No, it's not over yet.

I'm still waist-deep in work (at work) and work (at home, in the hell-hole once known as our washroom), but I thought I would take a moment out of my lunch at work to fill you in on what's going on.

I've made very little progress on *any* of my sewing or knitting projects, lately (Wollgut, your Farmer's Market Bag is woefully under-finished...fear not, my dear friend, I shall finish and send it as soon as I find my mind).  I have 2 pairs of pants to sew up and a tunic that was intended for summer use.  My cardigan is languishing in my knitting project bag.  Having said that, I found the most amazing designer.  Check this out:

Doodles in String

She seems to have tapped into my brain and figured out what I want for my cardigan.  I'm going to shamefully copy emulate her and add a band of ribbed waist shaping to the sweater.  So you see, maybe I've been slacking for a reason: all this time, I just needed to find her blog, discover her sweaters and get inspired....  Well, that's my theory, anyway.

My husband is gearing up to get back to work (curse you, teachers who get the summers off...I know your job is the most under-appreciated and difficult in the world, but what I wouldn't give to have had a *bit* of time to lie in the hot sun this summer!).  We're desperately trying to get the bathroom reno wrapped up.  We've got most of the plumbing in, we're sorting out the waste/venting tonight, we've got the flooring ready to go and we're just waiting to get the drywall puttied and taped.  Too bad it takes time for the putty to dry - we could have had more done by now.  The lighting will wait for a bit - I just want to be able to take a shower in my own home already!

The reason we're desperately trying to get the bathroom finished (sort of) is that I am expecting company this weekend.  A very good friend from high school is coming to visit us and we have planned a week of eating and sightseeing and eating and drinking and eating and camping and swimming and (possibly...fingers crossed) SURFING! and eating.  We're hanging out here for a few days and then we're headed to Cape Breton Island for a few days of camping (despite the encroaching autumn weather).  It promises to be a great week (my only vacation time for the year) and I will do my best to take as many photos as possible so that I can gloat about how fun it was and rub it in all your faces, afterward.  Just kidding.  I wouldn't do that to you.  The gloating and rubbing-in of faces, I mean.  I will show you photos, however.

My health is finally getting back on track.  I don't think I realized how sick I was until I started getting better, last week.  My problem was definitely candida-related and now that my digestive system is clearing, I am understanding just what an effect this illness was having on me.  My focus is better, I am less exhausted (geez, it was getting bad for a while, there...I could barely make it through the day), I finally kicked that nasty cold I caught, my skin has cleared up, and I'm much less congested.  I had been ill since May and couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.  I'm so relieved to know what it is that it doesn't bother me too much to forgo all the awesome in-season fruit and ice cream and baked goods and sweets that I would love to partake in.  I have to obey this diet for another 4 weeks or so and then I can start enjoying some goodies again (I've expanded on the fish-and-rice-and-veggies theme, now that I know what was causing the problem).  Camping will be interesting, food-wise, but that's fine. 

My yoga teacher just got double-cataract surgery, so I've been without yoga for 4 weeks.  I wasn't too bothered by it, because I felt so crummy that I wasn't interested in going anyway.  This past weekend was the first time in a LONG time where I felt that some exercise would be *just the thing*.  I've lost a LOT of weight (not purposely, just as a side-effect of not eating any fatty or sweet foods) and I am started to feel some of my energy come back.  A small Moksha Yoga studio just opened up across town and for the first week, they're offering free classes.  I am lining up to go this evening, to start easing back in.  I signed up for an amazing yoga retreat scheduled for the day after my company leaves and I am quite excited about it, but I'd better get my arse back in shape if I don't want to pass out on my mat.  How embarrassing would THAT be?

Oh, and one last thing before you go off on your merry way:

Have you seen this new series, Fit to Flatter over on Stash, Knit, Repeat?  I can't remember where I first found the link (probably over at Doodles in String, when I was obsessively poring over every last little bit of yarny goodness), but I've since gone and read the whole thing.  Wow.  Just wow.

Stayin' Alive

Just wanted to take a few seconds during my oh-so-appetizing Candida diet breakfast to say that I'm still here and still plugging away at my to-do list.  I should be back shortly with some news and some status updates on all my various projects.

Don't send Search and Rescue, just yet.

Progress

There has been some demolishing around here...

I just love his Crocs and white sport socks, don't you?  What can I say, folks?  We are in the privacy of our own home so I let it slide, but he would wear this stuff in public if I wasn't here to save him from himself.

Anyway, we are now shower/bath- and sink-less (apart from the kitchen sink, which acts as hub to all washing activities), for now.  Things are actually coming along well.  Not too many hiccups.  No exploding toilets.


My in-laws are in town, so there has been sight-seeing/yarn shopping (I bought 2000m - holy smokes, that's 2 km! - of some delicious grapey/auberginey purple superwash merino that is destined to become yet another sweater):

There has been some blocking (Laura, I'm not sure about this design... let's talk):

There has been sewing - 2 more pairs of lightweight pants.  The air conditioning at the office precludes me from wearing dresses and capri pants.  FAWGETTABAWDIT.  I've gotten into the habit of wearing sweaters to work.  Pathetic.  We whine all winter long and then refrigerate ourselves to the point of hypothermia for the only warm months of the year.  It's summer; I'd like to roast, please.  But no.  So, drawstring poplin summer pants it is.

And there has been some re-reading.  Of "Knitting Without Tears", by EZ.  I am planning a seamless hybrid sweater for City Boy and I think it's a good solid base to start with.  He has GAWGEOUS shoulders and the seamless hybrid is just perfect for showcasing that sort of thing.  (Tora, how could I have forgotten it was in that book - it is the only book of hers that I own!  What a silly girl I am!).

Of course, there has also been knitting.  Well, frogging and knitting.  My cardigan sat in purgatory for a little bit, but I managed to finish the sleeves and had a bunch of yarn left over, so I ripped back the placket, the collar and half of the body, so I can make it longer and sleeker (it was gearing up to make me look suspiciously like a bus... not *completely*, but there was a soupçon of public transit and that's not a good thing).  So, there's been some backtracking, but I'm not upset about it.  I shall have some actual photographic proof soon.

Other than that, things have been quiet.  My digestive issues did not clear up, as I was hoping.  I'm on an even stricter elimination diet than before (no sugar, no honey, no fresh or dried fruit, no yeast, no potatoes, no dairy, no gluten - obviously, no peanut butter, no red meat, no eggs - I might cave in on that one, no fried foods, no vinegar, no soy sauce).  Just rice, vegetables and  fish.  That is all.  Oh, and water.  THAT is all.  I'm going to find out what's been ailing me and I'm going to kick its arse.  I'm on aloe water and vitamins and probiotic supplements and I'm getting some caprylic acid and bentonite tomorrow and I'm going to feel so much better in 2 weeks that I'll want to dance a jig.  You just watch me.  Here's hoping, anyway.

Musique

Ok, so you know how I mentioned that it was my birthday a few weeks ago?  Well, my sister got me an iTunes gift certificate and I had all these great ideas of what to purchase with it and now... I am having some serious issues deciding what to purchase.

I don't know why.  I could get some Swell Season or some Avett Brothers.  I was thinking of some Ray Lamontagne, too (his new album is out and it's pretty safe to assume that I will love it as much as the last one).

Then, I was fartin' around on YouTube last week and found something that blew my mind.  You've seen the French film "Amélie" (a.k.a. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain), right?

(If you just answered "no" to that question, I don't know what to tell you.  You really owe it to yourself to run down to the nearest movie store - or jet over to iTunes right now - and rent it.  Hell, buy it.  You won't regret it.  I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that "Amélie" changed my life - it is truly a piece of art.  There's really not any more I can say than that.)

So, this is what I found:



(If you don't want to watch the whole thing, at least go to 7:58 and check out the last little bit of the clip.  Unbelievable.)

And then, there is this one.  This guy is trying to kill me.



Here's the catch: Yann's live CD is priced fairly high on iTunes.  I want it ALL, people.  I want this and I want Ray and I want the Avetts and I want Swell Season and I want everything.  Oy.

Feel free to drop me a line and send more suggestions my way.  I kvetch, but this is really the best kind of torture.

Oh, and in case you really like this type of piano music, do stop by Pia's houseboat and have a listen to what she can do.  You won't regret that, either.

Knitting and nonsense

I've got a cold.  It's a doozy.  Bordering on the bronchitis end of the scale.

So, I've been lazing around in bed, swatching for my new design (it's coming along nicely, Laura) and trying to keep my eyes open.  Watched Clash of the Titans.  Totally stupid but lovely to watch (Sam Worthington is yummy).  I've drunk approximately 14 liters of orange juice.

Oh and did I mention that for the past 3 weeks or so, I've been on a sort of elimination diet?  I hadn't been feeling well for several weeks so I decided that until it all got straightened out, I was only going to eat fruits, vegetables and rice.  And take probiotic pills.  And you know what?  Veganism isn't as difficult as I thought it would be!  Well, it would really help if I could eat wheat, but that's not going to happen, so I made do.  I've been scarfing down all the veggies in our weekly CSA box and have discovered that I don't miss butter and cheese quite as much as I thought I would.  I do miss meat, though.  The thought of a freshly grilled medium-rare steak is making me drool.  So, now that things seem to be going back to normal, I think I'm going to say no to dairy for good and try to eat vegan several times a week (consciously this time, as I had been doing it already, just not intentionally).  I've discovered some amazing-sounding recipes over on Tasty Kitchen, and it's kind of got me pumped up to try some new stuff.  And how awesome does this vegan mac'n'cheese recipe sound (sans bread crumbs and wheat pasta for me, of course)?

I almost forgot!  The new Twist Collective is up!  I am totally in lust with Gwendolyn (she's a sweater, not a real woman, people!) and also Stratocumulus  and Metro too, even though it would make me look like a bus.  And Wellfleet is totally lovely.  Cecily Glowik MacDonald, you are very quickly becoming the apple of my eye.

Don't tell him I said this, but I'm thinking of knitting my husband a nice pullover, next.  I bought some really nice dark blue worsted superwash merino that I think would suit him and I'm trying to finish up my cardigan so that I can really concentrate on it.  I just don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it.  He's a big boy - 6'-2" and 220 lbs (why yes, I am Canadian and yes, I do think in metric and imperial at the same time...and yes, it drives me crazy...and yes, I do wish my country could just pick one and go with it).  His chest is something like 44" around.  It is going to be one MAJOR project.  Tora, how did you ever do it?  And on 3.5mm needles, too!  I don't know if I have the emotional strength for it.  That's why he doesn't know about it, yet (and he may not know about it until it's done).

Sigh.