Kool Aid Dyed Fiber

Well, I finally got around to carding my blue and purple Kool Aid dyed fiber. The wool itself was purchased at Iowa Sheep and Wool and was not the highest grade so I felt freedom to use it however I chose. It turned out, in my opinion, very cool because the purples and blues came up in blotches so as I’m carding it it is streaking nicely. It will have to go through the carder again but I want to be careful not to over blend it. It is also crossed my mind to add some of the original fiber to give it more color but I may just used two plies of one color and add another ply of either the white or the blue. The inspiration came after a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the Iowa City Craft Guild dying party. We were using chemical dyes there but as a first try I would rather use something less expensive and the word chemical just freaks me out. The bats are a lot more blue than they appear. More to come.

Soda and Coffee Cozies

I have been asked to submit a proposal to possibly teach a beginning crochet class September 20-22, 2013 at North Country Fiber Fair in Watertown South Dakota. It was a thrill just to be asked. I have never submitted a proposal before and it intimidated me. I really don’t know why; I am typically a “bull by the horns” sort of gal but submitting something in a contractual form really got to me.

I have decided for my class to make the pictured cozies primarily the soda can one. It took me an hour to design and complete so I think it will be easy enough for a beginner. I thought too, if there was time left over, I could show the participants how to make a granny square. Granny squares are great in that they are good purse projects and they use up scrap yarn. Trash into treasure – I love it!

Come and join me at North Country Fiber Fair in Watertown South Dakota September 20-22, 2013. It is a free event with many classes taught by great teachers, food, a fashion show, a live sheep shearing and herding demonstration and lots of great vendors. In the main area there will be a circle of 100 or so spinners, knitters, crocheters and whatever else you can do with fiber. See ya there! http://northcountryfiberfair.wordpress.com/201-north-country-fiber-fair/class-schedule/

Flying Geese

I awoke this morning knowing exactly what I needed to make, a sky and birds better known as flying geese. I found some pale blue fabric and some navy or black background fabric to make the sky and the birds. I ran to the store and found the white that has a jacquard style print – white on white – to go between the birds as clouds.

It just feels right. I hope the recipient likes it. If not she can give it back to me.

Round Robin Quilting Swap

I am involved in a Round Robin Quilt Swap at the Sioux Falls Quilters Guild. This is the first time I have ever done anything like this. I am not a great quilter but I do know how to sew and how to use the few tools that I have to make tolerable quilt squares. My first one I received after turning my own in was this one that was so very perfectly done. I can rarely say this about myself but I was intimidated.

It took me the entire month to figure out what to do next on this row of houses and trees. At first I though every house needs a fence. Then I thought I could let someone else do the fence because before a fence you need flowers. I started looking at flower patterns and was not finding the “right” one. I came across the one with the points – I believe it is called Crown of Thorns. I thought I could use it as suns across the top and then it happened; my light bulb moment.

My house would be cleaner if God hadn’t made me so creative

A few years ago we had accidental puppies, eight of them. They all found excellent homes and the parents are both spayed and neutered now. There was litigation pending so we had to wait to have them “fixed”.

We foster West Highland White Terriers for Little White Dog of Omaha and Westie Rescue of Missouri. A couple of years ago we had a pair we fostered for one of the local humane societies that came directly from a puppy mill. The female went into “heat” and I had thought we only had three days to go until we would be in the clear. I had the male and the female in “diapers” to keep the “issue” under control. My 16 year old daughter called me at work to tell me my dumb dogs were stuck together and she couldn’t get them apart. I evidently failed as a mother. I explained my methodology to my daughter then explained it was too late and we needed to plan for the inevitable. Westies typically have 3-4 puppies. This poor dog’s tummy was about one inch from the ground. She had eight little ones in there.

Puppies are destructive; that is why God made them so cute. These sweeties chewed through a baby gate and got into the room where I keep my spinning wheels and fiber. My dear daughter who was madly in love with all of them would come home from school and would clean up the entire disaster before I go home from work. What an amazing child! Some of the fiber was pretty expensive but when it is riddled with pieces of wooden basket and other items it is still just trash.

I recently took over my husband’s office space and filled it with quilting and fiber waiting to be cleaned and spun when I came across this fiber. I decided to use it first.

It originally was alpaca… well, it still is alpaca, that came striped lengthwise: beige, tan and brown to make a nice tweed. After the puppy clean-up the colors were pretty much blended. I spun it up and got 2/3 of a bobbin full. I then found some ultra purple wool in my stash from Luv Ewe in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and 4 ounces of medium brown alpaca from Alpaca Fibers of Arizona sold by Yarn Place on eBay for a $16.25 which is about right for pricing especially when I wanted it now and all of my brown alpaca was the wrong color. I 3 plied the two browns and the one purple.

70% alpaca/30% wool; 770 yards so far.

I am thrilled at the finished product. The picture doesn’t do it justice. It looks sunburnt in the middle. The true color is on the outside edges of the skein pictured. So far I have 770 yards of a solid fingering weight. I have over twisted just a bit but I am very impressed with my eveness. I need to spin the balance of the ebay alpaca to use up the rest of the purple and the other fiber. I don’t know what I will make from it but for now it just brings me joy.

Indian Naan Win!

For dinner I made Chicken Korma using Tiger Tiger Korma sauce in a jar from World Market. When I opened the jar it smelled like mustard and sweet pickles but I used it anyway. I added chicken pieces and 1/2 bag of frozen peas. I served it over brown rice.

I also made Naan for the first time in my life. I found the recipe at allrecipes.com. I had to make a few changes. I have never owned onion seeds so I just added powdered onion to the flour mixture. I also did not have ghee (clarified butter) so I used what we had which was I Can’t Believe its Not Butter – a product I am not proud to say is in my fridge but my daughters love it. I am a butter butter user. I also was out of the aluminum foil which was recommended to put on the baking sheet but I had no problems.

I threw all of the ingredients into my bread maker on the dough cycle and let ‘er rip. It came out as a soft dough and was fun to play with. It was then that I realized I wasn’t to all all of the “ghee” to the bread maker; I should have kept some behind to brush the dough just before baking, woops. I didn’t grease the cookie sheet but just made three rounds at a time on a cookie sheet and put it under the broiler. In just a few minutes it turned a lovely toasted color. I flipped them and baked a couple more minutes and that was it. Easy peasy. I am so proud of me! This is something I never thought I could or even would make plus the family loved it. Yeah me!

Indian Naan is as much fun to make as it is to eat!

Today I begin

I am beginning this blog to pressure myself into getting something done. I am always collecting patterns but what good is that if I make nothing from them. If this is the launch that I need well then lets blast off! I hope you enjoy my journey.