a sea of silk

I hand dyed a couple of skeins of tussah silk with greens and blues. I used every shade of green and blue Kool-Aid that I could find plus a few shades of food color. The silk absorbed a lot of dye. At first it was very green so I overdyed it with some blue. I've started crocheting a celebrity shawl with this.

I yam what I yam.

I was at the chinese supermarket recently and saw some "chinese yams". I love to see so many different varieties of fruits and veggies. I wasn't sure what was different about a "chinese yam". I know the japanese sweet potato is wonderful, tastes like a cross between a potato and a chestnut.

I got a few and boiled them up. They were good but I was a little disappointed, I didn't notice any difference between them and the regular supermarket variety, maybe a little softer, more tender.

I had a couple leftover so I used them to make a yam tart. Kind of like a sweet potato pie in a tart form.

Yam Tart

1/2 lb. yam (boiled, cooled and skin removed)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

1. Line the tart pan with the unbaked pie crust. Trim the edges.

2. In the bowl of food processor, combine yam, butter, sugar, milk, egg, and spices. Pulse until mixed well. Add additional milk as necessary. Pour filling into unbaked tart shell.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40-50 minutes, or until filling is set. Tart will puff up slightly and settle as it cools. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

gold silk

I dyed this tussah silk last weekend and am really pleased with the way it turned out. It seemed kind of dark and raw to start with but it dyed beautifully. The silk absorbed a lot of dye and although you can't see it here, there is actually a lot of variation in the yellows. And it turned out so shiny. I'm thinking maybe one of those celebrity shawls....

fingerless gloves

I've been thinking about blogging for a while now, but somehow I got it into my head that it should be very specific, i.e. food, crochet, etc. and it felt very limiting. So I decided to just go ahead and include whatever I'm working on. Lately I've been into dyeing and felting wool. I dyed a ball of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes using Kool-Aid and food coloring. Wasn't sure how it would turn out but was pleasantly surprised with the results.

It got cold this week so I decided to make a pair of fingerless gloves. I used the pattern in the current issue of Interweave Knits Crochet and felted the gloves. This is one of the gloves, before and after felting. They keep my hands nice and warm.