Spinalcat's Crafty Adventures

Here's the deets on how to make my favorite lunch- chicken salad with paleo-friendly (ie, non-canola) homemade mayo. After I got friendly with fat but before I started avoiding industrial seed oils, I was in love with this stuff called Lemonaise. Now I have a homemade version that I think is even better because the oils I use now have actual flavor. A lot of paleo mayo recipes call for "light tasting" supermarket olive oils. After reading Extra Virginity , I am pretty squeamish about that. Even if it does actually contain olive oil and not seed oils(staggering amounts of fraud in the industry), it is probably a lesser grade product that has been deodorized and refined. The whole point of making my own mayo is to avoid "vegetable" and seed oils, so I've gone with a mix of avocado oil and the Artois Ranch EVOO by California Olive Ranch that is naturally a bit milder than some EVOO, but still very flavorful. It might not be for everybody, but I've ...

Oh, hi! I just found this post from the holidays which was languishing as a draft. The season for wintery treats is mostly over, but here it is. Over X-mas, I tried out a few more grain free treat recipes. These vegan pecan bars were great despite my skepticism about the lack of eggs, even though the crust wasn't initially cooked all the way. We're pretty picky about pecan pie-like treats, being from Texas. "My" antique gas oven is incredibly uneven and I'm just now figuring out how to optimally use it. The top looked fairly brown, so I went ahead and poured on the topping (which initially didn't look voluminous enough but was really fine) and put it back in the oven. After letting it cool, I sliced into the bars to discover an oozing crust! I put a lid on the dish and put it back in the oven on the lowest rack until the crust firmed up. These pumpkin bars (which happen to be vegan as well if you follow the recipe) were amazing! I couldn't find a...

I spun up the singles from my Star Trek SAL batts from A Dyeing Wish several months ago, but I never quite decided how I'd ply them until recently. There were 3 batts- one was black and light gray with red sparkle, one black with red and green sparkle, and one black with red, green, and yellow sparkle. I thought about just using them as singles or maybe chain plying for 3 different but coordinating skeins. Finally I decided just to ply the 3 singles together for a consistently colorful yarn. My Braaaaiiiins colorway batts from Heavenly Fiber also arrived as 3 batts, but all very similar. I spun up one at a time, splitting the batt lengthwise in strips so each single went from black to gray to light gray/pink. I plied the 3 singles all going in the same direction to get a gradient yarn. I have about 160 yards of worsted-ish yarn. I'm thinking a hat or cowl/scarflet. That may be a little boring, but it needs to be something I can wear a lot and show off that doesn't ...

Apparently I have a thing for knitting things for my fee t out of Noro Hitsuji. I almost used this colorway for my felted clogs, so I decided to use it for these Mukluk slippers that are quite popular at the shop right now. Most people go for the low tops, but I thought the neon color and high tops had a nifty 80's legwarmer thing going on, especially with the two-piece suede bottoms that make them look like dance shoes. They are slightly ridiculous, but they make me smile and no one outside the house who's not a knitter will probably never see me in them. :) They are really comfortable and warm and will stay on my feet while I sleep, unlike the clogs. The construction is interesting to knit and I love the result, but to be honest the process of knitting chunky yarn on size 7 needles is a little intense. Definitely more of a "little bit every day" project than something to be worked on for hours at a time. One of my X-mas gifts for Bryan was this knitted Adi...

Quick note of explanation- Thanks to the Read it and Weep Podcast and Violet Blue stoking my curiosity, I read Tim Ferriss's 4 Hour Body back in May and started the slow carb diet. I ended up adding in more healthy fats and leaving out beans at most meals after being influenced by a lot of paleo recipe blogs. I've had a ton (well, 33 lbs) of success and would highly recommend it to anybody. I'll probably write a post with more details and resources, but I wanted to get this recipe post out there while it's still the holiday season. I wanted to try a grain free Thanksgiving 1) because it would be interesting and perhaps challenging 2) to keep it low-ish carb (lower than traditional Thanksgiving, anyway) so I could enjoy the leftovers and 3) so I wouldn't feel super sick afterwards. I still do the 4HB style cheat day thing, but I often keep it wheat-free if I don't want to feel like crap all day. Bird- Herb Roasted Turkey Breast with Pan Gravy from Rachael...

Here's my second woven scarf. This one is Cascade 220 for the warp and Noro Silk Garden for the weft. I think my selvedges are getting a lot better! I double stranded the edge warp threads and that plus a thicker yarn plus practice seems to have helped a lot. I had my eye on this lovely purple and gold Malabrigo Aquarella for a while, then I stumbled across the Capucine hat pattern shortly after I bought the yarn. Like many things I've been making lately, it's slightly ridiculous but I love it! The original pattern calls for bulky yarn but uses a size 8 needle. I used SpiderWomanKnits' modifications for a more typical size 11 needle as a starting point, but I found a couple of things unclear. This PDF by RosakaKnit has line-by-line instructions (the first page) that match what I did almost exactly. The only other change I made was a chain selvedge at the edges of the garter stitch section. The other day I was at work when I got a text that the heate...

After I made the Noro clogs for myself, I felt our roommate John (UT MBA) was being left out! I didn't quite finish them in time for his birthday, but it was close. I had a tricky time figuring out how to needle felt the longhorns. I didn't quite trust myself to freehand with unspun fiber or yarn, or even with the kind of template you hold right over the work and sort of fold the loose edges in. I wanted to cut the shapes out from a sheet of felt, but most felt you find in shops is 100% synthetic. Beverly's carried some thick felted wool sheets from Nepal, but not in white. I didn't have much time, so I hand felted my own sheet of Merino felt and cut the appliques from that. John agrees that felted clogs are the best thing ever. I've been talking about learning to weave for a long time (yay, stashbusting!), and the right time finally came along when Yarnhunter wanted to sell her Knitter's Loom. Here's my first scarf ! I need more practice with my sel...