Joining in with Ginny again this week.
I'm still reading "Food Matters" by Mark Bittman. I put it aside for a while to look at magazines and do some word puzzles, but I'm back into it now. Looking ahead a bit, it does look like it's going to turn into more of a diet book, and that's not really what I was looking for. Also, the "Food Matters" DVD came in at the library. I don't think the book and the DVD are connected, even though they share some of the same principles. The DVD was a bit extreme. Instead of coming away with a positive attitude that I am making conscientious choices for the better, I felt that unless I became a raw food vegan who downed bottles of supplements each day, that I was doomed. I have the follow-up DVD "Hungry for Change" to watch next, so I'll see if it improves.
And on the knitting front, I cast on yesterday for a ribbed watchcap. The yarn is SR Kertzer Trenton, which the label says is a 100% Merino Wool superwash. Hmm. It doesn't feel anything like merino. I've used this yarn before, and it does soften up after the first wash.
And the yarn is wound into a round ball, because I just grabbed a skein as I was going out the door to get my car serviced. I should have wound it on the ball winder, but I didn't have time. I cast on while waiting, and had only done two rounds, when up comes a knot! So I ripped it out, undid the knot, and then wound the yarn into a ball, just to check that there weren't any more knots hiding along the way.
The cap is for one of our summer hires at work who will be leaving next week. It's funny how ribbing pulls in so much. I've been stretching it out, and I hope it will be big enough. If not, I should be able to knit another one in short order!
Well, look at this. Two weeks in a row, joining in with
Ginny and the Yarn Along! I hope it keeps me motivated to keep posting
regularly.
This week I’m working on this pair of plain socks, for me,
knit from Lang Aktion yarn. It’s taking me forever to finish these, because I’m
always switching to something else that’s more important. I hope that I can get
them done over the holiday weekend and get a different pair of socks started.
Just because they are plain socks, don’t think I didn’t
learn anything. I learned that I really need to buy ONLY ONE ball of yarn if
it’s one that I haven’t tried before, and then see how it goes. I have three
balls of this yarn in my stash, this being one of them. While I really like the
random patterning, the yarn is just a little too fine for my loose knitting
style. Even on size zero needles, the socks feel thin. They might full up a bit
with the first wash, but still, not my preference. I’m considering added along
a strand of very fine coned yarn with the next pair I knit with this yarn, even
though that’s going to affect the patterning.
The book I’m reading right now is Food Matters by Mark
Bittman. A Guide to Conscious Eating. More facts about the effects of factory
farms, over processed food, and other
nutritional nightmares. I’m actually waiting for the DVD of this book to arrive
at the library, along with the DVD “Hungry for Change”. But I thought I’d read
through the book first, as there are recipes included.
I am making an effort to eat healthier, but also just to eat
more simply. And carefully. For a long time, I knew that ingredient labels were
getting longer and longer and often listing more chemicals than food. But I
think the tipping point was when I read about Hershey and other chocolate
manufacturers pushing for a loosening of the requirement of how much cocoa and
cocoa butter needs to be in a product and still be called “real chocolate” and
not “chocolate flavored”. When they start messing with my chocolate, that’s
serious! Not to mention all the labor issues Hershey has.
So little by little I'm making changes. I joined a CSA this year, and will write about that soon. Until I have the time and energy to have my own vegetable garden again, it seemed like a great alternative. And I really do like the community aspect of it. Plus I love surprises - this week's new food: pea shoots!
