Okay I lied but I have a good excuse
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Natural Dyeing

I said I wouldn't start dyeing in my new studio until I finished up some work for my paying job.  Well I broke that "rule" this a.m. and started doing some natural dyeing.  But I HAD TO.  On Thursday they come to put down flooring in my new dye studio and the adjacent bathroom where I've been dyeing all these years.

There was some leftover natural dyes on the floor of the bathroom in jugs.  Most of them are from my classes this summer.  It seemed silly to move them around for the flooring when I could just use them up by throwing them into the dyepot.  That is fair isn't it.  I didn't really cheat did I.   

It is getting taking a little getting used to having such a good setup.  It just occurred to me that I could actually have 2 pots going at a time.  Elementary I know, but after years of dyeing so slow pokey, it is taking me a while to get used to dyeing on a real stove.  So in addition to an osage orange pot, I'll setup a cochineal pot too.  How decadent is that!    Linda

 

Linda, that's so exciting!  I can't wait to see pictures!  DH is making progress on the fiber cottage.  I can't wait until I can move in!

Deb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a kid at Christmas again
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Chemical Dyeing

My new dye studio is done enough for me to start moving into.  I have dyed yarns for years with hotplates, roasters, and crock pots and smashed into a very little bathroom.  But my new dye kitchen is almost complete.  The carpenters took their tools out and I have a functional kitchen.  They will come back again for several finishing jobs and I don't have my flooring yet.  But it is a huge upgrade already.  Imagine a stove, a great big sink and a long countertop just for me to play.

I taught a dyeing class at the Rocky Mountain Sewing Festival this weekend and a kumihimo plate class too.  My dh unpacked the car today and we put the dye stuff in my new studio.  Does it get much better than this.

My studio is part of my home office where I do my accounting work (it is a big room) in my daylight basement.  I gave my dh a small corner for his desk too, but he does his work at his studio. 

 This is definitely the cat's meow.     I'll post pictures soon.  Linda

Rafflesia arnoldii or flowers I will NOT grow!
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Urban Homesteading

I was thinking about blogging today on how this Sunday Danny and I got up the hoophouse green house.  I also thought about telling you all I have a new San Francisco starter and am on the lookout for English Muffin Recipes. Then you stumble across weird things and you have to share:

 

 

This on one of the largest flower species – AND it is a parasite http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/Rafflesiaceae/Raff.arn.page.html

 

How can my greenhouse and sourdough starter compete with that!

Diana

 

Making Artist Books

Today I tried a different type of art.  I went to Connie Landis's artist book making class sponsored by the Yellowstone Art Museum.  I have rarely worked with paper and didn't have the slightest idea how to start.  We had a very fun class.  First Connie gave us a large sheet of beautiful mulberry paper.  Then we used inks and acrylic paints on it.  It was quite textured.  While that dried, we learned how to make our rubber stamps.  I had always wanted to do that and thought it was pretty easy.  We learned to cover our book covers.  I even used glue successfully without making a mess of it.  Connie suggested we use an old mail order catalog and each time we glued, we'd turn over a page in the magazine and have a fresh surface to work on and start gluing.  That along with frequent handwashing made this the best gluing experience I'd every have.  A weaver and dyer friend of mine was in the class and both of us hate gluing, but Connie got us to do it.  Then we folded our inside pages so they created a double accordian.  I ran a little behind and didn't have time to finish all my embellishing, but I can do that later.  All in all a very fun experience and learned lots that I could apply to the fiber arts.  Linda

Houston, we have a problem
Mood:  happy
Topic: Urban Homesteading
Since today is International Talk Like a Pirate day, all I have to say is ARRGG! Me bread had 'nough lead in it to sink Cap'n Jacks ship!

I thought there was enough bubble action going on, so I started a loaf of bread the other night. After 16 hours (common as this is wild yeast) it still hadn't risen very much. I decided to throw it in the oven and see how much rise I could still get off of it as it cooked. Not much – arrgg!

That's okay, I am on Plan B. BUY A STARTER. I found a site that I can get a starter from AND she holds your hand via email the whole way through. Just what a Pirate needs. 

 

I was going to take a pic of the bread to post, but my dh pitched it! It did have a nice sourdough bite to it though.

Diana 

 

bread and water can become tea and toast
Mood:  hungry
Topic: Urban Homesteading
There are a couple things in life that I repeat every 5-10 years. One being Philo dough and the other is sourdough bread. We are having wonderful weather, so I decided to take advantage of it, and start a sourdough starter.

 

Whoever said that you cannot live on bread and water was obviously wrong! Bread vies with chocolate in my book of all time comfort foods. There is nothing better than warm bread with butter slathered all over. And I am talking REAL butter, not that oleo stuff. I was about 9 the first time my mom slipped a tub of margarine on the table. I loved that it didn't rip the bread, but that was about as far as my love for it went.

 

If you have never started a sourdough starter, it is pretty easy. I took a cup of Montana Wheat's wheat flour and added a cup of warm water. Stir and place in a warm place. I then take out ½ a cup of the starter and add another ½ cup of wheat flour and warm water. I do this every 12 hours. This will continue on for about 4 days to a week – or whenever my starter starts to bubble. I just use the wheat bread while I am getting the starter going. It has more micro organisms that white flour. Once it is bubbling and has proven that it can make dough rise, I will be using white flour.

 

In about a week I should be pulling my first loaf of warm sourdough bread out of the oven. Starters always taste better after they have had time to age, so in a month, if anyone is interested in a starter, let me know. Not like this is really aged – some starters are thousands of years old!

 

Can't wait for a bowl of stew with some warm bread! I need to check out the Marketplace and see if they carry those reed basket for baking bread in. I always wanted to try that.

 

Diana

PS – Philo dough has another 5 years before I forget how much I hate trying to work with it!

Eat the View
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Urban Homesteading
In a magazine that I recently got, there was a layout for a greenhouse. How to make a greenhouse for $150.00! I have always wanted a greenhouse, so I was on that! I did some more searching around on the Internet, as I need a mobile greenhouse. I found this great plan, but DH was already on the move and ahead of me with this. He remembers seeing these hoop houses.

 

So off we went to Wal mart. Over in the painting section they have everything from drop cloth to 6 mil plastic sheeting on a roll. We picked up the 3.5 mil as we were not too worried about it deteriorating. We figured with moving it around it would get torn before it dissolved. That, and I found out that plastic on plastic can lead to more deterioration. Anyway, read for yourself: http://westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html

 

So this weekend we will put up a mini version over my tomato and pepper plants just to see if I can extend the growing season for another month or so.

 

I am researching how to provide heat without have to put in a heater. I remember seeing something on the History channel about manure and straw providing heat. I have also been reading about painting buckets black, then adding soil to provide more heat. If anyone has any more suggestions, I would love to hear them!

 

Oh, one more thing – Deb, can I borrow a bucket of manure?????

 

Diana

http://www.eattheview.org/

 

 

That's beautiful, Diana!

Linda, there was a whole basket of roving up at Wildpurls last time I was in there.   After our guild dyeing day this last weekend though, I have some new colors!   What fun that was seeing all the different shades of pink, purple, brown, blue, green and yellow come out of the dye pots. I've got lots of cochineal bug sludge left too, along with jars of the cutch and logwood and one of Mother MacKenzie's synthetic dyes, so I can do more!   Maybe Diana got pictures??

Deb 

Heidi's garden Throw
Mood:  happy
Topic: Weaving
 

Here it is, finally finished! Actually, it was finished a while back. I was just being lazy about reinstalling my camera software after my computer crash and all.

I invited Heidi to lunch yesterday to give her the throw. She knits and spins, but hadn't seen Swedish Weave on Monks Cloth before. It was fun showing her how to do this. That is the fun part about giving one of your homemade fiber goodies to a fiber friend.

I know some of you will suck the air out of the room, the yarns used were ACRYLIC as in Caron's Simply Soft and Red Heart.

There are times and certain projects I do in acrylic because I need a break from wool, and the chemicals that are used in wool processing.

Diana