When we first moved here, the squirrels kept trying to stow big walnuts away by jamming them into the gears of our bikes, or in the space between the tire and frame. While they finally figured out that we kept removing their stash from these wonderful spots, they're still very fond of using our bikes as their personal dining room.

I've been spending a lot of time watching the squirrel soap opera outside lately, laughing at the tubby little things as they chatter at each other from our handlebars. It took them less than a day to chew the top off a pie pumpkin I'd put outside (I WAS going to use it for pie, but it started to go bad and I was too sick to bother with using it fast). I keep expecting to look out there and see one gamely trying to pull what's left across the yard, nothing but a tail sticking out from its interior.

***********
Fair warning:
I've been thinking about vegetarianism lately. I don't usually think about it much--I've been one for 8 years so I know how to eat. I'm in the most veg-friendly neighborhood of the most veg-friendly town in this state, and my parents were both vegetarians at some point in my growing-up time, so it's never seemed culturally strange to me. And, since I don't like being preached to, I do very little preaching myself.

While I don't preach, though, I do get wicked hepped-up if I know someone making the transition to meatless (or less-meat). I know which books are good and which are intimidating, and I've had a long dang time to figure out how to make things that taste good, and aren't boring, and which restaurants in town make great veggieburgers and which give you a sad soy-esque patty on a lump of bread.

A friend of mine just kicked me into this hepped-up state. I couldn't sleep last night. My brain took all these random pieces of information and moved them around, puzzle-piece wise, trying to figure out how best to make it coherent and happy and yay! being a veg is fun! without overload.

I think I'm going to put all this in a new section of the site sometime soon.

Earwarmer:


And I even wrote up the pattern!

This was the first time I charted a real cable (writing up a 3x3 ropey twist thing for someone figuring out cables doesn't count). A few things that helped get the final version going:

*Making the graph look as much as possible the way actual fabric would. Since I was working from a real-world model, being able to look down at my ring, twisting it as I went along, and seeing that things were where they were supposed to be was super useful. In my first version doodle, I drew an X when I wanted a cable, with one diagonal of the X darker to indicate the direction the cable should get crossed. When I tried to work this cable up, I realized I'd made quite a few graphing errors that weren't obvious until I had the split-up cables in front of me. The second time around I drew something that looks very much like the cable I charted using Excel, a bold diagonal line covering one box if the cable moved over by a stitch, two if by two stitches, etc. The drawing resembled both the model and the knit fabric so well that troubleshooting was much easier this way.

*I often, though not always, drew in the wrong-side rows. You might notice that there's a few points at which a whole lot happens over the course of two or three rows, and if I worried that I didn't have things properly lined up, I drew the next row as a wrong-side row (labeled, of course), as a sort of double-check. If I'd done every single wrong side row I'd have probably gotten cavalier with it and made more mistakes, but putting one in occasionally was a good way to prove to myself that things were where they should be. The drawn graph was a little lopsided here and there, but I took out those rows when making the public version, and it looks pretty even now.

*As always, not being afraid of ripping the whole dang thing out. I did that 3 times here. The first time, the spacing between ribs was only 1 purl not 2, which just wasn't wide enough for my ears, and didn't give me the level of detail on the cable that I was looking for. Then I tried just winging it, using the original somewhat screwy graph and throwing extra rows between as needed.

Turns out I'm not good at winging it.

At this point, I'd made enough mistakes to figure out some rules to apply to the graph. My third unknitting was less drastic--just a product of not paying attention several rows previously and deciding to be anal about it.

I'm very happy with the final product. It's neither too snug nor too loose, and it keeps the ears surprizingly warm. I carried the to-be-kitchenered piece with me on my bike when I went to my knitting group last week, and had the usual 10-minute brain prickle when I got there. I finished it there, put it on when I left, and was almost a little sweaty under my helmet when I got home. Yay!

Anyhoo, a good project. The pattern's there, if you're interested.

Ladybugs! On my computer screen! In my hair! Eating my Kleenex!

Thanks a LOT, maintenance people in the building that screwed all the windows shut.

A Handy Tip: If you're coming down with a bad cold and are likely to be somewhat feverish and uncomfortable in the night, try not to have spent your weekend reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Tales of the City, although both are excellent soothing reading for such times.

Directing a battalion of dwarves and fauns through the Castro in my dreams was just too much for my poor little mucus-clogged mind to bear. Who's your daddy, indeed.

TNH on Bush:

"Recognize this guy? It’s the pointy-haired boss from the Dilbert Universe. He doesn’t have to know anything. He just has to Make Decisions and Be Resolute. It’s the people working under him who have to worry about the real-world details."

And she goes on into the psychology of the white male management class, and my brain goes clickety-click. Having grown up in anything BUT the ruling class, it's always hard for me to actually believe that the upper classes don't know it's possible to go to bed hungry because you don't have enough money to buy eggs (not that I ever went to bed hungry, but the fear of the wolf at the door is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going.) I forget that they must find my life just as unbelievable as I find theirs.

Read it. You probably need a reminder too. Unless you were born into privledge, in which case: hi, my name is T, and although I have enough money in the bank for my husband and I to live in our accustomed manner for about a year, I still undergo semiweekly panic: did we pay the rent this month? Otherwise we might be homeless. Is my insurance in order? If not, a short hospital stay would be enough to eliminate all our savings and then some. Is my boss happy with me? A mercurial change in his disposition and I could be left with no job, meaning no insurance or money, meaning I'll have to live without the following items: 18-inch tv, the 10 or so CD's I own, blood plasma, my sewing machine. Your personal system of logic is a complete mystery to me.

(Yes, I know I've been referencing Making Light a lot lately. I can't help it. That whole place is my baby daddy.)

Since I mentioned New England yesterday: in a form of recommuning with my people, I watched the last few innings of the Yankees/Red Sox game last night (I tuned in during the top of the 12th, I think), knitting when the game was on, doing dishes during commercials. Cleaning up the kitchen was something that Really Needed Doing. I'd made a huge-even-for-me mess while making a few batches of raspberry/peach sorbet for a shindig I'm having this weekend. It tasted good as mushy stuff. Tonight it'll get a scoopability test.

In the knitting world: I finally finished Dan's scarf, though I loaned two separate people my two separate yarn sewing needles so I can't weave in ends, because I'm too nice. I worked up the chart for an earwarmer with my wedding ring worked up as a cable, swatched, then realized the chart was really bad and started over again.

And again.

Third time was the charm. After working on my lacy time-consuming shawl on #2's for the last two months, combined with the slowslow progress of the scarf I'd work on for an hour and find it was mysteriously the EXACT SAME LENGTH as when I started, the earwarmers are going super fast. They'll be done with about 30 minutes more knitting time. And the pattern worked out so well that I'll probably put it up on the patterns page, but not in nearly the level of detail as the Fair Isle Hat.

Hooray for grinders!

I've seen this US-wide survey of spoken dialects before, but I can't remember if I've shared it. Anyhow, I like it very much, even though some of the regional differences are hard to see, because survey respondents aren't evenly distributed.

It's an excellent pick-me-up when I miss home, where people say "grinders", and where "bag" doesn't rhyme with "rake". I even found one I didn't realize was a local phenomenon: "tag sale". I suppose knowing that will be useful if I ever have one.

On my way to our lab in the Vet School yesterday, I noticed a sign for the Alpaca Research Foundation, taking submissions for research proposals.

I think I'll entitle my submission "Synthesis and Fabrication of PKAO (Pretty Knit Alpaca Objects), but First I'll Need Yarn, Lots and Lots of Yarn. Please?"

I'll have completed Phase I of my alpaca-based research in the semi-near future, but first there's this. Wool/silk blends will have to do for now:

And a detail:


This is the back of the shawl I'm working on, about 6 rows shy of completing that segment (I wanted to take a picture while the light was still good). I've since finished that part, picked up stitches along both the upper edges so that I can do both sides at the same time, and done a few rows on that.

I love knitting lace. You already knew that, though. J and I finally got the chance to see the farm we've been getting all our veggies from this weekend. They were having a little Come Take A Pumpkin party for all the CSA members.

We got to take a hayride to see the farm. There was a hilariously strange kid on the ride with us, a child that easily could pass for a young David Sedaris, a young J, a young me, rolled into one non-sequitur spouting package. I kept trying (and failing) at preventing myself from sliding off haybales in fits of suppressed laughter whenever he said something. I knew the perfectly normal folks sitting around me wouldn't have understood that I wasn't laughing AT the goofy little kid--I was laughing with joy at myself, 15 years later, finally able to see that personality in action. I wanted to give him a hug.

Then we took some pumpkins from this pile.


And arranged them artfully. We got some gourds, enough pie pumpkins for several pies, and a squat green pumpkin and a white carving pumpkin for decoration.

(and yes, that is knitting paraphenalia in the background there. My counter in the upper left corner is attached to a loop of soft wool. If I'd been working on my lace, that loop would be hanging from my ear.) In a manner entirely typical of me, I discovered a while back that the only alcohol I can manage to drink without revulsion is limoncello, which is pretty freakin' strong and which, if my sources are correct, is usually made in a big jug by someone's crazy Italian grandfather.

Life would be less complicated, somehow, if I could simply have a beer.

Of course, now I'm thinking about making some. It shouldn't be too hard--the trickiest part is peeling the zest off a dozen or so lemons. That, and the lack of shame required to walk into a package store and say "Hi, I'd like whatever bottle has the highest ethanol content in the store."

Plus, if I made it soon, it might be ready in time to make panettone for Christmas. Num. I've been heavy into reading entries and comment-section discussions in the archives of Making Light lately. Poking my head into these conversations, I always feel a little young and clumsy, knowing that I'm not understanding the best jokes, but enjoying the eavesdropping nonetheless.

It reminds me of being a kid when my mom would go to parties thrown by friends from work, parties consisting of 30 adults, an infant or two, and me. I loved these times--my default brain position is typically "sponge", and so I'd sit quietly with a plate of cheese and crackers, listening to the way grownups talked when they mostly forget kids are there. Not that the conversation was ever improper (or if it was, I neither understood nor cared because I don't remember now), but knowing that I wasn't the audience being spoken to was always a little exciting and mysterious.

Think about kids. Especially kids without siblings around, ESPECIALLY an only child in a single-parent household. Kid's TV in the morning. Go to school all day, teachers talk at the class. Talk to your mom in the evening.

The entire day, there is virtually zero chance of hearing a voice not directed at you, either personally or collectively. Being at a party--being invisible--hearing adults talk with other adults--it was so rare, so necessary.

I still enjoy it. Hand-knit items worn simultaneously this morning: 4, if you count socks separately.

I could have artificially inflated the number by borrowing J's scarf, but 4 is enough, I think.

So what knitting am I working on or thinking about right now?

-The usual bus-riding sock. Just starting on the second one. It always feels like I'm knitting so much faster when I do the toes--I think it's the density of landmarks. Although I'm working on the second sock, the first one is not entirely complete--the toes, heels, and top edge of the socks are going to be the same color, and I want to completely use that color up. So I'm waiting until I reach the heel of sock #2, then will split the remaining yarn roughly in half. Then I'll be able to finish the first sock. Usually having something half-complete bothers the heck out of me, but in this case, I'll make an exception.

-The Fancy-Pants shawl, which I've make a surprising amount of progress on since that picture, considering that I started it assuming it would take me a year. At the rate I'm going, it may be done by Christmas (I started it around the end of August). In another week or so, I should reach a point where I can take a picture.

-A scarf for my friend Dan in some lovely alpaca, nearing completion, but slow going. It's my "mindless" project when the lace gets too frustrating, but as the lace gets easier for me with every repeat, less time goes into the scarf.

I've been filled with dread every time I need to make a design decision on this thing. This is why I haven't knit for you before, hon--you're picky, and I'm not, and that makes me all a-twitter. If I ever do something for you again, I'm bringing you to the store, showing you every possibility, making absolutely sure that every inch is the way you want it.

- The heir-apparent project is a little earwarmer using a ball of the alpaca I bought with Dan's scarf yarn, for when I ride my bike.

Pity my poor, out-sticky ears. The slightest cool breeze gets caught, making them writhe and tighten. They need little windbreakers.

This project will be combined with my longtime desire to work the pattern in my wedding ring into some knitting. I haven't worked out the chart yet, and it's sure to be sneaky--for one thing, the edges aren't symmetrical. But I'll have a good time swatching it. If it comes out well, it will be something else for the free pattern page. It's not quite clever enough to submit anywhere, I don't think.

- Just because I won't bother submitting the wedding-ring earwarmers doesn't mean I don't have an Actual Grown-Up Designer Project cooking. I've done a very small amount on a cardigan, but it's currently in the cryogenic chamber, waiting for me to get clever with it (aka, make a decision: zipper or buttons?, then buy one). I'm up to a stockinette-heavy part, though, so it'll do well as a not-pay-too-much-attention side project when I finish with the others. I was sitting on the bus going home a few nights ago, listening to a crazy man sitting in the back, babbling about God being here on earth, how He works hard for a living and comes home to His wife and kids every night, how He wants us all to be peaceful and study hard, how He's so full of love that He even loves the crazy slob sitting in the back of the bus. It made me realize that the line between the sort of poetry slam material that gets people cheering vs. a speech by a man that gets told to go back on his meds by careless frat boys can be as slim as a hot shower.

Enough for 2 dinners and 2 lunches.

What you'll need:

-Half a block of firm tofu, in big thin slices and dried off a bit, or else the breading won't stay on when it's frying.
-one egg if you want a light breading, two if you want it heavy.
-1/3-3/4 cup of breadcrumbs, depending on how much breading you want (see above). You can always add some more to the bowl if you're running low.
-about a scant teaspoon each of sage, basil, oregano, and black pepper.
-about a half-teaspoon of salt--though you could substitute this with a tablespoon of parmesan, if cholesterol is your friend.
-4 or so tablespoons of oil--a little more than you'd use for pancakes, but not to the point of deep-frying everything.
-pasta, jarred sauce, parmesan cheese, maybe some mozzarella.

Get the water for the pasta going. Put half that oil in a frying pan, and turn the pan's heat to medium, medium-high.

Mix the breadcrumbs and seasonings together. Beat the egg or eggs. Dip the tofu in the eggs, get it good and coated, then dip it in the breadcrumbs. If you want a hefty coating of breading, put that same piece in the egg, then again with the breading. If the pan is pretty hot, lay the tofu in it, otherwise set it aside until the pan's ready.

Repeat with the rest of the tofu. The water should be boiling and ready for pasta about now.

Flip tofu/stir pasta as needed. Nuke some sauce (and cover it with a paper towel). When all the tofu's been flipped, put in the rest of the oil if it's looking dry in there.

Take a breath. That frying/saucy/spicy smell? That's the smell of my dad's parents' house when things were cooking. I realized last night: my gramma on that side must have liked sage too. I was too small to notice.

When the foods are al dente and/or golden brown, plate them up. You may find that you'll need more sauce than usual. I typically use tomato sauce sparingly, but this needed a dousing.

I was surprized at how quick this went. For some reason I thought that breading would be a chore, but I'd do it again on a weeknight, no problem.

Variation:
I thought the tofu itself was a little bland. If you're thinking ahead, let it marinate in some soy sauce.

You could probably bake it instead of frying, but it'll take longer.