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.

I am feeling a little upset right now. You could say I am feeling some of the knitterly discrimination that we all hear so much about. I have at many points in my life felt embarrassed of my knitting, I have felt that I looked a little geeky, or something like that. I have never experienced though what I am feeling right now.

I have just been asked by an important professor at my school not to knit in class. I thought at first, ok maybe she feels that it looks like I am not paying attention and is disrespectful. While I don't agree with this, I can understand where someone might be coming from if they thought this. I was not prepared though for her reasoning as to why she didn't want me to.

She told me that years ago occupational therapists used to meet to do planning and coordinating when the profession was just beginning and a lot of them would bring their knitting. You should know that when occupational therapy started a lot of the therapy that was done involved teaching veterans of the first and second world war how to do various crafts such as pottery, leatherwork, knitting and sewing. She said that people started to see what occupational therapists were doing as a knitting group and not a group that talked about social change and community development and were therefore de-legitimized by the academic world.

She said that they fought hard to change this image and by my knitting I was talking away from the professionalism that we have tried so hard to change. She said it made people see OT as a woman's profession that does not have as much to contribute to society and the academic world.

I am really hurt by this. I don't mind being told not to knit, but to be told not to knit for this reason is really hurtful. I don't see why just because I am upholding an art that was once seen as women's work what I have to say about society and the world should have any less meaning.

Not only that knitting really helps me concentrate in class! It keeps me from feeling the need to fidget and walk around the room. I think it is really unfair that something that really helps me learn and increases my enjoyment of class should be taken away from me. Especially if the reasoning is that it makes me look more like a woman doing woman's work who doesn't have anything worthwhile to say.

I have been thinking a lot of grafting lately and why I am so terrible at it. This is partly meant as a note/apology to my sock pal. When you get your socks you will see that they sort of look like they are purled, not knit together like they should be. This is really silly, I have been knitting for 14 years now, I should be able to graft properly by now. So I have been studying this video. I think I know what I do wrong, instead of the mantra knit,purl, purl, knit I have been doing purl, knit, knit, purl. Thus I have created a purl stitch. Yet when I try to do it the right way, it still never looks right.

Anyway what is making me think about this so much? It is this pair of wonderful perfect amazing socks. with a totally perfect toe!!


Aren't they wonderful? I am so happy with them. I love the colours, and I have been thinking about making some Monkey socks too!



I love them so much. I picked the package up on my way to school and carried the socks with me for the whole walk. Thank you so much sock pal! My sock pal by the way is Trish from Calgary. She has a great blog, you should check it out:)

I am so touched. Who would have thought that one little comment on a Halifax blog would lead to so many comments and invites! This morning I commented on Knit Out Loud's blog asking if their knitting group was open to anyone who might like to come. I got 4 comments on my last post all inviting me along. It was very sweet. I think I will have to try and make it down. I don't know if I can go this Tuesday as that happens to be my birthday and I am going out to dinner earlier, but I think I will still try and make it.

I also got harlotted in my comments! I am so happy!

Also, I managed to finish this in class today:


Doesn't it look freakishly long? Maybe it's just to me cuz I have such tiny feet. But according to the knitters handy book of patterns that is how long it should be for a small Men's foot. Rebecca another girl in my orientation also knit through all the seminars today so I didn't feel so bad about it. I always feel a little guilty when I knit in class, because I worry my profs will think I am not listening. I do it anyway though :)

So the yarn harlot was tonight. I must say she was great. Better than I even imagined. She not only writes great, but has awesome oral comedic timing. The whole thing was wonderful, especially since Jane and I got front row seats.

The only downside was my stupid frickin camera ran out of batteries. So sadly I have no pictures to share :(

The upside was that Stephanie claims she has read both mine and Jane's blog. Nobody reads my blog! Well I have a few readers, that I really truly appreciate, but c'mon hardly anyone reads my blog! She says that she reads the blogs of everyone that comments on her blog. That's a lot of blogs! Anyway I thought that was pretty cool.

I also loved seeing so many knitters. As I have mentioned before I don't have a lot of contact with other knitters so it was great to see such a large quantity in one room! I felt like I really wasn't alone :)

My first day of Master's orientation went well. I was working on a sock when the first person arrived, the first thing she did was look at my sock and say "I thought about bringing my knitting". I love OTs!!

Today is a big day. Not only is today the first day of my orientation to the Post Professional Master's Program, Today is the day that the yarn harlot comes to Halifax. I am really pumped - not so much about the orientation, really more about the yarn harlot. I already have my knitting picked out! I am bringing a sock that I am working on for my step-dad's birthday in September.

Do you know what I heard Mike saying to his parents? I am sitting in the living room innocently knitting when I hear

"Yeah Maggie's really excited about this knitting celebrity that is coming to Halifax, I think she is going to be at a yarn store or something"

At this point I had to pipe up "excuse me, she is at the LORD NELSON", for those of you not from the city this is a very nice fancy hotel.

I hear him respond "Oh sorry, she is at the Lord Nelson. I guess I a lot of people like her. It's sort of like a Star Trek convention or something"

I can't believe the boy compared knitters to Trekkies. Not like there is anything wrong with Trekkies but how can you compare people holding up a 2000 year old craft with people who like to dress up like aliens?

So I realized Mary is right. Sage has not been getting much airtime on the blog. No she's not any less crazy - in fact last night she spent about 30 minutes running around the apartment growling. She has been enjoying her summer vacation. You know as oppose to the rest of the year when she works oh so very hard.


This picture illustrates her at the height of her hard working. She's in her 'cat condo', and beside her is her toy collection. The orange mouse is a felted cat nip toy - and the colorful piece of wool was a felting swatch that she has adopted as a toy.

She has been having a bit of a turf war with a white cat that wanders around our parking lot. Twice I have got that little shit (the white cat, not sage) on the outside of our house attached to the screen growling at poor Sage.

Joel Plaskett Emergency - Fashionable People

So the boyfriend wants a sweater vest. I personally think it was inspired by Joel Plaskett's video as seen here. And I will admit, Plaskett does manage to make a sweater vest look pretty damn cool. The thing is, if he will actually wear it then I would love to knit it for him. But it's really not his typical style... and I have read so many stories of boys who request sweaters etc from their girlfriends and then never actually wear them. But on the other hand, sweater vests are very quick and simple to knit. It might be good practice for me as I am thinking about knitting a v neck sweater for myself... hmmm decisions decisions.

OK I am feeling much better now. The worst was ripping out what turned out to be about half of the whole shawl. I consoled myself with a huge bowl of this. By the way it was really yummy and very easy to make. Now that I am back into the knitting part I am feeling much much better. I am all the more motivated to get this thing done so that I can start doing some knitting for myself and friends.

Speaking of friends. I have been feeling rather knitting lonely lately. I have lots of fantastic friends but very few friends who knit. So it is rare that I have someone that I can knit with or go to yarn stores with. In high school I had my friend Gilly, and we would spend hours drinking tea and knitting together. But now she lives in a different town :( In the city I have my friend Jane, but sadly she is moving to Korea soon.

So the yarn harlot gives some advice on this subject in her newest book Cast Off. You basically have three options if you want more friends who knit. You can give birth to them (not an option right now), meet knitters at yarn stores (I am pretty shy and find this hard to do), or make knitters out of the friends you have. I am going with the third option. I recently taught my friend Mary to knit and she is plugging away happily on a Wonton. I am really proud of her. Her tension is perfect it is coming along really well. She will be an addict before you know it!

I am also working on fostering yarn love out of my friend Jody. She knows how to knit and crochet's blankets. She has asked me though for a 'recipe' as she calls it for a sock. So I will be showing her that shortly. Things are looking up in Maggie's knitting land!!

I am going to cry BIG FAT SALTY TEARS. I just ran out of yarn.... with three rows left to go on my shawl. So I have to rip it back to before the border to reduce the number of stitches. That's over a skein of yarn....

This fucking sucks.

Remember how I said that I went a little crazy on Knitpicks? Well Mike's brother Ryan came up yesterday from Maine and brought my yarn with him. Wow I forgot how much I ordered. How much did I order?


I know I know. I'm bad. In this order I have enough yarn for a sweater, a bunch of facecloths/dishcloths, a shawl and a ton of socks! The sad thing is that this should be enough yarn to last the rest of the year, but I also got a bunch of new books - all of which have AMAZING sweater ideas and I really want to knit them!! In my knitpicks order I recieved the books LaceStyle, 50 Baby Booties, and Favorite Socks. In addition to this I recently bought Fitted Knits with the gift certificate that Mike gave me.

As if that wasn't enough for my plate I have also been thinking about this a lot lately.
This is a pattern for a Heirloom blanket that my Grandmother's sister mailed me. She said that it belonged to her mother. There was about three blanket patterns in the package but this is my favorite. It's beautiful eh? The pattern is really simple too, here it is:

Now I am pretty sure it's legal for me to share this with you. I have been told that copy right expires on knitting patterns after 50 years or so. If anyone knows any differently please let me know! As you can see the pattern is a little confusing, I am assuming all those "0's" are yarn overs. Anyone else have any ideas?

Sadly though I can't work on any of my new and excited projects though because I am stuck with my knitting for cash that I am doing right now. Although on the bright side, my cash knitting will pay for my fun knitting :) Here's my lace blob now.

34 degrees outside today. Screw knitting I am going to the beach.

As someone who works in nursing homes I found this very interesting:

Oscar the Cat

There was also an article published in The New England Journal of Medicine which was really interesting. I have access to it through being a Dalhousie student but unfortunately I can't publish it here as I would be violating copyright laws. Still very interesting eh?

Almost every nursing home that I work at has at least one resident cat. Many have at least 3 roaming the halls. Still I have yet to encounter another death predicting cat.

In other news it is super hot here today, we are in the middle of a little east coast style heat wave. Well it's not that hot for those of you who live in the prairies or mid west, but for us it's scorching! 32 degrees today, yikes! For me anything over 27 and I start to melt. Like I said I know this isn't that hot for many of you, but the Maritimes have such a temperate climate that we get quite used to moderate temperatures. I am going to go enjoy the sun with a walk with Oliver and then I am going to come home and stick my feet in some ice water.

I have been cheating on my shawl knitting lately. I really should be knitting another Spinner's Lace Shawl, as I have told some customers that I will do that but instead I have been working on this. And can you blame me? I love these Irish/Aran inspired sweaters, and I am way too lazy to make an adult sized one, so I am making one for my cousin's baby. I am really happy with the pattern, it's beautiful yet simple. And it has finally inspired me for what my EZ sweater will look like.

I still don't know if it will be a cardigan, v-neck or pullover but I do know that it will have TWISTS in it. Have you discovered the beauty of the twist? I have done two stitch twists before and simple regarded them as an easier cable, but the four stitch twist is awesome! It is really beautiful like a cable but doesn't stick out as far and you don't have to mess around with a cable needle. Therefore I have decided that the bottom of my sweater will have a 4 stitch twist on it. I am very pleased with this. I will be knitting said sweater in the knitpicks yarn that I ordered earlier this week. Specifically I will be using Merino Style in coal. Wish me luck :)

Speaking of knit picks I also ordered a ton of other yarn and books but can't quite remember what exactly I ordered now that it has been a couple days. So it will be a wonderful surprise when it comes! I won't get it for a while though because I had it sent to Mike's parents house in the states.

Anywho I apologize if this post made no sense whatsoever I have just indulged in a rather large glass of wine and am feeling a little sleepy.

I keep meaning to post but a certain furry animal and a certain lengthy book have been distracting me. I assure you a proper update tomorrow, including details of the breaking of my yarn diet in a huge knit picks binge!

I finished my sock pals socks! Oh how I hope that she likes them :) I really like them and would love to wear them myself, so I think that is a good indication that she will like them too. Now all I have to do is wash them and slightly block them. I don't really usually block my socks, I mean their socks! Your feet will block them! But I do like to wash them to even up the stitches a bit.

In other news my brother Lionel has left for Calgary today until Tuesday. He's visiting his girlfriend and my good friend Julie up there, as well as my other brother Niall. So the great part about all this is I get to have Oliver THE WHOLE TIME. I am very excited about this, so is he as I just gave him a huge bone and he is happily munching away on it as I type. The cat is less than impressed, but I think she will get over it.

The Tall Ships have been in Halifax the past week. I unfortunately did not get any pictures of the pretty ships but I assure you they were quite spectacular. I did make it onto the "tall ship" Silva. It's not really a tall ship, just a bog boat with fake sails designed as a bar on the water. Still it was very fun. I went with "The Student Edge" a conference of student leaders being held in Halifax. I was not part of the conference, but Mike was and I tagged along as a stowaway.

Aren't we cute?

I have been working away on my sock pal's socks. I am almost to the toe on the second sock. I picked up these goodies for her while I was in Mahone Bay today. These are two very Nova Scotia products. Tea from Mahone Bay and homemade chocolates made in Wentworth (near my home). Does anyone have any other ideas for little goodies? I know some people are including things like crochet hooks and stuff, but I would feel silly if I gave my pal a crochet hook in a size she already had.

ugh, I hate blocking. I think the only reason I dislike it so much is that I always think it is going to take about 1/3 the amount of time it actually takes. If I just relax and get into the zen of blocking it's not so bad. I think I have to see blocking as a fun activity in itself and not just an annoying afterthought of knitting. It would also be much easier if I still had that lovely high density Styrofoam that is at my parents house. I used my futon to block my last shawl, and the pins really are not holding well, which is very frustrating. I think I am going to have to check on it every few minutes all day to make sure most of the pins are still in it. Oh and keep the cat out of thereHere is the shawl blocking on the futon. You can see it is pretty much the same as the last one, but it is a little larger and it has beads on the edge.

The beads are pretty eh? They were a bitch to put on though. I think it took two hours just to do the beading.
I finished one of the socks for my sock pal and I have started the ribbing on the second. I was really happy with the yarn for this sock, it is really soft and wonderfully stretchy. My only complaint was that the plys have a tendency to split, which was a little annoying, but worth it for the end product.

Things are going really well for me right now. So well that I have been really busy and have not had much time for knitting. I only knit when I watch TV so I get most of my knitting done when I am sitting on my couch!

I have managed to get the lace border done on my spirit of the southwest shawl. It is also suppose to have an i cord edging, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it! I might just block it as is and see how it looks. I am really happy with how it turned out though. I think the Silver's (the people I am knitting it for) will be really happy with it too.

Know why today was a good day? Here's why!

Today was an Oliver day! Julie is in Calgary doing training for WestJet and Lionel was working a 12 hour shift at the hospital so I took him for the day. We went to the park with Mary and then he spent the rest of the day napping on the couch. It was a great day for both of us.

How was my CAOT exam. Well it is the kind of exam that everyone leaves it having no idea how they did on it and I am no exception. I will just have to wait for my results to come in.

So my CAOT exam is on Saturday, therefore I have been spending a bit of time (although not enough) with my dear friend Trombly. Those of you (which is almost all of you) who are not occupational therapists will not be familiar with this book, but for my fellow Dal Grad OT's Trombly is our bible. It's massive text on Occupational Therapy for Physical Dysfunction.

It's difficult though because it is large book that I like to lay on the couch while I read it. Of course since I have a cat, she then decides to lye on it every time. I guess the cat doesn't care if I pass my CAOT exam.

The CAOT exam by the way is a national exam that all occupational therapists must write upon graduation. You have to pass it in order to practice. Most people pass it without trouble, and a lot of people don't even study for it, but I am terrified at the idea of failing it!

I have also been studying because I start work tomorrow. Eeek! I am shadowing an OT tomorrow in a nursing home, and then on Friday I am going to a home on my own. So I want to make sure I brush up so that I can not look like an idiot on my first day.

I spent last weekend at my friend Alex's cottage. It was amazing! His cabin is right on a lake, we spent three days there eating BBQ, lighting fireworks, swimming in the lake, and having a few beers. It was great, I am sunburned, tired and covered in bug bites, but it was so worth it! Here's the group shot I took - so unfortunately I am missing from it :(


I did manage to do a little bit of knitting on my sock pal's sock. Not very much though. Here's what I have so far, you can't see the stitch definition very well, but it real life it is quite pretty.

Also, I have joined the Mystery Stole Knitalong, but I really don't know if I am going to have time to do it. Here's my material though: