Kevin update, crafty stuff and beer

I used some of the remaining lathe from the kitchen walls to make rustic stars.  I had to look far and wide to find a little bag of rafia in the shops.  It seems it isn't in decor favour right now.    If the snow melts, like they say it will, I may dig up a few more pieces of lathe from the scrap pile and make some stars to keep undecorated.

I was tired of this warp before I'd even started weaving.  I did all the math, checked it twice, wound the warp, dressed the loom and had too many threads.  I counted the threads and there were the right amount on the first half of the heddles, so I checked the second half several times and couldn't find the error - so removed the offending threads, thinking I'd miscounted while I wound.   Except that in all the math errors I could have made, it was the simplest one that was wrong... there weren't half the threads on the first half of the threading.   And I missed that stupid error.   When I realized it, I fixed it - added the missing 4 threads, but because they were in one spot, near the edge, I couldn't get the tension right with them hanging off the back.  Argh, I wound off the warp, retied the choke ties so that Kevin could do no harm and then tied the new threads on the back beam and rewound the whole darned thing.  It added an extra day to the process :( and was a pain.  However, it worked and the weaving is going smoothly.

I came in the other day, to find Kevin had pulled down the cloak project and made himself a warm, soft, little bed.  He doesn't look horribly comfortable, but considering the amount of time he was snuggled up there, I think he must have been comfy.  Either that or he was just being obstinate and hogging the fabric so that I couldn't work on the cloak :)





Last year my sweetie received one of those Mr. Brew kits for a gift.   With the kitchen project, he kept putting off trying it out.  Finally I read the directions and a short time later, I had the first batch sitting in the only area warm enough for fermentation -  hello new living room ornament.   It was really easy and online reviews suggest that you get relatively drinkable if uninspiring beer.   Since I don't really drink and don't like beer at all, I'll never know if it is any good or not - but there are 2 more tins of that concentrate, so there will be at least another couple of batches in the future. 

I have a large, clear glass jug.  If I get an airlock for it, can I brew a second batch in that or does the container have to be dark?  I will have to do some research.

  I'd been hoping to have this ready for the holidays, but totally misunderstood the timing.  2-3 weeks for fermentation, 1-2 weeks for carbonation and 1-4 weeks for aging, does not fit into the 3 weeks left before Christmas.  Whoops.