Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Thank you Santa.

Santa was very good to me this year.

This is my favourite Christmas photo - LS in her new pyjamas, sitting by our traditional christmas morning brunch (brie, smoked salmon, smoked salmon ring, warm baguette, coffee or tea, and whatever sweets were in our stockings), with Blue at her observation post in the dining room.


The cute brown purse that I've lusted after for several months someone made it's way under the tree, along with the amazing mug in the photo above. A closer look reveals the true charm - a little bird on the saucer:



Thank you Santa!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

For Ms. Naomi...

...who called to chat with Nadine and ended up talking blogs with me, some long overdue knitting content:

Argyle
Patons Classic Wool, Leaf Green
Original Pattern
Picot edge

Status: Unsold, currently in the winter scarf pile


Basketweave
Manos del Uruguay, colour long forgotten
Based on pattern from Barbara G. Walker's book

Status: Unsold. Tucked away for future use.




Flash
Assorted Fibres in various shades of green

Status: To be gifted to Christine.






Linen Leaves
Euroflax Linen, Granite
Kidsilk Night, forgotten colour
Original Pattern

Status: SOLD!






Polka Dot
s
Handmaiden yarns, Silk and Wool blend
Original pattern

Status: Gifted to Gates for driving me home.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Do my eyes look any different?


No one prepared me for the smell...or maybe that's why I was told to breathe through my mouth. It's done - and now I feel as though I've had my contacts in for too long.

This, however, is how I felt when I got home after surgery:

Thursday, November 30, 2006

All done!


Woo hoo!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

That, I'm not going to miss.

As I get closer to my laser eye surgery, I find myself muttering "That, I'm not going to miss" at regular intervals throughout the day. Most notably at night when I attempt to place my glasses on the nightstand and manage to launch them on the carpet instead. As a rule, the sound of falling glasses coincides with the arrival of at least one cat who feels that the glasses would be more at home under the bed. So I climb out of bed and hunt for the glasses (gold frames, wood floor, bad eyesight = hard to find), while the cats climb into bed and watch me.

That, I'm not going to miss.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Monday, November 20, 2006

Have you started your Xmas shopping?

My knitting is completely focused on preparations for this:



I'm not too sure how legible it is...so here are the details:

3rd Annual Xmas Show
108 Murray Street, #2

Friday, December 1st - 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday, December 2nd - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, December 3rd - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Works by Michele Albert, Nadine Argo, Suzette Argo,
Martine Chartrand, Lauren Mullin and Angela Rafail.

Well worth a visit, if you ask me.

I have three completed (but not blocked) scarves, and I'm trying to complete three more before the show. Lots and lots of knitting for me over the next two weeks. I have more ideas than I have time to knit.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Little cloud


Spotted on the way home from work on Friday. The sky was so dark, and the cloud so pink.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

She got my name wrong...

and now everyone who has seen my picture on the Yarn Harlot's blog is calling me Susan. It made for some lively conversation at last night's Knit and Drink. Our new pub selection (The Fig and Loon) was a good one - everyone was delighted with the food and the atmosphere. I think we've got a winner!

Here are some pictures from last night:

Maureen getting ready for her Xmas sale this coming Saturday. Go see her amazing felted purses and ornaments. She'll be at the St. Columba Church (24 Sandridge Road in Ottawa) on November 25th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.


And here is Carol's very cool portable knitter's loom. She finished the scarf over the course of the evening. I was suitably impressed.

I worked on an Entrelac scarf, and discovered today that I'd made a mistake that can't be tinked back...so the scarf is on the back burner until I've finished the pieces for the show.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Friday, November 10, 2006

Starstruck by surprise


I went to hear the Yarn Harlot (you know the link) speak last night. She was funny and eloquent, as usual. Ottawa knitters are a roudy bunch and I hid at the back of the crowd, as I tend to do. I'd brought two books with me for her to sign, and had decided ahead of time that I wouldn't take photos.

I couldn't decide what to wear - so many shawls, so few shoulders. I opted Shoalwater as she seems to be the shawl of the moment for me and is getting a great deal of wear these days. I did contemplate the Shetland Lace shawl and, in hindsight I should have brought it along with me.

Here's why:

When I made to the front of the line for my signing, I attempted small by mentioning that I had left a message on the Yarn Harlot's blog about my more than 1,000 stitch shawl, and that I had contemplated bringing it but didn't. She remembered my post and told me to email photos of the shawl. At this point I'm feeling less invisible, but still calm and collected. Stephanie then complemented Shoalwater and I said "It's sock yarn". She looked again and said "That's Megaboots. I heard about that shawl." The sock was promptly thrust in my direction, with the order to turn around...and the Yarn Harlot snapped my picture for her blog. I had no idea what was going on, and when I finally clued in I was, well, starstruck. I still am. Who knew.

Thanks Stephanie, you made my day!

(The KSF pin is backed by the orange boucle mohair wrap cardigan that really, really needs to be finished.)

Monday, November 06, 2006

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Preview vs Post

Why is it that my previews don't look like the final posts? I'm constantly posting, checking, and returning to edit. Grrr.

Literary Rainbows















A couple of weeks ago (it may have been while I was in study avoidance mode) I decided to sort my books according to the colour of their spine. I'd see something similar in a magazine, although they had used 5 or 6 books, rather than a full bookshelf. I'm actually quite pleased with the result. It's very dramatic. I'm not sold on the order of the colours - and there are several stacks of books that still need to be sorted. But I'm quite happy with the results so far.

Catching up















It's been a whirlwind of a month. The Shoalwater shawl is finished (again). This time I'm happy. Completed in "Megaboots" on 5mm needles. The pattern is from Fibretrends.

And, for the record, the picot edging is completely worth the effort!

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Finger cookies

My contribution to the Hallowe'en bake sale at the office:
Finger cookies and eyeballs.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Seasilk



I had the unique opportunity to knit a store sample for Yarn Forward. Carol and Roger and handed over a skein of pink and brown Seasilk that reminded me of truffles, for some reason. I knit the scarf pattern that comes with the Seasilk in about three days. It was a lot of knitting for three days. I didn't actually get anything else done during those three days. The finished product is spectacular and the lace pattern was easy to memorize. I'm not sold on the yarn itself, though. I found it hard on the hands, and it smelled like leather even after it had been blocked.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Signed, sealed, delivered

Blanket's done and delivered. Just in time for tomorrow's silent auction. I set the starting bid at $50. A deal if you ask me.

More at my next study break.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The fine art of procrastination

What I'm doing:



Studying for Saturday's National Knowledge Exam while finishing the edge of the United Way blanket.

What I'd rather be doing:


Knitting.


What I did while I "took a break":
















I finished the edge and assembled the blanet, of course. Check out that mitered corner... I sent photos to the knitters so they could see the almost FO. I have a fleece back to add, and a corner to graft and the blanket to wash and then it's done. Just in time for tomorrow's delivery.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Guitars, Cadillacs...

On Friday night I went to see Dwight Yoakam play at the NAC. I love, love, love his music - it has a power over me that I can't quite explain. His albums don't do justice to the live performances, though. The albums seem almost subdued compared to live shows. Live, he present a wall of sound. Loud (very loud), raw, intense. Amazing.

I attended a Dwight concert in Vancouver several eons ago. The sounds at BC Place was terrible, and Dwight sang for a scant 60 minutes. I saw disappointed at the length of the show, but still thrilled to have seen him in concert. On Friday though, Dwight did not disappoint. He sang for a solid 2-1/2 hours. And since he doesn't chat much on stage, it really was a solid 2-1/2 hours of music. I was so excited to hear him and see him and disappointed when it came to an end....I wanted to rewind the evening and start over again! Sigh. I didn't take any pictures, although Southam Hall was alive with cameras.

Three days later I'm still buzzing about the show....oh how I want to talk to someone about this. It's the first time that I've been to an event and really wanted someone special to share it with. I've never felt that void before - but, along with the excitement of the concert, I'm feeling that void. A new awareness for me, I guess.

We celebrate thanksgiving with friends of the family yesterday, and I stopped by Melanie's blog to wish her and her little family thanksgiving wishes as well. I spent all of today knitting edge #3 of the little blanket my office knitting team has created for the United Way/Charitable Campaign Auction. I have to deliver it no later than Wednesday, and the auction is on Thursday. I'll post photos as soon as the blanket is done.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

No beef. No tofu. No plates.


Laurie Anne took me out to lunch today. She sounded so excited when she suggested Dim Sum, that I had to say yes. (But then again, why would anyone turn down Dim Sum?) She was certain a little place by the office would be fabulous and since it was close, why not give it a try.

No beef, no tofu, no plates. That was why.

To be fair, the food we did manage to order wasn't bad. We had to pick from a menu, which lacked the panache and excitement of watching Dim Sum carts go by and trying to guess what's what. I think our final meal consisted of pork dumplings (for Laurie Anne), shrimp shu mai, steamed vegetable buns, mixed vegetables in black bean sauce (from the regular menu), and Bubble teas.

Just getting the order in was a challenge. Each time we picked something it either only available with pork, and therefore not friendly, or not available at all. Communicating was a bit of a challenge and our waitress kept running back to the kitchen to check - often before we'd finished ordering. By the time she came back to tell us that the #100 (Tofu with green onions) wasn't available because they were out of tofu, we'd forgotten what we had ordered!

First to arrive were the pork dumplings in a huge steamer basket. There was no plate - so Laurie Anne drizzle the soy sauce right into the basket. She was almost done when the rest of the food arrived...but there were no plates or bowls. We both paused for a moment to figure out how to attack this. We asked for plates and received little bowls - apparently they were out of plates.

The bubble teas were good - but not at all what we expected. Laurie Anne was trying to order a plain one - green tea with the bubbles - and the waitress kept telling us that there was ice cream in the tea. Laurie Anne summoned up old memories and brought forth the correct words in chinese, the waitress was surprised and thrilled, and I was impressed. Suddenly it was not a problem at all - but we still ended up with bubble tea "milkshakes" rather than the plain tea that was requested. The milkshakes were probably the highlight of the meal.

I seem to recall that Laurie Anne doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to picking restaurants. There was the 1 hour grilled cheese sandwhich, and the farewell lunch that took place in a very dark basement pub on a beautiful summer day...

I've promised that I'll let her know when I'm heading out for Dim Sum. She really has to discover the wonder of wheeled carts stacked high with bamboo baskets that contain all kinds of mysterious and delicious bites.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

One stitch at a time.

This blog has been named after my cats, LC (aka Squishy, shown here in a semi-squished state) and Blue (appearing here in one of here rare awake moments).

They're cute, they purr, they have undignified nicknames. Enough said.

I've been knitting non-stop for the last four years and I've accumulated quite a list of finished obects. Despite that, I've only got one photo:

Voila - a variation on the Lady Eleanor Stole from Scarf Style. Knit in Noro Silk Garden, colour forgotten, but noted somewhere. I omitted the fringe since I'm not a fringe kind of girl, and made it wider than in the pattern. I knit until I was tired of knitting and then blocked the finished stole, which resulted in a lovely smooth fabric. I love, love, love this stole.

Projects currently on the go:
  • Original stole/shawl design in laceweight Alpaca, possibly for a LYS
  • Shoalwater Shawl in MegaBoots sock yarn (almost done)
  • Mystery project - Mum's Christmas present, DK weight Briggs and Little in a tweedy purple
There's so much more I want to knit, and so many designs I want to develop. Sigh. One stitch at time, one project at a time.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Onwards and upwards

I've been contemplating a blog for awhile and I'm still of two minds about it. Does the world really need another blog? Or, worse yet, a knitting blog? Do I really have anything worthwhile to say? Does anyone want to listen? It's too soon to tell.

What I can tell you is this: For whatever reason, my paper journal has been ignored for several months. I've actually dragged it everywhere I've been for the last 6 months and haven't once cracked the pages. I even bought a bigger totebag to accomodate the journal, the calendar and the book of knitting muses. And still, not a single scribble on the squared pages. Not even a random phone number or grocery list. The journal is amazingly and completely blank.

Knowing, as I do, that my sanity rests in my ability to write and knit, this inability or unwillingness to write on paper has been frustrating and stressful. So, in an attempt to keep me writing I've joined the ranks of the bloggers. No longer will I be "blogless Suzette".

It is Monday, September 25, 2006 and I am a blogger. Oh my goodness, what have I done?