Apron Challenge: October

This month kicks off our Apron Challenge!  Psst, more info can be found on the right sidebar, in case you missed the intro post.  For October I wanted to do something Halloween-themed, of course.  I had one yard of vintage fabric in my stash that was whispering about its desire to be a pencil skirt.  But once I spied those zigzags in Ghost White, Elphaba Green and Pumpkin Orange, I knew to look no further.  

I used Heat 'n Bond to adhere the spooky eyes across the bottom edge.  They were cut out from a roll of 3" inch wide black ribbon.  And while wandering down the isle of trims, looking for inspiration, I came across the perfect saucy fringe.  lol

And to make life on the Homestead a bit more interesting, we discovered a stray kitten a couple weeks ago.  He was hiding out in the garage, and after a few days of living on our side porch, he grew accustomed to the noises of our farmhouse.  He's enjoying life on the inside now!  

Because I found him on our thirteenth wedding anniversary, I decided to name him Dreizehn.  This means thirteen in German which the kids dislike, so we agreed to call him Zehny (pronounced 'zanny').  Zehny makes a cool six cats at our house.  Such a tolerate Hubby, I have!


But back to the aprons . . . I'd love to see what you ladies have been creating!  Remember to post your progress and finished photos in our photo bucket album (a link can be found at the right side bar as well).  I have plans to do holiday-themed aprons for the next couple of months, but then I'll be changing it up to suit my yearly routine a bit more.  Thanks for sewing along!

Yes, that blur back there is Zehny!

Working 'round the homestead

So the first day of Autumn is officially tomorrow, and it is apparent that Fall has already arrived at the Homestead.  Even though the garden is starting to look rather forlorn, what with the tomato blight and froze off squash plants, I'm still looking at a table full of tomatoes.  I guess canning is on my To Do list today.  Louie has spent more time huddling these past few days which is a sure sign that the temps are falling.  Our big tough barn cats tend to huddle in the house, huddle on our bed at night, huddle for warmth about this time of year.  It's a precursor to hibernation.  I just hit the coffee pot more often.  :)

Hank needed a break from the neon office lights and conference calls.  He decided to abandon his "real" job in the big city for needed rest and relaxation in the country air.  Translation:  He's swinging a hammer all day, trying to get up that new machine shed before the snow flies.  So since my man is a stay-at-home farmer today, I thought I'd put a little twist on my stat-at-home shepherdess routine.

I tried out a different set last night.  Lovingly referred to by Hank as my "girl-hawk," I set a row of curlers straight down the middle, mohawk-style and pincurled the rest as I usually do.  Slept on it and whipped this out this morning.

Admittedly I had envisioned more of a glamorous Betty Grable updo, but this is what I got.  I tend more towards vintage styles rather than rockabilly, but seriously, I'm home canning tomatoes today . . . this should suffice.

It is a messier style than I'm used to.  And I'm pretty sure there are approximately 21 bobby pins in that nest doing absolutely nothing, hopefully the other 7 are holding on.  With any luck I won't have pins dropping into my canner . . .

And of course Bosley is loving all the commotion around the house today.  Typically his days involve lots of sleeping and chewing and waiting for the kids to come home from school.  But with Hank slicing up all those 2x4s, Bosley's finding much more interesting things to chew on. 

Here's hoping your homestead is easing into Autumn!  And remember to put a little Betty Grable in your step, even if you're just do-si-doing in the kitchen all day!

Back to the Wheel

Now that the pin-up contest is buttoned up for this year, I can refocus my attention on my sheep.  The spring lambs have pritner doubled in size!  I promise to post photos of them soon, but I was itching to get back to my spinning wheel.  I spin on a castle wheel, handmade in Wisconsin by Jerry Jensen.  It is solid cherry and has beautifully turned legs and spokes.  It was a big investment, but it's the only wheel I ever plan to own (honestly).  It spins like a dream and travels with me everywhere!

Tabitha Twichit enjoys my spinning stool too (made by husband, Hank, to match the wheel), but I ousted her to work on Gingersnap's fleece.

Hank did the shearing a few months back; then I picked and washed the fleece.  Although I typically send out my fiber to be milled into rovings, I choose to spin from the lock in order to preserve the colors.  Ginger's fiber had about 2 inches of brown on the tips before it faded into a beautiful silver grey at the base.

Using a lock at a time, I separated the fibers, lengthened the lock and spun.  The resulting yarn had very distinct layers of brown and grey.  Had this been milled, the colors would have mixed evenly together.  Milling does make for a gorgeous heathered yarn, and I may send out some of  the fleece yet.  Spinning from the lock is a bit slower!

The finished yarn is a 2-ply worsted weight.   I have a few skeins done up, but no plans for a project yet.  I like to spin in the evenings when my mind is tired from the day.  And it seems that I can produce more yarn than my needles can keep up with!

 

Join the Hop!

It's not the heat...

...wait, yes it is.  The past three days have brought a sweltering blanket of 93 degrees and 59% humidity to the Homestead.  The animals literally droop.  Louie poured himself into the windowsill on the porch yesterday.  It may not have been as comfortable as he'd hoped, but I think he was simply too hot to care.

Where the Wild Things Go

Don't let anyone tell you different.  Cats hybernate.  Even house cats do this.  The long winter months can come to drag on us all; lack of sunshine making our eyes weary; lack of exercise making our limbs slow.  Louis battles the dim fatigue by finding such an out-of-the-way spot that three days go by before we wonder if he's been to the kitchen to eat at all.  This spot is generally very high up or very low down and most definitely out of the flow of daily traffic.

This winter seems to find Louis in the berry basket that since July only spiders have inhabited.  The basket sits idle next to the empty potato sacks.  But to Louis' way of thinking, it is the cozy utopia of this detestable season.