The October Post

I realize it's been a really looooong time since I've posted, but I have a lot to share, so I apologize in advance for the lengthy post.

It's one of those pretty perfect autumn days. Sure, it's pouring down rain, but that just gives me even more of an excuse to stay inside and bake, knit and sew.  October has always been one of my favorite months here in the Northwest, the days starting long and warm and then turning dark but cozy at the end of the month. This October has gone by more quickly than I could believe, but a lot has been going on around here! We finally bought a house! It's set to close next month, and while it's been extremely stressful dealing with all the red tape (which I'm sure you know all about if you've ever bought a home) it's so exciting! And yes, there will even be a sewing room for me:)  

So in between all the boxes and packing I've even managed to finish a quilt top. It feels good to work on something so simple and satisfying. It's just a tumbler pattern, but made with lots of my favorite prints from the cream-beige-brown-black-blue-red color palette I'm currently obsessed with.

I'm hoping to mop the floor of this house one final time tomorrow before we move so I can baste the top, and hopefully have a finished quilt to show off soon.

I did actually finish a new sweater for me this week too! My brother took a few goofy shots of me outside yesterday before the torrential rains set in.

The cardigan is called Golden Wheat by the fabulous Veera Valimaki. It was an absolute pleasure to knit in this madelinetosh merino/cashmere/nylon blend and I see it becoming a real wardrobe staple. I'm really pleased with how this came out, which is not always the case with everything I knit. The color is called Cousteau, in case you were wondering.

And it's not really fall to me until I've baked some Harvest Squash Bread. These loaves turned out perfectly today, and one of them will be off to our winery for the crush crew tomorrow.

Mark has been crazy busy with wine harvest right now. Making wine is a ton of dirty grunt work so it's awesome to see him getting such great recognition, like in the latest issue of Wine & Spirits magazine. Mark Ryan Winery was named one of the Top 100 Wines in the World in 2011!

And of course I have to show off the little people. It's amazing I'm getting anything done with these two around. Between potty training and chasing one very busy two year old, and nursing this baby the crafting hours are few and far between (and if anyone has tips for getting a baby to take a bottle please bring it on!). My saving grace is that Olivia still likes to nap quite a bit, so if I can time the two naps together some sewing gets done - housework can wait, right?

Olivia is almost 18 weeks old and I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone by.

So that's what's going on around here. I promise I'll have more quilty/crafty stuff to show you again someday, but thanks for hanging in there with me in the meantime:)