sunshine on a cloudy day

It must be fall -- there's a cool, crisp bite to the air, my Jeep's covered in leaves, and pumpkin spice lattes are back in season. I baked pumpkin cream cheese muffins yesterday afternoon, and they turned out quite well!

The recipe is here.  I added some extra spices in addition to the cinnamon -- nutmeg and cardamom. Ginger would be nice, too, or substituting 1 T. pumpkin pie spice for the 2 tsp. cinnamon.  These are pretty light on the cream cheese filling, so if that's your favorite part, I recommend making a 1.5 batch of the filling. What else... I used half olive oil and half canola oil, as my olive oil was perhaps a bit more full-flavored than would be ideal.

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other sunny things

A Whippoorwill shawlette (rav link), in the scarf size.  I'm using the rest of the grey Plucky Knitter yarn from the contrast edging of my Damson, plus Yarntini in "honeytini" for a splash of accent color. 

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These are from the Renegade Craft Fair here in Chicago last Sunday.  Sofia Masri makes these lovely porcelain earrings and pendants.  I picked up two pairs of her earrings at last year's Renegade, too!

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pumpkins growing in the vegetable garden at Chenonceau, an amazingly beautiful castle spanning the Cher River in France

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Capricha, looking as gorgeous as ever

stateside again

Sorry for the blog silence, but Paul and I were off on holiday in France!  We spent a week in the Loire valley, sipping wine, visiting chateaux, and spending time with family, then a few days in Paris seeing the sights!  Having a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast today was a real downer after so many lovely mornings of pain au chocolat. :-)  Better for the waistline, though.

Here's Paul rockin' the plaid at the Arc de Triomphe. I got to trot out my terrible French, and it did actually improve (hey, I took 8 weeks of French 7 years ago, and I can struggle through journal articles, so I didn't expect too much from myself).

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There's a pretty major backlog of knitting projects to photograph, blog, and ravel.  Here's the first of many --  Hemlock Ring, from my mini KAL with Barefoot Rooster: 

Kylie looks a little surprised at the woolly beast next to her.  This was a joy to knit despite the hot weather this summer, and the end result is so snuggly.  I can't wait to curl up under it with a mug of hot apple cider and a good book.

Pattern: Hemlock Ring, by Jared Flood

Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool, 2.3 skeins, natural

Needles: US 10.5 circs (magic loop at first)

my Ravelry project page

Notes:
I knit the larger size, and it's nice and cozy, perfect for fully covering your lap. Really quite fun and surprisingly quick to knit.  Next time I'd switch to a larger cable for the last third of the blanket, as it was kind of crunched up on my needles. As usual, the Eco Wool softened up after a good soak in Eucalan. I blocked it lightly, not overdoing it with the pins.

Yikes, I can't believe it's mid-September already.  So much to do! Remind me not to go on long trips at this time of year again.

blogiversary + various sundry

Holy cow, it's my third blogiversary! Has it really been that long?

Art is long, and time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still like muffled drums are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

On that cheerful note... how about a contest? I offer up two books -- The Gentle Art of Domesticity and Mocha:

a little something handknit by me out of heather green alpaca:
and perhaps some yarn.

Just leave a comment on this post if you'd like to be entered. I'll pick a name via the random number generator this Sunday, August 9. ETA: US and Canada only, please, due to shipping costs.

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My knitting circle holds an annual Christmas in July party, and I really lucked out at Yankee Swap and ended up with some gorgeous Malabrigo that I cast on immediately:

Pattern: Beanpole Beanie, by Rachel Weaver
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted, Pagoda, .75 skein
Needles: US 4 circs, US 6 circs and DPNs, US 3 DPNs

Notes: Great, clear pattern, fun to knit, plus it was designed by a fellow Chicagoan (not that I know her personally, but I support the Upper Midwest in a general sort of way). This was my first time doing bobbles, and some of them are a little wonky, but that's just fine with me.

This style of hat is a little "wild" for me, but I'm going to try to branch out from my usual plain ol' stocking caps and try some new things this winter. Rose Red, I'm looking at you!

I worked on this while sipping an almond latte at the cutest and friendliest coffeeshop in Portland -- the Dragonfly. A woman still in her running gear came over to me and wanted to talk knitting -- turns out she had knit with this exact colorway of Malabrigo and had just loved it.

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I just got back from Portland, and everyone else is gearing up to head there for Sock Summit. A few highlights:

- Jade Teahouse & Patisserie
- Tilde (I found a wonderful Orla Kiely handbag on sale there)
- Ken's Artisan Pizza
- Caffe Mingo (mmm... prosciutto e melone)
- Dragonfly Coffee House

Knittingwise I met up with Sarah (Blue Garter) and Jodi (who made the trip down from Seattle! so great to catch up) at Knit / Purl, which is a very elegant knitting shop with a carefully edited selection of beautiful yarns. Lots of Shibui, of course.

I also made it to Abundant Yarn, conveniently near Jade Teahouse and Tilde in Sellwood. They have a wonderful, wide selection of yarns, and it's nice and roomy, with a coffeeshop inside. The ambience, however, leaves a bit to be desired. [I'm probably just spoiled by the atmosphere at Nina here in Chicago and Lakewood Fibers in Madison.]
While driving up to Mt. Hood from the east, I noticed a little sign on the side of the road for Cascade Alpacas and Foothills Yarn. I managed to sweet-talk Paul into taking a little detour (best. husband. ever.), and we followed the signs through a few turns to get the loveliest alpaca farm and yarn shop. The alpacas were darling (I got to feed them), the workers were friendly, and the shop was pleasant, stocked with some handspun and micro-mill-spun alpaca yarns, amongst others.
Paul has informed me that if we ever get an alpaca, he's naming it Samuel L. Paca. Love it! Too bad I'm allergic to the cuties.
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on the hi-fi

NPR is featuring some great free downloads from the 2009 Newport Folk Festival:
- Neko Case
- The Decemberists
- Fleet Foxes
- Iron & Wine

We're passing on Lollapalooza this year (too much heat + sun + crowds + expense), but are seeing both the Decemberists and Fleet Foxes at pre/aftershows at Metro this weekend. Should be great!
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in the kitchen

The Maroni meatballs were OK, but the sauce was a real dud. Not a rave review... perhaps these recipes are too traditional for me? I'm a big fan of cayenne and bold flavors. I will, however, give a rave review to this five minute tomato sauce recipe, which is very versatile (and easy). It's even great on pizza.

to the finish line

Unlike some cats, Kylie was not a very willing model for the One Skein baby bolero.
This is the best I could do. More details after it comes off the blocking board.
Knitted items are queuing up for blocking. Apparently I've been hoarding FOs for a major washing and blocking frenzy. There are a couple unbloggable items blocking now, then I'll get to these. More FO posts soon.

Donyale socks in progress
Posh Yarn's "Emily" - Bluebell Wood (lovely stuff)
pattern here at Black Dog Knits

Knitting Pure & Simple Easy Baby Cardigan
Jaeger Baby Merino DK 192 Marbles

We're getting the he*% out of Dodge this weekend and heading to Boulder, Colorado. I love visiting Boulder, and some college friends live there. We'll be attending this: