Needling You
Well, I’m nothing if not obliging, so per Ina’s request . . .
Here’s a picture of all of my darning needles. Two Chibis, a couple freebies, some generic straight ones, a fancy, hand-twisted one from Crown Mountain Farms, and yes . . . my magic, favorite, cheap, pink, plastic, Susan Bates darning needle.
I honestly don’t know why it’s my favorite. Certainly I don’t usually develop "favorites" for things like needles. Even when doing embroidery projects, I would start each picture with a fresh needle, use it for the entire thing, and then move on. I do think I like the little bit of flexibility built into the plastic needle, which just seems to "fit" the springiness of the yarn when I’m weaving in ends or sewing seams. And I do not like the bent-tip needles, which I do credit to all the years of using straight needles for quilts and embroidery and all those other hand-sewing things. I’ll use them in a pinch, but they’re not my first choice.
No, really, it’s the pink one I like the best. But not because I love it in particular. I’d really be happier having a collection of a dozen of them in case of loss or accident. But just because its size, shape, and "bendiness" just seem to feel best in my hand.
I know. Weird, huh?
Now, the good news is that I have tomorrow off from work. The bad news is that that’s because it’s Stollen Weekend.
You remember–my least favorite weekend of the year? The one I only put myself through because I love my father so much? Yeah. It’s that time of year again.
By rights, I should shut myself in a quiet, darkened room tomorrow to mentally prepare myself for the rigors of the weekend to come, but that seems a little melodramatic. Taking the day off from work, though? Perfectly reasonable! Then, tomorrow night, the dough gets mixed. (Yes, my KitchenAid hates this as much as I do.) The dough gets shaped into loaves on Saturday morning, and then, around noon on Saturday . . . it gets dangerous. That’s when I start putting them into the oven, which means that’s also the time that all able-bodied family members scatter.
Very wise of them, really.
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Tannenbaum.
House Calls
Hey, let’s have a stollen-along! I was planning to make julekage this weekend, the Scandinavian version of stollen. Not quite as dense as stollen (bakes in ~45 minutes), but still eggy and fruity. Maybe some virtual company will make your weekend less painful.
Oh no, not Stollen Weekend! Hopefully there’s a cup of Christmas Cheer waiting for you.
Hmm, I have at least one of those needles in blue and I never use it.
I have blue Susan Bates needles, too….and you can still buy them at places like JoAnn Fabrics and other places that sell Susan Bates… (some are harder plastic, but not all!)
Ohno! Stollen Weekend again? It seems like the last one was just yesterday . . .
I have at least one of those Susan Bates needles (maybe in blue)? I never use them, though — I really like the bent ones. Wanna trade?
I don’t make stollen (although I used to go through “Fruitcake Weekend” every year!) but have recently discovered a recipe from Bread Baker’s Apprentice for what he calls “Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Bread”. Dried cranberries, walnuts, and I add golden raisins. No candied fruit, but 3 TBSP of orange extract. Lovely dough to handle, not real sweet, sort of rich but not over the top. And can be shaped in braids or loaves. I gave a loaf to an elderly friend who lives in subsidized housing in town and she told me it brought her to tears because it reminded her so much of the stollen her German father used to get at Christmas, one of her fondest memories. It probably would’t pass muster in your house, but you ought to try the recipe some day. I’m making a double batch today for gifts.
Thanks for the needling. I think I have some blue ones. If I can find them, I’ll send ‘em along for your collection. That’s a big IF, though.
Said from a safe distance: good luck with stollen weekend!!!
Have fun, Deb! I plan to make cheese wafers. I admired my (1) pink plastic Susan Bates needle last night, but had to use a smaller metal one to graft a sock toe.
I’m sorry, but I look forward to “stollen weekend” every year. I just wish I could taste your stollen. If nothing else, it’s terrific blog material.
Good luck with the Stollen. Yum yum. Perfectly reasonable to take off work to bake. I take off work sometimes to knit (e.g. a mental health day). You sure do have a lot of darning needles!
Good luck with this year’s Stollen!