Die drei Männlein im Walde/The Three Little Men in the Woods

The Sweaty Knitter, Weaver and Devotee of Other Fiber Arts

A professor of German language and literature at a well-known U.S. university recently contacted me with some fiber-related questions.

Preparing reading selections for a class, the professor read through stories by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.  Her specific questions arose from the story “Die drei Männlein im Walde” / “The Three Little Men in the Woods” (1812).

The professor asked why yarn would be boiled and why might it then be rinsed in a cold river.  The part of the story her questions came from is this:

In German:  Endlich nahm sie [die Hexe] einen Kessel, setzte ihn zum Feuer und sott Garn darin. Als es gesotten war, hing sie es dem armen Mädchen auf die Schulter und gab ihm eine Axt dazu, damit sollte es auf den gefrornen Fluß gehen, ein Eisloch hauen und das Garn schlittern.

In English:  So at last she [the witch] took a…

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Watch “How to Make a Paper Piping Bag” on YouTube

How to Make a Paper Piping Bag:

This is a lovely video showing how to fold a piping bag
I have become a little obsessed with making macarons; this batch isn’t my best as the almond was a bit grainy.
I used my piping bag to put in the filling- a dark chocolate butter icing.
I tried to dye them pink but it all faded during cooking

Watch this space for further installments! As Raymond Blanc says, you won’t get it right first time but persevere, and the mistakes are still delicious 😋

Stonehenge miniature

I always buy my mum a magnet for her fridge when I’ve been on holiday. This year we were staying at her house and we went to Stonehenge. I bought a little kit for a cross stitch magnet and put it together for her. It’s been a while since I’ve cross stitched as I’ve been a little distracted by knitting and crochet 😉
It was a kit produced by English Heritage, which manages the site, so I don’t know who designed it. I’ve kept the pattern as my children would like a little Stonehenge miniature. The DMC/Anchor colour numbers weren’t provided, just names but I have enough thread left over to be able to match it.
I enjoyed it so much, I might start a little tradition of buying a little miniature cross stitch kit of places we’ve been on holiday.