Mandy Moore's Blog

Amy’s Protein Bars

This is not a recipe blog, but I made a recipe and need a place to store it. Here goes:

Amy’s Protein Bars

3 ripe bananas1 c 0% greek yogurt (I used 0% Greek Yogurt Lactose Free Liberte which has 17g protein per serving)1 egg1 cup peanut butter 1 tsp vanilla extract2 Tbsp honey—⅜ cup cocoa powder1 cup protein powder (I used Quest Protein Powder Multi-Purpose Mix Unflavored)1 cup rolled oats¼ c chia seeds¼ cup toasted slivered almonds½ tsp kosher saltPreheat oven to 350F and line a 9×12  baking dish with parchment paper.Mash bananas and add all wet ingredients; mix till thoroughly combined.Add in dry ingredients, mixing well. Batter will be very thick, just shy of concrete.Bake for 40 minutes and then allow to cool for 5 minutes.Cut into 15 bars.Store in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze them for up to 6 months.

I used this online tool, where you can tweak ingredients to your liking and see the resulting Nutrition Facts label.

Notes:
– These are only as sweet as the bananas make them, so riper bananas = sweeter bars.
– I use these as a breakfast bar. Same calories as a Clif bar (my former go-to) but more than double the protein

 

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How to get over the AAAGH MASTODON OVERLOAD hump and join a saner online community

You may have heard of the disintegration of Twitter, happening in real time, due to it being bought by a billionaire with very little sense and increasingly less money every day thanks to his own stupidity and bad business decisions.I’ve stopped posting on Twitter as a result. And I’ve moved my daily content to Mastodon. It’s an independent place that’s a federation of independent servers located all over the world. You can find me on Mastodon here: https://artisan.chat/@knittymagIt’s also got a bit of a learning curve, but I’ve been helping people find their way a little easier. If you’d like to try it out, here’s how to get over the AAGH MASTODON OVERWHELM hump:If you’re on desktop, visit https://mastodon.social in your browser.If you’re going to use an app, I suggest Metatext or Toot! for iOS or Tusky for Android. Avoid the Mastodon app…it’s not very fully featured and will be a less-than-enjoyable introduction to your experience. If you haven’t already, sign up for an account at a Mastodon server (aka an Instance). I’m at https://artisan.chat because it’s populated with crafters and artisans (and lots of knitters and crocheters). But whatever server you join, you can follow people on ANY server that post about things you’re interested in. You will not be locked in to the server you choose, but as you spend time on Mastodon, changing it becomes less desirable (you lose access to your old posts). So do browse the available servers/instances before you choose one, and look for ones that are specifically for your geographic location, your main area of interest, a fandom (ie star trek) you adore, etc.Once you choose your server/instance, fill in your profile with as much info as you feel comfortable sharing.Include hashtags in your profile to help others find you.Write a post with the hashtag #introduction and hashtag the post liberally to find like-minded folx. Do not be shy. HASHTAGS ARE YOUR FRIENDS IN MASTODON.Enable the advanced interface if you are on desktop. It gives you multiple vertical columns so you can see local (your server) feed, your notifications (mentions, likes), perhaps a column for a hashtag (ie #knit)Then bookmark your server (I use http://artisan.chat) and when you’re logged in, your chosen columns will come up and you can see what’s new, click the star (aka the heart here), repost stuff you care about, reply, and all the things we do on Twitter (and on FB, to some extent). Remember that clicking the star does not mean you will see more of that user’s content. It just means you liked that post.Because there’s no algorithm that will show you posts, browse the Local (your own server’s stream of posts) and Federated (all posts over the whole of Mastodon’s independent servers) timelines to find new people to follow. Your Home timeline will show the posts of people you’re following. Search hashtags to find more people to follow. Note that searching doesn’t search POSTS, it only searches hashtags. This is different from what you likely expect. So there’s a bit of work when you start using Mastodon to get interesting-to-you content to show up in your feeds.
It’s not unpleasant work. Each independent server is run by a person or persons who have taken on the responsibility of moderating their server so that trolls are silenced and banned if necessary and the server’s rules are respected. So you will find less garbage, no advertising, and a lot more collaboration, support and interesting stuff in your areas of interest, once you start looking.Do your part and report trolls and such to your server admin. Learn about CW (Content Warnings) and use them when you post political, potentially upsetting stuff (like my posts about the loss in my family last week), etc. Respecting the culture of Mastodon will make your experience more comfortable for everyone, including you.Do your part, and support your server/instance with a financial contribution, if you can. Server/instance admins are just folk who are not only paying for the web hosting, but spending time managing and moderating their server/instance simply for the good of the community. Many instances have set up ko.fi, PayPal or Patreon so that you can do just that. A dollar a month or more, if you can, makes a difference.

Ask questions and I’ll amend this post as required. If you join Mastodon, come follow me if you’d like. I’d love your company.

Amy

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I’m back.

Amy Snowperson (Singer, really. But I’m Snowperson when I wear this mask.)

Hi, all.

It’s Amy. Way back when, I started Knitty as a blogger. Here’s the oldest post I can find. It was just me talking to you. Over the years, I’ve had the most wonderful people helping with/taking over (bless them! I needed a break from the whole thing!) the blog. Massive shoutout to Jillian Moreno and Kate Atherley for their brilliance, humour and charm for many years. They published on a regular schedule and created such great content! It was a lot of work for them, maintaining this place. So we decided it was time to shut’er down.

With the world shut down as it has been over the last 10 months, I’ve had more time than usual. I missed writing as I discovered new things I was excited about, and that’s how I’ve always blogged. I used to write when I had something to say. Having to push out content on a schedule shut my brain down. So I’m gonna go back to what worked for me.

Hi. Watch this space.

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Protected: Contest: Sue Stratford’s Knitted Aviary for Knitty Patrons + Me[mbers]

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Protected: Contest: Sue Stratford’s Knitting Aviary for Knitty Patrons + Me[mbers]

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Changes @ The KnittyBlog

Hello, y’all!

We have some exciting news for you… a little change to how we do things at Knitty.

Jillian, Penny and Kate have been keeping the KnittyBlog updated and current for years. Years and years! This Blog has been home of Jillian’s brilliant spinning posts, Penny’s (and formerly Kate’s) WWW updates every Wednesday about fiber news on the web, and occasional posts about whatever I’m currently obsessed with (not always fiber related). We also used to run contests for all readers here.

Well, starting this month (how the HECK did it become September already?), the KnittyBlog is being retired. Instead, our Knitty Patrons at every level will get that same content emailed to them monthly. We’re calling it the Knitty Mailblog, and they’ll get the first edition later this month.

Jillian will continue to write about spinning for knitters; Penny will keep us updated on the cool fiber-related things happening online; Kate may pop in to expand on her Wiseknit techniques video column topics; and I’ll continue to share my obsessions.

We’ll also be re-launching contests for Patrons Only on the Mailblog.

How can YOU get this great content in your inbox? It’s very easy. Become a Knitty Patron at any level. Levels start at Mellow, which is a mere $2 per issue (aka $8 per year). At the Tangy level ($5), you get early access to every new issue and physical rewards too, like our annual Knitty Patron sticker. The rewards only get bigger from there.

But to get access to the Mailblog, it’s only $2/issue.

Why are we making this change? Our Patrons are carrying the bulk of the weight of financial support for keeping Knitty alive and thriving. We need to keep our Patron population healthy in order to keep our level of funding consistent, and so adding extra goodies for those who are able to financially support us feels like the right thing to do.

We hope you’re able to join us as a Patron. If you aren’t, we send you love and our thanks for reading our words. And do not fear: Knitty will continue to be free for anyone to read and enjoy. That will not change. Our Patrons’ support is what makes that possible.

Love,

Amy, Jillian and Team Knitty

PS: Are you a Knitty Me.mber via Knitty.me? You’ll get the Mailblog too! Thanks to Zapier for making this process easy!

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WWW: the science of cut resistance; Designtex + Stölzl & Anni Albers; resin knit ring

The science behind cut resistant gloves. Not only is the content and strength of the yarn important, but the structure of the yarn (a three-ply) is as well. All together these factors combine for a cut-resistant yarn. Please don’t expect this (yet) from the yarns you can find at your LYS.

Designtex is making the creations of the Bauhaus weaving workshop commercially available. Works by both Gunta Stölzl and Anni Albers are featured in this Bauhaus Project.

This resin ring by Isabell Kiefhaber is amazing.

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Popular Posts: How much Fiber Do I Need?

Dragonfly Fibers (sw Merino/Stellina) Red Bud

This was the most popular spinning post of 2018. Everybody wants to shop! Originally posted in October 2018.

Rhinebeck is this weekend, I can feel the shopping fever mounting!

I get asked “how much fiber should I buy?” in most of my spinning classes. The urgency ramps up when I’m teaching at a fiber show or there’s a big show coming up.

Do you know what you’re going to buy yet? I usually make a shopping map.

Here are my quick and dirty shopping amounts for commercial fiber:

4oz – socks, hats, small cowls
8 oz – infinity scarves, big cowls, small shawls
12oz – big shawls, vests
16oz-32oz+ – sweaters. I make an x-large sweater; I always buy 2 pounds.

Here are some of the things that change my fiber buying amounts:

The size of the garment I’m knitting. If you are buying to spin to commercial project, make sure to read it for size, ease and yarn amounts. Right now I’m knitting a sweater that calls for 16″ of ease in my size. I would need more than 2 pounds of fiber for that.

The fiber I’m buying. BFL weighs much more than Merino. Please don’t ask me how many times that fact had to bite me in the butt before I starting buying more of heavier fibers when substituting for a pattern.

The type of yarn I want to spin. How you draft (worsted uses more than woolen), the number of plies (more plies, more fiber), the amount of twist (more twist, more fiber), and the stitch patterns you use (hello sexy, fiber-eating, cables), all contribute to the grist of yarn and should be considered when shopping.

How much sampling I want to do. I may use 1/2-1 ounce if I’m pretty sure of the yarn I want to make. 1-2 ounces if I want to play with draft and yarn structure. If I am going to sample manipulating color in a braid, I will buy a whole extra braid to just play and sample.

My shortest answer to ‘how much?’ is, more than you think you need. I’ve never known a spinner to complain about having too much fiber.

Have fun at Rhinebeck! I’ll be watching all the handknits and fiber shopping on Instagram.

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www: tapestry art exhibit; magikarp go!; speech record update

Through October 6th, the Cité internationale de la tapisserie in Aubusson, France is presenting an international exhibition, Le Mur et l’Espace (The Wall and the Space) (website is in French).

It is dedicated to the Biennials of Lausanne (Switzerland) of the 1960s. The Biennials were highly significant to 20th century tapestry art.

This Magikarp Go! by @wildskitty was recently featured in Amy’s Instagram feed.

This Pokémon Go hat is a clever mashup with the legendary Fish Hat designed by Thelma Egberts for our Win08 issue. See more photos at Ravelry. To have your Knitty projects featured on social media, please tag #knittymag!

Montreal (Canada) borough mayor Sue Montgomery is still knitting to show men speak a lot at Montreal City Hall meetings.

Here‘s what the project looked like back in May!

If you see something you’d like to see featured in What’s What Wednesday, please let us know! There’s a form to make your link submission easier. Thank you! Knitty wouldn’t exist without you.

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Popular Posts: Is Rigid Heddle Weaving for You?

This was the second most popular post of 2018. I’m curious, how many of you have bought a rigid heddle loom in the past year? Do you use it with your handspun? Originally posted in August 2018.

Weaving. I know you’ve thought about it, maybe even looked at classes or looms. It seems like everyone has started weaving. It’s such a good way to use up stash! Rigid heddle weaving seems like a good starting point, but you’re not sure if it’s really for you.

Liz Gipson is a genius at teaching rigid heddle weaving and she used to write a great weaving column, Get Warped for Knitty. She has just put up a free class called Why This Loom to help folks decide if rigid heddle weaving is for them.

I really like using my rigid heddle loom with handspun, but I’m not doing it as much as I want to, maybe we should have a handspun weave along this fall or winter?

Let me know if you take the leap after watching Liz’s class!

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