BMFA bliss and Clasica Coat

STR medium weight, in the Scottish Highlands colorway

Woobu, in the Stormy Weather colorway

Seduction, in the Thraven colorway

And my Clasica Coat [Ravelry link], in process ... Cascade Eco Wool in Espresso (I think) purchased at Stitch House Dorchester. The back is finished -- this is the left front, with a few more inches to go on the hood extension.

Life is crazy busy. But Thanksgiving's in sight!

In a Hurry But

while I'm not doing anything as complex as conducting a search for the perfect mitten pattern, I am eager to hear feedback from those who've used Blue Moon STR in its various different weights ... because my fabulous parents gave me a BMFA gift certificate for my birthday (it's in October, don't even ask) which I can't wait to use and the more user info I have the better. I don't know what I want to make, and it's going to be hard to get me off of the Raven clan colorways since I've been lusting after these for a long time (as Jocelyn knows full well) ... but, yes. Especially curious about the medium or heavyweight ...

Okay, now I'd really better go prepare for classes & meetings tomorrow .... and figure out what I'm going to wear to chapel (I'm on duty Sunday nights this fall and that means going to chapel. Dressed Up -- but not in stilettos like the girls in the dorm. No. )

ETA: my eco yarn cam for the clasica coat and I love it --more on that next time

Last Baking Adventures of Summer

By the time I got the message from my LYS that my yarn was in, it was too late to pick it up, and they were closed both yesterday and today. So instead of beginning the Clasica Coat (and I can't figure out when I'm going to be able to go pick up the yarn, another brain-bender to occupy me this week), I revisited the Paris-Roubaix pattern from Knitspot and made D#1 a pair of fingerless mitts (her hat is still in process) using Dani's merino sport in the Alice colorway. The color of the mitts is a little off in the photo; it is a joyful combo of all shades of pink, yellow, dark gray, light gray, and a little white. Between her hands is one of the baseball cupcakes I made for yesterday's un-birthday party. I made cream cheese frosting and used red licorice for the seams of the baseballs.
Today I made another loaf of bread, still tinkering with the Bread Machine Bread recipe from King Arthur Flour. Too much liquid, and the loaf falls in the middle about 30 minutes before it is done baking --not enough and you get Tombstone. I have yet to find the proper middle ground. I also needed to use up the rest of the frosting from yesterday's adventures (we had chocolate cake in addition to the baseball cupcakes) but I wanted to use less butter, so I went looking for a cake recipe with vegetable oil. I found this one, which has an interesting backstory and a promising combination of ingredients. It has just come out of the oven, and I think I'm going to skip the freezer step. I have my own frosting already, so I won't try hers this time. It rose nicely and made three (!!) layers, so I guess we're doing one last fat & happy feed ....

In another brain-bender, D#2 announced that the activity I had been prepared to skip on her behalf this fall (because figuring out all the transportation logistics for her and her sister on Wednesday afternoons is already complex and that would put us over the edge into nightmare) is her absolute favorite. Well, maybe her father can help with this one.

Tomorrow, 8 a.m., meetings begin.

Self-rising flour, who knew?

With all those peaches we brought home, I couldn't just rest on my laurels after canning two measly (but beautiful) jars. I've been experimenting with peach cobbler recipes, and have now used Paula Deen's peach cobbler recipe twice.

This is one of those recipes that *has* to be possessed by evil spirits --people either love it or hate it, it comes out perfectly or it is a complete disaster, you have to modify it/don't dare modify it -- you know what I mean. The one thing I know for sure is that the baking powder is HUGE in this recipe. It cannot be done with all-purpose flour. How do I know? I ended up with delicious peaches atop library paste the first time around.

So I read the comments for Ms. Deen's recipe in some bemusement, and learned that all-purpose flour is no substitute for self-rising flour. Being from New England, I am not sure I'd ever HEARD of self-rising flour but believe you me, I am now an expert, having even googled directions for making my own. I added up all of my fractions of teaspoons and made my self-rising flour before I attempted round 2. I did also cut the amount of butter almost in half, and reduce the sugar by 2/3 of a cup. It came out much better, and even looked more or less like the photo on the website, so I took it to tonight's cookout. But even after all that effort, I don't think I love it. I might just like peach crisp (like this) and peach streusel (like this) better.

So now I know. And how nice that a cold wet June and sunny August has resulted in a fabulous peach crop here in MA!

August crafts

My first ever canned peaches, from an excursion to Smolak Farms in North Andover with the girls:

In process, European Hearth Style bread, following a King Arthur flour recipe and using the Artisan flour I just got from them:

It's a time-consuming recipe, and makes only one loaf, as opposed to the two it claims, but the bread is EXCELLENT and it's well worth the time. I'd have a picture of the finished loaf except, well -- it's gone.

Below, R's socks, using Tuscan Grove Bellagio yarn in the "Mint Ganache" colorway, with Louet Gems at heels and toes (I was worried I wouldn't have enough of the Mint Ganache --- as it turns out I think I would have JUST made it, but it wasn't worth stressing). I used a variation of the Green Mountain Spinnery pattern I.B.H.'s Toasty Socks, and Harmony size 3 dpns.

I think the last shot shows the colors better than the pictures of the finished socks. Now what?

Time to organize the study, read the book I am supposed to be reviewing, and maybe, just maybe, sneak in a small project before my yarn arrives for the project I am counting on to keep me sane through multiple faculty meetings this fall. I am going to try Deborah Newton's Clasica Coat (on the cover of the recent Interweave Knits), and I've found a KAL on Ravelry to help me stay focused --we'll see! I think it's going to be an interesting enough knit that I'll actually stay with it, though I'm a little concerned about the sheer size of the thing. I'm going to use Cascade Eco wool, which was on sale at Stitch House this month (I can't even think about what it would cost to knit this thing in the yarn featured in IK); Annissa has ordered me a great color and I can't wait.

I forgot to show the Swim Meet Socks

In Noro Sock!!

Blog: what is it good for?

Well, those of you in tune with this particular pop culture reference will not hesitate to respond "absolutely nuthin'" ... and truth be told, I've been wondering about this a lot. I spend time now on Facebook and Ravelry, and reading Twitter feeds (yes, I follow Lance Armstrong, what of it?), and I've been wondering about keeping this space open (?) or active (?) -- I'm not quite sure what the terminology ought to be. What was once a knitting blog now clearly isn't, and I have other blogs for my classes, so that material ought not to be here ... and the handful of you who did make time to read my posts have no doubt gone on to other more rewarding sites (I hope so).

There's no denying that a blog of one's own is a good spot to rant about the Red Sox, celebrate FOs (my summer of socks!) or muse about the possibility of opening an etsy store for R's photos, or to make a partial list of summer reading:

A Mathematician's Lament, Paul Lockhart
Nickel and Dimed. Barbara Ehrenreich
It's Not About the Bike, Lance Armstrong
Nice Try, Shane Maloney
The Big Ask, Shane Maloney,
Borderline, Nevada Barr
A Duty to the Dead, Charles Todd
Lance Armstrong's War, Daniel Coyle
The Tourist, Olen Steinhauer
Who is Conrad Hirst? Kevin Wignall
The End of the Chapter, John Galsworthy
A Mango-Shaped Space, Wendy Mass


Here, fye, an egret series, from the pond down the street (I am reminded that in Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country the character of the Vietnam vet uncle, Emmett, spends lots of time looking for an egret ....)





Here you see Tessie still having to be convinced that cows (heifers) are not scary. By the end of our 2 weeks in Vermont I think she had decided that they are a strange variety of large dog; she got to the point, one night in the barn, of touching noses with a particularly brave cow.

So, I'm still thinking about all of these blog matters. Clearly I'm not quite done yet. So I'm going to borrow Garrison Keillor's Writers' Almanac send-off:

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Oh, and those of you in metro Boston? Try to keep cool.