Letting go of the Nightmare.

Those of you who have read this blog for a while know that our house, much to our dismay, was foreclosed on.   Not only that, but when it went to Sheriff's Sale, the church that we attended next door, bought it.  While my husband had spoken with the 'owner' of the church several times before and after the acquisition, it was not our intention to just let the house go.  My husband thought after the conversations he had with the owner that the owner understood that we still wanted the house and if he could get it for us, we would pay him back.  When the time came he bought the house with church funds to be used as their parsonage and therefore, we could not buy it back, unless they sold it in future and then it would have to be at fair market value.  Needless to say, we  were saddened by this.  But, we were able to purchase an old gutted home in town and fix it up and actually just paid off the final payment to the fella we were buying it from last month!  So now we have no house payment; no bank involved.  The taxes are low and we will be paying them soon.  So things are looking up.  But while all of the foreclosure/sheriff's sale was going on we received a form from the Independent Foreclosure Review to see if we qualified for being foreclosed on 'improperly'.   After all of this time we finally got a payment from them.  It was a very small percentage of what the house was worth and there is no appeal process, but it makes me feel better that I can show you this snippet from the form, to say that they know that we were wrongfully foreclosed.     If you want to read my prior laments you can go to the label "Troubling Times".  You can also go to "New Home" and see the work that we did on this new house.

God has provided for us graciously.

The sun is shining today and it should be beautiful and 76°.  So as I finish the post I am saying good bye to this nightmare we have been living through and hello to a bright future! 

Until next time.

www.occ.gov

www.federalreserve.gov

NHM #5

Knit Picks Palette ~cream & pimiento~  7 inches long 2.5 inches wide.

Trekking to Fiber

 Shetland Fleece-Indiana
On my monthly trek to the fiber store I met these lovelies.  I am planning to spin the Coopworth to make a pair of mittens.  They will be quirky for sure~but that is all part of the fun.    These 4 oz. of Coopworth locks cost $10.70 with tax.  The Shetland  came with the class.  The instructoress was de-stashing.  I am very happy.  Hopefully, next month on my trip I can start spinning the Coopworth.

 Coopworth-Wisconsin

Coopworth up close.  Coopworth picture here.

Sharing the Love of a give away.

I have been following a wonderful blog recently that has great recipes.  They are having a give away here.  

Annemor #5

 I decided to knit a pair of practice mittens-child size.  I used Knit Picks Palette.  Tarragon and Currant are the color names.  I knit the right one first-the knitting was a little tight.  My tension became a little better during the left one.  Keeping the pattern on both sides of the thumb with little needles and big fingers was quite the event!  The pattern came from the Selbuvotter book that I mentioned in the previous post.   I need much more practice so off I go.

Until next time.

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

Po Co Mittens

This book is a wonderful resource for mittens.  I chose a little mitten with ravens on it.  It didn't surprise me when my mittens reflected squawking parrots.  I wanted to use up the small portions of the Cormo and Polwarth yarns that I had spun.  I knew, since the yarns were not uniform and won't be for quite some time, that the pattern would be uneven, etc.   This practice mitten was so fun to knit.  Cormo and Polwarth are soft and quite enjoyable to knit with.  Currently I favor the Cormo.   As odd as the mitten turned out, I LOVE it. It is soft and squishy and warm. I see myself making lots of these mitten sets. 

Woolly Reads

Two really great books that I am reading are The Knitter's Book of Wool and The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook.    If you need to know more about sheep/wool/fiber they are very helpful.  I saw that one of the authors on the The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook will be at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this May.  That is where I purchased my alpaca fiber a few years ago.  I would love to go again someday.

Meet Polly (Polwarth)

 Over the past couple months I have been spinning Polwarth yarn and keeping it on bobbins.  Last Saturday I was able to ply it together (3-ply) and create a lovely little hank.  Being  a novice to the nth degree, I was thrilled to have created this with the guidance of my teacher, Kate.  Kate is amazing.   Over the past few months of spinning I have just been labeling and keeping what I spin for future reference.  I realized this past week that I should knit these samples up so that I can have an understanding of how they look when I spin them.  As I get better the knitting should reflect the same.   A few years ago I purchased my first alpaca fiber and knit a hat with it.   Surprisingly, it is our go-to hat for my daughter and I to throw on when going out.  My daughter wears it quite often.  So much so, that I thought we needed another one.  I thought it would be a good pattern to knit for a comparison.  Feast your eyes.  :)

 It won't be a true comparison because the alpaca was a 2-ply and this is a 3-ply.  But it will be a similarity.

Blue Socks

The socks are finally off the needles and blocked.

Sadness on a Stick

I just sat down to finish my socks and to my horror the cable had been chewed through by Mr. Moses.  You can see more of his shenanigans here and here.

Happiness on a Stick -2

These kabobs are waiting to be marinated with zesty Italian dressing.  I think they look happy and they are on a stick!  I could actually knit with those sticks.   I don't eat much red meat and I probably will eat very little of these, but they are fun to make.  Chris cooks them up on the grill.

Happiness on a Stick

I knit on a sweater all winter.  I challenged myself to knit another Aran Staghorn sweater.  I started in November and knit and knit and knit.  I didn't  "love" the sweater, but I knit just the same....it took forever.  Maybe I should name it the "Forever Sweater".  I finally finished last week and it is pinned down to my mother's spare bedroom floor as we speak.  I am not sure why I wasn't loving it.  It will be warm and I can wear it out and about when I take walks and such.  I think I was wanting a cardigan.  I will share a picture soon.

As I was finishing the sweater on worsted weight and size 8 needles, I longed for a small needle project.  As soon as I finished I cast on for the two at at time socks on size 1.  A big difference.  I bought this yarn at a fiber festival in southern Indiana last fall.  It is brighter and prettier in person.  It is a little happiness on a stick.  

Also, I get to go spin more of the Polwarth wool tomorrow.....looking forward to it very much.

Ombre.

 

M's new look.

Chicky Pie

Start this pie with your favorite crust.  In a medium sauce pan I heat 1/3 C. butter over medium heat  and stir in some diced onions (1/3 C.) and let them cook for a little bit, keeping a watchful eye that the butter doesn't burn.  Then add 1/3 C. flour, 1/2 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper.  Stir constantly until it get's bubbly.  Then remove from heat, whisk in the broth and milk (I love this part).  Put heat to it again til it boils and let it boil for about a minute.
Then stir in 2 and 1/2 to 3 C. cooked shredded chicken and thawed frozen mixed organic veggies(about 10 ounces or so).  
Turn this mixture into a crust lined pan of your choosing and seal the top crust to it with a bit of water around the edge.  Apply some slits in the top crusts.  Bake at 425° for 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. 

 

 

I failed to get a picture of the finished product, but it was pretty and we gobbled it right up.

A Tasty Cake

My daughter picked up this book at the library.  It is a history of how we cook and eat.  It is quite interesting.  One thing that caught our interest and kept us reading was that fact that most of the world measures out their flour, when cooking, by weight and not by volume.   A snippet follows:

  "A cup of something is not just a cup.  Experiments have shown that a cup of flour may vary in weight from 4 to 6 ounces, just by changing the degree to which the flour is sifted and airy or tamped down.  This makes the difference between a cake that works and one that doesn't; better batter that is far too thick and batter that is watery and thin.  Let's assume that the recipe writer wants you to use a "cup" of flour that corresponds to 4 ounces, but you instead measure one that comes in at 6 ounces.  You will end up with one and a half times the flour required:  a huge inbalance." 

So it is with this information that I made a cake from scratch.  I haven't used a store bought cake mix in eons it seems.  I was really wanting a cake.  So I hopped on over to my favorite baking site.  King Arthur Flour  gives recipes in weight and volume.  Just click which one you want.  I had often admired the looks of the Classic Yellow Cake with Fudge Frosting, so I decided I would make it and use the scale to measure out the flour.   I followed the recipe exactly, even buying the pricey almond extract.  I used just a bump less than 1/4 tsp.  I used vanilla yogurt.  I didn't use the espresso powder for the frosting since it was optional.  It calls for at least a 2 inch deep cake pan, which I didn't have, so I think that is why it kind of sank in the middle after all was said and done and the next time I think I will use the springform pan.  It's sides are higher.

It was moist and delicious. It is officially my 'go-to' cake.  I think you should give it a try.  I don't think you will be disappointed.

From rolags to bobbin, attempt #4

I got my purple bag of Polwarth carded and turned into these cute little rolags. 

 I was able to spin again on the Schacht Ladybug at the shop.  Kate helped me transfer the spun wool onto portable bobbins to keep til later.  The plan is to spin all of the rolags and save the spun wool on the bobbins.  Once I am done with that I will be able to, with Kate's help, make a three-ply yarn.

This wool seems to spin up 'skinnier' than the Cormo.  I am not sure if it is a wool that spins up skinny or I am spinning better or what.  It is quite interesting.  This is my fourth time spinning and I still love it.  I think I will love it even if I never get proficient at it.

 Someday I shall spin one of these lovely braids.  Aren't they pretty?

  

A trip to California and back in pictures.