Quiet New Year Celebration

Smith was unable to attend Rosh Hashanah services this weekend, but felt the need to get in touch with his Jewish roots.  His answer was to make one of the only dishes he knows how to make (besides being a superb barbecuer), latkes.   Being a very good man he knew that I am fond of sweet potatoes, more so than regular white potatoes, so he decided to cook up a batch just as a treat for me.  My, oh my, they were so good, so beautiful and flavorful.  He has quite a knack when it comes to latkes and matzo ball soup.

To reward this dear man, I joined Sandy's Hands KAL because of the need to fix the gloves he has worn for a couple of years. Now there is a bit of story to this pair of gloves, so sit back and I'll share it with you.

Nancy Bush's Polperro Glove pattern was published in Piecework Magazine in January/February 2004, while I was looking for a pattern to make Smith a pair.  He loved the style and color, so I contact Nancy and bought a ball of Wendy Gansey yarn.  They were very quick to knit and within 4 days I had a pair of gloves…both LEFT handed.  Don't you just hate when that happens?  So instead of ripping out one glove I called Nancy and bought another ball of yarn.  I did not confess the error of my ways, just told her I wanted a second pair (technically, not a fib.  She was also impressed with my knitting speed and that's how I came to knit for her last sock book.)

A right hand glove was successfully knit and Smith has worn the pair every winter day for 2 years.  At the end of the first year I repaired a small hole in the pointer finger and at the end of last winter he had worn a hole in the thumb, of the right hand, in both cases.  There is still plenty of yarn left for repairs and, also, enough yarn for another right hand.  I may just break down and knit one so there will be a second pair ready and waiting when the day for a new pair comes along.  Smith is very happy to know he'll have his favorite pair of gloves to keep him warm for several more winters. A man who is so thoughtful, and doesn't mind spending time in the kitchen, should be warmly rewarded.

As requested, here is the new camera.  It's a Nikon CoolPix L1 and I have yet to spend any time with it.  I'm having seperation anxiety from my old, clunker camera (c.1998).  It has been tried and true, but only holds about 100 pictures. The new Nikon will hold hundreds of pictures and with the upcoming trip to the East (in Utah we say 'back East') it will be nice to have. I just need to get it away from Smith long enough to learn it's ways.

Twisted Knitters Update
As time allows, invitations to post on the blog will be sent out to knitters who have signed up for the Twisted Knitter Along. We have over 60 members now and will accept new signer-uppers until the end of the year.  By then we hope to be nearly ready to knit our hand dyed and/or spun items.  Some of us have spun before and others haven't even bought a spindle as yet.  Thank you for the great repsonse and we'll have info for you by the start of next week, our official kick off day, October 2nd.

Comments

[Carole]

I love potato pancakes! With sour cream, please. I don't know about making them with sweet potatoes, though. I'll just take your word for it.

[Teresa C]

My dinner last night included sweet potato "fries"-as in, I made them in the oven. Yum.

You are so good to mend the gloves, I'd have just knit a new pair.

[Chris]

I love my coolpix camera!! I have a P1. One of the best accessories I have for it is a memory card reader. I don't have to use camera battery time to load pics on the puter. :)

Love the glove story! And the thought of sweet potato latkes. Yumm!

[Kelly]

Sweet potatoe pancakes sound good!

[Hillary]

The latkes look great. I've never tried making them with sweet potatoes but it sounds like a wonderful idea. How thoughtful of Smith.

[amanda]

I love latkes! Never tried them with sweet potatos but I bet they'd be delicious.

[Susan]

Mmmmmm. . . that man deserves a second right hand glove. And I want some latkes. I love them. My grandmother sometimes used to tweak the recipe and make potato muffins, but I can't remember what she did to change it. I loved the muffins because they aged better than the pancakes; if you made enough, you'd have more to eat the next day. We made homemade french fries (baked) last night.

[Judy]

Sweet potato latkes, sounds heavenly.

[Norma]

Yummmmm, sweet potato latkes!

[Scoutj]

Yummy latkes!!! Tell him to come here next year and he can go to temple and then cook me some of those!

[Theresa]

If he's so appreciative, he really does deserve a nice pair of gloves. Not to mention that you have snow already!

[Paula]

My Coolpix L4 and I are not seeing eye to eye-it informs me my pictures are blurry, or it wants to adjust the lighting...Those latkes look good.

[Lark]

Good men deserve great gloves. My good man likes the look of Nicholas's Fingerless Gloves from IK. I believe that is what he will get, as it is unwise to deny good men their heart's desire.

[Marcia]

It must have been Sweet Potato Day yesterday! I made "fries" for dinner last night, too, only my recipe had them dipped in melted orange marmelade before going in the oven. They could have been crispier, but the recipe has potential. My cousin loves her Nikon (which she insists on pronouncing NICK-on) but I'm a Canon girl, myself.

[Jennifer]

Mmmm latkes. They look yummy!

I can't wait for Twisted Knitter to start! I'm still spinning away at a snail's pace on my spindle!

[Sarah HB]

YUM, latkes!!!

Good luck with the next glove.

[Roxie]

I'm from Oregon. For us, the East Coast starts just past Idaho.

[Sharon]

L'Shana Tova to you and Smith, Margene.

[regina]

Sweet potato latkes are soooooo good. Actually, i've never met a latke i don't like. What a sweet, sweet story. I have yet to make gloves, but perhaps someday.

[Sarah]

Thank you for the wonderful stories. I can feel the love from this post radiating out from the computer, touching all who read it, and know it will continue to spread.

[Martha]

Oooh, sweet potato latkes. I know what we're making next Hanukkah. They sound heavenly. Smith definitely deserves repaired gloves! And a spare pair for just in case.

[Kim]

I LOVE Latkes...

I know what you mean about new cameras. Mine is a clunker, but I love it. On the other hand, it's hard to take everywhere I want to take it, and it would be nice to have one that fits in my pocket. But every time I test out a smaller one, it just isn't the same!

[Teyani]

yummy! sweet potatoes are so great! We had some sweet potatoe cheesecake over the last weekend - it was grand!
those gloves are so handsome - too bad he didn't wear out the thumb on the left hand!

[Tan Summers]

Isn't that "back" east thing odd? And when I'm there, people refer to here as "out" west. Out and back. Maybe there's a book in that somewhere: "Yo-yo Nation"

So do you make sweet potato latkes same as regular ones? I bet they cook faster.

[Lucia]

I gotta find a recipe for sweet-potato latkes. I bet they would be great with a fruit chutney or salsa.

[Kathleen]

What a guy! Sweet potato latkes! A true keeper. :)

[Kathy]

L'Shanah Tovah to you and Smith. If you are a sweet potato fan, you might like tzimmes, another traditional Eastern European Jewish dish, that's made with sweet potatoes, carrots, and prunes (and sometimes meat)in an orange/honey sauce.

[Kim]

Mmmm....those Latcakes look scrumptious! I would love to be signed up for the Twisted Knitter along :)

[Beth S.]

Oooooh, latkes! Not Jewish, but I can certainly appreciate a scrumptious potato pancake. Do you like 'em with applesauce or sour cream? ;-)

I have a skein of Wendy Guernsey set aside for attempt #2 at the Polperro Gloves (attempt #1 was a complete failure, so the yarn turned into socks.) Mine is even the same grey color!

[Birdsong]

Aww, what a lovely tale of gloves and sweet potato latkes; I really enjoy how much you two complement and look out for each other. Now, about the camera, just dive in! You are going to be so delighted with the results you couldn't achieve with your old one, that it will be worth it. On the separation anxiety front, you could stash the old one in a convenient place to grab when the new one is elsewhere...

[Laura]

Ahh sweet potatoes - one of my favorite foods. But I didn't know latkes were made with them - I thought it was white potatoes! But I'm not familiar with Jewish food so I wouldn't know anything.

I'm gearing up for the dyespinknitalong! Just trying to decide what fiber... among other things! Decisions decisions! :)

[Stitch-n-Snitch]

Let's put your camera to use tonight with my Forest Canopy! ;)

[Nonnahs]

Yum- sweet potato latkes sound delish!

[Wendy]

I've accepted the invitation for the other blog, thanks! I will be ready to post and blog on the 2nd. This will be fun!!

[kelly]

I have that camera! It is a really nice one. All those picture modes are really fun. The only downside is that it can really suck up the battery power sometimes. And I've already started drop spinning like mad to prepare for the KAL...I can't wait!

[Cheryl]

Sweet potato latkes! I've meant to try that but haven't gotten around to it yet. A friend just made some delicious "zucchini cakes" for me that were pretty much just zucchini latkes. I may have to buy some sweet potatoes this weekend and surprise my hubby.

[Stephanie]

Yummy sweet potatoes. I still love that mitten story, but I didn't know you'd knit socks for Nancy's book. Very impressive. I have new camera envy. I want one too.

[Cygknit]

L'Shanah Tovah! I L.O.V.E sweet potato latkes with all my potato eatin' heart. My husband makes some yummy cottage cheese latkes that are kosher for Passover (or anytime). Thanks for the story :)

[sandy]

I too have a love of sweet potatoes. I never thought of using them for latkes. Hmmm.....:)

[Lolly]

We can have warm hands together! I joined Sandy's KAL too ;)

[Kathy]

I love those gloves! Wonder if there's any way to get ahold of the pattern now. Hmmmm.

[Chris]

Very cool camera! And a great story about Smith's gloves. I think you should knit that second right glove. :)

[Deb]

I am pretty sure you have me on the list, but just a note to say I am looking forward to this fall/winter project! My new Schact wheel is at my LYS just waiting to be picked up:)

[Wanda]

Smith is a dear, sweet man. Sweet potato latkes, yum! I think you should knit the second glove also!

[Laurie]

Yum! What a great twist on the latkes idea. Almost makes it a healthy dish. Oh well. Not really. He is a talented, warm, loving man.