what if everyone stopped eating meat

Here’s an excellent article on the Crazy Sexy Life blog which answers that question that many vegans have to hear….

what would happen to the animals if everyone stopped eating meat?

And as a funny aside, here’s today’s update on notalwaysright.com, which is amusingly vegan-related.

blog blitz

It was time to review my blog-reading list again. It’s been months since the last cull, and I had over 50 blogs listed on bloglines. Some of them were rarely being updated so I decided to trim them back to 40.

I’ve updated my sidebar on the right to show the current list of blogs I’m following. If you have any recommendations for really good, can’t miss, interesting and frequently updated blogs that I might be interested in, please do leave a comment so I can check them out.

It doesn’t have to be about knitting (c:

happy knittin’ christmas

Christmas Day was an easy one. I made brunch (buckwheat pancakes and hot chocolate) for the family, we went for a walk in the sunshine in the afternoon, and after a pretty ordinary dinner we went to the movies to see Avatar in 3D. Highly recommended!

Just one minor issue – if you’re susceptible to motion sickness, don’t sit too close to the screen. We were three rows from the front because the other seats were filling up fast. Excellent as the film was, I had to close my eyes now and again to stop my head spinning, and even went out to get a drink of water to settle my queasy stomach. When I came back in, I sat on the floor right at the back and I felt better. We all gave it at least 9 out of 10!

The mitten at the top is further along than the photo – I have started decreasing for the top, just like the toe of a sock. And the cardigan has one full sleeve but I haven’t picked up stitches for the second one yet.

I’m expecting the second sleeve to take the last two balls of yarn which means I’m going to have to go back to the store I bought it from and hope they have some more in the same colour; maybe if I’m really lucky, the same dyelot. I definitely need to add a buttonband and collar so I’d buy two more balls if I could.

I was at the hospital today visiting a friend – she had a car accident last weekend. After a few days back at home taking painkillers for what she thought were bruised ribs, she realised she was feeling worse, not better. A trip to the doctor ended up at the ER where she was admitted for a ruptured spleen. Nasty! She’s been given blood and they’re monitoring her to see if she needs surgery.

Tonight, I’m tired and all I want to do is … well, nothing really So that’s what I’m going to do.

Yule

Our Solstice celebration is over and now I can relax and enjoy watching the headless chickens Christmas shoppers frantically trying to get everything done by the 25th!

I started my usual Monday housework on Sunday. The vacuuming was done when I had a call from my friend’s neighbour saying that my friend had been in a car accident and could I go over. When I arrived at her apartment, two other friends were there – she was settled into bed but could hardly move. Nothing was broken, but she had bruised ribs from the seatbelt and some bruises and scrapes from the airbags deploying and breaking her glasses. Apparently she’d been approaching Grand Forks, BC, and spun out on the icy road. Thankfully another vehicle was in the area, the driver saw what happened and called 911.

I stayed with her for an hour or so, made sure she was settled for the night and her cat was fed, and returned home.

Monday, I was up early so I could finish the housework before starting to cook. I spent hours preparing the cashew nut roast, the potatoes (for roasting), the mixed vegetables (also for roasting), washing lettuce, making salad dressing, baking mince pies, gingerbread cookies and chocolate chip cookies.

By mid-afternoon, I was able to take a quick break and call my friend to see how she was.

Tai Chi Man returned from work with yams, which had to be added to the mix of vegetables, then I could start actually getting dinner on the go. We ate at about 5.30pm. We had a soy candle burning in the centre of the table – I did also have 12 candles set out around it, but we didn’t use them. The food went down well. Dessert was three flavours of vegan ice cream (Tai Chi Man stuck to his alkaline preferences and had a greens bar).

Then we came to the gift giving. Tai Chi Man and I don’t often give each other gifts – we usually decide on the budget for each family member and then spend it on ourselves. That way, we get what we really want and we can wait for things to go on sale, or in my case spend it a bit a time on yarn!

The boys seemed happy with their gifts (they had also bought things for themselves to go under the tree and the main hit was a large plastic gun that shoots suction darts that Ninja Boy decided to buy the other day). MacAddict received two T shirts (which he chose from a local store) and a Zombie Survival Guide notebook (he has the book so I knew he’d like this).

Ninja Boy and Lego Nut received Lego, of course, and they all also received snacks like sesame sticks, rice crackers and dried fruit.

The boys had bought us greens bars, chocolate and in my case an Interweave Knits Winter magazine (my suggestion) and I wrapped up a Knitting Calendar for myself. And I’d also asked Tai Chi Man to order a Pinocchio tape measure from Lee Valley - just because it’s fun.

Then we retired to the family room to spend time in front of the (real) fire and burn the Yule log and play Chicken and Egg. It’s a board game where you have to answer the question: Which came first? Fun and educational! We played two games of that while the kids started to work on their snacks and cookies – I don’t think they stopped eating all evening. (I may have eaten a few mince pies.)

The parents retired long before the kids. First Tai Chi Man disappeared as he had to work the next day. Then I was getting tired but the boys were busy constructing their new Lego sets and didn’t look like they’d be flagging any time soon. So I made sure they brushed their teeth and then I headed off to bed. I don’t know what time they ended up going to bed (but I know I turned off one boy’s light at 4am because he’d fallen asleep with it on).

No photos, I’m afraid. I decided I wanted to focus on everyone’s enjoyment of the evening without bothering with a camera.

I hope those of you who are celebrating Christmas have a good one, with happy families and delicious food and pleasant memories.

winter solstice

Winter Solstice will happen for us officially at 9.47am Pacific Time on the 21st. According to this website, Solstice means Standing-Still-Sun. It is the point when, because of the earth’s tilt, our hemisphere is leaning farthest away from the sun, and therefore the daylight is the shortest (about eight hours here) and the sun has its lowest arc in the sky.

It was so foggy, cloudy and rainy today that it seemed dark all day. Considering how few hours of sunlight we get at this time of year, it’s very reasonable to brighten up our homes with lights.

Even my kitchen got the treatment this year.

Have a cool Yule and may you enjoy the rebirth of the Sun and the lengthening days as we head into the New Year.

sore thumb

I notice as I’m sitting here this morning, doing my usual round of emails and blog-reading, that as I pick up my big cup of tea (that snowman one that you saw yesterday on my coffee table) my left hand is aching at the base of my left thumb. Too much knitting!

Will it stop me from knitting? Probably not. I’ll be busy today, taking a friend out to lunch as a treat followed by my regular library visit and grocery shopping, but undoubtedly I will have time this evening for the cardigan. I feel more motivated to get on with it – I think now that I know the short-row sleeve cap works, I’m no longer procrastinating.

Last night I was catching up with a few episodes of House MD, Season 6, and found it as entertaining as usual. Totally over-the-top of course, but then that’s American drama for you.

it doesn’t get much better than this

Here are some photos from this morning. I made sure a few chores were done – the chick peas cooking for hummus, the windshield washer fluid topped up in the car and van (using a lot of it these days), a load of laundry washing – and then settled myself on the sofa for some knitting.

About two and half hours of it.

It’s very unusual for me to knit for that long at one go, but I made sure things were set up just right.

Cup of tea…check

Glass of lemon water…check

Remote control for the radio so I could turn it down when the commercials were on…check

Hand lotion…check

With a blanket over my legs plus the cardigan in my lap, I was nice and warm.

This is the view looking down the hall from my knitting spot. Yule tree on the right. My favourite quilt on the other sofa (one I made from scraps – it’s my “park day” quilt and has been used and washed often).

Games under the fireplace, which don’t get played often enough.

The view looking left out of the window. There’s snow on the garden but not as much as two days ago – temps went over zero and a lot of it melted.

It was actually raining this afternoon.

And look at this! This Christmas cactus is blooming right on time, as are a number of my other cacti.

A better look at the coffee table with another of my quilts and knitting books on top and underneath.

That file folder on the floor contains my pattern collection. I recently went through all the patterns I had, weeded out a few, and made sure the rest were filed neatly. It felt good to have that job done.

And finally, the cardigan. When I put it down earlier, I had over half the sleeve done. A few more rounds have been knitted this evening. To keep my gauge a little tighter and as close to the garter stitch on the yoke area as possible, I am knitting Continental (yarn in left hand) and purling English (yarn in right). It’s still a tad looser than knitting back and forth, but I didn’t want to knit the sleeve flat and then have to seam it. At least it’s helping to even out the tiredness in the hands.

I realised this afternoon, when I went out for a half hour walk, that I hadn’t done any exercise in two weeks (and it shows). I’ll allow myself another week of mince pies and cookies and laziness and then I’ll get busy again.

felicity: F, snow: A+

The last couple of days, I’ve been distracting myself with the Felicity hat. (If you click that link, it’ll take you to the Knitology blog – the hat is the first picture in the right sidebar.) The yarn I was using was James C Brett Marble, which is more DK than worsted, so I went up a needle size from that recommended in the pattern. It looked awfully small and by the time I had done the increases for the slouchy part of the crown I realised it was not going to fit me well.

I unravelled it all this morning and decided to make mittens instead.

I already have a hat in this yarn (and a scarf, and a vest) so mittens make sense. I’m using my Boye interchangeables for this (no, I wouldn’t recommend them) in size 3 (about 3.25mm). Using two circulars, especially these needles with the bend in the cable end and the bump where the join is, is making these a little fiddly, but at least they’re coming out the right size.

If I decide to finish these mittens, I shall have to come up with a name for them – I do like a pattern with a good name, rather than “Yet Another Pair of Mittens with Cables in Brown”. Maybe if you click on the photo you’ll be able to see the cables – they’re just on the back of the hand, two 2-stitch cables flanking a 4-stitch one.

See this box?

Pretty, eh! A friend made it for me and covered it with paper from a quilt calendar. And filled it with chocolate. Nice!

The boys have had their first sledding afternoon of the winter. We had a good snowfall this week (good for sledding, not so good for driving)

We went to a friend’s house yesterday afternoon – she has a sloped yard which is perfect for sledding so we had seven children getting fresh air and wet clothes and pink cheeks, and three mums drinking tea and knitting and talking about…well, women’s issues. And eating gingerbread men.

We’re desperately hoping our mailman brings a big box from Lego tomorrow. It’s the last delivery day before our Solstice dinner, if we have it Sunday as planned, and the Lego is a major part of what’s going under the tree. If it doesn’t arrive, then I may reschedule for Monday and cross my fingers that it arrives Monday.

cardigan photos

Here’s a photo of the cardigan so far. I finished the body – knitting down to the hem. After the cable patterning was done, I added 10 rows of garter stitch. Then I picked up stitches around the first armhole and carefully read the instructions in Custom Knits to work the short rows for the sleeve cap shaping.

Here’s a close-up of the cable pattern on the back. It’s a little puffy in the areas between the cable twists, but I’m hoping that’ll smooth out when I wash and dry the finished article.

And here’s a close-up of the armhole. The short rows shape the sleeve cap, then I’ll have to do some math to figure out the rate of decrease down to the cuff.

Not only am I (mostly) sticking to my plan to knit a bit every day, but I resisted getting any more novels from the library this week – getting hooked into a book eats into my time too much.

knitting and the solstice

I see from my Ravelry profile page that I have 132 projects listed. That isn’t quite accurate, actually, as some project pages cover two items, but that number is still amazing to me. That’s 132 finished knitted “things”. If I had to guess how many I had knitted over the last few years, I would have thought it was way fewer.

I was at a coffee shop this afternoon with three other knitters – it was our Ravelry Sit ‘n Stitch day. I finally reached the hem of my green cardigan and bound it off. Feels like it’s been a long time coming. After the cables, I knitted 10 rows of garter stitch to make a neat hem.

I have started picking up stitches around the first armhole and have the exciting learning curve of using short rows to make a top-down “set-in” sleeve. When I can drag myself away from the computer, that is – I have just spent way too long on Ravelry’s forums.

It’s been a confusing week. Tai Chi Man had Wednesday and Thursday off work and now he’s working overtime this weekend, so I don’t know what day it is!

I am at last getting into the spirit of the season. First I planned the meal we’ll have on the Solstice. Then I started ordering gifts for the kids from Lego.com. And now we have our tree up and decorated and lights all over the place. I have even wrapped three gifts and put them under the tree (one is for me, I bought it for myself – it’s a knitting calendar).