If Only

I WANT ONE. Get this: it's knit furniture!! Yeah, baby!

My thanks to Kim, Yarn Abuser for pointing this out.

And if you go here, you will find more of what I want.

IF I had that kind of money.

IF I didn't have a husband or kids that would destroy it within five days of it's arrival in the house.

IF this company could make their catalogue available in Canada.

That's a lot of ifs.

Please will excuse me now, for I am going to have a sitdown on my child/man-proof furniture and daydream of the possibilities.

Knitting, Crochet, and Kitty Cuteness

My latest knitted undertaking.

The top from the cover in a cotton I acquired during Carissa's destashing. I didn't do a test swatch (don't tell me you're shocked!), on needles 5mm smaller then recommended and I am pretty sure the weight of cotton I'm using is quite different from the one suggested. I'm hoping the finished product won't turn out to be as baggy as the one in the picture. Precisely the reason I'm following (gasp) the pattern for the smallest size. That's kind of funny since there is nothing small about me!

Briggs & Little Wool Blanket

Progress is slow, but I'm getting there. Somewhere between a third and half way done, I'd say.

Annie in a bonnet
Doesn't she look impressed?

A Rant, and more

I love my library. The staff is wonderful. Wanda and Crystal and the other ladies make the Bridgewater Branch of SSRL a really COOL place to visit. They're not only smart, or nice, or friendly, but they're also all honest-to-goodness helpful. With a smile. It's not that they have a huge collection of books over which they preside. But they will help you get access to practically any book you have your heart set on. Once I even got a book brought in from Manitoba, I believe it was. That's where they found what I needed. Amazing. Because of this kind of service, I try to donate money or books or movies whenever I am able. My small way to say thank you, and to help in any little way to make it a better place for other patrons.

(This is where the rant begins.) Recently I managed to borrow the above pictured book through ILL. Good book. Interesting book. Informative book. I found this through scanning it. Then Saturday night I sat down to read it from the beginning. I was really enjoying it until I got to page 18. Page 19 was missing. WTF??? Pages 20 - 22 were also missing! That really pissed me off. The whole section on motifs is missing. Destroying a book is wrong. Even worse because this book doesn't just belong to one idividual. It's not only the one individual that is deprived of the information of the missing pages but any future person wishing to learn about this particular subject. This book was published in 1985. Odds of finding a replacement copy are slim. And lets face it, any copy that may be found is probably going to cost more than the original. I sure hope it wasn't a knitter that could be so selfish or rude. I had hoped that knitters as a whole would be more principled than go ripping patterns from books for their sole enjoyment. It's not like the book couldn't be signed out again if the "thief" wasn't finished with it. I am not going to apologize for using that word. People don't like to think of themselves in such low esteem. But what else is it but stealing? What?? It's not stealing because that person only took a few pages? Give me a break. I wish eternal torment of conscience on the person with such low regard for public property! (End rant.)

James in the "Penthouse Suite"

...because everyone knows that the penthouse is the best, sleeping on wool socks makes it even better! (That'll teach my husband to leave his sock drawer open!)

I started these on Sunday, when I needed something to keep my hands busy while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. On a 5mm crochet hook, and Bernat chunky, it makes for a project that practically crochets itself and lets my brain take a vacation. I was somewhat surprised when my daughter said she liked the black one better but not too much because "it's holey". I haven't decided how many of these squares I will join together to make something. May be a blanket, may turn into a couch cover, but I strongly suspect it will end up in the kids' rooms as a toy accessory of sorts.

RIP

PEPPER

Brianna's cat and loyal companion

May 2000 - June 7, 2006

RIP

A Good Day

Lookie what came in the mail today! I am a happy, happy woman. One of a few awesome things I scored on eBay from an Ontario seller.

My own copy, at last. I've been obsessed with lace knitting for a while, now, but I have been having a difficult time finding good pattern books at LBSs. However, if I wanted a book to show me in great detail how to make a knit or a purl stitch, there are dozens on the shelves. What's up with that??

My niece Wiktoria (pronounced Victoria), cruising through Niagara Falls. She's almost 6 months. Isn't she a cutie patutie? Gush, gush...

My goofy brother (and top of his wife's head):

Lately I've been watching "How Clean is Your House". Have you seen it? Two British women taking people's homes by storm with cleaning bucket in hand, and whipping the place into a sparkling abode? I must admit the start of every show ready grosses me out, but the cleaning tips are quite good. I am not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination, but I tell you, this show got me off the couch, got me to put my knitting down, and shamed me into a cleaning frenzy! I could NOT HELP MYSELF!!

Something I don't see every day: I had just turned on the computer, the kids were coming through the door, and then I hear Mathew hollering "...there's a deer, there's a deer...."

"Where, where??!"

"..., just jumped over the fence, WOW..."

"....WHERE???..."

"...was in the front yard; LOOK OUT YOUR WINDOW!..."

And sure enough, when I ran back to my room, and looked out, there was this gorgeous doe prancing through the small side field, not deterred but electric wire in the least. She was beautiful, and big. Unfortunately, a perfect specimen for hunting season. But such is life when you live with a hunter. She's safe enough for now. What a sight she was!

You should go...

...to Shubenacadie Wildlife Park and visit the many interesting birds and animals that call the park home. I would have had more pictures but the batteries died. Go figure.

Blueberry blossoms and Sheep Attack

I know it's been a while. A busy while. Class trips, knitting, working more hours because one of the bosses is away, knitting, taking care of my off-spring and chores, knitting, laundry, dodging black flies, knitting, picking rocks from my garden, laundry, dodging black flies... Is it just me or an I repeating myself?

On a positive note, it will be a fantastic year for blueberries. Two years ago, my husband bush hogged approximately 15 acres of fields. Last year, the fields were in recovery. Looks like we have achieved our goal. Pays to be patient if I am going to do things as earth-friendly and organic as possible.

This is for Lene. I know how she enjoys gore.

This past Tuesday I finally got the gumption to start shearing my sheep. I've been putting it off because memories of last year's shearing were entirely too fresh. Needless to say, this year didn't start off any better. After languishing in the barn for a few days (read: hiding from black flies), my woolly buddies were quite eager to get back out into the pasture. The moment I unlocked the gate, they started shoving past me and only at the very last I managed to swing my leg up to stop their progress which earned me a karate chop by an annoyed Dawn. I grabbed her fleece and hung on for all I was worth. How I got the gate locked again, I haven't a clue. Once she realized I wasn't giving in, she just lay there, faking indifference while I snipped away her precious fleece. She wasn't so easy going when it came time for me to flip her up on her rear end to deal with the belly and later clip her hind quarters. Good grief! For all the kicking and carrying on, I thought I was up again a wrestler four times my size!! But...

...I WON!!! I present you: one nekkid sheep. (three more to go, but never mind that now. I am still enjoying my victory)

I use the old fashioned shears so she suffered the odd nick around the legs, but overall, I believe wholeheartedly that I was the one worse for wear. Every single muscle in my body ached for a very looooong three days. And not so much as a thank you from the sheep for removing that hot, woolly coat!

If you'll excuse me, I shall go contemplate shearing another sheep...First, I think I will knit some to inspire myself.

Favourites

Will I sound like a horrible monster if I say that reading and knitting rank higher on my list of favourites than my kids and husband and family? Especially this particular night when the kids were less than cooperative with bed-time routines and especially when the husband is being a lot less easy to live with now that he is trying to quit smoking (again!)?? I love them all dearly, but they sure have their moments. That is not to say that you don't get bad moments with knitting or a lousy book selection. But you can toss those for other, better ones at your whim.

Not too long ago, a friend sent this to me:

I will go out on a limb here and say that maybe, just maybe, the girl that said "NO!" lived quite happily ever after as well!

A Bit of Halifax

Joseph Howe and St. Mary's Basilica in the background. The Basilica, beautiful and grand inside and out, is where I was married.








Public Gardens on Spring Garden Road, a favourite of mine:

Though terribly devastated by Hurricane Juan, it's starting to recover.

The Knitting Gene

Two weeks ago, my daughter had a day off while the new primary kids got to spend a day in school. We played, we laughed, we KNIT. Yup, proof positive that she wasn't switched at birth (and maybe that she kind of looks like me). I probably don't have to say just how cool I think this is!

Last week the black flies made their first appearance in all their glory (and my misery). Last night I picked the first tick off my neck. I'm filled to the brim with warm fuzzies at all these firsts... not to mention Benadryl.