Prove you are cool

Join the TTC Knitalong/yarn crawl Westside (cue Ali G) Team Somerset squared Look how close I was to finishing these socks last night - a few rows of ribbing! But sadly, I ended up spending much of the night at the hospital. Since I had less than 2 hours of sleep altogether, it also means no Wednesday Night Knitting Meetup for me today - I'll be happy to just finish the socks before bedtime. I'd hoped that I could be swatching for my June Socks by now - at least I'll complete these by the end of the month. Gratuitous cute cat shot. Finally - Karen asked about the superlong acronym: He Who Sets Mouse Traps And Leaves Me To Deal With The Corpses/Consequences. Craft Pirate won the contest.

CSI Marathon Baby!!

I got hooked on CSI last November (November 10, to be exact - I was out of town for a meeting, and turned on the TV while I knit in my hotel room. Watched 4 CSIs in a row). And today Spike TV is having a CSI marathon - and guess who has the day off? I'm hoping that I can finish or nearly finish Sock B of the May Flowers Socks I spent the weekend with a girlfriend at her cottage, and while she did a bit of gardening, I worked on the sock. I did the heel yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, Sandi, Jacquie and I loitered at Alterknit for several hours, so I got some more knitting done. My girlfriend wants to learn how to knit, so I told her that I would teach her during the "Girl's Cottage Weekend" that she is having in late June. I picked up a few skeins of cotton at Alterknits - I'm going to knit a oversized washcloth - more like a handtowel - for her cottage. I thought that a simple garter stitch washcloth would be a good starting project for her.I'm going to use the "ball band pattern" from Mason Dixon. Not sure if I'll need another skein or 2 of yarn. This will probably be my TTC KAL project. Remember how I mentioned that I am not loving knitting socks on dpns? One of the reasons is that it is so easy to lose one of them. This has happened twice already. In Vancouver (en route home from the cruise), I had been working on my sock one evening at dinner and on the bus back to the B&B. I stuffed the sock into the pocket of my jacket as we walked back from the bus stop. The next morning I realized that I had lost one of the needles. I didn't think I would ever see it again, but surprisingly, as I was walking back from a quick trip to MECca (not it's official name, but a term that I coined for the Vancouver store, since there probably is a law on the books that you must own at least 5 items of gear from MEC to be a Vancouverite), I looked down at the sidewalk: There it was! And then on Friday, the Gambler had a morning flight back to BC. I did some work on my socks as he drove to the airport. When we got to the airport, I was 2 stitches into a new row on the working needle, but I didn't think anything of popping the sock into my bag. There was some stuff in the bag, so the sock was kind of sitting on top. I then drove back to the rental house, got my stuff together, and heaed towards my girlfriend's place. I stopped for lunch on the way, and while I was waiting for my burger, I pulled out the sock to work on it. The working needle had slipped out of the 2 stitches. I emptied out my bag, but couldn't find the errant dpn. So I worked on the sock all weekend with only the 4 dpns. When I got home Sunday evening, I noticed something on the ground as I went to get my stuff from the trunk: A bamboo dpn, slightly the worse for wear for having sat outside in the sun/rain for 3 days. By the way - when did funky nailpolish colours disappear? My blue toenails in the photo above were compliments of a pedicure done in LA. I decided to go to a drugstore to buy some turquoise polish to replace it, and all I see are shades of red and pink. The closest I could find to turquoise was a sheer blue polish. I thought that was one trend that would never die.

Random stuff

Not one, not two, but three people have tagged me for the "7 things about you" meme. I already did this a few months back, so instead I will post this link. It used to be in my sidebar, but it disappeared when I screwed up revised my blog template.

Attention GTA readers!

I'm doing a road trip to The St. Jacobs Market on Thursday June 7th. Anybody want to join me? I'm thinking of leaving Whitby around 9 AM, and can accomodate 3 passengers in comfort in my car. Email me - Ladylungdoc. Hotmail. You do the math.

What I plan to knit this summer...by Ladylungdoc

Here's my entry in the Skeins Her Way summer knitting contest. Courtesy of Melinda Feel free to name drop "Ladylungdoc" if you enter it via my blog. 1) I plan to keep up with my pair of socks per month resolution. June's socks are going to be for my Sockapalooza pal. If I finish them early (she has wee little feet), I might start a pair of socks for myself in a Bamboo Rib using my Regia Bamboo sock yarn. July's socks will be a gift for The Gambler - a pair of ribbed socks using Tofutsies yarn - I am thinking of trying out a reversible (ribbed) pattern with a garter stitch heel/sole. In August I will knit Tex Mex Sox - pattern to be determined. 2) I am going to finish a tanktop that I started a few years ago. 3) I will block my Tivoli and weave in the ends. 4) I will knit a tank out of the Earth Day bamboo yarn. 5) I am going to knit a Lily tank.

I Hate Nature

So this morning I was toddling around the house, when I noticed that Greedo was staring very intently at something outside the door, flicking his tail. There was a baby robin sitting on the step. It was huddled in the corner, and every so often would walk a few steps away from the corner, and then scurry right back. I thought that it had probably fallen out of it's nest, and I thought that if it stayed there, Greedo would dash out of the door when I went to leave for work. So I locked Greedo in the laundry room, got a dishtowel, and headed outside to see if I could pick the little fella up and put him in a safer spot. I've fallen and I can't get up! I crouched down and slowly shuffled towards the bird with the towel in front of me, prepared to scoop him up. I had done this once before when I left a banquet hall and saw a bird that was sitting stunned on the sidewalk - picked it up with a towel and dropped it off at the local animal shelter. Well. It turned out that this bird was able to fly, because once I got within a foot it squawked and flew up and away. And then what sounded like a flock of adult birds started squawking and swooping down AT MY HEAD. It sounded like a scene from The Birds. I immediately put the towel over my head, and ran inside. I peeked through the window and saw a very angry looking robin sitting on the garage roof, staring at the doorway. Luckily I had finished ICU call as of 7 AM today, because there was no way that I was going to be heading out the house through that door until that robin left his post. At least the neighbor's dog likes me Probably because I don't mock him for having a toy hedgehog. That and I have a box of Milk Bones in the car so I can give him one if he's outside when I come back to the house. Needless to say, once I got home from work this afternoon, I stayed inside with the cats and did some knitting. I finished Sock A: The "wildflower stitch" pulls every 4th row in, which gives the knitted fabric an interesting texture. I cast on for Sock B this evening while watching CSI. By the way - what is it about the weird effect that sock knitting seems to have on time and space - when you are starting, it seems like you have knit and knit and yet there is nothing to show for it. Then, in the middle, you find yourself suddenly having knit 4 rounds, and it's time to do the stitch pattern again. Then, when you get to the end, it's the knitting black hole again. I didn't use up all the yarn - I just decided at some point that I would start on the ribbing, and I kept going until I was sick of knitting it. I have to say that I am not feeling the dpn love. June's socks will definitely be be knit using Magic Loop.

Yarn Haul

Because what's the point of being a yarn tourist if you aren't going to pick up some yarn? So here's the lot:I haven't had time to lovingly photograph each one; perhaps when I head back to BC in June. But here are some feature items: If Kidsilk Haze came in a DK weight, it would look like this. I fell in love with the colour. Maybe it will be enough to knit a short sleeved Wicked? Just as the girl at Artfibers (San Francisco) rang up my Alfabeto yarn, I saw this on the sale rack. I love the term they came up with their mis-dyes. Definitely enough for a sweater. I was thinking of using it for Rogue, but the colour variations might not work with the cables. Silk/cotton Blend from Birkeland Brothers in Vancouver, Bamboo sock yarn from a knitting shop in Oak Bay (Victoria). Looks like I am on a turquoise streak right now. Oh, and the photo that was just begging a punch line? It turns out that they were untangling the skein in addition to winding it...

Oh yeah, there was this cruise...

Hard to believe that we set sail 3 weeks ago today. For some reason, I wasn't in a picture taking groove for the most part. But here are a few for your viewing pleasure: Requisite Golden Gate shot How many knitters does it take to wind a skein? Preaching to the choir Hug a knitter Haul shots tomorrow, I promise!!

Enough with the Commando rodents already!

Remember the MacGyver Mouse? Well, the other day I was leaving for work in the morning, and while I was locking the door, I heard a sound to my left from up above. It was one of those sounds that you notice, but don't think about at all. A few seconds later, out of the corner of my eye I saw something black fall down and hit the ground about 2 feet from where I was standing. I looked down to see what it was, and it was a black squirrel which presumably had dropped down off of the roof. I of course screamed. Not due to fear of squirrels, just a "something suddenly appears in front of me that is totally unexpected" shock scream. Like when you open a door not realizing that someone is standing in the doorway on the other side. Luckily it was just after 7 am, so nobody in the neighborhood partook in my blood-curdling utterance. Except for the squirrel. I think I scared the sh;t out of it - because it immediately shot up the brick wall beside the front door and ran across to the other side of the roof. Somerset is keeping an eye out to see that it doesn't come back: Anyways, I have to go. This is the second night in a row that I got paged to head back to the hospital just as I got home at 7:30 PM. It's like there's some kind of tracking device on my car. Normally I do 7 days straight on call, and by the 5th day I'm ready for a break, by the 6th day I am really getting sick of the whole thing, and on the 7th day I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY EVERYBODY IS PESTERING ME!!!! It's like a really bad case of PMS. I even woke up with a big pimple on my forehead today. Of course, this week started last Saturday at 5 PM, and doesn't end until Monday at 7 AM, so I am getting bitter about any demand request made of me. Me me me. That's all I get. Me me me. I can't breathe...I have chest pain...my patient has no blood pressure...what IS it with people? I hope she comes home soon...the food dish is empty...

Commercial Interruption - Charity Garage Sale

Both of our Cats have Facebook accounts (and both belong to the group "I have more Facebook friends than my owners"). Somerset wants everyone to know about this, because she was abandoned as a kitten and then adopted through the Humane Society: Huge annual garage sale to benefit Abandoned Cats Fostering Program. Proceeds go towards our medical bills of the cats we rescue! Rain Date is June 2nd 2007 www.werescuecats.ca Saturday, May 26, 2007 Time:8:00am - 1:00pm Location:1755 Birchwood Drive City/Town: Mississauga, ON

Quick sock update

I escaped from work early today, so I'm working on Sock A of the May Flowers Socks tonight. Here's a closeup of the stitch pattern: The pattern is courtesy of f.pea These are being knit toe up, partly because I ran out of yarn for the Raindrops Keep Falling on My Socks, and partly so I could give toe up a try again.

A few photos

I started another ICU on call stint Saturday afternoon (literally - The Gambler ended up signing the offers because I had to go in to the hospital and admit a patient. So technically, he's the one buying the house, since I couldn't sign any documents. The Real Estate agent assures us the lawyers can fix that), so not much time to post until next Monday. Here are a few photos of the "feature sheet": The entire house Our part of the house. See that window up top?Here it is from the inside - the 3rd story loft. Which is destined to become my craft room. Gotta go save lives - see you next week

We bought a house!!!

It's in an awesome location - it's a 5 minutes walk to the subway station (Yonge and Lawrence for you GTA readers). We take posession July 31st. Yay!!

Quick Post

The cats survived the trip, and as you can see are adjusting to life in their new(temporary) digs: That's sock A of my May Flowers Socks (Lorna's Laces Somerset colourway). Haven't had the chance to upload cruise photos yet, and am on the way out the door to go househunting. Longer post in the next few days.

Bad Eunny Rising

I wasn't aware that Famous Internet Knitter (and the new Face of Interweave Knits) Eunny Jang would be a part of the sock cruise. She helped out during the technique workshops, and gave 2 talks on sock anatomy/design. I really like her; she's very easygoing and lots of fun. I also love the fact that she admits to doing geeky things like calculating the ratio of stitches: rows for common stitch patterns. And who knew that in addition to Eunny's fibre prowess, she also has an encyclopedic knowledge of hits of the 60's, 70's, and 80's? Yep, one of the highlights of the sock knitting cruise was sitting in the piano bar on the last evening with Michelle, Rosalie, and Eunny, singing. The pianist (who called us "The Sockettes") was probably thrilled that someone was actually listening to him, let alone making requests. We did a CCR duet... And then tried to find somewhere on the ship that we could dance to ABBA tunes...sadly, there was no DJ in sight in the otherwise empty disco. More photos Friday - I now have to pack (again) to head back to Toronto. This time we are taking the cats with us, so we need to figure out how much of their stuff we should try to fit into a suitcase. Plus I have to figure out what needles and yarn will head East with me.

My interview

I didn't bring my laptop with me (I'm spending a few days at home in BC), and The Gambler's laptop is in Vancouver, because The Gambler is there participating in the Inaugural Johnny Chan Poker Classic. So the Sock Knitting Cruise blog entry will have to wait until he gets home. In the meantime, here are my answers to interview questions asked by Jo 1. What song lyric is the most poignant for you? When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone, When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on Don't let yourself go, 'cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes Sometimes everything is wrong. 2. What thing do you always forget to buy when you are at the grocery store? Usually something that takes a long time to finish off - like a tub of margarine, or a box of dishwasher detergent. One of those things that we only use intermittently, so it's not in the front of my mind to pick up. 3. What are the next three books you would like to read? Right now the 3 books sitting on my dresser are "Principles of Mechanical Ventilation", "Trauma", and "Intensive Care Medicine", and those are the ones that should be reading...I'd like to read "The Cult of Efficiency" by Janice Gross Stein, "The Ethical Canary" by Margaret Somerville, and "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky 4. Given an infinite amount of free time in an afternoon and all the ingredients at hand, what would you make/bake? So this is an infinitely long afternoon? Well, for starters I would take a nap. And then I would knit a sweater. But if "make" means cook, then I'd cook something that would involve a big slab of beef and red wine, plus some bread to go with it. (I'm not someone who bakes, but I have been told that breadmaking isn't really baking) 5. Who is the person who has pushed you the hardest to be where you are today? If the question was merely who pushed me the hardest, the answer would be my mother. However, The Gambler (my husband) is the person who pushed me to take chances and do what is right for me, so he's the one who should get the credit for where I am today. Want to play? Here's the scoop: 1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." (and your email address) 2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. 3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. 4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. 5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.