This time it is ginger beer!
It smelt amazing bubbling away in our kitchen while the wind and rain lashed horribly outside. There's something very comforting about making a brew when the weather's bad. We re-used our yeast from the last batch and it activated nicely a went crazy yesterday morning. Now it's regularly blooping away which is good to see. Recipe was simple: 2 x light malt extract, 37gm of grated ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of non ferment-able sweetener, 25L water and re-used lager yeast. The sweetener will remain sweet in the brew after fermentation, giving the beer a sweet flavour, like ginger beer should have. This batch will have a higher percentage of alcohol which is good. Our last batch is very light.
So far we haven't made a bad batch, which is great! Wonder how long that will last? We're surprised that we haven't made a bad one yet. In fact, all the ones we have made so far we'd love to make again. We will eventually run out of stout, and that would be a shame, so we shall have to make some more.
Crafting wise....
I love woollen jumpers. This one is no exception except that when I got it, the neck was incredibly high and itchy. I prefer low necks and wearing a scarf to keep warm. I feel a bit strangled in a high neck. So I decided to take the neck off this lovely red thing. Luckily the jumper was slightly felted, when I cut the fabric the edge stayed perfectly well together. A few rows of coloured zig-zag for reinforcement, a recycled collar and cuffs added and a jeans money pocket for a chest pocket was all it needed to be a bit more decorative and fun.
Being a felted jumper it is incredibly warm. Got to love toffs second hand clothing - $3 this one. I did have to search thoroughly through the jumper section though. It's incredible just how much clothing these days is horrible and synthetic! Long live 100% pure wool I say.
Progress on the Inkle weaving - I got into this the other day and couldn't stop. I'm happy with the result but realise now that I made a mistake in my calculations.. time to rescue it somehow.. Aren't the colours cheerful though? They make me smile :)
Designing a simple hat that is quick to make, to sell at the markets. Is this colour combination hideous or not? It looked good when I first put them together...
Swirl jumper! Knitting is a bit cramped up on it's needle, but you get the idea. Making slow progress on this one, but enjoying the cables more now that I have taught myself how to cable without a cable needle. It's really not that hard once you learn which way the stitches need to cross. I can get across a row much quicker now. Eager to see how the main cable will turn out after one whole repeat.
Well as I typed this entry the sun has been setting, the peninsula is half bathed in golden light and the detail is lit up beautifully. I must say that I've enjoyed seeing blue sky again in the last few days. It's weird to think that even on the wettest, most miserable day, above the clouds it's still blue and bright. Went up the hill today for a view of the city and surrounding hills. It really is a good place to go to think or relax. A rabbit ran up the path towards me, stopped, blinked then went on under the fallen tree I was sitting on.
That's pretty reflective of me isn't it?
Nest week my parents return to Dunedin town, so busking will start soon too! Let you know how that goes...
Projects on the go:
- Swirl jumper
- etc etc the usual knitting projects
- Inkle weaving
- hat designing for market day
- Ginger beer
- Orange plaid skirt - added tie dye panels
- Red jumper altered
- various pants taken in
- mended oscar's slippers
- designed a crest for the history boys play
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