Out of Whack - Seasonal Projects...

I don't have very many close friends who sew, crochet or knit, or any other crafty type of hobbies.  I know a few gardeners, and a model train hobbyist, and most of the men I know are avid sports fans -- oh and one fellow (my son actually) builds guitars and electric guitar sound pedals, but really very few now who do needle crafts....

I think because of that, a few of the people I talk to on a regular basis don't really get the concept of working months ahead of what other people consider "the season".    A gardener does think ahead somewhat and if they have a big enough garden or yard may keep track of perennials and annuals and other sorts of plants.  A gardener does plant in spring to harvest in fall so it is kind of like thinking ahead in one season to get the results in the next.

Sports fans live in the moment, I think.  Or at the end of a loosing season most just say "Next Year!" but they don't actually do anything about it until next season comes around again (unless they are actually a manager or participant).

But with needle crafts you sort of have to plan ahead.  A friend wondered why I was spending my free summer hours knitting or crocheting scarfs...  And what did I say?

Well, you can't knit a scarf in a couple of hours, it takes time, especially if the time is in bits and pieces through the days....  So knitting a scarf in summer might seem like a silly time to be making something you don't need til October or November...  But if I want a scarf in November the only way to have it is to have made it quite a while before....

So I have been working on three projects the last couple of weeks --- each one as I feel inclined.

The knitted scarf with the expensive Noro Garden Silk yarn is coming along...

It is just about 23 inches long and needs another 7 or 8 inches to be an easy to pull over the head COWL.   I am quite pleased with the result of the project but even tho I found a source online that sells this yarn at 1/3 the price that was on the label of these balls, I don't think I would buy this yarn if it was not in the thrift shops, or given to me...

A larger project that I expect to keep me busy for a few months yet is my traditional granny square afghan.

Definitely a classic design and I have always wanted one for myself!  My grandma had one and a older neighbor lady had one when I was a little girl and I want an ABSOLUTELY PERFECT ONE for me...

I am using 100% pure wool that comes in small hanks, that is actually meant for tapestry or rug yarn.   All the 'hanks' I have picked up at 2nd hand stores and if I keep my tension right I can make three squares (3 1/2" sq) with three hanks...

I have 36 squares joined which makes just over 22 inches square and I have 60 squares made but not joined...  I expect to have to make at least another 200 squares!

And because there is always something new to try out, I was browsing the internet and came across a pattern that I liked but didn't want to make it so loose or so big...  The pattern is on the Red Heart free patterns site and is called Happy-Go-Lacy Shawl.   My variation is that I changed the treble crochet stitches to double crochet and instead of being 18 inches wide I reduced it to about 8 inches and it will be a scarf.   But the thing I did like about this is using sock yarn and as I progress with this scarf and stitch pattern I am finding I REALLY, REALLY like the feel of it!  Being a sock yarn it is mostly wool with a bit of nylon in it and as it progresses, it is very light and soft and cushy against the skin!   I think I will go and get some actual Red Heart Heart and Sole yarn (because again, I am using thrift store yarn which is a Deborah Norville, I think from the USA yarn) and make a couple more of these as gifts....

So, in the heat of summer, here I am making things to keep myself and a few others cozy come the cool winds of autumn!   If you get one of my creations, then you gotta realize I didn't make it the day before Christmas or the day before your birthday....

One of the other things that I like about working months ahead, is that I can experiment with what makes me happy and if I am happy with the product and the pattern, then I am going to put my "best" into it...

The best thing about "do it yourself", no matter what it is, is that it is likely to be a one and only!  or as the slang term is a "one off".   You can go to Wal-mart or some other big store and buy a scarf, but as you are paying for it you gotta know that 100 people across the country have just got exactly the same as you...   I like the idea of being just a little bit different than everyone else.

Yarn Dilemna

The other day my friend Doris brought me some yarn that she had acquired from free or cheap sources...  She did not need all that she had got so shared some of the treasures with me.

Some very nice yarns and very use-able yarns, a couple of balls of Loops and Threads Impeccable (Michael's Stores) which I really like for hats or scarves to give away, a couple of balls of a Patons chunky yarn also good for nice warm cowls, 3 balls of a orangy and white mohair/acrylic which I am thinking might be a nice shawl and 2 Noro Garden Silk that had price stickers on each of  $21.99!

I spent a couple of days just looking at the yarns, thinking about them, wondering which to start on and what I might create with them....  I couldn't stand it any longer --- I had to figure out why a yarn -- even if it was mostly silk would cost $21.99 per ball...  And really who would pay that much and then still have to spend the time making something with it?  That makes it awfully expensive.   I guess I just live in a more frugal, common world!

So I thought that I would play around with this "special" yarn....  I had actually considered listing these balls of yarn on my Etsy store, but sometimes when a diamond falls in your lap you just have to keep it for yourself...

First I got out my trusty crochet hook, and my big "The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs" and looked through it for a lacy but not too holey design.  I started --- I did about 4 rows, I didn't like it.  RIPPIT...  Then I tried another simple crochet stitch, just half double crochet, I didn't like it, RIPPIT....  Then I thought, maybe it needs to be knitted...  So after quite some time online, cuz I don't have a knitting book, I decided to do a sort of garter stitch rib variation, which was 7 rows stockinette then 3 rows stockinette the other way...

I kinda liked it and actually worked 30 rows, but there still was a problem...  The needle was just a bit too large of a gauge -- it was the thinnest I had, tho so the stitches looked loose and fairly uneven...  So yep, RIPPIT...

Oh and the thinness and smallness, I don't know what else to call it was making my hands ACHE!   So that wasn't going to work.

I went to bed -- my brain seems to work all by itself while I sleep the night away!  When I opened my eyes this morning, I knew what I was going to do.

Of course if I had paid $21.99 for each of these balls of yarn, I would never have done this.   I doubled up the two skeins into one...  It actually took me close to 2 hours to match the color run because as you can see in the photo above each ball of yarn started at a different point.  I started with one ball, winding it on my thumb until I came to a point that fairly closely matched up with the other ball...  Cut off the part from the first ball, and matched them and started winding and winding and winding.  Oh and winding...

It worked out very well, except I did discover that one of the balls of yarn must have been partly used because there was a full two or three color changes left on the first ball of yarn that had nothing to match with on the second ball of yarn....

Now, I am happy with it as it stands.   I still think I will go with knitting a garter stitch rib that I described earlier, but I have to go find a proper gauge knitting needle (s)  to use --  Stay tuned for the concluding or continuing episode!

While I was writing this blog post, my husband was outside watering my container plants -- everything is in containers, because my whole yard is about as big as your living room...  This morning there were a handful of ripe strawberries, he ate a few and brought some for me!  I LOVE strawberries!  So far, the strawberries, which are already eaten, were much more satisfying than $21.99 Noro yarn!

5th Anniversary! Susan Being Snippy on Etsy

And really I don't think anyone noticed...

I only noticed because I was updating and renewing a few listings and happened to glance at the side bar where it says -- on etsy since "August 9, 2010"

That is a long time when it comes to maintaining a business -- well for me it is a long time because I am one of those people who are always finding new and interesting things to learn about...

The idea of a Etsy store tho fits into a very long tradition of reuse, recycle, reclaim, repair, remake.  My mother was a treasure hunter, not for buried treasure or gold pieces but for treasures that she could make use of without spending much money on.   My grandmother was even more so a hunter of bargins!   And great grandmother, well, I suspect so because she had many children to raise and find clothes and things for.  

Before the 1950's the second hand tradition was not "above ground" as it is today with THRIFT SHOPS all over many towns and cities.  Second hand was usually word of mouth -- a child grown out of his pants or shoes and those shoes passed along to a neighbour child who was just getting to that size.   During the war years, much of the 'extras' that were recycled went to the war effort, tin cans to manufacturing, cloth and yarn, made into items for soldiers -- maybe to your own son or to any soldier who served overseas.   The world did not manufacture bright plastic things in those times and even though our Canadian or American cities had factories, those places of manufacture were often geared to things that might use raw materials that were fairly local.   One of my Mother's earliest jobs was in a factory that made leather gloves.   The leather was brought from a local abattoir, that supplied beef and pork across the country and so leathers were close at hand.   My father, for a time worked in a factory that made Mink Coats and Stoles -- his job was to use an air hose to clean and fluff the fur coats before it was  sent on its way to Stores.

Winnipeg, where I grew up was well known as a manufacturing HUB, especially of clothing -- sewing factories that made London Fog raincoats, a shop that made men's suits -- did you know that fabric would be stacked in layers and the pattern drawn on the top layer then with a fine blade saw all the layers cut at the same time?   I saw that process when I was in my late teens on a school "information" trip!

Well, the world has changed, and the things we think we need are made in faraway countries with low wages and dangerous conditions and many people keep buying those things and not reusing or even recycling them.   I can't help it tho, the concept to make use of everything in every way possible is just bred into my bones!   So, I suspect that Operating and Etsy store with Vintage items was just a natural extention of the way I was taught from the beginning of my time...

I really love operating my own little business!

It does take time to learn the how to's and to learn what suits yourself and your customers.   When I first opened my Etsy story, I started with household goods like Pyrex cups and bowls, and a few fancy things like egg coddlers.   Then a couple of friends were clearing their extra sewing notions and buttons, so I sorted buttons and put them on the store -- along with wooden spools of thread, and vintage sewing things like self cover dress belt buckles....   I discovered, I didn't like photographing buttons -- for some reason, I would confuse bunches and then they would get lost in the button box -- buttons were frustrating.... (But I think I now have figured out a method so will soon be listing buttons again on my store).

It really is great that a online store, under the Etsy banner can bring together people who enjoy the process of creating items to sell, and for buyers looking for the things that just cannot be found in Wal-Mart or any of the other big box stores.  Etsy is for the person who wants something different and something special.

Well, now my store mostly has patterns for sewing clothing for men, women and children along with some specialty sewing patterns and magazines and books that include sewing and crochet books.

So, now my store is 5 YEARS OLD and much of my product is along the lines of vintage sewing -- I can make really classic patterns available for someone who admires a style no matter when it was printed and who has the vision to sew that pattern to make it fit in with today's styles and have that special flair that no one else around them has.  

I love to send parcels across the ocean either east or west and am always wondering why someone in Florida is buying a pattern for making mittens!  There must be a use for mittens there!   I love to search out products that will go into my store -- I frequent the thrift shops throughout my area and every now and then a friend will bring me items they just want to clear away and I pay then when their things sell in my store - I don't do that often though because it means another 'layer' of organization -- a subject I am weak on...

SO, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY SUSANBEINGSNIPPY ETSY SHOP!

Gearing Up and Going On

Susan Being Snippy is in the process of Evolving.   I haven't been writing on the blog for awhile because my focus has just not been "in focus".

I am lucky enough to work at home -- I don't even really call it work...

I pick my time, I decide how much I want to do, and I decide if my daily chore is as the warehouseman, the marketing agent, the administrative manager or the head of the accounting department!  There are lots of jobs to do but if I want to go out and get groceries I can ignore my "work" and wander off on some other adventure.

My Warehouse with all its inventory is housed in my HOUSE, in the living room actually, on the right side of my computer desk and file cabinate.  On the left side is my shipping 'room' .  My laser printer pops out the orders and the table (an old drafting table I got at the 2nd hand store) serves as the shipping and packing desk.

Some of the things in my "warehouse" are under consideration...  I have dozens of wooden thread spools and I do need to decide if I am going to list them on the store or if I can maybe find a project or two that will make use of them...   It is a project that sits at the back of my mind, so alot of other things tend to get ahead of it but eventually something will motivate me to make a decision

Some of the interesting things about operating an online store is first that it gives me an ongoing project now that I am officially retired.   I don't HAVE to give hours to somebody else who really doesn't want to pay me for my time, but legally has to...   I work for myself and for the people who are interested in the products that I can provide them.

I really enjoy hunting up items that I can offer for a really good price that are otherwise hard to find or unusual.

Now if you are into Vintage Fashion or need to create a 1930's outfit for say a stage play for your teenagers high school production, Look what I found!  This is a reproduction pattern of a 1938 design.   This pattern is complete and unused and would you believe Vogue patterns have a "Suggested Retail Price" of $33 on it!   REALLY!!  Do you want to pay more for that pattern than what the fabric would cost?  NO, of course you don't, and especially if you only make it one time!

But, HEY!  I found the pattern in like new condition and at a price that I can make a bit of profit on it...

NOW you gotta realize, my shop has a policy to sell almost all patterns for $5.00 each (that's US FUNDS) plus postage. So, now doesn't my pricing make a pattern worth taking a look at?

So, this is what my blog is about now.  The things that I find that you might have a use for that is unique or at a good price -- even when you add in the cost of shipping.

AND I will even suggest other ETSY shops that I find with interesting things to check out...

Ever heard of fairy doors?  Got a big tree in your yard that just seems to need a bit of Whimsy?   Check out this shop for an interesting feature for your yard -- the kids will create their own stories of who comes and goes in and out of that door....

Bean and Flaps 

Stop and Visit now and then and hopefully I will find something you will find interesting or something that will send you off looking through some of the wonderful shops on Etsy.com.

THE END

For quite some time I have been struggling with content for this blog and I have come to the conclusion that it has run it's course...  I will no longer be updating this blog because even though some of you have come to enjoy what I write, there really is nothing earth shattering or particularly satisfying to me of the subjects that I have been posting.

So for the time being, if you really need to see what I am up to, check out my etsy store at www.etsy.com/shop/susanbeingsnippy

or on twitter I can be found as @susanbsnippy

or even some of my photos on instagram  as susanbeingsnippy

and on Pinterest, too!  http://www.pinterest.com/susanbgsnippy/

I have disabled comments so as to avoid spam use as I do not plan to monitor this blog on a regular basis.

Thank you for reading my writing for the past 5 years or so (I haven't kept track) and I greatly appreciate those of you have written comments and encouragements!
Susan being Snippy

The Future of Food - Diet Quality

Earlier this week, I discovered a series being presented on the National Geographic website called The Future of Food...

Whew!  Some of the subjects that involve food are quite intricate and complicated...  Very far beyond just sitting down at your table (here in Canada) to have dinner and as my Dad often said "shoveling it in".

One subject area when it comes to food that is looked into is The Gap in Diet Quality between Rich and Poor

This article  (click on the highlighted text to read it ) takes on the question of obesity because of the poor quality of food that lower income households are forced to consume.  Poor food quality or lack of access to quality food means that if you have a limited income the meats that you buy are poorer quality, more fat content and raised in such a way as to contain the things that make the animal grow or produce faster... In Canada  growth hormones are not legal in animals destined for human consumption, but it is allowed in the USA.   So is the quality of the meat okay in the LONG run for us to eat?

I surely am no scientist and cannot answer that question, but I have come to realize that from being on the low end of the income scale for a number of years that it is often quite difficult to buy the healthy product.   Things often left out of a low income menu plan in any given month is FISH and often Chicken or other Poultry.   Hamburger prevails on a low income diet, and really what is in GROUND MEAT?.   Fresh Vegetables often are lacking simply because access to  a garden or Farmer's Markets may be out of the area.  Vegetables in a low income diet are often frozen or canned, I think, mainly because if fresh vegetables go bad in the fridge, it is waste that a low income household just cannot afford...

I noticed just the other day that two shows NEW (to us) are now on the Food Network Canada, that would be good for those with lower incomes to learn about making good choices -- yesterday was all about using pork shoulder even to making dim sum steamed buns with left over meat! --- Jamie's Money Saving Meals (check out the web site info) In my area the show is on daily at 2 pm (Shaw Vancouver listing -- the time may differ in other areas)  And on at 1 pm daily is Gordon Ramsey's Cookery Course (no SWEARING! hahaha) but you pretty much have to watch the episode because Mr. Ramsey charges real money to access his recipes on his website, so if you watch his show, have pen and paper in hand to write down any hints or tips that you might want to try out.

This week my trip to one of the thrift shops resulted in buying a Company's Coming Meatless Cooking recipe book (by Jean Pare`) for two bucks...  In a way these cookbooks are an easy format to use because of their smaller size and ring binding that allows the pages to lay flat, but I often find miss prints or ingredients that seem to be out of place in many of the recipes.  An often occurring ingredient in many of these recipes is canned soups, so you should note that there is probably more salt than is needed in many of these recipes.  I also wonder if you need canned soups for a recipe, is it economical, or could you use perhaps some milk, chopped mushroom, a bit of nutmeg instead of canned mushroom soup?  Perhaps that would be more economical and more healthy too! Though of course it might take an extra minute or two to chop or mix those things in...

Are you following my Friday is for Food project?  I hope you are finding some of the info and the links that I mention of interest and adds more depth to make the subject useful. Let me know if you are looking for something about food that I might post here, or if you have an idea for me...

... next week I am planning and looking for some breakfast ideas...

Work in Progress -- Scrappy Bits

Finally! Back to the sewing machine!  This week, I have been working on using all some of those left over bits from other projects...

I had a Fabric Sale in Mid July as part of a group Garage Sale and did fairly well in selling off some of my larger fabric pieces but the shoe boxes with scrap bits that were usually less than 4 inches in any one direction remained in shoe boxes...

Earlier this week I was thinking about how I can use these bits...  Then I remembered the blocks that people across Canada donated to the flood relief efforts in Calgary back in the spring of 2012 that Cheryl Arkison had organized.   And you can see some of the blocks as they are on the HEADER of her blog at Dining Room Empire  and it even turns out that her current post is about scraps and about clearing them out of her own stash!!  Perhaps this is the season of Scrapping Scraps??  I am not quite ready to get rid of them so....

So I am making some of these "Just One Slab" type blocks. I doing some sewing and might get these odd scrappy bits made into one or two utility quilts or even to use these "slabs" as backing for more 'formal' blocks...

As things go these are IN PROGRESS and I really don't have a final destination for them yet!  I am encouraged tho, that after many months of not being very enthusiastic about sewing some of that joy is creeping back in!

Linking up with the Needle and Thread Network this week...

Municipal Elections

I must admit I am the kind of person who generally accepts things as they occur.  A very long time ago, I considered myself to be quite political and very interested in the things that the elected people in our municipalities, provinces and country did to keep things running.

The one who really "fired me up" was Ed Shreyer.  He was elected to the riding that I lived in when I was a teenager.   Yes, my Dad talked about him, and was impressed by him and I am sure he voted for him.   From then on, I mainly voted for the New Democratic Candidate where ever I lived, though on occasion I did vote Liberal or even Conservative or whatever the party name was that came closest to what I thought was right for the things I believed in.  Yes, I was and am still pretty much a socialist, but not exclusively, as I think everyone's ideals adjust slightly with whoever is elected and how they conduct themselves during their time in office.

One of the things that I have always been fascinated by is the short memory of the people and that it seems to take a major effort to go and vote.  What motivates a person to vote for or in reality more often AGAINST someone or something?   Do people actually take the time to read and listen and study the consequences or previous actions either of the Party in Power or of the Elected Official.  Or might it be they hear snippets of opinions and look or listen no further to base a decision on?

Strangely, the type of election that is most likely to directly affect you is the smallest election and usually the election that fewest of us vote in.   The Municipal Election.   I must admit to actually not even taking the time to go and vote in past elections.   When I lived in Victoria, BC I never once went to vote in a Municipal Election!  My excuse?  Maybe it was those years were filled with raising teenagers and holding a job and at the same time going to college to learn accounting.   Not too much else could fit into my life!

In more recent years I have gone to vote in local elections, though really I did not necessarily know the 'point of view' of some of the city Councillors.   I was generally satisfied with those who ran our town, through the 1990's and into the 2000's, but now things have changed quite drastically.  

Our council is not something that I can say I am happy with as it stands and with Municipal Elections coming this November -- the third Saturday this year -- just a bit less than 3 months away.... I am thinking that this year I am going to try to keep a bit better informed and if I cannot attend information meetings, I am going to try to find out what is and who doing what, when, where and how...

In my city, Abbotsford, BC  there have been a number on ongoing problems that NEED a resolution, things that need to find a way for our government and citizens to stop chasing their tails like a young dog who is not quite sure what that fluffy thing is just out of reach....

Now, as I was taught many years ago, I do not plan to announce or advertise my position on any of the points that will soon be appearing for local people to think on and vote on come November 15, because I am not running for a position, nor I suspect will I agree with everything one person says over another...

But I am planning to PAY ATTENTION and make a decision and show up on Voting Day...  I am hoping to learn much about my city and maybe about the people who are putting their names forward to attempt to win a position on our city council and hopefully who are accepting the responsibility that their decisions will be affecting many lives as they serve our city for the next 3 years...

** all photos that appear in this posting are taken by ME around ABBOTSFORD, BC during different seasons, doing different things.***

Household Sciences -- Meat Cuts and their Uses

In today's supermarkets the Meat counter and display cases are quite different than 50 years ago.  Often if you bought your meat from a grocer or a butcher you would ask for the 'cut' of meat that you want and if you were not sure what to do with it the Man at the counter would often be able to tell you the best way to cook the piece that you have bought.

Now, stores do not provide the information that many of us could use when first starting up our own household.   When I was first married, there was still much that my Mother had not taught me about cooking so one of the early meals I provided for my new husband was quite a disaster!

I bought a chicken to roast for us to celebrate our 1 month anniversary.   Now I had no problem cooking some potatoes and mashing them adding a bit of butter and milk and salt and pepper to make very smooth mashed potatoes.  Warming up a can of corn was pretty basic as it was just, well, warming up the corn in a small pot on the stove....

But the chicken...  I am not sure why I had not up to that point in life learned anything about cooking meat.   I bought the chicken from the local grocery store, washed it, put it in a small roaster pan that had been a wedding shower gift and popped it in the oven for 4 hours....  Yeah, 4 hours!   This was alot of years ago, so I cannot remember if I took the time to baste the chicken or even if I checked how it was cooking in that time...   It actually looked very nice when it came out of the oven and I put it on a serving plate.  In my childhood home, my father always took on the task of carving the roast, whether chicken, or beef or pork or whatever else might be on the dinner table, so I handed the knife to my new husband and even though he said he had not done it before I explained the way I could remember my Dad doing the job.

(this is not the chicken I cooked - it is a photo from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Book - 2009 which is beautifully illustrated and excellent explanations for good family meals)

 Knife and big fork in hand my husband tried to saw through that chicken....   And he sawed, and sawed and sawed...  it sort of crumbled like dried out bread, it definately did not slice at all!  Good thing we were young and in love cause that chicken was obviously not at all edible.   Laughter and even the refusal of our cat to eat that Roast Chicken is still a funny memory between me and my Hubby.

It took me awhile to learn why -- I did not dare to ask my mother what might have gone wrong with that roast because my mother tended to use mistakes as a way to make fun that was not funny and if she knew of it, the story would have haunted me for years....  So I had to figure out what happened for myself....   I soon after discovered the first big error with that chicken was that I bought a "stewing hen".  Next was that roasting it for 4 hours just toughened the already tough meat.   What a way to learn about cooking! But I must say I did learn that lesson very well!   I don't think I ever had the same knack of roasting a chicken or a turkey as well as my mother, but then I did not have the advantage of taking a Household Sciences course as an extra choice in my school years.   Yes, we had Home Ec, but the detail in our cooking classes never included the details needed to understand MEAT.

In my Mother's Household Sciences Textbook are a couple of pages that are rarely explained or shown to new home cooks...

These two pages explain quite clearly where certain 'cuts' of meat come from on an animal.   A more modern and a very detailed explanation of what to look for in your supermarket when you shop for beef can be found at the following links...

http://www.wikihow.com/Understand-Cuts-of-Beef

http://www.mathewsfoods.com/cuts.htm

and for chicken or turkey...

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/how-to-buy-chicken-cooking1.htm

There are alot of wonderful sources of information on the internet when it comes to understanding cooking and choosing meat.  It is to a home cook's advantage to learn about how and what methods to cook various cuts.

I also want to point out that the FOOD NETWORK and most of the shows they feature DO NOT give instruction on choice of ingredients. If you discover an idea from one of the celebrity chefs it is a good idea to research the recipe and methods of cooking by going to that chef's web page...

Have fun with your adventure in home cooking because everytime you try something new you learn so many things about what it is to be a home cook!

Oh and PS, don't fall for that current trend -- Restaurant Quality - Home Cooked Meals are so much more satisfying because YOU did it and it tastes GREAT!

Embroidery

One of my "collections" is embroidery transfers or iron on embroidery designs.  These were quite common 40 and 50 years ago.  For a time there were a few companies that promoted and sold tube "paints" to use with embroidery patterns and they were very popular with young women who wanted a touch of hand made in their homes but didn't have the time to actually use thread and needle to create embroidered towels, pillow cases and monograms on special items...

So I thought I would pick out a few of these designs just as inspiration.  They probably were fairly common designs in their "hey day" but not so much now...

Here are a few that probably were meant to be embroidered on crisp white kitchen curtains or maybe special dish towels...

The nature of these transfers over time seems to be that adjacent or printing on previous pages seems to 'bleed' through the paper.  So these pictures show that 'bleed' through.   Also because they were meant to be ironed onto fabric they were printed 'backwards' so that when placed face down on fabric they would transfer in the mirror image or right way.

Oh and by the way, these are not for sale because I have no idea if they might be under copyright or even who that copyright might belong to.   I am simply posting them for 'inspiration'

I may be going through my collections and perhaps will add a few more of these designs in the next few weeks....

Check back if this sort of thing is of interest to you....

Floral Mandala -- a Crochet Motif

Lately I have been seeing a interesting change to DOILIES on some of the social sites such as Pinterest and on various blogs...

I wonder who thought to take the idea of lacy doilies from fine thread crochet to using bright yarns -- mostly the cottons such as handicrafter yarn by bernat; lion brand's kitchen cotton and Lily Sugar and Cream, or other bright cheery yarns.

Take a look at this Pinterest board to get an idea of the variety and perhaps find a link to make your own.  I am not sure exactly what anyone really uses these very pretty bits of art for or where you would put it once it is finished...

Recently I was in one of my local second hand stores and hiding in a corner was a stack of Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet Magazines.  These publications stopped producing magazines about 10 years ago but now and then you can find a few if you really look and are alert for them.

I suspect that they stopped printing these because, well, who uses Doilies anymore?  So if no one uses them, surely no one would be making them.

But somebody had the bright idea to make these doilies into the Modern world and made them into little works of art...

Well, my version as I said is a motif pattern from Decorative Crochet Magazine and I must say, I am very pleased with how it has turned out.

This particular pattern comes from January 1989 and originally was meant as a motif in a table runner.  If you use the regular crochet cotton, it should be about 6.5 inches and when you join 36 of them together they make a nice size table runner...   But using various colors of the 'kitchen cottons' the one I made measures 12 inches across...

I had actually started one previous to this one but I started with that blue then a dark navy blue but somehow the colors were not working that well so I began again and this is what happened....  My niece suggested beginning with red and white, so I did and I think it is an immense improvement over my first try at this idea, but, then again, doing the next round in red, or maybe pink then white, just might work.

Hmmm.... now I have talked myself into trying out some more rounds on this one to see what happens!

I was thinking that it might be nice to provide the instructions here, but after a bit of reading, I do believe that this particular pattern would be copyrighted.  The author of this design tho is Colette Beiline and as I said it can be found in Decorative Crochet Magazine January 1989 -- or I have listed that particular issue in my Etsy store (but there is ONLY one copy).

I wonder if these mandala's would be something people would buy?  Perhaps I will test out a few in my store in the next few days and see what happens....

So really if you might be thinking that you could make one for yourself, take a look at some of those 'olden days' crochet doilies and bring them into the modern world with COLOR!

That is one of the most fun things about crochet -- the experimenting just to see how it might turn out if you just change a little thing...

A Long Journey Begins with the First Step...

I was thinking about shutting down my blog.  Surprisingly, I had some very interesting comments that there are people who want to read what I say!  

I mostly write because I like to write about the stuff I think about and I think about some pretty wild stuff that I never write about.  If I wrote all that I thought, people would definately wonder how any person could think the way I do, so I try to be as 'normal' as I can.  

One of the things I noticed even as a child that some of the things I wondered about and asked questions about were not usual, many things I said were "out of the blue" and I know that some family members may even have questioned my sanity!  My mind will follow and explore any new tangent it is set upon...

There is a great advantage to being an odd thinker -- it is not that I am smarter than anyone else, in fact I know I am not, but I am always willing to listen and think about things and I form an opinion (much of them I keep to myself) but that opinion can change with new and improved information.

Now, after having said all that I am thinking about Food.   A few weeks back I decided to write about Food on Friday's.   I missed my POV (point of view) on food yesterday because I was not feeling at all well.

For about 5 years now, I have been slowly discovering that my 'innards' have become quite sensitive to certain things.   For almost all of that time I thought that food was upsetting my system because of bacteria or not washing fruit properly or not cooking things thoroughly.  I thought my upset system was my own fault!  Or maybe my husband trying to find a way to get rid of me?! (thats a joke--well, it is one of the odd things I wonder about!)

Five years ago, my doctor with the help of some other doctors came to the conclusion that I had/have acute ulcerative colitis, but they only ever said maybe... Maybe it is diverticulitis... Maybe it is Cancer....   They never found anything after digging around in my colon and giving me a variety of tests and as my system slowly healed itself, they never came to a conclusion.   There was and still is something wrong though.

As I said, I was feeling quite miserable yesterday and that carried through all night so I was awake and back and forth to the toilet about a hundred times.  It was a painful and "feel sorry for yourself" night with a little bright spot of working on a couple of projects, knitting a dishcloth and then making a crochet mat in dishcloth yarn...

Now, Lately I have really been questioning my diet and the diet that my family eats and has eaten for many, many years.   You know what you are supposed to eat to stay healthy, I know, or thought I knew what I should eat to be healthy.   Well, you think you know, anyway.  Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, Carbohydrates, lots of water - and don't forget FIBER.   Some people even pay for meetings to organizations that will help keep you on track and teach you portion sizes and what your food choices should be.  I  tried that, but still I had problems and I did not loose weight because what was good for "everyone" was not at all good for me.  Alot of what I was told was good for me, turned out to be NOT so good, but no one else ever really noticed because they did not spend the hours I did sitting in a little room staring at a wall and hoping there was toilet paper within reach!

I think I took my first step while I was suffering though yesterday and last night's misery.   A "light bulb" went off!   I am now beginning to believe that this pain and suffering was not my fault other than not realizing what was happening to me and not correctly connecting it to the actual food I was eating and how foods that should be good for me actually were NOT!

A few days back I read about a study done of how Doctor's often diagnose maladies...  Not all doctors, but the study said as much as 50% of doctors will look to the internet and wikipedia for answers!   Fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes and when I told my doctor that I was learning alot about it by reading the internet he said that I should be careful about what I read there.   So I stopped researching medical stuff online.... But HEY! if there are doctors using online research to answer questions from patients, why am i not doing it myself and getting the information direct, instead of translated and condensed.

So I started reading a variety of articles on intestinal problems, all sorts of information, starting with what these doctors said I MAY have -- Well, I don't have what they said!   I do believe I am one of thousands, or millions who have IBS, irritable bowel syndrome....

This comes as somewhat of a revelation because so much of what I have experienced is described in how to look after a system that just doesn't treat food as it should be when it goes through the digestive process...

Blueberries, grapes, cherries, an apple a day! Foods that are anti oxidents and have lots of good things including vitamins and fiber.   NOT FOR ME!

One article I read said "that most people are unaware that there are two kinds of fiber"  SOLUBLE and INSOLUBLE.   I definately was not aware that the difference for me could be immense!

So, I spent yesterday and last night suffering because of BLUEBERRIES!!!  Yes, healthy, good for you, tasty blueberries.   I did not eat more of them than any other person would have eaten, but they are poison to me -- and now as I review some of the other things that I eat on a regular basis, believing that it is good health giving foods, it turns out, they are not.  Some of the "good for you" foods are damaging me!

Whole wheat bread, nope - insoluble fiber -- I should eat white bread!  or oat bread because oat fiber is soluble and wheat fiber is not (and it is not that i should be gluten free, because that is definately not a problem in my system)

Lots of fruit and vegetables, nope - again insoluble fiber -- doing without veggies is practically impossible so cooking is a good option because it breaks down the fiber that my system has a problem with... Which means that fruits and veg that are normally eaten raw are not particularly good for me -- time to cut out blueberries, but blueberry jam should be okay - do you think?

Oh, and no salads with or instead of a cooked meal!  And I thought it was Wendy's (burger place) not safely preparing those delicious salads that taste great going down but cause immeasurable pain coming back out!  It is my system, not their food prep...

Well, since this has only been the first step, I have a huge amount to learn yet and I surely will not pretend to know much about it, except what I have learned that makes me suffer.... blueberries, miserable nasty blueberries; rice cakes, popcorn, high fiber cereals, lettuce, cabbage --- OMG I know lettuce is at least as nasty as blueberries!   I am learning, slowly....

And I am still trying to learn about my son's diet needs too, so that he does not have to suffer a bout of kidney stones again...  Whew!  I never imagined food could be so complicated....

I don't think I will stop writing this blog.  There are too many things to still learn about and if what I write about helps me, maybe it can give you an idea or two to explore and expand upon and learn about along with me....

Next time.... Pictures and less seriousness....  How about crochet?   And not nearly as long!

The Advantage of even the Smallest Garden

I don't have alot of space in my yard -- in fact, my yard is not much larger than my living room!

I have never really lived in a house or a place where I could plant rows of peas and beans and corn and carrots so over many years I have made some choices of plants that are usually successful in containers and that I LIKE!

I plant geraniums every year now.  They are bright and grow so quickly and thickly they often overflow the sides of the containers they are planted in.  I always plant red ones.  My mother loved RED geraniums and even though I started to grow geraniums each year as a memorial to her, I have grown to enjoy and love them at least as much as she did!

I usually choose one or two herbs to put in my little patio deck garden -- this year -- THYME (that's it in the center of the above photo--one starter plant of thyme has overgrown the ageratum-that should look like the photo below but doesn't)

With such an abundance of THYME I am using it in all kinds of foods I have been cooking.

I am a cook who doesn't really follow recipes.  I often look at a recipe in a book and "wing-it" without referring to the recipe again...

I actually heard Chef Micheal Smith (on his show Chef at Home) say that when you have a recipe in mind but add your own touches you then discover some "family favourites" that  may even become those 'secret' recipes that other people ask you for!

Well, I can't say I get asked for my secret recipes but I can say I have come up with a Family Favourite.   Thyme is a very important part of this little story because without it, the recipe just becomes beans in spaghetti sauce (or something like that)

Lentils and Vegetable Cassarole

1 small onion, chopped up fine

3 nice nice size carrots, chopped up as small as you can

1 can (store label) 540 ml or 19 oz lentils, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup white or brown rice - whichever you prefer

1/2 or more of a good size green pepper - i only had a half so that is what went in

2 cups homemade or low sodium chicken broth

1 - 398 ml or 15 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes

 and

quite a bit of fresh thyme -- hard to measure cause I just took leaves off the stems til I got tired of doing it!

1 garlic clove, crushed or chopped up really fine

In a 1 1/2 quart size baking dish that has been well greased or sprayed with a cooking oil spray, mix together all the ingredients.  Very Easy Procedure!

Put the casserole/baking dish in the oven that was preheated to 350F for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.

If you want to s-t-r-e-t-c-h this recipe a bit you can add a couple stalks of celery, chopped up fine and/or a zucchini chopped.

Because salt is often in purchased chicken broth and in my homemade broth I do not add salt to this dish but I let each person know that if they wish a sprinkle of salt and pepper on their own serving is perhaps an option...

Also because we have a "cheese fiend" in my house, I grate about a cup of whatever cheese is handy and top each serving with a bit of cheese.  I particularly like mozzarella and a bit of Parmesan, my son prefers good ole` chedder and my husband prefers none.

There were no comments or complaints that this main dish was meatless -- maybe they didn't even notice?!   There was about 1/4 of the total left over and all plates came back clean, so by that standard this was a HIT!

and a few strawberries and ice cream for dessert...

(can you find the dinosaur?)

I now need to explore some more recipes and ideas to use with my over abundance of THYME....

and if you try out this recipe, just tell people you invented it!