Cabin Crafted

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  • Holiday’s approach

    November is birthday month in our family, two grands, stepmom, nephew, daughter, and me, plus Thanksgiving. November and early December are the months that various Holiday Craft Markets occur, ones I participate in and ones I visit looking for gifts. I hate to shop, maybe abhor is a better word and some years I have a genius idea for the grands, not this year. They range in age now from 16 to less than a month. I have done fleece blankets in favored themes with books, hoodies and books, hand knit hats and books, but I’m out of ideas. I don’t know interests of them all and I’m trying to match age to known interests and still keep a reasonable budget. I am at an age where I don’t want more stuff in the house and have been making regular donation runs, and a shared yard sale with daughter, so I’m no help in answering the “what do you want” question to me. I want my family around me. I want visits to and from them, I want to know they are all healthy and successful, that they are achieving to their abilities.

    In the spirit of the holidays, I will have two of our children and two of our grands for Thanksgiving dinner, right in the middle of the birthday week. And I am preparing for the only Holiday Market in which I am participating this year. My soap supply was basically depleted and to make some more holiday festive, I made three batches this week, actually 4, but one was a nightmare failure that set up too quickly and the colorant did weird things to the round bars. There are squares of goat milk, oatmeal, and honey soap with a “frosting” layer of finely ground roasted cacao blended in to a little, round bars of rosemary scented soap with a bit of green colorant blended unevenly (on purpose), and traditional shaped bars of peppermint scented soap with red colorant marbled in. I am working on a buttoned cowl in light mint green Merino handspun wool, and over the past week infused comfrey I grew into Avocado oil and made tins of salve to add to the other salves available. There will be hats, fingerless mitts, a couple cowls, some mittens, and a couple shawls and scarves available for people to purchase as gifts.

    Along with these efforts, I am knitting a little stuffed frog to go with a book, spinning wool for my Breed Blanket Challenge, and actually cooking and prepping in the kitchen, not just making products. At Farmer’s Market last week, I purchased 3 good sized Daikon radishes, a white, a red, and a purple and they are fermenting on the counter for kimchi, my favorite kind of kimchi.

    The peppers tented with heavy plastic did not survive the three nights in the mid 20’s, the greens are hanging in there, maybe they should be tented later this week when the temps are again going to plunge. It is nice to be able to pick some fresh goods still from the garden and salad and herbs from the hydroponics. Some of the lettuce is beginning to get bitter, so I should restart those cells with a new batch of seed. Winter is coming, life moves on, I am glad to be able to still preorder some produce from the Farmer’s Market at least until the middle of December, and get meats, breads, some cheese year round. Projects need to be done, so back to work.

  • Another week’s end

    There was no 25 second from the front door last Sunday as we were able to go visit Son 1, have a couple delicious meals out, tour a couple museums, and help transport a chair.

    This week was cold, very cold at night and the fall color has faded and many trees are bare now. One morning, the frost was accompanied with frozen fog and all of the trees and shrubs were glazed.

    The peppers were covered with heavy plastic and with nights later this week staying above freezing, I will check to see if any survived the nights in the 20’s.

    Just before our trip to see Son 1, Son 2 sent us an announcement that he and his wife had had a baby girl, our 9th grandchild. Each grand has been presented with a hand made Christmas stocking, made with love by me. With a stop at Michaels and the local yarn store, I acquired the three skeins of wool needed to get started. I found a pattern that actually knits like a sock instead of flat to be sewn together later. The stocking made good car knitting and was finished this week.

    Each stocking is lined and has a cross stitched tag that states, “Made with love, Grandmom, year.” It has been steam blocked and lined and is ready to send with other family gifts.

  • First freeze

    The forecast warned me and I took heed. Late yesterday afternoon, a few tomatoes, radishes, and all of the mature Jalapenos and red Seranos were harvested when I went to gather hens to their pen and bring in their eggs.

    While there, I also picked some komatsuna (mustard spinach) and isn’t it gorgeous. The spinach, komatsuna, kohlrabi greens, and remaining radishes would fare fine over night in the deep wooden box. The peppers were given a cover for the night in hopes of a few more in our future.

    Upon waking, the world was glittering with frost, the cover on the peppers frozen in spots. It is now hanging to dry and I am going to look for some heavy plastic today to make a tunnel over them and to cover the tunnel ribs over the greens. Tonight and tomorrow night are supposed to be even colder. According to the weather blogger in our local newpaper, this is the third latest first freeze on record.

    In the cold this morning, the hens coop was refreshed, a very cold, very dirty egg found under their night perches and a warm fresh egg in a nesting box. Fresh warm eggs are great handwarmers, but I needed two. I will have to start wearing work gloves and the barn coat in the mornings for a while.

    Later today, when it warms up a bit, the tomato vines will be pulled and added to the compost pile, the hedge clippers used to snip them and the tomatillo plants into bits small enough to break down, perhaps turning the pile to put them in a deeper layer. The garden will rest for the winter, the solar charger turned off. The asparagus tops cut back soon. It is time for rest for the winter ahead.

    Some of the produce from last night was used to make me a bowl of soup. Son 1 recently introduced me to doenjang, a fermented soybean paste. A broth was made with crushed Szechuan pepper corns, garlic, and onion sauteed in sesame oil with chicken broth added and simmered. Diced yams were cooked until nearly tender, then chives, parsley, komatsuna, and a couple teaspoons of doenjang added until the greens wilted and the paste dissolved and blended in. The soup was poured over a sliced raw radish and a sliced serano pepper. It was delicious, warming, and headclearing. There was only enough left over chili for one bowl that was served to hubby and I enjoyed the soup. Once the weather chills, I could live on soup twice a day, good thick potato, Mexican soups, beef stew, chili, and the various Asian creations based on what is on hand. The Asian creations can be made a bowl at a time in 15 minutes and can have noodles, rice, or quinoa with the veggies, sometimes a boiled egg added. Hearty, warm, and filling.

  • Decorum

    Today is election day and thankfully will end for a while, the barrage of negative campaign spots on television and hopefully in the mail. Politicians don’t campaign on their merit, their agenda, etc., they work on a smear campaign using information that is usually unfounded against the other candidate. Unfortunately, this works with people who don’t take the time or don’t have the education/skills to check out the true facts. Arguing that candidate A will do X, when the office lacks the power to deal with that issue regardless of who wins.

    It doesn’t stop with television and print media. So much misinformation is spread via those sources and social media about other societal issues as well. With the misinformation comes the name calling and other inappropriate responses to the original presenter or poster.

    Our society, government, and world are not perfect, but civility and decorum seem to have been lost. There is no respect. Disagreement is met with vulgarity and violence.

    Every day the news is filled with shootings, with violence against service workers, with abusive and disruptive behaviors that endanger the person they are accosting and anyone nearby.

    The negativity in society has become overwhelming to the point that the news causes constant stress.

    Today there is an article about two neighboring high school football teams in a game that ended 106 to 0. Why, what adult coach would allow that to happen? Instead of trying to make it a game, he had his team go for a 2 point conversion when they already had over 100 points. What happened to sportsmanship? Another failed lesson in respect for others.

    I am currently overwhelmed with all the negativity. I want to focus on being thankful for a while.

  • Autumn left, winter arrived

    For a few days anyway. Yesterday we got our walk in right after lunch, just in time for the front to roar in with wind, falling temperatures, and rain, much rain. We missed the tornado threats, thunder, and lightening that happened a couple counties to the east. Fortunately, we recently got the garage cleaned up and organized enough to put both cars in, so we didn’t worry about blowing branches or the threatened hail that never occurred. Today is 22 degrees (F) colder than yesterday, the wind is howling, it has alternately been thick and gray with light rain and partly sunny, but not long enough to plan anything outdoors. To go out for a few minutes, a jacket and wool hat were added to the wool tshirt and wool sweater I already had on. It is going to stay very cool and mostly wet for the rest of the week. We have seen our high today, 49 f (9.4c) and we may see our first frost before next week ends. It is well past the average for here and the garden is done except for a few winter greens that can be covered easily.

    The cooler weather has me knitting and spinning. A new very soft cabled Merino hat was added to the shop, an ear warmer cabled headband is being knit from the remainder of the skein. Most of a braid of Ruby Red soft BFL wool has been spun and it will probably become a scarf.

    Another 4 ounces of an alpaca/ coopworth blend is also being spun, but I don’t know what it will become.

    I did update the photos of the fingerless mitts and the “sideways” gray hat in the shop photos, see the link at the top of the blog. I still haven’t warped the loom to weave the wide scarf/shawl with the Calypso colorway skein I spun on the wheel to figure out how long it takes to spin 4 ounces.

    It should weave into a gorgeous garment with the navy flax warp.

    There are more squares to add to the breed blanket, but I think I want to do one more before I add another row. That will leave only one row of 6 squares to get done in November and December. I wish it was easier to crochet them on the blanket as it would be nice to have it in my lap with the chill of the current weather.

    We are seeing some color change in the leaves, but the wind is ripping them down like rainfall. Another two or three weeks and the trees will be bare until spring. Such is the progression of the year.

  • Another week in the books

    Another attempt at the 24 seconds from my front door. The colors are changing, leaves dropping and nights cooler. The egg production is slowing, but still getting plenty of eggs from the hens.

    Earlier this week when I released them and checked on food and water, I realized they had only a tiny bit of water. They followed me to the yard hydrant as I filled the bucket and jostled to all fit around the perimeter to get a sip. Once all had gotten a bit, I filled the tub in the run and refilled the bucket for the coop.

    Our walks this week took us to a section of the Rails to Trails Huckleberry that we had not previously walked and back to the Pond, always a favorite, and up to the Conservancy which is probably my favorite hike. The pond was full of life this week.

    An Egret looking for fish, ducks, and geese, so many, many geese.

    This afternoon, I will dress in my re-enactment clothing, go to the Wilderness Road Regional Museum, and portray the spirit of Mary Draper Ingalls for the Spirit Trail wagon ride through the history of the region. This is a fun event and I understand that all of the slots for rides are booked. Hot cider, cookies, and crafts for the kids waiting with their parents for their turn on the ride are available. This will be the 3rd or 4th year I have been a spirit. If you were fortunate enough to get a seat, you will see me on the side porch with the village developer and shopkeeper, Henry Hance as he tries to sell his wares and calm my fears over the “indians” seen down the road. If you don’t know her story, Google it and read the Wiki article, it will give you an idea of why she was fearful. If the “indians” follow the wagon up on the last run, one is a blond, blue eyed child and I will call out to see if he is my “son.”

  • How did you get started?

    When I am doing an event where I am spinning and selling my yarn, knits, soaps, and salves, there are certain questions that I can be assured will be asked at least once during the course of the event. One of the questions is the title of this blog. Cabin Crafted, the cottage business begun out of a desire to share the soaps, herbal salves, yarns and knit wear that I was creating faster than we were using them up. The we, includes family members that want and wear the knits and use the soaps and salves, not just hubby and me.

    Another question is, “How long have you been doing that (spinning)?” That question goes back to shortly after I relocated to this area to work and be near the retirement home we were building. I began “helping out” at the local yarn shop, unpaid in cash but for credit to buy yarn, patterns, and needles. I would assist with craft shows or when the regular staff was unavailable. About a year of so into this, the shop held a weekend retreat at a local hotel with a few vendors and several classes that could be taken for a fee. Though I couldn’t stay for the whole weekend, I did take a couple of classes and one of them was learning to spin with a drop spindle. We had to to furnish our own spindle, but the various wools were provided by the instructor. I ordered a basic top whorl spindle online, a heavy simple tool. We were taught the basics, offered several different samples of wool to see the different characteristics, which I didnt appreciate at the time. That first skein of yarn is still in my possession, though the spindle is long gone. The skein is thick and thin, not well plied, but my first yarn and will be with me forever.

    In the following more than a dozen years, my spinning has progressed through many different tools and I have even taught a few spinning classes and have made a few handsful of simple spindles from dowels and craft shop wooden toy wheels.

    Another question that is often asked is, “How long does it take you to spin that yarn?” That is a difficult question to answer. The length of time it takes to spin a skein depends on so many factors, such as how heavy the weight of the yarn you are trying to spin, how many ounces of fiber you began with, the amount of twist you are putting in the singles and the plies, and what type of tool you are using. Yarn can be spun on spindles or spinning wheels. Spinning wheels are also varied, from antique quill wheels, single and double treadle wheels, wheels with large and small drive wheels, and various spinning ratios. Fairly new to the offerings are e-spinners. These are small electric spinning tools that are basically a mother of all and bobbin driven by a motor. The last time I was asked at the Fall Festival, I hesitated, unsure how to answer. Shortly after the festival, I decided to to spin a 4 ounce braid of Polwarth wool on my single treadle, small diameter manual wheel and to try to keep track of how long it took me. I didn’t track it exactly, but spun during TV time, so I have a fair idea that the 4.2 ounces took about 16 hours to spin and ply.

    This skein is even and consistent, fairly tightly spun and plied and spun to 18 wraps per inch, a method of determining weight of the yarn. Eighteen WPI is fine or lace weight yarn and it ended up 355.5 yards of yarn.

    That brings me to the other comment that is often made, which is to question the price of hand spun yarn and hand spun, hand knit items. I don’t even try to make any money on my craft, if I were to price the skein above, taking in the price of the fiber at $28, plus 16 hours at minimum wage in our state of $9.50, that skein of yarn would have to be marked at $180. Assuming I calculated my time at only $2 per hour, it would still be $60 and that is just for the yarn, not the time to knit or weave it into a garment. The local market wouldn’t support that. If I sell the skein, it will be marked at $.10 per yard, so $.50/hour for my time. If it is made into a woven shawl, I have to take into consideration, the price of the skein of linen yarn that I bought to warp the loom plus about 10 more hours. If I knit it into a shawl, it would add another 25 or more hours of time to the skein.

    As the holidays are approaching, support your local craftsmen at the various shows in your region and know that your purchase is supporting a local business, getting a craftsmen’s design, time, skill, and a piece of their heart. They aren’t your local discount store.

  • Our Daily Walk

    Every day, we try to get in a brisk walk. Generally, we shoot for a graded or paved area. In the next county, where we do most of our shopping and dining on outdoor patios when we eat out, there is a Rails to Trails grade. This trail begins in one town, ends about 9 miles away in the next town, but in the past couple of years, it was also extended with a connector trail that goes another 7 or so miles still in the same county, but in our direction, terminating at the pond we frequently walk around. Our walks aren’t long, varying from about 2 1/3 miles to 2 2/3-3 miles. We also live a few miles down the mountain from Mountain Lake Conservancy where the hotel used in the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed and there are a number of trails and graded paths to be walked there. Some of the walks are nearly flat with only a few gradual ups and downs.

    We do this to keep us strong and to improve our health as we are both well into our 70’s.

    When I had my primary care physician visit after my hospitalization, I made the comment that I wasn’t your typical 70 something from this area and he whole heartedly agreed. Life has been hard on some of the residents here and many even a decade or more younger are much older physically than either of us.

    Today, we decided to do a section of the Huckleberry we had never walked before, it is in the newest section. There is parking at a heritage farm park and the trail passes through it. We had wandered the paths in the park before the trail was put through. We started at the park and walked back towards town. It was a lovely section to walk with a wooden causeway over a wetlands and much more contour than the other sections we normally walk so a bit of a challenge. If we had walked one more mile, we would have been back in town.

  • Sunday Morning

    A blogger friend challenged to begin Sunday morning with a 25 second video from the front porch/door to show the changing season from Autumn to Winter. Here is this morning, a mostly clear, sunny, but chilly 43 f (4.1 c), quite the change from the past few weeks. We aren’t getting the pretty fall colors this year, most of the trees are yellowing or browning and the leaves dropping already. Some are already bare or nearly so. I don’t seem to be able to link it as a video, this is just the opening shot. The video can be viewed on my Instagram if you follow me there at spn_knt.

    The last time I mowed, I had hoped it would be for the last time this year. The mower needs an oil change and the blades sharpened or replaced. I picked up a chunk of erosion fence in the blade last time and it was quite the challenge to get to free from the blade it wrapped around. Day before yesterday in late afternoon, I brought the mower and line trimmer out again and though I didn’t do all the acreage I usually mow, I got around the house and coop and trimmed around the flower garden in the back. The chickens love when I mow and run into the area I have just passed, gorging on newly clipped grass and the insects it disturbs. I am always amused when the Perdue chicken commercial comes on TV and the actor tells the family what chickens from other breeders are fed and to go down to the Perdue booth, that Perdue chickens are given only clean grain feed. If you have ever watched chickens, they are Velociraptors, they will eat snakes, mice, frogs, bugs, grass, seeds, and just about anything, they are definitely not vegetarian and chickens fed that way are not healthy.

    We have two aging pups, the younger of the two has never been a healthy dog and for the past three mornings, I have had major accidents to clean up while they are outdoors and before I can feed them. That is not the way I prefer to start my day and though I really dislike scented candles, I have had to use a wax warmer with a sliver of eucalyptus scented wax with a chunk of beeswax to clear the air.

    Our daily schedule generally involves a walk after lunch, today we are headed out this morning, so hubby can watch a football game and I can prepare Sunday dinner for Daughter and her kiddos. I think this will be the first walk of the season where I don my jacket that hubby gave me for my birthday a few years ago, maybe a knit hat as well. At least it is sunny and not wet and windy.

  • The End is Nigh

    The past few days of early summer like weather is in the process of ending as we speak. A strong cold front is moving through with rain, some wind, and much lower temperatures. Last night’s low is today’s high and by next weekend, we will begin to see night time temperatures in the 30’s. We have passed our average first frost date, but it is rare to see frost yet.

    The garden still hasn’t been fully cleared, some tomatillos and tomatoes are still out there, some dry standing corn stalks and a single Hubbard squash still on the vine, the rest have been brought in. The winter greens bed has nice rows of seedlings of radish, spinach mustard, spinach, and lettuce. They will be covered with row cover by the end of the week and later by heavy plastic as real freezes are forecast.

    I decided to bring the spider plants in after all. There are two hooks in the utility/panty room with north and south facing windows, though heated only by leaving the door open to the main house. There is a wall installed space heater, but it is noisy and expensive to run. All of the baby shoots were removed from the plants and a flat of Jiffy Peat blocks started with a dozen tiny spider plants. They will be planted in the hanging pots to fill them in once they have roots. I figure they won’t all take. If they do, some will be potted in one of the various empty pots around the house and they can adorn a step or table next spring.

    I couldn’t resist bringing in the begonia that has sat on the front porch table since the porch was restained and decorated last summer. It was just too pretty with it’s sunny yellow blooms to not enjoy for a while longer.

    The jungle of succulents joined the pothos and Thanksgiving cactus that spent the summer on the shelf at the end of the kitchen counter, with the second shelf they had spent the summer sitting upon on the front porch.

    The large Dracena that also summers on the porch is in a less sunny part of the living room.

    The hydroponics are already producing salads and herbs, though the spinach and the rosemary are not germinating. The rosemary in the herb bed outdoors generally survives the winter tucked up against the southwest facing stone wall and I can cut from it as needed.

    The season is ending, always a relief and a disappointment. The garden is in good shape to start next year. The paths that I so carefully covered with cardboard and mulch are mostly grown over with grass again, but the paths are wide enough now to use the line trimmer to keep it short. The coop needs another clean out once the rain ends and that spoiled straw will be added to another bed to hold down weeds and feed the bed during the winter. That will be an ongoing project all winter as they spend more time in the coop. The shortened day length is beginning to show in egg production. Last night there were only 8, the least I have gotten from the hens since they all began laying in early summer. They may stop altogether for a while, or maybe there will be enough to keep me in eggs through the winter, we will see.