Luscious Fibers, Food and Life

Vegan Pal Goodness

I want to give some big thank yous to my vegan swap pal, Jen who sent me some wonderful vegan treats - many which were made by hand and are absolutely amazing.  She also took the time to wrap each gift and made the cutest little tags for each. Everything was so lovely, I didn't want to open, well...yes... I did, but you know what I mean.

I think Jen had me pegged and knew I could use some gifts to help me relax. She knit me a fabulous eye cover that is scented with lavender, as well as some handmade bath fizz, salts and soap.  She also sent me some Seattle chocolates and tea...even without knowing that I lived in (and often miss) Seattle for a number of years.  She made me a Wallace and Gromit DVD which I will be watching this weekend (oh and Jen, how did you make the DVD label?  Very cool!) She also sent me some beautiful red yarn which I will probably use as part of the this month's Project Spectrum.  Oh and she and Lucy sent me some of their favorite recipes in this cute little book (I'm so stealing this idea). I can't wait to try them out.

Thanks so much Jen! What a treat...

Yeah Vegan Knitting

I'm behind on posting, I know, I know, big surprise.  There's a lot going on here at the Thurston/Smith House (maybe we should hyphenate our names...hmmm.)  Anyway, last week I received a FANTASTIC surprise from Emily over at Vegan Knitting.  It was for the Vegan Pal 2 swap and she was a great pal.  It was also a magic ball swap, so you need to take one of the balls of yard and wrap little goodies in it as you wind it up. You can see the yarn she sent me before I unwrapped it below. 

As you can see my package was filled with lots of great goodies. Including a recipe for Shepard's Pie (how did you know I've been looking for a good shepard's pie recipe?) and a mixed CD that I'm groovin' to right now.  She also sent some beautiful fall paper leaves and card.  Oh and ginger tea and dark chocolate...yum. And this lovely soft cotton yarn by Goddess Yarns in fantastic Suzanne fall colors.

Emily was a great partner especially during a time that was a bit difficult.  I look forward to getting to know her better and reading her blog more often.

Vegan Pal 2 - Responses

 

1. What is/are your craft(s), & how long have you been doing it/them? Knitting is probably the craft I do most often now.  I do other crafty things with paper, stamps, and a little sewing. I’ve been crafty all my life, and knitting for at least 3 years.
2. Are you a vegan, vegetarian, veg-curious, veg-friendly or  other? Vegan
   
   
3. Is this your first swap, or have you done previous swaps before?   What makes a swap enjoyable for you?  I have participated in other swaps. They are enjoyable when you communicate with your swap partner and actually get to know them, before you know them (ok, that sounds funny).
   
   
4. What is/are your favorite color(s)? Do you particularly dislike any color(s)?  I like deep colors like plum, forest, maroon, and red.  I also like earth tones…tan, brown, sage, greens.  Oh and I like blush.  I probably don’t like jeweled tones as much unless mixed with other colors.
   
   
5. Do you have any allergies (such as pets, foods, fibers or cigarette smoke)?  No
   
   
6. Do you have any companion animals? If so, name(s) and type(s)?   I have two cats. One  named Kuba and the other is new to our family and we haven’t named him yet.
   
   
7. Do you collect anything? Green and blue glass objects.  Postcards.  Beautiful paper.
   
   
8. Do you have a favorite vegan food, snack or dish?  If no fav that's vegan (for those who aren't vegan), what's your favorite food?  (Hopefully your pal can find a vegan version!)  I “love” Dreena Burton’s chocolate chips cookies and Tings.  See below answer too...
   
   
9. What are some of your favorite/least favorite tastes/flavors? (e.g. sweet, salty, chocolate, crunchy, smooth, tart, sour, spicy, thai, whatever - Help your pal get a feel for what kind of recipes you might like and/or never ever make.)  Ummm…yes, please.  There is no food, texture or taste I don’t like.  I guess the recipes I don’t usually make are the time consuming ones that have lots of stuff and prep.  However, if someone said it was worth the work, I’d totally make it.
   
   
10. What tools/supplies/accessories for your craft(s) are you wishing  you had but don't? Also, what do you have TOO many of? (basically a wish  and anti-wish list) Nothing comes to mind immediately, but I'll think about this a bit. I don’t think I have too many of anything.
    
    
11. Are you on Ravelry? What's your handle? Yes, lusciousfibers
    
    
12. Is there anything else you would like your pal to know about you?   I'm open to anything. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
       
13. What scents do you like/dislike?  I like natural/subtle scents.  I don’t care for vanilla or food-like scents.
    
    
14. Do you prefer fall or Halloween or some other Autumn theme?  Fall is my *favorite* time of year, so I’d have to go with fall.
    
    
15. Just for fun - tell your favorite Halloween or Autumn related memory.  I grew up in Maine, so every fall was pretty amazing.   It’s so beautiful and brisk. The leaves are incredible and picking apples is a must.     One of my favorite things to do in the fall is attend the Common Ground Fair.  I haven’t been in many years, but this year I’ll be in Maine the weekend of the fair, so I’ll be going – yeah!

Vegan Pal and Yarn Balls with Goodies

 

Sign ups for Vegan Pal 2 are open. You don't have to be vegan to participate and this swap is a bit different than other swaps I've been in.  For this swap you'll be giving and receiving a magic yarn ball. I have to admit, I'd never heard of this before, but apparently many people have.  I believe the idea is that you wind up a ball of yarn and during your winding, you hide little gifts and trinkets in the yarn so that when it's unraveled, your swap partner finds surprises.  It all sounds very tricky to me.  Check out all the different magic yarn balls on flickr.

So if you're interested in being creative with yarn spun from cotton, rayon, bamboo, linen, hemp, banana, corn and various synthetics then check out Vegan Pal 2!

Now on to last night's dinner...

...YUMMY!  We cooked up all the great veggies we picked up at the farmer's market last weekend.  We had roasted beets and leeks (both tasted good, Kirstin) sauteed chard with garlic, corn on the cob and fava beans (via Maine) with garlic and mint.  Everything was really tasty and definitely worth cooking even in this oppressive heat.