Dan was convinced to pose again now that he’s washed his face. His is the felted version with short hair following the size medium directions. Chris has a size small, unfelted, with the longer hair. Both were knit on size 8 needles with Lamb’s Pride bulky weight. The green hair is Lamb’s Pride bulky and the rust hair is Lopi Bulky. The pattern is the Mohawk hat from Domiknitrix.
Earlier this month I made a spice cake with cream cheese frosting and brown sugar glaze that was a big hit. I wanted to have a go at the cake part again and try to lighten it up a bit. As it turns out, half the butter and a few less eggs doesn’t hurt the cake a bit though I will say it’s better if you let it sit overnight first.
Spice Cake revamped
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup walnut pieces
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Coat a 9-inch round pan with cooking spray. Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until well incorporated. In a large measuring cup, whisk together the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the dry and wet ingredients to the mixer a little at a time, starting and ending with the dry and blending well before each addition. Transfer batter to prepared pan and top with walnuts. Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Once I got going I finished both hats easily with hours to spare. Chris immediately put his on and wore it for the rest of the evening. He thinks it will be a great snowboarding hat and wouldn’t let me cut the "hair" any shorter. Pics of the boys in their hats will have to wait for daylight this afternoon.
The second Mohawk hat is still damp but I’m forging ahead to install the "hair" this morning. Hopefully I can get Daniel to put it on for me this afternoon so I can give it a proper haircut. Seeing how short the green locks are turning out I’ve cut these a fair bit longer and will trim them to an even length after they are on the hat.
The second Mohawk is on the needles and this time I’m knitting a size small. I still see the humps on the side but they are smaller and more manageable. I think they’ll come out fairly well with blocking. This one will have rust colored locks. Hopefully I can really plow through to the finish since the boy returns home tomorrow night and I may be the one to fetch him.
I discovered that an 8-inch styrofoam ball makes a great hat blocker and have reduced the humps to what Daniel finds an acceptable size. I think if I were to rewet the hat and block again I could probably get rid of them entirely. Here’s Mohawk with a few mo’s installed. Since it’s felted it’ll take awhile to get them all in. Meanwhile I’ve started working on Mohawk.2 for Chris. I’m doing the small size and will try switching left and right to see if that’s where my problem was.
My spinning and knitting magazines are getting a bit uncontrollable on the shelf so rather than spend loads on special holders from the company I’m making my own. This is a wooden holder from the local craft shop. I unscrewed the little handle, cut patterned paper to shape and glued it onto the holder. I’ll need at least two more of these but I wanted to test it out first to be sure it was okay before I bought a slew of them.
We’re having a little Indian summer here and are expecting record high temperatures tomorrow but in spite of that it’s fall so I picked up some apples to make our favorite Fresh Apple Coffee Cake. It’s based loosely on a recipe from Southern Living but I’ve reduced the eggs, changed shortening to butter and reduced the amount as well as increased the number of apples. I think the topping was my addition as well. This batch is made with local MacIntosh apples. For those watching their cholesterol you can replace some or all of the eggs with egg whites, the texture changes a bit but it still tastes lovely.
Fresh Apple Coffee Cake
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups apples, peeled and chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
Beat butter at medium speed. Gradually add 2 cups sugar and cream together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Stir in apple and vanilla. Spoon batter into a greased 9×13x2 pan. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over cake batter. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Yesterday I finally found time to go out and search for hardware to attach my bag handles. Had I not already installed the grommets I’d simply go with larger ones and skip the middle piece there but once they are pounded on you’re pretty much stuck with them. The final specs are: Kristina Bag knit with one skein Noro Silk Garden and one skein Lamb’s Pride worsted weight in onyx on size 8 needles. The only modification I used was to skip the handles and substitute store bought ones.
What could be better, good friends, good food and lots of colors to play with. Yesterday we got together in woodsy New Hampshire for an afternoon of yarn dying. I managed to go through ten skeins with a little help from my friends. Thanks ladies for the perfect Saturday!
One of my patterns has a mistake in it just after the heel flap so I’ve cast on so that I can be quite sure I use the right numbers to correct it. I’m moving right along on the cuff. Hopefully I can get the corrections out by the end of the week. The mohawk of doom got felted yesterday afternoon in a fit of pique. It still looks like it’s made to fit Quark but I"m hoping that squashed between the bowls it will dry in a nicer shape.
Daniel’s been in the kitchen again. These peanut butter sandwiches represent a join effort. The chocolate cookie recipe can be found in this month’s Martha Stewart Living though we changed it a bit by chilling the dough overnight and slicing it instead of rolling it out. The filling is from my Rosie’s Bakery cookbook though we used all natural peanut butter rather than something with added sugar.
The mohawk hat is giving me fits. I’ve ripped and reknit the gussets several times and they still bulge in an unsightly manner. At this point it’s time to move on so hopefully they’re improved enough that I can block them out. I’ll have to find something round to pin it out on and give it a vigorous blocking before I add the "hair". You have to cut 150 3-4" bits and attach them with a crochet hook so the hat must meet with Dan’s approval before I go to that much trouble.
Last night was back to school night at the high school. You follow your kids schedule and spend ten minutes in each classroom where the teacher does a brief presentation. That meant a quick simple supper. Sliced farmer’s market tomatoes, panfried salmon with farmer’s market veggies and steamed potatoes with lemon juice and cilantro. Not bad for an off-the-cuff ready in 20 minutes meal.
Yesterday morning we drove Chris back out to school and then headed north to Vermont for some early leaf peeping. We popped in at the visitor’s center for some updated maps and saw the first of many Vermont Bears in the Valley. From there we headed down Route 9 where we stopped at the Hogback Mountain overlook for the lovely 100-mile view. 
