gramps

These are more photos taken in Hunt Park, Ann Arbor, Michigan, one of the final stops on our Michigan road trip a few weeks ago. We started in Mackinaw City, visited Mackinac Island and the Upper Peninsula, then made our way back down to a yarn mill in Frankenmuth, and finally hung out in Ann Arbor for a few days, drinking lots of coffee and eating Japanese food.

I love these photos of my boy, his toothy smile, and of course how sweet he looks in his mama-made cardigan. Gramps is a timeless sweater, and that shawl collar keeps my boy cozy. When the wind picks up, we flip up the collar to keep his neck extra warm. We've been rolling up the cuffs this fall, which I think means he'll be able to wear it again next year. And after that? I'll just have to knit another one.

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P.S. My hat is Snowflinga, a fun knit and one of my favorite knits to wear. It was designed by Jenny Gordy, whose simple aesthetic I just love. Did you see Joanna's post about her beauty uniform? 

shawl weather

A Shaelyn shawl, rich and red, kept me cozy for an impromptu breakfast picnic with my boys. We sat on a bench and watched the leaves fall as we spooned yogurt straight from the carton, took giant bites of fresh baked bread topped with almond paste, and sipped hot coffee with milk. It was one of those moments I could just live in: the sun still rising, the air cool with morning dampness, the trees ruddy with fall, the three of us together.

All photos taken in Hunt Park, Ann Arbor, Michigan, where we last visited four years ago. I wouldn't at all mind making an annual fall pilgrimage to that bench.

marigold harvest

Inspired by Liesl, I decided to harvest my marigolds to try some natural dyeing. The marigolds were ready just before we were to leave town, so I picked them to freeze for dyeing at a later date.

The harvest was a thing of beauty in itself, with those oranges, rusts, and yellows all heaped together. I enlisted the help of my son, who loves to pluck marigolds from their stems and sprinkle petal confetti all over the garden. He was less enthusiastic about harvesting marigolds than I thought he would be, though. Turns out that part of the appeal to him is doing something I tell him not to do. It seems as though I have a little rebel on my hands. He did join in once I'd filled a bowl with marigolds. He just couldn't resist emptying the bowl for me!

We are still enjoying the garden here for a little longer. We planted some sunflowers late and they are just now blooming. Jude has been pestering me about the box of bulbs on our dining room table, so this week we'll plant tulips, daffodils, and irises for spring. I'm excited to have his help, and I think these bulbs will be just the right size for his toddler hands to hold. Let's hope he agrees to help!

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What have you been doing outside these days? Planting, harvesting, hiking? 

I'm hoping to have a few fires in our fire pit soon. The smell of woodsmoke and wet leaves is one of my favorite parts of fall.

there for the taking

I'm finding little things to appreciate lately, bits of joy there for the taking if only I choose to notice: treetops lighting up the sky, sunflower seeds to plant next year, warm challah with salt and butter, and a soft alpaca hat on the needles. 

Here's hoping you're finding your own bits of joy. I'd love to hear about what's making your moments brighter these days.

halloween mitts

 

Happy Halloween! 

I made these mitts for a good friend. Last year she sent me a couple skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in the colorway Plena with a note that the dusky purple and glowing orange reminded her of Halloween night. I liked these mitts so much that I've already cast on a pair for myself, too. 

Have a warm and safe Halloween! We are supposed to have a rainy evening, so I'm not sure if any trick-or-treaters will venture out. We'll have candy and a little costumed fellow regardless. I stayed up late putting the finishing touches on Jude's costume. Here's a sneak peek! 

fall days

I've been trying to soak up October's sunny days and get outside on the cold ones too. Jude and I bundle up and walk until my feet get tired. We walk all around, new ways each time. He usually falls asleep eventually but never fails to wake up as soon as we're back home. 

He's crawling backward these days and pulling up in his crib and on the furniture. He looks so happy every time I find him standing up in his crib. It must feel amazing to go from being able to only sit or lie down to suddenly being able to stand upright. What a great new view, right? 

We've ventured to a couple fall festivals too. Jude rolled around in a pile of pumpkins and ate some Swiss chard and cilantro that he swiped from a garden. He's got fast little hands that dart to his mouth like a flash when he finds something he likes. 

 I hope you're finding things you like these days. As for me, I'm knitting away in my spare minutes and drinking hot chocolate now that we've got some cool weather. I'm looking forward to making Maya's apple cake (a fall tradition now) and something pumpkin. If you've got any favorite pumpkin recipes, send them my way. 

baking season

Brownie roll out cookies from Deb's new book

There's been a lot of baking around these parts lately. The cold weather just makes me want to hole up in the kitchen for days and try out new recipes. 

I finally found a reliable, easy, all-butter pie crust recipe. It's from The Handmade Pantry and comes together so smoothly because it uses a stand mixer. When I used to mix pie crusts by hand, I always had to add more liquid than recipes called for to get the dough to come together, which made for a sticky mess on my counter and an unreliable end result. The Homemade Pantry crust comes out tender, flaky, and flavorful. Each batch makes two crusts, so I've been freezing the extra to speed up the pie-making process in the future.

Chocolate pecan pie. Just perfect with whipped cream.

I made this one with Wild Turkey bourbon for an extra dose of Thanksgiving.

Pretzel croissant from the farmers' market (not my kitchen, unfortunately). 

This croissant is what motivates me to get up on cold Saturday mornings to shop for kale. 

Sour cream apple pie (before baking). Mmm...streusel topping.

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I hope you are all staying warm and well-fed!

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P.S. Thank you lots for your kind words on my pregnancy. You all are the sweetest, and I've tucked your comments in my memory to savor on days when I'm feeling less than my best. 

here i am

I am back after some much-needed time away at the beach. I didn't knit a stitch during my vacation. Somehow between swimming, snorkeling, hiking, strolling, eating, reading, and lazing about, I just didn't get around to it.

I'm glad to be home now, snug in my little house as the air turns chilly outside. It was so good to come home to fall. I've pulled out my handknits and am ready to make comfort food. Tonight I made vanilla pudding, and I've got my eye on this sour cream apple pie. I can't wait until it's cold enough to have a fire. And now that the weather is cool, I'm ready to knit again. I've got a pair of mittens on my needles, and my Rocky Coast is calling to me again.

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I'm still sorting through our beach photos, but I'll show some here soon. You'll be amazed at how much Japanese food we ate while we were in Hawaii!

little things

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my U.S. friends (and happy Thursday to everyone else)!

Good morning! Today is starting off with a cup of creamy hot coffee and gingerbread cookie beside me, so needless to say, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a lot of big things to be thankful for this year--healthy family, new home, steady job, graduate degree--but this blog is about noticing the small things, too. Little things I'm thankful for lately:

{cheese and fruit feast}

Accompanied by a movie marathon with my little sister. 

{quince yarn and harmony needles}

I never get bored with this soft yarn and these colorful needles.

{persimmon tree in the neighborhood}

Reminds me of our time in Japan.

{vegetable pot pie}

So cozy and comforting.

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I hope you have a lot of things--both big and small--to be thankful for today and always.

Happy Thanksgiving!

it feels like home

apple peeling out on the deck.

garlic planting. hoping for a harvest come june.

in the evenings, japanese maple shadows dance across our walls.

{so hard to capture in a photo...}

squash bread makes the new place smell like home.

a beautiful day in the neighborhood. yeah, it feels this idyllic in person, too.

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I can only show you snippets of our days lately. If I showed you more, you'd see that nearly every room of the house still has boxes to unpack. You'd see me sneaking off to read The Hunger Games or knit Christmas presents or watch the first season of The Sopranos with K. We're settling in slowly. 

It's funny the things that have changed. Things that I never could have anticipated. For instance, I can see the sky so much better in our house than I could from our apartment. I never knew how much I missed it, but lately I've been watching the clouds by day and marveling at the waxing moon by night. What a show.

keeping warm

The kettle is on. I'm layered in shirts and sweats. Our bed is piled with quilts and afghans. My hands want to wrap themselves around a mug of coffee--c'mon, kettle. Cold weather has finally found its way to our Kentucky valley.

Of course this means that I need to make more woolly things. These fingerless gloves were on and off my needles last week, and I'm getting a lot of satisfaction from such a quick knit. They keep my hands from freezing at the bus stop while leaving my fingers free to find my bus pass, work keys, and knitting needles.

Now the coffee is ready, and I need some slow sipping time with the newspaper and maybe a bit of knitting before a day of packing and running errands. Have a good weekend!

Details

Reading Mitts (free pattern)
Yarn: Littledove (a Kentucky yarn!)
Needles: US Size 5 DPNs

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Other people keeping warm:

Andrea with her Rocky Coast cardigan

Kristen with her scalloped collar

Anna Maria with her new flannels

Penguins!

right now, handwritten

And you? 

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Updated to add: We're not in the new house yet. Right now we are enjoying the last few (chaotic) days in our apartment before the big move, and we're eagerly anticipating settling into our new home next week.

yarn along: planning

I just don't know about this week. Work is crazy-busy, leaving me feeling scattered at the end of each day. My personal life is stressful--sick relatives and family fights. And this morning at the bus stop an angry drunk man got up in my face and yelled horrible things. It's all enough to make me want to crawl into bed and hibernate all winter.

But I can't.

So, I'm planning for the future, for those glad times that are hopefully waiting out there for me in the not-too-distant future.

This week I'm knitting some wrist warmers for myself in anticipation of delightfully chilly autumn days. We've had such a warm streak of weather lately that it hasn't felt like fall at all. It's been so warm that I was surprised to see the trees turning gold and sidewalks filled with russet leaves when K and I were out on a walk last night. There's a cold front moving through tonight that is supposed to bring rain. Cool days will soon be here and I'll need some wrist warmers to ward off the chill while still keeping my fingers free. You know, in case I need to mace anyone at the bus stop.

And of course, I'm planning for our new house. It seems unreal that we'll be living in a place of our own in just over two weeks. Design*Sponge at Home is full of inspiration and my copy is full of sticky notes marking decor I love. It's overwhelming to think of decorating a whole house, but certainly exciting.

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I'm yarning along today with Ginny. What are you making/reading this week?

honeycomb cardigan

I'm so excited to show you my latest finished project, which I've named the Honeycomb Cardigan. Remember when it was still growing? Well, now it's a full-fledged sweater, and I feel like a bona fide knitter. It's my absolute favorite sweater, and I'm still marveling that my hands made it. Bona fide, oh my.

What do I love about this sweater? Um, just about everything--the color, feel, lacework, i-cord edging, and twisted rib. It's dressy enough for the office, but cozy enough to wear when I'm just kicking around town. It brightened up my rainy Saturday last weekend and even made my trip to pay the bills feel kind of fun.

Details:

Honeycomb Cardigan (my version of Audrey in Unst)

Yarn: Quince & Co. Chickadee in Carrie's Yellow (I wholeheartedly recommend!)

Notions: Cream-colored buttons

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P.S. As I was sorting through these photos I realized that I had unintentionally knitted myself a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Maybe I make my own luck?

P.P.S. Bona fide! (1:20)