A Great Big YES!

It was the knitter's equivalent of Christmas.  Remember as a kid, counting down the sleeps till the Big Day?  Do you remember wondering with excitement what presents you might open that morning?  Speculating on if you might get that big item you've always wanted, but hardly dared hope for?  The thing your secret heart wanted, but you never spoke aloud because you knew it was so unlikely you'd ever get it.

Saturday was the Kitchener Waterloo annual Knitter's Fair.  This is my Christmas.  The day that gets me excited and happy and is full of fun. This year I headed down with Isa and Barb which made for a very fun road trip.  I had a pocket full of guilt-free cash and a resolution to only buy what I loved.  Again the Fair filled two large ballrooms at Bingemans and again it was packed with wonderful vendors and happy knitters.

I had resolved not to buy sock yarn, but there seemed to be an awful lot of it this year and some of the prices were too good to resist.

The Noro Silk Garden was only $7 a skein and since I love my Silk Garden socks so much, I just had to get some more.  The natural yarn is also a silk blend I want to use for dyeing. Then there's the Starry Night.  Who could resist silver in your yarn?  I later noticed that a lot of vendors had hand-dyed skeins with silver in them, but none had as good a price as the Needle Emporium. And finally the wool-hemp is for swatching for a sweater idea.  I think I can make a swatch cap out of this big ball.

I also bumped into a ton of good friends at the Fair, both new ones I've made at the K-W Knit and Chat evenings and old ones from London who were so wonderfully enthusiastic about my return to the London knit group. 

One of my new friends is Pauline from All Strung Out.  When I was asking around for a spare bedroom to rent for my over-nights in Waterloo, she volunteered her place. What luck! (Jim quaked a bit when I told him I'd found a room with a lady who owns a yarn store.  I was thinking how jealous my knit-friends would be. :p) Pauline had a booth at the show and I stopped to say hi, and meet her mom, and ask about her vacation, and we both said how much we were looking forward to our own knit nights when I start staying with her. (Have to wait till after Pauline's mom's visit is over.)

As I was leaving, Pauline happened to ask if I spin.  "No," I replied.  "Why do you ask?"

"Oh," says Pauline. "Because I have a spinning wheel you can use if you want."

My heart leapt!  My heart knew what it wanted!  Oh yes.  A big YES.


So now I knew what this Christmas-Fair was going to bring me.  I headed over Gemini Fibers and came away with book, spindle, and fiber.  I said to the cashier that I felt like I had a new baby.  I guess it's all so new and exciting and a bit scary too. 

At a different booth, I purchased some fiber to aspire to, which is the superwash merino pencil roving in those pretty pinks and oranges.  

I believe it was Wendy at Gemini Fibers who guided me through spindle selection, and the very beginnings of a tutorial.  She was very helpful and encouraging.  My learning fiber is Coopworth and my spindle is by Thomas C. Forrester.  It's a Linum whorl, made of maple.

I started spinning right there at Bingeman's, and then again when I got home even though I was so tired.  I always said I'd wait to learn to spin till I had more time, but with weekly access to a wheel...  Seriously, how could I say no?

Today, I feel like the happiest kid on Boxing Day.  All set to play with my new toys.  But first I had to show my friends what I got for Christmas.

Going through a phase

Noro Blankie and I had a falling out this weekend.  Maybe she was in a snit because it had been a while since we hung out, but that wasn't my fault.  She's too hot for warm summer weather.  Well, like whatever....

At first I thought she was glad to see me.  I started working on her seams and we enjoyed some fun time together.  We played some tunes and discussed our new favourite band.  Everything was going along smoothly, and then wham!  She threw a hissy fit at me.  As I approached the end of the seam one of her panels was a whole repeat short.  And as if this wasn't bad enough, it was on the cast on side. The witch. I mean, if it had been the cast off side I could just undo it and add more length. 

But she was all like "Well, it's not as if it were my fault.  You knit me."  Like I didn't know that.  She didn't need to use that snotty tone of voice.

So like, what could I do?  I wasn't going to let her diss me like that.  I dumped her in a closet and walked out on her.  Yeah, maybe I was a bit sulky.  I'll admit, I started wanting to hang out with other projects.  There's this friendly cardigan see...   I even spend an evening chatting with a merino/alpaca scarf. But these new friendships just weren't as satisfying.  All the time that Noro blankie and I have spent together means a lot to me.  We just need to get over this hump. 

So we've made up.  She very nicely agreed not to hold the closet time against me and I agreed to just pick up some stitches instead of ripping out all my sewing.  In the end, our friendship is going to look a bit patchy,  but at least we're still speaking to one another. Which is great, because we still have a long way to go together...

First Day as a Telecommuter

Today was my first day of working at home.*  My perks include:

• Zero commute: just roll out of bed and cruise down the hall.
• Superior break room: not only does my kitchen have anything I want for lunch, it also includes my family to enjoy lunch with. I played Rock Band during my break with my son, then took the dog out to the yard to play ball for a few minutes.
• Quiet: almost too quiet.  I found myself singing out loud to myself.  I've had to train myself not to talk to myself out loud at work so I wouldn't disturb my co-workers. I don't want to unlearn that skill!
• Music: I can play my music out loud instead of having to wear headphones.  Which could be a cure for the previous perk.

I got a lot of work done, but I did miss my co-workers.  My office assistant kindly helped me out by coming over for a pat periodically.  

*Actually Friday was my first day, but it's a bad memory.  I couldn't get my laptop to connect wirelessly.  The fix involved some highly technical shenanigans that included resetting my router. 

I couldn't remember the router's password and so I called Jim at work to ask him if he could remember.  Then my eldest son said that he and his friend had reset the password and he explained that the reason was because they could never remember the password.  "Well good!" I exclaimed "What's the password then?"  His response: "I forget."

And.... Switch!

I had a very exciting week.  I've been hired full-time at my job in Waterloo!  Yippee!!  And the best part is...  I get to work part-time from home!  I just have to be in Waterloo on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Fortunately, we've a spare bedroom just waiting to be converted into a home office.  Here's my new workspace:

Notice my office assistant?  He's going to be very happy to have me at home.  Oh, of course, some other people might be pleased too.  Maybe Jim and the boys,  my extended family and possibly the London knitters.

Oh, I'm just kidding!  If they're half as happy as I am the grins will split their faces.  Look out London!  I'm back.....

Dang Hot!

It's been too hot for much of anything this past week.  Too hot to steam block, but I did it anyway, for all six panels of my Lizard Ridge blanket.  I didn't want to wet block it and leave it home to dry all week in the care of my husband and teen-aged boys.  The steam block worked just fine and it was quite the thrill to see how the Noro softened up and how the panels looked flat with all their glorious colors on display.

It's been too hot to seam a wool blanket, but I did work up two seams anyway.  I love mattress stitch, but this is a bit fiddly because I want the waves to line up.  Plus, there's the yarn I carried up the edge confusing things a bit, and some of the colors blend to the point that there are no waves.  Only three more seams to go, but I'm waiting for the cooler weather.

It's just too hot for the Lizard Ridge blanket.  KnitTech wanted to know how long my Lizard is.  Ahem.  It's long enough to satisfy me, but I think Jim would like it to be longer. 

So what does a Canadian knitter work on during the sweltering mugginess of an August weekend when she wants a little fun? Cat mittens by Jorid.

Oh yeah!  That hit the spot!

And, if you'd rather see some hot lace, go check out the new pattern by FishyKissKnits. Lace and beads and colors, oh my!

The Knitting Phase is Over

The past three weeks at work have been intense.  On Friday I finished up the last bit and I told my co-worker it felt like a load off a guilty conscience.  Similarily, in my knitting I worked this weekend to finish up the knitting on my Lizard Ridge Blanket.  I like how it looks as a mess:

But all laid out, and even unblocked, I can see the potential there just waiting for me to unfurl it.  No worries about ugly strips, they all go together beautifully.

I've been puzzling on how to block it out for sewing.  A full on wet block would be proper and correct I think, but a quick steam with an iron would be faster. 

Pretty Colors

Can you believe the summer is half over!!   This weekend is a long one in Ontario and I'm so ready to have some fun.  Work has been crazy busy and next week promises to be the same.  A pair of plain stockinette socks were just the ticket for relaxing evening knitting. 

Project details over at Ravelry. 

And as an extra special treat, there was a prezzie waiting for me when I got home:

Isn't it pretty!  I won a contest over at Lismi Knits for guessing what project she was working on.  It was Lizard Ridge and that pattern is engraved on my brain.  Thanks Christine!!  I love the yarn.

Lost in Translation

I like to read, almost too much.  If a book is too interesting, I'll keep reading it and neglect other important things like going for walks or knitting or sleeping.  Therefore weekday reading must not be too interesting and so I am currently re-reading Don Quixote.  The first time was for my university novel class which was twenty years ago.  Don Q has gotten livelier and more interesting over the years.  What, you say my comprehension has grown?  How kind of you.

The thing I want to share with you is the translator's note to the following passage.  In this scene Don Quixote's friends and housekeeper are going over his books deciding which ones to burn because they believe that the novels of chivalry have blurred Don Q's grasp on reality, causing him to think he is a knight.

"With all my heart," said the barber; and not caring to tire himself with reading more books of chivalry, he told the housekeeper to take all the big ones and throw them into the yard. It was not said to one dull or deaf, but to one who enjoyed burning them more than cleaning out the biggest and finest cobwebs. So, seizing about eight at a time, she flung them out of the window.

 I am reading a Norton critical edition, geared towards students.  The footnote adds clarification for the translation of what the housekeeper enjoyed less than burning the books; the part in italics. The footnote explains:

Ormsby and others translate this as "weave cloth" or "weave a tapestry," which seems illogical.  Perhaps the text is faulty.

Faulty!  I laughed out loud.  When I think of the fiber artists I know and read about who can barely keep their hands off their projects, I perfectly well understand what Cervantes was writing here and I'll bet you do too.  The online translations do better by the author's original intentions:

"With all my heart," said the barber; and not caring to tire himself with reading more books of chivalry, he told the housekeeper to take all the big ones and throw them into the yard. It was not said to one dull or deaf, but to one who enjoyed burning them more than weaving the broadest and finest web that could be; and seizing about eight at a time, she flung them out of the window.

 Ah yes!  That would be a true test of what is more enjoyable.  I think what was really lost in translation was a man's comprehension of how much a woman might enjoy her weaving.

Bonehead

I've got no knits that are news-worthy to share.  I did finish the second foot on Jim's Clessidra knee-highs which is nice.   And I made a stupendous error in judgment with regards to gauge that has temporarily halted progress on my Lizard Ridge blanket.

See, I was having difficulty finding the right needles to work the strips of the pattern.  I tried circulars, but the cable was getting in my way. So I bought a pair of pink plastic needles at the Zellars in Waterloo because they are short.  I knit most of the stripes on them, but after a while they made my hands ache because the yarn doesn't slide around on them well.  I got really fed up with them.  Yet I was eager to work on the project because I could see the end nearing, so I switched needles at home for a pair of DPNs, putting point protectors on the ends so the yarn wouldn't slide off.  Now I could go to town on the project and did, finishing the last strip this week in Waterloo.

Except...

As I was about ready to bind off, I was congratulating myself on having so much more yarn leftover than usual....

And then it hit me.  I'll bet my gauge was off between the pink plastic needles and the DPNs.  Why the heck didn't I check?  Did I think I was immune to the laws of gauge?   What a bone head!  I made myself step away from the knitting and stuffed the offending fabric into it's ziploc baggie for the trip back to London.

Then I pondered my choices and I've come to my conclusion. I'm not going to rip, or re-knit or let this project die a slow death at the back of the closet.  I have a plan and this is it. I'm going to knit this smaller gauged strip to match the length of the other strips.  Yes, the lizard's ridges won't match up and I've decided that this is going to be the creative, innovative, wonderful feature of my blanket.  I'm also considering buying a few more balls of Noro to make another small-gauge strip, just to emphasize this special feature of my blanket. 

Except I have to get over my annoyance with the project to actually knit it.   I won't deny that I started a plain stockinette sock this weekend.  I'm thinking of it as a confidence booster.  Also, there were distractions. We had a fun Saturday night out.  The whole family went to visit old friends who also have teen aged kids and the eight of us all went downtown to the Home County Folk Festival to listen to Bruce Cockburn.  It was a beautiful evening and just the way you want a summer's day to end, by forgetting all your troubles.

Randomly Rambling

I'm rambling along this Saturday morning with a collection of knit-thoughts to share with you. 

I've refooted Jim's favourite socks, Clesidra (first knit in April 2007). Remember when I darned them? Well darned if that didn't work so well. The patch held, but it wasn't big enough.  Jim wears the socks a lot and they were just wore out.

Then another knitter asked why didn't I reknit the foot? Good question! I even found a whole ball of the exact same sock yarn in the stash. This time around I made an improvement by adding re-enforcement at the exact spots that wore out.

 It's an intarsia patch just at the ball of the foot.  There's a similar one at the heel turn.  It's not a lot of fun to knit, but I expect that it will extend the life of the sock.  Jim pulled the first completed one on last night with a sigh of "Ah, my old friend."  How's that for appreciation! 

In the "I should have my head examined" department, I've been thinking about that Rowan Aran weight yarn and dreaming over sweater patterns.  This past week has been so hot, with temperatures in the 30s, and so muggy, the air has been a soup of smog and moisture, that one can't even step out the door without breaking into a sweat that immediately pools into a slick of moisture on the skin.  Everyone has been huddled inside air conditioning.  Actually, I'm sitting under the air vent at work, so I've been well refrigerated.  I've found it necessary to wear my shawls, and step outside to "heat up" periodically.  Perhaps that's why I'm dreaming of knitting sweaters.

So I've narrowed it down to two patterns I love.  The contenders are Faery Ring and St. Brigid.  The problem of course is fit.  I don't want this sort of fit:

So I'd have to do some modifications to either pattern to account for my shape.  Faery Ring has a style similar to one of my favourite store bought sweaters that I love.

I know I'm going to love working with the Rowan yarn and I want a finished object that I will want to wear a lot.  Even though it's still hot, I may start swatching soon.  A swatch will tell me a lot more about which pattern is better suited to the yarn.

This week, Mason-Dixon Knitting posted a link to the same video I'd posted last weekend.  I clicked the link through to where Kay had seen it and darned if that blog didn't link back to here.  An example of six degrees of separation on the knitternet. Or only three I guess...

I've been reading "The Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath".  Not your typical light summer reading, but I've been enjoying it.  It makes me think.  The author examines how humans treat animals and the contradictions in our treatment. She also writes about various activists and their ideas. I haven't quite finished reading it and I'm curious to see what her personal stance will turn out to be.  I'm still thinking about my own.

Okay, I'm rambled out.  Have a great weekend!!

Must See YouTube

When someone asks you why you knit, point them to this video. 



Thanks Marcy!

Live or Let Rip

I'm almost finished the fourth strip for my Lizard Ridge afghan and I have finally decided, after weeks of effort, that perhaps this isn't a very pretty strip.  In fact it may be the ugliest strip ever knitted for a Noro blanket. 

Perhaps it will look better in context.  Once it is surrounded by the other strips, this fugly one may pick up some tips on looking good from its peers.  Or it may be that this strip will make the others look even prettier just by being near them, like a homely bridesmaid in a wedding party.  

I've decided to finish it.  After all, I won't really know until all the strips are blocked and laying out together.  If I think it ruins the blanket I can always buy more yarn (I'm good at that) and make a new strip. 

A Big Night

It was a big night in our house last night as Alex prepared for his grade eight graduation ceremonies.  There were shaving lessons to be given, and hair styling to be performed and a tie to be adjusted to put the finishing touches on this:

It's hard for me to believe that this tall handsome fellow was once my puffer-belly baby.  Well, maybe not so hard, he was a beautiful baby after all.

And now you know why I was working so hard to finish the Aeolian shawl.  It was so I could stand proudly next to my boy for this:

It was so much fun to fuss over my son and I loved how he enjoyed his big night.  His good friends were there and we re-capped their Halloween shot:

Look out world, here they come!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Lunch

I met with my knit-buddy Mary Jane for lunch today in downtown London.  Mary Jane lives in Essex and works in London.  Now that I work in Waterloo, we haven't had any opportunities to see each other and we don't anticipate many more in the future.  Yes, we communicate via the knitternets, but it's not quite the same thing.

Now, I'd heard through the grapevine that London's high-end yarn store, Needles and Pins, was going out of business.  This is very sad news.  The fact that they are selling everything at 50% off was very dangerous news.  My stash is getting a bit poogey, to tell the truth, and I've been trying to slim it down.  Knitting a lace shawl doesn't help much, despite the vast number of stitches involved, but it's summer time and we all do what we can. But Needles and Pins is closed on Mondays, so I felt safe in driving buy and saying a fond farewell to the place. 

Oh, you can guess where this is going, can't you?  It's like watching a scary movie and the music is building and you shout to the teenaged girl "No! Don't open the door!  He's got an axe!"

As I drove by two sights met my eyes, one was the big 50% sign.  The other was the word OPEN.  Before I knew it my steering wheel had veered sharply to the right and I found myself in the the door.  I had half and hour before lunch and no restraint.  I walked out of there with 58 balls of Rowan and only a vague idea of how much it all cost.

It's a good thing to have knit-buddies in times like these because as I slid into the booth across from Mary Jane and explained why I was late, the only thing I got from her was sympathy.  "Been there, done that!" she told me with a laugh.

And yes, I have confessed the whole lurid story to Jim.  It's my money he told me and he pointed out that I'd spent all my holiday money.  The only thing I didn't tell him about was the parking ticket I got because I forgot to put money in the meter!

Can't All be Perfect

Today begins summer vacation.  One week for Jim and I, and two months for the boys.  It doesn't sound fair, does it?

No matter.  Last weekend Jim and I enjoyed a wonderful time together in Waterloo to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.  We ate too much, laughed a lot, and enjoyed one perfect day on Sunday.  I figure a perfect day only comes along a few times in anyone's lifetime, so it should be treasured and savoured.  it was perfect because there was never an off moment between the two of us and everything we did was enjoyable.  We went to the Wings of Paradise butterfly conservatory and to the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.  We finished up the day with a fabulous dinner at Margarita's. The food was very fresh, creative and perfectly prepared.  Yum!

Today we tidied the house, got some groceries, I cooked for the dog and we visited my mother-in-law.  Being away, I don't have a chance to look after my loved ones very well.  So the house keeps getting messier, and the dog hasn't been eating very well lately, and my mother-in-law is looking frail after a minor fall.  There's not a lot I can do and I don't feel guilty about it (much).

The shawl is finished and is currently blocking on my bed.  Its huge! I have a queen size bed and the shawl doesn't quite fit, I had to pin it over the edge.

Pinning it out almost drove me to tears.  First I started pinning it to the floor of my knitting room.  But there wasn't enough space and the thing was almost drying out already, plus I hadn't sewn in my ends!  So, I unpinned it and I dutifully sewed in the ends (but didn't cut them). Then I wet it down again and just squeezed out the water so I could start pinning it out all over again. 


This was just before we were going to visit my mother-in-law, and I didn't want to be late but I also wanted the shawl to come out right.  So I was bent over the bed, pinning and re-pinning till I was slick with sweat and my legs were beginning to tremble.  I was getting so frustrated with it!

I asked Jim to look at it and help me but he didn't know what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to take a match to the whole thing and just destroy it.  It didn't look right.  Jim wanted to know what "right" looked like and I said even and perfect like the ones I've seen on the net.  He just gave me a look.  The look that says "Woman, you know perfect is overrated."  I guess he's right because it does look pretty darned good, even if it is uneven.

I don't think anyone will even notice once it's being worn.  Oh yeah, and to add insult to injury, I blocked it knit-side down.  We can't all be perfect...

If You can't say Anything Nice...

My teenage boys are very tall.  I call them lurch and slouch.  They are fun loving kids with an excellent sense of humour and a well-developed sense of play, watching stupid videos on the net and playing video games all day. They've taken on quite a bit of household chores while I'm away in Waterloo, including cooking, dishes and cleaning bathrooms.  I just spent 15 minutes arguing with my eldest about why the dishes should be done NOW and not later. We miss each other, but they understand the importance of my work to the family. I've just been told that life is a lot easier when I'm not around during the week.

I'm still working on my red shawl.  It's a freaking blob of crimson stitches that never ends.  But it's not photogenic at this stage.  It's not much of anything but potential.

Next weekend, Jim is coming to Waterloo for a visit, so I don't know if I'll have a blog post then.  Not to worry, because the week after that I'm on vacation, Alex has his graduation, and the shawl should be complete.  Please have patience with me till then.   Teenage years are a phase and this too shall pass...

Wonderful

One of my favourite things to do at this wonderful time of the year is to sit out on the patio.  With a lovely knit project, a family game of Scrabble, a cool drink and a dog in the grass.

I hope you also had a wonderful weekend.

Rest and Relaxation

It`s been a glorious May 24 weekend.  I`ve had lots of fun, sun, rest, relaxation and socializing.  But also housecleaning, shopping and cooking. It`s amazing what a difference that one extra day makes.

Oh yes, there was also knitting.  Have you seen this magazine?

It is packed with projects using traditional techniques taken from back issues of Piecework magazine.  There are some really great things in here.  Like Bohus:

And Finnish mittens:

And twined mittens, also known as two-ended knitting:

I tired twined knitting a couple of years ago, but gave it up because not only is it incredibly slow to work, but it is also recommended that you use a yarn with a Z-twist.  Most commercial yarns are S-twist and they tend to come unspun when working twined knitting. See, here's the difference between the two types of twist:

And see this, a close up of the yarn shown above with the magazine:

That's z-twist yarn!!!   I was flabbergasted.  You know where I got it?  You'll never guess. At the Waterloo farmer's market!  I was at the market just last Thursday and I bought the yarn to support the local farmer, and because it's nice stuff from a British milk-sheep. So now I think I want to make twined mittens or socks.

But also in the same magazine was a pattern for Party Socks by Nancy Bush:

Oh yes! Party-hearty weekend!!  Knit on my friends. :)

End of an Era

The company I formerly worked at for seven years, TVWorks, will be closing its doors June 25th.   This week I was in London with Sandvine, my current employer, as part of their job fair for recruitment.  It was a strange occasion for me.  I was delighted to see my former co-workers, many of whom are also my friends.  It was like I'd never been gone.  But I'm sad to know that the place is closing down.  Being there in person brought it home to me. But I'm hopeful that I'll end up meeting some of those good people again, in other times at other companies.

Fortunately, this weekend the weather has been a huge pick me up, with blue skies and warmer temperatures.  Garden centers were packed with happy people picking out plantings.  I know, because Jim and I were there too.  We got our front garden weeded and put in a few new plants, something we do every year.  We're not the smartest gardeners.  We plant, and hope.  That's about it.

When we moved here, there was one spindly clematis planted by the garden shed, in heavy shade.  I transplanted it to the front of the house where it roasted to a crisp in dry sandy soil and full light.  After two years, it still wasn't dead, so I gave it a try again over by the side of the house.  This year it has fully recovered and is going gang busters.  I'm seeing lots of growth and many buds.  Brave thing!

And now for the knitting.  Here's a progress pic of my Lizard Ridge:

It's coming along great and still lots of fun to work.  I decided to divide my 20 balls of Noro into three packs of mostly reds and two packs of mostly blues.  This was my little way of putting my personal stamp on a ubiquitous blanket.  I like it fine.

 I'm looking almost halfway there and thinking about casting on a shawl.  It's such a treat for me to knit with Noro, I feel like savouring it.  Plus a shawl is great summer knitting, and there are so many beautiful free patterns out there.

I've lately come to the conclusion that so long as I have yarn and needles there's really nothing to stop me from casting on and abandoning as many WIPs as I want.  I generally get around to finishing them eventually.  Radical thinking I know, but as the song says "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad..."

The Gift of Giving

This Mother's Day I gave myself the gift of making others happy.

For my mother, the lovely orchids you see to the left in this picture.  She was delighted with them and with me.

For my godmother, an Icarus shawl:

I knit this shawl for the fun of it, and as I neared the finish, I decided that it would make a nice gift for my god mother.  I didn't know that she's been going through a rough time lately with illness, both for herself and her daughter.  This shawl came at a good time.  But even better, I could tell she was just thrilled to have me visit, which I haven't done in quite a while.  You know how life can get in the way.

My sons cooked for me, and bought me chocolates and resolved not to fight with each other.  The sun even chose to shine by the time I was ready to walk the dog.

I hope you all had a lovely Mother's day too.

Backyard Romance

I'm trying to finish up a shawl just now.  One that I'd like to give as a Mother's day gift to a lovely lady who was very motherly to me.  Now that the weather is so nice, I like to knit outside on the patio.  Dexter always comes with me too.  But lately it hasn't been very peaceful in our back yard.  Meet the reason why:

This is Esmé.  She lives next door.  If Dexter and I are hanging out in the backyard it's not long before we hear scratching and whining as Juliette strives to be reunited with her Romeo. I'm no Montague and as a result we have this to enjoy:

 Oh yes, it is a fierce romance.

It isn't always pretty.

But they are a happy couple.

It's so nice for everyone in the family to be happy.

True Colors

Every project on the needles pales in comparison to this:

Hello, my name is Laurie and I'm a Noro-addict.  Even though I know it's not the best of yarns, it's thick-n-thin, twisty, scratchy and knotty natured, I'm endlessly fascinated by the seductive color.

I returned home from Waterloo this weekend to my package from Little Knits and almost immediately dived right in.  How could I resist?

I played around with other ideas for creating my blanket, but decided to stick with Lizard Ridge to maximize the yardage of the Noro.  With twenty balls of yarn to work with, I've decided to work five panels each using four balls, thereby eliminating wasting yarn in horizontal seams.

It's ridiculous how much I can hardly wait to see how the next color wave will play out, how eagerly I'm anticipating the next panel which I'm planning to be more blue-green. 

In other news, work and commuting continue to be exciting.  I've had a few growing pains, but I'm learning SO much!  This weekend we took the boys out for brunch as a family treat.  It's funny how getting them out of the house changes their behaviour.  They're much funnier and more polite.  They actually told me they missed me.  I choose to believe it. 

Now, if I could just have some sunny weather on the weekend...  

Color Riot

It's been another busy and successful week in Waterloo. While in Waterloo, I've been working on a shawl, Icarus, and I'm just getting to the exciting part of the lace,  but I'm home again and having a riot.  A color riot.

I left my Folklore yoke in London because I'm playing with all the colors in my crayon box.  It's slow going but so much fun!  On Saturday I decided it was time to do a sanity check, since I'm not working to gauge and I'm sizing the pattern up.  So half the stitches went onto a spare circular and I laid it down over the yoke of my last successful knit:

It's lookin' good!  I'm happy with the neck line too.  I found that the green and purple yoke sweater rides a bit high on my neck and can get irritating.

These two projects have me interested and are exciting, but there's more excitement coming.   I received notice of a sale this week that was irresistible and I bought enough yarn to make Lizard Ridge.  I tried to make this blanket once before without success.  I'm feeling much more confident in my color skills this time.  I've learned not to play it safe!

Play

Happy Easter!  I came home this weekend to sunny skies, green grass and little flowers popping up in the lawn.  We've had family visits, lots of time to sit out in the sun, dog walks and visits with the neighbour's dog for some ruff and tumble play.  Very fun.
 
All week long I had knit not a stitch as I'd brought the Nintendo DS to Waterloo with me and was absorbed hard core in Pokemon Diamond. But color stitches were calling me, so this weekend I've been working on Folklore:

I love the brights!!  The rest of the sweater is going to be the navy color which should be able to support that much color.  This is another top-down yoked sweater so I'm confidently re-sizing the pattern and using a different gauge of yarn.  My intention is to compare the size of this yoke against my purple and green one to ensure I'm on the right track. 

This is a process knit for sure though.  I'm not even sure I care if the finished project is flattering or not. I'm just having so much fun getting wild and crazy with the color.  It's been awesome.

And in other news, have you heard of Stuff on my Cat?  Today, we had stuff on my dog:

 Oh my! I just checked, and there's also Stuff on my Dog.  I should have known....

Spring Things

Finally, I have a finished object to show!  You are probably not surprised to see that it is a pair of socks:

Pattern: Nancy Bush's Child's First Sock
Yarn: Fleece Artist Nyoni in color Orchid
Needles: 2.5mm

I thought I was making myself a pair of socks, but I wasn't.  These annoy me somehow.  It's not the color variation between the pair.  I almost expect that from Fleece Artist.  I think it's that the color is too close to the color of my skin.  The socks make think of bacon.  With a color name like orchid I thought they would be flowery spring time socks.  Instead, I want a BLT when I see them.

It's just me though.  Jim thinks they are lovely socks.  He doesn't think of bacon when when he sees them and he and the boys think that bacon is nature's perfect food. 

I've decided to put them away for a future gift.  Mother's day is coming you know.  Spring has already arrived in sounthern ontario.  There are crocuses, ducks on the neighbour's pool and at work they had to send out a notice that the Canada geese are back so please drive careful in the parking lot! 

Laughing the Weekend Away

The homesickness only lasted that one night.  My evenings in Kitchener seem quite full what with working late and going for a long walk in my new neighbourhood.  Walking is my exercise and I love to wander, so there's a whole new challenge when you're transplanted to an area that's entirely new to you.  I'm building a map of the area in my head and as lots of people have already told me, Waterloo is twisty!  There's lots of winding streets, cut-throughs and double backs.

After my walk, I fix a quick supper, get cleaned up and then have a nice phone chat with Jim.  We have a couples plan so we don't have to watch our minutes.  It's sooooo nice to flake out on the bed and gab away at him.  We've been playing the "you hang up, no you hang up game", just to be silly.  A little bit of knitting and then I'm so tired I fall right asleep.

The weekend is the big pay off for my week of hard work.  Being away means that the whole family just wants to hang out more.  Jim and I have the giggle fits, the kids are hugging me and the dog is cavorting around like a puppy.  Someone told me that there would be a honeymoon period and then it wouldn't be as lovely and I wouldn't be surprised if that's true.  But right now, I'm loving and laughing my weekend away. 

Away from Home

The new job has totally thrown my life into a new loop.  Not only do I have all new colleages, new technology and new process to learn; not only do I have a new car, a new cellphone and a new city to get used to; now I also have new diggs to settle in to!

See, the commute totally kicked my butt.  I will freely admit that when I arrived home after my first day I threw myself at Jim and cried "What have I got myself into!"  Literally cried.  I was so exhausted, not only from the new situation and the commute but also because I hadn't been sleeping well from excitement.  So on the second day, I stayed at the Howard Johnson's and got a good night's sleep.  After that, I decided I needed to find a place to stay in town.

Long story short, tonight is my first night in my new rented room.  Want to see where I'll be sleeping?

I had fun picking out girly sheets and of course I had to have a knitted blanket to throw on my bed.  Makes it feel more homey.

One of the perks of my new quarters is Misty, the cat.  Misty already discovered my lovely Noro throw; I found it all rumpled when I went back upstairs after dinner.

And of course I brought my family with me.  They've got their own little shrine in place.

I've never lived on my own.  I moved out of my parent's house straight into Jim's apartment and we've been together every since.  I'm a bit excited to be responsible only for myself during the week, and I feel sort of like a college kid, away from home for the first time.  But right now I'm starting to feel a wave of homesickness.  I guess that's part of the experience.