Pumpkin Shepherd's Pie - Vegan Gluten Free

My friend, Jan, and I made this delicious Pumpkin Shepherd's Pie for dinner tonight. We started with a recipe in the current issue of Sunset Magazine, which uses a lamb stew for the base. We made several substitutions to make the recipe vegan and gluten free and it worked! The result was delicious and definitely company quality tasty and beautiful. Specifically, we used a box of gluten free tempeh instead of lamb, increased the baby portabello mushrooms to 16 ounces and added halved brussel sprouts to the veggies. We quick sauteed each vegetable separately in a frying pan to seal in the flavors and then layered them in the ceramic baking casserole. And of course, we used gluten free flour for the gravy. For the mashed pumpkin, we used Silk soy creamer instead of dairy cream. And I reduced the salt by half. Everything else is the same. Delicious!

Handspinning at the Yarn School

Katherine and I attended our first ever Yarn School session in Harveyville, Kansas two weekends ago and it was fantastic! We joined about 25 other women from all over the country for a weekend of handspinning on spinning wheels & drop spindles, a dye lab workshop, knitting, eating and socializing. This was my first experience ever at handspinning and I had a blast! I'm definitely hooked. Above you can see my first clumsy efforts using a spinning wheel. The skein of yarn on the right is the first one I did and the skein in the middle is the second. Both are chunky and loose, but I can see a little improvement in the second. I brought the rest of the top home with me and when I buy a spinning wheel after Christmas, I hope to spin enough more yarn to knit a small cowl that I can actually wear. One of the highlights of the weekend was a field trip to the Wildcat Hollow Alpaca ranch nearby. There were many alpacas and they were all gentle, soft, adorable and friendly. The neatest thing about them was that they are curious and get to know you by nuzzling up to your face and sniffing your breath. It felt like they were "eskimo kissing."

Here is some beautiful alpaca/merino blend yarn that I bought while I was there. It was wonderful to meet the alpacas who produced this fiber.

And here are the results of our dye lab adventure.

2012 The Year of the Norwegian Knitted Christmas Ball

Last year this time I was crocheting reindeer stockings for Katherine and Robert. This year, thanks to Arne and Carlos, I and thousands of other people around the world are knitting Norwegian Christmas balls for the holiday season. This green one on the left was knitted by my friend, Jeri. I just got started on my first one, here in red and white. So far, it is fun and easy. Arne says he can knit two or three in one day, and I believe it. I calculate I am 20% done with mine and it only took me one hour. I encourage you to follow the link to Arne and Carlos' website, and especially to watch their two short videos. Oh my gosh, they are hilarious! And as cute as they could be!

Candra's Apron

I finally finished the red and white egg beater apron for my friend and nurse colleague, Candra! This apron has been on my UFO list for a year! Candra helped me start it last summer (2011)and we had hoped to finish it before Thanksgiving, so she could use it to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family. But we both started school (RN-to-BS programs) and each had our nose to the grindstone for the entire year. I just got my first real break from school, and really enjoyed getting this project back out again. Candra, in addition to being beautiful and smart and an awesome oncology nurse, is a fabulous cook and home maker, so this apron is perfect for her! She makes the best apple pies in the state of California!

Vexillo Baby Blanket for Baby Karen

I finally finished the knitted baby blanket I've been working on for my cousins, Rodger and Leslea's first grandchild, Karen. The rocking chair the blanket is draped over is the one I bought when my daughter, Katherine, was born. The blanket is simple and fun to knit, using self-striping sock yarn. The pattern is called Vexillo and is available free from Berroco.

This is a photo of the wrong side so you can see the seaming. The seaming wasn't as fun as the knitting, but once I got into it, I didn't mind it all that much. I had slipped the first stitch in each row of knitting as if to purl with the yarn in front. This left a nice, clear edge and made the seaming pretty easy.

And this is baby Karen on the day she was born in April.

Fickle Nickel Quilts in a Weekend

My apologizes for the long break in posting!  I'm back in school studying for my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and have been very focused on my studies.  I took a much needed break this past weekend and visited my daughter in Texas. In a marathon sewing session over the three days, we each pieced a quilt top using Fickel Nickel Quilt kits we had purchased at the Houston International Quilt Festival last November. These kits use one yard each of five different fabrics.  The instructions are super easy and would be a good first project for some new to quilting. 

Here is a photo of mine a little closer.  It looks like I may have held the wrong side towards the camera....oops!