Lovely and Fun Lace

I love everything about lace.  It is so dainty and feminine.  I am fascinated with how each tool you use creates its own unique stitches.  Crocheted lace is much different than the airy knitted lace which is similar in openness to bobbin lace but still quite difference.  Tatted lace produces it's own unique stitch, density, flavor, etc. 

Of course I've had to try them all over the years.  I still don't have a favorite but enjoy the diversity of it all.

This is my lace basket.  I don't get to it much but it inspires me every time I pass by it.

It's good to try using different threads but I usually go back to the standard white or ivory as my favorite. 

The round bag in the middle, that is crocheted. I found it at an antique sale.  Women used these to hold their ball of thread while they crocheted, tatted, etc.  They would hang it around their wrist and perhaps walk through the lovely gardens while making their lace edgings. 

Far left is an orange plastic tatting shuttle.  I prefer the heavier silver plated ones. As far as needle tatting, that's a choice we have to each make but I like the movement of the shuttle passing back and forth through my hands. 

The ivory/light green lace is bobbin lace made.  Now that takes a lot of concentration and after about 3 years I'm still working on the same pattern.  Need to spend more time with it but my life is anything but the quiet needed to pursue this technique!

There is some multi colored tatted lace here.  That was fun for a change.

The bright white piece is crocheted with bobbles.  I just love bobbles.  They are so fun.

I'm planning on making a lace sampler book. Seems all I ever get done are samples!!!  When I do get some yardage I use snippets of it here and there are miscellaneous projects like doll clothes.

Hope you enjoyed.  Have a great lace making day...I'm off to another fiber day with friends!

Carrot Cake

I had a piece of really good carrot cake while on vacation and had to come home and bake one. Could I find a decent recipe in the 30+ cookbooks I had? Of-course not! One had babyfood carrots in it, which I'm sure might be good but I wanted real pieces of carrot in this cake. Did I want to go down to my office and search the web - no, I wanted my cake NOW!!So, I took three recipes (one was actually an apple cake recipe) and combined them. Yum-yum - it was so good I have to include it for you here:
2 C flour
1.5 C brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
2 t baking powder
3 eggs
2 C carrot/zucchini, grated
3/4 C oil
1/2 C buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat eggs with sugar, then add oil and buttermilk. Add Dry ingredients to wet and mix thoroughly. Pour into 2 greased round cake pans or one 8 x 10. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. Use toothpick to check for done-ness. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting - a little cream cheese, a little sugar (or your homemade Maple syrup)
and a little vanilla. This cake was good for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

My Gift Shop/Cabinet

 The nice thing about owning a Bed and Breakfast is you can actually show what you make and try to make some money to feed your habit.  In the entryway I have a beautiful old cabinet filled with Fiber treasures.  Things move along slowly but it's good because I can keep up with it. 

Of course my Fiber Friends contribute their items as well.  We have all natural, super soft wool scarves, face scrubbies, warm cowls, felted purses, potholders, "Guest" towels, Potpourri and more.

My mother made the Victorian lady potholders which I just love. I machine embroidered some red work towels.

 Here I have some nice washcloths and my glycerin soaps (see larger photo below) and the finished Princess Coat that is way too large for Cara Isabella.  I also hand crocheted some lavendar scented sachets.

 Home made potpourri!  I use flowers that were left behind by guests, hang them up quick to dry, snip them and spray a nice, gentle scent on the mix.  Put it in a vintage basket with a vintage hanky and you are good to go! You can just imagine the memeories of wonderful getaways behind each batch.

Softly scented Glycerin Soap using only Essential Oils of course.  Each has a vintage photo adhered to the top which makes them especially charming and one-of-a-kind!

And last but not least, my crocheted wash/dish cloths. 
I use 100% cotton and, don't tell my Fiber Gals this, but the real pretty ones are made with expensive "Noro" yarn.  They are the best.  I just love them and they hold up way better and longer than my cotton towels.  Love the colors and the feel.

Please, consider emailing me pictures of your projects.  Let's inspire one another!

Fiber Day

Sherryl, the originator of Fiber Day



Linda, Jan & Claudia

 Fiber Day is Sooooo Much Fun!

One day a month we get together to do lunch and whatever fiber thing we want to do from 12 to 5pm.  We try all sorts of things:
Sherryl: Spins, crochets, dyes fiber
Jan: Knits, crochets and is into felting purses and resizing old wool sweaters
Claudia: She's into fine needlework, cross stitch, with beads
Linda: Crochets, Knits, dabbled in weaving a bit.
I:  Bring about 4 unfinished projects and switch back and forth between them


Linda, master christmas stocking crocheter


 A couple of years back Linda crocheted 30+ Christmas stockings to give away to some kids at a local alternative school.  The loved them!

Sherryl, Jan and Claudia are all "Farm Girls".  Linda was raised on a farm but seems to have transitioned to "City Girl" some years back.  I, of course am a "City Girl" too.  You can tell by our Fiber Day conversations.  Some talk about their horses, cows, gardens and others of us talk about the most recent manicure we had! 

I love being around my "Farm Girlfriends".  They calm me down and I learn lots of cool things that my friends don't know like how to make syrup, soap, lotion, jelly, blueberry buckle cake, flaming Figgy Pudding...I could go on and on but cannot leave out the crocheted "G" string.  Yes, they can be a little wild those farm gals.



Princess Coat finished!



They all got a big laugh when I said I wanted to be a farm girl but I didn't care too much for dirt.  And what's with the old saying "If you have live stock, you have dead stock", oh my.  Think I'll continue living vicariously through them! I get sad enough when a plant dies!!!!:)

I worked on this Princess Coat on our last fiber day.  It is finished now and I just love it, although it is way to big for my granddaughter.  I used acrylic yarn because young parents don't know how to care for wool but now there is no hope of shrinking it down for her.  It is so much bigger than her I may have to give it away to another young lady this year for Spring. For now it's in my gift shop at the Inn just to see if it goes! 

Fiber Day is Fun.  Get some friends together and try it out!  That is my Free advice for the day.





Unexpected Day Off

 Okay, so Dave and I were to take a few days off but then Dave got a bad cold so after the first night away we "snuck" home and pretended like we were still away.  Dave, poor thing, slept while I set up shop.


My Day Off



 This is our living room coffee table. 

From the left:

Speakers from my desktop

Plugged into my Ipad

Current knitting project

Easter Bunny egg holder

Gorgeous flowers, from Dave (smart man)

My phone

Large cup of water

All in one knitting thingy on top of pattern

Sooo, I caught up on podcasts I've been anxious to listen to.  My favorites are "Knit Misadventures" and "The Balcony Farm" listed at the bottom of this page.  It was a lovely day all to myself.



Lace and Such

Easter Egg Holder





I was also able to go through my lace making basket. I plan on making a fabric "sample" lace book which is very Victorian, getting back to the whole "Victorian" theme that I claim to be presenting.  Back then it was usual to not have a pattern for lace so a friend would show you or give you a sample and you would keep it as reference.  "Piecework" magazine recently showed a photo of an old lace reference book.  Adorable.  This will encourage me to start mine.

From the left:

Crocheted thread holder

   You would put your crochet thread inside and wear it on your wrist as your corocheted.  I understand it made a project very portable and kept the thread clean. Imagine walking through your overflowing gardens steadily while crocheting some lace!

Various crochet threads, tatting shuttle and some lace samples I've made.  Some tatted, crocheted and a sample of Bobbin Lace (the white with green fans)

Here is a larger view of my Easter Egg holder. Purchased at Joannes Fabric recently.  It was britht pink which I thought would take away from the eggs, so naturally I spray painted it black.  The foam eggs kept falling through the holders so I added some crinkled paper I found in the back room.  This is the last photo of perfectly smooth eggs which was taken prior to Cara Isabella getting a hold of them and promptly putting teeth marks in each!  You go girl!  Every time we said "no, no" she would turn her little head, as if we couldn't see her, and carry on. What an angel she is.

 





Syrup Photos

Here are the photos from Sherryl's syrup making adventures. Really, it is the best syrup I have ever tasted! I tried to incorporate these into her previous blog but it didn't work. But here goes!

I understand the boiling down process took several hours for several days, and luckily she didn't have any wallpaper in her kitchen!

After the Birthday...

 These are Dave's Birthday Pineapple Upside Down Muffins.  I usually make this a cake in a cast iron skillet but I couldn't resist buying this mold this year.  We'll have to make this more than once a year now.  They were excellent if I may say so myself.  Just the right proportion of top to sides!  It didn't brown as nicely as when baked in a skillet but they were as delicious if not better!  See previous posts for the recipe.

It was a great birthday.  We celebrate over a weeks time and I think I managed to keep the surprises coming quite nicely!!!!






Soap holder

 This is the next project at hand.  A crocheted soap holder for all three outdoor faucets at the Stillman Inn.  Complete with flower top!  I think I will regre not using a more open weave pattern as I know how soapy these things can get but at least I made an effort in the direction I intended to take for the summer!

I just used some yarn laying around, picked out a pattern from a crochet/knit pattern book and crossed my fingers.  I used my left over melt and pour soap bars from the craft show we attended.  I actually used the ones that didn't turn out so pretty - who knows!

I must say people treat "melt and pour" soaps as if they are somehow inferior to the traditional lye soaps.  I find these soaps light and refreshing, not overpowering...so there!

'The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches' by Readers Digest...you'll love it!

Ever check out the website for "Tasha Tudor"?  I believe her farm is in Vermont and I recently discovered they give tours of her gardens.  Boy, would I just love to do that.  It is 3 hours away from Hull so I'll have to put my brain together and get us there with Dave's brother and his charming wife!

I've been catching up with my podcasts from "Knitting Misadventures".  Elise just started another podcast called "The Balcony Farm". It is amazing what she grows on a very small patio.  She gives lots of good advice so you don't want to miss it.  She also has a website for each of these venues.

Another cool thing for the Ipad:  I downloaded an app called "Flower Garden".  You can grow flowers, water and feed them, make them into bouquets and email them to your friends.  I love this.  It reminds me to water my seedlings and helps me to keep in touch with friends and family by sending them a bouquet once in a while!