BFLs Top the Plate...

...the cookie plate, that is. A few with frosting wool and a few with coconut wool. All homemade cookies. Yum! Joined a "cookie exchange" with my sisters and niece. We ended up with over 3,000 cookies....I know! Put together a cookie platter and a few smaller pans for people at work.

The Lincolns and Llama at Breakfast

The calm before the storm.

Visions of Pumpkins Dancin' in My Head!

Lisa's (of Somerhill Farm) question about pumpkin recipes conjured up vision of all good things pumpkin! Fresh pumpkin is great this time of year. Here are some recipes that I've used over the years and some from my Great Pumpkin Cookbook that I haven't tried yet.

A note about canned versus fresh: Season it, boil it, and mash or puree it. After mashing or puree-ing, place it back in the pan and set on low heat to reduce the water content. Watch it closely so it doesn’t scorch. Then line a large strainer with a double thickness of cheesecloth (or a few flattened coffee filters). Place the strainer in a bowl and pour the puree into the lined strainer. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of the pumpkin and place the entire set-up in the refrigerator overnight. You can now use this puree in any recipe that calls for canned pumpkin, or pumpkin puree.

Pumpkin recipes:

If you would like a PDF of the recipes, just let me know. These JPG files might be hard to read.

Pilgrim Verse, circa 1630

“For pottage and puddings, and custards and pies,
Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies.
We have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon.
If it were not for pumpkins we should be undone.”

Weekend of Knitting and Weaving Classes

Two great classes at Woven Art (E. Lansing, MI) just happened to fall on this Saturday and Sunday, so that's where I spent the weekend. They were great classes, but my brain is fried!

Saturday was Portuguese Knitting using a pin hooked up on your shoulder which allows you to maintain tension on the yarn. You also use your thumb to move the yarn over the needle. It was very good and showed me that there are different knitting options.

Knitting class at Woven Art

My sister Ellen took the class with me.

Sunday was Double Heddle Weaving on a rigid heddle loom. Weaving with two heddles allows you to weave many different textures and patterns. I plan to catalog my projects on Weavolution. I took my new 25" Schacht RH loom to class and warped away. The others in the class wove some beautiful stuff.

My sample project.

My RH loom on its stand and sample weaving coming along.

Classmate's project

Classmate's project

Classmate's project

After two full days of classes and a head of fried brain cells it was wonderful coming home to our new sheep, our trusted ole guard llama, and all the rest of our critters.

New Lincoln bred ewes...Haley and Winnie

Puzzle

...And Then There Were Lincolns

Instead of candy for my Halloween treats, I got a couple of "wooly creatures with curly features". Yep, we picked up two bred Lincoln Longwool ewes from the Michian Bred Ewe Sale. It wasn't spur-of-the-moment, we planned to bid on them before we went to the sale. We had the breed pegged for a while now.
Because our BFL flock is certified in the SFCP, we had to decide how we were going to incorporate sheep that are not in the program. We had two choices: lose the certified status of the BFL flock or start a flock that is epidemiologically separate from the BFLs. We chose door number two. We have the means to run a separate flock (separate barns, pastures, and equipment) and it will give me the chance to add a few goats as well. I had many discussions with the area epidemiology officer at USDA-APHIS Veterinary Services to ensure that we're meeting all the requirements.
The ewes came from Harvey Warrick of Adrian (MI) and they are a year and a half old. They have a very good temperment and settled into their new pasture very well. So you'll see Lincoln lamb pics next spring along with the BFLs.

Fiber Expo - Vendor Booth and Workshop

Now that I've had a chance to catch my breath after Fiber Expo, I'd like to reflect a bit. This was our first time as a vendor at a fiber event. I've been involved with many other shows, different types of show, at different levels but not sitting in a vendor booth selling our wares. We had a great time and did very well selling our fiber stuff. Breaking down and loading up on Sunday evening was quick because there wasn't much inventory to pack up...that was nice!

Here are a few pics of the shelves my DH made for the booth. He did a great job on them and they are very easy to set up and take down. We were just getting set up on Friday night.

Then on Saturday morning I taught a fiber blending workshop (while DH manned the booth). The students were wonderful and had a great time. Our class seemed to stir up a lot of interest from the general public walking by. How could it not with the wonderful blends that were created. Some people even came right into the classroom area to watch and ask questions. Here are a few pics of the workshop (more pics on my photo gallery):

We figured out a lot of "do's and don'ts" for next time. Thank goodness that I have some time to get my you-know-what together before then. And I'm sure I'll be teaching the workshop too...great fun!

A Trek Across Michigan for Yarn

Not that I need more yarn or am keen on purchasing commerical yarn, but I'm always on the look out for yarn stuff. As my job takes me across the state of Michigan from time to time I'm always on the look out for yarn/fiber shops. I couldn't let this week go to waste. While planning my route to Traverse City (to attend a conference) I had to find as many yarn shops as possible to visit. This is how I made out:

Starting out in Lansing (A) I swung by the Tawas Bay Yarn Company in Tawas City (B) to check it out. What a great shop! She (the shop owner whose name I've shamefully forgotten) has a great selection of everything you would expect in today's yarn shops. I picked up some sock software to create my own sock designs as well as yarn for a future baby project. She also had a nice selection of patterns created by Michigan knitwear designers...that was neat!

Then I was on to Traverse City (C) for my work-related obligations. After a few days at the Grand Traverse Resort (always a wonderful stay), I moved on to Glen Arbor (D) to Mary Turak's Yarn Shop at the Village Sampler. Mary has beautiful original hand knits and does amazing color blending work with different yarns. I couldn't resist a hand-dyed sock blank and a couple of skeins of yarn. Her shop welcomes book discussion groups and a very warm and friendly atmosphere.

Back in the car and on to The Yarn Market in Beulah (E). Again, a nice selection of yarn and very helpful staff. The shop has a nice area in front to sit and knit looking out onto the quaint downtown street. I picked up some Debbie Bliss silk yarn (on sale, yay!) and some other colorful yarn that compliments the silk. It's all on my loom right now making its way to scarfville (I'll post a pic when it's complete).

Then about 60 miles later I ended up in Ludington (F) at Nautical Yarn. All I can say is YARN, YARN, YARN! This place is a yarn gold mine! I browsed and chatted with the yarn expert until closing time but didn't escape without a memento...two skeins of this wonderful hand-dyed yarn from Vermont and a few other skeins of something or other.

Then it was the long drive back home (G). I arrived home about 10 p.m. with skeins of yarns dancing in my head. I could have got a lot of knitting done over the 500+ miles if it wasn't for the fact that I had to do all the driving, but that's o.k. too. A good 19-hour historical fiction audiobook was great company. BUT I was very glad to get home to hubby, the critters, the sheep, their wool, and my wheels. Spin On!