Last words...

"That was some good steak," she said, and went into her room. 15 minutes later her heart stopped. The paramedics came and then neighbours drifted over to gather on the lawn, to offer support to the family and each other. We needed sweaters; we wore sandals. Tomorrow I will walk the dog while her brother and sister-in-law go do the things that have to be done. I'll make a casserole; that's what we do. That was some good steak, she said.

Damn. When did I get competent at dealing with death? We lost a neighbour - more, a friend. Nine months ago we were the bereaved, now we are the support system, but still bereaved. I keep thinking, at 36, I'm too young to be at this stage of life, where people die. But the truth is that they die all the time. They're just dying closer, it seems.

I will, in all likelihood, knit a shawl, as much for my own comfort as for theirs. But it's what we do.

I'm still here...

Vacation was swift and now I'm back to work and work and work... ah well, it was fun while it lasted! I did finish two pair of socks and got the back and front of my sweater done, but the sleeves require picking up stitches at the armholes so that will have to wait for the weekend. Loads of teaching coming up, I have a class at Michaels the next three weeks for sure and then I'm starting the Wednesday night evening class through the school board on the 26 - eeks, that's two weeks from tomorrow! I need to plan and prepare. I also need to eat dinner.

Bye for now!

Vacation Time!

As of 1:00 this afternoon, I'm on vacation from my day job until September 10. WOOHOO! I'm still working Sat/Sun days at the store but that doesn't really feel like "work" at this time of year, besides it's stress free, so all good.

I have many plans for things I want to do, a few things scheduled, but I'm also going to keep a fair chunk of time for just plain RELAXING. Mmm. Naps, movies, books, naps...

And to kick it off, I got a new haircut. Pixie me, baby! Maybe I'll get Peter to take a picture of it over the weekend. It's short and easy and I love it.

And now, it's time for Friday night gaming. Think I'll take my Night Elf hunter out for a run, see if I can get him up to the teens.

Knit stuff and other things later. VACATION!

A wee post - an idea!

Hello, it's Monday, and I'm feeling finish-y. I've started a separate blog for this because it's not just knitting (I know, this isn't just knitting either) and I want to try a "group blog" like I've seen around.

Interested? Go check out http://fif-2007.blogspot.com/

And, spread the word! Share and enjoy, if we all encourage each other there's nothing we can't accomplish!

He Knits!

So tonight, finally, we got around to Peter's knitting lesson. In five minutes he got the long-tail cast on. In five minutes more he was knitting WITHOUT LOOKING. And five minutes more (with a bit of confusion), he could purl.

Dang, my man's a Knatural Knitter. I am beyond impressed. However, he does not want to finish for himself all the half-pairs of socks I've started for him... I don't know why. ;D

Pictures! We have pictures!

They're not knitting pictures, they're cakes, but hey, at least it's something visual (that's not too abysmal...) heh heh.

First up, the Rubber Ducky cake. I made this last weekend for the Masonic Lodge Peter is a member of; they were having a duck race to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and we raffled off this cake as an extra fundraiser.










Amazingly, we raised $70 from a fairly small crowd of people for this cute little guy! Next year I'll make 2. :)


Then yesterday, our favourite hang-out buddies came over for dinner and a movie, so I whipped up a quick "Happy Saturday" cake for dessert.

Devil's food cake, Shrek-green icing and a big yellow smiley (recognize the yellow? it's leftover duck feathers). Happy yummy.

And now that I've finished my Sunday morning procrastinating, I have to go to work (store work, which is also happy). Have a lovely day everyone!

Attitude adjustment

Ok, so this week at work sucked. As did last week, and the week before, and pretty near every week since the middle of June. HOWEVER - work is not my whole life, and there are many good things in my life now, so I will (at least until Monday morning) "stay on the happy side", as the song says, and focus on the positive. Our garden is flourishing. I have been knitting socks and am within an hour or two of finishing a pair (finally - I've been orphaning the poor things left and right). Peter and I are having loads of quality "together" time, playing WoW and watching movies and generally just hanging out (the advantage of being brain-dead after work, it allows for hang-out time).

Today we are doing some minimal chores, having two of our favourite people over for BBQ and firepit relaxation this evening, and yeah, hanging out. Tomorrow I'm working at the store from 9-3 and I'm actually greatly looking forward to it, because I like the morning shifts and I feel really productive in that environment (stark contrast to the world of hell at my office for the last two months). Then tomorrow evening, quiet Sunday night hangout with my hubby, which is also going to be (if all goes according to plan) his first knitting lesson! I'm excited. My hubby with knitting. Ah, life is good.

Someone buy me a lotto ticket...

...'cuz I'm broke and I hate my job.

That's pretty much it for today.

My 2nd Knitaversary

Actually, it's around midafternoon today but we're off doing Duck Race prep with the Masons today so I'll post now. Two years ago, on the August long weekend (forever known in my heart as Natal Day Weekend, for Halifax/Dartmouth Natal Day), I taught myself to knit. And since then, what a long strange trip it's been (thank you, Jerry Garcia!).

Peter and I had planned this getaway on pretty short notice and ended up booking a totally secluded cabin in the woods on Manitoulin Island. As I recall, we were supposed to be visiting some acquaintances of his over at the big Wiki pow-wow that weekend. However, it rained. A lot. So we spent a big chunk of the weekend in the secluded cabin, him reading and napping and me teaching myself to knit. And I knit a wee Red Heart acrylic potholder, and left it in the cabin, and started a scarf on the way home. And I've been knitting pretty near every day ever since, and it's a part of my life that makes me feel whole, and creative, and relaxed (mostly), and industrious, because it makes my leisure time productive. I can make pretty things, and practical things, and odd things, with the two-sticks-and-string (ok, sometimes four sticks) that have endless possibilities.

The best part is that nearly every time I pick up my knitting, a wee bit of my mind/heart/soul is transported back to that secluded cabin, just me and my man and no "civilization". I ache for it at times. We will go back one day soon. But for now, I've got my knitting.

In honour of today's Knitaversary, I will start a new project. I will start a pair of socks in yarn I purchased from Marian of Freshisle Fibers, on Manitoulin Island. (Yes, I bought it online through the mail but it still counts, dammit.) Marian and I correspond sometimes and check in on each other's blogs here and there, and I count her as an important Net-friend. She's sweet and creative and we share a lot of the same fixations (although I have not yet knit Horcrux socks, I did do all 4 house scarves!). And of course, she supplies me with a tangible link back to Manitoulin, one I can hold in my hands and smell and squish and make lovely things of. And in my mind, for a little while today, I will be back on the Island.

Happy Natal Day Weekend everyone!

Edit: 8:54 p.m. What a busy day! Knit half a sock in Marian's "Lilacs" colourway, helped tag rubber ducks for an hour or so, ran errands with Peter, decorated two more cakes, watched a movie, finished a book, and got my Dwarf Paladin up to level 20 on WoW (he was 19 before, but I got gakked several times trying to finish one quest...) Now, book and bed. Tomorrow is race day and housecleaning day.

Hello again

I'm still here! Taking a short break from cleaning up the disaster area that our house has become in the past two weeks when we've both been doing too much work (and too much WoW, I admit it) and not enough home stuff. Also not enough knitting, but I did finish a sock and start its mate today. The urge to knit is pretty quiet lately with heat and humidity and just general brain exhaustion; I don't want to do anything that requires thought. But there is light at the end of the tunnel of craziness, and if it's a train, it's only a wee one. :)

Speaking of trains (Hogwarts Express?), I did read Harry Potter 7 this week and it was pretty good. I won't go into detail because spoilers suck, but some parts made me react quite strongly and others I wanted to fast-forward through. On the whole, a good last book - so many series end weakly, I think (just wrote "tink" - ha! Newfie Knitspeak!) Rowling did a good job.

In other news, all the work and WoW time gave me tendonitis in my arm this week so I had to be good a couple of evenings and just rest the wrist. Got a good strap for it - brand name "BandIt" - that helps.

And now, because I'm a crazy person with too much to do already, I'm taking Wilton cake decorating classes. Today I made a lemon cake with raspberry-ginger filling and decorated it with a pale green "interpretation" of our backyard garden. Peter declared it pretty, and tasty. Next week, I'm making a 3D ducky and a sheet cake for the Masons duck race. I may need to take a day off work for that, and I just might. Sorry, can't come in today - I'm putting little icing feathers on a rubber ducky cake. That'll mess with their heads. :)

And in a couple days, July is over. I am now 21 days from my 36th birthday. I think I should get three dozen of something, don't you? But I don't know what...

You /wave at everyone

And if you get that reference, you'll know part of the reason I haven't blogged much lately. Mostly it's been because work is sucking the ever-loving soul out of me and I'm too brain-dead to knit or write about knitting. But partly it's because Peter has got me hooked on WoW, after all. For those who don't know it, World of Warcraft (aka WoW) is a massive multiplayer online game, where you make up a D&D-esque character (dwarf, gnome, elf, etc.) and roam around doing quests and killing stuff.

Last weekend I made up a wee gnomish rogue and did a few low-level "kill the boar" quests. Meh. Then Monday I had that day at work. You know that day - where you're about 10 seconds or one careless remark from telling everyone in the immediate vicinity to drop dead, right before you quit dramatically (and loudly) and walk out the door never to be seen again? Yeah, that day. I came home. Peter had dinner on the table (love that boy!) and I rolled up a dwarf. A big chunky dwarf with a two-handed smashy smashy hammer. And I went a-killing. And it was GOOD. And I understood what the game is for. It's for making you forget about the crap, and just vent, when you're too wound up to do anything else (if I had been knitting in that state, my gauge would have been tight to the point of strangulation!). So yes, I'm playing. But I'm also knitting - I have a finished hat and some slippers and about 90% of a baby sweater OTN. Pictures to follow.

Alas, today I will be neither knitting nor WoW-ing, nor even reading the new Harry Potter (which should be in my mailbox as we speak) - I will be working. Because yesterday, I woke to an all-day thunderstorm, which meant that Fred the Bastard Migraine woke up with me. I took the new happy migraine-go-away pill, and waited for it to kick in. Within 15 minutes, the pain was starting to recede - Good! - but I was also getting equal parts stoned and sleepy - Not So Good. So, I stayed awake long enough to call in sick, and rolled back into bed. Slept half the day, killed stuff the other half, knit on the baby sweater, and went back to bed again. BUT - I was already behind on work before I took the sick day, so now it's weekend-office-time. Argh.

I figure I can do about 6 hours before I get crazy (working weekends in the office IS crazy-making), then I will come home, make my honey some dinner, and hopefully read some HP before bed. Tomorrow I have a cake decorating class (whee!) and my parents are coming for dinner so there won't be much time for leisure stuff (we need to clean, it's the parents). And then Monday I will return to the World of Hell which is my job, of late. It will get better, likely within the week, but right now it's fugly.

Wish me luck, and if you're on Kirin Tor, look for Jolietjake the dwarf or Poppypatch the gnome. And tell me how to kill Rockjaw Bonesnappers without getting killed myself. :)

A Walden moment...

So, this weekend Peter and I were talking about fun things like, oh -Bills. And Debt. And Work. And Insurance. And Loans. And Vehicle Costs. And... well, all the things that are really not fun. And you know what? We had a shared Walden moment. We both, as soon as is financially feasible, want to get the heck out of the city and live a smaller, simpler life.

His vision involves going into the deep bush with a satellite dish (Must. Have. Warcraft.). Mine is more of the bucolic, leaning towards a hobby farm (alpacas anyone?) or a small-town scenario. Actually, to be 100% truthful, here's my absolute dream:

A books-and-yarn-store with coffeshop. I have a name, I have a concept, I have a possible location (assuming someone in that location doesn't scoop my idea in the next two years). Imagine it - one side of the room, wall o' bookshelves (probably used, with some new). Other side, wall o' yarn (and "yarn accessories", a la Hank Hill). In the bright sunny window? Comfy chairs with tables. In the fireplace nook? Comfy chairs with tables and good task lighting. Along the back wall? An old-fashioned diner counter setup, with espresso machines and a pastry case busting with home-baked goodies. (Oh, yeah - all the tables? They have Purell bottles on them so you can enjoy your pastries and then clean your hands before you pick up your knitting/book again). In the center of the room, a circle of comfy chairs for the book clubs and knitting groups and classes to meet in. (Hey, that's kind of "Friendly Giant", isn't it?)

Is it crazy? Possibly. But it has all my favourite things in one place, with me in the middle, earning my living in a happy atmosphere. Now all I need is to research all the "how to make it happen" stuff REALLY thoroughly, beg tons of advice from friends in the yarn store/bookstore/coffeeshop business, get completely out of personal debt, write an amazing business plan, secure generous funding, get the ideal location, and then - voila. A whole new set of things to worry about. :) But doesn't it sound LOVELY?

In all seriousness, we are probably (over the next two years) going to try and make this work. Peter has his own business plans, but there's no reason two entrepreneurs can't exist in the same family, is there? (no, really - is there? Am I crazy?) Maybe I'm having my midlife crisis early, but I want to make this happen before I'm 40. Then I can have 20 years to enjoy it in before I even think of retiring, if I even do then.

What do you think?

Fire in the belly

If you're here for the knitting, scroll down to where the pictures start - I'm having a bit of a whinge first... you were warned!

This is not the "fire in the belly" of inspiration and determination. No, today's fire in the belly is of the literal type - yes, this morning I was mugged by the IBS fairy, who has not visited me for awhile. Silly me, I thought the fairy had forgotten me of late (really, no attacks since the wedding - it's a miracle!). But no, the fairy was just saving up her sneakiness for a big ball of pain to punish me when I was already tired and weak. Actually, being tired and weak (and stressed, and not eating properly) is what sends the signal to the IBS fairy to visit. So basically this week I sent the big bat-logo up, and this morning - BLAMMO!

Not to get too detailed, but there are different types of IBS. The type I get is (as mentioned) triggered mainly by stress, lack of proper rest, and poor diet. It is also the type that manifests as violent diarrhea - first a twinge of pain like someone's just kicked you in the stomach, then a cramping like the worst PMS in the history of the world, and then finally anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour of sitting on the toilet feeling like someone's reached up through your posterior with a flaming hand, twisted your intestines into some kind of bastard celtic knotwork, and is now trying to get all your digestive system to come out of you. Ok, that was pretty detailed. Sorry. It's excruciating, and one of those things that, being to do with digestive "Issues", people don't often talk about. Well, the Internet is good for many things, and one of those things is letting people know that this is a real medical thing (syndrome/disease, take your pick) and that it is not to be ashamed of, just coped with and treated as best as possible.

For me, treatment is generally a gallon or so of hot peppermint tea, to wash down a double dose of Imodium and Tylenol 1 (codeine is very helpful in slowing down the spasms of the digestive tract, as well as managing the pain). Then I sit in my recliner with a Magic Bag heat pack on my belly and knit until the pain dulls to a manageable level. The knitting, thank god, helps to focus my attention on something other than the pain. Sometimes it works well, sometimes not so much. But if I'm forced to just sit there, then at least I can accomplish something.

So today, while I'm sitting and whingeing and knitting and drinking a lot of tea, Peter is off helping our friends move (which I was supposed to do too, but not much help would I be!), and setting up some jobs for next week - little things for neighbours that are paying gigs but won't take much time. Then he will come home, bearing the recommended (and actually, pretty tolerable) BRAT foods - Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast that will constitute my diet for the next few days. They don't do much for energy levels but they are tummy-friendly. Given the strength of this morning's attack, and based on previous experience, I figure I will need a week of BRAT to get back to normal. Also some extra sleep, which means that my correspondence course assignments, chores, and baking plans for this weekend will be curtailed pretty sharply. One batch of cookies instead of three, laundry spread over two or three days instead of one, and only as much studying as my brain will allow. Given the levels of codeine I expect to ingest in the next 24 hours, that's going to be minimal. So be it. I have a busy week of work and teaching coming up and need to be on my game by Monday morning.

Enough grousing (at least, here). I promised knitting and knitting is happening!

Here is a "no-pattern" hat, knit in Patons Astra, colourway "High Energy". It's toddler-size, and I really enjoyed how the colours stacked up in the ribbing and then swirled around when I switched to stockinette. Like melted Sorbet, I think. Very pretty and cute. I have other photos that I will post to Ravelry tomorrow probably with the project details. A fast knit, too, only a few hours. Love hats!

Another "no-pattern", this one in Patons Shetland Chunky, "Harvest Variegated" colourway. Roll-brim option which is fun if you hate ribbing. This is a modification of my old Tim Horton's Toque - I cast on 84 stitches instead of 92 which makes the rolled brim a little less wide and the whole hat fit a little better. I also knit it deeper so it covers the ears and won't blow off in a strong Ottawa February wind!

This, at last, is the beginnings of my back-to-school sweater, which is from the 2006 Knitting Pattern A Day Calendar. It is called the Silk Tweed Sweater and the pattern can be found here. Here's a picture if you don't feel like clicking the link:


Not having the budget for the very lovely Estelle Silk Tweed yarn, I'm knitting mine in Bernat Denimstyle, colourway "Stonewash". It's going to look very nice with jeans, I think. I like the styling of it - very casual but still feminine. The neckline is particularly flattering I think - I have a fuller bust than the model does, so I might even get a little cleavage action out of this sweater.

Now if I just had that kind of hair... actually, I now know EXACTLY what kind of hair I want. I want Stella's hair - Stella from CSI: New York. The only problem with that is that the actress is Greek and has that natural big-curly-bodyfilled Greek Hair, and I am a Celtic mutt with a cowlick in both the front and back of my hair. However, I do have a marvelous friend who does hair, and I am going to consult with her about the possibility of Stella-esque hair. The catch is, I am useless at fixing my hair too, and I'm afraid the big curls which look so effortless are actually an hour every morning to fix up. What I'd really like to do is just chop it off back to the short and spiky 5-minutes-wet-and-gel look I used to have. SO EASY! However, not all that flattering, as I see from my health card photo. And really, once it's short that's it - it's short. It's a two-year commitment to grow it back out and it looks like all kinds of crap in between times. Right now it hits right around the shoulders, is straight and thick and I can tie it back or twist it up with a clippy thing, so it's easy. Just - boring.

God, I'm rambling on. See, that's the painkillers working. More knitting!

Here is the Diagonal Lace Scarf from Midnight Purls, about half done. I had to rip and restart this twice but I think I've finally mastered it. The trick I've discovered is to load one episode of Cast-On, and start knitting the lace at Row 1. I can get through about 42 rows (7 repeats) in an episode, so I make sure I finish Row 6 before I take a break and load another episode. Then, CLEVER! - I reset the counter back to zero. It's so much easier to keep track of a six-row repeat if the total number is less than 60 than if it's up in the 80s or 104s or whatever. At least for me, I suck at mental math. So that's my solution. And it is growing steadily, and it's very VERY pretty. Here's a close-up (a bit fuzzy) of the lace:

I'm (half-jokingly) calling this the "Patience and Perserverance" scarf because I really REALLY don't like ripping and restarting projects, especially when I've invested several hours already. But - this is for a class sample, so it has to be right, and besides, it wouldn't do Ms. Midnight Purls justice to knit it badly, or to abandon it. I'm also determined to finish it soon so I can get back to all those half-pairs of socks, my sweater, and start on Christmas Knitting.

WHAT? Christmas Knitting already? I hear you shaking your heads, you non-knitting types, and for the knitters, going "oh crap, I should really think about that, too...". Well, I wasn't going to actually do Christmas Knitting this year - really! But I got Alison's Book this week and there's a lovely pattern in it called "Michelle's Shawl". My niece's name is Michelle. It's designed to be knit in Handmaiden Sea Silk - which I have in stash. And it would look stunning on Mich with her very porcelain-like skin and dark hair and eyes (the Sea Silk is deep ocean-y blues). So - I will enjoy the Sea Silk as I knit it, and then I will give it to my lovely niece.

But first - more Diagonal Lace. And I think I may take a short break from lovely Brenda's voice and see about an afternoon movie on TV. Might even nap - a nap would be good, now that the mangling of my innards has settled down. Anyway, thanks for reading all this - probably not what you were expecting when you stopped by today, but it's Saturday - I'm still in my pajamas, both physically and mentally. And I'm glad you did stop by, because the best of friends, you don't need to clean your house for, if you know what I mean. Time for tea. See you later.

Book book book!

Alison's book arrived today, and I am quite sure I am going to become a lace addict, between this and the "Gathering of Lace" I already have! Such lovely patterns and pictures - pretty pretty pretty, and the stories are sweet and touching.

Now I just have to get through tomorrow (Friday) so I can spend the weekend knitting socks and lace - but not lace socks! :) Also baking - I made a batch of cookies last weekend that were FABulous, and we need more. I'm afraid I've spoiled Peter for store-bought anymore. Uh oh.

My "Kids Can Knit" Camp didn't have any registrations, darn it, so I guess I'll have to try that again another time. However that does free up Friday afternoons for golf and knitting! All is well. And I know, I need to post WIP updates and photos and all. I think Saturday. Or Sunday. At the very latest by Sunday evening. Promise!

Another long - gone weekend (long weekend gone)

Well, despite grandiose plans in several areas, most of this weekend was pretty darn blissfully unproductive. We got some weeding and harvesting done in the garden, most of the laundry is clean, and we even got out for a round of golf on Dominion Day (Canada Day for the non-Royalists among you!). We had a glorious bonfire with marshmallows last night. I even got some baking done.

I read three books this weekend, which I haven't done in forever - unfortunately that cut deeply into the knitting time. And the promised photos will have to wait 'til tomorrow because I ran out of daylight half an hour ago while reading "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and really I take much better pictures in daylight. So, WIP updates tomorrow.

And, I have to make an apology here. I (we, actually, Peter also) missed the party for Kim and Jiff on Thursday. We intended to go, we wanted to go, but the person who was responsible for getting us the actual details of where and when to go - didn't. Which led us to believe it was rescheduled or something, and we (stupidly) didn't follow up. So we missed it, and I'm not very happy about that, because Jiff is a rarely-seen but still-important part of our extended family and since we have to miss his wedding next week, we wanted to make it to this party. Unfortunately, as I say, He Who Shall Not Be Named let us down in the communications department, so it didn't happen. Jiff, if it's any consolation, we sat by our respective Blackberries well into the evening waiting for the email to come through.

And now tomorrow is Tuesday which means back to the regular work world; I have no class to teach tomorrow evening so I'm hoping to do some more updates on Ravelry (loving the Ravelry!) and on here too, and get some more knitting done!

Brief Saturday amusement...

So, on a brief break to reload Cast-On and flex the fingers (lots of knitting today!), I was over visiting Cetta and she had this link to rate your blog, so I did mine. It came up as:

Mingle² - Online Dating

Apparently,

"This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• drugs (3x)
• hurt (2x)
• crack (1x)"

I feel like I have so much to live up to, now! Or, live down, depending how you look at it. I may just have to insert that rating block into my sidebar, for ongoing amusement.

So yes, lots of knitting today. I've finally started my back-to-school sweater, which was intended to be done for last September but as I've got the back half-done now stands a good chance of being done for this September. Irony? I'm probably not going back to school this fall. Scheduling and budgeting appear to be against me, along with a big ol' honkin' library fine. Dammit. But I'm loving the sweater so far - pics tomorrow or Monday.

Also restarted the Diagonal Lace Scarf from Midnight Purls, which is a lovely piece and she has graciously allowed me permission to use it in an upcoming class (thank you!). I had about oh, 8" of it done yesterday while watching the bonus features of Clerks II. Yeah - not a good idea, mixing lace and Kevin Smith commentaries. I made at least four major mistakes, sighed heavily and frogged back to zero. Restarted today and have achieved 47 rows in a little over an hour. The suggested length is 43 pattern repeats (of 6 rows each) plus 5 rows garter stitch each end, for 1548 rows. That appears to be 32 hours of knitting. Oh my, it's only a two hour class. But it is perfect, the PERFECT pattern for what I want to teach, which is basically this:

1) There are pattern rows and rest rows in lace.
2) Pay attention to where you are - the row counter is your friend.
3) You think it's pretty now? Wait 'til you block it. Double pretty (I can tell that already, just by stretching it, although it's perfectly lovely unblocked, too).

So I think my plan will be this: Complete one scarf to a wearable length (let's say three feet, unblocked). Three feet is 36", I have 6" done, which means 36" is 6 hours, not 32 hours. That will be the sample scarf. Then I will start another scarf for the actual class time, for the teaching of the technique, etc. That scarf I will knit to the recommended length, in a yarn I like for me, and it will become my new fall coat scarf. Because frankly, the yarn I'm knitting the sample with, I love the yarn and the colour, but I'm really not super keen on for an actual scarf. It's Patons Classic Merino Wool and it's not - scarf-y. To me. I like fluffier, softer yarns for scarves. So I will treat myself to some more scarf-y yarn when I do the "real" scarf for me... I may have some in stash but I wanted to try the pattern first at the recommended gauge from stash and all I could find was this one ball of PCM. You know, that wasn't already earmarked for something else. Nevermind. More later tonight, or maybe tomorrow. OOH! You know what would work for this scarf? Some of that KnitPicks laceweight I've got in stash. It'll take for-freaking-ever, but it'll be beeyootiful! Oh yeah, that'll work.

Ok, back to the knitting. I'm up to Episode 23 of Cast On, wonder how many I'll get through this long weekend?

Not a Secret, Pal!

I finally know who the lovely, lovely person in Ohio is who's been sending me lovely, lovely gifties via SP10 - thank you and big hugs and kisses to Ashley!

So amazing that a (previously) stranger could take the time and energy to select (and make - wait for it!) thoughtful and appropriate gifts, just to make me happy... wow. The third and final parcel arrived today, and contained:

Handpainted sock yarn - really funky purple/teal/black/white handpaint. Almost too pretty to knit (yeah right!) - well, I don't know if it will be socks or if I might make something else of it, but it will probably marinate in stash for awhile so I can just enjoy looking at it. And then...

Handspun. 468 yards of "Kraftie's Own" and man is it gorgeous! Deep deep navy and burgundy, just stunning colour. I am almost certain that this is going to be a shawl for me. Because I love shawls, love knitting them, love wearing them, and that would show the sheer beauty of the yarn best (I think). I can't imagine how long it took to make this (I know zip about spinning other than it's addictive and tricky), but I SO appreciate the effort. Gorgeous, and just for me!
Ah, I'm being (gently) prodded here. KnitPicks lace needles, in two sizes. In other words, Kit, get off your tuckus and knit some lace already! So now I must. And I will, and I thank you for these - it's all about the right tool for the job, right?

And now... what I'm sending out. Yes, I'm behind, and yes, it's just one wee package, but the goodies - ah, the goodies!

From top, going clockwise: Handmaiden Lace Silk. Hidden Valley Alpaca Sock Yarn. Handknit (by me!) wristwarmers in "Chunky Al" (alpaca/wool blend), and Freshisle Fibers Mixed Breed Sock Yarn (Colourway: I Am Canadian!) With the exception of the Chunky Al, all the yarn is Canadian, because I am Canadian and really proud of the gorgeous products my countrywomen create. And, my SP-spoilee is in another country, so other than via the internet, odds are good she can't get this stuff. (NOTE: You can get this stuff on the internet. Seriously - go visit Freshisle Fibers, she has the most gorgeous stuff and it's VERY reasonably priced). So these are the patriotic and beautiful goodies I'm sending out as soon as I get to the post office - probably Friday.

I've been knitting too - finished another hat and have another OTN for the "no-pattern-hat" class. Pictures and stories of those later in the week.

Another rock in the pond

Yes, I've dropped another rock into the pond of cyberspace, stealing valuable bandwidth for my own personal blatherings. :)

That is to say, I've joined the very cool community of Ravelry - go here to see my (new, just getting started) page over there. And, in order to take full advantage of the cool features there (and oh my, are there cool features there!) I had to set up an account on Flickr also - which is here. So I guess that's two rocks in the pond! The Flickr page only has knitting photos (unless I had something else in my WIP / FOG folders, which I shouldn't have, but wouldn't surprise me). I have to figure out how the tools work on the two sites, but I think Ravelry will be a more effective means of tracking projects, stash, etc. than what I've been doing here. Which is not to say I won't be blogging here - oh no! I'll still be here yammering away. But the Ravelry site I think will be more for tracking and here more for yakking. So to speak.

So, some yakking. For months now I've been reading about Cast On: a podcast for knitters. I even went to the site to download a few casts, but being the way I am, I wanted to start at the beginning. So I sent Brenda an email and she sweetly provided me a site to download every one, from the very beginning (I was pretty happy that she bothered to answer the email, actually, sometimes people don't. But, as I'm learning, Brenda is very VERY cool.) And so I downloaded a whack (well, ALL) of them into iTunes, and there they sat.

Until this morning, when I had many chores to do and I felt like having some company (Peter was off doing his own thing - it happens sometimes, we are separately but jointly productive that way). I loaded up a bunch of episodes on the shuffle, and away I went. And I listened. And I laughed. And I can honestly say I was flabbergasted by what I heard - not in a bad way, but it just wasn't what I thought it would be (what that is, I couldn't say, but it wasn't.) Brenda is funny. Her Addi turbo light-saber sound effect makes me giggle, EVERY SINGLE TIME. Brenda is musical - or, at least, has fabulous taste in music, all from unsigned artists over at (I'll mess this up I know) - Podsafe music? Something like that. Wonderful artists, gorgeous songs. Brenda is a storyteller. She has a very pleasant voice and a lovely cadence, and her "essays" are like kitchen-table (ok, pub table) anecdotes. Brenda is generous - she highlights other podcasters and encourages anyone with something to say to step up to the mike.

Brenda is my new hero - well, for today anyway - the one thing of value I learned from my ex-husband was the SubGenius concept of a "Short Duration Personal Saviour". You know, just the person to get you through whatever situation you're in at the moment. Today Brenda was my ShorDurPerSav, and I thank her for that. Now, I will undoubtedly spend the next few Saturdays/Sundays/evenings (TV's all reruns anyway) catching up between episode 9 and .. 50? Oh boy, I got a way to go. I love the show, and while listening, I had an idea hit me. The music she plays, some of the tracks I wanted to write down the artist and go hunt them up and buy their music and... then I stopped. And I just enjoyed it, in the moment, without needing to "own" it. Serendipity in listening, letting go of the urge to possess. Interesting ...

Ok, enough babble. I also finished a hat today, which as usual looks crappy via my camera but Peter really likes it:
It's Patons Shetland Chunky, two shades of blue in a 2x2 rib from cast-on to crown. No pattern, just big enough to fit his 21 1/2" head. He says it makes him feel like Jesse James. That's pretty sweet, in a Discovery-Channel-Nerd kind of way.

As we grow older

As we grow older, things change. Boobs - sag (a little). Butt - droops (a little). Sleep gets interrupted more for small-hour nature calls. More sleep feels like less. And migraines - mutate.

I have suffered from migraines since my mid-teens, and every few years they change form. Once in my late 20s I had a migraine that manifested as a burning sensation down the right side of my head, like someone had poured boiling water in my ear. But generally, I get what I call "icepicks" - sudden sharp pain behind the right temple (always the right side) that stabs into my brain and then (after dosing with Tylenol 1's or in severe cases, Mersyndol), recedes to a manageable throb. Unpleasant, but manageable. Unless I wake up with one, in which case I say "to hell with you", pop 2 Mersyndol, call the office and go back to bed. But generally if they hit during the daytime, I can deal.

Yesterday morning, I had an icepick hit me about 8:00 a.m. (I start work at 7:30, yesterday I was up with the chickens and at my desk at 7:00). I popped a couple T1's and went about my morning. By 10:30 the icepick was sharper, not duller, and I was annoyed (also, I was PO'd about the complete two hours I had just wasted on an AutoCAD file that had to be reversed and redone). Popped another pair of T1's, had a snack, kept working. 1:00 - lunch break. Too tired to go anywhere or do anything (yay codeine), I sat quietly at my desk and knit on my sock for Peter (also for my class, I have to get to the toe decrease by Tuesday night so I can teach toe decreases and Kitchenering). I knit with my eyes closed for awhile, just enjoying the lack of computer glare and the feel of the stitches moving smoothly along.

Opened my eyes. Blink. Fuzzy on the right. What? Wool lint in my eye maybe? Rubbed eyes. Still fuzzy. MORE fuzzy. What the heck...? Huh? Ow. Ow ow ow ow OW! Icepick stabbing from behind the temple THROUGH the front of the fuzzy eye. Oh crud, not good. "Uh, boss... my right eye's gone fuzzy and my head hurts." "Oh, you're getting a migraine." "No, I've had a migraine all morning, this is something else." "No, it's a migraine, that's what happens to me." Note: he's a man and therefore his opinion of migraines is suspect. I know they get them (Dad, for instance, gets the "cluster" form, which are evil), but generally they don't know squat about migraine, in my experience. "Well, I've never had one like this befo - excuse me!" Ran to bathroom, yakked. Oh crap, not at ALL good. Light starting to hurt. Oh Crap. This is what they call a "classic" migraine, the kind my sister and Mom have had in the past. Oh. Crap.

This is me leaving my office (stopping at pharmacy for Mersyndol), and driving VERY carefully home with sunglasses on, squinting and "owie ow"-ing all the way. Home, blinds closed, cold cloth on forehead/eyes, heat pack on back (I'm also freezing at this point, which is a weird thing for a migraine, but whatever). Pop 2 Mersyndol. Lie there, waiting to die or for drugs to work. Drugs not working but feeling sleepy. Eat toast, drink water, go to bed. Peter checks in on me at 8 p.m. - more water and Mersyndol. Finally find real sleep, wake up headache-free but hungover at 6 a.m.

And this is what happens when we get older. Our stinkin' migraines mutate. This particular breed I have decided to call "Fred the Bastard" (if you can name it, you can tame it is my philosophy). Fred and I are going to pay a visit to Dr. B. on Monday and get some of those fast-acting Fred-killers, because I categorically CANNOT just stop in the middle of my workday for a migraine. Nope nope nope. And I certainly can't drive home (again) with one, that's dangerous and painful. [sidenote: Peter was up to his ass, literally, in concrete yesterday so coming to fetch me was not an option, although he would have had I asked. In retrospect, I should have had someone from work drive me home. I won't do it again.]

The upside is, I got pretty well-rested last night. The downside is, I think this is related to weather - I do get headaches from low-pressure systems and we've been having a bunch pass through here lately (like right now, and I can feel another stinkin' icepick forming as I type). My sister, bless her heart, basically rolls into a fetal ball of pain when thunderstorms roll in. I don't want that to happen to me. But it might, because I'm growing older. Dammit.

I need to knit a hat now. That, I can control. In theory.

16,000 words

Or, sixteen pictures. Yes, this is a catch-up post so it may be (will be) a little long, just to get the (bad) pictures in. Things have been pretty busy of late (yeah, who's not, right?) but I have been knitting! Here's everything recently finished or live, in no particular order:

Socks for Peter, in James C. Brett "Marble", colourway MT3. These are acrylic self-striping and very soft. I have about 1/3 of a ball left over from the first sock so I will probably make something gift-y with the leftovers from the two balls, later. 2nd sock is just past the gusset - it's been hot lately so sock-knitting is suitable for the weather, even if the socks aren't!

Stitch markers from my Secret Pal in Ohio. Bad picture, they are cute little teal beaded guys. Love 'em, especially as I plan to knit some lace this summer.

The Karma Chameleon Clapotis, resurrected. Increase section done, straight section underway. Yarn is Red Heart Soft, colourway "autumn" I think? Red/Gold/Green. This is "Pay attention!" knitting, so is moving along slowly.

The Wednesday's Cardigan. Remember this one? It's the Patons Rumor chunky yarn, knit in one piece. I want the sweater but have lost enthusiasm for the actual knitting. This may, sadly, wait until cooler weather, which defeats its whole raison d'etre. Meh.

Sock for me, Patons Classic Merino, "Rosewood" colourway. This is the sock I was working on the day of the wedding and it hasn't garnered much attention since. Again, it's too hot for the actual socks, plus I just started teaching the sock class this past Tuesday so I had to start a new sock to teach the class.
The new sock - also Patons Classic Merino, "Denim Marl" colourway. This pair will be for Peter also - apparently he only gets blue socks. :) I'm tempted to cast on the second one to guarantee the pair will be finished quicker (you know, at the same time?) but I don't want to intimidate my students. By the way, LOVING the teaching. I've got great students, fun and enthusiastic and reasonably patient when they make mistakes and have to rip out.

Which reminds me, I've taken on another teaching assignment! I'm going to be teaching a five-week "Learn to Knit" course starting in September, for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board! They contacted the program lady at Michaels about a teacher and she hooked me up with them. And then after new year's, a 10-week program! Woohoo! I'm very excited about this, I'm finding that the teaching is making me learn new things and really THINK about my knitting more, and I love that "OH!" moment that the students get when things are working for them. I always wanted to be a teacher, who knew it would be knitting instead of English lit?

A Feather and Fan dishcloth, for a class I'll be teaching in July - "Introduction to lace knitting". Admittedly, a poor introduction, because I learned doing this sample that knitting feather and fan in cotton on 4mm needles is not really fun for the hands. However, it does cover the basics.

Another gift from my Secret Pal - a very cute hardcover notebook. So girly! I love it, it's almost too cute to use.
From SP again - three skeins of KnitPicks "Shadow", which are NOT purple as in the picture, but rather a gorgeous rust-burgundy colour, almost exactly the shade of my Olympic Shawl. Very very pretty and I'm looking forward to knitting it up.

Time for dye fun! KnitPicks "Bare" from SP, in sockweight. Also included was...

Kool-Aid for dying. Sweet!
See that white blob on the white stripe? That's a frog on a loose windowscreen, in a thunderstorm.
Here he is again, as a dark blob on a grey stripe (no flash). This was an eight-minute torrential downpour - how else does a frog get on the window? I thought the Plagues were starting. Anyway, I pulled him in via a clever margarine-tub-and-lid manuever, and kept him safe from the flash flood. Then, released him out the back door...
Onto the steps. The little green-grey blob, that's him. I can tell you the cats wanted to go out and "play" with him but when I opened the door they were more interested in keeping their feet dry. Wussy kitties!
More class knitting - little Christmas ornaments for my "Christmas in July" classes. My first experience with i-cord (for the wreaths) and I can see how addictive it is. The bells were fun, they have a neat trick for self-shaping. The wee socks were a bit fiddly but very cute. Each ornament takes from a half-hour to an hour - I can see making a bunch more of these for gifts this Christmas after the class.
Summer class knitting - it's a camp set! Basket-weave facecloth and soap sack. Cute and fun but I don't recommend knitting two sets in one day - murder on the hands. Cotton's great but why does it hurt me? Speaking of which, I've had a jumbo ball of Bernat Handicrafter in pink variegated go AWOL - it's got to be in the house here somewhere but it's hiding from me. Bugger.

Let's see, what else has been happening? Oh yeah, we've had a total heat wave the past week and, true to form, it's knocked my stomach out of whack. Yesterday I had a wicked IBS attack around lunchtime that pretty much eliminated any chance of doing anything for the afternoon and evening. Which meant missing Bundy's promotion BBQ - phooey! I had made pies and everything (which Peter delivered, bless him), but I wanted to GO, and see people, and have fun. As it was I watched a bunch of movies and knit socks and ornaments. Not quite the plan for my Saturday.

I've also started on a correspondence course for the summer, the next module in my Construction Management certificate. Need to carve out a couple hours a week for that, fortunately it's paper based so I can read in the backyard and keep an eye on the garden. The veggies are coming along, pretty much everything's up and the tomato plants have flowers (which, I believe, means they will have fruit, yes?). We're not the most attentive gardeners but it's fun watching things grow.

And today is Father's Day. Which means BBQ for the family around 5:00, which means we need to do some cleaning. I can say that for entertaining, at least it keeps your house tidy! And a few other Sunday chores to attend to. But first, another cup of tea and a few more blogs to read. I've been behind in other people's lives as well as my own!

Have a great week everyone.