Moonlight and Laughter | Unique Hand Dyed Fiber and Yarn

Silk has arrived in the North Country!

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Marilla

Yesterday was an exciting day. I received an order of recycled silk ribbons and pulled sari silk. I can’t wait to get them in the shop and will be working on it over the next few days. I can see so many possibilities for working with the silk ribbons-weaving, add ins for art batts, splitting them and knitting directly with the ribbon, or using the ribbon to knit along with yarn are just some of the ideas. I’m also thinking of making bracelets by wrapping the silk around a bangle bracelet. Having lived through the 80′s and not being good at getting rid of things, I may have a bangle bracelet or two hidden away.

I’m also doing a small shop update this weekend with some silks, milk fiber and superwash laceweight merino yarn.

Superwash merino laceweight yarn called “Red Hot Moon”.

Milk Latte Fiber

Mulberry Silk brick

This is also an exciting weekend because it is Phat Fiber box drop day today. The theme for the month is Gems and Minerals. I submitted batt samples in Aquamarine and Merino, Cashmere, Nylon fingering weight sock yarn.

Here’s the amethyst sock yarn.

And the aquamarine batt samples.

I went to visit my darling children at the beginning of the week, which is their weekend since they work in the hospitality industry. I returned home to find this sight in my shop living room.

I’m thinking the cats had something to do with it. My poor table will never be the same after having such pressure on the leaf, but the lamp survived! Those darn cats.

Silk has arrived in the North Country!

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Marilla

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Posted on February 3, 2011 by Marilla

While reading a friend’s blog yesterday I was pointed to the online exhibition of an exhibit called Threads of Feeling which is going on until March 2011 at the Foundling Museum in London, England. The museum tells the story of The Foundling Hospital, London’s first home for abandoned children. When the children were left a small object or token was kept as an identifying record in case the baby might be reclaimed some day. The fabric was either cut from the child’s clothing or provided by the mother, and was attached to a registration form. It was fascinating seeing the array of textiles in this online exhibit, which gives a look at the fabric of 18th century England. I only wish I could visit the museum and see them in person. It’s also heartbreaking seeing the little notes some mother’s left with their baby. I can’t begin to imagine how horrible it would have to be to give up a child because you couldn’t care for it.

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Snow, Snow, Snow

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Marilla

‘Tis a cold and blustery day here in northern New York. All schools in our county, and the neighboring county are closed, which is very unusual. It’s 12:30 and I have already shoveled the driveway twice and I imagine I’ll have to do it at least one more time before the storm is over. It’s finally looking like winter out there. I do love a snow storm as long as I don’t have to be out and driving. My neighbor told me that her vehicle had to be towed out of the bank parking lot because the lot hadn’t been plowed. I’m glad I did banking and went grocery shopping yesterday so I’m safely ensconced in my warm house with my two cuddly cat friends. Lots of time for knitting and spinning and watching some Dr. Who on Netflix.

I have no snowy photos from today, but I do have some from a stop I made at Cranberry Lake on Sunday. There was about two feet of snow, but I walked in and was able to get inside because of the way the snow had drifted by the door. It was very cold though and I didn’t get to walk around as much as I would have liked. I bet there is a lot more snow now and that snowshoes will be necessary next time. The big expanse of snow is the frozen lake.

Today my spinning group was supposed to meet at my house, but we have postponed it until next week. One intrepid friend came anyway and we enjoyed some lovely conversation, some delicious St. Lawrence Valley Roasters Cost Rica coffee and some of Aunt Hilda’s Stovetop Rice Pudding. My Aunt Hilda was a most awesome cook, and my recipe book is filled with recipes handed down from her, my Grandma Fish and my mom. I had forgotten about her rice pudding recipe and had been searching for a rice pudding that was made from uncooked rice, didn’t need to be baked and was creamy and delicious. My sister Jane reminded me of Aunt Hilda’s recipe which was published in 1981 in a cookbook put out by the First Baptist Church of Rome, New York, and the recipe satisfies all of my criteria.

Stove Top Rice Pudding

1/2 Cup Raw Rice (Arborio if you have it) 3 Eggs

1 Cup Boiling Water 1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Quart Milk 1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 Cup Butter 1/2 Cup Raisins (Optional)

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon, 1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg (Also Optional)

Boil rice and water for 7 minutes. Add milk and butter-boil slowly for 1 1/4 hours, covered. Watch carefully because it boils over easily. Stir frequently. Remove from heat. Beat 3 eggs and sugar until thick and foamy. Add egg mixture to rice mixture and fold in real well till foam disappears. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, spices and 1/2 cup raisins. Pour into a pan or casserole and cool a little, then refrigerate.

I usually add a little bit more rice as I like the pudding a little more solid than soupy.

Enjoy!!!

I wanted to share a pair of socks I made from some of my handspun, hand dyed yarn. They were claimed by Travis when I was there this weekend. He said the color reminded him of the Razzle Dazzle popcorn at Maison du Popcorn at the Massena mall.

No blog post is complete without a cat photo. This was Gerard as I was leaving last weekend. I’m not sure if he was trying to sneak into the bag, or if he was checking to make sure I had everything I needed.

I now must remove Gerard from my right arm and repair to the sofa for a little knitting time. I’m still working on my Peace Fleece cardigan, having finished the Rosemary’s Middle Sweater I was making, so I am moving toward accomplishing my knitting goals.

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside (and Inside Too)

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Marilla

The temperature has risen to a balmy -10. I discovered my shower pipes are frozen again, despite having heat blowing on them all night from a portable heater-not good. I was grateful that my car started though. It did a little bit of rrrring, but then started right up. I took it for a little drive to get the battery warmed up, and it’s supposed to get to the even balmier temperature of 0 today, so I think the car will be OK, I’m not so sure about the pipes. I think another space heater is going to be necessary if we are going to continue to have these freezing temperatures. Some insulating of the pipes would probably help too, but that would be entering a crawl space and that is not in my job description. I’ll have to corral a child the next time one is home to help with that.

This frost is on the inside of my side door.

I’m very excited.! I have my first customer coming to my little shop in my living room.

The most exciting part is that it is someone I don’t know. I have had friends come shopping, but no brand new customers. She is looking for wool for felting and I have a ton of that, so I hope she goes away happy.

I am working at getting some felting supplies to offer for sale. Living where I do, there is no one who sells felting supplies, and although they can be ordered online, there is nothing like immediate gratification and being able to purchase locally when you are in the mood to start a new project.

Spindies is officially no more. I packed the last of the fiber that was here to send back to the participating artists last week. I set the packages by the back door, left the room, and when I came back discovered that Gerard was making the final inspection to make sure the boxes were securely packaged. It’s good that I have such helpful kitties.

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BBBBRRRR!!!!!!

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Marilla

Right Now	Next 36 Hours

	Tonight	Tomorrow	Tomorrow Night

Clear	Mostly Clear	Scattered Flurries	Light Snow
-13°F	-32°	3°	-1°
Feels Like: -25° Get FREE weather on your desktop	Low	High	Low
Past 24-hr: Precip: 0 in Snow: 0 in	Chance of Precip: 10%	Chance of Snow: 30%	Chance of Snow: 70%
Wind: From WNW at 5mph	Wind: W at 7 mph	Wind: SSW at 5 mph	Wind: E at 6 mph

It’s a chilly one!

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Baby Sweaters Needed for Newborn Lambs

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Marilla

I have an online friend who lives in Kansas and is in desperate need of newborn to child sized baby sweaters for her newborn lambs. Here is her appeal and where to send the sweaters if you are able to donate. If you can help, I know Brenda and her lambs will really appreciate it.

Hi to everyone, I have been quite absent here, there and everywhere as I am up to my ears in lambs since Christmas and with the frigid temps I am in desparate need of used baby sweaters and I thought this might just be a good place to find some since I know there are lots of mommies here.

I normally have a stock of these but last year I didn’t have much time to shop and with all the twins and triplets this year I am way short and its really harshly cold so these babies need sweaters. I normally buy these at local thriftstores but there just aren’t any there now in the towns near my house.. The other used clothing stores i haunt are about an hour away and I just can’t leave the farm for that long with all these bottle babies, I just don’t have the time as I only have about one hour before I have to start the bottle cycle over again so…. my plea is this, if any of you young mommies have old baby sweaters – the smaller the better preferably preemie or newborn size, even 3 months is good and you want to get rid of them and would be taking them to goodwill or somewhere and want to donate them to a fiber worthy cause and warm up some sweet and very cute little lambs, I would be happy to pay the postage. I can use larger sizes as well, but am in desparate need of the tiny ones.

They don’t need to be nice or fancy, so typical garage sale/thrift store stuff is fine stained, or damaged is fine too because i have to throw them away when they are done as they get pretty messed up. I would love to knit beautiful little fair isle felted sweaters for everyone but unfortunately its just impractical because they can only be used for a very short time and it would break my heart to throw them away when they get all lamby

). I also have to trim away parts – so they can just be any old thing. Sweatshirts are fine too, but the heavier the fabric the better, some fleece is a little too thin to do much good. Just think below zero temps and they have a little bit of wool undershirt but not much yet.

Wool sweaters of course are the absolute warmest and best but are very hard to find – so I would love those in ANY child size and I can felt and shrink them into the perfect lamby sweater – I can usually only find a few of those each year.

The other thing is I need these pretty quickly so the sooner the better, and if you just have a couple, first class postage should get here soon enough. Please don’t send priority because the costs will just add up too high for me to compensate you. First class or pacel is fine. Hopefully I will get a few quickly, so I don’t need all of them immediately. If you will email me your postage costs and paypal address, I will paypal it back to you. Also if you need to be paid for the sweaters rather than donate them, just let me know as I can pay a dollar or two for each sweater if you want to be reimbursed for them, please let me know ahead of time so I can determine how many i can purchase.

if you just want to donate please send to

Natchwoolie Lambs

P O Box 523

Osawatomie KS 66064

and email your postage costs to wool at natchwoolie.com along with the exact paypal address you wish to be reimbursed.

Thanks to all and any help will be greatly appreciated by the lambs! Maybe I can do a flash mob lamb fashion show if i get a warm sunny day.

Brenda

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Resolutions

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Marilla

Wow, it’s been a month since I posted. I think about writing every day, but then time just whizzes by and the day is over with no blog post having been written.

I have noticed several knitting blogs whose writers are making knitting resolutions . I am not much for making resolutions, as I’m pretty sure I’m not going to keep them, but have decided to take stock of what is on my needles and make a plan with some nebulous deadlines.

I found two bags with abandoned projects in my Fibber McGee yarn closet when I went looking for yarn for another sweater I started this week.

The sweater is Rosemary’s Middle Sweater from Green Mountain Spinnery made with Cascade 220 that I bought years ago. I have started and ripped out at least three sweaters using this yarn. I think it may be because the color of the yarn is outside my color comfort zone. It’s an easy pattern, and I only have the sleeves and collar left to do. I think I stopped knitting it because I thought I wouldn’t have enough yarn and I knew it would be hard to match. I’m going to be optimistic that there is enough yarn and knit fast, because somehow knitting fast makes it seem more likely that there will be enough yarn. I know that makes no logical sense, but so far it has worked. The actual color of the sweater is more the color in the tote bag above.

These are a few of about 60 granny squares completed for an afghan I abandoned at least a year ago. I guess I was just fickle and moved on to another project, although I know I will love the afghan when it is completed. There is a lot of blocking, sewing together and weaving in of ends in my future. I chose random block patterns from the book 200 Crochet Blocks, and much of the yarn is either Harrisville Shetland or Elisabeth Lavold Silky Wool. Both yarns had the color palette I was looking for and the tweedy texture that I wanted for this project.

The sweater that I started this week is a Knitting Pure and Simple Neckdown Cardigan for Women pattern. I am very fond of Knitting Pure and Simple patterns. They are well written and easy to follow. The yarn I am using was bought for another sweater that was abandoned last year. It is Peace Fleece worsted, one of my all time favorite yarns, both because of the merino mohair blended yarn and the idea behind the company. Their mission statement is that they are a yarn company committed to helping historic enemies cooperate and prosper through trade. They offer yarn made from a blend of Russian, Romanian, American, Israeli and Palestinian wools.

I hope to have all three projects completed by the end of February. Perhaps making this commitment in such a public forum will make me actually stick to the deadline.

I also have several pairs of socks using my Moonlight and Laughter yarn going at all times. I don’t really count socks as part of my UFO’s because as soon as I finish a pair I cast on for another pair, almost always with my handdyed yarn. Right now I’m working on a pair using my merino, cashmere, nylon blend and I’m loving working with the yarn. The colorway is called “Twilight Time” and is a beautiful blending of blues and lavenders, all the shades one might see as night is falling.

I’m also making a commitment to knit more with my handspun yarn. I tend to spin and not use the yarn, and my collection is becoming quite large and unruly. I thought I had it all contained in one closet, but when I was in the yarn closet searching for the sweater yarn mentioned above I discovered a whole bin of handspun I had forgotten about. Oops! Maybe it’s time to start thinking about adding some handspun to the shop.

Here is a picture of my supervisors Seamus and Gerard. They were helping me fill some orders, making sure I didn’t make any mistakes. Right now Gerard is supervising the writing of this post while lying on my arms, making it practically impossible to type, but he is very warm. I appreciate the warmth on this cold January day.

Posted in Harrisville Designs, Moonlight and Laughter, sock yarn | 1 Comment

A Happy Spinning Group

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Marilla

Today was the day for my spinning group’s Christmas Potluck lunch. We had a full house, with three first time visitors, Anita, her daughter Anna-home from school in Montreal, and her granddaughter Amber. Anna bought a drop spindle at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival this fall and is doing a beautiful job spinning. Anita is also interested in learning to spin and they plan to get wheels in the coming year. It was good for them to get a chance to see a variety of wheels at the group. There was lots of delicious food, great conversation, and fellowship with fellow fiber fanatics.

Anna, Suzanne and Trina

Suzanne and me.

Barb, Barbara, Anita and Carol. Barbara was showing us the weaving sample she made at a beginner’s weaving class at Harrisville Designs this fall. She learned a lot in the 5 day class! Anita’s sweater was amazing-it was a map of the world.

Kathy, Amber, Vernice and Phyllis. Phyllis is spinning on a Hitchhiker that used to be our hostess Barb’s. Barb named the wheel Miss Piggy and painted her pink-she’s decorated with rhinestones, flowers, and has red toenails and a toe ring.

Anita, Carol, Andrea and Carolyn.

The dish I brought is an old family favorite called Hash Browns Deluxe. I’m going to be like Cooking Light magazine and show you the original recipe and then tell you what I have done to cut a lot of fat and calories out and still end up with a delicious dish.

Hash Browns Deluxe

2 pounds frozen hash browns

1 cup diced onions, sauteed

1 cup cream of chicken soup

1 pint sour cream

1/2 cup melted butter

8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Thaw potatoes for 30 minutes. Mix everything together except for the potatoes. After the other ingredients are combined, add the potatoes and stir until they are throughly mixed with the liquid ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees for 1-1 1/2 hours until brown.

Now the lower fat recipe-just as delicious, I promise.

2 pounds frozen hash browns

1 cup diced onions, sauteed (You can use 1 1/2 teaspoons of onion flakes instead)

1 cup cream of chicken soup (Any cream of soup works well. I often use cream of broccoli soup and add lightly steamed broccoli)

3/4 cup of low fat sour cream

2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste

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Walnut Scones, Yummmy!

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Marilla

I spent part of today listing the rest of my thrum mitten kits in my Etsy shop. I am feeling the need to knit a pair of thrum mittens-I’m sure someone could use a pair for Christmas-perhaps my Adirondack dwelling, cross country skiing daughter. Thrum mittens are fun to knit and the knitting goes quickly because they are made with worsted weight yarn. They originated in Eastern Canada-made for the fishermen who found the mittens perfect because as the mittens were worn and became wet they became felted which made the mittens waterproof. Both the fiber and yarn felted so the mittens were super waterproof and warm. I think they used more utilitarian colors than are found in my kits.

Here is a photo of the mittens I knit as a sample. They have had a lot of hands inside them, feeling the soft warmth. It’s fun to listen to people trying to figure out what they are and which is the inside and which the outside. My favorite idea was the person who decided they must be for dusting.

When I finished listing the kits I decided this cold, blustery day was a perfect baking day. I chose to make scones, which are one of my favorite things to bake, and I haven’t made them in a long time. They are a quick treat-it probably took me 10 minutes to put them together once I got out all the ingredients. This is a recipe I’ve made many times over the years. I don’t remember where the recipe came from, but they are nice and moist-a problem I sometimes find with scones is they can tend to be dry. I think this comes from too much flour and not enough liquid.

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Walnut Scones

2 Cups unbleached flour

1 Tablespoons baking powder

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1/3 Cup butter or margarine

1/2-3/4 Cup walnuts

3/4 Cup milk

Milk and granulated sugar (optional)

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, 4 Tablespoons sugar and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in walnuts. Add 3/4 cup milk and stir until dough clings together. Do not over stir or the scones will be tough.

On a lightly floured surface, roll or pat into a 7 inch circle that is 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 6 or 8 wedges. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. If desired, brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar (I used turbinado sugar).

Bake in a 425 degree oven 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

In place of walnuts, or in combination with the walnuts you can use other add ins such as chocolate chips, cranberries, candied ginger or anything else you think would be tasty in a scone.

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In knitting news I have been working on a scarf for Caitlin. When she was helping me at the Craft, Food and Wine Show we enjoyed checking out knits the attendees were wearing. A girl had a scarf with pockets on the end. I complimented her on the scarf and she said the pockets really come in handy. Caitlin liked the idea, so I am making her one using a skein of my Aran weight yarn. I designed the pattern myself-I will be writing the pattern up and sharing it on the blog once Christmas is over. It has cables, something I think I don’t like to knit, but once I do them I remember how much fun they are. They are the kind of thing that entertain me as I am knitting and that makes knitting a scarf speed along.

Time for a cup of tea and scone and then bed. I’ll leave you with a photo of Seamus modeling one of the hand dyed silk scarves I recently made.

Gerard wasn’t quite as cooperative. He walked right out of his scarf. (Don’t worry-the scarves were washed before they were sold.)

Can you see why I needed to spend a morning cleaning off my kitchen table?

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