Spring Forward (& Special Pattern Savings!)

 
Yes, I know spring officially began a month ago, but not only has our weather just recently decided to behave in a spring-like fashion, since last year a serious illness has kept me from feeling as though spring would ever arrive. Sometimes I was so sick and weak I couldn't even sit up to knit or be on my computer. That, however, has all changed for the better! 

I am so happy to be able to say that not only has spring weather truly arrived (always something to be excited about) but that my long months of chemotherapy are over, my CT scan is clear, and I am at work on a new knitting pattern! 

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who sent kind wishes and prayers my way. I received so many notes, cards, flowers, emails, tweets, blog comments, Ravelry PMs and more that I can't begin to list them all or I might forget to name someone, but I'm truly humbled and blessed by the thoughtfulness of my friends, family and the fiber community. 

With my slowly but steadily returning vigor, my knitting needles have begun clicking in earnest on something light, lacy and expressive of my happy mood these days (see a peek in the photo at the top of the post). This little project will be available for test knitting soon! 

Special Pattern Savings...
To share my happiness about spring and a return to health, I'm offering a special 20% off coupon, good on all non-set pattern downloads in my Ravelry shop, through the next four days (April 30th). Just add your patterns to the cart then enter code: Spring2014 to receive your savings. 

Thanks for stopping by today and for all the sunshine you, my online friends, brought into my life during some very wintry days!

Favorite Thing - Wasabi Kale Chips Recipe

 

My husband and I are tried and true popcorn lovers, eating it almost every evening as we relax with knitting, spinning and watching movies. Yet even though we can (kind of) justify popcorn as a moderately healthy, high fiber snack, there are times when you just want something different.

As odd as it might sound (and believe me, at first I thought 'ugh' before I gave them a tentative try) I'm happy to have found a new Favorite Thing to share here - chips made from baked kale.

Since I need to eat large amounts of salt to replenish what I lose through distance running, these chips satisfy that salt craving. But for those who need to watch their salt intake, this recipe is also very good with non-salt mixtures. For variety, I like to add other herbs and spices including chives, onion, garlic, chipotle, and a favorite of mine, wasabi.

Wasabi is a very hot Japanese horseradish that creates a thick paste when reconstituted with water (you may be familiar with wasabi used as a condiment with sushi). For this recipe I use the dried, powder form. A little bit of this pungent root goes a very long way! photo Thespicehouse.com

Tasty, extremely crunchy, low in fat and calories and with a modest carbohydrate content, these chips are amazingly delicious and addictive in a most healthy way. Isn't that good news for once?

Recipe notes:

• Kale shrinks to a very small size as it bakes, so a large bunch will not be as overwhelming as you might think. 
• I usually wash the fresh kale and let it stand on end to drain for a while before patting any remaining moisture out with a clean towel and preparing the chips.
• I like to use kosher salt flakes or sea salt, but any kind of salt, or non-salt seasoning, will do.
• Wasabi powder is available at some Asian and gourmet food stores or at specialty spice merchants like Penzeys, or The Spice House.
• These chips are nice on their own, or tasty with any dip that is good with potato chips, although they are somewhat more fragile than potato chips, use care when dipping.

WASABI KALE CHIPS RECIPE

Ingredients

• 10-12 oz. kale, cleaned and dried very well
• Nonstick cooking spray or olive oil mist
• 1-2 tsp(s) coarse salt to taste
• 1/4-1 full tsp wasabi powder (optional) to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat large baking sheets with oil or line with parchment paper. In small bowl or spice grinder, blend salt with wasabi powder or other spice.

Remove and discard thick kale stems, tear completely dry leaves into approximately 2" pieces, place in large bowl.  Lightly spray leaves with oil or cooking spray and toss gently with spoon to thoroughly coat kale; repeat if necessary. Sprinkle chips with seasoned salt, toss gently to coat; repeat if necessary.

Bake kale 12 to 15 minutes, turning leaves over at about 6-7 minutes if desired. Bake until crisp but not browned. Cool on cookie sheets. When completely cool, carefully place chips in airtight containers and store up to one week, although they'll probably be gone well before then. 

Enjoy!

TRU Love

Since today is St. Valentine's Day, I want to send everyone sweet valentine wishes, and I couldn't resist a play on words of my Ravelry user name - Truknit!  TRU is sort of an acronym of my name, and both my husband and I use it for different stuff.  

It seems everyone nowadays is shortening words and this magazine advertisement certainly caught my eye.

In honor of the day I started thinking about all the knitting and crochet projects I've loved making over the years, especially those in my favorite pink, lavender and red.  

The project shown in the top photo is one of my most favorite projects, the Little Arrowhead Shawl by Pam Allen from Interweave Knits.  

If you've never knitted a lace shawl before, I recommend this as a good one to start with.  

I enjoyed knitting it in this rich, deep red Plymouth Suri Merino wool/ alpaca blend.  OK, ok, I know this is an old project - although it hasn't been posted to my blog yet - but I think it's cool how if you look at the picture just right, the shape of the shawl looks like a heart! 

 I used a stretchy bind-off for the edging and adapted the last row to add a bit more 'give' and depth to the points.  You can read my notes on my Ravelry page here.

To my way of thinking, Valentine's Day is not just an occasion to celebrate romance, but to celebrate all kinds of love, whether it be for significant others, family, friends, God, pets and (it's a stretch here, but humor me) hobbies.

I love to knit!  And spin, and crochet, and lots of other artsy things.  And I recently read an article relating the feeling we get from knitting to some of the same feelings we have in relationships as a result of brain chemicals called endorphins.  

According to Dr. Herbert Benson, a physician and author of Relaxing Revolution, knitting reduces stress hormones and releases endorphins that make you happy.  So that 'love'  feeling that makes you just want to knit, knit, knit, is a valid one!  

I promised a rundown of our trip to northern Michigan earlier this month, and I thought I'd start today with a quick mention of our stop en route at a fiber shop called The Spinning Loft in Howell, Michigan.

This shop has a nice selection of rovings and processed fiber, 

spinning wheels, looms, bags, drop spindles, and whole fleeces.

Owner Beth Smith wields her wheel here in the back room, where classes are held. She is sporting magenta-hued hair, a la Lucy Neatby...

The Spinning Loft regularly hosts spinning, knitting and weaving classes and workshops, including an upcoming one with Stephanie Pearl McPhee, so if you are in the area, check them out.

I'll have more shops and luscious yarn to show in upcoming posts.

And speaking of luscious, If you like to bake like I do, you might want to check out the Bettycrocker.com website for loads of ideas, recipes and meal planning tips.  I found this photo and a delicious recipe for their Traditional Glazed Brownie Hearts, here.

Hope everyone has a wonderful valentine's day, celebrating the thing in life that really matters - love in every fashion. 

Knitting with Friends, Yarn Shop Review & Recipe

Last week I had a chance to meet with a friend I've not spent enough time with, for an afternoon of lunch, knitting and a little yarn shopping.  It's all too easy these days to get wrapped up in the bustle of a busy schedule and lose touch with people. We decided to meet at an adorable little bakery and cafe called La Chatelaine.  

Upon entering the restaurant you are greeted with the aroma of baking pastry, a cheery shout of Bonjour! and a tempting array of menu selections.

 

We both opted for the Salade Nicoise, beverages and a pastry.  

I love this healthful salad, having become addicted to it during some time I spent in France years ago (see a recipe at the end of this post).  Our salads were served with a mustard vinaigrette dressing.

La Chatelaine is cozy, set up to look like a French country home with lots of small nooks, fireplaces, stone archways and a sunny terrace with umbrella tables.  After eating, we got down to some serious knitting and catching up.  

Here is my friend Lynn (Lynnpetro on Ravelry, although she admits to spending more time on Facebook than Ravelry - how could she?!  LOL), shown with her knitting pin for using the Portuguese technique. 

Lynn likes to knit with this speedy method after learning it from another terrific local knitter, Andrea Wong, and she makes gorgeous sweaters and other projects like the double knit vest in natural wool here.  I've also tried Portuguese knitting and loved it, although I've not kept up my skills.

After lots of talking and knitting, we walked over to Temptations, a LYS that started life as an antiques shop and evolved into a great place to buy beautiful yarn.  

A lovely perennial garden greets customers.

Temptations has an excellent variety of great basic yarns like Cascade and Brown Sheep, 

but I'd say their strength lies in interesting products from lines like Habu, Alchemy, Noro, and Malabrigo. They've also recently begun to include more spinning-related items in the shop.

Situated in a renovated old home on the shady, historic High Street, this shop is full of twists and turns, seating areas, and small rooms filled with yarnie delight. 

A tiny alcove off the pattern and book room holds clearance bargain yarns at  20-50% off regular price.  The day we were there, it was bursting with items from Louisa Harding, Noro, Harrisville, and more.

Karen, the owner (at right below), and her staff are helpful and enthusiastic.

Time flew by, and after making our purchases, we headed our separate ways once more, but not before promising to get together for knitting and hanging out more often. 

And at last, here is the recipe I promised for a Salade Nicoise, a little different from the one I had at La Chatelaine. 

There are many variations of this salad, some which include lettuce (as we had at lunch), others with no cooked vegetables or potatoes.  I love to swap ingredients for whatever is in season, like using green or red bell pepper instead of beans, artichoke hearts instead of potatoes, or substituting grilled salmon for the tuna.  Have fun experimenting with fresh ingredients from your area.  Bon appetit!

Basic Salade Nicoise

Serves 2

1 medium tomato, quartered

2 green onions, sliced

4 Radishes, sliced

2 stalks celery

1 small green pepper, sliced

2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

4-6 anchovies

6 ounces cooked tuna

2 small boiled potatoes quartered (optional)

2 cloves garlic, sliced

4 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. vinegar

Salt, pepper to taste

Arrange vegetables, tuna, egg and anchovies on chilled plates.  In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and garlic, place salt and pepper on the table.  Drizzle dressing sparingly over salads and serve.