The Things You Do

When you live here and everyone else lives way over there, there are crazy things you do to keep in touch.

You text your morning routine to your best friend (with pictoral evidence) to give them an idea of what it looks like.

You prepare for Christmas and birthdays months in advance to allow for mail time.

You learn how to convert time to multiple time zones within a second.

You spend your Saturday and Sunday mornings with the computer on waiting for the Skype phone to ring.

You accept ridiculously generous gifts so that you can do an across the ocean KAL together. Ridiculously generous gifts that make your week.

You make every effort possible to keep them all close even when they are not.

And it's worth it. Every minute spent is so worth it.

Worth the Wait

Sometimes things take longer than you think they will.

These socks took a couple of weeks to knit, partly because they have a lot going on and partly because I had a lot going on.

I really like how they turned out. Marilinda's for the Knit.Sock.Love knitalong on Ravelry.

Coffee anyone?

(that's my handspun.....)

I Spy

Yarn!

Crocheted Hearts!

I can't tell you how delighted I was to spy this on a dreary winter morning.

A Sock and a Princess

P2 would like to show you what her Momma has been up to.

Momma has knit a sock. Just one. It took a while. The other sock has been cast on, so there will be two eventually. It's tough to knit when little Princesses want to play.

There's a fancy pattern on this sock. See?

Now, let's go have a snack.

Happy Valentines Day!

I always feel it's important to accessorize.

KAL-ing Along

Miss J. has been excellent at showing off her beautiful new socks as part of the Knit. Sock. Love. KAL on Ravelry. Amazing stuff.

I have been remiss. I too am part of the KAL, however have hit a few road blocks along the way. My first pair of socks, the Pointelles, are back on track though, I'm happy to say. I took the advice you all left, and decided to rip back the 2nd sock, and reknit Chart G. The first sock is lovely - just too small for me. So I figure I have a couple options (1) block them or (2) give them to my almost 11- year old niece who has size 10 feet. If they don't fit her now, they'll certainly fit her soon enough.


In the mean time I also started my February / March socks and have cast on some Marilinda's. I'm not sure if I have enough yarn to make them big enough for me, but that's ok. If they're not, I'll save them for Christmas.


Maybe the March / April socks will be mine.

In and Out Quickly

Another pair of Cookie A socks have flown off my needles.

I was using some leftover yarn to knit some birthday socks for a February birthday. (No, T. It wasn't you.) I had 100 g of wollmeise sock yarn leftover from this little number that I knit myself for Christmas.

(It's the Still Light Tunic from Veera. I love her.)

So I was pretty sure that I had enough yarn going in to these socks, but I quickly realize that knitting this many cables takes a lot of yarn. I only did one pattern repeat on the leg and they are still a generously sized sock.

I really love this pattern. I even thought about making myself a pair but the completed foot pattern with toe made the sock too long for me. It's a good thing they are intended for someone with bigger feet.

Happy Birthday, T!

T. I know moving to Oz wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do. You left your parents, your friends, winter (I'm a little jealous about that) and regular hockey games on the CBC. You had to learn a new language and a new culture. You had to find new ways of doing things (I'm more than a little jealous about grocery delivery. Maybe you could bring that back with you.) You get to knit beach cover ups instead of toques and mittens.

The great thing is that you are up to that challenge. You can move to a new continent and figure out how to make things normal for your family. You settle in and you get things done. You are so smart and saavy that you don't miss a beat. And somehow, you've managed to continue to be the friend I rely on for advice and support.

Today is your birthday, so go out and celebrate. Celebrate what a great job you've done making a new life in a new place. Celebrate the friends you have, where ever they are. Celebrate the person you are, and know that we're celebrating right along with you.

Happy Birthday!

Epic Fail

So, I'm knitting socks.

These ones.

As part of a knit-a-long no less.

First sock - done. BUT.....doesn't fit. Too tight in the arch.

Second sock - just turned the heel and

FAIL.

I missed stupid gosh-darned Chart G. VITAL Chart G that is. Chart G that sets up the foot.

SO - frog back to where Chart G should be?
Or, frog both (as the first doesn't fit anyway) and start anew?
Or, another option??

Small Packages

I have a little sister. She's 8 years younger than me, so we don't have the usual sister relationship. When I graduated from high school and went away to university, she was 9 years old. She used to follow me around. She would sneak into my room and play with my things. She would get on my nerves.

We don't look that much alike. I take after my Mom and she looks more like my Dad's side. I have brown hair and eyes, she is blond with blue eyes. (She'll tell you that they are green but I have my doubts.) People used to ask if she was switched at birth. She was always teeny tiny and I wasn't. That got on my nerves, too.

As she grew up, we got to be friends. She went to university. We went out for breakfast and I helped her study. She even moved in to my basement for a while.

Now she's having a baby. My little sister is going to be a Mom. I have a feeling we'll have a lot more to talk about...

like how to keep her little monkey happy. (Baby Monkey in KnitPicks Simply Organic Cotton.)

or how to dress babies in cute knitted outfits (Pepita in Wollmeise Twin.)

I have lots of advice for her, but she might not take it. And that's ok, cause she's my sister.