MinnowBird

Decisions Decisions

2010-06-06T21:00:00.001-05:00

It's official, Trev and I have started looking for a house back in our hometown. It'll mean an hour-long commute to work each day (and back again), but it'll also mean that we're living within minutes of family and friends, rather than an hour away. And I'll get a lot of "reading" done this way, as I LOVE to listen to audio books in the car.

Now to find our perfect first home! (And for me to go through the process with as little stress as possible...) It's all pretty exciting. I'm a little apprehensive about the commute and the added expense it will bring (and stress, come winter). Trying not to worry about that right now. I'm doing my best to get excited about decorating my first home! (Sure, I helped decorate this one, but it'll be different owning the home that I'm sprucing up.)

I think the stress of work is giving me heart palpitations. I took my pulse the other day on my lunch break and my heart skipped a beat EIGHT TIMES in 60 seconds. Unreal. That has been my life for the past four weeks. Luckily they caught it on the EKG I went for two weeks ago, so I'll see what my doctor thinks at my upcoming appointment. It's driving me nuts. Medication, stress, family history, previous personal medical history... no clue what the true cause is or how to make it stop.

Oh, and if you're going to have a garage sale and put out a sign, make sure you spell it properly, or I'm going to stand at the end of your driveway and take a picture.

Piece of Paradise

2010-05-10T21:36:00.000-05:00

This weekend I finally made it out to the cottage for the first time since Christmas. It was a lovely weekend. Still chilly, but lovely all the same.

At Lake of the Woods we had a deer come up to help herself to some birdseed. She was in full molting mode and looking rather scruffy as a result! It's amazing how much more "tan" they are in the summer compared to their grey-brown winter coat.

On Saturday evening Trev and I took the canoe out onto the lake at Goldcreek Ridge. I'm rarely here during the summer months, as my parents rent it out at that time, so it was neat to get out onto the water, which I'd never actually done before (I've only ever walked on it as ice).

On Sunday we headed out to the island to open it up for the summer. Trev and I assembled the dock, Trev and Dad put the motor back on my parents' little boat after we all hauled it back into the water from its winter spot, Emma swam and swam and retrieved and retrieved... She'll lose her winter "chunk" in no time.

Taking a breather, sitting in the boat, watching the boys try to figure out the motor.

They finally got it up and running and Trev and I headed out for a wee jaunt down river. Trev took a few casts...

...and I radioed home with the fun new walkie-talkies that my mom bought. We had fun "testing their range" this weekend (i.e. bugging one another with silly comments and fake CB radio talk - ten-four, roger, over & out, and so on).

And this year a Canada Goose pair has decided to nest on our island. We've always got mergansers nesting. One year we even had a pair of loons nest on our "beach" (if you saw it you'd know why I say "beach" in quotation marks). We tried to keep our distance from this pair this weekend. Hopefully they'll be hatched and off the island sooner rather than later...

All in all it was a lovely weekend. I look forward to many, many more. I also look forward to doing some fishing! One of these days I'll get around to buying this year's license. Once the weather warms up, I'm thinking.

But yes, it has begun. Trev's gone on his first fishing trip of the season this weekend. Hope it's a success!

Babies Babies Everywhere

2010-04-23T21:28:00.000-05:00

None of which are/will be mine!

I have four friends who are currently expecting babies this year. June, July, September, October.

I've decided to get a bit of a head-start on some projects, such as this one:

The beginnings of a big granny square. I love these colours.

And I'm making quick work of it all too. Shouldn't take much time to finish.

And you know what? If I finish it and I don't think it suits any of the baby/mom combos for this year, then I won't gift it! Easy as that.

I'm excited though. So many pregnancies and new motherhoods to live vicariously through! It'll be a fun year.

Feathers

2010-04-14T22:51:00.002-05:00

Spring has sprung and I'm DELIGHTED at how many birds I've been seeing. Some new (to me and my "life list" that is), some not new to me, but my first of the season and thus still exciting.

Cedar Waxwings congregating in our neighbours' tree. My first of the season.

A Fox Sparrow contemplating taking a bath with a robin. My first Fox Sparrow ever.

A Northern "Yellow-shafted" Flicker in our tree. My first of the season.

IIIIIII'm a huge nerd.

ALSO, yesterday as I left my yard to head out to catch the bus, I heard a whistling noise in a tree in my nextdoor neighbours' front yard. I look up to see a beautiful duck in a tree!! AND it happened to be a species of duck that I'd never laid eyes on before (though I knew full well what it was). A Wood Duck!!! It was the male sitting up in the tree. Then the female came down from another neighbour's tree. I was awe-struck. And without a camera. Oh well.

Apparently it's not uncommon to see them perched in trees.

But enough about birds. On to my other nerdy obsession: crochet.

Tonight, in a fit of anxiety, I had to find something to do. (Work was the WORST today - left me feeling edgy all evening.) So, at Trev's suggestion, I sat down to do some crocheting.

Remember that book I bought with my birthday gift certificate, 200 Crochet Blocks? Well this has to be my absolute favourite block from that book. I'm happy with it. I don't quite like how "spoke-y" that second green round is, compared to how it looks in the book, but it'll do.

I started another little project too, but I'll post more on that later, if it turns into anything of substance.

Here's to a better tomorrow!

Felt

2010-04-13T20:38:00.002-05:00

Someone sits in her own bed!

Earlier, she and I waited MOST impatiently for this bed to dry after felting.

But here is the bed in all its felted glory!!!

And the "sides rolled down" version - more cat friendly.

Yes, we all had fun...

See? Floppy sides aren't conducive to flop-and-drop cats.

She fits!

She's fat! (Though losing weight, thanks to her diet.)

A comparison:

Dimensions after felting:

Diametre of base: 14" (7" smaller)
Height of sides: 5" (2" shorter)

Another crochet project DONE!

2010-04-11T16:33:00.002-05:00

Today I completed the final stitch of my cat bed from this pattern. Don't be fooled though, it may look like a floppy mess in these photos, but it's technically not the finished product!

This baby's getting felted. Well, actually, it's already BEEN felted, but as it's drying into shape as I type this, you'll have to wait before you see the "after felting" photos.

The fun thing about felting is how much the item shrinks during the process. Here are some photos I took before I felted it (with Minnow sitting in it for scale).

I can't lay out a crochet project for photographing without Minnow stepping/sitting/lying on it. Lucky for me, this is precisely what I wanted her to do this one time.

Finished Dimensions:

Diametre (of bottom of bed): 21"
Height (of sides of bed): 7"

Into the washing machine she goes!

And now, after 1.5 cycles in the hot water, this bed's formed and drying smack dab in the centre of my kitchen floor. I wish there was something I could do to speed the drying because, let me tell you, I am IMPATIENT for this one!

Now what to crochet next? I'm going to continue a project I've already started (it's most cost-efficient, which is the name of the game these days). I'm thinking either my Catherine Wheel scarf or the throw I started back around Christmas... I'll see how I feel and will let you know.

And, if I'm counting properly, this cat bed makes for SIX completed crochet projects for 2010!!! (Not including the heart and the key cozy.) I'm thrilled.

March: Could have done without it.

2010-04-05T23:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm being overly negative. Though in fairness to ME, I spent the last half of March sick and laid out on my back, missing far too much work with doctor's orders. I'm telling you, it wasn't pretty. I was feeling very sorry for myself and it was rather pathetic. Coughing, sinus ooze, pink eye ('twas a lovely virus, let me tell you).

Anyhoo.

My brother turned 30 on April 1st. My favourite April Fool. Above is a photo taken in our front yard. That is my brother's first golf club. I'm holding a horse named Penelope. She had straw for hair, and an old fashioned dress. My bangs were the worst!

My brother (leopard, right) was the cutest kid. And check out the homemade costumes! A strawberry and a leopard! I hope to have such adorable homemade costumes for my own children some day.

There's a white speck at the top of the bottom portion of open water (if that makes sense) that is actually a male common goldeneye (a duck). Trevor and I went to Oak Hammock Marsh on Sunday to see what we could see. (They have an "interpretive centre" inside and many many acres of marshland outside.) It was still a bit early - though I was surprised by how much ice was still on the ponds. We only saw mallards, geese and these common goldeneye. They were doing the neatest mating dances though where they'd pop their heads backward on to their backs. Never seen it before.

It's me...

I love this last photo of Trevor with the tall marsh grass. (Taller than him! Impressive!)

Red-winged Blackbirds congregating in the brush. I saw a flock of well over 100 today on my way to my volleyball game. They're everywhere.

"When the bird and the book disagree,...

...always believe the bird." Birdwatcher's Proverb

Here's a list of what others have seen on their hikes around the marshland. We also saw the ground squirrels and a few killdeer

That's it. The highlight of my March and it wasn't even in March.

I'm almost done my cat bed. I'll be sure to take before and after photos for the felting, as it is proving to be RATHER large right now. I'm excited about this one.

And, I've got MANY friends expecting babies, so I think I should consider whether I'm going to gift these babies with crocheted items (i.e. blankets) - CAN I accomplish such a feat? Time will tell.

March: In like a lion, out like a lamb.

2010-02-28T12:08:00.002-06:00

So long, February. Can't say it's been a slice, but I'm better for having known you. I'll miss your Olympic Games. I am thankful to have learned a valuable life lesson in sticking up for myself...

I've been neglecting my knitting and crochet lately. Don't know why. I've been wanting to crochet with my fisherman's wool, but have felt guilty because I've been using it for knitting and felt that I should continue.

Nuts to that.

Today I decided to crochet. I'm going to make this cat bed. It will be my first ever felted project. I'm excited about it.

Round and round and round it goes.

This one goes pretty quickly, provided I pay close enough attention to my stitch counting. Can't wait to felt it!

My progress will have to wait for another day, however, because I'm off to watch Canada vs. USA in the men's gold medal hockey game this afternoon. And then hopefully some of the closing ceremonies. Farewell, sweet Olympics. You've been most enjoyable.

Should I be offended that she's never made a Snow-Kate?

2010-02-24T20:18:00.001-06:00

Last month my mom made two "snowdogs" - that's "Snow-Hank" in the blue scarf, "Snow-Emma" with the bright pink vet wrap around her neck. And that's real Emma, hackles up, bark-bark-barking at the snow effigies.

Tentative sniff...

My dad claims that it is a testament to my mother's snow-shaping skills that Emma felt the need to sniff Snow-Hank's snow-behind. My parents found this hilarious. What I find hilarious is that my mom made Hank look like a sleek, tall and lean greyhound-type, rather than the short, barrel-chested, "grunting ottoman with a tail" that he actually is.

Emma doesn't like real Hank, but Snow-Hank, in his jaunty blue plaid scarf and stick for fetching - he's okay. Note the tail wag.

Five of... Squares?

2010-02-21T16:48:00.000-06:00

My first ever bit of embroidery! Nothing fancy, nothing challenging in the grand scheme of things. Just a simple outline of my dad's favourite fishing lure.

I'm happy. This tea towel is presently hanging on our oven door, waiting to be gifted. My parents will like it, just like they've always liked everything else I've made in my 27 years. :) It's what parents do.

Today has been a busy day. I've baked cookies and a cake (hold your applause, it wasn't from scratch). I'm currently in the middle of making supper - sweet soy glazed chicken and onions. Never made it before. We shall see!

Delicious!

I've acquired a taste for embroidery, though. I hope to produce nicer, more challenging, more "pretty" creations in the future on my other tea towels. Though maybe I'll take Michelle up on her suggestion to embroider a fender bender...

But maybe not...

Five of Diamonds

2010-02-20T16:09:00.001-06:00

I've fished with my dad in the summer ever since I was a little girl. It was likely a dream come true for my dad when I married Trev, the former fishing guide, current fishing addict. In fact, Trev is ice fishing as I write this.

My dad's got all kinds of fishing toys, but he's not at all hardcore like Trev. (And in the grand scheme of things, Trev is blessedly not as hardcore as other people he/we know.) I think my dad just likes to buy said fishing toys, but he seems to often revert back to one lure. His go-to. His Five of Diamonds.

My parents are coming over for dinner tomorrow night (note to self: figure out what to feed them), and I figured I'd give them a tea towel for the island cottage (which has a decidedly fish/fishing-related theme). No occasion in particular - just because I felt like making it.

So I started to draw my best Five of Diamonds. Note the cell phone - I'm waiting to hear of more fish caught, though they may be out of range by now. Two big lake trout this morning for Trev though!

And, just like I got distracted right there by telling you about Trev's fishing, I got distracted while sketching out my design...

Back to work...

Sketch 1 was too small for the size of tea towel that I have. So this is no. 2.

Pause again while a certin someone distracts me with her ridiculous cuteness. Get that pen! Get it!

Ahem. Back to work...

The pattern is put on to tracing paper, and then taped to the window. I then traced it onto the towel itself. I must say, I'm a little underwhelmed at the quality of these tea towels. I thought the weave would be a little more dense than this... Oh well.

Success! Outline is done! I don't think I'm going to fill in this bad boy. I think a simple outline of the parts will look nice.

But my tracing job on the diamonds wasn't all that great. "That's okay," I thought, "I'll just free-hand the diamonds and ignore the wonky mess that came about from tracing."

No such luck. My brain wanted to follow those lines, try as I might. The diamonds got wonkier. So now I'm faced with undoing this section of it and trying again. I'm determined to finish this though. Even if I don't end up giving it to my parents. I will finish it.

Tomorrow's Mission

2010-02-19T08:21:00.000-06:00

Embroider my first tea towel. Today's mission? Find a pattern to embroider. I'm leaning toward fishing - to give the bird theme in my house a much needed break. I'll see if I can find something that strikes my fancy, as they say.

Slice of Life, à la mode

2010-02-18T22:48:00.000-06:00

This is what I'll be reading before bed tonight. And on the bus tomorrow. And before bed tomorrow night. These days my fiction comes to me in the form of audiobooks. Lovely, lovely, unabridged audiobooks that I listen to during the hour-long drives to and from my home town in the evenings. Or to work in the morning when I've been too lazy to get up early enough/walk to the bus. Bad, bad Kate. Parking downtown is costly. But laying in bed for that extra 30 minutes feels SOOoo good.

This week I've managed to take the bus every day. And brought my lunch every day. Good, obedient, thrifty Kate. I am proud of you this week. Saving for a down payment on a house is a big scary ordeal. I feel so grown up, budgeting and saving, budgeting and saving. Or trying to. I have lapses. Like our impromptu Chinese-food restaurant outing today...

Where was I going with all of this? Nowhere.

Today I phoned up a client and, after announcing who I was, I asked him how he was doing. A simple pleasantry, as I'm currently getting to know all of these new clients. Just trying to be nice.

His response:

"I'm busy. What is it?"

Rude as can be.

And lo, in the wake of the Tuesday From Hell, spurred on by this latest assault, a new Kate was born. And this one vows to have a thicker skin.

It's 11:30 and I can't shut off my cat

2010-02-17T23:36:00.000-06:00

Or my brain.

I played a late volleyball game tonight - coupled with a 45 minute highway drive back home, I'm not quite ready for bed yet. Neither is Minnow, who has a lovely habit of kicking into high gear at bed time.

Yesterday I had what will likely be the worst day I can have at work. And I was treated like garbage by both a client and someone at a courier company that shall remain nameless. I've never felt so small, so broken, and so insecure and unsure of myself. That someone could cause me to stumble and fall in the ways that I did yesterday has had a huge impact on me. I still feel quite shaken, but at the same time I feel determined not to let people walk all over me any more. I'm determined to stand up for myself more often, and not to be so damn scared to rock the boat, or to tell someone something that they don't want to hear.

It's been a big 24 hours.

View out one of our windows at work, though I assure you the sun isn't that high in the sky yet at this time of year.

This job will make me or break me. And I choose not to let it break me. I will develop a thicker skin - hell, I already have after 2+ years - by doing this job.

Side note: I miss summer! I miss sunshine and daylight and warmth. Though these things are coming, I can tell. I can't wait to get out on the water again with Trev. I love seeing little surprises like this little guy. I'm telling you, this fox was oblivious to our existence. And I swear up and down that he was chasing a butterfly, Disney-style.

This is how Trev and I spend many of our weekends in the summer, and it's awesome. These past two days have been a time for me to reach back and grasp on to happy, triumphant moments such as this, when I felt like I was a success.

I'm a sensitive person. I need to tell myself that this is not a bad thing, but a good thing. But at the same time, I can be a strong, assertive person as well. No one has the right to tear me down. To intimidate me, knowing they're doing so. Seeing how far they can push me.

I'm telling you. This was a significant moment, this series of events. And if I haven't learned from it, if I don't make changes based on what I've learned - about other people, about myself, about how to protect me - then I've wasted a good many tears.

Happy Things

2010-02-14T14:33:00.003-06:00

It's been a busy, hectic week. But it's been a good one. I've had out-of-town activities to keep me busy in the evenings after work four out of the five past weekdays! (And the fifth was a treat for me - a much-needed haircut/trim.)

I give myself a sticker when I've exercised. Monday - volleyball (we lost, oh well). Tuesday - aerobics with my sister-in-law (who dropped a five-pound hand weight on her stocking foot after class and broke two toes!!!). Wednesday - volleyball (we won!!). Thursday - aquacize with my other sister-in-law. All of these activities make Kate happy! (Except, of course, for my sis-in-law's injury. Poor girl.)

I've crocheted two items lately. One is a toque that I started and finished this past weekend for Amber. She'd requested a toque in a magenta/eggplant hybrid of purple. Though the colour in the photographs doesn't read quite true, I think I did relatively okay in finding the right hue...

Now Amber will have a toque for all of those frosty Austin, Texas nights... I hear they're brutal...

My other crocheted goody was a quick little heart that I whipped up on Thursday after aquacize class when the chlorine scent stuck in my nose and sinus cavities prevented me from falling asleep.

Last night Trev and I went to see Avatar in 3D (hence the glasses) and I loved it. We've been wearing the glasses on and off all day today just to be dumb. Surprisingly neither of us has tried to put them on the cat yet... But the day is still young...

Other happy things are my various bird items. I found this little white owl teabag holder before Christmas and fell in love with it. I use it as a spoon rest on my stove top. My cawing bird makes me happy too. He sits above my sink and makes me smile.

Trev and I decided that this year we would give each other little gifties for Valentine's day. He surprised me with a "bouquet" of chocolate-covered strawberries from Edible Arrangments. Delish! We've already eaten a bunch in lieu of lunch!

For Trev, I bought him a fishing magazine, some chocolate-y candies and his fave hot wasabi peas. And I'm cooking supper and baking dessert for tonight. (Truly, I know the way to my husband's heart: fishing and food.)

Cake from a box... it's what's for dessert.

I was going to bake these tasty Valentine treats for dessert today. The recipe calls for red velvet cake mix. Easy, I thought. I won't even need to make this stuff from scratch today. Well wouldn't you know, there was no red velvet cake mix to be found at the grocery store! Boo.

Earlier, I'd toyed with the idea of baking something from scratch, but decided on the red velvet cookies instead. Then, there I was at the grocery store with no backup plan as far as a "from scratch" ingredients list goes. Betty Crocker to the rescue!

It smells divine.

I did it!

2010-02-04T21:57:00.002-06:00

I finished my first knitted "thing"!

And I'm very happy with it.

I'm almost ready to call myself a knitter!

Here it is. My first knitted "thing" is my Seeded Diamonds block. And I think she's BEAUTIFUL. It was quite the adventure... I knit a lot. Purled a lot. Swore a lot. But most importantly, I learned a lot.

And I've already moved on to "Lattice"! MUCH easier to get the hang of. I'm sure this is partly due to the simplicity of the pattern, and partly due to my greater understanding of how this whole knitting thing works.

My poor, poor crochet hooks. They haven't seen any use (besides rescuing knitting stitches) in far too long. I think I could do with a craft that causes less eye strain than knitting has proven to do... maybe this weekend I'll crochet something.

In other news, Trev brought home a neat new insulator from work for our ever-growing collection.

This one is remarkably clear. And it's a unique shape. A neat find.

AND I got together with my brother last night and he gifted me with some Mexican vanilla extract that he bought while on vacation last week. So thoughtful!

And it's clear. Neat! And it smells SO so good. All the more reason to bake! I've been using up this artifical stuff that I got at a wedding shower* (guests brought a recipe and one ingredient from that recipe as part of their gifts - a big bottle of artificial vanilla was part of one of the gifts). I don't want to WASTE it. And I know for the multitude of cookies that I bake for Trev and I - though we are quite the connoisseurs by this point - we don't really notice, so I don't feel too guilty about it - though years of watching the Food Network make it hard to use it guilt-free...

Anyhoo, I digress. Enough about the guilt of not-top-of-the-line baking ingredients. More about my sloooowly becoming a knitter! Happy thoughts!

*We got married in 2008 and I bake a lot of cookies... It's a big bottle.

Who or Hoot?

2010-02-02T22:25:00.001-06:00

I received some mail today.

In return for a crocheted toque (which was sent with with a little note card with washing instructions, which is why I find Michelle's note so hilarious), I received a most awesome "sock monster"... Though he's not so monstrous. He's AWESOME. And hilarious, because Michelle and I have this thing about owls that goes WAY back.

When I moved into the house that I live in now, I could tell, simply by a dark shape on the fake wood panelling in the living room, that the lady who used to live here must have had a macrame owl on that wall for EONS. So long that all the wood panelling around it had faded, leaving the shape of what could only have been a large macrame owl.

Add to that a series of other owl-related things that I've since discovered around the house as I've been de-old-lady-ifying it (new term, as of this very moment), and lo a running joke is born.

He's wonderful. And hilarious.

And hypnotic...

Oh this made my day! I should do crafty exchanges like this more often! I LOVE getting mail, especially when it's unique, hilarious, one-of-a-kind mail.

Sticktoitiveness. Or (mis)Adventures in Knitting - part 2

2010-01-31T18:29:00.002-06:00

So I decided not to give up on yesterday's "progress" - turns out it wasn't as mistake-ridden as I'd feared. At least, I couldn't SEE any mistakes. I just knew they were in there.

After plodding along between Sunday house tidying and movie watching (because to knit DURING a movie at this stage would be to MISS said movie), I made some progrees on my square:

This morning I finished another set of diamonds. Not without some trouble, but this time, with the help of my loop-rescuing crochet hook, I perservered!

And another row of diamonds! This one was eaven easier than the last.

I'm glad I didn't give up on this one. I've learned a lot. Sure, it's slow going, but I'm quite new to this all. This thing will be a block in no time. Who cares if it has a big hole in one of the diamonds! (Prize to you if you can figure out which one... or not. No. No. I don't want you looking that closely, now that I think about it...)

Maybe I'll turn into a knitter after all...

As the sun set and the lap-obsessed cat got more needy, I packed things away. I hold my knitting so close to my face (nerves - like the tight stitches) and don't look at anything else for such a long period of time (extreeeeeme concentration...) that my eyes actually burn and tear up when I've stopped knitting these past two days. No need to go blind at the tender age of 27.

Today we browsed around the Canadian Tire nearest to our house for quite some time. They had a huge clearance sale on (all the boxes and packages that have been torn or dented or deemed otherwise unsuitable for the shelves were marked way way down). Fun to browse. Got a folding table that I'd been eyeing (for sewing and dinner guests) for $25 off. Deal!

After dinner I made my favourite cookies. I try not to keep butter in the house when I don't want to bake cookies, but then I found this AMAZING recipe for olive oil chocolate chip cookies - and I can bake again! Tomorrow's "Biggest Loser" weigh in at my office is going to be terrible. Snow days cancelling volleyball and aerobics, numerous dinners out with friends. Stress-induced emotional eating caused by The Week From Hell... Yuck. I can feel it. Oh well, back to the regular activities this week! AND bringing my lunches to work!

Yum...

(mis)Adventures in Knitting

2010-01-31T08:39:00.005-06:00

Saturday started out as a fine day. I had the house to myself, which is always kind of a treat. We had a fun evening planned with friends. And I had nothing pressing that had to get done that day, which meant I could work on one of the projects I have on the go.

I checked out my stash/project corner in the spare bedroom in an effort to try to decide what I was going to work on that day.

I considered trying to perfect these little flowers - figure out why mine come out with five petals instead of six. But I realized crochet wasn't how I wanted to spend my day. No, I wanted to give knitting a try.

To be fair, I'd been doing some knitting last weekend. I've been toying with the idea of doing an afghan of blocks of garter stitch (I love the simplicity of it - both in the making and, especially, the way it looks).

This was some of my progress from last weekend. An easy first project, if you ask me. But in my mind I thought perhaps it was a little too easy and that I wasn't challenging myself.

So I decided to knit some of these:

I'd borrowed this from the library earlier this week. There are some "beginner" patterns in there, they're all meant to come out the same size. "Why not give it a try and work on some different stitch patterns? Today I could knit a block and triumphantly show it off on my blog and my Ravelry page!"

If only it'd been that easy.

Well, in truth, it WAS easy! It wasn't a complex pattern!

Seeded Diamonds. It had a "one pair of knitting needles" difficulty rating. That's as low as it gets.

The trouble with yesterday wasn't in the difficulty of the pattern. No. At first I just made stupid mistakes in reading the pattern, so I started over. Then I made a mistake reading another line. So I started over again. And again. And again.

... And again.

Now, I've seen how to rip out stitches to a point, without having to begin again, but my confidence was so shaken yesterday that I didn't trust myself to give it a try.

Stop-And-Try-Again #1.

Stop-And-Try-Again #4 (yes, four!!!!1!!1!)

Silent observer.

Progress!

More progress, yes, but I'm telling you, she's not pretty. Somehow there are twisted stitches in there. A purl where there should be no purl. And everything is SO. TIGHT. I was nervous about making another mistake on this, my fifth try at this one-pair-of-knitting-needles-difficulty pattern - so I guess that made for too-tight stitches.

It's amazing how discouraged this all managed to make me feel. WHY I think I should be able to do things flawlessly on my first attempt is beyond me.

So that was yesterday and this is today. I don't want to give up on Ms. Eaton's knitting blocks. I refuse to let them outsmart me. They'd be such a good way to learn how to knit and knit comfortably. I can do this!... I can. ...

Yarnaholic

2010-01-27T21:26:00.001-06:00

Today I went to a lovely yarn shop in Winnipeg on my lunch break. I went with a friend who was in town for a bit today (flight attendant - happens to stay at a hotel across the street from my office building when she's in town - we both knit/crochet - sometimes I feel like I get together as regularly with her as I do with my local friends, even though she lives two provinces over, she's in town that much!)...

Where was I, yes, the yarn store. We'd been planning it for a while. And let me tell you, I was NOT disappointed. Not only was it packed with gorgeous yarn, but they have a DOG. The sweetest dog. And she has a tattoo in her ear that shows she's from the same animal shelter as my Minnow! Kindred rescue friends!

I found what I hope will be a suitable "eggplanty-magenta" yarn colour for my friend Amber's toque-to-be.

I also found a skein of yarn that I haven't been able to take my eyes off since I bought it:

I had it on my desk behind me at work and I'd turn around, look at it, and stroke it lovingly between tasks or when I was on the phone with a steamship line...

I'm going to knit this yarn. Let it be known. I'm going to knit myself a scarf. Hold me to it.

I have a hard time saying no to yarn, though I did remarkably well this afternoon. One purchase, the toque yarn, was planned. The second was a belated birthday treat with some leftover gift money from my parents.

I collect yarn.

And I collect patterns. It'll take me a lifetime to get through them all, but at least it won't be an idle lifetime!

Sweaters for Apples

2010-01-26T21:54:00.000-06:00

So now that Mother Nature has stopped with her snowing and blowing and closing of highways and schools, she has settled in with a nice, bone-chilling deep freeze.

Today I borrowed some gorgeous and inspiring books from the library and was prepared to spend an evening reading them (aerobics class having been cancelled for the night), but instead, perhaps inspired by the frigid weather we've been having, I made this:

An apple cozy!

This is the smallest, cutest thing I've made to date. Maybe it will inspire me to bring along more fruit in my lunches. Too bad my navel oranges don't fit in here, though they can have their own cozies too - probably not though, lest my co-workers think I'm entirely crazy. No, no I'll just cozy my apples for now. And my camera. And I've been eying up my iPod. And Trev DID say he needed something to keep his new, smaller camera from smashing around inside his slightly-too-large Pelican case...

Must go. Making mental list.

Might need a shop vac for that...

2010-01-23T23:29:00.002-06:00

My third-ever finished crochet project has made its way to its intended target.

Success.

Kate's "Year of Finishing What She's Started" is off to a swimming start.

In other news, I can't hear this song without thinking that she's singing "They're vacuuming the dance floor."

When you're done with the dance floor, can you come do my kitchen? I'll play some kicky music for you if that'll help... But don't wear your hoochie heels, they'll scuff up the linoleum.

I love mis-hearing lyrics.

Such Potential!

2010-01-23T13:40:00.007-06:00

So this morning I had my second of two classes on how to use my sewing machine - offered for free by the store where Trev bought my machine.

Last week was your basic info course (no sewing, just stuff like threading the needle, winding a bobbin, different presser foot options, and so on and so forth). THIS week we got to sew!

First topic: sewing lightweight knits

So tiny and cute! Both my sister-in-law and my best friend happen to be pregnant. How THRILLED they'll be when I present them with tiny sleeve after tiny sleeve at their baby showers! No whole garments though. Only sleeves. I'm only one woman.

Next up: heavier weight knits (in this case, polar fleece)

Happy puppy is happy because his seam can stretch and lay flat when opened.

Then it was on to the blind hem:

I realize that you can't see it, but I guess that's a sign that it worked. (And, also, I hid the part that didn't work.) Now I can, in theory, hem my work pants!

Then it was on to how to sew over thick denim seams without breaking or bending a needle:

There's such a thing as a Jean A Ma Jig that helps keep your presser foot flat. (Google also tells me that these things can be called Humper Jumpers...)

Worked like a charm. And all this practice in the sewing class also gave me more confidence just in operating my machine even with just a straight stitch. I'm getting better at it all.

And finally, we learned about buttons and button holes. Tadaaaa!

I hadn't realized that I could sew on buttons using my machine. This will come in VERY handy!

What a great class. I'm glad I sacrificed two Saturday sleep-ins to go. I learned so much and am not scared of my sewing machine any more. Plus I've learned what a great resource that quilting shop will be for me should I ever run into any trouble or have any questions.

After my sewing class I went to spend the rest of my Michael's gift card that I got from my dear husband for my birthday.

I've been eying this book for a year now. I never bought it though because it's always seemed so pricey, and my interest in crocheted block motifs varies from month to month.

However, with a gift card, I felt much less guilty about buying it. It will be a nice, fun little resource book for my "library"...

While at Michael's I also fell in love with their Fishermen's Wool. I love the colours! So I decided I'm going to use this yarn to knit (yes, knit) an afghan. I have the idea in my mind. I'll see how it goes. If you see this yarn, in blog entries to come, used in some sort of crochet project, that means that I gave up on the knitted idea - though in my head it looks lovely.

I bought some cute new knitting needles too:

So all this thought of giving knitting a try again made me decide to go through my old stash of knitting needles, books, and the like. I have this old tote bag where my knitting things are kept, including little stitch samples that I've made and, much to my surprise, a few skeins of yarn that I'd forgotten I'd owned.

Back when I was interested in trying knitting about five years ago, my mom purchased all sorts of needles as a Christmas gift to get me started. I'd forgotten that she'd also bought me a few different types of yarn. Some were just your basic acrylic. But then I stumbled upon something sinister. Something that should never have seen the light of day...

Hideous, hideous novelty yarn. I'd better go burn this stuff... If it's not evilly indestructable that is...

Round 2 - The Zombifier

2010-01-20T22:45:00.004-06:00

Alrightee, so I have tried that toque pattern again. This time it fit, and I still love the pattern, and, most exciting of all... :::I FINISHED IT!:::

There's only OOooone tiny problem though:

...the colour is terrible! More terrible than I'd initially thought.

It somehow has the ability to make the wearer look like a zombie. And I don't just mean in the light of my parents' bathroom - as photographed above. That lighting actually helps the skin tone, when paired with this toque... Zombie neutralizing lighting...

Where was I? Oh yes.

But I've still worn it - I wore it when I headed out to my aerobics class yesterday and, get this, I actually got compliments on it from my sister-in-law and her friend! (I think it was more for the pattern - its redeeming quality - than for the colour, but still!)

But you know what though? I like it. Because I made it, and I FINISHED IT, and it turned out the way it was supposed to.

More of these will definitely be made.

I may have a big head...

2010-01-04T22:23:00.000-06:00

...but it's not THAT big. This was my "let's kick of 2010" project - the Divine Hat, and this is where I was at the part where I was to start adding the rows of ribbing. Yes, yes, I can always add extra rows of those shell thingers but, and I don't know if you can tell this by the extreme thread tension shown in the above photo - this sucker is ti-ight. And, seeing as I was going for more of a toque than a yarn swim cap, methinks I have to start again.

So I did. I am using a bigger hook and watching my tension (I have a tendency to go too tight). I also switched yarns (because I didn't feel like ripping this one for half an hour straight - not right now). I picked orange to go with my parka. Big mistake. It's coming out like some sort of designer toque for a hunter - bright orange. At least I won't get shot by any urban deer hunters...

Anyhoo, I'll finish the orange toque, because I want to and it's fun crocheting. But I don't know if I'll wear it in polite company.

I WILL finish a project in 2010!

27

2010-01-03T11:34:00.007-06:00

"Congestive heart failure."

Words that don't make sense in a telephone conversation that started out with my mom, the trooper, singing Happy Birthday to me.

So on this birthday of mine, I hope and pray that we get to see many, many more of my dad's birthdays too.

Edited to add: Dad's FINALLY out of the hospital. I feel like I can breathe again.

09 vs 10

2010-01-02T16:53:00.002-06:00

At the start of the previous year, I proclaimed that 2009 would be my year of trying new things, and I think I succeeded:

learned to crochet
played ultimate frisbee
attended a yoga class
started a blog
flew standby (hey, we didn't say these had to all be monumental things)
owned and operated a sewing machine (just squeaked that one into '09)
learned to embroider (still learning, yes, but the key was to start)
made meatballs
baked a cake from scratch

Triumph!!

Again, no one ever said that these had to be big crazy new things.

My goals for 2010 are more guidelines than goals:

become more flexible (stretching, yoga)

specific flexibility goal: wrap my hands around my feet when stretching hamstrings OR hands flat on the floor when reaching for toes while standing

finish what I start

start a project, FINISH that project
the trick is to not have too many things on the go, nor should I try something too hard for my crafting skill level before I'm ready (lest I get discouraged and stop)
small, incremental goals are Kate's key to success

give up pop? (aka soda, aka soft drinks) - I did this in 2006, considering doing it again
add more birds to my "life list"

which means keeping my eyes peeled, not forgetting the binoculars on fishing trips, bringing my bird book with me too, and perhaps making a visit here or here during spring or fall migration...

do more, laugh more, see more - relax and enjoy life and not get so caught up in the negative. Here's to as stress-free a 2010 as I can make it.

I'd like to try some of these recipes - I received this book in the mail from my former Spanish roommate Sandra. I have been trying SO hard to think of something to send to her. Maybe I can make something for her too... New goal!

I'd like to try a whole bunch of new recipes from lots of my cookbooks. I haven't given Rachel Ray a try. Shame on me. They're all so quick! That's it: I vow to be more adventurous in the kitchen!

Trying new things is always a good goal to have, so I'll do my best not to turn down opportunities that may translate into a new and enriching experience. The "year of new things" may be over, but I've experienced much and have made several new friends, so I think that's an important goal to carry with me, no matter what the year.

There. I've started 2010 off with hope and excitement of triumphs to come.

Here's to a happy year.

Not this year, Universe

2010-01-01T21:55:00.005-06:00

I recently began making a new afghan (called the "Textured Throw"), which I was really excited about. I was going to work on only this one project so as not to get distracted and, once again, have an unfinished project collecting dust in the spare bedroom.

I blasted through two balls of yarn, crocheting all through my Christmas visit to the cottage.

But I only had those two balls of yarn.

So yesterday I went to Michael's to buy more.

And they don't carry that kind any more.

The universe HEARD me say that 2010 is going to be the year of finishing what I've started, and felt like thwarting me.

Nuts to the universe though, because this all happened in 2009, so 2010 is still unscathed.

Close-ups of the new throw. Not much to it at this point in time besides its texture. It's going to be big, but big is good for a tall household like ours.

Somebody's schnozz on Boxing Day...

Trev and I spent the 26th and the 27th at the cottage. We ventured down to the lake to drill a series of exploratory holes in the ice - Trev was armed with my dad's underwater camera to see if we could find any fish. Basically we just looked at the bottom of the lake. No fish today.

And, of course, I sat at my favourite bird-watching spot at the cottage (when the windows weren't fogged over), and managed to see some Pine Grosbeaks flock in for a quick feeding.

Gorgeous red.

My big exciting Christmas gift this year was a sewing machine:

Well done Trevor! I LOVE it. He got it at a local quilting store - who promise they'll give me a lesson on how to use it (though the manual and my ever-so-distant junior high home ec courses are helpful in the mean time). That's exciting, because then I can wander through and take a gander at all the quilty goodness inside the store!

And I've been sewing:

Two matching pillows for our living room. Straight lines - a good first project for me. I've already learned a lot.

Next project I'd like to try either pajama pants (I'm tall enough that I haven't had a nice, girly pair of pj pants since I was, oh, I dunno, 15?), or perhaps a tote bag. I don't want my home to be crowded with pillows, and they're fun and easy enough that I might go a liiiiittle overboard.

Another gift that was given in my household this year was a collection of old glass insulators, of the kind that used to be used for telegraph and electric wires. They come in gorgeous colours and are somewhat relevant to Trev's line of work. I had fun photographing them on such a brightly cloudy day.

Well, back I go to crocheting a toque. January 1, 2010 - this girl will finish something that she's started.

Minnow and the minnows.

Kate Finishes Something She's Started

2009-12-21T22:36:00.002-06:00

Here's my little Nana blanket about a week from completion, and I am happy to say that last night I wove in the last end, and finished it off. I don't have enough yarn (or time) to do any sort of trim around the edges, but it will definitely keep my Nana warm and cozy!

I find this photograph hilarious. Whereas Minnow appears to be screaming at my finished blanket, my reaction was to cry. I cried because it was my first ever completed crochet project. I cried because it was for my Nana. I cried because back when I first started it, my Nana and I had a conversation about it and she even showed one of the nurses in her nursing home what I was making for her when she walked in... So much has changed since then. But she needs the warmth that this dense little blanket more now than ever, so I try to make that my "bright side" when I look at the whole situation.

One tricky thing about this blogging business is that, now that it's winter, I'm NEVER home during the well-lit hours of the day. I took the picture, above, on the weekend when I had the gift of natural light as my assistant photographer.

I haven't taken a nice shot of my new blanket yet because I haven't really seen the light of day (outside of my time at the office) since I finished it yesterday!

Here is a bird ornament that I fell in love with at the dollar store near my work. $2! I love birds. LOVE. So this little ornament, which doesn't hang all that well (hey, you get what you pay for), will transition into my year-round decor (sans hanging string) once I remove him/from the tree.

Speaking of birds, I received the LOVELIEST card from my friend Melanie today (and spent the loveliest evening with her too, ogling books and chatting over "coffee"):

Isn't it so simple and beautiful? My night-time, sun-less photography doesn't do it or it's sparkling boughs justice, but I am so in love with this wonderful little card.

This has been a great day. And what's more, I've fallen in love with a wonderful crochet project that is now consuming my thoughts (I go through bouts of crochet-love with various lovely projects.)

And it's true, I'm in crochet-love. Again.

Beginning to Feel

2009-12-15T21:20:00.002-06:00

On Sunday night I surprised Trev with a Christmas tree. We weren't planning on getting one this year (not home for Christmas, lots of work, so on - maybe I was being scrooge-ish). Anyhoo, he was thrilled. We spent the night last night packing on the ornaments.

As of right now we've even got presents under the tree! It's exciting.

Trev just dropped a bomb and said that he's not used to presents under the tree (I was bugging him about why NONE of the things he's wrapped for me are under there). All his presents were from Santa, he says.

"Didn't you get anything from your mom and dad!??!"

"They're ALL from mom and dad, Kate."

"Well, when you're a kid you don't know that!"

A tree without presents under it... It's true, on Christmas morning at the in-laws' place, all of our presents are lined up in rows on the living room floor. Nothing under the tree.

And they don't do stockings either. I used to love my stocking because Santa left it on my bed while I was sleeping, and it gave me something to do between 5:30 am, when I'd wake up in my childhood excitement, and 8:00 am when everyone else would start to stir. (A strategic move on my parents' part, I see this now.)

Funny how different the traditions can be even within the same holiday season. I look forward to starting my own traditions both with Trevor now, and with our children (whenever they should happen to arrive).

Speaking of unfinished projects

2009-12-09T21:50:00.008-06:00

I've got two biggies that I started, stopped, started something else, stopped that something else, then started the other again. If that doesn't make sense, weeeeellll neither does the way my brain works when starting projects. Very abstract random, not so much concrete sequential. It's funny though, because at work I have to be so very organized and manage my time so wisely. At play, it would seem, I am QUITE the opposite (no big secret there if you ever saw my bedroom before I was married... or even now that I'm married... It's not a STY, but it's not the image of organization either).

Where was I? Oh yes, THIS project. My beloved hexagons. I'm doing them in a so-so brand/quality of yarn because it was my first ever big project that I started and I didn't want to splurge on yarn just yet.

My only problem with these projects is my inability to find a decent yellow among these brands that I buy (bought from Zellers and the like). They're either super soft yellows, suitable for baby attire, or super bright yellows that out-shine the rest of the colours.

I love these hexagons though. LOVE. Inspired by Moonstitches' blanket, with pattern help from Attic24 (with one more double crochet per cluster around the outer edge than she did, to match Moonstitches' stitches). I was living, breathing, eating, sleeping, singing, speaking, LOVING hexagons when I started this one.

Then I saw Moonstitches' Nanny McPhee granny square afghan, as well as pictures of the afghan FROM the Nanny McPhee movie that inspired it, and I, too, was inspired. So I gave that one a try with the same yarn as the hexagon afghan and then some.

This is me wishing I'd thought to take care of all my ends as I went along - but what fun is there in that? (Kate with good foresight would have warned herself that a little lame end-weaving periodically along the way will save her from a WHOLE lot of tedium at the end, when she just wants that blanket to be done, for crying out loud.)

And THIS is me realizing how far yet I have to go if I want it to be the same size as this other blanket.

Taking a step back and giving myself perspective like this usually leads to my temporarily losing interest in a project. (And never-ending projects like the Nana Blanket usually lead to nostalgia re: previous projects such as the Nanny McPhee. Silly Kate. So wishy washy.)

Here's Trev watching some sort of fishing program while surrounded by my yarn and such. He doesn't get how I can have so many projects on the go, but he doesn't need to.

Here's where I left off on the Nanny McPhee sometime back in March of this year. I'll pick it up again. I know I will. But I've got SOOoooo many things to try before I cycle back to being interested in granny squares again.

I love all the colours in this post!

The cat's stocking was hung by the chimney, but I can't say as she cared

2009-12-09T20:22:00.010-06:00

Christmas is but a few weeks away, which means my blanket for Nana (started back in the summer) is approaching its deadline! I have two balls of yarn yet to go - sounds like a lot, but it eats a lot and two balls only gains me about 5 inches of width or so. By the time I'm done that, it should be roughly square and ready for Nana's lap!

I'm so thrilled to give this blanket to her - and I'm secretly thrilled to be done with it! I haven't really done any other crochet since I started this one, and I'm ITCHING to start a new project.

What's that? Maybe I should try to make some progress on some of the projects I've already got going, you say? Meh, maybe you're right. I think half the fun of all of this crochet business is the dreaming, looking at patterns and starting something new. I'm sure finishing a project is a wonderful feeling too, but I wouldn't know, as I haven't made it to that point yet. I haven't been crocheting for a year yet, so maybe by the end of year one I'll have completed SOMEthing!... maybe...

Behold, my progress on 'The Nana Blanket', as it has come to be known. Okay, this was its progress as of a few weeks ago. I've luckily made more, as of yet unphotographed progress since this time, but it's hard to get a proper photo without a cat in the way.

Note to self - next time you start a project, get a feel for how yarn-and-time-consuming it might be.

On the bright side, though, this will be a wonderfully heavy, dense, and WARM blanket for my Nana. I'm super excited. She's loved it every time I've gone to see her (I always bring it with me, show it to her and demonstrate the stitches, and then make some progress as she naps).

Above is a scarf that I started back in May. It's a Catherine Wheel pattern, with two slightly different yarns - one is purple and blue with a bit of green, and one is green and blue with a bit of yellow-green. Both are gorgeous, in my opinion. I bought these yarns on a trip to Minneapolis (my first time ever in a specialty yarn shop!), and got started on the ride home thanks to a pattern I found on my iPod touch online at the hotel, and then wrote by hand onto a hotel note pad so I could reference it while crocheting on the drive home. I imagine it will look quite nice once I've finished, whenever that may be...

And here's our happy home this Christmas season. I hung the stockings by the chimney with care on the weekend. Trev was surprised to see three. Duh Trev, one's for the cat!

Now, off I go to do some searious Nana Blanket crochet. Double duty - work on the blanket AND keep my hands too busy to eat Christmas treats!

It begins...

2009-07-22T21:06:00.002-05:00

Here I am tracing the pattern for the sampler from The New Crewel by Katherine Shaughnessy. I decided to give myself a project in which to try out various stitches, rather than to do a random few stitches here and there.

I'm just embroidering it onto a cotton piece that I bought at Michael's. I much prefer it to the evenweave I also bought there.

My coffee break fascination today: Flickr photos of gorgeous quilts.

Note to self: stop sleeping in. Get up. Run. And get out the door (to the BUS) early.

I'm developing all kinds of habits. Sleepy, lazy, downtown-parky habits.

I think I could easily hoard buttons if you let me...

2009-07-21T19:54:00.012-05:00

Busy couple of days. Filled with family gatherings, good friends visiting town, work, you name it.

On Sunday we were at a family gathering at Trev's Oma & Opa's place, and in preparation of my being there, his Oma set out all kinds of pieces of embroidery and crochet that she had done over the years so that she could show me. I was quite touched!

Above is a photograph of some stitching that Oma did when she was in grade 1 or 2!!! She said she received a tea set as a gift, and with it came this little square cloth with a pattern stamped on it, and you were to embroider it yourself. I thought that was pretty neat. And, as lame-o as it sounds, I have to say it - they don't make toys like they used to!

And let me introduce you to a beautiful piece of her embroidery cutwork. Each corner of this cloth had this same gorgeous design. I oggled it for some time. Though it's not necessarily my style, I do appreciate the work that went into it (and how gorgeous the results are!).

Here's another shot so you can get a better idea of it.

Well, I do believe I've set myself up with a pretty tough act to follow... On Sunday I went out and stocked myself up with various and assorted embroidery goods:

So I decided to be diligent from the get-go and wind all my pretty colours onto labeled bobbins right away. SOOooo to make a long story short, I got little to no stitching done on my first day in possession of the wherewithal to do so.

But behold! Virgin stitches! Right now I'm doing the "stab method", which is what the books all refer to - but the online tutorials I've watched have been with the "sewing method", so it takes some brainwork to transfer one to another when I'm watching it played out in front of me.

My fabric isn't wrinkled in this picture. Merely sun-dappled.

I've hardly had time to practice. It's turning out to be a busy summer.

An eventual (lofty) goal? My own variation of the Martha Stewart quilt pictured here: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/bird-embroidered-quilt

It's hard to make out in this photo (at least on this computer monitor it is), but it consists of square patches with a different bird (in an old-fashiony outline pattern) in each square. I think it's sweet, and I LOVE birds.

(Though between now and there, there will be a lot of practice, stabbed fingers, a multitude of smaller, "finish-able" projects... and oh yeah, learning how to quilt!)

I've been searching for embroidery images of freshwater fish (the kind we have around here: muskie, pike, walleye, perch, small and large mouth bass) because I'd like to surprise my mom with some embroidered items for the island (where they've got a STRONG fish theme going).

Before I got onto this whole embroidery kick, I thought it'd be neat to get them a set of towels for each of the guest rooms at the island and embroider each set with the name of that room. Now, we're talking terrycloth towels here so, though I still think I'm going to follow through with this plan, I certainly am not going to tackle this myself. I'll embroider tea towels to hang in the kitchen, if I'm going to try my hand at anything for that cottage.

Alright. Off I go. My goal is to get to bed early tonight and give my pre-work run another try tomorrow morning. (I got only one mile in today before I had to stop because of this stupid stomach cramp - WHICH stayed with me the entire day, I might add. Boo-urns. Will do it again tomorrow, hopefully sans crampage this time around.)

And if you're wondering what today's subject has to do with today's post - the answer is nothing.

Caber toss, yes. Embroidery? Not so much

2009-07-18T20:54:00.008-05:00

So I still have not purchased embroidery supplies. I was thisclose to getting some this afternoon, but I wasn't happy with the selection/supplies at that particular store, so I will try again tomorrow.

Yesterday we threw a jack & jill wedding shower for my sister-in-law. Her fiance was born in Scotland, so we decided to call it a "lad & lass shower" and do it in his honour.

Highlight of the night: the highland games!

Above is yours truly doing the caber toss. The guys actually threw a section of a hydro pole (some of the girls, including myself, gave it a try as well, though with limited success in getting it to land at 12 o'clock, or anywhere near it).

I can't look at that picture without laughing at the look on my face.

Redirect...

I want/need to learn how to sew. I need to pace myself with all these crafts I want to learn. But it would be so satisfying to learn how to sew. I could make myself girly pajama pants that fit! Anything cute that I see in stores is flapping WELL above my ankles when I put them on... I can't imagine what it'd be like to have a comfy pair of long-enough pj pants to wear around the house...

Further to my list of things I'd like to accomplish...

play a game of tennis (my patient husband and I will sometimes go and hit balls back and forth at one another, but I can't serve and have only held a raquet a handful of times)
run a marathon
run a 10k race
learn to bake with yeast
visit Ireland
hang my own artwork in my house (photograph, painting, drawing, etc. - I have yet to deem anything I've ever done as being worthy of being put on the wall as a piece of art...)
I'd love to go back to Quebec and use my French
own a dog and train it well
buy a house (should be doing that in the next year - it's scary!)
have a vegetable garden
take up cross country skiing for the first time since my childhood

I have a notebook somewhere in which I've written down these and more. In life, my inspiration often outweighs my motivation. What's the cure for that?

And speaking of cures - what's the cure for a Peanut M&M addiction? It's been plaguing me for nearly a year.

And speaking of year - I still have wedding thank you cards to hand out and I HATE that. I was SO good with all of my wedding shower thank you cards. I am a terrible, TERRIBLE bride. Those guests must think I'm so rude.

And the thing is - I think they're all written out. It's just the addressing and mailing away that's taken so flipping long for me to get too. (See there's that bit about lacking motivation again...)

Ah well.

Here are some random pictures from my camera so far this month (a terrible sentence, I apologize!)

This is the entire embroidered picture that my mother-in-law did waaaay back when. Not as old as her mother's embroidery that she also showed me, but still interesting to me, nonetheless. Those are some 70s/80s colour choices!

Sitting around the bonfire after the Lad & Lass Shower. Can't beat a good fire.

$1.00 gets me 80 buttons at the dollar store near my work. I'm seeing crafty possibilities in these...

Stitchy Things

2009-07-16T17:48:00.005-05:00

This week I was at my in-laws' place, and while the boys were playing guitar in the next room, I shared with my mother-in-law my decision to try my hand at embroidery. She lead me into the spare bedroom and got out a whole stash of her own mother's embroidery from back in the 1950s! It was so awesome to see. There they were, all the stitches I've been looking at on all the websites and in all the books I've been getting out of the library. And they were perfect. Every stitch.

Then she went downstairs and brought up some framed pieces of embroidery from the storage room in the basement. She had a floral scene that she'd done, and a scene with peacocks that her mother had done. I took a million and one pictures. It was too cool.

My own mother learned to embroider back in high school and said she got a lot of enjoyment out of it. Like Trev's mom and grandmother, my mom no longer embroiders (these things go in and out of fashion - or time goes in and out of availability). But how neat is it to find three women in my family who've all done this same craft that I am so excited about learning?

Above is my mother-in-law's stitchwork. Very 70s! It's all on an olive-y green background.

A close-up of Oma's stitching. This was done back in the 1950s or 60s. She and Opa raised their family on a dairy farm, and this was stitched onto the fabric that had originally been the flour bag. Imagine - a big huge bag of flour, the bag converted into a decorative item for the home. Nowadays, turning something like a bag into something else (or more often, something else into a bag) is fashionable. Back then one was just being resourceful - it's what was done. A generalization, yes, but let me have it. I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy.

On Saturday I will be purchasing some embroidery things. Tonight I'm going to work like mad on Nana's crocheted blanket so I don't feel so guilty about starting a new craft/project.

Off I go to rest my weary sand-blasted feet (we played beach vball tonight, and the sand was QUITE saturated from the previous days' rain - it was like a constant exfoliation for the feet with every move. They're probably baby-soft right now, but I wouldn't know because I'm wearing socks. In July. Because it's cold out there.)

Can I go to work with bed head?

2009-07-16T07:44:00.003-05:00

My husband, the traveling minstrel.

As I write this, I'm losing precious minutes to get out the door to work. I wish I were a morning person. I could get so much more accomplished if I got up earlier.

I wonder how one becomes a morning person...

Big Stitchy Dreams

2009-07-15T21:14:00.008-05:00

I've got ideas. Lots of 'em. I've got all KINDS of ideas for things I want to create. I've had to start a notebook to get it all down, lest some wonderful idea fall clear out of my head without my realizing it.

I need to make. To create. I need to do something with my hands that will create an end product. I used to do this all the time as a child, but drifted away from it once I started university and then entered the working world.

I had decided that 2009 was going to be the year of trying new things for me. One of those new things was taking up crochet. I have taught myself how to do it through various books and websites (I heart ravelry.com). I haven't actually completed any projects yet, but all the projects I've begun are big blankety things that take a lot of yarn and a lot of time.

Now I want to move on to embroidery. The potential for beautiful handmade objects has kept me up the last two nights just dreaming and reading and clicking and dropping ideas onto the pages of my notebook.

I swear to you that I'm not a crazy cat lady. Sure, things aren't looking up for me, as the first pictures posted here both today and yesterday have contained the cat. But in my defense this was a photo intended to show the texture of the basketweave blanket I'm working on, and she got in the way.

I shouldn't avoid taking the bus to work as much as I do. It really is quite a pretty (mile long!) walk to my bus stop... And I save money in gas & parking. And I get more exercise... But it means getting out of bed earlier and that makes Kate surly.

My co-worker had to haul out a typewriter at work today and go old-school. I couldn't resist giving it a try. I. Failed. Miserably.

Ultimate frisbee gives me shin splints.

I'd like to give running the half marathon another try. I think I give that some thought every year. And every year I find reasons to avoid training or those reasons find me. Sports and exercise keep me sane, though. I should just get off my butt and do it.

The list of things I'd like to accomplish is getting longer and longer.

learn embroidery/crewelwork
learn to sew
run half marathon & beat previous time (wouldn't take much...)
learn to quilt (nerd alert...)

It goes on. I've got a whole notebook dedicated to things I want to do in my lifetime too.

And if it weren't bedtime and raining, I'd lace up the shoes and get out there for a run right now.

But it's cold and wet out there. And my bed is calling to me.

Glasses-Removing Serious

2009-07-15T00:16:00.004-05:00

That was the tagline of my previous blog - the one that was such a welcome outlet of all kinds of absurdity in my life. I loved it. I miss it. I hope I can re-claim a little bit of that here.

I have been searching, without realizing it for the most part, for the past 6 months or so, for various and assorted creative outlets. I think it's because my job requires me to be so structured, so detail oriented and procedural - the creative side of my brain is reminding me that it's still there, even though it's gone long unused.

Infinite Minnow - installment 9

May this be the creative outlet I need (that which my cat can't quiiiite provide - see photo, above), both its writing, and as a venue to show my inspiration and resulting perspiration.

And hey, if my happy ponderings about this blog keep me from decking the gum-smacking, phone-talking person sitting behind me on the bus, then I've already come out ahead, haven't I?