Lapsed Vegetarian

Losing my vegetarianism
Originally uploaded by L O L E E

I have started reading about food lately which is changing the way I think about what I eat.

1. The Butcher and the Vegetarian's premise is that a "life-long" vegetarian trying meat for the first time. It started out well but the way the author dived into the meat world turned me off. It almost seemed more appropriate as chicklit. Vegetarian girl finds love at the butcher counter. However, it did make me think about meat and the possibility of including it in my diet.

2. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is about her family's quest to eat locally for a year. Informative about the food industry and the actual cost of food. There are many markets in Toronto during the summer but I usually don't shop at them. Besides the cheese market at City Hall I haven't bought anything local but I will be trying from now on.

I decided to try meat raised close to home and in a healthy way which brought me to The Healthy Butcher on Queen Street. It was intimidating to visit a butcher shop for the purpose of buying something. I started with sliced chicken breast which I nibbled on for a few days.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution is a good cookbook so I'm going to try its meat-based recipes for a while. My first foray was the Asian-Style Steamed Salmon. It was quick to cook but half of it didn't seem to be cooked properly. It did taste good and I wouldn't mind trying it again. Fish is much less scary that chicken or beef.

Handspun Dreidel

Handspun Dreidel
Originally uploaded by L O L E E

I've been knitting up my handspun as well as selling it. Test knitting should be a normal part of the process but of course I do things to half assed for that.

Summers used to be devoted to shawls and socks but this year will be all spinning all the time. I even have a spinning buddy since Marion just got a Lendrum DT.

WTF are those?

WTF are those?
Originally uploaded by L O L E E

WTF is going on? Toronto is a shitty city at the best of times but when the G20 jackboot comes down it's even worse. At least the sewer smell is constant. Don't believe me? Go to the northwest corner of King and Yonge at 8:00am and take a deep breath.

Frolicing

Marion and I went to the Downtown Knit Collective's annual yarn sale and workshop called the Knitters Frolic. It's a great place to see the wares of local and not so local yarn shops as well as online yarn sellers. My new favourite is Indigodragonfly - beautiful yarns, reasonably priced. Hopefully the Purple Purl will be carrying more of this.

This is what I bought:



From left to right: Briar Rose BFL roving, Tanis Fiber Arts cashmere sock yarn; Indigodragonfly merino/silk yarn; Sweet Georgia cashmere silk (in a kit with a shawl pattern)

Also a shawl pattern, two hand creams and a ceramic needle holder which I'll use for spindles.

Lone Blossom

Lone Blossom
Originally uploaded by L O L E E

I've been fuming, knitting, spinning and taking pictures.

The world is as horrible as you want to acknowledge I suppose.

Flashing the Stash

Flashing the Stash
Originally uploaded by L O L E E

This is all the yarn. I didn't take every last ball out but 80% of the stash was out. It's a good opportunity to examine your stash for yarn you've forgotten you own.

Almost everything is "good yarn" but I could certainly stand to lose some yarn weight.

Unfortunately I fell (er, dove) off the stashbusting wagon and ordered some sock yarn last week. After the Knitters' Frolic no more sock yarn!

The weather is warming up and I'll be able to finish some skeins of handspun. It definitely has to be weighed, yardage calculated and sold.

Just Hanging On

Maggie - just because
Originally uploaded by L O L E E

I don't want to do anything right now. Not work, not spinning, barely knitting. Just want to hang out with my cats.