Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

Brie

Katiehound said:

I've made the standard Dorset button- the one that is a bit like a spiders web (actually think I have made 2!) very fiddly, I wouldn't have earned much.....

Many embroidery type things were made by out workers- women stuck at home with children- so they got peanuts. As an example I'm thinking of the stunning Ayrshire white work known as 'flowering'- intricate embroidery on muslin.

So much "women's work" was paid peanuts as it was a very captive audience without any union solidarity or other ways to get proper pay for the work done.  

Katiehound

^^^^ Absolutely. The 'little woman' at home struggling to make ends meet whilst possibly the 'bread winner' drank away  the bulk of the wages........

Cherryfudge

I looked up the Ayrshire whitework and it's exquisite. My buttons are nothing like as fine. I was thinking of making one of the design you mentioned, that looks like a wheel. The one I did the other day is a tree in blossom. I'm getting stuck over which colours to choose: the tree is yellow blossom on a brown trunk with blue and green round the circle so I want to try more of the pack of cheap thread I bought specially (and while it's cheap, it doesn't catch as previous cheap thread has done, so I'm happy working with it).

Katiehound

If the design isn't too taxing then I would try several different colourways.
 Another way would be to draw out your design multiple times then use coloured pencils or watercolour to see which you like.
 You could , of course, have the same tree in the 4 seasons
Play with the idea, after all that is what designing is all about.

A pink tree (as in cherry) might be pretty (the trunk  could be fawn/ brown/grey if you want a more realistic representation)

You can do the wheel design in several colours- like graduated shades or stripes

I think the second button I did was one of the tops- it was 3 dimensional  & not worked on a metal ring. If I could find it I would tell you!

Enjoy

ps Sorry: I seem to have hijacked the thread...... apologies

Nelliegrace

I have been making our daily glass of kefir from the kefir “seeds” we were given about four years ago. They continue to multiply and having more seeds than I needed, I made some extra kefir to try a making bread from a recipe online. ( 280mls of homemade live kefir, 250g of strong white flour, 150g of strong wholemeal flour and 1 level teaspoon of salt.)

The weather is a bit chilly and the dough took a whole day to double in size. 
DH said we would starve waiting for it and did a 1 hour 55 minute white loaf in the breadmaker.

I knocked back the dough and put it on a baking tray to prove, hoping to make a cob shaped loaf. Over another day it spread out like a pizza. I coaxed it into a loaf tin and it sulked in the bottom. We named her Patience as by then she felt like part of the family. After another day it had risen just to the top of the tin so I baked it. (180°C for 35 minutes)
One day for the kefir and three days for the tasty loaf. Slow living indeed. 

The recipe said just to mix the ingredients and the slow rise would activate the gluten in the flour, but for my second attempt I kneaded it well by hand, to get some warmth into the dough, and it was a bit quicker. In fact when I checked it at bedtime on day two, it was at the rim of the tin, ready to pour itself, very slowly, down the sides, and I had to stay up late and bake it. 

Cherryfudge

Katiehound said:

If the design isn't too taxing then I would try several different colourways.

I think I will do exactly that! I've started another with a royal blue rim, so maybe white infill and a yellow centre... the plan is to do the wheel so that's a new skill in itself. I'm about 3/4 of the way round the outside so far.

@Nelliegrace, that's a great crumb in Patience! Was the taste worth the wait?

Katiehound

With the kefir loaf I would have been seriously tempted to add some 'fast acting' yeast! 
I suspect it was a case of a watched loaf never, well hardly ever, rises! I would have been sulking too!

Congratulations on waiting, and waiting.........do hope it was worth it

Brie

Just about falling asleep at my computer today so I'm rousing myself and going out to the fabric shop.  Please sound powerful "don't buy fabric" vibes to me!!!  I love fabric but I don't need any at all for any reason whatsoever.  But colours can be so enticing.  You might think I should avoid the place completely but it's the only shop I know that I can get any width of elastic by the meter and also cord or ribbon.  These are needed to sew into the back of my various jeans as they have developed a tendency to head south and make me look like some hiphop dweeb.  And I went to put on a skirt the other day (a very rare occurence) and all the elastic in the waist bank was shot.  So I'm thinking a cord that I can tie would be a better option - something bright and colourful to match the skirt(s).

CottagePotager

Hello. I know it's mid way through the year but may I join in? I've had a tough time lately. My dear beloved mum died last summer and it has really shook me to my core. I feel a different person now.

I've longer for a slow, peaceful life and feel like it's now or never. I'm trying to get back into the things I enjoy such as crochet, gardening and walking.

Brie

@CottagePotager

Welcome!  Sorry to hear about your dad.  Come in, sit down, relax.  Think about things that make your life better.