the comeback

Posted on annePosted in designing, food and garden, lace/shawls, projects

i don’t know about where you live, but here in ohio, the end of summer has been nothing short of glorious—stunning skies, comfortable temperatures, fresh breezes, and a bit of chill at night (but not too much). we had a beautiful summer, everyone agrees, but the early fall has been simply stellar.

even in a good year, august is a tough month for the garden here; my plants always look pretty bedraggled (if not dead) by labor day. however, while much of the garden has yellowing, spotty, or even mildewed leaves and large patches of plantings have succumbed to going totally brown, when september comes, it all takes a turn for the better. and at a slower pace that we can enjoy in constant daily doses

suddenly there is new green growth at the tops of the tomato plants, complete with flowers and ripening fruit. i’m especially grateful for that this year—whilst the big tomato plants produced way more than we could ever use ourselves, my cherry tomatoes quietly refused to put out at the usual rate. my stores of dried cherry tomatoes are pretty paltry right now, but things are looking up

the bushes are once again filled with bunches of plump fruit in every shade of green-to-red and they are beginning to ripen at a rapid pace once again. i should be able to dry more before the frost puts an end to them for good.

fresh new starts can be spied almost everywhere else in the garden as well—the eggplants are virtually loaded with flowers and new fruit; a few heirloom tomato plants i thought were done are now showing new signs of life

and—can you believe it?? the winter squash, which looked all but decimated a couple of weeks back, are putting our new little squashes again—is this not the cutest thing ever?

(BTW, i can’t stop drooling over the color scheme in that photo, especially the muddy gray-brown of that shriveled leaf in the background . . .). i don’t know if these squashes have a chance of growing to maturity, but you never know . . .

the nice thing about all this is that it’s coming in at a rate that we can actually use for cooking meals—an eggplant or two here, a few little squashes there (yes, the summer squash are still producing), a couple pints of tomatoes at a time instead of a half-bushel a day

now that the freezer is full to bursting and i don’t have all that excess to deal with, i can spend more of my cooking time putting together great dishes for actual dinners. it’s really nice.
we’ve been taking full advantage of a wide variety of smaller pickings to make meals—everything from a quickie lunch

(we were out of lettuce, so i opted this time for a cheese-and-tomato melt, mmmm)
to more complex combinations that leave us with plenty of leftovers.

last night we had an absolutely awesome (and fiery) curry of eggplant, hot peppers, sweet peppers, roasted tomatoes, summer squash, swiss chard, with a handful of green beans thrown in (the sum total of the harvest from our few bean plants, hahaha). the only thing in it we didn’t grow were the chick peas and spices.

today i finally pulled up some of the scallions i planted back in may—i was just too busy doing heavier garden work all summer to remember to use these (it’s the first year i grew them). but today i was making quiche to bring to a friend’s house and realized i should add them in.

oh glory be.
i can never go back now—scallions from the garden?? why isn’t everyone talking about them??
all i can say is—wow. who knew?
i know i sound like a crazy woman, but you really had to be here when they were caramelizing this morning—such perfume, really. and the taste . . . well, let’s just say the quiche add-ins almost didn’t make it into the quiche. i sauteed them with baby squash slices and the very tops of the swiss chard leaves i used in the curry. i’m going to have to remember that mix for a side dish.

i dotted the top with a few cherry tomatoes—i’m hoping they’ll pop open with a bright burst of flavor in the mouth when we eat it.

i’m taking this to knitting night at debby’s house. susie, too bad you’re missing it . . .

speaking of knitting . . . i actually do have some to show you.

the anxiously-awaited last skein of canopy yarn arrived from kate yesterday and i wound it up almost right out of the envelope, yay. i finished up the last few body rows and got about halfway around the shawl hem on the edging last evening

see how it just reaches out to hold your hand? the vixen . . .

i also did some more swatching with the dusk yarn from knitting notions. i think i’ve pretty much settled on making a v-neck pullover now, so all i have to do is decide which stitch pattern i like best. i have two swatches that are appealing in this yarn—the one i showed you the other day, now in a better photo

the advantage of this fabric is that it’s a rib—a soft, lacy one. so it keeps its pattern definition when it’s stretched, but the openwork keeps it from being too stiff or rigid (or hot). it will hug the body, but not too tightly.

now i remembered another favorite knit/purl pattern that i thought might look nice in this yarn and i think you’ll like it, because i sure do—remember roger?

i love it. it’s a little easier to work than the cable fabric (though that’s not a deal-breaker for me) and awfully, awfully appealing. it does not have the same stitch definition when stretched, but it doesn’t completely fall apart in looks either. and it’s really fun to knit. my question would be: is this fabric too busy for a larger garment like a sweater? i’ve used it in a sweater before and liked it, but does it suit all body types? teyani and i had a fascinating email discussion the other night that got me thinking about these kinds of questions . . .

because i like either of these stitch patterns equally well, but if one of them is overwhelmingly objectionable to a large number of people, it would be great to know.

ok, you know what? i just realized i gotta run—time to go eat quiche. i don’t think i even have time to proofread this so please forgive me in advance . . .

30 thoughts on “the comeback”

  1. That quiche looks fantastic. I like the Roger pattern, but that is probably because I like more ease in my sweaters and stay away from anything that hugs the body. I just got the bee baby blanket kit from Kim in that lovely yellow you made. My husband is having a great grandchild–making me the step-great grandmother–total fun.

  3. I want to be there for your knit night! (And not just ’cause of the quiche.) I love both of those motifs, but there’s something about the second one that particularly appeals to me. I think it would make for a visually interesting sweater, without being too bulky or (a clincher for me with my body) clingy — just enough pull-in to hug, without squeezing, you know? A v-neck, eh? I do like me a v-neck…

  4. Hmmm…I seem to be in the minority. Being in the somewhat large and curvy category myself, I sort of like the first of the motifs. I feel as though it would look more slimming in a large size. The bulging shapes in the second swatch remind me a little too much of my own bulgy shape.

    The pictures of your garden and its produce have been just stunning this summer.

  5. I like both the motifs, but they have very different feels. What are you going for? Undulating, quirky, sensual or solid, settled, forceful?

    And thanks for the tip on drying cherry tomatoes that you described some time ago. After crisping one batch to inedibility (yes, I know you are actually supposed to remove them from the oven BEFORE going to bed), I did a lovely bunch of little tomato raisins that will make our MN winter seem a bit shorter.

  6. I am seriously missing cables and your socks are poking me, reminding me I have a cabled project to finish. I love cables but I am afraid I will never use the finished project. I think it’s time to frog and rework ..

  8. I prefer the second swatch as well because I think the first one doesn’t show off the stitch work and the yarn as well. I forget the gauge for this project but a finer (not aran) weight would work for curvier bodies depending on the shaping put in (side shaping seems a must). Also, the way you incorporate the pattern into the v-neck is important. I love v-necks but I think it’s more flattering to emphasize the vee with an elegant opening — just splitting the ribbing in the first swatch to either side wouldn’t do it for me but I can imagine a nice solution with the second swatch.

  9. I’m not sure which I’d rather bite into – the curry or the quiche. Ok…how about details on the spices in the curry?
    🙂
    I’m dying to try it with my abundance of eggplant.

    Have you considered a second – food – blog?
    (((hugs)))

  10. I prefer the cabled swatch! The second reminds me of the maze sweater, more–the first is decidedly different, for me.

    Not like you don’t have enough to blog already, but half the time you post a recipe I avidly wish I had the recipe. This curry is definitely one of those. If you ever feel short of material, please consider telling us more about it!

  11. YUM! Curry! Quiche! YUM! I shouldn’t have read your blog before fixing my own dinner…made me fix too much to compensate for all the drooling! LOL

    I really like both swatches and couldn’t make a choice nor tell you why I made that choice. So I brought in my DH to get his opinion. Like Sarah R. above, I am on the large and “voluptuous” side. I asked my DH which stitch pattern he thought would look best on me. (He’s a great fashion editor when it comes to my clothing, so I trust his judgement.) DH said the top one, the cabled swatch, would be best because it has a consistent verticle line causing a slimming effect. The “Roger” swatch was much too busy for his taste and the hint of horizontal lines would never work except for the small, “svelt” ones like you.

    So now you have a man’s opinion as well. Me? I think I like the “Roger” stitch pattern better, though I agree with DH that it would NEVER work in a garment for me.

  12. oh that garden of yours – we should just call it temptation and be done with it (or should that be the name of the shawl that is being knit that is such a vixen!).
    Your quiche looks like heaven in a bite,

    and I suspect that either of those patterns will be stunning in a v-neck sweater.
    After we spoke, I went back and took a look at what sweaters I have made that I truly wear – and they are all pullovers, and most have a higher neckline… so don’t go by me! (hah hah hah) I tend to love the rolled neck type, and yes, ones that hug the body.

  15. okay, shallots may make the cut for the garden here next year. must look into when to plant them in portland…

    oh, and what kind of person are you? the kind whose exuberance gets the rest of us excited. thanks!

  16. I like both swatches, but am not sure I would use either one for a sweater for myself… The second one reminds me a lot of the maze sweater and has the same feel so it would look good – but I’d go bigger and make myself a blanket with that one. The first one could be used as side pannels maybe or some kind of accent? I’d make a scarf with it myself – it looks so comfy and squishy!

    Good thing I’d already eaten before reading your post – the food looks scrumptious!

  17. How about 2 (TWO) V-necks? Or, 1 in a V and the other in a pullover? Both swatches are enticing so I still couldn’t say which I like better. Those veggies are yummy looking! Blight has ruled in my garden. OH well, Next year….

  21. Ooohhh…the quiche looks scrumptious! We are due to have a hard frost tonight so my day was spent pulling up all of the basil, picking all of the corn and butternut squash. I covered the beans and the lettuce and am praying that they make it. 🙂

  22. Yum. Does anybody else see the colors of that baby squash photo in a hand-dyed sock yarn??

    I like the first cable swatch better than the second one. I like the looks of the second one in a smaller format like the Roger sock, but in a sweater I’m not sure it would appeal to me.

  27. My mother texted me today saying she was busy coping with a tomato influx. I thought of you!
    As for the swatches, my body type–shall we say, well-rounded–looks much better in fitted garments with small motifs. I would definitely go for swatch number one.

  28. Makes me hungry…that vegetable curry is exactly the kind of thing I love to eat.
    We have been in the process of converting our garden from all flowers to somewhere fit for vegetable growing, but in a completely biodynamic way.so have, this year, rested the soil and fed it with compost – including homemade. Your photos have regularly given me inspiration, including the colours!
    And the knitting too,of course.

  29. Wow! Look at all those tomatoes!! Yummmm! I’m envious of your scallions – 2nd year that they didn’t work out for me. 🙁 I must be doing something wrong… Yours looks great – enjoy!

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