Black Sheep Gathering 2011

This past weekend Black Sheep Gathering came to town. I love going. All the fiber, all the yarn! This was probably the best time I had because it wasn't super hot. Last year I said I was going to sign up for classes next time but I didn't. I've been too busy and just had a blast looking around.

Lots of fiber from The Fiber Addict.

An amazing needle felted wall hanging.

Beautiful drop spindles with additional shafts. Spin then remove!

My friend Kacy spinning for the first time.

Silk worms busy at work.

A rainbow of colors. Cotton cones from Eugene Textile Center.

Sparkly yarn from Huckleberry Knits.

My purchases L to R:

Eugene Textile Center Argentina Yarn Polwarth/Silk blend dyed purely with indigo.

Huckleberry Knits Blue-Faced leicester/Silk Lace, Weeping Willow.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, Bag Lady.

Beer Bread

My husband brews our own beer. It's amazing. After he's done, we have a bunch of spent grain left. Usually we give it to our hens to eat but recently I've been making bread out of it.

3 cups wet spent grains

1.5 cups warm water

1 tablespoon bakers yeast

1/3 cup brown sugar

3-5 cups flour

Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together. Allow yeast to bloom. In a large mixing bowl, add grains and yeast mixture. Using a mixer or your hands, start adding flour until dough is no longer sticky. Place in large, greased bowl, cover with a towel and allow it to double in size- approximately an hour. Punch down dough and place in two greased loaf pans, allow to double in size again. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until brown and knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

A picture of the spent grains ready for baking.

Here, I didn't split the dough into two loaves but rather baked it as one large loaf on my pizza stone. It was much crunchier and would makes a great addition to a meal. But I prefer it in the two loaves. It's softier and is a good sandwich bread. Enjoy!

Our hens enjoying their spent grains.

Hella Nutella

Two posts in one day?? I know! But you can see why. My friend Liz has an amazing food blog, The Food of Love Play On. I have made several meals from her recipes and they've all been outstanding.

Today, I made her Hella Nutella brownies. I like to call them Fuck Yeah Nutella Brownies. They taste amazing and were so easy to make! I like my brownies chewy instead of cakey. These are perfectly chewy. I don't like nuts in anything! But after eating these I realized I don't like peanuts or walnuts in anything. The hazelnuts are great! Liz nailed it when she said, "They added just the right amount of crunch to this surprisingly light, yet chewy brownie."

Do yourself a favor and make these. Now. You won't regret it.

International Yarn Bombing Day

...What a group effort!

This year held the first annual International Yarn Bombing Day on June 11, 2011. My knitting group, the Eugene Knotty Knitters decided to yarn bomb a bicycle and pedestrian bridge in Eugene, Oregon. There were so many great pieces. I've said it before, but I am in so much love with my crafty friends. Their art is so inspiring!

You can read more about our yarn bombing at The Knotty Knitters blog. And I was a guest blogger for Yarnbombing.com.

My contributions to the bridge were a few railing cozies, a pom pom garland and a loooooooong cozy for the bridge that measured 42 feet. After we added the other cozies, it was over 50 feet in length. Amazing!