Twice a month, and holding steady

Well, I'm still not knitting a lot. I've been knitting the same sweater since September, so I've lost all will to blog about it as well.

Spring is here, and its lovely! (Although still very dirty. I'm looking forward to some good, cleansing rain.) And, in the spirit of renewal and change, I've decided to move. I will be moving overseas for a couple of years this summer, and in anticipation of that, I decided I wanted to get rid of a lot of excess weight I've been dragging around with me. The problem is that I'm living on most of it right now. So, I've secured a room to rent for May through August, and I'm starting to move only the things I want to have around over there. I'm undecided after that whether I should have a garage sale or just donate it to people who need it through Freecycle (or leaving it behind my building for people to take, which also works).

Well, I guess that's it for now...

non sequiter

I haven't knit much at all in months. Certainly nothing worth photographing. So I'm writing about other stuff just to keep this alive until the knitting bug comes back.

I have spent an inordinate amount of time looking for kitchen implements that are not available in Canada. I want a microwave popcorn popper (I adore popcorn, but not the oil soaked microwave bag kind). The website says that the company sells its products through Canadian Tire, Walmart, Zellers and Costco in Canada, but I can't find the specific item I want on any of their websites. So I turned to on-line stores, but there aren't any Canadian-based ones, so I will end up paying far more in shipping to get it here than the cost of the product. This is one of the things that regularly annoys me about living in Canada. Oh well, I'm sure I'll eventually pay for the shipping, since I really want the popper.

A few weeks ago, I went through a similar trial looking for a gift for the boy. He wants a rolling pin with the same diameter as a regular rolling pin (about 4") but 1.5 times the length and without handles. I went to three stores here, plus tons of on-line sites, but the closest I came was a pin with handles that I would then need to remove. At around $50, it seemed steep for something that wasn't really what I wanted. I'm going to chat with a cousin who does woodworking about the cost of making the right thing. I may reconsider my price ideas at that time. ;)

Anyway, life is finally quieting down from all the travel. I got stuck in Detroit for one day and then had a hectic week of training (they made me work on Saturday!). But everyone is busy, so I might as well just get on with it.

Home again

I haven't posted as much as I would have hoped these weeks. I suppose I don't have a lot to write when I'm not knitting much and I can't talk about work. I did find that it really was too warm to knit with wool here, which will definitely influence any future packing choices. Cotton was ok, as evidenced by my almost complete dishrag. (of which I don't have any photos)

Anyway, I'll be travelling towards home over the next couple days, and then recuperating over the weekend. Hopefully I won't run into the winter storm watch issued for southern Ontario later today.

The vagaries of packing

Things I brought that I didn’t need

• My cobber – I’m sure it will be great in the hot months, but the weather during the winter months is great here!


• Black socks (See the shoe entry below. Don’t bring black work socks unless you bring actual work shoes, which I failed to do. They look a little funny with my green Tsubo sneaks)


• Lots of books and magazines and knitting (Sadly (in some ways) I haven’t been doing much of any of that. I’ve barely even used my laptop since I’ve had generally good internet access from work and the hotel. Otherwise, I get home from work, go for a late dinner, watch a bit of tv or one of the above, and go to bed.)

Things I should have brought

• More shoes! (or maybe different shoes – I brought 4 pairs of “sporty” shoes and only one pair of dressy shoes – thrown in as an afterthought. But even if the aesthetic is less formal here than at home, wearing sneakers or hiking sandals to meetings is not always appropriate. I need to buy several pairs of flats before any future visits.)


• More pants! (this is just a case of not enough. I only brought three work type pants and a suit, but I’ve had something work-related every day so far. I am here for 18 days, so I’ll wear each pair at least 4 times. This is not helped by the fact that three of them are grey or black. Those colours are warm even when its not 30+ degrees outside!)


• Deodorant (this one should be self explanatory)


• A belt (this should also be self explanatory. It’s really hard to feel professional when you’re worried about your pants falling down. I feel like one of those people I complain about in Canada who are always tugging at their clothes because they don’t fit quite right, and its making me crazy. So maybe the best option would be to just get them tailored. Voila! No more belts)


• Longer shirts (this could also be listed as higher-waisted pants. This is also related to the point above. Abdominal skin is sort of worst possible thing to show here (I mean if bare upper arms are a no-no, you know your stomach shouldn’t be on display), so I’m constantly pulling down shirts and up pants.)
  
• Shawls (who knew they would come in handy in such a hot country? You can get away with wearing a lot of things if you have a shawl to throw over your arms and shoulders when you’re outside. I have a bunch at home (although I think the wool ones will be a bit warm) but I’ll probably buy a bunch more before I leave)

None of these things are crises, just things that might have made life a little easier. Except maybe the deodorant… All I can say is that I'm glad the second list is longer than the first, since it means I didn't lug too much unnecessary stuff.

PS. I have no idea what's happened to the text on my blog. Especially on the side bar, since I haven't touched my template in ages. Unfortunately, I probably won't work through the problem until I get home.

Update

So, what can I say about Khartoum? The weather is really nice right now, hovering in the low- to mid- 30s during the day (according to the thermometer thing in our car). That sounds hot, but it doesn’t feel too bad, since there’s usually a breeze that makes it feel quite nice (although the breeze also often carries sand and grit with it – not so nice). I do understand that April, May and June are the hottest months, with temperatures often in the high 40s. I won’t get to experience that on this trip, but I rarely meet anyone who has lived through a summer here that doesn’t immediately mention the heat when they find out I’ve just arrived.

The driving is mad! There are everything from motorcycles to buses (including these motorized rickshaws, which I haven’t had a chance to ride in yet) all vying for space on the roads. It doesn’t have as much traffic as Cairo, but its close at times, and the general strategy is pretty much to edge yourself into traffic far enough so that somebody has to stop, and then you get to go. There aren’t very many traffic lights, and people don’t always follow the ones there are. Also, there are a number of one way streets, which only complicate matters.

There is an amazing amount of commerce going on. All along the edges of main streets there are fruit and vegetable sellers, bread sellers, even little tea stands that are nothing more than someone with a kettle and a few very short stools. At most intersections there are people selling perfume, cigarettes or candy. Yesterday, I even saw someone hawking a drill set to cars waiting at a light.

This can be an expensive place to live, although it really depends on what you want to buy. A 12 pack of 500 ml bottled water (produced locally) is $3 USD, and something like a 350 g box of Special K (which is far better in the Middle East than it is in Canada, imho) is $8.50 USD.

The weekend here is Friday and Saturday for us, although many offices are open on Saturday as well. The office hours are generally shorter in that case, from 8am to 2:30 or so. I have to admit that the change of schedule is hard to get used to, only because I keep saying the wrong date because I still assume that I start work on Monday.

And the best part so far is all the people I’ve met. I’ve been busy every evening with things to do. I even went to a Valentine’s dance at the International Club on Wednesday night with some people I was introduced to through a friend back home. It was a nice, low-key evening.

Photos

Nile 1


Nile 2


Waterskiing on the Nile


Me, with brick production


Sunset on the Nile


Sunset on the Nile
Originally uploaded by knitter_tara.

I have arrived!

Just a quick message to let everyone know that I have arrived safely. I am in Sudan for work. The flight was long and uneventful (I watched at least three movies!). The hotel I'm staying in is nice. I actually have a fridge and kettle, and a sitting room with a computer! I spent the time I had last night figuring out how to work things. (There's an 8 hour time difference between here and Ottawa. It's currently just after 11 am.) I still can't make the fan in my room actually spin (the lights go on, and it beeps, but no spinning) and I'm not sure I have the air conditioning quite right, but it will all work out.

Khartoum reminds me vaguely of the West Bank, but I'm sure that will change as I get more acquainted with the place. Its mostly a smell, I think, especially at night on the little balcony. I am in the office this morning. I can tell that I'm still tired though, so I've been told to take the afternoon off to sleep so that I can meet many people at the wine and cheese tonight. Hopefully I will have pictures at some point.

Breathless

I found this here, and reading it left me a little breathless.

post for the sake of posting

I am posting just to get into the habit of posting, since I tend to be rather bad at that. I have been knitting, but the Gatsby Girl sweater is taking up a good amount of time. I'm working on the increases on the front piece. I've already finished the back and most of one sleeve.

I would really like to start something new. I've been working on all my current projects for a while, and they're starting to drag a bit. I keep seeing cute knit hats everywhere, and they look like fun. I did actually do a quickie vest in Handmaiden yarns Stretto, but I still haven't seamed it. Soon enough. Apparently I should actually be trying to finish some WIPs, because I have a number of them hanging around.

I will be traveling soon for three weeks. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep posting during that time, but it means I'm going to have to miss our local stitch nights! This Friday I'll be in Wakefield, and on the third Wednesday I will be off in Africa.

Well, the month is only half over

Yeah, so I haven't improved the regularity of my posts at all...

It would appear that I have finally lost one of my favourite sock needles ever. And since they're a set of four, plastic, that I received from my Grandma, I don't think there's any chance of replacing it. (Boo hoo!) Anyway, this leads me to believe that I may want to invest in a knitting bag of some type with an actual closure. Right now I'm using a tote I bought on my trip to Belize. However, when I have 5 projects in it, its pretty full, and the socks were sitting on top during my bus ride out to Kanata yesterday to sit and knit with a bunch of lovely ladies at the Zavida's Coffee in Kanata. While it was nice for a Saturday afternoon, it was a long bus ride. I was lucky enough that a fellow knitter drove me back into town in a fraction of the time.

Well, I promised pictures, so here they are (assuming I can figure out the switch from Hello to Flickr... I think I've got it right.)


tree
This is the tree in my parent's living room. We spent Christmas in my home town with my immediate family and my sister's in-laws. It was a nice, relaxing couple of days, and I took full advantage of the time available for sleeping.

ginger
Then we traveled all over Saskatchewan to visit the extended family. I got to dog sit for my sister's puppy, Ginger (she's 9 months old, and very energetic/excitable), when we were billeted at different houses.

cousin hat
This is the hat I knit for my cousin for the extended family gift exchange. I started on December 26th and finished on the 29th for the exchange on the 30th. The yarn is Patons Decor in three different colours. I doubled the yarn for the ribbing, single strand after that. It was knit flat, the top was cast off using a three needle bind off to make a cross shape (at one point I had 9 needles in use!) and then the seam up the back was sewn up.

boy's shirt
Originally uploaded by knitter_tara.

And this was my final project for Christmas. I screenprinted this shirt using the freezer paper method (As seen here and many other places, although it was actually inspired by this which almost led to me buying an entire screen printing kit, but cooler heads prevailed.)

Anyway, the boy doesn't wear hats, and I didn't really want to take the time to knit something he wouldn't wear anyway. He had mentioned liking the stuff here, so I drew a skull from that site and used a photocopier and a leaf stencil to create the red background stencil. I didn't leave nearly enough time to finish this (as usual). In the future, I would recommend fully setting the paint (and perhaps even washing the shirt) between colours, as well as doing lots of thin layers instead of one thick one. As you can see, the skull is cracking a bit, and he turned a bit pink on the first washing (which does seem to have been corrected by subsequent washings). All in all, it was a fun reasonable project, and I definitely see myself trying it again!

I am still alive

I am still alive and well, and hanging out in Saskatchewan. I've just been without an internet connection since I left home last Friday. I have covered part of Alberta and a good portion of Saskatchewant so far, and I will then need to retrace my steps to fly back home on Tuesday. I will work on having a real post then (like the Christmas meme, wildly past due, and maybe some pictures of the gifts I actually made.) Until then, time with family is fun but exhausting, so I'm going to have a nap.

Christmas Cheer

Please go read Steph's post here. And do try to give what you can (to MSF or to the charity of your choice). Sadly, between Suki cat's surgery and my flight home, I can't manage anything above my regular donation, but at least its something.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is nuts!

Yeah, I'm going a little nuts getting ready for Christmas. There's a lot to do before I get on a plane next Friday! I'm still working on a super-secret project for the boy, and I'm not sure right now if I can get it done for "our" Christmas on Sunday. I think I have almost all the supplies together, so hopefully in the midst of the cleaning/laundry on Saturday. I can talk about this here because the boy has decided not to read this. He feels like he's reading my diary, and isn't comfortable with that.

I've actually been doing some knitting, but I don't have any pictures. I designed a vest on the fly out of some Handmaiden yarn, and its almost done. Hopefully there will be pictures soon, although I can't promise anything before Christmas.

Anyway, I don't have a lot to say, but I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday!

Dilemma

So, this is entirely non-knitting related, so if that's what you're hear for, you'll be sadly disappointed.

So, I've booked my flight home for Christmas, and I'll be gone from December 22 to January 2. I wasn't terribly concerned about not being here for New Year's Eve (NYE) since I've never done anything special for NYE before. Then, ideas started circulating for fun plans for NYE that involve dressing up and everything. I would dearly love to wear a great dress for something special like NYE with the boy, so I started looking into changing my flight.

Everyone I've talked to about this is supportive of me changing my flight (even though its money I don't really need to spend) except the boy. (Please note, I haven't mentioned the plan to my parents, as I don't think they'll be enthused either.) He keeps telling me I should use the time to visit my family (especially since I'll be leaving the country for an extended period at some point, probably this year). So, what do I do? If I change my flight, I'll be missing one full day with my extended family, and a day in the car with my immediate family. If I don't change my flight, I'll end up spending NYE playing board games with my cousins (which isn't bad, it just pales in comparison to other options). Advice?

Edited to add: I just read this over at Jo's

Interest

shaved belly

A fun picture of Suki showing off her shaved belly and her scar from the surgery. She's back to "what are you doing here" when I spend too much time at home.

There is going to be an event in the Great Hall at the Museum of Civilization with knitters! I'm going to be hanging out with a bunch of lovely ladies and showing off some of my work!

Unleashing the Knitters:

So there's this guy who's doing a panel at the MLA, and he's checking to see how a meme or, depending on how you look at it, a chain letter, moves through the blogosphere.  We knitters have a rather populous corner of the blogosphere, and one that I think routinely buffaloes those who attempt to study blogs and blogging.  Who are all these knitters and what do they want?  (Wool.)  If blogging is concerned with social change, what the hell are all these people doing talking about yarn? (We'll get back to you when the plans for world domination are available in pdf format.)

Anyway, Jody explains it all in a way that is far more interesting and complete than I have the patience for, but do please play.  All you need to do is mention and link to the project, ask others to participate, and then ping technocrati.  Let's show the MLA a little knitting mojo, eh?

Suki

Just a quick post to let everyone know that my furball made it through the surgery all right, but is having a nice stay at the vet tonight so they can keep her on the IV overnight. I stopped by this evening, and she was still really groggy from the anesthesia.

They took out two tiny stones, each smaller than my pinky finger nail, but they were definitely causing problems, so they had to come out. The vet thinks they're calcium related, which means the cat can no longer drink the last of the milk from my cereal. She's not going to be happy about that!

WIPs

I thought I'd actually try to post something about knitting, seeing as this is a knitting blog. I'm writing on Sunday, but I figure I'll save this post for a couple days so as not to completely flabbergast anyone by posting twice in one day. (The pictures are already out of date, and I took them yesterday.)


icarus progress

I have been making very slow progress on my Icarus, mostly because the yarn is fiddly and I can't do much else while I work on it. The yarn is the grey laceweight mohair that I won for my (incomplete) participation in the Knitting Olympics.


close up of icarus


gatsby girl

As a birthday treat to myself, I started the Gatsby Girl Sweater from the fall Interweave Knits. I even bought the suggested yarn (Rowan Cashsoft DK - it pills a bit while knitting, but feels lovely). I have also just come to the realization that I will not have enough yarn (I'm knitting at a tighter gauge than the pattern suggested, and using the stitch numbers from a larger size to make it fit the schematic for the size I want.) Note to self: Call Gisele at Wool N' Things to order more!


alpaca-from-NB scarf

I bought myself a skein of alpaca yarn from the only (or at least the only one I could find) yarn store in St. John during my trip to NB. I'm using the stitch pattern from a scarf in the booklet that came out with the fall Interweave Knits. It will be a short scarf (I just started the other half, because I'm not sure how much is left in the ball), but soft and warm!


hat

This is a hat promised to a friend last year. Yes, I'm running a little behind. Its knit in Patons Shetland Chunky, top down. I am stranding the part of the hat after the increases to create a nice, thick, inelastic fabric around the ears. Great for warmth while not crushing hair. I will do applied i-cord around the bottom to finish it off.

In other news, I finally ordered a swift and ball winder from Camilla Valley Farm. I missed them at the Inspirations Needle Craft Show, but the shipping is only $9!

News

Suki

Miss Princess Spooky Cat has been curled up on my lap all afternoon after the trauma of going to the vet. (Which is unusual. My cat hates being held most of the time.) Sadly, it seems she has a bladder stone, and will be having surgery on Monday. As the vet pointed out, I’m just glad it’s not a tumour.

Interestingly enough, it looks like I will have to take the day off work. I need to drop her off at the vet between 8:30 and 9, and pick her up between 4 and 6, which isn’t too bad if I had a car. Since I don’t, and I can’t take the cat on the bus, I think it will be a day off. Cabbing to and from the vet is expensive enough. If anyone in Ottawa has time to hang out during the day while I’m waiting, let me know.

The evil that is Steph

Some will probably find it cruel that I post this picture, but I just had to show of the look of glee on her face when she received the magnifying glass with light to better help her distinguish between the conditioner and the body lotion in the future.


Evil glee

Harlot in the house

There are no words right now, only pictures... words will come later.

Edited to add: As I'm sure everyone knows by now, Stephanie came to Ottawa on Thursday. She was hilarious. As if you didn't already know that. I took a short video, which I plan to upload to Youtube if I can figure out how.


knitters in Kanata


more knitters

There were bloggers (from L to R) Lissa, Orris, Justine, Nancy, and Heather. Behind us are Kathy, Mairi (blog not known) and Leanne


blogger blogging blogger


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