Skein Brain

Christmas Tags 2010, Time Holtz Inspired

2010-12-03T10:31:00.005-06:00

How do we love thee T!m, let me show you the ways.....

Top tag was inked with Faded Jeans and Peeled Paint Distress Inks, decoupaged with a vintage clip art which in turn was treated with a good coat of Rock Candy Distress Paint, stamped with snowflakes and those embossed with ZING! blue glitter finish embossing powder, edges roughed up and inked heavily, Picket Fence Distress Stickles run in a dripping line on top for icicles, ribbon attached and a little plastic clip adhered.

Bottom tag was well inked with Peeled Paint Distress Ink and then splattered with water droplets, edges distressed and well inked, double stick tape put down top and bottom and Suze Weinberg's Mini Mosaics in Rasberry adhered to tape, 7gypsies red Sommes Gaffer Tape run along center, silver metallic alpha stickers treated with alcohol inks placed on gaffers' tape, and red mosaic stickers run along top and bottom of gaffers' tape.

First tag was inked sprayed with Starfish Glimmer Mist, edges distressed and inked directly with Pine Needles Distress Ink, words stamped out on an AroundTheBlock Tapewriter (this thing is a piece of crap, doesn't advance the tape half the time and you have to do it manually, but I bought into a bunch of cool tapes before I knew this, so I use it from time to time lol), and layered with Grungeboard pieces. I painted the oval with Adirondack's Acrylic Paint Dabber in Bottle and then heavily painted it all over when dry with Distress Paint in Rock Candy. The numbers were inked heavily with Faded Brick Distress Ink and also covered with Rock Candy Distress Paint. The flourish shape was just painted with Adirondack's Acrylic Paint Dabber in Gold.

Second tag was painted all over with Plaid FolkArt High Definition Acrylic Paint in Berry Wine. This stuff is truly amazing, a great dimensional paint, you must get some and try it! I used a foam brush (it is a waterbased paint) and after getting a nice thick coating on my tag, just sort of tapped and lifted to get the most dimension from the paint. Make sure it dries thoroughly before continuing, though! This texture is rather bold and can stand on its own, so I kept it simple from here on out. Just added a bejeweled star brad from Karen Foster and some metal alpha embellies attached with star brads.

Left tag was first masked with a Tim Holtz Borderline mask and then sprayed with Glimmer Mist. After dry and mask was removed, tag was irregularly inked with Old Paper Distress Ink. Tim Holtz' symphony Tissue Tape was roughly torn and adhered, as was star brad and metal phrase embellie. Lastly, I stamped and embossed Tim's reindeer stamp on Grungboard, inked with Fired Brick Distress Ink, and cut out and attached to tag with dimensional glue dots.

Right tag was first stamped with Santa using Staz-On in black, then inked using various colors of Distress Inks. The snowflakes were stamped using white pigment ink and embossed using a very fine glitter powder. Edges were distressed and inked, bronze star stickers and vintage Christmas rosette sticker adhered, BELIEVE stamped in Fired Brick Distress Ink, and finally Distress Stickles in Peeled Paint and Fired Brick used to embellish Santa's hat.

First tag was sprayed with Wheatfields Glimmer Mist and edged heavily inked with Tea Dye Distress Ink. Bingo card edges were heavily distressed - even lost a corner there but that works here! - and inked with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink before being glued to tag. Metal alphas were also glued on, as was metal key. Stamp clip art was distressed and attached with foam square for dimension. At the end I thought something wasn't right, so I took the Antique Linen Distress Ink and randomly blotched the bingo card to age it. Much better!

Ah, my final masterpiece. I don't even remember which colors of Distress Ink I used, but there were many! First I crumpled up the tag, inked it heavily with Fired Brick Distress Ink, then sprayed with water and let the water move a bit by tipping the tag around. It actually didn't look the way I had anticipated at this point, the red seemed way too dark for what I was thinking. So I went to town and experimented. I ironed it flat when it was dry, then inked up in various colors. I think I used Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, and Faded Jeans. Yeah, lots of color LOL!! I distressed the edges slightly and inked. Attached a vintage clip art piece with the Symphony Tissue Tape, and secured it further with a snowflake brad. Added another clip art piece, attached with two nailhead brads this time. Added a Greetings clip on the side and topped it all off with an elegant crushed velvet ribbon. Oooh la la, la fa la la!!

All these tags were made for the 2010 MJF Christmas Tag Swap. I have three partners so I had to make a bunch!

MJF Christmas Apron Swap

2010-12-03T10:15:00.004-06:00

Made this cutie for Patricia, who collects snowmen and has a red and white kitchen. I searched hgh and low for red and white snowman fabric at my local store, but to no avail. I think that's OK, as this will give that kitchen some festive contrast. Besides, this is one of those nice vintage calicos that are much sturdier than the ones made these days, yet still has a nice drape and isn't too stiff like the lighter home dec fabrics often used for aprons:

And here's a close-up of the pocket corner so you can see those cutie patootie snowmen better:

And yes, ahem, I AM aware that I am making a boat load of posts today. I do not seem to be able to get on regularly with my schedule and all, so I am doing what I can do. I rather do group postings, blocking each topic into another post, than not post at all. I also find that sometimes I am ready to post, pics are all ready and everything, but I am waiting to make sure a recipient has received their giftie before I make it public. By the time I know it has been received, I forget to post!! So bear with me and my feast or famine postings.

Duck Tape Adventures

2010-12-03T09:43:00.002-06:00

I know everyone else has been riding the duck tape train for years, but I have only recently taken a ride and I must say that I love the rails! Cheap tickets, meandering routes, and scenic views. Happy happy joy joy!!

First I started with some woven Christmas stockings:

These were real easy and didn't take too terribly long to make, though some time was involved. I actually saw one pictured in the 2010 Joann Fabrics Christmas catalog, and they said instructions were available online, but there were no instructions available so I just made it up as I went (after a nasty note to corporate for their false advertising! they said they would get around to fixing the issue but whatever, I wasn't about to be thwarted by duck tape). I just made non-sticky tape "ribbons" by folding lengths of tape, stick side to sticky side, then weaving those ribbons to create the stocking front. It helps to use strips of blue painters' tape to keep the top and bottom tape strips in place while weaving. For the back, I made a red tape fabric and cut both front and back out in a stocking pattern. Again I used painters' tape, making a large X through the front weaving, to hold it all together while I cut (this was easy to carefully remove from the inside of the stocking when I was all done). I attached front and back using red tape as a seam binding of sorts, then made a white tape fabric cuff and just taped that to the top inside of the stocking. Decorations of holly leaves and berries (highlighted with a silver metallic sharpie!) completed my beauty. These were very well received at both work and within the family - my dear aunt even tried to claim a couple for her own! I didn't let her get away with it, as I used those first two for MJF Christmas swaps, but I did let her abscond with my very first duck tape Christmas ornament. I got the idea for this from the roses folk make from duck tape - they sort of start with a square that's folded into a triangle and a small sticky side is left to adhere the petal to the rose. I just overlapped those triangles, sticking them to a styrofoam ball instead of to each other. The result is smoother than the roses, and I think the result resembles a pinecone. My first was a rather elegant inspired silver and white. Take a look-see:

Isn't that pretty? My aunt has rather old-world elegant decor tastes, so it suites her just fine. And she feeds me real good food a lot, so she can get away with a lot of crafty absconding LOL!

I have made quite a few of these since then, trying out different color themes and such. Been using a lot of coupons at the craft store on duck tape! Here's my second, though. I love how it looks, very Christmas-y. Though the unevenly striped candy cane tape is not duck tape per se, it IS made by Duck brand, and it is rather cute, so I used it anyway. Worked fine, too. It's a sort of seasonal packaging tape:

I have moved on for the time being, from stockings and ornaments to table decor and purses, but that will have to wait till later. Their are Christmas recipients out there who I want to surprise!!

Brown Button Reindeer Swap

2010-12-03T09:40:00.002-06:00

This MJF swap was my nemesis, my own personal albatross! For some reason, I just couldn't get my creative mojo in order. Talk about block!! I had ideas that I just couldn't bring to fruition, so I finally gave in and did one of these guys the exact same way everyone else did them. Sigh. Conformity just isn't my thing. This pagan soul has never walked the way of the masses, baby....

First Christmas Card for 2010

2010-12-03T09:35:00.001-06:00

I threw this one together rather quickly, as it was just a little note to put in a stuffed stocking swap over at MJF. I adore reindeer and think this cutie came out nice:

November Mailart

2010-12-03T09:26:00.002-06:00

OK, so this is rather old at this point but I was waiting to hear that the recipient got it. This was my first attempt at a never-ending card and I love this technique, there are more of these in my future! Here it it, as each unfolding reveals the next layer:

Halloween Fun

2010-10-30T21:11:00.003-05:00

I have made a few Halloween papercrafted treats this year. First, my October mail art was a Hello Kitty witch I cut using MTC on my Cricut. I mounted her on a transparency sheet that I had inked up with alcohol inks, and framed it all with a great gothic frame complete with spiders (from the Happy Hauntings cartridge). The final size was big and wonderfully weird:

Then, I made vampire cards for another MJF swap. these are a slight variation on one I received last year in a Yahoo group swap, I think done by a gal named Valerie. The count's hair is embossed on the Cuttlebug using the twig/branch folder, it makes great hair on die cuts! Unfortunately I couldn't get that embossing to show on my pics:

After that I made a bookmark which I LOVED. I am very upset as it seems to have been lost by the postal service, but I was lucky to find the same paper so I will most likely make another just like it for my swap partner. While I am at it, I probably will make myself one too LOL!! The paper elements are off a tag sheet from Graphic 45, and I sponged various distress inks for the background. I used modge podge on the whole shebang, then applied a sticky glitter chipboard fence on the bottom, and topped it off with a melange of fibers:

Lastly, I made a dozen ATCs for a MJF swap. A few were duplicates, but I photographed each different one. They are done on clear acrylic ATC blanks inked with alcohol inks, modge podged paper elements, and a few other things like googly eyes and bat buttons, that sort of thing:

Apronology

2010-10-01T23:23:00.002-05:00

I have a newly found fascination with aprons. I cannot possibly ever have a need for all the aprons I seem to crave, so I have been making aprons to give away. The following apron was made for a MJF swap using the pattern found here. I made some modifications - I removed the higher row of decorative hem tape as I thought it cut the visual in half unappealingly, and I made it reversible. But I really like this pattern and will most likely use it again. I love this apple fabric so much, it was hard letting this one go!

And here is the reverse side:

And in return I received this stinkin' cute apron:

Felted Pumpkin and Paper Treats

2010-09-30T23:20:00.003-05:00

I have had this pattern for a knitted and felted pumpkin on my to-do list for a while, and when I joined a Halloween Goodie Bag swap on MJF it seemed like the perfect addition. While the knitting went easy peasy, I had a bit of difficulty with the felting. I didn't feel like paying my landlord for several loads of wash to get it all felted, and so I thought I'd do it by hand. Mph! The stitching all stretched out the second it hit the first batch of water. I sort of had a hard time keeping the shaping as it began to felt, though the Lion brand yarn I used did felt well. But the plastic bags called for to stuff the pumpkin while felting blobbed about, misshaping the pumpkin, and the yarn that was supposed to define the sections sort of drifted. I was none too happy!! I finally just took the stuffing out and finished felting empty. Then when it was dry (several days later, sheesh!), I took a matching color thread and wrapped it around the section divisions. I think the final effect is good but I really wonder if the machine felting works better. Still, what a cute little felted joy:

Besides the banner I previously posted and the felted pumpkin, I also made a few candy containers out of cardstock using my cricut and Make The Cut. The felted pumpkin was tucked snug in a felt bag from the dollar store, and a store bought metal Halloween ornament was placed in a cute witch box I got last year on clearance. A haunted house card topped it all off:

Halloween Banner

2010-09-29T12:20:00.005-05:00

Banners seem to be all the rage right now in the papercrafting world, so I decided it was high time I joined the bandwagon. I made my first banner rather piecemeal, as at first I wasn't planning on a banner. Rather, I was just cutting characters from my new Mini Monsters Cricut cartridge for play. I love this one! There are cute monsters as well as a lot of Halloween themed characters. I still haven't made the 3-D haunted house - I read one blogger took 2 hours to make and assemble it! But that's coming as well.

So, I had all these paper piecings and was thinking I would make oversized tags with them. But the tags looked too big, and then I realized they would make a cute banner! I cut the basic banner shape using the Country Life Cricut cartridge, because I have it right here and was being too lazy to make a shape myself lol. I like the scalloped edge the cart gives you. For the inside triangle, I just used my paper trimmer to cut a set of matching triangles from printed papers. Then I mounted the monster characters on top and threaded the whole shebang on cute Halloween ribbon. I really like how it came out, and will be making more of these. I am thinking I need one for every holiday, yes?

Since I decided to send this banner as part of a Halloween Goodie Bag swap on MJF, I didn't want to tie it up to photograph it. These pics are crummy but you get the idea. At first I wanted to make flower rosettes under the characters, but couldn't figure out how to ship the resultant 3-D banner pieces safely with all the other goodie bag contents, so I stuck with flat this time. My next banner will be for either me or my cousin's boys, both local, so I think I will try rosettes with that one.

Here are close-ups to see what the individual flags look like much better - just click on the pics to get a better look:

Tea Time

2010-09-28T22:44:00.003-05:00

I have been a tea lover for decades. And what better accoutrement for tea than a lovely tea towel? These were made on huck toweling with a 14 count Aida border. The designs are done in Swedish weaving, also called huck embroidery, and are modifications of patterns I found in Huck Adventures. Huck embroidery works by passing the embroidery threads under floats on the top of the fabric; the floss never travels to the back of the fabric. It can create lovely geometric designs. I love how these turned out! I made them for yes, yet another MJF swap.

Bookmarks, Baby

2010-09-19T20:53:00.004-05:00

It's really fun to swap bookmarks. They can be as detailed or as simple as you wish. They can be made of paper, fabric, ribbon, raffia, thin plastic or acetate, you name it. A bookmark can be cut, glued, layered, stamped, sewn, woven, knit, crocheted, tatted, and probably other things I cannot even imagine at the moment. And the finished product fits into a simple envelope, no extra postage needed. Besides, we could all use a bit more reading in our lives, right? Consider doing a bookmark swap, it's fun!

Here's a tatted bookmark I made for Angie in WA. I find needle tatting easy and restive but weaving in the ends is sheer hell, let me tell you. And this one had a LOT of ends!! Since you use a needle the same thickness as the thread, there just isn't room in there for a couple passes of thread! Despite the finishing aspect, I did enjoy making this one.

The next one went to Mary E. The main cardstock was cut on my Cricut E using a file from Wanda . I love the folded elements and she has a few other files like that. After all the folds were made with the cuts, I backed with a high contrast paper, and finished by whip stitching two sheets of transparencies together with embroidery floss. I think it came out well:

My next bookmark was made with wishful thoughts of winter to come. Of course, by the time it actually gets here, I will be wishing for summer no doubt. I clearly live in the wrong part of the country! I want long springs and autumns, but instead I get severe summers and winters. Ah well. This one has an embossed backing, cut out teacup with a layer to highlight the cutout, distress inked paper layering, gold leafing around the inner edge, and a velvet ribbon. It was missing something so I found the perfect snowflakes: they are actually the negative fallout from a snowflake border punch but they work perfect here:

Finally, I leave you with a couple real simple bookmarks. Again, these were cut on my Cricut, but I am sad to say I do not know where the file came from. Both were cut from Coredinations cardstock, embossed with the Cuttlebug, and sanded to bring out the design.

MJF Mailart

2010-09-13T19:19:00.004-05:00

I try not to post pics of anything I have made for swaps until after I know my partner has received their goodies, and then I forget to post! So my next few posts will be catch up. I have been very active on the MaryJane Farms Farmgirl Connection forum swaps. One of my regular swaps is a monthly mail art swap. Each month I send out a piece of mail art to a different farmgirl, and in turn received one of my own from a different farmgirl as well! Here are some of the cards I have sent out for the mail art swaps:

August Mail Art sent to Laura In IL - the treadle belt is actual thread and the base of the design on the left is a partially finished pattern from a tatted bookmark, topped with felt flower buttons

July Mail Art sent to Debra - I just love these trifold cards!

May Mail Art sent to Meg in ID - a nod to her mom's apron evangelism LOL

New Month

2010-07-01T12:28:00.005-05:00

Today is all about remaking soap because my last two batches haven't really worked right. Using tried and true formulations, I have too soft of soap. I am suspecting old lye but today I will be remaking these batches to see. One was a salt bar and at a week old it is nice and hard, but I can still imprint. Usually those little guys are like metal before they even cool completely! Sad thing is, these are for a swap (yikes) that I have to mail out, like, yesterday (GULP!). Trouble always appears under a deadline! And the scents came out fabu, too. OK, off to the soaping dungeon for me!

Three Day Weekend

2010-06-05T23:35:00.003-05:00

While the rest of the American world celebrated their Memorial holiday last weekend, I have mine this weekend. One of the joys of working in retail. So, I am relaxing and just doing what I have to do, but mostly relaxing. Made another batch of elderberry syrup, cooked some peasant caviar, scanned a few patterns and recipes out of library books so I could walk an hour in the heat and return them, mailed out yet another kombucha SCOBY to a loving home, and continued playing with both my Columbia wool fleece and my tatting. A little ADD here perhaps, but hey it's my holiday. I also managed to do the laundry, dishes, and clean the bathroom. Here's some gratuitous crafting shots:

From the looks of that chair corner I caught, I really should reupholster my two cane back chairs tomorrow....I even have the supplies....but I won't. I have other plans. Low pressure, no deadline crafty plans. Sleep well!

Seriously?!?

2010-06-04T00:44:00.002-05:00

OK, I thought blogging daily might be hard, but I thought I could DO it. I lasted only two days? On a technicality?!?!? When you work retail, you tend to define the days not by the clock but by the time between getting up and going to bed. In my world it is still Thursday but the clock says otherwise. Phooey.

Pillowcase Swap

2010-06-02T11:55:00.004-05:00

I have been joining a lot of swaps on the MaryJanesFarm Farmgirl Connection forum. It's just a great way to make new online friends, and a way to challenge myself to actually sit down and do the things I love to do. Isn't it funny how time can slip away from us? I have been making better use of all those little minutes throughout the day, now that I have more deadlines to meet LOL. One swap I just finished was a one-on-one pillowcase swap. My partner was Mary, a fellow fermentation fanatic (mmm....say THAT ten times fast!). She has a jewel-toned quilt her mom made her, so I made coordinating pillowcases for her. Sorry the picture is so crappy, but I had sent them out before I realized I didn't get a better shot. The ruffle and band are on the short end as you would expect, even if my pic makes it look like they are on the long end. I just adore the fabrics used here, and am happy as a clam that Mary liked them so much!

I have been making a lot of pillowcases lately, mostly simple with a contrasting band but in happy, bold fabrics. AllPeopleQuilt.com is hosting a challenge to American sewers and quilters to make and donate one million pillowcases this year. So far the donations just aren't where they need to be to reach that goal, so if you have some spare fabric, won't you consider this fine cause? The website will give you more info, as well as ideas of where to donate. They even have ready to use free patterns. So come on and get your machine at the ready!

Tatting Tasks

2010-06-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

I have always admired the look of tatting. So, a few years ago I bought several books on tatting, which somehow managed to get placed on the bookcase and I never tatted. I thought about it once in a while, but never got to it. Till recently, it was one of those things I was going to do "someday." Then my recent discovery of all things MaryJaneFarms led me to watch a short video on needle tatting. Wow. None of that silly shuttle maneuvering, needle tatting is EASY. I knew how to make the tatted stitch in less than 5 minutes. Seriously! Of course, I already crochet and knit, which might help in visualizing it, but needle tatting is ridiculously easy for the beautifully lacy effects it produces. Here's a bookmark I made as my first project:
Took all of maybe an hour and a half? I have a new hobby here LOL. This bookmark was done in the ring and thread method. I have started a medallion in the ring and chain method and will share that soon!

Bloggy Business

2010-05-31T20:32:00.002-05:00

OK, so I realized that all those old knitting posts had links back to the long defunct Geocities for photos, so I just erased all that. If anyone ever wants to see something, let me know and I'll take a new pic LOL. But I think no one ever reads any of this as I haven't been very good about posting. SO, in that vein, I have decided to join NaBloPoMo for the month of June. The idea is to post every day for a month, to get yourself in the habit of posting. Lord knows I have been up to enough crafty, arty, creative endeavors to fill any blog!! But getting them down in type and taking pics and getting them uploaded, well, that's been a real challenge for me. So I am throwing down the gauntlet here and letting the wind take it where it will! Hope to see you all again soon.

What I Have Been Up To Lately

2010-05-11T11:27:00.012-05:00

Just some random things I have been doing.....

Nothing beats homemade bagels! Gives you lots of energy for crafting LOL. I have been making a lot of cards lately, and I just finished a set of quilt blocks for a swap. I need to work on getting much better at my accuracy on piecing, though....a lot of the patterns I would like to do in the future are even harder and I had trouble with that star. The centers started out fine and I sort of lost it as I worked out toward the edges. I pieced it using my Singer 66-1 treadle, which was cool. And lastly, after two years of training, I FINALLY got rocket speed on Virus Buster!! 3135 is now my best score WOO HOO!!!!

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge

2009-06-29T12:57:00.010-05:00

About a month and a half ago, Pinch My Salt issued a challenge to all bread makers to join them in a quest to bake all the breads in Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I was just starting to get my feel wet with sourdough breads, and really liked the idea of joining. I have gotten the book from the library before and just never got around to buying it, so this seemed like a good time. I am a big fan of Reinhart, as he really loves what he does and does it really well. So I ordered my book and began! I am a bit behind everyone else, of course, but it's not a race. Just a way to motivate us to make the best bread possible. In fact, I have already decided that after I am done with this book, I will be buying Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads and working through that book as well. Along with my occasional forays into sourdough, I think I will be baking a LOT of bread in the next year!

Here's what I have done so far. The first bread in the book is Anadama, that quintessential eastern American bread. I was lucky enough to be able to procure some freshly stone ground cornmeal from the Old Graue Mill to use in the Anadama bread.

Reinhart uses a soaker for the cornmeal and a sponge as well to get the darn best Anadama bread I have ever tasted. While the color make the crumb look denser than it is, I assure you this was light and fluffy sandwich bread. It made me look forward to the rest of the book, that's for sure!

This is the second bread I made for the BBA challenge. It is Artos, described as a Greek Celebration Bread. Reinhart offers several different versions of this, using a base dough and altering slightly the leavening, the spicing, added various dried fruits and nuts, and altering the final shaping to recreate the traditional Greek breads of various religious holidays. It is a subtly complex flavor enriched with oil, eggs, and milk. Yummo! I chose to make it with cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves, and also used dried orange rind and acacia honey. Since I have two healthy sourdough starters, I chose to make this with my Russian starter instead of the commercial yeast based poolish.

I glazed it with his recipe, using acacia honey and orange extract, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. This was another great hit. I will make this again soon, using the more traditional Greek spices of mahlab and mastic, which I was only able to procure after baking this batch. I also want to try one of the more fancy shapes. I am struggling with shaping bread dough and just need more practice I guess. I overhandled this one and I think it helped contribute to a thin layer at the bottom of the loaf that didn't rise as well as the rest of the loaf. I also overproofed the bulk fermentation. Yet despite this thin layer, the bread was wonderful and I think is a great choice for housewarming gifts.

SCOBYISM

2009-06-27T23:05:00.010-05:00

It's my newest thing, I am now an offical scobyist. SCOBY stands for a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. The term is most often used to describe the culture which ferments kombucha tea, but there are other SCOBYs out there. Kefir grains are SCOBYs, as are sourdough starters. There are counter top yogurt cultures and some cheeses that are cultured using SCOBYs. Each SCOBY type has a different, unique group of yeasts and bacterias. Some great foodstuffs out there are made with SCOBYs and I am trying to do my part to grow and support them!

I have been getting rather serious about breadmaking lately, and I currently have not one but two sourdough cultures going. One is a Russian starter that a generous soul sent me. It has a mild flavor and is fast acting. The other is what I consider a more traditionally American one, with the flavor potential that I think of as typical sourdough. I got it from Carl's Friends and it is an 1847 Oregon Trail starter. Both are giving me great bread and pancakes, which you will be reading more about later. While most folk know that a sourdough starter is a yeast factory of sorts, most still seem unaware that the starters are just as importantly cultures of bacteria that have evolved to cohabit intimately with their given yeasts. The bacteria, in fact, are what give a starter its characteristic flavor and level of sourness, not the yeast. But certain yeasts work best with certain bacteria. It's as delicate a dance of nature as exists between honeybees and lilacs - each supports and protects the other. In many sourdough cultures, the bacteria and yeast eat different and opposing forms of sugars in the grains on which they grow, and some bacteria have been shown to actually produce antibiotics to kill off opposing bacteria that would inhibit not just themselves, but more importantly, their fellow yeasts. We humas can learn a lot from these "simple" lifeforms.

Water Kefir Grains

Whereas sourdough SCOBYs generally will appear as thick batter or dough, kefir SCOBYs are small grains. Water kefir grains are translucent, but can absorb color from various liquids used, such as grape juice. They look somewhat like soft edged crystals.

Milk Kefir Grains

Milk kefir grains, on the other hand, are opaque. As they grow, they develop small cauliflower like surface nodules. Whereas sourdough cultures ferment grains (mostly wheat) to raise bread, kefir grains ferment liquids and the sugars in those liquids. Milk kefir is a pleasantly soured milk product made by putting grains in milk until it is fermented. Unlike in breadmaking, the kefir is not cooked, and the nutritional value of the reproducing bacteria is added. Kefir is a natural, probiotic food. It also allows milk, a highly perishable product, to go much longer without refrigeration. It can be substituted for sour cream or buttermilk in baking, and easily replaces ice cream or yogurt in fruit smoothies. I also love to just mix it with applesauce for a refreshing treat, like a thick milkshake.

Water kefir shares many but not all the microorganisms in milk kefir grains. Water kefir grains are added to sugar water, along with dried and/or fresh fruit, to produce a tasty fermented drink. One can get a nice, gently carbonated beverage with some practice. While perhaps not as strong a probiotic as milk kefir, it does have important probiotic value. It also allows for more variety in the finished food product. I personally have been brewing my water kefir with dried apricots, fresh ginger root, fresh lime or lemon slices, and using evaporated organic cane sugar. It comes out as a tarter version of really, really tasty ginger beer and everyone who's tried it has liked it.

Day 4 of Kombucha SCOBY

The last SCOBY I want to talk about is kombucha. This SCOBY is a rubbery looking and feeling pancake that grows to the size and shape of the container used to ferment it. Not the whole container, mind you! Sweet tea is what it ferments, and the SCOBY floats, sinks, or otherwise hangs out in the tea for at least a week or so. A new SCOBY will grow on the surface of the tea as fermentation proceeds. So the new SCOBY will reflect the size and shape of the top surface area of the tea in your container. The yeasts can grow variously, giving the SCOBY lumps and bumps and discolorations, but sometimes the SCOBY looks very smooth, shiny and off white. The new SCOBY, at the end of fermentation, can be peeled off the original if it is attached, and both can be used to ferment a new batch of sweet tea. The resulting tea is another live, probiotic raw food. After fermentation, komucha tea can be flavored in various manners. Folk differ on how tart or sweet they prefer kombucha tea, and what flavors they prefer, but almost all will enjoy it once they fine tune it to their tastes. It generally sells for $4-6 for a single serving bottle at health stores, so brewing your own is a no brainer.

The wonderful thing about SCOBYs is that, with just a little TLC, they will reproduce infinately, giving us nutritious foodstuffs along their way. And once you get your colony of yeast and bacteria happy, they will reproduce, giving you SCOBYs to share with loved ones.

Musings

2006-11-21T21:32:00.001-06:00

I am coming to terms with the fact that the year is quickly drawing to an end, and I have finished very little knitting. I have started a handful of projects, swatched a lot, but haven't actually finished much of anything all year. I believe I have joined the denizens of fiber fanatics, those who covet the touch, look and smell of good yarn just as much as the process of actually knitting with it. For you see, my stash has grown exorbitantly this past year, despite the lack of actual knitting. This used to bother me, but I think I have made peace with my inner fiber addict. I will let her roam as much as my bank account will permit, and in exchange, maybe she will let me spend a bit more time knitting in 2007. This is, I believe, a fair exchange, and I am hopeful about our future together.

My disgust at my lack of finished projects has prevented me for posting in a long time.....I was waiting for an actual FO. Then, when I finally managed to cast off on a baby blanket I made for my boyfriend's grandson, I forgot to take pictures! GRRRR!! We are joining said grandson and his family for a Thanksgiving breakfast, so I am hoping to snag a few pics of him and his new blankie at that time. It really is a wonderful blankie fabric, knitted in a ripple pattern with Sidar's Snowflake Chunky Magic, in a pale blue and white self-striping polyester chenille-like yarn that is the cushiest yarn I have ever felt that happens to be 100% machine washable. The PERFECT baby blanket yarn, especially for the mom who will not handwash anything. Say tuned for more regular updates....

Color Diet

2006-06-23T20:19:00.001-05:00

Despite my best laid plans to stop accumulating yarn, I have managed somehow to come into possession of several more sock yarns. All this winding of skeins into neat little center-pull balls on my nosti has become a bit awkward, so I finally invested in an umbrella swift. Gosh, I wish I had this all along! It makes things so much easier and the whole process smoother. Modeled on my lovely swift is Lynette sock yarn from Ruby Sapphire Yarns, in dark and dusty shades of purple and green. I went a little wild and bought three skeins of sock yarn from Ruby Sapphire. Alex is real purty shades of green, while Angel is a mix of golden browns. Ah, to be drenched in a mist of fine color.....

I also acquired two skeins of sock yarn from It's A Colorful Life, Baby Girl and Cool Ocean. These will make such nice summer socks! For next summer, of course, as I am collecting yarns so much faster than I can knit them. But I have put myself on an official yarn diet. I have decided to partake in the festivities of Stitches Midwest this August, and I am starting to save up for it now. I am looking forward to spending too much and getting beautiful yarns. I will probably be able to make it to August without buying more yarns only by fondling my current stash frequently, letting the waves of color wash over and restore me. Food may fuel the body, but color feeds the soul!

Yes, I'm finally knitting.....

2006-06-11T19:52:00.001-05:00

I am finally spending more time actually knitting rather than buying yarn and books and just reading about knitting!

I have returned to the "Easter" Crusoe sock that did not fit, and have a couple inches of the reknitted foot done on that. It is so painful to frog! Here's proof that I am actually back working on this, my personal albatross of spring:

Also, I am working on the Besotted Scarf, mostly while being driven around town, or while watching movies with my sweetie. I find that it's easy knitting and doesn't take a lot of concentration. I really do not think the yarn I'm using gives enough definition to the cables, but my guy thinks it is just fine and it's his scarf, so I'm prodding ahead. The colors are real nice and it's fairly soft, too. If anyone comments on the somewhat fuzzy Xs and Os, I will simply inform them that it's a semi-Besotted scarf - all the love, only partial public demonstration.

Despite my troubles with Crusoe and fingering sock yarn, my passion for hand knitted socks goes unabated. I joined the Yahoo group For The Love Of Socks and have begun one of the two chosen patterns, the Aran Braid socks. My first attempt was with some beautifully tweedy yarn from Garn Studio, called Silke-Tweed. It is 52% silk and 48% Lambswool, and is a dark oatmeal and cream color. I really liked the idea of doing an aran braid in this yarn, made me think of the British Isles and native knitting traditions and colonialization and all that sort of thing. But as you can see in the first photo, the tweed obliterates the visibility of the braid at this scale. Sigh. I mean, can you even tell there's a braid in there? Really, it's there, has five ribs and everything. Quite lovely in person, if you hold it up to your nose and squint rather hard...
This yarn will resurface in a lace sock pattern at a later date. For now, I am sticking to the pattern but I have switched to perhaps another dubious choice - when will I ever learn? This second photo is Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece, in Putty. It's sort of splitty for socks (using size 0 dpns to get gaugue) and they will be thicker socks, but I am loving it anyhow, so there! The 80% cotton, 20% wool will breathe nicely I think, and the braid is showing lovely this time. Onward!!

Non-Silicone Enhancements

2006-05-15T17:15:00.001-05:00

OK, I promised to tell you all about my stash enhancements, so here goes! Last week my sweetie took me to The Fold, a place I have been itching to visit for some time now. Unfortunately, my timing was off and I missed the proprietor, Toni, along with many skeins of the oft coveted Socks That Rock sock yarn. They were off at the Maryland Wool Festival. However, there was a decent selection still at the shop, and I happily chose the Torridon colorway in medium weight. I was attracted to the unusual color combinations, golds, browns, and lilac, with hints of soft blues and greens. Imagine my surprise at finding how similar it is to some Regia Canadian Color, #4731 I bought several months ago! Sure, the Regia is thinner and a bit more subdued, but the colors are conspicuously similar. Sigh. I wanted my STR to be something really different, something special. Apparently, I am attracted to these colors together.

But STR wasn't the only goody brought home from The Fold, oh no. I was elated to find a nostepinne that really spoke to me. I have always been attracted to quality woods, and wood grain patterns fascinate me to this day. I wanted a nosti that was asthetically pleasing as well as functional, and I found one. It's English ash and made by Avi Wasserman. Here you can see it resting from hard work, lying on a bed of llama yarn I bought off eBay from Sandstone Ranch. Ahhhh...

STR, a new nosti, what else could a girl want? Well, I also managed to escape holding a skein of Chinese merino laceweight in a real purty deep grey/brown color. It's great stuff and feels softer than merino to me. I also bought a skein of Blue Blue Fiber Arts' "Seduction" yarn in the Samhain colorway. Blue Moon, incidentally, is the same place that bring us STR. They have gorgeous colors and fabulous yarns, and The Fold has quite a selection. Seduction is a merino/tencel blend that has a great hand and an awesome sheen. I have read good things about tencel, and they are all true. Silky in appearance but easier to clean. YUM. This will make an amazing dressy scarf, in autumny colors of dusty green, gold, brown, and redwood.

I did put back the green yak yarn I had been petting, but only because I was not sure what I would do with it. Still not sure, but I'm wishing I had gotten it anyway. Note to self for next trip to Marengo, IL - buy yak yarn. Nice and soft, and how often do you get to wear yak in Chicago?!?

That about sums up my acquistions from the Fold. Later I will show you some of the books I have been acquiring. I believe I now have all the basics I will ever need....cough cough. A pack rat at heart, I am. I am sure that having everything I could ever really need will not stop me from buying more!

Scarf Stuff

2006-05-14T21:17:00.001-05:00

This last month I have spent more time in stash enhancement than I have knitting. The Irish Hiking scarf is finished - woo hoo! My dear father tried to claim it but I patiently explained that there was no way he's ever going to get it. From the beginning, I knew this one would be for me. I was surprised he thought the jewel tones were masculine, I never would have picked that yarn for a guy. I may even get more of that yarn if he really wants it enough, but I think everyone else will assume he borrowed it from a lady friend!

Since this one went so well, I have started yet another scarf from Hello Yarns, the Besotted Scarf. Needless to say, this one is going to my guy. I am using a yarn that my beloved has been eying fondly, a wool/alpaca blend imported by Joseph Galler labelled Musarde. It is a bit fuzzy but the pattern does still show...I've only done a couple pattern repeats and am going to show it to aforementioned beloved to see what he thinks. His scarf, his choice. Perhaps I will change the pattern but still use the yarn he likes so much.
The so-called Easter sock hasn't faired so well. I finished the first sock only to decide that it really was too tight. I have weird feet and why add to the problem? It was painful, but I frogged back to the heel flap. I have finished the heel, making fewer decreases. The leg fitted fine so there was no need to frog that. But I need a wider foot. I figure that getting this right will give me the formula I need to make more great fitting socks in my future. Still, it was discouraging, so I haven't gotten much done. I will be returning to that this week.

Since I really don't have much to report knitting wise, let me entertain you with tales of my stash enhancement. That is where my time has been going these days. So, this week I will make several entries showing you all the goodies I have been getting!

Best Laid Plans

2006-04-11T11:07:00.000-05:00

Aw, phooey! My knitting seems to have taken a spring break as of late. Of course, that would happen right after I start this blog and all. I just can't seem to find the time to get anything done lately. Yesterday we finished our yearly inventory at the store where I work, so maybe now I can get some personal work done. I did finish one of my Easter socks, but I am unhappy with the fit. This is my first fingerling weight sock and I think I need to start with more stitches at this guage. It is wearable but would be much nicer a bit bigger, so I am in the process of experimenting. The leg and ankle feel fine but the foot is too snug. I am undecided as to whether if I make the leg a big looser, if it will still fit well there. So, I doubt if the second sock will get done for Easter. Easter, which is in five days. Gulp. Which is just as well, as I am not doing the big family gathering this year. Instead, my guy and his son and I are probably going to cook a small homey meal for ourselves and just kick back and enjoy the day. Won't be conventional Easter fare, either, there's been talk of my Swedish meatballs LOL. Maybe I'll get in some knitting while they watch whatever game is on the tube.

As for the Irish Hiking scarf, I did get the additional Karaoke yarn in record time. I can highly recommend the Yarn Grove. Besides my two skeins of yarn, I received two free patterns and swatches to all the yarns they carry. Excellent customer service! Unfortunately, I really haven't picked up the scarf since I got the yarn. I have the next two days off work and am starting to question...do I work on organizing my craft stuff from my move or do I knit? Sigh. Sometimes it's hard being a grown up.

The one thing I did do this last week was to go to see Wicked at the Oriental Theater in downtown Chicago. Simply magical. And since I work for a bunch of flying monkeys, I could relate. The costuming and scenery were fantastic, true eye candy. It was a birthday present from my aunt, who spent a good part of a week online last November before acquiring tickets at a reasonable price. Thanks, auntie! It was the best.

Karaoke Conundrums

2006-03-31T10:57:00.000-06:00

Well, the Irish Hiking scarf is definately a quick knit, don't know why I believed that cables would be some sort of challenge, and everyone is just bowed over by the beautiful Karaoke yarn. Problem is, that durn cable pattern is eating up all my yarn! I had three skeins and I am sorry, but that just ain't enough. To make matters worse, when starting a new skein, I lose a significant amount of yarn getting the colors to flow properly. Arrrggg. I like most of my scarves shorter than is fashionable now, but this one I think I'll make longer than my usual. Ah, live and learn. Of course, after calling nearly every yarn store in the greater Chicago area, I cannot find anyone who has this in stock. So, in the wee hours of the night/morn, I got online and searched for some more. I ended up buying not one but two more skeins online from the Yarn Grove. So far I am impressed -- 25 cents less than anyone else per skein and free shipping in the US. And, they already shipped it out, less than 12 hours after my order. So, no finished project here. Yet. But when it gets here, I'll get it done quickly. Really. No, I promise!

So, it's back to the Easter socks for me. I'm running out of time.....ah, to be a stay at home housewife......wish I could just not go to work. Rather be at home knitting!! And I work in a craft store LOL!

WIPs and Chains

2006-03-22T11:36:00.001-06:00

Cable chains, that is. More on those later.

This last week has been an exciting one for stash development but a slow one for accomplishment. I got a couple more yarns in the mail - yes, I am on a buying spree and must stop soon - and the amazing Folk Socks by Nancy Bush. Over the weekend I realized I did not finish any knitting projects in February, and here we are past the Ides of March and still none. I haven't gone this long without finishing a project since I started knitting last year! After feeling a little down about it, I realized that all my Works In Progress are in laceweight or fingering yarns. I put the seaman's scarf down to start a lace bed jacket for the Knitting Olympics, and then put that project down when I realized I couldn't possibly finish on time. I felt too dejected to look at it for a while, I guess. So I started another pair of socks. Nothing sane like going back to the seaman's scarf for me, oh no. I need a pretty pair of socks for Easter, don't I? Three projects, thinner yarns, more stitches - no wonder I haven't finished anything! So I'm working on the socks these days - I really do plan on wearing them on Easter. I am using a Russian sock yarn I bought off eBay - not the softest but it'll do, and the colors just scream Springtime. I started with the Crusoe socks at knitty.com, but lost interest quickly. I want to know what the designer was smoking when she calculated her gauge. 6 stitches of Koigu to the inch? For socks?!? Please. So I am using the basic pattern found at cometosilver.com and doing the leg and instep in the stranded stitch of Crusoe. I even kept Crusoe's rolled hem, but that's all. My yarn is similar to Koigu in thickness, and I am using four size 1 metal dpns to get 9 stitches per inch in stockinette. So, it's slow and steady work, but I love the results.

Just to satisfy my pressing urge for quicker completion of something, I started the Irish Hiking Scarf in SWTC's Karaoke yarn in the #278 (Mermaid) colorway. I cannot fully describe the beauty of this yarn! It is a worsted weight wool and soy silk blend with a lovely hand. Also, the colors gradually blend into each other over long sections, rather than changing suddenly in stark stripes. This is also my first cable work, so I am very pleased to find that it is an easy knit. And fast, too. This might be done by the end of the week. I am using size 6 metal needles and my scarf is five and a half inches wide.

Woo-hoo for Socks!!

2006-03-15T23:56:00.000-06:00

All I can say is, "Wow!" Yesterday I got in the mail not one but two packages of sock yarn. The first package was my first ever skein of Opal, in the brand new Petticoat line. I love it! Very soft and pretty colors. Lookie here:

The second package contained yarns for 10 different pairs of socks from KnitPicks:

There are some beauties in here. I got Dancing in Tap, Swing, and Jig. That's a great cotton/wool/nylon/elastic blend. These yarns are eventually being discontinued, so I wanted to get my share before that happens. Everything else is merino wool. I got Sock Garden in Hollyberry and Daffodil. I think the Hollyberry will make amazing Christmas socks. I also got Memories in Rocky Mountain Dusk and Fly Fishing. Purples and greens are among my favorite color schemes, so these will be fun to knit up. I bought a skein of black Essentials (superwash with nylon) to use in a mosaic pattern with a skein of Lorna's Laces Shepard's Sock in Bittersweet that I already have. Lastly, I got two skeins of the Color Your Own (not pictured) so I can further experiment with KoolAid dying. I've dyed solids with KoolAid, but next I want to try handpainting my own varigated colorways. Looks like I have many sock knitting days ahead of me!!!

In The Beginning

2006-03-15T22:44:00.000-06:00

It has been one year since I learned to knit, and my life will never be the same. I find that in order to communicate my travels to all interested souls I must indulge in a blog. I am not scared of the technology, only the learning curve, so bear with me! I will take you through my stash, my projects, and my knitting world. I hope you enjoy the ride. So, pull up a comfy chair, make a nice cup of jasmine tea, and relax. Dark chocolate is optional but highly recommended.