Ravelry, at last

I finally got my Ravelry invitation. My username is megdoula in case you want to look me up. But I don't really know what I'm doing and haven't put much on there yet, except my profile and library. So, here is another something to suck up huge amounts of my time! Hope to see some of you there.

Another Fall Dishcloth topic

How about you? Are there any recipes you especially enjoy having in the Fall? Any foods that are seasonal that you especially enjoy?

Hmmm, let's see. I love food. A lot. Some of my favorites for fall are my husband's sweet potato waffles and pumpkin bread. I like to make roasted butternut squash, which is painfully easy but really good. It is also a good time for soups and stews. I'm a vegetarian so sometimes it is hard to find a good, filling vegetarian stew but one of my favorites is called San Franciso Corn and Black bean stew! It is so good!
I'm happy to post recipes if anyone is interested! Now I'll have to go surf the other blogs for more food ideas. Happy Eating!

Fall Swap Topic of the Week

Autumn has now officially begun here in the States!! What is your favorite thing about Autumn/Fall? Why?

My sister and I have a tradition that we've had since we were teenagers that we still do to usher in Fall. We go to the Yankee Peddler Festival.
It's a period arts and crafts festival. All of the vendors and artists are dressed like pioneers or at least that time period. We eat lots of food, check out the art. Then we go home and watch a really old version of the Legend if Sleepy Hollow. It is the one with a very young Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod Crane. Dick Butkis and the principal from "Welcome Back Kotter" is also in it. Yes, we are dorks. But, I love it and that is my favorite thing about fall!

Topic of the Week-Fall Dishcloth Swap

When you knit or crochet dishcloths, washcloths or face cloths, what do you use? What size needle or hook? Wood? what type? Metal? Plastic? A specific Brand? Why do you love that needle or hook so much? Is there one you are dying to try? Is there a particular yarn you love and use all the time for cloths? What is so special about it?

So far I've only used Peaches and Cream and Sugar and Cream. I started knitting them on my bamboo straight needles but lately I've been knitting them with my Denise interchangeable ones. The cotton moves easier in the plastic (or whatever those are made of) than they do the bamboo. I usually use a size 5-7. I saw some nice organic cotton yarn at my LYS yesterday that I'd like to use call Inca cotton. I'd like to try that for some face cloths. The colors were very subdued and earthy (no dyes). Very soft, very pretty.

Fall Dishcloth Swap: Topic of the Week

Now that in some geographic locations the weather is starting to turn cooler, do you change the type of yarn(s) you knit/crochet with? If so, what do you now knit/crochet with instead and why? If not, why do you not switch and what do you knit/crochet with?

Well, I have only been knitting a for less than a year. But I do seem to be changing it up. I try to get a season appropriate project done but my daughter's cotton summer dress is only half done. Now that it is getting colder I want to start my Christmas knitting.

Dishcloth Swap Questionnairre

1. Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been doing it?
I can crochet, but mainly I just knit. I only know the very basics of crochet.

2. Have you made dischloths before? Do you use them yourself, give them as gifts, or both?
I have made them before and I think I've given them all away as gifts.

3. What's your favorite cotton to make cloths from? What cotton would you like to try that you haven't before ?
My favorite is Peaches 'n' Cream. I would like to try a nice organic cotton for some face cloths sometime.

4. If you knit, do you prefer circular or straight needles? For all, do you prefer wooden, metal, or plastic needles?
For dishcloths, I tend to use straight, but circular are probably more versatile. I suppose overall I prefer wooden, but I love my metal addi needles and my plastic Denise needles. So, I guess, I'm easy to please.

5. What are your favorite colors? Any colors you don't like much?
I love lots of colors. It depends on my mood. The only colors I'm not crazy about are baby pastel like colors, olive drab type colors, or colors that I tend to associate with country crafts, like dusty rose.

6. What do you like best about Autumn?
I like the way the quality of the light changes, of course the leaves changing colors, and fall festivals! I love the festivals we go to in the fall from arts and crafts to pumpkin patches. It makes me happy and ushers in the holiday season!

7. Pies: Pumpkin? Apple? Pecan? All of em? or No Thanks!
Pumpkin, Apple and our family's traditional Raisin Pie!

8. When you were a kid, were you the one who couldn't wait to get started with school , or the one who overslept on the 1st day?
Hmmm, probably somewhere in between. I definitely hated getting up early after sleeping in all summer but I was excited to see my friends, etc. Plus my mom was a teacher (my french teacher) and my dad was the superintendent so it wasn't like I had much choice!

9. Do you celebrate Halloween? (The real key here guys is especially knowing if you have an aversion to the holiday or little goodies/decorations associated with it, given the timeframe of the swap)
I do celebrate it! Not just the fun trick or treat aspect but also the fall equinox and older traditions of the holiday as well. We try to observe the changing of the seasons and the origins of the holiday seasons with our children. It creates fun traditions and gives the holidays more meaning for them.

10. If you had to choose just 3 edible 'goodies' to eat for a full year, what 3 would you choose?
Only, three? Well, something chocolate and probably with peanut butter in it. Some kind of good cookie or brownie and for the halloween season, candy corns and salted peanuts mixed together!

11. Do you have any pets? Kids? Husbands who seem like kids? ;)
I have a husband, and together we have 5 kids, 2 together, 2 are his from his first marriage, and 1 from my first marriage. They range in age from 2 to 13, four girls and one boy. We also have 2 cats and 1 angora bunny.

12. If you were to describe a particular yarn that shares traits of your personality, what would it be and why?
I'll have to get back to you on this one. I tend to agonize about personality questions like this.

13. Do you use your cloths mostly for dishcloths, or as facecloths?
I use dishcloths that other people have made me as dishcloths but would to try to make some face cloths as well.

14. Favorite Fall Holiday: Halloween or Thanksgiving and why? (Feel free to share another fall memory if you do not celebrate either of these holidays)
It has got to be Halloween. It is just more fun and seems like more to do, more traditions, etc. The best thing about Thanksgiving to me is that I'm allowed to start listening to Christmas Carols and watching It's a Wonderful Life after the the parade.

15. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should know about?
No serious allergies. I just don't like licorice flavored things!

Poor Bunny

Last spring we got two Satin Angora rabbits. This made my daughter very happy, she had been wanting a pet rabbit for a long time. And I thought I could learn to spin and use the wool. Well so far I haven't learned to spin but have been saving their fur. Last week one of the bunnies, Rudy, was definitely not well. He let me pick him up and hold him with no struggle at all and even let me put him on his back and just lied there. I took him to the vet and we suspected wool block because he wasn't eating or drinking. After a few days of doing everything the vet suggested he seemed much better. We went out of town overnight and when we came back Sunday, he was dead in his cage. I feel terrible. Poor little bunny. His brother seems depressed now, they were litter mates. Sorry Rudy