Close to my Heart

Happy Valentine's Day

Well the past week has not been the best.  It started with the dentist appointment (which went really well thanks to the miracle that is laughing gas), then I got home to find this lovely package in the mail:

My first installment in a sock club ever! This is the January Politcially Incorrect Sock Club from Sugarbee studios.  Gorgeous yarn and a lovely pattern from Picnicknits. The picture doesn't capture the beautiful purpleness of this yarn.  It is however not superwash, so I think I will use it for something other than socks, I'm just not into hand washing socks.

I thought it was great having a reward waiting for me for being a good girl at the dentist, and went on to have a lovely evening.  Things changed around bed time when I started to feel kind of icky.  I didn't sleep much that night, and it soon became evident that I had an awful case of the flu.  Tuesday was spent in bed, sicker than I have ever been.  Wednesday was slightly better, and I got better gradually through Thursday and Friday.

At one point, Joe went out to get me the things I need when I am sick.  While at the grocery store, he picked up this lovely get well rose plant for me. 

What a guy eh?

Thankfully, I'm feeling much better today, and was able to make it over to Fun Knits with some of my knitting pals. There was a big sale on, and I scored BIG!!!!

Now I feel better!

Goal Accomplished

I'm happy to report that !

A few observations:

I couldn't have done it without Typepad's post scheduling feature.  It made it easy for me to write my posts when I had the time so that they could be scheduled for busy work days.  And since I was away the last few days, there was no way I would have been able to complete all my posts without this handy feature.

I had no trouble coming up with things to say.  This part kind of surprised me, actually!  It is however debatable as to whether or not my readers thought my posts were worthwhile, but at this point, all but one post had a comment from a reader.

Less is easier.   Previously, I would get overwhelmed about writing a long post and then would procrastinate and not post for a while.  It is so much easier to write less more often.  Some of the more brief posts took just minutes to write.

Will I continue this daily blogging thing?  Um, no.  Even though as I mentioned, blog topics weren't too hard to come up with, the daily blogging thing did become tiring and somewhat of a chore.  So I will not be blogging every day in December (I do have some Christmas knitting and other holiday preparation that will be keeping me busy) however I will still be blogging.  Look for more frequent posts than prior to NaBloPoMo, albeit more brief ones.  I'll be back in a few days with more knitting updates.  And I really need to spend some quality time with my wheel too, it's been about three weeks I think.  Hopefully I'll have some spinning to report here soon as well.

Local Culture

Those of you that have read my blog for a while know that I take a great interest in culture and diversity, both my own and that of others.  In the area that I live in, a big part of the culture is that of our Aboriginal Peoples.  This past week, as part of my job, I had the privilege of attending a two day conference on this culture.  It was a very interesting couple days.  Part of the agenda was learning more about the Aboriginal Culture's crafting traditions, and included some hands on learning.  I chose to learn about cedar weaving.  I made this coaster, which clearly has lots of mistakes:

My other project was making an item that I had long admired, a cedar bracelet.  I received more help on this one, and therefore, it turned out a lot better:

Oh, and the new Typepad platform....I think I love it, much easier to resize and format images.

Have a good weekend everyone! 

Want to warp

Yesterday, I made a trip over to Fun Knits.  Rona, a new friend from my knitting group came with me, and it was really nice to have company.  It's always a bit of an adventure going over to my favourite LYS, given the ferry ride and the brief walk up the hill to the store.  The main reason that I wanted to venture over was to check out Shelley's Ashford Knitters Loom to determine whether or not I should ask Santa for one.  Shelley showed me the loom, and also showed me her Louet loom:

This loom looks rather scary in comparison to the simpler Ashford loom, but it certainly is much more versatile, whereas the Ashford loom offers little room to grow with experience.  As a result, I left feeling that I need to do much more research before purchasing a loom.  I want a loom that will not be overwhelming to use (the idea of warping terrifies me somewhat), and I want a fairly small table loom as I don't have a lot of extra space.  Any ideas and suggestions gratefully appreciated.

My Favourite Thing

Once again my inspiration for today's blog entry comes from the Meghan and the Stitch It Podcast.  For those of you who don't listen to her, every episode features her Favourite Thing.

As far as my hairstyle goes, I'm definitely a wash and wear kind of girl.  Part of this is due to the fact that I'm not a morning person, and fussing with my hair is the last thing I want to do with my hair.  That being said, I do want my hair to look half decent, and from time to time, want to change up my hairstyle.  The changing hairstyle thing often occurs during a change of season, as is occurring right now.

My hair is quite full of body, and in my younger days, was poker straight.  Of course during that time (the Seventies) everyone wanted curly hair, and I was no exception, mine was always permed.  As I have become older, my hair has developed lots of waves, but of course now, straight hair is more in vogue. 

My hairdresser always uses a flat iron on my hair, and the other women at work have been talking about the virtues of the flat iron lately, so I decided I'd give it a try too.  Earlier this week, I brought home my BaBylis Pro 2569C, and immediately plugged it in to give it a try.  Love. It.  Joe loves my new look, and I've been receiving complements about my new do without even having had a hair cut.  And once my hair is dry, it only requires about five minutes or less of attention.  So that is my favourite thing for today.

No picture of my newly styled locks to show you (that would require way too much effort on this first day of my long weekend).  Instead I will leave you with a link to Test Your Hairstyle IQ.  I'm also curious to know how much time others take with their hairstyle.  Are you the wash and wear type, or do you go to extra effort with styling tools and hair product? 

Autumn Splendor

Note:  Picture heavy post follows.  Click on each picture to embiggen (I thought I would never use that word that I really don't think is a word, but there you go).

I'm normally not a big fan of autumn, it usually makes me feel sad that spring and summer, my favourite seasons, are over.  Some of this comes from previously having lived in the cold climes of Northern British Columbia, because I am really fortunate to live further south in the so called banana belt of Canada.  Nevertheless, it is also called the "Wet Coast," and all that rain can be downright depressing.

This year may however have changed my thinking.  We have had a glorious autumn this time around, lots of bright sunny days, and the foliage is completely breathtaking.  This was particularly evident during a trip to a pumpkin farm last week.

One of the things that I've always wanted to do is to go on a hay ride.  I finally was able to have this wish granted.  Not only was I able to go on a hayride, but participate in feeding sheep.  Look how excited they are to see food approaching them:

I'm sure my companions thought it a bit odd how excited I became over sheep!

I love this picture capturing the serenity of the sheep with the beautiful foliage in the background:

And lots of foliage, it was actually difficult to pick just a few pictures to share here.  I had fun trying to photograph the beauty, which truly cannot be fully captured.

Not only did the pretty autumn colours abound, but in the other direction, the ocean:

Such a gorgeous location, and a wonderful place to spend part of an afternoon. 

Thankful

There is a contest over at the Stitch It podcast where listeners are invited to share what they are thankful for.  This post Thanksgiving week, it seemed appropriate to share my entry here too.  I am of course thankful for family, health, living in a beautiful part of the world, and all that usual stuff. Today however as I'm preparing to attend a weekend spinning retreat, my entry was more along the Fiber culture end of things.  Here it is:

I’m thankful for all the awesome folk in the knitting and fiber community. I am thankful for the fiber friends I’ve made all over the world, most of whom I’ll never meet in real life. I’m thankful for the friends I’ve met online who I have been fortunate to meet in person and who’s friendship I’ve come to appreciate and value. I’m thankful that I can attend a fiber event and be completely happy and re-energized as a result. And I’m thankful for my local knitting group, a vibrant, talented, funny group of ladies that I look forward to spending time with each week.

I actually feel badly for the people who are not part of this community, they are missing out on so very much!

Park It

We have so far had a most lovely Victoria Day long weekend here.  Seems like nice weather on a long weekend rarely go together, which somehow makes this one even nicer. 

Last summer, Joe decided to make a fish pond, something he has wanted to do for a long time.  Well the fish pond blossomed into our own private park like setting, including cement walkways, and at my request, a cement patio where I can enjoy the fresh air, listen to my ipod, and play with fiber.  This weekend was the first weekend we've really been able to enjoy our "park," since it was pretty much fall by the time it was completed last year.  I think it will give us lots of enjoyment this summer, and it feels like we have really increased our living space as well.  I thought I would share some pictures with you today:

And over on the patio from my new favourite knitting spot, my current somewhat neglected sock WIP enjoys the pond:

I've joined the and I think this will be a great summer sock knitting spot.  Hopefully the combination of the KAL and a great new knitting spot will bring my sock knitting mojo back.  I've only completed one pair so far in 2008, when normally I knit a pair of month.  But lets face it, what with paper crafting and my recent spinning obsession, knitting overall has suffered a lot in 2008.

Another good thing about our Park is that since it is fenced, the kitties can enjoy it.  Normally our cats stay indoors (our street is too busy)however they can now enjoy the great outdoors under our supervision.  They have been a little timid, but overall, really enjoyed it today.  I love this action shot I got of Buttons:

Frisbee was much more timid so I wasn't able to get a good picture of him. Whenever I pointed the camera in his direction, he ran back into the house.  I will keep trying however, because now that Buttons is back on the blog, Frisbee must appear as well!

Back from the City

Arrived safely home from Vancouver this afternoon.  Had a great visit with my sister, but am glad to be home now.  I did lots of shopping (of course!) visited three different yarn stores, ate great ethnic food, and connected with old friends (two university friends I hadn't seen in about 23 years, and a former co-worker who moved away and I hadn't seen in 9 years).  I'll show you my fiber acquisitions another day, but for now, I leave you with my traveling sock enjoying the view from my sister's 25th floor downtown Vancouver condo.

Rainy, Relaxing Weekend

What a difference a week makes!  Last week I was blogging about our wonderful summer weather.  Not long after I wrote that post, things changed.  It's been overcast, rainy, and yucky ever since.   Sadly, I'm back to wearing my flannel nightgown again, which I think is just SO WRONG for almost the end of July.  Sigh.  I even dug some soup out of the freezer for dinner tonight, one shouldn't be eating hot soup this time of year either.  I think I'll be casting on for Kauni very soon (maybe it will indeed be necessary to knit a wool cardi during the summer months), I finally printed out the pattern while at a friend's house this afternoon.  Our Epson printer seems to have bit the dust, and a Google search revealed problems with ink clogs for this particular printer.  Printer recommendations, preferably for those that use inexpensive cartridges and/or cartridges that can be refilled would be much appreciated.

In an attempt to allow Mother Nature to mock me yet again, I FINALLY have blocked the Pinwheel Cardigan that I finished knitting almost a month ago. 

As much as I am looking forward to wearing this, I'd much rather it be too hot for even a cotton cardi!

Well I'm really not as miserable as I sound here!  At least lousy weather provides a perfect excuse to stay inside and relax, and that is what I've done today.  I'm past the gusset decreases and therefore on the home stretch of my current sock WIP.  And I just frogged the Sweatermaker Yarn that I bought at last year's Filberg Festival, and immediately abandoned because I didn't like the pattern I had started with it, and am about to cast on for Shelley's Squiggle Shawl  instead.  I recently read the brochure for this year's festival and that reminded me of this lovely abandoned yarn.

It's been a long time since I've shown kitty pictures here.  Frisbee has just been so cute the last few days, and I've been able to capture his cuteness with my digicam.  First, here he is in one of his favourite sleep spots, next to my big stuffed lion. 

The way he often thunders around this house, I'm sure he fancies himself as a mighty lion!  He also can't resist planting himself on top of my clothes, seen here just before I was going to hang them up last night:

So tired, and so cute!

Better go check on that soup now.  Hope you're having a good weekend, and I hope the weather is better where you are then here on the Wet Coast!