dwellwell.info

Seeds for all!

shnnnhickman — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:14:30 +0000

I’ve been doing some research on seed companies and came across a local organization that arranges an annual seed exchange.

Northwest Perennial Alliance: http://www.northwestperennialalliance.org

They have a list of seeds available for 2012. At a $1 per pack, it’s worth looking into.

The photos above are a few of my favorites…

knitting 101

shnnnhickman — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:19:55 +0000

Things have been a bit nuts over the last couple months and I’ve been loosing things left and right. Among the missing items was my little springtime scarf. The last time I lost a scarf was twelve years ago, it took me by surprise then as it did now. But with my new push to “do for yourself” I picked up some knitting needles and some chunky wool and taught myself to knit. With guidance from my local yarn store So Much Yarn. I had a style in mind… I wanted a small scarf that would stay just around the neck without the risk of blowing away. I appreciate the cowl style but didn’t want it messing my hair each time I put it on. Found a pattern that had a vertical slit that allowed that scarf to be laced into the other end to secure it around the neck. But the pattern called for two skeins of yarn and I was already over half way through the length. I made a fine first attempt a little tuck through scarf in the seed stitch aka moss. There are a few random stitches. But they appeared in a set of three so it looks intentional and there they will remain. They real plus of the chunky yarn is the scarf took only a few hours to make and used maybe a third of the ball. Now to decide on the next project for the remainder. I was thinking of making a cat cave and felting it. I think I’ll be exploring Shibori techniques next.

ginger beer make your own

shnnnhickman — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:53:05 +0000

I have been growing ginger in my apartment for some time now… over a year. It’s easy enough once the nodes start to bud out. My method for getting the buds to start is to put the new ginger from the store in a plastic bag in the crisper for a couple weeks. Catherine has introduced me to Galangal aka. Thai ginger which is not as hot. So I need to give it a try in my ginger syrup recipe for my guests who don’t want to feel the burn.
Here’s the recipe I’m going to use:

http://jencaputo.typepad.com/jen_caputo/2010/03/cocktail-party-recipe-ginger-cardamom-syrup.html

1 pound of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup green cardamom pods*
2 cinnamon sticks**
2.5-3 cups raw cane sugar (depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have)***
3 cups water