Beanie, bootees and mittens

Beanie, bootees and mittens
Originally uploaded by Maureen1

Knitted for charity, premie to newborn size. I used op shop yarn here and have a large bag of these little sets all in this pink yarn I scored cheaply.

Christmas stocking

Christmas stocking
Originally uploaded by Maureen1

Have just finished the last round on this crazy quilted Christmas stocking. I did the tatted angel and added a little lace on a seam, there was no more room for me to add anything else. Will post this today or tomorrow.

Christmas stocking

Christmas stocking
Originally uploaded by Maureen1

My lovely Christmas stocking came home last week. This was part of a round robin and five friends have embellished it. I think it is just beautiful, now have to line and back it and it will be ready to decorate my house for Christmas.

Really Healthy Cookies

I could not resist adding these cookies to my blog. I am going to try these next time I have people round for afternoon tea.

Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe

You can use unsweetened carob, or grain sweetened chocolate chips, or do what I did and chop up 2/3 of a bar of Scharffen berger 70%. I sort-of shaved half the bar with a knife and then cut the rest into bigger chip-sized chunks. You can make your own almond meal by pulsing almonds in a food processor until it is the texture of sand - don't go too far or you'll end up with almond butter. And lastly, the coconut oil works beautifully here, just be sure to warm it a bit - enough that it is no longer solid, which makes it easier to incorporate into the bananas.

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 15 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Blue resisted scarf

Blue resisted scarf
Originally uploaded by Maureen1

I thought I would never finish the stitching on this one. I dyed it with a mixed dye so that the colours would halo out, it does not show well in the photo but the colours range from darkest lavender blue, through to pastel blue, purple through to the pinkish mauve you can see in this photo. The colouring is incredible. I thought I would take it to the art gallery that has some of my stuff, but have a feeling I may keep it just for me.

Tiger socks

Tiger socks
Originally uploaded by Maureen1

Sorta shibori, done with setacolour paints rather than dye. Tiger feet for some little toddler.

Silk scarf, resist dyed

Silk scarf, resist dyed
Originally uploaded by Maureen1

Here is another silk scarf, rust dyed, overdyed, resisted. Strangely the rust dyeing washed out when I rinsed the scarf under the tap. Since I wasn't about to waste all the time I spent stitch resisting this scarf I overdyed in a rust colour to complement the little rust dye that stayed in the scarf.

Margaret's stocking

Margaret's stocking
Originally uploaded by Maureen1

Round 2 of the Christmas Stocking round robin. I added the tatted angel, some sequin stars and a metallic braid seam treatment. I have to post this off tomorrow, and already have Round 3 ready to embellish.