Dear Thanksgiving Turkey

Dear Thanksgiving Turkey.

I know it's not Thanksgiving here in the US for a couple of weeks yet, but I wanted to catch you while you still had some time left on this earth. Give you time to digest this news I am about to deliver to you.

O this is going to be hard.

You see, I've been a vegetarian for twenty years, but I think ducks to avoid flying rotten eggs that I am going back to eating....meat. Meat as in chicken and turkey. (The thought of bacon has always grossed me out.)

Please hear me out. I think that avoiding eating 20 Thanksgiving turkeys, and I am not even going to count the Christmas ones at my sister-in-law's house, should at least count for something, and buy me twenty minutes of your time...thank you.

Twenty years of being a vegetarian for political, animal rights, and dietary reasons is a tough thing to leave behind. Repeated reports of meat recalls and E. coli horror had me glad to be avoiding meat entirely. We raised our kids vegetarian too, even though we never "forbid" them to eat meat: if they wanted to try it, they could. When they had questions about the meat and seafood departments in the grocery store, we stood there and visited steaks, hot dogs, and lobster. But they never ended up trying it, until Tall Son went to college. He does have an occasional burger now.

Twenty years of having to explain to one's relatives the reasons why, and why I was doing that to my kids, we felt like oddballs for a very long time. We were labeled as birdfood eating crunchy granola types by some. We were told that we were going to be iron-deficient, emaciated, protein-lacking, miserable people. Honestly I have no idea how Tall Son got to be 6'2" and Crafty Girl at age 12 has caught up with me in height? There were years where we only saw the pediatrician at the annual check-up. Twenty years, and we were never miserable because of our diet. Never.

However. Things started to change for me a couple of years ago, when I found out that I have IBS (probably since childhood) and also a gluten sensitivity. There are 4 celiacs in my immediate family, so the odds are pretty good that I would have an issue there, too. 2006 was a very high stress year for me. Autoimmune disorders are sometimes triggered by stress.

Now my diet excluded wheat, rye, barley, oats, and cow's milk dairy. And still no meat and no seafood. I love my nut butters, and am OK with gluten free foods, and am just fine with goat's milk cheese. (Most of them I cannot afford, but that's another story.)

This spring, I was having more than the usual seasonal allergies, and I finally figured out that eating peanuts in any form makes my chest constrict. Not a fun experience. But I am happy to not eat peanuts. Being able to breathe is more important to me. Switching to almond butter or cashew butter is not an option, as they are made on the same equipment as the one used for peanutbutter.

After several months now of not eating meat, seafood, dairy, grains, and nuts, I started to gain weight in the weirdest way. Was it all the rice? Rice bread, rice crackers, rice cereal. While I was grateful to be eating something that didn't make me sick, I was getting sick of it.

Oh, and did I mention that if I have a full serving of carrot salad, or butternut squash, pumpkin pie, or any other deep yellow vegetabe, I get diarrhea? Did I tell you that eating most legumes has me blowing up like a hot air balloon, but without the exhilarating feeling of floating high in the air? I do love potatoes in all their myriad ways of preparation. I am fond of millet and quinoa. Corn, I am OK with, but it doesn't thrill me too much. I am never quite sure of its nutritional value, either.

I considered being a vegan, but that was an impossibility due to me being restricted in the nut department. I have since found some dry roasted almonds which are like manna to me, which cause no adverse reaction. I need to go purchase some good dairy free, non-grain sweetened dark chocolate to coat them in. A girl does deserve a treat every once in a while.

Always thankful for any kind of food that doesn't make me sick to my stomach, content with my choices, happy to have any food at all in the face of so many millions on this earth who never have enough...I had another piece of rice bread toast the other day with imitation cream cheese, and it suddenly hit me:

I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!

I am so so sorry. I realized that I was spending so incredibly much time thinking about what to eat that didn't make me ill or nauseous or bloated or kept me from breathing. I realized I was sick and tired of tofu and simply could not think of yet another way to prepare it. Already pouring soy milk (thank goodness for SILK!) over my corn chex, I knew I could easily overdo it with the soy protein and then where would I be. Trust me, I had explored many of the glutenfree, allergy free, vegan, vegetarian cookbooks. I knew what my options were.

I was also in the middle of reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, so that may have had something to do with my sudden change in attitude. Yes, I was supremely grateful for the food I had, but all that scrounging for protein was doing something to my psyche. I am glad I can literally just go to the store and find something to eat. (It means spending twice as much time there because I have to read labels all the time, but I've always been ready to do whatever it takes.) I know there are people right around me who have deadly deadly allergies to some of the most common foods. I can truly appreciate what they have to go through each and every day.

But I hit my very own personal wall. I started to fantasize about bratwurst. I know. 20 years. Wiped out. To take the edge off, I went to the market and got a 1/4 pound of all natural turkey breast, sliced thin, and it lasted me for two lunches. That was two weeks ago, and I have since had some tuna salad. (Dear husband and I actually put the occasional fish on the grill over the summer, but that was going to be it. Didn't want to bring that smell into the house.)

The biggest decision I made was that I want a Thanksgiving Turkey. I am going to find a free range one, because I refuse to eat something that had endured torture. Now I need to find a recipe, because I have no idea how to cook a turkey. I do want to do it justice and want it to come out right.

I guess basically I want to make sure that I can be grateful and mindful again of whatever I'm eating, and not spend all my time worrying, because that just seems wrong and serves nobody.

Dear Thanksgiving Turkey. Thanks for hearing me out. Now go live out your life with wild abandon.

a child's sweater

About a year ago, Blue Sky Alpacas donated a bunch of their superbulky alpaca/merino blend to Afghans for Afghans, to pass along to knitters who'd be willing to make a garment. I got some of the yarn, missed the deadline for knitting at the time and felt miserable about it.
Another deadline came up and I finally managed to finish the sweater up yesterday and mailed it out to them.
The age group they are delivering warm winter garments and accessories to this time is 7-14, and I am hoping this 34" chest size will fit and warm an Afghani child.
I used 10 skeins and so the sweater weighed one kilo, that's over 2 lbs - nice and heavy.

Size 15 needles yielded a gauge of 2 sts/in. I didn't follow a pattern, but I checked my measurements against some size charts.

FO: handspun mittens, and some plying action

I finally finished a pair of mittens for myself the other day where all that was missing were the thumbs. I guess the recent cold weather nudged me along. These are the first complete project with my own handspun. I don't even remember where I got the fiber, but I think it was a 2 oz Grafton Fibers batt I got ages ago. The yarn came out very soft to the touch and vibrant in color, and I used up almost every bit of it.

I didn't have the sense to wash the skein first, so some of the stitches show a distinct slant. So much need to learn.

Which brings me to...the lovely spinning group I got to visit with on Friday. Kay* met me in a parking lot 20 minutes from the meeting point, so I could follow her and not get lost, according to her words.

Well I may have gotten lost. We were meeting at "Fred's" and I had no clue who Fred was.

Let me tell you. After about a 20 minute drive through the most picturesque landscape around Crooked Lake, we suddenly turn left at a driveway that was studded with faded plastic flamingoes. The small parking lot was generous enough to hold about 10 cars; we were the first ones to arrive. There was some ornate scrolled iron lawn furniture outside of a long rectangular building. A mailman looked like he was stuck head first in the grass -- I liked this place. Impromptu art everywhere. The mailman turned out to be the bottom half of a mannequin complete with an old mailman's trousers and shoes. I guess he had delivered one bill too many....

When we entered, we were greeted by

a) a roaring fire in the world's biggest fireplace

b) an aging dog

c) the delicious scent of freshly roasted coffee

d) and Fred himself.

We were inside a coffee roaster's. There were cafe tables strewn about and bistro chairs. Old overstuffed chairs and sofas, one of which was on a stage (!) on the other end of the room. There were canisters of coffee and tea, brownies, coffeecakes, and cupcakes under domed lids. Antiques on shelves and handmade pottery.

As the spinners and knitters were filing in with their wheels, fiber, and various bags of accessories, everybody
felt at home and made me feel at home. I had been very nervous since it was my first outing at a spinning group, and these were mostly seasoned spinners. But it turned out that I knew at least half of them already, from when I had my shop, from other shops, and from fiber festivals.

Much chatting, spinning, knitting, plying, and even occasional singing ensued. One person brought a partially assembled wheel that was not engaging, and we now know that it takes 5 spinners and a headlamp to assemble the final parts. (Don't ask. I couldn't explain it to you. But the wheel was soon whirring away.)

Meanwhile I was spinning up what I had left of some roving, as this was the day I was finally going to learn how to ply properly. Laurie* pulled out her Katie a go go (OK I admit I googled this later) and got me set up. Only I had so much yarn on my bobbins there was not enough time for me to ply it all. Looks like I'm going to have to get me one of these nifty lazy kates....for all these singles I have on the bobbins that I didn't know what to do with. Laurie also explained how I can make a lazy kate for about a dollar, but then she spoiled me with the best tool and now I feel like there is no going back.

However a week from Friday, I'm going back to Fred's. How can I not? His last name is Cashmere.

PS: *you can see Kay and Laurie in pictures here.

Photography Exhibit

Yesterday, I re-visited a photography exhibit by my friend Laura Glazer. I've been meaning to go back to the Little Gallery in Rathbone Hall on the Sage Campus in Albany, NY. I've been meaning to blog about it so more people would hopefully go and take a look at this astonishing project.

My only comfort now is knowing that the story is ongoing still, that there will be a book, and hopefully more exhibits as time goes on.

Leaf Prints on the walk to the gallery.

The floor in the exhibit room.

How does one take pictures (with the permission of the artist!) of some of the most exquisite photographs? I am forever fascinated by lines (of writing, knitting), and this exhibit captivated me.

View from the gallery entrance.

Please run over there today if you're in the area. They are open from 12 to 4. Otherwise, keep checking Laura's blog to find out more, and clamor for another exhibit!

more quilt pictures

Sometimes life happens to such an extent that one is required to spend more energy on dealing with it than planned. Consequently these additional pictures of the Bennington Quilt show of 2009 are a little late.

I hope you'll find them no less inspiring.

Of course, there were some vendors there, too. Fabric. It's how it all begins...

Large, or small, primitive, or artistic...I love them all.

crazy quilt

I went to Bennington VT this past weekend and spent a lovely day with my dear friend Amy. We went to the annual quilt show there. I only took about 85 pictures, hehe...here's a small sampling. I may put up more pictures later.

I'll start with one of our favorite ones. This quilter took the book Goodnight Moon and made it into a picture quilt. We both enjoyed reading that book to our kids when they were small.

The cranes were pieced!

The description on the Poppy Quilt said it usually hangs on a red wall. Stunning.

Exquisite hand stitching on a crazy quilt.

Wouldn't you love to have one of these on your bed?

We really liked the colors and the border on this one, and put our vote in the ballot box for it.

Ok who wants more pictures?

it keeps me going and going!

Interrupting my knitting to tell you that the yardage on that yarn is blowing me away! Saturday I said to myself, 'Oh, I'll just knit to the end of the skein.' It took me a whole 'nother day to to finish it.



I got 10 and one quarter inches of sweater back out of one skein (247 yds!) of Valley Yarns "Northampton", knitting the 44" chest size on that sweater.

Some of my cables need to shape up a little, and I'm working on that. Mostly the right-leaning ones have stitches that are a little too open, or loose, for my taste...I have now gone to cabling without a cable needle, except for the ones what require you to cross 4 over 4 stitches (see the big snake-like cable? That's the one.) I'm hoping the rest will settle in when I block it.

Onward!