Rain, Rain, Rain

We’ve adopted a new friend from the Red Falcon Ranch who now lives in our home school room.

“Rain” is a Jersey Wooley bunny who missed her opportunity to be a show rabbit, since she is genetically two colors, and that blemish is a disqualification on the show circuit and within 4-H. She is a broken Shigouti doe; born to two Chestnut parents, but a recessive shaded gene has caused her Agouti color to express itself as a partial shaded. Therefore, she is a show-quality rabbit with a non-showable color. (We love her just the same.)

The Jersey Wooley started as a cross between the Nederland Dwarf and the French Angora, known for its luxurious hair fiber. It is now a recognized breed of its own.

The fiber is harvested naturally by simply gently brushing the Jersey Wooley’s coat. It may be combined with another fiber such as wool and made into a fine angora-type yarn.

We may or may not venture to learn the art of spinning, but we are greatly enjoying this sweet and gentle pet, and we’re glad to give her a warm, safe home. We do know that spinning classes are taught at Smitten With Knitten in Waseca, MN, from time to time.

Most Adorable Blog

This afternoon I was introduced to one of the most adorable blogs. Actually, Oliver+S gets the credit for helping me to notice this blog.

Anyone who loves to see little wiggly toes and beautifully sewn garments for a little one will love this blog.

Just click right here. Townmouse

Grandma turns 90

My husband’s grandmother, Zelma, celebrated her 90th birthday on November 9. We had the priviledge of visiting her in Macomb, Illinois, on Monday for a special lunch. What a blessing to spend time with her. Grandpa Dixon told me once that Grandma made all of Bert’s mother’s clothes when she was little, and often she’d even create her own patterns. We have several wonderful quilts in our home made by Grandma for her great grandchildren. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Two New Fabrics Just In

We now have two beautiful new white fabrics at Blumenkinder Heirlooms.

In stock is 9-ounce Interlock Knit by Fabric Finders. This fabric is 60″ wide for $9.50/yard. This fabric would make a wonderful baby’s layette, turtle necks for older children, or even a soft beret.

We also now carry Fabric Finders’ Pima Cotton Broadcloth. It is 60″ wide and $7.50/yard. This fabric pleats beautifully for smocked inserts. It’s also great for shirts, linings and slips.

Be sure to check out more beautiful fabrics on our Fine Fabrics page.

Knitting With My Four Year Old

We love to knit around our house. We’ve found this old art to be a delightful way to fill our spare moments and a way to create something beautiful and useful.

My athletic, high-energy, high climbing Rachel just started to catch the art of knitting. It was a beautiful time watching her sit on the couch concentrating on each stitch, remembering which needle goes where and which way to wrap the yarn.

We’ve found that little hands do well with large, straight knitting needles and a chunky or worsted weight wool yarn. And, patience is the key to encouraging the process of learning this skill that does require some coordination. Here’s our comical discovery: The girls were having some trouble finding two of the same large-size knitting needles (who knows how that happened!). They did find two needles of the same size, one white and one pink. This difficulty resulted in our discovering that using two different colored needles actually helps Rachel remember that the right needle (pink) goes behind the left (white).

Recently, we read a wonderful book, Knitting from the Netherlands, on traditional Dutch Fisherman’s sweaters, by Henriette van der Klift-Tellegen. This book documents the oral tradition of patterns that were never written down but were passed from mother to daughter in the villages along Holland’s coastline. We enjoyed learning that in a place called Edgmond, little girls were taught to knit socks once their little fingers were limber enough for the task. “To inspire enthusiasm for the task, their mothers would conceal pennies in the ball of sajet (an all-wool yarn of the time). Since sajet was sold in skeins which had to be wound into balls before knitting, it was not difficult to hide a few pennies in the ball. The little girl was allowed to buy candy with her pennies as soon as she had finished knitting the ball of yarn. To get their rewards as quickly as possible, the girls would stand and knit on their front stoops before going to school in the morning.”

We’re excited and thankful to see Rachel (who celebrates her fifth birthday tomorrow!) take off a little on knitting and enjoy that delightful skill.

A Lovely Dress

Lara Mendoza created this dress for her beautiful daughter, Julianna. The fabric is Fabric Finders‘ paisley pima cotton print. Absolutely beautiful, Lara!

A Wonderful Mother

My mother-in-law, Patricia Hurst, went home to be with the Lord on Monday, September 21, following a four-year battle with cancer. I praise the Lord for having given me such a wonderful mother-in-law. I always called her “Mom”, and she welcomed me into Bert’s family as if I were her own from the beginning. I have so many wonderful memories of the times that we spent with her.

Patricia Hurst & Hannah Perry, 1999, a weekend in New Hampshire.

Bert’s mom was a home economics major and a dietician. She loved to cook. She loved to prepare and provide a wonderful meal. She loved to knit and sew. She loved to do kind and meaningful things for people. She always had a loving, supportive spirit.

When I think of Mom, I think of the many recipes that we received from her. Some are simply ones that she found and liked, others are family traditions, like the Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake that Bert says he enjoyed at every birthday while growing up, except for his mom’s when it was always carrot cake.

In Mom’s Honor and with Bert’s permission, I thought I would share the Dark Chocolate Cake recipe from the Kitchen of Pat:

1/2 C. cocoa
1/2 C. cold water
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
2/3 C. butter
1 2/3 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 C. buttermilk
2 C. flour
1 t. vanilla

Two 9 inch layers

Mix cocoa, water, salt, soda. Let stand while creaming butter and sugar ’til light & fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add cocoa mixture. Add flour & buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with flour. Beat in vanilla. Spoon into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Mocha Icing:

1 lb. confectioner’s sugar
1/2 C. cocoa
1/4 t. salt
3 T. soft butter
1 t. vanilla
hot coffee

Combine sugar, cocoa, salt. Add butter & vanilla. Pour in hot coffee 1 T. at a time, beating until smooth, thick & spreadable.

A funeral for Mom will be held on Saturday, September 26 at 10:30 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church of Chesterton, Indiana. We miss her greatly.

An Alpaca Hat and a Home

It occurred to me today that it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything to this site. My many apologies, as my family has been searching for a new home in a Minnesota town called Waseca. If all goes well, we’ll move to a “just right” home in Waseca that is less than five minutes from my husband’s new job with Emerson Network Power and a few blocks from a bike trail system.

Someone mentioned to me a while ago that for some needlework is a form of therapy. I hadn’t really thought about that, but I think she is right. Looking for a new home can be a challenging time. Life is fast-paced and a lot of fun, and I really enjoy a few moments to knit a few stitches here and there, sometimes only in the vehicle when my husband is the one driving. And then seeing a project finished is a lift for me.

I took a break from smocking and knitted a hat for myself from a yarn that my husband bought for me when we visited an alpaca farm in Minnesota, Blue Sky Alpacas, as a family field trip this year. I get a kick out of the fact that my hat is the same color as the chocolate brown alpacas that we visited at that farm. I also was amused by tiny pieces of hay that were still in the yarn. Otherwise, it was clean as can be. Alpaca is my favorite yarn. It does not contain lanolin as sheep wool does, which can cause a bit of allergies for me. It is very soft and luxurious and it cost $15 to make this hat with one hank of yarn.

We’re watching the maple leaves begin to change to a beautiful red here. I can’t wait to see how my alpaca hat works in the Minnesota cool weather that will soon be here.

Wee Care Patterns

This week I have received several inquiries for Wee Care patterns, so I thought I would be helpful and provide a direct link to this information:

The Smocking Arts Guild of America provides a free downloadable pattern on their website. Just click on the above link.

My friend Adrea and I made a few of these gowns a few years ago for a baby girl who was born premature. The gowns went together quickly, the smocking hardly took any time at all, and it was a fun way to help provide something that was not found in the stores.

We might just have to do that again!

Lakes & Prairies Chapter

We’re excited about our new chapter of the Smocking Arts Guild of America that is forming in Minnesota.

You’re invited to come smock with us at Associated Sewing in Bloomington on the following dates:

August 29 10:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.
September 19 1-3 p.m.
October 17 1-3 p.m.
November 21 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
December 19 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Cost is $1. For more information, contact Connie Perry at bcperry@usfamily.net or 952-270-4417.