The bee talk, new knitting, Friday lunch and Mutts

The bee lecture I mentioned yesterday,  was a Zoom presentation from Rutgers (state University), a slide show of bee habitats and needs.  

The target audience was home gardeners wanting to provide for bees and recognize their nests or holes so as not to accidentally mistake them for yellow jackets, or the reverse.  

It was short and packed with useful information.

I was interested in the bees which have niche food needs, wanting one species of plant only. The hibiscus is one such plant. So maybe I did a good thing when I planted mine. 

While I listened, more talking than slideshow, I tried my hand at remembering continental knitting. 

I got some cotton yarn, can't handle wool in the allergy season, and decided to knit the sock design that starts with a square patch toe. You then pick up all four sides for the foot, having calculated how many stitches for the patch, your foot requirement divided by four.

This is why I started working with stitches on four needles instead of my usual three, just seemed simpler for the distribution. 

This makes a comfortable seamless flexible toe, great for the Sock 'n Glove Ministry clients. 

I'll change the stitch distribution to a triangle when I get to the heel, moving one needlesworth onto another one to have the heel ready to go with 26 stitches on one needle, leaving the other two needles with 13 stitches each. 

I did get along pretty well with the yarn in my left hand, picking rather than throwing. But I quickly ran into a hitch because of my left ring finger which seizes up. You can see the tendon struggling to cross the knuckle at the base of the finger. It doesn't hurt but it's hard to keep a steady tension when that finger suddenly jams. And the left hand is the working one with this approach.

I think I need to get it attended to. I've had other things to think about up to now, but now knitting is hard because of it. I can do the throwing method because the other hand does the work, but the left hand is still tricky.

Anyway I learned a thing or two more about bees and knitting, not bad. And I hope physical therapy can help the finger. I'm not up for surgery right now.

And lunch was very good. Roasted diced yellow potatoes with breaded hake, handful of cilantro.

There are two more pieces of fish, breaded,ready to go for two more quick meals. And boiled potatoes ready for quick roasting.  

The remaining batter and panko are also in their dishes, in the fridge ready for the planned crunchy tofu katsu sticks.  So the food will be fast but not leftovers. It practically cooks itself.

And, as a commenter said, it's so nice to cook for yourself. No pressure other than hunger!

Happy day everyone,  enjoy your day. This about sums up mine

Thursday Misfits

The weather being cool enough for a jacket on my morning circuit of the development, all on sidewalks because of the rain, I did get out for half an hour good walk. 

It's such a luxury to walk without cringing, just painfree, I'm not used to it yet. I hope I continue to remember what a treat this is. My body is finally getting back in balance after the months of limping. It takes a while. 

Then home to various online activity and the walk caught up with me and I slept a while.

Robert brought my Misfits right after lunch.

Canned goods for the food pantry, then potatoes for roasting and salad, also to go with the fish I have thawing. Apples for mid mornings, plums for freezing, until I get to deciding on crumble or torte. Tofu for crunchy sticks, cauliflower for a spicy Will Yeung recipe, mushrooms for omelettes, eggs ditto, cheese for that tomato egg cheese bake I like. Blueberries with yogurt. Coffee, whole beans for grinding. All set.

Once everything is washed and the box broken down and tied for recycle, the delivery is complete.

Happy day everyone, some days are about tasks and maybe this is one.  I'm still intent on stitching along with a podcast but we'll see if that comes to pass. This may be the last quiet day before Gary returns..

Meanwhile a quiet time on the patio watching quite a few clearwing hummingbird moths, then I picked flowers. 

Late breaking news, Gary called, he didn't take the flight, sick and will return Sunday. He didn't sound so well, so I warmly sympathized with him. He's with family and he's in good hands.

Bee lecture this evening online, from the county extension people. I can always learn more about bees.

Wednesday, where'd you go?

Lovely gentle rain and cool, the garden loves it

This rain is the edge of Erin, and we may have more wind and rain soon. 

Since I don't like to walk in the rain, I did an indoor yes2next, twenty minutes of moving to 80s tunes, of which I knew just one! (I got you, babe, Sonny and Cher).  

This was definitely a workout. It's the continual movement, unlike my outdoor walking, which is brisk, but with stops to look and listen and take photos.

So my afternoon plan, to listen to a Shedunnit podcast and stitch my linen, didn't happen, because I closed my eyes after lunch for just a minute. 

Then I woke up in time for tea and honey toast. I get the Shedunnit newsletter and finally got around recently to listening to the podcast which I found on Spotify, then I signed up to continue. I'll continue later.

What did happen though, was that I remembered to take the pictures of the kantha stitched purse 

You can see the clever strap, cording with a section of quilted fabric where it crosses your shoulder. And it's lined. You can see the size by comparison with my gnarly old hand.

This is an easy project for you, Mary Ann, so I hope you do make it. It's a nice gift, too, especially  if you slip a little something in.

Wednesday evening online with friends. It's all go. Except when it's stop and sleep..

Happy day everyone, I'm learning that sleeping isn't time wasted, it's refuelling.

I had ideas to talk about retirement and other things which can wait till another day. Also the insurance company suddenly called and texted and emailed to say the house estimate had been revised upward, and approved,  and they're sending me more $. 

Since I paid the bill already I wonder if the contractors will be back with another bill. But I'll have the money to pay it, so fine.

Stretching, dancing, stitching, chatting then T and T

What with allergies and sneezing and tiredness from the remedies, walking was a bit off Tuesday, so I did a stretching video.  This included a few qi gong moves.

And here's kitty Mochi, photobombing. Or maybe directing. Cats know stretching.

Then laundry, dishes, chop wood carry water, make penne for lunch with red sauce, tomatoes, onions, butter, tomato paste, red pepper seeds, Parmesan grated over. No pictures, you've seen pasta before. Blueberries and yogurt for dessert.

Then off to the library to return The Imitation Game, very good, especially once I'd grasped that Keeley Hawes and Keira Knightley are two different people and this one was Knightley. I have face blindness, often can't tell one actor, or friend, from another. I did think Hawes had had an injection of intensity. 

Tuesday's knitting group was crocheters, knitters and me, stitching linen squares with vague notions of fusion quilting. I'm thinking of parallel rows of linen and woven squares.  

Notice my kantha stitched purse, gift of an Indian friend

Moms and daughters learning together. The member who teaches on request was away, so the rest of us helped as possible.  

But we had to explain yet again to yet more people that this an adult meeting,  not a class where children can learn. Every week a couple of parents try to drop off kids and leave. 

Our lovely leader, with her box of instructions and supplies. I asked her to consider a class for kids so we can refer parents. She's going to do it.

Here's my linen square collection; it's lovely,  stitching linen.

Talk ranged over James Talarico, nonbinary people, in-laws, weddings, Diaper Diplomacy,  learning violin, tai chi, the shakuhachi effect, knitting, native trees and shrubs, invasives, bees, kantha quilting and more.

And, as usual in this group, I got more ideas. I'm now thinking of tracing one of my line drawings onto some fine fabric and stitching it.  Maybe goldwork. Just what I needed, another idea. I've done this before in blackwork.   I think I'll revisit continental knitting too, to save my hands, while I'm having more ideas.

Then home to Textiles and Tea with 

Artist, weaver, activist, community organizer of women's voices and history, a powerhouse of a woman, who has woven great works, organized mass exhibits of women's woven stories, written a book on spiritual growth, and works now in silk, dyeing, weaving and stitching.

The blue work on the right is stick weaving. I've taught this, and shown you some of my work in an earlier post. She used drinking straws as a handheld  loom, and wove over and under them, gradually advancing the strip to create a weft faced fabric. This work used dozens of strips to create a waterfall effect.

Here's a collaborative work on its way to be exhibited. It's enormous, the work of hundreds of participants weaving strips about their lives and stories.

She's an amazing woman, check her website for more.

Before setting up the second Brideshead disc, I compensated for not being up to an evening walk by dancing to Dancing Queen, on e's blog. Thank you, e, that was a cheerful workout. I always want to dance to it. Not a wonderful dancer, more in the Elaine category, but who's watching. 

Happy day everyone, dance it however you can, even with your fingers dancing on the table. It counts.

Art goes on, and orchids too

Sunday afternoon and Monday morning were about doing art obligations. The main job was to select the artwork to enter into the group show per invitation.

I decided on one of the ink drawings I did in July, the hibiscus. It's pretty good, and I feel it's appropriate to show what I'm making now, rather than old stuff. It's about forward movement, not history.

Then the hated task of finding, choosing, cleaning and taking apart a frame to use. A sectional metal one, silver color, was the best available choice. 

Then came the fun of unscrewing it, and removing the spring clips without getting one in my eye, and breaking the glass, easily done, ask me how I know, then cleaning the sections, then polishing the glass, then mounting the drawing on a backing, then finding all the tiny screws again, assembling it all and rewiring it with the wire hangers slid (needed pliers)  into the new position, and getting the spring clips reinserted under the sides. Then sitting down for a minute.

Then came the online paperwork, title, size, date, price and artist statement about the art group, upload of image.

The occasion is the 32nd year of the local artists group, which I founded and ran for several years before a staff member was hired to manage the gallery among other things.  I'm considered a legacy member, too funny.   

So the piece is official, chosen, 

There she goes. I also helped write the overall blurb for the exhibit, and that's done too. The current organizer did most of that but wanted a bit of support.

This took an astonishingly long time, and I don't exhibit now for a reason -- I need my time and energy for other things. But this was special.

I also needed to think what to take with me to Tuesday's knitting group, and ended up dumping out and organizing several project bags.  I plan to crochet together linen squares and pinloom woven squares somehow, to do my version of a fusion quilt.  

In the course of organizing I found my big sewing needles, crochet hooks, mixed knitting needles,  that cardboard lucet and several pairs of missing scissors. Also some little experiments, which I tossed.  

The thing is that I supply each project with its own tools then lose track of them, and end up using kitchen scissors because I can't find stitching ones. 

And there were balls of yarn, now untangled and bagged all together.  The crochet hooks are now with the project that needs them and the rest I put upstairs with their set.

There were bamboo knitting needles of all sizes everywhere. Now they're with their same size friends, wrapped with rubber bands. And with the needle gauge, saves guessing.

This orderliness will last long enough for one project anyway.

Meanwhile the orchid is quietly tending to its knitting. 

Look at those negative spaces. It's a marvelous shape, locking together background and positive areas. I need to draw it again.

The weather turned very wet and colder overnight, 60s in a couple of hours, down from 90s.  I ended up doing a few things outside but not walking for once. It was surprising to feel chilly. 

Happy day everyone, try not to get things so befankled that you need to sort before you can make. I'm a bad example.