Me and the Prime Minister



Me and the Prime Minister of Canada at 24 Sussex Drive

What more can I say?  The official evidence that he did very graciously agree to have his photo taken with me, holding my knitting.  And that would be the toe of my Biscotte & Cie sheep sock.

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.

Why, Yes - I DO Still Knit!

Let's not examine how long it has been since I posted any finished objects, 'kay? I really do still knit! Perhaps I should pull out the camera a bit more often, just to prove it.

These socks were given to the recipient today. It was her birthday on Sunday, but since that isn't a work day, I had intended to give them to her yesterday, but that foolish time change thing has my poor little brain more than a little bit muddled.

I present Trish's birthday Jaywalkers! The yarn is Red Heart, Heart and Sole, in Green Envy. I saw the colour, and I just *knew* what it wanted to be.

From Trish's reaction, I believe we have yet another successful sock adoption.

Normal Service

Attention all blog readers who may have survived my unexplained absence, we will now attempt to resume normal service...
I could try and claim that I had been abducted by aliens or was just recovering from H1N1, but the reality is that nothing in my life seems to be either simple or normal these days. Why? Who the heck knows!
Part of it may be that I'm feeling more than a little disgruntled with humankind in general in most aspects of my life. Ever since I started blogging, I have always posted a Remembrance Day post because I truly think that it is important to acknowledge the sacrifices that have been made, and are being made, to protect our way of life. This year I didn't. I couldn't imagine what was going through the minds of the people who did this the weekend before Remembrance Day. And then to read about thieves stealing poppy money? Too much!
And while I haven't really had H1N1, it hasn't been far from anyone's mind recently it seems. Here in New Brunswick, children under 18 have been identified as a priority group, so both of my boys have had their shots. Younger Son may have to get a second shot, since he is only 9, but at least we've started the process. Do I mind waiting in line to get my kids vaccinated? No. Do I mind waiting to get my shot? No. I am quite certain that there are others far more in need of the vaccine than a 45 year old woman who is in good health. Do I mind people lying so that they can get theirs'? Yes!!! Especially when it means that people who are either more susceptible to infection or more likely to be required to attend to people who are ill don't get their shot.
When I look at this overall, it makes we wonder about the state of our society in general. More and more we seem to be living in a world where individuals seem incapable of feeling and demonstrating compassion, empathy and basic morality. It makes me cranky! And I'm pretty sure that you don't all want to read cranky blog posts all the time. Sometimes - sure - but not all the time.
What's that? Knitting? Yes! I have been knitting. The problem is that I haven't been taking photos... I currently have a February Lady Sweater, a Flutter Scarf and some basic socks actively on the needles. I also have a pile of "to be photographed and blogged about items", too. Maybe I should go and plug in the camera batteries to recharge...
To anyone still out there, thanks for sticking around. I hope that you're all enjoying a lovely weekend!

Cookie Monster

This Cookie Monster? I love... This Cookie Monster? Not so much...

The sock pictured above is Cookie A's Poppy Sock pattern. I love Cookie A's patterns! But there is something seriously and monstrously wrong with that heel... If my heel actually filled out that sock heel, I seriously doubt that I would ever be able to find shoes to fit! I'm not prepared to say that it is a problem with the pattern. It could easily be operator error - although it looks like a few others are having the same issue after a perusal of Ravelry projects.

I had considered trying to rework the pattern into a top down pattern, but I just couldn't get my head around how to manipulate the stitches to get the same sort of effect. In the end, I decided that I would try putting in a different heel.

Since I was away on business last week, sock number two and I had a very pleasant dinner together. Knitting, a glass of wine and a nice quiet meal - what a lovely treat! (Apologies for the poor photo quality - but you get the idea, right?)

Two Thumbs Up...

Here are the photos of the aforementioned socks...

What is the rating? Older Son says "Two thumbs UP!"

His brother seems to be less opinionated... Strange that!

Still Oscar...

Wow! I can't believe that I haven't posted for almost 3 weeks. Maybe it is because I'm still feeling kind of cranky and I don't want my blog to be a continuous stream of rants?
So I had the best of intentions of posting photos of FOs tonight. Finished objects that it, not pics of me telling people to FO consistent with the cranky theme... Although I try to tell them to PFO since you should always mind your manners and say "Please".
Both sons have new socks for back to school. Older Son has a pair of 2 by 2 garter rib socks in a variegated green colourway called Ivy Trail Poems Sock Yarn and Younger Son has a pair of 3 by 1 rib socks in Red Heart Heart and Sole in a colourway called Congo. I rounded up the socks. I rounded up the kids. I took photos. The camera batteries then died... The batteries are in the charger. Photos soon I hope!
Perhaps the fact that the last few months have been exactly like this all the time explains the crankiness in part...???

Score!

Knitpicks sock books are on sale at 40% off! So what did I do? I got out my VISA card and headed straight over... I order Sock Innovation and Kilt Hose and Knickerbocker Stockings. Seeing those 2 titles together looks strange to even me, but Mr. Me does love his kilt. I thought that I would take the opportunity to order Mr. Foster while I was at it, but alas, he is SOLD OUT!!! (Note to self: Order the next edition quickly.) I consoled myself with some sock yarn instead. Truthfully, I feel a little guilty about the yarn, but considering that it is the first yarn that I have purchased this calendar year, I'm sure that I should be able to find some way to rationalize the purchase...
Like many impulse purchases, this was not without a hiccup. The last time I ordered from Knitpicks, it was Princess Knitsalot's birthday present. To save time and extra shipping costs, I had Knitpicks ship it directly to her. Yup - I forgot to double check the shipping address. I'm going to try and make sure that they send it to me once I get my order confirmation, but I have warned my niece and my sister that it may arrive on their doorstep. I've told them they can look (and even fondle and sniff) but then I'll transfer the money so that they can send it home to me...

Can You Have Too Many?

Can you have too many pairs of handknit socks? I washed my "delicates" earlier this week. The "delicates" included 16 pairs of handknit socks. 13 of them were mine... 3 pairs were Older Son's socks. One of the pairs in my 13 were knit for me by someone else, but that means a full dozen were handknit socks, handknit for me, handknit by me. And let's be clear on something, I didn't have to wash socks. There were still quite a few pairs in my socks drawers.
This is making me wonder if perhaps I'm selfish with my knitting. Or maybe I'm just discerning about my socks? Yeah - we'll go with that...

Groundhog Days Socks

Back on Groundhog Day, I attended some mandatory work training. For me, mandatory work training often equals KNITTING TIME! I've had them done for a while, but here, 28 days after they were started are my Spring Forward (aka Groundhog Day) Socks. I think that the yarn is an OnLine yarn but I can't find the label right now... The colours of the yarn make me think of Spring flowers like crocus' (what the heck is the plural of "crocus"?) and tulips.
Here in New Brunswick, it is March Break this week but it really isn't looking like Spring outside! The Sons are off in Nova Scotia visiting with MIL. I had originally planned on driving back from taking them down today, but given our lousy weather forecast, I decided to come back yesterday. Since I already had the day booked off as vacation time, I decided to leave it that way. That meant that I got to finish off two knitting projects (currently blockin, photos later) and one sewing project (it's a hat, photos when someone else can take a picture). It also meant that I was home this afternoon and got to listen to The Point on CBC Radio One. One of the items tied in with my post of Friday. Should parents be held responsible for the crimes of their children? The case that raised this particular point involved a 12 year old who was convicted of murder. A very interesting topic indeed!

Next Floor - Socks - Going Up!!!

Okay, so maybe I shouldn't admit this in public, but I do remember elevators that had the sliding grate doors and an elevator operator that announced the floors. It was many years ago when I was a child at the Eaton's (RIP) in Hamilton, Ontario. They also had wooden escalators... I don't know what happened with the building when Eaton's went under but I certainly hope that they found a good use for it because for me, it was a landmark.

What the heck does that have to do with socks? Nothing. It's just how my mind works. Normally my socks are "going down" (top down), but recently I seem to have been "going up" (toe up) with my socks.

On my left foot we have Azure and on my right foot we have Chartres Chausettes (aka my Stained Glass Socks). They're both toe up patterns. Also both have interesting heel details, but as I had previously mentioned, taking pictures of the backs of one's own heels is challenging!

Details of the yarns and such are all on Ravelry, so I won't bore you with them here. I really enjoyed knitting both patterns and now need to find some new open backed shoes to show off the heels, and did you notice? I made a point of shaving my pasty white legs so I didn't look like a wookiee!

A Couple of Finished Objects

My MIL's Christmas Socks. Arch Shaped Socks knit in DGB Confetti. I continued the ribbing onto the top of the foot. I like how it forms a V-shape. This is the third year that I've given her socks. She really likes receiving them and told me that she thinks she would be disappointed if she didn't get socks... Now that makes this knitter feel good!

My Mermaid Socks. They are knit of Regia Kaffe Fasset yarn. I love how they look!

Bus Blogging

Edit: Links have been added...
I feel like a very bad blogger these days, but I'll swear that someone has shortened my days recently. I could really use a few more hours in each day...
With winter flexing its muscles today, it looks like it might be a longish trip home. Too dark to knit or read and still too wound up from work to sleep makes for an excellent blogging opportunity. It also helps that I remembered to charge this little Blackberry beast last night. I could go for weeks without charging my old cell phone, but this thing needs to be fed regularly!
On the knitting front: I finished the Arch Shaped Socks for my MIL for Christmas. I knit myself a pair of Lucy Neatby's Mermaid Socks for myself. And a new hat, too! Remember the toilet seat cover? The yarn has become my Little Red Cap. I don't think that I would say that it is PERFECT, but I am generally pleased with the results.
On the needles: A pair of Azure socks. And a sweater. And probably a dozen other things that I have currently forgotten about.
On Christmas: See my request for longer days above... Although I need to give a great BIG public Thank You to blogless Kristie in Maine for giving me a hand with a little Christmas magic. Could someone please explain the logic international shipping fees to me? What? No takers??? Probably because there is no logic to it.
The drawback of bus blogging on my Blackberry: No links or pictures. I'll try to remember to come back to it later...

Ready for Anything

Firstly, oh thank you great Blogger for FINALLY allowing me to post... I don't know what has been going on, but Blogger hasn't felt like letting me in for a few days.
The rain that started last week continued over the weekend. The weekend included the middle school soccer tournament. Older Son is the co-captain of his school's team. As a good Mom, I went to watch.
We got up early, had our breakfast and packed the car.
Here is what I packed:
2 folding chairs - utility? 75%. Both chairs were used although not all the time.
Golf sized umbrella - utility? 100%. I didn't need it all the time, but I did need it!
Towels - utility? 5%. We didn't use them, but having them was a good safety net.
Blankets - utility? 50%. Only one of the 2 was used. I probably shouldn't have packed a fleece with teddy bears on it for a 12 year old boy... The plain red one was the one that was used.
2 Thermoses of hot chocolate - utility? 60%. One would have done just fine.
Snack - utility? None. We went somewhere to warm up to eat so needn't have bothered packing food.
Knitting - utility? Low. I did frog my Arch-Shaped Socks back to a mistake, but didn't really get much knitting done.
A book to read - utility? Very low. I read one page.
My winter jacket and gloves - utility? Greater than 100%. It was chilly, but the damp made it feel colder.
Sunglasses clip-ons for my glasses - utility? Absolutely positively none! Does this look like I would have possibly needed sunglasses?
We'll consider that a move of eternal optimism... I live in denial sometimes.

Christmas Knitting

Announcing my first finished handknit Christmas gift! Ta-da!!!

Pywacket socks for my SIL. Note the detail of the lace, how it looks like little pawprints. Yes, she is an animal lover. The yarn is the lovely Trekking yarn that I won earlier this year in (Not-so) Cynical Knitting Gal's contest. They were knit on 2.25mm needles, smaller than I would normally use but considering the lace, I needed something a little bit smaller. Since (Not-so) Cynical Knitting Gal is an animal lover, too, I really hope she'll be pleased with the end product. I was going to knit myself some "coffee" socks, but the yarn told me it was wilder and furrier than coffee... Mouthy yarn...

Act Nonchalant

"Okay gang - let's act nonchalant, pretend that nothing is happening and perhaps someone will decide to take home a pair of socks without realizing that we're hiding inside..."Yes - another ploy of the rampant zucchini harvest to try and find new homes. It has also made me realize that while I've never experienced "second sock syndrome", I do have issues with weaving in the ends of finished objects. The fact that I had 4 pair that only needed to have their ends woven in to officially become "finished objects" should perhaps be somewhat troubling.

I'll do this from left to right across the top row.

First up we have the Lace / Ruffle Edge Sock from the Patons Next Step Four Booklet. I'd tell you what the yarn is but I can't find the ball band...

Next up we have Swirly-girl Socks by Jessica Grzedzinski. The pink is On Your Toes with the unknown yarn from above making a return appearance. I LOVE these socks! The two colour knitting is very impressive when the second yarn changes colours for you...

The pink socks are Jeanie Townsend's Spring Twists socks. This particular pattern is a free pattern - you have to belong to the Townsend Sock KAL Group - but this lady is tremendously talented and writes great patterns. Her purchased patterns are well worth the investment. I used Needful Yarns Australian Merino for these socks. I'd link to them but they appear to be offline right now... I only had 2 balls, so I ended up making the leg a little shorter so that I could have toes in my socks. If you use the same yarn - get yourself 3 balls... You can see another pair of Jeanie socks that I knit here. Finally, we have Spilly Jane's Naive Socks (This Must Be the Socks) in Noro Kureyon. The pattern is available on Ravelry. Check out her other patterns, too. Another talented lady. These socks became well travelled during the WWKIP Scavenger Hunt, although I'm still a little worried about their unpredictability given their attack on the Playmobil pirate ship crew...

At least they're pretty!

Event One Finished

Thanks to The Knitting Wildflower, I became aware of and joined the Sock Knitters Pentathalon. Don't you just love it when friends enable? (It makes me happy!) The first socks are the Jacobean Socks.Looking at these photos, it makes me remember how hard it is to take pictures of one's own feet! I don't think that my feet are as lopsided as the first picture makes them look, but maybe I'm wrong...? I knit them out of the silly Sisu pictured here.
Things I learned while making these socks:
1. I can't do the Magic Cast-on to save my life! However, by going down a couple of needle sizes and paying close attention to the direction of my loops, my cast-on is invisible.
2. I learned how to do a sewn cast-off! Very exciting, I must say. I was having trouble with it until I came across some instructions that suggested splitting up the stitches and "grafting" the cast-off edge. Very clever...
(Just as an aside, when I was adding in the link for the Sock Knitters Pentathalon there was a warning about how the group was in an age restricted area of Yahoo Groups. I knew that socks were fun, but I'm not having that much fun - am I??? Maybe I need to get out more?)

SITMT Contest - Christmas Holidays

New Contest: Holiday memories and Holiday knitting. Contest starts today and will end on Friday, December 21st. All you have to do is write a blog post about the holidays. Include memories from when you were a child, Christmas knitting you are working on this year, and holiday traditions. 5 points for the post. If you include pictures, you will receive 1 point for each photo. Have fun!

I think that I will start by directing you here to see the Christmas knitting. Yes... Lots of socks, but then you all "get that", right?

Do you people really want to hear about my childhood Christmases? Are you SURE??? I guess that I'll have to admit that my memories of Christmas are not universally happy memories. I grew up approximately 20 miles away from both sets of grandparents. My grandparents could not have been more different. My Dad's parents were I suppose, middle class, and pious Baptists... Now I have nothing against Baptists, but that did mean that they were decidedly different from my Mom's parents. You see my mother is from a "mixed marriage"... No - I am not talking about racially mixed. My Grandma was raised as a Baptist, but horror of horrors, she had married a Roman Catholic!!! And my Mom's parents were decidedly working class.
At Christmastime, this often meant two separate visits, and sometimes two Christmas dinners. We always had to be on our best behviour at my paternal grandparents, while mayhem seemed to rule at my maternal grandparents. And then there was the temperature difference... I never ever remember eating a hot meal at my Dad's parents. It was always a sit down meal at the dining room table, with my Grandpa at the head of the table and my Grandma at the foot. I sat at my Grandpa's right since you need to have a woman to the right of the man at the head of the table and I'm left handed. It always made my cousin's jealous....
Dinner at my maternal grandparents was always decidedly less formal. My mother is the second oldest of five children. I have 3 cousins on my Dad's side, but there are 13 on my Mom's side. And my Mom's parents had a very small house... After at best a warm meal at my Dad's parents we would go up to my Mom's parents and take turns on the back porch to cool off. And dining? Well, that involved TV trays!
As for traditions, we had very few when I was a child. I always felt like this was something that I had missed. As we got older, I enjoyed making Christmas cookies with my sisters. We would hang sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies on the tree as ornaments. Gradually over the course of the season the tree would become barer and barer...
Our tradition now with our children is to go to the Christmas Eve service at our church, come home for a late supper and then off to bed after leaving Santa and the reindeer at bit of a snack (and a note of course). Christmas stockings always have Terry's Chocolate Oranges in the toes and a bag of chocolate money for prosperity in the year to come.

Christmas Knitting

I've added some links and corrected some names that were entered too quickly... Let me know if I missed something that you're just dying to know, okay?
Okay, I'd better be quick - before Mr. Me realizes that I'm blogging when he wants to write the annual Christmas letter. In keeping with the Christmas theme, I've got some finished object photos of my Christmas knitting.

MIL's Socks - The pattern is "My Petticoat Socks", and the yarn is Fortissima Colori.

Uncle Roger's socks. Briggs and Little Heavy Socks, knit in their 150th Anniversary colourway.
SIL's socks. Rib and Cable socks (by Nancy Bush) from Interweave Knits Fall 2005. The yarn is some of the Sisu that I purchased on vacation.

I've been found out... Gotta run... I'll try to get back with links later - bye!