Returning from Hiatus

hello again. I'm back. I've been a busy girl, just not on the blogging front. I've been crocheting and spinning a lot, as well as baking, cooking, childcare-ing, and homeschooling.

i have been enjoying the 'bounty' of my window garden (thus far 6 hot peppers and 4 small tomatoes)

 i also took part in a swap on ravelry (the swap was for Imbolc, but i've opened it early) and i thought i'd show you what i got!

 that huge ball is wool roving from a rare breed of sheep called the Coburg Fox Sheep, and the wood box is full of charcoal and incense. Such lovely stuff :D

here's a peek at a couple of my ongoing projects:

a bat-wing style shawl made with some yarn i just LOVE!

100% alpaca, spun fine. to be plied with wool.

 in other news: um... no, not really any other news. am slowly starting to re-connect with old friends locally, which is nice and a real stress relief.

hope everyone is having a safe and warm winter... take it easy!

Yule and gift-giving

Over the years, my family has worked our way towards a more home-made, hand-made gift-giving tradition. This is in part financial (the Jones's we are not), but it is also because working on gifts through the year, putting energy into them, is infinitely more satisfying than going and buying some miscellaneous item (thoughtful though it may be) that happens to fall in your price range.

This doesn't mean we don't buy items. Honestly, about half our gifting in any one year is purchased, particularly items within our household, but i think this is in part because the handmade goods get given within the house throughout the year.

one gift some of our family and friends can expect this year is pictured below:

orange and cherry fondants, with the small centre bits of chocolate covered candied ginger

candied ginger and eggnog fondant

coffee, peppermint, and chocolate flavours

this was all made with one batch of filling, and the recipe for it is on joybilee farm.

all told, i made over 3 pounds of chocolates!!!

one recipe i improvised was for the coffee flavored filling. i used the following:
1tbsp Kahlua
1/2 tbsp instant coffee

to note with many of the filling recipes: some are too dry, and need extra butter (or a few drops of water)
and the rest are too moist, and need extra icing sugar. but they all taste wonderful!


oh, and one more thing:  here's the finished super-secret gift for you to see:

asymmetrically striped dogswool/wool mitts

and for music today, here is a page with a number of songs, most containing an audio file. lots of nice variants on old standards!
http://www.odins-gift.com/mp3/suiteofyulesongs.htm.

an update and some recent FO's

fyi, FO is finished object.

finished play rug! (finally!!!) it's to be part of the yuletide gifts (so don't tell them!)

warm and fuzzy warm ankle socks for reenactment

made this rag rug in about 4 hours!!!  go crochet!

happy Hallowe'en!

We're not doing anything particularly pagan this Samhain... pretty much just taking the kids out for candy, then crashing at home.... it's just been to busy for me to expend energy on planning a feast or something like that. perhaps next year, the kids will be big enough to do something together.
hope everyone is having a good (if rather chilly and snowy) Fall!

time for something new - crochet stuff

Well, I finally gave in recently and joined Ravelry. A fibre artist's hotspot, that's for sure. Addiction too, possibly.

While i was perusing their patterns for neck warmers and  cowls, i decided that none of them were 'perfect', so I made up my own.

the following is my own pattern. if you make this for gifting or sale, please include a tag with the original pattern web address. thank you.

under a fall coat

Buttoned Up Neckwarmer

 This pattern makes a close-fitted wool collar. It can be easily adjusted to fit. Original pattern makes a neckwarmer for a slender neck. I made this with a random skein of light wool yarn (kamb garn by Gefjun, apparently a defunct icelandic company that closed in the eighties, if i remember correctly) it was 100gr, and i used less than half of it, so i expect a 50 gram ball to be sufficient for most folks.

Materials needed:
1 ball 3ply or lace weight yarn, wool or natural fibres blend (mine was 17wpi, but 3 ply)
2.5 mm hook
wool needle
3-5 buttons of your choice

the neckwarmer, all buttoned up

stitches used and abbreviations:
chain (ch)
single crochet (sc)
half-double crochet (hdc)
double crochet (dc)
Treble-crochet (tc)

a note on gauge: initial 2 rows of pattern will be approx. 4 1/2 inches across. depth is somewhat unimportant, due to stretchiness of pattern.

the Pattern:

please note: work in back loops of the stitch for all repetitions of rows one and two! (this creates the ribbing effect)

chain 31.

row 1) ch 2*, hdc in next 20 stitches, dc in next 8 stitches, tc in next 3 stitches. turn.
* this will make 33 chain altogether. First hdc should be in the 3rd ch from the hook.

row 2) ch 4, tc in next 2 stitches, dc in next 8 stitches, hdc in next 21 stitches. turn.

Repeat these two rows until your pattern is 61 rows total, or to fit. (61 rows will fit a slender neck)

Next row) ch 4, tc across. turn. (this creates the 'button hole' row, allowing for flexible buttoning.)
next row) ch 1, then in both loops, sc across. turn.
next row) repeat sc row as above. finish off.

button flap:
This is worked in sc and in both loops to create a firm surface for the buttons to attach to.

on the initial chain, attach your yarn at the top (narrow end)
first row: ch 1, sc in next 23 stitches. turn
next row: repeat until flap measures about 1", or 7 rows total. fasten off.

finishing:
with yarn and needle, stitch the bottom 7 stitches of the neck warmer together. tack the button flap down on the inside of the neck warmer.
place then attach buttons.
weave in all ends.

open for putting on/removal. bottom is stitched together.

laying flat

if you have any concerns or questions with the pattern, feel free to contact me.

Sadface

my camera is missing in action. unfortunately that means i don't really have much urge to post, as most of my planned posts included photos. oh well.

i might as well do a 'life update'. what's going on? well, the monkeys; er i mean children, are growing by leaps and bounds, and driving me up the wall. Daughter is getting more and more kinder-ready, albeit slowly. Son is learning new words (and ways to get into mischief) every day.

I have been making slow progress on my crochet projects. i have the crochet kids play rug over half done now.
I have been crocheting wool socks for the kids for our Viking activities, as well as working on small projects.

we are currently putting together a camping event for our Reenactment group. I am excited to see how many show up, and how much we can get done as a group (and individually). hopefully this will motivate me to finish some of my ongoing sewing projects!

i've been watching the wild flowers and plants grow oh-so-fast with all this rain we've had. too bad everyone's gardens aren't doing nearly as well!

Shea (aka Lard Butt) has proven himself to be an admirable mouser, which is both good, and unfortunate that he has to be (he is a fully inside cat). I will be glad to move, and deprive him of his hunting skills.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to bake almost all the bread my family has eaten in the last month, and i hope to continue, now that i've gotten into the swing of it a bit!

well, that's it for now folks. hope all is well in your worlds. keep smiling!

wordless wednesday

yes, i made the hat

Getting into the spring of things - what have YOU been doing?

yup, this plant is a lush! heh.

 some newly transplanted lavender

newly planted seeds for myself (and, assuming everything grows, maybe a few to gift!)

My recently planted seeds include: italian parsley, grolau chives, globe basil, good king henry, ground cherries, Anaheim chiles, and a bunch of others. most of them will be kept indoors, excluding the ground cherries. Some may be indoor/outdoor, but my findings last year were that the ones that were taken outdoors grew MUCH slower and more poorly than the plants on my windowsill .

i also whipped up these little puppies: 

what are they? why, felted soap 'stones' of course! 

and before you say 'wtf?' i found the instructions on a blog i was following (no, i don't remember which one, but the directions i used were from Martha ) and thought that it'd be an interesting craft to try. it was! i just used two whole bars (too lazy to do the 'reshaping' step) and some of my bits of not-yet-handspun roving. they exfoliate nicely in the shower/tub when only slightly wet, and make a great lather when sopping. should be useful for camping!

just finished this crochet bag. got the pattern from The Sunroom. it works up quite quickly and is a fun little stash-buster! (not that it actually 'busted' any of my stash... but that's neither here nor there!)

on a more historical note, have been doing a little stone working. Soapstone, to be precise.

I went and bought a 3x3x5" block of stone, and have cut about a third of it up. These bits will all end up looking like the ones above...

What are they, you may ask. Well, these are whorls (weights) for drop spindles. I'm hoping to have them completed and on shafts so that i can start getting used to spinning with the different weights.

And if you say 'drop spindle? hunh?', i point you to this link, because it's quicker than trying to explain (and frankly, i gotta go deal with the kids, rather than blog!)

So what have YOU been doing this spring?

Happy spring!

Hopefully everyone is enjoying their early spring... wether it is under two feet of snow, or amongst early blooms.
Here in the Canadian prairies we've got lots of grey and brown, with banks of lingering dirty white... no green in sight yet!

We celebrated Ostara on the weekend with our littles... which included lots of eggs and treats

i had prepared treat-filled cascarone-styled eggs, as well as plastic eggs for hunting. Both kids got a HUGE kick out of searching out the eggs with small baskets, then dumping them into the big basket! After everyone had breakfast we took turns opening/crushing eggs to find the treasures inside. the fillings i used included small toys, chocolate eggs, fortunes, juice-based candies, and coins for our rewards system.

The last couple days i've spent planting seeds and watching my seedlings grow.

My daughter and i planted small pots of radishes and mesclun to grown on the windowsill...

and i repotted my unidentified mint....i think it's catnip, but it could be a crossbreed

as for works in progress, i'm slowly working on a play mat for the kids.. it will be farm-centric but similar to those 'roads and cities' playmats you can buy commercially.

this is the pattern i'm using... the orange bit is the part i've finished thus far

it's quite a bit larger in real life

so what have you planned or already started for Spring? are there plants growing? plans for fresh paint? or something even more ambitious? let me know!

Crocheting while already busy

it's just one of those things i do... i like keeping my hands busy while watching tv, while a passenger in a car... while waiting for a doctor/etc..  i am listening, honest! i DO hear ya while i'm going 'okay, only two more rows...' in my head... i may just not hear every word, that's all...

he's listening too, you just can't tell!

I've actually finished a few projects in the last couple weeks; and of course started a few more!

the bowl turned out... lopsided, but considering it was patternless and really just a trial of skill, not bad. the kids have been using it to put crayons and things in...  or as a hat (little man loves wearing weird things on his head... like plastic buckets... or underwear... yeah. he's a special boy!) I like the feel of the material it makes though, quite sturdy. think i'll try this technique with a pattern for other container shapes... they should hold up well during use.

Finished this dish towel as well.  It turned out quite nicely, and didn't use nearly as much yarn as i expected. (you can find the pattern here)

I'm also making progress on my latest sewing project... have made a few pads and pantiliners. don't think i'll make 'enough' until i've tried these out though (pics and pattern links to follow)

i started one new crochet project, and boy, is it an ambitious one for me! i've designed and started making a play mat for the kids. You know those mats you can buy with the roads and cityscapes on them? Well, i wanted to make a farm and country version, so mine is going to have fields, forest/swampland and gravel roads! i'm about 15% done, and when complete i'll post a picture of that one too!

Now most of what's on my plate, craft-wise, is actually sewing. hand sewing. whee. (i'm sure you can sense my enthusiasm!) i need to finish some Viking kit (clothing) for myself, and help hubby get some of his cut and pieced so he can work on finishing it too....  we both want to have more complete outfits for our big event in August. i'll be lucky to get one item done for myself though, as i'm sure i'll have a ton of new clothes to make for the kids (baby vikings are cute, but require frequent costume changes!)

the long cold days, crochet, and clutter-busting

So. i look out my window this morning just as the sun is coming up (no, i'm not up at this time by choice). I see... not much. Looking again, i see.. fog? Oh, lovely.
I check the weather network online and see....yup. Fog. Ice fog, to be specific. and -15C to boot. whee...

and this is warm, and 'mild' for this time of year.

for those of you who might not live in such northern climes, this is a picture of part of my back yard, taken yesterday. see those two short pillars on the right side? those are the top of a 3-foot tall childrens 'castle' slide toy. yeah. lots of snow.
(the thing in the middle is a tripod for our living history group, used for cooking)
those drifts in the background against the brush are 5-6 feet tall.
that blown in path is just that.... a path towards our wood pile.

yay winter.

to keep myself from going insane, i've been spending lots of time with my hook and yarn

 

trying out a tapestry crochet un-pattern. .this is the beginning of a bowl/container of some sort. as you can see, i'm using two colors of worsted weight cotton, and a super-bulky acrylic hidden inside to provide bulk and stiffness.

this is the beginning of a tea towel pattern i'm trying. i like the way the fans look in the pattern.

and this

is a super-warm fast and easy pair of slippers.

the pattern is heavily adapted from a toddler slipper pattern. The original pattern is here.  It makes a great kids slipper, but when i made a pair adapted for myself, i found it too 'ridgy' using double crochet. Here is the pattern i ended up making that is more comfortable, and nice and stretchy to boot!

simple slippers

materials: acrylic worsted weight yarn (i used red heart  super saver)

              4mm crochet hook

note on gauge: i didn't test gauge for this pattern, but i tend to crochet close to most pattern gauge, so if you tend to crochet loosely or tightly, you may have to adjust your hook.

sizing: this pattern is designed to fit an average size 9 mens, or size 11 women's foot. (that'd be me)

i included one possible adjustment if you have very large/wide feet. this pattern was tested on four adults, ranging from size 8-10 mens, and fit all of them without adapting.

stitches used: 

ch - chain

hdc - half double crochet

ss - slip stitch

hdc2tog - hdc two together

st - stitch

method:

working in rounds:

round 1: ch3. ss into first stitch to form a loop. ch2, then hdc 9 into the loop, joining with ss to 2nd ch of ch-2.

round 2: ch2. turn. hdc in same stitch. 2hdc in next stitch, 1hdc in next, *(2hdc in next hdc) twice, 1hdc in next hdc. repeat from * once, then 2hdc in last hdc, ss to join.

round 3: ch2, turn. 1hdc in each of next 3 st. (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in each of next 6 hdc. (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 3hdc, join.

round4: ch2, turn.  1hdc in next 4hdc. (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 8hdc, (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 4hdc. join.

round 5: ch2, turn. 1hdc in next 5hdc. (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 10hdc, (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 5 hdc. join.

round 6: ch2, turn. 1hdc in next 6hdc. (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 12 hdc. (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 5hdc. join

(( bonus round for big feet: ch2, turn. 1hdc in next 7hdc. (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 14 hdc. (2hdc in next hdc) twice. 1hdc in next 6hdc. join ))

round 7-18:  ch2, turn. 1hdc in each hdc around. join.

the joining point will be the top center of the slipper. 

from this point, work in ROWS, not rounds.

row 19-28: ch2, turn. 1hdc in each hdc across.

row 29: ch2, turn. hdc in next 13hdc. hdc2tog in next hdc. hdc in next hdc. hdc2tog in next st. hdc in next 14 hdc.

row 30:  ch2, turn. hdc in next 12hdc. hdc2tog. hdc in next hdc. hdc2tog. hdc in next 13 hdc. fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing.

finishing:  fold the last row in half, creating the heel. stitch along this to close up the heel. weave in ends.

decorating:  if you are so inclined, feel free to decorate with flowers, ankle pom-poms, or any other frou-frou bits you desire. i left mine plain as i like to be able to slip on my clogs while still wearing them.

this pattern was written down as i made it, but hasn't been tested by a separate set of eyes. if you find errors, or have problems, please let me know!

and in the on-going war against clutter and grime: clutter and grime are still winning. they have more warriors. However, i am waging battle with clutter by thinning the herd on my over-flowing bookshelves, and trying to re-organize them at least a touch. so far about 50 books have hit the bag. i actually have almost ALL my books on shelves now! crazy. Now to get those bags to a thrift shop..... that might be the tough bit.

for all my fellow winter-persevering folk, i raise a mug of hot chocolate to you, and hope you all keep warm.

And remember to bundle up, it's cold outside.

Recipe and work in progress

here we are at the end of the week... update time!

works in progress..... well, i 'completed' the summer top i was working on... it's a pattern from lion brand. NOT pleased with the results... the model was an A cup. i am a D cup. and evidently my breasts are in a different location from hers, as my top did not fit as pictured.... too low, and very low on the sides even when adjusted. going to try to do some alterations to get it wearable... mostly adjusting the straps and adding a few rows to the sides under the armpit. will post a pic if i get it usable.

made myself a nice pair of slippers. fit really well. i will post the pattern, and a picture, when i get back home (i'm currently visiting my parents this weekend)

started a pattern for a crocheted cotton dish towel. it's a nice pattern, so we'll see how it looks when i finish it.

spending 'quality time' with my family is difficult these days, as it's either "TV" time.. and not quality time at all... or involves two preschoolers running around/over/through everything while screaming and shrieking at the top of their lungs.
not much a lovey-dovey valentines in this household, let me tell you. but it's okay... eventually the kids will get older... more mature..... maybe by the time they're twenty, if i'm lucky!

here's a great recipe from my mom's black box  (again, this is not attempting to be an obscure reference... she uses a black recipe box  too!)

mom says, " if you want to serve the sauce on rice or veggies, make sure to double the recipe" (everything but the chicken)

origin of this recipe is unknown. mom may have found it in a recipe book somewhere.

Soya Chicken Wings
ingredients:
1/2 cup liquid honey (if yours is solid or creamed, that's fine too)
1/2 cup soya sauce
2 tablespoons catsup (or ketchup, if you spell it that way!)
1 clove of garlic, or more to taste.
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
12 chicken wings, whole or seperated

combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl. place wings in a shallow baking dish. pour sauce over wings. bake at 375 F for 1 hour. baste and turn wings once to ensure coverage.

this recipe goes great with whole grain rice and steamed veggies. the chicken turns very dark from the sauce, nearly black! it makes a very sticky, finger-licking great sauce!

also noted in the recipe: may substitute spare ribs for wings

that's all for now folks. hope all you lovebirds got some extra snuggle time with your special people, and that you remember to call those family members and friends you love, but haven't seen in a while. 
take care! 

long days with simians and tired of the snow

Okay. so my kids aren't actually monkeys. It just seems that way some times. Particularly on those long cold stuck-in-the-house kind of days where they feed off each others energy, and seem to go from running around screaming with glee to running around just screaming in about 3 seconds flat. Just trying to do those normal everyday household chores (cooking, laundry, etc) seem nigh-on-impossible. *sigh*

It may come as no surprise that i haven't gotten much done on my Works in Progress lately. i've now got a half-finished crochet top, and a bag of strips of fabric waiting to turn into a rug (eventually)

while i haven't actually done any 'deep cleaning' i have made progress in organizing my basement (which is pretty much a mess of boxes because we're living in an undersized rental) and trying to get some stuff ready to go to thrift.

and no, i haven't done any good things for my spiritual self yet either... i have _thought_ about what i want to do... but that's pretty much the same as complete inaction.


i'm getting a bit tired of the cold whiteness outside too... so to bring a little green energy into my post, here's a pic of some of the plants from my window garden this summer

 

  

these are rainbow peppers, an edible ornamental hot pepper

 

some of my bounty of peppers 

(sweet medusa peppers and hot rainbow and purple peppers)

now... just think some warm thoughts

and don't look out the window

Works in progress

well, i actually got some things done over the past few days!
i completed my scarf project (YAY!)

 

this is a poor picture, i'll admit, but the scarf looks great peeking out of a winter coat  (i know, it's a gift, but i had to try it on!)

2-tone ruffled scarf

materials: 2 balls sport weight yarn, red
1 ball sport weight yarn, ivory
4mm hook, or as desired

row 1: ch203. Dc in 3rd chain from hook. Dc across. turn.
rows 2-6 : ch3, (Dc in next st, 2dc in next st) across. turn
row 7: finish off red, join in white, work as per rows 2-6. finish off. weave in ends.
enjoy!

note: i reserve no rights for this pattern, as ruffled scarf patterns are widely available. i simply provide the pattern in case you like this one in particular, and want to make one the same/similar.

also, i made a gift for a little boy. i hope he likes it.

 

isn't it cute?

 

and look, he fits inside!

the baby hedgehog is a slight adaptation of a pattern from the book Amigurumi World, and the Mushroom pattern is found here. (i used the larger adaptation of the instructions)

my next project is going to be for ME! i know... greedy, ain't i? i plan on making a lovely summery top to wear once it warms up!

i'm also slowly working towards getting ready to make a rug. i've been searching my house for scrap fabric, sheets and the like to make into yarn. not ready to actually start MAKING the rug yet, it's going to be a while until i have sufficient material stockpiled.

oh, and i was thrift shopping earlier in the week... picked up some nice finds, including a hemp blend shirt (gotta love hemp!) and a Woman's Day book on crochet patterns, published in the 80's. man, some of them are FUGLY! however, i think i might actually try a few of the salvageable ones, just to see how they turn out. time will tell.

Happy Imbolc everyone!

multitasking

i'm not entirely against new technology.... skeptical of it perhaps. i tend to take up products and ideas once they're proven... and affordable. For instance, i only got a cell phone about 3 years ago. i resisted facebook for a long time before finally succumbing to its draw.....


i've resisted the idea of an e-book as well, though i am a moderately avid reader. However, as i received a net-book computer for yule, i have become interested in finally reading a disc of Honor Harrington novels i've had for years.  i decided to download a free reader of some sort, and eventually decided on the ybook reader because it's simple, no frills (but also no advertising!)  and actually resembles a book to a reasonable degree!

now, normally, when i think of multitasking and one of the 'tasks' is crochet, the other invariably ends up being tv/movies, or sometimes listening to music, because it's physically possible to do both at the same time.

this morning i tested out the ybook reader while the kids were still asleep upstairs, and i found out that not only does it make for a comfortable read, i can also crochet a simple stitch while reading, because it's hands free! *does a little happy dance* now, i wouldn't try a complicated pattern, but the scarf i am working on was doing just fine...

Perhaps i'll actually get more reading done this way?

snow days

so, here in Manitoba (that's in Canada, in case you're from far afield) we're having our first real snowstorm of the year. winds blowing to 80 kph, snow, poor visibility, closed highways, the works. it's definitely a day to hunker down, stoke up the wood stove, drink hot cocoa and tea by the gallon, and enjoy the little bit of extra time with your loved ones.

and, when the loved ones are getting just a wee bit on your nerves, and you've had enough sugar/caffeine to juice an elephant, what do you do? you crochet,that's what! (okay, you blog too, but that's somewhat beside the point)

my attempt today will be to complete the ruffled scarf. if i succeed, i plan to post a photo and pattern for everyone to enjoy :)

we'll see how that goes... now, i'm off to huddle under a blanket with my littlest one and my crochet hook.....

Works in progress

i'm going to attempt to make a weekly post updating anyone interested on what projects i have on the go, and how they turn out

current works in progress:

Norse women's under-dress: this has been sitting in my pile of ongoing projects since fall, and is low-priority until spring at least. it's a nice white linen, and i'm currently working on all the internal seams.

crochet: working on a cute ruffled scarf to put in my 'random gifts for random people' box. it's cherry red and very cheery looking.. and is my ongoing 'thing to bring with me to keep my hands busy'

i also picked up a lovely ball of sport-weight multicolored yarn... am contemplating what i should do with it.