This clever bandana uses knitting on the WS to create the purl ridges. Therefore you only need to purl to maintain the stockinette sections! Use a closing shawl pin or sew on a button & loop closure to secure. All photos (c) 2013 Matthew Richey

Finished Measurements
Wingspan: 21” / 53 cm
Depth: 8” / 20cm

Materials Needed

Yarn: 1 ball of Donegal-Tweed by Schulana (104 yards / 95 meters per 50 grams of 95% wool, 5% cashmere)
Needle: US7 (4.5mm) or size needed to match gauge
2 stitch markers
Yarn needle

Pattern is available through Ravelry.com for $5.00 USD 

It all started with a ball of yarn. It sparkled and glimmered at me until I would stroke it’s soft alpaca halo. I was hooked after that! Schulana’s Luxair (distributed by Skacel) is currently my all time favorite yarn. I dream of knitting a throw with huge 8 stitch cables all over it. It will be warm, soft, and I’ll never leave the house again if I make it!

Anyway, about the collection. There is four quick knit hats; Adventure, Venture, Embark, and Journey. All of the hats are reversible sans Venture. Adventure, Embark, and Journey finished measurements are: Brims are 17.5” / 45.5cm but it will stretch to fit 23” / 58.5cm, Depths are 8” / 20.5cm. While Venture is a super slouchy with a Depth of 10” / 25.5cm.

The eBook is available via Ravelry for only $15 USD 

For more info about the collection please visit the Ravelry page for Wander Collection

Slightly Purling Shawl

I love my Birthday shawl! This clever triangular shawl uses knitting on the WS to create the purl ridges. Therefore you only need to purl to maintain the stockinette sections! The stitch pattern is great for showing off hand dyed yarn, and the shape is flattering!

Wear as a shawl or wrap around your neck as a generous scarf. For more info see the pattern page here.

Finished Measurements
Wingspan: 52” / 132cm
Depth: 16.5” / 42cm

All photos (c) 2013 Matthew Richey

Pattern was tech edited by KTLV

$5.00USD 

There were many sliding wooden doors throughout the whole unit. So different and fun!

Tea drinking sitting area. We loved having tea while playing a card game.

The husband being a Samurai with an invisible sword

  The husband sitting on the floor mats.

The husband being thoughtful in the front room. There’s a beautiful garden outside.

The kitchen with such cute dishes! There was a microwave, a mini fridge, a hot water maker for tea, and quite the assortment of teas.

More cute dishes!

The special bath tub. The wooden walls smelled so good when we drew the bath. There are candles to light around the edge.

There are such beautiful touches and surprises everywhere! Like this paper crane mobile.

Our wonderful host helped us out by taking a picture of us before went on our sushi date.

We are so happy to be together!

Two of our sushi rolls from SuBi. It was really good, I can’t wait until next time we are on the island so we can eat there again!

One of our breakfast trays. It was a lot of food! 2 different vegetarian sushi rolls(the eggs in the omelette came from the hosts chickens!), 2 types of rice balls, miso soup, and grape juice. Hubby also made green tea to go with our breakfast.

Close up of the cucumber & beet rice balls. So refreshing

BBQ pork rice balls. These were great!

Miso soup with wakamae & tofu. A nice contrast to the sushi.

I’ll leave you with a picture of one of the vases of flowers that were in the house. No doubt picked from the gardens.

If you’d like to book a night please visit their website. It is hard to get in since it’s such an amazing place to stay!

Note: I was not paid or compensated in anyway for this blog post, I just loved the Furrin-Oka!

Photo by Matthew Richey

I have a new pattern to share with you! Introducing Driftwood Bandana, a lovely quick knit to give or get.

Driftwood only takes 85 yards (78 m) of heavy sport weight or light worsted weight yarn. It is worked in rows in garter stitch for the body with a sweet lace edging, and a button or ribbon closure. For more information please visit the Ravelry.com page.

You can purchase the single pattern for $5.00  or you can buy the Lacy Bandanas collection here

The husband and I made something really delicious for dinner last night:

I was inspired by this blog post about bibimbap and I just had to make it! I didn’t have all off the ingredients, much noticeably kim-chi. I can’t believe that I still have never had it. So here is how I made it.

At the bottom of the bowl was some brown rice. Did you know if you soak it for a few hours it have a much more pleasing tender texture?

Anyway there was some spinach gomae, zucchini & onions, pickled carrots, blanched home grown bean sprouts, Korean beef, all crowned with a fried egg and siracha sauce.

All of the flavors were distinct and yet went so well together, it was awesome. Ok now stop drooling and go make some yourself!

I have a new pattern to share! Introducing Zest! A hat that can be made  in beanie, slouchier, and slouchiest sizes.

Photo: (c) 2012 Matthew Richey

Pattern is available through Ravelry for $5.00 USD 

For more info please visit the Ravelry page over here

That means a couple of things to me: gardening, barbequing, more greens in meals, summer sewing and planning for Fall knitwear.

I’m starting lots of different lettuces, tomatoes(big,medium, small, pink, red, yellow, slicers and paste), basil for pesto and 2 more types, mini bell peppers, cilantro and probably more. My celery, kale, carrots, leeks, onions, chives and parsley survived the winter so that’s good.

Barbequing! We got propane today so I’m planning on making grass-fed beef hamburgers with sweet potato and green bean fries.

See above about gardening. I’m planning on having TONS of greens this summer!

I’m working on a prom dress for a friend and then I want to whip out a pair of shorts, capris, a skirt and a top for me. This should be interesting since I’ve never made pants or shorts besides PJ’s.

This will be a surprise and it will be awesome! Want to be the first to hear what I’m up to? Join the newsletter.

Oh and by the way I got a giant, I really do mean huge(108 ounce) can of S&W crushed tomatoes in rich puree from Costco for about $3 + $1 worth of organic onions + less than $.50 of spices and sugar = the equivalent of over 7 jars of spaghetti sauce for less than $5!

All I did was dumped the can of tomatoes into my largest crockpot, added 2 diced onions and turned it on high for 3 hours. Then I added 4 tablespoons of minced garlic, 5 tablespoons of dried basil and how ever much was left of my dried oregano(what can I say, I’m sooo scientific about the process. If you need more directions come over here) Around 2 hours later I added about 2 tablespoons of sugar to cut the acidity.

I froze the sauce in 2 cup blocks, after they were frozen solid I popped them in ziplock bags for quick meals.

For the most part I’ll brown veggies or meat in olive oil, add the thawed sauce and heat to a simmer. Sometimes I’ve added cream cheese to the sauce as well.

The above unbaked pizza was made with all of the non-optional ingredients listed. I also used the seasoned olive oil that the olives came in for brushing the crust with.

{Basic Dough Recipe}

A tender, fairly light and flavorful dough that tastes delicious despite being mostly comprised of  whole grains. I use organic hard white whole wheat flour(unifine) from Azure Farms. You may have to sub more white flour if you use a coarser whole wheat flour.

This makes a ton of dough! At least enough for 6 medium pizzas. Also a good dough for cinnamon rolls and loaf bread.  You can freeze grapefruit sized portions wrapped in plastic wrap for up to a month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

2 Tablespoons of raw sugar
1/2 cup of warm water
2 Tablespoons of yeast

2/3 cup of olive oil
2/3 cup of honey
2 Tablespoons of sea salt
3 cups of hot, not boiling water
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups white flour
6-8 cups of hard whole wheat flour

1. Mix the first 3 ingredients together in a bowl that holds at least 4 cups. Let yeast proof for 5-10 mins, if it gets too bubbly stir it down.
2. Add the olive oil, honey, salt and hot water to your stand mixer. Using a dough hook mix for about 2 minutes, add the oatmeal, white flour and 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Mix until the flour is moistened.
3. Add the proofed yeast and enough whole wheat flour until the dough is barely sticky. Mix on a low speed for 6-8 minutes until smooth.
4. Lightly grease top of dough with olive oil, cover with a damp towel and let rise for 30 minutes. Punch dough down and let rise again for 30 minutes.

{Delicious and healthy pizza}

Consider making 2 or more pizzas at a time and freezing the leftover slices. Choose your toppings wisely as you don’t want to overload your pizza. Spinach and kale cook down so much they are barely noticeable in taste but the nutrition is there. Substitute your favorite veggies or sprinkle some herbs on the crust.

Grapefruit-sized piece of basic dough

2/3 cup of pasta sauce(turkey is optional)

1/6 of an onion, thinly sliced

1 cup of organic fresh spinach or kale

1 1/2 – 2 cups of shredded or sliced mozzarella cheese

1/2 Roma tomato, diced

1/4 green bell pepper, diced

2 mushrooms, thinly sliced

4 olives, chopped

1/2 cup of cooked chicken, optional

Cornmeal or whole wheat flour, for the pan

Pizza stone or cookie tray

Olive oil for brushing, optional

Garlic powder or dried basil for sprinkling, optional

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 degrees Celsius)
2. Place 2 Tablespoons of cornmeal on pizza stone. Spread dough until it’s roughly half what you want the finished thickness to be. Brush olive oil 1-2″ from edge.
3. Spread sauce over dough, add onions, then kale, cheese and remaining toppings.
4. Bake for 8-12 minutes until cheese is melted, pizza crust is lightly browned and is no longer doughy.

Each pizza serves 2.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday! Yesterday I made some red velvet cupcakes that turned out delicious and today I whipped up my favorite cream cheese frosting to top them. I followed this recipe for the cupcakes over at AllRecipes.com For the frosting I blended 8 ounces of cream cheese, 4 ounces of butter, 1 tsp of vanilla and a couple tablespoons of milk together until everything is nice and creamy. I added enough powder sugar until it was frosting consistency. It was yummy and I hope you are hungry now.

{Happy Baking}