More ice cream than you can handle

This is David Lebovitz's White Chocolate and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream. This is my first really good homemade ice cream made from custard. I am working my way through the ice cream recipes on his blog (The Perfect Scoop is on hold at the library, I think I'm next in line.) I had already used the ice cream maker to make a raspberry frozen yogurt, so I made this batch in a casserole dish in the freezer according to his directions.

The plum honey wine is bubbling slightly. It smells wonderful. I need more gallon containers and more air locks.

Honey wine

This weekend I'm starting a batch of honey wine with some wild plums thrown in. I'm going to turn our meyer lemons into limoncello.

Indigo evening gown apron

Cristina's PIF gift arrived yesterday. This gorgeous indigo-dyed cotton will become a long Summer apron and a tote bag. I feel like embroidering a tiny boat tossing on the waves or an octopus.

"If no one hears the dolls talking..."

"...should the book really be in the Fantasy section?" This was the topic debated by the young Lears today. This house believes - you should be careful with your dolls.

Do you remember the Japanese doll house plans in the back of Miss Happiness and Miss Flower? We are wondering if we can manage it. I have always wanted to create a doll house inhabited by the Borrowers - a good foundation of Victorian furniture with borrowed watches, candles, bottlecap pie tins, etc. Even better, would be a home made beneath the floorboards. But it is the Japanese dolls' garden I am thinking of, lit up at night and their little handmade quilts.

Bed jacket edging

The bed jacket edging is coming along. Since it is recycled denim, I'm only a little worried about shrinking. I'm mostly working on cleaning out the house for Summer. I'm tired of not having a place for everyday things.

Library day

We spent the afternoon at the library keeping cool. I found some wonderful canning books and a Georgette Heyer book. I just read about her books in Slightly Foxed. The bed jacket is coming along. I'm letting some ideas stew in the runcible bin for my PIF gifts.

Bubbly soda scarf

I'm back to working on my summer soda scarf. This will be the silk and mohair version of Jessica Prentice's Hibiscus Rosehip soda from Full Moon Feast. A while back, Kay reminded me of Ann's Bubbly Curtain in Mason-Dixon Knitting. It's brilliant - easy to scale down to scarf size, easy to knit. Here's the first part, unblocked. After a few more feet of bubbles, I'm going to try the Bottles pattern from one of Walker's books. For the next scarf I'd like to start in the middle with a provisional cast on and knit to the ends.

Another sock

This is a redo of that sock from way back when. I need to get back on the sock wagon - I have lost two pair to the washing machine. I have caught the Pay It Forward bug from Cristina. Here's how it goes:

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

Summer plans

I have been out and about during the day and haven't taken any photos, which has sent me rifling through old photos fit for a post. This rocky road ice cream was okay, but not quite "there".

In the background my hand is patting a copy of Bead Simple which I read about over at Angry Chicken and Super Eggplant. We found a necklace from a couple of years ago made of large dried beans, and I know our next version will be so much nicer thanks to the how-to pictures in this book! I have big Summer jewelry plans - buttons and seeds and bits of stuff from outside - kind of Sundance Jewelry Catalog meets Andy Goldsworthy.

Crumiri

These cornmeal horseshoe-shaped cookies were baked for the last day of school. They represent all the u-turns we made today and how lucky we are.

Blue mole tie

We had an end of year shindig this afternoon - it was the perfect blue mole tie event. I would like to do a sweater filled with some of these creature drawings - before said artist is too old for that kind of thing.

Home Preserving

Two of the teacher gifts have been put up. I thought the chunks of beeswax smelled good and would make the scarves smell good. Mostly it's just a visual. I've been reading Home Preserving and have plans for strawberry jam, red onion marmalade and whatever else looks good at the market this summer. The wine jellies sound so good. I like to say "jelly bag", although when I say it, I'm thinking "jello bag."

Another Haiku scarf

"When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see." I picked up my new glasses today and the new prescription certainly helps with lace pattern charts!

Fetching

"When I consider everything that grows, holds in perfection but a little moment" I quickly make household bouquets. These trumpets fall off their vine on the walk to school. This pair of Fetching mitts will also be a teacher gift. I wonder if they will fit in a tiny jam jar? I'd like to do another pair in an artsy silky yarn using the Maine Morning Mitts pattern.

Blood orange soda and rootbeer

"Alack, what poverty my Muse brings forth." The wall of Alchemy Haiku at my local shop inspires so many lace scarves! I'm wondering if I can stuff one in a soda bottle. I have a capper.

Burnt embers preserves

"Those hours that with gentle work did frame" sped by this weekend as this scarf knit up. Needing a teacher gift, I looked back at what Kay made this past December and really liked her mistake rib scarf from the chunky Misti Alpaca. I think this is called burnt embers. I need one of these. It needs a little blocking and then I'm stuffing it in a big jar - I'm putting it up, preserving it, or preserving part of the school year. I have some wonderful beeswax that would look lovely against this color and make it smell so good. Blue/grey river stones would be nice too. I'm still working this out. I have time.

Zero ice creams and one sherbert

"Some glory in their births, some in their skill" and some in their tangelo sherbet making! After a weekend of trying to cook custard, I had a lot of egg whites - which made lovely meringues. It's just as well I can't make ice creams - it would be hard to work off a dish of ice cream a day.

Frozen treats of doubtful authenticity

"Like as to make our appetites more keen" a new gadget has arrived in time for weekend experiments. I'm going to implement that "use what you have" strategy so successful in the Iron Chefs' ice cream makers. I'm looking through the cabinets and thinking tea-flavored sorbets and candied fruit and nut frozen custards (herbal teas from flu season and leftover Easter ingredients).

Roofs of Avignon

I ended up buying Provence - Quilts and Cuisine for this page. There are three alternate layouts for the quilt. The quilting is done in the shape of roof tiles. I love the dark teal and warm reds. I could make this.

Seducing Dr. Lewis

Netflix suggested this dvd - I think because I liked Waking Ned Devine (small village pulls together) and Slings and Arrows (Canadian comedy). The knitting was good - esp. a gansey Germain wears in an oatmeal color with bits of rust in it - I would use Blackwater Abbey's bracken worsted weight.

I've been looking at the Hanami stoles on Ravelry and thinking I could manage a scarf version. The cherry blossoms make me think of carbonation bubbles or fermentation bubbles as in a rootbeer scarf, or lemon mint soda scarf. Aha! I've just downloaded the pattern and in Melanie's notes section I see she discusses champagne bubbles and rain and gives directions for just bubbles and drops! I'm there.

Flavored teas and Haiku scarves

I used a skein of Alchemy's Haiku for the Wisp scarf from Knitty. I am so surprised by the power of a small blue cobweb to keep my neck so nice. Whenever I take it off I feel so chilly and vulnerable! I feel a Summer addiction coming on: flavored ice teas and Haiku scarves. Perhaps I should pair the flavor I am working on with the color? That would make a nice gift, a jar of syrup with a poof of a lace scarf folded on top - hibiscus, lime, ginger, mint, Meyer lemon, grapefruit, orange - rose, lavender?

Ginger syrup

I love this idea of making ginger syrup from the current Country Home. This would be wonderful in ice tea! I have to get a grease pencil so I can label all my jars easily.

A tie idea

This is a drawing of a star-nosed blue mole. I'm going to try a little tie in this dark brown/purple Yorkshire tweed. I'm going to knit it and then back it with fabric.

Bed jacket

I'm making progress on my jacket. I would like to embroider it with some blue silk. I would also like one of these in a very light and shiny blue-gray and another in a deep red!

Cranford knitting and The Little House

This month's Vogue had two articles that caught my eye - a short blurb on the Cranford series on PBS and an article on Virginia Lee Burton's textile designs. I'm very late to the Cranford party. I just caught the last episode on Sunday night. I immediately googled the knitting of Cranford and was happy to find this and this.

I have always loved Burton's The Little House and would love to see more examples of her work. I like the idea of printing some napkins with green hills and the Little House herself.