Christmas Gift Idea: Knit Cotton Dishcloths

I decided that I would go with homemade Christmas gifts this year, because that's what Im in to, and why not? So many people are interested in acquiring homemade everything (it always gets me how some people don't put two and two together and fail to make the "everything" themselves... instead they sacrifice hard earned cash for the goods). So since homemade dishcloths are really popular right now that was what I decided I would make. So a couple of downers with cotton dishcloths, you cant spin your own yarn for it (seems that cotton is a mite scarce in my neck of the woods), AND cotton yarn seems more expensive. We're looking at $1.75 (Michaels) for one ball of 1.5 oz. yarn, which makes one dishcloth. Fortunately after some looking around I found a larger ball for $10 which would have saved me $4 if I would have got that one in the first place. So enough babbling and on to the pattern:

Get some knitting needles, I used 3.5 mm and that was just because I like a tighter weave for these, I find bigger needles give the dishcloths such a ratty look.

R1: Cast on 4 stitches
R2: Knit 4
R3: Knit 1, yarn over, knit 2, yarn over, knit one
R4: Knit the whole row
R5: Knit 2, yarn over, knit the row except before knitting the last 2 stitches, yarn over
R6: Knit the whole row
Continue the stitches from R5 and R6 until you have 53 stitches
Now start to narrow the dishcloth:
Knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, continue knitting row until 5 stitches remain, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit two together and knit one.
Next row, knit the whole row.
Continue in this pattern until you have it narrowed down to four stitches. Cast off. There should be just enough yarn to finish the dishcloth.

* The yarn over throughout the pattern gives in the border along the outside. Please note that there is a hardly noticeable front and back side.

And here is the final product!

Recipes: Something local & Something imported

After the harvest is over, after all those hours of preparing and storing the bounty of the earth, its so nice to pull out a package of fresh fruits for a taste of summer. So, this morning I made a delicious batch of local raspberry and local blueberry muffins:

Local Berry Muffins

Mix
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. white sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder

In a 1 cup measure put
1/3 c. oil
1 egg
top up the cup with milk

Combine and fold in 1c. local berries.
Bake at 400oF for 20 minutes.


Then because sometimes I get a hankering for chocolate and that happens to be something not so local, I made some pinwheel shortbread cookies, using cocoa powder from the US and vanilla from the Dominican.

Pinwheel Shortbread Cookies

Mix:
1 c. butter
1 c. icing sugar
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. water*

Remove half the dough and roll between 2 sheets of wax paper.

With remaining dough, add 1/4 c. cocoa and 1 tbsp. water* and combine.


*If dough does not resemble play dough/is too dry to work, add more water 1 tbsp. at a time.

Roll this dough between 2 sheets of wax paper as well, then layer onto 1st dough. Roll the two layers into a log, wrap in wax paper and quick chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes, or until solid. Unroll from wax paper and slice cookies off log at about 1/4" thickness. Place on pans and bake at 300oF for 15 minutes or until bottoms are golden.

The Chicken Song

Upon planning for our chickens next spring, I thought of a camp song we used to sing. I always forget the lyrics so here they are so I never forget them again;

Roofus Rustus Johnson Brown

Whatcha gonna do when the rent comes 'round

Whatcha gonna do and whatcha gonna say

When you can't pay the rent 'till the end of May

You know, and I know and everyone else knows

You can't pay the rent if you ain't got the dough

Roofus Rustus Johnson Brown

Whatcha gonna do when the rent comes 'round

C - that's the way it begins,

And H - that's the next letter in,

And I - that's the middle of the word,

And C - that you've already heard,

And K - that's the name of a hen,

And E - now we're nearing the N

C-H-I-C-K-E-N

That's the way you spell Chicken!

Can't "Flew the Coop" Now!

Another fall project that we've been working on is the construction of our chicken coop. We started last week by building the base (10'x12') with 2x6 lumber and chip board. We set the base up about a foot high on cement blocks. We also insulated the floor using Styrofoam insulation. We made the frames next. We made space for 4 windows, 2 in the east and 2 in the west. We made an insulated door that's 2'x6'. We got the chipboard hung on the outside and tonight we got the "rafters" in place and the chip board sheets in place on the roof. We still have to vapour barrier and insulate the roof as well as the walls which in hindsight could have been done in a different order... but, since the weather is getting colder and snow could be expected pretty well anytime, the roof needed to get on. We have to cut out the smaller door for the chickens, build the run, shingle the roof and trim and paint the building, but the main structure is up, which is the most important part. According to one estimation, a chicken needs 4 square feet, so with 120 square feet we could keep up to 30 birds! That would work out to a lot of eggs. We also have the run to build which will give them more space yet. Unfortunately the birds wont be free range, because of high traffic on the roads, but they will get rotation around the yard, and freedom in the garden in the fall. If only I had them this year, then I would have to manure my garden!

A Partridge in a ... Casserole Dish

The other day we went partridge hunting. We were only out for about 15 minutes and we got one! My husband showed me how to clean it off, its really simple. You split the bird and the breast comes off really easily. That's the only part that's really worth eating. When we got it home I washed it off really well. There were some feathers that were still attached and you've got to watch under the wings for feathers. I decided that Id like to try roasting it, so I braised it in bacon fat then roasted it at 325oF for about 35 min. I put the bacon fat in the casserole dish with the bird and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and basil. Every 10 minutes or so, Id take it out of the oven and baste it with the bacon fat. When it was done it smelled so good I could hardly wait for supper! At supper we chewed off every precious bit of meat from those little bones. It tasted a lot like chicken, but better! And did I mention that there isn't a drop of natural fat on partridge? So partridge hunting definitely isn't over for this year, we will go again!

Wonderful Wednesday

Well, no new projects in the last couple of days. I was out to the farm again this morning at 7:00am to milk some cows. I took home another 3 litres of milk and did the routine milk/buttermilk/butter thing (which after 3 times of doing can be justified as routine). It was a beautiful morning and again I felt displaced into a story book listening to the cows mooing and roosters crowing with the frosty air hovering around. Yeah, that frosty air... Even though I had mitts on this morning my hands were cold, and poor old bossy didn't like that. She kept moving around and trying the hide her teats. But the milking got done, nevertheless. I did some more double digging when I got home. My plot is now 12 feet by 12 feet. Officially 1/4 of the way done. So is my back, haha. I sorted my tomatoes and when I have the chance Im either going to pressure cook them or make some garlicky tomato sauce and try canning it. With thanksgiving coming up I have a couple of pies to make. Its hard to believe that winter will soon be here. Trying to get everything done before winter is like swimming against the tide!

That Classic Rag Rug

Last night I had a brainwave to try making a rag rug. I grabbed three old mens t-shirts, cut the shirt up the side seam and the armholes/neck holes. Then I cut a 2 inch width strip around the perimeter of the shirt, making one really long strip. Then after doing that with three shirts, I braided the shirts into a long rope. The braiding was a bit tricky, because the three sections kept twisting together. I eventually found what worked best. After each cross over, I moved the pile of that shirt so that the three sections didn't get tangled. I also put the start of the braid under a chair leg to hold it from flipping around. I used two black t-shirts and a white t-shirt and I came out with approx. a 15 inch wide "rug." I tied a knot at the end of the braid so that I can continue on as soon as I get more old t-shirts. What a great way to use up the rag bag!

Double Digging

I decided that I needed an additional garden, specifically for potatoes next year. After reading the digging debate in John Seymour's "New Self-Sufficient Gardener" I decided that double digging would be best for my garden. I liked the fact that you could remove the sod, but just move it within the same plot so you're not robbing the soil of that valuable layer. Double digging is a method of lifting the sod from a trench, 2 feet wide. Then removing the first 5 inches or so of dirt. When the dirt is lifted, you take a spading fork and aerate about 5 inches deep. Then you make a second trench the same width, put the sod upside down in the first trench, chop the sod best you can and pile the dirt from the second trench (again about 5 inches deep) into the first trench. And continue on, using the dirt and sod dug from the first trench and putting it in the last trench. (There's some great diagrams on Google images that illustrate the process.) So that's what I did, anticipating that Id get a lot further than I did. I got 3.5  12 foot trenches completed. So if I work as long and hard as I did today, it should take me 6 days to complete my garden. Weighed with the option of tilling multiple times over several months, Im not sure which the better option is. I guess the fruit of my labour will be the judge. (I better get some mighty big potatoes out of my garden next year!)

The end product looks like this, its end size is 12'x21'. + decorative fence to grow my sunflowers against.

 

Three Auction Finds

Auctions are essential to the farmer. Auctions are FULL of farmers. When I went to an auction this summer I picked up 3 quite essential pieces to my collection of agriculturally geared equipment. I got a DeLeval Junior cream separator in tact, rust free and in working condition. I also got a Spin Well upright spinning wheel made in Sifton, Manitoba. And last but not least a Singer sewing machine in the mint-est condition, treadle run, circa 1940s, with the MANUAL! A short but sweet post, with a thesis of, "make time to frequent the auctions!"

Milking a Cow

Long time no posts! Well maybe Ill get back to it a keep writing about all my agricultural endeavors. Well recently I had the opportunity to milk a cow, something I have been aspiring to do for more years than necessary. Turns out all you need to do is get to know the right people! Well finally I got the chance and gee was it ever hard. I was shown quickly the basics of milking, either use the first two fingers and thumb to draw the milk down the teat or, use all fingers with graduating pressure. Cozy little farm pictures on calendars don't quite capture the whole essence of milking. You've got to have strong hands to successfully milk! When I got the first stream to come out it was maybe the thickness of a sewing needle. But when I got into a rhythm the streams were a bit more significant. But then my legs would go numb for sitting on them and Id have to readjust and start over. Another problem was that the teat would get dry quickly and I had to dip my fingers in some milk to get started again. You have to rotate through all four teats. Some will give more milk than others. Some cows may have a "bad udder" which could have been damaged by mastitis and not give milk as easily. It took my probably 40 minutes to milk the cow, and she gave about 4 or 5 litres. It was a Jersey and boy is that milk ever rich! I was fortunate to get 2 litres to take home. After straining the milk, I put it in jars, took it home and set it in 9x13 pans in the fridge over night. This let the cream rise to the top of the milk and in the morning I was able to skim it off. The cream was so rich. I kept about 1/4c. cream for coffee, and the rest went in the kitchen aid mixer. In about 15 min of mixing I had a jolly pat of butter and about double the amount in buttermilk. I rinsed the butter thoroughly with cold water, mashing it with my hands and then put it in a small jar. It was bright bright yellow. I salted the butter and it tasted fabulous! The buttermilk was used for a batch of buttermilk doughnuts. As for the milk left after skimming, I put it in a stock pot and brought it to 158oF for a 15 minutes and that pasteurized it. In my opinion it was the best milk I have ever tasted. Hopefully I can milk ol' bossy again and have the pleasure of drinking fresh milk and having fresh cream and butter around!