Hey, it’s November already. Yes, yes it is. I know the last couple of weeks in October were kind of a blur, but you’ll just have to accept that time is slipping away and that the holiday season is fast approaching. The pumpkins-turned-Jack-o-lanterns are already withering away.
And now, here you are in November, with NaNoWriMo in full swing and only 53 days to finish all your Christmas knitting. Just what do you think you’re doing , casting on a project for yourself?
[ravelry]
I hope you and your little monsters have a perfectly gruesome Halloween!
Oh my goodness but this spinning thing is addictive. I mean, I knew that from before when I was doing it with my drop spindle, but holy mackerel, spinning on a wheel is like freebasing fiber.
And now I’m out of fiber*. What to do, what to do… Who’s your favorite fiber pusher dealer?
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*Yesterday I mailed my fleece to the Still River Mill to be processed, so in a couple of months I’ll have that… I can’t be expected to wait that long for a fix, though…
Today is E’s 4th birthday, which, in all honesty, surprises the heck out of me. This morning I was informed that he “grew up into a kid like I8”. I think this perfectly sums up the experience of being a younger sibling (well, not that I would know, since I am the oldest but, you know). Then he ran off with his new iPod (his VERY OWN!) singing along with his favorite song, the Banana Phone Song.
To be honest, I went back and forth with myself about attending this year’s New York Sheep & Wool festival. With snow and rain in the forecast, the thought of dragging two children up there wasn’t too appealing, but by Saturday evening, both kids were asking to go. So, this morning I got up, packed a bag full of gluten-free, hypo-allergenic food, and we headed up with my TAS. Now Rhinebeck 2009 is but a happy memory.
First, we made a quick stop at the drive up ATM.
When we arrived, we saw that the real Aflac duck was there!
along with a Peruvian Pan Flute band (which made me giggle):
Then Isaac threw a Frisbee for the Frisbee dog:
And then I got some fiber and a wheel to spin it with.
All in all, it was well worth the trip. It rained only a little and since we were all dressed in our woolies we stayed nice and warm. Yay Rhinebeck!
Since my tendonitis is still convalescing, here’s another recipe. It really is just your basic meat loaf, but my oldest kid is just now getting over all his food aversions, so it was really nice to hear him exclaim, “this is the best dinner ever, mom!”
1 lb. pork/beef/veal meatloaf mix
1 lb. ground turkey
2 carrots, finely grated
1/4 XL sweet onion, finely grated
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 egg, beaten
a heavy pinch of kosher salt
a few grinds of pepper
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined and place in a 9×13″ pan. Top with a mix of A-1 steak sauce (about a quarter cup?), 1 Tbsp tomato paste and 1 Tbsp agave nectar. Bake at 375° until done.
Yum!
I rested my arm for a good week and a half before I tentatively picked up my knitting again and found that I can knit for 10 or 15 minutes before I have to stop and apply ice to the sore spots. So with precious little knitting time and a plethora of projects to get through, why on earth would I cast on not one, but TWO new projects?!
Dear Readers, I just don’t know. *sigh*
Or “RARECPBS” for short. Ready? Here goes:
Into your crock pot place 1 cup of baby carrots, the contents of a 15 oz can of tomato sauce, and 2 cups of kitchen basics stock (I used veg flavor, but use whatever you have on hand). Stir in 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp marjoram, and 1/2 tsp salt, and grind some pepper over the top. Give it a little stir. Lastly, add 1 lb of stew beef chunks (mine were partially frozen). Cook for 8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high. Shut off the crock pot, stir in a Tbsp of tomato paste and let it sit while you prepare some rice (we like brown, but use whatever you’ve got). To serve, layer into each bowl a handful of frozen peas, a paddleful of rice, and a ladelful of stew (the residual heat will cook the peas). Bask in rave reviews from your 7-year-old and 4-year-old.
(the peas are there in the bottom)
The other day, when I wondered aloud if I could finish sweater for myself in time for the New York Sheep & Wool festival, I got to thinking. The plan has always been to reknit the top-down yoke cardigan that I killed back at the end of April. The New York Sheep and Wool festival is the weekend of October 17th. If I cast on my sweater right away, I’d have exactly 21 days to finish it. That seemed reasonable, as long as I dedicated all my knitting time to this single project. So that’s what I did. I dug out the yarn and cast on the evening of September 27th and knitted up to the first set of increases for the yoke.
The following morning, I knitted up to the second set of increases before I realized that the garter band on the collar was just too W I D E. I ripped back to the middle of the garter stitch band and pushed forward.
At this point, I was in knit-as-fast-and-as-often-as-you-can mode. When I wasn’t trying to keep up with the housework, or minding the children, or running a quick errand to the store, I was knitting. I knitted as fast as I could get my hands to go, whenever I had a few minutes to sneak in a row or 2 or more, and by yesterday evening I’d gotten through 3 of the 4 sets of increases for the yoke.
Why was I surprised, then, when I sat down last night to push through the last 20 rows of the yoke only to find that my left arm was radiating a sort of warm and twitchy ache? That’s right, faithful Reader, my old nemesis, the Very Horrible tendonitis, has returned. Evidently, I had forgotten the mantra (from the last time I had a flare-up).
To which I add: I guess I really didn’t need a new sweater for Rhinebeck…
*sigh*
Me: “I8, no licking your brother.”
I8: “Okay.”
*sigh*
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Me: “I know you’re PRETENDING to be a kitty, E3, but you still make your pee-pee in the potty, NOT in the litter box!
E3: “Meow!”
*sigh*
Knitting Interrupted 
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