I DID IT!

I didn't really think it would be that difficult, and I was right.... a month ago, I signed up to participate in National Blog Posting Month (aka NaBloPoMo), which meant committing to posting every single day for a month -- and I did it.

A couple of times I didn't post until later in the day rather than my usual 6 a.m.-ish ramblings, but that was okay. There were thousands entered, and likely thousands were successful, and apparently there are buckets full of prizes to be won ... so I'll let you know if any of them make their way to me. :-)

Meanwhile, thank you all so much for the birthday wishes ... I had an okay day, even though it wasn't in Whistler. I took myself down to Clover Point, of course, although the view was a bit compromised...

Yes, those really are boats moving around out there. Yes, they really are crazy.

And after knitting non-stop for almost two hours (and having hardly anything to show for it, but more about that tomorrow!) I went to the Oak Bay Marina for lunch, where there was a little less fog...

That bump on top of the rock? It's a bald eagle, but I couldn't get close enough to get a decent picture ...

After lunch I wandered along the beach a bit, until I saw this...

At least once a year a boat breaks free of its moorings in this anchorage (it's exposed to the south-east, which is exactly where our winter storm winds come from), and heads to shore ... in this case, I knew the boat, because it was in our marina for about a year -- the folks were going traveling and didn't want to have to pay moorage while they were away, so they anchored it out instead.

Now they'll just have to pay for the municipality to haul what's left of it away. :-(

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME :-)

According to my Birth Clock, sent to me last night by my friend Esther:

My date of conception was on or about 8 March 1952 which was a Saturday.
I were born on a Saturday under the astrological sign Sagittarius.
My life path number is 3.

My fortune cookie reads:
"Your flair for the creative takes an important place in your life."

My birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/27/1952 and ending 2/13/1953; I was born in the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

I am 20,454 days old.
My birthstone is Citrine, said to "help one connect with Spirit."

What I know is that I'm taking the day off from pretty much everything, and doing a lot of guilt-free knitting!

NOT GOING TO WHISTLER :-(

For the past few weeks, I've been planning to leave for Whistler this morning, to celebrate my birthday with Hailey.

So day before yesterday Michael took the van in to be inspected for the trip ... and we've spent almost $700 in the past two days to make it safe to drive on the highway.

Which means I can't afford to go to Whistler now.

Michael wanted to rent me a car but I can't justify spending that kind of money just to go play -- and then the kids offered to pitch in (maybe I should wonder why they all want me out of town this weekend?) to the car rental, but I suggested they could pitch in for the van repairs instead!

So here I stay. Which means I'll get to go to Knit'n'Cafe this afternoon, so that's nice -- and then I promised myself I'd sit around and knit a lot this weekend, which is what I would have been doing on the ferry, and in Whistler, too. And I have a $50 gift certificate for a really nice local restaurant, so that takes care of dinner.

I'm really disappointed, though ... I was so looking forward to going! Besides getting to spend time with my daughter (who promised to wine-and-dine me in style... without the wine), the Whistler Christmas craft fair is on this weekend, and I would have got to meet Ruth Stewart, too.

'Life on life's terms' is a b____ some days, isn't it?

Okay, I'm done whining now , back to my knitting... :-)

I DON'T THINK SO...

So at 5:00 a.m., with no coffee in my system yet, I decided it would be a great idea to knit my grandson River a pair of Argyle socks. He LOVES black, red and gray together, and I found an easy chart, and Christmas is coming... so, yeah, it was a great idea.

Half an hour later, I had a half-inch black cuff to fit an almost-ten-year-old. An hour later, I had the beginnings of an argyle pattern, which was totally fun to knit... once again, excuse the 6 a.m. picture...

The problem?

With all that stranding, and lousy tension on my part, apparently, the sock that started out fitting an almost-ten-year-old now looks and feels like it *might* fit his two-year-old brother. And how on earth would you get your toenails past all those strands without snagging them constantly?

I don't think so.....

PS. ... Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and friends south of the border!

CHRISTMAS BAKING DAY

My mother, for at least a hundred years, did ALL the Christmas baking for everyone. She would start in September, and the freezer would be full before Christmas-time. Did you need squares to take to the office Christmas party? Look in the freezer... Kids need goodies for a swap at school? Take something out of the freezer...

She made sure she had plenty of everyone's favorite things, too, and she used recipes that had been in a drawer since she was in high school, I think.

Well, Mom passed away seven years ago, and for a few years, while we were in the same town, my sister and I attempted to carry on the tradition.

When we moved back to Victoria almost 5 years ago, my daughter Mischa and I took on the Christmas baking. My mother had some pretty big shoes to fill, so we don't even come close, but we have a fun day, and end up with *something* to show for it. On the agenda are:


Shortbread

Gingerbread

Banana Loaf

... and possibly some squares, peanut butter cookies, and no-bake chocolate cookies.

Nothing too exotic or elaborate, but that means we stand a pretty good chance of succeeding! I'll take my knitting to work on while stuff's in the oven (maybe even get Mischa knitting again, she knows how). I'll let you know how it goes!

NEW PROJECTS

I love casting on new projects, and that's what I got to do this morning. While watching this ....


... tug pulling some kind of structure AND a barge through Enterprise Channel, this morning, in a 30-knot wind ...

... I cast on for these argyle socks for River, who loves black and red ...


And, before I left home, I'd already started on this ...



... new blue something, but I don't know what yet. I can tell you that the wool is Ella Rae in a variegated blue-green colorway that's stunning, and that's a double moss stitch.


It might end up being a 'cheater' moebius ... the kind you make by knitting a rectangle, turning one end a half-turn, and sewing up the seam. Quick, easy and lovely!

NEEDLE FELTING

At work today, I finished grafting the toes on the Noro socks, and hung them up for display, and I blocked the red scarf out on the work table, as well. And forgot to take pictures of both of them, so I'll do that tomorrow!

I don't like Noro for socks, I've decided. It was the first time I'd knit with it, so maybe it just takes getting used to, but I don't think I'll use it again. First of all, the silk felt like it was over-spun or something .... it kept twisting up on itself as I'd pull it out of the centre-pull ball to knit with it. And I couldn't get the colors to match no matter how I tried, so the socks are mis-matched. And I don't like the feel of them, on ... not at all like a wool/nylon blend, that's for sure.

On the other hand, the scarf was knit from a super-wash merino, and it was completely dreamy!

This afternoon a young man was in the store demo-ing needle-felting. He was really creative, starting with little 3" by 3" 'patches' of felt, and then needle-felting colors and designs onto the patch for anyone who wanted one. I had to choose the colors I wanted, but I told him to surprise me with the design.

I always choose the primary or jewel-tone colors, since I'm not a fan of pastels, and here's what he came up with...

That was the front, but I kind of preferred the back side, personally...


I pinned it on my lapel, and wore it for the rest of the day, I liked it so much!

And Nathan?

He's 9 years old. :-)

HOW THE DAY GETS AWAY!

At 5:00 a.m., I was up and had the coffee on, and had knitted a few inches on the red scarf. I was about to boot up and post to my blog, but then River, who spent the night here, woke up. So after some cuddle time, *he* wanted to play on the computer, and since I live on a boat and there's not a whole lot else for a 9-year-old to do, I sat and knit while I finished my coffee.

By then Michael was up, so I knit some more while we had another coffee. Then we took River out for breakfast before taking him home ... at which point I'd been dealing with said 9-year-old for several hours, so I took me and my knitting down to Clover Point for some meditation time. (I'd forgotten my camera -- which never happens! -- so I took some pictures with my cell phone, and they turned out badly.) There was at least 30 small boats out along a line from Trial Island to Ogden Point, fishing, so they must be biting (either that or they all heard the same untrue rumour...)

While I was there, my cell phone rang, and it was a friend of my son's visiting from Gabriola, whom I'd promised to take into the new yarn store -- so I drove over to pick her up, and off we went to Knotty by Nature. I got to hang out and knit while Caroline went over a box full of potential consignment goodies (fair trade Bolivian alpaca knitted goodies, to be precise) with Stephanie. The Noro socks are --> <-- this close to being ready for the toe decreases, which makes me very happy!

Got home at 3 p.m., just as the phone rang ... it was my daughter Hailey in Whistler to remind me that I hadn't posted to my blog yet! After we had a catch-up chat, Michael was waiting for me because we had some marina-related stuff to talk about and decisions to make ... and then it was time for dinner, which of course, I haven't had a chance to plan -- so off we went in search of a suitable take-out dinner (which turned out to be Chicken Satay from a great little Thai place for me and a cheese burger from the pub next door to it for him!), and then we went for a little drive...

... and here I am now, 7:30 p.m, FINALLY posting to my blog. Whew, I'm tired just from re-reading this! And I won't even TELL you my plans for tomorrow.....

WE NEED HATS!

I got a call from Extreme Outreach yesterday -- they are a major local recipient of CommunityKnitters.com's charity knitting.

Well. They need another 130 knit hats for children, from 2 - 12, for their Christmas stocking program this year. (They would also like a 'hat for every homeless' -- about 500 of them! but I told them that even though we knitters are pretty amazing, miracles are just slightly beyond us.)

But 130 knitted hats for kids seemed a little more possible between now and Dec. 20th. If 65 of us knit two each, it's a done deal, right?

They can look like this...

... or this...


... or this...



... and, if you're local, I can give you yarn to use! Email me at skipper @ mvwindwalker dot com (you know the drill with the email addies) if you think you can help out, and I'll give you my mailing address, or you can pick up yarn or drop hats off at Knotty by Nature, 1816 Government Street here in Victoria.

I know we're all so busy this time of year, but if I can help make a difference in a child's life this Christmas, I'm going to squeeze in the time to make a couple of hats ... I hope you'll join me!

YAY, IT'S MORNING AGAIN!

A few of you have noticed that I haven't been posting at my usual 5 or 6 a.m.

I've always been an early riser (read: from 4 a.m. on....) and I love it, and I've always been 'good to go' on six hours sleep. So I'm generally asleep no later than 10 pm., and up for the day between 4 and 5 a.m.

But I have this weird 'cyclical' sleep disorder that works like this when it's happening ... I *go* to sleep easily and quickly, and always have. However, I sometimes wake up anytime after 2:00 a.m. -- and then can't get back to sleep. I've spent years 'fighting' it ... doing 'relaxation therapy', playing tapes, trying a few different meditations, drinking certain kinds of tea, blah, blah, blah... and it really hasn't made any difference.

So I get up. It's lovely, actually ... the city is quiet at that time (not that it's that noisy here anyway), sometimes I'll start a little fire, and I'll wrap a shawl around my shoulders, and knit, of course. An hour or two, maybe three, will go by ... and then, from one minute to the next, I'm cold, and exhausted, and I go back to bed.

Depending on the time I've gone back to bed, I'll set the alarm for a more 'reasonable' hour. Then the alarm goes off, and I either sleep through it, or I wake up, VERY grumpy!

That's what's been happening for the last few days, unfortunately, and since our daytime lives are busy, I haven't been able to blog until later in the day.

But I went to sleep last night at around 10:15 ... and woke up at 4:15 this morning. Back on track!

But I gotta tell ya ... if I think I have it tough (which I don't), I want to tell you about someone who really *does.* I introduced you to Raven in June, when she turned up at World Wide Knit in Public Day and was drop-spindle spinning almost the whole day (scroll down to see her).

Well, Raven was diagnosed, not long after that day, with Lyme Disease. That's bad enough ... but she'd had it, undiagnosed, for 20 years.

That makes the treatment completely different, long-term, controversial and EXPENSIVE. To top it off, she has to go to Seattle to get it. You can read all about Raven's journey this last year here, and her fibre-related blog is here. Raven was a University of Victoria student when her world caved in, and she has very little money.

I can't imagine what living with Lyme would be like, and was feeling pretty helpless about the whole thing ... until some of Raven's friends launched a fund-raising blog for her.

I just wanted to share Raven's story, and if you feel you can donate a little to help her cover her expenses, that would be a bonus.

International Scarf Exchange

I keep forgetting to mention this .... I've been a member of the International Scarf Exchange for 3 years now, and became a 'helper' last year. This 'round' (there's two rounds a year, spring and fall) I was asked to take over hosting it, so I am! If it interests you, you can check out how it works at ....ISE6, and then come on over and sign up for ISE7. It's a lot of fun, and I've made friends all over the world.

Still slogging away on the Noro socks and the red scarf for the store (and working on all the details of the Grand Opening, as well!) and looking forward to getting back to Christmas knitting.

There's a 110 km wind forecast for the Strait tonight, and we're already starting to 'rock'n'roll' a bit now ... it's blowing about 35 knots just outside the harbour. I've started a little fire, and I've got some serious knitting to do! :-)

PLAYING WITH FIBRE

Who knew ... that you could take several bits of roving, and 'blend' them? Well, I guess if you are already a spinner, *you* did -- but I didn't, and yesterday Ryan was showing me how to use the drum carder in the store to blend fibres! Here's what I ended up with ...


Can you see the little bits of 'sparkle' (Stephanie's genius there) that we threw in? Now I get to spin it and I'll probably end up with about 25 yards of luscious fibre to knit with. (But so far I've never spun anything without adult supervision, so I'll let you know if I brave it myself.)

Meanwhile, I'm still playing with Christmas ornaments, and thank you all so much for some great suggestions! Here's the latest creations (these are about 3" tall):

There. I've knit a Fair Isle sweater, so I can cross that off my life list.

PICTURES

I've been working on samples for a 'Christmas ornaments' class I'll be teaching at the store... one of these is easy for beginner knitters (the gift), one for intermediate knitters (the mitered square) and one for intermediate/advanced (the sock!) ... I'm still looking for a few other simple ideas for knitted Christmas ornaments -- any suggestions?



And here's the cables-and-lace scarf I've started that I promised a pic of:


It's much prettier red than the picture shows, but it's an easy knit. :-)

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN

The first item on the agenda in going up-Island day before yesterday was to attend a 'learn-to-spin' day hosted by the Tsouhalem Weavers and Spinnners in Duncan. It took us forever to get out of Victoria on Saturday morning (you know how it goes ... we had to go to the bank, then we had to stop and buy a new phone card, then we had to stop by Mischa's to drop something off, then we had to get fuel ....well, each of those things took twice as long as we thought it would, and it was nearly 1:00 before we got over the Malahat!)

But it was a lovely day for a road trip, so we just meandered our way up, and checked in to the Sea Edge by about 3:00. Lots of knitting time! Then yesterday Michael and our friend Sri had a golf game booked, so I went to visit an old friend, Bev. We had a quick visit with my sister, and went for our moose roast dinner at Ray and Sandy's -- in celebration of Sandy's birthday in September (we were cruising, and they were hunting moose in the interior at the time), my upcoming birthday, and Ray and Michael's separate 'sober' birthdays. Photos tomorrow!

We had to drive straight home this morning, though, because I started my first day at Knotty By Nature. I'm going to have so much fun working there! (Have you put our grand opening on your calendar? December 6th -- hope to see you there!)

I've got the Noro socks on the needles, and a red 'festive' scarf, both samples for the store.

THE VIEW FROM HERE ...

... is the wide open Strait of Georgia all the way across to Lasqueti Island, and it's lovely, though we're in a bit of a fog.


On the way up here, we stopped at Transfer Beach Park in Ladysmith (one of our favorite spots on this up-Island road trip) and watched this old classic coming out of the harbour:

And I finished the gray man-size socks while having my morning coffee:

I'm going to cast on another pair of socks immediately (Noro Silk Garden) and a lovely merino scarf, both samples for the store!

Going for moose roast dinner this evening at our friends in Nanoose, and heading home tomorrow morning first thing!

Q and A

A few of you emailed me yesterday about the truck parade .... it's a Christmas fund-raiser for the local food bank sponsored by the Island Equipment Operators Association, and it's one of the highlights of the season for me. (Those who know me are now shaking their heads and saying, 'Who'd-a thunk it??')

I take River, and we back in to a parking spot anywhere along Dallas Road by about 4 pm to get a good spot -- it goes right by us! Then as soon as it goes by, we drive over to River's apartment, and by that time the parade has looped through Oak Bay and is coming down Yates Street -- right below their 9th floor apartment balcony.

The trucks are unbelievable -- a LOT of work goes into them! -- and it's just a great FREE evening (except for the food bank donation, of course). Here's a couple of shots from last year (lousy pics, but you'll get the idea...)



And a few of you have asked me about the 'Threads of Compassion' shawls for the Sexual Assault Centre, too. The shawls can be ANY size, any design, any fibre, and are given to victims at the hospital, in the police car, or in their own homes ... sort of a 'front-line hug', in my mind. It's like a non-denominational prayer shawl -- the T of C website says the idea is that the knitter should be a woman who has been 'affected by sexual abuse' (do you know any women who AREN'T??) so she is doing her own therapy as she knits the shawl, and she is to knit positive, loving and healing thoughts for the recipient as she knits.

Sounds good to me! You can knit shawls for your own local SAC, or send them to the address on the Threads of Compassion website, or you're welcome to send them to me for the Victoria SAC!

So ... back to my dilemma about Dec. 6th (which is also Canada's National Day of Remembrance About Women and Violence, too, by the way. I think I'll leave the Grand Opening at 4 pm, and take River to the truck parade. Then I'll join Michael on the boat (we'll have already taken the Wind Walker over to the Empress Dock on Friday) which will be decorated. Depending on the timing (which will be tight), we can either participate in the parade, or just hang out on the dock and have front row seats to watch it!

On my way up-Island today for the weekend, but this time I'm taking my laptop -- can't break my NaBloPoMo post-a-day commitment!

I STAND CORRECTED :-)

Day before yesterday, in this post, I showed you Hailey and her new scarf. Well ... didja look at the comments?

Now ... I have two other pics of Hailey and her scarf, so I sure hope I get this right this time ...

I like that one better, too ... it shows off the scarf a little more. ;-)

I've been playing with Christmas ornament ideas for a childrens' craft class. Here's a basic mitred square I made this morning...

... and I have a few other ideas I'm hoping to play with today. I'll keep you posted!

I went to put the Knotty by Nature grand opening on my calendar this morning, and realized that my TWO other favorite events of the season are on the same day!! The Truck Parade, which I've taken River to every year since it started, starts at 5:45 pm ...


... and then the Christmas Boats parade, which we've participated in the last four years, starts at 6 pm... (photo borrowed from the Harbour Authority website...)


I'm not quite sure how I'll pull this off, but I'm going to need to be in three places at once!

SOON!

I get more excited every day about being a part of this new store that's opened here. The store itself is gorgeous (and becoming fuller every day with delicious fibre!); and Stephanie and Ryan are great folks, and I'm excited about working with them. I'm helping them plan this grand opening right now, and I'll be teaching some classes, as well.

I'm also knitting up some store samples right now, and I better get back to them!

ODDS'n'SODS

It's been raining here. A lot. And apparently it's not done yet. (That photo shows all the new condo construction across from us in the last year, by the way...)

Hailey was here from Whistler for her Dad's celebration on the weekend, so she got her new scarf:

Wendy from Knit'n'Cafe showed up last Friday with SEVEN shawls for the Threads of Compassion program at the local Sexual Assault Centre, so I got those packaged up (along with the four I already had here, one of which I'd knit on our holiday) and delivered day before yesterday:

Here's a close-up of the tag we put on all of them...

And, yes, I *have* been to Clover Point this week ... here's our shiny new yellow pilot boat on its way out to a freighter in the Strait ...

I don't go there nearly as often through the winter months simply because it's colder and I don't like to run my engine any more than I have to -- I miss it already!

Finally ... we are never here on Hallowe'en night when our grandsons go out trick-or-treating because we go up-Island for dinner with our friends, but this year someone took pics of them in their costumes, and my daughter Mischa sent them to me a few days ago. River was some kind of ghoul...

And Gibson was a pirate...

On the knitting front, I finished River's camoflage socks, and I'm nearly finished the gray man-sized gift socks, too!

LEST WE FORGET

Many years ago I remember hearing about a Remembrance Day ceremony during which a woman broke away from the crowd, laid a wreath, grabbed the microphone and began to speak about the WOMEN who were -- and are -- victims of the wars we tend to glorify on this day; the women who were nurses (and other female medical and military personnel) who have also died in the service of their country; the women here 'at home' who suffered and sacrificed much to keep the country running in the absence of the men who were off fighting the good fight -- only to be sent packing back to the kitchen and the bedrooms when the men returned home; and finally, the thousands of women -- around the world, no matter whose 'side' they fought on -- left to mourn their husbands, fathers and brothers who died.

That woman, on that long ago Remembrance day, was arrested for her 'civil disobedience' -- and I've never forgotten it. To this day, the Remembrance Day ceremony MCs often pay lip service to those historic women by saying "to the men and women..." and then they carry on talking about just the men.

So every year, I take a moment to honour these historic WOMEN who are otherwise forgotten. This isn't taking anything away from remembering the (male) soldiers -- I do, and we all do, and this day focuses mainly on them. But my thoughts today are with those women... lest we forget.

IN SOCK MODE

Hailey arrived last night from Whistler to celebrate with the family, so today I'll give her her scarf, which she hasn't seen yet... I have enough yarn left over to either put a fringe on it, or knit a hat or mittens to match, so she'll get to choose.


A few weeks ago (and more than once in the past several months), I've been in shawl mode -- well, now I'm in sock mode. I have several pairs of socks I want to get done before Christmas, so it's a good thing I've already started! I have socks for a certain young man I know and love ...

And these ones are for a slightly older young man I know and love... :-)

These are the Thuja socks from Knitty, designed by a dude named Bobby Ziegler, and knit in Paton's Kroy, and I'm loving knitting them.

I also picked up some choice wools at Knotty by Nature yesterday to make some store samples, which will also double as class models for classes I'll be teaching there after Christmas! I'm hoping to make some Noro socks, a red 'Christmas-y' scarf from some superwash Merino(for which I've not yet chosen a pattern) and a moebius wrap in some gorgeous blue tones, Diamond lace weight. I'll keep you posted!

A VERY SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY TODAY

30 years ago this morning, I woke up with a very heavy heart. I was leaving my marriage, with two small children, and pregnant with #3 (which was the very thing that prompted my decision not to live the way I was living anymore).

Michael was an alcoholic - and a violent, unpredictable one, at that. But 30 years ago today he called Alcoholics Anonymous, and went to his first meeting. He's never looked back, and today we are celebrating the fact that my husband hasn't had a drink for 30 years.

It wasn't always easy -- in fact, in his first five years of sobriety, he got worse in some ways (because he no longer had the buffer of alcohol between himself and LIFE); we had four separations while we both got counselling, and he went for all kinds of extra help -- anger management, for example.

Well, I can tell you that the man I'm married to today is a big, gentle, loving teddy bear, and bears no resemblance to that guy I was leaving that day. Michael's worked hard to become the person he is now, and it's because of his sobriety (and mine, but that's a story for another day), that we're living our dream today.

There are those who don't believe that one should share this kind of personal stuff on what is, essentially, a live-aboard (and knitting!) blog -- but it's such a huge part of our lives, I can't *not* share it.

I'll have knitting content tomorrow, I swear.... :-)

SATURDAY COP-OUT

I'm not really 'copping out,' but using a meme instead of an original post today. I have no interesting news, and no knitting to show, so.... what's a gal to do? Here, then, is my list of 'Knitting Questions' that someone else sent me a long time ago -- I'm not going to tag anyone, but please feel free to steal this list and post it for yourself!

The rules:

Bold the things you've done.

(Bracket) the things you are currently doing.

** the things you've abandoned or will never attempt.

Italicize the things you want to try


Afghan

American/English Knitting (vs.Continental)

Baby Items

**Bobbles

Buttonholes

Cable stitch patterns (including Aran)

Cardigan

(Charity knitting)

Continental knitting

Cuffs/fingerlessmitts/arm warmers

Darning

(Designing knitted garments)

Drop stitch patterns

Dyeing with plant dyes

Dyeing yarn

Entrelac

Fair Isle knitting

Freeform knitting

Felting

Graffiti knitting/knitting items on or to be left on the street

Gloves

Hair accessories

Hat

(Holiday related knitting)

(Household items) (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies.....)

I-cord

Intarsia

Jewelry

(Kitchener Bind Off)

(Knitting a gift)

Knitting and purling backwards

**Knitting for a living

**Knitting for pets

Knitting for preemies

(Knitting in public)

Knitting items for a wedding

(Knitting socks)

Knitting to make money

(Lace patterns)

Longtail Cast On

**Machine knitting

Mittens: Cuff up

Mittens:Top down

Moebius band knitting

Norwegian knitting

Olympic knitting

Participating in a Knit-a-long

Pillows

(Publishing a knitting book)

Purses/bags

Rug

Scarf

Shawl

Short rows

Shrug/bolero/poncho

Slip stitch patterns

Slippers

Socks: toe up

(Socks: top down)

Steeks

(Stockinette stitch)

Stuffed toys

Swatching

(Sweater)

Teaching a child to knit

Teaching a male to knit

Thrumbed Knitting

Textured knitting

**Toy or doll knitting

Tubular Cast On

Twisted stitch patterns

Two ended knitting

Writing a pattern

It's still raining, I'm still knitting, I'm still floating and I'm still married. Life is good!

KNKOTTY BY NATURE

Victoria has a new fibre store, and I'm just tickled about it! My friends Stephanie and Ryan have dreamed about this for a long time, and finally, on November 1st, the dream came true. They are both spinners, weavers, knitters and felters and will carry supplies for all of the above in the store.

The store itself looks amazing .... a blur of color and texture and wood and brick that's a feast for the eyes from the moment you walk in the door. Oh, and there's a real, live 400+ year old walking wheel on display in the front window, too.

I'll be helping them with some marketing, including the GRAND OPENING. If you're a local, put Saturday, Dec. 6th on your calendar -- details to come!

Working on River's camoflage socks (which I hope to finish today at Knit'n'Cafe) and some Christmas knitting (about which I cannot speak here). It's been pouring rain here for two days, and this is the only time I miss having a couch to curl up on. Our little settee in the salon just doesn't cut it sometimes!

WHERE HAS THE WEEK GONE?

It's already Thursday morning, and I feel like I haven't accomplished a thing all week!

Oh, well, I won't likely accomplish much today, either... it's pouring rain, and we have a 'rainfall and wind warning' for the coast. It's already blowing 25 knots out there, and miserable. I do have to go out long enough for a haircut, but other than that, I might actually get some knitting done.

Yesterday morning I had breakfast with my friend Esther at Ogden Point, and we watched this creature being towed in to the harbour... (remember that you can click on the pics to see them bigger if that interests you...)

While I went outside to take a picture, someone at the next table told Esther that it was a landing barge, but I don't think that's true... I believe it's the part of the approach at a ferry landing between where you drive off the edge of the ferry and where your vehicle meets terra firma again. I'm going to swing by Point Hope Shipyard today to see if I can get the scoop -- I can't imagine where else it would have been going!

A NEW DAWN and all that .... :-)

For the record .... I'm not one of those Canadians who believes that we've 'sold out' to the U.S, or that our government is just a 'puppet' to the U.S. president's wishes. Maybe I'm just naive....

But I *am* one of those Canadians -- and there were, no doubt, millions -- who was glued to the television last night watching an historic moment, and being pretty excited about what was unfolding on the screen.

I'll even admit that I got teared up, too, when the camera showed Jesse Jackson, and then Oprah, in the victory party audience in Chicago ... crying. What an amazing, amazing time it must be for millions of African-Americans ... and for all Americans.

And, naive or not, I went to sleep last night feeling a little more peaceful, a little safer in an increasingly unsafe world. I completely agree with Jackson, who said Obama "will make America a better nation ... and make the world more secure."

Sitting barely on the other side of the longest unprotected border in the world, I like that idea.

And that's probably the most political you'll ever hear me on this blog.

On the other hand, I have socks...

Lorna's Laces, 'camoflage' colorway, a perfect stocking stuffer for a certain almost-ten-year-old 'cool dude' grandson I know and love.

And I'll probably have enough yarn left over for a smaller pair for his little brother! :-)