I am not sure if this is true for you, but the season seems to have sped up. The very hot weather has made plants and trees believe it is early autumn. Blackberries and plums appear to have ripened almost a month ahead of time. I’ve had a few days off this week and have used the time to do bit of experimentation with autumnal crochet and to enjoy one of the my favourite activities…jam making.
Some friends of mine have a beautiful old plum tree in the garden and kindly offered me their crop to make some jam. Usually at this time I make raspberry jam, but having some fresh fruit straight from the tree couldn’t be missed. All the better because I could spend some time preparing the fruit and standing over the pan. Making any kind of marmalade or jam is a bit like alchemy. You are creating a preserved pot of captured flavour. But I can never guarantee how it will end up. The acidity of the fruit, the colour, the depth of flavour… or the distractions of the door bell…taking my eye off the boil. These are all factors that change the end result.
In all of the preserving books they suggest that for plum jam, you take a nut-cracker and open up the plum stone to release the kernel inside. This is about the size of a pine nut. You then cover about 2-3 of these in some boiling water and leave them for a couple of minutes. After a while you remove the outer skin. These pure white nuts are then added to the boiling jam. I had never appreciated that they smell exactly like almonds. A beautiful strong smell of marzipan. Incredible.
On the hook, I have been inspired by the soft tones of the flowers in our garden pots. I have some balls of Stylecraft Grace which I have been playing about with. This is a mohair aran yarn. It has beautiful subtle tones and I know it will make a lovely scarf for late autumn. I have begun my making… but on hotter days this project is set aside for other less sticky pursuits.
In the midst of pattern writing and checking of the Stargazer blanket, I have two new ideas of blankets in my mind. One has knitted squares another is new crochet patchwork pattern. My mind flicks between the two.
So there you go at least 3 projects on the go and other pattern checking and preparing for pattern releases in the Autumn. I wonder if this is my favourite part of the yarn year. We seem to be on the cusp of the next season and my mind turns to cosy plans. What have you got on your hook or needle? Has the next season begun for you too?
We are going thru an early season here in Tennessee,too! It has seemed like Sept. the whole month, if not Oct.! the bugs sound like that time of year, too. Some years are just like that.
I haven’t had home-made Plum Jam in donkeys! You can get a very nice Damson one in the supermarkets though. I find the summer very difficult because my hands sweat too much crochet, but I’m always thinking of it and what I want to do next, so although there is nothing technically on the hook at the mo’, there is always something that wants to be!
Pretty!!!