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I don’t mind the leaves that are leaving, it’s the leaves that are coming…

The weather is reminding me it’s really time to finish planting the fall bulbs! We had a wind advisory yesterday and it was quite gusty. Piglet would certainly have blown away entirely.

While it huffed and puffed outdoors I baked pumpkin apple bread. Cara asked me about making pumpkin pie from fresh pie pumpkin earlier this week. It had taken me a few years to convince Jason that it would be good so last year was the first time we’d done so and I forgot to save the recipe. While I searched for a suitable reference for her I ran across some interesting things that suggested an apple pumpkin combo and I ended up making apple pumpkin bread. Yes Cara, it’s all your fault, yum!

Apple Pumpkin Bread

3/4 cup softened butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups mashed pumpkin (or 1 can pumpkin – the kind without the spices)
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
apple cider as needed to thin the batter
2 cups peeled and chopped apples

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated. Add pumpkin and beat well. Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to wet ingredients a little at a time until they are just incorporated. If needed add a little cider to thin the batter enough to fold in the apples. Transfer batter into two loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 F for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I have to confess, I had a piece warm from the oven and this stuff is wickedly caramelly and delicious while still warm. It’s a wonder there was any left to photograph. Jason seemed to like it after it cooled as well, he had two pieces for dessert last night.

While Daniel studiously applied himself to his homework (yes, he really IS doing it this year, I’m pleasantly shocked!) I finished up these beauties. I did make one mistake- on the first one I left off the last purl row in the pattern repeat because I thought it would be prettier that way. It *is* nicer that way but then, of course, I forgot about that on the second sock. Tsk tsk. It’s duly noted on my copy of the pattern now so next time I’ll be all set. I will do this pattern again with the lovely yarn Diane brought me so now I’ll ahve a spring pair and a fall pair. All I’ve got to do is find some Opal in summer and winter colors and I’ll be all set. There was a knot in the ball between the first and second sock so I couldn’t make them match. It would have helped if I’d realized the yarn was in the opposite orientation on the second half of the ball. That’s okay, I love them just the way they are.

Opal Petticoat on size #0 DPNs (that’s 2.0 mm, yes, tiny WEE little needles that are very bendy)
Pattern is Lacy Scallop by Sockbug

I made several small changes to the pattern.

I knit these on DPN’s because I haven’t got circs for socks. I tried magic loop method and don’t like it but I haven’t yet tried two circs. Maybe someday. For now I’m quite happy using DPNs.

On the final repeat before the cuff, I p2tog in the center of what will be the heel stitches so that I have 32 heel stitches instead of 33.

To knit the heel flap I did this:
row 1: *S1, K1* repeat to end
row 2: S1, purl across
row 3: S1, *S1, K1* to within one stitch of the end, K1
row 4: S1, purl across

For row 12 of the last pattern repeat on the foot preceeding the toe I did a knit row instead of a purl row.

For the toe, I knit as directed until 32 stitches remained and then decreased every row until 16 stitches remained and finally grafted closed.

Thanks Jennifer!

Jennifer sent me this lovely crochet scarf for Celia’s scarf exchange. Gabby says it’s very warm and cozy, we love the colors too. Thanks Jennifer! I can’t yet crochet and I sure couldn’t have done this myself, it’s wonderful.

Yesterday I put together a Chinese takeout bag for Jena’s pink auctions. I had done the pink and white knitted bracelet but the end came undone as I was giving it to her. I don’t want someone to pay for something and have it come apart so I’ll save the bracelets until I work out the kinks and stick to things I have more experience with. This pattern was a first for me and it’s got a few little kinks but nothing fatal I think. There are some flaps on the inside that I’ll modify next time to make them smaller and this was my first attempt at a hand buttonhole. I like the hand-done one much better than machine ones so I think I’ll keep trying at this and hopefully I’ll improve. It seems much sturdier, I’ve always been annoyed by the machine ones that invariably fray.

Daniel is taking art metals this semester and the first project was a cuff. His teacher was very complimentary and he’s really pleased with how it came out. I think he’s really going to enjoy that class. He’s already drafting out a design for the next project.

I’m really going to miss the CSA pickups when they are over. So often now I base my Wednesday dinner before knitting on what’s nicest in the box. Yesterday I used some leftover brown rice for a stir fry.

CSA stir fry

2 cups cooked and cooled brown rice
1 summer squash, chopped
4 beets, peeled and chopped
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, peeled and chopped
garlic seasoning
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
olive oil

Saute onions and veggies in olive oil until soft, season with garlic salt. Toss rice with a bit of olive oil and soy sauce and add to the saute. Cook until heated through.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf’s a flower

Yesterday was a lovely fall day with our fall leaves flag rippling and cracking in the wind. I baked a pie pumpkin along with the seeds. I set the oven to 350 and left the pumpkin in on a foil lined sheet for an hour. The seeds I cleaned and baked on a sheet coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with Tony’s seasoning for about 15 minutes, turning them once or twice.

More on socks

The second Petticoat sock is coming along nicely now. Here’s the finished cuff waiting for heel things to begin.

It’s here! and, an apple a day…

Elizabeth, you’re a star! Some months ago there was a post on Elizabeth’s blog asking for recipes which she intended to compile and share with all the contributors. Word got around (as often happens on blogs) and pretty soon there was a sizeable group of contributors. Elizabeth decided to make hard copies for everyone and then embarked on the huge job of assembling, editing, collecting permissions and pictures and all the rest. She’s been working on this for months and here’s the fantastic result. It’s beautifully done and I can’t wait to try out many of these delicious looking recipes.

Yesterday Jason and I went out to Tougas farm to get some early season apples. My favorites are the honey crisp and golden delicious and we always seem to miss them. This year October is a fairly busy month for us so we’ve gone early and hit them at the right time. Jason made apple pie and I made the crust. One of the few things he doesn’t like to do is pastry crust so that’s always my job, much like grilling is usually his.

Rita

Hurricane Rita has made landfall practically right over Lake Charles in Calcasieu parish where I spent quite a bit of my childhood. We first lived there when I was in pre-school, kindergarten and first grade while Dad was a campus minister at McNeese. I remember singing "Talk to the Animals" from "Dr. Doolittle" and making a yellow recipe card holder for Mother’s Day out of a hairspray can cap, a clothes pin, and some clay. We moved to Baton Rouge while Dad went to law school at LSU. During 3rd and 4th grade we lived in historic Spanish Town and played on the grounds of the state capitol, particularly enjoying the old canons. The house was old and I remember being the only "white" girl in my class. In 5th grade we moved to a newer neighborhood where we roller skated, picked blackberries and played with crawfish in the ditch behind the house. There was a (seemingly) tall pine tree behind the house that I liked to climb and once got stuck in.

When I was in 6th grade we moved to Lake Charles, shortly before July 4th. I was particularly put out that we would miss the Baton Rouge fireworks on the river. I especially enjoyed the Holsum bread van that threw tiny loaves of bread to the crowd. We stayed in Lake Charles until I graduated high school. Before we could drive my friends and I would walk to the Prien Lake Mall where my favorite snack was red licorice shoe strings and Jelly Bellies were a huge hit when they were first introduced. Sometimes I went with Jennifer and sometimes with Diana but at first it was very rare that the three of us did anything together. Jennifer’s mother, Ruby, is Cajun French and didn’t learn to speak English until grade school. She made wonderful gumbo, a delicious garlic studded roast, and the best carrot cake. I was fascinated by her method of cooking the okra down until it was nearly dry for inclusion in her gumbo. I hope that Jennifer collected her and that they’ve evacuated to someplace safe.

Legend has it that Lake Charles was a hiding spot for a pirate named Jean Lafitte and that there’s treasure hidden somewhere. There’s a festival every summer called Contraband Days celebrating this legend. Louisianians love a good festival and they’ll have them just about anytime for anything. I was a band geek in high school and marched in a few Lake Charles Mardi Gras parades. We used to get 5 gallon jugs of milk delivered by the Borden’s truck that seemed to disappear fast in a family with 4 kids. The Borden’s ice cream shop was also a popular treat. My sisters and I had many dance recitals at the Lake Charles Civic Center. Later when we were driving age, my friends and I spent many summer days at the I-10 beach enjoying the summer sun. I heard this morning that the I-10 bridge has collapse. When I first learned to drive I hated driving over that high and steep bridge. I’m not a fan of high things.

Lake Charles was often flooded. Countless times we walked home from school in knee deep water. If you were growing fast and your pants a bit short you were often teased that you were from Cameron or you were wearing "highwaters". Once my uncle came to visit and said we’d not warned him he needed a pirogue to get to the house.

After high school I moved to Lafayette into a dorm at USL now known as U of L at Lafayette. Some of the broadcasting this morning has been from Lafayette. I lived for several years in Lafayette and then several more in Carencro before moving to Massachusetts. I hope all my Louisiana friends are safe and sound, I’ll be thinking of you today.

Thanks Cheryl!

Thanks Cheryl for this fun RAOK!

And hail their queen, fair regent of the night

For Sandy, here are some sky pictures I took early this morning. This is my first attempt at photographing the moon. I took the first one while it was still quite dark with the camera set on the tripod and tilted way up as the moon was almost directly overhead. That one is over exposed pretty badly but I don’t yet know how to set everything manually. The next two I took after the sky was much lighter but before actual sunrise. I did some post processing and used autolevels to bring out the detail as they were much better but still pretty washed out. And finally there’s the predawn sky view from my front steps. Enjoy Sandy!

Here’s progress on Petticoat, I’m ready to start the toe decreases. Gwen’s decided maybe a bath will distract me from sock knitting long enough to dispense lots of pats. The sock fits quite nicely despite my worries that it looks huge.

There’s this thing called sock yarn…

So, I’m making good progress on Petticoat 1 and coming down the foot now when all of a sudden I hear *crunch*. Yep, it’s happened to me. I broke my tiny wee Britanny 0 (aka 2.0 mm) sock needle. Poor little thing. I went out later this morning to the Woolpack in search of a replacement because Janet now carries Brittany needles and bought a new set. I should have enough spares now to get through this pair of socks. While I was chatting with Madonna someone wandered into the shop and looked quizically at Madonna and said, "There’s this thing called sock yarn" and I thought, "another sock addict is born". I left so Madonna could teach her all about sock yarn but promised to come back in *with* my sock next time so she could see it. It’s only fitting since she’s the one who taught me how to knit socks in the first place.

In other news, I’ve decided to frog the dragon scale washcloth today. I put it down at the beginning of the summer when the painting and sanding of walls ensued and my wrist was too sore to work on it. The cotton just doesn’t have any stretch and this pattern has quite a lot of M1’s that really hurt my hands in a yarn with no stretch. I’m really sad because I think it’s a beautiful pattern but it’s not worth hurting my hands over. I’ll probably turn this into a hat in the spring because I really love my other cotton hat done in the yarn my SP4, Chrissie, sent and I wouldn’t mind having two.

In the garden

The sweet autumn clematis is coming into bloom just in time for the Harvest moon and the beginning of fall. Last night I looked for the Harvest moon but it was a bit too cloudy to see him. It should be clear tonight so perhaps I’ll catch a glimpse. This little froggy caught my attention yesterday while I was trying to get flower pictures. It’s not often I find froggy visitors in my garden.

Despite much ripping out, the heel flap and turn are done on the first petticoat sock. The pattern calls for a slip stitch heel flap but the slip location alternates from row to row so I wasn’t getting a nice chain stitch up the edge. I’m not sure if there was a mistake in the pattern or if it was operator error but I had to alter the beginning of a few rows slightly to get an edge I can pick up stitches from.