Fiber Fool

A couple weeks ago, just after DH and I had a conversation about how in general the bulk of our groceries are unprocessed or unprepared foods with the exception of the quantities of granola bars we are going through with his being in grad school I stumbled upon a link to Smitten Kitchen’s granola bar recipe. The recipe haunted me for several days. I had been under the weather when I first saw it, but it spurred just enough energy in me to pick up a few groceries and put it together.

I had a few goals in mind when choosing my 2-3 cups of extras (above and beyond the oats) - fiber and healthy fats. So while creating my oat flour in the food processor I added some flax seed in towards the end. I also choose to use mostly walnuts for the nut portion, but I did add a bit of almonds as well. For fruit I kind of went over board and it made them a bit too sweet for my tastes (my biggest complain of commercial granola bars as well) - craisins, raisins and dried apricots. For a bit more bulk I also add a bit of Kashi Honey Puffs, a lightly sweetened cereal made from puffed grains of several varieties.

I also switched things up a tad and used agave nectar in place of the corn syrup and omitted the water since it is more viscous than the corn syrup. I used raw sugar for the sugar. I also added a touch of nutmeg with the cinnamon. I did still use the butter, but I’m anxious to try a healthier oil option. I stuck with natural peanut butter as I prefer the least processed food as possible and the nutrition numbers are usually better as well.

I did put numbers into a spreadsheet to guide whether I cut the pan into 9 or 16 pieces. The numbers were crazy and definitely required cutting the pan into 16 pieces. So I started playing around with other options to try get the numbers close to the healthy snack range of around 100 calories. Well, I couldn’t get it there, but I could get the numbers to under 200 calories per 1/16th of the pan and the huge advantage over commercially made granola bars - I could keep the carb level near the magic 10% mark (ie. 100 calories and 10 g carb) that mom’s nutritionist wants her at.

The big trick was to limit the fruit portion of those 2-3 cups of stuff to be only 1/2 c. Both craisins and apricots are good choices for the fruit. If you are wanting to watch your carb ratio, skip the raisins. For a touch more protien sub low fat soy flour in place of the oat flour. For a bit lower fat use almond butter in place of the peanut butter. Now, I haven’t tried any of these options yet, that is just looking at numbers on paper. But, these options bring the calories per 1/16th of the 8×8″ pan down to the 180-195 calories rather than the 235 calories of my first batch - yikes!

I’ve been obsessing over flavor combinations I think would be good but are not available in commercial bars. The one I’m really itching to try is a chocolate and ginger one. A few years ago at the then weekly game night someone brought a chocolate and ginger trail mix that had amongst the typical fruit and nuts crystalized ginger and chocolate chips. The flavor combo blew me away! With the sugar of crystalized ginger and chocolate (figuring semi-sweet) the numbers go back up a bit (212 cal, 23 g carbs), but I think it would make a great healthier alternative for dessert some time.

What things would you want to add for your 2-3 cups?

Well, the pearls I showed off last week in their purchased state and in the tutorial on making buttons from beads did not get used up. I had to buy a whole string of the cultured pearls when I only needed 12 for my project. It was a good thing as not all cultured pearls are created equal so some were not really button or jewelry worthy. Since I had my wire working mojo back thanks to the buttons (and I fell in love with Amanda’s coiler pliers which I still had on loan), so it seemed only right to put at least some of them to more use.

I’m not one of those people who feel nekkid if I leave the house without jewelry on, but I do enjoy wearing it from time to time. I’m also very much a sucker for vintage-like things (ask my sister) so when I stumbled upon this line of antiqued brass components I had to practice a bit of restraint :-) But I think the bronze really goes well with these pearls! I’m half tempted to go get a few more components. But since I don’t have any solid designs in mind I think I’ll just steer clear of that part of town for a bit…

I don’t know about you, but finding just the right button for a project is of utmost importance to me. Often it seems like it can make or break a knitting project. When it comes to needing petite buttons, the choices are quite limited in my little corner of the world. It seems large, oversized buttons are all the rage. So when my Sur la Tête hat needed its eleven 6-8mm buttons I ended up making them from beads.

One advantage of using beads to make my buttons is the drastic increase in color selection. I was certain to find a color that complimented any yarn I chose to use. In addition you can try pearls, crystals and even different shapes like rondelles or helixes. Suddenly my button choice was nearly unlimited! As a bonus, it can save you money depending upon what beads you end up choosing.

If color, size and shape selection is limited at your local bead store I recommend FusionBeads.com because they have free shipping for any size order, allowing you to order 1 of several different colors, shapes and/or sizes to try with your yarn or other project materials. Then you can place another order for the remaining beads you need and additional supplies.

Supplies

• Single, Vertical Holed Beads (for Sur la Tête 6-8mm is recommended), if ordering online I recommend ordering 1-2 extra in case one arrives damaged or a hole was insufficiently drilled.
• Head Pins, 1″ long for 6mm and 1.5″ long for 8 mm beads; longer head pins can be trimmed to size. There are many decorative head pin choices out there in addition to the standard flat round end.
• Coiler Pliers (see photo above), if you do not have coiler pliers, I recommend using several layers of masking tape to build up a guide on needlenose pliers to help you form consistently sized loops.
• Wire Cutters, only if you are using longer head pins than needed.

Step 1: Insert the headpin into the “prettier” side of the bead. Once attached to the project the shank side will be much less visible. If you are using irregularly shaped beads such as the cultured pearls being use here be certain to always orient the beads in the same manner so they look consistent when sewn on; in this case the larger side was entered first allowing the narrower end with the shank to sit sunken into the knit button band a bit.

Step 2: Bend the head pin at a right angle right where it exits the bead. I find it is easiest to get it tight against the bead by using my thumb and pushing the head pin against the bead.

Step 3: If there is more than approximately 3/4″ or 2 cm of head pin extending beyond the bead trim it to length with a wire cutter.

Step 4: Using the coiler pliers, grab the free end of the head pin and turn upwards and away from the bead to begin forming the coil that will create the shank for sewing the button onto your project.

Step 5: Continue turning the pliers and regripping to form the loop until it sits snug against the top of the bead. If you form more than one complete revolution be certain to aling it snuggly with the previous loops. Two complete revolutions are recommended as they still sit mostly centered on the bead and it ensures that thin sewing thread will not work its way out of the loop.

Repeat for each button required, attach and wear with pride!

In addition to using decorative head pins you could also try stacking a smaller bead atop the main one or use a lacy bead cap for an extra special touch. There really are an incredible number of button choices available once you start making your own.

Remember this cutie from October? That is Amanda’s eldest modeling a boy-friendly version of the Sundog Sweater that was published in the Summer 2009 issue of Twist Collective. I will be teaching a three week course on the sweater at My Sister Knits in Fort Collins beginning March 13th from 1-2:30pm. The cost of this class is $55 + materials (see below). To sign-up contact My Sister Knits in person at 1408 W Mountain Ave, Fort Collins or by phone at (970) 407-1461.

Sundog is a patterned yoke sweater that is knit from the top down with no finishing required! It features a few design elements to help it grow with the child so they get more than one season’s worth of wear out of it. In this class you’ll learn not only how to knit yoked sweaters from the top-down without any finishing, you’ll learn about sizing for children, knitting jogless stripes in the round and working with directional increases. In the class you will get a printed spreadsheet to help you keep track of the increases in the yoke as well as full-color handouts on how to work the recommended paired increases and knitting jogless stripes in the round. The pattern includes sizes from 20 inches to 34 inches.

Materials

• Sundog Pattern from Twist Collective
• For Chest Circumferences of 20 (22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34)” you need approximately 225 (275, 300, 350, 425, 525, 600, 700) yds of MC and 75 (75, 75, 100, 100, 125, 150, 150) of CC.
• US 7 (4.5 mm), or size needed to achieve gauge, set of 5 dpns and a circular ndl 20-24” long
• US 6 (4.0 mm), or one size smaller than size needed to achieve gauge, set of 5 dpns
• Stitch Markers
• Tapestry Needle
• Waste Yarn

Pre-Class Homework: For optimum satisfaction, please be sure to have made a generous sized swatch before class that you have washed and blocked as the final sweater will be. If you do not match gauge with the pattern, repeat with different sized needles. If you have too many stitches per inch increase the needle size. If you have too few stitches per inch decrease the needle size.

This weekend was a full weekend. I took an all day photography workshop with Joe Coca here in Fort Collins (if you look at the “Things” category you may recognize a shot or two) about studio lighting. It was taught through the Center for Fine Art Photography. In the morning we walked through a few examples of lighting, some just virtually by stepping through all the various shots for a Handwoven magazine photoshoot. For one of the real time examples of studio lighting he walked us through he used my latest WIP! That was fun to see the process of deciding upon the lighting and how subtle changes highlight different aspects of the yarn or needles. In the afternoon we were broken up into groups and had to style and light a shot.

I think the biggest thing I learned was that I mostly know what I need to know (that was worth its weight in gold I think). I just need to be more patient and make sure I take the time to let my brain go through all of that. Oh, and if I’m working in a group I need to actually say what I’m thinking, not just think it and let them continue running farther off the rails. And, I could use an assistant and many more stands with clips and some lights, and the software to do live capture and,…and,… LOL!

Then Sunday I went on a mini road trip with Amanda to Niwot to visit The Berry Patch in search of the perfect finishing touch for my latest WIP and few secret FOs that needed some additional accoutrements. This was only my second time there, but I think I could spend vast amounts of money and time in that store. It is definitely healthy for the checking account to go there with very specific goals in mind, as well as a friend who can slap some sense into you when you start contemplating how much you can save in a month by eating only peanut butter toast to afford $72 worth of buttons for a project!

Unfortunately, Sunday is not the optimum day for road tripping as many of the stores of interest are closed - yarn, bead and fabric stores. Because of that we didn’t venture on to Boulder. On the way back home we did stop in at Bead Lounge in Longmont where they were having a one day trunk sale and we scored the very finishing touches was well.

It seemed only fitting to practice a little of what I learned on Saturday to capture some of the goodies from Sunday on Monday and share them on Tuesday :-)