Spinning with pet fur can be done! In this warm weather Mr. Bunners, aka Attila the Bun, is shedding his white fur in big soft billowy clumps. Petting him it felt sort of like cashmere so I decided to collect it and try spinning it into yarn. First I tried just the fur but the fibers are too short to do much. Next I carded it into some existing wool I had and that worked great. It also worked to lay the fur along the wool as I was spinning. I think this process would work for dog and cat fur too.
I’m looking at Angora rabbits with much more interest. Has anyone tried raising them or spinning their fur?
Natural wool fibers Wool with the bunny fur laid on it. Fur spun with wool using a drop spindle. Here’s what it looks like knit into a small square.
Each year I look at the riot of colorful flowers in my garden and want to save them for the dark winter months. One of the best ways I have found to do this is by making dried flower bouquets. After a lot of trial and error the plants that seem to work the best for this are chives, yarrow, money plant, lavender, hydrangea, oregano, pearly everlasting and grasses with showy seed sprays. Other flowers will dry but a lot of them fall apart or quickly fade.
To dry the flowers cut them with long stems and strip off the bottom leaves. Next tie them at the top with string or wire and hang them in a dark place until dry. I string a piece of rope across the rafters in my basement and hang the bunches from there. Once dry you can arrange them in whatever way you like.
Try out different flowers from your yard and let me know what you like to dry!
Bluebells dry well to a deep lavender color. When drying chives pick and hang them in a dark place before they open completely. Hydrangeas are always good for drying. Daisies are not thought of in dried bouquets but they dry quite nicely. Sea Holly dries well and has an interesting shape to it.
With the warm weather all the fruit is coming in strong! In fact there’s so much it’s time to start canning and jamming.
Friends have been telling me about the virtues of Pomona Pectin for quite a while. I recently got some from PCC, and now I’m hooked. Because it doesn’t require sugar to jell, you can easily vary the amount of sugar you use or you can use a different sweetener all together; the result is a fruitier, fresher jam which is quite nice.
Pomona Pectin
You can get sweet peaches now from the farmers’ market. If you are going to can with farmers’ market produce, always ask to see if they have any produce they have set aside as too blemished to sell. You can often get really good deals this way, and as long as the produce is not spoiled it cans up beautifully for a fraction of the usual price.
Millions of peaches!
First wash the peaches. Then to make them easy to peel, put them in boiling water for a couple of minutes then in cold water until the fruit is cool to the touch. The peels should slide right off.
Transforming into jam.
Next mash them or pulse them in a food processor. For jam you want pieces of fruit so don’t puree them. Put the peaches in a pot with lemon juice and calcium water. Once the mixture comes to a boil, add in the pectin and sugar and bring back to a boil and cook for one to two minutes.
A little extra zip.
I like to add in some flavoring or spices but you need to be careful not to overpower the fruit. Spices can also intensify over time so it’s better to use less to begin with until you get an idea how much tastes good to you.
Clean jars
Carefully pour the hot jam into sterile jars, do a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, and you’re good to go.
Right now is a good time to harvest garlic. Braiding it then hanging it in a cool, dark place is a great way to store it for later.
If the garlic isn’t well dried it will rot.
First dry the garlic until the leaves are limp and the outside of the bulb is getting papery.
It’s ok to leave some of the dirt on the bulbs.
Gently brush off the dirt and trim the roots off. Be careful not to bruise the garlic as it will spoil more quickly if damaged.
If you’re new to braiding then getting someone to help will make a smoother braid.
Line up three bulbs with good long stalks and begin to braid.
Make sure there is some space between the bulbs so they can continue to dry.
With each cross over add in another bulb until you have a braid that is about a foot long. If you go longer it can be quite heavy and hard to hang. It’s also nice to keep the braids a bit shorter to have more to give as gifts.
Ready to hang. If you are a big garlic user then hang in your kitchen, if not put in a cool, airy place and take off heads as needed.
To imprint fabric with leaves and flowers place the plant material on your material, cover with a second layer and pound with a hammer. Let dry then flake off dried plants.
Indigo, calendula and viola flowers placed on cotton fabric.Pound with a hammer until color comes through.Here’s the completed print.
This post is one of the most popular on the site. Over the years I have made necklaces from stones collected on both coasts and they remind me of the trips.
Here are step by step instructions for making necklaces from small stones.
A few tools can make the work go quickly.
To start you will need a few basic tools such as needle-nosed pliers, wire cutters and if you use overlapping jump rings, a tool for separating the pieces of wire.
You can use lovely sterling silver wire or a less expensive metal.
You will also need wire, something to string the rock on and some items to make a closure for the necklace. (If you want to be really rustic you can just tie the ends.)
A little cooking oil makes the rocks gleam and look more beautiful.
Choose your rock. Beaches, lakes and your very own backyard are all good places to find good stones. Unless you have really strong neck muscles keep the rock on the small side.
With many different sizes of stones you can guess on the wire and it will fit one of your stones.
Next cut two pieces of wire; one long and one short. Double over the long piece to make a loop and line up the shorter piece next to it. This loop will be what you use to hang the necklace.
Almost there!
Next take thinner wire and wrap it around the pieces of wire. Use the needle nosed pliers to crimp the wires down then trim them with the sharp ends all on one side; these will go against the rock so they won’t catch on clothing.
A toothpick can make the pulling apart of the wires easier.
Pull pieces of the wire out to make a basket to hold the stone in place.
Wiggle the rock to be sure you are fitting it well.
Wrap the wire around the rock and adjust it so the rock is held firmly in place.
Smooth down the wire around the stone. Be sure to make the loop big enough to feed your cord through.
Trim all the ends of the wire next to the loop except for the really long one.
A river stone transformed.
Wrap the ends to keep them in place; adjust the wire on the rock so it looks good and finish wrapping the wire ends.
All set!
Take cord or leather and make something to string the rock on.
How do you know if a plant might make a good dye? Rub it between your fingers and see if it stains. If it does give it a try!
To help the dye “bite” the yarn or fabric you need to use a mordant. Pickling alum is one I like to use; easy to find and non-toxic. Different mordants will give various shades so try a few!
Use the least processed, non-machine washable wool you can find. If it’s been treated it won’t take dye well.
Believe it or not this is grey from bright red day lillies!
Oregon Grape – I’ve just tried the berries but I’ve read the leaves and roots can be used for a yellow dye. Purple from Oregon Grape with alum mordant. Oregon Grape
Deep yellow from mature dock seeds.
Pale green from fennel Walnut I used some alum but due to the natural tannin in the walnuts a mordant isn’t needed. The color is fairly long lasting and it’s a good idea to wear gloves! Walnut stewing Mulberry from Richland, WA. Here’s wool dyed with mulberry. The different colors result from longer and shorter times in the dye bath. Lady’s Bedstraw Here’s the color when the roots are used. Here’s the color produced from using the flowers with an alum mordant. Tansy makes a nice yellow and it’s a noxious weed so no guilt in picking it! Bracken fern Tansy in the middle and Bracken fern on each side. Bracken in a cast iron pot.
Now that you have dried herbs making your own blends is easy! These make great gifts as well as stepping up the flavor of your own dishes.
Lavender
Here are some of my favorite blends:
Herbes de Provence
Herbes de Provence usually contains basil, bay leaf, marjoram, rosemary, summer savory and lots of thyme. Lavender can be included too but don’t add too much as it’s pretty strong. Here is a base recipe to start with but feel free to play around to get the flavor you like. If you don’t have all of these herbs it’s fine to leave some out.
2 Tablespoons dried basil
1 Tablespoon dried marjoram
1 Tablespoon dried summer savory
2 Tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon lavender flowers
1 bay leaf
½ Tablespoon dried rosemary
Rosemary
Rub for Grilling
3 Tablespoons dried basil
2 Tablespoons dried rosemary
1 Tablespoon dried savory
2 Tablespoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried fennel
1 bay leaf
Oregano
Italian Seasoning
This tastes great in spaghetti sauce, on pizza or in salad dressings.
4 Tablespoons dried basil
2 Tablespoons dried oregano
1 Tablespoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried garlic, (you can leave this out and use fresh instead when it’s time to cook)
1 bay leaf
You can put these blends into small jam jars or metal containers. Keeping air and light out will help the flavors stay bright.
Natural wool fibers
Wool with the bunny fur laid on it.
Fur spun with wool using a drop spindle.
Here’s what it looks like knit into a small square.
Tansy makes a nice yellow and it’s a noxious weed so no guilt in picking it!
