I love summer food... and a little knitting

PART 1:: KNITTING

This sock was completed almost two weeks ago and I haven't casted on for the second sock yet. Not a good sign. I really like how this one turned out... its just that I have so many projects I want to make! This is the Retro Rib pattern from Favorite Socks. And the yarn is some that I dyed last summer with coreopsis flowers. I WILL cast on for the second sock soon. Promise.

PART 2:: FOOD

So, there's been a ton of baking going on in my kitchen. I have always loved to bake (thanks, Mom!) and this summer I have been tearing it up with all the awesome fresh fruits available at the farmer's market and growing in my friends' yards. The photo above is a berry clafoutis (klaf-o-tee). I am going to be volunteering with an organization called HawkWatch this fall. They are a non-profit organization that educates about and promotes conservation for raptors. Anyway, they do raptor counts and raptor trapping in the mountains around Albuquerque during spring and fall migration, and I am going to be helping them out this fall. I got together with a bunch of them for a potluck dinner and slide show of birds last week - and this is what I brought. I think I will be invited to the next potluck. This dessert was amazing. This (scroll down) is the recipe I followed. I put strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in mine. Its all custardy and fruity and yummy. Kind of like those fruit tarts that you see in French bakeries.

Last Friday, one of my co-workers gave me a bag full of peaches from the tree in her yard. I am a huge fan of breakfast for dinner, so I made pancakes and peaches for dinner that night. I sauteed the peaches in butter with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla and topped it all off with some pecans. mmmmmm....

And then on Saturday I acquired even more peaches from another friend. I had also bought some apricots at the farmers market, so this evening I made these peach apricot popovers. They were so super easy to make and incredibly yummy.

Here's the recipe:

Peach Apricot Popovers

4 ramekins

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 large peach (peeled and cut into 12 sections)

1 large apricot (divided into 8 sections)

1/4 cup brown sugar (I didn't have any brown sugar, so I just used granulated sugar)

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp nutmeg

1 Tbsp cardamom

1/4 all purpose flour

1/8 cup whole wheat flour

1/8 cup corn meal

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup plain yogurt or kefir

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

-Seperate butter into 2 and 1 Tbsp portions. Set aside 1 Tbsp.

-Equally divide the 2 Tbsp portion into each ramekin, laying the butter as flat as possible. Divide the brown sugar into 4 equal portions as well and sprinkle each portion into the bottom of the ramekin.

-Arrange three slices of peach and 2 slices of apricot in each ramekin so that the curves of the fruit conform to the top of the dish.

-Combine cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Sprinkle equal parts of the mixture over the fruit in each ramekin.

-Combine the flour, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

-Melt the remaining 1 Tbsp butter. In another bowl, combine the sugar, buttermilk, yogurt, vanilla extract, and melted butter.

-Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and using a spoon mix them just enough to combine. Don't over mix; lumps are okay.

-Pour the lumpy batter equally into each ramekin.

-Put the ramekins onto a baking sheet and into the preheated oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the top of the cake is golden-brown.

-Remove from the oven, let sit for 5-10 minutes. You can eat them from the dish or run a knife around the edge of the ramekin and flip onto a plate for an upside-down popover.

I still have a ton of peaches, so I thinking freezer jam is on the agenda sometime this week!

i'm back!

I've returned from the wild, wild west with proud achievements, sort of Speaking of kids, does anyone know any 12 year olds, because I accidentally made a tank top that would only fit a 12 year old. It's really cute!! But I think I'd need more than just a diet to make it fit me. I've even got a little rock hammer for scale for you (I've been in the field too long!). I'm sure I'll find someone though. I made up the pattern and had to restart about 18 times, first it was waaaaaaaay too big, then it was waaaaaaay too small, then it was still too small, then I thought it was just right (WRONG) ... Oh well. Maybe I'll make another one that actually fits, because I think at least the shaping/pattern I made up is pretty cute.

As far as all the amazing things I saw out west, in Montana, Idaho, Utah and (east/northeast) Nevada... you should check out mylittleredbicycle for photos. But I will leave you with this one... a view from the top of Block Mountain, which was in one of our field area for intro camp.

This and that

Here's the blanket progress so far:


My mom and I were hard at work when I was home to visit last weekend. I think we have ~30 squares at this point, we're almost halfway.

Here's the proposed layout, minus the kitten and plus more squares:


I've also been knitting with a group a little. Last night we had a fun time knitting, talking, drinking wine and even some dancing.


Lesley (on the left) just finished her first hat, and Sulema (right) just learned to knit last night and picked it up really fast.

Dora, our hostess, working on her Burning Man scarf. Apparently, Burning Man is all about the fur.

A fun time was had by all, and since I've started a couple of folks with knitting, I've decided to apply for a knitting instructor job at Western Nevada College. I think I have the job if the scheduling works out and I figured that it would make me a much better knitter (at least that was true when I was a snowboard instructor).

Anyhow, I may be contacting you guys for pointers on subjects to cover as well as suggestions on projects, beginner books and yarn. I have to write a syllabus and everything!

Another baby sweater...

Pattern: Baby Baseball Tee

Source: Knit 2 Together

Yarn: Bernat Cajun Cotton (from the thrift store!)

Needles: US 5

Start: July 12, 2008

Finish: July 19, 2008

This one was for one of my Huntsville knitting club girl's baby. Shes due in October, not August as I thought. Oops. Its hard to keep track of all the due dates! Anyway, its another winner! How can baby stuff not be winners, though? Its all so cute! It was an easy knit and super fast. The pattern is for mittens that attach to the sweater too, but since the baby will be living in Alabama, mittens won't be necessary too often. Plus, I knit this in a cotton yarn, so it is more of a spring/fall garment than a winter one. Jana and Adam thought that it looked like one of those hippie ponchos that are usually all kinds of crazy colors. I agree. They both thought it was adorable and so do I! Yay for babies!

On another note, while at Craftorama 2008, I put some straps on my Lelah tank top. I used some linen fabric I had laying around, made some thick-ish straps and sewed them into the elastic at the top of the tank top. I really like how it looks - much nice than before- and I know I will wear it a lot more with the straps.

Craft-o-rama 2008

I had a great weekend... I was in Chattanooga late last week for a conference and I stayed for the weekend to meet up with my knitting/crafting girls from Huntsville for Craftorama 2008. We had been planning Craftorama 2008 for some time before I even left Huntsville, but the timing just never seemed to work out. So when I found out that I would be going to Chattanooga for this conference, I inquired if they were interested in finally getting together for Craftorama 2008. And everyone was in!

We actually did quite a bit of crafting, even though some of us were a little skeptical as to whether that would happen or not. We did lots of eating, lots of gossiping, there was lots of baby talk (with two preggos along), lots of walking (despite the two preggos), shopping, more eating, more crafting, etc., etc., etc. All in all, we had a fantastic time and we're already making plans for Craftorama 2009 - in British Columbia?

In proper Craftorama spirit, I (1) brought knitted clothing along to wear:

and (2) sprint-knitted to finish the baby sweater for Jana's baby:

More about both of those in another post!

One wedding gift down...

One of my best friends in the whole world got married a couple weeks ago. We were college roommates for three years and have shared many incredible times. I love her dearly, miss her tremendously, and wanted to wish her and her new husband the best of the best... so naturally, I figured the best way to do this was with a handmade gift.

I made them this picnic blanket... It is patchwork on the outer ring, linen in the center, and the backing is a vintage sheet I found at the thrift store. I embroidered some little ants carrying away a cherry on the front and made a patch for the back with their names and wedding date. I had SO MUCH FUN making this... especially the embroidery. I did it all free hand, which was something I hadn't done before. I am in love with the way this turned out... I have to admit that when I took this to the park for the photo shoot, I layed down for a bit with a book. I so want one for myself. I am really smitten with picnics lately. Anyway, I found a nice ol' picnic basket at the thrift store and got them a copy of The Notebook; kinda cheesy, but a great love story nonetheless. I hope they'll spend a couple Sunday afternoons in the park reading to each other.

One baby gift down...

Pattern: Helena

Source: Knitty Summer 2008

Yarn: Baby Bee Sweet Delight

Needles: US 6 & 3

Start: July 2, 2008

Finish: July 11, 2008

This sweater is for my friend Kelly's baby. She's due any day now, so I got it finished just in time! Hopefully I'll get it sent before the baby comes. This was the most indecisive knitting project ever. It stared as EZ's February Baby Sweater, but I just couldn't get that lace pattern to work for me. Then it turned into Angle, which reminded me too much of a dishcloth. And I was going to run out of yarn. So then I tried another pattern, a cardigan with garter stitch stripes. Nope, still not working for me. So finally, I just started with some new yarn and whipped this one out. I love it. Its perfect. So girly!

There really isn't much to say: the pattern was well written and easy to follow, the lace pattern was easy to remember. It was quick. I made my first picot edging. It was lots of fun.

I immedietly started on another baby sweater; this one for another friend (from my knitting group in Huntsville) who is expecting a boy at the end of August. I am making a little baseball tee in turquoise and blue. And then, I found out another friend is expecting... It appears to be never ending! However, I do like knitting for other people and I like giving handmade gifts, so its all good. And I'm lucky enough to have friends that really appreciate my work :)

I'm back...

I had a really great time in Idaho... I worked with three really fun and hard-working guys, spent every day outside in the sun and wind, only got sunburned once, learned to identify all kinds of grasses, and saw a ton of raptors, antelope, groundhogs, and a couple moose. After all the moaning and complaining I did about having to go, it turned out to be a really great month.

Not much time for knitting, though. I knit a few days, but we were working 10 to 13 hour days, so there really wasn't much leisure time. And pretty much all the leisure time I had I spent sleeping. But now that I'm back home, I've had more time for the sticks... I'm working on the fourth version of a baby sweater for my friend's baby. She's having a girl (yay! the first girl of all my friends' babies). I've finally decided on Helena, from the most recent issue of Knitty.

I've pretty much done all of this over the weekend... I've been working on it like crazy so I can send it off before the baby comes. And because I have a ton of other gifts to work on... everyone I know is either getting married or having babies. I really like to give personalized gifts, especially for my close friends, but it is getting to be a lot of work!

I also started a pair of socks, Retro Rib from Favorite Socks. I'm making them with yarn I dyed last summer with coreopsis flowers. Cheryl dyed a bit of the yarn brown for me so that I can have contrasting heels and toes... I think they are going to look really nice.