Waffles and Fiber and the elusive Mr Candace Eisner Strick

Today was one of those rare and perfect New England autumn days, but the most exciting part was the annual fiber festival at the Coventry (CT) Farmer's Market, which takes place on the grounds of the Nathan Hale Homestead.

Meet the elusive (some say he doesn't really exist) Mr Candace Eisner Strick (aka Ken), the man behind the camera, the man behind the books, and the man behind the vacuum cleaner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAc-KgbELxY

Here is the recipe for Ken's waffles:

1/3 c whole wheat flour
2 pinches of coarse salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c buttermilk
2 T water
1 egg
butter for waffle iron

Combine all wet ingredients; combine all dry ingredients. Preheat waffle iron and brush with butter. Gently mix dry ingredients into wet; stir until just mixed. Pour into iron. Enjoy with REAL New England maple syrup and fruits of your choice.
Makes 2 large, 4-section waffles.

Candace's Gluten-free Waffles

1/3 c brown rice flour
1/2 c buttermilk
1 egg
pinch salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Combine as for Ken's recipe. Makes 1 Belgian-style, very thick waffle.

While this episode isn't nearly as exciting as the mushroom murder, it still was a fun day. In a few minutes, friends of fiber are coming over to have a warm apple crisp with ice cream. The perfect topping for a perfect day.

A Knitter's Revenge: Murder!!

Today was the day the mushroom met its demise. I let it have 2 days to repent; it didn't, so today I decided to murder it. Follow my absurd behavior as I get my revenge on the blob that made me sicker than I have ever been.

Also see the progress of my lovely gansey sweater and learn where you can get the pattern to make your own. (www.knittingtraditions.com)

See a never-before-revealed look at Candace's studio. You will be totally appalled, I guarantee. But there's hope; someday, when I have the time, all will be transformed.

Click here for the link to view video blog.

Tomorrow we will do a little filming at the Coventry Farmer's Market annual fiber festival. There will be bunnies, alpacas, roving, yarn, and delicious food. Bunnies!!! Everybody loves a bunny, but not everybody treats them the way they deserve to be treated.

Poison Mushroom!!!

Warning....the mushroom you will see in the video is NOT, I repeat, NOT, a sulfur shelf. I thought it was, and I have eaten that kind before, but this mushroom, as best as I can tell, is a Jack-o'Lantern mushroom. While it is poisonous, it is not fatal. And that is a good thing for me, as I ate it, got distressingly ill all night, and still feel pretty wiped out today. Other than that, I hope that you enjoy the video.

Click here to view video

New Video Blog, September 15, 2011

I admit it. I'm lazy. I'm also busy. That is why I rarely post in this blog. Last night I had a brainstorm. Why not do a video blog? That way I can just say what I want, and the pictures will already be right there. So today we shot the first day. You can go to this link to watch and listen. Each day I post there will be little tidbits of information about knitting, life in the Strick household, and we will all hope it won't be too boring for you. But if it is, all you have to do is click to exit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kOE1uz1tik

I also have had lots of people ask me what I do all day long. They know I am an author, knitwear designer, and teacher of knitting, but they still have a hard time figuring out what the heck a person like me actually does to fill up an entire day. Of course it is somewhat different each day, but these daily little video posts will try to give an accurate description of how I while away my time.

My camera man is, of course, my long-suffering and dearly devoted husband Ken. A major star of each video will be our rabbit Abraham. Other than that, I cannot tell you any more, as each day that dawns bring new surprises, and new crazies. For instance, just tonight I noticed a huge sulphur shelf mushroom growing next to the driveway. It was a perfect beauty, and I picked some, fried it in butter, and had it with my dinner. So far, I am still alive. Check in tomorrow to see if my luck has lasted!! By the way, Ken refused to eat any.

Sock Summit

Greetings from Portland OR, home of the second Sock Summit. We just finished doing a Flash Mob out in front of the Oregon Convention Center. What a hoot!!! It seems to be the norm here for the sock knitters to have multiple colors in their hair, tattoos, and piercings. And who said knitters are little old ladies. There we all were, about 1000 of us, and with the other 1000 watching and taking pictures, doing our yarn dance to music. Unbeknownst to me, people had been practicing this dance for weeks, but I stood in the back and followed everyone, and it was great fun. I'm sure it's going to be up on YouTube in in no time flat. Google for Sock Summit Flash Dance; you won't regret it.





My classes here have been nothing short of spectactular. I taught Austrian traveling twisted stitches to 31 people, and there wasn't a single time when I had to repeat anything. They were the most expert bunch of knitters I have ever encountered, and it has been the same for all my other classes. Strick-ly Socks was a smash success, with everyone producing a perfect sample toe, and today I did the Magical Switch for Tubular Bind Off, and again, everyone had 100% success. These women are fun, energetic, and not afraid of anything. Lots of them are walking around wearing tiaras, and I desperately want one to wear too!!





I have been showered with gifts from my students, from chocolate to beautiful hand-made stitch markers. The market is, again...I hate to keep using the word, but it's wonderful. I finally rounded out my collection of Signature circular needles. I now am the proud owner of sizes 3-9. One of the good things about this market is that there is no sales tax here in Oregon. Oh..should I mention there was a Dansko booth in the market? I got a pair of purple patent leather clogs which are TOO cool. Alas, I am forced to actually wear them home on the plane, as there's no room in my luggage for them.





I also have the disk for the Intertwined Studio computer stitch program, which I am dying to try out. This program allows you to make charts with all the standard knitting symbols, create your own, AND, lets you put text right into the charts. This is what I have been waiting for, and Heatherly Walker, who is the creator of this, was in one of my classes.





I stopped in at Kimber's booth, Optic Fiber, to show her the shawl using her yarn that is almost done. It's a beauty, and will be ready to go for Stitches Midwest. She is the most amazing dyer, and her yarns are some of the most beautiful hand-dyes I have ever seen. Another talented hand-dyer is Miss Babs, whose yarns draw me in like a moth to a flame (but moths also love yarn, so that's pretty weird, huh?)





Soon I will be back in CT, then off again to Stitches Midwest in Chicago.


Cheers to all from beautiful Portland, where it hasn't rained once since I arrived.

Ireland

Greetings from Mansfield Center, CT; home from 9 days in Ireland. It's so nice to travel, but really, there's no place like home. Once you get to your destination it's all fine,the trials of getting there can be full of stress. Due to an Amtrak delay, we almost missed our ship in NYC. We boarded with just 40 minutes to spare before it sailed. Going transatlantic on the Queen Mary 2 is, to us, the only way to cross. We had 7 glorious days of sailing, most of it nice weather. Sailing under the bridge out of New York harbor is always a thrill, as you would swear that the funnel of the ship is going to slice the bridge in two.

There's a needlework group that meets every day at 2:00, so I got to meet up with other people who knit, crochet, do needlepoint, etc.


During last summer's crossing I met a young woman who was as much in love with knitting as I was. I was so fortunate to see her again on this crossing. Her name is Bianca Griere, she is from Canada, and someday, probably in about 10 years, she is going to be a fashion design star.

The ship catered to my gluten-free diet, and one morning I was presented, with a flourish, a plate of gluten-free blueberry muffins. I have to say, they looked alot better than what they tasted. But the thought was lovely, so I ate two of them. They will never give you one of anything on that ship, even if you specifically ask for just one!

Here's my church (well, almost mine) in Kilkenny.

Once off the ship we flew to Dublin, rented a car, and proceeded to drive all around Ireland. Lots of the beautiful scenery was missed due to fog, mist, rain, cold, and very high winds. The Cliffs of Moher was a case in point; I was afraid of literally being blown off the cliffs. The wind was so strong you couldn't walk into it.

Here's what we were up against on the Dingel Peninsula, which has some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole world.

For me, the high point was Aran. After a choppy ferry ride over, we hiked most of the way to the Black Fort, which had a spectacular view of both the island (Inishmore, the largest of the 3 islands), and the ocean. And guess what? I bought a hand knit Aran sweater at Kilronan (the "city" on the island), AND some white yarn. I also spent a considerable amount of time looking at all the sweaters for sale.

Someone on Aran needed a new mattress, so it had a ride on the ferry! I guess that's the only way for a mattress to cross.

Sweaters for sale at Kilronan on Inishmore.



This little cottage has a thatched roof, but most of the houses don't, as it is a terrible fire hazard.

You wouldn't believe all the rocks on Aran, both in the ground, on the ground, piled up for fences, etc. In order to farm, they actually had to make soil from beach sand and seaweed.

This a picture of the ground.

These are rocks made into a wall.

View from the fort

I tried my first Irish coffee, which was quite good, due to the large topping of whipped cream. Being gluten-intolerant I didn't try Guinness, but our friend seemed to enjoy having two pints with each meal! The B and B's we stayed in were lovely, and served beautiful and delicious breakfasts, which fortified us for the days spent trying to keep warm and dry!! I am so sorry I missed the sweaters on display at the National Museum in Dublin. I didn't know about that until I came home and read Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting; should have read it before I went. Duh.

Home sweet home; picked up our lovable and gorgeous rabbit from the rabbit-sitter's house, slept around the clock, and now I have to fly to Portland on Wednesday for Socks Summit.

Mother's Day

It's a made-up holiday, but I like it. We got in the car last night to drive to son #1's house, and I opened the glove compartment to put something in. There was a little wrapped present for me from my husband. What a lovely surprise!! It's just fun to get presents. Of course, whenever I order yarn it's a present for me, and it doesn't even have to be a special day.

Socks Summit registration opened last week, and is almost all sold out already. And I'm happy to say that my Strick-ly Socks class at Stitches Midwest was the first class to get sold out right after registration went live on the internet.

Last week I was in Neenah Wisconsin teaching at Midwest Masters, a lovely little retreat put on by Yarns by Design. Barb Cattani is the sweetest person in the world, and her shop is a treat not to be missed. I was seduced by a couple different kinds of yarn; Madeline Tosh Merino, and a new K1C2 springy stretchy sock yarn. There was plenty more I was interested in, but luggage dictated what I could buy. I was able to see my dear friend from Madison, Connie Burmeister, and we had lunch together 2 days in a row. Everytime I went to the shop she came, protesting that she shouldn't be going, but actually buying something every time!!!

I also had the opportunity to meet and spend some time with the lovely Sivia Harding, whose designs I have admired now for years. I even bought two of them; one of them, a beaded necklace is already finished and just awaiting a clasp. The other is a gorgeous beaded scarf, which lo and behold, I had the perfect yarn for in my stash!! I always say...when you see a gorgeous skein of yarn you like, buy it. You will never know when it will come in handy, but it always will.

Next weekend I will be in Acton Massachusetts at the Woolpak's annual knitter's weekend. I will be teaching, but I'm sure I will be seeing some yarn at the shop that I can't live without. Judy Pascale and I will be driving there, which is a nice change, as we can bring, and bring home, as much stuff as we want without the fear of our luggage being overweight. And we are in the same time zone, which makes things easier too.

I hope everyone is having a lovely spring. It's still not warm enough for me, but my lilacs are almost ready to pick.