Catching Up

The trouble with not posting during the weekend is that I invariably have a plethora of little tidbits I want to mention on Monday's post, and I've a limited time to do it (most of you know that I write these posts during my lunch break, then input the pictures from home once the kids are in bed). Today's post is no exception, so let's get to it!

First off, may I present my Firestarter Socks!

To recap: Firestarter sock by Yarnissima (Ravelry link here, non-Ravelry link here). Knit with Shibui Sock yarn using 2.75 mm needles.

I loved knitting these socks. Even though I knit them with dpns instead of 2 circular needles like the pattern called for (I didn't have the appropriate needle size to get gauge), there were a few techniques I'd never done before, so this was a great learning project. And they feel great on the feet! Yum yum yum.

I also cast on a new sock for Phil. (Well, actually I purchased the pattern, realized that the original yarn I had promised Phil wouldn't have enough yardage, debated about which yarn to use instead, selected a yarn I thought would work, cast on, decided that the yarn I was using wasn't suitable for the pattern, frogged, and am now poised to swatch with a new yarn tonight.)

Here's a shot of the sock with the original yarn (Regia Bamboo Color). The pattern (Anne Hanson's Luxor socks) calls for a bamboo or tencel blend yarn, so I thought this would work great. But while the yarn itself is very nice, and I'm sure it'll make a great pair of socks someday, it was just too colourful for this project and the stitch pattern was completely lost.

Never fear, I had the perfect yarn in the stash. As a matter of fact, it was among those I had proposed to Phil when I realized that the All Things Heather Merino Tencel yarn he's been mooning over just didn't have enough yardage for this project. It's a really beautiful Merino Tencel blend from Maple Creek Farm I bought at Rhinebeck last year, and I was actually jealous that they were going to be for a sock for him. But all he had to say when I showed it to him was "It's too brown".

Too brown? Remember, this is the man of the perpetual blue sock we're talking about. I was confounded. Brown???????? Luscious and rich and sensual, yes. It's not "brown".

When it became painfully obvious that the Regia just was not going to work, I pulled the Maple Creek Farm out of the stash again, and maybe because it was now being presented in daylight (or possibly because I had changed into a strapless sequined gown to showcase it as the glorious work of art it truly is), Phil reconsidered. "It would probably work with khakis".

Good enough! No sooner said that Émilie and I wound the skein into a ball (Phil took pictures, but sadly they turned out blurry), and I'm looking forward to swatching and possibly casting on tonight.

I say possibly casting on, because Phil's in Quebec City tonight, so I'll be pulling double duty with the kids, and will probably collapse in a heap of exhaustion once they're in bed (and I've posted pictures to this entry, of course).

What ELSE did you do this weekend, you may be wondering? Well, Saturday Émilie and I hopped on the Metro (I love how taking the Metro is an exciting adventure for a 3 year-old) and met my cousin Jessica in town, hit our noses on Itsi-Bitsi's door (they're closed for Summer Holidays), then doubled back to Laval and spent the afternoon in the pool with Maxime and Phil.

Sunday we ran various errands and I discovered that it is indeed possible to spend hours on end pulling weeds in your flower beds and vegetable patch (whenever I read that people spend 2-3 hours at a time working in the garden, I always think they're crazy people who need to get a life). I hadn't done any weeding in my flower bed (you know, the one that sent me into premature labour with Maxime last year?) in, oh, a month? So it took a little time to get back in order.

When I came back in, Phil said something along the lines of "Wouldn't it be great if my mother called and we could just drop the kids off and go to the movies?".

"Yeah, that'd be sweet" I replied, washing my hands.

"Well, she already did!" replied Phil.

WOO-HOO!!! When Maxime got up, we packed up the kids and dropped them off at their grand-parents (who hadn't seen them in about a month, they were in South-Korea), and we got to see The Dark Knight. I thought it was excellent (Phil thought it was alright, but he's not much of a Batman fan). A few random impressions:

• We're both total weenies that we never queued in on who Harvey Dent is (I won't say in case some of you are reading this and going "Harvey Who?").
• Despite a sincere love of Christian Bale (which may be called into question soon - did y'all know he was going to be in the fourth Terminator movie? Whyyyyy????), his gruff "Batman" voice was really starting to get on my nerves by the end of the film.
  
• I heart Gary Oldman. 'Nuff said.
  
• I'm profoundly disappointed in Heath Ledger, and feel that, despite the fact that he didn't know me from a fart in the wind, he personally let me down by dying. So much talent.

Finally, I'll relate a story in which my ego took quite a beating this morning. Weekday mornings, Émilie's taken to going downstairs to get her apple juice when she gets up, then coming back upstairs to sit with me while I get ready for work. This morning when I stepped out of the shower she was there gulping away. What should she comment on this morning, but my butt! "Your bum is jiggly, Mom! (Tes fesses bougent toutes seules, Maman !)".

Thanks, kid. That's just what I needed on a Monday morning. Now where's that cannoli? :)

Happy Knitting Everyone!