Blitherings – Page 152 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

On a Winter Day

Allium

The past few weekends have made me feel so cramped and crazy, mostly because the puppies are growing, and needing a lot of attention. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I was nuts to get two, but when they are all cute and cuddly, the answer is always a loud “Yes!” Luckily, the other half is superlative at caring for them, but he abandoned me for the Super Bowl. As the puppies are crate trained, I made good my escape for a couple of hours to the local botanical garden.

Where I live, endless blue skies are endlessly blue and cloudless. We are in the middle of a drought. The state does not plan to release reservoirs, and I don’t blame them. Weather is weird, extremes showing up which seem abnormal. Global warming? I think so, but this is not a political / ecological foray, so we will leave it at that. Back to the skies: we had rain clouds! And some light rain! I went out to shoot landscapes with a long lens, 70-300mm, but could not produce any I liked – I expect my view-point was wrong.

Sage

Instead, tripod in hand, I also focused on flowers. Always, flowers. Leaves, rocks, trees, branches. I love the shapes of nature, and ultimately these seem to be the ones I love the most. Long lenses are great for blurring the background, and with flowers it is no exception. On this trip, I took my time, crawled around, and looked through the camera to frame my shot. At times, I used live view because I was down so low (luckily, no mud), and my battery was draining faster than normal.

Small patches of bright color are always welcome on a dreary day. The smell of sage and earth and decaying leaves are wonderful. I took my time to enjoy the garden, and even though it started to rain – and my camera gear was sadly unprotected – it was such a pleasure to be outdoors (sans puppies pulling on a leash) to enjoy the beauties of nature.

Allysum

A Good Day to Dye

I have been feeling really all over the map of late – partly because the puppies do require a lot of work, such as walking, training, feeding, kissing, disciplining. They are coming along fine. Me, I am in need of sleep. And a change of pace.

Today is overcast along the California central coast. We even got a few drops of rain. I nearly fainted. The puppies, too, were shocked, because I don’t think they knew what it was. And because it was dreary, what better way to pass some time than dyeing some yarn?

I have powdered dyes which I use; however, I need more colors in my palette as all are toward violets and teals. There is a black and a lime green and a red, but really, not enough for a bigger variety of color choice. I think I will order some new colors soon.

Anyway, I dug out my supplies – a couple of boxes of stuff dedicated to dyeing. Nothing that is eaten out of is used in the process. Pots, wooden spoons, steamers, pitchers, whatever. I had some Bare Hare, an angora-merino blend from KnitPicks, along with their merino-silk blend. I also had two balls of Lion’s “Sockease,” which is 75% wool and 25% nylon.

The process of dyeing this yarn was quite simple. In little plastic bowls, some dye powder, add boiling water, stir, and use a 60cc syringe to deliver the colors in stripes. I poured some hot water between the stripes and patted the yarn to blend the colors, wearing, of course, my stylish blue nitrile gloves.

I wrapped the skeins up in plastic wrap, placed them on vegetable steamers in the boiling pots of water (water is just above the level of the steamer), and let them go to town for 30 minutes. Then, dump onto a towel, take apart the plastic wrap, and dump the yarns into a water-vinegar rinse to cool and set the dye. Lots of dumping.

Once that is done, put them into cool, soapy water, wash, and rinse. You can spin them out in your washing machine, but place the skeins in lingerie bags.

The picture below is really bad. All the colors are actually fairly nice. And mostly violets and turquoises . . .

Puppies!

Let me introduce you to two new family members: Inky and Smudge, labrador-Aussie mix. Mellow, fuzzy, cute. 10 weeks old. From St. Martin’s Animal Rescue. Cutest little things (we think!). Smudge is bigger (at 13 lbs.) and a dark grey, and Inky is smaller (at 11 lbs.) and blacker.

The Heinisch Project, i

R. Heinisch Shears, Size 3 1/2

I’ve begun sewing again, and in the midst of it all, started looking at scissors and shears. There is quite a bit of history! In the U.S., two names seem to come up most often when it comes to the older manufacturers, J. Wiss, and R. Heinisch.

Most Americans in my age group are familiar with Wiss. They were the most popular scissor, as they have been made for many years, and were owned by the same family until, I think, the mid-1970s. Historically, J. Wiss came to the U.S. in the 1800s, and began to work for R. Heinisch making scissors and medical instruments. Eventually Heinisch’s enterprise failed, and Wiss, having been laid off by Heinisch and starting his own business, bought out Heinisch around 1917. Wiss is a household name, but I had never heard of Heinisch until my curiosity was piqued by seeing some very old vintage shears that were beautifully refurbished and still in use by tailors.

So, off to eBay, and a high bid brought these into my life. Sadly, they won’t cut fabric at all, and will need to be restored to sharpness. Thus, a project, with some elbow grease and some research. First of all, these shears are about 12 inches long – about 30 cm. They have a wonderful balance to them, and are easy to manipulate despite their size. The bolt is in good shape, as, it appears, are the blades. The japanning on the handles is gone. The first step to renovating these shears is to clean them up with steel wool. I will clean up the blades and handles with 00 and 0000 steel wool, being very careful not to work at all on the cutting edges of the blades.

I took a lot of photos of the shears, as they are now, and will, over time, post more. If you have any knowledge of restoration of old shears, please get in touch with me!

Shortbread with a Story

Shortbread Cookies

Driving home from work the other night, NPR was on the car radio. The story? A Tale of Two Shortbreads. Take the time to listen to the story – it is so much better than reading it! And then make some for yourself – it really is a great shortbread recipe. So, thanks to the Brass sisters for this!

The Brass Sisters’ Favorite Holiday Shortbread

Makes 32 1-inch by 2-inch pieces

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

Grated zest of 1 orange

1 teaspoon orange extract or 1/2 teaspoon orange oil

Set oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch by 9-inch by 2-inch pan with foil. Grease the foil with butter or coat with vegetable spray.

Add flour and salt to a mixing bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add orange zest. Add orange extract or orange oil and combine. Add dry ingredients, 1/2 cup at a time, beating until completely absorbed and dough comes together. Do not overbeat or shortbread will be tough.

Gently pat dough into prepared pan. (Press down the edges with tines of fork.) Prick top of dough evenly about 20 to 25 times.

Bake shortbread 35 minutes. Cool on rack for about 20-25 minutes, or until slightly warm. Score shortbread with a knife into 1-inch by 2-inch pieces, but do not cut through entirely. When completely cool, cut into pieces along scored lines. The texture should be sandy and crumbly. Store orange shortbread in a covered tin between sheets of wax paper, at room temperature.

Shortbread will firm up as it cools. Placing shortbread in the refrigerator will help it firm up. If the shortbread is pale, continue baking another 5 minutes, watching carefully to be sure it is not browning too quickly.

Well, mine were done a bit differently. I’ve got a cold, and my stuffed up nose seems to be limiting the oxygen my old brain is getting. I dumped all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, and went to town until all was crumbly, but I only used the grated orange rind, and added a teaspoon of mace. I lined a 9×9 pan with parchment paper. Everything got patted nicely into the pan and put into the oven. Oxygen deprivation stepped in again, and the shortbread wasn’t pricked, which is usually recommended to keep the cookies from bowing in the baking pan. Still, they came out okay, without any bowing. And the results are still delicious and wonderfully crumbly – but best of all, not overly sweet.