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.

Tommorow's WWKIP Day!

Tomorrow is WWKIP day! How exciting is that? And I'm pleased to say that there are indeed events going on in New Brunswick showing on the WWKIP site. Although thank you to everyone who let me know about things that I wasn't aware of. If I was in Moncton, I would definitely be going to this event, and of course, if I was in Halifax, I would be going to this one. Based on what they had in the way of prizes last year, I am quite certain that Leslie is not exaggerating the loveliness of the prizes that she and her partner have amassed. And check out their way cool knitting lobster logo. But, since Mr. Me has plans this weekend that (quite thankfully) don't include the kids and I, you may find me closer to home at this event. CanKNITian appeared baffled that I hadn't caught wind of it on Ravelry, but I have a confession to make: I don't spend nearly as much time in my groups as I do elsewhere. I'm usually much to busy Rav-stalking both friends and random others... Yes - I LOVE to oogle others' knitting. Does that make me a voyeur?
Here's hoping that the weather is good for outdoor knitting tomorrow. Maybe this year I'll remember my sunscreen.

WWKIP Day 2009

I was really interested to see that WWKIP Day this year isn't really a day, but a weekend! Whoo-hoo!!! Very exciting.
Less exciting is the fact that there are no WWKIP Day events listed for New Brunswick. Considering all of the other things that are going on around here that weekend, I don't feel that I could adequately plan an event myself, but I do think that a day of public knitting will be in order. It may be in Fredericton and include a visit to my LYS, or it may just include knitting around my village and scaring the locals. (As if I could...!)
What do you have planned for WWKIP Day?

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!

WWKIP Day - The Recap

I know that this is a little bit late, but better late than never, right?

BIG FUN was had at WWKIP day in Fredericton! Eight of us took a ride on the city bus and did a little bit of knitting and chatting during the ride. Granted we seemed to scare one young man, but for us that was just part of the fun! (He tried to shrink as far as possible into his seat and turned up his music very loud... It's not easy being surrounded by scary women with pointed sticks and string apparently.) Then we sat around and knit in the gorgeous sunshine, and since there was a sale going on, I was kind enough to relieve Trish of some of her inventory. Aren't I selfless? (I haven't taken photos of it but I bought enough for 5 pairs of socks, a sweater for me and a baby sweater. Just for good measure, I also bought a new pattern book from Patons...)

But perhaps the highlight of the event was that I won the scavenger hunt!!! I won a Needful Yarns kit to make the Sally Melville Classic Blouse pictured below.

How's that for a GREAT PRIZE?

Thanks to Trish, CanKNITian and the other organizers for putting on such a great event. In addition to the knitting, they also collected donations for the Community Kitchen which is a very worthy cause. Fortunately knitters tend to be generous and realize that not everyone is a lucky as we are.

I won't bore you with all of my photos, but here's a sample.

See? I Have Been Knitting!

So I feel like I have been very absent recently... I have been knitting, although I haven't been good about either blogging or keeping up with some of my favourite blogs, so if some of you find me commenting on old posts, it's just that I'm getting caught up, although I may just try to get caught up without commenting. Let's hope that I don't miss anything crucial in anyone's life! Since the kids are away for the next 3 WEEKS I hope to be around more over the next little while. I love my kids, but I appreciate them more after they haven't been around for a while.
Yesterday I went to a baby shower. It was for a second baby so I wasn't quite sure of what would be a good gift, but you can't go wrong with a handknit sweater can you? Last weekend during my LYS' WWKIP sale I bought a couple of balls of Marble to knit this very sweet top down cardigan. I started it last Saturday and it was good to go by Thursday evening. How's that for instant gratification? Since I don't have any babies around, I recruited Older Son's teddy bear, Big Bear, as a model. Didn't he do a fabulous job?

And after the baby shower, I meet up with some girlfriends for supper. This is something that almost never happens, so I thought that it was an excellent opportunity to bring out my SoTSii stole. This has been finished (and blocked) for ages, but I haven't had the chance to either wear or photograph it.

Big thanks to special guest photographer, Older Son.

No Yarn

But I did get myself a fabulous new Simon Chang suit!!! One of my staff was a little shocked at the price, but it was on sale... It's a navy skirt suit. I'll wear it for years. I'm quite certain that it will be less than a dollar a wearing by the time that all is said and done...
Even though I didn't make it yarn shopping, big thanks go out to all of you would be enablers, but most especially Betseydoodle (hey - Betsey, leave me a link and I'll connect you) who left suggestions. They have been noted and we all know that any self respecting Canadian Federal Civil Servant should travel to Ottawa at least occassionally, right?
And speaking of yarn, what's everyone doing for World Wide Knit in Public Day? June 14th if it isn't on your calendar. My LYS is having a Scavenger Hunt! How fun is that? My knitting and I will be on a walking and driving tour over the next week or so, having our photos taken. For any out of towners, Freddy the Little Nude Dude isn't nearly as bad as he sounds...!

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Happy World Wide Knit in Public Day everyone! Unfortunately there isn't anything organized going on in my area, so I'll be doing this on my own, not that anyone much will notice that it's a special day because I always knit during the sons' swimming lessons anyways.
Go forth and knit. If anyone gives you a hard time, just wield your pointy sticks at them menacingly!