Normally this would be an autumn dish but I just had to have some now. On our weekend away I had a dish of roasted squash soup that was just incredible so I really wanted to reproduce it. I think I got it pretty close. This makes a big batch so you can cut it in half or make it all and freeze some.

Roasted Squash Soup

1 Butternut squash
2 acorn squash
Garlic minced
onions minced
Parsley
olive Oil
2 cups of Veggie Stock

Wash then cut in half the squashes. Scoop out the seeds. Drizzle the cut side with olive oil then liberally sprinkle on the onions and garlic. Cover and put into the oven at 250F for about 3 hours or until it’s soft when you pierce it with a fork. Let it cool a bit. Scoop it out of the shell. Throw it in the blender with the Veggie stock - blend smooth. Serve hot with a sprinkle of parsley. If you want it to be a little more rich, you can add sour cream or regular cream. Though, I think regular cream makes it a little more sweet and desert like.

I’ve been eating small bowls of it with a large salad. It makes a great lunch.

Knitting and Spinning
I’ve been wanting to spin far more than knit lately. I suppose my block is the ten million swatches I need to do. Ok, maybe not ten million. I’m just not a swatch gal. I swear I can do a pair of mittens in the time it takes me to one swatch. Especially if you count in the procrastinating.

I’ve got 4 bobbins full of the Merino Bamboo I showed off a little while ago:

I also took time repairing and rearranged my wheels. The shop and the living room were feeling crowded with my wheels. So I moved the big Jensen home and the Indian Head spinner downstairs. The Indian head was broken and I had some work to do to make it work right and I’m pleased with the fix I did even though it’s not the prettiest. The Ashford that was living down there in a corner got pulled out and got her new quill head. That thing is a blast to use. This is the space I cleared out for them all.

If you go to the flickr picture you’ll see a bunch of notes. We don’t wind yarn here anymore so the wheels were able to take that space. Eventually husbeast will take over this area of the basement when I get my dye shop moved. Then the wheels will either have to go in some sort of storage situation or I’ll have to make some room in sewing room.

All the while I’m working on an update. And I”ll have batts in the update. If you use my rolag tutorial from last week, you’ll be able to get a self striping yarn from the new triple play batts. I wound my yarn on the shaft so you could see the color changes.

I had hoped to have the update done last week because I’m working on club now. So I may not get it all done until next week now. I know that’s cruel to tease you and leave you hanging….

Every now and then I get questioned - How do you spin from a batt?
My answer: It depends on the batt.

Is the batt completely blended like this?:

Or more of a layered type batt like this?:

There are 2 main methods I use, stripping or rolagging (yes that’s my made up word, I’ve turned the noun rolag into a verb). For the blended batts, I use the method I feel like at the moment. For layered batts I usually rolag it.

You probably know how to strip batts, it’s the same as you would for top or roving. Just strip it. For rolagging the easiest way is to place a ruler or a piece of tile (something with a straight edge) about 3-4 inches down a batt that’s been opened up. Grab it and tear:

Ok, so here I’m not using a straight edge but it was hard enough to take this photo myself let alone try to control a straight edge.

Roll into pretty little rolags.

Then you spin from the end as if it was a real little rolag that you made on a set of hand cards.

**notes - The blended batt was from my own shop which I have at the physical location but have yet to list online. The Layered batt is from Enchanted Knolls Happy Hooves Batt club. They are a joy to spin. The spindle is a Cascade Baker.

Businessy note: I’m away from the shop this weekend. Emails will be answered and packages will be shipped on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone!

There is an update today and a special little something. It will only be announced when the update is done and to the notify list. So if you’re not on the list, hop on fast.

The biggest bunch of today’s update is a new fiber I’ve been dyeing. I got 2lbs to dye a sweater for myself and realized that you needed this too. This is what I dyed for me:

I have more for you. It will be up this afternoon.

And then I have a bit of administration news. I’ve been procrastinating on it but with another postal increase coming in a month, I have to do it. I have to raise the price of club. If you’re already in club don’t worry, I’m not changing your price. Any new club members signing up after April 7th will be charged the new costs. If you cancel your club and sign up again, I can’t guarantee the old price. There will be only the sign up buttons available and none for the old price.

Speaking of price changes… There will also be new prices on the fibers starting the 7th as well. Not all fibers will change but a good number of them are. So today’s update is the last one at the old prices.

Today at 3 pm EST

Fibers mostly.
All the yarns are up that are going up.
In April I’ll have more sock, lace, silk, and cotton yarns.

The database came home. Sure a bunch of stuff has been deleted and changed but the majority of it is back. So now I’m working on putting the new spindles up again and all the missing info. I think it was all the well wishes from you guys. Thank you!

*EDIT* Crappers - I found the problem - It may be down again. *EDIT2* I know the problem. I now know the bug and am in the process of fixing it. Thank you for your patience. And a special shout out to Erin for helping me find it.

While I’m still on business, I’ve been dyeing for an update next week. I have about 8 lbs of BFL, 7 of SW corrie, and a few pounds of other fibers. There will be new sock yarns as well. I’ve also finally listed V-neck the as a free pattern with purchase of 3 or more skeins of 220 classic. Hopefully I’ll have some new summer yarns for the update too. I’ve been going cotton crazy. I have some lovely cotton/rayon, cotton lace, Cotton boucle, rayon chenille, and linen.

Now for the stuff you came here for… Knitting.
I’ve been working on Sprout.

It was pointed out to me last night that I said I was doing it in Ella Rae Classic but I was wrong. It’s Ella Rae Emity. So it’s only got 25% wool content. Silly me. I didn’t want a super warm sweater and I wanted something I could toss in the wash. This will be perfect. I know I’ll still probably forget and call this Ella Rae Classic again. Feel free to correct me.

Chesley is going to be starting up a Sprout along. I know I’m a little ahead of it all but I plan to make a second one with a longer body in some handspun yarn or longer sleeves in a cotton yarn. I thought I had decided, but typing it out, I just couldn’t actually commit. I’ll let you know more knit along details as they are given to me. I’m hoping this weekend I get a fair way along in my teal sprout so that I may get to a point where I can decide on the next one….