a simple yarn

Do you think if I bake cookies for the House-Building-Crew, they might be favorably disposed to finish the house more quickly? Okay, it’s worth a try…

Truth be told, I think the workers are diligent without me sweetening the situation, but autumn winds are beginning to blow with a definite chill, and that puts me in the mood to warm things up with a baking session.

The thing about being an American-In-Europe is that it seems a fairly obvious choice to make chocolate chip cookies for the lads…such an American icon.

Warning: Cookie-Biscuit Enquiry Ahead
As we are all well aware, in America it’s ‘cookie’ and in ROI/UK it’s ‘biscuit,’ so no beating-of-the-dead-horse here. But I am intrigued, I must say, to find that the chocolate chip version of the biscuit is always referred to as a ‘cookie.’ Why is that?

Right then, I dig out my mixer and line up the ingredients.
Oops, have packed away and cannot find lovely Nestlé Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Rats.
Will need to buy lovely milk and dark chocolate bars for self-made-chips.
Begin baking ceremony.
Oops, didn’t buy enough chocolate bars. Rats.
Will need to improvise.
Divide the dough and do an equally tasty variation on the theme of cranberry-white chocolate.
Do I have dried cranberries? Yep.
Do I have white chocolate? Of course.

And for a bit of stealthy-healthy-eating, organic oats and organic milled flax seed are added. What the Kiddies (and Workers) don’t know will be good for ‘em for a change!

It’s simple really, substituting dried cranberries for the chocolate chips and adding oats and milled flax seeds as part of the flour mixture. And, I’ll eat just one more…cuz they’re healthy! Oh, wait…ought to get some off to those workers first…

The challenge lies not in the knowing….but in the doing.

Pat-The-New-House-Builder is a quiet man. Fairly simple in his outlook. After a long summer of endless rain and being behind schedule, he seems at ease…rather unflappable. And so was my comment to him, an amazement of his lack of worry. His response went something like this…

“Someone told me once that you can worry and at the end of it all you’ll die. Or you can choose not to worry and then you die. So, I guess there’s no point in worrying.”

Simple yet effective wisdom.

During the summers when we travel to the US, I try not to overdo on purchases, contenting myself with lovely products available in Europe. But fabric? Well, that’s a different matter altogether!

I think I would like to focus on my weaving during the next year and so I’ll certainly need complementary fabrics (or so I tell myself). As I lay in a supply of craft fabric during the summer months, I couldn’t decide among the myriad of choices…and that was at JoAnn Fabrics alone…on sale even! So, what should I do? Take one of each, of course…

Geometric

Retro

Paisley

Floral

The next step will be to find more warp threads to match.

Not exactly knowing what I want to weave or craft in the future dictates a broad palette with strong colours to complement the weaving. It could be called ‘indecision’, but I’d like to think of it as an ‘eclectic’ mix…

The morning school run sure looks different these days.

In the city, at about 8.15am each weekday morning, I dreaded the morning commute to get the Kiddies to school. We lived about 1.5 miles away, which took approximately 35 minutes to drive. Gridlock. It doesn’t take a mathematician to realise that it would be quicker to walk, which we did quite regularly. Nowadays, I rather look forward to the morning school trip. Here, let me show you…

The kids trotting off down the country lane—

Stopping to greet the neighbours—

After putting the children on the school bus comes the leisurely walk back, stopping at a moss-and-lichened stone wall—

Which reveals a quaint stone bridge—

Called the Step Bridge by the locals, for obvious reasons—

And before the busyness of the day begins, I nick a bit of breakfast along the way—

The hand of Providence is a mighty thing.

During the summer, I began a quick-and-easy knitting project and no, it was not a pickle.

It was, however, a pair of Fibertrends Felted Clogs for me.

A new pair of slippers for the new house. No worries. I’ve done this many times before. Had loads of scrap yarn with me. Thought I’d do something a little fun and different. Spotty slippers. Knit up a normal pair and then hand-embroider spotty dots on ‘em. Yippee! Can’t wait to wear ‘em!

Warning: Complaint About Top Loading Washers Ahead
I have never had any measure of success with US-built-top-loading washers when felting, or rather fulling, a knitting project. It takes a minimum of two runs and still the projects look limpy and wimpy. By contrast, European front-loading washers, which are a pain for any normal size load of regular laundry, are an absolute dream for shrinking wool! One run and presto, it’s done! Love that! So, because of my obvious bias toward the Irish washing machine, I decided to do one more wash of the slippers when we got back.

Another Diversion: Brief Irony Ahead
In the meantime, Daughter-Kate has been asking for a new pair of slippers. ‘Sure, sure, dear,’ I heard myself say, assigning it to the foggy gray matter of things soon to be forgotten.

Righty-o. Final wash of my new spotty slippers.

You realize that my US Size 8 (Irish Size 6) slippers shrank to an unbelievable US Size 3 (Irish Size 1) which, of course, was a perfect fit for Kate. Interestingly, with the myriad of slippers I have made in years past with similar/identical yarn, I have never, ever had a pair shrink at such a rate. Ever.

You can’t fight what is meant to be.

Sitting back enjoying a Sunday morning cappuccino gives me pause to reflect on recent dealings with Starbucks. The saga just won’t end…

You may or may not remember that it took me a good portion of the summer to figure out the unique Starbucks language to order a decent cup of cappuccino in the US. Let me repeat it in case you missed it…

“I’ll have a medium cappuccino…extra shot of espresso…pour it wet.”

Well, being back in Ireland and finding myself in Starbucks presented me with a bit of a conundrum.
How do I order my coffee?
Do all Starbucks’ employees go to the same barista university?
Do they speak the same language?
Will the nice European employee understand what ‘wet’ foam is?

The answer is no.

After refining my US ordering skills for the past couple of months to get what I wanted, I stood proudly at the counter and gave my now standardized order and do you know what I got?

A blank stare.

Still, it was a good cup of coffee (in a ceramic mug no less!) without dabbling in Starbuck-ese. Yep, I should have left well enough alone.

So what happens when you combine Craft on Thursday with Photograph on Friday? It’s another go with Guest-Photographers-Daughter-And-Son and a view through their lens.

My time in the US was not entirely without craft. During our family holiday to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, Daughter-Kate was completely captivated by a long red woolen cape. I was completely paralysed by the $99 price tag. And as well-intentioned-mothers are sometimes apt to do, I said placatingly, ‘Don’t worry dear, I can always make you one.’

I was not allowed to forget my words.

So, during the exceedingly hot and humid Midwestern summer, I sat in my inlaws’ cool basement and crafted a long red cape. ‘Wherever will she wear it?’ I grumbled to myself, ‘All this work for a whim.’ But those words are easily forgotten.

What joy a few yards of fabric and thread make in the life of a child, who imagines herself to be…

Red Riding Hood or

Dracula or

Superman (while in the hands of her brother)

Better get that sewing machine as I foresee a second cape in the making.

Right, so it’s not going to happen until the loom is freed from storage, but I can dream can’t I?

You would have thought that the 8 books, 3 magazines and 1 pamphlet that I brought back from the US would have been sufficient inspiration for the next few months….or years. Well, that’s for the ‘knitting me’. It didn’t take too many days of being back on Irish soil for me to trot into the bookshop and purchase…

Now, I have a confession to make. Weaving book projects usually don’t leave me breathless like knitting ones do. For those weavers whom I have just offended…deepest apologies. I certainly find handweaving deeply satisfying and intellectually stimulating, but not always gaspingly inspiring.

But this book has come the closest to getting my creative juices flowing with a faint quickening of the heart. A lovely silk scarf, which photographic limitations omit the beautiful woven detail…

A ‘fushiko’ bag…Japanese for ‘wrapper’…made from kimono fabric.

And an interesting woven beret with knitted band…

I find it a great starting point for future creations, once the loom gets its ‘get out of jail free’ card.

The best intentions don’t always make the deadline.

In the midst of all the ‘hoop’ and ‘lah’ of moving, there’s been a bit of knitting. I had hoped to join in the Autumn Show ‘n’ Tell knitalong sponsored by Diane at the Dublin Knit Collective. Felted handbags. Right up my alley. Easy enough. Pick a free pattern. Provide the URL. Let Diane know. Everyone participating can then pick the pattern they want to knit. Post progress. Have a cool handbag finished project.

Got bit by the inspiration bug in the US and decided to do my own pattern. A smaller version of my felted computer bag to prove that it wasn’t a fluke and I could indeed reproduce it. Trouble is I can’t get it finished to write up the pattern by 1 September (which was a couple of days ago). And so, I readjust my expectations and will knit along from the sidelines and post my progress.

What this hopes to become is a messenger bag in autumn vertical striping. Very easy to do. Will post the pattern when I get it done.

Hopefully, my intentions will meet the the next show ‘n’ tell dates.