Knitterguy

NYC

As it turns out, I still have a few vacation days to use before the end of the year. (This is an embarrassment of riches.) That means between Christmas and New Years. There is a very slight, very small, possibility that I might be able to get to New York City.

I’m not sure when I decided I want to go to New York City. I’m not even sure why I want to go to New York City. It might be related to my reading of Ruth Reichl’s “Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise”, in which she describes moving to NYC when she got the job as restaurant critic for the New York Times, and how she went about doing the reviews. (Book is a fabulous read, BTW, even if you’re not a foodie. Well worth it.)

It could be from talking with Lars and Mar and Mark and bloglessJim, ‘though I honestly don’t know what they’ve said that would inspire me so.

It could be from reading concert listings in “The New Yorker” magazine many years ago, or listening to the broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera.

It might be from listening to someone – can’t remember who – tell me that Montreal bagels are poor imitations of New York bagels, and that if I wanted a real bagel - a real bagel - I had to go to New York.

It might be from my sister’s recounting of how my niece changed her clothes in the middle of a crowded street and nobody blinked. (She’d just sung in a vocal competition and needed to change from her gown to her jeans, and for some reason ended up doing it in the street. And knowing my niece, she did it with incredible panache and elegance, ‘cause that’s my niece.)

It might be reading a bit about the Cathedral of St John the Divine after hearing a recording of its pipe organ, and deciding that once in my life I should stand in a church that’s the size of 2 football fields.

There must be a textile museum?

Now the thing about going to NYC, it seems to me, is that there’s so much to do that if you don’t have plan, you’ll be paralyzed by the choices.

So here’s my first question: if you could go to NYC, and you had a limited budget, what are the must-see and must-do things? (Granted, between Christmas and New Years is not likely the best time to be a tourist, but I’m usually not into touristy things anyway. I’m often content to see some nice things, and have lots of interesting conversation with good people, over a nice honest meal.)

And my second question is about timing. I will have some vacation days to use up between January and March, so would it be better to go to NYC in...oh, I dunno...mid-February? Early March? Late January?

And, believe it or not, I don’t want to go yarn shopping. (Seriously. I’m in the midst of a huge downsizing.)

Midwest Knitting Retreat 2009

So, last Thursday, with the wisdom tooth not protesting, I loaded the Corolla, plugged in the GPS, and headed to Michigan (MI) for the Midwest Men's Knitting Retreat. I drove to Howell MI, and stopped at The Spinning Loft to visit with Beth. We talked spinning and fiber; she filled me in on details for her spinning retreat in Pennsylvania next year (April 23-25). (I think it will be a great event. Limited spaces and they're filling up: 2 people called to register while I was there.) Beth runs a kick-ass shop. The wall of fleeces has to be seen to be believed: if you are looking for a particular breed, talk to Beth. I bought some charcoal grey merino that will be perfect for a project that's percolating in my mind. Beth was hosting a weekend class with Jacey Boggs, and it was great that she could fit me in to the schedule. A splendid visit.

On Friday I drove to the retreat centre via Lansing and stopped at Threadbear Fiber Arts. I wasn't looking for anything in particular and didn't buy any yarn. It was my first time at the shop and it's really a great place. It's big and very, very well lit.

The GPS guided me to our retreat location, which was Circle Pines Centre.

The big white farmhouse was our playstation for the weekend. As the only group there for the weekend, we hung out in the large sunporch and ate in the dining hall. Most of the guys stayed in the big cabin. (I was in a smaller cabin a bit of a walk away from the farmhouse.) They even have a bathhouse. Weather for the weekend was great: sunny, bright, moderate temperatures. Honestly, we should have spent time walking the trails on the property.

Many of the guys had started the retreat on Thursday in Chicago, so they were commuting up on Friday morning. Their stop at Marr Haven Farm must have been really good, because they arrived late. (Those of us already at Circle Pines sat outside in the sun and knitted.) That threw the schedule for the day off-kilter, but we pulled together and proceeded without a word of grumbling. After supper, we had show’n’tell. This is Vince with his working of MMario’s “Queen Anne’s Lace”.(Ravelry link)

Much knitting followed. First picture is Matthew, Matthew and Stephen. (Yup, 2 Matthews.) Second picture is Vince and Jason. Third is Ben and Bob. Last is Bill.

On Saturday morning, Matthew demonstrated his brilliant approach to blocking shawls. My photos don’t do it justice: Matthew’s working in 3 colours of Zephyr is excellent. (The shawl is the “Orenburg Warm Shawl” by Galina Khmeleva from Piecework Sept-Oct 2002. I used to have that issue but it has vanished from my bookshelf – dammit – and is OOP.)

In the afternoon, Chris at BriarRose Fibers opened her home to us and members of her local knit group for a small reception. (Some guys may have bought a bit of yarn.) If you have only seen Chris’ yarns on her website, you really don’t see the depth and subtlety of colour. They are really splendid: no wonder her booth at Rhinebeck is swarmed.

First picture is Chris explaining something to somebody – I forget who. Second picture is Chris speaking with Stephen. (Have you all seen his nifty scarf patterns? Here’s a link in ravelry.) Third pic is Stephen and Tim (seated), with an unidentified friend of Chris'.

Then we jumped over to Circle R Alpacas to look at the critters. Some guys may have bought a bit of yarn.

Saturday after supper we hung out. Watched a video – one of the Harry Potter movies featuring amazing handknits – and knitted and talked. A couple guys used the sauna.

Sunday morning was more knitting and hanging out ‘til lunch. Then we packed up, said our goodbyes and headed our own ways. I went back to Howell, and joined Beth, her family and Jacey Boggs for supper. Monday I mailed some Christmas cards and drove home.

All in all, a nice trip. One guy said it was the first time he’d ever been with other guys who knit. There was a wide range of knitting expertise in the room. The guys were great to be with; weather was wonderful.

Thanks to Todd and Bill for the organizing. Thanks also to Beth for hospitality while in Howell.

See you all later.

Memo

To: All staff

From: Head Office

Subject: Vacation Days Allocation for 2009

In order to meet contract obligations and provide consistency in service delivery, staff are to ensure that all vacation days allocated for the calender year of 2009 have been used before the end of the calender year. Please consult with your manager to finalize scheduling of any vacation days owing.

In other words, I have a few vacation days I have to use (or lose), so I'm going to the  Men's Midwest Knitting Retreat , Nov 13-15. (Scroll down the page a bit.) I considered going to Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, until I looked at the bank balance and the cost of airfares.

The guys have organized an interesting program, which starts in Chicago on the Thursday with a tour of Lorna's Laces and a reception at Loopy Yarns. On Friday, they drive to Circle Pines Centre in Michigan. I'm driving from the east, so will miss the fun and games (and purchases) in Chicago, and will meet the boys at Circle Pines. I will, however, be stopping at The Spinning Loft in Howell, MI (in fact, I will be at the Best Western motel in Howell on the Thursday night) and hopefully at Threadbear Fiberarts.

(This assumes the trip doesn't get kiboshed by dental surgery for a wisdom tooth extraction.)

See you when I'm back.

This Business of Men Knitting…

A recent thread on Ravelry got me to thinking about this topic, and while I believe there are other bloggers who would do a much better job of writing about this subject than I can, I thought I would put some thoughts out there. Hopefully this can encourage a different kind of discussion than what typically results when the matter of men knitting gets raised.

The thread’s topic was on the social cost of men knitting, and as is typical of these kinds of threads, the content shifted relatively quickly and we read posts that declared that men had invented knitting, about how men knit differently than women do, about what it takes to do research for an academic dissertation, about the use of over-blown rhetoric, some displays of nearly overt misogynistic attitudes. I say this is typical of these threads, because it’s what I see happening over and over when online discussions –and not just on ravelry, I’ve seen it on maillists P.R.–  discuss matters around men knitting. (Anybody remember the Pre-Ravelry era?) I’ve often wondered why these threads grind to a halt, or completely lose the focus of the original question and deteriorate into such nastiness.

I’ve been knitting for just over 30 years, and during this time I’ve heard statements that men knit differently than women do; that we have a different approach to the craft; that we are more technical knitters; that we handle colour differently; that we have a different aesthetic about the art of knitting. I’ve have always been puzzled by these comments, because I simply don’t see it. I’ve asked people to better define these comments, and get vague answers, or answers that do not pan out when the craft is looked at from a larger perspective. They point to Kaffe Fassett’s creations as demonstrating that men handle colour differently than women do….but I wonder if this is because he is male, or is it a reflection of Kaffe as a human being? Were Kaffe female, would she handle colour differently and/or less well? Or better? Can we say that men handle colour differently than women when we only point to Kaffe as the example?

I hear that men are more technical knitters, yet the majority of technically-astute knitters I know are female. I know that many people dislike the squareness of some designs by Elizabeth Zimmerman and some of my knitting buddies have commented that Lily Chin’s designs seem sterile and dated, but both of these women really pushed the technical limitations of knitting process. The best books, IMO, on the construction, mechanics and design of knitted lace come from Susanna Lewis and Margaret Stove. Can anyone think of a book on knitting technique authored by a man? Can anyone think of a book on knitwear design written by a man?

Men complain that there are no decent designs for sweaters for men. Things get fuzzy in defining what men want in their garments, and it’s been my experience that when men are asked what they want in a sweater design, their specifications pretty much match what already exists. Perhaps we want designs with a new and fresh look or an edgy look, but is it really possible to have new and fresh looking (or edgy) designs when menswear is notoriously conservative?

Men request sweaters using cables. There have been plenty of men’s sweaters using cables, there are plenty of men’s sweaters using cables, and there will be plenty of men’s sweaters using cables. Cables are usually within the range of most knitters’ skill level; patterns can be written relatively easily for them; sweater designs featuring cables have a solid, reliable, conservative look. Add it all up, and a decent pattern for a cabled sweater should appeal to the widest market share of knitters and wearers. But many men reject these designs because, well…frankly, I don’t know. Somehow they’re not right. Perhaps the designs aren’t new and fresh enough. Or edgy. (Whatever that means.)
 
I think there are several things going on. Traditionally, the people knitting menswear have been women knitting for husbands, sons, boyfriends, etc., and the question they have been asking is “If I knit it, will he wear it?”  The magazine editors and book publishers and yarn companies have understood this, so the number of designs published and those accepted for publication has been geared to this. Magazine editors also have to deal with the advertisers’ interests: would anyone be surprised to know that if a certain yarn is used for a design in a magazine, sales of that yarn will increase? Certain yarns would never be accepted for menswear. (Remember eyelash yarns?) Designers may have great designs for menswear, but if they can’t be sold, there is no incentive to develop them past a very basic concept.
 
In recent past…maybe the last 10 years?...we have seen a significant rise in the number of men knitting for themselves. They learned with simple projects such as beer can cozies, ties, scarves, hats, mitts and easy boxy sweaters. Many of these guys are ready to move on to more advanced projects, and they say they find the available offerings lacking. Yet I wonder if we can effectively communicate to the designers and editors what we really want? If not, no wonder we see few offerings for us in the print publications.

I think the male knitting community is in its infancy…maybe still a pupa. There have always been a handful of us  –compared to now– and perhaps we have been more independent minded or something, through necessity. We have had opportunities to explore our knitting interests within a much larger pool of female knitters that hopefully we considered to be our colleagues, and hopefully many considered us to be theirs.

The man who knits is still an exception. If he goes to a mixed-gender gathering, he will likely be singled out in some way, because he is a man who knits. This is detrimental to all attendees, I think. I hope that as the public generally becomes more accustomed to seeing men knitting, the tendency to see the craftsperson’s gender first will fade into the background.

I hope that as more men knit, those with a strong design sense will learn the tools and techniques to design for men. I hope that as this happens, male knitters generally will develop a better ability to discern what they want and to communicate this to those who influence what appears on the pages. Then, we will stand a better chance of being counted as a valued market share whose needs and wants can be met. Perhaps we will be asked to write some books on technique and sweater design.

Finally, I am not a member of spinning and weaving forums, or those for tailoring and sewing or crochet or bobbin lace or tatting or temari, and I wonder if the same questions come up about why men pursue those crafts and any social phenomena around men’s participation in them. If not, why not? What is different around and about those crafts?

Comments?

Vermont

Given that my visit focused on a small pocket of the far south end of the state, I suppose that this post should really be titled “In Which Knitterguy Sees a Small Slice of Vermont”, but I think that’s a bit lengthy.

This all began earlier in the year when I was thinking about things to do to celebrate my 50th birthday. I’m now not sure why I originally thought about visiting Vermont, or how I found the wonderful B&B I stayed at. In any case, this was a great trip for me, and one which I’d be happy to repeat.

So, let’s talk about the B&B, Frog Meadow. Simply put, it’s lovely, and I recommend it highly. When I booked my room, Dave and Scott sent very good directions for how to get there, for which I was very grateful –especially as the GPS tried to take me up a road that Scott later told me wouldn’t have been safe to travel on. Anyway, I traveled up this road (here’s a shot looking down it, and it's as straight as an arrow here)

and got to this intersection.

where I turned left and drove a short bit and saw the house and checked in.

Back to the intersection for a bit. This is the site of the original location of the town of Newfane. Dave explained that in the mid-1800’s, the village was disassembled and moved down the hill to its current location, where it serves as the county seat. Back up on the hill, the historical society posted some markers and a plaque in the 1970s, providing a general gist of the original village layout. (You can click on the sign to enlarge. I think it’s intriguing – though I don’t know why – that they’ve found and marked the location of the whipping post.) Frog Meadow is – I think – at approximately the location of the Phipps House, in lower left quadrant.

If you walk around the intersection, you can see the numbered markers corresponding to the info on the plaque.

Back to Frog Meadow. I took few pictures, because the B&B’s website has them and they accurately represent the grounds and rooms. (Ever had that experience when you make a decision to go somewhere and on arrival, find that the pictures in the brochure and what you’re actually seeing don’t exactly match up?) Dave and Scott opened their home as a B&B a couple of years ago when Dave’s job came to an end. He has also trained as a massage therapist, so in addition to providing lodging and weekend events, he has a studio on-site and can provide treatments.

The house is sited on a beautiful piece of property. This photo by me was taken looking up to the house. (Upper left window is the bedroom I was in.)

And here’s the view from the ground under the window.

There’s a small guest cabin near the stream that empties into the pond.

Also on the grounds are apple trees, and flower beds that I imagine are gorgeous when in bloom. (I was staying late in the season; the gardens were well over for the year. The colours in the deciduous trees were past prime.) I also really appreciated how quiet it was up there, and at night the stars were fully visible – no light pollution. Great place to stay, clean and tidy, and Scott and Dave are great hosts (Dave always helped me plan my route to where I was traveling), breakfasts were really good. (Dave understands how to cook scrambled eggs.) I slept like a log.

Dave gave me a very good massage: I could feel weeks of job stress falling off my upper back, and ended up with that nice zoned-out feeling that lasted for several days. I think it was the next day, late in the afternoon, that I was sitting on the side patio, thinking that I should be knitting something or reading something, and was instead quite content to smell the fallen leaves, listen to the birds, and watch the antics of the chipmunks racing across the patio and up and down trees, and to notice the changing colours in the landscape as the sun moved across the sky. It was really a great time…to just be in a lovely location, hosted by 2 handsome personable guys, and to not have to do anything other than show up for breakfast. (In retrospect, I should have flipped my trip and gone to Frog Meadow first, then Rhinebeck.)

Now if you go to the Frog Meadow website, you will see that this is really a great place for people who are physically active…you know, jocky, sporty types. Mountain bikers, cross country skiers, people who want to downhill ski at a nearby ski resort. I am none of those and I was somewhat concerned that I wouldn’t “fit”. Maybe things would be different if there were more guests (I was the only guest during my time there), but in all honesty I felt very comfortable, and I fully expect to return.

Thank you, Scott and Dave. You and your home touched me and influenced me in ways you wouldn’t imagine.

---

While in Vermont, I had the pleasure of a splendid visit with Jenny and Chris. Lots of conversation and ideas. Fabulous time.

Sadelle, Jenny and I met next day at Green Mountain Spinnery, which I’d wanted to visit for a couple of years. (Green Mountain makes a nice donation of yarn to the Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat.) Margaret kindly gave me a tour of the operations.

I think every knitter and spinner should visit a commercial mill to see how yarn is made; many mills will do tours provided you arrange a mutually convenient time. The operation is a worker-owned collective that sources raw fibers from within the USA (hence no silk in their yarns); there are appropriate patterns for their yarns, including the new book.

Well worth a visit; if you plan to be in there area, call ahead to enquire about a tour. Thank you to Margaret and Tedd for welcoming me and for the tour. I hope I didn’t ask any really dumb questions.

Sadelle, Jenny and I had lunch to the Front Porch Cafe in Putney.

I had a very good Rueben sandwich and when I went back the next day I had turkey with apple and brie on sourdough white, which was very good. Sadelle gave me a short lesson on supported spindle spinning. (You can download her tutorial on the subject from this post on her blog.) Sadelle used to make supported spindles; I was given one years ago, and Sadelle’s face simply lit up with a smile when she saw it.

We spun a bit. (That’s Jenny and Sadelle.)

I met Linda Diak of Grafton Fibers, who cards up batts of Corriedale fibers that are so beautiful you want to just put them in a bowl on the table and look at them. Grafton Fibers also makes excellent and beautiful wooden tools for knitters and spinners –superb knitting needles.

I’d prearranged the visit, as I wanted several batts and Linda kindly processed them while we chatted about life and the yarn biz. Thank you, Linda, for the generosity of your time. (Here’s Linda with Woody, who died the afternoon of my visit. Yes, she has a copy of this image.)

All good things come to an end. On Thursday I drove back through the mountains on Vermont Highway 9, across New York State and into Canada to stay over night with Alan and John.

---

Idle Musings and Random Thoughts From the Entire Trip

• Maybe it’s just where I was in Vermont, but I saw no grey concrete buildings. No concrete office buildings, no concrete low level apartment buildings, no concrete government offices. No grey concrete buildings. I’m sure they must exist somewhere in Vermont, but I saw none, and it was refreshing to my eye.

• Further, while in Vermont, I saw no big-box retail stores. Maybe it's just where I was in the state, but how refreshing to not see them.

• I am truly blessed with wonderful friends. I have more friends in the USA than in Canada.

• There is a saying that goes “I wish I could be the person my dog thinks I am.” My variation on that is “I wish I could see myself as my friends see me, because I think it would be through a more positive lens.”

• Back in the Spring I saw some yarn and immediately thought it would be perfect to work Nancy Bush's Ene's Scarf from Interweave's "Scarf Style". When preparing for the trip, I pulled the yarn, debated whether to work Ene's Scarf, thought about another design I'd like to work, couldn't decide, tossed a coin, and cast on for the other project. I worked on it a bit while I was away, and decided I didn't like it. So I ripped and cast on for Ene's Scarf, and have decided that my instinct was right about the yarn. I think it will make a splendid working of Ene's Scarf. The possible message here is that I need to be better about trusting myself about some things.

• Although I hung out with friends who are knitters and spinners and I had plenty of time and opportunities to knit and spin, I actually did very little of either. I’m curious as to why that is, and wonder what it suggests about my relationship with the crafts.

• I know a variety of people going through a lot of change right now. There's a saying that "a door opens when one closes." I think that might be true, but what I've been seeing is that sometimes you think the door is closed --and you're waiting for the other to open -- but you have to check whether the door is really closed. Sometimes it's slightly ajar.

And I'm back to the reality of life. Laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning the bathroom...

Rhinebeck 2009

Another NY Sheep and Wool is past. I’m sure there are plenty of reports about the crowds and the weather, so I’ll skip all that.

I left home on the Wednesday night and drove to stay overnight with Alan and John. Next day I crossed the border at Buffalo NY, and drove the across the state to Easton Mountain where I stayed for the weekend. I had my bran-spankin’-new GPS, and an 8 hour playlist on the iPod.

The GPS steered me off the interstate around Amsterdam NY and through some small towns, which was fine since I’d been seeing some dangerous driving on the interstate. That said, I was ready to be in the hot tub at Easton Mountain, and the trip seemed slow. It didn’t help much when I ended up in the school zone of a small town. I was driving up a fairly narrow street with 2 cars behind me and saw 9 school buses, each with lights and stop signs flashing, parked in front of the school on the other side of the intersection.

You can’t go past them; you have to wait. So I sat, and wondered how the GPS had managed to get me there. (Clearly there is a setting that has to be changed.) Then, in a perfectly choreographed gesture, the signs folded in and the lights turned off and the buses pulled out on their routes. Seriously; it was so amazingly well timed and sequenced that I wondered if there was a TV commercial being filmed.

With a few more twists and turns I arrived at Easton Mountain. John –who I met at the Spring Knitting Retreat– had driven in from Vermont, and after supper, Dave and Scott (who live at Easton Mountain) and John and I drove up to the coffee shop in Saratoga Springs for coffee and knitting. I don't have coffee. I get "Queen Mary" tea, and Dave doubles over in laughter when I order it. (Left to right: Dave, John, Scott.)

On Friday, Scott acted as tour guide and took John and me to the yarn shop in nearby Greenwich with a stop at the farm stand for cider donuts and apples. (I think we also stopped at the ice cream stand as well.) Jack rolled in about supper time. I knew Jack only from ravelry, and it was a delight to finally meet.

It was lovely up at Easton Mountain. The trees on the mountain were surprisingly green, but it was still unmistakeably autumn.

We attended Rhinebeck on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I managed to leave my wallet back at Easton Mountain. I’d repeatedly said I wasn’t going to buy anything, I was just going to see my friends and help other people shop. Thank you to whoever bought me lunch.

On Saturday, Joe chaired the info meeting for the Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat 2010; I waved at and shouted greetings with Chris at Briar Rose Fibers (her booth had been swarmed). I did the annual exchange of homemade preserves with Mel at David’s booth. I bumped into Beth, who had been called at the last minute to teach a spinning class and drove 11 hours to do so. A group of us went to the Olympia Diner in Kingston for supper on Saturday. (Let’s see, we had Mar and Jerry; Carol, Jim and Laura; Mark and J; and the 5 of us. Did I miss anyone?)

On Sunday we returned for some last minute shopping. Here’s the 4 bears, left to right: Scott, Jack, me and Dave. Thanks to John for the picture. (You will note that I had my wallet on Sunday.)

John and Jack left for their homes mid-Sunday afternoon. Dave, Scott and I went back to Easton Mountain, then up to the coffee shop for some late night knitting. Monday I headed over to Vermont. (Next post.)

A lovely time with wonderful people. I miss my friends.

I'm Back...

I blew in from Rhinebeck and south Vermont this afternoon. I had a splendid time: beautiful scenery, great friends, wonderful conversations, relaxation. Like I wrote: splendid.

While in Vermont, though, I learned a few things. I share these with you, as the CAA /AAA guidebooks do not tell you these things.

• Your GPS will likely not work with accuracy in the mountain country. I'm guessing that the satellites and the GPS unit can't always communicate due to the terrain. For parts of the trip, my GPS wasn't sure where I was and sometimes placed me on a road I wasn't actually traveling on.

• There are an assortment of roads in the area where I was travelling that date from the 18th Century, and are listed in public records as "highways", but which are poorly maintained or abandoned. When a Local tells you not to travel on a certain road, it is wise to do as you are told. By the Local, not your GPS.

• Should you prefer to believe your GPS and follow its instructions and take one of those abandoned or poorly maintained roads, you may find yourself with a fallen tree covering the road in front of you, and the road too narrow/winding/steep to turn around or back up.

• If you attempt to use your cell phone to call for help, you may find there is no signal.

I do not have a cell phone, and I believed the Local. You should too.

More later.

Plum Good

I'm dashing to get caught up and ready to head out in a couple of days to Rhinebeck, so this'll be choppy.

I had a few little purple plums remaining from the haul I brought back from my trip to see Alan and John, and decided that I wanted to try a recipe I'd read about in Richard Sax's Classic Home Desserts: a treasury of heirloom and contemporary recipes from around the world. The "All-Time-Best Summer Fruit Torte" originally appeared in The Elegant But Easy Cookbook by Marian Burros and Lois Levine, and Burros ran it annually for several years in her food column in whatever newspaper she wrote for. (I think it was the New York Times, but I'm likely wrong.) You can find the recipe here.

The torte is simplicity itself: a basic layer of cake on which you lay  pieces of fruit, dust with sugar and spice, and bake. In baking, the cake batter rises and tucks in around the pieces of fruit, and really, it's a lot better than this picture would lead you to believe.

The simplicity, though, presents the challenge. Anytime you have a very simple list of ingredients, they have to be fresh and high quality, because their flavour is the flavour of the food. Stale butter -- and I said butter, not margarine -- and tired spices will give you a flat, tired-tasting cake. Flavourless fruit -- meh.

The recipe calls for little purple plums: Sax's cookbook presentation calls for peach slices with a scattering of blueberries, and he also recommends apple slices with fresh cranberries in winter. I think pear slices dusted with cardamom would be very good. (Note: Check Sax's version carefully. In my edition of the cookbook, the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of baking powder. The online version, linked above, uses 1 teaspoon, and I think that's correct. I mean, it worked splendidly.)

Really; give this a try. It's great, still warm from the oven. Not so good, but still fine after it's cooled for several hours.

In Other News

While drawing up some new playlists for the iPod last night, I was hunting around iTunes and found a recording of oboe concerti by JSBach, performed by Marcel Ponseele backed up by Il Gardellino. (The CD link goes to Amazon.com: I don't know how to link to it in iTunes. Dear god, I am techno challenged...) Now the oboe concerti attributed to Bach are interesting, because while they are listed in the post mortem catalog of his ouvre, no autograph scores exist. Musicologists have "created" the concerti by reverse engineering other works by Bach, based on their understanding of his self-borrowing practices.

But what really caught my eye when scanning the track list, was the last track, an arrangement of Mahler's "Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen" -- one of the songs from his "Ruckert" cycle. I thought it wildly incongruous with the bulk of the tracks: Mahler composed the song at the turn of the 20th century; Bach was writing at the turn of the 18th century. The musical styles are, well, 2 centuries apart. The song setting we usually hear calls for a solo English Horn. The track information said it was arranged for Oboe da Caccia. I was intrigued, and downloaded the album.

The recording as a whole is lovely: the performances are bright and clear, and Ponseele is a gifted performer. It's a fine addition to your library. And the Mahler...wow. The arrangement works, totally, to my ears. (Well, the Mahler-ites won't like it, and I suppose that mezzo-sopranos won't be thrilled that the arrangement doesn't call for a human voice.)

But I realized I'd never heard a solo oboe da caccia. It has a completely different sound from the oboe and the English Horn, I expect because of the brass bell. I can't think of how to describe it: it doesn't even really sound like a double-reed instrument. Very haunting; very lovely.

There's another disc of baroque oboe concerti by Ponseele and Il Gardellino carrying superb presentations of 2 warhorses of the baroque oboe repetoire: the Handel g minor (the first movement shows Handel's brilliance for drama and lyrical writing) and the Marcello d minor. There are 2 charming concerti by Telemann: I'd not heard either. Also included are sinfonia from 3 canatas by JS Bach with solo oboe parts: these are virtuoso show pieces, and Ponseele gives achingly sensitive performances. Wonderful.

And the last track on this disc? An arrangement of Astor Piazzolla's tango "Oblivion". (Of course you know the piece. See this yootoob video.)  It's lush and elegant; flows beautifully. 

Both discs are highly recommended.

See you when I'm back.

Road Trip 4

Recently I hopped in the car and fired down south to Jordan Ontario to spend the weekend with John and Alan, who've just opened a small handspinning supply shop. I'd like to say that I took oodles of pictures, but I didn't. So you won't see anything. Apologies.

Jordan is in the wedge of Ontario that is south of Lake Ontario and north of Lake Erie. It's about a half hour drive from the border with USA at Buffalo and Niagara Falls New York, in the middle of what was once fruit orchard country. There are still a few small orchards growing peaches, plums, pears, some apples and a variety of vegetables, but much of the land seems to be growing grapes...and the area is chock full of small wineries, most of which many Ontarians will never have heard of.

In Ontario, the overwhelming majority of liquor sales are done through a provincial business called the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). Selling hard liquors and wines from around the world, LCBO stores are found in a huge number of Ontario cities and towns, and, if you want a bottle of booze or wine, it's likely where you're going to go. The problem is that a winery has to be able to guarantee a certain number of bottles to get shelf space in an LCBO store, and for small wineries this may not be possible. The LCBO may buy some stock from a small winery for distribution to a select group of stores, but it's by no means provincial distribution. Small wineries, then, are selling to restaurants, online/mail-order, and through the retail outlets on their own property. They likely have an on-site tasting room, and perhaps a small restaurant.

There: end of short lesson about Ontario.

Anyway, I wanted some time away from home, and Alan and John had graciously invited me to visit them in Jordan. I was interested to see how they'd set up the shop, as well as to pick up a few bottles of wine and some fruit.

The whole trip was very enjoyable, and I brought back peaches (fabulous baked in a cobbler), pears (fabulous when gently poached in a light sugar syrup and served with the syrup enriched with a drip or 2 of Cointreau), and little purple plums. (These are fabulous eating with a glass of port. Also good poached in a syrup enhanced with port. Or poach them in a little water, puree in the food processor, stir in a slug of ground cinnamon, and then serve warm with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. I tell you, the contrast between the warm spicy fruit and the cool bland cream is magic in your mouth.) The fruit stand I shopped at assured me that the fruit had been picked the previous day. While that may or may not be true, to my mouth, relatively freshly picked fruit that's had a few days on the tree to ripen tastes a lot better than the stuff from the grocery stores that was picked who-knows-when. Taste a tree-ripened peach and compare with what you get in the grocery store and you'll see what I mean.

I also came back with fiber. As I noted above, John and Alan have just opened The Fibre Garden -- and I mean just. I think they'd been open less than 10 days when I arrived. The website is still being set-up. (There's a ravelry group.) I came away with some California Red roving; North County Cheviot roving; bison/cashmere/silk roving, and; alpaca/kid mohair/merino roving. John and Alan want to offer some harder-to-find sheep breeds and interesting blends in addition to commercially available fibres carried by many shops.

And on the way home I stopped in to see K. and got caught up.

All in all, a very successful trip.

In Other News

The actual date is a national secret, and if I told anyone when it is, I would have to be killed. It was appropriately fêted by my coworkers and a handful of other people -- I've had 3 birthday dinners and have eaten far too much cake -- and I feel...well, 50 years old. I guess.

Talk to you all later.

I think I am going to buy a computer

Maybe. But I read the ads, and realize I have no idea what any of the terminology means, and then I don't know whether what I'm looking at is what I want. Or need. And then I get paralyzed, and don't buy anything.

I read that I can buy a 13" Macbook, 2.0 ghz intel Core 2 Duo; 2 GB memory; 160GB hard drive; superdrive; NVIDIA Geforce 9400M for $1389. I know the arguments for the Mac -- the elegance, lack of viruses, etc, but as I am staring at layoff shortly, a Mac is kinda outside my budget right now. (That said, the "NVIDIA Geforce 9400M" bit sounds very impressive.)

So, moving on. I read the ads from the local bigbox office supply store...

I can buy a 16" hp notebook; AMD Turion RM-75 Dual-Core processor with 3GB memory; 250GB hard drive; wireless "G" for $500.

I can buy a 17" hp notebook; Intel Pentium Processor T4300; 4GB memory; 320GB hard drive; wireless "N" for $700. (I like the idea of that, because I think it might be a good idea to have the extra inch.)

But then I see that I can get 16" hp notebook; Intel Pentium Processor T4300; 4GB memory; 250 GB hard drive; wireless "N" for $600. I wonder why I would want to have an Intel Pentium Processor T4300 rather than an AMD Turion RM-75 Dual-Core processor.

And then I see there is a Gateway NV Series 15.6" notebook with an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6500; 4 GB memory; 320 GB hard drive and that "N" wireless stuff for $700, and I wonder why Gateway charges the same price for a computer that is 1.4" smaller than the hp notebook.

I use a computer to email, surf the web, occasionally edit photos (using GNU or Irfanview); use a word processor, occasionally a spreadsheet and maybe a database. Also iTunes. I want to get KnitVisualizer 2.1 running, but in the past, it has balked on my existing machine.

Now when I say surf the web, it is not uncommon for me to have firefox open with 3 tabs. One tab could have this, and another this, and the last one, this. My existing machine c-r-a-w-l-s.  I'm guessing it's all the imbedded youtube videos. It's worse if I have eudora open for emailing at the same time. Usually I do.

The idea is that I want to replace my desktop with a laptop (or a notebook: and is a laptop different from/to a notebook?). I'm not sure a smaller sized laptop/notebook is necessarily a problem, since I'd like to have a full sized keyboard and a monitor of at least 19". (My existing 15" CRT monitor is nearly 10 years old, so could die at any time.) That way, at home I have full monitor, mouse, keyboard. On the few occasions I have the machine away from home I can make do with the smaller size of the notebook/laptop, which would be fine for all I'd be using it. (Since I don't expect to be travelling for business or anything.)

But I guess the real questions are, if I have a 16" laptop with 4GB memory and 320 GB Hard drive, do I want an Intel Pentium Processor T4300, or an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6500, or an AMD Turion RM-75 Dual-Core processor? And why? Or does it matter?

And do I want wireless "N" or "G"? And why?

Anybody?????

Thank you.