Happy spring everyone! It is indeed spring, even though it’s still raining non-stop. The temperatures are up in the 50s and everything is growing. I am getting excited to revitalize and weed my garden and plant. This year I decided to start seeds inside and purchased a lot of different veggie types. Last fall I saved some seeds from garden peas and pumpkin seeds from the farmer’s market pumpkins. So far the peas are growing wonderfully and so is everything else. I’m already putting the starts outside to harden them for planting.
- Seed starts
For the past few months I’ve also been experimenting with whole grain bread. After trying a number of different flours, I’ve settled on white whole wheat flour. It seems a bit lighter than regular whole wheat flour, and appears to act as something intermediate between white flour and whole wheat flour. As a result, I’m still working out the proper amount of water to add to the bread. My attempts to make both lean and enriched breads are turning out pretty well though! Here’s a photo of a recent loaf that was devoured rather quickly 
- Whole wheat bread
In the fabulous world of fiber, there’s a lot going on as usual. In February I attended the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival in Tacoma. In past years I’ve tended to cram in as many classes as possible and tried various combinations of staying overnight and driving to classes from home. Traditionally, driving in for a 9am class and taking classes all day has resulted in a very tired brain and no time for shopping or relaxing. This year, I went up with my friend Kristi, and we took Friday off work. We got there in the early afternoon and did some shopping and socializing at a relaxing pace. The next day I took two classes, just the right number in my opinion not to over-stuff the poor noggin.
The morning class was my first introduction to Jaycee Boggs. She is quite a spirited and funny lady with a good teaching style. She was very organized and methodical, which I always appreciate. We learned to make boucle yarn, with a wool core and mohair for the boucle. It was the first time I had ever tried the technique. Jaycee dyed the fiber herself in some nice colorways and I chose a light green. Here’s a photo of the yarn on my spinning wheel before I plied in the sewing thread to stabilize the yarn.
boucle yarn
Here is what it looks like after I plied and washed it. I think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt!
And here is my cat helping me spin 
Finally, I’m happy to say that I finished my first pair of bear slippers. This pair took a long time for several reasons: I was trying to design a good bear face and at the same time, I was trying to design a slipper for men’s sizes. These slippers are size 10 1/2 – 11 and have two different face designs. After I saw the way the first slipper came out, I decided to re-design the face and make it more colorful and have more contrast between the browns. Next I’d like to work on a size 11-12 men’s.
This is a photo of the latest bear face design:
bear slipper
