Belated Happy WWKIP!

So I wasn't in Fredericton this year for my usual WWKIP activities.  I was in Ottawa this year.  Mr. Me is heavily politically involved and while I don't always agree with his politics, I do like some of the perks.  A weekend in Ottawa being one of those perks!I had hoped to be able to find a "knit in" in Ottawa, so that I could celebrate the day with other knitters, but even though I put a reasonable amount of effort into the task on Ravelry and searching the WWKIP database, I didn't have any luck.  However, I did still knit in public.  Although technically, I would have to say that the public portion of my Ottawa knitting adventure started the day before on Parliament Hill...

Just me and my yarn "on The Hill".

And then on WWKIP, my little friend Purl and I went knitting together at a Starbucks on Sparks Street in the morning.  You'll have to trust me about the location - I forgot to put the coffee cup in the picture.

Knitting with Purl at Starbucks

And then to end the public knitting in Ottawa on WWKIP, my knitting and I went to 24 Sussex Drive.  Yes - that really is me knitting in the sun room of the Prime Minister of Canada's official residence! 

Knitting in the sunroom at 24 Sussex Drive

What's that?  Did I get a picture of Mr. Harper holding my knitting?  Why - yes!  I did.  Here's the hitch - the official photographer took it, so I am still waiting to get a copy of it...  But I WILL be posting it as soon as I get it.

Les Moutons

Anyone who knows me knows that I love sock yarn and I love a contest...  Hello - sheep!  Enter Biscotte & Cie...  My LYS has recently started to carry their yarn.  And waiting in the wings were the sheep.  Now I was going to knit the sheep anyways, but when I realized that there was a contest, they jumped to the top of my queue. 
My original intention was to make "Les Moutons dans les Champs en Rose" (The Sheep in the Pink Fields), but that didn't really work.  If you look at the swatch, there are actually 4 repeats of the sheep.  The first is with the sheep in Hallucination, with the field in the rosy colour.  The second is the reverse.  My reaction to both of them?  Meh...  Not enough contrast.  In the meantime, before the discovery of the loverly sheep pattern, I had picked up a skein of Lagon...  I thought that I would have some subtlely variegated blue socks.  But then the Lagon and the Hallucination started snuggling in my tote bag.  They seemed to like each other...  I thought that I would try the pattern with the blue rather than the rose.  It is official - "Les Moutons dans le Mer" (The Sheep in the Sea) have been born!  Ilike the blue sheep on the hallucinagenic fields, but I prefer the hallucinating sheep floating in the sea...
Comments?  And yes - I will be encouraging everyone to vote when the time comes.

Mittens: Fun and Functional (aka Finished Objects That I Know I Haven't Posted)

Okay, so I'm being a little tech-stupid today, so I'm going to put all of the text at the end. 
The topic of the day is "Mittens:  Fun and Functional"...  From the top:  Older Son's "Talking Hands" mittens.  The pattern is "Recess for Grownups".  The middle:  Jocelyn's "Hearts Afire" mittens.  The pattern is "Freja".  And at the bottom, we have Emily's "Soaring High" mittens.  The pattern is "A Bird in the Hand Mittens #1".  They are all knit out of Briggs and Little Sport weight yarn - a very serviceable "local" yarn.

Up next:  "Socks:  Because No One Wants Cold Feet".

Happy Victoria Day!

Last minute preparations...

Today here in Canada is Victoria Day.  Today also marks the first day of the official visit of Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duschess of Cornwall, to Canada as part of the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee year.  Given Mr. Me's active involvement with politics, we managed to get an invitation to the event.  So in honor of the event, I will let the photos from the event tell their own story.  I might not always agree with his politics - but I must admit that I DO like some of the perks!

Where the Royals were going to sit...

The Royal arrival.

Inspecting the troops.

The Lieutenant Governor

The Duchess of Cornwall

The drum major.  Gotta love a man in a kilt!

The man who will someday be King.

And see?  I was really there, too - wearing a handknit beaded sweater...!

It Isn't Knit and It Isn't Quite an "FO", But...

My new "second bathroom"!  The photo was taken at our carpenter's place, but since then it has been delivered and "installed".  It still needs to be stained on the outside and painted on the inside, and I need to make it some curtains, but isn't it CUTE???
Yes, I am strangely excited to be the proud owner of a new outhouse.  But we live in the country and we have lots of land...  And more importantly, we are on a well and septic.  That means that if the power goes out for an extended period of time, we don't have water, which means that you can't use the flush toilet.    During the aftermath of Hurrican Irene, when Mr. Me was without power for more than 48 hours, he determined that an outhouse would be a DEFINITE plus.  No - we didn't get much rain or anything here, but the winds and such did knock out the power for quite some time and basically created havoc.
Where were the boys and I during this adventure?  Well, we were returning from my parents 50th anniversary celebration in Ontario with Princess Knitsalot and had not so brilliantly, and quite unwittingly, driven straight into the disaster area that was Rutland County, Vermont...  But that is another story.
And big thanks and a shout out to Ariel, who has also shown me very kindly, that she is still out there and reading when I post.  Thanks ladies, you're GREAT!

Fitting In

With everything going on around me these days, I've been thinking a lot about both how and where I "fit in".  Looking back, I first started blogging, in part, to find a "community" where I belonged - people with common interests.  And I must say, that is exactly what I found for the most part.  I was in the midst of doing language training, and I really felt like the "odd duck" in the class I was in.  I've never been sure why, but it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling either...  I'm sure that says something about me, but I'm not sure I want to think to much about what it says! 
When my blogging became more sporadic, it was in part because I was busy with new things - work, home, etc. - but it was also in part to some unkind comments that had been left.  They were, of course, anonymous.  I shouldn't have let it put me off, but I did.
Yesterday evening was my monthly "knit night".  It is just as diverse a group of people as the knitters I've met "electronically", but after attending most months for 8 years, I still love it just as much.  I think at heart, most knitters are kind and caring individuals.  I've also noted that more than a few have a somewhat bawdy sense of humour...  It doesn't matter how low I feel when I walk in the door, when I leave 2 hours later, I always feel lighter and happier somehow.  In that room, no matter how odd the outside world may find me (and it does), I feel accepted.  When I think about things, I've missed that sort of more frequent electronic "boost" that I got from blogging about knitting and reading about other people's knitting.
I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to get back to blogging the way I would like - those boys of mine keep me pretty busy these days - but I am going to try, and a BIG SHOUT to Kristyn for letting me know that there is someone out there still reading my occasional posts. 
Hmmm...  Now let's see if I can post some FOs some time soon(ish)!

Hello? Is This Thing Still On???

Has it really been 5 months since I blogged?!  My - how time flies!  Remember this post?  Well - the fun just continues...  While I am happy to report that I have survived a second round of cuts, many people I know in the civil service across the country have not been so lucky.  It makes me sad.  It scares me.  Have the cuts ended?  Somehow, I don't think so.
Given all the stress, I have been knitting LOTS.  Unfortunately, all of the photos of knitted goods are on my laptop.  I'll have to post some later.  I've been involved in a "Pay It Forward" chain this year and have sent out 3 of my "Pay It Forward" projects.  We were supposed to have 5 people downstream each, but I was only able to "recruit" 4...  One more to go - and when that last gift goes out, I will see if I can "recruit" a final recipient.  Unless someone out there wants to play, of course...  It has been lots of fun, and has given me a chance to focus on something a bit more positive than my current work environment.
So - if anyone is still out there - give me a sign of life...?