Quickie

I'm leaving in hours...but had to share this before I left.



Super awesome pics thanks to my 3 year old Stink.

Shut down for maintenance

Baad Medicine industries has to take a little leave.

J. is off in the land of pineapple and luaus.

T. is off to the land of koalas and kangaroos.

We will be back in a couple weeks, with stories, knitting and more.

Vancouver Twenty-Ten

The Olympics are coming to Canada! And with them, a huge amount of excitement for all Canadians.

There are torch relays to attend, and Olympic paraphenalia to buy, and pressure to apply to all the Canadian athletes (especially the hockey players - anything less than gold would be a huge disappointment.

Some of us are actually going to attend some Olympic events (J., not me) in Vancouver, while others (me) will watch from home with 2 little men who've been told that if they don't cheer from Canada they might get arrested. When you're 6, you generally just like to cheer for whoever is winning - he needs to learn that when it comes to the Olympics, it's entirely based on your country.

What I am doing to be prepared? Picking out my Ravelympics project. The Vine Yoke Cardigan By Ysolda (who is a genius!!). J. will also be partaking in this project.

I am getting excited to cast-on and knit for glory. And keeping my fingers crossed that we get at least ONE gold medal on Canadian soil.

I've come to a Difficult Decision

I am going away for a family vacation. There will be sun and a beach. There will ice cream and pineapples. And hopefully, there will be a little knitting.

I had decided that knitting a Damson in Wollmeise would be delightful holiday knitting. It's light and compact with a lot of easy garter stitch. In preparation for this project, I set out to wind my yarn. And that's when everything went horribly wrong.

I have most of the yarn wound in a lovely cake on my ball winder. The last 100 yds or so are a horrible knot. And not just any knot. It's the knot to end all knots. I struggled with it. I tugged and wiggled and eased and worked and after 2 hours, there is still a knot. It is a much smaller knot, but still a knot.

I couldn't sleep last night. The anxiety of preparing for a trip with 2 small people, packing, worrying and THE KNOT combined to keep me up all night. And I have to decided that it is not worth it. I am going to CUT the yarn. I am going to cut my expensive, covetted, rare and wonderful German yarn to save my sanity. I should still have lots of yarn for the Damson and I will keep the naughty knotty end as a precaution.

This is the most unkindest cut of all...

A Bird in the Hand....

....is priceless. At least, these ones are.

I like to do a little selfish knitting for my birthday. It's just after the holidays and I have spent the last few months of the year knitting gifts for loved ones. Once I'm finished, I cast on for myself.

These are the Bird in Hand mittens. I love them. Cascade 220 in red and a lovely, lofty, creamy alpaca that lives not 45 minutes from where I am typing.

They are warm and soft and make me smile.