What Did She Do Today?

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 Did All Sorts of Things July 13, 2010

I made Sprouted Spelt Flour.  I've read that sprouting the spelt berries, then dehydrating them, before grinding them into flour is a great way to remove the phytic acid that each of the berries contains. 

Phytic acid is the chemical that allows a seed to keep from germinating until the time is right.  It is what allows seeds to be eaten by animals, survive the digestive track and make it out the other side, it a lovely pile of manure, the perfect growing medium.  The problem with phytic acid is it also keeps the seed, even when ground into flour, to release all it's nutrients to our bodies, to be used.  Phytic acid also makes digestion more difficult. 

 

One way to remove the phytic acid is to soak the grain in an acid based liquid, like water and some apple cider vinegar, whey, or yogurt.  That isn't always practical, and cuts down on the ability to bake anything on a whim.  So the other way to release the phytic acid is to sprout the grain.  Once it sprouts, the phytic acid is released, your body views it as a veggie and digests is much easier and more thoroughly.  Very cool.  I decided to soak some berries, and dehydrate them, so that when I want to just whip something up, it will be ready for grinding.  It stores well when it's sprouted/dehydrated, as well.

 

I tried it today to make up some Strawberry bread! The flavor and texture was great, but was too moist, so didn't cook all the way through.  I'm thinking I'll just grill it to finish it off, piece by piece!

Today was actually pretty productive.  I started the morning in the studio making some beads and testing a new tool.  I'll show the beads later, as they need to be cleaned, but the knobs don't, they come out of the kiln ready to pop on a drawer! 

I really like the orange and brown, but something happened to my oxygen while I was making the blue one so there is dark gray streaks in it.  I'm still putting it on my daughters dresser of random blue knobs, but I wish the grey wasn't there.

So are you tired of hearing about my eating rabbit?  I hope not, because I'm going to tell you again...

Tonight I fried some bacon, removed it from the pan (used it to make a very yummy blt), then browned the rabbit (that I had pieced and coated in egg and herbed flour).  Removed the rabbit when browned, then tossed in a whole heap of onions and garlic.  Sauteed, then added the rabbit back in, covered everything in rabbit stock, and let simmer all afternoon.  Delightful!

I served it with pan fried potatoes and a salad.  I love rabbit!  I have a couple left for sale, if you are interested, contact me Amy(at)Zooziis(dot)com.

I found this very cool tutorial for turning a tank top into a romantic top of a century gone by.  I loved the idea, and thought it would work for a sleeveless linen shirt I have.  I gave it a try tonight.  I like it.  I opted for multiple linen fabrics for the flowers, to tie it all together.  I think it will be fun to wear.

 

I also snuck off to pick more black raspberries! I am so excited with the amount I've been able to pick this year.  I'm going to do some sort of preserve so I can make Sage and Raspberry Duck this winter...mmm.  Doesn't that sound amazing!?  I love eating from my yard <grin>.

Oh, cool thing that I didn't do, but pertains to the blog...Someone contacted me from "The Forum...News from the towns around Pawtuckaway".  It's an online news source that also does a print version a few times a year.  They wanted permission to publish my blog posts on their site!  So cool.  They thought I had a voice that others might light to hear.  That made me smile.  They put up my post from yesterday, today.  If you came her from there, welcome neighbor.  I hope you enjoy the blog, and maybe we'll run into each other at a Farmer's Market or other local event!

She Got Herself Ready for the Farmer's Market, where she will not be buying eggs January 21, 2009

The next Seacoast Eat Local Farmer's Market is Saturday at Wentworth Greenhouse in Rollinsford.  I love the Rollinsford Market, and am excited to see what the farmer's have for us this week.

Since I started going to the Farmer's Markets I've wanted to make myself some reusable bags.  I use reusable bags, but they are the heavy plastic-like jobbies that you get at the supermarket, from back when we frequented the supermarket with enough vigor to receive free bags due to the amount spent...Organic is expensive in the store.  Well, I must admit to loving the durability of those bags, but I didn't like advertising for a Supermarket while walking around a Farmer's Market...  So today Mini and I got to work on a reusable bag that is designed like the plastic store bags.  I picked up the Pattern on Etsy.  It was easy enough to make, and fully reversible, making it more sturdy and more fun. I'd like a couple more, but between that one and 2 other random bags I already made a while back, it will probably do just fine for this week's trip.

Another little item on my list of things I'd like to have, to enhance my shopping experience, is produce bags.  I will throw a couple heads of broccoli into my larger bag, but a pound of shallots gets a little hard to manage, so a small bag that I can put the little things into, then into my larger bag, would be helpful.  I have always used the plastic bags the farmer's have available, but have never been happy about doing so.  Now I don't have to.  I have two made up, in simple unbleached muslin...with silly ribbon that says "handmade".  They even have french seams!  I didn't like how the fabric frayed so I decided to try the french seams, besides they are a lot more sturdy because of it.  Probably a silly addition, but that is the fun thing about making them yourself, if you don't want frayed fabric entangled with your veggies, you can stitch french seams...how fancy...oh and by the way, french seams are fancy, and quite clever, but VERY simple to do.  Honest.

The eggs in the background are just a running gag at this point, around here.  Everywhere you look there are eggs.  In the basket from outside, in the bowl in the sink waiting to be washed, on the counter waiting to be used, in the fridge being stored.  Eggs are everywhere, so I had to include them in the picture. 

She Dared Show Her Face Around Here December 17, 2009

What a bad blogger I've been.  I haven't posted since the 13th, and frankly the posts before that have been a smidge rushed.  Life is getting a bit crazy around here.  Nothing major, just life...before Christmas, for a Mama who wants to make all the gifts, and all the food, and run the homestead...My camera has finally made nice with me and my computer, so I put pictures up again!  

The guineas are gone.  We have been having to corral them in at night, and at least a couple have stayed outside to roost a couple nights, and my guinea raising friends tell me that means they will keep roosting outside until a predator finds them.  That is not going to happen, for a couple reasons.  No matter what your view on killing animals, humans are the most humane of all the options.  Being eaten alive in the wild, is no way to go.  Then there is the matter of having fed and cared for these birds for months,so letting some wild animal come along and dine on my hard word seems counter productive.  With all that in mind, Tuesday the guineas were harvested. 

They are missed more than any of the other animals who have found their way to the freezer.  In part because there are no more like them.  We still have chickens, rabbits and ducks, but all the guineas went at once.  Also, the homestead is much quieter.  There is no guinea sqwacking, as they make their way around the property letting all who will listen know what they are finding.  Yes, the guineas were a very entertaining bird to have, and are missed.

I've done some sewing lately.  I made a dress for Mini from the book Carefree Clothes for Girls: 20 Patterns for Outdoor Frocks, Playdate Dresses, and More (Make Good: Crafts + Life).  I want to make another one in red cotton velvet, for Christmas, so I needed to make a test dress.  I don't like to make any pattern, for the first time, with special fabric.  I prefer make one with good fabric, but fabric that can be replaced easily.  This pattern was new to me, and it didn't have the seam allowance on the pattern, I had to add that, so I really needed to make a test.  It came out great, and fits her wonderfully.  I need to add buttons down the back of the bodice and on the front, but otherwise it's done.  The fabric is a cotton flannel, and oh, so, soft!  A great winter frock.  There are a lot of garments in the book I'm looking forward to making, it's a great book, with decent directions.  I do wish they included the seam allowance in the pattern and am never sure why patterns don't, but what I did worked well, and I now have the pattern, with the allowance, for the next dress.

The baby needed a snow suit.  I didn't like the store options, so I decided to give it a try, on my own.  I used a pattern by Burda,  .  It worked up very easily.  I used a wool/cashmere blend for the outside and lined it with the same flannel I used for Mini's dress.  It's so cozy.  When we take her out she's nice a warm, so I'd say it is doing a good job, in addition to being adorable.  I'm trying to figure out a way to "girl it up" a little, as the neutral colors, and predominantly red lining makes it look a bit boyish.  Not a big deal, and for now, I think it's going to be the way it is, but after Christmas crafting is done, I'm going to try something like what I have in this pic, for the front.

To go with the little snow suit I whipped up a pair of thumbless mittens.  They are together for the picture, but have not been together since.  I wanted to put a cord to attach them, and when I went to grab them to do so, only one remained.  I'm looking at possibly needing to make a third...happily I still have the yarn, but now is not the time of year that I really want to remake something!  Here is the pattern I used...I made it up, it's pretty basic, and simple.

Baby Mittens

Sport weight yarn

Needles: 40" Size 6 (knitting top down, in the round on one needle)

• Cast on 16 stitches, 8 on each needle, using a "toe up" technique.
• Round 1 and each alternating row: Knit
• Round 2, 4, 6, 8: K1, M1, knit to last stitch on needle, M1, K last stitch on needle, K1, repeat for next needle. (Increase of 4 stitches) Note:  keep increasing until you have enough stitches to accommodate the width of the wearer's hand, for my baby, that was 16 on each needle, or 32 stitches total.)
• Once you have 16 stitches on each needle, work even, knitting each row, until it's the length of the baby's hands, for my little one (9 months) that was 23 rounds.
• Switch to 2x2 rib, and work to desired cuff length.  I went long in the hopes it would help keep them on her little hands.  It should also help to keep her arms warm, too.  I went for 26 rounds, then bind off.
• Make another.
• I have a cord to attach them, inside her snow suit, hoping to keep from losing them...like when she does pull them off, in the car.
• Note, you can really make mittens for any size baby or toddler, using this method, simply keep increasing until it's wide enough for the wearer, and then knit without increasing until they are long enough for the hand.  Since there is no thumb, this is really best for a little person, but if your baby is not the size of my baby, this will still get you there.

Advent Catchup:

Day 16

Luke 1:39-45

A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Day 17

Luke 1:57-66

When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.

When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”

“What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.”  Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.

Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.

Isaiah 40:3-4

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!
Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.

The Isaiah verse talks about John the Baptist and his role in preparing the hearts of men and women to be ready for the coming of Jesus as the Messiah.

Day 18

Luke 2:1-5

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

She Finished Leg Warmers and a Project Bag November 1, 2009

I'm still fighting with the Calvert Sweater, but I did manage to finish another pair of leg warmers for the girls.  This pattern is so simple, fast and easy.  It has become my go to "carry around" project of choice.  Soon to be interrupted by socks for Dad for Christmas.  Eeeek...did I admit to attempting Christmas Knitting starting at this late date?  I guess I did. 

The socks will be carried around in a fabulous little project bag, that I also finished today. The pattern is free!  The bag is adorable, fast, easy and would make a great gift.  I'm definitely making more of them.

I cooked our first home grown chicken tonight.  I put it in a brine yesterday...1 gallon water, 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar.  Today I removed the bird, coated in olive oil, using a combo of salt, pepper, sage (Yellow House Farm) and rosemary (Nippo Brook Farm) for a rub, I covered the bird.  Then I poured about 1 1/2 cups of red wine in my Dutch oven, place the bird (my yard), surrounded it with potatoes (Meadows Mirth and Nippo Brook Farm) and mushrooms (David O'Connor).  The potatoes and mushrooms were sprinkled with remaining rub.  Covered and placed in the 325 degree oven, for 25 minutes per pound of bird, which worked out to be about 1.5 hours.  He weighed in a 4 pounds, not bad for a small egg laying breed.  I served the above with buttercup squash (Nippo Brook Farm).

Eating heritage poultry is definitely different than a supermarket bird, or even a "broiler" from a farm.  I'm amazed at how much more character and flavor the bird has.  Husband said the leg meat was more like eating steak than any chicken he's ever had before.  The bird was pretty good, but a bit too salty.  So foodie friends, did I brine too long (almost 24 hours)?  Should I have just used the pepper and herbs and no salt on the skin?  Are you supposed to rinse the brine off before putting it in the pan? I was just following directions from a foodie friend, so I'm not sure what I did wrong.  It was still good, but I'd like it less salty next time.

Day 2 of the Sprouting experiment:

She Enjoyed the Sun! May 30, 2009

I never liked going outside. I'm blonde with fair skin and blue eyes, resulting in headaches, sunburn and heat stroke if I spent time outside.  So I avoided it.  I never liked the "outdoor life", preferring a rather sedentary existence with desk jobs, TV, Movies, and the like.  So it's really funny that I'm so into the things I'm into now.  I was outside ALL day and didn't once want to be anywhere else.

After a trip to the Farmer's Market, a stop at Brookford for more milk and cream (which they aren't allowed to sell at the Farmer's Market) and LYS for their sale, I spent the day in the garden!

 

An image of a field at Brookford.  Isn't that beautiful.

All milk should come from cows who live in such beautiful places.

I am trying the 3 Sister's Method for my Corn, Beans and Winter Squash.  There is a site that outlines it fabulously, and even gives a map of how to create the mounds and a diagram of how to plant the seeds.  I made the mounds, in a 10' x 13' section of the garden. 

I made a total of 10 mounds and planted the 4 corn seeds in each mound.  Once they are 4" tall I will plant 4 pole bean seeds in each mound and inbetween the corn/bean mounds will be squash mounds, with 2 squash plants per mound.  If all plants come up and live, that will mean 40 each Corn and Bean plants and 20 squash plants. 

The method comes from the Native Americans and the short story is that the corn creates a stalk for the beans to grow up, the beans fix nitrogen into the soil for the corn to eat, being a heavy eater of Nitrogen, as well as giving the corn some stability, and the squash provides a living mulch, shading the base of the other two, thus preventing weeds from growing, and keeping moisture in the soil.  It's really a brilliant little ecosystem and I'm excited to give it a try.  It also allows for a lot of food to be planted in a relatively small plot of land, and keeps the corn together, allowing for good pollination.  If you are interested in more information, I highly recommend checking out the site, as it offers a very clear explanation of the history, why and how of the technique. 

I also planted the bush beans, Summer Squash and Zucchini.  We weeded the lettuce, spinach and chard, and Mulched the cole crops.  A lot got accomplished and we are down to one more good day of work before all the plants are in the ground and the tending and watching stage begins.

The mounds for the 3 Sisters on the left

While I was at the LYS there was a reinactment group who escorted "Abraham LIncoln, and his wife" to the Woodman Institute Museum where they are doing a special exhibit about the president in honor of his bicentenial.  It was pretty cool to see, especially as I looked up, and saw it happening, not knowing it was going to be. 

Another beautiful thing I saw today, the Barrington Town Gardens.  The Barrington Bloomers, a volunteer group of gardeners, planted a lovely garden at the intersection of Route 9 and 125.  They added a sculpture a couple weeks ago, and with flowers beginning to bloom, it's is a lovely site to behold.

I really enjoyed my break from the rain, and I hope you had a fabulous day, too!

She Started the Spring/Summer Wardrobe April 2, 2009

Three ladies in the house, all in need of Spring and Summer clothes.  It's a great thing that I finally cleaned that sewing room! 

Mini wore her summer dresses 2 years in a row.  First year as a dress with bloomers, last year as adorable shirts with jean shorts.  She's outgrown these dresses for this year, so needs all new!  I love making little girl dresses, so I don't mind having to do this. 

The baby will be wearing a lot of knits still, as she won't be crawling until probably late summer, or fall.  I'm planning on some more kick bags for Spring, some one piece knit onsies in adorable cotton and breathable wools.  But I also plan on a couple cute baby dresses with this fabulous retro style pattern from Simplicity!  I love that little yellow one on the top left.

Momma needs some new things too!  I will be nursing this summer, so I need to have clothes that lend to that.  I have dramatically changed clothing styles over the past few years.  My disdain for many of the fabrics that make up former wardrobes, has caused me to, bit by bit, switch over to the cottons and linens that I love so much, and make me feel so much more comfortable.

All this makes for a very busy sewing season, and I'd like to get much of it done before the garden season really kicks in!

First dress, for Mini:

 

This is a play dress.  Most of her clothes, even though they are handmade and adorable, will be play clothes.  I'll have a couple dresses that will be more for going out, but when you are a 2 1/2 year old explorer of the world, all clothes are fair game for mud and water and all that good play has in store.  I Used Simplicity 5659, and the great ribbon hem tutorial from the free skirt pattern on the Oliver +S website.  I love that tutorial!  I'm addicted to the ribbon hem.  It's so easy and looks so finished.  I want to hem everything with ribbon...well anything that I don't make reversible, since I really love to do that too!

I started the bodice for a sundress with a knitted top and a sewn fabric skirt. Also for mini, but I'm thinking a matching baby sister dress may be in order.  I'm excited about the fabric/yarn combo!  The baby was helping me knit...it tired her out.

She's Finished a Quilt Pattern and Witnessed a Chicken Dust Bath February 16, 2009

I'm not a quilter.  I love the idea of quilts, especially old quilts made with old cotton, and hand finished, they are just amazing.  I admire the work of many contemporary quilters with all the fun designs and intricate piecing, but I am not drawn to that sort of craft.  I think it's too detail oriented for me, or something, but as I said, I still love quilts. 

When Mini was out growing all the baby size blankets, I figured I'd make something to replace them.  This very simple pattern came to mind, as I tried to figure out how to avoid having to be super precise with my cutting and my stitching.  I liked hers so much I made one for myself, for cool nights sitting on the couch knitting, or embroidering, or reading...you get the idea.

I created a PDF of the pattern, including the layout I used.  You can of course just lay all your pieces out on the floor and move them around until you find the combo you like best, but this will cut out that aspect, and let you just get down to cutting and sewing, if that is how you prefer to work.  The finished size is a large lap blanket.

A new knitting project!  Oh, I can't tell you how good it feels to have all those other projects done and ready for use!  It's almost as good as the feeling of sitting in a super clean house after a industrious bout of Spring Cleaning...which I wish would just happen magically this year...

A Kicking Bag!  How adorable,this is?!  It's sort of a skirt with a sewn bottom.  Perfect for the new baby, as there are no legs to contend with.  I'm using Malabrigo Silky Merino (a lovely blend of Silk and wool).  The Pattern called for a sock weight yarn, but I wanted to use this, so I cast on 104 stitches instead of the 128 and the sizing is almost exactly the same.  It's a very basic, and straight forward pattern so can easily be altered for any size yarn.

A Chicken Dust Bath is a strange sight to behold.  10 of our chickens were all wriggling around in a pile, in the softest part of the thawed dirt in the yard.  They were scratching and clucking and rolling all over the dirt, and each other.  Their feathers were all mussed and legs were flailing.  I'm assuming this is normal chicken behavior and they are just really happy to see the return of the dirt...or they've all gone made at once.  Husband said it looked like a chicken Mosh Pit...a pretty good description, actually.

One hen was not participating, rather she was pecking the dirt near the coop.  I don't know if she was uninterested in the antics, or if she was just not invited.  Either way, she did not join in.

She Updated her Tutorials (second post of the day) February 15, 2009

I have several tutorials that are linked to all over the web, so I thought I'd start moving the posts for them over here so people end up at my active blog instead of my old blog that I don't update. 

The Wrap Around Skirt Tutorial has been a huge hit after I submitted it to Sew Mama Sew for their tutorial Contest. Instructions are given for how to make your own pattern in ANY size, doll, child, teen, woman's, plus, any size you want.  You can find the PDF here: Reversible Wrap Around Skirt

I think kids clothes should be reversible if at all possible.  Doubles the cute wardrobe, and when you are out with a little one they inevitably get a spot on their outfit, so you can simply tidy and turn the dress around and voila, all clean! 

The Reversible Wrap Around Dress Tutorial does not have a pattern, but gives you ideas as to how to create one.  It is one of the projects I'm actually working on creating in a for purchase pattern, which will have sizes ranging from 6mos to 3 years.  For now the tutorial is available here: Reversible Wrap Around Dress

The Pot Holder had a little technical difficulty when being transferred to PDF, so there are a couple corrections that follow, but the PDF is available here:  Simple Pot Holder Tutorial

In the supplies box:

C)  Cut 2 pieces of Insul-Bright or
Warm and Natural Cotton
Batting 8 ¾” square

In the Note box the last sentence ends:

lower foot and continue stitching.

Lined Library Bag was designed for my 2 year old who goes to the public library, almost daily.  

Lined Library Bag Tutorial

Cute accessories are a must even for the younger set.  Out of concern for the paint on wooden jewelery, and the possible lead in the cheap base metal option, I decided to make fabric and wood necklaces for my little girl, to go with her fun reversible dresses and skirts.  Toddler and Child Necklace Lead Free Bling Tutorial

Recycle Ties!  A great little skirt for your toddler or child...You could even make one for your teen, or yourself!  You just need more ties.  Tie Skirt Tutorial

There, that is the update!  I realized it's been a while since I shared a tutorial, and I have one for the "Not A Quilter" Quilt that I promised a while back.  I'll work on getting that up on the blog soon.