Baby Stuffs!!!

Now that the soon to be moma has gotten her knitted goodies I can share with you.

There are two cute little hats. The one here on the left being a teddy bear hat made out of Cascade Luna. I really liked that yarn a very soft cotton. I couldn't get the pom poms to work right, might have been me might have been the yarn. It's still Berry cute. On the right is what I've named the flapper hat though the pattern is called aviatrix baby hat. The flower is from Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers. The yarn is Tahki Classic Cotton. I've always loved the baby hats with the big flowers. So cute and fun!

And last Anouk. I've wanted to knit Anouk since I first saw it. Girly without the too girly. Sadly the Bug was too big when I found the pattern. Happily my friend is having a girl! The yarn is Classic Elite Sundance and the buttons are from the consignment shop.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving With Teeth is again the cover of this years Vegetarian Times. Every year I look forward to the Nov/Dec issue guessing it will hold my holiday meals. Every once in a while it's not something I'm interested but usually it's something new and different.

This year was a Vegan Soul Food take on Thanksgiving. Seitan Medallions with Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions, Citrus Collards, and Carrot-Walnut Salad.

It was very yummy and came together with great ease. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Paper Mache

I borrowed Handmade Home from the library a few weeks ago. We've been making stuff from it. Only some things can be shown at this time however. One being the paper mache bowls!The bug made her bowl first. We used lots of newspaper for the inner layers. After the first layer the bug was so proud; then I told her we had to do at least for more layers. That was a bit daunting and I helper her after that. Then the last layer we used two cut up pages from a Curious George coloring book. You can kind of see him in this picture.

You can see him best on the bottom. As soon as it was dry enough to use she went outside and filled it up with leaves and sticks.

Then, so as not to miss out on the fun and because there was still a lot of glue left I made a bowl too. The first and last layers are from the napkins used at Mr. Gnome and my wedding. I put the flowers on the inside and our names and wedding date are on the outside. The napkins were a lot harder to use; they really wanted to fall apart.

Look Knitting!

This is Foliage and the yarn is Manos. Mmmmm Manos.... I've wanted to knit the hat ever since I saw it. The problem is I don't like wearing hats. What to do what to do... This hat is for my brother's girlfriend. The hat will stretch out over her head and look a bit more like foliage, or flowers I think because of the colors. For some reason my model didn't want to be a model. Usually she is begging me to take her picture.

Two more holiday knits to finish!

Secret Foods

Last month The Bug and I listened to The Secret Garden. She loved it a lot. Now when we go to the Botanical Garden she pretends to be Mary and I'm supposed to be Dicken. I found the Secret Garden Cookbook at our library. Food is big deal in the story. The children begin eating more when they start playing outside. We made:

Dough Cakes, which is just a chunk of dough with some brown sugar and butter in the middle. Apparently it was quite the treat for the cottage folk of Victorian time. Dough was normal and if there was sugar around this was a treat they could easily make.

Cheese Muffins, which are a lot more like biscuits. Also a lot like a recipe I make that puts hot sauce on top before cooking and somehow isn't as dry as these.And finally glazed carrots, which are butter and sugar and carrots. Tasty and basic. In the back there I made some "Sausage" rolls from and old Vegetarian Times. Nice English meal.....sort of. Apparently carrots were quite common and used a lot even to add color to freshly churned butter.

We also made a Jam Rolly Polly Cake. You know, one of those cakes rolled up with the jam all spiraled in it. Well mine looked pretty darn ugly and I didn't take a picture. It was pretty good. Though the recipe called for suet, or butter. Silly me using margarine. Anyway Apparently (using that quite a bit today, one of those take a shot every time you read it sorts of things) they used to make this thing more like a pudding with the suet and boil it in cheese cloth then bake it. On that appetising thought I leave you.

Get used to these knit-less posts it's holiday knitting season!

November Socks

Yesterday I got to wear my November socks!
The pattern is Rise and Shine the yarn is Mini Mochi. Mini Mochi is a single ply and rather splity. It didn't help that I chose to do the cables without a cable needle. Simple enough for this cabling but annoying with this yarn. I do prefer a cable needle in general. The yarn is also impossible to make a matching pair of socks. Fine by me but would drive the more anal insane. It very soft so nice to feel while knitting and so nice on my toes. The pattern was very simple and fun. I reversed the zig zag on the second sock. Not that it made much difference but I was so pleased with myself for remembering when I started the second sock that I went ahead with it. I always forget to reverse cables on the second sock or glove no matter how much I think I will while knitting the first.

Mini Clapotis

The Bug has been begging for a shawl for the longest time. I've been intrigued by the infamous Clapotis, but didn't really think I'd wear it. My mother had given me some blue, pink, and purple yarn that was way more Bug than me. Thus I give you a Mini Clapotis; sized down for a four year old.
I've already forgotten what needle size I used and how many repeats I did. I made it more narrow than the pattern I know that. I knit to use up the yarn which is Mondial Ombre. The plan is for this to be a Chanukah gift for her. After knitting this I don't know what the big deal is about the Clapotis. Apparently people will make a bunch of them. Half way through I was pretty darn bored and can't imagine making another one. Guess that's just me.....

Fall

We had a very wet and cool October. Now it is November and it's beautiful. I'm very happy about my front garden this year. It has that overflowing with life and almost unkempt look that I really like.
This is my herb garden in front of the house. The Oregano finally gave in and bloomed this summer. It was pretty and the bees really loved it so I left it.

What is left of The Bug's Flowers and my potted plants. The potted plants need to be repoted into something smaller so they can come inside. I keep putting it off, they look so nice and happy on the front porch.

New Hat

The Bug is growing so much. It really is amazing. She'd outgrown her winter hat, so naturally I made her a new one.

This is Mesi, appropriate since The Bug can be rather Messy. Quite simple to knit but has that complex look. Love those patterns! I made this with Sport weight yarn which made it a tad smaller than the pattern's adult hat. It fits her well. A little tall, which is why it has that pointy bit at the top but I don't mind. And we all know she'll grow!

Does the kid have enough hand knits now?

O-Lanterns

I made Orange-Lanterns for our Playgroup's Halloween Party.

I got the idea here. Each has their own mouth, and thus their own personality. They were really pretty simple and quite a bit of fun. The Bug gave me lots of ideas for the mouths.

Roo-rific

I finished Roo last week. The Bug has been wearing it regularly ever since. The style is very her and the color looks good on her.

I love Kate Gilbert's designs. I love cables. This is one of the few knits I'm actually proud of. I did the buttons differently. Mostly to keep things simple.

Cascade 220 Tweed, Pattern Roo, size 26".