Food and Race Dialogue

Menu from the Eat Café from the Food and Race Dialogue

Yesterday I went to the Eat Café to participate in the Urban Consulate‘s discussion about Food and Race. What could be better, an opportunity to visit the Eat Café and find out what that was like, while hearing about the issues of food and race. The panelists were Dwayne Wharton from the Food Trust, Kirtrina Baxter from Soil Generation, and Noelle Warford of the Urban Tree Connection. I met lots of other people and at introductions realized that there were more interesting people in the room who would be fascinating to meet. I did get to chat to the founder of the Eat Café, Mariana Chilton.

Curried Vegetable Cakes with Sautéed Chard

One of the questions at the end of the dialogue asked what one thing would you lobby on. The panelists answered that they wanted land and resources for African Americans, and proper regulations about shelf life labeling, amongst other things. I woke up this morning realizing that I would ask for education. Properly funded and fully supported public education especially in the poorer neighborhoods. Education at all levels from pre-K to elderly, formal and informal. Make the inner city public schools something that the suburbanites desire and are jealous of. Also do the same for the rural school districts. Give all children access to the same resources and opportunities; science camps, art camps, drama camps. Additionally, while we are on the topic of food and race, make sure that food science, agriculture, cooking, nutrition, food culture, and food history is taught properly at all levels to all. Give them the opportunity to say “no, I’ve tried that and I don’t want to do it.” Let’s move away from the fact that only 10% of Americans like cooking, perhaps if more of us knew how to cook well, more of us would cook!

Postcard: Hugpile

Hug Pile

Found on Google Images upon searching for “Hug Pile”

Postcard: From my front door

Postcard: Harvest Part 1

Stony Ground Tomatoes

Postcard: Spinning Samples – Knitted

For more information on the samples read TomofHolland’s post on Wool Types and Heather’s post on her Fibrary. More photos on Flickr.

Postcard: St Albans Cathedral

Postcard: Stowe Gardens

Postcard from England: Dad’s Garden

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(c)2014 cgadavies

Knitting and Spinning from 2013

I find it useful to write a wrap up to see what I made in the last 12 months. It looks very impressive this way.

Project 1: Wild Color Hunter Mittens

Yarn: Made from hand-spun. The fiber was purchased in 2011 at New Hampshire Sheep and Wool from Mad Colors in the Wildside color way. I spun using my Bosworth’s mini making a 3 ply light weight fingering yarn.
Needles: 2.75 mm
Pattern: Self designed
Finished: Feb 2013

Project 2: Touch of Silk 3 ply skein

Yarn: Hand-spun from silk cap from Touch of Twist in Blue
Spindles: Sinlges Jenkins Kuchulu; Plied: Bosworth mini
Finished: March 2013

Project 3: Twisted Stitch Socks

I don’t actually have a finished photo of these, even though I have been wearing them fairly constantly when the weather has been cold enough.

Yarn: Mountain Colors Crazyfoot in Portland Rose
Needles: 2.75 mm
Pattern: Self designed with a knit two (twisted approximately every 3rd row) purl 3 rib
Finished: April 2013

Project 4: Red Pei

Yarn: Abstract Fiber Alto in Red
Needles: 3.5 mm
Pattern: Pei by Michele Wang
Finished: May 2013

Project 5: Dyeing and Carding Jacob

Still working on the fleece I bought in 2010! This is hopefully the last stages of fiber prep and spinning:

For TDF 2013 I dyed and blended secondary colors.
For the rest of 2013 and going into 2014, I spun/am spinning singles on my Sunflower Breeze spindles.
Hopefully the yarn will be completed by the end of 2014.

Project 6: Silkie Pear Drop Shawl

Yarn: Sheepy Time Knits Silkie in Berry Pie colorway
Needles: 3.5 mm
Pattern: Pear Drop by Ysolda Teague
Finished: August 2013

Project 7: N. Ronaldsay Singles

Fiber: Colored from Liz Lovick; Natural from New Lanark Mills
Spindle: IST
Finished: August 2013

Project 9: Mostly Hebridean Yarn

Spindles: Wingham Spindle and IST Spindle
Yarn: 3 ply mostly New Lanark Mills Hebrideanroving (with some silk, banana silk and other stuff tested on spindle).
Finished: August 2013

Project 9: Marin

I’ve since been sent enough yarn to redo the corner but I kind of like it being a different color. One of my Doylestown friends calls it my Clorox shawl!
Yarn: La Drogourie Surnaturelle in Cape Horn (mostly)
Needles: 3.5 mm
Finished: Sept 2013

Project 10: Shortening socks originally knit for Mum

No pictures. But Mum’s feet were 1″ longer than mine and I couldn’t bear to give these socks away. So I have adjusted two pairs and still have one left to go.

Project 11: Pei for Jessica

Yarn: Sheepy Time Knits Polwarth and Silk DK in Wonderflorium
Needles: 3.25 mm/US 3
Finished: October 2013

Project 12: Christmas Washcloths

When my brain really isn’t able to work, I found wash/dishcloths very soothing. I must have made five or six different washcloths.
Here are two:

Also one Nanayaya dishcloth takes me about 90 -120 mins. So I do it during meetings!
Yarn: Lily’s Peaches and Creme
Needles: 4 mm
Patterns: Various

Project 13: WWKAL 13: Erica Hat

Yarn: Sheepy Time Knits Panda Worsted in “Am I Blue” (merino and silk)
Needles: 3.75 mm
Pattern: Woolly Wormhead’s 2013 Mystery Knitalong, which turned out to be Erica
Finished: December 2013

Project 14: Dreaming of Shetland Shawl

Yarn: N. Ronaldsay Singles (Z spun) dyed by Liz Lovick.
Needles: 3.5 mm
Pattern: Shetland Handpaint by Donna Drachunas in Dreaming of Shetland
Finished (sans blocking): Dec 2013

Project 15: Dad’s Cardigan

Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Delight in Green-blue (colorway 16)
Needles: 2.5 mm
Pattern: Self designed with extra space in the back for widower’s hump
Finished: Dec 2013, with help with sewing in zipper from SIL

Ongoing but Unfinished Projects

Project 16: England Sweater

Working on the sleeves. Then I have the front steek to open up. Buttons with band up the front.
I only work on this project in England, so I might not finish it this trip!

Project 17: Never-ending Blanket

Project 18: Abbysilk

Fiber color is Fade to Pink
I also have some Autumn on a Thread’s Thru Time Tiny Turkish.

I have other spinning and need to get better about recording my hand spun. I do label it all and keep small samples.

Tour de Fleece 2013 Day 6

I made batts yesterday by blending two colors together using my drumcarder.

In the picture above, the top row is the original colors, and the next rows show the degree of blending. I stopped after blending three times.