Fiber Arts Friday: New Tools, Drum Carder

Back in March of last year (2022) Hubba ordered a Clemes&Clemes Elite Crankless Drum Carder for me.

He talked me into the electric version, which I thought was extravagant.  However after taking their class Exploring the Drum Carder at the Estes Park Wool Market in June (2022), I am very glad for Hubba's insistence.

The manual crank is smooth and easy, but having the motor really frees the mind up to focus on batt composition.

Due to material availability, order backlog, and their show/travel schedule, we knew it would take a while for the carder to be built.  Then Henry called right before Thanksgiving 2022 to let me know it was getting ready to ship.

She arrived about a week after Thanksgiving, just as we were getting ready to move out for our remodel, so I didn't fully unpack her until recently... actually just after completing the next level Clemes&Clemes class, Adventures in Drum Carding at the most recent Estes Park Wool Market.

Can I just tell you how much I love this packaging?  

The packaging is carefully thought out and everything has a place.

It makes this engineer who appreciates LEAN Principles and Thoughtful Process and Tool Design very happy.  :-)

Perhaps even most important, is the well-documented manual, right on top.  :-)

I'm so excited to have this exceptional Carder... she's been on my To Acquire List for quite some time and I am even more happy to have completed our Maiden Voyage last weekend.  :-D

Once set up, I began with some washed Chiengora from our boy Ramen, who passed this realm about 18 months ago.

After 4 trips thru the drum carder, I have a uniform and aligned batt. :-)

I'm so excited to play with this tool more.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: County Fair, 2022

It's County Fair time again.  :-)

Upon looking at the Hand Spinning and Weaving Department Premium List when it became available in early June (~6/6/22) I was surprised to realize that I did not have any yarn completed since the specified date (8/1/21).  However, it does make sense given the move and focus on the large SOS Sweater.

Then, as I started to review the premium lists for other departments and thinking about where I was on projects, I realized that I might be able to field a decent entry.

So I have three photos:

Thanks to the Tour de Fleece, Hommes and Femme, and some warmup spinning, I finished two yarn entries.... Tibetan Mastiff (Ramen) and Dorset Horn (SE2SE) to go with one Handspun+Handknit Hat.

And some last minute Strawberry Jam.

Of all of these things, only the Hat was complete between August 1, 2021 and June 6, 2022.  Everything was dropped off last week.  Judging was on Wednesday and the Fair was open Friday thru Tuesday.

I went over the weekend to see the exhibits.  There were large entries in both the Spinning/Weaving and Needlework departments... especially Needlework was much larger than in recent years.

I'm happy to report that each of my yarns received second place and were displayed on the wall with the other beautiful yarns.

    

None of my other entries received ribbons, but it was quite fun to see my photos displayed with the other entries.

  

As well as my hat and jam on the shelf displays.

 

The Best in Spinning was this remarkable Handspun-Handknit Sweater.  This did not look like handspun yarn at all.

Some of the other entries....

  

  

  

Wilma and I picked up our entries on Wednesday.  She was a very good girl while waiting in line... and very excited when we picked up the fiber projects.  :-)

The comments received mostly make sense.

For the yarn:  The majority of points lost were for not following instructions.... while I did state the intended project for the yarns, I neglected to include the intended technique... knit, crochet, weaving.  oy.

The canned goods can only come from pre-approved recipes.  This wasn't clear to me in the Premium List prior to entry.  In going back to read it again, it's still not clear to me.... Although I now have the list of approved sources, so I will take a look and then decide if I want to try again.

There were no notes on the photographs, which was disappointing.

Overall it was a good fair for me and the fibery-stitching competitions are definitely my favorite.  I have no doubt that I will continue to compete.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

In the Kitchen: Strawberry Jam

Hubba has been asking for Strawberry Jam for years... and by years, I mean YEARS!

I thought it might not happen again since we were not able to find any fresh strawberries for the weekend I had set aside for making jam.  Then he found them at CostCo...

So I cleared last weekend, and with Hubba's help, we put up 3 flats of fresh Strawberry Jam.

Two days.  Two recipes.  Fifty 1/2-pint jars.

This makes me very happy.

Fiber Arts Friday: Creative Urge

It always seems to hit me this time of year, but especially right now.... I feel a deep need to create, and I haven't been.

As we start to approach the end of our moving process, I hope to start to have time and head-space available for creating.

Creating, as in turning ideas into reality.  Not just making... food or following patterns designed by others... which is happening, though limited and enjoyable too.

I finished knitting a simple hat last weekend.  In normal times, this would have been a 2-3 week project, but this one took ~3 months.  I'm grateful to have a little winter remaining to use it.

Finishing this hat allowed me to begin working on my Save Our Sheep Sweater with the handspun SE2SE yarn I've made over the last few years.

I am working my Day Job out of my new Studio/Office space and things are starting to have their place.  But my loom is still in pieces...

My wheels have not been touched in so long, that I had to dust them the other day and my little looms are calling to me too...

The shelves have arrived, but need to be assembled.

Then a bit more organizing... and then hopefully, I can start working on the many ideas that have been stacking up.

Happy (though a bit melancholy) Fiber Arts Friday!

Sourdough, part 3

Continuing the Sourdough Adventure... 

After having conversations with both Scary Yankee Chick and Broken Clay, I decided to start weighing my ingredients.

Prior to now I was using measuring cups and texture.  Also the recipe I've been using was written by someone living in the US mid-Atlantic region, which is a much lower altitude and more humid environment than Colorado.

I remember my mother making bread when I was a kid.  She used commercial yeast, but she also always made adjustments to baked goods when we lived in the Rocky Mountains at an altitude of 10,000 ft.

While our current altitude is closer to 5000 ft on the Colorado Front Range and I have not been making adjustments to cakes or cookies, but I figure bread might be more sensitive... and perhaps the weighing of ingredients normalizes the amount of moisture in the ingredients...?

I decided to use Broken Clay's method.  Her bread is extremely good...  and since she and I are in the same region, we are baking at a similar altitude and humidity.

> Combining Initial Ingredients; starter, flour, water.

> After 30 minute Autolyze.

> After adding the last 50g of water and salt.  This dough is much more wet than my previous versions.

> The next step is to proof the dough for 30 minutes then do 4 stretch-and-folds, turning the bowl 1/4 turn between, for 3-4 hours.

>> After 30 minutes.

  

>> After 1 hour.

   

>> After 1:30.

   

>> After 2:00.

   

>> After 2:30.

   

>> After 3:00.

   

> After 3:30.  The dough is supposed to be "billowy" by now.  I wouldn't call this billowy, but there is air in the dough.  It's been a cool day, so perhaps not the best for rising bread and certainly my stretch-and-fold method needs practice.

> Then shape and bench rest for 30 minutes.

> Final Shaping and Proofing for 2-3 hours.

   

> I don't have a Dutch Oven, Baking Stone, or Bread Peel so I'm using a Silicon Mat dusted with Corn Meal in a Jelly Roll Pan along with a small ramekin of water.

   

> Bake at 500F for 20 minutes, then reduce to 450F for 30-40 minutes, but I removed at 20 minutes.  Previously I was baking at 350F the entire time.

   

This method certainly requires more attention than my previous method.  However, there is less kneading and less flour used.

This bread is significantly better than my previous attempts... better in flavor, color, and texture.  I can't wait to try again!

References:  Scary Yankee Chick's Method.