Cobblestone Sweater

I love things that match or go together. I love clever patterns and interlocking things - its just how my brain works. I make things relate to other things, and it's off to the races. See if you can follow me on this one.

Last July, I participated in the Tour de Fleece, a yarn-spinning challenge that takes place during the Tour de France (which is sort of like the NCAA Final Four at our house). I spun A. Lot. Of. Yarn.  (almost 2 pounds!)

 

The color was called "Champagne" but it's also the Tour de France colors. When I saw the pattern for the  Cobblestone Pullover, I knew I had to make my own Paris-Roubaix sweater in honor of the very difficult Tour stage notorious for it's cobblestone streets. (It's also a separate race in the springtime, but whatever. It's my sweater, I can name it whatever the hell I want).

 

This sweater turned out great. The only modification was to knit a split hem so I didn't have to add any waist shaping. This was my second NaKniSweMo sweater, and it was knit in two weeks (exactly). This sweater is lightweight but very warm, and it's lovely to wear something that shows off my handspun. Hooray!

Bright Day Handspun

You may not know this, but I am so into knitting that I make my own yarn. Yeah, I fell down the rabbit hole into spinning almost two years ago when I received a Louet S10 for a wedding present from my awesome family. (Don't worry, they gave Brian $50 for putting up with me!). Last summer, Brian also bought me a Hitchhiker travelling spinning wheel. Here are my babies:

Pretty cute, huh?

My mom gave me this beautiful Spincerely Yours Superwash BFL for Christmas back in 2008, in the color "Bright Day". Bright green and fall shades were the colors used in our wedding planning, so it is a really neat colorway to me.

At the St. Cloud Knitter's retreat at the end of October, I spun it up into 149 yds of worsted-weight n-ply. It looks great with another handspun yarn from my stash, in a bright green:

I'm thinking hat and mittens!

Quick Supper

Okay, I wanted to make a quick supper when I got home from the Y today. So I made an easy favorite, the Chickpea Cutlets from The Veganomicon. I mashed up a cup of chickpeas in the food processor and added 1/2 cup each of wheat gluten and bread crumbs, as well as 1/4 cup of veggie broth and some soy sauce, hot sauce, and spices. I kneaded it all together and made 4 patties, baked at 375 for 25 minutes (flip after 15 minutes). I made some sauce using 2 Tbsp each of lite mayo & dairy-free sour cream and a few shakes of the AMAZING Fiesta mix my mother-in-law buys for me. I freaking love this stuff, its incredible. Like. Whoa.

I also threw some steak fries for Brian and some sweet potato spears for me on the Pizzaz. I toss my sweet potatoes in 2 tsp of olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, garlic salt and cumin. Yum. (FYI, I really love the Pizzaz, its super useful for all kinds of stuff, like veggie corndogs and nachos.)

So, here's a home-cooked vegan supper in about 30 minutes. I was able to write this blog post while everything baked, so it was really easy and hands-off. I should have really added some fresh veggies besides the sweet potatoes, but oh well. Clocks in at about 615 calories, according to my estimates based on calories from individual ingredients. Yes, I do the counts for every meal. Part of the weight loss thing. I lightened this up by using one slice of bread and skipping the ketchup - saving 100 calories. I could have saved more by skipping the sauce I made or making smaller chickpea cutlets. Its all about balance though, right? Mine on the left, Brian's on the right.

I also got some new fiber in the mail today from the Spunky Eclectic Fiber of the Month club.

4oz. of hand-painted targee wool in the colorway "Flannel". Love it!

Brian and I are going shopping for Halloween costume-making supplies tonight. I changed my mind again, but its going to be EPIC. I can't wait!