Acorn Squash with Cranberry Sauce and Peanuts

This is a great, cheap autumnal treat. Mr. Crafty and I make it a few times every year. The squash is cooked in such a way that it allows you to eat the skins, if desired. The cranberry sauce is hand made. The stuff from the can could certainly be used, but this sauce is a quick make that can be doubled and used for other elements of the meal if desired.

Sorry for the sad photograph. It's hard taking pictures of dinner this far north, this late in the year.

Acorn Squash:

1 medium acorn squash

1 tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 450. Cut squash in half, lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and stringy bits. Place squash flat-side down in a medium sized glass casserole dish. Rub olive oil into skin. Now put one inch of water in the casserole dish, and place on the oven's middle rack. Cook for 30 min., checking in to make sure the skin of the squash isn't blackening. A little browning and blistering is fine, should that happen. After 30 min., or if the skin is starting to blacken, cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for another 15 min. This cooking method creates a soft, healthy, vitamin-laden veggie.

Cranberry Sauce:

3 cups cranberries

1/4-1 cup sugar

1 cup orange juice or water

Put orange juice or water in pan and dump three cups of cranberries in, too. Warm on high/medium heat until at a slow boil and cranberries start popping open. Add desired amount of sugar. It is more than fine to add slowly and test taste as you go. Cook until sauce reaches desired thickness: usually between 15 and 20 minutes.

To serve: Place squash on a plate and put cranberry sauce in the hollow. Garnish with peanuts. Trust me, this addition is awesome.

Interview Extravaganza

I do quite a bit of tech editing for independent designers, and a couple companies. I am often bound to secrecy with many of these projects: the designers don't want any leaks getting out along the way!

Last month, though, I came across a job that was just so cool I had to let you know about it and the brain behind it. Beth Hahn is the creator of the Miss Flitt series of knitting patterns and story installments. Check it out: it's an inspired merger of knitting, story-telling, and watercolor. A crafter's trifecta?

Many of you might already know Beth as the creator of the popular and super gorgeous Paper Moon Hat (Ravelry link).

Here's Beth wearing one of the patterns from the first installment of Miss Flitt.

What is your artistic/creative process? I usually see the garment I want design in my mind before I begin drawing or writing a pattern. It lives with me for a while. I like to think about the way it will fit together. I consider the way it will move and the yarn I should use and how it might be constructed. I’ll do a preliminary drawing or two, look at yarns, swatch, and then begin. At that point, I have a clear enough idea of the design that I can do a pattern drawing. In the Flitt series, I like to figure out which character will wear the item and give it some detailing that reflects that character’s personality.

What was the impetus for this project? What was your inspiration? I had the idea last year that I’d design knitwear for my favorite literary heroines and then compile the patterns into a book. I was working on Isabel Archer’s Albany Cutaway when I started the first Emma Flitt drawings. I didn’t intend to change projects, but Emma was more fun to work on, so I decided to focus on this little set of drawings and see where they went. I began writing captions beneath the drawings and soon realized that I wanted to write an illustrated story with knitting patterns for each character. The idea of serializing the story came out of the need to create seasonal patterns and to keep printing costs down.

What inspires you creatively, generally? I find it’s important for me to sort-of do nothing sometimes. When I’m not working on patterns, I listen to music, read, take dance classes.

What are essential materials in your creative work place? This is constantly shifting depending on where I am in the project. When I’m making a garment, of course I need all my knitting tools. I’ve found that having a dress dummy helps with sizing and drape. I keep notes labeled with the date and time so when I return to them, I won’t have to guess which change came where and when. I refer to books like Sweater Design in Plain English by Maggie Righetti and Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker. I tend to let things get messy while I’m working and then clean up when I’m finished.

How do you handle the business side of being an artist? That’s the hardest part for me. I’m not savvy that way because I tend toward being a dreamer, so when someone I trust gives me a bit advice, I take it. But I also think there are basics of good business: meeting deadlines, being fair, and appreciating the people who respond to the work.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? In a room quickly filling up with knit samples! I’d like to continue what I’m doing. I feel like I’ve found my dream job. I’m combining all the things I love: writing, drawing, designing, knitting. I couldn’t ask for a better job.

What is it that draws you to watercolors and wool? They are an interesting combination. Is there a relationship between the two? Both knitting and painting (and writing) are skills at which you get progressively more adept. You start out making these crazy mistakes. Then you learn from them, and while you keep making mistakes, you don’t make the same ones. Frogging, erasing, editing--they’re all part of the process of making something, of being creative.

What advice would you give your fellow artists? Don’t be afraid of the wool or of the paint. You can start again, change things, rip out stitches, erase, frog, choose a different color or wool.

What keeps you motivated when the designing and painting gets tough? Thinking about the finished piece—whether it’s a garment, a drawing, or the story—always keeps me working. If I must begin something again, I tell myself the changes I must make are worth it in the long run. When I have to do something difficult like begin a half-finished garment again, I put it aside and wait until the next day. By then, I usually feel excited about the fresh start.

Other places to find Beth:

1. In person at Knitty City on December 3rd. Information here.

2. Digitally, on Ravelry.

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

I had never had French onion soup before: it has a beef stock base, not vegetarian friendly. Mr Crafty would often order it at restaurants, and I would jealously watch as he dipped his spoon through the crispy cheesy crust. I would jealously breathe in the soup's hearty scent, and look sadly at my salad.

OK, maybe it wasn't as dramatic as all that. Maybe I wasn't quite that jealous, not twice in one paragraph kind of jealous.

I've spent the last year trying to perfect a vegetarian version. Now, never having had the "real thing," I can't say how close it comes. Mr. Crafty approves, and seems to find it a fairly accurate flavor.

With this recipe, I've found simpler is better. You'll find this a cheap, cozy meal for autumn, and will be pleased to find it takes very little time and effort to throw together.

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

4 medium onions, sliced thinly

3 tbsp butter

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

5 cups vegetable bullion (Use your favorite brand or recipe. I like Better Than Bullion.)

Optional Ingredients:

a cup or so of a good, hard white cheese (asiago, etc.)

toast or hard French bread

chives

oven-safe bowl

Using a large soup pot, saute onions in butter for 10 minutes, or until some begin to caramelize. Add garlic, pepper, thyme, and salt and saute for another minute or two. Add 5 cups of vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Turn heat on medium-low, and simmer with a lid on the pot for 45 minutes or so.

Optional: Spoon soup into oven-safe bowls and cover with cheese. Broil in oven until cheese hardens and begins to turn golden. Or you can take toast/French bread, cover with cheese, and pop in oven under broiler until cheese begins to turn golden. Or put bread in bottom of bowl before spooning in soup, cover with grated cheese and chives.

It Takes Forever!

It takes forever to knit a sweater in the round! Or, that's how it feels sometimes. You can knit for hours and hours and only get two vertical inches. Of course, you've just knit 20 horizontal inches, but that doesn't have the same motivational pull.

You know what else takes forever? Knitting a foldover hem. I'm fond of them, as they are the kind of dressmaker's detail that makes a handmade sweater more interesting than the store bought variety. Still, it's a little taxing to knit those hours and hours for two inches, all the while knowing that those two inches will be folded under and seen only by the wearer.

I'm knitting this sweater in Rowan Pure Wool, and it is so lovely. So soft and light. The under part of the foldover hem is made of some Aran weight Knit Picks yarn. Now, I'm not knocking Knit Picks. I love their yarns, which are such a great deal, but the difference between the Rowan and Knit Picks is astounding. The Knit Picks is stiff and it's clear that no amount of blocking would ever make it drape as well as the Rowan. But that quality is exactly what makes it perfect for a hem: you want a hem to have that kind of sturdiness.

Our stuffed creatures had a relaxing weekend, neither of them feeling compelled to knit a stitch. For those who read the previous post, I should mention I left these two out of the bed's description and they were greatly offended.

I must admit, as I get ready to head off to work tomorrow I find myself a bit jealous of them.

Bed

Sorry in advance for the uninspired photos...

I'm in the middle of many projects at the moment, none of them terribly interesting yet. Rather than bore you with the details, I figured I'd show you some old things.

(Really) old thing #1:

A pair of vintage embroidered pillowcases. My wonderful mother got me these at a junk shop in Frankfort, Kentucky. I don't know how old they are. Maybe the fifties? The pillowcases are handmade from seam to seam, and the lace is hand attached. The embroidery is from an iron on pattern, but is hand-done as well.

Old-ish things #s 2, 3, and 4:

The blankies. That pink one was made for me by my grandmother. It's a treasure.

I made the other two. The super colorful one with all those tiny squares I made for Mr. Crafty some years ago. What love. Those squares are tiny. I mean tiny. I made it sitting for hours and hours at this old wooden table in a crowded house with five roommates, none of them too happy about the space being taken up in such a way.

The one with the brownish tones I made one summer when I didn't have enough to do. It's very plain, made with large squares. Not terribly interesting, but functional.

What's on your bed? (Or is that too personal a question?)

Knitting and Tea

I'm starting a new project: a sweater made out of the lovely Rowan DK below. I'll be selling the pattern eventually, and surely blogging about it a lot more as it progresses, as I always find the opinions of my readers so helpful.

In fact, I'm going to ask y'all your opinions right now. Which buttons? The buttons in question would be a detail for a sleeve cuff, not for the front of the sweater. It's a zippered cardigan (for now at least), so the fastening of that part is taken care of.

They are both ceramic, both about 3/4 inches. The button with the clouds is stamped SODA on the back. I got it and three others just like it at Renegade. The bottom button with the apple blossoms is made by Amy, of Red Raven Studios. I have several more just like it, as well.

On another note, we've had a lovely Sunday thus far. We stopped for tea; tea like the British tea, as in we had tea with food. My favorite place in Chicago for this kind of adventure is Julius Meinl. They bring you lovely old fashioned trays of tea with everything arranged just so:

I had a black tea with vanilla bean pieces, which would not have been complete without honey:

I took a picture of my fabulous meal, too. Fancy grilled cheese on French shepherd's bread with caramelized onions and a roasted asparagus and Fall vegetable salad:

I know... it's just mean of me to show you all that...

Hadley Making Out Like a Bandit

I used to have one of those houses where everyone hung out. We never locked the back door, and folks would come over any old time for any old thing. We'd have potlucks and hang out on the kitchen floor for hours. We'd sit by the wood burning stove and drink beer, or coffee, or tea all weekend. When people were in between homes they'd sleep on my floor, when they had fights with their partners they'd mope on my back stoop.

It was awesome.

These days we don't have too many house guests. It's not that the house is any less inviting, I don't think, just that most people have gone and grown up. They can afford hotels, or they have children and feel a crying infant would be an imposition. All that, and we moved.

A couple weekends ago we had some awesome house guests, and it was sort of like old times, even though the friends visiting were recently acquired. Cosy and Amy, of Cosy Knits Literally and Red Raven Studios, respectively, came and crashed in the living room for the weekend of the Renegade Craft Fair. They shared a booth at the fair, and their wares combined created an unstoppably gorgeous force of awesomeness. Seriously, look at their stuff and then imagine it all laid out in a tent on a lovely summer day.

You know the second most awesome thing about having crafty people sleeping in your living room? They pay you in stuff. I didn't need to be paid, really. The fun of having company is enough for me, really, but I wasn't going to turn down all this:

Cosy gave me a hunky skein and a hat:

The hat is so soft, and makes me feel like a woodland sprite:

Amy gave me loads of beautiful buttons and two pairs of equally beautiful earrings. Her photos, though lovely, don't do her pieces justice. They're hand-made from porcelain and vintage decals. She makes them in her basement studio. Sometime I'd like to go there and see these things from birth to kiln:

Aren't you jealous?

We had so much fun eating and chatting (the first most awesome thing about crafty house guests) and playing Apples to Apples. That latter activity was largely an indulgence on Cosy and Amy's part, I think. I never get to play the game, you see, as it is a four person game, and it seems the older people get the less willing they are to play silly games. So we'll make playing boardgames the third most awesome thing about having crafty house guests.