***Updated***Cranberry Sauce - No Sugar Added

 This is a new recipe to go with my new lifestyle.  No sugar has been added.  Some interesting substitutions have been made.  I added the walnuts for extra nutrients and crunch. 

Chunky Orange Cranberry Sauce

3 cups fresh cranberries rinsed

1 cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons of Penzey’s  Lemon Peel California Minced or the zest of 1 lemon 

1 cup walnuts broken into bite sized pieces (Next year 1/2 cup)

1 cup of orange juice- no sugar added ( get someone else to finish the small bottle  or juice the fresh oranges for you) (Next year apple juice)

Place cinnamon stick, lemon peel, and apple juice into a 3 quart pan. Cover and bring to a boil.  Add the cranberries and walnuts. Return to a boil. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer.  Simmer for 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. 

Cool to room temperature. Remove the cinnamon stick. Place into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.  

Makes about 3 1/4 cups. The estimated calories for the entire batch is 1,028.  I saved 662 calories by not adding sugar.  If you want a truly low calorie version leave out the walnuts which have 766 calories,  which would leave you at 242 calories for the entire recipe. All these calorie counts are from information found on Google.  This has not been lab tested for calories. 

The picture below is what it will look like when cooking.  It does not look or taste like a traditional cranberry sauce.  It looks more orange than red, because of the orange juice.

When I call out a brand name it is because I use the product in my house for cooking. I am not being paid to advertise the brand. You may use whatever brand you like.  

* The orange juice made it too tart and I will use apple juice next year and less walnuts. The tartness got stronger as the cranberry sauce sat in the fridge. 

Winding Yarn – Maybe?

I have found more yarn to organize for scarves using the Stash Dive Pattern  by Summer Lee Designs. I have been stash diving for bits, pieces and odd bags of yarn. This resulted in finding a lot of yarn that I did not know I had. Most left over from past projects or projects that were scrapped. I have already kitted up 4 bags for the knitting guilds Navajo Project and 3 for Operation Gratitude.  I have one scarf for each project on the knitting needles.  

Hopefully when all is said and done I will have 1 box of worsted weight yarn and another of sock weight yarn.  That way when I need to make more kits all I have to do is pull out the yarn and choose the colors.  I found this worked with the hats so well that when the basket is empty I will make more kits.  

This brings me to the organization part.  I am caking all the yarn in hanks and hand wound balls that won’t fit on the yarn butlers.  I made lackluster progress today.  I felt a lot like Jimmy Cricket dealing with  Pinocchio. Of the six hanks wound today, 5 required me to take the partially caked yarn and wind it into a ball before making the yarn cake.  I am not sure how the hanks of yarn became tangled while still in the hank in the original wrapping.  If you know the culprit please tell them to stop, it is not necessary. This is all cotton yarn.  For those allergic to wool and man made fibers.  The picture below is for the Navajo Project at the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild, the kids like things colorful for the most part.  

More Coasters

 I am making progress on my coaster weaving.  I went stash diving for more cotton rug warp. I found 5 rolls, it does not come in skeins. I have the yarn down to 2 shelves instead of 3.  The top is now reserved for the warp, small bits and weaving supplies. I will have room to put the small looms there too.  

All the yarn that I am currently weaving was all spun on drop spindles.  They were mostly small samples to try before you buy. 

I also have a rhythm down and can weave about two a day. Using up stash for useful things is relaxing and fun. Not sure what I’m going to do with them when I’m finished but I’m thinking gifting.

 

Stripes

 Today I played with stripes. The coaster still on the loom was from 1 skein. I just cut off each section of the yarn to get the stripe effect. The 1 on the left was from 3 different skeins of different weights.  Since it takes about 18 grams of yarn to make a coaster stripes are a great way to use bits and pieces up.  I am having fun with the stripes. This is my Purl & Loop Loom.  Check with your local yarn shop for availability.  I am using the Navajo style of tightly packing the weft on the loom. My friend Louise taught me. I agree with her that it makes a sturdier fabric. 

Besides coasters, these can be sewn in to a larger piece . Although I would personally sew the warp threads to the waft on a sewing machine first.  

These were woven today and need a hot soapy bath and trimming before they are finished.  

Finishing Work

 I don’t know about you but weaving in the ends and doing finishing work often takes a backseat to creating.  Tonight I had an ever growing pile of the evil finishing work.  I decided it was time only because I am currently creating more art the will require finishing work.  It is an evil, vicious cycle.  Create many, many things. Wait until I have a small pile and just sit down and do it.  Repeat.  

You know what comes next, don’t you. Taking pictures and posting to Ravelry. Well that will be tomorrow in better light.  In the meantime please enjoy the group photo.  Three hats for the Flowing Wells SD Clothing Bank, 2 cotton and 1 super wash wool hat made of hand spun yarn.  I hope the kids like the colors. Also 6 coasters woven from hand spun yarn. I wove 7, but one had a major problem not worth fixing so it is going to the dogs for pillow stuffing. Waste not want not.  

Then everything will go in the proper storage bags. 

25 Pounds

 I hit a milestone that I thought I would never hit. Since September 8th I have lost 25 pounds and gone down one size. I gave up eating processed foods. This is a very healthy lifestyle change for me. I have more energy. I actually eat more food including nuts and peanut butter.  My skin is clearing up. I am following A Pound of Cure and it is medically supervised for those that might be worried about my rapid weight loss.  Best of all no surgeries involved.  

In crafting news I am making myself a very expensive blanket. This was supposed to be a gift. The one I went into project bags to repurpose, but John likes it so much that I am going out to buy a gift tomorrow.   It is 100% cotton yarn. I am crocheting it. You know how the price of cotton has gone through the roof this year.  I am on the 4th color. I went into my stash and found more yarn.  I am trying not to leave any currently priced at $25.00 a skein behind. I am using Butterfly cotton yarn. Since the were bought at different times, not all skeins are the same length.  Also as each round gets bigger the yarn does not make as many rounds   

I am using each skein of yarn to the point where it can’t make a complete round of the pattern.  Then I am switching colors.  The scraps of yarn will be used for charity scarfs.  Waste not want not. Also my knitting skills have taught me how to hide the beginning and casting off so it is invisible.  

The picture below has the blanket in progress. The current yarn color on the yarn butler. The bag is holding all but 2 skeins of yarn.  The knitting bag is available for purchase at Grandma’s Spinning Wheel in Tucson, in store or on line.  They also have plenty of Butterfly yarn in stock if you want to Crochet along with me.  Feel free to choose your own colors.  I am winging it so I won’t know until I am finished how many skein’s of yarn that I will be using. I am using a basic granny square pattern with a chain 6, join in the round. I have 8 stitch patterns in the center. All double crochet or if in Europe a treble crochet. If you want a pattern let me know, however if might be faster to Google how to make a granny square.

Now to set the 6 am alarm and call it a day  

Repurposing Yarn

 Today after physical therapy for my knee, I went to my project bags. I found yarn for 2 projects that had been shelved for various reasons. They are now going into a gift that is being crocheted because let’s face it sometimes crocheting is just faster than knitting with lace weight yarn. It was also my second fiber craft after sewing.  I figure that if I stop after one project I should be ok. I am already on the first color change, second skein of yarn and am in the middle of the 12th row.  I can’t show you a picture yet, because it is a gift. 

I am sure that my family approves of my stash diving for a new project.  I hope to use at least 6 skeins up in this project. There were about 15 in the bag.  The remaining yarn will be used for cotton scarfs. Yes, I currently have 2 of those going along with 2 hats. Go me. Use more yarn. Stash dive.

I also went shopping yesterday and found 3 pairs of pants in a smaller size. Hopefully they will remain a good size for a couple of months.