I should tidy more often...

The things I find when I start tidying up! In order to find room to store Christmas gifts, I had to clean out some stuff in our "home office". I use the term lightly because, although we have two (sometimes three) computers in there, and all kinds of files, it really is more of a dumping ground. Hubby has grand plans of a home office, but until he learns that papers wont file themselves by osmosis, and you actually have to open the file cabinet to put them awa instead of piling them on top, well, things won't change much. I am not absolved of any of the blame either. I have patterns, yarn, magazines, wool, books, yarn, UFO's, wool, plans, and even some wool piled up in there. WIlly-nilly is the term most often associated with my piling method. Yesterday, I went looking for something. To be honest, I'm not sure what, as I got sidetracked when I came across a stash of books I hadn't seen in a while. Now, I have a lot of craft books. A lot. And a lot of them are knitting books, mostly purchased quite recently, but these three have been around for quite awhile. Even though I learned to knit as a kid, and knit on and off for since then, I really didn't become as obsessed with it like I am now until a couple of years ago. So these books predated the obsession period.

The Modern Lace book makes me laugh - how modern is it to decorate your house like this?

Do people even have settees anymore? Now, don't jump on me about this - I love antiques, grew up with them around and have many in my house. But I draw the line at antimaccassars, since the men in my life don't use maccassar or any other hair oil. I guess I like my antiques hard - i.e. wood pieces and such. I like my upholstered pieces a little softer and less rigid.
I do see a use for many of the pieces in this book, however:

This azalea doily would translate beautifully to a small scarf - just big enough to cover the neck and tuck into a coat collar...
There are many lovely lace pieces in this book - the square pieces of the luncheon set - (My MIL would LOVE this - she actually has luncheons when her bridge club comes, but I'm not knitting a dozen lace placemats...). I'm glad I unearthed it.

Next is a book that Lucky would be all over, I'm sure.
(Okay, Blogger is not being cooperative - there should be a picture of The Swedish Mitten book here)
It's not for the faint of heart (i.e., if you MUST follow a pattern word for word, line by line, don't use this book.) There is a VERY basic mitten pattern given at the beginning of the book with sizes for womena nd children. But each of the patterns is simply a picture of the finished mitten and the chart (and the charts are drawn by hand). You have to figure out how to apply the chart to the pattern in your size. Plus there are tons of cuff options - again, you have to put it together yourself. But, if you are comfortable with this, there are some really pretty patterns - florals, geometrics, all kinds of stuff.
(Okay, I've fooled Blogger! here's the book)

And a sampling of the inside:


The Homespun Handknit book is also a good one for small projects. The patterns use the designer's handspun wool (ergo, the title), but most of them are of standard grists, so you can substitute a worsted, DK or fingering to suit. No pictures of this - camera battery died at this point last night.

I really should organize better - certainly my patterns and books and such. The stash is pretty fluid, and moves around alot, but I do have plans eventually. I'd like to replace the shelving wehave in the "office" at the moment - I want bookcases, and some CD towers, which I have discovered are the perfect size of balls of yarn. and not too deep that I would lose things... The plans are made - it the actual execution of said plans that keep stalling. One of these days...

Still with the silly SPAM titles…

Fresh floozies want more hot lollipops (doesn’t everyone??)

Dirty cowgirls ride enormous weapons (I can’t say I’m really surprised…)

Was waffle be caloric (my English teacher would have conniptions over this grammar!)

So, I do actually have knitting content – I finished the blue cotton socks, and finally blocked the Fat Head Hat. (I will never look at this and think of it by any other name. I hope the recipient hates it so I don’t have to look at it much…)



I took a good look at my Christmas list and compared my “hope to have done for a gift” list to the “finished at ready to be given” box of stuff. Yeah. A little short there. I may still get it all done, but I think Hubby is going to get shorted again this year. He always gets the half done socks with a promise. He never really minds, because everyone else in the family gets knitted stuff once a year, and he is generally gifted much more often throughout the year. So he’s happy enough.

I do have a few more hats to get cracking on, especially those within the same immediate family. Can’t have one kid getting something that the others aren’t!! I may lose my “favourite aunt” status, and that’s not acceptable to me…

Looking forward to the weekend – for some reason, sleep has been a valuable commodity this week, and the demand has far exceeded the supply. Of course, son’s basketball game has been rescheduled tomorrow to 8:00 am. You read that right. That is not a normal time for a Saturday morning. But we will be there. It’s also MIL’s birthday tomorrow – wonder if Hubby remembers…

Still in the closet…

I’m still heterosexual, and still happily married, in case anyone thought I was switching teams. I’m still in the BLOGGING closet, people. I was kinda worried that my Aunt, when she went to Stephanie’s talk in Ottawa would find out about this here blog. But Aunt is too shy, and didn’t approach Stephanie. “She was surrounded by people, and I thought I’d let her be” was my Aunt’s comment. But, Steph did inspire Aunt to pick up the needles again – she bought Steph’s book, as well as sock yarn and needles. I hear she’s been back to Yarn Forward a few times since – can we say the beginnings of a stash?? So, Steph didn’t out me, and I can continue merrily along is virtual anonymity…
The funny thing is, after that, she was talking to her daughter, my cousin J. J lives in Montreal, and when her Mom started telling her about it, J broke in and was all “you mean that Harlot woman that was on CBC Radio?? I heard the interview!” It also seems that J is now inspired to pick up knitting again as well. She and I had both learned as kids, and she’s thinking of picking it up again. I’ve even got my Mom back at it. The last time I was there, I gave her some of my sock yarn (yeah, I have a little extra…) - after the week I spent with Mom during her recovery, she had watched me knitting socks, and now she wanted to pick it up again. So, she’s got the yarn, the pattern and the needles, and she’s off! We’ll convert the Muggles, one at a time…
My Homage to Franklin
Since I’m a little light on knitting pictures today (the Fat Head hat is done, but needs to be blocked), I thought I would share a picture of the wall beside my computer at work. Franklin makes me laugh out loud – I own two of his shirts and a mug, and if he ever puts the “P2tog” pattern on a t-shirt, I will SO own it as well…
Most people at work have work-related stuff on their walls – Me? Not so much…

root for the home team...

Well, I've finished another self-designed hat. My young nephew plays for the Toronto Marlies organization - he's a pretty good hockey player, so I thought I'd make up something special for him

I've sent the picture to my brother to see if it's "cool" enough (My God, when did I lose my own coolness metre??). Of course, if it's good, I expect the following exchange between me and bro:
Bro: It's great. Can you make 25 of them for the team?
Me: No.
Bro: C'mon - whip them up on the machine like the scarves you made for Niece's team last year. I'll pay for the yarn.
Me: No. This is done by hand, can't be done on the machine, and they would take too long. Let him be unique on the team.
(Side Note - the scarves? I knit 20 scarves for my niece's hockey team last year - ok, they were done on the machine, but still. Striped, time consuming and ack! Red Heart. My Mom wove in all the ends and blocked them. Niece verbally thanked her when Mom brought them over. I never heard a thing. Nada. Zip. Not a thank you to be heard. Bro gave a cheque to my Mom for her to mail to me (We live about an hour or so apart). He didn't even mail it himself!!!! I've heard nothing from my Niece or her team. Yeah, I'm ready to do THAT again.)
Bro: Give Mom the pattern - she can make them.
Me: No. Mom hates knitting Fair Isle and has better things to do with her time.
Bro: Silence. Whatever. thanks for nothing.
Me: Sigh. (note to self - ask Mom again to convince me that Bro and I are related).
One more Christmas gift done!

Fat Head Hat
Yeah, so I decided to whip up a hat using the same pattern (folded hem, etc.) using up some stash Briggs and Little yarn. Since I wasn't doing Fair Isle, and it wouldn't pull in as much, I reduced the number of stitches by 20. Still, this baby is HUGE! So much for the 8 year old intended recipient! I've got a huge melon atop my shoulders, and this thing swims on me. Who knew the B&L would change the gauge so much? Other than being coarser, it's pretty much the same grist as the Smart or Heilo I was using before. I guess my FIL is getting himself a new hat for Christmas...

At least I know to reduce the stitch count again for the next one...

And just because this made me laugh out loud...

Your Boobies' Names Are...

Wonder Woman and Batgirl

Boobie Name Generator

EDITED TO ADD: (after reading comments from a few days ago...)
Holy Crap! Stephanie reads this!

time management

How do some women do it? Family, Work, Time for yourself? I was looking around the house yesterday, and the "stuff" is starting to pile up. Alot. Young son has toys and stuff. I have wool (just a little). Hubby has, well, I'm not sure what he has, but there seems to be a lot of it around. Tools in the kitchen. Papers in the living room. You get the picture. Lately, Hubby has been saying things like "We have to get rid of stuff. It could be a fire hazard". Then he leave a set of screwdrivers on the kitchen table. We're on day six of the screwdrivers on the table. I wtched him MOVE the damn things a foot over so he could put the salad down last night. Still, I said nothing. I didn't have the heart to get into it last night, especially since the screwdrivers are now sitting on top of a pile of knitting magazines a books. Sigh. I guess he means the royal "WE". i.e. ME. He has plans to get rid of stuff, but to be honest, he's really bad at it. He can't do a little at a time. He's an all or nothing kind of guy. So, if he wants to clean out a room, it takes him all day, and he ends up making a bigger mess in the rest of the house. He can't just clean out his desk, he has to do the whole office. And he gets distracted. I love hime to death, but I'd really rather he didn't try to help! I had a week's holidays planned for this month - originally planned to be spent in Florida with Mom, but since she's not there, no use in going. So I was going to spend it digging through the CRAP in the house. But then, at work, it was suggested that, with all the time off I've taken lately for Mom's medical stuff, etc., it would be prudent to maybe not take holidays right now. If anyone else had suggested this to me, I would have laughed in their face. However, it was my immediate supervisor, a great guy I would do almost anything for. (I know the grammer sucks in that last sentence. oh well.) He's gone to bat for me a lot, and I respect him, which says a lot. So, my time off has been put off until January or February. There's not many people I would do this for - this guy is one of them. I really hope he leaves this company, becasue he'd take me with him!!
So the digging out will have to wait. My weekends are busy enough just trying to keep up with everything. Hubby is working a ton of hours (the joys of owning the place), so he's not around much. Plus, he just doesn't do anything for Christmas. It falls to me. Pretty much all of it. Yesterday was his sister's birthday. I reminded him 12 times to call her. He didn't, and on principle, I didn't because I think he should have. But the fallout will come my way that we "forgot". I didn't and I will make sure his mother knows it was his fault. (She won't hear that part - her boys are perfect, and in her generation, that kind of thing should fall to the women. grrrr.)

And, given the choice of cleaning out a room, or playing a game with my son - well, maybe it now makes sense why the house is the way it is. He's way more important to me that an organized house.

Knitting to come - I've finished another self-designed hat!

office-boy nose-leafed

What does the title mean? Easy - it's today's winner is the stupidest spam email subject line. And there was a tight race today! Seriously, I thought our compnay had some kind of spam filter, yet I get upwards of 50 spam emails every day. I don't need to "increase my manhood" - I don't even have "manhood"! Nor am I interested in your stock tips, pharmaceuticals, rolex watches or other crap you think I am stupid enough to buy from some unsolicited email! I mean, really, who beleives this stuff? Are there really people sending their personal information to the Fifth Third National Bank because they have detected a problem with your account? Who can't remember which bank they have accounts with?
Enough ranting about email idiots. I actually love email - spend a fair bit of time with it all day -mostly work related, some personal, and far too much time deleting spam - which I have to check before deleting since it seems our so-called spam filter at the office likes to delete emails from some of our major customers and suppliers. Nice.
But, it's the weekned, and one that is so very, very needed. Time spent with family and friends. I've finished another hat - for one hockey playing nephew, and hope to get some socks done and some more hats at least started. Who knew? Hats seem to be the gift of choice this year.

And as a side note - there is the outside chance that I will be outed to my family (at least a part of it) as a blogger in the next little while. My Aunt (the one who came down to stay with my Mom for a week after surgery) lives in Ottawa and was inspired to think about knitting again after seeing mine. I told her about Stephanie's talk at Yarn Forward, and it seems the store is only a few minutes away from her house, so she called for a seat, and was planning on going last night. If she got to meet Steph, she would have brought up our familial connection and if Steph posts about it, well my Aunt Deny is computer savvy enough to find this here blog. The one thing in my favour? My Aunt may be too shy to meet Steph, so I may be safe for a while yet...

Guild Meetings

I’m not sure how many people belong to Guilds, or knitting groups or just have a regular Stitch and Bitch group that they attend. I never saw myself as someone who would join a group like this, but almost 2 years into it, I’m hooked. (Actually, I was hooked by the second or third meeting, but anyway…) You know, it’s nothing remarkably special – just a group of ladies (in some cases, men as well, but we seem to be a bit estrogen heavy in York Region) that get together and share something that is important to each of us. Our love of knitting. We arrive, we greet one another, find a chair, sit and take out the project du jour. Show and Tell is always interesting – members showing off the fruits of their labours, It’s cool – there is such a range of skill levels out there. And, I find that people that were so convinced that they couldn’t do something are urged to try it, and surprise themselves when they complete a new project. Perfect example – Susan, a member of our Guild was convinced that socks were beyond her - “I’m just a beginner”. After a few meetings, she got up the courage to try a pair. A month later, she was showing off her first pair of socks! The downside of this was witnessed later, in the shop, as she added to her stash some balls of sock yarn. Ah, another one sucked in! Last night – I sucked her into the ruffly scarf abyss! I showed off my purple and black one and green one, and she was all over them! Although she said she wasn’t buying anything, she walked out with a few balls of the On Line Solo!
We also get guest speakers – Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Fiona Ellis, Maureen Mason-Jamieson, Amy Singer, Wellington Fibres, to name a few (apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone). And of course, last night we were graced by Wannietta Prescod, North America’s faster knitter.

I tried to get a good pic of Wannietta and her knitting style – she freely admits it’s unorthodox. Wannietta, I apologize – the only picture I got of you actually showing your knitting style – well, let’s just say you’ll thank me for not posting it. Sorry!
CatBookMom was curious as to how she can knit so quickly – the working needle is jammed into her thigh, the needle with the stitches sits perpendicular to this at the top. All the stitches are crammed near the tip, and off she goes – faster than I could believe. For her to get a room full of knitters to basically stop what they are doing to watch, you know she’s good! She throws the yarn, and was still faster than the Continental knitters – mind you, Tove hasn’t used straight needles in years, so that was a bit of a detriment to her.
Wannietta also talked about her job as a professional knitter – knitting samples for designers like Fiona Ellis, and a number of pattern companies – as she said, it’s pretty cool to see a magazine cover and say “I knit that” not just the pattern, mind you , but the ACTUAL SWEATER that is in the photograph.
Thanks for coming Wannietta – we had a great time!

This year, we are thinking of branching out from just talks to maybe doing some workshops – we’ll see. It’s a lot of work coordinating workshops, and since I do a lot of it, my real jobs always gets in the way!
By the way, I think I have a new member coming soon – one of my son’s basketball coaches, Bonnie, always sees me knitting at practices and games – when I told her I was taking off early last night to go to my Knitting Guild meeting, she was like “A Knitting Guild? Here? WHERE? WHEN?” I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing her soon…

First Tuesday of the month!

Yes, that means a meeting of the York Region Knitting Guild. And this month Wannietta Prescod is speaking. I can’t wait. I took a class from Wannietta at the Downtown Knit Collective’s Knitters Frolic in April. It was fantastic, and I’m looking forward to seeing her again. Tonight is just a general talk, about her and knitting and stuff. In the New Year, I can see having her back doing a workshop – she finally made buttonholes make sense to me, and necklines? Well, let’s just say I had a D’oh! moment in April. It makes so much sense, now.
I hope Wannietta doesn’t mind a little show and tell. This is the second last meeting before the sacred or secular gift-identified festival of your choice. (My choice is Christmas). There is usually a fair bit of gift knitting to be shown off. I was hoping to have Icarus ready today, but it’s not going to happen I’ll have the comedy/tragedy mask hat done, as well as the rainbow hat. It seems a little weird doing show and tell. A number of the Guild members read this, and so see most of the stuff as its being made. I wonder if they sit there during show and tell and think “ho-hum. The bowling hat AGAIN. Hasn’t she made anything I haven’t seen?”

Oh, and if any Guild members are reading this - I may be a little late - Son has basketball practice tonight, and Hubby may be late - So if I'm late, welcome Wannietta, willya? She's super nice. And I should be there in good time - hopefully, I won't be dragging a sweaty seven year old boy along with me, hoping hubby will be along to pick him up...

On a completely non-knitting, but parenting note...
When I picked up my son at the sitters yesterday, he mentioned that his teacher would be calling the house tonight. Ok... "why?" I asked. Of course, he doesn't know. But he was asked to leave the carpet at reading time today, so I have an inkling it has something to do with talking out of turn, or the poking that young boys do to each other when asked to sit in close quarters. Fine. I have no problem with this. My problem? When a teacher says she going to call - and I'm ready for this call all night, I'd appreciate the call! No call. And I'm out of the house tonight, so hubby will handle it if the call comes tonight. Actually, this is good - Hubby is probably better at dealing with this kind of thing. I know there is nothing to worry about - Son is a good kid, not prone to anything that will land him in juvenile detention, but still, don't we all want our kids to be perfect? (Not that we ever were...)

some quickies...

I'm lovin' post titles that will get s ome unusual Google hits...

I finished up some projects on the weekend - I'm not really sure how - it was one of those whirlwind type weekends that went by so quickly, I sat there on Sunday and tried to remember where I had been and what I had done. I checked - both hubby and son seemed fed and happy and reasonably clean, so I must have done something right...
I blocked the drama hat (balloons are perfect for hat blocking, by the way), and on Saturday afternoon, started another hat (what's with the hats all of a sudden?? It seems to be my gift of choice this year...) that I finished up on Sunday night during the Amazing Race (sorry to see Kentucky go, but I would really like to see the blonde bimbos crash and burn badly).

The little guy sitting with the hat? A gnome. I started a major hullabaloo last year on the Knitting.About.com forum when I posted the picture of a gnome that was a pattern insert in a UK magazine. Seriously, this is the cutest thing I have seen in a long time, and I'm not one for cutesy stuff. I love this guy. I keep meaning to give him to a friend, but he has yet to leave my house. Friend will get one, just not this one. I wish I had more time to knit these - they don't take long, but they are all in pieces, so there is a fair bit of finishing to be done. CatBookMom loved him so much, she tracked down the magazine publishers in the UK, and got the pattern released to her. I'm pretty sure she still has it available - CBM, if not, let me know, and I'll see what I can do. Alan Dart is the designer, and I guess he is well known for his critter and toy patterns.

This is a New Zealand Yarn by J.J's (??) I really have to keep yarn bands and tags around longer). My LYS stocks this in wonderful handpaint colourways, it's 100% wool, and works up very nicely. I went by Needles and Knits on Saturday to get two balls of Truffle for lining the hats - I should have walked out of there under $20 - $200 later... I have no yarn will power. None. What. So. Ever. And I have my Guild meeting tomorrow night. Best leave the wallet at home!!
I am soooo close to finishing the blue cotton socks, and have made great progress on the Tibetan Nun socks - hopefully, basketball practice, Guild Meeting and swimming lessons this week should give me the time needed to finish these two things so I can start a pair of socks for Hubby. Did I choose the Fly Fishing colourway? The Yukon (which seems to have people drooling...) or, or...

right. Neither of them. Meet Knit Picks Sock Memories Cape Cod colourway. I'm drawn to this, and I know hubby will love them. So Cape Cod it is.

Mor about our Guild Meeting tomorrow...

knit-a-longs

Socktober, Lacevember and other knitalongs got me thinking. Am I a joiner? I did the Knitting Olympics, and earned my gold medal (if I could only figure out how to post it in my sidebar!!) I did the Kerry Blue Lace Shawl knitalong at Knitting.About.com quite a while ago. But I ignored Socktober, although I knit tons of socks in October. And I’m ignoring Lacevember, although I have the perfect project – the twenty remaining rows of Icarus.
I’m not really sure why. I think it relates to my feeling about knitting something that someone REQUESTS. At that point, it ceases being my enjoyment, my relaxation, and it takes on the spectre of being my requirement, my job. I have enough trouble with my real job – I don’t need my knitting to become one too!
I have a number of projects on the go. (really? You didn’t know that?) I truly think this keeps me from becoming so bored with a project that I can’t face it any more. I salute those that can start a project and work on it exclusively until the final stitch is bound off and seam sewn and ends all woven in. And those people that don’t keep stash yarn, but only buy what they need for their current project?* My hat’s off to you. You can probably find your multi-head screwdriver in seconds, too.**
Lacevember seems custom made for me – you don’t have to start a new project, you can work on an existing one – they only ask that it has (purposely made) holes in it. I could do this. 2 good days and Icarus is done. But if I join, you know I will hate that shawl every time I pick it up because I will feel OBLIGATED to knit it. I am not obligated to my knitting, nor do I ever want to feel that way. You know of course, that I will finish Icarus this month, and probably start some other lace project. I may not join knitalongs, but subconsciously, I’m all there, baby!

If you're wondering about the lack of photos lately - there's just nothing new to show. Maybe an FO after the weekend...


*I hear there are such people. I’m very curious, mostly because I simply cannot fathom this concept. Then again, I have wool in just about every room in my house. I dare you to find a spot in my house to stand in that you cannot spot yarn from some vantage point. With winter coming, it can be argued that I am doing my part – wool is simply insulating parts of my house.

**My husband is a tool snob. Hates the multi-head screwdriver that I keep in my kitchen, disdaining it a “cheap crap”. So explain to me why I can never find it, unless I look on his tool bench, home to his DeWalts and Craftsmans?

Just a Fad?

I was at my son’s swimming lessons last week. There is an area for the parents to sit and watch while the kids swim, so I’m sitting there, working on a sock, as I am wont to do while sitting for any length of time. I often see people I know – with a son that swims regularly, plays soccer in the summer and basketball in the winter, as well as attends school; you always meet someone you know. It is a mid-sized town, after all. So I’m sitting there, and a woman sits beside me and exclaims “I thought it was you! I saw you knitting and figured it had to be you!” This woman was a neighbour about 3 years ago – her daughters and my son would play together, until they moved to another part of town. We basically lost contact not long after that. I was nice to see her and we chatted while we watched the kids swim and I worked on my sock. (Multi-tasker! That’s me!) Then she said something that kinda floored me. “I was actually surprised to see you knitting. I thought you would have gotten tired of it by now. It doesn’t seem to be as popular as it was.” Did I miss a memo? Are supposed to get tired of things every few years? If so, I either have to stop buying yarn or find a way to use it up quicker. In case you are wondering, I did answer her. I told her quite simply that to me, knitting is not a fad; it is something I plan on doing for the foreseeable future and beyond. I also brought up in conversation that I don’t knit just for the end product (as evidenced by the socks – no one knits socks just to have socks. You have to LIKE knitting socks to knit socks.) I knit for the process of it. I like every part of it, from buying the yarn, picking or designing the pattern, knitting the project and seeing the end result. No, I didn’t lecture her, and yes, she did lose interest soon enough.
Have any of you run into the “oh, it’s just a fad, you’ll outgrow it soon enough” crowd? Is it just me? Do I have strange acquaintances? I mean, I’m accustomed to being the only one of my family that knits, at least, regularly, but I’ve seen others KIPing, and our Guild membership is growing, so my feeling is that knitting is here to stay, and stronger than ever. It had better be – my kid’s inheritance is locked up in wool at the moment… Not that it would really matter to me. Of course I would knit even if it was deemed “not cool” any more. I may have followed the crowd to an extent in my younger days (bell bottoms? Check. Blue eyeshadow? Unfortunately, check.), but now? Now, I’m a mom, so automatically, I have the “not-so-cool” attachment. So knitting works for me. It also keeps me sane in this crazy whirlwind that is my life these days. People wonder how I knit as much as I do (I didn’t think it was that much, but any way). I tell them I have to. I carve out time in my day. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to smaller projects – easy to pick up and knit a few rows or even just a few stitches. Calming – you bet. Without it, well let’s just say I wouldn’t be the tower of calm, cool and collected you see here. Mmmphhh! Sorry – calm, cool or collected are not terms normally attributed to me. So you can imagine what I would be like without my knitting. Look at it like this – Survivor is a show I love to watch. If I were a contestant, you can bet I’d be knitting palm fronds, or coconut fibre, or vines, or SOMETHING! You need a roof? Give me a day, and some 200mm needles…

Superheroes and Princesses

We love Halloween at our house. Love it. Hubby becomes a big kid and will do all kinds of thing to put smiles on kid’s faces. Mind you, we don’t go to the extent like those you see on the local news, but we have fun. Hubby builds a wooden frame over the deck, and we cover it in mesh from which we hang multitudes of spider web material. Within this mass of webs, you will find all kinds of things – spiders of all shapes and sizes, skeletons that glow or light up and flying bats. (I’m holding him here – he hasn’t been hung yet).

The deck in the light (good flash!) and how it appears in the dark.



You can’t see the bloody eyeball lights, or floating ghosts and flashing eyed skeletons here. Too bad.

This spider was swinging right by the door, high enough not to scare the little kids, but he would swing right into the peripheral vision of the older ones – good for a jump or two!

Plus the pumpkins. We each get one, hence the 3 pumpkins, yet it always seems to fall to me to carve them. Hubby and son pick their patterns, and simply hand them to me. We will be working on that in future years. If it looks like 4 pumpkins – this year I chose a conjoined twin pumpkin and did the “scary mummy face on one side/wacky fun face with glowing eyes on the other. Fun stuff.

Young son was an alien, complete with electronic voice changer – worked like a charm!

Because we have a young child, and live fairly close to the school, we get a fair number of kids – Hubby, aka Statsman, keeps track of how many kids come during each half hour time frame. (He had better never call me anal again!). We treated over 80 kids this year, give or take a few when the crowds were big enough to lose track on the count. With very few exceptions, every little girl under the age of 10 was a princess or fairy or some combination of the two. And the boys? Superheroes. Superman, Batman, the Thing from the Fantastic Four, Spiderman, you name it. Made me feel safe, knowing my house was surrounded by all this super power.
The best house on the street? About 10 doors down – new owners, young couple with lots of friends. Graveyard in front lawn, with corpses rising out of piles of leaves, Gargoyles grabbing at you as you walked up the driveway, the witch on the porch handing out candy. Fabulous. But just when you think you’re safe, as the kids come back down the driveway (giving the first gargoyle a wide berth), the guy hidden in the hedges pops out. Scared the crap outta me, I tell you! I was standing not 5 feet from him, waiting for the kids, and never saw him. Full marks for the scare factor when you get the parents jumping out of their skins!

stash enhancement

So, while I was down at Mom’s last week, I decided to check out a yarn store in the area. (What? Wouldn’t you Google to find one if you were going to be a different area for a few days??) Mom’s neighbour came over for a while which gave me some time to take off and check out Linda’s Craftique in Port Credit. Very nice. A bit smaller than Needles and Knits, my regular LYS, and Linda stocks many of the same things, but I did find some things…

Hand maiden Sea Silk in a black/grey/brown colourway to die for. My LYS carries the Sea Silk, but she is sold out of it in this colourway (or she was the last time I was there).
And Bamboo yarn. I’ve heard about this, read about this, and so decided to try it. I haven’t swatched it yet – it seems VERY slippery, and I haven’t decided if it is going to be hand knitted, or run though the machine. I’m thinking slinky, slippery skinny scarves for Christmas presents…

Yesterday, I got home and saw a nice big box waiting for me! I had ordered some stuff from Knit Picks. I know, I know, internet shopping while on an emotional roller coaster is not the best idea, but what the hell. I’ve been wanting the S’mores sock yarn, and the Fly Fishing sock yarn (Hubby is a fly fisherman, I mean really! It was calling to me!) Plus, I’ve heard such good things about the Gloss wool/silk sock yarn, so I had to get some of it to try, and then I’ve been wanting to make a blanket of sorts from Mason Dixon – either mitred squares or log cabin, and their mix and match kit in the Storm colourway seemed perfect. I’m leaning towards mitred squares. Opinions?
Anyways, it seems I ordered more stuff than I remembered (that would be the emotional roller coaster effect, I think).
Gloss (Merino/silk) sock yarn - soft, sproingy, yummy! Concord Grape for me(I know, purple? NOT my usual colour!) and Dusk for hubby (maybe, this stuff is hard to give up...)

Sock yarn - the aforementioned S'mores (left), and Flyfishing (top), and the "oh yeah, I also ordered" Yukon (right) and Cape Cod (middle). Oops. But I'm not sending it back!

And the Storm "mix and match" kit. A little beige-er than I was expecting, but still, I have enough stash stuff to fill this out into a nice blanket-y type thing. If I ever get around to it.

Yeah - internet shopping while emotional - great for the soul, not so good for the bank account...

Oh, and boss update? Can we say Childish? He's now giving me the silent treatment. Remember back in school, when the popular chicks would OBVIOUSLY shun someone by turning their backs? Yeah, that's what I'm getting. I laughed out loud when he did it. Good thing he doesn't do my employee review...

tomorrow - Halloween pictures! We love Halloween at our place - lots of pumpkins! lots of decorations! Lots of candy!

I'm baa-aaa-ack...

Wow. It feels like I've been away for ever - from here and from my real life. And it was less than a week! But looking after a loved one, especially one's Mom, after surgery can really warp your sense of time and space. First off, Mom's great. Better than great. Other than being an emotional mess, she's doing fabulous. The emotion I expected - Mom's always been a pretty emotional person, but this level even caught me by surprise. A phone call would set her off, so I tried to get to the phone first, and let her know who was calling so she could compose herself. This got better as the week progressed, but when my aunt arrived on Saturday, well, the two of them just melted into a big tub of goo. My cousin and I just sort of stood there and chatted while the two of them sobbed on each other's shoulders. THey pulled themselves together, I got my aunt settled, and by late afternoon, I was on my way home. Of course, I had left my husband and son to fend for themselves for a few days. Anyone want to hazard a guess at the state of my house when I returned? Two men living without the boundaries set by Wife and Mom. Any guesses? You in the back? Right. Only worse. Hubby is a little lax in the "making Son clean up his toys/clothes/plates/insert anything here. Let alone cleaning up after himself. Geez.
But, my Mom is good, my aunt is there, I dug my kitchen out from under the Hubby/Son mess, and all is good again.
Knitting? Why yes, I did. (and I did a little stash enhancement too - stay tuned).
I finished the green ruffly scarf.

I made great progress on the cotton socks (before this week, I hadn't started the second sock)

I finished the first Tibetan Nun sock (I added a couple of sections of the yarn over, k2tog rows just for interest. I like it)

I made some great progress on my nephew's "comedy/tragedy theatre" hat. The grey is the hem that will be folded to the inside - it's knitted from Truffles, a cashmere/merino blend that is delicious against the forehead.

More tomorrow - must get back to work. I gather there were some snide comments being made about my absence last week. From the boss. Publicly. What an idiot. (I had a stronger term here, but in the interests of decency, changed it to idiot. My apologies to any idiots out there that take offense to being grouped with this person.

still here. still knitting.

Yes, I am still here, and still knitting. I've even effed some ohs! I finished the bowling theme hat for my nephew:

To be honest, he probably won't wear it unless his mom makes him. It may not be cool enough for a 7 year old. But, he may surprise me. He is very involved in his bowling league, so we'll see. I'm just impressed at how well my vision translated into the actual knitted piece. I'm having fun with the designing! Next up - the comedy/tragedy masks of the theatre for my actor/dancer nephew.
I've also completed the purple and black ruffled scarf, and started a green one. This stuff is very interesting to knit - although it is actually knitting, it feels so much different because of the technique. But the end result is pretty nice. (high praise coming from a fibre snob such as myself!)

The Tibetan Nun socks are also coming along - this shows the colour a little better. I've added some rows of K2tog, YO lace around the ankle - my SIL has issues with swelling, so this lace pattern tends to be a little wider than plain stockinette. Plus, I think it adds a little interest to an otherwise plain-ish looking sock.

Oh yeah - that stitch marker? Dropped stitch. Found just a row or two ago. Grrrr!! I'll sew in in when I am weaving in the ends at the colour changes, but still! Grrrr!

Mom should be coming home in the next day or two - she's out of ICU, and all the tubes and wires have been removed, and she's up and walking around, so it's all good. This also means that I will be off work for probably the remainder of the week, and away from home, as I will move into her place to take care of her until Saturday. My aunt is coming into town then to spend a week with Mom and help out. Not much internet access - I'm working on hubby to organize a laptop for me with wireless access, but we'll see. So, very little posting, and possibly no email access. Ack!! I'm not sure I can handle that. I may be a Luddite as far as daytimers go, (mine is still a paper and pen book) but I need my email access!
I should be at Mom's place for at least three days, and a lot of that time will be spent sitting with Mom while we watch TV, or talk, or pack the freezer with meals. Fabulous knitting time! What to bring, what to bring... Oh yeah, I should packs some clothes and stuff, too...

recovery update, and other ramblings...

Well, Mom is still in ICU, but that's only because there is not a bed available for her in a surgical room. Hopefully today. The doctors have cleared her for release from ICU, and she's antsy to get out of there. I am constantly on the phone it seems - calling the ICU to check on her (those nurses are the BEST!!), and spending the evening on the phone to family and friends, passing out updates. I have "point people" - one person that I call with info and they spread it from there, but even at that, there are 8-9 calls that are made each night, either in or out. I am beginning to hate the phone.
Knitting is continuing, albeit slowly. The Tibetan Buddhist Nun sock is coming along nicely - I'm almost done the gold heel. By the way, the colours are a deep burgundy and rich gold, not the pink and yellow as it appeared in the photo. And yes Tracy, I do have a Buddhist Nun SIL. Not that it means anything as far as I can tell. She does a lot for a Temple, and travels quite a bit, but she's always done that - she's a wonderful journalist and writer. She's met the Dalai Lama (and pronounced him "quite nice" - like what? we were expecting him to be an obnoxious ass??). She dresses in Western clothing, and has no food restrictions or any other restrictions that I am aware of, so personally, I'm thinking the "nun" thing is arbitrary, and not as binding as perhaps a Catholic Nun would be. I don't have fond memories of Catholic Nuns - as a left-handed kid in a Montreal Catholic school in the mid-1960's, good opinions were not formed when one TIED MY LEFT HAND TO MY SIDE TO MAKE ME USE MY RIGHT HAND!! (Can you tell that still annoys me??) Thankfully, we moved to Ontario quite soon after that fact, and I embraced the Ontario Public School System (and my left-handedness). Not surprisingly, I also dis-embraced the Catholic faith - while it means a lot to my Mom, I guess I'm more of a self-practicing person. No organized religion for me, thanks very much. I've been called a heathen, and kind of like it, so I go with that. As long as I try to be a good person, and "do unto others..." I'm ok with it.
Right. Back to knitting... (as she steps of the unintentional soapbox) Icarus has been ignored lately - charts and worry don't get along, but I hope to pick it up again soon. I'm on the third of 4 lace charts, so I really want to get this done.
Hopefully, pictures to come...

48 Things You Could Care Less About

1. FIRST NAME? Technically, Marie, but I go by Sandra

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Full name is Marie Sandra Jacqueline - the Marie is from Mary (you know, the famous one? the Virgin and all that?), Sandra is just what my parents liked, and Jacqueline is my Godmother/Aunt's name.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Geez, my Mom is in ICU for god's sake! I'm crying alot! Plus, I can cry over books (Anne of Green Gables when Matthew dies - Little Women - Beth), TV show, movies, life in general. Part of being my mother's daughter.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Actually, yes. I'm a big list maker.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Rare roast beef, or Montreal smoked meat.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably. I'm kinda fun, very generous and a really good listener.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? um, hello? What are we looking at here? Other than the blog, I don't really journal my life.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Nope. They snagged them when I was three, thinking they were the cause of my illness. They weren't. I had a kidney disease called nephritis. (all better now!)

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? You betcha! I'm so jealous of my friend Neff who bungeed in New Zealand!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? When I eat cereal, I usually reach for Golden Grahams or Harvest Crunch.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Not if I can help it. THis annoys my husband to no end.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically - not bad. I was in way better shape when I was younger. Emotionally strong? you wouldn't think so, but I rise to the occasion when needed.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? I had this once - I wish I could remember where - soft serve chocolate with maraschino cherries. I bought an ice cream maker just to duplicate this - I'm pretty close. ALso, mamacate's recipe for brown sugar ice cream - to die for!

14. SHOE SIZE? I was a 7 until I got pregnant - now I'm an 8.

15. RED OR PINK? Red. Although I've been told I look good in pink.

16. LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOU? My belly. and my inexplicable need for gossip!

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Hands down, my Dad. For the past 11 years, I've missed him every single day.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Of course. It goes back to the need for gossip and info. Let me know if you do this on your own blog...

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Since I'm at work - black pants, black t-shirt, periwinkle blue knit hoodie. Black clogs that look like hiking boots, but are open at the back, and I don't need to wear socks.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Breakfast - coffee, english muffin with peanut butter and a pear in the car.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The Body Rockers - I Like The Way You Move. (Very cool song)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Green

23. FAVORITE SMELL? babies just out of a bath.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Loretta, the ICU nurse looking after my mom. She is the coolest woman in my world right now.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? eyes if I'm looking from the front. Butt otherwise.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? I've never met Cara, but I like her nonetheless.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Local Ontario beers (Creemore in particular). Single malt scotch. Good red wine. Fresh, cold spring water.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Curling (D'uh, what's my name?) Basketball.

29. EYE COLOR? Green

30. HAT SIZE? Huge. Seriously, I've got a melon up there. (You'd think I'd be smarter...)

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Glasses. I wore contacts for years, and abused my eyes doing it. Now I'm into glasses.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Too many to choose from. Hubby and I both like to cook, so we eat pretty well.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Both. depends on the mood.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer. especially at the cottage. But it's hard to beat a cold, crisp sunny day with tons of snow...

36. HUGS OR KISSES? yes, please.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? I'm not a huge dessert fan. I love the sweets, but I don't particularly like them after a good meal.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Lucky or TracyKM

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Since I'm not sending it to anyone, and depending on people to jus tread it, who knows?

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Pirate by Ted Bell. Main character Alexander Hawke. I'm a big espionage, murder mystery, thriller type reader. I don't necessarily need my books to teach me life lessons. I get enough of that in real life. Of course, the Harry Potter books, Narnia Books, and some other classics are piled by the bedside at all times.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? nothing. I don't seem to express myself with mouse pads very well. However, I have most of Franklin's cartoons pinned up on my wall right above my mouse pad...

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Tuesday is a bit of wasteland for me. We watched How It's Made on Discovery, then some baseball, then Jay Leno. Tonight, it's Criminal Minds - I loves me some Mandy Patinkin...

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? My son laughing. A really great song. My mom in ICU asking for a martini.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Aruba

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Geez. I'm not telling anyone that!!

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Montreal, Quebec, Canada

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I stole it from Cara.

Okay - your turn. DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT! You know you want to.

she's great. thanks for asking.

Mom is doing great. She came through the surgery fine, was in ICU overnight, and probably through today just in case, but they got the blood flow going well. She had a "small cadiac incident" during the surgery, but the anesthesiologist told us (my brother and I) that she was not concerned, Mom reacted well to treatment, and they don't think it was an infarction (i.e. heart attack). We'll know for sure later today. She was still intubated last night when we saw her around 5pm, but they removed the tube last night, ans when I called the hopital at 6am this morning, they even let me talk to her! She sounds great - things are good.

It was long day yesterday - we got to the hospital at about 9:30am, because Mom is absolutely paranoid about being late. I mean, really. I thought I was bad about getting places early - she's unbelievable. (Her surgery was scheduled for noon). They did recommend getting there for 10am to check in, so I guess we weren't remarkable early, but there was still a lot a waiting with her. So we get checked in, and then wait some more. Around 11:15, they call her in. SHe gets changed, we get asked all the same questions (are you pregnant? is my favourite - Mom's 74). But they asked this one of me the last time I was in hospital. For my C-section. My answer was "yes, but not for much longer, I hope!") Anyhoo, we met the anesthesiologist, who drugged Mom up pretty well, and got all the lines in. Then off she went, and it was back to the waiting room for me, adter a quick stop at the TIm Horton's in the lobby. Thank god for that - no cafeteria coffee - just lovely dark Tim's (large, black, double cupped, please), and a bagel. Here's the cool part. I come into the waiting room, and grab a set of the 50 or so that are there. I take out my book to read while munching the bagel (cream cheese and knitting don't mix well). There's a lady 2 seats over, also reading and having a bagel. We finish our bagels at pretty much the same time, put the books away, and BOTH OF US TAKE OUT KNITTING. We both looked up, laughed, and I commented that only knitters would sniff each other out in such a large room! Sue was making a fabulous wool/silk sweater, and we sat comparing patterns, and petting each other's yarn. We started talking yarn, and she was describing the yarn she was using as a small independent mill, couldn't remember the name - I threw out "Shelridge?" and nailed it! Turns out she's familiar with Wellington Fibres as well, one of my favourite locals! Talk about kindred spirits! Her husband was in for day surgery, and he came out fairly soon afterwards, so we parted. Of course, another 2 ladies saw me, and parked nearby and we talked knitting. They were lapsed knitters, but I'm pretty sure both of them are picking it up today.
So, how much can one knitter accomplish in a hospital waiting room during a day like that?
This much:



That would be the toe and most of the instep of a new sock - Tibetan Buddhist holy colours for my Buddhist nun SIL. Yup, really. I have a Buddhist nun SIL. THe bowling pattern hat for a nephew. I had the black hem part done, but did a little over half of the colour work - you can see the bowling balls, the upper part will be bowling pins. And a scarf. This scarf is a new yarn by ON LIne, and I have totally forgotten what it is called, but it is basically the same as Lion Brand's Ruffles, but the ON line is a two colur yarn. It is very cool to use, although it severely slows me down. YOu have to measure out about 4cm (or so, insert the needle into the mesh, and then knit. On the speed upside, the scarf is only 7 stitches wide, and the ruffles and soft, and full and luscious. Quick Christmas gifts, here we come! (two balls, 4mm needles, around $20 each).





Coming up... a 4 things meme...

eye candy Friday, and other things...

The last time DS and I were at the Zoo, we went into one of the rainforest exhibits. DS is learning to use the digital camera, and snapped this. OK, I'm his Mom, but really, for a 7 year old, this is pretty good!

An FO! An FO! Another one for the Christmas gift box! These are for my 22 yrs old nephew (Actually, I think he's closer to 24, now. I've been calling him 22 for a few years now...) Anyway, he's a jazz musician/dancer/actor, and really appreciates the hand knits. He'll love the brightness of these socks, along with the unexpected shots of brown. Plus, he's getting a hat with the comedy/tragedy masks of the theatre as well. As well as money. He always needs money.



Well, Mom is having her surgery on Monday, so I'm off to spend the day in the hospital waiting room. There's a bonus to being a knitter - waiting rooms don't really bother me. I will be well stocked - Icarus shawl, All-but-forgotten-just-after-I-cast-it-on alpaca shawl, and socks. Always socks. Plus some water, snacks and I'm set for a few hours.
Thanks for all the good wishes for my Mom - this shouldn't be too much of an ordeal, and she should come through with flying colours, better than ever. She needs to. She loves to walk, and this arterial blockage is curtailing her ability to do so. Plus, as she says "there are grandchildren to play with!" You bet there are, Mom, and they will be waiting for you when this is all over and done with.
Once the surgery is done, she'll be in hospital for a week or so - I've arranged as many visitors as she is up to - People will be calling her to talk, or dropping by if she wants them to. (Mom is Quebecois French - she HAS to talk. Alot. and often.) Once she's home, I will disappear from here (and work) again for a few days to stay with her and do what's needed. There's a few more good knitting days while we sit together and talk. (always with the talking...)
So, if I'm scarce over the next little while, you know why. When I get back, I hope to have a whole whack of FO's to show.
(Just how big is a whack, anyway? I've always wondered that...)

Thanksgiving, and some questions answered...

Thanksgiving at the cottage - is there anything better? The weather was fantastic - we didn't need jackets during the day, and in the evenings, jackets only, no mitts or hats or anything. (That does kind of break a knitter's heart, but the time will come for the woolies!) DS didn't need to wear the Alien Hat, but we did bring it, which garnered orders for a bowling theme (7 yr. old nephew), fish theme (BIL) - I'm working on that one now, and the comedy/tragedy masks for my actor/dancer 22 yr. old nephew. He's very cool, and never asks for anything, so this will be a joy to design and knit.
I did make a dent in the red and brown socks - I had one done, and the second toe and instep done - I'm now at the top ribbing, and once that's done, there's another addition to the gift box! I also did some work on Icarus - the rows are getting so long, it's an accomplishment to get 2-3 rows done in an evening. But It is beautiful. I'm glad I made it in the same alpaca as my Florence Scarf - Icarus is a gift, and since I already have a blue alpaca shawl, it will be easier to give away. Plus, my SIL will love it and take care of it.

This doesn't really show how absolutely beautiful the colours were on the weekend, but most of the pictures have identifiable pictures of the kids, and well, I don't post those. That's just me. This rock face is just back behind the cottage, and down the road a bit. I took the kids back there, and lay in the sun while they climbed. Seriously, I could have been wearing shorts, it was so hot! The boys were having a blast climbing up, finding a way down, climbing up, down, up, down, etc. Man, to be 7 years old again. The only worry these two had was whether or not I had brought snacks along, or did we have to go back to the cottage to eat.

Since I love getting comments, and want to continue getting them from my multitudes (okay, 4 or 5) of readers, I feel like I should answer some of the queries.

First - the Home Depot foam squares - they are sold as foam flooring for workshops. I guess to make it easier when standing for long periods. The store I bought mine in had them on an endcap - a large display at the end of an aisle. Home Depot buys these in bulk direct from the supplier*, and therefore merchandises them as promotional items. Meaning, they could be anywhere in the store, but check the flooring section first. What you are looking for are the foam flooring tiles. They are used in workshop applications.
(*this is some insider information, thanks to what I do for a living, and who I work for. Let's just say, if you need to cover your hard surface floors with something attractive, talk to me. Actually don't - we don't sell to the public. It's just a figure of speech).

CatBookMom wanted to know about thrums, as in the thrummed mittens. CBM, the nature of the thrum keeps it firmly in place. The thrum is simply a small piece of roving, or unspun wool. I make mine about 3 inches long. They get knit along with the regular stitch, creating a sort of duplicate stitch on the outside of the item (heart-shaped, just like you said), and on the inside, the two ends of the roving hang loose. Now, they aren't really loose, i.e., they won't work their way out unless you are an amazingly loose knitter. Once all the thrums are in place (I usually space them about 4 stitches apart, 4 rows apart, and stagger them), all the ends hanging inside form a kind of mass that you shove your hand into (in the case of mitts). After a few wearings, they form to your hand, and kind of felt into place, locking those babies into place for eternity (or, as in the case of my son, a few months) He's 7 - a tough age on mittens, if he even keeps them that long. I love them, and will make myself a pair one of these days - I have some incredible Fleece Artist roving that I am hoarding for myself, plus the alpaca roving that is mine, Mine, MINE! (can you tell I'm in love with it?) But first, I must finish the green and yellow ones for my nephew before he changes hockey team colours...

now I've done it...

I've committed to finishing something. Our Guild has a UFO challenge - list your UFO's and see what you can finish by June. For every project finished, your name goes into the hat for a draw prize. (And a NICE draw prize, I must say! Needles, patterns, yarn, all wrapped up to discover!)
So I've committed to finishing my one mitt wonders:

Now, I have to find them, and try to remember the pattern for the Thrummed one. You see, I kinda made it up as I went along. I'm hoping I wrote it down, but knowing me as well as I do, the chances are not great!

What else, what else... Oh yeah, Tracy wanted to know about the machine knit slipper pattern. Tracy - it is a variantion of the Marlena pattern from the Daily Knitter - theirs is hand knit, but seriously, It's just a giant rectangle that you felt down after sewing it up into a slipper shape. Stupid easy.

Monday is our Canadian Thanksgiving - and in my world, that means a long weekend at the cottage with lots of turkey! We are heading up tomorrow morning (other plans for tonight), which gives me 2+ hours of knitting on the road. Plus the same on the way home Monday, and the hours I can squeeze in on the weekend itself between stuffing and cooking the turkey, eating the turkey, rolling away from the table... Plus the regular cottage chores - taking the boats out, taking one dock out, clearing out the gardens, etc. We're winterized, so we don't do a complete shutdown.

Next week will be spent trying to get things organized with respect to my mom's surgery - time off, kid care, all the other detritus of daily life. The fun never stops. I can't wait to hear my HR idiot's reaction to the time off I need.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

some administrative stuff...

It's only happened twice, but that's two times too many for me. If you are anonymous, and post a comment about how to make money or some other stupid thing that has nothing to do with the post; I WILL delete it. I do not want to set up comment moderation that makes you do extra steps to leave comments. I love the comments! I love reading them, knowing that people out there are reading my ramblings.

Don't make me reach through cyberspace and smack you upside the head!

God, I hate spammers.

finally! some knitting!

Yes, here at Curlerchik Knits, there is actual knitting going on. For those reading that are also members of the York Region Knitting Guild, what you are about to see is a repeat of the live performance from last night.
Presenting, the Alien Hat:

This is a modification of the "We call them Pirates" hat, a free pattern from Hello yarn. I've made the pirate hat, and love the shaping of it, and Hello Yarn kindly provides a blank template, so my son (the Alien fan) and I sat down and designed the Alien Hat. (Actually, since I am such an Excel geek, I transferred the pattern grid into Excel, and DS and I sat down at the computer and designed it. He created the basic shape of the Alien head, and I made it more knittable, by putting the shapes in between to get rid of extra long floats. He did a pretty good job, I think! The green is a little brighter than it appears here.
As I said, I do like the shape of this hat - it fits my head without giving me the lovely "Yarn Harlot looks phallic head" look, so I grabbed a skein of Wellington Fibres Merino/Mohair blend, and voila!

I love this colourway (called "Royalty" no less!), and it is slightly more muter than it appears. The only thing is, this one is slightly bigger in circumference - because there is no stranding to "pull in" a bit, it comes out bigger. But that's ok, it still fits, and the Truffle merino/cashmere blend I used for a lining is delicious against the ears and forehead.

I also did a little work on the machine - trying to stock up Christmas gifts, and decided slippers were good for this year. It's a simple pattern - simply a large gauge, loosely knit stockinette stitch rectangle, seam up the back, gather the toe and seam the instep/ Toss in the washer, and felt away. Here's the interesting part - different wools will felt at different rates. These three pairs were all knit to the exact same size, and all felted at the same time - Can we say that the striped Needful yarns "Joy" felts at a slightly faster rate than the Gjestal Naturyarn? I guess my size 9 wearing sister-in-law is not getting striped slippers yet.

Anyone know a little girl with about a size 13 - size 1 foot? Scratch that - I just thought of someone...

On another random note...
LuckyCanuck and I were talking recently about blocking boards. She was looking at a blocking board to order, and I told her what I have recently acquired. I thought I would show her (and anyone else reading this). This is a great product - easy to use, easy to store.

There are 4 squares in the package, each 2 foot square. They store easily behind a door or under a bed, pins stick in beautifully, and they can be configured to fit just about anything - a square, 4 feet along each side, and rectangle 2 feet by 8 feet, or for triangular shawls (my upcoming Icarus comes to mind...) I'm thinking three across, and one below to handle the point.
The foam is very think (almost an inch), and very sturdy. A bonus? The black side is great for photographing knits (see above). Matte black, no glare. I bought mine at Home Depot for less than $20, but I'm sure they are available all over.

And for those that were asking about my Mom - many thanks for your concerns. We had the surgeon's appointment yesterday, and we are looking at some major surgery in the next two weeks. Nothing that she won't get through, but the next month or so will be a little tense around here. There will be some leave time taken from work, and some emotional time with my Mom (she's French, overly emotional times are de rigeur for her). My brother and I will get her through this, with the help of friends and family that has already been offered. The upside? (other than the fact that Mom will be out of pain and way more mobile soon) - Lots of knitting time. Waiting rooms are great for that.

being pulled...

in so many directions. I've heard my generation called the "Sandwich Generation". We are caught between providing care to our kids, and to our parents. Today, I'm home with my son, who is coughing up a storm and has been all weekend. We've been to the doctor, and his lungs are clear, but I just can't send him to school when he's coughing every 30 seconds. Here's hoping he's better tomorrow, because I have to leave work early so I can meet my Mom at her vascular surgeon's appointment. She had a small procedure to clear a blockage in her leg a few weeks ago, but the blockage was too big and they couldn't clear it arthroscopically. But the doc said there was nothing to worry about, keep exercising and we'll look at our options. Fine. Now she gets a call last week and he says, "I read the angiogram wrong. I'd like to see you Tuesday". She's a little freaked. (Mom gets a touch emotional). So, to make sure we are getting the right info, I'm going with her to hear what he has to say. 12 years ago, Mom had a quadruple heart by-pass and it was the best thing she ever did. She looks and acts younger now that she did before the surgery. But now, she's getting worried again. And to be honest, so am I. No one wants to realize that their parents are getting older. Even though Dad died 11 years ago, I expect my Mom to be there for me forever. I have to be confident that whatever needs to be done for her will be done, and she will be better than ever. I need to hear that myself from the doctor.
Oh, and the other direction I'm being pulled? Work. They've called alot today. If I'm that damn indispensible, get me an assistant, fer gawd's sake!!!!
Knitting. Yep. I've finished the Alien Hat. I hope to be at my Guild meeting tomorrow night to show it off, and maybe get a picture taken so you non-Guild members can see it too...

sorry...

I've got nothing. Work has exploded around me (and not in a very good way). Very little sleeping has been done, even less knitting. I hope to have the alien hat done soon, so please come back and check.
Can someone warp the time-space continuum for me? I need about 8 extra hours in the day - just for a couple of weeks... or months...
Send chocolate...

pen pals

I remember when I was in grade 5 - our teacher arranged for us to be pen pals with another school. It wasn't very far away, certainly in the same district, but far enough away that we didn't know any of the kids we were writing to. Elizabeth and I kept in touch through the school year, and a little bit beyond that. We gradually lost contact over the next few years. Fast forward 4 years later - grade nine. Small fish in a big pond. My high school drew from about 3 or 4 middle schools, and my middle school sent very few kids to this particular high school, so those of us that went were pretty close knit (most of us had been in school together since the first grade). We made up a small contingent of the incoming grade nine class. You know what's coming next - the 10 or so of us that had been in grade 5 together met up with a contingent of niners from another middle school - yep, our pen pals were there! At the time, we were very impressed with how it worked out. Of course, looking back now, it seems out grade 5 teachers knew what we didn't - that for the most part, we would meet up again in grade nine, since she knew how the school boundaries worked. Still, at the time, it was very cool.
What the internet has given us (certainly me), is the opportunity to recreate the concept of pen pals. Maybe not in the traditional sense of the word - there are very few hand written missives being sent along snail mail routes. Email and forums (fora?) and chat rooms have become the new pen pal venues. I know, whenever I log into the Knitting.About.com forum, I will see familiar names, and some new ones. Many of the posters I consider friends in a loose sense of the word. For the most part, we've never met, and probably will never meet. Others have become friends in our 3-D lives (Hi Lucky! Hi Tracy! And some become a little bit more than just a name on a screen. Take CatBookMom for example. A while ago, on the forum, she made a comment on Chibis, those bent tip darning needles that everyone in the US seems to be talking about. I commented that, being Canadian, I have never seen them in the LYS's I frequent. (Admittedly, I rarely venture to downtown Toronto - I'm a suburban chik!) She took pity on me and sent me this




How cool is this? All the way from Burbank, CA. (I will always associate Burbank with Johnny Carson) And, she is promising to come to Toronto to visit. In summer, she says. I think our winters scare her. CBM - anytime you want to come, Lucky and I will roll out the hand knitted carpet. I'll even try to wrangle the Yarn Harlot for you. (I'll have to bait the traps with beer, veggie quesadillas and the promise of more new yarn at Tove's).

By the way, I still write letters. Not to my original pen pal, but my university roommate now lives near Cincinnati, and I have a cousin in St. Sauveur, Quebec. I write (intermittently, I admit) to both. There's nothing like getting a hand written envelope in the mail.

CBM, get ready. I know I promised Fleece Artist in return, however, all the FA I have is sock weight - not your favourite. I went to my LYS, but her supply of FA was not what I was looking for (as much as I love the Chibis, I coudln't bring myself to send you the FA cashmere. But if you come to visit this summer, I'll bet some goes home with you!) I wanted to send you someting uniquely Canadian, so may I introduce you to Shelridge Farms. (can you see the little flag on the label?) Four ply, worsted weight, hand dyed, superwash wool. Sproingy, delicious, and the blue and purple you crave. The blue is called Misty Blue, and is nicer than the picture shows. The purple is Eggplant, and the depth of colour is wonderful. Mix them up. use them individually, whatever turns your crank. I just hope you enjoy them as much as I will the Chibis. Now I can start sewing in the ends on projects!
(I'm heading to the post office tomorrow, right after I go to the dentist. Sending luscious wool to a friend should offset the bad karma of a dental cleaning.)



And speaking of karma, help me deflect the bad stuff away from Stephanie - she had a book deadline and a shawl deadline both coming up on Saturday. We really want her to make both, so I've offered myself up as a "bad karma sacrifice", so that she gets only the good vibes. Dude, I've got your back.

10 knitterly things...

I was reading Grumperina, and she had a meme - 10 knitterly things about you, so I considered myself tagged...

1. although I've known how to knit for decades, I've really only become a Knitter in the past 4-5 years. I'm still surprised that I'm a reasonably good knitter. The woman who taught me told me to never be afraid of a pattern. So I guess I never learned to worry about techniques tht were new to me. I can usually figure them out. (And if I can't, I have Tove or Elizabeth nearby!!)

2. I joined a Guild, not knowing what to expect, and discovered how much I love being part of a knitting community. I wish we met more often.

3. (This one isn't just about me) My entire extended family (with the exception of hubby and son) thinks that knitting is the ultimate in geekiness. Most of my friends do as well. No one will tell me this to my face. I think they like the gifts.

4. I always have at least one (if not many) pairs of socks on the go. I cannot imagine not having a pair of socks in progress. The mere thought of that makes me nervous. (maybe I am a geek.)

5. I have multitudes of knitting projects on the go - socks, something in lace (currently, Icarus), some ancient UFO's that I'm deciding whether to carry on with, and assorted other small projects (currently a skull hat and an alien hat).

6. I don't seem to like knitting sweaters. I always have the best intentions of making them, but the projects fall by the wayside. The last sweater I made was the Sigridur from the Best of Lopi book, and I finished it last spring, just in time for summer. I don't have very good timing.

7. I rarely keep anything I knit for myself. Although, I did keep Sigridur, and I have 3 pairs of socks that I knit.

8. I love giving hand knits as gifts. WIth the size of my Christmas gift list - this is a serious undertaking. Crazy? yes. This is not a surprise to many of my friends.

9. I have achieved SABLE status - Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. And I'm not finished buying yet. Tove's shop has everything at 25% off right now...

10. I'm a fibre snob. I used to knit with synthetics alot, but I just cleared the last chunk of acrylic from my stash and gave it to a friend who uses it for charity stuff. I love the natural stuff, and even better, I love the stuff from local or small mills. The more unique, the better!

Lucky and Tracy, I'm tagging you for this meme!

quickies...

This title should bring out the weirdos from Google...

I finished the green regia stripe socks - another for the Christmas box! Okay, gift for the best man from our wedding - check. 9 million more gifts to make/buy/decide on? check. Sigh. I need more time already...



Someone asked me once how I cast off my socks, since I do a toe up style. The first time I did this, I bound off as I normally do (slip one, knit one, psso, knit one, psso), you know, the standard bind off we all learn. Of course, there is very little stretch to this, and well, cutting off one's circulation at the top of a sock? Not attractive. Then I met Stephanie. The first time she visited Aurora, I picked her up at the subway and drove her to the shop. As I drove, we talked, and she knit. She was trying a new sock pattern - toe up - and was casting off the top. SO she shared her cast off with me, and I've been using it ever since. (She doesn't. I see she's back to top down, heel flap and gusset socks). The cast off is simple - knit two together, put the resulting stitch back on the left needle, and repeat. Knit this loosely, or go up a needle size. It works very well for me. It does flare a bit when the sock is just laying there, but as long as it is comfortable on the leg, who cares how they looked shoved, (sorry, folded neatly...) in a sock drawer?



Sorry for the flash-y pictures - I usually take the pictures early in the morning before the family awakes (remember? secret blogging?) and it's too dark these days to take pictures outside, so you get my kitchen table instead. I'll do better son - maybe a session of weekend pictures...

You know, considering I really had nothing to say today, and only a picture of socks, I've stretched this entry out quite a bit. Next up for these needles - some of the denim-y merino I bought in Kitchener - hubby needs a new pair of socks!

arrrrr, mateys....

Today be International Talk like a Pirate Day,

Capn Aetheflaed the Drunk Toe

What is YOUR pirate name?

or:
Dirty Mary Kidd

or:
Iron Mary

or:
Agnostic Ted Napier

or:
Horse Hung Harry

depending on which Pirate Name generator you use. I kind of like the Drunk Toe part. It makes no sense, which suits me just fine.

And yes, at breakfast today, my son did ask "what crawled out of the bunghole today?" (we school him well on all the important holidays...)

Knitting, you ask? Yes, I do some of that...

as promised, here are the cotton stretch socks. I am very happy with these - nice and cushy on the foot, perfect for someone who walks alot - and my son's sitter does just that. Along with being a fabulous influence on my son, she is always walking around, so I hope these are well used. And using 3mm needles, means these just fly! Compared to the 2mm I usually use for socks...
Last night at swimming I got in a solid 20 minutes of sock knitting - tonight's basketball practice, and I should be well along on the final ribbing of the green regia stripe sock. SO I may have another FO soon!

same old, same old

Usually, when you are like me, and have multitudes of projects on the go at one time, you tend to have pictures of progress, or fininshed objects. Or, you get to the point that I'm at now. Progress, but infinitesimal on each of the multitudes, so it's not really worth sharing.
Icarus. One more row until I start the new charts. Woo Hoo. I'm starting to hate this shawl. Good thing I'm giving it away. Although, by Christmas, I'll fall in love with it again. I just know it.
Socks. the green regia stripes are the portable project of choice at the moment. I've got about two inches left on them, so they come to work with me (lunch time gives me about 10 minutes of knitting time), and they come to son's swimming lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays (20 minutes on each of those nights), and basketball practice on Tuesday (a solid hour here!) Hoping to finish these this week. Then I can pick up one of the other "in progress and need by Christmas socks". Sigh. I guess it's January before I get to knit for me.
Did you notice my schedule above? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - each of these things start at 6pm, so I race home from work, grab child from sitter, grab needed clothing, give him a snack to munch in the car, race back out the door and get him to pool/gym in time. Fun. Then home afterwards and try to put together some dinner. More fun. At least the twice a week swimming is only for three more weeks - then we get the much more civilized once a week mayhem. Oh yeah, basketball is also on Saturday mornings. No cottage for a while.
Okay, now some good news. Good vibes directed my way would be appreciated. I've applied for a couple of jobs that would take some of the stress away. One is a long shot, and the other is probably too litte money, but we will wait and see. Fingers crossed!
Pictures soon, I promise. Hubby took the camera today, which is a drag - Son and I went to the Toronto Zoo on Saturday, and we have some great pictures - need to download these ones!

I got nothin...

Zip. Zilch. Nada. I've been working on Icarus, trying to get the boring ladder lace part done so I can start the interesting feathery part. So, I finish the "five repeats of rows 19-42", and think - WooHoo! now I can start the next chart. Of course, I neglected to read ahead. I still have to repeat rows 19-34 once more. Sigh. More boring ladder lace part. So Icarus still looks like a pile of tangled blue string. (Nice alpaca string, but string nonetheless). Nothing else is finished. (Have I shown you the finished sage green cotton socks? No? Sorry, my bad. Pictures to come.)
Work sucks. They have dumped on (sorry, "asked") me to take on a whole new role IN ADDITION to what I do right now. (I somehow don't recall being asked, but whatever). I have tentatively agreed (in their minds, this constitues an acceptance), with the proviso that some of my other responsibilities get re-assigned. Still waiting for this. Somethings going to blow, and soon. They think SLIGHTLY more money will make it all better. Wrong. More time off would be much more appreciated, but that doesn't seem to be an option. Dang.

I can't beleive we are halfway through September - my Christmas knitting is somewhat behind. I still have 5 pairs of socks to finish (and in some cases start), Icarus, A hand dyed chenille lace scarf, a silk scarf (Yeti, Yeti, Yetiiii!!), and possibly 5 hats to do. Plus, 8 pairs of felted slippers (machine knit, very quick), and a sweater for DS - also done on the machine, so again, pretty quick. I could finish the ribbing on a cotton sweater I started for Hubby a couple ofyears ago - that would be a good gift...

Boy, I sound cranky, don't I?? Thank God it's Friday. I really need this weekend.

So, any Survivor fans? It's too early to pick faves yet - 20 people and 1 hour - no chance to get to know anyone. Cao Boi should be interesting...
And Lukas wins Rockstar! Canada is two for two on this reality show!!

what did I start?

Well of course I started SOMETHING...
Lucky had it right - I did cast on for the Atacama alpaca shawl. and frogged it and recast it on. I hate poorly written patterns. Lucky, call me and I'll give you the modifications. The pattern as written is close, but not quite...

HOWEVER... I also cast on a pink cotton chenille washcloth. And frogged it. and recast it on. and frogged it. Cotton chenille has even less stretch than regular cotton, so the cast on is horrible. I need a new one. I'm looking into the tubular cast on, and also looking at other patterns. I'm not thrilled with the Mason Dixon chenille pattern. Interweave has a flower petal shaped on - anyone remember what issue? Never mind - Google is a wonderful thing, and I found it. (Winter 2003) I cast that one on in navy blue, and so far, so good, but making the five petals and attaching them? Not my favourite thing. So the hunt continues. Yes I know about the Dishcloth boutique, and there are a couple there I am thinking about...

I spent Monday night and most of yesterday at my Mom's - she's doing fine. It gave me tons of knitting time, as my most pressing thing to do there was to keep her lying down. Mission accomplished. We sat and watched TV most of Monday night. Great knitting time. I'm finished the 5 repeats of the ladder lace part of Icarus, and will be starting the feathery bits next. I did some work on the Atacama alpaca shawl and some work on the green Regia sock. I'm so close to finishing this sock, and then the pair goes into the Christmas box! It also frees up the needles for some of the sock yarn I bought in Kitchener - I'm thinking Hubby would like some of the denim blue...

Tonight - son has swimming lessons - more work on the sock - then the Rock Star Supernova finale! Will Lukas win it? or Dilana? As much as I want Lukas to win (a fellow Canadian), I think it's going to be Dilana. That's ok, too.