tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132021952024-03-13T02:43:23.026+01:00SimulacraUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger242125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-64069148559429282172015-04-11T07:28:00.002+02:002015-04-11T07:28:51.180+02:00Here AgainAround and around and around we go. It has been more than four years since I posted. And more than seven years since I posted about the worst. But it all feels so familiar now.<br />
<br />
Rilke could do for now. But he's far more hopeful than I feel. From <i>Letters to A Young Poet</i>:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and try to sing out with the
pain it causes you. For those who are near you are far away... and this
shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast.... be happy
about your growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you,
and be gentle with those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front
of them and don't torment them with your doubts and don't frighten them
with your faith or joy, which they wouldn't be able to comprehend. Seek
out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them,
which doesn't necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again
and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own
and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the
aloneness that you trust.... and don't expect any understanding; but
believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance,
and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so
large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step
outside it. </i><br />
<br />
I remember this quotation from a novel I am too embarrassed to name, but it involves the cutting of one's flesh in an ancient tradition - "the pain of the flesh is nothing." In my case, I would want it to be everything. What a relief that would be, manifesting something on the outside, to purge it from the inside. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-25997206109180649742011-03-03T04:49:00.001+01:002011-03-03T04:49:37.017+01:00Just a Happy Post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-AI4KFN2e4kI/TW8N_4N2QRI/AAAAAAAABno/gBhvK1m8PmM/s1600/IMG_7598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-AI4KFN2e4kI/TW8N_4N2QRI/AAAAAAAABno/gBhvK1m8PmM/s640/IMG_7598.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Flowers for me from J on Valentine's. He knows I don't really like roses, at least the long stem variety. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mzWgGKpwMwY/TW8OB6lyHDI/AAAAAAAABns/tZ3ezRoGzo8/s1600/IMG_7633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mzWgGKpwMwY/TW8OB6lyHDI/AAAAAAAABns/tZ3ezRoGzo8/s640/IMG_7633.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">J and Ruby Begonia, my professor's dog, whom we took care of (and his amazing house) for the week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ILJ9LAw2zmE/TW8PNqUjT4I/AAAAAAAABoI/BpXI5KB6L_s/s1600/IMG_7618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ILJ9LAw2zmE/TW8PNqUjT4I/AAAAAAAABoI/BpXI5KB6L_s/s640/IMG_7618.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>Bountiful food for a party we had for J and our New Haven friends.<br />
More on the chocolate cake and the panna cotta in the far back next post!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-6044327679873427932011-02-14T18:03:00.000+01:002011-02-14T18:03:18.142+01:00Happy Valentine's!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDbhu85etck/TVlfmWmjkaI/AAAAAAAABnc/iuiGzG0I3uY/s1600/IMG_7593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDbhu85etck/TVlfmWmjkaI/AAAAAAAABnc/iuiGzG0I3uY/s640/IMG_7593.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Peanut butter and raspberry jam cookie - I made some for J's arrival. Today I plan on reading an ancient Greek romance novel by the fire, taking Ruby, the dog we're taking care of, for a walk, and going out to dinner for tapas. A good day.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-82863562462731398332011-02-10T21:07:00.000+01:002011-02-10T21:07:53.167+01:00Rainbow Stripes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Adu3vloaQF4/TVRCPiEyXFI/AAAAAAAABnM/p9vmr6XO1Wg/s1600/IMG_7584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Adu3vloaQF4/TVRCPiEyXFI/AAAAAAAABnM/p9vmr6XO1Wg/s640/IMG_7584.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I had to do it: I had to knit the Noro Silk Garden Stripey Scarf. Of course, my photos are nowhere near as gorgeous as those on <a href="http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2007/04/noro-scarf.html">Jared's blog</a>, but as long as the scarf is beautiful, I don't care!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7qhdgXPWbZc/TVRCSfadeDI/AAAAAAAABnQ/_v7IeaNlwhI/s1600/IMG_7582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7qhdgXPWbZc/TVRCSfadeDI/AAAAAAAABnQ/_v7IeaNlwhI/s640/IMG_7582.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8YFZXMuDDo8/TVRCVL3e4PI/AAAAAAAABnU/ZL84I7iJ6Gg/s1600/IMG_7580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8YFZXMuDDo8/TVRCVL3e4PI/AAAAAAAABnU/ZL84I7iJ6Gg/s640/IMG_7580.JPG" width="344" /></a></div>I knit this in the last month as my break from work. Work has basically been writing the first chapter of my dissertation at break-neck speed in order to have it done by Feb. 1st for a fellowship application. I would either teach in the morning or start writing right away. After dinner, I burned through House M.D.'s past four seasons and knit this scarf - and other sundry items which I will post shortly. <br />
<br />
It seemed to work: the deadline gave me fuel for writing all day, and knitting and TV gave me relief at night. But, I wouldn't want to keep this schedule up forever. Which is a bit problematic, since I need to cough up three more chapters, and an introduction and conclusion, sometime next year!<br />
<br />
One thing that has also helped, for those of you who write and get writer's block, is a little web site called <a href="http://750words.com/">750 Words</a>. It's basically a private place where you can type up 750 words everyday (or more, up to you) and have it be about total hogwash - whatever you need to dump from your brain. It's private, protected, and you can unload your thoughts without thinking about how literate it sounds or how others may judge it. I've used it a couple times at sticky points in my chapter, just to blab about what I wanted to write but, for the life of me, couldn't put into what I thought were "acceptable" terms. Try it! The site counts your words for you, gives you "badges" for writing (although I don't care about those so much), runs stats on what you're writing (pie charts etc.), and - for some reason this is freeing for me - it isn't stored on your computer, in fact, you can just forget about it once you're done (although the site does save your writing for you on your account).<br />
<br />
As of now, I'm on a break from work after finishing the chapter. J is coming for a visit next week and we are planning a dinner party, visit to NYC, and other fun items. Stay tuned!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-29428792739624270712011-01-16T14:53:00.000+01:002011-01-16T14:53:30.018+01:00Eating My Way through Taiwan: Breakfast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxiLXk20I/AAAAAAAABlM/LJzy1jGk1ik/s1600/IMG_7463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxiLXk20I/AAAAAAAABlM/LJzy1jGk1ik/s640/IMG_7463.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Happy New Year! I had the chance to visit Taiwan again this winter break, and I come back, of course, laden with food pictures. It can't be helped. Taiwan is the land of promiscuous eating and inventive, crazy cuisine. But I thought we'd start with something traditional, soothing, and a little zen: rice porridge (or <i>xi fan</i> or <i>congee</i> or <i>zho</i>). It is, as you can see, simply rice cooked with an abundant amount of water. Here there is a little piece of yam added, which is cooked along with the rice. I ate this for breakfast almost everyday growing up. In our home we usually added pickled vegetables or dried shredded pork (<i>ro song</i>) to eat along with it. But, Taiwan being Taiwan, this particular bowl of rice porridge was accompanied by a no-holds-barred selection of <i>xiao zhi </i>or "little eats." <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxuqQK_zI/AAAAAAAABlg/HnkWmaahnnw/s1600/IMG_7461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxuqQK_zI/AAAAAAAABlg/HnkWmaahnnw/s640/IMG_7461.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Clockwise from top: traditional egg and tomato, bamboo shoots, steamed ground pork with a steamed egg yolk on top, and garlicky green beans.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxvCDV0VI/AAAAAAAABlk/YK4Sx-GsCCM/s1600/IMG_7462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxvCDV0VI/AAAAAAAABlk/YK4Sx-GsCCM/s640/IMG_7462.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Clockwise from top: cured Chinese sausage, sauteed offal, crispy pickled cucumber, chopped mustard greens, wine soaked little clams, and wheat gluten.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">But another very traditional breakfast is centered around soy bean milk - although rice porridge definitely can be included. This is probably my favorite type of Chinese breakfast, easily bought off the street in Taiwan:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxszJ0SQI/AAAAAAAABlU/munOF0NUpSs/s1600/IMG_7428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxszJ0SQI/AAAAAAAABlU/munOF0NUpSs/s640/IMG_7428.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Strips of dough are lined up to be deep fried into <i>you tiao</i> (literally "oil stick'). You can see fried flat breads on the counter</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> where the long line of breakfast patrons are waiting- those can be stuffed with, believe it or not, <i>you tiao </i>(carb loading!) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">or roast beef and scallions or myriad other things.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxtaYN0fI/AAAAAAAABlY/qfVSikA3ykE/s1600/IMG_7430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxtaYN0fI/AAAAAAAABlY/qfVSikA3ykE/s640/IMG_7430.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">You tiao </span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;">sizzling in oil.</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxty52l3I/AAAAAAAABlc/aEezbHObHhA/s1600/IMG_7431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TTLxty52l3I/AAAAAAAABlc/aEezbHObHhA/s640/IMG_7431.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And all the trimmings: <i>you tiao</i>, steamed pork dumplings (<i>xiao long bao</i>), piping hot sweet soy milk - along with </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">one bowl of salty soy milk with <i>you tiao</i> and one bowl of sweet rice gruel with peanuts.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Jia Bong</i>! That's Taiwanese for "let's eat!"</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-15527584866131848452010-12-18T20:05:00.002+01:002010-12-18T20:15:11.635+01:00Macarons, Entrelac, and Sprinkles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0EuoKVE-I/AAAAAAAABks/T41LNbUu9Uw/s1600/IMG_7373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0EuoKVE-I/AAAAAAAABks/T41LNbUu9Uw/s640/IMG_7373.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> It's been a while, eh? I don't even know if anyone reads this anymore. But I've collected a few images I'd like to share from the past 2 months. I'm off again after this, first to North Carolina to see J's parents, then to Taiwan! With J! And family! It's going to be a blast, and I can't wait.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0Ew35Cv4I/AAAAAAAABkw/ByrqLQQteYg/s1600/IMG_7361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0Ew35Cv4I/AAAAAAAABkw/ByrqLQQteYg/s640/IMG_7361.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Macarons and cookie goodness from friends visiting from Chicago.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0E2FEypYI/AAAAAAAABk0/rN0n8rptRT8/s1600/IMG_7357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0E2FEypYI/AAAAAAAABk0/rN0n8rptRT8/s640/IMG_7357.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Noro Bonbori yarn, almost at the end of a center pull ball... Like a glowing cave.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0H-ChEiFI/AAAAAAAABlA/TZAEMMZK7YY/s1600/IMG_7369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0H-ChEiFI/AAAAAAAABlA/TZAEMMZK7YY/s640/IMG_7369.JPG" width="480" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">What I knit with that yarn: my entrelac scarf. It was a joy to knit, really.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0H_0D1r_I/AAAAAAAABlE/TZiFGPO46aI/s1600/IMG_7370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TQ0H_0D1r_I/AAAAAAAABlE/TZiFGPO46aI/s640/IMG_7370.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">It reminds me of sea glass - brown, green, and blue.</div><br />
A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-79411515707328812842010-10-21T06:26:00.001+02:002010-10-21T19:30:27.977+02:00My Life in YarnI'm back. Rather than blog about Rhinebeck and show the pictures everyone else will show, let me catch you up on my life by showing you the yarn I bought at the festival. (For those who are non-yarny out there, Rhinebeck is the city where the New York Sheep and Wool Festival is held yearly - it's the biggest festival of its kind in the country. Every year, knitters, bloggers, vendors, sheep sellers, and quasi-knitting celebrities head there...)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TL-2To3Na3I/AAAAAAAABkE/EQKyxRepLjM/s1600/IMG_7322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TL-2To3Na3I/AAAAAAAABkE/EQKyxRepLjM/s400/IMG_7322.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yarn details: darker brown skeins Shetland Silk Tweed "Dana" 2-ply laceweight from Swift River Farm, 95% organic Shetland wool, 5% bombyx silk; </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">lighter brown skein Shetland Supreme 2-ply lace from Jamieson & Smith, 100% undyed Shetland wool, colorway "Moorit."</span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br />
First up: this is tweedy looking wool, eh? You know what's tweedy? University professors are generally tweedy. At least in New England. I am happy to announce that I have finally achieved the status of All But Dissertation. This means I have jumped through all the hoops they've set out for me - courses, exams, and a defense of my dissertation project - and all I've got left is the dissertation. Like my fellow PhD program friend says, the "new car smell" lasts only for a little bit, and then you're stuck with the enormous burden of having to churn out a couple hundred pages of what you hope will be brilliant stuff. But onwards and upwards!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TL-3HUwLxPI/AAAAAAAABkU/DBax-xsoloI/s1600/IMG_7320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TL-3HUwLxPI/AAAAAAAABkU/DBax-xsoloI/s400/IMG_7320.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yarn details: "Nona" 2-ply laceweight from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, 50% merino, 25% cashmere, 25% bombyx silk, colowary "Adirondack."</span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br />
I bought this silky skein thinking of the ocean. I had just crossed the Atlantic twice, once on my way to and from England to see J, who's just started his lectureship. His apartment is right on the English Channel, and we can see the moody waves from his windows! They are just "sea peeps," as the realtor had described them, but they are peeps of the sea nonetheless! It was a lovely week of knitting and . . .<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TL-4xwZIRhI/AAAAAAAABkY/jzPjs4R8DjE/s1600/IMG_7316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TL-4xwZIRhI/AAAAAAAABkY/jzPjs4R8DjE/s400/IMG_7316.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yarn details: "Atropos" 2-ply laceweight from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, 100% bombyx silk, colorway "Scarlett."</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">. . . love! This silk yarn is a blood-red color, and its twisted skein reminds me of the human heart. J and I got engaged this last week in England. It's all a bit crazy and yet very matter-of-fact at the same time. I knew this was coming, I had thought about it and felt good about it. But our story is a bit crazier than usual. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Indulge me in a bit of George Eliot. When I think of my life in the last five years, I think of this quote from the end of <i>Middlemarch</i> (you have been warned: if you do not want to know the ending, stop reading here). I am not a noble Dorothea, nor is D (or Molt, as he was fondly called in this blog many moons ago) Casaubon - no! not at all. J, however, is actually a bit like young Will Ladislaw. So I think of this quote:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Sir James never ceased to regard Dorothea's second marriage as a mistake; and indeed this remained the tradition concerning it in Middlemarch, where she was spoken of to a younger generation as a fine girl who married a sickly clergyman, old enough to be her father, and in little more than a year after his death gave up her estate to marry his cousin - young enough to have been his son, with no property, and not well-born. Those who had not seen anything of Dorothea usually observed that she could not have been 'a nice woman', else she would not have married either the one or the other.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Certainly those determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of a young and noble impulse struggling amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion. For there is no creature whose inward being is so strong that it is not greatly determined by what lies outside of it. A new Theresa will hardly have the opportunity of reforming a conventual life, any more than a new Antigone will spend her heroic piety in daring all for the sake of a brother's burial: the medium in which their ardent deeds took shape is for ever gone. But we insignificant people with our daily words and acts are preparing the lives of many Dorotheas, some of which may present a far sadder sacrifice than that of the Dorothea whose story we know."</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TL-9kKuQx6I/AAAAAAAABkc/3xzcU8kh4qI/s1600/IMG_7324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TL-9kKuQx6I/AAAAAAAABkc/3xzcU8kh4qI/s400/IMG_7324.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yarn details: oatmeal colored ball is worsted baby alpaca/silk 70/30 from Times Remembered, colorway "Suede"; </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">blue skein is "Rio" fingering from Times Remembered, 100% prime alpaca, colorway "Wedgewood."</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally, and, yes, this one's a bit of a stretch in terms of yarn metaphors, but there are some fuzzy details and cloudy skies right now. D and I are trying to sell our house. We are almost there...but it has been a very trying process. Difficult buyers and a prolonged negotiation process has really sapped the spirit out of me sometimes. But hopefully this will all be over soon.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">So! That is why I have been silent for so long. In the weeks from Oct. 1 until now I have 1) had my birthday, 2) defended my dissertation project and become ABD, 3) flown to England, 4) gotten engaged, 5) gone to Rhinebeck, and 6) advanced toward closing on the house. Fingers crossed on that last item!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now for more knitting, reading, writing, planning, and hoping.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-43286560363468106582010-09-09T05:04:00.000+02:002010-09-09T05:04:26.807+02:00Wandering: And Trying To Settle Down...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TIhMI-Ii39I/AAAAAAAABj8/QmhvDFAbcHk/s1600/IMG_7058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TIhMI-Ii39I/AAAAAAAABj8/QmhvDFAbcHk/s640/IMG_7058.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A coastal cedar grove at Point Lobos, California.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>I've neglected this blog woefully for the past few months... and I doubt the wisdom of continuing. But never mind. I just want to look at that cedar grove and imagine myself disappearing into it. <br />
<br />
I'm in the process of selling a house (!), beginning to teach again at the university, unpacking from a big move, and getting used to living an ocean apart from J. All in all enough to make a girl very, very blue. I know that a routine will soon develop, and that structure will go a long ways to make things seem comfortable and home-like again. In the meantime, I'll just hang on, posting meditative pictures and looking forward.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-1600521766643712922010-08-31T05:13:00.000+02:002010-08-31T05:13:23.712+02:00Interruption: Fraud and Moving<div class="mbl notesBlogText clearfix"><div>To all my Yale friends and to anyone living in CT and thinking of hiring movers: do NOT hire Connecticut Movers, run by Joshua Banks with the telephone 203.516.1010. They are a FRAUD.<br />
<br />
I called to hire movers and was told, by Josh, that they would be available on-call for me when I was ready to unload my truck. The day of the move, with full truck on its way to the house I was unloading at, I called Josh. He told me that the movers were on their way and he would call to check their ETA.<br />
<br />
That was the last I heard from him.<br />
<br />
No movers EVER showed up.<br />
<br />
Josh turned off his cell phone so that I went straight to voice mail.<br />
<br />
This is the web site so you can identify them:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.connecticutmovinghelp.com/home" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "0f297", event);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.connecticutmovinghelp.com/home</a><br />
<br />
I intend to contact the Better Business Bureau and the CT Department of Consumer Protection, but I'm posting this here in hopes that google searchers looking for a mover will see this and be warned. </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-19419497812728736522010-08-21T02:55:00.001+02:002010-08-21T02:57:41.687+02:00Making: Greenleaf Baby Blanket<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TG8f6ctWSgI/AAAAAAAABjU/C0YNiCEHXI0/s1600/IMG_7082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TG8f6ctWSgI/AAAAAAAABjU/C0YNiCEHXI0/s400/IMG_7082.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>This is the chalice lace pattern on the baby blanket I knit for J's sister, who's going to pop with her second boy any day now. To me the pattern doesn't so much look like chalices as much as leaves. I like the effect it has pinned against the white mattress, sort of like jacquard fabric:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TG8h_OOWDvI/AAAAAAAABjk/kmT4seJjpqE/s1600/jacquard-samples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TG8h_OOWDvI/AAAAAAAABjk/kmT4seJjpqE/s400/jacquard-samples.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Samples of jacquard from Fibre Designs </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The blanket was my second lace pattern, a much easier experience than knitting the <a href="http://marianevans.blogspot.com/2010/05/making-forest-canopy-shawl-for-mothers.html">Forest Canopy Shawl</a>. For one thing, there are no increases and, therefore, no infernal counting of stitches to make sure I hadn't screwed up. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TG8i0LlexuI/AAAAAAAABjs/STan-LSipa0/s1600/IMG_7080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TG8i0LlexuI/AAAAAAAABjs/STan-LSipa0/s400/IMG_7080.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This one took a bit longer to get finished, since I've been zipping from Germany to the SF Bay Area and North Carolina. I delivered the blanket yesterday - hopefully it'll be big enough! The baby is already 8 lbs and not due for another three weeks! Labor induction is in order, I think, if the baby doesn't come very soon. Maybe while we're here! Since I've never been around for all the hustle and bustle of a birth before that would be pretty exciting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Raveled <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/janjancl/baby-chalice-blanket">here</a>. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-7671455334807661662010-08-11T00:50:00.000+02:002010-08-11T00:50:34.146+02:00Travel, Travel, Travel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHVcMU2AhI/AAAAAAAABik/kZ9qQa4y9OY/s1600/IMG_6490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHVcMU2AhI/AAAAAAAABik/kZ9qQa4y9OY/s400/IMG_6490.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Habaneros and corn at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>So, blogging is a bit erratic at the moment - again. I think I'm overdoing the travel bit... but it has been oh so wonderful these last couple of weeks.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHWAmnlwyI/AAAAAAAABis/lfRYSbn_KYk/s1600/IMG_6554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHWAmnlwyI/AAAAAAAABis/lfRYSbn_KYk/s400/IMG_6554.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Carousing at the Englischer Garten in Munich.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHWiMrYfRI/AAAAAAAABi0/OgHZ6pEVL_k/s1600/IMG_6753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHWiMrYfRI/AAAAAAAABi0/OgHZ6pEVL_k/s400/IMG_6753.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Cream tea in Teignmouth, a coastal village in Devon, England.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHWucCVaKI/AAAAAAAABi8/Zd3MDVya2Wo/s1600/IMG_6742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHWucCVaKI/AAAAAAAABi8/Zd3MDVya2Wo/s400/IMG_6742.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dipping my feet in the English Channel.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHXBpx0NtI/AAAAAAAABjE/IdV2YdRcyxQ/s1600/IMG_6769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TGHXBpx0NtI/AAAAAAAABjE/IdV2YdRcyxQ/s400/IMG_6769.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Lots of lovely train rides.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next up: two lovely weeks in the San Francisco Bay Area with my family and North Carolina with John's. It's a very fond farewell I'm saying to Germany, but I'll be back. And I'm looking very much forward to the future.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-47979744034008849842010-08-02T23:24:00.000+02:002010-08-02T23:24:33.386+02:00Making: Birthday Present...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFcyGtZsNuI/AAAAAAAABhs/eHOEfZJmgLY/s1600/IMG_6472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFcyGtZsNuI/AAAAAAAABhs/eHOEfZJmgLY/s400/IMG_6472.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>So, I said that <a href="http://marianevans.blogspot.com/2010/07/making-designing.html">I was going to make a Kindle cover for my sister for her birthday</a>. It sounded simple enough to design: two rectangles, sewn together, with some sort of flap. No problem. But... then there were problems. I was trying to use up some stash yarn that had been discontinued at the local yarn store: it was 50% merino wool and 50% acrylic. Well, no problem. I'd find something with a similar gauge and feel. But here are the lessons I've learned:<br />
<br />
1) Use the same material throughout a project, with the same fiber content. I used a 100% merino yarn for the cover front (in white) and it just didn't have the same feel. It was a bit floppier than the grey backing.<br />
<br />
2) BLOCK gauge swatches!!! Especially if you have to have both rectangle shapes line up exactly to be sewn! I can't emphasize this enough. I just wasn't thinking, knit my swatches, measured, calculated, and then went on to knit two fine rectangles. Then I wet blocked them. Lo and behold, the white merino grew waaay to much. I had to force it a bit back down to size.<br />
<br />
3) Learn a proper seaming technique rather than just fudging it with crochet. Although, I think the crochet trim isn't too bad in this project, it could be better. And it sort of exacerbated the fact that the two rectangles weren't perfectly aligned in size.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFczrt4WAAI/AAAAAAAABh0/oQ3Q2JInSKA/s1600/IMG_6467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFczrt4WAAI/AAAAAAAABh0/oQ3Q2JInSKA/s400/IMG_6467.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>You can really tell the difference in size between the white and the grey sides by looking at the frills formed by the crochet stitches on the bottom edging. I did manage to block that back down a bit - phew! Still, it's not perfect and that irks me.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFc0vO1pxPI/AAAAAAAABh8/FFwGZwBTvIA/s1600/IMG_6453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFc0vO1pxPI/AAAAAAAABh8/FFwGZwBTvIA/s400/IMG_6453.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Still, I like my overall design - especially the stitches I contrived for the two sides: seed (or moss) stitch for the grey side, to form a kind of egg-carton cushioning, and contrasting white garter stitch, which is also very cushy. And I like my colors and button.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFc1EW5DePI/AAAAAAAABiE/oE3uxFyaX7A/s1600/IMG_6469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFc1EW5DePI/AAAAAAAABiE/oE3uxFyaX7A/s400/IMG_6469.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFc1I5d_bPI/AAAAAAAABiM/xnFzy3v1Dqg/s1600/IMG_6470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFc1I5d_bPI/AAAAAAAABiM/xnFzy3v1Dqg/s400/IMG_6470.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><b>Kindle Cover Pattern: </b><br />
Kindle DX Dimensions: 10.4" x 7.2" x 0.38"<br />
Yarn: 1 skein Millefine, Lana Grossa, 50g, 100m, 50% Merino 50% Acrylic – back and flap; 1.5 skeins Siena Big, Wolle Rödel, 50g, 80m, 100% Merino – front, with button<br />
Needle: 3.0mm / 3 US<br />
Gauge (blocked!) : 4.5 stitches / inch in seed stitch (Millefine); 5.25 stitches / inch in garter stitch (Siena Big)<br />
<br />
Back of Cover and Flap:<br />
Cast on 34 stitches of back and flap color yarn. <br />
Work in seed stitch until 10.7 inches long.<br />
Purl an entire row.<br />
Knit the entire next row. This will form a stockinette stitch ridge which will form the fold for the envelope flap.<br />
Work in seed stitch for next 10 rows.<br />
Begin decrease to form triangle of the envelope flap:<br />
ssk first two stitches, seed stitch (knit every purl stitch, purl every knit sticht), k2tog last two stitches until only 12 stitches left.<br />
Bind off in pattern loosely.<br />
<br />
Work on Cover Front:<br />
Cast on 40 stitches in cover front color and work in garter stitch until 10.7" long, bind off loosely.<br />
<br />
Wash and block both pieces to size.<br />
Crochet sides closed using single crochet stitch and an alternate color of yarn (if desired). Crochet envelope flap edging also using single crotchet stitches.<br />
Sew on button.<br />
Crochet button loop on envelope flap.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFc1SqeMbXI/AAAAAAAABiU/je_oGM9ytyY/s1600/IMG_6462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFc1SqeMbXI/AAAAAAAABiU/je_oGM9ytyY/s400/IMG_6462.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-10362437676316445452010-07-30T13:59:00.002+02:002010-07-30T14:01:46.226+02:00Feasting: Last Meals in HeidelbergWe've had some fantastic German food here in Heidelberg. Let's reminisce:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK7r4o59QI/AAAAAAAABg8/EVAFcdCDAD0/s1600/IMG_1177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK7r4o59QI/AAAAAAAABg8/EVAFcdCDAD0/s400/IMG_1177.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A traditional Bavarian Weisswurst breakfast. At Zum Franziskaner.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK73NsM_vI/AAAAAAAABhE/9I55EtM_cfw/s1600/IMG_1581.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK73NsM_vI/AAAAAAAABhE/9I55EtM_cfw/s400/IMG_1581.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Traditional Palatinate blood sausage and liver Knödel, always with buttery potatoes. At Kulturbrauerei.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK8IFLuAmI/AAAAAAAABhM/-xZVCg_zWJc/s1600/IMG_4644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK8IFLuAmI/AAAAAAAABhM/-xZVCg_zWJc/s400/IMG_4644.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lots of wonderful beers: zum Wohl!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK8hqVnHvI/AAAAAAAABhc/bvRU50Rc_-c/s1600/IMG_5293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK8hqVnHvI/AAAAAAAABhc/bvRU50Rc_-c/s400/IMG_5293.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday: hike to the monastery and eat fresh cheese, bread, and olives there in the open air.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK87IaZr2I/AAAAAAAABhk/UUcUvSOw-Ms/s1600/IMG_6446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFK87IaZr2I/AAAAAAAABhk/UUcUvSOw-Ms/s400/IMG_6446.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But I've got to say that my favorite German thing to eat here is Schweinshaxe: roast crackling pork knuckle - </div><div style="text-align: center;">the one above is at one of our favorite restaurants, Vetter, served with sauerkraut, Semmelknödel, and mustard.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">As you can see, this ain't for the weak of heart - or the weak of stomach. I will miss all this hearty goodness. But we still have this weekend in Munich! Let's see what they have on offer there...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-55939002267252793692010-07-28T20:03:00.000+02:002010-07-28T20:03:57.165+02:00Wandering: The Road Goes Ever On And On<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBsH1miZ3I/AAAAAAAABgE/C-HATEhGWNE/s1600/IMG_1587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBsH1miZ3I/AAAAAAAABgE/C-HATEhGWNE/s400/IMG_1587.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dusk at the Jesuitenkirche.</span> </div><br />
This is my last week in Heidelberg... I won't be flying back to the States for another week or so, but after this Friday I'll be traveling around, first to Munich and then to the UK, then back here to pack up and go. I can't tell you how sad this makes me! I never expected to live in Germany or to become so fond of it, but Heidelberg has really become home in the last year. I will miss:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBtBvOGG3I/AAAAAAAABgU/_cVubfuJuhU/s1600/IMG_1540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBtBvOGG3I/AAAAAAAABgU/_cVubfuJuhU/s400/IMG_1540.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">the view from my apartment onto the rooftops of the Altstadt and the hills of the Philosophenweg,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBtgN304QI/AAAAAAAABgc/RKJDVeiyKbY/s1600/IMG_4594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBtgN304QI/AAAAAAAABgc/RKJDVeiyKbY/s400/IMG_4594.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> peering into bakery windows to see what ridiculous pastries they're hawking,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBuBKvCd1I/AAAAAAAABgk/eju-VSMf-L8/s1600/IMG_4767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBuBKvCd1I/AAAAAAAABgk/eju-VSMf-L8/s400/IMG_4767.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> meeting friends for lunch in plazas,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBucXSdNLI/AAAAAAAABgs/6pPmHygg1aU/s1600/IMG_4716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBucXSdNLI/AAAAAAAABgs/6pPmHygg1aU/s400/IMG_4716.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">wandering around on little trails,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBu7ZT14OI/AAAAAAAABg0/mGLcst4qAlE/s1600/IMG_4729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TFBu7ZT14OI/AAAAAAAABg0/mGLcst4qAlE/s400/IMG_4729.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">pausing on the Old Bridge to look at distant hills and to wonder what lies beyond...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">But aside from these things, I will miss the home this place has given me. It really has been a haven after a very tough couple of years. It has been an ideal place to study, think, explore, recover, and take delight in life and the world.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-66656234949918769842010-07-26T16:02:00.000+02:002010-07-26T16:02:38.941+02:00Making: Designing!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2OuEv8PYI/AAAAAAAABfU/4tJOHkdZY0c/s1600/IMG_6432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2OuEv8PYI/AAAAAAAABfU/4tJOHkdZY0c/s400/IMG_6432.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>These are my <a href="http://www.jetpens.com/product_info.php/cPath/239_483/products_id/2094">Pilot Choose 0.7mm gel ink pens</a>, which I purchased through <a href="http://www.jetpens.com/">Jet Pens</a>, a fabulous online store stocking all sorts of wonderful writing, drawing, and drafting instruments. I was given a gift certificate last fall and these gel ink pens, along with a very chic fountain pen, were my happy little purchase.<br />
<br />
The reason I pulled these out this last weekend is because I'm designing a little knit project - very simple, actually - that needs a bit of embroidery to give it that final flourish. If you're my sister: STOP READING NOW. If you're not, the gift is a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Reading-Graphite-Globally-Generation/dp/B002GYWHSQ/ref=amb_link_353482422_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0D68JHAHCZ4PYP5MMA0M&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1270250002&pf_rd_i=507846">Kindle </a>cover, two very simple rectangles knit together, with a buttoned envelope flap. But I need something small in a corner to make it sweet. I couldn't settle on anything for the longest time. Should it be floral? A little bird? Birds are such the rage now: I see them on everything from tote bags to jewelry. An owl would be fitting with the book theme. What about a pattern from tiles I've seen in Istanbul? Or is a simple heart too twee?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2Qqd1WKBI/AAAAAAAABfk/vuGVSee4NBg/s1600/IMG_6439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2Qqd1WKBI/AAAAAAAABfk/vuGVSee4NBg/s400/IMG_6439.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>There's also the question of color. The cover is a charcoal gray on the back and the flap and a creamy off-white on the front - where I'm imagining the embroidery to be. Red stood out to me at once as the color of choice for a little embellishment. So, a parade of red-colored possibilities began presenting themselves to me: a little apple? Too simple - and reminiscent of the brand. A strawberry? To difficult to capture with yarn embroidery, especially the little seeds. Okay, how about flowers? I wanted something streamlined, not too folksy or granny, not too mod. Simple. Pretty. Ugh. Let's play with the roving in that little paper bag instead!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2RpQ3OfZI/AAAAAAAABfs/LkC7toqrj1g/s1600/IMG_6437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2RpQ3OfZI/AAAAAAAABfs/LkC7toqrj1g/s400/IMG_6437.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Oooh! I didn't know there was that much roving in there! Come to think of it, I don't think I had taken the wool out of that bag since I bought it last fall at the <a href="http://marianevans.blogspot.com/2009/09/heidelberger-herbst.html">Heidelberger Herbst</a> festival. Hmmmm. Maybe I could felt something instead of embroider. But I've never felted. And I don't have any felting needles. Probably a bad idea to try something for the first time when a gift is involved.<br />
<br />
But the roving presents such lovely color combinations. Whoever packed that little bag has a gift. Let's look at it again!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2SolgBB2I/AAAAAAAABf0/Unoljga7SDk/s1600/IMG_6438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2SolgBB2I/AAAAAAAABf0/Unoljga7SDk/s400/IMG_6438.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>It looks like sorbet colors! How about something food related, then, for the embroidery? A cupcake? Soooo overdone. Cute but inelegant. Lollipops? Cute...but how to group them? How many? <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2S9dGhLwI/AAAAAAAABf8/KklWEvlL00w/s1600/IMG_6433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TE2S9dGhLwI/AAAAAAAABf8/KklWEvlL00w/s400/IMG_6433.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>This could go on forever. I think I've settled on a group of very simple star-shaped flowers in red. But maybe on the gray side of the cover, with a red blanket stitch around the perimeter of the cover to pull it all together. Or not? If you have any ideas, send them my way!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-54115426138402477342010-07-23T16:29:00.001+02:002010-07-23T16:30:20.728+02:00Feasting: Lunch in Sevilla's Barrio Santa Cruz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmf-tbtjuI/AAAAAAAABec/slg-BzAFNyU/s1600/IMG_6354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmf-tbtjuI/AAAAAAAABec/slg-BzAFNyU/s400/IMG_6354.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Baked cod with muscat grapes</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but I remember that it was right on the edge of the Santa Cruz neighborhood in Sevilla (maybe along </span> </span>La Avenida de Menéndez Pelayo, but I'm not sure anymore). Anyway, my sister and I stopped in this bright bistro-like restaurant for an amazing tapas lunch.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmibUCQqrI/AAAAAAAABek/85pgkujUrD0/s1600/IMG_6349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmibUCQqrI/AAAAAAAABek/85pgkujUrD0/s400/IMG_6349.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Spinach with chickpeas and garlic</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmioYxpnrI/AAAAAAAABes/bZWhBXJp5Qg/s1600/IMG_6351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmioYxpnrI/AAAAAAAABes/bZWhBXJp5Qg/s400/IMG_6351.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tomato and mozzarella "napoleon"</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmjCPbA7zI/AAAAAAAABe0/0fWkFoQnfYQ/s1600/IMG_6355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmjCPbA7zI/AAAAAAAABe0/0fWkFoQnfYQ/s400/IMG_6355.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Fritto misto</i> - including calalmari, sardines, and cod</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And then we took a stroll before the day got too hot (we ducked indoors everyday in Seville at 2 or 3 in the afternoon). The residents of the Barrio Santa Cruz say it's always 10°F cooler there because of the whitewashed, thick walls and narrow streets. I wouldn't say it was <i>cool</i>, but the little streets were definitely a welcome relief from the sun-baked thoroughfares near the cathedral. And they make a lovely labyrinth to wander through...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEml8JbOE8I/AAAAAAAABe8/cmopMUeAt4o/s1600/IMG_6174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEml8JbOE8I/AAAAAAAABe8/cmopMUeAt4o/s400/IMG_6174.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">with niches for mini-altars,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmmK0o2zbI/AAAAAAAABfM/lDTcW5n4x2Q/s1600/IMG_6181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmmK0o2zbI/AAAAAAAABfM/lDTcW5n4x2Q/s400/IMG_6181.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">small plazas with citron trees and tinkling fountains,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmmBrNlAzI/AAAAAAAABfE/U8dc8TxNPOI/s1600/IMG_6171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEmmBrNlAzI/AAAAAAAABfE/U8dc8TxNPOI/s400/IMG_6171.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">past old doors, hiding cool, dark secrets.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's to a mellow, breezy summer weekend!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-38899715250859648002010-07-21T16:06:00.001+02:002010-07-21T16:07:29.211+02:00Wandering: Old Farmsteads in Bavaria<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbTQgsY9lI/AAAAAAAABdM/TilWPTkzNrk/s1600/IMG_5439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbTQgsY9lI/AAAAAAAABdM/TilWPTkzNrk/s400/IMG_5439.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Right on the southwest border of Germany, in Bavaria, there's an <a href="http://www.glentleiten.de/">open-air museum</a> or <i>Freilichtmuseum</i> that exhibits several old Bavarian farmsteads, some dating back as far as the 16th century. At the time I was visiting I had already spent two rain-drenched days with my friends touring around Salzburg and other sites nearby: we were cold, miserable, and water-logged. An "open air" museum was about the last thing I wanted to see in the misty drizzle. Thank goodness, then, that we were given free rein to explore inside all the quaint farmhouses and workshops.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbW0akcjTI/AAAAAAAABdU/8ouJE1vj5t8/s1600/IMG_5425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbW0akcjTI/AAAAAAAABdU/8ouJE1vj5t8/s400/IMG_5425.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>We all squealed when we saw these feather beds upstairs in one old house. How sweet! How simple life was! How Little-House-on-the-Prairie and Anne-of-Green-Gables! But then one catches a glimpse of a chamber pot in the bedroom corner. Oh. Hmm.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbXb_XdXYI/AAAAAAAABdc/_T5DXqLPHpg/s1600/IMG_5456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbXb_XdXYI/AAAAAAAABdc/_T5DXqLPHpg/s400/IMG_5456.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I can't imagine working with this stove. I just don't have the strength to stoke </div><div style="text-align: center;">the fire and manage those heavy iron pots, day after day after day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbX7XPjiaI/AAAAAAAABdk/R8StTYQFI3Y/s1600/IMG_5454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbX7XPjiaI/AAAAAAAABdk/R8StTYQFI3Y/s400/IMG_5454.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This seems a bit more manageable.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbYofiIxwI/AAAAAAAABds/9-g1izcXRLY/s1600/IMG_5450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbYofiIxwI/AAAAAAAABds/9-g1izcXRLY/s400/IMG_5450.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But the work is never done: these rags must be ripped into strips, sewn together, and wound.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbY6orp2rI/AAAAAAAABd0/T2zCecPSxNs/s1600/IMG_5446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEbY6orp2rI/AAAAAAAABd0/T2zCecPSxNs/s400/IMG_5446.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Then they're woven on this enormous loom to become floor mats.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEb8Mwn_eZI/AAAAAAAABd8/DYGYuFz-ucs/s1600/IMG_5428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEb8Mwn_eZI/AAAAAAAABd8/DYGYuFz-ucs/s400/IMG_5428.JPG" width="400" /></a></div> Wool must be carded and combed, then spun and knit!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEb8pLMAGVI/AAAAAAAABeE/BdtNHNH75MM/s1600/IMG_5455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEb8pLMAGVI/AAAAAAAABeE/BdtNHNH75MM/s400/IMG_5455.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Then there are plants to sow, weed, water, and harvest...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEb9DdiJQ6I/AAAAAAAABeM/dXQbDIb89zc/s1600/IMG_5443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEb9DdiJQ6I/AAAAAAAABeM/dXQbDIb89zc/s400/IMG_5443.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>Fruit to be canned and pickled, wines to be fermented and stored.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">I say I would love to do all these things... but only as hobbies. I don't think I could bear the physical weariness I would feel if I <i>had</i> to do them, day in, day out. And without central heating! No, I suppose I prefer the life I lead, in which I only dabble in these things, then return to my books and writing. But who know what may happen someday? Maybe I'll turn farmwife...</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-78725331594428126652010-07-19T12:07:00.001+02:002010-07-19T15:38:29.040+02:00Making: Bits and Bobs, Odds and Ends<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEQgRL8aecI/AAAAAAAABcs/HoY7XWSvU0k/s1600/IMG_6399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEQgRL8aecI/AAAAAAAABcs/HoY7XWSvU0k/s400/IMG_6399.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div>I said I would post my <a href="http://marianevans.blogspot.com/2010/04/making-opal-hundertwasser-socks.html">Opal Hundertwasser Socks</a> when I finished - well, here's one of them. The other is languishing, half-knit, in my knitting bag. It's a jolly looking sock, no? And, yes, that is a toy mouse in the picture. I can't always get Mr. Tubs to puts his toys away.<br />
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You'd think I'd have gotten more knitting done in the last month, what with all the planes and trains I've been on. But I just can't do certain things when traveling, i.e. I can't knit lace or follow a more complicated pattern unless I'm at home. And now that I'm home, and now that I'm supposed to be working 1) on a book review already a bit late and 2) gearing up for my dissertation proposal, I find myself caught up in all sorts of lace nonsense.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEQhWUDvMlI/AAAAAAAABc0/7L06DM0mMkY/s1600/IMG_6402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEQhWUDvMlI/AAAAAAAABc0/7L06DM0mMkY/s400/IMG_6402.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>This chalice pattern isn't anything extremely lacy, but it requires some concentration and a lace-chart. I'm enjoying knitting it as a superb form of procrastination. It'll be a baby blanket, to be gifted next month, so I have a bit of time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEQiAINFAUI/AAAAAAAABc8/r90X5qKNA5Q/s1600/IMG_6408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEQiAINFAUI/AAAAAAAABc8/r90X5qKNA5Q/s400/IMG_6408.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>What I haven't enjoyed is wrangling this yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace. It actually isn't the fault of the yarn at all, which is lovely and soft. I just have woefully big, clumsy needles not at all suitable for laceweight yarn. I have already attempted two projects with this yarn and, trust me, you do not want to ssk or even k2tog with dull needles. I thought my head was going to explode. I will just have to put off knitting with laceweight until I get myself some proper needles.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEQi682M7dI/AAAAAAAABdE/w6SWFDzvMiM/s1600/IMG_6407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEQi682M7dI/AAAAAAAABdE/w6SWFDzvMiM/s400/IMG_6407.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Which means I can't fool around with this skein of Malabrigo Lace, either. Harumph. Well, it's probably just a sign that I should get back to work.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-89760583884166786342010-07-16T12:59:00.001+02:002010-07-16T13:00:48.254+02:00Wandering and Feasting: Churros con Chocolate!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEA4spoUGtI/AAAAAAAABcM/cAN18VLwMq4/s1600/IMG_6362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEA4spoUGtI/AAAAAAAABcM/cAN18VLwMq4/s640/IMG_6362.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A paper cone full of freshly fried churros, in Sevilla</span>, <span style="font-size: x-small;">in the Santa Cruz barrio.</span> </div><br />
Before this trip to Spain, when I thought of churros I thought of the Mexican version, deep fried and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. While still quite, quite fond of that version, I have found a new love: churros con chocolate. We first tried them in Madrid: deep fried dough, dipped into a cup of hot chocolate so thick it was like a pudding. A traditional Spanish breakfast food. "A very powerful breakfast," as our waiter said.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEA5bkWjmEI/AAAAAAAABcU/xPnAf73vyGw/s1600/IMG_5770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEA5bkWjmEI/AAAAAAAABcU/xPnAf73vyGw/s640/IMG_5770.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This was in Granada, enjoyed in the lovely Plaza Bib-Rambla.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEA6pXgALtI/AAAAAAAABcc/eD_tBVyltjo/s1600/IMG_5750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEA6pXgALtI/AAAAAAAABcc/eD_tBVyltjo/s640/IMG_5750.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One side of the beautiful plaza.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEA618m6UYI/AAAAAAAABck/7aPYO0G2reo/s1600/IMG_6361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TEA618m6UYI/AAAAAAAABck/7aPYO0G2reo/s640/IMG_6361.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One more look.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Happy Weekend and Happy Feasting! </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-46667084222891192732010-07-12T22:31:00.000+02:002010-07-12T22:31:30.377+02:00Making: Mazapán in Toledo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt0kpnKXwI/AAAAAAAABbM/5ISQZgbeefE/s1600/IMG_5622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt0kpnKXwI/AAAAAAAABbM/5ISQZgbeefE/s400/IMG_5622.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>June has come and gone - an altogether crazy month for me. I managed to take (and pass!) my qualifying exam and stop over in five different countries in four weeks . . . something I probably won't do again. I'm not complaining - I know I've been thoroughly spoiled in having the opportunity to see and experience so many different places. The last two weeks of my travels I spent with my sister, wandering through Spain, one tiny, meandering, hot, and colorful street at a time. Don't you just love the hydrangeas and colored tiles of that balcony above? We found that on a little random street in Toledo. But I said this post was going to be about mazapán, and so it shall.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt2P8nb0gI/AAAAAAAABbU/P77G8s3Ryis/s1600/IMG_5607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt2P8nb0gI/AAAAAAAABbU/P77G8s3Ryis/s400/IMG_5607.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Mazapán is the Spanish version of marzipan, made of sugar and finely ground almonds. I'm holding a couple Toledan mazapán confections baked either plain (left) or with fruit perserves (right). Toledo's mazapán is famous, and it can be bought at virtually any street corner in that beautiful little city-on-a-hill. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt3aXO-IjI/AAAAAAAABbc/3hQVPppyOHA/s1600/IMG_5609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt3aXO-IjI/AAAAAAAABbc/3hQVPppyOHA/s400/IMG_5609.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Nuns are often the artisans behind the little confections, as this little diorama in a storefront shows. Actually, nun-made-sweets were a theme on our trip through Andalusia: there were many convents that offered sweets for sale.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt3wG_CUhI/AAAAAAAABbk/v1lyeqnxydk/s1600/IMG_5614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt3wG_CUhI/AAAAAAAABbk/v1lyeqnxydk/s400/IMG_5614.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is a sign we found on the walls outside a Franciscan convent.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt38pL6fCI/AAAAAAAABbs/SkWhXJIS5hk/s1600/IMG_5615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt38pL6fCI/AAAAAAAABbs/SkWhXJIS5hk/s400/IMG_5615.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>And there's the door you'd knock on to purchase some sweets! We found this to be the case also in Madrid, Granada, Córdoba, and Sevilla. Sometimes you had to ring a buzzer and give the password, <i>dulces</i>, to be let in for a purchase. Other times you could just buy nun-made-sweets pre-packaged at a confection shop.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt4a_GgEAI/AAAAAAAABb0/IBJsCWtuW3k/s1600/IMG_5612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt4a_GgEAI/AAAAAAAABb0/IBJsCWtuW3k/s400/IMG_5612.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"> This, my friends, is a detail on a mini-cathedral made entirely of mazapán. The cathedral was on display at a Santo Tomé shop - one of a couple in Toledo. If you're ever in Toledo, I'd recommend buying a box from Santo Tomé. Their mazapán is excellent and always beautifully boxed for travel.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt6o6SaLiI/AAAAAAAABcE/HhG0LVQEhyY/s1600/IMG_5700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/TDt6o6SaLiI/AAAAAAAABcE/HhG0LVQEhyY/s400/IMG_5700.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">A dragon crafted of mazapán in a handy tin in a Santo Tomé shop. Of course I packed a few sweets to take home myself!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-82144548866290551762010-05-17T13:28:00.000+02:002010-05-17T13:28:52.292+02:00Haiatus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S_EmE3jIyLI/AAAAAAAABa0/604fkxZuCtw/s1600/IMG_4780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S_EmE3jIyLI/AAAAAAAABa0/604fkxZuCtw/s400/IMG_4780.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>Soon I will be one of these picnickers, lounging on the banks of the Neckar and enjoying some sunshine. The next three weeks, however, are crunch time for me. I have my general comprehensive exam coming up - first a 6-hour written exam followed up by an oral defense of that in front of my faculty. I'm facing this exam with a bit more equanimity than my Greek exam, which I took this last January. After all, this will be in <i>English</i>, and there's much more leeway to argue about what I've said than when translating passages.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S_EnBfSwlMI/AAAAAAAABa8/0ioiipvs4Xc/s1600/IMG_4768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S_EnBfSwlMI/AAAAAAAABa8/0ioiipvs4Xc/s400/IMG_4768.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Still, it's tough going at times, and my thinking sometimes feels like that canoe: not quite going with the current and feeling the drag of sluggishness and confusion. Still! Three more weeks and I'll be off! Never mind the next hoop, waiting for me in the Fall. I'll have several weeks of glorious nothing. Actually, a lot more than nothing. Travel, family, sunshine, knitting, sniffing, tasting. Given, of course, that I pass! But I'm vowing to stay confident and cheerful to the bitter end.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S_EoNBndU4I/AAAAAAAABbE/_oEShxDKacc/s1600/IMG_4772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S_EoNBndU4I/AAAAAAAABbE/_oEShxDKacc/s400/IMG_4772.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>And then it will be smooth sailing. Till then, I must say ta-ta-for-now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-48807004322858532782010-05-10T12:54:00.001+02:002010-05-10T13:02:36.026+02:00Making: Forest Canopy Shawl for Mother's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-fgtaoVq8I/AAAAAAAABaM/C_GFtZkADOY/s1600/IMG_4714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-fgtaoVq8I/AAAAAAAABaM/C_GFtZkADOY/s400/IMG_4714.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>I've been waiting to blog about this one - I finished this weeks ago, but since it was for my mother, and she reads this blog, I had to wait. I must say, this has been the most challenging and gratifying project I've knitted. Being new to lace knitting, I had no idea what to expect. But the pattern for the Forest Canopy Shawl is perfect for first time lace knitters. Here the <a href="http://knittingasfastasican.com/forest-canopy-shoulder-shawl/">link </a>for the pattern.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-fhx99_7PI/AAAAAAAABaU/BmSFLuj9fcQ/s1600/IMG_4550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-fhx99_7PI/AAAAAAAABaU/BmSFLuj9fcQ/s320/IMG_4550.JPG" /></a></div>This is what it looked like while still on the needles... pretty darn unimpressive. And all those red threads? Those are life lines that I kept putting in to hold my place in case I had to rip back due to some horrible mistake. And, believe me, I had to rip back. Luckily, I got better as I went along, and ripped back less and less. In the beginning I was so discouraged, and knitting seemed like it had become an exercise in futility and frustration. I almost decided that I was simply <i>not </i>a lace knitter. Sweaters and mittens I could do. Lace? Why do something that makes you curse and throw things?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-fi3Z9aRiI/AAAAAAAABac/m61XjTW-Inw/s1600/IMG_4695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-fi3Z9aRiI/AAAAAAAABac/m61XjTW-Inw/s400/IMG_4695.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>But something magical happened when I finally slipped it off the needles, washed, and then blocked it (on a hideous old mattress, I must say). The lace opened up. The pattern came out. And I thought: <i>I</i> made that? As an academician, these moments are hard to come by. Rarely do I write something or argue something and think: There, that's settled. That's correct. In fact, the whole enterprise of research and theory requires that we keep questioning our work. It can be rewarding, no doubt, but there's a certain <i>oomph </i>of finality that's lacking. This is why I gravitate towards knitting and baking: these are crafts where the question (can I do this?) gets firmly answered (yes! no!) at least to a more certain degree. Of course, I'm sure the deeper I go into either of these crafts the more I will find that is theoretical and debatable, especially as craft moves towards art. But, for the time being, it is very, very satisfying to say: I made this! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-fk28zbJyI/AAAAAAAABak/683uhyr08nw/s1600/IMG_4710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-fk28zbJyI/AAAAAAAABak/683uhyr08nw/s400/IMG_4710.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>We took these on the Philosophenweg, in the forest, in honor of its name. I call my individual shawl, however, the Sea Canopy, given its wonderful shades of blue.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-flXZPHqWI/AAAAAAAABas/xPRmrYLKiIg/s1600/IMG_4712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-flXZPHqWI/AAAAAAAABas/xPRmrYLKiIg/s400/IMG_4712.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Raveled <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/janjancl/forest-canopy-shawl">here</a>. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-90703543901148974252010-05-05T19:53:00.000+02:002010-05-05T19:53:19.937+02:00Making, Wandering, and Feasting: May Festival at the Neuberg Abbey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GqiTRdKXI/AAAAAAAABYk/WfVzrrptaTQ/s1600/IMG_4792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GqiTRdKXI/AAAAAAAABYk/WfVzrrptaTQ/s400/IMG_4792.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>This last Saturday we celebrated May Day at an abbey nestled in the grassy hills of Neuberg. It all seemed so magical: here I was, in Germany, going to a Maifest with monks! Beer! A spitted ox! It was so Christian and pagan all at once - we were inviting the new spring to come in but doing it all in a sanctioned cloister of godly men. (I was less interested in attending the festivities for Walpurgis the night before - it basically involves tramping up the Philosophenweg at the dead of night, which would be great fun except that in this instance you'd be surrounded by drunken university students carrying fake torches. If it were more pagan, and less drunken-college-party, I would go.) Anyway! The abbey grounds were indeed lovely.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GsLUg2K-I/AAAAAAAABY0/SH4BsLeMGhk/s1600/IMG_4782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GsLUg2K-I/AAAAAAAABY0/SH4BsLeMGhk/s400/IMG_4782.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> It was a pearly, gray day, and the walk there was nice and refreshing.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GsYM6mzuI/AAAAAAAABY8/2y64n0uLdmI/s1600/IMG_4785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GsYM6mzuI/AAAAAAAABY8/2y64n0uLdmI/s400/IMG_4785.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The monks run a shop full of local products, many of them made at the abbey.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-Gs3egSDYI/AAAAAAAABZE/kcfPrN0_7cM/s1600/IMG_4786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-Gs3egSDYI/AAAAAAAABZE/kcfPrN0_7cM/s400/IMG_4786.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Fresh eggs! The eggs in Heidelberg, in general, seem fresher: the yolks are a brighter color, the shells often have a bit of down stuck on them. It may not mean anything, but it seems a bit closer to the earth to me.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GtMIrteJI/AAAAAAAABZM/F0IgCzpvL_k/s1600/IMG_4787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GtMIrteJI/AAAAAAAABZM/F0IgCzpvL_k/s400/IMG_4787.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>I am a weak-kneed fool when it comes to bottles and jars of handmade goodies. Witness that I have 1) <a href="http://marianevans.blogspot.com/2010/04/feasting-strawberry-rhubarb-jam.html">my own homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam</a> at home as well as 2) unfinished jars of <a href="http://marianevans.blogspot.com/2010/02/marmalade-hyacinths.html">quince and plum preserves from a local restaurant</a>. So what did I do? Promptly bought a jar of apple-ginger jelly. Good thing I am not a drinker or I would have made off with a few bottles of monk-brewed apple brandy and what-not.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GuNAH-dyI/AAAAAAAABZU/88PX1lJjXgE/s1600/IMG_4793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GuNAH-dyI/AAAAAAAABZU/88PX1lJjXgE/s400/IMG_4793.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>We were promised a whole spitted ox (it said so in the adverts) but we apparently arrived too late: the earlier May Day revelers had gnawed that thing to the bone! Though I must say, this is a small ox. "Must have been a baby ox," I remarked, to which my friend said, "Please don't say that again!"<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GuhAmY4gI/AAAAAAAABZc/ZnmPwNTDYec/s1600/IMG_4800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GuhAmY4gI/AAAAAAAABZc/ZnmPwNTDYec/s400/IMG_4800.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Never mind, we had excellent roast trout and potatoes,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-Guu6bOk-I/AAAAAAAABZk/4b5tCJ1p92U/s1600/IMG_4795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-Guu6bOk-I/AAAAAAAABZk/4b5tCJ1p92U/s400/IMG_4795.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">we watched the monks imbibe,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GvL0cNogI/AAAAAAAABZs/ogv5JAYfIhs/s1600/IMG_4801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GvL0cNogI/AAAAAAAABZs/ogv5JAYfIhs/s400/IMG_4801.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">and did some imbibing ourselves (along with some Feuerwurst and pretzels).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GvhYLrsII/AAAAAAAABZ0/mu2T5CmQgJg/s1600/IMG_4806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S-GvhYLrsII/AAAAAAAABZ0/mu2T5CmQgJg/s400/IMG_4806.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And the walk home in the twilight, along the river, was lovely.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><span id="goog_443557839"></span><span id="goog_443557840"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-35089780084462958612010-04-27T12:19:00.001+02:002010-04-27T12:27:02.744+02:00Daring Bakers: Traditional British Pudding!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9axPDKkkjI/AAAAAAAABXc/xtIaXmsjcCo/s1600/IMG_4754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9axPDKkkjI/AAAAAAAABXc/xtIaXmsjcCo/s400/IMG_4754.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>I happen to be a big, big fan of British cookery, so when this month's Daring Bakers challenge was announced I was ecstatic! I'd made a traditional Christmas pudding before, as well as Spotted Dick, so I thought this time I'd go for a good ol' steak and kidney pudding. Except without the kidney. They hadn't any where I shop and my two flatmates (yes, Britishisms all around today) aren't super keen on them.<br />
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Anyway, on to the deets: <i>The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of <a href="http://lilackitchen.blogspot.com/">The Lilac Kitchen</a>. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. </i><br />
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Also could not find suet (my translation into German was <i>Talg or Rindertalg</i>)<i> </i>but I could find lots of lard!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9aySkIhK4I/AAAAAAAABXk/ieqt-ro4n40/s1600/IMG_4749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9aySkIhK4I/AAAAAAAABXk/ieqt-ro4n40/s400/IMG_4749.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>In a land filled with 1,000,000 varieties of pork of course there would be lard! or Schmalz, as they say. Ever wonder where we get "schmaltzy"? Here you are. Of course, in the Yiddish sense, we would be referring to chicken fat or lard.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9ay45kkuLI/AAAAAAAABXs/8qHcVLKMNEM/s1600/IMG_4750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9ay45kkuLI/AAAAAAAABXs/8qHcVLKMNEM/s400/IMG_4750.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>This is grated lard. The lard, as you can imagine, has to be quite chilled to do this or you will come to a greasy, sad end. Even chilled, I was covered in lard. My camera puts up with a lot of foodstuffs.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9azKk_TSkI/AAAAAAAABX0/d9viqsFhzvc/s1600/IMG_4751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9azKk_TSkI/AAAAAAAABX0/d9viqsFhzvc/s400/IMG_4751.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Unfilled puddings. The dough is quite soft and very fatty. The entire time I was rolling out these mini-pies I thought, "It smells like fried chicken!" Just that perfect fatty, crispy, flaky smell. These are filled with floured cubes of chuck-steak (Rinderbraten - okay, why I am translating everything into German for you is strange, since you are probably not German - maybe it is to show you how hard I have to work! poor, poor me) and onions - see first pic.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9a0DhdJw1I/AAAAAAAABYE/D5vHFqPNOmU/s1600/IMG_4757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9a0DhdJw1I/AAAAAAAABYE/D5vHFqPNOmU/s400/IMG_4757.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Then a mixture of oyster sauce, water, and port (or red wine) is poured into the shells up until they almost cover the meat and onion filling.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9a0tBRYjhI/AAAAAAAABYM/50zW2CSnIx0/s1600/IMG_4759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9a0tBRYjhI/AAAAAAAABYM/50zW2CSnIx0/s400/IMG_4759.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>The dough "cap" is moistened all around the edges and pinched in. I love this process. This is why I love baking pies. Because I like tucking things into dough. Strange, I know, but I find this so, so gratifying.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Now this is where I failed to photo-document my process, probably because I was making <i>three </i>mini pies instead of one big one and feeling quite harumph-y about it by now. But this is when one must wrap the tops of the puddings with buttered foil (or dish cloth) and tie with twine right under the lip of the bowl. Then one must make a handle with twine so that one can lower it and lift it out of the steaming water and stay un-scalded. I steamed mine (in boiling water just above the half-way point of the bowls) for four hours. Clitter-clatter, clitter-clatter. For four hours.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9a25C74L-I/AAAAAAAABYc/ykJxWrp6BwE/s1600/IMG_4764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9a25C74L-I/AAAAAAAABYc/ykJxWrp6BwE/s400/IMG_4764.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh, but so worth it. Suet (or, in my case, lard) pastry can be so light and flaky, even steamed and boiled!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9a1H0RgpmI/AAAAAAAABYU/_A9vLrRLa0s/s1600/IMG_4765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9a1H0RgpmI/AAAAAAAABYU/_A9vLrRLa0s/s400/IMG_4765.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I poured in some gravy made from port, beef drippings, onions, and oyster sauce. </div><br />
Recipe - I borrowed this from Audax Artifex, champion Daring Baker.<br />
The following makes a 1 litre pudding, I made about 1 1/2 times the recipe for 3 little puddings.<br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;">Ingredients</b><br />
<i>For the suet crust pastry</i><br />
225g/8 oz self-raising flour<br />
salt and freshly milled black pepper<br />
115 g/4 oz shredded beef suet<br />
cold water, to mix<br />
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<i>For the filling</i><br />
380g/13 ½ ozs chuck steak<br />
115g/4oz ox kidney after trimming (so buy extra about 15%)<br />
3 tablespoon of oyster sauce and enough red dry wine to make a little over ½ cup<br />
4 teaspoon plain flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper<br />
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<i>For the gravy</i><br />
meat trimmings from the steak and kidney<br />
1 onion, halved<br />
570ml/1 pint red wine<br />
1 tsp beef dripping<br />
2 tbsp flour<br />
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce<br />
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You will also need a well-buttered, 1 litre/1 US quart capacity pudding basin and a steamer.<br />
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<i>Method</i><br />
For the pastry, first sift the flour and the salt into a large mixing bowl. Add some freshly ground black pepper, then add the suet and mix it into the flour using the blade of a knife. When it's evenly blended, add a few drops of cold water and start to mix with the knife, using curving movements and turning the mixture around. The aim is to bring it together as a dough, so keep adding drops of water until it begins to get really claggy and sticky. Now abandon the knife, go in with your hands and bring it all together until you have a nice smooth elastic dough, which leaves the bowl clean. It's worth noting that suet pastry always needs more water than other types, so if it is still a bit dry just go on adding a few drops at a time.<br />
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After that, take a quarter of the dough for the lid, then roll the rest out fairly thickly. What you need is a circle, about 21.5 cm/8½ in in diameter. Now line the bowl with the pastry, pressing it well all around. Next chop the steak and kidney into fairly small cubes (reserving the trimmings for the gravy), toss them in the seasoned flour, then add them to the pastry-lined basin with the slices of onion. Add enough oyster sauce/red wine/water to reach almost the top of the meat and sprinkle in a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and another seasoning of salt and pepper.<br />
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Roll out the pastry lid, dampen its edges and put it in position on the pudding. Seal well and cover with a double sheet of foil, pleated in the centre to allow room for expansion while cooking. Now secure it with string, making a little handle so that you can lift it out of the hot steamer. Then place it in a steamer over boiling water. Steam for five hours, topping up the boiling water halfway through. (See more detailed instructions below.)<br />
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For the gravy, simply place the meat trimmings in a saucepan with the half onion, cover with one pint of red wine and 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, simmer for approximately one hour. Then strain the stock, and in the same pan, fry the remaining onion, chopped small, in the beef dripping until soft and blackened at the edges. Then stir in the flour, gradually add the meat trimmings/red wine/oyster sauce stock little by little to make a smooth gravy, adding a spot of gravy browning if it's needed. Taste to check the seasoning.<br />
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When the pudding is ready place a small hole in the top of the pudding and pour in as much of the gravy as you can.<br />
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To serve, either serve the pudding by spooning portions straight out of the bowl, or slide a palette knife round the edge and turn the whole thing out on to a serving plate (which is more fun!).<br />
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Instructions for Prepping for Steaming<br />
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The easiest way to steam a pudding is in a dedicated steamer as the water is kept away from the pudding so it can’t boil over. If, however, you don’t have a steamer use a pan large enough to easily fit the bowl you are cooking. Don’t fill the water more than about a third of the way up the bowl or it may boil over and into the bowl. Keep an eye and top up as needed with boiling water.<br />
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You need to lift the bowl off the bottom of the pan. This can be done with a steamer stand, an upturned plate or even crumpled up kitchen foil — anything that can stand being in boiling water and lifts the bowl off the bottom of the pan will work.<br />
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Make sure you have a well-fitted lid on the pan as you want the steam to cook the pudding not to boil off.<br />
Make sure you put a pleat in the foil or paper you cover the bowl with to allow for expansion and then tie down tightly with string. Make a handle made from the string that lies over the top of the pudding, as this makes it very much easier to lift out when hot and is well worth doing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13202195.post-31012138416985462992010-04-26T16:53:00.001+02:002010-05-10T13:02:36.029+02:00Making: Newly Arrived Luscious Yarn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9WlWJtxxQI/AAAAAAAABW8/eq7p2D9V4So/s1600/IMG_4702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9WlWJtxxQI/AAAAAAAABW8/eq7p2D9V4So/s400/IMG_4702.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Last spring, my friends E and D came down to New Haven and <a href="http://marianevans.blogspot.com/2009/05/getting-crafty.html">we all went to NYC</a> together to go yarn and fabric shopping. It was a fateful day. Ever since then I have not stopped knitting, and the lust for yarn - soft, fuzzy, sleek, rough, hand-dyed, hand spun, tweed, all natural, what have you - has become a bit of a problem!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9WmCiTriuI/AAAAAAAABXE/naRrECDeh-k/s1600/IMG_4704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9WmCiTriuI/AAAAAAAABXE/naRrECDeh-k/s400/IMG_4704.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>This is <a href="http://www.madelinetosh.com/yarns-tosh-sock.html">Madelinetosh tosh sock yarn</a> in Black Currant. Just look at all the colors! But instead of making for ghastly and dizzying combination, the colors chosen give off exactly the shades one sees in nature: variegated but complementing each other just so.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9Wnbr06x-I/AAAAAAAABXM/cZEH76VxhJ8/s1600/Black+Currants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9Wnbr06x-I/AAAAAAAABXM/cZEH76VxhJ8/s400/Black+Currants.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>So, I have four skeins from the <a href="http://www.theloopyewe.com/">Loopy Ewe</a> (an incredible shop with incredibly snobby yarns) freshly delivered to me here in Heidelberg. I have big plans for it, so stay tuned!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9WoEWKbe7I/AAAAAAAABXU/ZsYnMrtKhdI/s1600/IMG_4705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N8Qb8Y-bMTQ/S9WoEWKbe7I/AAAAAAAABXU/ZsYnMrtKhdI/s400/IMG_4705.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>________<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Third picture down is <i>The Black Currants Are Ripening</i> by LongInt57 at flickr; some rights reserved.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0