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WOVEN SOCKS

Well, I did it or at least most of it.

Socks are usually made by knitting, either by hand or machine. Fabrics woven on a loom do not have the ability to stretch enough to get the foot in and then tighten up above the ankle. I enjoy weaving our home grown wool but have no interest in or patience for knitting. Marilyn knits but it takes her months to make a pair of socks.

I worked out a method to make the bottom of the sock (which is the most tedious part to knit) from flat woven fabric and attach this to a knitted cuff. The socks in this picture were made using cuffs cut off a pair of commercial socks just to prove that it works.

It seems to work so Marilyn should be able to "whip" out a pair of cuffs in just a matter of... ah, weeks?

The pattern at the top of the picture is not to scale but just to give an idea of what it looks like. It can be cut on the fold if a large enough piece is available or as two pieces and seamed. If cut on the fold, a dart along the top gets rid of the ripple and the single piece pattern has a bit of a downward curve for the same purpose. Either way makes a decent foot and offers flexibility for using up scraps. I made one sock with two different colors and it's really kinky.

The key to making this work is cutting the foot opening on the bias. This provides maximum stretch to get the foot in and out with minimum sized opening.

After the long seams are stitched and pressed open, the are placed right sides together and the toe pressed flat and stitched horizontally.

The cuff is placed inside the opening, right sides together and then stretched to the same size as the opening of the foot. It is pinned in four opposite corners of a square and then slid on to the free arm of the machine and stitched while maintaining some tension to keep it stretched. The free arm is nearly the size of my ankle so it is pretty easy to do.

I got a bit confused on this pair and ended up with the wrong side out on the cuff. To make matters worse, I did it twice. This pair has gone through a number wear and hand wash cycles and is beginning to show some wear in the heal and ball but it is just defuzzing of the wool.

The fabric was a left over scrap from Marilyn's blazer but she was very indignant when I suggested she wear them with it.

To see blazer scroll to the bottom of:   Fiber Crafts

What makes this project really fun is that with little investment in time and material, you can do endless experiments with the pattern to make a perfect fit.

Haute couture.... HAND TAILORED SOCKS.

CLAVATE TORTOISE BEETLE

This most curious insect was found chomping on an eggplant in the garden. It appears at first to be a large scale insect until it starts walking around or flies away.

It gets it's name from the obvious resemblance to a turtle. In addition to the appearance, it also retracts its antennae when disturbed just as a turtle retracts it's head.




It is supposed to confine it's chomping to leaves of members of the Morning Glory family but the Egg Plant belongs to the Nightshade (Solanaceae) family, so it appears to be expanding it's menu.

In this underside view, it is struggling to right itself.



For more insects, see:  PHOTO INDEX

EGGS WORK BETTER

Last week we talked about using decoys to attract Mallards to our pond in the hope that they would help to control the rampant Duckweed.

I also mentioned that we were incubating some eggs as a backup program. These are the first two that hatched out on day 26, right on schedule.

They don't look very happy but they are just resting up from that big job of getting out of the egg.

After an hour of rest, they look like they are ready to take on the Duckweed.

We started out with 12 eggs but two were eliminated after 5 days as infertile and as of press time tonite, we have 4 healthy ducklings and the rest seem to be duds.

For more on the Duck Weed Problem.... Duck Weed

DECOYS WORK

Well, sort of.

In our unending war to control the Duck Weed on our pond, I came up with the great idea of putting out some decoys to attract Mallards which presumably, will eat the Duck Weed.

It's been about a month now and this frog is the only one to show any interest in the decoys at all. I thought this was a fluke but it seems to have become a favorite place for him to soak up the Sun.

In the meantime, we are now incubating a dozen Mallard eggs in stead of counting on the decoys to bring in the troops.


For more on the Duck Weed Problem.... Duck Weed

MAY APPLE

I can not think of a wild flower that has as many interesting growth phases as the May Apple.

This image shows a fertile plant just emerging from the ground with the flower bud already fully developed.

The sterile plants have no flower at all.


For more May Apple pics.... May Apple

IF LOOKS COULD KILL

Whenever were hear crows, jays and even chickadees raising a ruckus this time of year, we need look no farther than the Wood Duck nesting box.

This box has been commandeered for the past 5 years by a pair of Screech Owls and all one of them needs to do is stick it's head out the door and the whole neighborhood explodes. Diving, straffing, screaming and just making things very unpleasant for the owls.

This crow is about as brazen as crows get but I actually saw a Chickadee divebomb the owl, chasing him down into the box and then sat on the edge of the hole, sticking his head down, still scolding the owl.

For more owl pics.... Screech Owl

TROUT LILLY

This common wildflower is named for the brown leaf mottling that resembles the markings of a Brown Trout.

In spite of being common, it supposedly takes about 7 years before the plant first flowers.

This particular one was started at our home in Chicago at least 15 years ago. It has never bloomed until this Spring.

The nodding nature of the flower makes it difficult to photograph so we had to cheat and hold up the flower for an inside view.

Unlike many flowers mis-named Lilly, this one is actually a member of the Lilly Family Liliaceae

WOOD TICK

I am calling this a Wood Tick because it probably is but I do not see the white markings on any of the photos in the references that I have.

What makes this interesting to me is that, in the 12 years we have lived here, this is the first tick we have seen. However, they are quite common in most of the neighboring communities.

This one was attached to my leg just above the ankle. I thought it was a scab from a cut I didn't remember receiving. When it was still there the next day I poked around and discovered what it was.

MINK

We spotted this little fellow on our morning walk, crawling out of the pond and into an old Wood Duck nesting box that had fallen out of the tree. Our first reaction was a Long Tailed Weasel (Ermine) because we had seen a snow white one in Winter.

His size was difficult to judge because he was on the other side of the pond. Upon further investigation, the Weasels never turn completely brown but maintain a light colored underside from the neck to the tail.

The Mink is a uniform brown all over except for a small patch of white on the chin which is clearly visible in the pictures.

LAMB UPDATE

Now that we found out where the lambs were coming from, we decided to put Mom and Dad up for adoption. We found a nice couple in Friendship, Wisconsin who picked them up this week and took them to their new home. We received an email saying they were adjusting just fine and it took only two days for the lambs to get used to life on their own.

What started out as an effort to produce our own mutton has resolved itself down to 3 loveable furballs that produce (or will) wonderful wool for my new-found hobby of tailoring.

Leading we have George the First from last year and this year's twins, Hillary and Obama.

Marilyn looks like someone is threatening to take him to the packing plant.

Actually, she saw sheep being lead around at the fair on halters and is geting an early start on Bamy's training.

For the record, Marilyn's friend Carol Thomas took both of these pics
and Marilyn said she gets a dollar a click.
So please don't tell your friends how cute they are.

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CHICKEN SPINACH ROULADE

With Orange Caper Sauce

This yummy looking entre is composed of a filling made of saute of spinach, red pepper and garlic, rolled up in pieces of chicken thigh, pounded into flat sheets.

The sauce was made from orange juice, capers, pineapple jelly, spices and a bit of corn starch for liaison. This is poured over the rolls and baked for 30 minutes at 350F. The roulade is served on a bed of multi-grain rice.


For more....GOURMET FOOD

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To see all of our photos for the past 10 years in slide show format, click on link below.

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