All posts by Jackie E-S

Jackie E-S is the owner of HeartStrings FiberArts, a showcase for her growing roster of original pattern designs. As a certified master knitter and teacher, Jackie continues to share her love of knitting and knowledge through design and publication of skill-building pattern instructions, and conducting workshops, programs and demonstrations. Her interest in the fiber arts extends beyond knitting and spinning to include weaving, dyeing and all needle arts. She also enjoys contract bridge and music.
Musings

Playing in the Leaves

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It’s been a long, long time since I’ve actually spent time in a Fall season setting. Watching the daily (sometimes hourly!) changes as the leaves turn colors is magical. And shuffling through piles of drying leaves, hearing their faint crackle and swooshing sounds, makes me feel like a kid playing in the leaves again.

Some of you might remember seeing an aspen tree in the photo I had of John’s patio with the cedar glider. See What is your favorite knitting spot?

Here are some more recent photos I was able to quickly take before leaving the beautiful Fall weather in Colorado last week to return home

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These childhood memories were the inspiration for designs in my Playing in the Leaves pattern. It’s been really, really nice to be able to relive some of those memories at John’s new house in Colorado this Fall.

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Cooking

Smashed Potatoes – Yumm

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John asked me if I had ever had Smashed Potatoes. He had seen the idea on America’s Test Kitchen a while ago, apparently. So yesterday we picked up some freshly-harvested red potatoes to try this simple-to-make dish for our evening appetizer.

Boil until tender 6 medium size freshly-harvested (and washed, lol) red potatoes with skins on.
Drain.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Coat baking tray lightly with oil.

Whole cooked red potatoes on baking tray - before and after smashing
Whole cooked red potatoes on baking tray – before and after smashing

Set each potato on the tray and smash it with potato masher to make a free-form pancake about 1/2″ thick.

Smash the potato to make a free-form pancake about 1/2" thick
Smash the potato to make a free-form pancake about 1/2″ thick

Drizzle with garlic-olive oil and Cajun spice mix (or your choice of seasonings).

Drizzled with garlic-olive oil and sprinkled with Cajun spice mix
Drizzled with garlic-olive oil and sprinkled with Cajun spice mix

Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until crisp.

Baked until lots of crispy edges
Baked until lots of crispy edges

Serve with dollops of sour cream.

Ready to eat!
Ready to eat!

What can I say other than deeee-li-cious. It didn’t take long for these to vanish. To me, it’s like potato pancakes with all the taste and crunch, but without the bother of a more formal preparation. Try it — I think you will like it!

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Beeswax Cakes for Crafting

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Look what I found for you at the farmer’s market today. Well, I actually wanted some for myself, too. LOL

Beeswax Cake

There’s been a lot of discussion on the Yahoo Laceknitters list this week about knitting needles. Then that evolved into talking about methods to smooth and wax bamboo/wooden needles. A popular question was about sources for beeswax.

It just so happened that while we were buying some local alfalfa honey at the market today, I also sighted these pretty little beeswax cakes for sale on the vendor’s table.

I couldn’t help myself but imagine what a pretty addition to the sewing/knitting basket. And beeswax is so useful, too, for our crafts.

I like that these cakes are pure refined 100% Beeswax with natural alfalfa honey scent. The slightly sweet, flower scent is soothing.

I’m planning to keep one handy for rubbing on my wooden and bamboo needles so the stitches glide more smoothly. This little cake is so much more elegant than the piece of inelegant wadded-up wax paper that I usually resort to.

I also know that beeswax is helpful to our crafts in many other ways, including beading, sewing and quilting.

So I bought some extra cakes for those interested. I think they are priced right to get one for yourself and even some more to gift your fiber-crafting friends.

Pure refined 100% Beeswax with natural alpaca honey scent

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Musings

I Love Yarn EVERY Day

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“I Love Yarn Day” is today, October 12th. The day that the Craft Yarn Council has designated to affirm our passion for yarn. Like I need an excuse, lol.

I think it is great to bring focus on something that can be loved. Like Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day, or …? Why not Yarn Day?

Strengthening the yarn industry is a good thing. Encouraging, preserving and advancing the skills in textile arts is a good thing. It’s about retaining the role of individual creativity in an ever-increasingly technological society.

Citing Rumplestiltskin when he expanded on the metaphor of  spinning straw into gold:

“Those who do it are really saying that technology will never entirely replace individual creativity”

How do I love yarn? Let me count the ways … (don’t have enough fingers or toes to count all the ways, lol!)

Or rather, just know that I have never met a “bad” yarn. Some of you might remember the motto from the Looking at Yarns in a New Way class that I used to teach:

There is no bad yarn, just yarn looking for a good purpose

So today, as in most days, I live yarn and do what I can to bring together people in many walks of life with the joys, skills, and inspiration of textile arts. In my small, humble way, this seems to be the inner core of what I was meant to do.

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Leisure & Travel

Smelling the Roses

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With some TLC, the little plot of roses went from bedraggled to bountiful

Taking Time to Smell the Roses
Taking Time to Smell the Roses

Figuratively speaking, this blog is dedicated to “Taking Time to Smell the Roses”. Thanks to John, I now have actual roses to continually remind me of my goal in finding balance in life and rediscovering the simple things in life.

These roses were originally planted by the former owner of the house that John recently moved into. After being neglected for several months in the gap between home owners, the roses were struggling. In a few short weeks and some TLC, the little plot of roses went from bedraggled to beautiful buds and blooms. All because of John’s “green thumb” and seemingly natural ability to coax the roses on a quick journey to health again, we are enjoying their varied colors and smells.

I wish I had thought to take photos before the early cold front struck CO last week. Most photos were unusable because the wind was blowing so hard! But here are a few to remind me and you of the mild days of fall before winter really sets in.

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