110: exotic urchin

I've been finishing hats like a woman possessed. The first was last Saturday, when I took time that I should have used to mark exams to knit furiously and joyfully through a handspun Urchin. Sophie gave me this Studio Loo skein called Violet Fiction for a housewarming/birthday present. You may remember the yarn when it used to be this:

Now it's this:

Reaction is mixed, by which I mean everyone loves it but my mom, who hates it with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I think she's just jealous.

111: beanie redux

The second hat is part of my attempt to use my knitting for social good instead of just relaxation, practice, artistry, cheap gifts, etc. It's a Boy Beanie from the Happy Hooker in variegated Patons Classic Merino called Jungle. The contrasting green is the Lemongrass Lion's Brand Wool left over from my mittens. It's going to a local homeless shelter/soup kitchen, where it will hopefully clothe one of the visitors.

112: Queen Bee hat

The third hat was done before the second, but needed embellishment. It's a Bzzz Hat for Queen Bees out of Sn'B Nation. The yarn is Headwater Wool Marupe that I picked up at the DKC Knitter's Frolic last spring with the change I found in my pockets. I've been dreaming about this hat for a long time. I've got a bit of a thing for bees, and this will eventually be a set with a scarf and possible wristwarmers. The bee buttons aren't that great, but they get the job done. I found them at the local Michael's.

113: belly dance socklets

This isn't a hat, although I finished it in the midst of my binge. They're little socklets to wear during my belly dancing class for a bit of slippage on turns. Why buy ballet flats or (ugh) cut up other socks when you can spend a few hours making small colourful tubes? I knit these while marking exams, and finished them minutes before beginning class last week.

114: kara

Also not a hat. It's an amigurumi carrot that I decided to do after an argument with Blake, in which he insisted on orange hot chocolate for my in-process toy cup. Instead of such an abomination, I made a carrot. The pattern is my own, although it's way too simple to need one. All I did was make a circle, crochet a tube, and start decreasing. When I thought it was too short, I did a plain row, then kept decreasing. It took a bit of finagling to make the tip, and I don't know that I followed any recognized crochet technique other than "givin'r," but the end result is quite pleasing, with that purposely frayed end coming off there. The orange is Sugar n' Cream worsted cotton, and the green top is more Lemongrass Lion's Wool, which I attached and chained until I felt like stopping. Then I picked up the other end and chained that too. The result is marvellously eccentric, dready leaves. The mouth is the same yarn. They eyes are 8 mm safety eyes. Tremendously fun, tremendously simple. Her name is Kara, after a girl in Blake's class. Kara the carrot.

115 & 116: cupcake & chocolate cup

The reason that I had to make Kara was because I was in the midst of making these guys for the Jakaitis kids. It's K8rs' birthday party on Saturday, and we decided to make a cupcake and a cup of hot chocolate for her and her brother to play with. They are a mix of Sugar n' Cream cotton, Butterfly cotton, and Cool Spun cotton, with fun mail order safety eyes and beads from Michael's. Do they look like sprinkles to you?

There are still a few more pictures hanging around, but I am totally knackered, so they'll have to wait. And I'm almost done another urchin!

Labels: birthday, blake, crochet, drunken knitters, fo, friends, gifties, knitty, snb

I got a really delicious package from my sock pal yesterday. My socks are apparently still under construction, so she sent some goodies to keep me happy. They're certainly doing the trick!

a sheep tape measure, hand lotion, a sheepy case, and YARN! sock yarn, of course!

Blake may be the happiest guy in the place; he can't stop playing with the tape measure. Thanks, Sock Pal!

Labels: gifties, socks, swap

Yesterday was my seventh wedding anniversary (as opposed to my mothering anniversary which coincides neatly with Blake's birthday, or the anniversary of the day I came out of retirement to clean up this rotten desert town.) I feel cautious in saying this, as there have been many storms this month, but I think it went pretty damn well. I got up with Blake and hurried through a number of chores and giftie preparations so that when the Boy woke up we could concentrate on getting him to church with his accordion.

(Aside: at the beginning of the summer, I signed him up for special summertime music. I thought it would be a good deadline to learn the new instrument, plus he'd be the lead-in to two weeks of tween instrumentals. If you haven't already guessed, standards are looser in the summer. This was a good plan right up until Saturday, when he began to panic, hence straightening his accordion path on Sunday.)

The Boy was excellent, and although there were a couple of train wrecks, people were too busy singing and clapping to mind. You definitely have surprise on your side when you walk up to the front and pull out an accordion. Even people who have been told aren't quite prepared for the majesty that is our creaky, dead-grampa-smelling accordion. It's just that awesome.

Blake fell asleep during the service, and thus chose books over a snack when he woke up (he may have been sleep-addled, as this is not a typical choice). We came home, made a massive 5-egg mushroom & cheese omelette, and revelled in the Boy's victory. Then there were presents.

(Aside: In all churlishness, I was a little afraid of what the Boy would get me. He had told me a few days before that he was starting from scratch, due to the massive series of fights we'd had after my birthday. I try not to get my hopes too high, but this year is wool-themed. It's relatively easy. Just Buy Me Yarn.)

I had made up a little knitting basket in honour of the Boy's fluctuating interest in knitting. There was exciting thick-thin Romni Yarn (and most importantly for the Boy, it was blue), two balls of the cheap cotton I'd picked up last week in Watertown that he'd admired, a pair of Brittany Birch needles to replace the ones I sat on and broke, and a copy of Knitting With Balls (the modern man's guide to knitting, which isn't nearly as stupid as it sounds). I also popped in a co-operative educational card game we'd picked up on the night we went dancing, and The Dangerous Book for Boys (a how-to omnibus which may very well have been his favourite gift. It rocks my socks, too.) The basket was to be for his stash, projects or whatever. I was pretty proud of myself.

Then he pulled out the ballwinder & swift.

Um, if you're not into yarn I just lost you completely. A ballwinder and swift are two tools that turn skeins (that yummy figure-eight of nice yarns everywhere) into a ball suitable for knitting. For two and a half years, I've been using God's ball winder and swift (i.e. my hands and my knees/my kitchen chair), which can be actually quite therapeutic if you enter into it with the correct spirit. I'd always consoled myself by holding that my lack of gear made me more like the knitters of old. Well, turns out that was just me being brave because I love my new equipment!! We wound two "yarn cakes" yesterday, one of which Blake immediately adopted and took with him on his overnight to Camp Grandpa. We'd've done more, but it's actually better to leave the yarn in a skein until you're ready to use it. More stable that way.

This constituted a second victory for the Boy, so we celebrated by watching Blake dig in his new giant grandparent-built sandbox all afternoon. It's the Cadillac of sandboxes: cedar planks, 900 pounds of soft sand, 8 feet by 4 feet…they went to town on this one (Sandbox Town, one assumes.) The next step is to trick it out by painting sea creatures on the seats and sides. Gorgeous.

My dad came over in mid-afternoon and picked up Blake for his night at Camp Grandpa, leaving the two of us to read, knit, work on the computer, snack, listen to ska, and generally indulge ourselves in the way that the child-free folk do. Unfortunately, I started feeling ill, so we cancelled our reservations at a nice restaurant and made do at a cheap Pho place instead. (Mental note: next time I'm sick, I'm going to avoid the tripe.) And then we caught the early show of Stardust, which was a) dashing b) complete c) only changed in a few tiny ways, one of which was disappointing, one of which made little difference and once of which was an improvement. So hooray for that! It's always good when a special occasion is complimented by a good book adaptation. Bravo to Mssrs. Gaiman & Vaughn: you have ensured that my anniversary did not descend into disappointment.

And as I have never made a habit of writing about the other stuff, we shall draw our curtain here. Happy anniversary, Boy.

more photos here

Labels: blake, gifties, the boy, threshold experiences, triumph

What the hell day is it? I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to my post-party life, as in comparison to my pre-party life I have nothing whatsoever to do. Not only did we spend four and a half days in a painting vortex of despair, but Friday, the day I was supposed to be cleaning and cooking, turned into an 8-hour kitchen marathon, leaving the cleaning for the morning of the party. (And when I say 8-hours of cooking, I'm not being my usual over-exaggerating self. I started making marinades at 2:30 and was putting a banana and chocolate chip cake in the oven at 11:10. I did three full loads of dishes throughout the marathon and all the spoons were used up by 9:30.) The house came together beautifully, and I even had a free half-hour to take care of the study, which has been overflowing with boxes and books since we moved in. (Unfortunately, that meant that the Boy's future studio/study closet is now really out of commission rather than just being probably out of commission. Still, nothing will fall down if you open the door. I think I did well.)

The greatest part about having a housewarming in B-ton is that only the people who really like you will make the effort to show up. There are no casual drop-ins when that means a 50-minute bus ride. Once again, my knittas came through for me. They arrived on time in well-dressed and mighty ranks, brought gifts and consorts and babies (both born and yet-to-be), complimented the place extravagantly, helped in the kitchen, and set up a knitting circle in the living room. They took the extended tour as many times as I felt like giving it, they allowed themselves to be drawn into Blake's odd conversations, and they spontaneously formed the Greater Brampton Downstairs Accordion Recital Society while listening to the Boy jam. (Credit to David for the name!) Thank heaven for Lisa, Nadia, Michelle, Joyce, Sophie, Jacquie, Paul, Emily, David & Clara (the most delicious party snack I could have ever served).

the dazzling light comes from the knitters, not my picture window

I'm kind of sad this pic turned out so blurry, because I love Sophie's expression. The image is a cross between a Rembrant and a digitally-enhanced security camera still. Sophie is responsible for the fine art element; I'm the one with the grainy technique.

Michelle kicks off the yarn tasting segment

Nad was so pretty in her white sun dress and strappy sandals, and this is the best picture I could produce. Also, she's working on my crocheted welcome mat. Yee!

Other than the overwhelming force of the SNAY Team (Special Needles And Yarn) contingent, we were also blessed with:

• my grandparents (who brought a cheese plate, flowers and a magnificent old-school egg salad)
• my parents (who brought flowers and conducted information sessions on the fence and toolshed)
• Scout (who stayed all day and helped clean up)
• Nic (who arrived after the party ended and stayed to chat as everyone left)
• Exodus and Levitica (who also helped clean up, plus took the Boy out to see the Simpsons movie when the party officially ended),
• Cheryl and her whole family (Cheryl is a knitter, but with two kids, she had to be a mommy most of the time. Blake had a freaking BLAST running, climbing, jumping, yelling and digging around with K3nt0n!), and
• St. Jack & Sr. Maria (who engaged Blake in long fascinating conversations about rocks and insects)

What a cliché to say that I love them all, but it's true. I am so happy they came to warm our house, and that people who wanted to come out but couldn't sent their warm thoughts as well.

Swag pics! Sorry about some of the blurriness; I think I have a) more talent and b) better photographic equipment than facts will bear out.

drool-worthy yarn from Sophie, nestled in the Boy's accordion case

sheep salt n' pepper shakers from Lisa came nestled in a sewing pattern form and grammatically-incorrect gift bag. hee! massive candelabra from Nad that could be used as a menorah and currently snuggles my wonderful yarn from Sophie.

good luck bamboo from Joyce; 39-year calendar from Michelle; stripey thermos and yummy-smelling coffee from Emily, David & yummy Clara

a sheep's-eye view of the table

blurry but fun aerial shot of it all. not pictured: classy French wine from Jacquie & Paul and desperately-needed baking stone from Cheryl et. al.
I. Love. My. Friends.

I'm waiting for other pictures from other guests, including the delicious Clara and the delightful Pax, the rough n' tumble antics of two rough n' tumble boys, and the basement accordion jam that created a Society. Oh yes, fun was had.

Labels: blake, family, friends, gifties, house rich, pictures, the boy, triumph