Thanksgiving yarny goodness

I was going to make this a picture heavy post, but I can't find the camera cord and the camera cord stasher is still sleeping. And it is Thanksgiving, afterall, so I will let her sleep. (It's a reasonable hour and I am adding some pics...)

Me? I was up at 5:20 this morning. I decided the peace and quiet of te early morning was boding well for casting on the Kushu Kushu scarf. The Kushu is a kit by Habu and I either love it or I hate it, I am not quite sure yet, but I am guessing I love it if I am not sure enought to continue on blind faith.

The Kushu is a scarf made with ultra-fine merino and silk stainless steel. That's right, I said stainless steel, but it is stainless steel wrapped in silk. See why a picture would have been nice? Both of these yarns are really fine. Lke sewing thread fine. And I am using, as per the pattern directions, a size 8 needle. At some future point I will change to a size 6. Then a four and finally a three. The latter two sizes will be knitting the Silk stainless steel solo, sans merino. I am intrigued to say the least.

The instructions, it's so bold of Habu to call them instructions, are a schematic. I am really glad that the sales clerk took the time to open the kit and explain the schematic to me, because it is brilliant in its simplicity and I would have otherwise been staring at it saying What. The. Fuck. As I cast on and knit the firt row, I decided I would put blind faith in the Universe that Kushu would turn out as intended. It's all good.

Habu is a Japanese company and apparentlly knitting is not knitting the world over. Well, I guess knitting is knitting, but patterns and schematics vary widely. I totally resist charted knitting, I think, because it is more work than my brain wants to do. I go with the flow and trust that the Universe is just not ready for me to read charts.

This schematic is brief. Way brief. But it truly offers all the information you need to knit Kushu Kushu. However...the schematic page says nothing about what stitch is to be used. Since there is no mention of purling anywhere, I went with garter stitch. Then, I went back to the cover page before emailing the company and asking (for confirmation before I knit too far) because it is Thanksgiving and I know no answer would be forthcoming, at least not today.

No, not garter stitch, but stockinette (which I thought had a g in it?). So my first 6 rows are garter and I can't see that it will matter. I plan to knit 6 rows further before I decide if it matters enough to rip it out and start again. The piece will be lightly felted when complete, so I might leave it as is.

The process of Kushu is totally consuming. It is such a simple basic pattern, but this is far from mindless knitting. It requires the solitude of early morning for concentration to be optimal.

To contrast my thread knitting, I also bought two skeins of Yosemite (might have to scroll down) by Trendsetter Yarns. I got color 78, Watermelon Slice. It is divine, and soft. And uber-chunky. I question my sanity everytime I grab anything this bulky as I live in Houston, but c'mon, it's gorgeous. I know, a pic would be nice, yes? I will add pics in a little while, perhaps after the brining turkey gets in the oven, perhaps before.

Food. Can't have a Thanksgiving day post and not talk about the food. I just mixed up the mac-n-cheese and I dare say it might be the best mac-n-cheese I have ever made. Ever. Best ever. This is a good sign as the turkey is a new venture and might suck. At least I know we will be slamming down some mac-n-cheese that is muy excellente.

The turkey is brining as explained here. I don't think an issue of Saveur comes out that doesn't have at least one thing I want to try. It's always about expanding my domestic horizons. I have a wife to keep satisfied, afterall.

The turkey has been brining overnight in cider, salt, dark brown sugar, apples, and garlic. 35 cloves of garlic, thank you very much. The turkey will cook at 425 for 2 hours. Hot and fast as turkey cooking goes. Again, I am intrigued.

I am also making mashed potatoes, and something green. I was going to make broccolini, but the store was out when eb went yesterday. Or she couldn't find it, but we will go with her story, they didn't have any. So I told her to just get something green. She brought home broccoli. And zucchini. And snap peas. And asparagus. And spinach. So we will be having at least one green vegetable.

And rolls. If they have any when I go to the store at noon.

I also made some jalapeno dip mixing whipped cream cheese with a jar of jalapeno relish we got last weekend at Gruene Market Days. This morning I am making us a veggie scramble and adding some dip at the end of the cooking. Just because.

Pics soon.