…time for a lazy link post. Once again piggybacking on other people’s hard work, a list of some fun things I came across this week:
- If the aforementioned sweet potato brownies intrigued you, you may be interested in beetroot chocolate cake (American/UK conversion chart here if you need it).
- Don’t feel like knitting a cowl yourself? This quick DIY project has potential.
- Easy Ric Rac flowers for embellishing your children (or whatever else comes to mind).
- Staircases: Imagine the possibilities.
- Knitters Behind Bars.
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Prisoners at the Pre-Release Unit in Jessup, Maryland
Let me be clear that I’m not one of those anxious parents who feels compelled to make every bite count, who sneaks spinach into ice cream and hides carrot puree in perfectly good chocolate chip cookies. The happy fact is that my kids love sweet potatoes, and they share their mother’s conviction that no matter how good something is, it can always be improved by adding chocolate. When I mentioned making sweet potato brownies, they were all for it.
Unfortunately, the first recipe we tried wasn’t great. It was vegan without any of the workarounds that make vegan baking acceptable (in fact, I had to cheat and add an egg and some oil just to get the dough to stick together).
But it still sounded like a good idea so we kept looking and found this recipe.
These brownies are vastly superior: chewy without feeling undercooked, dense, just the right amount of sweet. I think the sweet potato is a big part of what makes the texture so nice. The big thing to remember is to really puree the sweet potato; mashing won’t cut it. Use a blender or a food processor and add a little water if you need to. You want it really smooth.
Enjoy, and remember I never said these were healthy!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons coconut oil
(note: the original recipe called for 4T of butter; we were running low so I subbed coconut oil. Really, you can use 4T of whatever kind of oil you’d like.)
2/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup white or whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup sweet-potato puree (about one skinned, boiled sweet potato, pureed)
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (we were out so I didn’t use this)
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square pan; set aside.
In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and coconut oil. Remove pan from heat, and stir in cocoa. Let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in sugar and sweet-potato puree, then egg.
Add vanilla (if using) to cocoa mixture. Then add flour mixture to cocoa mixture and stir until no traces of flour remain. Spoon into prepared pan; smooth the top. Bake until surface of brownies looks barely dry and an inserted knife comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature before serving.
I gave up drinking coffee last fall. Not the first time, but this time it looks like it’ll stick. For extra excitement, I decided to give up dairy and black tea and to cut way back on sugar while I was at it (for the record, I have not given up chocolate and have no plans to do so). After a few rough days of caffeine withdrawal, I felt much better, but while I didn’t crave caffeine I did crave a nice warm cup of something creamy and sweet at the beginning of the day. Here’s a record of some of my adventures in coffee substitutes:
Nut Milks I quickly developed a taste for almond milk. Warm it gently and flavor with a vanilla bean, some cocoa or cinnamon. Sweeten with maple syrup or honey. I’ve found I prefer the Pacific brand of almond milk; other brands like Almond Dream had a fake creaminess that came from a lot of thickeners which I didn’t like (you can of course make your own, too). I recently discovered that Pacific also sells hazelnut milk. This is truly delicious and rather puts the almond milk in the shade but so far, I’ve only found it sweetened—and it’s a little too sweet.
Tea I’m developing a taste for Rooibos tea, a red tea from South Africa which is supposed to be very healthy (you can buy it at the supermarket or health food store; many brands have it in a variety of flavors).
I’ve also found I like peppermint tea which is cheap and tastes like a candy cane. I haven’t found that it needs sweetening at all.
“Mayan” or “Aztec” Hot Chocolate Still experimenting with this one. Most recipes claiming ancient South American provenance are essentially hot chocolate—with standard milk and sugar—spiced up with cayenne pepper or fresh chili. The Mayans themselves would have drunk something closer to this recipe. I figure if people can drink their coffee black and unsweetened (admittedly, I never did), then milkless hot chocolate should be an acquirable taste.
So far, my best results have come from simply melting two squares of a Lindt chocolate bar (a tablespoon or so of chocolate chips will work too) in 6 oz of boiling water, pinch of cayenne pepper optional. I tried adding almond milk but I had to add so much to get any of the flavor that I didn’t think it was worth it.
That wasn’t bad but it had too much refined sugar. I tried melting about a quarter oz of unsweetened baking chocolate and flavoring with honey but the chocolate didn’t melt completely and still had a bitter aftertaste. Also, honey has such a strong flavor that it tends to overwhelm the chocolate (maple syrup goes with anything but alas, is very expensive). Also tried 1.5 tsp of cocoa powder in 6 oz water (bring to a full boil for at least one minute or it will taste chalky); this was a nice texture, slightly thicker than coffee. This morning I gave in and added a little bit of regular sugar and quite liked it. Not exactly a healthy drink but less caffeine than what I used to have and still nice and warm and sweet.
Chai I haven’t actually tried this yet. I’m thinking hot almond milk and a spicy rooibos. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Any other ideas for acceptable coffee replacements?
In the interests of posting something before I go to the gym and then getting on with my Saturday, here’s a quick round of up links for fun and interesting things I came across this past week:
- Someday I’m going to learn how to sew. Then I’m going to knit myself a pair of cozy mittens and keep these cozy little hand warmers in them.
- Librarians show that it’s not all buns and sensible shoes—though it is still rather a lot of cardigans.
- Ever since we saw this idea for making a rug, Big Kid’s been bugging me to buy her a hula hoop.
- Painting a clock on your wall is odd. Painting a clock on your wall that actually tells time is way cool.
- Easy recipe for vegetarian noodle soup—perfect for a chilly afternoon.
- On a diet? Avoiding sugar? Then whatever you do, don’t click this link for extremely easy dulche du leche.
Just some quick updates:
1. Just discovered that the baby above is now for sale on Patternfish. I sold the rights to it when I designed it for Nashua so I won’t make any more money from it, but if you buy it you’re supporting Patternfish, which is a great company.
2. Probably obvious from the sidebar over the the left, but Tsuwano is now available for sale. (Psst! Use coupon code HAPPYNEWYEAR until end of the day Monday, January 16 for 40% off). And check out the projects on Ravelry!
3. Also having a Buy One, Get 50% Off Another sale on the Finchley Road Series: Shawl, Hat and Cowl. This promotion should apply automatically but I think it will work only if you use the “add to cart” feature (not Buy Now). Let me know if you have any problems and I’ll make it right. This promotion lasts indefinitely.
And that’s it for now! Thanks for checking in.
When I put out the call for proposals for Stitching in the Stacks, I was praying that I’d get enough submissions to fill up the book. As it stood, I ended up with over 90. It was very difficult to decide which 60+ patterns to cut, but it was absolutely fascinating to see the variety of proposals that came in.
Now, I’m not a professional editor (though in a previous career incarnation I did a lot of editorial work) so bear in mind that the following list of suggestions represents only my own thoughts on submitting proposals and they apply primarily to proposals submitted over e-mail. And I want to emphasize that the vast majority of proposals I got were extremely professional and most of this advice is based on what people did right, not what they did wrong. But I learned a lot from studying other people’s proposals and I thought it might be useful to share.
Basically, you want to do three things:
- Make the editor’s life easier
- Reduce your chances of getting lost in the shuffle
- Show off your work to its best advantage
So to that effect…
Keep it simple You don’t need whole pages of text to convey your idea. It will get scanned, not read. Try to get the whole thing on one page, two max.
Include the right information in the right places Make sure your name and contact information is on each page of the proposal. Don’t bury technical information about the yarn you used, the notions you’ll need, etc. in the text; put it in a sidebar or up at the top, just like a published pattern. Make sure you include a link to a website, blog or Ravelry page where I can see your other work, whether formally published or not. Number your pages.
Use sketches to show proportion Don’t just draw a picture of the garment/accessory; draw it over a human figure to show where the hem ends, what kind of ease it has, how cropped the waist is, etc. Don’t worry if you can’t draw people all that well (do a search for croquis templates to trace if you like); just give a sense of what your idea would look like on an actual human.
Don’t worry (too much) about layout I got some proposals that were beautifully laid out with lovely little graphic designer touches and others that were the most basic possible combination of text plus image. Didn’t really matter too much. The well-designed proposals did feel a bit more professional than the more basic ones, and adding an extra sense of professionalism never hurts, but ultimately it’s more important that your photos be clear and your text well organized.
Worry A LOT about swatch photos The editor can’t see and touch your swatch in person so your photo has to convey the bulkiness of the gauge, the softness of the yarn, and the texture of the stitch pattern. Soft focus has no place here. Don’t hold your swatch in the air with one hand while you photograph it with the other. Don’t stretch it out with your fingers. Lay it flat. Photograph it in strong but diffused light—you don’t want it to be dark but you don’t want harsh shadows either. Don’t worry about styling an artistic backdrop for it, though photographing it with something that gives a sense of proportion may be a good idea (hint: I usually photograph mine laying next to a ruler).
Name your file something practical I received eight proposals that one way or another referenced Marian the Librarian from The Music Man. Organizing 93 submissions was enough to deal with; if all the Marian patterns had had names like Marian.pdf, Musicman.pdf, Dancinginthestacks.pdf, etc., I would have had a hard time remembering which was which. Fortunately, I’d asked people to name their files with their name and project type, e.g., RSmith_Cardigan.pdf. and about 90% of the submitters did. This made my life much easier and greatly reduced the chances that proposals got lost or overlooked.
Submit separate files for multiple proposals A couple of times I read through a proposal and closed the file then opened it up later only to realize that I hadn’t read the last two pages and that there was a whole other proposal there! Separate files give equal weight to each submission. If your proposals are linked in some way or if you’ve been asked to submit only one file, make it clear on the first page how many proposals and what kind are included.
Meet that deadline Look, I’m a soft touch. If you ask me for a few more days to get your submission in, I’ll probably say yes. But if you interpret “a few days” as “two weeks” or ask for more extensions on top of that, or write me multiple e-mails about how you were sick and then there was an earthquake and then the dog ate your computer, then it really doesn’t matter how good the proposal is when it comes in—I’ve lost faith that you’re going to get the finished project in on time or even at all. Do everything you can to get your proposal in on time. If you’re given an extension, get it in before the extended deadline.
Any other thoughts on what makes a good proposal? Fell free to chime in!
Big Kid and Saturn, reunited
Our little lamb, who is now named Saturn, went to her new home on Friday but we were able to go visit on Saturday. She and her mother live on a little farm with about two dozen other sheep. There were two other week-old lambs there so Saturn will have friends to play with as she gets older.
And there were several older lambs who are still quite happy to have a bottle when the opportunity arises:
Middle Child feeds a friend
Although we miss out little friend, we’re happy she’s in good hands. Her new owners know much more about sheep than we do and will take good care of her. And they’re very generous about letting us visit; we’re already planning another visit for next weekend.
I still have a hard time believing that this is where yarn comes from.
The kids started school again yesterday after two full weeks off. It made for a busy morning, and I didn’t get around to feeding the sheep until Middle Child came home from kindergarten at lunchtime.
She and I went out to feed the them. Daisy, the youngest, can be a little frisky sometimes but yesterday she was crazy. She kept jumping on me and butting me with her head while I was fetching hay for her trough, then running around in circles, jumping and bucking. I sent Middle Child out to the trough in the field with the grain to get her out of the way because I was afraid Daisy would run her down. Once in the field, MC started yelling something but I was still trying to dodge Daisy and couldn’t understand what she was saying.
I finally got enough hay, shoved Daisy out of the way and followed Middle Child into the field. And that’s when I realized what was going on:
Venus, the sly old girl, had had a baby!
I actually stared at the sweet little thing for about 30 seconds trying to figure out where she’d come from. No one knew that Venus was pregnant. I immediately called her owner who was just as surprised as I was. We got Venus and baby into the stall and Daisy immediately calmed down. I really think she was trying all along to tell me to make sure the lamb was safe. When I went out to the barn last night to check on them, Daisy was lying in front of the stall door like a guard dog. She’s a good auntie.
Best guess is that the lamb was born either yesterday morning or the day before. She was dry when Middle Child and I found her but there was still a bit of umbilical cord attached to her tummy. Fortunately, it’s been dry and relatively warm here for the past couple of days. She’s walking well and seems perfectly healthy.
Unfortunately, she won’t be with us very long. She and her mum will be going to another farm this weekend. Venus was always understood to be a temporary resident, and I guess another farmer has already offered to buy the lamb. I’m sorry we won’t get to see her grow up but very happy we were able to first people to meet her.
ETA: Thanks to several wonderful people, this pattern has been tested and is now available!
It’s a scarf, it’s a cowl, it’s a loop… It needs testing, whatever it is.
If you have access to about 260-ish yards of sock/sport weight yarn*, six buttons and some #6 needles and think you could provide feedback within the next two weeks or so, please leave a message below. Thank you!
*The yarn shown is Madeline Tosh Sport in the “Posy”colorway. I used a bit less than one 270-yd skein.
$6
Just made the cowl pattern available! It’s on 50% off special until Sunday, when it will go up to $6.
It’s a quick knit in bulky yarn that makes a very cozy, warm cowl. You could easily turn a few of these out before Christmas if you needed to.
Notes on yarn: just about any bulky yarn that’s soft enough to wear around the neck and that shows off cables well will work. Ideally, you should get about 3 sts/inch in stockinette stitch but gauge isn’t super critical (as long as the cowl fits over your head, that is).
What you need to know:
Finished size: 16.5″ top circumference x 7″ long (42cm x 17.75cm).
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky (85% wool, 15% alpaca); 100gr/108 yds. One ball.
Needles: US 10.5 16” circular or dpns.
Gauge: 14 sts x 17 rows = 4”/10cm in stockinette st.
Notions: Cable needle, tapestry needle for weaving in
ends.
