Smatterings

  • change in the weather

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    Living in the Northeast, I usually think of our weather coming in from the west, northwest, southwest, west west.. somewhere west.  Of course, that is a gross generalization.  When we get weather from the northeast, it’s a nor’easter.  Yesterday, it blew in uphill, from the south, all day.  Weather from the south nearly always brings wind, and it brings a change in the weather.  You can feel it coming, warm winds, too warm for the season.

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    Rain was forecast all day.  Not so, at 11:30 pm. I had one more thing I had to finish in the shop.  There were still stars peekng through, when I ran down to the barn.  Weird timing??  I knew I’d have an early morning and a busy day ahead.  If I wanted to get some skeins tied to soak for dyeing, they’d have to be done before I went to bed.  And, I had started a new pattern, oh my, that Marseilles pullover by Kathy Zimmerman has my name written all over it and I had fought all evening trying to make due without a cable needle.  I can’t seem to get that cable without a needle technique.  I didn’t know know where mine were, somewhere, and I needed one..so down to the shop to make a one, or a couple while I was at it.   If C thought I was out of my mind, he held his tongue, grabbed his jacket and a flashlight, and joined my walk in the dark. 

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    By morning, the front had left us.  We were smack in the middle of the rain and I was out the door to the annual Turtle Fur sale.  I wanted to see what yarn they might have. They had a bit of coned wool form Jaegger at 50 cents a half cone.  I judge it well worth the effort.  With the falling rain came falling temps.  By the time I got around to dyeing, it was low forties, damp and miserable.  What a difference a day makes.  Time to move my operation indoors for the season.  I spent the afternoon skeining yarn, some already dyed and some in preparation for the next round of dyeing.  I only managed to get one batch of reds into the pot.  My fingers were freezing.   

    Time to get the fire going.  I’ve got an exciting evening planned… I’ve got my new cable needle.

    6 responses to “change in the weather”

    1. Norma

      I want your life. 🙂
      I just invented a new jam recipe. Holy crap. It’s a keeper. Don’t know what to name it yet — it’s plum jam with Grand Marnier, orange zest, cinnamon & nutmeg. Not cheap, very Christmassy. OMG, it’s so goooooooooood.

    2. Carol

      I’ll take you life too! It’s still in the 80s here & will stay that way for while.I love your work area! That table is gorgeous! Well, happy dying, looking forward to your skeins!

    3. Laurie

      Brrrrr. We had the same weather out in the Berkshires this morning. Cold. Rain. Turned on the heated floor upstairs today. It’s about time.

    4. Kim

      Ok…I have to email Norma for that jam recipe that sounds most sinful, but I have to tell you that I am actually LUSTING after your winding station!!!!!!!
      I love old treadle machines (my sewing machine that I use is one) and what a fantabulous idea to use old parts for setting up a winding area. Very clever…..I LOVE it!
      What kind of skein winder do you like best?

    5. margene

      Our fall is about in the same place as your fall but we have had a week of the most beautiful, perfect days ever. Change is coming (of course).

    6. cyndy

      Now I want to hear (and see) all about your cable needle…beautiful fern photo…

  • colors

    The cats assumed their travel positions and we drove north. It looks as if this year’s autumn show will
    be a dud for the leaf peepers.  The colors just aren’t there. There is almost a line of demarcation half
    way up the mountains. Everything above
    is leafless already; below.. gold, rusts to brown. My color forecast was completely wrong, I
    thought it would be a splendid show of color this year. Experts say TOO much rain; in past years the lack luster color was due
    to too little rain. None the less, the
    frost has held off here on my hill. Everywhere below, my neighbors have been hit. This is the small bonus I
    get from sitting high, my frost comes later. In return, I give up nearly 10 degrees on any given day, in any season.  My snow melts weeks later.  My daffodils are just peeking up while ½ mile
    away they bloom profusely. You live in Glacier
    Bay    , my neighbors joke.  But, my beans are still coming.  The Turtlehead and a few lilies still bloom. It is the height of autumn.

    The days are perfect for dyeing. I’m into fall colors in spite of the poor
    showing. I’ll post some as soon as they
    dry. Here’s a peek.  

    Autumn  autumn (sold, sorry)

    Aztec_gold  aztec gold

    Caribe  and caribe.. it’s been done a while, I just didn’t get around to posting pics of it.

    and a question..
    Has anyone made the Marseilles Pullover from IK summer 06?  Any thoughts on it?

    7 responses to “colors”

    1. margene

      I’m not that fond of good but the Aztec Gold is just breathtaking!

    2. –Deb

      Oooh . . . so pretty!! I just adore autumn colors…. That Aztec Gold is GORGEOUS!

    3. Norma

      Darn. I was hoping my lack of seeing the colors was just my imagination. I, too, had it all wrong for this year, and I was really hoping Margene would get a breathtaking show.

    4. Kim

      Too bad about the colors up your way. I think that they are still going to be pretty good here :-).

    5. Cathy

      Interesting. The Aztec Gold reminds me of my daylily of the same name! And, one of my gold daylilies is still blooming.

    6. Carol

      The skein colors are awesome! I think fall is here too. We’ve gone from a brilliant green to a slightly less brilliant green and temps are way down in the lower 80s…Oh joy.

    7. Dorothy B

      Beautiful yarns.

  • walk with me wednesdays

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    Owning a number of different spinning wheels, I have accumulated a lot of bobbins.  And, we all know that you can NEVER have enough bobbins. Last weekend I happened on this little drawer unit at IKEA. It is perfect for storing all my bobbins and other wheel related paraphernalia.  Each bobbin type has it’s own drawer.   It comes in four colors.  The only one I saw was this green and it was on sale.
    (Too bad that store didn’t carry the bright red one.)  I like it so much I’ve entertained the thought of driving 45 minutes each way to get a second.  But. not. today.  Problem is, I need another item that won’t be in for a week or so.  I’ll make the trip then.  And THEN, this little cabinet will not be on sale. 

    Some answers to the comments on the Corn Dish:

    1. beat the eggs, milk flour & salt together with a whisk
    2. add corn and blend well
    3. put pad of butter in baking pan and preheat til melted and pan is very hot  (around 375-400 for maybe 10 min., you’ll have to watch it)
    4. pour mixture into a preheated baking dish or cast iron pan
    5. Bake until it puffs up and the cracks (if there are cracks) dry.

    Answers to the comments on my crocheted baskets and their occupants:

    1. they are NOT embryos from outer space, but cicada shells

    2. The fiber was natural, I don’t remember what, I made them a while ago

    I finally had time to re do my podcast list and download Cast On and a few others I enjoy.  I listened to an episode of Cast ON that I had missed.  It talked about finding one’s muse.  Which brings me to my new theme for Wednesday.  I’ll be doing a Walk with Me Wednesday.  I walk.  It is my time for reflection, and my exercise.  I almost always walk in the woods, it is my muse.  If not, I find a trail along the water, a back road or some such place.  I rarely walk on pavement.  Only when the ice is too bad to walk elsewhere, will I walk on paved roads.  Most of my ideas, the jumping off points for my thoughts, come from what I see in nature.  The Trek a long was a good start.  I don’t propose that this be a kit a long.  But, if you care to, share your walks on Wednesdays.

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    This spot of light in an otherwise darker shaded wood caught my eye as I passed.  It seemed out of place, like the spot at the end of a rainbow.  I stopped and looked at it for a bit, then took this picture.  It wasn’t until I was looking at it in Photoshop that I noticed the patch of red that showed through the trees.  What was it, I wonder.  Someone else on the trail? 

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    8 responses to “walk with me wednesdays”

    1. Ann

      What a nice way to spend Wednesdays. Mind if we join you?

    2. Anne

      Lovely. Now I can get my New England fix vicariously through you. Thank goodness. This time of year always really makes me long for home.

    3. Norma

      Wow, that photo is surreal. That strange beam of light, and what IS that red thing? Spooky to think you stood there, took the picture, and if there WAS a person there, that you didn’t know it. goosebumps.

    4. Cathy

      Nice … tho I wondered if the red was a random leaf or two. I’ll join you on your walks…

    5. Carole

      Great idea, Judy. I can picture you on your walks, thinking, pondering and finding inspiration. And strange red objects.

    6. Dorothy B

      I’ll just walk through your blog since I don’t always get out during the week and once it gets below -20*C, I don’t walk outdoors unless I have to.

    7. Kim

      Hmmm sounds like a good idea. I need to get Maggie out more and this sounds like a nice way to do it 🙂

    8. Adele

      I enjoy your blog very much, you have a very wide range of interests and it shows in your writing and pics.
      Could you please name that IKEA peice, I went on the web and couldn’t find it. It looks like what I want in my sewing and craft room. Thanks.

“Our lives are dyed the colors of our imagination.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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