a simple yarn

Who doesn’t like soap…apart from pre-teen boys, that is?

Preface
Once upon a time, I finally got over the innate fear of handling a compound that could burn away multiple layers of skin, to find that I love the magic…okay, the proper term is saponification…that comes from blending two opposite components to form a wonderfully mild end result…soap. Then, taking the basic soap recipe, adding a bit of essential oil here, a fragrant spice there, creating a sensuous bar of pure bliss, which simply and effectively takes away dirt.

This quest I find myself on to reduce our carbon footprint while pursuing a sustainable lifestyle and saving the planet, inevitably brings me once again to handmade soap. Sure, I’ve been lulled into thinking that lots and lots of suds from synthetic products means better cleaning. But through the millennia, pure soap does the job.

So, here I am faced with the prospect of making soap again, but hmmm….the family doesn’t really like the ‘bar’ form, preferring liquid soap. Okay, liquid soap it is. Even if someone doesn’t make their own soap, pure soap flakes are found at the supermarket. Shouldn’t be hard, eh? Soap shavings and water, right?

Experiment No. 1
Consulting various recipes, all seem to have varying ratios of more or less the same ingredients—soap flakes, boiling water, glycerin, honey, and scent. No glycerin to be found here—chemists haven’t had it in months, so will have to do without.

Shave old rejected bars of handmade soap, add boiling water. Add some honey…not sure why but sounds wholesome. Include some olive oil for soft skin and lemongrass essential oil for a clean scent. Let it cool. Result?

Bleck, this one is too gloopy.

Found out this unfortunate fact after pouring warm soap into pretty bottle, finding it impossible to remove. Had to resort to not-so-pretty-plastic-ketchup-bottle instead. Realise that perhaps not everyone has soap to match wall colours…find it fascinating and rather unintentional.

Experiment No. 2
Realise some recipes call for additional water after it has cooled. Add more water.

Uh oh, this one is too runny.

Experiment No. 3
Maybe it’s my homemade soap, so try it once again with store bought soap flakes. Add boiling water and remaining ingredients. Let it cool. Ick. The mass has separated into whipped sludge on the top with a layer of milky water underneath. Not to be deterred, add a little more water and continue whipping with stick blender. Ah, looks better. Bottle it. Confident enough to give some to Isobel to try.

Next morning, I find that oh no, this one is too phlegmy. Difficult to shower with gelatinous gack and some things just ought not to be photographed.

Experiment No. 4
After three failures, the key seems to be the addition of room temperature water after the initial gloop has cooled. So, going back to Experiment No. 1, take the gloop and carefully add small measures of water.

Ah, this one is just right….a fairly satisfying and passable imitation of liquid soap.

“Est-ce possible d’avoir la traduction en français du modèle Tudora ?”

I’ve received this enquiry a few times, but embarrasingly, not being a French speaker and equally embarrassing having a wee bit of former phobia about the French language, it’s then doubly exciting and kind of ironic that there’s now a French version of the Tudora knitting pattern. And because of my ineptitude with French, you’ll be pleased to know that I had nothing to do with the translation.

Many thanks to Canadian-Knitter-Carole D.’s efforts in making the translation and to Blogger-Helene for posting the instructions on her blog. You can find French Tudora here.

‘They could not but hold her cheap on finding that she had but two sashes, and had never learnt French.’ —Mansfield Park, Volume 1, Chapter 2

Worthy Charity Postscript Ahead:

Speaking of Tudora, Knitter-Laurie is in the process of creating Tudoras to sell on her Esty shop, Crafty for the Cure, to raise funds for breast cancer research. Well done and all the best in your efforts for that cause!

…and we’re still not talkin’ about snow…

So, what d’ya do when you have a surplus of powdered icing sugar intended for Christmas baking and a borrowed bread machine?

You make doughnuts of course! Authentic-yes-they’re-fried-in-oil-real-homemade-goodness doughnuts with lots of powdered sugar oozing into a proper glaze by morning.

Would I buy doughnuts with regularity? Not really. Will I make doughnuts with regularity? Hmmm…
Think this bread machine might be the hyper-carb-death of me!

For those in colder climates, a blanket o’ white of a different sort.

Before there were few…now there are many.

Have a lovely weekend!

Next week—feeling less like Ulysses and more like Goldilocks…

Feeling a little like Ulysses*, only not quite as smart…

It called to me.
The beautiful, tantalizing song of the siren.
Sitting there atop the precarious rocks.
Drawing me into certain danger.
And I just about crashed.

There was no doubt I was mesmerized by the pattern.
The lengthy stocking with its smooth stitches, broken only by a delicate lace cable at the back. Reminiscent of by-gone days. Feeling myself drawn into danger…

Should have heeded the warnings when I couldn’t figure out the intricate calf decreases on either side of the cable. But, plowed ahead with my own simplistic method.

Should have heeded the warnings when I couldn’t manage the Kitchener stitch on the tiny stitches at the toe. But, improvised my own toe enclosure despite the diversion into Rastafarian knittery…piles of wool resembling tangled dreds.

Should have heeded the warnings when I realized that the seductive top roll would look like a hideous lump of cellulite under trousers, knowing that I own not, nor will I ever own, a drapey, crepey skirt. But, folded it flat over elastic, which I mistakenly measured for knee sock length, making a saggy, baggy shapeless mess. Unstitched and re-stitched to enclose elastic properly measured for over the knee.

And yet, with all of the troubles and dangers of this pattern, I breathe a sigh of relief, having negotiated the rocks, content with the final outcome. Oh wait….I’m feeling the toss of choppy waters as I cast on to make its mate….

*Simplified Greek Mythology Postscript
Ulysses was a Greek king who set sail with many other Greek kings to rescue Helen (of Troy fame). During his adventures, Ulysses’ ship had to pass the Sirens’ island. Sirens were sea nymphs who bewitched passing sailors with their beautiful songs. Men would sail close to the island until they wrecked their ships on the rocks and drowned. Having been warned of this danger, Ulysses gave each of his men beeswax to place in their ears, but he himself wanted to hear their singing and had his men tie him securely to the mast. Once under the Sirens’ spell, Ulysses begged to be untied, but alas, his men couldn’t hear him and they passed in safety.

A little pat on the back, yep, that’s what I’m after… just so we’re all clear.

Before we begin—

Attention Baking Aficionados!
The following is not whole-wheat. It is not filled with other healthy grains. It is not fashioned by hand. It is not baked on a stone. But what it is…my first baby steps toward breaking the bond that supermarket-purchased bread has on our household.

So, deciding that it’s better to begin with a process that makes it as easy as possible to stick with it for more than just one week, I availed myself of Lucy-Of-The-Lodge’s offer to use her bread machine, which was sitting in the back kitchen unused for many a-year. Right, viewing that as my own personal ‘re-use and recycle’ programme…

Of course I wrestled with the conundrum of which is better—to add another electrical appliance to the kitchen (thereby using more electricity) or establishing a habit of bread baking. I vote good-habit-making and I’ll make sure the kids turn off more lights in the house. Besides, having bread rise in a more-often-than-not chilly house might present its own challenges. It’s all about sustainability at the moment…sustaining the initiative to do this!

Finished product? A little loaf for the Kiddies and me…now, where’s the organic honey?

It’s not rocket science… or is it?

That was then…

This is now…

‘How cute!’ you may say.
‘Uh….’ I may reply.

‘Look, they’re square, how avant garde!’ you may exclaim.
‘Erm….’ I may stutter.

‘Wow, you’ve oriented them with a 90º turn!’ you may notice.
‘Hmm….’ I may mutter.

You see, for all my logic and measuring and mathematics, these place mats are not what I intended. Nope, not what I had planned…at all…in the least…and I have no idea what happened.

Ah well, fact is I like ‘em nonetheless…perhaps cuz they’re avant garde!

Wow.

What I thought would take a month or so to complete is finished in 5 days. Crikey.
The speed with which the knitting community shares news would put any telecommunications company to shame!
Wow. (again)

And so the 1500th commenter is Tanya of turtleslakeknitting.blogspot.com. Many heartfelt congratulations for being a part of my milestone-for-no-reason in an ‘un’ sort of way! I’ll contact you via email to secure a postal address so I can get out the goodies straight away. I truly hope you enjoy this very Irish yarn! Yippee!

But hey, I’m not finished…

I have to confess that the spirit of this winter-blah-prevention went ever-so-slightly-wee-bit awry. My intention was not the mass accumulation of comments. Please don’t misunderstand…all are welcome! I guess, for me, it was more about community less about contest.

Right then, so to satisfy my own expectations, I decided to choose an additional pre-Tudora-pre-contest number…not so round, but meaningful nonetheless…

And will Commenter-Number-1127 (so chosen for my son’s birthdate), please step forward? Jackie of jikiknits.blogspot.com will be receiving this—

Crimson Kilcarra and Craftspun’s own brand of Homespun yarn…undyed creamy Blue Faced Leister.
Very happy knitting to you both!

Or in this case, the ‘eternal hope of spring’…

It certainly won’t surprise you to hear me say that I truly love living in Ireland.

Yes, it is very green most of the year.
Yes, it is a mystically ancient land.
Yes, it is seaside and mountain and valley and wood.

It perhaps might surprise you to hear me say that there are drawbacks to living in Ireland.

Yes, it is perpetually damp, driving the chill to the deepest marrow of the bone.
Yes, it is dark in the winter for more hours than I care to count.
Yes, it is windy with a substantial portion of drizzle thrown in for good measure.

But, it all balances out when in mid-January this sight meets my winter-worn eyes…

My conscience has been itching again… man, hate it when that happens…

The last time I had a tussle with my conscience, the resulting conviction led to me stop colouring my hair. Happy with the outcome, but the process was kinda tough. And now, it’s at it again. Perhaps it’s an every-January-occurrence for me…the natural pendulum swing following the excesses of December. And I thought I lived a simple life.

It’s this whole eco-living-reducing-your-carbon-footprint-sustainability stuff.

Oh sure, I recycle. Feel good about that and my efforts to ‘save the planet’. Put out the rubbish bin with greater infrequency. But when did the totally eco-friendly cleaning supplies become infiltrated with fruity smelling popular dish soap or a convenient name brand cleanser? Guess it happened when I wasn’t looking…

Once upon a time I sang loud the praises of all-organic produce. It’s still my first choice, but if I can’t find that particular fruit or veg of the organic persuasion, am I willing to go without? Tracking veggie air miles to be sure, but tracking seasonal-ness? Hmmm….

And even longer ago, in a land far away, baking daily bread, making stores of soap, reducing dependence upon corporate mega-opolies was second nature. But how did that store-bought-and-even-on-rare-occasion-(gasp)-white-bread come to be in my cupboard? Might blame Husband-Will, but we all know he’s on another continent…

Dublin is one of the more expensive cities in Europe…but do I trick myself into saying  it’s only being frugal when I purchase cheap-not-sure-if-it’s-made-with-child-labour clothing?

You see, a simple life is not that simple.

It seems so overwhelming, living in such a responsible way. Will there ever be a time when I won’t have to wrestle with choices on a regular basis? The enormity of it sometimes paralyses me. And the obsessive-compulsive gene in my head says that it must be an all-or-none sustainable, renewable lifestyle, much like Tom & Barbara Good or Rebecca. But certainly there must be an in-between in this process…

Well, no simple solutions here. No grandiose resolutions. No immediate to-do lists. Just thinking and pondering and tweaking what’s already in progress.  Perhaps I’ll go bake some whole wheat bread…

“A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living, I think.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

It snowed.

For those in the colder climates, this will seem like a negligible blip on the meteorological map, but for constantly-temperate Ireland, it’s an occasion to celebrate.

Like icing sugar, the dusting covers the winter-barren hilltops peeking over the neighbouring Lodge.

Amazing what children can do with a small amount of precipitation.

Needless to say, the Kiddies are bursting with excitement and hoping that school’s closed…

Cuz I need something to zizz up the dreariness of winter, that’s why…

I love the idea of winning things. Alas, I never do. The next best thing is giving things. Especially when the recipient isn’t expecting it.

So, a little while ago, I thought, ‘Hey, I’d like to give away some lovely Irish Kilcarra yarn.’

But, hmm…..how to do it?

Then the obsessive-compulsive side of me kicked in and I decided that when I hit the good ol’ round number of 1500 comments posted, that 1500th commenter will receive 200 grams of the wool you see pictured.

How easy is that? No signing up. No names in a hat. No long-shot odds. Just business as usual until my milestone-for-no-particular-reason is reached!

So, where are we now? The odometer is at about 1400, so I’m thinking that in the next month or so we’ll be havin’ a winner!