Hat in a Day

At the beginning of Fall Break, I had a day of travel, so I wound a skein of home grown, hand dyed, hand spun sheep yarn from the Walker family farm and popped it into my bag. By the next day, I had a hat finished, including sewing in the two ends. 

I like that there are two ways to wear it: slouchy and with a folded brim for extra ear protection on windy days. 

 I felt very accomplished and promptly knit zero other things in spite of having a whole week off. *sigh* 

Happy Autumn Days to you!

Sourdough Resource

My friend Cindee is putting together a sourdough party for anyone interested in learning how to bake sourdough bread. She graciously invited me to participate, and so I decided to put together a list of resources and recipes that I enjoy. 

As I review the list, it occurs to me that since I am such a "waste not" personality, I mainly use discard sourdough for non-bread recipes. In addition, I come from a tradition of sourdough bakers who also use yeast in the recipe. My mother got her sourdough starter and rye bread recipe from a commercial baker. The combination of using lower-gluten rye flour, a huge recipe that makes up to 8 loaves, and the need to get many loaves out quickly, the recipe needed the yeast for efficiency. Finally, as I battled some crazy OCD in my younger years, one of my strategies for recovery was becoming less precise in some areas of my life. Thus I have no clue what hydration my starter is or any of the pickier details needed to make a reliable pure sourdough bread. My pure sourdough breads did not turn out great, so maybe there are a few tweaks I can make (that won't send me back over the edge) to help my technique. However, the starter discard works fantastic in any of the recipes below.

My favorite way to use sourdough discard are making the King Arthur's Sourdough Waffles. I like to use one cup white and one cup wheat flour. If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute kefir or half cup yogurt and half cup milk. For pumpkin waffles, substitute one cup of buttermilk with canned pumpkin and add pumpkin pie spice to taste (one teaspoon minimum).

If cake is more your style, try this Sourdough Almond Jam Cake. The sourdough replaces any dairy, which is pleasant for anyone with a milk allergy. You can use any jam you like if you don't have mulberry jam on hand. This recipe is measured in grams and Celsius, but Google easily makes conversions for you.

The cake I made for the party is Sourdough Blueberry Crumb Cake. This cake has dairy, but doesn't contain nuts. 

Pie crust is an interesting way to use discard. When I tasted the crust dough, I thought it needed a savory filling and used THIS recipe for the filling. I don't think I had all of the ingredients for the filling so I substituted something. The dough was super sticky (probably my starter had too much water in it) so I squeezed dough into a pan and dotted the top with clumps like a cobbler. Reheat this potpie in the oven if you are lucky enough to have leftovers. 

Finally, my busy lifestyle takes advantage of my bread maker from time to time. I really like THIS recipe although I use one cup of whole wheat and 2 cups of white. If I plan ahead correctly, I mix all the ingredients together EXCEPT the 1 cup whole wheat, yeast, and salt. I'll put the flour on top of the wet dough, and carefully sprinkle the yeast and salt on top so it doesn't get wet. Then I program the machine for extra time, which gives the sourdough a chance to do its thing for a few hours before the machine starts its cycle. 

The last recipe is also a bread maker recipe, and it uses two cups of discard. You can use the same strategy for mixing everything together and placing the last half cup flour with salt and yeast on top of the wet ingredients and programming the machine for extra time. I will use at least one cup whole wheat in this recipe. You do want to be around when the bread maker starts. I usually need to add some more flour. Again, who knows how much water is in my starter, that I need to do this?!! If your starter is stiffer, you may find yourself adding another tablespoon of water. All of the rising agents make this bread very tall!

In case you are still looking for additional discard recipes, King Arthur has an extensive list that you can find HERE.  I'm getting hungry just looking at the choices!

You can access all my sourdough mentions at THIS link. I don't think there are many, but I'll add the label if I find some old posts that I missed. 

Let me know if you have questions in the comments, or hop over to our private Facebook page. Enjoy!

There’s Always Monday

 I decided to start a mindless blanket from the Done by Monday booklet right after school started this time. Don’t even let the urge fester and wait. I rarely seize a moment to work a row, but when I do, I’m so grateful that this work in progress is always lying around in the dining room somewhere. Hoping the early fall days are a delight where you are. We finally got some rain in the last few days. I’m looking forward to cozy times in a sweater soon. Cheers to all the Mondays!

Westwind Farm & Fiber Fair - Take 2

Schedules aligned so that I would be able to sell yarn at the Westwind Fiber Fair at the end of June again this year! The family at Westwind is so sweet and caring, and the vendors are interesting and fun to talk to. The word is starting to get out about the fair, and many attendees were very knowledgeable about fiber processing, yarn weight, spinning, and knitting. It was nice to jump right into a deeper conversation rather than explain the process from the beginning more often.

I decided to upgrade my table look this year with a few cheap frames for my photos. But it's always difficult to pick which pictures should be in the frame! 

I decided to streamline my setup routine and table layout, which ended up saving a significant amount of time. My yarn "tree" was pre-hung with lace and fingering weight yarns and took 2 seconds to place on the table.

Then I went continued the line of yarns in order of increasing yarn weight: sock, sport, DK, worsted, Lopi, rug and felt sheets. I put together a "table box" that paired the knit samples with a few skeins of the weight yarn in each color available. 

Unfortunately I forgot my empty shoe boxes to create different heights and more visual interest on the tables. I think I also need to label the skeins for sale and have another note (in a frame) that tells people that the samples are not for sale. No one can afford the time in the samples! I'm currently brainstorming if empty oatmeal canisters might be repurposed to hold more skeins of yarn. I could cover the outside with some fun cloth and stack them into a little tower...

The weather was a bit challenging with temperatures raging in the 90's on Saturday and then a glorious, but very windy Sunday. Saturday was a slow visitor day due to the heat. On Sunday I was chasing my merchandise and photos around the grass! I once again only had a few customers, but I definitely came out a little bit ahead, which is always the preferred outcome. Next year, I might add some notecards with pictures of our animals on them for sale.

We'll see about next year's timing, but I do hope to return with even better display ideas. I should knit some more samples and maybe get some more fiber processed... Hmmm...!

A Whack of Washcloths

And as summer rumbles to a close, here is my very distracted collection of washcloths that I made. The project is a combination of trying to knit up stray balls of yarn, travel knitting, and of course needing a few new washcloths. 

The first one was knit on a mini road trip to Turkey Run State Park with my work friend who was driving. She drives a little too close to other cars, so, nice distraction! We had an amazing hike in this wonderful park and ate ice cream at a locale called Gobbler's Knob: Eats Sweets & Mercantile. I mean, you have to!

The next day, I made another while trying to calm down after the airline canceled my flight to Vegas. Lucky me, I was able to get another flight on a different airline later that day. The Farmer and I went to see Dead and Company at the Sphere. We also saw Absinthe, which featured stunning acrobatics and many adult jokes. The shows were both astounding, but let it be known that will my only trip to that town.

Then I was clearing out a box of yarn when the yellow yarn fell back into my hands. I knit my niece a cute sweater with it in 2012. It's so soft and makes an awesome cloth as well as sweater.

I happened to bring the last of the white ball on my flight to Texas. We spent a week in Levelland at Great Plains College for Camp Bluegrass. We met amazing people, had great teachers, and heard some wonderful live music. And since we had to bring all of our bedding and towels, we didn't have enough. So the washcloth was pressed into action as a face towel immediately!

I'm hoping to ramp up knitting production as soon as school routines gets reestablished. I need to knit a cowl for a good friend, finish up some projects that have been laying around forever, and using up some more stash. 

Enjoy the end of summer! I'm not going to lie, I am ready for sweater weather!

End of an Era: Alpaca Farewell

All good things must end eventually, and thus we decided to shut down the alpaca operation this summer. A combination of changing interests and longer absences this summer made us face the difficult decision of giving farming a rest. We are grateful for 13.5 happy years as alpaca farmers.

A series of "last" photos from June 7. The last beautiful dining done on the pasture. Dark Star is looking regal and elegant in his shaggy winter coat. 

Peggy-O is taking one last nap in the shade at Shady Grove. Her fluffy face is looking forward to a shearing!

Sweet fluff nugget Cherise is happily munching on her favorite grass snack. 

Lounging in the sunshine. 

The last time the ladies are lined up to come into the barn after a long day on the pasture. 

Waiting for pick-up in the barn on June 8. Our friends at Big Pine Acre Alpacas agreed to adopt the three alpacas into their herd. We bought Peggy-O from them in 2021 and they were delighted to have her back with some friends.

Peggy-O insisting on leaving the way she came, by sitting down and not budging!

If we resume animal farming in the future, this is the type of trailer I would love to own. It has two pens so you can transport both male and female animals in the same trip. Cherise gets a helpful lift into the trailer first.

Dark Star is trying to go the wrong direction. A true home boy. 

Final glances, sniffs, and hums from Dark Star inside the trailer. This picture breaks my heart. He was our first cria and a sturdy friend.

Another good-bye from Peggy-O as we load the remaining bales of hay and grain bags into the pickup bed.

And thus concludes our farming adventure, with three alpacas humming good-bye all the way down the driveway. What an amazing experience with the incredible memories they provided! Even though they are no longer living with us, we have hundreds of pounds of raw fiber and lots of yarn to remember them by. Gratitude!

Shady Grove Alpacas - October 31, 2010 - June 8, 2024

Great Pyrenees guard dog - Tenny

Suri Alpaca Foundation Herd - Bella Oak, 'Greta, & Moonstar

Cria #1 in 2011 - Dark Star (mom - 'Greta)

Cria #2 in 2012 - Cassidy (mom - Bella Oak)

Cria #3 in 2012 - The Eleven (mom - 'Greta)

Cria #4 in 2015 - Ripple (mom - 'Greta)

Purchased in 2020 - Ramble on Rose

Purchased in 2021, first Huacaya alpaca - Peggy-O

Cria #5 in 2022 - Cherise (mom - Peggy-O)

Year-End Alpaca Gifts

At the end of the school year, students are likely to show up with extraordinary alpaca-related thank you gifts. This year was no exception.

The first gift was from a senior whose grandmother crocheted this beautiful set of alpacas for me! They remind me of the late Moonstar and her younger "nephew" Dark Star. This student is far from forgettable, but this pair seals the memory forever. 

The second gift was from a new 6th grade violist. During her recess hour, she learned quilling and decided to make an alpaca. Derpy is clearly another Moonstar reference, as I'm sure I told stories in class! Although "Zazzy" brings to mind the Big Bang Theory episode in which Sheldon gets too many cats, names them after famous scientists, except for the one that has a "zazzy" personality!

Here is a detail of the quilling. So much work! Lovely.

Finally, my birthday is close to the end of school and my mother-in-law found these amazing llama/alpaca slippers at LL Beans and got them for me as a gift. I saw her the day after school let out, so it also felt like a year-end gift. They have been super comfy to lounge in during summer break!

 Summer is crashing to a close at the moment, but big thank you's for all the thoughtful gifts!