Temporary Hiatus?

Blog will be on temporary hiatus til end of January.  Sorry, but life is just too busy lately and I don't have time to be on the computer much.

Linky Inspirations

Paleo Inspirations:

Strawberry-Banana Ice-Cream



Gluten-Free Inspirations:

Green Beans with Tomatoes and Bacon



Recipe Inspirations:

Turkey Gumbo


Peanut Butter Pie

Linky Inspirations

Gluten-Free Inspirations:

Creamy Confetti Corn with Bacon




Recipe Inspirations:

Cranberry Upside Down Cake - - sounds yummy!

White Country Gravy - - I miss gravy . . . like lots!

Slow-Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken - - mmm

Linky Inspirations

Paleo Inspirations:

Paleo Sauces


Gluten-Free Inspirations:

Southwestern Egg Salad



Recipe Inspirations:

Italian Egg Drop Soup

Cheddar Filled Soft Pretzel Rolls

Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce

Loaded Broccoli, Cheese, and Bacon Soup

Soft Pretzel Rolls

Linky Inspirations

Crafty Inspirations:

Knotting inside Pens

Forget Me Not Doily



Paleo Inspirations:

Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Pumpkin Filling

Creamy Leek Soup




Gluten-Free Inspirations:

Egg White Spinach Enchilada

Chicken and Cilantro Taquitos

Daddy and Daughter Socks

Today is my brother-in-law, John's birthday and this is the second year I have knitted him socks and I love the fact that he loves crazy colors.

I did the toes, heels and cuff in another color to make sure I had enough yarn, which I had plenty, so Eleanor, his daughter, gets matching socks!



Here are John's socks.





Here are Eleanor's socks






And a comparison picture. . .




Yarn: Apothecary Yarns Superwash BFL and Knit Picks Stroll
Color: Stellar and Blue Topaz
Content: 75% Wool/25% Nylon and 75% Merino/25% Nylon
Care: Machine wash and dry
Needles: US 1
Pattern: Made up
Sizes: 13 Mens / 9.5 Children

Linky Inspirations

Paleo Inspirations:

Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

Lemony Chive Paleo Mayo



Gluten-Free Inspirations:

Creamy Rosemary Chicken Lasagna

Pumpkin Caramel Sauce

Homemade Ricotta Cheese



Recipe Inspirations:

Apple Cider Donut Cake

Linky Inspirations

Paleo Inspirations:

10 Minute Garlic Shrimp - - will be making this



Gluten-Free Inspirations:

Apple Cider Caramels - - might make some of these for Christmas gifts



Recipe Inspirations:

Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread - - seriously? I want some of this!


New England Apple Cheddar Galette - - probably wouldn't take the time to make this myself, but it looks so interesting to try.


Sourdough Bread Bowls - - I wish I had the patience to make sourdough starter

Wintery Hat

Remember the first real yarn I made and plied on my wheel? Yes, the gray over kinked stuff. Well I wasn't going to use it as is, so I cable-plied it, making it a 9ply yarn, this ended up a nice worsted weight. I took my leftover alpaca from my sisters Christmas hat a couple years ago and knit a nice winter warm hat. . . .











Yarn: My handspun made into a 9ply cabled yarn / Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande
Color: Gray / Natural
Content: 100% Wool / 100% Alpaca
Care: Handwash, lay flat
Needle: US6
Pattern: All made up as I went.

Faux Fair Isle Baby Hat

And the last of the this particular handspun. This hat ended the handspun, as you can see the crown did end up white. This works for me. It is made for a 6-9 month old. I enjoyed making this hat a lot.

















Yarn: Handspun and Knit Picks Bare Stroll Fingering
Color: blue/green/purple and bare
Content: 100% Wool and 75% Superwash Merino Wool/25% Nylon
Care: Handwash and air dry
Needle: US 2 / 2.75mm
Pattern: No pattern, just did some math and started knitting.

Stripey Baby Hat

To use up more of the handspun I talked about before and knit the other two hats with, I decided I would make a baby hat. I still worked with the white because I liked how it worked and wasn't sure when the handspun was going to run out. Yeah, didn't run out. I didn't swatch and just went for it, it's approximately newborn to 3 month old size.












Yarn: Handspun and Knit Picks Bare Stroll Fingering
Color: blue/green/purple and bare
Content: 100% Wool and 75% Superwash Merino Wool/25% Nylon
Care: Handwash and air dry
Needle: US 2 / 2.75mm
Pattern: No pattern, just did some math and started knitting.

Wookie's attempt at theft

Wookie is a little jealous of my spending some of my free time with crafting and not spending every spare moment with him. Also, he loves blankets. The other night while I was working on my niece Vera's Christmas blanket, he climbed into my lap and snuggled under the blanket, trying his best to show me that it would be perfect for him instead.












I guess someone is vying for a blanket of their own this Christmas!

Spinning Wheel Love and a New Toy!

So almost a year ago I showed you the beginnings of this spinning. My wheel and I have been butting heads since the beginning . . . I'd like to say it's all her, but lets face it, most likely it's me. I have been spinning Knit Picks Full Circle Roving in the Caramel colorway.

My first skein which was the color Wolf and was way over spun when I plied, is the reason I didn't want to ply on the wheel. So I used my new toy Ball Winder (a gift from my sister,brother in-law, and niece) and made a center pull ball from my bobbin.

In all the pictures, the darker brown is more correct to color.



All the singles wound onto the ball winder!


Can I tell you that it worked marvelously?!?!?!  It truly did, so happy with it.


It was a dream to spin from this.


I held the outside of the ball and inside of the ball together, for two strands held together and Navajo-plied them to make a 6-ply yarn.


I plied from the center and outside, holding two strands together and Navajo-plying them for a 6ply yarn.  This one turned out to be about a fingering.  I got 158 yards.  By general sock weight standards I should have been able to get more like 400 yards with 3.5 oz of roving, but my plies are very dense and not lofty.  I checked the wraps per inch, I get 16.5, which places it in the fingering or sport weight category depending on which chart you believe.


I really like the way it turned out.


It's not soft enough for me to wear next to my neck, so I am not sure what I will do with it.

Linky Inspirations

Inspirational Quote:
Quote on Life - - only glitch is actually figuring out what you want



Paleo Recipe Inspirations:

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies



Gluten-Free Recipe Inspirations:

Lemony Chicken Rice Soup


Sweet and Spicy Pork Roast




Recipe Inspirations:

Blackberry Cobbler Bars


Queso Soup with Broccoli and Potatoes


A heaping of Apple Recipes!!!

Polwarth Handspun

Remember this yarn that I had started a while ago?

Yes, I did the same thing, once I had a full spindle, I couldn't wait to ply it! I did the same, two plies held together and Navajo-plied to result in a 6-ply yarn. It is also fingering weight.


Here it is all plied up on the spindle.


Skein.


Ah, love this color, reminds me of the Pacific Northwest, where I am from.  Everything is green and blue, water and trees.

Camel/Merino/Silk Handspun

Remember this itty bitty bit that I had spun?

I finally got the spindle as full as I could and still maintain consistency. In the beginning I though I would wait until I had spun the whole bag before plying. . . but I couldn't wait so here is the first cop all plied!


Here it is plied on the spindle.


All skeined up!  Doesn't it look soft and shiny?


I beyond love this yarn.



I used my fail safe plying method, which is a two plies held together and Navajo-plied, so it is a 6-ply yarn. It's fingering weight and lovely! If you ever have a chance to work with some luxury fibers, take it! It's so worth it.

Wookie Love

Tomorrow will be the 1000 post of this blog! Crazy, huh?

I thought it would be fitting to have some early celebrations of Wookie videos. For my birthday, my husband got me a knitting machine, which was cushioned in the box with a bunch of brown paper. Wookie of course thought the brown paper was the best part and was all his!! The videos are a bit dark, but I hope you enjoy them.

Handspun Fall Hat

Remember this handspun? Well, there was another skein about the same size and it made this hat:


I could have had a bit more yarn to make it cover my ears like I prefer, but it is a decent hat.








My cable plied yarn has a bit of a bias.




Yarn: My handspun
Color: Maroon, Orange, Yellow
Content: Colonial Top (blend of Corriedale and Columbia)
Care: Hand wash and lay flat
Needles: US 5 / 3.75mm
Pattern: Made up

Linky Inspirations

Paleo Recipes:

Crock Pot Chicken Yellow Curry

Pumpkin Spiced Mini Donuts and Cake Pops



Gluten Free Recipes:

Tomatillo Huevos Rancheros



Recipes:

Spicy Tuscan Soup - - considering substituting the potatoes with jicama

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle - - the husband loves his cookies crunchy

Caprese Wontons - - cannot eat these for many reasons but they sound yummy

Linky Inspirations

Paleo Recipes:

Cinnamon Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Apple Salsa

Gummy Bears - - use honey or something similar instead of Stevia though

Pumpkin Coconut Chowder with Shrimp - - when I was young the only pumpkin I ever tasted was pumpkin pie and boy did I not like it, so I assumed I wouldn't like anything pumpkin . . . ends up that isn't true, so I am interested in trying this chowder

Dark Chocolate Coconut Pudding

Paleo Mediterranean Meatza Pies


Gluten-Free Recipes:

Apple Jalapeno Jam



Recipes:

Raspberry Jalousie

Stir Fried Green Beans with Ginger and Onions - - could easily be made Paleo by substituting Coconut Aminos.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Nutella Dream Pocket Cookies - - considering making these for the husband

New England Seafood Chowder

Creamy Lemon One Pot Pasta

Faux Fair Isle Hat

So after the Drizzle, I still had a chunk of the handspun it didn't seem like too much, but definitely enough for another hat. Let me tell you , there was more than I thought there was left. Any who, I decided I liked the look of the handspun and the bare together, because the white really made the other colors pop, so wanted to use them together again. Almost did stripes, but I wanted it to use up the rest of the handspun . . . yeah right!








Absolutely love how it turned out, I've worn it a couple of times and am so very careful not to loose it like I do most of my hats. Only one color is used per row, I just slipped the stitches. The handspun is softer than I thought it would be.

Yarn: Handspun and Knit Picks Bare Stroll Fingering
Color: blue/green/purple and bare
Content: 100% Wool and 75% Superwash Merino Wool/25% Nylon
Care: Handwash and air dry
Needle: US 2 / 2.75mm
Pattern: No pattern, just did some math and started knitting.

Drizzle - the first hat

You'll notice the title says "first hat" . . . yes, along with spinning I have been on a small bit of a hat kick. I've been longing for Fall and the weather has just started being a bit Fall like.











I am somewhat attached to this hat, because the blue/green/purple yarn is my own handspun, remember this? And down the rabbit hole I fell, I really liked knitting with my handspun and this hat didn't use even close to all of the handspun, so there will be more posts this week . . . and yes, next week.

I love the slouchy effect.  I did modify the pattern some so I could use fingering weight yarn, but it wasn't too difficult.  The straight knitting sections were done in the bare and the lace and top portion were done in my handspun.

Yarn: Handspun and Knit Picks Bare Stroll Fingering
Color: blue/green/purple and bare
Content: 100% Wool and 75% Superwash Merino Wool/25% Nylon
Care: Handwash and air dry
Needle: US 2 / 2.75mm
Pattern: Drizzle by Mel of Single Handed Knits

Jacob's socks

I do not believe I blogged about the first socks I made my husband, but these are the second:








They are just a version of broken rib, size 9.5 mens.

Yarn: Serenity Sock Solids
Color: Navy - it's not really any shade of blue, it's a dark gray
Needles: US 1
Pattern: Just made up.

He likes them well enough, but next pair I think I will have to go down a couple stitches for the legs as he has some scrawny ankles.

Linky Inspirations

Paleo Inspirations:

Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce - - leaving out the rice and make cauliflower rice makes this Paleo

Chilorio Mexican Pulled Pork

Creamy Spinach Soup



Gluten Free Inspirations:

Savory Roasted Chicken



Recipe Inspirations:

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake - - ah, sounds so good

Linky Inspirations

Links are pretty skimpy this week!


Paleo Inspirations:

Zesty Tangerine Sauce

Thai Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

Spinning Craze - Part 4

I promise this is the last part of the Spinning Craze! Lastly, Malia from Yarn Raising Podcast has a New to You spin-a-long going on in the months of September and October. You can spin a new to you fiber, do a new to you technique, or use a new to you tool. I am using the 40% Camel/40% Merino/20% Silk that I got through the Highland Handmade Luxury Fiber Club. Also where I got the Yak/Merino.

If you could spin clouds in heaven, this is what it would feel like! It's so soft and just drifts apart.








It catches on everything though! Everything! It takes a bit more patience than the other fibers shown earlier through the week, but I know it's so going to be worth it. I know it is frivolous and probably really stupid, but something about this fiber screams to me that is should be a baby garment. . . I know, not wise, but it does. So we shall see.

Spinning Craze - Part 3

I know you are starting to think I've gone off the deep end and I definitely have. I have enjoyed the Turkish Spindles so much that it has refueled my love for spinning. I love the pre-made ball/cop so that I don't have to wind off, because that is just so very time consuming. Plus, they are also small enough that I can stick them in a small Tupperware container and shove it in my purse and go. I have been spinning on my breaks and lunches at my temp job.

I don't beleive I ever told you about the Alpaca pencil roving I purchase the Winter of 2011 . . . Wookie fell in love with it, found it while I was at work, shortly after it came to live with me and ripped it apart and spread it over the apartment. It is no longer pencil roving. Most of the pieces aren't more than 4-6 inches long and not all of it was salvageable. I have started spinning it again. It's been a while since it's been spun. I forgot to take of the top-whirl I have with some of it on there. It takes a lot of spin and it wants to spin so thin, that the other spindle was just too heavy. I purchased a Tiny Turkish Spindle and have started spinning it again:









The whole tiny spindle fits in the palm of my hand.

I also have no idea what I am going to do with these singles when I am done, most likely will be at least a 6-ply because anything else will just be too thin.