So many hobbies!

I always forget that I need Saturday to unwind from the week, so while I didn't dye all weekend, I did get some roving dyed up.  I'm tempted to keep some of them for myself.  Like this one:

I'm not sure what I'm going to call it.  Seablue?  The Blues?  Not sure yet.  It's 4 oz. of Blue-faced Leicester dyed in the crock pot.

I'm calling this one "Eat Your Greens."  It's another one I'm tempted to keep.  4 oz. of Superwash Merino, hand-painted.

I also dyed up BFL in the "Ming" coloway, Merino/Tencel in "Calypso" and some Superwash Merino in reds/oranges/yellows that I apparently didn't take a picture of.  There's a sixth roving cooling in the crock pot that'll be ready tomorrow.

Saturday morning I picked sweet cherries.  Lots of sweet cherries.  Today I pitted about 4 or 5 pounds of them, sitting on the couch with an old towel over my lap, watching movies.  I got the clever idea to use a large paperclip, opened into an S-shape, to dig out the pits.  I learned that cherry juice, combined with the mordant that is the metal the paperclip is made of, dyes protein quite well, ie. my hand.

I can't speak for it's light-fastness, but it's fairly wash-fast, at least in the short term.  Soap doesn't work at all.  And judging by the stains on the cotton towel I just took out of the dryer, it dyes cellulose fibers, too.  Rather all-purpose, cherry juice.  Anyway, I'm not wild about sweet cherry jam, so they're all going into the freezer.  They'll be great in oatmeal this winter.  I should get 5 or 6 quarts from what I picked over the weekend.  I found some reusable plastic freezer containers.  My sister said she'd had very good luck using ziploc freezer bags and I may do that but I prefer to use reusable containers if I can.

Homemade tortillas

My first attempt.  They're pretty pitiful, aren't they.  They're only about 4 inches across - they're supposed to be 5 or 6 inches across but I just couldn't manage it.  Maybe my tortilla press isn't good enough.  Not a clue.  I only made a half batch which means I should have gotten 8 or 9 tortillas.  I only got 6.  They tasted fine but they weren't quite right.  Hopefully the next batch will be better.  I might try a rolling pin next time.

I haven't called the farm to confirm so I'm hoping I'll be picking sweet cherries Saturday morning.  Next to fresh raspberries, sweet cherries are my favorite fruit.  They're only available for a short time which I'm sure is one reason I love them so much.  If they were available year round, they'd be commonplace and they wouldn't be special.  Yummy!  I've got 4 1-quart freezer boxes so some will be feeding the freezer.  I hope I can find more boxes.  The canning section of my local grocery store had jars and canning paraphenalia but no reusable plastic freezer boxes.  If I can't find more, I'll have to rethink how and what I'm going to freeze.

Back in the saddle

Damn Typepad lost my post!  Now I have to try and recreate it.  There was swearing.

Anyway, so as I said the first time, I've been in a weird funk for a month or so now and I've badly neglected my store.  I'll be recifying that this weekend when I go on a dyeing binge.  I've got new dyes, some new colorways, and a boatload of roving.  Take a look at this:

From left to right:  1 lb. of BFL, 2 lbs. of Superwash Merino and 1 1/2 lb. of Merino/Tencel.  Dyeing Merino/Tencel will be a new experience for me and I'm very interested in seeing how it comes out.  I love the sheen the Tencel gives the roving.  I'm also going to try again handpainting the roving on plastic wrap, rolling it up and steaming it.  I can get longer color runs that way.  I'll be making a trip to Gordon Food Service for some monster rolls of plastic wrap.  (The juvenile teenage in me really wants to completely wrap someone's car with the monster roll of plastic wrap.  If you get up Saturday morning and find that your car was shrink wrapped during the night... um, it wasn't me.  Really.)  After I've restocked the store with roving, I'll start working on some of the large spindle boxes.  The little ones aren't selling very well but there seems to be more interest in the larger ones.  I think they're pretty cool myself but since I came up with the idea I suppose you can't really call me impartial.

It poured rain tonight, which made my veggies very happy.  They've gotten so big since I potted them up.  Oh, and I have a pepper!  It's a little tiny thing about half the size of a pencel eraser but it's definitely a pepper!  It's so darn cute.  Yay, the bees like my plants!  It's about time to tie up my tomatoes.  I'd normally use tomato cages but I waited too long and they're too big now to get the cages in place.

Oh, and in the picture above, yes, that's a glass of milk.  I love the stuff; there'll be no osteoporosis for me!  Milk, it does a body good.

I has yarn!

Approximately 350 yarns of soft angora/merino goodness.  This picture makes it look brown.  It's not.  It's more purple and pink but the merino is black and that saddens the other colors quite a bit.  That and my camera's wonky.  What am I going to do with this lovely softness?  Not a clue.  It's between a fingering and sport weight.  What can you make with 350 yards of fingering/sport weight yarn?  It would have to be something that won't take a lot of abuse.  Oh, and I'm not a scarf person.  (So many people just put their hands down.)  Think I should buy another 4 ounces?  700 yards will be more useful.  Any suggestions?  I'm open.

Is it possible that I'm the world's slowest knitter?  It seems to take me forever to finish something.  Still, I did turn the heel and I like knitting k2p2 rib so in theory, I should be moving right along on this sucker.  In theory.  Sorry the picture's lousy.  Without a sock blocker, the ribbing wouldn't lay down and behave so I could get a decent shot.  Of course, with the ribbing misbehaving, you can't see the pathetic excuse for a short-row heel.  I blame lack of practice.  Would someone please take pity on me and show me how to knit a heel flap and gusset on a toe-up sock?  For some reason, when I read directions for said heel, it sounds like Charlie Brown listening to an adult talking, "Wahwah wah wah wah."  Short rows were much easier to grasp.

I've finally come to the conclusion that I'm not going to do rubberstamping any more and I need to get rid of my stamping stuff to make room for my current obsession...um... hobby.  Now that I've made that decision, I'm trying to decide between one big garage-type sale or listing everything separately on Craig's List.  The sad reality is a) I just want to be rid of the space-hogging stuff and b) I'm not made of money.  Two ideas that don't necessarily play well together.  I want/need a chest freezer for all the summer goodness I plan on putting up but, well, money doesn't grow on trees.  I could probably get more for things if I list them separately but it will take much longer and be much more work that way.  If I list a big sale, I can (hopefully) get rid of a lot of stuff all at once, and believe me, I have a lot of stuff.  Frankly, I'm leaning toward expedience.  Hopefully the sales will be enough for the new freezer.  Now I just need to find an open Saturday.  And space in the basement.

Canning recipes

I bought myself a new book Friday:  the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.  I have quite a few canning books in my library but this one was published most recently (2006).  Information changes over time and the older books aren't as accurate.  I wanted one that was more up to date.  Well, okay... that's just an excuse.  I really just wanted another canning book in my library.

Anyway, while I was reading through the book looking for tasty-sounding recipes, I found that most of the recipes call for a large amount of the main ingredient.  It reminded me that most recipes were created by people who had a bumper crop of something and needed a way to preserve that crop.  They also found a way to use what we now would just toss.  Page 327 has a recipe for Cinnamon Watermelon Rind Pickles.  It sounds good, actually.  Now I just need to get my hands on 16 cups of watermelon rind.

Four pints (and a bit) of Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce, ready for the freezer.  (Sorry Mom, I forgot to add the cinnamon.)  I was going to make the Victoria Sauce but that called for 2 quarts of rhubarb and I ran out.  When I get some land, I'm planing 3 or 4 rhubarb plants!  I picked strawberries again this morning but it's the end of the season and I only got about 5 pounds of berries.  Most of those went in to the above sauce.  I think sweet cherries are the next fruit in season.  I really need to buy that chest freezer.

I learned another great advantange to container gardening this weekend.  When the passing thunderstorms threaten hail, just drag the pots onto the front porch where they'll have a roof over their heads.  Here are the kids hanging out and waiting for the storm to pass.  Naturally, the hail never materialized.

Believe it or not, I still do fiber things and I finished spinning the angora/Merino roving today.  I'm in the middle of plying so I don't have a picture yet.  I also turned the heel on my Pumpkin Patch sock.  I really need sock blockers so I can take a decent picture.  I'll have a picture of the sock-in-progress tomorrow.

A clarification

I think I may have offended some people with yesterday's post and for that, I apologize.  I was stream-of-consciousness typing and I was not as clear as I could have been.  When I said humans were meant to eat meat, I only meant that the human body evolved over time to eat meat as well as vegetables.  If you compare our teeth to other omnivorous animals, you will find they are very similar:  front teeth for the tearing of meat, back teeth for the grinding of vegetation.  Also, our bodies most easily get the nutrients they need from a combination of both meat and vegetables.  You can get the same nutrition from a vegetarian diet but you need to plan better and eat combination foods.  For example, the most efficient source of iron is red meat.  Iron-rich leafy greens and beans, however, must be eaten with a source of vitamin C or the iron cannot be absorbed.  If you only have half of the combination, the iron is useless.  Now that said, the combination of iron-rich vegetation and vitamin C often yields more usable iron than meat alone.  Saying that the human body gets what it needs most easily from an omnivorous diet is not me making a judgement, simply stating a fact.  But... eating meat today to stay healthy is no longer necessary with the availability of vitamin supplements and grocery stores offering fruits and veggies year round.  A few hundred years ago when there were little or no fresh vegetables in the dead of winter, combination diets would have been a problem.  Am I making any sense at all or am I just digging the hole I'm standing in deeper and deeper?  Honestly, I'm not trying to be offensive.  Personally, I make no judgements on what people eat, who they sleep with, or who or what they choose to worship.  If it works for you, more power to you.  For myself, I want a good free-range hamburger with lettuce, tomato, mustard and pickles... on the other hand, I have a great recipe for black bean burgers with spicy peach ketchup and I'll happily make then if you come to visit me.

Feeding myself

It's been a long time since I've done any kind of canning or food preservation.  It's been a long time since I've wanted to.  Lately though, that niggling sense of something wrong, of something coming, has made me start thinking about stocking up.  Sure, I could just go to the grocery store and buy a bunch of canned food but doing it myself is much more satisfying and I'll end up with things I can never get in a store.  There's also the intense satisfaction and confidence that comes with knowing that you can take care of yourself, and your family, if need be.  And, if you grow the food yourself, aside from some sweat equity it's virtually free food.  Oh, and you can be sure it's not covered in pesticides or other chemicals.  You can't beat that.

One of the fun parts of canning for me is trying new recipes.  This year, new recipes (so far) will be sweet pickle relish and Victoria Sauce, which is made from rhubarb, raisins, onion, sugar, vinegar and spices.  I imagine it's similar to a chutney and you'd eat it with chicken or pork.  I'll be visiting the farmers market again this Saturday (our farmer's market is open Wednesdays and Saturdays and since I work during the week...) for more rhubarb, free-range eggs, free-range hamburger, and anything else that looks good.  I'm still trying to find a source of free-range chicken.  After finding out how our beef cattle and chickens end their lives, in unimaginably horrible, cruel ways, I can't stand the thought of giving my money and support to that industry.  I'm not a vegetarian; I like eating meat.  As human animals, our bodies are made for the eating and digesting of meat.  While I am not capable of killing my own meat (I have too soft a heart), I can choose to purchase beef, chicken & eggs, and pork from animals who lived out their lives in the open, under the sky, in as happy and healthy a manner as possible.  That's why I plan on raising my own chickens when I get my place in the country.  We need to take back our food!

The first two ounces

The first two ounces of the angora/Merino roving.  I love the flecks of color that show up here and there.  As usual, I can't wait to finish spinning so I can ply it and see what the yarn is really going to look like.

The weather has me feeling very blah.  Here I am, trying to get into a regular walking routine and it goes and rains.  Alot.  So not only am I feeling the frustration of actually wanting to exercise and can't, but it's also cold and gray.  I shouldn't complain:  some parts of the country are dealing with very serious flooding.  Makes you wonder if nature is ticked off at us.  Anyone seen the new M. Night Shyamalan movie?

My goals for the week and weekend are the same as last weekend:  cleaning and organizing.  I didn't get enough done.  I also want to do some actual cooking.  Wow, cook in my own kitchen.  What a concept.  Jacki blogged about making homemade tortillas and I want to try it myself.  They look really tasty.  Of course, that means tacos this weekend.  Mmm, tacos!  I hope my grocery store carries masa harina.

Hey, my peppers and tomatoes have flower buds!  The tomatoes are a'comin!  I can hardly wait for the first one to be ripe.  There will be pictures!

It's a start

I ran into some frustration this weekend in regards to my cleaning and organizing project.  You see, I have so much freakin' stuff, if I clear off a surface, I literally don't have any place to put the stuff I'm trying to clear.  I kind of turn in a circle, not knowing where to start.  You have no idea how frustrating that is.  My only option, since I have no more storage, is to move up.  I didn't get done all that I wanted but I did put up some shelving and cleared off my wool/fiber area.  This is the before picture:

And this is the after:

I'm so proud of myself I can hardly stand it.  I still need more storage but it's a start.  I learned it's nearly impossible to put shelves up by yourself.  I needed my neighbor to mark the spots for the holes while I held the shelf level.  Once that was done, it was a breeze to drill the holes, hammer in the anchors and screw the shelves into the wall.  Well, maybe not a breeze - I was dripping by the time I was done - but don't they look great!?  Damn, I'm good!  I finally have some place to hang my ribbons, storage for the 6+ pounds of yarn blanks I just bought, as well as some open shelf space.  My computer desk is to the left of the table and coming out at right angles to the table and I'm already planning on putting up a third shelf to hold computer stuff.  I'm not quite there just yet but I expect I'll be studying the rest of my condo later this week looking for potential locations for new shelving.

Saturday at our guild meeting, I bought 4 oz. of roving that had me walking up to people, handing the roving to them and saying, "Touch this!"  (You can do that with spinners - they don't think you're a wacko.)  The roving is 75% angora/25% Merino.  Oh.  My.  That's part of the reason, I suppose, that I didn't get more done this weekend:  I just had to start spinning it up.

Naturally, I have no idea what I'm going to do with the yarn when I'm done spinning it.  That wasn't the point.  I just really needed to experience the spinning and the touching.  Okay, yes, I groped the fiber.  What of it?  You would, too.  Trust me.

Wensleydale

 Approximately 400 yards of 2-ply Wensleydale, spun from roving.  Wensleydale is a long-wool (an 8" staple length!) and for the breed, this stuff if pretty soft.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.  It's not soft enough for mittens, hats or socks and there isn't enough for a shawl.  It'll have to marinate in my stash for a while until inspiration hits or I give it away.

The majority of my weekend, once again, will be taken up with dealing with the mess my condo has become.  My lack of storage space is starting to overwhelm me and the stress of the mess is starting to affect me all the time.  I'm just enough of a control freak that a messy house makes me feel like my life is out of control.  So not good!  Tomorrow night I'm going for sushi with friends (yummy!) then I'll be home cleaning; Saturday is our spinning guild meeting, then back home for more cleaning/organizing; and Sunday, if I'm good, I get to see a movie.  It's not the world's most exciting weekend but hopefully I'll feel a whole lot better by the end of it.  (Hmm, floating shelves...?)  I may even get some work done on my sock.  I'm half done with the short-row heel so I should be working on the leg by the end of the weekend.