phila*craft

my design in the just launched summer issue of twist collective







Here's Elio in the photograph that captivated the editors at twist. I owe so much to sunlight shining through blond hair.






The prototype mr. boy mr. boy is wearing is in Rowan All Seasons Cotton. These photos were taken in September '08 and by April '09, Elio outgrew the sweater. This summer I'll snip the bound off edges of the body and sleeves, rip them back and knit on a few inches so he can wear the sweater next school year, too.






I'm thinking of all kinds of ways to tweak the design...knitting the body from the sleeves down in stockinette and increasing to make it flare baby-doll style for a girl...working the neck and body portions in the RS of the stitch pattern, but working the sleeves in the WS (see the post below)...swapping in a different 3x3 rib pattern (this prototype's stitch pattern is slightly different from the one in the published pattern) or even baby cables...working it in wool or a linen blend...working it in fingering or sport weight yarns for baby sizes and in worsted and bulky yarns for roomier adult sizes. Mrs. Lear talks about using smocking on the ribs under the bustline of the version she made for herself. When the samples in Kolláge's undyed Hope come back to me in September they're definitely going into a pot with some black walnuts (and maybe some logwood). I have a mr. boy on needles right now for number one son Bruno. He's 10 (chest measurement 29") which is somewhere between the child and adult sizes I provide in the published pattern, so I cast on for the largest of the child sizes and I'll crank up the sleeve and underarm stitch counts by a multiple of six to make it all work out (hint!). I'll post a picture of B. in his back-to-school sweater in September. The blog's out for summer, but please leave comments and questions here or at ravelry and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Happy Summer!

on the lookout for a looksie at my design mr. boy for the summer issue of twist collective

















Here are both sides of one of my gauge swatches in Kolláge's organic, undyed Hope.

Nefertiti's cornflowers from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute



This recipe is my adaptation of J.N. Liles' Lye-Hydrosulfite Vat from The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing. If you're at all interested in natural dyeing, this is the book to get. I'm giving my basic recipe, but all the safety precautions and suggestions for troubleshooting I'll leave to Prof. Liles.

Thiox and Spectralite are names for thiourea dioxide. I don't know about their relative potencies, so I'm specifying my recipe for use with Thiox.

Lye-Thiox Indigo Vat

Stock Solution
Just about fill a quart Mason jar with hot tap water. I don't ever bother with a thermometer--the water is about as hot as my hand can tolerate. Add 1 3/4 teaspoons lye and stir until it dissolves. Add 3 teaspoons of natural indigo powder and mix for a few minutes. Add 1 teaspoon thiourea dioxide (Thiox) and stir for another minute. Screw the lid on and let the mixture stand in a larger bowl of hot water until the solution turns dark greenish yellow with a gold-blue slick on the surface.

Vat
Fill a five gallon storage bucket with hot tap water. I use a clear Rubbermaid container so that I can tell what color the solution is at any time. Wearing gloves and avoiding splashes, add 1/8 teaspoon lye dissolved in a little water. Add 1/2 teaspoon washing soda (soda ash) dissolved in a little water. (I use another Mason jar for all this dissolving and adding.) Add 1/2 teaspoon thiourea dioxide (Thiox) dissolved in a little water. Wait 15 to 30 minutes. Add the indigo stock and stir very gently. Allow up to an hour for the vat to "reduce." It should be a light greenish yellow. There might be some blue up around the edges and an opalescent film on the surface.

Now you're ready to dip anything: wool, cotton, linen, and silk yarns, and fabric and paper, and buttons made of natural materials, and leather. (I haven't dyed leather, yet.)

Prof. Liles gives suggestions for how long to keep different fibers submerged and how long to air them. He gives directions for adjusting the chemistry as you go. Thiox is a lot more potent than the hydrosulfite in Liles' recipe, so only add it a little at a time. Too much Thiox will mean you're stripping pigment every time you re-dip the fiber. Again, the whys and more hows (like rinsing and cleaning fibers, disposing of chemicals and using synthetics-free vats like "old sig" and yeast vats) are all in The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing.

better than it looks

whole wheat apple prune cake

I replaced the white flour in our favorite apple cake recipe with whole wheat pastry flour and substituted prunes for the raisins and walnut oil for "vegetable oil." Pesach Shalom, Happy Easter.

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup walnut oil
3 large eggs
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon calvados or whisky
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Cortland, Empire or Gala apples, peeled, cored, and cut into
¼-inch dice
½ cup quartered prunes (please don't call them dried plums)

Put a rack in the middle of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9” springform pan.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

Whisk together oil, eggs, sugars, spices, liquor and vanilla in a large bowl until just combined. Fold in flour mixture until just combined, then fold in apples and purnes. Spoon the very thick batter into prepared pan.

Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1½ hours. Cool cake in pan on rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely.

*The cake can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days and tastes better as the flavors meld.

mind the glass of iced tea by the leg, honey, and sit yourself down





My husband Mark's internets debut just appeared on Front Porch Republic.

so we made braided fugassa for snack