October 25, 2023

 I wanted to write a post, so I'm doing that now.

We went to the state fair Monday night.  The first stop was the Arts and Crafts Building to see how our entries fared at the fair (sorry).  My husband got best in show for his jam in the food preservation division.  My daughter got blue ribbons for her two art projects.  And I got a few ribbons for my entries.

A baby blanket got nothing (expected).  A pair of cabled socks got a tiny second place ribbon.  A fancy dishcloth got a blue ribbon--big relief because I was oddly worried.

And my doily from a vintage pattern won a blue ribbon!  I was just excited to have entered a doily in the state fair.  I really felt like I've made it.  

I was way too stressed about my fair entries this year.  I didn't enjoy working on most of them for the majority of the time, so it was a relief to get them entered and then I moved on to things that I think I'll enjoy more.

Like putting plants in the dirt.

And casting on an orange sweater that I'm realizing I haven't photographed yet.

I made a vegetable soup last night that I felt super proud of.  It's just browned meat and crushed tomatoes with whatever vegetables we have on hand--some sweet potatoes and carrots, and some frozen broccoli and corn.  I dumped some spices in there and it turned out well.  It was the first soup we've had during fall weather!

I have two library books at the moment: Making it So by Patrick Stewart and Zero Days by Ruth Ware.  I'm zipping through Zero Days right now, so I think I can also read Making it So by the time it's due back.  They're both 14 day loans.

I'm also reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, which is on loan from my sister.  I wrote and deleted a fairly ugly paragraph about trying to figure out who the intended audience is.  I do intend to finish this, but I think I need to take some breaks with either my library books or some fun fantasy books about magic because it's October and everything feels witchy.  I really love Charlaine Harris's Midnight Crossroads books and reread them a couple of times a year.  I've also been in the mood to revisit Deborah Harkness's All Souls trilogy.  Both series were incredibly escapist and I love them.

I still post a fair amount on Instagram as knittingandnovels, even though I fall off from that sometimes, too.  There are lots of things I want to post about and feature and then I pick up my phone and then there's too many distractions.  Rather than try to be more focused when I'm wading through whatever noise and flashing lights are on social media platforms, I think I might just blog more.  Or take pictures with my camera.  Or journal.  For now I need to finish up a commission knit and then try to care about a big pile of laundry.