Gluten and Camelid Fiber

Observe the tastiness...
Last night I made a gluten-free pumpkin spice cake using a recipe I found through a newly discovered blog, called the Gluten Free Blog of course! It might be my new favorite blog for a while!

Modifications I made to the recipe:
(1) Used Rob's Red Mill gluten free flour blend instead of the individual flour types listed
(2) Omitted the nuts, didn't want
(3) Substituted 1/2 cup of the plain sugar for brown sugar

It is most tasty served with ice cream or cream cheese. It would also be wonderful with a cream cheese buttercream frosting. mmmm...

The texture of the cake is wonderful. You'd never know it wasn't a "normal" cake. Mike Eberhart over at the Gluten Free Blog really knows his medium. Its much better than the gluten free zucchini bread that I made last week using the recipe on the back of the xanthan gum I purchased. Either I did something wrong or the recipe is poor, but the stuff did not rise. It sayed as flat as when I put it in the pan. It tastes ok, especially with liberal application of creme cheese, but the texture is flat and a little gummy. The cake on the other hand - fabulous! I think I'll have to buy a copy of Mike's book.

In other news, I've had a small milestone with my spinning activities, thanks to some nice mostly camelid fiber. This is "little bunny", the finest 2-ply yarn I've ever spun and I'm quite pleased with it. The fiber was prepared just right and so was quite willing to be spun fine. The result is 50g of ~16wpi yarn, making it fine or sport weight. It is a blend of llama, baby camel, silk, and flash. The name is simply based on the way the pile of yarn in the photo looks like a perky little bunny sitting on his haunches.

And so that we are not without flower photos in this post, here is Lc. Green Veil 'Dressy', currently in bloom with 2 flowers on each of 2 growths. Its a wonderful shade of green with a delightful contrast in the lip, don't you agree? I'm going to pollinate it with my Sc. June Bug 'Venice Sunshine'. Not that I really have any business making cattleyas, but you know, they really are easy to grow. I think they're about the easiest thing to grow from seed next to phals.

Traditions by Debbie Mumm - UPDATE

UPDATE!
A while back I wrote a yarn review of Transitions by Debbie Mumm. At the time I was not very satisfied with the yarn. I'm still not excited about its noodley ways, but it is soft and subtly colored. A number of other Ravelry users have also commented about this yarn's crankiness, but many more have pressed on to create very nice things with it. I decided to be brave, put aside my bias, and go for it.

And so yesterday I finished these fingerless mittens. They're yummy soft! Also, in honor of the EtsyFAST March Fairy Tale Challenge I've named them for The Snow Queen. Don't they remind you of shadows on the snow in mid-January? ooo...chilly!! Quick, grab your gloves! :)

The yarn did continue to be slightly irritating, but you just keep pushing the squiggle down the line, smoothing the section you're knitting with as you go. If it gets too bad, cut it and re-attach a smooth section.

Vegan Silk - Yarn Review and Pattern

This is "Vegan Silk", a scarf I recently crocheted with Bernat Bamboo yarn, one of their new "natural blends" line. The high percentage of bamboo fiber makes it a very dense yarn, giving only 63 yards for 2.1oz bulky weight. Compare this to Lion Brand's new yarn, Nature's Choice Organic Cotton, of actually less wraps per inch but 103 yards for 3oz, yielding more yards per oz.


Exact fiber content is 86% Bamboo, 12% Acrylic, 2% Polyester, which sorts out to the structure aspects of the yarn (shown above). So, the bamboo would be that fuzz on the right, with the acrylic on the left and the polyester in the middle. The acrylic serves as the core of the yarn, with the bamboo 'core spun' around it. Then the polyester thread is laid down as a binder and shaper on the outside.

The handling of the yarn is divine. It is very silky smooth in texture, and was easy to crochet. I have not knitted it, but due to the density I doubt that would split much in knitting. However, I'm not sure how well it will wear. In general, this type of construction is soft and nice to work with initially but tends to fuzz out a lot in areas of heavy abrasion. Ever knitted a sweater with Lion Brand's Homespun? Soft and warm, but really really fuzzy where you lean on the counter or carry things against you frequently. Fortunately scarves don't generally get a lot of abrasion.

Additional features of this yarn include a certification by the Forest Stewardship Council (www.fsc.org, cert. no. SW-COC-002192) stating the materials come from "mixed sources [of] ...well-managed forests, controlled sources and recycled wood or fiber." This adds to the appeal of the texture with a bit of 'good for the environment' karma.

The cheapest source I've found for this yarn is AC Moore, where I recently got it on a 25% off sale at $3 per ball. This is good since you'll need 6 balls for the scarf... Most internet sources I've seen are selling it at $5 per ball. If you see something better, please leave a comment!

Now. To the pattern!!


Materials:
3 balls each Bernat Bamboo in Wicker and Linen.
US J/10 (6mm) crochet hook
Gauge ~2.3 dc per inch

1. With wicker, Ch 184 loosely.
2. Dc in 4th chain from hook and each ch across (181sts).
3. Switch to linen. Ch1, turn. Sc in first st, *skip next st, sc in second st, between second and third stitches make bobble (#yo; insert hook, yo and pull up loop# three times, yo and pull through 6 loops, yo and pull through last 2 loops)* repeat between * across to last 2 sts, dc in last st.
4. Ch 1, turn. Repeat row 3.
5. Switch to wicker. Ch 3 (=first dc). Dc across.
6. Ch 3 (=first dc). Dc across.
7-9. Repeat rows 3-5.
10. Weave in ends and add fringe. I used 16 inch strands to give long fringe.

Sreepy, the backyard alligator

Everyone, meet Sreepy, the backyard alligator. He has a lazy streak and some allergies, and much prefers the life at home to life in the swamp. His main diet is cookies. He looks a little ridiculous, with his lazy eyes and crooked teeth, which I think is just right. I had wanted to make an alligator when I started making Teh, the cartoon lizard, but as I started working over his head I realized he was a much better little lizard than alligator. But as it turns out Teh's new mommy also wanted an alligator! We talked it over, she made some really great suggestions in terms of color and attitude of the animal and this sparked all kinds of ideas in me that led to Sreepy. I'm really pleased with how he turned out and very happy that she asked about alligators. I don't think he would have been nearly as cool without the ideas she provided. Thanks omeow!