I was having work lunch with a friend (she's actually a sales rep for a very cool carpet company that is near and dear to my heart) this week and telling her about some of the new goings on in my world and she insisted that I update this here blog.

(If you're new to these parts, let me fill you in: I'm really inconsistent vis-a-vis posting regularly and there is no rhyme or reason for what I do.  Hope that's ok with you.)

So, my news is this:

1. My mom, who is now living in BC, is having some trouble getting settled and, while I was hoping to make a trip down there in May (and drift over to Victoria and then Portland, OR afterwards to see Marita and Miranda), it is not certain that she will even still be there in May.  She is considering moving back home (to Manitoba) which actually makes me very happy - I think she will be happier there than on the west coast.  (Note: I love the west coast - I just don't think she is happy, living so far from her family.) So, no trip to BC for me this spring.  We'll have to wait and see...
2. I have decided to take a bit of a break from my day job this summer.  I will only be working 3 days a week at the design/drafting firm I manage and 2 days a week at Belfast Mini Mills.  I start there on May long weekend (May 18th).  I know, right?  It is seriously fabulous.  I can't even think about it too much or I will pee my pants.
3.  The ladies at Belfast have been unofficially organizing a "Fibre Trail" tour for visitors interested in the industry here on the Island.  Many of the current bus tour operators bring their tourists to BMM and it is always a hit, so they have been working together to expand on the theme.  I can't wait to take part.
4. I have started painting again - and not just little watercolour sketches.  Canvas painting with acrylic, which I haven't done seriously in at least 8 or 9 years.  I have really been loving it.  This winter was tough for my family and me and painting has, in the past, been therapeutic for me.  I had been missing it, but just hadn't realized it fully.  This was a great way to get back to my artistic "roots", so to speak.  The pictures below are quite horrible quality, but here's a sampling:

This one and the one below are older - at least 8 years old -  but I was photographing, so I thought I'd just keep going...

And that, as they say, is that.  I'm just plugging away at some small projects, dreaming up some bigger ones, looking forward to this summer and keeping my head down, wishing this winter doesn't let the door hit it in the arse on the way out.

And you?  What are you up to?

No News is Good News

I know, it's been real quiet around here.  But, in my defense, it's not just me.  I would say that this is the case for most of the knitting blogs I read.

Why?  Christmas Knitting.

We're all working on stuff we can't show you.

But there are actually a couple of things I can share:

This is a cowl that I knitted up from stash yarn (some O-Wool balance - which I'm not super fond of, btw - and some grey mixed wool from BMM, with a SUPER GORGEOUS cashmere (!) blend fingering weight - also from BMM - on the inside, as a liner).  The buttons are vintage, from a variety of garage sale/flea market sources.

This is actually a gift for someone, but she doesn't even know about the blog, so I'm safe. 

{Um, so crazy story: I am estranged from my biological father.  It's a long, sordid story.  Haven't seen or heard from him since I was in kindergarten, which was...um...almost 30 years ago...yikes.  He never made any effort to be in my life and it was extremely traumatic.  Anyway, last year I decided that I had spent enough time living with this dark cloud of ancient sadness/anger/stress over my head and I contacted him.  We've been corresponding for a little over a year and it's been ok.  I haven't met with him in person yet - we live half a continent apart - but I feel liberated, in a lot of ways.  I found out that he and his wife adopted two kids who are biological siblings and I've been corresponding with the daughter, who is 14 years old.  This cowl is for her.}

And here is an awfully-posed photo of me wearing it (yikes with the white hair...not that I plan on doing anything about it- I just don't usually get such a good view of it):



And I made another Tomten:

I just remembered that I need to add the zipper.  Oops.

This guy is for the cutest, fattest, yummiest baby I know: Fatty D.  Here is the most recent photo I have of him, wearing the legwarmers I knit for him when he was still a bun in my cousin's oven:

And the last wip that I can safely show you is this:

I know.  Fascinating, right?  Ok, keep your panties on.  Here's a better shot of it (draped across the corner of my mattress - lace doesn't photograph well until it's block so cut me a break, would ya?):

This is a Dew Drops Shawl (free pattern!) and I'm using yarn that I bought with my mom in Ottawa, on Canada Day.  She ok'd the colour, so I know I'm safe in that respect and I think she'll like the pattern.

(Knitting notes: do not try this as your first lace pattern.  This is definitely not for the faint-of-heart or the short-of-temper.  I have gotten lost more times than I can count.)

My mom has started to - ahem - go through "The Change" and her hot flashes are epic.  She isn't used to this - we're both wool-sock-wearing, flannel-nightgown-sporting, duvet-covered, hot-water-bottle-toting shiverers.  Once I get warm I stay that way and I can tolerate low temps easily, but let's just say that I don't have the luxury of walking around outside in winter in high heels.  My toes might not actually freeze off, but I'd be miserable.  And she is - or WAS - the same.  We dress warmly and stay happy.  Except that now, she cranks the windows down on her car in the middle of March.  And she can't live without air conditioning (in winter).  It's confusing for me.  And for her too, I suppose.

So that's why I chose a shawl.  I wanted to knit her something pretty and useful (she taught me to knit and really appreciates handknits, so I have deemed her an Approved Handknit Recipient), but it couldn't be too warm.  Enter lace.

{She just moved to Kamloops, BC (that's on the other side of North America from me) so we're 4 time zones apart now.  I, for one, find it hard having her so far away and I think she's going to start feeling it soon, if she hasn't already.  The rest of our family is right smack in the middle - in Winnipeg.  I'm hoping this shawl acts as a virtual hug.}

Anyway, so that's it for the wips for now.  I'll keep you posted on progress and anything else that comes up.  Happy knitting!

The Mill (aka: The Place Where Dreams Come True)

I made my first trip to the Mill of the season a few weeks ago.  The ladies are so busy, it's almost comical.  I mentioned last fall that they became an Ashford dealer and holy cow, do I EVER want a spinning wheel.  Or two.  Maybe three.  But not four, 'cause I'm not greedy.

Anyway, once the spinning-wheel-induced haze cleared and I regained consciousness, I had Hazel make me the poochachos a new dog bed:

The dogs love this thing.  Django (the little white one), especially.  They curl up on it together like little cinnamon buns, side-by-side.  A-DOR-ABLE!

It's made from an old DND (military issue) moth-proof wool blanket, sewn into a pillow case and stuffed with wool fleece and tied.  She even worked in two handles so that we can hang it up on the wall when it's not in use.  How frickin cool is that?  $30 well spent, I say.  (Yeah, only $30.   Crazy.)

Also, I bought some yarn.  C'mon, you had to know that was coming, right?

I have no blessed clue what the heck I'm going to do with it, but I'll be damned if I'm letting it out of my sight.  This one's for me.  A wrap, perhaps?  Yet another cowl?  Once can never have too many, you know...

While I was there, I spotted something really hilarious.  You see, the Mill is on a farm.  They have alpacas, sheep, goats (the kids are drop-dead adorable), pigs, chickens, guinea hens, a cow and, of course, farm dogs.  The fattest, most in-your-face of these creatures is a massive golden retriever named Nash.  Nash is the kind of dog whose love of all things can not be contained in his body.  The moment you look him in the eye, he becomes your new best friend and will demonstrate that love by promptly sitting on you.

This blurry photo pretty much sums him up, I think.

Anyway, I guess they gave the Nashster a haircut, 'cause I found this:

I did tell you that they'll spin any type of fibre, right?

In for an penny, in for a pound

 I'm starting to look so much like my mother, it's frightening.  I think it's because, as I get older, the 20 years separating us disappear and I start to look more like her younger sister than her daughter.

 

I made a trip to the Mill yesterday.  It was a miserable day (first snow fall in our neck of the woods), but I really wanted to go because it was their last weekend for the season.  You see, they usually close down on the weekends all winter, with the exception of a few special events just before Christmas.  Except, they let me visit anytime, because I'm cool like that.  Seriously, I call ahead to see if someone will be around, and then I just go and hang out.  I know.  My life is really hard.

ANYWAY, I made several astounding discoveries yesterday:

1. They have a long-arm quilting machine that I never noticed.  Oh. My. God.  You know what this means, right?  I can finish my quilt top and bribe talk Hazel into selling me some wool batting, AND quilting it for me with some simple straight lines.  That way, it simplifies the process and I won't be as bitter if when the damn thing gets destroyed by careless humans and/or canines.  When I asked her if she'd do it, she kind of said "Hmmm, eeerrrrr, weeeeelll, uuuuhhh, weeeeell, maybe."  She'll come around, you'll see.  I'll knit her some socks or something.  Or I'll volunteer to help them move stuff around.  BECAUSE:

2.  The lady who was doing their weaving retired and they are selling their (very) large automatic loom.  They seem somewhat relieved to be getting rid of it, as it's huge and takes up tons of prime real estate.  It's really big.  I've seen garden sheds smaller than that beast.  ALSO:

3.  The extra space they are gaining is going to be used to display SPINNING WHEELS BECAUSE THEY HAVE DECIDED TO BECOME ASHFORD DEALERS!!!!!  THEY HAVE A JOY WHEEL IN STOCK!

THAT SOUND YOU ARE HEARING IS ME HYPERVENTILATING!!!  AND I'VE ACTUALLY HAD 24 HOURS TO GET USED TO THE IDEA - YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD ME YESTERDAY, WHEN I FOUND OUT!

4.  THEY ARE ALSO GOING TO BE OFFERING SPINNING CLASSES!!! GAH.

THERE IS TOO MUCH OXYGEN GOING TO MY BRAIN.  LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS IMMINENT.

I'm done for.  I may as well simply hand my paycheques over to them directly.  It's less complicated that way.