It’s lovely and I really enjoyed knitting it. I expect to make another one some day.

I also cast on for a Clapo-Ktus. It’s a combination of the Clapotis (of which I have knit 5 or so) and Baktus, which I have not knit but I know lots of people have. I kind of love that someone combined those two patterns and gave it that name. Knitters rock.

The yarn is Handmaiden Sea Silk, which I think is just beautiful. I have a month to finish it. Woot, deadline knitting.

Okay, but really what I came here to post about is fingering weight yarn. There has been a trend in recent years towards using sock yarn for nonsock projects. First there were shawls and now there are sweaters. I am 100% behind the trend towards smaller gauge sweaters but it leaves me with a dilemma. I really want to knit one, in particular: Afterlight. The dilemma comes from the lack of yarns at that weight without wool that won’t break the bank. You can find lots of really lovely fingering weight silk yarns if you don’t mind paying $300 for a sweater. I do mind that though.

If anyone out there in knitting land knows about a good fingering weight nonwool yarn that I could use for sweaters, please tell me!

That said, let me show you what I did get. First, I ran to the Southern Yarn booth to buy Signature Needles.

Her booth was full of nonwool yarns but none of it caught my eye. My rules for shopping were that I could only spend the cash that I brought and that I had to love what I bought. I already love these needles. I got a set of 7s two years ago and sometimes knit projects just because they can be made on those needles. They really are wonderful.

Then I visited the ArtFibers booth and discovered that they now have recycled cotton denim yarn.

This red one had to come home with me. I think I already know what to make with it and it can be made on one of my pairs of new needles, so that’s a plus.

I also succumbed to a skein of RedFish’s new sport weight Silk Floss.

This picture doesn’t really do it justice. It’s very pretty. I am looking forward to knitting with it.

I was hoping that A Verb For Keeping Warm would have Paso Dolce chocolates again. They didn’t but they did have tiny Tcho samplers.

Love Tcho chocolate. The other item pictured above is my door prize! It’s a travel pack from Bar Maids: a cuticle stick, lip balm, and lotion bar. They are yummy and lanolin-free. I am so pleased that I finally won a prize! Maybe this means it’s my year for the grand prize.

In other news, I finished a cowl. It’s the Abby cowl from KnittySpin a couple of years ago.

I love how light but still warm the silk lace yarn feels. Again, I don’t love the color. It is the other half of the hank of silk I used to make the Annis which I ended up giving to Teenuh. She has hinted that she’d take this off my hands too. First I want to take it back to Stitches and show it to owner of RedFish Dyeworks, since it is her yarn. She said she’d love to see it.

Yes, that does mean I plan to go back to Stitches. I still have some of my cash left and if I want to win the grand prize I have to be there, right?

Creole Beans and Rice
From “New Recipes from the Moosewood Restaurant”

Serves 6

3 cups dried kidney beans (I use 4 cans black beans, rinsed and drained)
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp ground allspice

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups chopped onions
6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 medium celery stalks, diced
1 cup diced carrots
2 to 3 green peppers, chopped (I use red usually)
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

2 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
salsa
sour cream

Cook the beans with 1/2 teaspoon cayenne and 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice. (I skip this step, I used to simmer the beans with the spices for a while but I’m not convinced that made a difference.)

Sauté the onions and garlic in oil on medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add the celery and carrots and continue to cook several minutes longer. Stir occasionally. Add the green pepper and sauté until all the vegetables are just tender. Whisk together the tomato past, red wine, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, herbs, and spices. Add this to the sautéed vegetables. In a large pot combine the drained beans and sautéed vegetable mixture and stir them until thoroughly mixed. (If using canned beans, I just add the extra cayenne and allspice in with the tomato paste mixture and add the canned beans at this point.) Simmer covered for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Cook the rice. Serve beans with rice, topped with salsa and sour cream.

Changes I made for the slow cooker:

I increased the tomato paste to the whole can (which I often do anyway, just because half a can of tomato paste just goes bad in my fridge); used 1/2 cup of wine and 1/2 cup of water to increase the liquid.

I used less cayenne than it called for because I figured it would get too hot for me. This is clearly a matter of taste.

I sautéed the vegetables up to the point of adding the peppers and then I put that mixture into the slow cooker, mixed with half of tomato paste mixture. The other half of the tomato paste mixture was mixed with the beans, which I put on top of the vegetables in the cooker.

I cooked it all on low for 8 hours and it was delicious! Enjoy.

The photo never made it to my Flickr set. That’s what I get for forgetting to cross-check my Ravelry projects list. Another gift I knitted never made it to Flickr or here. Fitted mitts for my friend Christy’s daughter.

I intended to send them to her shortly after her daughter arrived from Colombia and only just sent them, so I was avoiding posting about them. I should have gotten Niels to model them, they are cuter on.

I didn’t look back at previous year’s fo counts yesterday either. In 2011 and 2010 there were 27, in 2009 there were 39, and in 2008 there were 51. This is a disturbing trend! So much for having more time for knitting now that my kids are older and in school all day, huh?

I thwarted the universe’s desire for me to not know how much yarn I have (by borrowing my husband’s computer) and figured out that I have
76867.2 yards of yarn or 43.7 miles. 5000 yards or 3 miles more than last year. Whoops. Maybe I won’t buy yarn this year? But really, maybe I will.