Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

Kelly

Cauliflower muffins

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They’re not actually muffins, but I don’t know what else to call them. They were a happy accident. I was steaming cauliflower with the intention of crumbing and baking. But I had too many things going at once and oversteamed it so it was soft. Wondering what to do, I tried this experiment and it worked! 


Ingredients
1 cauliflower, broken into florets and steamed until fairly soft

2 eggs
3 rashers of bacon, chopped into small pieces
parmesan cheese – the amount varies to taste, but 1/4 to 1/2 cup roughly
Breadcrumbs to top
salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 180 degrees (C). Grease a 12 capacity muffin tin with oil or butter.


Steam the cauliflower and mash with a potato masher. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Stir in the bacon, cheese, salt and pepper to taste and beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly.


Fill each muffin cavity with the mixture and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place in the oven until golden brown, around 25 – 30 minutes.


Ease each “muffin” out of the tin with a spoon and serve šŸ™‚ They make a great accompaniment to any meal.

Another video tutorial

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This video is all about achieving neat edges while weaving, I hope it helps someone out there.

It’s a long time since I bought new fabric and Spotlight was having a 30% off sale so I couldn’t resist! My eldest daughter has a birthday in a few weeks, so I have plans šŸ˜‰

This is my current weaving WIP – a merino scarf with a pastel gradient warp and solid grey weft. I started out weaving in plain weave with black yarn but hated the result, so I “unwove” and restarted with the grey and a warp float pattern – so much better! 




Emma

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It’s hard to believe it’s a year since my beautiful niece was born sleeping. I’m not much of a writer but here is my tribute.


Ten perfect fingers, ten perfect toes
Sweet, downy hair
The softest skin,


Dainty and lovely
Heart meltingly beautiful
Eyes gently closed,


Seemingly sleeping
But peacefully gone
She was not to wake in this world,


So sadly missed
Longingly yearned for
Eternally treasured,


Emma

Hand woven hand towel sets

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These are what has been keeping my loom busy recently. Quite a lot of work, but worth the trouble!


Each set is woven with Australian cotton and included a hand towel and face washer.

I had the idea of doing gift sets for a while but wasn’t sure about the execution. I wanted them to be lofty and luxurious, so I doubled the warp threads for the towels and it worked a treat!
I wove mostly in waffle weave, adding the texture and aesthetic appeal I was hoping for. I have a tutorial for working waffle weave here.  This tutorial is now also on Rigid Heddle Weaving.com

These are a few extra face washers and teapot rests, I just love the colours and textures.


The towel sets are available in my Etsy shop now.

My first video tutorials!

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I’ve taken the plunge and made a couple of video tutorials. I get so many questions related to the rigid heddle loom, I thought it easier to show rather than tell. Yes, I cringe a little at my own voice and despite my best efforts, I do seem to sound rather “school teacherish” but hopefully the videos will be helpful to someone.

Debt free habits

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I love being debt free. I really do. I also love to help and inspire others to become debt free or at least to change their financial situation for the better. 


I have plenty of other posts here filed under frugal living but here are a few more thoughts and recommendations:


Stop spending so much on what you can’t see.  
Electricity, gas, and water may be essentials of daily life, but because we don’t really see what we’re spending until we’re hit with the nasty bill, it’s easy to let this area slip. Longer showers, leaving the heating or cooling on longer than is necessary, not bothering to make an effort to water save – all these things can end up costing hundreds of dollars more than you need to every year.

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Have a plan. 
Write it down. Know what you want your finances to look like and what you need to do to achieve it. Make it realistic and achievable. Then stick to it.


De clutter. 
This is a very valuable activity – not only does it make your home tidier and more spacious, it also shows you how much you spend on what you don’t need. Once you have seriously decluttered, make a commitment to not buy rubbish you don’t need!


Change your mindset. 
You don’t have to give expensive birthday gifts, you don’t have to have the best or the latest, you don’t need every gadget. If you are not prepared to simply stop buying, at least change the way you buy. Give handmade gifts instead or buy at sales. 

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Set yourself apart. 
You don’t have to keep up with anyone or prove yourself through the things you buy. Sure, the guy who drives past in his shiny red Ferrari looks impressive, but he should be pitied, can you imagine the level of his debt? Just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you need lots of shoes or handbags or the latest fashion. Set your own standards and forget the rest.


Reality check. 
The end. You can’t take stuff with you when you die. 


You may be gone, but your debt carries on. Who is going to pay off your credit card in the event of your death? How big is your mortgage and who will that fall to when you’re gone? You are responsible for your spending but the consequences of your debt can affect others in a major way.

Rock cakes

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These are a firm favourite in our family, a recipe that I come back to over and over. They are quick to make, use relatively few ingredients and are pretty healthy. They could be made healthier with wholemeal flour and a sugar substitute, but I’m happy to serve these to my kids as they are, knowing that they are fresh, home baked with no additives or preservatives šŸ™‚

Our kids love to eat them warm from the oven, tops sliced off and spread with butter that melts in. They also love to top them with jam and cream (especially if the jam is home made!)

Here is the recipe for you to try, the kids like to help make them too.

Makes about 9 large rock cakes.

2 cups SR flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice (or you can use your favourite spices e.g. a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove)
90grams butter
1/3 cup sugar of substitute
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used a mix of raisins, sultanas and currants)
1 egg
Milk to mix to a thick batter (around 1/2 cup?)
Raw sugar to top (optional)

Preheat oven to 190C and prepare a muffin tin with muffin patty pans. It helps to grease the top of the tray very lightly to prevent sticking. 
Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Add the chopped butter and rub into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. This step can be done in a food processor if you’re feeling lazy (but then you have to wash the food processor bowl, so not worth the trouble to me!) Stir in the sugar and dried fruits. 
Add the egg and some of your milk and start mixing. You’re going for a very thick, sticky batter, not dry at all. 
When thoroughly mixed, spoon the batter into the patty pans, filling about 3/4 of the way. This will give you a large cake that doesn’t spill over the edge of the tin too much.
Sprinkle the tops of the batter with raw sugar (this is optional). 
Bake for around 18 minutes or until the tops are golden.
Turn out of tin onto a baking tray and watch them disappear!

Scarf off the loom

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Another week, another item off the loom! This one took a little longer (a lot longer) than I had envisioned, but I’m overjoyed with the result and that is what is important.
I started with some 4ply merino that I had dyed in a rainbow gradient for the warp and teamed it with grey merino for the weft.

The pattern is 3/1 weft float, which was easy to work but was a significant time investment. This is the back side of the scarf (remember, when weaving patterns you get the additional surprise of seeing a different pattern on the underside!)

And this is the top side. See all those little grey floats?


I love the scarf and the colour arrangement has given me ideas of using a tencel or silk yarn for a real shimmer.
Available for sale in my Etsy shop now.

So, next project? You bet I have one planned already, in fact, I have a whole queue of them! Towels. Experimental towels. Stay tuned šŸ™‚