WHEE

Planty school kicks butt. i LOVE it.

Mush

Yesterday we took a hike and found some more mushrooms! It started out as a nice dry hike, but after about 45 minutes we got soaked. Good thing it was warm out, otherwise we would have froze!


We took home a small amount of this Hen of the Woods mushroom. We sauteed it and put it on a homemade pizza. I am not a big fan of the taste, but Mike liked it. This mushroom had lots of little bugs in it too that were really hard to get out. I feel bad cuz I think I broke up their little bug family.


There were some fresh puffballs and we found this little baby one. It is just enough for four people, fried as steaks. By the way, these are my new hiking shoes and they are the awesomest shoes Ive ever ever ever had. They are light, aerated, and are perfect for slippery rocks and wet conditions. You are not really supposed to wear socks with them, but I am crazy.


Here is where things start getting rainy. I saw this orange mass and was not sure about it. It looked like it was dying anyways.


The main gravel trail has turned into a swimming pool. I think Ive found another explanation for the stupid "orb in photo equals ghost" craze. If you dont know what I'm talking about, click here. It's moisture in the air, most certainly. Usually I dont get lots of orbs, but after having water all around and on my camera, this certainly makes a good case.


Slammer doesnt like being wet.



Super spy photos of fox up ahead. I was nervous it was a coyote, so I made sure we stayed waayyy back since we had Slammer.
Planty classes start tomorrow!

Redos

Yesterday I finished up making my other finished sweaters more wearable. FEFI got some tighter buttonholes, and my Lucky wrap got a new band to hold it together. Lucky was really slouchy on me and made me look A. boobless B. homely and C. disheveled. I had to reknit the band that goes across, since it ripped as I was taking out the seaming. I like it much better now, even though its different than what its supposed to look like. I have a bunch of gathering in the shoulders now, which make it hold up very nicely, and give it a little bit of poof. I think I like it, but what do you all think?? Sorry its a crappy photo!

puffball soup

For Chuck M, here is how I made puffball soup. Good luck on your hunt!
Basically I followed this recipe. Here is what I changed:
Used 4 pearl onions instead of one large.
Used light cream and skim milk, was slightly more watery of course.
Ditched the seaweed. I made about 1 cup (dry) of wild rice and mixed that in after the soup was finished cooking over, and added a few dashes of dried tarragon, along with salt to taste. Mine was a little heavy on the tarragon which made it a little overpowering, but still good. It tastes excellent with fresh baked bread!

Lacy Leaf Pullover, Finalized

I finally got around to blocking out the arms to the Lacy Leaf Pullover, so here she is, terrible seams and all!




I got the button today at Joann's, and then headed over to the Renegade craft fair. I didn't get anything, but there was also a farmers market going on, so we bought some spaghetti squash, and a whole head of a sunflower with seeds. Those are soaking while I dream up some fancy way to spice them. Slammer got to say hi to a lot of greyhounds which was cool too.
I've just been working on the collar band to the Lucky wrap, and that is going slowly, since I am not very excited about it. I contemplated sewing in some kind of ribbon instead, but I don't imagine that would look very good at all.

marquette

Marquette trip

beep

I finished seaming Lacy Leaf, and all thats left to do is block out the arms and find a perfect button. I still can't resist showing it off though. I think that the grafting looks mighty fine now, and luckily, where those crazy blobs were, ended up under the arms!

I really love the fit! The only thing I modified from the pattern is not binding off the top half after finishing, and adding a few extra inches to the bottom. Fits perfect! Official photos to come after the finishing process...
I also ripped out the collar to Lucky wrap because I just wasn't digging the way it was hangin off my shoulders. I'm gonna try to tighten that up a little and make it more wearable for me. Unfortunately I have to reknit the band, which is a 60" long, 13 stitch wide strip of ribbing. I remember the drudgery of that. Oh well...
Here it is all ravaged like..

And lastly, I ordered Slammer a new collar! I think she looks soo cute!

PUFFBALL!

This weekend we got in a bike ride at Palos. It was pretty rainy but still a nice ride. A super plus was that there was mushrooms all over the place again. This time there was one I could actually positively identify. We took home a giant puffball mushroom, and there were tons of em there. There was one that was about a foot and a half in diameter! I couldn't believe it!
Anyways, here are some fun pics:
The elusive puffball:


Puffball extravaganza!


Stealing nature's goodies


Takes up a portion of my sink! Kinda looks like a skull, creepy.


Death of puffball


Puffball fry! Just coated in breadcrumbs and seasonings. This was very tasty!


Puffball, wild rice, and tarragon cream soup. Terrific!

I had to give about 1/3 of it to my neighbor, because I couldn't find any other use for it! I didn't feel like drying or freezing it. She was hesitant, but I'm sure she will love the taste.
Otherwise I've been trying to cook at home lots more. So far its working out well, starting with a fettucine alfredo with broccoli and mushrooms, and fried polenta. Today besides the mushroom stuff we made little pizza rolls! They were very good! Picture cinnamon buns, except with sauce and cheese and whatever. Very good and clever! Tomarrow will most likely be the mushroom soup with some baked bread. MMM!
As for the Lacy Leaf, I have not touched it yet. Thanks for the advice, Jody! Is there anything you DON'T know?? I'll give it a whirl this week, but I predict it will be a busy one!

aw dag

I knit those last 3" on the bottom half of Lacy Leaf today, and then decided to tackle the mighty grafting task.
I'm not sure what to think.. I guess my biggest concern/question is, do you all think blocking will solve this mess??
Here is the piece on, it fits perfectly.


Here is a zoom of the front (the worst half)


And here is a zoom of the back.

I'm not really sure blocking will help, but I'm also convinced redoing the grafting will not help it look much better. I must sleep now!