Time has gotten away from me.

I haven't been keeping up my blog, but then no one has complained so I'm sure very few people actually want to read about my musings. I really should change the name of my blog as I've begun to quilt again.

I took several quilting classes about 7 years ago and finally finished the 6 block quilt that I'd learned to make. I presented it to my daughter-in-law for Christmas, 2012. I also made a Bernstein Bear quilt for my granddaughter and my grandson has taken it from his sister as he loves the Bernstein Bears but didn't want me to make him a quilt. Now he's happy to use his sister's quilt and is excited about the I Spy quilt that I'm slowly putting together for him.

This is the Hanami Stole or shawl that I'd started in July, 2012 but only did 6 rows and added the 48 beads. It sat and sat for months. I finally pulled it out again after Christmas and was determined to finish it before Spring time in Japan.

It is for my daughter-in-law's mum, who lives in Japan and she'd requested a rectangular shawl from me. The story behind this shawl interested me as Japan is a very beautiful country and Cherry Blossom season is celebrated by people having picnics outdoors and around shrines or wherever there are a lot of Cherry Blossom trees. Seeing for myself how beautiful these trees are in Springtime in Japan made me want to make this shawl for my daughter-in-law's mum.

It is asymmetrical in design and I didn't do the ruffle but added 6 rows of garter stitch and also added 48 more beads. I don't like working with lace weight yarn, but I managed to finish this in a month and don't have the same fear of dropping stitches and working with lace weight yarn.

I was ready to sell all my lace weight yarn and after making this beautiful shawl I've changed my mind.

Currently, I have many UFO's. I sorted through them today and got the patterns next to the yarn which is in plastic bags. I'm seriously working on the Eco Vest out of Cascade Eco wool and am enjoying the process. I may only do 4 inches of the broken rib for the front depending how it fits me. The arm holes are a bit big, but that's fine. I don't like tight vests.

I'm working on another rectangular shawl for my daughter-in-law's mum for next Christmas, plus a winter hat for my granddaughter for next winter, another vest, a cowl for myself out of some beautiful pink Madeline tosh yarn. A new yarn shop opened near my home called Valley Yarns and as the owner has had an online shop for a few years, it is now nice to have a quick drive to look at yarn. My stash is still too much for me but I do have 3 big containers filled with yarn that I'm willing to sell.

My dear friend has bought yarn from me and she tends to check to see what I have before she enters a yarn shop. Helps me out and also I was overjoyed to see some yarn that I'd forgotten I had made into a nice long vest by her. She is returning to knitting as I did so she's working on easy patterns. I've tried to convince her to try a top down sweater and I think she may be willing to try Mr. Greenjeans.

I have so many projects that I want to make. I have socks on needles which really should be finished. They just keep sitting in the bag as I work on other projects.

Now that I've gotten serious about quilting, it means I have more magazines and a few books and fabric of course filling up my craft room. I told my husband today that I'd like to move to a smaller place in 5 years but then I'd lose my craft room and he'd lose his train room so for now we'll muddle around in this big house. Our hobbies need space and while I'm trying to sell or knit up my stash, I know that I won't get it all knitted up or sold in 5 years.

Our two Golden Retrievers take up a lot of my time and energy and they follow me everywhere. They whimper at me to go out and then back inside the house. But when I'm in my craft room sewing or cutting fabric, they just either play with a toy or chew a bone or sleep. I tend to do all my knitting in the family room so I can watch TV or at least have it on if I'm working on something that is repetitive.

I'll try to write more here and I need to figure out how to change the name of this blog of mine.

Fibre's West is going to be in Cloverdale this year and I can easily walk to it. I'm excited about going this year because it is so close. Our knitting guild does wind yarn for people, so I'll volunteer to do that and get to be around gorgeous yarn and possibly find a class that I want to take.

Autumn has arrived in British Columbia, Canada

My granddaughter is all decked out in warm clothing for Autumn. I'd knitted the sweater to fit her when she was about 18 months old, however she is now 14 months old, and I think the sleeves need to be made longer. Length of the sweater is fine, but I may have to fix the sleeves so she can wear it a bit longer.

We've had more time with both of our grandchildren lately and watching our granddaughter learn to talk, walk, and of course try to grab the dogs' tails is just the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Maggie is 7 months old now, and she's injured her left hind knee. The Vet told us she needed surgery, but we checked out information online, and we kept her as quiet as we could for 5 days and then slowly allowed her to be free in the house and to go on walks with a leash on. She has no pain now and wants to run, plus she is walking without any limp. It is time to reconsider finding a new Vet.

I seem to be in the start project mode again. Have several on needles that I just had to start but finishing at this point, isn't happening as quickly as I'd hope. I did injure my right shoulder when Maggie pulled me down several weeks ago and now my rotator cuff is inflamed. Still have pain with it but I do try to get some knitting done as I have Christmas gifts to make.

Decided to make a dress for my granddaughter and while it is slow going, I'm making myself do several long rows each day. Did make three pairs of clogs and now just need a day to felt them. Working on a cowl for my daughter for Christmas, and I was going along happily and then checked and I had one twist in it. I thought about making it a moebius but later decided to frog it and start over. Now there is no twist, and it is the seed stitch so it is pretty mindless knitting for me.

I keep wanting more yarn. I did use up Cascade 220 from my stash to make the clogs and used up leftovers and felt good about it. Yet, when I saw that Mission Falls Wool was on sale at Elann online, I just caved and bought some to make a sweater for my grandson or maybe my granddaughter. Bought some cocoa colour and also some teal and pink.

I keep looking at new yarns and wanting to try them, but I now have to consider that my stash is huge and working from it is important. I will find yarns that I think I need, and then I consider the cost and the fact that I have enough yarn to make at least 10 sweaters and that gets me centred again.

Yarn Harvest was a lot of fun again this year. Three other guild members rode in the car with me and thankfully at least one of them had a better sense of direction than I did. My GPS is a portable one and not totally up to date. However, it was a great day and I got to know two members a lot better.

My granddaughter is fearless around the dogs. While we do have to keep an eye on them and her, the dogs are very gentle with her, while she isn't always that gentle with them. My grandson can't tell them apart anymore as Maggie is getting so big, and he prefers Millie to Maggie because Millie isn't always trying to jump up on the couch to be next to him.

You'd think that as a grandmother I'd be wanting to knit lots of items for my grandchildren. I asked my grandson if he wanted me to make him some felted slippers. He politely declined. He prefers me to buy him toys and Pokemon cards that he's totally into right now. And to me, grandmothers do what their grandchildren ask if at all possible. He turned 5 years old yesterday and we do enjoy playing games on my I-phone when he is visiting. We also play lego, read stories and I try to get him to show me how well he reads and to put puzzles together as we used to do. He is more interested in lego and stories and of course TV and games on my I-phone.

I plan to make him a vest as his mum wants one but it will have to wait until I've finished some of my unfinished projects. Plan is to finish a sweater, the dress for my granddaughter, the cowl, felt the clogs and make several pairs of fingerless gloves out of leftover yarn before Christmas. Now to get them either finished or started is the order of business.

The Dog Days of Summer

I've been very lax in writing here for several months now. We got another Golden Retriever at the end of May and Maggie is now best friends with our 3 year old Golden, Millie. Maggie is 4 months old as of this writing and she is so different than Millie. Where Millie is submissive towards other dogs unless she knows them, Maggie just approaches any dog and wants to know them. She's played with other puppies at a dog park and could care less where I am during her play time.

But at 4 months old she can sit and stay for 45 seconds, lie down and stay for the same amount of time and also can roll over on command and shake both paws. She has learned what 'leave it' means and also 'drop it'. She is now in puppy training at Pet Smart, but she's the most advanced dog there. I have to keep her entertained with sitting and lying down and giving her treats while the trainer is talking and talking about stuff that I already know. But it is good for Maggie to learn to deal with distractions like all the other young puppies that she wants to play with and she's not allowed to do so during class.

My life has gotten very busy with dogs it seems. Millie still goes to day care 2-3 days a week, and Maggie and I walk or go to a safe dog park, but it's getting to the point where I'd just rather have both dogs with me and all the walking I do is great exercise for me.

My knitting just isn't happening. I'm working on one project which is a secret gift for someone in the Fraser Valley Knitting Guild and I must finish it by the end of September. I did sort through my huge stash or 'epic' stash as one of my knitting buddies called it, and she is taking some yarn from me for 50% off of what I paid for it. It still doesn't leave a big dent in my craft room but it is a beginning. Plus, I organized again and got inspired to make some more sweaters. I have enough yarn to make a huge blanket that would probably cover our house, but of course I'm not doing that.

My granddaughter is one now and she is walking so the dogs have to be outside when she comes to visit or they'll knock her over. My grandson does walk with me and the dogs and he loves Millie and she is easier for him to handle.

When your life begins to revolve around dogs, it is time to refocus and get yarn out and spend time making a sweater for someone for Fall. I did make the Contented Cardigan for myself and I'm very pleased with it. Madeline tosh yarn is just delightful to knit with and I do have more to make a couple more sweaters. I've made a few Christmas gifts, but just can't seem to get in the knitting mood lately.

I've been here before so I know this will pass, but for now I'll keep working on selling some stash and knitting up larger amounts in sweaters.



Yarn Harvest is coming up and a knitting buddy suggested that I literally go through my stash and I won't be tempted to spend more money on yarn. I will do that, but if I find some Madeline tosh in a different colour or some Sweet Georgia worsted in enough quantities to make a sweater, I'll just have to purchase it.

Maggie did see my yarn on the floor last night as I was sorting some good yarn and she quickly took a ball and left the room. I thought she was just coming to check where I was, but no. She was stealing some St. Denis yarn that I'd bought awhile ago to make mittens. It was stuck on the staircase, around the dog bowls, out the patio door and up some steps to the upper level and filled with grass and of course in a tangled mess. I couldn't find the tag so I wasn't sure which yarn it was, but this morning she presented the tag to my daughter who had spent the night. I spent over 2 hours detangling it but Maggie didn't get yelled at. I just laughed at my very silly puppy.

The King's Speech and Knitting in the Dark

As those who live in British Columbia, Canada know, it rains a lot here. My husband and I have been wanting to see The King's Speech on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, but only if it was a rainy day. It seems that we'd have rain forecast for a weekend and then it would be sunny or only cloudy. So of course we wanted to be outside either walking Millie or just being outside.

As it rained this morning, a Saturday, cleared up a bit and then when I was out walking Millie, it started to drizzle, we decided that today was the day to see the film.

My favourite yarn shop,88 Stitches had their annual customer appreciation day today, and of course I didn't need more yarn, but I did want to see if there was some Sweet Fiber Yarns that I could purchase in a light grey for a dear friend in California, or find some teal coloured fingering weight yarn for another shawl. Now my stash is huge, and if you find me or know me on Ravelry as CynthiaW, you will know what I mean.

I couldn't find the right grey for my friend as she wanted 2 skeins of it, and it is a new colour for Spring. However, I did find some teal that had some black in it in Sweet Sock yarn, and I just had to purchase it. I also picked up another skein of Sweet Sock yarn in pinks and purples. When I returned home, I realized that I already had one skein of the teal/black in Sweet Sock yarn and one in pink /purple. The pink/purple that I already had is much lighter than the one I did buy, so that worked out perfectly. As I like shorter shawls, I will finish a pair of socks that have been sitting on the needles for so long that I swear the needles are attached to the yarn. And the Sweet Sock yarn would be beautiful for a pair of socks for someone for Christmas.

Not wanting to spill my drink or get buttery popcorn on my new yarn, I left it in the car. Thankfully my husband's car is one that is very difficult to break into. And I did check to make sure all the doors were really locked. I'm sure there must be some yarn thieves out there, but I can't picture any of the knitters that I know who would do that.

The theatre was dark and we sat at the very top. We had about 20 minutes before the film began, so I pulled out a scarf in the round that I'm making for my daughter in the green colours that she looks so amazing in. As it is knit one round and purl one round at this point, I figured that I could manage it in the dark. I did all right and don't think I dropped any stitches but I still haven't checked to be sure.

However, once the film began, I stopped knitting at times so that I wouldn't miss anything. Then I'd pick it up and was able to knit by feel. I've only been seriously knitting for about 8 years now so I was feeling very proud of myself.

The film was wonderful and the only thing or rather actor who disappointed me was the actor who played Winston Churchill. I'm very, very distantly related to that Churchill family and the actor didn't look like how I'd like to look when I'm even older than I am right now. I'm older than dirt as it is, but I certainly don't look like this actor. Of course it was all in fun for me. Whether my family is really related to the Winston Churchill family was proven by me when I was into genealogy. However one of my cousins has also done genealogy and he thinks that we're related to another Churchill family. Doesn't really matter of course and I don't drink or smoke cigars, so maybe my cousin is right.

I have noticed that knitting in the dark isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Also, I do find even with mindless knitting, I miss a lot of information on the television when I'm knitting. Most television can be skimmed, but occasionally I really want to see and listen to become more informed and with some of my favourite crime shows, I can't remember what happened in the end of a repeated show because I was busy doing lace work, intarsia, or fair isle and not totally paying attention.

I'm sure that I will continue to knit in the theatre. But some films are to be savored and enjoyed and The King's Speech was one that I know I will want to see again. I may have missed some important things that I'll be able to see when it comes out on DVD.

I'm working on a teddy bear hat for my granddaughter to fit her at Christmas. I'm making the teddy bears a bit bigger than what the pattern says, but then I'm using sport weight yarn rather than the worsted that the pattern calls for. I'm also working on a sweater for my granddaughter which I hope will fit her in the Fall. At this point, it seems big enough to be worn as a dress for this 7 month old darling little girl.




My thoughts and prayers go out to all the people in Japan right now. My dear daughter-in-law and my two precious grandchildren are in Okayama right now. I did get an email from my daughter-in-law and although I knew they were south of Toyko, I still wanted to make sure they were fine and that her family was fine. One of her relatives did lose their home, but they are safe. I've had several old friends, current friends and relatives contact me about my daughter-in-law's family. Most of them didn't know that my daughter-in-law and my two grandchildren were in Japan.

A man years ago worked through his studdering, and Japan will rebuild itself as it did after WW11. With a bit of help from the world, it will return to being the safe and beautiful country that it is.

Grief is exhausting

My dear mother-in-law died on January 18th. Then I got a letter from a friend from my childhood telling me that her mom had died on January 7th. I just sat on the stairs and had a good cry. Three deaths of significant women in my life all within one month was just too much for me to bear. However, I have good friends who are very supportive, and also children who not only are grieving for their grandmother, but are also understanding of my grief. My husband of course is grieving the loss of his mom, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to support him.

Her belongings were moved from her apartment in independent living to our home last Saturday and now we're in the process of bagging up things that can be donated and separating things that I think my sister-in-law would want.

I never realized just how exhausting grieving could be. I know all the stages of it, have grieved before, but this is the hardest grief that I've ever experienced in my life. I sleep in, take naps, and just doing simple daily activities is becoming a chore.

I did finish the sweater that I'd been working on for my 4 year old grandson and even got him to wear it. He said it was a little bit itchy around the neck. It is a tad long for him, but as our Winter seems to be heading to Spring faster than was expected, it will fit him next Winter.

Since I can't seem to focus long enough to work on a shawl that I'd planned to finish in the next month or so, I'm working on the scarf in memory of Gayle, another mindless scarf, and now the Eternity Scarf. I'm using Madelinetosh DK in the colour logwood for the Eternity Scarf, and working with this yarn is delightful.

I'm now taking Millie to doggy day care at Bark 'N Lounge three times a week, so she can play with her buddies, get exercise, and I can rest or try to do things around the house without having to plan for her daily walks. Today we did go to a dog park and she had fun running and playing with a beagle and also was more tolerant to a beautiful German Shepherd who seems to have taken a shine to Millie. He definitely became alpha dog around her and seemed to want to protect her from other dogs that ran up to her. It was quite cute to see as previously she's been quite timid around Roco, but today she walked with him as his owner and I walked around the dog park to get our exercise and let them enjoy a day without rain. They both did get a bit muddy, but it is easy to wipe it off of Millie when we get home and then brush it later.

I sold some yarn the other day and need to sort my huge stash and decide what I want to part with. It is just a matter of getting motivated to sit and label yarn and then find the best evening to take it to the knitting guild to sell it to members. I could sell more on Ravelry, but again it seems like a lot of work for me to do right now.

This too shall pass. I just want it to pass quicker than it is doing. Time heals. All the usual sayings are so true, but living in grief isn't easy. I did get to play with my grandchildren the other day and for awhile, I was happy. Then I realized that my 5 month old granddaughter will never know her great-grandmother. My mother-in-law was a beautiful lady. She was proper, she was kind, and she listened to me when I talked to her about everything. She never judged anyone, and was always willing to spend time with others. She is greatly missed.

A Sad Ending to 2010

As I sit here on New Year's Eve, my heart isn't into a new year. As I try to live one day at a time, there is no need for me to make resolutions or make amends as a year ends. I try to live my life in such a way that I make amends to those that I've hurt in any way as soon as I'm aware that I may have hurt someone. With resolutions, if I make them, I usually don't follow through past the first few weeks in January.

Just over a week ago, I received a phone call from a friend telling me that a dear friend of mine had liver Cancer that had spread to her lungs. Gayle, my friend had only found out this possible diagnosis a few weeks before I got this phone call. They were unable to do a biopsy due to all the fluid that was already on her abdomen. As my mother-in-law was in hospital for heart failure and kidney failure, I had to go to the hospital anyway on Tuesday, December 21, and since I'd found out from Gayle's husband that she was to have a biopsy that day, I went searching for my dear friend. I'd worked at that hospital as a registered nurse for several years, so it was easy for me to find her. She was surprised to see me, but I could see how ill she really was.

We hugged and I gave her a special plaque that we'd been sharing with each other over the years. It was her turn to have it, and I told her that I expected her to give it back to me in April. She said she would. We both knew that she wouldn't be on earth to do that, but it was our way of showing hope. As the elevator was taking us down and I had to stop on the 2nd floor to visit my Mum, I hugged her again and she said, 'I love you'. I said, 'I love you.' As the elevator doors closed, I started to cry.

However, I had to be strong for my mother-in-law, so I wiped my tears and went to visit Mum. I did tell her about Gayle, but as my mother-in-law is 92 and is of sound mind, but now has a body that is dying on her, I can no longer use my mother-in-law as a Mum and dump all my worries and concerns onto her.

I've had a rough couple of weeks. I did see Gayle again when she was admitted to hospital in a private room, but she was basically unconscious due to all the pain medications that they were giving her. I read to her, talked to her, and she held my hand tightly. She'd opened her eyes once and she looked scared, unsure of where she was, so I told her to go back to sleep. Then I said 'Good bye'.

She died on December 28th at around 3am in the morning, and I'd seen her for the last time on Boxing Day, December 26th. I'd spent time talking to her husband and of course I've been praying for him, their two adult sons and her own Mum who is 97. Gayle has left a big hole in a lot of people's lives.

Her funeral is January 4th at the Anglican Church in Langley, BC, that she'd take her mum to each Sunday. I've had some peaceful days, but mostly I feel numb. I've had some weepy days and I'd even asked God to give me a spiritual awakening and then I said don't bother. I've had more than my share of them. Later that day, while putting groceries in the trunk of my car, I found a loonie. I immediately picked it up and thanked Gayle for it. When my mom died, I found pennies for months. When my dad died, I found dimes for months. Gayle left me a loonie which has a lot of significance to me.

And while at a meeting today, a friend called me to look at what was found where I'd been sitting. Where my chair had been was a penny. I believe that they are pennies from heaven and while I'd love more loonies, I know that finding pennies, dimes, or loonies are all from those 3 people that I've loved and lost.

I've had other losses in my life of course. But losing Gayle who was my friend, my counsellor in life, a spinner and knitter, and someone who had a sense of humour that could get me out of a bad mood in a second, is a loss that will stay with me for a long time. One thing that she'd always say to me whether I was sharing something upsetting or something joyful was 'This Too Shall Pass'. And when I didn't know what to do next, she'd say, 'Do the next right thing'.

These two phrases will always stay with me. Today I went to my local yarn store to look around as I don't really need more yarn, but I told the owner about my loss and I was just looking for something to comfort me. She handed me some beautiful Alpaca that she'd just got in, and the softness of it just melted my heart. I purchased 3 skeins of a beautiful royal blue. Then I saw the new Rios by Malabrigo and saw 3 skeins of a mixed purple colour. I knew I had to purchase these also to make a triangle scarf just for myself. The pattern that I use is very simple and it is mindless once I've done the bottom and a couple of the triangles. It is a perfect project for me to be working on right now, so I can just knit and also remember all the beautiful times together Gayle and I had. I can also allow myself to grieve.

I wanted to buy some green yarn as Gayle had the most amazing green eyes and when she wore green, she was just stunning. But I realized that I could no longer make anything for her to wear. However, I can make something to charish out of both of these yarns for myself in memory of Gayle.

While I won't be making any particular resolutions for 2011, I will continue to keep my inventory of my yarn, books, magazines, and needles up to date. And I will label yarn in my huge stash to sell at a guild meeting or just give some of it away to those who have less than me but do want to knit.

Mum isn't doing well, and we will be in the process of moving her from independent living to assisted living once she is medical stable for such a move. This is a difficult time for my husband and for Mum. It is also a difficult time for my three grown children and my daughter-in-law as it is unlikely that Mum will live to 2012. However, she has surprised all of us in the past. So for now, I'm just being there for her, helping her with nursing care and communicating with the doctor to do the best for Mum. And she told me not to grieve long for her. I can grieve a little bit for her. I love my mother-in-law very much. She has been a Mum to me ever since my own mother died in 2002. And I'm so grateful to have had such wonderful women in my life to support me on my journey.

My many projects in knitting are mostly just sitting there. In January, I will decide what I really want to make and what can be ripped out. I realize that I don't have time to spend making many projects and I don't do just one project at a time, but I will finish a sweater for my grandson, a sweater for my granddaughter, and possibly a vest for my grandson and a winter hat for my granddaughter.

Right now, I'm lucky if I can knit for a few minutes without feeling overwelmed with sadness and loss. But as Gayle would say to me, 'This too shall pass.'

A Beginning Designer

I finally decided to learn how to write out a pattern from my own design. Although I've changed many patterns ,or even used the basics of two patterns and added my own parts, and have even taken a stitch from a stitch dictionary and used it to create something, writing up my own pattern was more work than I expected it to be. I had two dear friends who test knitted my first attempts at writing out a pattern, and their insight into not only what to put into the pattern, but how to change it were amazing.

I learned how to make a pdf and even add pictures and resize them. I'm not a computer geek even though I'd love to be one, but learning the few things that I did were a source of great joy for me.

The above picture is one of the cowls that I made out of Handmaiden Cashmere 4 ply. My test knitters made the same pattern out of Malabrigo Silky Merino and I also made one out of the same yarn plus one out of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. The Alpaca Silk one did stretch a lot due to the alpaca in it, but it is a perfect size for my daughter-in-law and it is brown, which she loves.

I'm now working on a pair of fingerless gloves with the same lace pattern so I can offer both the cowl and fingerless gloves together. I've put them for sale on Ravelry,however I am quite willing to send this pattern to anyone who wishes to have it. If you are on Ravelry, just send me a message with your email and I will gladly send the cowl pattern. My Ravelry name is CynthiaW.

My life has been very busy with not only designing, but trying to finish up some of the knitting projects that I hope to have finished by Christmas. Between trying to knit, spend 5-6 hours with my grandson just playing at least every other week or so, and make sure my 92 year old mother-in-law is doing well and spending time with her, and even getting the laundry and housework done, plus of course taking my wonderful dog, Millie, out each day for a good run, I tend to focus on mindless knitting in the evenings. That will have to change if I expect to finish the things that I want to finish before Christmas.

My life as the President of the Fraser Valley Knitting Guild has become a bit more demanding than I expected. I now limit the amount of time that I tend to guild business so that I can better inform the person who takes over for me in two years of what she/he has in store for them. We are a new guild, being only 2 1/2 years old, and for the first time we have a strong executive. We are now focusing on the programs and less on business and more on the teaching aspect of what a guild does. It isn't a knit and chat by any means, but we're trying to make it fun and also to encourage members to teach others of all the knitting techniques that some of our more advanced knitters know how to do without having a book open in front of them. I tend to be a knitter who has to have a book or notes available to me when I'm tackling something that is either different, or something that I've done before but need a quick reminder.
My day so far has been filled with attending a meeting, tromping through the power easement with Millie so she could run and have fun chasing a ball and of course getting muddy and wet in the process. Then it was onto some guild business and writing emails and of course updating my blog.

I'm totally into NCIS right now. I found seasons 1 & 2 hidden in our cabinet of DVD's and videos that one of my adult children had bought me at least two years ago. So, I'm totally into Gibbs and the gang. While I remember bits and pieces of each episode, I usually am knitting and not totally paying attention to any TV that I watch. Now I'm paying attention and enjoying the special features that these DVD's have.

I am a very addictive type of person and once I get into something, whether it be NCIS, yarn, books or even music, I tend to over do it until I can again find my balance. I'm slowly getting some balance with NCIS but I do want Season 5 & 6 and may have to wait until Christmas for them.

This journey of life has many bumps in the road and there are may times when I just want to give up and curl in a ball, knit and enjoy my grandchildren or adult children and of course spend time with Millie, and not interact with anyone outside of my small circle of family. However, I am a people person and I do enjoy learning and listening to what others have to say. I will forever be a student, and right now I feel that I'm a student in life. I'm learning when to let things go, and when to become passionate about something and just do it. Finding the balance is important for me.

Fall has Arrived, and I'm lazy about blogging

I wish I could say that I've been so busy since July that I haven't had time to write anything here. The truth is that I'm just lazy. Besides, I have no great knitting wisdom to share, no fantastic designs that I've created, nor have I even really cleaned my house for months. It is surface clean just so you shouldn't be worried that I'm a candidate for the Hoarder's show.

Our second grandchild and first granddaughter was born on August 11, 2010. She is gorgeous of course. That's what all grandmother's feel about their grandchildren, I think, or at least I think my two grandchildren are the most beautiful children in the world. I'm a tad prejudiced of course.

I was elected as President of the FVKG (Fraser Valley Knitting Guild), so now I only have one role rather than the four that I had for the past two years. Our executive is very strong this year and we had three amazing members who organized a Yarn Harvest Crawl, which I had to go on and of course spend far too much money on yarn that just called my name.



I haven't been weaving since I ended my classes. I do have yarn to weave and I just need to take the time to set up my loom and actually do it. The small TV is in my craft room now so I have no excuse except for laziness or the desire to either knit or have my face in a book.

I read a lot this summer and now that Fall arrived, I'm still reading a lot. Millie and I walk each day that she isn't at doggy day care, and I do take a book to the dog park and try to sit on a bench and just read, but she has to be walked around the park first and stop and sniff everything, maybe play with another dog if she feels like it, and so my book is usually just something else that I have to carry.

As our knitting guild is getting so organized, I finally figured out how to add a picture and a short note about our day at the Cranberry Festival to our guild's blog. The Cranberry Festival was today, and driving through Fort Langley was a nightmare and my GPS wouldn't help me until I managed to go around in circles for awhile. Finally it gave me the right directions to where I was suppose to be. With a very poor sense of direction, I did know that I had to go in one direction but getting there wasn't easy with Glover Road blocked off and people stopping in the middle of the streets and look around. However, as I had Millie in the car, I was quite patient.



Millie had a walk this morning and a short one with me when I could leave our table. Then our secretary's brother came and he walked Millie for about 2 miles. Needless to say, I was grateful and Millie is very tired this evening. That is a good thing because she needs lots of exercise.

I have designed a cowl but now I need to finish it, make sure that my directions can be followed by anyone and I've lined up one test knitter. So I guess I've done something different lately. I'm knitting purple hats for the Shaking Baby Syndrome Project and I have purple yarn to make about 3 more. I'm currently knitting a pumpkin hat for my granddaughter, a sweater for her, a sweater for my grandson, and I just finished a mask for Millie to wear to doggy day care as her halloween costume. She's going as a superhero angel. She doesn't like her wings nor does she like her tiera and I'm sure she isn't going to be thrilled to have a white mask tied around her head.

It started raining very hard on my way back home and I was so glad to walk into a vacuumed house. My husband had done it and he's the one with the sore back now. We're having the family over tomorrow for Canadian Thanksgiving but I decided I wasn't going to get up early and stuff a bird. That can wait until Christmas. So I bought a ham and hopefully won't over cook it like I usually do. Store bought pies, ice cream, and lots of vegetables and potatoes and salad ought to keep everyone fed and content.

It's back to knitting the Pumpkin hat for me right now. I'll try to write more, but really is it that important in the scheme of life?

Serendipity

It has been very hot here in British Columbia. We didn't really have a Spring, so now it feels like August has hit us suddenly even though it is only the beginning of July. Even with an air conditioned house, for which I'm extremely grateful for, an air conditioned car, and lots of ice cream in the freezer, I'm still suffering from the heat. It is generally when I have to go out for something and of course I do have to walk my dog.

Yesterday I walked her in the power easement near our home, and there is a small stream there, and she was happy to step into it and roll around in freshly mowed grass, but I couldn't handle the heat. So later in the day I put her into the car and we went to a dog park in White Rock. I'd taken her there before about a year ago, but felt that it was too far to go more often. I'm so glad that I decided to take Millie there yesterday.

There is a pond or at least a small body of water and she went running into it with all the other dogs. It isn't deep enough for her to really swim, but she got cooled off and I found that the dogs at this park were well behaved and not overly excited. Millie is quite submissive and has learned to protect herself by lying down and surrendering. This works well for her but highly excited dogs aren't her favourite type of dogs to be around. She is very good with smaller dogs even if they are barking at her.

There are trails at the park and they are well shaded with lots of old and tall trees. So she got to romp around the trails and always came to find me. She's becoming very good at checking to see where I am finally.

I found a bench next to a grove of trees and there was a nice breeze. I'd taken my knitting bag with the two baby hats that I'm making for my to be born granddaughter in August, but didn't do any knitting. A very nice lady was sitting on the bench and she was a knitter. We talked about knitting, Ravelry, and quilting and doing crafts. It was like meeting a kindred spirit while at a dog park.

She found me on Ravelry and I got to see some of her wonderful projects. I now feel encouraged to finish up the baby things as quickly as possible and get to work on my many unfinished projects.

In the evenings I'm working on the baby crib sized blanket.


I'm about half done now and hopefully will be finished with it before this baby is born. I call it my neopolitan mint baby crib blanket because of all the colours that I've used for this blanket. The yarn had a knot in it that I missed in one section of the creme colour and I didn't notice it until I'd knitted away in the pink and started the brown. It was the kind of knot that was hidden and I thought maybe it was just some fluff around the yarn. No such luck. It was a very small knot. I untied it and tried to figure out how I could keep the blanket together but nothing I came up with would work. The ends were too short to really keep them together with a short piece of yarn that I could weave in. So I just knotted it again and hopefully it won't show as much to my daughter-in-law as it shows to me.

Besides, I'm not perfect and anything I make shouldn't be perfect. Hopefully with blocking it, I can make it not so noticeable even though my husband can't see it.

Once this blanket is finished, I can then finish up two shawls that I want to make. I also have a Spring sweater to make out of some Mission Falls cotton that I've had for a few years. I couldn't make up my mind what to make out of it, so I finally found a cardigan that is simple, nice looking and a top down one that makes it easier for me.

We're going on holidays to Vancouver Island soon and of course I want to visit some yarn shops over there. Not that I need more yarn of course as my stash is huge, but if I can find some handdyed yarn that is the same colour of some that I have already, it makes it possible to make more sweaters than shawls. I seem to be wanting to make more sweaters lately. Maybe I just want it to cool off and be Fall. Or maybe I want to see what my unborn granddaughter looks like. I've made her a couple of sweaters, leggings, a smaller blanket and booties. It is so nice to be able to knit with pink and my stash has recently increased in the colour pink.

A Little of This, A Little of That

Now that my yarn stash is up on Ravelry, I've had the opportunity to sell some of it at 30% off. And two knitting friends kindly took some Fleece Artist and Handmaiden, and not only did I get to have nice visits with them, I also didn't have to deal with shipping. I still need to go through my stash and move more of it to the Sale/Trade page, however I've made a note on my stash page that if someone sees something that they'd like to buy, and I don't have a particular project written down, they can ask me if I'm willing to part with it. That's how I sold some yarn recently.

I finished the baby blanket and then started the baby crib sized blanket. I'm using four different colours in stripes for it, but as it is pretty boring, I only work on it when my brain needs a rest. Same goes with the leggings that I'm making to go with a baby sweater.

I do have until the middle of August to finish these projects and the new granddaughter won't need to sweater and leggings until the Fall anyway. There are so many baby items that I want to make for this first granddaughter, and several that my daughter-in-law wants me to make, but I'm planning on making them to fit the baby for Winter.

I have three shawls to finish and last night I just sat and knitted on my second Calais shawl. It is an easy pattern for me to work on, plus the yarn is pink and blue and made by Yarn Candy, Sweet Fiber and it is so nice to work with.

My mother-in-law was in hospital for a week and now has a pacemaker. Hopefully this will help her ailing heart to keep working for quite awhile. At 92, she is still knitting and finished a baby blanket for this new great-granddaughter plus a toy.

My days have been very busy with visiting her in hospital, taking Millie out for walks or even driving her to her doggy day care and then facing the horrible traffic to pick her up. But she loves it there, has lots of dog friends that she plays with and is very tired at the end of her six hours there.

The weather finally cleared up today, and she and I went to a dog park and walked around it three times and she is tired now. She'd also had a good long walk this morning with my husband. He is quite good about walking her on the weekends, and as the weather improves, we'll probably do what we did last summer, which is to walk her after dinner. That way she gets a lot of exercise, we get exercise, and if I could figure out a way to knit and walk her, I'd do it.

She is a tad overweight, but my vet wasn't concerned about it as he was giving her treats. I do take her swimming during the summer, and even though she is a retriever, she'll only retrieve a ball in the house or in the water.

Our knitting guild is going to meet in Cloverdale on June 13th for WWKIP day. I plan to go to 88 Stitches on the 12th, as I've been going there for the past two years and it is a lot of fun to sit and knit and chat.

I made a lace bag and designed it myself. I used the cast on that we were taught at one guild meeting, and then did the gull lace pattern around the bag. I'd used some stash yarn and I amazed myself at how cute it turned out. I'd love to be able to design my own lace shawl, but at this point, it is easier to use patterns that others have designed and that are written well.

I still spend far too much time wandering around Ravelry. Finding new patterns that I just have to have, and then printing them out and of course my next major project will be to weed through all my notebooks of patterns and possibly do an inventory of what I have. That is a major job for me, but I tend to see a pattern, save it to my computer and then print it out. Many times I've printed out the same pattern several times.

Hopefully this nice weather will last more than just one day. I have a lot of gardening to do, but as I'm going pretty fast on the Calais shawl, I do want to finish it so I can actually wear it this Summer.

With Father's Day, my husband's birthday, our youngest heading back East for more schooling at the end of June, it would be nice to have a new Summer shawlette to wear.

Organizing my stash

I basically spent the last week in a major fibromyalgia flare. Lots of pain that just wouldn't go away. The weather kept shifting and that affects me a lot. However, one thing that I found I could concentrate on and do was to take pictures of my stash and finally get more of it posted on Ravelry.

A couple of friends thought I'd won the lottery as I'd finally gotten around to taking pictures of Fleece Artist and Handmaiden yarn that is made here in Canada. No lottery winnings for me, but I did have a good laugh about it all. Today I hauled out my big container of Noro yarn and proceeded to add them to my stash on Ravelry. Even though I have an inventory of all my yarn, plus where at least 90% of it is located in my craft room, actually seeing it and wondering why I'd bought it all in the first place got me to thinking.

I obviously had plans for particular projects at one time, and of course some of them are written on my inventory, but I keep changing my mind and of course find different yarns that I prefer to knit with.

So now I'm going to see if I can sell some of it on Ravelry for less than the cost I paid, but the shipping is the hard part. While watching Hoarding, Buried Alive this evening, I decided that I should just decide which yarns I can live without and sell them from home. Of course with our garage half filled with a lot of stuff, it would make sense to have a garage sell. However that is far too much work.

I'm going to see if some of my knitting buddies that live near me want to buy some of my yarn for a reduced price and then I don't have to deal with the shipping.

Organizing my yarn is a full time job. And of course when I see a new pattern that I want to make, I do go through my inventory for the yarn I want to use, but then I'll go into my Local Yarn Shop,88 Stitches, and just have to have something else.

I don't consider myself a hoarder as I'm very organized, and I do go through my clothing and small items to give away for others to use on a regular basis. It is just seeing how much yarn I actually have and not remembering why I bought it, but will I have time to use it that is key to me right now.

I have one more weaving class to take and I've missed three classes. I've learned a lot that I can apply to my new loom, but I've also discovered that I love the warping process and the actual weaving is a bit boring for me. It is like doing a sweater in garter stitch and feeling that I'm never going to be finished.

At least I'm learning more about my likes and dislikes. I still love Fleece Artist and Handmaiden yarns, but lately I've been purchasing yarn to make baby clothing and blankets as our second grandchild is due the middle of August, and she is a girl. Thus, I had little pink yarn that was suitable for a baby and of course had to buy a lot.

Also, I've been introduced to about three independent yarn dyers and their yarn is beautiful, soft and what I want to be on my needles now.

I'm trying to finish a shawl that has an edging on it and the edging is now very boring for me, but I did learn how to add an edging without a lot of mistakes.

Now to get myself organized so I can either donate some yarn or make a small amount of money back from some of my past purchases.

My New Toy

After dropping off Millie at Bark'n Lounge, I drove into Vancouver to pick up a weaving loom from
Birkeland Bros.Wool,. Thankfully my GPS was working, or I would have gotten totally lost and would still be wandering down the streets of Vancouver. It is amazing how a trip into Vancouver can take so long to get there, but the drive home was quick and easy.

I immediately set to work assembling this 20" weaving loom. I had to rearrange my working table in my craft room to have enough room. But it is now set up and the next thing on my agenda, after I do some writing that I do with my eldest son, I plan to play around with my new toy.

Since my eldest son, daughter-in-law, and grandson moved out two weeks ago, I have become more positive and have been busy setting up my craft room again, plus moving all my knitting books back into the den on the bookshelves. I've left my scrapbooking supplies in the closet in the den for now as the craft room is too filled with yarn. I'm hoping to pick up another shelving unit so I can store my stash in that rather in containers that tend to pile up and of course I have no idea what yarn is where.

I'm slowly taking pictures of my stash and am selling some of it on Ravelry. I discovered today that I can use up my sock yarn to weave scarves. Once I figure out how to weave, that is. The pictures in the book that came with my Ashford Loom are very straight forward, but I tend to complicate things.

I'm also in a book reading group at Ravelry on the 88 Stitches group. We're reading Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier, so my actual knitting time is really being pushed aside. I did get my knitting mojo back and have been working on my grandson's James the Train hat.

My new toy is calling my name, but I must do a couple of articles before I get to play. That must mean that I'm finally a grown up.

Dreary January

The dreary, wet, and depression weather here in the lower mainland of British Columbia is doing a number on my mental outlook. Last Friday my dear friend, Karen and I went to our favourite yarn shop, 88 Stitches and she tried to get me to be more positive. I was mostly whining and complaining. Finally the rain stopped and I actually saw some blue sky. After eating lunch and seeing more blue sky, and having fun at a big Loonie store, I ended up laughing and could feel my negative mood was lifting.

Granted it didn't totally go away as the dreary weather has continued, but at least it has been fairly dry so I could get Millie to the dog park. We now have a regular routine for dog park days. She gets muddy, I put her into the car, she waits at the entrance in the house until I tell her to head upstairs and she will now on most days jump into the bathtub. With the handheld shower, I'm able to hose her off with warm water. Then it is towel time for drying. She is a very patient dog or maybe she doesn't like all the mud on her.

My knitting mojo flew out the window after Christmas, and isn't really coming back. I keep casting on projects that I think will help, but I do a few rows and call it quits. On the other hand, I've been cleaning my house more and have been doing some reading.

On Ravelry I've joined the 2010 Shawls in 2010 group and am working on the Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West out of two skeins of Verdes Malabrigo that I had in my stash. I'm trying to reduce my stash by searching it first before going out to buy more yarn that I don't really need. Team Cindy on Ravelry is another group that I'm involved in and I've signed up to finish three WIP during the Olympics. I may have to change it to two, as one is a shawl, one a scarf that isn't mindless, and a Baby Surprise Jacket for my second grandbaby that will be born in August.

Trying to keep my sanity with this dreary and dark weather has become my main focus lately. I'd prefer snow and sunshine or even just snow instead of this mild weather, no sunlight and of course a very muddy dog most days. Millie now goes to doggy day care at Bark 'n Lounge one or two times a week and she has a lot of fun there, I get a break, and she doesn't get muddy.

I didn't make any resolutions for this year, except to try to live one day at a time, which I've been trying to do for years now. Also, spending time with positive friends helps me now as I've never felt this down in January. It could also be that my eldest son, daughter-in-law and grandson have found a place to live and since they've been here for almost one and a half years, I don't have space and as much time to myself as I was used to. I'm grateful that they will still be close by, but they need their own place and I need my home back plus I'll be busy sorting all my crafty stuff back in my old craft room.

Focusing on the positives helps me to cope with this weather. And this weather isn't very good for the Olympics that will be here soon.

I plan to work hard to finish at least two WIP during that time.

Fall has Arrived

Another beautiful day in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We did have some much needed rain, but I'm grateful that it is beginning to feel and look like our usual Fall's. Fall is my favourite season. I love to see the colours of the leaves change, feel the crispness in the air, and of course it makes me want to just sit all warm and cosy and knit.

My problem right now is that Millie needs to be walked or taken to the dog park each day. I usually just take her to the dog park in the afternoons so she can play with other dogs, run, and get rid of excess energy. We now are walking her on her leash each evening right after dinner. Soon it will be too dark to do that, and I'll be back to walking her around 4 or 5pm.

My knitting time seems to be more limited these days. I may get a bit done in the mornings, but I don't find time to knit during the afternoons much these days. Mostly because Millie needs to be out playing and having fun with her doggy friends. However, I did rip back the Lavalette shawl as I'd cast off too tightly. I have no idea what I did as I do know how to do two different methods of casting off loosely. But I fixed it and now it drapes very well.

Millie is now 18 months old and she and Heagen play very well together. They of course are still supervised.

I did a KAL with the Scary Lace group on Ravelry and used some yarn that I had in my stash from a trip to California last summer. I made The Travelling Woman.


I've started the KAL for October, Saskia, and between trying to do a few rows each evening on a lace shawl for my daughter-in-law's mom out of silky malabrigo, redoing the back of Thomas the Train, working on Charlotte's Web, and doing a few rows on the Saskia shawl, and ignoring all my other UFO's for now, I don't really feel a sense of accomplishment. Once I get going on one of these projects, I know I'll do what I always do. I'm totally focus on one of them until it is finished.
I do work on the Einstein coat when I'm out and need something totally mindless, so that may be finished by next Fall.

Our knitting guild, The Fraser Valley Knitting Guild seems to be going much better now that we've elected some people for major positions. I'm the treasurer/membership person and we opened up a bank account, which was a major accomplishment. With my husband doing all the graphic work for free for now, I can easily give him the information to be printed out and he does it.
My pain levels have increased with the shifting of weather, but so far I'm managing to do the main things that need to be done. Like taking Millie out, playing with Heagen, a couple of meals per week, and of course wanting to buy more yarn that I really don't need.

Too many hobbies

My den room is definitely too small for all of my hobbies. Shelves are filled with yarn, the closet is overflowing with yarn, scrapbooking supplies and other things that just need a place to be for now.

My daughter-in-law and I decided to do scrapbooking today since it is too hot outside to do much of anything. After I found all my printed pictures from 2006, I couldn't find the notebook where I'd written down all the places we'd visited while in Japan for Cherry Blossom Season during that year. I couldn't find any pictures for the beginning of 2006 except for one of my youngest son wearing a scarf that I'd knitted for him. It wasn't ready in time for Christmas so he got it in January. At least it kept his neck warm during the winter months while he was finishing a degree at University.

After spreading out all my papers, tools, glue that was so old it wouldn't stick, and finding new glue and acid-free sticky's and some birthday paper and some other birthday things, I proceeded to just sit on the floor and paste the birthday photos from Mum's 88th birthday and half of the pictures from my daughter's 27th birthday on pages, and then my back hurt, I was tired and felt like it was too much work to do in a totally disarrayed room.
My daughter-in-law and youngest son had moved a bookshelf into the den which now houses many containers of yarn that I haven't noted on my inventory list as to which container they are in. While my yarn inventory is kept up-to-date, finding the yarn that I want is still a bit difficult for me since I had to move all my yarn, scrapbooking, and quilting supplies into this small den and the basement and under our bed.

The thought of finishing 2006 seems like a lot of work. I still haven't printed out all the pictures from our trip to Japan, but I do have enough to fill a big scrapbook. Sometimes I wish I'd hadn't started doing this hobby or had just done books of birthdays, Christmas, holidays, and special events rather than trying to do it year by year. I still haven't totally redone my grown children's baby pictures, and many of them were damaged due to acid getting into them. At least I'd removed them from their old albums.

If I get the wild idea to finish two quilts, the scrapbooking stuff will again be back in the closet so I can use the table.

I think that's why I prefer knitting. It is portable, it is waiting for me next to my spot on the couch in the family room, and if I'm bored with one project, I can pick up another UFO and work on it. Quilting and scrapbooking take time, lots of equipment and of course an uninterrupted hour or two.

Millie turned 16 months old on the 25th, and she had a very exciting experience out in the lightning and thunderstorm last night. We'd gotten ready to take her out when the rain began and as we heard thunder, we decided not to go to the power easement. We walked her down to a big park with a pond, trying to gauge which way the storm was moving. It was moving with us. My husband got some pictures of the lightning and the skies but he was frustrated as he only had his small camera.

When the storm was coming right over us, I decided that we'd be safe on the stage that is covered and at the park. Along with some skateboarding teens, we sat and watched the storm, watched the downpour of rain and Millie wasn't frightened of the thunder. It was a good test for her as she is going to be a therapy dog, visiting people in hospital and eventually visiting children at Children's hospital.

Once the storm was past us, we walked very fast in the opposite direction to get home, get dry, and feel safe. Our daughter had towels out to dry off Millie, for which I was very grateful.

I needed a picture of Millie since she is now 16 months old, but she wasn't interested in sitting still. She was more interested in what 'her dad' was doing. He'd cleaned the barbecue so our youngest son could barbecue hamburgers on it tonite. Millie wanted to be with 'her dad' and he was trying to get her to sit quietly but she wanted to play.


He finally got her to sit with him, and they both seemed to be smiling. I think.



Of course the first picture of my messy den has Millie lying in her favourite spot while I'm on the computer.

I'm really enjoying working on the Lavalette shawl with Yarn Candy, Sweet Fiber silk and cashmere. The pattern is simple to memorize and although I should be finishing the Thomas the Train cardigan for my grandson, I keep returning to this shawl. I did do a few rows on the cardigan last night and plan to do a few more this evening. Doing intarsia isn't my favourite thing to do, but the fronts are looking much better than the back. After I finish the front left that I'm now doing, I will do the sleeves. Then if I have yarn left over, I may redo the back. Now that is something that I'm not looking forward to doing, but I do like my projects to look finished and well knitted.
My BSJ is finished except for buttons. Either I'll just put the buttons on and give it to my sister-in-law when she's out her visiting in August to take home with her to give her daughter, my niece who is expecting in September, or I'll wait until the baby is born and put the buttons on the correct side. I wonder who decided which was the right side to add buttons, but I'm sure I could google it and the answer would be there.

Holiday's on Vancouver Island

With my car loaded to capacity, my husband and I left home for Vancouver Island with our dog, Millie on July 2. It was Millie's first long trip, first ferry ride, and many firsts for her during our week on the Island.

The picture above is of the waterfalls in Campbell River where we stayed with my brother-in-law for three days. Our queen-sized air mattress which had only been used once in 2007 during a visit of my high school friends, was filled and quickly deflated. So I chose to sleep on a small couch, while my husband managed to keep filling up the air mattress and eventually fell asleep on the floor. On our second night, I turned the air mattress over to discover about 3 rips. It probably occurred when it had been put back in the bag. A trip to get duct tape was in order.

With the duct tape, it had a slow leak. I chose the couch again. After two difficult nights of sleep, my husband went to Canadian Tire and bought a new queen sized air mattress, which worked beautifully.

We spent three days in Campbell River, visiting with my b-i-l (my husband's older brother), walking Millie around the town, down to the water, and through a great park where other people were walking their dogs or riding bikes or just taking a pleasant evening stroll. I of course found the local yarn shop called, Needle Arts Centre, which I found some yarn that I just had to have.

From there we headed to Port Alberni and the weather shifted from sunny days to rain. We found a hotel that took dogs, and the staff were wonderful to Millie.

We spent one day in Tofino wandering around and took Millie on a walk that led to the ocean. She found a friend to play with there, much like she'd found a friend while walking around the park area in Campbell River as can be seen in the picture below.

At Tofino, Millie had so much fun playing in the ocean and it really wore her out. She slept well every night, but then she went everywhere with us and was walking a lot or running free when we felt that she would be safe.

After two days in Port Alberni, we headed for Nanaimo and found another hotel, a Best Western, that allowed dogs. They even had a bed for Millie plus they'd leave out treats for her like she was a prized guest.

We found a small dog park at Beban Park and Millie again found friends to play with.

Millie did very well on her first holiday. She didn't mind the ferry ride and neither did we. Instead of leaving our car and going upstairs as we usually do, we stayed in the car, walked Millie and even sat for a short time in the small dog areas that they do have on ferries. The first one was air conditioned and too cold for us, however the second one wasn't air conditioned and the door was cracked open a bit and it wasn't very comfortable. The car and just walking Millie around the cars and to the back of the ferry seemed to work well for all of us.

I did find another yarn store in Nanaimo called, Mad About Ewe and was able to find some yarns that I usually have to travel into Vancouver to obtain.

All in all, I found this week away from home very relaxing. I read two and 1/2 books and highly recommend The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. I quickly read two fairly current knitting novels which entertained me, but they were books that I'd call light summer reading.

I only worked on one project the entire time. I managed to get quite a bit done of the wrap that has been on my needles for months now. As I have two projects that I need to finish by September, I'm going to finish this wrap, which will be great in the Fall, and finish the BSJ for my niece whose baby is due in September and my grandson's Thomas the Train.

Life just keeps happening

The house is chaotic again with noise from a 2 1/2 year old, questions from the adult children, whining from the dog, and meowing from the ancient cat.


My wip's are piling up and I can't seem to stay focused long enough on any one project to finish it.


The cardigan for my grandson has 1/2 of the back done, which has been a long and tangled mess. Doing fair isle/intarsia to create Thomas the Train on the back has finally paid off. I'm going quicker now and only have to work with green and white for awhile and then on to shaping the armholes in blue for the sky. I'm dreading the two fronts and have considered knitting them plain, but I want to make my grandson happy and he loves Thomas the Train and friends.

I've woven in some of the ends, but it will take me hours to totally finish the back of this cardigan, but my grandson is thrilled each time I show him how Thomas is actually being created. I have told him that when he is about 5 I'll teach him to knit. He now can handle his child chop sticks very well, and since he can manage those, I don't think needles should be too much more work for him to learn.

I have three shawls on needles and have been trying to do a few rows each evening, but between trying to concentrate, being interrupted, losing my spot on the chart and having Millie wanting to go for a walk, means that my knitting time is hard to come by on certain occasions. I did take some knitting with me to the dog park yesterday and managed to get one row done before it was time to leave.

Millie loves to run and play with her buddies at the dog park and we had to stop going there for over a week because she developed kennel cough. She is well now and of course back to requiring three walks/day or at least two and one long play time at the dog park.

Millie is almost 15months old and is definitely my best buddy and the delight of my life. She lies quietly at my feet as I'm knitting and has never gotten into my yarn or projects. She doesn't like it when the yarn happens to lie on her head, so I move it, give her a pet and she just lies down again in comfort.

Yarn change rather than a yarn mistake

Today I was sitting and watching The Dog Whisperer with Millie at my feet. She'd had a good walk and run earlier so it was the perfect time to work on the Storm Cloud Shawlette. I did wonder why it seemed like I had more than 205 yards of yarn and that what I thought was Lorna's Lace in an aran weight was a fingering weight, but I just kept knitting and dropping YO's on the even rows and doing the increase rows without really thinking very hard.

After deciding that I should do some much needed housework, like clean the master suite bathroom and change the sheets on our bed plus put clean ones on our eldest son's and daughter-in-law's bed for when they return next week, I was tired of housework. Besides our air conditioning isn't working properly and it was warmer inside than out. With my husband, we took Millie to the dog park as she'd tried to help me make the beds and was getting under my feet for real.

It was a nice day outside and she sniffed, played, and milled about which is what she is good at doing at the dog park when she doesn't see any of her regular playmates. It is the Victoria Day long weekend and a lot of people are out of town or at the rodeo, which is in our small town.

When we returned, my youngest son was actually fixing dinner! I of course let him continue and sat down to work on the shawlette. Then I looked at the second ball of yarn that had been wound at the same time as the one I was using and realized that I was actually using Handmaiden 2 ply cashmere/silk for this shawlette. Since it was a 300meter ball, I was definitely going to have some leftover.

I wasn't about to frog all my work, so I decided quickly that I'd probably have enough leftover to make a lacey cowl. I had to laugh at myself. At my age, it's the best thing to do. Also my husband and I are trying to be positive about everything in life these days. If I'd gotten frustrated and frogged the entire project, I'm sure that I wouldn't have made this shawlette at all.

Killing Time

I could be working on the Shetland Triangle shawl that I decided I wanted to work on this evening, but I had to restart it and I'm now back where I was. At row 7. Not going very fast with this shawl and even though it is a very easy chart to follow, the malabrigo yarn that I'm using is delightful, I just couldn't sit still.

We're waiting to pick up our youngest son from Mexico at midnight. He did change his flight so they aren't going to have a 2 hour stop over in the airport in Mexico City, but he still will need to wear a mask. His sister has to stay with friends for a week as she does work in an independent living facility and if she stayed at home, she wouldn't be able to work for a week.

Our son will be wearing a mask at home and his boss phoned on Friday and said he can work from home for a couple of days. He and his friends are all fine, so all of this is just a precaution.

I did finish the Newsboy Cap today and I'm very delighted with how it fits my head like a baseball cap and that is how I wanted it to look. I changed the number of increases and that helped it to fit my head as I wanted it to. Of course my daughter loved it, so I'm sure I'll be making one for her.

I may be used to staying up until 11:30, but the thought of having to go into Vancouver and then driving home again isn't sitting well with me. I'm learning that being a parent doesn't end when children become adults. Some aspects do end, but since they are all living at home again, we are very involved in their lives. Well, as much as they are willing to tell us.

I'm going to sit and knit or maybe read for awhile.

Spring is finally here

Even though Spring actually began on March 20th, it felt like our Spring was just more of our Winter. Then it felt like we went from Winter directly into Summer. The last week has been more Spring like weather, yet it felt quite hot outside today. Hotter than I remember it being on the last day of April.

My days have been very busy with little things. Walking Millie at least twice a day takes up some time, and I usually try to get her to a dog park in Langley so she can play with dogs that she knows. I'm still waiting for the dog park in the Clayton area which was begun in 2007 to finally be finished. I don't understand how difficult it is to lay down grass, put up a fence, and actually have it finished when it has been two years. I guess I'm just tired of spending money on gas so Millie can play with her friends. Yet, I find so much pleasure in watching her run up to a dog that she knows and the both of them just greet each other and begin to wrestle. Her current best friend is Shilo. He's about 9 months old to Millie's 13 months of age, but he's a border collie and they are about the same size.

My knitting has been very slow lately. I've finished a couple of projects, but like a true obsessive/compulsive knitter, I'm constantly casting on new projects. Currently my favourite project is the Newsboy cap. I'm venturing out of my comfort zone and am using Taiyo yarn, cotton, wool, and nylon and am making it smaller than the pattern so that hopefully it will fit my small head. So far it seems to be fitting me. I'm going to do 4 repeats of the cables and then I begin the decreases. I definitely needed my calculator for this pattern. However, I did get gauge and I did do a proper swatch.

The BSJ that I made for one of my niece's unborn baby is finished except for buttons. I'm also making a simple cap to match. Now my other niece is pregnant with her third baby so I need to make another BSJ. I do wish they'd find out the sex of their babies because it would make it so much easier for me to decide on a colour.

I do find it overwhelming at times to have so many UFO's but then I can pick up and knit whatever I feel like knitting in the evenings. The Thomas the Train cardigan for my grandson is going very, very slowly. It is basically fair isle knitting at this point with some intarsia for the background, but I'm constantly unwinding the smaller balls of yarn. My good friend, Karen suggested that I put them all in sandwich bags and shut the bags and leave a small opening for the yarn. That helps, but it is a project that I definitely need to focus on.

I still prefer mindless knitting for when I'm out and about and actually got some knitting done while waiting in traffic the other day. And my love for lace knitting just keeps growing and now I have two shawls on needles.

The house is so quiet with my eldest son working on Vancouver Island and my daughter-in-law and grandson in Japan until the end of May. Youngest son is in Mexico right now and he's trying to change his flight home so he doesn't have to sit in the airport in Mexico City for two hours. I did get a proper mask for him to wear but hopefully they will give him and his friends masks before we pick them up.

It's time to stop rambling and sit and watch some TV and work on the cap that I want to wear this summer.