Homestead Update 08/11/13

We are finally in a hopeful place. Our landlord has been working with us to get through yet another rough patch financially, and has mentioned us buying the property on contract when our lease is up. I feel more inclined to work on improving the land knowing it may be permanent. 

I finished one keyhole garden, but it is being attacked by ground squirrels at every turn. They dug the pea seeds right up and killed one of the pumpkins already. That and the heat killing the cucumber, which I knew was a strong possibility, are discouraging. When I can get a few extra bucks, I am going to plant bush beans, potatoes, and maybe try cukes again when the weather breaks.

We also have been working on plans for a chicken coop. We learned from past mistakes and checked the local ordinance, even though we live well out of town. We are good to go for livestock, and are hoping to have the coop done, made for nearly free with pallets, (we just need to buy hardware cloth) and populated with 8-10 hens and a rooster in the next month. The next phase will be a 2nd coop for meat birds, then a few goats.

I started the garden way late in the year, and although I did not expect much production, I am worried I will have nothing to show for those efforts this year. That's ok, the foundation is laid for future seasons. Good news, though! My Mom and Stepdad sent us home from our last visit with a bucket of peaches from their tree. I am not up to canning at the moment, so I just sliced them up and tossed them with some pectin and bagged them up to freeze.

I got about 2 quarts. We are set for peach cobbler and pie this winter! 

Beyond that I have been crafting and trying to write. Etsy and Amazon have kept us above water the past month. I hope now that The Hubs is back to work that money can go straight into improving the property and toward homesteading projects like rain barrels and getting some fruit and nut trees!

On the hook

I'm over the crochet burn-out I was feeling, and found a great little yarn shop. I got 3 balls of this lovely Merino wool. Making an Infinity scarf. I think I am in love with it and might keep it for myself!

Getting Crafty

I have been feverishly crocheting lately for two big reasons. 

1) Yule and Christmas are super close and I'm broke. These facts mean those near and dear to me are getting handmade gifts wether they like it or not

2) It's cheap therapy and good busywork to keep my hands busy and my mind blank as I crawl back to normal

This being the case, I see this blog moving more toward being a craft blog written by a Pagan than a Pagan blog written by a crafter .

Not that I won't get back to those posts, just that a big part of my day at the moment is crafting, mostly crochet , and if I don't blog that I'm not left with much .

For you non-crafters, keep checking back, I will get back to posts about Pagan topics as the meat of the blog as soon as I am able.

Until then, enjoy the scarf I made for my step dad!

Much love, Hippie Witch
                                     

Hippie's little book of Magick

It's not big, it's not flashy, but I've been working on it on and off for the last year and a half and it's going to be available as a FREE Amazon Kindle download Monday the 22nd to Friday the 26th.

Please just click the book cover and download your FREE copy. I hope you enjoy it and can work some of my ideas into your Magickal practice!

And although you may have missed the free promotion on it, please take a peek at my first fiction book

Bright Blessings!

Patagonia Fall Festival

We had a great girls day at the craft fair in Patagonia today. Good food, great crafts and music, and fabulous people!

Pumpkin Masterpieces

I have been getting busier every month in my shop Lucky Dog Grooming and thought what better way to advertise on the cheap than with Lucky Dog jack-o-lanterns! I'm pretty proud, they were my first attempt at fancy pumpkin carving.

So much...so little

I have been in a real funk lately, and I am having a hell of a time shaking it. After much wallowing in self-pity, them kicking my own ass for it, and in depth prayer and Reading I think I might know why. I have so many things I want to do, and because I am so scattered I get none of them done. 

I don't mean housework, home school, kids raising, or my grooming salon, although I often with I had more hours of the day to work on those things as well. I have so many things I want to do. So many creations that are banging around in my head. It's like they are all rushing to the exit at the same time and getting jumbled up, so nothing can really get out.

I want to craft, and have a lot of really great ideas. I am so in love with crochet right now it's ridiculous, and I sit and dream about leading my newly formed Stitch 'n Bitch group to making Prayer shawls, chemo caps, and other charity projects, all the while filling orders in my Etsy shop. The reality is if I get 5 rows of a project done I feel like I accomplished something, and have 0 crochet items in my pitifully empty Etsy shop. 

I like to make jewelry, and I am slowly learning to sew. Again, daydreams of making clothes for the kids and myself, and more Etsy sales, when I actually make maybe 1 project a month or less.

What I really wish and long and pine to do is write. I started this blog to have an outlet to write, even if it's not fiction, which I love. Even here, I have had stops and starts, and weeks with maybe one post. I have a mostly done manuscript, outlines for two other projects, short stories, and a good start on a Pagan parenting book. 

My problem is I can't finish anything. 

When I have the desire to write, I have no time, and months go by without one new word written on any manuscript. When I have some free time, I have 100 other projects I want to do, and crafting in front of the T.V. is much more relaxing than trying to coax writing out of the creative jumble in my head.

So, I am going to try something new, something very anti-Hippie.

I am going to make a plan, a creative plan. I am going to start today, and make a list of the things I want to do, with writing right there at the top. I am going to then put them in priority, and make a schedule for myself to get some crap done! Since I had my oldest daughter, I have taught myself to be a housekeeper, instead of a shovel the place out before company shows up person. I did this with scheduling, which is very against my nature. I have the house broken down into zones, and zones broken into jobs. One zone per day, plus dishes and laundry, and the house is still cluttered, but company ready with maybe a 5 minute "zamboni" to clear things off.

I am going to try to expand this scheduling concept into other parts of my life, and hopefully have as much success. I am hoping to use the blog to make myself accountable for the things I want to do, and hoping that my blog will improve with action, as making this blog something special, and a part of the Pagan online community is pretty high on the priority list.

H.W.

Crochet-a-Long

Over the last month I have been teaching myself to crochet. You may have noticed...lol.

For a long time I had wanted to knit, and never really “got it”. I struggled with it, and was not very good or quick, and so didn't enjoy it. Someone told me that knit and crochet is kind of like algebra and geometry, people usually only understand one of the other. With that in mind, I went to the store and bought a cheap pack of plastic crochet hooks and some yarn, then came home and dove into how-to videos on YouTube on crochet.

As I am want to do, I dove in with both feet and have become obsessed. I spent every free moment in the past month with a hook in my hand. I crochet while dogs are drying. I crochet while taking a break from housework. I took a project to not one but two cookouts and crocheted while I sat outside and visited. I have even started a Stitch'n Bitch group that will begin meeting on the 18^th!

The first week I made hats and the tarot bag I posted here, and then I made an afghan for myself. The afghan proved to me that I had found the thing for me in crochet, because I went off pattern and it turned out great.

When I craft, it's kind of like when I cook. Instructions and recipes are more 'guidelines', and I usually take the general idea and shoot off sideways with it. I know for sure I have never made two pots of chili that were the same, and my craft projects tend to run that way. For the afghan I started with a pattern, expanded it a little, and added a ruffle from another pattern, which I also use in the pattern below.

Mojo and one of the new kittens, Walter have test-napped it and it's a winner.

So, why is this posted on Metaphysical Thursday? Glad you asked. I have started making Christmas/Yule gift, and one of the things that several ladies in my family will be getting are Prayer Shawls (shhh, don't tell them)

I stumbled across this when I was searching the webternets for patterns. The idea is to concentrate prayer, blessings, and healing thoughts for the recipient before, during, and after the construction of the shawl.

I love this idea, and on the site for the Prayer Shawl Ministry there are Goddess prayers represented. So I started my first Prayer Shawl immediately after finishing the afghan, and after about 3 hours of looking at patterns on that site and many others, I just decided to wing it. I think it is pretty good so far, for a beginner, so if you would like to Crochet-a-long, here is the pattern, such as it is. And don't worry about blowing the surprise for my sister, she is WAY to Christian to come on her little sister's witchy blog! 

Here is a preview of how the pattern is turning out, I will post a photo of the finished product when it's done.

I have a couple of pics in the pattern to clarify for beginners the stitching in the space as opposed to the stitch because that threw me off in the hat pattern I used for the girls hats at first. The hat was becoming like a shower puff because I misunderstood and I had to take apart an hours work. I hope to help others avoid it, there was much profanity involved!

So to begin, say a prayer to bless your work. You can make your own or there are many at the Shawl Ministry site. Then concentrate on prayer,healing, and positive energy for the recipient as you crochet, When it's done, bless it and give it to it's intended owner. It's a great, loving gift for someone battling illness or loss, or just to send love out to someone as a gift.

Valerie's Prayer Shawl

#4 Worsted yarn, Red Heart Sonoma Stripe or other self-striping yarn

US K/10.5 hook

SC=single crochet

DC=double crochet

TC=treble crochet

Chain 50, loosely (if using foundation stitch, count as the first row)

Rows 1-3 SC fifty, chain 1, turn

Rows 4-6 DC in 1^st stitch, chain one, skip stitch to end of row, chain 1, turn

Row 7 SC in the top of the DC in the last row

 and in the SPACE between each DC 

to end of row, chain 1, turn

Rows 8-9 SC to end of row, chain 1, turn

repeat Rows 4-9 until shawl reaches 'hug' size, fingertips to fingertips with your arms outstretched. It looks like mine will be around 132 rows.

Finishing

Do not turn, SC in same stitch to turn the corner and SC down the side the number of rows the shawl ended with, SC again in the last stitch to turn the corner and SC down this side 50. Repeat down the remaining 2 sides.

If you prefer fringe, stop here and add fringe to the ends. Val's shawl has a ruffle along 3 sides.

If adding a ruffle do not turn, chain 4 then TC into same stitch as the chain 4.

Continue 2 TC in each stitch down the short side, then 4 TC in the corner stitch. Continue around the long side and back up the opposite short side.

Chain 4 and turn.

Work 1 TC chain 1 into each stitch all the way back around, and do TC, chain 1 TC, chain 1 in each of the 4 at the corners

Tie off, weave in ends.

I would love to hear from anyone who gives it a try, and to see what yours looks like!

Happy Hooking!

H.W.

Crochet Tally 6/21/11

So this week I made the Hubs a "Jayne Cobb" hat, but in camo at his request.

That was stolen by the Bug for a little bit.

And I made the girls matching Summer Beanies

I am now working on an afghan for myself, because my comforter has a rip that is growing every night.

This will be a Twin size afghan, even though we have a King size bed. The Hubs and I gave up trying to share blankets long ago, and we each have our own blankie that we cover with a Duvet when we make the bed. I have no idea how long this will take, I will keep you updated!

H.W.

I made a hat!!

Sorry, I am just REALLY excited about my crochet success after years of knitting failure! I finished off the skein of yarn from my Tarot Bag project by making a hat. Because I am a visual learner, and have no one in my area to learn crochet from, I followed along with this great video on YouTube.

It turned out great!

I wanted to try to put a visor on it, but I messed it up somehow and it became a ruffle. I kinda like it, so now that is the back of the hat! I also found a place in the next little town to buy yarn, so I don't have to drive 30minutes to get it, so hopefully more crochet goodness to come, I know you can't wait!

H.W.

Blankie

As I have mentioned before, my current crafting fixation is knitting. After a year of sporadic work, I recently finished a very sloppy but awesome scarf for Jiji. Now I want to make a blankie for Mojo.  I started one, with a simple basket weave pattern, but because I can only work on it a bit at a time I lose count and get lost in the pattern.  My solution? Squares! I have found several super-awesome patterns for "dishcloth" squares, so I can make them one at a time, and when I have enough, whipstitch them together.  I know myself well enough to know several small projects work better than one looooong one...I lose patience and interest.  As I was browsing through the free patterns on Ravelry at 2:30 this morning while trying to get Mo back to sleep, I found several interesting patterns. Great sigils like a Pentacle, Trefoil, Raven, Moon and Stars, as well as ones that are meaningful to our family like a lady bug, a honeybee, and a 4-leaf clover. So I am going to get started today on a Pentacle square, and just make up a bunch, then when it is assembled Mojo will have a Magickal blankie to snuggle at night. I will keep you posted on progress.

H.W.

Dolly:Refashion style!

For quite some time I have been wanting to use my meager but growing sewing skills to make a doll. Yesterday morning I found an easy (laugh!) pattern in that it was only 2 pieces. Most of my doll projects have been abandoned for the fact they have a lot of tiny pieces to be sewn together or jointed or what have you. So I printed out the pattern, taped it together and transferred to a paper grocery bag and sliced up a pair of torn khaki pants that have been laying around since summer waiting to be refashioned into something.

I cut out my 2 dolly sides and slapped it on the sewing machine. I got it sewn up in about 10 min...problem was I did it watching Days of our lives during lunch break and sewed her little ears to the inside! Luckily I could run next door for sewing advice and she helped me do a little alteration to return dollys ears. I then used colores pencils to draw a face on each side of the head, one awake and one asleep. The little hat covers the face not forward, to you can just turn her clothes and hat back and forth for sleepy time or play time! Neat, huh? At this point, there was a 3 hour delay in doll production while I waited for H.H. to return with supplies he stopped at Hobby Lobby for after his job interview. Sadly, like everything else, the nearest craft store is 30 minutes away! Once I had the necessary items I stuffed her, ties the ribbons on her 'joints' at the legs, arm, and neck, then popped her hair in and closed up the head. We dressed her up in Mojo's outgrown jammies, cloth diaper, and hat. Her name is Melodie, and Jillian has not yet put her down! Now I just need to raid my closet for more fabric and make one for Mojo!
H.W.