Knitting projects, musings and life in a Canadian National Park

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Archives
Archives

Sunday, October 29

Sabby was smiling on Friday night - the start of another weekend! I was smiling all day Friday because when I went to get the mail mid-morning, I got this:

Now Ande had mentioned this package was coming my way, but I was thrilled that it arrived on Friday and I didn't have to wait over the weekend for all its Roguey goodness:

Crappy photo of me (but who knows, maybe I -do- look like that all day at work!), but it captures the gorgeous green-ness of Mr. Rogue perfectly. Yummy yum. I wore him from that point on, only taking it off once home to get out of my uniform, then it went right back on again. I'm wearing it right now!

The big fella was working yesterday, so I set up the tripod to get a better photo of the Rogue. That pic above you have to imagine the Reitman's commercial music going through your head. I was being goofy.

And the fabulously cabled hood:

Somehow I don't think these pics convey the utter delight I have in receiving this sweater as a gift. Ande, you truly rock and are a great friend! Thanks soooo much! (gush, gush!)

[happy sigh]

Some other things I got in the mail: from Elann, the ever-elusive Fall Interweave Knits. I looked everywhere in three provinces for this damn magazine. While I was ordering, I also got the Holiday 2006 issue. And this fabulous book:

It is full of simply breathtaking designs - the colourwork is amazing. I was instantly drawn to this design:

the rainbow jacket, designed by Kari Hestnes. My photo of the book page doesn't show the glorious rich colour details.

However, I am still plugging away on my crochet ripple afghan. I am working on ball #9 of 14+4. It's not difficult, it's just going to take some time to double-crochet those skeins into ripples. I want to concentrate on completing this project, then I'll get back to my socks and embark on something new!

While I was blog-surfing the other day I saw Rachael had finished a lovely new sweater - a gorgeous version of the seamless hybrid. I followed the link on her page to Brooklyn Tweed's version. Hey, I said to myself, I have that Elizabeth Zimmermann book, Knitting Without Tears. So I got it out and was looking at the recipe for the seamless hybrid. (I also googled it and here's some results.)

One of the conversations we had while on our yarn crawl in Vancouver with the ever-fabulous Ande was the big fella commenting that I buy all this yarn and yet I never make him anything. Well, other than the various hats, mitts, gloves, scarves and the 20+ pairs of socks in his drawer. I pointed out that the big fella specifically said to me a long time ago to never make him a sweater because he wouldn't wear it. I further remarked that he has several sweaters in his closet (commercially produced) that he does, in fact, wear and that I would love to make him a sweater. Sometime. As soon as I saw Brooklyn Tweed's version of the hybrid, I knew that was the sweater for the big fella. So I told him about it, showed him the pattern in the book and showed him Brooklyn's version. I told him years ago I had specifically bought some nice denimy blue DK weight yarn with a view to making him a sweater. "I love denimy blue" he said. "I love that sweater" he said. Hmm, so we'll see. Once this afghan is out of my hair, I'll give it a go.

The princess is doing well. We spent the day lazing around the house yesterday. With the colder temps we're having, I thought I should get her used to wearing her winter boots. I put one on:

You can practically see the waves of disdain rolling off her. So then I put another one on. She laid like a dead horse and wouldn't move. So I got the liver treats out and she pranced around the living room getting used to wearing them, and getting treats for her efforts. I put her coat on and we went out for a walk with them on and she was fine. I think we may have a bit of drama if I put the rear boots on now (as she's still nursing her sore paw) but in the end she'll be happy and have warm feet. Speaking of the injury:

It's doing well enough that last night, when she crowded me to the end of the couch and was having a bunny-chasing dream, she was able to kick me in the ribs with that foot hard enough to briefly knock the wind out of me, the little darling!

Back to my laundry, and I should really pick up that afghan and work on it some more!

posted by Terri at 10/29/2006 02:17:00 PM (5) comments

Wednesday, October 25

 

the Princess and the Paw

This was taken on Sunday. We took this dressing off and Sabby's toe seems to be doing okay. Before I sat down to write this, I just got back from taking her for her after supper walk. I thought I would wrap it (it's not had any dressing on it since Sunday) to keep it cleaner. I got the supplies out, very carefully and gently wrapped it up, but the Princess still complained and yelped, screamed and gnashed her teeth, even though I wasn't touching anywhere near her sore toe. Can you say ...

D R A M A Q U E E N ?

We went for our walk, the first half of which she hopped along like a kangaroo, refusing to walk on the paw with the bandage. Good grief. After a while she forgot about it when she heard some other dogs barking, thought she saw a squirrel or something and pretty much went full speed down the street, just like before "the injury". More yowling and gnashing of teeth when I removed the bandage, even though it wasn't adhered to anything but itself, etc. etc. We're just going to keep it open, watch to make sure she's keeping it clean so it can heal. Hmm, I notice yesterday at lunch when we were out and she saw her boyfriend, she was leaping all over the place playing with him, tossing her hedgehog in the air and jumping up to catch it. Paw didn't bother her then!

We indulged ourselves in a panini maker on our way home from vacay. We had a couple of fabooo panini sammys in Stanley Park. It's been non-stop panini making since! We like to use a bread with substance - this is three cheese foccacia bread, ham and thuringer, swiss cheese. Ahhh, so good!

I've been working quite diligently on my crocheted ripple afghan. I really want to finish this so I can get back to my knitting. I am almost finished skein #5 (100 g skeins). I had 14 to start with. In measuring and doing some figuring, I need another four balls to make the afghan more rectangular. Its width is 68" and by my calculations, at the end of the 14 skeins, my length would only be ~ 63 inches. So Yarn Fwd to the rescue; four more balls are on their way.

These colours are pretty true to the actual, real life version. It is Patons Decor colour #01694 Autumn Variegation. Anyway, I'm going to work on this exclusively until it's done because 1) I want to be timely in my gift-giving; and 2) I want to finish the damn thing so I can get back to my knitting. Oh and Belinda Stronach, bite me, because I DO sit home on Friday nights and knit. (Well, and every other night of the week, but that's not the point!)

posted by Terri at 10/25/2006 07:26:00 PM (1) comments

Sunday, October 22

 

the week started with such promise ...

and all went to hell.

Friday morning running down the stairs to go out for her walk, Sabrina managed to rip one toe nail right out of her foot; blood everywhere, crying (me), whining (her) and the big fella to the rescue - he took her into the vet where they cleaned it out really good, complimented me on my emergency dressing and then redressed it. We're supposed to change the dressing daily, let it air out if she's just laying around and after two or three days discontinue the dressing.

I was a wreck when I went to work on Friday; I called the big fella after an appropriate amount of time for him to have travelled the one hour to the vet. He was sitting in McDonalds having breakfast before he took her in. I exclaimed that my baby could be bleeding to death, but she was asleep in the back seat, he thought he'd have to wait quite a while at the vet's and was hungry. [shrug] Anyway, he called me back a little later, they were able to get her in right away, she cried and howled the entire time, but she was fine. The nail should grow back.

My various attempts at dressing have not been that successful. However, that is one skill that I hope I don't need to perfect. Yesterday morning's attempt was far from the svelte and compact version the vet had created. Instead I ended up giving the poor dog a club foot. I redid it a few hours later and it ended up being too loose and was slipping off her foot when we went out for the mid-day pee break. Last night's was a little better.

It ended up being a crazy week!

Work was okay, bearing in mind the backlog of being away from my office for three weeks. I would have rather still stayed home, but it was ... okay. Midweek the big fella discovered that one of my bikes in the garage fell off its storage hook and put a dent in my car. Damn it. Sizeable dent and scratched the paint, so we're going to have to get it into the body shop for repairs. He got an estimate when he was in town on Friday; they were going to fax it to his office - probably around $500 for that. That's less than the deductible on our policy.

My big plan to relax more, exercise, eat better, sleep more, etc. etc. which I developed during our fabulous vacation also went all to hell this week. I wasn't organized enough by Tuesday morning, and it just all slipped away as the week progressed. Blech.

Friday night we had a potluck to attend - a farewell to an Australian park warden and his family who came to our park two summers running as an exchange program with Parks Victoria. I rushed home and hurriedly put together a great shepherd's pie, but the goddamn thing spilled over in the oven, smoke filled the house, the smoke alarm was blaring, ugh. So yesterday I had to clean the oven; I hate cleaning the oven.

My plan of spending the weekend doing the laundry, and not much else but relaxing and working on this crocheted afghan hasn't panned out yet. Yesterday was tending to the dog's paw, cleaning the oven, cleaning the basement (which needed tidying and vacuuming) and then while I was down there, I tackled the yarn room. It needed a good straightening out and culling. I have a couple of big batches of yarn to give to my sister and I reorganized and labelled all the other yarn I'm keeping. And I have my little fab yarn corner here in my computer room as well. All I need to do is find more time to actually knit!

The crochet ripple afghan is coming along. My intended deadline has been brought forward somewhat, but I'll just keep plugging away at it and when it's done, I'll give it to the intended recipient. I like the pattern, it's nice and easy to remember and makes a really nice afghan. I'll get a photo soon.

posted by Terri at 10/22/2006 09:36:00 AM (5) comments

Tuesday, October 17

 

be it ever a hovel, there's no place like home

We got home Saturday night to our little house. While we had a fantastic trip (and my work conference before that was great), it really is nice to get home. Going back to work today - meh, not so much! Sunday and yesterday were spent cleaning, doing laundry, getting settled back in after three weeks away. I finished off some other little chores tonight after work. Now I hope to get back into a new and improved daily routine.

The princess sleeps. She was no doubt overwrought by the downturn in her circumstances, going from our fabulous five-star accommodation in Vancouver to a double bed at the Accent Inn in Kelowna. Poor thing. She was, however, such a great little traveler and did so very well. I would take her anywhere. Today, however, she was a little whiney as I went back to work and the big fella (while off the rest of the week) had some things to do away from the house and she pouted. She'll get back into her routine as well.

The yarn I acquired at The Loom in Duncan, BC. Man, I love that store. Oh, the Bernat camouflage is not from there. I got that at the Ucluelet Co-op. I love the colours. I'll figure out something to make with it (they only had five balls of it). And in the lower right is the beautiful turquoise SandnesGarn "Alfa" chunky weight. The photo doesn't do the colour justice. And I bought enough of that for a beautiful sweater for me. And all those glorious skeins of sock yarn.

As I always do, coming back from vacation, I have a new outlook on what's important to me, I reorganize my priorities and commitments, and also figure out what do I want to do around the house, etc. I bought a couple of neat plastic tub storage systems to store some of my yarn. And in the coming weeks I'll have to get down to the yarn room in the basement and tidy and organize that. It's in disarray. I have two banker boxes of sock yarn (mostly) sitting in a corner in my computer room and can't remember what's in there. So the clear plastic tubs will help me with that - and they're nice to look at!

I spent most of today going through my email at work. By the end of the day I had tamed it somewhat and while it was a little overwhelming when I logged on, it is completely manageable now.

Weather is quite a bit cooler here than on our vacation. I have been trying to find the right combination of wardrobe pieces for Sabrina. Last night she didn't want to walk very far; I put her red fleece sweater on her and she was warm in her core, but her ears were very cold. Tonight I put on her head muff and her heavy fleece jacket and that was too warm. Tomorrow I'll try the red sweater and the head muff and see how she likes that. Last night was windy and about -4°C; tonight calmer but still about -5C. I can only imagine when it's 30 below and the wind is howling. I predict she'll be very prompt about taking care of business and scurrying back into the house.

posted by Terri at 10/17/2006 07:49:00 PM (1) comments

Wednesday, October 11

 

we had the BEST TIME EVER in Vancouver!

I've been trying for three days to sit down and post some more photos, etc. Sunday was the big fella and my 18th wedding anniversary. After taking Sabrina out for her morning walk, we had a lazy morning in our luxurious king-size suite at the hotel, a delicious breakfast, then we blasted over to pick up Ande for some yarn shopping, etc.

We had such a great day - I was sad the next day when I woke up and realized that we couldn't do it all over again. Poor Ande had to work on Monday. Anyway, we got me some Blunnies which I have been wearing since - they are FAB! Then we found a dog bakery where Sabrina charmed the staff, scored some yummy turkey treats, and scored a new squeaky toy.

The big fella felt that the many, many pedestrians down 4th Avenue that Thanksgiving Sunday were smiling and smirking at him, his skinny dog and her bright pink squeaky pig. Heeee!

Anyway, new boots on my feet, new squeaky for my dog, we pressed on. We hit Homecraft Importers, one of my favourite yarn stores, and I bought some really great yarns. (I also scored BIG at The Loom in Duncan on the previous Friday). Then we traveled on and went to Urban Yarns which is a fabulous yarn store. More yarn found a new home. I was so pleased with the wide variety of yarn they carried.

This is the Vancouver yarn. The Duncan yarn was securely wrapped up and stowed in the trunk for pack-ability, but there was some gorgeous sock yarns and some Alfa yarn in beautiful turquoise for a sweater for me. I can't wait to get home and open it all up and think about what I'll make with it all. The best part of yarn shopping was having a great friend along for the day. Fondling the yarn, looking at the pattern books and the shop samples - it soooo beats shopping online for yarn!

We made a few stops at the butcher, the market and the boozer to get supplies for supper. Ande had a great new recipe to try for Deep Dish Shepherd's Pie, but we had to alter it just a bit and we put mashed potatoes (mashed with butter, of course) on top as well. It turned out so good and was sooooo tasty! I ate like a pig.

and it had all been going so well ...

While we girls were busy in the kitchen and the big fella gone back to the hotel to retrieve my knitting which he forgot to put in the car when we were leaving, Sabrina, Sarah and Ella amused themselves. Monk, Ande's big grey shit disturbing cat had been terrorizing Sabby a bit. For the most part she was doing so well and in fact would go out of her way to ignore Monk. But he must have moved a little too fast, and boom, that ol' prey drive kicked in and there was an altercation. Heh. So we muzzled her until we could keep an eye on things once supper was in the oven.

I did finish knitting the intarsia skull pony tail hat. This was a good prototype. I learned many things. Number one, I hate intarsia. Love fair isle, but intarsia, meh, pretty much hate it. Number two, I should have started the graph immediately above the ribbing as it sits too high on the head where it is now. Three, I should have shaped the top more, perhaps shaping it like a sock toe. In any event, it is still a cute hate and my long-haired friend can pull her pony tails through the custom-designed pony tail ports on the top of the hat. [Imagine those white squigglies as the pony tails]

More greyt goodness:

Ella at her finest!

Competing at the synchronized urination station, Sarah and Sabrina:

Share the greyhound love! (and pardon my belly full of fab shepherd's pie!)

Ah, just looking at the pictures bring it all back!

This photo of Sabby just cracks my shit up. She looks like some religious iconic image. All that's missing is the rays of enlightenment shining down from the heavens!

The view from our suite:

On Monday, while poor Ande had to work, the big fella, Sabrina and I walked around Stanley Park. I mean we walked around it. Counting to and from the parking area and the seawall, etc. it was about 10 km. It took us about 2.5 hours including a stop at a concession stand for the best panini sandwiches we've had in a long time. Sooo good!

We spent a quiet night in, then Tuesday morning had to pack up, check out and head up the road to Kelowna for three days of relative-visitin' before we head for home. It was pretty hard saying goodbye to Ande and Vancouver, but I know we'll be back again next year!

posted by Terri at 10/11/2006 11:41:00 PM (4) comments

Sunday, October 8

 

stuffed!

We had a fabooo day, but am too tired, too full and too happy to do anything more than curl up in bed with my knitting. We took the hounds out for a nice walk after supper and it was the perfect end to a great day.

posted by Terri at 10/08/2006 10:55:00 PM (1) comments

 

feast!

We got checked into our beautiful hotel suite yesterday, then headed over to Ande's place for a visit before heading out to the Memphis Blues BBQ where we proceeded to stuff ourselves beyond oblivion. Anyway, we had a good visit before we headed out and with the exception of Buddy, I got everyone in this photo (appropriately labelled). Sabby did very well with Monk and Buddy - didn't try to eat them, in fact usually avoided them, except when Monk started darting around. But it was overall good.

I was really sorry that Sabrina felt so ill at ease at Ande's place. Snerk! She took over, lazed around on the dog beds, played with all the squeakies, etc. She even went to clean out Sarah and Ella's dog dishes after they'd finished eating, but there wasn't a crumb to be found.

Oh yeah, the food:

Must go yarn shopping now!

posted by Terri at 10/08/2006 11:36:00 AM (0) comments

Saturday, October 7

 

in transit

back to the big city of Vancouver to hook up with Ande and her guy. We'll be in the city three nights and I'm really excited for it!

Intense concentration on my intarsia skull; Sabby, meanwhile is not bothered at all. More knitting photos later!

posted by Terri at 10/07/2006 11:12:00 AM (0) comments

Thursday, October 5

 

there's something wrong with my sunroof!

Much cooler today than yesterday, but we still went out for a good long beach walk - Florencia Bay this time. Yesterday we walked Wickeninish Beach but it was t-shirt weather.

My yarn store disappointment continues. I have pulled a list of Vancouver yarn stores off the internets and unfortunately the great majority of them are closed Sunday and Monday, the only two days I had available to do a yarn crawl. We won't get into Van soon enough on Saturday to do so. Bummer. But ... I might get to go to a fantastic one tomorrow in Duncan, so here's hoping!

posted by Terri at 10/05/2006 08:19:00 PM (2) comments

Wednesday, October 4

 

more relaxation and! knitting!

After three nights in our cosy cottage, I think I am now officially unwound. Any thoughts I may have had of work have been very fleeting at most, non-existent at best. We've enjoyed long lazy walks on the beaches, afternoon naps with the sun streaming in the window of our cottage loft and a schedule of doing whatever we damn well please whenever we want.

Here are my current wips. I am surprised that I'm not freaked out about having FOUR on the go. Usually I have one pair of socks (always) and some other project, but never four. Strangely, I find I'm okay with this. Maybe having this many takes the pressure off (that I put on myself) to work on one project to a hasty completeion. Anyway, there's three pairs of socks in there plus this hat project I've just started. The socks on the left are Regia 6-ply "crazy color"; the ones at the top are some Regia 4-ply (for me) and the ones on the lower right are 4-ply ... hmm, I don't remember, but I think it's Lana Grossa Meilenweit tweed something. I could look around and find the colour numbers, but I'm on holidays and don't feel like it. Heh.

On an episode of NCIS, Abby the goth forensic tech had on this awesome skull hat (you can see some screen caps here). I got an idea for a cool hat idea from that but this is a little different. Hers was red and grey stripes, with the skull superimposed on the stripes. I'm doing mine in black with the skull neon green. The hat has two holes in the top for pony tails to be pulled through. Now my hair certainly isn't long enough for pony tails, but I have a friend whose is, so she'll end up being the recipient of this experiment. I'm working it flat because of the colour work - intarsia - that is only on the front of the hat.

Yesterday morning we walked Combers Beach - it was so soothing to walk along the hard-packed sand, the surf roaring in our ears. Sabby loved it. She spazzed out a little bit on the soft sand nearer the forest, but she always does that. I think it harkens back to her racing days when the turn out pen and indeed the track was sand. But she's perfect on the hard packed sand near the water.

We made a point of heading out on the wild pacific trail to find a spot to watch the sun set last night. We were getting settled in when a couple came into the same little alcove we were in. I was busy trying to take a photo but when I turned I discovered it was my cousin and her husband - over on the island for a little get away. Weird. I hadn't seen her for years and years, but they recognized us right away. Small world, indeed.

I was quite disappointed to discover that the yarn store in Ucluelet has gone out of business. I don't know if I'll be able to hit any stores this trip. We're travelling on Friday and Saturday, and when we're in Vancouver it's going to be over the Thanksgiving weekend, so I'll bet most of the stores will be closed. Damn it. I'll have to gather phone numbers and start calling to see who will be open when. For me to return home from vacation without yarn is unheard of!

posted by Terri at 10/04/2006 11:40:00 AM (1) comments

Monday, October 2

 

unwinding

We are on the pacific rim and today I can say I definitely feel like I'm unwinding. Not quite unwound, but getting there.

We had a lazy morning in our cosy little waterfront cottage and then went for a drive. We pulled into Long Beach and took Sabrina for her first "pacific rim beach walk". We still haven't perfected the no-self-timer self portrait, but we just missed it by a nose. Heh.

It was a beautiful day here; 14E C and brilliant blue sky.

I just found out that while our cottage/cabin has no phone (even though a line is jacked in - but no actual connection) I can go to the office and via wifi can upload pics and check my email. So I'm sitting here in my cute little cottage typing, then I'll walk across the parking lot and jump online and upload the entry there.

As if having three socks-in-progress wasn't enough, I also started this hat project I've been thinking about. I have only just cast on and did two or three rows of the hem. Pic progress when it's warranted.

And now I'm back to my unwinding ...

posted by Terri at 10/02/2006 06:54:00 PM (2) comments