Do you have Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush? This book is making me crazy — I have tried two different sock patterns and each time have come up against pattern errors. ergh.

Would you do me a favor? Go get that book and look at the picture on page 92 – it’s the Whitby Sock. What stitch is that going all along the calf and towards the top of the sock (not the cable, the ribbing stitch)?? The pattern says it is K2P2. I think it is a twisted rib…… I have searched for errata and now I am appealing to you! (read with Groucho Marx inflection: I hope I’m appealing to you, then maybe you’ll get up from your computer, go find that book and check this out for me!)

Do you have Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush? This book is making me crazy — I have tried two different sock patterns and each time have come up against pattern errors. ergh.

Would you do me a favor? Go get that book and look at the picture on page 92 – it’s the Whitby Sock. What stitch is that going all along the calf and towards the top of the sock (not the cable, the ribbing stitch)?? The pattern says it is K2P2. I think it is a twisted rib…… I have searched for errata and now I am appealing to you! (read with Groucho Marx inflection: I hope I’m appealing to you, then maybe you’ll get up from your computer, go find that book and check this out for me!)

The promised stash pictures! I gathered everything (except some sets of dpns I picked up) together for the photo opt. At the time of purchase, it seemed like I had bought tons. Now that it is all grouped together, it seems like a more manageable amount. I bought 2.5 pounds of the roving that is pictured alone. I am told it will be enough for a sweater – more than enough. Also pictured are some adorable Christmas ornaments. I fell in love with all of her ornaments – did any one else see her booth?

On the spinning front – I hauled out my wheel and promptly began to make a mess of things. I am working on some new roving I bought on Ebay – I need to get good at this so I can buy a fleece in MD! If something doesn’t give, I will ask for spinning lessons for my Christmas gift!

Pastry rolled out like a plate,
Piled with turmut, tates and mate,
Doubled up, and baked like fate,
That’s a Cornish pasty.

With family roots going back to Cornwall England and a grandfather who worked in the mines of Pennsylvania, it is no wonder that I ate plenty of pasties growing up. Both of my parents grew up in the coal regions of PA and there are plenty of local dishes that made it to our dinner table.

I love pasties and have made them for my own family – they are incredibly filling and really hit the right spot on cold winter nights.

Our family version called for a pie crust, which was then layered with sliced potatoes on the bottom, ground beef or chopped stew meat and then onions. A sprinkle of salt and pepper on top. The crust was folded over and crimped along the sides. They were served with either ketchup or a tomato chutney that my grandmother would have jarred. One site I read said that the women would pierce the pasty’s crust with their husbands’ initials, so that when they were at work in the mines, they would know which pasty belonged to them. In our house, my brother was the only one who got a specially pierced crust – his pasty had no onions.

When I came by this link on Metafilter I could harldy believe my eyes. The humble pasty is all over the internet! They are even available for mail order. I was inspired to do a google search on the history of the pasty and pages of sites came up. Here are some pasty quotes from literature …

The Merry Wives of Windsor: Act 1 Scene 1
PAGE: Wife, bid these gentlemen welcome. Come, we have a hot venison pasty to dinner: come gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.

All’s Well That Ends Well: Act IV Scene III
PAROLLES: I will confess to what I know without constraint: if ye pinch me like a pasty , I can say no more.

after all of this, I wonder if I have any ground beef to make pasties for dinner tonight ….. my stomach is growling!