This weekend I made...

This weekend I made four loaves of honey whole wheat bread,
two and a half pints of apple butter for canning,
butternut squash-apple-carrot-parsnip soup,
and a hat.
Funky Baby Hat

Yarn: Adriafil's Knitcol, color #49, 100% superwash merino
Pattern: "Topknot Baby Hat" from Amazing Threads yarn store
Gauge: 6 sts/in
Needles: US5 dpns + 16" circulars
Size: 15" around
Started: 11/9/08
Finished: 11/9/08

I adore this little self-striping, Fair Isle-esque hat for how cute it looks on Amelia but also for how quickly it knit up. After whipping through 6 inches of my brother's Christmas stocking in one night only to get hung up on the toe (went too far, have to un-knit...), it was nice to just fly through a project today. I managed to do this photo shoot just before the little girl went to bed too. She was smiley - I swear! - but something about the red light on the camera just before it takes the photo always wipes that smile off her face. Anyway, at least she has an adorable wool hat for the winter (25 degrees + flurries when we awoke this morning!).

Speaking of adorable baby hats, have YOU knit your hat for Save the Children's Knit One, Save One campaign yet this year? I'm going to knit another one of these, maybe two. The deadline is December 31.

(Thank you again to my Aunt Beth and cousins Carrie and Kelley for the gift card for Amazing Threads! After hearing about this yarn from Carrie, I knew I had to have some. That store is awesome!)
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Butternut Squash-Apple-Carrot-Parsnip Soup

Cut one butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, place on an oiled cookie sheet and roast in the oven at 450 degrees for about an hour. Let it cool until you can comfortably touch it with your hands without squealing. Scoop out roasted flesh and place in a bowl. Set aside. (It's okay to do this part way ahead; it can sit for a long while cooling down while you do the rest of the soup.)

Saute one diced red onion in some olive oil in a large soup pot until translucent. Add about four or five chopped parsnips, four or five chopped carrots, and two chopped apples (all of these are peeled) and let it all saute a bit more. Sprinkle some dried thyme all over the mixture while sauteing (1-2 tsp? however much fits between my finger and my thumb a couple of times into the jar); stir to coat completely. Add eight cups of water and about four tablespoons of vegetable broth powder. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Let it simmer for, oh, about however long it takes until the vegetables are tender.

Using a blender or food processor, puree the squash and vegetable mixture together (placing the finished puree in another soup pot, tureen or large bowl while you do the next batch). Once it's all pureed, determine if it's hot enough. If not, heat it up a little more. If it is, serve into soup bowls and immediately devour with crusty French bread, a hearty pumpkin beer and a green salad with feta cheese and kalamata olives (at least, that's what we did).