swappy swapperton

Last night, I went to a clothing swap on our neighboring island, North Haven.  It felt SO GOOD to get rid of a bunch of clothes from my closet that I haven't worn in years, and it was lovely to spend the evening with some great ladies, food, and libations...not to mention the adventure of rowing across the thoroughfare and back. Ah, island life.
It even gave me the unexpected opportunity to look at a well-loved sweater that just isn't working for me anymore and decide to create something new out of it - the chunky yarn is just perfect for an Oatmeal Pullover...and is there really anything better than a free sweater (you know, apart from the labor)?
Not to mention the free and fabulous finds from the clothing swap...including a green JCrew sweater that I have (and love!) in gray.

Win, win!

it all started with a toaster

so last week, my dad got this sexy new toaster. we've been in the market for one for a while. while we love our cuisinart toaster oven, it takes FOREVER to toast a couple of slices of bread and we were both getting a bit fed up with it.
so obviously, we ordered the same toaster, but ours in black. it arrived a couple of days later (with a discount and free shipping - thank you, casa.com!)

the next obvious step was to bake some bread to toast in it. i turned to our standby loaf - one i make at least once a week (usually twice). but then the question was what to put on the inaugural toast? well, what better than butter made from moocream? lucky for me, my order from turner farm arrived yesterday and coincided nicely with the arrival of the toaster and the exit of the freshly baked bread from the oven...raw goat milk, moocream butter and goat cheese, oh my!

by this time, i was on a roll, and finn was at daycare, so i decided to try my hand at a few more baked goodies. i turned to one of my very favorite on line food resources, smitten kitchen, where i found recipes for tortillas, spelt crackers, and pretzels, all of which got whipped up (or at least set to rise) in just over an hour.

so this morning, when i woke up, i had the happy decision of whether to have homemade granola with raw goat milk or freshly baked bread with homemade butter and scrambled local eggs with goat cheese (i went with the latter).
needless to say, i feel very well-nourished this morning.

trouble.

oh dear...

someone hide my credit card.  too many good ideas have landed in my house recently!

before and after - in the wrong direction

First, I made a Shalom.
Then, I made another Shalom because the first one didn't fit. I tried to give it away to a variety of women, but it was too small for all of them, and many of them were considerably smaller than me.
The second Shalom was also too small, but I figured I could make it work with some cute frog closures.
Finally, I realized that if I left it this way, I was never going to wear it.

So now I have unraveled one Shalom (that would be it on the right), and am about to begin doing the same to the other, so I can make YET ANOTHER Shalom.

Lesson from this story: way up there at the beginning? Where it says "First"? After that, it should say, "knit a gauge swatch".

Lesson learned.

a request for help from my fabric loving friends...

I'm in LOVE with these two fabrics. 

There was only one yard of the Anna Maria Horner coreopsis flannel (YUM!) available. I love the print and would like to whip something wearable up for myself with it (but am open to other options)..........

 and I figured a half yard of the David Walker "Get Together" narrow wale corduroy on the right would be fine since it will be something for the babe. Maybe pants?

Here's the million dollar question - WHAT DO I MAKE with them???

Help!

a bag!

I've been avoiding the sewing class I'm taking because I just didn't now what I wanted to make my third assignment -  a reusable shopping bag - out of. 

Luckily, inspiration struck in the form of a friend who wanted to get rid of a bunch of fabric, including this ticking.

What is is about ticking? - I just love the way it looks, it's practical yet beautiful stripe.

Anyhoo, so here's the bag, and I'm quite pleased with it.
Actually, it's my first "three dimensional" project - everything else has been flat - curtains, the table runner, etc. So I am really excited about it. I may have done a happy dance.
I learned how to reinforce the straps by sewing an "X" on the seam, and I decided to leave the selvage edge on the top becuase I like the little detail.
So now I have a handy bag for going to the beach this summer - just in time!
...Now if only the weather would cooperate. Hmph.

I was a bit of a boob and instead of sewing the "good" sides together, wound up sewing one backwards, but I decided to leave it and what turned out as a mistake just makes it a bit more visually interesting. At least I think so. I'm not just being lazy. Really. 

Oh, also? I made these doughnuts. If you haven't discovered 101 Cookbooks yet, go. Now. I love how Heidi is all about healthy, whole food, but every once in a while sneaks in a recipe like this. Makes me feel more human. But I mean, hey - they are baked, after all.
And beautiful.
And covered with cinnamon and sugar.
How could you go wrong?

a little thing i like to call...

my first recipe!

years ago, i was camping with some friends and we were sitting around the fire one night. i'd had just the right amount of sunshine, yummy food, and alcohol to put me in a contemplative mood. we were playing "truth or dare", and for the life of me, i chose truth. i can't for the life of me remember what the question was, but my answer still rings true today - i want to make something. i want to add something to the world that didn't exist before.

i'm not saying that this little recipe is that thing, but it's a start.

raw kale salad

ingredients:
1 bunch kale (i really like using the lacinato or flat leaf kale)
2 grated carrots
1 grated beet
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2-1 whole avocado, chopped
a few scallions, chopped
(omit any of these and replace other raw veggies you'd like to add -i've added celery, radishes, and peppers. mix and match with what is fresh and seasonal)
juice of a lime, lemon, meyer lemon, etc...maybe a bit more
about twice as much olive oil
a good sprinkle of coarse salt
a few grinds of pepper

mix together all the veggies
pour the juice and oil over the top, sprinkle with s & p
toss thoroughly (more thoroughly than you would another salad - the acids and salt need to work with the raw veggies to start to break them down a bit) and let sit for a few to let the flavors meld
top with feta, if you're feeling feisty
enjoy!