Monday, October 12, 2009

So it's really autumn now...

It's a rainy, rainy day, so pictures today are not great. Still, I finished something! And it hasn't been a month since I last posted, a bonus!




Pattern: Love Bites Scarf from Gherkin's Bucket
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Archangel (one skein)
Needles: Size 5

Notes: This pattern is fun and easy. I sometimes forgot it was time for a fang mark row, so they're not as evenly spaced as they could be. Whatever. My chosen yarn doesn't really fit the vampire theme, colorwise, but who cares. I love the yarn, which is soft and squooshy and subtly shifts from one gorgeous autumn-ish color to the next. The indoor photos really don't do it justice. I really like this scarf, and it'll get a lot of wear. It came off the needles in a tube, but a quick steam-ironing* flattened it nicely.

*I bought the ironing board in summer 2007 when we moved here...and just took it out of the shrink wrap today to block the scarf. Stuff like this is why I don't put "housewife" as my occupation when I fill out forms. I'm pretty sure real housewives iron. I usually put "woman of mystery."

Other knitting: I started a Lace Ribbon Scarf in Misti Alpaca. I'm making it a bit narrower, eliminating two lace repeats.



Hjalte is still going...slowly...

Reading: Mostly Harry Potter re-reading. I did read part of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for book club. I'm not as into it as I expected. I love quirk, but odd things bugged me. Like, I was fine with Lizzy and her sisters being trained in zombie combat. But at other bits, I would get mad and say "Lizzy would never say that to Mr. Collins! It's just too rude!"

Writing: Not really.

Cooking: Oh, yes! First, last weekend was Lakefest, and I sold jam there. A lot of jam. Over 70 jars. I still have some stock, but a lot of my flavors are completely sold out. I rescued a jar each of my favorites for personal consumption. The best part for me was when the flavors I had out for sampling would sell quickly. Talk about validating. It's also fun to watch people's reactions when they try them. One woman said, "That's so good it'll make you want to slap your grandma!" How much fun is that? I still have apple butter and pear sauces to make this fall - I think apple picking might happen this week.

I made a nice on-the-fly pasta with fennel, onions, eggplant, yellow squash, and crushed tomatoes. I used lemon zest, crushed red pepper, and thyme from the garden to season. I think the squash was unnecessary, but the fennel/eggplant combination with those seasonings was really bright and fresh, but with depth.

I tackled the Dobos Torta from my Kaffeehaus cookbook and really enjoyed it. It involves making six thin layers of cake by spreading batter on parchment paper in circles, buttercream spread between the layers, and a caramel layer on top. It was a bit humid for caramel, but it worked out all right. I brought it to book club, planning to bring half back home to feed my in-laws, but the hostess's dog ate the other half. Since it took four hours to make, that was sort of tragic. I don't think of myself as good at the fiddly, cosmetic parts of pastry chef-ing, but I thought this looked pretty nice:

6 comments:

Holly said...

LOVE the colors of the vampire scarf!

So how many stitches did you cast on for Lace Ribbon? I think I'm doing four lace repeats on mine. I cast on 44 stitches. I'm really LOVING how it's turning out and the Silk Garden is great to work with.

Mary said...

Love the scarf! And and I think making delicious jam qualifies as housewife-y :) I have always wondered what people put in the occupation line when they raise children... I was thinking of using "domestic engineer", put "woman of mystery" has quite a nice ring to it.
I also have not used an iron (or ironing board) for at least 2 years. But scarf blocking is an excellent use :)

Anonymous said...

Fantastic colors on your Love Bites. I can smell fall in the air just looking at it. Theme-schmeme: vampires and wanna-be vampires probably like anything surrounding the neck area, even if it's not blood-colored.

Lace Ribbon looks great, too. You go.

Screw ironing - way to shun the housewife profile! "Woman of mystery" is fantastic. I'm going to start using that myself.

I'm also stealing the comment about slapping your g-ma for my personal use. Classic.

That torta is something else - I'd say you scored pretty high on Success With Fiddly Details with the presentation of that treat. If the dog had claimed something like this of mine (assuming I could make something like this), I would have cried - the kind of moaning that frightens even children - right in front of everyone. I'm a child myself.

Congrats, congrats, congrats on your jam sales! I knew it! I knew your success with this venture would blossom with such talent and entrepreneurship at the ready.

YarnThrower said...

I never call myself a "housewife," either. I went by "stay at home mom" for a long time, but with both kids in school now, people might translate that into "bon bon eater."

It's definitely "autumn" here. There were flurries on Saturday...and leaves on the ground everywhere...but I love it.

Your Torta looks AMAZING! Total bummer about the dog...

mle said...

I LOVE that scarf! sooo pretty in those fall colors.
Congrats on the jam sales! that is terrific!

Stefaneener said...

Oh, good you on the jam sales. Nice to hear from you.

Reading P&Pw/Z along with my 14 year old was fun. . .