Kelly

Absent.

Yes, I have been absent. Recent life events have meant that blogging has not been on my list of priorities.

I have a link for a donations page to share with you. My lovely sister has been going through a difficult time, you can read a little about it on the Ozcrowd page that a friend set up.

Many of my friends have donated already and for that I am so grateful. Many of you have prayed for her and I’m sure that it’s because of this that she is now out of ICU and back at home.

If you haven’t donated I hope you may consider doing so – even if it’s a very small amount, it all adds up and will contribute to their funeral costs for their darling baby girl as well as my sister’s possible ongoing medical costs as she works towards recovery.

Thank you all so much and God bless you 🙂

Dye, spin, weave!

by Kelly 3 Comments

My first 100% hand dyed, hand spun and hand woven item! I’ve been working up to this for a while, practicing my spinning to get a more consistent yarn.

I decided on a “long and skinny” style. It is a plain weave but the interplay of colours makes it appear more complicated than it is.

I used First Edition fibre to dye and then spin, it’s lovely and soft.

One of my dreams is to do many more of these types of items and be able to sell them. I love the authenticity of making the item from start to finish (OK, I didn’t shear the sheep!) But from my experience as a handmade artisan I seriously doubt that customers would be willing to pay the amount I would need to charge to cover the time invested – many, many hours. Still, I may just do the occasional piece and make it available for sale. I’d love to do some pieces for exhibition or competition as well.

This was the original yarn.

What’s next? Perhaps a shawl? Phew, that’s going to take a while, I’d better start spinning!

Charity auction Monday

by Kelly 1 Comment

My next charity auction for Mary’s Meals will take place on Monday 21st on my Facebook page. I’m offering these three 100gram skeins of 8ply superwash merino (I think they look fab together!)

The auction will start on Monday morning and finish up at 8pm. All you have to do is go to my page and bid, there will be a reserve price and you can go from there.

I hope we can raise some money for this beautiful charity!

Silverbeet and ricotta pie

by Kelly 2 Comments

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 potato, finely chopped

300grams greens (silverbeet, spinach, kale, or a combination of greens)

450grams fresh ricotta

2 eggs

rind of 1/2 a lemon, grated

20grams grated parmesan

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

2 sheets puff pastry (shop bought or homemade)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

In a large frying pan, fry the onion in oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, celery, potato and silver beet (or greens). Continue frying until silver beet is wilting. Take off the heat and allow to cool a little.

Meanwhile, mash together in a large bowl the ricotta, eggs, lemon, parmesan, nutmeg and salt and pepper.

Grease your pie dish and lay a sheet of pastry as the base.

Mix the vegetables into the ricotta mixture until nicely blended. Place the mixture into the pie dish.

Cover with another sheet of pastry, pressing down around the edges of the dish. Slash a couple of slits in the top with a sharp knife.

Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until the pie is golden brown and layers of the pastry are separating slightly.

I think this pie would be wonderful with filo pastry as well, maybe some feta cheese crumbled in? Next time!

And, just for fun and because I do love pie!

Everyday bread

by Kelly 2 Comments

This is the recipe I make for a delicious yet not too time consuming bread for every day use. Makes 2 large loaves.

100g wholemeal flour

900g unbleached plain flour

2.5 teaspoons dried yeast

2.5 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

Approx 700ml warm water (varies with temp, dryness of flour etc)

Place all dry ingredients into your mixmaster’s mixing bowl with the dough hook fitted. Start machine on low and drizzle most of the water in. Allow to mix for a minute or so, then add more water if needed. The dough should be really moist but not so sticky it can’t be handled.

Keep mixing on low for at least 5 minutes. Turn out of bowl onto an oiled bench and oil the bottom and inside of the bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl, oil the top lightly and cover with plastic wrap. Leave for 1.5 hours or until double in size. In cooler weather this will take longer.

Turn the dough out onto a bench and cut in half with a sharp knife. Knead each piece lightly then shape into required shape. You can do freeform loaves or use bread tins – I do either depending on my mood 🙂 Freeform loaves can be placed on baking trays. Cover loaves with plastic wrap to rest.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees (C). Allow the loaves to sit for 30 minutes. Slash the tops with a sharp knife and place in the oven. Set the timer for 5 minutes. When timer goes off, turn the temperature down to 230 degrees and set the timer to 30 minutes.

Remove from oven when done and cool on a baking rack.

Linking up with Creative Friday.

3 ways to save money today – Volume 8

by Kelly 5 Comments

1. Don’t buy cereal.
I’ve noticed a real drive by cereal companies for us to mimic American culture in our pursuit for cereal. It’s really expensive, usually unhealthy and really unnecessary! The only type of cereal I buy on a regular basis is Vita Brits, which I find affordable, nutritious and tasty. Occasionally I buy cereal for the kids for a birthday or treat, but I find the novelty wears off pretty quickly anyway.
Oats are fantastic. If you buy a generic brand they are cheap and really versatile. I’ve been making my own muesli, toasted and natural for years.
There are so many alternatives to cereal that are healthier and will cost a fraction of the price. Get googling and find some new, simple breakfast dishes.

2. Make your own bread.
Commercial bread is increasing in price constantly. Yes, you can still buy a cheap white loaf for around a dollar but I find these akin to eating fluff, not nice.
It’s not hard to make bread. It’s a time investment but once you get into a routine it’s very do-able. I’d like to say that I fully supply our family with home made bread but I’m not quite there yet. I’m happy to say that most of the time there is homemade bread in the pantry or freezer.
I have quite a few bread recipes right here on my blog:

Apple and Walnut bread
Wholemeal, rye and linseed bread
Spelt, honey and Linseed bread
Honey and Oat bread
My basic bread
My Everyday bread recipe

3. Make your own toilet spray.
We pay a lot of money for the privilege of spraying chemicals around in our home and it’s not at all necessary! A small spray bottle, some water and some essential oil that you like the scent of, and you’re done. Experiment with quantities of oil to water to get the ratio that suits you. A good essential oil can be a bit of an investment in terms of dollars, but when you consider how long one bottle will last you it’s much cheaper than buying a chemical laden spray.

Completed cardi and more spinning!

by Kelly 2 Comments

Hooray, the cardigan is finally done! And it’s perfect, there is room to grow and she is just so warm in it. It’s hard to believe this little sweetie is turning 5 on Sunday, can’t I wind back the clock just a little?

I knit this with my hand dyed 8ply merino. The buttons are from Buttons by Benji, and though it’s hard to see from the photo, they are totally gorgeous. The pattern is “Annie” by Tikki.

On the wheel currently is my “By the shores of Lake Violet” colour way on merino roving. Loving these colours!

And here is an idea of what it looks like randomly spun and plyed.

Brrr, it’s cold!

by Kelly 2 Comments

Yes, Winter is well and truly here but thankfully I have many activities to keep busy and warm. This is my last handspun skein.

I used my hand dyed “Mixed Berry” roving and employed the fractal spinning technique and it worked out beautifully!

The garden has slowed down but we are harvesting all those lovely winter veg now. Our son and I (so lovely to have a kitchen helper!) cooked up a big pot of garden harvested veggie soup with barley tonight.

And garlic bread made from scratch was the perfect accompaniment.

This is my newest colour way, now in the Etsy shop.

And I dyed some of that gorgeous First Edition roving in the same colour way. This is now on my spinning wheel and looking splendid.

So, Winter isn’t all cold hands and noses, there are many delightful things about it too 🙂

What about you. Cool weather? Or warm?

Fibre, glorious fibre!

by Kelly 6 Comments

With Winter in full swing here it’s all about the fibre for me at the moment! I had a go at dyeing roving for the first time. The colours are beautiful (mixed berry I think), but not exactly what I anticipated- there was a lot of residual dye. Some online fibre dyeing friends recommended more vinegar and a longer steaming time. This roving is from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

I’ve since dyed some more roving, applying the recommendations and it seems much better this time. I’ll show you the new roving when it’s dry, we’re not exactly having the best drying weather here of late.

This is the first bobbin spun from the first roving and I think it’s really pretty! I’m trying out a spinning technique called fractal spinning – can’t wait to see the results.

I ordered some roving from First Edition Fibres and got the most beautifully soft and fluffy fibre. I think I will spin some of this in this natural colour as well as dyed, wouldn’t it make a gorgeous baby blanket?

I’m calling this project my “crazy scarf”. I’m using all different bits and pieces of hand dyed and handspun yarn in a somewhat random fashion (similar to the “crazy quilt” technique). Just for fun 🙂

Anything fibre related happening at your place this weekend?

Beginning spinning

by Kelly 2 Comments

My long term goal to own a spinning wheel came to fruition recently! I bought a second hand “Sleeping Beauty” wheel and she sure is a beauty. She could use some repairs but still spins well enough for now.

I took some classes with Cathy of Cat and Sparrow Fibres and am so glad that I did. Something that seemed so complicated now makes sense and I’m continually building my spinning knowledge.

This was spun from some commercially prepared and dyed roving.

This skein was spun “in the grease” from a coated fleece and then washed, lovely!

And this one is from the same fleece which I washed first, dyed in two separate lots of pink and blue, spun as singles and then plied together. Interesting.

The last skein I spun that is currently drying is what I would consider a major improvement for me. I’m getting more control over the thickness and general consistency of the yarn I’m producing, which is quite exciting!

One of my main aims for learning to spin is to have a much greater involvement in the fibre items I produce. So, goal number one is to dye and spin enough yarn to weave a scarf with. I’ll keep you updated on that project 🙂

Hand dyed, hand spun and hand woven, sounds fabulous to me!