Just Dandy

Over the winter, I started pinning things to a sustainable living Pintrest board. Mostly, the pins revolve around foraging and replanting kitchen 'scraps' like the bottom of your celery.  I was hoping that I would do something with the board, and the last two weeks, I have!

S and I are a part of a community garden initiative this year. We have a 4x12 raised bed that we could plant in.  When we went to the work bee to make those boxes, we brought the kiddos along.  I was on little one patrol, so I brought along a huge bowl, and took the kids to look for edible plants! We found some chives and dandelion greens. Buddy absolutely LOVES picking things out of the grounds and being able to eat them. (We're working on the which ones to eat educations)

Buddy picking chives (bottom bowl had ice to keep everything from wilting)

Since the initial forage, we have gone out a few more times.  The last times, we were gathering dandelion blossoms. The kids loved picking the flowers and it took probably 10 minutes to gather as much as we would need. I'm pretty sure our neighbors think we're crazy, but I think they'll like the jelly we made for them.

Dandelion blossoms

After they were all picked, the real work started. The blooms got a bath in order to wash all the bugs and dirt off of them.

 

 

washed and set out to dry

After the blossoms dried for a little while, it was time to pluck the petals from the base.  It isn't hard to do, but it is a little time intensive. While I was pulling the petals apart, I was thrilled with how pretty it looks! Dandelions of the same family as chamomile or daisies, and when you take them apart, it's quite easy to see it.

Dandelion petals

Aren't the petals pretty? I had grand plans the first day I was cleaning the flowers to make all sorts of things.  It turns out you needs TONS of flowers to get enough petals to do much at all.  The first bunch was only enough to put into a quick bread recipe I found.

Dandelion bread - fresh out of the oven

The bread was yummy and pretty, but I don't think I'll do it again. It wasn't a distinct enough taste to warrant the whole process.

Yum!

Can you see the pretty yellow petals?

I did use more petals to make apple dandelion marmalade, but I didn't read the instructions properly and it has turned out to be more of a flop that is delicious on top of ice cream or crackers!  Oops.

I'm going to post later next week about the marmalade that did work! 

Overall, I have loved the entire process and am looking forward to picking those fun yellow flowers throughout the summer!

Sunny and yellow,
J

Soli Deo Gloria

Craft!

I know I haven't exactly been posting about crafting or cooking lately. I had had high hopes at the genesis of this blog to be fermenting veggies and cooking and crafting as if that was all I did.  The thing is, it really isn't all that I do. It's becoming more frequent that I cut down on the frivolous and cook simple healthful meals instead of coming up with tempting appetizers or delightful desserts. There have been times when I can pull out the stops and make a mess of the kitchen, and they have been wonderful. 

Lately, though, I've been sneaking in a row or two of knitting in between laundry, dishes, and organizing copious notes and resources surrounding stress management or self-regulation in children.

I got some lovely wool from my parents for Christmas. It's grey 1-ply all Canadian sheep wool. Oh! It is wonderful. When I saw it I didn't immediately know what I was going to do with it.  Usually, I buy my own yarn, as it is often hard to come up with something that fits parametres set by a certain amount of yardage. BUT! I recently found a new tool on Ravelry (a knit/crochet pattern treasure trove) - it has search parametres that include yardage, yarn size, and so on. Before, I had just looked for certain items, like socks or blankets....little did I know I was using it in such a juvenile way! Hooray for better searches!

Anyway, I found a lovely simple top-down raglan sweater that is highly customizable. The thing that drew me to this pattern, was the lovely button detail that is actually a functional closure!

As I was surveying the yardage needed for the size I thought I needed, I realized I was about 200yd short. I dug through my stash of leftovers. I had a few balls that I bought on S and my 5th anniversary. They are gorgeous hand dyed alpaca. I didn't want to use them on just anything, what with the emotional significance and all. This sweater was just the perfect place! I added some stripes and we're off to the races!

Here's a picture!

The sweater with my 'are you taking the picture' face.

So, in the picture, I had already taken the sweater off the needles and restarted because the sizing was WAAAAY off for me.  I did it in a much smaller size, and  you can sort of tell in this picture, too, that it's still a little big.  I frogged it back to just under the bust and added quite a few more decreases!

I'm almost back to where it is in this picture.  With the extra yardage from the extra decreases and size decrease I think I might have enough to make it a long sleeve sweater, too!

This is the first adult piece of clothing I've made. I think I might be hooked.

I'll update you later when it's closer to being finished!

knitting one, purling...none,
J

Soli Deo Gloria