It is not enough to be busy.... The question is: What are we busy about? --Henry David Thoreau
One of the stressful things about maintaining a blog about crafting is feeling the need to have project after project to show off each time I write a post. I knit and crochet and sew and weave and spin... surely I MUST have something finished to show off each time, shouldn't I? I mean, what else could I possibly be doing?
Well, this week, I've been working on sleeping. Yes, WORKING on sleeping... as in making sure I limit my sugar in the afternoon and evenings, trying to put my technology to bed a few hours before bedtime, writing down lists rather than keeping stuff in my head to keep me awake at night. And then, if I wake up in the middle of the night, really having to tell myself to relax and go back to sleep... and then lying there wondering if I am asleep... and then realizing I am asleep because I'm suddenly dreaming about flying teacups and bouncy running shoes...
I can say I've slept for a lot more hours than the week before, but I'm not sure I'm altogether more rested. Maybe I'll feel better this week. Or maybe I need some time off. I guess we'll see.
What else have I been doing, let's see... It's spot prawn season here on Vancouver Island, so I went down to the wharf and picked up a few pounds of prawns. Can we talk about how scary those little things are? Spike on the head, spike on the tail, and the ability to leap off the table into the air to freak out little nosy doggies hanging around in the kitchen. At least they're tasty. So far we've had them on lemon and garlic pasta:
I also took the heads and shells and made a bunch of broth and turned that into prawn chowder. It went well with the loaf of Guinness soda bread I made:
I also made a loaf of buttermilk soda bread in my new Dutch oven:
It's so tasty that I think it won't take long for it to disappear:
And today, I needed to find a use for an open can of black beans I had stashed in the fridge. Turns out that if you Google "cauliflower" and "black beans" you end up with a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower and "Refried" Black Bean Tacos. And man, they were so good:
Apart from cooking, I also got wind that the local fabric store was having its annual massive sale. Here's the thing: I collect remnants of fabric from thrift stores and bargain bins. It's a true addiction: I see it in the bin, I see how cheap it is, and I figure I might as well take it home because I'll make it into something someday, but it's never of enough yardage to make anything truly useful. So my trip to the fabric store was specifically to get things I truly needed: particular colours of thread, coordinating fabrics for my remnants, a really good pair of shears... I made a LIST, y'all. I PLANNED my shopping trip. And I'm really glad I did because I have three projects for my sewing machine queued up now. Yay organized me.
Except... I also got this adorable fabric for which I have NO plans, except that will eventually become a gift for a friend of mine who is expecting this winter. I have a sneaking suspicion that I might need to go back for some more bits and pieces to make it work. Man... so much for being organized:
I suppose the thing I'm most pleased with this weekend is that I repaired a hole in a sweater for a friend of mine:
She really wanted to know how she might repair something like that for herself in the future, so I took the opportunity to make a YouTube video for her. It's the first video I've posted in years. I forgot how much I enjoyed making them. If you want to have a look, here it is below:
And here's the finished product. Nice, eh?
Oh yeah, I have made SOME progress on my tapestry crochet top. It would have been more, except I realized the other day that I worked too many rows on the back for the sleeves so I had to rip a bunch of rows out. Heh. It'll get done someday...
Right... I'm off to make dinner. I can't remember what we're having, but I'm hoping it'll be quick because I really want to get back to working on this top. It's GOT to be finished by my next post, right? If I work on it tonight and stop playing with my phone and stop cooking and shopping and watching tv...
That might be a bit too ambitious. I guess we'll see. Have a great week!
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