Yay! Hemlock is completed! I tell ya, having to knit it twice was slightly unpleasant, but not as bad as I though it would have been. Having to do that cast of edge twice though, well that would have killed me! It took me two hours to do the cast of border, I have to admit it does look nice though. When I saw some other knitters complaining about the cast off edge on raverly, I have to admit, I kinda thought they were being wussy.. but holy crap it's tedious!!



Anyway here it is as a gross lace blob pre blocking. I was a little worried when I first took it off the needles and saw it.


Here's a close up of the pretty hemlock centre.



And finally, the whole thing. Pretty eh? Lace is one of the only things that I knit where at the end I am really impressed with myself.

Notice my beautiful blocking board? I got that idea from Deb Barnhill, who told me that she used a kids play mat as a blocking board. It's perfect. The foam is really easy to pierce, and when I am done I can put the pieces back in their plastic carrier. Ideal for a one bedroom apartment. Not bad for $20. (Even though it meant I had to brave Walmart in December *shudder*)

I may not be a great poster for the next couple weeks. I am heading to my parent's soon aka houses with no internet for a week or so.

Happy Holidays!

Ribbit Ribbit

*Sigh* So I was ALMOST done my Hemlock Ring Blanket... and I was wondering why oh why was it so much smaller than everyone elses... then it dawned on me as I actually read the pattern (instead of skimmed it like I had before)... I had to do FOUR plain rows of knitting in between increases... not THREE like I had been.

I don't swear very often... but fuck man! That sucks!

So I had to frog the whole frickin' thing out. I was so excited that I was almost done and I had to frog the whole thing! Arg! At least I got to do it at KOL so I had the support of fellow knitters. There is no way I could have done it around Mike, he gets really upset when I rip out my knitting.

So I know I have been a terrible knitting blogger, but I have been a pretty good knitter. I have finished one unbloggable project (which is on raverly). I have also finished a pair of perfect old man socks for my Grand-Daddy and I FINALLY sewed buttons on to Thermal, only took me 9 months.


Thermal - With buttons :)



Undulating Rib Socks from Favorite Socks in the DGB Confetti I scored at the stash swap.

Squash Soup and Toe Up Socks

I made a delicious of of my very easy very yummy squash soup the other day, and I thought I would share the recipe with you fine people.


I start out by chopping up a large Spanish onion, and a few stalks of celery. I then saute the onion and the celery in a tablespoon or two of olive oil with a dash of salt and pepper until they are softened and glistening. Meanwhile I cube a medium sized butternut squash.

I then add the butternut squash and a tablespoon or so (more or less according to taste) or Red Thai Curry Paste to the onion and celery.


After they have softened up a little I add a couple cups of water or chicken stock (depending on what I have) to the mixture and allow it to soften some more. When the squash is cooked I pour the mixture into a food processor and blend it. After it is all smooth and blended I add 1 can of coconut milk, stir it in, and serve. It is very tasty, especially with some nice crusty bread :)



Finally here at my first pair of toe up socks, knit with Confetti superwash cotton/wool blend. I am very happy with the socks, except that the cuff is quite tight. I blame the cotton's non stretchyness, as I cast off twice and worked REALLY hard at keeping it loose. Thanks Steph for showing me how to start the toe!

My friend Judie's baby shower is today (it was suppose to be last week but was postponed due to Noel) so I have a sheldon and a baby bolero (from One Skein) all wrapped up and ready to go. The baby bolero is organic cotton and sheldon is made from Shine, so both items are nice and machine washable. She's ready to go in about a month, so I am pretty excited.



Don't they look pretty on their tissue all ready to be wrapped up? I should photograph more items on plain tissue instead of my parkay floors.

So as anyone living in Halifax or Nova Scotia knows, last night was just plain gross. It snowed and not the nice pretty fluffy lets go play in it type of snow either. Not to be detered we trekked our way down to the Oasis for wing night and beer. I was very grateful for my red felted cloche as I think it is the world's warmest hat. It is a good time of year to be a knitter :)

I finished my embossed leaves socks, and I am really happy with them. The only thing I don't like is that they are not terribly stretchy, I like socks with more of a ribbing feel so that they hug my feet. Also because my gauge is so loose they are a little big. I think they will shrink a little in the wash though and be perfect. I am happy that I decided to keep them for myself, we had our first snow today and goodness knows I will be needing some nice wool socks.

I watched the Pride and Prejudice BBC mini series today and yesterday (6 hours total of dreamy Mr. Darcy) and managed to get this started:



It's Juno from the Knitty surprise. I found the lace a little tricky at first, but once I got used to it it was fine. Now I have the fun of repeating two rows over and over again for the rest of my life! Well maybe it will go quickly....

I had a productive day today. I managed to mostly finish one of my three major term papers. yay me :) I still had better get crackin though because the other two are due next week. Eep!! People were not joking when they told me Grad School was more work than undergrad.

I have managed to get some knitting done though :) I finished 1 sock of my pair of embossed leaves and I am on to the second. It's odd, I had a bit of first sock syndrome this pair, and so far I am finding the second sock much more pleasurable. I think I will keep them for myself, after some internal debate I have decided that I have not made anything for myself in a while, and I deserve a little something.

Anyone else loving this lovely crisp fall weather? I love this time of year, when mittens, hats and scarves are more like fun accessories than things you need to live. I always feel the most inspired to knit during the fall. Unfortunately though I do tend to get a bit of knitters block in the winter...

So my blogging habits have not gotten much better lately, and I am sorry to say probably won't for the next little while. I am just ridiculously swamped with school work so I have not had the time or energy to do much extra typing!


I have gotten some knitting done though. Twist is finished! Here is Mike proudly wearing his new vest. It looks really great on him. Sorry the picture is kind of crappy, the flash was too bright and made it look like there is holes in, but there isn't! I am very proud of myself and best of all I think he will actually wear it. He proudly wore it to work yesterday and said that he got a lot of comments. Yay!

So for anyone wondering, the pattern is Twist from No Sheep for You, I don't own the book, it was in Interview Knits. I used Knitpicks Wool of Andes in coal and 3.25mm needles. I am not nuts about the yarn, there was quite a few errors in the spin and some icky hard bits, but it is quite soft and has a nice stretch.

Anyone remember the Sheldon I knit a while ago? Well a friend of mine is having a baby shower so he finally found a home. Good for Sheldon :) I used black yarn (from Mike's sweater) to make the eyes so he is baby safe.

Lastly, because I am a follower and not a leader I have jumped on the embossed leaves bandwagon. I have to say though it is a really fun and addictive pattern :)

worst blogger ever!

Ugh I am so sorry it's been so long since I have updated. I have just had a crazy couple weeks with work. Plus it felt like the longer I waited to update the harder it was to motivate myself to get back on track. Not much knitting has happened in the past couple weeks. Mostly because I have been too busy to sit and knit, and I have never mastered the art of knitting and reading. I always end up getting distracted by either my knitting or my reading, whichever is more interesting, usually my knitting.

I did finish the cabled socks that I was working on. The cable really got lost in there, but I still like them.


I also attended the Windsor Pumpkin Festival, which was quite literally people rowing giant carved out pumpkins across the river. There was both a manual and a motorized division. I am now in awe of Windsor, and their giant pumpkins.

Well I can't even begin to describe how busy I have been. Work has been pressuring me to take more nursing homes... and I have been agreeing because well... I need the money. On top of that school has been getting crazier and crazier. Apparently they don't just give out Master's degrees... unless you can find some sort of sketchy internet site which probably isn't a good idea. Anyway I am going to hermit for the weekend and hopefully I can get on top of things. Hopefully.

Anyway I thought I would take a little break to say a huge thank you to my tea pal! And to express how glad I am that my tea pal recipient is happy with her items. Here's her post about it. Also, for the record, it's a facecloth, haha.

My tea pal gifter was Julie from Team Knit. She really went over the top with her gifts, and really picked items that suit me. I am so pleased!!

First off my favorite item, a lovely white mug (which I am using as I type) with a very pretty little mug cozy. I love it, it's so cute! The mug has a really nice balance and feel to it, feels good when I drink out of it :)


And here's the full pile of goodies!


Included in the package is:
- a lovely bag of white tea (of which I have already had a cup, it's really nice)
- A tea strainer which will be very handy as I can use my regular tea pot to brew tea and then skim the leaves off of my cup
- a box of bagged Jasmine tea which I have not tried yet, but I do really like Jasmine tea
- a bar of chocolate with EARL GREY inside! How exciting is that?
- Two beautiful skeins of purple drop Camelia lambs wool
- a box of tea bags (to make a tea bag with loose tea - very cool)
- and a bottle of really pretty sweet smelling white tea lotion

Thank you so much tea pal! You were so generous!!!

I had a great weekend in PEI, stuffing myself with Turkey and visiting my family. Unfortunately due to car troubles (not the Yaris) and an accident on the road the trip back took us a grand total of 10 hours. Still I think it was worth it for the good food, nice wine, and tolerable company.

I finished one of my cabled socks on the trip back. I haven't started the second one though... I don't tend to get major second sock syndrome, I just get stuck in two spots. The first spot I get stuck in is casting on and the second is doing the heel, once I have gotten over those little humps I happily finish the pair.

I am puttering away at Ravelry, it sure takes a long time to get all your projects on when you aren't a big Flickr user. I really need to start taking better pictures of my finished objects. Seriously, a lot of them you can barely make out what I even made let alone get an idea of how wonderful/ugly it was!

I finally got my Ravelry invite!! It came yesterday morning before one of the longest days ever!! I had to work in a home in Windsor then go see a Veteran come home and write the report change into a nice dress and go to an Alumni dinner then head over for Trivia at the Grawood. It was crazy - but I did it! Unfortunately though I still really haven't had much time to explore Raverly, my screen name is Mags by the way if anyone wants to add me.



I cast on for the Cabled Ribbed Socks from Favorite Socks on Wednesday thinking that it would be a nice travel project for the weekend.. well I have already turned the heel because I could not put it down so I think I better bring some extra sock yarn just in case. I am using Opal Mosiac for these socks, and while I really like the look of them, you really can barely see the cable. I am OK with that, but it's good to know for the future, that your patterns hardly show up at all with yarn like this.



I have given up on my black ribbed cardigan, it just wasn't happening. So I am using the yarn to make Tailored Scallops from Lace Style. I am really happy with how it's turning out, but I am having to make some serious mods since I am using a DK weight when it calls for a chunky!

The real joy of knitting is making people happy. Like Tweeg here with his new dishcloth/facecloth/doily (he hasn't decided)



It's knit in Knitpicks Cotlin, and the pattern is a free one I found online but now I can't find the link anymore. I used 3.5mm needles which is like using 4.5mm if you have normal tension.

Well it shouldn't be too much longer until I get my raverly invite. Maybe another week or two?

Found you!

• You signed up on August 2, 2007
• You are #22544 on the list.
• 2690 people are ahead of you in line.
• 14755 people are behind you in line.
• 53% of the list has been invited so far

I guess I should quit my whining and be glad that I am not one of the 14755 people behind me! In the meantime I am working on uploading as many pictures as I can to flickr. Can anyone tell me how to get one of those flickr things in my side bar?

Tea Pal

I am going to start naming posts. I realize this will make life much easier for those of you who use live bookmarks like I do. A word of warning though - I am very boring with my titles, which is why I have avoided them thus far.

So what's the best way to get yourself to update your blog when you have been procrastinating? Why start writing a paper for school of course!! Haha I am suppose to be writing a paper on what the Ottawa and Jakarta Charters for health promotion mean to me, but I think I will type about knitting and tea instead :)

Here is what I have so far for my tea pal:



Above you will see a felted tea cozy made with Cascade 220. It needs to go through one or two more wash cycles still. There is also a package of tea bags for using loose tea. My tea pal only occasionally drinks loose tea because she finds bags inconvenient. So I think she will really like these. I also stuck in a bag of Royal Blend Tea.. I am not sure if she will like it though so I think I will try to get her a second kind. I also included a organic cotton face cloth and a skein of blue Drops Alpaca which from her questionnaire I think she will really LOVE.

Unfortunately she doesn't like scents. I had planned on including a few scented soaps and candles but that doesn't really fly with her so I am going to try and find some other goodies. I think I will be a little late with the shipping deadline though... October 1... but hopefully only by a couple days.

It has been a while since I updated. Sorry about that, things have been a little crazy around here.

Mike told me on Thursday night that he had to drive to Maine and back on Friday to renew his Visa. I volunteered to go with him for the trip and Mary said she would come along. It was a fun, but LONG day. We stopped in Houlton to have lunch with my buddy Amanda and her sister who just got back from two years of teaching in Japan. It was a good trip, and the Yaris did an excellent job :)

Last weekend I went up to my Mom's for a couple days. I was surrounded by furryness, which is always very nice. Here is one of her new cuddly Icelandic horses (Glode)

And here is Leif. He is not too pleased about the horses, but is a little afraid of them. So he expresses his distaste by going in the house and growling at them through the window.



Lastly here is a very manly sock I have been working on for my granddad for Christmas. The pattern is undulating rib from favorite socks. The yarn is some of the stash I scored at the last swap at KOL.

And now presenting the worst tea cozy ever made!!


Sorry tea pal, this was meant for you, but there is no way I would do that to you. The pattern is nice enough but it would really only fit the shortest, fattest tea pot ever made! So I am remaking a tea cozy, this one will be a felted one, and will tea pots of all shapes and sizes!




I have been thinking I have been sort of negative in blog land lately. Today when I was running I though about all the things in my life that make me happy and decided to post on it! Please note this is not in order. Also, I have not included knitting, friends or family because that's a given.

1. My Swift. Isn't it beautiful? It's handmade, about 100 years old. It actually belongs to one of my best friends, Gill Martin. It was her grandmothers, she gave to Gill. Gill said she had no where to keep it so I asked if I could borrow it. That was 5 years ago and it's still mine. I know that it is Gilly's though and she can have it back whenever she wants it.


2. There is a vet near my house that has a cat kennel in it. One of the rooms in the cat kennel has a big window that the cats can sit in and look out on the street. Everyday I walk by this window and there is usually a different adorable cat sitting in the window looking at people walk by. It always makes my day better.

3. Tea. I mean I love coffee and have to drink it every day, but is there really anything more comforting than a mug of your favorite tea? As much as I love coffee I can only have about 2 cups before I need to stop. Tea on the other hand I can drink as much as I want!

4. My animals :) From my crazy cat Sage, to my puppies Oliver, Baldur, Leif, Lilly and Miller - I am very blessed. Any my life is about to get furrier! Yesterday my mom got two Icelandic horses. I am going up to see them tomorrow, pictures will follow.


5. My Yaris.

6. My knitting chair. Sage is sitting in it in the above picture, it's also her favorite chair. It's an antique and is sort of falling apart. One day when I have money I will get it reupholstered.

Is raverly all its cracked up to be? Or do I just want it desperately because I can't have it!! I have been checking my list status almost obsessively now. I am about in the middle of the pack - 10,000 ahead, 10,000 behind. I want my invite oh so much!! Especially since the list has only gone done about 4,000 since I joined.

Why does gauge have to be such a dirty whore? You'd think it could be right... just once... once when it really counts!! I did everything right with my gauge swatch for my EZ sweater and the body is abut 4 inches wider than I wanted! Argh! I think it will still be ok, it will just be a looser sweater... that I will probably never wear. Sigh.

I bought the Yaris :) Mike has decided to call it Captain Long John Silver, because as Mary has pointed out it is rather Pirate like being a YARRRRRis and all. She says I should call it Cap'n for short. I agree. Now I just hope that I can work enough to pay for it! Could be tricky with school and all that fun stuff.

Now for some very bad news. Due to life circumstances Oliver is moving to Moncton. I won't get into the details on the internet, but I am really devastated. I have been teary ever since I found out on Sunday and I am still having a hard time getting control. I know he's not really my dog, so I don't get a say in what happens to him. But I really can't express how much I am going to miss him. I love seeing him and he is the closest thing I have to a dog. Plus we do have a really special connection.

Yaris!!



So I went to a couple dealerships, and at both places I feel in love with a Yaris. One was a cherry red two door, and the other was a silver four door. We decided the four door would be more convenient and Mike said that he would be embarrassed to drive a cherry red car that small.


So here is my silver beauty. It's not officially mine yet. I have it on an extended test drive until Monday night when I will make my final decision. This will be great because I am driving to Shelburne on Monday so I will get to see how it feels over a variety of road surfaces.



I think my mind is pretty much made up though, Oh Yaris you are so nice!

I would be lying though if I claimed I wasn't feeling guilty about leaving the beast. I have grown surprisingly attached to it, and I am gonna miss it too. I won't miss it's worn out brakes, leaking fuel tank, dripping oil pan and crappy wipers though.

Rough day yesterday. I wanted to get my car inspected but on the way their noticed a giant crack in the wind shield. I took it Apple to get it fixed (because it won't pass inspection with a crack), that set me back $312.00. That's a lot of yarn!! I took it to Mighty to get it fixed and was told I really shouldn't have bothered fixing the window because the car is a write off.

Fuck.

So now I am trying to decide if I will get my dear sweet brother Lionel to fix my car. Or if I should just get a new one. When I bought the beast I was in a really different position that I am in now. I intended to drive it for the summer and then see from there what happened. I didn't count on getting so attached to the beige hunk o junk though!!

But now I am driving all over the province for work - and I do get paid for the travel - and I think I want something that I know will work and that I know will be safe. My brother has been great about fixing it when it needs some work, but what if it breaks down when I am in Shelburne? On the other hand, not having a car payment is awfully nice.

I like any rock star that incorporates late 19th century poetry into their concerts. Last night I went to the Frosh Week Joel Plaskett concert on Dal Campus. It was quite fun, really great concert.

My favorite part though was during the last song which lasted about 15 minutes and was very Pink Floyd ish, Plaskett went through a lyric of Annabel Lee, the Edgar Allen Poe poem. Oddly enough I was the only person who recognized it among my friends. Bear in mind I am a science student and only took one arts course, English 1000 the whole time I was in university. Anyway it's a very pretty, but very sad poem, and I thought I would share it with you fine people.

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Not much knitting got done this weekend. I went to PEI early yesterday morning to attend the wedding of one Ms. Anne-Marie Brunet to a Mr. Wayne Peters. The wedding was that afternoon and I just got back this afternoon. Overall it was a great weekend, I drove up with an OT friend Sarah and we stayed in the luxurious 1 star Howard Johnson.


All joking aside the wedding was really beautiful. Anne-Marie was stunning in her dress and Wayne could not have looked happier as she walked down the aisle. Anne-Marie's family is Scottish and they was a charming Scottish favor to the whole affair. It was wonderful to see two such thoughtful and amazing people celebrate their relationship.

I made some good progress on my black sweater, of which I will post a picture of soon. I have done about 4 inches of twist ribbing, and about another 2 of plain stockinette. I only left 4 stitches for steeking, will that be enough? I think it will, I did one once with only two stitches, but that was a machine sewn steek not a crochet one, which I plan to do with this one.

I feel like I robbed a yarn store. I went to the Halifax KOL Stash Swap on Tuesday night and made out like a bandit. I really didn't bring very much either, so I am feeling quite a bit of yarn guilt. But not enough guilt to give the yarn back, let's not get crazy here kids.

There is this beautiful striping yarn that is destined to be a pair of socks for a parental figure in my life, probably my step dad or Grandad, haven't decided yet.



This wonderful Opal will probably do the same, for whoever didn't get the first pair of socks.


And this RED RED RED alpaca will be a Clapotis for my step mother who adores the color red.


All that beautiful yarn makes up for the $300 speeding ticket I got that morning. Well almost.

In other news I finished the shrug for Anne Marie's wedding. I think it turned out really cute. More rustic that I wanted it to be, but I still really like it. I would post a picture of me wearing it but sadly I have been abandoned by my boy for the weekend.

I have been plugging away at the Two Toned Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits. It's amazing how fast you can knit a sweater when you don't have to knit most of the arms or body! I ALMOST managed to do it with two balls of yarn, but I made an emergency trip to L.K. today when I realized I was going to run out. That was a scary moment, because the next project I am going to do uses the same needles that the shrug is on, so I almost would have had a whole day with nothing to knit! Eeep!!

My friend Mary's knitting is coming along really nicely. She is currently working on a scarf in SWS, and it is turning out really pretty. I will have to put a picture up of it if she lets me. Although I have taught a few people to knit, I think she may be the first to actually get the bug. Mawhahaha she has no idea what she is getting herself into.

Right now I am patiently waiting for Mike's parents to arrive. They drove up from Maine today with his little brother. His little brother (who is not so little, he's 21) is heading back to Acadia, and they are going on vacation in Cape Breton, so we are going to have a nice late dinner tonight. Tomorrow we are going to show them around the city a little, should be really fun!

I have finished my "slave labour" knitting project, haha. I really don't mind making a dishcloth for the wired monk staff, they seem like really nice people. Here Sage is modeling said dishcloth. I think in this picture she looks less possessed and more evil. She really is cute in real life, but she never photographs well! I really like Moe's comment that she looked like the dog/cat thing from ghostbusters, hahaha.

I also cast on for a simple shrug from fitted knits. I bought a convertible dress from American Apparel. It can be worn 40 ways! Anyway the way I want to wear it is a halter style so I would like a little shrug to wear with it. I bought this Paton's SWS from L.K Yarn today and plan to whip it up in the next week.

I actually had a very nice trip to L.K. I havn't always liked them very much. I once went there when I was about 14 (and I was quite an accomplished knitter at 14) and they treated me in a very condescending way. I have always had good experiences since then though, and today they were very friendly.

The worst of my week is over :) I just have two vets to see tomorrow and then their reports to write and I can relax. yay! This job that I am doing is so weird, because when I do work it is really long days, but then I have some nice stretches of days off. I think I like it that way.

The worst part of the week was that on Tuesday I didn't back in time to go to the Halifax KOL group. I even knit the staff of the Wired Monk a dish cloth (this is one of the initiation requirements). I will take a photo once I have all the ends woven in and the cloth blocked. It's another Double Flower Pattern, I love that pattern so much!

I am also continuing to work on my 9-5 sock. I am really in love with this pattern. It is just enough to keep you interested with plenty of relaxing in between. This is the second sock, I have the first one all finished. AND I finally managed to get a nice toe!!

Also in case any of you were concerned that Sage had gotten sane, you will be glad to know she hasn't.

"and I can't remember the sound that you found for me" ... anyone else concerned about if Virtute made it home or not? For any of you not aware the Weakerthans have a new album! Which is awesome. I have to confess I have heard some of it... although I am not fessing up to illegal downloading publicaly. Although I will say that if I HAD illegally downloaded it before its release date I would most certainly pay for it once I can. I love them THAT much!

Anyway on the Weakerthans last album they had a song on it called Plea from a cat named Virtute. It's all about a contemptuous cat bestowing some advice on his emo owner. see below:

"Why don't you ever want to play?
I'm tired of this piece of string
You sleep as much as I do now
and you don't eat much of anything.
I don't know who you're talking to
I made a search through every room,
but all I found was dust that moved
in shadows of the afternoon.
And listen,
about those bitter songs you sing?
They're not helping anything.
They won't make you strong.
So, we should open up the house.
Invite the tabby two doors down.
You could ask your sister,
if she doesn't bring her Basset Hound.
Ask the things you shouldn't miss:
tape-hiss and the Modern Man,
The Cold War and Card Catalogues,
to come and join us if they can,
for girly drinks and parlor games.
We'll pass around the easy lie
of absolutely no regrets,
and later maybe you could try
to let your losses dangle off
the sharp edge of a century,
and talk about the weather,
or how the weather used to be.
And I'll cater with all the birds that I can kill.
Let their tiny feathers fill disappointment.
Lie down;
lick the sorrow from your skin.
Scratch the terror and begin to believe you're strong.
All you ever want to do is drink and watch TV,
and frankly that thing doesn't really interest me.
I swear I'm going to bite you hard and taste your tinny blood
if you don't stop the self-defeating lies you've been repeating since the day you brought me home.
I know you're strong."

Anyway the new album has a song called Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure. It's all very sad. You really should listen to them. They are AMAZING.

In other news I have been super busy, and don't really have a lot of time for updating. Tomorrow I will leave the house at 7:00 am and get home around 9:00 pm. Worst of all I will miss knitting night at the Wired Monk. Boooo work!!

Check this out if you are interested in some really creepy knitting/crochet.

I finally finished my Master's orientation today!! Now all I have to do is complete the degree....

You may not hear to much from me over the next couple days as I am going to be really busy catching up with all my work things. Tomorrow I am going to Mahone Bay, I am going to PEI for the weekends, then Shelburne on Monday, Pictou on Tuesday and Windsor on Wednesday. I am gonna be pooped after all that!

It'll be worth it though. I got my very first paycheck today. That felt great!

Yesterday was my birthday. I will admit I was not all that pumped about this birthday, Mike left that day and a lot of my friends were out of the city. However, it turned out to be a really great day. When I got to school Judie had baked me a batch of chocolate cupcakes and Liz Townsend the director of the school brought in timbits. Judie later gave me this card which I think is the nicest card I have ever seen let alone been given. I love it! Later we all went to Your Father's Mustache for dinner and Slav a student in the program secretly bought my dinner and my friend Alison had a black forest cake brought in. I then went to Halifax Knit Out Loud group where I met many nice and wonderful knitters. When I got home there were two cards in the mail for me (including one with money from my grandma and one with these really pretty earrings from my friend Crystal). There was also about 8 messages on my answering machine and a whole bunch on my facebook too.

I have the world's best friends and family. I really can't believe how lucky I am.

I have joined the Knit One, Tea Too Color swap! I really couldn't help myself. These swaps are addictive! Anyway here is my questionnaire:

Knit 1 Tea 2 Color Swap Questionnaire

• Do you like loose tea or bags, or both – something you want to try? I prefer loose tea. I do use bagged tea sometimes but more for convenience than taste. Usually I find loose teas are worth the inconvenience for the flavor.
  

• What is your favorite kind of tea (Brand, flavor, variety, etc)? I really like Twinings Lady Grey and Earl Grey teas. I have also had some nice herbal teas in the past that I really liked. I really like scented and flowery teas but I do not like "flavored" teas (nothing caramel or hazelnut).

• Favorite color in regards to tea or one you would like to try? (black, green, red, and white) (keeping in mind that this is how this swap is set up). White
  

• Would you say you were a tea pot kind of person or just a hot water heater kind? Tea pot. I am a total snot about this, even if I am only making one cup it must be made in a pot.
  

• What tea accessories would you like but have never purchases for yourself? I have always wanted a Bodium teapot, or any kind of tea pot with a built in strainer. I know this is not likely to be sent in the mail though. For smaller accessories though I really can't think of anything. I DO have a tea ball though.
  

• How do you prefer to be pampered? (examples: mani/pedi, bubble bath, yummy treat, etc). I really like things that smell pretty. I am not very fussy I really like almost all girly pampering things.
  

• If you were a kind of yarn what would you be and why? If I was yarn I would be a variegated sock yarn. Really fun and cute but doesn't dress up very well.
  

• If you had to knit/crochet baby booties, a fun fur scarf, or a fair isle sweater, which would you choose and why? Baby booties. I love all baby things.
  

• What other event would make you skip a tea party? (A garden party? A book club meeting? A yoga class? Opening night for a new action thriller? etc?) The only thing that could make me miss a tea party would be a knitting party.
  

• What treat would you consider essential at your tea party? (Sweet? Salty? Scones? Those petite pastry trays with a couple of all sorts of things? Little crust less sandwiches?) I really like things like biscuits and scones that are tasty and satisfying but not too sweet. I also like cheeses and crackers.
  

• When buying yarn for a project how do you choose - do you buy the one called for or do you substitute? It depends. For socks, mitts and hats I have done so many that I like to pick out my own. For more risky things like toys and sweaters I like to use what is called for.
  

• What do you carry your knitting/crocheting in when on the go? I just stuff it in my purse. Really not very respectful to my knitting I know.
  

• Favorite movie to watch while knitting/crocheting? Finding Nemo. I'm an adult I swear.
  

• Are you a traditional tea cup kind of person or a mug type of person? Do you care if they match? I have an eclectic collection of mugs and I really like that none of them match. I really love pottery mugs.
  

• Favorite childhood birthday party? My birthday is in the summer (tomorrow actually!) so I never really had big parties because so many people were gone. Now my favorite parties are really relaxed ones with my good friends.
  

• Favorite type of scone and jam? I don't have a favorite scone. My fav jam is anything my mom makes. She keeps me in good supply.
  

• If you use candles, what is your favorite scent? Right now I have a Tahitian Flower candle that is really pretty. I like most candle scents as long as it is not too sweet. I can't stand those candles that smell like cookies and stuff. They give me headaches.
  

• If you could choose 3 people to have 'tea' with, who would they be and why? (famous or not, living or dead). John Sampson, Maude Barlow, and Gandhi.
  

• You've been invited to a tea party, what 'props' will you wear (formal or casual)? Casual.
  

• Any allergies/preferences you have or are willing to admit to? none.

• Anything we missed that you want your pal to know? Nope. I am really not too fussy. I like white tea, black tea, green tea and herbal tea. I am always open to trying new things.
  

I took the OT's up to Tatamagouche yesterday for the day. It was a really great day. We went to Sugar Moon Farm, Jost Winery, and Blue Sea Beach. Being from Tatamagouche it is easy to forget how beautiful it is and how appealing it is to tourists.

The highlight of my day was getting to eat the pancakes at Sugar Moon. I worked there for years and even though I used to be able to get fed for free I really don't mind paying for all that yummyness. I especially like that they use local organic ingredients whenever possible.



The beach was also truly beautiful (even though a got pinched by a crab). I got some nice pictures of the girls, but I will be nice and not put any pictures of anyone in a bathing suit on the internet.


On another topic all together, Mike showed me this link today and I just had to share it with you. So funny! The whole blog is about this guys four cats, especially this one cat Winston. He has some really great pictures though of the poor kitties :)

Thank so much for all the support guys. I considered talking to my prof again as I do work with her ratherly closely on a lot of things, and I really respect was she has contributed to our field. But I think I will just drop it. There is only a week of orientation left and then I can leave it behind me... although I don't think I will ever forget it. I really appreciated what all of you said and really thought about it a lot. I especially valued what Steph said in that she probably walked away thinking that she had helped me out professionally having no idea that she had hurt me personally. Non knitters really don't know how attached to knitting Knitters are.

Thinking about what happened to me though as also helped me better understand occupational therapy theory. In a lot of theory they talk about how the everyday occupations (not just work - thinks that occupy our time are occupations) can sometimes become very meaningful to us. Some occupations become part of our roles and habits, and really become about our spirituality and how we see ourself as a person. I can't think of a better example than knitting as an occupation that is integrated into my life, has defined me as a person and is essential to my being.

On the lighter side of things, I cast on last night for a swatch/hat for the percentile sweater I am going to make. I hate making swatches so I took EZ's advice and am making a hat instead for gauge. I assure you the hat looks a lot nicer in real life. The color is almost a jet black, but if I got a picture where the color was accurate you wouldn't be able to see the stitches.

I am really happy with how the fabric feels. I think it will be the bestest sweater ever :)

Also, when I was at the Yarn Harlot event I asked her a question about knitting in bars. My friend Jane has often seen me knit in bars, and she often does it to. On her blog she has coined the term pulled a Maggie for knitting in bars. I am touched :) I have always wanted my name to become a saying.