Knitting on the Road

Friday was a charter to Discovery Harbour.
Note to self: ask what grade you are going to be driving and refuse if you don't like the answer. Grade 7's & 8's are the worst - especially in the spring. The 8's are so full of themselves because they are going to be in high school next year that they forget that this means that they will be at the bottom on the heap. This self-importance has them convinced that they are approaching a god-like status and that the rest of mere mortals are quite beneath their consideration. The 7's are going to be the top dogs next year and are feeling an exagerated sense of self-importance that begs a beating.
I drove Grade 7's. They didn't believe me when I told them that all of the windows would go up if any garbage went out the windows (which I only allow to be ½-way down to discourage such an eventuality). It wasn't hot enough for anyone to be sick or faint but it was definitely uncomfortable. And I made sure that they picked up all of the garbage (and when I say "garbage" I don't mean big wads of stuff, I mean the small bits of paper & plastic) from the food that they weren't eating on the bus. It was sweet to make them pick up every little bit! I don't mind sweeping off the bags of sand, but garbage ... NO.
Anyway, this is Discovery Harbour. Something about settlers ... historical something ... Jocelyn - fill in the blanks here. History is not my forté, hell it's not even my minor!!! I didn't go on the tour because I made this discovery of my own. Jenna - don't look. Thank God that the restaurant there had particularly good coffee - I was close to fainting and needed that liquid brown elixir of life. Note to self: MF rattail bleeds when wet - don't get it fracking wet again!!! Then I realized that I had forgotten the charts so I couldn't make up for my frelling stupidity little mistake. This is why I pack so much knitting - for the rest of the day I knit on the Hawaii socks.

Saturday was Stock Family Day at Canada's Wonderland. I think that this picture of Amanda and her Friend Riley sums up the day. That and this picture of me knitting in the line up to Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion. 90 mins in a line up with other peoples' tired, miserable children trying to cut the line would have had me curled up in the fetal position ready for the sleeveless jacket (and it's not even knitted) if I hadn't been able to knit it away.
Kyle had fun too.

Today I am making up for lost time and while I do a weeks' worth of laundry will finish the sleeves for Jenna. Sorry Jenna - you can look now.

getting' there

I love it when the end is in sight! Fiona's sweater (Top Secret Sweater #2) has had details finalized and yarn delivered and is moving along very well.

I drove the bus on charters Saturday & Monday. Fortunately they were on Base, shuttling cadets from one area to another and waiting. Long stretches of sitting on a bus waiting for cadets that if I didn't have my knitting & MP3 player would send me into a coma. So I got much done on Jenna's sleeves. Don't try to figure out the stitch pattern - this is the back of the fabric! (I know ... 00-spy skills again!) Just a little more on the top and presto! FO!!

It doesn't sound like I'm getting much knitting done, but these 2 projects are not condusive to speed. Sheer dogged determination and persistence are the watch words here.


I saw these gorgeous foxes while on Base. There was a family of 5, and I was lucky enough to drive by them with an empty bus so I could stop and capture them on film. The adult male had a much deeper, richer fur than the picture shows.

Yesterday I went to the chiropodist and for my massage (a session every couple of weeks keeps me knitting). Afterwards, while I was setting up my next appointment, the chiropractor that also shares the building came to the front desk. Now he is quite well used in the area on various sports teams and has been with teams at several Olympic and World events.
"Can Erik see me on Friday morning? I have a marathon on Saturday and I need him to make sure I'm limber," inquires the knitter.
"Sure - same time?" replies Marjorie the excellent receptionist.
"Which marathon - Ottawa?" asks the chiropractor. He seems quite fit himself, perhaps he's running there.
"No, Riverdale in Toronto," answers the knitter, turning to the chiropractor, a smile twitching at her lips.
"I haven't heard of that one - how long is it?" he asks, genuinely interested/puzzled.
"We're hoping to break the Canadian record and come in under 6 hours. The Australians did it in just under 5, but we'll have to spin and knit to the max to beat that."
stunned silence
derisive snort, eye roll & head shake while walking away
"Hey, the way I knit it's a sport dude. I normally compete for speed, but this is an endurance event." The knitter shares a laugh with Marjorie, enjoying the moment.

I think that this chiropractor takes his "sports" quite seriously and needs some education about the rigors of serious knitting. If ping pong can be a sport then I'll go to the mat defending the sporting merits of knitting.
I am laughing out loud right now when I remember the look on his face when he realized that we weren't talking about the same kind of marathon. Not quite humiliation, but definitely discomfiture & some perturbation.

Losing my Virginity

I have a very hard time saying no. Whether it's working or volunteering, I almost always say yes unless I have been able to plan ahead and practice my "no" speech or if I really have a time/date conflict.
So it comes as a bit of a surprise that I haven't been suckered found my way into any number of walk/run charity fundraising events ... until now.
Joan Kass invited me to be a part of the Downtown Knit Collective team for the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Of course I said yes, then asked for details. I am excited to on a team for my charity deflowering. I know that they will be gentle and not have especially high expectations for my first time. I'm nervous and want to be everything that they've been hoping for.
If you are so inclined, I would be grateful for any monies that you would like to pledge to me in support of the CCS. I want my first time to be a positive experience so that I'm eager for the next time. Would that make me some kind of charity 'ho? If it does, is that bad? Click here, and follow the menus. My name is spelled Wannietta Prescod (I mostly don't care how people spell it as long as there are enough 0's on the cheque, but in this case it matters). Thanks in advance!!

Medieval Times

I drove a bus load of grade 4 students down to Medieval Times today. I know, but it was worth it! Getting paid for the whole day + I got into the show. This is the stadium (it's huge), the narrator, the Princess, my Red Knight - omg, it's he the cutest?! - and M'Lady Amanda. I had to get her this little "put-it-on-your-head-and-you're-instantly-a-princess" thing! I bought Kyle a dragons' claw holding a crystal leather-thong necklace - quite manly.

So, very little knitting was done during the day - although I think that I have the gauge worked out for J Yo's sweater. (It's my own nickname for Joanne Yordanou - I hope that she doesn't hate it.) Gauge swatches are the perfect travelling project.
I have been making progress on Jenna's sleeves. (and when I say "making progress" I mean slow like the tortoise so I have to put in quantity time as opposed to just time)
Fiona's sweater has stalled a wee bit so that we can work out some finesse-type details.
Kyle is being very understanding that all of this work knitting has put his sweater on hold.

And not to tease you (well, yes it is) here is my Socks That Rock yarn. Scaponia on the left and Waterlilies on the right. Thanks to my properly placed connections I was able to score these before they sold out - in like 2 days!

No trapped skunk yet - bloody hair trigger on that trap. But I am not defeated yet - I'm nothing if not persistent!

Kenny - that fastest knitter contest was held at the CSNF in Toronto. It's an annual event and it's a ton of fun. Not too many of us take it very seriously. There is a similar thing done at Stitches and the needlework show in the UK, so it's a fair claim of "North America".

Toronto Spiders

Here is (l-r) Joan, Denise, Lorraine, Julia (hostess!) and me. Absent from the picture are Judy, Karen, Barb and Bob (the shearer - who won't actually be shearing but is none the less a Spider). Oh and Emily who is taking the picture! While I didn't actually make the cake, I thought of having it made & I carefully explained the design. Good enough! We had a great time spinning unprocessed fleece, knitting the greasy yarn and timing all sorts of things. We have a "quick start plan" to get us through the first 10-15 mins - which we have been told is the key.
We will be at the Riverdale Farm on June 3rd - come on by and check it out! Bring your best spinning/knitting cheer, energy snacks (I don't know about the rest of the team, but when I say "energy snack" I mean Chocolate)for the team and a couple of bucks to buy a ticket for a chance to win the finished sweater (proceeds to a charity - I'm not sure exactly which one). After meeting the rest of the team I am confident that we will rock this!!

SHHHHHH - be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm twapping a wascawy skunk! The trap has a very sensitive trigger and the first couple of nights I came up empty. I think that I will have to switch to actual meat - maybe he is not especially enticed by PB on Whole Wheat.
Does anyone know if skunks are stupid? Or are they smart like dogs? I mean, if when we trap it and drive it 20mins away and release it, will it find its way back to my yard? I think that I need to get a $200,000 research grant from the government and study this. (and when I say "study" I mean sit on my ass and think about it lots while I knit then work up a spreadsheet or 500 with numbers that could go either way)

The neighbourhood rabbit was spotted across the road yesterday. We love these guys!!

My wretched children used all of my cream over the weekend while I was out (Spider team meeting, dinner with Jocelyn & Ada, driving bus) all weekend, didn't tell me & now I am drinking my coffee with milk. GAHRG!!


Okay, enough sidetracking ... back to the grindstone knitting needles.