Mid-way through October!  Where has the time gone?

Crochet:  Every year as I approach the holiday season, I enjoy making snowflake ornaments.  I find they make great gifts for family and friends, and they are quick and easy to whip up.

This year, I am making some miniature ornaments.  I have even written a haiku for them:
gentle snowflakes 
falling from a slate grey sky 
beautiful crystals


Cooking:  I have been keeping it simple - lots of roasted vegetables.  I love to eat roasted zucchini and garlic.  I have also recently tried my hand at spaghetti squash, which turned out quite nicely when combined with my roasted zucchini - eggplant combination.

Actually, to be honest, I've been feeling a little uninspired for cooking lately.  I hope to bring more inspiration to my kitchen soon.


Writing:  This week I am adding a new category of creativity.  This is partly due to my planning to participate in National Novel Writing Month.  Part of me thinks I must be insane for taking on a project so big, of writing a 50,000 word novel in one month.  The other part thinks, "What've I got to lose?"  I have long wanted to write a novel, and in fact got as far as writing the first chapter of one.  However, for this project I am starting fresh using two different ideas I've had floating around in my head for awhile.  I am still working out character sketches and plot outlines, and I may post more details here once things are worked out a little more clearly.

Crochet:  Nerd Wars Tournament 3 has begun!  It is very exciting to get the monthly challenges and start to think of creative ways of meeting those challenges.  Nerd Wars has 6 categories: scientific, intellectual, technical, nerd culture, team spirit, and giving geeks.  The challenges reflect these categories in such a way that they can be fulfilled by knit or crochet, spinning or weaving.  The fun part is finding creative ways to meet that challenge while trying new techniques or color combinations.  I am sometimes even inspired to design something myself instead of finding a pattern I like.

This month, we have been asked to craft items that reflect 1. prehistory, 2. haiku poetry, 3. use of colorwork, 4. yarn craft in a costume, 5. a birthday gift a character in your nerddom would appreciate, and 6. an item that would benefit a cancer patient/survivor.  I have some ideas for almost all of these challenges, and I have already completed a colorwork bookmark.


I will post more as I complete projects this month.

Cooking:  My cooking lately has been very simple.  One of my favorite things to prepare these days, though not cooked, is tomatoes with a little salt, dill, and garlic.  It is very tasty and goes well with just about anything else I throw together.  I also recently roasted broccoli, which I hadn't done before, and thought it turned out quite nice.  I seasoned it with a ginger-orange seasoning salt, which I find complements vegetables very well.