My Best Friend's Wedding

Well, one of my best friends, anyway. Today N8an and Dan are finally (and legally!) tying the knot. N8an and I have been close friends since oh, about 1997 or so, I guess. We've seen each other go through good and bad relationships, jobs, haircuts, roommates. Now he's in a career that makes him happy, living in a beautiful home, with the man he loves (and really, has been saving himself up for all these years). I'm beyond happy for him - I'm thrilled!

Sometimes, the good guys win. I'm glad this is one of those times. :)

Unfortunately, I won't be able to knit at the wedding - I think that's one of those Emily Post no-nos. ;) But it won't be dull, for sure - some of the guests are folks I haven't seen since our shared wild university days, and most (if not all) of us have pretty much settled down and grown up by now. So now, I have to go get all dolled up for this; I know all eyes will be on the grooms but I still want to look good! I'll be wearing my Bronze Butterfly shawl or the Olympic shawl - can't decide yet - with something slinky and black, I think.

Get me to the church on time!

Wow, 101 posts!

I just noticed that I've made 100 posts to this blog since I started it, and now this will make 101. So, to celebrate, I will show you actual photos of me - and Peter - with Joe L'Erario. We met Joe at a booksigning last year and it took me this long to (a) find the pictures on the computer and (b) get them to show properly.

You may remember Joe from the supremely educational and wildly entertaining TLC show "Furniture to Go / Furniture on the Mend" back in the early 90s. He did the nifty paint stuff, his partner/sidekick Ed Feldman did the nifty upholstery stuff. Together they wrote the Furniture Guys book, and last year Joe released "Creating the Perfect Wood Finish", which you can see in the corner of the photos. Wacky and useful goodness.


So, here we are - me on the left, Joe the Magnificent in the middle, and Peter on the right. To emphasize the special-occasion'ness of the evening, note that Peter is holding a double-tall latte from Starbucks instead of his usual large-double-cream from Tim Horton's.

And no, I am NOT pregnant - it was winter and I was wearing a big sweater. I also weighed about 20 lbs. more than I do now. But please note the lovely Tosca striped scarf, handknit by me. As usual, Peter looks all rugged and manly - "so construction-y", as he puts it. Gotta love a guy with power tools. :)

And the light dawns...

Realized today why my knitting (and other) energy has been down. I'm sick. Went to the doctor this afternoon with raging fever, pain in knuckles and back, headache and general blah-ness. I've got an unspecified virus... they took some blood. Tomorrow I go back in the morning (after fasting, NO JOY) and they take more blood.

But for tonight, no knitting, no more computer, no nothin'. Soup and sleep.

Socks and shawls and socks and shawls

This has been a pretty stressful week and not much knitting getting done. I had to frog my Clapotis, Peter's Marble sock #1 is still awaiting a try-on and toe decrease, and I have my Shetland Chunky sock #1 at about the same state. Right now all I feel like knitting is garter stitch on big needles, so I've been working a bit on the triangle shawl for Alison, in Bernat "Harmony". It's soft and pretty and I don't have to think about it.

I have a lot going on these days, and more coming soon, and I have to keep reminding myself that the knitting is for enjoyment and relaxation, so if I've only got the energy and focus for plain garter, that's okay. It's still knitting. I do need to start something simple for take-along knitting, though; while socks travel well, I don't really feel like doing socks. Maybe I'll start one of the Fun Fur scarves that Janice suggested. That will be good breaktime/lunchtime/appointment knitting, I hope. Or maybe a new circular hat. I could use a new hat, with fall coming on.

But, deadlines and knitting right now are Not Good, so I'm not pressuring myself for anything. You know what they say about pressure - it makes either diamonds or dust. Normally I tend to the diamond category, but this past couple of weeks I've been feeling dusty.

Dang and Double Dang!

Karma Chameleon Clapotis is in the frog pond. Ripped back to zero because I (stupidly) was trying to work on it while my idiot landlord was futzing about with our electrical system, and he wouldn't shut up and I messed up my stitch count. Dang!

So I threw it all in a bag (because my ballwinder was also being uncooperative) and it will be in time-out until Saturday when I can untangle and restart. I love the pattern, I love the yarn, I hate my landlord.

In other knit-news, Peter's marble sock #1 is nearing completion - just needs a try-on to check for length and then I can start toe decreases. And the second sock, of course!

But for now, bed. Two-shift day tomorrow so I need my beauty sleep.

Happy birthday to me!

So yesterday, I turned 35. Not really a bad thing, in fact it was pretty good. Spent the afternoon golfing with Peter and our neighbours, Sandy & Dan. Then BBQ / party at Sandy & Dan's later, complete with Steve singing and playing guitar, and toasted marshmallows over the firepit. Any day that ends with toasted marshmallows is a good day.

I also got $75 in gift cards for Yarn Forward; $50 from mom & dad and $25 from Peter's mom. JOY! I did spend a little already on the Marble for Carole's Clapotis (I may have posted about that already?), but the rest I'm saving for something really special for me.

Speaking of Clapotis, I've finished Row 8 (straight section) for the second time, and dropped the second stitch. I still don't like the way they look dropped; I really hope it looks better when the whole thing's done!

Working this evening and may pick up some LB Fun Fur; I've never really been interested in it but Janice at the store said it's great for quick scarves for gifts and right now we've got in on sale for 2 balls/$5. That's a good deal, so I might try to find some colours that aren't too horrific. :)

KC Clapotis - 1st picture!

This week has been pretty busy; tonight is my 4th shift this week at the store along with the usual "day job" insanity (I'll be SO glad when summer is over!) so not much knitting time. Did get out to Bridgehead Stitch'n'Bitch on Wednesday night for a little while at least... so good to see the ladies even though I did have to rush off for a "House" date with Peter. Note: "House" is quite possibly the most addictive show ever. Be warned.

Anyway, this afternoon I finally had time to start on the straight section and dropped my first stitch. No bells rang, no angels sang out. And it looks kind of... sloppy. I'm hoping more will improve the look. We shall see. Here is a picture of the Karma Chameleon Clapotis at the end of Straight Section #1 (following pattern, I did the standard # of increase sections):

It's purty. I enjoy this pattern, and (like others) I already have a second one in mind - in Marble (which you know is one of my favourite yarns) for a friend of mine who, sadly, has a "no animal fiber" allergy. Yay for pretty acrylic! That will be a Christmas gift, I hope.

In other knit-news, I got a package in the mail Monday from Marian at Freshisle Fibers - JOY! Two balls of lilacy-pink softspun and a housewarming gift - a ball of fingering weight in a really neat bluey-green... kind of looks like Lake Huron on a cloudy day, so totally reminds me of Manitoulin. I think I will attempt a lace scarf with it; some kind of waves/water pattern to play up the colour.

Still working away on Peter's socks here and there, but no photos yet. I also got a $50 gift card for Yarn Forward for my birthday - JOY! again. Spent some of it on the Marble for Carole's Clapotis, but some is reserved for a rumoured incoming shipment of Handmaiden. OOOH!

Now, off to work again. Friday night before the Saturday flyer. Should be fun!

The Karma Chameleon Clapotis is underway!

Today we finally got our front porch/storage area cleaned out and (mostly) organized, so I could get into my stash bins and start my Clappy! I'm using Red Heart Soft Touch (they call it a "4" medium worsted, but it feels more like a DK to me) in colour #4612, which is red, gold, and green - hence, Karma Chameleon. :)

I started it on 6.5 mm Addis, but the yarn/needle combination was too slick and the ktbl's were a pain in the butt, so restarted it on 5.5 mm Clover bamboo straights and it's going wonderfully! One little hiccup on the first increase attempt (but that was on the Addis, so no harm, I was frogging anyway), but now I'm sailing along. LOVING the rhythm of the pattern - I've completed my 2nd increase section and like the gauge so far - I think once I get to dropping things it will have a lovely drape. Also using the "purl the 2Bdropped" technique and that makes the fabric much tidier than the markers I tried on the first go-round.

Hoping to do another repeat or two of the increases tomorrow before work, then it will probably rest until next weekend (I'm not confident enough yet in the pattern to take it to midweek SnB!). But I'm pleased so far and the slight nip in the air tonight is certainly compatible with these autumn-y colours.

Got a couple rows done on Peter's Marble sock too, after dinner (we had my parents, Peter's Mom, my sis and neice over for BBQ - house full!). A good reward of knitting after a day of chores.

Now, bed. Working tomorrow - must not buy more yarn!

I'm sinking under WIPs!

All right, there are worse ways to go than to be buried under an avalanche of yarn, but I've really got to rein in this start-itis bout I've been on lately. Confession time: here's the WIP list:

1) Peter's Mega Boots socks: 1 at the ankle gusset, and needs to be ripped back to the heel flap because I totally buggered the stitch count. It's in time out until I get its mate caught up to the heel. Guess what? Haven't cast on the mate yet, though I did pick up the yarn and a second set of the necessary DPNs.

2) Peter's Marble socks: Actually, I'm cruising on these. Just started last weekend for fun and already down the foot of the first one. I really like this yarn and the pattern; I think I can use the same pattern for worsted, like Patons Classic. I've got my Harlot yarn in stash and I think that socks would be appropriate; her paean to handknit socks in Knitting Rules (among other places) really brings home the point about the knit-love connection. Although, maybe I should do something a little... prettier? than a plain-Jane sock? Ok, sorry, I'm digressing like mad here. Next up:

3) My Jaywalkers: pathetic. I bought the yummiest yarn, cast on and have done exactly five pattern repeats beyond the ribbing of the first sock. I need concentration for this sock and I just seem - scatterbrained, I guess, lately. Ah well. They will have their day.

4) Peter's Christmas Sweater: still a swatch. Christmas is slightly over 4 months away.

5) My Clapotis: Well, I dug the yarn out of stash today (finally!) but that was not my fault - our porch (my stash storage) has been kind of a junk repository due to some major home surgery projects in the past week or so. Will be casting this on tomorrow.

6) The office curtain: It's a valance! But growing with every hour at the computer, so at least moving forward.

7) New Shawl (for neighbour Alison): Totally did NOT plan on starting this so soon, but I stopped in to the store on the way home today to get my schedule for the upcoming week and there was a whole bin of Bernat Harmony on sale for $2.00/ball. In a really pretty colourway called "Nature's Blues", which really, just had to be a shawl. So I got five balls. Which, in fairness, is a shawl and a scarf. So I will make the shawl for Alison and a scarf to go in gifting/charity stash. Altruistic knitting! (convinced yet?)

I think that's everything that's currently live or about-to-be live. I did finish Carole's shawl last night and gave it to her today (a week ahead of our birthday, but I couldn't wait). She totally LOVED it - the "Purple Poodle" was Perfect for her. So yay! Peter took some pictures of me wearing the poodle last night, so once we figure out how to get his camera to talk to my computer, I'll post those.

Now, back to reading Knitgroups and working on the curtain. Did I mention that it's about 2' x 2-1/2' of garter, worsted weight? Bleah. But - my honey wants, my honey gets. Love makes us knit funny things. :)

It's my Knitaversary!

It's "civic holiday Monday", which here in Ottawa is called Colonel By Day, in Moncton was called New Brunswick Day, and in Halifax/Dartmouth is Natal Day. I still call it Natal Day weekend, because deep in my heart I wish I could go to the parade, the fair, and the fireworks. Nothing like a holiday to make you homesick. But I digress.

It was on this same long weekend last year that Peter and I had our whirlwind trip to Manitoulin Island (which we totally fell in love with!), and that I learned to knit. I remember I had this "I taught myself knitting" kit that I bought at Michaels (it's a Boye needles/Lion brand yarn coproduction), and a skein of Red Heart super saver in a beige/blue/orange colourway. We sat in the cabin in the woods, Peter with his book (or, most of the time, napping over his book) and me struggling through those first few rows of stitches. The tranquility of it was amazing and I think contributed largely to my newfound affection for knitting. When we got home again I made a scarf for Peter in Habs colours, and that was the week my daughter was visiting from Halifax and she was admiring how fast I could knit... I would knit while she played "Kill All Humans" on the Playstation. Not really a Kodak moment, but our family is weird anyway.

So my starting-out in knitting was all peaceful and happy, and I've carried that peaceful/happy feeling with me nearly every time I pick up my needles, or play with a new yarn, or read knitblogs and knitgroups, or go to a Stitch'n'Bitch with the gals. It's become an addiction, I admit: a day without knitting is generally a cranky day. And I have a huge stash, only about 3/4 of which is for specific projects. And a project list that will take 2 or 3 years, easy, with more new ones added all the time. But - I love it.

I love knitting the way I love reading, but in some ways more; I can be social when I knit, I can watch hockey or read knitgroups or chat with friends, the way I can't when I'm reading. And the things I have made, and will make... scarves, slippers, sweaters, shawls, socks. Hrm. Mostly "S" projects. Interesting. A couple of throws and blankies also. All that beautiful yarn, knit into warm and often pretty things for my loved ones and sometimes casual friends or even strangers. All those stitches, all the things I've learned. Turning my first sock heel, kitchenering my first toe. Figuring out how yarnovers work, and wrestling with buttonholes until I said not-nice words, but perservering because it was for someone I love. And learning, always learning new things. Someone once told me when you stop learning you're dead. No fear!

And now, on my Knitaversary weekend, another stage of my knitting life, which somehow brings it full circle. See, when I first bought that learn-to-knit kit at Michaels last year, I peeked in the book to see what kind of yarn to buy, and it said "worsted weight". And I asked the nearest sales associate, and she was singularly unhelpful: "Oh, it says on the label what's what." And now, here I am working at Michaels myself! I had my first shift this weekend, and I think I'm going to like it pretty well. I'm in General Crafts, which includes the yarn aisles, and on my first shift I got to answer a couple of knitting questions, which made me feel great - I love that I can share all the knowledge I've piled up the last year with someone else who's maybe just starting out, or is at an unfamiliar stage.

Of course, working at Michaels is also tempting me in new crafting directions - I spent some time in the decorative painting section and the beading section and thought "what if I???". So who knows where that will go. But I think knitting will remain my primary craft passion. Because, after a year, I'm more in love with it than ever (kind of like Peter after six years *wink*).

So happy knitaversary to me!

Getting on the Clapotis bandwagon

I've got 4 pair of socks on the needles, a shawl that's 80% done and a sweater in the swatch stage (say THAT three times fast!). So of course, I have to start something new. And for some time now, I've been drawn to the Clapotis - it's a shawl/scarf, which I love, and I've seen enough of them in person and pics on the Net that I'm really intrigued. Also, I've had a big bag o'yarn in stash since last fall that was going to be a slinky sweater but has decided to be my Clapotis instead. It's Red Heart Soft, in a red/gold/green variegated that Peter calls "Karma Chameleon Yarn." He's such an 80s geek, but I am too, so whatcha gonna do?

And now, since the nice people came and took the dead fridge out of our front porch (yay!), I can get at my yarn bins and dig out the Karma Chameleon Yarn. And it's a long weekend - how sweet is that? So, stay tuned for the Karma Chameleon Clapotis (now, say THAT three times fast!). And the socks, and the other shawl, and the sweater... Yeah, I've got start-itis. It's summer, the season of short attention spans. :)

I feel like knitting a sweater today

Last night the temperature dropped to a brisk 14 degrees (celsius) and it's still cool enough this morning at 11:00 to need a sweater in the computer room. I'm really REALLY tempted to dig into the bins and pull out the Bernat Denimstyle to start my back-to-school sweater today. But I have 5 WIPS on the go already... well, maybe I could just swatch for it. Swatching doesn't count as starting something new, does it?

Speaking of WIPs - progress update:

1) the charity shawl - of the original 5 (or was it 6) balls of the eBay yarn, only 2 remain. Another week of computer knitting and this puppy is done and ready to be put away for the Christmas season. I finally peeled the price stickers off the yarn tag ($1.00 at Woolco/Woolworth, marked down from $2.66), and it's Mohair Plus by Grand Moulin Yarns - 70% acrylic, 15% mohair, 15% nylon. It's a nice chunky weight and verry soft.

2) Peter's Mega Boots socks - the heel is turned on sock #1 at last! Now I need to pick up the gusset and get that foot done, and start #2 ASAP. Gusset-picking-up will happen tonight or tomorrow, and then it's back in the bag for travel knitting.

3) The Purple Poodle - yes, the beast has risen again and I was surprised to see how much I'd completed of it! Did a couple more repeats yesterday and it's coming along well - has to be ready for August 19th for Carole's birthday (it's my birthday too!) so will need a couple of dedicated evenings to finish. The yarn is Cora by Lang - lovely microfibre stuff.

4) Shetland Chunky house socks for me - past halfway mark of the foot on #1. I'm only working on these when my hands get sore from the wee needles of the smaller socks.

5) Jaywalkers in KP Sock Memories (S'mores) - shamefully, no progress since the original 2" when I started them. The pattern is not complicated but does take a fair bit of attention, and it's weeny needles too. I do want to get these done but right now am not real motivated to get moving on them. Odd, because I can't wait to wear that lovely wool on my toes!

Yes, I think I will swatch for the Back-to-School sweater today. It'll only take an hour and then I'll get back to the other stuff.

Happy Sunday, Bloglanders!

Socking along...

Yes, it's another of those stinkin' hot weeks, so not much knitting happening here. That's also due in part to a two-day bout of sciatica I had earlier this week - a big ball of not fun. However, today at lunch I finally got the heel flap of Peter's sock done and am ready to turn the heel - huzzah! I love turning heels, it's fun to watch that perfect little 3-d corner emerge out of a flat piece of fabric. So hopefully that will be tonight, though we do have a whack of bookkeeping and other office-y stuff to catch up on, now that the office is finally put together properly (both computers and a printer, all networked and working). However, it is stinkin' hot, so office stuff may wait 'til tomorrow. To Be Decided.

Right now though, it's time to find something quick and easy for dinner - preferably that doesn't involve the stove. Did I mention it's stinkin' hot?

More knitting soon, I hope!

Oh my, what have I done?

What with all the unexpected "little things" that pop up in the first weeks of cohabitation, Peter and I have found that the budget is, to put it mildly, a little strained. We won't starve but the plastic is mounting and that always makes me nervous. See, it is the nature of a credit card to be totally maxed out when something very expensive and essential breaks on your car (which is also essential). So - more income required.

Now, what does a knitter do who needs more income? There are options:

1. Sell some stash. Yeah, right. That's not happening.
2. Knit for pay. Possible, but time-consuming. The hats have not started rolling out yet and I haven't found my market yet, either.
3. Work in a yarn store. Where I will add to stash and bring home no money, but have lots of fun.
4. Work in a crafts store that does sell yarn, but not exclusively, and offers a nice staff discount. WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

Yes, as of yesterday I am now a part-time employee of that blessed behemoth of crafty retail known as Michael's. Which means less time for actual knitting, but more money for - well, everything. I like Michael's - they're not like a LYS (bless you, Yarn Forward ladies!) but they do carry some decent stuff and sometimes have good sales. Besides, I have enough experience as a consumer in the store to know what should be expected from staff - so I think I'll do well. The important thing is that crafts are something I can get behind and feel good about in a way that say, Tim Horton's, wouldn't. Don't get me wrong, I love Timmy's but you can't really connect with a customer over a 30-second double-double transaction.

So, I'm optimistic and looking forward to the challenge. Also the discount, which will come in very handy at Christmas-shopping time when I can buy crafty gifts for certain beloved friends and family members. (That way I don't have to knit for them this year - clever, hey?)

In the meantime, this looks to be my last totally free weekend for awhile, so I'm planning to spend it baking and knitting and watching silly movies on TV. I'm making good progress on a new triangle shawl (now that it's no longer too hot to knit, thank God!) and working away on Peter's Mega Boots sock - I had him try it on last night and it fits his (bold and manly) calf perfectly! So kudos to The Arachne Sock Calculator, it looks like it's working out perfect! Though I still find it odd to be counting rows on a sock, but whatcha gonna do? Going to try to get the heel done today so the foot can be travel / at work knitting for next week.

Something smells good - I think breakfast is ready. Gotta love a man who cooks!

It's too dang hot!

That is, it's too hot to knit. Today is 42 degrees (celsius) with the Humidex, which is stupid hot. Yesterday wasn't much better. Saturday was too busy to knit, with an exam and then general weekend chores. I did manage to get a few rows in today on Peter's sock but that was in my nice air-conditioned lunchroom at work. At home, it's just too stinkin' hot to knit.

Looking forward to Stitch'N'Bitch Wednesday evening, where the coffee shop is generally refrigerated to the point that I feel I should bring a sweater or shawl. Maybe I *will* bring a shawl, just to show off a previous FO and keep from freezing. But right now, it's too stinkin' hot. And it's making me cranky, because today was not the best of Mondays and usually some knitting calms me down and puts me in a better mood. So I'm reading blogs instead, and you know what? EVERYONE is having a stupidly hot day and appears cranky about it.

To heck with it. I'm going to eat a mountain of Jello and Cool Whip and watch silly movies for the evening. And pray for a LONG rainstorm.

EDIT: My day just got 150% better - I got an email from my daughter. Love you hon!

Sock it to me baby!

It's sock time at Chez Kit & Peter - too warm lately to knit anything big, besides which a lot of stuff is still in boxes and socks are fun. :)

First up, another pair of socks in Marble. This yarn is 100% acrylic but is really a pleasure to knit with - very soft and the colour changes are so pretty! These ones are about 2" longer than the first pair and I still had substantial yarn left over - I could probably get knee-highs out of one ball! The next pair of these in the queue though will be for Peter - I've got a nice rusty-autumny colourway that I think will be sufficiently masculine for him. But first...

Here is the start (about 1/2 the leg) of his Mega Boots Stretch sock #1. Here's the specs for the yarn; the colourway is #701, which you can (hopefully) see in the picture goes from navy blue to gray and light blue in very subtle striping. It's a luscious yarn to knit with - I've found before that knitting eeny-weeny sock yarn makes my hands cramp but no problem with that in this yarn. The pattern is from Arachne's Sock Calculator, my first time trying it but it's very thorough! The only thing that has me worried is that the ribbing seems a tad loose, but Peter's got such muscular calves it should be all right. However, if it doesn't fit right I'll frog and try another pattern. This yarn is nice enough to re-knit. :)

Finally, another pair for me - these are heavy-duty socks in Patons Shetland Chunky (my old favourite!), that make for wonderful house socks. I knit them to the full leg length prescribed (9 1/2") and then fold them down to a cuff - perfect slipper socks. Obviously not needed now in the heat of July, but autumn is not far away and I like my toes toasty.

Still having palpitations about assembling the teddy bear - poor thing is stuck in a drawer until I get up my nerve. I really don't like assembly; maybe that's why I'm so big on socks lately? They're self-assembling. Plus there's always the cool factor of the heels and toes. Dang, I love heels and toes!

Van Morrison could never be this drunk...

I found this little game on Kine's blog and thought it was kind of fun... try it if you like:

1. Randomly pick a song from your music library.
2. Find the lyrics for the first four verses/chorus
3. Go to Google translation and translate the lyrics from English into German.
4. Take the new German lyrics and translate them into French.
5. Take the new French lyrics and translate them into English.
6. Post the NEW English lyrics and have people guess the original song

Well, I tried it with Brown Eyed Girl, because that was on the radio when I was driving back from the grocery store. Here's what Google did to Van:

He, where we went, days, as the rains came to the bottom jumping in the cave, Playin a new play, puddle pools and a current He, He to jump and in the fog of nebulous morning our hearts thumpin and you my brown examined daughter, you my brown examined daughter. What also always arrived at Tuesday and thus of the puddle pools of daylight slow down to descend the old well with a radio from transistor are, to slip and to push are dissimulated behind the wall of an elbow of rain all along the water fall, with you my brown examined daughter, you my brown examined daughter. You, we maintained above sing, point out Sha to you Lalalalalalalalalala unit of width my manner find there then strongly, since all myself my am there. I saw you precisely throwing there the other day, my, as you rose, my back of memory, Lord Einmal am me 'the overcome period, of the loves thinking in green grass forms behind the stage with you my brown examined daughter you with my brown examined daughter points out you you, there above when we maintained to sing Sha with Lalalalalalalalalala unit of width.

That hurt my brain. I must go knit a sock now to recover. Mega Boots ribbing is underway!

Bears in progress

Well, the camera is still in a box somewhere, but I now have all the various bits and pieces of my first knitted stuffed toy knit up. The assembly has me a tad spooked (assembly always does!) but the instructions look fairly clear - the pattern is Paton's "Little Bears to Knit and Crochet". Quick knit in Shetland Chunky! Once I get bear #1 put together I have to make up his fraternal twin - the babies for whom these bears are intended arrived last week so I want to get their "welcome to the world" prezzies ready soon.

Also OTN: Marble socks (1 down, 1 past the heel) and soon to be casting on for Mega Boots for Peter. 2.25 mm needles and a size 11 foot. Pray for me!

One more FO

Stopped in today for a sit'n'knit with the gals at Yarn Forward (in between shopping and step-building and then just plain falling down... boy will I be glad when this move is over!). Asked when the Chemo Cap contest/collection was over - I thought it was end of July. Nope, next week! CRAP on a STICK!

So, dug into the yarn bins (already shifted to the "staging area" in the garage) and found the cap-in-progress, and finished it off tonight. Again, sorry no pics but the camera is in a box buried under other boxes. Anyway.

The hat was in Mission Falls cotton, and after having done a bunch of dishcloths earlier this week and finishing up Mom's cotton socks, I've discovered what I believe many others before me have - knitting cotton makes my hands hurt. I don't know why, maybe it doesn't have the same "give" as wool / acrylic / whatever and so the same tension is more ... tense? Anyway, it makes my hands just ache after a couple of hours. So, I think I'll be avoiding cotton in future (except for more dishcloths as necessary, but maybe not a big binge of them all at once!).

That's it for now. Tomorrow the last of the packing happens, and the computer will be unhooked so no blogging until probably Sunday. So, if you're reading this on Saturday...

HAPPY DOMINION DAY EVERYONE!

I've been meme'd!

I was surfing a bit this morning and hit this on "Sock It to Me", so decided I'd play. You play too! Or, if you're here strictly for knitting content, I cast on a new pair of Marble socks yesterday and am halfway down the foot of the first one. Dang, these are a quick knit! Pictures once the move is complete and the camera found again. Now, PLAY!

Book Meme

From here
1. Copy & paste.
2. Bold the ones you’ve read.
3. Add four recent reads to the end.
4. Tag! - you're it!
(I'm adding an asterisk after ones that I haven't read, but are sitting on the shelf waiting)

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown *
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger*
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald *
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger *
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) - J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden *
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) - J.K. Rowling
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5) - J.K. Rowling
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown *
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Book 1) - J.K. Rowling
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Secret History - Donna Tartt *
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) - J.K. Rowling
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson *
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving *
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien *(yeah right, I'll never get through them!)
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
The Unberable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
The Nature of Blood - Caryl Phillips
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules -Ed. David Sedaris
I Know This Much is True - Wally Lamb *
Empire Falls - Richard Russo
American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - Adam Cohen & Elizabeth Taylor
Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
Seeing - Jose Saramango
White Teeth - Zadie Smith *
Sophie's World - Jostein Gaardner
Ursula Under - ingrid Hill
Mountains Beyond Mountains - Tracy Kidder
In the Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez
God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
The World According to Garp - John Irving
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
The Sword of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
* The Stainless Steel Rat - Harry Harrison
* The Key to Rebecca - Ken Follett
* How to Practice - the Dalai Lama
* Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett

Procrastination in Pink

I'm on vacation this week so that means lots of sleeping in and general lazing-about, mixed with short bursts of productivity. Yesterday I finished a pair of socks (Mom's orange safety socks, sorry no picture - the camera is packed) and sewed in all the ends of my dishcloths for the new house. Then I watched two movies and read a whole book. NICE!

Today I caught up newsgroups and blogs, and saw that Teresa had added this avatar-thingy to her blog, and I thought, "that looks like fun", so I just made one myself. It looks a fair bit like a cartoon-me, except for the figure. They really should have options other than "anime porn princess" for figure type. Note to Teresa: It's sheer coincidence I came up with the same outfit as you. But it's okay, we're in different provinces. :)

Well, the avatar-thingy didn't look right with the old blog format, so I decided to pink things up for awhile, just for a change. Which is helping me avoid the last two assignments of my correspondence course (only for awhile, they have to get done today, period). But first there will be - SHOPPING! I have to buy new bed linens (for the new bed, woohoo), and a few odds and ends of householder-type stuff, because moving day is coming up fast. Still a few things to pack but I've run out of boxes, so they may have to wait for a later trip.

Unfortunately, all the knitting is packed, except for the red&white headscarf, which I frogged back to zero (didn't like the way the edging was coming out), and the beginning of a blanket in White Buffalo, which is hardly 30+ humidex knitting! I could go dig something out of the bins I suppose, but I'm not really motivated to start anything new right now. I had to frog my second purple sock back too - messed up the heel turn and it didn't fit at all, so it's frogged to zero and re-balled as punishment for misbehaving. ;)

Mostly I just feel like sleeping, which I do have the time to do, but opportunity is something else again. Hard to nap here (the old place, aka Mom & Dad's) and we don't have the keys (or a bed) yet for the new place. That's something I'm greatly looking forward to, actually, is being able to have a nice quiet nap in my own home. Provided, of course, that the neighbours are reasonably quiet too - the guy on one side of us might be a problem, but then again maybe not.

Which leads me to another thought - rather than clutter up here with non-knitting content, I think I'll start me a second blog. Ooh, inspiration has struck. More to come...

Pack and purge, pack and purge...

First it was movies, then books, now yarn - the "pack and purge" fiesta continues! Tonight, after running out of boxes in which to pack books (again), I decided to bite the bullet and purge the yarn bins. Managed to empty out one full and about 1/3 of another of the big-ass Rubbermaid totes. Now I can use the totes for packing/storing seasonal clothing (very little closet space at the new house).

So, two big green garbage bags full of yarn, which happily have found a home already - there's a local lady who's teaching knitting to kids at a summer program and was looking for yarn on FreeCycle, so the timing was perfect. And I was ruthless, too - if I didn't have definite project plans, or if ball bands were missing, into the bags it went. Lots of wee part-balls and like that, also some novelty yarns that had lost their novelty! (ha ha I'm so funny...) I hope the kids enjoy it and I've asked her to pass off any surplus to the Project Linus ladies here in town too - I've a feeling that yarn may be travelling for months to come...

Not a lot of knitting time unfortunately but I have finished a few dishcloths for the house and worked a couple more inches on my funky purple sock. Pictures will have to wait - the camera's already packed. The frog and re-knit of Mom's second sock foot I'm hoping to get done this week while I'm on holiday but I don't know if I'll have the patience. Time will tell.

On the upside, the purge/stash dive unearthed a whole bunch of balls and part-balls of Shetland Chunky that I'd been hoarding, so there will be lots more work-boot socks for Peter and house-socks for me come wintertime. I even found the dark green I'd been saving for his sweater collar/cuffs trim, whenever I get that sweater going. I've got two sweaters for him and three for me planned, so I think I'll alternate - once we get settled in of course! Still so much packing to do...

Lots of news!

Here it is, just in time for Father's Day - dad's "Service Cardigan". This sweater gave me more than a few headaches but did come out beautifully in the end. It even fits!

Now that it's done I think I'll do small projects for the next little while - especially since I'll be MOVING! Woohoo, yes, Peter and I are finally "shacking up" and will be moving in less than two weeks - EEK!!!! I have to get packed and organized tout suite - fortunately, the new place is basically move-in ready; just a good going-over with dust & mop and we'll be ready to go. It's a bit on the small side (read: "cozy") and when we were measuring for furniture, etc., I forgot to factor in my stash bins! However, there's a fair bit of storage room in the front porch so they may find their home there.

I'm excited beyond measure about this - we've been waiting SO long to be able to do this, and it literally fell right in our laps just this week. When things are meant to be, they work. :)

In other news, Mom's second sock is finished but requires a semi-frog. Somehow I messed up the decreases at the toe and it's about an inch shorter than its mate. Hrm. So I will rip and restart tonight - hopefully can just rip back to the problem area without going too far!

So, there probably won't be much blogging for the next couple of weeks because there's so much to do. (Like set up Internet at the new place!) In the meantime, think "good weather moving day" thoughts for me and I'll post pics of the new place (complete with my planned knitting corner) as soon as I can.

Happy Father's Day bloglanders!

Christmas in June

The KnitPicks order arrived! Look at these goodies...

At the back, 16 balls of Wool of the Andes in Winter Night (blue) and 1 of Coal (black). These, along with either the two Cranberry (red) or Hollyberry (burgundy) - the four balls at the left - will become Peter's Christmas sweater. Probably the Cranberry, because that will make it perfectly Habs colours. Very cool.

Then from left to right, we have:
Shimmer in Morning Mist
Shimmer in Deep Woods
Alpaca Cloud in Tide Pool
Alpaca Cloud in Stream
Alpaca Cloud in Moss
Alpaca Cloud in Autumn.
All these are laceweight, some of which will become "Elizabeth I" scarves and the rest, something else lacy. The "Moss" has been reserved by Mom for her birthday gift next February (she wanted three, but is getting one. Yes, I'm mean).

Finally at the far right are two hanks of Sock Memories in Smores. SMORES! I'm gonna have toasty feet in these socks, for sure.

And that, my good Bloglanders, is the last yarn to enter this house until August. But ooh, is it ever pretty! I want to start a lace scarf and those Smores socks right away... but other things have priority right now. This evening I will be assembling Dad's cardigan. Mom's second sock is still waiting to be finished, and I really need to start those teddy bears soon. Besides, most of this is in skein form and really needs a swift to be wound properly - which I don't have. Maybe I should ask for a swift for my birthday?

In other news, we have a house! At least, we're at 99% of having a house, still a few details to iron out. But it looks good for cohabitation by the first of September. JOY!

Of course, part of the cohabitation involves each of us weeding out some non-essential "stuff", so the last week of June will be sorting and pre-packing and setting stuff aside for a yard sale in July. All good. There may be some yarn in there - some of the current stash falls under the "what was I thinking" category and really should go to a new home. We shall see.

Dad's sweater is done!

Well, it's all knitted, anyway. Sat down tonight with the last 1/3 of the 2nd sleeve and watched Star Wars Episode III: You wasted your money again. Except I saw it free on TMNOD, so neener. Movie was crap but just long enough (2 1/2 hours) to finish the sweater. Exactly, actually, I cast off the last Sith... er stitch - just as the final credits came up. So woohoo!

Which means now that I have to sew the darn thing up - the least-fun part of knitting (IMO). I think I'll reserve that particular segment of cussing and squinting for Sunday afternoon, since I'll be spending Friday afternoon on bookkeeping, Saturday afternoon on homework, and Friday/Saturday night sleeping - a lot. I've been very very tired again for oh, about a month, and finally saw the doc about it, who ordered the usual blood tests, etc. It's probably just the heat and usual early-June work stress, but it's smart to get things checked out.

So now the sweater is done(ish), there's just that dang orange sock to finish (gods, it's taking FOREVER and makes my hands cramp). Then I can do fun things and charity things and more socks and those teddy bears for the impending twins. Gak. The twins are due any day now, but unlike the Harlot, I will not begin the knitting until they actually arrive safe and sound. Besides, you can't really appreciate a teddy bear until you're at least 6 months old, I think.

Tiger balm and bed. Goodnight bloglanders.

I will buy no yarn in June or July

There. I told Peter, I told Bundy & Kid, and now I've told the bloglanders. I WILL BUY NO YARN IN JUNE OR JULY. Nor any knitting needles, pattern books, magazines or other knit-related accessories. In fact, I may just have to ground myself from even visiting my favourite LYS because I have basically no willpower when I go there. Like zero - I have spent my last $5 on half-price sock yarn just because it was half price. No more of that. Discipline!

'Cuz, here's the thing. Peter and I want to live together. Soon. Then we can be married (JOY!) and all live happily ever after, etc. But this living together thing ain't cheap, and sacrifices need to be made. I currently have 4 almost-full-to-the-brim Rubbermaid totes (big'uns) full of stash. I have stash in my trunk and stash on my bookshelves and somewhere in my closet is stash I was looking for in the totes and couldn't find. So. I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE YARN. Not for the foreseeable future, as I also have a huge project list which will entail knitting up a lot of that stash.

However. (or, if you prefer, BUT - - - )

August is my birthday and also our vacation to Manitoulin Island. While we are at Manitoulin I will be visiting the fine proprietress of Freshisle Fibers, to get more of her lovely Suffolk wool. Maybe even the watermelon sock yarn, if she ever catches up her Harlot-induced glut of orders. :) And for my birthday I totally intend to ask - maybe even beg - for gift cards at Yarn Forward. Because, simply, I love that shop, and the ladies that run it are my knitting-mentors and also good friends. Plus I have a whack of discount points to use so I want to make the most of it. :)

So in August, yes, I'll be getting some yarn. But otherwise, it's time to be responsible (*sigh*, she said) and look at the bigger picture, which involves things like curtains and throw rugs and probably a few gallons of paint and yeah, the car's going to need new tires by fall, etc. etc. But it's all to the good. I'm looking at it as a delayed Lent season sort of thing. So y'all are my witnesses - knit from stash only for the next two months. Pointe Finale.

Oh, and if the Ottawa SnB gals are reading this - I placed my KnitPicks order in May so it doesn't count. Neener.

Tomorrow will be update on WIP time. I knit my tuckus off this weekend!

Twofer Tuesday

Look! A pair of socks! Yes, the lonely right foot now has a toasty-warm and happy left-foot mate. I really like this Marble yarn; it knits up quickly (though it can split if you don't keep an eye on it), and the colours are both soft and rich. The socks are remarkably warm - I think a sweater of this stuff would be almost too warm - at least knit at this gauge. And there's enough left in the ball for about another whole sock, so the other two pairs I have already bought yarn for will be made "regular" sock length instead of ankle length. And, for bonus, they fit comfortably inside sneakers (and therefore work shoes) so I can funk up my work and weekend wardrobe a bit with these. Really, they're very quick to knit - I may make a pair in every colour that Marble comes in! And, at $6 a ball (approx.) where 1 ball gives a pair plus, they're fairly cheap socks too (at least compared to some of the sock yarns).

Ah yes, other sock yarns... I did cast on sock #2 of Mom's Safety Socks tonight and got a 1/2 inch of ribbing done. We're off to the races now!

Monday, monday

It's weird when a long weekend ends. It feels like today has been a Sunday - laundry, baking, general getting-ready-for-the-work-week stuff. But there was also lots of downtime and tomorrow will be Tuesday which makes work all strange too. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a long weekend, it's just that it puts me out of whack a bit.

HOWEVER - I got stuff done, yessirreebob! See here, the first of mom's "Safety Socks", custom-fit and fitting pretty well. Although it does pooch a bit around the ankle bone, but she swears it's comfy, so it's all good. Now I just have to do the other one, but I messed up the cast on yesterday and had to frog it back to zero. Will try again tomorrow. Yarn is Jawoll Cotton.

See also, the "Seaweed Shawl", which is Fleece Artist "Curlylocks", not their new Sea Silk (oh, how I covet the Sea Silk!). When I saw this yarn in the store I thought it just looked like seaweed on the beach. Which made me homesick. So I had to get it, but I'd only been knitting about a month at the time so I was actually afraid to knit it up. Not anymore! I really, truly, ADORE Fleece Artist yarns (I know I've said this before), but this one, being my first, I think will always be my favourite. I don't know what that white blob in the bottom of the picture is, but the colours I think show up rather nicely. I didn't measure it but it reaches to my knees in back if I hold it at my shoulders, and to my butt if I actually wrap myself up in it. Light and warm and pretty and wonderful. And MINE ALL MINE!

Also finished the front of dad's cardigan, but no picture of that. Sleeve #1 is well underway - about 1/3 done, I think. Going to work on that pretty steadily this week in evenings so I'm hoping to have 2 sleeves by this time next week.

AND - I created a hat. Yes, from-scratch-my-own-design. Which is pretty cool, because I really hadn't planned on creating a hat when I made it. I was noodling around with some camel hair yarn (gorgeous stuff, BTW) and playing at making a skinny scarf. I held it up to the light and Peter said, "You know, that would make a cute hat." Ok, what the hey! I frogged the scarf and restarted it as a hat. And it's kinda funky and cool and I don't look silly in it (Yumi said so, it must be true).

I intend to submit the pattern for the 2007 Pattern-A-Day calendar (and post it free here too, of course), but I want to test-knit it in a couple of other yarns first. Hence, no picture yet. Once I get a couple more prototypes done I'll post pictures and pattern. I'm actually planning to make these for sale but need to scope out potential "real world" markets as I'm not ready for online salesmanship yet! So, more to come on that later. But it was a pretty cool long weekend.

A busy week of knitting and other things

If you read this already on "KnitTalk", there is other stuff here but you can skip the beginning. I'm recycling tonight. :)

Well, a soggy spring has sprung here in Ottawa and in my business that means "crazy-busy at work" time. Finding myself pretty worn out by the end of the day and just wanting some QNT - Quiet Needle Time. Last weekend I picked up Tara Jon Manning's "Mindful Knitting" and I'm really appreciative of how that wee book has given me a deeper understanding of how my knitting destresses me. Usually I knit in front of the TV in the evenings, but for this week I left the box off and just knit. The first time was hard because my mind wouldn't shut up - I was mentally watching "Simpsons" reruns, for heaven's sake! But the next evening, and the next, I found I could really just sit and knit. And it made me feel really, really good.

The book also deals with "regular" seated meditation - so far, I stink at that. I'm too fidgety, that's why having the knitting to focus on is so good for me. BUT - there's also a big point made of being "in the moment" in everyday living of life, and I've been working on that as well; here are a few "in the moment" joys I really appreciated in the past few days:

1. Lilacs are blooming everywhere and with all the rain this week the scent is staying low; I love the smell of lilacs more than almost any other smell, so that's been heavenly. I've stopped dead in my tracks a couple of times to just smell lilacs. Wonderful.
2. Also in flowers, the dandelions are everywhere too, and twice this week when out driving I've been caught in "snowstorms" of dandelion fluff. Something about that just makes me grin LAMOA*.
3. A hot bubble bath. No, really, I think I'd go mental if I didn't have the capability of running a hot bubble bath in an evening when I want to. Just feeling the muscles relax, the mind slows down... ahh.
4. And again, knitting. Beautiful things made by my hands make me proud and happy. And it's SO tactile, so soft... it's hard to find the right similes for it but it's all good.
   

I'm so looking forward to this long weekend - I've got some volunteer work scheduled but otherwise not too much. Hoping to finish Mom's first "safety sock" and get the second cast on; I had her try it on last night and it's ready to start toe decreases, so I just need an uninterrupted hour and it will be done. Good 'focus' knitting, doing sock toes! Finally got Dad's cardigan front done and now started the sleeves - the end is in sight at last - and I have a second sock for me at the heel as well as a gorgeous Fleece Artist "Curlylocks" shawl which looks like maybe 4-5 more hours (that yarn is deceptive, it just goes on and on...) So lots to knit and a few others waiting in the wings, but I want these finished up first. Pictures by Monday night, I promise!

Happy Victoria Day / Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

*Like A Monkey On Acid. No, I will not explain the provenance of this expression - but really, just picture it in your mind. Now I bet you're doing it too. :)

Happy Mother's Day from head to toe!

Happy Mother's Day to all knitfolk and bloglanders! It was a good knitting-week (we will not speak of hockey, hockey is now dead to us until the fall), and I have actual Finished Objects - woohoo!

First finished object, though, there is no picture. The shawl for Peter's Mom, which she loved, and which was the perfect colours on her. yeah, no picture. My bad. Trust me, it's pretty on her. Take the colours from the WIP picture and blow it up to the size of Mom's shawl and you got it. So. Onward!

I finished the first chemo cap for the Yarn Forward contest / fundraiser last night, and dropped it off today - but AHA! I remembered to take a picture first! So, here is a (I think) pretty funky and just plain pretty cap, in Eden which is a bamboo yarn, feels like silk and is both warm and really girly. :)

Funny thing about this picture though - that's not a head model the hat is on. It's an upside-down teddy bear, affectionately known as "Football". Football has been with me since I was 13 years old (Christmas gift, IIRC), and has seen me through many difficult times. I thought it appropriate to instill some of his positive karma in the hat before sending it on its way.

Now here, we have two pictures of my right foot. You will notice my foot is wearing a new sock, which was actually not accounted for in the massive WIP listing from last week. But it was in the car and got worked on at the doctor's office and at Tulipfest where I was volunteering today, and then well... I had to finish it. The yarn is Marble, 100% acrylic and mighty nice stuff to work with. As you can see it's self-striping, with very subtle changes, and there's a grey marl running through it too which further softens the colours. These are to be bedsocks for me because my feet get cold at night. Pay no attention to the lumpy bit at the heel, I mucked up the turning a bit but the sock is still super-comfy. The pattern is "Socks in Three Sizes" by Joan Fernbach, which I found on knitting.about.com - though of course I tweaked it a wee bit to custom-fit me.

You know what I notice though? No matter how much weight I have lost, I still have "cankles". *sigh* So be it.

Also well underway is Dad's cardigan-front part 2, about 30 rows to go and it's done. And Mom's poor wee orange sock is coming, but it appears to be at the black hole stage. This too shall pass.

And tomorrow is Monday - and May is now half over! EEEK! Seriously, someone has to slow this calendar down; in three months we'll be coming BACK from our Manitoulin vacation. For which, incidentally, I have grand knitting plans. But more on that later. To quote the great Sherriff Bart, "I always keep my audience riveted!" Or something like that. Happy Mother's Day, everybody!

Sometimes you just have to stay home

Yes, I had to take another sick day today. Dagnabit. I was having a WONDERFUL day yesterday - good weather, work-productivity-good, visit-with-Peter-coffee-break, all's right with the world kind of day. Stopped into Yarn Forward to get something (nothing specific in mind until I walked through the door, but 25% off made me pretty sure something was coming home with me!) Picked up a couple balls of camel-hair/wool blend (I'm thinking bedsocks or wristers), a skein of Briggs & Little in manly-type brown-mix colours (scarf for dad, maybe), and then realized - hey, I should get that Patons Classic Wool for that vest I want... ha! So now I have six balls of Classic Wool in "Evergreen Mix" which is TOTALLY beautiful and will make a gorgeous vest for me to wear in the fall. Yay!

So to round out my day, I figure I'll stop at Starbucks for a beverage and knit a bit on Mom's sock. Ordered an iced hazelnut soy mocha. Yummy right? Right. Except the serving staff were arsing around behind the counter and must have mixed up the order because I got regular milk. Which I can't have. Which triggered a MASSIVE IBS attack within about 15 minutes. Which ruined my evening, led to no dinner and little sleep, and me staying home from work today. Which annoyed me, but there it is. Sometimes you just have to stay home. And then, I realize just 10 minutes ago that I also missed my writers' group tonight. Dammit.

On the plus side, a whole afternoon of quality couch-time means that the shawl for Peter's Mom is done for Mother's Day (have to weave in four ends, but that won't take long). And I got to see the HBO/BBC two-part movie "Elizabeth I", starring Helen Mirren. She was awesome in the role, and I don't care what anyone says, Jeremy Irons is a damn sexy man. Of course he dies at the end of the first half (oops, sorry!), but he's terrific. Apparently he's done some books-on-tape - I will have to seek them out because he's right up there with Sean Connery and Morgan Freeman with the "all-time great male voices".

So that was my day. And now it's over and time for sleep. Goodnight bloglanders.

And in Other News...

Ok, two happy things to add.

One: Went shopping for summer pants (capri-style) yesterday and found some that fit beautifully, in - get this - size EIGHT! EIGHT EIGHT EIGHT! And also in 29" waist at a different store. Too exciting, because two years ago at this time I was up around a 14/34" waist. 40 lbs can make a big difference. Happy! (And Yumi, thanks again for shopping with me - it takes a really GOOD friend to tell you honestly how your butt looks in capri pants).

Two: I got an email today from The Harlot. JOY! I had sent her an email on Wednesday about how much I really enjoyed her latest book (and, well, everything she writes, basically), and she wrote me back, with compliments no less! Again I say, JOY! A little reminder there, that it's always nice to tell people you appreciate them - but it's double-nice when they appreciate you right back! Have you told anyone how great they are recently? Go do it now. It doesn't even have to be me.

A good weekend of knitting...

Nothing like a weekend of lots o'knitting to motivate a blog update. Well, that and Tara saying, "hey, there's not much on your blog lately!" Hi Tara - good to see you this afternoon. And Justine and Ginger too, if you're reading this. And hi also to the Cyberccino ladies from Friday night! What the heck - hi everyone in blogland!

So, time for some visual content, right? Hang on, I'll go take some pictures... ok. Here it is in all its glory - or shame, depending on your viewpoint. All my current WIPs, in no particular order:

1. Chemo cap, in "Eden" bamboo yarn, for the Yarn Forward chemo cap drive/contest. I love the cheerfulness of the variegated yarn and the hot pink band sets it off well. This is close to done but I need to get DPNs in the right size to do the crown decreases, which I totally forgot to do when I was at the store today, so... maybe later in the week.






2. Moose scarf. This is from a dishcloth pattern that I thought would be fun knitted into a scarf as a repeating motif. I haven't finished the first repeat yet but I like the look of it so far. The yarn is suffolk wool from Freshisle Fibers, nice stuff.









3. Socks for Mom - also the "Justsocks" KAL. This is sock 1 of 2, done on 2 circs (first time with this technique and I like it so far. Just turned the heel on this one. These are supposed to be for Mother's Day but I can only knit so fast -- hopefully will get at least this one finished with an IOU for the mate. These are in Jawoll cotton.






4. Socks for me! This picture goes a little neon-y, but the colours are purple, blue and green. 2nd sock at the heel, need to finish soon so I can (hopefully!) wear them for the 1/2 marathon which is in three weeks... oh crap. I am SO not ready for a half! Ah well, I'll do my best. At least the socks will be cute. :) Jawoll superwash.








5. Triangle shawl, also for me. Finally dug out the Fleece Artist "curlylocks" that I bought last year and started this up, and it's so pretty! I'm loving this and expect to wear it a LOT this summer. Nice cool water colours. Yum.









6. Triangle shawl, for Peter's Mom. Mother's Day is next week. This is a quick knit, in LB Homespun, so should be able to make that deadline. Spring-y type colours.










7. Father's sweater! Yes, it's still in progress but finally progress is being made. Here is the back, the right-front panel (with buttons), and the start of the left-front panel (with buttonHOLES, which are a royal pain in the patoot but an integral part of the cardigan process.) This WILL be done for Father's day.



































8. Last but not least, an actual Finished Object - yes, another triangle shawl, this one for Mom, also in LB Homespun, which keeps her warm at the computer. See, it's on the computer chair waiting for her.

FO's without pictures: N8an's slippers and Teresa's shawl. Gifted without being shot first (if you know what I mean!)

So as you can see, I have been busy with lots of knitting, but seem to have "start-itis" and not doing so well at finishing. But now you can all bug me and say, 'Hey, are those things done yet? Where are the FO pictures, huh?'. It might work.

Ok, I NEED batteries!

For the camera, that is. I have stuff to take pictures of, but no cash for batteries. Ah well, the tax refund will be coming soon... I hope!

Recent FO's:

1) the "mystery present", which was a shawl for Teresa, now on the road to B.C. and I miss her already. Fortunately, there is a fair bit of the yarn left, so I may make myself a scarf or shawl of it as a way to stay connected to my friend. Warm things are good for that.

2) a big-yarn, big-needle shawl for Mom - I used up the leftover LB Homespun from her Christmas shawl and made her a mini-triangle shawl to keep on her computer chair. It gets quite chilly here in the computer room so she really appreciated it. And I appreciated the break, because lately I've been doing a lot of socknitting on weeny needles!

3) socks! I finished my chunky socks and they are SO warm and comfy - they've pretty much replaced my slippers for 'round the house wear. I need to make more of those, soon.

Current OTN:
1) N8an's slippers. The second one is *thisclose* to being done, and I hope to present the pair to him soon. I'm thinking probably a drive-by 'a la Alison', drop them off to him at work. That's always fun.

2) Dad's sweater. *sigh* This poor neglected object. Back and half the front is done, and I could start the other side of the front but I'm stymied by the buttonhole process. I really don't want to screw that up and I'm afraid of it. Dang buttonholes. I may bite the bullet and start it anyway...

3) socks! Socks for me (the 2nd purple-globe, at the heel stage), and socks for mom (most of the first leg done).

4) chemo cap for the Yarn Forward contest. In "Eden" which is a bamboo yarn. This, in particular, I want to get pictures of when it's done because the colours are GORGEOUS.

5) headscarf for me, also in Eden, in Red Wings red and white. Go Wings!

6) the Manitoulin Moose scarf. Almost done the first repeat of the pattern. I think it will look well with my blue fall/spring coat.

7) a fuzzy thing. It may be a small shawl or it may be a front-of-pillow cover, depending on how much yarn it eats. It's Mamma Mia which is FUZZY but knits up dangerously fast. 15mm needles.

Next projects:

1) another sweater for me in Bernat Denimstyle, which is a cotton/acrylic blend. Blue-jeans blue, very soft and pretty.
2) more socks! I've got two more balls of sock yarn waiting in the wings, one multi-turquoise and one multi-muted-greens. Love socks!

Then, I guess, time to start on Christmas presents and charity knitting. These things come up fast!!!

As does game time. 20 minutes to puck drop - I need to get myself organized. Go Wings!

Just a wee change...

A discussion on one of the knitting lists recently was about knitting as a means of stress relief. Since it is HUGELY for me, I decided to change my header here to reflect my response there.

So, this blog, like my knitting, is now

"an island of stillness in a river of crazy".

I'm still here!

Yes, I'm still here. The past few weeks have been - interesting. I've been stressed, I've been sick, I've pared back drastically on all non-essential activities. Things are getting better but sometimes it seems like one forward, two back (and no, that's not a stitch pattern). So. Not much blogging, but like I said, starting to get a handle on life again.

In the meantime, I have been knitting - one of those things that keeps me sane (or as close to it as I ever get, right?). Dad's cardigan has a back, two pockets, and one front panel. And buttons - I bought buttons and he likes them. Woohoo! My purple-globe sock #2 is about 2" away from turning the heel. My chunky sock #2 is about 2" down the foot (so, about 3" to go to the toe, give or take). N8an's slippers are 1 down, 1 being cast on tonight. And the surprise was finished today. (Thank heavens, because I was starting to worry I wouldn't finish it in time - but I did. Yay!) My Manitoulin Moose Scarf is waiting still, but I'll probably start that soon. I do need some mindless-knitting for the start of the playoffs on the weekend too... time to check the list for a suitable project. Maybe a spring shawl for me.

No pictures of ANYTHING though, because the blasted camera has dead batteries - again. Stupid dead batteries. I'll buy some on payday and will post pictures, I promise!

So yes, I'm still here, still going along but not quite optimal performance. All I can say is thank heavens for the knitting - honestly, it really does relieve stress and make me feel useful and productive when everything else is buggered up.

To paraphrase John Bingham, "knit on, friends..."

Still no pictures, but progress...

Eeny-weeny sock #1 is DONE. I have dubbed these the "globe socks" because the purple/blue/green looks like islands and continents floating in an ocean. Very cool. BUT - no pictures until sock #2 is done. That's the rule. So.

Front-right panel of dad's cardigan is also done. Yay! Weirdness around figuring the neck/armhole decreases, but with reassurance from Kelly at Yarn Forward, got it sorted. She was very amused that I had calculated out and written down which rows would be decrease rows. I'm thinking, "doesn't everyone do it this way?" I guess not. Meh, it works for me. So, back and half the front done. This thing is starting to look like a sweater. Cool.

N8an's slippers are coming more slowly, but I am almost at the colour-change on the first one and they go very quick from that point downward (or is it onward? anyway, toward the toe). Good computer knitting, should have them done in a week or two.

And the surprise-can't-talk-about-it-here is well underway too. hee hee hee - secrets are fun!

Oh, and I started Mom's mother's day socks (well, sock, since I do one at a time). I'm using a neat pattern from Sockbug which you can find here, and it's my first experience with a sock on two circulars. A little weird but it's good to learn new things. Plus it's my first Knitalong so that's fun too.

Oddly, though, today I did no knitting at all. Not a stitch. But I had a great day of hockey-related fun with Bundy & Kid (and Peter, of course), which was very very nice. And tomorrow I'm on a vacation day. Sweet. More sock!

Ooh, two in two days!

Posts, that is. One FO, being Karen's Dragonfly scarf. It's pretty and sparkly and blue and now DONE. Woohoo, only ... well, let's just say more than two months since her birthday. It's slow love, what are you gonna do? And the only reason it's done now is because I was so engrossed catching up on knitting newsgroups I just kept reading and knitting. Now it's 8:30 and I didn't do my homework (Gloria, if you're reading this, you should know that Mommy was ALWAYS very bad about doing her homework. Don't be like me in that, ok hon?). So tomorrow night, no newsgroups, double homework, and no hockey game until the homework is done.

Ye gods, I'm punishing myself. Oh well, better me than someone else. But now, see (swerve back to knitting topic), I have no computer-knitting project. I'll have to check the list and find something that doesn't take too much attention. Maybe some of the slippers that have been promised. Yeah, slippers for N8an - I'm only three weeks past HIS birthday now. If it's inside a month it doesn't count as late, right?

Pictures of scarf-on-Karen tomorrow if she'll let me. If not, no pictures. She may be smaller than me but she can still beat the crap out of me if she wants to - it's a sister thing.

Oh, and update on the Knit.1 / Freshisle Fibers shawl pillow: that pattern and I just don't get along. I need a different pattern for this project. Something relatively pretty but with no purl-side yarnovers. Those are just weird and wrong.

Long time no blog... but look!

Look - it's a SWEATER! Yes, my first-ever-sweater, for me, by me, but not on me. At least not for the picture (I hate having my picture taken). Trust me, it does fit beautifully, but since it is now SPRING (JOY!!!), it's too warm to wear. D'oh! It will be packed away for Fall once I'm done showing it off.

What I learned from knitting a sweater:

1. Buy an extra ball of yarn, more than the pattern calls for. I rushed out on a Sunday afternoon to get enough to finish the last 2" of the turtleneck. Thank HEAVENS it's a variegated yarn - if I'd had to match a dye lot, I'd have been toast.
2. If the seam doesn't quite line up right, but the pieces matched before sewing, don't "jiggle" the seam to make it match. The reason it's not lining up is because you're trying to seam the arm to the body. Since sweaters are not meant to be worn with the arm attached to the body, this is a Bad Idea. (2b: it takes just as long to rip out a careful seam as it does to put one in). (2c: check your body parts before sewing seams).
   
3. Uh... 3. Yeah. 3 would be, "hey, look, I actually CAN knit a sweater! yay!" Or in other words, don't be afraid of a HUGE pile o'yarn and a pattern with new stuff in it. You can do it.
   
4. Have other projects to work on to take breaks from the sweater. This reduces stress. Preferably though, don't make one of them another sweater. D'oh!

I'm pleased with it and got loads of compliments - this is a Good Thing, because I do admit to being a bit of a needy knitter - admire me, tell me how wonderful the thing I made is, ooh and ahh. Really. That was a lot of work and I need to feel loved. :)

So now that the First-Ever-Sweater is out of the way, current WIPs are:

• Dad's cardigan. Back done, pockets done, first front piece underway. So far so good. Won't be ready for the birthday, but definitely for Father's Day (which is air-conditioning season so it's practical too!)
• Eeny-weeny sock #1. These are the funky blue/green/purple socks for me, which are knitting up in the COOLEST way, but I'm not taking a picture until I finish at least one. Then I'll have to make the other one. Y'all are keeping me honest here.
• Karen's scarf. Yes, I'm not working on it much. I'm also not blogging or newsgroup-posting much. There's a connection. It'll get done.
• A new thing, just started this week, but I can't say what it is because it's a surprise for someone who reads this. I won't even say who. Neener!

And, calling to me from the wings, a pattern for a travel pillow/shawl in the latest Knit.1 - it calls for baby-pink LB "cashmere" but I'm thinking it'll work up nice in that Freshisle Fibers suffolk wool I have. Then I could have a pillow for the trip up to Manitoulin this summer, where I will undoubtedly buy more Freshisle Fibers suffolk wool. I want to meet this lady in person. :)

In fact, I've been such a good Do-bee this weekend (no, really, I even packed away my winter clothes and got out the summer stuff and tidied my bookshelves and cleaned off my desk and found my floor!), I may just start that shawl this afternoon. It's a gorgeous sunny day and I feel like starting something new. Again.

Oh, and I worked on my novel for two hours this week. Progress!

I'm still here...

And still working away at the "multiple WIP reality" (someone else's blog, but I like the phrase) that is my life. Here's my life, in no particular order:

1) work. Spring is coming and in the construction industry that means we're busy. On the road, on the AutoCAD, on my knees cleaning out files to make room for more files. Busy busy busy. It's all good. Did I mention I got a raise last week and that they love me? All good.

2) Peter. Well, actually, he's #1 but I see more of work than I do of him. For now. Things are rolling along on the "get a house, get married" plan and while we're not quite on the planned midsummer schedule, it does look do-able for before Christmas. Stay tuned. Things are getting good.

3) writing. The novel has taken a rather dramatic shift in focus (I may have mentioned this before) so I'm reworking characters and figuring out what my "story arc" is. (Don't know what a story arc is? Me neither. But it sounds good, don't it?). Not much actual writing-writing, but a lot of prep work. This is also good.

4) fitness! Yes, I am sticking to my workout schedule fairly well. Except last week I overdid it on the cross-training and actually blew both my quads - 3 days of "it hurts to walk, sit, stand, drive, anything" owie owie ow. All better now and treadmill time and pace is increasing steadily. I am very psyched for the 1/2 at the end of May but a bit worried about how fast it's coming up! On the plus side, I am now OFFICIALLY less than 150 lbs, for more than a week. I broke through. Yay me!

5) Finally, knitting. I've got all but about 5 1/2" of dad's cardigan back finished and it looks great. Small mishap with measuring not looking right and a day of "oh crap, I'm gonna have to rip this back, aren't I?" But no! Measure twice, cut once! Re-measured dad and the sweater back, and it looks like coming out right. So I won't need to frig around with the sleeves after all. Bonus. And... drumroll please... I've put together my Shetland Chunky sweater and am knitting up the turtleneck. I expect to finish it Thursday night and wear it Friday. Deadlines are cool. Karen's scarf is still IP as is my first-ever eeny weeny sock (which I'm loving the colours of!). Pictures of all this good stuff on the weekend.

And finally finally, I woke up this morning with a sinus infection and have been on the good drugs all day. Now I'm sipping the last of the Neo-Citran and tucking myself into bed. Right... now. Well, after I post this. Then. yeah.

Goodnight Bloglanders and Knitfolk, and other special people.

Time for crappy pictures...

Because I haven't much clever or interesting to say, but as Billy Crystal said, "a writer writes - always." (Screw you, Billy, a writer wrote that for you!)

Ahem. Right, knitting stuff. First up is the Dragonfly Scarf (formerly the Dragonfly Shawl, but it got downsized due to running out of a discontinued and very expensive yarn). It's for my sister's birthday present - her birthday was in January, and she picked this yarn. This is "computer knitting", very handy for things like waiting for Blogger to load the dang photos. So. WIP #1. It's about 2/3 done, I think - hard to tell because the yarn ball doesn't seem to be shrinking much and the ribbon yarn is flat. But it's shiny and pretty, no?

WIP #2 is Dad's Cardigan. This is the "Service Cardigan" from Patons book Forever Favorites. See the picture in the picture? What the man is wearing. I don't knit for little kids. I'm showing a flash and a non-flash picture because the darker one shows the picture better but the lighter one shows the stitch pattern better (it's a broken rib variation). Neither shows the correct colour of the yarn, which is a blue-grey (aka "Air Force Blue"). This is a bit of a joke actually because Dad's the only one of the men in his family who did not serve in the forces, but those that did were Army or Navy. Air Force is my Mom's side (granddad, actually). But whatever - he likes the colour! Woohoo! For those of you with conservative-style type men in the family, you know what an achievement it is to have them wear a colour. Yay!

The last picture is actually two WIPs2B - a pair of socks for Mom and a pair for me. Again, colour didn't work at all, dang it. Hers (on the left) are a very bright (like traffic cone) orange with green and pink bits. Mine (on the right) are royal blue / green / purple. Hers Jawoll Cotton, mine Jawoll Colour. I'm thinking about starting mine tonight to see how socks on eeny-weeny 2.5mm needles go (I know, I had a plan for working down through sizes in the socks. The plan is now "I want to knit the purple ones first, hush you other socks-2-B!") My gods, I'm talking to my yarn - the Harlot influence again, I suppose...

I do have a pair of wristers to finish (only an inch and a bit to go) and one sock of a pair finished, and MY sweater, and that purple poodle shawl is in the bottom of the bin somewhere too. Later. Tonight, a la Harlot, I'm going to follow my muse and start a weeny little sock. Wish me luck!

And now, for something completely different...

Yeah, so it's Python. They're witty. But what I mean by that headline is this: Very Little Knitting Content Today. You've been warned.

Other bits of life are getting interesting and I want to remember this day of renewed enthusiasm, so I'm writing it down (posting it up? whatever).

Last night at writing group, I got some much-needed feedback on my book-in-progress (yes, I'm writing a book; see? told you I was multitalented. Ha.). Basically, two of the three people I respect the most in the group said, "Hey dummy, you've got a great story starting here, but it's not what you think it is. Dump your preconceived notions and just do what you're doing - it works." Except they said it much more nicely and with loads of encouragement - so much so that I've been able to think about little else since I left last night (sleep? What's that?). So I am absolutely cranked up about my book again (I'd been stuck for months), and want to find out where these characters are going to go. It's a really terrific feeling and I am very optimistic again. Let me say this: when a real live professional editor says "this could be saleable", I pay attention. So, the writing is finally happening again (no, blogging here is not "writing" for me, it's more "journaling" or just "rambling on about knitting and stuff.") Yay my book!

Now, today my guiding principle (a wee deck of Medicine Cards called "Just for Today", which are surprisingly helpful) was Antelope. Antelope is the Nike of medicine cards, because Antelope's message is essentially "just do it". Get off your butt and get stuff done. Oddly, that and Beaver have been coming up a lot lately (Beaver of course being the "work hard and good things will happen" card). So. Today I got back on track (so to speak) for my half-marathon training, and did 40 minutes on the treadmill. Man, it felt GOOD! I could have kept going, but one of the cardinal rules of training is knowing when to stop, so you can continue injury-free through the coming weeks/months. Sound rule, methinks. Anyway, it felt GOOD to be moving again and just spending that time with motion and music really gets the creative juices flowing so then I started thinking about the book some more and - well, let's just say that writing follows walking QUITE well. Progress is being made.

So, you're probably saying, "but, what about the knitting?" Well, the knitting has been my primary evening/weekend activity for several months now. It needs to make a little room for other things. But it's not being put away - oh no! There is lunchtime knitting, hockey knitting, doctor's appointment knitting. Things will be done, just not quite so much so fast. But, in case you're interested, I finished a hat today (except the pompom, which I'm not quite sure how to make). I'll post a picture when I figure out the pompom. And I have a half-pair of wristwarmers done (that's one warmer), and my sweater is coming along (I'm spending an hour on the sleeve as soon as I finish here), and I did finish sock #1 of my chunky socks for me (no pictures until there are two, that's my new sock rule). And tomorrow night I'm starting dad's birthday sweater, which has to be done in six weeks. Lots of knitting going on!

Ok, if you've read this far, you've earned a picture break. Here is my sister, my niece, and my brother-in-law, all wrapped up in their knit-by-me Christmas presents. What's funny is this is one of the best pictures of their family I've ever seen. My sister thinks it's awful. Meh. I win - it's being posted. Karen's Blankie, Michelle's Scarf and Wristwarmers, and David's Toronto Toque. Cute, ain't they?