I'm off to Rhinebeck in a few minutes, but I thought I'd take a quick minute to share this sad news with you.Poisson Doré, Émilie's fish, passed away early Thursday morning. I don't quite know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that she seemed more interested in examining the corpse than mourning him, but that's my little scientist for you.
She WAS however dead set against putting him in the garbage, so we had a funeral service for him last night. We chose a spot in the garden for him, and I think he'll be at peace there. You know, provided some cat doesn't dig him up and eat him.
Farewell, little fishy. Granted, you didn't really do much, but you were pretty to look at and relatively low maintenance, and I think your brief existence in our family (he was a birthday present) served a valiant purpose in teaching our daughter about taking care of her pets and that, much as we'd like them to, they don't live forever.
Phil wants to get Émilie a hamster next. While he feels that this is an upgrade in the pet evolutionary chain, I disagree. Where he sees "mammal", I see "rodent".
Only 2 more sleeps until Kate-the-Enabler and I head out to Rhinebeck! Woot! I can't wait, it's going to be great. You know, I realized the other day that, except for the time I visited my friend Nadine in Japan earlier this year, I've never had a genuine girls weekend? 2008 is turning out to be quite the year for personal growth.
We've got quite the weekend planned, actually. I've still got to take care of minor details like printing Google maps, choosing which knitting to bring along, and packing. I'm thinking I'm going to have to dip into my maternity wear for pants with expandable waistbands, the amount of eating we'll likely be doing. I'm not EVEN joking! Food is a major part of this weekend's festivities.
I'm going to bring the laptop with me, so if all goes well (read: if I can figure out how to plug into the wifi system at the Holiday Inn), I'll post something on Friday evening.
On the knitting front, I've officially pulled the Good Old Cabled Scarf out of hibernation and I'm making good progress. It's going to be lovely, me thinks, and a good scarf to go with the Snowball hat that I want to cast on for in the near future.
I'm also nearing completion on the second of my Miscellaneous-Man Socks. I've got to find another sock project for my commute knitting. I'll most likely dip into my pitifully small stash of self-striping sock yarn for the next pair. Stay tuned!
I'll leave you with a picture of Émilie, wearing her Halloween costume for this year (it's a unicorn, in case you were wondering). We picked it up at Wal-Mart on Monday, and she's been wearing it pretty much non stop ever since.
I swear there's something evil afoot at casa de Dear, people. There's no possible way a weekend can zoom by so frickin' fast. Unreal.
Friday night Phil and I decided to settle down and watch Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We'd seen it before, but contrary to apparently most of the Western world, I quite liked it, and I wanted some appropriate knitting that would let me enjoy the film. I didn't really feel like working on my Miscellaneous-Man socks, and the Celtic Tote requires too much attention. So that left me with 2 options: cast on for something new or dive into the UFOs...
I chose the latter, and opted for the Good ole' Cabled Scarf I cast on for in, um...... November '07? The pattern is easily memorized, I can work it easily without a cable needle, and it IS knit with Malabrigo, for Pete's sake...
So I motored along on this thing for about 2 hours, and was really happy with my progress. Then when the movie was over, I actually LOOKED at it, and that's when I spotted it.
I don't know if you can really tell from this picture, but there was a big honkin' mistake about 12 inches down from the needles. This UFO was getting it's revenge from being left in the bottom of the knitting basket for almost a year, people.
What do you think I did? Of course I ripped it back (was there ever a doubt in your mind?). Phil thought I was nuts, but when I asked him what he would do if he spotted what he considered to be a glaring mistake in his kites, what would HE do? Then he got it.
Anyway, I ended up staying up waaaay past my usual bed time to try to recuperate some of my work, a decision I profoundly regretted between 12 AM and 3:30 AM when Maxime was awake approximately every 20 minutes (he's got a cold and a tooth coming in). Gotta remember those priorities. When parenting small children, it's never wise to sacrifice sleep in favour of knitting.
Thankfully Saturday was a blast. My friend Nadine, who I visited in Japan and has since moved to Red Deer, Alberta, was back in good old Montréal for a wedding, and I got to meet up with her and spend the afternoon shopping, lady lunching, and getting a pedicure. I also had her over for dinner, which was great, since she hadn't seen Phil and Émilie in 3 years and hadn't seen Maxime since last summer.
Today was fairly ordinary. Groceries, laundry. DORMA. :)
Happy Knitting Everyone! Give Thanks for Glorious Fiber!
As many of you know, I've sworn to hold off on buying yarn until Rhinebeck. Unlike some of my other oaths (like for instance, oh... the 100 push-up challenge?), this is one I've actually KEPT.
However, a girl's gotta get her knitting kicks somehow, right? Enter the knitting pattern.
A few weeks ago, Caroline queued the pattern for these mittens in Ravelry. Well! You all know how highly frogs are regarded in THIS household, don't you? Had to have it.
That sent me on a mission for other froggy patterns. I found the crochet Frog beanie, and that opened up a whole 'nother can of worms with the whole "crochet" deal... Enter the Frog Kisser slippers.
(Dudes, you've GOT to check out this shop... some of those patterns are Off. The. Hook.)
I can't believe it's already Tuesday! Apologies to those of you who have been waiting to hear about the rest of our Niagara weekend with bated breath. When we got back Sunday night it was a mad rush to get everything ready for the coming week, and with choir practice last night, I wasn't able to get a proper post out.
OK! Dinner with the kite bigwigs Friday night. (Again, let me stress what a big deal this was to Phil. I really had no idea who these people were, but if the kite world had a king and queen, 2 of our co-diners, David and Susan Gomberg, would be it.)
Our patrons took us to a swanky steakhouse restaurant in the Niagara Casino. Sa-WAN-ky, I tell you. We had a private room, champagne, and ordered off a superb menu where everything was à la carte (cha-CHING!). I had the filet mignon with fresh asparagus. It was heavenly.
Dinner and company were so enjoyable that we missed the fireworks, but we retreated quite happily to our king sized suite (yeah, they booked us a suite - grins sheepishly), and were up at the crack of dawn (maybe even before that) to get ready for a day of kite flying.
The day's flying was at Reservoir State Park, a short drive away from Niagara Falls. It's a really large, flat fairground, perfect for flying really big kites. Unfortunately, Fūjin was not smiling on us Saturday. The rain held off but the winds were sporadic at best, and it was up, down, up, down all day long. Still, Phil got his Jordan 200 off the ground a few times and was able to test out his new koi fish, a birthday present he picked up from himself to himself with love.
Saturday evening there was a flyers reception shindig planned at an abandoned train station in Buffalo, New York. Yes, you read that right. Abandoned. And without heating. In a reaaaalllly bad part of town (think crack houses). That should have been the first clue that the evening would not go well.
Phil had offered 2 of the people who were also at the previous night's dinner a ride to the station, since the bus that was taking most of the flyers to the reception wouldn't be making it's way back until midnight. As we left the hotel to follow the bus to the station, one of the gentlemen, Alan Sparling, tripped on a small step that the designers of the hotel apparently thought would be a good idea to stick right in the middle of the parking lot, and anyway, he went down like a TON of bricks. The ppor man literally took a header, falling face first on the pavement and scraping his forehead, nose and glasses RAW.
We called an ambulance, and when they were finished wrapping him up, I swear the poor fellow looked like Imhotep. Our friends accompanied him to the hospital (he only ended up needing 2 stitches, but Man! That was a nasty fall), and we left with our lone remaining passenger for the station.
Of course (of course!) we got lost, and spent a friggin' half hour zipping back and forth along crack-house lane, trying to find this station. After stopping at a local firehouse and asking the friendly fireman for directions (whe I told him where we wanted to go, he looked at me and said "you SURE you want to go there at night?"), we finally found it, and DUDES. It was friggin' creepy. VeryGotham city. I kept expecting the Joker or the Riddler or even Batman himself to step out of the shadows. (Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that, as according to Wikipedia, it was used as a location for such fine films as Prison of the Psychotic Damned and The Eldritch: A Tale of Erotic Horror. Nice.)
Anyhoo, we basically went in, took a look around (Freezing. Port-o-Potty. Stay in lighted areas or you may get mugged. Cockroaches.) and left. We had dinner with Barry and Karen (our patrons) at the Red Coach Inn, and it was delicious.
So all in all, a great weekend. We met great people, made new friends, and left with some interesting stories to tell. Can't wait to do it again.
I didn't get as much knitting done as I would have liked, unfortunately. I spent most of Saturday walking around, getting lunch and fetching drinks for everyone (I say fetching, but I was happy to do it. These people were working HARD!). The important thing is that I got my 2 main projects cast on and off.
Maxime was this thing where he sort of growls when you say either the word Monster or Dinosaur (I'm going to try to get him to say "brains.... BRAINS!!!", but it'll do for now). So when I saw this hat, I knew I had to make it for him.
Knit with Cascade 220 using 4.5 mm needles. Very quick knit. Lots of fun. I highly recommend it. I was worried about sizing, because the pattern says if for either an adult with a small head or a child with a large one, but it fits him perfectly. Both my kids have large noggins. I knew this.
I think you all know how much Émilie loves frogs. Seriously, she knows more about frogs and I ever cared to know. She knows their names, where they live... she just loves them. So when I saw this hat, I knew I had to make it for her.
It's been a bit of a challenge (ahem!). The actual making of the hat was super easy (it's pretty much all double or single crochet), but I've had issues with length and eye placement. When I put it on her yesterday morning, I felt it was too long (it covered her eyebrows) and the eye placement wasn't right (the frog was looking sideways rather than straight ahead). So I skipped Curves yesterday, ripped out 3 rows, re-did the band, sewed the eyes in place. No problem.
This morning I put in on her again, and this time it's too SHORT. Aaaaaaaack!!!! I'm going to have to rip it back, add maybe 1 or 2 repeats, then redo the band AGAIN. The trouble is that yesterday I chucked all my remaining purple because I was SO done with this project, and now I'm afraid I won't have enough. I hate this frog. He's giving me a dirty look with his google eyes. Smug bastard... We'll see who gets the last laugh!
I'll end this post with a video of Phil, taken on the drive back from Niagara on Sunday. I think you all know how much Phil loves the game Guitar Hero III? Well, he loves it so much that he even had the music blasting in the car! There may not be a Wii in the car, but that didn't stop him from playing up a storm. Enjoy!
Yup, to my shock and dismay (OK, not really dismay, but I was definitely startled), the Kite Festival is in Niagara Falls New York. (By the way, it really is true what they say. The Canadian site is totally the better side! :)
We left early this morning after dropping off the cherubs at daycare, where they'll be picked up by my parents this afternoon. Got some great knitting time on the ride down, but I had to put the needles down when for some reason Phil objected to driving the entire 7 hours. Grumble grumble. As soon as we checked into the hotel, Phil wanted to check out the kite flying area of the day, which was on Goat Island, a short drive from where we're staying. Unfortunately it turned out that most of the flyers were already packing up for the day, but that didn't deter Phil one little bit!
When we arrived in the area, we kept on commenting how strange it was that we couldn't see any kites in the air. We quickly discovered why!
The wind was really erratic, and the mist being thrown into the air by the falls made it really difficult to fly anything. And as for knitting? Fuhget aboud it...
We were a bit bummed, but decided to make the best of it by seeing the sights! On top of the list of attractions is the Cave of the Winds, which takes you right up to the American Falls (as opposed to the Horseshoe Falls, which we Canucks are accustomed to seeing from the Maid of the Mist). Before you embark on the tour, you're given these garbage bags/raincoats and flip-flops, and are warned that your clothes "may get damp". Uh, yeah, UNDERSTATEMENT!
I think there's a perpetual rainbow at the foot of the Falls
Rock on, Phil!
It's called the Hurricane Deck for a reason!
Totally awesome. Now we're back at the hotel, and we're having dinner with a bunch of kite bigwigs tonight. I have no idea who these people are, but Phil tells me that it'd be like meeting up with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Cat Bordhi, Anne Hanson and Norah Gaughan at Rhinebeck. He's pretty stoked.
After dinner there will be fireworks at the Falls. Should be a good time.
Many thanks for the gushing comments regarding my new flooring. As I was saying to the lovely and talented Cynthia yesterday, I love them so much I want to cover myself in oil and slither across them naked. :)
Last weekend being what it was, I'm pleased to announce that Phil and I will be taking a well-deserved trip à deux this weekend, when we head to the Niagara International Kite Festival in Niagara Falls. Yessir, ladies and gents, Phil has become such a kite-making bigwig that, not only was he invited to participate in this year's festival, but he's actually being comped for it. How cool is that?
Of course, while I'm looking forward to seeing the kites (and the Falls, I haven't been since I was a wee knitter), I'm absolutely ecstatic about all the primo knitting time I'll have this weekend ('cause, really, once the kites are in the air, there's not much else to do). Plus the 7 hour drive to and from? Oh yeah, baby, I'm gonna get my knit on!
Naturally, I've given considerable thought to what knitting I'm going to bring (natch'). I think this will be the perfect opportunity to crank out a few small Christmas gift projects. If strictly sticking to projects using stash yarn only, here's what I've come up with so far:
A pair of Fetching fingerless gloves in yummy Malabrigo for the daycare lady (to match the hat I made her last year)
A pair of Fuzzy feet for someone who shall remain nameless because he/she might be a reader. I'm thinking Cascade 220 for this project.
A pair of Newfoundland Mitts using some leftover Cascade 220 and leftover Noro Kureyon.
This would also be a great opportunity to finish some languishing UFO's, like the Argosy scarf I cast on for when Christ was a cowboy, or the Good Ole Cabled Scarf I started in, um, November 2007.
And of course, let's not forget my 2 "current" WIPs, the Celtic Tote and my Miscellaneous-Man Socks.
Right, so that's, what? 7 projects for a 3 day weekend? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Obsess much?
I was thinking about handknits as gifts recently, and wondering how I felt about them. As a knitter, I'll admit that I like to give handknit gifts because a) they're a way to save money (the money's already spent, y'all) and b) I often have to rack my brain to come up with a gift (because we HAVE to buy "something", right?), but you can never have too many socks or hats or scarves. Right?
The question still remains, though. Are handknits considered "real" gifts by their recipients? Do they appreciate them for the time and skill they represent, or do they feel like they got the shaft? Should gifted handknits always be accompanied by store-bought gifts? In which case, why bother with handknits at all??? Should we limit ourselves to one handknit gift per person per year?
Quite the connundrum, dear readers... Maybe I should tackle the Egg vs. Chicken debate instead.
I'll wrap up today's post with a picture of the heel of my Miscellaneous-Man socks.
I finally get it! I've been reading forever how you're supposed to do a short-row heel when using self-striping yarn so as not to disrupt the stripe sequence, but I just didn't get it. I tend to prefer a heel flap and gusset myself, but this time I thought "What the heck". And look! See the yellow stripe? See how it folds in on itself? (Or rather, how it WOULD fold in on itself if I had started it a smidge earlier in the sequence?). THAT's what everybody was talking about! I finally get it! Yay!
Poisson Doré, Émilie's fish, passed away early Thursday morning. I don't quite know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that she seemed more interested in examining the corpse than mourning him, but that's my little scientist for you.
Farewell, little fishy. Granted, you didn't really do much, but you were pretty to look at and relatively low maintenance, and I think your brief existence in our family (he was a birthday present) served a valiant purpose in teaching our daughter about taking care of her pets and that, much as we'd like them to, they don't live forever.
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