My mood this weekend pretty much depends on the actions of this man.
I will definitely be wearing these socks.
YIKES! Gasoline prices have risen 50% in the past 2 years and there may be more increases to come. Home energy prices are also increasing drastically - our state utility company says that natural gas costs will rise at least 50% this year. Our subdivision water bills will double this year.
The USDA estimates grocery prices will increase at least 3.5% this quarter. Fresh fruits and vegetables, the mainstay of my diet, rose 6%. Real estate prices are rising dramatically - over 20% this past year in some hot markets. And a new law will double many people's monthly credit card payments this year to ensure you are paying off more than just the interest on your debt.
I guess it is time to start knitting from the stash. Fortunately the cost of yarn has stayed the same for me. Sure, there are more fancy frou frou yarns for people who think knitting a $150 fluffy scarf is a good idea. Personally I am grateful for Knitpicks and Elann who often have some basic wool yarns in lots of colors.
My biggest expense has always been books. There are some new knitting books that are $40 plus but I generally live without them. Or wait until I can find them used. Bookfinder is the place to go to find the best used price on a book. If you buy a lot of books like I do, you may be better off checking out a book discounter like Edward Hamilton or Bookcloseouts so you can save on shipping. I buy a few knitting books and a LOT of cookbooks from those two places.
Here are two interesting articles - Ten Things You Should Never Buy New and Ten Things You Should Never Buy Used.
Peaches is not concerned about any increase in cost of her favorite greens. Here she is with her cat friend Bosco. It took her almost 2 years to start hanging out with Bosco although he's always adored rabbits.
The USDA estimates grocery prices will increase at least 3.5% this quarter. Fresh fruits and vegetables, the mainstay of my diet, rose 6%. Real estate prices are rising dramatically - over 20% this past year in some hot markets. And a new law will double many people's monthly credit card payments this year to ensure you are paying off more than just the interest on your debt.
I guess it is time to start knitting from the stash. Fortunately the cost of yarn has stayed the same for me. Sure, there are more fancy frou frou yarns for people who think knitting a $150 fluffy scarf is a good idea. Personally I am grateful for Knitpicks and Elann who often have some basic wool yarns in lots of colors.
My biggest expense has always been books. There are some new knitting books that are $40 plus but I generally live without them. Or wait until I can find them used. Bookfinder is the place to go to find the best used price on a book. If you buy a lot of books like I do, you may be better off checking out a book discounter like Edward Hamilton or Bookcloseouts so you can save on shipping. I buy a few knitting books and a LOT of cookbooks from those two places.
Here are two interesting articles - Ten Things You Should Never Buy New and Ten Things You Should Never Buy Used.
Peaches is not concerned about any increase in cost of her favorite greens. Here she is with her cat friend Bosco. It took her almost 2 years to start hanging out with Bosco although he's always adored rabbits.
I finished the gloves yesterday. Here they are.
My knitting production for 2005 is way down. I don't even think I finished a single project in June. We are 3/4 of the way through 2005 and I've done 12 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of mittens, 2 hats, 2 pairs of gloves, a cloth, a cozy, and some finger puppets. (In 2004 I finished 36 pairs of socks, 14 hats, 9 scarves, 4 pairs of mittens, 4 pairs of gloves, a baby sweater, and some miscellaneous stuff.)
The lack of interesting knitting patterns the past few years finally took its toll on my knitting output. Fortunately there are plenty of new books coming out to get my production back up in 2006. In fact I have to go right now and check to see if Amazon has the new Charlene Schurch sock book available yet.
My knitting production for 2005 is way down. I don't even think I finished a single project in June. We are 3/4 of the way through 2005 and I've done 12 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of mittens, 2 hats, 2 pairs of gloves, a cloth, a cozy, and some finger puppets. (In 2004 I finished 36 pairs of socks, 14 hats, 9 scarves, 4 pairs of mittens, 4 pairs of gloves, a baby sweater, and some miscellaneous stuff.)
The lack of interesting knitting patterns the past few years finally took its toll on my knitting output. Fortunately there are plenty of new books coming out to get my production back up in 2006. In fact I have to go right now and check to see if Amazon has the new Charlene Schurch sock book available yet.
I now doubt the gloves will be finished this week. Every time I predict here I'll have a project finished something comes along and takes my attention away. This weekend isn't looking so good either as it is all about peaches. Not the brown-eyed rabbit Peaches but canning 10 lbs of peaches. This is probably just a start - I could do about 50 lbs of peaches and we'd eat them all. Home-canned peaches in a light syrup are far superior to the stuff at the store.
Today has been one of those magical days where everything I try in the kitchen turns out well. First I made this delicious Marinated Zucchini. It is a Mario Batali recipe and not low in fat but I love zucchini in all its incarnations. I do think the amount of salt called for in the recipe (2 Tbsp.) is an error.
Then I made this Andrew Weil recipe for Corn, Tomato, and Basil Soup. I was originally thinking I'd have to add some rice or pasta to it to make it heartier but it is plenty hearty all by itself. It is definitely a keeper.
DH just emailed me that he bought me a bread machine (What a guy!) so I'll be making some bread to go with the soup very soon. I used to have an expensive Zojirushi bread machine. It was so huge and my old kitchen was tiny so I donated it to a local wildlife group. Now I have a large kitchen and an oven on the fritz so this is a good thing.
Peaches is very busy this weekend - she plans to make a large mess with her hay, share some wheat grass with her favorite cat Jack, and make a lot of noise in the middle of the night ripping up cardboard.
Today has been one of those magical days where everything I try in the kitchen turns out well. First I made this delicious Marinated Zucchini. It is a Mario Batali recipe and not low in fat but I love zucchini in all its incarnations. I do think the amount of salt called for in the recipe (2 Tbsp.) is an error.
Then I made this Andrew Weil recipe for Corn, Tomato, and Basil Soup. I was originally thinking I'd have to add some rice or pasta to it to make it heartier but it is plenty hearty all by itself. It is definitely a keeper.
DH just emailed me that he bought me a bread machine (What a guy!) so I'll be making some bread to go with the soup very soon. I used to have an expensive Zojirushi bread machine. It was so huge and my old kitchen was tiny so I donated it to a local wildlife group. Now I have a large kitchen and an oven on the fritz so this is a good thing.
Peaches is very busy this weekend - she plans to make a large mess with her hay, share some wheat grass with her favorite cat Jack, and make a lot of noise in the middle of the night ripping up cardboard.
I like these gloves a lot more with the blue fingers. See the original colors and pattern in a PDF file HERE. I may still run out of the medium or dark blue colors but if not I'll have the pair finished this week. These are going to go to a girlfriend who is making me a lovely quilt. Today I started sorting all my finished knitted items into three boxes for Christmas gifts and I'd say I'm about halfway done. DH has also requested a boring plain dark gray vest for Christmas so I'll get started on that in between the more fun projects.
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