Throwback Thursday ... and Time for a Celebration

The Festival Shawl, the project that launched
it all for me as a designer.

I have not really participated in throwback Thursday, although I have favorited and liked a lot of TBT (acronym for throwback Thursday) posts across various social media platforms. However, this is one Thursday for which a little looking back is appropriate.

I originally blogged about the Festival Shawl on Thursday, January 6, 2011. While this stitch design belongs solely to Lyn Robinson it had, according to her, been basically abandoned. Since she hadn't done anything with it, Lyn posted in a Ravelry group we both belonged to at the time that if anyone was interested in doing something with a stitch pattern that she wasn't doing anything with, to please send her email. Stitch pattern unseen, I contacted her immediately and was truly surprised when she sent it to me. I thought it would have been snapped up by someone before me - I could not believe my good luck. I still get excited recounting my feelings some five years later, because this project was a joy from start to finish. Couple that with the fact that Lyn used my photos on the Ravelry pattern page (a true thrill) and my joy was pretty much complete.

Fast-forward five years: this shawl has logged a whopping 486 completed projects and is queued by an equally astounding 1,674 Ravelry members. A good number of knit patterns achieve this fame and reach, but not so many crochet patterns. I remain honored to be a part of such a phenomenon, because it started me on my own design path, which celebrates its five year anniversary in 2016:

What a long, strange, and ultimately happy trip it's been so far. There have been plenty of highs and lows in the last five years (as you'd pretty much expect), but through it all I have remained independently, happily steadfast in my desire to design. This year is also shaping up to be another banner design year I am so happy to report.

So, of course, there will be announcements associated with this year-long anniversary celebration. The first one is easy and something in which everyone can (and I hope will) participate - answering a few quick questions in a survey I've put together (which you can launch straight into at the end of this blogpost).

The survey will be open until the end of the day Sunday, February 7th, after which I'll close it, tally up all the responses, and then make a few more announcements. 

To those who have been a part of this long, winding five-year road - either through reading the blog, or making one of my designs, or interacting with me via social media, I humbly thank you. I hope I will "see" each and every one of you throughout this year-long celebration.

Finally, a word about 5 year anniversaries. They are usually marked with silverware, wood, daisies, and rose quartz. Since I wanted to include my crochet hooks in this montage, I'm fudging the wood slightly - bamboo will have to do.

So, without further ado, thanks so much and here's the survey:

KniCroBlo Week is Almost Here

Huh? What the heck is that?

Well, March 28 – April 3, 2011 is the second annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. Spearheaded by the clever and ever-crafty Eskimimi Knits, it’s a week where bloggers around the world will be sharing their love of craft. For an entire week, these collective bloggers (of which I’m one!) will each be writing about the same crafty categories on the same day (of course, with their own unique spin), the list of which can be found at the link I provided above.

Last year over 200 bloggers participated in this crafty mass blog-along. Given that great participation, as well as the strong response so far to this year’s announcement, I expect even more bloggers will be on board this year.

For crafty blog readers, this is a great opportunity to check out what crafty people are doing around the world. Maybe you’ll find some great, new blogs to start following. Or learn of some new fiber in a far-away country that you just have to try. Or just have fun being an onlooker to this collective output of crafty good spirit.

It will be easy to follow along, as a simple tagging system will allow readers to perform an easy search each day (in your search engine of choice) to quickly identify the blogs writing about that particular day’s subject.

I’ll provide a little more information as we get closer to March 28^th. In the meantime, do read Eskimimi Knits’ well-planned event information, and stay tuned …

In the meantime, happy crafting – and I leave you with a sneak of my next crocheted shawl (love the green color!)

Snow

I woke up this morning to a muffled kind of stillness. It took me mere seconds to look out the window and consciously realize what the stillness meant – snow! Gray, white, cold, wind-driven, commuter-walked-upon snow. This is very early in the season for the Pacific Northwest lowlands to get such a dusting. Don’t tell my deck, however; it is currently covered in about an inch of the stuff.

So, warm woolen mittens in hand, I went out into the white fluff to do some quick snow removal. No shovel needed – just a light whisk, whisk of a broom, to be followed by salt later today, once it starts to really cool down.

Fifteen minutes and two ruddy cheeks later, the deed was complete. There is nothing like a little snow to make everything indoors all the more cozy. The coffee tastes richer and warmer. The cat is just that teeny bit more excited to stare out the window. It gives the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday an especially thankful glow.

So, with that in mind, I’ll share with you my simple recipe for fresh cranberry sauce. Make it and think of snow and the play of jewel tones on white. Happy warm and cozy Thanksgiving!

Fresh Cranberry Sauce

12 oz. fresh cranberries

1 cup champagne or good, dry rosé

¾ c. sugar

½ c. dried sweetened cranberries

¼ c. any other dried fruit of choice (raid the cupboard – hey, it’s Thanksgiving!)

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Remove from heat and pour mixture into a serving dish.

Let stand, and serve at room temperature with the meal. May also be made up to two days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated until about an hour before serving, when you can remove from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature.   

On the Bounty of Food and Fiber

Canadians are about to celebrate their annual Thanksgiving holiday with a long weekend in most provinces. Some intriguing facts surrounding Jour de l'Action de grâce:




Okanagan Grapes - 2007

 

     -  While it is a federal statutory holiday, not all provinces actually   celebrate (those that don’t are in the Canadian Maritimes);

     -  The first Thanksgiving celebration dates back to the 16^th century, but it wasn’t officially recognized as a federal holiday in Canada until 1957;

     -   Canadians actually celebrate the bounty of the harvest, whereas Americans focus on Pilgrim folklore;

     -    Like Americans, Canadians generally like to feast on pumpkin, potatoes and turkey.

Since Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday of the year, and I am already hankering for the third Thursday in November, it’s nice to celebrate vicariously through others. I have had preliminary pumpkin and sweet potato discussions (can anyone say pumpkin cheesecake?); I am plotting how I will brine this year’s turkey, and I have new ideas for fresh cranberry sauce

ingredients. I never miss the kitschy Macy’s Day Parade, and I have discovered a new viewing tradition – the National Dog Show. Because of last year’s show, I am officially in love with the medium-sized schipperke. I was audibly rooting for it to take best in show while I was fixing dressing last year. No offense, George Bailey.

 

 I have an additional reason to celebrate the bounty of the season – the fiber bounty, that is. When I returned from OFFF, I was expecting one laceweight cake from one of my favorite indie dyers -

EKF lacweight cake (center)

Enchanted Knoll Farm. That came a few days later; what was waiting for me in my mailbox were five skeins (!) of Hairball Yarn fingering weight yarn and very cute cat stitch markers. Hairball Yarn had sponsored a yarn giveaway on Ravelry during this year’s Tour de France. I was a lucky recipient, and expected to receive one, maybe two, skeins of yarn. Five was amazingly generous, and as you can see from the photo, also scrumptiously dyed. Dreams of projects are currently dancing in my head -

move over, fresh cranberries.


Hurrah for fiber!

Fiber from OFFF



Joyeux de Jour de l'Action de grace!





Fall

October 1^st. It always heralds my favorite time of year – fall. I love everything about fall – the colors, the textures, that nip in the air, a stray flower displaying its final bloom. I also welcome the tastes of fall, and love farmers’ markets at this time of year. This is when the real farm bounty is on display.

Best memories of fall: definitely leaf peeping. I have managed to live in places where fall puts on a great show. The orange, red, green and gold of it never fails to please.

Other great memories: good food! There can be no better time of year than fall to sneak one, last meal

en plein air. One might need to bundle up in a sweater (and, hopefully, one that’s handmade!), but there is no other time that meals taste heartier, wine more complex, and conversations more animated and friendly than in the twilight of an outdoor fall evening.

If one can be lucky enough to combine all of this – in a harvest dinner like the one I attended last year (shown in the photo) – well, it just doesn’t get much better.

How do you celebrate fall? Leaf peeping? Apple picking? Drinking wine with friends? Getting together to start fall textile projects? I’d love to hear – so feel free to leave a comment, and let’s compare celebratory notes, shall we?