Christmas in the air

So I had this great post planned with all these random photos and blogger will only upload this one, so one it is. We put up our tree on Friday night, it's wider than it is tall, it brings Charlie Brown tree to a whole new level, but once we got the ornaments on it looked a little better, yes only a little.

We had out annual Christmas perogie/tree cutting party on Saturday, it was loud and messy, exactly what a big party should be, successful to say the very least. The kids really enjoyed the undisturbed snow, once they discovered the side of the yard that the dogs don't visit. They built a great fort and once the snow melts I will have some sticks to clean up.

This week brought shopping for the Christmas hampers, shopping for other people is always fun and some shopping for our trip. We are off to Mexico on Tuesday and I needed a new bathing suit, bathing suit shopping is not a task that I enjoy, I enjoy it even less in December when the stores are packed with shoppers who act as though they are the only people in the world that matter. After much humming and hawing I found a suit that I could actually wear in public that did not coast an arm and a leg and so I bought it. The only problem is the plastic beads that adorn the straps. Why on earth do they feel the need to add cheap plastic beads to an otherwise functional bathing suit - I think the beads and my hammer need to meet in close proximity to one another before the suit gets packed. I also got the lucky job of trying to find a pair of sport sandals for P, he has size 13 feet, we live in the land of ice and snow, it took 5 stores and then I hit the jackpot, there are stores that leave there sandals out past August it just takes some effort to locate them.

Oh look, I am allowed to upload another picture now but only one more, it's a conspiracy I tell you! Here is P's finished hat, in black and white to hide the fact that it is a very blurry photos. I can't link to the pattern because It's from Spin Off, Fall 2007, it was a super quick knit and it is nice and cozy - at least that is what he tells me.

Alright I am off to do the very last of my holiday shopping, I just need one more thing!

safe

The driveway has been plowed - twice and is now safe for cars to use, we have a lot of snow here, I hope that this doens't keep up all winter!

The driveway is so safe that yesterday when I dropped my wallet in front of our mailbox (at the end of our drive) it was till there 4 hours later when we came home... some panic was involved when I discovered it missing but all is well now.

The new Knitty is up and I am itching to cast on for Jeanie, I saw it at Rhinbeck and I really, really need it. Perhaps it will be my Mexico knitting - we are leaving in 12 sleeps! I also finished a hat for P (watchman's cap using the ringwood stitch pattern, inspired by a hat in Spin Off), it is the same wool as my Coronet but in black, he likes and when we are both home in daylight I will take a picture.

My perogies are made, there are a few hundred in the freezer - with and without gluten and I am off to make meringues - yummy

Driveway of Doom

I live in the country, at the end of a long and stunningly beautiful driveway, about 400 meters of tree lined goodness(no driveway picture but this one is good). The trees happily ( well I think it is happily) put on a most excellent show for us throughout the year, all sorts of colours and life exist in those trees. Sadly the trees are useless on a day like today!

It started to snow last night and it snowed and snowed and snowed - so much in fact that I could not open the door this morning to let the dogs out, I had to push the snow out of the way with the door. School buses are cancelled, the radio says to stay off the roads and so I am, it was not a hard decision for me as I really have no where to be today (temporary gainful employment ended on Friday) but P did have to go to work, P works in the, P had to go down the driveway - unplowed.

See, when you have a driveway as big as ours you either need to have a plow on a truck or have someone come and plow it. We have someone come and plow it, he is a character (to say the very least) and he comes when can but it is not usually until the end of the day. Thus ,until he shows we are at the mercy of the driveway, it or may not let us in or out.

Last week P came home late one night, I was asleep and he woke me to let me know that we were truly snowed in (it wasn't snowing) but his car got stuck in the driveway and until we got it unstuck neither of us was going anywhere. We did get in unstuck but it took awhile and a lot of brute force - P's brute force, I steered.

So, that all being said, this morning when P announced that he had to go to the office in the city I was rather concerned that he wouldn't make it. We cleaned off my car because it has new tires (see this post) and after a few attempts he managed to get moving and slowly winded his way down the driveway, he made it in my car but would not of in his. If the plowman doesn't come he may never be able to get home, well not in the car at least and I'm not going anywhere

So given that I am not going anywhere today I am going to spend the day catching up on some housework (better when you are wearing this), knitting, reading this or this - both of which are excellent reads and getting the filling ready to make perogies - these won't be gluten free ones as they are for our Christmas party but I will make gluten free ones for me to enjoy later this week.

So, that all being said let me leave you with pictures of the babes from this weekend, we went to cut out tree on Saturday, it was very cold (-26 with the wind) but a beautiful day, these 2 didn't want to come

This one couldn't wait to get out the door

Max will go wherever Chudder one goes and Tai stayed home as the snow is deeper than she is high.

A tree was cut by P, last year he was unexpectedly very sick at this time of year and I had to go cut one myself, well I had friends with me but not him, it was godd to let him do the cutting and the hauling this year while I just had to wrangle dogs and the camera.

I am off to peel potatoes and watch movies on the laptop.

snow days

Yesterday was a snow day - I stayed in my PJ's all day, it was a pleasant surprise, the surprise snow days are good, the radio man at CBC is always so sweet when he announces that the school buses are cancelled and when the buses aren't driving neither am I - we have over 30cm at out house, there is a lot less snow in the city.
Back to reality today, we did get some serious snow play time in this morning, small people are sleeping now, snow is tiring.

I finished my hat on Wed. and then I had to go to knit nite without a project - tragic I know. Sarah bailed me out and brought me some needles so i could cast the mittens on that were in my knitting bag

A close up, I am rather fond of it and it stays on my head, the last hat I knit was gifted as it tended to leave my head of its own accord. If you want your own, the Coronet pattern is from Knitty and the yarn is Stella (50% baby suri, 40% extra fine merino, 10% cashmere) from the Susan Andrew Collection, I bought mine here, not sure if you can get in anywhere else.

120, 20, 3, 3, 3, 1, 2, ?

130 - the number of minutes it took me to get to work this morning due to the snow

20 , roughly the number of rows I managed to knit while sitting in this mornings traffic

3 skeins of STR, 3 patterns and 3 cool treats from my fabulous sister , plus some books that are not in the picture




1 treat that requires a closer picture because it is so cool, I think I may have to frame it rather than use it as a card.




2 finished mittens, log walls make fabulous backgrounds when you leave and arrive home in the dark. They are the Pebble Mittens kit from Morehouse Merino, links are few posts back.

? the number of days that this migraine may last, it's at 3 and I have tried everything, the saddest part is that this time I didn't even do anything to cause it, well not on purpose anyway - like a good beer or a toasted onion bagel with cheddar...ummm gluten!

Psst, over here

- it's Cate's birthday tomorrow... run over and wish her the best - but I didn't tell you!

- I finished the pebble mitts, I like them, I like them so much that I had to buy a new coat to go with them.

- there are no pictures, I have a migraine, well the remnants of one, I took some great medicine that is way to expensive but works really well

-migraines like coffee and freshly made apple berry crisp, at least mine do and I am off to have some.

- it's supposed to snow tonight, that will make tomorrows commute really fun, maybe some crisp for breakfast will help.

all done!

All done!

STR Sock Candy in Lapis - just over 1 skien, I should of done them toe up.

Based on the No Wool Socks in No Sheep for you but I did a short row heel and toe.

I am happy with them but if I was to knit them again I would go down a needles size as the ankle is a little to loose for me.

I have already cast on another of the many things I want to knit, I started Coronet with this wool (the purple) I got in Montreal last June, I saw a cool blend of the coronet pattern with Shedir on Ravelry and I rather like it. I've also finished Pebble Mitten finished and am up to the thumb increaes on the 2nd one.

Winter coming is good motivation for getting warm things knit, sad that there isn't more time!

But I wanna

I know that I have lots of things on my needles but my desire to knit all sorts of fabulous things is weighing me down and I am very tempted to break all my rules about finishing things before starting new ones. I try to have 23 things on the go at once, currently i have 5 and am tempted to add a few more.

The biggest problem by far is my attraction to this, when it started to appear in blogland I was in love and knew that I needed the yarn and then a sweater. I was attracted to the cardigan but then I started to see other designs and decided that I needed a pullover, so I bought this and am contemplating some of the patterns in it but I am also drawn to this - although it would take a little modification since it is in a sock after all. Anyone know of any other Kauni patterns out there that I might need to drool over?

I must say that I have to blame some of my startitis on Ravelry... it is hard to see all the fabulous stuff that is being knit and not want to cast some of them on.

teffee

So yesterday morning I stumbled out of bed and went downstairs to get a latte and my lunch organised, I managed to actually get my lunch out of the fridge (rather than roasted red peppers) and made a latte (on this fancy new toy I bought recently) as my milk frothed I started to get P's lunch organised, I got out 2 travel mugs and threw a tea bag into one for P. My milk was ready so I poured into the travel mug, added the espresso, took a few sips and put on the lid so I could drink the rest on the drive into the city. When I finally got into the car and opened my cup to have some latte I noticed a funny flavour - I racked my brain trying to figure out what I had done differently, I was at loss, it tasted really odd and yet I did everything the same as every other morning and then it struck me, most mornings I don't pour my latte into the cup that has P's tea bag in it. It was not a nice combination, I wouldn't suggest you try it - I bought my latte this am... it seemed like a better choice!


This is the blanket that you saw a few posts ago, it changed and morphed as I knit but it is based on a pattern from the Vogue Baby Blankets 2 book. It is knit with Patons Shetland Chunky in colours that I don't really know the names of. It was a good knit considering it's a blanket and miles of garter stitch. I didn't make it as big as the pattern suggested, just big enough to be a good stroller/car seat blanket.

Here is some of the Rhinbeck haul, I already cast on these mittens from Morehouse, I'm really looking forward to them. I also have some STR Sock Candy socks on the needles - I cast them on at the hotel in NY because the Inside Out socks were not meant to be and have been frogged - the first sock was to small and the second too big - same knitter, same needles, same wool - it makes no sense to me. A new pattern has been sought out and I will knit it eventually. actually it is the pattern in the back of the next picture - it has a fingerless glove and sock pattern included, i like it much better. I must say (in defense of the pattern that I have heard mixed reviews about from other people) that the Inside Out pattern did teach me about garter stitch short row heels and I rather like the way that they look and feel.

And finally here is some of the Rhinbeck haul, I went planning on buying no yarn, just roving and some tools that I have been coveting for awhile, I did pretty well until I fell down in the Morehouse store, I got 3 mitten kits (2 are for my sister though) and some lace weight with multiple ends @ 2.00 a skein - I think I can live with all the ends. On the left there is some blue organic cotton ( I bought 2 smallish bags) and 2 lbs of brown jacob roving from Spirit Trail - too bad I sold that Ashford Kiwi out from under my own feet at Merlin Tree - it was a nice wheel! I think that my best score was a copy of Stahlman's Shawls and Scarves, ( but I paid less than that) I have been looking for it for awhile and as we walked past The Fold it leapt into my arms - no really it did. I also bought some blocking wires, a niddy noddy and a ball winder.

I had also been on the lookout for a swift, I saw lots there but didn't get one as I was hoping to get a good deal on one - when I was playing on ebay yesterday I found one here, they also sell bamboo 5" double points US sizes 1-11 in a package for 14.99 (or less) - I don't use them very often but every now then I need them for something and at that price I thought it was worth it.

doubles

Dear Dolores,

My people tell me that you are looking for a body double, I think that I am the man for the job. I look great in heels and I will do anything to get out of the one horse town for awhile and away from the rest of my crazy family. I enjoy singing (although my voice is changing) and dance well.

I have included three head shots for you to look at, they are for your personal enjoyment only, please do not reproduce them without my consent because if my dad finds out he'll plotz.

I hope that I can join you, Harry and the rest of your pals soon - the sooner the better!

Sincerely

Maxim P. Dog

Drag Queen

PS Happy Halloween

no pumpkins here

I spent yesterday morning here, it was quiet but my body hurts from chasing small people through plastic tunnels

Miss Betsey doodle requested pictures of the babes... so here they are. A dog and the cat who thinks he is a dog and thinks laying on the computer when I am typing is fun*













Someone came over and stole my puppy, they left a dog in his place who is almost as big as his sister













And since Halloween is just around corner I have been drawing on tomatoes, they make good pumpkin alternatives, especially when they have noses!


*typing at 6am, with the kitten lying on the computer cause more mistakes than I usually make, they have been corrected now that I am awake and without kitten!

steeks, knitters and bloggers, oh my

Let try again, with words and links to go with all these pics!

So on Friday morning Sarah, Tara and I got in my car on drove like the wind, we made it there in time for dinner with Cate and a little non fiber realated shopping, well that is not true cashmere was bought but someone else in a factory in China knit it up into sweaters, it was very nice of them to sell them so cheaply at Marshalls for us.

After dinner Cate managed to find the delicate balnce between not enough and too much wine in order to cut the steek in her OMG fabulous sweater. There was a variety of reactions, there were a few women who were shocked and really didn't believe that she would do it till she did.


I finally got to meet Crystal

and Lucia who looks a little shocked in this picture


But Cate pulled it off without a hitch. It was also Kate's birthday but sadly I did not get a picture of that as I was busy fighting with my sock ( it has been frogged) . There was also Sara, and Norma and lots of other great women, one of whom has a picture of my sheep PJ's - I was done with my clothes but felt that i had to wear something in the lobby of the hotel.


I got to hold the Wooly Babe, in Amy fashion, I told my ovaries to shut up because it is so not happening! but she was nice to hold and then give back!













There were other canucks to visit with, Leanne and Steph were just some of them.















There were animals, lots of them including a sheep in the back of a station wagon but none of us were fast enough to get a picture.














There was a party, with an open bar! Amazing, I don't think I need to link this one to anything.

Sarah did some supid party tricks at the bar but

waited unitl she got back to the hotel to tag team the tricks with Danielle

I think they both just wanted to show off their socks!

Kay gave the wooly babe her first needles,

I bumped into Denise again (I saw her the day before too at the blogger meetup) on my way back after going tire shopping - it so wasn't in my plans for the afternoon, it meant that I did not get to hear Steph or see the hat escapade - sad but true

And at the end of the day when we could walk no more and realised that we had not eaten since breakfast we sat down with some other bloggers - lots of stroking and admiring of fiber resulted. This is Alison and Rachel, I missed the pouting picture but (Dr.) Steph got it. After that we headed back to the car, Steph, Juno and David are parked right behind us and so we chatted for awhile, took pictures of them exhausted on the ground but I won't post them as mine are awful, (try Sarah's blog), shared our popcorn so Steph would not eat her soap and then after a final giggle got in the car to head home, tired but happy - with a trunk full of yarn that was going to make it across the border because I have new tires!

Still to come - the wheel I didn't get to buy and the all the stuff I did!

Pit Crew Part I

lookee what we have here

Part II

BINGO

I'm a square... Stitchy has done it again. I am only on for Saturday as I thought that was enough. I have a button thaks to Norma and plan on wearing my red melon scarf/shawl, probably as a scarf that day. Look for me with some of these fabulous bloggers and pehaps this one or this one if they are there - are you coming?

That's all I have for now, I have some fun and amusing pictures but since I am home they can't be uploaded, perhaps later this week. Off to knit in the car, happy Sunday

yep, it was a moment

I got up this morning, got organised grabbed the lunch container from the fridge and put it in my lunch bag, the lunch that i packed with care from last night dinner that P made me. It was a good dinner and I was looking forward to lunch today. I got all the small people eating and then opened my lunch bag to get out my lunch. Looks good


Till I opened the container and realised that I had grabbed the peppers that I roasted for tonight's pizza rather than my lunch... rice crackers and gluten free muffins it is then, lucky me.

There has been some knitting for small people happening and some holding of small people and a little forced modeling of unfinished gifts - doesn't he look impressed, I am sure he will like it more when it doens't have needles attached that can poke him!

Happy Thanksgiving - enjoy the weekend.

September in photos

it appears that blogger hates me again today and refuses to post any photos, I have aome great one but you will have to wait, so much for trying to be a good blogger and actually add something to my blog!

Right then, never mind, here they are like magic!

This is Sidney, we kept him and he is rather fascinated by all the tomatoes that we have been canning, we were busy last night and he really anted to play withthe tomatoes

A fall sunset in our field, I love living in the country

She still needs ahome and she is the last one, any takers?

Gainful employment that involves fingerpainting is a good thing, fingerpainting and newborn babies 9 more about him later)

Fall colours in my driveway, it's all good! I am off to Jo's to be fed and then home to pick more tomatoes... they are never ending!

Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage

Most likely causes:
ripe tomatoes.
too many apples.
temporary gainful employment.

What you can try:
come over and eat tomatoes, apples, squash and zuchinni.

More information

This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including: my dial up connection dislikes me and my blog. I can't get to a high speed connection because I spend my evenings canning/freezing food, the garden will end soon and then I will have some time again!

PS I can't believe it is september already, where did the summer go?