Handmade Gift Giving at The Woolery

You probably already know this, but we have some talented people working here at The Woolery. Not only are they talented, they’re generous too! So many of our team members have made beautiful handmade gifts this holiday season, that we felt we had to share them with you. Theses gifts span all sorts of different fiber arts including; needle felting, weaving, knitting, and crochet.

Some absolutely beautiful woven gifts have been floating around the shop. Our Customer Service Manager, Dani, has been weaving some plaid scarves on our floor model Schacht Wolf Pup.

We love the color schemes Dani is working with for these scarves! Also, the plaid patterns all all Dani’s own unique designs. How lucky are the members of Dani’s gift list?

Then, of course, our own Weaver Nancy has her own woven gift to show off! This beautifully textured towel was made on her Schacht Mighty Wolf using Maurice Brassard Cottolin Yarn in the Natural Lave color. The texture is a 5-thread huck lace 4 shaft pattern. The final effect is so stunning.

We don’t just weave here, Business Manager Mistene made a whole collection of incredibly intricate crochet doilies as a present for her mom and sister. The detail work on these is fantastic. They are so tiny and lacy!

Debbie, our Shipping Manager, has also been crocheting up some gifts. How adorable are these little canine inspired cup cozies? Debbie makes all sorts of different custom styles based off of different dog breeds. We are obsessed with the fuzzy eyebrows on the Yorkie one in the photo to the left. Too cute.

 

Our knitters are not to be outdone, they have been working on some gift projects of their own. Annie, our newest Customer Service Representative, knit up a cozy shawl and cowl for some lucky recipients. Annie is going to be teaching some beginning knitting classes next year at the shop so if you’re wanting to make some gifts like Annie’s check out our class schedule!

Socks are one of our favorite gifts this time of year and David, who is also a Customer Service Representative, has been knitting up some fabulous socks for his daughter. What an awesome dad! They aren’t quite done yet, but we’re confident he’ll finish in time for Christmas.

Emily, who works on our Creative Marketing (including writing this blog) has also been knitting away to finish some gifts in time for Christmas! The shawl to the left is for her grandma and if you’re curious, the pattern is Shaelyn on Ravelry.

Emily also has branched out into weaving since starting working at The Woolery (you can’t work here without wanting to try ALL the fiber arts)! And even wove up a scarf or two on her new Schacht Cricket Loom.

And finally, our Customer Service Representative Anna, worked some needle felting magic to create gnomes for some of her Customer Service co-workers! They are one big happy gnome family!

Have you already made some gifts this year, or did any of our projects inspire you? We would love to hear about any handmade gifts you have been working on this season! Share your projects below or in our Raverly Group! We can’t wait to see your creations!

Woolery Favorites – Tailgating Recipes

 

We aren’t just fiber fans here at The Woolery, we’re sports fans too! We love tailgating to support our favorite teams. And you can’t really tailgate without having some delicious snacks! This week we’re sharing three of our favorite recipes for tailgating/game watching parties with you.

Woolery Owners, Wave and Perri, both love the Auburn University Tigers. They can often be seen sporting orange and blue on Fridays and shouting, “War Eagle – Hey!” Perri wanted to share her favorite cornbread to serve with the BBQ they cook up at all all their tailgating festivities.

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Perri’s Favorite Sweet Potato Cornbread

Ingredients:

• Self-rising white cornmeal mix – 2 cups
• Sugar – 3 TBSP
• Pumpkin Pie Spice – 1/4 tsp
• Large Eggs – 5
• Cooked Mashed Sweet Potatoes – 2 cups
• Sour Cream – 8oz
• Melted Butter – 1/2 cup

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stir together cornmeal mix, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Whisk together eggs, sweet potatoes, sour cream, and butter; add to cornmeal mixture, stirring until just moistened. Spoon batter into a lightly greased 9″ square pan.
2. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

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Our next sports fan is Anna, who is one of our wonderful Customer Service Representatives, she loves the Green Bay Packers, so appropriately she has chosen to share her Beer Cheese Soup! This is enough to feed 12-15 people, so for tailgating at Lambeau Field, it needs to be doubled.  Or possibly tripled. Guaranteed to warm you up on a blustery day at the Frozen Tundra!  Alternately, it can be frozen very readily and keeps like a dream.  Freeze in ice cube trays and pop 3-4 in a mug or bowl and microwave for a quick and tasty lunch!

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Anna’s Green Bay Packer Beer Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• Onions, minced – 5
• Carrots, minced – 5
• Celery, minced – 3 stalks
• Butter – 1 1/4 lbs
• All-purpose flour – 3 cups
• Dark beer – 5 bottles
• Chicken stock – 1 gallon
• Heavy cream – 2 quarts
• Dry mustard – 2 tbsp
• Worcestershire sauce – 1/3 cup
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Smoked gouda cheese, grated – 2 cups
• Aged white cheddar cheese, grated – 2 cups
• Popcorn or croutons for garnish, if desired

Instructions:

1. In a large pot over low heat, cook the onions, carrots, and celery in the butter until the veggies are translucent, stirring frequently so that little to no browning occurs.
2. Add the flour. Stir until combined, then cook for 2 minutes over low heat.
3. Add the beer, chicken stock, and heavy cream. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir in the dry mustard and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Slowly whisk in the grated cheese until thick and creamy.
6. Immediately before serving, garnish with croutons or fresh popcorn.*

*Note: Popcorn is the traditional topping and it adds nice texture and flavor to the soup. Croutons are great if you have bad luck with microwave popcorn or just want more crunch. Feel free too add additional or alternate garnish (maybe Italian parsley or fresh chopped chives?).

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We asked our next recipe contributor, Taevia, who is also a fantastic Customer Service Representative, if there was any team she would like to shoutout and she said, “I’m a native New Englander so the Patriots, of course.” A tailgate wouldn’t be complete without lots of tasty dip for chips, so here is Taevia’s contribution!

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Taevia’s Easy Yogurt Cheese Dip

Ingredients/Materials:

• Greek Yogurt – 32oz
• Your favorite dip spice mixture or other spice mix – 2 to 4 TBSP
• Mesh sieve
• Cheese cloth

Instructions:

1. Place your mesh sieve over a bowl.
2. Put a doubled square of cheese cloth in the sieve to cover the entire surface of the sieve with enough hanging over the edges to cover the yogurt once it is in the sieve.
3. Spoon yogurt into cheese cloth lined sieve then cover with the excess cloth or with plastic wrap.
4. Keeping the sieve in the bowl, put the yogurt into the fridge to drain for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
5. Lift the yogurt cheese out of the sieve with the cheese cloth then transfer to a new bowl.
6. Add your favorite dip spice mixture or there spice mix. Herbs and chives, French Onion Dip, or my favorite , Mural of Flavor from Penzeys all work well when mixed with the yogurt cheese base.
7. After mixing put the dip back into the fridge so the flavors can meld for about 2 hours
8. Enjoy with your favorite dipping items.

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Thanks to all of our Woolery Team Members who shared such tasty recipes with us! We hope you got plenty of ideas for your next sporting event’s menu.

We’re going to be sharing Woolery Favorites with you every month. If you have suggestions for a topic you would like to hear some of our favorites for, please let us know in the comments! Next month we should have some mouth-watering Fall recipes for your Thanksgiving dinner.

 

And we have an exciting bit of news to share with you this week! You can now buy your own Woolery shirt! The Woolery long sleeve t-shirt is printed on Glidan Ultra Cotton T-shirts. All proceeds from shirt sales will support The True Vineyard Ministries Handspun Hope Rwanda Project. So you can get some fun Woolery swag and help out an awesome project!

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Free Guide to Spinning Wheel Maintenance

Whether you’ve just purchased your first spinning wheel or have a growing collection, routine maintenance is key to enjoying a lifetime of spinning. Cleaning and caring for your wheel regularly will protect your investment – and we truly believe that a spinning wheel is an investment! Besides allowing you to create beautiful yarns that you couldn’t possible buy off the shelves at your LYS, a spinning wheel is also an investment in YOU. Enjoyment, stress relief, and sense of accomplishment are just a few of the benefits that many spinners cite when asked why they do what they do. We hope some of those reasons apply to you, too!

Our free guide to spinning wheel maintenance is a useful reference to keep handy for the next time you hear a squeak or clatter, or notice your wheel is lurching a bit while you treadle. Knowing what to look for, along with how to fix these issues yourself, will keep your spinning stress-free.

Click here to download your free guide today. Don’t forget, our friendly staff is always happy to answer questions, too – just give us a call at 1-800-441-9665. You can also email our resident fiber guru Nancy at weavernancy@woolery.com or click here to post your questions in our Ravelry group.

We’ll also be hosting a Spinzilla Team this year – spinner registration opens on September 1 at spinzilla.org! Stay up-to-date by joining the conversation here in our team thread on Ravelry.

All the Best,

Wave, Perri & the entire Woolery Team