Kusha Kusha Scarf and Blueberry Pie ~

You mustn't think that I'm not aware I have a fixation on an earlier period in time.  Many of my projects reflect that fascination.  I particularly like projects that bring alive clothing items worn in an earlier era such as some of my triangle shawls.  But I also like to play with the juxtaposition an ancient craft in a modern setting or a modern design.

Woody Allen is an insightful writer and his most recent film, Midnight in Paris, focuses on people who have romanticized an earlier period of time.  I know this is true for me.  He said that it is to escape the painful reality of our present.  Maybe. I definitely felt aware of the glare of lights and a distaste for cars racing by as we emerged from the theater.  Owen Wilson, by the way, does a fabulous job of playing the role that would ordinarily have been played by Woody Allen.

The scarf that I am wearing is using knitting and felting, two very ancient crafts, to create a very modern look.  The modern look is achieved by using a combination of different sized needles, the mixed medium of knit and felt, and a stainless steel yarn (decidedly a modern medium) to create an amorphous fabric.   The stainless steel yarn softens when washed and rolled in your hands.  During the felting process I worked both sides of the scarf with my hands, even the stainless steel portion, as I wanted to relax and stretch that as well.  Incidentally I have knit with stainless steel yarn before and you can see the tunic I made in the post, A Simple Summer Tunic. 

Particulars: Kusha Kusha Scarf (Kit-78) by Habu Textiles; design by Setsuko Torri; US 8, 6, 4, and 3 needles.  This is a very fun and simple scarf using stockinette stitch.  I knit mine a little longer than the pattern recommended as I think otherwise the scarf pattern is a tad too short.  When felting be sure to stretch the fabric and work it with your hands to achieve the dimensions you wish.   My pre-blocking measurements were 60" (40" combined yarn x 20" stainless steel).  While drying there was an "incident" involving Simcha.  Suffice it to say I had to cut out 90% of the stainless steel portion and about 5% of the felted portion.  To fix this, I picked up the remaining stitches and reknit the scarf working inward.  I joined the two sides with a 3 needle bind-off and the felting process melted away any evidence of the join.  All's well that ends well!  But this explains the strange "post" blocking measurements and why I cant' tell you exactly how I modified the pattern by row count.  Final post blocking measurement is 51" (28" combined yarns x 23" stainless steel).



A Taste of Summer ~ Blueberry Pie

Homemade blueberry pie is one of Summer's treats and versatile enough for picnics or company dinner!  Steve thinks it might be his favorite pie, but he's not sure.  He can't decide because he loves tart cherry pie too.  But after rhapsodizing over every morsel he's already asking when we might have another one.  Note to Self:  blueberry has the slight edge.

For the filling I followed the recipe on the Tapioca box except I used slightly less of the recommended tapioca and slightly more of the lemon juice (these were sweet berries).   I also cooked mine longer than the recommended time because a berry pie is not cooked through until you see the juice bubbling up through the crust. 

For the crust I followed my mother's recipe which can be found in the post As Easy as Apple Pie. Did I serve it with warm with ice cream?  Does it take two to tango?

Until next time, be well and love well, and I hope your Summer includes at least one blueberry pie.