The Mountain of "Useful" Things

So, I just moved. Firstly, I now have my very own sewing room. It's got windows on two walls (lots of light) and a wood floor (giant cutting/layout surface). I'm very excited to use it, but first I have to put all the stuff away...ack.

The process of moving out and then moving in is sort of amazing. Having to box things up, haul them across town, and find a new place for it to occupy gave me a real perspective on how much Stuff I have. I have this compulsion to keep things that "might be useful"...or not. I love thinking about what things could be, but it seems I rarely realize that potential. I have bags and bags of stuff that I acquired to turn into something else either because I liked the fabric or because I already owned it but don't wear it or because it was free.

Here's the deal. I'm joining Wardrobe Refashion again, but this time for 6 months. I'm going to tackle this pile of clothing and ugly fabric (the good fabric is 'stash', which at the moment is allowed). Anything that I haven't turned into something useful by the end of 6 months is going to Goodwill.
I'm also going to use this as an opportunity to develop some sewing skills I keep meaning to work on. Some of the things you might expect to hear about in the coming months:
- fitting clothes
- drafting patterns for a basic shirt and basic pants
- learning to machine quilt
- cutting, sewing, and tieing a quilt made from old jeans

Canning

August is almost over, but I do have an August post. Well, actually, it may really be a July post. It's hard to keep it all straight.



My boyfriend and I have started canning. We started with the asparagus pickle recipe from the New York Times back in May when asparagus were everywhere. And when zucchini started coming in, zucchini refrigerator pickles seemed to be the natural thing (via Tea and Cookies)*. Given our initial success, we then tackled quick dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, an dilly beans from Joy of Cooking.



After all the pickling, we took a class at Stratford Ecological Center** on canning tomatoes. It's the same process as pickles (a hot water bath), but now we know to start timing from a rolling boil, not when the pickles go in. The zucchini pickles could also probably be properly preserved. They're very similar to bread and butter pickles made with cucumbers, so we could do it as long as we use the same amount of zucchini (non-acid) as we would cucumbers (also non-acid). The trick is to maintain the proper acidity so all the scary stuff (botulism) dies.

And here are our canned goods safely ensconced in their new home in the basement of the house we just moved to:



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*As a side note, this is the first use of zucchini I've found that I like that doesn't involve shredding it until it's unrecognizable.

**Stratford is a really cool place. It's a working farm that has an extensive education program. We also took a class called Beginning Goat Raising where we learned about the care and keeping of dairy goats including some hands-on experience with milking and hoof trimming. They also have education programs for school groups.

Pasta!

While I was traveling, I started making plans for a perfect day when I got back. I also started reading Smitten Kitchen. Somewhere along the way, I concluded that the perfect activity for a day off was to learn how to make pasta. My grandparents have a very straightforward and encouraging set of directions.

Believe it or not, my major concern about this whole undertaking was the fact that I may never be able to eat pasta from a box again. When I started baking my own bread a few years ago, I discovered that the bread I'd grown up with just didn't have the same heft. Now if I buy bread, I have to get the expensive kind from the bakery or do without.
Overall, the process wasn't difficult. I got a little worried in the middle because semolina flour is similar to cornmeal, and I wasn't sure I'd gotten the right one. I got it at the bulk foods section of the local food coop, so who knows? But, after it was boiled, it definitely tasted like pasta, so probably not cornmeal. I made a second round with bread flour, for comparison. The semolina version is better.
If I intend to do this often, I think a pasta machine might be in order. I didn't add enough water initially, so the dough was very stiff and difficult to roll out. After I added some water, it was much easier to roll with my rolling pin. I'm very satisfied with the result, and I now have pasta drying in my kitchen for later this week. Would I do it again? Yes, if I have time (rolling out the pasta by hand takes a while). Have I sworn off boxed pasta forever? We'll see.

My Traveling Project

When traveling (especially for work), I like to have something to do with my hands. You see, I tend to have a lot of extra time to think about sewing projects I'd like to do, and so I need a way to channel that creative/productive energy. Lately, I've been knitting socks because they're portable and compact. Because I was concerned that one pair of socks might be finished before I got home, I also packed a quilting project, which is good since I forgot the second pair of sock needles (socks should be knit two at a time or not at all).

This project was inspired by a frozen river I saw in the winter. The texture of the ice contrasted with the texture of the flowing water. There will be three sections each with a different pattern quilted into it: frozen, flowing, and turbulent. This section here is the middle section, and it's supposed to be doing the 'flowing' part. I think this project is a lot bigger than I thought, but I suppose that's ok since this is supposed to be my project for learning how to make proper hand quilting stitches. 'Even' I achieve some of the time. 'Small', well, my stiches are closer to 'not excessively large'. 'Same on the back as the front', not so much.

I bought some duct tape to hold my luggage together (because I'm too stubborn to buy a proper carryon with seams that aren't in the process of disintegrating), and it came in handy for making a thimble-like thing for the hand under the quilt so I can stab that full of holes instead of my finger. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how this project is coming along. More work than I bargained for (isn't everything?), but still coming out reasonably close to my initial vision despite my lack of skills.

*WIP = work in progress, UFO = unfinished object

Spring! (in Ohio)

Sometimes it looks like this:



But mostly it looks like this: