I have the busiest couple of weeks of my life coming up, so it's not likely I'll be posting or commenting or anything much. Just didn't want anyone to worry. It's all good, it's just crazy busy. I'll be back.

I just had one of their burritos. I think I'm going to explode. OMG, that thing was HUGE. But really good too.

This is my version of Hannah Fettig's Featherweight Cardigan. Hannah's pattern calls for lace weight yarn, but I had some really gorgeous Dream In Color Smooshy sock yarn I'd been dying to use for something, so mine's more like a Lightweight Cardigan rather than a Featherweight. Just right for fall weather in Texas though.

Yarn: Dream In Color Smooshy, about 2.5 skeins, in the Happy Forest colorway.

Needles: US Size 6

Size: I knit the Medium. I have no idea whether my gauge was on or not as I just knit happily away hoping that it would work out in the end.

Mods: I used garter rib for the bottom edging, cuffs, and collar. I love garter rib, and thought it would lie flat, which stockinette just doesn't do. Knit full length sleeves.

Things I wish I'd done: 1) Continued sleeve decreases all the way down the arm. Maybe even throwing in a few extra. I apparently have scrawny arms and teeny wrists because I think I could stick my legs in these sleeves. 2) Alternated skeins every other row. I obviously had one skein that was considerably darker than the other two, even though they were marked from the same dye lot. Oh well.

Things I love about it: It was easy, easy. No seaming, miles and miles of stockinette. I do like the garter rib, very much. It's very light and easy to carry around, so perfect for the summer too when I get horribly chilled by the air conditioning. It's Smooshy, so technically, I could throw it in the washer on delicate rather than handwashing. Will I actually try that? Maybe, but probably not.

If I wait long enough to forget just how much stockinette this was to knit, I might actually make another one. Just so I can make it with skinnier sleeves.

I am just really, really tired. These next two weeks or so are going to be some of the busiest in my life. It's all going to be very, very good once we get past that, but it's going to be really hectic and somewhat crazy-making until then. More about it all when it's all wrapped up. I'm too superstitious to write about it now.

But I did sign up today to help with Family Promise Tuesday night and to deliver Meals On Wheels on Thanksgiving morning. I need to take my mind off me and put it on other people where it belongs.

I had a 100.8 degree temperature yesterday and my back was killing me. But I went to bed at 7:30 and slept all night long. Well, until 4:30 at least, and then I did go back to sleep for a little while. So I feel better, but I think I could use a nap now too.

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The weather has been absolutely gorgeous the past few days. Lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s. Perfect weather for being outside. Maybe we'll get a chance to take a walk today. Hope so.

The rain almost entirely missed us yesterday. We even had sunshine a lot of the day. And now it's cooler and supposed to stay that way and be sunny for days. Highs in the low 70s and lows in the upper 40s. Fall is here. Yay! Better finish my other sweater!

And it shows the magic of blocking. I know I've shown it before with lace shawls, but it works for sweaters too. And always amazes me.

( My new sweater before blocking...fit my 9 year old perfectly...me, not so much. )

But after blocking, I think I can actually wear it. Snug, but maybe not too bad.

( See? )

We have a 40% chance of thunderstorms tonight and an 80% chance tomorrow. Thank God that after Thursday, there's no rain in the forecast for at least five days. I hope it ends up being at least a week or two.

The news guy just said we've had 17.9" of rain since September first. And we've got more on the way Thursday. Wouldn't surprise me if we got another inch or two then. It sure would be nice if we got a good, solid week or two of sunshine.

Come again another day.

Like in two or three weeks, please. Sigh.

We saw Zombieland Saturday night. Yes, there are some pretty gruesome bits, but it was hilarious. Takes over Shaun of the Dead's spot as best zombie movie ever, at least in my book. Woody Harrelson was excellent. If you don't mind a little blood and gore in your movies, this one's worth seeing.

This is what I made Saturday (and a little bit Friday too...it required a "biga" which is sort of a day-old starter). The bread has mashed potatoes, fresh rosemary, and lots of roasted garlic in it. It tastes wonderful, and I plan to make it every time we have leftover mashed potatoes.

I hadn't ever made boules (the round shaped loaves) before, but I think they turned out okay.

I'm not sure, but I think my next loaf may be multi-grain...oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat, and wheat bran. We'll see.

Let me preface this by saying I never remember my dreams. Never. But this morning, I woke up laughing. I dreamed that L came and knocked on the bedroom door. I got up to see what he needed and he said, in a drawl I've never heard him use before, "Mom, you and G ought to get up and get dressed."

I said, "Okay, we will in a minute." Then, I looked at his face and noticed he had scratches all around his right eye. I said, "Hey, what happened to you?"

And he said, in a slightly exasperated tone of voice, "Cornhuskers*," and turned and walked into the living room.

I woke up immediately, laughing like crazy.




* For those of you who aren't American college football fans, the University of Nebraska is a traditional football powerhouse with extremely enthusiastic, though generally well-behaved, fans. I told the dream to Big G, and he knew immediately what L meant by saying, "Cornhuskers," and he laughed too. By the way, Iowa State beat Nebraska at home yesterday for the first time in something like 33 years.

Just made Spritz cookies too.

And now, we're through. We're going out to dinner and then going to see Zombieland.

-- Two loaves of potato/rosemary/garlic bread.
-- Two kinds of homemade pimento cheese spread, one plain, one with jalapenos, onions and roasted red peppers.
-- Olive salad for muffaletta sandwiches.

Still to go, homemade salsa.

Tomorrow's a picnic, in case you couldn't tell.

I don't know if we will be crowned Mr. and Ms. Waltz at the end of class, but I think we might win Mr. and Ms. Congeniality. We laughed and laughed and laughed at class last night. I think we almost had the hang of the box and progressive steps by the end of the night. And we're supposed to practice for at least four hours before next week's class, so we should be better yet by then. No matter what, we had so much fun it was totally worth it. We'll see how well we master this dance, but I can see us taking the tango and swing classes next year too. Maybe.

L requested sloppy joes Monday night. I never would have requested them as a kid because my mom made them with ground beef and Manwich. I use this recipe and serve it on wheat Kaiser rolls with Claussen Kosher Sandwich Slices. They are really, really good. Oh, and I use ground bison. Much leaner and I think has a slightly better flavor than ground beef.

Later today, or sometime tomorrow, I'd like to try Madame_Urushiol's grandmother's coffee cake recipe. I'm tempted to sub 1/4 c. of almond flour for some of the regular flour though. Only because I've been dying to make something with the almond flour since we got it, and I think it sounds like it would be good in coffee cake. We'll see.

Still knitting on two sweaters. They're both at the 3/4 of the way through one sleeve stage, so it's possible I could finish them both in the next two to three weeks. A front came through today, so it's starting to feel cool enough to actually wear a sweater. Too bad work gets in the way of my knitting time.

Also had a friend request a ski hat, so I'm going to try fair isle knitting for the first time. We'll see how that goes.

And I'm excited about this evening. I'm ready to start dancing.

We start dance class tomorrow night. I can't wait.

1) Went to a meeting for church that was actually both enjoyable and helpful. They're not always, but this time it was, and it gave me hope and made me happy.

2) Went to hear this pianist play a concert. He was brilliant, and played some incredibly difficult pieces, including a group of Argentine dances that made me so happy I actually laughed out loud. He also played the Mephisto Waltz by Lizst, which was technically amazing, but just doesn't do so much for me emotionally, if you know what I mean. Honestly, my favorite piece was his rendition of Mozart's "Bread and Butter" (see here). I don't know what that says about me. I guess I just love Mozart's playfulness and innate understanding that melody and repetition make people (at least simple ones like me) happy. Anyway, it was cool, and I'm glad we got to go.

3) Played and sang for church again. Big G was over his cold and able to sing again. I realized last week that I just don't want to sing without him anymore.

4) Helped Big G in the kitchen some. We had gotten some purple potatoes at Central Market last week and decided we needed to fix something to go with them. Big G thought roast sounded good with potatoes. And then thought, "Hey, Julia's probably got a pretty good roast recipe..." And of course, she did. It required three types of booze for the marinade and involved "larding" the roast, which for us meant inserting unsalted, uncured bacon throughout it. It was absolutely wonderful. I also tried to make some whole wheat bread, but it's sort of a flop. Guess that happens once in a while. I'll try a different recipe later in the week. But my oatmeal cookies with peanut butter and chocolate chips made up for the crummy bread.

Now, today, I need to clean the house, work, go to the store (L requested sloppy joes for supper tonight, so I need to go get a jalapeno or two and some ground buffalo), do laundry, and a few other things. Better get busy.