Thrummed Mitts

I know what thrummed mitts are. They are the mitts I had growing up, I hated them. All I wanted was a pair of sleek Park City Mitts with their neon colours and waterproof abilities. Nope, it was the wool thrummed mitts from the store. I admit, not even the good homemade ones. These aparently are a Newfoundland tradition, it seems that everytime I find something I REALLY like it is from Nfld or Ireland, my roots.
Well I thought for a friends birthday I would knit her a pair of good old fashioned thrummed mitts. I saw a pair at the market for $50.00 and thought, "hell I can do that!" So I tried.
It took me the better part of a month, I hand dyed the roving and used a supersoft merino. If they weren't a present that I had already told the recipient she was getting, I would SO be keeping these.
I will have to make a few more for Christmas next year, even though T has an order in.

GOLD!

There is one thing, no matter where you are in this country today (unless you have your head buried) you know we won GOLD in hockey and should be standing up straight, with your chest puffed out in ridculous pride.






(eat that kesler)

Longies

I really like longies, they are warm, they hold any kind of diaper malfunction, they're cute and I can make them. The boy has 2 pairs so far and I am in the process of a third. The trim was left over mission falls merino I had laying around (well I found it when the cat decided to start a love affair of batting my wool around the house at night so that in the morning my house looks like it has been decorated with string, or there is one of those follow the string games going on) with some cheap Patons wool I got on sale (woohoo for $3.00 skeins!).
A new pair of toasty pants for about $4.00. I can handle that.

Hand dyed wool

Ever had a skien of wool that you weren't sure what to do with? There isn't anything wrong with it other than it is a colour you knew you weren't going to use, in fact the wool itself is wonderful, squishy and soft, but the colour, oh the colour is all wrong for anything you would do? Well I stumbled on a solution this week that made perfect sense. Dye it. Now I thought the same, that is something far too advanced to think of, but using Wiltons paste food dye or koolaid packages with vinegar and hot water is something I can handle!

I found a few sites that had some great tips, but this was my first attempt and I was using what I had in my house without buying more stuff. I started with a partialy used skien of Patons Classic wool. (this was a first attempt and not something I was willing to get into with the Merino straight off the bat!) I have been told that you only use natural fibres. I really don't buy anything other than natural fibres, so there wasn't an issue there!

For this attempt I went with the Wiltons paste.

I soaked the wool in a water/vinegar bath for about 6 hours prior to dyeing.
I started out with a teaspoon of paste colouring to about 4 cups of boiling water with a dash of vinegar.
I did orange and pink. I added a little more colouring to the water if I felt the colour wasn't rich enough.
I put the wool (that had been wrapped around my arm to quasi skien it, then loosely tacked at 4 points, just enough to hold it together, not tightly or you will tiedye it) into a ceramic dish and added the colour. I put little pools of liquid into onto the wool. I didn't mix it all together as I wanted parts in pink and parts in orange.
I did make sure within the little section of wool the dye was touching as much as possible. Don't get too excited with the wool and over agitate it. The combination of hot and agitation is what felts wool.
I put a meat thermometre into the centre of the wool, covered with tinfoil and put into the oven at the lowest setting for about 20 minutes (you want the wool to stay below the boiling point) and then turned the heat to 250F, leave covered making the house smell a lot like the old bag of wool in the basement. I left it about 4 hours before I went to check. The colour from the dye should have been absorbed by the wool and the water left over will be clear (or tinged with a little colour) but for the most part the dye/colour will be in the wool.
Pull the wool out of the pan and let cool a little. I hung it with a pair of tongs for a few minutes and when it was cool enough to the touch I just rinsed it and rang it out. I used an old towel, with the wool layed at one end and then rolled up to get any extra water out. I left the skein hung in the laundry room overnight to dry completely.
The colour is certainly bright. It turned out more orange than pink and reminds me of something T's family would wear at the hunt camp. BUT I am knitting it up with a skein of red/pink merino so it looks pretty good.

This was easy and I liked the results. Now when I am at the yarn shop and the ugly colours are there but they are beautiful wools that are on sale I can get them and fix the colour!

YAY!

A quilt for Jasper

I finally finished it!
I collected squares from across the continent and sewed them into a quilt for a very special little boy. His mother and I were a part of a group of women who were all around the same time, November 2008. Jasper was born with a host of medical conditions, including a pretty serious congenital heart defect. I have never met this woman, or Jasper, but have been following thier story and am just in awe of this little boys strength and his spirit. He is such a gentle soul and when you see his picture and read his mothers stories, part of you falls in love with him.
I wanted to do something nice for Jasper and his mother. I wanted them to know there were people behind them, invisible and more often than not unknown, but they are there none the less.
I asked everyone for a 9x9 inch square and if they had scrap fabric to send that as well. I peiced it, sewed it, backed it in a super soft red flannel to cuddle up in, bound it and am damn proud of it.
Aside from the little black cat that seemed to enjoy it as well, I really hope that Mr.Jasper enjoys the colours and the coziness and continues to fight like the little trooper he is.




-Update-

Jasper passed away February 23, 2010 at 5:49 am
My heart just aches for him and his family.

Beef Stroganoff

I love easy and brainless recipes. They make me happy!
Most people will use mushroom in this recipe, but I'm allergic to mushrooms, so I had to figure it out without them!


Beef Stroganoff (mushroomless)
2 cups beef stock
1 medium Spanish onion chopped
2 pounds of beef cut into strips
4 cloves garlic minced
1 cup flour

Brown the beef in a pan.
Coat browned beef in flour.
Add onions, garlic and stock into slow cooker
put beef on top and cook on low for about 5 hours
Serve over hot noodles


THE VERDICT:
T: Took it for lunch the nest day, always a good sign.
t: liked the meat and onion and sauce, a little weirded out by the noodles
S: Hey anything that is a normal thing that I can eat without being sick is a okay in my books!

Not too shabby

Black & white chili

Black & White Chili
As you know mine is a (shell)fish, tomato and mushroom free zone, so good crockpot recipes are few and far between. I found this one and made a few changes. It was actually really tasty! Hell even T & t liked it!


1 can chickpeas drained & rinsed
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
2 pounds chicken thighs (deboned and I trim fat) roughly chopped
1 can good crisp corn
1 spanish onion chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 jalapeno pepper chopped
1 tsp chili flakes
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp corn starch

Saute onions & chicken thighs until onions are soft.
Add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup of stock until dissolved.
Add everything to slowcooker and cook on low for 7 hours.



THE VERDICT:
T: came in swinging after taking a look at it and screwing up his nose. He ended up eating a huge bowl, came back for seconds sometime around 8pm and then took the rest for lunch.
t: ate the whole bowl no problem. The chickpeas and beans were super easy for him to pick up, so it allowed us to eat together. We helped a little, but it was a kid pleaser!
Me: It was hot, easy, comfort food, but with homemade stock and all the beans and chick peas, I felt like it was a healthy option. Will make this again for sure. The jalapenos added a subtle heat.