The Wool Whisperer

Inch by Inch

2009-07-30T04:57:00.000-07:00

Little bit of renovation progress last night. Mostly we're waiting for permits and inspections, but there is still a lot that needs doing.

But for right now I need another coffee.

It's going to be a loooooooong couple of nights.

There's a hole in my wallet!

2009-07-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

Not much renovation progress to report... We took advantage of the dry and mostly sunny day to get some much needed supply shopping done. And not even the really awesome pretty stuff like tiles and granite (already bought and paid for), but the less exciting bits like lumber and plywood. And electrical boxes, and plumbing bits.

I've heard a few sayings about renovations, "always late and over budget" or "til death, or renovation, do us part", but there's another, much simpler one that I love dearly:

"It's not really a project until you've been to [insert local big box renovation store name here] at least twice"

Well, I've been twice this morning. And again later this afternoon. If When I go back tomorrow for something else I have to remember that the really friendly helpful guy in the plumbing department takes his coffee with 1 cream...

Stripped Bare

2009-07-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

So last night was the big big big demolition. We started with a bathroom and ended up with stud walls and bare floor joists. And a giant pile of old flooring, drywall, and cabinets in what was formerly my dining room...

Most of the demolition went smoothly. Gigantic guilt mirror safely stashed away, light fixtures removed, toilet disassembled (and water shut off). The 10' counter might have put up some token resistance due to it's sheer bulk, but it was no match for a determined Andre and a sawz-all. And the sheer unadulterated pleasure of swinging a hammer through drywall.

I swear I love demolition, but the next time we do something like this I vote we order a bin, have it parked in the back yard, and just huck stuff out the window. I've totally done my work out for the next few months.

Perhaps not surprisingly, demolition is also a time for discovery. Like an archeological dig, but without the little brushes. For instance, we knew that the vinyl on the floor had been just slapped down over another layer of slightly uglier vinyl - we could see that in the corners under the cabinets where it had already started pealing away. Under that vinyl was a sheet of 1/4 inch plywood - as expected. Under that, we (foolishly) expected to find the sub floor, although looking at the height difference between the bathroom floor and our hallway laminate, we should have known better.

So under the 1/4 inch plywood was a layer of peal-and-stick vinyl tiles (not too ugly), over another sheet of vinyl (really ugly), over linoleum (can someone explain the appeal of the muddy-pukey-dirt linoleum that was soooo popular in the 70's?). And then another layer of 1/4 plywood. As we braced our crowbars under the edge we briefly held our breath, but thankfully that was it. Another layer of plywood, this time the subfloor of 3/4 ply, and in surprisingly good shape! Pity we're taring that out too. We need to get into the floor for new plumbing.

So now, finally (mercifully) the last of the big chunks of remaining bathroom have been piled in the kitchen, awaiting their date with the dump.

There's something amazing that happens during the demolition phase of any project. That feeling of getting started on something new with all these bright ideas of what's to come. The chance to make something that was functional but boring into something that's exactly what we want.

Maybe it's a knitter thing, but I suspect it happens to all creatively-minded people. The blank canvas for art, the empty notebook of a writer, the un-milled lumber of a woodworker, or the neatly balled perfection that is new yarn. Things that sit awaiting inspiration and beg creation.

I think I'm going to go cast something on. Damn startitis!

And now for something completely different!

2009-07-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

So Andre and I renewed our mortgage last week (wow, 5 years in one place, good lord do we feel old!), and it turns out that we've managed to get some extra cash out of the deal!

When we first bought our house we had a 5 year plan for getting things renovated and up to where we want the house to be. Well, it's year 5, and we're really only up to year 1.5. We got new flooring upstairs and repainted the master bedroom (from dusty salmony rose to a new deep forest green). The 5 year plan had also included a new main bathroom and potentially new flooring on the main floor. Right, not so much.

So we're catching up our plan, and renovating the main bathroom!! We're going to take it ALLLLLL out, new everything from the floor joists and wall studs in. The plan so far involves a nice big deep soaker bathtub with a separate shower stall and double sinks in beautiful granite.

Super excited!! Can't wait to get started :D

Worry Work

2009-07-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

It was a difficult weekend this last one. Andre's got this wonderful, crazy Newfie family. They really are something else and a half. While I never got the chance to meet Nannie Skanes, the family tells me over and over how much we would have gotten along. Something to do with her being a crazy knitter too! I've even got some of the last things that she knit that need finishing, which I can't wait to do.

The patriarch of the family is Poppy Skanes. There are few suitable words for describing him. Stubborn might be a good one though. As one of 25 children (yes, really) the surviving siblings are close. So as one of his sisters back on Belle Island is ill, he wanted to travel home to see her. Dispite his own not so great health. So off he went with his daughter Bonnie and Andre's mom Lorraine for a week on the rock.

Now, I should probably mention, that apparently he's on doctor's not to spend too much time traveling, but that's Poppy for you. He had a great time out on Belle Island with the family. It was when he got back to Ottawa that things took a turn for the worse. Poppy landed himself in hospital, bad to the point they called an ambulance to pick him up.

So far they're treating him for pneumonia and the other ails from which he suffers. It's been touch and go for the past few days. So much so that the entire Skanes clan has descended on Ottawa. All of the brothers and most of the wives have been up at some point in the past few days. The family is like that. Especially about Poppy. We've done the short notice long drive to Sudbury just to be sure. So far he's hung in there, the stubborn man, but every time we worry.

So, there have been a few long days and some nervous nights. And there is nothing like nervous energy to get the needles flying. Or in this case crochet hook. I've picked up the granny square blanket again and the little squares have just been falling off the hook. So many infact that I've got all of the center squares made with the ends tucked in and everything. And in the evenings sitting with family I've got it almost all sewn together. Now I'm working away at the last set of dark blue squares for the border. Then get that sewn on and it'll be finished. I can only hope that Poppy with be with us to see it.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-07-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the best birthday!! It was pretty quiet, but that's nice for a change. Life has been so hectic lately that it was nice to just have some quiet time. Katie was with us too!! She'd never been downtown for the fireworks (gasp!!), so Andre and I took her.

The weather's been really wet this summer and there was rain forcast for the entire day, so we didn't even leave the house till almost 8pm. We drove to a transit station and took the bus down - it's soooo much easier than trying to find parking downtown. After wandering downtown for a bit we met up with some friends to head down to our favourite firework-watching-spot. If you're ever downtown Ottawa on Canada Day, head east, past the art gallery and the mint, just past the mint take the path on your left. You can't hangout on the road at the bottom, but the path itself looks at the back of parlement hill, perfect for firework viewing. In the end Katie had a great time! The trip home took almost 2 hours by the time we caught a bus and it got out of downtown, but still, super fun had by all!

Not really much else to say... got to see Poppy (Andre's paternal grandfather) and one of the Skanes' aunts as they passed through Ottawa en route to Belle Island, Newfoundland. Poppy's going home to visit a sister who'se not doing so well. Here's hoping that his trip goes well!

Knitting's been progressing slowly... updates to follow. I've got one deadline looming, and at least a few requests for others upcoming. All these silly friends of mine having babies!

So that's it for now. Knitting update to follow. :)

Sabatical, I wish!

2009-06-25T12:15:00.001-07:00

So, after a bit of a.... break... I'm back! Since Christmas life has been busy as ever. Some unexpected things, some not, some knitting, some other life stuff. So here's a quick update, and I'll really update the knitting projects soon (like after I borrow my father-in-law's super nice digital SLR to get some awesome knitting shots!).

December saw the beginning of the transit strike in Ottawa. Yes, mid-winter, holiday shopping, no public transit. Thank all the gods that might exist that we had the truck. So for 2 months (right into February) there I was, fighting traffic to get into Carleton every morning and home every night. What would normally be a 30 minute rush hour trip was taking an hour and a half. At least. At first I was alternating driving and getting a ride in with friends. But when one friend got rear-ended, I took over driving completely. On the plus side Katie came to live with us! With them out of the city, there was no way that they'd be able to get in in the window to drop Katie at daycare then get themselves to work. Katie's daycare is walking distance from out place, it worked out well.

School kept me hopping too. Because of the transit strike and trying to get Katie organized, I lots a pile of research time. And I was doing a lab based class, so there's even less time that I could research. So the summer is(/has been) a whole lot of catch up time. But in May it all paid off (A+!!!) which is a decided improvement over the previous course from the fall (but I'm not even getting started on that one!).

In other exciting news, Andre and I hit the glorious 1 year anniversary last weekend!!!!! I absolutely can't believe that its been a year already. I suppose this means that we should really get around to ordering our wedding pictures... We actually spent our anniversary doing not much for us, seeing as how it was also Father's Day (and Andre spent the afternoon at work!). So I invited Katie and her grandparents over for a "surprise" breakfast, which would have worked better had Andre actually stayed in bed. Now, some time in the very near future we should get around to eating the saved cake layer and opening the last bottles of wine.

Andre, being wonderful, bought me an anniversary gift! The first anniversary is paper, so waiting for me after dinner was a wrapped copy of Selbuvotter: Biography of a Knitting Tradition by Terri Shea. You need to check out the book website and order your own, and also Terri's blog at spinningwheel.net. The whole family is getting knitted mittens for Christmas!

To the darling hubby (who doesn't read this, but that's ok), your gift is on the way, I promise!

A knitting update to follow soon... not much, what with the busy life right now, but 7 hours (x2) on the train has to yeild something interesting, no?

Knitting Update

2009-01-06T15:39:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since I posted any knitting progress, and there has been lots!!!! A few setbacks (that silly hat that I've started twice still doesn't fit) but loads of progress to report!

Firstly, there is another beautiful baby that requires a warm welcome!! Baby Bryn was born on November 26th. Both Mom and baby are happy and healthy. Because of school, trying to organize a shower before hand was a little tricky, so Emily (mom) had a "meet the baby" shower a few weeks after he was born. What a perfect little child!

When I heard that Emily was expecting, her due date was already fast approaching. But I couldn't not knit something. Emily was happy to let people know that she was expecting a little boy, but since Taden cleared out my stash of boy clothes, I needed something new. And besides, Emily has such a unique lively personality that a plain blue jacket set just didn't seem right. So out I went and found some really brightly coloured fun looking yarn and started on a blanket. In fact, this blanket was my project during our Toronto trip. True to Jen form, it's a CO5 blanket, with my favourite eyelet stipes!!

Yarn: Bernat Baby Softee - Rock-a-bye Baby (2)
Needles: Bamboo 4mm
Pattern: A combination of my CO5 (2st gs border, YO at both ends on right sides, work st st on WS) and that beautiful eyelet pattern that I keep going back to.

The knitting up from a corner makes it super fast at the beginning, and it always feels like you're making progress. The only slight problem is that it doesn't make quite a perfect square, even after blocking. But babies aren't going to notice such things once they're warm and cozy!

This is again my favorite pattern for baby blankets. Those eyelets are so simple, yet so classy!

During our visit with Jenny back in November, the subject of knitting came up more than once, along with the colours that people gravitate towards. Andre's easy - black. Me, I'm a blue/grey/green, cool, calming colours. Jenny, despite being my namesake, is most at home with the warm earthy colours, reds, browns and golds.

So imagine my delight when, the next day at the Naked Sheep, I found the perfect Malabrigo uber super duper soft bulky weight yarn ever. It fell off the shelf and screemed Jenny at me. So of course I had to take it home and make something for her. I knew it had to be a scarf (cause I only had a little bit), and the trick became finding the perfect pattern. I've never been a fan of scarves that had a right and wrong side, but most of the patterns that I was finding that I liked were either lacy (not going to work with bulky fluffy yarn) or cabled (massively varigated, so also no good). I was about to give up when a friend suggested that I check out My So Called Scarf. Perfect! Sure, it has a right/wrong side, but the stitch is super cool looking (unique just like Jenny!) and should stay flat when knit up. Here it is in Malabrigo: the pics are work in progress, but it's even prettier now that it's done and wrapped snuggly around Jenny.

Yarn: 2 skeins Malabrigo

Needles: 8mm

Pattern: My So Called Scarf

This would work in just about any larger yarn I think, just match needle size appropriately.

On the right is the unwound skein. Check out the beautiful right colours! The ball in the middle is about a third the size that I started with. The scarf on the left is what its coming out like.

I'm not sure why this silly blog keeps flipping my picutres, but here's a close up of the fabric that this stitch creates. It stays that flat on its own! No blocking nothing. Anyway, it looks even cooler (should that be warmer) wrapped around Jenny, so all is good!

In other knitting news, I've started the Garden Gate Socks from Knitty, only instead of rust and mushroom (which is still beautiful) I've got chocholate brown and grey/blue. I wasn't sure about the combination at first. I've never been a person for anything other than blue/green/grey/black. But I'm trying to break myself of that habbit. This project has my favourite blue, but I'm expanding the horizons with the brown contrast.

Here's just a quick shot of what I've got so far. Updates to follow!

Pattern: Garden Gate Socks (Knitty)

Yarn: I've lost the tag!!!!! 100% wool, hand painted, super shiney and soft... sock weight

Needles: 2.5mm

One more project, this one a while in the making. Katie's favourite colour (at least for now) is purple (and pink!). At home, like most homes, we watch TV, and we each have our own designated seat. And blanket. But Katie doesn't really have a blanket of her own. So a while ago I started one for her. And this Christmas she finally got the finished piece! It sat so long in my "to have then ends tucked in and be blocked" box, that I've long lost the pattern and the wool I was using. It's a worsted weight acrylic purple (super saver sized) and some hot pink boa eyelashy stuff. It doesn't come across as well in the picutres, but the puple sections are leaf like lacy patterns.

So there it is, a knitting update. I'll be posting again soon (school permitting) so stay tuned!

Happy New Years!!

2009-01-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2009 EVERYBODY!!!!

I know it's been a while, and I have the normal list of excuses lined up (my computer kept eating my last long post so I had to start it over... and over... and over...; I've been crazy busy with school; I've been knitting when I should have been blogging), but I'm not going to do that any more.

That's right people: Jen is making a New Year's Resolution. The shock, the horror, the "really, it's going to work this time". Honest.

Resolution 1

BE MORE ORGANIZED

I know I say it every chance I get to make a resolution, but every time I do, one more little organizational thing does stick with me past the initial organizational freekout. And there are so many things that I would like to organize.

1) Knitting will not be whatever I feel like starting and then never finishing. Projects will be finished (seamed, blocked, and DONE) before I start any more new ones. Yes, I'll always have a few on the go, cause as much as I love my garden gate socks, the pattern is too complex to travel, but no more bags and bags of half started stuff.

2) The blog will be updated minimum every 2 weeks. This going a month without posting is no good for anybody. And I appologize. Even this post is a few days late, but I'm trying I really really am.

3) School work will not wait till last minute. I always start off great, then fall into other things and forget to finish until the day before it's due. That needs to stop...

4)I am going to pay more attention to my hubby and the house. Both are high maintence, but both are so important that I can't not. And I know that they've been neglected before, but no more.

So there it is, my resolution. I do have another, believe it or not, I went all out this year.

Resolution 2

TAKE BETTER CARE OF MYSELF

This means a few things, like eating better (yes, cooking meals, not whatever is handy), paying more attention to myself (egotistical maybe, I have neglected a few things that I am now not happy with) and loose a few pounds. This is doctor suggested, since I am carrying a bit extra... not enough for problems now, but getting it taken care of now could save problems later. And Andre's amazing christmas gift of a Wii Fit (!!!!!!!!) is surprisingly helpful with this. And the little characters are damned cute too!

I know, I forgot to make a Christmas post, but after I thought about it, I realized that people should be out having fun with families over the holidays and not stressing about blogs and the such like. So, belated MARRY CHRISTMAS to all.

Along with the Wii fit, Andre gave me wool money (for local yarn store) and "some assembly required" socks. Fleece Artist, wool/mohair for socks.mittens, pattern included. Uber excited! The rest of the family pitched in with more yarn (cotton, bamboo, etc), another page-a-day knitting calendar, no assembly required socks and some great movies (Startgate, X-files, all the good stuff to watch while knitting).

Andre got woodworking stuff as always, a new dust collector (I love you too hun), a branding iron to mark his work, and some more books and magazines to read at his leasure.

Oh, and Jaz/Brian/Katie, who are all awesome, gave us our first framed wedding picture. It's beautiful, and now proudly hanging on the wall. And Jenny really really liked her scarf. (I know I haven't posted about it, but I will!!) All in all, an excellent holidays, busy with friends and family, but warm (and raining!) and loving, and a good time.

So good luck to anybody else with resolutions, and bear with me in mine. I must now return to finishing a gift for a cute little somebody who just got a year older yesterday. Happy birthday monkey girl!

Toronto Trip '08

2008-11-25T13:30:00.001-08:00

I know that's its been over a week since Andre and I got home from our little Toronto excursion, but I've been trying to get caught up on the rest of life. I was going to write the whole thing down, but that would take forever. So here's a highlight reel. Happy reading! (If you only want knitting related stuff, skip to Tuesday, where I get to go shopping!)

Saturday

We didn't get to head out until Saturday morning, since Andre's holidays didn't start till then. Our destination on Saturday was infact not Toronto, but slightly north, in Orillia. It's far enough north from Toronto that rather than head south on the the 416 to the 401, we took the Trans Canada Highway almost due west, and through the south end of Algonquin Park. The trip itself was mostly uneventful, Andre being a good safe driver, and the roads being in pretty good shape. The majority of the trip was single lane rural highway though small towns and some truely breathtaking scenery. And it was snowing just a little bit, which made everything that much prettier!

I will say that if you're planning a trip to Orillia any time soon, I can definately recomend the Knight's Inn. It's a newish establishment, so everything is in good order, and it's super close to everything that you could need. We got in in the early afternoon, and after dinner (Arby's, man we need one of these in Ottawa!), we got ready for our concert!!

For those that have never heard of it, Nashville Star is like American Idol for country music. Now, I'm not really a country fan (except for some of the new stuff like Garth Brooks and Dixie Chicks, etc), but can these guys ever sing! Basically, everybody sings, the judges critique (seriously, Jewel, you're awesome, but not really country), and then the American public gets to vote on their favourite. The top four finalists get to go on a "world" tour (USA, one in Canada, one in Mexico), before the winner gets to settle down and record the promised disk. All four finalists were truely spectacular, but I think that for the first time in a long time, the Americans voted in the right person!

The tour's one Canadian stop was at Casino Rama in Orillia, and was infact the main reason for this whole trip! The show itself was amazing!! First, big big kudos to the house guitarist and fiddler, who are some of the most tallented people I've seen in a long time! The performers themselves put on a high energy show, with songs both new and old. The only thing that could have made the show any better would have been decreasing the average age of the audience, which was probably about 60ish. There were a few younger people in the croud, like us, who were jumping around and singing along. But most people just sat and listened.

After the show was almost as much fun as the show itself. It had started snowing just as we got to the casino, but it had kept on snowing all evening. By the time we left there was a good 4 inches of snow on the truck, and more coming down every second! It almost would have been worth it to hang around and watch the performers leave ('cept they were probably staying at the hotel), since 2 of them are from the deep south of the states, and had probably never seen snow like this before! Andre, being the amazing husband that he is, told me to wait while he brushed off the truck. A bored Jen is a mischevious Jen. Unfortunately, the first snowball at Andre missed. As did the second! We lent our snowbrush to a slightly dazed-touristy-looking guy to clean off his car, and promptly launched into an all out snowball war. I lost. Snowballs to the head have that effect. The trip back to the hotel was slow but uneventful. Thank goodness for our wheel drive!

Sunday

We woke to find that the snow had continued all night long, with another 3" on the truck since we got back the night before. And since Andre was so good as to go out and gather dinner the night before (despite having already driven 5 hours to get us there), it was up to me to head out for the morning Timmies run. All I can say is 4wheel=AWESOME. People stuck in the Timmies parking lot entrance with their brakes smoking=sucks. At least I managed to get out with out actually hitting anything trying to get turned around and avoiding all the traffic. But it was a close call for sure!

The drive into Toronto was one of the strangest experiences I've ever had. When we pulled out of the hotel it was still snowing, but only the really sparkly stuff, and only a little bit. Let me tell you, the scenery for that first 30 minutes of driving was beautiful. Then it snowed so hard we couldn't see past the car in front of us. After about an hour of driving the snow stopped, and it started getting warmer outside. By the time we pulled into Toronto, the only way you could tell that we'd seen any snow at all was from the rather significant collection of it we were hauling around in the bed!

We pulled into Exhibition place with a few hours to kill before dinner, so we wandered around the west end of Toronto for a bit, in a neat little quarter that looked like it was mostly artisan workshops and high end lofts. We stopped for a quick lunch at the Brazen Head, an Irishy Pub. If you're ever in the neighbourhood, give it a try. Especially the breakfast ceasars! Oh, and there's a working wind turbine at Exhibition Place too. Very cool! I wish they could set up a wind power co-op somewhere around here. We'd buy in for sure.

Dinner was (supposed to be) a surprise for Andre's birthday. He's always wanted to go to Medieval Times, so we went! For those who haven't heard of it (seriously Navya?) it's like dinner theater only way more fun. Basically, you buy tickets, show up, and get a table number and colour. Then you're admitted into the castle, aka the lobby with the big bar and the gift shops. The drinks are a wee bit expensive, but you get to keep the cups! Eventually you're admitted into the arena where you find your tables and meet your serf/wench (aka server). Dinner is served ala times, so no cutlery, but the food was sooooo worth it! Tomato soup, garlic bread, roast chicken, beef ribs, baked potato, and pastery for dessert. The portions of food are served between "acts" of the show... there are alternating scenes of jousting and tournament fun and games, and light shows, plot talking, falconery display, so the food gets served when it's not going to distract from the show itself, and you get to eat as you cheer on your knight. In general, the plot's really predictable, and the acting and little over the top at times, but if you're going to have a good time and not taking it too seriously, then you're in for a great evening! In the end our knight lost, but we still had an amazing time. If you're going in the not too distant future, ask for Sam the Serf. He's a riot! Andre's only complaint of the whole evening is that Sam was... well... male... and he was promised a wench!!

After dinner we made for the hotel, and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. We had another big day tomorrow!

Monday

By the morning the snowy weather had turned cold and windy!! It's strange being away from Ottawa, which is in a vally, away from major bodies of water... the lakeshore effect of strong winds takes a bit of getting used to. And it's supposed to be mild(er)! After breakfast we planned out our day. The second half of Andre's birthday surprise was scheduled for 2pm in the heart of downtown, but first we had to get there.

So we walked. Yup, Andre and I set out from the far end of Queen Street West, and walked the length into the Eaton Center. It's been a while since Andre and I have had a good long walk together, and it was perfect. We talked about all kinds of things, and spent some good quality time together. One of the things we talked about were what we want to do with our lives. Andre wants to set himself up as a custom furniture builder, and I so badly want to help him achieve that. He keeps telling me that I should quit my science, open a yarn store and knit for a living. And he’s only half joking. Some days, I really do want to do exactly that. But then I get back into the lab and I realize just how much I would miss science.

All this talk of changing career paths, dropped a comment, “if I can’t open a yarn store, why don’t I just teach? Lots of people ask me, and I really think I could.” Well, didn’t Andre get his teeth into that one, and now, as soon as we get home, I’m going to look into starting up knitting classes. It’ll be interesting to say the least, but now I’m kinda excited about it!

The walk to downtown took us about 2 hours with a quick stop for lunch. Once at the Eaton Centre we did a bit of Christmas window shopping, and discussing, so when we get back we've got our list! Before we left, we got changed. The second birthday surprise required "smart casual" dress, so slacks and a button up shirt for Andre, and not-jeans and a sweater for me. It was only another few blocks before we reached our destination.

A few years ago, in the same weekend that Andre proposed, we went to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier for High Tea. It was so much fun and the food was so good that we've gone back every year since. When I first started planning our trip, I was talked to my mom about suggestions for what we could do, and she came up with expanding our tradition. Why not try to have High Tea at every Fairmont Hotel? So, now, thanks to Andre's birthday, we can cross Fairmont Royal York in Toronto off our list. Only several more in different provences to go. Although I've been thinking about an excuse to get back to Quebec City... maybe this is it!

High Tea, for those who don't know the history, was originally conceived by Queen Victoria in the 1800's. She decreed that there should be something between lunch and dinner to satisfy the peckish appetite. And thus, tea, with its selections of finger sandwiches, cheeses, fruits, and other bite-sized goodies was created. High Tea at Chateau Laurier is held in a sunny dinning room overlooking Elgin Street (I think it's Elgin). The atmosphere is calm and everything is light and airy. At Royal York, the dinning area is in the center of the building, with no windows. While the architechture is beautiful in it's own way, it seems like a space that would be much better suited for night-life cocktails rather than a leisurily tea. But the food was still excellent, and we had an enjoyable afternoon together.

After tea, we ventured forth onto the subways for the first time on our own. We even had to transfer! Our final destination was the appartment of some friends of ours, Jenny and David. I've known these guys for so much longer than I'd care to admit, and with them living in Toronto, we never get to see them as much as we'd like. Even this time, it was visiting in shifts. Both are involved in theater, so their home lives are a little skewed from what we 9ish to 5ish people are used to. David was home when we got there, and it was nice to catch up with him for a bit. Eventually though, he had to head out to work, so we appartment crashed until Jenny got home an hour later. She's working 4 jobs at the moment, and how she manages, I'll never quite understand. The rest of the evening was a delightful dinner at a local pub, and more catching up on our lives. We have known eachother for so long, we can be appart for months (the last time we saw them was our wedding back in June!) and all we need is an hour or so, and it's like we saw eachother yesterday.

Unfortunately, since there was work in the morning for Jenny, the evening ended all too soon. But there are still two things that require mentioning:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY!!!! In a few days, I know, but always worth mentioning!
And that the universe, while infinitly large, is also scary small. On the way out of the building we shared the elevator with a very hansom guy. Who happened to recognize us. Yes, believe it or not, we rode the elevator with the bartender from Medieval Times. Coincedence just doesn't seem adequte some times.
We made it back to the hotel on the streetcars (uber cool, we need some in Ottawa!!) with no other surprises, the day a complete sucess.

Tuesday

Most of the trip was planned around Andre's birthday, and some surprises for him, but there is no way that I'm going to another (larger) city, without checking out at least one yarn store!!! So we packed up our gear, loaded the truck, and made for the other end of Queen Street. Yes, I was going yarn shopping in style, and the Purple Purl and Naked Sheep were in my sights.

The Purple Purl is a MUST stop in for any fiber loving warm blooded person in Toronto. They need to start franchises, cause really, we need a place just like this at home. It's beautiful store with more yarn that I could ever imagine being able to use (well... maybe not in my wildest dreams, but some of those are really wild). There were SOOOO many colours and brands and an excellent selection of local handspun and dyed yarns. We were there for almost 2 hours I'm sure. It was just way too much fun. And Andre put up with me the whole time with no complaints. I suppose it's no different than me with him at Lee Valley, but we've got one of those at home!

While we were there I had another new experience. Another customer was talking with one of the owners about a sweater she was working on and how she couldn't seem to make the collar behave the way she wanted it to. For the first time in my life I found myself deep in conversation with 2 expert knitters, and actually feeling like I could keep up. They even liked one of my suggestions, and it looks like it's going to be the basis for what she tries next. Never have I felt so right.

Eventually Andre starting looking really bored, so I figured I should make up my mind about what I was getting, and we should go. Coming in I knew that I wanted yarn for a pair of beautiful knee-high socks from Knitty, so that's what I went looking for. I eventually decided (with some encouragement from the hubby) on a chocolate brown and another medium blue/grey/brown for these socks. They are hand died, 100% wool, but soooooo silky. I can't wait to get started!! The Purple Purl had just celebrated it's first anniversary the weekend before we were there, and they had left over loot bags! Mine had a beautiful pair of wooden needles and matching crochet hook, as well as a ball of bamboo/cotton blend, and another of soysilk. More yarn!! Horray!!

No shopping trip is complete after just one store, so on we went to the Naked Sheep, just a few more blocks up Queen Street. Another huge selection of yarn, some the same, and some very different. But the stores themselves were very different. Purple Purl was a lively (almost) cluttered bustle of exciting looking things, whereas Naked Sheep was more subdued and orderly, all of the yarns getting equal face time and organzied just so. But this can have its advantages, and I did find some things that I might have overlooked in another setting.

We were the only ones in the store, and the more organized feel meant that I got my shopping done a little faster. I picked up some gorgeous Malabrigo yarn with a special project for a special person in mind (who shall remain nameless in case she's reading this), as well as a big bunch of super soft grey wool, whoes destiny will eventually be a sweather for me. All in all, I'm sure I spent more on yarn today that I probably should have, but still, it was so worth it, and now I have more to knit!!!!

After a quick stop for lunch we piled into the truck and made for home. The driving was mostly good (only one white-out type storm front) and we made it back safe and sound. All told, we had a fantastic trip, I got more yarn, and life is again wonderful. So, for the last time till next year, happy birthday Andre, I hope it was a good one!

Happy Birthday Andre!

2008-11-11T05:53:00.001-08:00

Just want to say (again!) Happy Birthday to my darling hubby Andre!! I can't wait to go to Medieval Times!!!!! Ok, so its a present as much for me as you. But drinks are on me for sure!

And no, I didn't re-start my new hat before I finished my sweater. Really. Promise!

Ok, you got me.

Happy Birthday Andre!!

English Knnnnnniggggits!

2008-11-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

Ah, yes, Spamalot was in town last week, and guess who went! Nothing will ever be quite as good as the original Holy Grail, but it was definately one of the best stage adaptions I've ever seen! I could rant on and on about all the funny bits, and jokes, but hey *points to convienent bale of hay* as long as the Artists-Formerly-Known-As-The-Knights-Who-Say-Nee! get Celine's dress back to her in time, the show was a riot. And the French taunters were just perfect. On top of the show, it's the first time in a long time that my Mom, brother, sister, and I got to go out for a night just the 4 of us. Really awesome!

The rest of life's been pretty busy too. We played pool with another friend on Saturday night which was really fun. We taught him 9-ball, and he taught us how to play pool with 3 people! Basically, after the break, once you sink something, instead of calling stripes or solids, you call a set of 5 (1-5, 6-10, 11-15). The object is then to sink all of the opponents balls before they sink yours. The rest of the rules are pretty much the same as 8-ball. Very fun!

And the busy just never ends! Melody, an Aitken labbie graduate, when on to do big things out in BC. Well, she's home for the week before heading out to Calgary for her new job! We're all SOOOOOO proud of her. Not only is she crazy awesome, she was top of her program too. So there is a lab dinner tonight (for those that knew her while she was with us) in her honour. More fun!

Along with the busy life, Katie's been staying with us too, since Brian's had surgury and still isn't supposed to be driving (are you listening, you silly man?). She's such a good kid. 'Cept when she forgets to tell us things, then "reminds us" the day that it needs to happen. But she's been so much fun to have around. It's been 2 weeks, and we've got one more to go, and we've got such a nice routine going. But on friday she goes home. Brian's back to work on monday, so they're back to their routine. And Andre and I are gone to Toronto for the weekend, just to get away for a bit. And a little bit for his birthday (yes, we're going to Medieval Times, you're welcome honey). Having Katie around really makes me want to start my own family. But soon enough.

The knitting's been going kinda sporadically. The big fluffly green sweater is seamed. Now I just need to pick up and start the collar. Shouldn't take too long. Oh, and it was snowing, just a little bit, this morning, so there's now a rush for my hat. And Katie still wants her socks. And mitts. But she's progressing really nicely on her scarf, so who knows, maybe she'll beat me to it!

Winter Already?

2008-10-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

So Mother Nature seems to be eager for a repeat of last years almost record breaking snow fall, and has decided to start early! We had a wicked winter storm blow in on Monday night, dumping 11 cm (about 4") of snow on us in about 12 hours. And the wind!! One would almost think that we had our own little Canadian Hurricane.

Yesterday it started melting a little bit, and today a little bit more. And it's supposed to get up to 13C tomorrow, so the Trick-or-Treaters should be nice and warm. But I wanted to get some picture before it all went away to show some people who are away in warm places (Colleen this means you!!) what we went through without them. I took these this morning in a little park just behind my research building.

I really like winter and snow. Fresh snow makes everything look so delicate and clean! And the sound of falling snow is just so soothing. Winter aslo means things like skating and snowball fights, getting to use our fireplace more, and finally wearing those newly knit sweaters (once I finish them). I know, some people would call me crazy, but still. As long as it's snowing, I'll be content in my insanity.

We've got a chipmunk that lives under our shed in our back yard. When it started snowing my first thought was of concern! He's so cute and little, does he have enough food to survive the winter? Has he had enough time to get ready? But, Andre reminds me, he has emptied our birdfeeder twice. I'm sure he'll be fine.

So back to the research for now, but tonight, I forcast sweater seeming, fireplace enjoying, and wine.

Comes Ignorance, drunk on the seventh

2008-10-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan of classic literature, especially 1800's writing. Don't ask me why, I just am. While I will profess an undying love for certain French authors (Dumas and Hugo in particular), I am finding a surprising amount of fun in reading some of the English as well. I finished D.H. Lawerence's "Sons and Lovers" a few months ago, and I'm working my way though George Eliot's "Daniel Deronda".

Along with loving books, I also tend to develop affinities for words in general. I love quotes by people (famous or not), and tend to collect them in my mind. Whenever I find something new, I have this overpowering urge to share it with people. My new favouritest quote came from a chapter heading in Daniel Deronda:

Knowledge, instructing the sense, refining and multiplying needs, transforms itself into skill and makes life various with a new six days' work; comes Ignorance drunk on the seventh, with a firkin of oil and a match and an easy 'Let there not be' - and the many-coloured creation is shrivelled up in blackness.

Not only is the sentence beautifully constructed, the subject is near and dear to my heart. Teaching is a passion of mine, and it's the ignorant opinions out there that can cause so much damage. Ignorance drives me insane. It's perfectly ok to not know something. I'll be the first to say that I'm an opinionated person, but I like to believe that I form educated opinions. Other people not so much. It's a pet peeve of mine.

So if you're interested, I've posted the whole excerpt from the chapter heading (Daniel Deronda, Chapter XXI) below. The whole book is good reading, I recommend it highly, but only if you have the patience for classic styles of writing. Otherwise, stay away, you'll bore yourself to tears. Happy reading!

It is a common sentence that Knowledge is power; but who hath duly considered or set forth the power of Ignorance? Knowledge slowly builds up what Ignorance in an hour pulls down. Knowledge, through patient and frugal centuries, enlarges discovery and makes record of it; Ignorance, wanting its day's dinner, lights a fire with the record, and gives a flavour to its one roast with the burnt souls of many generations. Knowledge, instructing the sense, refining and multiplying needs, transforms itself into skill and makes life various with a new six days' work; comes Ignorance drunk on the seventh, with a firkin of oil and a match and an easy 'Let there not be' - and the many-coloured creation is shrivelled up in blackness. Of a truth, Knowledge is power, but it is a power reined by scruple, having a conscience of what must be and what may be; whereas Ignorance is a blind giant who, let him but wax unbound, would make it a sport to seize the pillars that hold up the long-wrought fabric of human good, and turn all the places of joy dark as a buried Babylon. And looking at life parcel-wise, in the growth of a single lot, who having a practised vision may not see that ignorance of the true bond between events, and false conceit of means whereby sequences may be compelled - like that falsity of eyesight which overlooks the gradations of distance, seeing that which is afar off as if it were within a step or a grasp - precipitates the mistaken soul on destruction? -- George Eliot, Daniel Deronda Chapter XXI

Thrown Overboard

2008-10-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

Every fall I tell myself that I'm going to be better this year (the eternal student believes that the new year is the first monday after labour day when classes start, not this half-way through the year January thing that the rest of the world thinks is so important). This year was sort of different and sort of not. Undergrad years I had to be organized just to meet deadlines and study for midterms. Last year, as a grad student FINALLY I had to freak out about Committee Meetings, my PhD Qualifying Exam, and most importantly The Wedding. This year? Nothing crazy pressing except one class and some research that will just never work.

Just as I think, 'hey this fall is going to be awesome! I can really have a good go at this year!' life decides to get involved again. My life is still pretty good. The research is slooooowwwwllly progressing, and the home scene is (messy) but amazing. Except that we're so busy that we're really behind on some important things. Like finishing our wedding thankyou cards. And organizing our trip to Toronto in a few weeks. And general house cleaning. And knitting and woodworking.

On the outer fronts, family (on both sides), and another friend are doing major home reno's, so there is frequent (often unannounced) visits to borrow the washing machine or internet, or just to sit in a house rather than a hotel, and let us not forget the unending trips to Home Depot. Andre's running ragged trying to help out everywhere! Our dear Brian (Jasmin's darling boyfriend) finally had his surgury (see his blog, very cool), but unfortunately he's not allowed to drive, and they're a fair distance out of town, so we've inherited Jaz and Katie for the next little while. It's a little crowded but we're getting along just great! Oh, and their water heater exploded over the weekend. Its fixed now, but that was an exciting afternoon for sure.

So now it just feels like I've been thrown overboard, and I'm busy trying to keep my head above water as I watch the boat drift away without me. I know that it's not nearly as bad as it could be. We all still have our health ('cept a bruised ankle -- trying to stop a Home Depot cart loaded with concrete and framing lumber by sticking out my foot, not so bright!), the bills are getting paid (on time now too!! horray for grant money), and the busy is (mostly) good, productive work. It's just that there's a lot of it, and I'm constantly running out of hours in the day to finish any of it!

On a final note before I sign off for the day, Andre and I took a quick break from the hectic life to visit the Signature's Ottawa Craft Show this weekend. It was actually kinda disappointing. Unlike the fair we went to last year (which I suspect was the Christmas craft show, slated for the first weekend in December) where there were more artisans with handcrafted wares that would interest the knitter/woodworker/mid-twenties adult, this show was mostly designer-type clothing, posh jewelery, and the such like. Andre's mom was in heaven. Andre and I, not so much. We did stock up on some handmade fudge, garlic spreads, and some small Christmas gifts, but it wasn't as much fun as we thought it might be. The last show had someone from the Ottawa Spinner's and Weaver's guild, and some other vendors with yarn and knit goods, but not this time. Oh well, we'll try the Christmas show too, and if that's the same kinda stock, then I doubt we'll come again.

Oh, and I am doing some knitting. I picked up some Lion Brand Thick and Quick Chunky yarn (seriously, knit on size 15 needles!!) for a sweater pattern (in the Fall 2008 Vogue Knitting, really cute v-neck cabled hoodie), but I realized when I got home that I got the wrong yarn!!! What I should have got was just Lion Brand Thick and Quick, NOT Chunky. Oops. But, on the bright side, the stuff I did buy (in a really nice forest green) is the perfect size for an oversized cable pullover from another Vogue Knitting from a few years ago!!! I've thus far managed to knit front/back/sleeves, so it's seaming time. Not my favourite thing in the world, but I can't wait till its done so I can show it off!! Pictures soon, promise!

I know that it's been over a month since my last post, and I'm really sorry. I'm going to try to get back on this thing more often. It's kinda therapeutic -- nice to get to talk to the world in general and pretend like someone's listening. So I really hope I'll get back into this, and it won't be another month! Really really.

Better Now

2008-09-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all the great friends who sent well wishes when I was sick. I still am sort of (feels like I'll never stop coughing), but life it mostly back to normal. There is even good news in some areas!!

The grant writing for funding for my PhD is almost done. I have what I hope is a final draft in with my supervisor for comments. She's crazy busy too writing her own grants, but she's always so good about supporting her students. And the research is starting to pick up again. Not that I'm going to say that it's working, cause that will jynx the whole thing, but it's not messing up like it has before. Let's cross the fingers for results!

I have to send out a big horray to one of the greatest ladies around: Colleen!! Appart from being an amazing friend, and an accomplished knitter, she has the most interesting collection of pets around! Those who remember Tigger and Roscoe from a few posts back, this is she! Now's she outdone herself again with the opening of Woodhouse Reptiles. Check out her new website and meet the menagerie of animals! Some of the photos are just stunning!! And there is a new gecko being added to the family this evening. Who needs kids?

The knitting life is picking up again. It's been a while, between school and being sick. I needed something easy that I could get instant gratification from. I found just the thing in the creation of a recycled silk bag. The yarn is spun in Nepal from the trimmings of dyed silk that is being processed for the clothing industry. The result is slightly fuzzy, beautifully random riotus colours. In all the recycled silk that I've seen a rich red seems to be the prominant colour, but there are all shades mixed in from canary yellow, bermuda beach blue, christmas tree green, and everything in between.

That amazing page a day knitting calendar from my sister provided the inspiration for this creation. It's a little different in that I'm knitting in stockingette rather than the suggested garter, but I find the colour stripes stand out better this way. The bag itself is knit in four panels, in from the outside bottom corner towards the middle seam (again, patterns that start with CO3 = excellent!!) increasing on both edges every other row. Once you've got the bottom to half the width that you would like, decrease by one on one side, while continuing to increase by one on the other until you've got the middle seam as long as you'd like. Cast off, leaving the top 5 stitchs live to be worked as the handle.

Pictures!!

This is two panels sewn together to form the front. I've also sewn another panel on for the back.

This is as far as I managed to get with what I had... just the beginnings of the fourth piece...

A closeup of the fabric created. It's wonderful to look at, and everytime you do there are different colours to be found. While it looks fuzzy, it does still have that cool slide that silk does.

Unfortunately, I've got as far as I can go with this project for now... I've run out of silk!! I bought the skein months ago, without a project (I know I know, bad me) but this bag pattern appeared a few weeks later and I thought horray! But I need more silk, so, shucks, I'm going to have to go yarn shopping. I have another sock pattern in mind too, so there may be sock yarn in my future!! I have a ball of white recycled silk as well... not sure what I'm going to do with that one, but friends tell me that it can be dyed with something as simple as food colouring. I'm going to have to find something to knit and dye and I'll let you know if it really is as easy as it sounds!!

Sick

2008-09-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Yup, that about says it all. Coughing aching fever and all. The stress isn't helping much. I can't believe that I blew a weekend asleep (I truly don't remember saturday). And it's not like I feel much better for it.

Not much else new in life. Lab work still being difficult, grant proposals still not getting finished, course work not getting started, knitting a long forgotten memory.

Just thought I'd share my misery with the world while I wait for the DayQuil to kick in. And for the room to stop moving in different directions. Where'd I leave the kleenex?

House Cleaning

2008-08-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

I needed a break yesterday afternoon after spending too long sitting in front of my computer. So I decided to take a crack at cleaning up my "office". The things I found!!

Mostly, its old paper work that permeates everything. Yes, apparently there is a desk holding it all up, contrary to the popular belief that the desk was eaten years ago by said papers, allowing them to produce more papers.

There were also a few knitting related finds. An unfinished hat, more squares for that afgan that I'm still working on, Katie's socks (still need those leg measurements... have to remember to do that), and assorted balls and skeens that haven't found their way into my stash just yet.

But most importantly I found a sweater that's mostly finished! I started it just after the wedding back in June, when I was still coming down from not needing to be running around anymore. A while ago, Andre's mom was cleaning up her closet, and found some yarn left over from both her mother and Andre's Dad's mother. In that was a pile of balls of an acrylic/mohair/wool blend, in blues and greys. Yes, I know what you're thinking, rather 70's no? That's what I thought too. But it was so soft!! I eventually got said wool, since Andre's mom's arthritis is so bad that she has a really hard time knitting. I knew that I had to do something special with it.

Turns out, Knitty has this fabulous 70's inspired sweater called Starsky (no, there is no matching Hutch). This was perfect!! Now, Knitty claims that this is one of their more difficult patters (they rank them by spiciness), but the hardest part was getting used to reading the chart at the same time as sizing and shaping. No problem at all for the experienced knitter!! It hit this stage about 2 weeks after getting started. All that's missing are the belt loops, that would be best added, once I know who this is going to fit (not me... not enough wool to make it large enough!!) So, here it is, Jen's Starsky.

Yarn: Towers Mingca (I think, the labels are so old I don't recognize the names!)
Needles: 5.5mm and 6.0mm
Pattern: Starsky
Same as pattern: Made a small size
Different from pattern: The wool I was using was a little bit thicker than called for, so I made the small pattern, but got a medium size.

The back has a beautiful banana leaf pattern. It was loads of fun to work. I can't figure out why the picture of the front is sideways, but whatever. You get the point.

Welcome to the world!

2008-08-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note, both of the beautiful babies that I was knitting for in July are now born!!!

The green blanket will soon be wrapped around a little baby girl. She was born monday (I think). The information is coming to me third hand from Andre from the store were we work... Somewhere in the excitement, baby girl's name got lost, but regardless, welcome to the world!! Now to get Andre to call the happy mom so we can go drop off the blanket...

And baby Taden (of the blue jacket set and blanket) made his debute on Thursday afternoon!! Mom and baby are doing great, and I can't wait to meet him!!

So many of my friends are having babies or getting married or making other big changes/decisions in life. It kinda makes me feel old. I sometimes miss the carefree days of highschool (but definately not the school itself). Other times the happiness of the friends can be kinda infectious. Makes me want my own family. Andre and Katie are the best ever, but sometimes I wonder just how long I want to put off having a baby of my own. Eventually. Just not yet.

Wicked!

2008-08-28T05:05:00.001-07:00

My wonderful mother gave me Wicked! tickets for my birthday back in July. Last night was finally the big night! Having not (yet) read the book, or even seen the original Wizard of Oz movie, I had no idea what to expect going in. What I got is definately not what I might have thought it was going to be, it was SO much better!! Prequils are usually bad news, but this one was perfect!

I won't ramble on and on about the show itself, just some amazing highlights!!! The singers were all fantastic. Especially the witches. Elpheba was unbelieveable. Such a beautiful clear voice (no squeeky warbily irritating diva here). And she was green!!!! Like seriously lime green. All over. And it didn't rub off. I have no idea how they did it, but wow!! And Glinda was also fantastic. The character, for those that haven't seen/read it, is a crazy blonde (think Reese Whiterspoon ala Legally Blonde). They must have been feeding her espressos between scenes, cause I have no idea how that woman had the energy to put on a show like that!

In all, a really fantastic show. Shame it closes this weekend, otherwise I might have tried to get tickets for Andre and I to go again. I think that he might have liked it! In November Spamalot is coming!! We're all going to that one too!!

So it was a fun evening, but the work is still waiting. I don't think that I'm going to get much of anything knittingy done for the next little while, but that's the price I pay for being a student during back to school/grant writing season. Horray. Being a flying monkey in a Broadway show seems like a good career alternative right about now. I wonder how hard it could be...

My Muse is a Siren

2008-08-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

Why is it that as life get busier, there are always other things that you'd rather be doing? My life is complicated enough right now, and there seems to be a crack adicted muse that has taken up residence in my brain. Seriously, nothing is sacred or safe from being the trigger for yet another inspiration.

Work is getting busy. It's the end of the summer crunch where we're trying to get the ends of things tied up in time for the coming semester. This tends to mean long hours in the lab focused on research. Not hour long euchre games at lunch. Really. And definately not stained glass ideas. Seriously. But, in truth, at least one of these glass bunnies will probably come to life in the next week or so, as one of our Master's students graduates and heads away to do his PhD. In the mean time, does anyone else want a stained glass amino acid? Cofactor? Other small molecule? I've been thinking, and they shouldn't be too hard to put together. I wonder if there is a standard colour code for amino acids like there is for the elements... Wonder how that would look on and NSERC application...

Andre, bless him, is an woodworker, and has more woodworking magazine subscriptions that I can keep straight. And there always seems to be another one in the mail box. My favourite part of these (appart from the hilarious titles - "Trick Out Your Bandsaw" or "Mission Style Outside of the Bedroom") are the reader's galleries, where subscribers send in pictures of their own work. They are always unbelievably excellent pieces, even if I would never want to own most of them. But every so often there is that one piece that is just wow. For my muse this week, wow isn't good enough. Oh no. Can't admire the Craftsman wash stand with tiled top and stained glass back splash, and let it be, she has to stop and think for a moment before spitting out an idea for a drop leaf dinning room table set, 6-8 chairs, mahogany, oil type finish... with the details arranged just so. I spent a good half hour trying to get Andre to understand what I was seeing behind my eyelids, but I think he got it. Anyone want to donate many many board feet of at least 6/4 rough cut lumber? No?

The knitting is the worst. A local craft store had a sale on baby yarn last weekend. Now, I'm trying to be good, and not buying anything that is not going to be immediately earmarked for a specific project. But yarn sale!!! So, the muse delivered again. Baby jacket, purple (running out of gender safe stuff!), a copy of one that Andre's grandmother made over 20 years ago. I'm going to try to figure out the pattern. Once I do, it should be my first original pattern (with credits to Nanny Skanes of course). Wish me luck, I might need it. Oh, and I must confess, the other baby yarn doesn't actually have a project yet. But it was on sale!

I have a stitch pattern idea too... not sure where it's going to work best yet (maybe sweater panels, maybe a scarf). I'm not certain that it's going to work out at all, but I'll let you know. If I ever get around to it. Oh, and an idea for a cabled sweater too...

I also have to confess, I picked up another long forgotten hobby last week. Andre's grandfather was visiting from Sudbury (love you Poppy!!) and he and Andre's parents went out to the old airforce base that he was stationed at, way back in the day. Many many many years ago, Poppy lost most of his belonings (but thankfully no family) in a house fire. The losses included his military mementos, like the crest pin for his maroon beret (the beret too). Unfortunately, the base didn't have another one, since he served when the King's Crown was still in use, rather than the current Queen's Crown. But there was a cross-stitch pattern of the crest. Guess who's working on that now!! It's looking really good actually. I'm kinda proud!

In other news, a big hug to Colleen for her birthday!!!!! It's a big one, but I won't say how few candles this year. Oh, and she is responsible for introducing us to this crazy insane online show things. Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. If you've never heard of it, check it out! If you have, then you know what I'm talking about. The world needs more super-villan musicals. Enjoy.

BTW, for all you handycrafty people who are reading (yes you) check out Etsy. It's like Ebay, only specifically for hand crafted stuff!! Uber cool. Especially the knitting stuff. Rovings, hand spun and dyed yarns, patterns, finished things. It's all there! And the Geekery part is the best!! I think I need to have a baby so that I can dress them in cool geeky baby clothes. How about it Andre?

So, if anybody would like an over-active muse with siren like tendancies, let me know. I'm looking to evict this one. I'll take her back in November (maybe) in time for Christmas shopping, but right this minute I need to be thinking about grant applications and lab work, not knitting. Back to work then.

Oh for the love of god!

2008-08-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Ah, so last weekend the lab took its annual camping trip. Oh the fun that was had by all. We all gang together and drive out to Murphy's Point Provincial Park, about an hour and a half from Ottawa. The route out happens to run through Smith's Falls, where there happens to be the Hershey's Chocolate Factory... that's trouble in the making. We stop every year to get chocolate for smores (and for face stuffing too). This year we were late heading out, so the chocolate factory had to wait till the return trip, but stop we did!! The phrase "kid in a candy store" comes to mind...

Camping itself was the usual mix of lab antics and tricks. There was hiking (by some), swimming (by others), and lots of fun and food and drinking (also only for some). What was really cool is that we caught the beginnings of the Perseid meteor shower! On the first night some of us went stargazing (horray for a big truck bed to relax in!!) but the lights from the camp fire and flashlights kept blinding us. So we wandered away from the site a bit, to an access road. The shooting stars were amazing!! I think I held the record for the least that night at 7. Falling stars aside, the stars that stayed up in the sky were also just beautiful. I often forget, sitting on my back step in the city, just how many stars are out there. But lying out under a clear sky away from the city and its lights, you can see everything. The trick becomes finding those familar constelations from the city, where out in the country they are buried behind hundreds of others.

So, there were 4 of us, lying in the middle of an access road, technically off our camp site with beer and other assorted drinks, and guess who breaks up the party? A ranger. He was so young!! Couldn't have been more than a year out of college (or maybe even highschool!). We got busted for having open alcohol off site (we honestly hadn't even thought of that). But the Fireball and sangria had lids and they were closed when he got there, so we only really lost about a third of a beer. His favourite expression during our... chat... was "oh for the love of god". He said it like 10 times in the 2 minutes that we were talking. That and he didn't think we were being terribly classy (his words!!). Apparently, when drinking at provincial parks, its more civilized to drink your cheap cinnamon whisky out of a glass than straight from the bottle. What we were all thinking is that, no, that would not be a good idea, since then it would be open and we'd have had to pour it out!!!

So, many bug bites, but thankfully no sunburn later, we head home. We got really lucky with the weather... it rained on our way out, but cleared up once we got there! Then saturday was mostly clear. Sunday morning had more rain, but it cleared up by the time we got packing the truck. The only thing that would have made this trip any better would have been the company of my hubby, who was stuck at work.

Not much to update in the knitting news... I have so many things started, and so little finished! Socks (for me, others for Katie), a sweater, hat, baby stuff... a giant stash that requires taming. So much to do, so little time. And the new semester looms. Best get back at it.

Random Weekend

2008-08-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a mixed up week. Holidays are SO confusing, especially when you don't really get a holiday. I was doing a little bit of everything this weekend, and now I'm all worn out!

Work. Yes, I worked the holiday weekend, but molecular biology waits for no man, woman, child, knitting, meal, holiday, or bladder. I tried to keep it short each day, but I was in sat/sun/mon for a few hours each. But on the bright side, the research is progressing, so life is good. Soon, so very soon, the fruits of my labours will be ready to harvest... hopefully. Here's to getting that paper written and published, and NSERC finally not seeing that one bad class I had (stupid organic chemistry!!!). PhD funding applications, here I come!!

Friends. Well, sort of. Most of my friends were out having fun this weekend. So instead I stayed home(/work) and spent time with friends pets. Specifically Colleen's menagerie. Seriously, 7 snakes (plus wee little babies that are SOOO cute!), multiples of geckos (6??), a chameleon (yay Elwood!), a fish (yes, just one), and two of the craziest cats ever (Tigger and Rosco)! Fortunately I didn't have to feed the snakes (awww, poor frozen mice), but Elwood wanted his daily silkworms (not really a problem, they're not nearly as cute as he is), and the cats were demanding as ever. It was fun, and Colleen has a yarn stash bigger than mine!! But I restrained myself, I have so much yarn already.

Tigger and Rosco are just so danmed adorable they needed to make an appearance on this blog. But don't tell Coal, he'll be jelous and want more pictures of him!!

The oh-so-sink-your-hands-into-soft Tigger

The silky-smooth-yes-I'm-that-cute Rosco

Knitting. Yes, I even got some knitting done too. Along with finishing the baby blanket (see last post), I went on a premie baby hat binge with the left over white from the blanket and some matching blue from my stash (picked up as part of a garage sale box of yarn I believe). I made a set of three before getting bored of them, but now I'm not sure what to do with them. I suspect that they'll find their way into my baby box of stuff to get dropped off to a hospital/charity when I think I have enough stuff to make it worth while (I feel bad just dropping off one to two small things, I'd rather save them up and give a bunch of stuff to mix and match if needed).

So, pattern details:
Yarn: Patons Beehive Baby - blue and white, leftovers (really doesn't take much, excellent for stash busting, especially in stripes!)
Needles: 2.5mm double points (5)
Pattern: Cabled Baby Hats
Same as pattern: All the stitch counts and everything are the same
Different from pattern: The stripes in the 5-cable hats are done in multiples of 6 rows (patter is 36 rows, I love easy math!)

Pictures!!

I also started those pink/purple/white socks for Katie! I've been trying to find patterns that I like, that would also work for these, but it's been harder than I thought. So I'm using a woman's sized pattern with much much smaller yarn and needles. In fact, that's what's made this the hardest, is the fact that I can't find patterns in the right guage. Oh well. As soon as I get leg measurements from her mom, I'll measure what I've got. If it doesn't work, then I pull it out and try something else (omg, I might have I design my own... eeeeep).

So here's what I've got so far:
Yarn: Leithen Ombrero (3x 50g)
Needles: 2.5 mm double points (4)
Pattern: Socks in Three Sizes
Size: Woman

I'm about 7.5" down the leg... I'll wait for measurements before continuting.

Oh Baby!

2008-08-04T05:41:00.000-07:00

Alright, I finished that really awesome baby blanket on Friday morning (16 hours late!!!). But it's done now. It turned out so nicely! Its one of my new favourite projects!! The pattern is deceptively easy, and it makes for such a nice piece once done, I suspect that I'll be knitting these for years to come.

Incidently, another knitting friend of mine has just started the same blanket in different wool, on larger needles. Hers is turning out a little softer than mine did, both because she's using softer wool (cotton baby blend!!) and is knitting on larger needles. I made mine a little tighter since I know fall and winter are coming and I want to make sure that the chilly winds stay away from baby.

First pattern details, then pictures!!

Yarn: Patons Beehive Baby 3 balls each Sprite Green and White

Needles: Bamboo (first time!!) 4mm

Pattern: Oh So Soft Baby Blanket

Size: approx 32"x24"

Same as pattern: knit with one green and one white held together

Different from pattern: CO140, 20 rows for first/last stst block, 30 rows for middle blocks (4).

Pictures!!

Folded in half (it was too big to get a whole shot with my not so great camera)

Up close, somewhere in the middle. The seed stitch border really helps keep it flat, and the garterstitch/eyelets are just so pretty!!

Ah, children

2008-07-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

It's been another busy weekend! Appart from the now requisit time in the lab, my sort-of-step-daughter Katie (long story) came over for a sleepover. Fun was had by all.

First thing on Saturday we (just me and Katie, Andre's stuck at work for weekends for the rest of the summer) went to see the new Pixar movie Wall-E. Oh my goodness, what an awesome sweet makes you want to melt movie!!! It makes you just want to take the little trash-compacting robot and all his friends home and cuddle them all! Litterally half the movie was spent going "awwwwww", or giggling at the antics. It really was a great movie, not as much of a laugh out loud funny like most of Pixar's previous offerings, but much more heart warming.

After the movie was dinner with Andre and a trip to the store via the park for some treats. Followed promptly by a bath. Seriously, kid, swing, flipflops, its been raining all week. Big time messy! The morning's been pretty lazy, french toast breakfast, and now she's kicking MarioKart behinds on our Wii. It'll be off back to Grammie's in an hour or so as I head out to a baby shower.

The trouble with knitting for kids is that they grow out of things so darned fast!!! 2 Christmas' ago I knit her a big coat-like sweatery thing. It was my first attempt at taking a pattern (from one of my ubiquitous magazines), and trying to make it out of completely different yarn. Basically I was only using the pattern to make sure that I got all the pieces the right size, the guage was SO different. It wasn't even like I could just cast on a larger or smaller size, things would have been all wrong. Between a multitude of moves (4 I think, but I might have missed one, we haven't moved, but she and her mom do) and gaining several inches, she's still got it, and it almost still fits. She definately can't pull it on over a winter outfit to keep cosy, but as something to throw on over shorts and a t-shirt to ward off the chill of the theater (why are they always so darned cold???).

Katie in her Jen knit sweater. And yes, her t-shirt says "Parents for sale, buy 1 get 1 free".

Something about that cat of ours... seems to worm his way into every shoot. We do love him so.

I always have fun knittng for Katie since she's young (8 and a HALF, can't forget the half) and is still into bright colours and fun patterns. Give her 5 years, then she'll be too cool for us, but until then, I'll knit her cute things. Appart from something I made for her as a thank you for being the FloweRing Girl for our wedding (the name was coined by Andre in a moment of brilliance since she carried a bouquet and our rings for us) that I'll post once we've given it to her, she wants a pair of socks. (And slippers and mittens and hat and scarf..) Well, ask and you shall receive, and as luck would have it, I have just the thing!

A local craft store went out of business just after Christmas, and had all of they yarns for 50 cents to $2 a ball. Oh, the money I spent. I picked up some pink/purple/white self striping sock yarn for just such a request. I'm still on the hunt for a really good kids knee-high sock pattern but I'm sure I'll find something.

But first... must... finish... baby... blanket...
(Insert shoulder-devil) But socks!!! New fun pattern!!!
(Insert conscience kicking shoulder-angel here). Right then, back to blanket. *sigh*

Wine and Babies

2008-07-23T18:35:00.000-07:00

Andre and I got to do one of our favourite things on Tuesday morning. Despite the title, it was not trying to make babies. We got to bottle wine! We've been brewing our own wine for years now. This is the first time we've had a chance to make wine since brewing our wedding wine a year and a half ago. We bottled the long time favourite patio wine - a sweet Rasberry Merlot, and a new Reisling. I can't wait to try them! (Ok, so we tried them as we bottled, and I know it was 10am, but it's 5 o'clock somewhere right?)

After bottling I was reminded that 2 of our close friends are having babies in the IMMEDIATE future (end of August and middle of September). In fact one shower is this weekend, and the other passed while we were away on our mini-honeymoon. Generally, when I pick up a baby pattern to knit I knit one boy, one girl, one gender safe. That way I always have something incase of surprise showers or other projects preventing new knitting.

So, friend #1 doesn't know if she's having a boy or a girl (and doesn't want to know, but she's carrying so high, my money is on boy), and thus gender safe colours are needed. The evening after bottling wine I started (yes she leaves work on Aug 1st for mat-leave, I have till then) a green/white blanket. It's a pattern I pulled off the internet (here). Again copyright, so I'm not going to post the pattern, but I'll show it off once I'm done. It is, however, becoming a huge hit with friends, so I suspect that I'll be making many more in the future (and the patter is so easy and SOOO pretty!).

Friend #2 is having her shower this weekend. She's having a boy named Taden (I think that's how she's spelling it...). Fortunately, due to a rash of baby girls from friends in the past year or so, I have both a complete jacket/bootie/cap set and a cotton blanket for a boy that no-one has laid claim to yet. I just need to wrap them up, and pass on the love! I'm still working on my own patterns, both are from a page-a-day knitting calender that my sister gets for me every christmas. So no patterns, but pictures for sure! (For those that really love it, the blanket is a mitred corner dish cloth, just bigger-any blanket pattern that starts with CO3 is awesome with me!)

Baby blue cap, booties, and jacket!

Mitred corner raw cotton blanket!

Sea of No Cares

2008-07-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

What a busy weekend! (Ok a few weeks ago, but busy since too!)

My wonderful in-laws got me and Andre tickets to see Great Big Sea at the local BluesFest (they, the in-laws, came too)! They (GBS) have got to be the bestest best live show ever!! (Ok, I've heard the Garth Brooks puts on one hell of a show, but I've never seen it *glares at Andre who HAS!*). The fantastic music, awesome crowd, and undescribably perfect show, it is still easy to pick out the two most perfect moments of the night.

One: At the start of the show GBS opened withmy favouritest song by them: Consequence Free. The sun had finally set, and the sky was just getting dark. The stages are set out in a generally unused field at the west end of downtown, and for the whole song the bright spot lights from the stage were hitting all of these crazy fireflies that were wondering where all these poeple came from. It was almost as good as Canada Day fireworks!

Two: Andre and I (trying) to dance in front of our seats to an amazing acoustic version Sea of No Cares. Married life is good. It might only be improved if Andre could actually sing. I love him anyway, cause I can't either.

Eight hours after returning to my bed, I was not only up, but out at the country's largest beach volleyball fest -HOPE. I got lucky this year, and there was space on a team that a friend on mine plays on. In all, music-not nearly as good as the night before, but the rest of the day was amazing! We went 4-1, losing only our first game as we learned how we played together.

Back to knitting. I'm always looking for something to do with my hands that lets me stay social, hence my obsession with knitting. When at home watching TV there are no worries about carrying everything I need around with me. Afgan? No problem! Crazy chart to follow? Not worried. When visiting friends and family, the project get smaller and simpler. Crazy chart, not so much. Sweater pieces? Absolutely. Shall? Baby stuff? Perfect. But what do you take out to a music festival or beach vollyball tournament?

It must be small, portable, simple, easy to pick up and drop at a moments notice. For once the challange of a complex pattern would be a nightmare. Simple is your friend. My variation on simple is a crochet granny-square throw that I've been working for lord knows how many years. Simple, fast, fun, EASY.

Basically the pattern is a whole whack of 2x2 inch squares of assorted colours, arranged and stitched into appropriate pattern. This particular pattern was the first crochetting project I undertook. Surprise! I'm not done. It's from a Leasure Arts Little Book of patterns that I picked up at the local bigbox store. Along with all the acrylic yarn to go with. So I can't actually give you the pattern (copyright and all), but I've posted some shots of where I am, after years of toil.
In all, between the Great Big Sea concert and my day at HOPE I got about 30 new navy blue squares to add to my bag of bits to attach. Eventually it will be done. Really.

Granny Patch Blanket, so far:

It will eventually be 4 3x3 blue squares across by 5 long. Once its all together, I'll edge the whole thing with another round of navy blue squares. That's the theory anyway.

Ah, Coal. If you ever want to find the cat, lay something out flat. Turn away for 30 seconds. By the time you look back, there he is!

There, see? I finally did it.

2008-07-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

It seems that major changes in life lead to more changes and crazy new ideas. In the past 3 months I've passed my PhD entrance exam and gotten married. Now with all the extra time on my hands (since the planning and prep for both events had taken over my LIFE) I thought I'd start a blog.

For any and all that don't know me, I've been described in a variety of ways (not all kind, but it's my blog, so only the good here), including as the lab "google", and as a "rabid" knitter. It's true, my two passions in life are (apart from my darling husband and fantastic career as a science student) trivia and knitting. And when at all possible I combine any and all of the above (yes, my profs will tell you that I knit in class, and there is nothing better than a nice evening at home, drinking wine and sitting, knitting next to the hubby while we watch Jeopardy).

So, I'm starting a knitting blog. In fact, I was even going to call it "The Rabid Knitter", but believe it or not it was already taken! So the wonderful hubby of mine suggested cashing in on the "Whisperer" craze. Really, first it was the Horse Whisperer (movie), now on the National Geograohic Chanel is the Dog Whisperer (TV show).... Nothing is safe, Andre's favourite pasttime is sitting catching up on this week's episode of "The Wood Whisperer" (podcasts)!

In the time to follow I'll dig out and show off the projects I've started (some, there are way too many to post them all), some of the things I'd like to do, exclaim loudly if I ever manage to finish anything, and maybe, just maybe, if I'm brave enough, post a pattern or two of my own. In time I'll share other antics, like my soon to be attempted foray into the world of spinning. Once Andre builds me my spinning wheel. I may even confess to the occational crochetting adventure.

Any now, ladies and gentleman (cause really, the only guy I expect will be reading this for a long while is Andre, but please, let me know if I'm wrong), with this post I give you the birth of

THE WOOL WHISPERER