{KCCO} Pants for Ishi

I had a chance over this past month to work on a few sewing projects, including making these adorable pants for Ishmael. The fabric is soft and breathable and the pattern free and easy- just use a pair of pants the size you want,folded in half, adding a few inches for folding down the hem and waist- which is elastic.

Ishi is quite independent (and vocal) when it comes to picking out his clothes, luckily these seem to meet his requirements. Just right for climbing,driving trucks, digging in the dirt, and, of course, hanging out with the dog. All in an afternoon’s work for this busy boy of mine!

And I’d say he looks pretty darn cute in them too!

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{KCCO/Yarn Along} Finally….Ezra’s Finished Pullover

Strange how some projects fly off the needles while others take far longer than I initially thought. A couple weeks ago I finally finished Ezra’s pullover, the one I thought would be done for Thanksgiving, then by winter Solstice, then by his birthday…. My slow progress didn’t faze Ezra though. He still loves his sweater and since it’s in fingering weight yarn it’s still cool enough for the warmer temperatures. The only downside is that warmer temps means that Megan is shedding- everywhere!- and the black yarn seems to attract it.

His pullover is pattern  #12 Boy’s Pullover from Knit Simple Magazine, Spring/Summer Issue 2010, in size 4, minus the collar.  This one is knit in pieces and sewn together. See my ravelry page here.

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{In the Kitchen} Foraging

Now that spring is finally here all the wild shoots, blossoms and roots are resurrecting from the winter’s freeze. Over the winter I read several intriguing posts on foraging and using stinging nettle most notably from And Here We Are: nettle mead, and this post on nettle pasta, which is the one I used, although I made 6x the recipe and froze some for future use.

There was plenty of nettle to be found and all of it was below knee height.  My little helper boys and I picked a whole lot, wearing a shared pair of gloves, until our bag was full and one by one they accidentally touched the nettle and poor Ishi fell hands first into a patch. Sting nettle really does sting. Growing up my brothers and I always called it seven minute itch as that’s about how long it really itches for- give or take. It was time to call it quits.

When we got back I sorted through, rinsed and then blanched the nettle. It only takes about 30 seconds for the nettle to wilt, then the stinging aspect is gone. It’s important to really squeeze the nettle as not to make the pasta too wet. By the way the green water from the nettle makes a great dark green natural egg dye.

It was really very simple to make. Just like making regular pasta and it has that same great fresh pasta taste. I’ll have to try making spinach pasta next. After kneading a bit and resting the dough I rolled it out using a vintage cast iron pasta machine my older brother gifted to me. I’ll go a tad thinner next time.

Here it is cooked and lightly buttered. To be honest the nettle didn’t give much flavor but it does add a lot of nutrients. I’m thinking of using part of the frozen dough as lasagna noodles.

We’ve also been enjoying the spring by foraging wild blossoms for jelly and trying woodchuck (aka groundhog) for the first time in a pot pie.

What do you enjoy foraging?

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Hanging Out On a Tractor

 

Pig Butchering

Another 10 inches of snow. So much for thinking spring was on the way.

Despite the snow it was time to butcher and process one of the pigs.  I helped to separate the girl pigs then Struggling_along did the deed and hoisted her up. 

The kids were happy it was snowing and that my brother and his girlfriend were showing up soon so they danced around.

Struggling_along tended to the gutting and hair removal as we headed inside to start supper. Plus, I needed to sharpen all the knives for breaking down the pig into chops, roasts etc. the next day.

The few photos I took while we were cutting up the meat were too blurry. Besides, most of the time my hands were too busy breaking down the hams into more manageable sized roasts and ham steaks or wrapping the meat for the freezer. Ezra decided to help label the bags.Now we have cute bags with H A M scrawled across; a few even have smiley faces.

I did snap these as I finished up grinding the sausage.

Then we (and when I say we I mean Struggling_along and my brother) moved Mercedes in with Chevy. Hopefully he will indeed “make good things happen” and we’ll have an early fall litter of pigs.

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Homemade Breadcrumbs

Here’s a cooking staple so easy to make at home I don’t even know why breadcrumbs are sold in the supermarket. They’re almost too simple to post about-  but they’re that good.

First, start with some bread. Store brought or homemade- even gluten free. End slices, whole slices, edge pieces from sandwiches; room temperature or frozen, it doesn’t matter.

Place the bread in a food processor and pulse several times, running the processor until the bread is in fairly uniform crumbs.

And there you have it: fresh bread crumbs. Use right away or store in the freezer for a longer shelf life.

For dried breadcrumbs you can dry some bread in the oven before processing or dry the breadcrumbs afterwards. Generally fresh crumbs can be used interchangeably for dry crumbs. Although, once in a great while, a recipe may specify dry crumbs to absorb more moisture.

Also, if you don’t have a food processor you can dry some bread and rub the slices together creating dried bread crumbs or you can use your fingers and crumble fresh slices for fresh crumbs. It works but it’s a lot more labor intensive, hence the food processor.

These fresh crumbs are especially great on homemade chicken nuggets, Chicken Kiev…. basically anywhere you want a tasty, crispy breadcrumb coating these will be the star.

Enjoy!

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A Quilt for Me {KCCO}

I started this quilt last year, or maybe it was the year before. Piecing and then quilting each square has certainly taken a while but I really like where it’s heading. Some of the fabric is salvaged from old clothes,some were scrap pieces from friends and a few I even brought, but all of them are favorites. I had a blue and white quilt from my mother for ages.I can’t even remember when I first had the quilt but despite my attempts to patch it said quilt has disintegrated into rags. Hence this one.

The best part isn’t that I’ll have a new quilt; the best part is the making. Whether it’s picking out fabric or deciding where to place each square we’re making it. The boys are eager to lend their opinions and being the guy who lifts and lowers the sewing machine’s foot as we rotate the square to quilt  it is awesome. Plus, it’s like magic.

Twenty squares down. I’m not really sure how many more we’ll go. I’d love a large blanket -like queen sized- but that’s also pretty huge! We’ll see, after all it’s all in the making.

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{this moment}

Joining Soulemama in {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

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Ezra’s Pullover {KCCO/Yarn Along}

 I had just finished binding off Noah’s sweater (well more of a vest really) when Ezra asked me, in a rather injured tone, when I was going to knit him something. So I asked him what he had in mind. A  shirt, he replied. So I pulled up some patterns on ravelry (of course) showing him a few that I thought might fit what he had in mind. No! he said not like that. Oh.

That one. He was very confident. But in black.

Of course! How silly of me to suggest those other patterns. This one is so very much Ezra.

 A while back struggling_along came across a yard sale with a box of free yarn. Being the kind husband that he is he picked it up for me. This black is one of them. And it’s exactly what I needed. I did a swatch and now here is the beginning of the back.

I have a feeling there will be a lot of sweater knitting this winter. In less than a week we went from summer to fall:

to snow!

How did the boys feel about it?

There was much rejoicing, and a box full of Christmas ornaments were found and hung up!

While I’m not crazy about the recent weather it does have it’s perks:

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Crochet Rug {Yarn Along/ KCCO}

Fall is here.

A new rug only seems fitting. Not only to add a little handmade decor to our new house but also to provide another insulating  layer to the floor. This rug- made from old flannel sheets- is turning out nice and thick. I only hope I can make it as large as I’d like. It’s amazing how quickly so much fabric disappears each go-round. Somewhere I have another grey flannel  but where o’ where did I pack it?!

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this post is part of Yarn Along and Keep Calm Crafting On