Kivy's

Socks - to top ribbing

2010-02-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

When your sock is of sufficient length, you will do some ribbing to finish it off. So, after your last pattern row (k2, p2 or p2, k2):

K 3 rows
P 1 row
K 1 Row
P 1 Row

Now you will do the ribbing:

Several rows of k2, p2 (shown here are 6 rows).

Now, for the bind off - I am going to use Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. Click on the link for a really good tutorial.

And with that, I'm signing off for now.

Socks - skipping the heel

2010-02-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

So, knit until about 1.5" before the end of the heel. You will be putting in scrap yarn to hold your stitches for the afterthought heel you will add at the end of this project. Supplementary information on afterthought heels can be found here. I just want to say, all hail Elizabeth Zimmermann, my personal knitting hero and (I believe) originator of the afterthought heel.
Across the bottom stitches (no knitting pattern), knit a row with scrap yarn.

You will then treat these like normal stitches and continue knitting your socks as you would if they were not there. You will now knit pattern rows all the way around the socks, instead of just across the top.
I began the next k2, p2 row in the middle of the back going forward. For the remainder of the socks, I treat this point as the beginning of every new row.
Continue knitting in the established pattern until about 1" before you want the sock to end. Stop here, and then we will continue with my next post.

For Sale

2010-02-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

Quick post of a few things I am trying to find good homes for. I have more stuff than I have space, so I must re-examine my projects and pare them down to a reasonable size. Here is what I'm looking to place (pick-up only please):

1lb bags of superwash merino mill ends: $20/ea. I got them on ebay a few years ago and just haven't gotten around to them. By mill ends I mean not full roving - some thinner roving pieces and some shorter sections. All very spinnable.

Vintage Louet wheel with skein winder: $250
It is in solid working condition and should be a good wheel for many years to come. I just could never get used to the difference between it and my Victoria enough to enjoy using it. It's a very solid wheel.
Yes, a bit dusty. It's been sitting around for a while...
I will be at the Feb. 6th Nutmeg Spinners Guild meeting if anyone wants me to bring things to see before deciding to purchase.

Socks - Toe & Beyond

2010-02-01T05:16:00.000-08:00

So, you should have a total of 44 stitches, 11 on each needle. To finish the toe you will:

K two rounds

You will now decide what is the top side, and what is the bottom. We will knit the bottom of the sock, and not add any texture. Until we get to the heel, the bottom half will be K only.

Next Rounds:

P top & K bottom
Knit
P top & K bottom
K 3 rounds

Now we get to the repeating pattern. Patterns will only be knit on the top, and the bottom will be knit only. You will repeat the following rows:

P1, *K2, P2* (repeat * to * until there is one stitch left on the top), K1
K3 rounds
K1, *P2, K2* (repeat * to * until there is one stitch left on the top), P1
K3 rounds

You will repeat the following pattern until it is about 2 inches shorter than the length of the foot.

More soon!

Easy SOCKS!

2010-01-31T07:24:00.000-08:00

So, I knit a sock and thought you might like to come along for the journey of making the second.
The tip is fairly blunted, as I have wide paws.
The yarn I used is Chirapa, a sport weight, merino wool yarn in colorway Mars Spirit. I got it on super-sale at the Webs after Christmas sale (wow, do I ever love big yarn sales).
I used an afterthought heel construction, which we'll go over in the process of knitting up the matching sock.

So, lets begin! You will need -

5 DP size 3 needles
300ish yds of yarn appropriate for the size needles (I less than one ball of the Chirapa, but more than a half)

I used Judy's Magic Cast On to cast on 28 stitches.

I then knit one round, putting 7 stitches on each needle.

As this is a fairly blunt toe, there will only be 4 increasing rounds, for a total of 11 stitches on each needle, or 44 stitches. I use kfb (knit front & back) when increasing on socks and mittens to avoid little holes. So, as in the diagram below, the pattern will be:

Knit 1 round (which we just did when we knit around to put stitches on 4 needles)
Kfb, Knit until there are two stitches left, kfb, k1. Repeat on the other side for a total of 4 increases

Repeat these two rows until there are a total of 44 stitches

That's all for now... more next time!

Yum - Yum - Yum: Tacos!

2010-01-30T05:33:00.000-08:00

Making Tacos is easy. Of course, I grew up in Vermont, so I am not sure how authentic they are. I am sure that they are quite yummy, and not terribly unhealthy (at least the way I make them). Plus, you can get two very tasty meals out of one batch of taco meat. Here is what you will need:

20ish oz ground meat (I use turkey, but beef, pork, etc. will work too)
1 large to 1 large & 1 medium onion (adding more onion is a great way to stretch the meal)
2T Chilli Powder
1t Oregano
1T Cumin
Ground/finely dice garlic (more is better!)
Small can of Tomato Paste
Salt and Hot Pepper Flakes to taste

All of these are approximate measurements. This is about what tastes good to you, so taste while cooking and adjust as you deem necessary. Just keep the oregano amount small, because it can taste bitter in larger quantities.

1 - Put a bit of olive oil in the pan, and heat to medium. Dice onions and begin cooking.
2 - Add ground meat and cook until onions are transparent and meat is browned.

3 - If you have whole cumin seeds, add a few pinches now.

4 - If you have dried peppers (which is always a good idea at the end of summer) put them in a bag and crush them. When you don't use the bag, it burns anytime you touch somewhere sensitive (yeah, personal experience here...).

5 - Add the spices. We really like cumin, and probably use more than a tablespoon. Figure out how much you like, and go with it!

6 - Add garlic and tomato paste and stir it all together. It wouldn't hurt to add another splash of olive oil here too if you wanted.

7 - If you are using hard taco shells, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Put shells on a cookie sheet - preferably with slightly raised sides. Spoon just enough filling into each shell to fill the bottom. You should only need a good sized spoonful. The filling has a lot of flavor, and you want room for toppings, so you don't need too much! Bake at 350 degrees for about 15minutes.

8 - Fill with lots and lots of yummy stuff. Be prepared to gobble them down.

Now, put away all the extra filling you don't use. What you want to do is make up a rice-bean mixture (1.5C rice, 1 can black beans, 1t cumin, salt and hot pepper flakes to taste), and when it is cooked, stir in the remaining filling. Serve with taco fillings (lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, etc.), and enjoy because it is damn yummy.

Interesting - Knitting Belts

2010-01-13T03:56:00.000-08:00

In one of the blogs I subscribe to, TECHknitting, I saw a reference to knitting sheaths and belts. I had no idea what the writer was talking about, so had to spend the three seconds to google the term. Very interesting! I think I want one.

Historic overview and explanation
Video of one in use

Enjoy :)

Gloves of Love

2010-01-10T08:31:00.001-08:00

Christmas eve I started, and finished, a new oven mitt for my husband (left). A few years ago, I had made him a basic one (right) that he has used quite frequently since. I dug out some leftover Icelandic yarn scraps, and decided to make him another one. If you haven't made mittens before, starting with an oven mitt is a great way to play with the construction. Plus, since thicker is better, it's a great project to knit to felt - meaning that any mistakes you make will probably be hidden in the final project. So, if you want to knit one, just find a simple mitten pattern online and use a much chunkier yarn at a larger guage. You can see I used two different constructions. Unlike regular mittens, neither of the patterns has ribbing - you don't want it with oven mitts. Instead I used a few rows of garter stitch to prevent the ends from rolling. Also, most conventional mitten patterns increase from the wrist to accommodate the thumb. You can skip this part and just start with the larger number of stitches (as with the left model). I wasn't sure which construction would be better, but after making it, I assure you it is just extra work that you don't need if you don't feel like doing it.
Here are basics for knitting an oven mitt:

Cast on a number of stitches sufficient to accommodate the largest part of your hand after felting.
Knit a few rows of garter stitch - this can be done back and forth with the cast-on tail used to sew it up when completed.
Knit in the round until there is ample length to cover your palm and wrist from where the thumb joins the hand downward.
Divide stitches - put the thumb stitches on a scrap piece of yarn. You probably want a multiple of 6 or 8.
Cast on 3 or 4 stitches where the thumb and finger sections meet
Knit in the round until there is enough length to almost cover your fingers when felted.
At each side you will decrease two stitches, leaving two stitches between decreases as below
When there is ample room to cover your fingers after felting, use kitchner stitch to sew
Knit the thumb, being sure to pick up stitches where you cast them on for the finger section. When decreasing at the tip, make sure to avoid points by leaving 6-8 stitches in the last row. Pass yarn through all of these loops and tighten.
If felting in the washing machine or dryer, try the mitt on occasionally to make sure it isn't getting too small. If it is the right size, but still soapy and wet, just use cold water in the sink to gently finish rinsing it out, and the place on a flat surface to dry.

Finally, you have to be careful about hot spots in the mitts. When you increase and join the thumb to the finger, you (or at least I had this problem) risk making holes in the fabric. This is minimized by felting, but if you don't do a complete felting, they can still exist. For that reason, I cut long oval shaped pieces of felted wool, and sewed them over the joining of the thumb to the hand. Also, I had my husband try them out a few times to tell me if there was anywhere that he thought needed extra insulation. Based on that feedback, i sewed in some extra padding as seen above.

Voila! Protected hands for cooking adventures. My husband calls them his "gloves of love." He is cute like that.

Mother-in-law's x-mass cookies

2009-12-25T12:37:00.000-08:00

I've escaped at my in-laws house for a moment to send an e-mail and post this blog entry. Here are recipes for my favorite x-mass cookies of my Mother in Law. I LOVE the Russian Tea Cakes, and my hubby is a big fan of the Lizzies:

Russian Tea Cakes
Very tender and mildly flavored. These are excellent with a cup of tea!

1c Butter
1/2 c Confectioner's sugar
1t Vanilla
2 1/4 c Flour
1/4 t Salt
3/4 c finely chopped walnuts

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Mix butter, sugar & vanilla thoroughly
Work in the flour, salt & nuts until the dough holds together
Shape dough into 1" balls
Place on an un-greased baking sheet
Bake 10-12 minutes or until set but not brown
While still warm, roll in confectioners sugar, and then cool
Once cool, roll in confectioners sugar once again

Lizzies

Group 1:

3C seedless raisins
1/2 C Bourbon

Group 2:

1 1/2 C sifted flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves

Group 3:

1/4 C softened butter
1/2 C backed light brown sugar
2 eggs

4C (1 lb) pecan halves
1 1/2 C citron
1 lb whole candied cherries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Soak raisins in bourbon (group 1) for 1 hour
Sift together group 2
Beat group 3 until light and fluffy
Slowly add group 2 to group 3 being careful not to over-mix
Stir in raisins, pecans, citron and cherries
Drop from a tsp onto a greased cookie sheet
Bake for 15 minutes or until firm

And of course, one of my favorite simple sweets comes from my mom. Stuff whole almonds into dates, and then roll in confectioner's sugar. They're almost good for you, and very tasty.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!

Cookies Expanded

2009-12-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

Just made a FANTASTIC batch of cookies last night made using the same base as a chocolate chip cookie. Instead of traditional chocolate chips, I used:

1/2 bag white chocolate chips
3oz dried cherries
3/4C shredded coconut

WOW, are they good! I may have to bust this one out again at Valentines as the red and white ingredients.

not gone - I swear!

2009-12-14T04:14:00.000-08:00

Greetings! I have not abandoned the blog... I have just been in the throws of finals. I still have one exam left, and some work to catch-up on, but otherwise, my life is my own once again (for now).

I have to come up with some knitted gifts. I am thinking of a mobius scarf and a pair of socks (two recipients). Of course, in my procrastination, I surfed around and found that the Twist Collective had put out their winter issue (always lovely patterns). Anyway, they have a FANTASTIC double-knitting tutorial. Now all I want to do is to make something double knitted! I need to make the hubby a new oven mitt, so perhaps I'll try it with that. Of course, I will need to figure out how to do increases, but I suspect you make them, then stagger the stitches.

Well, I have to go study... oh the joy of statistics...

What to do with leftover turkey

2009-11-29T11:45:00.001-08:00

This is my favorite turkey salad recipe:

Mayonnaise
Turkey (in Chunks)
Chives or Scallions (Sliced Finely)
Dried Cranberries
Chopped Pecans (Ideally Toasted)
Pepper to taste

Mix together and serve on bread. Use your judgment and adjust amounts to taste (yeah, not an official recipe, but a guideline to use for pure post-thanksgiving tastiness).

Enjoy!

Wistful Winter Projects - Danish Shawl

2009-11-22T18:19:00.000-08:00

I have a crush on a project I know I just won't get a chance to do (at least not this winter). I was fliping through ravelry the other day, looking at shawls, and I came across the Traditional Danish Shawl. Why do I think I won't be getting to it? Because I think that projects like these, starting with the small parts and huge-fast progress, and ending with ever increasing row lengths are just mean. You feel like a super-star for the first quarter of the project, and gradually, it becomes the project that won't ever end. I knit my sister a shawl once, and was thoroughly sick of it.

I am looking at the pictures of the traditional ones though, and they don't look THAT big...

hmmmmmm

Alas, what I really should be doing is researching my two 20 page papers, and getting through more on the other project that is due soooo soon! Oh my knitting daydreams...

Brussel Sprouts are Tasty!

2009-11-17T05:11:00.000-08:00

Last night I cooked up some brussel sprouts and found myself referring to them as a tasty treat. Here is how to do it:

Pour a small amount of water into the bottom of a frying pan. Add a tablespoon of butter, and a few pinches of salt. Put this on a burner and turn it to medium. Slice fresh brussel sprouts in half, and place cut-side down in the pan. Put a lid on the pan for 5 minutes while the water boils to steam them. Take the lid off, and cook until the water is evaporated, and the cut-side of the brussel sprouts are starting to brown.
Now, you can either eat them like this, or you can add toasted hazelnuts and lemon zest before serving. Either way - very yummy :)

X-mass is comming: time for ginger cookies!

2009-11-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been feeling a little bit anti-Christmas. I'm just not into the materialism of the season. Sure, a gift or two is nice, but the non-stop buy-buy-buy and guilt about not buying enough wares on my nerves. Bah-Humbug!

What I reliably do enjoy about the season is the food and associated family and friends. A kitchen smelling of freshly baked gingerbread cookies really can't be beaten. Below is the recipe for gingerbread cookies that my family has used... well... for as long as I can remember. This comes from the same 70's cookbook that the zucchini bread I mentioned earlier came from. You can see that the book has obviously been heavily used!

So, you can cook them as directed, and you will get thin and crisp cookies. Alternatively, you can roll them out thicker, cook a touch longer, and have an extra-spicy cookie akin to what you would expect from a traditional cookie.

Now here is the tip to really blow your mind; use ALMOND extract in royal icing to decorate these cookies. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Vanilla is tasty, but almond makes me swoon...

Wow, now I'm looking forward to the holiday season much more!

My husband the gnome

2009-10-30T16:37:00.001-07:00

Yes, still busy. Even better, I've been sick. I don't know for sure it was swine flu, but being that I'm a full-time student, I think the chances are good. The Halloween party I was going to go to with the hubby was being held by a woman with an infant. Even though I'm starting to feel better, I don't think it's worth risking as babies are very susceptible to the flu. Alas, the gnome costume will have to wait until next year!

(slightly odd coloring shown here - it's really a more ruby red instead of pink)

This is the pattern I mentioned last time - essentially at least. I used a skein of Lamb's Pride worsted. I used an i-cord cast-on with 100 stitches, and immediately reduced to 92 on the first round. I did it on #5 needles so the fabric was fairly dense, and then did a light felting to add extra structure - I think it shrunk only about 10%. It will now stand on it's own pretty well! If I had to do it again, I would start from the tip and work my way down so that I was sure I wouldn't run out of yarn. Probably do a knit front & back increase...

I finished the hat today, and had my husband try it on when he got home. No joke, this is what he wore to work. I think I might just call him David tonight ;-)

Costume Hat

2009-10-18T11:27:00.001-07:00

It's been amazingly busy here, and will be for another week or two. Don't worry, dear blog, I haven't given up on you.

Now, if I can sneak in the time to do it, here is the first part of my Halloween costume - If I can find time to work on it!You can find the pattern here.

How to cook squash

2009-10-10T13:58:00.001-07:00

I really like squash in the fall. Actually, I really like squash most of the time, though the appeal of warm foods wains with warm weather. The potential problems when cooking squash - especially squash in the mashed form - peeling, excessive drying (from baking), or excessive moisture (from boiling). Fortunately, there is a third option!

How to cook squash:

Cut squash in half and scoop out guts.
In a high-sided (something higher than a sheet pan) pan that accommodates the two halves cut-side down, put in about 1" of water.
Place squash in the pans, cut side down, and bake in the oven at 350 degrees (F) for 45 minutes, or until a butter knife goes through with only minimal resistance.
Remove pan from oven and let cool until you can touch the squash without pain. Remove squash from the pan, and easily peel off the skin. The flesh is now ready for use!

That is the basic outline of what to do. When I make mashed squash for a side-dish, I generally add some cinnamon to the water before adding the squash - it gives a subtle hint of flavor and makes the kitchen smell wonderful. After peeling and squishing up the squash, I add a pinch of salt, a splash of maple syrup, butter, and a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or cloves to taste (the spices being completely optional - especially if you used cinnamon in the cooking water). If it's a little bit too moist with the maple syrup, I put it in a baking pan with a few pieces of butter on top, and cook it at 350 for a bit to help get rid of some moisture. Keep an eye on it though - you don't want it burnt or excessively dry!

I should also mention, I have cooked squash while the oven was pre-heating for other things like bread. Today I did it at 450 degrees, and it turned out fine. If you do higher temps, just keep an eye on it to make sure that it doesn't burn, and the water doesn't run out.

Enjoy your squash!

Baby Bunny Pictures - For Rhinebeck '09

2009-10-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Finally, I got my camera out. It is a royal pain to use, otherwise I would take pictures more often (at least, that is what I tell myself).

I currently have two litters of reds (with a fawn or two and a torte or two) that will be going to Rhinebeck this year. At least, that is the idea. I'm waiting for something to fall through as happened with the other breeding I did this year. I don't raise rabbits to earn profit, but I do like to sell some to help the hobby break-even. It would be very nice to break-even this year!

Anyway, these two litters have the same father - a strikingly handsome bright red buck named Rust. One mother is a smaller torte bun named Ivana (she has a great meat-type body) and the other is my favorite red bun, Peaches. The pictures of the litters are mixed. Ivan is a smaller bun than Peaches, and her kits were born two days later. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Ivana's kits are about 3/4 the size of Peaches'. They all seem quite healthy and happy and are doing a great job of nibbling on hay and being all-around cute!

If anyone is within driving distance of Woodstock CT, and is interested, my going rate for the reds is $65, but I may be willing to negotiate as they won't all be going to Rhinebeck and the preferable solution is to get them placed in good homes. I believe that Louise (who I will be selling them through) charges $100-125, but she has to cover the expense of buying a booth, manning the booth, and living there for the weekend.

Drop me a note if you are interested!

x-mass preparation - ribbon stars for gift wrapping

2009-09-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

Came across something VERY handy... or at least I think it could probably be when the holiday season rolls around.

How to make Star Shaped Ribbons
How to make Star Shaped Ribbons - text

True, it's cheap to just go out and buy these things... but I never seem to have enough when I finally get around to wrapping presents. And then, for the rest of the year, I only seem to have holiday colored ones for birthday and shower gifts.

Perhaps I can use it as justification to have a cheesy movie marathon sometime when it gets cold:
hubby: "What are you watching!?"
me: "Oh nothing... I'm just making ribbon stars for the x-mass presents."
hubby: "Have fun with that. By the way, did you happen to buy my parents a present?"
etc.

Very sad day - bunny gone

2009-09-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

So, I went to hold the fluff-energy-red-fuzz ball that was the most active of the two litters of kits. They are at the incredibly cute stage right now, and are as sweet as can be. Anyway, I grabbed it and started standing up (as it was in the bottom tier of cages), only to have it wriggle furiously out of my hand. It hit the floor and ran under the cages. I tried getting it out from under there, only to have it run to the hole in the shed wall where the mice go (keep meaning to block it up) and escape under the building.

We put a squirrel cage near the hole hoping to catch it if it comes out. I don't hold out much hope. It isn't old enough to survive without milk for long, and is unlikely to get caught before it expires (assuming animals don't get it first).

Talk about feeling crappy...

Bagel Sandwiches

2009-09-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Fabulous, tasty, quick dinner... but a bit fatty. This is a great once a month sort of meal that everyone usually likes.

Ingredients:

Previously frozen bagels such as lenders (fresh ones are too large and make it tough to eat)
Blue Cheese Dressing (I'm quite fond of Marie's)
Sliced Ham (preferably honey or maple)
Sliced Provolone
Sliced Tomatoes
Sliced Onions

Directions:

On a baking sheet, lay out all the bagels. Halves should be next to each other.
Spread dressing on the bagels.
On one sandwich half, lay down tomatoes, and then ham on top.
On the other half, lay down onions and then provolone cheese on top.
Turn the oven to broil, and place the pan with bagels in the middle of the oven.
Keep an eye on the bagels, and take out when the cheese gets bubbly and starts to brown.
Take out and let cool for just a minute. Put the halves together, and enjoy your sandwich!

A few notes:
- Yes, you can substitute Ranch dressing for the Blue cheese. Unless you hate blue cheese though, give it a try first because I bet you'll like it.
- Lining the pan with parchment paper or tin foil will help make clean-up much easier.

As far as I know, this is my mom's recipe. Thanks mom, I still love to eat them!

*some day I will get pictures of this... I really need to get a camera that isn't a pain to use!*

Chili goodness

2009-09-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

As the weather gets cooler, and the garden harvest season winds down, I think it's the perfect time to discuss chili. They type of chili I'm talking about is the stick-to-your-ribs, beans and veggie centric type, best served with good cheddar cheese and lots of tortilla chips. It's not contest-winning good, but it is economical, easy, and always well appreciated by the family. It is also a good way to stretch the food budget by saving ingredients that might otherwise go to waste.

I do not follow a strict recipe for making chili. The nature of the beast is that it is flexible. I will try to give some guidelines though.

Splash of Olive Oil
Ground Turkey/Hamburger/Left-over chicken or beef (diced)/Tempeh
1-2 large onions diced (more = great way to stretch a meal)
Diced Peppers (1 or two bell or frying, and some small, hot finely chopped ones if you've got them)
Fist of garlic (yes, a whole fist) minced

If your meat needs cooking, sauté it in a pan with a little olive oil,otherwise (no meat or pre-cooked meat) add it towards the end of the recipe. Sauté onions until they begin to look translucent. Add garlic peppers and cook until the peppers are almost soft. If you are slow-cooking on the oven, leave in the bottom of the large pot/pan/Dutch oven. If you are using a crock-pot, scrape into it.

3T chili pepper
1.5 T Cumin
1 t Oregano (1/2 t if its ground)
1 t salt (more if you aren't using canned beans)

Add Spices and stir. This is only a baseline for spices. You may want more than what's stated here, and in different ratios. Just remember too much oregano and it can be bitter. You can finish making the entire dish and let it cook for a while before you start making spice tweaking decisions.

2 large cans of beans drained, or equivalent in non-canned ones (I prefer black and red. When I use dried beans, I generally have a larger variety included)
1 small can or left-over baked beans (or conversely, add extra beans and a good splash of molasses)
As many cheap tomatoes you can get your hands on or a large can of crushed ones- Hot pepper flakes to taste (or Tabasco sauce, or other pepper condiments)

Add the remaining ingredients, stir, and cook on med-low to low for several hours, stirring occasionally. If you use non-canned beans, long cooking is a must!

So, those are the chili guidelines. I repeat again - guidelines not rules! If I have half a wrinkled pepper extra, I'll toss it in. If bused tomatoes are on sale at the grocery store, I'll cut out any really bad parts and put them in. If I have an extra carrot or two that need to be used, in they go. Fresh and fabulous ingredients are always ideal, but for those of us who find veggies that hid from us in the fridge and are starting to look a little sad, this recipe is for us! Keep in mind that though you can sneak small amounts of almost anything in and have the taste and texture not make much impact to the meal, once you start adding large quantities you do start to impact the flavor and texture. Basically, I don't recommend you using the chili to get rid of a large garden zucchini, but you could probably hide a very small one in there.

Pains of (bunny) motherhood

2009-09-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

I have two new litters of (hopefully) red buns. Peaches is my favorite rabbit, and a very good mom. She plucks herself bare in preparation for her kits. I had to include pictures because it's a very heroic effort.
What a good bun!

Best Zucchini Bread!

2009-08-27T07:20:00.000-07:00

3 eggs
2 C sugar
2 C shredded zucchini (3 medium zucchini)
1 C oil
2 t vanilla
3 C flour (they recommend Pillsbury flour - of course)
1/2 C chopped nuts *
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves

Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease two bread pans (8x4 or 9x5) **. Beat egg until foamy, then stir in the sugar, zucchini, oil and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients and stir until blended ***. Pour the batter into pans **** and bake for 50 - 60 minutes (toothpick inserted into center will be clean). Cool for 10 minutes than remove from the pan to cool.

* This is optional, but does make it more tasty
** You can make this in a cake pan, cupcake pan, or any other - you'll just have to guess about cooking time. Also, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS: after greasing the pan add a dusting of cinnamon sugar.
*** Its better to mix the dry ingredients together and then add them. Don't stir too much or the gluten will form and it won't have a great texture.
**** Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top before baking. It's extra tasty!

On a side note, I found a big jar (6oz) of ground cloves at T.J.Maxx (homegoods) the other day for $6. I think I paid that much for less than a quarter of the amount last time. I love a bargain!

Juice for dessert

2009-08-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

So, today I tested a theory about making sorbet from juice concentrait. What I discovered was not a way to make a fabulous sorbet, but a way to convince kids that juice is actually a delicious dessert (as opposed to things with more sugar and fat). Here is what I did:

1 Can lime-aid concentrate
1 Can water
2 T blueberry syrup, or 1T berry jam and 1T water, or a hand full of berries

Mix ingredients together, and put into an ice cream machine. If you use jam instead of syrup, make sure the jam is broken up and dissolved in the water.. Treat it as you normally would - when it's mostly frozen, scoop it into a container and freeze for a few hours.

To serve, scoop sorbet into a glass. Fill the rest of the way with cold water or seltzer, or for an adult beverage some vodka and seltzer (use your imagination here). Sorbet floats!

blueberries & Jam

2009-08-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

I went to Maine to visit my grandparents, and came back with a ton of blueberries. The last two nights I've tried making blueberry jam. Last night worked, and the night before... didn't turn out as I expected.

The first recipe I used was:

9 cups berries
6 cups sugar

Add most of the berries and half of the sugar. Cook down, crushing the berries, until it is very liquid (stick blender is great for this). Add remaining sugar and berries. Cook until boiling, stirring frequently. When it reaches 220 degrees, can it.

This turned out as blueberry sauce. I knew it was a risk, and went with it as I could use sauce on pancakes, ice cream, and if it was thick enough in yogurt (not quite thick enough). I also made the mistake of not having enough jars ready to contain the sauce. So, with the remainder I added a little lemon juice, some lemon peel, and a little bit of water and turned it into sorbet. It worked fine, with the exception that next time I'd strain out a bit more skin.

The second recipe I used was:

9 cups berries
6 cups sugar
Splash of lemon juice
2 packages of gel pectin

Add most of the berries, the lemon juice and half of the sugar. Cook down, crushing the berries, until it is very fluid (stick blender is great for this). Add remaining sugar and berries. Cook until boiling, stirring frequently. Add all the pectin and stir for 1 minute before removing from heat and canning.

Now, I'm no canning expert, but I get by. I've done jams, tomatoes and pickles with some success. The key is to follow the directions and to keep things sterilized. If you want a good resource for canning, find the Ball Blue Book (old versions are fine, especially if they are from the 50s or earlier. I'd avoid anything after the 70's as there were some problems around then).

My grandmother makes some of the best canned jams ever. I ask her how to do them and she says she just follows the recipes that come with the pectin. It's best to have a good understanding of the process before using these, but I can't argue with the results my Nana gets!

furoshiki

2009-08-13T05:10:00.000-07:00

This is what I'm going to use to wrap presents this year for my family: Furoshiki

Furoshiki is the Japanese art of cloth wrapping items for gifting or transportation (essentially at least - I'm paraphrasing here). Click here for some furoshiki videos.

The wrapping is completely reusable, making it a green wrapping paper alternative - especially when compared with traditional wrapping paper that has many chemicals and is readilly disposed of. True, it's not as cheap as a low-end wrapping paper, but if you gift it to good friends or family members, you can probably have it back to re-use. Better yet, include some Furoshiki information so that the recipient can use it for their next gift. You could even buy a set of white sheets at a discount store (a cost-effective way to get lots of fabric), and customize your own Furoshiki wrappings with perminant markers, clothing crayons, screen prints, etc.

Instructions from http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

Blight!

2009-08-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

There is blight on my tomatoes. Apparently, this is a HUGE issue in the Northeast right now. So, how does one go about treating blight?

One word: Fungicide! Blight is caused by a fungus - a nasty, virulent fungus. If you can figure out how to kill fungus, you can stop the blight. Easier said than done unfortunately. You can either buy a spray fungicide, or make your own; I am thinking of doing both. Below are recipes for home-made treatments.

Soak 1C of cornmeal in 1Gallon of water overnight. Strain out cornmeal, and spray the liquid on your plants. Yep - I never knew that corn has anti-fungal properties!
Mix 1T baking soda, 1T vegetable oil, 4 liters water and stir. To this add 1/2T dish soap and stir again. Spray on plants.

Also, check here for a great entry about blight treatments. I am just crossing my fingers that I get ripe fruit before the plants die! I dream all year of garden fresh tomatoes, so I'll be crushed if we don't get any this year.

Breakfast Pilaf?

2009-08-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I was a breakfast devotee. I always ate breakfast, usually at the beginning of my very early day. I tend to become a real b%*ch when my blood sugar gets low, so eating breakfast was one way to prevent that. Then, of course, I went back go school. Not having a demanding early schedule encouraged me to frequently skip the meal, and now I'm completely out of the habit. Add to that the fact that most fast breakfasts are heavy on the processed grains, and I've been turned off. What's a woman to do?

Here is what I'm thinking:

Kivy's Breakfast Pilaf

1 1/2 C cracked wheat
1 1/2 C water
pinch of salt (to taste)
2 cloves (or 1/4 tsp ground cloves)
3 chunks of candied ginger diced fine (or 1tsp ginger powder or 2 tsp grated ginger)
1 tsp cinnamon
1T olive oil (to make the grains less sticky)

(Adjust all spices to taste, and don't hesitate to different combination. Perhaps cardamom... or anise?)

Heat oil in a shallow pain on medium until it starts to shimmer. Add spices and stir until fragrant. Add wheat and stir for a minute or two to toast. Turn heat to high, add water and salt, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat off, cover, and let sit for half an hour. Fluff with a fork.

Now for the toppings! Try dried fruit, toasted nuts, fresh fruit, yogurt, a drizzling of maple syrup, or whatever suits your fancy. Use the above recipe for a base, and customize as your appetite dictates. I'd serve out a bowl-full to customize, keeping the rest in the fridge for use later. You can either eat it warmed, or cold; whichever is tastier/more convenient. I'd try making it Sunday so you can have no-fuss breakfast later in the week.

Tell me what you think!

How does your garden grow?

2009-07-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have been a bit busy of late. As the job market currently... sucks, I'm trying to get into another masters program last minute. Doing this required that I take the GRE. For the last week I have been doing little other than studying. I had grade school flashbacks as I did hundreds of math problems to prepare. It's nice to be done but now I just have to hear if I've been accepted to the program or not.

Anyway, more pleasant things. My garden:The lack of sun this summer has retarded the growth of my garden. In mid July, I'd expect my first early tomatoes to almost ready - but there is barely the beginning of fruit. I made the mistake of planting Borage in the middle of my beds to improve the tomato flavor. MISTAKE! They are absolutely HUGE. Next year I'll plant them in a container between the two beds with tomatoes.
The Calendula just started blooming. How can you look at Calendula and not be happy? Such a cheery flower.
The squash I have that isn't enclosed has been absolutely molested by the chickens. Anything I've grown outside the fence has been fair game. There is no trace of the beans that used to be out there.
I am trying to grow potatoes in a small potato tower. The idea is simple; add a ring and a new layer of soil every time the plants are a few inches above the soil level. This ideally will trigger the plants to grow many more potatoes in the same amount of yard space. The only real problem I've run into is differing growth rates for each of the plants. I have a few huge ones, and I have a few that just popped through the soil. I want to time the addition of a new layer to get the most plants healthy and growing. My solution? Plastic cups. Cut the bottoms off of plastic cups, and place them over small plants. Fill soil in around them. As they continue to grow, remove the cup and fill with soil. You'll probably have to re-cup before adding the next layer of soil.

Here is a picture of my inadvertent garden - I mean compost pile. You can see there is an abundance of squash, and some potatoes growing merrily there. We'll see what type they actually turn out to be!
Finally, I'll leave you with some chicken pictures - those darn zucchini plant peckers!
No sign of eggs or crowing yet.

Buns for sale

2009-07-17T05:27:00.001-07:00

I have three litters of Satin Angoras hoping for homes right now. My preference is to place them, but I did choose dual purpose animals for a reason!

Anyway, I've got a very red torte and a chestnut born on 5/28/09. I've also got reds/fawns, chestnuts, and I think coppers (having trouble figuring out exactly what they are, but their parents were a red and a black and they aren't regular chestnut colored) born on 6/13/09 and 6/14/09.

I am asking $45 for the non-red, $55 for the reds, and $75 for an animal with a pedigree. Usually I sell for a minimum of $60 (my dealer sells them for $125), but I know a lot of people are hesitant to take on pets in these economic times. As I said, I would much rather place them than any other alternative.

Leave a note if you are interested :). I am in North Eastern CT (pick-up only).

Foaming Soap

2009-07-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

I really like foaming soaps. My experience is with Method's dispenser, but assume that what I say will apply to most foaming dispensers. I was disappointed that unlike their regular hand soap pumps, the foaming pumps did not have refills available. These things aren't wildly expensive, but they aren't cheap either. The pump is still good by the time you finish the soap, so why not reuse it?

Here is what you do: add in 1/2 - 1 inch of regular soap. Fill the rest of the bottle with water leaving about 1 inch empty at the top. Screw on cap tightly and shake. Voila! You have foaming soap again!

I especially like this for dish detergent. I use one of these at the kitchen sink, and just use dish soap instead of hand soap. When I clean dishes by hand, I just give it a pump or two, and am good to go.

Bunny to Food

2009-07-06T14:12:00.001-07:00

Today my husband and I, to put it in g-rated terms, converted a mean bunny into meat. I am not going to go into details here. I will just say a few things:

The hardest part is killing the rabbit. Even when you are successful, muscle twitches can make you think you aren't. This is where you feel like a terrible human being who must be doing something wrong.
I expect that practice will make perfect. Everything did not go smoothly, but I could see how doing a few more would make things much quicker and more efficient.
I am confident that doing this myself, even without perfecting the process, is more compassionate to the animal than what is done in many commercial slaughter houses. My focus is on making it as quick and painless as possible. A commercial operation's focus is often how to get the most carcasses processed per hour, while meeting minimum legal standards of safety and humane treatment.

So, if you want to process your own rabbit, here are a few useful resources. Most places I've seen gloss over the process. You're better off reviewing several sources to make sure you've got a complete picture. Also, I highly recommend that before you attempt it yourself you find someone to show you the process in-person.

YouTube video on processing an already dead animal
Step-by-step process with pictures (graphic)
About rabbit meat - it is very good for you
A no-nonsense guide to raising (and killing) rabbits. A bit older, but has lots of solid wisdom.
Recipe for Rabbit Cacciatore - which is what we will do with ours
Great general cooking reference book that includes how to cut up a rabbit (p. 254 - 256)

Don't forget, bunnies are cute, but they are also VERY tasty. This is a meat you can raise at home, is very healthy, and can be quite affordable.

Busy

2009-07-01T13:05:00.001-07:00

It is amazing how storms of business descend on life from time to time. Right now you could say I'm in the midst of a tornado. After this weekend, hopefully things will settle down just a touch, and I can have another fun project or two to share.

For now though, I'm thinking of turnips.
I have never really eaten turnips, except infrequently as a child with an expression of disdain on my face. I ran across some local ones at the neighborhood farmers market, and thought it was time I give them a try. In the fall, I may try a mashed potato & turnip combination, but for now I'm thinking of something a little more exotic: Kashmiri-Style Kidney Beans with Turnips. I have no idea how it will taste, but it will doubtlessly be neutritious and different. Perhaps I will develop a new appreciation for the vegetable.

*** after making the meal: It was good, but not fantastic. I think it's a perfectly acceptable healthy and cheap meal. I'd make it again, but only occasionally. I just am very ambivalent about turnips apparently.

Animal Pictures

2009-06-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Today is animal picture day. I've been working on some sewing, but I just couldn't photograph it well. I'll keep working on that. In the mean time, I've got some critters to show you.A little while ago, I posted about a litter of new bunnies. Unfortunately, only half of the litter survived. The three that did though, are doing very well indeed! It appears that there is one opal, one chestnut, and one red/torte (not sure). These two are super friendly - just like their mom!

The red isn't unfriendly, just not as outgoing as its siblings.

Right now I have Nine cages outside (three towers like what is shown above) in the shed. I feed and water them daily, and clean their poop-trays once a week. Thus far everyone has been healthy and (hopefully) happy. I've got Nine adults, and 13 kits right now.
We've also got poultry. 15 chickens and 2 ducks.

Rouen Duck
5 Barred rocks, 5 Rhode Island Reds, 1 Australorp, Araucana/Ameraucana (4 total)

The rabbits are more my project, and the poultry my husband's. Before winter we will thin the flock down to 10 chickens... hopefully the other five will make good chicken soup!
I can't forget our indoor cats - Wool (pictured) and Daisy. These guys are siblings, great friends, and nearly impossible to capture on film! I believe my niece was 6 when she named them.

Tea dye

2009-06-23T11:52:00.001-07:00

I look miserable in pure white. Unfortunately, when I had to grab a new shirt quickly for an interview, they did not have an off-white or otherwise lightly colored one that would work for my suit. What is one to do? Improvise of course. I could find a plan, white, cotton t-shirt. I do have lots of dark tea. Combine the two and I had visions of a lightly tinted shirt that would meet my needs.
I just included this picture of the tag because I thought it was some fairly insidious green-washing. They may not be lies, but they certainly aren't the whole truth, and they don't address the comparative merits of cotton to other mainstream alternatives.
Anyway, back to dying. This is a very good description of the tea dying process. First you wash your 100% cotton and dry it. Next, in a container large enough for your cloth to be loosely submerged, heat water and add tea. As I wanted a tint rather than a dark color, I used only two tea bags for around 3 quarts of water... and did not steep them very long.
Next I took out the tea bags, turned off the heat, and added the shirt. I let it sit for 5 minutes, prodding it gently to ensure full coverage.
I then took it out and placed it in a colander to drain.
Next I made a cold water bath with a generous splash of vinegar. I soaked the shirt for roughly 15 minutesNext, the shirt went into the wash, and then through the dryer. At the end I had a lightly tinted shirt that would no longer draw attention to my off-white teeth, or wash me out. All-in-all, a success.

Garlic Scape Stirfry

2009-06-19T02:35:00.000-07:00

In the next town over, there is a great little farm-stand store. Last time I went in, they happened to have garlic scapes. I've never actually cooked them before, so I decided to give them a try. What I decided to do was to make a vegetarian scape stir-fry. Very yummy!

Ingredients
Rice
- 1 1/4 C rice (batsmatti is my personal favorite)
- 2 C water

Stirfry
- A few big handfuls of Garlic Scapes
- 1+C soy sauce
- 1 package of firm/extra-firm tofu
- 1T tapioca or corn starch
- a few chunks of candied ginger*
- pinch of sugar
- can of sliced water chestnuts

Instructions
- Start the rice cooking. **
- Coat the bottom of a pan (ideally a stirfry pan) with vegetable or peanut oil. Put it on a burner on high, or close to that.
- Drain tofu and then cube it. Put it in the hot pan, and pour some soy sauce over it. Cook until slightly browned on the outside and warmed through. Take off the burner and scoop out onto a plate.
- Cut scapes into sections that are 1-2" long. Unless they are VERY fresh, chop off the top 2-3" and discard - I didn't and they were a bit dehydrated and tough.
- In a small bowl, mix the startch with just a little bit of soy sauce. Mix into a paste. Add the remainder of the soy-sauce, now without fear of lumps.
- Re-coat the pan with oil. Add scapes and stir enough to prevent them from burning.
- Mince ginger chunks and add to soy sauce mixture.
- When the scapes are cooked through, add the tofu, water chestnuts, and soy sauce mixture. Stir to mix and prevent burning.
- If the sauce is too thick, add more soysauce until the texture is acceptable.
- Serve over rice
- Enjoy!

Use this recipe as you will. Treat it as a rough outline, and adjusted it as you see fit. Try different veggies, substitute meat for the tofu, just do what you'd like! If you don't have scapes, you could substitute a large onion and a veggie like broccoli or asparagus, and then add minced garlic right before adding the soy sauce mixture. Adjust it any way you think would be yummy for you.

*you can substitute about 2t powdered ginger, or make it extra gingery by using a combination of powder and candied.

** If you make rice with any regularity, I do recommend getting a small rice cooker. We've got a little 6C one that cost less than $20, and takes up very little room. It really made cooking rice easier, and result in a better finished product. Plus, it doubles as a veggie steamer.

Ticks 0 - Poor house cleaning 1

2009-06-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

So, I live in tick central. We have ticks everywhere, including (to my horror) inside sometimes. Hopefully having the wandering flock of poultry outside will help reduce the numbers. Blood sucking insects are bad enough without the prospect of transmitting lyme disease.

Yesterday I was using the bathroom when I felt a tickle on my leg. I looked down, and saw a tick crawling on it. Instinctively I flicked that nasty thing off. It just happened to land in a spider-web that had been built in the corner, and I was able to watch the spider rush right down, wrap up the tick, and drag it back into its web. My procrastination on removing cobwebs finally paid off! While I'm not wild about spiders, I do appreciate them for taking care of more annoying insects for me: case in point :)

What do you do when you find a tick on you? Basically, you want to take it off using very sharp tweezers grabbing as close to the skin as possible. If you squeeze the body instead, you run the risk of pushing out gunk (disease, saliva, etc.) into the victim. After removal, keep an eye on it because it is possible to have left some jaw in the bite - it could get infected. When possible keep the insect, just in case you start feeling ill and need it examined to determine if it was a disease carrier.

For more information, check out this site. I am not a fan of bugs, and ticks rate pretty close to the bottom for me.

Short idea - quick post

2009-06-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

I ran across this link about peg looms today on stumbleupon. Take a peak: it's another interesting way to make a durable rug. I could see this working with scrap yarn, and rag strips too.

More links about peg looms:
http://woollywormhead.blogspot.com/2005/10/how-to-make-your-own-peg-loom.html
http://weaving-rug-making.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_use_a_peg_loom
http://heartandsoil.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-use-peg-loom.html (scroll down a little bit)

enjoy!

Dealing with foot-stink!

2009-06-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

My feet sweat, and they stink. Its no use denying this fact. Fortunately, three seasons of the year, my feet stay in shoes and so this fact is not noticeable. When summer rolls around though, and the flip-flops come out, it becomes a fact anyone within a 6 foot radius can smell. What is a person to do?

Link about why feet stink

Personally, I use two methods. First, I buy a stick of cheap antiperspirant and use it on the souls of my feet. If I do this for a few days in a row, it reduces the sweat, and helps keep down the stink. The second thing I do turn to the bottle. More precisely, I use a home-made vodka foot spray!

Stink is caused by bacteria on my feet. Vodka kills the bacteria. Simple!

Ingredients:

Spray bottle
Cheap vodka to fill spray bottle (for faster evaporation, you can use a vodka/rubbing alcohol mix)
Handful of lavender buds
A few drops of Tea Tree, Lavender and/or Eucalyptus essential oils (if you have them on hand) which have antiseptic and/or antimicrobial properties

Directions:

Put enough vodka in a measuring cup to fill your bottle, and add the lavender buds. Cover and let steep until it turns pinkish-purple (an hour or two). Don't steep it too long lest it turn brown.
Pour into the spray bottle, straining out lavender buds. If you don't get them out, they will clog the spray mechanisms, plus you'll loose the pretty color.
Add in a few drops of essential oils (if you have them)

You can find essential oils here and here if you need a source for them

Put on top, shake together, and label bottle.

I put this spray on before putting on my shoes on in the morning, or as a mid-day freshener. It does take a minute to dry, but I if you made a vodka/rubbing alcohol mix instead it would dry faster and still work.

In case you have the same problem, but don't want to make your own foot spray, here is a list of other home-remedies for smelly feet. Don't worry, you are not alone!

Raised Beds

2009-06-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

I live on ledge. As you might imagine, that means that there is only a thin layer of top-soil in most places in my yard, and that top-soil is FULL of stones. I can fully appreciate why there are so many stone-walls in this area: every time someone tried to work the soil, they were inundated with rocks. Might as well put them to some use!

As you might imagine, creating a garden in my yard was not the easiest proposition. That is when I discovered square foot gardenin g, which is similar to the French Intensive method. If you can't dig in the soil, garden above it! The picture above is of last-year's beds taken early this spring. You can see there are four beds: 2 that are 2x6, and 2 that are 4x8. These were made from composite wood and cedar corner posts, following essentially the same method shown here. The big difference was in wood choice, and that the corner posts extend below ground cut at a 45 degree angle. This works to anchor the bed securely in-place.

This year, I needed a little bit more space, and was short on money. While making your own beds using cedar and composite wood isn't hugely expensive, it isn't particularly cheap when watching your budget. I decided to sacrofice longevity for decreased expense, and built the new beds from rough pine. They will probably last 2-5 years before they need replacing. Hopefully by then, I won't be tight on cash. Here is how to build them:

You will need:

2 rough lumber boards 1" thick x (8" or 10" wide) x 8' long
One two-by-four.
Screws
Saw
Drill

Cut board into 4' sections. You will have 4 of these.
Measure four corner-stakes on the two-by-four. Measure the width from the board, then a 45 degree angle, and another width of the board like in the picture.
Attach each cornor piece to a side-board as in the picture.
Assemble bed making sure that all cornor spikes are pointed in the same direction. It is best to make sure screws are in both the edge pieces, as well as the corner spike.

Enjoy!

How to Steek

2009-06-03T13:42:00.001-07:00

Steeks are great things. The basic principle is that you knit a tube, and then cut where you need to insert other knitting; either as something sewn on, or by picking up stitches. I have been working on a sweater for my Dad, based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Guernsey pattern (p. 129 of Knitting Workshop). In this pattern, you knit the whole body as a tube, and then cut the sides where the sleeves go.

Before going any further, I have a confession to make: I hate following instructions. More importantly, I'm not afraid to disregard patterns and try to figure it out on my own. This results in a lot of "interesting" projects, and problems/issues that probably could have been avoided. It also helps me learn a good deal, and keeps my creative juices flowing.

Back to the sweater I'm knitting for my father... Well, I decided I'd add armpit gussets. So, I knit up the body to the top, steeked the arm holes, and started knitting sleeves. Two problems became clear: 1) the arm hole was too deep making the sleeve very triangular and bulky in the armpit. 2) I had made far too many increases for the gusset, which exacerbated the problem. Having just completed the arm hole steeks successfully, I decided that the best way to fix my problem would be to use steeks down each side so that I could cut-out the gussets. When I added a pannel on each side to make the sweater whole again, I could just make sure it went up further, making the arm-holes less deep. Not the most elegant of solutions, but not in violation of the rustic charm of the sweater. When the sweater is closer to finished, I'll post some pictures.

You may be asking "How does one go about steeking?" For the best tutorial ever (in my humble opinion), you can check out this blog for a whole series on steeking methods. My favorite is the crochet steek. If you have never done crochet before, let me help you decifer how to reinforce stitches around the cut-line.

To begin, you will need to make a loop as belowPut the crochet hook through the end-loop, and the circle in the middle will close into a sliding knot when pulled.

Next, to either the right or the left (eventually you will have to do both sides, so it really doesn't matter which you start with) of where you will be cutting, slip the crochet hook through both arms of the stitch (like a capital A without the cross-bar, or a V). Bring the long tail over the knit stitches and capture it with the crochet hook. Drag the thread back through the stitches. You will now have two loops on your crochet hook.
I'm going to fast-forward a bit here and show a steek in process. As you can see, you will continue down the column of stitches, securing each one. Each stitch will begin similarly to what is shown above.

When you have the two loops on the crochet hook (4th image), you will then catch the long tail and pull it through both loops and in-so-doing, removing them from the crochet hook. You will be left with a single loop on your hook, just as you had in the beginning. You are now ready to continue down to the next stitch.

To finish the column of secured stitches, when you are in a spot with a single loop (as in the last picture above), snip the long-end of the thread, and pull on the loop until the end pulls through, and instead of a loop you now have a tail. Weave in all ends.

When you have two columns of secured stitches right next to eachother, you can then grab your scissors, take a deep breath, and begin cutting.
Remember - this works best with wool or other feltable fibers. My demonstration was done in cotton, but I do not advise making steeks with this material. Don't try this steeking method with slick fibers!

New Project? Felted Rug

2009-05-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling the need for a new project. The 3lb fleece I cleaned didn't end up being of the nicest quality. The colors are lovely, but the tips are a bit crispy and slightly felted. I am not convinced it would process well for yarn. So what to do? FELTING!

Here are a few good felting resources:

Now, these are some great videos about making felt. Watch the first one, it's a riot!

The fleece I have to use is fairly small, thus the rug would likely be throw-sized. I'm not ready to begin the project, but I am ready to start day-dreaming about it.

New Rabbits

2009-05-29T08:24:00.001-07:00

So, I have a small herd of Satin Angora rabbits. The lady shown on the left just had her first litter last night: six kits in mostly shades of black and gray (though it can change a bit as they grow). This is the 4th litter I've had since beginning to raise rabbits last year. All the others went flawlessly - which is virtually unheard of. All kits that were born survived and thrived.

While rabbits are very easy pets to raise, they are not always the hardiest. It is not unusual for a rabbit to be fine one day, and dead the next. It doesn't happen all-the-time, but it is not what one would call a rare experience. With this sort of hardiness, it is to be expected to loose the occasional rabbit, and even litter of rabbits.

This morning when I went in to check on the new kits, I did not like what I found. Two kits were alive, but deathly cold in the corner. Their siblings were in the center of the nest under the rabbit hair their mother had pulled. These two were exposed on the hay, and it was not warm outside. They were still alive though, so there is hope!

Here is one way to warm up cold kits. You put them in a plastic bag, making sure their heads have access to air, and submerge them in warm water. I know it sounds weird, but it is supposed to work. These two guys spent about 10 minutes in their hot-tub before they were warm to the touch. We then put them back in the nest with the other kits. Now it's only a matter of crossing our fingers that they get food (something that is up to the mother), and can stay warm.I am trying to be optimistic, but I don't have a good feeling about the ability of all six kits to survive. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong!

Cleaning Fleece Continued

2009-05-28T14:03:00.001-07:00

Did I mention cleaning fleece is a P.I.T.A.? It's not hard, but takes a long time. I am waiting for my turn for fiber processing at the local fiber mill, so wanted to get a jump on doing anything I can myself. As I am currently unemployed, I really don't have any excuse not to clean the fleeces myself as it saves $5/lb... which considering I have 10lbs of fiber from MA sheep and wool and more from before, it starts to add up.

My washing machine does not do hot loads, just somewhat tepid ones. All is not lost as I have a tub with warmer water right next to the washer. I don't actually have scaldingly hot water from any tap in my house; It can be quite warm, but only gets to be just beyond comfortable to shower in. Because of this I added a large pot of boiling water to the tub to raise the temperature for the first rinse.

Once I had several inches of hot water, I stirred in roughly a cup of liquid dish detergent - Ajax and Dawn I believe. I then gently laid in my fleece bags (as described in the links from my previous post), pushing them below the water. Almost instantly the water became brown and cloudy, as you can see in the picture. What can we expect though? They're sheep - they live outside or in pens that they frequently poop in. While it's not a nasty dirty, it certainly isn't clean.

Felting is a concern when washing fleeces, but can be avoided. Try to keep the movement of wet, warm fiber to a minimum. People start running into trouble with this when they move their fiber frequently, or space-out when using a washing machine. In my cleaning process, I did tub soaks and then put the bags of fiber in the dryer to spin the water out. If you have a machine that does do hot water, you may want to skip the tub part completely. Just be sure that you remove the fiber when filling the washer, and under no circumstance let the agitator move while the fiber is in lest you have felt chunks instead of fleece.

Here is what you do:

Fill the washing machine with VERY hot water
Add a generous amount of soap (for the first wash or two)
Turn off machine
Load in fiber being sure to submerge it
Soak (20 - 40min)
Spin fiber dry
Remove fiber

Repeat until the water runs virtually clear, starting with soap loads and ending with a rinse load or two. Hang fiber to dry - either on drying racks or out on a line in the mesh washing bags. This should give you clean fleece ready to use.

All this brown gunk that washes out of fleeces often tints the fiber. I'm not sure if you can tell in the two pictures below, but the color before and after washing is slightly different. In particular, the cleaned fiber has less of a warm cast to it once the dirt was removed. I have talked to people who bought lovely brown fleeces only to wash them and find that they were actually off-white instead of the color they were looking for. It is very hard to tell exactly what color a fleece will end-up without test-washing a piece first, or buying it pre-cleaned. Don't let this stop you from trying raw fleeces, but do let it temper your decision to buy. The two fleeces I bought were $6/lb and $8/lb - so not terribly expensive all things considered. In the same fleece sale there were fleeces selling for upwards of $300. I would hate to buy one of those only to find the color was not what I expected.

Cleaning Fleece & Bag Balm obsession

2009-05-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

This week my to-do list includes cleaning fleece. I bought two fleeces at the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool festival this year (both colored Romney crosses), and as they are freshly shorn, I need to get them cleaned and ready for processing/spinning.

How do you clean a fleece? Well, check these out:
http://www.spinderellas.com/washing.html
http://gfwsheep.com/washingwool/woolwashing.html
http://www.hjsstudio.com/wash.html

So, I need to get several mesh bags, and a big container of dawn dish detergent.

A note on lanolin: it's great stuff. I mean this. I actively seek out products that contain Lanolin for problem skin (chapped, cracking, etc.) and know many a breastfeeding mother that has found this product to be a savior. Also, I confess to being a hard-core Bag Balm user (a product containing Lanolin) and will use it on just about any part of my body if I even suspect it may help. I don't want to give details here, but the only part I can think of not having tried is my eyeballs... It's great stuff!

More on this project later. For now, I'm off to the store.

Fantastic M&M or Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-05-22T03:18:00.000-07:00

I have done it - perfected the chocolate-chip cookie. They come out chewy, delicious, and with the perfect amount of chocolate. Yum, Yum, Yum. Here is how:

Wet Ingredients

7/8 C melted butter (cooled)
2 mounded C white sugar (approximately 2 C + 2 T)
2 T molasses
1 1/2 T vanilla extract (I never actually measure, just a generous splash)
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Dry Ingredients

3/4 t salt
3/4 t soda
3 C flour

Chocolate

1 medium bag dark chocolate M&Ms or 2/3 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (whole bag if you like it really chocolaty)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325-350 degrees F (the exact temp will depend on your oven. Try lower first, they may just have to cook longer).
Cream butter, sugar and molasses at medium to high speed. The texture will become light and fluffy. When in doubt, let it mix a little longer.
Add remaining wet ingredients and mix until smooth and airy. Make sure to scrape the sides at this time if needed (most stand mixers will need this).
Add salt and soda and mix until fully combined.
You will now add the flour. The key to tender cookies is this: only mix until the flour is combined. Over-mixing once the flour is added develops the gluten in the flour, and makes the cookies much less tender. So, on low speed, mix in 1C of flour at the time until it is almost combined.
Add chocolate (chips or M&Ms) and mix until evenly distributed (in the process, the flour will finish combining)
To make these cookies truly excelent, you want them BIG. They work as regular sized cookies, but are only good. I recommend you have a 35mm cookie scoop and do two scoops per cookie. You will want them about 2" apart on a non-stick mat or sheet of parchment paper.
Bake for between 6-8min, rotate the pan 90 or 180 degrees, and then bake for another 6-8min. They are done when they are kissed allover with a faint golden brown. If you over-cook they will not be nearly as chewy.
Let sit for 6-8min, and then take off the cooking mat/paper and let them cool on the cooling rack.

There you have it - fantastic chewy cookies. Now, you don't actually need to use the cookie scoop or rotate the pan while cooking, but I have to say, once I started these practices the quality of my cookies noticeably improved. Uniform cookies bake much more consistently, and the rotation helps compensate for uneven heating in ovens (which I think the majority of us suffer from).

My final recommendation for easy cookie making is one of these if you use a stand mixer. You don't need it, but you will be impressed at how quickly things mix and thrilled with the lack of side-scraping required.

Enjoy!

In all fairness, I must state that this recipe is further refined from the recipe found in this book (which is an excelent all-around cooking resource).

Cusion Covers

2009-05-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have a third-hand couch with very frayed cushions. As I'm in no position to replace the couch or have it re-covered professionally, I am left with two options: buy a cheap cover, or make a cover. Unfortunately, I have already tried the former and found it incredibly annoying. The cover was always becoming miss-adjusted, and looked terrible. So, time for attempt two: re-covering the fraying seat cushions.

I should state here that my sewing skills are basic at best. This project took a good deal of time, but was something possible for a sewing amateur. Of course, it did help that the cushions I was working with all had essentially right angles (90 degrees), so making the pattern was not terribly difficult. Also, once I had the pattern for the top and bottom, the cushion was an even depth, so all I needed was to sew-on a consistently sized strip around the sides.

It's do-able, and fairly easy, but does take a lot of time. Here are some tips that helped me:

Baste the pieces together. The curves are tough, and require millions of pins (just felt like that). It gave much better results to do rough-sewing to get these together rather than pin and pin and pin.
In doubt? Make the piece bigger... It's easier to cut off extra than it is to make a piece grow.
Buy a book and see how the pros do it (even if you don't decide to follow step-by-step). Here is an example.

One more thing: with all the curves, I sometimes had the tension of the fabric wrong. I'd start sewing, and by the time I had gotten around two corners, the fabric was no longer correctly aligned. The edges matched up, but there was extra fabric making pouches between where I was sewing and the next pin. To minimize this, I broke the sewing into smaller pieces. Instead of starting at the side and sewing across the front and to the next side, I started at the center front. I did half, and then came back and started the other half at the center front again (overlapping stitches to make the join secure of course). This way, if problems occurred from misalignment, they happened where they wouldn't be nearly as noticeable, and not quite so big.

Candied flowers - half success

2009-05-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did try the candied flowers (violets and pansies). It was... somewhat successful? There were two primary problems. First, I substituted a silpat mat for wax/parchment paper. MISTAKE! I think it needs a more permeable layer so that the bottom will actually dry faster and not bond to the smooth surface. Second, I ran out of time to dry the flowers in the oven. My husband had to get bread in the oven for our dinner guests, and so, they were about 75% dry. This meant that there were still some sticky parts that prevented the flower removal from the mat. I got some crumbling, some sticking, and in whole, a mess.

Oh, the other thing I would do differently is put the back of the flower down on the paper. I put petals down, and they just flattened out and stuck. I suspect turning them around would help leave more shape and body to the flower.

Finally, doing the violets was much more of a pain than doing the pansies. Bigger flower = easier to do. Perhaps if I have luck with the pansies next time, I'll try the violets again.

Edible Flowers

2009-05-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately the rain has derailed my plans of making candied violets today. I'm hoping to get to them tomorrow as my in-laws will be here for dinner and I think the violets would be lovely atop a cake for dessert. I did some more looking into recipes, and it was mostly more of the same. I did run across an article that provided a link to a fabulous site on edible flowers. Scroll down to the bottom for a listing of flowers and their uses.

If the violets go well, I may also have to do rose petals. My dad has tons of wild roses out in his back-yard. If I'm up there this summer while they're in bloom, I'll have to commandeer his kitchen! Tomorrow when I get to the violets, I may have to also do some pansies. I don't have quite as many available as I would have liked (apparently deer love pansies), but I am sure I could spare a few to try. They would be quite lovely on tomorrow's cake.

Also on the list of edible flowers were Calendula and Borage. I have to find some borage seeds to benefit my tomat os, so it's good to know there are other uses for it. Calendulas are some of my favorite flowers because, well, they are just so happy! It may sound odd, but the simple and vibrant blooms just make me smile. I got two packages to grow this year, Pink Surprise from Baker Creek (go sign up for their catalog right now - it's pure garden pornography) and an assortment packet from Seed Savers Exchange.

Laundry Soap and Violets

2009-05-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here is the finished laundry soap. A few things: I did end up bringing the mixture to a low boil because I couldn't get things to homogenize. That didn't actually help... what ended up happening is that when it cooled, there was a solid soapy layer on top, and a liquid layer below. To fix that, I just took my stick blender to it, and voila! I think I'll start a load of laundry soon and see how it actually works. It smells like ivory soap, which is fine with me as I think it's a fairly unobtrusive clean scent.

I'm not sure I have time to start this today, but am contemplating making up candied violets. This is the recipe that appeals most to me, but here and here are others that also seem good. I like to look around a bit to make sure what is being said makes sense, and they all do agree on the basics.

New graduate trying to get by

2009-05-07T05:28:00.000-07:00

Today I finished my last assignment for my entire MBA. While it's nice to be done, being that there is no next step on the horizon, it's a bitter-sweet experience. So it comes down to making lists. Lets see, what to do...

Find a Job
Organize my life
- house cleaning, car cleaning, project finishing, financial record organization
Fix my house
- price and plan new siding project, figure out walls in my bedroom, lay tile in the entrance way, etc.
Get creative
- finish dad's sweater, dye some of the fiber that's building up around here, finish the side table in the basement, build a potting stand for outside, build a rustic cupboard.

So, um, yeah... I guess I have plenty to do.

Today's project: laundry soap. I followed the basic instructions here and have the soap simmering on the stove-top. I used:

3 grated bars of Ivory soap
1.5 C Borax
2 C washing soda
18 C water

I mixed it all together in a large stainless steel pot, heated at medium heat on my stove-top, stirring every few minutes. I didn't let it boil, but did let it get mostly dissolved (some soap specks remain, but I'm not going to get worked up over them). Now it's a matter of waiting for it to cool, putting it in a container, and waiting for the next sunny day to do a load of laundry.

Why bother making your own you may ask? Welllllllll - a few reasons.
1) We have hard water and I wanted to try using some washing soda to improve cleaning.
2) Additive powders like borax and laundry soda never fully dissolve with my cold loads. It's annoying to find powder residue on black clothing!
3) who can resist making things from scratch.
Of course, if I was really hardcore, I'd have made the soap from scratch as well. We'll see if this works well, and perhaps next time I'll go for the extra step as well.