Pumpkin Cake and Candy Corn Fingerless Mitts

Weezalana at Ravelry gives a free, quick pattern for fingerless mitts on this website. It was fun to put in a few cabled stitches, but the screaming colors in the yarn obfuscated don't let those cables shine through.                So why would you NOT wear fingerless mitts? (Don't answer that.)

Here is my pair:

Jelliebean sold me the blue Faced Leicester 4 ply sock yarn, individually hand painted by none other than Jelliebean herself.  We passed pounds under the table in Cardiff, Wales, at the Knit Up held at a pub this month for this and other yarn bounty. It was great fun and the beer and camaraderie made it even more festive!

Jelliebean Yarns and her dye partner can be found here on Etsy - All Things Handmade.  I previously purchased some yarn from her long before I met her in the flesh, so it was a treat to get to meet that talented young lady while traveling.

Now for more orange goodness, go to Cooks.com for a sweet pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting.

Yes, it has lots of butter and cream cheese and sugar in the frosting.  That is why it is so delicious.  My bargain is that I won't eat any  too much leftover Halloween candy if I eat cake.  But, my, my, that pumpkin cake is good.  We'll see if we can keep it around a day or two.

Can you tell that Libby is not crazy about the doorbell ringing tonight for tricksters? She and Mercy get in such a frenzy over that noise.

Nephew Jackson McCarroll Williams Arrived!

Proud Grampa Mac put together this video.  God bless you all.

Susan Howatch and Knitting While Listening to her on Audio

Susan Howatch is another of my favorite authors.  Howatch was introduced to me (her writings, not her person) by my SIL Charlotte.  We both read one of her book set series several years ago.  That series is entitled "The Church of England", or the "Starbridge Series", and can be found here.  Howatch has many more books that I need to catch up on.

From that same site:

Susan Howatch was born in Surrey in 1940. After taking a degree in law she emigrated to America where she married, had a daughter and embarked on a career as a writer. She left in 1976 and lived in the Republic of Ireland for four years before returning to England. She lived in Salisbury - inspiration for the very successful Starbridge sequence and now lives in Leatherhead, Surrey.

Howatch's Facebook page has thousands of fans, and is fun to peruse occasionally to see how her thoughts are still effecting others.

All this to say that I just purchased a download of her book The Rich Are Different (recorded in 2009, written in 1977).  It is 28 hours long, so will be good company as I knit up The Sage Remedy Top from Ravelry in this Hyacinth Blue colorway from KnitPicks:

The hyacinth color has some red tints in the blue and is working up nicely. Wool of the Andes (a workhorse in the KnitPicks line) shows up the stitch definition.

This is designer Sarah Sheperd's version of the finished top:

I really like this pattern because it will hide my lymphedemic left arm and flat chest since it will be layered over a turtleneck, and has extra fullness to hide all kinds of body flaws.  You know what I'm talking about, girls.