January 2015

I scored some awesome yarn, books & needles this week!!

Here's the yarn:
5 hanks Fleece Artist Blue Faced Leicester DK weight-colorway brown sugar
2 hanks Fearless Fibers Merino laceweight-colorway mad love purple
4 hanks Quince & Co. Tern fingering weight-colorway Stonington
2 hanks Windspun Farm BF Leicester Romney X worsted weight-colorway 4-37-BFLR G
2 hanks Malabrigo Rios worsted weight-colorway 870 Candombe

Current value of this yarn is approx $238 & I paid $40!

In addition to the yarn I got Volume's 1-3 of Barbara G Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns & Mary Thomas' Book of Knitting Patterns. Retail value approx $90. I paid $20.

Just have to share what I made for dinner last night. It was so delish!! I wish I had taken a picture. The idea came from this recipe which I heavily modified. ( Decided that "heavily" was a bit pretentious!)

yay...I took a pic of the leftovers. Sorry for the poor quality but at least it's a pic!

Quinoa Salad with Green Beans, Cranberries & Orange

Salad:

cooking spray

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

1 small can drained mardarin oranges

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup dried cranberries 

2 cups fresh green beans, cooked & cooled & cut into 1 inch pieces

Dressing:

1 tbl fresh lemon juice

1 tbl olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Optional: Fresh grated Parmesan Cheese.

1. Salad: saute onion in cooking spray. Add quinoa, saute' 5 mins or so. Add water & salt to pan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover & simmer 15 mins. Remove from heat & let stand another 15 mins to absorb water. Transfer to a large bowl & add remaining salad ingredients.

2. Dressing: combine dressing ingredients & pour over salad. Serve at room temp.

Top with parm if desired. Yield approx 8 3/4 cup servings.

I plated up the salad then I sauteed about a dozen shrimp & tossed them on top of the quinoa with grated parm. OMG! Oh...a dozen shrimp was for 2 people. I didn't eat them all. But, I could have.

I have a couple of FO's to show off:

I started & finished this Cowl Neck Poncho in about a week. It is almost entirely made from stash! The only yarn I bought was the aran colored.  And it is just awesome! I wore it to Austin on Friday & got compliments from three strangers! I love it so much that I want to make another one. But, I probably won't because really....how many ponchos does one need?

I finished this cowl last month but I am very disappointed in it because it rolls really badly. I tried adding ribbing but that didn't stop it! I was so mad that I wanted to email the designer & tell her the picture on the website lied!

I still have the Oasis Wrap otn & the Mirbeau Slip Stitch Baby Blanket. I really want to finish the wrap this month!! It will be perfect for spring. I have both fronts finished to the neck & the back is about halfway. I'm planning to leave the hood off so I have some thinking to do when I get to that point.

That's it for now!