I am still here.  It was getting fudgy there for a while if I was or not though.  I love it when life gets chaotic for months on end.  BUT, I am back and feeling a lot better.  I feel a lot like I am re-emerging from a winter hibernation.  I feel renewed, and fresh starts seem to be a theme with me nowadays.

That said, I have decided to move back to typepad.  I just like it there better.  I won’t transfer this one over… not yet anyway.  So just starting, fresh.

http://merwenna.typepad.com

I’ve not necessarily been in a hole, but I have been very busy… and neglecting my blog once again.  I have got to stop that habit.   What have I been doing?  Hmm, well, you asked.

: : I became a staff writer over at The Daily Chum.

: : We’ve been enjoying Autumn, which includes many trips to the local cider mill.

: : Gathering and making for packages to Daddy.

: : Ogling my newest cookbook Apples for Jam.

: : Exploring the many forms of ‘making’.

I recently happened upon the most AMAZING cover song ever. It brought tears to my eyes (his voice!) and I have been listening to it incessantly since. Trust me, listen to it.

Regardless of the temperature outside right now (89 degrees!!), I can tell Autumn is drawing near. The slight tinge of red in the leaves, the days getting slowly shorter and shorter, and the produce at the grocery store. Autumn also marks the start of baking.  Bread, muffins, and the occasional sweet treat. To celebrate the season, here is a recently developed recipe of mine.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

1 c cooked, pureed pumpkin

1 c unsweetened applesause

1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

1/2 c buttermilk

1 2/3 c whole wheat pastry flour

1 /2 t salt

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t ground cloves

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t grated nutmeg (ground is fine too)

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl combine pumpkin, applesauce, sugar, eggs and buttermilk. Add the rest of the ingredients and then mix just until moist. DO NOT OVER MIX. Grease a muffin pan and fill each cup 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

Makes 12.

You can also easily add raisins or nuts if desired. 1/2 of those if you wish, folded in at end.  How do you celebrate the change of seasons?

Be safe, my love.  Even though 15 months seems so very far away, I know that time will go fast.  Be safe, and come back home.

After listening to the latest episode of the Lime&Violet podcast, I decided to mail the various vendors of Yarntini.  Maybe some luck would come my way since I have been coveting ‘Vintage’ something fierce!  Sure enough, one did have Yarntini in stock and, why yes, one was vintage.  I screamed (I know… but its vintage) and then got hit with the brilliant idea to ask if they had any other colorways.  And they did… quite a few, in fact.  I thought, well, since I am placing an order, why not order enough to get free shipping?  Brilliant!  And, I did, um, yeah.  Pleasantly, however, hubby was excited for me when the package came.  He knows.  And I love him for it.

Bad light and all, here are variegated sport weight Fig & Plum, Gimlet, and Vintage.   Mmm.

edited to add:  That is my hubby atop a firetruck ladder (is that the right name for it?) that is extended 80 feet off the ground.  Explanations always help, my bad!

Apparently, the answer I asked at the end of the previous post… is yes. I introduce to you, my brand new Nikon D40.

I love this camera and I looking forward to developing a relationship with it. Oh, the places we shall go!

As for knitting, I am still working on the hood of the hoodie. Here is a picture of the progress… you can see how the body came out.

Olivia is working on her first knitting project: a winter scarf for daddy to take with him when he leaves again (Sept4, wow that is coming fast…this time will be for 15 months). So sweet.

Other than that, we have been trying to spend as much time together as possible. Have a great weekend!

I have a black Olympus Stylus Verve camera. I love it. The picture quality was excellent, it’s amazingly portable (it fit in the palm of my hand), and for such a small camera, it had a lot of great features. For three years, it was love.

After having kiddos, I realize how much I want to get back into photography (I was very into it in high school). As great as my camera is, it just doesn’t have the versatility as an SLR. I have been researching the different ones to see the specs, and though I have not figured out which one, I think I have narrowed it down to two brands. While all of this research has been going on, one day my hubby drops the camera… on the cement. No damage to the case, but the little piece that keeps the battery firmly locked into place…. yeah it broke off. To take pictures I have to open the battery flap, and manually hold the battery in place while taking the photo. Being a masochist up to the challenge, I have been taking pictures like this for about a month.

What does this have to do with anything? Today I finished the body of the Cabo Hoodie I am working on. I am loving how it turned out, I fixed it by alternating rows with two skeins (with the approval of the girlie). When I go to get the camera, I can’t find it. It is not on the computer desk (where I normally have it), not in my current purse… or my most recent past two purses, nor is it in the purse I took to New York City two weeks ago (I see no reason to explain my purses…. I do not have a problem, ahem). Vanished. I think the fairies took it.

So, my question to you, my friends, is doesthisjustifymetogetanslr? I guess you shall find out soon!

I am in a predicament.  I cast on a Cabo Hoodie for my daughter.  The yarn is amazing:  Ellyn Cooper’s Yarn Sonnets Peru Cotton in ‘Earthenware’.  I am knitting and realize there have been too many stitches cast on, so I frog and redo.  No problem.  The second time was all I needed to work the pattern magic.  The yarn is looking great… all pretty and mottled, I am very excited about this sweater.  So, what’s the problem you ask?  Well, once I get to the body, the yarn pools.  BIG time.  And I am not too sure I care for it.

Here is a better pic of the pooling:

I am just not too sure what to do about it.  Frog it?  I don’t really want to since I have started the second ball already.  Abandon it?  No, this yarn is far too pretty to sit away for all eternity.  Suck it up and keep going?  I could… but I don’t like it.  My husband says, “Well… it looks homemade.”  Umm, thanks honey, but that is not quite what I am after.

If you read this blog, could you please give me advice and your honest opinion?  What would YOU do?

I think I will put this aside for a bit and work on some socks.  That is always therapeutic, right?