Hand Crocheted Lace

The blessing of our grand daughter was Sunday and her momma was beginning to panick. I hadn't started the white dress yet, which is a family tradition, and it was Friday. That is I hadn't started it until that evening when with the dress cut out and the sewing machine humming I had put put together the bodice and was  completing the sleeves. Then our oldest daughter, Toni, arrived at 7:30 with the lace.

One look and I knew I had to start over. The white white fabric I'd chose wasn't going to work with her creamy white vintage style lace. Plus, the fabric was the wrong texture. 
Hesitant as to which direction our middle dauther, the mother of the child, wan't to go, we headed on ove to her house.  The vote was unanimus that the lace stayed and the partially sewn dress went.  Who could say no to not using the gorgeous lace that took hours and hours of labor.

The skirt circumfrance is 70 inches and each sleeve is 11 inches around. That is 90 inches of  hand crocheted lace. WOW!! 

Fortunately, I had some white fabric that was just right and I began cutting once more. Saturday afternoon I had completed the dress.

 Then it acquired a "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" sydrome and I thought we just had to have some lace for around the neck. Something simple, so Toni dutifully began rapidly crocheting.

Then she hussled off under the Willow tree spreading out three towels for pinning the 92 inches of lace.

The hot dry wind made short work of the blocking project and when she came back in. I wanted a flower and a leaf. I told you it was a "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" sydrome. (For those of you who are wondering, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is a children's book where a little boy gives an mouse a cookie and then he wants a glass of milk to go with it and then he wants.....and it goes on and on.

 But I couldn't help it. The dress was telling me just what it needed and it wanted lace around the neck and a flower too. LOL

So if you volunteer to make me lace, beware, I might want more.

The Winner Is...

Thought I forgot?  Nope, just challenged for time and computer. Yup, the dummys have been duped. We used a free virus protector from the Internet trying to save money as fund were a little low but as usual we lost money. A virus aimed at those using free virus protection off the Internet shut down our laptop by keeping the fan from running that cools the computer. So... we are having to sneak in now and then into the room my step-dad is using to use the desk top computer. He's good about it but it keeps me from my late night typing when I'm free for such things. LOL

Drum roll please!! Our grand daughter has chosen from the official rubbermaid container.

And the winner is.... Alica

 You have the choice of one of these lovely bags.

 Which will you choose?

I decided that the other bag should have a home too and so our grand daughter drew another name from the magic container and it is Herdog, congradulations!!!

When  Alica decides, I'll pass the other bag on to you.

e-mail me your addresses at hollyrexroat@gmail.com and I'll get the project bags shipped right off.

Project Bag Prize

 It's finally done and ready to come to your house. Be sure and comment below if you haven't already to be put into a hat for a drawing to win this bag on Thursday June 28th.

And if you haven't visited the shop lately, stop on byThe Calico Bush on Etsy. I'm working on a whole new set of fabrics for my project bags.

Rose Pedal Jelly and a Give Away

Can you believe it is Thursday? Well, I'm shocked because last night I would have swore it was Tuesday but my husband insisted it wasn't so. He never lies to me, unless you are talking about he time he tried to convince me that youngbugidise was a real disease or the time .... Well, almost never lies to me unless he's out for a laugh.

So I believed him when he said it was actually Wednesday and then my over worked brain remembered our daughter had surgery on Tuesday and my mom and I had gone to see her today, the day after her surgery. It's just that since my folks came to stay, requiring a great deal of care, with one having Dementia and the other having had an amputation, my days start really early and end really late smooshing everything together. Good thing I have a hubby to keep me straight.

So at 10:30 at night, after this discovery, I was peering through sleep deprived eyes and making rose pedal jelly. After all, a promise is a promise. 

And today I'm celebrating things Jane Austen. I don't know if Jane ever made rose pedal jelly but I thnk she would have. It seems so very English and my imagination sees this delicate jelly  with ladies wearing flowing dresses, their pinkies raised, sipping tea and delicately savoring rose pedal jelly on crumpets.  

  

So In case you want to have your own Jane Austen tea time, I'm sharing my recipe. Collect and rinse over a cup of rose pedals, sorting through them to remove any leaves or damaged pedals. Drain and press down to fill one cup. That is all the pedals you need for one batch. It makes only three 1/2 pint jars. Then put the pedal in a blender, something Jane wouldn't have but would have wished she did, along with 3/4 cup of water.

Add the juice of one lemon....

...plus one cup and a half of sugar.



Meanwhile, in a sauce pan place 3/4 cup of water and 1 box of pectin. I use the pink Sure Jell box that is for no sugar or low sugar jellies and jams.  Whip and boil hard for one minute but don't let it burn so whip, whip, whip.

Now turn on the blender and blend the lemon juice, pedals, water, and sugar. Don't skimp on the time for you want your sugar thoroughly mixed in. The original recipe called for 2 1/2 cups but I cut that down by a cup because the sugar remained grainy being over saturated. I want to taste the pedals and lemon more.
 
When blended, turn on low and gently pour the hot pectin in, preferably through the small whole in the lid. You don't want a splattered mess. The jelly will get really thick. If you have rose pedals with white ends, refer to my blog from some year back for details how to handle this bitter tasting section of the pedals.
http://easylivingthehardway.blogspot.com/2010/07/rose-petal-jam.html

Pour into three clan 1/2 pint jars and put a lid on them. When cool, refrigerate or freeze. I have some frozen that I've used to make rose pedal ice cream. I can so... see Jane doing that too. Did they eat ice cream back then?

As for the project bag give away. You have to consider that I thought today was going to be Wednesday, the day I made the bag so here is the fabric which I will sew today while watching grand kids and caring for aging parents. Multi-tasking is my middle name, no wonder I don't know what day of the week it is. LOL I'll get pictures up as soon as it is done.

Or if that fabric doesn't trip your fancy, you will have a choice of this lovely springtime bag. Neither one quite your fancy, well think Christmas or birthday gift. This would be a great present.

To get in on this give away, just comment after this post stating that you want in on the project bag give away. Then next Wednesday I'll have my hubby draw the names out of a hat to pick the winner. Because of course he will know what day of the week it is. So get to signing up and tell your friends. You will have a whole week to comment after any post during this period of time on this site in order to get in on the drawing.

Have a wonderful Thursday!!! 

Jane Austen is the Style

 I have found that making the products for Etsy isn't the hard part. Getting the photography to work is. The Etsy site scrunches your photos to a square, a shape the camera doesn't operate in and I'm having difficulty getting enough light on the subject.

It just donned on me. I did have  setting to change for the kind of lights you use. Maybe that will work. I don't know but the projects bags look have as good on the site as they do in person and somehow that has got to change.

I have seven Jane Austen style project bags in the works with four complete so if that is your style keep checking back on my Etsy site to see what's new.

And as for feed sack bags well, I have an addition to our family. I brought her home yesterday when I was having our goats appraised for correctness of conformation. This is Madelyn or I think that is how her name will be spelled. She is not registered yet but will soon be. That means one more of our doelings will have to be sold to make room for her. The limit has been decided upon four does. I think that is quite enough for me to milk morning and night.

This of course means we will have more feed sacks than ever to make into bags. Doesn't it seem like one thing always leads to another?

Torquoise - Feed Sack Bag

 Have you ever bought a feed sack just for the bag? No, well I'm not surprised but I couldn't pass this one up. It isn't as if I won't use the feed. The only difference in this bag and the one I usually buy, other than color, is my usual bag is pellets and this one is the same thing crunched up. 

 It has been a while since Gerry and I have spent time together and I was kind of missing him. Who's Gerry? He's the antique, shoe leather, sewing machine. Named because he's such a character.

The results of our date was this, a cool turquoise feed sack and a return of a few other livestock feed sack favorites to my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCalicoBush?ref=ss_profile

What do you think of the new color?

Jane Austen Style

 The scenes, the clothing, the country life, all looks so appealing in England in 1796, the era of Jane Austen.

And though I have the movie, Sense and Sensibility, it is the above version of Pride and Prejudice that I love. Even my husband and son enjoy it. And yet, when I began looking in to what life was really like in Jolly Ole England, as you hear it said in the old movies, the picture wasn't so appealing. In fact, it was down right harsh. Not only did woman during this period have few rights but for the masses, survival was an every day struggle.

There was a big distinction between the haves and the have nots and the masses had not. The Craftsmen and the labourers lived in 2 or 3 room houses. There furniture was plain, not upholstered. No Chipandale furniture to sit on or fancy James Cox clocks to hang on the wall. And meat seldom graced their tables, especially in winter for most of the stock was killed in the fall because of the lack of feed to carry them through. The main table fair was bread, butter, potatoes, and tea. Yum, well maybe not but it filled an empty stomach and most were glad to get that much for half the population lived at subsistence or bare survival level.

And as I thought of myself, had I lived during this era, one of those living at subsistence level would be me.

But times were changing and a industrial revolution was taking place with water powered and steam powered mechanization coming into production. Yet, though the reality of life during 1796 was difficult, I still can't help romanticizing the era. The soulistic scenery, the clothing styles, the... the..., I know it was only for the rich but in our fantacies aren't we always more wealthy than we really are? So I say, keep dreaming, the picture is always so much more beautiful.

In my Jane Austen scenes, the girls are knitting and spinning, not embroidering. I know, I know, in the movie they are embroidering and maybe the really rich embroidered because the had someone else knitting and spinning, but anyone but the really rich surely were knitting and spinning themselves. Besides, I'd rather knit and spin anyday over embroider.  Plus, having snooped into history before, I know that it wasn't food (since there wasn't very much), or housecleaning (since there wasn't much of a house to clean) that took up the womens time. It was clothing construction that filled their days and evenings.  Yes, I'm sure those wheels flew, looms thumped, and the knitting needles clicked trying to keep up with making socks, hats, shirt, pants, bedding etc. 

There must have been a shortage because in neighboring Ireland, the government was giving land owners who planted their field into flax, spinning wheels and looms depending on the number of acres.

As I think of our local grocery store, the shelves heaping with products, the new yarn I bought for knitting socks, and the smaller, three bedroom home we own, I truly feel blessed.
.
If you are curious about society in 1976 check out these links below
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_rural_life_like_in_England_during_the_late_1700%27s

http://www.localhistories.org/18thcent.html



I bet you are wondering what's all this talk is about Jane Austen? Well, the new Jane-Austen-Knits on line version just came out and I'm in it. Okay, not exactly me but one of my project bags is. Which reminds me, I've got to get those bags re-photographed.
http://www.interweavestore.com/Knitting/Magazines/Jane-Austen-Knits-2012-Digital.

How does one get it all done in the springtime? I'll bet your To Do list is longer than my arms too. But, between chores outside and those inside, take a break and check out the new Jane Austen knits along with the following blog and news. Of course I have to say this, especially check out what they have to say about my project bag. I can't wait to see myself.


To learn more about this issue,http://www.khttp://www.knittingdaily.com/blogs/traditions_today/archive/2012/05/08/jane-austen-knits.aspx


http://www.knittingdaily.com/blogs/daily/archive/2012/05/09/knitting-with-jane.aspx