so now what?

I've moved

2007-06-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm over here! Come on over. :)

Monday? Seriously?

2007-06-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, time does fly when you're spending it all on Ravelry! Love it. Sign up, wait patiently, you will be invited. I think it took about 3 or 4 weeks from when I signed up until I got my invite. I'm getting all my stuff so very much more organized. I love it.

There was another Sockimus Palimus postcard. Look how pretty!

It's all fishy and shiny. And the best part...it's from Seattle. My sockpal is all over the place! East coast, west coast, England. I'm amazed. Do you think they are a pilot? Then, 3 or 4 hours into a long overseas flight they just put that bit ol' plane into autopilot and knit some socks? That thought appeals to me on so many different levels.

Here's the back. Bit of a philosopher is my Sockimus Palimus. :)

Here is my current progress on my sockpal sock. One more pattern repeat and I'm doing the heel flap. My pal likes her socks not so long.

Sorry for the overexposure. Okay, I'm off. I have to make some bird food and bird bread and get a few things done before work. Happy Monday y'all!

My sock pal gets around

2007-06-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've told you about the stalking socking pal I have. There has been another postcard. The first ones were posted from Manchester NH and Pittsburgh PA, respectively. Then I got this one:

Ummmm, it was posted in Greerford/Windsor, in England! Seriously, this is a getting around kind of sock pal. I am utterly amazed and touched by how cool this is. This must truly be the most traveled sock pal in the world. Every day I can't wait to check the mail. It is hilarious! I'm looking so forward to "meeting" this person, you can't imagine. :)

Friday was Vanessa's birthday so we took a little trip. We did a very touristy Vancouver thing and caught the seabus over to North Vancouver for a day of shopping, sightseeing, and FOOD. So much food. There was lattes and cakes, stuffed olives, handmade chocolates, fish and chips, stuffed mushroom caps, a little libation (teehee), and then fresh fruit before we headed home. Here are some random images from the day:

This is not the seabus. Just in case you're wondering.

This is the seabus. :) What did you expect for $2.25?

The ride over.

The Lonsdale Quay/market.

A former fishing boat that now seems to be used for tourists and stuff, I'm guessing, based on the fact that it had a hot tub on the back deck.

Vanessa actually went up and touched one of these, we are still not sure if they were real or not. Bleah!
This was a very dapper gentleman we spotted. I have never seen shinier shoes in my life.

We bought this tea at the Blue Teapot shop. Look what it can do:

Kind of amazing, no? Go check out the Blue Teapot website, they have some other images of it. The tea itself was really mild and ever so slightly aromatic. It is supposed to make me young, have a great liver, and be beautiful. That's a lot for one little cup of tea, right?

Not really going to discuss this. Let's just say that the new public toilet at Main Street might not be the greatest success in the world. Bleach!

Have a great day everyone. I'm off to play on Ravelry. I got my invite! Then I want to knit for an hour before work. No overtime today. Yay!

I have a stalker...

2007-05-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

and I kind of like it! My sock pal, sorry, Sockimus Palimus, has been sending me little missives through the mail. First there was this one:

Then there was this one:

This was the most wonderful thing to come home to after a 12 hour shift. I laughed so hard that snorting was heard. It was brilliant! I love my Sockimus Palimus.

The other thing I came how to was this:

A puffy from the Sweet Sheep. So nicely packaged and there is this awesome little pin with the sheepy logo. Very cute! So yeah, yarn diet, that was sooooo yesterday. :)

Here you see some Fleece Artist Sea Wool (squishability factor of 13), Shelridge Farms Handpaint (squishability factor of 12), and Mama C*EYE*BER Fiber (colour factor 1,000,000 - it's called blood orange, swoon).

Okay, shower and back to work. Thanks for coming out kids!

Survived the week!

2007-05-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Except for the fact that it is Monday and the beginning of another week. Oh well. Five more weeks of this overtime insanity and then life will slow down again.

Last weekend the hubby finished up his pool and I was a bit afeared about how bit it was. I was just not correctly picturing how big a 16' pool was. Here is is before water:

Then, last week, hubby and Vanessa they carpenter belts on and created a deck. They they put up the sunshade. Patio furniture was not far behind of course. Now, the best looking most matching room we have isn't even in the house. Ironic. The deck/sunshade set has the added bonus of adding scale for the pool. Now it doesn't look so unbelievably out of place!

It's nice. The yard has stopped looking abandoned, which is awesome.

I also cast on and finished a couple inches of a Cafe Curtains sock from Kurrajong Handcrafts. Really pretty pattern. I drew up a chart to make my life easier. I just can't knit from words anymore. I'm using handpainted yarn from Shelridge farm. Really nice stuff. So nice in fact, I ordered more from the Sweetsheep. They actually have some of the handpaint in so if you want it you better hurry. It never hangs around long.

That's about it from me. Lucy asked me to do a meme but it will have to wait. I gotta go have a shower and head off for my 13 hour shift! Happy Monday y'all!

Tagged

2007-05-22T10:39:00.001-07:00

Linda over at Knitche tagged me up for a meme.

7 Random Things About Me:

1. I can wiggle my ears
2. When I have paper money in my wallet it must all be facing the same way. I will go completely ocd about this too.
3. I was adopted when I was 13 days old. I think that's why 13 is my lucky number.
4. The only thing I have more of than yarn is books. I'm a complete bookslut.
5. I couldn't wear flip flops until about 2 years ago. The thingy between my toes would send me over the edge within seconds.
6. I remember small dialogue bits from movies and stand up comedy routines. A LOT of them. I can pretty much recite The Breakfast Club from memory.
7. My favourite movies of all time are Trainspotting and Withnail and I.

There, I think that's about it. Now, I'm supposed to tag 7 people but I'm not sure I can find 7 who haven't done this one yet. Let's see...

Lavender
No Blog Rachel
WorkBasket

I swear, that is all I can find. I must be late to this party, everyone I read has done this meme already.

Posting will be a bit sporadic for the next month or so. Work is about to shift into overdrive which means I will be switching into overtime. 13 hour days or some such nonsense. Yikes. You kids play nice while I'm at work now, you hear?

Summer Knitting Goals

2007-05-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ali, over at Skeins Her Way, is having a contest. You could win some yummy Blue Sky Alpaca cotton and a really cute pattern for a summer top. Go here to read all about it.

Here is my hopeful list of things to complete this summer:

Already on the needles:

Poppy Sweater
Chicknits Ribby Cardi
Sockapalooza socks (nevermind hope, this will happen!)
Noro mitred blanket

Not on the needles:

Trekking socks

I know, it isn't much, but that blanket is gonna be big and I'm trying to set reasonable goals, blah blah blah. :)

Spring

2007-05-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's finally here,

ETA: For Kat - these are Chinese Tree Peonies. You can find out more here. This one is huge, almost 12 inches across.

and here,

and here,

Ah springtime, when a young man's fancy may turn to love but an older man's fancy starts thinking about summer. Then he starts the prep work for a pool. 'Cause he can't handle the heat like her could when he was young!

And he has a helper,

Since the new neighbours moved in behind us this is all you see of the dogs:

She has cookies and kids. All you see is three bums and three wagging tails poking out of the shrubs in the back of the yard. If the dogs are sleeping in the living room they know when the neigbours come home. It's like their pagers all go off at once and boom, they fly out the back door.

And then you have the beautiful Jane, taking a moment to smell the dandelions.

And a nice shiny Stella:

And, finally, a little scrappy dog, all tired out and sleeping on last years pool in the sun. p.s.
Sock 76.a.1 - yeah, that didn't work out. Back to the drawing board! :)

Quick one

2007-05-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Working on husband's year ends and knitting on the Sockapalooza sock when I get too frustrated. Just wanted to share this. How cute is that????? Almost makes me want to have kids so I can make them hats. Not! Bahahahahaha. Just kidding mom!

Still alive, by the skin of my teeth

2007-05-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here's some advice, it's free and I'm most definitely not using it. Once you reach the age of 38 (or so) you have no business going out to a stagette and drinking with the 19 - 26 crowd. Just so you know.

Before we get to that though, 'Nessa and I went to the production centre tour of Bard on the Beach on Saturday afternoon. It was great. Got to see the teeny tiny little mockups of what the stages will look like, checked out the costuming department (beyond cool!), and then...wait for it...we got to sit in on part of the rehearsal for Taming of the Shrew. FABULOUS! My three favourite actors were all there, Haig Sutherland, Rob Frazer, and Kyle Rideout. It was wonderful. They are doing it in the concept of spaghetti western and it really worked. It's going to be hilarious.

From there, I'm afraid things went downhill. A bunch of us were going to celebrate a friends impending (hmmm, that sounds sort of ominous) marriage and away we went. To the strippers. I'm proud to say, I had never been to the strippers before. I can no longer say that. Sigh. Before we went Vanessa and I were having a few drinks at home. Which led to a few shooters. Which led to this:

This one has some Stella in it. The dogs were having a gas with us running around like idiots.

Why yes, we are cool! It's like Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings threw up. You can tell how this is going to end, can't you? Off to the bar, more drinks, falling, having to leave the bar. Yep, I am way too old for these sorts of activities. Anyway...needless to say 'Nessa and I were just a scoach hung over on Sunday. So hung over in fact that I did not make it to my mom's house and take her for dinner. I might actually be the worst daughter in the world. I'm sorry mom! I'll totally make it up to you this weekend. :)

Also, because of the production centre tour I didn't make it to the Fibre Festival. Lavender says it was lovely. Go see the linen she's spinning, very cool!

After my interview with the RCMP yesterday (which went okay I think,) I popped over to a yarn store in the area that I had never been to, Three Bags Full. Nice, lots of stuff I hadn't seen in person before, Blue Sky Alpaca, Kidsilk Haze, Louet Gems, etc. I did pick up a few things, you know to make me feel better about missing the fibre festival. Okay that's what I'm telling myself. Some Lorna's Laces shepherd sport in purple and orange, a couple skeins of Malabrigo, and I think what might be the last two skeins of Sweet Georgia sock yarn in Vancouver. Oh, and a Noro book.

On the Sockapalooza front, I've started my pal's socks. I did end up changing my mind about the pattern about 76 times. I'm just getting to the patterning so I'll take a pici tomorrow when it looks like more. Version 76.a.1 are the Tidal Wave socks. I think the greens will look nice. Okay, that's it, I'm outta here. I got a tonne o' stuff to get done before work tonight. This working afternoons is starting to grind a bit. Have a good day everyone, I'm going to go sit in my yard in the sunshine and knit a bit before I go to work. :)

I was feeling a little blue...

2007-05-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

then I read this:

I don't feel blue anymore. I'm just really happy to be who I am and living where I live and when I live. Wow. I first heard about this book from Bookslut. Thought I would give it a try. Picked it up on Sunday and started it on the bus home . I finished it last night after work and then had an awful time trying to go to sleep. There is some amazing/brutal/stark/desperate imagery in this book. There is this fine cord of love and humanity in it though that is really very beautiful.

NOT a light read. I think I'll go read a Terry Pratchett to get the taste of this one out of my brain.

Who will you be?

2007-05-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

From Knitting by Moonlight. I loved these books and I'm dead curious to see what the movie will be like. Go see who you are. :)

Wicked, ungrateful, forgetful,

2007-05-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

Daft, etc. I totally forgot to show you this:

When I got up yesterday there was a surprise waiting for me. Look what Vanessa got me! How sweet is that. I wore it to work last night. I felt gangsta and knitta, all at the same time! Ta da! Thank you 'Ness. I love it!

Soooooo, wanna play golf?

2007-05-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

My beloved Canucks lost 2 - 1 in second overtime last night. If we could all have a moment of quiet.....right, that's enough of that.

Okay, here it comes. Are you ready for it? There's always next season! Man, I am some kind of tired of saying that!

Anyway, nothing I can do about that. Look at this neato thingy I found in a thrift store for $1.00.

How cool is that? Just built for multicolour projects. What was that bleak future movie that kept showing tv commercials and one had the guy who just kept saying "I'd buy that for a dollar!" Robocop? Running Man? Anyway, I would and and I did buy that for a dollar!

Then, just now, when I went and opened the front door for a bit o' natural light to take the above pici I found my Scout's Swag club package on my front porch! Sweet.

Mmmmmmmmmmm, lavender and mint. Love it. There is gorgeous sock yarn, lip balm, Heal My Hands for hands and sample for heals, and a facial scrub. Yummers.

Don't tell hubby, I sort of joined the club in a moment of weakness. I never thought I'd be picked in the lottery. 'Course I was picked and 'course I was secretly delighted! Duh, who wouldn't be. But, shhhh, he doesn't need to know. I'm pretty sure he doesn't stop by here. Vanessa, don't you say a word!

Just for fun

2007-05-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

Go here so that this next bit will make sense!

I smoked my sister because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars!

No, I'm not high. Teehee

Oh! Oh my!

2007-05-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

That is the most Canadian thing I say. As a people, when we are shocked/distressed/blown away that is what we say. Oh! (pause, then) Oh my! Pretty hard line, right?

Anyway, I just got an email from the RCMP, they want me to come in for an interview in a week and a half. Wow, I feel a bit sick now. If change is good then this must be a whole new level of good.

Okay, off to work, and the other interview I have today. Rains, pours, blah blah blah.

One for Ann

2007-04-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here is my Just One More item for Ann.

Patons SWS, cast on 60 stitches, 2x2 ribbing for a couple of inches, round and round for 8 0r 9 inches, three needles bind off in three sections. This also looks really cute if you put a pompom on each point. I suck at pompoms so it will have to be as it is. :) You could also put wee tassels on each point.

Hubby loves these, he keeps asking for one for himself. I'm pretty sure he's going to want to have the pompoms too. Kind of an outgoing guy when he wants to be! :)

Finished my week of training on the new job on Friday and got moved into a desk. Very nice. So far it's been really great. The people are very nice and the place is great so all is good. I did get a call to go for another interview on Wednesday though. It's in the afternoon so I'm going to go and see what they have to say and what's on offer.

I'm still plodding along on the body to Poppy. I'd show it to you but it's the same as it was, only longer! The drop spindling continues as well. When there are no dogs around! Man, they just love to sniff/touch/grab dangling spinning objects.

That's about all I've got for today. Oh wait, I forgot, I have some cool pattern links. Some free, some for a nominal fee! Just some things that have caught my eye lately:

Licorice Whip

Gift of Friendship

Peasant Sweater

Bellocq Stockings/socks

Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl

See, this is why I never get anything finished. If all designers would stop making such pretty new things I could finish some pretty old things!

Happy Monday y'all!

Thursday, right?

2007-04-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

I'm having some difficulties keeping track of time now that I'm on nights. So far the job is great. Last night we got far enough in our training to actually be doing the work. That's when I thought I might be severely learning disabled. I simply could not wrap my brain around all the different bits of information. So, I sucked it up, took a chance and just did what I thought was right. Got back my first 40 bits o' work and no errors! Can I get an amen? Phew, right?

It's really strange to be learning something so very new and different from what I've done for so long. So far though, the place is great and the people are really nice too. I'm very pleased with my situation right now. On Friday we move out of our training room and up to our actual desks and then it go girl go.

One really nice thing, before I go to work I have all this quiet time that I can knit or read or just about anything I want. I get some laundry done, maybe a bit of vacuuming, clean the birds, you know, detail work right? By the time Friday comes all the chores should be done and I can just hang out with my baby and Nessa. All good I tell you.

The downside though, I really miss the amount of time I had with my baby, and everyone else! Hubby has to go to bed pretty much right after he picks me up from work. Saturday and Sunday will become whirlwinds of activity I'm sure. He did the grocery shopping yesterday though so that's one time wasting task out of the way. I guess if we both do all our chores throughout the week we can just relax on the weekends.

I've been playing with the spindolyn and with a drop spindle that hubby had made me years ago. I think I'm sort of getting the hang of it. I hope so, cause I joined the Hello Yarn fiber club! Bahahahaha

Okay, I need to have some lunch and get some knitting done before work. See y'all soon. :)

Oh, one last plus to working nights, I didn't have to watch my Canucks get beaten like an old rug last night! Yikes.

I should have bought a lottery ticket

2007-04-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, April 23, 2007? Going down as one of the best days of my life.

I started my new job and it was brilliant. I'm so happy I could just plotz. The people were soooo nice and the place is great. I'm so happy I made this decision. This week will be all training then next Monday it's go go go.

The Canucks beat the Stars in game seven!

I did miss the Canucks game but, as I've said before, Trevor Linden is the best player ever to wear a Canucks jersey. Gets the go ahead goal and we are on to the second round! Whoot whoot!

Days like that don't come around all the time. Which makes you appreciate them all the more. :)

I love it when it all works out

2007-04-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here is my sweater and I am deeply in love. I was going to do a reverse crochet around the neck but I think I might just leave it as is.

Nerves

2007-04-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

I start my new job tomorrow afternoon and I'm feeling just a touch nervous. Actually, when I stop and fully think about it I kind of almost throw up a little bit. I'm sure that's perfectly normal. Oh well, at least I finally took the leap and moved out of that comfort circle.

On Friday there was cake at work and then Lisa and Vanessa had a wee song prepared. They revamped the So Long, Farewell song from The Sound of Music to be all about where we work. It was awesome! Then some time in the pub where some shooters were shot. It's been so long since I did tequila shots that I forgot the order one is supposed to do the salt/lime/tequila in. How sad is that!

Yesterday Vanessa and I went to Macleod's Books. WOW! It was fantastic. When you walk in there is that old old old book smell. Inside the front cover of a collection of Thomas Moore's poems was a gift inscription from 1902. It was wonderful. We wandered around and drooled for two hours and didn't even feel like any time had passed. We didn't even make it to the basement! Next time. We also hid Grand & Toy and bought blank notebooks. It was brilliant to go with someone who gets that same look in there eye for pens, paper, and books.

After our shopping foray we had grilled panini sandwiches in a little cafe and drooled over our books some more. It was an awesome day.

I washed and blocked my Glampyre raglan and I should be sewing up the hem today. If I do I'll post a pici later on. It washed up so soft, I'm sure it will be one of my staple sweaters come next winter. Actually, the way the clouds are rolling in maybe I'll get to wear it today before I fold it up and store it away for winter.

And finally, I'm very sad to report that my Canucks have lost two straight. Both of them shutouts. They have to win tomorrow night or they are eliminated from the playoffs. Soooooo, if everyone out there could send a wee happy hockey thought to Vancouver at about seven pm pacific time, that would be great! Thanks. :)

Look! Look! Look!

2007-04-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

I got my Spindolyn! I'm so excited. I also got an extra top bit?!?!?!?! for plying. Very excited. It's resting on my Poppy body. The colours aren't quite true there though, it's richer in person, more greeny/brown. I'm quite liking it. Patons SWS for the stripey bits and some Adriafil Valentino for the main body. I think that's what the Adriafil is called, Valentino, I'm afraid I don't have the ball band close at hand.

And now, some Sun Run pictures:

Masses of people

The obligatory pici of the drift of cups at a watering station

One of the bands along the route. Love men in kilts!

It's so cool to see these places that are normally full of traffic with only people. Most excellent!

Keep in mind, I did not get the best picture of the day. Picture it if you will, Sunday morning, about 9:20 am. 54,000 people along Georgia Street. My particular group of purple runners (not quite the slowest but pretty frickin' close) are all bunched up under the Four Seasons Hotel. A nice elderly couple on the 17 or 18th floor are waving at us, we're all waving back. THOUSANDS OF US, that part is important. Then, two floors up, chubby naked man throws open his curtains notices the THOUSANDS of people looking up at the building and almost frantically tries to throw himself back into his room. The whole purple section, all at once "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

It was brilliant. Of course, I didn't have my camera at the ready. Never fails, you always miss those perfect blogging opportunities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

2007-04-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

I present to you, the greatest Canuck ever.

Thank you very much, I now return you to your regularly scheduled day.

I know why you're here!

2007-04-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

You wanna know if you won something! Without further ado, the winners of the Knit for Dulaan contest

1. Lucy wins the Stitch markers!

2. CeCe wins the Regia Cotton!

3. No Blog Rachel wins the Lana Gatto!

4. Pat wins the Scarves & Shawls book!

Send me your snail mail address and I will visit Mr. Post Office this Saturday. Rachel, I think I lost your snail mail addy. I'm so addled lately it's just embarassing.

Thank you so much for knitting for Dulaan and for entering the contest. I love that we are all helping with such a worthwhile cause. And, I really love seeing what everyone is working on and stealing er getting new ideas for future knitting projects for Dulaan. You guys are really great, I'm so proud to know you. Okay, must stop now, getting mushy and stuff. :)

I'll post up some Sun Run picis tomorrow night, after the hockey game of course! Duh. My boys won last night, in overtime. I don't think my nerves can take all this overtime. Oh, I almost forgot, I got a new job today. I start on Monday. How's that for fast turnaround? Now I feel even more addled than normal.

I'm so weak...

2007-04-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

But, I don't think it's all my fault. I went to Birkeland Brothers today. Oh my. I was just going to get a bit of fibre for spinning for when my Spindolyn arrives. Um yeah, let's just say that my yarn diet was seriously if not mortally wounded. First there was the Pima Cotton/silk blend, and the Drops Alpaca, and then the Mellenweit sock yarn. I'm so weak. But I did get a lovely little back of fibre for spinning. 100 grams worth, in addition to the 800 grams of lovely lovely yarn I bought.

Worthless and weak I tell you! Worthless and weak. Phe, whatever. Live hard, buy yarn.

Next month Rabbitch is going to be doing up one of the display windows at Birkeland Bros in style. Make sure you stop by and have a look at her goodies. She loves it when folks do that. Snort.

Tomorrow is the Vancouver Sun Run. Think of me out there forcing my rather largesh frame along the 10km course. The weather is supposed to be very good though, which is nice. I'll try to get some good picis for y'all. Vancouver is a beautiful city so the scenery along the course is good for distracting you from thinking about your aching feet & calves. :)

Tomorrow is also the last day to send me in your entries for the Dulaan contest. Cutoff is midnight tomorrow night. So far, not as many entries as in last fall's contest so those of you already in there, much better odds of winning! Those of you who have been waiting until the last minute, time is almost up.

My beloved Canucks lost last night too. I was most sad. They just didn't seem to have it together, I think that super long game on Wednesday must have ground them up a bit. Plus, they were missing three players due to injury. Not good, not good at all. Have to make sure I'm wearing my lucking underwear tomorrow night. Whatever works baby, whatever works.

Go Canucks Go

2007-04-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

Game two tonight! Here's hoping that the boys just wipe the floor with the Stars within 3 periods of play. Please, I'm too old to be watching quadruple overtime games. My heart can't take it.

And, we're getting down to the last few days of the Knit for Dulaan contest. You have until midnight pacific time on Sunday night to enter. Just send me a pici or a link to a pici to the email address in the sidebar to be entered. One entry for each item you've made between Mar 1 and Apr 15. Hubby will be doing the draw on Monday night after work and I'll post and contact the winners then.

There's still plenty of time to whip up one more hat or maybe a scarf to enter. Can't wait to hear from you.

Now, if everyone out there could send some very winning vibes to my Canucks tonight the would be great! Thanks. :)

Four Overtimes? Are you kidding me?

2007-04-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, that was amazing. I'm spent.

More entries, and a linkfest

2007-04-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

The Dulaan contest is getting exciting! Just look at this! Lucy over at Workbasket submitted 16 items. Whoot whoot! I am blown away.

Now go on over there and wish her a happy birthday. :)

And Beth, (who I believe is blogless, but if not, please speak up and let us come to your place!) made this gorgeous steppe sweater for Dulaan. I love the colours and it looks amazingly warm and comfy. I love it. Note to self, must make one of these sweaters.

It's always so exciting to see what other people are creating, especially for something as wonderful as Dulaan. Thanks guys, you rock!

Now, how many of you signed up for Sockapalooza 4 today? I can't wait to get my partner. I want to cast on right now. Sing out in comments if you're in on this. I would love to follow along with all of you on what socks you're making.

Okay, first game of the NHL playoffs tonight. My Canucks are playing the Stars, at home. And...it's Trevor Linden's birthday. Swoon. Everything send some good hockey juju for my boys. They so deserve a Stanley Cup.

The only problem I foresee, my gauge is completely screwy when I'm watching hockey, especially playoffs. Should make for an interesting Poppy.

Oh, before I forget, I also joined Hello Yarn's fibre club. 'Cause I ordered that Spindolyn. Oh crap, another obsessive hobby. Sigh.

Are you in?

2007-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Love me some socky goodness!

And, only four more days to send me your entries for the Dulaan contest. The husband is getting excited about using the vote-o-matic 3000 this year. We've upgraded you see.

Have a good day!

Sorry!

2007-04-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

You know it's bad when you talk to your mom and she mentions that you haven't updated your blog all week! Sorry sorry sorry! It's been wicked busy around here. I've got a few free moments now so here you go:

1. The sweater that insisted being knit about 3.5 times is done! Yay, all it needs is a wash/block and for me to sew up that bottom hem. A row of reverse single crochet around the neckline might be in order too, we'll see.

I love it. I think it will become my favourite sweater. The minute it gets cold again. I'm particularly enchanted that I completed a chunky weight alpaca sweater in the first week of April. Oh well, at least it's completed!

2. No Blog Rachel (Come over to the dark side Rachel! Get a blog! You know you want to!) emailed me three lovely entries for the Knit for Dulaan contest. Very cute & warm stuff. Have you knit for Dulaan today? Don't you want to win one of these lovely prizes? Also up for grabs, a copy of Shawls and Scarves. Very pretty stuff in there!

Go here for details.

I should have been a game show host, or a carnival barker.

3. Started on Poppy. Mostly stash yarn, although I did use my Michael's gift certificate for some Patons SWS to be the stripey part. That gift certificate was my last safety net. I get one more little yarn free for all in May at the Fibre Festival (shout out, you lower mainlanders, who's going? Rabbitch? Lavender? Linda? Anyone else that I don't know yet? what day? shall we meet and make small animal noises over fibre together?), and then that's it until November 1. I'm getting the shakes just thinking about it.

4. I ordered a Spindolyn. Go over there and check out the video. How cool is that?!?!?!?! I've never had any success with drop spindles but this looks like it's just about my speed. Plus, it's about $600.00 less than a spinning wheel.

Okay, I'm out. I'm going to watch the Thank God You're Here premiere. Looks like fun.

Oy

2007-04-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

What a week, and now it's Sunday, which means that there is another week just around the corner. But...it is a short week. Thank you Christian calendar and your Good Friday. I don't believe but I'm completely willing to take the day off. This is the first long weekend of the year and that January to April dry spell of long weekends just sucks.

I've been working on my Glampyre top down raglan. I ripped the entire thing back last week and took out the striping. To recap - horizontal stripes on the widest part of your body = bad. So I knit on down the body, did a tiny bit of side shaping to give it a waste and cut down on the bulk through the midsection and then thought, hmmmmm, a picot turning ridge with a rolled hem would be nice. Gosh yes, it would, wouldn't it? Now, for those of you who want to count along at home, get a pen and pencil. I then did the following:

1. plain black picot turning ridge - boring, got lost in all that black.
2. blue joined at the yo/k2tog row - totally lost the blue in the turn.
3. one row blue before the yo/k2tog row - still lost
4. two rows blue before the yo/k2tog row - wow, that looks like cr*p
5. purl ridge in black for a nice flat clean turning edge - success!

Moral of the story? Keep it simple stupid.

Then it was on to the sleeves. Sleeves seem easy? Right? Not so much. Okay, let's count some more, shall we?

1. Knit the entire sleeve as written, try on - huge sleeve, not quite a wing but pretty effing close! My row gauge must be on crack.
2. Knit the entire sleeve using a faster decrease - every four rows instead of 8. Better, much less batty. Super.

Cuffs. I wanted long 3x3 ribbed cuffs. Not tight but not flapping about uselessly. Easy right? Come on, seriously, cuffs are wicked simple? Yeah, apparently so am I.

1. Downsize from 6mm needles to 4.5mm needles - wrong! So tight as to be insane and look like I was wearing some sort of ribbed wrist support.
2. Okay, fine, rip back and try 5mm needles. Similar problem, just too darn tight and not the look we are going with.
3. Fine! I totally get it! I will use the same size needles, 6mm, as the body and just do the ribbing. Ta da. Here is a pici of its current state. Doesn't it look so innocent and friendly? Pheah! Not so I tell you, not so.

I'll be trying that last cuff option tonight while watching the first episode of Dr. Who season 3. If that doesn't work I might just frog the whole thing and knit it all up into hats for Dulaan! I do love this sweater though, it fits and feels really nice when I try it on so I really hope this works out tonight.

I must say though, this Elann Peruvian wool is taking all these re-knits very well. No breaks, no nasty weak spots, very good stuff. It also seems to hold the ribbing very well. This sort of surprised me because it's a very loose spin, almost like a Lopi, I wish they would make it available again, it was only available by the bag - 10 balls to a bag. Soft though, gosh I love it.

Remember, 2 more weeks to send me your entries for the Dulaan contest. Just email me a pici or a link to a pici of a completed item for Dulaan. For each item completed you get one entry into the contest. Click to see the prizes.

That's all I've got for now. Oh, to answer the question that I know my mom is thinking, no I didn't finish the wee quilt yet. I'm hoping to work on it a bit this week. I'll post it up as soon as I'm finished. Today Nate and I spent the day cleaning out the basement bedroom and making it all clean and habitable. We may be having a house guest for a few weeks. Thanks to our efforts they will now get the cleanest room in the house! Hilarious. Have a great Sunday y'all.

I'm what?

2007-03-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

38 you say? Wow, that's flipping amazing. I never thought I'd be that old, not ever! It's okay though, I usually act like I'm 12.

The rain has finally stopped here in the wettest place on earth! We broke all kinds of weather records. Most consecutive days of rain, most rain in the month of March, most muddy dog footprints I've EVER had to clean up in a month, etc, etc.

On Saturday my mom and I met up with Linda and hit the Sewing and Needlework show in Abbotsford. I was virtuous and bought no yarn. Virtuous might be overstating it, nothing really sang out to me. Which is good. However, I should be flogged for forgetting that Saturday was Linda's birthday! Can you imagine? I was her secret pal last year, there is positively no excuse for forgetting something that important. Ridunkulous. I'm so sorry Linda, I hope spending part of your special day with mom and me was at least a little bit fun for you!

There was a book vendor at the show, Copperfield's Books, and they had a tonne of knitting books. Three in particular that I've been wanting.
So they came home with me. The mitten book is a great resource book. I've wanted Charlene Schurch's book forever, but unless they reprint, that isn't going to happen. Her "Hat's On" book is amazing too, but not available at amazon.ca only at amazon.com. I should send a note and see if they will stock it. We are the great white north, we need hat books!

And, while I was at the momma's I finished up two more Dulaan hats. Only 20 more days to enter the Dulaan contest. Let me hear from you!

The Patons SWS is really nice stuff. I also started working on my Noro blanket again, finally. After I farted around with the sewing/quilting you see in the last post. Mom and I got inspired at the show on Saturday and we're both blowing the dust off of our machines. I also picked up enough cotton chenille for a baby blanket for a friend at work so I might just play around with that this afternoon. I'm pretty sure I can sew a baby blanket much faster than I can knit one so I think with all these gals at work having so many babies, that might be the way of the future for me! I'll keep the knitting time for Dulaan and me!

Okay, I'm out. I'm going to go make another cup of coffee and head to the basement for some more sewing.

For Mom

2007-03-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

Some of these:

and a few of these:

become one of these:

which looks like this on the other side:

When joined together, they look like this:

and this on the other side:

Now I just need to make 5 more strips, join them, snip & fray, then a wash and dry and tada, Abbie gets a new blankie. :) Sweet, right?

I'm in love

2007-03-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

A word to the wise, order your own birthday presents and you will very rarely be disappointed.

These are great. If I was male, it would have been embarassing when these got delivered to work today. Yep, its that creepy how much I love these. :) Happy Wednesday. I'm gonna go cast on something. Anything. Just for the joy of it. God I love knitting!

Oh! I almost forgot, look what Linda made in my name! How cute is that?

And, look what CeCe made! Nice, right? Excellent cables!

Have you knit for Dulaan today? If you did, have you told me about it yet????? Dontcha wanna win? Dontcha deserve to win?

Movies & stuff

2007-03-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Look, a meme stolen from Lizz! Tick the movies you've seen. That is all.

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(X) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
(X) Saw
(X) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
(X) Scream
(X) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(X) Scary Movie
(X) Scary Movie 2
(X) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
(X) American Pie 2
(X) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
(X) Resident Evil 1
(X) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(X) Butterfly Effect
(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(X) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
(X) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
(X) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) King Kong
(X) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(X) Final Destination
(X) Final Destination 2
(X) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
(X) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(X) Flubber
(X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
(X) Ghost Ship
(X) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
(X) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
(X) The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
(X) Just Married
(X) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
(X) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
(X) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number SlevIn
(X) Ocean's Eleven
(X) Ocean's Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
(X) Independence Day
(X) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
(X) Darkness Falls
(X) Christine
( ) E.T.
(X) Children of the Corn
(X) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X) She's All That
(X) Calendar Girls
(X) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
( X) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X-3
(X) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(X) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday (More than one version)
(X) Reign of Fire
(X) The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
(X) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(X) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
( ) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
(X) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
(X) American History X
( ) Three
(X) The Jacket
(X) Kung Fu Hustle
(X) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X) Shaun Of the Dead
(X) Willard (More than one version)
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
(X) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
(X) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 1
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(X) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

Totally stolen from Lizz. Apparently if you have seen more than 85 you have no life. No contest there for me. And, as Lizz did, here are movies that I love that were missed:

(X) Demolition Man
(X) Withnail & I
(X) The Quick & the Dead
(X) The Breakfast Club
(X) Pitch Black
(X) Love Actually
(X) Four Weddings and a Funeral
(X) Pride & Prejudice (Colin Firth version or Greer Garson version)
(X) The Philadelphia Story
(X) Wuthering Heights
(X) Jane Eyre (the Timothy Dalton version - swoon!)
(X) To Live and Die in L.A.
(X) Notting Hill (sorry, bit of a Hugh Grant fixation)
(X) About a Boy
(X) Muriel's Wedding

That's all I can think of at this moment. I know there are a tonne more that I'm forgetting.

Okay, going to be now, but...one last thing...Dulaan contest...that is all. :)

Spring Cleaning

2007-03-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

I packed up my first two boxes for Dulaan today. So far:

12 hats, 1 scarf, 1 cardigan, 3 afghans, 1 neckwarmer. Currently on the needles for Dulaan, 3 hats and 1 pullover. I think more scarves & neckwarmers might be a good idea. Just to balance out the hats. Here's a pici of everything in their prepacked state:
That filled up two medium Elann boxes. I'd like to get one more boxes filled before the mailing date. We'll have to see how much work year end allows though. Don't forget, the Dulaan contest ends April 15. Email me (over to the right there) your picis or links to picis to be entered!

I also went through the stash and made some difficult decisions. I'm doing a little destashing over the next while. Some things are simply never going to get knitted up by me and I have to accept that and move on, hopefully to things that will get knitted up by me. :)

This week I also frogged the top down raglan. Tried that baby on and those horizontal stripes did not hit my chest in a flattering manner. I'm just going to do the entire top yoke in the blue and then the whole bottom/sleeves in the charcoal. I may do the picot cast turning row in the blue as well, we'll see. I hated to frog it but I knew that I would never wear it the way it was turning out.

That is about all I have today, I'm hitting the couch for some well deserved knitting/quiet time for the rest of the afternoon.

Spring already?

2007-03-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

And what that means to me is it was time for my yearly jaunt to the doctor's office. Everytime I see daffodils it makes me a bit skittish knowing that my time in the stirrups is coming up. After that joy, and the fabulous small talk one makes during such an uncomfortable time, "So, you knit? That's great!", hubby and I had to pop over to the Walmart to pick up some yarn for a friend. No really, it was for a friend, she couldn't find the right colours for her Harry Potter scarf so I said I would check Walmart. Stop looking at me like that, I didn't buy anything for me. I did have 6 skeins of some 100% wool in a pretty peridot colour in my basket but I put them back. Wanna know why? As we get to the till hubby says, "Oooooo, do you really want to buy that? Won't you have to tell on the blog that you bought yarn and broke your vow?" Yep, that's all it took. Out of the basket they came. I just couldn't face explaining that I had caved in after making it this far.

It was really pretty though. Oh well.

Well hello there!

2007-03-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

And how are ye? Sorry, we were just discussing St. Patrick's Day and I'm feeling a wee touch o' the Irish.

We had the Big Brother's Bowling fundraiser on Friday night. It was a 50's theme. Here are couple of picis for you to feast your eyes upon.

Obligatory bathroom shot in the morning before leaving for work. We decided to wear our outfits to work. It was casual Friday after all. Besides that, we're children.

Here is Vanessa and her amazingly poofy skirt. You wouldn't think a girl could bowl in that. Vanessa may just be the most agressive bowler I've ever seen in my life. She didn't so much bowl as shotput the ball down the lane!

And here is the lovely Sandra. We had to do wacky bowling, of course, this was Sandra bowling while sitting on Vanessa's lap. Much harder than one would presume!

We had a lot of fun and our team raised almost $1,500.00 for the Big Brother cause.

In other news, it is still year end at work and yesterday began the days of the the 12 hour shifts. Wow, I had forgotten how long 12 hours felt. I think I'm getting soft the older I get. Oh well, tonight I'm home and I'm knitting and it's all good.

I wanted to give some links to some fun knitting items that you might like to consider for Dulaan. Then you can enter the contest and maybe win a little something something. Wink wink. You know you want to! Anyway, you can find some very nice items to knit here, or here, or here, or here (as suggested by Mary on the Dulaan Knits Group), or here. That should give you a few good ideas to get the creative juices flowing. Now go forth and create! Then tell me all about it, my email is off to right there.

How you doin'?

2007-03-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday all. It is raining here like maybe I should be building an ark. So wet, and all you can smell in the house is wet dog. Yummy. Here's a pici of the Glampyre sweater I told you about. A very quick knit. I'm going to do a picot turning round at the bottom of the body in the blue and the a turned hem on smaller needles. Should be good. I think the cuffs will be the same. This unspun Peruvian is so soft I just love knitting on this. I have two more bags in black so maybe a wee cardigan or something. I'm getting a lot of roll around the neckline so I think a round of single or reverse single crochet might be in order there.

On the Dulaan contest front, look at these adorable, (and perfectly matched) mitts that Pat made! I love them, and they look so warm. Her Swallowtail shawl is gorgeous too.

Don't forget, every item you make and send me a pici of or a link to a pici of, you get entered to win some yummy knitting swag! You have until the middle of April so there is plenty of time, but don't wait until the end to share your creations! We all want to see them! :) My email link is over there on the right.

That's about all I've got for now. The day will be spent knitting, doing laundry, and making some lentil soup to keep the cold and wet at bay! Keep dry and warm everyone.

Misc.

2007-03-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a challenging week here at casa beentsy. Stella's epilepsy has been particularly bad the last two days and we're all a bit exhausted, Stella in particular. Hubby is fighting a cold and I'm knitting like a fiend to keep my sanity! :)

However, being the closet optimist that I am, I know that good things are always on the way. Then when they show up I can be all cocky about it! Good eh?

First good thing, Lizz is back blogging! Yay! Missed reading your stuff and seeing your knitting girl. Go look at her Christmas stockings on March 5. I'm in love with the Canucks one. Lizz has exceptional taste in books, especially when it comes to Guy Gavriel Kay. After the Fionavar Tapestry I think my favourite of his is Tigana. That book reads how good music feels. It just washes over you. Gorgeous.

Second good thing, I found the book prize for the Dulaan contest. It is the Shawls and Scarves book by Knitter's. Lots of lace to lust over in this one. Luckily being in a box due to renovations doesn't seem to have done it any harm! I'm not going to try taking a pici today, it is way to grey here. Pop over to amazon and you can have a peek at it.

Third good thing, with all this down time with the dog I've knit half of a sweater in about 3 days. No kidding, I am booking. Granted, it is on 6mm needles but I'm still well chuffed with my progress. It's the easy top down raglan (click on pattern shop and scroll down), by Stephanie Japel. Very nice and very user friendly. I'm doing mine in denim blue Cascade Pastaz (#31) for the yoke and some charcoal unspun Peruvian wool that I got in a bag sale at Elann about 3 years ago. I'm starting to have a deep and personal relationship with my stash. Which is a excellent. I'm also burning through about 3 balls a day of this stuff so that's all good!

See, silver lining. Oh, and I'm Bowling for Big Brothers tomorrow night. This is my third year being involved and it is such a lot of fun. It's a fifties theme this year which should be a hoot. I have my little fuzzy cardigan and my matching scarf to tie around my neck in a jaunty manner, hair in an obligatory pony tail and chewing gum all ready. Besides, I get to wear bowling shoes. I love bowling shoes. I really should google and see if I can find a place to buy some. Hmmmmm.

Wanna be in a study?

2007-03-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

It's all about how you process the humour in comics.

You filled out a questionnaire to assess your learning style along four scales: active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal, and sequential/global.

Your learning styles are: balanced active-reflective, balanced sensing-intuitive, visual, global.

active: you learn by trying things out, and enjoy working in groups.
reflective: you learn by thinking things through, and prefer working alone or with one or two familiar partners.
sensing: you are concrete, practical, and oriented toward facts and procedures.
intuitive: you are conceptual, innovative, and oriented toward theories and underlying meanings.
visual: you prefer visual representations of presented material, such as pictures, diagrams, and flow charts.
verbal: you prefer written and spoken explanations.
sequential: you have a linear thinking process, and learn in incremental steps.
global: you have a holistic thinking process, and learn in large leaps.

Your sense of humour is most similar to:

People in their 20's
People from: United States of America
Of gender: Female
Who speak: English
Your sense of humour is similar to those with a balanced active-reflective, intuitive, visual, and balanced sequential-global learning style.

If you'd like to take this survey, contact Eve Forster at Queen's University.

A little light reading?

2007-03-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

Taken from Mumbling Monkey:

Look at the list of (100) books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicize the ones you want to read.
leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
Movies don’t count.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay) (My favourite book of all time)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Huh, that's 51 for me.

Done and done

2007-03-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

Yep, there it is in all it's glory. The first pici is lighter than true life but lets you see the details a bit better.

This pici is a bit too dark, but you have the rare honour of seeing Mo Cuirdh, our older cat.

My friends call her my invisible cat because she is never seen when they come over. To be honest, she's not seen much when it's just hubby and I at home. She's lived with us for 13 years and is still a bit skittish. When it's all nice and quiet late in the evening she comes out for some lovin'. I'm not really sure what brought her out on a Sunday afternoon but there she is. :)

In honour of finishing an old UFO I'm going to cast on a new project tonight. I want a nice spring pullover and I'm gonna make one darn it, from stash yarn! I want to give the new 5mm Knitpicks needle a good run for it's money and be sure that a whole set of them is a good idea. Look at me, showing restraint and all! Boo ya!

Wow, is there a class for this?

2007-03-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

Man, I have got to get better at taking picis of myself and others. Pictures of yarn and nonmoving objects, not so bad. Anything with a pulse, forget it.

There is the giggle and jiggle

The flashbulb in the mirror.

Tottally off centre

The one where I look like I have a stick up my butt.

The one where I have 7 chins and a weird facial expression.

'Nessa looks good though, such a pretty smile! Needless to say, these are my fruitless attempts so show you my new cardigan. It needs some form of closure in the V-neck area, I'm thinking a length of thin leather to tie if I want it to stay closed.

I really like the sweater, very comfy and the yarn is great after being machine washed and dried flat. Not sure I if I would use the dryer, maybe one day when I'm feeling brave.

In other much more productive notes, Ann is knitting like a mad woman. I think it is the new swift and the ballwinder driving her on. Take a look at this little sweater she made last week. So cute! I've made this pattern for a friend at work and it is a winner. Actually, the cardi above in the incredibly sad photos is from the same designer. I love her patterns. I'm lazy, I don't sew, what can I tell you.

I found a new home for the Denise needles set. Hi Darlene! They are heading east as we speak and I hope she will be very happy with them. I'm going to order my Knitpicks set this weekend and then stalk the mailman for a week or so. He likes that. I still have not found the box with the book prize, but I will, I promise. Some time this week.

I also finished a couple of Flap Caps this week during my odd moments of free time between work and home. One two strand model of sock yarn and DK weight wool like Pat did and one in Patons SWS.

I'm off to do some more work on my long in the works crocheted afghan. I think I should be able to finish it this weekend. Finally. It's only been ongoing for about two years. Sheesh!

Are you ready to rumble???????????

2007-02-28T18:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I've always loved that! Makes me wanna go to a truck and tractor pull or a wrestling match.

The contest rules are the same as last time:

1. My blog, my contest, my rules. Why yes, it is like a dictatorship and that's okay!

2. Make an item for Dulaan, send me a pici or a link to a pici of item and bingo, one entry into the contest. Each item counts as one entry. Make 50 items, get 50 entries.

3. You can knit, crochet, weave, sew, macrame, whatever. Just make it warm and well for someone in Mongolia.

4. Ship your finished items to FIRE in time for their July 1st cutoff to be sent to Mongolia for the coming winter.

5. Email me your entries at beentsy AT yahoo DOT ca I'll post that email in the sidebar when I get a free nano second.

6. Feel good that you did a good thing and helped someone that you've never even met. Nice eh?

Now, this little contest is going to run from tomorrow, March 1, 2006 to Sunday, April 15, 2007. At that time I will use the incredibly advanced selection process perfected last time we did this and select winners. How cool is that?

Here are the prizes you will be knitting for this spring.

First Prize: 2 50 gram balls of Lana Gatto VIP - this gorgeous! 80% wool and 20% cashmere, 200 metres per skein. Maybe a Flower Basket shawl (scroll down)? Just a thought.

Second Prize - 2 skeins Regia Cotton Color - 100 gms each 41% superwash wool/34% cotton/25% polyamide. 'Cause spring IS coming and you will need cotton socks!

Third Prize - 7 little stitch markers assembled/made by moi. 2 purple, 1 cloissone (sp?), 4 in a black/teal/purple colour. Kinda cute if I do say so myself. Fits up to a 5.5 mm needle comfortably.

Fourth Prize - is a book. That's packed due to renovations. I don't want to list the title just in case the packing of the book has hurt the book in some way. When it has been unpacked I will reveal all! Suffice it to say, it's a knitting book. Duh, right?

ETA: The book is Shawls and Scarves by Knitters. Some very yummy projects in here!

Okay, I have to go. Hubby says I have to stop playing with my friends and come eat dinner. I'll finish this later.

Now get creating! :)

Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!

2007-02-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, Tuesday huh? Okay, whatever. Anyways, I finished my cardigan. It needs a wash and a block before I it's premiere. The pattern called for ties at the edges of the v-neck but I want a nice simple pewter clasp or something like that. Any suggestions kids? It's a faded denim blue so I think a silver clasp will look pretty.

I worked an 11 hour shift today and I'm whooped. I'm gonna go eat cheezies for supper and work on another WIP. Don't forget, the Dulaan Spring Fling contest starts on Thursday. Get your needles warmed up!

A quickie with some picis

2007-02-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

Vanessa, my friend from work, and the daughter I will never have, got me the greatest gift! Look at how cool this is. It's one tremendously long zipper that you zip up and up and up and up into a purse. It's my new small project knitting bag. I love it!

To prove that Nessa is the daughter I will never have just look at this. We bought the exact same geek shoes two days apart and when we weren't even together. Love it!

I also got these in the mail yesterday. They are really nice! I am seriously swooning over the pointiness of these needles and the smoothness of the join. Wow. I think I'm gonna buy the set.

To that end I will be selling my Denise set + an extra 52 inch cord (very handy for ponchos and blankets). $25.00 US plus shipping via Paypal and she's all yours. If you're interested drop me a line at beentsyATyahooDOTca.

I've also been a busy little beaver lately making some stitch markers and such for the upcoming Dulaan contest. We're gonna start the party on March 1 so get you're needles warmed up. I'm thinking some stitch markers, a book, some yarn, and I don't know what else there will be for prizes. Aren't you excited? Wicked!

Oh, and I got the new Spring IK. I am not amused. IK is not supposed to have all the patterns in the back like Vogue and FCEK do. That's one of the biggest reasons I like IK. Make the OH! noise about a pattern, look to the side, check out the pattern and see if you have the yarn, is is something you want to attempt, what does the designer have to say about it, etc. etc. etc. Oh well, whatcha gonna do eh? That said, I love the Green Tea Raglan, the Bauhaus Fair Isle, and the Dollar and a Half Cardigan.

And Kat, you are totally right. Matching is probably highly overrated! And to that end, I scavenged a really cool mirror yesterday when I was at work. A woman who was moving was putting out a bunch of stuff for the garbage and I swept in and saved the mirror. Within about 15 minutes everything she had put out was picked up and taken away by people. I love recycling!

Okay, gotta go do laundry. Must have clean undies & jeans for casual Friday. Too much information? Yeah, you're probably right.

Reno Hell

2007-02-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

Phew! Man I worked today. We closed in one doorway/arch in the livingroom and framed in a new doorway. Drywall is the most disgusting feeling thing in the world. You can feel it literally sucking the moisture right out of your skin. The room is starting to look who we want though. Hubby has videon on his phone of me using power tools so once he forwards that I'll post it up. I definitely did not miss my calling when it comes to screwing in gyproc! There will be much sanding and filling to correct all the boo boos.

We also found the couch and loveseat we want and at a really reasonable price. We've had futons since we've been together and that was all fine and good when we were 25 but I think I might just want to try this whole being an adult thing with matching furniture before I'm a senior citizen!

I want to thank everyone for all their kind words about the hat pattern. I'm so glad you guys like it. It gives me the warm fuzzies to know people are making them to give to others to keep warm. Nice.

Okay, I really need a bath. This manual labour stuff is for the birds. This is exactly why I'm an accountant, the low sweat to work ratio. Have a brilliant Sunday evening, I'm going to be watching Rome and finishing my final sleeve on the Knitting Pure and Simple cardi. Then I have to wait for the three balls I got in the auction to arrive so I can finish the body.

OMG!

2007-02-11T13:20:00.001-08:00

Holy crap! I'm spent. I just wrote up a pattern, got some webspace, uploaded the file, and now I'm here sharing it with you! Sweet right? I love technology when it works.

Okay, keep in mind, this is the first time I've ever written up a pattern so be kind but please let me know about any errors/omissions/glaring mistakes so that I can fix them.

Oh, and it's a .doc file. I don't have adobe, sorry!

In a Flap cap pattern.doc

In a Flap cap Pattern.pdf

ETA: Ginger wins as the smartest gal of the day! She totally hooked me up with a converter to flip from word to .pdf. Sweet! Huge kudos to Ginger! Oh, and go see what she bought at Madrona. Swoon.

Doh!

2007-02-11T09:32:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add this link. These are so beautiful! They are called Winding Cable Kneesocks by Chrissy Gardiner. So pretty.

What a week

2007-02-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Whew, am I ever glad it's Sunday. I'm hitting the couch with the knitting so hard today you may be able to see the rising dust cloud from where ever you happen to be!

Had the sedond interview on Friday and met the big mucky muck of the operation. It went well. I should hear about that early next week. There are some tremendously big rumblings at work though so we will have to see how all this shakes out over the next week. I need to make some lists and have some meetings. What is expected of me? What is my role? What can I expect from others? Blah blah blah. I'm too old for work drama. I think I might have like it when I was younger but not now. Home & family provide enough drama, work should not be competing for an Oscar on the drama front.

And poor hubby had a tooth extracted on Friday so he is just miserable and swollen and unhappy. I think he might be sick of Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli too! Bahahaha.

Cats were taken to vets for blood tests and urine tests. They too were very unhappy and very vocal about it.

Tammys were also taken to human vets for yearly checkups and medications fart arounds. I was equally unhappy but much less vocal.

I'm telling you, it's going to be a pretty quiet day at the old homestead. A little rest and recharge before we charge back into the fray tomorrow.

On the knitting front, I'm working on one of my big UFO's. A top down sweater from Knitting Pure and Simple. #241 to be exact. Love their designs. The first sweater I ever knit was from Knitting Pure & Simple. I ran into a little problem though. I was almost finished the first sleeve and tried it on to check the length. Ummm, yeah, the sleeve top was built for Popeye and the forearm was more for Kate Moss. Strangely, I'm somewhere in the middle on that one. So a ripping I did go. Had to frog the whole forearm and go up above the elbow and remove 3 sets of the decreases. Now I'm just going to knit it straight, more like a kimono sleeve.

Then the problem occurs. I don't have enough of this yarn to complete the project because of the wider sleeves. It was a "Oh I have just enough of this yarn in the stash that I bought at Elann 3 years ago!" moment. You know the ones, you've all had them too.

So, stuck between the rock that is the stash diet and the hard place that is the need to get more yarn to finish a year old UFO I hit ebay. Thankfully someone had 3 balls of the exact same dyelot. It was meant to be and I'm not counting it as a slip.

I'm still working on writing up the wee hat pattern. Man, that's work. It is so hard to try to make sure you cover all the questions/issues people will have.

The sock toes have been put on hold. I was really unhappy with the joins on the needles I was using and decided to bite the bullet and order some of the classic circulars from Knitpicks. I'm told the joins are smooth as silk. The website tells me they have been shipped so I should have them next week.

I think that's about all there is to tell from here at Chez Yarn & Dustbunny. Man, I hope that's all I've got. I'm a simple woman and this much stuff in a week is wearing me down. :) Y'all have a good Sunday. If I get the hat pattern done I'll post it up later today.

Oh, and just because it's more fun to have a post with a pici, here's a shot from a couple of summers ago. Stella used to be quite the yarn thief. If the basement door was open she was in there and stealing anything not in a rubbermaid tote. This is me trying to salvage a skeif of sock yarn from Lotusblossom. I eventually just gave up and replaced it, (thankfully she had dyed another lot in the same colour!) there were way too many breaks once Stell was done with it. Up to the left on the fence you can see another skein she got the same day. It too was a writeoff. Aren't dogs great?

Oh my!

2007-02-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

I got called for a second interview, this Friday. Eeep!

The Rundown

2007-02-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, we're gonna be brief because I still feel like a large bag o' poo. These are the beginnings of the first ever toe up socks I've ever made. You MUST go here and check out this technique! This is one of the smartest thing I've ever learned as a knitter. Wicked smart! If you scroll down there is a printer friendly version too. So now I have sock toes and I will make some feet, then I will search for the perfect heel technique.

No-Blog-Rachel is participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. This is a truly huge endeavor so please go over and see her page and help her on her journey if you can. She is going to walk 39 miles over two days. Amazing!

I've also been making these hats for Dulaan. Super easy, I've got half of the pattern written out so I will hopefully share that with y'all this week sometime.

The other big news is that on Friday when I was festering away on the couch the City called about a job. I showered and drugged myself up appropriately and headed out for an interview that afternoon. It went really well, at least it seemed to from my Dayquil addled state. They are calling people back for second interviews and will make their decision early next week. Please cross some fingers. The job sounds really interesting and actually somewhat fulfilling as I would be doing something that actually makes my community a better place.

In knitting news, I actually knit a fair bit this week. I'm almost finished the body of my Knitting Pure & Simple cardi. I'm going to work on the sleeves today to make sure they are done before I finish out the rest of the body. I always worry about coming up short in the yarn department. And, better yet, this has been on the needles for almost a year and the yarn was in the stash for more than a year before that. Sweetness in the stashbusting department.

Okay, I need to get back to depleting the worlds supply of tissues and lozenges. Have a lovely Sunday everyone.

Silent poetry

2007-02-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

This is very cool. Here is a poem that I heard last week that has been rattling around in my head and speaking to me:

Guys Like That

Drive very nice cars, and from
where you sit in your dented
last-century version of the
most ordinary car in America, they

look dark-suited and neat and fast.
Guys like that look as if they are thinking
about wine and marble floors, but
really they are thinking about TiVo

and ESPN. Women think that guys
like that are different from the guys
driving the trucks that bring cattle
to slaughter, but guys like that are

planning worse things than the death
of a cow. Guys who look like that —
so clean and cool — are quietly moving
money across the border, cooking books,

making deals that leave some people
rich and some people poorer
than they were before guys like that
robbed them at the pump and on

their electricity bills, and even
now, guys like that are planning how
to divide up that little farm they just
passed, the one you used to call home.

By Joyce Sutphen

I have a bucketload of other stuff to tell you but I've been sick all week and I need to go lay down now! Sorry, hopefully I'll get my sparkle back this evening and we can share.

The thought occurs

2007-01-29T18:27:00.000-08:00

...that I have never made toe up socks. Therefore, it would only be slightly logical if I actually made a pair before I leapt off the knee sock precipice. Walking before I run and all that.

What this all means, of course, is a change of plans. I'm going to play with some Knitpicks merino and make some regular length toe up socks so I actually understand the the concept before I cast on and make a horse's patooty with my nice new No Blog Rachel yarn.

Huh, I haven't bought yarn in over a month and I'm thinking before acting. Aren't those the first two signs of the apocolypse? Oh my god! I dusted this weekend too! The end must surely by nigh! (Is that spelled right? What a stupid looking word).

Ta Da!

2007-01-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

Mock cable socks, off the needles and on my feet! Yay! Knee socks, here I come.

Guilt free

2007-01-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

Yep, I got me some guilt free yarn. No-Blog-Rachel is my saviour. We did a little swap-a-roo and look what I got:
Isn't is lovely? It's going to be gorgeous knee socks. And, Rachel works for a certain courier company so I got my yarn next day! Are you writhing with jealousy? Sigh, I love knitters. We take such good care of each other. Now Rachel is anxiously awaiting for some Lorna's Laces and Regia to hit her doorstep. Unfortunately, they were shipped via Canada Post so will take a bit longer.

I'm about 1 inch away from finishing my second mock cable sock and I'm casting on two, count 'em, two, socks tonight. I'm going to make both knee socks at the same time. I really don't want that level of second sock syndrome being possible.

So, the world is a good place, full of wonderful knitters and great yarn. Thankfully!

Oh, one more quick thing, ever since I upgraded to the NEW AND IMPROVED blogger some things are just not working very well. Like my Bloglines feeds apparently. I'll try to do a bit o' reading up and see if I can't figure out what to do about that. If anyone has any ideas/thoughts on the subject, I would love to hear from you.

Have a great Saturday night everybody!

fe fi FO fum

2007-01-21T13:15:00.000-08:00

Yeah baby! The pirate hat is done and hubby seems very please with it. Here's a couple of picis of him in it. Sorry for the blurry but we were both laughing too hard to get them in proper focus.
I made him hold the dog in this one.
This is the little scabby dog who adopted us last spring. Seriously, she just showed up and our big dog Jane called her down the driveway. She weighed about 5 pounds, was missing so much fur, hence we called her Wee Scabby Dog for weeks. Once we finally realized we were going to be keeping her we changed her name to Abbie. She was starting to respond to Scabbie and that seemed just too cruel. We got her spayed, she now weighs about 13 pounds, and last weekend we got her groomed to fix all the weird lengths of fur that were growing in and matting up and being nasty. She turned out really cute afterall. We're pretty sure she's Jack Russell/Poodle. A Jackapoo if you will. She's utterly spastic very terrier like. I can't believe how much she has changed since she came to us.

And No-Blog-Rachel had an excellent thought. Trading yarn = not buying yarn! Yes! You cunning little minx. I would totally love to trade yarn with you. Send me a pici of the sock yarn and tell me some of your favourite colours and I will shop the stash for you. I'll zip off an email to you right away and we can begin the yarn extravaganza. Thank you so much for offering this. By the way, what will we call No Blog Rachel when (not I didn't say if) she gets a blog? The blogger formerly known as No Blog Rachel? Bit of a mouthful that!

Okay, back to the UFO's. Next is the mock cable sock. I only have 1/2 a sock to go so that should be no problem. Must not knit tonight during Rome. That didn't work out so good last Sunday. Tension issues and just plain stupid errors abounded.

Oh murphy,

2007-01-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

I have an unquenchable urge to knit knee socks for myself. This is a bad thing. I see three problems:

I am tall, ergo I have longish legs, ergo more stitches
I have pretty fair sized calves, read "meaty"
I don't have enough of any one sock yarn to make knee socks for me.

Must not buy yarn, it's been 30 days since my last purchase, doing so well, maybe I could knit them in DK weight? Would that be too bulky on my longish meatyish calves? Oh crap, I'm losing my mind.

I must honestly confess, I had no idea just how much of a role my personal life played in my purchasing yarn. It would seem that when life is difficult (ie work blows goats, or, home is difficult, or, family are giving you the gears, etc.), I add to the stash. Doesn't even matter what I add, I just do it to feel better. It's a knee jerk reaction.

Hey, question, are all of us knitters just a touch OCD about things? Nevermind, stupid question. Of course we are. Okay, I think I've talked my way through another craving. Why isn't there a patch for this! Yarnoderm, now in clear for sensitive skin!

Grumble, mutter, belly ache, whatever. I'm going to go knit now. That's why I bought all that yarn, right?

Feeling bossy?

2007-01-15T19:03:00.000-08:00

Excellent! Go tell Linda what to do. You know you wanna.

Some fes, some fis, some fums...

2007-01-14T17:07:00.000-08:00

And hopefully one day, some FO's. I've joined the Stash and UFO Bust-Along and in the interests of full disclosure I am required to show you the following. Here are my pictures of what I need to get done or frog:

Left to right we have:

- Knitting Pure and Simple #241 - say 1/2 done?!?!?!?
- Coral Crossing - 2 sleeves - about 1/2 done
- CeCe - Phildar Onde - I'm thinking this will be a frog. Wrong yarn!
- Here Be Pirates hat - final repeats of skulls - home stretch
- Mock cable sock - on the heel flap of this one - second sock, yay!
- Noro blanket - love it, but omg, what a time committment.

Here we enter my blue phase:

- Ribbi Cardi - sleeves - 2 almost done Elann Highland Wool
- Fingerless Mitt - 1/2 first one - DB Cashmerino
- Spiral rib neckwarmer - merino angora - sooooo soft.

There, that is about it. There are of course some Dulaan items on the needles, one hat and one childs sweater. They don't count, those are my continuous knitting that I work on all the time. I never seem to have any problem finishing those items, just everything else. I wonder what that says about me psychologically?

Now, the KAL runs until April 15, there is no way on this earth that I'm going to get all of these things done by then but I'd be really happy if half of them were done by then.

There, I've flashed the stash, I've shown the WIP's, I am naked before you. Don't judge me too harshly. ;)

Seriously, wtf?

2007-01-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

This has got to stop. I love snow, but I am past enjoying this level of snow.

I'm going to go make my list of WIP's that I want to get completed during this, the time of yarn famine. Have I mentioned, it's been 21 days since I last purchased yarn? Feels longer. Okay, going now, I'm getting maudlin.

Flash your stash

2007-01-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, here it is. Please note this is after 3 hour of cleanup and whatnot. I did a bit of gutting, some frogging, some tossing, you know. Anyway, here it is in my short little basement:
The dresser in the bottom right, also full of yarn. Elann Peruvian Highland wool.

That is a buttload of rubbermaids. Also, I realized a few things about myself and my "collection".

I'm entirely too fond of Debbie Bliss. It's creepy almost.
For the amount of socks I knit, there is no justification for the amount of sock yarn I have.
I really like anything variegated/handpainted/self striping. For lack of a better term, I'm a colour whore who is too lazy to change colours on her own.
I seem to really prefer wool over any other fibre.

These picis are also incomplete. There is more stash in tiny pockets throughout the house. Mostly it's my travelling knitting. You know what I mean, wee bags with WIP's in them just ready to go for a car ride.

That's about it kids. I won't be taking picis of the UFO's today. I'm spent, I really am. That was exhausting and more than a little embarassing. I can't imagine counting it like Ann does. My head would explode.

I'm going to go knit now. Because that's why I bought all that stuff, right? Bahahahaha, sure it is!

And then I woke up to this:

2007-01-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a difference a night can make!

This is the west coast, these sorts of things aren't really supposed to happen to us twice in a month.

After this, the wind picked up. So much so that the roof on BC Place (our marshmallow in bondage) ripped open and deflated. Cool, right?

Not so much, all the politicians are having a fit because of the Olympics coming here in 2010 and BC Place is supposed to be for the opening ceremonies. Yeah, the opening ceremonies for the winter olympics, inside. How cool are we? Well, not very, 'cause they'll have the heat on. Sheesh. And, why do I have to go to an Australian newspaper to get a decent image? Click on the pici to go back to their original story and read all about it.

Now, today I have to get some stuff done. Some very uncomfortable stuff. Please note that I've put a counter up for the end of the Fibre Famine of '07. Nice right? Pot o' gold, end of the rainbow, unattainable seeming goal, blah blah blah.

To help with this I've also joined the Stash and UFO Bust Along that CeCe and Amanda have set up. So, later today I have to take picis of the stash (I'm really not comfortable with that. Makes me feel all nekkid!), and picis of all UFO's. Then I have to make some decisions regarding do I frog or complete a UFO.

Pictures at eleven, or whenever I get around to taking them and posting them. I seriously don't know how I'm going to photograph the stash. It's like Jabba the Hut, but in more than one room at a time. Hope you ADSL or cable, it's gonna take a few photos to get all this in, for the sake of full disclosure.

And so it begins

2007-01-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

Marlena! You're wicked I say, wicked! Tempting me with Debbie Bliss (.pdf file). It's not even noon on day one. I will be strong though. Only because I already got the colours I wanted in the cotton last year and I don't particularly like any of the colours in the DK weight. Whew! Dodged a bullet there.

Update on the renos, we have a new doorway. We found some terrifying wiring, some very bad brickwork, and some absolutely gorgeous warm red brick that was hidden behind drywall! It's very scary opening your house up. Like Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, you might get something tasty or you might get earwax. It's a crapshoot. Here is our new doorway from livingroom into what will be the kitchen/eating area:

And here is the lovely brickwork we found and now desperately want to uncover:

See? On the left, nasty badly done brickwork, on the right, lovely warm gorgeous brickwork that wraps around the back of the fireplace. Yum. This backs into the kitchen so now we want to keep it so that will completely change the plans we had for the kitchen. That's okay though, it's really pretty. Okay, off to the momma's for new years dinner and some serious 2007 knitting. I'm not buying anything!

Oh, and it's okay to giggle at any of the old decorating stuff you see in the reno picis. It was 1997, we were new homeowners, broke, clueless, and thought burgundy and gold was just about the sweetest colour combo ever. You've been warned. Well, except for the wallpaper borders, but I'll let you discover those on your own.

The part where I put it in writing

2006-12-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

I’m sorry it has come to this but I see alternative. 2007 will be a year of severe curtailing of yarn purchasing coupled with a concerted effort either complete or frog neglected, nay, abandoned projects. See examples: Noro blanket, Coral Cables, Noro Butterfly, Cece, Knitting Pure and Simple cardigan, etc.

My complete lack of self control has caused this situation and I have no one to blame but myself. So without further ado, here are my rules:

Yarn may be purchased for the following situations:

Small birthday bonanza – re: March
Abbotsford Fibre Festival – re: May(Note: thank the heavens I found out about this! What a great excuse.)
I will actually look ALL the way through magazines before I just chuck them in the cart. I know, this seems obvious, but the “Oh! The new whatever knitting of the month magazine is out! Yay! Ka ching” thing happens way too often.
If Elann puts any Rowan/Debbie Bliss/Noro/Jamieson on sale, I will have to seriously have a good soul searching and see if I can be justified in purchasing some. I’m not made of stone people!

Other rules:

No Blog Rachel had an excellent way of doing things that she shared with me. For each item she completed for herself/family/friends, she would make an item for Dulaan. This point is my favourite and the one I’m going to enjoy the most. I really hope no blog Rachel gets a blog in the New Year too!
My current Elann credit and the Michaels gift certificate I got from mom for Christmas, totally don’t count. Double duh. I’m keeping those for a couple of very rainy days indeed. You know, the kind of day when it’s yarn or someone gets hurt.
I will make a concerted effort to start and gasp!, complete some of the kits I have in the basement, such as Kilim, Rogue, Diva, Mariah, etc. You get the picture.
I may cast on any damn thing I want, at any time. As long as it is from stash. I’m not going to try and curtail my yarn collecting and startitis in the same battle. That would just be stupid.

Finally, this madness ends the first weekend of November. Just in time for the Langley Spinners & Weavers Artisan Show. Boo Ya!

That’s it. That’s all I’ve got. I feel drained, shaky, and a bit sick that I’m doing this. I am the world’s worst impulse shopper when it comes to this particular corner of my life.

However, seeing as spousal unit and I started this yesterday:

I may not have any time or money or energy left for such frivolous things as yarn. Yeah right. And blue monkeys might fly out of my bum, but it’s not very likely!

We are so going!

2006-12-29T19:22:00.000-08:00

Abbotsford. Fiber festival. May 2007. Sweet.

I googled. There are classes. One is two socks on one circular. I'm thinking I just might be in there. Second sock sydrome is a personal problem for me. It's also on a Friday, making this the first time I would have to book a holiday day to go knitting. How cool is that? Linda, Rabbitch, warm up your needles girls. Hey, Lavender, you in?

Maybe we could be a convoy! This here is the Rubber Duck and I'm about to put the hammer down! Bahahahahaha. I swear, I am my own best friend.

ETA: duh, it would help if I actually gave a link to the site, right? Go here. That is all.

Re: the rules

2006-12-28T19:35:00.000-08:00

Ummmm, Lavender, what is the Abbotsford Fiber Festival? And, more importantly, why have I never heard of this?!?!?!?!?!?! Linda! Did you know about this? Nevermind, about that, wanna go? Teehee! It's still pre 2007, I can write it in as a rule, no sweat. ;)

The Rules

2006-12-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

Following the lead of Rabbitch (except for #6) et al, I am currently drafting my own set of rules for living within the confines of my stash for part of 2007. Obviously gift certificates and elann credits I currently possess would not be counted. There will have to be some form of cheat day or falling off the wagon day, or something. I'm not too sure how I wills schedule or allow for those. It has to be over by the first weekend in November because that's when I hit the Langley Spinners & Weavers Guild Artisan sale. I totally lose my mind that day, and I'm not willing to give up the sugar rush feeling of that much yarn in a day.

Definitely a work in progress. Hopefully I will have it all fleshed out this week and be ready for the lean times (as I will be referring to 2007, bahahahaha) which are a' comin'!

We have a winner!

2006-12-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

Actually, we have five of them. So, without further ado:

Here is the incredibly high tech voting system employed by us here at House o' Beentsy. Yep, that's the Tupperware votomatic 6000. Spared no expense!

Nice, right? Don't mind the Koolaid, I was doing a bit of dying last night.

Here we see the selection of the winners. That's the hand of the hubby doing the honours. And here is our list of winners:

Leanne has won a prize to be named later that the self proclaimed contest whore Rabbitch is donating.

Blogless Rachel has won the gorgeous handmade book that Lavender created.

Lucet, who also appears to be blogless, won the two skeins of Regia sock yarn, so she'll have some warm tootsies in the new year!

Ann in PA won the five skeins of Classic Elite Maya. Whatcha gonna make? Scarf? Hat? Mitts?

And, drumroll please, our grand prize winner Kathy, won the skein of Fleece Artist Mohair Locks. I can't wait to see what she creates from that!

I will send all of you an email and if you can send me back your snail mail addies I will get your prizes out in the mail prolly this week. Once the post office opens after Christmas. Now remember, these are coming from Canada and it's the busiest postal time of the year, so it may take a wee bit for them to get to you.

I really enjoyed this guys, it's been great to meeting each all of you and seeing what everyone is creating. Loved it! One thing I didn't know when I started this contest was that there is a Yahoo Group for Dulaan knitting, so if you are interested go have a peak at that too.

Oh, and I'm sorry Cheryl, I had my fingers and toes crossed for you, but it just didn't work. :( Everyone, go see her creations. She is Talented!

Knitting Update

2006-12-23T16:02:00.000-08:00

My inbox overfloweth! Is that spelled right? Is that even a word? Nevermind, look at these!

Lucette has knit three items, one of which is this lovely hat:

Raven has also knit three lovely hats and has a neckwarmer on the needles. They look so nice and tweedy:

Rita is also sadly blogless, she has made this adorable baby surprise jacket and her son made the snowman to model it:

And Cheryl has knit the most gorgeous mittens! Go look at them, then scroll down and look at her quilts. I absolutely love the Thong Birds one, makes me smile big time!

It's fabulous I tell you, just fabulous!

Feelings

2006-12-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

I've been in a bit of a funk this week. I went to the funeral of a former co-workers son this week. He was seventeen and was murdered. One of those situations of young males, alcohol, young girl in the middle, house party, and some other idiot brings a gun to the party to show just how cool he is. Needless to say it all ended in the worst possible way. The pain on the faces of all those who loved this boy, in particular his mom, has stayed with me. I'm a fixer and I just don't know how to fix her pain.

Then, this morning, I opened my email and there were all these lovely people showing me all the great things they had created for Dulaan. And I felt better, a lot better. I also realized that I can't fix everything, particularly someone else's pain. But I can be there for them and that's enough. It has to be, right? I can also do things that will lessen other peoples suffering. Helping the local food bank, SPCA, the UN World Food Programme, and of course, knitting for Dulaan. And these folks feel that way too, because they also create to help others. So without further ado:

Lauren's been busy, and she has the most adorable model! Doesn't the Tychus from Knitty look great?

Leanne is doing some very nice stuff. Scroll down to the Tomten. The stripes make it so fun. Love it!

And Kathy has been busy as well! Scroll about halfway down, that shaded blue one is my personal fave. Really nice! She's got a sweater on the needles right now.

Minnie has been booking along with five Dulaan items. This is my favourite, and it's from her handspun. I love those colours.

Rachel, who appears to be blogless, sent me this pici of her efforts:

I love the earflap cap, so cute.

Isn't that amazing? All of you, give yourself a pat on the back, and have a chocolate or a nice glass of eggnog, you deserve it! And for those of you who haven't entered yet, there is still time to email me. I'm here all day! :)

30 Hour Warning

2006-12-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

It's almost time. Aren't you excited? I am. I can't wait to draw names. So, all of you who have done some Dulaan knitting and not emailed me a pici or a link to a pici, it's time to do so.

I found some super bulky wool today and I'm pretty sure I can crank out a hat tonight. I have four days off of work and all the Christmas preparations are complete. I'm going to eat and knit and nap until Monday. Then, Christmas dinner at mom's followed by some knitting! After the dishes are done of course!

So, send me your link or your pici to sockpal at mail dot com. Thank you!

All this and an FO too

2006-12-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

The secret Santa scarf is completed, pompoms & all. Hubby did a brilliant job making those. I swear, if he ever takes up knitting, he will be so much better at it than I am. This scarf took a little over two skeins of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grand. Would have come in under two skeins but for the fab-o pompoms. Size 8mm needles, 22 stitches, k2 p2. Super simple and it is sooooo soft and luscious.

I'm now onto another Christmas project that I can't blog about until after Christmas. I suck at secrets so we'll see how well that goes.

Six Days

2006-12-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

on the road, and I'm a gonna make it home tonight. No wait, that's not right. Six days left in the Dulaan knitting contest, that's better. Although I will now be singing that silly song in my head all day long.

I finished an alpaca scarf for a secret Santa gift exchange next week. So pretty. My guy is making pompoms for the ends right now so I can't get a pici of it. Maybe later I'll drape it artistically across the Christmas tree? Yeah, prolly not.

I have four more items to finish for Christmas knitting and it's just not seeming possible. I think I might just wrap up yarn and a pici of the finished object and the yarn and the recipient can open that on Christmas morning. If I stayed up 24 hours a day for the next week I could totally do it, but there's that whole work thing. Blah blah blah.

Oh, and get this, my mom, on the internet! She took the big plunge and she's out there somewhere tooling around websites. How cool is that! Now I have to stop swearing and talking about drinking on this blog. I guess it will be all yarn all the time, eh? Hi mom! Love you! She taught me to crochet when I was like 8. Cool eh? Technically, this whole obsessive compulsive yarn thing, her fault. Isn't that great! What a wonderful gift to give your kid. The ability and urge to create. Mom's rock.

Okay, I'm off. I have to have a shower and head out. Cherylie and I are doing some shopping today. Stocking stuffers and the like. Hubby and I don't do presents for each other anymore. We don't need anything so we just send the money we would have spent to the local food bank and to the UN World Food Programme.

Gives me the warm and fuzzies I tell ya! Have a great day everyone, and if you have a free hour, whip up a hat for Dulaan. Then tell me about it. Then maybe win some yarn for Christmas. How sweet would that be?

Where are you!

2006-12-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

Quick note, in passing, Liz of Knitting by Moonlight, where did your blog go! I just get a message saying the domain has not been renewed. Feeling a bit concerned. :)

All Dulaan all the time

2006-12-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

I have updates. I received he book that Lavender made and donated to our wee contest and I can't even begin to tell you how lovely it is.
This is a woman of wondrous talents and patience! It is just so pretty I can't even describe it and I can't seem to get a good pici of it either.* My photography skills are sadly lacking. It's all in shades of purple (of course, it's from Lavender! Der!), with graph paper that would be awesome for all your little creating sketches when a design is trying to get out of your head. Gorgeous! All tied up with purple irridescent ribbon to keep your notes and ideas safe inside. She's an artiste I tell you!

Also, I have another entry into the contest. CeCe has made the most wonderful Gansey. It looks so warm and cuddly.

While you're over there, take a look at her Dec 4 entry and check out the beautiful shawl she made and, wait for it, gave away! Wow, right? She also did a great version of the Fake Isle hat in the latest MagKnits.

That's about all I have today. I have to go pry the spousal unit away from his computer for dinner now. He's been playing Weff Riddles and now he can't stop. I think he's on level 15. I knit and try to point out useful details while he's playing. All in all, a very nice way to spend and evening.

I probably won't be able to update tomorrow. Unfortunately my dad is back in the hospital with some complications from his surgery so I'll be visiting him after work. So, I will have a few of hours of intense hospital knitting time tomorrow. That's got to be good for at least one hat.

We have about a week and a half left to enter the contest to win some yummy prizes. Please, enter and enter often. Tell your friends. Post about it on your blog. The more the merrier. It's kind of like spreading a warm fuzzy feeling over the internet.

*Note: Martini is strictly for scale. No vodka was ingested during the taking of this photograph!

17 more days. I think?!?!?

2006-12-06T17:06:00.000-08:00

...until the cutoff for knitting contest entries that is. And! Wait for it........AND the inimitable Rabbitch is also donating a prize, so now we have five. A surprise prize. On acount of I don't know what it is yet. I don't think she does either. Tres exciting, non? Yep, that was some grade 8 french coming at you. I'm very proud. Thank you Surrey School District #36.

"Mon crayon est grande et jaune."
"You have a big yellow pencil? Nice for you."

Go ahead, bonus points if anyone can tell me what movie that one is from.

And now, Dulaan knitting updates. My blogless friend Judy has given in a lovely little pair of mittens. Aren't they cute? I just love them!

And look at this adorable little sweater that Ann made! Adorable. Also, over at Ann's site, click on her Dec 6 post. Scroll down. Loving the cat in knitwear, loving it!

I can't remember, surprise surprise eh?, if I told you about Linda's beautiful second baby sweater! So cute. Go over and give her good wishes. Her daughter just got engaged. Nice, right? Besides all that, she just got her own domain and stuff and decorated it really pretty for Christmas.

I'm jealous because I'm a bit useless and haven't a clue how to do that here at chez beentsy. Less trolling the internet for yarn and fewer martinis and I might just learn how to tweak and tune my own blog.

Now, I was a thinkin' and I was a wonderin', maybe folks need some help finding some patterns to get their mojo going for Dulaan. To that end, I present to you the motherload of pattern sites. I'm sure most of you know this place, for those of you who don't, get a beverage, you'll be surfing there for awhile.

First, for knitting, is Knitting Pattern Central. All organized by category and there are literally thousands of patterns here. Or, you can click here and see just those items added in the last week. Cool eh?

Second, for crochet, is, duh!, Crochet Pattern Central. Again, all organized and thousands, and blah blah blah. Click here for the new this week link.

So, you have the yarn, (I know you do, I browsed around on Flash Your Stash Day!), you've got the talent, and now you have limitless patterns. Go ahead, pop in a movie, may I suggest Love Actually, or Footloose, or perhaps Armageddon (I'm hopelessly smarmy when it comes to movies!) and whip up a hat. It's good for your Karma. :) Besides, it makes me all warm and fuzzy, and haven't you always wanted to make a Canadian girl all warm and fuzzy? Sure you have! Here's your chance. ;)

The kindness of strangers

2006-12-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

And by strangers I mean that we only haven't met in person! I'm brimming over with good cheer and the need to go out and by a Hallmark card just to express it.

Lavender from Lavender Knits has donated a beautiful handmade book for our wee contest. I've stolen one pici of it but you must go over to her site and take a look. Her work is gorgeous. You have got to go over and see the other picis and read the details about the book, really lovely and useful for people of the knitting/crocheting persuasion.
Can you imagine? She spins, knits, dyes, makes books, makes paper, sews, , bakes, and heaven only knows what else. I tell you, it makes me wonder what I am doing with my time. Also, if you go back in her archives, she is knitting the most beautiful BPT from Knitty for the Fall 2006 Cablealong.

Then I got an email from Kirsten. Check out these hats! Scroll down, to see them all individually modelled. Gorgeous! Wowzers. They are making me want to rip the stash apart and start some colour work. Beautiful, and there are 10 of them! That's 10 entries in the contest. Very impressive!

And Linda has made another baby sweater. Isn't it lovely? And check out Gracie's new coat. She looks so cute and happy in it. (Note to self: must make Abbi a wee sweater).

Lastly we have my Dulaan knitting for the last couple of weeks. A few hats and a scarf and a llama neckwarmer/gaiter. I took them outside into our snowy landscape to begin to acclimatize them to what Mongolia will be like.

I'm really liking the idea of the neckwarmer. No bulk, no long tails to get caught up, doesn't slide over your shoulder and fall off. Dead cunning! I'm going to have to make one for me for my walks to work in the morning. Now that we really are having winter around here!

I've put a link in the sidebar to take you to the post with the most updated dates & details for entering the contest.

And that about it from me for now. I want to thank you all so much for your generous outpouring of support, in crafting warmth and in making prizes for the contest. It's a really wonderful thing we are doing to make sure some person far away from us is warmer and knows that someone cares about them. You guys are rocking my world right now! Thank you. :)

The speed of a meme

2006-11-30T18:01:00.000-08:00

Follow this link, follow the directions, poof, science is made. Sweet eh?

Careful what you wish for!

2006-11-30T06:23:00.000-08:00

I love snow, I really do, and living on the southwest coast of BC I don't get a lot of it. Mother Nature remedied that this week! About 15 inches Saturday night/Sunday and then another 5 or 6 inches last night. It's really pretty and just not something you see around here very much.

As you can see we haven't even dug out the old pickup. She's just sitting there waiting for it to all melt.

Then I went to work and made a snow angel. 'Cause I'm five. At most. My butt was cold and damp for the entire day as I sat at my desk. Totally worth it!

Then Amy got her angel making mojo going. We are so terribly cool. :)So there you have it. The beentsy weather network. Apparently the storm has left the province, kinda like Elvis leaving the building I guess, so life should slowly get back to normal. Hopefully it doesn't melt too fast though. Then we'd have flooding and we already did that two weeks ago with our record rainfalls. You get the feeling the Gods are pissed at us? Hmmmm, maybe.

Now, on a completely unrelated note, I've had some request to extend the deadline for the Dulaan contest. There are a few people who need just a bit more time to get their items finished. Who am I to say no to these generous souls. We want Dulaan to get as many items as possible, right? Plus, it's getting into that Christmas season and folks is just plain busy. So, I'm extending the date by two more weeks. The absolutely final deadline is now December 23, 2006. If you aren't done by then that's okay, maybe I'll do a little mid-winter contest in February and you can enter your creations then. :)

eta: duh! email me a pici or a link to a pici at sockpal at mail dot com

So, here is a complete review of the game so far, You have until midnight, December 23, 2006 to enter. Each item you knit, crochet, sew, weave, or whatever, will earn you one entry into the contest. One hat - one entry. One set o' mittens - one entry. Clear like mud? I will announce and contact the winners on Sunday, December 24, 2006. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. Winners will be drawn at random from all entries and now, on to the prizes:

Third Prize - two skeins of Regia sock yarn - 100gm balls. Each ball will make a pair o' socks.

2nd prize - 5 skeins of Classic Elite Maya - 50gm skeins, 50/50 llama and wool. Soft!

1st prize - 1 skein Fleece Artist hand dyed Mohair Locks. 94% mohair/6% wool, 250 grams = 125 metres. Calls for 12 mm needles. Soft, and the purples are amazing! I can't quite catch how really pretty this is, the colour depth is amazing. In my knitting news I finished 5 more Dulaan items this week and cast on for two more. Of course I was so dazzled by the snow that I didn't actaully take any pictures of them. Sheesh, what a twit. I'm a bit useless about remembering to take pictures of the important stuff. Like FO's. I've also been doing some Secret Santa knitting that I can't post picis of in case the recipients are lurking here. I'll have to post those in a week or two.

Okay, keep warm everyone, I'm out of here for now.

Dulaan Entries

2006-11-27T18:01:00.000-08:00

Hey, wanna see some entries into the Dulaan contest? Sure you do! (Only 12 more days to enter.)

Super cute sweater, courtesy of Linda. I love pooly yarn. Baby sweaters are the best form of instant gratification we get as knitters. Also, from her second to last blog (the woman will not stay put lately!) mittens! They look so warm and cozy.

Four really nice hats from Ann. I love the stripes and tassels she has going on here. She's also working on completing two sweaters to donate too! Trooper!

And of course, crazy Rabbitch is throwing her 6 hats and one scarf in the ring. The woman is a knitting machine, I tell you what!

I'm so happy I could just plotz, I really could. I've got a wee tear in my eye.

So come on kids! There's still 12 days left. Whip up a hat, or two! Maybe some mitts or a scarf. Maybe win some swanky yarn.

Now, on a completely unrelated note, a picture of our upside down Christmas tree all decorated. Hilarious, no? We call it our Christmas tornado. I do really like it though. It seems to take up way less of the room, if you know what I mean. And, the dogs can't reach the really nice ornaments that they would like to get and shred. We all win. Hey, look at that, it's peace on earth at the beentsy house!

Wow

2006-11-26T17:58:00.000-08:00

Why yes, that is a metric ass load of snow.

This was at 12:30, we've gotten six more inches since. We are well over a foot now.

Pretty much the happiest creature in the house. Only because she doesn't have to shovel! By the way, the Stones were a blast.

Jumpin' Jack Flash

2006-11-25T15:28:00.000-08:00

I am out of here to see the Rolling Stones tonight. I've had an unhealthy crush on Keith Richard for more than 25 years and tonight I will finally see him in all his wrinkly, craggly, old man glory. Don't be jealous now.

I also wanted to remind everyone that you still have two whole weeks to knit something for Dulaan and send me a link or a pici of it to be entered in the contest to win some yummy yarn. Send you pici/link to sockpal at mail dot com

As an added bonus, there is a weather advisory of 20 - 30 centimetres of snow before tomorrow night (that's 8 - 10 inches). Super. You simply have not lived until you've seen folks in the Lower Mainland attempt driving in the snow. We are a rainforest and we can barely drive in the rain, nevermind snow. Bahahahahaha. Gonna be fun.

Explanation

2006-11-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

Right. If you've got one of these:

And on of these:

You simply must have one of these:

In the simplest of terms, my dogs are insane and I can't have a normal tree because all those tempting baubles and toys are just too much for them to resist. So, we got one of these and everything is up high and safe from the crazy canines! All my friends are roaring with laughter at me, but that's okay. If it makes the holiday season easier, so much the better. :)

Again, 17 days to the end of the Dulaan contest. Click here for details and to see picis of the swag. Remeber though, I've extended the contest until midnight December 9, 2006. So you have a bit more time to whip up a little something.

I'm going to go muck about with my Christmas tree some more. It's so hard to get the branches just so. Especially when you're all anal retentive and creepy like me. Have a good night all.

I'll explain later

2006-11-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

Why yes, that is an upside down Christmas tree. We'll talk about it later, I promise. I'm a bit late to leave for work right now!

Oh, and 17 more days to enter to win fabulous yarn! You have until midnight December 9, 2006 to submit an entry. Make and item for Dulaan, sub a pici or link to me at sockpal at mail dot com and you get entered. One entry for every item you finish. Scroll down to see the swag. Sweet, right?

Okay, going to work now.

Why we knit for Dulaan

2006-11-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know I sound a bit like a broken record but this is really important to me. People shouldn't be cold. Ever. They should be able to put on a warm sweater or hat or mitts and be warm. Children should not live like the children in the latest Dulaan photos.

Please, knit a hat. Knit a pair of mitts. Crochet a blankie. Sew a polar fleece toque. Anything and everything is appreciated! Remember, you may be rewarded with yarn! Nice yarn to, if I do say so myself.

Send me a link to a pici of your finished item to sockpal at mail dot com and I will enter you in to the drawing to win fab-o swag! Scroll down to see the picis of the lovely yarn! Oooooooo, don't you want to knit it! Come on, each item you knit gets you an entry into the draw for the lovelies. And, each item you knit makes the cold retreat just a little bit for someone in Mongolia!

Okay, I'm feeling a bit like Jerry Lewis here. Gonna stop now and go find some dinner. And study for my philosophy final tomorrow. Yikes! Please think good thoughts for me!

ETA: You can click here for picis of the yarn and details of the cutoff date of the contest.

A stolen meme!

2006-11-16T17:45:00.000-08:00

Rabbitch had this on her blog and it appealed to me, so I stole it! Betcha don't want me to come to your house eh? Yeah, I'd definitely keep me away from your stash too. :)

One Word

1. Yourself: strong
2. Your spouse: smart
3. Your hair: annoying
4. Your mother: caring
5. Your father: grumpy
6. Your Favorite Item: yarn
7. Your dream last night: weird
8. Your Favorite drink: milk
9. Your Dream Car: Notchback
10. The room you are in: utilitarian
11. Your Ex: who?
12. Your fear: chaos
13. What you want to be in 10 years? self-employed
14. Who you hung out with last night? hubby
15. What You're Not? tactful
16. Muffins: cranberry
17. One of Your Wish List Items: travel
18. Time: insufficient
19. The Last Thing You Did: bejeweled
20. What You Are Wearing: pj's
21. Your Favorite Weather: windy
22. Your Favorite Book: Lamb
23. The Last Thing You Ate: fish
24. Your Life: busy
25. Your Mood: tired
26. Your best friend: funny
27. What are you thinking about right now? knitting
28. Your car: none
29. What are you doing at the moment? blogging
30. Your summer: dry
31. Your relationship status: comfy
32. What is on your TV? ER
33. What is the weather like? wet
34. When is the last time you laughed? today
35. Who else will do this? whomever

Now how cool is that? You know you wanna steal it! Go ahead.

Oh, and keep the Dulaan knitting going kids! When you get and item finished email me at sockpal at mail dot com with a link to a pici of a completed object and your entered to win swag! Scroll down, see the picis, imagine the possibilities. Yeah, there you go. Now get knitting or crocheting!

Brief Update

2006-11-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

Howdy y'all! Sorry, I've been very remiss in my blogging of late. There have been some very long days over the last week. Dad is still in the hospital. He is getting better, it is just taking much longer than anticipated. He's walking now a few times a day and sitting up for meals and such.

I've been knitting like a Dulaan fiend. I think in the last week I've finished 7 or 8 hats and a scarf. Just banging them out. Pretty much a hat a day. I've got a philosophy final next Saturday so I've been trying to study for that too. A busy time at the old homestead.

Okay. I'm going to go watch Heroes now. Love it! Hiro makes me laugh and that's a very good thing right now.

Keep up the Dulaan knitting, and tell your friends about the contest. Win some yarn swag!

Yarn Prawn!

2006-11-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

I know it's supposed to be Yarn Pron but I just always think of shrimp when I hear that in my head, so I'm going with prawn.

Let me just say, first off, I have the greatest respect for all you fibre junkies who go to events like Reinbeck and the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. I do not know how you guys do it. How you can go from vendor to vendor of fabulous yarn and fibre and not buy it all, even if it means mortgaging you home and the homes of all your family members. The reason I bring this up is that yesterday I went to the 35th annual Langley Spinners and Weavers Artisan sale in Fort Langley. I lost my freaking mind! I was madly clutching skeins of wonderful yarn and the nice ladies kept offering me baskets to carry it in but I HAD TOO MUCH YARN FOR THE BASKETS! It was amazing, intoxicating, fantastic, I don't have enough words for it.

Got there around 10:00 and I had a blind date meeting me too, dontcha know! Linda from My Knit Niche was meeting me! This was the first time I'd ever met someone in person that I had met via the internet. Very cool! I was her secret pal back in the spring and we only live maybe 35 minutes from each other! So I invited her to meet me halfway in Langley and come shopping! She showed such restraint, I was wicked proud of her. I'm such a doof though, I forgot to bring my camera so that I could get a pici of the two of us together! Doh. You can imagine us now: we're both tall, we have medium brown hair, wear glasses, and love to fondle yarn while making little animal noises. She's also just learned shortrows & wrapping on toe up socks and I can't wait to see how her heel is turning out!

Okay, yarn prawn, first off I bought seven skeins of handspun/handdyed yarn by Ann Embra. That's it just below. The oranges and pinks were amazing and I completely devestated the rack of her yarn. I couldn't help myself. some is 100% wool in a chunky and some is a sport/fingering weight mohair/wool blend. I can't seem to find a website for her though so I guess I will have to wait until next year to get more.

Then I found this wonderful kit to make a handspun shawl. All different weights and fibres all in oranges/yellows/pinks, like a perfect White Rock sunset. I may just have to cast this on today!

Then I went to see Jane at Mount Lehman Llamas. I love Jane and her llamas. Every year I find something new and gorgeous at her stall. This year it was two skeins of sport weight from the llama Pamela that had been dyed a wonderful dark burgundy. I also bought a Chul'lo hat kit but I've already wound it up into balls and I'm casting that on today as well so I didn't pici it, but here is a link to it. My hat is in natural/rust/orange, nice. You can also get fibre and yarn here. You have never felt anything like this. She had a llama/wool/silk blend at the show yesterday that was pretty amazing too.

The skein of opal was picked up somwhere in my travels yesterday, I couldn't tell you from who. I was actually in a fugue by then. :) It's pretty though, eh?

After the show I went up to visit the papa. He's doing better, his colour was much better yesterday and they actually had him up and walking around his bed once. It was very painful but he did it. He still sleeps a lot of course, the pain meds knock him out pretty good. I sit and knit and he wakes up once in awhile and we chat a bit then he falls asleep again. I'm going to go back up and visit him this afternoon and see what sort of fresh torture the physiotherapy people have in store for him.

And, last but certainly not least, here is a better pici of the prizes for the Dulaan contest. I wasn't thrilled with the image quality of the picis last week and there was better light today. From left to right:

Third prize - two skeins of Regia
Second prize - 5 skeins of Classic Elite Maya (50/50 llama & wool)
First prize - 1 skein Fleece Artist Mohair Locks - (94% mohair/6% wool)

You want to win one of these, I know you do! They are yummy and lovely and they want to be won by you. All you gotta do is knit/crochet/sew an item for Dulaan. For each item you create you will get one entry into the draw for one of these babies. Because I haven't been around very much this week and haven't been promoting this as well as I should, I'm going to lengthen the contest to midnight pacific time, December 9, 2006. On December 10 I will draw the three lucky winners and mail out their prizes on Monday, December 11, 2006. With a little luck (and the good graces of Canada Post ), you could have a prize in your hot little hands in time for Christmas day knitting. Whoot whoot! So come on kids, whip up a hat or a pair of mitts, or even a pair of socks. It doesn't have to be perfect or in the most fashionable of colours, it just needs to be warm. I simply want as many of us as possible to make as many items as possible to keep some kids warm next winter in Mongolia. It's wicked important and you'll feel good too! Okay, soapbox rant over. Just send me a link to show me a Dulaan item you've created to this addy: sockpal AT mail DOT com

I'm gonna go do some laundry and housecleaning stuff now. All this back and forth to the hospital this week my little house if feeling sadly neglected and wants some loving. I'm also totally going to cast on for a new project from all my new prawns too!

Have a brilliant Sunday guys. :)

Update

2006-11-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

My dad had his surgery yesterday morning and it didn't go as well as we had hoped. It took A LOT longer than they had thought and he had A LOT more pain than they had prepared him for after. From what they are telling us, the pain was so bad that he would hyperventilate and stop breathing and then they would have to assist him. Terrifying. He's in the critical care unit right now for at least 2 days so that he can be closely monitored.

Really, the only plus side, you can get a crapload of knitting done in those waiting rooms. And, that's a metric crapload, so much bigger than an imperial crapload. Dulaan will be the benefactor of a large amount of nervous knitting.

Heading back to the hospital now. Have to be there to force mom to go and eat and drink once in awhile.

eta (later)
Saw the papa, he is doing better and his breathing is settling down now! Whew. Still a lot of pain but I think that's to be expected and only time will take care of it.

Whole mess o' stuff

2006-10-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is gonna be kinda quick & dirty. My dad's been diagnosed with kidney cancer and is having his left kidney removed next Wednesday. Needless to say it's been crazy around here and will prolly continue to be so for a far bit. I wanted to get the contest started for Dulaan knitting though.

So, to that end, I've taken some quickie-not-so-great-lighting-you-get-the-idea picis of the prizes for this little knit-o-rama.

Third Prize

- two skeins of Regia Strat0 Colour. Each one is 100gms and is enough for your average pair o' socks. 75% wool/25% nylon, 420 metres.

Second Prize

- five skeins of Classic Elite Maya. 50 grams each, 50/50 llama/wool, 99 yards. Kind of a dark sage. So soft! I always wanted to make an Irish Hiking scarf with it.

First Prize

- one skein of Fleece Artist hand dyed Mohair Locks. 94% mohair/6% wool, 250 grams = 125 metres. Calls for 12 mm needles. Soft, and the purples are amazing!

Tempted yet? Great, here's what you have to do to get entered. Knit an item for Dulaan (1 hat, 1 scarf, 1 pair of mittens or socks, etc.). That's it. For each item you knit you get your name in for the draw. Go crazy, knit 10 hats, you get 10 entries. Simple, no? You have from now until November 30, 2006. Simply send me a link showing me a pici of your completed item(s) and you're in. You can email me at (sockpal at mail dot com). I'll draw the names and inform the winners on December 1, 2006.

Cool, right? Okay, get knitting. I'm looking forward to seeing your creations. Oh, and seeing as this is my contest, my say is final in all decisions. No messing about, no debating, blah blah blah. This blog is my own tiny little dictatorship. :) That being said, how can knitters have any problem with free yarn?!?!!

A Dulaan Five and a Rabbitch One

2006-10-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ta da! My Dulaan five is complete. I also made a hat for Rabbitch. The cardigan and the four hats in the top of the photo are for Dulaan, the bottom on is for Rabbitch. I'm not done my Dulaan knitting though. I love making hats. Or anything in the round really. I'm thinking mittens next.

The striped hat in the centre of the sweater is made with Patons Soy Wool Stripes and when I was over at Swatch This I saw that Marlena is also knitting with it. She's right, it has really nice drape and the sheen is a lot like mohair. I'm going to use a slightly smaller needle next time to tighten up my gauge though. In a hat I was getting a bit too much drape. I have one more ball in a pinky colourway for another hat and 3 balls in an autumn colourway that I think might become a scarf or a hooded scarf. We'll see.

Okay, I'm off. Dinner and Deadwood! I love Mondays. Oh. Did I really just say that?

Oh, wait! I also cast on for this last night for a friend who's having a baby in November. So cute.

A Day

2006-10-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

So I had one of those days. You know:

- you realize after you've stepped in it bare foot that one of the cats has an upset stomach.

- the dogs won't stop fighting and one of them has peed on the floor when you weren't watching.

- you almost get hit by a car when you're in the crosswalk. Granted, that woman had a lot going on. What with driving, talking on her cell phone AND picking her nose! She couldn't be expected to see you there in the middle of the road.

- you're pretty sure you've made some incorrect career decisions since high school, 'cause work is just blowing goats this week!

- you come home and try to think up something new and interesting to do with turkey!

- your just pretty darned convinced that this is not the life you ordered and you'd like to call a recount.

Then, you check the mail. You notice that there's and envelope from F.I.R.E . Inside is the nicest letter of thanks for having sent them hand knitted items for the 2006 Dulaan Project (.pdf). And then, just like the Grinch, you feel your tiny hard little heart grow two sizes too big and you remember what it is we're here to do. We're here to take care of each other.

I'm gonna go stir my turkey soup and knit on a Dulaan hat now. Y'all have a great night!

Happy Turkey Day!

2006-10-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, it's Canadian Thanksgiving today and I'm heading to mom's house! Whoot Whoot! Can you say turkey with all the trimmings! God I love stuffing and gravy.

Today I'm giving thanks that I have a Mom and Dad to go to for Thanksgiving and that I have a stash full of yarn to comfort me on cold days! He he. Oh, and Zara and Noro. The two most rockingest yarns in the world.

I'm also ironing out the details of a November contest to give away some free yarn to Dulaan knitters to help Ryan out with her numbers. More details as they develop.

Have a great day everyone, give some thanks.

What I did on my vacation...

2006-09-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

I knitted. Quite a lot. I got two more hats done for Dulaan. Both are from some handspun I had in the stash that I had done up in Koolaid dyes. It's a bit rough so I did the one hat as a double thick with a nice soft inner hat made of some other stash yarn. 80% lambswool and 20% angora. Sooooo soft. I'm going to line the bonnet in polar fleece or flannel. The minute I find my sewing machine under the yarn. :) Yeah, like that's going to happen!

I also got some more done on the Noro blanket. This stuff is like crack. Just one more square, I wanna see how the colours play out. No no, my shoulder if fine. What's that? I wince and make a little animal noise each time I throw the yarn over the needle? Nah, that's just silly. I'm fine.

Nate, mom and I did some day tripping too. We went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and then up to Grouse Mountain. Gorgeous! Here is my knitting in the wild.

Poor mom thinks I'm off my nut. She isn't fully understanding how many of us are off our nuts. Besides, the colours look pretty in a nice natural setting.

Here is the suspension bridge in a shot taken from the Canyon Lookout. It was spectacular and scary and amazing. I'll post some more picis over the weekend.

Oh, and here is my hunny bunny and mom. This is a nice little quiet place near the Three Sisters Ponds. This is Nate doing is best to follow the directions on the sign. Pretty eh? Note how mom just looks like she is trying to look polite and not stare. I'm so lucky!

Dulaan 2007

2006-09-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

It's time to start planning my Dulaan knitting in earnest. The button is over there on the right if you'd like more details or would like to help. I knitted up the extra cute baby hat over at Hello Yarn today.

Super fast knit, really cute hat. I've already cast on another one in some koolaid dyed loose handspun. Full o' lanolin this stuff is too. Wow!

Also got a few more squares done on the Noro blankie. The colours are almost violent and I'm liking them that way. They make me smile and feel like I'm knitting sunshine.

That's about it. I'm on holidays for a week for which I am truly thankful. I'm also going to try and get to the motor vehicle branch and get my learners license. I know, a 37 year old woman who doesn't drive. Tres weird, no? Whatever. I just never really got around to it.

Also, every time I would get up the gumption to go get it I would be in a car accident. This happened 3 times. Once, I was sitting in the car (it was not even turned on), behind the wheel, pretending to drive (you know, making vroom noises and all that, btw, I was 20 at the time), and a drunk man got into the jeep in front of me and backed it uphill and into the car I was in. Caved in the whole front end of a really nice VW Type III fastback. I took this as a pretty strong sign that I maybe shouldn't drive. Apparently I had offended the gods in some way and I would be dealt with strongly if I insisted on driving.

But...having said all that, I'm going to give it a try, one more time. It's kind of like when you've drank too much and you're puking your lungs out, you promise to NEVER do it again. But, after a time, you forget how awful it was and you drink again. I've forgotten how afraid I am to drive, therefore; I will try again.

Cabley goodness

2006-09-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well I'm past my first set of cables on my Coral Crossing sleeves. Loving the Zara. I can see myself beginning to "collect" this yarn. Just to have it. You know, in case. Of what I'm not really sure. But I'd be ready.

Oh, and why yes, that is my awful nasty skanky hopefully to be replaced soon livingroom floor. All those nails make me shudder!

Anyway. Not much going on around here. I've knit 5 of my little mitred squares. Two a day man, just two a day. It's all I can ask of myself. They are kind of like potato chips though. On and off the needles relatively quickly. So I got that going for me, which is nice. Sorry. Carl Spackler just took over my mind.

Hubby and I are on holidays next week so I'm absolutely dragging my tuckus this week. I'm just taking up space until Friday!

Oh yeah, and I just have to mention this. I started watching Deadwood a couple of weeks ago. The History Channel is running the series from the beginning, two episodes every Monday night. I LOVE THIS SHOW! My father is a truck driver and I have four much older brothers and still, there is a level of foul language on this show that gives me a little tingle all down my back. Is that normal? I absolutely love these characters. It must be an actor's wetdream to get a role like Al Swearengen (that's him in the middle). Love it.

FO Ta Da

2006-09-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here they are and I'm ever so taken with them. The lovely Tricia was my hand model for this. The sad thing is, I had the gloves on was picking up my camera when I realized that I couldn't really take a pici of my own hands. At least not both of them at once. Tricia to the rescue!

As you can see, they are fraternal, not identical. I'm loving the wooly goodness. And, I knit them both up in about 3 hours. Sweet, right? You can get the pattern here. I don't think I changed a thing about it, just happily and blindly knit along and boom. I had fingerless mittens.

Yarn was spun by the fabulous Mac. Nice job eh? I've got a bunch more. I'm thinking I might just cast on for a lacy scarf tonight. There is a really nice mustard and a muted variegated greens/pinks/reds that would be nice together. Maybe a little of the ol' feather and fan done lengthwise.

Anywho. I'm off. I've decided I want to complete at least 2 squares per day for the afghan. That should let me finish it...in time for the 2010 Olympics. At least I'll have a nice blanket to take to the hockey games. :)

Sunday already?

2006-09-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

Wow. How can a weekend go so quickly? At least I finished something this weekend. I finally got around to making myself some fingerless mitts. I used handspun that I got from Mac. Gorgeous stuff. So soft and the colours are fun. I'd love to show them to you but the batteries in the camera are dead. :)

I also joined the Fall Cable KAL. Perfect timing what with me having started the Coral Crossing. I've finished about 1/3 of the sleeves. Knitting two together is a brilliant idea.

Okay, gotta go. Slings & Arrows is on in a bit and I've got more I want to get knitted before this weekend is all gone.