Summer wrap dress

A few weeks ago, armed with a voucher to use up at a local craft store (the one that starts with 'L'), I timed my visit to coincide with their half price pattern and fabric sale. Loathe to pay full price in such an establishment, this was a prime example of when you might find me in such a place. I was looking for a couple of summer dress patterns and found a couple of wrap dresses that could make the cut (spontaneous pun not intended, but not dismissed either!).

I came home with two New Look patterns (6349 and 6674). Both extremely similar in design, with one  slightly more involved in it's construction. I just couldn't make a decision on which one to choose so grabbed them both! Deciding to start with the easier dress pattern of the pair, I cut out 6349 that very same day and there it sat, untouched for several weeks. Yesterday however, with a 37c day forecast, I woke up knowing that that was the day to get this little craft room lurker completed and into the wardrobe.

And completed it was!

In just over two hours!

This is a record for me, making a dress in one sitting. This is what happens when a person can't sleep and keeps waking up at uncivilized hours of the morning. A dress is stitched up and ready to wear before the rest of the family has even finished eating their weekend breakfast!

I do like an easy dress pattern...and this one most definitely was...

New Look 6349

I love, love, love the wrap tie that forms a belt at the back of the dress...a little on the vintage side, yes?

It's also comfy. Really, really comfy. Which is a good thing on a 37c day!

I am so happy with how straightforward (and quick!) it was to stitch up, I think I may make another!

Although I seriously doubt that we will have any more such warm days to wear it on....

..plus I really need to get my skates on and start on that second pattern that came home with me that day and cut into the fabric that keeps staring at me from the corner of the craft room..

Fibreness

It's all about the fibre here lately! It started with a yearning to start spinning again..it's been so long. Too long! Then it continued with a delivery of several bags of alpaca fleece from a good associate. SO much fibre! And it's so, so soft this alpaca fleece. Throw in a trip to an expo with hand spinning on display and the start up of spinning group for the the year and well, what can I say? It was bound to happen..

I was lucky to have acquired a pre-loved second spinning wheel from a friend of my mum's (it seems I have a knack for acquiring pre-loved seconds!). It's no fancy wheel but a workhorse it is and I've discovered it's ideal for spinning the dusty alpaca fleece outside and not dirtying up my special 'inside' wheel...

It's a bit rickety but it does the job and I feel so much better spinning this fibre outside as it really is so dusty. Even with beating and whacking, grass seed picking (although hopefully not too much!) and shaking it's a dusty job. I've been wearing an apron and picking the grass seeds out as I go as I can't stand the thought of washing all of those bags of fleece, inevitably felting them only to comb and card them all thoroughly before spinning! I'm lazy, I know, but life's too short to be painfully fastidious about fibre preparation..

Alpaca as it comes, out of the bag..pretty much straight of the animals back.  So soft!

It has been spinning up like this:

I also delved under the bed and retrieved the enormous bag of sheep fleece I had stored there. It is so meditative to sit and comb small tufts to then spin straight away..

...in the grease. Yes, another dirty job but at least I can spin this fibre inside. It's just my hands that end up greasy (and wonderfully soft!). Again, the lazy spinner in action...

I like washing the grease out after the strands have been plied together and seeing the twist set in the yarn, plus I actually think spinning 'in the grease' helps me to achieve a finer strand..

The bags from my purchasing over the weekend were popped open to reveal a luxurious blend of fibers within. I'm so looking forward to getting these on the wheel..

Merino, alpaca & silk blend.

I'm thinking a fine yarn knitted into a loose scarf. There is only 50g of each so I need to think very carefully..

I am quite fond of the red sliver and the blue one I have in mind for a gift to a friend. At least this way I can practice on the red before I start on the blue!

And I have finally, finally completed spinning up the 1kg of Bluefaced Leicester from last year. It ended up being quite chunky, around an aran/10 ply thickness and I am thinking of a chunky cardigan for myself, as you can see by the beginnings in the pic..

Bluefaced Leicester, 1kg.  Aran/worsted weight/10 ply approx.

I'm a bit dubious about it though...it's really heavy! Won't I get tired lugging all that weighty wool around on my body? Plus, what if I don't have enough? Would the pattern still work with three quarter sleeves, short sleeves..or even no sleeves at all? Yikes! All things to consider in this hand spinning/knitting world!

By the way, can anyone recommend a good book on felting? I have some alpaca fleece that might be too short to spin and was thinking of giving this a go but have absolutely no idea how to go about it! :)

What have you been knitting/crocheting/spinning lately? Or are planning to?

From the weekend - Seymour Alternative Farming Expo

Over the weekend, we took a drive over to Seymour to visit the Alternative Farming Expo. I had never been and was curious to go. With an extreme case of whiney tween syndrome and hot, sweaty weather to deal with, there was still plenty to see...in amongst the abundance of food vacuum sealers and kitchen gadgets, that is!

I could've watched this wood carving for hours! This carver was one of about four on the go at once..

Inside the craft pavilion I was slightly excited to see a seasoned spinner performing her skill on the exact same wheel that I have! A Sheridan MacArthur (although she was much faster than me! Much faster!!).

And just around the corner, a weaver busy in action. This was the first time I had ever seen weaving being done in person.

My Sister in Law gave me a really sweet book for my birthday recently called The Forgotten Crafts. In it was a tale about a broom maker which I found fascinating, so as you can imagine, it was a thrill to see this craft being demonstrated on the day..

The day would not have been complete without a visit to the alpaca stand (and a pat!)..

So sweet!

..with maybe a purchase or two.. ;)

I was really hoping to get to the apiarist stand and also The Italian Gardener for some vegetable seeds. Unfortunately I just couldn't find them! Oh well, perhaps next year..

Seymour Alternative Farming Expo website

Fowlers whole peeled bottled tomatoes

Last week while scouring my favourite fruit shop for seasonal delights, I happened to come across some boxes of saucing tomatoes. BIG boxes of saucing tomatoes. 16 kilo boxes to be precise!

Of course, as you can imagine I just had to bring one of those big boxes home. Jumping in and turning 10 kilos or so into passata, I left the remaining tomatoes in a couple of bowls on the bench with designs in mind to bottle them whole.

Hubby took a liking to them though. Quite a liking!

Every time I turned around he was chopping and slicing those romas into something new and delicious with mutterings about how good they were!

If I wasn't going to be quick, there weren't going to be any tomatoes left to bottle, and my inaugural whole tomato bottling experiment would be shot to pieces!

It was ok, there were still a few kilos left to play with...

After coring and scoring an 'x' in the base of each tomato, they were blanched for around 30 seconds in simmering water, then refreshed in cold water to halt the cooking process...

..after which time the skins slipped off without incident.

It's very satisfying work peeling tomatoes, especially when the skins slide off this easily! Very satisfying!

Keeping a similar technique to my previous bottled fruit sessions, the peeled, whole tomatoes were squished  strategically positioned firmly into the preserving jars and surrounded with a watered down passata. 1/4 tsp of citric acid was added to each 600ml jar for safe acid levels during storage...

Rings, lids and clips were positioned and they were then processed in the large water bath sterilising unit. Actually, to be honest, as there were a dozen jars and they wouldn't all fit in one,  I had two units going at the same time...don't you just love coming across old Fowlers kits in opp shops?!

Curious to try them out, not having bottled whole tomatoes before, I cooked up a jar of them for some pasta sauce this week...

What pleased me most was that the tomatoes held their shape in the jars and were just like the bought variety...only 100 times better because they were locally grown, processed in our kitchen and weren't stored in suspicious, chemically lined tins!

After witnessing hubby's devastation as he returned home one night to find 'his' romas all bottled, I'm very keen to go back to this favourite fruit shop of mine and see if they have any more BIG boxes of tomatoey offerings....

I think I could be up for another tomato peeling session!

Weekend glimpses and 11 things

{greenhouse}

{courtyard}

{after the rain - the collection from this morning}

{'special breakfast', a regular Sunday feature, cooked by hubby}

{at last!}

{knitting is calling and how satisfying it is to pull out a ball of homespun! The wheel is calling too...soon I hope to get there..soon}

{late afternoon foraging}

{Yum!}

Wendy at Urban Homestead South Africa has 'tagged' me so I thought I'd share 11 things about myself...

I am 35 years old


I am a Capricorn


I am a shocking sweet tooth...but you already gathered that from my posts, right?!


I have three mischievous tween girls, aged 12, 10 and 8.


We live in a beautiful area on a peaceful property..although one day I'd love to build an 'eco home' - our house is really dark in winter and dismally inefficient at conserving energy..


My dad passed away last year from cancer..it was a really tough year for him and the family..


This week hubby and I are celebrating being married 15 years!


I would love to travel someday..at the moment I'm too much of a homebody! I would start with small trips within Australia then build myself up for the overseas' jaunts..Germany and the UK to meet family, the ancient cities... and threatened natural wonders. I DO want to see them! Someday!


I spent my teenage years on a dairy farm. What I wouldn't give for a bucket full of fresh, wholesome, full cream milk now! Of course I didn't appreciate it nearly enough at the time..


I'm a tea drinker..all the better if it's a chai. I have been known to order the odd coffee if out though..


I love the bloggy world, 'meeting' new people, writing posts to look back on and of course, communicating with YOU!

I hope the weekend treated you well! 

Eats of the Week

At our place we've been eating eggs! The first hen has started laying...one egg like clockwork each morning. It felt like an enormous wait with hubby even thinking we'd bought some strange hybrid variety of sterile, non-egg laying chooks! Phew, I'm so glad this wasn't the case! We will patiently wait for the others to follow her lead..

Sometimes one falls off the sourdough wagon. Or the whole bread wagon for that matter...

..only to hop back on again at another time that feels right. It's feels good to be baking again.

Kibbled 7 grain sourdough

I made my first ever batch of homemade muesli this week. This would be of the toasted and glazed with honey type...the book didn't say it was so more-ish! I was really happy to use some new grains I had just bought at ethic. Rolled rice! Have you tried this? It's ahh....very crunchy!

After a preliminary harvest of excitement well before ripeness...I've been letting our first ever  (token) crop of apricots ripen on the tree and discovered that by doing so they form the most seductive blush..

Plus, they're the most delicious apricot I've ever tasted. Not that I'm biased or anything, having planted the tree and then spending time watering it, defending it from goats, mulching it, netting it...yaddayadda..

The tree is a Moorpark. And even my gardening book says they're delicious! See, I would not lie..

A crumble also made an appearance this week. All for experimental purposes. I needed to perform some quality control in the form of taste testing that bottled pear/plum concoction from last week..

..and it got the thumbs up! I will definitely be making this combination again...the whole cinnamon stick really adds that extra bit of yum without overpowering the flavour of the fruits. The plums were also slightly tart and went nicely with the sweet crumble topping..

And it's blackberry season here! I've been 'Picking our own...at home'!  It's such a comfort to know that they haven't been sprayed or been visited on by a stray dog..(yes, this would worry me if picking from a roadside!). Just 100% good, clean berries here for the taking, if I can beat the birds that is.

I'm feeling a blackberry and apple jam making session coming on...

What's being eaten at your place?

Around here..

I did something yesterday I've been wanting to do for ages..I pulled out our chook dome tractor and dusted the cobwebs from it to put it to use again. It' had been sitting there for months, abandoned after the fox visit of '11. Even though we had re-stocked with new birds, I just wasn't ready to go back there again. But yesterday I was!

The six circular beds that I use it on are looking a hideous sight, it is well and truly the neglected garden, living on volunteers and lasagne/sheet mulching. I had really noticed the deterioration of the soil too, without any chooks visiting them it was lacking their glorious manure-ey deposits. Dry, wormless soil that was verging on sterile..achh!

Of course, before I could position the wiry confine, the bed had to be cleared of any harvestable food. Not a lot was growing there..just  a small amount of celery and a few eggplants plus some scraggly silverbeet which weren't going to do much, however I did manage to fill a bucket with good sized spuds!

I really don't know what variety they are, I often randomly plant unidentifiable potato shoots from the pantry! Anyhow, naming aside, they're quite a nice potato..certainly generous in size and good for baking and roasting. A bit floury though, so not so good for boiling/salads..

Once the bed was cleared (which also unearthed - literally(!) a couple of self sown avocado and apricot saplings which I'll pot on), I was able to position the dome...

..and call the 'girls' over. It's always funny to see chooks travelling their first time along a specified route! I want them to go a certain way and under NO circumstances am I going to let them frolic and dust-bathe in what IS actually growing in our garden!

A long stick poked into inviting escape routes helps to block off areas where they are curiously headed for. A container of seed also helps too...guiding their movements using a 'Hansel and Gretel' approach..

It took about five minutes for them all to make their way from one side of the house to the other and once the seed was scattered inside the dome, they made their way in there without any hiccups at all.

Even though it is a fairly small space, they do seem to love it in there! The remnants of previous crops, any stray bugs and a good layer of (in my case) dry, crumbly earth to scratch and dustbath in are all ways to a chook's heart..

I ended up positioning an old beach umbrella over the top of the dome...until I can locate the thick, green tarp that I used to use. They also require fresh drinking water, so until I get around to purchasing another drip feeder, I am carting their eveyday water holder over from their permanent pen. With the umbrella up, it really does look like a chook resort - I wish I had've taken a photo!

Heads down, bottoms up = busy chooks!

Celery was so-so, although the silverbeet is rightly skeletonised now after their first afternoon inside.

Walking them to and from the enclosure will get easier with time, they are creatures of habit and will stubbornly follow a path once they have traveled it a few times.

Elsewhere in the garden, cucumbers are coming every couple of days! I'm so excited as I've never managed to grow a decent crop of them. I'd love to have enough to pickle! We go through loads of bread and butter cucumbers here!

lebanese and bush champion cucumbers

Our late corn is also pretty happy in it's sunny little patch out the front. I love the idea of gardening 'out front' so passers by can have a nosey on what's growing at our place! They might even go home inspired and plant something in their own garden.. Do you garden 'out front'?

There is lots of homemade yoghurt being eaten here lately, along with bottled peaches and berry jams stirred through...yum! Do any of you make frozen yoghurt? I was wondering if you drain it first before freezing.. I'm pondering over giving it a go in icy-pole format, using berry jams for flavouring...

There are only two left at primary school now, with the eldest starting secondary school this week and embracing all the new, exciting things it offers..(including a good dose of attitude at times!)..

I hope your week was enjoyable. I really want to say thanks for your amazing support of the
Slow Living 2012 - Month by Month diary! It positively made my week to see lots of you as excited about it as I am! Here's to a great month of goal-kicking!!

(If you would like to join in, you can do so at any time during the month. Just leave a comment in this post with a link back to your blog. Diary entries will be updated at the end of each month, so if you don't feel like reviewing January, there is always February to think about!)