finished object, a rainy day, and muffins

First off, the finished object - Habitat by Jared Flood. I wore it today to the beach hoping that the rain would block it to my head all by itself. It may need some actual blocking some day, but for now it'll work!

It was a rainy summer day, warm and very wet, and we joined Outdoor Preschool at Outer Point for three hours of fun in the woods and on the beach. Here's Sophie with a limpet she found, right before she tried to stick it to her nose :)...

And then we came home and made muffins! My kind of rainy day. I used the recipe from the bag of Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran, and instead of whole wheat pastry flour I substituted 1/3 quinoa flour, 1/3 wheat germ, and 1/3 Bob's gluten free all-purpose flour, plus a handful of whole flax seeds. For the wet ingredients, I put a banana, three carrots, a handful of raisins, and a couple handfuls of walnuts together in the food processor and then mixed them in. I also halved the amount of sugar.

They turned out good, very tasty. The only thing is that every time I've tried to use the gluten free all-purpose flour, things turn out slightly burnt on the outside before they're done on the inside. Is there a trick to getting gluten-free things to turn out right? I'm not even doing all gluten-free, just trying to incorporate more alternative grains (other than wheat) into my baking.

tangled knitting

Or rather, knitting tangled. Or, never mind. This:

... is what I'm working on. It's the first time I've picked up needles in far too long, and it did take me a couple tries to get it going well, but I've got the hang of it back now. It's to be a hat, for myself (what? crazy talk), and it's called Habitat (not 'tangled'.... why do I keep thinking that?) by Jared Flood.

The yarn I bought in Portland, at the one and only yarn shop I went into, and it is in fact the one and only skein of yarn I bought in said shop. I was quite proud of myself for only coming out with one skein, and a skein with a purpose at that. I've been wanting a new hat, and there was a sample knit up in the shop of a hat out of this yarn, so it seemed it was meant to be. It's Blue Sky Alpacas worsted, half merino and half alpaca, and it's so soft and wonderful to knit with! I can't wait till it's done and I can wear it :)