I'm working on a pattern set that involves a hydrangea motif. Consider this a sneak peek.
Hydrangeas
I'm working on a pattern set that involves a hydrangea motif. Consider this a sneak peek.
I'm working on a pattern set that involves a hydrangea motif. Consider this a sneak peek.
Earthues Natural Dyes
Earthues Natural Dyes is a short drive over a bridge from Seattle to Ballard, on a quiet street lined with trees. Although Earthues specializes in natural dyes and classes in natural dyes and textile arts, a small selection of naturally dyed yarns is available for sale.
The range of colors is really lovely, from pale pastels to intense brights to dark hues with a lot of depth, like the dark indigo dyed wool/cotton blend above. The wool and cotton have taken the indigo dye at different rates, resulting in a yarn that looks like a comfortable pair of denim jeans. I'm planning to crochet a hat with this skein.
This wool yarn has a lovely sheen and a lot of bounce. There were only a few skeins of each color - in some shades, just one, which I found a little disappointing. None of them came in what I would consider to be a sweaters-worth of yarn. It's possible that they did have more in their backstock, but the people working there seemed to be quite busy and I didn't have much time to shop. What I bought is definitely enough for a scarf, though.
While most of the yarns were labeled, the labels didn't always have all the information I was looking for. This one, as you can see, just says "organic" on one side and "$8.95" on the other. No yardage, no fiber content, and no color name or number. This was one of a few shades of green, all of them lovely. It has a nice soft hand and some resilience. If it turns out I have enough, I'm thinking of making a string bag with this.
The interior of the store is charming and colorful, with lots of examples of textiles.
The buttons for sale come in a wide variety of shapes and materials (including bone, horn, shell, tagua nut, and wood) and many of them are dyed with the same dyes used on the textiles.
I would have liked to spend more time exploring the shop and getting to talk to an employee so I could get more information about certain items (like whether or not they were for sale). For example, there was a big bowl of tiny skeins of yarn in dozens of colors, but nothing to indicate whether it was for display only or if they were available for purchase, what dyes had been used, what the fiber contents were, etc. Hopefully I'll get to go back on another trip and be able to do more than just wonder about most of what is on the shelves.
Earthues, A Natural Color Company
5129 Ballard Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98107
Telephone: (206) 789-1065
www.earthues.com
Yelp (map and reviews)
The range of colors is really lovely, from pale pastels to intense brights to dark hues with a lot of depth, like the dark indigo dyed wool/cotton blend above. The wool and cotton have taken the indigo dye at different rates, resulting in a yarn that looks like a comfortable pair of denim jeans. I'm planning to crochet a hat with this skein.
This wool yarn has a lovely sheen and a lot of bounce. There were only a few skeins of each color - in some shades, just one, which I found a little disappointing. None of them came in what I would consider to be a sweaters-worth of yarn. It's possible that they did have more in their backstock, but the people working there seemed to be quite busy and I didn't have much time to shop. What I bought is definitely enough for a scarf, though.
While most of the yarns were labeled, the labels didn't always have all the information I was looking for. This one, as you can see, just says "organic" on one side and "$8.95" on the other. No yardage, no fiber content, and no color name or number. This was one of a few shades of green, all of them lovely. It has a nice soft hand and some resilience. If it turns out I have enough, I'm thinking of making a string bag with this.
The interior of the store is charming and colorful, with lots of examples of textiles.
The buttons for sale come in a wide variety of shapes and materials (including bone, horn, shell, tagua nut, and wood) and many of them are dyed with the same dyes used on the textiles.
I would have liked to spend more time exploring the shop and getting to talk to an employee so I could get more information about certain items (like whether or not they were for sale). For example, there was a big bowl of tiny skeins of yarn in dozens of colors, but nothing to indicate whether it was for display only or if they were available for purchase, what dyes had been used, what the fiber contents were, etc. Hopefully I'll get to go back on another trip and be able to do more than just wonder about most of what is on the shelves.
Earthues, A Natural Color Company
5129 Ballard Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98107
Telephone: (206) 789-1065
www.earthues.com
Yelp (map and reviews)
Chocolate-Covered Coconut Macaroons
I used to think that it was kind of pointless to have bloggers publish paper books based on their blogs. Then, while visiting Portland (the one in Oregon), I was browsing through Powell's Books and picked up one of the current Staff Picks, Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life. Her blog, Orangette, has been very popular for years now, yet I hadn't gotten around to checking it out, and so I turned into the person who went to read a blog after buying a paperback book with content mostly derived from said blog. As I read the book, I started mentally marking off recipes to try.
Mom inherited a bag of sweetened shredded coconut from a friend who was moving off-island, and that bag had been sitting in the fridge for a few months. I use unsweetened shredded coconut in several dishes, but I don't like sweetened shredded coconut and neither does Mom. The recipe for coconut macaroons looked like a great way to use it up.
They are a lovely combination of crispy and chewy (I baked them a little longer to get more crispy going), and the chocolate helps to cut the sweetness. I still find it to be too sweet for my taste, but I made major shifts in my diet last year and now that I generally use fruit to satisfy my sweet tooth, a lot of sugar-sweetened things are too sweet now.
The book recipe and the blog recipe for Chocolate-Coated Coconut Macaroons aren't exactly the same. The book recipe doesn't have almond extract in the cookies and uses less cream in the ganache. One of my SF-based friends has also been baking these macaroons, using the blog recipe, and we've been comparing notes as best we can (sure, we can talk about it all we like, but in the end, we aren't tasting them side-by-side).
Although I aimed for following the book recipe closely, I did make a few changes in addition to baking them longer. Both recipes call for using a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper. Having neither, I used aluminum foil. After the cookies cooled completely on the sheet, I could carefully peel the foil off, but I damaged several cookies in the process (trying to remove them while still warm) and think that using a Silpat would be much easier. The suggested size for the cookies looked too big to me, so I made them smaller, using a soup spoon to scoop up the dough and then squeezing and shaping it with my hands. I did not follow the ganache recipe, and took a risk using a microwave - sometimes that works just fine, but this time I let it get too hot. The ganache still tastes great but isn't smooth and glossy.
I'm not likely to make these from the recipe again - like I said, too sweet for my taste - but I'm thinking about how to do a coconut-almond macaroon that would be both less sweet and vegan. I think flax seed could stand in for the egg whites and contribute to the nutty flavor. If I try it, I'll keep you updated. If you like rich, sweet, chewy coconut macaroons, I recommend using either the book or blog recipe, and my SF-based friend is of the opinion that the 1/4 tsp. of almond extract (in the blog recipe) makes them better.
Next up is the Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cake, which will conveniently use up the egg yolks.
Kaua’i yarn shopping (Hanalei Strings & Things, Ace Hardware & Crafts)
looking out over Hanalei, Kaua'i I spent a recent weekend on Kaua'i and did a little yarn shopping while I was there. First stop was Hanalei Strings & Things, a little shop in the Ching Young Village Shopping Center in the middle of downtown Hanalei. It's a very touristy area with lots of shops and restaurants, and parking can be a little challenging during lunchtime on a weekend. Strings & Things combines yarn and ukuleles - Amy Singer would plotz.
Entrance to Hanalei Strings & Things
Guitars, ukuleles, and yarn
Books, notions, and yarn (including Kauai Botanicals hand-dyed yarns)My visit was brief. You may have had a similar experience while vacationing with someone who is not into yarn? "Do you want to eat lunch first?" "No, you can do your yarn shopping first" - and then about 1o minutes later, it is clear that the person not into yarn is about to fall over from a combination of boredom and low blood sugar (I finished up my browsing, bought two skeins of Kauai Botanicals hand-dyed sock yarn, and we went across the street to Bubba's Burgers. By the way, Bubba's does old-fashioned burgers that remind me of In 'N Out). I did note that they have a pretty substantial inventory for a small space - lots of high-end yarns, some novelty yarns, books, patterns, needles, hooks, notions, and a cozy corner to sit and stitch at. Prices - like pretty much everything on Kaua'i - tend to be high. I'm sure the owner has heard plenty enough complaining about that - and it's an issue that they likely can't do anything about (welcome to the flip side of "life in paradise"). The Kauai Botanicals hand-dyed yarns were nice to see - there's a demand for souvenir yarn but not much available. These are yarns dyed with hibiscus, 'olena (turmeric), and red dirt (which Kaua'i is famous for). Various weights and fibers are available, and there was a lovely sample of a drop-stitch knit scarf done with pinky-mauve hibiscus-dyed ribbon yarn. I chose wool/bamboo blend sock yarn, one dyed with 'olena and one dyed with 'olena and hibiscus.
Kauai Botanicals hand-dyed wool/bamboo sock yarnsTo the best of my knowledge, this yarn is available only at Hanalei Strings & Things.
Hanalei Strings & Things
5-5190 Kuhio Hwy
Ching Young Village Shopping Center
Hanalei, HI 96714
(808) 826-9633
Yelp (map and reviews): Hanalei Strings & Things
Later in the week, we stopped by Ace Hardware & Crafts. Yes, a combination hardware and craft store! Half of the store is your typical Ace Hardware, and the other half is your typical Ben Franklin Crafts store.
Ace Hardware & Crafts, Lihue, Kaua'i
Lily Sugar & Cream yarn, crochet cotton
Red HeartThere are yarns for making crochet leis with as well as a lot of Red Heart, a selection of crochet threads, Lily Sugar & Cream kitchen cotton, and Cascade 220. Needles, hooks, and notions too. This store is located in a more industrial part of Lihue, so not a lot in the immediate area for other attractions. Lihue is small, though, so it's a short drive to the beach and other businesses.
Ace Hardware & Crafts
4100 Rice St
Lihue, HI 96766
(808) 245-4091
Yelp (map and reviews): Ace Hardware Lihue
Tension Magazine
'specially for the person who had a search engine direct them here for 'is there a crochet magazine like Knitty' - say hello to Tension.
I'd say that Tension is more like Twist Collective than Knitty in that the patterns are for sale, not for free. For free crochet patterns, there's still Crochet me.
I'd say that Tension is more like Twist Collective than Knitty in that the patterns are for sale, not for free. For free crochet patterns, there's still Crochet me.