Dear Knits

Ripple Effect

2012-02-13T20:50:00.003-05:00

Apologies for the hiatus, friends. It's been a busy few weeks chez Dear, friends (understatement!!!), and I'm so tired I can barely see straight, so it's a real tribute to my love and appreciation of this here blog that I'm even posting at all...

Without further ado, I present the second official FO to finally come off the needles: a pair of Fleece Artist thrum socks, a woefully belated Christmas gift for my stepmum Margot.

Let me just say this: I absolutely *despise* knitting these f***ing things. Hate it. After the first few rounds, the "charm" of the multi-coloured thrums loses what pitiful appeal I had deluded myself into thinking they had, and I want to snip the fledgling sock into a zillion wee bits and set them on fire. Don't ask me why. I just really, really REALLY hate knitting these things. But I knit them anyway. You know... once every 2 or 3 years, when I can finally suppress the gag reflex these f***ers inspire. 'Cause that's just the kind of awesome stepdaughter I am, you know? Heh.

Suffice it to say that, once I was finally done with these ~~never-ending time sucks of doom~~ socks, I had a mean hankering to knit ANY SOCK WHATSOEVER AS LONG AS IT WASN'T THRUMMED. In the next few days, I cast on not one, but TWO pairs. Considering my strict-ish policy about project monogamy, that should tell you something about how far out of my comfort zone those Socks of Evil pushed me.

Sock cast on The First:

Solid Socks Mystery KAL, designed by Laura Jenkins, knit with Sweet Georgia Tough Love in the Tourmaline colourway. Colour is way, WAY off in this picture, but hey, that's life.

Sock cast on The Second:

It's Tea Time socks, from Around the World in Knitted Socks, by Stephanie Van der Linden. Knit with The Sincere Sheep Keen 100% BFL Superwash in the Milpa colourway. Really digging these at the moment.

The recent cast-ons are helping me recover with the trauma of the thrummed socks, but I don't know what I'm completely over it yet. Maybe I should cast on for a cowl...

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

First

2012-01-30T19:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, January 29th, I finally got around to creating a Finished Objects set for the year in Flickr. That means it took me almost an entire month to have a finished object. Considering how profuse some knitters are, not to mention how I used to be, I've got to say... it bugged me a little bit. I kept thinking "Seriously? Here we are, almost February, and this is all I've got? One pair of socks?".

At least these aren't your run of the mill socks though...

Pattern: Aphrodite, by Jeannie Cartmel
Yarn: Springtree Road Emeline Sock (50% Merino, 50% Silk)
Colour: Chartreux
Needles: 2.5 mm
Technique: knit on 2 circulars
Cast on date: January 12, 2012
Cast off date: January 28, 2012

I knit these beauties as part of the Solid Socks monthly Mystery Sock KAL on Ravelry. I got a wee bit confused and thought I could partake of both the Mystery Sock AND the Color of the Month KAL (which was Black/White/Grey for January), but apparently I can't do that... No matter though. These socks are made of total frickin' awesome, in my humble opinion.

Oh yeah... that's the stuff right there. Just look at those stitches! Ooh baby...

*Ahem*

Next month's colour of the month is "Spring". In February. Since I doubt the group's organizers mean us to knit with dirty white, icy grey or dull brown (such is the colour of February in Montreal), I pulled the following candidate skeins out of the stash:

Anyone have any favourites?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Perspective

2012-01-26T20:24:00.003-05:00

About a month ago, I came down with a case of Startitis. Thankfully, it wasn't the the severe kind that has the knitter casting on 17 projects in 3 days in wild, careless abandon. No, no, nothing like that.

I just really, really, REALLY wanted to cast on for a shawl. Even though I already had an active project on the needles. Even though I had a *cough*few*cough* lingering WIPs. I didn't care about any of that. Suddenly, what I was working on had about as much appeal as a colonoscopy, and I wanted something shiny and new, and darnit, it was going to be a shawl. Something with lace, but not too "lacey". Something awesome.

Now... I know what you're thinking. "Big whup, Tara. So you wanted to cast on for a shawl. How is that Startitis?!?"

Because of the fevered blindness with which I cast on, my friends. Brooklyn Tweed's Loft Collection had just come out ~~and pushed me over the edge~~, so it didn't take me long to settle on Stonecrop for a pattern. As for the yarn, I quickly settled on the Foxhill Farm Cormo Cross I bought at Rhinebeck last year because a) it was still relatively shiny and new and b) it's brown, like the one the gorgeous strawberry-blond nymph modelling the pattern is wearing.

Was it the right gauge? Did I swatch? Did I even give a sh*t?? Um... no. I threw caution to the WIND, my friends. I told the Knitting Fates they could shove it up their skeins, and recklessly cast on. Total Startitis.

After about 10 rows I started getting that feeling, though... that feeling that this wasn't looking quite right, that maybe it wasn't going to work out. And I went through all Denial's usual suspects: "Maybe it'll block out", "Maybe it's the lighting", "It'll look better once it's off the needles". And for a while, that was enough to keep me going. I kept knitting, trying to outrun the sense of knitterly doom.

After a few weeks, as often happens in these situations, the Foxhill Stonecrop got set aside in favour of other, more ~~interesting~~ pressing projects. And there it sat, in suspended animation, on the living room end table (a.k.a. where WIPs go to die).

Last night I had Kate-the-Enabler over for a Knit Night, and as she was dutifully Oooh-ing and Aaah-ing over my current projects, she came upon the forgotten shawl.

"Is that your Cormo!??", she asked excitedly (she was there when I bought it. So was Stephen West. It was a Moment).

"Yeah" I answered. "I'm not entirely convinced it's working with this pattern, though...".

And Kate, yes woman extraordinaire, she who can see the positive in ANYTHING, spread the shawl out and gave it a good hard look. "You know..." she said, pursing her lips "I think you might be right."

Buh-bye, Stonecrop. Anyone have any pattern suggestions for 820 yards of Foxhill Cormo Cross?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Satisfaction

2012-01-16T20:18:00.006-05:00

My last FO for 2011 was another Holiday Hooligan, Ivy, this time for Maxime.

Pretty cute huh? A bit of a finicky pain in the arse to knit, and should totally have counted as three FOs since it came with a hat and a scarf, but hey... the important thing is that he's happy with it (you know.. as much as anyone with the attention span of a four year-old can be). Perhaps even more important is the fact that I've pretty much purged the urge to knit toys, and can I get an Amen to that?

The only trouble is that, since finishing Ivy, my knitting has kind of... lulled. I've got a few projects on the go, and even finished a few things (a second Roar hat for Émilie, as well as a neckwarmer/cowl that turned out too big for her...), but... yeah. Nothing was really doing it for me. It was all rather... Meh. Schmeh. Yadayada.

Then one day I was ~~procrastinating~~ browsing on Ravelry (raise your hand if you've got a funny knitting story that starts with those words!), looking into the Solid Socks group... and suddenly I was a woman possessed. I had to knit a pair of socks in the colour of the month (Black, White or Grey) and I had to knit the Mystery Sock (this month's is to catch up on a former Mystery Sock). I mean... I hadn't knit a pair of fun, challenging, pretty socks in, like... weeks!

Pattern is Aphrodite, by Jeannie Cartmel (who, might I add, has some really cute sock patterns!), and the yarn is Springtree Road's Emeline Sock (50% superwash merino, 50% silk) in the Chartreux colourway.

I'm calling them my Peel Me A Grape socks. They're decadent, sophisticated and just plain fabulous, and I'm loving every minute of this project. I mean... just look at them! Oh yeah, that's the stuff right there.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Serendipity

2012-01-07T19:05:00.004-05:00

Last week I was browsing Hawthorne Treads' shop, playing around with their Colour Search feature (Go have a look. It's pretty frickin' cool) and um... there was an incident. I don't really know what happened, and I certainly can't explain it, as I'm on a STRICT stash OF ANY KIND diet, but, well... before I knew it there were 10 yards of fabric in my cart and 100$ less in my PayPal account. These things happen.

Anyway, the fabric arrived this week and, aside from making me feel like it's HIGH TIME I break out of my Pink Phase, it's made me very happy.

*Sigh* Isn't that pretty? I mean... forgetting the fact that I've no immediate plans whatsoever for this fabric and that buying it was pure consumerist gluttony on my part... How can looking at that stack not make me happy?

The happy (if slightly guilt-inducing) fabric came with a bit of a surprise, however. It seems that I was so ~~high~~ ~~crazed~~ distracted when I had my falling down accident that I failed to notice that one of the prints I added to my cart was not, in fact, quilter's cotton. It was, of all things, corduroy.

Yup. That there is a wild, funky-ass corduroy. And I'm charmed. I'm smitten. I absolutely LOVE this crazy fabric.

I have no idea what to make with it, of course. I have visions of peasant dresses and bandanas and banana bags and... well. Only one thing is certain at this point. Whatever it becomes, it's going to be awesome.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Gadgets

2012-01-05T20:02:00.005-05:00

Up until now, I wouldn't have called myself a gadget person. As a rule, the new gizmos, doodads and thingamabobs didn't really interest me. I was usually pretty happy with whatever tech I had. It's perfectly serviceable, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", yadayada...

The thing is, my job sort of requires me to be a bit tech savvy. Now, I realize some of you (or maybe even quite a few of you!) are going to have your entire world view completely skewed at the idea that a librarian could need to be tech anything, but they do. Information is available on many different platforms, and a good librarian (to say nothing of a good medical librarian!) needs to be hip to what's happening on the tech scene. (And yes, I realize that by using the term "hip to" anything, I have labeled myself as a total dork. Moving on.)

Anyway, since starting the new job, I've really noticed the, um... gaps in my techno-hipness. Clients would come in with really specific questions about their iPhones, their Androids, their tablets or their MacBooks, and it was all I could do not to answer them with "uummmmmmm... Gosh, I.... Look! Something shiny!".

Those days are behind me now though, for Santa (aka Phil) put a brand spanking new iPad under my tree :). It's fabulous! I've had a blast loading it up with various knitterly apps and assorted accoutrements. I've also started posting pictures on Instagram (I'm dearknits. Duh). So much fun! I love the filters you can apply to the images as well. It even inspired me to sign up for this photo a day challenge!

Here are a few pictures I took in the past week:

So while I ~~remain~~ may still be a techno-weenie (because DUDES, it just took me an HOUR to figure out how to post those pictures to Blogger, and I didn't really succeed because I wound up emailing them to myself and finishing up this post on my trusty old PC), I'm a weenie with a cool doohickey, and that's good enough for me!

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Less is more

2012-01-03T21:20:00.002-05:00

I have very ambivalent feelings about New Years'. Reflecting on the year coming to an end, reading the seeming gazillion reviews that pepper the blogosphere in the first days of January, I find it all very inspiring. It's like I get infected with enthusiasm or something, and suddenly, because it's January first, everything seems possible. For whatever reason, I'm ~~delusional~~ confident and secure that all goals are achievable, even those goals that I've had for years and have never been able to get my sh*t together enough to accomplish.

'Cause, you know, it's the New Year. Fresh start. Clean Slate.

So I make lists. Lists of the accomplishments of the past year (Ran a half-marathon! Learned to sew! Changed jobs! 20 FOs! Processed over 150 pounds of tomatoes!). Lists of goals for the coming year, things I need to do to make this year the year.

The list for the coming year usually looks something like this:

Exercise more.
Knit more.
Sew more.
Read more.
Save ~~some~~ ~~any~~ more money.
Blog more consistently.
Spend more time with my family.
Spend more time with my friends.
Spend more time with myself.
Build a bigger garden.
...

Yeah. Realistic, right?

This would be when I freak out and my feelings about the New Year become somewhat less than enthusiastic because, honestly, how can anyone be successful with that kind of list? Seems to me we're all pretty busy, wouldn't you say? Just how much more can we reasonably accomplish, anyway? Too much pressure. Too many expectations. Too much more.

So I'm not doing it this year! Instead, I'm going to take it one day at a time, and try to do/make/be something positive, every day. How I accomplish that on a daily basis will depend on my mood. For instance, today I attended a yoga class, and wrote a blog post.

Less is totally more :)

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

One year

2011-12-29T20:11:00.003-05:00

Today's a very special day at Casa de Dear. Wait, special isn't the right word. It's significant and imbued with meaning for our family. It was on this day, one year ago, that we discovered our daughter Émilie had a brain tumour.

For the past week, Phil and I (and our extended family) have been nervously apprehending this day, this anniversary. Remembering the... bewilderment that we felt during that awful, awful time. The helplessness. The profound ache and grief that you feel, as a parent, when your child is afflicted with a serious disease. The rage you feel because damn it, it's unfair, and wrong, and just doesn't make sense at all and yet, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Trust me when I say that it's very, very easy to get buried in sorrow when thinking about that day, December 29th, 2010.

Having said that, when I get past the pain and sorrow of that day and actually look at the present, at December 29th, 2011? The overwhelming feeling isn't one of sorrow, or pain, or fear. It's one of relief. Of gratitude.

Relief that she doesn't have a tumour anymore. Gratitude that she's thriving, and happy, and apparently able to move on from that horrible ordeal. Relief that those feelings of bewilderment, of helplessness, of grief, are (fingers crossed) behind us. Gratitude that our daughter is still with us.

I guess December 29th is a good day after all.

Happy Knitting, Everyone.

Frozen

2011-12-23T19:29:00.005-05:00

A couple of things have got me thinking that it must be getting mighty cold in the underworld this week, and I'm not talking about the snow that finally got here today*. Nope, I'm talking about strange, heretofore unheard of goings-on chez Dear that, had you asked me about them even a week ago, I would have scoffed at.

Thing the first? Well, brace yourselves but... I knit a toy.

I realize that might not seem like a big deal to most of you, but trust me when I say that anyone who knows me will be absolutely GOBSMACKED.

Long story short: I don't do toys. Garment knitter all the way, 100%. I've had discussions about knitted toys with people, and while I've occasionally conceded that there might MAYBE be a few toys out there that score fairly high on the cute-o-meter, I just... don't get them. To me knitting a toy would be like crocheting a cozy for my toilet paper dispenser. Um... no.

Enter DangerCrafts' Three Christmas Hooligan pattern. Pretty gosh darn adorable, wouldn't you say? Yup. Only I wasn't going to knit it, because, as I said, I don't do toys. Not me. No siree. Knit a toy? Surely you jest. Pshaw... Like, duh.

However, when Émilie told me that they were having a "bring a stuffie to school" day this week, ~~that was all the excuse I needed~~ I decided to put aside my aversion to knitting toys and made her one, because that's the kind of mature, wonderful mother I am.

But wait, that's not all. I said there were a couple of things...

Thing the second? I finally fixed and finished The Mittens. Yeah... I know.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

* yeah, I know. I'm complaining about the lack of snow, even though I know perfectly well that I'll be having nightmares because of it in April. What can I say? I'm Canadian. My relationship with snow is complex.

Fishermen's Friends

2011-11-21T21:02:00.001-05:00

About a zillion years ago (or so it seems anyway), I was ~~stalking~~ browsing Springtree Road's site when I fell hard for a skein of BFL fingering weight yarn in the most absolutely perfect shade of red. It was magnificent, I tell you. It had richness and depth and it just felt luxurious, you know? It looked like velvet is supposed to feel. It was called Red Delicious, and I wanted very much to make it mine.

Of course, I was on a yarn-diet at the time, one that I was actually sticking with for a change, so despite some pretty gosh-darn strong feelings on the subject, I didn't buy it.

And for weeks that was how it went. I would ~~stalk~~ browse Maya's site and I would have a cyber-visit with the red yarn. I would look at it and sigh over it's magnificence, and I would let it go. Until one day, I visited my the yarn and saw that there was only ONE skein of my precious Red Delicious in stock. ONE SKEIN, people.

I think you can guess what happened next? Yarn diet schmyarn diet, and I'll take a membership in your fabulous sock clique club while I'm at it, thanks.

When it arrived it was just as fabulous as I had imagined it would be. Contrary to my usual habit, I didn't carry the skein around me for a few days, taking every opportunity to look at it and give it an affectionate squeeze (shut up, you SO do it too!). I wound it up almost immediately. I had fawned over this yarn long enough, my friends. I couldn't wait to knit it up.

For some reason, I felt that the skein wanted to be knit up into man socks. Awesome, kickass, Yeah-I'm-wearing-red-socks-what's-it-to-you-pal socks. Socks that would make an impression. Epic socks.

I chose to knit up my Red Delicious yarn into these Filey socks, inspired by a traditional guernsey pattern. Because it's my firm belief that if fishermen of yore had had access to some awesome red yarn, they would totally be more traditional red guernseys in the world. Heh.

Chalk ONE up for the Christmas Gift Pile (Yup, I said it. Hang on to your dpns my friends. Chrismas Knitting has arrived chez Dear.)

Happy ~~Christmas~~ Knitting, Everyone!

The Swatch

2011-11-14T20:40:00.001-05:00

I had a really laid back attitude as far as Rhinebeck prep was concerned this year. I didn't have a buying plan, didn't have any specific itinerary. Honestly? It's been a rough year, and I was just happy to be going at ALL, you know? Me and my peeps, going to spend a weekend with people who know and understand the awesome power of yarnz.

It was going to be great! I was happy and at peace. Right up until Phil asked me what I was knitting for Rhinebeck, 17 days before the big day.

At first, I just dismissed the idea. Knitting something (aka a sweater) in 17 days? Was he mental? The schedule was crazy! I was starting a new job! Things were just WAY too hectic. 17 days to knit a sweater? There was just no way, right?

Right?

I mean... it just couldn't be done.

Could it?

The thing is... you can't just plant an idea in a knitter's head like that and have nothing happen. In knitterly parlance, by asking someone what they're knitting for Rhinebeck, you've effectively drawn a line in the sand. You've challenged the knitter's skillz, dedication, and fortitude. Shit is going to go down, one way or the other.

And so it went. Fester, fester, fester... the idea of knitting a sweater in 17 days gnawed at me. I was as excited at the prospect of a good knitdown as I was pissed at Phil for even suggesting it in the first place. And to add insult to injury, it's not like I had nothing appropriate in the stash. I just happened to have 11 skeins of Shelter lying around, earmarked for Gudrun Johnston's Kerrera, for the better part of a year.

- "OK," I thought. "I'll knit a swatch. See what happens. Maybe the Shelter won't be a good match for the pattern. Maybe I won't get gauge. And that'll be that. It'll be out of my hands."

Naturally, I got gauge. On the first try, no less, which never happens. The knitting fates were just laughing at me at this point. I stared at the swatch. Tumbleweeds blew across the living room floor. Time seemed to stop. There I was, on the cusp of knitting greatness. Deep down, I knew what I had to do. I couldn't back down. I couldn't let it go. I was Knitter, and I would knit a sweater in 17 days or go crazy trying.

And for the next 16 days, I knit like the wind, people. Every chance I got, I knit. A few rows here, a couple of stitches there. By the time we left for Rhinebeck, I had completed the body and 2 sleeves, but I still had to finish the hood, make the pockets, and knit about a zillion miles of edging (in double garter stitch - aka endless time suck stitch - no less).

Luckily, Kate understood. Without my even having to say anything, she sensed my desperation, my knitterly angst, and graciously offered to drive the entire way to Kingston, all so that I could maximize the knitting time. (Or maybe she just didn't want me driving her swagger wagon. Heh.)

When we got there, while other knitters were whooping it up with cocktails around the pool, Kate was right there with me, ~~giving me oxygen~~ offering words of encouragement while I knit furiously into the night. Eventually even Kate couldn't hold on any longer, fatigue got the best of her, and still, I kept knitting.

I wove in my final ends at a few minutes past midnight, the night before the festival. I sighed in relief, and not a little disbelief too. I had done it. I had knit a sweater in 17 days. Wow.

Bug eyed and stiff from hours of intense knitting posture, I turned off the lights and shuffled off to the bathroom, my sweater grasped tightly to my bosom. Again, pride washed over me. I had done it. I put on the sweater I had knit in 17 days, and...

It looked like ASS.

Crumpled, egg-cartony, misshapen ASS.

My eyes widened. I may have sobbed a little. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it was just staring me in the face at this point. I was going to have to block the sweater.

What was going through my mind as I dunked the sweater into a warm bath at half past midnight the night before Rhinebeck? Resignation. Acceptance. Maybe a touch of insane hope as well.

- "Shelter isn't really a dense yarn. It'll probably dry quickly" I thought as I blindly patted it into place in our now pitch black hotel room, as Kate dreamed happy dreams beside me.

It didn't quite work out that way, of course.

The next morning (you know... 6 hours later?) it was still wet as... um... water. I wore it to the fairground anyway, draped over my arm when I became concerned it was going to stretch beyond repair if I continued to wear it. But eventually I came to my senses, mostly because I was tired of lugging a heavy, dripping, slightly smelly sweater around.

Still. I knit a sweater in 17 days, y'all. I rule.

Besides, she may not have been ready to make her debut at Rhinebeck, but she's still a damn fine sweater. Which is good enough for me.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-11-06T20:42:00.004-05:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Where's Ringo?

2011-11-03T20:06:00.004-04:00

I was thinking about how it had been (gulp) 2 weeks since I last posted this morning, when one of my favourite lines* from Boogie Nights popped into my head. It's from the scene when Dirk is practicing his lines in front of the mirror at the end of the movie. There he is, in all his cheesy-eighties-porn-star glory, and he scrounges up every ounce of his acting ability to ask "Where the f**k is Ringo?".

I'm here, friends. I'm here.

Adaptation to the new schedule continues, however, and I confess I'm having a little trouble finding the will time to do anything beyond taking care of the family unit lately. The good news is that I'm knitting up a storm, however, and I've even put in a few evenings on the sewing machine as well, so I won't lack for blog fodder. We'll get there.

In the meantime, how 'bout we take a peak at my Rhinebeck purchases?

Miss Babs Northumbia Hand-Painted 4 ply BFL Yarn (437 yds). Colour: Squash Blossom.

Foxhill Farm Cormo Cross, 100% wool (410 yds). Two skeins.

Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! (412 yds). Two skeins: Robberfly and Rhinocerous Beetle colourways.

Miss Babs Northumbia Naked 4 ply BFL (240 yds). Colour: Luna Granite (2 skeins), Moss (1 skein)

Spirit Train Fiberworks "Sunna" (350 yds). Colour: Aquitaine (2 skeins)

Miss Babs Yowza Whatta Skein 100% Superwash Merino (560 yds). Colour Lady Bug (2 skeins)

The Sincere Sheep Keen 100% BFL Superwash (465 yds). Colour: Milpa.

The only question is what will I cast on with first? Any suggestions? :)

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

* Sure, most people remember what comes AFTER that line (that'd be when he finally reveals his... um... assets. Ahem.)

Weekend recap

2011-10-18T20:41:00.004-04:00

Busy week here, poppets. I'm very, very tempted to pull a Wordless Weekend Wrap-Up post for Kate and my Rhinebeck shenanigans, but I can't rightly do that after making such a weepie git of myself in my last post, can I? So let's get to it.

Friday ~~late~~morning, Kate and I headed out to pick up the lovely and talented (but drivers' license-less) Véronik, and we chatted and knit our way down to the glamourous (she said with tongue firmly in cheek) Kingston Holiday Inn. We arrived in the early evening and met up with the fabulous Carol, Laura and Jim, joined them for a few cocktails in the supah swanky (again with the tongue in cheek!) hotel bar, then retreated to our room for some frantic knitting on my part (more on that next post) and some desperately trying to stay awake on Kate's part (she'd driven the entire way so I could knit, silly sausage).

When we arrived at the fairgrounds on Saturday morning, the knitters' had arrived en masse. The weather was lovely, a bit on the breezy side but heck, we were all swaddled in knitwear anyway, right?

We each grabbed a cuppa and, without any specific shopping objectives in mind, decided to stroll around and just enjoy ourselves. Rhinebeck can be a bit overwhelming, even when you've already been there, because there's just So. Much. Yarn. And people. And fabulous knitwear. And fabulous designers. We hadn't been there 10 minutes before we ran into Anne Hanson (we weren't able to get out s**t together in time to make it to the Knitspot lunch, sadly), and later that afternoon, another illustrious member of the knitterati happened to be strolling next to yours truly...

Can you see who it is? Take a closer look at the hat he's wearing... Ring any bells? It was none other than Stephen West, people! I just about sh@t myself!!!

OK not really. But when, a few minutes later, I found myself right smack dab next to the man at the Foxhill Farm booth, where we were both fondling some Cormo, I might have been a little bit of a dufus... (but not, like, in a weird way or anything. Hah). He was perfectly charming and agreed that my chocolate brown skeins would make something fabulous.

By late afternoon, neither Kate or I had made many purchases, much to our mutual surprise. We were able to pull it together though (like, duh), I with about a TON of Miss Babs, and Kate with her habitual Shelridge Farm.

And that about wraps it up. We had a lovely day, met some fabulous people, and spent some quality time among our kind.

The only thing that would have made the weekend better is if our friend Alison had been able to make the trip with us...

Oh well, there's always next year :)

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Community

2011-10-14T07:46:00.002-04:00

It's a busy morning chez Dear. I've sent the kids off to school, the husband off to work, and I'm running around the house like a crazy person, trying to prepare for this, the most anticipated weekend of the year. That's right friends, I'm going to Rhinebeck.

Obviously, I'm looking forward to the yarn. But more than that, Rhinebeck is - for me, anyway - about the people. It's about being part of the gathering en masse of thousands of fiber enthusiasts. It's about getting to spend some special time with some of my most favourite people in the world. It's about community.

The past few weeks have been hectic around here. In a good way, of course. My new job is demanding and challenging and so, so rewarding. Being a part of something, feeling like my work, my skills, are appreciated and valued has been like a tall glass of cool water on a hot day, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I've been given.

Of course, all change has it's difficulties. I feel as though all I've had time for the past 2 weeks is work and (immediate) family. Friends, commitments, and yes, blogging, have all fallen along the wayside. My commute is (much) longer, I'm home less often, and Phil has had to take on more of the "holding down the fort" workload. We're still trying to adjust to the new routine, trying to figure out what works best. It's an adjustment, but I know we'll get there.

Which is why this morning, as I'm getting ready to participate in one of the biggest assemblies of the knitting community, I'm taking a few minutes to write up this post. Because this blog, this space is also about community, about my community. I haven't forgotten that.

Happy Knitting, Everyone.

Just the scarf

2011-09-29T16:14:00.006-04:00

Last night, as I sat down for my ~~pitifully small~~ daily alloted knitting time, Phil asked me what I was knitting for Rhinebeck.

I'm starting a new job next week, the schedule is crazy, and it's taken me a week to manage to knit a freakin' size 3-month stockinette baby cardigan, and dude's asking me - 17 days before the event - what I'm knitting for Rhinebeck.

I just stared up at him in astonishment, my eyes conveying a subtle "Are you sh**tting me???" message.

"Just the scarf then, eh?", he stammered.

Yup.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Good mail

2011-09-25T20:03:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, I received a letter in the mail. I'm not talking about a bill or a card or a note... I mean an actual, honest-to-goodness letter.

A friend of mine had decided it was time to step back from all this "convenience" and decided to take the time to physically set pen to paper and write me a letter.

I couldn't believe it. As I read her letter I had vivid flashbacks of a dozen childhood pen pals, of blue inked letters hurriedly written on ripped note paper... It was a simple, howdeedo? kind of letter, but the fact that my friend took the time to write it out by hand and send it to me by post - because she could have sent the very same message by email - infused it with an additional level of thoughtfulness and sincerity of feeling that moved me.

I can tell you that that feeling has led to some pretty deep, introspecty stuff at Casa de Dear. I've been pondering all this "convenience" which we've come to expect in our daily lives, and wondering what we've given up in the name of instant gratification... Honestly though? It's Sunday night. I'm beat. I think I'd rather sleep and live to rant another day, you know? :)

In the meantime, I'd invite you to pull out the old stationary and write someone a letter. It'll make their day, trust me.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

p.s. : snail mail isn't the only thing my mail carrier has been bringing to my door this week!

Mantra

2011-09-21T11:53:00.001-04:00

It's been an interesting week here. Not that I haven't busy with the usual errand-running/appointment-making/meal-preparing/personal-growth-in-the-form-of-exercise-and-drum-practice-ing that is my life, but I've felt... quiet. Big changes are afoot in my life, and it's like I'm trying to cultivate as much calm as possible now in anticipation of the coming storm.

I'm changing jobs. Again. In a few weeks I'll be starting a new position as the medical librarian in a prominent, well-respected hospital in the Montreal area, and I'm very excited. And scared. And worried about how this will affect all our lives. And nervous. And psyched about what an incredible professional opportunity this is. And grateful. And...

Well. You get the idea.

My thoughts are going every which way, and until recently, I was finding it incredibly difficult to stay focused. Luckily, my beloved Interwebz delivered a mantra which I've found most soothing over the past few days...

It totally works, too. Heh.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Soon

2011-09-16T22:41:00.000-04:00

It's cold here today. Granted, we haven't reached the single (Celsius) digits yet, but it's cold enough that a single piece of knitwear isn't enough to keep me comfortable anymore. This morning's weather definitely called for layering. I combined the recently blogged Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf and my beloved Castlegar cardigan over jeans and a simple black Tee, but I knew in my heart that wasn't going to be enough.

Like thousands of Canadians, I'd been desperately holding on to ~~my denial~~ Summer, see... Sure, there had been signs for weeks. All around me, there were subtle reminders. Apple picking season had begun. Labour Day came and went, taking our white pants with it. But - for me anyway - reality only truly sinks in when something very specific happens, and this morning it did. As a responsible, intelligent grown-up, I had to suck it up and face the truth:

I was going to have to ditch my sandals and wear socks.

Not my hand knitted socks, of course. It's still a bit too balmy to wear those (hah!) ... But their time will come all too soon.

Luckily, I love my hand knitted socks, and once I get over grieving for the dearly departed Summer, it'll be a treat to dig into my sock drawer again.

As you can see ~~from this crappy picture~~, I'm not one of those "Poorly shod cobbler"-type knitters, heh.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

'Tis the season

2011-09-11T20:31:00.005-04:00

I've always felt that Autumn is THE season for knitters. Oh sure, people are always quick to think of Winter, pointing out the necessity of the hats and mittens and such that knitters produce to get our loved ones through its long cold months, and they're absolutely right. But Autumn is when we can show off our knitwear not because we HAVE to, but because we WANT to. We can throw on a cardigan or a scarf and not look out of place. We can pull on a hat and a pair of fingerless mitts and look fashionable. Let's face it, when it's minus 20 degrees Celsius in January, you don't care WHAT the knitwear looks like, you just want to get warm. But in Autumn? Knitwear can be appreciated for the beautiful pieces of art they are.

This morning, over breakfast, Phil and I were discussing how absolutely perfect the day was shaping up to be. The sky was gloriously blue, the sun was shining, and yet the air was crisp and fresh.

This afternoon we took the kids on a nature hike in the woods that Phil used to explore as a kid. We've all been there a million times, but each time we manage to find something new and interesting to explore and marvel over. It's always soothing to get out there and just BE for a while. Restorative. For all of us.

Plus, it was the perfect opportunity to take pictures of the Linen Stitch Koigu Scarf, heh.

I can tell I'm going to get a LOT of wear out of this scarf this season. It's the perfect accessory to just throw on and instantly feel fabulous. Wearing it made me feel fashionable and grown-up. I felt sure Stacy and Clinton would approve.

To your needles, my fellow Knitters! Rejoice, for scarf season has officially begun!

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Charmed

2011-09-08T21:10:00.000-04:00

Somehow, right in the midst of the Tomato Tornado (to say nothing of the Apple Avalanche that came right on its heels), I managed to finish the scarf I've been working on over the past few weeks. It's the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, and I could not be more pleased with how it turned out. I don't want to say too much about it here, because I'm planning on giving it it's own post just as soon as I can find the time to take some fabulously stylish pictures of it this weekend (OK fine, I'll settle for decent, in-focus pictures taken in natural light), but I can totally see this scarf becoming the next Noro Striped Scarf. There are just so many possible colour combinations, and there's really NO way any of them could turn out to be crap, you know? I mean... it's KOIGU. Like, duh.

Enough about the scarf though (patience, my preciousssssses). The point is that I finished it, and I was now free to cast on something shiny and new. The thing is though, I wasn't too sure what I wanted to knit. Nothing was really jumping out at me, calling out to my Inner Knitter. Or rather, nothing I already had the yarn for in my stash was calling out to me. Oh sure, Carol Feller's Tembo (and the Quince & Co. Osprey I'd need to make it) was really tempting, and Stephen West's Spectra (and the 10 skeins of Noro (at LEAST) I would be FORCED to buy "just to be sure I had THE perfect one") was looking pretty gosh darn nifty... But socks? Mittens? A shawl? You know... things I already have the pattern and yarn for???? Nope. Not even a blip on my radar. Typical.

I was starting to get seriously discouraged, when I happened upon the Garden Gnome Hat, which I've had in my Rav queue ever since it first came out. Quick, perfect, and I had about a dozen single skeins of KnitPicks Palette in the stash. This was it, the next project, the next One True Thing.

And I'm charmed, completely and utterly charmed. Maybe it's the red and white colour scheme, which reminds me of Cauchy's completely awesome red work. Maybe it's the (yet to be completed) pompom, because y'all know I'm a sucker for a good pompom. Maybe it's just the cooler weather making me want to begin cranking out the winter wear.

Personally, I think it's the fact that it's a HAT WITH FREAKIN' GARDEN GNOMES ON IT. Gnomes!!! On a Hat!!! Brilliant.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

You say tomato, I say...

2011-08-30T19:14:00.001-04:00

Earlier in the summer I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbra Kingsolver, one of my all-time favourite authors (for realz). It chronicles her family’s experiences when they challenged themselves to live only on in season, locally sourced food for a year, and for reasons I can’t really explain, it really resonated with me (but then, so many things do…).

Not that I've become a zealot by any means, but the book really made me think about the food I buy and the meals I prepare for my family. I started reading nutritional labels (get BACK, high-fructose corn syrup!). I stopped buying exotic fruits like kiwis and bananas and tried to celebrate what was in season in MY area. And I think the book sustained my interest – beyond my habitual Spring enthusiasm – in my humble vegetable garden, which is thriving (about that? The stock market could learn a thing or two about returns on investments from the humble cucumber plant. Holy Freaking’ Crap.).

Maxime and I were cruising the Farmers’ Market this weekend when I noticed that I could buy 20 pounds of plum (Roma) tomatoes for 8 dollars. EIGHT BUCKS. My local grocery store is selling them for 1.59$ a pound. That’s a 75% savings right there, people! How could I pass that up? With visions of a giant pot of sauce made from locally grown tomatoes bubbling away happily on the stove, I handed over my money with a smug smile. It was a no-brainer, my friends. I would be able to sustain my family through the cold winter months with the sauce I would make from these tomatoes. Pride, motherly love, and yet more pride swelled up within me. I seriously ROCKED.

Hours (and hours) later, I had turned this:

Into this:

That’s 5 pints of tomato puree. FIVE. Sure, it’s made from locally grown tomatoes, and they were dirt cheap, but there are only FIVE pints! Hardly enough to keep us in tomato sauce through the Fall, never mind Winter.

Which is why I bought 20 more pounds today. And will likely go back again tomorrow.

Because I don’t think I can stop with the tomatoes. Recipe suggestions welcome!

Happy cooking, everyone!

Tac(t) boards

2011-08-24T20:33:00.006-04:00

Next Monday is the first day of school. Right on the heels of the mad jig of joy I break into every time I think of that comes a sort of sick feeling. I'm sorry to be a buzz kill, but there's just no denying it any longer : summer is drawing to a close.

Overall, I think it was a pretty good summer (all things considered...). Émilie has accumulated quite a few mementos of the summer months, various little bits and bobs that have special meaning at the time she receives them but that turn into, well... miscellaneous crap when left lying around the house for weeks on end. (Which wouldn't happen if I were the sort of mother who had keepsake albums and scrapbooks for my kids, I suppose, but that's a guilt trip for another day.)

These little things - the patch she got from the Red Cross after she completed the Junior 2 level in her swim lesson, the ribbon she got at horseback riding camp - could all go on the traditional Family Accomplishment Display Area (aka the refrigerator door), but that just didn't feel right. These are her treasures. They should be displayed in her room.

I was pondering this last weekend when I remembered a tutorial for a pin board frame I found on One Pretty Thing a while back. It seemed simple enough, so when Émilie had a friend over on Sunday, I got all the stuff and let the girls go crazy creating their own personalized pin boards.

Émilie personalized hers, writing her name in foam stickers and adding the occasional monkey face and flower. No sooner was it deemed "done" then she had pinned the various tokens of her summer's accomplishments to it and demanded that we hang it up in her room.

Émilie's friend proudly announced that she was going to use her board to display pictures of "My Best Friend", and proceeded to spell out said BFFs name in big capital letters across the bottom of the frame: Anne-Sophie

Also known as: NOT MY FRICKIN' KID!!!

*Snort* Wonder if they'll teach TACT in second grade?

Happy Making, Everyone!

The other kind of spinning

2011-08-19T10:17:00.004-04:00

Since running the half-marathon last May I have ~~completely~~ mostly fallen off the exercise/running/fitness/yay! wagon, and my body has changed dramatically. I'm not a size 6 anymore, things that used to be firm are now unnervingly jiggly, and my energy level is really low.

I know what the solution is, of course. Start exercising again, re-connect with that feeling of DOING something for myself in the most basic sense, for my BODY.

But I'm having a hard time of it. I'm really jealous of my precious knitting/sewing/crafting time. Rather than patting myself on the back when I go out for a run, I find myself glancing at the clock and resenting the time spent exercising when I could have spent it sewing up a quilt block, knitting while watching True Blood with Phil, or even playing in the garden. Exercise has felt increasingly like a chore or a responsibility, and who the heck wants more of those??? Not me, thanks, my cup totally runneth over.

In an effort to try to remember that exercise is not only good for me but FUN! too!!! (*sigh*) I've been trying to switch it up a bit this past week. Trying new things isn't always an easy process to internalize, of course.

For instance, when I told Phil I had signed up for a spinning class this weekend? Dude totally thought I meant spinning yarn.

Kinda says something about how important crafting has become in our daily lives though, doesn't it?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

FO bliss

2011-08-16T12:54:00.001-04:00

I've got a confession to make: when it comes to blogging, I've been holding back a little. I think you all know that I've recently discovered a love of sewing, and while I've been happy to share my FOs and some of my experiences as I work on my first quilts. I don't post every block I complete though, even when I'm practically bursting with pride at my accomplishment. Nor do I post about any fabric stash enhancement, as a rule. For the past 3 years, this blog has been all about the knitting. Even though I'm happy as a clam branching out into sewing, I figure knitting is what interests my readers the most.

Which is why I'm so excited to be writing today's post. Brace yourselves, knitters, for I present you today with an honest-to-goodness knitted FO!

That's right! Just in time for the cooler end-of-summer weather, I ~~finally~~ finished my beloved Akoya cardigan.

~Sigh~ Isn't she lovely? The trellis lace, the cables, the negative yield making it fit "just so". It's a perfect addition to my wardrobe, which I like to think of as "New Librarian Chic".

And I love, love, loooove the cables at the back. Attention to detail really is the key to making a garment exceptional, you know?

Insert happy sigh ***here***

Pattern: Akoya, by Carol Feller
Yarn: Quince and Co. Tern (just under 6 skeins used), Blue Bay colourway
Needles: 3.5 mm
Modifications: I had to go up several needle sizes to achieve gauge, and didn't like the resulting fabric at all. I stayed with the 3.5 mm needle and knit the larger size (37-39 inch bust) to achieve the 34-36 inch bust size, and it worked out great.

I'm already thinking about casting on for another sweater. After all, Rhinebeck is only 61 days away, and a girl can't have too many wool sweaters, can she?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Nightly ritual

2011-08-11T12:38:00.000-04:00

Every night, when supper's been eaten and the dishes have been washed and put away, the kids and I head out back to check up on my our vegetable garden.

Every night, without fail, the three of us hunker down in the dirt and give each plant a good look-see. Is the broccoli plant EVER going to flower? Are there any peppers ready to be picked? Have the tomato plants produced any new fruits?

The kids will water my their plants while I pull out the occasional weed, and we'll all stop and take a whiff of the fragrant basil.

Then we head over to the "pumpkin patch" to see if there are any new baby pumpkins on the way.

My enthusiasm for the garden seems to exceed theirs for the time being, and the kids will invariably wander off and do something else before I'm finished with my examination.

Going out there every day, witnessing the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle!) transformations that occur from day to day, watching Maxime's face light up when he spots another of his cucumbers or Émilie's satisfied look as she eats a green bean right off the vine... it's become one of the best parts of my day. Maybe THE best part.

Heck, even Lori the cat wants to get in on the fun.

Happy gardening, everyone!

The swing of things

2011-08-08T12:41:00.000-04:00

Summer vacation 2011 is now officially over (for the grownups, anyway). Phil and I are both back at work, the kids are in daycare, and I'm looking at the calendar and trying to not Wig the Eff Out at all the things we've got coming up, not the least of which is getting ready for Émilie to go back to school... (Have I done ANY shopping for that? That'd be a big NO. Ack.)

Deep, cleansing breath... OK, I feel better. Mostly.

Over the weekend we had our plates full with shopping, gardening (my vegetable patch EXPLODED while we were away, thanks in no small part to Kate-The-Enabler's mad waterning skillz. Thanks Kate!), and laundry... oh, the laundry. Wow.

I managed to find the time for the stuff that matters to us all, of course.

I got caught up in one of the Quilt-alongs I'm doing (We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler)

I got a little knitting in and cast on for a new project (Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf - Mmmmm... Koigu)

I even managed to curl up with some new books that somehow found their way into my Chapters cart last time I was browsing on their site (isn't it funny how that happens?)

Slowly getting back into the swing of things :)

Happy Making, Everyone!

Dear Blog

2011-08-05T21:26:00.005-04:00

Tap, tap, tap... is this thing on?

Um... hi! Yup, it's me! I'm back! Er... yeah. Sorry about that! We're just back from our first EVER honest-to-goodness family vacation, and I totally meant to post before we left, but... well... time kinda got away from me. Does it help at all if I tell you I really missed you? You were never far from my thoughts, Blog. Every day, each time I'd grab my camera, I'd think "Gotta get some pictures for The Blog!"

In fact... I've been selecting, editing and cropping my fingertips to a frazzle for the past 2 hours, all in preparation for sharing the highlights of our vacation with you, Blog. See? I'm really not all that bad. Still love me?

Where'd we run off to, you may be wondering? Well, we spent a lovely (though frickin' HOT) week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, enjoying the beach, the ocean, the seashells, the pool, and each other (most of the time, heh). We've never really been AWAY with the kids before, and with everything our family has been through this year, we figured we were more than due for some fun in the sun. Plus, it was Émilie's birthday this week! Yup, the Little Miss turned seven on Wednesday. SEVEN! I keep asking her to stop growing older, because she's only dragging me down with her and I don't like it at ALL, but darnit, she just won't. Whaddaya gonna do, right?

Rather than give you a play by play of the week, here are a few highlights, photo essay style.

Good times, people. Y'all shoulda been there.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Preview

2011-07-25T20:13:00.004-04:00

I've been home with the kids for the past week, but Phil wasn't able to get off work, so today was our family's first real vacation day. We were lucky enough to be invited to spend the day with a lovely friend of ours at her cottage, and it was just the perfect way to begin the process of really, truly winding down, you know?

Some of us worked on our tans...

Some of us communed with Nature...

And some of us became reacquainted with a trusted, dear friend...

What a perfect day. If the next two weeks can be as lovely as today, we're in for a fabulous vacation indeed.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

A little bit random

2011-07-23T08:43:00.005-04:00

The kids and I are back from our little trip. I think I'm still suffering from the after-effects of 2 days of solo-parenting and screwed up sleeping arrangements, to say nothing of the heat wave we've been enduring lately (kinda wish I'd been more specific when I wished for "heat" back in June...), so much so that the prospect of writing a blog post has me all frazzled this morning. All I know is that I need to write *something*, because if I don't you'll leave and never visit this corner of blogland again, ever. And that would be sad. For me.

Yeah, I think I need another coffee.

Here we go!

1. The beach.

While at my Dad's we went to the beach. Sort of. I mean, I suppose it's technically a beach, because there was water and sand... But it was on a lake, and it was really windy, and there was lots of seaweed (lakeweed?) along the shore. There was a kid there whose only job was to shovel the seaweed (lakeweed?) into a wheelbarrow and dump it.... somewhere. Probably back in the water.

The kids were mildly grossed out by the seaweed (lakeweed?), Émilie more so than Maxime, I think. I put on a brave face and went out into the water with them. I may or may not have adorned myself with seaweed (lakeweed?) and pretended to be a creature from the black lagoon. Good times.

2. The garden

Phil took excellent care of the garden while I was away. Still no vegetables yet, but there are blooms and buds like crazy, so it's only a matter of time now. Remind me how anxious I was for the vegetables to arrive when I'm up to my eyeballs in zucchini and tomatoes, OK?

Yes, I know this is a Hosta plant. Innit pretty?

3. Catching up.

I'm falling behind on my QALs (that'd be the same thing as a KAL, only for quilts). Yesterday afternoon the awesome in-laws took the kids off my hands for a few hours, and I was able to get a little sewing done. Lori didn't mind, as long as she could participate.

4. Knitting

I think my stash post has some of y'all worried that I've lost my knitting mojo. Rest assured, I haven't. I've been knitting, I promise. My knitting just isn't really blogable, that's all. I mean... I've got a second sleeve. It looks exactly like the first sleeve. Ooooh, Aaaaah... exciting.

I find I'm looking forward to my next project though, so that's something, right?

Have a great weekend, Everyone!

A Gentle Reminder

2011-07-19T13:11:00.003-04:00

Dear Phil,

The kids and I are about to set out for our annual trip to see Nanny and Bumpy (aka the grandparents). I know you're devastated about having the house to yourself for 2 whole days. The silence, the emptiness... I realize it's giving you the chills just thinking about it.

You're a strong man, a good father. I know you'll muddle through somehow. I believe in you, sweetie.

Your loving wife,

Tara

p.s.: don't forget to water the garden!!!

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

The Stash

2011-07-13T11:26:00.001-04:00

Lately I’ve been thinking about stash quite a bit. THE stash, MY stash, Stash as a concept, an idea, a constantly evolving… you know… thing in any dedicated maker’s life.

Here’s the thing: over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of yarn, or what I perceive as being a lot of yarn, anyway. And for the most part, it hasn’t really bothered me. I’ve been perfectly comfortable with my growing stash because, hey, I’m a grownup, it’s my money, I can spend it on whatever I want, and buying yarn makes me happy (but doesn’t make anyone else unhappy). Knitting was what I DID. Of COURSE I needed yarn! Like… duh.

Now that I’ve started branching out into sewing, expanding my crafting horizons, as it were (and thus, have begun cultivating a wee fabric stash), the stash has been… well… bothering me. Sort of. A bit.

It’s just that it’s THERE all the time, you know? Like an ex-boyfriend (or girlfriend!) that you still have to room with. Constantly reminding me that I *used* to have eyes only for knitting. I *used* to get such a rush out of yarn, all kinds of yarn. I *used* to be a Knitter.

So yeah… my stash is giving me a wicked case of the guilts. I mean… I’ve got yarn in the stash that I bought in 2006! I was OK with that when all I did was knit, confident in the ~~delusion~~ knowledge that I’d get to it someday. But now? Now it’s just wigging me out.

Where do we go from here, my darling stash? How can I make it right between us once more? Would you cut me some slack if I brought you some new yarn? How about some shiny laceweight? Or sock yarn? I know how much you love sock yarn.

Well, think it over. I’ll be sewing while you make up your mind.

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-07-11T07:41:00.002-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Summer, Everyone!

Two words

2011-07-08T20:13:00.005-04:00

I wasn't supposed to work today. I usually get Fridays off during the summer, but due to a bunch of stuff that couldn't be helped this week, I really needed to go into the office.

It's been a tiring week, so this morning, when the ~~Evil Peaceful Slumber Destroyer~~ alarm clock rang, to say I didn't feel like going in would be like saying Lindsay Lohan might have some personal issues: big fat DUH.

I offered myself a compromise: I'd go in that morning, see if there were fires that needed putting out, and if it was feasible, I'd take the afternoon off.

Turns out most of the staff had taken today off, and things were pretty quiet, so at noon I packed everything up and headed home.

Since the kiddos were already taken care of for the day, I decided a little Tara-time (of the making variety) was in order!

I did a little sewing while listening to the Billboard Top 100 for 1983 (and can I just say? 1983 was the best year EVER! SO many good tunes...)

I had a glass of Rosé...

All under the semi watchful eye of Miss Lori.

So how was my afternoon? Two words: Buh-Liss.

Happy Sewing, Everyone!

Indulgence

2011-07-04T20:35:00.003-04:00

Dear Husband Phil is on a business trip this week, and while he's been away I've been indulging in a rare pleasure.

Once the kids are safely tucked in their beds, I've been curling up with a cuppa Jasmine tea, my cat, and my latest Must Read series*. And it's been glorious. I used to be a voracious reader, but along the way, reading seems to have become some kind of a guilty pleasure for me, something I sometimes feel selfish for indulging in when there are people (big and small) around me that need taking care of.

Not so this week, my friends. There's been no knitting, no sewing, no making of any kind. Just tea and the peaceful sound of pages turning.

As far as indulgences go, I think that's pretty reasonable, don't you?

Happy Reading, Everyone!

* Someone will ask, so I'll just 'fess up to being a new fan of the Southern Vampire Mysteries books (aka the Sookie Stackhouse novels, that spawned the show True Blood). The "I Have Two Masters' Pass the James Joyce" in me is a bit ashamed, but the Dracula/Buffy/Twilight fan in me is in Vampire Fiction Heaven!

Summertime

2011-07-01T19:20:00.003-04:00

When I was growing up, summer meant long days spent swimming, reading, exploring, backyard camping... No obligations, no school, just endless days and nights stretching out before me, full of possibility and promise.

Not so anymore, of course. When you're a parent, summer takes on different meaning entirely (at least, it does if you're a parent with a day job). Gone are the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer! School (aka where the kids go while you're at work) is OUT, and you've got to figure out what to do with those kids!

In many respects, summer is our busiest, most stressful time of the year. That's why I'm always amazed when, despite the craziness and occasional bout of wanting to rip my hair out... stuff gets made.

Fresh, glorious strawberries get transformed into jam...

Yarn is looped over and over and, ever so slowly, and turned into the makings of a cardigan...

And fabric gets cut and sewn into quilt blocks...

Endless promise and possibility indeed.

Happy Making, Everyone!

The perfect gift

2011-06-28T12:53:00.002-04:00

My grandmother, the same one who taught me to jump on beds, blow bubbles in my gum, and most importantly of all, knit, was a wise woman who had very specific ideas about what constitutes a good gift. Ideas? Heck, they were RULES, and if you knew what was good for you, you followed them.

According to Gramma, a gift shouldn't be something practical, that was too boring. It should be something the recipient would want/like but would never buy for themselves. And it should never, ever, EVER be in the form of an appliance. I'm pretty sure that, as far as Gramma was concerned, there was a special circle reserved in Hell for men who gave their wives blenders for Christmas.

It was my birthday yesterday, and although Gramma never met my husband, I'm pretty sure she would have approved of his gift.

That's right, knitters. Dude bought me a DRUM SET. I'm going to be a DRUMMER. Mama's gonna rock it out on the DRUMS. (Apologies for the excessive use of capitals, but I just can't help it... there are DRUMS in my basement).

Not an appliance, not something I ever would have bought for myself, and definitely not practical. The perfect gift indeed :)

That's not to say that gifts one buys for oneself have to fall into any of those categories, of course...

After all, Gramma also said that rules were meant to be broken.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

WAY random

2011-06-25T17:47:00.008-04:00

Right! I've got lots of bits and bobs to cover, and no way to get it all to fit into one coherent post, so we're having a random post today. With pictures. Lots of 'em.

1. Phil's kite!

A few of you mentioned you wanted to see Phil's latest kite, the 500 square foot monster that invaded every livable space in our home for more weeks than I care to remember. These ones are for you!

Not too shabby, eh?

2. Garden update

Stuff is growing! Stuff we can actually EAT! Really! On Friday, I turned this:

Into this:

Which later became this:

Kids hated it, of course, but Oh. My. God. My mouth is pulling a total Pavlov just LOOKING at that picture.

3. Sewing!

I started a new quilt! I joined the We Can Do It! Skill Building Sampler, and so far we've made 2 blocks. The QAL is going to take a year, with 3 blocks a month, each month focusing on a different technique. We've made 2 blocks so far, and I'm really enjoying it! It's a nice change from the blue and green of my "main" quilt WIP ;-)

4. Emilie !

School's out for summer, and Emilie will be moving on to second grade in the Fall. She's starting a horseback riding day camp on Monday. We bought her a pair of riding pants and boots today, and she Could. Not. Wait. to wear them. Excited? I think so!

There you have it. You're now officially in the loop about the goings-on chez Dear. We shall return to our regular semi-coherent posting après le weekend.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Thanks, Teach

2011-06-21T12:52:00.001-04:00

Last week I had one of my trademark "Duh!" moments when it suddenly dawned on me that the end of the school year was almost here, and maybe I'd like to have something prepared for Émilie's teacher.

Now... these "Duh!" moments are usually followed by a pretty hefty self-imposed guilt trip, because - AFTER ALL - "How could I possibly not be prepared for this? I've known the end of the school year was coming ALL YEAR LONG! Wouldn't a sensible mother who had her s**t together have this under control? Ffffffffffff!!!!!". Never mind the fact that I didn't think of it because of all the OTHER stuff we've got on our plates right now. I am Mother. I should have this stuff WIRED, y'all.

When I go on these guilt-trip benders, my usual M.O. is to way, WAY over-compensate by going way, WAY overboard. Forgot to buy a Holiday-themed scarf for school? Stay up until the wee hours and KNIT AN ENTIRE SCARF in one night. Forgot to buy In-Laws' a Christmas Gift? Try to make up for it by making eleventy-billion desserts for Christmas dinner. You get the idea.

Overwhelmed with self-imposed guilt about not having the Perfect Gift for Émilie's teacher, I decided to make Pink Penguin's Bento Bag (using this tutorial), which I would then fill with homemade jam, scones, and gourmet chocolates.

I know.

Luckily, I came to my senses this time. I kept the chocolates (because every woman needs good chocolate from time to time) but ultimately skipped the jam and scones, which I thought might be overkill. I don't want to be known as "That crazy Maker-Mother", heh.

However, I did make a second bag, this one for the school nurse, who Émilie visits every two hours, day in, day out, for ointment to keep her eye lubricated (her right eye still doesn't shut all the way).

Émilie (and Phil and I, of course) has had - to put it mildly - a rough year. Both these women have been supportive and caring and understanding, and have demonstrated genuine interest in Émilie's happiness, health and well-being. If that doesn't warrant a little handmade token of appreciation, I don't know what does.

Pattern: Pink Penguin's Bento Bag
Fabric: No freaking clue. Mostly fat quarters from my stash

Happy Sewing, Everyone! School's out for summer!!!!

Carry on

2011-06-16T15:30:00.004-04:00

When I got home from an appointment at 9:15 last night, Phil was at his sewing machine, busily stitching away at the tail for the 500 square foot kite he's hoping to take out for it's inaugural flight at a kite festival this weekend.

I had had a long day... Phil had to leave early yesterday morning for work, leaving me to pull double drop-off/pick up duty with the kids. I was tired, grumpy, and desperately ~~needed~~ ~~wanted~~ needed to just sit and knit for an hour before collapsing into bed and starting the madness all over again tomorrow.

So I get home... and the dinner dishes aren't done. The pots and pans are just piled in the sink. Mocking me.

I won't lie: I was kinda pissed. Phil and I have this informal understanding that whoever makes the dinner doesn't do the dishes, and dudes... I made dinner. I made dinner, watered the plants, gave the kids their baths, put Maxime to bed... The dishes should TOTALLY have been done when I got home, y'all. Seriously. And there he was, sewing away, without a care in the world.

So I did that thing we wives do when we're pissed because our husbands didn't do something we expected them to: I didn't say a f***ing thing and did the dishes myself - really loudly - while sighing dramatically and sending bad juju in his general vicinity.

Must've worked, too, because after a minute he looked up, sort of mumbled an apology and tried to make light of his obvious transgression of The Rules by saying "At least I emptied the dishwasher though, right?".

"Hmmm..." I scowled and kept scrubbing.

"You get the urgency of this though" he said, pointing to the yards and yards of fabric beside him, "right?"

"Hmmm..." I said again. I may have huffed a little.

He paused for a moment, clearly trying to figure out a way to make me understand.

Then he says: "I'm rushing to finish my sweater for Rhinebeck, Dear."

Carry on, dude.

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-06-12T22:20:00.002-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Good Mail

2011-06-10T12:17:00.001-04:00

Fellow Canadian Crafteristas^TM, do not despair, for I bring you proof that , despite the Canada Post strike, it is indeed still possible to have one's spirits entirely lifted by a Really Good Mail Day.

Quince & Co. Tern, aka my Congrats-on-running-the-half-marathon! yarn.

Assorted fabric bundles, to be used in the We can do it! Skill Builder Sampler I'm starting next week.

I'm still waiting on a coupla goodies, but still, that was a pretty yum mail day. Am I right?

With no active projects on the needles (What's that about a green scarf? What??? You're breaking up, I can't hear you!!!), I was free to swatch and cast on with the Tern pretty much as soon as I opened the package. I'm (finally) going to be making the Akoya cardigan. Insert happy sigh :: here ::

When I'm not busy sewing, of course...

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Forgiveness

2011-06-08T07:32:00.007-04:00

One of the authors that features most prominently on my bookshelf is Nancy Bush. In my opinion, as far as "Knitting Geniuses" go, she's right up there with Barbara Walker and Elizabeth Zimmermann. She's written some pretty wonderful books, books that chronicle a rich knitting heritage that I find very inspiring.

And that's about as far as I get with her books. I read them, I'm fascinated by them and I feel this deep connection to the uncounted generations of women (and men) who knit before me, yadayadayada... but I don't knit the patterns. I had a bad sock experience early in my knitting revival, and poor Nancy has been paying the price for my mistakes ever since.

A few months ago I started thinking about how silly it was to have all these books and not to be knitting any of the patterns in them. Why did I buy them if I wasn't going to use them? I mean... these books aren't exactly a dime a dozen, right? That's yarn money right there!

So I gave Nancy another chance. I pulled out my pristine copy of Folk Socks and cast on for my Estonian Socks. Despite some iffy beginnings, they turned out awesome.

The healing process had begun, and my faith in Nancy never leading me astray has been completely restored with these, my latest FO:

Pattern: Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch, from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Viola Merino Fingering (North Sea) and Dream in Color Smooshy (Strange Harvest)
Needles: 2.0 mm DPNs
Modifications: None.

What can I say about these socks that the pictures don't convey? They're just lovely. The stitch pattern was easy to memorise, the yarn was magnificent, practically luminescent and a pleasure to knit, and the stripes at the heel and toe give me a happy every time I look at them.

These socks make me feel like a Real, All-Growed-Up Knitter. Kinda like Nancy Bush.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Complex

2011-06-02T11:35:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I was having one of those days, the kind when having a sign around my neck that says “Warning! You are about to come into contact with one seriously wigged out woman! For your own safety, avoid eye contact and step away SLOWLY!” would probably be really helpful.

Naturally, this translated in a pretty hefty ~~need~~ desire to indulge in all things knitterly. I looked up patterns on Ravelry, almost aggressively so. I clicked through my Wish List, ogling the yarn like a teenaged boy ogles porn (right down to the “Oh yeah baby… lookit THAT!”). I took some stuff OFF said Wish List, and put much more stuff ON it.

I felt such an urge to splurge, I can’t even tell you. Screw workhorse yarns, I wanted cashmere, alpaca, silk. I wanted to gather up all the beautiful yarn in the world and roll around naked in it. Hell, I practically wanted to eat the stuff. Savour it, like the most decadent of desserts. It was pretty intense.

Then I went home and spent 3 hours at the sewing machine, happily working on another 4 blocks for my quilt. Didn’t knit a stitch all evening.

What can I say? I’m a complex woman.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Catching Up

2011-05-31T12:46:00.002-04:00

I'm back! I made it!! I didn't drop as soon as I crossed the finish line (or even *gulp* before I crossed it, like some unfortunate runners). I trained hard, stayed focused, and achieved my goal of running the entire 21.1 km course without stopping or walking. It took me 2:08.12, placing me right dab in the middle of the 9333 runners-strong pack. Yay!

So! Now that's done I can focus on stuff I've been letting slide over the past few weeks. Looking over my (depressingly long) To-Do list yesterday, "Blog at least ONE of my recent FOs!!!" was glaring me in the face, right between "Make Hair Appointment" and "Buy Thread for Quilt".

I haven't done those yet (Do I put the "Pro" in procrastinator or what?), but I DO have some pictures of the oldest of my Yet-to-be-Blogged FOs, my lovely Java Java socks.

Right! So... according to my Rav notes, I knit these back in March. Hmmm.... that's some pretty poor blogging on my part! Don't let their unsung-ness fool you though, I absolutely adore these socks. They're incredibly soft without sacrificing substance, making them quite possibly the cushiest ride I've been on lately.

Now, I'm not going to lie. Knitting these bad boys was a wee bit of a pain in the arse. Achieving gauge with this yarn (String Theory Caper Sock - can I get an Amen?) was difficult, and the wee cables, while charming, really slowed me down, despite the fact that I was cabling without a cable needle. Plus, they ate a LOT of yarn. I generally knit a longer leg on my socks, especially if I think I'm knitting man socks, as was the case here. I wound up running out of yarn shortly before the toe on the second sock and had a b**ch of a time finding another skein (apparently people are catching on to the awesomeness that is String Theory. Drat!). The one I found was a little darker than my first skein, but I don't think it shows that much, do you?

I used what was left of the second skein to knit Chadwick, which will be the next old FO to be blogged. Just as soon as I cross "Go to Bank" and "Bake Zuchini Bread" off my list.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Ready, set...

2011-05-26T14:51:00.001-04:00

I’ve been refreshing my inbox like mad over the past few days, sulking that my bloggy friends haven’t been keeping in touch and feeling like nobody loves me (aaaaw!) and then I remembered that I’ve been a bad, bad blogger and haven’t really come up with a good proper post in a few weeks. Whoopsee!

So what’ve I been doing that’s kept me away? In a word: running. I’ve been getting ready to run a half-marathon on Sunday, and it feels like pretty much ALL of my free time is spent pounding the pavement. I’m feeling nervous, overwhelmed, and cautiously optimistic at this point. Usually all at once.

Will I be able to do it? Will running 21.1 km (roughly 13.1 miles for my American friends) make me a "For-Real Runner"? Will it be a one-time thing, or will I want to do it again?

When I ran my first race in 2009, I had 3 goals:

Finish the race

Run it the whole way, without stopping or walking

Run it in less than an hour (it was a 10 km event)

I’m not as prepared as I’d like to be for Sunday’s race. I’ve yet to run the entire distance once (the most I’ve run is about 15 km), and I’m definitely not as fast as I used to be. So I’m not sure I want to set a time goal for myself… But those first 2 goals still ring true.

Wish me luck!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-05-23T21:23:00.002-04:00

How was your weekend*? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

* We're coming off a long weekend here in Canada (Victoria Day or Journée des Patriotes, depending on where you live).

Years in the making

2011-05-17T12:54:00.001-04:00

So, if you've been reading for a little while, you know that I've recently started sewing. Like most of the "Things That Are New" that I take up, sewing was something I thought about a LOT before actually getting to the DOING IT part. My usual pattern has me waxing romantic about whatever it is I'm obsessing about at any given moment - making jam, planting a vegetable garden, running, steeking (still haven't done that one)... -, alternately sighing about how I'd love to be able to do "that" and hemming and hawing about how "I-don't-have-the-time-It-looks-too-complicated-I-can't-really-handle-another-obsession-anyway", ~~stalking~~ researching people who actually DO do "that", making the - ahem - occasional discreet purchase to prepare for when I actually DO do "that", and then... FINALLY... doing it.

When it comes to sewing, the thing I've really, really, REALLY wanted to do is make a quilt. Really. I've been thinking about making a quilt for... oh... YEARS. And I haven't. First because it involved sewing (big Duh moment right there, I know). And even if I DID know how to sew, it looked hard. I would look at all these beautiful quilts people were churning out (the blogosphere is FILLED with quilters, y'all!), and I'd feel overwhelmed. So I ~~stalked~~researched-sighed-hemmed-and-hawed some more, and that was pretty much it.

This weekend I'd had enough of that, and decided to "Just Do It" already. Sure, I'm only "just" learning to sew. Sure, I have no idea what I'm doing... But guess what? I'm a reasonably intelligent woman, my sewing teacher lives right across the street from me, and if all else fails, I've got some pretty impressive Google-Fu skills to fall back on. My imaginary quilt wasn't going to make itself.

I've settled on Red Pepper Quilt's Alice pattern, which seems to be fairly doable, at least to my newbie eyes. I made my first block last night, and tempted as I might be to just shrug it off with a "Oh, it's nothing fancy, just a simple Log Cabin block after all, no biggie", I'm not going to do that.

This block, this first wee step on the way to my very first quilt, is the result of YEARS of anticipation, not to mention 2 hours of cutting and sewing last night (I know, I'm learning...), and that makes it pretty frickin' awesome, if you ask me.

Oh, and for those of you who come here for the knitting, I'm working on a sock too :)

Happy Crafting, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-05-15T20:07:00.001-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Random's all I got

2011-05-13T12:36:00.003-04:00

I feel so scattered today that I can't even come up with a decent intro to a post about how scattered I feel. I like to set up each blog post just so, and I think I usually do a pretty good job of writing an intro for my posts, but today I just don't have it in me. All I keep coming up with are random tidbits that "could be fun to talk about", so I'm giving up on any pretense of a storyline or whatever and just jumping right in. Let's embrace the random, shall we?

I didn't get to take pictures of me wearing Chadwick this week. First there was the bad camera day, then we fell victim to the dreaded "Lost Memory Card" syndrome. I wore it on Wednesday though, and it's pretty fabulous. Perfect accessory for my brown leather jacket. Yum.

I'm fighting a pretty devastating urge to drastically enhance the stash. Specifically, I want to buy enough Tanis to make Calligraphy, and enough Quince & Co Tern to make Akoya.

I even know which colourways I want for each sweater. That's a bad sign.

I'm trying to quell the urge to buy yarn by buying fabric instead. I realize that's still technically stash enhancement, but since my fabric stash is still comparatively wee, I'm choosing to congratulate myself for my maturity and personal growth and leaving it at that.

Sewing feels like a daytime activity to me, whereas knitting is totally an evening thing. Weird, eh?

I've amped up my training for the half-marathon at the end of the month. I'm up to 60 consecutive minutes at this point.

I'd be all "Booyah!" about that, except that the half-marathon will likely take me 120 minutes to run. That makes me want to cry a little bit.

Asking yourself "What the f**k was I f***ing thinking, f***ing signing up for a f***ing half-f***ing-marathon, anyway????" isn't actually a great motivator when you're trying to get through a 60-minute run.

It's Maxime's birthday tomorrow. Little dude is going to be FOUR. How did that happen?

I've got the gifts wrapped, I'm baking the cake tonight, I think that's everything, right?

Right?

In keeping with the New Rule, after completing Chadwick I immediately cast on a pair of socks (Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch, from Knitting Vintage Socks). At first I thought this might be one of those patterns that just flies off the needles, but progress has been super slow lately, so maybe not.

It's just dawned on me that progress has been slow because I've been running/wrapping/stressing instead of knitting this week. Maybe those über-fast projects are über-fast because we actually knit on them??

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Sneaky

2011-05-10T12:44:00.002-04:00

In the last fortnight I seem to have given birth to a sneaky FO. This is rather unbelievable to me, mostly because I really wasn't trying to get all stealthy on y'all. I always intended to talk about the fervid relationship I was having with Chadwick, my current WIP. Other blogable stuff seemed to (happily) get in the way, and before I knew it, my time with Stephen West's lovely pattern was at an end.

Tell you the truth, the whole thing was rather serendipitous. I was still high on the success of my finished Cleopatra's stockings and was ~~ignoring the green scarf~~ thinking forward to my next project, and these 2 skeins of String Theory Caper Sock (Java and Lacuna) sort of jumped out at me and begged to be used together in one project.

The colour combo is sophisticated and modern (well, to me it is anyway), which always makes me think of Stephen West, even though I'd yet to knit any of his patterns. I've had Daybreak in my Rav queue forever, but for some reason, I felt pretty sure that this yarn wanted to be knit up into a Chadwick.

Now - I'm a fairly quick knitter, but this project just flew right off my needles. The yarn was fabulous, as always - you'd think I'd have developed some kind of an immunity by now, but nope! I'm still helpless every time I come into contact with this stuff. The pattern was simple yet interesting - those clever purl ridges thrown into the mix had me positively giddy. And do let's not underestimate the powerful mojo of the stripe - Ooh! It's blue! Now it's brown! Now it's blue again! - which still entertains me to no end.

In short, there's nothing I didn't like about this project, and I highly recommend it.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Official photoshoot to come soonish. All attempts made yesterday were either out of focus, underexposed, or had me looking like a bloated sausage. Trust me: Chadwick deserves better than that!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-05-08T20:29:00.003-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

No, I didn't put her up to that last shot!

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

What's in my bag

2011-05-03T12:54:00.001-04:00

I consider myself to be a resonably eco-friendly gal. I'm a dedicated recycler, I don't leave my engine running idly if I'm not in the car, I do my best not to litter, and I have many, MANY re-usable shopping bags (like, tons of them). I love them, and use them religiously for my weekly grocery run. "Do you have your bags?" asks the ~~pissy judgmental hussy of a~~ check-out girl? Hah! I smirk. Not ONLY do I have SEVERAL of them, they have their own dedicated peg in the foyer and everything. How do you like dem apples?

The trouble with the dedicated peg in the foyer is that it's in the foyer - aka in the house - and not readily available to me when I'm out running spur-of-the-moment errands (I wish I could call them "Dash-to-buy-crusty-bread-and-Chablis" errands, but more often than not they're "Crap-I-forgot-to-buy-cat-litter-and-toothpaste-sh*t-sh*t-sh*t!!!" kind of errands...).

Now, before you tell me to just keep some in the car, stop right there. I've tried that. It works great for precisely ONE errand. I get to the store, grab my bag, awesome. The trouble is that when I get home, I unpack my litter and toothpaste and put the bag back on the dedicated peg, because that's where shopping bags GO. Does anyone go BACK to their car just to put a shopping bag away?? No. Of course not. That way lies madness.

Enter my latest sewing project: a pretty, foldable shopping bag that I can keep IN MY PURSE at all times. Brilliant stuff.

Pattern: Eco-Friendly Shopping Bag
Exterior: Echino (by Etsuko Furuya) Perch Turquoise (Fall 2010)
Lining: MoMo It's a Hoot Dots Marshmallow
Pouch: Echino (by Etsuko Furuya) Basic Dots Cerise Creamds
(all purchased at Pink Chalk Fabrics)
Button: vintage, from my grandmother's bin o' buttons
Mods: Ultimately made the pouch larger to make folding the bag easier

I really enjoyed making this bag, even though I ultimately wound up modifying it a wee bit, once on purpose and once by accident.

The first incarnation (seen in the orange picture above) had a much smaller pouch, which made folding up the bag a right beatch, and didn't even do it well at that. I would have left it alone and just lived with it, but the goal for this bag is for me to be able to carry it in my purse, and real estate in said accessory is both rare and extremely valuable (call me Ally Sheedy because Yes, I always have *this much* sh*t in my bag). Twenty minutes with a seam ripper later, and I was back in business.

As to the second modification, I only just realized I made it. Seems I sewed the handles wrong - they should connect front to front instead of front to back. Fixing that mistake implies ripping out a fair whack of topstitching and other fussiness and guess what? I'm SO not going to do it. I wanted a shopping bag, I've got one. Yay me.

Happy Sewing, Everyone!

Insert picture here

2011-05-02T12:26:00.004-04:00

Normally I'd have posted a Wordless Weekend Wrap-up for y'all, but I seem to have contracted a pretty severe case of camnesia this weekend. Not that there wasn't anything camera worthy going on, there was plenty. I have no excuse for my bad bloggy behaviour, other than to plead temporary gobsmacking by the absolutely magnificent weather we enjoyed. I wore capris and sandals. It was awesome.

So here's a random weekend wrap-up instead, because a wordless weekend wrap-up post without pictures is a pretty sucky excuse for a blog post indeed (but maybe I could say I was making a statement on consumerism or something...)

This weekend I:

attended my very first Roller Derby Match. Bout. Thing. Not too clear on the proper terminology, but all evening, my mind was buzzing with terms like Jammers, Packs and Blockers. It was a good deal of fun, and I hope my friend Louise didn't think I was a total dweeb and will consent to taking me again.

cleaned out the flower bed in the front yard. Despite the fact that it's a really a teensy bed, cleaning it out necessitated about 2 hours and 2 garbage bags. This ought to tell you something about the sorry-ass state I've let things get.

brifely considered doing an interpretive dance of joy about that big job being done, except that there's another huuuuge bed that needs to be cleaned/stripped in the back yard, and it's in even worse shape. Insert Le Sigh here.

pulled my daughters' first tooth out. I'm happy to report that the old thread around the wobbly tooth technique - when applied like you really mean it! - still works.

got a little sewing done, which I'll share with you next post (tomorrow? Wednesday? We'll see)

realized that there's less than a month before the Run Ottawa half-marathon. I further realized that the whole "There's plenty of time to train!" argument probaby wasn't going to cut it anymore.

went out for a run.

How was your weekend?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Unprofessional

2011-04-29T12:14:00.002-04:00

This week I went on my annual business trip (as a rule, medical librarians don't get out much), in Quebec city for a conference. Between the long drive and the packed days and the ~~schmoozing~~ "networking" that goes on at these things, much as I would have liked to, I didn't do much knitting. I think I managed about 8 rows on Tuesday night.

Hence the non-posting (sorry 'bout that). I was thinking about the blog-silence this morning, wondering what the heck I could possibly write about... and then something happened. Something knitterly and kinda cool and - to my sense - extremely bloggable.

The first pictures from St-Denis Yarns' Issue 3 were featured on Franklin Habit's blog (aka The Panopticon), and well... um... I'm in them.

My first impulse - once I got my heart to start beating again, of course (seeing one's likeness on a member of the Knitterati's blog is NOT something one expects while leisurely sipping their latté, you know?) was to FREAK the 'EFF out and tell EVERYBODY I've EVER met RIGHT NOW. Because, DUDES? That's ME!

But something made me hold back. I wondered... "Is this professional? Is this cool? Am I being a total dork?" I mean... it's not like I designed any of the patterns or anything. Creatively, I have precisely bupkis to do with any of the fabulous (and trust me, they're all fabulous) patterns in this issue. That's all due to the amazing talent of some pretty cool designers (Pam Allen, Jared Flood, Cecily Glowik MacDonald, Robin Melanson... and the list goes on), to say NOTHING of the hard work and determination of the divine Miss Véronik herself.

So I wondered... "What would Gisele Bündchen do?" I asked myself.

That's when I remembered something really, really important: I'M NOT Gisele Bündchen.

So DUDES! Go check it out! That's ME!!! :)

Happy Knitting, Everyone.

ps: I had no idea what the copyright/permission issues were, hence the links instead of actual images. When in doubt, I choose to err on the side of caution!

Like Kim Basinger said...

2011-04-26T13:00:00.013-04:00

...I love purple. It really is my signature colour.

Which is why this yarn, which came in the Rockin' Sock Club a few years ago, was just the perfect thing to lift me out of my endless green scarf doldrums a few weeks ago. Plus the kit came with a Yarnissima pattern, who I absolutely ADORE. The woman's got a serious crush on gussets that just makes me giddy.

Think about it: heel flaps and gussets on a toe-up sock!!! The mind boggles!!! I'm boggled, I tell you.

Pattern: Cleopatra's Stockings, by Yarnissima (May 2008 RSC offering)
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight in Shrinking Violet
Needles: 2.25 and 2.5 mm
Modifications: I lengthened the leg a bit before starting the twisted rib at the cuff.

I'm going to sum up the experience of knitting these socks with a fairly simple mathematical formula:

Yarnissima pattern + Happy Purple yarn = TOTAL FRICKIN' AWESOMENESS.

They totally restored my will to knit and renewed my faith in the Knitting Fates. So much so that I even decided to work on the green scarf this weekend! I only have about 22 grams of yarn left to knit up, after all.

Except that I... um... can't find it anymore.

Apparently I was so disgusted by the mere sight of it that I willed it into non-existence. I've looked everywhere~~ish~~, and it's naught to be found.

Bummer.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-04-25T08:44:00.002-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Healing

2011-04-21T07:55:00.006-04:00

I'm on vacation this week, spending Easter break with Émilie. The weather's been atrocious, but we're trying to make the best of it. Yesterday, we dyed Easter eggs, something I don't think I've done since I was six years old!

This Mother-Daughter time has helped me on my journey to a place of healing and acceptance (as have your thoughtful comments and emails following my last post). It's made me realize that it's not her deafness that's bothering me (or technically her half-deafness, since she can still hear perfectly with her left ear), it's the fact that her tumour had an impact on her life at all. Pilocytic astrocytoma was beyond my nursing abilities. My special Mommy-powers couldn't make it go away. I couldn't kiss it and make it better.

At some point, all parents come to the realization that there are ~~many~~ some things in their children's lives that are beyond their control or influence. They generally don't have to face up to that when their kids are six, that's all...

So, yeah... healing. Émilie's still our sweet girl. She's happy and imaginative and creative and funny and independent, just as she always was. It'll be OK.

In the meantime, I'm busting a move on my current socks in progress, I've already got the yarn picked out for my next project, and I'm playing with fabric a LOT, which usually means a sewing project will manifest itself in the next few days.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Finding your enthusiasm

2011-04-19T08:20:00.001-04:00

On my journey from person who knits to Dedicated Knitter, knitting has gone beyond something I like and think is cool, and has become an essential part of my life. It's my stress reliever, my creative outlet, the way I tell my loved ones I care about them... But at it's core, knitting is still basically something I'm just really, really enthusiastic about.

That's why I got into blogging four years ago. It was a way for me to really explore knitting and what I thought about it, to interact with others who felt the same way as I did. It gave me an outlet through which to express just how psyched about knitting I really was.

Sadly, much as I'd love to spend my days playing with yarn, real life has this annoying tendency of getting in the way, you know? Work, laundry, cooking, shopping - all these things we all have to deal with - it all really cuts into the knitting time, you know? Thankfully, it doesn't cut into my enthusiasm about knitting.

This past week was a bit rougher for all of us chez Dear though, and while I was still knitting, my enthusiasm about it, or rather my impulse to share my enthusiasm with you all, was thrown for a loop, if you'll pardon the pun. We found out that Émilie's deafness in her right ear is most likely permanent, and even though she can still hear (after all, the left ear works fine), I think Phil and I were - for lack of a better term - in mourning over her loss.

Six years ago, we had a healthy, beautiful baby girl with all her fingers and toes. And then a cerebral tumour came along, a stupid, useless chunk of cells that had no earthly reason to be there, and tore up all our lives, hers most of all.

So yeah, I needed a moment. I'm still knitting (the purple socks are totally awesome, y'all), still thinking about sewing, and yes, still doing laundry (ha). I'm just having a hard time locating my enthusiasm to share it on this space. It'll come back.

Happy Knitting, everyone.

Finding the will to go on

2011-04-12T12:43:00.003-04:00

I don't do much knitting in public. Correction: I don't do much knitting in public around Muggles. Not that I'm embarrassed or shy about my Knitter lifestyle, of course. Truthfully, I don't give a flying fig what people think of a Wannabe-hip-thirtysomething-married-mother-of-two-librarian-with-delusions-of-semi-hotness ^TM who knits.

No, rather it's because, in my experience anyway, Muggles just don't seem to get the concept of multi-tasking. The idea that I can talk and knit at the same time (and not just about what I'm knitting, either!) is just completely foreign to them. They don't get it, they see me knitting and get all discombobulated, and pretty soon any conversation - or rather, my presumed participation within said conversation - fizzles out.

Now, when I'm home (or hanging out with my knitting peeps), it's another matter entirely, of course. My knitting is rarely more than an arm's length away, ready for me to pick it up and knit a few rounds here and there, while watching TV with the kids, supervising homework, etc.

Which is why, when I didn't pick up my knitting on Friday night, it felt really odd. Sure, I was super tired, and we were watching a subtitled movie, which isn't exactly knit-friendly, but the point is that I didn't even feel the urge to knit. Like, at all.

Then on Saturday? Same thing. OK, I had dinner with friends that evening and didn't get home until way past my bedtime, but even during the day... nothing. Not a stitch. It was like I had lost my will to knit.

I gave it a lot of thought on Sunday, and I think I've found a solution to my problem.

That's better.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-04-10T21:49:00.003-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Thunderbolt

2011-04-07T13:00:00.000-04:00

If you've been a Dedicated Knitter for a certain amount of time, you've probably fallen victim to the Thunderbolt Syndrome at some point. You know what I mean... when you're cruising along with your WIP(s), really quite content, and you stumble on something while casually surfing the Interwebs on your lunch break and WHAM! You find something that, for whatever reason - cuteness factor, season-appropriateness, kickass technique, whatever - you're suddenly overcome with the urge to cast on for Right-The-Hell-Now. Total Thunderbolt moment. You've been struck, and you might as well just give in to it, because if you don't, that unfulfilled desire will just keep festering and will eventually eat you up from the inside out until you're just a whimpering, weird mockery of the human condition (OK, maybe that's just me).

Turns out the Thunderbolt doesn't just happen with knitting or crochet. It can happen with anything that's makeable (that might not be a real word). It happened to me last week, when I stumbled upon the cutest, most knitter-appropriate treat EVER, and I knew I had to make them. There just wasn't any choice in the matter.

Don't believe me? Tell me then: could you have resisted????

Counting Sheep cupcakes, found via One Pretty Thing

And as if that weren't enough to get you rushing off to the grocery store to make your very own sheep cupcakes, they've got MARSHMALLOW JUNK IN THEIR TRUNKS!!!!

Go make some. You won't regret it.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Overload

2011-04-05T13:00:00.004-04:00

Today I'm going to attempt to convince ~~myself~~ you that knitting does not, in fact, suck arse and that I don't have the most boringest knitting blog in the history of knitting blogs (why no, the green scarf isn't done yet. How'd you guess?) by releasing a deluge of cuteness upon you. Even with my sanity hanging by a mere thread (or, in this case, a light fingering weight dark green 50% angora, 50% merino), I'm hoping that ~~I'll~~ you'll read this post and remember that, yes, knitting (and anything knit-related, really) is indeed wonderful and totally worth ~~losing your mind knitting the same f***ing 8 rows from a bottomless wee skein that never gets any smaller, all in the hopes of making a scarf that will probably make me cringe whenever I look at it~~ it.

A while back I experienced one of those classic "Tara's gone and had a great heaping slice of crazy pie"^TM moments. I was meeting up with my friend Caroline at her LYS when it *suddenly* dawned on me that she was pregnant - despite knowing about her condition for about 8 months (my ability to ignore the obvious is legendary). She was VERY pregnant, which was a total miracle because for the longest time she didn't think she could get pregnant, and I wouldn't be seeing her again before the baby came, and I totally needed to get her a gift. Wait, I needed to knit her a gift.

Nothing out of the ordinary, right? Except that I had this epiphany on a Thursday, and I was meeting her that Sunday. That right there would be the crazy-pie part.

Booties! I thought. Booties don't take too much time, I can totally crank out a pair of booties in 3 evenings, right? Off to Ravelry I went, but nothing was really standing out to me. These seemed too girly, these were adorable but I didn't have anything suitable in the stash, these were OK I guess but sort of... meh. Click, click, click... and then I found them. The perfect ones. They had just the right balance of cuteness and knitterly-ness.

Pattern: Duck, from the 2010 Spring + Summer Knitty
Yarn: String Theory Caper Sock in Bee's Knees
Needles: 2.5 mm
Modifications: none

I admit, I got a bit scared when the "Essentials Only" version still printed out eleven pages of bootie pattern. I worried when I read a few people's comments on Ravelry about the knitted-on i-cord being an incredible time-suck (this was before the green scarf. I mock you, i-cord weanies). But once I cast on, I was completely charmed. I kept ~~forcing Phil and the children to admire~~ admiring them, cooing over them as I would a real baby.

So charmed was I that I immediately cast on for a second pair (using some DIC smooshy in the Strange Harvest colourway), this time for my good friend Robyn's charming baby Quentin. He'd already arrived, but heck, a late duck bootie is better than none at all, right?

See? Cute, non-sucking-my-will-to-live-and-breathe-endless-green-scarf-of-doom knitting. I can do it.

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-04-03T20:25:00.004-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

A gift

2011-03-31T16:23:00.003-04:00

I woke up at 5:40 AM this morning, when it's too early to get up but too late to fall back to sleep, and almost straight away I knew it was going to be one of those days.

I was, for lack of a better term, extremely grumpy. Although the weather seemed to be showing signs of warming up, the scenery is still depressingly muted, all greys and browns and cloudy skies. Plans for a summer family getaway are on hold because everything I we come up with is either Too Expensive or Too Far. Work's been, um... repetitive. All of which makes me feel like we're not doing anything, our lives aren't going anywhere, and there's no progress... ever.

Knitting usually helps me a great deal when I'm feeling this way, but seeing as I'm still knitting the f*&&?%ing green scarf, and will continue to do so for the remainder of my life, it's not really working for me lately.

So I was grumpy, and it was going to be one of those days. You know, the kind when you just don't wanna? When all you really want to do is burrow deep beneath the covers of your bed, drink tea, eat chocolate, and read your favourite novel for the umteenth time, but you can't because you're a Grownup with Responsibilities so you've just got to suck it up and muddle through and hope you feel better tomorrow because a few more days like this and you're going to just lose it completely? One of those days.

And so it began. I showered, got dressed, took Emilie to school, went to work. By lunchtime I was in a serious funk, and all I wanted to do was go to the local Asian place, order some Phô soup, and read my favourite novel for the umteenth time. Trouble was that I didn't have my novel with me. And besides, I really shouldn't be going to the restaurant anyway, I should be trying to save money so that the family getaways ~~I'm~~ we're trying to plan are merely Too Far and no longer Too Expensive.

I heaved a great big sigh (for nobody's benefit except my own, I'm pretty much alone in my office all day long) and decided I would just go home for lunch. I'd eat, read a bit of my favourite novel for the umteenth time, and be back at my desk by 1.

Works in theory, except that when it was time to head back to work, my f*&&*??%ing car wouldn't start (my anti-theft device was no longer acknowledging my "It's OK, I'm not a thief, make car go" commands). I did not panic, nor did I get angry, right away. Seeing as how the exact same thing actually happened to me on Monday, first I tried Phil's "Push the button in the fuse box" trick, which totally saved me last time, but it didn't work. Then I reverted to my own skill set for when the Car Won't Go, which consists largely of swearing at the car and banging the steering wheel. That didn't work either.

I persisted for 25 minutes, alternating between Phil's skill set and mine, until I remembered that the definition of insanity is repeating the exact same thing and expecting a different outcome, and then I just thought "Screw it". I decided that the Universe had heard my pleas and had given me a freebie.

I called the office, went for my first run outside of 2011, and spent a happy afternoon drinking tea, knitting and watching Buffy.

Happy Knitting, Everyone

ps: the car started for Phil on the first try when he got home. It was totally a gift from the Universe.

All my fault

2011-03-29T12:28:00.004-04:00

I'd like to begin this post with an apology. Over the past few weeks, I've noticed that your demeanors have really gone downhill, and I've done my best to put those smiles upside down with funny posts and witty(ish) writing. I've smiled in sympathy when you've sighed in disgust. I want you to know that I hear you, loud and clear, and I feel your pain. Really. I'm right there with you.

Spring hasn't sprung, and it's my fault. I understand, and I'm sorry.

I never asked for this responsbility, you know. I'm just a regular Knitter, minding my business, churning out projects and trying to get through this thing we call Life. But it would seem that, by some unknown process, my knitting and the changing of seasons have become hopelessly linked. It's now clear to me that the axis of the earth will only really increase its tilt toward the sun when I finish my f***ing green scarf, equinox be damned.

I'm doing my best to show Persephone that I really do want it to be Spring. I finished the Java Java Socks (yeah yeah... pics to come), I ordered my seeds for the vegetable garden I'm planning on putting in this summer (ignoring the fact that it's probably doomed to failure, because HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL), I'm even thinking of starting a quilt (because our down comforter will be too warm after it's Spring).

I'm doing all this... and it's not working. The b**ch isn't interested in any of that. She wants the Winter knitwear OFF the needles NOW.

So I'm sorry. I'm knitting as fast as I can (you know... when I can actually sit down to knit), but please bear with me. These are 2.0 mm needles.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-03-27T19:44:00.002-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Knitter down

2011-03-25T12:26:00.002-04:00

One of my goals for 2011 is to improve my yoga practice. Not only do I find it both soothing and challenging, but it really compliments the running well (Did I tell you? I signed up for a half-marathon in May.) Being double-jointed, I'm naturally flexible, but I really need to work on my core strength, and yoga is a great way to do that.

I've been trying to get to a class 3 times a week, but that's not always possible. The past 2 weeks have been high on the stress-factor, causing me to fall off the fitness wagon entirely and retreat to the safety and comfort of my couch, my knitting, and my TV (Phil and I have been watching old Three's Company episodes. Very soothing. Come and knock on our dooooor...).

I had a class on Wednesday, and I was feeling a bit off, but not overly so. Right up until we had to transition from a Side Plank Pose* (something I struggled with for a long time and now makes me feel like a total badass) to sort of a half Wheel Pose by moving our upper leg back and sort of flipping over (gracefully... well, the teacher did it gracefully, anyway). And my right shoulder protested. It didn't flat out refuse, it just grumbled a little bit. I finished the class, packed up my things, and went on with my day.

During the course of the afternoon, my shoulder complained a bit here and there. I didn't pay it much attention though (I mostly thought it was being a bit of a baby and it could just suck it up). That evening, while I was knitting (and watching Janet, Chrissy and Jack. Oh, those crazy kids.), it started to really make a fuss. The shoulder was bothered by the knitting.

CLEARLY, that was just a big slice of crazy pie. Knitting bothering me??? My shoulder obviously didn't get the memo. Knitting makes me feel better, not worse! Maybe I was tired. Maybe if I just went to bed, it would be all better in the morning, and we could just put this whole "Knitting = Ouch" crazy-talk behind us.

Thursday morning the shoulder was not only sore, it was downright painful. Lifting my arm was causing spasms and involuntary shrieks of surprise. What's worse, the pain was no longer confined to the shoulder area, it was now shooting down my entire right arm and making my fingers numb. By the time I got home, I was a whimpering mess, flinching at the slightest movement of my right arm.

When the kids were in bed (Hallelujah, I don't know if I could have survived any more of "Nurse Émilie's" attention, so help me wool), I skulked over to the couch and gazed forlornly at my knitting. There was just no way. Much as my mind rebelled against the idea, I was going to have to accept the idea that I was going to spend an evening without knitting.

How do non-knitters do it? How do they just... just... sit there? Sit there in front of the television and do nothing? I just don't get it! (I think I'm starting to understand why my husband isn't much of a TV person. Huh. Total epiphany right there.)

Happy Knitting, Everyone.

ps: The shoulder, while slightly improved today, is still really sore. Knitting might be out of the question tonight as well. Fingers crossed that sewing is still possible. If it isn't, you might want to steer clear of me until this is resolved. Knitting/Sewing/Creating is a big part of my Mental Health Plan, and I can't guarantee your safety.

* See how her arms seem to bend the wrong way? That chick is TOTALLY double-jointed.

Stamina

2011-03-24T12:55:00.001-04:00

This time of year is all about fortitude and endurance. March 21st, that shining beacon of hope that I've held onto through the dark, cold winter, has come and gone, and while it may "officially" be Spring, what we're getting is really just Winter wearing a different outfit. A shitty one at that. The crisp, fluffy dresses of December are long gone, but Mother nature has yet to don her youthful green attire, opting instead for the sleezy grey of some middle-aged floozy.

Proper attention must be paid to finding suitable knitting projects during this special time when my morale and Vitamin D count are at their annual low. I know the Yarn Harlot refuses to knit anything grey in March, and that's a sound rule indeed. Grey in March would just be a one-way ticket to happy-pill town.

I'd up the ante on her rule though, and boldly state that knitting with any neutral, dark colours in March is flirting with disaster. What makes me think so? My current WIPs, that's what.

Brown Socks (the emergency skein arrived on Tuesday). Very pretty brown socks, but still... they're brown. I'm really, really looking forward to wrapping this project up. I'm dreaming of casting on a pair of wildly colourful variegated socks. Clown-vomit? Yes PLEASE.

Only trouble is that I've got to get this sucker off the needles first:

That'd be the accompanying scarf for the Wild Apples Bohus Hat (did I mention I finished it? Yup. I totally did. I've just got, oh... about eleventy billion ends to weave in. Joy.) It's knit in broken rib (1x1 rib, alternating every 4 rows).

I'm knitting a khaki-green broken rib scarf. In March.

Did I mention it's knit on 2.0 mm needles?

Yeah. I'm knitting a scarf with 2.0 mm needles in a poopy-green broken rib. In March. Possibly forever.

Thank heavens for colourful fabric.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Upsides and drawbacks

2011-03-22T12:54:00.000-04:00

Over the past few months, I've been a pretty monogamous knitter (mostly). Yes, I've had the occasional fling with a project or two, but the point is that I've been knitting on one project fairly consistently until its completion (mostly) before moving on to the next thing in the queue. That's how I define Project Monogamy (PM): when you only really have one active WIP at any given time. I find there are several upsides to my new strategy:

1. Things Get Done Faster

Don't let the tally of 2011 FOs on the side bar fool you. I've also knit 2 pairs of plain vanilla socks, two baby gifts, two shawls and a hat. I just haven't photographed them yet.

2. I'm less anxious about my projects when I'm only knitting one at a time

Yup, you read that correctly. When I've got too much on the go, it freaks me out. I get antsy, I feel like I'm knitting and knitting and knitting and never actually getting anywhere. Sort of like those dreams where you're running down a corridor/away from a monster/towards your kid in danger and you're just... not moving? Like that. And dudes, I don't know about you? Life is hectic enough. I don't need my hobbies giving me a wiggins, you know?

3. It gives me a~~n illusory~~ sense of control

I like structure (Really Tara? You? Structure?) . I don't deal with unforeseen changes of plan very well (I can't tell you how trying our family's recent ordeal has been for me on that front). I like things to be ordered and predictable and just so. Project monogamy soothes the anal obsessive-compulsive in me. Sure, there may be a few bumps along the road (no, the yarn for the brown socks still hasn't arrived), but as a rule, I know where I'm heading. It's just me and Project-X, banging it out, steadily heading toward the finish line.

4. Practice makes perfect

Not only have I learned new things with my recent projects, but by working on them exclusively, I ~~hope~~ think I've really been able to internalize the new techniques. For example, two-handed colourwork isn't exactly the Everest it once was after working on the Estonian socks and the Bohus hat (which I totally finished last weekend, by the way).

Nature seeks balance in all things though, even in my knitting. Project Monogamy, as I'm coming to understand after a few months, also has a few drawbacks:

1. Temptation

Only knitting one thing at a time means that other projects in your queue (Rav or otherwise) have to wait their turn. Yes, you can get totally psyched about a pattern and even buy the yarn for it right away if you like. However, true commitment to the PM lifestyle means that you can't cast on right away (mostly). You can keep the shiny new yarn close at hand, somewhere it can be alternately petted/admired/sniffed at your leisure, but you're going to stick to the project you're working on right now. That's not for the faint-of-heart.

2. Too many options make me nervous

I know. I just said that PM makes me less anxious. And it does. Except for the part where I think about what I'm going to knit next. That part sometimes freaks me out. Too much pressure.

In a perfect PM world, this is how it would work:

Finish your project;
Cast on glorious new pattern and with shiny new yarn,
Move on.

End of story.

The trouble is that there are glorious new patterns every day, and all of them use shiny new yarn that you probably don't have in your stash (ever notice that? How the pattern you Must Knit Now just happens to be with something you don't already own? What's up with that?). And much as you'd like to, they can't all be next in the queue. (cue Keanu Reeves: What do you do? WHAT do you DOOO.)

3. Been there, done that

An important component to developing a healthy obsession with a pattern is anticipation. You spend a good long time thinking about knitting a particular yarn/pattern, you work on your current WIP and dream of being done so you and your new imaginary project can begin your wondrous journey together.

Only, if you're anything like me? By the time you reach that glorious casting on moment, you've spent so much time ~~obsessing~~ pondering about said project that you're... um... sort of... sick of it.

You've been there and done that, and you want to knit something else. Probably something that you don't have the yarn for yet (see drawback the second). For instance, today I want (and by want, you should read that I am consumed with a passion that burns as brightly as a thousand suns) to knit Akoya out of Quince & Co. Tern, which I don't own ('natch). Ooh, baby. Kerrera who?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-03-20T21:30:00.003-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Make room for the yarn

2011-03-18T12:02:00.000-04:00

This afternoon I'm heading up to cottage country with two girlfriends for the weekend. As y'all know, it's been a truly hectic past few months chez Dear, and I'm so, soooo looking forward to some "slow" time.

Obviously, knitting (and eating, wine-drinking, laughing and relaxing) is going to be a major theme of the weekend, so I packed my suitcase accordingly. Behold, what this Knitter considers to be an appropriate amount of "travel projects" for a 2-day trip:

That's the Bohus hat, yarn for the accompanying scarf (yet to be cast on), November's Hat Trix Club kit (yeah, I kinda fell off the wagon with those), yarn for my third and last bout of baby knitting, a skein of Shelter for swatching Kerrera, and a cake of sock yarn that I put in at the last minute - I kid you not - in case I run out of projects to work on. Before noon on Sunday. *Snort*

What do non-knitters pack for trips away, anyway?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

The properties of density

2011-03-17T12:38:00.002-04:00

I think people have a finite amount of "active" memory, which is where we store the information that we need to function in our day to day lives (think RAM for computers). It's where we keep our passwords and PIN numbers, our kids' teachers' names, the stitch pattern for the project we're currently working on... stuff like that. As long as the information is in use, it's right there, easily available. But as soon as it's no longer needed? It's outta there.

Don't know what I mean? Well, think about the stuff you learned in highschool. At one time in my life, knowing who the first bishop of Québec was and when he was appointed was pretty darn important. But now? Not so much. Sure, I remember who was the first bishop (Laval - some lessons can't be unlearned), but when was he appointed? Not a clue.

This... precariousness of information, I have found, is especially true when it comes to "The Science" (chemistry, physics, etc.). Now, I used to be a bit of a nerd (I can hear a few peoples' voices dubiously asking "used to be???" in my head as I type that). I used to know stuff about "The Science". Take the concept of density, for example. I used to understand what it was, I knew the formula to represent it's properties and everything. But when I looked it up a few days ago, it made little sense to me. I had to break it down into it's little bitty parts to get it.

Density, dear readers, is the ratio of the mass to volume of a substance.

In knitterly parlance, that would be the amount of yarn (mass) in ratio to the length of the fabric (volume) produced. So, a fabric that's dense uses more yarn then a fabric that's "thin" (or drapey). Simple, right?

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Gee that's swell Tara, why the heck are you talking about this?". Good question.

Remember when I told you that I was having issues with gauge on the Java Java socks? Remember when I said that the fabric was really thick? Like, foot-armour producing kind of thick? That's because the fabric I was producing was very dense.

I produced a dense fabric. And, as I have just demonstrated, dense fabrics use up more yarn than "regular" fabric. Any bells ringing yet?

There you go. I can feel you making the connection now. You've just realised what only dawned on me a few nights ago: by creating a dense fabric, I've used up more yarn than I normally would to knit a sock, and I'm totally going to run out of yarn before I finish the second sock.

Crap.

Happy Knitting, Everyone.

Kiss the cook

2011-03-15T12:51:00.001-04:00

I often have fantasies about being "that" mom. You know, the one who sits on the PTA council; bakes cookies for class; comes up with fabulous, fun, MacGyver-esque crafts on a whim to do with her kids; and is always prepared with unique, hand-crafted gifts for the teacher, the bus-driver and the daycare lady. You know... that mom. The one we all secretly love to hate.

Despite my most sincere moderate efforts though, more often than not, I'm not that mom. I forget to check stuff (like, you know... the calendar?), I fall behind, and more often than I care to admit, Émilie and Maxime go off to school/daycare with gifts/cookies/accessories bought at the last minute (I'm talking "at the convenience store on the way to the bus" kind of late). Or worse, with no gifts/cookies/accessories AT ALL, and all because I couldn't manage to get my s%*t together on time (hate that).

Not this time, my friends. This time, I AM that mom. In fact, I'm SO that mom that "that" mom? She can just go home and make herself a nice cocktail. Move it along, babe. I've got it under control.

Émilie is starting a cooking class today in school and needed an apron. Did I buy her one? No. Put off buying one and just stuff her "house" apron in her bag? Nope. I made her one. Even though I don't "really" sew, and I've never worked with a proper sewing pattern in my whole, entire life, Émilie will be making her culinary debut this afternoon in a brand-new, one of a kind, made-specifically-for-her-by-her-Supah-Mothah-who-loves-her-to-itty-bitty-bits, apron. Behold, the stuff of kitchen greatness:

Pattern: Children's Apron (McCall's M6298)
Fabric: Riley Blake Designs Sweet Divitiny Sweet Flower (apron and ties) Kona Cotton Cactus (face and ruffle) and miscellaneous pink scraps (pocket and appliqué detail)

It's not perfect, and I know that making it doesn't qualify me for mother of the year or anything. But Émilie is really happy with it, and the fact that I made it for her feels as though I could be a contender for that award, you know? My kid needed something, and I delivered. I lived up to her expectations and - more importantly - my own. And that feels really, really good.

Happy Making, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-03-13T22:09:00.003-04:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

It IS easy being green

2011-03-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

As depressing as snow in March tends to make us, rain is worse. March rain isn't happy, dew-like rain that heralds the imminent arrival of Spring. No, this is cold, ice-producing, generally sucking-your-will-to-live wetness. Yesterday's snow storm turned into a steady downpour of rain and sleet mid-morning, turning the roads (and the hearts and minds of every Montrealer) into a slushy, disgusting bog of doom and despair (OK, so I may be exaggerating a little).

Luckily for me, the postman had delivered this month's Solids Club shipment, and it was just the perfect thing to lift my spirits and put a smile on my face.

Green. Glorious, happy, vibrant, symbol-of-renewal-and-rebirth green. I was, to put it mildly, pleased as punch.

I've already earmarked one of the pieces (I got half-yards of each) for my next project: a cute apron for Émilie, as she's starting a cooking class next week at school. It's my first "real" sewing pattern, with those weird paper-thin cutouts that pissed me off to no end in my home economics class way back when, but I'm totally looking forward to it. That green, those flowers.... rain? Bring it on.

Have a great weekend, Everyone!

p.s. : I'm about 5 inches down the leg of the second brown sock. Ooooh. Aaaaaah.

Dream a little dream

2011-03-10T12:02:00.004-05:00

I fully intended to talk about my wish list today (you know, when you stumble on something that's truly magnificent while trolling through the Interwebs and you're suddenly filled with a great rush of desire and certainty that it should be yours to love and admire and whisper "My Preciousss"to in the middle of the night, but you check your bank account and the budget is a little tight so you bookmark it for future reference? Do you have one of those?), because a) I really want the "I have a hangover" post to mosey on down the page, and b) I'm not subjecting you to more brown sock pictures (hint: the second sock is cast on, I've knit about 3 inches down the leg. Exciting, innit?). I've got some pretty choice stuff on my wish list, and I figured it'd be fun to share, maybe get ideas about what's on your list.

And then it snowed last night/this morning.

A lot.

Again.

Now, those of you reading from the comfort of warmer climates might be thinking "So what? What's the big deal about a little snow, anyway?". And you'd be right. Totally right. It's not a big deal. It will go away (it WILL!). I (and every other Canadian on the Eastern sea board) know this.

Having said that, after months (and months... and months) of cold, snow, grey skies, slush, freezing rain, more snow, wind, ice, and yet more snow? Come March, when it snows, even though it looks like this:

It makes us feel like this:

What's on my wish list? SPRING, that's what.

Happy Knitting, Everyone.

I'll spare you the deets

2011-03-07T12:02:00.005-05:00

No Wordless Weekend Wrap-Up post this week, I'm afraid. On Saturday night, Phil and I had dinner with friends whom we've known, oh... for EVER. The nice thing about knowing people since you were all teenagers is that you're just so incredibly comfortable and relaxed around each other, you know? The not so nice thing is that, sometimes, I you tend to forget ~~I'm~~ you're NOT actually teenagers anymore. Like, say, I you can't really imbime great massive quantities of wine AND THEN top it off with a coupla glasses of Bailey's Irish Creme and expect to end the evening with a "Thanks for the lovely evening, now give us a kiss on the cheek.".

Ugh. I'll spare you the details and just say "I was sick". Trust me, NO ONE wants to see pictures of THAT.

I don't even have anything new to show you today. I neglected casting on the second brown sock Friday evening in favour of some lingering baby knitting (which I can't show you yet, 'natch). I didn't take pictures of Damask (mostly because I didn't really fancy posting shots of me looking like the Un-Dead, albeit wearing a really kickass lace shawl). I don't have any stash enhancement to share ~~yet~~...

Nope, this weekend was all about prepping for the ~~drinking~~ dinner on Saturday, and recuperating from the ~~drinking~~ dinner on Sunday. *Sigh*

And now it's snowing. Again. Like, a lot. Anyone else not feeling the love for Mondays today?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

I didn't wanna do it

2011-03-04T12:44:00.001-05:00

Last night I was musing on how I may have committed the equivalent of blog suicide by committing to the New Rule. Think about it: I have publicly pledged to devote myself exclusively to completing an entire pair of socks between each and every project, no matter how small. And right now I'm knitting brown socks. You DO realize that you're all in for about a week and a half of "Here are the same brown socks, only slightly longer than last time I showed them to you" posts, riiiiight?

Speaking of which: hey look! I finished the first one!

Now, when I first cast on for these babies, it was very clear to me that these would be MAN socks. Definitely not for me. It's not that I don't like them or anything. I just like a little more pizzazz in my footwear.

Anyway, there I was, really zipping along, kind of desparate to finish the first one so as to minimize the amount of time I will be boring you to tears with brown sock posts, and I started to think about how I was going to make it up to you. How was I going to keep the blog interesting while I finished these endless socks of brown boringness that were definitely not for me? Well, there's Damask to feature, of course, and *cough*possible fabric stash enhancement*cough*, and a secret swap project I've had finished for a while but haven't blogged because the recipient might be a reader... That would hold you over, right? And then, to make it up to you, I'd cast on a new pair of socks. Something really pretty, something with fantastic colours and a fun pattern, something so fabulously awesome that you'd want to use it as your screen savers. And those socks would be for me. Not these ones. These ones were totally not for me.

When I finished the sock I had Phil try it on, but not before making sure he knew that just because these were clearly MAN socks (and thus, obviously, not for me), they were not necessarily his, either. Other men in my life have expressed sock yearning to me (see Dad? Your comments are not lost on THIS knitter. No sir.), so he wasn't to get too excited.

He tries them on. They're... um... a bit snug, and... er... a bit short. By a lot.

But, wouldn't you know it? They fit me perfectly.

I could have sworn I'd knit those longer. 'Cause, you know.... they totally weren't for me. Ahem.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Learning

2011-03-03T13:00:00.001-05:00

Even though I think most of us tend to shy away from learning/trying new things, I enjoy the process immensely (that's not to say that I don't have my own "But I don't wanna!" moments. Just ask Phil how long he's been trying to get me to try kite skiing). If it's something I'm genuinely interested in, I'm totally there. There's just something about those "A-HAH!" moments that gets me, you know? When the lights come on and the previously rambly bits and bobs suddenly come together and you just get it?? I love that. Can't get enough of it. Bring it on.

Last night I finished my second EVER sewing project, the Patchwork Fabric Basket. Now that I'm over the requisite "Squealing with delight while ~~forcing~~ encouraging each and every person I come into contact with to look at it and offer appropriate accolades for it's absolute cuteness" phase, I think I can take a step back and focus on the lessons I learned while completing this friggin' adorable little basket that I can't believe I made all by myself. Whoops. Ahem. Sorry about that. Yes, lessons learned! Here we go:

1. It gets easier with practice

When I first started working on this project, I spent an unbelievable amount of time cutting up the 24 little 2x2 inch squares for the patchwork bands. I would look at the fabric, measure, straighten, measure again, cut, and - let's be honest - I mostly managed my own interpretations of squares rather than, you know, actual squares. This despite having the use of a mat, a quilter's transparent ruler thingie, and a roller cutter doohicky (yeah, clearly I need to learn the lingo). And yet last night, I was zipping along, no worries, and my pieces were ~~mostly~~ actually cut straight and to the proper measurements. So there you have it. If you practice, the skillz will come.

2. There's still lots I don't know about sewing (but at least I know that)

A few times in this project, the designer would casually refer to something that apparently everyone who sews already knows and I would scratch my head, say "Whaaaaaa?" and promptly Google it. Thank God for my mad Google-fu.

3. Sewing is just like knitting, only quicker

OK, before the non-sewers out there rise up and lynch me with their DPNs, let me just clarify that a bit. Obviously, knitting and sewing are two COMPLETELY different crafts. What I mean is that, just like in knitting, sewing has those "Ooh! Pretty!" moments and, yes, those "Crap, I goofed" moments as well. I find that sewing is more about the product so far, while knitting is chiefly about the process for me. I'm betting that's due to the fact that I'm mostly making small-ish projects for now. Which leads me to lesson the fourth!

4. Perspective is everything

Once my patchwork sections were assembled a few weeks ago, I remember thinking "That's IT? I've been working for 2.5 hours for two dinky strips? This basket is going to be miniscule!". Last night too, when I had the body assembled, Phil and I looked at it and couldn't help but giggle at how tiny it was.

Turns out that size is all a matter of perspective. Sure, I may think it's small, but this guy? He thinks it's the mother of all baskets.

Photo idea totally pilfered from Carol Browne's fabulous advent calendars)

5. Phil has bad juju

OK, I don't really mean that. He showed me how to work the sewing machine, showed me how to thread it and wind the bobbin and so on, and was there in a snap when I ran into trouble (and really, how many women can say that about their husbands?). HOWEVER. Both times he actually picked up the basket while I was making it (presumably to deliver the accolades he knew I'd be peskering him about later), he found mistakes. They were MY mistakes of course, and I totally know that it had nothing to do with him, but I just couldn't help asking him (after he pointed out something that had gone wrong with the project) "Honestly, dear. DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP DOING THAT????"

6. Linen frays

After I had sewn the lining into the bag a third time (don't ask), Phil took a look at it and pointed out that the fabric had frayed at the bottom corner of one side. Apparently I cut the ends too close to the seam, and it frayed. Which leads me to lesson the seventh:

7. I suck at handstitching

'Nuff said.

8. The phrase "Curious Cat" is, it would seem, based on actual fact.

9. I think I like this sewing thing =)

Happy Sewing, Everyone!

New Rule

2011-03-01T12:26:00.001-05:00

There's something about forming a plan, isn't there? I don't know about you, but I find them very empowering. If I'm feeling overwhelmed or directionless, I'll take a good hard look at what I've got going on, reassess, and come up with a game plan. To be quite honest though, whether or not I actually stick to said plan is sort of moot. The plan has served it's purpose, in that devising it into existence made me feel better and prevented me from turning into a raving lunatic who dresses up her cats for fun.

So! In keeping with the "Who Da (Wo)Man?" spirit of my knitting these days, I've come up with a new rule. Each time I finish a project, I have to cast on (and complete!) a pair of socks. This is necessary because: a) I have lots of sock yarn and b) I have no intention of curbing my sock yarn purchasing lifestyle in any way. Knitting socks will prevent the children from being buried in a sock yarn avalanche should they open the yarn closet. Plus? Handknit socks = Good. Duh. Total no brainer.

Having finished the Damask shawl over the weekend (Yes, it's blocked and no, I don't have pictures yet. I still have 2 ends to weave, and besides, I don't have the right wardrobe for a proper photo shoot. I think it'll look best worn with a black blouse/shirt. Do I have a black blouse/shirt? No. No, I do not.), I dutifully grabbed the current pair of socks that have been lingering woefully in my knitting/sewing basket (yeah, the basket is pulling double duty lately).

These would be a pair of Java socks, from the Winter 2011 Knitty. I'm knitting them out of String Theory Caper Sock (I may have developed a "thing" for their yarn), in the aptly named Java colourway, so I'm calling them my Java Java socks (apparently, I'm easily amused).

The pattern is cute, but I've got to admit that the fact that there are no charts is KILLING me. Just killing me. Also, the gauge is, um, tight. Like... wicked, foot armor producing tight.

(the colour is truer to life in this last picture)

I'm sticking to it though. After all, I have a plan.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-02-27T22:55:00.003-05:00

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

I got diddly

2011-02-25T12:12:00.005-05:00

Wow. I was going for a "Random Friday" post today (about that? when I first started blogging I didn't realize that's it's really Random Wednesday, and now every time I post something under that label, I wonder if the blogosphere thinks I'm a clueless dumbass), but I've been sitting here for a few minutes (OK five. Maybe. My threshhold is extremely low today), and I can't come up with a single funny/insightful/quirky thing to say. Nothing. Zip.

It's been a rough week, and earlier today I was ~~enabling myself~~ thinking that maybe I needed a little pick me up. Maybe a little "insert random new (because we live in a society that encourages consumerism and that's what we do) thing here" would be in order. New yarn? (I'm craving a black - but not TOO black - cardigan. That should give you a little heads up on my mood). New outfit? Shoes? Manicure? Book? Fabric? A friend of mine sent me a coupon to get a complete body exfoliation and full-body seaweed wrap at a local spa for 49$ (instead of 176$), and all I could think was "Huh, that looks nice". And yeah, I suppose any (or all - hah!) those things would be nice, but I'm just not feeling it. So here I sit, trying to put out a blog post. *Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*

Where the heck is my enthusiasm, anyway?

You know what? I'm betting it decided it had had just about enough of the soul-suck that is February in Canada and said "Dude? Screw this s**t. I'm buggin' outta here pronto. See you in March, suckah!!!"

Lucky bastard.

This always happens...

2011-02-22T18:54:00.000-05:00

After all that talk about how deeply, deeply smitten I was with my wee strips last week, would you believe I didn't even look at the sewing machine all weekend?

I can hardly be blamed, of course. I was (and still am) in the grips of full-on Lace-obsession-itis, a debilitating ailment that always seems to strike me when I'm holding onto my sanity by the skin of my teeth.

Now, over the past few months I've really noticed that, to put it plainly: my knitting helps me stay sane. It's soothing and repetitive and a process that can't really be rushed in any way. Knitting is orderly, precise, and - perhaps most importantly - entirely under my control. I am the boss of my knitting. Me. No one else.

So when I'm under stress, I (naturally) want to knit. Once the kids are in bed I'll pour myself a glass of wine, sit on the couch with my legs curled up under me, and pick up my knitting. It always amazes me how it only takes a few stitches for the tension to leave my body. It's like I've been holding my breath all day, without even noticing, and suddenly I can exhale. Doesn't matter what I'm working on, as long as I'm knitting SOMETHING, I feel better.

Of course, when things start to get really hectic (like, say, my daughter had a brain-tumour kind of hectic?), I don't just want to knit something. I want to really KNIT. I want something that requires concentration, precision, something I can really sink my needles into. I want to knit lace.

I've known it was coming for some time now, this desire, no, this need to knit lace. I've been trying to put it off, arguing with myself that I've got the Bohus going on, those perfectly lovely socks, not to mention 2 more baby gifts, and did I think those things were just going to up and knit themselves? I gave myself a stern talking to and said "Now is not the time to cast on for another project. You've got responsibilities here. You've made commitments to these other projects. Be a grownup and just suck it up".

And then I snapped out of it. I ran upstairs, rooted through the stash, pulled out some magnificent Tanis Silver Label Mulberry Silk that Kate (that Enabler one) gave me for my birthday last year, and cast on for a lace shawl (this one) faster than you can click your 2.25 mm needles together 3 times.

I remembered that grownup responsibility has no business in MY knitting. Who da' man? That'd be ME, thankyouverymuch. Pass me the laceweight.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

2011-02-21T12:28:00.006-05:00

Debuting a new feature on the blog today poppets: the Wordless Weekend Wrap-up. Because by Sunday night, I'm usually incapable of any coherent thought. (And yes, I do realize I'm posting this on a Monday. I would have thought of it last night, but I was - you guessed it - incapable of coherent thought).

And how was your weekend? Mine looked like this:

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Squares

2011-02-18T12:50:00.000-05:00

After hitting "Publish Post" yesterday, I headed to the fabric store for some retail therapy (it was either that or the liquor store, heh). I've been reading a few sewing/quilting blogs, and I've been wanting to try piecework (patchwork?), sort of dip my fingers in the pond, as it were.

I've had this tutorial bookmarked for a while. I figured I could use fabric from some fat quarters I bought last summer, so all I was missing was the linen, the batting, and a coordinating fabric for the inner lining. I'm proud to report that NO fabric stash enhancement was made during this trip (that might have had something to do with Phil being there with me.) Wait - does extra yardage count as stash enhancement? (Insert sheepish grin here)

Here's my first strip:

Can I just say? Cutting wee 2x2 squares is harder than it looks! Sewing them up was no problem at all (well, not after I ripped out about 8 seams because I didn't have the right f***ing seam allowance! *&*?%?!!!), but cutting them took FOREVER! Of course, it doesn't help that I'm completely challenged when it comes to cutting in a straight line. It's like my brain shuts down, I look at all those lines and all I can think is "Huh? What? What am I supposed to be doing here? Whaaaat???" So cutting 24 squares took forever. Well, live and learn and all that.

They're not perfect, of course. The little 2 square-block seams don't quite line up when sewn into strips.

Even so, to say I'm happy with my little (and boy are they little) strips would be a colossal understatement. I am absolutely tickled pink by them. I carried them around with me as I was cleaning up. I put them on the bathroom counter and gazed at them fondly as I was brushing my teeth. I gave them a quick pat on my bedside table before I went to bed... (who me? Unhealthy obsession? Pshaw!)

One guess what I'll be doing tonight.

Happy Sewing, Everyone!

Stand back

2011-02-17T11:52:00.002-05:00

I’m starting to feel a little frayed around the edges. It could be due to a variety of things: the first stirrings of my annual “Holy-Crap-Is-Winter-Over-Already?” doldrums, cumulative strain due to Émilie’s health issues (she’s doing well, we’ve just turned – somewhat understandably, I think you’ll agree – into a bunch of raving hypochondriacs chez Dear, and nothing is “ordinary” anymore. Evil lurks in every corner.), or even just plain boredom with what I’ve got on the needles now.

Anyway, the point is that I’m starting to wig out. Wait, strike that. I am officially wigging. I’m reeling it in as far as retail therapy is concerned and trying to channel it into so-called “positive” activities like running on the treadmill and yoga and… honestly dudes, I think it’s only a matter of time before I bug the hell out completely.

So what’s a woman on the edge to do? Cast on for something new? Go crazy with stash enhancement? Book a flight to Aruba?

I’ve no idea. Right now I’m taking the “Try-to-cram-in-as-much-as-possible-in-the-2-hours-a-day-of-“me-time”-you-get” approach (trademark pending), which is both profoundly unsatisfying and a not-a-little exhausting.

I’ve been discussing it with Phil, and we’ve realized that what I really need is a girls’ crafty weekend. I need to sit by a fireplace, drink tea/wine, laugh, knit, and eat chocolate. In short: I need to chill the eff out.

Who’s with me?

Insert FO Picture Here

2011-02-14T18:36:00.001-05:00

Here we are, Monday again. How was everyone's weekend? Did you get to knit/sew/craft to your little heart's content?

Sadly, my recent knitting has been on secret projects that I can't blog about yet. Three of my friends (including Robyn and Caroline) have either had their babies or are about to pop any minute now, and I've only recently gotten my act together to knit them something. I know... it's not like babies arrive into the world via spontaneous combustion or anything. I've known about these little dudes for months! But for some reason, I just didn't put "Baby" with "Knitted Gift Knit By Yours Truly" together until last week. *Sigh*

So far one of the intended recipients has received her gift, and I'll be getting started on the gifts for the other 2 mamacitas just as soon as I whip up a pair of socks for Émilie. (I've run out of yarn not once but TWICE while making her socks. I think she's due for a complete pair of her very own, don't you?)

So yeah, secret knitting. But! I also had the privilege of taking a feather from Kate's cap and acting as enabler to a newbie knitter by facilitating her very first visit to her LYS, Espace Tricot. She's been knitting with crap-yarn while teaching herself to knit via YouTube tutorials, but her progress has plateaued lately, and I figured a trip to the yarn store would be just the thing.

(OK that's a lie. I've been itching to go to that store for months and shamelessly used her as an excuse to scope it out. I regret nothing.)

Knowing how I tend to fall down hard when faced with large quantities of yarn, I gave myself some strict~~ish~~ guidelines as to stash enhancement: I would limit myself to yarn for one small project, and could only pay with cash.

OK fine, so I didn't exactly hold entirely true to my guidelines (was there ever any doubt in your mind?), I figure since only ONE of these is technically going to the stash (Émilie requested I make a pair of socks with the Zauberball as soon as I took it out of the bag), I didn't do too badly.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Shall we do lunch?

2011-02-11T12:54:00.000-05:00

A long, long time ago, I bought some fabric, and helpless perennial optimist that I am, I became enamoured with the idea of (re)learning to sew.

I don't know what came over me, really. Ever since early childhood, I've nurtured a vague dislike of everything related to sewing, much to my maternal grandmother's dismay. I can't say what turned me against it, exactly. It could be the many times I had to stand patiently still for fittings, or the endless mind-numbingly boring hours spent accompanying her while she shopped for fabric...

This was only compounded by my home economics class in junior high school. I hated the project (a drawstring pouch), hated the fabric ("crap" fabric boosted from my grandmother's stash), hated how it seemed both incredibly slow (all that measuring and cutting and pinning - ugh!) and way to frickin' fast (my machine only had 2 speeds: crazy-fast, outta control stitching and off.)

Whatever the reason, I've always associated sewing with tediousness, with an aftertaste of ennui thrown in for good measure. So it was quite a surprise to me that, out of the blue, I wanted to learn how to sew*. And lucky for me, turns out I've got a seasoned seamstress/quilter living right across the street from me :)

Now, it took a while for us to get out ducks in a row (what can I say? Sometimes even the best impulses need time to mature into glorious fruition, heh), but over the past few weeks, we've swapped our weekly ~~wine-drinking~~ ~~cheese-plate-consuming~~ Knit Nights in favour of sewing sessions, and it's payed off.

It is with great pleasure (and no small amount of pride) that I give you my first finished sewn project:

Pattern: Quilted Lunch Bag, from One Yard Wonders
Fabric: Oh crap I should know that, shouldn't I? Sorry, I'll remember next time :)
Modifications: None. Except our mitered corners blow theirs outta the frickin' water.

It's not perfect. My seams aren't necessarily always straight, the bias tape sometimes puckers, and despite having measured quite carefully, one side is a wee bit taller than the other. But for all that, it's still the most stylinest lunch bag in the office fridge, and that's good enough for me.

Happy Sewing, Everyone!

* I wasn't the only one who was surprised. When I told my mother what I'd been up to these past few weeks, she just blinked at me a minute and asked me if she'd heard me right "You? Sewing??"

It shall be mine

2011-02-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

A while back I knit an Aestlight shawl. I really liked the pattern, and happened to have some lovely Malabrigo sock in the stash. At the time, I didn't really know who I was making it for, I was just jazzed about knitting it.

Now, I've always said that I'm a process vs. a product knitter, but that went right out the door when I blocked this shawl. It was so beautiful (well, to me anyway) that I actually gasped when it was all pinned out. I remember calling Phil up to see it, saying "Isn't this thing just the most awesomest shawl ever?!?!?" (I believe he sort of smiled, mumbled something along the lines of "It looks great, honey" before slowly backing away from me.)

Sadly, by this point I knew it wasn't to be mine. My wonderful cousin Jessica's birthday had crept up on me, as it is wont to do every single September (you'd think I'd get a clue by now...), and she's a good person and we all really love her and she's a great knitted gift recipient and... well... much as I wanted this shawl, I did the grownup knitter thing, sucked it up, and gave it to her.

This left me in a state of considerable Aestlight yearning, of course. Yes, I had accepted that that particular version could not be mine, but I still wanted one, damnit. And a few months later, when the yarn I had selected for that month's Hat Trix pattern didn't pan out and I found myself with a skein of fingering weight yarn, all wound up and ready to go, I knew what I had to do.

Pattern: Aestlight Shawl, by Gurdun Johnston

Yarn: The Knittery 4Ply Sock (discontinued, sorry)

Colour: Kelim

Needles: 3.5 mm circulars

Size made: largest size

Modifications: none, I knit the pattern as written.

One of the great things about this pattern is that it works with variegated yarns. Both the garter and edging sections break up the colour sequences without too much pooling. The only thing that bothers me a wee bit about this shawl is the striping you see at the (sideways) lace edging.

I think this one's a keeper :)

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

My new favourite

2011-02-06T18:49:00.008-05:00

Many Canadians have developed a coping mechanism to get through the 5 months of winter we get here: they ski (downhill, cross-country, kite), snowshoe, ice skate, ice fish, play hockey, toboggan... they throw themselves into the great outdoors with wild abandon and incredible enthusiasm. I, my friends, am not one of those people. Winter, and the cold, pretty much suck arse in my humble opinion, and it's a rare winter day that doesn't see me counting down the days until spring (42, in case you were wondering).

In keeping with the whole "Hope Springs Eternal" thing, I don't change my wardrobe all that much during the winter. Sure, the shorts and sandals are put away, and I don't wear skirts as often as I do in the summer... but you won't find many long-sleeved shirts or sweaters in my repertoire, either. T-shirts are the one thing I can't bare to put away for the Winter.

Now, I may be a hopeless romantic when it comes to spring and summer, but I ain't stupid either. I still want to be warm. Enter the cardigan, and Castlegar (bet you were wondering where I was going with that, eh?) is definitely my new favourite.

Laura Chau's Castlegar cardigan
Yarn: String Theory Caper Sock
Colour: Bee's Knees
Needles: 3.25 mm circulars and dpns
Size made: 35 inch bust
Modifications: slight

There's, quite simply, nothing I don't like about this cardigan. The colour, the simplicity of the design, the fact that it's lightweight... it's the perfect thing to throw on over a T-shirt when there's a chill in the air, and it looks (and feels!) fabulous.

Now, I'm not going to lie: knitting this cardigan up takes a bit of patience. It's knit in a fingering weight yarn, so progress can be frustratingly slow. The fact that I chose a superb yarn that I absolutely love to work with was certainly helpful in getting me through all that stockinette! And the fact that there's no assembly required makes it a winner in my book (as always).

So there you (finally) have it! I hope it was worth the wait.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Lounge-wear

2011-02-04T15:55:00.010-05:00

I'm sick. It started Wednesday with a wee sniffle, upgraded to a full on stuffy nose yesterday, and today I feel as though someone were trying to suck out my brain through two tiny holes above my eyebrows.

Nothing I can't handle, of course. I know that if I were just able to hunker down with my knitting, some tea, and seasons 2 and 3 of Buffy, I'd be completely recovered within a day or two. Which would be totally doable, if only I lived in Neverland. *Sigh*

Too bad, I've got the perfect socks for it too...

Nancy Bush's Estonian Socks, from her brilliant book Folk Socks.
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll
Colours: Fawn (MC), Wonderland Heather (CC) and Sapphire Heather (Border)
Needles: 2.5 mm Harmony circulars
Modifications: extensive

Even though I'd had the book in my library for a few years, I didn't really feel the urge to knit anything from it until I stumbled upon Mustaavillaa's version while ~~trolling~~ researching Ravelry. Her version, though... they were something else, and I knew I wanted my very own pair.

My first incarnation turned out to be... well.... ass. The colours I'd chosen were WAY too busy, and the pattern was just lost in the blue-teal yarn vomit my careful knitting produced. I decided that simpler was better, and re-cast on with just one contrasting colour for the main section of the colourwork, and the results were much more to my liking.

Plus, I was working these babies using my newly acquired two-handed colourwork technique, which just had me completely chuffed, you know? I soon ran into a small snafu though. The calf shaping in the pattern only has you go down to 80 stitches, and you keep that stitch count until you begin the toe shaping. 80 stitches was fine for my calf, but for my foot? No way, that was too big. There was nothing for it. I was going to have to modify the pattern to suit my own body.

Now, if you know me at ALL, you know that it's extremely difficult for me to modify a pattern. Sure, I know it can be done. I know designers aren't the boss of me. I know it's my knitting, and that I should feel free, even encouraged, to adapt it as closely as possible to my body in order for me to have the best possible garment I can have.

I know all of that, and yet the very notion of not following a pattern to the letter gives me a twitch.

But these socks were special, and I wanted them to fit me perfectly. I decided that with the gauge I was getting, I'd be OK with 72 stitches around the foot, and adjusted my calf shaping accordingly. Trouble was that that completely screwed the pooch when it came to the heel shaping.

The pattern as written has no gusset shaping. The gussets are knit into the heel itself (I hope I'm explaining this right), so by the time you pick up your instep stitches, you're already back up to your original stitch count. There are no decreases.

I ~~wasn't going to dicker around with all those numbers~~ didn't feel confident in my ability to reproduce Nancy's shaping instructions with my new stitch count, so I worked a regular flap and heel, then picked up the stitches along the heel flap for the gusset as I normally would have.

They're not perfect, but they're the socks I'm most proud of.

Happy Knitting, Everyone.

I'm good

2011-01-31T19:09:00.000-05:00

Geez, where does the time go, eh? Almost a week since my last post, and nothing really fascinating to show for it, sadly. We're plodding along, trying to get back to a normal routine with Émilie and Maxime, and I find myself preferring to knit in the evenings rather than write about knitting. Go figure.

The latest projects to come off my needles have been, I think, pretty gosh darn sweet. As much as the Knitting Fates can be cruel and ruthless mistresses, they've been good to me with Castlegar and the Non-Cookie KAL Estonian socks. Everytime I think about these projects, I get an infusion of knitterly pride. I really can't wait for you to see. I keep envisioning the fantastic, Brooklyn Tweed-y shots I'm going to take, how fabulous the knitwear will look (not to mention - let's be honest - me). Awesome stuff, people.

Obviously, these "perfect knitwear" shots will require natural light. And a great location. And me looking fit and rested and not having zits on my face. All things that I totally have it in my power to pull off (in theory. The "rested and zitless" thing is a total crapshoot). Except that, for some reason, Phil and I just Could. Not. manage to get our acts together at the same time this weekend. If he was available, I was stepping off the treadmill or coming back from yoga (red, sweaty faced Tara-shots? Gee let me think...). If I was available, he was running out to do the groceries or heading out to go kite-skiing. Stuff like that, only All. Weekend. Long. And despite all my good intensions, turns out that being both the model AND the photographer/artistic director is kinda hard. For instance, this (kinda cool) shot of Castlegar was all I managed by myself. *Sigh*

But fear not! Today's post is going to be all about the WIPs. (Wait, make that the active WIPs. We're not going to discuss projects that are hibernating or in a time-out right now.) I can totally take pictures of those by myself, right?

Imagine my surprise when I only had one WIP to show you. One. One project on the needles right now. I was stunned. I've totally got my knitting mojo back, and yet... only one project? What was up with that?

Then I stopped and actually looked at what I was knitting. Oh.

And the (slightly blurry) reverse, because I know someone's going to want to see all it's floaty glory.

Turns out knitting a Bohus pattern is totally satisfying. That might change when I'm knitting the simple scarf to go with the hat, but for now? I'm good.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

More than Random

2011-01-26T16:37:00.003-05:00

In what I believe is a testament to the very spirit of Random Monday, I'm doing it on a Wednesday. Because, as my mum used to say, sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

I know many of you have been worrying, so I'll just give you the bad news now: I won't have enough yarn to make Émilie's second Mother-Daughter sock as it is. Despite me giving them my best puppy-dog eyes, the Knitting Fates have chosen to exact their prerogative and have ~~smote~~ ~~smited~~ screwed me over completely.
I'd be devastated, except that I'm riding a superb knitterly high after completeling my Non-Cookie KAL Estonian Socks, and they couldn't be cooler.
I realize it's hard for you to bask in the coolness of the Estonian Socks without pictures. I'll take some soon. Right after I take pictures of Castlegar. And oh, of the Aestlight shawl I finished. Yup, totally on it.
The high of a Job Well Done is so intoxicating that I felt invincible enough to tackle the Bohus kit I've had in the stash for 2 years. Wild Apples Hat and Scarf Kit (scroll down on the link). Shit's gonna be Off. The. Hook.
Kate and I are starting my sewing project tonight. I'm very psyched. Thinking maybe we shouldn't indulge in our habitual Knit Night bottle of wine though. Should be fun anyway.
Émilie got a card from a boy in her class. I'd say it's a Get Well Card, but as I recall, Get Well cards don't usually come covered in hearts, kisses and messages like "Je t'aime" and "Je m'ennuie de toi, Émilie".
While Daddy doesn't quite know what to make of the card, but is pretty sure he should be concerned, I think it's absolutely adorable. I'm especially happy that the kid was thoughtful enough to enclose a picture for ~~us to oggle~~ Émilie.
The card is SO going in the "Blackmail Émilie Box" (Insert maniacal laughter here).
Émilie went back to school for a half-day today. Her class was writing a math exam, and her teacher let her participate, even though she hasn't been in class since before the Christmas break. She got 100%. Hah!

Carry on, Knitters!

Complex Woman

2011-01-22T13:14:00.007-05:00

You know, for someone who felt that knitting was self-indulgent a few weeks ago, there has certainly been a fair amount of self-congratulatory stash enhancement over the past month!

Naturally, there was some pre-Christmas "to me, from me, with love" yarn pron. I totally splurged and bought myself... Wait. Can you guess what it is?

Yup, it's a sweater's worth of SHELTER (Mmmmm, Jared Floooooood). I prefer to call it my Kerrera in the act of becoming, though :) Can't WAIT to knit this up.

I also had a small yarn accident at the LYS when I found out that Mission Falls was closing up shop for good. The idea that I would never be able to buy any Mission Falls EVER AGAIN sort of got to me, and before you could say "yarn diet" I had snapped up their entire selection of 136 Merino in colours I liked.

9 balls of this neutral grey (colourway 003)

5 balls of Forest Green (colourway 016)

5 balls of this lovely Wine Red (colourway 029)

So that's 19 balls of Mission Falls... Like I said, I had a wee accident. Total investment stashage though, and I regret nothing (ask me again when my credit card bill makes a dent in my mailbox).

But that's not all! I mentioned yesterday that Kate-the-Enabler, Émilie and I went on a little shopping expedition this week. It's a trip that's been in the works for quite some time, and we finally got our acts together yesterday. It was glorious, magnificent, great fun, and I think I may have discovered my new happy place. No, I'm not talking about a new LYS or a cashmere warehouse, I'm talking about... the fabric store.

We bought everything I'll need to make my first ever sewing project (the quilted lunch bag you see in the photo above), and I'm totally stoked to get started. Totally. Stoked. I was quite determined to be responsible (what?) and only buy what I'd need for this one project, but... well... everything was just so PRITTY!!!

Yup. I haven't even begun to sew yet, and I've already got a fabric stash.... *Sigh*

Happy Knitting (and sewing!), Everyone!

Crafting is afoot

2011-01-21T12:48:00.001-05:00

I don't know if knitting can be considered "crafting", but it's certainly MY creative outlet. I get a real kick out of looking at patterns (really Tara?) and ~~fondling~~ ~~smelling~~ ~~drooling over~~ ~~playing~~ working with yarn (you DON'T say?), and the process of knitting is incredibly soothing to me. To be honest, the fact that I ~~usually~~ end up with a finished object is just a bonus!

Now, I realize I said that knitting and ~~obsessing~~ thinking about knitting was self-indulgent when all the tumour-related fit starting hitting the shan chez Dear, but that doesn't mean that I stopped knitting entirely during this whole ordeal. Knitting, I quickly realized, is a big part of my "mental fitness" regimen.

To wit: the day of Émilie's surgery. I don't think I would have gotten through it without my knitting! I knew I needed something mindless, and a plain, no frills sock seemed like a good bet.

No sooner had I decided to knit a sock than this Zen Yarn Garden Duets Squooshy sock yarn I've had in the stash for... heck, I don't know HOW long, practically leapt out of ~~one of~~ the sock yarn drawer and into my knitting bag. I don't know why, the colours just made me happy. And the best part?

If all goes according to plan (please, please, PLEASE don't smite me down, Knitting Fates!), I should have enough yarn to make matching Mother/Daughter socks :)

Speaking of Émilie, she's been crafting as well! Phil bought her some pastels and other drawing supplies earlier this week, and she's been drawing up a storm! We had fun drawing and colouring together yesterday afternoon, even though (I hate to say it), I'm getting a wee bit tired of her "horses and unicorns" phase. Hoping she moves on to another animal soon (says the woman who obsessed over Black Beauty for 5 years straight...).

Hmmm.... I was going to talk about a shopping trip Kate-the-Enabler, Émilie and I took yesterday, but I think I'll save that for tomorrow! Suffice it to say: I'm back!

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Faith

2011-01-19T20:09:00.000-05:00

As I've gotten older (though not necessarily wiser), like many people I've lost my faith. I'm not talking about Faith in God or organized religion or anything precise like that (that's a discussion I'm SO not going to get into here), I mean my faith in the basic goodness - or rather the unselfishness, the altruism, the capacity to love and care for your fellow human - of people. I try not to make judgments on anyone according to MY standards ('cause really, who the heck am I, anyway?), and of course I like to believe I've surrounded myself with the BEST kind of people... But we're all struggling through the same thing, trying to negociate our way through this crazy maze of maintaining personal relationships, raising children, working, paying bills, etc., etc. It can be hard enough to think of yourself, let alone think of others.

Which is why the response we've received from friends and family, even people we've never met, over the course of this ordeal, has simply overwhelmed me:

My beloved Enabler, Kate, made us meals while Phil and I were pulling 30-hour shifts at the hospital;
My fab friends Robyn and Jennifer sent care packages for Émilie and Maxime;
Caroline sent me a lovely pattern (Sea Princess) for when I get my mojo back;
My father drove down on the day of Émilie's surgery to spend the day with us;
My online peep Sinéad sent along a fabulous hat for Émilie, a beautiful scarf for me, as well as a book;
Phil's employers gave Émilie a PSP (hah! How times have changed from when I got my tonsils out...);
Both Phil's and my parents pitched in with baby-sitting services when we were at the hospital and Maxime needed some TLC of his own;
And today, we received an incredible painting of Émilie from one of Phil's kiting friends. A lovely man we've met ONCE, and who's never even met Émilie.

That's not counting the flowers, the good wishes, the prayers and good vibes that have made their way to us over the past few weeks. It's been truly wonderful to see how people have responded. And it's paid off! We received the pathologist's report today, and were relieved beyond measure that Émilie's tumour is (was!) benign. Apparently, if you're going to get a brain tumour, hers is the one to get.

So thanks, friends. You've made a believer out of me once more.

Back to knitting content tomorrow!!!

Ten hours

2011-01-08T20:02:00.003-05:00

That's how long Émilie's surgery was on Thursday: ten hours of worry, of hoping, praying, panicking, and knitting (well, for me, anyway). It was a long day.

But the good news is that the neuro-surgeon estimates that he removed 90-95% of the tumour, preliminary testing still points to it being benign, and there was no visible damage to the auditory or facial nerves. They extubated her really quickly, and we were able to see her in post-op. She spent the night in the ICU, and was released back to her own room yesterday morning.

I spent the day (and night, but that's another story...) with her yesterday, and by the end of the day she was eating and drinking. By this morning she was insisting I go to the cafeteria to get her some breakfast, because the tray wasn't coming fast enough to her liking, and by 2 this afternoon she had been transferred to a fancy-pants wheelchair to take a tour of the ward.

Ten hours of brain surgery. And less than 48 hours later, she's out of bed, colouring, and bossing her father and I around as always. The kid's amazing.

Happy Knitting Everyone.

Update

2011-01-04T20:24:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes we received after Saturday's post. It really meant a lot to us that so many of you took the time to express your concern for Émilie and wish us a Happy New Year.

Sadly, the year still had some surprises for us. Émilie's surgery - which had been scheduled for 8 AM this morning - was postponed at the last possible minute, due to a lack of space for her in the Intensive Care Unit. Apparently they're overrun with flu/pneumonia cases etc., and they had an emergency cardiology case as well that took precedence over Émilie, even though her case is considered a semi-urgent priority at this point.

The surgery is now scheduled for Thursday morning. We're home again, and we've had a good day. But of course, now we get to start all over tomorrow night, the stress of getting her settled, yet more blood tests (you know, in case she changes types in 2 days...), the restless night at her side, the fear and doubt on the morning of the surgery... And the frustrating thing is that the doctors still can't guarantee that she'll be operated on Thursday.

Despite it all, Émilie's spirits are still fairly high. She's worried about the surgery, but not in the way an adult would be, which is a blessing. She isn't concerned about the outcome of the surgery, isn't aware of the risks... All she's worried about is whether it'll hurt, whether she'll be able to hear once the operation is over, and what she'll look like without any hair afterward.

As far as her father and I are concerned, she'll still be the most beautiful little girl we know.

Happy Knitting, Everyone.

Émilie

2011-01-01T19:50:00.003-05:00

There is no knitting in this post, nor will there be any knitting related content on this blog for quite some time. Knitting, yarn, the endless hours I spent obsessing about such and such a project... it all seems pretty fucking self-indulgent at this point.

Émilie's Mystery Health Issues aren't a mystery any more. She had an MRI on Wednesday, December 29th, and the results showed a large tumour growing in the posterior fossa region of her brain. It's compressing her facial and auditory nerves, which explains the facial paralysis and hearing loss on her right side. She's scheduled for neuro-surgery on Tuesday, January 4th, at 8 AM. If she doesn't have the surgery, the tumour will continue to grow until it compresses her brainstem, and she'll die. It's that simple.

Obviously, Phil and I (and all of our family and friends) are in complete shock. There's a profound sense of disbelief about the whole situation, and a hefty dose of fear as well. For my part, I'm overwhelmed with sadness. I'm heartbroken that my bright, beautiful, 6 year-old daughter has to go through something like this. I can barely breathe from the weight of my chagrin.

Many people have expressed their hesitation at wishing me a happy new year over the past few days. For some reason, they feel it's inappropriate, given everything our family is faced with, the challenges that lie ahead. But I couldn't disagree more. We're entering this new year in total darkness. What could be more appropriate, what could be more welcome, than good wishes of health, prosperity, and happiness for 2011? Don't hesitate: bring those good wishes on. We need all the positivity we can get.

Happy Knitting, everyone. May 2011 bring you all the blessings you seek.