The Hollyhock Blog

Yesterday thought I would give the clouds one more chance to rain on my parade.  I felted a bunch of hand made soap.   It did sprinkle enough that I had to let the soap dry inside, but not enough to really help the extreme dryness.  This morning I put on the labels and here is my shelf of felted Spiced Orange soap.    $3.50 / bar

Felted soap

 The local gal who makes this soap has created an exclusive soap for Hollyhock Farm.  This is the last of the miscellaneous soaps I’ve gotten from her.  

Last night I knit this. 

Mug cozy

I got a bunch of mugs from a thrift store to ‘upcycle’ with cozies.  This is my first try.   The cozy is a little too big.   I think I’ll try to felt it down a bit. 

Last year I bought 2 broken spinning wheels.   I made a deal with a neighbor – who happens to be an awesome woodworker.   I would give him one wheel, if he fixed one for me.   Yesterday I got this back from him: 

Repaired spinning wheel

 All it needs is a drive band – which I can make from any non-stretchy cord.   I’m not sure I’ll know how to spin on it.  I’ve got a little research to do.  It’s very different from my Louet wheel.   In a couple weeks, I’ll be spinning at a ‘country school’.  I hope to bring this new old wheel to let the kids give spinning a try.

Yesterday about noon, I plopped the walnut husks on the stove and set the heat to medium low.  Then I sort of forgot about it.   A few hours later I decided it was time to strain out the husks and toss my yarn in the pot.  I simmered the yarn another hour or so.   I use a lot of walnut husks – so much that the dye is almost like syrup!  So it takes a few rinses, a wash and a final rinse to get the yarn clean.  But….

2 skeins dyed with walnut husks

here they are.   Both skeins were in the pot together, so they should match.  But one skein is for a special order.  It is to match a skein I dyed last fall.  A gal bought the yarn, started socks for her husband and ran out with a half-foot to knit.   If you look closely,

Close-up

you can see that little piece of yarn laying across the skein.  That is a sample from last year’s skein.   I truly can’t believe how close it is.   It is not perfect, but very close.    The new skein should be enough to finish the first pair and knit the poor cold-footed guy another pair.

I couldn’t get the skies to open up yesterday even when I hung my newly dyed yarn to dry on the deck.  But let’s start at the beginning.  I keep pretty good notes on my dyeing techniques and it is a good thing — as I forgot that I usually soak the walnut husks overnight before I dye.  So, I have this pot sitting in the corner of the kitchen. 

Dye stuff

 

A bunch of black walnut husks covered in hot water.  And, those plants – yeah, indigo!  I gave some seeds to a gal in our spinning guild.  She has a greenhouse and brought these and many more to share.  They’ll be going in the garden as soon as they get used to being outside.  With walnut dye in the corner, I decided to get the onion skins out of the fridge.  Here’s what I got:

Onion skins

Dye vs. skins

Drying yarn

 Then I hung it out to dry.  It was cold and cloudy yesterday afternoon - so it didn’t get completely dry. 

I’ve been pretty glued to the old computer lately. 

I’ve added a few more things to my Etsy Shop - even a Father’s Day Gift for the fly tying fisherman in your life.

I also added another art show to to the Events page.  It’s barely summer and I’m already thinking of Christmas!  Yikes!

I’ve got a new logo.

new logo

So I’ve been working on creating new business cards and new brochures.  I’m looking at getting a big banner to use at alpaca shows, art shows and during the farmer’s market.  And then there will be the website re-vamp using the logo and new colors!  A daunting task.

We had progesterone blood tests done on Annie and Chestina.  The results are in, but not good.   Neither is pregnant.   So now we start breeding and have to wait another year!   I guess the only upside is that with the economy in the shape it is, sales have been very slow.  The good news is that both Embrace and Spotsie have lots of baby movement going on.  

It has been really dry around here – the rain that was supposed to start overnight is not here yet.  So I’m going to tempt fate and plan on dying yarn tomorrow.   I have an order for yarn dyed with black walnut husks and my onion bin is full of skins, so I’m going to cook up a pot of onion skins, too.  I figure I can’t lose – either we get the rain we need, or get my yarn dyed and hung to dry outside!

Seems like I’ve been busy this past week, but haven’t had anything picture-worthy to blog about. 

I’ve been adding some things to my Etsy shop.   Please check it out and share it with your friends and family!  Who knows -  maybe they’ll take the hint and get a gift for you! 

I also finished all the pages for each of our alpacas.  Yeah – just in time to relax a few weeks before I’ll have new crias to add to the ‘family tree’.   Embrace was sunning herself yesterday – her big belly soaking up the rays – but of course, she didn’t stay there long enough for me to get my camera.  She is due mid-June! 

So, I had no pictures.  Then I thought I would share this.

Look closely

What is so cool?  The bird on the post?  Nope – something even better.

Gate closure

This gate is really heavy and it had a really stiff wire loop for a closure.   In some sort of stroke of genius, Darryl thought of using old belts.   It is much easier to hook and un-hook the belt buckle than to try to stretch and bend a wire.  This one isn’t but it could easily be nailed to the post so it stays put.   Easier than stapling a wire!  There is another belt at ground level.   I know – you think wire is cheaper than belts, but my Mom is the best shopper ever.  She volunteers at Tusen Tack and can find most anything we need for very little money.  Besides the stores profits all go to the local food shelf or other charities.   Charitable up-cycling or red-neck invention?  You decide!