Sarah Jane Humke

I value my fingers

Sarah Jane Humke

February 23, 2015

So, in case you haven’t guessed, it’s winter around here. There’s not a whole lot going on that I haven’t already talked about. Or maybe I should really put it this way, there’s not a lot going on that I feel that I can talk about yet. Yes, that means that there are plans and ideas taking shape but none of them are solid enough yet to write them down here. Though once they are, well, y’all are never going to hear the end of them! But for this moment, I’m keeping quiet.

What is going on is more spinning and knitting. Just because it’s cold enough to freeze nose hair outside doesn’t mean that I actually hibernate. Also, nearly everyone I love in my life is born in the winter, thus making the life of a knitter who loves to make gifts a little more stressful. I really need to work on working on birthday presents in July more! The one that I can show you presently is still in its yarn state, which is hand spun so I still get some credit for it. It’s for the boyfriend for his birthday (which is this week *ahem*) and he’s already seen it so no spoilers here.

It’s a 3-ply yarn that ended-up being somewhere between a heavy fingering and a light DK weight. It’s spun from some Shetland tops that I purchased while I was there from Jamieson and Smith. It’s lovely, lovely stuff. Very squishy. Not overly soft, I would describe it as having a slightly crisp handle. I gave the boyfriend a number of choices of yarn for his hat.

But in the end, he had exceptional taste (if I do say so myself) and chose the tops.

There are other projects that I am working on in the background that I cannot show on here as they would be spoilers. One of the bad things about knitting for gift giving I guess:-)

The sock yarn blanket has grown some.

This is what it kind of looks like while I’m knitting it…

It now covers my entire full-sized bed. Sorry that the pictures are kinda crappy. Did I mention that it’s winter outside? It’s currently 15 degrees Fahrenheit (which is 16 degrees below freezing) outside and the snow looks either grey and dismal or yellow and cheerful, neither of which lends itself to photographing a giant knitted blanket on. I suppose I could try to get creative about how to show it, but that takes time and I personally value my fingers and toes. So crappy photos it is!

One of the things that I have been doing that I can tell you about (even though I have no photos) is that I am currently taking a class through something called Annie’s Project. It’s run through the Iowa State Extension Service (love me some Extension!) and it is specifically for women in agricultural endeavors. The reason for it being specifically for women is that often women have different goals and a different experience with farming than men do. It has been immensely helpful for me to just figure out where I should be putting my energy. My class is specifically about business planning, but there are classes about succession planning and in-depth business classes past what we are learning. It’s reason number 432 of why I love the extension service!

Early Birthday Gifts

Sarah Jane Humke

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January 19, 2015

I’ve received two early birthday presents this year. The first was a set of Knitter’s Pride Karbonz double-pointed needles. My honey got them for me as I have been knitting a lot of socks lately and, as a result, have broken more than a few of the wooden needles. I already have a couple of sets of these and really, really like them. I am a big fan of carbon fiber in knitting needles!!

The second gift is a lovely shawlete from my wonderful friend Tini. I wouldn’t have opened it early except that the post office had already taken care of it for me!

I am a lucky, lucky woman!

Mending Monday

Sarah Jane Humke

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January 19, 2015

Today I decided to finish a project that I have been putting off for a while. I have a pair of jeans that had developed a hole at the corner of the right back pocket as well as were worn very thin between the thighs. I originally had two pairs of these. The other pair was converted to shorts in order to fix issues with them as well as to provide mending material for the remaining complete pair.

It seems that jeans are always a pain in the butt to mend. There was no good way to use the sewing machine for the hole by the pocket so it was sewn by hand. The thin spots I was able to use my handy-dandy little IKEA sewing machine.This endeavor is in line with my trying to not buy any clothes for the next year.

I am still using the cut-off legs from the first pair of pants that I turned into shorts. The photo above is what the three patches looked like from the inside. I am not a seamstress, but I haven’t had any problems so far with the repairs I’ve made previously. The repairs aren’t pretty but virtually unnoticeable from the outside.

My next project is a pair of jeans that have a slightly more complicated problem.

There are two belt loops that are torn at the bottom. The other one is less torn than the one above but both are ripping. Any suggestions from any of y’all on how to remedy this?

Baaaaad conversations

Sarah Jane Humke

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January 8, 2015

This is a excerpts from texted conversation with my boyfriend last night. We were just talking about what we were doing (as one does) and these started coming from him..

“You are so bahahahad!”

“Sheep are the worst. Well at least that is how I felt at the time.”

“I see. I can no longer ply you with sheep humor.”

“I thought that I could always count on that staple of yours”

“I like to weave a good fiber joke into the fabric of our lives.”

“If I had things might spin out of control.”

“Darn it! Now I’m hooked!”

“He is just worried that I will pull the wool over his eyes.”

“He’s afraid of being fleeced.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t card him.”

“You saying I’m off my spool?”

“That’s it. I have no more purls of wisdom tonight.”

“My humor has been shorn.”

“It is now quite threadbare.”

“Humor has never caused anyone to dye.”

“Night my sweet lamb.”

I don’t think anyone needs to wonder why we are together!!!!

Chugging along

Sarah Jane Humke

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January 6, 2015

I know, I’ve not been on here much of late. Alas, there hasn’t been a lot for me to write about lately. Winter is a time to hunker down, stay warm, and plan for spring here.

Christmas was nice. Lots of lovely and thoughtful presents. I got a lot of books that will hopefully help me prepare for the coming year (I would like to get a few sheep and some laying hens). I spent a lot of time with both my family and my boyfriend’s family.

New Year’s brought specken dicken at the Ackley Civic Center and colder weather. No big parties or fancy nights out. That’s not really how I roll:-)

This past week I’ve been doing a big cleaning and rearranging. Trying to make my space more useable and pleasing to be in.

I did, in fact, finish a bunch of knitted items before Christmas. One, in particular, I am especially proud of. I finished a pair of socks for the boyfriend made from hand-spun, 4-ply sock yarn.

Joel's Socks
This is a 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, & 10% Nylon blend that was custom dyed for me by Diane Pals of Bugsnugger. It’s a lovely blend that I took my time spinning. I have more yarn like this and I will probably be knitting another pair of socks from it but they will hopefully go to the Iowa State Fair before going to their final home.

I also knit a pair of “normal” socks out of Kroy and Opal. I used the red Opal to finish off the socks as there wasn’t enough of the Kroy in the 100 grams for a pair of size 12 mens socks.

Here are the socks together:

There was also a scarf for my mother made from some of the ruffle yarns as well as an infinity scarf from Debbie Bliss Angel for my sister-in-law. There were also another pair of socks for my boyfriend’s mother. So, I was fairly busy in the days leading up to Christmas!

2015

Sarah Jane Humke

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January 6, 2015

I’m not a fan of New Years resolutions. I’ve watched gyms become packed with fevered folks looking to lose those 10 pounds only to become ghost towns by March. I’ve seen people tear themselves up trying to stop or change something about themselves and failing.

However, there are some things that I would like to try to do in the coming year. I’m not making resolutions, those are rather more high pressure than I want to make. Just some things I would like to try to do more of in the coming year.

~ Travel. Specifically, within Iowa and the Midwest. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling around to world, I feel that it’s time for me to get to know my home again. I would like to try to make a few weekend trips around the state.

~Volunteering. I feel that my home should be a better place because I am in it. I would like to get involved with my local 4-H organization, do more within my guild, and generally use my talents more for my community.

~Clothing. I want to try to not purchase any new clothing in 2015. I would like to try to use-up or wear out as many of my current clothes as possible. I want to become better at mending items as well as making them.

~Yarn, Fabric & Fiber. I would like to try to use up as much stash as possible. Trading and sharing for my sock yarn blanket is perfectly acceptable. I also want to spin more in the coming year.

~Eat local. I want to try to have as much of my food come from within the state of Iowa as possible in the coming year. Maybe even from this farm.

So there’s my low-pressure list of things I would like to try this coming year! What about you? What would you like to try in the next 359 days?

Brrrrrr

Sarah Jane Humke

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November 14, 2014

It has gotten cold here. Not as cold as some places but colder than others. Cold enough to cause some urgency in the winter preparations. The apples have been moved off of the porch as it is just to close to freezing even with the dehydrator out there running 24/7. Inside the house, heat is turned on and spaces are rearranged for winter once again.

The nesting instinct comes over me in these early winter days. Wash the bedding, clean the corners, spin, knit, crochet. coddle the houseplants and tender herbs brought inside. Winter clothes and coats are shaken out once again and summers fleeting fashions are carefully put away for another year. It is the time of settling in and getting cozy.

Fall causes me to want to bring in the harvest in a most unbecoming squirrel-like manner. I honestly get disturbed when I drive by homes with unpicked apple trees or green tomatoes left to freeze on the vines. I want to gather it all in and transform it into something that will keep. This causes many long days in the kitchen canning apples or pears or pumpkins originally sold with jack-o-lantern intent. I slave away, trying to get as much out of the apples or pears or pumpkins as I can until all that is left are some peels and cores that have been boiled for juice that get fed to the cattle along with their silage.

But the first days of truly cold weather, of winter? They are different indeed. My focus turns away from food preservation to the inside, to the home.

Stay warm everyone.

Autumn Harvests

Sarah Jane Humke

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October 24, 2014

Fall is a busy time around here. The farmers are in the fields hurrying to get the corn and soybeans harvested before winter comes. The combines and tractors run 24/7 in years that there is a lot of rain or bad weather. Everybody is trying to get their homes and yards ready for the onslaught of colder weather. Leaves and temperatures are dropping, adding urgency to everyone’s preparations. The weather people on TV and radio begin whispering that dreaded word: snow.

Here it’s been both the same and different. I’ve spent some time doing this:

That’s a picture taken while I was combining. It’s one of those jobs that is very boring but very important.

I’ve also been making a lot of these:

Those are pears in medium syrup. Yes, the pears that Elise and I picked when I went to Kalona are finally ripe. I have two crates finished and two crates still to go. I’ve put up about eighteen pints and half a dozen quarts so far as well as a bunch of different jams and such. I’ve also put away a few gallons worth of pear juice for making pear jelly later on in the year. Last year, the pears from this tree were very small and difficult to work with because of the drought. This year, they are huge by comparison and very, very juicy. One of the interesting things that I have learned from working with so many pears this year is that pear juice is very fragrant when being cooked. It really smells lovely, though not especially pear-like.

The above photo is of apple and pear juices. As you can see, they look very similar. Different batches of both juices will be different colors of pinky-gold. Thus, it’s really super important to label them. Here’s how I label my canned goods:

I’m fairly simple in how I label my canned goods. What’s in there and the month-year. I don’t write down the day it was canned as it just takes up space and time and isn’t usually all that necessary. Some people do in case there is a “bad batch” of something, but for me, often having the day on it would only narrow it down to two or three batches (and that’s if I’m not in the full-swing of canning that day!). Sometimes I don’t put what’s in it if it’s something like plain green beans or my standard sliced pickles. Everything else though, gets labeled to avoid confusion.

Before I started in on the pears, I was working my way through the rest of the apples. One of the jams I tried for the first time was a lovely cardamom and apple jam. The flavors blend remarkably well and the cardamom adds an exotic kick to the more plebeian apples. I’ve also seen one for pears with cardamom which I will try, but I’m a little worried that the more delicate flavor of the pears will get overwhelmed. So we’ll see about it. In the photo, you can see the cardamom pods still in the jam. I also do this with vanilla pods when cooking with them.

I’ve not been doing a whole lot of knitting or crocheting. I’ve been working on some Christmas socks when I have free time and a crocheted blanket when I’m sitting watching tv shows. My sweater in progress has been sidelined for the moment as the holidays are approaching and that knitting needs to take center stage.

Exploring the Orchard Road

Sarah Jane Humke

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October 8, 2014

Over the summer I had heard that a new kind of mason jar was entering the market. I had not gotten a chance to actually hold one in my hand until last week. I just happened to check out the canning section in the Blain’s Farm and Fleet in Cedar Falls and low and behold they were carrying them! Now, before you all get started, I know that the fact that I have canning sections regularly in stores around here is a blessing that many people don’t have. In fact, that I pretty much expect most grocery and farm stores to have a canning section speaks volumes about where I am living and how people view canning here. Canning and preserving have never stopped in the Midwest. Thus, the canning a preserving sections of the stores have never disappeared like they have in other areas of the country.

However, I was still surprised to see this newest jar in the mason market in Cedar Falls. I figured that it would be a coastal thing for the more (for lack of a better word) trendy canners in the bigger cities. So I was excited to pick some up and give them a try.

The Orchard Road family of jars

Orchard Road seems to be making only jars and lids/bands at this point, compared to the mega company Ball (a subsidiary of Jarden Home products which also owns Kerr and Golden Harvest brands of mason jars) that makes all sorts of canning and cooking equipment as well as publishing numerous books. I decided to do a head to head comparison of the two brands to see if there was much of a difference.

The very first thing that you notice is the packaging. The jars come in very sturdy, very reuseable boxes. Major points here. These boxes are strong enough that you could stack them with filled jars inside and not worry about the lids being compromised. They were even better than the old school Ball and Kerr boxes that those jars came packaged in.

Very sturdy cardboard and well made boxes.

There wasn’t really a big difference in sizes except that the jelly jar (the half pint) was a little taller and thinner than the Ball half pint. The Orchard Road jars feel sturdier than their Ball counterparts, more like the pre-1970’s Ball jars.

Orchard Road half-pint on the left, Ball on the right.

Orchard Road Pint on the left and Ball on the right.

Orchard Road quart jar on the left, Ball on the right.

Orchard Road wide mouth pint on the left, Ball on the right.

Orchard Road wide mouth quart on the left and Ball on the right.

All the jars take standard mason jar lids and rings in both regular and wide mouth. I purchased some of the lids but none of the rings as I would assume that they would work fine (though if you have found differently let me know). The lids were graphically appealing with their bold writing and clearly demarked area for noting what is in the jar. The lids don’t have the little “button” in the middle like Ball jars but are more like the Wal-Mart Mainstays where the entire lid is sort of domed. Thus, they don’t make a little “ping” when they seal more like a loud “thwack”. However, the lids worked on both the Orchard Road and Ball jars just fine.

Ball wide mouth lid on left and Orchard Road wide mouth lid on right.

The jars are visually clean, without a lot of ornamentation on them. This is nice for a number of reasons. To start, it’s simply cleaner visually. It also leaves the focus on where it should be, the food in the jars rather than the decoration on them. Another reason is that they are easier to clean. I have had to clean calcified gunk off of many older jars and all the nooks and crannies of older jars makes them a pain in the butt.

Now for the parts that I am not a fan of in these new jars. First, they are more expensive. Something on the order of twenty percent more than the standard Ball jars. Add to that the lack of lids and rings it makes them more expensive still. Next is that they are sold in boxes of six. If you are canning a lot, this is simply more boxes floating around the house. My final issue is simply that they are made in China. If something is going to be more expensive, I would at least like them made in the USA.

Who knew cabbage and honey were so similar?

Sarah Jane Humke

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October 8, 2014

There hasn’t been a lot of knitting content of late as there hasn’t been a whole lot of knitting done. Mostly it’s been about getting food into jars. Lots and lots of food. The past weeks have been the apples. At one point the porch was loaded with apples and the honey still in the combs. Wow did that ever smell awesome! If they could make an apples and honey scented candle that actually smelled like our porch it would sell like crazy. I’ve been making some good smells myself. Applebutter, applesauce, apple pie filling, apple juice, apple jelly and caramel apple jam. I would estimate that I have gone through ten bushels or so thus far. The apples are all from unsprayed trees thus have the usual assortment of critters in them. Makes for some extra work when processing them but they are still tasty and useable.

I have also been experimenting with making sauerkraut. Ackley, my hometown, is the site of the annual Sauerkraut Days (can you tell we’re of German origins around here?!?), so I suppose that it is fitting. I was gifted two, new, three-gallon stoneware crocks this summer and each of them was pressed into service. One has a sweet sauerkraut in it and the other has a sweet sauerkraut with apples added. Neither are even close to full with cabbage. I’m guessing that they could each hold about twenty pounds of cabbage (they currently have five apiece). I learned while doing this that if sauerkraut is going to become a regular thing with me then I might be investing in a big cabbage cutter or a larger mandolin. I also found that making sauerkraut is kind of like honey extraction in that you get cabbage EVERYWHERE (though thankfully it’s not sticky). It just goes flying! However, it was kind of fun and I look forward to the results!

The tender herbs and houseplants are getting moved into the house a little at a time right now. I’m trying to get them in before freezing weather makes it a necessity, thus allowing for better choices as to where they should go. I’m also trying to get my mints ready for winter, which mostly means trimming them back. I will be making lots of mint jelly and apple mint jelly in the coming weeks. I have also been experimenting with some pineapple sage jelly that seems quite promising.

Not a lot of photos as my canning and sauerkrauting have been lonely endeavors of late and it is difficult to take a good photo when your hands are full!