Lace Party Aug 13 to Aug 28 WIP and Hawaii with Babalou

38397 Views 1111 Replies 29 Participants Last post by TLL, Aug 30, 2016

Babalou

Discussion Starter · Aug 13, 2016

4

Greetings Lace Party-ers and guests. A note to the newcomers: the Lace Party grew out of a workshop hosted by Dragonflylace (a/k/a DFL). The workshop is still here on KP. Everyone is welcome to join us as often as you like at the Lace Party. We share our daily goings-on and, of course, our knitting projects. We do love to see photos, finished projects or WIPs. If you have a question, just ask; someone is sure to answer. Every two weeks, on a pre-arranged schedule, someone hosts a new Lace Party. Sometimes we work on the same project, but we always share whatever we are working on, lace or not. We hope you will join us.

You are invited to join us in knitting lace and sharing your projects. We enjoy pictures, seeing progress Our main requirement is mutual respect for everyone.

This session we are working on WIPs and seeing pictures from my trip to Hawaii. I think we all have things we are trying to finish.

In February, my DH and I decided to spend a month on the big island of Kona in Hawaii. He is an outside kind of guy and feels trapped in the winter. We managed it by inviting our very close friends to spend part of the month with us. My DH is the seeker of great places to stay and found an oceanfront condo for us in Kailua-Kona. One evening I was catching up on the phone with my wonderful friend, Kathleen, in Houston. We decided to have a real girly conversation with wine. As the conversation went on, she asked what trips we were planning. Eventually, I blurted out "you should come for a week!" It took her about 10 seconds to say, "are you kidding me?" And the rest is history.

See less See more

361 - 380 of 1112 Posts

Ronie

· #361 · Aug 20, 2016

Good Morning all....

Happy Anniversary DFL!! Clearly a match made in heaven :sm01:... I also just put that shawl in my library before I came in here... I wonder what she is going to be doing in Japan.. such a huge move.. but then I don't know where she is now...LOL

I saw that polymer clay button post a long time back.. my experience with polymer clay is that its pretty brittle.. and I didn't think buttons would hold up.. maybe if its conditioned enough it would become stronger.. Tanya I think it would make a fun project for you and your GD. Painting rocks is also a great rainy day project to do with the kids..

tamarque

· #362 · Aug 20, 2016

Not sure why peppers give some people a problem but they are so healthful and come in so many varieties. The grilled ones sound wonderful and really are a tradition in that SW climate and culture. I remember being in Mexican markets where peppers were strung up by size. It was eye opening to me to see the variation from teeny weeny ones to humongous things that memory tells me were well over 12-15" long. The colors were varied as well as the heat of them, from sweet to super hot. A few years ago I tried growing a pepper called Czechzen (or something similar). They turned out to be very dark eggplant color but would ripen to red and that was when their heat developed. It was not a great crop for me but very interesting. I gave some to this Mexican organic farmer in town and he just bit into them. They were supposed to be a very hot pepper and he just shrugged finding them not very flavorful. He was looking for hot peppers to grow and was just not impressed with these. I think the dislike/discomfort is due to insufficient stomach acids or enzymes needed for digestion. A person may develop a dislike for them due to the fact their body has some metabolic deficiency and this, then, becomes a bit of a survival characteristic. My theory.

See less See more

tamarque

· #363 · Aug 20, 2016

Ronie said:
Good Morning all....

Happy Anniversary DFL!! Clearly a match made in heaven :sm01:... I also just put that shawl in my library before I came in here... I wonder what she is going to be doing in Japan.. such a huge move.. but then I don't know where she is now...LOL

I saw that polymer clay button post a long time back.. my experience with polymer clay is that its pretty brittle.. and I didn't think buttons would hold up.. maybe if its conditioned enough it would become stronger.. Tanya I think it would make a fun project for you and your GD. Painting rocks is also a great rainy day project to do with the kids..

Rock painting would also be fun--agree. I imagine the polymer clay needs to be baked hard to hold up but it was quite awhile ago that I was reading about it. Forget the woman's name who posted here on KP.

Ronie

· #364 · Aug 20, 2016

That is very interesting about the Cowichans yarn and sweaters... We just finished watching the last hour of 'The Big Lewbowski' and I have the Dude's sweater pattern.. it looks a lot like what you are talking about.. We are determined to get the CD and watch it from beginning to end.. LOL it is one of those movies that has so much going on that you can jump in at any time and be entertained.. I bet Joe would love a Dude sweater..

Janette Lee a morning hike is so amazing!! you must live close to where you can get out each day.. I can go for walks each day and have amazing views.. but if we want to hike we have to drive a few miles.. it is so relaxing and rewarding.. after the dogs stop trying to take us for their walk that is.. LOL I always get Kiwi and she is soooooo strong.. but she learns to walk next to me instead of pulling fairly quick.. and then she is great to go hiking with.. if they wouldn't get their noses to the ground and get lost we would take them off their leads but they are hunting dogs and you never know where their bird brains would take them..

See less See more

Ronie

· #365 · Aug 20, 2016

dragonflylace said:
Thanks for all the well wishes...we have been through everything together. We have actually been together since 1974...dated for 3 years before getting married...but those were different times. So really 42 years...all of my adult life.

Yes it is!! and it is amazing... gosh I graduated high school in 74! and your right they were different times.. If I had stayed with my first husband we would of been married 41 years.. so happy my life to the turn it did or I wouldn't be where I am now... LOL

Ronie

· #366 · Aug 20, 2016

Babalou said:
I am going to beg forgiveness for going off track today, and forgive me again if you already know all this, but it is chile (not chili) roasting season in New Mexico. MAJOR happy dance time.

Hatch green chile is revered here. It is grown in the Hatch Valley in southern NM. It is NM's state vegetable and when dining out, you are typically asked "red" or "green" with red usually the hotter on the Scoville scale. Many of us order ours Christmas style which is a mix of red and green.

You can buy it fresh or have it roasted. It gets this wonderful smoky flavor and the aroma is heavenly. Many grocery stores have boxes upon boxes, about 20-30#, that you can buy, carry it outside the store and wait in line to have your box of chiles tossed in a huge roaster that is fired by propane and roasts the chilies while it rotates. By the way, it is about $18 a box. Huge bargain for something that will last all year in the freezer.

I like to keep a few fresh to roast in the house to get the heavenly scent. You'll see them in a picture on a little indoor grill I have.

We then bag and freeze it to use during the year.

When we had a houseboat years ago in Oklahoma, we would bring home a gunny sack of fresh chiles from NM and have a roasting party on the lake using the gas grill on the back of the boat. The only requirement was to bring plastic bags, rubber gloves and beer. A little food, too. Then we would float on the lake all day roasting and bagging chiles. Ah, memories.

Here are a few pictures.

These are the Chlie's I stuffed last weekend.. oh my they are hot!!! but the whole house smelled wonderful... I love that they are such a big thing in your area and that the whole town smells wonderful at this time... I lived on a ranch in eastern Oregon for several years and I would plant several pepper plants and sit on the back deck and roast then on the BBQ!!! it was a great time and I looked forward to it year after year...there were some years the house would fill with fumes when I would process the dried red ones.. and years when they cross bred and all of them became very hot!! but we love chilies and buy at least a few each week.. I never thought of freezing them.. I did a water bath process with a little salt and garlic.. like a relish.

Chris those socks are great!!! I love all the colors and the stripped heel!! have fun at your Sisters place!

Babalou

Discussion Starter · #367 · Aug 20, 2016

tamarque said:
Not sure why peppers give some people a problem but they are so healthful and come in so many varieties. The grilled ones sound wonderful and really are a tradition in that SW climate and culture. I remember being in Mexican markets where peppers were strung up by size. It was eye opening to me to see the variation from teeny weeny ones to humongous things that memory tells me were well over 12-15" long. The colors were varied as well as the heat of them, from sweet to super hot. A few years ago I tried growing a pepper called Czechzen (or something similar). They turned out to be very dark eggplant color but would ripen to red and that was when their heat developed. It was not a great crop for me but very interesting. I gave some to this Mexican organic farmer in town and he just bit into them. They were supposed to be a very hot pepper and he just shrugged finding them not very flavorful. He was looking for hot peppers to grow and was just not impressed with these. I think the dislike/discomfort is due to insufficient stomach acids or enzymes needed for digestion. A person may develop a dislike for them due to the fact their body has some metabolic deficiency and this, then, becomes a bit of a survival characteristic. My theory.

I think some people have problems with nightshades. We like the medium heat version of green chile. Peppers for the sake of hot don't appeal to us. Flavor is what we go for. Scrambled eggs with green chile...yum. And then there are huevos rancheros, a favorite out here and some of the best ones around are at a cafe 1.5 miles from our house.

Ronie

· #368 · Aug 20, 2016

Babalou said:
I think some people have problems with nightshades. We like the medium heat version of green chile. Peppers for the sake of hot don't appeal to us. Flavor is what we go for. Scrambled eggs with green chile...yum. And then there are huevos rancheros, a favorite out here and some of the best ones around are at a cafe 1.5 miles from our house.

I agree we like the flavor more than the heat... you can keep those extra hot varieties, we do like the jalapeno though and some are hotter than others.. and we love them in our eggs... when I roasted them up I would chop them up and put them in a plastic bowl with a lid.. and we would have friends come and visit.. they would scoop large spoonfuls on the scrambled eggs.. we all noticed the batch that crossed bred.. LOL we enjoyed them a lot but we all had tears in our eyes...

Well it is Saturday and there is heavy fog outside so it is a day I can knit!! YAY!! I have about 2 months more of the 'hard' work to go before it eases up and I have my day's back and I can knit more often.. but I am enjoying the summer season... so many interesting people..

Bonnie7591

· #369 · Aug 20, 2016

tamarque said:
Hi Shirley--thanks for the recommendation. I have always admired those sweaters. They remind me of the Mexican sweater I had years ago that I picked up in that country. There were basically 2 levels of quality. One was thinner, more commercial and is the one usually imported and sold in this country. The one I had gotten was heavy, like a wonderful blanket. I had bought it because, up in the mountains, night temps dropped into the low 40's and being an American never thought to bring warm clothes with me in summer time. It was bought at a market, probably for about $5, and I loved that sweater for years till it was lost in a fire. Like the Cowichan sweaters it was in natural, undyed wool and the patterning used was of local geometric symbols common to that culture. At that time imported sweaters/jackets went for about $125.00. Today I am sure it would be much more. I think it would be great fun and quite rewarding to knit a Cowichan sweater today.

Mary Maxim sells kits for sweaters with similar designs but I think they are acrylic. I hav several old patterns tucked away in my disaster of a craft room, I could dig them out & show you what I have when I have time if you like.

tamarque

· #370 · Aug 20, 2016

Bonnie7591 said:
Mary Maxim sells kits for sweaters with similar designs but I think they are acrylic. I hav several old patterns tucked away in my disaster of a craft room, I could dig them out & show you what I have when I have time if you like.

Yes, I think Mary Maxim sells the acrylic which is why I don't like a lot of their stuff. However, if they would sell only the pattern, you can use whatever yarn you want. May have to adjust the stitch count for the gauge you have. And would definitely love to see your patterns.

tamarque

· #371 · Aug 20, 2016

Babalou said:
I think some people have problems with nightshades. We like the medium heat version of green chile. Peppers for the sake of hot don't appeal to us. Flavor is what we go for. Scrambled eggs with green chile...yum. And then there are huevos rancheros, a favorite out here and some of the best ones around are at a cafe 1.5 miles from our house.

Yes, the nightshades. People with RA avoid them because they can be inflammatory. Was not thinking about that but just generally for people who have no noticeable problems. I have come to understand that I like spicey and hot but not very hot. My serranos are just about right and more can be added if extra heat is wanted. I have made my own hot pepper sauce which holds up forever. I remember huevos ranchos in Mexico and in the Southwest when driving thru. I think the heat of those peppers actually works to cool you off!

Lurker 2

· #372 · Aug 20, 2016

kaixixang said:
From the sky color when I was driving home from Mom's latest PT visit at the VA Hospital...we're well into Fall already in the EST area.

:sm13:

Bonnie7591

· #373 · Aug 20, 2016

I picked 4.5 gallons of chokecherries yesterday afternoon & have them in the steam juicer now. I'm going to try using it as a sour cherry juice, I'm told an ounce/day is very good as an anti inflammatory. If it's too sour & I can't gag it down, I can always turn it into jelly or pancake syrup.
My youngest son lives across the road & there is a row of trees that are just hanging with fruit so I will see how much juice. I get from this lot whether I pick more.
DHs cousins wife just called to tell me her crab apples are ready to pick so I will run down there this afternoon & get some to make jelly. It's the one jelly DH likes & the GKs can't have a meal without a slice of bread & butter with apple jelly.
It's beautiful & sunny here again today but the air is cooler, you can tell fall is on its way.????& the days are really shortening up.
Well,best get off here & back at it

tamarque

· #374 · Aug 20, 2016

Bonnie7591 said:
I picked 4.5 gallons of chokecherries yesterday afternoon & have them in the steam juicer now. I'm going to try using it as a sour cherry juice, I'm told an ounce/day is very good as an anti inflammatory. If it's too sour & I can't gag it down, I can always turn it into jelly or pancake syrup.
My youngest son lives across the road & there is a row of trees that are just hanging with fruit so I will see how much juice. I get from this lot whether I pick more.
DHs cousins wife just called to tell me her crab apples are ready to pick so I will run down there this afternoon & get some to make jelly. It's the one jelly DH likes & the GKs can't have a meal without a slice of bread & butter with apple jelly.
It's beautiful & sunny here again today but the air is cooler, you can tell fall is on its way.????& the days are really shortening up.
Well,best get off here & back at it

Definitely work, but sounds like a lot of fun doing it. And such just desserts, too, for the effort :sm09:

KittyChris

· #375 · Aug 20, 2016

tamarque said:
Yea, for new skills. Noro colors are so dynamic. Beautiful. Do you like working with their sock yarn? Not sure that I have ever seen any in person.

The colors are great. The taiyo sock yarn is a not so great to work with as there very thick and very thin areas. In fact one section of the dark green actually broke while working just from the tension of my working it. I was a bit upset. I only can hope that they don't wear out too fast.

tamarque

· #376 · Aug 20, 2016

KittyChris said:
The colors are great. The taiyo sock yarn is a not so great to work with as there very thick and very thin areas. In fact one section of the dark green actually broke while working just from the tension of my working it. I was a bit upset. I only can hope that they don't wear out too fast.

Oh, dear. What a frustration. Is there any nylon or polyester in the yarn? Maybe it should only be used for shawls or scarves that want a very light wt yarn?

kaixixang

· #377 · Aug 20, 2016

tamarque said:
Not sure why peppers give some people a problem but they are so healthful and come in so many varieties. The grilled ones sound wonderful and really are a tradition in that SW climate and culture. I remember being in Mexican markets where peppers were strung up by size. It was eye opening to me to see the variation from teeny weeny ones to humongous things that memory tells me were well over 12-15" long. The colors were varied as well as the heat of them, from sweet to super hot. A few years ago I tried growing a pepper called Czechzen (or something similar). They turned out to be very dark eggplant color but would ripen to red and that was when their heat developed. It was not a great crop for me but very interesting. I gave some to this Mexican organic farmer in town and he just bit into them. They were supposed to be a very hot pepper and he just shrugged finding them not very flavorful. He was looking for hot peppers to grow and was just not impressed with these. I think the dislike/discomfort is due to insufficient stomach acids or enzymes needed for digestion. A person may develop a dislike for them due to the fact their body has some metabolic deficiency and this, then, becomes a bit of a survival characteristic. My theory.

Another theory that my Mom and I were discussing this morning...

Dad cannot stand the extra heat of the warmer peppers...hotter than Pepperoncini/Anaheim and he's not happy. Basically his side of the family came from Northern European blood...and they often don't need the warmer peppers to "cool off".

Mom and I share the Spanish and French blood...which is closer to Mediterranean climates. Both of us enjoy Jalepeno, Serrano, Cayenne (in moderation). I know that I cannot tolerate 100% mild on my stomach and I have to have milk or some other food before drinking fruit juice. No juice drinking on an empty stomach! Because of the mini-precautions I don't have an ulcer. :sm24:

KittyChris

· #378 · Aug 20, 2016

tamarque said:
Oh, dear. What a frustration. Is there any nylon or polyester in the yarn? Maybe it should only be used for shawls or scarves that want a very light wt yarn?

It is 17% nylon.......50 cotton,17 wool and 16 silk.

Bonnie7591

· #379 · Aug 20, 2016

KittyChris said:
The colors are great. The taiyo sock yarn is a not so great to work with as there very thick and very thin areas. In fact one section of the dark green actually broke while working just from the tension of my working it. I was a bit upset. I only can hope that they don't wear out too fast.

I also wondered how that yarn would wear.
I bought some Patons stretch sock yarn, it's wool cotton & elastic, & makes very nice good wearing socks. I got it for $6/6balls so only $2/pair, can't beat that I'm making the 5th pair now, will soon have to find another person to make them for or another use for the yarn

Babalou

Discussion Starter · #380 · Aug 20, 2016

Ronie said:
I agree we like the flavor more than the heat... you can keep those extra hot varieties, we do like the jalapeno though and some are hotter than others.. and we love them in our eggs... when I roasted them up I would chop them up and put them in a plastic bowl with a lid.. and we would have friends come and visit.. they would scoop large spoonfuls on the scrambled eggs.. we all noticed the batch that crossed bred.. LOL we enjoyed them a lot but we all had tears in our eyes...

Well it is Saturday and there is heavy fog outside so it is a day I can knit!! YAY!! I have about 2 months more of the 'hard' work to go before it eases up and I have my day's back and I can knit more often.. but I am enjoying the summer season... so many interesting people..

We have done that before! I learned the hard way to ALWAYS take out my contacts when working with chilies.

361 - 380 of 1112 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.