Read The Script

Day 139: There is a secret message here, I'm sure of it, but even if I was conversant with Ogham script, the form of Gaelic used in mediaeval Ireland (or any Gaelic, for that matter) is out of my realm of expertise. Whatever Graphis scripta is trying to tell me, I can't read it. That said, I don't understand Italian either, but that doesn't prevent me from enjoying a good opera. Nor can I read Chinese, but I can admire the artistry in its written characters. Thus, Graphis scripta is one of my favourite lichens. The black "inscriptions" are in fact the fruiting bodies of this crustose species, specialized structures called "lirellae." Close examination of them would show that each "dash" is split down the center. The thallus (body) of the lichen is the whitish-grey background, one of several species of lichen which give our Red Alders the appearance of having grey bark.

Good Day For A Hike

Day 138: Good weather finally made an appearance here in the Pacific Northwest, and since I already had to make a trip to the library, I decided to take a walk on the Bud Blancher Trail. As walks go in my book, three miles wasn't much, although it was an improvement on sitting. I was able to set a good pace and only allowed myself to be distracted by lichens once I'd reached my goal of the Little Mashel bridge and was ready to turn around. I didn't want to leave Merry locked in the bathroom for too long, despite having made him as comfortable as possible with food, a kitty bed, toys and his litter box. He is coming to the conclusion that "library" is a swear-word when Mama tells him she has to be gone for a while. In any event, while at the bridge, I braved blackberry vines to reach the Graphis scripta tree, and a future post will show the lichen. It's always nice to visit old friends.

Comparative Anatomy

Day 137: For this exercise, we will be looking at Comparative Anatomy, and yes, size matters. These bands use different weights of thread. On the right, the pattern threads of the blue/green Xs are doubled (i.e., two threads are treated as one), with white and coloured threads all being 8/2 cotton. In the lower left, the lavender hearts are 10/2 cotton on a white ground of 16/2. The uppermost band is made on green sewing thread ground against gold 10/2 cotton, creating a "negative space" pattern of green hearts. The lavender hearts have a wider border than the Xs, and both bands are 1" wide. The green/gold band is slightly over 1/2" in width. All three bands employ the same number of threads in the patterned pickup section: nine. In all cases, the weft thread is identical to that used for the ground.

Making String Heddles

Day 136: When Max, my Bergman countermarch loom, came to live at my house, he was dressed with a minimal amount of string heddles. Before I could work on a project of any size, I had to tie more, which meant that I needed a jig so they would all be the same size. The odds and ends of lumber and nails I had in my garage weren't particularly inspiring, so I cast about for anything else I might use. I'd nearly given up when the cribbage board came to mind. The pegs allowed me to set the distance from the ends to the heddle eye in a perfect match to the existing heddles, and a warping tool gave me a way to store them without tangling until I had made a batch (I tie them off in bundles of 50). I made 400 on that first run, sufficient for any of the panel widths I normally use for overshot. I thought that would hold me for the rest of my life, but then I was given a gift of enough 16/2 tartan wool (made in Scotland!) to weave a summer shawl. Drafting it out, I determined that I would need 920 ends, i.e., 920 heddles...oh, let's say another 400 just to be on the safe side. I've been pecking away at it (tying heddles is not my favourite occupation, believe me) and am making substantial progress. By the time I get "Friend Evelyn" off Max, I'll have enough tied for the tartan shawl.

Blooming Filbert

Day 135: The bloomin' filbert is in bloom! Harry Lauder (Contorted Filbert, Corylus avellana "Contorta") has put forth a profusion of blossoms, and you'd never know it even if you were standing only three feet away unless you knew exactly what to look for. But if you do know and peer closely, you'll be rewarded with the sight of tiny hot-pink stars. These are the female flowers of this monoecious species. The drooping catkins are the males. Once fertilized, non-edible filberts (nuts) will form inside the ovaries. Ttuly, this seems like a good example of overkill. When the catkins begin shedding pollen, it comes off the tree in clouds! A couple of years ago, I caged a few of the clusters to see if nut meats would develop inside. Usually, they're consumed by the birds and squirrels before they ripen. The few I protected did in fact form nuts somewhat smaller than a lightly flattened pea, but they are not fit for human consumption.

Borders

 

Day 134: When making bands, it's good to keep in mind that an attractive border can be as essential to the overall design as the central motif. A border can also be used to add width to a piece, but care should be taken that it doesn't dominate the work (unless, of course, you intend it to do so). Border designs can be employed as spacers between patterned segments, and don't have to be identical to the outer edges. Borders are generally loom-controlled when doing pickup in the middle section, but that's not a hard-and-fast rule, either. Here, I am using white 16/2 cotton for the ground and 10/2 for both the borders and the center motifs, and am weaving this band on my Leksand loom, Jutta. The heart design is pickup on nine pattern threads, with the center section of the adjacent chains in the border echoing the main colour.

Jam Day

Day 133: I know someone who is going to be very happy to see this. Yes, I've turned my weaving partner Ed into a gooseberry jam addict. Today I made 16 half-pints (and leftovers) from the berries I harvested last June. Since the ripening period spans two weeks or more,  I picked them every day, topping and tailing each batch and freezing them. At the end of the season, I had ten cups ready to process into jam. Of course by that time, hot weather had moved in to stay, and no one likes to toil at the stove when it's hot outside, and in any event, they weren't going anywhere. Winter is a good time for this chore! As usual, I got up long before the sun and had the first five cups on the hob by 7 AM. I was done with both batches by 9:30. I also found some of last year's rhubarb in the freezer, so later today, I'll make some rhubarb bread to get a head start on spring.

Shepherd's Krokbragd

Day 132: First, a word of explanation. Weaving is all that's keeping me sane right now. It lets me feel I have some small measure of control over my life, watching the pattern develop under my hands. Bear with me, dear readers.

Krokbragd sheep (turned krokbragd, actually) are fun to weave. If you're unfamiliar with krokbragd, it is characterized by being repeats of four throws which use three sheds. Two of the sheds are identical, so it's kinda like creating designs with a nine-pin printer. You don't have a lot of flexibility, but if you're creative, you can come up with some cute patterns. The design is entirely loom-controlled, although it takes some special setup to create the third shed. In this case, the sheep's legs are created by the repeating shed while the face is a different shed and the space between the sheep is another. The order of the sheds goes 1-2-3-2. No matter how wide your piece is, that's all you have to work with lengthwise.

My draft is a spin-off from one I found on line which had sheep which were rather too tall and skinny. I mean, I want wool on my critter, and I want lamb chops in my freezer, right? A sheep needs to be fluffy and plump. It didn't take much work to fatten up my ewes, and at the same time, I felt they should have a nice pasture, so I planted some daisies. I've woven many sheepie bands over time, and have used a number of variations. The band in the photo isn't exactly what the draft yields. The draft includes grass in the pasture, and in the band, I've substituted "X" (background) for the "G" grass. If you work the pattern a few times, you'll see how it can be changed up in subsequent bands. The warping technique for inkle loom is explained in Anne Dixon's "Inkle Pattern Directory," but I have included a visual to assist with her somewhat awkward explanation.

Clivia

Day 131: Who needs Amaryllis when you can have Clivia instead? Okay, the plant has to be at least seven years old before it will flower (and this one was closer to 12), but it holds its foliage all year long and you don't have to fuss with providing any special care for the bulb. Clivias can be set outdoors in the summer, but they are also entirely comfortable with life on a shelf indoors as long as they're in a cool room during the winter. They prefer partial shade if outdoors, a north or west window if they're to be raised as houseplants as mine is. They are available in a variety of colours in the white/yellow/orange range, with some being more expensive than others. And they're not cheap these days! Fortunately, I got mine before they became something of a fad. This plant has been in bloom for over a month now, brightening the Loom Room when I look up from my weaving. It still has a couple of buds hiding beneath the open ones.

Another Band Done

Day 130: And here's another project done and dusted! This band is roughly three yards long and has four different motifs repeating A-D-B-D-C-D. It was woven with 10/2 cotton for the ground and border with 8/2 (white) for the nine single pattern threads. It is a pickup design, meaning that I have to select which pattern threads I want to have on the face of the band each time I pass the shuttle. On the inkle loom, this means that sometimes I lift pattern threads up from the lower shed, or push them down and out of the way from where they occur in the upper shed, and on some passes, I both raise some and suppress others. The same technique can be used with the Glimakra band loom when it is set up to function like an inkle loom, but I prefer to have all my pattern threads suspended in the center of the shed so that I can select the ones I wish to have on the surface. The end result is the same: floats creating the surface design which gives Scandinavian/eastern European band weaving its characteristic appearance. Designs need not be geometric. The weaver can also create "pictures" of birds and other creatures, or even an alphabet given the appropriate number of pattern threads.

"Scandinavian Favorite" Tablecloth

Day 129: The "Scandinavian Favorite" tablecloth is done and ready to go on auction to benefit the Nisqually Land Trust. I'll put up more details about the auction as it gets closer. It won't be held until Saturday, May 31. There will be both a live auction/dinner and a separate one on line with different items. I'm not sure which one the tablecloth will be in. I've been working with the Land Trust for...lemme think...over 20 years now, if I remember correctly...and in that time, they have acquired an enormous amount of property in the Nisqually watershed and have done amazing habitat restoration work on damaged areas, particularly in Ohop Valley where I serve as a site steward. As an accredited land trust, theirs is a "forever" commitment to the environment, untouchable (presumably...hopefully) by power-mad politicians, ecology-raping billionaires and their ilk.

In the description which will accompany the tablecloth on the auction block, I refer to it as a "modern heirloom," and something which the recipient will want to hand down to children or grandchildren. It took over 60 hours to weave the cloth and its decorative band. It measures 57" x 59" and is 100% cotton (preshrunk).

Trimming The Tablecloth

Day 128: The last few weeks have seen me engaged in doggedly finishing up projects, one of which has been the "Scandianvian Favorite" tablecloth (HPB, green version, p. 200, #1). The tablecloth itself has been finished for some time, but I found that there had been so much takeup during the weaving of the band trim that I was short of having enough to cover both seams and to go around the edge. I had to weave another section of band. Yesterday, I applied the first two lengths, and had to quit there because my little Helper wouldn't stop scratching at the cloth. He'd already been locked up once for trying to steal pins and then nipping me when I pushed him away. I still have plenty of time to finish up before the Nisqually Land Trust's annual auction. The tablecloth will be donated to them. And that brings me to the real point of this post: I am asking you, my friends and readers, to support whatever environmental groups are your favourites. Land trusts and other conservation organizations may be the only hope we have left for our forests and the wildlife/plants they contain.

First, Remove The Cat

Day 127: Several times, I've been asked to demonstrate how I sew handwoven panels together to make a tablecloth or coverlet. First, remove the cat. That will make the process go a lot more smoothly. Seriously, though...beating evenly and measuring each motif as the actual weaving progresses to be sure it's within tolerance is critical to making a piece from panels. I cannot emphasize that strongly enough. With 8/2 cotton and (for example) a 2" motif, I insist that the number of passes be +/- one thread or I pick out the motif and re-weave it. If the motif I have just woven is one thread too long, I'll beat the next one just a tiny bit harder so that it comes out one thread short. Then, when I'm sewing the panels together, I can ease the difference. That said, the actual stitch is a simple whip stitch, picking up the "bumps" where the thread turns at the selvedge. As a right-hander, I pick up the bump on the right panel first, then the corresponding bump on the left panel, and when I draw the thread through both bumps, I pull it away from myself (not toward my body), drawing the left bump into alignment with the right. With overshot, I only join the tabby bumps. As for the Russian Blue bump, he's sure I wove this tablecloth just for him. (Crackle-weave Fantasy VI, HPB green version, p. 196)

Jutta's Band

Day 126: Another loom emptied! And I'm having a little problem...a little grey fuzzy problem...with reloading this one because the warp has to be stretched across the length of the living room. Merry thinks suspended threads are a kitty zip-line, so I have to wait until he looks like he's going to stay soundly asleep for an hour or so before I can even think about stringing a new warp. That's one major difference between a Leksand loom like Jutta and a Scandinavian band-loom like Nelda. A warp destined for Nelda can be measured off on a warping board, chained and managed exactly like the warp on a shafted loom. In my experience, tension problems occur when warping a Leksand loom unless it is direct-warped like a rigid heddle. This particular band was woven with 16/2 cotton for the ground (white), 10/2 singles for both the border and pattern threads. It is a little over five yards in length. Jutta was built by Ed Stevens, and was his prototype model. For that reason, she is very precious to me, and I have to figure out a way to foil Small Cat so she can be about her work again.

My Merry Valentine

Day 115: That's a bunch of love right there, and no doubt about it. Yes, there's a healthy helping of mischief thrown in for good measure, but after all, he's still a kid. This morning, he decided to engage me in the Staring Game, and not just once or twice like usual. No, he wanted to keep it going for a good 15 minutes, with sideways-walking-Hallowe'en-cat interludes whenever I tried to withdraw from play. When we first started playing the Staring Game (which, incidentally, was also popular with both Tippy and Skunk), it would sometimes get a little too rough for mama. Now he's learned to hold back. We get a corner between us. He reveals one eye. On my knees, I reveal one eye and then pull back. I peek out again. He rushes me, I scream in mock shock and flinch, and then he either jumps on my back and rides me like a horse, or expects me to grab him, cuddle him up close and tell him, "Ya got me! Ya got me good!" Then I let go, and he's ready for another round. There is no way you can grow old with a kitten in the house, no matter how many years you've marked off the calendar. Merry Valentine's Day!

Fantasy Trim

Day 124: Looms seldom stand empty in this house for more than 24 hours. Almost always, there is a "warp in waiting" wound on a warping board, next in line to follow whatever project I'm close to finishing. I'd been thinking about krokbragd sheep as I approached the end of the red-and-green band I posted a few days ago, but then remembered that the "Crackle Weave Fantasy" tablecloth (HPB, green version, p. 196, VI) needed trim. The sheep would have to wait. Using two of the four colours from the tablecloth, I ran eight yards of warp with nine doubled pattern threads for my design. The border chains are threaded singly. When I weave a patterned band on Nelda (my Glimakra band loom), I put the ground and border threads through heddles, but I run the pattern threads straight through with empty heddles on either side of them to keep them from twisting together. This arrangement means that when I open the shed, the pattern threads are suspended between the top and bottom layers of background. Between the posts, I use the band knife to pick up the ones I need, transfer them to the shed with my hand, reiinsert the knife in the shed and then pass the shuttle. It's a little slower going than if I had heddled the pattern threads, but I find it much easier to see what I'm doing, and there's no danger of accidentally picking up a ground thread while manipulating the pattern threads.

Frozen Bubble

Day 123: Until recently, temperatures haven't been low enough for me to have any success at making frozen bubbles, but when I got up yesterday morning, it was 17. As soon as there was enough light, I took my little jar of bubble solution outside to play. Most of the bubbles burst as soon as they touched the snow, although a couple of large ones seemed like they might survive. A light breeze collapsed several more before they were completely frozen, and rather than shattering like ice and retaining sharp edges, they went down like deflating balloons. Twenty minutes later, only three or four remained, including this big one. After photographing it, I gave it a delicate poke. Apparently I still don't have the sugar/water/dish soap formula quite right because it had not hardened fully and subsided into an angular mound of semi-ice. By then, I was too cold to make another attempt.

14-plus Yards

Day 122: I am finally done with weaving the band to trim the crackle-weave tablecloth, 14-plus yards of it. I wove in two pieces because I didn't like the way the panels matched up on the tablecloth and decided in the end that I should cover the seams with a band, and of course I had only measured enough warp to go around the perimeter. The designs vary throughout the length of both pieces, with a repeating "separator" between them. This was often done when weaving Scandinavian bands, maybe to keep the weaver from becoming bored? Just a thought! Even with the constant changes, I was pretty tired of this project by the time I took it off the loom. The finished tablecloth will be donated to my favourite environmental group for their upcoming auction if I get it done in time. I already have another 8-yard warp wound on Nelda (my Glimakra band loom), and I'll be threading it today. A naked loom is something I cannot abide.

Jellied Beef - A Taste From Childhood

Day 121: As my readers may recall, I am not a big fan of beef. However, when I was young, my favourite sandwich meat was jellied beef, and my mother had to keep a close watch on me to keep me from grabbing slices of it out of the fridge, rolling them up into a cylinder and gobbling them down without benefit of bread. By the time I was in high school, jellied beef was already waning in popularity with people in general, and by 1970 or so, it had pretty much disappeared from grocery store shelves. Every now and then, I would get a hankering for it and go searching, but even the rare deli which carried head cheese (another treat) never seemed to have jellied beef. It never occurred to me to look for a recipe to make my own until a week or so ago, but when I did, the internet was not forthcoming. I could find plenty of recipes for that horrible pulverized stuff with the pimiento-stuffed green olives in it, but no jellied beef. Joy of Cooking was no help either. Then I had a thought: "What about the Encyclopedic Cookbook?" The 1950 edition which had belonged to my husband's mother came through with "Jellied Melange," first for chicken, then ham, and then beef. I decided it was worth a try. I took a mortgage on the house, bought 3/4 pound of beef stew chunks and a box of Knox Gelatin. The rest is history. I have successfully created the taste I have been craving since childhood. I should have used a smaller loaf pan as a mold, but you know what they say: size doesn't matter. It's jellied beef, and it's yummy!

My adaptation of the recipe isn't rocket science, so don't fret too much about the amount of beef and/or broth. Just keep it "close enough for gov'mint work."

3/4 - 1 pound beef stew chunks (or if you can afford it, use a better cut, cubed)
1 16-ounce can beef broth
salt and pepper to taste
2 envelopes Knox unflavoured gelatin
1/4 - 1/3 cup cold water

Cook the beef in the broth until it is tender and can be shredded easily. I used my crock-pot and it took about 2 1/2 hours on high. Obviously, there will be some reduction in the amount of broth, but there should be about 1 - 1/2 cups remaining. Remove the beef chunks from the broth and shred them finely. Put the beef and broth in a pan on top of the stove and add salt and pepper to taste. Soften the gelatin in cold water for a couple of minutes, then add it to the broth/beef and bring the mixture to a boil. Pour into a loaf pan. Cool slightly before placing in the refrigerator for at least three hours. To remove, loosen the sides of the loaf with a knife, then set the pan in hot water for a minute or so. Turn out over a board, shaking the pan if it wants to stick. Using a very sharp knife, slice thinly for sandwiches.

Close Call

Day 120: I'm home safe, but it was a narrow squeak. I firmly believe that NOAA has had an intern on the board for the last couple of weeks because our forecasts have been consistently off by at least 10 degrees (the forecast has been for lower overnight temps), but also for precipitation amounts. Last night, we were supposed to have snow showers with no significant new accumulation. Taking into account the temperature error, I figured it was safe to order groceries for morning pickup. When I got up this morning, it was snowing hard. The temp was predictably 10 degrees above the forecast, and the road was snowy but not icy when I headed out. I wasn't thinking about how treacherous the hill coming up out of Eatonville might be on my way back because I'd seen the sand trucks out doing their job on the way down to Yelm. I decided to come home via Eatonville, and that was almost my undoing. Halfway up the Alder Cutoff, I went into a slide which took me from the guard rail on one side of the road to the embankment on the other. I managed to regain control by not panicking or over-steering, but by the time I was going in a straight line again, my heart rate had shot up to 200. A little bit further on, a truck had gone in the ditch and people were directing traffic around it. As I tried to avoid the guy pointing me into the other lane, I went into a second slide and came within a hair's breadth of sideswiping another vehicle. Y'know, that's 'bout all the excitement I need for February. I don't think I'll go out again until spring thaw.

Reading In Spanish

Day 119: I am actually reading in Spanish! Mind you, this does not mean I am reading Spanish words and translating them to English in my head. It means I am reading Spanish, and understanding the meaning as I read, only occasionally having to think, "Oh, that would be 'capacity to generate their own light" when I read "capaz de generar su propia luz." And this book is wonderful! I picked it up on a whim at the library yesterday because it seemed to be something which would challenge my reading level but not be so far above it as to be discouraging. I expected a cute tale about an ice-mermaid, but what I got was much more. The author delivers a lot of accurate natural history as she tells the story, as well as historical context. I've learned quite a bit about marine life in just the first chapter. There's science in this fantasy, good science, presented in such a manner that it would stick in young minds (and my old one as well). So far, I have not had to refer to a dictionary even though I don't understand a lot of the vocabulary. I find that if I just keep reading, it will become clear. I'll be looking for other books by the same author.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

 

Day 118: Let's get one thing straight right up front: I am not impressed by eagles. I know, yes, there was a time when we were worried about the survival of the species, but no longer. In fact, here in the Pacific Northwest they're fairly common. Today, walking along the Bud Blancher Trail in the snow, I saw half a dozen or so ranging from juveniles (above) to adults, lined up in the trees and ready to perform their duties as garbage collectors. They'll eat the salmon carcases which wash up on the banks of the river, and they're always here in numbers during spawning season. Another good place to find them is at the county dump, joining forces with simiilarly-minded gulls and pigeons to rummage through the trash. They are far from the "noble" distinction put on them by humans. We'd have been better served to make the national bird the turkey, as suggested by Ben Franklin. At least you can eat a turkey.

Good And Bad

Day 117: Despite the fact that it has been banned by the FDA, sassafras bark (root and tree) can be bought on the internet (you can buy anything on the internet if you search long enough), but forty years ago when the announcement was made that it would be removed from the market, I stocked up. Y'see, the bark contains a chemical called safrole, reputed to cause cancer in rats (and that is disputed by other reliable authorities). However, taken in small quantities...as a spring tonic, for example...its benefits outweigh its possible side effects. I generally make about a quart of it every spring (from my forty year-old stash, mind you) and drink it sweetened and with a splash of milk to moderate the pungent but not unpleasant taste. It is highly aromatic. Medicinally, it is a natural mild diuretic and anti-diarrhetic, and is also good for rheumatism. My mother made it every spring when I was a child, and I came to view it as something of a treat. As you can see, I'm still here to talk about it, having a cup to flush the winter lazy-toxins out of my system.

Purple People Eater Progress

Day 116: Like many of you, I am just trying to stay afloat right now, treading water as I watch the ship sinking, too exhausted to swim, and hoping I won't get caught in the suction as it goes to the bottom. To give myself hope of survival (an illusion, perhaps), I am clinging to the flotsam of normalcy by spinning, weaving, loving Merry, who knows but does not understand why his mama is radiating upset. Picking up on my emotional state, he acts out in reaction, getting on counters, getting into things, including my Purple People Eater wool. I caught him before he'd eaten any of it (at least I hope he hadn't), but he had so thoroughly pawed through the combed top that it might as well have just come off a purple sheep. Fortunately, the piece was only the last foot or so of the ounce, and I was able to spin it, albeit slowly and carefully to keep it smooth. How he got the lid off the freezer container I had it stored in is anybody's guess! He's too clever by half.

Handspun Infinity Scarf

Day 115: You'll have to forgive the model. I made this snood/scarf/hood for myself, so it's only fitting that I wear it for the photos. This is how I put the "8-Ball" handspun to good use. The wool came as a package of eight colours, an ounce of each, hence my name for it. After putting the work in to spin it, I didn't want to waste any of the yarn, and decided the most effective project would be an infinity scarf. I chose to knit it in the round which, if you know anything about knitting, was a huge pain in the neck because I had to wrestle with a twist. It is a simple pattern of two knit rows followed by two purl rows on 120 stitches calculated for a circumference of 24". As I was knitting it, I didn't realize that the yarns were an exact colour match to a pair of leg-warmers I made a couple of years ago from variegated commercial yarn! What are the odds of that ever happening? Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.

A Timely Gift

Day 114: Imported from Scotland via Canada, a much-anticipated Christmas gift was delivered to me a few days ago by a weaving friend, timely in that it barely escaped falling under the ludicrous Trump Tariff on Canadian goods. This fine 16/2 wool will be woven into a light summer shawl of my tartan, McLeod of Lewis, also sometimes laughingly referred to as the "loud McLeod." I will be weaving it to spec, as it were, because true tartans must conform to how they are registered with the Scottish Registry of Tartans. In this case, that means a repeat of 16 black, 2 yellow, 16 black, 2 yellow, 16 black, 24 yellow, 2 red, 24 yellow on a twill threading. Because I plan to weave it on my floor loom at 30 inches wide (to shrink down to roughly 27 inches), it will require 900+ string heddles for a sett of 30 ends per inch. Max currently has about 500, so there's a lot of knot-tying in my future. I may have to adjust the sett somewhat in order to obtain a 50/50 weave (i.e., one with as many weft passes as there are warp threads in an inch). The wool is not the thinnest fiber I have ever woven by any means, but it will take extra care to be sure I don't break threads. However, first I have to finish weaving "Friend Evelyn." I have 8 feet done, and about 15 to go.

First Significant Fall

Day 113: Unless you count the three or four flakes which fell one day in November, this is our first snow of the year. In any event, it's the first significant snow we've seen. Temps have been warmer than those of the last few winters, but it has also been substantially drier with only 3.27" of precipitation recorded by my station for January. The temps are about to drop, and while that usually means we get less precipitation, snow showers are in the forecast for every day next week. I like snow when I can watch it at leisure from the warm confines of my home. I'm not so fond of it when it sets up like concrete and I need to go out for groceries, nor am I fond of temperatures which incline me to wear a hat and long johns indoors. On the other hand, Merry is enjoying this. He spent yesterday entranced by the big, floppy flakes falling from above, and in between showers, it was easier to see the little birdies hopping around beneath the window in search of scattered seed. This brings me to a question: Have you spotted the Junco yet?

Russian Join For Handspun

Day 112: The Russian Join is a knotless, secure way of connecting two yarn ends. It is especially effective with two-ply handspun. Here is my adaptation of the technique.

Image 1: Cross the two parent yarns and take the ends back toward themselves. Ends should be slightly longer than a yarn needle.
Image 2: Separate the plies back to the point of crossing. Now you have four loose ends.
Image 3: Thread a single ply of one yarn into the needle. Take the needle through the 2-ply parent strand, piercing the strand in several places. (Not shown: Do the same with the second separated ply, bringing the needle out a little past where the end of the previous single ply emerged, i.e., stagger the join).
Image 4: Thread a single ply of the second yarn into the needle. Take the needle through the parent strand as before.
Image 5: Repeat with the remaining single ply of the second yarn.
Image 6: At this point, the parent yarn will be bunched up along the single plies.
Image 7: Tug the parent yarns in opposite directions to smooth out the join.
Image 8: Trim the loose ends of the single plies.
Image 9: Close-up of completed join.

The Russian Join will be thicker where the two yarns were crossed, so if you're connecting handspun, select a thinner place in each parent yarn to make the join. When complete, the join should be almost undetectable. This technique can also be used with commercial yarns, but if using a 4-ply yarn, you can separate the plies into two groups of two if you'd like.