Pi Day

in which our plucky heroine remembers to celebrate...

I always mean to, each year, but rarely remember in time to cook something special. This year I managed to. Dinner was shepherd's pie, made half from leftovers, some diced up frozen lamb slices from when Beth and Karen visited a while back, and some of yesterdays cooked carrots, added to some sauteed onion, and sugar snap peas. I made gravy in the same pan as the onions, seasoned with homegrown thyme and some of Penzey's Justice herbs, and a splash of tamari. I never make gravy, but pie needs it. While doing all this, was also steaming two little yellow potatoes, so the 6" oval dish was topped with some golden mashed taters and stuck in the convection oven to brown. Made enough for a meal tomorrow as well.

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~ pies for today ~

Once the improvisational shepherd's pie was in the little convection oven, I started working on the tiny pecan pie(s). It turned out that there was no pan of a suitable size that the recipe called for; switching to using silicone cupcake liners made a half dozen tiny "pie-lets". The only change I made was to use Lyle's Golden Syrup instead of maple syrup. The recipe was not at all difficult, other than dividing the shortcrust, and later on the pie filling, into six individual compartments. OTOH, it is as easy as pie to peel the liner from one of the rather sticky baked miniature pies, and the (⅙/recipe) small thin confection is just the right amount for dessert.

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There are two green eggs in the remaining egg carton from Drusa. I shall save the shells, once the insides are used for cooking, with the intention of making some sort of eggshell mosaic for the tinyworld.  I did that ages ago, back in May 2020, with an excellent result.  

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The Icelandic cardigan remodel has been quite successful! It is currently already wearable, as proven this morning while out and about. The length is just right, and the new front button bands look like they have always been there. The too long ribbed cuffs will be removed in favor of the narrower double row of matching dark I-cord, and might add a neckline edge row of the lightest color. Maybe.

It is being fun sorting through not yet stitched up fabrics and current wardrobe to pick out all the various possibile options, and I've devoted an entire page in my journal for the notes. There are plenty of knit tops, and several print blouses already in the closet; enough lycra cotton jersey for two pair of fresh long janes, and the already dedicated brown linen for a new pinafore. A second pinafore would not be amiss, maybe using the brown ikat wrap that was originally a gift from Marian? I'm much of a mind to turn things currently stored on the resource shelves into garments to actually wear. You can't take it with you after all...

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I've been enjoying Brenda Dayne's textile and knitting podcasts for many many years now, and wondered why her posts had stopped. Her story is fascinating and horrifying at the same time: a routine antibiotic treatment causes unexpected and anomalous long-lasting neurological effects.

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	ruffle pillow shams	cardigan length	recycle bin
2	clothespin bag	cardigan button bands	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- there has been enough of the various colors of Lopi yarn
- years of cooking has me able to improvise. 
- no howling wind last night, so sleep was easier

Time of Isolation - Day 2074

Discontinuity

in which our plucky heroine is reminded that we live on a planet...

and not every place has the same time simultaneously.

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~ signs of hope ~

In the side yard, there are buds on the Quinceling, that will eventually turn into beautiful flowers and then with luck into large golden (lumpy) spheres of fragrant fruit. And in the parking strip, forsythia is showing signs that spring is on the way. It was planted there twenty-one years ago, from an alleyway sprig from behind a house that was being torn down. Sometimes what can be salvaged finds a second life...

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Successfully started the I-cord borders on Icelandic cardigan; multiple rows will take some time to complete. Chocolate brown petersham ribbon has been ordered for steek facings. The sleeve cuff ribbing will be removed and a single row of I-cord replace it to coordinate. This alteration/mending project is very satisfying, and will be a constant Dad hug from the past once completed. There are other current and future garments to be friends with it, like the brown chambray blouse, and the next to be made brown linen pinafore and brown ribbed cotton long janes.

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Further enshittification: my local pharmacy is now closed on weekends, as of middle of February. Since I mostly only use them for prescription refills, it was a surprise and not a treat to find this out only after riding my bike over there on Sunday to try and request a refill... on Monday, dreadfully long lines, 14 people ahead of me. Might have been better had I managed to get there right when they opened. Returned to pick up prescriptions midafternoon Tuesday, when in the past there might be only a few folks waiting, and instead, there were even more... I commiserated with the pharmacy clerk about how changes she hadn't asked for had made her job more difficult; she seemed grateful I was sympathetic rather than grouchy..

And a number of TriMet bus routes are being either reduced or discontinued. Two that will specifically affect how I use them are 75 and 19. Line 75 reduced after 6 pm, is a route that extends far across the metropolitan area. And line 19 is being entirely removed, since there are other lines between a quarter and a half mile away. The fact that line 19 also directly serves a major area hospital and other associated medical facilities is irrelevant.  After all folks that need hospital services all have cars, or can easily walk there. If they are going to remove that line, at least they ought re-route the 20 to cover hospital access. Sigh... grrr...

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	ruffle pillow shams	cardigan length	recycle bin
2	clothespin bag	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- made it to the bank before they closed at 5... managed to walk to the bus stop, then bus, then Yellow Line, then Red Line, then walking more.
- payment for pillow shams, and then later a photo text (with heart emojis) of them in situ. My various sorts of work are for making specific things that folks cannot purchase ready-made in shops
- naps...
- the gradation of yarn colors of the I-cord center front cardigan bands looks quite purposeful, in a good way  
- Krups little electric grinder, intended for coffee, but I use it for flaxseed and for spices

Time of Isolation - Day 2071

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine desperately needs a more regular sleep wake cycle...

...though unsure that Time Change Day tomorrow will help the situation.  Since there was much tiredness today and no napping, perhaps an early bedtime will ease dealing with the "lost" hour? Worth an attempt anyway...

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~ alteration ~

After removing both the crocheted button bands and a bit more than 4" of length from the middle of the body, the next step in reconfiguring the Icelandic cardigan will be grafting together the patterned lower edge to the now shorter upper body. In order to level the hemline, there needs to be about 1½" more length along the back than in the front, which necessitates creating "darts" on either side in more or less the underarm zone. Once grafted in place and the various yarn ends woven in they will be virtually invisible. 

When knitting cardigans or pullovers one often does this needful shaping (as the anatomical fact is that our necks are not centered on our bodies, but extend further forward than back) by knitting short rows much closer to the neckline. Once this section is dealt with, what remains will be replacing the button bands. In the past, it has worked very well to use multiple rows of I-cord, so I'll just park these two YouTube links here that have Useful Tutorials... This one is particularly good for turning corners... This one is also very clear. The last step, aside from sewing on the buttons, will be deciding what to do about the messy edges of the steek. Here are Kate Davies suggestions for various ways to finish them off. Here is some specific instruction for using ribbon on the steeked edges of an Icelandic cardigan from Hélène Magnússon

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There is a rabbit hole easy to fall into, of beautiful jacquard woven ribbons from Europe particularly the ones from KAFKA, some are pictorial, and some even organic as well. It is being difficult to pick favorites, and so very tempting to choose something compatible to finish the steek edges on the refurbished Icelandic cardigan. 

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	ruffle pillow shams	cardigan length	-
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- unexpected tiny porch visit from Meagn
- the first singlar forsythia flower
- alterations on the Icelandic cardigan proceed apace and well

Time of Isolation - Day 2067