Heart Attacks of the Cute Persuasion

Blam! You've been attacked with love!

This is what Valentine's Day should be all about. Recognizing the people you love, and finding ways to show it to them. Doesn't matter if you're single, dating, married - whatever...I'll bet my bottom dollar you can find at least one person you love! It's just a regular day where we show some extra-ordinary love, and that's okay in my books. Maybe you write a letter. Cook breakfast. Sing a song. Pick out a necklace. Give a compliment. Or maybe it's just an extra long hug. See what I'm getting at here? Anything goes!

Last night we snuck out with scissors, string, and tape and attacked our two favorite shops with homemade Valentine's love. White Elephant and Needlework are both owned by members of the Beehive, and they are both places deserving of so many x's and o's. We wanted to let them know, especially in the midst of all this casino hullabaloo, that their contribution to our local economy is so incredibly appreciated.

White Elephant is a place that makes me feel so proud of Hamilton. Whenever I have friends visiting the city for Art Crawl, Hollie and Jane’s shop is at the top of the list. They’ve crafted a space that is aesthetically beautiful, with a perfect selection of handmade and vintage goodness. Watching their journey has honed in me an understanding of design that is well-made, long-lasting and timeless. A store like White Elephant shows us how to put meaning into the everyday objects we surround ourselves, and search out things that we really love, that could essentially last forever. It’s the perfect place to find a gift, as they literally carry something for everyone. White Elephant is also one of the best examples I’ve seen of a small local business practicing civic engagement. They’re all cute and kittens and crafts, but when shit gets real, they put that aside to promote their real inspiration, the good of our city. Thanks Hollie and Jane, for all you do. It really makes a difference in this city. We love White Elephant! Oh, and you guys are babes!

How fitting that when Needlework opened, they had a giant Valentine in their window! As cheesy as this is going to sound, a lot of people have fallen in love here - with sewing! For real though…I’ve heard so many people proclaim their thankfulness for this shop, as it has provided them the know-how, supplies, environment and encouragement to learn new skills. Needlework has a comforting and welcoming vibe and THE most amazing selection of fabrics. Kate and Liz are full of knowledge, and so quick to help with whatever you might be working on. Every customer is the friendliest person ever, they have a shop dog, they bake cookies…should I go on? It’s the kind of place you just want to hunker down in and spend the day. Thank you, Liz and Kate, for inspiring us. As you continue to come up with amazing new ideas, you are greatly contributing to a culture of creativity in this city, which is something that will take us a long way. We love Needlework!

Do you have Valentines cuteness to share? Post a link in the comments below!

Happy Valentines Day!

xoxo

On Fermentation and Failure

I was really looking forward to writing this post. A post all about the time that I fermented a huge batch of delicious, full-sour pickles. I had it all planned out in my head - I would talk about how much I loved pickles, how I will never turn down a pickle, how I am that person that orders the deep fried pickles or the huge "Chilly Dilly" pickles on a stick from drive-in movie theatres or street festivals. I would touch upon how even though I have enjoyed my homemade vinegary canned pickles from the last two summers, they weren't the same as the sour dill pickles in cloudy brine that are my absolute favourite type of pickle. I would take beautiful, mouth-watering photographs of my finished product to show you, and try to inspire you to do this easy process at home yourself. It was going to be an all out pickle love-fest, and that's the kind of love-fest that I can fully get behind.

But my fermentation didn't work. Well, I mean, it did work. It only worked too well.

I did my research and most of my reading said that pickles should ferment in their saltwater brine solution for 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. I bought a bushel of small, young cucumbers, picked early that morning. I scrubbed all the cucumbers and removed the blossom ends with a sharp knife, as leaving it on can lead to rot. I used fresh dill, fresh Ontario garlic and a mixture of spices made up from mustard seed, coriander seed and whole peppercorns. I filled my 5 gallon fermenting crock with the correct proportions of water and coarse salt, and weighed everything down with a plate. On top of that, for extra weight, I placed a mason jar filled with water. I covered it all with a tea-towel and tied it with some twine. I sat back and waited for nature to do it's thing.

I was diligent and scraped the forming yeast off of the top of my crock each day, and tasted them every couple of days to see if they were ready yet. They gradually changed in colour from bright green to a faded olive and it seemed as if everything was going smoothly. The smell of dill filled our house. However, I had a vacation away from home coming up on the calendar, and as that neared closer, my pickles were still not quite there yet. I would be gone for week, a week that put the pickles from 2 weeks of fermentation to 3. I enlisted my sister who was house-sitting to be on scum-scraping duty and she was happy to help.

Upon returning from vacation,  I was ready to process and can the fermented pickles pretty much as soon as I walked in the door. But it was too late, I was gone too long. I inspected my batch and discovered that my pickles had turned to absolute mush on their insides while I was away. I had never anticipated that they would have spoiled so completely and so quickly within my estimated timeline. I tried one at the bottom of the batch that was not as gooey as the rest, and the flavour was incredible. A heart-breaking failure.

Not always succeeding is something we talk about within the Beehive often. I admittedly got pretty bummed out about having to discard my entire batch. I dramatically wailed to my husband in between tears "it's back to reality and it's all spoiled picklesssss!"

It's easy to become a defeatist and give up and think that every handmade or DIY project is not worth all the time, energy and effort when one that you put so much into turns out poorly. It's easy to not try at all when the possibility of failure is lurking just around the corner. Failing at something that you put your heart into is one of the worst feelings in the world, and can shatter everything you know to be true about yourself and your abilities in an instant.

But making mistakes is one of the best ways to really learn a lesson. All of the Bees try and lead lives where we make as much as we can by hand. It's one of the principles that brought us all together as a group. Making things by hand can often be tedious and requires patience, as it's not always about convenience. As many successes that we have with our DIY projects, we have just as many failures. After picking our self-confidence up off the floor, we take our new knowledge of our failure and try and turn it into inspiration to do a better job at it the next time around. Because when you do get it right, there's really nothing sweeter.

I recently took a dress-making class at Needlework where the wonderful instructor Mary confided in me that she was so surprised to see so many of the Bees signing up for her sewing classes. She had assumed that we were all proficient sewers.

We don't know everything. We make mistakes. The most important thing is that we try. Sometimes we have to try again. And hopefully, I'm not too late in the season to pick up another bushel of young cucumbers.

Pysanka Workshop!

Last year we held an informal pysanka party at Hollie's house. None of us were experts, but with the help of some research and library books, we were able to have a whole bunch of fun and create some beautiful eggs.

This year the Beehive and Needlework are teaming together with the Kosa Kolektiv ladies of Toronto to host another pysanka party. And you're invited! We're super excited to have the ladies of the Kosa Kolektiv coming to share their knowledge of this practice. Here's a little bit about them:

Kosa Kolektiv is composed of several ladies in and around Toronto that aim to revitalize peasant folklore in an urban context. We do this by singing songs, sewing, cooking, planting, crafting, putting on workshops and sharing ideas over tea and good food. There’s something to be said for the simpler pleasures in life, and Kosa Kolektiv embraces them.


Love! They definitely seem to share the same values and interests that we have. How exciting and inspiring!

So come discover pysanka, the art of decorating eggs in the traditional Ukrainian style! Forty percent of the proceeds will go to the Pysanka Home for orphans in Potelech, Ukraine. Space is limited, and a material fee of $20 is required to attend. If you'd like to join us, please contact Needlework via email (hello@iloveneedlework.com), phone (905-667-5663), or in person so we can sign you up.

Introductions

Dearest readers,

Today's post comes to you via both Elizabeth and Kate of The Beehive. The two of us are so very excited to share some plans that we've had in the works since the Beehive first formed back in January. Introducing our new and upcoming venture: Needlework!

Our concept for Needlework is to provide Hamilton and its crafty, DIY community with its first ever sewing lounge; a sew by the hour, creative workspace. We envision Needlework as a space where you'll be inspired to learn new skills, finish old projects, and make something new; all while being surrounded by a thoughtfully curated selection of fabric, fibre and notions.

We are still very much in the beginning stages of this venture, and thus we would like to ask for your help. We would love to get a sense what you want and need in a fabric/yarn/notions store/workspace, so we have created a survey to gather some of that information. If you could take the time to fill it out, and pass it on to friends and family living in the Hamilton area and beyond, we would be ever so grateful. By participating in our survey, you also have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to either White Elephant, or Mixed Media. Fun!

A big thank you to our friends and family, and of course The Beehive, for being so supportive, helpful, and encouraging in our endeavours thus far. We love you all, and couldn't be making this big step in our lives without you! Thank you!

Much love,

Elizabeth and Kate

p.s. If you would like to get in touch with us, or be added to our mailing list for future Needlework updates, please feel free to email us at needleworkhamilton@gmail.com.