Recently I may have…er….slipped.

First I went to the Oakland Fiber Festival. Now, you can’t go to a fiber festival and not buy anything. There’s got to be some sort of rule, right?  And I was restrained. I only came home with a copy of How to Knit A Love Song (which was so good I sat down to skim it and then read the whole thing in a couple of hours straight. I don’t think I’ve read a novel straight through in years.) and some lusicious yarn.

The yarn is from Black Diamond Alpacas, and it’s fingering weight in a lovely cherry red. I’m planning on making the Bellevue Cardigan in fingering weigh from Cosmicpluto Knitst; I’ve been saying I needed a nice red sweater for some time, and this will look darling. This yarn company had the most gorgeous colors; I wanted to buy them all but refrained. I did find out they have a ranch in Brentwood with a store….I smell a road trip!

Then there was the destashing. Yvette of Knotology was destashing and, well, it’s Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio Sock yarn in Foggy Bottom! I couldn’t not buy it! For those of you who don’t know, I went to college at GWU, which is located in Foggy Bottom, and I’ve been looking for this colorway for ages. I’m also tickled by the colors–it’s not quite buff and blue (GW’s school colors) but it’s close enough. Heck, the school couldn’t seem to figure out what constituted buff half the time, so why not say this  qualifies?

I also got some super yummy Shibui Sock. I love, love, love their yarn. I like nice sproingy sock yarns, and theirs is fantastic. Plus the colors..pink, orange, red, and super saturated. Like a brilliant sunset or a field of flowers. Oh, I just want to look at it all the time.

Related: I’m on the lookout for a wall shelf to go in my apartment, preferably on the cheap. I’m thinking something like one of the large Expedits; I’d like to be able to have my stash out and visible. Both for inspiration and decoration; it makes me sad to see all these yummy yarns hidden away where I can’t look at them.

(What? What do you mean I already have enough on the needles? I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. ::quietly shoves stack of half knitted items under the couch:: ::whistle softly:: Hey, look! Something shiny!)

Ahem.

It’s actually my new commuter project, for now. I seem to have lost one of the needles for my commuter socks, so until I get a replacement they’re in hibernation. I was looking for something to work on–simple enough, not too overly large, and came across Mrs. Darcy! It’s been in my queue for a while, and I had some pink yarn in my stash with no project in mind–perfect match.

I’m making a few mods to the pattern. I’m knitting in the round, so that the body is done in one piece, and I lengthened the bottom a bit, as my  cropped shirt days are behind me. Mostly because I really hate feeling like the small of my back is cold all the time.

So far, it’s zipping along quickly. I can’t wait to finish.

Okay, so there wasn’t an actual basket. But my Mom decided to send me a sheep mascot (and a ton of candy!) that coincided with the arrival of my Ostara yarn from Gaia’s Colours. I was so torn on the Ostara installment of the Sacred Sabbats yarn that I couldn’t begin to decide which one to order.

So I got both. This picture is closer to the actual color (at least on my monitor). They’re both delicious! Mmm, spring…

Treehugger suggests the way to improve environmental journalism is to keep confronting the obious, over and over again.

A look at the hedonic treadmill reveals that we kinda suck at knowing what makes us happy. (Hint: it isn’t more stuff.)

Stuff might not make us happy, but I bet this almond macaroon torte with chocolate frosting totally will.

Huffington Post asks if fast food culture is speeding up our mind.

If that’s depressing, why not have some cake? How about some Wildflower Honey Cake with Berry Compote? Perhaps some Chai Spiced Honey Cake? Or maybe a Spiced Honey Cake with Caramelized Apples?

Okay, now I’m kind of hungry….

I had a few inches left on the front, which were finished quickly, then I settled down to seam it up during the Oscars. On the principle that doing two things that always seem to take forever at once would somehow speed them both up? (Also, can we take a minute here and talk about the Oscars? There were a few great looks–Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz, Sandy Powell–and Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren are my role models on how to age gracefully, but what was up with the fooferah on all the skirts? It’s a dress, not sculptural art. Also, Zoe Saldana? I love you, I do, but didn’t anyone tell you that Ursula from the Little Mermaid was attacking that dress? Seriously. Take it off.)

Ahem.

I also picked up and worked the neck. It’s not overlapping quite as much as I’d thought, but is still cute. And dangerously low-cut, so that could be interesting.

And I’m still plugging along on the Atlantis sock. The problem with this is that the chart is just long enough that I can’t memorize it, or easily tell where I left off, so I can only wor on it when I have a little over an hour free, which isn’t always workable. I’m getting there, though!

So, here’s an overview of what my Dream Town  of Sustainable Awesomeness would look like. Obviously, some of these would be longer term goals to work towards, but I think laying the path out would help. Also, even with crazy ass dreams, I’m just a planner.

Location There are a lot of largely subjective factors here. For me, the key would be somewhere with seasons (and snow! I miss snow!), somewhere with mountains (because I don’t trust places that are entirely flat) and somewhere not too far from a city. There are some conveniences that come from urban areas, and having something within a reasonable drive would be great. Plus, it would make it more easily accessible for visitors, which will become important later in this list. I’m leaning towards Colorado right now, but that’s just me.

An actual town In my ideal, this would take the form of an actual, incorporated municipality. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, it allows for growth. Ideally, this sort of model would be the sort that can expand and grow as more people become interested in this type of living rather than something that only works on a micro level. Second, it allows for more control. Unincorporated areas can’t make their own laws, which runs the risk of, say, a county deciding that the lot next to your sustainable farm is the perfect place for a sewage treatment plant or a new condo development. As a municipality, you get to set your own zoning laws, amongst other things. You also avoid being absorbed by a larger city as it grows, and being subject to their laws, taxes and other things. There are some downsides–you have to meet certain requirements to incorporate, and you have to pay municipal taxes to receive county services, while an unicorporated area does not–but I think they’re outweighed by the plus-es.

Self-sufficient This kind of goes along with the above. Being a town and all, the idea would be to form a self-sufficient community that included the essentials for life–like a fire/EMS department, police department, town government, schools, a doctor, and other services. Now, I’m sure some people are having a very visceral reaction to some of those, but it all goes back to scalability. You don’t need all of those things in a very small community, but if you want something that can grow, you do. Fire/EMS and doctors, well, that’s pretty self-explanatory. Things burn, people get hurt, it’s bad.  As for police, I’m sure many of you are saying but we won’t need them. Well, you might. As hard as you might try, you can’t guarantee everyone who wants to be part of the community in is going to be honest and upfront. Not to mention visitors.  Plus, this provides an interesting opportunity to explore the idea of what a different type of police force might look like. Maybe police officers also function as mediators in conflicts. How would that look? I think it’s worth exploring. Also–government. Decision by consensus is, again, one of those things that can reach a stopping point with large groups. But there are forms of government that rely heavily on consensus–a town meeting style government with elected selectmen, perhaps, or a town council style one with term limits or other restrictions that ensure people are rotated through on a regular basis.

Non-judgmentally sustainable Sutainability is one of those concepts that is rather nebulous, and may mean different things to different people. Ideally, this would be a place where all people are working towards a more sustainable life–on their own terms. Not everyone is cut out to live in cobb houses with composting toilets. I’m not. I like my indoor plumbing and running (hot!) water, and love the idea of restoring and updating an old house. Other people need steady electricity for medical reasons, and would at least need backup connection to a power source, even if the main portion of power was sourced from solar or wind. Some people are vegans, others might want to run a ranch and raise their own ethically produced meat. Compromise is not failure.

Open Yes, I’d love very much to drag all or most of my friends to said Dream Town of Sustainable Awesomeness. But the idea of a diverse community means accepting new people. Seniors, young people, families, couples, singles. Every individual or group is going to have their own baggage and own approach to similar ideals. Being a part of such a community shouldn’t require lock-step adherence to any ideology or method.

Connected Technology is here, and it’s not likely to go anywhere. And while there are a lot of drawbacks, there’s also a lot of good to come of it. A connected community would enable a lot more people to be a part of it, via telecommuting, and to serve the community by connecting to the rest of the world.

Honors Individuals Community is great, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of individuality. Want a communal house? Awesome, start one! But if you want your own space, that should be cool too. People should be free to build their own homes, start their own businesses or other ventures.

Prosperous Money is not, as some would suggest, the root of all evil. It’s essential. A community that can’t draw income can’t sustain itself. As much food as you can grow, as much livestock as you can raise, as many DIY skills as you may have, there are always going to be things you need to import. And being part of a community like this shouldn’t require taking actions that will negatively affect your financial future should you decide you want to move (like not being able to save, or have a decent income). Tourism would seem to be a logical choice here; I could imagine a community like this being somewhat of an oasis for people to come visit.

Scalability Here’s a fact. What we’re doing right now in this country, the life style we live? It’s not working. If you think it is, you’re probably in a very small group of people who have the luxury of not having the same concerns as the rest of us. And as much as small intentional communites are awesome, small groups of 5-50, even 100 like-minded people aren’t really a scalable model for the future. If I were able to form my dream community, it would be on a structure that’s scalable. Not only for it’s own sake–at some point, of course, growth reaches a point where you become the city you built it to get away from, though perhaps it would be an entirely different sort of city–but to serve as a model for others.

Atmosphere Okay, I’ve spent this entire blog post boring you with really practical, serious stuff. But that’s not all this is about! It should be fun! Maybe I’ve just watched too many episodes of Gilmore Girls and Everwood, but who doesn’t want to live somewhere with lots of quirky festivals? Being pagan, and envisioning a community centered around earth-centric values, I could imagine a town where each turn of the wheel is celebrated with a festvial. Maypoles at Beltane! Bonfires at Midsummer! Games and competition at Lughnasad! We live in a world where it is generally considered Very Bad Form for adults to act silly, and that’s ridiculous. Everyone needs to be silly sometimes!

So–that’s my take on this. So blog readers, what do you think? If you’ve ever dreamed of your ideal community, how does this compare? Think I’m totally nuts, or onto something? Leave a comment and let me know.

I don’t block things.

I know you’re supposed to, I know it evens out the stitches and makes the final result so much better, but I can really think of so many things I’d rather do with my time then painstakingly pin out my knitting. Not to mention, sometimes it’s hard to ifnd a cat-free space that’s big enough to pin out my knitting.

But this weekend, I found myself faced with two unavoidable facts. One, that my Lace Ribbon Scarf needed to be blocked to be wearable and two, that sweaters do eventually need to be washed. (Before you go thinking I’m some dirty, unwashed urchin, I’m sensitive to wool and never wear sweaters without a shirt underneath so they don’t need to be washed as frequently as something worn next to my skin.)

So, I bit the bullet. I spread out a bunch of towels and soaked my knitting. I admit I was a little startled by how heavy and stretchy the wet sweaters were; I blocked them back into shape (I hope; I think by now you can all guess that I wasn’t about to sit there with a measuring tape and schematics.) and pinned them out to dry.

Everything’s looking pretty good, but still damp. Not that it matters, since we’re having a freakish November heat wave, and it’s not really sweater weather, but I was hoping to wear the scarf. Maybe tomorrow! In the meantime, I’ll just pat myself on the back and be proud of my successful adventures in blocking.

Tarot Card of the Day: Nine of Swords

Like souffle.

This week, however, the desire to cook new things dovetailed nicely with the fact that I’ve signed up for a CSA program and am getting weekly deliveries of more vegetables than I know what to do with.

So Saturday night I whipped up some spinach souffles:

Aren’t they pretty?

But souffle isn’t enough, so I also made some carrot ginger soup to go with them.

Overall, it turned out pretty well–the souffles puffed up and turned a lovely golden brown color, and the soup was decent. It was more savory than other carrot ginger soups I’ve had, so I think I’ll try a different recipe next time.

Really.

I swear.

Today I finally finished the back of Sizzle. It’s a little out of season, but I’ve heard that San Francisco gets summer sometime around October.

I’m really hoping that’s true, because if so, I might actually finish this in time to wear it.

There wasn’t much knitting today–only a little on Muni and BART, since I decided to do a minor blog redesign tonight and work on some other super secret project.

I did, however, get a mani/pedi during lunch. I’ve been uncharacteristically girly lately, and I have to say, it’s kinda fun.

I’ve been staring at my nails all afternoon. It’s so weird to see them all pink and pretty.

And, yes, my coworkers have mocked me for it. But then, I would expect nothing less.