Just a few photos to share

Okay so it has taken me a extra week to get organised but I now have a few minutes to sit down and type. I ended up back in California last week; I went to help my sister out with her munchkins who have been under the weather for a few weeks now

Spending a week in CA inthe winter is not so tough and the cute factor is big help. It seems as though everyone is on the mend now.

Going to Stitches West was a highlight; I didn't notice the no photos sign until I was on my way out...opps. Now, these pictures are definitely not a Gallery of Ghastlies but they are a few things that I saw and liked or laughed at, I'll let you decided what was what, okay there are only 2 that I liked




I think there is such thing as to many knit things at once on any one part of the body, if you were to spread them out I think the effect would be better than layering them on top of one another




I love these kits, I wish I had bought one... I know they exist online but I am not allowed to look right now as I have enough WIP's on the go.

There was so much great stuff and although I didn’t want to spend much money I did get a few things. The roving is amazing and the white wool is destined for some kool-aid. I’m lovin the Twisted Sisters book and Spinner Handbook has some good tips.

Here is the stuff I got on my last trip to California in January, I took the pics but never got around to posting them. The back Fiber Trends pattern is the one I am using for my wedding shawl... it's a WIP and there will be pics eventually

This is mostly yarn that I got from my sister but I did buy some of it at various SF wool shops

I finally have a some other blog topics in my head, lots to do not and not enough time. Feb. has been empty the UFO box month and I am making progress. More pics later

Insert snappy title here

Life has been busy, eat, sleep, knit with the cashgora Cate sent ( I am loving this shawl project) but there has not been much to blog about... until today. I came back to San Francisco yesterday to spend a week with my sister and the kidlets. This morning while looking up the Commuknity address we discovered that the Stitches West Show is this weekend. Do I really need to say anymore about it, STITCHES, ladies and gentlemen and I am going on Friday. I promise that I will fill you all in over the weekend and I think that I will have to leave my Visa at home since I said I was not coming here this time to shop...

I was hoping to have some pictures to post today but due to my disorganized world I don't have my camera with me and thus can't post them. They're new stash pictures from my trip to San Francisco, so just imagine lots of nice new wool on my bedroom floor instead. I also got treats in the mail today from Cate and there is a picture on her blog. She sent me 3 small skiens of wool that she spun so that I can knit a wedding shawl, I am supposed to pick the one I like best... it may be a toss up between the cashgora and the romedale. I will wait until I have tried knitting with them all before I decide for sure.

I have had a number of people offer to send hats and squares along (see previous posts) for some charity knitting projects that I have taken on - A million thanks to those who have offered and if anyone else out there has a little extra time to send something along it would be appreciated by many. Just leave me a comment or send me an email. I have told the young girl who wants to knit up the blanket for her teacher that I would help her put the squares together once we get enough. I think I have signed myself up for a large project but it is for a worthwhile cause!

I don't have top much knitting news as most of my free time has been spent doing wedding related stuff lately. I am coming along on branching out, and there are squares and hats that are in various stages of completion. P' sweater is stalled until further notice due to the million other things going on at the moment and as much as I would like to be spinning I just can't seem to find the time. I managed to get together with Tara and Jo on Sat. for some knitting and chatting time, it was great to see them.

I must be off my 1 hour of free parking is over (was 10 minutes ago) and I need to get home.

FYI - if you like Zoe Meller or are looking for some baby patterns Chapters is clearing out Double Knits for 4.99, I just thought I would share the good deal, it is not available online but there are copies in the stores.

I've been tagged

Instructions: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot.
one by one
Cj's Knitting Basket
wine and needles
kimberlinewyork
After Asia

Select 5 people to tag:
If you have time and need a blog topic, here you go - Michelle of Beknitted, Denise of Knitting without Needles, Susan of Susan Knits, Kristin of Med Student who Knits and Maureen at 5 and a Beagle and of course anyone else who wants to play, consider yourself tagged!

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Living in Moncton, New Brunswick as a participant in Katimavik, it was an interesting year of my life and I learned a lot about myself and Canadian culture.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

I was living in Taipei, counting the days until my Chinese New Year break so that I could go to the Philippines and lie on a beach.

List five creative things you want to achieve this year:
Knit my wedding shawl, finish P's sweater (my first), paint my kitchen/bedroom/any other walls that are ready to be painted, make necklaces with the pearls I got in Vietnam and try out quilting (on a small scale first!)

List five snacks you enjoy:
gluten free pretzels with French onion dip, artichoke and asaigo cheese dip/spread on anything, brownies (gluten free of course), Jelly Belly's and chocolate, any kind

List five things you would do if money were no object:
get a hot tub, hire 15 people to finish the house renos quickly, travel all summer, go back to school and visit my nieces & nephews as often as possible

List five bad habits:
not doing the dishes, saying yes to too many things, demanding perfection, (although I usually end up settling for almost and I am speaking my myself not others), procrastinating and leaving things half finished.

List five things you like doing:
knitting, sleeping, reading, cooking and traveling

List five favorite gadgets:
MP3 player, laptop, Denise needles, the snow shovel and cappucino makers

Name one thing you like about yourself:
I'm a compassionate person.

That's all there is, I have some pictures of the great stash I scored in San Francisco but I am out of time today, but I'll be back later this week

Yesterday continued

Okay so I ran our of time last night and then blogger was down, they said it would only be 30 minutes but I assure you it was longer than that! Anyway the second thing that I wanted to ask for your help with is also some charity knitting but of a much different sort.

There is a teacher here in Ottawa who amazes me, I first met her when I was student teacher and she taught one of the toughest spilt classes I have ever encountered. She was amazing and did amazing work with them, you could tell when you walked into her room that she cared about what she did. She is one of those teachers who gets what it means to love a child and works hard to make school a positive experience. Last year (while I was in Asia) she taught a number of her students to knit, she shared with them a piece of her world so that they may come to love the art as much as she does. I have not met any of the students that she taught but I understand that many of them took to it and happily knit up their first project.

Earlier this year this teacher was diagnosed with breast cancer and she had to stop teaching, she is very sick. One of the students who was in her class last year decided that it would be nice to knit her up a blanket, if all her friends knit squares then she could put them together and make a blanket for her old teacher for Christmas. So the young student put out the call to friends and teachers for 8x8 squares before Christmas. Well Christmas came and went and the student received very few squares, but yet she has not given up and still really wants to be able to give her old teacher something that has been knit by people who care about her and hope that she heals as she begins chemo in the next few weeks.

So to help this student out I said I would put out the word, if you have time the square can be from any fiber you have available and can have any pattern of no pattern at all. I will also draw a name from all who send in a square for a prize of stitch markers and some yarn, (see details below)

I know this makes 2 knitting requests in 2 days but if you could find a moment to knit up a square or a hat and send it this way that would be amazing. I am off to Toronto in 13 minutes, for a big 24 hour trip, I am hoping to fit a Romni trip in, I'll fill you in on the details when I get back.

Another thing to do with spare time, cause I know everyone has so much...

Just kidding, I know that everyone is really busy but I promised a friend I would make a knitting request on her behalf, actually I have two. First, my friend Catherine has a very good friend who works in Lesotho, she does great stuff including twinning school there with schools here in order to help provide essential supplies to very needy kids

Catherine has taken on the task of knitting and collecting knit hats for adults and children to wear during the cold winters (not much snow there but the nights are cold). There are many reasons that they are working on hats, without going into them all here I will say that it is a great cause. The goal is to have 1000 hats to send by March 15th. So if you have a minute or twenty and some spare wool, please knit up a hat and send it to me so I can pass it on to Catherine. Personally I am using it as a chance to finish up some UFO's and some bits of stash yarn. I was going to try to make a bunch for the knitting Olympics (like one a day) but, I have decided for the sake of P's sanity and the dogs as well ( I would be fine of course, it would drive them crazy if I knit 24 hours a day but it would not bother me at all) that I will pass on the chance, like Cate, I think it is better for all of us this way.

If you can help out and knit some up or if you have some already knit up, like that one you knit for your kid that they hated or didn't fit right (that never happens right!) leave me a comment and I will send you my address. And to make it just a little more fun, everyone who sends me a hat will have a chance at a prize, 5 stitch markers with Chinese zodiacs and some yarn (that I have not yest picked out), I will draw randomly from among the participants cause this baby needs a hat!

Okay I am so late as blogger is being a little annoying, I will tell you about the other stuff later! Happy Wednesday

Home again

I am home in Ottawa, I got in on Thursday and all is well. We are in the midst of a major snow storm today but that's nothing new here. I must say that they weather in California was a pleasant change to say the very least. I could get used to not wearing a coat in the missle of January

My last few days in SF were great, my sister and I managed to get some more stash enhancement in. We hit a few more yarn stores and I got some amazing alpaca along with a few more patterns and a new bag book as well. However, I think the best yarn scores were to be found in my sister stash, which she generously shared as she feels that her 2 little people will keep her busy enough for awhile! I got a some beautiful yarn and once I fish it all out of my suitcase I will share a photo or 2.

Well that's about it for news in my world, Kimberli tagged me with meme but I don't have the time to answer it at the moment as I have to go and meet P in 20 minutes. There are also a billion other thoughts buzzing around in my head that are knitting related but those too will have to wait until later.

I know that I have been quiet this week but...

I have a new nephew and I must say that he is adorable! He is 9 days old today and I am in love

and here is again, on the lovely Snoopy blanket that the world's best Auntie made for him, (not that I am tooting my own horn or anything)

This is his lovely big sister, she is modeling my first completed spinning project. I bought the roving in Rhinebeck, spun it half on a spindle and half on my new wheel and then knit it into a hat on my way here last week. To bad she lives in California because the hat would be perfect for a winter in the Arctic

My progress on P's Christmas sweater is slow, I have almost finished the back. I am making it from White Buffalo and using a Lopi Bulky pattern, the specs will follow eventually. Yes that it is a lemon tree the knitting is on, you can tell I am still in California, there are no lemons growing in Ottawa at this time of year

My second attempt at lace, it's the Branching Out Scarf from Knitty and I am using some of the billion meters of yarn that I got at Rhinebeck. I am not having to much trouble and I must say that this lace stuff is growing on me, even if I am cheating a bit and using thicker yarn this time

This is my haul from Imagiknit here in San Fran, some royal blue roving and cotton/tencel from Classic Elite Yarns, it is so soft, I bought two skiens for a scarf

And a posed picture of the monkeys, they are so cute

especially when the big one tries to get the little one to cheer for a picture.

Today I went to NoeKnits as well and got a great knitting calendar with patterns for each day, there are some really useless ones but some that I really like as well, I figure it was a good deal for the 10 bucks it cost.

I should be...

As the queen of procrastination I have an image to uphold, today I am doing an excellent job, as I type I should be;

- doing the dishes.
- making muffins with the almost dead bananas.
- packing for my trip to San Francisco tomorrow.
- shovelling the walk.
- sewing the back on the finished felted baby blanket that I decided need a flannel back at the last minute ( pics later).
- clipping the dog's nails.
- taking down the Christmas tree and putting away all the decorations.

I have gotten nothing accomplished from the above list but before I sleep tonight most of those things need to be accomplished, especially the packing one! But I have had a busy morning, I plyed and washed my first skein of yarn spun from my new wheel. I moved all my crap from one wallet into another and then stroked my drying yarn a little. I organized my knitting for the trip and made sure there were no scissors in my bag and I made sure that my computer was charged so I can watch DVD's on the plane if needed. I caught up on some blog reading that I have been meaning to do for ages and perhaps most importantly I sat by the phone waiting for word of my newest family member whose arrival into the world is imminent - still no word from the sunny western USA but I have my fingers crossed that all is well and I will hear something soon. Personally I think he should of waited for me to arrive there tomorrow night before he joins us but I guess I don't get a vote.

Ok I am off to get something done, well something fromthe list that is!

Happy New Year

Hmm I sat down to post and now I am drawing a bit of a blank on what it was that I wanted to write about! Oh well I guess I will come back to this later.

I do know that I wanted to ask for a small favour. I am heading to San Francisco on Friday and I was wondering if anyone could tell me the name of Nathania Apple's ( i think that's her name) store/blog in San Jose. I used to read her blog but then my bloglines list got erased and I am not sure what it was called.

I'll will be back later with some New Year's thoughts when I am a little more grounded and not rushing out the door, that is if I can pry myself away from the spinning wheel.

christmas, a quick review

First we dined, I cooked for hours and it was so worth it, I must say I did a fine job and the gluten free perogies were amazing! Take note of the lovely paneling and tiled ceiling that are on there way out of our house forever, soone, it will happen soon!

Then we got presents! This was my first gift, well actually it was my second but I did not take a picture of the first one as it is not really relevent to my knitting, I am sure you are wondering how a can of varnish is relevant... well the 2nd present was

a box spindles. Can you guess what was in the 3rd box, yes my friends a wheel. I must say I am the luckiest knitter/new spinner around. When I get it together I will post a picture, the contents in side the large box did not make for a very good photo

Finally as promised treats from my SP, Kelly. She sent me a soft sock kit, some fleece artist roving, a signed copy of the bookbookbook II, some great note cards, my favourite hand slime from Burt's bee's ( she is a mind reader as well because I never even mentioned that), candy canes and a funny knitter's Christmas card, Thanks again for being a great SP!

Babbling as usual

I have been meaning to sit down and blog all week, but time has slipped away and now here I am typing madly because I have a list a mile long of things to do today. Firstly I need to thanks the amazing Marmalade for being an great Secret Pal, I just got the most amazing box of treats yesterday (it will get it's own post after Christmas). Until then here are some other photos I have been meaning to post for the last week or so, after tonight (cooking dinner for 9, gluten free Ukrainian Christmas Eve) I will sit down and babble about my treats from Toronto and my trip there last weekend. I hope that everyone out there has/will have/has had a wondeful celebration, whichever celebration it is that you celebrate, (I will not list them all because I am sure that I would miss one)



I have been knitting like a fiend and there is no way that everything will be finished, I have just accepted that on many levels. As a result have wrapped it (p's gift) with the needles attached. I did manage to finish this scarf though. It is knit with some "oddly" spun cotton that I got at Rhinbeck for super cheap, it was a little frustrating to knit with but it was a quick knit and another gift is finished. The baby blanket has 5 more rows and then into the washer. My next hanful of projects will keep me busy until June, no problem there. I think that I need at least one full day a week to devote to knitting full time - I wish someone would pay me for that.


For your enjoyment, the girls... Chudder is so big that she now stands over Tai with no problem, as you can see here. It would of been a good shot if it had not been for the snowflake on the lens

She is getting to big for Tai's bed

They really do leap and fly when they are playing, they have decided that the snow is not so bad after all

I posed this one

Random thoughts

Firstly thanks so much for all your heartfelt congratulations, P and I really appreciate it. We are both excited and amazed at the offers of help that are pouring in from our friends. I wish you all lived around the corner so we could celebrate together, distance can be a downfall to the internet.

- Did you know that hot water from the tap is a great luxury, hot drinkable water is even better. I was just making myself a hot apple cider and there was not enough water inthe kettle so I wandered over to the tap and filled the remainder of my cup with hot tap water. Some of you may kow that when I lived in Taipei not only was there no hot water in my kitchen but you could not drink the tap water without boiling it first. Who ever knew that I would be thankful for tap water.

- The kitchen renovation is finally coming to a close, there is still lots of work left to do but we almost have a complete set of cabinets and places to put all the stuff that has been living on the dining room table for a month. The floor still needs to be put in and the walls painted but that will happen after the holidays.

- I had a lovely brunch on the weekend with Jo and Tara, we knit (of course) gabbed about the wedding and our current spinning projects. It is so nice to have met such great people here who love the same things I do. Knit, spin, eat, blog...

- I am heading to Toronto this weekend to play with a few friends who I haven't seen since I returned from Asia - it will be a short but throughly enjoyable visit. Sadly I don't think there will be any time from any stash building, oh well next time. (maybe a quick trip to Romni)

I must get moving this morning, I am off to make some sense of a space that we call the living room so that we can have people over for Christmas Eve.

Here is proof my newest obession - spinning, I am still working on making the fiber twist evenly! If you look carefully you can see what I was given on Friday

In case you had trouble seeing it clearly, here's another shot. Yes, that would be an engagment ring, P and I are making it official (after all these years of chasing one another), we are getting married June 9th. I am still in that supper excited not yet stressed stage, can't you tell ;)

Well, life could be a little more interesting

Well I could tell you all sorts of wonderful things about snow, puppies in the snow and lovely rural life BUT the reality of the situation is that the puppy hates the cold and is not to keen on the snow ( she refuses to go and has taken to running away so she can pee on the new carpet every time we try to get her out the front door). Tai is indifferent to the weather and I am hoping that she adjusts the snow without to much trauma. As a result of the lovely winter weather that we had this weekend I spent 2 hours getting into the city this morning after I spent 2o minutes chipping ice off my car. I was late for a supply teaching gig at a new school ( not such a good first impression) and the parked in the wrong lot and got a ticket. It was not such a good morning.

Happier things than winter storms and the frustrations that they cause are...
- treats in the mail from Lanie last week - she sent some great envelopes and a cute note and I am horrible for not thanking her earlier. Thank You
- spinning up the roving that I got at Rhineback.
- being on the last ball of wool for the felted baby blanket.
- getting my SP packages into the mail with the completed annoying lacy scarf included
- asking for a spinning wheel for Christmas and having P look into finding one, plus he dug out his camera so I can play with some black and whites here on the farm in my copious amount of free time. I did have an abundaunt amount of free time but it seems to be getting eatin up and I am not sure where it's going.
- Getting all my Xmas shopping finished, wrapped and in the mail + I only have some baking left = happy J.
- seeing RENT with an old friend and enjoying it even if it did get lousy reviews. No I have not seen HP 4 yet, no I can't believe it either, maybe this weekend.
- being able to babble on the internet about things that may or may not be relevant to the world at large and having it listen to me



And on a more exciting note, my youngest niece is 2 today, she enjoys waving to adoring fans, elmo and throwing cake but not eating it - ain't she sweet

So much to do, so little time

I am sure that I am not the first person in blogland to feel like I have nothing to write about. Life is just moving along and there is nothing to exciting to tell you all about. I've been knitting (I can't discuss it... gifts), supply teaching a bit, and generally keeping myself occupied with a variety of things that fill my days but hardly seem telling the world about.

I realized this week that I miss the excitement of living in another country. I saw some job ads for Bermuda and it started me thinking. I am not going to go anywhere but I do miss the adventure, I miss the traveling to new and exotic locations. Ottawa is good but flying to a warm and sandy beach this winter is hardly as easy as it was last winter. Oh well, I will enjoy the coming cold, I missed the snow last year, I think that I will only be interested in it for a few weeks though and then the novelty will have worn off.

I must be off, I have been taking care of a friends munchkins for the last few days and they need to be picked up from school. Oh yeah the new puppy's name is Chudder - it's a long story - she is getting bigger by the day and is already able to leap over Tai without any effort at all.

Birthday Wishes

The beautiful young lady in this photo is my niece and today she is 9. I can hardly believe it myself, but it's true, she is growing up. She smart, talented and great at making me laugh. She lights up a room with her smile and excellent personality. She is an amazing older sister, a great cousin and I think the best niece an aunt could ever have. T, I hope you have a wonderful birthday, I wish I was there. Happy Birthday bella.

For your viewing pleasure, pictures of my babies



looking a little worried

This is there favourite game, one of them tries to get on the bed while the Queen of the castle tries to keep her off

This is the Lion King, she was not so happy when the babe figured out how to get onto the bed

A picture hardly does this justice, it was amazing.

My recent round of treats, lucky me! The sock yarn and book are from my great Secret Pal and roving and spindle are from Sara. I am excited to begin spinnning and I will knit some socks if it is the last thing that I do

Tai thought it might be fun to dress up for halloween, but with her costume on she would not sit still long enough for a decent photo

So we took it off and had a play in the leaves instead

Feelin better

Thanks for all of your support last week. I am feling a little more positive about the job search now, it was just one of those days. As promised the current knitting. The scarf is for my Secret Pal and is in Silk andBamboo from Alchemy and the blanket is for a wee girl who arrived on Tuesday, I guess I better get it finished. See you later with a Halloween photo or 2 after I type some more cover letters.

No one will hire me

Please excuse the regularly scheduled post about my current knitting projects, I need to throw a small pity party for myself.

Sung to the tune of " Nobody Likes Me"

No one will hire me,
So no one can fire me,
How am I gonna pay my bills, big ones, small ones, late ones, early ones - loans comin outta my ears.

Nobody wants me,
Nobody needs me,
I'm gonna keep on typin, resumes, letters, references, emails - I hate all these things.

Nobody like me
Everybody hates me
I'm gonna go drink Lattes.

- an original song written by a tired and frustrated unemployed teacher known in blogland as J.

I am know off to drown my sorrows in a Maple Latte and will be back later with a knitting photo, (I have a lot of free time on my hands) and hopefully feeling a little less sorry for myself.

Mmmm Maple

Okay so everyone is talking about Rhinebeck, I need to tell you about the Maple Latte from Starbucks. I had one today and I am addicted, they have a lovely maple flavour and come with whip cream and maple syrup on top, someone else has been going on and on about Pumpkin Spice Lattes but I think that these are better, sorry to those of you who can't try one, I think they are only available in Canada... they better stick around, they rate up there with Eggnog Lattes and I am so sad that you can only get those at Christmas.

So as if you all haven't read enough about the weekend in NY, here's another post. I had a fabulous time. We went with a car full of virtual strangers but there was no problem getting to know one another - amazing what happens when you are stuck in a car together for 9 hours. I think that fun was had by all and I must say that P was an amazing sport about the whole event. Here are some photos from the festival, when I charge my camera batteries there will be pics of my new stash, I did not buy to much but I stroked a lot and am dreaming of things to buy later when I have job.


Sheep... I think I need some myself

Can you spot the bloggers

Tara ( who has a great synopsis of our trip and links to many of the people we met up with), Me Christine and someone whose name escapes me at the moment

She was not to happy that we (3 of us all at once) took this, would you believe me if I told you that the bags belonged to someone else... No, I didn't think so

Spinning lessons, I watched so that when my spindle (cause she is sweet enough to send me one) arrives in the mail I'll be able to use it

not suprising there are more sheep pictures... we also saw

some of these... I'll reserve my comments

oh look here are some more, they're everywhere.

It was amazing, the friends I finally got to meet in person, the eats, the fiber, it was all just great. Many of the folks mentioned here have great details on their blogs - I am in a bit of a hurry today, sorry if I left people out, well not if I know that I did!

I want to be a part of it

New York, New York. We are off to Rhinebeck tomorrow. Who is "we" you may ask, well there is me, Patrick, Jo and her daughter, and last but not least Tara. It may be 6 hours in the car but I am sure it will be worth it.
If you are going to be there and we haven't exchanged numbers yet email me. Otherwise I will see you on Monday with pictures of the crew and their kidlets and a larger stash, I hope there is enough trunk space.
I hope everyone has a great weekend, happy knitting.

Content

Autumn mornings

are beautiful and my camera hardly does them justice. But it will have to do for today. I am spending this sunny Wednesday morning catching up on my blog reading ( there has not been to much of it lately), chasing Tai as she is up to no good at every chance she gets and enjoying some leftovers from dinner last night. It is nice to be able to cook again in a full sized oven with ingredenets that are easy to purchase and don't cost half a days pay. On Monday I made some great roasted veggie pizza and yesterday I made Starvin Guy Chicken Pie, it's a recipe from Looneyspoons and it is one of my favorites. I have to make a number of modifications to make it gluten free but it still tastes amazing.

The rest of my day is not as exciting as as my last 2 hours, I am off to do a little cleaning up, delivering of resumes to schools (so I can get some subbing work) and a trip to the cell phone store to nicely tell them that they are a bunch on twits (I will try to maintain my composure but sometimes that can be a challenge when dealing with someone who keeps tell you that you must be mistaken your phone works just fine). Then I get to go to Physio and exercise my grouchy thumb. I think that my morning of sunrises, yummy food and blog reading will keep me sane in the midst of a crazy day.

annoyed

I just 45 minutes of the time I had on the internet fighting with the stupid wireless network, now I have to go in 10 minutes and sadly don't really have time for any real news. Life is good, knitting is happening and Rhineback is in 12 days! I'll be back later in the week

A country girl at heart

I was born and raised on the westcoast of Canada, Victoria is a small city but it is a city none the less. It was never very big or exciting but it was not the country. When I was about 11 I had my first real farm experience when we drove to a family reunion in Saskatchewan. My great uncle still lived on the farm that he and my Nana had been raised on. It was a "real farm" with huge wheat fields, chickens and remnants of the old buildings that my great grandfather had built in the early 1900's. I was in love, I thought that maybe I could used to country life. There was something about the quiet, the peacefulness and the remoteness of the country life that was attractive to a little city girl.

So why the heck am I reminiscing about my childhood dreams of farm life... well fast forward 17 years or so and let me tell you about my my great weekend on the "farm". A friend of mine has a farm outside of the city and last weekend I got hear wolves calling in to each other in the wee hours of morning, saw deer grazing in the field outside the window and mowed the biggest lawn I have ever seen. I know that mowing the lawn is a chore that most people despise but when you get mow a lawn big enough that you do it on a ride-on-lawn-mower it completely changes the experience. Here is little old me, barely tall enough to reach the gas pedal on the mower, burning around on the yard having the time of my life. I was marveling at nature, the great weather and the joy of being in a space so large that if I hollered no one would hear me. I remembered as I was mowing that when I was little I thought country life would be great. It is great and after being in cities with millions of people the space of a farm is even more exciting

In retrospect I wish I had a taken a photo of me on that little red lawn mower so I could share it with you... maybe next time.

Not much to share on the knitting front, just pluggin along but Rhineback is in 15 days ( not that I am counting or anything)

secret pal 6

I have been meaning to get to this, things have been busy.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high- a nd/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? I like just about anything but do tend to buy cotton based fibers unless I am planning on felting it. I have found some amzing stuff in my travels and am really fond of fibers I can't usually afford!
2. Do you spin? Crochet? Nope
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) I am not a huge fan of perfume and am allergic to smoke
4. How long have you been knitting?I I relearned about 3 years ago
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No, sorry
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Vanilla
7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Yes, I love chocolate especially mint chocolate
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I scrapbook, cross stich a little and like beading
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like lots of different things, Indigo Girls, Spirit of the West, Jann Arden, most canadian groups in general.
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? I am big fan of red and puple but not usually together, I also enjoy blues, especially indigo
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I have a dog named Tai who I brought back with me from Taipei
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) To see the world, I am on my way but there is still a long way to go.
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? Anything soft, the softer the better
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I don't know, anything that feels like plastic
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Quick projects that are portable so I can knit while I communte into the city.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Anything I can felt.
17. What are you knitting right now? A baby blanket and soon to be started a scarf and little socks
18. What do you think about ponchos? I wore them when I was a kid, I am not sure if I want to wear one again
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circular
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? plastic or bamboo - the dog enjoys the bamboo ones though.
21. Are you a sock knitter? I would like to be
22. How did you learn to knit? My grandmother as a chid and then my sister and mom for a refresher course.
23. How old is your oldest UFO? 2 years, a blanket that I started for niece and never finished all the squares for.
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? monkey's and pandas
25. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
26. Is there anything that you collect? No not really, but I do like magnets
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? None
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on? hmmm sadly I have not had to much time to look lately, I am sure there are but I could not tell you what they are off the top pf my head.
29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another? Anything and everything Harry Potter
30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like? I like all socks, I have those average size feet, 8

Busy

Busy week here in my world... but it's all good stuff. I am going to SnB here in Ottawa tonight and I must say that I am looking forward to it. Having people to knit with is always good and it means that I will get some rows done on something that I am working on. I will let you know how it goes. Filling you in on the rest of week would probably bore you to tears so I won't bother. The only exciting thing I did was book rooms so that when we make it to Rhineback we will have somewhere to rest our heads. I am off to deal with some piles of stuff that I still have not unpacked from Taipei, I am the queen of procrastination.

I know that I still have to post the SP6 questionnaire, I promise today or tomorrow.

guess what

Here are the photos I have been promising. My last box of stuff arrived from Taipei yesterday, inside was Tai's favorite hippo. She carried it around all evening and then settled on her bed with it. It was very cute

Current knitting, a baby blanket, yes another one event hough I said was never doing it again. This one is in Lopi and I am going to felt it. It has moss stitch edges and I think when I finally get it down it will felt well. The pattern that I am using said to use Noro... I decided against using my precious Noro for a baby blanket

The next 2 projects that I was hoping to have on the needles by now... an eyelet scarf in purple bamboo from Alchemy for my secret pal and for me footlet slippers in Stampato Merino, it's so soft. I am looking forward to getting these going

Finally the treats from Kristin, yipee. A great bag that she made and some wool from one of her trips this summer. Thanks again Kristin.

SP6 - I will get my answers posted soon, I promise.
after some planning and juggling I'm planning on coming to Rhineback, yipee!

Happiness is...

I stole this post idea from Kristin - who sent me an amazing package of treats that I have still not posted a photo of, sorry - I think it is a great way to post a little reflection on being home.

- Waking up to birds, crickets and morning dew on the grass in the backyard instead of the screeching of horns and the sound of people yelling at each other.
- Long leisurely walks in grassy fields with Tai off her leash ( until the hawks started hunting that is, then she was attached to the leash) and not having to worry about anything running her over.
- Gluten free bread from the grocery store, saves time and tastes better than mine does.
- Becoming settled in my life back in Canada and seeing friends I have not seen 18 months or longer.
- Unpacking and finding clothes in boxes that I forgot I had, it's like Christmas.
- Putting out the word that I am looking for local knitters and finding out that there are some out there, even ones with blogs!
- Public bathrooms that are clean, have soap, hot water and paper towels - in Asia it is always hit and miss, you might get one or two of the 4 elements but never all of them in the same place.
- Being able to stop and ask the first person I see for directions - instead of trying to find someone who might speak English and know what it is that I am talking about.
- Busses that have seats available when you get on.
- Chips and dip, when I want them in normal flavors like plain, instead of seafood, cucumber, lobster or American (which were sweet and salty)
- Freshly picked fall apples, and the thought of Thanksgiving and Halloween just around the corner.
- Cool mornings, warm days and cool evenings, knowing that snow is just around the corner.
- Food that I can eat in restaurants.
- Not having to calculate the time difference every time I want to phone someone.
- Only having to think in one currency.

As you can see I have renamed my blog as well, because the adventure is over but so is the withdrawal. It's "After Asia" in so many ways, my time abroad changed the way that I look at the world and the way that I see things. Sometimes I feel as though I lived a whole life in the time that I was gone. I do miss Asia, sometimes a lot, I miss the excitement and the adventure of all the new things I saw. Yet I'm happy I decided to come home. Great things happen when you least expect them and my Asian adventure was not something I ever expected to occur and then it was fantastic ... there is something to be said for living in the moment and making the most of it.

Shhhh don't tell on me but I have been knitting - details later this week with the photo of my treats from Kristin.

The real world

I am heading back into the real world today.... the day after Labor day is the 1st day of school here in Ontario. Mothers are jumping for joy and teachers are drinking lots of coffee to make it through day one. I am sitting at home. I have mixed feelings about my lack of work but hopefully something will come and if not I will get lots of sub work.

I had a great weekend at the cottage and even managed to get in a swim on Sunday. The lake was not as cold as I thought it would be and after throwing someone else off the dock and running for my life I decided to get my suit and head in myself. It was great to be swimming in September in a lake in the Quebec mountains, going to the cottage is something I could get used to.

I hope the mothers out there are enjoying the first day of school and if any teachers need a coffee delivery let me know.

BTW - if anyone reads any Ottawa knitting blogs let me know, I have looked a little and haven't really found any but I know that there are some out there somewhere. I'm looking for some local knitters...

Thanks

Just a quick note, I am off to the cottage for the long weekend. I just wanted to say thanks to Kristin, she sent me some wool from Maine and bag. I will post a photo when I am back next week. Happy Labor Day - if your a Canadian that is.

No thank you

Well I appreciate that the physio thinks that knitting is not the best thing for my hand at this point but it is feeling so much better. I think that doing a little here and there really isn't so bad. She is not a knitter and I knit continental, it's my left hand that does all the work not my right one and I think that working on hat/scarf/blanket/bag (pick your project) really is not so bad.... shhh if you don't tell her I won't.

My hand really is much better than it was a few weeks ago, the exercises have helped a great deal. Today I am looking forward to an exciting morning of dropping onto schools to get on there supply lists so that I can hopefully have some income in my life once again. I got an email from a friend at the school in Taipei and it made me wonder what would be different if I stayed another year. I don't regret my decision to come home, but I do wonder how life would be if I was still there.

Oh my look at the time, I have to go...

Trauma..

I had Tai spayed last week and I am not sure who it has been harder on, me or her. She is now recovering nicely and will have her stitches out on the weekend but I found the whole event to be traumatic. She developed a small infection and had to go back to the vet this week but the antibiotics have made a huge difference.

In other news I am still struggling with my sore hand, it's a long story but to make it short I hurt it goofing around with the dog in the spring. It has hurt on and off all summer and I am finally going to physio for it.... the physio told me I can't knit. I know it's a tradgedy, I am not fully listening to her but am restricting myself to a hat on the mornings that I am commuting into town on the bus. Hopefully the physio will help and I will have some more projects on the go soon.

The dog is desperate to go out so I'll have to stop there for now, I'll fill you on my Asian withdrawal symptoms another time

A picture

See, on occasion I do get something finished. This is the blanket that I started so long ago that it's intended got to big, no problem though as everyone seems to be having little people at the moment. The pattern is from the Knit Knack kit that I got from my great pal in SP4. I knit it with Bo from Button d'Or in indigo and some shade of pink that I can't remember the name of. It was a long project and I think that knitting blankets should be saved for very special friends because otherwise I might go crazy from the boredom.

I must be off, my 6:30 wake up is going to have to be pushed back because the toddlers have decided that wake up should be at 7. As a result my morning quiet (blog reading and writing time) has been cut short by 2 little people... and that is all I have to say about that.

Finally

I’m back! I have the laptop up and running and connected (even if it is dial up). Life is good, I am slowly seeing all my friends and catching up on all that has happened in my absence. It’s strange being home, I find myself looking around with new eyes. I see Canada as a much different place than I did when I left 18 months ago.

I was on the bus the other day and a family got on, I was getting off soon so I got up to give them my seat. The father thanked me and the young girl smiled up at me. The young girl was beautiful and caught my attention because she was carrying a paper flag and wearing flag pinas well. I wondered were she would Canadian flags at this time of summer. I watched from a distance as she spoke to her mother in arabic, I was curious to see what she was so excited about. Her mother took a pile of papers from her purse and handed them the girl. The girl carefully took them from her mother and held up her new Canadian resident card to show to her family, then she held up a copy of the oath that new Canadians say. She was so happy, I assume that they had just come from a citizenship ceremony. I found myself excited for that young girl as I watched her examine that pile of documents that makes Canada her home forever. She was glowing and I felt so privilege to witness her joy.

I got off the bus and left the family behind and I was walked to my friends house I thought about all that we have here. Not just what I have as person but what we have as a country, as a nation and how imbalanced the world is. We have so much and others have so little. I don’t think for a moment that our way is any better than that of another nation but that imbalance of space and natural resources makes us so more privileged. I hope remember that next time I am frustrated with a crowded bus or long line in a bank.

I must get moving, I am still trying to sort and unpack my life. I am getting back stuff that has been in storage and my boxes have started arriving from Taipei. It’s strange to see things that have been packed for so long. I will be back with a FO later, I finally finished that baby blanket that I began so long ago. My poor hand protested the whole time - but there will be more on that later.

Re-entry

Well I am back in to the thick things here, it feels as though I never left. I am nannying for some friends this month in my "free time" and I must say it is great to be hanging out with the kids in all fun, no teaching environment. I missed a phone call today because I was busy having a water balloon fight with 5 great little people. I rediscovered that the driveway is a great place to chuck balloons at each other, because here we have driveways and yards and more space than I have seen in a long, long, time. In the midst of all this I am trying to get my life as a substitute teacher back on track - translation I have a million pieces of paper to fill out and lots of errands to run.

I got some great treats in the mail the other day, Lisa (I am not sure where her blog is - sorry) sent me an amazing care package with divine chocolates, bamboo wool and a great scarf pattern. Sorry no photo as the stuff is at home and I am at a friends. Thanks for all the comments lately, sorry I have not had chance to write back. Sadly I do not have very reliable internet access at home at the moment and so my ability to write limited to when I am at other people houses. But, I'm working on it and should have a system up and running soon. I can't wait to log into bloglines and catch up on everyone else's blogs again, it has been a long summer away and I know that there are more posts than I catch up on. Untill then I'll be around as much as I can and back on a more regular basis soon. Hope everyone is having a great summer.