Will totally make that again!

Warning- Picture heavy post here. Feel free to skim over the text, and just oogle the loverly pictures.

First up, Dinner!

 
This is a Roasted Veggie Pie with a Quinoa Crust.  Actually, three of them, because I made too much of the quinoa, and cut up too many veggies. At least I have lunch for the next 3 days!
I couldn't find a recipe for a quinoa crust that wasn't for quinoa flour, so I made one up.
This one used four cups of cooked quinoa, which is
2c dry. I mixed the quinoa with one egg, after letting it cool to room temperature. I pressed the cooled
mixture into each of three well greased pans,

 firmly across the bottom and up the sides. The one recipe I found that was kinda what I wanted, here, said to blind bake it at 350* for 15 minutes.

 I did that, and the crust came out kinda soggy, so next time I think I'll bake it for 25 min, and maybe at 375*.
Then I sliced up 2 green bell peppers, 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 orange bell pepper, 1 sweet onion, using my brand new food processor! And cut into 1- 1/2 inch pieces about a pound of baby asparagus.
I beat 2 more eggs, and mixed them with about a cup of

water. I layered the veggies into the baked and cooled crusts, and poured a third of the egg mixture onto each one. I baked all three at 400* for 25 minutes, but they came out not quite done. Next time, I think I'll bake them for 35 or 40 minutes, so the veggies are nice and tender. But I will totally make that again!


 Next up, Fiber!

This is the Lopez Special, from Island Fibers.
I had washed it one once, and it was still pretty smelly. So I gave another go with the soap, and it turned out much better the second time around. Then I died it. I was originally going for a pink to purple variegated, but I didn't put enough die in the bath, and not all the fiber got it. That's ok, I'll just over dye it! This time I added some peachy color, and just a splash of green, after flipping the mass of wet fiber over so the bottom and middle could get saturated. This time, it came out perfectly! I let it dry for a few days, and then I started processing it. Now, I don't have a lot of experience, or a lot of tool, pretty much just my two hands, and my spindle. So this was a bit of a challenge. This fiber wasn't all in nice lock formation, like the Cormo, or SBL. It was all kinds of higgeldy piggeldy. But I am, if nothing, stubborn. So to work I went, pulling and fluffing and drafting and sorting and occasionally pushing my cat out of the way. Yes, that is my demon spawn cat, Chaotie. It's short for Chaotic Evil.  And, eventually, I ended up with something resembling sliver, kind of. And a big bag of squiggly odd and ends, that I'm not sure what to do with. But I'm sure I figure something out, the colors came out too pretty to ignore. Maybe felted soaps for Hanukkah presents? 

Good idea, Saylor!
This is it for now, I'll sow you some beautiful blue baby something (wish the animal this stuff came from started with a "b", that would have been too good!) tomorrow, and see how this rainbow-bright stuff spins up.



P.S.- I will totally dye this color again, if I can.

Broken Camera, Uh-Oh!

Last night, I was getting ready to shoot some pix of some beautiful fiber I got at Madrona, and how nicely it was spinning up. I turned it on, and it said the battery was running low, and would turn off. OK, sure, new battery time. So hunt, hunt, hunt for batteries, find some, put in camera. Now it will run, right? Wrong. I take one picture, and it shuts down. No warning, no blinking red battery light, nothing. Just dead. Hmmm. OK, try different batteries. Same thing. Six different sets of batteries later, I'm thinking my camera is actually broken, and I'm going to have to take it back, and get a new one. Not something I really want to hassle with, mainly because I've lost my receipt. I know, I'm dumb, always keep major purchase receipts in a safe place. Thanks, Mom.
So i take it in this afternoon, back to RadioShack, where i got about 6 weeks ago. I explain everything to the guy, including how i don't have my receipt, had it for more than 30days, don't want to return it, just exchange it, can you do anything for me? All in one breath. He just looks at me, and says, "Where do you get your batteries?" Uhm, the Dollar Store? He pops open a pack of the ultra nice, expensive batteries, pops them in, and begins taking pictures. Many pictures, and the camera doesn't shut down. It works just fine and dandy, actually. I, of course, gasp and exclaim, oh! Why is it working for you? Do batteries really make that much of a difference?
Aparently they really do make that much of a difference. The nice guy let me keep the batteries he put in my camera, and gave me the rest of the 4pack, to boot. I offered to buy them, but he wouldn't hear of it, saying they would cost me $4.99, while they only cost him $.21. Super nice peeps at RadioShack.
I went back later, and bought two more 18 packs. I am now a firm believer in expensive batteries.

In other news, I put another hat up on SaylorRaye Creates. This is one of my very favorites, I almost didn't want to put it for sale! It's a really nice, classic design beige beret, not from a pattern, just my own pattern in my head. Take a look , and say if you like it!

First Knit Night Ever!

Tonight I went to my first Knit Night. I have never been to a gathering of knitters where I actually sat and knit with them. I have only been to stores to buy yarn, and to fairs and festivals to buy fiber.
I have to say it was really nice.


And I'd have to be lying.


It was AWESOME!




I finally could talk about wool, and knitting, and spinning, and say Kitchener, and splice, and they all (except the super newbie, who was still learning to purl) KNEW WHAT I WAS SAYING!
And they cared, or at least had some interest. 
I brought the 12 stitch blanket, which is a slight variation of Frankie Brown's Ten Stitch Blanket, except instead of 10 stitch rows, I use 12, and am using stockinette, not garter. Other than that I am using the pattern exactly! Right.
I also brought some of the Cormo Special and my Ashford drop spindle, and worked on that for a while.
When I first walked in , I didn't think I was in quite the right spot, I didn't see any one knitting or spinning. But then I spotted someone in the corner, and I saw a ball of yarn in front, and knew I must be in the right location. That person ended up being David, the super newbie. I ended up not spinning or knitting that much, but helping him with the whole purl thing. Which was totally cool. It made me realize that I am not really a beginner anymore, and am what would be classified as an "Intermediate" knitter, which is totally weird, because I still feel like a beginner.
But, all in all, it was super fun. And I am planning on going back next week, which will hopefully have better open-mike-nighters. Dude, whoever you are, stop trying to sound like Eddie Vedder.

PS- I got to hold a 2month baby boy, named Nathan. To a non-mom, yet, this was like getting free candy. The. Best. Thing. Ever. 

Washing Fleece

So... More yummy fleece pictures.

 This is the Scottish Blackface, in the bag, all washed up and and pulled out into kinda-sliver.
And the Lopez Special at the bottom. I pulled some locks off, and drafted them out, and had my friend Trin hold on to the lock while I spun my Ashford drop spindle.  It was surprisingly soft and easy to spin. I'm not sure whats in it, but its really super gorgeous.
I'm really loving all the fleeces I got from Island Fibers, they are all cleaning really easily, and spinning just beautifully. I have to say, for my first non-processed fiber purchase, I'm really happy with the results. I never thought cleaning fleece could be so easy. I do have to credit my extensive About.com research, and the Yarn Harlot post on cleaning for my success, I think.
Although I took alot of inspiration from her method, I do mine a little different.
This is how I wash fleece.
Gather-
 A big wide pan- like one of the tubs bus boys use to clear table, got mine at the Dollar Tree
Some dish soap, I use whatever is cheap, I think Sun, again from the Dollar Tree
And your Microwave. Well you probably won't need to gather that, since it's kinda heavy.
Then We Wash!

• Separate the fleece into locks, or if its pretty mangled, just pull it into strips. 
• Fill the tub with as hot of water as you can stand to stick your hand into, and squirt a good 1/8th cup of soap into it. 
• Push the fleece strips into it, keeping them separate, submerging them until totally soaked. 
• Let sit for 20 min, until water is super gross. 
• Pour water off, and run more in, bouncing it off the tub, so it doesn't felt the fleece. Don't add any more soap.
• Microwave for 5 min, then let cool for 15min, and microwave for 5 min again. 
• Let cool, and drain again, just holding the fleece in the tub. 

• Rinse with hot water again, maybe two-three times, until the water runs clear, and no soap foam comes up when the water runs in. 

I hang my fleece strips from a pants hanger, so they don't slip off, and set my little space heater on low pointed at it. It usually dries in about an hour or two.
Sometimes, if the fleece is really crunchy, and doesn't draft out easy, I just spritz a little Suave leave-in conditioner on it, while it dries, and that softens it up a lot. 
And that's what I use, at least for now. I will probably change it up, and try something different next time, but this worked well this go around.
Any suggestions would be awesome.
How do you clean your wool?

Yummm....

Fiber! Not the kind you eat, but the kind you spin! Or felt, I guess, but that just seems like a waste. If your wondering why the enthusiasm for fiber, look no further that Madrona Fiber Arts, right here in Tacoma! I know, no four hour round trip this time, how nice. (I went to a fiber fest in September out in Monroe, the lady at the Fair said it wasn't that far away. Right.)
Because I am a phenomenal idiot, I did not bring my camera with me to the the festival. I did bring home a delicious selection of fiber yummies. Let me show you.
First up, the Cormo Special- from Island Fibers
Unwashed, and lovably greasy.
Washed, and divided into strips. Took 4 rinses, and a stint in the microwave, to get the water to run clear.
And, finally, pulled into a kinda-sliver and spun on my new-ish support spindle, from SpindleMeRightRound.
Have to say, for my first foray into washing and prepping my own fibers, this one turned out really great. Although I was a little rough on it, none of the fleece felted, and almost all the dirt rinsed out. Still a lot of VM in it (vegetable matter), but that just picks out as I go.
Also got some Lopez Special, a random mix of stuff, and some Scottish Blackface, we'll see how those clean up tonight.

Got a ton more stuff, but that's enough sharing for today. We'll have more adventures in fiberland tommorrow.

P.S. Totally wanted to stay the whole day, just so I could sneak around and maybe see the Yarn Harlot, but William was hungry, so we had to go feed him.