It does seem that the older I get, the more "downtime" I need. This is unfortunate and I hope the increase (if there is a further increase) is slow.

But I needed this weekend off. Saturday was partly necessities, and partly fun. I had to do a bit of a restock (some of the things I buy in semi-bulk I was running down on. I don't know why but I find it oddly comforting to haul home a giant 12-pack of paper towels, or an 18-pack of t.p. I suppose part of it is the "thank goodness, I won't have to worry about running out of this for a while." The stuff lives in my guest room closet, which is kind of my overflow pantry. [Well, it could be worse; one of the cookbooks I have, the authors confess to having THEIR "pantries" in boxes from the Wanamakers that were stored under their beds. Then again, I don't live in a tiny apartment like Holly Golightly*])

(*that movie was on again today. And dangit, I've now started crying at the end of it instead of rolling my eyes like I used to. That is not an improvement in my mind)

I also made it to the bookstore - and they had the new Knitscene.

My assessment: A very good issue. Quite a few things in here I'd consider making. Now, granted, my taste in knitwear runs toward the plain - I generally dislike doing colorwork, and I tend not to wear colorwork things (I will eventually make an exception for the Prince-of-Wales styled vest - meaning, one of the Edwards, the guy who became King between the wars - that is in Folk Vests. I am too much of an Anglophile to totally turn my nose up at that). And I don't like trendiness or things that seem "difficult" to wear. ("Difficult" in the sense of "If you exceed 25 years of age, a size six, or five feet tall, or any combination thereof, you will look ridiculous in it")

But there are a lot of wearable things in this issue. My hands-down favorite is the Tudor Henley - a simple, sort-of-thermal-stitch Henley pullover, but with some cable work on the cuffs (I think that's where the "Tudor" comes from). I also like the Beltane Tee - very simple, but I can see wearing it with a number of different things. And I like the Helleborus Yoke, though I fear it might look a bit bulky on someone like me.

There's also a whole section on knitting-in-the-round, aimed at newbies to that technique, but there is a very cute pair of fingerless mitts, and some nice lace socks. And another of my favorite designs is Carol Sulcoski's "Ribby Toque" - again, it's a very simple design, but it's very effective.

AND there is a section on triangular-shawl design, with three patterns showing three different construction methods.

So not only are there a lot of nice patterns in this issue, there is also a fair amount of good practical information (I particularly liked the section on designing triangular lace shawls).

***

I also did a grocery run, even though I had done a big one a couple weeks ago. I picked up a few not-readily-available-in-town items, including a tin of roasted walnut oil.

I suspect - though maybe it's groundless - some of my distress of late is that I'm not getting enough Omega 3 oil. I've read how it can help with brain function and mood, and I'm willing to try dietary changes that might help with mood. (And I hate fish. I'm sorry. I know it's good for me, I know I should be eating cold-water deep-ocean fish to stave off all kinds of degenerative illnesses. But. I do not like fish and have a very hard time bringing myself to even eat salmon, aka the fish that even fish-haters like. And I tried fish-oil supplements and the most polite way I can put it is to say they did not agree with my digestion.). So I figured walnut oil might help.

I had also read it was good for making salad dressing with, and I will admit one of my problems with salad of late is that I just get sick of the same darn thing...I have two or three varieties of commercial dressing I actually like, and while I try to rotate those, salad can get awfully tedious.

I don't like most commercial or restaurant vinaigrettes; they tend to be too sharp for me (either there is too much vinegar, or they use a cheap kind of vinegar that is harsh, or they use a less-mellow oil). But on the can of walnut oil, there was a simple recipe: four parts oil to one part balsamic vinegar, plus seasonings (they had mustard; I don't like mustard, so I used a pinch of a salad blend I had from Penzey's).

It was really good. I don't know if it was using the balsamic vinegar - which I find tends to be a lot less harsh - or if the good oil evened things out, or if the greater proportion of oil was the trick. But I can see making this dressing fairly regularly. (You do have to keep the walnut oil in the fridge to keep it from going rancid). And you can do other things with the walnut oil - while it's too expensive, I think, to use alone for sauteing, you could mix it with a larger amount of a plainer, less-expensive oil and use it for sauteing something like cut-up chicken (That would probably be good). And a bit drizzled on green beans would probably be good, too.

I tend not to twitch over spending money on "good" nutritious food in the way I might twitch over spending it on other things; I figure it's probably an investment in my health anyway.

****

I also picked up some floss I needed. And wound up "restocking" one of the yarns I had given away in the sock-yarn-rainbow for the Haiti auction: the "yellow" was a skein of the Lion Brand sock yarn in a rather bright yellow. Not everyone's color but I liked it and was a little sad to send it off.

Well, the Hobby Lobby was closing out a bunch of that color, for about $3.50 a skein. So I figured that was cheap enough to replace. And, I probably tend to take things symbolically too often, but I almost see it as a little "wink" letting me know I had done the right thing there, taking part in the auction. (Many, many times in my life when I have done something generous - even more than in this case, situations where the generosity actually "hurt" me a little - shortly thereafter, it "came back" to me in some way - either I got a monetary windfall that made up the money I had donated, or something good happened to me that I wasn't expecting...)

I do like being able to get out to craft stores once in a while, even if all I buy is a few skeins of floss.

***

I also did a bunch of work on various projects this weekend. The biggest thing is that I finished the first of the pansy embroidered pillowcases:



The second one is not so far along; I have nearly all the outlining and a bit of the cross-stitching left to do on it. But I do like doing these, and the finished product pleases me.

I also worked a bit on the quilt in the frame. And on the "secret" project. And I pulled out the pair of Mini Mochi socks that I started, and then pushed aside when I began to worry if the yarn was too softly spun to be durable for socks. I've turned the heel and done part of the gusset on this one, and while they may not be as sturdy as the harder-spun yarns (like Opal), I do think they'll hold up OK, thanks in part to my rather tight gauge, even with the size 1 needles. And I have been adding a bit of twist to the yarn as I go, trying to twist it further, in case that makes it stronger.

Still, they're pretty. Even if they don't last that long and I have to be careful of them. (I'm still not wild about the super-softly spun sock yarns, though: they don't knit up as easily and you have to be so careful not to split the yarn as you go.