Apres Noel

Its now after Christmas and things have relaxed decidedly around Chez Nous. Its a relief thats for sure. Our Christmas was very quiet but enjoyable. I do miss the Christmas Eve visitings etc from our former life. Christmas seems so empty without the extended family and friends to share it with.

I recieved the book I so wanted (The Knitter's Book Of Wool) and as a surprise I also recieved The Knitters Book Of Yarn. I feel so spoiled! These are wonderful books by Clara Parkes and deserve a spot on the knitter's bookshelf. I'm pleased.

I also got my long awaited birthday gift of a rug hooking frame and fabric cutter. My friend's mom decided she didn't want her equipment anymore and sold it to us for a very reasonable price. Also included was a bag of fabric strips she'd already cut. I may start a hit and miss piece for practice.

I'm suffering from a case of too many crafting options to choose from. I've got my sticks and string as always but now have the rug hooking (2 types: locker hooking and primitive hooking) and the knitting machine crying out for my attention. I wish I had several of me!!! There's just too much craftiness here for one me!

I set up my knitting machine on Saturday, following the instructions in the manual very carefully. I attempted to cast on and knit with it several times and in the last attempt actually got about 4 rows done before it arsed up. There appears to be a steep learning curve involved here. It may take me quite awhile before I ever get around to hooking up the ribber attachment at this rate. Le sigh...

All in all, a very nice holiday. Hope yours was bright and blessed.

BIRTHDAY

Today my baby, Thing 2 , is 11 years old!! He got his gifts (a Wii game and an Artemis Fowl book series addition)this morning and was very pleased. Today we will bake his cake together and later we will all decorate our Xmas tree (or "Bob" as the kids have named it). Its a slightly snowy day here but temps are gonna drop over the next couple of days to Brr-y number (maybe miunus 15 C for a high on thursday!). I have got to get the boy to a store for new winter boots...he's been wearing mine which are of the unisex variety since his feet are now too big for last years boots. He's into men's small sizes now...OMG!!! Shoes were a size 7 this fall and clothes are sizes 14- 16 or a men's small. He's not very tall though...maybe my height or a touch shorter. The hand me downs go from younger to older in this house and it doesn't always sit well but as my brother always says"It is what it is!", so shut up about it.

Happy news today for me: I am investing in a knitting machine with my first pay cheque that a certain knit designer I know found on Kijiji for $50. Its a swell deal AND has an attachement that will allow me to mke socks, so its a much much cheaper option than the antique sock knitting machines I had been lusting after. Now all my sock knitting demands can be met in much less time than it takes me to knit by hand, once I learn how to make machine go. Veronik says she will tutor me if I have problems. Plus, if I want to I can make sweater parts on this baby too and speed up my sweater knitting..I have some skinny yarn that is supposed to be a sweater for ME and you know I'd be at it for the rest of my life if I knit it by hand. I foresee a drastic drop in my stash level as soon as I get over the learning curve.

I had news today about my birthday present of a floor frame for rug hooking and a strip cutter...it should be in my hot little hands by next week and I am very excited about this as well.

My friend Marie Michele gifted me a pattern today that I have been smitten with for a couple of days now. They are felted ballerina flats and just so frickin' CUTE and apparently very speedy to make and I have plenty of odd skeins of worsted that would be perfect for them, so guess what i will be doing ASAP.

My darling sister's intended xmas gift will not be ready for Xmas mail out. I still have a skein to go and just cannot get any amount of speed going on it, loverly as it is. It will instead be a, apres Xmas gift! January should see that #$%^& done...LOL How can something so simple and plain be so slow, I ask ya!? The yarn is exquisite though...

Speaking of mail outs I have got to get my ass in gear and get the cards in the mail too!

Lazy Days

I have been remiss in not blogging and for that I apologise. I just have not felt very bloggy. In fact, since the trip I have been extremely un-energetic. At first I thought I was getting sick or something but it was just plain old exaustion. How do other people do this...trips and then work and kids and all of that? Nowadays you need to pry me out of my cozy nest with a crowbar. Too tired and lazy to do or go anywhere except when I must.

Today however I need to break this behaviour. My friend V wants to go shopping together and that promises to be some good girly time, so last night I crashed out at 7 PM (seriously dudes I am breaking sleep records left and right lately) so that I would NOT go back to bed after the kids left for school this morning. I am also guzzling coffee.

Last week I came home from...hmmm...where did I come home from? Maybe Knit night? Anyways, I came home and my men had started the decorating by setting up my porcelain village and some other light up decorations around the living room. I think we are going to search out a U Pick tree place this weekend and cut down our own tree rather than schlep one home from the lots. Or at least the guys will. I think I have work.

I've been doing some part time work at Effiloche for the pre-holiday season. Mostly ball winding and helping English speaking customers so that Ginette is free to run the cash and help Francophone customers. Also I work one day or evening a week cleaning the shop which can take anywhere from 2 to many hours depending on what needs doing.

Knitting: I am doing very little lately!! BAD KNITTER (see the sleeping etc above). Sometimes sitting with my knitting makes me sleepy, so its been a little counter productive. On the needles is the Xmas gift started in June and now I have serious concerns that it will NOT be done for Xmas mailing. Also, my Nutkin socks have not progressed in over a week because I have been devoting any and all knit time to the gift. Can I state again how much I love the Nutkin socks? Its an awesome little pattern by Knitzi and its also a FREE pattern! The chart is dead simple to follow and after a few rounds you don't even need it really unless you put the work down and then forget how it works. I'm using Cestari sock yarn in Natural Light Grey and five 2.75 mm needles. Love. Will enjoy wearing them VERY much. I changed the heel however, to a plain ol' flap-type heel rather than a short row heel because I prefer the POFH. That was my only switcheroo.

Tonight is a combination December birthdays bash and knit night. Geeta, Celine, and I have all had birthdays in the last week and a half so Ginette thought we should have a party knit night. I will need more coffee while out this afternoon.

Work for a certain yarn company continues to be wonderful. I sent out 20 promo packs last Friday and one of my phone calls last week jogged a shop owner's memory that she had wanted to get the yarn in stock, so an order happened! YAY! Wait until people get a load of the next yarn...its fingering weight and in the same 36 colours as the sport weight. Delicious. The next pattern magazine promises to be just as awesome as the first edition too, dudes!

Some might say "OMG! Wool for baby stuffs!!!! The stains! The difficulty in washing!!!" and to that I say Poo! Wool is PERFECT for baby stuffs and I only wish I had been a knitter when my kids were small. Its naturally dirt repelling. Its also naturally fire retardant!!! Think of that next time you read the labels of baby's stuffs and see the fire retardant label and then wonder what chemicals they are using. Its warm even when it gets wet (and you know babies get wet thanks to leaking diapers etc). And wool is NOT difficult to wash. Seriously. You throw some good wool wash (NOT Woolite ) or my handy stand by, shampoo, into some tepid water and you put the item in to SOAK. How hard is that? Now with good wool wash like Eucalan, or Soak, or maybe Kookaburra (not 100% sure) you don't even need to rinse the item. It has soaked out the soil and is low to no sudsing. No rinsing! How cool is that? With shampoo there IS rising needed though. You SQUEEZE out the item, not wring it, then wrap it in towels to squeeze out the most water you can OR put it in the machine for a spin cycle while its in a pillow case or special lingerie/fine washables bag.

Dudes...it doesn't get any easier. Go with the wool. You know you want it.

HOME: Day 4

Thats right. We have been home for 4 days (arriving Chez Nous around 8 am Thursday morning after and all night drive from NS). So much happened while we were away and so much has happened since that I am a bit blurry around the edges, brain wise.

I had my first Margaritas in Puerto Rico and can now say that I like frozen as opposed to shaken. So there. I can order Ms with authority!

I drank before noon more than once. Don't look at me like that.

Yes it was margaritas...they are shameless temptresses I tells ya.

I spent lots of time on Palomino Island soaking up sand and swallowing my fair share of sea water when snorkelling.

Hman made my want come true when he rented a Hoabie Cat and took me over to Palominito Island which was taunting me with its lovely desert isle-ness. While we were there a guy came out of the water after swimming over from Palomino, thats how close it is. But I am not in such good shape as swimmer dude.

There were iguanas every where. Very cool.

The frogs known as El Coqui are very very LOUD for their tiny size. Prompted several evening sessions of yodelling "koKEE koKEE koKEE" around the resort. My husband is not too embarrassed...given enough beer he started doing it too.

I met super fabulous people and caught up with others that I haven't seen in awhile. I had fun.

And then when I came home I was offered a super cool job that I am thrilled to pieces over. I am now a yarn company sales rep. Or "account representative" since Julie says "sales rep" is passe. I must be pretty old school because sales rep keeps popping out. Thrilled does not even cover my joy. I am stoked!!!

Girly stuffs

I'm not a big time girly girl but I do like me some girly stuff. I love pretty clothes and shoes but never really get a chance to wear them being a stay at home mom and all. I do colour my hair to both give it a bit of flair and to cover the $^^$#$ing greys that have been multiplying in the last couple of years, but I am not real regular about it.

Now I have a trip coming up. I also watched a video my my friend Karine's (topstitch girl in the side bar) blog of how she does her minmalist make up. Together the two mingled in my brain and made me buy stuff. Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it.

First of all, nowadays everything seems to break me out. My skin was resilient as a teen and I wore pounds of make up with no more breakouts than an average teen girl would experince. Wash my make up off before bed??? That was for sissies...and sober people since in University bedtime was often preluded by alcoholic beverages. No real adverse effcts. NOW? Even washing my face can sometimes cause an eruption. I've tried pricey stuff and cheap stuff...natural stuff and chemically stuff..its all the same to my face. My facial skin seems to have the temperament of a toddler being given pureed peas...accepts it and then spits it out and has a tantrum.

Since watching karine's video and having this trip coming up, I bought some Neutrogena "Healthy Skin" cleanser for wrinkles and acne...thats should cover it right??? So far so good but its only day two and a half. Of course, washing my face makes it then feel a tad dry afterward so today I got myself some Neutrogena daily moisturiser for sensitive skin. Its oil free and seems nice and light. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

Now, going away always makes me revamp the make up case, too. For someone who almost never wears this stuff I have a fair bit. I tossed my old (virtually full)foundation and powder, washed all my brushes and applicators. I invested in a new neutral eyeshadow quartet, lip liners to use as lip stain since they were super marked down, a new tube of foundation to combine with my daily moisturiser (only won't do it daily ) for a tinted moisturiser effect instead of the feeling of having a layer of shellac on my face (which I am hoping will be easier for my skin to tolerate), a new pressed powder compact, and a fancy powder brush with a cap for having in my purse to deshine while out. I had one before but I lost it or broke it. I cleaned my sharpener and sharpened all my eye and lip pencils. My blusher is still pretty unused so I kept it.
I think I'm ready facewise, to travel.

I coloured my hair too. Can't have all those strangers seein' my greys now can I? Plus now my roots and ends resemble one another again which is always nice. New shiny hair and a fresher face. Wish I'd bought some new shoes too! I'm feelin' girly!

I dyed a skein of cashmere and this was the result

What I started with was a fairly bland skein of cashmere in a shade of beige/tan/camel. It was very yellowy light brownish...or brownish yellow? I called it icky. Anyways, it was the last one of this colour in the shop and sweet, amazing, superwoman Ginette gave it to me with the orders to dye it and make something nice for myself. OK!

I soaked it in warm water laced with a healthy splash of vinegar while I prepared the "dye". I went through my cupboards to see what blue food colouring I had left and came out with Wilton's in Sky Blue. Not at all what I was aiming for but it was blue and the skein was soaking so I mixed up a good strong batch of blue water laced with the miracle substance also known as vinegar. Because the Wilton's gel always seems to leave bits behind I strained my solution through a paper towel lined strainer. No gooky jelly bits in MY cashmere thank you very much.

The skein was squeezed out and laid in a Pyrex baking dish and I poured the dyeall over and around it and then kinda smooshed it around to try and get the solution all through the skein. When i was satisfied with my saturation I topped the dish with some plastic wrap and fired it into the microwave for between 2 and 3 minutes to get nice and hot. then it sat for a little while until it was cooler and the dye was pretty much out of the water and into the yarn.

I took the whole she bang to the laundry room sink for squeezing out the liquid and for rinsing in sinkfuls of clear water. then I went a further step and gave it a soak in Soak . In the skein the colour was kinda...odd. Hmm...olive, khaki, blueish green in there too, hints of the original colour. I was not sure I was happy with the results. When it was dry it was better....or maybe I was just used to it. In the ball though, I definitely liked the effect of all those shades mingling!

This pretty yarn cake is currently being made into my own Pretty Thing Cowl, pattern by Stephanie Pearl-MacPhee. Its slow going because patterns with charts challenge my brain and attention span very much. But its smooshy and soft and I am told I look great in greens, so I am happy and will be happier still when its DONE and I can wear it snuggled around my neck.

Halloween guys

We had a zombie complete with nasty teeth compliments of food colouring and a wizard. He's NOT Gandalf or Dumbledore...he's just a silver wizard. Lets be clear on that. ;oP

Things seen at Rhinebeck

Rhinebeck and its loot

A lot of the joy of Rhinebeck is in the people you get to know. Cases in point are viewed in these pictures.

We have the lovely and charming Veronik and her friends Carol and Laura, whom I have laid claim to. mwhahahahaha

We have Isolda Teague disguised as Bob the Ravelry mascot. She knit that head ehrself in about a week or two. Bizarre. I didn't actually meet her but just snapped her picture.

We have my Mindy from Virginia with Joanne and Otto of Strauch Fiber Equipment Company and Heidi who works with Mindy in the Kid Hollow Farm booth where this photo was taken. Joanne is my new email mentor in locker hooking and Otto is just a cutie pie. Heidi is actually shorter than I am. For REALS.

And then we have most of my loot. Not pictured are my two sweatshirts and my earrings. And the stuff I gave as gifts already.

Goodbye, Harley

Lazy Knitter Slippers: a recipe

I am on my 3rd pair of slippers...these ones for s certain sister who wears through the soles of everything wooly that is knit for her and so needs more wooly footwear. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!

The first two pair were for the boys. They really like them. I thought to myself that since they are so easy and quick to make and I am just kinda making it up as I go, why not post a recipe for them here? They resemble my friend Barb's slippers but her's have more shaping and charm. These are quick and dirty knitting for those who feel that "good enough" is good enough. If you are looking for perfect fit with short rows and decreasings and cunning technique, go away now. Shoo shoo! Off with you.

Alison's LAZY KNITTER Slipper Recipe

MATERIALS: yarn, needles, tape measure, darning or tapestry needle, scissors.

First off, pick a yarn, any yarn. Get your favourite gauge with said yarn and write it down. For slippers, as with socks, firmer tends to be better but its your slipper so whatever works for you.

Step the second: Measure the foot around the widest point and measure the length of the foot from heel to toe tip.

3rdly : Do the math. Take your stitches per inch and multiply by the circumference of the widest part of the foot. Round up or down to get a number divisible by 4 for casting on. There is no ease factored in so these are the only numbers you need. Got it? Good.

CAST ON! Leave a nice length of tail for sewing up later. Knit in garter stitch for the number of ridges to give you half of your foot length or a little shorter (its a slipper, not rocket science). When you reach about mid length switch to 2X2 ribbing. Continue to knit until your piece is the length of the foot. Break or cut your yarn, leaving a nice bit for stitching. Thread the yarn onto a darning or tapestry needle, feed it through your working loops on the knitting needle, slipping them off the knitting needle as you go. Cinch the toe of the slipper as tight as you can, stitching to fasten it, and then start sewing up the selvedge edges that make the top of your slipper. Stop when you reach the garter stitch!! Finish your ends and cut your yarn.
Go to your cast on tail now. Folding your cast on edge together, stitch the halves of the edge together with the cast on tail securely. Finish your ends cut yarn. Turn the slipper inside out/outside right to have your seaming on the inside. VOILA! Slipper one is done. Put it on the intended foot and admire your cleverness. Make another to match.

What I enjoy about these slippers: I love how easy and brainless they are. The bigger your gauge the faster they knit up! I am using my Alafoss Lopi stash up for some cozy family slippers. The second slipper can be calculated by simply counting garter ridges and ribbing rows rather than needing your tape measure. The ribbing tightens the slipper around the foot for a good comfy fit and if the slipper is slightly too short, then the fit is even better with no slippage on the foot that makes some slippers clumsy for walking in (everyone has encountered the " loose slipper shuffle" I am sure). The pointy heel corner will stretch out for the heel in this case as well. They are pretty stretchy so our making them just to the measurement of the foot without having calculated in any ease makes them crazy simple!

TIP: Wooly slippers are notoriously slippery on bare floors so caution should be used . To create non-slip pads for the sole, cut out patches or a whole sole from rubbery non-slip shelf liner and whip stitch them to the soles of the slippers. The liner I used was Duck's "Easy Liner" from Walmart and its sold as a roll and comes in various colours. You might find smaller amounts of something similar at dollar stores. Another option could be to paint the sole with liquid latex use for making hooked rugs non-slippy.

If you need a quick basket of slippers by the front door or as a gift, feel free to use my recipe and create your own Lazy Knitter Slippers in any size or gauge.

Harley update

Harley will soon be called Dungeon Cat because he is living in the bathroom lately. Yesterday he took his oppotunity at freedom as a chance to pee on a wool sweater I had lying out to dry after washing it. OMG! This whole "sick cat pees everywhere " thing is highly annoying. His little life almost came to an end for that one.

He is still underweight by a lot. He still has a drunken swagger when he walks. He's very klutzy when attempting normal cat things, because of his muscle loss and nerve damage I guess, so he crashes a fair bit which can't be fun.

We began his trial on Prednisone on Wednesday and he has had a big turn around with his activity level. He REALLY wants outta the bathroom/dungeon but given his nasty habit thats not happening. He is also eating more on his own from his food dish. This is heartening but its still not enough to get his weight up. I'm still forcing some liquified foods down his throat daily to get as many calories into him as possible.

So, while Prednisone is not a cure for his condition, its making him much more comfortable. This is a good thing.

How I made my brother laugh in the early '70s

I have the distinct memory of making my brother laugh hysterically in the back seat of dad's car during a drive to somewhere or other...probably to Nanny's house. My method? The Manamana song I'd seen and heard on Sesame Street. I may have been about 4 yrs old which would put my stellar performance sometime in 1970? He did the girl's part while I manamana'd my heart out to his pee in his pants, tears in his eyes laughter. My brother is 11 1/2 years older than me by the way. He also liked to tape record me singing my ABC's which I would mess up on purpose like this" A-B-C-D-E-F-cookiemonster....". He also used to get me to attempt to put my foot in my mouth, and being gullible and compliant I tried with a will.
Now we are all growed up and I don't make my brother laugh anymore. At least I'll always have my back seat captive audience memories.

I miss old school Sesame Street with is mild violence (that chef falling downstairs laden with desserts)and weirdness (Fisherman Jones cartoon, Yipyips, psychadelia..). It was so cool.

I love Christopher Walken

Seriously, the man is an $^&ing GENIUS plus he's funny as can be. His weirdness is delightful!
My friend Kadi, also a Walken lover, pointed me to this video of him "performing' Lady Gaga's Poker Face". LOL It really is funny when you take song lyrics and just read them. TRY IT SOMETIME!!! I suggest something like Dah Doo Doo Doo by the Police or Radio Gaga by Queen!! hahahaha

Happy Halloween plus Cat

Or All hallow's Eve...or Samhain...whatever you like to call the day! Take a minute if you can to honour those who have gone before, won't you? That is what today is truly about. That and celebrating another prosperous year gone by. And you know, chocolate/candy/treating/tricking CAN be part of the honouring/celebrating process..... ;OP

Audrey came over and treated my guys with YUMMY Lindt Chocolate and FINALLY got her present from me from Rhinebeck ( a button that says "Spinning: because knitting isn't weird enough!" and my Ravelry party favours bag) and saw my new loot.


Harley saw the vet again on Thursday. we gots good news and we gots baddish news. The GOOD: his ear infection is cleared up (yay), he is NOT anemic and his liver and kidney function appears to be normal(according to blood tests). The not good and therefore BADDISH news: he still has a fever (sound familiar????), he's still walking funny, he lost 4 ounces he could NOT afford to lose given his under weight situation.

Vet Nathalie is working under the assumption that he has the same disease at Cooper suffered from...coronavirus resulting in FIP, which is both incurable and impossible to 100% accurately diagnose in life (only by autopsy can anyone be 100% positive that a cat suffers from FIP). Also, its a fatal condition along with being incurable. Thus, our plan of treatment is to continue with the antibiotics to clear up any residual infection that might be causing a fever, supplementing his caloric intake in anyway I can, making sure said caloric intake is as nutritious as possible, keeping him as happy and comfortable as we can to improve the quality of life he has left. Unfortunately the medicating and "force feeding" of liquified kitten food and supplenets stresses him out terribly. He is to the point that he often cringes away from us because it may mean feeding or medicating rather than the lovings and cuddles he was always used to. Its a sad but necessary thing if he is going to stay with us as long as possible. Poor wee baby. He really is one of the sweetest kittens I have ever met. He is much loved in this house. Luckily he is improved to the point where he has taken some kibble in on his own and has stopped messing all over the house, so he has been allowed out of the bathroom for as much cuddling as he can stand. He loves the milk replacer for convalescing cats and kittens so I let him have as much as he wants, plus his beloved coffee cream. he even like the Cat Milk that Whiskas puts out (and no other cats I have ever had has ever liked it, even dairy product ho,13 yr old Miss Kitty). His kibble is the high calorie "just off the mama's teat" kitten food by Royal Canine. His liquified food is canned kitten food, milk replacer powder, Nutrical, homemade cat food, nutritional yeast, and warmmed water or cream and "served" warm. I sprinkle some nutritional yeast on his kibbles to entice him with its cheesy taste and give him extra B vitamines. I dose him with Viralys along with his antibiotics.
Running out of ideas...

Heh heh

The Which Ewe Are You? Quiz I scored as a Perendale, a longwool type sheep.

Overwhelminess, I has it

The new ME.

Today I feel so overwhelmed by life and its doings that I can barely breathe. And I don't truly have the option to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head like I want to do. Its all those piddly fucking little things that pile up on you, y'know? Like laundry....again. I have a mountain of clean clothes to fold and separate into baskets for their owners. I didn't do it before because as each load was done, I was busy with other shit and let the mountain grow. It will take less than an hour to sort ou. This I know from experience but in that hour I could also be doing about eleventy million other things that really do need doing.

Halloween costumes: I need to sew a wizard robe from silver satin before Friday night because I work Saturday and cannot do it last minute. And create his staff and belt sacks of magical stuffs. I need to thrift shop a suit to turn into a zombie costume. They wear the clothes they were buried in, yes? Again...before Friday..Oh yeah...also because of school party...shit!
AND don't forget pumpkin buying and carving with the kids.

My wonderful sister has a big birthday TOMORROW and even though I have it ON the calendar and meant to get the card last week, I still managed to fuck up and forget to buy the fucking card.

Yesterday with the costume fabric shopping and black and white themed dance shirt shopping, I forgot ALSO to pick up the Lysine I asked the vet to bring in for me to give to Harley in the off chance miracle that an amaino acid supplement could help him. Long shot, I agree.

Sick cat tending: he needs to eat if he's going to get well and he does not want to have anything except cream. That he willingly devours with gusto. Home-made cat puree, watered down canned food, Nutrical high calorie cat supplement gel...all are fought off wildly and mainly land on whatever I am wearing so not only am I looking and feeling like a crazy cat lady...I REEK of it. Seriously. All I need is the grey wild hair and the stench of cat piss and I'm that crazy lady on the Simpsons. Its not funny in real life.

Slipper knitting: we have bare floors and its COLD. The kids are asking me for them and I have one pair done but they are as slippery as all get out so NOW I am sewing patches of Duck Easy Liner shelf liner stuff to the bottoms and that is easy yet time consuming. Maybe be faster to just glue it to all my floors? Or at least the stairs?

Floors: they are so gross...lets not even go there but they need a serious cleaning before winter shuts us all up with the dirt and germs.

Germs: that fucking flu is freaking me out lately. I was pretty laissez faire about it until last week. Should we vaccinate? Shouldn't we? How many containers of Lysol wipes and anti viral kleenex should I stock pile? How to keep the news from my scared children that a 13 yr old kid died from it on the weekend in TO (allegedly) after I was calmly reassuring them that since I will be able to look after them and nurse them should they catch the flu, they will be fine, no worries, relax. They hear stuff though and come to me a bit scared/worried. Especially Cameron, my worrier. He is SO me in a different form. Acts up to hide his real feelings, a tease and button pusher, under achiever, funny, but very sensitive which is hard to remember because he tries so hard to act like he doesn't care. But he does...today he was worrying about Harley and crying because he missed Newman, which we thought he din't mind at all because when faced with the news of no more Newnie Noo he was unconcerned..apparently an act. His cat death worries and flu fears came to a head this morning. Poor guy.

Little stuff: like meals, and vacuuming, and dishwasher loading and unloading, kitchen clean ups, bathroom clean ups, homework supervision (such as it is), sleeping, eating, breathing... and all those other things that go into looking after a family like being able to hug them without screaming "Not Now! Don't you see how swamped I am???". I have to fit that shit in there too.

How do other people do this and not lose their minds and not only have everything done but are HAPPY about it ???

Dear iPod

Hi iPod, its me...your user. I just wanted to take a minute to say how much I love you. Even though you are an older style 2gb and not as slim and stylish as the newer generation, I love your sleekly blocky lines. The fact that you try to get along with our family PC just makes me adore you more! Its not YOUR fault that the PC won't always be cooperative with its files.
I love how you keep me entertained with books and music and podcasts so that I can sit still awhile and get some knitting progress. Your sassy pink silicone rubber protector helps you put up with my klutzy, dropping ways and I love your wee lock button although getting near deafened by an accidental volume boost via my boobs when you were tucked into my bra in a Spanish airport BEFORE I found said cute wee button is a whole 'nother story. Your wheel control is just a l'il bit touchy for my hamfisted (and boobed )ways it would seem.

All in all you were one of my most wonderful gifts to ever have recieved and I adore your ease of use and excellent capacity. Now if only we had a Mac to keep you company and make for easier interfacing....

Love always,
Alison

Ruh Ruh Rhinebeck Recap (sans photos)

Its been a bit tired and busy Chez Nous but after having repeatedly been taken to task for lack of blogging, here I am. I hope it will appease.

Last Friday, after my car was finally set free from the shop ($2600 later), I hit the openish highway (damn construction zones) heading South to cross the border into the US of A and my destination was the picturesque and movie set like village of Rhinebeck. Seriously. Think quaint yet modern New England village and you would come up with Rhinebeck. Love it.
The drive took longer than I anticipated, even though I drove it last year. I was alone this time and it made things drag. My directions didn't print off thoroughly so I had to buy a map at the duty free store, along with wine and Canadian chocolate incase of emergency and as treats for Mindy's kids. Turns out that as a map reader I don't quite suck ass but I'm pretty close. When I got to the border, I picked the shortest line but it turned out also to be the slowest thanks to Mr Hard Ass customs official who had no sense of humour and decided I was WAY too laid back to be doing something so nefarious as to cross into US territory for a Sheep and Wool festival. That HAD to be a lie. That and the fact that I had no arrests on my record made me a pretty suspecty customer in dude's books apparently. I think my knitting basket full of half finished projects convinced him...that and my warm woolies packed in my bag for the forecasted cold. grrr
Ok...so after I answered many stupid questions (where's rhinebeck?...DUDE its YOUR country, you should know!! I'm having map issues!) I was set free again to continue on what I hope will be my annual weekend long migration into the US. I had to pull over again to check my map and then I hit the highway. I drove and drove and drove and FINALLY made it to Kingston, crossed the Rhinecliff bridge and tried to get to Rhinebeck. An hour and some wrong turns later I actually DID make it into Rhinebeck and connected with sweet sweet Virginian Mindy and my fellow Canadian Veronik, at the fairgrounds. It was dark by this time and we were all tired and hungry .
We attempted a smooth return to Kingston to eat at the Olympic Diner with Carol and Laura but of course, I took wrong turns. Poor Carol and Laura. They were so fed up with waiting they had eaten and left but came back when we begged. We had a nice supper and lots of chatter and laughter as Veronik reconnected with her friends and I made new ones. It was terrific. Then it was off to target for a last second purchase of kettle, coffee grinder and corkscrew and then back to our motel for some bedtime wine, knitting in jammies and chit chat. Despite my best efforts (nose strips, decongestant, antihistamines, nasal spray AND ear plugs of two types) my snoring still disturbed their sleep. What a curse! We were a tired 3 some next morning. Mindy had to leave first to work the Kid Hollow Farm booth. V and I had the leisure to stay in bed a tad longer and linger over a yummy breakfast and coffees at Pete's Famous Restaurant in the village. Then we moseyed on to the fairgrounds.
First stop, Building B( I think) and there I hit the first booth I saw which just happened to be the one I wanted...Bartlett Yarns! They sell a lovely crisp sportweight 2 ply on cones for a marvelously good price. I got a turquoisey blue, 1750 yds, for $36 all in. SWEET! Then it was booth viewing, mixing and mingling with the knitterati as friend and colleague after friend and colleague spotted Veronik and stopped to chat. A lot of the time I had no idea who the people were even after their names were given and hands were shook so I didn't gush and make a complete ass of myself like last year's Yarn Harlot episode.
This year the fair seemed calmer than last year. It seemed to have fewer people. maybe the forecast of cold and possible snow kept folk away? Hard to say but I was grateful because I had less claustrophobia and didn't lose my friend immediately like last year.
We hooked up again with the amazing Carol and the dryly funny Laura and had lots of fun. Carol and I are a bit...enthusiastic...about Veronik's yarn company (St. Denis...distributed in the USA by Classic Elite Yarns) and took it upon ourselves to accost people at every opportunity with a sales pitch, company logo pin and free mini skein. Yay free yarn to play with! We amused Veronik and Laura, who are much more reserved and polite. Plus it helped that Carol has a fan club of her own because of her hand dyed yarns (Black Bunny Fibers) and we met many of her friends and customers. Seriously, it was like old home week! Great fun for a friendly person like myself. I even had some fellow North Shore Knitters show up on a day trip to check out the wonder that is the NY State Sheep and Wool festival. Valerie, my wonder chiroprator, and Marie-Christine, left home around 4 AM and drove to the fest in order to soak up as much of it as a day trip would allow. Valerie got a LOT of yarn! LOL
We visited sweet Mindy at her post and kept on exploring the fair until it was finally time to head for the TRavelry party in Red Hook. I did NOT get lost. Tah dah!
Now, this year the party organisers tried something different to ease last years parking issues. Everyone met at the school at the end of the same road as the Elk's Lodge and then we were all bussed back to the lodge. The school bus went all evening ferrying people to and from the party. While waiting in line, Ravelry peeps were entertained (?) by a female in a Bob costume. Bob being the Ravelry mascot, a Boston terrier of uber cuteness. The head of the costume was KNIT! Inside was none other than Scottish designer Isolda Teague.
At the party we sat at table with Pam, and Betsey, and Phyllis, who all know V, and had some refreshment and handed out more mini skeins. I met up briefly with Robyn, of Robyn's Nest, and Madeleine. Both are Montreal Knits people and it was good to see them since they tend to knit in the West Island area now. We didn't stay at the party very long, being seriously tired. Pam, V, Betsey, and I left and went to Salvatore's for supper. One of the menu items was Chicken Francais which the waitress called Chicken Frohn-chays which took me by surprise. No I did NOT correct her. The conversation at the table was fascinating for me, a yarn industry outsider. Well...can a customer of yarn companies really be an outsider? It was just really really interesting to hear some of the stuff that happens on the other side of the deal. It was eye opening and changed my perspective on some things as well. Thanks so much to Pam and Betsy for such scintillating conversation and dinner companionship.
Back home to the room where once again we jammiefied and did some knitting and gabbed until sleep took us away again...except for when my snoring woke them up.
DAY 2: almost as good as day 1! It sucked mightily that Carol and Laura had to leave us in the early afternoon. I am telling you, they are super fun to spend time with and I have serious girl crushes on both. Carol got to buy the colour of yarn that I loved but didn't suit my colouring. Dang her for being blonde. Enjoy it Miss C. It was hard to see them go.
While Veronik did some book signing I did some (more) book buying. I got the 99 Yarns pattern book from Green Mountain Spinnery and LOVE IT. It could be my suprprise new favourite pattern book of all time. Also, I got it signed. Yay. V went off for some quality time with her dear friend Pam afterwards and I got to browse booths at my leisure, visiting ones I'd missed and revisiting ones I hadn't been able to linger at before. When I was good and tired I went to see Mindy and she got a break for coffee. My energy was failing but a nice big hot chai latte gave me renewed life. While with Mindy at her booth, the show was quieting around us and vendors were more able to visit back and forth. I got to know Pat and Heidi of Kid Hollow Farm better (and bought a sock yarn called Foggy Mountain..its lovely!!!) and what great folks they are. Otto and Joanne of Straugh's came over to chat and lo and behold, Joanne is into locker hooking rugs!!! I was in 7th heaven asking her all about this technique which I had briefly tried on my own a few years ago. She cleared up a LOT of my confusions...gave me some excellent advice...and was so nice and friendly and warm I just wanted to take her home with me to be my rug hooking buddy/mentor. On her advice I invested in a "normal" rug hook and am very glad I did. the booth where I got them had the kind I had seen for biggish prices but also had much less expensive makes. I got 2 of the cheaper ones because I tend to misplace things alot. Joanne and Otto raise cashmere goats and he had on a 100% cashmere sweater under his plaid jacket that was a dream to fondle the collar of. we all might have fondled more, because our hands were cold and Otto was cozy, but we are all good (ish) girls and Joanne's sense of humour probably only would have gone so far! LOL What a jolly bunch we were! Much laughing and fun.
Earlier in the day, V and I had found a treasure I'd been searching for at Carol Leigh's Hillside something or other booth. Nostepinnes! I'd found some before but none of them moved me to purchase. Here at this booth they had some Snipe's made nosties and there were a coupkle darkly finished ones that I was taken with. V got one and I the other and we called ourselves Nostepinne Sisters. Later V took Pam there but the dark ones were all gone and Pam's didn't match ours so she's a Nostepinne Sister but of the adopted or step variety. This struck us as quite funny when beer was added to the equation but I think you had to be there. Mmmm beer. Sam Adam's Octoberfest to be exact. But more later.
We had also found our knit friend the mighty and glorious Deeawn and her pal Susan FINALLY. late in the day. I'd missed her call somehow...I think my reception had been interupted. Deeawn is a force of nature and we crack one another up. Susan was a love and fit right in. We all helped Pat and Heidi and Mindy pack up shop, filling tote bins and disassembling "walls" and shelving. Then V, Deeawn, Susan, and I headed into the village for some supper. Mindy was supping with Pat and Heidi at a fancier place. Our budgets were hurting a bit so we went to Foster's and had some great BEER and food. And MUCH laughing, waiter appreciation discussion, and storytelling and fellow patron annoying. Sorry, less rowdy people! It was wonderful. Then D and Susan were off to their abode of the night and V and I went to the grocery store in search of a few items and more beer. We got a Sam Adam's mixed dozen and in it was the Octoberfest we'd had a pitcher of at the pub as well as a nice brown and wonder of all wondered Cherry Wheat beer! It was actually quite tasty!!!! There was much giggling back at the room once we were all 3 together again and in our jammies, knitting, sipping, and with Veronik translating Beau Dommage songs to our hysterical laughter. Poor Mindy had been fighting a cold all weekend and was so tired from that and work and our late nights and we were tired from all outr fun and disturbed sleeps that it was very easy to find things funny.
We didn't cry when my "Mindy Lou Who" left next morning with Pat and Heidi...headed back to Virginia and not to be seen again in person until next year's festival. It was hard to have her going but we still have each other online. Its both a curse and a blessing these internet friendships, because we are so far away from one another with Carol in Pa and Mindy in Va and I forget where Laura is...Pa or Mass?
Anyways, sad to see Mindy go but mindful of our owwn schedule we got showered and packed up and ready to leave. We wanted to book an extra room for next year for more friends to stay with us but ALL THE ROOMS ARE BOOKED. Popular place for Rhinebeck weekend and most people are return guests. Dismayed at our foiled plans, we headed for Red Hook and breakfast at The Historic Diner. Best poached eggs I've had since my mommy used to make them for me when I was small. Ever notice how sometimes simple things just are so much better when someone else makes them?
We hit the road, forgetting to gas up with all our chit chat, and I noticed just in time while driving that my car was seriously on E and got to the next gas station, disturbing poor V's intended nap. I begin to understand why Hman worries about letting me out in the world alone but alls well that ends well and our weekend was way better than "well".

The other side of a "She Wolf"

Paul And Storm's Cruel Cruel Moon

Go to the link and click on Play at the top of the page. heh heh


YES I AM THAT JUVENILE! Thanks for askin'.