Above and Beyond

A few weeks ago, I was happily knitting along on Émilie's Good Stripe Dress, and the unthinkable happened: despite what I thought were clever calculations, I ran out of my main colour with one stripe left to go (read all the details here, and here).

As you'll recall, I conducted some desperate searches on Ravelry, located some people with the same yarn in the same colourway in the same lot number in their stashes, and made arrangements with them to have them send their yarn my way (thanks again Deborah and Donia!).

Now, I've mentioned this on previous posts, but I really want to draw special attention to one particular Raveler, Becky (aka Bambers). About 2 weeks ago, I had gotten in touch with her, because not only had I run out of my main colour, but I had also run out of my main contrasting colour, with about 4 and a half rows left to go, no less. Through an incredible stroke of luck, she had the same lot number as me, and offered to send me a ball free of charge. "Chalk it up to yarn karma!", she said.

Off she went to the post office, and I waited. And then we waited. We sent each other messages every couple of days (Did you send it? Did you get it yet?). We waited some more. Becky started to feel badly that she had sent her package via ground mail, and hadn't gotten a tracking number (not that I blamed her one bit, she was paying for this out of her own pocket, remember). She started to tell me that she would send me another ball. "No, no!" I say "I've got a good feeling about this one. Give it a bit more time."

The this past Monday Eureka!!!!! I get the yarn. As soon as I get home I log onto Ravelry, eager to send Becky a message to tell her the good news. "Look! She's already sent me a message!", I say to Phil.

Then my heart sinks. Turns out that not only had she sent me a second ball of yarn, she sent it via Fed Ex, complete with a tracking number, to make sure I would get the package.

Dudes, HOW FREAKIN' COOL IS THAT???????

Put it this way: I think I can state with some degree of certainty that there is most definitely some good yarn karma coming her way.

OK, gotta go, I've got a dress to finish.


Happy Knitting Everyone!

Hard Work is Hard...

...but eventually, it pays off. Presenting Trellis:


Made with about 6 and 3/4 balls of Mission Falls 1824 Wool (colour: Pistachio), using 4.5 mm needles. I'm really happy with it. As it turns out, there's something to be said about actually reading up on seaming before you go ahead and do it (isn't it funny how that tends to apply to just about anything in life? Better informed = better. Go figure). For instance, while reading The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques, I picked up a helpful tip, which I'm sure every other knitter on the planet knew intuitively and thought was redundant in the book, but on the off chance that I'm not the only challenged seamer out there, I'll repeat it here: when attaching your sleeves to the body of a sweater (or cardigan), to make sure the middle of the sleeve cap fits nicely within the armhole shaping of your garment, start seaming from the shoulder seam outwards (I used to start on one end of the sleeve and finagle endlessly to try to center it, most times unsuccessfully). Thread half the yarn you'll need to attach the sleeve just at the shoulder seam (leaving the rest for later), then attach the sleeve (trying to keep a decent stitch to row ratio). Repeat for second part of sleeve. Weave in ends, and pat self on the back for being THE (WO)MAN!!!!

I finished seaming on Tuesday night, but of course I didn't have any appropriate buttons, so after asking around on Ravelry, I headed out to Rubans, Boutons... on St-Denis, to find the perfect ones. The owner, Richard, was extremely helpful, and together we found the perfect ones.
They're made from cow's horns (does that make me evil? You can harvest a cow's horns without killing it, right? Or rather, doesn't this count as using every single part of the animal, and therefore make me in tune with the ways of Mother Earth? Or something?), and I think they give just the right organic feel to the garment. Here's another view (I went a little nuts with the camera this morning):

As you can see, by this point Russell was wondering what the heck I was doing, and decided to mosey on over to investigate. He got so whiny and insistent that I eventually caved and agreed to let him try it on.

"All Right now Russell, you've had your fun, now shoo!!!" I told him. Reluctantly, he trotted off. I turned the cardigan over because I wanted to get a shot of the back, and the second I look away, what does the sneaky little devil do??? He goes right back and puts it on again, trying to act all angelic!!! Just look at that face!!! "Wha-aaaat???, he asks me sweetly. Don't you think it looks good on me??".


Geez! What is it with sheep and wool? I tell you....

Seriously, if some of you are wondering why Maxime isn't doing the modeling (as opposed to Russell), it's because he's busy teething at the moment, and is feverish and sleepy and boogery and just plain miserable (me too, except for the fever). He's had a fever since last night, and spent a good part of the hours between 1:30 and 4:30 AM crying himself silly.

Yesterday I was rooting around the house, trying to put together a shopping list for the meal I'm preparing for tonight. (Oh, didn't I tell you? We're having an informal (as in anything less than 5 courses would be unacceptable) gathering with a few friends (9 people) tonight. Hahahaha!!!!) I decided to go with a recipe for marinated chicken thighs that I can just stick in the oven and be done with. The recipe calls for, among other things, vermouth. I search high and low, but just can't find any, so I add a bottle to my list and head out to the SAQ. This morning, I prepare the marinade, and go to put the bottle of vermouth away when lo and behold, there's a bottle RIGHT THERE ON THE COUNTER IN FRONT OF ME, with exactly 1 cup missing off the top (the exact quantity required for this recipe).

Anyone up for a Martini? 'Cause I've got all the vermouth we'll need.

Happy knitting everyone. If I make it to Monday with all my marbles intact, I'll nominate myself for a mother of the year award.

Kyoto, Day 2

Much as I'd like to wrap up my Japan travelogue in one last post, there's still too much to cover in one sitting (despite the fact that there are only 2 days left to recount!), so let's move on to our second day in Kyoto (Sunday, March 16th).

Sunday Phil and I met with another friend I met through Ravelry, Kimiko (aka chemmy), her husband Gaku and her dog Uzulla, and they took us to Fushimi Inari-Taisha, a huge shrine complex that spans over a 4 km trail (we didn't walk the entire 4 km, we were too beat from Saturday!). The shrine is one of Japan's favourite shrines devoted to the goddess Inari (goddess of rice and prosperity), and is covered with thousands of red toriis dotting the cliffs (when a prayer or wish is granted, the thankful donate a torii to the shrine). It's pretty cool to walk around in these long torii tunnels.
After the shrine, chemmy took us to a 500 year-old needle shop nearby. Unfortunately, they didn't sell knitting needles, but I did pick up some lovely, tiny scissors that will be great for traveling :) After the needle shop, we went to a lovely Italian restaurant (Italian, I know!) for a quick lunch, and chemmy and I surprised each other with yarny goodness: she had knit Maxime a hat and Emilie a little purse (check them out on her projects page) and I gave her some of my favourite yarn ever, some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in the Northern Lights colourway. It was hard to part with (Waaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!) but the look on her face when I gave it to her made it quite worthwhile.I had also given Jun (aka Tricoquelicot) a skein of Cider Moon Flurry I had brought with me as a thank you for taking me on the yarn crawl in Tokyo, but didn't want to blog about it for fear that it would spoil the surprise for chemmy.

After a really quick lunch, we had to run to the meeting place for the bike tour I had booked that afternoon. Though our time with Chemmy and her husband was short, it was another lovely experience, and we got to see something we wouldn't normally have been able to see. I'm truly thankful to them both for taking the time to meet with a couple of total strangers and accompany them on a tour of their city. Again, knitters rock.

So as I had mentioned before leaving, I had booked us on a bicycle tour of Kyoto. I'd never been on a bike tour, but I thought it would be a fun way to see the city and see things off the beaten path (we booked the Mystery Tour). We met with our guide, Keiko, and her assistant guide, Sachi (I can't believe I didn't take a picture of them!!!!!), and were delighted to discover that it would be just the four of us on the tour. It was loads of fun, and just the thing after a loooooong day of walking (Keiko just laughed and shook her head in disbelief when we told her what we'd done the previous day). And can you believe it? We went all the way to Japan, only to ride bikes that were made in Quebec (See? It's a Louis Garneau mountain bike). Unbelievable.We visited many parks, shrines and temples that were off the beaten path, but my favourite (and Phil's) had to be Kitano-tenmangu, which enshrines the patron of learning in Japan. It was a little crowded, mainly due to the fact that Japanese students were starting their examinations and had come to pray for success, but also because the lovely plum/apricot blossoms were at their peak. It was really, really great.(In case you were wondering, Phil's holding yet more octopus balls in that picture. He really loved them. Me? Not so much.)

We wrapped up the tour at the Imperial Palace park, an insanely large park that surrounds the now empty palace (the imperial family have moved to Tokyo). Here we are, posing in front of the main gate, which can only be used by the Emperor or Crown Prince (even the Empress has to use the side door).When we were done, we reluctantly gave our bikes back and headed out to dinner. We were planning on wrapping up our trip to Japan by going to Nara the next day, another "can't miss" city about an hour out of Kyoto.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering (and reading all the comments), Yes! That is indeed the very same Yuko I gave my beloved socks to in Akita, leaving comments on the blog. As an afterthought, I had put the blog address on the little thank you note I had written her, and I've been delighted to find that she's been reading. If you're still reading this, Yuko, send me an email at tlandryca AT yahoo DOT ca (replace the at with @ and the dot with .), and I can answer your questions by private message. But to answer your question now, yes, I absolutely loved Japanese food. It was food heaven, actually. Rice and/or noodles at every meal, including breakfast??? Heaven. :)

Kamakura, Take 1

Yesterday (day three of my Japan adventure) I had a really, really wonderful day visiting a lovely town called Kamakura, which is about a 20 minute train ride away from Yokosuka. I finally felt like I was getting an authentic Japan experience (despite being in Japan for the last 4 days). Yokosuka is heavily influenced by the American Naval Base, and while Yokohama is admittedly Japanese, it still gives off a big city vibe that you can get almost anywhere. Kamakura, on the other hand, is a quaint, small town. Immediately upon arriving, the town just gives off a much nicer, more relaxed feel. Whereas in Yokohama, I felt strange pulling out my camera (even though, let's face it, I'm easily identifiable as a tourist), here I just walked around with it around my neck, snapping up pictures as I went along.

There are many Zen temples and shrines in Kamakura, with the Tsurugoaka Hachiman-gu temple smack dab in the center of town. You get there by walking up a long path of cherry trees, which must be spectacular when they're in bloom.
The main temple is at the top of a long flight of stairs, with cherry trees on both sides. I was a bit too early to get the full effect, but there was one early bloomer at the top of the stairs, on the right, and I was clearly not the only one rejoicing at this sign of Spring.

After wandering back down to the train station, I decided to take a chance and try taking the public bus system to another temple which had rated 3 stars in my guide book, Hokoku-ji.

Now, I had read that when you get on the bus, you take a ticket from the machine, then when you get out, you put your ticket in the reader and pay the amount indicated. Of course, I get on the bus and I can't for the life of me figure out how the ticket machine works. Luckily, the driver was standing right there (you get on at the back of the bus, get off at the front), and he spoke English to boot. He told me there was no ticket, and he'd let me know when we got to the right stop. Naturally, when it was time to get off, I made a complete ass of myself. The fair was 190 yen (about 2$). I pull out two 100 yen coins. The driver then asks me if I need change, and points to a slot in the machine. "No, that's OK" I say, and dump both coins in, when to my horror a great spew of change comes out of the machine. I start to stumble through all these coins, trying to count out 190 yen, when the driver looks at me like I'm a 3 year-old, takes out a 10 yen coin and hands it to me, then kindly points to the proper slot. Right! 200 - 10 = 190!!! Gotcha! Laughing nervously, I got off the bus, and swore to walk back into town.

Hokoku-ji was indeed lovely (I don't know if I would have given it 3 stars, but oh well). An especially nice little part was a bamboo forest at the back of the shrine. There was an area where you could sit quietly and sip green tea. Quite lovely.
By now it was high time I had lunch, so I walked back into town and found a restaurant that specializes in Udon noodles. Yum!
After lunch I wandered around some more before catching a train back to Yokosuka. There's a great little alley near the train station, full of shops and street vendors and shoppers. It almost has a Chinatown feel to it, it's so packed with stuff. Phil arrived back at the hotel shortly after I did, and after going through our respective days, we headed out to a restaurant to have dinner. I wasn't too hungry (not after that feast!), but Phil was ravenous, so we wound up going to another local mall where there are 2 floors of restaurants.

After dinner we walked around the mall, and Phil just couldn't resist going into a local arcade. I call it an arcade, but really, giant amusement complex would be a better term. The thing spans four floors, and has more giant games and neon than I've ever seen in my life. Even Phil couldn't believe it.

On our way back to the hotel through the side streets, we came upon this bar:Um, Fuck Yeah? I didn't realize this made for appropriate advertising. Maybe we should try something like this back home. Perhaps in a Swiffer commercial or something? :)

Today I'm going back to Kamakura. I actually only managed to see about half the temples yesterday, and there's also a giant stone Bouddha that I want to visit. Tonight I may be meeting Bethany at the Naval base. She lives right here in Yokosuka and read about my trip here on the forums on Ravelry, and offered to have me over for their regular knit night. Is that cool or what? FUCK YEAH!!! :)

Happy day everyone!

3 Dodos

Only 3 sleeps left until we set out on our Japan adventure, and I'm feeling so completely frazzled that I can't believe I'm even taking the time to sit here and talk about how frazzled I am. But I'll make it! I've still got some baby food to make, and some last minute errands to run (leg wax, Costco run, etc.), and to make matters worse, or at least more difficult, Phil's grandmother passed away on Monday, so on top of everything else, we've got the wake and funeral to attend as well. She had been ill for quite some time, and I really feel that it's a blessing that she's no longer suffering and can finally find some peace.

Just when I start to freak out, I remember that I'm leaving the kids and the house in more than capable hands, so that if I do forget something, it won't be the end of the world. Right? Right.

Yesterday afternoon I hung out with my mother, and we did some much needed shopping for yours truly. My Spring wardrobe was looking pretty thin, so we braved the snow and headed out to Place Rosemère. I really didn't see much of anything that I liked until we got to RW&CO., where I camped out in the dressing room trying stuff on for at least an hour. The sales lady was wonderful (they're not paid on commission at that store, so they're really honest about whether or not an outfit suits you), I received great service and I'm really happy with my purchases. I even bought a great shirt for Phil!

When No Country for Old Men won a gazillion Oscars on Monday, we (and the rest of the world) decided we should probably see it. We're big fans of the Coen brothers after all, so we went ahead and, ahem, rented it last night ;) DUDES!!!!! All I can say is thank God for Javier Bardem (who really did deserve the Oscar), because it wasn't really my cup of tea. It's hard to explain, I guess. I mean, I appreciated the film as a work of art, I appreciated the acting and the general feel of it, but it wasn't, you know, entertaining? Has anyone else seen it? Am I way off base?

While we were watching the movie, I swatched the Mission Falls 1824 Wool I had set aside for the Cardigan for Merry, and unfortunately, it's just not going to work out. My gauge is still too loose using the recommended needle size (I'm getting about 24 stitches to the inch using 3.0 mm needles, as opposed to 26 stitches), and the fabric is already way too stiff for my liking. I won't despair, though. I've had this pattern in my Ravelry queue for a while, and I think the yarn will be perfect for it (even if it's not cotton). Unfortunately, I won't be casting on Merry, which has me seriously bummed. I did some surfing, and I think I could use some Elann Peruvian Pure Alpaca Fina for it, which actually works out cheaper than the suggested KnitPicks Andean Treasure (and it's even got some fabulous heathered colours), but we all know where that kind of thinking leads so I'm just going to cast on for Trellis and hope that I'm so enchanted by it that I forget about Merry altogether (highly unlikely).

As promised, I'll leave you with a shot of my Serendipity socks (January Rockin' Sock Club) in progress. Happy Knitting!

Revived

Yesterday I was doing some research for our trip to Japan, checking out what the weather will be like in March to get an idea of what I'll need to pack (who am I kidding, I'm going to pack everything). It won't exactly be sandal weather, but it will definitely be more Spring-like than it is in this neck of the woods at that time of year. This got me to thinking about handknits, about how I haven't really made anything for myself besides socks in a long, long while. And then I remembered Josephine.

This, in case you were wondering, is the Josephine Top from the Summer 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. I became totally obsessed with it when I first received the issue, paid a fortune for the yarn (Twisted Sisters Mirage), cast on immediately, and have pretty much left it to rot in the bottom of my knitting basket ever since.

This would be perfect for my trip! So I pulled it out of the depths yesterday afternoon, worked on it a bit during Maxime's very brief nap (he's teething) and wound up all my skeins into cakes last night. I'm pumped, I tell you. I'm going to finish it! I even changed it's status on Ravelry from "Hibernating" to "In Progress". How's that for decisive action? Hah!

I also wound up a skein of Maggie's Mediumweight sock yarn into 2 cakes. Now, I'm usually a "one sock project at a time" kind of girl. But here's the thing: the winder was out, I finally got my Harmony dpns from Knitpicks (review later - short story: love them!), and I've been fondling this damn yarn pretty much incessantly since I got it. The planets were aligned, I tell you, and I know better than to tempt the Knitting Fates by ignoring such an obvious sign. :) As you can see, I'm thinking I'll be using this yarn to knit the Embossed Leaves socks from Favorite Socks.

What else? Maxime and I are both feeling a little better (Émilie has completely recovered). Thanks to everyone who expressed concern about our wellbeing. It was really appreciated.

And I almost forgot! Robyn has tagged me with a You Make My Day Award! :) When you think that I've only been blogging for about six months, it's pretty cool that anyone reads me at all, let alone gives me an award! I'm just about out of nap time, so I'll be handing out my picks for an award in my next post.

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

The Postman Rang Twice

Yesterday I spent almost two hours at the passport office to get my passport renewed for our trip to Japan. I obviously need to get back to reality pronto, because I headed out there without a diaper bag or toys or anything, under the massive delusion that it would be a quick, 15 minute errand. NOT!!!! Luckily, I had some toys for Maxime in the car, and he did really well for the most part. However, the last 20 minutes was spent crying (it was nap time), so much so that the 10 people who were ahead of me in line at that point graciously stepped aside and let me pass (what they don't know is that I pinched him in the hopes of speeding the process up - HAH!). Of course, once you get to the actual wicket, it takes about 2 minutes to hand in your paperwork (I had downloaded the form and filled it out at home) and get out of Dodge. I've got to go again next week to renew Phil's (he took his with him since he's in Maine all week). Ugh.

After I got home and by some miracle actually managed to get Maxime down for his nap (if he sleeps even 10 minutes in the car, it's usually impossible to get him back down), the postman delivered the January Sock Kit for the Rockin Sock Club (you need to sign for it). About 2 minutes later the doorbell rings AGAIN, and this time it's with my Loopy Ewe order (with gift certificate money from Christmas) and my used copy of the Yarn Harlot's Meditations for Women who Knit too Much. Is there anything better than that? Just LOOK at this loot (WARNING - Sock Club Spoilage in Picture).
I got some ShibuiKnits Sock (I LOVE how subtle the color variations are - must buy more) in the Mulberry colourway, 2 skeins of Dream in color Smooshy (Strange Harvest and Deep Seaflower) and one skein of Fiesta Boomerang (it's so soft, it feels like velvet) in the Rhubarb colourway. I actually had to suppress the urge to wind one of these beauties up right away and cast-on immediately (I want to wait for my Knitpicks Harmony dpns to arrive).

In other news, it seems that the hectic pace I've been keeping up lately (it doesn't FEEL hectic, despite what my mother keeps telling me) is finally catching up with me. I think I'm coming down with the flu or something, I'm sore and cold and hot and my throat hurts and I just feel yucky all over. By the time Émilie was tucked in bed last night, I could barely stand (and no, I'm not exaggerating). So I was in bed at 7:45 last night. Maxime woke up about 4 times coughing, but went back to sleep on his own without requiring any intervention on my part.

Finally, Erin (fellow Socks for Seeley (on Ravelry) organizer and Boreanaz fan extraordinaire) left a comment on my last post, saying she'd tapped me for a meme. Techno-Dork that I am, I had no idea what the heck a meme even was, but after a bit of savvy Googling, I figured it out. So here's my MEME. Here are the rules, (they must be posted to your blog).

Link to the person’s blog who tagged you : Erin.
List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog and also so they can look at your blog and not tag the same people all over again!

My 7 Random Things:

1) I'm double-jointed. I can bend things in ways you can't even imagine. Dudes.
2) I met my husband on a cruise in the Caribbean, even though we actually lived less than 10 minutes away from each other. Go figure.
3) I worked at a McDonald's restaurant for 3 years as a teenager.
4) I used to smoke (quit 7 years ago this January).
5) I have a nervous tick. I'm constantly either drumming my fingers in my hands or rubbing my fingernails with my thumbs. It's a whole thing.
6) I enjoy doing laundry (no, really!).
7) When I pluck my eyebrows, it makes me sneeze about, oh, 57 times in a row.

Here are those I've tagged to participate (feel free to tell me to take the proverbial hike):

Robyn
Jennifer
Sereknitty
Alison
Caroline
Maggie
Shelley

OK, the couch beckons!

Feedback

Feedback from friends and family is unanimous at this point: a resounding GO TO JAPAN!!! My head agrees, but my mother's gut will need to get used to the idea (I've never been away from my kids for more than one night since the day they were born). Luckily, I've got 6 weeks before we fly out (yes, if all goes according to plan, I'm totally going). I'd be crazy to miss an opportunity like this. I've starting researching likely day-trip destinations (we're about 65 km from Tokyo) and even found a bunch of Tokyo yarn stores to visit, as well as a Stitch and Bitch group that I could drop in on! :)

I've had quite the (culinary) Asian weekend, actually. Saturday, Phil and I celebrated our 14 year (dating) anniversary with a lovely sushi dinner, followed by a movie (There Will Be Blood). The food was great, and the movie was excellent. Three Words: Daniel. Day. Lewis. 'Nuff said. And Sunday, I met my cousin Jessica for Dim Sum (I hadn't been in ages - YUM!!!). So much for the diet!

Today's post will be on the short side, because Émilie is home sick with a cold and a nasty bit of conjunctivitis (thanks again for watching Maxime while we went to the pharmacy, Kate!!!). Seriously, she seems to be secreting badness from every orifice. Fun times.

Knitting has been put on the back burner for the time being, but hopefully I'll be able to get some progress on the foot of Phil's sock during nap time this afternoon (and maybe even post some progress pictures on Ravelry).

Finally, someone (Hi Joey!) told me about a new yarn store that just opened in Montreal, on Monkland, called something like Tricot Treats. I did a little hunting around, and it's actually called Tricot Quartier. Anyone ever been? I'm thinking of taking a gander sometime this week... Although, I think I should save up my money. After all, I DO have a trip planned :)

Rejoicing in the Simple Things

I've really been enjoying my sock project. It's simple, yet interesting. The yarn (Maple Creek Farms Merino/Nylon, bought in Rhinebeck) is lovely, and the entire process is just plain satisfying. Plus, I've learned a new technique: cabling without a cable needle. Très cool. I feel as though I haven't knit a sock in months! Hello socks, where have you been???

I forgot to mention that while my Dad and stepmother Margot were visiting, we celebrated the last installment of Christmas (whoever coined the term "12 days of Christmas" probably had relatives living all over the place too) and I received a gift certificate to Chapters. Now, you know what that means! Knitting books! Yay!!!! I picked up six titles, including a used copy of Yarn Harlot, the book that started it all for me (Kate-the-Enabler lent me her copy, but I wanted one for my very own). Very excited.

It may have escaped your notice that I'm deviating from my usual posting pattern, here (posting at night when the kids are asleep rather than in the morning while Maxime is napping). I didn't have time to post this morning, because Maxime and I had our first Cardio-Poussette class today. Again, I am SOOOO out of shape. It was great to be outside (Maxime seemed to like it too), but it really puts a dent in my schedule (and my knitting time!). And despite all the hard work, I can't help but have the feeling that by the end of the session I'll still have this baby fat on my tummy (yes, Phil, I know I bought lemon cake (for SnB tomorrow) AND cookies when I did the groceries - what of it???).

For all you Bones fans out there, recently, after throwing out a casual "anyone ever feel the urge to knit Booth a pair of crazy loud socks and send them to the show?" in a discussion board on Ravelry, a bunch of us decided it'd be fun to do just that. If you're interested, check out the "Socks for Seeley" thread in the Bones fans group. The deadline is June 30th, the goal is to knit as many loud socks for Seeley as possible (and maybe even spot them on the show, you never know!).

Needle Bliss

Tuesday's Mommies who Talk about Knitting meeting went great (no knitting, as usual, but much fun was had by all). Jenn put out quite the spread, despite having no running water due to a busted something-or-other, including some dynamite (as in your mouth will explode!) garlic dip that you can apparently only buy from some door-to-door service where you need to know a secret password or something. Man, I still can't get over that dip (I was expecting a soothing spinach dip and was completely unprepared) :)

I've almost finished knitting my secret project, so rest assured, we'll be returning to our regularly scheduled knitting content shortly. However, in the meantime, I thought I'd share this faboo gift I got from my brother-in-law and his girlfriend (recipient of the second Amanda Hat) for Christmas. Speaking of the Amanda Hat, Gina, aka SleepyEyes, has set up a gallery here).

But first, a little backstory. I was taught to knit by my paternal grandmother many, many moons ago, and when she died, I inherited her needles and UFOs (sadly, they remained UFOs, because the Bay doesn't make Baycrest Sayelle anymore). I've kept my needle stash in the same bag since then, and while that system may be great in terms of sentimental value, it isn't exactly practical. See, this storage system is quite inoffensive when you leave it well enough alone, but when you actually need something, it turns into this:

A giant heap of a mess (and Gad!! Do I need new flooring or WHAT? Don't look directly at the carpet!!!!! Avert your eyes now!!!!!!!). I've tried to upgrade the system by keeping a nifty inventory of my needles in an Excel file (you can do something similar through Ravelry), but really, there's no getting around the sorting and bumbling when you need to retrieve something from the stash.

Enter this wonderful gift. Yes, boys and girls, my brother-in-law bought me a knitting needle organizer on Etsy. OK, granted, he had a little help, via a gentle suggestion (read: a hyperlink) I casually (read: BUY ME THIS!!!) mentioned to Phil, but still, it's pretty awesome. Seriously, who knew that in a few short minutes, the needle stash could go from that to this (yes, that is in fact one of my daughter's Caillou hair elastics holding a set of DPNs together)?

I've moved most of my needles into this organizer, but I'm keeping my circulars in their original packages for now (I find it easier to locate exactly which size and length I need when I can just read it on the package). I've noticed, however, that one can also buy an organizer strictly for circulars. Hmmmm....

Feeling the Strain

I'm starting to feel the strain of project monogamy. During the Holidays, in an effort to crank out as much woolly-love as I possibly could, I tried to work on one project at a time. I've only got one gift left to finish off (my secret project, check it out on Ravelry), and while it's a perfectly wonderful project, I find myself gazing longingly at my knitting basket, towards other projects that have been sadly neglected (like Cluaranach, for instance). I'm really looking forward to being project promiscuous again :)

Off topic for a bit: One of my resolutions for 2008 was to try to take better care of myself, and to get back in shape (I didn't want to make it an "official" resolution because, let's face it, who doesn't feel that way after 2 weeks of eating sugar pies?). I've done pretty well up to this point, I'm a few pounds off my pre-pregnancy weight. The thing is, I've been a little, um, complacent lately, and while the numbers on the scale may be similar to what they once were, the body shape is most definitely NOT.

Here's the thing: since I've been home, when Maxime is asleep, I don't want to do a Pilates video (or laundry, or make food). I just want to knit. Sit on my expanding behind and knit. It's now dawned on me that the key would be to take it outside (or out of the house, anyway). So yesterday Maxime and I had our first Aqua-Mommy class. It was great, but MAN! I am SOOOO out of shape! I was pretty much ready to sit and order a milkshake before the class even began, what with the running into the gym 5 minutes before the class started (with 3 bags in tote), frantically getting into my bathing suit and Maxime into his swim trunks. And after the class? Poo-Ped (but strangely energized, nonetheless - exercise does that, as I dimly recall). So was Maxime. He loved the water (first time in a pool), but all that jumping around knocked him out, and I actually had to wake him up from his afternoon nap to pick up Émilie. Too cute. We've also signed up for a Cardio-Poussette class at the Centre de la Nature that starts next week.

I'll leave you with this picture of Maxime, taken this morning while I was stash diving. He's fondling Maggie's sock yarn, in the Prescription Medication colourway (Maggie, if you're reading this, these new semi-solids are your best work yet. Two words: Ge Nius. Dude.) I'm trying to figure out what to work on next (besides Cluaranach, of course): should I cast on the Cardigan for Merry? Socks for Phil? for Myself? All of the above? Yeah, that's what I thought, too. :)

This afternoon we're heading out to Jennifer's house, to meet Robyn and Kate-the-Enabler for a Mommies who Knit (or more accurately, Mommies who talk about knitting while holding fidgety babies) meeting. Should be fun.

Simplifying

I still want (and plan!) to do a review of 2007, but time has been short lately, so it'll have to wait. However, I didn't want to leave my readers in the dust, as I've been neglecting the blog over the past few weeks. Here's what I've been up to.

On New Years' Day, despite practically falling down from exhaustion (I SO can't handle getting to bed at 1:30 AM anymore!!!) we got all dolled up and braved a snowstorm to head over to my mother-in-law's house for a lovely dinner. Everything was delicious, but at 8:45 we'd had enough and headed home to crawl into bed!

Yesterday was spent attempting to recuperate from the previous night's excesses (no small feat with 2 small children!). And today? Today, dear readers, we made the traditional, post-Christmas trip to Ikea, where we picked up a few items to aid us in our attempt to get ever more livable space out of our tiny home.

Here we see our new, swanky audio-video table, currently being used as a toy storage area (somehow I doubt Home Theater magazine will be contacting us to feature our layout any time soon).

We also picked up this little sofa bed for our downstairs game room, which should enable visiting dignitaries to actually sleep indoors, a great improvement from our previous accommodations, which consisted of an inflatable floating lounge chair. And look! It's hot pink! Funky!!!

I've made some progress on my secret project, so check out Ravelry for updates on that score. Tomorrow is Phil's last day off from work, and wouldn't you know it? Daycare is open. Gosh, what will we do???

New Year

The past few days have been quite the whirlwind chez Dear, and while I have neither the time nor the inclination to give you a play by play of everything that's been going on, I thought I'd post some random tidbits that have stuck in my brain.

First things first, the Holiday knitting. As you can see, I managed to finish Michel's Boyfriend Socks. I also gave my mother a pair of Jaywalkers I'd knit this summer. I loved both patterns, they fit their intended recipients perfectly (not such an easy feat when working some sneaky knitting) and they seemed genuinely pleased with their gifts (apparently they had to guard them with their lives when visiting my uncle and grandmother a few days later). Score!

I also knit another Amanda Hat for my sister-in-law (can you tell I love this pattern?). Contrary to what I had originally thought, I did not in fact have enough of the pink left over from the previous hat to make another one, a fact I discovered the hard way after knitting for two hours on December 22nd (note to self - next time weigh the amount of yarn you have left before getting started on a tight deadline project). Luckily this is a really, really quick knit (otherwise she may have had to go all 80s style with a rockin' headband!), and I was able to cast on and off within the same day on December 23rd, using some stash Malabrigo I had earmarked for the Snowball Hat. The hat fit her perfectly! I was mildly worried, because I had been told Catherine has a small head, and the pattern is designed to fit a medium/large, so I went down a needle size and everything worked out great.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to deliver the final (but definitely not least important) gift in time, despite exchanging on the 28th. I'd show you pictures here, but the intended recipient (my cousin Jessica, I think the cat's out of the bag on this one) is a reader, so if you're interested, check out my projects on Ravelry.

After Christmas we tried to keep things fairly simple, then yesterday we dropped the kids off at my mother-in-law's and headed out to La Capucine, a beautiful bed and breakfast in St-Placide. We always celebrate New Years with the same group of friends (5 couples), so we were able to rent all five rooms in this place, and thus wouldn't bother anyone (except the owners!) with our shenanigans. The food was IN-CRE-DI-BLE, the service impeccable, the ambiance lovely (except for Cattiavelli over there, he kind of gave me the creeps).

Since we had the place to ourselves, we were able to set up a karaoke machine and belt out a few tunes between dancing sessions (here we see the complex lyrics that comprise a Kiss song) . A great time was had by all, and we already booked the place for next year!!!

I'll post a personal review of 2007 in a few days, but until then, I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Years' celebration last night. Happy New Year!!!! :)

15 minutes

I suspect that's all the time I'll have to post today, since I've got both kids at home and Phil is working. Actually, it's not too bad. Whenever I'm about to lose it, I remember that in a few months I'll be back at work and complaining that I never get to spend any time with the kids. Still, it'd be nice to have a couple of minutes to myself. Grumble, grumble.

So, how was everyone's Christmas? Santa did indeed make a stop here at chez Dear, bringing toys and goodies for everyone. Phil finally managed to get his hands on a Wii 2 days before Christmas, so I packed up the kids and headed out to Best Buy for some frantic last minute gift buying (a second remote, a battery charger and Big Brain Academy). He also got loads of stuff from my folks. For myself, I got pajamas (I'd mentioned I needed some nicer sleeping duds), a lovely book on mythology, a beautiful Tahitian pearl necklace and, of course, a few yarn gift certificates, among other things. The kids were spoiled as usual, but I think that the big success here was one of those horses on broomsticks? My daughter is really into cowboys and horses lately, and she's been running up a frenzy ever since she got her "Mustang" on Christmas Eve. Good times. I'd post pictures, but unfortunately, I left my camera at my mother-in-law's house and haven't gotten around to picking it up yet. Whoopsee!

As far as the choir duties go, Sunday was our last concert of the season, and I really think we put on a great show. And we even made it on the news! CTV news closed its program on Sunday night with about 10 seconds of our singing, and wouldn't you know it? Not only do you get a glimpse of yours truly, you hear me specifically, as well! I'm on the far left, about 15 seconds into the video (wearing glasses). And the voice you hear right at the end? That'd be me. Tee-Hee!!!



I didn't manage to finish all my knitted gifts in time, unfortunately. Well, actually I did, but I've only just cast on the final gift (for a person with whom I'll be exchanging gifts in a few days), and won't be done in time. I'd give more details, but the intended recipient is a reader, so check out all new project info on Ravelry (I'm Dearknits).

All in all, I had a lovely Christmas, and am now living in fear of the giant bill that will surely be arriving any day now :) I'll be postponing any end-of-year yarn buying until I know exactly where I stand financially. It's not as though I was about to run out!!! Trouble is, I haven't run out of stuff I want to buy, either ;)

No Longer Friday

I really and truly meant to post yesterday, but I had an appointment that came in out of nowhere on Friday afternoon that I absolutely could not miss, and an already busy day turned into a crazy-ass, hectic one. Seriously, this is what I did yesterday:

• Woke up at 6:15 AM. Fed Maxime and got Emilie ready for daycare. Got started on laundry.
  
• Put Maxime down at 8:50 for his morning nap.
• Dash into shower.
• Make 3 chicken pot pies ('cause I wouldn't have time to make them that afternoon). I was counting on the little one to sleep until his usual 11 o'clock to get this one done. Naturally, he woke up at 10. Little Angel.
• Alternate between tending to a screaming Maxime and finishing the freakin' pies. Get them in the oven and give Maxime his lunch at 11.
• Have my lunch (read: scarf down bowl of pasta in record-breaking time).
  
• Head to the mall to pick up something I forgot on my trip the day before.
• Head to the hospital for Maxime's physiotherapy appointment (he has torticollis).
• Rush home, try to put Maxime to bed while I get changed.
• Wait for Phil to get home at 2:30 and run out for my appointment.
• Get out of meeting at 4, swing by daycare and pick up Emilie.
• Get home. Find out that my Dad's been hospitalized and is in the ICU (apparently he ruptured something in his chest a week ago and has been bleeding internally ever since. After removing 1.4 liters (why yes, that would be 25% of the body's supply of blood!) from around his lungs, it appears that he's going to be OK, although he may need surgery if the bleeding doesn't stop on its own.
• Have dinner (chicken pot pie!), put the kids to bed.
• Collapse in a heap of exhaustion.

Seriously, sorry about the bulleted list presentation, but that was the most efficient way to get through all that was going on yesterday. This morning has been equally busy (Zellers, groceries, finish up the laundry, 2 pumpkin pies with leftover pie crust), but I've now done everything I needed to get done today, so I'm good.

Oh! Kate-the-Enabler had her baby! Woo-Hoo! Apparently the threat of induction was enough to send her into labour on her own, because baby Liam was born at 2:21 AM on Thursday morning, a full 4 hours before she was to be induced. I haven't met him in person yet, but I've seen pictures, and he's adorable (seriously, with good-looking parents like that, of course he was going to be cute!). I'll post pictures when I get the OK from Mama Bear.

In knitting news, I've finished my secret Christmas project (you can check it out on Ravelry), and I've decided to move on to these socks for my Mom's husband (he's not a reader, so it's OK if I talk about it here). I'm going to use my one and only skein of Smooshy sock yarn, and I'm quite upset that I won't have any in my stash anymore after this. He'd better appreciate them! Grumble grumble. Seriously, I think the yarn and the colourway (Dusky Aurora) will fit great with this pattern. I've only knit my swatch so far, so no pictures (Monday!).

OK, I'm off to enjoy a few minutes with West Side Story and some knitting. Have a great weekend!

Not so much

Friday's planned outing, which I was really looking forward to, turned into a total nightmare. On our way into the city, we hit a wall of traffic, and after our attempts to find alternate routes all failed miserably, Phil got in a huff and decided we weren't going. (Before you get upset at him, read the rest of this post). I then got in a huff myself (to put it mildly), because even though Maxime was with us, it had kind of felt like we were going out on a date, and now the whole thing was ruined. Phil then proposed we head to Ikea to check out some sofas (we want a pull out for our basement), to which I, again, threw a hissy fit (I don't WA-nnnaaaaa go to Ikea!!!).

OK, so now we're both completely pissed off (so much for THAT date!), and Phil decides to circle back and try to get to the Christmas store again (YOU WANNA GO??? FINE!!!). He's now fully enraged, and motoring along, and it's at that precise moment that he gets stopped for speeding and receives a 245$ ticket. HeeHee!!! That pretty much cured me of my childish behaviour, but understandably, Phil was still pissed. Then I got upset that he wasn't talking to me ('cause he was still fuming).... Anyway! Long story short? We went home and didn't talk to each other for about an hour.

No worries though! We made up that very afternoon, and headed out to the mall to try and salvage what was left of the afternoon before we had to pick up Émilie from daycare. And we DID manage to get to the Christmas store on Sunday morning, where I picked out this snow globe. Isn't it cute? Santa's on a little toboggan (maybe it's a snowboard?), and it moves when you crank up the music (it plays Jingle Bells). And isn't that a great picture? I took it using my brand-new photo tent. It's sort of a quick and dirty version, taken from this tutorial, but it works great, and Phil assures me that he's going to make me an even better one now that he understands what I want to do with it.

I've been diligently working on my secret project (check it out on Ravelry). It should be done by the end of the week, so I'll be able to post pictures of my knitting once again by next week. In the interest of efficiency, I'm trying to be as monogamous as possible.

One down!

Yesterday was a rather snowy day here, which gave me the perfect excuse to cozy up to my knitting and finish my Summer of Love Lace Socks. I believe I've mentioned before how smitten I am with these socks, and while I haven't changed my mind that they'll be heading to a new home come Christmas, I just had to try them on at least once before they go. Don't worry, I've since washed and blocked them, and they're ready to go :)

I also cast on for a new project last night, one that I unfortunately can't share with you on this blog, since its intended recipient is a reader :). However, if you're on Ravelry, you can check out my project page, I'll be uploading it today, as soon as I have a spare minute. I think it'll be a fairly easy and quick knit, though it's something I've never attempted before (how's that for suspense?).

No knitting this afternoon, though. Phil has the day off, and as soon as Maxime has had his lunch, we'll be heading into town for two of my mostest favourite things ever. First, a trip to Pho Bang New York, on St-Laurent, for some lovely Pho Bang soup. Then it'll be off to Noël Éternel to buy my annual water globe (I've been collecting them forever, and no, it has nothing to do with this movie) and a Christmas stocking for Maxime. I love shopping for Christmas decorations! I can't wait to start decorating the house.

I'm ba-aaaaack!

It turns out I was a little premature in titling my last post, and I actually took a turn for the worst on Thursday (I was battling a stomach flu). Factor in that we thought Emilie might be getting it as well (and therefore stayed home from daycare on Friday) and that Maxime had us all up at 4:30 AM (yes, you read that right) Friday morning, and my darling husband was forced to take the day off to take care of us all. Take care of us he did, so well in fact that by Friday night I felt much better, and all was well on Saturday. Thanks so much to all of you who left comments wishing me a speedy recovery. It was really very thoughtful of you.

Needless to say, not much knitting has gotten done lately. Not only did this bug strip me of my will to live, but it also completely siphoned my will to knit as well (scary, I know). That all changed when I got my invite to Ravelry on Saturday (my username is DearKnits (of course)). Now, instead of knitting, I've been raveling about knitting. Not much more progress to show off, but I've been having fun. I started off adding books to my library (I am a librarian after all), and am now in the process of updating my projects page. Eventually I'll get around to taking an inventory of my stash, though I'm not sure I'm up to taking pictures of everything. Actually, I've asked Phil to make me a photo tent (as seen on this free tutorial - thanks Maggie!), so maybe that'll make me want to take plenty of yarn prOn pictures. Who knows?