You Guys Sure Are Friendly

The Daughter needs new jeans and I need to S'n'B. So, I say to Daughter,
"How about we go to Kensington after school tomorrow? You can try on clothes at that store you like and we can get something to eat. Then I'd like to go to Lettuce Knit for a while. Would you mind? Or would you get bored?"
She replies,
"That's ok. I like hanging out with the friendly knitters."

Working Like the Proverbial Dog

I've gone from too few hours at the job to too many. All the departments are busy and this is good news for my bank balance but not for the family's dirty laundry. You all (all 5 of you who read my blog) are my witnesses. I will not work an eight hour day and then come home to do household tasks until bedtime. The last time I worked full time, I made myself ill with being friggin Superwoman. I recently came across a photo of me from that time and I look like a skeleton. Not this time. The dust bunnies can breed and the husband can wear the same dirty jeans or wash them himself.

Now on to knitting...yet still work related ...




I've started a new pair of sock for subway knitting. I'm knitting Broadripple from Knitty, using the Regia that J gave me. The colour is called Canadian and I didn't know why until I took a good look at the calendar on the office wall. Tee hee.









Also, in honour of the chill in the air, I wore my first socks for the first time today. They do cheer the place up.

Rocking 1975

A while back I picked up this new/old magazine for a few dollars. 1975 indeed!

I actually quite like the green sweater jacket. It's either timeless or back in style - I can't decide which. What I totally dig is the hat. The instructions are quite simple and I intend to knit it.

I admit a weakness for feather and fan. Picture the third sweater in different colours, a bit shorter, and knit with yarn that's not a petroleum product. Cute? Or is it just me?

The crocheted dresses are included solely for entertainment purposes. Do not attempt to wear these garments at home (or anywhere else).

Art Sunday

I made a pretty picture...

Yarn I Am Not Buying

For the first time in about seven years, my outstanding credit card balance is larger than my bank balance. Thus, I will not be buying this stunning handpainted cotton/rayon blend that is on Ebay right now. I shall ignore the fact that the colours are some of my favourites and that cotton blends get me hot. I'll just look at the picture and bookmark the seller and hope she does something similar when and if I ever have money again.

Poverty sucks.

Sunday Evening Knitting News

My final Secret Pal 8 package arrived this week and I found out that my spoiler is J at canKNITian. Check out her blog. It's got that balance of funny at times, personal but not too personal at others and gloriously crafty, that makes for a truly interesting knit blog. Also, her spoiler was the lovely Krista the Silent K of Toronto. What a small world.
This package really knocked me flat. I had a teeny lump in my throat going through the contents (I was having a very emotional day).

Inside were two balls of stunning yarn, one Regia sock and the other a precious blue Fiddlesticks wool/silk blend. The Florence Scarves Fiddlesticks pattern was included so I don't need to mull over a project for the yarn. J also found a vintage fisherman knit pattern booklet. Years ago I wore out a fisherman sweater. I'd forgotten about it until I saw this booklet. Perhaps it's time I had another one? The whole package smelled delicious from the citrus soaps. They're almost too pretty to use...almost...
What really got to me though, was the map of PEI. I had mentioned in the mini questionnaire, that I'd always wanted to go there. Coincidentally, J has just been there so she sent me the map along with a bookmark from PEI based Cows Dairy and some photos of beach rocks.
Thank you so much J! Now please join my sidebar.

I have decided not to join the next round of Secret Pal. It's such fun and I do enjoy it. However, it falls over the Christmas season when time and money are tight already. I'll do SP10 for sure next winter.

This week I also knit Perdita - Lily of the Valley, a knitty.com pattern. I used the handpainted silk J sent in the first package. It turned out to be not the perfect yarn choice for a wristand. I wore it all day yesterday and by day's end, the yarn had softened up so much that Perdita was quite loose and floppy. I don't care though. I still love it. I did make some small modifications to the pattern. I found the beading instruction to pull the bead through to the right side on a knit far too fussy and difficult. So I used the Stich and Bitch Nation method of drawing the bead up on the wrong side purl. Much easier. Also, because of the softness of the yarn, I found I needed three button to keep it closed properly instead of the recomended two.

Multi Faceted Posting For Lack of a Better Title

I Got Da Blues

Only the second day of "back to school' and I'm lost and miserable already. I really like the slower rhythm of summer vacation and dread its end every year. Now it's back to up early (soon in the dark), lunch making and homework nagging. On days when I'm not working, the house is too damn quiet. Like today. So I'm listening to Bob Snider. The daughter is at dinner with a friend this evening so I'll be going to LK for a dose of knitterly cheer.

Vacation Update

As promised, a vacation tale or two:

This is our favourite anchorage. When we got there, we couldn't believe our eyes. The shore looked like a garbage dump. Obviously, many parties have taken place over the last 2 years. There were beer bottles and cans and plastic everywhere. The fire pit had been doubled in size and was full of broken glass. And some genius had pulled down a small tree and tried to burn it whole. It's all so sad. Now, I don't care if kids want to party. They can get drunk on Lakeport and cheap sherry and eat canned bologna (seriously, we found canned bologna!). They can puke their guts out or even fall in the lake and drown. Just put your garbage back in the boat before leaving. Is that too much to ask?

We got to work and ended up with four garbage bags full before our wee campsite, which we call Stumpy Cove, was nice again.

I managed one early morning walk alone while the family slept. I took a bunch of photos in a meadow. This is one I'm most proud of .

The daughter spent an afternoon collecting moss and such to make "food". Aren't her sculptures beautiful? I wished I could somehow preserve them and bring them home.

The End of Secret Pal 8

I received this surprise thank you gift from my spoilee, KnittnFool aka Miss Scarlett yesterday. She also sent some yarn. How sweet of her. I have so enjoyed watching her blog over the past three months. As I mentioned to her already, you can see her interest in both knitting and blogging grow with every post. What I have most admired about Scarlett is her good cheer and busy ways. She obviously has a huge heart and I'm glad I got to know her a bit through the exchange. Her blog now joins my sidebar.
I haven't got the reveal on my spoiler yet, but I've heard it's on the way. You'll know as soon as I do.

CNE Cuties

The Husband and the Daughter went to the CNE yesterday.

I was feeling under the weather so I stayed home and knit.

They picked up this adorable S & P set.

Could it be any cuter?

I just had to share.

I'm Back

Poop and crap and other nasty words...didn't get the job. I foolishly phoned home to check messages in the middle of my vacation to get the bad news. Not too bright. The result was too much wine and many tears by the campfire.
Over it now...mostly.

So, yes I have been away for the past week on a houseboat in the Kawarthas. Our little family does this every other summer. This was our fifth trip. We rent from Egan Marine, a family business in Omemee, just outside Peterborough. We had some fine adventures, the stories of which will have to wait for another day. I'll post a few pictures now. More later.

Here I am trying to photograph myself and the boat from the shore of Big Island in Pigeon Lake.

Shaking out the bedding in the early morning at the lock in Bobcaygeon.

Of course there was knitting!

I also found a very nice yarn store in Peterborough. Yarn Ewetopia (cute, yes?). There I fondled yarn and bought myself Wrap Style which I have wanted for a long time. This did wonders toward easing my pain.