Homey

Homey is such a good word. I cannot imagine how its variant "homely" ever became a synonym for ugly. And I love the fact that black/urban slang has endowed "homey" with another positive meaning of person who will look out for me and hang with me, my homeboy, my trusted friend.

Last night I made home-made macaroni and cheese for the first time in my life. Pathetic, I know, but Kraft's dollar a box substitute had driven the concept of shredding a half pound of cheese and making a white sauce far from my mind. However, Kristen and I were marveling over the yumminess of Koo-Koo-Roo's version of mac and cheese when the thought struck me--maybe I could do this! And then at Karen's house, I came upon a recipe that specified panko for the topping and I knew it had to be done. I had bought a pound of medium cheddar earlier for use in baked-potato soup (good, btw), and had plenty left, but then I started thinking that sharp cheese would be better. So I bought 8 more ounces of extra sharp and used half and half. That was just right, but next time I'll just get sharp to begin with. And next time I'll do the panko crumbs the way I do for tuna casserole--melt the butter in a frying pan and actually brown the crumbs in the butter before I put them on top. But it came out delicious. And a half-pound of macaroni and half pound of cheese makes a very large amount of mac and cheese. So leftovers for dinner tonight. How homey is that?

I am back at work on an eggplant-colored hat for Karen, and have gotten to approximately the point at which Hobo the cat tore it all out previously. But I am itching to finish this up so that I can move on to the next projects on my wish list:

• another pair of mittens, maybe in stockinette this time, maybe knit in the round (or maybe not), for which I bought a skein of the same type of yarn but this time in blues with touches of black. If it happens, I'll send them to Kristen. I really loved coming up with functional mittens.
• a Yoda sweater for a baby, for which I purchased a skein of dark rosy pink Caron soft acrylic. (I had thought of washable wool or cotton, as the pattern suggests, but for babies, acrylic really is more suitable.) I will find a baby to give it to. Maybe Nancy Currey's baby-to-be.
• that Celtic vest thing. If it turns out to be entirely too small to go around my body (which it might or might not) I could always give it to Liz or Karen. Maybe a "going away to Africa" gift for Liz. Hmmm, makes sense.
• another go at the small shoulder bag from Klutz, but this time in wool and felted to give it more structure. And maybe done in the round so that it doesn't need seams.
• a red felted knitting-supply case, for which I already bought the zipper. But how hard will it be to make something felt to a predetermined size to fit the zipper? Maybe I can shorten the zipper if necessary.

Isn't the homeyness of all these hand-made items just wonderfully comforting? I think so. Wal-mart, eat your heart out. You can't touch this!