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the mother of all tea

kombucha tea

Do you drink kombucha? I’ve seen it mentioned here and there over the past year, and when my CSA offered a class about it, I decided to learn more. I love tea — black, green, herbal, caff, decaf — I drink it all. How could I not be interested in a fermented tea drink?

Taking a class made me feel more confident that this is a really easy process. Tasting different brews gave me an idea how different tea leaves and brew time affect the end product. I was also glad to learn kombucha has a low pH, so I don’t have to be concerned about botulism. (Remember when I worried about that when I canned apples?)

Everyone in class left with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) to start their own batch of tea. (That’s mine pictured above.) I’m brewing in a one gallon glass container and mine has already started to grow into a stereotypical round mushroom-looking mother. I guess that means I’m doing it right!

I have to say I’m a little nervous about this, like when I made yogurt for the first time. In a world that’s so anti-bacterial, it’s weird to invite it into your home and into your food.

What do you think about kombucha? Ever heard of it before? Do you buy it at the health food store? Brew it at home? I’m curious!

p.s. Here’s a sneak peek of my current knitting project.

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felted wool sweater mug cozy

felted wool sweater mug cozy

Why yes, I did make a wool sweater for my mug.

Even though the Autumn temps are still beautiful here in Nebraska, the mornings are a bit chilly. My tea needed some help staying warm.

I tried not to over think this project — it is a mug cozy, after all — but a quick search on Pinterest and Etsy turned up so many cool ideas. Only problem was that while I was lost in cozy-land, my tea was getting cold.

So I dug into my stash of felted wool sweater bits and found a piece long enough to wrap around my mug. I secured it with a few buttons and embroidery thread. The buttonholes are just little slits. (You can cut felted wool and it won’t unravel.)

So there you have it. Cozy morning tea.

* * * * *

Thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts on decluttering and congratulations to Erica Arehart on winning the sewing book. I’ll have a knitting book up later this week.

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holiday blur

It’s interesting to view the Fall and Winter holidays through the eyes of a three-year old. There’s all this build up to Halloween and then after one night, it’s all over. After weeks of talking about pumpkins, witches and ghosts, we immediately move into Thanksgiving mode. There are still colored leaves and pumpkins, but now we’re all about Pilgrims and turkeys.

Then, to make things really confusing, people start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. There is a house on our street with pumpkins all along the entryway and snowflakes hanging from the roof.

Even more proof that all of this is confusing to a three-year old: today my daughter asked me if we missed Thanksgiving. I told her no, Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Why on earth would she ask if we missed it? Look at all of the Christmas lights, Mom. Are you sure?

I’m really trying to keep our house Christmas-free until after tomorrow, but my daughter is already asking for her little tree. In the meantime, though, she’s serving tea and candy to her Halloween friends.

undead tea party

Maybe I need to crochet a little turkey for her?

pattern: undead gang from Needle Noodles

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my creative space

linen tea towels and wool knit gloves

Today my creative space is filled with gift making. I’m embroidering, sewing, and knitting and having so much fun! Unfortunately, I can’t show you more until after the gifts have been delivered.

I can tell you that I am making more tea towels and really need to get practicing with that rolled hem foot again. I’d really like to make some more towels and napkins for my family. They don’t need to be fancy, but we should be using them more than we use paper towels and napkins.

Visit more creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.

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handmade wedding and anniversary gifts

tea towels

You may have noticed a theme around here. I love to give gifts that will get used. I have a set of mixing bowls we received as a wedding gift that I use all the time. Whenever I get them out, I always think about our special day. So, when I was brainstorming ideas for wedding and anniversary gifts, I thought tea towels get used everyday! I made these with linen and they feel wonderful. I also added some details to match both couples’ kitchen colors.

satin stitch

I had planned to embroider their last initial on the towels, but everything I tried just didn’t work: cross stitch, back stitch, running stitch. I decided that maybe less was more, so I left the initials off.

tea towels

inspiration: The pattern for these is in one of my new favorite books, Linen, Wool, Cotton. The linen fabric is a blend and the review on Joann’s website sounded perfect for tea towels. Thread was from my stash.

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that’s how i roll

Another little Mother’s Day gift for me: a rolled hem foot. The other night I sat down to make some tea towels and expected to have a whole stack to show you. I didn’t realize there would be such a learning curve! It was like learning to use my machine all over again. I think I’ve got the sides down, but the corners are still giving me a little bit of trouble. So, here’s my one tea towel.

tea towel

I found this fabric in my stash while I was hunting for something else. It was originally for a sewing machine cover, but when I washed it, it got super soft. It feels like a linen/cotton blend, but I’m pretty sure it’s just cotton. The colors match my kitchen perfectly. Check out those beautiful hems!

tea towel

I couldn’t have gotten this far without this awesome tutorial from the Sewing Divas. I think once I get the hang of it, this little foot is going to be a big time saver for me!

stash: Having the right tool for the job can make life so much easier. It will pay for itself in productivity.