Monogamy...

Have I got your attention?

Well, it's not what you think. But maybe it is. 

The Cubs...

WE WON!!! The Cubs are going to the World Series. I'm beside myself. I wore my Ron Santo jersey to church today, and when a confirmed Cubs-hater (what the heck...I never did understand that) pointed out to me that the Gospel today was Luke, and it was about humility, I smiled and said, "We've been humble for over 100 years."


He tossed his hands up, and said, "Well, you got me there."

And what is it about Cubs-haters? Hubby, sadly, is one, and I don't understand it. Even my friend Sue, who bleeds White Sox colors, actually said that this was going to be the Year of the Midwest Match-up. This was always a thorn in our relationship. But she's come around. She was in Billy Goat Tavern last night to watch the game. I'm so jealous of that! 

World Series tickets are out of sight...I heard anywhere from $2,000 to $7,000. Yikes! Guess I will be watching from the comfort of my knitting chair...

My granny would have loved this. We were talking about it in yoga tonight and while Hubby insists that we should, genetically, be Sox fans, it wasn't that way. We had WJOL and Channel 9. It was Cubs all the way. 

I was predisposed to be a Cub fan from an early age. We listened to WJOL and they had the Cubs games. We watched the 4 channels we had, and Grandma and Grandpa preferred Channel 9. "Home of the Chicago Cubs." 

So there you have it. The reason I bleed blue and red. 

I have three wish list items:

1.  A real Cub jacket (I sent 2 links to Hubby)
2.  A Greg Maddux Cubs jersey
3.  A Dave Ross Cubs jersey

My Ron Santo jersey is my pride and joy. And I did buy a "Champions" t-shirt with Rizzo's number on it. It's the first "new" Cubs attire I've purchased in probably 10 years. 

Tuesday will be a nail-biter. The city is truly ready. We're ready for this. We've waited long enough.

Knitting...

See the cream color here, second batch of hanks from the right? THAT is the "beige" I was referring to. 

I went back to Wool & Company to pick up my Haps book (more about that in a moment), and in the meantime, I worked on a bit of a review for the e-zine I subscribe to, "Addicted to Sock Knitting." I had owed them this review for a while, but when Wool & Co. was in between owners and we weren't sure what was going to happen (will they stay or will they close?) I had to wait. 

It was worth the wait!

And of course, I came home with more sock yarn. I've never knitted with Sirdar, but I have folks in the ASK group who have, so I do have to post this for their ideas. Not sure which pattern will call this yarn. Some folks can tell right away, and I don't have that knack yet. But I loved the combo. I would prefer if yarn companies would at least put a sample pic or have a poster showing what their yarns look like knitted up. But some shops don't want the posters. The gal in Morris had lots of Opal posters, but this person at Wool & Co. wants a cleaner look - you can tell by how she's organized things, so I don't think there will be anything like that. 

From a quick Google search, it looks like Sole to Sole is primarily a self-striping yarn and they're pretty strong stripes. Maybe a plain vanilla with a ribbing down the sides would be nice. 

It's mine. All mine! Finally! The Book of Haps is here and I have it. The patterns are truly drool-worthy, and there are several without charts, so I can take a stab at them. Also, I saw a beautiful lace pattern that was charted AND written out. Heaven!

What I also like are the historical bits. The pictures. The background. 

I have the Hansel hap downloaded from Ravelry. I just have to get it to the top of the list. 

Thus brings up the concept of Monogamy.

Monogamy...

Are you monogamous? I am. 

And I don't only mean in marriage. I mean in many other things: I'm not a "swings both ways" kind of gal in sports. I'm a Cub fan and that's it. I was ok with the Sox winning the pennant before we did, but I wasn't dancing in the streets. I don't expect die-hard Sox fans to dance in the street, but I do expect an appreciation of what the Cubs have become. It's just plain respect for good work and a great team. 

I'm also monogamous when it comes to politics, for the most part. I'm a liberal progressive. I tend to vote that way and I tend to believe that polices that include ALL of us are generally good for our society as a whole, rather than narrow bits of the population. 

I'm also - I think - monogamous when it comes to projects. I really, really, REALLY want to start another project, but I have the baby sweater to finish. And then I have the Shape-It scarf. And then I have the socks. I have two singletons that need mates. 

So perhaps I'm "serially monogamous" in that I have a lot of WIPs on the needles, but I knit for long stretches on one project, till I finish it. I know - I have SABLE (Stash Available Beyond Life Expectancy) and a WIP list that would shock you. Or maybe not...

And I've tried the "knit this on Monday, this on Tuesday..." system. It doesn't work. Because of my schedule, it's not uncommon for me to go several days without picking up the needles. So if it was a complex thing, like the February Lady Sweater (WIP), it's not going to happen if I have only a half hour. For one thing, it's gonna take me a half hour to figure out where I am in the pattern. But also, with a lacy yoke, I need time to get past that part. Once I'm on the body or sleeves or wherever there's a whack of straight, clean knitting, I can do that piecemeal stuff. But for right now? 

If I start a hap, I'll be knitting on that hap till the cows come home. And I have a baby to knit for first!

Pumpkin Spice Everything...

I'm not a huge PSL fan. I think that pumpkin spice in coffee sounds, frankly, icky. But as I put together a cup of tea this afternoon, I found this decaf in my Tea Box. This tea is older than the PSL craze, actually... And it was pretty good, but it needed to be double-strength before you could actually taste anything. 

I have a few more bags; I'll have to pull them out. I had a migraine starting the other day and frankly, I was on a caffeine binge. I had taken an Excedrin Migraine, which works if I catch it quickly enough. I had a couple of cups of chai which is totally not normal. But it all helped. Though I had a hard time sleeping this weekend. 

This tea is decaf, which was nice. It was warming and felt good going down. Don't know if I can find it again. I know I'm annoyed because I can't find my favorite chamomile anymore, but I don't know if I'd go out of my way to find this pumpkin spice tea. It's fine, but when I'm out? No worries. 

Random picture...

I went to the Jewel today. First off, I figured they'd have a Cubs shirt there. Don't judge me. It's our time...

And I needed to find a few other things. I came across this. Woah. 

It's jackfruit. It's kinda ugly. And kinda big; to the left there are pomegranates. And to the right is taro - our Jewel is getting exotic. These things were easily the size of footballs, if not larger. According to a story in the Washington Post, it seems to be pretty versatile. It's a member of the breadfruit and fig family. And apparently, it can be used as a meat substitute. Who knew?

It's also kinda pricey. But I can see why, since it can be used for everything from a salad to a burger. 

I'm up for an experiment, but this is kind of ridiculously large. I read the article I linked here - and I don't think it's worth the money to try it. Especially given that this is way, WAY more brown than they're suggesting at WaPo. 

The article says it has a texture similar to pulled pork. But in order to break the fruit down, you have to glove, spread newspapers, oil the knife AND your gloved hands... Ummmmmm. No thanks. I think I'll stick with pulled pork MY way.