OUR FIRST GARDEN PARTY

My daughter and I have been wanting to have a potluck garden party for years but it's complicated since our entire backyard is forest and native plants with our man made trails going through. It's filled with pollinators, stinging and biting insects; all things we choose to attract with native plants but don't coexist in close proximity to people and our food very well. This year, since it's the 3rd year of the drought, we aren't getting the abundant wasp population we normally have because the Joe pye weed and goldenrod are a bit behind the blooming schedule so we had a chance to carve out a spot for a party. We removed a bunch of mint and chives to locate elsewhere and then cleared the ground for tables. Our little party was nestled in among the plants and everything went great. We didn't see a single mosquito, YAY, and only a few insects appeared to sniff at the food. 

We had a lot of crafting with friends. We're so grateful for wonderful people to spend time with creating in the beautiful outdoors. 

Painting by Maya Valadez

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CANDLE MAKING FUN, THANKS TO MY DAUGHTER

 I've wanted this candle making kit from Bramble Berry since last Christmas. I was happily surprised when my daughter gifted it to me this year. I enjoy making candles and this kit takes all the work out finding the right wick to go with the wax and size of container. They came out beautiful!

The best part is the fragrance and eco glitter. The fragrance is heavenly and the glitter adds that bit of sparkle that every candle needs. Now I need to stock up on everything in this kit to keep making these. I'm sure that's the point of the kits, right?! They want you to love it so you keep buying more. 😂 Nice work Bramble Berry, nice work! 

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WHEN CHRISTMAS SNEAKS UP ON YOU

 Oh my gosh! This is the first year that Christmas has snuck up on me. I'm usually done shopping for prezzies by the last week of November and at this time I'm watching Christmas movies by the fire and nibbling on the cookies I baked, but I'm sooooo behind. I thought I had at least a week and half beforeChristmas but realized over this past weekend how wrong I was. I finally finished making my Christmas cards so hopefully they make it to everyone on time. I'm relieved I got the cards done because it's the one of the things I really enjoy doing making this time of year and I think people really love receiving them.

I'll start my shopping tomorrow.  

P.S.

I did manage to decorate for Christmas the first week of November though so I'm not a total failure this year. 😀

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I'M FINALLY GOING TO LEARN HOW TO SPIN ON A WHEEL!

I am so excited to finally have my own spinning wheel. My friend Susan gifted me this Ashford Traditional spinning wheel a couple days ago. It just needs a few minor repairs and then I can begin spinning. I've been spinning wool for several years on a top whorl drop spindle but it has always been my goal to learn the wheel. Wheels are quite spendy and they look kind of complicated so I've never purchased one. Now I have my own and can't wait to make the repairs and get spinning. 

Today I'll be ordering the pieces I need to get it up and running and I'll make sure to share my progress.

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ETSY... DANGEROUS PLACE TO VISIT

I need to stay away from Etsy.  Just a few seconds on there and the next thing I know I have a dozen new knitting patterns, a few sewing patterns, some incense, a new shirt... Oh my.  I am NEVER going on there again.

But, in the meantime I bought and made THIS cute little penguin rice heating pad pattern.  It is super easy and the instructions are very clear.  I'm just not great at sewing so I'll need to make a few more to perfect it.  I came close though, right? 

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THE NON SEWERS GUIDE TO MAKING A DOGGIE BELLY BAND

I like to pretend I know how to sew but truth is I'm really no good at it.  I wish I could make fancy clothing or a nice set of drapes but my skill level only allows for sloppy doggie wraps and maybe a tiny hand bag that small children will like.
Doing this post for my friend Julie, my sewing "lingo" is my own, I have no idea what the proper verbiage is for those that actually know how to sew.


The best type of fabric for the belly band is a thin fleece because it is soft against your dogs skin.

Cut two pieces of the same size fabric.  The size will depend on your dog.  I cut two pieces that measure 17" long and 6" wide (remembering the seam allowance of 1/4").

Then I line the two pieces of fabric up together (right side in)

Next, I sew three sides of the rectangle (1/4" seam allowance) leaving one 6" end open to flip right side out later.

After you flip the sewn piece right sides out then you'll bend in the edge of the open pieces of fabric and sew closed.

Then when you are done with that you can apply velcro to each end of your belly band.  I use velcro with adhesive and although the package says it does not need to be sewn on I have found that to be NOT TRUE.  If I don't sew the velcro in place it comes off in the wash so definitely sew it on.  

I sew one line on each side down the full length of the belly band so it goes over the ends of the velcros and then I sew across the width of the fabric through the velcro also so it remains firmly in place.

This is what it looks like when all finished.

P.S. Don't forget the pantie liner that goes inside the belly band to absorb urine.

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CHRISTMAS TREE CANDLES

It's always fun to see what people do with their Christmas trees after the holidays.  If you ever go on Pinterest you'll find some really cool ideas or just surfing the web you'll find some interesting ways of making your tree last.  This is one thing we've done with ours.

Step One: Cutting the tree trunk

Step Two: Decide where to drill cavity for candle.

Step Three: drill candle cavity

Step Four: drop in candle and you now have a rustic, natural candle holder and it took less then 15 minutes :-)

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DIY VANILLA EXTRACT

My daughter and I made some vanilla extract again this year.  We'll be giving these bottles away at Christmas time. 

Last time I made vanilla extract I purchased beans from Beanilla, I really wanted the Mexican vanilla beans at the time but they were all sold out so I bought the Madagascar beans instead.  I found that I really loved the way the vanilla turned out so I ordered the same this year.

I learned I could make my own vanilla from someone on Twitter.  Prior to that I would always buy the McCormick brand from the grocery store.  What I don't like about the cheap commercial vanilla extract is the ingredients tend to be vanilla bean extractives, alcohol, water, and corn syrup.  Why eat corn syrup when you don't have to?

So...I figured if I didn't know I could make my own then maybe others didn't know either, so here is a little tutorial.

What you need: vodka (40%), 4 oz. bottles (mine are from Specialty Bottle), and vanilla beans (mine are from Beanilla).  Beanilla also has instructions on making vanilla extract 

Once you've opened your vanilla beans cut them in half.

Then slice each one down the middle (do not cut all the way through, just slice the first layer)

Open the bean (the inside is where the good stuff is).

Put 5 of the cut beans into each jar.  I had a package of 10 vanilla beans so I ended up with 20 pieces after I cut them in half so I made 4 jars of vanilla extract)

Fill each jar with vodka, make sure you cover the beans.

When you are done filling the jars, cap and label them.  Put them in a dark cool place to sit for 6 weeks.

Here are the labels I made for my vanilla extract.  If you want to use them just CLICK HERE, print on sticker paper and cut out.

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PROCESSING WOOL: PART 2

I finally moved on to washing the raw wool. The first bag was pretty clean. I wish I knew who I bought that particular bag from because that person takes immaculate care of their sheep. The second bag was pretty awful in terms of lanolin - maybe it has to do with the type of sheep??? I have no idea.

So... part one: pick through raw wool to get rid of particles like hay or poop. Part two: wash wool. 

I thought I ruined my first bag of wool because it looked felted when I removed it from the wash basin but once it dried it was absolutely fine. A few felted spots but not too bad.  The second bag I didn't poke at as much so it didn't felt at all but I have to admit that I really don't like the color. I wanted wool I could dye and the second batch doesn't seem suitable for that.

First bag of wool washed

I used a mesh bag to put the wool in. I learned quickly that I put too much wool into the mesh bag, should have just used a few ounces or else a larger bag. 

I filled the basin with water at a temp of 130 F and added the fleece scour solution.  Lastly I added my little bag of wool and watched as the water turned fro clear to a yucky yellow. The whole house smelled like sheep butt thanks to the steam coming off the water. That's ok though because I love sheep butt :-)

I turned the bag a couple times in the 30 minute soak and then transferred the wool to another basin full of clean water and fleece scour and turned once in 15 minutes. To finish I put the wool in a clean rinse basin and pushed it around a few times until I felt the wool was free of the fleece scour solution.

When done I just let the bag sit in the sink and drain out, when it drained as best as it could I dumped the wool onto a towel and let it sit until it was no longer wet. Once dry I pulled it apart. Now, I have no idea if pulling it apart will make it difficult to card since I am new to all of this but I'll soon find out.

Carding will be part three :)

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I DID IT! I MADE MAPLE SYRUP!

After 30+ years thinking about it, I finally made some maple syrup. Don't laugh but here it is. This came from a silver maple tree in the city so we get the added taste of pollution too. Haha!

I boiled down nearly 2 gallons of silver maple sap and what you see above is what I ended up with (there would have been a little more but I ruined the 2nd half I boiled by getting distracted on the telephone - note to self: don't answer phone when boiling sap). 

My husband drilling a hole for the spile.  If you look closely you can see the clear sap rushing out of the spile as soon as we put it into the hole that was drilled.

I don't really care about the quantity this time around I'm just excited that I was finally able to do it. The syrup came from a single tap of my sisters silver maple so if I were to tap that thing several times I'd probably have had a whole bottle. This year was just a little experiment to see how the whole process went, next year I'll be on the hunt for sugar maples and I'll extract much more.

It took one week to get the bag as full as you see it in the picture. It would run ok for a few hours in the day (mostly dripping) but it was just too cold of an early spring to really get going. On the right I'm boiling it down. Next year I'll do it outside.

Since I only had about 2 gallons to work with I boiled the sap inside the house on my electric stove. It took a couple hours but it was fun. Aiyana was the first to sample the end result and her response was "it needs more sugar." My husband was the second person to sample and all he said is "it sure tastes different than the high fructose corn syrup version." 😂

This is my disaster. I'm starting to think disasters are a common theme of my blog. LOL! Of my life. LOL! With every new adventure I start off with a disaster. I thought today was going to be perfect, I should have known it was too good to be true. Second batch of syrup smelled good but turned out yuck and I wasn't sure how to keep going with it to turn it into maple sugar. For the record, I've learned to love disasters... it helps me learn quickly what not to do next time 😉

I'll be eating it (not the burnt stuff) over french toast this weekend.
Happy Friday Everyone!

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RAW FLEECE: PART ONE

I admit it, I'm a fiber hoarder.

I'm also a book hoarder, a yarn hoarder, a soap supply hoarder, a card supply hoarder and... ok, you get the point. 

Problem with raw fiber is you really can't hoard it for very long or else the moths move in so... after stashing this stuff away for nearly a year I decided it was time to deal with it.

Now... just in case you didn't know, this is my first time working with raw wool. I've been spinning fiber for a few years and decided last year while shopping around at the Shepherd's Harvest Festival that it was time to learn to process wool on my own.  It's fun buying fibers that are already prepared for you but I think doing it all myself will give me a whole new appreciation for sheep.  

Luckily, this batch didn't have any moths fluttering around inside.  Being the squeamish person that I am I begged Maya to take the bag outside and inspect it before I'd even touch it.  Yay! No moths! In fact, the wool had lost most of its sheepy smell and took on the scent of our house and that's nice, now I'm just working on picking out the poopy parts, which is called "skirting the fleece".  This batch of wool isn't very dirty so I'm thinking it was cleaned up pretty good before they sold it to me but it still needs to be plucked over, the short fibers removed and then washed to get rid of most of the lanolin. So when I call this "raw wool" it isn't anywhere near as raw as the stuff that would come straight from the skirting table right after the sheep is shorn.

Once I'm done picking through this batch I'll separate out the good stuff and then wash, card and dye it.  Stay tuned :D

Anyone reading this post ever process raw wool? Tell me about it! I want to know what your experience was like. 

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REAL FRIENDS MAKE SURE YOU NEVER STOP CREATING

I wish I had a bumper sticker that said real friends make sure you never stop creating or maybe even better would be real friends know that creating keeps you sane or something like that.
My friend Teresa over at Homestead Notes (growing, writing, creating) is the person my bumper sticker would be referring to.  When I was giving up on knitting, she mailed me a a pattern for knitted sox to keep me going, when I told her I wish I could bake like her she sent me an awesome cookie recipe to get me baking, and most importantly when I don't say anything at all she knows exactly what I need - like the wonderful wolf fabric she sent me yesterday.  It came at the perfect time, bringing a smile to my face after learning that the injunction to stop the wolf hunt has been denied.  Yes, fabric with beautiful wolf faces makes me smile in the midst of all the idiocy of hunting and trapping.

Teresa knows that one key to inner peace is being creative.  Whether that be writing, making soap, knitting or baking... creativity is the spice of life :-)

So this post is for you T - Thank you!!

The beautiful wolf fabric Teresa sent:

My first lace scarf.  I'm actually about to finish it and it only took me 2 months. Yay! (don't laugh but I'm thinking I might frame it. LOL!)

and... the awesome cards I received in a swap.  I don't have pix of the ones I sent to others but here is what I received back:

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FIBER COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE

While I was at Shepherd's Harvest Festival in May I learned that Minnesota had one Fiber CSA and of course I wanted to join immediately. I like the idea of raw fiber mailed to me every couple months for two reasons:

1. I can learn how to process the fiber from beginning to end.  I got the spinning part down but now I can learn how to wash the wool and card it, all without the need to own any sheep.

2. I get to experiment with different types of wool, different colors, and in different stages.  Some of whats been sent to me is raw and some is all ready to spin.  

I received my first bunch of fibers in June (also included was a nice knitting pattern for a wool sweater).     One bunch of fiber was a wool/mohair mix, colored beautifully and ready to spin.  The other bunch was raw lincoln long wool.  

If anyone is interested in a Fiber CSA the one I signed up with is Kindred Spirit Farm.  They send a variety of fibers (some dyed and some not) every two months beginning in April.  I missed the April deadline so I was sent my April and June portion of fibers together at the end of June.  Generally the fibers arrive at the end of the month (April, June, August, October, December, February).  Right now I'm waiting for my August shipment.  I've been pretty busy with other things so I haven't processed or spun any of the fibers but I'll be working on that next week :D

Does anyone else have a fiber csa near them?  I'd be interested in signing up for others - the more variety of fibers I can work with the better.

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FIBER FINDS

I wanted to share some of the cool things I picked up at the Shepherds Harvest Fiber Festival.  I haven't been motivated to use the weavette yet since I'm just getting over being sick but I couldn't resist spinning some new yarn.
I spent hours wandering around the fiber festival looking for romney wool because I had read that it was the best fiber for new spinners but out of all the vendors only one person was selling it and unfortunately it's not roving :(  I bought it anyway but have yet to try it out.  I'm thinking I need to prep it a bit before using it because there are bits of hay throughout the fiber.  Once I figure out what to do I'll probably attempt to color it.

I hunted forever and finally found a niddy noddy.  I learned the hard way that this tool is pretty necessary.  I wrapped my spun fiber around a book and then couldn't get it off.   With the niddy noddy I know just how much yarn I'm wrapping and won't have trouble removing it.

I also found a small weaving square.  I really really really wanted it and after many failed online searches I am happy to have found it at the festival.  Now I just have to figure out how to use it.  Should be simple.

One of my best finds didn't come from the fiber festival but I wanted to share it anyway.  I was browsing at the Yarnery on Grand and found some polwarth wool top.  I'd not read anything about polwarth but the label on the fiber said it was a long fiber which is best for new spinners so I bought it.  I'm soooooo happy that I did because, so far, it is the best fiber I have spun with.  I tried the Merino Wool after having such a great experience with the BFL but the Merino made me want to give up on spinning.  It was horrible.  I'm sure the wool is awesome for someone but it wasn't for me.  I later read that the Merino fibers are too short for new spinners and often lead to failure.  Now that I have the polwarth I am back to my spinning addiction :)  NOTE TO TERESA: this is the one I mentioned sending you if you'd like to try it.

If anyone is interested in learning to spin and feel like I do, that the wheel is way too expensive to begin with, I suggest picking up the book "respect the spindle."  I took a short spinning class but I found the book to be a much better teacher.  

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