I love beef stew so much, I have been known to make it in July, when opening the oven door could give you heat stroke!  With the arrival of autumn, I couldn’t wait to get out to Metro this afternoon to buy some stewing beef and inaugurate the season of the stew. And now it is in the oven.

For some reason, I can’t figure out how to edit my post so that the ingredient list isn’t double spaced, so bear with me a moment:

Beef Stew with Tomato Sauce

1 pound stew beef

2 red potatoes

3 celery ribs

1 small bag of ‘baby cut’ carrots

1 can pasta sauce

1/2 cup of water

splash of Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sauce

Chop the meat and veggies into bite-size pieces and put them in an oven-proof pot with a lid. Add about a cup of the pasta sauce, more if you like it really tomatoey. Mix in the water and Lea & Perrins.  I also like to add a bit of italian herbs and pepper. Cover the pot and place in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. Enjoy! This usually makes enough for Denis and I to enjoy for supper, and some lunch leftovers. The dog loves to beg for a taste, too, but I’m not sure how great an endorsement that is.

I heart Chapters.  They have a great selection of knitting books in the Crafts and Hobbies section.  On Sunday, I picked up Kathleen Taylor’s latest book, and I’m really pleased with it. 

For some time, I’ve been looking for a book of sock patterns that are similar to those that Patons used to publish for their Kroy sock yarns.  Socks that a man wouldn’t consider too feminine to wear in public, but would look lovely and girly when knit in the right colour.  There’s at least one chapter in this book that fits the bill.

And as someone who is very afraid to try stranded colour knitting,  I have to say that there are colourwork socks in this book that I really want to knit.

There’s something for everyone in this book. Really simple designs, highly textured knitting, and even a pattern for toe socks!  Did you have a pair that were knee-length and rainbow coloured in the 1970s?  I did.

These socks are from Wendy Johnson’s “Socks from the Toe Up.”  I have attempted to knit along with the KAL group on Ravelry, but I can’t seem to stick to the timeline. These socks were July’s selection, and I finished them in August.  The yarn I used is fantastic–it’s Juniper, from Alchemy yarns, and the colourway is called “Dragon.”  It is a tightly-twisted yarn that gives great stitch definition, and it is nice and soft (merino wool, so what else could it be ?) My only tiny quibble is that it is just a bit splitty.  Why are they called “On Hold?” Apparently, Wendy designed the lace pattern for these while she was on the phone.

I know they clash terribly, but I just had to photograph these on the new mulberry polka-dot sheets I bought last week. They are my new favourite thing.

The suspense is driving me nuts!  My Sock Wars target was supposed to receive her ‘death socks’ on Saturday.  When USPS couldn’t deliver, they left her a notice to pick them up at her post office.  They’re still sitting there and, surprise, she won’t answer my emails now.  I’m glad I paid the outrageous price to send them with delivery confirmation and online tracking, otherwise I would have no idea what was going on.  I didn’t have to deal with this kind of childish behaviour in Sock Wars III, and it’s a bit disappointing.

However, there is lots of fun fiber play to distract me.  I pieced a crazy quilt block for a Yahoo group stitch-along.

The theme is “Under the Sea”.  I was glad to be able to use the ’silkie’ mermaid image.  It’s been in my stash for awhile.  The ribbon is not stitched down yet, as I am not committed to keeping it there.  The fabrics are almost all cotton, but one piece of silk dupioni crept in there.  I started out as a ’sane’ quilter and the cotton-snobbery of those days is hard to overcome.  Silk is starting to win me over, though.  Let the embellishing begin.

I’m thrilled about the KAL (knit-along) on Ravelry that’s based on Wendy Johnson’s book of toe-up socks.  This month’s sock is the Lacey Rib (darn, is it Lacey or Lacy?), and I’ve made some progress on sock one.

The toe and heel are both knit by the short-row method.  This yarn is impossibly soft!  It’s Claudia Hand Painted fingering weight merino, in the Strawberry Latte colourway.  I’m a first-timer with this yarn, and I absolutely love it.  Did I mention it is soft?  It gives great stitch definition and isn’t a bit splitty.  Also, it is really really soft.  The needles are Addi lace, size 000.  Yes, that is 1.5 mm.  Would you believe I knit so loosely that these are the needles I have to use to get 8 stitches to the inch?

Last year was the first time I participated in Sock Wars, and I felt pretty lucky to have successfully taken out one victim.  I am the world’s slowest knitter, after all, and some people were completing a pair of socks in less than 48 hours!

It was fun, so I decided to try my luck again this year.  As of today, I have not been taken out yet, and I just mailed this to my current target:

The socks are hard to see inside that plastic bag, aren’t they?  I was in such a hurry to take the photo and get to the post office.  My target is in Texas, and Canada Post, bless their hearts, tells me it will be up to 9 days before the socks reach their destination. 

Last year, my victim actually sent me a skein of gorgeous yarn after she received her “death socks”, and I thought that was nice, so I’m sending a few extras along for my victim.  Maybe that will take the sting out of being eliminated.

I have had bad eyesight for most of my life.  When I started having trouble seeing the blackboard at school, at age 7, my parents’ solution was that I should move to the front of the classroom.  It took several months to convince them that my vision was compromised to the point that I needed to wear glasses.

The day I finally took possession of my new glasses could have been the last day of my life.  I was 8, and my mother had taken my brother and me to the mall to pick up my glasses.   What a revelation, seeing things clearly for the first time!  I didn’t want to take them off.

We had to take an escalator back down to the main floor of the mall.  My mom was busy with my brother, who was about 4 at the time.  They got on the escalator and proceeded down.  I was behind them, realizing for the first time that seeing more clearly was going to take getting used to.  I had no depth perception with the glasses on, and when I stepped forward, I missed the escalator stair and started to fall.

I was a long way up, and there was no one in front of me to break my fall.  If I had fallen, I would have been killed.

With amazing reflexes, a woman beside me grabbed my left arm, pulled me back and held me, it seemed, until we got to the bottom.  I was  panic-stricken and had started to cry, and never said a word to her.  I think she may have asked if I was okay, and I may have nodded, but I don’t really remember anything except being scared witless.  My mom and brother had no idea what happened until they reached the bottom and stopped to wait for me.

I don’t know whether anyone thanked that woman for what she did.  I hope so.  For many years, I couldn’t ride an escalator (up or down) without holding the handrail in a strangler’s grip, frightened out of my mind.  I would get off as quickly as possible and then, once I calmed down, I would remember my heroine and offer silent thanks to her again.

I haven’t thought about that day for a long time.  She was gray-haired when she saved me, and probably passed away years ago.  Today, on my birthday, I need to thank her one more time.  You saved my life.  Thank you.

Ottawa quilters are very lucky.  There are two large guilds in town, and they each have a quilt show every two years.  Conveniently, they alternate years, and share the same venue, the RA Centre.  This weekend, the Ottawa Valley Quilters’ Guild is putting on their show.  Check out their web site for all the info.  It’s probably going to be a rainy weekend here, so the tulip-viewing won’t be so great.  Go look at some amazing quilts!

I’ve really been looking forward to the next sock club shipment.  January’s “Queen of Beads” socks were fun to knit, and I finished them!

The STR “lightweight” yarn makes a warm and thick sock.  I’ve been wondering what the other weights were like, and today I found out.  The March club yarn is a colourway that I think is just crazy beautiful, and it’s in mediumweight.

I really like the pattern that came with it, too, and probably will cast on tonight.  I can do that without guilt because, drumroll please, the Clapotis is done!  Photos soon…I’m still of two minds about blocking it.  I like the bumpy unblocked texture, but I’d also like the extra width I’ll get from it if I stretch out the dropped stitches.  A decision to ponder as I wind the new sock yarn.

Of course, I could not resist starting the Rockin’ Sock Club socks.  I was a little nervous about knitting with beads, but I’m getting the hang of it, and it hasn’t been as slow as I thought it would be.  This is working up to be a nice sock.

I resisted knitting the pattern as written, since I’m so fond of toe-up socks, but since I want to learn some new techniques, I decided to follow along.  I’m really glad  I did.  This pattern is elegant.  The tubular cast-on is so neat and extremely stretchy.  After I took this photo, I knit the heel flap, and was  impressed by the way the stitches transition from the beaded lattice design to the slip stitch heel pattern.  I’m generally no fan of flap-and-gusset heels, but I’m actually liking this one.  Poor Clapotis is taking a back seat this week, but I’m working the decrease rows now, so the end is near.

The Alliance for American Quilts has announced a contest that will be of interest to crazy quilt afficionados.  It is refreshing to find a U.S.-based organization that welcomes international participation.  If you’re interested in getting involved with this combination contest and fundraiser, check out the guidelines.

The fundraiser part of this is that the quilt you enter becomes the property of the Alliance, to be auctioned on eBay after the contest ends.  The quilts are only 16 inches square, though, so parting with your creation might not be too difficult (I have a hard time letting my quilts go).  The entry fee is small, payable via Paypal, and the deadline isn’t until June 1st.   Time to pull out the scrap bag, I think.