Someday I'll learn, right?

Handpainted yarn, cables, moss stitch? Sure they'll all go together! This was my thinking as I started Robbyn's beautiful Peony Purse. With each row I questioned myself more and more....was this really going to work? The colors aren't fighting with the pattern, are they? No, not at all. Really. Honest. This delusional thinking went on until I'd finished the first cable repeat, and then reality was staring me in the face: patterned yarn and texture don't get along well. No matter how much I wish this wasn't the case, it's true. Someday I'll get that fact through my thick head - either that, or I'll keep bashing my head against the wall so much that perhaps I'll associate that pain with the futility of trying this combination again.

Much frogging later, I stared at my beautiful Voodoo yarn, trying to think of something tiny and special to showcase the colors and glorious silkiness. A purse of some sort seemed ideal, but something with a simple design so the colorway wouldn't fight it. Searched online, flipped through all of my patterns, wracked my brain for an idea to expand on and design myself. Nothing. Then I remembered: there's a silk purse pattern in Mindful Knitting. Ran to the bookshelf, opened it up, and there it was - the perfect, simple purse shape. I cast on and started knitting away, only to find another problem. The dreaded pooling. Nooooo! Not the pooling! I know many embrace the vagaries of handpainted yarn, loving the zigs and zags that the colors form when left to themselves. Not me. I admit to being a control freak extraordinaire. I want those colors to balance well across whatever I'm knitting, and I will make that happen come hell or high water, dammit! Frogged again. Started over.










Much better.

I also finished up a super fast gift. Arden's favorite preschool teacher is moving on to another job and today was her last day. Didn't find out she was leaving until Monday, so this needed to be a something quick. Slippers sounded good...and didn't I have a skein of Patons Bohemian lying around? Why yes! Bought it last year on a whim, mainly because the yarn is so unbelievably soft. Perfect for slippers. Knit them up in the blink of an eye - would you believe I cast on a total of sixteen stitches? Now that's some bulky yarn. They came out nicely - so soft and cuddly. Arden's teacher loved them and was last seen petting them as I walked out of the classroom.

B is for broccoli

I usually have this as a quick, easy dinner when broccoli looks good and I feel like something comforting.

Pasta with Broccoli
Serves 4 as a main dish

2 lbs broccoli
1 lb penne or other tubular pasta
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup parmesan or asiago cheese, grated

Cut broccoli into small florets, then peel stems and cut into 1/4 inch rounds (you can skip the stems, but they are so delicious - please try them!).

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta to the water and cook until just tender. About 3 minutes before pasta is done, add broccoli to the pot. Drain both in colander.

Meanwhile, in small pan heat butter and oil (or just oil) over medium low heat, then add garlic. Cook for a minute or two, then add pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.

Toss pasta, broccoli, and garlic-oil mixture together (I usually use the same pot I boiled the pasta in). Top with cheese and serve.

Local produce, part I

Here is today's haul, courtesy of two different farmer's markets (along with my younger son's hand - he was "helping"). The whole family jumped in the car, ready to go to our usual market in Diamond Bar, only to find it closed due to construction in the area. Well, shoot. On to plan B. Luckily I had a list from here and found another one about 10 miles away. Off to Pomona we went, in search of plant life for sale. Now this was more like it! There were more produce stands and greater variety than I've ever seen at our local market, and better prices to boot. As we walked around, the boys got hungry and wanted a snack so we headed off towards the back, where all the baked and prepared stuff was. Younger son chose a poppyseed muffin, while older son was desperate for a hot dog and soda and proceeded to melt down completely when we said no to the soda (we had water and were only getting snacks). Dan took him out to the car to cool off while son#2 and I wandered around. Found some incredible looking bread, which was quickly purchased. Tried some toffee sunflower seeds which I loved, smaller son did not. Ah well, more for me. Then I started noticing that booths were closing up. Huh? It wasn't even lunch time yet. Turns out this market closes at 11:30, not 2:00 like I was used to. Back to the car to drive home. Dropped Dan and the boys off and headed out to the next closest market in West Covina, held in the parking lot of a strip mall. Smaller selection of produce, more lunch items, crafts, kettle corn and the like. I managed to find the rest of what I wanted, aside from lettuce (none available), and headed for home.

Had to get a close up of this carrot. Not something you'd usually find in an orange plastic bag 'o carrots from the store, is it? I like a carrot with character, with presence. Note younger son in the background, holding a green bean. Evidently, the green bean was very hungry and decided to start eating all of the other fruits and vegetables one by one, causing great distress and mayhem (and giggles). Not only are vegetables good for you, they double as action figures. Who knew?

Tomorrow we are off to pick raspberries. We'll see how many actually make it back home.

Mail!

I've been a bit lax in collecting mail this week. The mailbox is waaaaay down at the end of a long walkway, and it's been so freakishly hot that all I want to do is cower in air conditioned slpendor with a tall glass of cool water in hand. Besides, who needs more bills and junk mail, right?

Well lookee here - what's this?

Knit and crochet patterns (there's a quick pattern for wee mouse slippers that may well need to be made immediately) and a moose in a party hat. The moose completely cracked me up. Party on, Canada! Hope your 138th birthday truly rocks.




....but wait....there's more! With every moose postcard you also recieve, completely free of charge, not one, not two, not five, but eight handmade stitch markers! As a special bonus, if you call now you will also get a stitch holder absolutely free of charge! This is a one time only special offer brought to you by random acts of kindness and the lovely Canadian Sandra (aka wyldeyez).

This completely made my day. And there's a quick pattern for animal slippers that may well need to be made immediately.

Mmmm...samosas...

I can remember years ago when they used to have cross cultural fairs in the grassy circle in the middle of my college. All the clubs would have something to offer: the Greek club had something with feta cheese, the French club had crusty bread, and the Indian club had samosas. The first time I tried one I remember following this delicious smell to a stand adorned with these odd pastry triangles. I bought one, dipped it in the sauce when prodded to do so, and immediately fell in love. I turned to the group and asked what was in this heavenly thing? Could I (pleaseohplease) have a recipe? I got a puzzled, somewhat bored look, followed by, "my mom makes these - I think she uses potatoes and peas and some spices." Thanks. That definitely helped. A lot.

Thus began my love affair with Indian food of all kinds. I began branching out, trying curries, naan, masala tea, kheer, dal, biryani, and loving every bite. I started collecting cookbooks by Madhur Jaffrey, Neelam Batra, and Julie Sahni. I bought cardamom, fenugreek, coriander, fennel, cinnamon sticks, and huge lots of cumin. Dal became a dinner staple, and I even made my own naan that wasn't half bad. But the holy grail was always to make an incredible samosa, one that would bring me back to that very first taste of Indian food. I kept fiddling and changing things here and there, never really satisfied. And then, one day, came a batch that I couldn't find fault with. The one I now make in bulk and take anywhere I think people might like them (and honestly, who wouldn't love a really good samosa?).

This is very loosely based on a Madhur Jaffrey recipe, though I've made a lot of changes over the years. I usually make up the filling, toss it in the refrigerator for a while, then roll out the pastry and fill them on another day. They can be frozen after baking - just defrost and warm in the oven for a few minutes. I skip the homemade pastry and deep frying bit and use puff pastry sheets rolled out thin. Much, much easier (and less cleaning do to afterwards). These may not be the prettiest specimens out there, but the taste more than makes up for appearances.

Samosas
Makes either 64 small or 36 large

4 medium potatoes
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 cup frozen peas
1 Tb ginger root, peeled and minced
1/2 serrano pepper, minced
3 Tbs cilantro, chopped fine
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds (plain ground cumin is also fine here)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tb lemon juice
1 Tb amchur (dried, ground unripe mango - substitute 1 additional Tb. lemon juice)
2 packages frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

1. Peel the potatoes, cut into several large pieces, then boil until cooked through. Mash a bit - just enough so there aren't any bits of potato larger than the size of a pea. Let cool. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skilled over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until medium brown, stirring as needed.

2. Add the peas, ginger, chili, cilantro, and 3 tablespoons of water. Cover, lower the heat and simmer very gently until peas are cooked. This should only take a few minutes.

3. Add the potatoes, salt, coriander, garam masala, cumin, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and amchur (if using). Keep heat on low and mix the spices with the potatoes. Continue cooking gently, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes. Check salt and lemon juice. Turn off heat and leave potato mixture to cool.

4. While mixture is cooling, start to prepare the pastry sheets. Sprinkle liberally with flour, then roll out until rather thin, but thick enough to hold together around the filling. The sheets will almost double in size once rolled, and should end up roughly square. Separate sheets with waxed paper and cover with a damp cloth.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay out a pastry sheet, then brush with water or beaten egg. Cut into 9 or 16 equal squares, depending on how large you want to make them. Spoon filling onto the center of each square, then fold two corners together to make a triangle. Seal the edges well, then tuck the two ends of the triangle underneath the filling and press down a bit to center everything. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or so, or until pastry is a golden brown.

6. These freeze very well, and can be briefly reheated in a warm oven before serving.

Knitting, yarn, and book signing goodness

Last night was the Los Angeles leg of the Yarn Harlot book signing tour. I packed up my book, my Kiri to work on while there, samosas for the table of munchies at the back, and a knitting bag I made up for the sock (well, Stephanie as well, but that sock looked like it might be needing creature comforts). I had never been to the Knit Cafe, so I left early in hopes of beating rush hour traffic. It only took an hour to get there (in what universe is this a positive thing? Oh, right, this is Los Angeles, after all. Sigh) so I got there close to the start of the signing. Dropped off the samosas and grabbed a chair in front so as not to disturb too many people.

Stephanie did some reading from the book, then talked about knitting in general and the things she has seen on tour so far. She was funny, witty, and real and put the whole room at ease. We all laughed at the things all knitters seem to have in common, including less than appreciative partners. It seemed like everyone in the room was knitting something interesting, and there were a lot of sideways glances to check out whatever was in the lap of someone down the row or in back. Then on to book signing for those of us who hadn't gotten there earlier. I brought up the knitting bag, and the sock took to it immediately:

Got my book signed, handed Stephanie a plate of samosas that were passed on from the back of the room, then went to look at yarn and grab some chips from the table. So much yarn! And so many really great people. I met Mary-Heather and she's just the nicest person. Then off to look at yarn again. I didn't get a chance to look at the Kidsilk Haze (still haven't seen it in person, which is probably just as well for my checkbook), but I did find this:

That's Petite Voodoo by Twisted Sisters. Half wool, half silk. Oh, my, is it ever soft. Not sure I'll even knit anything out of it - I may just keep it in my knitting bag and fondle it from time to time. Lovely, lovely stuff.

There's a picture of me with Stephanie, but somehow the lighting ended up doing odd things and right now you can't tell there are actually people in it. I'll add it in if I can fix it later. I was very glad to meet Stephanie in person and hopefully didn't seem like too much of a crazy stalker person, what with the bag and baked goods. All in all, it was wonderful to get away from the boys for a night and do things that I really enjoyed - meeting new people and playing with yarn. Well worth the drive.

Picture fixed! Stephanie is holding one of the samosas. Note that even without the dress sandals, she's still taller than I am.

Local Food Challenge

Today's shopping list had me doing a lot more homework and planning than usual. For the month of August, I will be doing as much as I can to eat locally - that is, foods that are available within 100 miles of my home. I have a small family of four and a rather limited budget, so we won't be eating entirely locally. My big goal for this month is to be aware of where my food comes from and increase the amount we purchase locally. I make almost every meal my family eats, so any change in where our food comes from will be a large one, percentage wise. Southern California has such a bounty of farmland and agriculture of all kinds, surely this should be easy, right?

Not so. Since I shop once a week, on Sunday, I started a day early. I went to my usual round of stores this morning: Ralphs for coupon savings (lots of non-food purchases here), Trader Joe's for hormone free and organic dairy, eggs, frozen goods, breads, and nuts, and our local Asian market for produce of all sorts. Started really looking at the produce when I began at Ralph's. Just finding fruit grown in California was difficult. No apples from this state at all. Bananas, of course, were grown outside the U.S., which I expected. Didn't buy any produce here, but trying to find anything grown in this huge, fertile state was more of a challenge than I expected. Trader Joe's had more of a selection of California grown produce, though there's no way to tell where in CA any of it was grown. All of the lovely dairy I usually buy? "Distributed and sold" in Monrovia, CA, which is 17 miles away. That doesn't tell me much at all. Still trying to get an answer on where the dairy actually comes from originally. In the meantime, I visited a nearby Alta Dena drive through location and bought milk, butter, cottage cheese, and cream cheese. Next, to locate a better farmer's market than the one we have locally (a few stalls of produce, kettle corn, and soap and that's it here) and work on getting more locally grown produce.

It's a small start, but it is a start. I love a challenge, and trying to buy locally while staying within what we can afford will certainly be that. It's something I can do for my community and for my family. Like the sound of that.

Flattened

Ever had a week that just knocked you flat? This has been one of those weeks. Hopefully things will start to get better soon, or at least some of what we have put into place this week will help. Living with Autism is just plain hard sometimes.

Just call me magpie

Ah, pretty sparkly things. I love them all. Goes right against my usual Birkenstock wearing, no makeup, wash my hair and comb it as a "style" self, but there you have it. A shiny, sparkly bead will turn my head every single time.

I've been lusting after beaded stitch markers for quite some time now, so I decided to do something about it. Bought some beads, jump rings, t wires, and borrowed Dan's needle nose pliers and went to town. Soon I had a set of stitch markers and a pile of beads remaining. Some rummaging through my craft boxes revealed earring wires, so I made a set as well. So sparkly! So shiny! Must. Make. More.

Seven hundred and four*

* Number of stitches to bind off around the edge of the baby blanket I just finished. This after 9 rows of seed stitch that were almost as long. Solid proof that I am either insane or truly lousy at math. But in the end, it came out well and is off to wrap around a yet to be born little one, so my job is done. Sorry for the lousy picture - I'm learning that white yarn is hard to photograph well. Tried it in full sun, but all you could see was an odd, glowing white spot. Then I tried inside, but it looked flat and boring. Went outside into the shade, but the ground was soaking wet from the thunderstorm we had last night, so I had to balance it carefully on the grass and couldn't smooth things out. You can see the basic shape, which is enough for me.

I promised basic instructions, so here they are. It's a really easy blanket that can be made from any yarn you like - just adjust needle size accordingly:

double pointed needles, size 6
29 inch (or even larger) circular needle, size 6
Dk weight yarn of some sort
Twisted drop stitch: knit, wrapping yarn around both needles then around right needle before pulling yarn through.

Using a provisional cast on and waste yarn, CO 2 stitches. Knit 4 rows in stockingette stitch. Pick up 2 stitches from each side and original cast on side.
Row 1: *k1, yo, k2, yo, k1, place marker* repeat around.
Row 2: *k1, yo, k3, yo, k1* around.
Row 3: *k1, yo, k4, yo, k1* around.
Rows 4-9: Continue adding two yarn overs at each corner with each row.
Row 10: *k1, yo, twisted drop stitch across all knitted stitches, yo, k1* around.
Row 11: *k1, yo, k across all drop stitches, yo, k1* around.
Row 12: *k1, yo, twisted drop stitch across all knitted stitches, yo, k1* around
Transfer to circular needle when it starts getting larger.
Repeat these 12 rows until you are close to the finished size you want, then do 9 rows of seed stitch after the last set of drop stitch rows. Bind off loosely, and you're done.

Peace out

Look what came in the mail yesterday! Some lovely Peace Fleece in Kamchatka Seamoss. Isn't it beautiful? I was the lucky 6000th commenter on Norma's blog, so she sent out goodies. I knitted up a swatch last night (see how much I love this yarn? I even swatched!) to find out what it does when it's been washed. I had heard that it softens and blooms quite a bit. This would be a good thing, since the yarn was a bit rough at first. I also wanted to see what happened to the colors. It isn't obvious in the picture, but yarn is heathered with all kinds of subtle color changes, rather like the color of waves or moss.
It knitted up easily and quickly, then into the sink it went with some Dr. Bronner's. Even as I was washing it started to open up and soften tremendously. The 30% mohair made its presence known as a slight fuzzy halo over the increased softness of the yarn. The color might have gotten a bit lighter and brighter, but there isn't much difference. I ended up with a guage of 4.5 stitches/inch and 7 rows/inch. Wondered if I could get away with a Rogue out of this, but the fuzz factor would diminish the cables too much. I'm thinking a matching hat and scarf, something with a good amount of texture to really show off the color and softness of this lovely stuff. Thank you, Norma!

...almost...

Five more rows of seed stitch. A paltry five rows. This should be easy, quick, simple, nothing to write about at all. I should be finished. But these rows somehow stretch out miles wide, flaunting the very laws of geometry. Well, perhaps proving them. The center was so easy to knit, only four stitches per side, but now I'm up into numbers that don't bear counting. Still, this should be done tonight and in the mail tomorrow. Picture and a simple pattern soon to follow.

Any last guesses? Anyone? Bueller?

Knitting marathon

I'm working like a mad woman (wait, I am a mad woman!) on the white blob mentioned below. It needs to be done in the next few days, and I still have a skein and a half of yarn to use up. Will be burning the midnight oil to get this done so I can relax and get some reading done. This kind of reading, to be exact.

I scream, you scream

It's hot. Very hot. Perfect for ice cream, especially one that can be made on the fly. The boys love getting up on a stepstool and watching as this whirls in the blender.

Blender Ice Cream:

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
20 ounces frozen fruit (berries, peaches, cherries, etc.)

Put cream and sugar in blender or food processor and blend for one minute. Add frozen fruit, a little at a time. If using frozen strawberries or peaches it helps to cut them into smaller pieces first. Blend until the ice cream turns thick and smooth. Serve.

Simple pleasures

• Sunny skies, a breeze, and just enough warmth to know it's summer.
  
• Belting it out with Queen when Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the radio on my car.
• A quiet house, curtosy of my MIL who has taken the boys to the park.
• A brand new Knit Picks catalog to thumb through in said quiet house.
• Juicy, fragrant ripe white peaches that tempt as I walk by the kitchen counter.
• Holding hands with Dan at the end of yoga class.

I've never been so happy to see a long line

This morning I went to Trader Joe's with more than shopping on my mind. They sponser a Red Cross blood drive every year and give donors 10% off all groceries purchased that day. I arrived armed with a big bottle of water and my shopping list for later, only to find a line of people ahead of me. I wasn't the only one who reserved a spot - they were full up for the rest of the day and had to turn several people away. Warmed my heart to see so many people out there, even if it meant waiting a while longer. I walked out with a bag of Cheez-Its, a red compression band on my arm, and an unexpected t-shirt.

For anyone who hasn't donated blood, give it a try. It's easy, it doesn't cost anything, and you can save a life and get free cookies at the same time.

And there was much knitting

I'll start off with my poor, long neglected Kiri. By now I have the pattern memorized, so it's pretty simple knitting. I've been saving it for taking along to the doctor's office (had a bit of that lately), car rides, and other places where something more intricate wouldn't quite work well. Though progress has been meager, it is getting bigger, slowly but surely. Looks like I'll need another skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock to finish it up. This offends my ever frugal soul, but I dearly love the colors and the pattern. Besides, I will most likely wear the shawl many times, thus decreasing the overall cost per wearing until it is almost a bargain. At least that's my current rationalization. Note my youngest who really, really wanted to "help take pictures, Mommy!"

Next is this amorphous white blob. Will it be a hat? A broach? A pteradactyl? Any guesses?

Last, but certainly not least, is my first sockapal2za sock, almost three quarters of the way done. The top, one side, and half the heel are done, and I'm up to row 73 out of a total of 96. It's starting to take on a rather sock-ish shape thanks to short rows and increases at the point of the heel area. I decided to make the sole and heel area flat stockingette rather than continuing the seed stitch as the pattern directs, since it seemed rather bumpy and uncomfortable if worn with shoes. Also gives me a nice stretch of plain knitting, which is a welcome relief at the end of a row. I have loved watching this sock emerge - it has been very unlike making a sock from the top or from the bottom. I'm tempted to try making up slippers in a similar fashion. Why? Because I can.

Why is it I always finish projects at midnight?

I was pondering this last night....oh, around midnight. My sister leaves for China tomorrow morning, so I wanted to get her gift ready so Dan could drop it by after work today. I started this a week ago, then set it down as I did other things. I've got *lots* of time, I kept telling myself. Finally realized on Sunday that I did not have much time left, especially since there were other things I needed to do this week besides sewing like a mad fiend.

Enter in Kathy's patented midnight sewing spree. Usually saved for the night before Christmas or perhaps an important birthday, but useful any time there just aren't enough hours in the day to finish something. Who needs sleep, anyway? I close the door of the closet so Dan doesn't hear the sewing machine and go to town*. I think my best creative thinking is done late at night when everything is quiet and I can get really into a project with no distractions. Either that, or I tend to procrastinate a wee bit.

First, here's the finished messenger bag, complete with goodies**:

The denim fabric was left over from trivets my sister made for her classroom volunteers at the end of the school year. There are tiny hot pink flowers here and there, and I topstitched with matching pink thread that you can't see in the crappy middle of the night picture. The lining I found for $2 a yard back in the bargain section of Joanns. I love me a good cheap fabric hunt - there always seems to be something that will work back there, and the price soothes my frugal soul. There are pockets for magazines, pens, scissors, decks of cards, and a special pocket for her plane ticket (a real, honest to goodness printed ticket - in 2005!) hidden behind the magazines. I tried to get a shot of the inside with all the pockety goodness, but it came out really, really bad. Trust me here.

Next come the goodies:
That's a portable game board with backgammon on one side, checkers on the other. Beside it is a pouch full of pink and yellow buttons to use as markers. I used a narrow pink grosgrain ribbon to tie both.

Checker board:
This started out well and ended up being a huge pain. I ironed fusable web to the two colors of fabric then cut out 64 squares, all 1 1/4 inches per side. So far, so good. Then I placed them on the muslin backing and ironed them down, alternating stripe sequences. Things were looking good at this point. Then I started to stitch down the edges with a narrow zigzag of pink thread. Ploink! Broken thread. Grumble, rethread, keep on going. Ploink! Another broken thread. This time I noticed that there was goo of some sort building up on the needle, which was pulling on the thread and breaking it. Allrighty, I'll just keep the needle clear of adhesive gunk. No problem. Ploink! Evil, evil web with plasticy stuff that makes sewing impossible. Grumbling quietly so as not to wake Dan, I carried on. Took forever, or quite close to it. I won't say how many times the thread broke, other than it was too damn many times. But the end result looked really good, so I'm not complaining. Much.

Backgammon board:
I love how this came out. Had a hard time figuring out what to do for the center bar since I didn't have a third fabric. Then I realized that turning the stripes would make a nice contrast. By this time I knew all about the adhesive issue and went to find another stitch that wouldn't pick up as much of the nasty stuff in the first place. Blanket stitch to the rescue! The needle would only dip into that evil pool of goo every 3 stitches. As long as I kept clearing off the needle, it went just fine. Some topstitching and a ribbon tie, and the game board was done.

There are a ton of things I'd change about the bag and the game board, but they came out really well, especially considering I made it all up as I went along. It was done in time to send along with Dan this morning, and I think my sister will like the colors and get a lot of use out of all of it. I got a pattern out of it, so sewing up the next one should be much easier. Oh, and today I find out about Sewer's Aid, which keeps residue off the sewing needle so nothing jams up. Why didn't anyone tell me about this YESTERDAY? Agggh.

* Yes, I sew in my closet. It's HUGE - you could easily put a twin sized bed in there and make it a room, although the sloped ceiling would make getting around tricky. Perfect for my sewing machine, serger, fabric, yarn, the occasional small furry animal....
** Please forgive the truly crappy pictures. Note that they were taken in my closet at midnight.

Happy 4th

What a glorious day. The weather was just perfect - sunny, not too hot, slight breeze, with a few wispy clouds helping the view. The boys swam and dove and splashed in the pool, then spent the rest of the afternoon playing marbles and making spaceships out of Legos. We had an early dinner of hot dogs, corn on the cob, and salad. Not the healthiest meal, but Independance Day comes once a year. Then we all bundled up into the car with blankets and jackets and water bottles (and a secret stash of ice cream bars) to watch fireworks in the park.

This is where I love living in a smaller city. There's a free fireworks show in this small, sprawling park just a few miles away. People bring chairs, blankets, food, children, and dogs and scramble for the best spot on the grass to watch the show later that night. There was face painting, someone selling glow in the dark necklaces, and fresh lemonade and funnel cakes. The band was an excellent Beatles tribute group, done up in satin nehru jackets and sounding just fine. Children danced and ran and climbed on the logs by the playground while the grown ups tried to keep up.

Then it grew dark and people rambled back to their spots, eager for the show. The speakers weren't quite working, so while there was some kind of commentary and music as background, we only heard some of it. No matter. The fireworks were brilliant. Sparkling colors, the big flashy ones that take your breath away and the smaller rambling ones that have their own special beauty, they were all incredible. The boys jumped up and down and shouted out "wow! That's amazing!" and "oh boy, oh, boy, oh boy!" as their eyes sparkled almost as much as the fireworks before us. The finale was one of the brightest I have ever seen. Someone must have decided to take every shell they had on hand and set them all off together at the end, and it was huge. Then time to walk to the car and get home, sleepy boys drifting off to Cirque du Soliel in the back seat.

Days like these I want to bottle and keep forever.

Sometimes it pays to look at things from a different angle

After trying every stitch pattern that I could find, frogging the whole thing and starting over several times, and almost moving on to different yarn, I finally picked up my copy of Socks, Socks, Socks in search of Stephanie's pooling solution. Alas, it really was a lacey pattern, and my Sockapalooza pal doesn't want lace. I thumbed through the pages, ready to find an obedient non-handpainted yarn, when I spied the Sideways Sox pattern. It was beautiful, full of color running down the sock instead of side to side. I had skipped by this same pattern many times, chuckling to myself about how hard knitting a sock from lengthwise would be.



Never say never, right? Turns out the chart is very clear and easy to follow, and the pattern is pretty simple to adjust if needed. Figuring out where to place the heel took a bit of figuring, since my sock pal's feet are a bit smaller than the pattern, but I think it will fit well. It's hard to see in the picture, but there are short rows that make a gentle curve on either side of the toe (the picture shows the top half of the sock). The stitch markers near the middle define where the heel increases and decreases will go. I love the edging - it's small, but does interesting things with the stretches of rose and greens at the end of each row. The colors, spread out over a larger row, are glorious, especially with the bits of seed stitch to mix things up:



May well have to make some of these up for myself ;-)