Midsummer at Casa de Knitionary means the garden is in full throttle and we are in the water-weed-harvest-repeat mode.  July is the prettiest time in our garden, and while the work never ends, we enjoy it all.  The weather has been so nice; it's pretty much always nice but we never forget to be grateful for it.  We recently attended a party to honor twelve newly retired servicemen, none of whom live in California but were here taking a Stanford University course designed to integrate service men and women back into the changing work force.  The one thing they all marveled over was our beautiful weather. We are proud of our mild, sunny days, and of course immensely proud of our men and women who serve our country in the armed forces.  It was an honor to meet these terrific young men.

Garden Details

the giant tomato I'm holding is a Black Krim, beyond delicious

the sunflowers are pollenless Moulin Rouge

 

the cherry tomatoes are Sun Gold

the vegetable casserole is a summer standard around here and is my variation

of Ina Garten's Vegetable Tian

I profess an undying love for pesto and make a traditional one with
the basics: basil, garlic, salt, pine nuts, parmesan, and olive oil
but I'll share my two tips for making a great pesto even better:
lightly toast the pine nuts and at the end add the juice of half a lemon;
toasting the pine nuts gives a fuller flavor, and the hint of lemon gives a fresh finish--
or for a variation add a few mint leaves for a hint of mint,
or some nasturtium leaves for a peppery kick
here's my recipe


I've never been crazy about melon so I wrap prosciutto

around fresh summer stone fruit--this summer try a plum or a peach!

most requested quickie summer dinner

is tuna salad on tomato slices

summery stuffed bell peppers 

for the best crunchy/salty summer snack

shake a tablespoon of soy sauce into a cup,

add small cucumbers quartered lengthwise
~you're welcome~

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I can't tell you how much I love my new Soho shrug and these pictures!  My model and I had so much fun styling her outfit and creating the poses.  I'm sure you recognize Jessica as my across-the-street neighbor, and as busy as she is, she always finds time to come over and play dress-up.  So here's the story with the sweater:  Soho is from Martin Storey's beautiful Easy DK Knits that came out last year and is a pattern book I would call an essential classic--there are so many timeless, wearable sweaters. The pattern called for Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK but I saw it more as evening wear so I knit it with Kidsilk Haze Eclipse doubled. Eclipse is KSH with a bit of a sparkle thread running through it.  It's gorgeous and I love it, but sadly the yarn is retired. The savvy shopper can still find it on Ravelry, eBay and some shops. That, and making tapered, set-in, top-down sleeves instead of bell sleeves with sleeves sewn in the traditional way were my only modifications.  I intended this to be a little evening sweater, but I found myself popping it on when I was heading to the grocery store and meeting my friend for lunch, etc., so decided to make another, more casual one in the recommended Rowan Superwash DK in a pale gray-blue.  That one is still in the works.

Do you like the tulle skirt?  Here's the skirt story:  Last year I found myself shopping in San Francisco at Neiman Marcus with none other than my husband.  (I almost never step into a NM and never with my husband.  His eyes fairly popped out of his head at the prices and he still talks about the dress shirt with a $1000 price tag that he almost tried on.)  On that day I saw a black ballerina length tulle skirt that I wanted so much, but the price tag that was so much out of my league that I didn't dare even touch it. Once home, my mission was clear: find a look-alike skirt for one-tenth the price or less. While I gave my local shops a chance, this was clearly a job for the internet. There were dozens of choices and I finally settled on this beauty that cost something like $50.  I wore it a half-dozen times last Christmas season. Jessica styled it with her own puppy dog shirt and my shrug and she just looked darling in it!

I have a few dolls that sit on the shelves in my sewing room and I try to remember to change their clothes with the season.  This year laziness caused me to bypass their spring wardrobe change altogether and yesterday I shocked them right from winter to summer.  Every summer I notice that my girls don't have a patriotic sweater to wear and every summer I promise that "next year I'll knit something in red, white, and blue."  Finally did!  I used my own free pattern Snickerdoodle and used scraps of Rowan wool/cotton in royal blue and Rowan Pure Wool DK in white and red.   If you like to knit doll clothes,  I have quite a few free patterns you can access here on this blog or here on Ravelry.

To my American readers:  Happy Independence Day and hope it's filled with sunshine and fun!  My contribution to Monday's bar-be-que potluck will a strawberry shortcake made with buttermilk biscuits, sliced berries and whipped cream.  Simple is best!