A Knee Sock - Voila

So, I only have one done, but I decided to share! I did make a whole entire stocking but when I tried it on it was very itchy from the knee up, so I did the frog dance (rip it, rip it, rip it) and made it a knee sock again. I can see myself wearing them with my tall black boots and a denim skirt, or under a dark wool pleated skirt... they'll be a cheerful color extravaganza on dull winter days. I need some penny loafers!

I mean, look at that color! Guaranteed to brighten up the day!

One final thing... I have rather severe body image issues, but, really... these gams just don't quit!

Here's the next one, on the needles. Isn't the yarn gorgeous! Every half inch is a revelation!

Farmer's Markets

Our first real initiation to a farmer's market couldn't have happened at a better one. San Luis Obispo's farmer's markets are kind of legendary, really they're rather more like carnivals with really fresh food. Street musicians, fresh flowers, magicians, street corner preaching, and prepared foods joined the fresh food in vying for our attention. Our local markets are less complicated, but they've got plenty to satisfy our hunger for local food and farm products.

We bought lots of yummy veggies and some berries and some ground lamb and lamb sausage... ground lamb mixed with ground beef for hamburgers is really good... I only wish we'd gotten some fresh goat cheese to stuff those burgers with a la Eat Make Read. Ooooh, also this cocktail... mmmmmm.

I even bought yarn! and some fiber covered soap from the Dream Keeper Farm in Orlean VA. They had 220 yards of hand dyed worsted wool yarn from their sheep (not handspun). Fun! For $10 a skein! Score! I bought a loverly bluey, lavendery, aquaey variegated skein for my friend's 6th baby. OK, I'm knitting a gift for said baby with said yarn. Actually, I'll probably finish knitting it tonight after I write this. More on that later! Those half gallon jars are for our milk from our cow shares... we start getting at least two gallons a week next week. And look at that cool bag I got from the Dream Keeper booth, just for free with my stuff!

Hi! Look What I Made!

I made: a box for my Latin vocabulary flash cards out of two sheets of 12x12 scrapbooking paper.

A blouse from Weekend Sewing:

Summer Afternoon Blouse

Size L

Modified neckline and sleeve length.

JoAnne's brand cotton lawn

Also, ipod cozy, from leftover orange sock yarn (Zitron Trekking and Knit Picks Palette) and vintage blue button.

Waves of Blue

Well, these were started ages ago... I had no trouble knitting the first sock, but then I got a really bad case of SSS (Second Sock Syndrome) and I didn't cast on that second sock for a really, really long time. But I did, finally, and slowly knitted away, when I didn't have anything else to do. And I finished them, and I tried them on, and it was a LOT smaller than the first one, it was a whole size smaller, 20 stitches smaller, to be exact. I had to rip and cast on that sock, again, a second time... it was slightly demoralizing, to say the least. Still I plodded on, and finished that sock again... course I still had to re-knit the toe... this sock is not hard, I don't know what the heck had gotten into me! Anyway, they'll be warm and toasty on my tootsies come cold weather. And a cheerful blue that will keep the "blues" away! Oh, hey, I took these pics myself! I do yoga. Sometimes.

Blueberries

We are locavores, when at all possible. We like to eat stuff that is grown around here, which is really easy in our area because we're very rural, but near a city, so there are tons of small farms and farmer's markets, etc. very near. Monday morning we went to Hartland Orchard and picked blueberries. We have the luxury, being at home to go in the morning on a weekday, which is the best time because it's cool, there are fewer people, and the bushes are less picked over, which is common on a Saturday anytime after the first hour a u pick it farm is open. Anyway, the people there are just as friendly as can be, and helpful, and eager to answer questions, which is wonderful. Soooo, here are our five pints of blueberries:

What to do with all those berries? Jeremy had picked up a bargain cookbook featuring food from Maine and I used a recipe for a blueberry crumble pie... yum.

The Prairie Princess made the crust for me and put it in the fridge this afternoon.

I rolled it out and fluted the edges and popped it in the fridge.

Mmmmmmmm, blueberries, flour, baking powder, and a pinch of black pepper!?!



Next the Crumble! Flour, dark brown sugar, and lots of butter...



And very small people to help.



Baking the pie crust, using dried green peas as pie weights



More crumble-ing, and little baby helpfulness:

The finished crumble all, um, crumbly

I popped this all into the pie crust, put it in the oven, and made a little tart with the leftover filling and crust... to give to the neighbors. What do you do with the leftover crust and filling.

All served with a litle iced cream, warm and tangy sweet, with that nutty, molassas flavor in the crumble, wonderful! I'd have added some oats and maybe some nuts to the crumble, but it was really good.

It's absolutely amazing, a bit of summer on your tongue.

Of course, I forgot to plan supper, so we didn't eat till 9:30 pm, cause we're a little short on cash right now and hub says no eating out... and the kids went to bed late and were grumpy all morning, but the pie was worth it.