Sourdough June 2010

I have started making sourdough with the wild yeast my mother caught a little after Otto was born. He's seven now. But I have heard of starters that are centuries old. I loved the description in Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential of his crazy bread man and his bubbling, monster starter that he threw all manner of stuff into. The bread is delicious and now I don't have to fork out $8 for a loaf at the local artisan bakery. On the downside, I have to start making it the night before I want to eat it, and I keep on losing my spray bottle that gives it a shiny, bubbling crust. Here is an outtake from my visual diary:

Blankets reworked June 2010

My grandmother seems to have a never-ending supply blankets. Most of them are loomed from New Zealand wool in cold southern places -- Dunedin, Christchurch. They have great labels, starring Pania of the Rocks, or factories that have long since relocated to China. These cushions are a rip-off of the ones you find in fancy design stores (but why do we all have to be original? Our grandmothers were perfectly happy buying pre-tested patterns). I have also made Violet a floor rug in a flower shape, which needs a little steam press to flatten it out. The problem with craft is that it looks so home made... but that's the point, right?

Violet's pinafore April 2010

And talking of Violet, I have made her a pinafore, which she grew out of a few weeks after I finished it. You might recognise the spotty fabric from her doll that I made her for Christmas.

Zans for cans June 2010

I have been painting the pretty foreign cans I buy because I have no room to store them and I am suffering from pack rat syndrome.