Presenting...

Miss Spooky Cat's debut to the world.

Yay digital camera! I promise, there will be a whole photo shoot of FOs when I get home, but right now, I'm struggling to pack and clean up my apartment before I go to work, since my plane leaves tonight! I wasn't feeling great last night, so I ended up sleeping instead of doing the dishes. I'm regretting it now though.

A good (long) weekend to you all.

Bits

Just a quick run through some things I've been meaning to mention.

First, I also got a Knit Pixie gift certificate from my Secret Pal. I'm having so much fun browsing through their catalogue trying to decide how to spend my loot.

In other news, my sock pal, Kat finally got my package!

Finally, I found a ride and a room for Rhinebeck. It would be a crazy trip, but I'm so tempted. Now I have to see if I can get time off work.

Catch up

Alright, so I was having some problems with blogger yesterday. And I didn't have internet at home until yesterday. So I haven't posted much lately. But I promise to do better now.

My secret pal is spoiling me like crazy! I got my first package (a birthday present even!) today. I got Mandara candles with mystical oils that smell faboulous, incense matches and a flower shaped nail file! I also got this great card! It's somewhat ironic, and I will try to post a picture to show why later. Anyway I haven't sorted out the camera yet (see below to find out why).

So, it was my birthday on Tuesday, so it's been a week of excitement. I had several people over for brunch (potluck) to celebrate on Sunday, which was nice and relaxing. Monday night was the knitting guild meeting, which was big and intimidating. I don't know that I'll go regularly; I prefer my smaller knitting group where I get to talk to and know most people. Tuesday night was dinner at Haveli Indian, which I loved! The food was really good, and I had leftovers for lunch the next day. Wednesday was knitting group. So, tonight I had to come down from the high and actually do some laundry. And catch up on emails.

So, the highlight from knitting group was that there is a slim chance that I could go to Rhinebeck! I don't want to say too much, as it is a very slim chance, but I can always hope. If I end up going, that will consume the back pay money I wanted to spend on a digicam, but I think it will be worth it. It will just mean working harder to borrow a camera for pictures, especially with my secret pal sending me such great things!

And finally, a picture of my friend's cat... just to add some visual interest.


Sappho, the many toed cat

Bad Blogger!

Let's just say I'm having computer problems today... This is my third effort at posting and it gets shorter every time. My internet is working at home as of today (yay! it only took Bell a week to sort it out!) I will post more later and more frequently.

Secret Pal Survey

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
My yarn snobbishness is variable. I love great natural fibers, but if it needs to be washable in any way, then only acrylic will do. For example, I will never make children’s items out of wool.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I am now learning to spin on a spindle. I’m very slow, but I like it so far.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
No.

4. How long have you been knitting?
Off and on for about three years, somewhat obsessively for at least 6 months.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes, and it can be found here, or on my profile on my blog.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I love vanilla and fruity scents and jasmine, and strongly dislike other floral scents.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Sort of. I’m more attracted my muffins, cookies and ice cream than chocolate. Oooh! And gummy candies. All right, yes.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I can sew, and I’m in the process of setting up a sewing area in my new place. I have also done a lot of photography in the past, which I’m trying to become more involved with.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
My computer can play mp3s. My musical tastes are varied, although country or really poppy music (Christina, Britney, ‘Nsync) are not my favourites.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love bright colours. My favourite colour is probably red, orange or yellow. I dislike pastel colours.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I’m recently newly single. My boyfriend of over a year moved out in June. I have a cat named Suki (affectionately known as Spooky Cat).

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
I love to travel, and I want to go almost everywhere. I really want kids (just alerting any future husbands out there. :)) I want to have a job I enjoy that allows me a good balance to live my life outside of work.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I like Patons Classic Wool, and I love Fleece Artist Merino Sock yarn. I’ve recently bought some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk that feels great, but I haven’t started swatching yet.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I don’t really like scratchy fibers, at least if they’re going to be against my skin. I can’t think of anything else that I really don’t like.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I find myself making a lot of felted bags (for Christmas presents) and cardigans (none of which are finished, and they’re all for me).

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I knit socks, because I spend lots of time on the bus. I see beautiful clothes that I want to make for myself, but I keep planning and knitting gifts for other people.

17. What are you knitting right now?
Baby blanket for my cousin, sweater for my sister, felted Sophie bags and Tychus hats for Christmas, two cardigans (one from White Buffalo, and Samus from Knitty in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Stream). I also have a hat and a shawl in my basket that I haven’t worked on for a while.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
I would never know where to carry my purse, although they might be good for my office.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?

I use my Denise set for a lot of things, so circular I guess. I don’t have any circs smaller than 5 US.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Plastic is easier on my hands. I’ve never tried bamboo. Although I like bamboo yarn.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Yes, I’m currently completing my third pair ever. And my second pair went to my sock pal.

22. How did you learn to knit?
My grandma taught me as a child, and then a friend and I decided we wanted to learn in university. We took a class at the Alberta College of Art and Design which ended up being more about colour theory and material choice (including cutting up old clothes to knit with) instead of basic knitting, but I’ve been going strong ever since.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
2 years. Sometimes other things take over in priority.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I like the Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow Brite, for nostalgic reasons.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
I love Christmas, although I sadly may not make it home to see family this year. :(

26. Is there anything that you collect?
No. Unless you count yarn and patterns. I have an aversion to items in my house that sit on shelves, so I’m trying to weed them out slowly.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
None.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
I love the Teva Durham and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee books.

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??
I can’t really think of anything right now. Although someday I may make a foray into lace, and there are some very pretty options out there.

30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?
My feet are 25 cm long and 23 cm around. I love all kinds of hand knit socks, since I’ve only ever owned 1.5 pairs. Again, someday I will try out some lace.

A Day Late…

All right, so it’s not Friday right now. As always, life is crazy, but I have some time to do up a good post right now.

So, I’m noticing things about myself. Number one right now is that I can be incredibly impatient! My birthday is approaching (the days are flying right by right now). My mother, being the plan ahead type, knowing that she hates paying to mail parcels, gave me my birthday present when I was in Alberta at the end of July. With the understanding that I wouldn’t open it until my birthday!

So, I’ve had my birthday present sitting in my house for the past month, and I haven’t been able to open it. And it’s driving me crazy! Until the crazy move, it was hidden in the second bedroom closet, which was passable, although I still thought about it from time to time. Since the move, its sitting right inside my bedroom door, because I don’t want it to get lost in the crush of stuff. (Really. I have piles of stuff waist deep covering the majority of my bedroom floor. Thank goodness this apartment is actually bigger than the last one.) Every time I see it sitting there, I really want to open it. There’s no earthly reason my mom would know if I opened it early, but I love surprises on birthdays! One year, I found, opened and re-closed all of my presents before my birthday, and I know there’s just no replacement for opening a cool package on the big day.

So, since we’re talking about my birthday, I’m thinking of celebrating by hosting a Birthday/House-warming potluck brunch on the Sunday before. The real questions are, how many people would come, will they all fit in my living room, and can I make my house presentable before they all arrive (next weekend)? I’ve actually already made significant progress in the unpacking and rearranging this morning, and I still have tonight and all day tomorrow (and Saturday next week, if it comes to that). So, I think I will print up invites at school on Monday (I’m in training for a week, which should be a nice break from work) and give those out. Once I’ve invited people, I kind of have to go through with it, don’t I?

In knitting news, I’ve been out every night this week, as well as working a lot, so I haven’t gotten a lot done. I just bought a skein of mohair to do my sister’s bag for Christmas. I’ve also finished a prototype for the kangaroo pocket for her sweater, but it needs to be frogged. At least I learned a lot from the first attempt. I’m also working on a think wool sweater (from White Buffalo, in a pale teal colour) and a pair of hand warmers. I’ve started to feel a chill in the air, so I thought I’d add to my outerwear wardrobe. That and the socks didn’t fit over my heel, but they fit my wrists nicely.

All right, and now a random picture. This is my cousin’s daughter (not quite my niece?), wearing a hat I knit for her. It’s the first had I made that fit anyone, sort of by accident. I learned to make up patterns by watching other knitters long before I learned to read on, but it did take a lot of trial and error.



happy monkey

Quickie

I know, I know… yet another short, hurried post. Everybody’s busy these days, it seems.

Anyway, New York was great! I didn’t get as much knitting done as I hoped, partly because a lot of the driving happened in the dark. I did manage to finish my sockapal2za socks. Now to find a way to take a picture of them! I also did some knitting on the train from Connecticut to New York and back on both days.

New York wasn’t all about knitting (though I did go to a couple of yarn stores – The Yarn Co. and Purl, which were great! I had to limit myself to only buying things that aren’t regularly stocked by my LYS.) We walked a lot, shopped a lot, saw a musical, went on a harbour tour… all kinds of exciting things. I may even have pictures later, as the friend I was traveling with has a digital camera. On the way back, we stopped in Burlington, Vermont, for dinner and Ben and Jerry’s. It was a great way to end a great trip.

Since I’ve been back, work has been crazy, as always. I’m at a coffee shop now trying to type something up before my knitting group arrives. And tomorrow is a friend’s birthday, and I’ll be going out for that. So, I promise a good post on Friday (and maybe I’ll have my modem for internet at my house by then!) Until then, good knitting!

Shhh...

I’m writing up a quick post at work, because otherwise it would be at least another week before I managed to post. (And a quick break to share some baklava with my office mates. I really needed a sugar rush.) And even though I don’t think anyone reads my blog, I’d like to keep myself in the habit of posting regularly.

So, I’m tired today (and generally unmotivated). I moved on Sunday, and my new place still looks like it has exploded. (Even though it’s a new apartment in the same building, it was a lot of work!) I’ve been at work late every day this week, so I haven’t gotten a lot of unpacking done. And almost no knitting. I have been knitting my sockapal2za socks on the bus to and from work, but the toes require more attention than I can provide, so I decided to work a bit last night when I got sick of unpacking. I was going along nicely until I dropped a number of stitches which I couldn’t rescue (they were all of my decreases on one side, and I’m not that talented with a crochet hook yet) so I frogged several rows. By the time I picked up all of the stitches, it was bed time.

And, on top of not having a lot of time to unpack this week, I am going away this weekend. A few friends and I are renting a car and driving to Connecticut. There will be a few days in New York City, and then a long, leisurely drive home on Monday. And, since it would cost too much to add me as a driver for the rental car, I will have lots of knitting time! Since I’m going with non-knitters, I will only be able to hit one or two yarn stores, but it will be nice to see all of the yarns we don’t normally get in Canada. This trip is going to be a birthday present to myself, since I don’t really have the money for it. You only turn 25 once, though, right?

And, while we only got a half day of rain here in Ottawa out of Katrina, lots of people are suffering, so if you want to make a donation to the Red Cross to help those affected, let them know here and you may win a prize!

tag

So, nobody tagged me, but I thought this might be an interesting post, so here goes... I stole it from Elisa.

10 years ago... it was 1995 and I would have been starting grade 10. I would have been 14, as my birthday isn’t until later. I had been dating my boyfriend for a year (2?) at this point. Hmmm… apparently the life of a 14 year-old is not that exciting, as nothing else pops out at me.

5 years ago... it was 2000, and I was doing a co-op term for university at a small tech startup called Apps On The Web (I just looked them up, apparently they still exist, but not as I knew them). I was getting ready to start year 3 (of 5.5) at university.

1 year ago... I was moving multiple times. I had been working for an NGO in Jericho, Palestine, then returned to Alberta for 2 weeks for my sister’s wedding, then moved to Ottawa to start language training for my new job.

Yesterday… I worked all day, did some cleaning for the impending move, blogged while watching So You Think You Can Dance (this is my idea of a reality show, as I love all things dance related) and knit (another square for the baby blanket, and some more rounds on a modified Sophie).

Today... Work, and then I have my second last soccer game of the season. I don’t usually manage to accomplish anything after soccer, so that’s about it.

Tomorrow… More work and more moving… it’s Friday, so the moving can start in earnest.

5 snacks I enjoy... I’m pretty random in my snacking… I like sweet things (ice cream, baked goods (mmm, muffins), chocolate (especially Lindt Lindor milk chocolate) and gummy candies) and salty things (cheese, pickles, chips, pretzels), but I don’t snack on anything regularly. When I do snack, I always prefer a little bit of the real thing over a lot of a reduced fat/calorie version.

5 bands/singers that I like... I’m really bad about music… I like listening to it, but I don’t often buy cds or choose the music I’m listening to… that means a lot of radio, and only knowing the popular songs, and not knowing who sings what. Honestly, I like so many different things, I would spend a fortune on cds if I bought them all, so I just stick to buying yarn.

Things I would do with $100,000,000... Pay off my debt, buy a house/condo or two (one in Alberta, near my family… I talked to my parents last night, and I really miss being there for daily life), travel the world (extensively), donate to charity, give to family and friends, and invest a lot so that I could only work at things I want to.

5 locations I'd like to run away to... Sub-Saharan Africa, India/Pakistan, Vietnam/Thailand/Cambodia, Italy/Greece/the Mediterranean/North Africa, Latin America… these are actually regions, see above (and yes, I am aware that this covers the majority of the world).

5 bad habits I have.... I procrastinate… a lot…, I’m messy, I’m overly critical… those are the only ones I can think of. I’m actually really bad at forming habits, especially good ones. I can go to the gym every day for months, and if I skip one day, all of that habit-building work is gone, and I never go again (true example).

5 things I like doing... Spending time with family and friends, knitting, reading, shopping (if I’m in the mood), cooking.

5 things I would never wear... tapered pants, stirrup pants, shoulder pads, pleated front jeans, anything horribly oversized. That’s not to say that I haven’t worn these things, but that I will now not wear them again.

5 TV shows I like... teen shows (Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Instant Star, the OC) cop shows (Law & Order, CSI, Cold Case), and some CanCon (Canadian Content: Robson Arms, Corner Gas). (my options are limited, I only have one channel… and it doesn’t have Gilmore Girls or the OC. I only put them down because I used to watch. However, this has shown me that I probably watch too much TV even with my limited options. And that I like to use parentheses too much.)

5 Movies I like.... Fight Club, The Big Lebowski, Dirty Dancing, The Princess Bride, and I have a startling affection for most teen movies (e.g. Mean Girls, Josie and the Pussycats, 10 Things I Hate About You etc. This is also often reflected in my TV viewing habits.)

5 famous people I'd like to meet... As a kid, I was always more interested in the characters in shows than in the actors that played them. I would always daydream about being a character in the show (not an actor playing a character, just someone from that environment). I think I still have that ability to really like a character and still realize that I know nothing about the person playing the character. However, these people always seemed kinda cool to me: Natalie Portman, Julia Stiles, Seth Green, Albert Einstein and Susan Sarandon. Before, I would have added Katie Holmes, but not so much anymore.

5 biggest joys of the moment... No humidity (and thus cool sleeping weather at night), my birthday coming up (yay quarter century!), upcoming wedding of my cousin, where I will see most of my extended family, moving to a new place (this is a mixed blessing), and living on my own for the first time.

5 favorite toys... my laptop, my minidisk player, my camera (although I haven’t used it much lately), my Denise needle set, my cat (that doesn’t quite seem right, but it’s true)

And, since I don't have any pictures of knitting, I thought I'd include interesting pictures from my last trip...
Egypt...

testing

me...

I'm just having fun learning how to post photos. This seems to work pretty well. This picture was taken by my then-boyfriend just over a year ago when we were in Egypt. It was sunset, and I'm looking down at the Nile.

I'm not knitting a lot tonight... I was turning the heel on my sockapal2za sock and I ended up with stitches left on only one side, so I frogged the heel and did it again. Unfortunately, my hands are limited in their tolerance for knitting at a small gauge, and they are feeling somewhat claw-like today. (Not that typing is that much better). Anyway, what I should really be doing is cleaning/packing, but again it's getting late and I haven't done much. The friends helping me move are going to be in shock when they get here Sunday!

knitting monotony

It's terrible to say this, but I feel like I've been knitting on the same projects forever... It's probably because I have so many projects on the go, and they all have fast approaching deadlines.

Sockapal2za socks - September 15
The Hooded Pullover from Patons' Weekend Retreat book - September 30 - I gave this to my sister for her birthday in May, and am just seaming it now. I started it with yarn from my grandmother (that came with Eaton's ball bands) and ran out after the hood, but before the sleeves. I did show it to her on her birthday, and then made her pick out the contrasting yarn for the sleeves and a front patch pocket.
A mitred-square baby blanket - September 30 - The baby is due on the 13th, but I have to deliver it when I'm out west. It's mostly just the seaming left, although I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do it. I'm thinking about learning to crochet...
Christmas presents - September 30 - I'm going home for a wedding then, and I'm not sure that I'm going home for Christmas, so I thought it would be good to make my gifts for family and deliver them then. Aren't I a genius? I've finished two Sophie bags, with one more to do, and two Tychus hats for the men (my dad and my brother-in-law) in my life (I think I'm safe, as no one from my family reads this blog.)

Despite being a little bored by the knitting I have available, I keep knitting instead of getting ready for my impending move. I'm only moving up four floors in my building, but I seem to have a lot of stuff! My ex moved out two months ago, and it doesn't seem to have made the slightest difference in the volume of things in my house. And right now? I'm blogging instead of packing. I think this weekend is really going to suck, what with the packing and moving and cleaning all still to be done. At least I'll have help...

whirlwind week

It has indeed been a crazy week... I can't remember when my last post was, so I'll go over at least the past four days. Tuesday I went to Ikea in search of lamps. When my ex moved out, he left a lot of his stuff here until he found a permanent apartment (as opposed to a two month sublet). When he came to pick it up, it turned out that all of the lamps were his. This apartment (and my next one, I move next weekend) doesn't have any overhead lighting, so it has been pretty dark. Today I set up my living room lamp, and it's much better!

Wednesday was the regular Ottawa Knitting Group meeting (the third Wednesday of every month, at the Bridgehead on Third Avenue in the Glebe, anyone can come join us!). A lot of our regular members were out of town, but we had a lot of new faces, which is always welcome. I didn't learn everyone's name (that is definitely one of my biggest weaknesses!) but I had fun chatting. I only brought two projects with me, my sockapal2za socks and a Sophie bag I'm working on for a Christmas present, and they're both in the endless circles of stockinette stage. I'll have to remember to bring a bit more variety in the future.


Suki cat thinks she needs to eat right now... I guess it is after my bedtime, when I normally feed her. She can wait for a few more minutes.

Thursday night, I had my regularly scheduled soccer game. We lost 1-0 to the second best team in the league. Our team would be doing much better if we could just score goals, but then again, that's probably a problem for a lot of recreational soccer team. There are only two games left in the season. I'll be sad when it's over... but I don't think I'm going to make the effort to play indoor this winter. We'll see.

Tonight, I wanted to finish spinning and plying the roving I bought at Knit Knackers two weeks ago so I can take it in tomorrow to show the woman who taught me how to spin my first work (and to buy more roving!) I think I'm surprisingly even, considering this is my first effort. I have a small hank of two ply yarn hanging in my bathtub right now. I still have a lot to learn, though, as I don't even remember the name of the fiber I bought. And I'm thinking of going to Rhinebeck...? I guess I would probably learn more there. While spinning, I watched Shall We Dance, with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. I love movies about dance, and this one was lovely, but I think I prefered the Japanese original. I found it amusing that they had a preview for the original on the dvd.

I'm ba-ack...

Sorry for the lack of posting. I decided that my blog reading/posting at work was getting out of hand, and I decided to stop (for my productivity, as well as my job security). I just got a computer for home, so I can now post again. Which is exciting since I'm hoping to join SP6! Hopefully I will be able to get a digital camera by then too, so I can actually take pictures of my projects.

I should update on my WIPs, I guess. I have just casted on for my seconde Sockapal2za sock, and they are coming along nicely. I am yousing Kroy Socks Orangina for the toe, heel and cuffs and Kroy Socks Paintbox for the rest. The cuff is cabled and the heel is an afterthought kind, so it can be replaced if it wears out. I have had a lot of trouble with these socks since it's the first time I've made socks for someone else, and I'm having fit issues. I'm so concerned about them being too big that I keep trying to end too soon. I seem to have got the measurements right for the first one, so it should be good now.

I have been knitting a sweater for my sister for ages, and I just bound of the arms (knit flat at the same time). Nothing left but the seaming, and knitting a kangaroo style pocket if I have time before October. Other things to finish before October include a mitred-square baby blanket for my cousin and Sophie bags to be included in Christmas presents, as I won't be home at Christmas. I'm hoping to deliver everything in October so I don't have to ship it. And, maybe a present for my (other) cousin for her wedding, if I can think of something suitable. I think that's everything that I'm actively working on right now.

knit fit

So, I have determined that I’m a winter, not a summer, at least temperature wise. Ottawa has been experiencing a cold snap (15 – 20° C), which I have been thoroughly enjoying, and I find myself dreading the return of the heat (forecast for today, to reach 30° tomorrow). Not only is it nicer to knit when it’s cool out, but its also nicer to sleep, read, go outside, stay inside… the list could go on and on. And yet, I’m in the Canadian Foreign Service, and the areas where I would most like to work are generally warm.

On the knitting front, I have several projects on the go, as usual. I’m making: Little Black Top from Stitch ‘n Bitch, only my gauge is way off from the pattern, so I’m making adjustments as I go; socks for my sockapal2za pal; a yoga mat bag for my friend’s martial arts sticks (I don’t actually know what they’re called, but they’re almost 28 inches long); felted purses for Christmas (none of my family read this blog); a mitred square baby blanket in acrylic rainbow colours I had lying around; and a long-worked on sweater for my sister. And now I see everyone making the One Skein Wonder, and I want one too! Although I’ve yet to talk to anybody that has actually completed it with one skein.

My knitting group (S’nB?) just placed an order with KnitPicks (to share the shipping costs, since the US dollar factor mitigates the good price factor a bit), so I’m anxiously anticipating more yarn so I can start more projects. Although I really should limit myself so that some day something gets finished. We’ll see how that goes.

I’m not sure this blogging thing is going to go very far, at least until I get a digital camera and computer of my own. Blogs with pictures are just more interesting, but I can’t really justify the time to post pics since I’m supposed to be working.

weird weather

So, after days of crushing heat, we’re now having back to back thunderstorms. I love a good thunderstorm, don’t get me wrong. I really liked how cool my room was last night from my open window, and I didn’t mind being woken up several times to listen to/watch the show. However, right now it looks like we’re in the middle of a tropical storm outside! I’m not impressed by the thought of walking home in 45 minutes, cause its foggy, windy and pouring rain. Sheets of it! And I, the ever-bright one, didn’t even bring a jacket today, because it was still pretty warm when I left for work this morning. I’m going to be soaked (and everything I’m carrying) by the time I get to SnB tonight, as I don’t think my umbrella is going to help much.

Yeah, so I’m going to the Glebe to the Stitch ‘n Bitch tonight. Should be fun! I may have to have something warm after all the rain (and I was so looking forward to trying one of Bridgehead’s iced drinks). I keep looking at patterns and dreaming of the cool things I can make (and all the cool yarn I can buy). Completely ignoring the huge stash of yarn I already have at home. I'm trying to fight the urge to buy more, as I have the wool for several projects at home that I haven't yet started. I'm even looking at wool for cardigans, cause I know with the pile of projects I have, I won't be able to finish new projects before summer is over.

And, I'm in the sockapal2za! So I already have to buy more wool for socks. Nothing else until I make a substantial dent in my WIP/projects piles.

Soccer practice last night seemed way too long. I have this incredibly short attention span (or maybe just a really poor internal clock), so a two hour practice seems so incredibly long, and I can’t wear a watch so I can’t even check and tell myself that it hasn’t been as long as I think it has. And it doesn’t even seem to depend on the activity. I can sit down to read for a half hour, and I keep checking my watch because I think the time must be up (usually cause I’ve set a time limit that is the last possible minute I can leave the house and still be on-time). Usually I start looking after 10 minutes, and look every few minutes after that.

getting started

Hmmm... getting started at this is taking some time...

So, I had a rather uneventful weekend. Went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith with Steph on Friday. Did some cleaning and grocery shopping. I went on a cooking spree Sunday evening, so I have most of the food I’ll need for the next couple of days done. I also baked some surprise muffins, cannibalizing my banana muffin recipe to include blueberries and orange juice. I’ve decided that next time I experiment, I should also change the spices too, as I’m not sure orange juice and nutmeg are my favourite combination, but overall they turned out well.

I got new shoes! Did I tell you about the escalator eating my shoe? Well, it did, so the mall is reimbursing me for a new pair. I have to drop off the receipt and old shoes today. If I owned a digital camera, I would take a picture for posterity, but I guess I’ll have to do without.

Other than that, I barely moved. It was soooo hot here! And humid, and smoggy (we had a smog alert! I’ve never experienced one of those in Canada before!). Overall, the weather sucked. I have to say, the weather here isn’t my favourite. It’s known for being damn cold and humid in the winter and damn hot and humid in the summer. And we had freezing rain all winter, which leads to crappy snow for winter sports, although I’m told that that’s not normal. And all the smog and humidity prevents it from being truly sunny out, but it’s still hot!

So, the Internet is a wonderful thing. I’ve joined a knitting group on-line that is doing a sock exchange. So, the idea is I knit socks for someone else and then someone else (not the same person) knits socks for me! I’m just finishing up my first pair of socks (knit for me!), so now I have yet another project to keep me busy until mid-September. If I had my own blog (that I updated regularly) I could join other fun projects like the Secret Pal group. Actually, it’s probably good that I don’t get too involved in these on-line swaps, cause you never know what will strike my fancy next.

first post

I'm just learning about how all of this works, but I enjoy reading other people's blogs so much, I though I'd try one of my own.