Jumping up and down squealing, "Look what I got in the mail today!"

Well, it is completely official. My SP is fabulous and wonderful! I already figured as much, but it's been absolutely confirmed by the lavish parcel I received in the post today!

This time she spoiled me with some patterns which are definately ones that I want to make for sure, some wonderful yummy orange scented body lotion (does she somehow know that in the winter I simply can't get enough lotion???) and soap. I love orange... happy sighs... She also sent a really cool mug, and then the yarn. Oh my gosh! I'm in heaven! I got a ball of Rowan Kidsilk - my first ever!!! It's gorgeous, it's beautiful... I want to fondle it too along with the alpaca she sent in the last parcel. I don't even care if people think I'm weird. Anyone who knits will understand. And that's not all! She also sent a huge skein of hand dyed fabulous sock yarn in the most awesome shades of green. I am the luckiest SP recipient ever I think!

She also sent a little hint as to her identity... I believe I've found her. Although my cataloguing skills are faboo, apparently my reference searching skills suck! It took me an eternity to rummage through knitty postings and find her or at least the one who I think it is! ha ha

Well I am off to go fondle yarn-y goodness! Happy sighs (again)

Could spring be on its way???

Bliss... It's been lovely warm here in Winnipeg the last few days! It's been snowing on and off, but who cares! It's only -2 *C today! Whooo hooo! I didn't need my sixteen layers of clothing today. (You know, long underwear, wool socks, fleecy, parka, scarf, toque, mitts etc.)

It's been a busy week! Had little nephew Robbie's 1st birthday on Monday. I can't believe he's one already! He's my little man, always full of grins and cuddles for Aunty! What a sweetie!

Yesterday I was over at my friend Geri's house and she told me she's going to be doing the Weekend to End Breast Cancer here in Winnipeg on the weekend of June 8-10th. For those of you who may not know about this phenomenal event, participants do a walk of 60kms over a weekend and have a goal raise at least $2000.00 each, which here in Winnipeg goes to CancerCare Manitoba. There's walks taking place throughout the country. If you would like more information on the walk, click on the link in my sidebar. I'm so proud of Geri taking on this endeavor to walk as she says, "for those who can't."

Now, onto much more trivial matters... such as well... knitting! I've been having a really hard time not ordering any Sweet Georgia this week! I may break down in the next hour and phone and place an order. I missed out on my favourite colours at Pick up Sticks because I was too slow to order, but then I got an email notification that Lettuce Knits has some laceweight and superwash sock yarns. Aggghhh. Why must the gods of knitty-ness continually tempt me. I am not that strong! I figure I have another forty minutes to either call the store in Toronto or not. Maybe I should call, and then if they don't have the colour I want, then I can hold out, and if they do have it? Well then clearly, it's fate and meant to be! And everyone knows you shouldn't mess with fate. Right?

In other knitty matters, I finished a little present for my Knitty SP8 partner and mailed her parcel off to her. I hope she likes it! Not saying what it is 'cause I don't want her to stumble across this and then it wouldn't be secret anymore would it? I also started a new tote for the International tote exchange III. I am not sure that my brown and pink bag is as nice as I'd hoped and perhaps not as suitable for my partner, so I'm doing a cabled bag from Patons instead. I think I'll do a few minor changes to the pattern, but am really hoping to have it done by tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest so I can mail it off to her! I found some nice treats to go with it, so I'm looking forward to her reaction!

Squeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Wow!!! I've been spoiled. No question about it! I went to pick up the parcel last night before pipe band practice, and I was so excited that I was trying to open it little bit by little bit at every red light. Boy oh boy, my SP had taped it up well. But I persisted and by the time I'd got to practice I had the top of the box open so I brought it in and started taking everything out right there and then. We then had to take a moment to fondle my yarn and oooh and ahhh over the rest of the contents!

I've just recently been introduced to Alpaca, but hadn't bought myself any yet because of the Stash & Bust-Along (I'm trying sooooo hard to be good). I've never felt anything so extraodnarily soft. What fabulous yarn-y goodness! And the colours are perfect for me. And then there was the tea... did I mention anywhere that I love Raspberry tea? I didn't think I had, but it's one of my absolute favourites. Of course chocolate is always a very very welcome treat and between the hot chocolate packets and the huge orange chocolate bar, I've got lots!!!!! The kids better not get any ideas. I'm not sharing. Then of course she'd included tons of Kool-Aid for my dyeing pleasure. I can hardly wait to get going on that! The terrific little notebook will be perfect for in my knitting basket. I almost forgot the candle. I love yummy scented candles and this one is apple pie. Mmmmmmm. Delicious! Ohhhhh.... this is sooooo much fun! Thank you thank you thank you my wonderful, thoughtful SP extraordinaire!

I wonder if it would be wrong to take my yarn to work with me this morning so I can fondle it whenever I want????

Well, it's been ages again since I last posted. I have been busy. Doing what exactly I'm not sure. Just life stuff I guess. In between all the life "crap" I have still been knitting. I think that goes without saying.

Here's the updated list of what I've been working on:

- Hot Tamale socks (again) - this pair is ankle length, one is done, the other on the needles and was started today on the bus ride home from work
- Tote for the Tote Exchange - it's felting as I type
- Poor old Samus - who I've all but abandoned

Here's what's going to be worked on next:

- Small project yet to be determined for my SP8 partner
- Wrist warmers to match my IHS
- Monkey socks from Knitty in my beautiful skein of Sweet Georgia - sniff sniff (for those of you who may not have heard, she's taking some time off from dyeing for at least six months - I am bereft
- A black and red striped sweater as requested by J (pattern yet to be determined)

I suppose I really should finish the darned bunny and bear slippers at the bottom of my basket too. Ahh, but they can wait a bit longer. Easter's not for a while yet.

I've been really good about the Stash and Bust Along. I haven't finished all that many projects compared to some, and my stash hasn't really decreased, but by golly I've been good about not allowing any yarn purchases. I'm like a junkie needing my fix though. I've been trying to bribe (BF)G into buying me yarn in the logic that it would be a gift and therefore not me buying it ergo, I would still be complying with the rules. He won't budge though. Which I suppose is good. Probably would be a bad thing if he was an enabler. Sigh. I did go into Ram Wools though to buy some yarn for my SP8 a couple of weeks ago (Imagine the strength it took to not buy any for myself!) and I bought the yarn for my tote for the exchange on another trip to Ram Wools and again, came out with just that and nothing for me. I felt that was deserving of a big ol' pat on the back. (BF)G however, feels that as I bought the wool for myself to knit with that's actually like getting a fix and therefore should be a strike against me. I tried to explain that there was just simply nothing in my stash that would do, but he's adamant that I'm fudging the rules to suit my addiction.

Oh and here's the pic of the work that's in the machine right now hopefully felting itself to beauty!

A bit of this and a bit of that...

Well, I realized that it's been quite some time since my last posting here. I've accomplished quite a bit (in my humble opinion anyways!)
My Irish Hiking Scarf was finished some time last week and I've been awfully glad to have it done! After much concern about it being un-wearable due to scratchiness, I am relieved to report that as promised it did soften after washing. I think it could still come out nicer, but the mercury took a nose dive again and it's been too bloody cold to be without a nice big scarf here in "WinterPeg." In the pat myself on the back category, I have had lots of compliments on the scarf and it's colour, so yey me! I'm tickled especially given the fact I wasn't overly thrilled with my first attempts at Kool Aid dyeing. As for Samus, well I am mighty pleased to announce that I made it! I actually accomplished my goal of getting the body finished by Robbie Burn's Day (January 25th)! I'll save pics of Samus until I'm completely done, so you'll have to wait on that one!

I had to take some time out of knitting last week to make G a new National costume for her highland dance competition that was on Saturday. I'm a little embaressed to admit that I bought the Dress Red Scott fabric back in July in Calgary at InterProv and just never got around to it. Was a little panicked when I realized it was Wednesday night and she needed to wear it on Saturday, but it got done and looked really pretty! It's a nice change for her seeing as she's worn the same Royal Stewart costume since she was eight! I even took my camera to the competition so that I could take a pic of her in it with her hair all done, but as per my ususal, I left the camera in my purse the whole time and didn't think of it till later that night when she was in her jammies, just out of the shower. Maybe next time.

Back to all things knitty.

As I had suggested earlier, I've been quite busy lately! During Friday's bus ride to and from work, the dance competition (of course when G wasn't dancing), waiting through the show she had to dance at on Saturday night, and about another hour on top, I managed to finish this!
Yes, it is one sock! Rather funky yarn if you ask me. It's Bernat Sox in Hot Tamale. I really couldn't decide if I liked it at all, but it was in my stash (my sis had unloaded it on me from her stash) and I figured, well... why not? I think G will be the likely recipient of them when I get sock #2 done. She seemed to be quite taken with it, and I'm tired of her being the sock thief!

Tonight, whilst watching Coronation Street, and two episodes of friends I made a camera bag for G's digital camera.

All in all... a good knitty week! Now, to plan some goodies for my SP8 swap partner, as well as figure out what pattern I want to make for my International Tote Exchange partner.

Neglected UFOs

Earlier I forgot to post the picture of my UFOs. A requirement of the Stash and UFO Bust-Along. So here they are. Samus and my Irish Hiking Scarf. I'm really pleased with Samus, and I've neglected my IHS for so long I now feel a sense of guilt.

Also, in other news, I've been trying to take pictures of my FOs from 2006 and add them here on my blog. Today I had J's girlfriend K bring over my version of Pasha. I made him last year for J to give K for Valentine's as he couldn't find the perfect stuffed penguin for her. I am still quite proud of Pasha as it's the first project I was ever brave enough to change the type of yarn on. He is made out of two differnt types of eyelash and then crafter's cotton. Apparently he's been well loved.

I really don't think I've got a big problem

So, as discovered and already mentioned on Stash & UFO Bust-Along, I don't think I have nearly the stash problem that I feared I did. Really, I only have 128 balls of yarn. That's not really that much. (at least not in my humble opinion) I even found a couple surprises of yarn that I'd forgotten I had. Like Christmas, it was!

You see? It all fits nicely on my bed...

(BF)G apparently thinks 128 balls of yarn is alot. Little does he know. Ha ha ha! He'd probably be afraid if he knew just how bad this little addiction could be!

In other news, I finished two pairs of wristwarmers for G. They took no time at all really.
Fetching only took me two days. I started them Wednesday morning before work and had them done Thursday evening. I want to make more. What's not to love about a quick pattern like that? And G loved them so I was even happier.

I showed the girls at pipe band on Thursday evening and we were thinking that maybe it would be good if we made each a pair to wear when piping outside in the winter. Our bass drummer who is a knitting fiend like myself was making her own pair of wristwarmers, from Dr. Who, I think she said. She'd already made fetching in the fall, but the new pattern was really nice too! Hmmm.... I see many, many wristwarmers in my future! Ha ha!

Well, here's G's hands posing with one of each wristwarmer. The colour isn't as bright as it should have been so you can't really get the idea of the pattern, but I thought I'd post it anyways!

In other news, I almost forgot to mention, now that G's wristwarmers are done, I am back to focusing on Samus and my IHS. These are both projects that I'm using for the It's Not A Gift KAL. I needed something to draw my attention back to those two projects... after all, I think they've been on the needles since November. Is it wrong to use the same projects for multiple KALs? I wonder? I hope not! Especially since those two are definately on my Stash and Bust-Along KAL as well. I think that what ever it takes for inspiration should be fine!

Well, I should go on upstairs and do something about organizing that stash of yarn (that not terribly large stash), so that at some time I can go to bed tonight!

No willpower

Earlier today I signed up for Stash & UFO Bust-Along. Sounds like a fantastic idea and goodness knows I need to start using up my stash rather than buying more and more yarn. However, that being said...

I am weak. Very weak. I went to Ram Wools this afternoon for buttons. But alas. They have a 30% off everything sale and I folded like a cheap shirt. (And none of it for my bf's sweater, which was the one exception I was going to make) However, let it be said that the wool I got was for something for my G. Maybe that falls within the gift category, that according to the rules is perfectly acceptable if you don't have the required yarn in your stash already.

But there I stood in the line up at Ram Wools feeling somewhat guilty about my serious addiction to yarn, when all of a sudden a rebellious sort of thought came over me. It was as if the proverbial light bulb whet on over my head and I thought, "Well, I can buy this Cashmerino Aran. No one can stop me. It's only one ball, and besides the bust-along doesn't even start for another few days, so there."

Agggghhhhh. This is truly a sign of a problem.

I think I am just going to slink off upstairs and get that pattern for the armwarmers for G...

Happy New Year

2006 went out with a bang, or more aptly a smash as vandals broke my rear window of my van sometime between early evening December 30th and the morning of December 31st. Now these would be thugs are really quite adventurous given that during that time period we received 30cm of snow approximately here in the 'Peg. What a mess. Not only had to shovel the drive so the van could get out, I had to shovel the van out itself. Today's endeavor was to get a new window put in. Oh what fun. I've now paid almost as much to Manitoba Public Insurance in deductables over the last year as I do for insurance. A whopping $900.00 for 2006. Sigh.

However, 2007 is bound to be better. I used some insurance in the manner of the custom of first footing by making sure my eldest son was first through our door after midnight! He fits the tall (over 6ft. now), dark is definately covered by his almost black hair and well I certainly find him to be a handsome devil if I do say so myself! Now, I realize we didn't really follow tradition (I had nary a lump of coal, bun, or whiskey), but J is definately not a doctor, minister nor grave digger and his eyebrows do not meet in the middle so I figure that his being such a fine candidate for first footer cancels out the fact that I was lacking in the other necessary parts to the custom!

As for our postponed Christmas celebration we did not, as someone had kindly suggested after my last post, wait until Ukrainian Christmas, but instead celebrated on December 30th, the morning after the kids arrived back from Calgary. We had a lovely morning, and the kids all agree that it had been worth the wait! It was good to have some noise back in the house! (BF) G and I had found it awfully quiet in here while the kids were away!

So, tonight is the last evening of my Christmas holidays. Sigh... Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go tomorrow morning. I don't relish doing my ususal crazy running dash for the transit bus between transfers once again, especially as the forecast calls for +4 and rain tomorrow. Could be mighty slippery - and goodness knows I don't run well to start with. Picture if you will a mad flailing about and huffing and puffing and you will have an approximate image in your head of what I tend to look like when running. I'm a disaster! Although, by summer I may become an excellent sprinter after all at this rate!

As it's my last night to enjoy holiday freedom, I am getting back into Samus. I've finished the bottom cabled band, picked up the stitches and have started to the stocking stitch body. (One can accomplish much whilst waiting for a rear window to be replaced!) I am going to sit in front of Coronation Street tonight on the telly, and knit to my heart's content. Well really I suppose in the next half hour before CS comes on I should make some supper for the kids. Apparently they place eating much higher than "Mom's knitting time" Such nerve! ha ha!

Wishing one and all the very best for 2007!

PS: Was totally foiled in my TV watching desire tonight. Coronation Street was replaced with.... urrrggghhhh.... hockey. BAH. (OK. I know it's like blasphemy here in Canada to not appreciate hockey or to at least not keep my lack of appreciation to myself, but we're talking about Corrie here darn it.) Got lots of knitting done anyways though. Whoo hoo me! A good several inches of stocking stitch has materialized on the needles for Samus. A good several more to go. Setting a wee little goal for myself... let's say have the body done by Robbie Burns Day. I figured since I'm knitting Samus and have already discussed other Scottish customs, I might as well stick with a Celtic theme! So yep. Here I go! I decree that the body of Samus (ooohhh that sounds actually kind of gruesome) will be done by January 25th!

Christmas has been postponed

Well, here it is December 26th and I'm still not sure when we'll have Christmas. My kids' grandfather took seriously ill the night before he was to travel to Winnipeg to spend Christmas here. So instead of him coming here, the kids went with their Dad to Calgary early Saturday morning. I'm not sure when they'll be back, but I promised we'd wait to have Christmas together when they come home. Wasn't much in the spirit for festivities without them here anyways!

They've called everyday since going, and it sounds like they're having a good time out West, so I'm glad. Poor G was so worried about going. She was scared about Grandpapa and worried I'd be sad that she wasn't here. She wasn't going to go, but I convinced her in the end that she would regret not going. Their Grandpapa and uncle were so excited to be coming here to see them over the holidays and at least Grandpapa still gets part of his wish. He was having pretty major surgery yesterday (what an awful way to spend Christmas), but hopefully he'll be on the road to recovery soon.

People keep telling me what a "good mom" I am for letting them go. I did not "let" them go. There was no choice to be made. As I told the kids, their Grandpapa needs them, their Dad needs them and they need to all be together right now. I'm not a saint of course and I've had a rather blue time of things myself, but I know that the kids are where they need to be. And on Friday when I didn't know how serious the situation was I felt pretty selfish, wanting the ex to wait until after Christmas to go. As soon as he informed me of the what was really going on, I knew instantly that they had to go though. I must say I've had some guilt over my selfish thoughts too.

So. Christmas is postponed indefinately in our house. I'm not sure when they'll be back, but I'm keeping the tree up as long as I can. (It's a real tree, but it's still looking pretty good - we've been watering it like mad!). After all, just because the calendar says Christmas is on December 25th doesn't mean that it has to be. For me Christmas is about the kids, and so when they're back then it'll be Christmas. In the meantime, I will start knitting a couple of wristbands for the boys!

I hope all of you had a wonderful, healthy and happy festive season, whatever you celebrate in your family and that you will all have a wonderful New Year!

Know your limits and embrace them

We bought our Christmas tree on Saturday - there's nothing like a real tree! Of course G thought we needed the biggest, tallest one available (I did not - but lost out on that decision!) (BF)G complied with G's wishes and our tree almost reaches the ceiling! N, G and I decorated it on Sunday evening. It looks very pretty and so far the three cats have left it alone! (much to my relief) Hollycat is somewhat afraid of it, Sola likes to sleep under it and Squeeks had been completely ignoring it until last night when he decided he quite liked the taste of Christmas tree water. Crazy cats!

Between gift knitting projects, holiday baking, shopping, etc. I am quickly running out of time! I always figure I'll have more time than I do. How is it that time slips away so quickly and nothing seems to get finished in a timely fashion and then it's a mad panic???? Really I need to learn what my limits are and be a little more realistic with timeline goals!

I've not much to report on the knitting front these days! With getting ready for Christmas, I haven't had much time to devote to my WIP lately! I finished the Old World Booties just this morning - they're quite cute! And after work's endeavor today(while supper is cooking) is to finally sew up the white bunny slippers. Both pairs need to be delivered tonight! Nothing like leaving it to the last minute!

I have two more days of work left until holidays! Hopefully I'll get more knitting done then. Samus calls my name and begs to be worked on, as does my Irish Hiking Scarf. I really am wanting to get my hands and needles on the Sweet Georgia and of course there's the Southwestern Felted bag from Patons that cries out to me too, but I'm trying to be a good girl! I still need to do two pairs of teddy bear slippers before Christmas Eve. Once again... nothing like leaving it to the last minute! Ha! Ha!

Look what I got!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been trying to get near the computer since Friday evening to post this, but alas, time has not been on my side! I seem to be running out of hours in the day lately! But here it is better late than never!

My coffee partner sent me the loveliest package that arrived on Friday afternoon. Silly J signed for the parcel and then promptly forgot to tell me. Agggghhhh. I was home a whole hour before I knew it was there!



Anyways, I got the following wonderful items:
Mexican Coffee - very very thoughtful as I'd posted how my very favourite coffee ever was mexican!
Shortbread - Yum, yum, yum! One of my favourite things too!
Penguin Mug - Very cute and large! Perfect for a big ol' mug of coffee!
Homemade Strawberry Jam - The very best! Who cares about the rest! I love homemade jam! What a treat! You can't tell from the picture, but a lot of the jam has already disappeared onto my breakfast toast!
Ok, well not really who cares about the rest 'cause there was some delicious cotton yarns too! Such pretty colours!
Oh and I almost forgot - a fancy package of Hot Chocolate mix to share with the kids. (We'll see about that! Tee hee!)

Thank you so much "gigiknits" for thoughtfulness!

In other knitting news... I have come to a dead standstill on Samus and the Irish Hiking Scarf. Instead I've been focusing my attention on the woolies for the little ones for Christmas. I have the bunny slippers done other than sewing them up, and I am well on my way (finally after frogging back three times) on the first bootie from Interweave Knits Old World Booties. I am hoping to get two pairs of teddy bear slippers done before the holidays as well. Wish me luck - I seem to be running desperately short on time!

I just couldn't wait!

Look what arrived in the post today and was sitting on the kitchen table waiting for me when I got home!



I was going to wait for Christmas! Really I was! Honest. But it sat there looking at me, taunting me with it's festive box and bow and I broke. I caved and thought I'd just take a little peak. Well a little peak led me to red tissue with sparkles. What's a girl to do? Especially one such as myself with absolutely zero will power. Even when I was little, ok really until I left home and got married, I used to get to open an early Christmas present - well admittedly it was on Christmas Eve just before bed, but still it was an early present, and what does it matter if it's twenty days earlier than I would normally have ever considered opening such a present?

So I threw caution to the wind and carefully pulled back the tissue paper to reveal this:



The very wool I have been coveting since I first laid eyes on it on Pick Up Stick's website! In the very colour I've been wanting too! How did Connie know? How I ask! Maybe she has a direct line into Santa! But all I can say is Teresa somewhere out there in knitty land has exceptional taste and Connie of Pick Up Sticks is amazing at pairing people up with their yarn!

Now. Can I wait till after Christmas to start knitting with Sweet Georgia's Handpainted Berry? It calls to me. Softly, subtly, but there it is, ever whispering my name. Urging me onto sock-y delights!

Busy busy busy!

I have so many things on the go right now and it seems like nothing is getting finished! I'm not just talking knitting either!

I started the new job at the University this week! Yey me, for getting through week one! I think I'm really going to enjoy the job - just need to get my bearings straight and I'll be fine! Starting a new job is always hard! Meeting all the new people (and trying to remember their names), finding your way around, getting to know new software and procedures... it all takes time - or so I'm telling myself! Everyone's really welcoming and friendly though so that's great!

I now take the transit bus too instead of driving. Still getting used to that! With all the snow we had on Tuesday morning, I ended up late for work by about five minutes! Aggggghhhh. Late the second day. What a way to make an impression. I now take an earlier bus - some days it manages to get me there really early! Not sure how that works, shouldn't busses be fairly consistent? Oh well. As long as I'm not late again then it doesn't really matter!

I've started plugging away at my Philosophy course again. The one I was supposed to start in August. My first essay on Plato's Apology is almost done (finally). I am Queen of procrastination. There is no doubt about that!!!!!! I had all the intentions in the world of actually emailing the essay to the tutor before school started in September. Hmmm. Good thing for distance ed! Although I've got three more essays to do before the end of my course date, January 31st. YIKES! Why oh why did I sign up for this course???? After this one is done, and I WILL FINISH IT, I think I'll take a break until next fall. Then I'll just start taking courses at the U of M. It'll be better that way - won't allow for so much procrastination!

In knitting terms, I've got several on the go projects (see above pic!). My Irish Hiking Scarf is coming along nicely - I knit it on the bus when I can, and do at least a few rows every lunch hour. I think I should be able to finish it before the new year. Next on the list is Samus! I'm so slow with the cables and am only half way through the bottom band, but I shall perservere. It's not a race after all. I'm loving the way it's looking though so far! I think once I'm onto the body of the sweater I'll really get going! I am getting a little faster on the cables now too, so my goal is to be working on the body by next weekend. The little pile of white and pink in the picture is a pair of bunny slippers for (BF) G's niece Alex. I realized this morning that when the pattern said "make 2" for the ears, they really meant make 4 in total! Agggghhh. How silly of me! I'm planning to start baby nephew Robbie, and (BF) G's nephew EJ's bear slippers this weekend! They're pretty quick and easy so should be no problem to get them done! After that it's onto Interweave's felted old world booties for (BF) G's nephew baby Logan, and then what to make for the other two boys (ages 6 & 9)???? Maybe mitts are best? Maybe a hat? I just don't know!!

I am mailing my coffee swap partner's parcel today. It contains coffee (obviously), yarn (rather obvious again), yummy things and a few other treats! I really hope she likes it and it gets to her on time! I love the idea of swaps! This being my first one, I don't really have experience first hand, but living vicariously through others, they seem like so much fun! I signed up for another swap, as well, but it's a bit different! All I had to do was purchase a ball of yarn from Pick Up Sticks and the owner will send it to someone, and will send me a ball of sock yarn that someone else purchased for swap. It's exciting! The owner said she'd send out the yarn on December 1st. I can hardly wait to get my mystery surprise sock yarn in the mail! All the yarns that we could choose from were lovely, so I'm sure I'll get something wonderful. I chose Sweet Georgia's Handpainted in "chinois" for my swap. I hope whoever gets it loves it as much as I do!

Well, it's time to go start the coffee and get ready for the day! N goes to his last robotics class this morning, then it's off to the Tartan Tea with G, then tonight is (BF) G's work Christmas party. Somewhere in there, I'd like to get some housework done, get some groceries (I've got Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard this week and the kid's came back from their Dad's last night - so I really should have food in the house!), and of course I'd love to have just a few minutes to myself for "Knitty" purposes!

A fond farewell to my knitting group

This fall I started a knitting group at the school. I had no idea how it would be received when I put the announcement in the student's bulletin, but was hugely surprised when eleven students and my co-worker showed up the first day for the planning meeting! The group was evenly split with half of the students never having even set eyes upon knitting needles and half with some experience.

We were to meet every second Monday at lunch, but one of my students, M, became quickly obsessed with knitting and came to see me every day for the first two weeks for help. She'd say, "I need help! I broke my knitting!" I would spend the next few minutes fixing whatever was "broken" and chatting with her and another member K, who always accompanied her. I think it was more about the chatting then the fixing the knitting somedays. M perservered throughout September and October making two blanket blocks (club requirement - they had to make at least one block for Blankets for Canada before they could go onto another project), three scarves and numerous bracelets for herself.

When I announced to the group two weeks ago that I was going to be leaving the school to take another job, they set to work planning a surprise party for me! With the help of my co-worker, they surprised me with cupcakes, brownies, chips, soft drinks and tiny sandwiches at lunch yesterday. M had even knit two bright streamers for the window of my office and wrote a poem for me!

It's amazing how something I started just because I love to knit turned into something that really touched the lives of these kids. I had a real cross section of students in the group, from the top marks to the kids that are in resource, from grade ten through twelve, yet they all connected and got to know each other.

I'm really going to miss my group of knitters! As I pack up my things and get ready to leave to start my new job at the university, I bid each of my knitters a very fond farewell and hope we'll meet again someday!

Knitting Tragedy

Well, it's happened. After learning a very hard lesson about the importance of doing gauge swatches, and spending forever knitting a couple of inches of my red sweater for the Red Sweater KAL, I decided that I hated the pattern, the drape, the look, the feel, well... pretty much all of it. So, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit back to the beginnings of what could have turned out to be the worse sweater in my possession.

Sigh. Now it's back to the drawing board. Here I sit with six lovely balls of Sirdar Country Style DK in a rich cranberry colour that I have no idea what to do with. (BF) G is begging for a sweater. Maybe I'll give into his pleading if I can find a good pattern for him. Otherwise I may say to heck with the whole bloomin' thing and just give it up (well for this weekend anyways).

I've been a little discouraged with the knitting this weekend. I haven't done anything with the curling edges of N's anarchy scarf. I can't believe I didn't think about it when I was blithely knitting along in stocking stitch the whole time. Aggghhhh. I know better! I have got maybe seven more rows done on my Irish Hiking Scarf and my little project I did for my coffee swap has had less than desired results to say the least. Baby R (nephew) was over tonight and his little socks are too little for his huge baby feet. Well, they fit, but just barely. Woe is me. Nothing is turning out the way it's supposed to right now. Well knitting wise anyways.

The rest of the weekend's been ok. Had a fun night with (BF) G, N and G last night. J was out partying as 16 year olds are wont to do. Then this morning, G had a fantastic competition. Oh I should mention G not only eats, breathes, and sleeps Shakespeare, she also lives for competitive highland dancing!

Please allow me to brag for a moment... she's done really well in the last year with dance (was third runner up for the province in the spring, then a runner up at Mid-Canada Championships in June then won the trophy at Interprov in Calgary for Restricted Highlands for her age group, and has just done generally well in competition overall.) Today she placed in all her dances, getting a 2nd, three 3rds and 2 4ths. I think it maybe a first for her placing in every single dance! She was ecstatic to be back up in the top three again! Way to go G! Practicing is really starting to pay off for her!

Tonight we had a big family dinner to celebrate G and J's birthdays last week. (BF) G outdid himself with the supper. Wow! We had a couple different kinds of stews that he had simmering all day! Yum, yum, yum!

Hopefully tomorrow is a better knitting day. Should have some time anyways. Is it wrong to take knitting to a Grey Cup party? Well. I guess I'd should wander off and put on my "Mom as a Taxi Driver" hat and go deliver J's girlfriend home.

Musings on Coffee...

Well as part of the Coffee Swap we've been asked to write about our favourite spots for getting coffee. Hmmm. I have so many to choose from, I don't think I can pinpoint an all-time favourite!

Right now I love Starbucks because you just can't get anything more fall-like than their Pumpkin Spice Latte! Yum! So smooth and sweet it conjurs up a sense of coziness with the first sip! There's just something about it that I can't get enough of!

Then there's Expresso Junction which is located in the Johnston Terminal of the historic Forks here in Winnipeg. The coffee is good - and it's a great place to get beans in bulk. They'll even roast them with different flavours on request. They just need a couple of days turn-around time because they do it off sight. Boyfriend G really appreciates the Coconut Cream they did up for him a few weeks ago! Beyond the coffee I love the ambiance of the Forks! The sights, sounds and smells are wonderful!

Next in line would have to be Just Desserts Cafe. Walk across the bridge from the Forks into the French Quarter and there you'll find a treasure of a cafe nestled in amongst the other buildings. They make the most unbelievable desserts (Mile High Apple Pie, 24-Carat Cake, Smoo Torte... sigh) and nothing compliments a sweet treat like a great cup of coffee!

Of course I'd be remiss as a Canadian citizen if I didn't mention Tim Horton's or Timmies as most of us refer to it. The phrase "double-double" became so well known because of Timmies that it's even been added to the dictionary. You can't beat a large English Toffee Cappuccino first thing in the morning on your way into work! And in the summmer... well there's just nothing that could be better than a cold, frosty Ice Cap. It's just one of those things!

Depending on how the weekend goes and if I can fit it in between the highland dance competition, N's robotics class, a family dinner and the Grey Cup, I might even add some pictures to go along with my musings.

The Bard is causing trouble... again

G was over for her Wednesday night visit (it's her week at her Dad's this week) and she had a bee in her bonnet to say the very least.

As I alluded to in my title, her angst was caused yet again by her devotion to ol' William! Poor G. she's no longer allowed to answer any questions during English class. The story goes something like this (of course bear in mind this is from the perspective of 14 year old, misunderstood, G)...

They were discussing A Midsummer Night's Dream and the teacher made a comment about one of the character's entering during a particular scene. G, who remember eats, sleeps, breathes (well darn well lives) for Shakespeare, knew this to be false information and quickly pointed out to the teacher that she was WRONG and that the character actually entered during [enter correct act and scene here]. Of course G. sticking to her guns would not back down, until she proved to said teacher that she, G. was right and the teacher was wrong. (Not a good tactic in front of twenty some other classmates). The teacher who by this point was getting rather fed up with G's constant corrections regarding Shakespeare, then posed a question to the class which apparently no one knew the answer to but G. She quickly put up her hand and was told she was not allowed to answer any more questions because she was ruining it for everyone. Needless to say, G is more than slightly affronted by this whole matter and figures she's going to take her greivence to the principal tomorrow. After all, she feels that she is really by far the expert on the whole matter.

You know, I almost feel sorry for the teacher, but at the same time... I'm mentally cheering! This passion and understanding of Shakespeare comes from my little girl who struggled all through elementary and who couldn't read until the end of grade two and numerous times was considered for holding back an extra year. So, really it is a great thing for her, for the first time in her school life, she's the best out of anyone in her class with something. And although I truly celebrate her thirst for knowledge I've just asked her to try very hard to be more diplomatic in her dealings with the teacher. And maybe, just maybe by next week she'll be allowed to answer questions again!

Great knitting weekend!

For once (it's been so very long!) I had a quiet, relaxing weekend with nothing pressing to get done! I didn't have anything scheduled so I spent the weekend knitting! I felted my mitts, finished baby nephew's socks, finished the scarf for N (just have to do the embellishment now), and dyed my yarn for my Irish Hiking Scarf.

As for Kool-aid dyeing. Well, I wasn't as successful as I'd hoped. I bought two skeins of aran weight natural wool and followed the instructions that I had. Using the ratio of one package of kool-aid to one ounce of wool seemed to be ok. Where I went wrong was doing the two skeins at once. Next time (and I will try it again) I would do one skein at a time in the microwave probably rather than both on the stove in a big pot. Tonight I'm going to wind the wool into two balls and then I'll start my scarf interchanging the two balls as you would with a handpainted yarn.

(BF)G thinks I'm crazily obsessed with knitting. Somehow this seems to have come as a surprise (?!?!) to him. Oh silly man... were the four boxes of yarn and the regular trips to Camille's not a dead give away? He's pretty good to me though and doesn't complain. Just gets a bemused look and shakes his head as he glances at the twenty sets of needles on the end table. As a kindness to him, I no longer keep various balls of yarn lying about because Hollycat's obsession with carting wool around in her mouth and making the most annoying chirpy noise in the wee hours of the morning was driving him slowly mad.

So here's my revised list of projects (and this time in order - or at least I think!):

1) Block and finish embellisment for N's anarchy scarf
2) Cast on for Irish Hiking Scarf
3) Cast on for my red sweater for the Red Sweater KAL
4) Start either mitts or hats for the little ones for Christmas
5) Felted purse? Yorick for J? Socks?

I have a coffee swap partner!!!

This morning, much to my excitement I got my coffee swap partner's name and email! I've never taken part in a swap before so this is going to be so much fun!!!! I've been getting ideas for what to send since I first signed up and I'm really looking forward to putting her package together! Here's the answers to my coffee questions:

QUESTIONS


1. Whole bean or ground? Whole bean - I love grinding my own beans
2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Fully-loaded... or what's the point? Tee hee
3. Regular or flavored? Hmmm. I love flavours in my coffee whether it be the coffee itself or flavoured syrup in it.
4. How do you drink your coffee? Usually with some form of sweetness and skim milk
5. Favorite coffee ever? Mexican coffee had at a resort in Mazatlan
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? I'm not too fussy - pretty much any ol' bean will do.
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Biscotti or cookies (I never turn down anything chocolate...)
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I like lighter roast coffees I don't care for coffee that bites back!
9. What treats do you enjoy with your coffee? See #7 also a muffin, cinnamon bun or a favourite treat at work, bannock (our school cafeteria makes wonderful bannock!) is always good!
10. Yarn/fiber you love? I love natural fibres best or acrylics with interesting colour or textures
11. Yarn/fiber you hate? Haven't really come across any that I hate yet although after knitting compulsively for the kids when they were younger using nothing but Patons Astra I don't really want to see an Astra label again!
12. What's on your needles? As of this morning, the second sock for my baby nephew, a scarf for my son and a blanket block for my student knitting group to donate to "Blankets for Canada"
13. Favorite colors? Blues, oranges, purples, pinks, chocolatey browns (Generally I like rich or vibrant colours - not much one for pastels anymore)
14. Allergies? I'm asthmatic, (thank goodness for Advair this month!) but it doesn't affect my knitting or coffee enjoyment in anyway! In fact coffee often helps with my asthma symptoms when they get really bad!
15. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? I've tried writing something here, but everything comes out sounding melodramatic or silly, so we'll just leave it at nothing right now! :)