The Shy Knitter

2009-03-03T12:15:00.003-05:00

Twit knit

Ok, so I jumped on the Twitter band wagon, but I am still not sure what to make of it.

I have decided to make it knitting related, as I can't imagine anyone being interested in my day to day activities (it puts me to sleep at times). And people are starting to follow me who I don't know, except that they are knitting freaks like me, so I start to follow them.

But who knows where it would go. When Ravelry started I knew it was a good idea, but would never imagine the people I would meet, the things I would learn, the events I would attend. A good example of this would be the February Lady Sweater, February Tea party. Seems that more than a few of us have either knit this sweater or are knitting it presently. So, it seems only appropriate that we have a tea party (as that is what ladies do) in February while wearing/knitting the sweater. It was a kick, had a good time and hope to do it next year. Without Ravelry, none of it would have happened.

2009-02-16T08:41:00.006-05:00

Mary, Mary quite.....
Mom and dad came to Canada from England in 1957, and mom knitted this Mary Maxim sweater shortly after arriving. It used to fit my dad who at his strapping hight was 6'1" 200+ pounds. Mom put it in the washing machine recently (not sure what she was thinking) and now it fits her who is considerably smaller (which proves the point that it is wool). In any event, it is a beautiful sweater that has lasted over 50 years.

2009-02-10T13:21:00.003-05:00

Parting is such sweet sorrow....

Not my first commissioned piece, but certainly my first commissioned sweater. It has almost two months of knitting and I am really really happy with the results. Having said that, not sure if I will knit for someone again. It isn't that I didn't enjoy it, I did. And it isn't that the compensation isn't good (we agreed on me being taken out for lunch, as there wasn't anyway he could compensate me financially). But there is an added pressure to 'do well' that isn't there when you knitting for yourself. You always want to do well, but you can't really frog the whole project or let it turn out so-so.

Anyway, I get a bit attached to my projects and I am certainly going to miss this one. Even though I know Ian will give it a good home.

2009-02-03T16:06:00.002-05:00

It must be me....

It never ceases to amaze me how often I think this. If I am knitting a pattern and something doesn't make sense, it must be me screwing it up (even if I have to go over it 10 times and still doesn't work). I don't think I am alone in this....in fact I know I am not.

Today at work two police officers came to our company to interview people about an incident last Friday. My first thought, oh my god....what did I do??? Funny thing is, my friend/coworker who was also interviewed had the same thoughts.

Sort of like going to a boarder crossing. You know you aren't smuggling, you are within your limit, don't have firearms, undeclared alchol or anything else that can get you in trouble. And yet your heart pounds and you worry about them believing you.

Where does this lack of confidence come from??

2008-09-06T18:53:00.002-04:00

I guess the only thing I find more interesting than yarn and knitting for clothing, is yarn and knitting for artistic purposes. A case in point would be Kirk Dunn, who I first saw at a DKC meeting about 2 years ago. He knits stain glass windows and is currently working on a three part instalation about Christianity, Judaism and Islam. My regret at the time was that I didn't have a camera on hand, and there is very little to follow up on through the Internet.

He was speaking at the Vogue Knitting tour of Toronto today, and this time I had camera in hand. Not only is the concept intellectually stimulating, but the actual process and design is fascinating. Have a look for yourself....

2008-08-09T09:03:00.006-04:00

Doubt, doubt, and more doubt....

As my best friend Eden will tell you, I question my knitting....alot....so when I finished a very easy Turn A Square hat by Jared Flood, I should be pleased about my accomplishment. But, instead I am fretting over whether it is too big. BTW, it's circumference is 20".... my head is 22"

I seriously hate when I do this to myself, but seem powerless to stop. I am going to ask my neighbour Dave to stand in as a male model, but ultimately, I will have to ask the intended recipient Ian to try it on (it is for his birthday in Dec).

Casting on for the Ravelympics last night, I am already wondering if I can have this item finished by time they put the Olympic torch out. I always have problems with the initial few rows of a new pattern, and Heather's chatting last night didn't help. I think I have it now, although I did miss one yarn over (I'll let that one slip).

Final doubts, well....not knitting related but I have to get this house in order to sell in a year. Our condo's construction is finally a go, and we should be in early 2010. Although the house isn't in a horrible state, there is much I want to do before we list it. Mainly purging stuff, which isn't Heather's strong suite. I am dreading the upcoming negotiating, begging, pleading, gnashing of teeth, etc., and really hope we can get our lives sorted and organized. Being a library technician I kind of feel the pressure of being on top of this, and if it was just me I wouldn't be so worried, but trying to negotiate these things with someone else can be quite a task. Wish me luck.

2008-06-14T21:07:00.001-04:00

WWKIP 2008

What a day we had today.....Yarn Harlot's Birthday, Franklin Habit's 1,000 Knitters, raffles every hour at Lettuce Knit, tons of knitters, loads of laughs.

Rather than posting pics here, I'll point you to my Picasa photo album...enjoy!!!

2008-05-22T12:05:00.004-04:00

Hmmmm, let's see.....

Knitting friend: "So you know how I was whining about my yarn from Webs not being here yet? It’s been sitting at the PO for a week & a half! Canada Post didn’t leave a notification (although the website says they did). Anyway, I’ll have to go pick it up before going to our s'n'b- I don’t know how long they’ll hold packages for… But, yay, new yarn tomorrow…"

Me: "Maybe I should complain about the Habu yarn I ordered two weeks ago to see if it will show up ;-)"

Knitting friend: "Hey, it’s definitely worth a shot.."

later on that day......

Me: "OMG, it worked…I just got a confirmation e-mail…..hmmmm, let’s see….I never win a million dollars!!!"

2008-03-26T16:50:00.001-04:00

My poor little blog, how I have neglected you....

First there was the three week trip to Asia/Australia, and then there was all the snow that I had to shovel when I came back. I must admit, it has always been difficult to put pictures to words, and much of what I used to do on my blog is now on Ravelry.

So, I think in future I will be posting little knitting stories that I come across....either from myself or others I have spoken to.

Here is today's:

I was knitting at a support group the other evening, while I was waiting for all the members to show up. When the facilitator showed up, I shook her hand and she noted it was a nice firm handshake. I said thanks, it is from all the knitting I do. Everyone in the room for a moment stopped and thought about what I just said. Finally, I broke the silence by saying 'Kiddin, just kiddin.'

2008-01-06T08:44:00.001-05:00

I get by with a little help from my friends....

I am hoping for good thing in 2008, the construction on our new condo should start at the end of January....we are going on a three week trip to Asia around the same time....and I have set a new goal for the MS Walk this year.

Part of my fundraising is knitting this beaded Wisp, and raffling it off. For each pledge of $25, I will be putting that person's name in a draw for this little piece of hand knitted luxury.

If you would like to give me a little help towards this endeavor, please visit my fundraising page.

Thanks and good luck!!!

https://msofs.mssociety.ca/2008Walk/Sponsor.aspx?&PID=981803&L=2

2007-12-27T10:02:00.000-05:00

We wish you a knitting Christmas and a knitting New Year...

Christmas this year was full of knitting. Not the dreaded deadline knitting (I managed to get everything done well before the day) but the relaxed easy going knitting associated with holidays and nothing better to do.
First of all, what I finished. Heather's sweater did have a bit of a deadline, as I wanted her to have it before going up to Chapleau the Friday before X-Mas. It was done on Thursday evening at 8:30 p.m. Loved doing the top down sweater, but would recommend learning about a stretchy bind of for the neck, cuffs and waist. BTW, Heather looks a bit put off here...she is just a bit tired....she was quite happy to get the sweater.

Second, the Scholar Collar. I have been dying to knit this ever since I saw it, but couldn't think of anyone to do it for. Then, I saw a coworker/friend of mine in the elevator one day, with a scratchy hand knit scarf. I asked him about it and he said he didn't know what it was made from but his ex-girlfriend made it. The next day I made the proposal that I knit him a new scarf (no one would be put off by this). Here is my version. Yarn is Mission Falls 1824 Wool (washable merino) lovely to work with. Thinking about knitting Koolhaus hat with the same yarn next. As a thank you, Ian (with Fabio's help) got me a ball of this lovely mohair yarn. I think I will use it as trim on a pair of Mrs. Beetons wrist warmers.

So with these done, I started a few new projects.
I wanted to do something in terms of fundraising for this year's MS Walk, so I decided to knit up a beaded Wisp and raffle it off. For each donation of $25 that person's name will be put into 'the hat' (so if you donate $100, your name will go in 4 times).

Finally, this log cabin blanket has been on my list of things I want to knit for sometime. The yarn was part of a kit that I bought for $15 at the Textile Museum's annual Yardage Sale, but I didn't feel like knitting up the kit. The black might be a bit heavy for a baby, but it helps the colours pop out and would be good for a kid (or at least I hope so).

So, today being the day after Boxing Day, Eden and I are off for a long lunch hour to go to Romni for their annual Boxing Day sale. On the list for things to buy, more Mission Falls Wool (for the hat), Mission Falls Soft Ball Cotton (to finish the blanket), yarn for a Celtic tote bag and some yarn for a pair of Mrs. Beetons. Looks like 2008 will be a good knitting year too.

2007-12-07T21:40:00.000-05:00

I got tagged too....

I don't normally do these sort of things, but what the heck. My DKC knitting friend Jacquie Blackman tagged me on her blog, so I will continue on in the spirit of giving (tis the season).

THE RULES:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

THE THINGS:
1. I have been known to loudly snore since I was 13.
2. I can't stand corn (on the cob, in a can or in any other format).
3. I still have quite a few baby teeth in my mouth.
4. I only started drinking alcohol a few years ago.
5. My baby toe nail can easily come off (sorry, is that too much information?)
6. I used to be agoraphobic
7. I can't sleep with out a 'hugging pillow'

Like Jacquie, I am not leaving a comment in people's blogs. But my reason is I am tired (at 9:51 p.m. on a Friday night) and really should be going to bed (such a party animal). I do appreciate her thinking of me and including me in this little exercise.
Hopefully the following people do as well:

Eden
Shauna
Alyssa
Jennifer
Tracey
Brooke
Bob (yes, I know this is the dog on Ravelry, but I ran out of people I know who blog)

2007-11-29T14:23:00.000-05:00

Nella maglieria Italiana (Knitting in Italian)

As you may remember, I knit a cashmere scarf for my friend Fabio's wife. He provided the yarn, I provided the labour. Part of the payment, was the joy of knitting with such a fine fibre, and the other was keeping the extra ball of yarn if it wasn't needed. Well, it wasn't so I told Fabio I was going to knit something for my mother with it.

Being the classy guy he is, he bought me another ball of this beautiful yarn in a colour I love, so I would knit something for myself. This was the result. It is probably the nicest thing I ever knit myself, and since it was given to me as a token of friendship, I am thrilled it has come out so well.

I finally finished the last ball of cashmere/silk yarn this week, and mailed the caplet to my mother. She loved it. This exchange of yarn and creativity has been a wonderful experience (although there were a couple of rough spots), and I can't thank Fabio enough for his thoughtfulness. In his native tongue:

La ringrazio molot.
Mia madre ama il suo maglia caplet.
La vostra generosita ha reso possibile.

2007-11-23T20:01:00.000-05:00

All is good, inside and out....

As I may have mentioned before, my mother taught me how to knit. And as she has been knitting most of her life, she has a great deal of experience with her stitches. One of my very first fair isle knitting projects, she told me that the inside should look as good as the out. To accomplish this, the alternate yarn should be carried every 2 or 3 stitches at the most.

I know that in the knitting world, it is perfectly acceptable to carry the yarn every 4 or 5 stitches, but it never quite strikes me as being as clean and tidy as how mom does it. Have a look at this.....the first picture shows the inside on the left and the outside on the right. The second picture is the inside, the third is the outside.

2007-11-10T08:59:00.000-05:00

Shy no more...

Well, I will always be the Shy Knitter, but thanks to Ravelry I am meeting lots of new people to kit with.

First though, the modified beaded wisp. I took this pic this morning in hopes of capturing the flash of light captured by these beads. This one isn't too bad, but it still doesn't reflect how pretty these little beads are. I am thrilled with how this is progressing, and have been showing it off as often as I can. The reaction is equal to how I feel about it. As yarn was a gift, I wanted to make something as classy as the person who gave it to me. I think I have succeeded!!

Through Ravelry, the West-End Woolies met up for the first time on Thursday at the Starbucks at Bloor and Runnymede. Eden was there too, and I think the concensus is that this will be a fun little group. After Tracey set up the cutest button for our snb on Ravelry, I unintentionally sent an invention to the Yarn Harlot to our group. Did I feel silly! Did I really think she would respond? Did I really think she would show up? (insert Wayne's World chant: We're not worthy....) Well, she did accept the invitation to our group on Ravelry (I am convinced it was that cute button that got her to accept), hopefully she can find some time to knit with us.

Finally, I dropped by the snb on Wednesday evening from the meetup.com group. I must honestly say, I was very intimidated to go. I knew one person, Jacquie who is always supportive and enthusiastic about me going, but you know how I am about well established knitting groups.....anyway, I went. It was about 40 knitters there and despite bad lighting, and moving 3 times to find a spot where I wasn't isolated, I did meet a charming group of women and chatted for quite sometime.

I think I am going to make these snb a weekly routine, with Thursday group one week (we are going for every other) and the Wednesday group on another. It has been great for me to get out on a regular basis again, as I really didn't appreciate how much I missed that after night school ended. This along with the monthly DKC meetings should give me plenty to keep me occupied with.

2007-11-02T21:44:00.000-04:00

One good turn, deserves another....

Good health, and good friends are two things that you cannot take for granted. The scarf for Fabio's wife Joyce was delivered to him, and his appreciation of my efforts was quite evident. He still hasn't presented to his best beloved, but he assures me that she will be thrilled to receive it.

Yesterday, he presented me with a ball of Superior in the colourway that I liked best. He didn't need to do this (I was more than thrilled to have a second ball in silver to work with), and his thoughtful gesture literally brought me to tears. As Heather said to me last night, he is a classy guy.

I have decided to knit Wisp with it, and to use beads as inspired by KnitMongrel in Ravelry. There are some pattern issues, as the fishnet lace used in Wisp tends to expose many single strands (which are very weak in this yarn), but I think I have found a substitute lace that will suite this pattern well.

Thanks to current friends and new ones, I think this project will be a great success.

2007-10-30T21:24:00.001-04:00

Frost on cobwebs....

When Fabio initially picked out this colour yarn, I said it wouldn't of been my choice. But it wasn't a horrible colour and accepted it and looked forward to knitting the luxurious strands of cashmere. When it finally arrived, I was amazed how lovely the colourway showed up (unlike the online pictures) and the more I worked with this yarn, the more it reminded me of frost on cobwebs. Over the course of this month, I have grown to love the colour of the yarn, as much as the yarn itself.

The silver of the yarn remind me of a frost that coats all things in those short days before winter really gets going, and when you know that summer has truly left. This is a time before all the colours drain from the world around us, and we inevitably plunge into that long cold white season. This yarn also offers up the soft warmth of the cashmere, that asks if not begs you to caress and feel it against your bare skin. It is sensual to the touch, as it is to the eyes.

I am handing it over to Fabio tomorrow, and he will give it as a gift to his wife. In a funny way, I will miss this scarf. I don't know the intended recipient, and not sure when or if I will see it again. But if she enjoys receiving it half as much as I have creating it, I will know it has gone to a good home.

2007-10-15T14:21:00.000-04:00

Think you have stash issues? You might want to reconsider after looking at this.

2007-10-10T20:26:00.001-04:00

Mmmmmmm Cashmere.....

I finally received this yarn last week, and could hardly contain myself. It is lovely. It is soft, it is warm, and it could be a wonderful little pet. So, I set off to start knitting it up, and ran into my usual complaint. False starts....and the magic number was, once again, four.

Although I tested the pattern out on an alpaca yarn I have knit with before, I have not knit with cashmere and this yarn is something like knitting with spider webs. It feels so delicate, and the best way to knit with it is to have a light touch. Otherwise, it is difficult to do knit 2 together and SSK, and it is almost impossible to unknit when you make a mistake.

Anyway, I have finally got the hang of it and I am quite pleased with the progress. I also had to take some pressure off myself by telling Fabio that if he wasn't happy with the end result he was in no way obligated to take possession of the final product. He told me that he wouldn't of agreed to this little project if he didn't have confidence in my abilities....which I appreciated. I have knit things for people before, but I have never knit on commission (like an art piece). I was feeling a bit of self imposed pressure for a while, but I am getting into the grove of the pattern and my fears are melting away.

Too bad you can't feel this stuff through the computer, it is divine.

2007-09-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

Anticipation.....

While I am done my ascot (I am very pleased how it turned out), and finishing up some UFOs that have been patiently waiting for my return, I am twitching with excitement over a new project just over the horizon.

Last year, my friend Fabio (who I knit an Alpaca scarf for his 30th birthday) told me he would like to have a cashmere scarf knit for his wife. I told him the price might be a bit too prohibitive, and there wasn't enough time to get it done before Christmas that year.

Enter the new the new yarns at the last DKC meeting last week. One of the distributors had a yarn of 70% cashmere and 30% silk, 330 yards for under $30 = one scarf. It was buttery, it was delicious, it was Superior. I read a write up on Knitter's Review and knew I just had to have it. If Fabio still wanted to have that scarf made for his wife, I was more than willing to make it for him. After various options for scarves were examined, we settled on this one called Mist Lace Scarf . When I knit Fabio's scarf last year, I did it all in ribbing and almost died from boredom (it took me over 6 months to knit as I kept picking it up and putting it down). This pattern has just enough lace to make it interesting, but it is a beginners pattern I won't be pulling my hair out trying get into the rhythm.

The only problem is that we had to order from New York City, as we couldn't get the colour he wanted in T.O. It shouldn't take long, but I can't wait to get started. I even did a test swatch with Alpaca to practice the pattern. It looks good, and I may even complete the scarf in the Alpaca after this one is done.

2007-09-22T02:15:00.000-04:00

False starts....

This is kind of like false labour, but with knitting. It seems every time I start a new project, no matter how basic or how complicated, it takes me 2 or 3 tries before the project actually gets underway. I really thought it was just me who was affected by this affliction, but both my mother and my cousin Rosie from England confirmed to me yesterday they are under the same curse.

After 3 goes at it, I finally got the topdown sweater under way. This is after I properly guaged my knitting and all the rest. My final cast on was the same day we went for our 2 day mini holiday up in Tobermory with my parent's, my cousin Rosie and her husband Ron. They have been up there for the better part of the past week, but Heather and I could only squeeze in 2 days (better than nothing). The view was fantastic, the food was fantastic (Ron cooked dinner Thursday night, it was yummy) and I spent time knitting with both mom and Rosie. Dad painted his watercolour landscapes while he was up there, which goes to prove I come from creative genes (I love my knitting genes from my mom, but wish I had painting genes from my dad....trust me, I don't).

The other false start I had is with the Ascot. After having it 1/2 done, the provision cast on f*cked up (or maybe I should say I did) and I had to undo what was worked on. I am back to the same point I left off at last time (but included a 'safety line' in the cast on this time) and hope to start the second half tomorrow (please, please, please work).

2007-09-08T16:20:00.001-04:00

Looks like knitting with copper....

Now that the sea storm shawl is done (and here is one more shot) I can actually move onto other projects I have been wanting to get to for sometime.

Back in July, Eden and I went to the Romni summer sale and I dropped a bit of cash. Being the great enabler that she is, she found me yarn I had no plan on buying, but couldn't resist. I wanted to knit in bamboo and corn, but couldn't resist this cotton/viscose blend. The colours are so vibrant and the sheen on it makes it all the more gorgeous.

This yarn is a bit tricky to knit with, as it doesn't stick too much and splits rather easy. But the results are quite beautiful to behold.

2007-09-01T18:20:00.001-04:00

TA-DA.......

My first real lace project is finally finished. I received the yarn as a part of a graduation present in June 2006 (from my part time studies at Seneca College) from my mother and sister. Two lovely skeins of Sea Silk in slightly different colourways.

Can I tell you the number of things I learned in this project? First, novice lace knitters shouldn't start with 32 stitch repeat patterns (I wound up with the first pattern I bought with the yarn, which is a 16 stitch repeat). Second, stitch markers are vital, I SAID VITAL, for a lace knitting project. Third, a safety line is imparitive and take your time putting it in!! Finally, that I don't like to knit with silk in the winter, which put this project into overtime as I just finished it today.

I am thrilled with the results. So much so I had to go to Village Yarns and buy a shawl pin to go with it. It cost me half as much as the yarn was worth. Oh well, I deserve it!!!

So now what you may ask? I am onto Friday, which is a knitted ascot pattern. I had picked up three different types of yarn for it during Romni's summer sale in July (got 20% off). I am starting with this yarn from Norway which is a Cotton/Viscose blend. I also have corn yarn and bamboo to give it a whirl with. The colour in this particular yarn is stunning, and I can't wait to see the end results. Hopefully it won't take over a year this time ;-)

2007-08-26T20:34:00.000-04:00

You can take the knitter out of the garden, but not the garden out of the knitter.....

Now that the wedding garter is out of the way, I am haunted by something Eden said to me before she went on holiday to Norway in mid August.....'Maybe the sea silk shawl will be done when I come back'. Hmmmmmmm. I have been knitting like a fiend, and it now measures about 46" in length, but I want to use up all the yarn before I cast off. So on and on and on it goes. I think I can have it done before Eden gets back after Labour Day, but then I got and do something like this.

This is what our front yard looked like 2 years ago. And this is what it looks like after this weekend (the dead tree wasn't done this weekend, it took me a whole summer to do that). Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I love to get my hands dirty in the soil, feel the sweat on my brow and and plant beautiful things inthe garden. It just takes away from my knitting time. My mother has often said that knitting takes a second stage to gardening in the summer, and in many ways she is right.

Anyway, what I did was removed the dead grass from one side of the tree to the walk way to the house and made a little planting bed. I have reseeded the rest of the lawn and put down some stepping stones. I half suspect that the lawn has grubs (as I did see a few) but I am not too sure how many it takes to result in damage.

The end result of this planting should be less watering next summer, as these are all draught resistant plants (again, minus the tree.....I think it dried up due to lack of water). If the grass dies back again, I'll make the whole front yarden a flower bed. That is if my knitting doesn't get in the way.

2007-08-19T17:45:00.000-04:00

She likes it.... she really, really likes it....

2007-08-19T11:14:00.001-04:00

Ok Shauna, you can look now....

The shower is in a couple of hours, and I put the finishing touches on the garter this morning. Overall, I am very happy with the results, and hopefully Shauna feels the same. I will post again later tonight to tell you how it went.

This project has had a lot of help from many people.....Ravelry (knitting website) for getting me in touch with people who have already done this pattern and gave me advice, Annette and Flora for giving me ideas on how to sew on the bias tape and attach the elastic, Eden and Jennifer H. for doing 'fittings' for me.

I've learned much from knitting this little garter, the most important of which is I can knit just about anything with some help, perseverance and drawing on my past skills. It has also reaffirm to me that I love knitting, as it is a wonderful way to show people I care for, how much I love them.

2007-08-13T21:11:00.000-04:00

Shauna, don't look at this until after Sunday....

OK, well, she is sure to look now. Right? I didn't have to tell her what I was doing, and was able to find out what colours she is using for her wedding, fall colours.

So the shower is on Sunday, and I have got the blocking in place tonight. I hate, HATE, knitting to a deadline. What if something screws up? What if it looks awful? Now that the knitting is done, I am worried about the blocking. When the blocking is done, I will worry about the sewing in the elastic. I am trying to get this done ASAP, as Heather's cousin is coming in from Vancouver on Thursday, and I won't have anymore time to devote to this little project.

Think positive knitting thoughts for me.......

2007-08-06T21:04:00.000-04:00

Lace and bugs...

I will definitely call myself a novice lace knitter, and it frustrates the hell out of me. I can't tell you how much time it took to figure out this little bit of lace knitting, but I did get it. If it is any comfort to me, my mother (who has been knitting for most of her 81 years) didn't get it at all. It also helps that I went from a 40 gauge crochet cotton (shown at top) to a much thicker 10 gauge. Sort of like going from knitting fine dental floss, to thin string.

This lace garter will eventually be a present for my friend of Shauna for her upcoming wedding. I am only posting this as I will need to reveal my project to her tomorrow. I would like to get ribbon in her wedding colours, but I have no idea what they are.

While working on my newest piece of knitting (which I need to have done before Shauna's wedding shower on the 22nd), I came across some very interesting wee beasties.

This is a Hummingbird moth. It is out of focus, as it was moving so fast (but not as fast as its avian counterpart). I knew it wasn't a bird, as it has antenna out of its head. Absolutely amazing.

Also, this bee was nice enough to sit still and let me take about 20 pics of her (only a handful actually turned out).

2007-07-29T01:39:00.000-04:00

Reunited, and it feels so good....

We haven't heard from our friends Kevin & Robert for almost four years. A tragic misunderstanding would have made that a permanent seperation, if it wasn't for a strange series of events. Happily, we have reconnected and it feels very much like nothing has changed at all.

Rob and I go way back, to when I first moved out of my parent's house (when I was 22), and moved into the Beaches. We lived with many, many people as they hey all came and went over the years. When Rob moved out and I went to a different address, we kept in touch. In fact, I wound up living in the basement apartment of Rob & Kevin's house in Riverdale for four tormutulant years (it was the best of times, it was the worst of times). I meet Heather at the end of that time (when I was 29) and Rob & Kevin sold the house shortly therafter. We still kept in touch until we bought our house in the west end, and the misunderstanding happened.

It was very difficult for me, as Rob had been in my life for so long and I was convinced that he was writing me off. We had been through many great and many horrible times together. When I got a call from him last week, I told him my perceptions of what happened. He said he was sorry I thought that, but it couldn't be further from the truth.

So, we reconnected and had dinner with Rob & Kevin last night. It was like the void of time that had passed, shrunk into nothingness. It is a continuation of where we left off, and I couldn't be happier. Lessons here? Don't take your friendships for granted, and question things when you think you have been wronged, it might be the wrong perception.

On a knitting note, my good friend Eden and I went to Romni on Friday and did the last run before their sale ended. I got 9 balls of yarn for Heather's sweater, which I will start when things cool down a tad (can't even think of touching wool in this weather). It is Lamb's pride (Aubergine) which I got for 20% off. I hope to do a neck down sweater, and it should look stunning in this colour (thanks again Eden for your great suggestion).

2007-07-22T19:27:00.000-04:00

Vroom, vroom.....

I heard some wonderful news from a co-worker that the adoption of her son was now official, and shared pictures with me of the little guy. Those of you who know me well, also know that I am not interested in raising children (either through childbirth or through adoption), but the news of this bundle of joy just about had me in tears.

Anyway, I immediately thought about what I could knit for him (and indirectly for his mom) and came up with this extremely cute but simple pattern called Charlie's Car Cap. I am not one to subscribe to gender stereotyping, but cars and boys is a pretty safe bet.

This was last Thursday, and by Friday at noon I was at Romni picking up the Rowan Wool Cotton it called for. This yarn is one of the most expensive I have ever bought (even though I timed this well as Romni has a 20% sale on right now), and one of the most loveliest to work with (it always goes that way, doesn't it?).

Friday night I had worked out my gauge and by Saturday morning I was knitting. Sunday morning it was done (not that there is a lot of work involved in it) and I am very pleased. I just hope the new mom is too.

As an end note, how did it get to be the middle of summer so soon???? July 22nd and I captured this wee beestie on camera in our garden (you gotta click to enlarge the picture, it is scary). When the Cicadas are out, you know its mid summer.

2007-07-15T21:11:00.000-04:00

You almost look like a crocheter....

My mother's comment to me as I grapple with how to hold yarn in my left hand while crocheting with my right. Earlier she told me I looked like I was knitting. Hmmmmm.....I will get my form in place at some point. Meanwhile, I finished the crochet edging of the baby blanket which means it is finished!

Thanks to lots of knitting time up in Chapleau, and being able to finish the edging at my parent's, it took just over 2 weeks to complete. I am pretty impressed with it if I do say so myself. Too bad you can't feel how soft the yarn is through the computer.

This second picture shows the baby blanket lying on a bed throw my mother made a couple of years ago. It is quite a feat and kind of makes my little blankie seem not quite so impressive. But mom said she was very taken with it, and I think it will be much appreciated by the recipient.

We were in Guelph to celebrate my father's 86th birthday, which actually falls on tomorrow's date (July 16th). He was quite happy with our dinner of fondue (with ham, bread and tomatoes for dipping) and a variety of salads, and ice cream cake for dessert (yum, yum).

Dad did quite well for presents receiving two books on the British Army Homeguard (from Heather and myself) which he was a participant in, and a total of three bottles of Harvey's Bristol Cream from other family members (he loves the stuff, but don't get the idea he is a lush). He also got quite a few nice cards with fun poems inside, as he is famous for providing all of us. A wonderful day indeed.

2007-07-08T16:13:00.000-04:00

Just got in, from way up North....

And so I did yesterday as Heather and I spent a week up in her hometown Chapleau, visiting her mom and dad. In the middle of the province, it took us much of yesterday getting home yesterday and we were pretty beat when we got in.

What does one do in Chapleau? Well if you don't fish or hunt, there isn't too much to do. But the quite is very condusive to knitting. July 1st was Canada Day, and at the museum they were having a party. I found a crocheter there, and had a good look at the knitting and needle arts display.

They had some very interesting antique items there, and some hand knit doilies that was found in a second hand store!!

Anyway, I got a ton of knitting done, and darn near finished this baby blanket that I started just before we left last week. Now that we are back, it is swealtering hot and I don't want to go near anything fuzzy right now. But here is me blissfully knitting on the best day we were there, up at the Pellow's camp.
As it has been so hot and humid today, I have been playing with this new site called Ravelry. It is in beta production right now, but if you sign up and patiently wait several weeks, you get an invite to join. I got mine the day before we left, so I have been itching to get on it. Lots of fun, and a great distration if you 'don't feel like' knitting.

2007-06-18T08:20:00.001-04:00

This is what we call the puppers show......

Heather and I went to have dinner at Karen and Vic's yesterday, and I was able to give the puppers or finger puppets I have been making for their son Jordin. He was a bit shy but did warm up to us by the end of the evening (Heather also brought him a key chain with an OPP motorcycle floating about in a bubble....he was keen on that too). So here he is with Vic (Heather is just off camera) giving Karen and I a puppet show.

We had other 'puppers' show up too. A family of raccoons live under their backyard deck, and they arrived at 8 p.m. to climb the cherry tree and have their breakfast. It was quite a show with two little guys showing up first, followed by mama and three more. They kept us quite amused and were seemingly unaffected by our presence (although mama did keep a keen eye on us as she chomped down on cherries).

To make sure no one missed out, Karen tried to point out to her cat (Alia is it's name, I think) all the activity going on in the tree. The cat didn't seemed to be too impressed that it was being picked up, and really didn't catch on...perhaps she had seen them one too many times.

Anyway, it was a lovely evening, and it was fun knitting up the little puppers for Jordin.

2007-06-10T08:26:00.001-04:00

This little piggy went to market....

Yesterday we celebrated my mom's birthday (last week) and my aunt/her sister's birthday (next week) in Guelph. It was a wonderful day, great weather, great food, lots of fun, and it gave me chance to work on some finger puppets that I found in knitty.com called Puppers.

Here's one that is finished. Can you guess what it is? I asked a couple of people, they didn't quite get that it is a pig.

But I had better luck with my other puppers even though the faces weren't done. You'll have to tell me what you think they are.

I should also update you on the sea silk shawl. As yesterday was International Knit in Public day (which entails a yarn crawl in Toronto which carries the euphemism the TTC Knit-a-long) I took it out for lunch. Mom treated Heather, Jennifer, Sarah and myself for a lovely lunch at the Artisanale (formerly known as the Bookshelf Cafe. Unfortunately, I made a 'boo-boo' and wound up ripping it back to a safety line. It is the second time I have had to do so, but what a godsend those little safety lines are (mine are done in dental floss and are a continual source of interest). The shawl is past the half way mark and I am hoping to have it done by the end of June.

Here is one of the birthday girls, and the book that I had signed by the Yarn Harlot during her book launch in T.O. Mom always loves getting books, and the Harlot is a welcome edition to her collection. I think I have mentioned before that my mother learned from her mother when she was a child. Without telling her age, it is many decades of knitting.

Happy birthday to you both !!!!!

2007-06-01T19:10:00.001-04:00

Isn't she lovely....and the sweater is pretty nice too....

I've told you about my 'other life' as a library technician. Well, seems I can't get enough of school as I am now going to George Brown College for Archival studies. We did a field trip on Tuesday night, to the City of Toronto Archives to have a look at their conservation lab. Doors Open was on last weekend, and they still had a display up of different items. This picture immediately got my attention.

I was so taken with it, I asked the conservator Holly if she had any back ground information on it. I told her I was a knitter, and was struck by not only the beauty of the photograph but the sweater as well. She said it was part of the teaching collection (not part of the archives) and there was no information. I then asked if I could have a copy of the picture, she said take it. I was shocked, but immediately said yes. She said she got it at an antique show for next to nothing. Thank you Holly, I truly love this photograph.

Anyway, as far as I can determine the sweater is hand knit and probably dates from the 1920's or 30's. I can see that the top is done in stockinette stitch, but I can't quite figure out what the ruffle is done in. If I can find me some time this fall, I would love to have a go at replicating it.

If you know anything about the woman, the sweater or the picture, please let me know.

P.S. I love the ring on her pinky too.

2007-06-01T14:30:00.000-04:00

Long time, no hear.....

Yes, well, sorry about that. It has been a difficult/hectic few months that I am starting to come out of the fog of. Don't want to give an explanation here, ask me if you want to know more.

So, what's new? Had a fabulous Harlot sighting last Friday, as she did a book launch at Indigo Books at Bloor and Bay in Toronto. After many, many months about hearing about her talking at all these places in the US and the rest of Canada, she finally did a hometown appearance.

I forgot to take my camera, so I am going to us Eden's pics to tell my story (thanks Eden!!!)

Here she is in all her Harlotness. She was great, spoke for an hour, made us all laugh, was a very good speaker. Being a Torontonian, you do see her at various places and functions about town. But it was great to see her in an 'official' capacity.

Here is Jacquie from the DKC, and Amy Singer. I was quite nervous about meeting Amy for pre-Harlot dinner, as she is the editor of knitty.com and I was having a 'We're not worthy' moment (Wayne's World). But she was fun and easy to talk to (which means a lot to the Shy Knitter) and it was great meeting her.

My best knitting bud Eden (thanks again for the pics) as we wait for the Harlot. We did have fun waiting, although I screwed up my lace (don't knit lace at such things, it just isn't worth the agrivation) and had to unknit 2 rows....thankfully I didn't have to rip it back.

Finally, this pic.....just to prove that I am a Shy Knitter. I will post again soon.

2007-03-03T15:53:00.000-05:00

Just going to have a look ....

Going to an art gallery can be much like going to a yarn shop. I am just going to look, one will convince oneself as they go in, but once inside the door it is all whole different matter completely. Case in point, Doris McCarthy is a Canadian artist with remarkable talent. Well into her 90's (I believe 97), she has been turning out tremendous paintings of Canada and the far north (about 100 canvases a year, although at this point she must be slowing down), and her work has resonated with me as other great Canadian artists (Emily Carr, The Group of Seven, Prudence Heward, Jean Paul Lemieux, and others...). What sets her apart is that she is her work is still affordable, mainly because she is still alive.

Two years ago, I bought this fetching little bookplate done in a woodblock print. I bought it because I was graduating shortly as a Library Technician and thought is was it was an apprapo gift to myself. The images of the cottage, canoe, trillium and other items spoke to me for all kinds of reasons that I won't get into it here. Finally, I could afford it. Heather and I had bought our house the year before, but it was still doable.

Last year we didn't go to her gallery opening. Perhaps the extravagance of spending a fair amount of money on a piece of paper no more than 3 1/2 x 2 " was a bit much to take, but I knew it was a good investment (as art often is) and as it was created in 1937 it was vintage (although not quite old enough to by an antique).

This year, she had another gallery opening, and I was going to go with Heather and our friend Lana to have a look around. Lana was so taken with Doris the first year we went, she went back in 2006 and bought a limited edition woodblock print called 'Domestic Bliss'. It is of a placed called Fools Paradise, which Doris built herself back in the day when Scarborough was out in the boonies (1939), and it sits on the bluffs. Heather and I went there in 2005, as she was bequeathing the property to the Ontario Heritage Foundation and they were commemorating the gift. It is a lovely little cottage on a wonderful piece of land. It is a place of calm, beauty and serenity.

So, when we got to the gallery and found that my little piece of paper went up $200 in 2 years, I thought I can't afford to buy something else, but I really can't afford not to. Heather agreed with me, and if (god forbid) Doris does pass on, her work would be financially well beyond my reach. Good thing I didn't leave my cards at home, but I probably would of found a way.

On a knitting note, I got these little beauties done in about two weeks time. I started them while I was of sick for about a week, and just finished them on Tuesday. I went to Montreal for work on the train, and got about 3/4 of one done going there and back (gotta love it). Heather has been going on and on about a hat with flaps, so I am currently working on this one for her out of the same yarn. I am still thinking about my next big project, but haven't had much motivation to do so yet....I am sure it will come to me at some point.

2007-02-04T20:18:00.000-05:00

Belly dancing, brioche and bitter cold....

Saturday night was different from most. Eden and her husband Mike asked Heather and I out for dinner (which wasn't so unusual) and then to a belly dancing event called Rak 'n' Roll (which is unusual). The idea is to have belly dancers performing to rock, and there was a wide spectrum of styles from Scandinavian operatic heavy metal, to surfing music, to the Beatles, to some really rocking tunes I have never heard before. The women performing were wide ranging too from perfect bodies with stylish tattoos, to more mature women with bodies that had gone through a bit of living. All of them were graceful, all of them were lovely. The tattoos were an endless source of fascination for me. The first performer, had a moth that covered her back and spanned one shoulder blade to the other. It was stunning and her performance was wonderful to watch. Almost all the other women had tattoos of various sorts, made me think whether it would be something I would do...I'll keep thinking for now.

I am happy, if not ecstatic to announce that I have finally overcome the brioche stitch. I don't recall if I wrote about this before, but I became completely befuddled by this seemingly simple stitch (YO, Sl 1, K2tog). I picked up some Camel yarn during the TTC Knit-a-long, and was confident I would be able to to do this neck gaiter (or warmer) that I saw in Interweave magazine. Well, the yarn over bit got the best of me and after numerous attempts in November, I gave it up. Knowing that sometimes it takes me a while to 'get' something like this, I picked it up again last week, ripped it back one more time, and then finally had success. I have over 4 inches on the circular needle (4 mm, with 130 stitches) and hope once this is finished I will have enough enthusiasm left to knit it in rabbit (picked up at the same time as the camel). Once the rhythm of this stitch is picked up, it has a lovely meditative quality to it that is different from regular knitting. I have one or two stitches that are out of sorts, but they are easily hidden by wearing the funny stitches on the inside (the actually disappear).

Remember last August we had that horrible heat wave? Specifically, August 1st I took a picture of our thermometre at 33 degrees Celsius. Well, it is 6 months later and we are in the depth of winter. It came a bit late this year (I don't think we had any snow until January 15th), but it is certainly here now. I don't have a picture of the thermometre, but the little weather icon on our desktop says it is -16 degrees Celsius and it feels like -28. That is a 49 degree difference in temperature from August (hate to think what the difference would be between the humidex then, and the wind chill now).

As it is so cold right now, Heather is struggling to keep warm in the house (we do keep it no higher than 20 degrees). She has also discovered the warmth of wool (don't know why she won't listen to me) and as such, I have returned the cashmere yarn I spoke of last week, and I am on the verge of getting new yarn for a top down sweater. I have never knitted top down, and it will be very interesting to see how this works out, and will knit it in Lamb's Pride worsted weight which I have never used before. From returning the yarn in my stash that I had no idea what to do with, I should have no problem paying for this yarn that I do know what to do with. Lesson learned.

2007-02-02T08:27:00.000-05:00

School is Cool.....

Warning: no knitting content in this post.

As many of you know, in my 'other life' I am a library technician. What you may not know is that I have gone back to school part time (George Brown College) to get the Archival and Records Management Practices Certificate. Anyway, we all know that the best part of school has always been field trips, and last night our class went to the University of Toronto's Archives for an after hours tour.

Now, this was a great field trip for a number of reasons. First of all, U of T's Archives are located within the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library which is adjacent to Robart's Library. Now I am not usually a fan of concrete and glass type buildings, but the affect of this library was breath taking (the outside doesn't even hint at what is in the inside). An atrium looks up four stories and down one at walls that are covered in rare books. Railings on each floor have glass on the sides so you can see the books on each level. We were taken to the fourth floor, to have a look from above. I forgot that I have a bit of vertigo, and the fact that the aisles were probably no more than 3 feet across didn't add to my lack of ease. We didn't see individual pieces in the library, but they have a medical collection that includes such as Banting's personal papers and an original folio of William Shakespeare. Very cool!!

We then went to the top floor to see the archives which visually didn't have the same impact, but was interesting none the less. Items of note were U of T's original charter (which went missing for 5 years when someone threw it in the garbage, and a history student found it), Paul Martin's year book, an essay written by Mackenzie King (received a satisfactory grade) and the yearbook for Norman Bethune (it hinted he was headed for great things). We also had a look at photographs, maps and student publications that dated back to the early 20th century. Included in the archival holdings is a map worked on by a Canadian general seconded by the British army of Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped. It was to mark out the area that was affected by the blast, and had an accompanying report. The man who worked on this (I forget his name) was plagued by cancer after this time, and died of cancer in his 70s.

A fascinating field trip over all, and I can see why our teacher considers herself an archivist tourist. Visiting these places could be as interesting as going to various museums.

2007-01-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

Noro, oh Noro....where art thou oh Noro.....

Well, you know I have told you about my exploits with Eden on the day after Boxing Day yarn shopping? One of my acquisitions was 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden (16C) at 25% off. I thought it would be sufficient for a vest, but a few weeks after I started I quickly realized it would take a fourth.
I also had a bit of a time figuring out if it was worth trying to match up the colour repeats. At first I didn't think it would matter, but it did. It looked kind of weird. So I undid what I had knit (the back and 1/2 of the front) and started from the beginning. I decided to knit it in the round, which would eliminate the problem of matching colours up, but made the colour changes much longer. 160 sts on a 5 mm needle gave me a 44 inch width on it (although I think it came up a little bit smaller than that.

In the end, I think the affect is quite good. The colours are in longer blocks near the top (at the back and front) and then get stretched out as you go down. The pattern I was basing this on also called for no edging. Well, it looked unfinished, so I wound up picking up and knitting a ribbed edge around the arms and the neck.

It is a bit tight on me (incentive to loose more weight) but it looks great on Heather who I made it for in the first place. Being wool and silk, it should keep her core nice and cozy which I hope will extend to her fingers and toes that are icicles this time of year.

What's next? Not sure....I bought some fingering weight yarn at the same time that I picked up the Noro. But as lovely as it is (Handmaiden 50% cashmere/50% silk) I can't figure out what to do with it. I don't like having yarn in my stash without a designated purpose, so I might take it back for a credit. My next entry I will let you know what I decided.

Oh, if you are wondering about the back drop, it is in the laundry room. It was the only place that had white light and was truest to the colours in the yarn.

2007-01-07T15:58:00.000-05:00

The Shrug

Not the kind you do with your shoulders, but the type of knitting you put over your shoulders. I had quite a few moments of angst over this bit of knitting. First it was the lace pattern. I think I have mentioned before, I am laced challenged. I don't have the ability to concentrate long enough to keep a series our lace stitches clear in my head. I forgot this when I started knitting the lace pattern on the back, and turned into a nasty knitter when I screwed it up (sorry Heather and mom). So, to compensate with this I have to use (and not forget to use) stitch markers to section off the pattern. Once I do this, I am fine (and retain my pleasant disposition).

The second thing I angsted about is the shrug itself. If you haven't noticed, I tend to be a traditional kind of knitter. Nothing too much out of the ordinary. Shrugs can be seen as a transient fashion trend, just as ponchos were a year or two ago. I am already worrying that the thing will be out of vogue before long, and I will look like yesterday's news. Heather also mentioned to me that it looks like a sweater not quite finished (ugh!!). But, as Eden said to me, if it goes out of style you wear it at home. True, Eden is often right about those things (when I wasn't sure if I could knit the lace section she said "You can TOTALLY knit the lace"). Sure enough, she was right.

So now what? Well, I mentioned in my last post the day-after-Boxing Day yarn store shopping that Eden and I did. One of my acquisitions was 3 skeins of Noro (at 25% off), which I will make into a vest for Heather. I have never worked with Noro before and although it doesn't feel the best (mix of wool and silk) the colour repeats are incredible (orgasmic wouldn't be too far off). This should be a quick knit, stay tuned for updates.

2007-01-03T20:34:00.000-05:00

Fashion, Food and Fetching
First, left over business from 2006 (Happy New Year, by the way). At our last DKC meeting, we had a fashion show of items created by members. I was brave (foolish) enough to enter, and had a great time despite myself. Jacquie Blackman (our V.P. Programme) did an outstanding job of arranging the whole shindig, and took some fab pics of the participants (or 'the talent' as she liked to call us). It was a grand time, and I will be happy to do it all again next year. I am having a hard time downloading the ones of me, so you will have to have a looksy at them all.

Christmas 2006 feasting continued into 2007, with the arrival of a gift tower of food from Heather's sister Helen and her husband Mike. They are ex-pats living in Singapore, and every year send a wonderful assortment of goodies from a U.S. outfit called Harry & David. Here, Heather displays this year's offerings of red delicious apples (I have never seen apples this big), ripe juicy pears, chocolate truffles, chocolate bing cherries (a personal fav) and assorted nuts. Although we had plenty of food over the holidays (and who didn't) these are always a welcome treat (thank you Helen and Mike!!).

I already knitted a pair of these fingerless mittens (or wrist warmers) called Fetching for Heather this fall in alpaca yarn. Her hands are forever cold and I hoped this would help warm them up from the icy state they usually are in. She was grateful for them, and put them in a safe place. So safe, she can't find them. So, when Eden and I went on a day-after-Boxing Day crawl (another story) I saw this beautiful yarn of fine merino, silk and cashmere and thought I would knit her another pair (with idiot strings this time). Here we find Heather showing off one of two, the mate being worked on presently.

2006-12-27T10:13:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Claus must do the knitting.....

I say this as I was Heather's Mrs. Claus this year, and knit her this cozy/warm hat. It was a

very nice Christmas over all. No snow, it was terribly green. But it was good to have family together, had a wonderful organic turkey for dinner with Jennifer's famous roasted veggies, and the obligatory Christmas pudding.

I managed somehow not to over eat, and got a tremendous amount of knitting done. Currently, I am working on the Shimmer shrug found in Knitty.com, but my version is being done with the Alpaca yarn mother gave me. I had some trouble with the lace pattern on the body of the shrug, as I forgot that I am lace challenged and need to put markers at every section of the repeat. Doing so when I got home, I now have 12 markers on the needle, but the pattern is coming along splendidly.

Today is the first day back at work, and Eden and I plan to do some Boxing Day yarn shopping (heaven help us). I am torn between buying some Noro, or getting some Cashmere. Will have to decide in the moment.

2006-12-03T14:54:00.000-05:00

Squeaky Silk

Last month, Magknits came out with their monthly selection of patterns, and I immediately fell fo Coco. I have had the yen of obtaining my own little black evening purse, but felt many of the ones you could purchase to be too flashy or too frue frue. This one was simple, elegant, and knit with silk. As the yarn indicated was from England, I did a little research and found the Canadian equivalent would be Estelle Silk. Not a problem, I thought, Romni will have it they have everything. Well they had the brand, but not the colour I wanted, black. The rep at the store told me black in silk usually doesn't last too long in stock, and I really didn't feel like going all over the city in search of this colour. So, a little Google later and I found it at Yarn Forward in Ottawa. Figuring that the shipping would more than cover the time and expense of looking for it myself, I put in the order and it arrived in due course.

As with many new types of knitting, I had more than one false starts. I had done much cable knitting before, and this was lattice work cable. In a repeat of 8 the 1st row has the cable in front and knit, the 3rd the cable at the back and pearl, the 5th the cable is at the back and knit and the 7th the cable is front and pearl. After about 6 goes at it, I finally found my rhythm and was off. About 2 weeks later, I had the main part of the body done, and spent a weekend afternoon knitting/sewing in the gussets and lining. I then spent 3 evenings knitting as many i-cords about 40 " in lenth. On the 4th evening I braided them together and secured them to the purse. Walla, it was done. The button I obtained from a sewing store in Bloor West village, than also has needles and yarn.

I must say I am quite satisfied with the end result, although it is a bit different from the original pattern. I second guessed my guage and as a result wound up knitting the pattern 6 stitches less which resulted in a 1" difference in the width. In the end, this doesn't seem to make too much of a difference. A snap was put in instead of the loop the designer suggested, which I am begging to question. When pulling apart the snap, it does tug on the knitted fabric somewhat. As long as I am careful when opening this shouldn't be a problem. It was also interesting to note that silk does seem to squeak when knit, which I thought that only sea silk would do.

2006-11-19T08:59:00.000-05:00

If you can't knit the one you love, knit the one you're with....

I like to knit with the finer yarns in life, but I am not adverse to knitting with acrylics. I sincerely believe that there is a range of the synthetic yarns, that dependent on the manufacture can be sublime to substandard. Patons yarns fall somewhere in between these two ranges, and when Lewiscraft declared bankruptcy I did buy several lots of yarn. Having said that, I did want to get through those projects to knit things that were, er, more desirable.

I did originally intend this for Heather, but as she snubbed it (didn't like the design) my mother has become the recipient. She was thrilled with the results, although being the person I am, I had issues with the final outcome (she will be fixing some of those issues).

I had also knit up a purple vest with no one in mind as being the beneficiary. It is supposed to be a crop vest, but I knit it to a longer length. In the end, I found it to be a bit smaller than I would of liked. As such, I threw it in with the jacket for my mother to have if she liked. She found it to be a bit short (despite my lengthening) but took it anyway.

The occasion for the these sweater gifts, is my sister's birthday. She had noted that the felted purse I had made would not be liked by my niece Sarah, but she would gladly become it's new owner. I gave her the purse for a birthday present, my niece noted she liked it but probably wouldn't use it.....makes me wonder if Jenny's assertion that Sarah wouldn't like it was self serving?????

Finally, lieu of the sweater and vest I made my mother, she gave me 20 balls of an alpaca/wool yarn she bought over a year ago at the Yarn Boutique when they had a 50% off sale. It had been sitting in her stash for over a year, but she hadn't come around anything to make with it. I have several projects lined up right now, but gladly took the yarn to add to my stash. I will be meditating on what I can do with this lovely bounty.

2006-11-05T15:26:00.000-05:00

First Felting

Last week, I picked up some gorgeous yarn that I had dubbed fall perrenial garden, as it had all these beautiful colours. I couldn't afford (justify) buying more than one skein, so I had to creative with what I should do with it. I decided upon making a purse, and then would try felting it (which I had never done before, but had been very interested in trying).

Here is what it looked like before (the round thing to the right side is a knitted rose). The main body of the purse was 9 by 9 1/2 with a 3 " flap and a 40" strap. I put it in the washing machine for about 15 minutes (checking once every 5) and then I let it run the rest of the washing cycle (rinse and spin).

Here is the result. The bag went down to 7 by 6 " in the body, 2" flap and a 28" strap. Overall I am pleased with the results, but the rose I wish I hadn't done (it just looks like a lump to me now).

It was a beautiful day yesterday when I did the felting, and Heather graciously stopped her leaf raking to model my latest creation (it also gives you a sense of scale).

While I was raking, I found this in the leaves. Amazing isn't it? I am not sure how it got on the ground, but any occupants had been vacated. Perhaps a hungry racoon found grubs in the wasp's nest to eat.

And here is our friend/neighbour's dog Harley again (I introduced him last summer). Always on the alert, this doberman is forever looking for someone to throw him a ball (he never wants to be petted or his bellie scratched, he just wants to play). His mother Lindsay, is very much into beaded jewellery and if you are looking to do some early holiday shopping, check our her website.

2006-10-29T08:23:00.000-05:00

Mighty, mighty yarn-a-vor!

Here I am, intrepid traveler before setting out (at 7:30 Saturday morning) for the 3rd TTC Knit-a-long. Part of this trip's gear is my 'Campfire scarf' made from Artfibers Kyoto and Alfabeto yarn. I have named it such as it is knitted in a curly-cue style, and has orange, purple and brown hues. This yarn was acquired for me by my TTC Knit-a-long traveling companion Eden, who obtained a rather large stash at Artfibers on a spring trip to San Francisco.....but that is another story best told by her.

We decided sometime ago, that if we were ever to do another social knitting thing, we better have some name tags (as we tend to be a bit, shy). So here is mine, Eden did a much more festive one appropriate to the upcoming Halloween holiday.

So onward we go, and here is our first stop at Romni Wool. Our fearless leader Beryl is shown here documenting our hunting and gathering techniques as we line up at the cash register. I had a small but significant haul, acquiring a skein of camel yarn (in camel colour) and angora/silk yarn (in black) both of the store's own brand. Very yummy! Eden had gathered a significant amount of yarn for her upcoming twined knitting project. Again, it is best to let her explain it. There was buzz that she could be up for the "Needs a sherpa" prize at the end of the day, but alas, we burned out and headed home before that could be determined.

From Romni, we continued through the wilds of Toronto's Queen West area, stopping in a new yarn store that specialized in South American yarn (this was done on a whim as someone had heard about it just opening and was across from Arton beads). Despite it's promise of yarn from the other side of the world, it was a bit of a disappointment. Eden and I made a quick venture to Arton (she acquired a lovely glass bobble for $2.25) and then had a rest at the Second Cup. Here we are resting before resuming our arduous journey.

Having refreshed ourselves with hot drink and engaging in a bit of knitting, we headed back to the Knit Cafe, to continue our journey. Some pictures were taken to prove that this was a TTC Knit-a-long, and not some excuse to travel to multiple yarn stores in a single day.
We made it to the Knit Cafe and made quick work of exploring the area to ensure all yarns were examined. We then settled in for a bit more knitting and a group shot.

This would be the last picture taken for the day (at least from my camera) as hunger and exhaustion from the days excursion settled in, and we all made our way to the Red Room on Spadina (south of College) for lunch and to meet the other teams. There, I would receive a cook book for the prize of "Best non-sequiter" (which is apparently Latin for 'it does not follow'. It appears I seem to talk about anything that comes to mind, rather staying on the day's theme of knitting, yarn or anything else in that vein). I will be mindful of that in the future.

After being well refreshed, a small group of us headed to Lettuce Knit which was insanely busy. There, Eden obtained a final skein to finish her knee high socks (I think it took 4 all together), and I finally gave into the urge to purchase a skein of MANOS del Uruguay yarn to be knitted into a Moebius Capelet (first observed at the Knit Cafe, I somehow resisted it's charm and walked away from it). It is probably the yummiest colourway I have ever seen, but doesn't have a name other than '113'. Eden says it looks like a perennial fall garden, perhaps that is the name I will give it.

After Lettuce Knit, we yelled goodbye to everyone in the store and went home. Tired but satisfied, it was a thrilling adventure through the wilds of Toronto to some of the best yarn stores that this city has to offer. Would I do it again, oh ya! But next time I will come from another direction (north or east) to experience the adventure of the other yarn spots within our fair city.

2006-10-18T15:01:00.000-04:00

Trick, or treat?

I love things that subvert or are contrary to what people expect. For example, my previous blog where my lettuce sprouted up like it was on steriods, knitted lace on trees, and even librarian action figure with shhhhing action, but this Halloween costume found on a library blog called Librarian Avengers I am not too sure what to make of. Initially I thought it was a bit of a hoot, but as time goes on I am not too sure.

Part of me likes the idea of a librarian being a sex kitten, part of me knows this not much more than someone's fantasy, and another part of me knows it is the foolishness of Halloween.

Librarians are very much like knitters in that they are 'supposed' to be quite and introverted, if not homely and boring. Knitting is no longer the activity of grandmothers in rocking chairs, is what we hear over and over again. Those who knit know this isn't true and hasn't been for some time. Librarians haven't had this revolution yet where they are in the press on a regular basis, with people amazed that they don't all wear glasses and have tea every afternoon.

So, in the final analysis does this stir things up, or pepetuate the perception? What do you think?

2006-10-11T16:25:00.000-04:00

Sick Chick.....

I am not terribly sick today, but nor am I terribly well either. I felt pretty lousy last night, not so great this morning, but better this afternoon. Thinking that perhaps it was best that I lay low today, I called in sick hoping to get some rest. What I got was about 2 1/2 hours wrestling with my computer trying to install some new software.
Anyway, I have had quite enough and thought that a diversion was in order. As such, I am taking Eden's advise and providing a close up on the button for my newly reknit sweater. Hope this shows up well..... it is a spiral configuration, simple but effective, that I only have two of. I guess I could put the second one on as well, but I don't think it would look as good. Anyway, I got these two at Romni on Queen, perhaps I will go there to see if there are any more.

What else can I show you? Oh, yes it was Thanksgiving last weekend and Heather and I went to Guelph for the annual feast. Here is a picture of me and my niece (who is 33 this year.....doesn't look it though....do I look 40?) while I knit. This was to be Heather's sweater, but first she didn't like the Asian motif on the back, and then she didn't like the colour (she will also be the first one to admit that she is fussy). Her loss, my mother's gain. I told Heather she was SOL, and mom was more than happy to accept a hand knitted garment being made for her (god knows she has made enough things for me!!). I am also trying to get Sarah to get knitting, but she is resistant (maybe she is just saner than I am).

It was a good Thanksgiving, with the usual over abundance of food. The favourite of which my sister's crumble (yum-yum). It was Blackberry-Raspberry and was fresh out of the oven when it was served, and had it with vanilla ice cream. Don't get me wrong, I am a chocolate girl through and through, but this is on par with the best chocolate out there.

The final thing we did last weekend was to go down to the Humber River to see the salmon run. This happens every year about this time, and is a truly remarkable thing to watch. The only thing that is more remarkable is the size of these fish, they are truly huge, and yet the ones that are commercially fished are even bigger. I don't know if I would want to eat one of these (Lake Ontario's waters are less than pristine), but they are certainly something to behold.

2006-10-07T18:19:00.000-04:00

Phoenix Rises from the Flames....

If you go back a couple of posts, you will recall I finished a purple ballet wrap sweater, and that I wasn't too pleased how big it made me look. Well, as time passed, I began to hate it and didn't want to think I spent all that time and money (well, maybe more money) on something I was unlikely to wear. So, I frogged the whole thing. That was two weeks ago and today, here are the results.I still think I look big (mind you, I am a big girl) but I don't feel like a big cow in it. The pattern is 3Times Chic from Knitty.com and is supposed to be a pullover. But as it is 1/2 merino wool, and as I have a propensity to overheat easily, I made it into this cardigan. I am considering putting in a zipper, but think the button at the top is fine for now.

With this project over, I should be moving on to Heather's sweater. She told me (less than tactfully....to be fair she was tired, but started giggling when she saw the picture on the pattern ) that she wouldn't wear a sweater with a Chinese emblem on the back, but if I took that out, she would wear it. But I am back on making Tit Bits for our next DKC meeting on Oct 18th. I was having some problems with one of them, and I am trying to remake it.

Also on the needles, is a new sock. I thought that perhaps I wouldn't want to do another sock any time soon, but it started to call my name and I felt I had to do one (is this how it starts?). Anyway, the yarn is called 'Tutti Fruitty', but I think of it as Rainbow Sherbert. I took this picture at my desk at work, as it tends to be knitted on the way to, at, and on the way home from office. The colours are far more outrageous than I usually wear, but it is fun and remind my of 'youth'.

As it is Thanksgiving here in Canada, we are going out to my parent's for dinner tomorrow. We are doing it pot luck style, with mom cooking a capon (chicken), my aunt is bringing a broccoli salad, my sister her famous berry crumble (yum, yum) and I am bringing butternut squash (grown in my garden) with shallots and sage. Thank goodness we have Monday off so we can recover!

2006-10-02T20:37:00.000-04:00

Friends@work..... It has been quite a week for visiting old work friends, and celebrating a birthday of a 'new' work friend.

First of all, I meet up with the folks I used to work with at CIBC. We were a very small section called bank@work and was a program for selected company's employees. We were a bit of a motley crew, had the threat of the department being dissolved at a moments notice for over a year, and I hadn't seen any of them since I left 2 1/2 years ago.

Here is Brenda and Angie. Brenda was very impressed to hear that I am knitting, Angie asked me if I was pregnant (this is how rumours get started). Brenda did take an early retirement package with CIBC before I left, but has gone back since then on contract as they seem to want pay her an outrageous amount of money to do so (soak them for all they are worth Brenda!). Angie is still working for CIBC, and is great to get all the scoops about what is going on from (although she is way off on the knitting/pregnant thing).

This is Uziel and his lovely wife Gabby. Uziel left CIBC shortly after I did and went for greener pastures at Scotiabank. I was taking a walk (aka window shopping) in the concourse downtown the last month and bumped into him. It was good to hear that he married the woman he met in Toronto, who is also from Mexico City (life is strange, huh?).

Finally, here again is Uziel (who is clearly not camera shy) Anees and Wendy. Anees was the last boss I had at CIBC, and one of the best (I can say that now without it sounding like I am sucking it up for a good report). I had many words of wisdom from Anees (like your customer is everything) and she was always great at drawing on her staff's (including my own) best skills. I should also mention that she has been CIBC for probably around 35 years or more (she should get a medal for that alone).

Wendy is also still working with CIBC, she figures she will be with bank@work until they finish the program in 2007. She used to live not too far from where I am in west Toronto, but she has recently bought a home in Whitby (it sounds like a long haul, but I am sure it is worth it).

Today, is the 30th birthday of my friend Fabio at my present employer, McLean Budden. I love to knit presents for my friends, and Fabio had told me sometime ago that he hadn't picked up a scarf since moving to Canada 3 years ago. I had been knitting with Alpaca for sometime, love the texture, softness and warmth of it's yarn, and wanted to find some for this project. Going on eBay, I found 10 balls for $45 USD (or something like to that affect) that with shipping, exchange and duty worked out to be something like $6 a ball! I set to work at it last April, and was probably finished in May, but it hardly seemed like an appropriate time to give it to him.
I waited for his birthday (thinking it was an opportune time as winter is coming), and he was very pleased with the end results. Fabio told me that no one had made him something like this since he was a child, and I was glad I could make by hand such an appreciated gift.

Just before his birthday, he also told me that he didn't want anything 'special' done for to mark this milestone. That sounded more to me like a challenge than a request, and I decided that some 'decoration' should be done for his office. Last Friday, he left early for the day sick (thank you again, that was much appreciated) which gave me and my friend Shauna a chance to go to town.....This was the result. Fortunately, Fabio does have a great sense of humour and is still talking to me.

2006-09-24T20:38:00.000-04:00

Being a knitter, is it nurture or nature?

In my case, it is nature. My mother is a long time knitter (as she turned 80 this year, she has been probably knitting at least 75 years), as was my grandmother (who I never knew as she died when my mother was 18). I went out to Guelph for the day to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday, and thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about my mother's knitting.

First of all, I should mention that my mother makes (sews) a lot of bears. They are beautiful creations that are made from fake fur, real fur, old wool jackets (tweed and herringbone), silk fabrics and sometimes mohair. There has also been a fair share of knitted teddy bears as well. The ones for charities such as Teddies for Tragedies have been simple but lovely. Other have been of heirloom quality, one of which she gave to my childhood friend's baby daughter. My favourites are the simple ones that are just wonderful to have around and keep you company.

Mom usually has at least a couple of projects on the go (another point for the arguement of a genetic disposition towards knitting) but has managed to finished a couple lately both big and small. For the big is this sweater. My good friend Gillian (who sells real estate if you are looking to buy property in T.O.) was looking for a home for a pattern and yarn that her mother couldn't get going on. I gladfully took it and passed it on to my mother with many thanks, and she finally finished it this month. It is from Mary Maxim, and although my mother got through the bulk of it easy, she seemed to procrastinate on the last 1/2 of the second sleeve. Not sure why, as the results are great!

Finally, I got my mom 'involved' in an online dishcloth knit-a-long. 'Involved' in a convoluted kind of way as I have the pattern sent to me and then I forward them to her. Why? Well, although both my mom and dad spend a fair amount of time on the computer, it is easier for me to streamline the process. Anyway, here is her first dishcloth, and here are the needles she is knitting them with. They are from Zellers and are supposed to be for kids. Never mind the kids, I want a pair!!!!

To finish this entry, I should show you a picture of my brother-in-law since it is his birthday. He doesn't knit, but he is quite convinced that he would be an excellent one if he did (I am just thankful he didn't drop a stitch on me!). Happy birthday Eric!

2006-09-21T21:10:00.000-04:00

In my other life, I am a....

Library Technician. Exciting huh? Well, other library technicians think so. Once every 3 or 4 months I try to get together with the people I went to Seneca College with for my diploma. We are a rag tag group, but got through the tyranny that is part-time continuing education (anyone who has gone through it knows what I am talking about). I promised them I would post pictures (and there will be knitting content), so here we go......

Here is Theresa and her lovely daughter Mialyn (10 months old).
Mialyn loves to read books and will have a great career in the library field in about 20 years. Her mom will be returning back to work soon and hopes to finish her diploma in 2007.

Up next is Sharon and Brenda. Sharon manages the library at York Central Hospital, which technically makes her a librarian. She used to knit lovely afghans and even won prizes at the local fair. But alas, she had to give it up (as many knitters fear) due to repetitive injury. I wish I could suggest something else she could do as a new obsession, but nothing compares to knitting needles.

Brenda works for the Law Society of Upper Canada and is a cataloguer (I give her credit, not all library types are cataloguers....at least I couldn't do it). She occasionally knits, but spends most of her spare time in hockey arenas (you would think she would be madly knitting warm sweaters, hats, scarves, etc).

Last but not least is Nancy and Christopher. Nancy has taken a break from her studies at Seneca College, and is managing a company called Game Ready Equine. It has taken her to all kinds of exciting places and meeting all kinds of exciting people. Despite all this success (or perhaps in spite of it) she hopes to finish her diploma next year.

Christopher, is a library tech at the Ontario Legislative Library. He also likes to crochet, but limits it to the cottage in the summer time. I am certain if I could find him leather yarn, he would be crocheting all the time.

2006-09-17T20:09:00.000-04:00

Bad blogger.....bad, bad blogger.....

Yes, I know I haven't been a very good blogger of late. It has been over a month since I last posted. Well, hopefully I will make amends here and now.

It has been a productive and not-so-productive month in knitting.

Productive - finished my first pair of socks. Here, fetching Heather models the fetching self striping Kroy yarn from Patons. I find socks a bit frustrating, as once you have turned the heel, all the excitement seems to go. I did manage to get past all that and make the mate to the first one. With two more pending sock projects to knit, I better find another way to get excited about knitting a whole sock or two.

Not-so-productive - after knitting my sea silk shawl and getting about 1/4 the way through, I decided to frog it (rip it, rip it). I had dropped a stitch and in the effort to un-knit, I managed to drop more. It was also in question whether the finished item would be long enough, and I had wished I had blended the two skeins of sea silk when I had started. So, I frogged it and started over with fewer stitches (90 something vs. 100 something). The two skeins are blending splendidly so I have no regrets.

Productive and not-so-productive - here I am modeling the purple yarn ballet sweater that was started in May (around my birthday). Problem is, I tend to think it makes me look larger than my already ample physique.
It could be the wide neckline, it could also be comparing myself to the skinny model that inspired me to knit the sweater in the first place (will I ever learn??).
Anyway, all is not lost, I have decided to take artistic license and wear the sweater like this (with the ties at the back). Tell me I don't look as big!

Now that this is done, I can start on the Bohemian sweater for Heather. I got the yarn from Lewiscraft before they went under (at 50% off), and hope with the cold weather coming that it will knit up quick.

There are quite a few projects waiting in the wings, but I have my eyes on knitting up something in Patons new SWS yarn. We had a chance to fondle it at the last DKC meeting, and it is yummy. It is self striping and they have gone with some really beautiful colour ways. I do have to knock down a couple of more projects before I can take something like this on.....or at least that will be the plan.

2006-08-16T16:50:00.000-04:00

One thing leads to another

Funny how when you open one door, others tend to open. The same day we were in Richmond looking at Janet Morton's knitted installation, we went to a Japanese dollar store called Daiso. I wouldn't of known about it, but for the article in Spun magazine that lead me to all those yarns stores in Vancouver. I wanted to check Daiso out as the article indicates that bamboo knitting needles could be had for $2 each (apparently it is a $1 store in Japan, but it becomes $2 in North America). Anyway, we went in and had a blast. It was a great store with half decent things for $2. I got two sets of knitting needles, and two crochet hooks for my friend Shauna who endures arthritis but manages to crochet anyway.

Getting back to T.O., I thought that would be the last of the Japanese - knitting connection, but it appears it has only just begun. Heather was telling a colleague at work about our advertures to knitting stores, Daiso, and how I am a little 'obsessed' with knitting, and she tells Heather about the differences in Japanes and western knitting. According to the site she referred her to ABCs of Knitting, the technique is the same but there aren't any written patterns in Japan. Everything is done via chart in a standardized language.

I also have the good fortune of having two colleagues at my work who speak Japanese (one is from Japan, and the other lived there for 4 years). I am thinking about getting a pattern or two, and hope that by having a live translator (rather than using babel fish) I might be able to do some Japanese knitting. The ABCs of Knitting also has a translated page of terms, so one way or the other, I should be able to accomplish this.

My final obstacle to trying this will be getting hold of a pattern in Japanese. Heather's colleague said she can loan me a book, but I have also heard of a knit designer who does very beautiful work based on European designs. I am tempted to order one of his books from Amazon.co.jp, but my co-worker Yoshiko has offered to pick it up for me next time she flies to Japan.

I will let you know how this one pans out.

2006-08-12T11:49:00.000-04:00

Get me to the church on time

Yes, we did make it to the church on time and more importantly, so did the bride and groom.

Here's the church (doesn't have a steeple)......

Open the doors, look at all the people......

Here is the family on the groom's side, all of which are from out of town.

The ceremony was light hearted and thankfully brief as it was a rather warm day. I think many of us were quietly melting in the church, but I am certain it was nothing compared to what the bride and groom were feeling.

The reception was held in Richmond at a Chinese restaurant, and done in grand style. 12 courses were served and although I don't eat seafood (which most of the menu composed of) I was blissfully full by the end. To give you an idea of the feast that took place, here is the menu after all was said and done. Yummy, eh?

The next day started as a 'knitting day' although it was exactly planned that way. The Richmond Art Gallery was closed, but there was an outdoor art exhibit on by Janet Morton, who
had done some beautiful knit work on and around trees. I had seen knit tagging on outdoor objects, but this work took it to a whole new level. Here are some pics....

More on this day's outings later.

2006-08-10T14:34:00.000-04:00

More dog days of summer.....

Coming back from Vancouver, we were greated by our favorite neighbour. This is Harley who loves having balls thrown for him (what dog doesn't) and tries to pass them through the fence for me to toss.

We were also quite happy to see his owner Lindsay, she is a great neighbour too, and was good enough to pick up our mail while we were away (we would of asked Harley, but he would of chewed on it).

It was good to come back to friendly faces, as our return trip was long and tiring and we will never take the red eye back home again. I had very little sleep and we were both a bit punchy by time we got home at 8 a.m. Crawling into bed, I slept until 3, was up until 9 and crashed again (gotta love jet lag). Anyway, I digress. Let's start from the beginning.

The flight was good out, as it was uneventful. I managed to get some knitting done, and was actually asked by a flight attendent if knitting needles were allowed! Luckily, I came prepared with a print out from of prohibited and permitted items. I was going to put a link to it on this entry, but as a plot to bomb planes with liquid explosives was revealed today, I couldn't find it on the internet (no doubt the list will be radically changed).

Once we landed at Vancouver airport, we got our rental car (Pontiac G6), headed to the hotel (with various diversions due to lack of proper signage) and made our way to Costco. Why Costco, well Heather wanted to find out what the stir fry was like at the 'Resto' as it isn't available in Toronto. Unlike the hot dogs there which are always amazing, the stir fry was less than satisfactory. Being in a place like Richmond was is full of all kinds of Asian cuisine, it wasn't too surprising Costco fell flat. Oh well, we made up for it by doing some shoping that you wouldn't find in Toronto (everytime we find clothes we like at Costco, they are never bigger than a 'L'. At this location, they had mass quantities of 'XL' and we made the most of this situation). Heather's sister Helen and her husband Mike then called later asking us to go out to dinner with Helen's friends at Glowbal restaurant in Yaletown. It was trendy, noisy, but the food was delicious. Poor Helen and Mike had been in the air for 31 hours (travelling from Singapore via Sidney, Hong Kong, and San Francisco) but managed to go out for dinner. Me with my 3 hour jet lag was doppy and tired, while Mike was literally falling asleep at the table.

Day 2 was yarn day of our trip, as I wanted to check out the local wool shops. Diana at our office in Vancouver forwarded to me an article from Spun Magazine that gave out the scoop of the best places to trip out. Based on this advice, we headed first to Birkeland Bros. Wool on Main and King Edward. Wow, what a place. If you are a lover of wool and history, this is the place for you! The carting machine on site is over 90 years old and we met Norm Birkeland who is the second generation of the family who run this company.

He was good enough to show us the machine, and tell us about it's history and it's workings. Just fascinating! His daughter Cara, is the third generation working there, and she was just as friendly and helpful as her father. If I lived in Vancouver this would be one of my favorite stores. I don't think I could name one like it in Toronto, as it's history makes it unique upon itself.

We then swung over to the west side of Vancouver to Dunbar street to look at a 'Touch of Wool'. Nice store in a great neighbourhood, but I didn't really see anything that stood out.

Our final stop was at Urban Yarn in the Point Grey area. Loved this store as it seemed to be a cross between 'Village Yarns', 'Lettuce Knit' and 'Naked Sheep' in Toronto. Many interesting yarns to look at, but ultimately picked up a t-shirt that reads "She was quite a nice girl.....until all that knitting started". We snooped in and around the neighbourhood and found it to be very quite. It seems that with it being a long weekend, not too many people were around shopping. Helen and Mike told us later that they all were at Granville Market.

After a brief rest everyone who was from out of town for Yvonne and Darren's wedding (the latter being Heather's cousin) went for dinner at a Greek restaurant (what else do you do in Richmond, which is predominately Asian). It was great to meet all of Heather's extended family, and put faces to so many names I had heard about. It was strange though, when Darren said he was leaving at 8 p.m. as he was tired and wanted to get ready for the big day tomorrow. It was less strange when about 15 minutes later, the entertainment came out. I don't know how Greek this would be, but a belly dancer performed some rather pervocative numbers.

Here in the first pic, Heather's other cousin Doug is 'coerced' into doing a number with the dancer. I don't know how please his wife Peggy was with all of this, but everyone else found it wildly entertaining. In the second pic, Heather's Uncle Jimmy is encouraged to provide a 'tip' in the dancer's belt. She was very good at her....job, and had several tips during the course of her performance.

When we went back to Heather's Aunt Donna's house Darren mysteriously reappeared as his 'tiredness' had been overcome. It is too bad he missed all the fun, but we were able to show him what he missed through the magic of digital.

Anyway, that will be it for now. The wedding day and the rest to come later.

2006-08-01T20:34:00.000-04:00

The dog days of summer

No, not this kind of dog. This is Coady, who belongs to Tina and Frank and who had us over for dinner last Saturday night. It was quite yummy and we enjoyed making Coady sing (yowl!) Frank was also good enough to give me many of his downloaded tracks of 80's and alternative music, it will give me lots to listen to when I get up to date with my favorite podcasts, Cast-on and Knitcast.

The dogs I am referring to are the hot, sticky, icky days and nights when the temperature is high and humidity is relentless. Here is the proof, this picture of our thermometre just off the kitchen window was taken at 7:38 this evening. Yes, it reads 33 degrees....yuch. The forecasters are saying it will start to break tomorrow and into Thursday, but I think for most people it can't come fast enough. Thank goodness we have air, but it is like being trapped in your own home, like when it is -33 degrees in January.

The reason I haven't been blogging since dad's birthday hasn't been so much the heat outside, but the frustration in trying to knit my first piece of lace. I thought it would be challenging, but I was getting more and more put off by the stitch (I wasn't putting too many rows on). A consultation with my mother convinced me that a 32 row repeat on a lace pattern maybe a tad bit ambitious for a first time project.

Consulting with my good friend Eden, convinced me to try the "Convertible" in the Spring 06 edition of Knitty. That would be much more resonable I thought, only 14 row repeat and as Eden would be going at it too, it would be a 2 person knit-a-long.

More frustation. I just could not get it to work. Finally, I thought it would be best to go with the pattern I bought with the Sea Silk for $2. It only had a 2 row repeat and was mercifully basic. Much to my relief, I have been able to knit this.

I was seriously beginning to wonder if I should give back my DKC membership (now that would have been sad). Either lace is something I am going to have to build my way up to, or I am simply lace challenged and shouldn't attempt anything more complicated than this.

Considering the heat we are enduring right now, I am quite content to be working with yarn made of silk and sea cell (sea weed) and hope to make great progress during the flight out to Vancouver on Friday. On the itinerary are plans to visit some local yarn shops and get a feel for the 'left coast' yarn vibe. Should have much to post when we return on Wednesday.

2006-07-16T21:42:00.000-04:00

Knitting bee .... or a bee in my bonnet.

Saturday was such a lovely day. My family got together to celebrate my father's 85th birthday, which is a milestone in itself, but follows on the heals of my parent's 60th wedding anniversary, my mother's 80th birthday and my own 40th birthday.

My family has many talented people in it. The first picture shows my dad holding up a card given to him by my cousin Sandy, who made it for him. The second picture is the card my aunt Josie (Sandy's mother) also made for him.

When dad isn't on the computer, he is often sketching or painting in water colours. Josie's card is a nod to this well appreciated talent. Dad also likes to make birthday cards and write humorus poems, but his old software wasn't working with his new computer. So we got him the latest and greatest program so he can get back to writing up cards.

It was a wonderful day, and a wonderful party, and I was happy to capture this picture of a bumble bee with my mother's garden bee. Sandy and I took quite a few pictures, I was lucky enough to have a picture with the bee's tongue (for lack of a scientific term) sticking out.

With all the excitement of the day, and all this creative talent, I decided to start on the Baltic Sea Stole with my Sea Silk yarn. The pattern calls for a yarn that has 7 sts/inch, and Sea Silk is 4 sts/inch. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how I would get the gauge to work (I wanted to knit a stole, not a scarf) and finally decided on knitting with a 4mm needle instead of 5mm as the pattern indicates. It gave me a 5 sts/inch gauge, and I started merrily along. I was confident that I would have no problem with this pattern.

Then came day two of this weekend. Hot, humid, and oppressive. I promised myself to try to finish the ballet wrap sweater that I had been working on, but the heat made it a less than enjoyable task (we do have air conditioning, but it doesn't seem to make much difference to how I feel about wool in the heat). I switched over to the Sea Silk, and started the first row of the lace pattern.

Last time I tried to knit lace, I gave up and handed it over to my mother. She has been knitting since she was quite young and I believe she can knit anything, and in this case she did. I thought this time would be different, but I am coming across a similar problem. At the end of the first row of lace knitting, I didn't have enough stitches at the end. I counted, recounted, went over each stitch, tried a bit of backward knitting but nothing was working. I undid the row of lace knitting and 9 rows of seed stitch border, and have decided to try again tomorrow. So this happy 'knitting bee' has become a bee in my bonnet. I will find a way to overcome this roadblock, there is no way I am giving up my Sea Silk for mother to knit.

2006-07-12T13:54:00.000-04:00

Things that aren't what they appear to be....

This, believe it or not, is lettuce that was growing in my garden. It started out like any other head of lettuce, but it kept growing until it was about 4' tall. The leaves were getting to be a bit thick, and I didn't think it would make very good eating so it is now in the compost (to feed next year's head of lettuce).

Knitting can be very deceiving too. Knitting is often perceived as being a solitary activity with very little interaction with other people around you. This maybe true when counting or following an intricate pattern, but it actually lends itself to being a sociable endeavor. Stitch'n'bitch sessions have been quite popular in the last few years, and it is almost although the traditional "bee" (as quilting) have made a comeback just as knitting has.

Then there are people like myself who like knitting, and like people, but have some difficulty in putting the two together. Being somewhat intraverted and socially shy, I have found it incrediably difficult to 'get out there' and meet other knitters. It seems that anytime I got to a knitting event, I think that everyone knows everyone else, and find it easier to continue knitting and listen rather than socializing. Perhaps that isn't a bad thing, but the point is to interact.

I have the good fortune of having friends at work who are avid knitters, and I am blessed to come from a family of knitters, but expanding on that circle has been a bit of a challenge. What has been your experience? Do you prefer to knit alone, or in a group? How do you meet new knitters?

2006-07-08T09:31:00.000-04:00

Pssst.......want a good deal on yarn?

So, what am I working on right now? Well, I've got two projects on the go, and two waiting in the wings for their entrance (i.e. yarn is at the ready, needles are at hand, pattern is within grasp).

First, I found a ballet/wrap sweater in the Spring/Summer issue of Knit Simple . I was taken with it from the moment I saw it, and almost immediately set out looking for yarn. The pattern suggested putting two strands of Contrasto by Skacel Collection together to get a 11st on 9 mm gauge, but it also
recommended 28 50 g balls. I thought it might be better to use a yarn of that gauge, and perhaps not so many balls. In the end, I found some on sale yarn at the DKC's Knitter's Frolic last April.

Lang Yarns M.A.X. is 50/50 merino wool and acrylic, and is very soft despite it its synthetic mixture. I have been working on it since May, but the heat has made progress sporatic. I have also never worked from a magazine pattern before, and since much of it is condensed, I keep needing to review the instructions from the beginning to keep on course (or falling off course as the case maybe).

My second project is a pair of humble socks, but as they are my first set they have been a great learning experience. I am using Kroy self stripping yarn which is quite a thrill to see unfold. When Lewiscraft announced they were going bankrupt, I was able to score 4 balls at 30% off (yes, I love yarn on sale).

With the initial excitement of seing self patterning yarn, I worked toward turning the heel which you often hear about as a somewhat ardous task. What I found was turning wasn't much of an issue (rather anti-climatic really), but picking up the stitches was. I guess I haven't had much experience with it and haven't really been to impressed with the results. Oh well, practice will make better (I doubt it will make perfect). I got a little bored after I turned the heel and sort of procrastinated a bit on it for a time. Of late, I have found it to be perfect subway knitting, and have managed to complete the first sock. I am hoping to keep the momentum going to make it's mate.

Waiting in the wings is the two skeins of Sea Silk that I got for 20% off (and yet another deal) at Romni yarns on Queen street (sale is on through July on everything). And I will be making the Baltic Sea stole from Fibre Trends, as I had to pay shipping onI lost the savings gained from the yarn.

I also bought several cones of wool yarn from the Canadian Textile Museum's Yardage sale, and want to felt some bowls, boxes, or bags with it. I only paid a buck or two for the cones, so if it doesn't work out, no big loss. With the summer heat, I have cast on stitches but haven't done much else. I hope to get moving on them shortly.

So this is what I am up to right now, with some other projects that are waiting for these ones to be completed before they make an appearance. As you have probably noted, I love getting yarn (especially quality yarn) at a discounted price. If you hear of a sale, let me know!

2006-07-05T21:47:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am, in and amongst the knitting blog community. Ever since I read the Yarn Harlot's mention of knitters who were "sadly, blogless" I have wondered if I should join in on the fun. As my blog name suggests, I am not necessarily the most sociable of knitters. I have gone to a number of knitting events, I am a member of the Toronto Downtown Knit Collective, but have a horrible time meeting and talking to other knitters. I have the great fortune of coming from a family of knitters, and have great knitting friends at work, but I often feel it isn't enough and I am missing out on so much more.

So in a world where the magic of the blog can have you speak to people across the planet, I am joining in to the discussion. Here is my view of the knitting world and life in general. Being new blogging world, it is going to take me some time to get a project meter going, links and all the usual bells and whistles that most knitting blogs have these days. But until then, feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think or are thinking. It will be so nice to meet you.