Third Try's The Charm!

I submitted these 5 items this week to the Foothills Craft Guild in application for membership.  I tried 2 other times and didn't make it. 



I wove this natural colored cotton throw on an AVL loom that I have at home on loan from the Tuesday Weavers.  It took my husband and me months of trial and error to figure out how to get that loom to work. Once I'd gotten a couple of plain weave rugs and shawls done with out a problem, I decided to try the longer dobby chain that cam with the loom.  This is what I made.  It looked so good that I just kept on weaving until I ran out of warp. I wove 2 bamboo bands to put as hem bands on each of the narrow ends.


This Shadow Weave Scarf had a color change with every shot.  It took a long time to weave, but was great fun.

The Key Lime and Natural Bamboo Overshot Scarf  has such a soft touch.  I made 2 pieces with this pattern and the same fibers.  The other one is wider and is sitting on top of my Mother's Secretary Desk.









I had planned on weaving this bamboo huck scarf in Natural and then painting it with an assortment of muted pastels. When I finished weaving, I just couldn't dye it.  The huck spots just sparkle.








And, lastly, I wove the Cotton Hand Towel in the Kentucky Log Cabin pattern with stripes in Lavender, Blue and a variegated thread with purple and orange.  I played with the threading and weave designs in order to come up with a mixture of horizontal weave stripes, once I had finished and washed the fabric. 

I got the call this afternoon.  I'm in!  I feel like Sally Fields:  "The like me, they really like me!

Yee Ha!

Andy

I LOVE cheesecake.

I found this post while on Pinterest today.I can't to have the timeto try it. Looks really yummy!

From http://foodforahungrysoul.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-york-cheesecake.html

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

New York Cheesecake

To me, this is the single best cheesecake I have ever had. I discovered this Jim Fobel's cookbook about 20 years ago, and it is the one I return to again and again. It is creamy smooth, lightly sweet, with a touch of lemon. This cheesecake has become the favorite of family and friends who've had the good fortune to be served this slice of heavenly goodness.

Ordinarily I don't serve a topping because it is so good, but for those of you who like a cheesecake with a little something, I opened up a can of blackberry pie filling and put a nice dollop on the top. I do this for you.

You may have noticed that this cheesecake does not have any kind of crust, neither bottom or sides.

You may also have noticed that there are no cracks in the top. That is because this cheesecake is baked in a bain-marie, a water bath. This is one of the secrets to a truly creamy cheesecake.

You'll need advance planning to prepare this recipe, but if you do, I believe you will fall in love with this recipe as much as I have.

New York Cheesecake

(Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book)

5 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups (one pint) sour cream, room temperature

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

8 tablespoons (one stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Generously butter the inside of a 10-inch springform pan. Wrap a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil tightly around the outside bottom and sides, crimping and pleating the foil to make it conform to the pan. This will help to prevent water seeping into the pan when you put it into the bain-marie. Position the baking rack in the center of the oven; preheat the oven to 300* Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the sour cream until well blended.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the cream cheese with the butter until smooth and creamy. Add this to the egg-sour cream mixture and beat until smooth.

Add the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest and beat thoroughly, about 2 minutes.

Pour into the prepared springform pan and place in a roasting pan (or other pan) large enough to prevent the sides from touching. Place in the oven and carefully pour in enough very hot tap water to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake for 2 hours, 15 minutes, or until the cake is very lightly colored and a knife inserted in the center emerges clean. Remove from the water bath and carefully peel the aluminum foil from around the pan. Let stand at room temperature until completely cool, about 4 hours. Refrigerate, covered, until well chilled. For best flavor and texture, this cheesecake is best chilled overnight.

**My Notes: I can't stress enough how important it is to let those first 4 ingredients in this recipe come to room temperature. I've hurried the cream cheese and have had unsightly lumps of it in my batter.

**I've italicized the mixing instructions to emphasize blending the ingredients to achieve the desired texture.

** Have a platter or other large dish that will hold the hot and drippy springform pan after you remove it from the bain-marie. When you remove the bain-marie from the oven, the water is very hot, so please exercise extreme caution.

Before removing the roasting pan, have a plan on where you are going to set it so you are not holding the pan, desperately searching for a clear space to set it down. I find it impossible to remove the cheesecake from the bain-marie while it is in the oven, so I remove the entire set-up from the oven. I make every effort not to burn my wrists or the back of my hands while removing the springform pan; I haven't been burned yet, but I have soaked the edges of the potholders in the hot water, and it's amazing how fast that steaming water is wicked up to my tender fingers!

**When you first remove the cheesecake from the oven, it looks light and puffy, and there may be some hairline cracks in the top. Do not despair. As the cheesecake cools, it will gently deflate and the hairline cracks disappear.

I've been spending my time these past few weeks, while in between work projects, weaving some new items to get ready for the next jurying process with Foothills Craft Guild and reorganizing my home office and studio. Whew!  Both are major jobs and so far, neither is completed.

Two of the 5 Jury pieces are done, the third just needs some fancy finishing, the fourth is on the loom, ready to start.  And finally, after changing my mind loads of times, I'm satisfied with the design I've made for the 5th piece.  All I need to do now, is wind the warp and get back to work.  :D

My office and studio project is now going as smoothly.  I'm still in the middle of pulling things out and trying to find a place for them.  So, I have a mess!  But, I found a very good blog that I now follow that is written very well and offers many great organization ideas:


http://www.livesimplybyannie.com/2013/01/15/makeup-organization/

http://www.livesimplybyannie.com/2012/02/21/organizing-with-glass-jar/

Great ideas.  Now, how am I going to organize all of those pieces of fabric that I now have stored in boxes?  I want to be able to see them.  There are several great blogs out there on the subject.  I have quite a few new ideas on how to display while I store my stash.  I need to get them out where I can see what I have to play with, while at the same time put them somewhere out of my way. 

http://extraordinarybree.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-to-store-your-fabric-stash.html

This is an old blog.  But, has some terrific ideas.

I must admit, I have a problem with fabric.  I have not only my own personal stash, but that of my mother, my mother-in-law, a couple of my aunts, and even my grandmother's  stash.   I am a fabric horder and am proud of it!  

Andy



. 

We were on TV today

http://www.wbir.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=2088277112001

WBIR Live at Five had a piece about the Tuesday Weavers today.  Everyone shown looked great.  Many of us, though, were in the Pottery room taking a class from Carol.  Why didn't we think to go out to sit at our looms while the video crew were there filiming?  Oh well.  Probably because
Carol's class was so good.  It's been 30 years since I took a weaving class!  I highly recommend taking a class every now and then.  :D

Andy 
 

K-Town Sound in a Flash Mob at West Town Mall

The a capella singing group that I belong to had a Flash Mop yesterday at West Town. WBIR had a news crew there. I'm in some of the shots!

How cool!  I went to the Foothills Craft Guild website a few days ago and look what was showing on the first screen: 

 

The Tuesday Weaver's booth at the Foothills Craft Guild Fall show 2011. 

 

 

 

This has been a great fall craft show season.  I've seen more people shopping this year than last year and the sales have been much better.  This, to me, is an indicator that our economy is finally turing around.  People are buying fun things, like loopers and potholder looms, not just the essentials.

 



I've been busy making some new bags (still in the fine finishing stage on them) and some new scarves.  Here is the one that I most recently finished and posted:

 

I did not work today.  So, I took advantage of the time and went to the Crafts Center and nearly finished the  Large Log Cabin "V" Shawl that I have on the loom.  I will be ready to finish it on Tuesday.  That will finish the warp that I've been working on for awhile.

                       

 I've been adding to my inventory over the past few weeks. I have several scarves in the works including these recently finished V Scarves (or "Collars", as someone at a recent craft show called them). I really like weaving these scarves.  Plus, these sock ring rugs. Do you remember when we used to see stacks of these rugs at every flea market and craft show? If I can ever get that big loom in my family room working again, I'll have those stacks of rugs back again. 

 

I rethreaded the loom and got in 10 shots before it started acting up this time.  I am convinced that if Gary and I keep trying, we'll get this thing working.  We are now getting ready to replace the cable that goes from the dobby to the cam to the left treadle.  It's all kinked up

 

 

New Midland Plaza Arts and Crafts Fair in Alcoa, TN

Gary and I had a booth this past weekend at this Crafts Fair.  It was a nicely run event and nice to be back in Maryville and Alcoa for a couple of days.  I lived there for several years back in the late 70's.  The county sure has changed!

This is a farily new event, only a few years old.  All booths were set up against the buildings under the covered walkway.  We had some new equipment this time.  I now have the ability to accept credit card payments and used it with no problems at all.  Plus, Gary designed a more effective way to display my weaving supplies.  We now have what looks like a fruit stand with the antique hanging scales that I bought at the Clinch River Antique Fair last Spring for my sock rings.  The signs on top of the display say:  "$8 per pound"  "Weigh your own sock rings"  "Pick your own colors".  I also now have wool sock rings to go along with the cotton ones.  As usual, the sock rings and potholder looms attracted many who remembered making potholders as children. 

I had pretty good sales for this fair and met some really nice people.  I'm very glad that we went. 

 

Now, it's time to get some more rugs and scarves made and finish those bags I have in the works.

My new Log Cabin "v" scarf

I finally finished this "V" scarf last weekend.  This one took a really long time to finish.  It started as a project at the Tuesday Weavers.  First, I had threading problems.  I had to rethread almost all of it.  (That comes from listening to all of the fascinating conversations that go on there at Tuesday Weavers!)  Then, once I finally got it treaded right, I sat down and starting weaving this beautiful warp...and it started breaking.  I'd weave a couple of shots and several ends would break.  Fix those, weave a few more shots, and more ends would break. I walked away from it several times. See, I really wanted to make this scarf.  The color mix is one of my favorites and the feel of the warp was terrific.  I just knew that this would end up as a nice scarf.  So, we bought some lovely inserted eye metal heddles for my loom at the center, thinking the old metal heedles might be the problem.  Once I got the new heddles on, I had to, yes, rethread again!  (Can you feel my frustration?)  And, once all was rethreaded, and I threw a few shots,  can you guess what happend?  Yes, you're right!  Broken warp threads, yet again.      

 

That did it.  I sat there for a few minutes.  Steam was probably shooting out my ears!  Then, I cut the beautiful warp off, chained it up, put it in my bag and took it home...where I glared at it for several weeks. 

 

Then, I opened up my table loom with the texlov heedles, threaded the warp, and started weaving that beautiful warp yet again.  And a few weeks later, here it is, a beautiful, so soft to the touch, scarf.

 

 

I really do love to weave!

 

Andy

 

 

Oh yes, I'll have a booth at the New Midland Center Arts and Crafts Fair in Alcoa, TN this weekend.  Come see me if you're there.

The AVL is haunted!  As soon as I got  it all set up and ready to start weaving that luscious shawl warp, it stopped working.  I only got 10 shots in before the dobby started acting up.  First, it was a couple of harnesses not lifting, then the back half of the harnesses, then none of them! 

Good thing we don't have guns in my house. That would have been one dead loom!

On a better note, the 10/2 cotton Huck lace that I made to use as lining for my chainmail bag, turned out just too pretty to use as lining.  I turned it into a really pretty bag.  She's all ready except for the frame.  I have 2 different frames that fit.  One's plain, the other is fancy.  I havne't yet decided which to use.  I've nearly finished the timy chainmaille bag with some hand woven teal twill for the lining.  All that's left to do is the chain.  It's large enough to hold my iphone, some money, and my keys. Cute,really cute.

I hope to see the Tuesday Weavers on Tuesday!

It's the 2nd week in July. Sometime in August, there is supposed to be another Jury for Foothills craft guild. So, I'm weaving up a storm. I can't seem to decide on which 5 project I'll pick to use. I have 4 really pretty bags ready, and a great scarf. But, I also have some terrific warp on the big loom ready to become a large fall shawl and another that will be a large bag. I guess time will tell.

Elm Grove Alumni

I am proud to be a member of a group of people who attended or worked at Elm Grove Elementary School in Oak Ridge, TN.  We have had an active Alumni group and website now for 4 years. 

Last weekend, we had our 3rd Homecoming on the grounds of our school, now called Elm Grove Park.  45 former students and teachers were there from a wide range of ages.  We had members who had been some of the first students in the school in 1943 and others who had been some of the last students in the 1980's.  There were several there from the Oak Ridge High School class of 1952.  Thee was also one who had traveled the furthest, coming to Oak Ridge from Miranmar (formerly known as Burma).

Each year, I've considered not organizing another one of these.  It takes alot of time and effort to get this party going.  But, the looks on the faces during each Homecoming and the comments I get after, keep me doing it.  Thank you to all of you Elm Grovers out there for keeping our group alive and keeping the memory of our school fresh in our minds.

This morning at around 8:30 am, I turned 60!  How can that be?  I remember thinking that anyone over 20 was ancient. 

Today, I took the day off and spent the day doing some things I've been wanting to do.for a while and putting off.  It was great. Then, when I got home, Gary had the grill going for dinner.

Throughout the day, I've received lots of birthday wishes.  My little phone has pinged me off and on all day long.  It's good to know that my friends and family have thought of me today.

It's been a great day.  It's helped me turn an important corner. 

Watch out, world! 

My friends Linda Baldwin and Linda Nichols and I had this booth Saturday, 5/6, at the Spring Clinch River Antique Fair in downtown  Clinton, TN.  Squishing all 3 of us into one 10x10 tent was risky, but the rain stopped early.  Thank you, Mother Nature!  We had a combination of Linda B's finely woven rugs, linens, scarves and hand-spun and knit hats, Linda N's beautifully hand-embroidered prayer flags and  always terrific beaded jewelry, and my woven bags, scarves, rugs, dyed loopers and Potholder looms.  I have taken the advise of my friend Ann, to trade in the store bought chains I had been using on my bags and exchanged many for some of my own handwoven chainmaille straps.  They seemed to attract some attention, too.  For the first show of the year, it was a really good one.  We had a steady stream of traffic once the rain stopped. 

I had a terrific time and hope the 3 of us will go together on a booth again.  Maybe next time, though, we'll get a double booth.  Then, we'll have more room to demonstrate our crafts. 

A few weekends ago, my husband and I spent the weekend at a very spiritual place, called Heavenly Mountain.

On the drive there and back, I wove the pieces that would make this pretty spring bag. I think the serenity that can be found on Heavenly Mountain helped form this pretty bag.

Once we returned home, I put the pieces together and wove the front button and chain strap using annodized aluminum wire rings. The pattern I chose for the chain turned out to be great fun making, too.

My bleeding looper problems are solved!

    After treating all of my RIT-dyed loopers, I decided to make some more looper rugs and test their color fastness.  Here they are.  These 2 rugs were woven with Natural colored rug warp and Retayne-treated, RIT-dyed loopers in bold colors. 

After finishing them, I mashine washed them in cold water and machine dryed them.  Good news!  The treatment works. Check out the warp and the white and natural loops.    There was no bleeding!  Yea! 

I'm thrilled.  I much prefer the intense colors like these that I can get by using RIT dye on these loopers.

I'm sure the occasional polyester and acrylic threads in the nearly all cotton loopers causes the fiber reactive dye to not be as intense.   RIT, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have a problem with those threads.

So, I have a solution to my dye bleeding issues. Finally!

I just found the coolest tool at Weavolution.com.  It reads as if it's a new thing, but who knows.  It's a Weaving calculator.  For those of us who are becoming more and more math impaired, this is a good thing.

http://weavolution.com/weaving-calculator

Thank you, Weavolution.  And by the way,  I really love the Cyber-Fiber weaving class idea.

Andy

I've been dying more loopers.  This time I'm using Procion MX dye.  I love the colors, but the process is tedious, so far.  Got to figure out an easier way to do this. 

Last night, I took one of the more natural colored loops and one of the natural loops that has a grey strand running through it and pulled them apart to look at the fibers.  Then today, I called the manufacturer to see what those fibers are.  As I suspected, the fiber in the more natural loop is polyester.  The grey strand in the other loop is acryllic.  That's why it doesn't take the dye very well.   So, now time to research to see what kind of dye might work better on the mix of cotton and acryllic.  Or, maybe those will just remain natural and grey.

Good news from the manufacturer:  They're starting to weave some wool socks.  I'm told that they are also a natural color with a little yellow tint to them and they are "mostly" wool.  So, must have some poly or acryllic in them. 

I'm thinking that I'll be ready to make another run to the plant in a few weeks.  Wonder if anyone will want to go with me this time.  Think about it.  Wool loops!   I wonder.. can you felt a looper rug?  

Lessons from the Jurying process

I have just recently tried for the 2nd time in my weaving life to join an organization that requires you to turn in samples of your work which are scrutinized (Juried)  to determine if your work is up to the organization's standards.  And for the 2nd time, I didn't make it.  My reaction this time, though, was entirely different. Thank goodness.

Last time, I was devestated.  They didn't like my work.  I vowed to never go through that experience again and was depressed for months.  How could they not like my cute bags, I thought.  Then, I pulled out the documents that I had been given which described the jurying process, what items I should submit, and what materials were acceptable and not.  I had failed to pay close attention to these documents befoe turning in my sample bags.  And, there was my problem.  If I had read the materials list, I might have made better choices when finishing each bag.  For each of my sample bags, I had used a material that was prohibited. 

That takes me to the present, it's been several years since that experience, and after bolstering up my courage, I submitted 5 samples of my work to be juried for membership in a large regional guild.  I have just this week been notified that again my work was not accepted.  But, here's the change.  This time, I disappointed, but eager to learn what had prevented my selection and what could I do to change my work in order to gain acceptance next time.  I an energized and ready to start 5 new projects.   I like making  and showing my bags.  They're different from what you normally see at craft shows.  Plus, they sell, which tells me that people do like them. I even get special orders for a several of my more standard designs.  But, here is what I learned (Hopefully!!) through this week's experience:
 

It's all in the details!

I find that I get so close to an item as I make it, that I just don't see the little things that ultimately made the difference this time around. So, I'm going to fix the details that were in need of fixing for each purse and will post them for sale on my Etsy.com shop (andylyle.etsy.com).  Then, it's time to get back to the design table to make plans for 5 new projects, which I will turn in on the next Jurying date in the fall.  And, this time, I WILL make it.

ARGGH!  My beautiful looper rug!  The loopers in my rug, when I washed it, bled.  The overall color faded as a result.  Major bummer!  That meant that my loopers are not now washer safe.  They used to be.  When I was getting ready to start selling my hand-dyed loopers, I researched dyes and made several sample dye baths.  The kind of dye I decided to use was the least costly and most convenient to use.  And, none of the loopers or potholders bled!  Now, they do.  Bummer!

So, I set up a little science project in my kitchen window.  I wanted to see which of the colors was bleeding and if the bleeding was caused by my failure to rinse off the unused dye.  I filled 16 glasses with hot soapy water and added 3 loops to each glass, 1 glass per color of looper. Then, I waited to see what would happen.  1 hour later, all 16 glass has colored water.  Dang!  So, I emptied the glasses and manually washed each looper by color with hot soapy water and rinsed them over and over and over until the color stopped.  Then, I set the glasses up again.  1 hour later....more colored water.  Double Dang!

Then, I went online and found the culprit - the dye maker has recently changed their dye formula. (That would have been nice info to have, when it happened!) There is a fix, though.  Thank goodness!  Anything that has been dyed with this product can be washed in a "dye fixer".  After that, as long as the item is washed in cold, and never in hot water, the dye will no longer bleed.   

So, here's my solution.  I'm spending this weekend treating my existing loose loopers and all of the looper-made items.  After my first load, I put my science project back up on my window sill.  YIPPEE! No bleeding!  I'm going to write to my looper customers and let them know that I'm sending them some of the dye fixer and how to use it.

From here forward, I well be dying with a fiber reactive, color-fast, dye. 

For those experiencing something similar to my story, here is where I found the answers I needed.  It's a terrific site.

http://www.pburch.net/dyeing.shtml

My rug still on the loom

After it's first wash.

Namaste,

Andy