A friend sent three boxes of Scones mix.
When the surprise arrived, I didn’t have one of the essential ingredients- a stick of butter.
Today I followed the directions and baked them.
Mmmmm Thanks Deb.
They were delicious.
Baking Scones
Month: April 2020
Wooden Nickel
Do you have a wooden nickel ?
The history of the wooden nickel is here
An American adage, “Don’t take any wooden nickels” is considered a lighthearted reminder to be cautious in one’s dealings.
And here is link for more information on the origin and meaning of that phrase.
They are frequently tokens or souvenirs!
Here is one found in my house.
Based on the buffalo nickel. I have one but I think it is worth ten cents.
The Buffalo nickel or Indian Head nickel is a copper-nickel five-cent piece that was struck by the United States Mint from 1913 to 1938. It was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser. As part of a drive to beautify the coinage….- Wikipedia
Silent Sunday
The Smithsonian Has One
What is it?
“Dial as you would your telephone?”
It’s a Ken+ Add machine, that’s what. From the 1950’s. Manufactured in Duluth Minnesota You can see it’s definitely handheld.
NOTE to viewers: There are 27 likes on this post but that’s because something is wrong No one has even viewed the post yet. If anyone can explain it to me, thanks. I changed the wording on the comment box. Was editing an old post in the app. Who knows. It doesn’t add up!
So You’ve Always Wanted to Knit a Sock? or Not.
So you’ve always wanted to knit a sock? or not. If not, I hope you’ll return to the blog tomorrow.
A math teacher friend and former colleague is preparing to knit her first pair of socks. She inspired this hand knit sock post. My friend in Florida who is finishing a pair of socks she started knitting for her son about five years ago and now she has the time to knit the second sock. I think she is on the toe already.
When I first thought of knitting a pair of socks, I thought it looked too difficult. Now I average a pair a month. My friends say” it’s too much trouble” but the way I see it, I’d be in trouble if I didn’t have sock knitting in my life. Especially now as we are staying at home.
A blog post by knitter, author and designer Susan B. Anderson describes in detail How I Make My Socks and is a great start. There are patterns on Ravelry and videos on YouTube.
These striped socks are knit with some very smart yarn that knows how to stripe all by itself, it’s the way the yarn is dyed. Looks complicated, doesn’t it? The following 4 pairs of socks are knit in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature Yarn from UK bought at McWalker Yarns in Millvale PA. Although their physical store is closed you can still order online. (and if you are out of work you can apply for a $50 mini-grant for yarn to knit a project during isolation due to COVID-19 click name of store to get details or order knitting supplies, sock or otherwise)
This first pair is knit by a friend and neighbor who just started knitting in December. Her first pair of socks. She knit them on 2- 16″ circulars, one at a time. She is a very tidy knitter. I helped her along the way and she watched a couple of videos but she is now finishing her third pair. Every once in awhile she needs reassurance she is doing the knitting correctly but she’s got it all by herself now. I am proud of my excellent student and I think her socks look great!
All West Yorkshire Spinners Signature Yarn
Hollyberry
Bag by Tea in Australia
Bullfinch
Jelly Rolls Sock Pattern/ Pink Flam
You have a smart phone? a smart TV? Here’s some other smart yarn. And you can wash these socks in the washing machine. There is a handwash setting on my machine I air dry mine.
There is Regia Yarn by Schachenmayr and cotton yarn Tutti Fruiti II,Regia Design Line or Regia Pairfect by ARNE & CARLOS 4-ply (fingering weight). 75% Virgin Wool and 25% Polyamide. I finished both pairs that are shown completed. Kid socks (in the middle photos)_are fun to knit and take less time.
Allergic to wool? Here are two skeins of cotton sock yarn and a pair I knit for a friend
Tutti Fruitti
Cotton socks by Regia Yarn
If you’re a blog follower, you might remember my poem The Satisfaction of Sock Knitting on an April post four years ago.
A Handknit Sock There’s a math to it. The cast on. Count the multiples of four. Last year it was hats and cowls. This year, socks. I want to try the fish lips kiss heel. It’s a simple thing. How a sock is knit. You start with yarn. Needles as slim as toothpicks. Terms like toe and gusset and cuff. My friend says, "it’s too much work." There’s a rhythm in the repetition. The making. Clockwise circles. Some throw, some pick. Row after row after row. In time you get length and warmth. There’s the calm you long for, around and around and around. Turn heel for a path to Zen. You think of those you love. The grandmother who taught you. The wet squeezed out, pairs hang to dry. Later fold their softness, admire the colors, ignore imperfections. Find comfort, hidden in shoes. My squishy hand knit socks.
or my page on the Comparative Analysis of Knitting Socks when I started six pairs before Christmas using all different methods- two at a time on a long corded (32″) single circular needle – Magic Loop, there was a single sock on an 8″ circular (that took a few inches to master) a single sock on two 16″ circulars, the set of sharp double point needles- one at a time, and then wooden and metal needles to add to the mix. Toe up, cuff down. Fish Lips Kiss Heel, Flap and Gusset, Afterthought Heel and Eye of Partridge.
Maybe someone reading this blog post will get some needles and sock yarn and give it a go. If you decide to try it, please share your photos and experience as you start knitting socks.
Souvenir Guest Gallery
Guest Contributions to Today’s Souvenir Gallery.
A follow-on post from Tuesday’s Post- Souvenir
Sometimes you purchase the souvenir yourself, and sometimes a souvenir is brought to you as a gift from a traveling friend.
________________________________Souvenirs from Mary
Coney Island
Colorado
Mexico
____________________________________Souvenirs from Joanne
Tiny bowls and St. Antonio figurine from Barcelona, Spain.
Santorini Greece
Vintage Scarf- Thanks Mary
Wine carafes from Italy … 1970 … when restaurants would often give you the carafe from your dinner table.
_______________________________Souvenirs from Vincie-
Windsor Telephone Booth England
Lighthouse from Florida
A present from the family from their vacation
______________Terry’s souvenir mug from Norway, just over a month in her possession
Trollejorden Norway
____________________________Yvette’s Souvenir Refrigerator Magnets
___________________________________Bobbie’s Souvenirs –
China
England
Morocco
Germany
Uganda
Italy
Trivets around the World
Postcard from London from my sister Mary. I found it on my fridge today.
Souvenir
Souvenir-
- a thing that is kept as a reminder of a person, place, or event.
There are two pronunciations of souvenir (soo-vuh–neer or soo–vuh-neer) Which do you say?
Perhaps you avoid collecting souvenirs, adding to the accumulation. I have a few examples. A salt and pepper shaker from Yellowstone Park purchased in 1963 by me. A Volksmarch Stein and a ceramic tile from Grafenwoehr Germany where we lived for three years 1983-1986. A dish towel. Christmas ornaments (from my Ohio family’s collection) a refrigerator magnet with Beignets.
In our city there is a shop up on Mt. Washington called love, Pittsburgh where you can get Pittsburgh themed gifts. The Florida pillow was in the U of Florida bookstore but I did not purchase it. The demitasse cup and saucer from a favorite restaurant, La Cucina Flegrea, no longer in business.
Do you keep a souvenir or two or three? Any special mementos of a place you have visited? My sister’s Coney Island Paperweight was a souvenir in Saturday’s gallery.
When my friend Ann sees this post she will write and say “Pitch them!”
Virtual Knitting Assistance
As it turned out, my friend had her heel flap stitches picked up perfectly for the start of the sock’s gusset. She’s on her third pair of socks. The question was – which needle to knit with as she knit up the side. She’d been making the sock with two 16” circulars. She’d been picking up the heel flap stitches onto a separate double point needle, thanks to Roxanne Richardson’s method on YouTube. I had to see it to understand what she was asking me.
We’d tried to solve it on the phone, with words. So difficult to visualize.
A month ago she would have popped up to my house and I would have been able to do hands-on help. With social distancing and isolating that wasn’t possible.
I’m in my living room, she’s at her house. She was able to show me what the issue was. And with some camera work and focus help (thanks Jack). we found the solution?
A Face Time call.
She really would have been okay with what she was doing, just needed the reassurance what she was doing was correct. It came out just fine!
Famous knitter Elizabeth Zimmerman said
“Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises.”
Elizabeth Zimmermann, Knitting Without Tears: Basic Techniques and Easy-to-Follow Directions for Garments to Fit All Sizes
I’ll bake a lamb cake next year
