December 7, 2012

Fiber Friday: Knitting The Tiniest Scarf

I’ve been felting full time lately, stocking my Etsy shop with lots of cute Christmas ornaments, bringing them to holiday markets and even dropping off a selection at Stash, a local yarn shop. I’m loving the freedom of creating critters that don’t have to stand! I can make flying sheep or rolly polly penguins that dangle from a strand of yarn, perfect for adorning the Christmas tree! My favorite ornaments so far might be the ones wearing teeny, tiny scarves.

These scarves were both knit using my handspun: fine merino yarn. Knitting a tiny scarf is easy! In fact, if you’re a knitter i think you should go find a skein of fine yarn and knit up a few of these tiny scarves and maybe a hat (post about THAT next week!) to warm up any collection of yours for the holidays. Imagine all your Breyer horses, Barbies, porcelain dolls or little teddy bears all wearing hand-knit scarves this winter: it’d be precious!

For my scarves i used fine merino yarn and size 1 DPNs. All you need is two needles and the stockinette stitch. For the penguin i cast on 5 stitches and knit shortways until the scarf reached the length i wanted. For the polar bear i cast on 20 or so and knit longways until it reached the thickness i wanted. Both scarves rolled quite a bit, but one stretched into place the overall effect is super cute and definitely scarfy. Use bulkier yarn and larger needles for bigger dolls. It’s super fun to knit up teeny tiny projects – they’re even faster than baby clothes!

I can’t pick just one Fiber Friend to feature this week, so i thought i’d put a gallery of my available friends instead. I’m still taking custom orders in time for Christmas and can guarantee “in time” arrival for any purchases of in stock friends by Monday December 17th. Don’t hesitate- they’re going fast!

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December 6, 2012

My Favorite Christmas Cookies – Recipe and Directions

This is an old family recipe that was probably taken from the Better Homes and Gardens or Joy of Cooking cookbooks. Although i did not WRITE this recipe, i do enjoy making it EVERY year… and have some special suggestions on how to best enjoy them. So, ENJOY!

The recipe for these variety cookies is meant to be split into three and cooked as Vanilla, Spice, and Chocolate. Long ago my mom decided that these aren’t worth eating unless they’re all chocolate. I will include the full recipe in case you want to divide and flavor, but honestly: make them all chocolate. Note: my sisters and i know these cookies as “the ones you suck the coldness out of” if you’re curious as to what the heck that’s supposed to mean, let me know and i’ll fill you in on the real secret on how to eat these cookies.

Variety Cookies

  • 2 cups vegetable shortening (Please get the Spectrum veggie shortening, vs Crisco. You could probably sub lard)
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs
  • 6 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
  • 2 tsp molasses
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves
  • Sprinkles
  1. Preheat oven to 400
  2. cream shortening, gradually add the sugar and beat until light
  3. Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time beating thoroughly
  4. beat until light and fluffy
  5. Mix dry ingredients (not spices)  and add to creamed mixture, mixing well
  6. Divide dough in 3 parts, leave one plain, add molasses and spices to one, and mix in melted chocolate into the other

To make the cookies:

Roll dough into a ball

Place balls on cookie sheet and smoosh with the bottom of a small glass. The best glass is one that has a concave bottom so that the cookies end up looking a bit like raviolis: humped centers with ruffled edges. Consider using a silpat or parchment paper. I like to smooch, add some sprinkles, lightly smoosh again. You may like to keep a dish of flour on hand to flour the glass you’re using between smooshings.

Bake 10 minutes.

Be careful not too have your racks to low as the bottom of the cookies can burn and it’s hard to tell when they’re done as they’re already dark brown, the chocolate ones at least.

They’ll come out soft and cakey, so take great care in lifting them off of the sheet onto paper towels to cool.

I usually halve this recipe and make only chocolate ones. Makes enough to give to some friends and have plenty of decadence stored in the freezer for us. Notes: just want to be sure i made it clear: if you’re making the chocolate or plain cookies do NOT add the dry spices or molasses. Still wondering about “sucking the coldness out?” It has to do with storing in the freezer…. you know you wanna know! Leave me a comment and ask me :)

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December 5, 2012

Does Your Dog Flyball?

Mine is learning – and LOVES IT! Pocket is a 2.5 year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi who has about 5 classes of Flyball under her belt, and enough “drive” for a whole team!


 

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December 4, 2012

Holidays in a Small Town

I am so blessed to live in a small town. I realize the speed of the small town may not be for everyone – it’s slow. It’s friendly. It’s full of folks who wave and call you by name. It can also be full of gossip and tall tales, but i prefer to focus on the highlights. The holidays are often an extra special time in a small town. We may not have the epic performance of The Nutcracker like Austin did, or huge parades with balloons or floats like New York or Portland. What we do have are family friendly events filled with happy kids allowed to run all around with their friends and little markets filled with hand-crafted goodies and your favorite neighbors.

We started our holiday season at the Philomath tree lighting. As childless adults who didn’t grow up here (and thus don’t know a ton of folks), we often feel a bit out of place at this event. Elementary kids sing carols, the school mascot makes an appearance and kids tear around the front lawn around the Christmas tree like bolts of sugar fueled lightening. We always bring OUR kid, Pocket and she helps to break the ice with our neighbors since everyone wants to say hello to her.

I’ve been singing carols in my head since way before Thanksgiving as i have been felting  a ton of little Fiber Friends ornaments for market and my online shop. Both holiday markets i vended were this past weekend and i had a real blast. The first market, north of Corvallis wasn’t quite our style: there were avon booths and the like, so my handcrafted soaps and felted ornaments didn’t quite blend in. Sunday found us in our “old stomping ground” at the Wren Community Market where we’ve been vending since we first moved to town. Talk about small town, the Wren market is VERY small, but can get a surprising number of visitors especially for the holiday market (it’s on the way to several Christmas tree farms!) I love hanging out with my friends, meeting new neighbors (did you hear that – we might be moving to Kings Valley soon!) and establishing myself as THE soapmaker for the Kings Valley/Wren/Pedee areas. There’s something about hanging out in an oooold community hall warmed by a massive woodstove, sharing stories with friends and listening to Christmas music that really stirs the holiday spirit.

How about you – do you live in a small town or a big city? Do you get your Christmas spirit from others around you? Events? Music? Is your Christmas spirit fueled by your love of Christ or by childhood memories of decorated trees and delicious cookies?

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