May the Circle be Unbroken

Doesn't really pertain to the Blog,
but thought it would bring a smile to your face.

An exciting norm of our society, for women at least (although some include men), is our ceremonial ritual of a bridal shower. As adults, we’ve realized that the young couple will be heading out on their own, and consequently without the resources of their parents’ garages, cupboards, and attics we host a “shower” to bestow upon them gifts we know they’ll need!  With so many of the young people that we know getting married, an interesting dinner conversation occurred in our house a year or so ago, but has stuck with me.

Quilt and Afghan
Things you need for your home!

My oldest daughter, who was getting ready to leave to serve out of state in an AmeriCorps position, asked why don’t we have “showers” to celebrate young people just heading out on their own. Her points were valid as she brought up the fact she was going to need most things that a young married couple would need.  She’d need the tool kit to fix items in her home, lawn mower to take care of her yard, dishes to eat on, pots and appliances to cook with, towels for the bathroom, lamps for the living room, bed to sleep on, dresser for her clothing, etc., etc.,

Rite of Passage to receive your set of tools!

The conversation then transitioned to how differently the paths are today from previous generations.  A generation or so ago, couples married right out of high school; they went from parents’ homes to their home. Then it seemed the norm was to complete college and then be wed, with the couples still not actually “on their own”.  Going from dorm living/dining hall living to your own home still wasn’t really experiencing self-reliance.

Present day couples seem to come together with two apartments worth of “stuff” that they must now find a way to mesh together.  Suddenly there may be 2 toasters---whose is better? Now as we buy wedding gifts, we are beyond the need to furnish them with the basics, they have that. 

So, back to the dinner conversation……….

Extra quilts and blankets for the bed

We debated what few items someone would actually “have to have”.  I KNOW this is will be different for different people; however, these are the TWO items that my daughter had to have: 

1) DeWALT battery screwdriver/drill   

 2) Family recipes! Doesn’t quite seem to be what   the average 25 year old would ask for, does it?  

       J 

(Although, I use my DeWalt almost every day, so I understood her feeling that she couldn’t possibly live without one.)

Gentle breezes (and gale force gusts) help
create the beautiful sounds from the wind chimes

Knowing that we could easily provide both of those items (and we even threw in a beautiful sounding set of wind chimes that she could hang near her window to remind her of the sounds coming from the porch at her home many states away), my youngest daughter and I started putting together a cookbook of favorite recipes. We did it in “scrapbook” style with family photos included to bring back memories whenever she cooked. 

A recipe that my mother had written
 to put in my book over 30 years ago!

We hand wrote each recipe card and included heartwarming family trivia on every one of them. We covered breakfasts, casseroles, dinners, desserts, breads, hors d’oeuvres, punches, salads, holiday recipes, soups….you name it, it was there.  

What was even more special about this task was that many of the recipes that we were copying to put in her book, were from recipes that MY MOTHER made to put into MY book back in 1980! This gift to my daughter was just another way of keeping the generations connected.

Large Gingerbread House that I made 

As a family tradition, each year at Christmas I bake MANY gingerbread houses.  We assembly them all and then decorate to give as gifts to friends.  Of course we keep one or two for our house, too!  

Her Grandfather and Great-Grandfather
decorating mini gingerbread houses that
I'd made for a family Christmas party 20 years ago.

On the page where I included the gingerbread recipe, I also included a picture or two of friends and family decorating all those houses through the years.

I baked mini gingerbread houses for both daughters'
classrooms each year and the students decorated them.

Needless to say, she loves her DeWalt; however, even though she has a camera, smart cards, and flashdrives full of photos, she says she loves to get out the cookbook, hold it, and think of home.

I hope this prompts thoughts of ways that you can help make the young people you have in your life adjust a little easier to life on their own, while still keeping the connection there for generations to come. 

HeartFelt Beginning

Purple Felted Heart

Long before I was ever officially “HeartFelt”, I was giving felted hearts (that I made from sheep’s wool, which I purchased!) attached to the gifts I made to give at holidays and other special times for friends and family. I loved working with the wool and could definitely tell the difference between certain fleeces.

When I finally “adopted” my own flock of sheep and herd of llamas, I continued the tradition, but happily, the wool I used was from my own farm.

The inside of the HeartFelt tags.

Several years ago when I was trying to come up with a name for my small sideline business, my youngest daughter suggested HeartFelt because of the felted hearts that I made.  And it has remained a tradition that I include one of my felted hearts with every order that I fill.

Farm fresh strawberry jam
is absolutely wonderful!

When I first began, my focus had been on food gift baskets because of the jams and jellies that we made on the farm each spring through fall. Consequently, I set my website up using that jam/jelly color palette. Ahhh, there is nothing quite like homemade jams/jellies.  I have some family members who ask for a “case” of my assorted jams each year for Christmas!

Tray of "brown and white" assorted cookies.
Yes, that's what they ordered.

Recently, my focus has turned away from the gift basket idea of food, which was always a bit more difficult to have everything “fresh at the same time” for shipping.

We have baked so many pies, both large and mini!
Our farm's apples are usually wonderful for this!

 And now, I focus primarily on wool and woolen products. And by wool, I mean llama fiber, too.

Felted llama fiber pair of pillows

My website is www.heartfeltbasketsandgifts.com    click here for website       It is already under "reconstruction", so don't judge too harshly while I am working on it.....thanks!

They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words. So, it’s pretty important to make those 1,000 words be the right ones. It’s like choosing the right outfit---ha!---haven’t thought of that for a long time. But, it’s true…you want to send the right message; convey the right mood. How do you decide what your website is supposed to look like, knowing that a complete stranger may look at it for a fleeting moment and will decide if your product is “good enough”---STRESS!!

Scottish Thistle Shortbread

I’ll be leaving the colors of the current website behind and will be choosing colors similar to the blog; at least, that’s my plan!

Celtic Knot Shortbread

In the meantime, I am continuing to receive food orders.  I don’t know who is happier with that: me; the customer; or, the recipient!?  I love knowing that my customer chose my creation to give as a gift. But, I also know that they are giving a quality product that they should feel pleased and confident to give. And, of course, the recipient is receiving something that is both delicious and beautiful at the same time.

Twice dipped Strawberries

                                          And, that my friend, is what HeartFelt is all about! 

HeartFelt

Imax, the Guard Llama

Imax, up close and personal!

In honor of Imax, the January “pin-up boy” on my 2015 calendar, I decided it was time to give some background information on him and the other llamas of my farm.

Imax (so named because he was a “big boy” and the Imax Theaters are known for their large screens), came to the farm 10 years ago.  He came with several other members of his herd including another young (cria) male named Voyager.

 A much younger Imax and Voyager
while at a friends' farm.

Imax and Voyager were little buddies, so we kept them together in a paddock that we still refer to as “the boys’ paddock”.   They were fine together and grew up in a paddock that was always just a fence line away from their mothers.

We had planned on gelding them, and although it is the practice to geld horses that are less than a year old, veterinarians don’t usually geld llamas until they are at least 2 years of age so that their bones are stronger and denser! (Always questioned why it was “okay” for horses???!!)

Imax never seemed to realize he was male; for that matter, neither did Voyager.  They got along just fine and never seemed to have “stallion” issues or traits with each other.

Mishka at a friend's farm.

Mishka – Voyager’s mother was the herd leader. Whatever Mishka did, so did all the other llamas. Back then, a few gelded male llamas were also turned out with the females.  The entire herd did everything together, and moved around the fields following Mishka. Mishka loved us and because she always did what we needed her to do, the whole herd obeyed, too. Shearing time, toenail trimming time, deworming time, were all simple because they followed Mishka…and Mishka loved the “attention”.

Sadly, one Christmas vacation, while I made a 48 hour trip to Maryland to see family, Mishka became sick. I got the phone call, and headed straight back to Kentucky. We brought her into the yard (near where her herd mates could see her) and made a shelter out of straw bales stacked to form a shelter around and above her. We took out an electric blanket to keep her warm, gave medicine and IV drip to her, and sat with her around the clock for days. After a week, she passed away.  She had been old, but it didn’t lessen the blow. She was such a special llama and such a part of our family.

Imax in a Winter Wonderland!!

The herd seemed confused without her. We put them in a smaller field so that we could keep an eye on them.  Without her leadership, we knew they wouldn’t come up for water when they needed it, wouldn’t know how to return to the barn for a storm, etc….. So, we waited for them to select the next in line to be leader, but it seemed to take a very long time.

Meanwhile, the “boys” seemed to sense that Mishka wasn’t around. For seven years they had NEVER fought as “stallions”.  Well, within weeks of Mishka’s passing, they began fighting. So, we had to separate them and put them into two different paddocks. Suddenly, not only couldn’t Imax and Voyager be in the same paddock, they couldn’t even be in neighboring paddocks (sharing a fenceline) either!  

Voyager in a 2-acre paddock

This only added to the ever present conundrum of rotating paddocks and who could or could not be together.  We have horses, sheep, and llamas and not all co-exist happily.  We thought we had it finally figured out and all ran smoothly for about a year.

Imax still feels he's special and follows me around
 while the horses look on.

Then one summer’s day a couple years ago, Imax and Voyager just happened to sneak into neighboring paddocks and began to make their llama “call”. We all had been outside working and when we heard that began running from all directions. We saw them rear onto their hind legs and body slam into each other.  The “thud” was awful sounding. Just as we were running into the paddock to separate them, they body slammed each other again, but Imax must have lost his footing and flipped over the fenceline.  Our fences are planked and wire (planked to be strong enough for the horses and to allow us foot holds for climbing, and wire to keep out the unwanted critters-dog, coyotes, etc). Well, Imax had gotten a front leg stuck in the wire and as he flipped and landed in the water trough, his leg was slow to release from the fence.

Imax standing guard in front yard

As soon as he was actually in the paddock with Voyager, Voyager backed off and left him alone.  Instantly we knew something was wrong and could tell what it was!  We called the vet and he was there within minutes. He looked at the leg and recommended “putting him down”.  But, because the break was in the tibia below the knee and Imax could still “kush” to ruminate.  I said, “no”, -----I wanted a cast put on. Of course the Vet argued that it would get fly strike, sores, etc., etc.  I still argued for the cast and the Vet agreed to give it a try.

So, on the cast went and when Imax awoke we moved him into the yard.  He actually walked (slowly, but we got him).

Imax feeling quite pleased with his new domain!

Every day I checked out the cast and put a salve around the top to repel flies. Every day, Imax got stronger and stronger. During that time, Imax followed me everywhere I went.  While I watered the garden, he stood beside me. When I mowed the yard, he sat in the orchard under the trees and watched. When I fed all the animals and walked carrying buckets of grain, he walked beside me. We grew to be quite good friends.

Imax enjoying the shade underneath a Pear tree!

Six weeks later the Vet came out to take off the cast and couldn’t believe how clean it was, no sores, and healed perfectly. He said, “Let me help you move him back to the field.”  Again, my answer was “no”!

Wind is blowing one way, Imax is heading the other.....
That's our Imax!

That was three summers ago….and Imax is still in the yard.  J

"Woolly Wordless Wednesday"

We Bid Ye Welcome!!

Dolly Llama and Serendipity in new field

Mate'  likes fooood!

Strauna

J-J-J-Jenna! I am precious and lovable!

I am Yerba and I am mighty!!

Voyager- He's "outstanding in his field"   lol!!

Song checking out the new field.

Silver Waiting for Dinner Bell!

Fancy Face checking out the yard

Imax alerting me that "The Horses are Coming, The Horses are Coming!"

How to Process Wool

My banner for the
KY Wool Festival

Have you ever faced a task so daunting that you just can’t find the strength to begin? I know it sounds wimpy; but, for me it is my wool processing (this year anyhow)!  So, I figured if I spelled it out step by step and had to take photos along the way to make the tutorial more interesting, I would already have completed some part of it…..and as they say, “parts do add up”.

These three are each very different-
Shetland, Icelandic,Tunis

So, to process wool, you must first begin with WOOL! You get wool from sheep. (For those who may not know, not all sheep have wool, some have hair and they don’t need to be shorn. These animals are usually raised for meat.)  Just as we all have different hair types, sheep have different wool types.  You cannot say that one type of sheep is better than another, because each has wool suited for a specific purpose. 

For instance, some sheep have very coarse wool. Well, rather than making a soft, cozy sweater to be worn close to your skin, that wool would be better suited for a rug, able to withstand heavy traffic. Some wool has more lanolin, thus being more weatherproof (do fishermen’s sweaters come to mind?)  Some wool or fleeces have a loft or spring to them. These are awesome for snuggly blankets made from thickly spun yarn or multi-seasonal quilt battings (remember that wool is flame retardant).  

Her wool is very lofty and
makes excellent quilt batts.

Some have a tight crimp and that makes it very stretchable for ribbing on a sweater or socks! Some even have a very high sheen or gloss to their locks. So you see, you can’t just choose a sheep and expect it to have all the qualities in its wool that you might ever want. That’s why I have a small (very small) flock!  Each sheep has different qualities and each of those qualities I appreciate.  I really “need” (?) more sheep, but I just can’t do that right now.

Imax's Fiber is very different from
 the other llamas on our farm.

I process my llama fiber the exact same way as the detailed steps of wool processing that I will outline below. And I will tell you, that llamas have as many varied types of fiber as the sheep have of wool.

We won’t dwell on the shearing aspect today. We will assume that it is off the sheep and we are ready to go!

I keep each fleece separate.  Because I have different wool types and colors of fleeces, I don’t want them mixing. So, I am very careful to clean up my shearing area in between each shearing…or move locations.

Wool from Stella (unwashed)

Once I have the shorn fleece.  I take it to a comfortable work area.  I’m going to be there awhile. First I do what is called “skirting” the fleece.  That means taking away all parts of the fleece that are not worth trying to salvage. If urine is on the wool and you are planning on dyeing it, color reacts to urine, even though it’s been washed. So usually right around their rear ends, I discard that wool. Also, a band around their entire necks usually has debris, seed heads, etc., in it and it would be too tedious a task to clean to make it worthwhile. Some years I discard a lot, other years, it’s not too bad. I will never blanket the sheep just to keep them clean, but I sometimes threaten them with that.  I just try to keep them from finding ways to play in the hay, and dragging the flakes across each others’ backs.

Wool from Stella (washed)
The lanolin allows dirt to cling to fleece and
looks like a different color from what it is.
Although it was cinnamon colored dirty,
it is white when cleaned. 

Now comes the important part--When I feel that I’ve done a thorough job skirting, I fill my washing machine (yes, MY washing machine) with the hottest water it will do. When it has filled, I STOP the machine. This is absolutely the most important thing to remember! Then I add about 1/2 cup of DAWN Dishwashing liquid to the water and using my arm, swish it around a bit. Then, I add either 1/2 or all of one fleece (this depends on how heavy or how dirty the fleece is). Keep it STOPPED.

Llama fiber, after clean and carded.
 Not wool at all, but I still process the same way.
There is no lanolin in llama fiber.

I GENTLY make sure the fleece is submerged, but I DO NOT  allow the machine to agitate.  If it does, you have just FELTED your fleece and will not be able to use it in a traditional way. It won’t even be traditionally felted!  Anyhow, do not, I repeat do not let it agitate.  Close the lid to keep the water hot and then set your timer for between 15-20 minutes. Let it SOAK only.

When your timer beeps and lets you know the time has passed, advance the dial to DRAIN/SPIN. Yes, your fleece stays in for this ride. It will drain and then spin out to get rid of all water. (Do NOT let it begin to refill while your fleece is in the machine!!)

When water is gone and machine has stopped, remove the fleece and put in a laundry basket. Your washing machine will be AWFUL looking….but don’t panic.  This is good; this means the wool is coming CLEAN!!  When you begin wiping out the machine drum, I imagine you will think of The Cat in the Hat and that horrible mess! It is VERY simple to clean your machine.  Use a wet dish rag (deemed only for this) and wipe sides of drum. Rinse rag and wipe again. Repeat. Repeat, until inside is clean. You could use paper towels and throw away, but that’s such a waste.

Shetland Wool from Jenna

Now, fill the machine with HOT water again.  Add Dawn dishwashing liquid again. STOP the machine again. Put fleece in again.  Let soak for 15-20 minutes again. Drain and Spin again. Remove fleece and clean machine again.

Now, if you are happy with the cleanliness of your fleece, we’ll move on to the rinsing phase.  If you think you’d like it a bit cleaner, do the whole process again.

But, if you are ready to rinse, still fill the machine with hot water.  Never let the temperatures fluctuate drastically between soaking and rinsing. This time do not add the soap.  NEVER let the water fill while the fleece is in machine; that simple agitation of water landing on it could felt the fleece depending what type of fleece (some felt more readily than others).

How you card the wool will enable you to
blend the colors in various ways.

Now after it has spun out, remove fleece and clean machine for the final time.  I usually run the machine through the rinse cycle just to ensure that dirt doesn’t stay and dry in the machine for my clothing. I run some vinegar through it, too.

Inspect your fleece.   If there is any debris that can still come out, pick it out now.  Otherwise, let it dry.  Do not put in direct sunlight. But, it can be on a covered porch, etc.  Toss or flip it from time to time to ensure it is drying. This can take a ½ day or so.  I usually wash for a few days and the fleeces begin to dry while I am washing others.

Clean and waiting to be picked!

Now comes the “picking” phase.  You will be grabbing handfuls of wool and
“picking” it.  Hold a clump in one hand and pull with the other. It begins to separate and lighten the feel of the cleaned fleece.  While you are “picking”, usually more debris (organic matter as it’s lovingly called) falls out. So, do NOT do the picking over your clean wool.  Stand to the side so that it’s not all falling out only to land in the other wool that you haven’t done.  

Llama fiber not washed yet.
So different from wool when it's not washed.

This should be done OUTSIDE to make you a happier housekeeper! 

When the picking is done, the wool is now ready to be carded. Carding is done with instruments that have many teeth/combs, much like a dog’s brush.

You can use hand carders, or a drum carder.  A very sweet friend of mine has loaned me her beautiful drum carder in the past and it has been so much easier on my arms than the pair of hand carders that I have; even though I love the feel of holding the wooden handles in my hands while carding! 

Small batts ready for spinning.

If you use the hand carders, you roll the combed wool off the carder and they stay in little rolags (Scottish Gaelic – roileag meaning small rolls) until you are ready to use them for spinning or felting.  If you’ve used the drum carder, the wool comes off in small batts, and they may be placed aside until you need them.

Both Fiber and Wool animals
must be shorn AFTER they use the
warmth to get through the winter!

Last note:

Worsted Wool – is thin and flat. The hairs are all the same length and parallel to each other; not overlapping.

Woolen Wool – is fluffy and springy.  This is from short and long hairs mixed together, overlapping, and twisted while spinning.

Hope you’ll try it.  If you have tried it and done it differently, please let a note!