The missing years.

I somehow can't remember very many craft project in the past 2-1/2 years. Partly horrible memory and also a dryish spell while big life changes were happening.  Some of the things I can recall (maybe because they are lying around the house) are the trivets, potholders, and candle.

The trivets were major fun to make and were all unique Christmas gifts for family.  We thrifted for dishes and joyously smashed them to pieces. The candle was a recent craft. Really fun and easy but requires equipment and kitchen takeover (think cover every inch of counter and backsplash with aluminum foil), so not sure if we will adopt this craft into the mix. We were taught the basics in a candlemaker's home.

The scarves were both started ages ago and finished in the fall (soft/fuzzy) and winter ( bright/ simple).  The color didn't pick up well in the fuzzy scarf for some reason. It is a big mix of yarn knitted together.  I can't give specifics on yarn or shop.. I have been using up a large stash and long ago threw out the labels.  Not sure about pattern anymore either, but nearly every pattern I use comes from The Purl Bee blog of the Purl Soho folks.

The hanging organizer was seriously started about 4 or 5 years ago. It matches a sewing machine cover that was my very first sewing project under the tutelage of a neighborhood sewing teacher.  I think the plastic frustrated and intimidated me so much that I tucked it away for what ended up being years. Fast forward to a few months ago when I did a craft room reorganization and came across that project bin.. out it came and I worked an hour here, hour there until it was finished! Very satisfying to finally complete something that feels big. I can't even imagine how the final quilt will feel.

8 years old.

It's hard to believe we've been in Birmingham for 8 years! Feb. of '05 we moved into this house and brought Simcoe home that April. He was estimated to have been born in February so we gave him the same birthdate as our move-in day.. 2/14.

Looking at his kitten pictures is nostalgic. His personality now seems so different from his kitten days.  He is both a super sweet lover kitty and very demanding and we love him dearly.  His friend, Rosa, is a year younger. Of course we love her dearly, too. Her love is on a schedule.. early in the am or late at night - she doesn't care to be touched much otherwise.

Both are all grown up now.  :)

Bread education.

This is not the first bread-making experience. To make bread that goes from decent or fine to good, in my opinion, you need the starter.. The biga or poolish or whatever it is called in whichever cookbook, depending on the region of the world influencing the recipe.  This can make an all-day affair turn into an all-nighter as well.  This time, I revisited Bread Alone, which I long ago borrowed from a friend. It's a long process. I'm not gonna lie. Did the long slow poolish overnight in the fridge. Then from 8 in the morning until late afternoon the dough was babied. It was cool in my house so I tried using a heating pad to raise the temp. Put a towel between the pad and bowl and monitored the temp with a thermometer, aiming for the high 70s.. close to 80. The heating pad worked great! Only drawback is the need to sit closely by to watch and adjust, turning to medium or low or off or moving off the pad entirely.

The kneading process was extremely long this time, not sure why exactly. I set the timer for 15 minutes, knowing that was the minimum set in the book. The dough still needed flour and kneading for a good 10 minutes more.  Once kneaded, the process was straightforward. The fermentation yielded a risen, doubled dough. The shaping and proofing went better than expected despite a power outage from a storm. I would have raised the temp for the proofing to make it go quicker, but there was a 4 hour period with no electricity, so no heating pad and no heating oven. The oven situation caused a dilemma. The loaves doubled, but nowhere to put them, so when the power came back on and it was time to put the first loaf in, I made a decision not to touch the loaf - just slide 'er in.  The second loaf, I experimented by deflating and reshaping then baking. This proved to be a mistake. I now know that the proofing helps create a less dense, more hole-y bread. If it needs reshaping, I think it should get another brief proofing period.  So, the result was one (the first and more round in photo) bread the way I like it - chewy, with holes and great flavor. The other loaf was too dense, but you live and learn..

First quilt, Part 1.

Oh my. No post since 2010. It's not that there has been no crafting. While less frequent than previous years, there have been projects including several handmade christmases with trivets, crocheted kitchen towels, and more. The next post will show off a few things that are handy. I'm hoping that with a tablet posting will be quicker and easier, since the photos are there to grab.
It's spring break, so not only am I happily in the middle of several projects, but there is time to think about documenting a thing or two.  Much of my free time this year has been devoted to cooking, which makes me eager to also share some of those experiments.
I have always wanted to make a quilt. I used to follow more closely, but now just catch up periodically with Alicia Paulson's blog, Rosy Little Things. I will never understand how she manages to make so many beautiful things. It's constant. She has made a number of gorgeous quilts and when she posted the Olallieberry Ice Cream Quilt, I thought this might be a good pattern to try for the very first go at quilting. So far it has been fun and relaxing. There really is no fuss with the fabrics. It's supposed to be random, so just an assortment of pretty colors and patterns thrown together. Her method is interesting the way you join all of the squares into long strings of pairs, then snip the pairs apart and join them into long strips. That is the stage I am in.. With 10 strips of 28 squares and 16 strips to go.