5/29/2007

Zippy May...

The months just keep escaping me! I have no clue where they keep going, but before I know it, they're gone. *sigh* I'm not really all that surprised, it's just that I haven't really done much this month. I'm not working, so the days generally pass by in a knitting and computer lazy haze. This should all change though, as I have not one, but two job interviews tomorrow. One is to be a replacement guard at the local pool, and the other is part time at a little boutique card shop place on Bloor St. I know that I'll get the guarding, the interview is just a formality, and I'm pretty confident about the other one, so hurrah! This is especially good since having a very very limited cashflow hurts the wallet a wee bit, not to mention that I have to save like crazy in order to go on my exchange next year.

I've knit about 5 rows on my shawl since the last post. Right now they are going pretty quickly, so it's not going to take too long to get back to the 18 rows I had to rip out. I also knit a good 5 inches on my Jitterbug socks, a few rows on the heel of the Roza's, and 6 rows of the Cablenet. Knitting monogamy, psssh! I laugh at monogamy, completing projects more quickly, actually finishing things in the season for which they are intended. Ha! Polygamy means knitting freedom! Or so I keep telling myself....

5/27/2007

Tragic.

Tragedy has struck. She has lifted my poor shawl into her hands and has lead it down the path of false pretenses.

Here it looks healthy and content. What is not shown in this picture is how I proceeded to completely f-up the second chart. See, I knew that it was only pattern rows in the chart, with those missing as knit rows. However, the second chart has every other row charted as a knit row. I knit 18 rows (no small feat when they ended up being over 400 sts each), before I realized that there should have been one pattern row, a knit row, a charted knit row, and then another row. Where I had knit 18 rows, there should have been 36.


There was only one thing to do....


The funny thing is that I remembered looking at it and thinking that it looked a little funky, but assumed that it would all work out in the end. I didn't have a picture of the pattern with me, so I thought that I just wasn't remembering it quite right. I should trust my instincts more often.


The stitches are all safely back on the needles, slowly working their way to a proper second chart. Erg....

5/26/2007

A Long and Rambling Post

I'm back! Rochester was a combination of many things, sadness, happiness, history, family, suffocating heat etc. My mom and I left at about 10:30 am on Tuesday, and got to the Walden Galleria Mall in Buffalo by 12:30, where we proceeded to take advantage of the 4.75% tax!

Wednesday was the burial for my Great Aunt Lois's ashes in the town that she and my grandmother grew up in, Avoca. After the ceremony, we went to see the farm that they grew up on just outside of the tiny tiny town. My grandmother is now the only living of her family of 8 children. She was the youngest, and at almost 80, she's doing pretty well. She is shrinking though, she wasn't always this much shorter than me, and not because I was growing!


While their family was very poor, they were rich in the view their farm provided them of the valley. My grandmother used to have to take the bus to the end of her road, and then a car would take her the rest of the way up the hill. Unfortunately they would only shovel the roads for a little while, after which she would have to walk about a mile and a half up a very steep hill to get to her house. I never really believed the old story of "when I was a girl, we had to walk so far, in snowdrifts over our heads, up hill, just to get to school." Now that I've seen it, I believe it. My grandma said that she hadn't realized just how bad those hills were until she saw them now.


Rochester it's self is a bit of a combination between many things, part completely double sketch, and part very nice and quaint. My mom said that parts reminded her of Chicago, I think it's because of all the Art Deco architecture.


Of course we went yarn shopping on the Thursday. We went to The Village Yarn Shop, which is inside a bookstore in the super sketchy downtown mall. At first I was disappointed in the selection, there just wasn't that much, and there was certainly no sock yarn. However, then I turned around one corner, again around another. Around each was more and more yarn! Hurrah! I found some very nice Austerman Step, which will become some plain old stockinette socks.

My mom and I found the sale section, in which they were getting rid of all of their Debbie Bliss. All of it was super discounted. Unfortunately most of the stuff on the shelves was icky colours, so it was looking like I wouldn't find anything. I found a few rogue balls of a few colours, but not enough to make it worth it. Then I found a single ball of a gorgeous steel grayish blue. My mom went on a mad search through a huge chest of yarn and found 5 more balls! In total I got 6 balls Merino Aran for about 40% off. Granted, it's only about half a sweater's worth since the Debbie Bliss yardage is tiny, and it's aran weight. But even if I have to get the rest of it for regular price, I still save money. It's all thanks to my awesome mom, who definitely knows a bargain when she sees one.


We drove back to Toronto on Friday morning, getting in at about 2:30. I knit the majority of my hat for the Yarn Harlot's Represent hat Collection in the car, but forgot to take a picture of it. I finished it while sitting around doing not much at all, before heading out to see her at Indigo. All my pictures of the talk are blurry and very far away, since I was almost late and ended up in the back.

Afterwards I went to the Spotted Dick where I ended up sitting next to two lovely girls, Tina and Julia, both blogless. Tina is holding her spectacular first sock which she made up on her own out of two knitty patterns. Julia has a blurry Pomotomus knit out of Koigu, and I have my Koigu Roza's. Twas a good night overall.


This morning I finished a hat I was asked to make ages ago. It needs the ends woven in but it's pretty good.


I just need to fix the gnome problem too. Luckily I think that it's just the last few decreases that are being problematic, so it shouldn't be a problem.


That's one thing off my to knit list. Too bad I've already replaced it with another pair of socks and am desperately trying to not cast on for another sweater until I have a few more things off the list. I will finish some things!

5/21/2007

Nothing to Report....

There is not much to show for my current knitting. An almost finished hat, half a pair of socks, started shawl, sweater minus a sleeve, you get the picture. It's a whole lot of almost there's, and not much in the way of very interesting. However, in an attempt to not be completely dull, I have some pictures that I found on my camera from the last day I was up in res.

These two are of a big mural in the Ross Building, South tower I think.

Close up of the sheep.


And my shoes. Because they are cute!


I'll be in Rochester NY for a few days, so I don't know how much I'll be posting. Have a fun week!

5/19/2007

7 Random things.

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog. The facts:

1. I can bend my thumb back to my wrist in an odd double jointed sort of way. I've always been able to do it. Mostly I use it as a party trick.

2. My family routinely eats chocolate sprinkles on toast, it's delicious.

3. Both my grandfathers were/are ministers in the Christian Reformed Church. Despite the fact that my mom grew up in Iowa, and my dad in Hamilton, my grandfathers knew some of the same people. My dad's parent's didn't approve much of my mom though, she wasn't Dutch, and that wasn't good enough.

4. I have 15 cousins, 13 on one side, and 5 on the other.

5. I didn't learn to read until the end of grade 2 due to crappy teachers. When I did learn, I kind of taught myself.

6. Every year we run a little contest between my birthday and the Peonies blooming in the backyard. It looks like this year, the peonies will win.

7. My brother and I are a little out of the pop culture group since we never had and still don't have cable. People will say, remember the Samurai Pizza Cats? I'll squint and say ... no? Or I'll just yell no cable! before they get too excited.

Tagged: .... I'll do this later.....

5/17/2007

Le Slouch!

I have a F.O.! Behold, Le Slouch! It was a very fast knit, kind of a blink and you'll miss it sort of thing. I knit it in a day, so I hardly feel like I worked on it. Not compared to some other projects. *coughthermalcoughcough* I used two strands of fingering weight yarn, Jojoland %100 wool. I changed the pattern a little to accommodate the fact that I had 5 stitches to the inch instead of 4. Other than that, it's the easiest thing.
The pattern of course is Le Slouch, by Knit and Tonic. Very easy, very fun, and oh so chic!

Me? I just like saying Le Slouch when ever I wear it. Le Slouch.

Photo's were taken by my dad, who never needs an excuse to take pictures, much less ones of me. I should enlist him for more bloggy photos in the future....

Tomorrow, 7 random things... I was tagged.

5/15/2007

Job Hunting Sucks.

For the past couple of years, I've had the benefit of never having to worry about where or when I would work for the summer. I was full time babysitter for four years. I never had to job hunt, since even that job was found for my by my mom ( I was 15 and they were friends of the family). I've watched my friends hand out stacks of resumes, thinking, "How hard can it be?"

Really. Really. Really. Hard.

My biggest problem is that since I was a nanny for four years, I have no practical experience. Wait, let me rephrase. I have loads of practical experience, I can change diapers, manage temper tantrums, cook with a baby on my hip, navigate the subway with a stroller, bottle feed, put to sleep and generally take care of anyone. What I do not have is retail or restaurant experience. No one really cares if I can carry around a 20 pound screaming baby while convincing it's six year old sister that me reading her a book right then would not be possible. I need to know how to make a mocha frappachino in under a minute, or be able to convince someone that the shoes that don't really fit are worth their exorbitant price tag.

What I want is for someone to hire me. Preferably full time, though part time is totally awesome too. I had a job interview to be a page with the Toronto Public Library, but I don't think that it's even worth my time since I would only be working 6-10 hours a week. I can work that much babysitting, have more fun and be able to go on vacation. If I were to take that job, I would have to get at least two other jobs as well, and I'm already working Sunday's.

The bright side of no job means lots and lots of knitting time though!

5/13/2007

Vigilance!

On this, the second weekend in May, my brother and I gave my mother a gift. After seven years of bugging me, of paying for the courses, of listening to use talk in acronyms that make no sense, we finally became lifeguards.


My Dad got the two of us Laguna Beach lifeguard shirts (and shorts for me!) when he was in Cali last week, which we received upon our completion of the class today. We are showing just how chill we can be while saving lives.


Then Jesse demonstrated how to vice someone when they have a spinal injury. Please note that it is ineffective to try and immobilize oneself. I also must note that my hair is full of chlorine gunk, hence then weird wet look. I didn't have enough time to shower and such before the camera came out and the pictures were taken.

I'm just glad that I'm finally all done!

If you want more pictures of us looking awesome in Laguna gear, there's more on my flickr. But it's really not that interesting. So don't worry.

5/12/2007

Must. Finish. Thermal.

Thermal is plugging along. Slowly but surely. A little bit here and a little bit there, Eventually the thing will be done. I'm hoping to at least have the body done by next week, as I'll hopefully be getting some yarn then. My mom and I are going to Rochester, NY for some family stuff, so I ordered some yarn from Knitpicks to my Aunt's house. I love having American relatives, it means I can completely avoid ye olde customs tax. That and the shipping was free. But I want to have Thermal done by then because then I can start with the sweaters that the yarn is for!

But until then, it's all Thermal.

5/10/2007

Silversun Pickups!

Yesterday the Rockout Sock got to shine a little after a long winter of sitting in a drawer. The event was the Silversun Pickups playing at the Phoenix Nightclub here in Toronto. Very exciting. Miranda backed out at the last minute, so I dragged Claire along with me instead. Though I only knew one of the their songs, and she none, we both agreed that fun was had, and that sspu rocks everyone's socks, hand knit or not.


The sock was very impressed by the giant disco ball hanging from the ceiling. It was shiny.


The sock enjoyed the singer's rock outs and occasional dance moments. The sock (and I) got very very very excited when they finally played Lazy Eye. There was definitely some jumping, but we're still waiting confirmation on some girlie squeals.


And it also thought that Nikki's dress was very pretty. It also thought that her bass was a pretty freaking cool shape.


The sock also got to see Lettuce Knit, but I forgot to take pictures. Next time!

5/08/2007

A Sleeve!

I have finally finished a part of my Thermal sweater! Alright, it's just a sleeve, but still, it's one thing that is actually done, instead of almost there. Let's just not mention that I still need to make another one of them before I can really get too excited. I'm working on the sweater back right now, only four more inches before I can move onto the fronts.


The whole thing is going rather slowly since what I really want is to be working on my Koigu socks. I just finished turning the heel on the first. Mostly I just work on them when I'm out of the house, but sometimes I get distracted and discover that I've accidentally worked on them at home as well. I think I'm going to put the needles freed from the sleeve into the cablenet socks I started. I'm about halfway through the first repeat, but I think they'll go much faster on metal dpn's instead of wood. With the wood ones I may cast on a pair of plain old stockinette socks to work on while watching TV and going to movies.

Speaking of movies, I'm due at Claire's for dinner and embarrassingly awful movies. Last year we watched the entire season one of The O.C. Who knows what it'll be this summer! What ever it is, I'll be able to knit my socks!

5/06/2007

Eww, There's Chlorine on me!

Ugh, I hate being a lifeguard because it means smelling like Chlorine All. The. Time. Every time I move my head all I can smell is chlorine that is currently embedded in my hair. It will wash out in a few days, but I'll be in the pool all next weekend too, so it won't last long. I guess I should enjoy my last few months as a non-lifeguard, before I probably get a job there.

Right now I'm doing training, my NLS course. After that I'll be completely certified to lifeguard and teach, very exciting. The course is intensive, which means that I am in the classroom/pool for 40 hours over two weekends. The nice thing is that there are only six people in the class, including myself, so we go through everything rather quickly and usually get out a little early. My brother Jesse is also in the class, so we can study and correct each other all the time.

The not so great thing is that I don't have much of a weekend right now. I was at the community centre the whole time, so that also meant not much knitting time either. I did knit during the movie we watched today on techniques for scanning a pool. It means that I'm that much closer to finishing the first sleeve of my Thermal sweater. I was going to put it away and not bother about it for a bit, but I realized that then it will really never finish, so I've decided to keep plugging away. Really it's not much left to do, one sleeve, a sleeve cap and from the armpits up on the body. I wish that I could just finish one part of it. Right now everything is just hanging around. I guess that's the downside of sweaters in the round, they just seem to go on forever.

5/04/2007

Gallery hop

Thursday's, as many artsy's will know, is generally a gallery night. For some reason or another, most show's have opening's on that night. Yesterday, being a Thursday and all, I ended up doing a gallery hop with my mom around the city to see various shows we were interested in.

The first up was a showing of final projects from the Linden Girls School. My cousin, the same one who lent me the book, is a student there, so it was a family thing. Some of the stuff was interesting, but mostly it was standard kids stuff. The thing that my mom and I found interesting was that there wasn't much focus on the actual art pieces but more on the artist statements that accompanied each piece. The few pieces that were actually good were good because that particular student happened to be a talented artist naturally, not because they had been taught any type of technique. Each student, from grade two to twelve, had a one page written statement, which is rather long in my opinion. It seemed like they were being taught what I like to call CAB, Creative Art Bullshit, which I found out is rather easy to do when I was in high school. Personally I think it's how I get through university, by making things up in regards to imagery and meaning, but it's a little sad that there are little kids being forced to create meaning in pieces, to explain their inspiration, instead of just creating a piece of art for arts sake.

Anyway, the second stop on our adventure was the Ontario Craft Council where we saw Domestic. I really enjoyed this show, and it's inspired me to get off my lazy bum and actually create some of the pieces that have been floating around in my head for the past few years. Most of the peices were in some way fiber related, but not all. There were a few interesting pieces that looked like necklaces, but had wax dripping out of the pendants in really interesting shapes. Another really cool thing was a low table with all sorts of different sized rectangular ceramic plates. There were all sorts of different sized lines in the ceramic. I'm not quite sure how the artist did it, but there was also a framed piece of fabric on the wall that had identical lines sewn into it with embroidery floss. I wish that I had the courage to ask her about it, but I always feel a little silly talking to people I don't know.

The third show was at Index G on Gladstone, which was having two photography openings as a part of Contact. A friend of my mom's from her silkscreening class is showing in the first floor gallery. There were some very interesting Lunatypes there as well, which I have never heard of. They are apparently exposed by the light of the moon, hence the luna. The print is actually a sheet of glass, just like the origional photographs were, the deguerreotype. The image is exposed in a thin sheet of silver substance, so if you look at the image straight on, all you see is your reflection, it acts like a mirror. There is also series off pieces that my mom and I fell in love with. They are all sepia sort of tones, all of a little girl in sort of ethereal poses with wings and things. If I could afford it, I would definitely have bought one, but alas I have don't even have that much money to my name, much less any that I could spare.

After that I came home and read Twilight through.

My mom and I are hoping to go to many openings this summer, so there should be more art stuff popping up here. I hope no one minds. I have been knitting, but it's all the same sort of stuff, you'll be there first to know if anything actually interesting happens.

Now I'm going to go finish learning how to save lives.

Twilight

I'm on that inexcusable high that happens when I finish a particularly satisfying book. However, it has been tainted with a strong sense of "What the bloody hell happens next?!" Luckily there are already sequels, but unfortunately I do not have them right now as it is the middle of the night. The first thing I will do tomorrow is go out to Book City and buy my own copy, as the one I have now is on loan from my cousin, and it's sequel. Which I probably shouldn't since I currently have no job and limited funds, not to mention that I spent a lot of money on crack, I mean yarn in the last few weeks.

The book is called Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer, it's aimed at young teens probably. The writing isn't stellar and there are a few points where she just goes over things a little more than completely necessary, but the story is fun and new. I won't tell you too much, but I'll tell you this much. Vampires. In love. With humans. Anyone who has ever watched Buffy or Angel and enjoyed it will like this book. It's thick, almost 500 pages, but it's quick. I started reading around 8, and finished at 1:30. But I'm told that I read exceptionally fast, and I knew from the start that I was not going to be able to put it down. It was very exciting. I will have to call Katie tomorrow and have mini freak-out on the phone. After I read it again.

5/02/2007

Disastrous room, Disastrous knitting.

So I moved home from res yesterday, which now means that I have to somehow find room for everything I own for two rooms to fit into one. This is what my room looked like this morning, a complete disaster. It was nearly impossible to walk through the room.

However, we worked at it gradually, bit by bit. And now, look, there's some floor! And there is room on my desk for my computer! And you can sit on the chair!

This is what the corner near the closet looked like, boxes boxes boxes.

Now it is shoes shoes shoes! Let's not get started with the fact that there is another shoe rack equally overflowing with shoes in my closet....

Here's some more floor, though it really show's the most difficult part of cleaning. Finding spots for all the little silly things.


After lots of cleaning all I wanted to do was sit and knit some lace. I'm almost done the first chart and it's going along pretty well. I got about half way through the row before some math did not add up. I was missing a stitch somewhere. I looked a little more closely and found this:

Luckily the yarn is fairly sticky, so it didn't drop too far. However it's stuck about 10 rows down, and I don't know if it even dropped down, it kind of looks like it just got missed since there is no laddering above it. Unfortunately this makes things a little more difficult since it will be very hard to get it back up to where it needs to be. I seriously considered ditching The Boy's dinner date and going to Lettuce Knit to get help, but I felt bad. I may drop by tomorrow and see what whomever is working can do. That or I will definitely be there next week for the No Sheep for You launch party. I have plenty of other projects screaming for attention in the meantime....

In the meantime, does anyone have any idea's on how to fix it?!?!

5/01/2007

Shawl of mine


I found this on a gate on my way back up to York on Sunday, isn't it just adorable? I love that there is a bird perched on the end of the T.


Yet another started project. This is Feather and Fan Shawl from A Gathering of Lace, started when I got back from Frolic on Saturday. The yarn is Fiddlesticks laceweight, 50% merino wool, 50% tussah silk. It feels amazing to knit with, and I can already tell that the drape will be amazing. I'm knitting it on 4mm instead of the 3.75mm that the pattern calls for. I'm not really concerned about it, I have loads more yarn than called for, and it's a shawl, the worst thing that will happen is that it will be really really big. I don't mind so much, and the gauge seems fine. Since this picture was taken I've switched to a circular, and have almost finished the first chart. I love watching the petals form under my hands, this is why I love knitting. The ability to create something, to see it evolve. To understand how certain stitches will move and change the design of a piece. I can' wait to see it grow.