September skies

I have many blog things to catch up on - like Saturday skies. The sky I left behind for a while. Sky taken from the sky. Port Credit Sky. There's no sky like home.

Victoire!

Even though I have blogged little in the last few weeks, I have managed to do some knitting. For the last week, all knitting energy was focused on Sock Wars: Lorie Huertas - you are dead! You gotta love knitting socks on 4mm Addis! Say hello to your new socks - they will go in the mail tomorrow morning. At Turtlegirl's request - The Sock of Doom Pattern Link. Knit with 67 grams of a DK weight cotton/microfibre DK yarn {Lerici Fine by Schoeller and Stahl colour 280056-05 aqua }

I'm not dead

Dead tired, but still alive and kicking. Some big changes are approaching, and organic matter will be hitting the fan. I'm hoping to have a chance to do a real blog entry later this week before all hell breaks loose.

Without semantics, we are animals

Can I just point out how much it bugs me when someone refers to themselves or others as becoming a father/sister/uncle/grandparent, etc for any thing other than the first time? Hello! You became an aunt once, and you remain an aunt - it's not like you need to renew your status the way you do a library card. Granted, if the original child/sibling/grandchild etc met with an untimely end prior to the arrival of the next one, then you might make an argument that you could use that phrase, but a) I'm not thinking that such is the case for most people who use such a statment, and b) I don't think you lose relative (relative as in relation, as opposed to as in Einstein) status if the relation is no longer alive. One of these days, I am going to have everything packed for a trip 2 days before I leave, so that I don't end up staying up late wandering around the house while trying to decide if I should pack a raincoat. Such activity leads to esoteric rants, which risk boring one's audience. Here - look at a cat picture. I'm going to bed.

Haggling with fame

A few weekends ago, Kyle and I were out and about on a Saturday, and decided to stop at some garage sales to see if we could find any vinyl records for him to melt. We stopped at one yard sale, and as we were inspecting at the merchandise, we overheard one of the 3 people minding the sale as she spoke on the cordless phone: "Hi there, I'm the reining Miss Teen Canada, and I was wondering if your salon would be willing to style my hair and my chaperone's hair for the pageant gala?" So... We asked Miss Teen Canada 2006 if we could get a picture with her. Then we picked up some blank note cards and silk flower petals from her entourage for 2 bucks (I later saw the same silk flower petals at Michaels for $20 - score!). By the way - it was completely unintentional for Kyle and I to both be wearing red shirts and khaki pants that day - I got dressed while he was taking a shower, and then went downstairs to have breakfast. When he came down, I said "Glad to see you got the memo". And there's no need to leave an anonymous comment - I realize now that I should have worn a bra that day.

Cast away...

A few people asked about which cast on I learned this weekend - it's the knit cast on. A great knitty article showed me the way. From the description of the long tail cast on given, I'm surprised that I was able to recall how to do it when I came back to knitting after my few years of hiatus. I still have to learn to do a cable chain cast on. I learned the Mobius Cast On from Cat Bordhi herself, which is a provisional cast on, but I haven't figured out how to use it for a single loop. I used the "figure 8" cast on with magic loop for the socks, so theoretically I knew 2 non-long tail cast ons before this weekend, but only for use in very specific conditions. Oh - and the sock yarn - Socks that Rock in Spinel colourway; it's a teal with very subtle variations in tone. Awesome to knit with, especially now that I am using some Opal and have something to compare the STR with. It would look great with any pattern, but for a change, I decided not to overextend my reach and just did this sock in plain stockinette. I had planned to upload my "celebrity" shot today, but sadly, blogger doesn't feel like uploading my photos today. I will hopefully have a chance to do so before I head out of town on Saturday morning. Maybe I should take this opportunity to pack. Have to figure out what knitting stuff to take, don't you know ;)

What I did this long weekend...Part 1

To be honest, a significant portion of it was spent on the couch, as I tried to will myself back to a state of health, or at least a state that involved a fully functional voice. Something worked, because today was the first day that I left the office with fewer charts awaiting dictation than when I got there. The big excitement was that I finished Sock B - a day shy of one month from when I cast on. As you can see, there is still someweaving in of ends to do, but it's off the needles. My first pair of socks. Yay me! This is how much yarn is left over. That's a cork to use as a size reference. In our house, it's easier to find corks quarters. Here's the Knapsack, together with the pattern. It's going to be interesting to see how the Kureyon will look when felted. - in some spots, the 2 yarns didn't quite match up, so that in those areas there are 2 different colours knit together. Somerset finds it quite comfy. Where's that Kitty Pi? I also started on a pair of Fetching fingerless gloves (haven't taken any photos yet - will upload tomorrow). And I finally learned another cast on method. Up until now, I had been using the long tail method, which can be a royal pain in the keester if you are casting on more than 30 or 40 stitches, because invariably you end up having not enough yarn to cast on or you have a ton of excess yarn that attracts the attention of nearby cats when it dangles from your knitting...Up until Saturday, I knew that there were other cast on methods, but hadn't looked into them, and didn't realize that they could be so much less hassle than the long tail. It's like I have a new secret power!

It's a Maple Leaf, not a bull's-eye you idiots!!!!!!!

Another Canadian soldier killed by American "friendly fire". How the FUCK did this happen again? Normal apolitical blogging will return tomorrow.

Rorschach Sky

What do you see?

SarahJanet is the best!

My last gift from my awesome Knitty Secret Pal Sarah arrived! Let's see what's inside... You just can't have too many sheep cards The old digital, she doesn't do the macros well, but this is the cutest little cow keychain, complete with a bell Welsh Sheep She sent me Knitpicks!!! Look at all this goodness! Great colours! And not only did she send me this great sampling of yarns, She also included some shade cards so that I can place an order and know for certain that the colour will be what I expected. Sarah has been great - she gave me the inspiration (and tools) to enter the world of sock knitting. And if it's worth doing, it's worth going overboard!

Tools of the trade

Where do I store my tools? Well, I keep my pens and sheets of paper in my pockets - if I don't have pockets, I wear my labcoat. This hangs around my neck, or sometimes sits in a the right labcoat pocket. Our hospital is well wired; lab results, transcription, and diagnostic imaging are all a key stroke away. I haven't bothered to get access from home, but it's not uncommon to do so. But the tools I use most I have with me at all times: For listening to stories and bodies For looking at Xrays and faces For examining and for comforting Asking, instructing, explaining, ordering, dictating...this week's bout of laryngitis has really brought home how much of my job involves talking And most days, I try not to leave home with this: No silly, not a hairstyle that will stay out of my face. My brain.