What Did She Do Today?

She Moved

Hi!  I'm back, but if you have this bookmarked with the typepad address you need to change that.  I'm at wordpress again, with ALL of my posts in one place, spanning more than 4 years!

HTTP://WWW.WhatDidSheDoToday.com is the URL, so come on over!

She Darned A Sock January 26, 2011

Honestly, I was pretty okay with the idea when I realized it would necessitate a trip to the antique store, maybe even a couple.  Add in my favorite handmade socks have a hole in the pad of the foot, and there was no turning back.  It did take a couple stops, but in the end Union Street Antiques in Rochester, NH had just the most darling darning mushroom and tonight I found a video with folks with British accents (very cool) and great close up video of how to darn a sock, so friends, tonight I darned a sock.

It's really not all that hard or time consuming.  I have no idea why folks speak of sock darning with such disdain.  Not, mind you that I hear of sock darning often, but when I do, it's not with kind words.  I enjoyed it, and am very willing to do it again, should my handmade socks need the attention.

For my first attempt, I think it came out pretty well.  I went with nylon sock enforcing thread, doubled, instead of using the original yarn. I figured that it would be more sturdy that way, and since it's the bottom of my foot, there was no need to worry about it matching, or showing.  Looking at it, I think I would have done myself a favor by going wider than the actual hole, as the yarn seems a little thin across the whole pad, not just where the hole formed, but they are wearable again, and if another hole shows itself, I'm confident in my ability to thwart it's expansion!

She Knit Alone in a Hotel Room January 21, 2011

The day started with a fabulous snowstorm, and I found myself, at the end, alone in a hotel room in Worcester MA.  The snow storm is evidently part of Mother Nature's "Oh, crap, NH got no significant snow in December, better make up for it RIGHT now!" Initiative.  We've had something like <insert absurd amount of snow here> in less than 2 weeks.  The trees look beautiful caked in white bliss, the children everywhere are squealing with glee, having nearly half the week off from school, and my dad has become his jolly ole' mid winter curmudgeon, grumbling about snow and cold...which incidently, since the man has lived in this State (very fine State indeed) all 60 something years of his life, barring a stint in the Navy in his early 20's, you'd think he'd be over the complaining about snow, but luckily, for those of us, who find it amusing, nope, he isn't.

The Muscovy are less than impressed, as well.

The snow cleared around noon, and the dedicated plow folks, of this fine State, had the roads clear and beautiful in time for me to reach Worcester MA, safely.  I'm teaching a beadmaking class tomorrow, and after dinner with the studio owner, and setting up the studio for the class, I made my way to my room, and got right to work on these fabulous socks, while sitting on this comfy couch.  This is the first, and it fits PERFECTLY!  More about them later, like when they are done, or at least more done.

She helped wrap trees and ate goose January 16, 2010

This morning began with the Underground breakfast.  I've mentioned this before, but for those who don't know, there is a local guy who makes a breakfast of local food, for anyone who wants to stop by and pay his cover charge.  It's all inclusive, and the meals are great!  I had the Ravioli Benedict, which was delicious.  I tried head cheese for the first time.  It's a bit salty, but quite yummy.  My husband shared some of his french toast, which had Bailey's Irish Cream in the egg mixture, and, I believe, amaretto in the butter, served on top!

Then to work...Our friends have a large number of fruit trees.  While talking with other friends, they mentioned that they should have wrapped them to protect them from mice, before the snow fell, and didn't.  It was decided the group of us would meet over there today, and get the job done.  Two dug the snow away and 4 of us, in teams of 2, wrapped aluminum foil around the bottom 2 feet, or so, of each tree.  This will, hopefully, keep mice, burrowing in the snow, from finding the trees and eating away the bark, killing the trees. 

It took us very little time to get the job done, with the 6 of us working together.  It's always amazing how fast things get done, and how much more enjoyable the task, when done with a group of friends.

After the wrapping portion we headed inside for some mulled wine, roasted goose, sauerkraut, and potatoes.  What a wonderful meal!  Earlier in the morning, some of us had been talking about how we had never had goose, and then we showed up to help, and were told that was what we were having for lunch!  I love when stuff like that happens.

Oh, so goose...it does not taste like chicken.  Actually it's pretty close to beef.  It is similar in texture, and flavor.  It was delicious!

Between today, and the amazing pot luck spread that was organized for my friends' birthday party, it was an amazing weekend for food.  On Friday night, the group of us were all enjoying what everyone had brought and marveled at what folks, with no culinary training, could do with real, wholesome, locally grown foods.  I can honestly say I've never eaten better at any time in my life, then I have overthe past year.  Local food is just yummier!

Oh, and Jessica and Abe loved their hand knit gifts!  Yay!

 

She Made Gifts January 13, 2010

It's kind of nice to have friends who don't really use the computer.  Don't get me wrong, I don't understand it, I don't know how they do it, and I have no desire to be like them, but it does make it fun when it comes to posting gifts you've made, before you give them, because you know they will not see them.  My friends, Jess and Abe, share a birthday.  That pretty much shows how "meant to be" they are...well, that probably isn't really a good reason to be with someone, but it's still kind of cool, and they are great together.  We'll, they are having their birthday soon, and January Birthday's definitely stir a desire to gift hand knit goodies. 

For him:  Man Hat.  That is the official pattern name, and it is free on a blog.  Cool.  I used handspun wool, from local sheep.  Fitting for the local Farmer, who helped feed my family last summer through his CSA.  It's simple, basic, brown, not dyed, warm, manly.  Perfect.  The yarn is bulky, 16sts/4", so worked up quickly and is very warm!

For Her:  She's my antique shopping partner, fellow lover of old things, textiles and warm colors.  So the Scrappy Scarf seemed perfect.  It reminds me of braided rugs, and looks woven, though it's not.  I was inspired by a pattern on Ravelry, but after reading the notes and looking at the projects, decided I didn't need to buy the pattern.  I cast on 330 stitches (I had a gauge of 5.5sts/inch), which gave me a 60" scarf.  I worked 52 rows, giving me 4 inches in width. 

Leaving a tail, for the first end of the fringe, I cast on 330 stitches.  Leaving a tail for other end of fringe, I cut yarn.  Using the same color, I work a row, alternating knit 1, slip one as if to purl with the yarn in the front, all the way across.  If I ended on a slip stitch, I just knit it.  So I knit the first and last stitch of every row.  Each row has a tail at the beginning and the end, so I started at the same end each time.  I worked 2 rows of the same yarn, then picked another yarn for the next 2 rows. Oh, I knit the slipped stitches and slipped the knit stitches, from the row before, so that the V and the Bar alternated, on each row...

When I was done knitting, I tied 4 of the fringes together to finish the ends.  Then I trimmed them so they were all the same length.  You can make this scarf with any size yarn.  Just adjust the number of stitches you cast on.  Figure your gauge/how many stiches per inch, that is A.  Then figure out how many inches long you want it to be, B.

A X B = C (or number of Stiches to cast on).

It's super easy.

All that calculating inspired me. I did the math and learned this scarf has 17,160 stitches! 

Won't the happy couple look great wearing their knits together!

Today was a snow storm, leaving somewhere over a foot of snow.  I kind of wish I ventured outside for some pictures, but I didn't.  I took the opportunity to knit the gifts.  It was kind of nice to get a snow day. Back to real work tomorrow!

Happy New Year!! January 9, 2010

Wow!  It's been a while, folks.  I've missed you.  Things have been busy around here, and I haven't been in the place of taking pictures and writing things down.  But I think I'm back now.  I guess time will tell.

What has happened...

I got all my Christmas Crafting done.  Knitting:  Shawl for mom, Sweater and a face cloth with the Charlie Brown Christmas tree for Christopher, Sweater, socks and hot water bottle covers for the girls.  Sewing: Topsy Turvy dolls for the girls, potholders for my cousin.  We had a lovely holiday season.  Every year I think of 10 new things I want to add as traditions, and realize they must be added NEXT year.  But the tradition we have of the advent is lovely, and still perfect for our family.   We did add the celebration of Saint Nicholas day this year, and I'm so thrilled we did.  We don't do the typical Santa thing around here, but there is nothing wrong with Santa.  He's a lovely, jolly ole' fellow, and his roots are so dear.  Adding the celebration is perfect.  Ewoyn had great fun being in on the game with all the rest of us, pretending that Santa left gifts for us, and getting excited.  I loved it.

The barnyard is doing great.  We have done all the processing for the year!  The ducks were a whole day with some lovely friends who came and made very light work of what could have been a daunting project.  It was great!  Christopher and I had a babysitter come Friday so we could process all the "of age" rabbits, save 3.  One buck who will find a new home, the next town over, with Natalie.  Two Does who may find homes with a couple other folks who want to start raising the Creme D'Argent on their homesteads! 

The breeding poultry are settled into their homes for the winter, and the Does are all bred, with babies due in February!  That is if they all took.  You never know with rabbits.  So you'll have to check back around Valentine's Day for baby bunny pics!

I'm knitting like a woman on a mission, lately.  I am done the body, and working on the sleeves of a simple black pullover, for myself, as well as a great scarf that uses up scraps.  These projects are both worked on small needles and I'm looking forward to them being done.  See, I went to the LYS year end sale, and broke the bank!  I have beautiful, colorfully, yummy yarn busting out of bags, begging to take the place of this simple black (kind of boring to knit) sweater.  The scarf is fun to knit, but it's done with leftover sock yarn, so it's SLOW moving, since one row is 480 stitches long!  Crazy.  But wait till you see it, it's worth it, I swear.

The Skunk Zoo is selling, and has found it's way into a few more local shops, and Husband and the girls are going to be making the rounds to a few more shops and book stores.  It's exciting!

I have not made the lemon curd, but I did juice the lemons and collected the zest so that I didn't have to worry about the lemons going bad.  The zest is in the freezer and the juice is in the refrigerator.  I anticipate making curd with Jessica, as we are going to have a day long Jelly/Jam/Curd day this month.  I have Autumn Olives, Elderberries, Strawberries, Peaches, Black Raspberries, Blueberries and Grapes, all in the freezer, waiting for the slow, calm days of January!

Okay, hoping to be back with pictures and daily musings!  I hope the last couple months have been good to you, and your celebrations were special!

 

 

She Filled her Home with Scents! December 19, 2010

The lovely lemons that fabulous Jennifer sent to me have been waiting patiently for me, while I ignored them, quite rudely.  We'll, I guess not ignored them, I did keep checking to be sure they were still looking plump and lovely.  Finally today, with Christopher and the girls off visiting family, I thought I'd make some Lemon Curd.  Wouldn't you know the day I need 6 eggs, those lazy girls popped out 1...all day.  I guess today all their cycles met.  I decided to juice and zest all the lemons, for safer storing.  I can store in the fridge for a couple days while I collect eggs, and when I'm ready, it will be there.  I'm so excited.

My Curd plans being foiled, and while making room in the fridge for the new jars, I noticed we are almost out of cough syrup.  That stuff worked amazingly well for Istra when she had the bout with the croup.  All the comments I read online had me very worried, barking cough bringing on gasping for air, up all night, scary and helpless mom's.  Eeek.  Not here.  We gave her 1/2 tsp every 2 hours and she only barked when she cried,  and her breathing was raspy and noisy, but she didn't struggle, and she slept through the night.  I was amazed.  Certainly that stuff hits some kids hard than others, but I really was impressed with the cough syrup. 

Cough syrup led to me remembering the slippery elm bark lozenges I wanted to make.  Great for soar throats, or upset tummies.  Rounding things out were two salve/creams one for easy breathing and soothing sleep for when congestion strikes, and one is for scrapes, or chapped skin. 

I'm feeling prepared for whatever the cold season has to bring.  Cough Syrup, throat/tummy lozenges, chest rub, chapped skin salve, and the elderberry syrup I canned over the summer.  Now that is a DIY cold fighting kit to be proud of!

Hot water bottle cover number one is done, and the second is on the needles.  The sweaters are blocking.  Things are looking good so far, I hope you are finding the same!

 

She Went to a Handmade Gift Swap December 17, 2010

Once a month I get together with a fabulously eclectic group of ladies to knit and eat.   A great group of gals, and a very talented bunch, as well.  Tonight we had our annual Christmas gift swap, which shows just how talented they are.  Though we all knit and that is the most common thread running through our lives, that isn't all we do.  Our swap requirements are that it's something we made.  It can be knit, but certainly doesn't have to be.  Last year I got a great sewn market bag, that I have used a whole lot this year. 

This year I came home with a knitted goodie!  fingerless gloves.  I actually helped pick out the yarn for these.  It's a pattern I've been considering knitting for myself, but it keeps being moved to the back of the list because I want sweaters and leggings and socks more!  So much to knit!  But now I have the perfect little gloves, and they fit perfectly, and the yarn combo is fabulous!

There was a sewn banner, 2 knitted cowls, another pair of fingerless gloves, redwork embroidery, embroidered ornaments, paper and glass ornaments, a sewn wine bag (filled), homemade jam, with an turned wood oatmeal Spurtle, a  sewn circular needle holder.  A very talente group indeed.

I decided to bring a glassy thing.  I made a necklace, but the bottom has a clasp that holds 3 emergency stitch markers.  I'll be making these to sell at Spinning Yarns, but this prototype was given away tonight.

I was able to finish Christopher's sweater tonight, and start on one of the girls hot water bottle cozies!  Can I make 2 before Christmas?  Not sure, but if I can great, if not, I'm not stressing.  I have their socks and sweaters done, and hey, who doesn't like a gift a few days after the big day?  I know I sure do.  While I was working on the first cozy, my friend Jen worked on a sock I'm making for Istra.  Jen finished the project she was working on, so was getting antsy.  I offered the sock and she added a few rows. Husband was amused that I had a "fun party knit" available. 

The Christopher and Eowyn's book is available on Amazon.com now! 

She Finished the Christmas Sweaters! December 17, 2010

Two Red Sweaters with White Snowflake buttons, all made by mama.  I bought the book "Phoebe's Sweater ", to make sweaters for the girls, and give them the warm woolies and the book for Christmas. 

I made Eowyn's first, then finished up Istra's, and I'm glad I did them in that order, since Istra's was smaller, it seemed to whip along, which is how you want things to go, when you are this close to Christmas. I used Cascade Eco+ from Spinning Yarns, of course.  It took 2 skeins for Eowyn's, but I was able to do Istra's with the rest of the yarn from Eowyn's, plus one skein.  Very economical!  I love that yarn.  I working on an adult man sweater...no more details than that before Christmas, with the same yarn, in a different color.

This is Eowyn's Sweater.  Istra's is the same, but needs 2 more buttons, to be officially done:

I love these sweaters and can't wait to see them on the girls.  I found there is now an adult version, available, and I'm seriously considering making one for mama.

How is the gifting going for you?  Are you making anything this year?  I still have a couple things on the needles, and a couple more I'm thinking of adding.  A little sewing tossed in, for good measure, and possibly some preserve making and baking.  So fun! 

Once Christmas is over, I have a list of things to knit for myself!

 

She Ate At Republic December 13, 2010

It's a sad state of affairs, really.  There is a little fabric store in Manchester that is stocked with bolt ends from NY.  In years past, it and it's predecessor, Lavine's, were bursting with all kinds of amazing fabrics, so many it was hard to narrow the pile.  It's still a great place, don't get me wrong.  There is a lovely assortment of fabrics, especially fleece, but their wools were lacking, and there is no hope for more to arrive, as the next buy is in Spring.  The reason for all this, is the fact that all our clothing is being made overseas, so all our fabric is being cut there too, hence not bolt ends.  It's sad really, not just because I don't have the amazing selection of fabrics I once did, at the wonderful prices; 100% wool suiting for $8.00 a yard!  Amazing.  But it speaks to a larger problem.  The US has given up so many of it's backbone industry.  It's a shame.  They did have new fold over elastic, so I picked up some tutu pink and a lovely steel blue.  A yard of flannel, but no wool.  The prospect of Joann Fabrics being my only garment fabric option is really getting me down.

On the flip side of all that doom and gloom was lunch!  Mom and I were trying to figure out where to eat, what would be the least offensive option, when I remembered an ad, or spot on NPR, or maybe it was an article, I read, or a combo of all of the above.  Republic, a new cafe/bar/restaurant on Elm Street in Manchester!

Local meats, produce (when in season), dairy products (including cheese, except parmesean), oh my!  The price points were fair and quite varied.  You could enjoy an appetizer or salad for less than $10.00, a sandwich or lunch special for around $10.00 or entrees in the $15-under $20 range, with one meal hitting $23.  Mom and I decided on the same thing, but it was delicious.  Farm Fresh eggs poached in a lovely tomato based sauce, topped with a piece of fried polenta and local mozzarella. 

We had a lovely chat with Claudia, co-owner, about their practices, and how things are going.  They have some great partner farms, that they list on a board in the front (I was very happy to see Brookford Farm listed, as Yogurt supplier), and she told us the story of a farm that they work with that is going to be making some changes to be able to provide a great amount of diverse produce through the entire calendar year, for 2011.  They are struggling with local produce now that winter has hit, but are still going strong with their meats, seafood, and dairy options.  I made a couple suggestions of farmers she wasn't familiar with, that might still have something other than squash (which she still has a source for).  She's excited with how well they did this year, and anticipates even more, next year.

I highly recommend stopping in. 

Upon arriving home, I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and headed to my unheated glass studio.  I've been having so much fun being back at the torch!  I have a couple more sets of buttons to bring on Wednesday, to Spinning Yarns.

I have had a couple folks ask about buying my buttons online.  I am not offering them there yet, but will update here when I do.   My current plan is to add them to my Etsy Store in January, if I can keep up with the demand at Spinning Yarns and online.  I'd like to think I can, but as I said, I'll let you know here, when they are available outside of Spinning Yarns.