Stitch and Itch

Things are changing around here!  Leaves, anyway.

I love, love, love this time of year.  Nights and mornings are comfortably in the 40s, and then we climb by 30 degrees during the day.  Windows open and the fresh breeze comes in.  There are pumpkins and changing leaves, but also plenty of flowers in the garden.  This means insects!  Lots of spotted cucumber beetles that, in the chill of the night, burrow deep into dahlia blossoms.

Unfortunately, I haven't been out much.  I'm entering week #3 of the Infernal Itch.  My bites have all scabbed over, and itch terribly in the process of healing.  Thankfully, days aren't bad, but nights are still pretty miserable.  I did some reading and discovered that our natural anti-inflammatory hormone, cortisol, is highest in the morning and lowest at night.  For going on three weeks now, I haven't been able to sleep through the night and have to get up multiple times to reapply lotion.  I'm already a light sleeper, and it's sometimes hard to fall asleep after an itch session.  Interrupted sleep has definitely taken a toll, but on the positive side, co-owning a business means that I have some daytime flexibility, and someone to help pick up the slack a bit.  Also, being awake for hours at night has some benefits...I read fourteen books last month!  With some assistance...

These wild kittens keep me on my toes, too.

choosing an obvious place...behind my computer...to wrestle

Barnabas, too, requires a snuggle during his naptime

We didn't have much of an apple harvest this year...

...between the dry weather and the flock of blue jays that seemed to sample each and every apple.  Plenty to make a few batches of cinnamon apple baked oatmeal, at least!  And I've been doing a little bit of fall baking.  One thing I love to do is make browned butter.  It gives a rich, nutty flavor to baked goods...and it's so easy to make!

Browning butter is simply whisking it over heat for a few minutes to create a reaction with the sugars and proteins.  It bubbles for a while...

browning too quickly around the edges...had to turn it down!

...and quickly turns a deep, dark amber.  Immediately remove it from heat and transfer it into a glass container to stop the cooking.  It doesn't take more than a few seconds to go from browned butter to burnt butter!

I put this into the refrigerator to re-solidify, and then folded it into my coconut oatmeal cookie dough batter.  Perfection!

Knitting is a great activity for a grumpy insomniac.  My favorite socks, knitted a few years ago in South Carolina, accidentally got ruined in the wash.  They fit so beautifully and were so missed...

...that I decided to knit another pair. I love brown and pink together, so I tried this combination.  

The contrast just wasn't strong enough.  I frogged the pink section and knitted a few sample swatches.  This is a pattern that begs for strong variegated yarn!  A swatch was a good idea.  The colors below were fine, but there was just too much drape in the yarn.

Ah, now THIS is a strong selection!  Festive for the season, too.

It goes well with the tan and I'm excited to see how it turns out!

Back on antihistamines tonight and here's hoping for some better-quality sleep, although Calliope will miss our occasional afternoon couch sessions.

Have a great week!