Liquid Gold

One of my husband's elder brothers owns several hundred acres of bush west of the city. Three of the brothers, my husband included, use this property communally; they go out there and do man things together, bonding over the smell of woodsmoke, man-sweat, and DEET.

That property gives us many things. The three, hunters all, go up in November to hunt deer, so our freezer is invariably full of venison. I'm iffy on the idea of eating Bambi, but free meat is free meat, so I've found recipes that let me (and my step-daughters) pretend that Bambi is actually Bessie.

In an effort to attract more deer to the property, the brother who owns it plants turnips, beets and other deer favourites. Sometimes in the fall, these veggies find their way into our house and grace our table, sometimes even beside a deer, er, cow, that they were intended to lure.

My favourite gift of that land comes in this time of year: maple syrup. In pictures:

The sap was flowing so quickly that after the tree was drilled, its side was soon soaked.

A fantastic shot by my husband, capturing a single sap droplet falling. I confess to drinking straight from the bucket... the sap is cold and refreshing, and only very slightly sweet.

After only two hours, there was a good 2" of sap collected.

There's a collection of older metal pails as well as the newer plastic ones. All in all, they have about 80 trees tapped; not enough for commercial purposes but enough to keep most of the family in syrup for the entire year.

The trees aren't on lines, so collection is manual. The snow was still deep so it was good wet fun slogging up to the buckets and back.

The wood-fired boiler, hard at work. Man, is it hot in that hut.

Knitting while waiting for the day's boil to complete...

Enjoying an unseasonably warm winter day and a campfire.


Another awesome shot by my husband.

The finished product... many liters of sap later. It is sooo good!

Ooops! Boiled too far... a tasty mistake.

The Big Reveal

Back in October, a dear friend's illness was revealed. I'm never good with these situations... beyond support and well-wishes and prayers as applicable, there's not really much one can *do*, and that drives me wild. If you're in town, you can take her to medical appointments and make dinners... when you're an hour and a half away, not so much. I'm a do-er. I wanted to DO something.

So I did. When the going gets tough, the tough get knitting. Having been a part of two separate hug blanket projects, I knew what to do. I started trawling Velda's blog comments, emailing everyone I could find and asking them if they could knit or crochet or wanted to try to learn real quick. I got in touch with Tammy, who put me in touch with a pile of Velda's friends from the cross-stitch boards. Emails flowed in, and eventually, so did the funkiest, sparkliest collection of purple squares you've ever seen.

I knit like a fiend through November, as did my dear friend Lisa. She'd never met Velda, but any friend of mine was a friend of hers and she cranked out about 9 lovely crochet squares before I could turn around. I encouraged my youngest step-daughter, who was one of V's day-care kids, into practicing her knitting for her beloved friend, and another square (mostly!) was born. Another family friend and knitter saw my step-daughter's knitting, heard the explanation, and immediately hit the needles hard, adding two more lovely squares as a show of support and love for a woman she'd never met. That's what knitters do when there's nothing else we can do.

I sat on the floor of my sewing room and seamed all those pieces together during breaks in exam week. Somehow, through complete chance, I had enough squares to make a blanket the size I desired. Somehow, also through chance and love and fate, all the squares look like they were meant to be a part of this whole.

It was Jan 2 by the time my husband and I could arrange to make our annual Xmas pilgrimage to go visit Velda and family.

Hubby's smirking. He knows what's coming...

This is the closest V got to crying over the gift... which was very surprising! :)

I know she's not admiring my shoddy seaming...

Now that's what a hug is all about.

All the women who schemed with me behind the scenes to make this happen... thank you so much. It would not have happened without you, and means infinitely more to both myself and Velda that you chose to be a part of this.

PS... isn't she gorgeous, Moon Boots and all?! :)

All She Wants To Do is Knit

You probably didn't know it, but August was the Month of Noro, at least in my world. That entrelac scarf I began for my mother-in-law charmed me so much that I marched to the yarn store for more Noro for another scarf.

These have been done for a short while now; actually long enough that I got to show them off at this month's knitting guild! These are the first things I've knit that I felt good enough to show off in public. This weekend I finally got around to blocking them, so I thought I'd show them off while they're on the wires, and then maybe get other pics of them in use.

The one I made for my MIL:

The scarf I made for myself:

Side by each:

The "bonus" hat I made, reclining (blocking) gracefully in a soccer-ball:

I soaked the knit-wear in hair conditioner for a half-hour before I soaked it in... well, Soak. Noro's eye-sizzling colours come with a price: the yarn is as disappointing to the fingers as it is pleasing to the eyes. For a wook-silk-mohair blend, it isn't as soft as it should be, so I'm trying to encourage the yarn to bloom. I'll know when it's dry if it worked or not.

I am determined to clean my WIP pile before I cast on something new. I need a fresh start, and rather than burning a pile of aborted and defective knitwear on the rear lawn, I've decided to wade in and finish what I've started. For instance, I've pulled the cuff off a pair of socks that I knit for hubby; the top ribbing became rather floppy and needed a cuff re-do, so that's my travelling project at the moment. At home, I've finished one sleeve of the long-suffering Rainbow cardigan and have begun the second sleeve. I'm also re-knitting the angora liner for mum's mittens; they felted horribly last winter so I'm re-knitting them a third larger, pre-felting them and sewing them in. They need to be to her soon, as winter is soon to close on Alberta (not to mention the rest of us.)

The burning desire to cast on something new and pretty should keep me sufficiently motivated to burn through my WIP's, at least for a while. :)

On The Run Again

My first week of classes is over and I'm hyped about the new semester. I have four core programming courses: Object Oriented Programming II (Java), Systems Analysis and Design, Web Programming (HTML, CSS, Perl, PHP, Javascript) and Graphical User Interface Programming (C#), as well as an elective (Wine, Food and Culture... tough gig, no?) and an hour a week for Co-op prep, as our co-op work terms will begin in January. I already love all my classes and I think I have truly wonderful profs in all of them.

I finished my homework on Saturday and had the luxury of spending Sunday in the sewing room, finishing two blocks of "Storybook Farm", Room to Breeze and Wooly Good Friends. This quilt is cuteness epitomized... the tiny little quilt on the clothesline is actually a real quilt, made separately, machine quilted and then pinned on the clothesline with wee clothespins. Pics to come!

I also finished knitting a hat and scarf set in Noro. Again, pics on the way after blocking. I am working my way though my "ugh" knitting pile before I will allow myself to cast on something new... perhaps this, or maybe this? I certainly need to cast on a sock for easy school knitting.

Now that DH is all officerized, he's away on course until February, but not so far away that he can't come home on weekends. The house is rather quiet, which makes for excellent studying, but the kitties and I miss him.

A New Flame

I've long meant to make a scarf for Wayne's mother, and it made it's way to the top of my knitting queue last week. The scarf would teach me a new technique, entrelac, which has a reputation in knitting circles as fiddly, complicated, and tedious. Be that as it may, entrelac done with a scrumptious variegated yarn has the potential to be outstanding, and I decided to make my first foray into this technique with some luscious Noro Silk Garden, a silk-mohair-wool blend from Japan that comes in simply amazing colours. I chose a colourway that I thought Wayne's mum would like, and began.

...And haven't stopped since. I'm almost 3/4 of the way through the scarf, despite exams, despite studying, despite everything. Prying the needles out of my hands just isn't going to happen any time soon. Not only does the technique entrance me, but the colours (oh the colours!) and the overall finished product amaze me.

Isn't that just about the cleverest thing ever??! I'd be totally in love with this project, but the colours aren't *me*... I am making it for my mother-in-law, after all. However, I think I shall achieve scarf perfection with this...

...don't you? (Yes, I fell into Wool-Tyme on my way home... I needed holiday knitting!)

Gloves and Gardens (and socks, too)

DH and I have been watching Tin Man over the last couple of days, so I've snuck in some quality knitting time and actually finished two projects.

These wretchedly colourful socks are made from the Harlot's basic sock recipe, out of some funky Opal yarn that a girlfriend brought back as a souvenir from Europe for me.

These are Nereid fingerless gloves, round two, for Momma Linda. They're made from Estelle Arequipa that was left over from my Whisper Cardi. If you think the colour balance in this photo is a little wonky because my skin looks orange, you're not wrong... I henna'd my hair again a couple of days ago without gloves, and my hands look like I lost a fight in a carrot factory.

Some glorious shots of my garden, sans knitwear. Hope your long weekend is going swimmingly!

Signs of (Crafting) Life

I've since finished the companion to that lone fingerless glove I teased you with ages ago.



I've also completed the lovely Whisper cardigan from the Interweave Knits Spring magazine.







I absolutely love this knit and am thrilled to have finished something so lovely. I wore it for my final database exam and I think it made me 5% smarter.

There's also signs of life in the sewing room.





Mum Janet's quilt is coming along nicely... I love how it's working up. The neutrals are so elegant and the top stitching in the high-sheen rayon is delicious. I'm sure she'll be delighted with it!

Knitting Goodness

Ordinarily, I'd wait until a project was done to blog it, but these are making me so happy right now!



They... or rather, it (the twin glove has yet to be born) is the Nereid Fingerless Glove, based on Cookie A's Pomatomus sock pattern. The yarn is a scrumptious merino/baby alpaca blend called "Diamond Luxury" from Mary Maxim (!) that seems to be no-where on their site... a friend picked it up while on a stitchy crawl in Toronto from their outlet store. It's 50 grams of pure heaven... wonder why they don't sell it over the net?

Postcard From The West Edge

(Written on Saturday but not posted until today due to a lack of time to get collaborating pictures downloaded)

It was impossible to just go away and leave it all behind… there are mid-terms coming up in college, studying to be done, projects to work on. As if that wasn’t enough pressure, I had additional goals. Get some gloves started, make a pouch for my Zen MP3 player. Finish Eye of the North, and finish mapping Elona. Cheer mum up.

I’m on the plane back, and I got every single one of those goals done, yet I still feel as if I had a holiday. I spent hours tinkering with Oracle, made study notes for Computer Fundamentals, wrote two pages for English, and put together some info for Success Skills.

Here’s the gloves that I started.



(Recognize that scrumptious yarn, V? )

Here’s the MP3 cozy, prior to felting. Love that applied I-cord. God bless Elizabeth Zimmerman.



The Guild Wars goals… well… a little harder to show you, but I now have mapped all of Cantha and Elona and am beginning Tyria. It’ll be a nightmare, to be sure… it’s HUGE, but when I get the Tyrian Grandmaster Cartographer title, I will also max the Legendary Cartographer title, for obtaining all three campaigns… and then I shall be Kind Of A Big Deal. No, really. I’m not just saying that. (I bet no-one has a clue what I’m going on about, but dudes, I did it, I’m proud of it, and you’re gonna hear about it.)

As for mum. Well. That’s not so straight forward. I don’t think she and I are quite polar opposites, but pretty darned close. I’m adventurous; she won’t drive a new way to the store. I take charge of a situation; she lets the situation take charge of her. She is letting her fears and anxieties run her over, and it’s taking the inevitable toll on her health. She needs me, or some other personal cheer-leader, there every day… I did what I could but I hate to leave her to her own devices. Reason 4,744 why being in Ottawa SUCKS.

You want to see Reason 4,741-4,743? Here ya go.







(That's a caterpillar on that leaf. A live one. In the middle of freakin' February.)

As demoralizing as it is to be on this metal tube which is hurtling me back to the land where winter still holds sway, my soul is refreshed. Perhaps I can make it through to our own spring. Sure, it’ll be in April… but it will be worth the wait.

Finally Finished

These two pairs of socks seemed to take forever, but they were worth the wait. I took pictures of these as I kayaked the Rideau canal last summer... Yeah... they're skating on it now. Glory hallelujah, they're done. (Indigo Moon hand-dyed yarn, Cookie A's Hedera pattern.)
These began as "Plane Socks", started on DPN's as I needed something to work on while flying out West. Then they became "The Socks That Never End"... and now they're simply done. I ran out of the "On Your Toes" yarn near the top but boldly kept on knitting with some Louet Gems that I had laying around... these are lovely cold-weather buddies.

Finally, in the sewing room, I've made a lovely outfit for dancing. Kate and I sat in on some of Linda MacPhee's workshops at CSNF in the fall, and Linda has made me fall in love all over again with sewing. Great patterns, clearly written, and not needlessly complicated, made in forgiving and wonderfully drapy fabrics. What's not to love?

Wayne and I are doing a floor-show at our dance-studio this Thursday... a sultry rumba to Sade's Smooth Operator. I'll be wearing this:
This skirt, Linda's "Salsa Skirt", is made out of movement itself. I think it would dance without me wearing it... I can't wait to show it off in the studio. Looking fantastic is at least half of any dance routine! (The top is just her "Model T" with funnel neck and long sleeves.)

I love this skirt so much I just ordered more slinky from Linda to make three more... I'm hoping to record our floor-show, but will only post it if it is of good quality, and if the dancers (cough*us*cough*) don't screw it up too badly. Wish us luck!

Week Five, and I Am Humbled

The first couple of weeks, I was cocky. "This is easy!" I said, tempting fate and showing how little I've really learned in life.

The next two weeks picked up a little. Assignments followed labs which followed tutorials which followed quizzes, and I cocked an eyebrow in the general direction of my schoolwork and thought I may have to start applying myself a little.

It's now week five, and I beg forgiveness of the capricious School Gods who smote me mightily for my over-confidence those first weeks. It's not that it's beyond me, it's just that there's SO MUCH of it and it never stops coming and deadlines are blurring and I'm never sure what's due when and I am having to devote a huge chunk of non-school time to... well, school.

I'm still loving it. Don't get me wrong. It's just that it's not the cakewalk I mistook it for. (You can all stop laughing now. I know you all saw it coming.)

I'm still managing to knit on the sly... I've actually finished two pairs of socks this week, including the now falsely-named Socks That Never End (TM). (Pics to come) I swatched last night for a pair of Nereid fingerless gloves, a little somethin-somethin that I can take on the plane with me when I fly to Vancouver Island for reading week. (The week after next. Can I get an alhamdulillah??!)

Thanks to all the commenters on my last post. Two of you were new commenters, and it was so nice to hear from you! Sometimes I feel I'm talking to myself out here, so I loves the comments.

BTW... Ratbastard transit strike is nominally over but bus service won't begin until next week, full service within two months. Um. Rejoice?

Stay warm, friends. The end of winter is nigh.

Coming Up for Air

...huh? Pardon? I have a blog? Wow. Guess I better update it! :)

College has turned my life on its head, in mostly a good way. I have a full load of six courses, and I love them all... but especially Java. This week I hammered my first ever program together, and despite the sheer terror of only vaguely having a clue what I was doing, it was mad fun and exhilarating as hell to successfully run it for the first time.

The transit strike continues to run my life. The inaction of every side involved is crazy-making. There have been days when I have arrived at college 6 hours before my first class and stayed 3 hours after my last class, just because that was the only ride I could obtain. Dudes... it sucks in every way possible. My laptop and my knitting are my constant companions as I sit on the floor in a hallway somewhere, feeling a little like a bag lady.

I'm still knitting on The Socks That Never End (TM) ... they are both up to my knees and I'm finishing off the cuff. (Please, God, let them be done soon.) I'm almost done one sleeve on the Kauni cardi. I've sewed up a skirt and top in the sewing room; pics when I get the chance.

I will now return to my regularly scheduled weekend. Enjoy it, despite the nose-hair-freezing coldness.

To Die For

I'm two inches into a sleeve on the Kauni cardigan, I have yarn for one other cardigan and one other sweater already in stash, yet I have an unholy burning desire to knit this.



Not in white, 'cause I think I'd cry the first time I inevitably stained it, but all the same. How hard should I fight this, considering the pattern is free and the yarn is only around $40 from Knitpicks?

Oooooh. Damn that beautiful Nordic knitting!

The Last Knit

I think this was me in a previous life-time.

Rather Cool

As I referenced in my last post, I have worries that I don't have enough yarn for the cardigan. That's a problem, as the yarn is imported from Denmark and rather pricey. I posted my concerns to a group on Ravelry and one commenter told me that Tradewinds, Lucy Neatby's shop, was a Canadian carrier of Kauni EQ. (For those not in the know, Lucy's a bit of a maverick rock star in the knitting world.)

I called just now to order a ball of the luscious stuff, and who should answer the phone but Lucy herself, with her lovely British accent! I got all giggly. It was a really nice surprise and completely unexpected.

My First Steeks

So it's been a Big Day in my little crafting world. I finished the body of the Kauni cardigan! I know everyone thought I burned it on the back lawn 'cause I've been conspicuously not mentioning it, but I've been diligently plunking away at it. It's slow going, to be sure, but this is a major milestone.

Today I sewed the shoulders shut using a three-needle bind-off. What a lovely seam this makes.



Then I went up to the sewing room and did the obligatory "please God don't unravel" line of zig-zag stitches on either side of the steek lines.



I didn't think twice, or fret, or even have the recommended glass of wine before I calmly put scissors to steeks.



I had been getting concerned, because Ruth's pattern is pretty scant on details, and I've never made a cardigan before... it looked weird. Holes everywhere, stitches on holders... once the steeks were cut, everything made more sense. I am pleased to report that it looks more or less like a cardigan before the sleeves are put in. (Excuse the crappy pics, they were solo'd.)





My only complaint is that it's a little small. It could use another 4 inches in width... not a huge deal as there are still button-bands to attach, and I could always do very generous bands to make up for the width issues. I'm *very* pleased, all things considered, and already have an inch done on one of the sleeves.

Here's hoping I have enough yarn.