Kool-Aid Dying & Pesto Rolls

At our monthly Urban Farmgirls meeting last night, we were graced with the highly-talented Mama Grouch who taught us all to needle felt. Well, she taught most everyone how to needle felt. I, on the other hand, was miserable at needle felting. My bat was a blob, but I will persevere and try again with the piles of Kool-Aid colored roving that I got in my needle felting kit. Ma Grouch put together this amazing kit for us, filled with all of the things that we need to keep doing this fun project on our own (it truly is fun, I just spent too much time talking instead of felting last night...hmm...that sounds an awful lot like my 3rd grade report card).

So I totally love needle felting (I do, I swear, I just need to practice), but I think I may possibly love Kool-Aid dying more. Ma Grouch and I spent two afternoons with our baby boys dying piles and piles of roving with simple packets of Kool-Aid. My hands were bright red after we were done (and Jackson was the one who determined when we were done, you saw that coming) and her kitchen was starting to smell like a psychedelic barn (animal hair and cherry-flavored drink?!), but it was fun, fun, fun. You must try it. (Go here for an insane amount of information on needle felting and Kool-Aid dying from Ma Grouch herself. She's the pro!)

As usual, our gathering was a potluck and I made these Pesto Rolls. They turned out pretty good, except I would have preferred some whole wheat flour in there (we were out). They were good enough to share the recipe with you all though, so here you go:
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Youth Farm & Market Project Pesto Rolls
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup baking yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 3-4 cups whole wheat and/or unbleached bread flour
• about 3/4 cup pesto (I used my own homemade pesto, that recipe is for another day!)

Add yeast, salt and honey to water, allow to sit until bubbly (about 5-8 minutes). When bubbly and active, add flour. Dough should be soft and pliable but not sticky. Add more flour as needed, and knead until smooth. Let rise in bowl for about a half hour.

Roll dough into large rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Spread pesto to cover dough to about 1/2 inch from the edge. Roll across the widest part of the rectangle, be gentle, but careful to roll tightly. Slice with a serrated knife about 1/2 inch thick. Lay flat on oiled baking pan and bake in a 375 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes.
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Jackson is crawling everywhere now. The babyproofing is going full-force and I'm getting pretty creative with finding things to block his path until we get all of the rooms done. The kitchen, for example, is not done and yet that is the one place he always wants to be. So the exersaucer is now a wonderful gate (yes, I know...until he learns to push the exersaucer!). The babyproofing list is long, but we're getting there, bit by bit.

We play a lot of peekaboo, as you can see here. He's also very good at getting himself stuck under this side table now. We're still in the "rescuing" mode, though he learns a little more everyday about how to get out/recover from his falls. Yesterday he pushed away from two nursing sessions in lieu of just going to sleep or eating his solid foods at his highchair. Could it be? Could this baby really be interested in weaning himself? It's a bit early at just barely nine months, so I'm not closing the bar yet. They say "they grow up quickly," but it's pretty unbelievable how quickly they grow until you're watching your own grow up right before your eyes.
My baby is now (finally) sleeping soundly in his crib that we just had to lower to the final setting (since he pulled his mobile down yesterday...he's getting pretty tall in there!). This nap was a fight, but it's so sweet to look at him and watch him breathe when he sleeps. He still looks like a baby, even though he's trying to grow up so fast!

Here's a sneak peak at my socks that I'm knitting up with my new sock yarn from La Verna. I scrapped the toe-up version since this is just the second pair of socks I've done. I was spending too much time searching for a good toe-up pattern, learning about different casting-on techniques and thought that these socks would never get finished during Socktoberfest if I didn't get started. I'm digging the k3p1 ribbing on the cuff and the merino wool is so soft.

Can I finish them by month's end? If I can keep my busy little hands from starting up the other projects swirling in my head at the same time, then there may be hope.

I said, if.