Summer Flies, knit in The Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in 'Stick Insect'. This was an easy/fast pattern and the yarn is dreamy. I skipped the picot edging and just bound off like normal, which still created a ruffle edge. Excuse my smirky face, I couldn't get a picture I was happy with.
Right now I'm knitting the Imogen tee from Quince & Co. in Quince & Co. Tern yarn, 'Kelp' colorway. This yarn is 75% wool and 25% silk, it makes a really nice fabric and it's springy. However, since the yarn and needles are small it's taking a looong time to knit. Well that and I've knit several other things while working on it.
This a monster from Rebecca Danger's The Big Book of Knitted Monsters. It was a gift for my nephew who turned one last week. I used Stitch Nation yarn from Debbie Stoller, the Full O'Sheep version. I ended up left off the leaving off the arms because I couldn't get them to look right (need more practice) and I figured he might pull them off at some point anyway. I still think Mr. Monster is super cute looking, although my nephew wasn't as interested in Mr. Monster as he was the books we bought him.
This was a special gift for my friend Christiana's soon-to-be-born baby girl, it's the Heirloom Blanket knit in Madelinetosh DK, the color is Duchess, a dark purple/almost black. It's not a huge blanket, more like a crib or pram blanket, but it's very sweet looking I think. The second picture is more color-accurate.
In yarn procurement, this is what has come to live in my stash recently:
Madelinetosh Eyre Light in "Folklore" from the Magnolia Society
Madelinetosh 80/10/10 Sport in "Steamer Trunk" from the Magnolia Society
Madelinetosh Vintage in "Happiness" from Knit Happy. It's going to be an Heirloom blanket too, for my someday-baby stash.
Madelinetosh Prairie in "Lichen" a gift brought back from PDX for me by my friend Lynsey.
I finished my knit-a-long sweater weeks ago but haven't taken pictures yet. Soon!
My Kindle. We bought it right before our huge roadtrip. I actually didn't use it very much until we got back (I'd rather knit than read it turns out). However, when we got back I started using it more often. I'm still not 100% sold on it for all my reading needs but I enjoy the convenience of it. As of today I have read since late-June: Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (good but bizarre story), Bossypants by Tina Fey (loved.it.), The Help by Kathryn Stockett (hated it), Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner (liked it okay) and I'm in the middle of Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff and yesterday, thanks to a friend's recommendation, I downloaded two John Green books, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. Since I go through books so quickly I like that I can have a new book almost instantly. It is hard getting used to not having an actual book to look through though.
This yarn (Madelinetosh Merino Light in Mineral)
I have cast-on-itis, I'm going to use it to make this sweater but I'm not letting myself cast on until I finish the other half-dozen items I have on the needles. The color makes me extremely happy.
Salads, my current favorite salad is baby greens, toasted almonds, dried cranberries, goat cheese, turkey and balsamic vinaigrette. I can't say it's super healthy but it tastes good.
Mad Men, we are so behind on this. I know everyone has talked about how great this is forever but we're just now getting around to watching it. We just finished the first season and both of us love it. I told Doug it's like candy, not only is the storyline completely addictive, the set design/wardrobe is so fun to look at.
The most recent Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) record. Beautiful and eerie.
He's also doing this with James Blake:
Rebekka Seale's Dear Friend, blog. She lives in Nashville, takes very lovely pictures and is also a very talented artist.
I'm obsessed with these chairs. I would love a set for the dining room, maybe with a long wooden table.
I'm not entirely sure I love these brownies. They taste great but they aren't my favorite kind of brownie. They're more cakey that I'd like them to be. I like a brownies with a dry, flakey top and an intense fudgy inside. These brownies, while delicious, are not exactly what I like. Also I think it would have been better if I had toasted the walnuts before they went in batter. But who cares, they're still brownies, they're still good and they're still a must have with a glass of milk.
Usually this is how I like to eat Nutella. Although it's really good on graham crackers too.
Over the weekend I made Nutella shortbread cookies with a recipe from Serious Eats/Cakespy. These cookies are a little more labor intenstive because you shape two flat pieces, fill them and seal the sides, so a little more work than your normal scoop and bake cookies.
They are super buttery/crumbly but very, very good.
Saturday morning, before I made shortbread, I made pumpkin doughnut muffins (recipe from Martha). Last week in Memphis it was so nice weather-wise. The mornings and evenings were cool and even the day time was nice. Today and tomorrow temps are creeping back into the 90's but hopefully we'll cool down again soon. The cooler temperature put the desire for pumpkin baked goods in my belly so I made these muffins. They were easy and buttery and gave me the first hint of fall.
