Love / Hate

I hate....

....traffic.

....knitting the second sleeve.

....Cadillac Escalades.

....cleaning out my garden at the end of the season.

I love....

....warm fall days.

....leaves falling.

....deciding my Christmas knit list has 1 item. If it gets done then I'll move on to the secondary list.

....my boys. All 3 of them.

Give myself some credit

I ran into a neighbour today out shopping. She too was looking for some new winterwear and obviously shops at the same fancy stores as I do.

We were chit chatting about the school and after school activities and how September sucks the life out of mothers. Then she said "I just don't know how you do it all Teri". And I laughed. My neighbour - the uber-mother of 4 is surprised by my schedule? Everyday I see her I wonder the same thing, how does she do it all?

We look at our neighbours and catch these small snippets of their life. We see them getting into their cars, going for walks and chasing children in their yard. But these are just little glimpses into their reality. Just like they only know about my life from what they see (mostly me scurrying to and from the car with the kids in tow). And when we catch these windows into our neighbours lives we often underestimate what we are doing. The lovely person across the street always seems to have it together, she must me an amazing mom. I've only ever seen the lady around the corner with a smile on her face, she must have it all together.

And they look back and me and see the same thing.

Maybe sometimes I should try and see what they see.

Being 20, again

So Miss J and I are going out tonight. To see a band. At a concert. Living life like we did back in the day. Although, truly, back in the day we wouldn't have been able to afford to see this band.

Anyway, our question to you is:

Are we too old to sport concert t-shirts, even if they are likley to only ever be seen at the park with our kids?

Things you could never have enough of....

I was thinking the other day of one of my favorite articles of clothing - the white t-shirt. I have a variety of them in my closet - from short-sleeves to long-sleeves, from crew neck to v-neck. I realized that I could likely never own too many white t-shirts. They are a staple in my wardrobe (and really a great choice under a hand-knit cardigan).

I think if you were to pose this question to knitters, what could you never have enough of, they would say "yarn". So, dear knitters, I'll modify this question for you:

Other than yarn, What could you never have enough of?

The Never-ending Button Dilemma- The Finale

You may recall that I was having a button dilemma regarding a finished baby sweater. I dove into my button bin and pulled out some options, but I wasn't convinced about any of them to be honest.

I lucked out on a trip to a LYS in Calgary a few weeks ago. Button, button, who's got the button? Well Pudding Yarns does.

Check out these.....
They are little shell-like buttons with a purple hue. Perfect.

I also picked up these.....


and this one....


When you find good buttons, you can't pass them up.

44 hours and counting

Since my last stitch.


No knitting since Friday night.


I haven't even gone insane yet.

He's Arrived

Catty, with whom I share an office and a passion for knitting, had a beautiful little man yesterday.

I got to meet the little boxer today but, of course, forgot to bring my camera. I assure you, he's a keeper.

He's about 4 weeks early, so the communal knitting didn't quite get done....better get knitting, ladies (you know who you are....).

Congrats to the whole family!!

T's Guide to Freakin' Out People

Step 1: Look like a normal suburban mom. Preferrably in the normal suburban mom uniform of Lululemon. Looking like a normal suburban mom also means you have to look a little rushed and under pressure, but also sport perfect eye makeup and hair.

Step 2: Carry a normal looking bag. Not a bag with any knitting or crafting reference. A bag such as a those made by Coach, or Kate Spade, or Burberry. Truly, any high end bag (and make sure you refer to it as a bag, not a purse) will do.

Step 3: Take your child to their activity of choice. Swimming lessons, soccer, fencing. Whatever your uber-suburban pre-schooler is into at the time.

Step 4: Get your child appropriately introduced to the activity. Make sure they are comfortable in their surroundings. Give them a hug, whatever you need to do to urge them into full participation.

Step 5: Step back. Take a seat with the other normal suburban moms. Observe your child for a few minutes, give them a wave and a smile, then throw them a kiss.

Step 6: Engage in idle chit chat with the women around you. Discuss your child's other activites, how great they're doing in their new school, how excited they are to be swimming/soccer-ing/fencing. Make the other mothers truly believe that you too are a normal suburban mom.

Step 7: Now, this is the key to the Freak out. While talking to the other mothers, slowly and methodically, pull .... out ... your ... knitting.

Step 8: Wait for it. Wait for it. There is it. Shock, furtive glances, chairs turning. You have accomplished the freak out. It usually, in my estimation and experimentation, takes approximate 1-3 minutes for this to occur.

Then you have it. Peace and quiet. You are no longer forced to engage in the idle chit chat, or the comparisons of Bobby Sue's* busy after school schedule or Johnny's* difficulty with his Montessori program. You can sit, watch your Punk swim with an amazing all-encompassing grin, and knit in peace. It works, I can guarantee the results.


*note that these are made up names for the other children that were there. Also note that no normal suburban member of the mom-fia would name their children Bobby Sue or Johnny. I have yet to come across any children with these names in my uber-suburban neighbourhood.

Warm Yarn-y Thoughts

It has been said time and time again about the amazing nature of knitters. We are a strong spirited community of good hearted people.

This community has sent me warm wishes from Sweden, the UK, Australia, the US and just down the street. In the form of good thoughts, blog notes and cakes.

And I just want to say thank you. Thank you, thank you.

You are some good good people.

Thank you.

(and I'm well. Bored, tired, sore, but all in all well)

Careful what you wish for

I think it's every knitters dream to have a broken leg that makes it unable for them to go to work. They have to sit all day in a chair with their leg up and nothing to do but.....yes that's it....knit.


You know, I don't recommend it as a means to get more knitting done. Really don't.

Passing in the Night

Miss J. and I are very busy ladies these days. Well, more busy than normal.

J. is currently in Toronto at a meeting (read as: stalking the Harlot).

I am off (in 2 sleeps, yes, counting sleeps) to a meeting. There may be some yarn shopping.

So, I leave the blog in the finely skilled hands of my partner. Remember last time I left. If you didn't read them the first time around, you should. It's some good work.

See you next week...hopefully I'll have pretty pretty things to share.

Sure signs

I have chosen to live in a place where winter takes a firm hold for endless months. I have chosen this, so I feel I cannot complain (at least, not too much). If it was unbearable, I could move. But I don't. I continue to live here, along with many other sturdy and strong, winter-hardy people. We hunker down for long months, succumbing to a horrible infliction known as "cabin fever". Then when you think you cannot take one more day....certain sightings occur.

Boys on bikes.

Plants. Green plants. Not dead brown ones.

Non-woolen knits popping up here and there.

(This is my Picovoli in a beautiful linen/cotton blend - more on that next time).

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Breathe in that air while you can, cause heck, it could snow again next week (or later today for that matter).

Reprieve

My dear husband and I had a little bit of a reprieve last night. The boys went to their Popa and Grandma's for a sleep over. We went out for dinner with some people Jeff knows from work; they had invited us over to their place.

I have to be honest, I was NOT looking forward to it. I'm not so good at small talk. I don't like meeting new people (J. says that I have a loathing for the general public - it must stem from that). These are people Jeff knows and I've met once, 2 years ago. I could have thought of a lot better things to do with our night off. But, being the dutiful wife that I am (no laughing), I went, with a smile on.

It started off well. Wine, lots of good wine, followed by an amazing dinner. Then I mentioned something about being at a knitting store recently, and you won't believe what happened next. I found out that the lovely lady is a knitter. Seriously? We had knitting show and tell, we discussed Elizabeth Zimmermann, I introduced her to Ravelry. It made conversation easy and the boys could talk "shop" without feeling too guilty. All in all, a suprisingly fun night.

You gotta love knitters.

Deep Thoughts (well, more like random, semi-shallow thoughts)

Why when you want to start a new project and are looking for inspiration, nothing speaks to you; but when you're not looking for a new project, everything speaks to you?

Why is there not enough hours in the day to work, parent, eat, be a spouse and knit, and be able to do all these things with gusto and heart?

Why does your brain literally hurt when you are learning new concepts?

Why can't I figure out how to easily construct a pattern chart so I can publish the new sock pattern here and give some actual knitting-related content rather than random, fleeting thoughts?

Why is life so hard?

Why do we as women question our beauty, talent and intelligence, when we are smart, talented and beautiful women?

Why did I watch that stupid show last night and waste one hour of my life, when I could have used that hour to (a) clean a bathroom, (b) fold laundry, (c) have a conversation with my husband, or (d) gone to bed?

Why have I started 3 different projects this week and frogged each and every single one of them?

Why do I keep rambling on?

Why am I the only person in the world who doesn't know what the h-e-double hockey sticks is going on in Lost?

Why do all the adults in my house have to have such large feet, that it takes forever to make socks?

Why is it already March?

Ok, I'm feeling better now.

Thanks for listening.

I'm not buying what you're selling

You know when people try and convince you of something. Something that you firmly believe is wrong or crazy, but someone will work really hard to shake your foundation of beliefs. I just want to tell them "I'm not buying what you're selling".

Case 1:
Nylons with open-toed shoes. My mother (who was raised by quite the fashionista) believes a proper lady always wears nylons or tights. I often balk at this - mostly because finding comfortable tights for my 6'2" frame is near impossible. I have to buy the xx-queen size in order to be able to pull them up. I get the ones that fit 250-300 lbs and hope they'll stretch vertically rather than horizontally. Anyway, back to my original point. Open toed shoes are in - and supposedly wearing them in winter is ok. With your tights. I did this once and I couldn't stop looking at my feet. I felt self-conscious all day long - I thought someone was going to come up to me and say "That's not appropriate dear" (with my grandmothers inflection). So no matter how many fashion mavens say "it's ok" I'm just not sure I'm buying what they're selling. Your thoughts?

Case 2:
That this pattern is going to work.



J. and I joined this sock club. Beautiful yarn, good price. Our first sock club (in preparation for '08 Rockin' Sock Club). And the promise of nice patterns with the yarn.
The actual stitch pattern is nice - easily memorized, only a 4 row repeat. I can handle this with no problem, right? Oh no, so so wrong. I knit the heel flap, turned the heel and started the gussets. The pattern wasn't centred on the front of the foot - so I frogged. Back to the start of the heel, re-centred the pattern, re-started the heel flap. *&$()*&ed it up - somehow kept dropping a stitch. Ripped back AGAIN. To me, 2 frogging incidents means something's up. The yarn or pattern is cursed or there is a toxic combination of yarn & pattern. Now I'm contemplating my options. The yarn is supposedly a little heavier than fingering, so I'm looking at patterns that use a bit heavier yarn. The only problem is that these on are the Christmas To Do list and I can't weigh my options for too long.

Case 3:
That this kid hasn't been naughty.


Really.
Buddy - I'm not buying what you're selling. And neither is Santa.