How to process firewood!! Well how we collect and process it!! 😂
You can find a short video here of what we do!!!
Someone LOVES the chainsaw helmet!!!
Especially the visor!!! 😂
And whilst the chain saw was out!! Himself chopped me up some logs to make a log circle in the littlie’s forest school area!
So the crafting podcast is becoming weekly!! And on a Monday!!
This will be a weekly round up of the crafting activities I get up to!
This week’s round up can be found here
Episode 13
Sunday 18th March
So I’ve made it this far!!! Still got bump in tow!!
Lots of little bits to tell you all about this week, some sections are a bit light on content this week, because we’ve had disturbed nap times due to toddler illness ( joyfully he threw up in the car the other week so that was a heap of pulling apart the car and car seat to wash!!)
Plus more getting ready for the new baby, growing season by sorting out the seeds etc..
Well it’s another snowy day here in Wales and it’s freezing!!!
I’m wearing James’ fleece as it covers the bump!! And I’m wearing a cowl my Mum knitted for me!! It’s a Song of the Sea cowl by Louise Zass-Bangham and the Pattern is on Rav.
Knitting
I’ve managed to finally block my samples I had knit up and have subsequently tweaked patterns etc!! Now just need to get some more projects off the needles so I can cast on the full projects for those!!
I have two FO’s
Two little baby hats!!! The pattern is my Jelliebean Baby Hat pattern and it’s on Rav, I’ve knitted one in Rainbow heirloom solo light and one in some left over hedgehog fibres, plus a small amount of my own hand dyed yarn to stripe in so I was definitely not playing yarn chicken!! These are in my bag that the lovely Zoe of Pins and Needles made me.
I am halfway down the foot of the second sock for my Dad’s birthday
These are a Plain top down vanilla sock knit out of Weavers Loft sock yarn which is 75% super wash wool and 25% nylon, so good and hard wearing for much use for my Dad! These are in my fantastic Thimble and Thread Makes Harry Potter bag.
I have managed a heap more rows on my Hazels shawl and the leaves are really starting to come through now!! Ive knit this in River Knits 4ply fingering in the colourway Indian Giant Squirrel and it’s a pattern I am working on for release after the baby is born
I have decided to start using my progress keeper on my weasley sweater, because I can’t for the life of me remember whether I have even knitted on it since I last podcast!! The progress keeper I am using is a lovely tardis one from Jennie of Owl about Yarn.
Sewing…
Yep none…. No FOs….
But I have managed to cut out some fabric for a commission project and have some more to cut out this week so I can get sewing on that!!
However I have managed some mending/darning etc!!
I’ve mended The rainbow jumper which is the DayDreamer pattern by Jennifer Steingass, James’ socks and two pairs of Williams socks!!! Some knitting required…..
Weaving…
Zero…. Too much getting the desk cleared and the loom hoiked about at this stage of bumpness…
Crochet….
Also zero!! But to be fair I have been awaiting the plying of the Icelandic to carry on with that….
So that leads me into Spinning….
I have Navajo or chain plied the Icelandic!! Just need to skein it, wash it thwack it and it’s good to go into a crochet project…
And I have thread plied the Sara’s Texture crafts exmoor BFL!!! I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out and can see more thread plying in my future especially with the beautiful variegated skeins of yarn. Mainly because I believe my yardage for this skein of yarn is going to be HUGE!!! in comparison to the Icelandic which will be minimal as it is three ply and super chunky!!
Acquisitions!
So I have received the fabric I ordered for the commission project
Cotton
Terry
Rip stop
And I have ordered more rip stop and received it to make the boys waterproof dungas using the Made By Jacks Mum Free Range Fun Over Trousers.
And also this last fortnight I had a really happy post day!!!
The Lovely Anita from the Gaga Knits podcast has sent me some beautiful gifts!!!
A beautiful little cardie for the newbie when he decides to put in an appearance.
A book for Will which he has had read several times already!!
And a beautiful roving of Fondant Fibre in merino and mulberry silk!!! Part of their Illume collection called awakened spirit.
Thank you soooo much Anita you are so very kind!!
Shop update
I’ve been inspired this week to get my backside back to the dye pots!!! So hopefully (baby arrival allowing) later this week I shall have a little shop update with these two colour ways!!! Daffs and Crocus, they are currently drying out, having been my first attempt at yarn dyeing on the wood fired stove!! Man I needed to haul lots of wood!!! Or it seemed that way because I can only bring in small amounts at a time, not the big basket!! However I digress there are two bases, a sport weight merino base, which are the slightly softer colours, and the Stardust sock weight base which are the more vibrant colours!! So keep an eye on Tyddyn Bryn on Etsy later this week for them to pop into store!! One time limited dye lots, using up the last of the undyed I had in stash…. The next time I dye I shall have to do another big restash of the undyed before I dye!! And who knows when I might get time to do that!!! It has been two years since I last dyed yarn I believe!!!
Woodwork….
I’ve been out varnishing the sign for the front of the house again, and giving the bird boxes a quick coat too to protect them…
Farm update…
So James hired a mini digger a fortnight before I was due to pop….
He has now dug raised beds in the slurry it, which he needs to blockwork out…. watercourses…. Potato beds….. Flattened an area for me to make into a digging zone for the kids….
I’ve sourced some tractor tyres for digging pits for the boys…..
We’ve scoped out a pond site, but it wasn’t safe to take the digger to it….
In looking at that though I have found loads of my basketry willows have grown and need cutting back allowing me to get more plants going…
And Friday next if no one comes forward we become accidental sheep owners…. Still no idea if it’s multiple deal…. As in whether she is I lamb or not…. But we have bought some feed to supplement her diet in case and come next week we shall book a vet out to see her and register her as ours.
The chicks are growing well and feathering up… They are much bigger much faster than the last two, and are certainly eating more, drinking more and stinking more!!!
We’ve baked more cakes…. Muffins of the White chocolate and Rasberry variety and the banana and chocolate chip variety!!
I shall add a little photo montage at the end of all the farm happenings…
Sooo….
I hope you have enjoyed this weeks podcast!! I’m not sure when I’ll get to podcast next…. Baby is due Friday next!!! So in the meantime Happy crafting everybody!! And you can find me as Tyddyn Bryn on Instagram, Twitter and Ravelry, there is a Tyddyn Bryn Facebook page…. The Tyddyn Bryn Etsy shop, which I am going to attempt to keep open…. But we shall see what occurs in the next couple of weeks…
If you enjoyed the episode please give us a thumbs up at the bottom and I hope to see you all soon!!!
So the past two weeks have been filled with visitors and LOTS of outside work….. not much time for crafting except in between visitors and knitting of an evening!!
We started with a few days with my sister and niece and nephew!!
Someone was very pleased with his visitors!! And we had wall building round the Polytunnel!!
Playdoh….. painting…… forest school trip!
Bird box building and painting….
Phew very busy!!
Then last week my parents came for a few days!
It turned colder…. but we have meshed the fruit cage….. planted and frost fleeced a few plants that had been delivered…. blueberries in pots in some good Ericaceous compost as our soil isn’t right for them but we need them as young sir would eat his body weight in blueberries!! Well fruit in general!!
Then we had lots more Polytunnel progress…. just a shame on the final day the wind picked up so we couldn’t get the plastic on….
We had a wood delivery too…. didn’t get as much in last year as this year has required!! It’s all a learning process and bear in mind this time last year we were only able to collect wood every other weekend!!!
Any way all this done plus toddler wrangling…. plus catering…. keeping the home fires burning…. and growing a baby….. phew
We have had a quieter weekend this weekend sans visitors!
Finishing some jobs in the fruit cage….
Using sawdust to make paths…. cable tying the mesh further and pegging it down….
Then today….
Chipping the brash piles we’ve had lying about from hedgerow sorting!! Finally seem to be making some progress in rejuvenating some of the hedgerows and hope we will be able to lay some of them in a couple of years to thicken them up and really sort them!
So a different sort of weaving has been happening here…..
A hazel hurdle is in the making!!!
We have decided to have a go to make some prettier panels to make the gaps into what was the old slurry pit and will be our fruit and vegetable garden, safe!! Hopefully child safe!!!!
James and I selected an old beam which was big and heavy enough to form the jig…..
Then whittled the ends of some larger hazel rods to make the uprights….. lots of our hazel is very overgrown so we are working with some very bobbly bits of wood, but using what we have!!
This took ages to sort…. the beam was OLD and rather solid to drill the holes into!! And some of the uprights, in order to get the straighter bits were a tad large in diameter!!
I’ve even found a use for the ash mallet I made on my forest school leader course!!! Fantastic for bashing down the hazel whips!!!
We are at the stage of weaving in the thinner whippier bits of hazel now and over half way up the panel!!
And I’m surprised how pleased I am with it!!! We both predicted this first go would be a disaster but no….. totally a usable panel!!!
So I have been knitting on Some Christmas socks and the wool is working out ok!
Then I’ve finished a project from the WIP wall of shame!!!! Yay!!!
Meet the leaf babies!!
So more about them later this week!!
Then I’ve been out in the workshop working on some wood crafts and pyrography….
Then for little Sirs Forest school group I’ve been asked to knit some elf clothes so the children can make some little elves!!
I finished proto elf last evening!! Along with a few other projects to be revealed later this week!!
So stay tuned this week for lots of shop updates and FO posts!!!
A big part of our new lives here this time of year is collecting processing and stacking wood for our Esse and logburner. The Esse allows us to cook, heat water and heat our home and the log burner tops us up on chilly nights and even sometimes allows us to cook tea on it (like baked spuds or a simple something in a saucepan)
Luckily here on the smallholding we have 9 acres of woodland and lots of very overgrown hedges round the rougher pastures…. So this time of year if the weather is good we have to get out wood collecting every chance we get!!
Yesterday we spent two hours out cutting and collecting wood!! And luckily a friend called past with his tractor to cut our hedgerows in the fields which entertained the small man for ages and allowed us a wee bit more time!! He adores vehicles!!
Today however the weather has turned miserable so in between small bean wrangling and going to our nursury Ti a Fi session we have been processing and stacking what we brought up!!
Phew!! A few more days of wood burning NEXT year!!
Busy times again here as always it seems but now the workshop is nigh on finished and now functional!!!!!
So I decided to crack on with a few jobs I’ve been planning for a while…..
Firstly, I made something to occupy the small human whilst we are in the work shop and to stop him porcupining all the available holes in workbenches etc with screws!!!
A work bench!!
Then I decided it would be a good idea our home had a name sign!!!
So I cleaned up a lovely chunk of hard wood, which incidentally used to be part of the old barn roof itself….
I marked out the lettering with a pencil and a stencil I printed off from the computer and cut out using a craft knife…. Then using my pyrography tool I burnt the name into the wood…. Currently I’m on the second coat of varnish of about seven!!!
So whilst I’m varnishing I’ve started another project for the boys!!! (As will be come March, bump two is a little boy!!) I am turning a dolls house Dad made and I roofed and painted…..
I used in my classroom for a few years as both a teaching resource and as a choice time activity/play resource…..
Now it starts its journey to being a barn for the boys to keep their toy tractors and farm animals in!!
Lots of craftiness, though not of my usual ilk!!!
Recently we have been working hard on getting the area in the first barn behind the house turned into a workshop for all the tools and for doing some of the jobs we need to get done around the place….. including me making a heap of toys for Sir and for future Forest School plans (follow me over on Pinterest to see my collection of ideas I have for these things!!)
Sooo….. we started with…..
Well in reality there was a horse box and a tonne of junk and wood in there to really start with!!
Then building work started….
Then some more……
and some electricals….
and a roof…..
a lot of tanking slurry…..
and a bit of patio to sort the awful back door entrance out….
some welding and gate building….
The last two days I have been painting it with some cheap white paint so it doesn’t look so much of a cave….
Today Himself is cementing the floor in places to level it for racking….
So nearly ready for its final reveal!!!
In our quest to not waste anything at the farm James has bought a brick maker…
Last time we were at the farm James spent some time making some newspaper and sawdust bricks….
Tyddyn Bryn 