some lightweight stuff in the nooks and crannies. I'd prepared for the loading of her car--or so I thought. 

In addition to these, there were a few more bags and other boxes of books that I could grab if there was room, but I didn't think there would be. Boy was I wrong! I was grabbing books and sticking them into bags as fast as I could. Almost all our books are now in their new home waiting for us. But since there's work still being done on our new cottage and our lease here isn't up until June 4, it'll be a few weeks until we go. So now we are kind of in a waiting mode. We will have a few things we can do later this week or next week, but other than repotting plants and possibly going to donate books to a charity shop, we will be in waiting mode--we have a bit of calm before the next rush, which is very welcome.

We got there midday and I introduced my friend from here to my friends there and of course had some quality time with little Finn (Bill stayed home because we could fit more into the car if that passenger space was free). I knew my friends there and my friend here would get along well and they did. We chatted for a while and then started unloading the car and bringing stuff upstairs. I left the books that were in boxes, but the ones that were in backpacks and bags were removed so I could bring the empty bags back to use for other things. Then we went back to my friends' house and had a lovely 'tapas luncheon.' The food was yummy, the conversation never stopped and the company was wonderful. I was very content. I even had a caramel square--my friend had gone into a bakery in the town to get some because as she said, 'We can't have Shari here and not have caramel squares for her!' I do love a good caramel square and these are very good indeed. They bought extra so I could take some home. I might even have to nibble on another one later.

Bill and I are both shocked at how much was moved in one trip. We're very grateful for friends. We have no furniture, so the slow cooker is really the only heavy item we have left. 

It was a long day, but I hope to be able to read more of the next Palliser novel tonight. I read the first 100+ pages last night and I'm into it now so I should be able to read some in spite of being quite tired. As I mentioned in my book post yesterday, I want to donate the complete series before we move and I have two books left. I'm off now to make a cup of tea, put my feet up, and pick up my book! It's been a lovely start to our moving process and I'm so grateful.

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Second Half of April Reading Wrap-Up

 April came and April went. I was reading. My thoughts on the books I read in the first half of April can be found here. My thoughts on the books I read in the second half of the month are below.

Japanese Paper Yarn: Using Washi and Kami-ito to Knit, Crochet, Weave, and More by Andra F. Stanton (borrowed from the library)

This was quite an interesting book, which contains instructions for making and using paper yarn, beads, and more, but also includes beautiful photographs of art created with these materials and short essays on the history of paper in Japan, the importance of paper in Japanese culture, the uses of paper in Japan, and the ways in which paper is made to meet the needs of people. I enjoyed the instructions on making paper yarn and beads, but I was also aware from the start that I wouldn't be trying this. Knowing myself and how I create, it was clear early on that this wouldn't be for me. However, in spite of the fact that I am going to neither buy nor make paper yarn, some of the projects and photos did give me inspiration and ideas for my own work with 'regular' yarn and cloth. I found the short essays fascinating and definitely worth reading. I think for mixed media and textile artists, this is a worthwhile book worth getting from your library, perhaps. If you're someone interested in making art materials from paper, it's a great introduction to making and using paper yarn, beads, and more.

The Haiku Anthology by various poets and edited by Cor Van Den Heuvel (borrowed from the library)

This is a collection of over 800 haiku and senryu written by a wide variety of poets. I'm a big fan of short form poetry and there was much to enjoy in this book. Here are a couple of examples:

long meeting

I study the pattern

embossed on the napkin

   ---Miriam Borne

One reason I love that senryu is because I can relate to it--sitting there listening to people drone on and on and needing to find something to focus on--I've been there. And like the poet, I will usually find myself drawn to pattern somewhere, looking at lines and shapes and thinking about how I could incorporate that into my textile work.

Snow at dusk

our pot of tea

steeps    slowly    darker.

   ---Betty Drevniok

This one is puts me right in that place and brings me a feeling of calm and peace--a winter night with dusk falling early, cold, wet, snow falling, then the warmth and pleasure of savoring a mug of hot, strong tea. Bliss!

The Barbizon: The New York Hotel That Set Women Free by Paulina Bren (borrowed from the library)

I requested this book from the library after reading Erika's thoughts about it on her blog, BioArtGal. Her review of the book is here. Although the book is organized around the hotel and there are descriptions of the physical structure itself and the way it was furnished and decorated, that is primarily a way to describe what the evolving cultural and societal norms and expectations about the proper place of women from certain classes. The hotel gave women a safe space from which to explore the world beyond the places they grew up in and to explore themselves and what they wanted from life. The hotel gave them the freedom to make better choices because it allowed them to widen their experience. There's a lot of name dropping in this book as women who later became famous lived there for varying lengths of time. But the author goes into more depth about women who never became famous and their stories were fascinating to me. I enjoyed reading about their backgrounds their hopes and dreams, their fears and courage, and what they discovered about themselves. That was the best aspect of the book for me, but I also found it quite interesting to read about residential hotels and why they were popular for a time. I'm so glad I read this book, so thank you Erika for sharing it on your blog!

The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

This is the third novel in Trollope's Palliser series and revolves around (surprise!) a diamond necklace. When the book opens, we meet Lizzie, a beautiful, poor, young orphan who is living with a harsh aunt. We're told right away that Lizzie is not the heroine of the novel. She wants money and status, so she connives her way towards these things by playing with Lord Florian Eustace. He is easily played. She sees him as an excellent opportunity because he's older and unwell, has money, and can give her a title. By the end of the first few chapters, Lizzie has become Lady Eustace, a widow, and a mother, in that order. Before he died, Lord Eustace realized his mistake in choosing that particular wife, but never changed his will. Nonetheless, Lady Eustace isn't as happy as she might be with the terms of that will and decides that she will keep a diamond necklace that is, in fact, a family heirloom and not hers to keep--or is it? Needless to say, Lizzie makes up stories about how she came to have the necklace and what her husband said to her about it. When the family's legal representative, Camperdown, tries to get it back, the contest is underway and runs throughout the book. There are also other storylines about various people connected and unconnected to Lizzie Eustace. After a time, Lizzie decides it's time for her to marry again and she's torn between wanting someone who can give her more wealth and/or status, or what she calls her Corsair--Lizzie is fond of romantic poetry. This tension runs throughout the book as Lizzie plays around with various people and in the end, realizes that some people are playing around with her too. I enjoyed this book a lot--there's a slight element of mystery involved as I wondered what would become of the necklace. I read on through the almost 800 pages hoping all the while that Lizzie would get her comeuppance and I never got bored. 

This book is placed between the Phineas Finn novels in the series--Phineas Finn precedes it and Phineas Redux follows it. Although this book can be read as a standalone and does have a satisfying conclusion, the story of Lizzie is a part of the story in Phineas Redux as well.

Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

I've had all 6 of the Palliser novels in my book collection for years now--we got them during pandemic lockdowns--and since I do not plan to keep them, I thought I'd donate them all together. I'm hoping to finish the series before we move so I can do that. So as soon at I finished The Eustace Diamonds, I jumped into this book (and I plan to start the next one, The Prime Minister, today). This book takes up the story of Phineas Finn. I shared my thoughts on that book in my reading wrap-up for the first half of the month, which can be found at the link above. I won't go into certain details of this book for fear of spoilers in the first book. The book begins a couple of years after the end of the first Phineas book. It can be read on its own--details from the previous books are summarized seamlessly through the narrative where appropriate--but I'm glad I read both Phineas Finn and The Eustace Diamonds before I read this one because I enjoyed it far more than I would've otherwise. The Pallisers are featured more prominently in this one than they were in the previous couple of books and stories progressed and become intertwined. There's the beginning of a mystery in the second half of the book, but Trollope doesn't really develop this, and gives the answer a few pages after it's introduced. This served to redirect my attention to how things would be resolved rather than wondering what had happened. 

I'd say that if anyone is interested in this series, Phineas Finn, The Eustace Diamonds, and Phineas Redux are best read in order. The first book, Can You Forgive Her? divides space between one storyline and that of Lady Glencora and Plantagenet Palliser. The Pallisers recur throughout the books and I think will play a prominent role in the next one, but the people from the other storyline in that book, have only been superficially mentioned in one or two of the other books. I'm glad I read the first book because it gave me the background of the Pallisers which informs my reading of their relationship in subsequent books, but so far anyway, I wouldn't say that it's crucial to read the first book. And for anyone interested in starting with Trollope in general, here's a video from a booktuber I enjoy watching who discusses her thoughts on the topic. I agree with her that The Way We Live Now is a fabulous book and definitely worth reading. There is (sadly) much that is still current described in that book. 

So that wraps up the second half of April. On we go into May. I am currently deciding which books to take to my future home so they can wait for me there and which to keep with me so I can read them while we're in the process of moving. I have the last two Palliser novels to read and possibly another couple that I don't plan to keep so those will stay with me. I'll decide about the rest as the process unfolds. Happy reading, everyone!

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The Next Big Project

 Here we are on the last day of April. We know how we're spending May as our next big project commences. Not sure exactly how it's going to go, but I guess we'll find out. It starts this weekend as I get some books boxed up so they'll be ready to load into my friend's car and brought to what will be our new home in Killybegs. Our lease here ends at the beginning of June and we'll be out of here by then. I gave notice today, but we've known for a few months that we'd probably be going. To be honest, I was not letting myself get too attached to the idea until recently, because this wasn't imminent and stuff happens, so I waited patiently. My friends here were puzzled about my lack of excitement at first, but they kept telling me, 'I'm excited for you.' I will miss being around them and I will miss the yarn group at the library. 

It was all quite unexpected. We weren't planning to move, nor were we looking for a place. My friends were concerned about the damp in this cottage, and expressed their concerns to me repeatedly. One even started looking on our behalf, although I didn't know this at the time. It's not like we had options so we just dealt with it and although we would have pursued any possibilities as they arose, we weren't actively seeking anything. But after we got back from taking care of our furry friend in February, another friend brought up the possibility of us moving into a property she owns. We jumped at it. So now we'll be neighbors with our furry friend, Finn, and when she needs someone to care for him, we'll be right there. 

When we moved here, we didn't know we'd be taking care of him so we signed the lease which was very clear that we were not to have a dog. After we went to his house for a month to take care of him and knew we would be caring for him again a couple months later, I contacted the manager to ask if we could have him here on a temporary basis. He checked with the landlord, who wouldn't allow it. So we went back to Finn's house for a month. Shortly thereafter, our friend offered us her property to live in. We've lived in that neighborhood before and I have always loved it. I would've never left, but there were circumstances involving the landlord at the time and his manager that made it difficult to live there. That won't be an issue this time. 

There will be a few things I miss about being in this area, but overall, It'll be much better for us there in so many ways. I'm looking forward to being there and being with my friends there once again, both human and canine. Not sure exactly what the move itself is going to look like, but we start this weekend! I'm excited now, even though I'm not looking forward to moving. I'm greatly looking forward to having moved though. Off we go into a new chapter!

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Peanut Butter Cup Bars

 I was thinking about the Snicker-ish date things I made earlier this year--as you do. The first time (back in January), I made stuffed dates . The next time (in February), I decided to make them in such a way that I could cut them into bars. Same ingredients but less fussy. This time I decided to try making a sort of peanut butter cup thing that I could cut into bars. I'm happy to say that these were quite successful!

Here's how I made them:

I placed some dates (pitted) into a bowl and covered them with boiling water, letting them sit for about 15 minutes. After that time, I scooped them out with a slotted spoon and out them in the bowl of my food processor fitted with the blade, leaving the soaking water in case some of it was needed. Today it wasn't, but when I make them again it might be. I dumped in some ground almonds and a few heaping spoonfuls of natural peanut butter. It was a newly opened tub so I was scooping from the top, which is very runny and perfect for this kind of thing. I whizzed everything up until it looked crumbly but would hold together when a bit was squeezed. I had to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. I lined a container with baking paper and pressed this mixture in very firmly. Then I broke up a bar of dark baking chocolate (150g), heated it in the microwave for about a minute, stirred until it was all melted, and added another couple large dollops of peanut butter. I mixed this together well, spread it over the top of the mixture in the container, and put it in the fridge to set. As soon as the chocolate was firm enough to cut, I had to try a piece. Yum! We're both fans, so this will be something I make again.

I don't have any measurements to give--this is one of those things where it depends on how much you want to make, how soft the dates are, how much the ground almonds absorb, and how runny the peanut butter is. It's also not something that can go wrong. If the mixture was too crumbly, I could have added a bit of the date-soaking water, some more peanut butter, or maybe some almond milk--just a smidge at a time. It's probably not possible to make it too wet, as putting it in the fridge will firm things up anyway. If peanut butter isn't your thing, you could use any nut or seed butter that you like. 

So I'm glad I gave these a try. They are yummy. And with summer coming up, I like the fact that no oven is required!

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