On the verge of another year...

Well, 2006 was a year of many changes - what's that saying, "May you live in interesting times?" That was this year. Next year will bring more changes but hopefully they will be mostly of the happy kind (for instance, our wedding in May!). At any rate, it's time to count my blessings:

1. Peter. My fiance, my love, my rock. Every day is better for having him in it.
2. My friends. Old friends (B&K, N&D), new friends (S&D, L&A, S&L). All good and loving people who have helped get us through rough times and celebrate good times. Worth their weight in diamonds.
   
3. A nice house with room for all our combined stuff, comfy furniture, lots of food, and two cats.
4. Two good jobs - one full-time which is always evolving and improving, one part-time which is a great way to blow off stress and make a few extra dollars while (really) having fun. I mean, they let me play with yarn a lot of the time! :)
5. A working body and brain. This can't be underestimated - I am at a good weight, in reasonable shape, get (almost) enough sleep, and have time to read, write, think, knit, etc. Yes, I get ill at times, but I can deal with it. 99 days out of 100, though, I'm pretty good.
6. The Internet. This is a blessing! Look at all my net-friends, free knitting patterns (woot!), and other resources at my fingertips. And high-speed, no less. (see #4 - being able to afford high-speed Internet is also a blessing!)
7. Life. Maybe this should be #1, but just the joy of being alive, in my life, as it is, is a very great blessing indeed.

Ok, enough weepy stuff. :) Today we're packing out the rest of the stuff from the other house into this house (which means tomorrow, finding room for things and unpacking it). I also work from 2-6:30 and then it's fondue party time at S&D's place. I don't know if I'll make it to midnight but I'll try. :)

Happy New Year!

Happy Boxing Day!

So we survived Christmas - huzzah! Got up (reasonably) early, lazed around a bit, went to the folks' place for about 11:00, did presents, watched Da Vinci Code, had dinner, got ill, came home. Yeah, got ill. Too many sweets before dinner and my IBS kicked up - oops! So a quiet night at home last night and taking it easy today, although we are expected back at Mom & Dad's for the traditional Boxing Day club sandwiches at lunchtime.

It snowed overnight! Everything is white and pretty, I just hope the main roads have been cleared. Oh - almost forgot - presents! (Yeah, the mind is on vacation - 2 consecutive days off from working, oh my!). I received from my Mom & Dad 12 balls of Patons Rumor in Hibiscus Heather, which will become a Wednesday's Cardigan for me to wear at the office this summer (too much A/C). From my sister and her family, the new Trivial Pursuit 80's Canadian Edition. From my other sister, a very cool rechargeable floodlight-style flashlight. From my grandparents, money (woohoo!) - Peter and I are going to treat ourselves to a couple of nice dinners out. A few other gifts too, but those are the "big" ones. Peter and I agreed to not exchange gifts this year, what with money and time both being a little tight. I did "Alvin" myself though (an Alvin being a present "from me to me!"), with a set of 10 largish glass jars that have locking lids, so I can start organizing my spice cabinet.

Got in a bit of knitting on a new Fleece Artist shawl for Yumi - gorgeous fire colours, I hope to finish it quickly because it's the perfect thing for the 'bleak midwinter' that will soon be upon us. That's travel/visiting knitting. And I'm getting back at Peter's sweater today also - it's been neglected too long now. I want to finish the front so I can get started on the back and do another of those fun bands of cabling!

But first, breakfast and clothes and back in the car to Kanata again. You know, for New Year's I'm not going ANYWHERE that involves getting in the car. I love my car but I swear I spend half my life driving places. It's good to have a break occasionally! Have a great Boxing Day all!

FO - socks (just in time)

This afternoon, before running off to an 8-hour shift at the store, I finished up my second pink/grey Shetland Chunky sock. Tonight, after the 8-hour shift, I came out of the store to find my car encased in a good (well, bad actually) 1/2" of ice from the freezing rain that had started about 2 minutes after I got to work. Chiseling it out was a big bag of no fun, but when I got home, skated/slid into the house, and changed from my cold wet sneakers/thin socks into these toasty thick puppies, it was so nice!

Those are my nice dry warm feet. The socks are from Patons' book "Cool Weather Accessories", modified a teeny bit. Their sock calls for a 1x1 rib at the top in a contrast colour then 2x2 rib down the leg, contrast heel and toe. For these I just started the 2x2 at the top and carried all the way down, since it was a marl yarn anyway. They fit a little more snugly at the top this way than the first pair I made with the 1x1 rib at the top. I also made the foot length just enough and fiddled the toe decrease a bit so the toes are snug also. The leg length, in case you're wondering, is 9 1/2". These cover that part of the calf/ankle where you get a gap between your PJ's and your slippers. :)

These are fun to knit once you get the first pair out of the way (my first pair of socks EVER was this pattern, knit up for Peter early this year). I have a few small oddballs of Shetland Chunky floating around in stash, so I may make a couple pair with solid leg/foot and variegated heel/toe/cuff, just for kicks (so to speak).

Tomorrow is Christmas-Eve-Eve, and I have to do baking and then work. Which means probably not working on another WIP until Christmas Day, because Christmas Eve I have to do baking and then work. But I might grab something small just for breaktime at the store. I needs my knittin'!

Lazy, I wanna be lazy...

And, apparently - I am! It's 11:09 in the morning and I got out of bed ten minutes ago. Ye gods. Twelve (mostly) uninterrupted hours of sleep. Needed that! Working at 5:30 tonight so I've got the whole afternoon to kick around in, do a spot or two of cleaning, and generally be lazy. A good way to spend the shortest day of the year, I think. Yes, it's the Solstice, the shortest day of sunlight in the whole year. But it is sunny out, so that's a bonus!

Also a bonus was doing a quick eBay search last night and finding this pattern:

Apparently for men's large, it takes 6 cakes of White Buffalo for the main colour and two for the contrast collar. Well, I have about a dozen (fifteen, maybe?) cakes in stash, so I think I can do it. Ordered the pattern - if my co-worker doesn't like it I can always knit it up for Peter. I did find a nice one on the Lion Brand site also, but it's a worsted weight. Saved for future reference.

So last night, the folks came over for my homemade corn chowder and biscuits, and a short visit (also to pick up the Christmas turkey!) It was a nice quiet evening, and I got to work on my sock some more - I think I've got about 6" of leg done. Might get to the heel today if I keep the lazy trend going and watch a movie this afternoon (so tempting... I'm definitely in a Holiday Inn mood now!) I got all my groceries yesterday and I swear to all the gods of retail I am not setting foot in any store other than Michael's until after New Year's. Two hours and three stores just to get some basic groceries and baking supplies. Good Grief!

Anyway, happy Solstice to all and to all a good (LONGEST OF THE YEAR) night. Somehow that seems appropriate, since I'm closing at the store tonight. Wish me luck!

Christmas countdown: T-5

Five golden Toques!

Sorry, a Bob & Doug moment there. It's all good. Today I'm not working at the store (thank heavens, these closing shifts are hell on wheels), so it's housework, groceries, cooking, etc. First on the chore list is laundry, which precludes dish-doing (or showering), so while the laundry launders, I'm surfing and knitting.

After I finished the striped scarf, I dug these socks out of the WIP pile - the first one only needed six rows to finish the toe off, and I cast on the second right away, but it's only a couple inches in. These are in Patons Shetland Chunky, a discontinued dark pink/charcoal marl, using their Happy Hands 'n' Feet pattern. The first pair of socks I ever made (for Peter) was using this pattern and these are warm socks - great for inside big rubber boots, or just for wearing around the house. Sadly they need hand-laundering, but so be it.

Once this pair is done (hopefully this week), I'm getting back to work on Peter's sweater - he's been making noises about it. And I have a request from a guy at work to knit him a sweater: "a big chunky shawl-collar type." Egad. So I have to research patterns for that over the holidays; I told him that I'd do it for double the cost of the yarn, whatever that is. I could make $100 or more on this, if I'm lucky (I know, don't do the hourly wage calculation, but money is money). But for today, socks and housework. You know, I'm going to have a heck of a time getting back to my fulltime job next week!

FO! The scarf is done.

Ok, I took a goof-off morning today. Slept 'til 9 (yay!), had some breakfast and then read newsgroups and blogs whilst knitting away on my striped scarf. And even though there's still about half a ball of cream and 3/4 of a ball of navy left, I'm calling this puppy done. It's 4 1/2' long, plenty for a wrap-around and tuck-in. Yarn is Mission Falls Superwash Wool, knit in 2x2 rib 40 stitches wide on a 5 mm bamboo circular needle. Each stripe is 2". You may recall the hat I made , which then inspired the scarf. Note to self: 2" stripes mean a lot of ends to weave in. Love the look of this, don't think I'd do it again in a hurry though!

Yes, I've taken the picture on my unmade bed. I was going to make the bed this morning, but a certain Squeeky cat is having her extended morning nap and I hate to disturb her:

Cute kitty, non? And now, sadly, I have to stop goofing off and get some things done. Stew to get started in the crockpot, laundry to put away, dishes to unload and load, and then - finally! - my baking/grocery list to compile. By which time it'll be time to shower and go to work, I think. Although I think Squeeky's got the right idea - I could half-do with another nap, myself!

Christmas time is here...

At last. This evening we had the Yogi Bear Christmas, Rudolph, Charlie Brown Christmas, Garfield Christmas, and now Flintstones Christmas. And we set up our village:
Complete with Paul Bunyan Santa and a very large guardian angel. Behind it (sorry about the flash glare) is a picture that Peter's brother Gary painted of a train at the station - that will hang on our dining room wall, as soon as we get the picture wire attached to the frame. Figure by Spring. :)



And then we set up our tree, and Sandy & Dan came over to help decorate it. Isn't it pretty?
We were able to use all the "special" ornaments from Peter's mom and my collection, and filled in with some plain coloured glass balls and a whack of glittery icicles from my mom. It looks great, I think, and really made a special evening. I feel Christmassy now. Which is good, because tomorrow I have to inventory the pantry and make up my grocery list for baking. Here's the list of "to-bake":

1. Gingersnaps
2. Egg Tarts
3. Butter Tarts
4. Mincemeat Tarts
5. Suet pudding

The only really time-consuming ones are the gingersnaps and the suet pudding - tarts are easy. But I don't know what I need, so tomorrow I'm making my list and checking it twice. And then doing at least another 2 inches on my scarf. It's still mild but supposed to slip to minus two by Christmas Eve!

Do they know it's Christmas?

I heard that song on the radio today, and as always, it made me cry - had to pull the car over. Bob Geldof started a wonderful movement of world generosity some 20+ years ago, and it still continues today, in many forms. For the knitterly, it's Knitters Without Borders. Once again inspired by the Harlot, I've done my bit today, in honour of Peter's mother. What would have been her Christmas gift, is now gifted to this very worthwhile cause. Go see Stephanie's post today for the details of how you too, can help. It's Christmas.

All wrapped up

I wrapped my Christmas presents tonight - took about 15 minutes. Which, for me, is not nearly enough wrapping time - I like wrapping presents, I love giving presents. But this year, money is tight and I'm being good. Dammit. Nevertheless, all the presents are wrapped except those which have yet to be bought... ouch. See, my sister in Frederiction has two kids. My neice was easy - girly sparkly crafty stuff. My nephew, video games. Or rather, a gift card towards the purchase of video games. The problem being, the store where I need to get the gift card is in the Mall From Hell, in which I will not venture during the month of December. And my sister, herself? Also a gift card, but not yet purchased. So I will call her, explain the situation (because mailing now is TOO LATE and courier costs more than the gifts), and send prezzies after New Year. Which is a cheat, but it's been a rough month.

Knitting!

My striped scarf is now over 40" long. I'm loving it but have fumblethumbs tonight so only knit about an inch and a half. Would like to finish this by the end of the weekend, but so many house-chores to do - like find my dining room table. Actually, the whole dining room is rather buried. It's a "non-urgent area" so we've been dumping stuff in there all week. Now I want to decorate for Christmas, and I want to put my village on the dining room table, and the table is covered in plants and hiding behind a MASSIVE painting of a steam engine. Peter's brother painted it, it's gorgeous, and it needs to get on the dining room wall ASAP. However, I first need to move the china cabinet that is currently on that wall because it's too tall to hang the painting over. Which means moving the plant stand. Which means moving the OTHER plant stand. Etc. You get the drift. Tomorrow, I will find and make beautiful the dining room. Then I will go back to work at Michaels, which, honestly, I've missed the past week or so. I need my retail gang, they make me feel smart and useful. But first, the dining room.

And you know what? I have this weird urge to knit mittens for kids. I saw a post on Freecycle tonight that someone wanted warm mitts/etc. for a toddler. But I've never knit mitts, and really don't want to start any new projects now... and yet I feel guilty that there's some poor kid with cold little fingers. *sigh* Not fair, having a hair-trigger guilt response. Maybe I could whip off a quick pair over the weekend? Time to look for quick kids' mitt patterns, I guess.

Scarves and more scarves again...

In my new resolve to finish the existing WIPs before starting anything new, I finished off a Fun Fur scarf that had been sitting awhile. It's the "rainbow" print, three balls x 20 stitches on 6.5mm needles. You don't need a picture, trust me. :) Anyway, i was knitting this at our friends' place (hockey/birthday party) last night and it was decided that the recipient would be our other friend Jiff. To understand Jiff, and why a 20(30?)something 6footsomething very male, male would want a rainbow fun fur scarf - well, you can't understand it. It's just Jiff. It will suit him perfectly.

But for a slight insight, here was his Halloween costume this year:
It's just Jiff.


(Note: I donated some of the brown yarn to make Sweetums' head. Only for a dear friend would I part with yarn and allow it to be CUT UP and no longer knittable.) 2nd Note: Photo stolen from YumiKid's Flicker page. Girlfriend takes the coolest photos!

Now I'm back on my navy/cream striped scarf, which is coming along nicely. I took some time today to weave in the ends so far and it's much less daunting and more finish-able, if you know what I mean. Still a full ball of each colour to go - oddly, the cream doesn't seem to have the same yardage as the navy (this is Mission Falls superwash). I think they go by weight, not yardage, and the cream is "poofier" so there may be less in a ball. Or maybe I'm just knitting it slightly different gauge. Hard to tell, but I've a feeling I will have navy left over. No, I will not be making fringe! Fringe is evil.

And now, sadly, to bed. Tomorrow, despite the fact of being officially on vacation, I have to go to the office in the morning. Argh. But my afternoon should be reasonably free - no, wait, moving stuff. Argh again. Ok, tomorrow NIGHT I'm knittin'. That's it!

Two FO's today

This morning I was sick, sick, sick. All the everything finally caught up to me, I guess, and I just took the day to sit quietly, catch up on computer stuff, watch a movie, do some knitting. Finished off my re-knit Tosca Toque - 64 stitches on 6mm needles, k2p2 rib. The original one was about double the diameter (I had BIG hair last winter), and there was a green stripe at the top - this one didn't get that far. It fits very snugly over my ears and is (I think) going to be windproof - not a lot of stretch to it, so not a lot of places for the cold to get in! Here it is, oddly lit (my camera flash makes everything wash out, so I have to improvise with lamps and things. sometimes good, sometimes not so much).

I also finished the Christmas dishcloth that Peter's mom had started. Look, you really can't tell where she left off and I started. This was in your standard Bernat Handicrafter cotton, no idea how many stitches, but it's got a six-row garter stitch top and bottom and a three-stitch garter stitch border around the stockinette middle. Pretty. I like how it has kind of a semi-plaid/argyle look to it. I'll be using it to display some of the Christmas knickknacks, once we find them - probably next weekend we'll set up for Christmas. Two weeks from today!

And tonight, there's a CSI: Miami marathon on A&E. I have a pile of WIPs in the living room (I shoved them all in a box to move and of course my notions bag was at the BOTTOM of the box, so everything had to come out so I could sew in ends. D'oh!), so I think I'll assess them in order of "how long will it take to finish this?" and start working through them. I'd like to finish all the small stuff so I can get back at Peter's sweater (no progress since the last picture), but maybe I should keep a couple of them for "travel knitting" when I get back to work. I don't know. I DO know that I found a lovely lace scarf pattern online today that might just work up nicely in the Great Big Sea Silk. But it has a chart, and I've never worked a knitting chart before. Certainly will need more brainpower than I have tonight. Right now I need to find something 'safe' (IBS sucks, have I mentioned that?) for dinner. BRAT - bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. I hate BRAT. But I love having FO's. So I guess today's coming out even?

Moving (more) day and my? cats

So it's Saturday, and in a little less than an hour (thank you, Inigo Montoya) we will have several strong backs and pairs of willing hands to help move the rest of our big stuff (and whatever little stuff we can) from house a (old house) to house b (Peter's old-moving-back-in and my new, house). I really detest moving, having done way too much of it in the past. And with everything that's been happening lately, this morning I just want to hang out in my penguin pajamas (yay for Mark's Work Wearhouse!) and vegitate. Not an option. But before we pitch into moving (more) stuff, I want to tell you about my cats.

Actually, "the girls" were Peter's mom's cats; Mush (pronounced 'moosh'), who is older than god but still kicking strong, and Squeeky, who was a rescued kitten about three years ago, if I remember right. But now, well, they kind of come with the house. Now I am not a cat person, never really. Love kittens but when they get big they get that "cattitude" that annoys me. Plus, as a knitter, I worry about what they might do to my yarn. Reasonable, yes?

Well, since we've moved in (a few days, feels like a year, gods I'm tired), Squeeky has decided that I need to rest more. Whenever I sit down, she's on my lap, and insisting on being petted for at least 10 minutes. So I have to take a break, because it would be mean to displace kitty, yes? Yes. And yesterday when I started trying to pick out my carefully sewn-up crown of my Tosca hat (which needs to be frogged and reknit - I have smaller hair than I did last winter), she nuzzled up to me and put a paw on my wrist. NOT THE YARN! She is a good kitty. Mush just shows up for food and then hides out in the bathroom vanity cabinet (she likes the heat from the hot-water supply line, I guess). But Squeeky is making me feel a whole lot more "at home". And it means a lot. So now I am a knitter with cats. But Peter's still responsible for the litter box!

Current OTN: started a Feather & Fan scarf with the Great Big Sea silk, but the colours that looked like autumn leaves in the skein look more like sourball candy in the ball and when knit up. Not sure about that, it may need to go in the bins to 'season' awhile. So the christmas dishcloth, and the to-be-frogged-and-reknit Tosca hat. Peter's sweater is waiting in the wings for some semblance of order to be restored (no way am I screwing that up in this chaos!).

But now, time to put on pants and get on with the day.

Memory knitting, and a special surprise

So, we've been packing and unpacking and moving and re-moving things to try and consolidate two houses into one, and of course "for now" my yarn bins are in a closet and my needles are in the other house and my current scarf is not giving me any joy. Total knit aggravation. Tried to take the edge off by playing computer games instead as we got the computer room somewhat functional, but not working. Damn.

Then Peter says, "There's a set of double-points in the living room". And I think, and before saying something snarky about how that does me nae good without yarn (DUH!), I remember there's also a half-knit Christmas dishcloth on the needles in the living room. Peter's mom had started and restarted it a number of times before she settled on a pattern she liked (stockinette with a garter stitch border), and it's a little less than half done. So I grabbed it, and started knitting. And I felt really connected with her, and the crazy thing is, our gauge is almost identical - you can't really tell where she left off and I began.

So I'm going to finish it, a couple of rows here and there between moving stuff, and that's going to be one unbreakable connection to her. I won't wash any dishes with it, but it might go under one of her Christmas knickknacks on a table. It's certainly pretty enough.

Now, before this happened, yesterday we went to the funeral home to make arrangements for Peter's mom. And I was pretty upset afterwards, and we came home and I said, we should pick up the mail. And there was my gift-swap gift, an utterly stunning shawl from Alison Hyde! I was, as the ladies say, "gobsmacked." My thanks to her, and her further stunning story of how I came to receive that shawl, are all in a post in KnitTalk, which you can find here.

Quite a day. And now, unfortunately, break time is over and I have to go move more stuff. But Peter's on his way home with a Starbucks mocha for me (Double-tall hazelnut soy no whip mocha - I had to write him a note!), and then we'll have some lunch before moving on to the next thing. We're getting there. Tonight we have good friends coming over (and bringing our favourite pizza, god bless them!), for a quiet relaxed evening before the big move tomorrow - and thanks again, we have a number of willing strong bodies to help us with that, so it should go pretty smoothly.

Oh, one more thing - thanks to everyone who's sent supportive emails and "comment hugs" - they really do mean the world to me and Peter. This whole experience has been so overwhelming, but equally overwhelming is the love that's come out of it. We are blessed.

Comfort knitting

I have finished two scarves and knit one whole one and started another in the past four days. Normally this would be a great accomplishment, in this case it was necessary for something resembling sanity. Peter's mom was diagnosed with acute Leukemia on Sunday morning. Today is Wednesday and she died at 11:00 last night. So swift and brutal but thank God she was not in any pain.

I used to smoke, now I knit. But I can tell you I want those scarves out of my sight ASAP. Unfortunately one of them is the gift-swap scarf; I'm mixed about sending something as a gift which has so much sadness knit into it. Maybe I'll include a note, maybe I'll send something else. I don't have to decide right away, I guess.

Thank heavens for my knitting, I could not have got through this without it.