One Fish, Two Fish...

Hello, my name is Kati and I'm addicted to Sock Yarn.  Anyone who's seen my stash knows this to be true.  I can't help it.  It's pretty and squishy and there are so many things one can make with just one skein of it.  It's just so irresistible.

The problem?  I keep ending up with 3-5 grams left over from projects - not enough to make anything else, but too much to justify throwing it away.  So, I began my very own scrap project.  Sewers will be familiar with this concept (they're called quilts).  Even paper crafters know they have that one set of notecards that has cool shapes made of leftovers.

Thanks to Ravelry, I found this excellent pattern called a Recipe for Fish.  For those that are interested, I'm using size 4 needles.  For everyone else, what you need to know is each fish measures about 2.5" x 4.5".  After doing some Math (yay Math!), I figured that for a roughly queen sized afghan, I need 800 fish (they will be laid out 20 x 40 fish).  Yeah, that's a lot of fish.

Know what else?  That's a lot of scraps.  I want each fish to be unique, but even with my extensive collection of sock yarn, I don't have enough for 800 different fish.  So, I'm madly trading scraps with other yarnies.  I've even gone so far as to purchase mini skeins from indy dyers.

Here's the ultimate goal: make 1 fish a day (that's about 2.2 years of fish making) and then give myself 6 months to lay out the fish in the order/pattern I want them and seam them together.  To try and keep my spirits up, I'll be posting periodic updates on my progress.

Today, I have reached 100 fish!

Teeny Tiny Hearts

I made some teeny tiny crochet pieces to make into stitch markers for some friends and have gotten requests for the patterns.  This is the first in the series.  More will be coming later.

This is a pretty simple pattern, only 2 rounds of crochet.

Supplies:
Size 8 Perle Cotton Thread (about 2 yds per heart)
Size C (2.75mm) crochet hook
20mm Split Rings (these can be purchased in the jewelry finding area of your craft or bead store)

Abbreviations:
ch - chain
rd - round
sc - single crochet
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
sl - slip stitch


Pattern:
Ch 2.  Work Rd 1into 2nd ch from hook
Rd 1: 2 sc, hdc, 2 dc, hdc, 3 sc, dc, 3 sc, hdc, 2 dc, hdc, 2 sc, sl.  Join to first st of round.
Rd 2: ch 1, 2 sc, 2 hdc, 5 sc, hdc, 5 sc, 2 hdc,  2 sc, sl.  Join to first st of round.  Fasten off.
Slide split ring into top of 4th hdc of second rd.
Weave in ends.

An alternate option for adding the split ring:
Slide ring onto yarn before starting heart.  Work all of rd 1 and rd 2 up to 3rd hdc.  Slide split ring up next to the hook.  Work 4th hdc and rest of 2nd rd.

Sud de France, part 2 - Shopping

My second favorite thing to do in France is shop.  Partly, I love all the stuff I get to bring home, but I also just love the experience.  Sadly, I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have.  You'll have to take my descriptions at their word.

YARN

The Yarn Haul

For starters, let's talk about yarn (no surprise there).  Before getting to Montpellier, Mom and I researched yarn stores.  There were some she'd been to before and some were new to her; they were all new to me.

One my mom had been to before was Phildar.  It was interesting.  It's a clothing store that also carries it's own brand of yarn.  The front of the shop, and the display windows, are all clothing but if you keep walking towards the back, there are shelves full of yarn.  They had kits and patterns and bulk bags.  I didn't end up buying anything there, but it was certainly an interesting way to shop.

Next up was La Mercerie.  Perhaps this is the place to mention all these shops are in Old Town Montpellier.  That means they're in buildings that are up to 600 years old.  The shop fronts are tiny and I am contantly amazed at the amount of products (and people!) they can fit in such a small space.  this particular shop carries yarn and a whole array or "craft" supplies - buttons, embroidery supplies, and even fabric.  It was such a fun place to look around.  And they were having an excellent sale on some super-wash, lace weight merino, so I had to buy 12 skeins.  I've started a sweater with the red I got and I will finish it...some day.

Then it was on to Avant Aprés. This is a newer store.  It's very cute and near a beautiful church.  It carries a variety of yarn, fabric, ribbon, and beads.  I really enjoyed shopping there and picked up some great yarn.

Trumpe L'oiel painted on a building across form the church next to Avant Aprés

We also hit up Anne Ouverages.  It was closer to what I think of a yarn store, but still pretty small.  There was a large selection of fibers and weights and the people who worked there were all very helpful.

Lastly, we hit up the Katia store.  This shop sells only Katia yarns, but what a selection!  And they had paper yarn.  Let me say that again: Paper Yarn.  I couldn't pass it up, though I really should have.  I wasn't thinking clearly.  Paper yarn doesn't smoosh, so I had to take an extra carry on just to get it home (lesson learned).

Aigues Mortes

Circular Tower along the wall at Aigues Mortes

Aigues Mortes is on my family's favorite places to go.  It's a medieval walled city with a sea salt harvesting operation outside the city.  Though we usually drive, it turns out there is a bus that runs between Montpellier and Aigues Mortes for only €1.50.  We decided Mom and I would take the early bus and do some shopping and have lunch and Dad would take the later bus join us for a trip around the wall and maybe dinner, then we would all take the last bus back to Montpellier.

It was an excellent plan.  Except that, apparently, my timetable reading skills are lacking.  First, Mom and I tried it on Tuesday.  But it turns out, there's no early bus on Tuesdays, so we decided to try it again on Wednesday.  We got to Aigues Mortes and it was gray and raining.  AND there was some sort of festival going on.  Most of the restaurants and shops were closed.  We still managed to pick up the few things we wanted, soap and candy, but it didn't take us very long.  We found a place to sit and knit while waiting for my dad.

Eventually we walked out to the bus stop, which was conveniently located near the city's Boule court.  We watched the old guys (and some young ones, too) play boule.  But the time for Dad's bus came and went with no sign of either the bus or Dad.  Turns out, there's no late bus on Wednesday.

Old guys playing Boules, minus pastise

Mom and I, all shopped out from the few shops that were open, waited for the last bus to head back to Montpellier, where we met with Dad and he regaled us with his story of taking the bus as far as it would go and being surprised that it didn't go all the way to Aigues Mortes and then riding back to Montpellier.

There were a few good things about the trip.  We got to watch some Boules, we bought some soap and candy, and learned more about the bus system in Hèrault than we ever wanted to know

Aix-en-Provence

Side street in Aix en Provence

What crafty girl can go to France and not come hope with fabric?  Mom and I made the trek to Aix-en-Provence by train to hit a shop that Mom has been to before.  It was AMAZING.  Floor to ceiling shelves full of fabric!  I even got some hand painted sheep fabric to make myself some project bags for my yarn.

My goal is to eventually make a quilt in red and yellow Provençal themed fabrics for my guest/craft room.

French fabrics!

Paper Goods

I also have a love of several paper goods that I can only get in France - a certain kind of folder and gird-style notebooks.  We ran all over Montpellier looking for them and no luck.  But what I did find was the first 2 Harry Potter books in French.  Mom and Dad will have to continue going to France until I have all 7 books in French.  And then they'll have to start collecting the British versions for me.

Looking for Balance in a Crafty Life

Just a quick and dirty post about something that's been on my mind quite a bit for the last few months.

As most of y'all know, 2 years ago, I joined a group of like-minded people on Ravelry.  What do I mean by like-minded?  Well, they love yarn, competition, and Harry Potter.   This means for 3 months out of every 4, I'm yarning like a mad woman, trying to get as many points as possible for my team (Slytherin, of course).  The fourth month, I spend doing one of the other things I love to do - making charts and graphs. Of the yarny Harry Potter competition results.

But all this yarning and yarning-related activities leaves little time for much else.  I've been missing a lot of my other creative outlets: Cooking, baking, sewing/quilting, cross-stitching, and paper crafting/scrapbooking.  Not to mention that some day I'd like to finish putting my apartment together.  So, I've come up with a plan that I think will help me get a little balance in my life; I'm instituting WIP Wednesday and Stringless Sunday!

WIP Wednesday is actually an idea that came from being in the House Cup (that Harry Potter competition  on Ravelry).  WIP stands for Work In Progress.  Each Wednesday I will work on unfinished projects.  I'm starting with my few yarn-related projects that need to be finished up.  Once those are all under control, I'll move on to other things: the 2 unfinished quilts in the top of my closet, several pieces of unfinished cross stitch (2 of which are way late wedding gifts), and my perpetually out-of-date scrapbook.

Stringless Sunday is, more or less, what it sounds like.  Sundays will be yarn-free days.  I will spend the time, writing, crafting, and decorating.  This will probably establish more WIPs for WIP Wednesday and I'm okay with that.   Hopefully it also means that I'll do a better job of regular blog writing.

So, today was my first Stringless Sunday.  I made some charts and graphs and finally fixed up a wall in my living room.  I replaced a vinyl wall cling from Ikea, with some pictures I've taken during my travels that I converted to gray scale and enlarged to 8 x10.

Before:

After:

And a bit closer:

Sud de France, part 1 - Food

Chocolate cake of lava death - my favorite!

A little late (and late in the week), so with out further ado...

As some of you know,  after several years of teaching as part of an Summer exchange program, my Dad became part of the faculty at the university in Montpellier.  Though he still teaches most of the year in the States, for a week each year, in either the Spring or Fall, he teaches part of a course in Montpellier.  This past October, I was lucky enough to go with him and my mom. This is the first of a 3, or maybe 4, parter about that trip.

When traveling in the South of France, there are a few things one  must do - see fields of sunflowers and lavender, explore the medieval cities, and EAT!  I love food.  I love French food.  And I really love eating  French food in France.  Here are just a few of my food-related excursions.

Eat Dessert First

Do I have your attention yet?

It's France.  With French desserts.  Need I say more?

Marshmallows have never looked so good

Nougat of all flavors

Chocolate that looks like potatoes.  Does life get any better?

Les Macarons!

Yes, that is a cake topped with macarons.  Genius, I tell you!

Sense et Sensability

Several Summers ago, my family celebrated a special occasion at the Michelin Star-rated Jardin de Sens, owned and operated by the Pourcel brothers, Jacques and Laurent.  It.  Was.  Amazing.  Since then, we have had occasion, or made occasions, to try others of the brothers' Montpellier restaurants: the now-defunct sandwich shop, La Compagnie des Comptoirs on the beach, and this time around, Insensé, the restaurant at Musée Fabre.

I have to say, I wasn't impressed.  I'm pretty sure I could've cooked that one up in my own kitchen and done a better job.  In fact, the chocolate cake tasted just like my own recipe.  Perhaps my previous experiences just heightened my expectations too far.  Keep in mind, this in no way means I would pass on an opportunity to eat in any of their other restaurants.

Down on the Grange 

The pavillion in Antigone has many restaurants.  You can get anything from fish and pasta to Lebanese and Chinese.  But one place in particular takes the crêpe.  La Grange aux Crêpes has a nice atmosphere, friendly owners, and a lovely menu of salads and sweet and savory crêpes.  But their signature dessert is one of my dad's favorites - profiteroles made with crêpes instead of cream puffs.  We went twice in the 9 days we were there.  I'm only sad I didn't get a picture.

The Original Waffle Window

I love the Waffle Window here in Portland.  But, if it's possible, I love the gauffre window in Montpellier more.  Begian waffles with a variety toppings, made while you wait.  Yum!  I hear they also do sandwiches and some other fried snacks, but why waste your time with those?

There may be things on the menu besides waffles, but I'm not sure why

They call me Tater

One of Dad's favorite restaurants is located at Polygone, the shopping venter at the end of the tram line.  Les 3 Brasseurs is a brasserie featuring it's own line of beers.  So, what goes better with beer than a burger?  Perhaps next time I should READ the menu instead of skimming it.  I caught that the burger had cheese and onions and an egg and that it was served with potatoes and, although I found it odd that both potatoes and pomme frites were listed, it didn't really click until my plate arrived.  My burger was served, not on a bun, but between what were essentially 2 very large, flat tater tots.  Again, my great regret isn;t so much that I couldn't finish it, as that I hadn't taken my camera to dinner and missed the the opportunity to photograph it.

Cheesus

Anyone who knows my dad, knows how he feel about cheese.  The first day we were there, he bought cheese.  He also bought cheese the second and forth days we were there.  Not that I'm complaining, of course.  Just that, as usual, his perception of what 3 people can eat in three days was a little off.

Say Cheese, cheese!

Food of the Gods

Many of you might also be familiar with what I can consider the Greatest Food on Earth: Aligot.  Aligot is traditional food from the Lozère region of France.  Lucky for me, there is a place to get it in Montpellier!  Maison de la Lozère serves many traditional, and some not-so-traditional, foods from the region.    Of course, the house speciality is aligot.  Warm mashed potatoes mixed with cheese that is served from a large bowl at the table, using 2 spoons in a twisting motion.  The cooking of the dish isn't difficult, if you can find the right cheese, but the serving...there in lies the true talent.  Don't believe me?  Just do a Google image search for "aligot."  Also, should anyone ever offer you a second serving, it would be wise to politely decline.  As lovely as it is, one serving is designed, and does, stay with one for several hours.

This One Went to Market

Portland has a wonderful Farmer's Market.  There are local farmers and food crafters and it's a fun excursion even if you don't need a whole ton of produce.  But nothing quiet compares to a European open-air market.  Montpellier's Sunday market is a fun walk with beautiful produce, meats, cheeses, and even wine.  My favorite happens to be the guy who sells live fish out of the back of his truck.

Market wine!

Fish in the back of a truck.  Trust me, they're in there.

I don't even like olives, but they're still pretty.

And I'll leave you with one last French food greatness - the Café Gourmand.  A small coffee (which I could do without) and several small desserts, usually the house specialties.  Seriously, they've thought of everything!

YUM!

Easter Crafting Fun

I've been away for a while, but it's a new year, I have a new job and this means more time for myself, my crafting, and (hopefully) my blog!

I'm starting off with an easy, but fun one.  This is what I did last year for Easter.  I planned to post it later, but there was some interest out there on more in-depth process info, so it's going up early.

Since I feel I've pretty well mastered crochet, and I'm learning how to knit, I decided the next thing to take on is dyeing yarn.  I've tried a few things but before I'm ready to move on to Big Girl Dyes (acid dyes), I wanted to try one more fun, food safe thing - Easter Egg Dyes!

Somewhere along the line, I decided I wanted to compare how the dyes work on wool as opposed to eggs.

So, I started the process by hard boiling some eggs, buying some dyes, and winding my wool into 9 sections (one for each color of dye) of about 25 grams each:

Mason jars in the front row, plastic party cups in the back

After prepping the wool by soaking it in water for an hour, I prepared the dyes according to the package directions.  I used mason jars and double dye (2 tablets, twice the vinegar, and twice the water) for the wool and clear plastic party cups for the eggs.

I dropped the eggs in the cups and put the mason jars into a glass jelly roll pan for ease of transport.

Eggs in the dye

The yarn went in the mason jars then into the oven at 200*

Yarn in mason jars pre-baking

After baking, and exhausting dyes

I left the eggs in the cups and yarn in the oven until the yarn had completely exhausted the dyes (i.e. the liquid left in the jars is clear), which took a lot longer than I anticipated - about 2 hours.


When I took the yarn out of the oven to cool, I took the eggs out of the cups to dry.

After the yarn was completely cool, I rinsed until the water ran clear (almost immediately), and hung it to dry.  The only color that didn't really turn out, was the purple, which is, apparently, notorious for breaking.

Here are the finished products:

Some day, in the not too distant future, there'll be a progress update with the projects I'm made (there are some ideas in the works).

Newton's Third Law

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

You know it, you live it.  Everyday.  It seems to not only apply to objects in the physical world, but to every part of our lives.  For the past month, I've felt like every good thing has been accompanied by a bad thing in equal measure.  This has left me feeling blah.  Or meh.  Or however you choose to portray the complete absence of both happiness and depression.  Like a roller coaster stuck at the platform, I'm neither up nor down.

It's a little odd for me.  Since I moved back to Portland a little over 4 years ago, I've been almost entirely ecstatic.  Even bad days were good days.  I'm still loving every day in my city - the gray skies, the budding flowers, the cold, the glimpses of Mt Hood and/or Mt Saint Helens on the drive home.  But I'm lacking the ability to actually..DO...anything.  Cooking, cleaning, writing, crafting, even reading.  They've all fallen by the wayside.  I can't even make a proper To Do list.  This would also explain the lack of postings since February. They're there in outlines and half written ideas.  But I just can't seem to concentrate long enough to finish writing anything.

I had big plans for this month.  April is a break month for my Harry Potter yarning group and I wanted to spend it getting some other crafting done and organizing and planning for the next round of competition.  But beyond mentally planning for the 2 large challenges I know I'll be doing, I just can't seem to get it together.

On the upside, I've been spending tons of quality time with Mendel and have been tearing through my Netflix queue.  Here's to hoping the next few weeks bring a few more ups than downs and the needed motivation to get my life back in order.