What's on in March...

Sorry for the blog silence.  It's been a season of colds, Sally, our old dog, isn't feeling good and needs vet trips, and we've had a few other human medical appointments.  And meanwhile, I've had some articles run as well...

Over on the CBC, I had a piece come out about how the current Manitoba government is offering us $45 million in road infrastructure repair for the province's 150th birthday..and isn't prioritizing anything for a greener, more sustainable future or a future that celebrates or recognizes our diverse population.  (Happy anniversary, honey!  Here's a new vacuum cleaner?)

I didn't post anything about it at the time because I didn't know when it would run, and then the comments were full of some inappropriate stuff.  (so inappropriate that the comments were removed...)

I had a column run in two papers about how we can keep learning if our libraries stay afloat.  This winter I spent several weekend afternoons on the couch with a sick kid and good books.  Here's a link to Words of praise for libraries.

My article about how basic tools make a difference for handspinners went live over on the Spin Off Magazine's blog: 6 Handspinning Hacks....

Here's a photo of how you can use a dog waste roll core (a cardboard tube cut open) to create a bobbin for your spindle...when you are done spinning, slide the roll right off the spindle!  It's a Spindlewood spindle, in case you are curious...

Or you can use a toilet paper roll for your ball of handspun, and when you are ready, you pop out the roll, insert your thumb in the space left, and use both ends of the handspun for making a 2 ply yarn.

The hack that got left out?
Cotton bedsheets from the thift store: Every now and again, I end up with a lot of free or inexpensive fleece. I skirt and sort, shake out vegetable matter and contain the washed fleeces in countless number of sheets from the thrift store. 

Next topic: And, if you're a knitter and celebrate Purim? In honour of increasing your joy in Adar, you can download The Hamantaschen Noisemaker pattern for free, using the coupon code:
Adar
(ends midnight, CT, US & Canada--on March 10th, of course.)
Please consider this some virtual shalach manot from me to you!
Have fun! Have a great holiday!

Last, but not least...happy International Women's Day. Yes-We still need it...equal pay, equal opportunities, adequate healthcare and childcare access...we still need a day to talk about all this and more.

setting a nice table?

This is a quick note as I've got twins home from preschool celebrating Purim!  Luckily, we have to take naps in between running around in our costumes, delivering treats to friends, and going out for ice cream before lunch. :)  We've got to go to a big party later on....

In order to celebrate a new Ravelry download:
...The Hemp Placemats are now available as a single pattern download!

I'm running a sale through the end of March.

Use the coupon:

• Holidaytable

 on Ravelry and put both the Hemp Placemats and the knitted napkins patterns in your cart...and you'll save 30% off the purchase of both patterns.

Cause, you know, spring is a great time to celebrate holidays of all sorts, and to plan on a dressy new table setting or two.

I'm old-fashioned that way....I love a pretty table setting.

I hope you do, too!

Preparing for Purim

In our house, we have twin three year olds who are bursting with excitement because Purim is coming... before I forget, here's a link to my latest article if you are a grown up:
 Reading the Whole Megillah

Last week, I picked both boys up from preschool and they announced that we were making hamantaschen for Purim.  When I explained that it was too early to make these cookies for Purim and I wasn't ready yet, they said ok.  Then they decided that they could get ready for Purim anyway--by cleaning!  (this is not actually a Purim tradition that I had heard of, but I was good with it!)

I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth or a little boy who wants to clean-- so I handed both of them damp cloths and they raced around, dusting things.  Here are some funny shots of them hard at work.  They cleaned for a whole 15 minutes, so I was thrilled with the whole thing.   I'll take whatever I can get!

They are both sporting handknit sweaters made by their Didi (grandma).  Can you see that bright spot of green on the radiator?  That's my next design sample, drying after being blocked.  Coming soon: another Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern, hopefully in mid-March!

On Saturday night I made hamantaschen dough and we were ready to make cookies for Purim by 8:15 Sunday morning.  For those who like to cook, this is my personal observation: You can either have hamantaschen that look good, or that taste good.  I have never really experienced ones that both look good and taste good.  I don't know if my standards are too high or what--but I always try to go with "taste good" if I have a choice.

The last time I made these when I was pregnant in 2011, so it's been a while.  The short version is that we made hamantaschen with my homemade apricot jam, homemade strawberry jam, and chocolate chips.  I am not a traditionalist (prune, poppy seed, and apricot are often traditional fillings) in this regard..again, I am for tasting good first and maybe being sort of healthy second.  I used some spelt flour to make them more healthy...

In the end, our cookies turned out looking fairly rustic.  I am not sure I'd want to enter them in any competitions, but since the Professor and the boys shaped most of them, they are beautiful, right?  We ate some as soon as they came out of the oven, so we can vouch that tasted fine.  Now, we just have to wait patiently for Purim on Thursday. The boys won't have school!  They'll wear costumes! 

Translation: Lucky Daddy gets to go to the university and lecture as usual.  Mommy can't work on Thursday or Friday because she's on holiday twin duty.  We need play dates and lots of fun games!  We need Mommy to do lots of cooking ahead!  We are going to run around like wild beasts because we're so excited! :)

spinning-one day at a time

Yesterday I taught my first 'intro to hand spinning workshop with a drop spindle' since 2011.  It was a blast!  The weather outside was so cold (-45 windchill) that the Professor's car wouldn't start.  (It started later, after we'd plugged the block heater in for a good long time...it was just too cold.)

Our boys were suited up in snow pants, boots, lots of layers under the parka and more just to go to their dance class, so they took my car. After the dance class, we did a quick shuffle.  Boys were rushed inside to have a hot lunch.  I rushed outside with all my gear to the car that would start to teach my class.

Luckily, we all made it on time.  Every single one of my registered students showed up, even the one from Brandon, 2 hours away. Every class is different; this one was full of experienced fiber arts folks, who basically started spinning and kept on like they had been born to it.  It was a delight!

Also this week, my essay Reading the Whole Megillah came out in the Jewish Post & News. 

Surprisingly, there is a thread that ties all of this together.  These days, if I want to be prepared to teach a class, I have to start days in advance.  My work time is limited...and always has to be flexible.  So, for instance, last Thursday, I had a medical appointment with a specialist.  That morning, one of the boys woke up a bit under the weather, and his brother decided he wanted to stay home from preschool to keep him company.  Since I had this doctor's appointment, the Professor cancelled his workday to stay home with twins.  I maneuvered the cold weather and got myself to the appointment and made it home.  (Also got a local and 4 stitches while there, but all is well for now and nothing to worry about.)  Between the kids missing school, the mom who needed to rest after her appointment, and the cold, the whole day was just shot.  I had to budget every hour and every moment between Friday and Sunday to be sure my teaching supplies were ready to go.

I've learned from this "having twins experience" to take it one moment at a time.  The essay on Purim is about that too, in some ways.  In Jewish tradition, we read (or don't read!) the same sacred texts every year.  Over the years, we read different things in the same texts.  One time I read the Book of Esther on the floor in a crowded airport when my plane was delayed due to bad weather...other years, I heard it in other ways.  Maturity, life changes, different surroundings--these all cause us to read a text differently, whether it is a novel or a part of a religious tradition.

Finally, these photos:  When the boys were babies, perhaps in the fall of 2011?  or fall 2012?  A business named Rovings in our area that specialized in importing Polwarth wool from Australia and processing it for handspinners began to downsize and had a big sale.  The professor's father was visiting and they decided to help me get to the sale.  It was a bright sunny day and the babies mostly napped in the car while I went inside.

I bought a lot of yarn, a raw fleece (still unopened!) and a 'dyed in the locks' fleece that had won a prize.  The colors were amazing.  I rarely buy dyed fiber like this, but I loved the colors.  When the boys were about 18 months or 2 years old, I moved a spinning wheel down to our basement playroom space.  I started spinning this Polwarth wool, one lock at a time, whenever I had a moment.

Recently, I finally finished spinning up all the wool (maybe 2 lbs total) and I have now plied most of it for a total spinning process time of roughly 2 years.  I am doing a 3 ply, approximately worsted weight and this is what the first batch of washed skeins looks like.  I love it. 

In the old days, before twins, I could spin a pound of clean wool in a week, and still get lots of other things done.  Now, I guess it takes years...but I can still do it.  Little by little.  Bird by bird.    I am reminded of Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.  I'll finish with a quote from that, and you'll see what I mean.

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was  ten years old at the time, was trying to get a  report on birds written that he'd had three months to  write. It was due the next day. We were out at our  family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen  table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper  and pencils and unopened books on birds,  immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my  father sat down beside him, put his arm around my  brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.'"

the un-holiday contest!

Well, Passover is now over. The holiday lasts 7-8 days, depending on one's traditions. Both the professor and I are in recovery...last night we went out to "break the bread fast" and enjoy pasta and other lovely bread products with a bunch of new friends. (during Passover you avoid bread, grains and anything that rises with yeast to remember that when the Israelites escaped from Egypt, they didn't have time to let bread rise.)

We're in recovery because this big, friendly raucous dinner out started at 8:30, after sundown, and we didn't get home or to sleep until after midnight. We're usually eating during around 6pm and asleep by, say 10:30. So, even though today is just a regular work day--no holiday anymore--I'm totally tired out!

When I was a kid, occasionally we had to blow out holiday candles (for the Sabbath or another holiday) for safety's sake before leaving the house or going to sleep. My grandmother-now 94, btw--always encouraged us to blow out the two candles by saying "PURIM! PASSOVER!" Maybe the P sound made the candles go out faster? It's something I still think about sometimes as I loved being the kid chosen to blow out those candles with the names of two happy holidays! Anyhow, reflecting on this made me realize that Purim (5 weeks before Passover) has long ago passed without me mentioning this great contest opportunity.

The kind editor of Living Crafts Magazine would like to give away one free subscription (starting with this issue, the one where my design is on the cover). So, we're having a contest here--just because!

If you'd like to enter to win a subscription to Living Crafts Magazine, please leave a comment at the end of this post. Make sure you also include a way for me to contact you --via your blog or email or some sort of smoke signal. It's also useful to include your name.

I will draw the winner randomly on Sunday, April 11th, but if you wouldn't mind, I'm wondering if you could answer this question as well....

How long have you been reading this blog? (no penalties for new readers, I promise!)

More information about weaving, knitting, and other stories coming up in my next post...

Party Like It's Purim!

This year is the first we've been able to go hear the Megillah (Book of Esther) read on Purim in a long time. Purim is a really fun holiday, with lots of sweets, costumes, boisterous behavior and even a little drinking on occasion. When we lived in Kentucky, it was just too far to drive to Nashville to celebrate this holiday/party with our congregation. (70 miles each way makes it a long journey, even for a fun event.) So, we especially enjoyed ourselves this year--with a knitting twist.

This year's holiday got a jump start when I got a sweet phone call from an editor the week before we moved from Kentucky to Winnipeg. It was July, it was hot, and the house was pretty much disassembled when this kind editor asked me if I'd contribute something to her publication. While I couldn't manage it before moving, I did eventually design these very simple knitted hamantaschen noisemakers and wrote an article for Living Crafts Magazine. I found out recently they made the cover!

Last week, the professor and I got asked if we could help out with a project. A volunteer group in town was preparing Mishloach Manot for some of the less fortunate in the Jewish community. We went along to help and I got one of the best jobs--rolling out dough for the hamantaschen. The dough is a tricky business--too soft and it's too mushy to mold into a three cornered cookie. Too much flour and it's too hard and it tastes pretty much like a rock when you're done baking.

In total, the two "rollers" of dough prepared enough for 35 dozen cookies. I was pretty worn out -- that's a lot of dough-- but it was a fun evening. The professor shaped cookies, made packages with the fruit and sweets in them, and was generally entertaining. :)

However, I was sort of worn out from all that dough rolling and didn't make any more treats to hand out...in fact, we've rarely ever had a chance to give out treats for this holiday, since we weren't near enough to a community who did this or understood the tradition. When we got to the synagogue last night, we were surprised to receive 3 bags of treats of our own! We'll have to do better next year so we have treats to hand out to our new friends here in Winnipeg.

We're enjoying a bright sunny warm day--and the dogs are in high spirits. I've had to move all the cookies, fruit, and chocolates to avoid having some inadvertent snacks for a dog Purim party...

Meanwhile, we've been doing further work to get our house in order. (no, we still aren't entirely tidied up even though it's been 7 months...) The professor surprised me today. He'd been in the basement organizing. He assembled a shelf and made himself a gorgeous little work area. I took a photo because it may never be this neat again!

Right beside the new workbench, we've got another project going. Many Winnipeggers like to do "home brew." This is in part because the winters are long and the alcohol tax here is high! (many wines are twice the cost of what we paid in the US.) The biology professors even have a wine tasting competition each fall to see whose is best. So, the professor bought a wine kit and started our first batch in January. Here is our little basement "cave." The first batch of Sauvignon Blanc was "mise en bouteille" February 27th, 2010. I'm hoping that is a good vintage at our house....especially since two more wine kits are lined up!

The light is streaming in the windows today...it's been a quiet and sunny day. It made me reflect on how lucky I feel to enjoy our house with its big windows with good positions to enjoy wintertime sun. We're still working out the fireplace issues. One detail? The insurance on the house would go up 20-25% if we were to install a woodstove or woodbox insert fireplace--a much higher incidence of house fires from this, so that option is out. We'll keep working on this to find a good solution. I'm still grateful to have this house..it was hard to find.

We've had to make a fair number of repairs since the house wasn't always well maintained, but for a lot of environmental reasons, we feel an older house is always the right choice. (Curious about this statement? Let me know in the comments and I'll post about it. It's an interesting sustainability topic.)

In the meanwhile, hope you're having a sunny warm day and a Happy Purim if you celebrate it!