Tuesday, November 18, 2008

All The News That’s Fit To Print

Or not. Really it’s probably pretty boring. Have I not actually posted since last Thursday? Friday was so long ago now that I can’t even remember what I did. Where does the time go? And why did my mind follow it? Oh wait! I remember – we were going to go to the Circle Craft Christmas Market but instead we stayed home and raked leaves. Sounds really deadly boring but it was a whole lot of fun. Sometimes it’s your attitude that makes life worth living.

Ahem. Saturday we voted in the civic election. Last election until a provincial one next spring. Thank goodness! I’m so tired of people calling me to ask me how or if I’m going to vote. Enough’s enough already. Then we went to a party. It was a reunion for some of the folks T-Man worked with in a previous job and including a bunch that had also moved on to his current employer. It was so much fun that we didn’t get home until 2am. That’s the latest we’ve been able to remain awake in several years so we must have been having a good time! Judging by the slight hangover and the baggy eyes I had the next day after only 5 hours sleep, it was a definite success.

Sunday I went to our local Ravelry meetup at a local coffee shop. It was a big group this time and we ended up moving some furniture around to get enough seats together. I find it hard to get a chance to talk to everyone in that situation so I ended up chatting mostly with those sitting closest to me. It was an enjoyable bunch and it’s amazing how many different subjects we can discuss in a couple of hours time! After that it was off to visit our usual LYS for an extra whiff of yarn fumes. I bought a copy of Ann Budd’s “The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns” which I’ve been pondering for awhile. I’ve used her first book in the series many times for gloves and berets so I thought I would use this one for basic sweaters that can then be modified to suit. I probably could get it cheaper online but it’s nice to support a small local shop. I buys ’em where I finds ’em. Maybe I’ll give it a review when I get a chance to peruse it more carefully.

Yesterday T-Man had a day off so we went for a long walk to Granville Island and back. We window-shopped and stopped in at the Weaving Studio and both of Maiwa’s shops. We also had lunch with a seagull, a pigeon and a starling overlooking the water. They didn’t get to share our yummy chicken taco salads though. We shopped in the Market for fresh fruit and veggies and tandoori chicken to take home to bake for dinner. Then we carried on up to Broadway to the magazine shop and along to Steeps, our favourite tea shop for Market Spice tea and then finally on home after buying a few more groceries at Capers. We were both tired when we got home so we sat out on our deck with hand-brewed pear cider (me) and beer (him) until the sun started to set. It was a lovely day out and warm for this time of year.

This morning I finished the Purple Ruffles Socks for my granddaughter, Princess Pink. They’re nearly dry from their bath now after sitting out in today’s sunshine for awhile. I’ll be able to give them to her on Saturday when we’re supposed to be babysitting her and her little brother while their parents go to a party. Hope she likes her new socks. I almost ran out of the yarn but squeaked through to the end. I’ll do a proper post on them when I can get a photo.

I decided to end my suffering and bow out of the “weaving with beads” swap and accompanying article I was supposed to do for the beginning of next month. I just couldn’t drum up any excitement for the project and had no brilliant ideas to work with even though I’ve been pondering the question for several months now. I just have other things on my mind these days and weaving with beads isn’t a priority. If I’m going to weave, it’s going to be something I can use because so many of my household items are wearing out. My big loom still has the end of the tea towel warp still threaded so I can tie on a new warp. In beads, I’d kind of like a lariat necklace, either crocheted or kumihimo (faster). I love the one by Virginia Blakelock in the most recent issue of Bead & Button magazine. But it’s pretty far down on the list.

The only knitting on my needles now is the Seaweed Shawl in natural-dyed alpaca which I’m quite enjoying as a challenge to knit. I’m up to the second repeat of the blossom pattern and although the 3-into-9 stitch is somewhat tricky to maneuver, it’s coming along really well. The blossom is the second of the Estonian stitch patterns in the Laminaria shawl pattern (Knitty) and these are fairly challenging to knit. I would consider it at least an intermediate level lace. Not for beginners anyway. Now that I have so many FOs, I need to cast on for the next pair of socks (not too complex) and the beret I want to make. I figure 3 projects on the needles isn’t too many.

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