Stuck in Mundane

I feel like I am in one of Piers Anthony's novels and hopelessly trapped in Mundane. Everyday mundane tasks are sucking the magic of Knitting out of my life. I have also been sleeping a lot - I am certain that I am storing up sleep to counteract the effects of the upcoming "Spring Ahead".

Saturday started out like this. Nasty wind and wet flurries galore. Fortunately the weather was eclipsed by my destinations!

Julie and I did sort out the small changes that I will be making when I knit the Naturally Easy Raglan again - this time out of Naturally's new cashmere blend. It hasn't arrived yet; I'll probably pick it up at the Frolic. I brought home a skein of Prism Wild Stuff - I am saving the knitting of it as a reward for knitting the swatches for my Frolic classes.

Then I drove out to my friend Ada's and when Jocelyn arrived we went down to Romni. Jocelyn had never been there - I don't know how I missed this part of her YS education. She and Ada bought some sock yarn. Then we stopped by Knit Cafe where Ada bought some stunningly bright orange Koigu. Again, me resisting.
We had a wonderful evening of show and tell, laughing and The Transporter and The Transporter 2. Being with Ada and Jocelyn is restful - common interests, differing opinions and no expectations.

I am a bit stalled on the Top Secret Sweater #2 - I ran out of yarn and am waiting for further knitting instructions. But that's okay because I am using the time to knit the swatches for my Frolic classes.

That's it - truly Mundane. I am definitely going to have to get out of this end-of-winter funk and find my Knitting Xanth.

Wait a minute - SP7 to the rescue!! Sock yarn that is absolutely in my colourway, beautiful knitting needles (they are so smooth) from SWTC, a knitting mystery book that is signed up with BookCrossing. A very interesting concept - though I tend to be a book reader/keeper rather than a book releaser. Not in the picture is a perfectly scented vanilla candle and a package of coffee. mmmmmm ... coffee.

Now, I need to get this off of my chest. I'm sure that none of my thoughtful readers need this information, but perhaps the fucktards drivers that need this information will stumble into this blog and be educated. I'm sure that these people are not acting out of malice, merely ignorance. Well, most of them anyway.
For the love of whatever you hold dear, please do not use the diesel pump at a gas station unless it is the only one left.
I do not drive a bus for the sleek, sexy lines of its body, the deep throaty get the fuck out of my way come-hither purr of its engine or the subtle colouring that blends into all sorts of surroundings. Granted, the seating capacity is a plus but that is quickly turned into a minus when the seats are filled. School buses run on diesel fuel, and gas stations only have one or two diesel pumps. When inconsiderate car drivers pull up to these pumps when they have several others to choose from I have nowhere else to go!!! I have to sit there and wait for their slow ass to pump regular gas and then give me a limp apologetic wave as they go to pay for their gas. And buy snacks. And go pee. Then call someone on the pay phone to "share". GDI people, it's not rocket science!!! If there are no other pumps available, by all means, use the diesel pump. I'm not so selfish as to expect everyone to wait for me (or another bus or truck) to arrive, but have a look around and make an informed choice.
Oh yeah, that's better! My next blog should be much more upbeat and demonstrate knitterly progress.

Catching up

Whew - what a busy weekend!! Friday Amanda and I went to get our hair done at My Cousin Pam's. I don't have a picture of us, I'll try to get that tomorrow. We left early and had time to stop and take pictures of some deer that we saw. I had to use all of my 10x zoom to catch these camera-shy creatures!




Check out this great knitting bag that I bought at Delirium in Waterloo (it's also where I get my hair colour - take a guess). It's fantastic - a nice medium size, washable and reversible. There is a lined, zipped side pocket (for whatever side you have facing out) and a cute little matching change purse. For $33.99 (Cdn) I am very impressed with the quality. And the uniqueness - priceless!! Which Angry Little Girl are you?




I reworked the top of the Naturally Easy Raglan and am satisfied with the results. It is designed to be a men's small. I like the body length on Kyle (though Kyle thought that it was some sort of belly sweater) but the sleeves are just a titch short. I think that he may be growing into more of a medium. I am going to take the sweater into The Needle Emporium on Saturday and will confer with Julie about any little tweaks that we might work in for the final pattern, but all in all I'm much happier with it than I was when I last posted.





This picture belongs in the "Do Not Try This At Home" file. I took it at Hwy 7 & Weston Road in Woodbridge. He is from A Channel, so maybe that makes him a playing-too-close-to-traffic professional ... I don't know. Maybe if A Channel shows how busy it is that close to the road people will use the sidewalks - the middle of the sidewalk even. Even Amanda thought that he was a little crazy.

A Tiny Setback

I sewed up the Naturally Easy Raglan and tried it on.
*&#)$($% #)#*@$ )@$ _!#@ +{"@$(%
There is about 1.5" around the top neck that is way too hight to turn into a regular neckband. If I wanted it to morph into a polo collar I could probably make it work, but I don't.
So, What's Wannietta Knitting Today? She will unpick the top 2.5" of the seams (which I finished so I have to dig out the ends), rip out, figure out WTF I am, make note of this desolate, lonely place on my pattern and make some hand calculations. Then re-knit the tops of the pieces as required and work out the neckband.
I was also annoyed that the sleeves had more rows than the body in the raglan. No, I didn't notice it when I was knitting it - shut up! I will make that change to the pattern as well.
I will spare you the graphic horror. I want you all to be able to eat & sleep tonight.

On a much happier note I will share with you that I love appliances. Especially labour-saving ones. My dishwasher is at the top of that list followed by my slow cooker and breadmaker. There is now however, a new teacher's pet. The Self-Cleaning Oven!!! Bumm-ba-da daaaa Cleaning an oven ranks very low on my priority list - which is never in writing. It could fall into the wrong hands and then require follow-through. I have never had a Self-Cleaning Oven and really didn't think that it could possibly work, especially at the stage where I decide that the oven actually requires cleaning. There is no Before picture, but just use your imagination. Or if you watch the Food Network, picture any of the most un-cleaned ovens ever shown on Restaurant Makeover. Then, after 3 hours of knitterly supervision, I have this!! With very little effort okay, no effort at all I have a clean-as-new oven!!
I think that I will just have to clean my oven more often; while I wash the dishes, make dinner (including fresh bread), do laundry and knit.



Isn't that cool? I can't remember whose blog I saw it on, but you can do yours here. I'm off then - to Troubleshoot & Assassinate that sweater.

Yo Teach!!!

A real teaching gig! I am excited with a generous dollop of suitably terrified. I will be teaching a couple of classes on finishing at the Downtown Knit Collective (DKC) Knitter's Frolic next month - oh crap, next month!! I am really looking forward to it - really. But the thing is, Amanda asked me yesterday what I would do if no one came to my class(es). Not that the thought hadn't occured to me, but I had pushed it so far to the back of my mind that it would have taken considerable time & resources to get it out again. I told her that I would probably cry and she asked if she could come. That almost made me cry!! So help me out and if Finishing and/or picking up for Necklines and Buttonholes remotely interests you, please sign up. Just one person even. lol There are going to be a lot of other skilled teachers and the market is tantalizing (don't get in my way!), so even if I don't see you in one of my classes please say "yo Teach" and I'll be thrilled.

The sleeves of the Naturally Easy Raglan are blocking - no thanks to Cheeky Monkey - who is skilled at pulling the pins out. Not a very marketable skill, he's lucky that he's still cute. Don'tcha love my Hawaiin Blocking Towel? The capital letters make it an Official Name.





And I have started the swatch for the Top Secret Sweater (TSS) #2. I present the Quite Useless Photo for your information amusement?.

The kids played hockey outside on Saturday - it was a Gorgeous day!! Amanda isn't afraid to go after the ball against a Big Kid. See that snowbank to the right? It's almost gone today. Crazy weather but it sure beats actual winter.

Noro Squared

I am very happy to be able to share with all of you the pattern for my Noro Squared afghan. This was a lot of fun and I really hope that you enjoy it too! Thanks to Brenda who is not only a great designer but the awesome webmistress behind the CKDA.

It's Launched

Tonight - well I guess technically it was last night - Fiona officially launched her Inspired Cable Knitting book. It is truly inspired and Fiona shared with us some of her sources of inspiration and how they became the garments in her book. Here is Fiona in a wrap from the book (you look great, you didn't talk too fast and the jokes were funny!) I am wearing my the Peek-a-boo sweater that I knit for the book. I am standing next to the gorgeous story board for that section of the book.
I'm not hiding anything about the sleeve behind my back - honest!! - it's just how I happened to stand.

There was a woman at the launch who had knit the cover sweater from the VK 2005. It was gorgeous!! Because my friend Kenny has been knitting, re-knitting and re-re-knitting the center medallion of this jacket and still feels that he is missing some key element, I went right over (I was so excited that I have totally forgotten her name!) and explained a bit about why I would like to take a picture of the back of her sweater. I think that she felt safe with so many people around because she only looked scared for a fleeting moment. Here is what her center looks like. The colour on the first one is a bit wonky. Kodak can only make these cameras so idiot-friendly -- good thing that I'm a better knitter than photographer! The pinkier picture is much more colour-accurate. Your medallion is just fine Kenny. This woman also pointed out that hers has been blocked - which dramatically improved the appearance.
Garter stitch is not a very forgiving fabric. Any variation in tension or yarn texture is quite apparent. The increases that you have to do to make this circle are going to visible as well as the bit of a jog that you get when you work in the round.
I really liked your first medallion Kenny - no shit.

And not to minimize my excitement about Fiona's book launch, but here is a picture of me - star struck - with Robin Melanson. Yeah, the designer profiled in IK!! I know. She is very nice and I really look forward to seeing more of her designs.

The Score

1 in 9 odds - those are pretty good odds in favour of the player. I know, however, that that also means that I can play 81 times and lose every time and someone else can play 9 times and win every time. Which sucks for me. If there was a branch of mathematics that could entice me to further study if would be statistics. Thus I introduce to you the Tim Hortons Roll up the Rim to Win contest. When you roll up the rim on a losing cup (odds are!!) this is the message that you see. Very polite. However, it would not surprise me if either one of the following messages were to appear.
Tim Hortons 7 Wannietta 0

I have finished the Top Secret Sweater - no picture, you'll just have to trust me. I am swatching for Top Secret Sweater #2 (also for Fiona). The Naturally Easy sweater is coming along nicely - I'm well into the 1st sleeve.

And a shout-out to Mr. & Mrs Schilthuis - welcome to my little Northern world! We did buy a house up here (Angus) this past summer and we are really enjoying it - especially the kids! I got a bus run that fits into my schedule and the kids are pretty good. I miss the store and all of the people (family, staff and customers) but I keep up with Julie's blog so it feels like I'm still there in spirit. The weather is warming up so I really hope that spring is for real here to stay. Take care!!

Olympic pub pics

Better late than never!! Here the Harlot is wearing her just-finished sweater. When asked how she felt now, she replied emphatically "sonofabitch"!! This may be interpreted as a declaration of pride, exhaustion and/or "not ever again". Readers' Choice!

I have always told people that I knit like it's a sport and that I wished for a World Cup or Olympics for knitting. I would like to thank Stephanie for putting forth this idea and not curling up in the fetal position and rocking herself to sleep for 16 days when she saw how freakin' out of control what a big bandwagon whe was going to have to pull.
And there is nothing like having a team. Kelly & Jen did a remarkable job of pulling together Team Canada. It was really great to share in the triumphs and tribulations of my fellow Olympians!

Here Ken is sporting his Durrow while admiring the shawl that Sarah knit. It's hard to go wrong with Koigu!

Jen is playing with Sophies' socks - nothing wrong with a little sock envy!

Amanda took this picture of me wearing the Flirty Ruffles Shawl before I had to send it off. The client was very pleased which is the cherry on top of the Gold Medal. I think that I will have to knit one for myself - at a leisurely pace - lol.







This is hilarious - I found it at Jen's blog and I couldn't resist. Who comes up with these things?!? You can make your own here.

Leaf Letdown

Kerwyn was given tickets by a supplier yesterday for the Leafs game against the Washington Capitals. He has been the recipient of a few sports tickets in the past but it's not really his thing to go to the games so I get to go with Kyle!! I have never seen a Leafs game or been to the Air Canada Center (ACC) so I was really excited. Kyle & I went down right after my bus run, dropping Amanda off at Kerwyn's office and getting the tickets.
Kyle was very intent on following the action - which even from the 300 section was easy to see. With the 2006 Olympics finished I can focus on the future - some immediate deadlines and some leisure knitting - all of which will prepare me for the 2008 Games. LOL It will come faster than you think!!
Now if only there had been less of this and this and this





























the score would not have been this





The Goalie Racers were hilarious - in full equipment they raced around the rink - checking, jumping and tripping each other in an effort to be the first one to complete 2(?) laps.
















And then this one didn't count!! After a lengthy consultation with whomever this goal was ruled "not a goal" because it was tipped in off of a glove.












Of course tempers were getting frayed leading to some male posturing - on & off of the ice. If you can't hold your beers & your tongue you will be escorted out.

I know that a lot of people are serious about the teams that they support - but it really surprised me that there were fans taking it personally that the Leafs were playing poorly!! Maybe I just don't get it. But Kyle & I had a great time - win or loss.