Dish Drainer?

One of the things about living simply is that you are always looking for ways to use the things around you in new ways. Ways that make your life easier. Now in general most people would say that using a dish washer makes your life easier. However, it does come with its own sets of issues. For instance here in our apartment the plumbing does not seem to drain well so you can only use the dishwasher every other day or it backs up. Knowing this particular quirk I find I have to hand wash a large portion of the time.

Now I actually like to hand wash but my finger tips tend to develop nasty little splits unless I use gloves. Since I have such a small space I do not have a dish drainer on my very limited counter space. So as soon as I have washed some dishes I end up taking off my gloves. Drying dishes. Putting on my gloves. Wash some dishes. etc. etc. etc.

Then the other day it finally occured to me. Why not just let my dishes dry in the dishwasher racks. Simple, more space, and much quicker in the long run. I know its sounds obvious but I finally figured this one out.

Greater Los Angeles Spinning Guild

I finally took the opportunity today to join my third guild. I was really looking forward to my first meeting at the Greater Los Angeles Spinning Guild even though I did not know what the program would be. To my happy surprise it was a fiber tasting. The presenter offered up 10 different types of fiber with several different kinds of preparations to try out. I got to try some fiber that might have taken me years to get around to trying otherwise. Such a great opportunity.

The fibers are as follows... Starting on the top row on the left we have #1 - Silk Hankies #2 - Carbonized Bamboo #3 - Optim (Chemically treated Merino) #4 - Wensleydale #5 - Rameldale Roving Second row starting on the left #6 - Alpaca/Shetland Rolag #7 - Cotton Puni #8 - Loose Cashmere #9 - Merino, Cashmere, Nylon Roving #10 - Cotton, Merino, Tensil Batt.

Funny how fiber can just open up your world to new possiblities!

Knitted Gnomes

Every autumn at my daughters school "Ocean Charter" Lady Autumn comes for a visit and she gives each of the children in the kinder program a little gift of a little knitted gnome. This year we are adding an additional 24 children to our program so I decided to get a head start to making these special little gnomes for our 84 kinder students. So far I have 20 made as you can see in the picture. They are fun and easy to make with bits of left-over yarn and large size acorns. Which are hard to find in coastal Southern California, you have to go more inland for the big ones.

The original pattern for these lovely little gnomes comes from the blog... www.environmentalhomeschooling.blogspot.com/2008/04/gnome-oakies.html Check it out they are great fun to make.

Dried Tarragon

One of the nice things about having a garden is to have a good supply of fresh herbs whenever you want them. However, I often like to dry them for use during the winter months or also for use when I make my own salad dressing.

I like to make a version of dressing that I originally got from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Essentially I use 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder, and then some dried herbs of your choice. This is where my herbs come in. I especially like to use tarragon in my dressing. Unlike other drying instructions I like to wash the cut branches in cold water then remove the leaves that I want to dry from the branch. This eliminates wasting time drying leaves that I do not want anyway. Sometimes when they are dry it is hard to determine which are the best leaves. Once I have picked the leaves off I then put them on a paper towel on a cookie sheet and put it in my gas oven. I do not put the heat on. The pilot light does all of the work. In a couple of days the leaves are ready to chop into smaller pieces ready to be stored and used the next time I make salad dressing.

The other herbs that I like to use in my dressing are parsley, thyme, and basil. All of which are also available in my garden.

On a final note. If you do not have your own herbs and buy fresh ones from the store. It is a good idea to dry your leftovers instead of having them go to waste. Your result will be much more satisfying than anything you would buy off the shelf.

Suffolk Wool

I had been spinning roving for quite some time and was getting a bit tired of paying the price of already processed wool as well as being limited by choice.

I was concerned about the idea of working with a raw fleece because I just did not know how to deal with the bulk in the small one bedroom apartment that we live in. So like I usually do I went on line and found some instructions on how to wash small portions of fleece in my sink.

I was inspired. Shortly there after I found this Suffolk fleece on E-bay and the rest was history. The day it arrived I started washing some of it and then discovered the frustration and joy of picking the wool clean once it has been scoured. I then had to learn how to hand card and spin from my less than stellar rollags.

I have discovered that this particular fleece does not quite suit me when I spin it by itself. However, I have since tried it with some Alpaca and am really happy with the results. I have a lot of Alpaca fiber right now so I will continue to explore the mixing possiblities.

My New Baby!

On sunday I got the opportunity to receive a four-shaft Herald Loom from one of my Weaving Guild friends JoAnne Cook. It came originally from the estate of Edna Barton who was also a SCHG member.

The Herald Loom was made in Lodi, Ohio. The company is no longer in business.

I was able to just fit the loom in the back of my Element and my husband helped me get it into the crafting studio that I use. I have spent some time the last couple of days working through some issues with the treadles and I think I have worked through them. One of the nice things about trying to figure these issues out is that they help you learn more about your loom. I have never worked on a four-shaft loom before but I am looking forward to what I can do with it. So far I have only had my small two-harness table loom that is on its last legs. While there are many things that you can do on it there are also many things that you can't. This new loom opportunity should keep me busy for quite a while.

I am not sure what my first work will be on it yet, but, I hope to get started soon. Maybe a rep weave or some twill. Oh the possibilities!

A Faery Home Companion

As parents we all like to believe that we see our childrens future career within the arena of play. I like to imagine that India will one day become a famous architect that specializes in the innovation of houses for a greener, happier, healthier, planet. The fact of the matter remains that I have my ideas, and for the most part she just likes building Faery Houses.

She had just turned seven and my sister sent her a box of craft sticks along with other art materials for her birthday. For about the first 15 minutes that she was working with the craft sticks she seemed unsure as to how she would use this new medium. Within no time after that, however, she started to develop ideas, encounter structure challanges, and then overcome them. If nothing else I know that the future of Faery housing is safe in her hands.