When we got up this morning it was a little chilly (-2F/-18C), but bright and sunny, giving all of the local fisherpeople impetus to race around on the lake, cutting holes in the ice, and dropping in fishing lines. I really do enjoy watching them from a distance and admire their courage in braving the cold.
Whenever it’s like this I think of my friend Josefin in Sweden, who every day takes a dip in the icy waters near her house, along with several other women who enjoy this bracing activity. She also has been on my mind because she recently finished a lengthy project, making a pair of woolen Sirwal pants (described in Irene Waggener’s book, Keepers of the Sheep). Josefin’s project is beautifully documented in her blog post Gunvor’s Sirwal Pants. I particularly liked that she followed the method the Moroccan knitters used, where as soon as the spinners (women) finished a ball of yarn, they passed the ball to the knitters (men) to use. This meant that there was no finishing for the yarn, and a very different “feel” than she was used to. What I like most about the pants is the special thought that went into locating the stripes. You’ll note that the darker ones are at the bottom and gradually get lighter going upward.
The fleece for her yarn came from a ewe named Gunvor. She used two fleeces; her first and second shearing. Gestrike sheep, when young, have some very dark fleece, and that fleece lightens as they age. So, Gunvor’s dark parts of her fleece shows the color changes as she grew, and Josefin used that to advantage in the design of the pants.
Here in Massachusetts….
After adding a full 3 rows to my sock yarn blanket during December, I’ve put it aside to finish the spinning of my 2020 seasonal roving from Inglenook Fibers. It had been my hope to finish by the end of the year, but I’m still not quite done. However, taking a page from Josefin’s book, I’ve been using the yarn as soon as it’s plied and finished, working back and forth between spinning and knitting.
My original idea was to make swatches and then put them together with embroidery like a Victorian crazy quilt. The 12 Days of Christmas were mini-skeins with very little yardage, so I plied some of them with other singles from my stash that seemed to work with the color scheme. Not surprisingly, my stash has many repeat colors (because those are the ones I gravitate to — greens, blues and reds/purples).
However, after making a few swatches, I concluded that this one swatch above looked like it should be a pocket, and begged me to knit a sweater straight from these small balls of yarn. The crazy quilt sweater morphed into my “coat of many colors.”
It is being knit flat, fronts and back together to the arm holes, and then the fronts will be split from the back to finish separately. Since I don’t have confidence that I’ll be able to get a good match with the stripes on the sleeves, I’ve decided to knit them top down, but haven’t decided whether to knit them separately or pick up stitches. I’ll let the sweater tell me when the time comes.
The start of the sweater; all hand spun from my stash; primarily from the Inglenook 2020 offering for the 12 days of Christmas.
Meanwhile…
Cold calls for soup, and I’ve been meaning to try Marcella Hazan’s minestrone for years. The only reason I’d not gotten around to it was that it calls for the rind of parmesan cheese. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with that…it just wasn’t something I thought to buy.
I did learn quickly that working with cheese rind isn’t easy — Bruce to the rescue! Yes, he really did use a jig saw to cut off the rind for me. Neither of us could make a dent with a knife, and it seemed dangerous to try. We could see maimed fingers if the knife slipped!
The soup is outstanding, and since I actually made a few small changes to the recipe (so I don’t infringe on any copyright) I’m sharing it here for your cold-weather enjoyment.
Minestrone after Marcella Hazan
Ingredients
- 1 lb zucchini
- 1/2 lb fresh green beans
- 1 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 cup carrots (shredded or diced)
- 1 cup celery (diced)
- 2 cups potatoes (peeled and diced)
- 3 cups shredded cabbage
- 1 13-oz can cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
- 2/3 cup plum tomatoes with juice
- parmesan rind
- 8 cups vegetable broth (original recipe calls for 4 cups beef broth and 2 cups water)
- 1/2 cup oilive oil
- 3 Tbs butter
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
Instructions
- Slice the zucchini in half and soak in water for about 20 minutes
- Cut off the ends of the beans and also soak the beans for about 20 minutes.
- While the beans and zucchini are soaking, melt the butter and add the oil to a large stock pot. Add the onions and cook on medium-low heat until the onion wilts and becomes translucent (about 2-3 minutes). Don’t allow the onions to darken.
- Add the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the celery and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the potato and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the green beans and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the zucchini and cook for 2-3 minutes
- Add the cabbage and cook for another 5-6 minutes.
- Add the broth, cheese rind and tomatoes, and salt lightly.
- Stir to thoroughly mix all of the ingredients, cover and let simmer on low heat for 2-1/2 hours.
- Add the beans, stir, and continue to cook for another 30 minutes.
- Remove the cheese rind, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with grated parmesan on top.
This recipe sounds a little labor intensive, but following the suggestion that you cut the next vegetables while allowing the previous one to cook, it seemed to fly right along. I assure you it is worth the work. Also, I have a tendency to increase all of the ingredients a bit, so this can make a rather large pot of soup…that, after all is the goal, isn’t it?
Other things…
Cold weather also is the time to settle in with a good read. I recently finished Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny’s novel State of Terror. It’s a real page turner, and I nearly read the whole thing in one sitting. Couldn’t put it down. The story turns on recent politics as well as Hillary’s experience as Secretary of State. Louise Penny’s hand is strong in the narrative, so it’s well written (I love her books as well).
So, spin yarn, eat soup, read, repeat. That’s the recipe for a perfect winter’s day.