7 Quick Takes (Vol 190)

Here we are again. How does this happen?? I just get done with one Quick Takes and another sneaks up on me. You know the established rules of engagement. After you have deeply contemplated my well thought out Quick Takes (could you hear the sarcasm in that) you need to click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of my quickly approaching turkey consumption coma, over to Conversion Diary to see what everyone else has been doing.

Blather constrained by reason and sanity.

1.
SO the latest “BIG” news around here is that one of the black bears was sighted about a mile from Chez Knit. That may not be big news to some who live where bears are more common. But remember I live in the Frozen Northeast Ohio, a 30 minute drive from both Cleveland and Akron. Black bears are a big deal around here.

And that means that I am now obsessed with watching our woods, camera at the ready, hoping against hope that I can get a picture of a bear in my own woods.

I live a strange and sad little life.

2.
It has been rather frosty this week on our walks!

Believe me when I say that layers and wool socks are my best friend this time of year.

3.
I had a “dehydrating failure” this week. I got it into my head that since cranberries are so cheap this time of year that I could try my hand at dehydrating them using the trusty, never failed me before, dehydrator.

Found directions on the internet. Followed all the steps…..

And after close to 36 HOURS in the dehydrator (3 times as long as was estimated) and no where near dehydrated I threw up my hands and said FORGET IT! Or something to that effect. I am not going to give up on this but I am thinking some more research is going to happen before I try it again.

4.
A reminder to myself. Do not watch a detailed movie on WWII, drink a bottle of Great Lakes Christmas Ale (Ummmmm, my favorite) AND knit fairly complicated stranded knitting. I did that on Tuesday night. It didn’t turn out well.

I am working on a stranded color work Christmas Stocking (a pair actually) that will be a wedding gift. And of course I didn’t actually want to follow the pattern as written. They had a “after thought heel” in the pattern and I hate those so I put in a Short Row heel. Simple substitution. And as my Knit Sib Erica says, “YOU following a sock pattern as written? You never do.” This is very true. I put in the heel, did the next set of stranded knitting and then decided to admire my beautiful work……

And realized that SOMEHOW I had put the heel in on the front side of the sock, the side that has the name on it.

Really?

REALLY????

How many pairs of socks have you knit Deb? Ummmmm, a lot.

Yeah, I wasn’t happy. I looked at it and looked at it, trying to make my brain NOT see what was obvious. Either this was a Christmas Stocking knit for someone with a strange deformity or I was going to have to frog back about 4 hours of work.

FART BURGERS!

But now the first stocking is done and it will be on to the second….once I go and get some yarn in a bit different color.

5.
Anyone want to go to the midnight showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? I don’t have any of the progeny here to go with me. LaurenLeap???

And yes I remember that I SWORE, after that last Harry Potter midnight showing, that I wouldn’t ever do that again.

But I lied. But only if I can get someone else to go with me.

I am trying to suppress my irritation at Peter Jackson for stretching this out to THREE installments but I am sure that I will get over it.

And I cannot actually buy the sound track yet but I was able to listen to a portion of it yesterday. And as usual, Howard Shore is a genius.

6.
We have NO bread in the house!! Why is there no bread on a morning when I really want a piece of toast??? This is what comes from my determination to make the bread that we eat. It isn’t that hard…..if I remember that I need to make bread.

Rats.

This has been my lunch the last couple of days. Homemade bread, homemade Bing Cherry/Peach jam, topped with Brie cheese and put under the broiler.

Mother of ALL that is Holy And Good.

But unless I want to go out and get some bread today….and that is a distinct possibility because even looking at this picture makes me want some……I won’t be having this for lunch today.

But that doesn’t solve my current dilemma.

Sigh.

And HHBL just walked in and asked if there was any bread.

Sigh again.

7.
Curses, Pilot Man has gotten me hooked on watching Duck Dynasty.

It is loathsome yet I cannot look away.

See what I mean.