Wednesday

Playing Beauty Salon and painting tiny nails...
Cleaning up a smashed bottle of red nail polish out of the rug (acetone nail polish remover quickly followed by Borax and water)...
A loaf of bread in the oven...
Watching the movie "Charade", starring Audry Hepburn and Cary Grant...
Eating fluffer-nutter sandwiches on new-made bread...
Playing with liquid eyeliner inspired by Audry Hepburn...
Winding wool for upcoming autumn projects...
 

Welcome sunshine morning, welcome Wednesday.

Handspun Cowl!

Some things I've been doing with my Things In Jars:

 
Chicken Aioli Salad over greens with pickled zucchini and onions


 
Pecan Scones with lemon curd

I've been working on my Garter Yoke Cardigan a bit this weekend, and I've reached the fatigue point -- that spot about 10 inches down from the underarms, when a sweater just feels like it's just. not. going. to. be. worth. it.
 
We're watching a movie with subtitles tonight though (The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo -- loved the books!  I hope the movie doesn't scare me too much), and the mindless stockinette is just the thing for that kind of entertainment.

I started a pair of gradually striping socks this past Thursday, and as usual, I was SUCKED RIGHT IN.
 
I don't stand a chance against the subtle stripe.  I stand helpless.  This may have something to do with my intense boredom with the yellow sweater. 

The yarn I'm using is Jojoland Melody Superwash.  I've never used it before, and now I'm wondering where it's been all my life.  More consistant and softer than Noro, 3-ply, and the most gorgeous gradually shifting color changes.  I'm in love.

In late August, Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting released a brand new pattern that was so fabulous,  I had to have it.  Immediately.  I downloaded Shawl Collared Cowl that very night, and cast on with a skein of handspun the next day.  All went smoothly until I ran out of yarn...it took a few weeks for me to realize that I could just buy more wool to spin, and thankfully, my yarn shop still had one bump left in the matching colorway!  (Scarlet Fleece, "Purple Mountains Majesty".)  I spindle-spun the last few yards needed, and finished up the cowl this weekend.

 


This is going to my mom for her birthday this month.  Living out in the country in upstate NY, she tends towards the no-nonsense side of things, and I think that this is a beautiful blend of style and functionality, since she doesn't have to worry about arranging a scarf, or long ends getting in the way of things.

 
The blue/purple will bring out the blue in her eyes, and she loves my handspun, so I'm excited about sending this to her.

 
Thanks, Alana, for such a gorgeous pattern!  Now to make one for myself...  (Project details for this project here on my Ravelry page.)

Pickles and more!

It's sweater weather, and that's a beautiful thing.  Well, at least it's sweater mornings and sweater evenings.  Happiness in a big wooly hug.

I've been inspired to do some refridgerator and freezer canning lately.  In the past few days, I've pickled red onions (from The New Moosewood Cookbook by Molly Katzan -- recipe here on Google Books), pickled some sweet and spicy Zucchini and white onions (by Heidi Swanson of 101cookbooks), made a jar of Tsukudani (pickled Nori), and a recipe of fabulously velvety Lemon Curd.

It pleases me to see all of the jars lined up in a row.

 
With the red onions and the zucchini, I actually halved the recipes, and it still made WAY more than we could possibly eat in a week (expected shelf-life), so I put the extra jars in the freezer (with a bit of headroom for expansion in each jar), and I can pull them out as needed.


 

Now if you will excuse me, I think I'm going to go eat a pickled...something.  :-)