Half Full

Well for the first time in I don't know how long, I woke up happy the morning after Election Day. Or at least half-way happy. I'm angry and saddened by the choice made by my state, and even more upset that in many cases their choice was made out of fear, just as four years ago our country made, out of fear, the catastrophic choice to re-elect the self-serving arrogant jerk who is about to become our ex-president. Anyway. Rather than rant (more), I'll point you to two people who I thought expressed my thoughts on this but more eloquently and a bit more gently than I could. First was Sydney (you should check out her blog anyway - she's doing some cool things these days), and the second blew me away - I'm sure many of you have already seen this but if you haven't watched Keith Olbermann's special comment on Proposition 8, take a look.

I'm hopeful that over time, and not too much time, this terrible decision will be reversed. And that's all I'm going to say about that. Besides - we've got a new president coming in and while I'm not so naive to think that everything is going to be fixed right away, I'm very hopeful that important and beneficial changes are coming.

She Shamed Me Into It

Not doing a meme, but getting off my butt and blogging again. I have been a bit quiet lately and Donna pointed it out. No crises in my life, just a bit busy, and I did lose my knitting mojo for a while, but it seems to be back again as of this weekend. More on that in a minute - here's the meme:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and put the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 weird or random facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and link to their blog.
4. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a note on their blog.

1) I can wag my little toes from side to side independently of all my other toes - a trait only the women in my family share. My husband thinks it's creepy. I think he's jealous.

2) I taught Archery for years, coached an un-beaten team for 3 years and I'm quite good at Riflery too. I love guns and target shooting. I used to own several bows (they're long gone) but don't have any firearms as I think the risk of owning them, especially as I live in suburbia, is way too high.

3) I hated mushrooms as a kid. It all started when my mother read me The Story of Babar, in which the king of the elephants eats a poisonous mushroom, turns green and dies. She then served mushroooms at dinner that night. I thought for sure she was trying to kill us. I wouldn't touch them for years. Now I love them (but still won't forage for my own - I'm still afraid of turning olive green and wrinkly - and dead - like the late king).

4) I used to be extremely quiet and shy. Shut up.

5) I used to weight lift like crazy. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I was strong as hell and at one point I could bench press 115 pounds while weighing about 95.

6) Learning foreign languages comes easily to me (I majored in Spanish). I needed one more class to graduate from college and chose to take German because the professor was extremely good looking and if you have to look at someone every morning at 7:30, isn't it much nicer to do so if they're just gorgeous? Yes it is. I got an A. Because I studied.

7) As the years go by I've developed into a rebellious rule-breaker. I'm breaking the meme rules right now by not tagging anyone (booyah!). But if you decide to do this meme, let me know in the comments so I can come take a look.

Fiberous Pursuits

Work continues on the Ribby Cardi. It stalled for a few weeks while I lost my knitting mojo, but has progressed nicely now that I have found it again. I have done the back, both fronts, and most of one sleeve. This picture does not do it justice by any means, but it's all I have.

When one actually works on it, this sweater just flies along!

I also started this but can't for the life of me remember when. I think it was sometime last month. It's the Falling Water Lace Scarf - I'm using Malabrigo Lace in the Velvet Grapes colorway. I'm pleased to see that I'm actually knitting something that isn't red.


I've also been working on something new, just for fun. I got my hands on some untreated wool, and I'm going to process it myself. I started with small portion of the actual wool haul, just to see how it went and if I was out of my mind for even trying.

Here it is in completely raw, untreated form:


Riso needed to inspect it.

I pulled out the parts with heavy dirt and put it in a bin for a soapy-water soak:

Several soakings and water changes later, here's what it looked like as it was drying:

Then I hand carded it:

And spun up a bit (long draw) to see how it turned out.

It's rather rustic looking but I kind of like it. I plan to dye it and then I think I'll use it for some of the charity knitting I'm doing soon. It'll make some nice dense knits which while too warm for my area, will probably be appreciated by someone in a colder climate.

Gratuitous Healthy Dinner Shot

I made this a little while ago - spaghetti squash with a simple tomato sauce (diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, kalamata olives) and parmesan. It was fab.


And A Question

These were given to me by a co-worker. Does anyone have any suggestions for what one can make with a large bag of persimmons?