4H April 5, 2011

Through my husbands carpool friend, I’ve been offered the opportunity to get some fleece from a local 4-H. My husband brougt this up by saying i’d be getting some lambs fleece and could possibly get enough to also sell. Now, I’m not one to turn down free gifts, specially wool. What he failed to find out was that because these are 4-H sheep, the sheering can be sloppy (lots of 2nd cuts), the sheep are definintly muddy, and what breed they are.
The 4-H teacher (coach?) has offered me 2 bags full, so far, and my Mr. is going to be bringing them home any day now. I did get to meet the sheep and lambs and they were adorable. Definintly raised for meat and not fleece. The were pretty dirty, and afew had some pretty creative hair cuts! One lamb was particularly friendly, butting us for head rubs and trying to teeth on coat buttons and finger. I also learned that they are Hampshire breed (a down sheep, fleece being on average 54-58 counts and 30-26 microns) and got to handle a little bit of fleece.
If I am able to get a bunch, I’m planning on washing it well and then offering it for sale with 50% of the proceeds to be donated back to the 4-H.

Here is that friendly lamb:

Shop Update! March 10, 2011

I’ve been busy!

I really love all the colors that I’ve done recently, and I’ll be adding 4 new listings of fiber, hopefully by Tuesday! I’m waiting patiently for them to be fully dry, then I’ll get nice photos up and have them listed here on the Shop page. These are all punta* combed top, and definitely felt-able! Here is a quickie photo of the fibers, hanging to dry:

top-bottom: Citrine, Mojito, Ocean, Amethyst

 

I had fun trying different method on each piece, and it was interesting to see how they each turned out! Hope you enjoy spinning these as much as I did dyeing them!

 

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*‘Punta’ is a name given to a blend of medium fine wools from South America, with counts in the 60′s, and similar to average merino.

Happy Halloween! March 10, 2011

Getting ready for this Halloween seemed never ending! Miss M decided to be a cupcake this year and with some searching through google, I found instructions for making a costume. I had to substitute some materials, since we are likely to get rain here on Halloween, and paper costume would fall apart after 5 minutes. First, she chose to be a chocolate cupcake, so off to Joanns we went to get chocolatey brown fleece.

I read the directions, felt good, and proceeded to cut, sew and stuff the ‘frosting’. Unfortunately, I failed to read about adding 6 inches to each piece, and had to start over. Back to Joanns, and this time she chose bright pink, to be a strawberry cupcake. Carefully measuring and cutting this time, I sewed and stuffed just the two larger pieces, as she is too small to have a stuffed piece around her neck, it would have just been too high for her to be comfortable!

With her help, we glued on 18mm flat backed gems to be the sprinkles, and she’ll be wearing a cute cherry hat I knit for her.

Since I had almost a full yard+ left over, I decided to make her a matching sweater to wear under the costume, to keep her arms warm. I used a well fitting sweater as a guide, and traced it and took some measurements from it. After sewing the pieces together, I then added a blanket stitch around the edges, and added a knitted cuff, hem, zipper band and collar. I used the only zipper I had on hand, a adjustable length (but not separating) one. Good thing she can pull it on with out undoing the zipper! I plan on changing it out later, and maybe adding some cutesy black embroidery to jazz it up a bit.

doesn’t she look thrilled?

 

She was invited to a Halloween party on Saturday as well, and decided she wanted to be a Fairy Princess Ballerina. It’s never really simple with her lol. So we cleaned up last years costume and she added a crown, a wand, and I dolled her up with some rosy pink cheeks and sparkly eyeshadow. She went with her cousins, E (a monkey) and K (a witch), and their friend M (Iron Man):

 

The Saturday Party Gang

 

The Trick or Treat Gang

The Mr. and I also dressed up. I was a chef (I did make a huge cupcake! ) and the Mr. was a back-ally Dr (I know…)-

 

After trick or treating with friends and cousins, me and the Mr. went to see Saw 7 in 3D with friends. Seeing these movies has become a yearly event with us, so now, since the series is over (?) we’ll have to see what comes out next year!  It was just as gory as the other ones, and the 3D effect was used well. Definitely some jumping and screaming! We did luck out by going to a late showing on Sunday, in that there was practically no one there.

 

Hope you all had a great weekend!

 

Picking Pumpkins March 10, 2011

We love to visit actual pumpkin patches and this year decided to find one closer to home (we usually travel to ones farther out but were a bit crushed for time, as well as just wanting to be a it more fuel conscious). Mr found the patch info online, and off we went! It was lightly raining on the way, but we held out hope it would stop long enough for us to get some pumpkins and get home. We were lucky..

They had a field on one side of the road, and then a nice and neat area where you could browse pumpkins, try out the mini pumpkin sling shooter, and a corn field maze as well. The big box of tiny pumpkins were very popular with the little kids. M had 3 in her hands before I could even get the camera ready to take her picture!

 

I leave the carving up to the Mr. and Miss M. I do help (when asked) to draw faces or come up with ideas. While Mr. carved, M decided to draw pirate vampires on her mini pumpkins and add a big pirate on the back of Mr.s pumpkin.

 

Hope you have a Spooky (and safe!) Halloween!

Whiskey River Beach March 10, 2011

We recently went to Whiskey River Beach for the weekend with some friends and family. It was so much fun! We had rented 3 cabins, two on the beach and one, Look Out cabin, up on the hill. It was very cool having the waves break so close to the cabins, and the next time we go, I plan on staying in one of those, I imagine the sound of the waves would be nice at night!

 

The kids all had a great time looking for special rocks, shells and going on ‘adventures’.  After the first day, M had a pile of rocks and shells she had found on the beach. She also liked seeing the bald eagles flying, as well as the sea gulls. We even saw  family of otters!

 

 

The kids all loved the cabin with an upper loft space, where they could play and dangle a jump rope-tied monkey over the side, trying to tease the grown ups.

 

One night we went out when the tide was very low, and it was very dark, to walk ‘under water’ and see what we could see. We did find a little star fish and lots of sea grass. Not a whole lot more. It might have been better if we had taken more than one lantern! The flashlights just were not bright enough to really offer more than immediate light for walking.

 

 

The cabins were all pretty well stocked with dishes and cooking utensils as well as pots and pans. There were small fridges and an oven/stove in each cabin. Most also had wood stoves, as well as outdoor fire pits (bring your own wood for out side). The kids loved making s’mores and M loved to pay inside where it was always nice and cozy.

 

 

We loved the trail from the beach to the Look Out cabin, where you can see it perched atop the hill. That particular cabin does have electricity, so no soft glow from oil lamps and fire light, though you could if you brought your own, and chose not to use the electric lights…

 

 

All in all, we had a lovely time, and it was very quiet and peaceful, even with the seagulls !

 

I hope we can go back again, maybe in the summer next time. There are a lot of relaxing places to walk too, a nice small town near by and of course, the cabins are sweet and cozy and perfect for a quiet weekend of snuggling and staying indoors.

Dyeing with Lichen March 10, 2011

This Summer, the husband and dad decided to cut down a tree that had seen it’s last Spring.

 

The tree was a fantastic shade tree with three central trunks that gave the appearance of a nice seat. Unfortunatly, it didn’t return healthy this Spring, so it needed to go. The tree was very tall, probably 30 feet at least. I collect as much of the lichen as I could find as then cut it down and sawed the limbs up.

 

I weighed it prior to soaking it. I had collected just 20 grams.

I did some research online, and was dismayed to find very little information. I decided to do an ammonia and water soak. I poured 2 cups of ammonia and 1 cup of cool water into a bottle. I then added the lichen. After closing it up again, I gave it a good shake. I continued to give a shake everyday for a few weeks. TYhis served to airate the liquid, and make sure the lichen was well soaked.

 

I figured the dye was ready when I no longer noticed much change in the color of the liquid. I soaked 15 grams of sock yarn in water that had alum (a mordant) mixed in. I let it soak over night:

 

 

The next step was th pour the dye into a non-reactive container ( I used a plastic bowl) and to strain out the lichen:

 

 

I added the yarn and a generous ‘glug’ of vinegar to acidify the dye bath:

 

 

I let the skein soak for about an hour, and it had pretty much reached it’s final color, though I decided to make sure, by putting the dye bath and ayrn into the crock pot to add heat. I fiured it couldn’t hurt, and may well help set the dye better:

 

 

I let the pot heat completly, then turned it off and let it cool over night. It did appear to have gotten darker, but after the first cool rinse, it lightened back up:

 

 

The final color is a very soft mauve. It would be great to learn a bit more and purhaps be able to get a much more intense color from thelichen. I wonder if cooking down the liquid and then using it would be beneficial? Anyhow, here is a shot of the final yarn, destiny unknown:

 

Summer catch up! March 10, 2011

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve posted! It’s just so easy to post daily bits on Facebook and share photos there too. I think I need to make this a weekly posting. Saturdays should be good. Lots of late night time to do so.

Summer has been great, lots of family time and hanging out. We even went to Idaho for a nice break. Rafting lazily down the river has to be one of the best ways to spend a warm summer day!

I have been pretty productive lately too! After picking a bunch of blackberries with the kids, I decided to make a batch of jam. I modified the recipe to use limes instead of lemons (it was what I had on hand), and just before pouring into the jars, I added the zest of both limes. It was genius! The zest became a bit crunchy and adds a great zing when you get a bit in your bite. I will definitely be doing that again!

I also made a batch of blueberry jam, using the immersion blender to get it all nicely smooth with out having to strain any bits out. It’s fantastic on sandwiches as well as a little bit stirred into yogurt. I may be able to make a batch of huckleberry jam next year, as my dads co-worker has a couple of bushes on his property! We got to eat a few today while we visited and cut up some wood for the winter.

The last batch of jelly was pepper! I used 4 ounces each of jalapeno, red bell, and yellow bell to make the jelly. I didn’t get the peppers chopped as finely as I had planned, so next time I think I will try using the blender (or small food processor if I can find it!). It has a mild heat and sweetness, tastes great with cheese and crackers, ans I suspect would be delicious as a sauce on chicken or pork.

 

 

Up next! Dyeing with Lichen!

She’s Four!! March 10, 2011

My little one will be 4 on Wednesday. It really it true about just how fast time flies by. I remember right after giving birth, asking the midwife if I could go home yet.

M is always a delight, singing, sharing things she finds delicious, loves reading books, dinosaurs, princesses, cartoons, swinging, helping to garden (she’s going to grow watermelons this year!), and loves to play with her cousins. Her favourite ice cream is chocolate, she loves broccoli, carrots, and peas, loves meatballs, and usually only eats the frosting from cakes or cupcakes. She loves to meet new kids, so playing at the park and going to Story Time at the library are favourite activities.

We were planning to celebrate M’s birthday at the park, but due to the weather, it’s going to be at Chuck E Cheese. I’ll still be making her a fun cake (this year it will green with a Tom and Jerry figurine on top) and we hope to have lots of family and friends with us.

Her first big girl decision? Getting her hair trimmed! We’ve been suggesting top her that it was a great idea, and taking her with both of us frequently when we get our hair cut. M was convinced cutting her hair would hurt, and despite seeing that it didn’t, she kept saying “No thanks”. Suddenly, this past week, she decided she would be ok with getting her hair cut. I asked if she wanted to go with me, and I would go first, and then she would go. She agreed that that would work.

So in the chair I went, getting my hair cut, and she was the entertainment for the others sitting in the waiting area. She would show off her Ducky dinosaur, and tell them how she was getting her hair cut. Finally, it was her turn, and she climbed into the chair like a pro. She asked about the apron, and the neck tissue guard. She told the lady it was ok for her to spray the detangler, so she could smell like flowers.

This first snip!

The stylist attached the first snip to a little fold over card, and wrote down the time, place and date of her first hair cut, which will go into her baby book.  M said “It didn’t hurt!” when the stylist showed her the first cut. She was a really good listener when ever the stylist asked her to move a certain way, or look up or down. She was also surprised at the hair on the apron and floor when it was done.  Afterward, she got to pick a sucker for being good, and showed off her new hair to everyone once we got home.

Duckie approves!

No more split ends and hopefully, less tangling!

So here is to 4 years, and to New and BIGGER adventures M!

Homemade Laundry Soap March 10, 2011

I’ve noticed lately that my psoriasis seems to be more irritated lately. I suspect it is the laundry soap we use. (It’s usually the cheapest, Sun?) After a few forum chats about being greener, saving money, being more self-sufficient and making instead of buying…laundry detergent came up a few times. Enough times that I thought it would be worth the effort to try it out.

 

A few people would post recipes or links to such (like this, I used recipe 1), and they are  all usually variants on the same.

 

What you’ll need:

a bar of soap 4-5 ounces (make sure it is labeled as SOAP). I used a bar of Dr. Bronners Peppermint soap:

A box of Borax. I used 20 Mule Team Borax:

Be aware, that they are changing the look, but not product. The new boxes are mostly white, with light green and the name is slightly less prominent.

You’ll also need washing soda. NOT the same as baking soda! I used Arm & Hammer:

 

I didn’t have a bucket, so I went to my local hardware store, and picked up a 5 gallon bucket, and lid. I also bought a 1 gallon water jug, to make measuring easier.

In a pot, you need to heat to boiling, 1 quart (4 cups) of water. While it is heating, grate you bar of soap. This step makes it easier to melt the soap in the water.  Once you are done grating the soap,. add it in thirds, stirring and making sure each addition has disolved. After the last of the soap has been added , turn off the heat, and let the soap water finish combing.

In your bucket, add 2 cups of the Borax, and 2 cups of the washing soda. Mix them and then add the hot soap water. Stir this and get the powders dissolved as best you can. Add a gallon of hot water, stir and then add a 2nd gallon of water.

 

That’s it! Let it cool before you use it, and it only takes about 1/4 cup per load of laundry. The best part is that you can customize each batch using a soap you like, or that suits your skin (fragranced or not!). You can even add essential oils once the mixture has cooled, 10-15 drops per 2 gallons.

 

I am planning making a batch using Pears soap.. It’s so easy to make, that I am almost disappointed that I have to wait to make another batch!

 

Easter…(2010) March 10, 2011

I hope, if you celebrated the past holiday, that you enjoyed yourself! We went to an Easter Egg hunt event put on by a local radio station, 100.7 Wolf. The Mr. heard of it on the radio, and decided he wanted to check it out instead of our regular egg hunt at our community church, Sound Life.

We arrived early to the park, in order to have lunch and let M run around and have a bit of fun. After eating our lunch, we took a walk and M saw a gazebo. She was excited that she could get in it, and pretended it was her house. We then walked over to the egg hunt area, and I began knitting on a scarf, while M and the Mr. played tag, and she also picked some little daisies for me.

The crowd just continued to grow larger and larger as we waited. The station started to play music for the crowd, as well as hand out stickers, rub on tattoos, and a few other mementos. The egg hunt was to start at 1 pm, and the radio station announced that the host of the even, Fitz, was yet to arrive, so it would be slightly delayed (about 10 minutes). I asked Mr. if he wanted to stay, and he said yes, since M was excited to hunt for eggs.

When Fitz arrived, he went of the rules again ,and announced the prize giveaways (a bunch of different coupons for local businesses and Wii’s). Because of the Wii giveaway, the crowd was very large. Mr. assured me it would be cool, since the radio had been announcing prior that they would have thousands of eggs. He was (of course) still hoping to win a Wii, and M was just excited to find eggs, regardless of what was actual in them, though candy would be a big hit []

To our dismay, and the entire crowds, they station had only prepared about 5 half filled garbage bags of eggs, not nearly enough for the crowd of thousands who had shown up. I’d venture to guess they didn’t even had a 1000 eggs total. Because of the way this was set up, it was pretty doomed to be a big disappointment to the kids. With all the adults and teens, there was no way the younger kids would even get a chance to see the eggs, let alone pick one up. Mr. held on to M, and I decided to step out of the crowd. M was a little sad (she is a big trouper though, and didn’t cry, but did say she wanted to hunt for eggs). Mr said he saw people grabbing bunches of eggs, and a few smaller kids getting knocked over. Pretty sad what people will do just to win a damn gaming system.

Over all, it was a disappointment, because of peoples behavior. We saw posted comments afterward, of people complaining about the free prizes they got, as well as some generous people who gave away their eggs to cheer up other children. We left as soon as Mr. and M exited the egg hunt crowd, so we were not present for the aftermath. It seems a lot of kids got separated from the parents in the crowd, and as Fitz was trying to help, greedy people were more interested in getting their prizes, than helping families.

I really hope the station learned to be more prepared, and perhaps they also will wake up and realize that they have a LOT of listeners, and the events they put on will always draw a large crowd. I think they figured since it was not a big park, or a city location, that the crowd would stay small and be easy to control. Not so.

To make up for all of this, my sister and nieces came over Sunday, and we had a little egg hunt in the yard. The girls were excited to hunt for eggs they had dyed, and even picked real grass as the egg nests. It was better than Saturday, and and best because it was family.