Uh Oh!

I think I may be in trouble. I found Raven playing with this in the middle of the floor.

That's a mangled tag from my living room chair. But more worrisome is that this written on it:

I didn't remove it. Does that mean the tag police are going to come take me away?

If you don't hear from me in a while, send yarn! (actually, you can send yarn anyway :)

The Final Piece

And now for the presentation of the last piece of Christmas knitting.

Another pair of Fiber Trends felted clogs. They are purple Paton's Classic with pink fun-fur around the cuff. Man, that fun-fur was a real pain to work with. I wasn't too put off by the fact that it was acrylic. It was the long hairy bits that kept wrapping around stitches and catching my needles that was the hassle. Definitely something for embellishment only. I don't know how people knit up those scarves out of fun-fur only!

I have already gotten feedback from the recipients of these and they love them! That makes me a very happy, injured, knitter. Tennis elbow is still bugging me. It's better. But recovery is sloooow. Anyone else had to deal with this? Know how long I'll be out? I'm going nuts. I keep thinking, "oh, I'll knit up one of those. they're cute" and then realizing I can't yet. Argh.

In other news, the car needed a new battery. Not a surprise, really. However, the nice CAA guy that came to give me a boost hooked up his battery doohicky thing (yes,that's the technical term) to both the positive and negative terminals. Now, my daddy taught me (and lots of other daddy's taught their kids) that the negative clamp is supposed to get clamped to an unpainted piece of metal on the car. When I asked the fellow, he said that most cars nowadays are mostly plastic and exposed metal has been painted, so this is what they do. In fact, I went out after to look under the hood, and my car is exactly that...painted metal and plastic. Go figure.

I inquired further at my garage. (Been going there for years. They are wonderful) and was told that with modern batteries, they don't blow up like the old ones did when you hook 'em up that way.

So that is my public service message. To boost your car battery, hook up the red clamp to the positive terminal on your battery first and then hook up the negative, black clamp to the other terminal. (oh, and have a big wad of cash to pay for the new battery)

Why Did I Get Up?

Lets see, I got up, had coffee, saw that it was -17C out, so I hit the remote start. when I went out the door, I saw that the car hadn't started. Thinking I hadn't started it right ro something, I hit the button again. Nothing. I tried to start it the old fashioned way. Nada. Giving up, I called a cab and went to work.

Hubby figured out it's the battery, so tomorrow we're gonna jump-start it and take it in to get the battery changed. We could just buy a battery ourselves, but then you have to deal with the disposal issue. Not something I feel like dealing with.

Figured I'd catch the bus home. Got out to the bus stop just in time to see my bus rounding the corner...heading away from me. Sigh. My second choice bus pulls up 15 minutes later. However it means a 15 minute walk at the other end too. In the -14C weather. Not fun. Got home. Can't really feel my thighs. Re-scheduled my appointments that I had on thursday. as I will be bringing the car into the shop.

Tried to up-synch the new schedule with my Palm Pilot. Nothing. Cleaned the contacts. Still nothing. Restarted computer. No love. Kept pushing the button. Wiggled the unit, checked usb connections. Still nothing.

I give up.

Happy New Year!

Some Knitting!

Finally! A post with knitting content. Exciting eh? Nope, my tennis elbow still has me on enforced rest. However, now that Christmas is over, I can show you some Christmas knitting!

Ta da! fiber Trends Felted Clog pattern. Done in Paton's Classic Merino. I did the cuff in a multicoloured Paton's Classic, but I didn't pick one with high enough contrast to the main body of the slipper. So I added the grey stitches around it to make it look like an "on purpose" design feature. Turned out rather well, I think!

Ciao

Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

Another Quote From the Chocolate Box

Woman: You don't understand me!
Man: What do you mean?

Fairy Tales Ain't What They are Cracked up to Be

A friend sent this to me. Not sure where she got it, but I had to share!


This is the fairy tale that should have been read to you when you were little:



Once upon a time

in a land far away,
~~~~~~~~
a beautiful, independent,
self-assured princess
~~~~~~~~
happened upon a frog as she sat
contemplating ecological issues
on the shores of an unpolluted pond
in a verdant meadow near her castle.
~~~~~~~~
The frog hopped into the princess' lap
and said: " Elegant Lady,
I was once a handsome prince,
until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.
~~~~~~~~
One kiss from you, however,
and I will turn back
into the dapper, young prince that I am
~~~~~~~~
and then, my sweet, we can marry
~~~~~~~~
and set up housekeeping in your castle
~~~~~~~~
with my mother,
~~~~~~~~
where you can prepare my meals,
~~~~~~~~
clean my clothes, bear my children,
~~~~~~~~
and forever feel
grateful and happy doing so. "
~~~~~~~~
That night,
~~~~~~~~
as the princess dined sumptuously
~~~~~~~~
on lightly sauteed frog legs
~~~~~~~~
seasoned in a white wine
~~~~~~~
and onion cream sauce,
~~~~~~~~
she chuckled and thought to herself:
~~~~~~~~
I don't fuckin think so..

Christmas Chocolate

Christmas wouldn't be complete without special treats. Like chocolate. Specifically, Baci. Mmmm, dark chocolate with hazelnuts. Mmmmmmmm.....

"Kiss, kiss Micha"-Raven

The choclates come with a little saying in each one. Kind of like a chinese fortune cookie.

So today's quote is," being a woman is a terribly difficult task since it consists principally in dealing with men"

Not the usual "love is..." kinda quote!

Ciao

Lunch

Today Iwent into a sub shop to buy lunch. The guy in front of me appeared to have never been in a sub shop.

He didn't know what kind of sandwich he wanted. He didn't know what kind of bread he wanted. The clerk pointed out the sign that showed the bread choices. He said,"I'll have that one" and pointed at one of them. Ummm, idjit, the sign was cardboard. The sandwich artist can't see what you are pointing at. She picked up the sign and pointed at one and he said, "no, THAT one". and gestured vaguely at the sign again.

She was getting frustrated. I could see it. So I told her which one he had pointed at the first time so we could all get going and eat. (I get grumpy when I'm hungry and this fool was standing between me and lunch. NOT a good place to be)

I don't get it. He wasn't a new Canadian, so he didn't have that excuse. The sub shop was one of those huge chains, so the choices are the usual ones. So, why, oh WHY did he not seem to know his way around a freaking sandwich?

Moral of the story: Don't wait till you are ravenous to get lunch. A fool might be in front of you in the line!

Don't Mention it.

The "hijab girl" case has sparked a great deal of talk about Muslim religion and women and the role in western culture. There has been a great deal of tsk-tsking about Muslims and their opression of women.

What has been almost completely missed is that this is, at bottom, a domestic violence case. Yes, the cause of the clash was the hijab. In a western household the tension could have been caused by the company a girl kept. Or her clothes. Or the fact that she didn't clean her room. It does not change the fact that the father hit the girl. She had bruises to prove it.

The home situation was so bad that she had moved out to stay with a friend. She was terrified of her father. Not just apprehensive of him. Terrified. This is not normal. Children do not usually leave home unless the home situation is so bad that the option of leaving is less bad.

This is a case of child abuse. Teenagers will rebel. It is the nature of teenagers. In this case, the point of contention was the hijab. It happens to be a symbol that is easily recognizable as a Muslim thing. The media is having a field day. They are not addressing the problem.

Child abuse. No culture in the world sanctions it.

Don't let the fog of religion confuse the issue.

Weird History

My hubby and I have decided that Raven must have had a weird history before he landed with us.

We ordered chinese food in the other night. It was the first time since we got Raven that we ordered it. He went absolutely crazy trying to get at it! We had to lock him up so we could eat. Haven't had to do that before.

Then tonight there was some newscast on about cats and mice. They did a shot of a mouse running across a board of some kind. Raven immediately perked up and went to stare at the television. He then spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out how to either get into the television to get the mouse, or figure out where the mouse hid behind the screen. Very funny. He usually doesn't have an attention span that is more than 30 seconds long.

So, the burning question is now....was he dumpster diving behind a chinese food restaurant for scraps and mice and rats before the Humane society picked him up? Or was he being fattened up for use in the food as "chicken"?




And getting him to sit still long enough to take a picture is a challenge. He was posed so prettily in front of the cabinets 2 seconds before this shot....

Blog Fodder

Yup, more fodder. And fun. Saw this over at The Amazing Adventures of the Kelly-Green Rogue.

You Are a Fruitcake

People pretend you're sweet and precious, but they know how weird you really are!

What Holiday Food Are You?

Anyone particularly surprised?

Done.

Christmas knitting is done. A tiny bit of felting is required...and then Christmas will be ready. Which is a good thing as I have tennis elbow. From the cat. Who slept on my hand while I was asleep myself. Which hyperextended my elbow. Ouch!

So the knitting has been set aside for a bit. Not sure how much will get posted to this here blog. But I have a general rant-y type blog you can peruse if you want. Csquared Confabulates. Mostly on clothes and tv crap. The above link is to the current post....

ciao

I'm HOT!

Swiped this from Wannietta

Your Score: Chiltepin Pepper

You scored 50% intoxication, 75% hotness, 25% complexity, and 50% craziness!

You are Chiltepin! You are extremely hot. You're so hot, you're the mother of all hotness. Although your heat is great, it diminishes quickly, so don't worry, you can't cause that much harm... or can you? Please just make sure people wear gloves when they handle you.

Link: The Which Spice Are You Test written by jodiesattva on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Contest entry!

Hannah at Bittersweet is having a contest!

A littel background...Raven is our newest addition to our family. He is, however, a little bit TOO adventurous. He espicially likes glasses. Drinking glasses, eyewear, you name it. Remember this post? Consider that part of my entry. Here is another series of 3 photos I photoshopped into 1 vignette:

And he consistently knocks them over too. Sigh....

Can you hear the frenetic clicking?

Of my knitting needles that is. I am practically done the top secret knitting. Just a little bit of finishing to do on it! Then I cast on the hat for my hubby's friend and next thing you know, I'll be done! Before Christmas eve. How cool is that?

But, I know you all want to be entertained, so here is a pic a friend of mine sent me. I thought y'all might get a kick out of it!

Don't know where the original came from, but it made me giggle.

Ciao

Merry Christmas to Me!

As it is the Christmas season, there is Christmas knitting. Sekert Christmas knitting! So, very little that is bloggable till after the special day.

However, I bought myself a Christmas present. And since I know what I'm getting, I can show all of you!


The colour is more true on the first picture, but you can see the slot on the bottom better on the second. It's from Knitzi and is uber-cool! The ends unscrew and allow you to slip in the sock in progress!

Merry Christmas to me! Merry Christmas to me!

Yarny Goodness

Some pics of my spinning attempts.

I'm rather pleased!

Ciao

No Post Today

Today, this is the post ya'll get. Pretty much nuttin! 'Cause it's my 15th wedding anniversary and we're going out to partay!

Party on!

Captain, There's a Gravitational Anamoly Ahead...

Secret Christmas knitting continues. However, it's been weird. I read the pattern. It said,"cast on 63 stitches". so I did. I double counted to be sure I didn't do too many. Turns out I only did 59. So I cast on 4 more stitches and re-counted. Still 59. WTF???? Is there a black hole sucking my cast-on into oblivion?

Hubby looked over at my growl of frustration. When the problem was explained, he said,"Maybe it needs a time-out in the yarn bag." He's learning 'knitspeak" by osmosis!

I put the cast-on back in the bag for the evening. The next night I pulled it out again, and it remained 63 stitches. Halleluljah! So the secret Christmas knitting continues.

In other Christmas news, a friend of my hubby is coming down to spend the holiday with us. So I wondered out loud, what to get him for Christmas. I asked hubby. After all, it's his friend. Hubby said that we didn't have to worry about it. I feel that if you are at my house, there should be a little something under the tree. Hubby said,"Just knit him a scarf, then."

Just???? JUST???!!!! Is he kidding? (better be) I reminded him how long the last knitted item I made for him took. I then opined that I could probably knock out a hat. In worsted. Which was deemed acceptable. So the Christmas knitting list grows longer. I should have just gone out and bought a tacky t-shirt.

ciao

New Hobby?

Hmm, I may have found a new hobby. Spinning! I took a drop spindle class on the weekend and had a great time. It is really rewarding to start with fibre and get yarn out of it. Made by me. However, I have a feeling that the drop spindle would make a superior cat toy. So any more spinning will have to be done away from home until Raven matures a bit, I suspect. No matter, it just means I will have to attend knit nights at my LYS a little more often! Darn.

A not so impressive photo of myself. Not because of the photographer. Because I am not really all that photogenic. Note my silly grin.

Ciao

I Iz Super!

Ha!

Better Late than Never

Chappysmom was running a contest whereby you were to post a picture of your November Calender. I think I'm too late for the contest, but here is the picture anyway! It's a really cute picture with a knit. Although I doubt it's a handknit. Hmmm, Blogger seems to be having issues lately uploading my photos.

Ha! Worked around it. I am super-genius.

edit: in addition, I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for cheap gag Christmas gifts. I found one: a bag of marshmallows labelled "snowman poop"

Ciao

Equality

Micha and Pagan are a bit pissed that Raven has been getting so much blog time. So, in the interests of keeping the peace, here are some pictures.

Although Micha seems very interested in the Bagstopper. The pull of the catnip was stronger, however.....

Ciao

Good and Bad.

First, the good news...I filled up my gas tank at 94.6 cents a liter. Half an hour later, the price jumped to 104.4! Ha. For once I got in ahead of the price increase. Although, I did the math and I saved myself a whopping $5. Not exactly going to break the bank. But it is MY $5, so it's all good.

The bad news. I have to frog back my Christmas knitting. I got lost somewhere in the pattern and now the stitches just aren't behaving. Sigh. This is not going to make the Christmas knitting go faster. Dammit.

Since I want to leave you all with happy thoughts, I give you a picture of Raven.

Looks like he's settling in, doesn't it?

Ciao

A Return to Normality

Or what passes for it around here...

Ciao

A Pictorial

Plate O Love

In order to facilitate dosing the kitties, I have organized what I call the plate of love.

I get all the meds ready, sit down next to the kitty, pin her next to my leg and medicate away. She grumbles and hisses, but then she looks like this:

So I figure she's gotten over it pretty quick.

The other kitty has gotten better enough that she is eating again. So, I mix in her antibiotic with a bit of food, feed it to her and then when she is done that, give her the rest.

There has been knitting, but unfortunately it is of the secret Christmas kind. So I can't show you. Hence the kitty pictures. Otherwise I would tell you I am knitting (bleep ) for (bleep) out of (bleep). However, censored blog posts are kind of a pain to figure out, since you have to decide what the (bleep) stands for.

So, kitty pics it is!

Ciao

Oh the Dwama!

So, apparently the Fates decided that cat-wrestling one cat twice a day was not interesting enough. My cat Micha has had a recurrence of her, ahem, bowel troubles. Which necessitates giving her anitbiotics too. So, now I am getting antibiotics into 2 cats twice a day. Oh the fun. I am topful of joy. Seriously. Fun. Really. Yippee.

So, I figured I should get into shape in order to cat-wrestle effectively. Apparently, I should:

You Should Get in Shape With Yoga

You're serious enough to be dedicated to yoga... But playful enough to keep it fun Yoga will give you the lean yet curvy look you desire

How Should You Get Your Curves In Shape?

Maybe I will become as bendy as a cat?

Ciao

Surprise! Not.....

You're Part Diva

You know that a girl's gotta work it to get her way in the world. And while you aren't about to throw a tantrum at every turn... You do amp up the drama when you know you need it. You mix charm, honesty, and kindness to get ahead.

Are You a Diva?

Just to make my life interesting, Pagan decided to come down with a bladder infection. The hell of it is that a cat can't tell you they feel bad or why they feel bad. All I saw was that she was off her feed. She was still eating, just not like her usual vacuum-cleaner self. Finally saw her trying to pee in the bathtub. (Ick. I know) At least that told me what the problem was. Naturally that was after the vet closed. While I have called the vet for emergency visits, this didn't qualify. Got up early on my day off, called the vet the minute they opened and brought kitty in. While I was there, I asked them to look at her eye. Pagan has an eye that is prone to periodic infections. Sure enough, it is infected and irritated. Lovely.

So now, twice a day for the next 14 days I get to pin her down, put two different drops in her eyes and give her antibiotic drops. Oddly enough, she fights me on the eyedrops, but doesn't seem to mind having the anitbiotic squirted in her mouth. Go figure.

Gotta go, as resident pharmacist I have to administer the meds....(I think my husband just uses that as an excuse to get out of giving the cat her meds himself!)

Ciao

Aristocrats

Hmm, knitting on the Bagstopper continues. Looks pretty much the same, only bigger.

So, as a distraction, Raven wants you to know that not only is he an Aristocrat, perched on his throne, so is his mommy!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Empress Carol the Possible of Fishkill St Wednesday Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Yawn, Another One

So, I have cast on for another project. While it's not the most pressing Christmas knitting, it IS Christmas knitting, so it does need to get done. At the same time, I am stash-busting. 2 birds, one stone, yadda,yadda....

It's (drumroll please) another Everlasting Bagstopper! Like you couldn't already tell from it's similarity to the other 4 or 5 I've done..... I will sayt that after trying out a few different string bag patterns, this is the best one. I don't seem to screw up the pattern as much as some of the other ones, the bag is a good size, unlike some of the other ones. Best of all, now that I have made so many, I know the pattern off by heart!

I also managed to get another repeat on the Campanula sock done. It looks the same, with a bit more length.

Ciao

At Last! Pictures and Yarn Pron.

I have finally managed to get it together enough to take pictures. Not fabulous pictures, but I'm not a professional photographer, so it will have to do!

First up, Campanula sock:

Hmm, that's quite a hole at the heel/foot join. I sense some duplicate stitch in my future....

Next up, the current pattern candidate for my silk Rumple yarn.

Sorry about the shadows, this was the best I could do after several attempts. It's definitely open enough for the nubbly texture of the yarn. Maybe too open? I'm debating going down a needle size. It's currently drying from it's mini-blocking. I'll see what it feels like and looks like when it's dry.

In other very nifty news, I won a little yarn. If you haven't been to Mobtown Reviews, get yourself over there on Wednesdays. The link will go up in my sidebar when Blogger decides to let me do it....At any rate, the site reviews a new and upcoming fibre artist every week. And then they hold a draw from the comments for the reviewed treat! Last week, I won. I got myself a super soft and squooshy absolutely lovely skein of sock yarn from Oceanwind Knits. It is absolutely scrumptious. the colourway is "Elderberry". Lori shipped it out superfast. My big problem now, is deciding what sock to use it on. Lately I seem to be having pattern decision making issues.....

The other cool thing about Oceanwind Knits is that it is Canadian. Canada has so many wondeful fibre artist. Yet often they get lost in the shuffle somehow.

Oops! The yarn must be lovely. Raven is going ofter it! And so far he has only gone after my expensive stuff. Gotta go save the yarn.

Ciao

Prize for Bad Blogging

I guess I get the booby prize for bad blogging. I still have not managed to take pictures. Tomorrow. I promise. I am not working all day. Surely I can manage to take a couple of pictures, right? Let's hope so.

So tonight there will be words. I continue to plug away on my Campanula sock. I did something to my left hand. The base of my thumb hurts. So I can only get a few rows in before the lace and the tiny yarn with the itty bitty sock needles gets to me. But I am putting in a few rows regularly. They appear to be adding up.

I cast on for the Falling water Lace scarf with the lovely silk. Was not loving the result. Ripped. Sorry, no pictures of that either. Emailed Alison who gave me a couple of tips on picking a pattern for the yarn. I could have dug out the stitch dictionary, but I was bored at work today, so I surfed the net a bit. I found seafoam lace. So far, I like it better. I'm only 1 repeat into it, though. Again, pictures tomorrow. Even though it looks like ass. I am reliably informed, by pretty much every blog out there, that lace is supposed to look like ass. In which case I am right on track.

In other news, Raven is now fixed. That makes me a responsible pet owner. Although, I find the term "fixed" kind of funny. After all, the reason we do the procedure is because the ..um.. bits, work, right? So aren't we actually "breaking" the kitty?

It makes me chuckle, at any rate!

I'm off to knit on my seafoam.

Ciao

Whiny-ness

So it's too dark after work to take pictures of knitting progress. Those will have to wait till tomorrow.

Instead, a whine.

Last week I spent 2 days sweating over the carpets with a rented steam-cleaner. Less than 3 hours after I was done, the cat had a fur-ball on my still damp carpet. 2 days later, the hubby made an injudicious move and spilled my glass of champagne on the carpet. At least it was white wine, I guess.

2 days after that Raven managed to knock over a full, 16 ounce glass of lemonade onto my rug.

Is it any wonder the rugs needed shampooing? And that totally icky amounts of gross water were extracted from said carpets?

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.

Ciao

I Give Up

So, I decided that I would make Wisp. After all, it is basically a scarf, right? So gauge won't matter, right? So I can skip the whole swatch etc step, right?

One problem. I'm not loving the yarn anymore. Yup, after all that, no more love.

So I thought to myself, I have some lovely Hand Maiden Rumple. I could make a nice scarf of it!

I pulled it out, put it on my swift and found this:

That's right. A big tangle. 300 metres worth of tangle to be exact. I spent some time and finally tamed it into this:
I think I'm going to make the Falling Water Lace scarf. Unless someone else has an idea about what to do with 300 metres of luscious silk?

I'm off to pet my yarn for a bit.

Ciao

Aaargh!

I decided to swatch for the Lacy Wrap Top from Fitted Knits.

But the gauge is off! Waaaah! I got 12 st/4 inch instead of 10! That is with size 11 needles. I don't really want to use larger ones. Back to the drawing board. What to use this yarn for? Hmmmm.....

Ciao

Hard at Work

Supposedly this week I am on vacation. Riiiight. I had to take Raven for an minor injury to the vet. It appears idjit sprained his hip doing something dumb. Which I totally believe. He jumps up on things without making sure there is a landing spot. He runs into the kitchen at such a speed that he loses traction and can't make the corner. Thus skidding on his side across the floor.

I just spent the last 2 days steam cleaning my carpet. There was a deal where you get 2 days for the price of one, if you rent on a monday. So that's what I did. This way I moved all the furniture over to one side of the room, cleaned it, waited for it to dry and then shoved all the furniture to the other side and cleaned that. Now I am exhausted.

I did not feel up to a lace pattern or anything dimly complicated. So, I swatched for my tilted duster. Unfortunately, the yarn I was thinking of using is too thin. It made a very lightweight, fuzzy swatch.

That is a picture of the swatch on my newly cleaned rug. I don't know how to photograph for substantialness (or lack thereof) so you will have to take me at my word. Not the right yarn for the job. Maybe for this. (Lacy Wraparound from Fitted Knits). Yes, I probably should have known that the yarn wasn't right. My only defense is that I was exhausted from wrestling the steamer around.

I finished cleaning the rug around 3:30 today. By 6pm, Pagan had already horked up a furball on my rug. Sigh. Sometimes I wonder why I bother.

Ciao

As the Heel Turns

I turned the heel on my sock! Now it's a straight shot up the leg.

However, today is not scheduled for more knitting.

(although some unscheduled knitting may well occur). Today it's "steam clean the rug day" Yay! Hmmm. Maybe not so much yay as,"what a lot of work, but the rugs sure do need it". At any rate, that's the official plan today.

Raven has other plans.