Monday, May 28, 2007

It's a vest!


Trellis is now an attractive little vest without buttons. I wish I could get a better photo of it, but I'm learning red garments aren't the easiest things to photograph. The sleeves are done, but they (obviously) haven't been sewn on yet. We're on the home stretch, folks. This cardigan will be complete very soon.

As I planned, I managed to squeeze in a trip in to Gaspereau Valley Fibres near Wolfville while I was on my business trip. It's pretty much the happiest place on Earth. The yarn shop is located in a modest barn, but when you step inside, it's a friggin' theme park. This place is full of amazing yarn. I can't even begin to describe it.


I did manage to leave with a few skeins. Some Fleece Artist sock yarn made it into my knitting bag along with some yarn I found in a bin of Fleece Artist "factory seconds" (I use the term "factory" loosely as I know full well a Fleece Artist factory does not exist) on sale for $8 per 100 g. What a deal!


It doesn't come with a ball band, so I have no idea what this is. It looks like it's fingering weight so it's probably sock yarn, but I think I'll knit a lovely ripple scarf with it.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Bits and pieces of Trellis

Trellis is more than half-way done. I've finished knitting the back, both front panels and one sleeve. All that's left is a second sleeve, the collar, joining all the bits together and raiding Gramie's button stash. I'd like to get it done before Baby G gets here, but s/he won't be needing a cardigan until fall, so it's not terribly urgent.



I'm surprised at how quickly this sweater is knitting up. It's much quicker than knitting an adult sweater. Each piece is so tiny and so cute!

I'm going to Wolfville and Halifax this week for a business trip and I plan on visiting a couple of yarn shops during my stay. I haven't been to Gaspereau Valley Fibres yet, but I'd like to stop in and buy some yarn for myself and my Knitters Tea Swap 3 pal Becky, and, of course, I have to go to Tangled Skeins anytime I'm in Dartmouth. Perhaps I'll stop in on Saturday and see Steph.

I'll leave you with a shot of me playing at the SARMU 30th reunion concert this weekend. This is me, holding a super long note.

Friday, May 11, 2007

FO: Sunny Socks


Pattern: Hedera by Cookie A.
Source: Knitty
Materials: two skeins of Sweet Georgia superwash sock yarn in saffron
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm bamboo dpns
Started: March 19, 2007
Finished knitting: May 10, 2007


These are the happiest socks ever. They even make this foggy day seem brighter.


You'll notice the kitty in the above shot is not my beloved Moustache, rather, it's another tuxedo cat pretending to be him. Meet Outdoor Kitty, a sweet kitty that's been hanging around our neighbourhood over the past few days. He doesn't have a collar and seems to live under my sister-in-law's house (across the road from our apartment). He's adorable, but I don't think we can keep him . . . he'll have to keep living out his days as Outdoor Kitty.


And I've started a new project. This is Trellis and will be gifted to the offspring of some fellow bloggers.

Drive carefully

Just wanted to tell everyone to hug someone or tell someone you love them today. I had a very frightening experience yesterday and I'm so thankful to be alive.

I was driving on the highway yesterday, listening to Hey Hey Hey (My Little Beauties) by Hawksley Workman when an oncoming car pulled into my lane as if it was going to pass the car in front of it. But it was much too close to me to have time to pass another car. The oncoming car then hit the shoulder, spun around a couple of times and landed in the ditch. While the car was spinning around, I slammed on my brakes, started swerving and thought I was going to end up in the ditch as well. If I had braked a second later, I would have collided with the oncoming car. It was SO close.

I have no idea how I ended up parked on the shoulder after the accident. I remember swerving and I was headed straight for the ditch, but somehow I regained enough control of the car to pull over on the side of the road. There must have been some divine intervention, because I can't figure out how I avoided a huge accident.

I ran to the oncoming car that's now sitting in the ditch. An elderly man (I later found out he's 87 years old) walked out of the car without a scratch or a bruise. Thankfully, an ambulance was right behind me and stopped to help the old man. This is when I realized I almost died in a car crash. I was shaking and crying, so the paramedics put me in the ambulance for a while.

The old man told the paramedics that he swerved to avoid a deer, which is, of course, untrue. They told me he might have dementia and hallucinated or he might have just fallen asleep at the wheel. They took him away in the ambulance while some other paramedics calmed me down enough to give the police a statement.

I'm still quite shaken up by the experience, but my health is fine and I'm happy to be alive. My neck hurts a bit, which might be due to the swerving, but otherwise I'm okay. I just can't believe how close I came to hitting another car going 100 km/h on the highway. The paramedics in the ambulance that was right behind me on the highway saw the whole thing happen. They said they have no idea how I gained control of my car. One said, "We thought for sure we were gonna lose you too."

Be careful driving today and I'll post some photos of my finished sunny socks later on today to cheer us all up.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

A home of our own

Let's put knitting aside for a moment while I share some big news. Hubby and I bought a house!


We are SO excited about this! I went to the house this morning with the insurance guy and the home inspector and took some photos while I was there to share with you.


Living room shots. Note the B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L hardwood floors.


I am in LOVE with this kitchen. As an avid baker, I can't wait to have such a large space to use to make some delectable confections. An aside, the appliances aren't staying, which is a pity, so we'll have to go appliance shopping, which kind of sounds like fun!



There are two bedrooms on the main floor and in the finished basement, there's a third bedroom. The house is officially ours June 22! I can't wait to move in and say, "Good riddance!" to our crummy apartment, the slanty shanty.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Sunny Socks, reprise


The sunny socks are back on the needles after a short hiatus to make way for the Lacy Hug-Me-Tight. Now I'm back on track and trying to stick to my one-project-at-a-time rule.

Things have been pretty crazy at "words starting with p" headquarters. I'm gearing up for an upcoming concert, I got a part in a musical at our local theatre so I'm busy learning my lines and songs and, here's the big news, my three-month contract has transformed into a full-time, permanent position. That ever-elusive permanent job I've been searching for is finally mine and I have the contract to prove it.


So, what comes after one snags a permanent position? House shopping. We've already started looking at houses and I'm going to find out what kind of mortgage I can afford tomorrow. I can't wait to leave my crummy apartment and buy a house with my own driveway, my own yard, my own washer and dryer, my own patio, my own garden, my own EVERYTHING!