DROWNING IN WOOL

Quite often, at our Knit'n'Cafe afternoons, men (alone or in pairs or groups)wander in to the restaurant, and we always, half-joking, invite them to join us. Last Friday was no different, and when Esther said to a well-dressed middle-aged man who walked by us, "Didn't you bring your knitting?", the fellow responded with, "Well, no, I didn't, but I could certainly supply you with all your wool!"

We all gasped and said (simultaneously, I'm sure)"WHAT?" and his reply was, "I own a large sheep farm, and when we shear, we end up THROWING OUT the fleece because we found NOBODY WANTS IT. I'm shearing FORTY-FOUR sheep tomorrow."

Well, it took about 4 seconds to convince him NOT to throw out those fleeces, that we were quite sure we could, well, you know, find a use for them...

So I drove out to said sheep farm today to collect our wool.

This is my van...


This is my van on wool ...


And tomorrow I have to go back and pick up ANOTHER 15 bags -- and the stuff is Corriedale and Suffolk. Not too shabby, huh?

Got yarn?

I got ... black wool ...

And I got ... white wool ...

And I even got some gorgeous silvery wool ...


What's a knitter to DO?

I sent an email message out to my Guild membership list, and we'll see what happens... but I DID say I wanted to learn to spin this year, didn't I?

FINALLY, SOME PROGRESS PHOTOS

So yesterday I finally made it down to the water with my knitting AND my camera AND some daylight ... and didn't have to run off anywhere quickly.

First of all, it's soon to be the start of the herring season, and boats like this are heading north in droves...

I'm hoping my sister will call me as soon as she knows anything about the fishery opening so I can drop everything and drive up-Island again to witness it. Meanwhile, knitterly things are happening....

The Secret of the Stole is midway through Clue #6, so I took it out to play ...

And the shawl I've been working on for Threads of Compassion is finished. It's a slubby cotton with a multi-coloured slubby cotton for accents. My friend Barb from the Guild said just looking at it made her smile, and I agree!


I read Leanne's blog regularly (It's not in the sidebar links because she doesn't post regularly) and yesterday I LOVED what she had to say!

Today I'm up for a haircut, more knitting on the Secret Stole and who knows where else the day will lead? I'll keep you posted!

THE 2008 VICTORIA FIBREFEST

The 2008 Victoria FibreFest will take place this year from June 20th - 22nd, and it's shaping up to be a fabulous event once again.

Quadra Island's FUN KNITS YARN SHOP is on board again as this year's major sponsor, and I'm really excited about working with Shelley Mackie and her team again to make this year's event lots of fun for all of us!

My special guest this year will be Vancouver-based designer extra-ordinaire SIVIA HARDING, and I'm also really excited about that! I had admired Sivia's work for some time when I finally got to meet her at a Victoria Knitter's Guild workshop a few years ago, and I've been watching her career blossom, all over the globe, ever since! Sivia will have some of her work in the Friday night fashion show, she'll teach a class on Saturday afternoon, be our guest speaker on Saturday night, and then be with us all day at the Market and Knit-Out in Saxe Point Park on Sunday. You can read more about Sivia, and check out her amazing designs, at SiviaHarding.com.

Many details are yet to be worked out, but this year's format will be similar to last year's: a dinner and fashion show on Friday night, classes and a 'Yarn Crawl' on Saturday during the day, our guest speaker in the evening, and the Saxe Point 'grand finale' on Sunday. For more information, and to find out how you can participate (or sponsor the event), check out communityknitters.com .

Mark the dates on your calender now, and please forward this message or pass it on to anyone you think might be interested in the 2008 Victoria FibreFest -- thanks!

SAME GREAT LIFE, DIFFERENT BEACHES

Our trip to Parksville was lovely ... we really enjoy these little road trips. We always meander our way up the Island ... stop for gas just south of Duncan (because it's usually about 5 cents a litre cheaper than here in Victoria), stop at the veggie market, and in addition to much veggies, we often pick up deli items to have a picnic at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith ...

The view to the left...

The view to the right over the amphitheatre and the 'logger sports' pole...

Then we checked out a couple of our favorite second-hand shops between Ladysmith and Qualicum Beach, and ended up at one of our favorite beach-watching spots, right beside the Tourist Info place in Qualicum. To our left, that's Denman and Hornby Islands in the distance...

And right across the Strait of Georgia and to our right is Lasqueti Island (and beyond that is Texada) ...

We spent the night at our friends (and got soundly trounced in euchre, as always, lol) and then took the beach blanket to my sister Julie. It looks great as a cover for her daybed!

Sunday we meandered our way back down the Island to Victoria, and caught this beautiful sunset from Saxe Point Park before we drove home to the marina. . .


Much knitting took place, as always, and I don't have a thing to show for it -- I'll post pics of the two shawls I'm working on soon, I swear!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL

58 years ago today a new baby boy came into the world, and his parents named him Michael William.

He was destined to have a sad childhood, being brought up in a home full of hatred, alcoholism, unpredictability and violence. In spite of that, he managed to keep the spirit of love alive in himself ... and (lucky for me) I've been the primary recipient of that loving spirit as his wife for over 30 years now. Lucky for Michael, the second half of his life has been much 'fuller' than the first -- he's absolutely adored by our three children (who are all adults now), three grandsons, and ... well ... pretty much everyone who knows him.


He's the kindest, nicest, gentlest, most easy-going man I've ever known, and he's my best friend. Let me give you an example of how this guy works...

We have an agreement, of sorts, about the 'division of labour' in our lives. He's having the time of his life taking care of our almost-two-year-old grandson Gibson, so that's what he does, three days a week. I work from home, and I'm involved in various volunteer and community projects (lest ye think all I ever do is sit around and knit, or drive to beaches and knit!), so, on those days, domestic duties fall to me

Well, the other day I had been particularly busy for the few days prior, and I hadn't done our dishes. There they were, soaking in the sink, still, after two days. On the morning of the third day, I pulled the last clean cup out of the cupboard to pour Michael his morning coffee, and I said, "Guess I really better get those dishes done this morning," to which he replied (without missing a beat), "Well, we can always buy new cups..." :-)

Happy, happy birthday, Michael!

IMPOSSIBLE

This 'Secret of the Stole' that I'm knitting (see sidebar for more info) is now 152 stitches wide, with about a kazillion yarn-overs and knit-2-togethers and slip-slip-knits on each row. I've taken to counting the stitches before I start the row, stitch-marking every 12 stitches or so (basically after every repeat), and then re-counting the stitches again at the end of each row. This makes each and every row very tedious and slow, but very, v-e-r-y accurate.

How is it possible, then, that I discover a row with only 151 stitches in it, after all that? And then I tink it back, only to discover that the row BEFORE that row isn't right, either, so I tink THAT row back, too. Only to discover that THREE rows back I MISSED a yarn-over ... right after the 7th stitch at the beginning of the row. It doesn't seem possible -- and it's happened twice this week. Aaarrgggghhhh..... the joys of lace knitting!

Oh, well, I'll take it along on a little road trip today. We are going up-Island (to the Parksville-Qualicum Beach area, about a 2-hour drive) to deliver my 'beach blanket' to its new home with my sister, and then to Susan and Sri's ...


... to celebrate Michael's soon-to-be birthday with dinner and an evening of euchre (during which the'battle-of-the-sexes' card game generally ends in complete humiliation for us women..d'ya think the guys cheat?)

I'm looking forward to all of it!

THE VIEW FROM HERE

It's been a long day!

First thing this morning, I drove Michael and Rennie to the Pippin, which was already up 'on the hard' getting surveyed when we arrived...


I left them there because Wednesday is Guild day, and I had some serious knitting to do. :) On my way home I stopped at Clover Point and just as I parked, my cell phone rang - it was Rennie saying Pippin was back in the water, all well, and that they'd just cleared Enterprise Channel en route 'home' to the harbour. Sure enough, I looked up from my knitting and there they were, just off the lighthouse! I told Rennie to come close to the point so I could get a picture ... that's my husband waving from the bow!

By the time we all got back to the marina (them sailing, me driving) the sun was still out and the day young, so we decided to go for our first dinghy ride of 2008. The skipper was acting camera-shy...

But we cruised through the Inner Harbour to see the sights...



And just when we thought we'd seen it all, we saw this - tied up under the Ship's Point jetty:

Then we passed the Amy Usen -- a 90' fishboat built in 1966 -- and got back to the marina just before supper.

Ended the day by watching the eclipse .... beautiful! Here's a pic from the water of the very beginning of it (taken with my cell phone, not great quality):

Somewhere in all that fun, I managed to knit at least 6 rows on the Threads of Compassion shawl, AND 4 or 5 rows on the Secret of the Stole. All in all, a pretty productive day!