I have been working on a lace scarf. My very first lace scarf actually :) Before this the only lace project I had ever made was Hedera Socks. Oh and the baby sweater I just made. I have to say, I am really enjoying lace. Mind you, I have made a point of choosing very simple lace patterns where every alternate row is a knit, or at least a purl row. So here's my scarf:


It's made from a laceweight wet spun linen that I got at the loop in downtown halifax.

These pictures are from last weekend, I had really wanted to put them up then but forgot. Lionel, Julie and I took Oliver to Crystal Crescent Beach. It was amazing! Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to live here on the east coast, I take all of our scenery for granted.



Beautiful eh? Oliver thought it was a pretty sweet day all in all.

And lastly here is a Book Meme that has been circulating. I don't usually do these, but this looked like fun. You bold the books you have read, and put the ones you want to read in italics.

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible (about half of it)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
.50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller's Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marqez)73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

So remember how I wasn't going to buy anything until April 2? Well I have been really good about it. I actually havn't deviated from my plan, expect for one small detail....


Say hello to my new best friend! I'm refering to the '93 Corolla, Mary is also my best friend, but this isn't new.

Isn't it hot? Well maybe not hot, but it will get me from point a to point b! And that is really all I am looking for. All in all the whole thing is very thrilling for me. I have never owned a car so this is very exciting. I currently have gotten it registered and insured but I still need to get a plate for it. In the meantime it taunts me from the parking lot behind my apartment.

I finished my baby sweater! This picture doesn't really do it justice. In real life it is soft and drapey and oh so very perfect. I love this sweater so much, I loved knitting every inch of it. I want to make dozens of them! All I have to do is find a few babies....


Speaking of babies, I knit another bib. Man those things are quick.

Well, I am pretty sure that I will be taking the Pictou placement. I got an email today from my fieldwork coordinator, and she confirmed that if I took that placement I could start April 16, I can't turn that down. It is such a good placement opportunity.


In knitting news, what is this blog of lace type green? Well that is the Feburary Baby Sweater from Knitter's Almanac. I am knitting it in Blue Sky Alpaca 50% silk 50% alpaca sport weight yarn on 3.25mm addi turbos. I am loving it so far, it knits up so fast and the pattern is so easy, yet so pretty. I am very happy.


I started and finished the baby booties from Natural Knits for babies and moms last night. I was successful in finishing them with the yarn I had. So all in all I got this lovely bib and booties from one $2.50 skein of yarn. Not too shabby!!

I am wound up super tight right now because tonight I find out who won the election, Mike Tipping or Jason Pelley. There is no campaigning allowed now, so I can't say anything about it. I am just really pumped.

I have finished Sheldon :) Well mostly anyway, he still needs some little black eyes, but other than that he is all done. I used the recommended yarn, and some mystery plastic needles that I think are 3.00mm but to be honest I am not sure. His head turned out a little lumpy (I forgot to stuff it early enough and it was hard to fit through a small hole) but other than that he's great.


I have the baby bib I made in class the other day soaking in the sink. Some of the stitches are a little wonky so I am hoping that the water will even it all out. With the rest of the yarn from the skein, which was Knit Picks Shine Sport in Cherry is being turned into the boy booties from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. I am really hoping that I will have enough yarn with what is left, cuz I don't have another ball!


In fieldwork news, I am pretty sure that I will be going to Pictou. For those of you not from Nova Scotia, that's about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Halifax. It's about 30 minutes from my parents so, I can commute every day from my parents and come home to Halifax on the weekends. Not too shabby. Now all I have to do is find a car...

Still waiting to find out exactly what is going on with my fieldwork. I found out today though that I have an offer to go to Pictou which I am seriously considering. I would be able to live with my Mom and stepdad during that time, although I would probably have to buy a car. I really want a car, but I know that they are expensive, more expensive that you always think that they will be.

On the other hand it would be a good experience and if I had the car I could probably go home every weekend.

Oh what to do what to do....

I have been super busy with knitting items lately but I have not had the motive to update, especially since my computer hates me and has been making independent choices as to when it wants to turn off.

The presidential head to head debate occured tonight at the Grawood between Mike and his competitor. I can't comment on how it went because Campaigning has ended. But I will tell you that Mike looked very sharp in his suit and the red power tie I got him for Christmas. Those of you who are Dal students and would like some harsh critism of EVERY candidate (Mike included) can check out mikesmit.com.

So in knittery news, I have finished my Santa Cruz. I love the comfortableness and stretchyness of the lace. I used knitpicks Gloss and it took way less than half a skein. I used 3.25mm and modifyed the stitches slightly, but not drastically. I think I cast on 94 stitches. Sorry, I know this photo isn't great, it looks better on my head, but I couldn't get a good enough picture of me wearing it to put it on the internet permanently.


In class today I cast on and finished the petel bib from One Skein. I think I used about half a skein of KnitPicks Shine Sport. So all in all, this was a very cheap knit! About $2 for a sweet little bib. My tension was a little wonky with it, and my wrap and turns are not perfect but I think it will look great once I wash it.
I am also working on another Sheldon. I loved knitting my last one so much I had to make another. Not quite sure what I will do with him yet, but toys do seem to have a way of finding homes. So I am not too worried.


Lastly some very good news! I was accepted to Grad school!! I will be starting my Msc.OT August 7!!!!

My brother Lionel had to do a twelve hour shift today at the hospital, and since his girlfriend Julie was off flying somewhere (she's a flight attendant) Poor Oliver had no one to play with for the day. So I picked him up around lunch time, walked him back to my house and we had a Maggie and Oliver day. It was quite exciting, highlights included:
- Oliver trying to jump on me while I did my aerobic workout video
- Oliver staring down the cat
- Oliver trying to jump on my while I was in the bath tub


All in all, it was a good day.

I started knitting Santa Cruz yesterday with some of my leftover yarn from Thermal. I had about two balls and a little extra. I am amazed at how fast it is going along after going so slowly with Thermal, for instance, if I knit for an hour, I can ACTUALLY SEE RESULTS. It's awesome.

Here is what I have so far (doesn't look like much, looks much nicer in real life)


And you should know that about half of it was done in a bar :)

I have finished Thermal!!! All I have to do is add the buttons (I wore it today anyway since it might be a while before I can get some buttons). I am pretty happy with it, although I could deal with it being a little bigger/longer in the body. Still I am quite pleased. Unfortunatly I was not able to get any really great shots of it, but you get the idea.

I havn't had much time for updating lately with the insane amount of school work that I have had to do. I have four papers due this week and two presentations next week. I am almost done the papers, but I still need to tackle the presentations. *Sigh* it will all be over in a few weeks :)

I am also been busy because my other half is running for president of the Dalhousie Student Union. I havn't been doing that much to help him, but I have been carrying his slack in the house work and stuff cuz he is too busy for that. Anyway his campaign is going really well. You can check out his website here. Check in a few days and you can see an attack he made against himself featuring me and the cat. But don't wait too long, by elections regulations his website has to be down by monday.

My Occupational Therapy Ball is tonight. I am happy because it is being held just down the street from my apartment so I am having a little party at my house. I purchased a black strapless for the event and I now have a new appreciation for lace shawls. I am thinking about knitting a black lace thing to wear with it for the future.

Speaking of lace, I have found a good pattern for my cashmere. The last pattern was really working out with it, and the people I am knitting it for weren't crazy about it. So here is the new pattern:


I am happy with it, they're happy with it. Life is good. Most importantly it can be made with any weight of yarn, so I can easily use the sport weight that they have.

How is this for a beautiful sight?


These are the 8 skeins of Cashmere that were given to me today :) Ok well not exactly GIVEN to me, loaned to me in exchange for turning it into product. I am going to make a Pi R Square shawl, which you can see the rudimentary beginnings of. When I do my next increase I am going to insert a lace pattern from Barbara Walker's first treasury, Oh I hope it turns out! If anyone has any experience putting in lace patterns let me know! I would love some tips.


In other news, I can't even begin to express how much work I have to do this weekend! Next week I have four papers due, and the week after that I have two presentations. Yikes!

I went to a Gwynne Dyer lecture last night on Dalhousie campus. I want to express how amazing the lecture was. His focus was on climate change, but he had a very unique perspective on it. He presented the issue in terms of politics and world cooperation. He emphasized the importance of world leaders working collaborativly on this issue. He also talked about China and India as rising superpowers and the need for the United States not to create war with China at this critical time. Anyway I am super summarizing what he said, and probably distorting it. But if you are interested in climate change and politics I would recommend his book climate wars.


In knitting news, Thermal is progressing along nicely. I have finished one sleeve and seamed it onto the sweater. I tried it on and it fits well, although I made the sleeves a little too long. I am generally happy with how it looks though. I am here alone right now so I wasn't able to take a great picture of me wearing it, but I did what I could!


I hope I can finish it soon! I spoke to the Cashmere people on the phone today and they would like me to turn their cashmere into shawls as soon as I am available. I was very flattered when they told me that I can recommended from both yarn stores in Tatamagouche :)

I have made some progress on the sleeve with only one snag, I don't know if you can tell or not by the picture but my tension is really tight around the cuff. This is weird for me, I always knit really loosely, and I wasn't stressed or anything when I was knitting it so I am not sure what happened. I am just hoping that I can semi mimic it on the next sleeve so it's even. Also, I have been told that this yarn stretches out a bit when blocked, so I should be able to fit it then.


I have a group presentation on Wednesday that has to be three hours long... we only found out about the presentation last Wednesday... So for the next couple of days I will be in major freakout mode until this is done. I have a meeting with my group for most of today, So we should get a chunk of it done though :)

I have made some progress on my thermal sweater. Which is great, I felt like I was never going to be done the body. Now I just have to do the sleeves... and ugh there is two of them... Don't you hate that about sweaters, socks and mittens?

I had an equipment fair at school today. Six different manufacturing reps from wheelchair and adaptive equipment companies came to tell us about their products. I thought it was going to be pretty boring, but I actually enjoyed it. I learned a bit about ROHO cushions, tilt features and foam cushions that I didn't know before. So it was worth it.

I was talking to my mom last night and she said that a woman who raises Cashmere goats, she wants me to knit her some shawls out of her yarn. I am pretty pumped, I don't have a lot of experience with lace, but I can learn! Also, I can't afford to buy cashmere so getting paid to knit with it is a good deal.