Loaves and Fishes

It's been a while, but I do realize that this blog is supposed to have some knitting content. Here it is:

This is a sweater that I started knitting for Thomas way too long ago. I fell down and got pregnant so I found working on it very difficult for a month or two. Also, as much as I'm enjoying the way this yarn looks, knitting with it is like trying to knit with cotton balls.

The Sweater Miracle that you are, perhaps, not seeing is in that wee tangle of yarn laying next to the Unfinished Sleeve. A closer looks, perhaps?
I didn't think I'd have enough yarn to finish this sweater. I didn't think I would have enough yarn to finish the sleeve. I was trying to figure out some sort of plan so that I could actually make a real sweater for my son using much less yarn that the pattern called for (how did I mess that up?) The yarn has a distinctive, nubby texture that doesn't lend itself well to mixing with other yarns. I bought these skeins a year ago or more, so obviously buying more of the same was out of the question, even if I knew what dye lot I was looking for (how did I manage to loose the tags? Crazy woman.) Also, I bought this yarn from a small yarn company online, so I didn't feel very confident coordinating colors from a website. Luckily, I remembered the name of the yarn's color--Big Sky Blue--and when I went back to the website I saw that they also made a Big Sky Heather. Worth a risk. So I ordered a skein of what I hoped would coordinate nicely. You can see it at the end of the finished sleeve.

I decided to use it for the neck ribbing (to be completed) and the cuffs. I thought I would just knit the first sleeve and then do as much as I could of the second. I thought I would rip the bottom of the sweater back and use the yarn to finish it up and then use the lighter yarn to do the bottom of the sweater.

As I finished the first sleeve I looked at my remaining dark blue yarn and thought No way, there is no way I'll have anywhere near enough yarn to finish this sleeve. I'm going to have to rip the bottom half-way to the arm holes. You can imagine my surprise when I laid the sleeve out and measured a full length of sleeve.

*cue angelic chorus*

I'm absolutely amazed. It's a little like how the disciples must have felt after feeding the multitudes and having leftovers. And I'm so, so glad since this isn't the best yarn for ripping and reknitting as it's pretty soft and fluffy. Now I can't wait until this sweater is all knit up and ready for Thomas to wear. He's pretty excited, too. He asked to try it on before I even had the second sleeve on the needles. I hope to get it finished tonight and will have pictures to show you if the weather holds out tomorrow.

I'm spending the morning in a neighboring town, though, as they start their city-wide garage sale weekend. I was unable to find childcare, however, so we'll see how long it lasts with the kids in the back seat.

Until then, I have a little miracle to celebrate!

Baby Parrots

So P has been away this week and I have learned so much more about small children! For example, did you know that little kids are just like parrots? After hearing something over and over again they are able to repeat it with absolute clarity! It's true! I learned this today at lunch when Anna stood up in her high chair, waved her graham cracker at me and yelled, "You're driving me nuts! You're making me crrrrrraaaaaazzy! You're driving me nuts!"

At least she was laughing when she said it.

What Would All the Irony in the World Look Like If You Put It on One Website?

Love him, Hate him, Wish he'd try again in eight years, whatever your opinion is of Barak Obama I think that this will make you smile.

http://barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com/


My favorite is "Barak Obama built you a robot." Because, what if he did? What would that robot be like? I bet that robot would tell me I'm awesome. And that I'm the change I want to see in the world. And that yes, I can. And then that robot would remember my birthday and save me from drowning.

Some Day She'll Live in Miami

Anna went outside to help P shovel some snow. She came back in after two minutes outside.

"I don't like snow. Throw it in da garbage!"

The Winter of My Discontent

I used to like winter. Love it, really. I went to college in Duluth, Minnesota and never once flinched at a snowdrift, not even when winter was nine months long and the drifts reached the dorm roof. I didn't mind the layers, the bulky clothes, the hats, mittens or any of it. I never really minded the mess that comes from months of dirty snow and salt piling up along roads or crusting up under cars. It just feels good to not be hot. Who could mind a little freezing rain?

And then I had kids. And winter became a whole new ballgame. Yeah, you know what this post is going to be about. It's February. It's time.

This has really been the winter that has made me hate the whole season. This winter will last nine months long, if it doesn't see me in my grave before the end of it. This is the year I've come to understand that Cabinus Feverus is a horrible virus and it can wipe out whole communities. I'm about to paint a black X over my door: "Pass ye not this way". I'd tell you to stick a fork in me, but I'm frozen solid and you'd likely break your fork.

I don't know what the average temperature has been this winter, but it's been hovering around Negative Below Freeze Your Butt Off. I actually feel like I'll never be warm again. Usually in January I start getting sick of being cold and will start nudging the thermostat up a degree or two. This year I haven't bothered because there simply is no hope for frostbitten limbs. I'll simply have to wait for my nose and fingers to fall off like the cat's tail did that one horrible winter back in '88. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been petting her at the time.

The reason the cold has been such an issue this winter is because it's been too cold to send the kids outside. Which means that we're starting ColdWatch: Week 6--weeks and weeks of not. going. outside. for anything but the mail and a quick trip to the grocery store. My children are 2 and 4. I'm not sure I can fully illustrate what this means for them, but for me I can safely say that I most closely resemble a surly black bear covered with the matted hair and filth of a winter's slumber. Only this bear didn't get to hibernate and had to change diapers and entertain whiny cubs instead. Lord, I hate it when the cubs whine.

It's snowing again as luck would have it and I'm about half way out my door now with my hair drier. I need an extention cord first, but I'm going to see if I can do something about the weather. At least you don't have to shovel rain.


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I can't say much for their logic, but you can't fault their humor.
Minnesotans for Global Warming

Well, to be fair, it's really just the Global Warming Song video that's actually funny. Though I have no idea why the main guy speaks with a southern accent.

Brownies: As Written by Derranged Elitist Food Writer

Brownies

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

5 oz unsweetened chocolate
2/3 c butter
1 T instant coffee
4 eggs
1/2 t salt
2 cups sugar (why are you looking at me like that?)
1 t homemade vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract
1 c sifted all-purpose flour
10 ounces walnut pieces

First, select for yourself premium cocoa powder. We prefer Scharffen Berger "Pure Dark Chocolate". It can be mail ordered from the San Francisco seller for the price of a small cow, but lesser chocolates are not for you. Melt your organic sweet cream unsalted butter in a sturdy, stainless steel double broiler and gently whisk in your fresh cocoa powder until you get a smooth, dark blend. When these have melted together, you may add your coffee granules. We recommend that you avoid the national brands and opt for Cafe Don Jose, which can be found at the Coffee Roaster's Association in New York. You will avoid any unpleasant bitterness and add a full bodied, roasted flavor. There really is no substitute. After this is complete, you may set the mixture aside to cool.

After this is complete, crack your farm fresh, free range eggs into a small stainless steel bowl. Be careful to gently slide the yolks into the bowl wtihout disturbing the integrity of the yolk. Add the sea salt and, using a manual egg beater, blend until slightly fluffy. Gradually add the two cups of Organic Cane Juice crystals, or plain sugar--though you risk over sweetening your brownies!--and beat for about 15 minutes until the golden mixture forms delicate ribbons when beaters are raised. Transfer to another bowl.

Add vanilla and almond extracts to cooled chocolate. Slowly blend the chocolate with the eggs, scraping bowl with a wooden spoon to avoid shocking your batter with the cold harshness of metal. Stir ONLY ENOUGH TO BLEND. Stirring SLOWLY, add your flour. Any flour will do--it is not the star of this show--and mix ONLY ENOUGH TO BLEND, you FOOL! and then you may fold in your nuts.

Remember to use fresh nuts, even if you must scoop them out of a squirrel's nest, cracking them on a wooden board. Gently mix them into your batter, stirring as though you were turning an infant over in her sleep. The batter may be heavy and thick, but the benefits of hand mixing far and away out weigh the challenges presented in mixing ten pounds of uncooked brownies manually.

Spread batter into prepared 10"x18"x1.5" jelly roll pan and place into preheated oven. At this point you must IMMEDIATELY reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook for 22 minutes. Test with a toothpick inserted near the heart of your brownies. It should just barely come out dry. DO NOT OVERBAKE. BROWNIES SHOULD BE MOIST!!!

Remove from oven. Eat brownies at once. They do not keep.

An Activist of My Own

But I think the important thing to remember is that, should I ever take up playing cricket, I'll be fabulously good.

Left-Handed Liberation Front