Mittens and Pumpkins, but not Pumpkins in Mittens

Knitted over a month ago, but perfect for the season:


I got a little help:


And, lest you think I forgot to make thumbs and instead only made two hats for a baby conehead:


I bought the yarn from Cosy. Aren't the colors beautiful? Wearing these is like wearing cotton candy on my fingers; a bit of the county fair to last me the winter.

This was my first time knitting with handspun. I see now why it has such a following: the whole knitting experience is even more organic and wholesome with the knowledge of where the yarn began. I'm thinking of taking up spinning, myself, just to see what I might produce given the materials. Adrian's handspun sweaters are quite an inspiration.

I grew up in the country, surrounded by cows and cornfields. I then moved to a very rural area of Arizona, a state that is largely undeveloped. I find it interesting that, now that I'm living in Chicago, I'm moving closer to the origins of my foods and fibers than ever before: I've joined a CSA, I'm buying local wools, and my clothes even come from the fashion designer who lives downstairs. I like the anomaly of my urban life being greener than my country life.

At any rate, the CSA has been giving me lots of pumpkins:


Thus far we've made pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin soup. We've also frozen pumpkin puree. Good thing the cat likes to eat it, or we might be drowning in the stuff. It's also good that I love pumpkins, yes?

I've gotten my first set of recipes from the recipe swap, and am looking forward to more. Jada sent recipes that were good for the wallet and the olfactory senses, as hers came repleat with dried lavender. I sent my recipes out to both groups, so don't be surprised if you get a package from me, folks.