Still in progress: Crochet Block Blanket

Brrr...October is much colder than I remember! We haven't yet fired up our gas heaters, but we will soon. What we have been doing is pulling out quilts, fleece blankets, and our winter clothes. We've also been hovering over candle flames and mugs of hot tea. I've brought in my potted plants and taken up crochet again.

First on my crochet agenda was weaving in the ends on my wrist warmers and leg warmers. I definitely needed to keep the goosebumps at bay! And now that I am warm I can finally turn back to my sister's very belated birthday blanket. It's been languishing in my yarn basket, and she's been requesting ever-so-nicely for me to please finish before the weather turns cold. Well guess what, there's a chill in the air and I'm still plodding away on this blanket. I do think the end is in sight--most all of the blocks are sewn together and I'm crocheting a border around it.

The picture above is from March. Yikes, I've been working on this for a long time. In my defense I have come a long way since March. The finished blanket (oh, the optimism!) will be 5 by 6 crochet blocks with border around them. It will be big enough for snuggling and napping under. If you're interested, the crochet patterns come from this book.

I hope you're staying warm and well!

Rose hips

Familiar days are stored whole

in bottles. There's a wet morning

orchard in the dandelion wine;

a white spring distilled

in elderflower's clarity;

and a loving, late, sunburning

day of October in syrups

of rose hip and the beautiful

black sloes that stained the gin to rose.

--Gillian Clarke

excerpted from "Letter from a Far Country"

CSA Day: Fall's Bounty

We got such a great array of vegetables this week from Finger Pickin' Farms.

There are butternut squash, tatsoi greens, potatoes, carrots, a variety of hot peppers, shunkyo radishes, and turnips. I'm really excited about this week's produce! I'm eager to make a spicy butternut squash soup, and I already used some of the carrots in last night's Brazilian Black Bean soup.* I'd never heard of tatsoi greens before, but Nick (the farmer who runs our CSA) recommended using them in salads or stir-frying them. I'm leaning towards a big stir fry, perhaps with garlic mirin sauce and rice.

The eggs are from Misty Meadows Farm. I also picked up some apples from them, which I can't wait to eat with tomorrow's lunch.

What are you eating this week?

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*This is seriously a soup to fortify your immune system for flu system. In addition to the requisite black beans, it has onions, carrots, green peppers, garlic, a jalapeno, and orange juice. Don't you feel healthier just thinking about it?

Lace tote bag

This is my new favorite tote bag. I've had the idea in my head for ages and the other day while I was reading for class, I had to stop and write it down just so I could concentrate on my school work. I finally sat down on Friday afternoon and whipped this out. It's my first tote, so I didn't expect it to be perfect. I mostly wanted to just make it so the idea would stop haunting me. I needed to clear my head.

It felt so good to be back at the sewing machine--cutting, winding, stitching. It's a magical process that I'm definitely not afraid of anymore. Remember this? My sewing machine used to scare the crap out of me!

When I showed this bag to my sister, she instantly declared it her favorite of all the things I've made and requested one in black for Christmas. Too bad I've already bought supplies to make her something else!

I love the way this bag came together. The outer fabric is vintage, given to me by my mom from her stash. The lace is from the flea market. I found the coolest booth where I scooped up tons of tiny vintage crochet hooks and uncovered a couple of pieces of lace marked "free." I asked the lady running the booth about the lace, and she said she always likes to mark a few items free, just to see if anybody will find them. Needless to say, I'll definitely be stopping by her booth at the New Year's flea market! The inner fabric is a soft sage green with multi-colored polka dots that I fell in love with at the craft store. It's whimsical, but pairs well with the wheat-colored cotton and white lace.

Plans are already in the works for more tote bags. I definitely learned a few things in making this one and want to put my new knowledge to use.

I hope you are having a lovely week--being creative, learnings lots, and trying new things!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Wow-oh-wow, what a rich, decadent, completely over-the-top cake! Find the recipe here.

K loved it (and so did everyone else lucky enough to get a piece). This cake totally made up for me being MIA on his actual birthday.

A crocheted stone, a CD, and some giveaway links

A few weeks ago I won a giveaway on Resurrection Fern. I was thrilled to win two wonderful prizes--a crocheted stone and a Lines of Latitude CD. Thank you so much for the giveaway, Margie!

The CD accompanied K and me on our road trip last weekend and the crocheted stone came with me to the library for a study break photo shoot. Luckily it was a quiet day in the stacks so no one was bothered by the girl toting a stone around and taking photographs of it. (Actually, pretty much every day is a quiet day in the stacks...)

How amazing would it be walk down an aisle of books and spot a stone like this? It's so unexpected.

I thought this was a happy coincidence and I had to share it with you. I plopped the stone down randomly and took a few pictures before I realized that the titles pair well with the stone. I especially like the Pattern of Circles with the concentric crochet design, and also the book on the bottom, Peace at the Center.

Last are some very old books. I think the crocheted stone looks right at home here, nestled with books that are over 100 years old. Also, the colors of these books are just fabulous.

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There are a couple of really great giveaways going on right now, but they're ending soon, so you'd better go comment now!

**Liesl of Liesl Made is giving away one of her gorgeous make-up bags. I've got one that I use for my school supplies, and I love it so much because it's pretty, well-made, and durable enough to be pulled in and out of my backpack about a million times a day. Comment on this post to win. Giveaway ends tonight!**

**Chelsea of A lovely, little blog has some beautiful fall photos that she's giving away. I won one of her photos a while back and it's now prettying up my kitchen. (Thanks, Chelsea!) She's extended the giveaway until this weekend, so head on over and comment here to win.**

I spy pumpkins

Such a welcoming doorway

Oh, it's October already! September really sailed past, and now my very favorite month is upon us. I'm so ready for autumn strolls, the smell of woodsmoke in the air, and wrapping up in quilts with cups of hot tea for company. I'm also ready for lots of apple cider, pumpkin bread, and my annual apple dumpling from the Harvest Homecoming festival. October is going to be a very good month. I can feel it!

I snapped these pictures in Maysville over the weekend. There was a chill in the air, and the fall colors looked quite spectacular.

Care for a hayride? Limited seating available.

The leaves aren't changing colors just yet, but pumpkins and mums are popping up everywhere.
They're adorning porches, doorways, sidewalks and courtyards.

Peeking into a courtyard

I hope October treats you well! What are your plans for fall? Have you planned things you want to do or foods you want to eat? Do you have autumn traditions?