easter Archives - Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

Here we are with yet another krokbragd weaving tutorial! It is close to Easter and so the design I chose to weave is in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ ❤️

I won’t explain what krokbragd is, because I have done that already, many times! Instead, if you want to know more, check out some of these links below:

How to weave krokbragd…

Krokbragd 101 Online Course…

Krokbragd Youtube Playlist…

In this tutorial I am weaving krokbragd with two heddles, but you can absolutely use another setup such as a single heddle, pick up stick and heddle rod. Both of these methods are outlined in detail in my Krokbragd 101 course.

What you need for this tutorial

A rigid heddle loom (I’m using my Ashford Sampleit)
Two heddles of the same size
Additional beater, such as a tapestry beater or fork
Two shuttles (or use little yarn balls or butterflies if you prefer)
Two contrasting weft yarns

There are all kinds of tapestry or additional beaters, and yes, a household fork works just fine. An additional beater is really essential for krokbragd though, as it is a weft faced weave structure and a regular rigid heddle/reed is not sufficient to beat the weft right down.

I beat the weft down every 3 weft rows – it saves time and is just as effective. Use your heddle to “place” the weft but use the additional beater to pack it down.

We only need 2 weft colours for weaving, so choose one colour that you would like your crosses to be and the other as the background. Make sure your colours have enough contrast to ensure boldness of the design.

You can place your weft yarns on stick shuttles, roll little balls or use yarn butterflies – all these methods work just fine.

Here is how the weft looks after weaving 3 weft rows and prior to packing the weft down.

And here is how it looks once packed down. You want to aim to cover the warp completely.

Now, how to weave.

If using two heddles, your heddle positions will be:

Heddles 1 & 2 up
Heddle 1 down
Heddle 2 down

The colour sequences will be as follows (check colour key for abbreviations):

Colour key: Yellow (Y), Navy (N)

Y,N,N x 5
Y,N,Y x 2
Y,N,N x 2
N,N,N x 3

Exactly how you use the design is up to you – You can weave bands of crosses or repeats of crosses or a row of crosses embedded in strategically, there are so many options!

If you would like to see this sequence in action, check out the following video on Youtube:

I hope you enjoy weaving this design, if you have any questions or comments please leave them down below ⬇️

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

When I was a teenager I had a friend whose Mum made the most delicious peanut butter balls, coated in chocolate. It seemed every time I visited, there were balls in milk, dark and white chocolate, freshly made and ready to be eaten.

Unfortunately, they were also very unhealthy, made with lots of butter and icing sugar.

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I later came across the American “Buck eyes” which seem to be very similar to my friend’s peanut butter balls. Lately I’ve had a real hankering for these delectable balls, but they don’t exactly fit in with my attempts towards healthy eating and lifestyle.

I thought there must be a way to obtain a similar flavour to the traditional buck eyes in a healthier way.

It turns out there is!

The ingredients are really simple. This is something I’ve come to really love about healthy food, ingredients are usually very minimal because you are using good, natural food close to it’s natural state. It’s a wonderful way to eat.

For this ingredient amount, you will get about 12 chocolate lumps. You can easily double the recipe for a larger crowd.

So, this recipe uses lovely almond flour (almond meal), my secret addiction (peanut butter), vanilla extract, honey and my other not so secret addiction (dark chocolate). You can use either milk or dark chocolate, but if you’re opting for the healthiest option, dark is the way to go.

I used crunchy peanut butter, but you could use smooth if that is your preference.

Now, a little disclaimer. Although the taste is very similar to the unhealthy version, the texture of these is quite different – a little more grainy and cakey. Which doesn’t bother me in the slightest, but I just wanted to let you know.

Choc Coated PB Lumps

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 15

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

3/4 cup Almond meal (almond flour)
2 tbsp Peanut butter
1 tbsp Honey
1 tsp Vanilla extract
100 grams Dark or milk cooking chocolate

Method

Place all ingredients except the chocolate in a bowl.
Mash together until fully mixed and forming a paste.
Push mixture into moulds (if using) or roll into balls if you prefer. If using moulds, it's easiest to place them in the freezer for half an hour. Otherwise, regrigerate until very firm.
Melt cooking chocolate over a double boiler or you can sit a ceremic bowl on top of a small saucepan with a little water.
Using 2 forks, dip your peanut butter pieces or balls in the melted chocolate and place on non stick baking or parchment paper.
When all are dipped, place in the fridge to harden, then store in the fridge until you're ready to eat some.

Another disclaimer is that the chocolate coating part is a little messy and the end product a little blobby. Hey, they may not be as Instagram worthy as some, but once it’s in my mouth it’s all the same, so who cares? 😆

If you roll the mixture into balls, you can eat just as they are, without the chocolate coating, if you prefer. Or, if you love the chocolatey aspect but have run out of melting chocolate, you could try rolling the balls in cocoa. I did this recently, and while the result is not as decadent as melted chocolate, they were still totally delicious. Like most of my recipes, these are quite adaptable!

Just recently I decided to try making my own almond flour instead of buying it pre-made. The benefits of making your own are twofold.

The almond flour freshly ground will contain more nutrients than flour that has been sitting in a packet on a shelf for months.

It is much cheaper to buy whole almonds than to purchase already ground.

I actually think freshly ground tastes better too!

If you’re interested in grinding your own almond flour you do need to have a food processor or other appropriate grinder.

I found that I couldn’t get my fresh almond flour ground quite as finely as the commercial stuff, as there is the risk of the almonds becoming too wet as you grind, if you over grind.

But interestingly, I found that I preferred the slightly grittier consistency of the freshly ground whole almonds.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please comment below if you try it and if you enjoy it, please leave me 5 stars to let me know!