Second Verse...

Right.  Another year, another decent amount of knitting, another ton of work, and another whole lot of not enough time.

I can't believe that it was a year ago that I put up the last baby sweater project.  Seems like I might as well continue the tradition of repeating myself.

Another one of the service desk girls at work is expecting.  A wee little man will be joining the family in March.  Just like last year, this lovely lady is part of the store family.  She's warm, friendly, and cares very much for her co-workers and our customers.  She's bright, always smiling, and manages to tolerate André when he arrives with buckets of returns and of course no receipts.  AND NOW SHE'S LEAVING FOR A YEAR!!

That's is about where the similarities end between the two ladies though.  Unlike last year (petite, bouncy brunette with a really cute smile), this year's mom-to-be is taller, more reserved, and has the most gorgeous mane of curly red hair.

Just like last year, I knew that I needed to knit something.  This baby is being born to a family that has seen some hard times over the past year.  The last few months at the store have also seen some dramatic and unexpected changes.  It's been hard to look too far forward, there's too much in the way in the right here and now.

So, a magical Saturday morning (not scheduled at the store for an entire weekend, and without asking for it!) I followed André to his Saturday morning curling game.  And as much as I love watching him curl, at 9.50am I promptly bailed on my spectator/cheering section duties and booked it a few blocks south to Yarn Forward.

I had formulated a plan the night before, and it went something like this:

1) Need baby pattern.  Probably sweater, since no time for blanket, but still want something to hug baby with.

2) Mom is mature and a bit on the traditional side.  Even Coffee Beans like last time is too cute.  Perhaps a cardigan...

3) Scott/Nordic heritage in Mom just BEGS for something with cables.  But modern rather than traditional.  Perhaps in a more structural type pattern.

3) Spend hours on Ravelry.



Cute, but almost too traditional


 

Really adorable, but not a fan of lace for this little man.  However, forest green with red hair...



Ooooo cute! But cotton... not quite what I want.  And the pattern is in French.  This isn't really a problem thanks to my Ontario schooling (and the wonderfulness that is Google Translate).



 PERFECT!!!!!! Cables, but interesting not quite traditional.  Available in 1 year size (I always aim for 1 year, small babies take longer to get there, big babies haven't out grown it yet).  In fingering yarn.  Bonus free pattern.

4) Note the yardage requirements on phone (likely 2 sock skiens, but not use near all of them.  Pick colour I like, may get bonus socks from second skien). 

5) Get really smart and toss needles in my bag so that I can cast on while watching curling.  Hit genius level of organized, include tablet AND charger so I can look up the pattern on something larger than my phone. 

Shopping was a huge success - and in short order 2 skiens of Cascade Heritage Sock in a vine green (creatively named #5612) were in my hands.  I even remembered to ask to have one wound before I left!  I was feeling mighty proud of myself as I hiked back to the curling club.  Perfect pattern, perfect yarn, I couldn't wait to get started.

Back at the club I passed the as yet not open bar (really, 11 am?  Who comes up with these laws?) and settle back in to my seat at the end of André's sheet.  Gather yarn, needles, open tablet to ravelry, select "get pattern here"...

Remember how I said I was feeling mighty proud of myself?  Thinking my self clever for remembering tablet AND needles?  Getting the perfect FREE pattern?  And fantastic yarn?

About that pattern.  The link in Ravelry opens to what looks like an online knitting magazine archive pattern page.  Pattern is all there along with links for downloadable charts.

And every last word of it is in DANISH. 

Once the dark spots had cleared from my vision and my breathing and heart rate returned to something resembling normal, the little creature in the back of my brain blew a giant raspberry and wandered away muttering something about the karmic future of "clever" people. 

Thankfully, there are amazing websites in the world that will take not only individual words, but whole collections of text and translate them for you!  I might still be saved!

Turns out that knitting patterns in Danish are remarkably similar to knitting patterns in just about every other language.  That is, they are written in a language completely their own, which consists almost entirely of acronyms.  But still, between an approximate translation, a really nice chart, and some basic common sense (Front + Back M (140) 160 (184) is probably CO that many for each size...) I muddled my way through.

There was a brief moment of panic as I split for the armholes and completely lost my ability to count, but it turned out in the end.  I'm not quite convinced that it's actually a size 1 year (maybe closer to 9 months) but that might be more due to my complete lack of regard for guage swatches in this instance. 

Behold!  A wee Danish now English old man sweater!

Just like for the rest of the project, I wanted buttons that were traditional-ish but still interestingly almost modern.  A quick trip down to Wool-Thyme (they are celebrating 30 years!!!) and I left with these little abstract wooden toggles.  More perfect to finish off the darling little bit of cuteness! And I will have you know that not even one ball of discount sock yarn followed me home.  This time. 

The shower for the little one was a few weeks back.  Mom's last day of work was at the end of January, although she's been in a few times to say hi.  We'll all just waiting for the day to hear about the new little man in this world, and I can't wait to meet him! 

I really hope he gets his Mom's hair.  Redheaded men are just the most handsome.  Right André?

Another New Years Tradition

New Years day at our place has been the same for years.  Wake up whenever we feel like it, have Irish cream in our coffees, start a fire, and kick back to watch whatever marathon is on that we are interested in.  It is a day for just us to do absolutely nothing, and do it together.

This year was no exception.  Toasty fire, tasty champagne, and 9 hours of Pawn Stars and 3 hours of Museum Secrets.  Amazing.

It seems though, that another tradition is springing up around this time.  Since I'm going to have hours and hours of knitting time, I've taken to going yarn shopping a day or so before New Years, lest I run out of things to knit.  Stop laughing André.  Just because there is wool in the house does not mean that it is the right wool for the job at hand.  Unless you want your new hat to be knit out of recycled silk.  Didn't think so.

This year, the tasks at hand are 2 baby outfits and a new hat for André.  One baby outfit I've got the yarn for, so we're good there (see André, stash is useful, otherwise I would have had to spend more money).  And so, chaperoned by the darling hubby, I came home on Monday afternoon with this:

That's a whole pile of Cascade Yarns Cherub and more Cascade sport.  It's not all in the picture, seeing as the second I walked in the door I promptly cast on one of the projects.  The sport is going to be a new hat for André... apparently the one I knit for him last year isn't quite right.  The Cherub on the other hand is going to be the ARRR! Baby Set from Knit.1 Winter 06/07.

Multiples of hours of knitting later:

Front and back done.  Now on to sleeves and pants!  Although I bought WAY too much yarn... maybe a hat to go with?  We'll see. 

Crazy Pi? Yes Please!

I've been working at a retail job for just over two years.  When university ends, life must go on and that means that bills must be paid.  I got really really lucky with this job, and landed in a place where the work is fun and interesting, and the gang of people around me are some of the best.  Both at their jobs, and as people to hang out with for 8 hours a day.

Every year the store has, what I'm told, are epic Christmas parties.  And up to this year I hadn't gone to any of them.

I'm not much of one for office parties to start with - it's that fine balancing act of hanging out with people from work in a social setting all the while trying desperately to come up with something to talk about that isn't work.  Add to the mix that these Christmas parties are semi-formal-ish - guys in suits and ladies in dresses (or suits), and I'm way out of my comfort level.  Heck, I only own two dresses (and one of them I'm not ever likely to wear again, being my wedding dress and all), and it's only by a miracle that I haven't broken an ankle in the few times I've worn high heals.

So my first year I didn't go.  I'd only been there two months, didn't really know the gang, and wasn't sure how much longer I'd be around (because I still foolishly thought I could get somewhere with my grad degree). The next year, I thought about going, but we had a curling Christmas party the same night, and I really like those guys.

This year though, apparently I had no choice.  One of the guys even bought me a ticket to make sure I went.

Now, the dress that I would be wearing is sleeveless.  And the party is in December.  And since I'm not much of a dancer, I was expecting to get cold.  I do have a pashmina wrap in the perfect colour to match the dress, but I figured that if I was going get kidnapped asked to go to this party, I might as well take this as a chance to do something that I've been meaning to do for a long time.

I was going to knit myself a black lace shawl.

I've wanted one since my high school prom.  So much classier than the typical matching-fabric-wraps that come with most dresses.  And the vintage look is something that I love.

The party was set for December 1st.  I was informed that I was attending October 2nd.  Two months to knit a lace shawl?  No problem!

Do I sound crazy yet?

October 3rd I came home with Dropps lace silk/alpaca blend from Wool Thyme in a beautiful shiny black.  Even Andre got into the game.  I turn around for two minutes and look what happens:

He's too good to me!

After poking around for a while I settled on a tribute to Elizabeth Zimmermann with the EZ 100th Anniversary PI Shawl: Camping.

This pattern was super easy to follow, and fun to knit (once I got a few rounds in and stopped dropping my needles).  And for the first few weeks I thought I was going to make it with piles of time to spare.

Note to self, when a shawl pattern starts with CO9 and and ends with BO867, it's going to slow down each time you double the stitches.  As pretty as it is, I was about ready to strangle myself with the yarn while working through the vines. 

Thankfully, Andre and I had planned a week in Toronto in early November, and while I didn't get much knitting time while we were there, there was still the train ride out and home to put serious length on this thing.

And on November 27th, there it lay on the bed with a couple hundred pins in it, blocking away happily to itself. With two whole days to spare!

I made a few small changes to the pattern.  Firstly I used true lace weight yarn rather than the fingering weight called for.  The biggest difference (other than the damage to my eyesight from trying to see lace knitting in black yarn on a train at night) is that it came out about 4' across rather than the 5' + indicated by the pattern.  Which worked out really nicely because it hangs perfectly to my elbows and stays out of the way when I'm sitting down.

Change #2 - the spiral wheel was written to be entirely done with ssk.  Not my favourite thing to do, especially since it takes longer per stitch than K2tog.  So I reversed the pattern, K2tog-ing happily around and now the spirals twist the opposite direction.

And while I do love the rounded edges in the original pattern, I was a little bit pressed for time, so I left the edging with points rather than scrounging another several hundred pins.  You know what?  I love it.

So two days latter, off I toddled in my high heals, dress, and shawl to the Christmas party, and had fantastic time.  Turns out most of my worries of work place Christmas parties were unfounded.  My department and my store are both packed with awesome fun loving people, and we had a blast.

Now to figure out what to knit to wear next year...

In Like a Lion, Out Like a.... Lion?

There is an expression about March:  In like a Lion, out like a Lamb.  If the beginning of March is rough (storms, cold, snow, etc), by the end of March it will be mild and peaceful.  Of course the opposite is supposed to be true too.

In truth however, this is Canada, and March is generally just lion shaped all month long.  Weather wise this year March saw yet another big snow fall, a couple of colder than normal days, and as we reach the final stretch, some rather dramatically warm days as well.  While this might sound lamb-like, ask anybody in a lower lying area how critically important it is to make sure that your sump pumps are working 100% during this time of year.  All of that melting snow has to go somewhere and basements are a common escape route.

March came roaring in in other ways too.  I was kill-me-now-please sick for a week at the beginning.  Thankfully I recovered enough to be groupie of the year for André and the curling team, but no sooner did life look like it was getting back to normal than my sinuses decided that it was their turn to be my downfall.

Now the Easter weekend is upon us, and we are trying to fit as much as we can into a couple of days off.

Advancements in the knitting world have also been on the lion and lamb side of things lately as well.  The delivery of the John Deere socks in time was quite the relief.  And all the time out watch the boys curling let me get something else off the needles too.  I give you Cable and Cross.

 

This was the hat project that I started on the train on the way to Toronto back in February.  Once Amy's mitts were done I was smart enough to remember to return the needles to the bag with this lovely wip.

Details: Knit as written on 4.5 mm circulars, magic loop.  Almost entirely 2 balls of Andean Treasure in Mystery from Knit Picks (it was kicking around in my stash).   Overall a fantastic project - yummy yarn, at just the right gauge to be dense and warm but not crunchy and tight, and a pattern complex enough to be interesting, but simple enough to memorize so that I could watch curling rather than my notes.  Although, having a chart rather than just written instructions would have been nice.

André found Exeter, so this one's mine.  And it served me well in the last few weeks.

I've also cast on a couple of new projects (hey, I finished 2 things, now I'm starting 2 more.  It evens out in the end right?).


First are a pair of Java socks.  These are a bit of a rush for a close friend who's about to go in for major knee surgery.  Right before his birthday.  I may have just jumped right in and gotten all the way down to the ball of the foot of one sock before thinking that it was looking a wee bit small (said friend is 6'1" with mercifully only men's size 9 feet).  A quick test on André (men's size 8) and they were far too small.

So I ripped it alllllll back and started over with the larger size.  I really should have looked at the pattern a wee bit closer at the beginning, but that's what I get for just jumping right in.  I'm working with some chocolate brown stash sock yarn on 2.25 mm needles.  I have 2 weeks. 

Also on the needles is a project that I've been meaning to start for a couple of years.  The Clasica Coat from Interweave Knits Fall 2009.  I found the perfect yarn while out with my sister-in-law just before New Years (the same time I picked up the yarn for Exeter).  Léttlopi in the descriptively named colour #1401.  The catch? Neither location of Yarn Forward had anywhere near enough for the entire project.  So the lovely ladies ordered some, and I picked up 18 balls (probably a slight over estimation, but better safe than sorry) in early March, along with getting my sewing machine serviced.

I want this coat to work out, so in a moment of brief sanity, I swatched.  I actually made 2 different ones on different needles, since I thought the first one with the needle size recommended for the pattern looked a little loose.  Then I washed and blocked the swatches.  And waited for them to dry before measuring them.

I thought that the one with suggested needles was still a bit loose, but the other done on needles 2 sizes smaller was definately too small.  So I figured I'd compromise and go down 1 needle size for the body of the jacket.  Well... one ball in, and the back is almost 3 inches too narrow.  Despite being a needle size up from the smaller swatch, my gauge is apparently TIGHTER by not a small amount.

Now we're back to the suggested needle size, and I've knit another entire ball, and it's looking way better.  I just have to remember to keep going on it.  The back is 19" of stst.  Not exciting.  But soon there will be shoulder shaping and the interesting pattern on the sleeves and front.  I just need to get there.

It seems fitting doesn't it?  That both of my newest projects cast on in the spring are the colours of spring?

What?  Spring's not brown?  I don't know where you live, but this is spring in Ottawa.  This early in the spring what isn't brown is road salt grey.  The green stuff and pretty flowers aren't going to be around for a while yet...

Time Out in the GTA

The last few weeks were meant to be productive in so many ways... There is a bedroom to finish, knitting to do, year end paperwork for André to complete.  We were going to be so organized, the Dewy Decimal system would look chaotic in comparison.

Right.  Not so much.

Instead, André caught a wicked bad cold/flu thing.  And I went for an impromptu visit to Toronto. 

So the house is still a wreck - tools in my living room and the such like.  The bedroom still isn't done (although while we have working blinds and super cool curtains now, we had to make some adjustments to the outlets next to the bed meaning some significant drywall patching... and more painting). 

On the bright side though, taking the train to Toronto gave me hours and hours of me time.  Me and a cup of coffee, my knitting and my thoughts.  So an entire ball of Knit Picks Andean Treasure in Mystique became this (pattern on Ravelry somewhere, I'll find it when I show you the finished item):

And that was just the 4.5 hours on the trip up!  Yes, it's another hat.  André and I have both lost ours (yes, he lost Exeter.  It took him 3 weeks.).  There've been a few more rows added since with the start of the second ball.  It's progressing nicely.  And is now on hold.  I needed the needles for a special request. 

I love taking the train places, and despite André's suggestion that I fly (with our airmiles it worked out to almost the same price), it's just as well I did.  Last friday saw yet another massive snow dump on southern and eastern Ontario.  This would be our third in Ottawa, we're used to it.  But Toronto?  Not so much.  Flights were being cancelled on both ends, and the 401 highway was a disaster (which I would have been on had I decided to take the bus.  But really... more leg room, more space, and only $16 more?  TRAIN!).  And we were only 20 minutes late pulling in, which for VIA rail is par for the course. 

I was met at the train station by my darling sister Amy.  She moved to Toronto a few weeks ago and is settling in.  What better time for a sister visit!  It was fantastic :D  We talked for hours, it's so nice to catch up with family like that.

I had a few simple requirements for traveling to Toronto.  One - there must be coffee in the morning.  No problem, Amy drinks as much as I do.  And hers is better.  Check.

Two - At some point during the weekend there would be a return trip to The Purple Purl.  André and I had visited this wonderful store a few years back as they celebrated their first anniversary.  Now I'm back just after their 5th!  It's a perfect combination of cozy yarn store with added bonus cafe.  Try the peanut butter square thingies.  Heaven!

Amy is an artist.  Illustration mostly.  Her work is beautiful and she is seriously talented.  But working long hours sketching and on the computer can mean chilly fingers.  At her request we picked up some yarn for fingerless gloves/arm warmers.

I've already lost the tag for this one, but it's been a real treat to work with.  When/if I find it I'll let you know what it is.  Most of it has already become Linda K's Yummy Mummy Wristwarmers with some modifications (shorter thumb, but way longer up the arm).

I had the ball wound up at the store, and by the time the train came in to Ottawa, I had one complete.  The other is well on its way.


We also picked up some Turtlepurl self striping sock yarn in Gothic Plum.  It's super neat - you get 2 identical balls so that if you knit one sock with one, and start the second at the same point on the second ball you get 2 perfectly matched socks!  It has not been started yet, there will need to be some form of pattern design for this one.  I'd really like to knit wrist warmers from the fingers down since I don't know how long each ball will last, but I have yet to find ANY patterns that do this.  There will be some inventing in my future I believe.

I also managed to steal an afternoon to spend with the incredible duo of Jenny and David, two of my longest and best friends in the world.   We had crepes and went to the library (Sherlock Holmes at the Reference Library = GEEK OUT!) and visited David's theater.  All topped off with the most amazing dinner with Gigi and a quick visit with beloved Rachellelala.  Every so often I wonder why we don't move to Toronto.  Then we have conversations about housing prices there.  Combine that with traffic/commuting distances, and you've got your answer.  But it's sure fun to visit!

In short, a whirlwind weekend of amazing people, much knitting, and a chance to recenter myself.  I should do this more often.

In the mean time though, it's back to the daily grind.  There is laundry to do, paperwork to file, and a never ending list of house projects to tackle.  Bring it on!

Proof of Life

Now this is supposed to be a knitting blog.  And yes, while real life is going to creep in here a fair bit, there hasn't been hardly any actual knitting news on this blog in years.  (ok, yes, I realize that the 3 year gap in posting also does not help, but even then the last bunch were about renovations and life... sorry...)

So I present to you: Proof of Knitted Life! Or why my hands hurt after New Years. 

As is customary for New Year's day, Andre and I spent it just kicking back with champagne/wine/martinis (thanks Louis)/beer and TV watching.  This gave me ample knitting time.  The results:

These WIP boot socks

Have now become these:

Recipient TBD.  Too big for me, but not by a lot.

For the last couple of years I've been harassing politely asking Andre if there was anything I could knit for him.  Then he lost his hat.  The request: new hat.  Simple.  Nothing fancy.  Ribbing apparently is fancy.  Black.  And must be soft.  And warm.

So, step 1 find wool.  A quick New Year's Eve yarn shopping excursion with my beloved sister-in-law found this at Yarn Forward on Bank St. 

Manos del Uraguay Silk blend.  70% merino 30% silk.  Soft? Check.  Warm?  Double check.  Black?  Well, very deep kettle dyed charcoal almost black.  But close enough to black to be Andre approved. 

And now for a pattern.  This was going to be tricky.  Poking through Ravelry I found Exeter.  It was perfect.  Ribbed to be stretchy and keep it snug.  And the decreasing at the crown was so clever.  And options for fold up brim.  But I wasn't sure it would pass Andre inspection.  There was fancy ribbing.  I wasn't sure if it was the desperate hopeful look in my eyes as I showed him the pattern, or just the fact that it's January in Ottawa and it's freezing cold and he really wants a hat now, but the pattern too became Andre approved. 

I printed the pattern, wound up the yarn, and after 2 movies I had a beautiful 6 inches or so done.  Lots to have Andre try it on. 




















And this is what it looks like now. 

It appears to be a combination of me getting something that might be considered gauge albeit not the gauge recommended for this project, with a large-ish sized pattern, and a husband with a far smaller head circumference than an average large-ish pattern, which resulted in a piece of knitting that would be better suited to keep warm the over-inflated egos of the local politicians rather than the ears of my beloved.

Switching the wine I was savoring to a stiff martini, it was off to the frog pond with the "hat".  

Once I've recovered from pulling out almost 3 hours of work it'll be down one needle size, and taking out 16 stitches, and starting over.  If that pair of mittens doesn't tempt me away first...

Happy New Years!!

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

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!