Oh yeah...forgot something...

Oh yeah...I forgot something in my last post. Oops... I have a new blog to add to my list of my daily reads....Mexican Yarns. Sarina has a beautiful writing style, amazing pictures, very cool knitting projects...check it out...

Back to knitting....

So after basically crying for two days straight, I'm all good now....thanks again for all the kind words. So now, I can knit again. I have learned that if I'm in a bad mood, I should not knit, because my tension (gauge) is waaaaayyy off. I'm one of those lucky people that knits everything true to the recommendations, but when I'm stressed, or angry...whoa....tight tight tight. I used to watch "Judging Amy" when it was on, and I got a kick out of Tyne Daly's character, who after having a bad day, would go home, drink wine, and do some "really bad knitting".

I'm working on my slippers. I have the Fiber Trends felted clogs pattern. It's so funny how huge these things are. I've finished one, and I think it could fit Shaq. I wear a size 7. I also felted down TMO's mittens. She loves them, but I think I felted them a tad too much...they seemed just about right when I took them out of the washer, but they shrunk up more as they dried, even though I kept pulling the heck out of them. They're a little short, but since the jacket probably won't fit her next year, I'm not too worried. They work for now. I can always do up another pair. I don't have any pictures because I'm lazy. I am upstairs, the camera's up here, and all the stuff is downstairs. And that would mean I'd have to drag my very comfortable, wine-drinking self down the stairs. Maybe it'll actually be sunny tomorrow, so I can take some pictures where the colours aren't all wonky.

Oh yeah...finished my secret santa scarf for knitting this week. AND I made my cookies too. We're going to have a little Christmas party....drink apple cider (or coffee), eat cookies, knit, listen to Christmas music...
I just have to block my scarf. I did it in 2x2 rib, and I think it's about as tall as me (5'7"). I'm STILL not going to have a new sweater to wear, since my Orangy (remember that?) is sitting in the closet, still in its time-out for bad behaviour.

Oh yeah.... those cookies I made...for the first knitting guild meeting, Gabi brought them, and they were the BEST chocolate chip cookies I've ever had. So I had to make them...but I used Nestle Swirls instead (caramel-and-chocolate chips). Sooo good.

Zip’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter (or butter-flavor Crisco)
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pkg (3.5 oz) vanilla instant pudding
2 eggs
1 pkg (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add vanilla and eggs; cream again.

Mix all dry ingredients and stir into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop small spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 375º for 6 minutes.

The only thing I did differently is I baked them for 10 minutes...but now that I read the recipe...I don't remember if I had it at 375....hmm....oh well, check them after six minutes...

At last, peace.

Today was a bittersweet day. Today, we said goodbye to Dexter. While I took TMO on an outing, D took Dexter to the vet to put him to sleep. I have a strange sense of peace now, because I think that these last few days were very painful for him. His poor old body was starting to shut down, and to keep him around would have meant a death by starvation or by blood poisoning.

Although it was hard for me -- I've only been around 'the boys' for six and a half years -- it was very hard for D. He raised Spencer and Dexter since their mother gave birth to them and then abandoned them shortly thereafter, fifteen years ago this month.

D took Dexter in to the vet by himself. He said that it looked like Dexter knew what was happening, and welcomed it. The clinic that we go to is incredible: one of the technicians made a casting in clay of Dexter's pawprint, and inscribed his name on the plaque.

While it's been very cathartic to write about this, I really appreciated the kind words that Laura, Sarina, and Tinkerbeth wrote. Thank you...you don't know what it meant to me (us).

Balance

It's strange how the world works. One moment, you're flying higher than a kite, the next, you're crashing to the ground.

Two days ago, we were ecstatic to find out that a friend of ours is finally having her long-wanted baby.

Today, we are having a little personal tragedy of our own. This is a picture of our beloved cats, Spencer (the grey cat on the left) and his brother, Dexter. Dexter hasn't been doing too well these last few weeks. He's been vomiting almost on a daily basis, and hasn't been his normal perky self. I attributed it to the move. They are fifteen years old, and moves are very stressful. D said that he didn't think that it was the move; he said, "I think Dexter is dying."


Today, we got him into the vet, and she confirmed D's premonition. Dexter has cancer. A lump about the size of a tennis ball is growing on his pancreas. The reason for the vomiting is that his stomach has been pushed out of place by this growth, and he can't keep anything down. He is basically starving to death.

After the vet visit, I explained to TMO that Dexter isn't feeling well, and we have to be very gentle with him. Dexter went into one of his favourite spots, the storage room under the stairs, and she followed him in there. It was very quiet, so I peeked in, and O was sitting next to him, "reading" him a story. When she came out, she looked at me quizzically and asked "Mommy crying?"

How can I explain to her that her beloved "Decky" has to go to sleep?

Must make this...

I have to make
this sweater. It is one of the cutest sweaters I've ever seen. This little gem is on the Garnstudio site, which has some pretty amazing stuff on it. Some of the cutest baby/toddler sweaters I've ever seen. And now, the patterns are starting to be translated into English, which is so nice. I wrote a post about my experience with Garnstudio patterns in The Good.

A friend of mine has just found out that she's pregnant (and going to be a first time mom at 41), and her little one deserves something very special.

New stuff

I'm slowly taking pictures of all the things that I've knitted. I've created a Finished Object Gallery, which I've divided into three sections....The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I entered a posting on The Ugly.

And, it truly is ugly. Possibly the ugliest thing ever. The only redeeming factor is the cute model wearing it.

Wow...that's all I can say...

I got my first mention on another blog...isn't that cool? Laura from Affiknitty gave me a little shout out because I helped her put a background on her header. AND, she said that I had a cool blog! And to visit it! And people are!

I think I'm going to print out that post and put it up on the wall. My "Wall of Fame". Hee hee. Sorry....I've been giggling to myself all day...

On the home front...our closet is progressing nicely. A wise person once said that if married people wanted to stay married, they should not wallpaper together. Well, that goes triple for hanging drywall. Ack...and then throw in a very inquisitive child who wants to 'help fix'....

Thank God for chocolate.

It should be interesting when we hook up the electrical work. For my own curiosity, when TMO and I were at the library the other day, I picked up some books on how to do electrical work. Now here's a scary title...."The Complete Idiot's Guide to Electrical Repair". Should we really empower idiots into thinking they should rewire their houses? I know, the whole 'Complete Idiot's Guides' and the 'Dummies' series are good books, well written and very informative, but the titles? Come on....

It reminds me of something that happened quite a few years back. I was buying a magazine at the little bookstore near my house, and there happened to be a long line for the register. So of course, you start checking out what other people are buying. A woman further up the line from me was holding a copy of "Sex for Dummies", and kept saying, "No really...it's not for me....it's for a friend...". Okaaaay....right......

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving...have a happy one, and if you have to travel...stay safe.

And be thankful you're not drywalling with your significant other. ;)

Back to knitting...

Well, I finished TMO's mittens that match her Noro hat. It took longer than I expected, but then, I mistakenly thought that they were for her. Whenever I brought one out to work on, I was greeted by proclamations along the lines of "NO MOMMY...NO KNIT...THAT PONY'S MITT". And Pony would wear the half-finished mitten for a while, until that became boring, and I could retrieve it and work on it again.

As I was working on them, I thought "Gee, these kind of look big...but the pattern is for a four-to-six-year old, so they shouldn't be THAT big." Nope. They're big. Huge, really. If they were about two inches longer, I could wear them. But then, I don't have the largest hands...my wedding ring is a size four. (Woo hoo!! Hey...I'm a size four!! Too bad my ring finger is the only thing that's a size four...sniff)

They're made out of Suri Merino, so I'm going to felt them. Then they'll be warmer, and more durable, too.

Houston, we have a problem...

So last night I wrote about our newest Christmas purchase, the Train. TMO is still fascinated with it. But we had a little 'situation' last night with it.

When D took it out of the box, a piece on the back had broken off. I was upstairs getting O's pyjamas, and I hear this:

"Honey....can you come down here??....NOW!!!"

Now, in our house, that line strikes fear in my heart.

I came downstairs to this.

Yup...D had taken it upon himself to Crazy Glue said piece back on.
Warning labels? Psssh...we don't read no stinkin' warning labels...



Of course, he had moral support through it all.

All said, we avoided a trip to the emergency room. Nail polish remover did the trick. Kind of.

Later on, we had this conversation,

D: "Hey...I was talking to my brother on Messenger...he said we should have used turpentine."

Me: "Um...did you ask him why he knew that?"

How many days until Christmas???

So we participated in our favourite family activity tonight. Shopping. Went to one of TMO's fav stores....Target. She loves her Target. Our neighbours are putting up their Christmas lights, and D wanted to get us some new ones. While we were in the Christmas decoration/lights aisle, TMO spotted this little Christmas decoration pictured above, and found online here. She has this thing for trains, and also has her dad wrapped around her little finger, so it came home with us. It now lives in the curio cabinet we have in our living room. And the majority of the evening sounded like this:

TMO: "DaddyDaddyDaddyseethetrain!Looklooklooksee!It'sonatrack!Seesee!DADLOOK!Lights!Green!Red!Purple!"

D: "I think Mommy really wants to look at the train now, sweetie."

And a month ago, he didn't think she talked enough.

This Christmas thing is totally new to her, being almost three and all...she doesn't remember the other two years...soooo...the lights, the music, the constant bombardment of toy catalogues in the mail...she's a little excited. Oh yeah...and she's awake. It's after midnight, and she's up.....yup...thirty-four days and counting....

Non-knitting things I've been doing

I love old pictures. I like going to antique stores and looking through the antique photo- graphs that they have.

It's kind of sad, though, to think that someone's family photographs have been, in a way, discarded, for someone to buy. My mom sent me these two photos. One of her cousins has them, scanned them in, and emailed them to her, and she emailed them to me. The wedding photo was in rough shape, so I edited out some scratches, smears and dust spots with Digital Image Suite. It's the wedding photo of my Mom's Aunt (my Great-Aunt, then). I find it curious that the photographer had everyone stand outside in what appears to be the middle of a Saskatchewan winter. Brr.





This picture is of my Grand- mother (on the left), three of her sisters, and her mother (my Great- Grandmother) at my Great-Grandfather's funeral. Again, outside, in the snow. Lighting inside must have been terrible back in the thirties to make people pose for photographs outside in the winter. Again, ran this through DIS to clean it up.

Technology is amazing.

What I've been working on

I'm still working on my scarf for the scarf exchange. There's only so many rows of 2x2 rib knit that you can do before it gets a little monotonous. I've done about thirty-six inches so far; the plan is for it to be about sixty inches long. I like to be able to wrap a scarf around my neck, and still have enough to tie, so I'm hoping the recipient will too. Better than a too-short scarf, I think.

It's been cold here the last few days. I'm knitting TMO a pair of mittens. They're burgundy, to match her Noro hat and burgundy jacket. I did the first inch in some of the left over Noro...there was enough orange to do both mittens. I'd post a picture, but I'm lazy right now...I'd have to get off of my nice, comfy chair, find the camera, and set up a display. Oh wait...D has the camera....

D is outside right now visiting with the neighbours. Yes...outside...one of our new neighbours has a portable fire pit, and all the neighbours get together every weekend and visit. We really lucked out with this new house...there is such a close-knit group of young families here. He's showing off his handiwork...our new closet is becoming a reality...and those years of working construction to pay for his pricey university has really paid off.

Here is the closet in our room before.......And after*

*The after pic isn't as cool as how it actually looks now...D did the demo work, and now is ready to drywall...but, like I said, he's got the camera outside...

More good stuff...

I also really like this, which is Holly, from MagKnits. I really like that long tunic/dress over pants look. Very chic looking.

Too many great patterns out there...

What's one more thing to add to the Must Knit list

I checked out Elann this morning, and this was their latest new offering. Hmm....me likes...especially in that Chocolate Truffle colour. I always do this..see something, and immediately think I MUST have that. I'm going to have to think about it, because the model's body type is nothing like mine. I have a few more curves to me, so I don't know if it would hang as well...

It's hard to tell by the picture if it had enough walking ease so that it didn't gape open in the front when you're moving around. I had a wrap sweater coat before, and it was great...if you stood perfectly still. You start moving around...gape gape gape. And then I have to fiddle with my clothes, adjusting this, and pulling up that. Hate that.

But, I've heard a lot of good things about Knitting Pure and Simple patterns at my knitting group. If anything, I could always shorten it, but I really like that length. Decisions, decisions....Any thoughts?

This is such a cool idea...

I love Threads magazine. My wonderful husband D bought a subscription for me for some gift-giving occasion. (I'm really horrible at remembering things like that...right up there with Names of People I Just Met Five Seconds Ago). Anyways....there was a point to this...oh yeah...One reader sent in a great tip: She's like me and saves a million pictures from different places...I see a shirt I like...right-click the pic and save in a folder. And never look at it again. But not any more... set your computer screensaver to run a slideshow through all of these collected gems. It's nicer than the standard, boring screensavers that Windows has.


Now I have this great running slideshow of these awesome pics various collections from Chanel, Tuleh, and other chic outfits that probably cost as much as my car. And here I am, in grey sweats and a dorky sweatshirt that D got free from work. How glamourous am I?

New things to read...

Found some new blogs to read...check 'em out...all funny and inspiring.

Liberty's Yarn, affiknitty, Soccerchic Knits, and The Dropped Stitch.

It's a vicious circle...the more I read, the more I'm inspired to crank out FOs...but then I spend more and more time in front of my computer...Ack...

Pop quiz

You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

This is neat, because the main needles I use for EVERYTHING are my Denise Interchangeables. When I first started knitting, I bought straights. But, I did a sweater that called for a few different sizes of circs, so I broke down and bought the set, and I'm so glad I did. I use them for straight knitting too...much easier on my wrists. Now, all those straights are used as WIP holders.

And now for something completely different...

This has got to be the worst family picture....ever...

New yarn! New yarn!

At our last knitting guild meeting, Mary (one of the members) proposed a great idea. For our December meeting, we're going to do a scarf exchange. We're free to do any type we want...warm, novelty, whatever...just something that you would like to receive as a gift...so no ugly yarn de-stashing.


So...after D finished raking the leaves/chatting with our new neighbours, I went to my favourite local yarn enabler store, Weathered Wool. It's a little shop run by Chris, the woman who created the knitting guild. She has it in her house in the country...how cool is that? You can sit at her table in there, knit and have a coffee or tea. I picked up two skeins of Art Yarns Supermerino colour 114 for the scarf. It's a beautiful mix of purples and golds. It reminds me of pansies, or crocuses. I'll probably do a simple 2x2 rib pattern.

I also picked up yarn to make myself Fiber Trends' Felted Clogs. My feet are always freezing in the winter, and I just loved the pairs that Chris had in her shop. She made her oldest son a pair using Cascade 220. She used the green and blue Quattro for the body of the slipper, and royal blue for the sole and cuff. I picked up two skeins of Cascade Quattro 9440 for the body,and one skein of 9474 for the sole and cuff. Aaah...new slippers...maybe I'll have to get some new pyjamas to match...

Ode to a Closet...

Since we just can't leave a house in its pre-existing state, plans are being made to start renovating. Our new master bedroom is ginormous, the master bath rocks, BUT...the closet is nasty. Bad. Subpar. I miss our old closet. That's our old closet in the pic. (Yes, I'm weird. I take pictures of EVERYTHING.) It fit all of our clothes (D has more than me. Lots more.), three safes, two hampers, a vacuum, three cabinets, a chest of drawers, and my dress form... and two people could still fit in there. I visited my brother once when he was in University, and his dorm room was smaller than The Closet.

I morphed two pictures together, and I still don't have the whole view of it. I'm missing the built in sweater shelves and shoe racks on the left hand side. Sigh...

So...Thanksgiving long weekend...we're doing our room...blasting out the closet wall, and expanding it by three or four feet.

Haven't done any knitting since we've moved...haven't unpacked it...yet.

Not just for pancakes...

We're now in our new house!! Yippee!!! It totally rocks to NOT have connecting walls with anyone. Our townhouse was nice, but it was not as sound proof as the builder said it was. It was three grueling days for D, who is the packer/mover extrordinaire. I was on The Mighty O (TMO) duty. I cannot pack to save my life. When I moved from my six hundred square foot apartment in Saskatoon to live with D in Calgary, it took my about two months to pack everything. When we moved from Calgary to Pemberton, it took us (him) two days.

Now we can unpack and adjust to our new place. I am the unpacker/cleaner. When we were here the first day, Monday, the floor in the kitchen and dining room was driving me nuts...my socks were sticking to it. We had to wait until 8:30 Sunday night to get the keys because the previous owners were busy 'cleaning' the place. Yeah...right....washing the floor with syrup, maybe.

Happy Anniversary (to us)

Today is our six year anniversary... wow... it's gone by soooo fast. We've gone through a lot too... Right after we got married, we moved from Calgary, Alberta to Pemberton, BC, which is thirty minutes north of Whistler. D got a job in Whistler, and we got the last place that was for rent in the area, because we moved in the height of ski season. It took us sixteen hours to drive there. In a blizzard. Through one of the most treacherous mountain passes imaginable. They say that the first year of marriage is the toughest...I say driving on twisting mountain roads with a car-sick cat is right up there.

We stayed there for about eight months. We lived in a suite in a family's house. It was slightly awful...for too many reasons to name. So, we picked up and moved to Squamish, BC (thirty minutes south of Whistler, and closer to Vancouver - yay!!! Civilization!!). We stayed there for a few months, and then we had the chance to move to the Seattle area, and we took it.

Nice picture, eh? We got married in possibly the most beautiful church I've ever been in...Knox United Church in Saskatoon, SK.

So now, we're moving again...into our house. Right now, I'm surrounded by boxes, and I can hear D loading up the U-haul. The Mighty O has been great through this...she just sees this as another adventure.

Knitting guild tonight!!!

Our monthly knitting guild meeting is tonight... finally. I wish it were twice a month; once is month is just not enough. We meet from 6:30 until 9:00. At this meeting, we're collecting the hats we've made to send over to Pakistan. I made these three...the one purple and green is made from Ann Norling's Fruit Hat pattern, and the other two used the basic pattern, but with my own modifications.

When I go to knitting, D and The Mighty O go on a 'date'. Tonight, they're going to see Chicken Little. They'll probably eat a ton of Junior Mints and M&Ms.

Good time had by all...

Other knitterly things, pt. 2...

This is a little hat that I did up for my favourite model, The Mighty O. It was my first foray into felting knits (on purpose, at least), and I am HOOKED. It's just a simple bucket hat made from one of those pattern generator sites...I like The Diet Diary's site. I think I entered a measurement of nineteen inches for her head, then made it based on a twenty inch circumference. I wanted it to fit her for a while.
I used Noro Kureyon, colour 123. First time I worked with Noro, and I quite liked it. It felted beautifully, and the colours are amazing. I was trying to match O's berber fleece jacket, which was hard, because it's a strange colour of plum/burgundy. She loves her hat...she insists on wearing it every time we go out. We took advantage of the forty-five minutes of sun we had yesterday, and walked around our neighbourhood.

I just had to throw this pic in...I get a real kick out of her.

For more pictures, click on the Flickr badge on the right hand side...

Other knitterly things...

Since I'm now dreading the thought of ripping back ANOTHER four inches on Orangy, I've sent it to have a little time out in the closet. I'm now working on a sweater I started last year. It's Flashy Lace from Knitty. I love Knitty. And I am so loving this pattern. It looks like a totally cabled sweater, without the cable needle hassles. The yarn is Berroco Uxbridge Tweed in Pumpkin Spice. Sadly, this yarn has been discontinued...which is a shame, because the colours are gorgeous. I picked it up from Elann last year, along with some of the Normandy, some of the Oats and Barley, and lots of the Red Setter. I made this sweater from Berocco book #212...a tri-coloured turtleneck out of Normandy, Oats and Barley, and Red Setter, same as the picture. And, I have plans to make this sweater coat out of the Red Setter, from book #211. So much knitting, so little time....

Interesting...

You are

What Rejected Crayon Are You?

Actually, I always thought it to be more of a yellowy-grey...

Check this out...

Check out this blog from Stitchy McYarnpants...especially the Museum of Kitschy Stitches on the right hand side...I laughed so much it hurt.

I love it when this happens...

Since The Mighty O wasn't too into Trick or Treating at the mall, we went shopping instead. She was more into shopping than getting candy. I picked up this new purse, and look how amazingly well it matches the Silky Tweed I have that's just waiting to become a new cardigan. It'll also match Orangy, and a bunch of other things I have planned to make for this season.

Sewingworld has a lot of posts on Sewing With a Plan...the basic idea is to pick two main colours, and a third coordinating colour, and base a wardrobe around that. It's really helped in not only sewing, but knitting, and when I actually break down and buy stuff. My colours for this Autumn are burgundy, orange, brown and olive (okay, so I picked four...).

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

Pretty exciting night here...The Mighty O went out Trick or Treating for the first time. It was cold, rainy, and downright miserable here (did I mention cold?),so we went to the mall. We went around five o'clock, which was a great time to get there...not too busy. O really wasn't too into collecting candy. Well, she is only two-and-three-quarters, so she has lots of time for that. She went as a princess. It was a really original costume. Every other girl under the age of eight was a princess. I went as "Why 33 year old women should not wear glitter makeup" "Why NO ONE should wear glitter makeup". D went as Mr. Pink Hair. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of us....just O. Oh well.
Next year.

Afterwards, we stopped by our neighbours' place to drop off a treat bag for their little guy. O got a big kick out of the kids coming to the door, as she calls it "Treat or Treat"-ing.