I Made a Hat

I started this hat around Thanksgiving when I was living with Amy. I finished it yesterday. I can finally read a knitting pattern! It felt a little awkward at first, then Amy informed me I needed to "block" it, which means I had to hand wash it in Woolite and lay it flat, or as Amy described it, "teach it to be a hat." Luckily, it's a quick learner.

Adios, Piggly Wiggly!

Since food is something that I cannot make or buy used, I've been allowing myself to shop at grocery stores during this project. Since I moved to Wisconsin, it's been difficult to get organic, wholesome foods and I despise the excessive amount of packaging used to market the few "health foods" that are available. But yesterday was my lucky day! After discovering Grassway Organic Farm in New Holstein, WI, I never have to step foot in another Piggly Wiggly the rest of my stay in America's Dairyland. The farm has a small but to-the-point shop where I can get dairy products, produce, meat, grains, spices, beans, even hand made soap and brown paper towels. And the best part is that as I shop, I can look out the window and SEE the land and SEE the animals. Plus, Kay and Wayne are super nice.

I'm Not Alone

Magda just sent me this story on Yahoo about The Compact. A group of friends in San Francisco gave up shopping for a year, made an online group, and got a lot of other people to do it too. My membership is pending acceptance.

A Wedding Gift

For the Amy Horst/Richard Saxton wedding, I couldn't resist giving the newlyweds a set of napkins complete with hose clamp napkin rings.

In The Wake

"...Survival books are usually about people who are trapped or lost in the wilderness trying to get back to civilization. In the Wake is about people trapped or lost in civilization, trying to get back to the land."

Amy just introduced me to an interesting site that parallels the Nothing New Project called In The Wake. It is a website that encourages readers to contribute information concerning sustainable survival strategies. It's kind of intense, for example, "Industrial civilization will destroy more human and living communities the longer it lasts. Hence, the longer it exists, the worse are our chances for survival. Therefore, it is desirable that industrial civilization should end as soon as possible." However, there are some interesting interviews and bits of advice, (I enjoyed the bit about toothpaste and shampoo.)

Happy (Nothing) New Year!