Weaving Wednesday – April Fools

April 2, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 10 Comments

Last night’s weaving class was one disaster after another it seemed.

My towels were tracking funny in the loom, the more I wove the worse it got until the weft had taken on a decidedly diagonal line. I asked Pam if I should take off the toweling and tie the warp back on but we started out trying to see if we could just start over again and make it straight. We checked all of the mechanics of the loom, tightened every screw, nut and bolt. A few picks into it the problem was still there and it became obvious that the tension was more loose on one side than the other. I had to unravel a good amount of weaving to save the warp length. Wasn’t as bad as it sounds, once I got going it was almost relaxing.

As I’m unravelling my mess, Jan, to my left is having the exact same problem. It was hard to believe that both of us, doing completely different projects had the same thing going on. It was true. After tightening up her loom and measuring and remeasuring to see if it could be anything else she had to unravel her project as well.

As we were rebeaming my warp we found a problem with the brakes on the loom that might have been a factor in my whole fiasco so we had to pay attention to that before I continued. All in all a rather stressful night for Pam.

While we were talking about warp tension she told me I should post a few photos of another project that has turned into what I would consider a nightmare. A class member decided she wanted to weave yardage for a jacket out of chenille. The pattern is lovely and they thought they had beamed her warp perfectly until she began weaving.

In the process, while moving the warp forward, all hell has broken loose with her warp. This may be the nature of chenille since none of us has ever woven anything wider than 10 inches.

The only way to salvage this was to use lease sticks in the warp while weaving. This holds the tension evenly (although I couldn’t tell you how at the moment).

Every time the lease sticks get to the heddles everything behind it has to be untangled as the sticks are pulled back.

I’ll be honest with you – this might just be the project I would walk away from. Or it might have turned into yardage for a vest instead of a jacket.

All in all last night was the first night I might have thought for a second we were the biggest April fools of all.

First Gather

April 2, 2014 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

Another wonderful post by one of my favorite bloggers.

They Are Never Safe

March 31, 2014March 31, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 6 Comments

There are times of the year and in certain locations that there is very little you can do to protect your flock of chickens other than sit on your deck with a shotgun. The other half of last year’s flock was killed today while in what we thought was a secure coop – closed in. Cement foundation, wired windows, new door. Once the carnage is cleaned up the forensics will begin, maybe. Having to deal with your hens being killed by something two years in a row is too much really. Makes you never want to raise a chicken again.

Stripping

March 31, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 3 Comments

I have done my share of stripping paint over the past few years. When your house is over 200 years old there are always more than a few coats of paint on the woodwork. I have used strippers and they are pretty caustic and never give me quite the results I expect.

My brother-in-law is a painter, glass blower, jack of all trades kind of guy and he is always giving me tips on how to make my renovation projects easier. A while back he told me he had started using a heat gun to strip the moulding in a house about the age of ours and the results were amazing. I had Bill get one through the tool guy at the shop and began my first project of stripping the paint off of the floor in a bedroom upstairs. The result was nothing short of amazing.

I didn’t fully appreciate how amazing this tool is until I began stripping this door yesterday. This is one of the doors to the library that has been painted at least 5 times, the last coat being latex (which is a totally different issue). Most of the paint when heated just popped right off in huge flakes. It was a mess to clean up but I had most of one side of the door stripped in a matter of a few hours. Mind you this needs to be done in a room wide open to the outdoors with an exhaust fan going. Fortunately yesterday was above freezing.

This door has some holes that will need repairing. The hinges and thumb latches need to be replaced as well. Williamsburg Blacksmiths is a local forge that produces the reproduction hardware for this period home using the same methods probably used when the originals were made. They are perfect. Hopefully by the end of this week I will have this door done and be working on the other. Then onto the door casings. Both of the doors in the room do not close so I’m hoping taking them down, stripping them and rehanging with new hardware will fix the problem. My sneaking suspicion is that a lot of it has to do with the paint, but new hinges will certainly help.

The photograph was originally taken for the 100 Happy Days project I’m working on with a number of family members. I was thinking how happy I was to be using this tool but the more I thought about it I realized that when you’re stripping woodwork the only happy part is when you’re finished.

Food Friday – Brownies

March 28, 2014March 28, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

One of my absolute favorite things to do is cook for other people – especially baking goodies. There are times when nothing will do but chocolate. There is comfort in it, there are lifetime memories associated with it, chocolate is love.

I was asked to bring “brownies or something” to Paul’s celebration of life tomorrow. I immediately knew the recipe I would use. For years I had a reputation with my family members (especially my children) that I was the master of disaster when it came to baking brownies. As the girls got older they would bake brownies often using a mix. They had no trouble at all. Me, well let’s just say if it comes out of a box I am completely incompetent. I would burn them, or they were so undercooked they would be inedible. I think it was because I followed the directions, messed up and then over compensated on the next try. Amanda had it down, knocked off a couple of minutes for the particular pan she was using and they always came out perfect.

I took this as a challenge in the back of my mind, one day I would conquer my relationship with brownies. I read this recipe years ago in Yankee Magazine and it completely changed my outlook on brownies. It’s called Julie’s Brownies and really is the best recipe ever – deep chocolate, sugar crust, brownie perfection. The only caveat is it makes a HUGE batch.

The recipe starts off with 8 ounces of unsweetened chocolate and 3 sticks of butter set on low heat to melt together. I once made the mistake of using semisweet and although it was a near disaster there were many people who liked their cloying sweetness. (I wasn’t kidding about my problem with brownies).

While the chocolate/butter is melting butter your pan and sprinkle it with sugar. I just dump a mound in the middle of the pan and shake it around until the pan is coated, then dump the excess in the sink.

This has such a wonderful smell while it’s heating through. Once melted let it cool to room temperature.

Now I know not everyone likes walnuts in their brownies (or anywhere for that matter) so I chop about 3/4 of a cup to be sprinkled on half of the pan, this way everyone is happy. I buy walnuts and pecans in bulk, use a vacu-sealer and freeze a cup and a half per bag. I always have nuts for that impromptu baking session. That nut grinder? If you don’t have one get one, they are awesome and go right into the dishwasher.

Half a dozen eggs go into the stand mixer.

Along with 3 1/2 cups of sugar. You read right, 3 1/2. I measure carefully knowing this is another potential hazard for me – losing count.

Once the eggs and sugar are mixed you add the vanilla. I made this for Christmas presents a couple of years ago – it is amazing. There’s another disaster story that goes along with this. One time I was making these brownies, grabbed the orange extract and put in the two teaspoons – aarrgh. Those were an epic fail.

The chocolate/butter is added, then the flour and mixed until just combined.

Then poured into that nice sugar coated pan. This is a 12 x 17 jelly roll pan. That’s a lot of brownies my friends.

Before they go into the oven I sprinkle on the nuts. These look delicious and smell heavenly while baking.

And here they are out of the oven, perfect. Once cooled I will cut them into squares and arrange them in a basket to be delivered to the church tomorrow. Some of the people I love the most will be there and even though they probably won’t give a thought to who made the brownies I will know how much love was put into them.

Adopt a Mutt

March 27, 2014March 27, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 4 Comments

Dogs come to us in different ways. For years I went the purebred route – yes, poor Sophie is a purebred. She must come from a weird line. I adopted a Samoyed years ago that had so many issues it came to a very sad end. She was a product of particularly bad breeding compounded with initial owners who had no idea what they were doing. After that I swore I would never adopt someone else’s dog, ever.

Along came Chester. We’ve had him for almost 2 1/2 years now. He had some issues when he came to us but this is a classic case of love can fix a whole lot of wrong. He’s become quite comfortable with us as a matter of fact. He still doesn’t like being left alone but the panic is gone. He still doesn’t like being in a crate but now he sees it as his bed and not a punishment. He’s still afraid of everything – not in a cowering kind of way but if something startles him he runs in the opposite direction. Bill thinks it’s good to have a dog that considers self-preservation. He’s afraid of the dark so he won’t go out of the perimeter of the spotlight at night. He will stand on the edge and woof (more of a woo woo).

My sister got a puppy last weekend from a rescue group. She’s 12 weeks old and seriously cute. She’s bright and will be a very good dog I’m sure. Her daughter posted a link today about a woman who’s project it was to photograph the least likely to be adopted dogs at her local shelter. Her photos are beautiful. When I read it I knew that I could never set foot in a shelter or I would come home with a car load of dogs.

I’m happy to see the shift from owning a purebred to adopting a mutt. There are so many of them that need adoption and if Chester is any indication an adopted dog could very well be the best dog you’ve ever had.

Weaving Wednesday – Huck Lace

March 26, 2014March 26, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 4 Comments

This week in weaving class I continued to work on my huck towels. I finished the requisite 33″ on the first draft discussed last week – not without an issue that was causing me no small amount of aggravation. Occasionally my shed would not open properly and I would miss threads on a pick. Ugh. The worst part was when I didn’t notice it until I had woven and inch more. Un- weaving is not something I enjoy I have to say. I want it perfect the first time.

I had a lot of trouble getting into the groove of things with the last pattern. I never really did and had difficulty seeing where I was in the draft as I wove. If I lost count or my place I couldn’t figure out where I was. This happens normally in the beginning of the project but not usually to the end. I was very happy to see that towel finished.

This pattern is huck squares and it’s very obvious where you are at any moment in the weave. Whew! The shed problem seemed to correct itself and I was really moving along with this one. I’m pleased with how even the weaving is and my edges look good so this is turning into a pretty exciting adventure. It’s not so complicated that I can’t get into my zen mode yet looks amazing when it’s woven. Just look at this structure, wow.

Once the tension is taken off of the weaving the towels will pucker – each in their own way. So it’s another project that amazes me while I’m weaving it and will thrill me once again when I take it off of the loom. What more can you ask of any craft?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

March 25, 2014March 25, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 5 Comments

There is a lot going on in the house at Fort Pelham Farm. We decided to turn the old bathroom into a pantry for now and the library will become a bedroom for my Dad who will be moving home in about 6 weeks. Yes, you guessed right, I will be in Rowe full-time starting in May. Not exactly the circumstances I had always envisioned but right now it is what it is.

This is the lovely bathroom that we used for years and years. It was time for it to go and boy was Bill excited about this project (not).

He pointed out that this is the glory part of home improvement – removing the toilet. Chester is making sure he is doing it properly.

Okay, I primed everything – don’t judge, we still have a ways to go.

Initial painting is done – the shelving I will be building this week. Another coat of paint still on tap but the project is moving along.

Did I tell you that I have dozens and dozens of jars of canned goods sitting on the floor in the living room right now with no home? Yeah, nice decor. That’s because they were stored in the library. All of that shelving had to come down to make room for Dad on the first floor.

Hello old friends – haven’t seen you in quite some time.

Before. These shelves were built in 1985 to replace the shelving that was there when we moved in. I’m assuming that was done because the room had lathe and plaster and it was what was the back of the bookshelves. Originally the shelves were on two walls in the room with a window seat under the north window.

It took Mike and Bill all of about an hour to get this out of there. You will notice that Chester is always in the middle of things. I personally think he just likes having his picture taken.

Another work in progress. Mike will be repairing the walls and fixing the ceiling. The floor will have to wait, it’s too big a job for our time constraints.

I have to say that I’m not fond of renovation projects with a specific time deadline. Things are not done the way they should be, they are done in the quickest way possible. The pantry started out as a project for me. A temporary fix in a space that was not being used. The eventual plan with that room is for the walls to come down and have it be part of a more open kitchen – that’s down the road a bit. Kitchen remodeling is not for the faint of heart.

The other fact pushing this project along is we know spring will get here at some point and when it does we will not want to be spending any time indoors. While the weather is still wintry we can at least feel like we are getting something done.

Morning Meditation

March 24, 2014 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

What if our religion was each other
If our practice was our life
If prayer, our words.
What if the temple was the earth
If forests were our church
If holy water – the rivers, lakes, and oceans
What if meditation was our relationships
If the Teacher was life
If wisdom was self-knowledge
If love was the center of our being

~ Ganga White

Weaving Wednesday and the Zen of Handwork

March 19, 2014March 19, 2014 / handmadebyjo / 7 Comments

I finally started to weave my huck lace towels last night. After a frustrating start it went pretty well. This is one of those projects that you don’t really see the results until it’s been wet finished. I haven’t done this fine a weave until now and I have mixed feelings about it (mostly having to do with my eyesight). I will probably be happy these are dishtowels once they are finished, the perfection of the weave pattern doesn’t matter when you are drying off your pots and pans.

I haven’t woven at all for a couple of weeks and it felt good to be back. I have been having a tough time getting back into that Zen mode, there is too much background noise. Things will settle out, like they always seem to do. Maybe not settle out physically but I will be able to move through it emotionally and find that place where the meditation of handwork can bring me peace. I often wonder how other people bring themselves back from the brink. The act of doing something with my hands is what allows me to work through the issues of the day (week or month), even if it’s just playing solitaire with real cards or folding a few cranes.

So I will work my way out of this by weaving, or knitting, or hooking. I will have some beautiful things when I am done but most of all I will have peace of mind.

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