etc., etc., etc.

Yesterday was the first official day of SP, so I guess I'd better hurry up and start posting - I have been a little AWOL lately, after all. Almost no knitting has been going on chez moi - I think I've managed to cast on and work about 2 inches of my Tulip cardigan (the one from Rowan), and that's it... so much for all the yarn I brought home, convinced that I'd have all kinds of time to knit up jumpers. Guess I'll need that extra-large suitcase when I head back over to England in a few weeks... (I leave on the 29th, in case you're wondering).

meanwhile, ravelry is giving me all kinds of ideas of things I want to knit next... that site is a very dangerous tool! :) I have my eye on a number of warm jumpers, since my current stash of store-bought ones is starting to look a little shabby. Mind you, at the rate I knit sweaters, I'll be lucky to have anything finished in time for next summer, let alone this winter! I think I need to take a page (or should that be a post?) from Knitting Neels' blog, and try to knit a jumper a month this fall! (there's no way I could do a jumper a week like she proposed - even baby sweaters take me 2 weeks minimum!) Hmmm... come to thing about it, trying to knit a sweater a month isn't such a bad idea! Guess that means I'd better start picking out some jumpers so I know what to cast on for come Sept. 1st! :)

Oh, but that's just too tempting an idea (the selecting of the jumpers, that is), especially as I have loads of work to get done in the next two and half days... conference papers, translating, general moving related stuff, etc., etc... On Sunday we're off camping for a week, so we've been spending the week drying out food in our new food dehydrator - veggies, ground beef, steak strips, and even tomato sauce (which now resembles a very brittle fruit roll-up). It takes a lot of preparation time, since there was a lot to dehydrate, but you'd be amazed at its efficacy - the seven dinners we've now prepared (one chili, a curry with rice, some couscous-based meals, and even beef fajitas, all made from scratch) now fit into a smallish plastic shopping bag - add some pita breads, some oatmeal, and some cheese and sausage, and you're set! (oh, and don't forget the vino!). I'm just glad we're canoing on this trip, and not hiking - these packs are going to be heavy those first few days!

$*#%! I just spilled my very yummy coffee all over the coffee table and living room rug! (good thing there wasn't any knitting out!) Guess I'd better sign off and go finish cleaning that up.... (mike, how much do you love that rug? enough to not care if I don't quite get all the stains out of it?) :)