Knit Girl

Check Out My New Blog

2010-02-25T19:07:00.000-05:00

I am no longer at this blog address. I have changed direction...you'll find me here. Hope to see you there :D

Thank you for all your visits!!!

I'm Alive!

2009-11-15T22:59:00.001-05:00

..., originally uploaded by Knit Girl (loving autumn colours).

Hi All,

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted ... not even sure who's out there anymore.

I (and the rest of my family) have suffered through the flu/colds. But I'm back. Knitting classes went well for fall. I'm still needing to finish one more before Christmas, but I'm waiting for materials to arrive. I'm hoping to get everything this week.

I also have to finish a few hats this week. I'm knitting them to sell for commission so I'd like to get them done and sent off by Friday or Saturday. I"ll post pics later this week.

Need to get my girl to bed...goodnight and I'll talk to you soon.

B.

THERE is another Loneliness

2009-09-12T10:12:00.002-05:00

THERE is another Loneliness, originally uploaded by ✿ Eἧchลn†resŞ ✿.

This picture was found on Flickr -- what I wouldn't do to be able make magnificent shots like this! *sigh*

Hmmm...not sure why the picture is cut off on the right -- just click on the photo for the full experience :D

I Don't Tweet...gasp

2009-09-11T23:30:00.003-05:00

Hello All,

So, as some of you may or may not know, I don't trust robots! I have claimed they will take over the world some day -- and you can take that to the bank. In fact, I have recently been told that I am a Luddite. And after doing a bit of review, I think I would concur with that statement. I really do not like technology: I have a Facebook account, but I rarely check-in (yes...*gasp*...there are some people in the world that can get along just fine without checking in every five minutes to make sure nothing new has happened, or whatever they seek to find); I have never checked out Twitter (I don't need to know that you picked your nose five minutes ago and the bleeding just won't stop); I truly hate cell phones (I mean, what phone call is so important that you have to answer your cell in the middle of the freezer section in Costco!); I've never owned a PDA (since I prefer to handwrite all my to-do lists...anything else is just, well, wrong!); and what is up with people downloading books to read on their i-phones? Do they not know there is nothing better than the feel of an old book in your hand (not to mention the great "old-book smell"!).

Perhaps it is because I am a tactile person. I love the feel of something real in my hand -- the silkiness of a child's hair, the rough texture of my dog's coat, the buttery-goodness of alpaca mixed with wool or other loverly fibres. I suppose I'm a bit old-school. I have no desires for new technology. Okay, yes, the internet is a valuable tool and I love that my house is heated because someone took the time to invent the furnace. But when it comes to these other things, I just can't get on board. I've had a couple friends and family members try to give me the hard-sell on the importance of technology and the advances it could make in my life. But in the end, I would rather sit curled up on the couch on a snowy day, wrapped in a blanket with a steamy cup of chai tea at hand, and a wonderful novel in my other hand. Or my latest knitting project. But this world is free of beeping noises that can drive a person crazy if they are left unattended to.

So I am proud to say, I don't tweet...and my life is richer than I ever thought it would be!

Has It Been 10 Days???

2009-09-10T21:02:00.002-05:00

Woah, ten days since my last post! I've been busy prepping for upcoming classes, working on my Knitting Accredidation Program, getting ready for company, and on and on.

Tonight while websurfing I came across this great video -- for all those knitters who always need to be doing something with their hands, I give you...The Last Knit.

Enjoy,

B.

First Day of Grade 5

2009-08-31T20:39:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone,

My dd had her first day of Grade 5 -- it was an exciting day as she started at the middle school! She was a bit nervous last night, but came bounding in the house today exclaiming school would be a piece of cake this year.

On the knitting front, I've been working on a pair of worsted weight socks for a class I'll be teaching at the end of the month. It's a pretty easy pattern and works up quickly because of the weight of the yarn. I'm just making ankle length socks -- wasn't sure how the pattern would knit up, and I didn't want to waste a lot of time frogging it if pattern didn't work. But it is great basic pattern and you could do a lot with it.

On the reading front, if you haven't read her book series, I highly recommend you pick up Kate Jacobs' books The Friday Night Knitting Club and Knit Two. Such lovely books! I could read them again and again. After you've read them, here is a fun website to go to.

Well, that's it for tonight. I need to get my girl into the tub and off the bed! Have a great night everyone!!!

Fiberlicious!

2009-08-26T10:38:00.003-05:00

Fiber is yummy!

Look at these beautiful colours! Anyone would be crazy to not want to pick this up and feel how squishy it is in your fingers. It just begs to be held and made into something extraordinary. In fact, my toes are screaming at me to create, create, create so that they will be warm and toasty -- and gorgeous.

The possibilities are endless. I could do a plain sock and let the colours blend themselves into loverly patterns, I could cable them, I could make them lacy, I could zig-zag the striping! My head is swimming with ideas.

My thoughts race through the countless sock patterns I have in my library -- each one beautiful in it's own category. This is going to require some thinkin'.

Until then I will hold it's squishy-fiberlicious goodness in my hands...

B.

Why I Do What I Do

2009-08-21T15:28:00.003-05:00

Hello my loverly friends!

In my office/yarn studio I have a lovely little Christmas tree decoration my mom gave me this year. I keep it out though, because it sums up what I do. It is a knit sweater with a ball of yarn and knitting needles -- it says "If I'm sitting, I'm knitting"!!!!! It makes me smile every time I look at it. Not only because it reassures me that my mom "gets me", but because it affirms that I am not the only one in the world who fills their free time with wonderful art of knitting.

So, one might ask me, why do you do what you do? Well, I love to create things...plain and simple. That is why I love doing pottery -- you take a hunk of clay and with the use of a wheel and water, you can create anything from a small bowl for trinkets to a huge vase as tall as a man. Creating is why I love painting and drawing -- you have a blank canvas in front of you and your imagination guides you. Being creative is why I love photography -- you can manipulate light to create beautiful images out of simple every day things. Being creative allows me to discover new things as I knit -- you can make a simple pair of baby booties to warm little ones on cool days or can knit a shawl with cobweb-weight fibre that is so light and airy, and so complex, that even the spiders bow down to you in humble adoration!

I think the other reason I love to create something from simple items, is because I find it extremely therapeutic. The rhythmic spinning of the potter's wheel, the pedalling action of spinning wool on a wheel, the gentle breath held while pressing down the shutter button...or the quiet clicking of knitting needles. It helps me relax and puts me in a great frame of mind. If I am angry, I create. If I am happy, I create. If I am sad...I create. There is something wonderful about doing something creative to take your mind off the worries of the world. There is something wonderful about doing something creative that puts you in a better frame of mind. There is something wonderful about doing something creative that helps you relax and put everything into the proper prospective.

Hmmmm...I just had an epiphany...

What better form of therapy for inmates than to teach them to knit. Can you imagine the peacefulness of a knitting circle reforming convicts everywhere? Men (and women) righting their wrongs through the power of fibre! Maybe they could knit for a good cause -- Hats for the Homeless...Ascots for Addicts...Scarves for Smelly Cats...

However, they would probably use the knitting needle as a weapon. Whew...who knew knitting could be so dangerous!

Poster Idea

2009-08-15T21:35:00.005-05:00

What do you think? If you saw this poster, would you want to take a class? BTW, that is my picture I took so I'm not breaking any copyright laws...

So Hot!

2009-08-11T22:12:00.004-05:00

Okay, I have realized the last couple of days that I do not do well in extreme heat. Don't tell anyone, but I am longing for those cool crisp sunny days of fall. I love the sun, but there is just nothin' better than taking a walk on a sunny fall day, coloured leaves crunching under my feet, and a crisp cool air that invites one to curl up after with a good book, or a ball of yarn and some sticks.

I really don't like this heat. Perhaps if our home were air-conditioned, thus allowing me to comfortably curl up in the evening with my knitting in hand and a cup of chocolate caramel chai tea at my side, I would feel joy that we are in the middle of a heatwave. However, the house doesn't even begin to cool down (with the windows all wide open in the evening) until well past midnight. So I sit in sticky sweaty clothes, staring at my knitting bag. I tried to knit last night, but quickly gave up because my hands were sticky-feeling and the yarn just doesn't run through the fingers like it should.

Autumn has always been my favourite time of year, and right now, with the excitement of knitting classes coming up, I just can't wait for fall to arrive. *gasp* I know, I know. We had a long winter and a cold, crappy spring...why kiss away the warm dog days of summer? Only a true knitter would understand, I suppose. Or maybe as I grow older (and more grumpy) the heat just gets to me. I like days around 22 degrees (Celsius), but nothing makes me happier than waking up in the morning with the window open allowing a crisp, cool breeze to wash over me.

Have a great night everyone -- stay cool!

Exciting News

2009-08-04T11:12:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it's been so long. I've been busy with photography as of late and I am returning to my other true love...knitting...and writing...hmmm...so many loves, so little time.

Well, as for me I have decided to take the plunge and start up a small business here in our new community. I am going to start out of my home teaching knitting classes, selling finished projects, and selling a few products. The closest knitting shop is about 2.5 hours from here...too far in my opinion. I am going to be offering knitting classes starting this fall as I work on my business plan. After a year I will re-evaluate where I'm at, and hopefully find a storefront I can work from. Oh, what a dream come true that will be!!!

Why now? Well, I am currently working two part-time jobs which, let's be honest, I don't exactly jump for joy about. And for the amount of money I bring in each month, I could be making the same amount (or more) and really love what I'm doing.

Have a great day everyone -- it's good to be back!

Missing Thunder Bay

2009-01-17T00:24:00.001-05:00

Split Rock Lighthouse, originally uploaded by Knit Girl2006.

I'm really missing Thunder Bay lately. There is just so much to explore and capture with my camera that I didn't have a chance to do before we moved.

This picture is of Split Rock Lighthouse in Minnesota. I REALLY had wanted to go back and take more pictures some day, but we have since moved two provinces away. They have a neat Visitor's Centre with tours that we never had a chance to do. I took this picture at the end of the day as we were driving back to Thunder Bay from Duluth, MN. The ladies were really kind to let me race outside and snap a couple pictures before they closed up for the day.

Such a beautiful and amazing place!!!!

I have been knitting a ton of stuff lately. I'll take a few pictures in the next few days and post them. I've been doing a lot of commissioned knitting projects, and still selling at our local shop. Actually, one of the ladies I've knit a few projects for lately has asked if I would consider teaching knitting here in town. She and a few others are interested in learning. I told her I would think about it this next couple of weeks and get back to her. I would really like to -- it would be a great experience!

Well, better sign off. I have to work at the restaurant tomorrow so my boss can have the day off. I'm pretty tired, so I'd better get to bed! Have a great weekend. I'll be away until Tuesday...tah tah for now :D

B.

It's Been A Busy Week...

2008-11-20T22:39:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Crazy times around here this last week. My daughter was involved in a play which she had a lot of fun taking part in. I was so proud of her -- I think I had the biggest smile in the whole theatre.

Life at the restaurant/shop has been busy. I knit another couple of scarves for the shop. The one was only in the shop for two hours and it sold! I was pretty happy about that -- however, that means I need to get some more of that wool. I really liked the design I came up with. I even sewed three wooden buttons along the one edge. That way when you wrap it around your neck, you can fasten the buttons to make it into a chunky collar.

I really liked knitting this one -- it was fast! I think it only took a couple of hours to knit and sew the buttons on.

The other scarf I made was a more "Christmasy-type".

I knit up some corkscrew tassels for the ends and knit a basic stripped rib-style scarf. There has been a lot of interest in this one too.

Even better news, a lady came into the shop on Tuesday and asked if I could knit up a commissioned scarf for her for a Christmas gift for her mom. I got all the details she wanted written down and I had a chance to start it last night. I'm pretty excited about this one! This is my very first commissioned private sale!!! :D

I'd better scoot -- gotta get my daughter to bed so I can keep on knittin'...

B.

"And the 'Lame Parents Award' goes to...

2008-11-12T20:46:00.003-05:00

...me and my hubby!

So here's the story. Our daughter is in a play in town and today was the dress rehearsal. She needed to have her outfit there -- simple...black pants, black socks, a colourful t-shirt, and black shoes.

So it was about 10 mins before we were to pick her up from school and take her to the theatre for dress rehearsal. I gathered up everything we needed and found her black shoes. I checked the size because they looked a bit smaller than the shoes she now wears. I panicked when I saw the size -- I was sure they would be too small. And I compared them to a pair of her current sneakers which revealed they were a pinch smaller. Okay, okay...don't PANIC!!!

So my hubby and I started to bounce ideas off one another -- she could wear a pair of mine (too big), she could just wear socks (stage might be too slippery or her toe will get stepped on and she will have a meltdown), what to do, what to do...

Then I saw a pair of white sneakers you can buy at Wal-Mart for $3.98. I joked that I had a black permanent marker upstairs. Perhaps we could paint them. Then hubby had the brainstorms to end all brainstorms. He had black spray paint in the garage! We could spray paint them black -- after all, it would be quicker.

So with minutes to spare before having to pick up baby girl from school, he sprayed them black. At first, I thought to myself, "Hey, not bad!". But then I ran them into the house and pulled out my hair dryer to dry the paint on the rubber while hubby went to pick up our girl. As I was drying these horrible looking shoes, I told myself, "Don't worry. It will give her something to talk about in therapy one day." Thankfully they dried rather quickly, but they reeked of spray paint! Poor kid...

Just then my hubby got home and said that she tried on her old pair and they fit...barely! Woo Hoo! She won't be a social outcast!!! You can take that "Lame Parents Award" and shove it...well, until we might possibly need to receive it again at a later date. :D

B.

Winter Is Coming...

2008-11-05T16:52:00.001-05:00

Pumpkin Graveyard 2, originally uploaded by Knit Girl2006.

Hi Folks!

Just thought I'd drop by and say a quick hello. I sold another scarf today and as I was leaving work, my boss said, "Go home and knit!" Sheesh! You don't have to tell me twice :D

So what has been rockin' my world since my last post? Not much -- I was working on a design for a scarf, but I just hate the feel of the wool and the colour is just so "in your face". Today I began carding together some alpaca and border cheviot to get a nice heathered yarn. I was planning to doing a bit of spinning tonight, but I also need to get started on a couple more scarves for the shop. So much to do, so little time...

I decided to post this nice "pumpkiny" picture -- if you click on it, it will take you to my Flickr page and you can read the description about the Pumpkin Graveyard here in town.

Better get going! Lots to accomplish tonight.

B.

Skweeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

2008-10-26T15:09:00.002-05:00

Woo Hoo!

Friday was an AWESOME DAY! Two of my knitted scarves sold at a local shop and I've been asked to make some more...SWEET!

Then my Knitting Accreditation package arrived in the mail as well as a spinning book I ordered.

Me soooooo excited! Just had to share -- back later.

B.

Oh How I Love Thee

2008-10-17T21:24:00.001-05:00

Oh How I Love Thee, originally uploaded by Knit Girl2006.

As much as I like our new home, I am REALLY missing urban living!

Note: to the left of the picture is a scarf I knitted up with some handspun...alas, there was not quite enough to make it super long. I made it for hubby for Christmas, but he doesn't like short scarves. So now I am unsure what to do. Should I frog it?

Utterly depressing!

My daughter has a friend over tonight from school for a sleepover. They are busy playing Littlest Pet Shop while "watching" a Suite Life of Zach and Cody video that they absolutely needed to rent for the evening. Sheesh!

Better go pop some popcorn...and possibly frog this latest completed project. :( (*sigh...*)

Knitterly Love

2008-10-16T22:07:00.003-05:00

After a long hiatus from knitting (and blogging) I have returned. I have been busy knitting to sell a few things at a local shop. Although there is no knitting shop within a 200 km radius (hopefully I can change that someday...), I have been using up my stash. Last night I spent two hours dyeing some handspun (I'll post pics tomorrow). Other than dyeing with Jello, I have never attempted this on my own. I wasn't sure how things would turn out, but I was quite pleased with the results. I chose to dye the yarn a combination of blues and purples. I also have a rust coloured dye, but I'll save that for another day.

I have started thinking of a couple projects to make my DH and DD. But this whole "working thing" sure cuts into production time! Yeah, yeah...I know. In order to replenish the stash, one must commit to some form of working outside the home. However, work must be done to earn the "moo-lah". So, hi-ho...

New Vintage Wheel

2008-10-14T17:46:00.001-05:00

New Vintage Wheel 3, originally uploaded by Knit Girl2006.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Well, I was able to win this lovely little wheel off eBay. I just got it this weekend. It was made in 1988 and needs a bit of lovin'. It has a shellac-type finish, so I am hoping to strip that off and it needs a light sanding. Some of the wood feels a bit rough to the touch, so I think a light sanding should help. Then I'll stain and wax it.

I also need to look into getting a few extra bobbins. It came with one tiny one with only one speed. I need to do a bit of research to see what will work since even the bobbin was handmade. I'm a little concerned about the orfice. It looks to be a bit rough where the wool comes through to feed onto the bobbin. I'm worried it will fray the fiber as it feeds through. It is also missing a piece of leather that holds the whorl onto the one maiden, so I need to figure out what I can do.

I am really looking forward to restoring this pretty little wheel. My hubby will help me out, so I'm pretty excited to get this going. Better go. Need to make dinner...

Lacy Bokeh

2008-10-03T11:10:00.001-05:00

Lacy Bokeh, originally uploaded by Knit Girl2006.

Ahhhhhhhhh....

A combination of my two favourite things: knitting and photography! I have been busy working on five scarf projects. A local restaurant owner is expanding her business to include jewellry and a variety of giftware. She has asked me if she could sell some of my scarves on commission. I was pretty flattered and excited.

I'm also hoping to sell some of my photography in town. There are a couple of places I would like to check in to.

I also signed up through the Canadian Knitter's Guild for a Knitting Accreditation Program. It is a five level program that you work on at your own pace. By the end of it all, you are able to design your own projects, complete a thesis, and earn your accreditation of "Master Knitter". SWEET!

I would eventually like to open my own yarn shop. There are no knitting shops in the town we moved to and the next best place is two hours away. I've been trying to shop online, but quickly become frustrated that many places either don't have what I'm looking for or they are out of stock for various yarns or colours. YARGH@*%&*#&%!

Also, I miss having a place to gather with other knitters in a funky, warm atmosphere sharing a love for the craft and textile things. I am not finding that here -- I am definitely missing it.

Anyway, I need to go finish my last scarf -- the shop reopens next Tuesday and I want to have everything ready to go. I also need to design some funky tags for each scarf. Gotta go...wish me luck!

B.

Knittin' Kitten

2008-08-23T10:48:00.002-05:00

Well, I've been back to clicking the sticks -- I'm glad it has been a relatively cool summer. It has lead to some great knitting opportunities. I'm working on a scarf right now (pics will follow soon). Once I find a job (we've relocated to Saskatchewan), my plans are to purchase a spinning wheel. Sweeeet!

That's all for today -- lots to do and can't wait to get at it! Talk to you later.

B.

I've been telling you robots would take over the world...

2008-07-18T14:23:00.002-05:00

Hi All,

Well, my DH and DD went to see the movie Wall*e a couple weeks ago. We met up with friends after work to see the show -- honestly, I was exhausted and really wasn't interested in watching the movie at all. So, my plan was to hunker down in my comfy-cushy theatre seat and have a bit of a snooze.

The movie opens and my sleepy eyes start getting droopier by the minute. But after a short time, something in my subconscious told me to sit up and take notice of what is happening on the screen. Much to my dismay, I soon realized that the "helpful" space robots in the movie are actually taking over for the human race. I leaned over to my husband and said (in my best I-told-you-so voice), "I told you robots would take over the world." From that moment, I watched the rest of the movie making mental notes on what I must do to protect myself and my loved ones from the onslaught of the impending robot invasion!!!!

Oh...you laugh now, but you won't be laughing later my friends...

Have a great weekend,

B.

Getting Back to Basics

2008-07-07T13:15:00.002-05:00

Hello Babies,

I am back...and getting back to basics. A lot has been happening for us lately and so returning the the "basics" has slowly become an essential for dealing with everything.

First of all, we are moving...back to Saskatchewan. Arron got a call to serve three parishes there, so we are off at the beginning of August.

Secondly, I've been missing my knitting and spinning. Yep...there you go. I was sitting on the couch the other night and the breeze coming in through the window was so cold, it actually felt like fall. I promptly headed downstairs, grabbed some wool and sticks, and headed back upstairs. After I snuggled in under a blanket with a movie playing and my favourite bevie beside me, I proceeded to knit with some handspun I made quite some time ago.

It was wonderful and I've missed it a lot -- I forgot just how relaxing and therapeutic it is for me. I've been wanting to spin too, but since I am no longer part of the Spinner's Guild in town, I haven't been renting a wheel. I do have my drop spindle, so I think that will have to suffice for the moment. At least until we get moved. Then I would like to save up for a wheel.

I'd better go -- tah tah for now!

B.

Have You Missed Me???

2008-03-18T19:37:00.003-05:00

Well, not sure who's even out there anymore, but I shall blog nonetheless!

I had another great friend contact me on the weekend indicating she missed my blog entries. So, for all you who miss me out there...I'm back.

I've been pretty busy since Christmas. I finished working at the portrait studio -- long story short...I was mislead on some key things regarding my employment. But shed no tears my pretties because I am currently working on setting up my own photography biz. Once I have the website up and running, I will be sure to post that.

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting as of late -- was so busy working into the evening that by the time I drove home (25 min drive) I spent the remainder of the evening with my family. Also I have been doing a lot of photography lately. It has been quite a therapeutic outlet for me. The joy it brings me far exceeds anything else (hobby-wise). *gasp* ... even knitting!!!

I didn't join the spinners' guild this year because I was always working on the evenings they have their meetings. So, therefore, I no longer have a spinning wheel -- which I really do miss. I love how relaxing it is. Well, I have a job interview tomorrow, so if I get the job, I can always save up to purchase my own wheel.

Madeline is taking piano lessons -- me so happy! She seems to be enjoying it emmensely. She practices without me even asking...I'm sure that will end.

I have so many blogs to catch up on!!!! Reading and writing. Well, hopefully there are still a few of you out there...look forward to hearing from you if you're still checking in.

Merry Christmas, Friends

2007-12-26T10:31:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Yes, it's been a few weeks since I've last written, but the busy season at the studio is over for the moment.

I have a story to tell you all. Now, hunker down in a nice warm blankie...you're going to love this one. In fact I'm sure that future generations will write legends about it.

As most of you know, my dear hubby is a pastor. So, as a result, we live a long distance from family and friends. Ever since my baby girl was a baby (she's now 8yrs old) we have pretty much been on our own for Christmas. The first Christmas we were on our own, we decided to start a new family tradition. I really didn't want to cook a huge traditional turkey dinner for just the two of us (baby girl was only 6 months old at the time), so we began our first annual "Traditional Non-Traditional Christmas Dinner". We decided to have anything but turkey for our Christmas dinner. Over the years, we have cooked everything from chicken breast to BBQ'd steak. But never turkey.

This year, a couple of days before the 25th, we thought maybe we should just buy like a turkey breast. But when we realized that would cost us almost $25.00 we figured it was cheaper to buy a whole turkey for the roastin'. So, we ventured over to the turkey section of the meat dept to check things out. My dear hubby, whom many of you would know to be ... frugal ... starts to rummage around the freezer full of turkeys. Wouldn't you know, he found a turkey that was mispriced. As we danced around in glee, truly believing this to be a Christmas miracle, we decided to feast upon turkey this year -- after all, turkey was no longer a Christmas traditional meal for us. So it would definitely fall into our "Traditional Non-Tradition Christmas Dinner" category.

So, you're all wondering how much this 13lb bird set us back???

It was priced at $0.13, but with our Club Card, it only cost us $0.07!!!!!

Can you believe it? A 7-cent turkey! Well, you can see where the rejoicing took place, especially when the store gave it to us for that amount for being honest in telling them about it. There was singing and dancing throughout the land! And, as I said before, I'm certain legends will be written about it some day....

So yesterday, after the Christmas service at church, we rushed home and had a quick lunch. My baby girl got back into her pjs and we finished unwrapping our gifts (we usually open a few on Christmas Eve and we open our stockings in the morning before church). After the gifts, I went to the kitchen to prepare the sacred bird for the roastin'. Several hours later, the three of us sat down to a Christmas feast we had only dreamed about...turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and more! We ate so much we decided to bundle up and go for a walk outside to get rid of the overstuffed feeling.

Such a fantastic day! And the topper...I got a new lens for my camera!!! EEEEEEEE!!!!!! So excited!

Bye for now -- I wish all of you a VERY Merry Christmas (don't forget, it didn't end on the 25th...there are still 12 days of Christmas left!!!). God's blessings to you all!

P.S. My hubby pointed out yesterday that wasn't it coincidental that our $0.07 turkey was purchased for Christmas '07...hmmmmmmm...

Happy Advent Everyone!

2007-12-02T18:31:00.001-05:00

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. As per our family tradition, today after church we decorated our home for the upcoming Christmas season. It is always a fun day filled with decorating, remembering, and snacking on our favourite appetizers to end the day.

However, I need to back the day up for you...starting last night.......

Yesterday the snow began to fall -- truly a beautiful sight! Light fluffy flakes slowly cascading down covering the ground with a beautiful blanket of snow. Evening came and the snow continued to fall slowly to the ground. A quick peek out the window before bedtime and I fell asleep with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head (...in case you haven't noticed, I LOVE snow...it is truly beautiful! I couldn't imagine living somewhere like California where snow is an oddity!!!)

I woke up this morning to the sound of my hubby chuckling to himself. His comments about the snow had me scrambling to look out the bedroom window. We got at least 15 inches of snow...and it was still coming down! I quickly dashed outside with my camera to try to capture just how much is out there. Enjoy!

(Our driveway leading to the church parking lot)

(BBQ anyone?????)

(Backyard was thigh-high in most areas)

(I kinda felt bad that my new baby, Bella, was all nestled and dry in the garage while everyone else's car had to be cleaned off and dug out...NOT!)

Well, after that I showered up for church. We had record numbers out at church today. We live out in the country beside the church. Including my family of three, there were five of us in total!!!! I guess most people were snowed in. But it was a wonderful service this first Sunday of Advent.

After that we headed home, changed into comfy clothes and, after a quick lunch, began our annual "Day of Decorating". The following are a few images of our wonderfully decorated house. I LOVE Christmas lights! I would have them up all year round if people wouldn't look at me so funny -- not that I care, really. Have a wonderful Advent season everyone as we prepare for the season of Christmas!

(Fontanini Nativity Set)

(Even the Littlest Pet Shop creatures came to love and adore the baby Jesus!!!)

(Ornament on our craft tree)

(Our slowly growing Christmas village)

(Angel on Fontanini Nativity Set)

Hello Out There...

2007-11-30T21:22:00.000-05:00

...Is anybody still out there? I have been rather negligent in updating my blog as of late. Christmas hours at the portrait studio are crazy for the next few weeks. So I haven't really been on the computer at all lately. I checked my e-mail today ... over 400 unread messages!!!! Yipes!

Also need to knit -- spinning hasn't even been in my thoughts (I've missed the last three meetings!!!!) Just too crazy right now. Be patient with me. After Dec 13th, things will slow down a lot. Until then, I will probably be away from the computer. I need to also update my pictures (organize them). They are sorrily misfiled right now and undated!!!

Better go -- I've been sick the last few days with a sinus infection so I've been off work. Back to work tomorrow, Sunday off (we'll be decorating the house for Christmas), and then back to work next week. Take care and stick with me!!!!

Still Here...

2007-11-10T07:22:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it has been awhile since I've last posted. Work has been keeping me pretty busy -- but I'm no longer hauling bread...

I got a job as a portrait photographer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hello...dream job!!!!!!!! :D

It has been quite busy since Christmas is coming and most of my shifts have been from 11am to 8pm (the only negative side to the whole thing). I miss having dinner with my family during the week. But it's only until the new year. Then the studio goes back to it's regular hours (10am to 7pm).

I have really been enjoying it. I love working with the kids and babies. It's a lot of fun and I'm so thankful this opportunity came up for me. It's been a real blessing.

The dark side of it all is...I haven't picked up my knitting for a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipes! By the time I get home from work, I just want to hang out with my family before Baby Girl has to go to bed. Then I crash on the couch with hubby to catch a couple of sitcoms, CSI, or a reality show (Survivor & Amazing Race) and I'm out like a light.

I have tomorrow off, so I'm hoping to pick up the sticks while hubby watches football -- Go Riders!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!! Riders rock!!! :D

Have a great weekend everyone...I'll try to keep in touch more regularly.

The Black Hole

2007-10-14T19:52:00.000-05:00

The Black Hole ... that's what I affectionately call my purse. Because anything that goes in...never comes out! Well, except my wallet -- c'mon a girl's got spending needs.

The Black Hole (or TBH) has never been an issue of concern for me in the past. Probably because the stuff that goes into TBH is either irrelevant to my daily life, or stuff I really don't care about (ie: rocks my daughter finds during our walks, paint sample cards, socks, tourist info from months ago, etc). But last week a great friend of mine and I were comparing the organized state of our purses. My friend, "J", is extremely well organized. I envy her. She is my friend who has got it together. She is a truly "born-organized" kinda gal. So as I was checking out her neatly packed purse, I thought, "Hey, for fun, let's check out mine!" I was rather shocked and dismayed at the things I was able to pull out of TBH.

I went home that night and lost sleep. I was concerned that my friend had been up all night worrying about how disorganized I am and how she could help cure me. So today when I saw her, I told her that I would love to have her help me get organized. "J" is now my new "organizational guru".

You need to understand something about me. I am totally disorganized, I live in a house of clutter, I never know where my car keys are, and I have a calendar for appointments which I rarely use. Oh, I have subscribed to the organizational stylings of FlyLady (which I do highly recommend). But I am the type of person who goes all gung-ho for a few days and then I fizzle out, usually because I am completely overwhelmed by all the chaos surrounding me.

To sum it up the best ... I am "flighty". Not in an "air-head" sort of way. Rather, there are so many things I want to do in my day, but not enough hours in the day to complete them. So then, I do everything half-a**ed and eventually give up on many things because I can't get them all done. Oh, by the way, I am a perfectionist -- big time! I'm sure my husband wishes I were a perfectionist when it comes to keeping the house clean and organized. LOL! However, it is sort of the opposite. I create such a huge "To Do" list for my day, that it is all so unattainable. And then the perfectionist in me figures, "Well, I can't do everything perfectly, so what's the point of starting". As a result I end up with piles of clutter, a very messy house, tons of laundry, hundreds of hobbies/crafts started and never completed, piles of unread books beside my bed, hours of my life wasted looking for my keys, phone calls and e-mails never responded to, panic over conflicting appointments...I think we can all see where this is going.

Ergo, I needs me an organizational guru. Enter "J". Did I mention that I envy her??? She is the epitome of organization! Even if I can organize a few things in my life, I believe life would be that much smoother and sweeter.

And who knows -- TBH might even become a tiny compact world of organization! Dare I dream?

4659...

2007-10-11T17:15:00.001-05:00

...and counting...

That's how many people are ahead of me waiting to be allowed to enter the hallowed halls of Ravelry. Don't ask me why I am so excited ... it's not like I have the time to spend scouring the pages and pages and pages of the loverly goodness. However, I will make the time. I will sacrifice. It will make me happy.

Work is busy as ever and I really thought by now my body would be beaten into submission. Alas, it was truly a pipe dream. I realize that now. My bruised body continues to scream profanities at me every day I come home from working at the bakery...although, to be honest, at least my toenails don't hurt anymore. The people are nice and I love the customers, but let's be honest with one another...this princess's body was not built for the physical labour. My inner princess has truly been a brat yelling at me for making her suffer through all the lifting, squating, kneeling, stretching, hauling, sweating, and power walking. She really has been spoiled! As I am typing this blog I have seven severely coloured bruises, four broken fingernails, and to top of my day today, I ran over the top of my foot with a bread rack that is approximately 6 1/2 feet high and maybe 7 feet long loaded with bread. Ouchy -- that smarts! But on the plus side, since I started last week I have lost almost 5 lbs. Now it is just convincing my body that this is all good! Hard to do at 5:30 a.m.!

Knitting has ceased for a few days. For one reason -- I'm just too tired at the end of my day to pick up the sticks. So I've been browsing through all my knitting books and magazines looking for potential future projects. This is about all I'm capable of at this point. I tried casting on for Shadir, but my gauge was waaaaaaayy off -- much too big! But I don't have a circular needle smaller than the one recommended, so it will have to wait. I started a lacy scarf the other day, but didn't really like the way it looked. I even thought about designing my own pattern for a cabled hat for my dear hubby, but it required far too many brain cells which were already complaining that I'm going on overload. So, I've turned to a more calming activity of browsing through books and magazines.

I've really been wanting to do some cable work and I thought my handspun Cotswold would work up in the most loveliest manner for these...

Hmmm....tooooooo many decisions. Brain shutting down ....................

Honestly...How Do They Do It?

2007-10-03T18:39:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Okay, so I haven't totally recovered yet physically from the aftermath of working yesterday. In fact, if it's at all possible, I think I hurt even more today! Yipes! I am so totally out of shape it's not even funny -- I'm pooped!!!!!!!!

So on the knitting front, I totally frogged my last project with my Cotswold handspun. It really wasn't working the way I hoped. So I started another lacy-type scarf the other night. It is getting too dark here for the natural light, so I'll take pics of it tomorrow after work. I'm planning on working on it tonight, so hopefully I'll have something to show for it by tomorrow.

Well, it's a short one tonight folks. I am too pooped to pop. Hubby is working tonight and I need to muster up all my strength to get my baby girl to bed and myself. Early morning tomorrow and then I have Friday off (WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!). But then I have to be at work by 7 am on Saturday morning -- how yucky is that!!!!

Have a great night everyone.

A Whole New World of Pain

2007-10-02T18:36:00.000-05:00

Hi Babies!

Okay. How do I put this...I am experiencing a whole new world of pain. Why? I started my new job today and it was crazy busy. Actually I didn't really notice the actual physical pain until I got up from having my lunch break today. That's when my body pulled back on the reins and said, "Whoa there, cowgirl! Just what do you think you're doing?" Every muscle was screaming from exhaustion. And I still had a couple of hours to go!!!!

I spent the morning learning about where they keep everything in the bakery and making sure the bread wall was full of product. This meant carting stacks of trays (sometimes 10 high), unloading them, putting away empty trays, bringing boxes out of the freezer, date-stamping the product, putting the product on shelves, breaking down boxes, taking boxes and garbage to the back, and then doing it all over again ... at least three more times!!! I have a whole new appreciation of grocerers and the work they do -- it is absolutely non-stop. And in between all of that you need to greet customers, anticipate their needs and generally help them out. Crazy stuff! And exhausting! But rewarding. I really did enjoy myself despite the fact that at this very moment, the muscles in my typing fingers are saying to me, "Seriously? You're doing this? This...this...TYPING thing. You realize it's physical, don't you?" I feel like an old lady as I'm about to say this, but all I want to do right now is soak in a tub of Epsom Salts and rub Ben-Gay/A5-35 on EVERY aching muscle in my body. Well, except my eyelids -- that would just be silly!

I sat down about 15 minutes ago to sit and do a bit of knitting. My body just laughed and laughed at me. So I figured it would be a little less strenuous to type -- however, I know that after I finish my body is going to go on strike and refuse to move. I don't care. I'll sleep in this chair -- I will, I'll do it!

Hey, slight change in topic. Has anyone out there checked out the new Monday night comedy called "The Big Bang Theory"? I think it's on CBS or something -- it is hilarious. Probably my new favourite show. You simply must check it out -- it is an intelligent comedy!

Well, my baby girl is finished showering. I need to do her hair -- tomorrow is picture day at school. So, you know, gotta find something for her to wear and all that. Better go -- I need to be up before the crack of dawn and it may take me that long just to walk down the hall to my bedroom.
...

This just in -- my daughter needed a fresh bath towel. This required me to convince my muscles they simply must work together and get me down the hall.

...They just laughed in my face...

I Got A Job! :D

2007-10-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

Hello, Beautiful Peoples!

Well, today I started my new job. I am working at a local grocery store in the Bakery Dept. The Bakery! Oh, but it smells sooooo loverly there! :D May God help me!!! For I am weak when tempted by loverly baked goods -- especially homemade bread/buns. Yum! Dream job...

Today I just went in for orientation and some informal testing. Tomorrow I begin -- and I'm guessing it will be busy. It's the first Tuesday of the month which means 10% discount day for shoppers, plus it is the week before our Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. I tell ya, they're gonna baptize me by fire this week!

Overall, I am very excited -- mainly because I got a job, but also because it is something new and different. And for the most part it is weekdays during school hours. So that works out really great. My hubby can pick up my baby girl from school, help her with homework, and by that time, I'll be getting home. I may have to work the occasional Saturday. But I'll find out more about that tomorrow.

On the knitting front, I've been working on a new scarf -- a lacy one. But I think I'm gonna frog it and start something different. Mainly because the colour of the wool is a dark chocolatey brown. It's the Cotswold I spun up before returning the wheel to the Guild. After I spun it up, I wasn't sure how nicely it would knit. I was pleasantly surprised -- it's quite lovely to work with and I don't think it will be too itchy. Perhaps I'll keep working on it ... but the pattern doesn't show up very well. I think I'll pick a different lacy pattern and use 4mm needles rather than 5mm. The stitches don't seem to be as tight as the picture looks. Maybe it will be different after I block it. Hmmmmmm....decisions, decisions, decisions.

Better go feed the brood! Thanks for stopping by. And please people, please post a hello -- I'm feeling like nobody reads this blog. Well except for Ann (thank you Ann for always posting a comment -- it really makes my day!!!!! The rest of you...please, make me feel loved!)

Happiness Is...

2007-09-28T15:00:00.000-05:00

Do ya know what happiness is? Happiness is finishing not just one project...but two! Doin' a little victory dance over here -- whoop whoop!

First of all...I bring you the Lacy Kerchief Scarf. Pictures of the wool I used can been seen in my previous blog here. I believe the brand name is Natal and the name that I used is Luxury. I can't find the band. It is made up of Baby Alpaca, Silk, & Polyamide. It is definitely luxurious and I just need to block it to really show off the lacy pattern along the border. It can be worn as a shoulder wrap... ...and I also made it a bit longer so it can double as a scarf. Yummy! I am so excited to wear it!!!

The other project completed are my Jaywalkers!

Yay me :D

Again, you're gonna kill me...I've misplaced the band. Actually it's probably downstairs in my "craft" area. Currently there are a billion things on my tables down there and it is most likely in that mess. It is a Socks that Rock sock yarn with silky silk in them! Again...yummy!

Well, that's all for now. Will write more on the weekend...

Got Wool?

2007-09-26T11:22:00.000-05:00

Hello Hello!

I was playing with my camera this morning and took some pictures of my latest in handspun! I finished my Cotswold and thought I'd take a few pics before setting the twist. I was playing with PhotoShop and did up this poster...what do you think???

I'm Too Pretty To Do Math!

2007-09-25T16:36:00.001-05:00

Hi Peoples!

Well, I haven't been blogging to much as of late because I have been job-hunting. Yup, hittin' the old sidewalk! Today I put out about 15 applications for a variety of things: portrait photographer, Administrative Assistant/Receptionist/Secretarial, grocery store clerk, retail work, and waitress. I'm pooped! Last night I was filling out a few application forms I had picked up earlier in the day. I got to the last one. It is for a "home improvement" retail giant. Well, attached to the application form was...a math test!!!

Now, I am willing to do almost anything at this point to get a job, but math test? Uh, ... nuh...

Okay okay, "It can't be that hard after all" you ponder to yourself as you read this blog. And, granted, Section I was your basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems. No problems there.

But then came Section II -- a potpurri of "logic"-type questions. Now, you need to understand, I HATE logic problems. Always have, always will. For example, the first question was really no problem ... "if a room is 4 meters by 5 meters, how many square meters are there?" Okay, I can handle it. But then they have you baited and on the hook and there is only bloody demise! Next question went something like this: "If you take the square meters of Room A and multiply that by 52/78ths and then divide by Pi, followed by squaring the hypotenus by infinity, what colour paint would you suggest for the customer's bunkhouse and how much extra would he need for the outhouse?" Well...there was only one solution ...

I'm too pretty to do math!

My Grade 10 algebra teacher warned me about needing to know this kind of stuff in the real world blah blah blah...bless his heart. He really thought I cared! (*sniff*...wiping away tear...) I'm sorry and really do apologize to all you math geeks out there who really get worked up over the latest proven theorum ... but math is not my thing. Never has been, never will be.

Let's just say this retail giant will not be seeing my application anytime soon.

Well, time to go make dinner. Have a great night everyone! :D

Have You Heard of Ravelry?

2007-09-08T08:44:00.000-05:00

Good morning beautiful peoples,

Well, I must say I am feeling so much better -- mood-wise -- today. I talked with my good friend last night who helped me see things in a much better perspective...thanks Chris! So after I got off the phone with her and got my baby girl to bed, I sat down next to my dear hubby on the couch and picked up my knitting.

I'm working on a pair of socks I started way back in the spring -- a pair of Grumperina's Jaywalkers (hmmm....tried to provide a link for the pattern, but it isn't connecting...). I love the colourway of the wool I'm using (Socks that Rock!) and the wool itself is a dream to work with. I forgot how relaxing the rhythmic clicking of the needles really can be. Ahhhhhh -- life seems just that much better.

I also have about two weeks of having my wheel at home before I have to return it to the Spinners' Guild for it to be used for lessons during the month of October. So I'm gonna be spinning like a madwoman this next couple of weeks! I have bags of fleece to get done before the end of the month...perhaps I should set up some sort of counter to keep track of this ominous project...hmmmm....

Other than that I wanted to let all you knitters and crocheters out there know about this great site I stumbled upon yesterday. Some, or most of you, may already be familiar with this site. It's called Ravelry. It is a knitting and crocheting community page where you can organize everything...and I mean everything! A place to keep track of stuff from knitting needles; your ever growing stash of wool; projects that you're working on, complete, or want to begin; knitting books you have; knitting books you want; message boards; and on and on!

It is just in the stages of being set up right now so I put my name on the waiting list. There are currently about 19,000+ people on the waiting list. But I just read this morning they are uploading a bunch of new servers to the site this week and will be able to invite people on the waiting list a lot more quickly. You just type in your e-mail addy and blog addy and you are officially on the list.

Check it out...it looks pretty cool. Well, cool for us lame knitting geeks out there! Stand proudly people!!! Say it with me as you hold up your balls (...of wool) and sticks, "I am a geeky knitter and I ROCK!"

Creatures of Habit

2007-09-07T10:06:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Well, I have decided I am definitely a creature of habit. This morning I thought I would try to teach myself continental/German knitting (I currently knit the English way..."throwing" the wool around the needle). It seems easy enough, and yes I'll have to keep practicing, but I found myself reverting back to my usual knitting methods. It's more comfortable, I can control the tension much easier, and it's what I know.

Why am I putting myself through this if I am currently happy with my English methods? Well, it's all about the projects really. I have so many projects I want to complete that I need to learn to knit more quickly. That means teaching myself this new method.

But I do not accept change gladly...

I am sad...

2007-09-06T22:51:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I'm pretty sure my plans are not going to work out for starting up a photography business. At least not right now. But if I don't do it now, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do it ever.

I've lost confidence...

Spinning is Dreamy Goodness

2007-08-29T19:05:00.000-05:00

Hi Peoples,

Well, last night we had a break in the warm humid weather. I was able to spin almost 4 oz of the Cotswold fleece I got from my mom. It was heavenly!!! :D After a summer of no spinning I forgot how relaxing it really is. Tonight I hope to finish bobbin #1 and start on bobbin #2. I'd like to ply it together by the end of tomorrow evening.

I am a little sad, however, because at the end of September I have to turn my wheel back into the guild. At least for a little while. They are offering the fall classes and they need all wheels back for that. I am hoping to be able to rent it again after the classes are finished. However, if all the students decide they want to rent them following the class, I'm out of luck!!!!!!

(*gasp*)

So, the only logical thing is I just need to buy my own.

:)

Alas...I have no money to do that right now. I am currently looking for part-time work while setting up my photography business, so I am hoping to budget for a wheel. I do have a drop spindle so I wouldn't be totally out of luck. But I will truly be "bummed out" if I can't get a wheel going in the near future. So for now, I will spend the month of September spinning like a crazy lady. After that, I must knit knit knit! All that nicely spun wool must be used up. Not sure which project I want to work on, but time will tell.

Good night for now as I leave you with a picture of the Cotswold on the bobbin (singles)...enjoy!

Spinning this is a dream...

So Hot...So Sticky!

2007-08-27T21:34:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I know I mentioned in one of my more recent blogs that due to the extremely hot humid weather in the prairies this summer I would no longer complain about the weather here at home...ever...ever again...

...well, too bad! It's stinkin' hot and humid here. And to top it off, there isn't even a slight breeze tonight! Nothin'. Just hot stinkin' humid weather. Hrmph!

I really wanted to do a bit of spinning tonight, and I really did try, but it is too muggy. Argh!

Tonight my Spinners' Guild met for our first meeting after the summer. So I was rather excited to come home and spin for a couple of hours until bedtime, but, alas...it is too yucky tonight. And so, my wheel sits...neglected.

I did wash up some fleece I had bought in the spring. I was told that it had been cleaned, but I don't think it was rinsed properly because it is pretty tacky/sticky. I also didn't realize a lot of it is a bit felted, so I'm not too happy about that!!! So I grabbed a bunch of it and re-washed/rinsed it and now it is drying on a rack under a ceiling fan. With this warm weather, it should be dry tomorrow. We'll see if it is usable or not.

For those who don't know, I am in the process of setting up a photography business. I am just in the beginning stages right now, but I am hoping the have things up and running soon. As things develop, I will tell you more. For now I will leave you with my favourite picture I took this last week. I went down to our local marina and was playing with my camera. The clouds in the sky were amazing! I think I did a good job capturing the image. If you would like to see more of my photos, please check out my Flickr photostream by clicking on the Flickr box in the right sidebar. Talk to you soon.

My Mommy Loves Me!

2007-08-15T19:28:00.000-05:00

Hi Ho,

I love my mommy and she LOVES me! She was at a craft sale this summer and bought me, her spinny spinning daughter, some fleece for the spinnin'. Yee Haw!!! :)

The white is Rambouillet roving (approx. 125 grams)...which I'd really like to try dyeing...dare I dream...

The brown is Cotswold pencil roving (approx. 4 oz times 2!!!!!!!)

Tonight I know what I'm doin'. I'm gonna slip into something a little more comfortable (...my flannel pjs -- it's quite cool here today) and I'm gonna spin, spin, spin. Today has been quite cold and rainy so what a perfect way to end the day.

Which reminds me...fall is just around the corner...Woo Hoo! My favourite season of the year! Why? Because I don't like the heat. The quintessential autumn day is going for a walk wearing your favourite sweater or scarf (handspun and handknit...duh, of course), the sun is shining, but the air is crisp. The colours leaves that have fallen crunch under your feet as you stroll....ahhhhh...perfection!

Well, time to go spin. The following are a few of my favourite pics from our summer holidays. Only a few though...too many to post. I took almost 2,000 pics on our summer holidays! Yep, I'm addicted...

Last Day of Holidays

2007-08-05T08:28:00.000-05:00

Hello ever faithful readers,

I have been on vacation for the last two weeks...today we start the trip home. So I haven't been around for awhile. But this morning I just needed to write since I have been missing it so.

On this particular vacation, we have returned to our roots to visit family and friends. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to see everyone. In fact we didn't get to see everyone we would have wanted...there's just no time which is the frustrating part of it all. However, it has been rather exhausting jumping from place to place every few days. Staying up late to visit and then getting up early because you feel obligated to be the quintessential guest is physically exhausting!!!!! But yet, we travel great distances because we love everyone so much and miss them terribly.

On this particular vacation, travelling west has meant leaving the much-preferred cooler balmy temperatures of home. Oh, we get hot weather, but for the most part it is cooler and much more comfortable...and I will never complain about our weather again for the rest of my days upon this earth! I much prefer the cooler setting as opposed to stepping out of our comfortably air-conditioned travelling van into, well how do I put this politely...the oven of Satan himself!!!! Man, I do not remember heat like this when I was growing up. The temperatures have been so hot I feel like an overdone turkey. And then you throw the humidex reading into the works and you have the makings of one very hot mama (and I don't mean the sexy kind!)

I mean, really...how can anyone look beautiful in this kind of heat???? You get up in the morning, your eyes are puffy, your mouth feels like the Sahara desert because you are so dehydrated, so you drink a gallon of water and head for the shower. This will make me feel more human, you think to yourself. So you shower, brush your sand-blasted teeth, and (if you're female) perhaps you decide to throw on a bit of make-up (to cover up your flaming red face from the sunburn you obtained while trying to relive the glory days of baking in the sun with only a thin layer of baby oil) and you blow-dry your hair (mmmm...more heat...). By the time you are finished, you emerge from the bathroom with limp hair, melting make-up, and wet armpit stains quickly forming from becoming so blinkin' hot from the humidity in the bathroom. By this time, you are quickly developing a rather persnickity attitude toward the day which is now looming ahead of you. Mmmmmm...sexy...

Oh, how I am looking forward to the trip home. Vacations are great, but there's no place like home!

Have a wonderful day everyone...and stay cool.

P.S. Here's a bit of a shout-out to my neice Chloe Milan who wanted me to mention her name in my blog! There you go, baby girl...you're famous!!!!!! Smooches...

How you doin'?

2007-07-14T19:43:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

I have been rather busy this last couple of weeks. We've had company on and off, my hubby and baby girl spent a rather cold and rainy week at camp last week, and, of course, there's always laundry!

I washed up the remaining fleece from Sis the sheep (we used her fleece for the Back to Back Spinning/Knitting Challenge). It washed up beautifully -- it is soooooo soft! Last week I spun it and plyed it. This morning I set the twist and now it is drying. It really created a bulky yarn ... not too sure what I'll do with it. Probably make a hat -- I don't think there will be enough there for a scarf. I'll post pics later.

But for now I just wanted to say hi. Summer blogging will be sporadic at best. We've had pretty rainy weather lately, so when the sun finally breaks through, I'm outside with the camera. Here's a taste of what has been catching my eye as of late:

A Thunder Bay Sunset

Sis's fleece waiting to be spun

A red-capped mushroom...I was rather excited

about this since I've never in my life seen

an actual red-capped mushroom

Oh, Canada...how I love you!

2007-07-02T18:27:00.000-05:00

Oh Canada, our home and native land,

True patriot love, with all our sons command.

With glowing hearts, we see thee rise

Thy true north, strong and free.

From far and wide, O Canada,

We stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land, glorious and free,

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

I love Canada and I love being Canadian! Yesterday our nation celebrated it's 140th birthday. We went down to Marina Park to take part in some of the festivities followed by fireworks. It was the first time our daughter had been able to attend the fireworks. She was so excited and loved every minute of it.

To my American friends, have a great 4th of July!

Here are a few pictures from our day:

I need to get me one of these crowns...

I am a princess after all.

Canadian Punks even came out for the festivities!

Even our cops are hot!!! :D

Great fireworks

A truly Canadian icon!

Webkinz Mayhem

2007-06-30T07:50:00.000-05:00

Greetings my loverly readers!

Yesterday I woke up feeling something I haven't felt in years. It was slightly reminicent of years gone by after spending the night in a lovely drinking establishment...okay, who are we kidding...THE BAR. That feeling of blurry eyes, headache, achy body parts, and pure exhaustion. No, I didn't go on a bender...

...my daughter got a Webkinz.

Now for those who are not in the know, Webkinz are sweet little stuffed animals that, when purchased, come with a website secret access code. Once this code has been entered into the "Adoption Centre" at the official Webkinz site, a whole new realm of childhood joy fills the home. While on the site, your animal has it's own house which you can decorate with the latest in home electronics, furnishings for the boudoir, kitchen accessories, gardening furniture and supplies, food, clothing, and toys, books and games for your newest addition to the family...the list is endless. Now, me being the ever-doting mommy, I really only want the best for my baby girl.

Yes, I spoil her...sue me!

In order to "purchase" these items for your Webkinz internet home, one must play games, answer quizzes, etc on the site in order to earn KinzCash. Well, seeing as I love my baby girl, and given the fact that I am addicted to a certain internet game where one must incessantly pop coloured groups of balls or ballons, this mommy was intent on getting baby girl some mega KinzCash!

They have a certain game on the site called "Cash Cow 2". Here, the unsuspecting player must pop groups of coloured bottles located in a cyber-milk machine. As you pop groups of colours, you obtain points and the "milk-meter" climbs ever faithfully to the top of the meter. To advance to the next level, one must fill this meter with milk before becoming one of the priveleged few who will one day reach a level on legendary status. I wanted to be that legend!

So I hit the "play" button which then launched (no...sucked) me into this whole new realm of children's online games of which I would one day be queen whom all would regale and write epic poems about.

The first few of levels were, of course, seemingly simple. Pop pop pop...the milk-meter filled including bonus points for clearing the screen. As I blew on my fingers and polished my nails against my shirt, I smiled, recognizing the sheer genius which was me.

I eventually hit ... LEVEL 5.

Here I met my adversary...the introduction of new colours and blockers that would be the bane of my existance. As I strategically clicked away the coloured sections all of a sudden the remaining bottles in the milk machine shatter into gazzilons of pieces and then informed me that, "oops, you didn't reach the required level".

Well, no probelm, I thought to myself. I'll just play again. I must not have been paying attention.

Click click click, pop pop pop. EXPLOSION..."oops, you didn't reach the required level". A blood-curdling scream escaped from my throat, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!"

Well, this is just stupid, I thought to myself. It's a kid's game for heaven's sake. So, with cheering crowds, minstrels and poets writing that epic poem still in the forefront of my mind, I forged on determined that I would get past Level 5.

I quickly glanced at the day's high score which was held by an adorable piglet named Petunia. Her high score for the day was something like 25,352,619. Piece of cake.

"You're goin' down, pig!" I snarled at the screen. Click click pop pop click pop click ... shatter! I quickly glanced at my score: 1, 028 WHAT????? "You have got to be joking," I screamed at the screen. I glanced at my watch. It was 1:32 a.m. "This is crazy...it's just a game. You need to get to bed," I told myself.

But by this point my competitive side had kicked in and told my wimpy side to,"go to bed then, you big sucky baby. I'm stayin'." Now the goal was no longer to get my daughter high points to buy that sweet hippo topiary tree for her garden. This was about winning and frying up that pig and eating bacon for breakfast! There was no turning back and certainly sleep was for wimps and losers. I was a winner ... no matter what the cost.

After almost two hours of competitive play, I admitted defeat. Petunia the pig was most definitely the queen for that night. But I will return and I will see my daughter's monkey, Webby, in that picture slot. And there will be those who will try to defeat my high score, and I will smile and wave to them as I sit and enjoy my plate of bacon.

You're goin' down, pig...

So Exhausted...

2007-06-25T09:26:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

I am pooped today. My daughter celebrated her 8th birthday this weekend. She had a Supermodel party (I was the unofficial photographer). We had a lot of fun and the girls were all so photogenic. I got some great pictures this weekend. I am doing up DVD slideshows for the girls to take home this week. It takes about 1/2 hr for each DVD to burn so that's one of my projects to finish today.

Last night I was up until 1:00 a.m. finishing the sleeve for our Spinners' Guild Back to Back Challenge. We registered our time as "uncompleted" but still wanted to finish the sweater. The guild will display it at several fairs we are taking part in this summer. One of the ladies will be finishing assembling it tonight at our last meeting before the summer.

This morning I washed up the last of the fleece from the challenge. For the challenge we had to work with greasy wool, so once that was done last night, I had a shopping bag full of greasy wool left over. So this morning I scoured it -- it was disgustingly filthy!!!!!!! Some of the matted pieces definitely felted, so I tossed those out. But the rest washed up beautifully. There is still quite a bit of grass and straw in there that will have to be picked out. I can't wait for it to dry so I can card it up and spin it...oh, there will be pictures. The colours in the fleece range from silvery grey to a variety of browns and finally blonde tips. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! Can't you tell I'm excited!!!

I can't say how much I've missed writing lately! We've had company staying with us for almost three weeks, so that has definitely taken up most of my time. But this morning, quiet time for me. My baby girl is at school, sick hubby is sleeping, and houseguest has gone out for the day. So other than the water sloshing in the washing machine (I have tons of laundry to do today), I am surrounded by silence. It's days like this I love living in the country. The sun is shining and waiting to dry my laundry, I've scoured fleece which is now in the process of drying beneath the ceiling fan, the house is somewhat tidy...ah, time to relax.

Well, I've poured myself I nice diet soda (with tons of ice...it's a hot one today!) and I have sat at the computer wishing to impart my wisdom upon you all.

Hmmmmmmm....

What to write...what to write....

Ummmmmmm.....

Well, certainly I must have something to write. I mean, it's been almost a month since I've last written a word, I have the blogs of friends to catch up on, and yet here I am....thinking. My word, I have become so relaxed that any type of brain activity has completely left me!!!

Well then, why don't I leave you with a few of my favourite pics from my daughter's 8th birthday party this past weekend. After that, I'm off to knit and do laundry, catch up on reading blogs, and perhaps sneek a nap in! Oh, the wonderful opportunities!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great day (if anyone is even still reading -- sorry again for the long absence!)

Waiting for the party to begin...

Pretty hair clips

The girls

Silly time

Ah....Friendship!

I've Been Busy...

2007-05-31T16:36:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Life has been busy lately. Don't ask, "with what?". Because I couldn't really say. All I know is that the last couple of weeks has flown by in a whirlwind and I am a bit wiped out.

I did finish my Lacy Kerchief Scarf. I was going to block it, but I think I'll wait until the fall to do that...you know, when I'll actually be wearing it. Right now it's a bit too hot and humid to be donning a wool scarf. But here's a picture of it bundled up in my basket.

Also in the knitting department, I've been working on my Jaywalker socks. The silkie sock yarn is an absolute dream to work with! Last night I tried the first one on to take a couple of "in progress" pics for you. I love the colourway!

In the spinning department, I have been drum carding like crazy. I've been trying to get the rest of the brown border cheviot all carded so I can spin it up and start working on my cardigan for the fall. I'll have to wait and see how much plied wool I end up with. If I don't have enough for a cardigan, I might just adapt the pattern and make a vest instead. We'll have to see.

In the photography department, I have been snapping pictures like a crazy lady. I'm thinking I'd like to do up a bunch of cards with my photos attached to the front and try to sell a few. We'll see about that later. I'm still busy playing with my new camera trying to figure out all the new bells and whistles.

I'd better dash for now. I'm trying to get dinner ready and I have a wicked migrane! I'm hoping it will disappear after dinner. C'mon drugs...kick in, baby!

TTFN

Silkie Socky Piccys

2007-05-22T10:11:00.000-05:00

Hiya!

Well, as promised, I snapped a couple pics of my new jaywalker socks that I am currently working on. I'm not sure if I've captured the colours well enough, but take my word for it...the colourway is beautiful. Lots of spring and summer colours. And the jaywalker pattern really accentuates the colour changes. So far I haven't had any pooling of colours as I knit.

I can't stay long today. I need to get out into the yard and clear away some dead branches, rubbish, etc. I've been spring cleaning the house and this summer I'd like to do a bit of landscaping (well, whatever we can afford anyways).

Have a loverly day my pretties!

So Tired

2007-05-21T21:10:00.000-05:00

Hi Loverly Peoples,

Just thought I'd drop a hello and how are ya! Well, mom got her shawl and loves it. I've finished my Lacy Kerchief Scarf (but I need to block it). I'll take pics in a few days of that. And I just cast on with my new silky sock yarn. I am attempting a pair of Jaywalkers. So far the colourway provides a bedazzeling result!!! I am well pleased. I will snap a few pics tomorrow. But just thought I'd say hi and let you all know what I've been working on this week.

I need to get to bed early. We've been slowly decluttering the house and moving our furniture around. Also my hubby has been busy honing his carpentry skills. He has just finished a beautiful entertainment unit for our living room upstairs. It is da-gorgeous!!!!! I'll take some piccys of that too in the next few days.

Well, baby girl is sleeping and I must knit a bit before retiring for the evening -- I am plum tuckered out. Today I donned the hazmat suit and cleaned the bathroom! Yipes!!! I'm just glad I'm alive. Oh if only I had a ga-jillion dollars...I would so hire someone to clean my bathroom! That has got to be the worst job ever.

The princess has spoken...

Back to Back Wool Challenge

2007-05-14T21:13:00.000-05:00

Oh. My. Goodness!

Saturday was an exhausting day...but exciting and a lot of fun!

The day started off with everyone arriving for the 13th Annual Back to Back Wool Challenge. You could just feel the excitement in the air -- it was electric -- as we all waited in anticipation to begin. What am I even talking about? Let me start at the beginning...

The Spinner's Guild I belong to decided to enter an international spinning competition. The challenge is this: you have a team of 8 people -- one shearer and seven spinners/knitters. The goal: to see how quickly your team can shear a sheep, spin the wool (in the grease!!!), and then knit an adult-sized sweater. Everyone who enters the competition has the same pattern to follow for knitting the sweater. Everything else is up to your team. The world record is held by an Australian team who completed this task in a record time of 4hr 51min 14sec (in 2004). Last year the competition was won by a Japanese team with a time of 5hr 33min 46sec.

Well, as you can imagine, we were all eager to beat this world record! We met earlier in the week to discuss our strategies and try spinning greasy wool (wool that has not been washed at all). And so when we arrived Saturday morning at the chosen location, we were all quite excited.

Setting up the wheels...

After posing for a group photo with our shearer, Robert, and our lovable chosen sheep, Sis, the clippers came out.

I am the third on the left...the others are the rest of the team,

our time-keeper, and our host for the day

The rules of the competition state that you can only use non-electric hand shears. So with a snip snip snip, the official timekeeper began timing our efforts.

Sis (a Romney-cross),

after her "haircut"...

Within a few minutes all the spinners had handfuls of greasy wool at their feet and the spinning had begun. We spun for about an hour before we began plying singles together. We had to spin a DK weight (plyed) so for me that was a great challenge (although with clean wool, I can now spin my singles to about lace-weight). I was the chosen one to begin the job of plying the wool and then getting the first ball of yarn to the first knitter who would begin knitting the back of the sweater.

We worked hard until we were able to have four people knitting (front, back, and two sleeves). That was extremely challenging! The lanolin in the wool was very sticky and so we had to constantly clean our needles every third or fourth row. While the four people were knitting the other three continued to spin and ply the wool to supply materials for the knitters. I was the last knitter to begin (I worked on one of the sleeves).

Three members of our team...the lady in the middle is 80 yrs old (a Master Spinner).

Her wheel was made in 1840 by a monk in Quebec, Canada.

We worked feverishly all day spinning, plying, knitting, strategizing, laughing...and some of the ladies even enjoyed the occasional glass of wine or added Bailey's to their coffee. "Fuel for the fire" they would laugh and say as they continued on working. We had other members of the guild there throughout the day offering support by means of cheerleading, preparing wonderful meals and snacks (we took time to eat in shifts), entertaining us with stories and jokes, and helping us all to bond together as a group. By the time we hit about the six hour mark, we realized just how much more work the knitters had before them. And then we started to comment on the "world-record" times and the winners from last year.

We had no clue how these teams could have pulled such a monumental task off in such a short amount of time! Just the spinning alone was so time-consuming (and we had two Master Spinners working the whole time!!!). I suggested we send in a mole to either of these two teams to find out their "secrets" on completing this task in record-breaking times. We finally concluded that they obviously were all about the work and less about having fun. However, it would have been great to finish our work within those times and then sat around and had fun for the rest of the day. But where would the challenge be???

Well, this being our first time, we figured (before we began) that we could probably complete the task within 8-10 hours. We were aiming for eight, but figured we should be a bit realistic!!! Well, the eight hour mark came and left rather quickly. The knitters were checking with each other how many more rows we each had to go...WAY too many!!! But we weren't going to give up. Hour ten soon after was upon us. We were all getting pretty exhausted by this point, and many more rows to go. But did we let that get us down? No! Last year there was a Nova Scotian team that completed the task in just over 14 hours. We figured we had those Maritimers beat -- no problems. So we hung in there. The ladies topped up their glasses of "beverages", ate chocolate cookies for extra sugar boosts, and continued to figured out as we worked, where we could improve our time for next year.

But, alas, at about hour 13 we knew we had been beat -- and we were beat...literally exhausted!!! We continued to work feverishly for another 40 mins before calling it quits. We are only about 20 rows from completion (some less than that). But we decided to submit our finish time as 13h 40mins with an uncompleted project. We were all so exhausted -- I could barely see straight. We all joyfully decided we gave it our all and better luck next year. We looked at the clock which was nearing midnight as we tumbled into our cars and headed home for a well-deserved sleep. I was wiped out by the time I got home! So I had a quick shower (I just couldn't go to bed smelling so...sheep-poopy-ish).

It was such a great experience! As exhausting as it was, I think I would like to participate again next year if the group is up to the challenge. Even if we did the challenge unofficially and worked in shifts of people...I don't know, just a thought. Anyways, we're going to finish the sweater at our next meeting and we will take the completed sweater around to the various fairs we're participating in this summer.

Well, I'm off for now. My program's on...

Here I Am

2007-05-09T18:39:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay. Here I am. Please do not lose faith in me. I am here...

So, what's new you're all wondering? Well, where shall I begin...

My spinners' guild is taking part in a competition of sorts this coming Saturday. It is actually an international competition where a team of 8 people shear, spin, and knit a fleece directly off the sheep's back into an adult sweater in under 8 hours. Cool, eh? I'm going to start off spinning and will switch to knitting after awhile. I think it will be pretty cool and lots of fun. We're also doing a 50/50 draw to raise money for cancer research. I'm hoping my hubby can take lots of pics so I will be able to post our progress. The finished sweater will travel to the various fair exhibitions in and around our area during the summer and fall months. We're hoping it will raise a lot of interest in the Guild.

I've been quite a shutterbug as of late. I got a new camera (DSLR) a week ago. So I have been taking pics like a madwoman! Please check out my Flickr site (just click on the Flickr button on the right and it will take you there).

With Mother's Day quickly approaching I am pleased to announce...da da da dah!!!!!!!!!! I've finished mom's shawl. I am mailing it tomorrow (Thurs) so unfortunately mom it won't be there for Sunday...depends if the husky team is running quickly this week in the heat or not. I've just included a couple of sneaky-peek shots.

Hmmm...oh. I'm still decluttering. Thanks to all who mentioned FlyLady. I have used her program in the past which has worked wonderfully. I've just...lapsed in the last few years.

We've moved our furniture around. Not that most of you care, but I want to thank my hubby for sacrificing his back for the comfort and pleasure of creating a bit of change at home. We have very white walls, but can't afford to paint right now. We needed a splash of colour so we've switched our family room furniture and living room furniture around. With that and my decluttering plan, we should be living chaos-free any month now!

Did most of you out there know it is the month of May??? Yipes! Where did the new year go?

I can't really think of anything more or something that is so profound it causes you to stop reading mid-sentence and ponder the meaning of life.

My craft area is now downstairs. Not sure if that's the smartest idea seeing as there is just that much more room to spread things out!!! Must be diligent.

Well, that's life in a nutshell. I hope you all have a great day and a great night. I have to go now and catch up on e-mail and reading everyone else's blogs.

Ta-Tah!

Oh, just a few pics showing spring is FINALLY here!!!!! :oD Happy happy, joy joy!

Dandelion in backyard

Lilac leaves budding

Violas jumping up

Yipee Ki-Yay!

2007-04-27T07:41:00.000-05:00

So the other night, my dearest hubby came home with the mail. And there was a package...for me...from Blue Moon Fibre Arts...for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! :) It was some silky-silky sock yarn! Boo-yah!!! (Doin' a happy dance) I've never had any sock yarn from Blue Moon before and I have to say, it is absolutely delicious! So of course I just had to take pictures.

Enjoy...

Pretty Colours (note: Mom's shawl in the background)

(Upside down...oops! I guess I was too excited to notice)

I also did some spinning. I carded together some Alpaca and Corridale. The colours together make a sort of wheat/honey colour. Very neutral. Very pretty. Very soft and shimmery.

Still Here!!!

2007-04-24T21:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay. I have been AWOL for almost two weeks and have had several people contact me wondering why I haven't posted. I really don't have an excuse other than I just haven't felt like writing too much lately. Why? Hmmm...uninspired I suppose.

I think too, because I have only been working on my mom's shawl...no, I'm still not finished...argh! So I haven't had too much to report on. I suppose I could just post blah, blah, blahs and yada, yada, yadas. But no.

As I write, I'm trying to think of something whimsical to tell you, but nothing comes to mind. I need to finish mom's shawl. Everything has been put on hold until that project is out of the way. In fact, she's leaving for a trip tomorrow and was hoping to have it. But I'm still working on it and she lives half way across the country. Nope. Not gonna happen.

Last night at the Spinners' Guild meeting, I rented a drum carder so today I spent the morning carding some Corridale and Alpaca together. Tonight I sat down to spin. It's been at least a couple of weeks since I've last spun anything, so it was a nice change to do something different.

Well, I'm not going to write to much more tonight. It's getting late and I have to be up early to get baby girl to school. Tomorrow...ba, ba, ba...cleaning and decluttering. It's never-ending!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back To The Grind...

2007-04-12T20:12:00.000-05:00

Hello Faithful Ones!

Oh, how I have missed you all!!! The season and Lent has passed and now that Easter Sunday has passed I will have much more time to spend with you all.

So to update you:

I did some knitting on my mom's shawl during our holiday...I'm STILL not finished. I thought I'd make it to at least the last ball of ribbon yarn. Sadly...no.
The weather during our holiday was abysmal. It was soooooo windy. And the wind was soooo cold! On a good note, we had a fun time at the waterpark where it was warm all the time.
I have been quite the little shutterbug lately. I have always loved photography! And I have been updating my Flickr account almost daily. Check me out at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knitgirl/ There you can view my photos, my favourites, contacts, and groups that I belong to.
I am currently decluttering my home. It is a mess and I have so much crap I just keep moving it from one pile to the next and I clean around the piles and stacks of crap I have. And need I remind you all just how much I love housecleaning? So, I've decided we need to do a Clean Sweep and get organized! I'm getting rather tired of living in my untidy, messy, cluttered house.
I haven't been spinning lately. I have been trying to finish my mom's shawl before I tackle any other fibre related projects.
Note: I have deleted my weight loss blog. Why? Well, I figured I have been putting a lot of pressure on myself to lose so much every week rather than focusing on just being healthy. Making healthy food choices and moving my body more. So, rather than having that pressure hanging over my head, I'm deleting that blog. But for those keeping track, I've lost about 8 lbs since February.

Well, that's about it for now. I have to go finish washing dishes before CSI starts. Then tomorrow, it's back to decluttering...

Getting Ready To Go...

2007-04-07T10:16:00.000-05:00

Hi Beauties!

Well, today is filled with lots of "fun" activities...(i.e. doing laundry & ironing). Mix that with a trip to the library, the grocery store, and other required errands and you have the makings of a family preparing to go on a wee getaway.

On Easter Monday, we are heading down to Duluth, MN about three-ish hours south of TBay. The season of Lent and Easter is always busy and hectic. So this year we've decided to head south of the border for a couple of days, just to get away and relax. To say I am excited is an understatement.

You need to understand something about me. As has been previously stated, I am a princess. And "royalty", as a people, well...we love to travel. I would LOVE to travel the world, but since that is a financial impossibility at the present moment, I will take a trip to the States -- no problems. I love the mental release you feel when you jump in your car/plane/train and just head off. It feels good to just "leave town". Even if it's to a place only an hour away from where you live. A chance to explore unfamiliar territory. An opportunity to meet interesting folks. A getaway chance to shop in totally different places, eat in new restaurants, have little "adventures", or just to see the sun set in a new locale.

My daughter, bless her heart, has been bitten by the travelling bug too. When she was just eight days old, she and I were off on the plane flying to our home for the first year of her life when my husband did his vicarage year for seminary (he had to drive the van there...). So since she's been a bitty bambina, she's been a traveller. Her mommy and daddy love to just jump in the van on the spur of the moment and just...drive. Our family is like a bunch of explorers just wanting to see what's out beyond the great blue yonder.

Maybe it's a bit of "cabin fever", I don't know. But I do know that when we return from one of our travelling adventures, even if it's just been for the day, we come back refreshed and ready to buckle back down to our daily vocation in life.

I hope you all have a blessed Easter and I will write again once we're back on Thursday.

Tah Tah

Four Minute Challenge

2007-04-04T11:27:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

I've given myself four minutes to do up a quick post. Let's see what we can come up with:

Today is a Snow Day -- school was cancelled today. We received about a foot of snow overnight. It's still snowing...
Still progressing on mom's scarf
Have uploaded a bunch of new Flickr photos -- to see them, click on the Flickr badge to the right
Two mins left
Had a near meltdown trying to clean the bathroom this a.m. That is my least fave job to do!!! EEP!
Finished plying the Border Cheviot -- would post pics, but only have 53 seconds left. To see pictures, please refer to my Flickr photos
Daughter is setting up a blanket downstairs so we can have a picnic lunch
Beeper on timer just went -- that is all for today.

Bye for now!

The Joy of Spinning

2007-04-02T15:15:00.000-05:00

Hello Babies,

Sorry it has been almost a week since I've posted. Again...same excuse. Life is busy around our house until after Easter. Other than that, I've been busy working on mom's shawl and, of course, spinning.

This means, however, that housework has been adamantly avoided. Much to my family's dismay! Hey, I never said cleaning was my pride and joy and gosh darn it how I love spending my day that way. As my faithful readers know, I'm the kind of gal that can live with dirt and I don't mind wearing the same t-shirt again before throwing it in the washer. I'm not proud of it. In fact, I am quite embarrased by the state of the house when people drop by for a visit. It's something I am working at improving in my life. 'Cause nothin' says "I love you" like a drawer full of clean underwear!

But thankfully my hubby loves me, warts and all! He puts up with my messy ways and dirty crafts (did I tell you how filthy the latest batch of fleece is that I'm working on??? I have to pick out all the teeny bits of seeds, thistle, and blades of grass...but it is quite dirty and so by the time I have finished picking and carding, I have quite a little pile of dirt on the floor.) But I do sweep that up immediately after finishing...geez, I'm not that filthy!!!

I have been enjoying the joy of spinning. Today I took a few pics of my latest bobbins of singles.I should be ready to ply the first skein sometime tonight or tomorrow. Then I will weigh it and figure out how much I have left to spin up before I'm ready to tackle my next handmade, handspun project. I have an idea what I'll be doing, but I'll post that info later when I'm ready to start.

Enjoy the pics...talk to you later, 'gater!

Behold!

2007-03-28T15:05:00.000-05:00

Hey Ho!

So today we had a nice sunny day to help show off the splendor which is my purchase from yesterday...fleece for the spinnin'.

I really can't tell you just how excited I am about my purchase. I'm not sure I can put that kind of exhileration into words. Well, I suppose to say, "I'm so excited, I'm gonna pee my pants!"...I think that pretty much sums it up. I have been carding like a madwoman -- I'm currently spinning up the lighter brown fleece.I believe it is Border Cheviot -- if I remember correctly. It is a coarser fleece, but very strong. Loretta told me it will make a really nice cardigan sweater or something that won't be right against the skin. I have the perfect pattern in mind for it. I'll try to find the picture (it's from Interweave Knits). I have wanted to make it for some time, but haven't had the wool. By the time I spin and ply the wool required for the pattern, the sweater will have costed me somewhere between $5-10 dollars. But I will love it because I will have handled it from the beginning stage of carding it all the way to knitting the last stitch.

I'd better get going. We have our last soup supper and Lenten service tonight at church. I have about an hour to get a few things finished up before heading over. Enjoy the pictures of my latest fleece shopping adventure...

In the foreground: (l) dark brown Romeldale, and (r) creamy Alpaca

In the background: Corriedale (very silky!!!)

The cream coloured bag contains 5 or 6 lbs of unknown fleece

Cream and Light brown in colour -- will make a nice heathered wool

On the left: the Corriedale fibre
On the right: an unknown fibre

Mama's A Happy Camper!

2007-03-27T22:12:00.000-05:00

Hi Loverly Peoples!

I am in a very happy mood tonight. I will have dreams of fibre spinning through my fingers tonight! Earlier this afternoon I went to the home of one of the ladies from the Spinners' Guild. She had some fibre she offered to sell me. I got quite a variety: some Border Cheviot, Alpaca (eeeee!!!), Romeldale, Coridale, and a couple other bags of I can't remember what. All in all, I got almost 10 lbs of assorted fleece for $45.00!!!!!!!!!!!! To give non-spinners/knitters some perspective, the local yarn shop sells 1 lb of Coridale for $47.50. I think I got a pretty good deal. Yee-haw!

Earlier this afternoon, I carded up some of the Cheviot and spun up some up to get a feel. It is a coarser wool, so the lady who sold it to me said it would make a really nice cardigan -- or something that isn't right against the skin. It has about a 3-4" staple so the longer fibres make it much easier for me to spin the singles quite thin.

I'll snap some piccys tomorrow. Tonight it is late and I am needing to get to bed. Morning comes early, so I'd better get moving. Good night everyone!

A New Beanie

2007-03-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

Hi There!

Just a quick update. I wanted to post a picture of my latest FO. I made my daughter a new beanie hat with some of the wool I handspun and dyed. It turned out pretty nicely -- I'm pretty pleased with the results. Madeline really likes it and was more than willing to model it for me yesterday after school.

Can't stay. I'm spring cleaning today. I figured since I'm on a roll, I'd better do it until it's done. I can't believe I actually pulled my fridge out today and swept, vacuumed, & mopped! It was rather exhilerating, actually. Could it be that I secretly am enjoying this cleaning experience???

Boo-Yah!

2007-03-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

Today was cloudy, but our south facing window still lets in so much natural light. So I did a bit of a photoshoot of my newly dyed yarn. I couldn't stop touching the yarn and looking at it today. It was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy day.

I just don't know what to make with my newly spun, newly dyed wool...I did the ruler test and I have about 110 yds total in worsted weight and about 40 yds in bulky. Perhaps for the moment, I'll do a couple of swatches just to get a feel for the yarn and how it looks once it's knitted up. That's what I'll do! I'm gonna swatch and watch CSI -- I need a little break from my mom's shawl. I'm about halfway done. But it brings me great stress. It's loverly! But it brings on the stress. Tonight I need to just knit. Enjoy the pics...

Skeins dyed with Jello

So pretty!

I'm ready for my close-up...

Tie-Dyed Jello Skeins, Anyone?

2007-03-20T21:28:00.000-05:00

Well, tonight I was really needing to do something "artsy-fartsy"/"creative" with my time. I knew I wanted to try some more dyeing with a couple of undyed skeins I spun. But, what to do, what to do...

J-E-L-L-O!

Of course I have Jello packages in my pantry dating back two centuries. I am obviously not using them for human consumption. The only logical solution for using them is to try a tye-dyeing experiment with three of the colours. 'Cause God knows if I use anymore Kool-Aid packets (which were bought solely for the purpose of dying my wool...duh!), my family will revolt and there will be mutiny and carnage like the world has never known! Ergo, I knew if I used three of the three hundred packages of Jello sitting in the pantry, nobody would be none the wiser!!!

Once my hubby was busy in another room and my daughter was having her nightly shower, I quietly snuck to the pantry. With the Mission Impossible theme song running through my head, I stealthily approached the cupboard. Peeking down the hall, I knew I had mere minutes to complete the mission, should I choose to accept it. With particular colours in mind, I quickly shuffled through the flavour selections, until I found the necessary items. Retrieval without setting off the alarms was key. I selected the following flavours: Strawberry/Banana, Fruit Fiesta, and Orange.

I quickly mixed the red and green colours in two separate containers and placed the ends of the two selected skeins and thus began the dyeing treatment. My heightened senses kept me informed as to the presence of family down the hall. As long as I could hear the shower and radio running, I knew my daughter would be occupied.

Soon I was ready to continue with...the magic! I switched the tips of the ends that had been soaking into the opposite colour (to give me a hint of some kind of browns). I also then put the undyed portion into the orange. It was ethereal to see the colours begin to intermingle with one another taking the skeins from creamy white and pale grey to a display of colours that would make even the angels weep as the glory of the skeins shone around them. I think I even began to hear the heavenly chorus rejoicing at the beauty before me.

"Yum," said my daughter standing behind me...dripping wet all over the kitchen floor. "Something smells like Jello!" I quickly looked up...like a startled deer. Alas, one more stealthy than I had outwitted me! I had been caught "having fun" without my daughter. I paused waiting for a cry of dispair from my daughter that I didn't wait for her before playing with the colours. But, there was nothing. In fact she peered into the kitchen sink where "the magic" was happening. "Hmmm...cool," was her response before skipping down the hall to find something more interesting to do.

But I didn't care. After the soak, I placed the skeins into a roaster and put it in the oven for about 20 mins. The hardest part was waiting for them to cool down enough to rinse them, dry them in my towel, and hang them to dry. But not before taking pictures. By this time, I was rather excited and in fact dragged my hubby to see this creation of such loverliness, I thought he would weep from being in the presence of such beauty.

"Hmmm...neat." (Note sound of a record needle scraping across a vinyl record...)

Neat. That was it. There was no weeping. There was no lifting up of one's eyes to the heavens above with shouts of alleluias (well, I suppose it is Lent).

But you know what? I didn't care. I heard the angels. And they were rejoicing!

P.S. I'll have pictures of the skeins tomorrow when the sun comes up. I tried to take some tonight, but the lighting in our kitchen is too yellow, so the colours didn't show in the piccys very well. Until tomorrow, my pets...until tomorrow!

Just a quick Hi

2007-03-19T18:39:00.000-05:00

This will be a quick hello tonight. But I just wanted to do some "Show & Tell". Yesterday I posted pics of the wool I've spun up and a few were dyed using Kool-Aid. Today, I sat down with a couple of the skeins I spun and one commercial one (brown colour) and knit another meathead hat using my own handspun wool. A rather exciting day for me overall! It worked! It worked! And nothing has fallen apart!!! :) Happy happy joy joy!

Well, I need to bolt. Need to finish cleaning up and zip over the floors with the sweeper before getting baby girl to bed. Today was her first day back to school after the Spring Break. Glad to report she had a fun day. Student teachers are now at the school for the next 5-6 weeks so she's excited Miss P. has joined her class.

Night Everyone!

Kool-Aid Fun

2007-03-18T18:52:00.000-05:00

Warning: this post may be picture-heavy...

I've finished spinning the fibre I got from my spinning class. I received a bag full of washed Arcott fibre from my class. I finished plying the last bit last night so I decided to venture into dyeing. So yesterday, I bought a bunch of packets of Kool-Aid to give it a try. My hubby was a bit disappointed the aforementioned Kool-Aid was to be sacrificed to the dyeing gods instead of for him...but I must say the results were kind of neat.

A basket full of woolery-goodness!!!

The first skein I tried was the handspun Finn top roving I bought for my b'day.Before picture

It was spun and plied using my drop spindle. It turned out to be kind of a brick-merlot kind of colour.

After picture #1

So there is approx. 53 yds (50 g) of that colour.

After picture #2: In the sunshine

The next two smaller skeins I did turned out to be like an icy-blue varigated with bits of green and cream and a darker blue.After picture #1 (icy blue)

That was with the Arcott fibre spun on the wheel.

Before picture (Arcott fibre)

In total I have about 57 yds (approx 50 g) of that colour.

After picture #2 (icy blue): In the sun

I have bought dye from the wool shop, but need separate cooking pots for that. So I decided to try the Kool-Aid method first. I'm pretty pleased with the results and I am now trying to figure out what to make with it all. I want to knit up a simple project using the home-spun wool that I can take for "Show & Tell" for my next Spinners Guild meeting (last Monday of March). Any suggestions???

Da-lovely!

Well, that is all for tonight. I have to get a few things done before bedtime. Tomorrow my baby girl is back at school, so that means my holiday from cleaning is now over. :( It's back to the grind for this Cinderella. See you again tomorrow.

Hello...Are You Still Out There?!?

2007-03-17T10:51:00.000-05:00

Hello Loverly Peoples,

I hope you haven't given up on me. This week my daughter has been home for Spring Break and so, being the ever-faithful, oh-so-awesome, super-fantastico mama I have kept myself busy with her all week. We have had fun outside, went for loverly walks, sat out on the back deck while baby girl played on her swing set (someone needs to be out there with her right now...apparently there is a pack of wolves somewhere in the area...yipes!), gone bowling with friends, hit the library, watched movies and kids cartoons, held bunnies and guinea pigs at the pet store...and now it's Saturday. And I feel terrible that I have neglected you. It's not you...it's me. I really am not good a multitasking, so as a result, blogging, spinning, knitting, etc have all been sorrily neglected!

But Mads and I have had a fun week. Hubby is busy as usual ... it is the church season of Lent and so that means extra services and so that means hubby is MIA until after Easter. It gets pretty busy around here during this time of year. But with my baby girl off school this week, I decided to carelessly throw my chores out the window (HA! Like I even planned on keeping up...sheesh!) and spent time with my girl this week.

Today is bright and sunny. A good day for hanging out laundry -- better get at it. I spent about two hours this morning carding and spinning. I am excited to say I have almost finished spinning all the fibre I got from my class. Next I am thinking of dying some of the skeins and trying a quick project so I have something to take for "Show & Tell" at the next Spinners Guild meeting.

Well, gorgeous peoples, I am off. It sure felt good sitting down and blogging again. I'll be back tomorrow...I promise.

Forgive Me Faithful Readers...

2007-03-08T18:02:00.000-05:00

Forgive me, Faithful Readers, for it has been five days since my last blogging experience...

I really have no excuse other than life is busy. I've also been spinning like a banshee! Check it out!!!

I am so glad I learned how to spin -- it's very relaxing! The fibre they gave with the class, though, is full of straw and grass. So much time and effort goes into picking out all the little tiny bits and pieces. I'm much too much of a perfectionist to just leave the odd strand of straw in the fibre. You know, to give it that whole organic feel. But it pleases me greatly to spin it all up after picking through it at such great lengths. Although I do feel like I'm in a re-make of the great Shakespearean play, Hamlet, when I start obsessing over all the little microscopic pieces of grass in the fibre. Picture it, folks... there's me, it's mid-afternoon because all efforts of housecleaning have been shoved aside in pursuit of spinning, I have not showered, hair is dishevelled, I'm hunched over on a kitchen chair with piles of sheep fibre surrounding me.

"Out, out, damn grass!" I mutter over and over to myself.

But it all works out in the end and I am ending up with some loverly wool to work with. The last batch I worked on was most impressive. I am learning to spin with lesser amounts of fibre with each pull resulting in some nice singles.The last batch I did turned out much more silver/grey than the skeins I made over the weekend. The twist is much finer than those done on the weekend. But I fondle them all with the same amount of love.

On the knitting front, things are in a bit of a holding pattern. I have not been on speaking terms with my mom's shawl for most of the week. We've had a bit of a ... falling out, so to speak. Things were progressing well on the shawl and the other day I noticed the ribbon was getting pretty close to the end of the needle. Without picking up the needle, I simply pushed the stitches back. When I pushed it back in place I thought, "Gee, there doesn't seem to be as many stitches on my needle." I lifted up the shawl, and to my absolute HORROR, I couldn't help but notice that half of the stitches had fallen off the needle. They had all come off and, with the ribbon instead of wool, I could not for the life of me figure out how to pick all the dropped stitches up. Many of the stitches by this point had begun unravelling themselves to the halfway point of the finished portion of the shawl.

I was a racing car, folks. And I was in the red. Red is danger!

I quietly set the tangled mess back down and simply walked away. That was two or three nights ago. Last night, I unravelled the shawl (for the ninth time, for all those keeping track) and began again. It has become the bane of my existence! I have vowed that I will work practically non-stop on this bloody shawl until it is complete with fringe attached, gingerly packed into a padded shipping envelope, and sent off across the country. It is a beautiful pattern, but never again will I work with ribbon. Never! It's wool or nothin', baby! At least with wool I can recognize the stitches to pick them up when they fall and gingerly guide them back into place.

And with that, folks, I bid you good night! I must go eat pizza with the family, and then set to work on ... THE SHAWL. After my baby girl scoots to bed, I will continue to watch Survivor and CSI and work on ... THE SHAWL. When my eyes become blurry and watery around midnight, I will take my bloodied fingers, administer 2-3 drops of Visine in each eye and continue to work on ... THE SHAWL. Okay, okay. You get the drift, I know. But was it really necessary to roll your eyes so obviously during my melodramatic, one woman monologue? Sheesh!

Spinning So Totally Rocks!

2007-03-03T21:26:00.000-05:00

That was the best day ever! I had a great time at my spinning class -- I learned a lot. I am glad, though, that I've been playing with my drop spindle for the last couple of weeks. It really helped understanding how to draft the wool, etc. The first thing I learned was "teasing" the wool. It had been cleaned, but you still have to pick out all the little bits and pieces of straw/grass. Then I learned how to use the hand carders to work the fibre into workable pieces of roving. Boy, as a knitter, do I ever appreciate the work that goes into spinning workable yarn!!!

I rented a Louet S10 wheel until the end of June. It cost $20.00 to rent the wheel, three bobbins, and a set of handcarders until the end of June. Pretty reasonable...plus it will let me know if, down the road, I would like to invest in my own wheel. I can tell you right now...it's most likely a, "you better believe I will" kinda response.

While there, I spun two bobbins of singles and then learned how to ply them together. I got about 23 yards of that skein. Tonight I finished plying another 26 yards. I'm kinda really most definitely loving the spinning! I think tonight I will be working a treadle in my sleep!! :)

I am pretty tired after today's exciting events. My baby girl woke up at 6 a.m. this morning with a bad nightmare and didn't want to go back to sleep. I was too excited about my class to even think about sleeping, so I stayed up with her. Suffice it to say, I'm beat. I usually stay up and watch Saturday Night Live, but I don't know if I'll make it tonight. Eyes are getting droopy as we speak...

Well, time to tuck my girl into bed for the night. Good night loverly peoples...

Oh Yeah...The Girl's Got Skillzz

2007-03-02T21:40:00.000-05:00

Hello Beautiful Peoples,

Well, tonight I finished plying my first attempt at yarn.

Roving in the foreground,

newly plied skein of wool,

and how to book

After plying, I soaked it, gently squeezed it, blotted it with towel gently, and then set it out to admire.

Book with

skein of Finn Top wool

Not bad for my first attempt with the drop spindle. I am greatly pleased. I can't stop looking at the skein or touching it. It even smells loverly!!! :

Close-up of skein

Tomorrow is my spinning class in the city. It's an all day affair which I am so excited about, I'm actually salivating. I will be learning how to spin on the wheel (*squeals*). I have wanted to learn how to do this for the last nine years. Tomorrow, I will be the idiot with a smile pasted all over her face. But I won't care. I will be full of bliss...I might even do a little chair dance of joy.

On the knitting front, I quickly snapped a couple of pics of the shawl I'm working on for my mom.

Mom's Shawl

Not the best lighting...

The pictures would have looked better in natural sunlight, but you get the drift. As I make further progress, I will snap some more piccys and post them.

Mom's Shawl on needle,

Wool skein drying in the background

That's all for tonight. It's getting late and I need to phone my sister to wish her a happy birthday (was last night, but they were out). Then, I'm off to bed. I needs my beauty sleep for tomorrow.

Tah Tah!

I'm Still Here

2007-02-28T09:10:00.000-05:00

Hi All!

Sorry it's been almost a week since I've last posted, but life is busy around here. The season of Lent is upon us which means extra services, soup suppers, and a lot of schedule shuffling. The adult confirmation class my husband is teaching has moved from the church to our house on Tuesday evenings, so that keeps me on my toes just trying to keep up on the laundry and cleaning the house (my favourite...). Tonight I am signed up to make soup and bring buns for our supper before the Lenten service. So that will keep me busy today.

On the fibre front, things are still hoppin'. I'm still working on my mom's shawl. I had a bit of a falling out with it for a couple of days when it insisted that I tear it out eight times before finally getting it. The pattern calls for knit, yarnover, K2tog (knit 2 stitches together). Pretty simple pattern. But rather than having the number of stitches cast on divisible by three, the pattern called for a cast on of 80 sts. Well, after frogging the shawl eight times, cursing like a sailor the whole time, the shawl and I came to an agreement. I simply adjusted the number of CO sts. Now things are going swimmingly! Perhaps if we get some sun in the next couple of days, I will take some pictures.

On the spinning front...I'm all signed up for the guild and for my class this Saturday. I missed the first class (there are two Saturdays in total), but it simply covered working with the drop spindle which I have slowly been catching on to. I am really enjoying it -- it's quite relaxing. This Saturday they will be reviewing the drop spindle, washing the fleece, and preparing it for spinning (which is good since I missed that...although it would be easy enough to get together with someone and have them show me). And then... duh duh duh duh! ... learning how to spin on the wheel!!!!! That is what I am most excited about. The guild has wheels they rent out ($5.00 a month) plus you can rent handcarders and other equipment for $5.00 per month. Pretty reasonable.

My Lacy Kerchief Scarf is in a bit of a holding pattern right now. I need to finish my mom's shawl and get it off into the mail. Then my next plan is to finally finish my scarf! I started it in December and have been just picking at it lately. But I want to finish it so I can get some use out of it this season.

Well, that's life in a very tight nutshell. Hope you are all doing well.

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood

2007-02-22T10:38:00.000-05:00

We got some snow last night. I just had to take some pictures...

After having such a cold snap, it finally warmed up enough to bring us a bit of snow last night. The sun is out today -- it is beautiful!

This morning I attempted a bit more spinning on my new spindle. Some days I think I'm figuring it out, other days (like today)...not too successful. I think I am trying to use too much fibre. The twisted yarn is still quite thick. I'm having a bit of trouble twisting the spindle and controlling the drafted fibres. It keeps spinning up into the fibre supply. Then I have to stop, unravel a bit and start again. All part of learning I suppose. There is a spinning class on March 3rd so I am looking forward to attending and trying to get a bit more of a grasp on this spinning thing. I am getting excited! Until then I figured I would try a bit of spinning every day just to get the feel of it...and perhaps stumble upon the right technique. But for the meantime, I am enjoying it so much. I can see how it can be very relaxing once you get a rhythm.

Today I am working on a shawl for my mom. I have torn out my knitting on it several times now. It's not that it's a difficult pattern, I just wasn't really focusing on the pattern. Last night I discovered a GAPING hole...no idea what I did. So I tore it all out and started again from scratch. It's a ribbon shawl and I've never worked with this material before so it was a challenge to see where I might have dropped a stitch or two. It was easier to just tear it all out and start again. I had about 4 inches in length completed. Oh well, I'm loving the challenge...and when the pattern is knitted up the ribbon is so soft and squishy. I think it will look beautiful on my mom! I'll take pics in the next couple of days once I've got the pattern going again.

Everyone is starting to feel better around here so the threat of "cooties" is disappearing. Today is Thursday -- which means a great line-up for TV. Results for American Idol, CSI, Survivor...and of course, Men in Trees! Eeeeee...great knitting to be had as well as entertainment galore!!! I love Thursdays.

Quirky...Who Me?

2007-02-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

'Ello 'ello 'ello!

Well I read a challenge of sorts on Sheepish Annie's blog the other day and I thought I would try to come up with 10 quirky things about myself. I'm not going to tag anyone else, but if you want to do this yourself, let me know so I can check out your quirkiness compared to my own...'cause I'm all about the quirk baby!

Quirky Thing #1: I am terrified of balloons. Not blimps or weather balloons or the Remax variety. Not the pretty birthday balloons floating high on delicate pieces of ribbon. No I'm talkin' about when someone shoves a balloon right in your face and it makes that squeeky noise...you know the one. The one that says, "I'm gonna pop right in your face and there's nothing you can do about it." I think it's perhaps the squeeky part that really freaks me out. It gets me all ... nervous.

Quirky Thing #2: Robots freak me out. I've been saying it for years, "If we're not careful, these robots being invented are going to overtake the human population and rule the world." And then the movie I, Robot came out starring Will Smith. Need I say more...they're smart, people. Perhaps a little too smart. Keep watch.

Quirky Thing #3: I hate to hear people making chewing noises. It grosses me out completely. In fact I have had to leave the room on several occasions when people have unknowingly been making chewing noises. It especially grosses me out when I can hear people eating potato chips...the crunching (*shudder*). If we are having dinner or something, I always need to have noise going on in the background (TV, stereo, sparkling conversation...restaurant noise is the best!)

Quirky Thing #4: Everything I do, whether it's cleaning, brushing my teeth, BBQing...whatever...I HAVE to do those things in a particular order. I have tried to change things up, but it just feels wrong. It's as though the whole balance of the universe gets disrupted. Then my whole day feels out of whack -- it's best not to mess with order.

Quirky Thing #5: I love to make lists (see #4). But they cannot be written on a Blackberry (I don't even know what those are or if you can even make lists on them...) or even a typed list on the computer. These lists MUST be handwritten. That way I can physically cross items off. Gives me a sense of accomplishment. Plus, nothing feels better than the act of physical writing.

Quirky Thing #6: I love funky pens (see #5) for making my lists or just for writing in general. I like my handwriting...it's pretty. Ergo, I must have a funky pen for the whole writing experience to feel complete. Not just any old Bic ballpoint pen, either. Something smoothy and silky, where the ink flows freely without the pen nib catching or dragging on the paper.

Quirky Thing #7: I am a touchy-feely sort of person. If there is fibre, I will touch it. If it's a loverly piece of pottery, I will pick it up to feel the shape and the feel of the glaze, etc. If it is a person, I will often touch their hand or arm if I'm laughing with them. I love to give and receive hugs. I love snuggles from babies, my daughter or hubby, or pets. If something is squishy, I will squish it. If something is mushy, I will mush it through my fingers. You get the point.... however, points are sharp (me no likely sharp things...ouch!)

Quirky Thing #8: I snort when I laugh. Yep, I'll let out a good ol' snort if you really get me laughing hard enough.

Quirkly Thing #9: I blog. I am the type of person who wears her heart on her sleeve. So the person you converse with (or if you read my blog) that's me in a nutshell. There's no hiding who I am. If you don't like me, I'm sorry. And I am quirky enough to bear myself on a blog for everyone to know me.

Quirkly Thing #10: When I am nervous or tired, my right eye leaks from the outside corner. So I am usually dabbing at it with my sleeve or a tissue.

Well, that's me. I hope to hear all about your quirkiness...let me know.

A Strange Turn of Events

2007-02-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

Hi My Beautifuls...

Well, last night proved to be an interesting evening. My husband had a meeting across town from where the Spinner's Guild was meeting, so he dropped me daughter and I off at Subway for supper. From there we walked 5 mins to a local mall and wandered about for about 20 mins. Then the 5 min trek up the hill to Jumbo Gardens...the place where all my spinning dreams would come true (pardon the melodramatics...). Well, we got to the building and tried the door...hmmm, locked. We walked around to the east side of the building. Hmmm, locked. We then tried the west door...you guessed it, locked. There were lights on in the building and so I buzzed the intercom. The custodian met us at the south doors where, I'm sad to say, he informed us that there was no Spinners' Guild that met there at all. Here's a blow-by-blow account of what followed:

"What do you mean there's no Spinners' Guild. I was told they meet here at Jumbo Gardens," I informed him.

"Well, ma'am, this is just a daycare facility. There are no meetings here at all," he politely responded.

By now, I am a bit hysterical (by the way, I just looked up the definition on dictionary.com to give a full description of me at this point...#3 says it all: irrational from fear, emotion, or an emotional shock). It was as though my brain was refusing to process the information just given to me.

"But that's impossible," I said, trying desperately to hide the high-pitched squeals which were now my voice. I began to realize by this point that my daughter and I would be waiting outside for at least an hour while waiting for my husband to pick me up.

"Is it possible there is another Jumbo Gardens," I asked, no longer trying to hide the hysterical pitch of my voice.

"Yes," the custodian responded. "Up about 4 blocks and then at the end of that road (which is equal to about 2-3 city blocks)."

"Thanks," I responded. I knew I couldn't be mad at him because it was really not his fault. But I really felt like flying toward him and scratching his eyes out. But that would have been wrong. Especially in front of my 7 yr old daughter...

Well, I needed to make a quick decision. We would continue to hike it! So up the hill we went (by this time I'm muttering to myself while at the same time, trying to reassure my daughter everything was fine).

"Let's find the positive," I told my daughter as we huffed and puffed up the hill. (By the way, I am so totally the opposite of positive...I'm not even close to seeing the glass as half full some days). So we figured that we had a most excellent sandwich at Subway, we got to "hang out at the mall", and we were having a terrific walk.

Well, I figured when we got there, I would just have time to pay my membership for the Guild, sign up for the class they're offering, and then we would have to leave to hike back down the hill and wait at the original building for my hubby to pick us up (because he would have no idea where we were).

We walked almost to the end of that main road the rec centre was supposed to be on, but I didn't see anything. Okay, now I'm really having to go pee. What to do, what to do. Ahhhh... friends from church live on the next street over. So we hiked to their place, where I was able to use the washroom, call my husband (no, we don't have cell phones...I know...gasp all you like...I really can't stand them and hope I never need to purchase one...although I thought last night would have been the perfect opportunity to have them), and we were thankfully able to wait for him to pick us up in a nice warm house with great company.

To say I was disappointed last night is an understatement.

But every cloud has it's silver lining...or in this case...a fleece lining....

Today, my favourite yarn shop has a knitting group from 1-4pm. I went with the hopes that the one lady from the Spinners' Guild would be there. She wasn't. But another lady was. I mentioned that I had really tried to get to the meeting last night, but was unable to make it.

"It wasn't last night," she politely informed me. "It's this coming Monday. We meet on the fourth Mondays."

Apparently I was given the wrong information...

But......... happy happy joy joy. I didn't miss it! So I got the correct information from her and everything is hunky-dorky.

Well, I'd better go. American Idol is starting. Not sure if I'll make it through...I'm pretty beat tonight. Talk to you tomorrow...

Tah-Dah!!!!

2007-02-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Teddy. But you can call me Ted for short. You are all my royal subjects. I would like you to be my friends. I just wanna know, "How ya doin' peeps?" Tell me, what's your favourite thing to do? I hope it's to like teddies and knitting! Did you have any birthdays yet? They're my favourite! This is Ted, signing off! Mwah...kisses! and hugs! xoxoxo ...(story told by my daughter for your viewing pleasure)

Well, he's finished! Finally. Note to self...never use fun fur yarn to make another anything that needs to be stitched together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A little frustrating to say the least. But he's finished and that makes me very happy. (Off camera: me doing a little happy dance)

I snapped a few pics this morning of Ted with a piggy bank I made while I had the pottery equipment at my itching fingertips. Oh, if only I had a gazzilion dollars!!! I would be slinging mud all day...and knitting at night. Oh...if only... ... ... ... ...

Sorry about that! Drifted off into daydream-land for a few minutes. Back to reality.

Today my baby girl is home from school. She has a touch of the flu. My hubby is sick with a horrible cold. Ergo...I have locked myself into my cozy little home office/craft room/disaster area to fend off impending doom. Need I remind my faithful readers that tonight is my first Spinner's Guild meeting? Uh...yeah! Therefore, I don't need no stinkin' flu/cold bugs hovering around me just waiting to attack. Tomorrow, I can be sicker than a dog, but not today. Oh no, not today. Nothin' is gonna keep me from that meeting tonight. I missed last month and I am not going to miss tonight too.

So for today, the plan is to stick to myself as much as possible. Do some laundry, flutter by "the sickos" now and then, do some laundry, knit a bit, do some more laundry, check on "the sickos" again, perhaps even dust (but that's a last resort!). I am currently ignoring the fact that my eyes are itchy and my left ear is a little sore. My tummy hurts a touch, but that's just because I haven't eaten any breakfast yet. (Phew...I think I'll be just fine). I have three HUGE chicken breasts in the fridge leftover from supper the other night. So I just threw those in my stockpot on the stove. Mama's makin' good ol' homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch today. Oh yeah...I'z got skillz! Uh-huh!

Well, I'd better get going on that laundry. Did I mention I have laundry to do? I came to the conclusion that my family has WAYYYYYY too many clothes. If you can get by for a couple of weeks without fresh laundry, but you always have fresh clothes to wear??? You've got too many clothes. Which equals loads of laundry for mama. And, let's be honest, mama hates chores. I'm not the Suzy Homemaker I grew up dreaming I would be. I've realized I'm far to selfish. Terrible, I know. But you'll need to get past that.

Ciao!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee -- I'm So Excited...Can ya tell?

2007-02-18T08:19:00.001-05:00

I am so excited I think I'm going to pee my pants... Phew! I'm glad that urge passed...

For many years, I have been fascinated with the art of spinning. I remember in 1998 in Castlegar, British Columbia I had the opportunity to watch a woman spinning. I think at that moment I was hooked. It looked so relaxing and it amazed me that from a bit of wool she was able to spin this beautiful, workable yarn. That aspect of the arts intrigues me. For awhile I had the opportunity to teach pottery (perhaps I'll post some pics of some of my pieces sometime) and it was the same thing. You have this lump of clay in your hand and with a bit of manipulation you can throw some amazing pieces of art or things to use in your house everyday.

Well, after enviously looking at other people's blogs who knit and spin, I'm gonna do it! We have a Spinnners and Weavers Guild in town and they meet this Monday. Good friends of ours gave me money for my birthday to pay for a membership...the excitement is unbearable! I can't wait for tomorrow night.

Also, my parents gave me a gift certificate for my b'day for my favourite yarn shop in town, Threads in Time. So I was finally able to go yesterday with my daughter. Get this...my daughter said to me, "Mommy I love coming here because you can touch everything. Everything feels so nice." EEEEEEEEEE...A fibre addict is born!

Anywho...I used my gift certificate to purchase a few things for spinning. I couldn't wait until Monday (they probably don't spin at the meetings anyways...duh!). I've wanted to try working with a drop spindle so I picked out a simple instruction booklet which covers the basics of using the drop spindle, cleaning the fleece, etc. I also got some rolags which have been carded and are ready to spin. I bought a classic drop spindle, and a niddy noddy. I also bought three small pouches of dye to try down the road.

Well, last night I couldn't bear it anymore. I tore open the bag of rolags, tore some off, and with book-in-hand, I made my first attempts at spinning. A bit pathetic and sad looking to say the least...but hey, it's spinning!!!!!I took some pics to show you my poor attempts...but hey, when I first tried pottery, there were no award winning pieces being thrown that night! I had to take some pictures this morning so that some day I can look back and say, "Hey, I've come a long way!"

Well, I'd better go get ready for church. My daughter reminded me last night that I play organ this morning...yipes! I got so wrapped up in my spinning excitement (pardon the pun), that I completely forgot that I play this morning. Ooops! I'd better get showered up and quickly run through the hymns I need to play.

Tah tah my loverlies!

Good Morning Starshine, The Earth Says Hello...

2007-02-13T10:39:00.000-05:00

Does anyone remember that song by the musical group Hair? Good Morning Starshine, The Earth Says Hello. Well, it has become my cheesy musical number for this morning's blog. The one beautiful thing about having the temperature gauge reading about minus a gazzilion is that the sun is always shining.

Today after dropping my daughter off at school, I noticed the thermometer outside read -35 C (which is pretty much the same temp in F). But the sun was coming up and it was loverly. I just had to snap some pictures while the song was playing in my head.

For fun, I've looked up the full set of lyrics for Good Morning Starshine. In fact as I snapped a few photos, I found myself singing, "Good Morning Starshine, the earth says hello...HELLO! It's frickin' freezing out here! Woo Hoo Global Warming!"

Please enjoy my Good Morning Starshine photoblog...

Good Morning Starshine...

The Earth Says Hello...

You Twinkle Above Us...

We Twinkle Below...

(Editorial Note: These guys were obviously high when they wrote this one...)

Good morning starshine, the earth says hello
you twinkle above us,
we twinkle below
good morning starshine,
you lead us along
my love and me
as we sing our early morning singing song
gliddy glub gloopy
nibby nabby noopy
la la la - lo lo
sabba sibbi sabba
nooby aba naba
lee lee - lo lo
tooby ooby wala
nooby aba naba
early morning singing song
Good morning . . .gliddy glub gloopy . . .
Singing a song,
humming a song
singing a song
loving a song,
laughing a song
singing a song
sing the song
song the sing
song song song
sing sing sing sing
song song song song
sing sing sing sing song

Ongoing Mystery Project

2007-02-10T21:51:00.000-05:00

Hey!

Well, I was hoping to give you "teaser" photos of the mystery item I've been working on as I made bits of progress. But today I knit with guns a blazin'! I am getting close to finishing...

I've had a few people e-mail me with their ideas. Some suggested perhaps it was a fun fur halter top/dress. Okay, nice try peoples, but really...let's think about this. Me? In a fun fur halter top? It's a little caveman era for me...not so flattering, and may possibly draw too much unnecessary attention to "the girls".

Another idea was a clutch/handbag. Again...good try, but nope. I've been carrying the same green Mountain Equipment Co-op bag for the last...hmmm...10 years or so. (Okay, yes, maybe I am a fashion victim. What are you going to do about it? Call a fashion makeover show? Go ahead...I could use all the help I need!!!)

Well, while mom and dad were visiting my baby girl saw a knitted teddy bear in the yarn shop. The yarn was on for a good price, so...

I give you Madeline's almost completed,

new Best Friend Bear.

It's a pretty cool pattern. I found it in the Holiday 2006 Interweave Knits magazine. It knits up pretty quickly and has been a fun project.

As I finish, I'll post more pics (especially after it is stuffed with face done). The pattern actually called for a different yarn, but Madeline wanted a fuzzy stuffy. It will be beautiful I think.

Tomorrow we have our Annual Voters' Meeting at church. Ergo, I've got to bring along some knitting (possibly my Lacy Kerchief Scarf) to keep me busy. Sometimes the meetings can get a bit "spicy" so it helps to have some knitting along to distract me.

Have a great night and we'll see you again real soon.

So Many Projects...

2007-02-06T21:36:00.000-05:00

Hey beautiful peoples!

I've been busy knitting. I finished my clogs and a pair for my mom (we both celebrated our birthdays last week...so it was my b'day gifts to us)...so now I'm on to a new project.

Any ideas what it is??? Stay tuned. Take some guesses and I'll continue to update with play-by-play pictures until the mystery is solved...

I'm All About The Knitting, Baby!

2007-02-01T14:51:00.000-05:00

Okay, so for those who haven't figured it out yet, I am developing a crazy obsessive knitting addiction. I can't just sit anymore without sticks and wool in my hands. I feel "na-kid". So it should not surprise anyone of my most recent knitting accomplishment.

My parents are visiting us until Feb 5th. My mom's birthday was yesterday (Jan 31st) and mine is today (Feb 1st). On Saturday, we "dropped by" the wool shop I have been frequenting as of late. Mom wanted a pair of felted slipper clogs like I made for hubby and my baby girl. So, we picked out some wool (Briggs & Little -- Regal in turquoise) for the knitting extravaganza! I hadn't worked with this particular brand of wool before so my fingers were itchin' before we even left the shop.

I started knitting them late Saturday afternoon and by Monday morning I was ready to begin felting them! I amazed even myself since I consider myself to be a slow knitter!!! Last night I finished my green slippers for felting (I started those just before Christmas). This morning I felted them up and...VIOLA! We have felted slippers:

The Briggs & Little yarn didn't shrink as much as I wanted them to, but I'm still pretty pleased with them nonetheless. I may have overshrunk the green ones so my mom and I may need to switch colours...we'll have to see. But for now...sweet!

I'm Still Here

2007-01-30T07:51:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

I'm still here. We have company visiting until Feb 5th so I haven't been blogging at all! I miss it very much so I figured I'd drop a line to let you all know I'm am well.

I have been knitting too. I will have some piccys later to post. I just completed a pair of felted clog slippers for my mom's birthday. I'll take some pictures today. They are drying as we speak. My mom also bought me some stuff to make her a ribbon shawl. We saw a sample of it hanging on the wall of the wool shop on Saturday -- I am looking forward to seeing how that works out. Plus Madeline saw a knitted teddy bear (using "eyelash" yarn) so she's looking forward to that. That should keep me quite busy for awhile.

I'll post more later...tah-tah for now...

Hello My Loverlies!

2007-01-23T21:26:00.000-05:00

I have way too many projects going on. I have four knitting projects that are all patiently waiting to be finished: my lacy kerchief scarf, my felted slippers, a gift for someone (no...not me), and...oh, for the love of Pete! The fourth project has slipped my mind. I think I am losing it these days. Hmmmmm, well, it will come back to me.

Anyways, the point is that I am obviously not very good at multi-tasking. I think it is because I become easily bored of things rather quickly. I like to challenge myself -- let's just chalk it up to the fact that I believe I am a genius! Hence I can't just stick to straight stockinette stitch or garter stitch projects anymore. I find them a little bit...mundane. Once I figured out how to read charts (for my lacy scarf project) it changed me. I LOVE the challenge, although, I do find myself talking like a sailor on some days. I also love the fact that I can actually figure them out on my own. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction.

However, challenging oneself does has its limitations. For example, I love to do jigsaw puzzles. I normally get the urge to complete one every year during the Christmas season. But I know my limitations. You will never find me working on those ridiculous puzzles that have the same sort of pattern on both sides, with abstract puzzle pieces, and has an irregular shaped frame. No sir...that's...that's just crazy! No headache is worth that type of accomplishment. Now, if you are the type of person who likes those type of puzzles, I'm sorry...but we could never be friends. It's not that you're not a nice person with fascinating hobbies, it's just that you think on a whole other level which may cause my chicken-like brain to implode. Therefore, your conversations just might leave me staring into space like a deer caught in the headlights. And we all know how messy those types of situations can be!

Now if you are one of those people who like to approach their puzzles from a more logical point-of-view (i.e. put the frame together first, then tackle the inside pieces) pull up a chair, roll out the green felt puzzle mat, and let's dish!

New Blogging Arenas

2007-01-22T09:10:00.000-05:00

Hola My Beauties,

Just to let you know, I have started two more blogs. One to chart my weight loss (I'm hoping this keeps me accountable) and the other is about Lutheran Christian stuff. If you are interested, please check them out. I just felt I needed other forums for stuff other than knitting (*gasp*). I know, I know there is more to me than knitting. Take a moment....breathe deeply. And release your breath slowly.

My blog on my weight loss progress is titled I Can Do This. I figured it would be a great place to chart my successes along the way without boring those who come to Knit Girl.

My other blog is something very near and dear to me...my Lutheran faith. As a confessional Lutheran "Pastor's Wife", I don't always feel I have a voice. I'm tired of people giving me the impression that I need to apologize for my love of being a confessional Lutheran. Well, I'm not gonna apologize...I'm gonna write instead. If you so desire, please check it out. The blog is called Lutheran Chicklet.

Now for the rest of you...do not fear. Knit Girl will remain. I will continue blogging here. I just needed different blogging arenas for those areas in my life.

Breathe in...breathe out. There. I feel much better!

Ooooh...I'm an Aristocrat!

2007-01-21T21:15:00.000-05:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Excellency Rebecca the Vehement of Bumswick by the Hole
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I Love Fortune Cookies

2007-01-21T21:11:00.000-05:00

My Fortune Cookie told me:
You are destined to lead a religious cult full of people who paint their faces purple.
Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Meet Gill

2007-01-21T19:55:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Gill. I am an angelfish and this is my home. You'll notice I have no tankmates. I've eaten them all, although some have gone to that big fishbowl in the sky all on their own. I really am a cantankerous sort of fella. I apparently am so "mean" that my peoples will not bring me anymore playmates.

The lady that feeds me every day seems to be an odd sort of person. She swims past me and waves her fins, makes goofy faces, and talks to me when she drops in my food. She has numerous nicknames for me such as "The Gillster" and "Gilly McGillenstein". She is an odd sort of duck.

When she is not "doting" on me, or admiring my fins, she knits. I would say she used to be a hobby knitter. You know, working on the odd project now and then. But I dare say it has crossed the line into obsession/addiction. I am getting a bit concerned for my lady. She used to try to keep the house tidy...but not so much anymore. If she does clean, it is usually because somebody is coming to visit and it becomes a whirlwind of activity...dusting, scrubbing, sweeping, hiding junk in the cupboards. It's really quite sad.

She has become quite preoccupied as of late. If she has a minute or two between flipping great Canadian steaks on the bar-b-que you will find her hunched over her knitting seeing how many repeats she can accomplish before the timer sends her back out into the cold. If the phone happens to ring she mutters to herself as she swims across the room. She even encourages her daughter to have long showers in order to knit as much as she can before the kid gets out.

I've also noticed this scarf she's been working on. She has an unusual attachment to the alpaca fibre. She must be cold or something, because she's constantly pressing the knitted fibre to her face and uttering all sorts of ooooh's and aaaaaah's. It must help because she then just sits back and stares at it, smiling like a lunatic.

I try not to say too much for fear of sending my dear lady over the edge. But I do worry about her. What if she forgets to feed me? I no longer have tankmates to nibble on...what will I eat? Perhaps if I keep to myself and flare out my fins now and then to impress her, she will continue to swim past, make goofy faces, and feed me. She will tell me what a handsome boy I am and I will silently agree. After all, look in the mirror...what's not to love?

Nice Fat Ankles and Nubby Feet!!!

2007-01-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

Good Morning My Beautifuls!

Okay, so the other day I picked up some sock wool to make some Jaywalker socks (with a shorter leg on it). Well, I was so excited to get going I just grabbed my needles and knit away. Now, I really wasn't paying attention. I used 3.0 mm dpns (double pointed needles) for my "Almost 10-lb Socks" so I wasn't thinking to even check what the pattern calls for (2.25 mm dpns). I thought the sock looked rather "fat" while I was working on it. But, like an idiot, I just kept knitting. I Kitchener'ed the toe last night and I was left with...hmmm...let's just say it looks like it was made for a person with extremely fat ankles and a nub for a foot.

I like the colourway of the wool, especially with the Jaywalker pattern. You can't tell from this picture, but it is actually quite loose around the ankle. However I'm gonna have to frog this one (rrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiip it out). They are supposed to be a gift for someone and I can't possibly give them that!!!! They would be offended. It would be like saying, "I love you and your fat ankles and nubby feet!" Horrible!!!!

Well, a week has passed since I last wrote. Sorry about that. It's not that my life jacked up to an exciting level or anything. I was just...busy. Doing what? Well...it couldn't have been that exciting since nothing really comes to mind.

However, I was checking my e-mail messages last night and I received a letter from one of the magazines I submitted an article for. They are going to print my article!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo! I believe that's #4 on my list of "things to do" this year. Booyah!

Well, I'd better go. I have a sock to frog, breakfast to eat, and victory dances to be danced! Have a great day, my pretties...

The Great Canadian Bar-b-que, eh?

2007-01-12T18:35:00.000-05:00

Hello Loverly Peoples!

I have to share something with you all that just struck me as "something only a die-hard Canadian will do, eh".

Tonight I had a real hankerin' for a nice thick BBQ'd steak. Now, we here in Canada have had a pretty mild winter compared to usual (at least in our neck of the woods). Normally many Canadians pack up their BBQ with their lawnmower for the winter and break it out in the spring. Believe me, nothing smell more num-nummy than the smell of steak BBQing after a hiatus of approximately 6 - 8 months. You can't even begin to describe that ethereal smell wafting through the air which signals the beginning of spring in many parts of our fine country.

Well this year we have been rather privledged to be BBQing up to this point in our area (if it so interests you). The other night we had a bit of a snow storm which left the deck and BBQ covered with a beautiful blanket of snow. Well, what does any good Canadian do when she is just dyin' for a grilled steak. She heads out into the cold night in the proper apparel for BBQ shovelling.

After a good five minutes shovelling the deck off (I've actually been keeping up with it this year...usually the snow builds up to the top of the rail), fresh air in my lungs, and cheeks rosy with excitement...I head to the BBQ . Only a good Canadian will dig the BBQ out of the snow and crank on the propane tank (with a bit of difficulty...when frozen, the knobby-thingy no-likey to turny). Next, one gently coaxes the "on-off knobs" (okay, so I'm not so technical). By coaxing, I mean chipping away the ice with the sharp corner of the shovel until they turn, and by gentle, I mean gripping the knob with gloved fingers and wrestling it until the ice cracks away and the knobs begin to move rather stubbornly...but they're movin' folks! Finally, with butane lighter in hand get a flame going that will be hot enough to melt any remaining ice of the BBQ (did I mention the lid also refused to budge, thereby needing to be "gently chipped at with aforementioned shovel???).

Next, one preps the potatoes for the Great Canadian grillin' experience.

Next, prep meat of choice -- tonight's feature a loverly selection of ribeye steaks (beef). However, for a truly Canadian experience one could try elk, buffalo, deer, or moose. But, alas, my hubby is not a hunter...ergo, we're grillin' the boeuf. I think we'll go with a sprinkle of garlic and a dash or Montreal steak spice for the flavah! Sounds pretty good so far, eh?

Now the grillin' may commence: Behold! The Great Canadian BBQ, eh?

Please note, by this point the "chef" (moi) has relieved herself of the previously needed outerwear. Now gone are the fleece, the knitted touque & scarf, no gloves. Just a short sleeved t-shirt, flannel pj bottoms, and boots are required for running in and out the door for flipping purposes (I know...totally sexy, eh?)...note...a true Canadian doesn't need no stinkin' socks in her boots!

The key to a Great Canadian winter BBQ is to be mindful of lifting the lid to the BBQ. When the temp outside reads -25 degrees C (approx. -18 degrees F) you want to be efficient in your requirement to lift the BBQ lid for flipping. Now, there can't be any dilly-dallying. You race outside, open lid, flip items quickly and without hesitation, close lid, then race back in the house. If you have done this successfully, you will not have felt any cold breezes on your bare arms or ankles. I must warn you, please exercise caution when handling metal tongs. We don't want them freezing to your hands!

Finally, the grilled beast is ready, potatoes are garlicy, and veggies have been prepared. Time to go enjoy my Great Canadian BBQ. Talk to ya later, eh?

Big Dancing, Small Town

2007-01-11T17:13:00.003-05:00

This is just a silly dancing video with funky music. Just made me smile today

Snow Storm Alert

2007-01-10T20:12:00.000-05:00

Well, we're starting to feel the effects of a big snow storm heading our way from across Canada. It started to snow earlier this evening, but we're expecting about 10 cm in the next 24 hrs (approx. 4 inches). But we're up the hill so we tend to get quite a bit more than town. We'll have to hunker down for the next day or so. Yeeee Hawww...that just means knittin' will be done! Still working on my scarf, my felted slippers, and I'm froggin' a pair of sock that I've been working on (pattern used was not my ususal...stupid pattern) so the first one has to get rrrrrrrriiiiiiiiipped out and started again. Yargh!

Just a quick one tonight. Been kind of a sucky day and can't think of anything happy to write about. Perhaps tomorrow will bear loverly topics of interest. Good night, dahlings!

Everything Is Back To Normal

2007-01-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

Hello My Peeps!

So, I had an interesting conversation with a couple of good friends yesterday. We were talking about New Year's Resolutions and whether I had made any. I very proudly informed them that I don't make them, because of the reasons stated in my previous post (Jan 3rd). And besides, I am a princess so if I don't want to do something, I simply don't. As the conversation continued, I mentioned how in the new year I would like to do some stuff, get some info, etc. when my friend Bruce (I won't mention his name) said, "Hmmm...sounds like a resolution to me!" Well, to say I was flabbergasted is an understatement. I refused to believe it. It couldn't be possible! I NEVER make resolutions! EVER!

For the sake of argument, let's just say my friend Bruce (I won't mention his name) was right! What would my list consist of? Where do I see myself this time next year?

Eat right, move more...lose weight.
Knit more, nap less.
E-mail or phone friends and family more often.
Write something and get it published.
Get to bed before midnight.
Get up early to write.
Kiss and hug my baby girl & hubby more (as if that's even possible).
Declutter and organize my house.
Keep my newly decluttered and organized house clean (without complaining that I need a maid to do it all for me).
Eat at home more...eat out less.
Drink more water...less pop.
Floss daily.

Okay, so for the sake of argument, that's a pretty long and hefty "resolutions" list. And for the sake of argument, have I even attempted any of it yet? Well, yes, I have! Today I finished working on an article I'm submitting to a magazine for publication ("Resolution" #4) and I always have a short story or two burning in my brain. We're doing pretty well on "resolutions" # 10 and #11. And merely eight days into this new "James Bond 007" year, I'm doin' pretty well on numbers 1 and 2. "Resolution" #7 is just a given, but it doesn't hurt to aim for a few extras every day.

But, as I have stated previously. I NEVER make resolutions. EVER! I just like to make lists!

No New Year's Resolutions For Me

2007-01-03T11:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I have decided no resolutions this year. Why? Because I NEVER keep them. So really, let's just save ourselves the disappointment, shall we? Yeah, I could chant the same ol' tune again this year: "No more pop, less food, more moving, more of this, less of that...", but to what avail? Let's just say this year I'm going to try to be a little more aware of what I am doing/not doing/eating/not eating/drinking/not drinking. That way I can't beat myself up when things don't go according to plan.

Tomorrow is D-day...Dentist-day. To say I get nervous going to the dentist is a bit of an understatement. Let's just say when I drop my husband off for HIS dental appointments, I begin to hyperventilate. But tomorrow is my six-month check-up. Am I dreading Black Thursday...well, yes...yes I am. I have not had a good record of excellent dental health. Now, don't get me wrong. I think dentists are fine, upstanding people. However, a lifetime of fillings, braces, a root canal, dental surgery, and floss-nazis (that's my "term of endearment" for the loverly hygenists) has left me as a shivering, whimpering, blob of jello-type messiness. But I do love my new dentist. She is a very kind and patient lady whom I adore. Plus, she gives me the stuff! Now, I'm talkin' about the nitrous, baby! Nitrous Oxide! Gas of the Dental Gods!!! (aka...laughing gas). It makes the whole process seem a little less daunting. It kind of gives you the feeling of having a few glasses of wine under your belt before going under the light. With the gas, everything is funny and beautiful. The dental hygenist/floss-nazi can tell you for the 900,000,000,000th time that you need to floss more, but that feeling shame because of your dental neglect doesn't seem to really bother you as much when you're sucking back the nitrous. In fact, I believe I have actually burst out laughing while telling her, for the 900,000,000,000th time, "Tonight, I promise I will start anew! Flossing will commence!" (I may have even saluted her...) But we both really know I'm lying through my teeth. Look, I tell her what she wants to hear, and she gives me the gas I need to endure this ridiculous basic routine of life.

On to happier things in life. My Lacy Kerchief Scarf is coming along swimmingly! It is beautiful and sunny today so I thought I'd post a few piccys:

Lying in the morning sun

A more detailed shot

Buttery Goodness!

Still Reeling From New Year's Eve

2007-01-02T12:34:00.000-05:00

Hello loverly peoples!

A great big happy new year to everyone! I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. The title of my post is actually rather deceiving since it would bring up images in one's mind of me about 18 years ago (*sob*...how time has past...how the weight has gathered!!! *sniff*) moving and gyrating on the dance floor at some hot rockin' New Year's Eve gala affair.

However, it really was a quite evening on the homefront. We had a freaky rain storm all day which later turned to a snowy-slushy affair. Hence, we would not be heading to town for our annual New Year's Eve dinner. Ergo, we put the life of some poor, underpaid delivery boy in jeopardy who brought us a Chinese feast to fill our bellies. But being the ever faithful worker he crawled up the hill from the city to bring us our num-nums.

After dinner I donned a sexy little outfit (picked out special for the night)...old flannel pj bottoms (covered with snowmen and snowflakes) and a t-shirt. But not just any t-shirt. Rather, it is one sexy little number complete with ripped armpits and laden on the belly with holes of varying shapes and sizes.

With diet cola in hand I sauntered over to the kitchen table where my darling hubby and daughter were waiting for me. They were ready to hunker down for a good ol' fashioned games night. Madeline proudly displayed her latest game acquisition, "The Littlest Pet Shop" game. The rest of the night was filled with gleeful squeals and giggles...I'm not sure why, but my hubby and dd kept giving me the strangest looks.

Once baby girl was put to bed for the night, I settled onto the couch and continued knitting my scarf and hubby and I watched the countdown on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Once the ball dropped declaring the end to 2006 and ringing in the new year, things got pretty crazy around the house. Our next door neighbours started to fire off their firecrackers to begin the new year and we just stood in our window and watched the colours dance into the sky. Very romantic!

Soon after (approximately 12:06 a.m.) the fireworks had ended, I enjoyed a bowl of Corn Flakes, kissed my hubby good night and went to bed to read.

Boy, New Year's Eve definitely has changed!

I wish you all the very best for 2007.

I'm Baaaack!

2006-12-22T07:52:00.000-05:00

(Please note: The date should read December 30th...not sure what the problem is there!)

Hello Peoples!

I trust everyone is having a loverly Christmas (remember...there's still six days left..."On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...") so don't pack it all in yet!

Okay, so before Christmas I was reading one of my favorite blogs Sheepish Annie (she is hilarious...you must check her out!). Any-who...Annie was tagged by another blogger and had to post 6 weird things about herself. I figured, "Who's weirder than me?" so I let her know I would like to participate. Ergo, I have been officially tagged. Everyone buckle your seatbelt...here we go...

“THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

Weird Thing #1: I waited in line to purchase the new Nintendo Wii gaming console before Christmas. Not once, not twice, but thrice times! (I'm such a dork!!!) Yes, I even arrived at the store the third day before 5:30 a.m. in hopes that I would be #1 in line. Alas, one even crazier than me arrived about 5 minutes before me. Result: I got the Wii. (Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!)

Weird Thing #2: When I am particularly stressed about things my OCD-ness tends to flare up. When I am really anxious or worried about things, I tend to count everything I do in multiples of 3's or 5's (or multiples of these numbers). I'm not sure why, but I have convinced myself that if I don't, the world as we know it will abruptly come to a screeching halt. So you see, my lovelies, the world in fact does rest on my shoulders...

Weird Thing #3: If I hadn't married my beautiful hubby, I would have married one of three other men. Man #1: George Burns (I love that he loved his beautiful Gracie soooo much!) Man #2: John Travolta (how can you not love someone this cool???) Man #3: Matthew McConaughey (but, he's just too pretty...and a committment-phobe, so I just had to say to him, "Babe, look...it's just not gonna work out. You're just too pretty. It's not you...it's me." I must say he took the break-up pretty bad, but I felt he was a bit out of line taking out that restraining order against me...) Honourable Mention: Captain Jack Sparrow (okay, I know he's fictional...but c'mon...THE Captain Jack Sparrow...a pirate! Yargh! Every girl loves a bad boy...)

Weird Thing #4: I love to watch Coronation Street. It's a British soap opera. I don't get to watch as much lately, but I used to watch it all the time many moons ago.

Weird Thing #5: I secretly would love to live on a homestead. Y'know...raise goats, grow your own cotton....live off the land. However, there is one major problem with me achieving this goal in life. I'm a city girl! I rely too much on modern conveniences. One time my mom was visiting us in British Columbia when my daughter was about 7 months old. Mom was going to make a birthday cake. My response, "Oh, my mixmaster is in storage in Edmonton" (therefore I figured you couldn't make cake). My mom looked at me like I was off my rocker. When she informed me that you could in fact mix it by hand, I was dumbfounded! Do things without modern appliances? That's just madness! Ergo, I don't think I'll be "livin' off the land" any time soon. Besides butchering my own meat...well, that's just icky!

Weird Thing #6: My life is one big movie quote. My husband, my daughter, and I daily incorporate movie quotes into our sparkling conversation. I questioned the weirdness of it all recently and my husband figured it is really no different than when people used to walk around quoting Shakespeare back in his day. That response satisfied me...I'm sticking with it!

Well, that's weird me in a nutshell. Now, according to the rules I have to name six people whom I would like to tag. They are:

Murray, Natalie, Andrew, Candace, Jessie, and Diana

Have a great weekend, peoples!

Back After The Holidays

2006-12-21T08:50:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Well, because this season is so busy (especially for us at church...for those who don't know, my hubby is a Lutheran pastor) I won't be posting again until after the holidays next week. I am finishing up my last two weeks at the church (I'm currently working as the church secretary) and then in the new year I am no longer working. But there is a world of opportunities out there and I just need to figure out which direction I need to be heading. But for a few weeks I'll be enjoying being at home full-time again.

I pray everyone has a safe and beautiful Christmas...I'll be back again next week after the 26th.

Lacy Kerchief Scarf

2006-12-16T15:01:00.000-05:00

Well, I am making progress on my Lacy Kerchief Scarf. I have been wanting to take pics for the last couple of days, but the sun is not co-operating with this desire. Ergo, I decided to take pics under the cloudiest of conditions. So the quality isn't the best. But at least I have pictures to show. I've been neglecting my felted clog slippers (which I really should finish this week) and a pair of ankle socks which I started once upon a time.

So kind of an interesting story. Have you ever waited in line for something? Now, I'm not talkin' about a 15 minute wait in the grocery line or Wally World. I'm talking about waiting for hours for an item which may or may not be given to you. Normally, I like to mock these kinds of people. For example, when people waited in line for hours and hours (or was it days) to get tickets to the latest Star Wars episode, or the latest Harry Potter book, or tickets for the Rolling Stones, or (insert your favorite here). In my opinion, I have always thought these people don't really have much of a life. I mean, it's just a movie (or book, or concert...). If you wait an extra week or two, you can get into that same movie without running the risk of line-ups (unless you're really into hanging out with geeks that like to dress up as their favorite movie character or whatever...get a life Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, right?).

Well, yesterday that all changed for me. I am now one of those to be mocked. I waited in a line-up for almost seven hours for the latest gaming console by Nintendo...The Wii. Okay, so normally, I'm not really a big computer geek, I spend minimal amounts of time playing video games. In fact, I lovingly tease my hubby (who is a computer geek...but a hot one) by asking him questions about his imaginary gaming friends named Korg, Galaxia, or (my personal favorite) Zoltar. But the Wii is different. You play the games physically instead of sitting there like a blob. I like the idea of playing games that get up up from the couch and physically moving your body. So, I gave in. I stood in line for almost seven hours. (Actually I did sit for part of the time...my dear hubby ran out and brought back some lawn chairs...I'm so pathetic!).

When they opened the store, they only had 3 games in stock (we were 5th in line), but they were expecting another 3 to 7 games to be delivered by courier later that day. The truck could come in 10 minutes or 10 hours...it was up to us to wait or not. We decided to stick it out. There was one lady in front of us, so we figured, "Hey, we're guaranteed to get one, baby!" So we entered the store and decided to wait. There were some people who decided to leave, but seven of us were committed! I had now become one of the people I normally mock. We were each given a card and our names were recorded as to the order we were in the line-up (we were #2 on the list). Now it was just a waiting game. After about an hour, the courier truck pulled up and the air was electric! I even offered to help him carry in the boxes. Box after box came in through the door, some big, some small. We all held our breath with excitement. After all, we really didn't have to wait too long.

Then the murmurs began. "It's not here," someone whispered. "It's not in this shipment." I began to panic a bit. "What do you mean it's not in this shipment...they said it would be." The fellow behind the counter assured us that there would be another delivery later that day. My racing heart stood still as I looked toward my husband. "What do we do?" I asked. Well, we made a joint decision that we would stay until noon, no later because we both had things to do. Noon got closer and closer, and the woman whose name was before us made the decision to leave. Woo hoo! We're number one, we're number one.

A short time later, the courier returned. This time though, he only had one skinny little package...certainly too tiny to hold a Wii console (let alone 3 to 7 of them). "You're joking right?" I asked him. Nope, he guaranteed this was all he had for that moment. My husband by this point was certain that they wouldn't show up at all for the day. I keep trying to see the glass as half-full. By this time, I was committed to staying until 10 p.m. if I had to (I had lost all capacity to make wise decisions at this point and had become completely irrational). Well, we decided to stay and after awhile my hubby went to pick our daughter up from school. The "Wii Support Group" gathered in a small area of the store by this point and we started talking about "what if the truck doesn't come back today...would we come back on Monday". I said to the group that "this is it. If it doesn't come today, my husband and I would just wait until after Christmas because they'll have tons then." A few others agreed. At almost 3 o'clock the woman working at the store told us the truck wouldn't be coming in that day after all -- she wasn't sure why. But she let us know that the next courier truck would be arriving on Monday morning if we wanted to try again.

Well, you never saw such a pathetic looking group of people (most of us remaining were moms and two grandmas). Christmas dreams would be dashed for some, but I reminded myself, it was just a game, not to worry. In fact it had turned out to be a rather interesting day -- I met new people, I was no longer a virgin to waiting in line for something that I could just wait a few weeks longer for. It was a neat experience overall.

But today my husband said that getting the game console is like a bit of a game in itself. It is really a game of chance, but if I were to go back Monday morning, there would be a good chance I could get one. It's just a game, it's just a game. It is a game and now I want to win!!!!! I keep telling myself to chill, but there is a demon-geek rising within determined to get one of those most cherished Wii consoles. I am officially a big loser like Korg or Galaxia. But for now you can call me...Zelda!

2006-12-12T19:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't written a whole lot lately. I've been kind of out of it since I had the flu a few weeks ago. Plus with Christmas approaching way too quickly, it has left my head spinning. I actually haven't spent a lot of time on the computer. But I've missed posting and reading comments and other people's blogs.

This year I am not really into the whole "Christmas Spirit". I'm not sure what it is this year, but it doesn't feel like Christmas should be here in less than two weeks. I haven't written one Christmas card this year, gifts that should have been shipped at least a week ago haven't even been purchased yet, I certainly haven't felt very "cheery", in fact I've been in a rather deep slump. I found myself the other night wandering around the mall watching people scurry about gathering gifts and cards and wrapping paper. I remember thinking to myself, "Why do we do this to ourselves???" I mean, why do we stress ourselves out trying to find the "perfect gift" for someone we barely speak to (and why do we feel guilty when we don't buy them a thing)?

Perhaps I am a little "Bah, humbug" because other than my hubby and daughter, we really have no family here and I suppose that is what I am missing the most. We have a few friends here, but this year it's like a huge void is overwhelming me. Perhaps I am feeling a bit sorry for myself or is it that I am so sick and tired of Christmas becoming so commercialized that it is literally making me feel sick to my stomach. I mean, this year the stores were playing Christmas carols the day after Halloween. It's just wrong. We've totally lost the whole point. We've become so concerned with mailing things out by a particular deadline that we've forgotten the whole reason why we celebrate the season to begin with.

Now I know there are a few of you out there who do read my blog who are not Christian. And the point of my blog is not to be religious in nature, but I really must say this because I am hoping by getting it out, it will help me to climb out of this funk and really remember why I am looking forward to the season of Christmas. So please bear with me as I just need to get this out. The world looks for peace which seems to be missing from our daily life and stresses. But that "peace" is still right where He's always been. He's never left us, we've left Him. We have been so busy worrying about ourselves and buying that perfect gift that we have forgotten that Christ is the perfect gift. We really don't need anything more. People have been asking me what I want for Christmas this year and I have really been at a loss for words. I look around my home and I honestly don't need anything. Everything I need is right here surrounding me. But yet I feel as though something is missing. I suppose that something is Christ. I've pushed Him so far away that, like the world, I have been looking for something else.

Well, now that leaves me in something of a quandry. Where do I go now? Back to the manger. Back where I should have been the whole time. Thanks for being patient with this post. I promise I will return to my regular stuff tomorrow...I just really needed to get this out.

More Lost Teeth

2006-12-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

Sorry folks...more gratuitous pictures of my baby girl. She lost another tooth tonight and so we just had to have a photo shoot. She is a brave and goofy girl!!! I actually felt a bit queasy with the blood loss on this one (normally doesn't bother me too much). But the whole "dental"-phobia thing I have goin' on...not a good combo tonight! Oh well, I survived.

On the knitting front -- busy, busy, busy. I have three different projects on the sticks right now so it is keeping me content. Will post some piccys this week.

Tonight was the finale of The Amazing Race so we had a bit of an appetizer-type supper. Quite enjoyable. The models won...no surprise there. Would have been nice for the two moms to win.

Well, this will be a quick post tonight. I will have more blah, blah, blah tomorrow. Good night, my lovelies!

I am Weak...

2006-12-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

I am weak when it comes to pretty things. I am weak when I feel something whose texture is soft and buttery. I am weak...it is my achilles heel.... It's called "Having Money In My Pocket".

Growing up, my sister and I received a weekly allowance. My parents were fair and probably blessed us weekly with more than we probably deserved. But I just couldn't wait for Saturday. It was then we were given a predetermined amount of money which was ours to spend or save. My sister and I lived on opposite ends of the spending spectrum.

Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE my sister! In fact I am jealous and envious of her for so many reasons. The one thing I envy most about my sister is her amazing ability to save up the blessings God sends her way. She has an amazing gift and I wish I too could have that ability. My sister, I believe, is far more patient than I. She has the keen sense to wait on things, to save for awhile, and then, when she's ready, she'll make a wise purchase.

My darling husband is the same way and it really must frustrate him to no end to be married to a spender. For example, if we were to purchase an item for our home, my husband has the great strength of will to wait. He will go home and research on the web. He will do price comparisons. He will read consumer reports. And then, when he's ready, he'll make a wise purchase.

And then there's me. I LOVE to spend money. I don't care if it's a small package of gum, I LOVE to spend money. Spending makes me feel good. Spending is my way of saying to the shop keeper, "Hey, I love you!" I don't know why I like to spend money. I don't know why I can't hold on to it. All I know is it makes me feel all gooey-good inside. It's like a warm hug from a long-lost friend. And my daughter, bless her heart, is a spender too.

This troubles me greatly. For you see, I can handle me being a spender. It's what I do best! However, I weep for my baby girl. She does not understand the path of destruction she is on. I feel I need to help her walk down the more responsible path. That means I need to walk down the responsible path and to learn to be more responsible with my spending habits.

Especially in the new year, my job is ending at the end of the month (for reasons that are far too complicated to go into...nonetheless, I am okay with it). However, it will leave us in a situation where there will be far less money to spend. Solution seems simple...just don't spend your money. Well, not so simple for me. But I believe there is a resolution.

We live just outside the city and in the new year, we will have to make fewer trips to town. That means organizing my time, going only where I need to go, and spending on only the essentials. This will be a great character-building opportunity for me...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So, in honour of receiving my last monthly "allowance", today while in town, I made a couple of purchases. You know, 'cause it's almost Christmas and like an impatient child, I just can't wait for anything!!!!

I bought myself some wool to make myself some felted clogs...

And I bought a little bit of heaven...(we're talkin' Alpaca, baby!)

To make this.... It will be my favorite scarf I've ever made myself. Well, it better be since it'll be the last wool purchase I'll be making for a bit (*sob* *sniff*). Please go now...I don't want you to see me cry...

Fontanini Set

2006-12-04T17:01:00.000-05:00

This is our Fontanini Nativity Set. My parents gave it to us last year for Christmas. It is loverly, indeed! Today I snapped some pictures of it to post (sorry no knitting pics...tomorrow, I promise). I had a few minutes to post these before I start cooking supper. We did a crazy, much needed, cleaning of the house today (thanks, Arron)! It feels a lot more cozy and peaceful than it did at 8:30 a.m. today.

The first picture is of the whole set...

The second pic is a close-up of one of the angel figures...

The last pic is my favorite...the afternoon sun was setting and I was able to capture a great picture...it looks so life-like. I love it (I set it as my desktop background). Have a great night!

Advent 2006

2006-12-03T21:57:00.000-05:00

Happy Advent To Everyone!

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Today is the day my family and I traditionally start setting up our home for the Christmas season. Now, I know there are many of you out there who poo-poo the whole idea of setting up Christmas stuff during the reflective season of Advent...but it's our tradition, not yours..."so shut up."

I took a bunch of pics today (and a few tonight) so I'm posting them for your viewing pleasure.

On the knitting front, I am pleased to announce that Madeline has been "living" in her pink felted clog slippers. It fills me with great joy joy!!! Now I just need to make some for me and all our toes will be toasty.

I'm also trying a pattern for knitted sockettes (the pattern is not written well, so I'm glad I've made a pair of socks previous to these...or I would be horribly lost!). I've finished one and crocheted a picot edge on it and tonight I'll start the second. After that I'm not sure what project I'd like to start on next. I've been tempted to try a lace shawl/scarf pattern. We'll see. I'll hit my books and magazines and maybe start a wish list of everything I would like to make.

Well, this will be a short one tonight, folks. It is Sunday night, tomorrow is school for Mads, and I am one tired puppy. Have a great night everyone!

Knit Girl

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