On the move

It worked! You'll find me here:

http://edgardelila.wordpress.com

Come on and join me.

I was...

I was going to post on how I spent my summer holidays (besides losing myself in the Versus Tour France broadcasts.)

I was going to tell you about leaving a meeting on Monday with the profound realization that my job no longer suits me.

I was going to try and explain why I'm thinking about jumping ship, moving to Wordpress, and changing the name of my blog, despite technical difficulties.

But now, all I can tell you is that very old and dear friend found me through my pretty much inactive Facebook account. I wept with relief as I read her message and discovered that she found her true love and has a wonderful and amazing life. (She, more than anymore, deserves those gifts.)

When we lost touch with each other, it seemed the right thing to do at the time even though it created a huge void in my life. I'm missed the comfort of that friendship tremendously over the last couple of years and, lame as it sounds, I've been wishing that our paths would cross again. Not just wishing, but actually speaking her name out loud and asking her to find me.

And she found me.

Cool, eh?

Random Monday

There's a pile of work sitting beside. Work work, not fun work like knitting. I've had to cancel two holidays days at the end of this week and take work home - so I'm frustrated and bitter and stalling. So, while the pile gathers dust, here are some random goings on:

1. I have (finally) turned the first corner on the big green shawl. There are two mistakes that won't be obvious to mere mortals, and knitters are too nice to point them out, so they're staying in. I have a photo, but the camera battery is dead - so you'll have to be patient.

2. I've got one class left before my summer break. I seem to have picked up a private student, even though I promised myself I'd take the summer off.

3. I've been sewing more than knitting lately. It seems to have cured my knitter's block - and I've got some new clothes. No harm there.

4. The traveling stash made it to Ottawa in one piece. Two big bags stuffed with yarn and pattern books, actually. I brought them to the Bridgehead Knit Night last week and everyone had a good browse. I wish I'd taken a picture of the stash as it was spread out across the tables - what a sight it was.

5. I had a great time at the Bridgehead Knit Night. Thanks to everyone for being so welcoming. I must stop by more often.

There was something else, but I can't remember. That seems to be my standard state of mind these days.

I'd much rather be knitting...

She's here! She's here!

My Zelda tote arrived today. Actually, she arrived yesterday but nobody was home to receive the package, so she arrived today. And I'm thrilled. Thrilled. I've wanted one of these Offhand Designs bags for eons and lept into action when I realized that the tote was being discontinued. I finally found my tote on a baby bag website - so it's got a vinyl lining instead of fabric - and was able to get the pattern I've lusted after. Are you curious? Here she is:


Sigh. I'm still smitten with their Zelda Weekender (I'm torn between Daisy Mae, Pomegranate and Ruby Vine), but right now, Zelda Tote and I are going to get to know each other.

On the knitting front, the big green shawl is going well. This has been a real lesson in intuitive knitting. I've been trying really hard to listen to the yarn instead of forcing the design. I have a general sense of where I want to go with this shawl and not much else. From the moment I cast on, I found that my intuition would guide me in one direction, and logic would demand another. When I listen to my intuition, I'm ok. When logic rules, I find myself ripping stuff out. In fact, tonight I forced it and I have 400+ stitches to unknit, one blessed stitch at time. Lesson learned...I think.

Time Flies

I can't believe it's April already. It doesn't make sense to me at all. Where did the first three months of the year go? And why is there still snow on the ground?

I've been knitting and, inspired by LS, there are several new projects in the queue, as well as a lovely shawl that I neglected to photograph. Some of the treats included a very small pair of booties and a matching hat, for Naomi's friend's wee one. (Hi Naomi!)


There's not much else to report right now. Work is crazy and I've been caught up in a "clean and organize the basement" fever. More when I'm making sense.

The aftermath..

I'd tell you about the crazy snowstorm we had this weekend, but that's all anyone is talking about. I will say this - thank goodness we outsource the shovelling!

The silver lining (a few of them):

• My Saturday morning class was cancelled and I had a much needed lie-in, as did the cats (but did they really need an extra 3 hours of sleep?).
• I finished the pattern (and sample) for the Jo tank. If it fits the recipient as planned, I'll start the shrug shortly.
• I attacked my stash and started posting photos to Ravelry.
  
• Squish and Blue were uber cuddly.

Today ended on a lovely note. I connected with Middle village who adopted my Namaste Messenger bag. We connected via Ravelry - isn't the web amazing! We had great knitting conversation and not bad coffee and she's promised to stop by the April Knit N Drink.

And she's agreed to test knit my entrelac stole pattern...guess I'd better get writing.

In like a lion...

I knew there was a storm coming. It wasn't a complete surprise. But when I stood at the front door listening to the ice clicking against the house and staring at the driveway filled with snow, I knew it was going to be a snow day. So I called in "wimpy" and went back to bed. As did the cats. (There was no need for them to call in wimpy, so they just went back to bed.)

March has arrived, but winter won't go. This is most distressing. We have had more than 300 cm of snow this year - that's close to 10 feet - and there's more on the way. My snowplow guy has invoked his "too much snow" clause and asked for more money and me, well, I'm done with winter. Who do I send the memo to?

On a lighter note, I spent last Thursday and Friday at the North Grenville Curling Club watching the provincial wheelchair curling championship. Mum's team did not make the finals, but they seem to have had a good time.

I spent most of Thursday like this:


And most of Friday like this:


By mid-day Friday, I was joined by a volunteer who as working on a lovely short-row dishcloth. (I have to say that the curling club were the most gracious hosts. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. It was a delight to hang out with them for two days.)

I used the time to bone up on my curling language. Now I can talk about the hack, hog line and hammer without feeling too stupid. I had to ask about in-turn, out-turn, biter and tee line, while take out seemed pretty obvious to me. I still don't understand why a stone thrown too quickly has too much weight, while a slow rock is light, but I accept it.

Confused? Definitions can be found here. And if you're wondering the Leaside team from Toronto were the victors and will head off to the Nationals in Winnipeg. (Go Ontario!)

If you're a curler, but you've never seen wheelchair curling in action, think about this. They throw the rock from the hog line with a stick and there is no sweeping. And they make shots like this (Mum's throw, by the way):


and this:


No sweeping. Just one push from the hog line. Can you do that?

I've been updating my Ravelry page today and figured I might as well catch up here as well.

In addition to the sweaters for my intermediate knitting class:


I met the Bunnies who will wear the tiny sweaters:


They've taken over Blue's observation spot in the living room and are wondering when the snow will go away. Blue declared her intention to sleep until the grass returned and promptly retreated to the basement where she noisily kicked Squish out of her bed and claimed the warm spot. Squish is now hiding in the mess of blankets on my bed and isn't looking too happy.

While Blue slept and Squished pouted, I have made significant progress on Coquette, Coquille and Sunset.

Coquette will grow up to be a Soy Silk stole with a bank of ruffles on each end. The first set of ruffles is about two thirds done. It's an easy to remember repeat and, since each ruffle is shorter than the last, it gets faster to knit as you progress. Here's a close up and a photo with my hand for scale.


I'm loving everything about this Coquette, including the fact that I (finally) have found a use for one of my adorable Matt and Nat nesting handbags.


It's the perfect size for Coquette and, because the clasp is magnetic, I don't have to worry about catching the yarn accidentally. I grabbed it on my way out to Knit and Drink night when I realized that the ZipLock bag I had been dragging around was full of holes. Now Coquette travels with me in style!

Progress on Coquille is slow but steady. I changed my mind on the body decreases and ended up ripping back about two inches. That's 400 stitches times two inches - I can't bear to mesure it in feet, but I'm guessing it could be. It's taken me the better part of a week to catch up. I keep reminding myself that the sleeves are done and the finished product will be worth the slog. Besides, the colours remind me of a hummingbird. Who wouldn't want to knit that?


Sunrise (or sunset, I can't decide) is awesome. So soft with lovely colour transitions. I'm forever tempted to rip it out and add a dramatic pattern, but I'm just so enjoying the simplicity of the scarf. I've reached a heartbreakingly beautiful band of yellow that I wish would go on forever.


I'm so enjoying everything on the needles that it's hard to chose what to work on. I find myself jumping from one project to the next. Sigh.

So much wool, so little time.

Avoidance techniques

I'm still working on little sweaters (think 5-1/2" wide) for my intermediate students. I'm trying to finish one a week (including the finished pattern sheets) until I'm moderately satisfied with the pile. That being said, we're half-way through the first class of 2008 and the knitters have completed their first sweater and started on the Bunny. I have a hunch that my three completed sweaters (and Bunny, of course) are more than enough for now. Besides, I'm itching to complete the soy silk shawl and the beaded wrap sweater.

I lost (again) the camera charger. Photos will arrive in the next week.

This is what you've been missing...

More accurately, this is what I haven't been blogging about:


Happy new year!