Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Design Notebook: Autumn Sewing
I’m feeling the urge to sew again for the first time since spring – fall and winter skirts in particular are calling to me, the occasional dress, capes and coats – though I can’t imagine where I will find the time in this busy September that is unfolding. (Oh, who am I kidding, I always find time when I really want to do something!)
In particular I am thinking stretch jersey, wool, corduroy and denim – but I am refraining from any purchasing until I first go through my fabric and pattern stash (this weekend) and determine what I already have that can be pressed into service for the fall. Then there is also the matter of pulling out some pieces for quilting and other handmade gifts for Christmas.
Since paring my stash in half during our spring clean-up, I really have been working on only purchasing yarn and fabric for specific projects and only one at a time, lest my good intentions for keeping down the clutter go awry. I’ve been “frogging” crochet projects I don’t like rather than letting them rot and thinking up new uses for the yarn that results. But at the same time, there is something nice about having a pile of fabric waiting for me to pick through this weekend – I’m envisioning a short cape for my vintage blue wool, and I’m sure I’ve got enough grey wool (a Value Village find) to make a Mandy Patullo-inspired collage skirt. Not to mention the red jersey knit I want to print with black paint and turn into a comfy shift dress. For new fabric this fall I think I would love a skirt of the above amy butler corduroy, some more orangey flannel to make a hooded pull-over, and a piece of denim to make a basic skirt from. What is that now – six pieces? If I’ve got time, a new lined-winter coat will definitely be in the offing. I love the one I made last year but without a lining it’s more of a swing-season affair.
Not unreasonable. But then again, probably more ideas than I will get time to work on. At the very least I will make the cape out of my vintage wool as I’ve found a pattern that doesn’t use too much fabric – and I’ve only got a little bit (hopefully 2 and 1/2 so I can make the version of that with the hood). This seems to be a straight-forward affair and I’m pretty sure I could knock it off in a day at home. Which is the ticket really – projects that can be easily pulled together in a day or two of work. That’s going to be my sewing focus for the fall I think…. easy patterns with quality finishing… and using the stash as much as possible before buying new fabric.
Time to retire the garden so I can get sewing again…..
There we were. Here we are. An update.
We have returned from our recent adventure to visit a friend in the small interior (Washington) town of Twisp, and I’ve got photos of that trip and an almost-finished crochet project to share this week! But at the moment I’m just re-orienting myself to the fact that school starts in a mere seven days and we are at the end of summer travels for one more year. (Never mind the fact we have three more camping trips planned for the fall).
Despite the late start, I think it’s been a brilliant summer – and we met our intention to get out of the city as frequently as was possible. Two trips to the island, a trip to Hornby, an extended excursion in the Cariboo, and a dip down into Washington State….. not to mention getting out a few times to fish around the edges of Vancouver. In this vein we have planned to extend “summer trips” by dressing warmer and getting out more in the fall too! Next up is Porteau Cove, then Sloquet Hot Springs at the end of September, followed by a week in the interior (outside of Kamloops) mid-October. Now that we have a real four-season tent we might even brave a later-season trip in November to catch the edge of hunting-time before the dark really closes in.
We opted to do less canning this year – really more by accident than anything (I didn’t want to drive to Keremeos during the heatwave) – but still I have managed enough small batches to replenish some of our favourite things. This week I’m going to give lacto-fermented pickles a try and do some regular pickled beets – just five pounds worth of each. I’m also going to put my hand to sauerkraut if I can get some decent cabbage at the farmer’s market tomorrow. Having tried my fermented dilly beans on the weekend – I am *totally* converted to lacto-fermentation. My only worry is having cold enough storage for the jars of beans and pickles since our basement is perhaps a little on the warm side. It might be that I have to make some space in the back shed mid-fall to store my jars of ferment. Without the water-bath seal they aren’t storeable for as long as a traditional pickle is… though from what I’ve read I suspect we’ve got several months before they get too soft.
And on the “totally-organized” front, I officially started making Christmas presents this week! One, anyway – because I can really only work on one thing at a time. I’m hoping to show it off here shortly as the person it’s intended for doesn’t read this blog. I’m hoping to tackle my list of gifts as early as possible this year so I can get a balance going on over the fall between school, work and life in general.
The next week or so I’ve got a focus on getting the house and garden organized before I start classes again. My grad class this semester is titled “Self and Society” and I have started some of the readings, though a little half-heartedly. While I look forward to a semester discussing human nature, I feel like the philosophical conversation falls somewhat short (where evolutionary biology, psychology and anthropology have extended the discussion to a much greater degree in the last two decades). As much as I’ve been glad to take the summer off, I am totally into going back for more reading, wine-drinking, late-night philosophizing ….. and learning. Of course. And learning.
Overall I’m feeling good – recharged from my various adventures and looking forward to more camping fun in the golden fall. Plus! By scheduling my late summer with attention-holding things I managed to completely avoid my (annual) August depression. So now onto my favourite seaon: early autumn….. shorter days, cooler nights – but still lots of sun and campfires!
Fermenting green beans (an experiment)
While camping in the Cariboo, my friend Kyla extolled the virtues of natural fermentation vs. pickling – and when I got home, there were five pounds of beans of pole beans in need of immediate picking. What better time to give fermentation a try?
So I trimmed up those green beans, blanched them, and added them to a 2 gallon crock* (about four pounds once the too-fat beans were taken out and the ends were off). Mixed in there were five cloves of garlic and about 8 dill sprigs plus 8 small dried chili peppers (garlic and chili from my garden as well). After getting that all layered in the crock, I covered the whole lot with a salty brine (4 cups to two tablespoons of no-additive (canning) salt, dissolved and then cooled). This two gallons took about 12 cups of brine.
To seal the top I filled a zip-lock with water and put that down on top of a clean plastic bag. The goal is to keep the beans from floating above the brine.
Now they are doing their thing in the crock. It’s been three days and when I checked this morning there were bubbles! That’s a sign that the fermentation process is happening. Apparently this will go on for a couple of weeks until the beans taste like a sour pickle and then I can put them in sterilized jars with brine and then onto my canning shelf. No need for a water bath because the brine does the preserving.
I have no idea whether I will enjoy these, but I have to honestly say that pickled beans aren’t entirely my favourite thing. I’ve been looking for a different way to preserve them (and I love deli pickles which are always of the fermented variety). I’ve got another batch to be picked and those I will blanch and freeze for use in winter stews and soups.
I’m also planning to do sauerkraut if this experiment is even marginally successful.
* Last year I bought three antique Medalta crocks off Craiglist for $70, which was a tremendously good price (1 G, 2 G and 5 G) partly because they didn’t have lids (most listed don’t have lids or they sell for a lot more). These are one of the best purchases I have ever made and if you can pick yourself up some on a deal, they are non-reactive, and sturdy as all-get-out, easy to clean, etc. I have never once needed a lid for them (plate, bag, cloth have always done it).
Apricots, ginger and honey – jam!
Although we were just in the interior, we were too far North for cheap fruit purchasing and I was too exhausted in the hot drive home to want to add 5 hours to go via Keremeos (where we buy for canning every year). Instead we have opted for less-intensive canning and more small batches throughout the year which isn’t as cost-effective (by a long shot) but also isn’t so exhausting.
So, smaller recipes – which means more variety – including this sweetness I concocted last weekend:
(Please follow all safe-canning rules that you normally would: sterilize jars, etc. etc.)
Gingery Apricot Honey Jam!
Yield: 9 250-ml jars
10 cups of Apricots, pitted and diced small
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of honey
2 packages of no-sugar needed pectin
3 tbsp grated ginger
1 thin slice of ginger for each jar
- Add apricots, ginger, sugar and honey to a pot. Boil until you can crush the apricots down into a jam-like consistency and the sugar is dissolved.
- Add no-sugar needed pectin, bring back to a boil and let it hard-boil for one minute.
- Take off the heat and ladle into jars. Before putting a lid on the jar, put one thin slice of ginger atop your jam.
- Process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes.
Cape-let (sans hood).
One of the many great things about our recent vacation was that it involved a lot of sitting around on the beach and by the campfire. Which gave me a chance to finish crocheting this wool-silk-bamboo capelet for fall wear. Originally designed to have a hood, I didn’t like the way it looked and so I left the hood-piece as a large collar, finishing it with some turquoise edging and buttons to give it definition. As much as I think that ponchos and capes “make me look fat” I am in love with this warm top-layer and hope to give it lots of use in the fall. It is so warm! It still needs washing and blocking, but I won’t get to that for at least a week, and I wanted to share anyway.
This piece marks a major achievement in crochet for me: 1) I managed to follow a (strangely-written) pattern (with help from someone on Ravelry) 2) I made more than a scarf – this piece involved some actual shaping in the form of decreases and 3) I managed to complete this whole piece with only one missed stitch (which I corrected as soon as I found it). My goal for the winter is a sweater, and this was my “working up to it” piece. Very happy with how it turned out!
Red Cedar 