Packaging helps prevent weight gain

Asalam Alaikum,

When you can buy M&Ms in a bag, and eat them by the handful, it is pretty easy to put on a pound or two. Here instead of M&Ms we have these-


They are Walker Bites, or "bunties" as the kids call them. They are similar to M&Ms but the taste is not exactly the same(I prefer real M&Ms). I know that the package is not good for the environment, but I am pretty sure it is better for your health. It takes like five minutes to eat the same amount of candy that it would take 10 seconds to eat from the normal bag!

Little Miss Muffet

Asalam Alaikum,
I have posted before about some of the Wala that come to our neighborhood. A couple of weeks ago a wala came with some Muud-a. They are like small wicker stools with a padded top.


And the inside-


Here is the baby on HIS muud-a. He decided that the blue one was his and the pink one is for Mama. I have to be careful which one I sit on because if I sit on his, he runs over and in his cutest sad voice tells me "my muud-a".


They remind me of what I used to imagine Miss Muffet's Tuffet would look like.

Obvious Warning For all Knitters

Asalam Alaikum,

I thought that I knew better by now, but I guess not.


I left Tariq's socks in progress on the sofa(in the bag not loose) for five minutes when I went in the kitchen to get the baby a drink of water. It took ten hours to detangle the giant knot. Moral of the story- if you live in a house with three children three and under, always put your knitting somewhere safe.

A Boy and His Bak-ra

Asalam Alaikum,
Here is a picture of Saad with our baby goat. Tariq brought him home yesterday morning. He was so worried that the goat would get cold that he bought it a sweater and made it sleep in a basket in our room.



It is really cute, but I think it might be a bit lonely, because it cries anytime anyone leaves the room. Everyone in the house thinks that Tariq should bring two more because then we would have one for each child. The goat goes very nicely with the baby chicks and the small finch type birds that he brought home last week. We may open up a small zoo!

A little old/ A little new

Asalam Alaikum,

I was going through some old pictures and realized that I never posted about my finished February Lady Sweater. I finally finished last May during our first Pakistan trip, but then I left it in Abu Dhabi when we went back during Ramadan. I am so cold....Brrr. Here it is-

Pattern:February Lady Sweater
Yarn:Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale Solid(used about 950 Yards)
Needles: US #8 Circular for most and a US #10 1/2 for the bind off
Total Time:About 4 Months


I started a pair of "Longies" for Saad, from the Knitters Almanac. They are in the February chapter along with the Baby Sweater on Two Needles, which the February Lady Sweater is based on.

Pattern:Baby Leggings/Longies
Yarn:Plymouth Yarn Encore Colorspun Worsted
Needles:2 US #7 Circulars
Total Time:About a week

New Glasses

Asalam Alaikum,
Normally I just have one pair of glasses, sometimes a spare. I have never really felt the need to have more than one. When we first came to Pakistan, I decided that it had been a while and I should probably go for an exam. I got a pair of with plain gold frames that go well with my face and most outfits, the very next day the baby got hold of the old ones and snapped an ear piece right off. Last week while I was cleaning the new ones, one of the screws snapped with half stuck inside so we couldn't fix it ourselves. We had to take it somewhere to get it fixed, and while we were at it we decide to get a second pair just in case. While looking I couldn't decide between two pairs so we got them both.

The top is the original gold frames(now repaired), in the middle are the burgundy metal frames, and on the bottom, black metal with plastic ear pieces. It feels kind of strange to have so many choices.

It was a different experience to buy the glasses here compared to America. Back home it cost a lot of money, and usually took at least a week before I could pick them up. Here they were ready in an hour and cost less than one tenth what I spent on the last pair I bough in the States.

My favorite desert and Tea Time snack

Asalam Alaikum,
Jelebis are my absolute favorite sweet snack. They are sort of like a funnel cake that you find at a fair, but after being fried they are immersed in a cardamom flavored sugar syrup. The outside stays crispy but the inside soaks up the syrup. Sometimes they are a light brown color and sometimes food coloring is added to make them a bright orange.

When we were still in the US it was possible to find jelebis but they weren't always very fresh(although I couldn't tell, they tasted great to me). When we got to Abu Dhabi it was a bit easier to find them but the Tariq kept saying to wait because the jelebis in Pakistan were better. The first time I had a jelebi in Pakistan I couldn't believe how delicious it was. Here in Karachi jelebis are freshly made in the afternoons just before Tea Time, so when Tariq brings them they are crispy and hot.

Here is my favorite Tea Time snack-a hot cup of chai, some poppers(another day another post, InshAllah), and of course jelebis-