And a picture of Carol’s shelf:
I can’t help but notice there is no space allocated for my beer supplies.
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Studio plans
Posted onI made measurements (on actual graph paper) of Carol’s future studio room in the workshop today. I handed her the paper and asked her to fill in the blanks. Here are the results:
The sad face in the corner is my space.
Tangled Vista
Posted on
Tangled
Posted onI have a new crafty/arty thing. Oh yes I do. Zentangles.
Lard
Posted onI felt an urge to try making lard recently, so I picked up some pork fat from Bright Farm and gave it a whirl. They suggested using a crockpot to render it rather than a stove, and it worked pretty well.
The packages of fat.
Chopped up and in the crockpot.
After a few hours.
After about 12 hours or so, it looked like the solid bits were brown enough.
About 5 pounds of fat turned into 2 quarts of lard…
…and a bag of crunchy bits. Although I think I’d fry them before using to make them crispy again.
After cooling overnight.
I put one jar in the fridge, and one in the freezer. Today I made biscuits with some, and they are definitely flakier than in the past. The pork taste was only a bit noticeable, and then only if nothing was on the biscuit.
I wonder if there is a lard category at the fair.
That was easy
Posted onI put the finishing touches on another Fair item this afternoon. That brings me up to a total of 20. Out of 193. Hmm… It’s true that 100 of those are items I can’t do right now: garden produce, canned goods, baked goods, cut flowers and other plant stuff. Still, that leaves 73 craft/art items I really should try and finish in … oh …. the next three months. I am awesome! I can do it!
103 | Needlework | Crocheting | Doily: Completed
Doilies have always impressed me what with the teenyness and the tinyness. When I saw them on the Fair list, I almost wept. Surely I wouldn’t be able to make one. This seems to be a common thread in my Fair adventure. Fear of a project…thinking it will be too tough to do…then POOF. It’s done. Admittedly, I chose what seemed the simplest of the free patterns I could find (Spider Web Doily by Coats & Clark) and there are a couple of mistakes, but still. I crocheted a doily!
The blocking was physically painful, and I think I have a blister on my right index finger from pushing all those pins in. I ran out of energy, patience, pain tolerance, and pins (almost) towards the end and probably didn’t pin as much as I should have. I am okay with that.
102 | Needlework | Crocheting | Afghan: In progress
I think I’m about half done with this item, and it seems small, and very triangular. I love it anyhow, like I love my kid even when her nose is a glob of crusty snot and she’s coughing on my breakfast. Well, maybe even more than that. The yarn is really soft.
104 | Needlework | Crocheting | Infant’s Set: Started
I began this item while I was still near my Mom and her crocheting wisdom. I finished two rows on the dress, and pulled one row back out again. It’s probably more technically challenging than the doily. It definitely is way bigger and more tedious.