Cat's eye view Part II

What a great spot! Convenient access to the scratching post, Good view of the door in case someone comes home, Nearby sunbeams to frolic in, And chairs to sit under! I love to sit under chairs because it makes me invisible. This is the gate that is supposed to keep us out of the bedroom. But sometimes Mom and Dad are lazy, and they don't hook the gate to the wall...We still haven't found the fields of catnip that must be up there.

Cat's eye view Part I

What are they watching so intently? Are they watching Kyle play online poker? Or is it the post game analysis that has their attention?

Ball O' Goodness

Lynn sent me this great yarn ball a few weeks ago. Here are a few of the things hidden in the ball - some stitch markers, point protectors, a nice ribbon, as well as a kit to make a bookmark. There was also a cool tape measure that didn't make it into the picture. The yarn itself is Cascade 220. Thanks Lynn!! We spent the last 2 days house shopping. The real estate agent is Amazingly! Perky! And! Enthusiastic! I have been able to reign in my instinctive desire to piss in her cornflakes by making caustic remarks, so she just has to put up with DH's low grade mocking. Knitting wise, I have had bad luck with some of my travel projects - I am working on a So Called Scarf, and 2 inches into my 3rd skein of Debbie Bliss Soho yarn in a purple/grey/magenta/white colourway, realized that although it is the same dyelot, it has much less white than the other 2 skeins. So I have emailed my contact at the LYS at home to pull some skeins, and to try to get some that have white in them. Kyle's slipper socks got frogged again - I realized that the yarn I was using is actually DK rather than worsted, so they were going to look like mesh booties. I was knitting with 2 strands, and I did wind 2 skeins into a centre pull ball, so in theory I could go up to 4 strands, but that seems a bit more tricky than it is worth. So I am now casting on for a Scarf Around Everywhere I go, I am seeing people wearing scarves with longitudinal stripes rather than horizontal stripes, so if this works out well, I might make a few more in this style, although not necessarily with Sari Yarn (although I did by 3 skeins of it the other day - in all honesty, it was a bribe to myself to finish off the stack of dictations that was sitting on my desk at work) BTW - 274 stitches of a long tail cast on?!? Since it is joined and knit as a circle, I do not see why it's necessary to do long tail, but I am actually faster at long tail cast on than short tail, so I decided I might as well follow the instructions. I have a photo of the yarns that I am using on my camera, and will try to get them onto the laptop for upload. Saturday is the TTC Knitalong!! I can't wait!

If this is Monday, it must be Toronto

Blogging from DH's laptop right now. We are back in the GTA for 2 weeks; I have a conference from the 25-27, and then will work for 5 days starting on the 30th. DH left ahead of time to attend a wedding stag (and wedding)held outside Ottawa, I went to Vancouver for a meeting Friday, and then flew into Toronto Saturday. DH finally met up with me this afternoon. He was exhausted post wedding, I was exhausted because I have been staying up late/getting up early for the last few days, so we went to bed at about 9. Which, for my PST acclimatized body, is 6. Which meant that "BING" at 10:30, I woke up from what my brain assumed was my nap. If left to my own devices, I generally nap for 90 minutes - presumably enough time to go through all the stages of a sleep cycle. If you aren't sleep deprived or narcoleptic, you don't dream during naps. I always dream; I don't have a sleep debt - I have a sleep mortgage. Speaking of mortgages, tomorrow morning we will go shopping for a house. Always a bit weird walking through someone else's home. Weird to think that (hopefully) the same thing is happening in our house. Tiring as well. Part of me wants to find a house right away, and another part of me wants to wait until some time in December. Two reasons why - 1) I would rather not have to get a bridge loan so that we can start to pay for the new house while awaiting the sale of our old house, and 2) I am afraid that if we find a house now, we will end up moving sooner than we planned - and I want to make sure that I have some time off to play for a while between jobs. I want to get as much skiing in as possible this season. Since I can't figure out exactly how DH has the files organized on this computer, I will have to make do with an oldie but goodie from the image library that I was able to access A few years ago, I bought something that was essentially an oversized U shaped bottle brush mounted on a board - the idea was that the cats could rub themselves against it, and thus brush themselves. Somerset found the box much more interesting. I can't recall if she actually got stuck or no.

It's all about Me(me) - 48 things

I received a variation on this as an email some time ago. Now it's in the blogosphere. Since I am on someone else's computer, and have no access to my photos, this is what you get. 1. FIRST NAME? Lisa 2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? I have no idea - I am older than Lisa Marie Presley, so she wasn't the inspiration. I think that Lisa was one of the popular names in the late 60's (they were crazy times.) In grade 11, there were 3 of us in the same French class, and I worked with 2 other Lisas when I had a job working in a hospital kitchen. 3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? A few weeks ago. Despite being alone on my birthday (DH was 2/3 of the way across the country from me), cat love eliminated the need for any crying. 4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No. I don't write - I print. And it isn't pretty; I have been told more than once that it doesn't look like a girl's handwriting. Wow - a doctor with messy handwriting, who knew? For the most part it is at least legible (unless I am really tired or in a big hurry). One of my secret powers is being able to decipher bad handwriting, but I have a colleague who has kryptonite handwriting - sometimes I wonder why he bothers to write things in patient charts, because nobody else can understand what it says. 5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? I rarely eat sandwiches, but if I had to, I would choose Beef Beyond Belief (sold at Dominion/A&P in Southern Ontario). Unlike other "deli" roast beef, this tastes like you just sliced it off of a roast - and it is cooked medium rare. 6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Possibly not. It would depend on whether or not the new me was a wanker - I do't suffer fools gladly. In real life, I am often very reserved around new people, and might seem a bit unapproachable at times. Plus I tend to be a listener/observer, rather than someone who approaches others. 7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I started a different blog initially to use as a journal, but now I use it as a means to upload more photos when Blogger decides to cut me off. 8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes. But not my wisdom teeth. 9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I don't think you could pay me enough money to do so - well, I guess that eventually there would be a sum of money large enough to do it. If I want an adrenaline rush, all I need to do is forget to turn my alarm clock on. 10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I am a cerealista - I have a plastic container in which I mix various types of cereals, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, etc. 11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes. 12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I know I am physically strong. I recently did a fitness assessment and was able to do 36 real (i.e on my toes not my knees) pushups in a row. Sometimes strong willed. 13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Fudge Brownie - chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate - what could be better? 14. SHOE SIZE? European 42, US women's 11. 15. RED OR PINK? Red - deep red with blueish undertones rather than bright red with orange undertones. 16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? There are so many things to choose from. Probably the fact that I am incredibly hard on myself. 17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? DH, Somerset, Greedo - in that order(as I write this, DH is a 6 hour drive away, the cats are a 5 hour flight away.) 19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Red shirt (good thing I am not living a Star Trek episode right now), faded blue jeans, brown loafer type shoes. 20. LAST THING YOU ATE? A pulled ham sandwich which was delicious!! 21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? I can hear a bit of traffic noise through the closed window, otherwise silence. Nothing good on CBC Radio right now. 22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? I hate these "What type of _____ are you?" questions. Teal - because it is so hard to define and means something slightly different to everybody; sometimes it is blue-ish green, sometimes it is green-ish blue. How's that for an answer that really doesn't mean anything? 23. FAVORITE SMELL? Cloves. 24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? DH. 25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? No one specific thing - it's a gestalt. Besides, if I am attracted to them, that implies that I am familiar with their appearance already, and the first impression is long past. I notice EVERYBODY's teeth - 1.5 years of dental school does this to you. 27. FAVORITE DRINK? Nonalcoholic - chai tea. Alcoholic - port. 28. FAVORITE SPORT? Summer - rowing. Winter - alpine skiing. 29. EYE COLOR? Green, with a rim of gold around the pupil - the overall effect depends on the amount of ambient light - if my pupils are dilated, the green:gold ratio is lower. 30. HAT SIZE? Large - hairbands never fit me properly. Somedays it is like someone ran me through the "enlarge by 10% function" on a photocopier - just a bit to big to easily fit things. 31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, I have a wardrobe of eyeglasses. I got a week's supply of disposable lenses a few years back and still have about 4 or 5 pairs left. 32. FAVORITE FOOD? It is hard to pick one - I love the awesome salads that DH makes for me for lunch, I love to eat Indian food when DH is out of town, I love to eat seafood when he is. Crab legs, if I must choose. 33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy ending - see #9 above. 35. SUMMER OR WINTER? I grew up in Winnipeg, which is famous for having brutally cold winters (-30C was not unusual), so I would have to say Summer. 36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs. 37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Cheese with fruit. 40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Theatre by Somerset Maugham. 41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don't have one - my computer is a laptop with a touch pad. 42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Didn't watch anything - I don't watch TV. For real - probably less than 2-3 hours per week, and those are just because DH will turn on the TV to watch poker or sports when I am sitting in the living room. 43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? My cats purring, wind in the trees, wind chimes. 44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Rolling Stones before they became old and irrelevant. 45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? New Zealand. 46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I am sometimes able to bring dead people back to life. 47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I saw this on Michelle's blog and on Michelle's blog.

Happy Birthday Amy!

When I was young, I had an uncle who somehow knew (then)President Jimmy Carter. My sisters and I (i.e. my Mom) sent Amy Carter a Ukranian doll, and we recieved a thank you note back from her on White House Stationary. I think my Mom framed it. Years later I remember seeing a picture of Amy on her wedding day, as well as some photos taken of her when she was arrested during a student protest as a university student. She was wearing glasses in her wedding photo - I think that's so great. I am totally generalizing on the basis of a few photos, but I imagine that she's a pretty neat, yet unassuming person. I wonder if she is a knitter. As promised - a quilt I actually completed. This one is a lap sized quilt. Tumbling blocks, maybe? I actually took my unfinished quilt top to the local quilting supply store (LQSS?) on the weekend, and suffered minor emotional trauma. After the woman at the till finished dealing with a "real" customer, I brought her my quilt top (that I had put in a grocery bag), and explained to her that I was looking for someone to finish this quilt, because I didn't even have a sewing machine anymore, etc. She asked me "Do you want it quilted?" Which seemed like a pretty obvious thing to me...then she asked "Is it finished?", and I said "Well, the strips are sewn together, but it needs to have a backing sewn on"...and started to pull it out of the bag. She then gave me a look that I can only imagine a yarn shop owner would give to someone who pulls a tangled mess of cheap acrylic yarn out of their bag, opened a drawer, pulled out a pamphlet for the local quilter's guild, and said "We don't do that here. Why don't you get in touch with these people?" I felt like an illiterate person who walked in on a book club meeting. Walked out of the shop with my grocery bag in hand. Got in my car, and marvelled at the fact that I literally have a wall full of degrees and certificates, and yet I was made to feel about 2 inches tall by this woman. Poop on her - I bet she couldn't come up with these stitch markers on her own: Using pliers from the hardware store, no less! OK, poop on Blogger for not letting me upload any more photos either last night or this morning. I swear by all that is holy that I will figure out how to use Photobucket when I get back from the upcoming trip out of town

The Ide(a)s of Socktober

So we are midway through Socktober - what have I done so far? Found an online page that calculates a sock type slipper pattern to fit any foot, started working on a pair for DH... ...didn't get around to printing out a copy of the webpage, computer had a wee little fit, needed to be rebooted - sock calculations gone. Will restart as Shaker Knit slippers. Ankle socks for a Secret Pal I initially thought that I could get away with the single skein if I made ankle socks - not so. This is a skein of DK yarn {Lana Grossa Fresh colour #301 - cotton/microfibre} that I picked up as potential sock wars ammo {sock wars pattern}. As you can see, using contrasting yarn for the heels and toes {ON line season #001 cotton/merino} made it barely possible. I'm not cheap - it's just that the LYS doesn't have any more of the yarn in that colour. This was the first time I used contrasting colours, and after turning the heel, I realized that I had no clue how to join the contrast yarn with the main colour. I stumbled along, threw in a few kfbs and k2togs, and the result is a heel with convenient air vents Big hint as to the identity of my Secret Pal - someone who has a shoe size less than Eur 42/US 11! You know, before I started knitting socks (and taking photos of the SIPs), I had never before realized that ankle length socks make me look like I have chunky ankles and flat feet. Oh dear, maybe it isn't an optical illusion after all...

Even more catching up

My last SP8 package came in August; I should really post about it now that SP9 has started! Is that a box? It looks like a box...and smells like a box... The Reveal Clue The Wisdom The goodies More sock yarn!! But this is the best part of the swap: Meet my new pal SandyPurl!

What I did the Labour Day weekend...Part II

{Very very behind in the blogging} I was on my own the Labour Day weekend, and decided to go check out the Interior Provincial Exhibition (Let's all go to the Ex...) My first country fair (I am a city girl through and through). Saw all manner of things. Alpacas... ...and Alpacaaaah The Cow Wash... ..and a brand new Cow Award winning crafts... ...and the awards they won. ($25!!! That's all?!? Look at that artistry!)

UFO sighting

Now I fully realize that the intention of the blogstalking assignment was to take a photo of my oldest Knitting UnFinished Object. However, I came across this as we were working on tidying up the house so that the real estate photographer can come take photos. I attended a few machine strip quilting workshops back when I was living in Winnipeg. Before I met Kyle - which was in 1997. So this particular UFO is around 10 years old. I haven't even had access to a working sewing machine since December 1999 (when I left Winnipeg). So this baby is going to take a trip to the local quilting supply shop, and I will pay some nice lady to finish it for me. I have to say, I am damn proud of this (incomplete) quilt; look at that great selection of prints/colours! Sadly the photo is a combination of dark and washed out, but some of the "solid" blocks are an abstract pattern in varying shades of the same colour. If things go well, my new job will allow me 15 weeks off per year - I am so going to use them for creative pursuits!!

Socktoberfest meme - because all the cool kids are doing it

When I first started to knit back in 2000, the wee little English Lady who was teaching the class showed us a sock she was knitting. The yarn seemed so threadlike, and the dpns were tiny. It seemed like an exotic and difficult project. When I picked up my needles again, I kept hearing more and more about knitting socks. While checking out the wares offered by the vendors the Seattle Fibre Fest this April, I decided all of a sudden that I would take the plunge. I bought a skein of hand-dyed sock yarn - the seller reassured me that 450 yards was enough even for a pair of size 11 socks, and told me to knit them on size 0 or size 1 needles. I also picked up a copy of Cat Bohrdi's book on knitting socks on 2 circs, and got it autographed by Cat. I was beginning to see the light... When did you start making socks? This summer - Sarah Janet(Secret Pal extraordinaire) sent me a magic loop booklet, a skein of Socks That Rock, an addi circ, and the inspiration to give it a try. Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? I taught myself using online tutorials What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time? I used Wendy's toe up cast on tutorial and her generic toe up pattern to knit a very basic pair of socks with the STR. I ummm haven't finished weaving the ends in yet, so they haven't been worn officially. What would you have done differently? The first sock is a little too long; should have made it a bit shorter. I had intended to use the Mata Hari pattern, but wimped out and did a simple stockinette stitch; I should have attempted the pattern. What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? The Socks that rock is lovely to work with - I started working on some socks out of Opal yarn, and it was a shock how splitty and scratchy it was. I used some DK cotton/microfibre yarn for SockWars - it was great to knit with because it went so quickly Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? I don't crochet. [I can't even do a crochet cast on. My mom tried to teach me crochet and I kept sliding the stitches along the needle as if I was knitting.] I have used dpns for some socks that I started (like the ill-fated Jaywalkers in the previous post), as well as for a pair of "pedicure socks". The Sock Wars socks, and one of the 2 pairs I am working on right now are Magic Loop. I heart Magic Loop big time, although if Somerset is feeling frisky, she tries to chew on the cable while I am knitting. I can see myself saving dpns for patterns like Jaywalker where it is easier to keep track of the pattern if you have the sock on 4 needles. Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?) I like a flap heel because I find it difficult to pick up the stitches when they are double wrapped when shortrowing. I also have problems with gaps when I pick up stitches with the heel flap, but I try to minimize this by twisting stitches. How many pairs have you made? 2 pairs of "real socks", 1 pair of pedicure socks. Right now I have 2 pairs on the go - the one that is seeing the most action is a pair I am knitting for a Secret Pal.

World's ugliest socks...

I started working on my first pair of Jaywalkers on the plane during my recent trip. I was using Opal Zebra yarn; someone else in blogland had used this yarn for Jaywalkers, and they looked awesome - the black stripes zigged and zagged back and forth. I started off casting on 90 stitches so it would accomodate my big feet. I got a few inches done, and then in the hotel, I tried them on - they were way too wide. So I frogged it, and started over casting on fewer stitches. The result wasn't pretty. Unfortunately, the stripes "pooled" into one big stripe spiralling down the sock, with the odd fleck of black here and there. Hard to imagine something black and white that could look worse. In other news, I am quitting my job here as of the end of December, and heading to Ontario in the New Year. [Man, for someone who hates moving, I sure find myself doing it alot.] We are heading for the big city - Toronto. I am going to miss the view...

Lawn Ornaments

An interesting marketing strategy that I came across recently. I wonder how "The Casket Shop" decorates for halloween. The other day as I came up our access road I saw that some of our neighbors had a visitor. She took a break from pruning their trees to check me out, and then sauntered away, pausing for just a second before she casually hopped over the fence.