Lettuce Babies & New Yarn!

Well, my lettuce is growing steadily, but the weather outside doesn't seem to be cooperating very well. We received almost another foot of snow since yesterday. Spring is only 22 days away!

I will have plenty to keep me busy in this winter wonderland because yesterday, I received 2 beautiful skeins of natural white pure wool yarn from SevenYaks. I'm going to look on Ravelry for a few ideas and wind these babies up:

Mom's Banana Bread

Yesterday afternoon found me with five ripe bananas. I phoned my mother for a basic banana bread recipe and loved it so much, that I'd like to share with you:

• 1/2 cup butter or canola oil
• 2 cups flour (all-purpose)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/4 cup organic sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2-1/3 cups bananas (mashed)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• pinch of orange zest
• walnuts (lightly tossed in flour to keep them from sinking) optional

Preheat oven to 350º.

Using your hand mixer, cream together butter and sugars. Stir in eggs and bananas until well blended. Slowly add flour, baking soda, spices and orange zest. Once mixed completely, stir in the walnuts and pour into a lightly greased loaf pan. This is a one bowl recipe. My loaf pan measures 9.25x5.25x2.75"

Bake in center of oven for 1 hour. Serves a family. Enjoy!

If you make this, I'd love to know how yours is :)

Lovelies

made2ordermannequins 

 lostandfawnedhome

 manitobagifts 

Some exciting items found recently. The colors and ideas are helping me pretend that it's sunny and warm today.

My Parents Were Awesome

My Parents Were Awesome invites you to share photos of your parents before they were parents. How did they look? ♥

The Tallest Man On Earth

Thanks to a friend, I've been listening to The Tallest Man On Earth (a.k.a. Kristian Matsson) quite a bit lately. His music and lyrics really paint pictures and does so without losing a raw, emotional quality. You can also download a free mp3 of a newer song here:

The Tallest Man on Earth: "King of Spain"

Mushishi

So, I am accepting the fact that I'm stuck inside today. That said, I'm eying up a beautiful skein of Plymouth Yarn's Mushishi that I've had stashed for a little while now. Have you ever had a yarn that was so pretty you didn't really know what to create with it? A yarn that you feel the need to make such a wonderful piece that it would justify not being able to leer at it in your stash anymore. It came with a pattern for a hat and scarf and I was contemplating that. I've looked on ravelry for ideas, but if you have a suggestion, I'd like to know.

Lettuce Babies

They have some growing to do yet. Soon, these will be mesclun lettuce full of reds, purples and greens. I cannot wait! Their inside next to the sunniest window and with another two feet of snow pending tonight atop the already received two feet this past weekend, I'm starting to feel a bit silly.

You see, they represent my hopes for a Spring full of warmth and greens.

Tscarf

I'd like to introduce you to the Tscarf! I made the yarn myself using some upcycled cotton shirts and left the ends on so it can be tied or worn down like a normal scarf. This is my first so far, but I have another already started. We're expecting a 6-12 inches of snow in the next day, so I hope to finish a few more. To learn more about this piece, please have a look at my shop. It's perfectly adaptable for Spring!

Windowed