My Facebook memories are full of the beginning of pandemic lockdown. Part of it is terrible, and part of it is slightly amusing. Do you remember washing your groceries? Trying to get a grocery pickup time? Trying to find toilet paper and bleach wipes? Hunting for flour and yeast?
I made these bagels 3 years ago today, just before running out of yeast. And now I want to make some again. The recipe is on my blog here. Will I actually get it done today? Maybe. Or I could opt for yogurt bagels, which don’t require yeast or rise time. Apparently that’s what I did for the next batch when I ran out of yeast. There was a lot of cooking and baking 3 years ago!
I’m also reliving those early days of the pandemic while reading Peggy Orenstein’s memoir, Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater. It’s about her pandemic sweater project, and also about so much more. Fiber history, etymology, family stories…so much to enjoy here. I’m on chapter 4, and I highly recommend it.
Of course I’m knitting while I read it on my Kindle. My current project is mostly stockinette, with an occasional assigned pooling blip. It’s a perfect multi-tasking project. The hardest part is remembering to stop for a break to stretch because the book is so interesting. I guess I could set timers on my watch; that would be the responsible thing to do.
Knitting can be such a comfort during trying times, and the results can be a comfort, too! I designed and knit my Beanstalk Poncho in 2016, but it lives in my box of samples. I’m sending it on to my Aunt Rose (my favorite aunt, who taught me to knit), who is recovering from pneumonia. It’s a light hug of a wrap, and it’s a cheery sign of spring, too. Please send good thoughts her way!
One last thing: Our hearts are broken at the news of yet another mass shooting at a school. Clearly, we don’t have the political will to solve this problem. I’m sick of it. Children should be safe at school. Or everywhere, really. What would it take to change?
PDXKnitterati 
Alas, Michele – it would take the impossible: Republicans would have to abandon their red-neck views. (I suspect that would apply to some Dems and might not apply to some GOPs.) They would need to abandon also their interpretation of the Constitution’s reference to bearing arms. It’s never going to happen. 😦
But LOVE that poncho !!
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I remember all those things! Plus I remember ordering 5 bags of plain flour online, at £2.50 each, which isn’t much money but was something of an extravagance, given that it’s 2-3 times what I’d usually pay. But it was absolutely worth it. A lot of baking went on in this house too.
Love that green, and the best of thoughts to your aunt.
Best wishes for healing for your aunt! I know your lovely wrap will be a big help to her 🙂 Yes, those early days of the pandemic were really something crazy for sure!