Snow day part II

Well, it's happened again, the rare double snow day. It's truly beautiful outside but inside the family is getting feisty. I dare not venture out onto the ice with the girls in my condition and tempers are flaring while we are cooped up. So, we bake... This time Chocolate Chip Muffins and a recipe for once too!

Chocolate Chip Muffins (vegan)
1/2 +1/3 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 +1/3 c. unbleached white flour
2 T. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda

1-1/4 c. soymilk
4 T safflower oil
1 egg replacer (EnerG)w/the water
1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 c. vegan chocolate chips
sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease one muffin pan.
Sift dry ingredients. Wisk together wet ingredients.
Add wet to dry and mix thoroughly. Stir in choc. chips.
Pour into prepared muffin pan. Dust top with sugar/cinn.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or untiltoothpick comes out clean.
*makes 12 magnificent muffins

I'm using up the last of my real deal sugar before i make the switch back to more wholesome sweeteners like agave and rice syrup. This recipe only has a little actually sugar, the chocolate chips do the rest. they are really yummy and half whole-wheat, so you won't feel too guilty.

Yesterday I told you about some projects I'm working on, well here's one of them now.
I have been making booties as a starter project for my beginner spinning efforts. All of the booties are hand knit with fiber I spun myself with my drop spindle. Except one pair on the left made of organic cotton commercial yarns. None of the booties are actually finished yet, but soon. I also completed my second sweater vest using a new batch of KDG yarn I recently ordered from Rachel-Marie. I'm really pleased with her yarn, the colors are fantastic, the weight is very substantial, but it's also nice and soft. Perfect for little my Spring jackets and vests. I'll post a picture of the second sweater once I figure out which buttons to use on it.

And lastly, speaking of knitting, my 8 year old daughter, M1, brought home her gnome which she's been working on at school this year. She knit the entire thing and chose really great colors I might add.
She also photographed her handwork next to the cat she made last year. I'm so impressed with her. I've recruited her to teach my friend who's pregnant with triplets how to knit because M1 knits the right way (unlike her mother) and she's so much more patient than me. What an amazing person, that's all I have to say, except...
Let it Thaw to You All!

busy busy busy

I haven't been doing much of anything lumpkin related lately, but the excitement is building for some new ideas to come. Frankly, I can't wait for Spring to arrive. I get into such a funk over the winter, but Spring will come as it always does and with it my seasonal boost. And this Spring I have the added bonus of crazy pregnancy productivity so I am expecting big things. For now I'm doing little things around the house and such. This morning I am attempting to make vegan doughnuts. I settled on this recipe . Hopefully it will work out. I don't do much frying in my life but I've had a hankerin' for dough lately. I'm sure it will be way more trouble than it was worth. The dough is rising as we speak. Here some other things I've been attempting.

This is the front view of a sweater I knit for the baby while I was couchbound. I know it's blue, you're probably thinking it must be a boy, but I never reveal the sex, I just prefer darker colors for girl and boy babies. I used a gorgeous skein of KnittyDirtyGirl yarn that I had previously attempted to use for a knit hood, but there wasn't enough. I had just enough yarn to make this little sweater though. I knit it freestyle, as usual, but i think I managed to write down a vague pattern for it as I went this time.
That's the back view. I've been experimented with these rolled edges and random holes lately. I really like the way the handspun looks. The rolled edge is done in my standard Patons wool that I use for the seamonster collars. I have a ton of ideas for those little holes and a bunch of experiments to try soon. I love the handspun so much that I tried my hand at the drop spindle which I've been trying to avoid for fear of failure. Extreme boredom while on bed rest allowed me to overcome the fear and I gave it a try.

I only had some random roving that I've collected for felting over the years, but I gave it a try. I know nothing about the different types of wool, but it was fun trying them all out and seeing what was easier and struggling with the more challenging ones. I've since spun all the other roving in the back, the green one is bamboo which was my favorite. It was really wispy and messy but it was so beautiful and I was able to adjust the thickness better. I think that it was pretty fun, but I will probably resort to purchasing most of my handspun if I end up making any sweaters for the shop. Well, I'm off to fry up some dough. I'll take some shots to share with you soon....