Annie Knits

You Knew I Had Something Brewing

First, knitting.  The sleeves for Portland are kicking my butt.  I should just do them one at a time, but doggonit, I should be able to knit them together.  Apparently, I cannot.  Just this afternoon, I was compensating for an extra row on one of them.  The increases are going to get messed up for sure.  

 

Sure are pretty though.  
 

Ok, enough chit chat.  On the Today show this morning, a congressman (I hesitate to refer to him as such) was allowed to tout his Fire Nancy Pelosi website and spew his vitriol all over the set.  The imagery on the website, while not technically disturbing is certainly reminiscent of a witch hunt and burning... nice addition to the national health care conversation, buddy.  I'd link it, but I don't want to encourage it.

John McCain has called from the mountaintops that he and the GOP will not cooperate at all with the current ELECTED government in future governing decisions.  Way to go, dude.  Make sure the whole thing stops in its tracks ... that won't threaten the economy or anything.

I'm shielding myself from most of the national health care conversation.  I'm of a mind that what we've got now is a start and thank goodness for that.  We can tweak it from now until kingdom come and it won't be perfect, but at least we'll be moving toward a merciful approach to the health of the citizens of this country.  Health insurance has been the elephant in the living room of every small business in this country for too long.  I'm afraid that if I listen to too much so-called news, ostensibly right or left, I'll get crabby...

I attended a non-partisan health care bill informational meeting and learned from insiders (a health care watch group worker) exactly what the bill that has now passed will require of us and of small and large businesses.  Complicated to explain here, but if you look at the Missouri Budget Project website, you'll get enlightened.  I'm satisfied that it's a start, just like everything in government.  

Now if we could just undo the No Child Left Behind garbage, we'd be on the road again.

Oh, and hey, St. Louis Friends:  the last Friday Fish Fry at St. Pius V is Friday night.  Good food and live music (why, yes, yours truly indeed).  Hope to see you there.  4 to 7 p.m, Grand and Utah.

And That's All I Need...

Baking with Bridgett today consisted of Cake Mix Doctor Banana Cake with Cooked Caramel Frosting.  

 

The cake is on the left and since it's for the Fish Fry tomorrow, I couldn't help but bake a little something for the fambly.  I had ingredients (kind of -- no flour but Bisquick) for pumpkin muffins with butterscotch chips, so I made those too.  And with the extra batter, I made just a layer cake of the same.  

And while I was at making the cooked caramel frosting for the cake, I made enough to gild those lilies, don't you know...

 

Holy crap.  One of these and you can be just like Steve Martin's character in The Jerk.

"This muffin is all I need ... "

 

"Ok, this muffin and a glass of milk, and that's all I need!"

"Ok, this muffin, and a glass of milk, and a WeightWatcher's membership, and that's all I need!"

I'm Not Taking Any Bets

But ... pssst ... it looks like spring may actually arrive in St. Louis some time soon.

 

I mean, it's still pretty dreary here and the temperature is hovering in the 40s, but ....

 

some of the plants in one of the clumps of daffodils in my garden tipped their heads over night.

 

I don't want to jinx anything, but ...

It's a sure sign that spring's around the bend, don't you think?

I Have to Do It

I found this meme over at Ruth's blog and she references Carole.  It speaks to me.

1. Explain what ended your last relationship?

This is 30 years ago, mind you, but I left him to start dating DH...

2. When was the last time you shaved?

Saturday.  It was time.

3. What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.

Knitting and drinking coffee and listening to a book on the ipod and waiting for my jeans to come out of the dryer ... after getting the kids off to school.

4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago?

Reading this meme on Ruth's blog.

5. Some things you are excited about?

I've found a new author who's got several Regency Romance series...  yum.  I also like the new song we've learned for Fish Frys -- John Riley.

6. What is your favorite flavor of JELL-O?

Lime.

7. Your prom night, what do you remember about it?

My boyfriend, Kevin, wore a brown and tan tux.  Yikes.

8. Do you have any famous ancestors?

Not that I know of...  

9. Last thing received in the mail?

Filters for the water dispenser in the fridge... I know.  Exciting.

10. How many different beverages have you had today?

Coffee, water, Diet Coke

11. Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine?

Yes.  Sometimes I admit I'd rather leave a message than talk.

12. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?

Nope.  I look for shells and holes that might contain clams or crabs.

13. Any plans for Friday night?

Several.  First, I'll sing at the St. Pius V Fish Fry with my clansmen, then I've promised to sing at a Taize prayer service.  Then I'm going to drink several bottles of Granny Smith hard cider.

14. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair?

My hair is impervious to everything.  It does exactly as it pleases, when it pleases, come ocean water or no.  

15. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns?

Yes.  I kind of love them.  I've even ordered one myself from the Boy Scouts.  I shared it at least.

16. Do you re-use towels after you shower?

Absolutely.  And I refold cleanish towels that my kids try to pass off after they've used them once and make them use them again.

17. Describe your keychain(s)?

It's a swirl of brass that can hang from a belt loop or pocket.

18. Where do you keep your change?

Wherever.  I dump it in my purse or I put it in a pocket or I put it in the change purse part of my wallet...  I can barely be bothered.

19. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people?

Sunday.  I welcome folks to church and announce the gathering song.

20. What kind of winter coat do you own?

I own several.  One for walking dogs which is a knee length down number.  One green wool one.  One gold leather one.  I have scarves that match them all.

More about Me

Bullets today... I'm having trouble stringing it all together.

• Today was cafeteria day at Dear Son's school.  I love being a cafeteria lady there.  Each grade is responsible for getting mother (and father, I guess but I've never seen one) volunteers to staff the school cafeteria for one month of the school year.  It's fun to see the range of boys from little boy 6th graders to big hairy men 12th graders.  All are unfailingly polite and greet the moms working with hellos and howareyous.  They say please and thankyou.  It makes me want to work with teenagers again.  Not as their English teacher, mind you... just as their cafeteria lady.  Dear Son seems to like to greet me when I'm there and his friends like knowing one of the ladies behind the counter and chatting.  So cute.
• My chiropractor was able to move my appointment to accommodate my cafeteria lady duty and so I got my back cracked today.  I'm sore, as usual, but invigorated.  What is it about chiropractic manipulation that works?  I always thought it was voo doo until I went to Deborah's guy out of desperation last year.  My hand kept getting numb -- had a compressed disc in 2002 and did physical therapy.  It would rear its ugly head once in awhile, especially after long evenings at the computer or lots of knitting.  I went to Dr. F one time and had relief.  A year later and I'm still numbness free...  Now the actual neck manipulation is a little ... well ... scary.  Having it done resembles nothing so much as what I imagine it's like to have a huge mercenary soldier in camouflage sneak up behind you and wrench your neck to break it soundlessly so he can gain your position.   
• The shoulder (not something a chiropractor can do anything about) is getting better.  I can put my hair up in a pony tail now without propping my right elbow on the wall to do it.  Unloading the dishwasher is still a challenge.  My kitchen, as it turns out, is a completely right handed kitchen.  I have to turn in semi circles to unload the dishwasher as well as to load it.  All of my much used items seem to be to my right when I'm working in there.  Of course, I organized it that way when I could use my right arm... now, it makes me crabby.  Surprise.
• The hip is improving as well, although I still don't have a certain diagnosis.  I've had x rays, but they didn't show anything wrong.  Perhaps an MRI said the sports medicine guy, but as it's improving with the physical therapy and steroid iontophoresis (just click -- it's kind of like a shot without getting a shot) and having done one of those things recently , I'll have to be suffering more than this to get in that contraption again.  I know.  I'm such a cooperative patient.
• The personal trainer Dear Husband gave me for Christmas is helping too.  She is a Pilates instructor and her gym is here in the neighborhood.  My core is a lot stronger and we work the hip on days when I don't have PT -- God, I never thought I'd be that person who talks about fitness on her blog.  Yuck.
• When I say "personal trainer DH gave me for Christmas", doesn't it make you think I keep her in a box in the spare room? ; )
• I was up early again this morning, so I only have 4 more inches to go on the front of Dear Husband's Portland.  Then sleeve island.  It's time to start thinking about the next project...  Book Author Brother called with good news last week -- he and his dear wife are gestating.  I think there is more baby knitting in the offing.  Hope they'll like a heavily cabled baby sweater.  'Cause that's all I'm in the mood for.
• My dogs both smell like something crawled up in them and died.  Time to call the groomer.  I can't stand to be in the room with either one of them.

There.  Not a rant in the bunch.  Whew. 

  

Hang on.  You all know what this means.  That DH and I ordered Girl Scout Cookies independently of one another.  This tower does not include the 4 boxes of Thin Mints that the family already consumed and the two boxes he took with him on his business trip.  

Diets are hard to stick to in March.

Season to Taste

So I had an acquaintance comment to me recently that she's well aware that I think "it's all about me, anyway."  I think it had to do with Twittering and tangentially blogging -- how can one write about oneself and one's interests constantly?  I told this acquaintance that the charming thing about me is that I am at least aware of this deficit in my personality -- Miss Manners is my lord and master.

I blog because I like to write and I follow the old adage that tells writers to write about what they know.  I know myself and my family.  I know knitting and cooking.  I know ranting and general crabbiness about the media and politics.  I know books...  So there.  Yep.  This blog and my tweets (of which I do so few that it's a joke...) are all about me.  Read on at your own risk.

Enough about her, let's talk about me. ; )

Portland is coming along well.  Considering I thought I'd be able to finish this monster of a sweater during the Olympics, I think we can all agree that I'm delusional.  I'd call this about the halfway point.  The two tears in my rotator cuff and the bone spur that digs at one of them when I raise my arm above the height of my elbow not withstanding, I'm happy with the progress.  I'll live to compete in the Knitting Olympics another year.  By the way, I talked about the Olympics at the shop and a customer corrected me (I love it when that happens) asking if I meant the "Ravelympics".  I explained the genesis of said games on the Yarn Harlot's blog 4 years ago ... she's never heard of it.  

  Dear Husband is interested in this knitting and comments on it regularly.   I love working on it in a kind of unreasonable manner.  Really.  It's challenging enough (yes, I have to rip back regularly, especially after knit night) and the yarn is lovely to work with.  More crabbiness from customers concerning the fact that the wool is not very soft resulted in my wool-knitting mantra getting tossed about -- I'm not knitting underpants, I'm knitting outerwear.  What I didn't say with my mouth but with my eyes was this -- And I'm not knitting this for you...

 

While I worked on it during the wait to get into see teachers at Dear Son's teacher conference day, onlookers were fascinated not with the way the yarn makes the cables pop, but with the boozy stitch markers.  They are kind of fascinating.  Click to embiggen, if you're interested that is...  My Mardi Gras swap partner made them from beads she ordered from Oriental Trading.  

 

In other news, Dear Husband's Man Cave is nearing completion.  Carpet goes in this week.  He's filled up the shelves and walls with books and mementos of his work and travels.  Well, mostly.  He kindly donated a portion of the shelf space to me.  Here is one of the shelf units that flank the window.

   

Here is a portion of my knitting book and magazine collection.  Thanks, Honey!

 

In related news (you'll see in a minute) Stirling, the wonder baby, is in the loving bosom of another family these last two weeks.  Thank God.  It just about killed the 16 year old to take care of that thing for 6 days.  It was the 3 hours of sleep at a time part that got her.  As DH took her to return it to school that Monday morning, he asked her what she'd learned from the experience.  She told him that the main thing was that she didn't ever want to take care of a newborn alone... Pass Go, Collect $200!

While she had the baby at home, the Amish family who built our new shelves came to deliver them.  The whole family, including two what looked to be teenage girls, complete with skirts and head gear ( I don't know what they call those white bonnets) carried in the two large units.  When the girls saw my girl in her skinny jeans, nursing a plastic baby while she watched DVR episodes of Numbers, Husband reports there were wide eyes and a good deal of behind-the-hand whispering.  After they left, my girl wondered aloud to her father why Pilgrims were delivering our shelves...  

Speaking of the Amish, although I can't believe they've had anything to do with this stuff... I've got the Blob (aka Amish Friendship Bread starter) growing on my kitchen counter.

 

Kara gave it to me a few weeks ago at knit night and I did bake with it last Thursday.  Bridgett was here with Leo and when I figured out that I didn't have the vanilla pudding mix called for in the recipe (see?  Amish using pudding mix?  I don't know about that -- it flies in the face of what little I know about them.) she said I could use chocolate. Turns out you can substitute chocolate pudding mix and it's pretty darned good.  I'd show you a picture, but my family has finished the whole thing.

Anyway, everyone I've tried to give my new starters to is wise to this stuff.  That you have to feed it and that it just keeps growing... Anyone out there game?  If not, I'll have like 16 of these by the 20th of March unless I can summon the courage to just kill it.  When you kill a yeast starter, does it make a noise?