And...now it's cold

I had teenagers making puppy dog pouty faces at me earlier this week whenever I picked up a knitting project that was not their fingerless mitts.  So, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent finishing two pairs of said mitts.

Daughter had requested Wonder Woman and Green Lantern.  The yarn is wound for the Green Lantern ones.

Boy had requested War Machine,(yes, the design is on the palm like it should be) and Avengers logo mitts.  I had to size up the pattern a goodly amount to fit his paws, but it should make the next set go faster.
Husband announced that Boy's mitts were very cool and went so far as to try on one of them to show me that that size would fit him quite well too.  Laughingly, I let him know that I had left over yarn and he could have a pair too.  He is now eagerly awaiting his set.
Hopefully this will placate them for a little while so I can finish a couple of sweaters and a pair of socks or two...my toes are cold!

Slight change in plans

So, I was planning to post pictures of the dress I bought for the office holiday party, discuss how I plan to style an outfit that is elegant and sexy.  Maybe even a few pictures of the (slightly) fancy birthday festivities we had for Darling Daughter.  In light of current events, the plans changed a bit.
Instead, Husband and I did the grocery shopping for two months this weekend, (me, thankful every second that we could manage it), and I made granola, roasted chickpeas, and got out the cooler weather vegetable seeds.

 Fall knitting is now in full swing. I had already planned on rather a lot of new knitwear for the upcoming season, as most of my previously knit sweaters now belong to my daughter.  The sweaters look far better on her anyway.  Now I feel clever about planning ahead.
I've got four shawls, three sweaters, a hat(in leopard print), and at least four pairs of fingerless mitts planned, with yarn in hand, that I would like finished by the end of October.  One of them is this lovely shawl that is decidedly small blanket size.  Yes, it's probably a bit crazy, but as I am not including the endless list of socks, the multiple other shawls, or the actual blanket that are on my to knit list, it seems a sensible list and deadline right now.

The yarns at the beginning of the to knit list. Please note, they are not green or black. ;-)

I even made sure I had supervision...

A little while back I needed to head to the local craft store to get backing buttons to finish a sweater.  That was the whole list.  I got black, just in case I wanted to roll up the cuffs on the arms, to change up the look of the sweater a touch every once in awhile.

I felt really good and accomplished...until I saw the pattern sale.  I pulled out the list of needed patterns I had been dutifully keeping in anticipation of managing to catch a sale...and may have gotten a little enthusiastic.

Then, then there was the true hurdle to leap before leaving the store.  The seasonal aisle.  Currently it is overflowing with things for one of my favorite times of year, Halloween.  Skulls, spider webs, ravens, and broomsticks in glorious shades of pumpkin orange, acid green and twilight purple. All in the Victorian gothic style, curlicues beckoning me like a siren's call. 
Luckily my husband was there to raise an eyebrow and point out that it wasn't even the end of August yet. 
So, I tore myself away from visions of turning my house into The Haunted Mansion , meandering over to the yarn aisles, project list in hand, just in case the store had yarn I needed for a waiting project on sale.  Which they did, sort of. The color I wanted was two skeins short for the project I wanted it for. Back it went on the shelf.
Instead I ended up consoling myself, on both the yarn and Halloween fronts, with yarn that makes me think of zombie pumpkins.

 In another week or so, I'll need to go back to the craft store...and then, some of those lovely decorations will be coming home with me!

Hand me ups and my new favorite smell

All my new clothes lately have been items my kids have outgrown or old things re-fashioned into items I will actually wear. Luckily, my son has a thing for Hawaiian print shirts, which I love wearing. Never worn pants turn into smashing pencil skirts in an afternoon. Presto! Brand new outfits with vintage flair and minimum effort.  At some point I will succeed in forcing my hair into a vintage style, if only it would hold a curl for longer than two seconds.
Darling Daughter has contributed some wonderful basic shirts in lovely colors and capris that are a bit long on me, but quite comfortable, replacing similar items in my closet that had been starting to disintegrate.

These lovelies are paired with a limited (sadly) scent from ZOMG Smells that makes me keep sniffing my own arms so I can get a whiff of it!

There's also been a lot of stash pillaging for all the sweaters and socks I think I need to knit right this instant for the precise moment the temperature drops into the semblance of Fall-ish-ness.  Maybe just enough of a weather change so I can wear my lighter shawls without feeling like a sweaty sausage in a pretty wool casing?

Gold and Gooseberries

I got some proper metallic gold yarn to make flashy accessories for the upcoming holidays, probably a snood and a pair of lacey things to put on my hands, because if I start now, they may be done it time.
We found gooseberries at the store this weekend! Having never tried them before, we bought a basket.

Once you pop them out of their papery outer shell, there's a lovely citrus/floral scent.

The boys weren't very fond of them, so Daughter and I had to eat them!
I over-dyed three shawls worth of yarn a couple of weeks ago, remembering to take pictures for once, only to be so otherwise occupied that I haven't put the post together.
The summer weather around here hasn't exactly encouraged activity.

It was a good idea...

I knit a beautiful button up vest from the Sinnesfrid pattern on Knitty.  The color is wonderful. The fit is outstanding.

The buttons I picked are vintage reproductions. I adore them. They are perfect for the top.

Except for one minor detail.  They are too heavy for the piece.  So much so that it radically distorts the entire top.
It now stares at me from the table, taunting me until I can get to the store to buy new buttons.
To deal with the frustration, I cast on a new sweater.

I figured it was time for a trim

My hand is seven inches, from wrist to fingertip.  My hair still comes to the middle of my back.  My lower back feels naked!

Peppers and a blanket

I had been trying to grow some hot peppers this spring, only to have the downpours in May drown my poor plants.  So, I re-planted. 

Chocolate and purple sweet peppers. As well as some black chile peppers I picked up the seed for at the local botanical gardens.

The rest of my poor potted plants look a little sad, or empty, thanks to bouts of heavy rain and high temperatures.
The other thing consuming my summer, aside from the outings we go on that I consistently forget to take pictures of, is working from my craft stash.  Inspired by The Knitgrllls and their Stash Dash knitalong, I decided why of course I could knit 4375 yards of yarn by August!  It would clear some stuff off my needles, maybe make some room in the storage bins.
So I knit a blanket.

The picture doesn't do the color justice. It glows like fall leaves hit by the sun.  And I kind of adore it! At about 4 feet across, it will make a lovely lap blanket when it gets cooler.  A heavier gauge wool blanket probably wasn't the best choice for a summer project, but it's 1100 yards out of my yarn stash.

As part of the work from the craft stash, I also pulled out and washed fabric enough for seven dresses, several skirts (a combination of pencil and a-line), and two or three aprons. The patterns Hawthorne and Ceylon over at Colette Patterns were really responsible for the sewing re-boot.  Paired with a need for new clothes, a true dislike for what the standard available (and worn), plus a shape that requires me to tailor store bought items anyway, may as well make my own right? 
Crash course in advanced and couture sewing techniques here I come!

Cake and Dishcloths

Husband and I celebrated our seventeenth wedding anniversary a few days ago. We decided that that meant we needed cake. And wine.

Homemade German chocolate cake, at Husband's request, and a bottle of red with a label that made us both snicker.  It wasn't fancy, but we honestly couldn't come up with much else.  We had gone out to lunch and done a little shopping earlier in the day. After the hordes of weekend shoppers, cake and wine on the couch together sounded outstanding.
During said shopping, I picked up a ball of dishcloth cotton.  Something a bit louder than the standard. I absolutely adore it.

It's more vibrant in person. Darling Daughter called it clown barf. Husband and Darling Son, raised eyebrows and shrugged, forbearing actual verbal commentary.  I have cheerful washcloths to wash my face with. What problem?
The thing I've been most in need of lately is a bit more exercise. So I took up burlesque.  In my living room.  For now.

Breakfast, Books and Bat wings

In this case, breakfast goes on your face, though you could readily eat any leftovers.

I've found several face mask recipes using variations on these ingredients lately, this is my personal concoction.  I mashed up a few (4 or 5) fresh, slightly over ripe strawberries with two tablespoons Greek yogurt, a tablespoon or less of honey and a couple tablespoons of oat flour (chuck rolled oats in a coffee grinder you don't use for coffee. Presto!)  I tasted it first, quite yummy, then proceeded to smear said goo on face, neck and shoulders, trying to avoid being seen by other members of my household for about twenty minutes or so.  I washed off the glop with skin that looked smoother and I felt better, but that could be the result of sitting still for twenty minutes so I didn't drop strawberry yogurt stickiness all over my house.  Your results may vary(like if you have allergies to any of the stuff in it, avoid it!)

As for the books, well, they are honestly a bigger addiction than yarn for me, plus you can get  books about yarn which gets me coming and going. Luckily for you, I don't just read about yarn. I also read about plants and booze and even sometimes a little fiction. ;-)
Tequila Mockingbird  by Tim Federle is quite funny if you are into literature and drinks. I am, so I giggled through the whole thing.
The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart is wonderful! Fun to read while being quite informative and not feeling like you are sitting in a lecture. If you like plants and booze, this is for you.
Wicked Plants  by the same author, is what I am currently reading.  It's rather audience specific. If you like reading about the histories behind poisonous plants and their effects, it's probably for you. I happen to be enjoying it quite a bit!
The last book for now is one that was loved by the whole house. We are eagerly awaiting the second book! It is The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. It's just awesome!

And as for the bat wings....well, I realized all the tops I plan on making/wearing this summer are sleeveless and quite honestly bat wings sounded better than bingo arms. It did make me re-work my weight lifting routine, so I hope to be just batty instead of be-winged. :-)

New freezer and new shoes

We got a new freezer! It's been about two years since the old one died and the extra food storage has been sorely missed.  A decided upgrade, as it easily holds more than our current fridge/freezer combo in the kitchen.  Fewer grocery store runs, yay!

I also got a new pair of shoes I totally adore.

They aren't flashy, but wow are they comfortable!  I have rather narrow feet that tend to slide in standard shoes, so ballet flats that feel like slippers and don't give me blisters are an amazing find. The fact that I got them out of Payless Shoes was another bonus.

I'm starting to think I might be easily entertained.