Good Day-Bad Day; Who Can Keep Up?

O.K. so It's a sunny, cool, but sunny and at this point that's what keeping us all alive; the chance of sunlight beaming down upon us!
My husband is heading out for the weekend with some buddies and I hope he has a good time.
YEA!!! A WEEEKEND WITH THE BED TO MYSELF!!!
I really do hope that he has a good time. Really.
O.K. It's sunny, looking forward to the weekend...because I've made some plans of my own...and I have the best friends that help me make those plans happen when M is working or away. So yea, sunny, good weekend...
I have an appointment this morning and while things usually run on time, I've been caught before and feel quite proud of myself that I brought along my knitting (much to my daughter's chagrin)
Good thing! The office is packed; bit of a wait anticipated.

Bad thing---I only have enough yarn to not even complete one row!!! Boy, I feel like a goof. Shares a bit of my level of self esteem when I can beat myself up for not having enough yarn when sitting in a doctors office!

Last night after 8 long weeks, I was able to get back to my knitting group.

I love my knitting group.

And because it was a special night (well to me it was) I also joined them for dinner.

Good thing! Dinner was delicious, wine was enjoyable and the company was some of the best that I've ever had.

Good thing, again! The kids, house and pets all survived the evening. (not like they haven't before, but I felt more uneasy about it this time)

Good thing #3 I had cast on my sock for the Yarn Harlot book launch, using, for the first time, my Knit Pick Harmony DPN and was happy with my choice of yarn and the quality of the needles.

Bad thing---I didn't sleep well because I kept changing my mind about what yarn to use. I KNOW I'm not the only one that has this kind of sleep disturbance issue!

Bad thing---Pending TTC strike that is set to totally screw up any attempt that my friends and I would make to attend the above mentioned book launch, sock scavenger hunt and plain knitting tomfoolery!!

Bad thing #3---I don't like the cast on for my sock and FROG the puppy!

So I come home, first stopping to make sure that the van has a full tank of gas, because I really do want him to have a good time and having someone leave you a full tank of gas is a caring gesture...(self esteem punch one more time...he left me half a tank...better than empty); right, back to knitting. I come home and don't want to end the evening with less knitting accomplished than before I left.

I make a cup of tea (Masters Choice Bedtime; quite soothing).

I take my knitting up to bed; I've only done this like 3 times in my life.

I knit away, drink tea, watch reruns of sitcoms that I like.

I don't love my cast on, but think that I can live with it better than the other one and you know, maybe after more of the sock is done it'll work out o.k.

Knitter=optimist; I don't care what ANYBODY says!!!

Good thing! I knit to a nice place to stop; I finish my tea; I'm relaxed...

Bad thing---I don't sleep well worrying about hidden messages and actions (see self esteem) AND even more importantly: trying to figure out how to deal with that cast on that I don't like!

Good thing! This morning I figured out how I can fix my problem with a simple design adjustment (which I like better).

Bad thing---This morning I make my bed---(it happens)---and I find....

HALF OF A DPN!!! A broken Knit Pick Harmony DPN!!! The first time I used them!!!
Luckily Knit Picks saw this one coming and sent an extra needle along with the set and that's great; I really appreciate their thoughtfulness, but what I'm really worried about is...

I can't find the other half.

Great, another sleepless night!

LIFE; Any guesses?!

While this may come as a surprise, I think about blogging everyday. I take pictures in advance with the intention of blogging. I set up for photo ops and I run through witty banter in my mind in anticipation of blogging; then, as my book mark and John Lennon (apparently) says, "LIFE is what happens while you are making other plans."


Here is my HAPPY EASTER shot, from Wine, Wool and Whoppers!


They're Whopper Eggs and yummy!!

This is how I dealt with some 'not so good news' last week; broke out the pink ribbon quarters and hit the dark chocolate M & M's in the pink gumball machine. Later on in the evening I just took the top off the thing and dove in. Sigh.
This is what the kids and dog and I, did on Easter Monday; yes, Easter; not Christmas!! Will the snow ever stop? Will spring ever come?
Funny you should ask. Tuesday (when the kids finally went back to school!) I saw this. I did zoom for the shot, but it's a fun, user friendly camera; not a high tech job. It's a Robin. A Robin, the bird that comes back in Spring? A Robin, that only a few hours later was shielding itself (at least I hope so) from snowfall number...oh, I don't know...one thousand and four! Anyway, we had Easter and I saw a Robin; it must be spring somewhere!

Now, onto more pressing matters at hand.

The Yarn Harlot is holding her (fifth) book launch in Toronto on April 1st. I noted the date some time ago and as she gave more details lately I began forming a plan of how I might attend. It is very exciting to have the initial book launch here in Canada; never mind so close to home! Anyway, she had eluded to some kind of tomfoolery prior to the actual signing event and I had thought, "Oh, I won't be doing anything like that," (not knowing what 'that' was-- it's my nature) "I'll just show up for the launch and hopefully some of my knitters will be able to come along too." Then she posted just what was involved in the aforementioned tomfoolery...

I AM SO IN!!!!

It's a scavenger hunt in Toronto using a camera and a sock in progress! So now, after overcoming my initial hesitation ( remember: BE FEARLESS IN KNITTING! ) I am faced with the ever present decision of...

Which yarn do I choose for the occasion?

Should I use the part of the stash with the most seniority? The one that, every time I look at my sock drawer, I think, "That yarn will make some great socks!"? The most sentimental one? The most spring like? Or the one with the cutest name? Should I dig deeper in the stash to find even more choices? Please, don't suggest I pick a name out of hat--- the decision is just too important to leave up to chance; besides, I think I really have already chosen...any guesses?

And We're Back!

Here I am saying good-bye to a beautiful ski hill/mountain!

Our first (well, the kids and I) time skiing out west; wonderful conditions!

We went to Big White near Kelowna, B.C. and got a little taste of Australia while we were there! Gooday Mate!
I didn't do a lot of skiing; as my daughter put it, I "only go out on the pretty days," but I did get some knitting done!

When last we saw this piece, it was only the underlay (note: no chocolate stains!) and now? Tada...it's a back! I'll have more to show you around this another day.

My girlfriend (who doesn't ski) and I also took a shopping day to go into Kelowna to see what it's all about.

B E A U T I F U L!!!!

We left a winter wonderland and descended into spring!! We could walk without hunching our shoulders, we were totally overdressed with our winter/ski jackets! People were driving motorcycles, convertibles with the top down, riding bikes and walking at a normal pace!!

People were smiling and people were friendly! It wasn't a very built up city and I think/hope that it's on purpose, because the scenery surrounding the town was breathtaking!

Now, in preparation for this trip, I of course, googled any knitting and quilting shops in the area. I was not disappointed!

Our first stop was Pandosy Street where I found Art of Yarn
They had a wonderful selection of yarns from all over the world and some neat accessories too.

Keeping in mind the whole packing issue (not to mention the existing stash issue) I went with one discounted ball of something fabulous and funky, some handcrafted knitting propaganda and a little something that I can't disclose, because I'm thinking some more may find their way to my knitting friends come Christmas time.

Don't you hate people like that? Planning Christmas stuff already?
S and I split up after lunch and I made my way up to Kelowna Yarn and Needlecrafts; the cab driver was sweet and waited to make sure that it was open :o)

The shop had an older feel to it and some lovely Crosstitch supplies, but I settled on this gem. Cotton, Cashmere and Hemp! How cool is that?

I was just going to tell you how I like to buy local yarns when I'm in different places and I have this vision of stashing yarn from all over the world in my home...and when I bought this I read Lanaknit Designs, Nelson B.C.

I just now read, Made in Italy.

I don't know, I had some Fleece Artist in my hands and left it there thinking, I'll go down east to pick some of that up (change of plans; not happening this year), so this still counts as B.C. yarn!
I've got a design sketched out too, because I didn't have a pattern in mind when I bought it (yea, like you never do that!) and they didn't have enough of one colour...so I bought blue and green!

One of the nice things about both shops was 1) how friendly and helpful the staff was...(can't get enough of that!) and 2) both shops were holding learn to knit classes and it just felt goood. One student even uttered some grown up words of frustration and I was able to use one of the Harlot's lines, "language unbecoming a knitter!" The lady, without a beat, responded, "yea, like you've never said that." I said, "Yea I have and usually the yarn is flying across the room at that point too!" She smiled, "well, I haven't done that!"

You will...you will.

So, we're back at home; sorry for the delay in getting back on line, but honestly I need a holiday after my holiday...and the older I get the more recovery time I need.

It's sad; even the sheep are getting buried in yarn!

Happy Good Friday and enjoy the SUNSHINE!!!!

The Best Made Plans

O.K. I've been working on this simple bit of knitting while travelling the bus weekly for a few weeks now (well, when I wasn't sleeping I was knitting) and finally had it out and in the same room as a tape measure and found that I had one more inch to go. Since I had the tape there I counted how many rows to finish that last inch; ten rows, that's all! Now, how can I effectively work those ten rows without counting everything all over again? Ten Maltesers!! Work a row, eat a sweet; work a row, eat a sweet; work another 160 stitches and eat a lovely, soft, delicious, sweet!

The plan was work ten rows (and thereby consume the Maltesers) and that would be the inch worked and then all I needed to do was complete my decrease row (which didn't involve candy).

I honestly don't know why I bother to plan; things rarely work out the way I plan them.

After eight rows I thought, that looks like it might be the right length already; so I measured and yup, eight rows and I'm there! Now, being the true knitter that I am, I had a choice to make; should I:

a) recheck my gauge, because obviously there was a problem...two rows worth!?

b) put the extra Maltesers back in the package? or

c) work the decrease row---eat a Malteser and finish---but what about the last sweet?

Yea, I ate it and you know why?

Because I'm worth it!!