Even more wintry weather!

     We've had a daddy of a snowstorm and now can boast quite a covering of snow. It was followed by a couple of days of -15 degrees with real wind chill so the snow has solidified, even though it was followed by a daytime temperature of +7 - down to a more reasonable -3 today but still lovely for going for a walk outside.

   While walking, I listened to a couple of "Gardener's Corner" podcasts from January, 2011, where they (amusingly) talked about the winter being nearly over - and flowering winter shrubs! No wonder our ancestors found Canada such a harsh environment. No, winter is not nearly over. We sometimes say that during the St. Patrick's Day snowstorm, but that's a month away yet.
     My poor greenhouse (polytunnel really) is still a sad sight, with lots of snow covering the plastic, pulling it down, the ends blown out, and many of the plastic conduit poles down - I fear to go out and see how bad it is. Obviously it's not sturdy enough for our dreadful winters. I should have taken the cover off, and then the structure would have been safe. A harsh lesson.
     Knitting continues apace. I have been making felted slippers again, and have rediscovered a couple of felted bags made a couple of years ago and never finished. I'm thinking seriously of embellishment, and have signed up to the "Ambrosia Cottage" group on Ravelry - the owner sells hat patterns to knit and felt, and posts pictures of the embellished results. This could be where my beading skills will come in handy.

The slippers are made of Patons Soy Wool, which I bought in large supply a couple of years ago in pound bags from the mill. They start out quite big and baggy - these ones are sized to end up at 7-1/2 - but they felt down quite quickly. I put them in a hot wash and they just needed to go through one cycle. 
I've been needle-felting insoles in my slippers (after they have been are felted) and that's quite satisfying, as well as being a great decoration method. Quite quick as well.  I am just using some carded locks, which I have had ever since I learned to spindle-spin many years ago (in the first crafts revival of the Seventies). Ah the memories.

  The soles needle-felt right down to a cozy and fluffy insole. Now, to figure out what to do to make the soles wear...having tried the caulking gun (and discovering that the stuff wears off quite quickly, or doesn't penetrate the fibre and picks off) I think for this time I'm going for something sewn on. Recommendations range from shelf- or rug-liner to suede or untrasuede (purchased second-hand). I do have a tube of puffy paint too, and I suppose I might try it - it's black, though, so I won't be doing it on these babies.

This are the 7-1/2s with insole, and the red-orange ones will end up at size 9-9-1/2. I have another bigger pair with black soles and another stripey yarn on the tops. I like the little semi-circle of sole that comes to the top of the toe - they look like old-timey rubber-soled sneakers.
      I should say that the pattern for these slippers is "Duffers - revisited" and I bought it from the designer, Mindie Tallack, on Ravelry. I am becoming a true fan of this online buying of patterns - just click and it's in your email - or, if you buy through Ravelry, it's in your Ravelry Library.  I am sure people have been doing this for years for music and movies on iTunes, but it's new and thrilling for me. 
   We finally got to  go to dance again - Fred's work and snowstorms kept us away for three weeks, so it was great to get back. Work at the fabric store has kept me from ballroom dance, however (three weeks of being scheduled for 5-9 on Thursday nights!) but this week I'm on for Sunday afternoon (so as to miss dancing at the pub!) and all day Wednesday instead. I may not have the energy to dance at Irish after being on my feet for 8 hours! But it is simply great to not have any responsibility. And there are plenty of fabrics to drool over - and buy - as well.  I got a big bolt of lambswool interlining - regularly priced at $21.99/metre - for $10 the lot. I don't know what the future holds for it, but it will make many warm things. Or perhaps many things warmer.

Winterish

    The much-ballyhooed January storm didn't arrive, but we did get one on February first. It was my first day of work at the fabric store, and I was allowed to leave a few minutes early, although I didn't actually get *home* early as I had to wait for Fred's car pool to arrive... we ended up at home by 6. However, the power was out, so we couldn't cook, and the house was cool-ish. We lighted all the candles we could find, and got the wood furnace going, with the gravity-feed panel open at the back. I'm thinking of putting it on a hinge, it gets opened so often.
    Anyway, we ate cheese and crackers and dip, and went to bed to keep warm, and shortly after the power company came and we had power again. It is amazing how quiet the house is without the mechanical hum of the fridge, the furnace fan, and so on. It's also amazing how much warmer the furnace makes the house *with* the fan! Anyway, we now have a nice amount of snow, no more than 20 centimetres, but nicely piled up in places. I was out for a walk today, but the wind was bitter - fine when it was at my back, but excruciating in my face on the way back. It's a gorgeous day, though - bright and clear, with a few big flakes every now and then. I wouldn't be surprised if there was quite a bit of solar gain.
  Knitting continues apace, with another pair of Cloisonee mittens in the pile for next year's Christmas presents. It's so nice to make something that takes two days, rather than two weeks (like socks).

    I invested in a few skeins of Patons Classic Wool - went to M*chaels first, as they had a sale on - 2 skeins for $10 - but they had very few colours. I bought black and orange there, and then went to Owl's Hollow, and got a lime yellow and magenta - for their regular price of $8.99. Eeek. Anyway, they are nice big skeins, over 200 metres each. Good for a couple of pairs each, almost.
     The current pair use the black and magenta, and the blue and the white are Aran yarns I have in abundance. (I tried out a pair in Briggs & Little but they are so scratchy I don't think anyone would wear them. I'll wash them and see if there's any improvement.) Once the ends of this pair are darned in I will have a look at another colour combo. I made these in size small, and they really are tiny. I'll have to think about whom they will fit.
    Speaking of tiny, I made a 'selbu' pair of mittens in sock yarn - a fairly dreadful self-stripe from S. R. Kertzer in pinks and turquoise - with which I had tried to make Jaywalker socks long ago. I discovered that the Jaywalker pattern made the leg so un-stretchy that I couldn't get my foot through, so they were frogged, and the yarn's been in time-out city ever since.

    This pattern starts out with 40 stitches, so the mittens are really, truly tiny, but the stripes are set off quite well with the white, I think. Or perhaps it's just cute because  it's so tiny? Anyway, everyone else on Ravelry who made this pattern used worsted or DK weight and made mittens to fit adults, so I may try that myself at some point. It's quite an easy pattern.  I liked the stripes so much that I may have to find some stripey DK! Another time I might make a corrugated rib or a braided edge, as, again, I'm not keen on the stripe by itself.

   I managed to get my deck table grouted, despite the frustration of only finding grout in large boxes, so I ended up with much more than I really wanted. I mixed it up in a yogurt tub, and underestimated twice, so had to mix three batches in all. On the up side, I didn't have to throw out much.

      I suppose that the spaces were quite wide between the marbles, compared to the granite tiles which were our last grouting project, so I needed more than I thought. However, it's finished now, and I have enough of the charcoal-coloured grout to do a couple more projects.
     I have a book on mosaics home from the library, so everything that isn't moving should look out!

     The table will have to be sealed before it goes outside, of course, and I'm looking for a small amount of grout sealer - Home Depot seems to think that we all want a big $40 jug of the stuff.

 

Awaiting Developments

   We are expecting some nasty weather today, and the red sky this morning certainly seemed to underline the weather office's predictions. I have a bit of time - the snow will start at noon, they say - so I must fill up a big water bucket and a couple of pots. We have materials for making sandwiches if we can't cook, and of course the wood furnace works without the fan - not as effectively, but it does work. We just have to take a panel off at the back, and it circulates by taking in air from the basement.  I don't know how long it will work before the extremities of the house freeze - we've only had to do it for a few hours so far.

   In bad news, I've lost, misplaced, or can't find one of Katie's mittens! It's most frustrating, as I have finished the hat, but don't think I have enough yarn to make another mitten (nor do I want to do so!). I've looked in the car, but I don't think I took it with me on Wednesday.  I took the one which needed the ends darned in, because I could do that in the car, and I took the hat to knit on. Perhaps I put the finished one in a safe place? But where?  The alpaca-and-angora that I used to line the brim has turned out well. I made it a few stitches smaller than the brim (86 vs. 92) so it wouldn't be too bulky, and then I increased up to 92 when I knit the last row in the purple main yarn, as I didn't want it to show white on the right side, and that seems to have worked as well. It would be a great set if I could find the other wretched mitten!
   I've been having a regular orgy of garden TV watching, reviewing all three seasons of Beechgrove Garden. What a great show! I am always amazed, however, when they plant some really tender plant from South Africa or New Zealand and then are surprised when it gets killed! (We know better than that here in Canada, right??) Personally I'm with Jim McColl - you can keep your tree ferns. Anna Pavord's book tells me why they do it, however - Britain has an amazing climate, so that plants from all over the earth will thrive there - in some places anyway. Perhaps not in Aberdeen, however!
     I have been reading up on the bush cherries I ordered from Veseys - they are hardy to -40 because they were developed for the Prairies - and they are bush because they were meant for mechanized harvest. However, 2 metres high is great for hand-picking as well! I looked for garden blogs about them - hoping someone has some hands-on experience - but nothing so far. I'll have to write mine up myself! It looks like they can be cordoned, however - they recommend goblet pruning on one site. The developer of the plants has a handbook you can order - for $30 - but from other articles I've read by him,  it is probably all about commercial production. Anyway, my three are from the Romance series - Romeo, Juliette, and Crimson Passion. They are cooking, or sour, cherries, and run from early August to mid-September in harvest time. And they will start to bear in three years. So glad I bought that cherry pitter last year!  The longer you leave them on the bush the sweeter they become, and they can reportedly be eaten fresh. Mmm.
*In news from Toronto, J's POW vest fits! I am pleased. Haven't heard from Em so I don't know about her Cloisonee yet. Awaiting developments indeed. It's noon, and no sign of snow yet. 

Making Progress

Winter has been avoiding us so far, and this is great news for the firewood supply, and even for the collection of solar energy. The solar pump runs every time the sun is out, and now with the lengthening days the sun is UP more, which may mean even more solar gain. I am knocking on wood as I write this, of course, because there's weather coming - tomorrow sounds like a right mess, with snow, sleet, freezing rain and then rain at the end.  When the weather office says "snow at times heavy" it's a sign to batten down the hatches. To say nothing of storing up some water in case of power outages.

    It's all been great for creative time, however. I finished the POW vest, and it should arrive in Toronto tomorrow. I've fallen hard for the Yarn Harlot's "Cloisonee" mittens, and have made two pairs so far, one for Emily, also winging its way to TO, and one for Katie, whose birthday is next week. I am just finishing a hat to match, and I lined the brim with some lovely Belfast Mini Mills yarn in what I believe may be alpaca and angora. Katie likes her fibres soft, and that's what this is!
I'm trying out a pair of Cloisonee in Briggs & Little yarns, but it looks like they will be rather big and a bit scratchy too. They look gorgeous, though. Black and three bright colours.

I've been working with the blankets from MacAuslands to make some cushion covers. I discovered that my blanket stitch leaves a bit to be desired. Quite sloppy! I must practice. 
    In gardening news, I've been reading Anna Pavord, a great book called "The Curious Gardener", which is a month-by month guide to doing all sorts of things in the garden, as well as a selection of her gardening essays from her columns in the Independent. There are great stories of visits to gardens, including (curiously) two which appear in Monty Don's Around the World in 80 Gardens, which I have just finished watching. (I must say that I truly enjoyed the episode on the gardens of China the most, and his visit to the Yellow Mountains was a revelation. But the last two episodes, particularly the last one in Indochina, where Don was so disappointed that there were no gardens such as he likes or was searching for, was odd; and a rather inconclusive note with which to end the series) I shall keep my eye out for other books by Pavord. She is a great writer. As we don't live in England, a lot of her advice isn't seasonally appropriate for here, but it's very interesting, and welcome. I've planted seeds - cat grass! and some of Veseys Microgreens. They are already up and I must think of a use for some of them today. Speaking of Veseys, their Bulbs catalogure arrived this week, and I fell for the $50 off offer and ordered three hydrangeas and three bush cherries. I must look up the latter - developed in Saskatchewan,  so hardy and productive, but I want to know how to prune them. Can they be cordoned?

Also on the creativity front, I have been doing a bit of mosaic work as well - we bought a 24-inch round arborite-topped table at the Habitat for Humanity Re-store, for $10, and I have made a glass-marble design for the top of it. I started by painting the brown arborite white, so the dark wouldn't show through and spoil the colours of the glass, and then drew out the design on paper. Then I laid out the glass marbles on it. I used sticky-back shelf paper to pick up the design, and then plopped it down on the table, which I had spread with tile adhesive.

It wasn't as simple as all that, as some of the marbles shifted, but it was easily set to rights, and I think it was much easier than working marble - by - marble in the wet adhesive. It took a morning to lay out the marbles on the paper, but I think you'd have to do that anyway, and being able to pick them up with the shelf paper was like magic.  I bought dark grout to make the marbles seem stained-glass like, but I haven't decided what to do with the sides of the table yet - I like it as is, but I don't think the white paint over the arborite will stand up to the weather - the table is meant for the deck. I think I'll have to do the sides as well, and I must do that before I can grout. (It was so much fun that I had another look around the Re-store for more tables. None so far.)

Happy New Year!

Well, I'm at home full time again, as my employer is out of money to pay me. It's been a stressful three months, so I am going to enjoy whatever respite I manage to get before I'm forced to go out and find work! There's no gardening to do at this time of year - seed starting will commence in a month or so, I suppose - so I am going to concentrate on craft work and see what happens. My friend Paula has given me an idea and I'm going to give it a try. I've been exploring Etsy to see if that's where to set up a shop. It will involve getting a Paypal account, I'm sure. Paula thought that Emily might help out by letting me advertise on her site, because she gets a lot of hits per day. However I am not sure that is the place to get sales for what I'll be making. Who knows!

Christmas is over, and the cupboards were a big hit with everyone who saw them...we managed to get them oiled (one coat) and they are quite functional. Still trying to find things in them, but as we finish the insides (varnish is the best, Phillip says) we will make changes and sort it all out. And there's further exterior sanding and oiling to come.  I was quite pleased with the "spruce cone" LED lights I found at the local Christmas store, and they looked great at the top of the cupboards. I need another set for the cupboards on the other side of the sink. Must keep my eye peeled during the post-Christmas period.


Knitting activity has come down to the Prince of Wales Slipover, from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Vests book.  Jeremy chose the POW pattern as his fave from Alice Starmore's book, and then I found the vest pattern, so I thought I would try this first, before I go on to do sweaters. I've subbed gray shades for the greens, but otherwise it's the same as the book.

I am not keen on the harsh transition from the background colour to the Xs and Os stripe, but it's just like the POW sweater so I can't complain. It must be authentic, as it was designed in Fair Isle in the 1920's, and the portrait with the Prince of Wales in his apparently started a big fashion for the sweaters....not that it made the fortunes of the Fair Isle knitters, of course. I have started the steeks for the armholes, and will soon start the one for the V-neck. This is my first steeked project so I am excited.
While in Halifax before Christmas, I managed to get the pattern for the Murphy Fair Isle Cardigan - it is a Briggs & Little pattern, using their Sport yarn. I don't particularly care for their pattern or colours, but it gives me the stitch counts and sizes for using Sport - I checked before Christmas and I have about 16 colours of Sport, mostly in quite large amounts. POW must be finished first, however.

Quickly, quickly

Yesterday I started Anne's fingerless gloves, with a lovely pattern from Ravelry by Holly Terrell called "Swan Maiden Mitts". I've had the pattern for a while but hesitated to use it because it calls for lace weight yarn - seemed like a lot of work for something that would probably end up too small for me! However, with the Qiviut I thought it would be OK - the author does suggest that you can use bigger yarn and adjust the needle size. I went down to 2.5 mm from 2.75. This yarn is 80% merino, 15% qiviut and 5% silk, and it is soft and just yummy. It may not be very hard-wearing, of course, though I have high hopes due to the merino content. The pattern is great fun - the lace is only 23 stitches (of 60) and only every second row, so quite a lot of just plain stockinette between chart rows - and it's quite easy as well. Love them!

March came in like a Lion

Well, finally February is behind us. In addition to the snow and rain and then more snow on the weekend, we had another storm yesterday - fine snow which started about 3 pm, and rapidly became quite bad...luckily Fred left work (and let me know) at 3 so we met at the UPEI gym and then we left there about 5 - they were about to close - and getting on the highway was the hard part as all the parking lots were emptying at once. Once there, though, we took it slowly and managed to get home an hour after we'd left the gym (usually a 20-minute drive). I think it was the worst weather I've driven through this winter.
The wind was SE, so it was on the front door, which needs its weatherstripping changed - it whistled all night. The snow changed to rain after midnight, apparently, but I didn't see much evidence of rain - it was blowing at 40 kpg gusting to 70 so the windchill was below zero - it probably froze any rain in its tracks! The path was drifted in again this morning. Anyway, the sun is shining today so we should have some solar gain.
It was chilly in the house last night, so I couldn't really get into knitting - I am finishing the second of a pair of socks, fairly uninspiring ones, having finished my lace-weight "Ethereal" shawl and a fingering-weight small one called "Arroyo" on Sunday. Talking to Anne on Sunday, she would like some green wrist-warmers, so I'll check my patterns and find something that will work with the lime Qiviut. Should be fun.

This is a month I won't miss much

February can be quite unattractive any year, but the one we are having in 2011 will certainly be a record-beater. We aren't out of the woods yet - there's another system barrelling its way toward us as I write - this time, we will get rain and freezing rain as well as snow, so perhaps we will lose some of the piles and piles of snow left from previous storms. And, of course, perhaps we will lose our electricity and be in the dark for days. Only time will tell, and luckily I have knitting to keep me busy. I suppose we can count this a sign of spring, that we are getting rain as well as snow. I'm trying for optimism here.
This is the last day of Fred's medical leave (per se) so he's in town today getting errands done and the like. We went to the gym at lunchtime, so after work we'll be able to pick up a couple of movies and a big bunch of groceries, and head straight home to hunker down with fingers firmly crossed that the power stays on.
My lovely sister sent me a care package of yarns from the West coast with a friend who was visiting - 2 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca (colour above), 2 skeins of Jacques Cartier Qiviuk Merino Silk (80% merino, 15% qiviut, 5% silk) in lime, 1 skein of Jacques Cartier Cashmere in dark blue, and 2 skeins of Jacques Cartier Heavenly Alpaca in green. The latter is laceweight - I think a shawl or fine scarf is in order. I have one other skein of the same, in a blue-green, with which I tried to make the Yarn Harlot's Pretty Thing - but it's too fine for that. I don't know if it would work for my cowl-and-fingerless gloves combos. The Berroco surely will, however, as it's a worsted weight. Ah me! Off to seek out the perfect pattern from my patterns drawer in the filing cabinet!

Yet another Snow Day!

This is getting to be a habit. We have had *two* snowstorms this week - Wednesday night and Sunday. Luckily the expected 25-30 cm. of snow came in the form of rain this morning (changing back to snow later), so we don't have quite as much of the white stuff to shovel. The wind's picked up, however, and it's not a great day to get out and walk, as it was yesterday! The photo on the left was taken when we walked up "the back road" on a beautiful, sunshiny yesterday.
Ah well, we will get our exercise shovelling!
Two at-home days mean that I got lots of reading and knitting done - making good progress on Kilt hose stocking No. 2, with the top bit all finished and just about the amount you would have to do on a *regular* sock left. And of course it's in a much bigger gauge than my usual socks - so it should be a breeze.


Just to keep things interesting I'm making a regular-sized sock from a pattern called "Mockery", with a subtle flat cable - looks really interesting! In a cotton/wool/nylon mixture I got at WalMart or Zellers in a mill ends bag. It's looking like I will get two socks out of a skein, and I bought two bags of the mill ends, so enough for 12 pairs of socks. I am loving the subtle colouring - light ecru background, with striping in light grey and beige. I may well get sick of it by the time I make 12 pairs, but I'm fine with it so far. I am using 2.0 mm. needles which is making a lovely firm fabric. The yarn has been confirmed as Patons Stretch Sock (mill ends are *usually* Patons or Bernat) - they have just released seven new colourways (and the formula seems a bit different as well) and mine is called "nougat". I am so pleased to finally identify it! I've been checking back at Z and W but no joy finding any more. Makes me realize I should go with it when I see something interesting, though!
I got Robin McKinley's new book, "Pegasus" at the library on Friday and I've just finished it. As usual with McKinley, I'm a bit breathless at the end, more so than ever this time because it is a 2-parter - and the second part isn't yet written! I was going to hold out until they were both finished, but when I saw it on the new books list at the library I clicked - and I got it! I must be the first person to read this copy. Now to wait - until 2012 - for part 2!

Ireland and Scotland, here we come

We booked two places to stay on the weekend, so we are now in Galway from Easter for a week, and then, after a day or two in Dublin, in Glengariff, Co. Cork, from the 11th to the 17th, or thereabouts. Another couple of days in Dublin, then back to Glasgow for a day or so before flying home.

Turns out renting a car is more expensive than accommodations. Perhaps we should just rent a camper and have done with it? It's almost time to start getting excited, thinking about what to pack (and in what?). Travel from and to Glasgow is by Ryanair, so no checking baggage means that we're limited. It's all OK, though, as our palatial self-catering includes laundry facilities as well as wi-fi. I'm prepared to throw out clothing if I need packing room for things acquired on the trip. I can leave heavier, Canada -type clothes in Glasgow and get them when we get back there. I'm actually wondering about voltage - I will need to recharge my iPod and, while I have a plug-in that will give me the correct charge, I'll need to be able to plug the thing into something in order to plug it in to the wall. Hmmm.

I hear that Euros are slightly less expensive at the moment, so I should go buy me some, real or in travellers' cheques form.

There's hardly time to knit, I'm spending so much time on the internet looking up stuff. Not strictly true - I should be able to finish the Olympic Multnomah in a day or so (no more patterned rows, just a couple of garter rows and then bind off! And the arrowhead is coming along too - I have 4 rows of pattern for the edge left (and four rows of purl).

I plan to take a break from shawls after that!

Winterish

We had another storm day on Wednesday - schools, uni, college closed, no mail, etc. Great day for staying home and knitting! I have two shawls on the needles. One is JUST for Olympics watching, so I keep it upstairs where the TV is. It is Multnomah and I'm making it in a hand-dyed yarn which I won a long time ago in a sock-a-month competition on Ravelry. The colours are, shall I say, not ME, being orangey-red, purply-pink and brown. However this pattern seems to look good in the wild variegated yarns so I'm giving it a go. It's garter-stitch with a feather-and-fan border, and the colours do look better together when you get to the border part.

Travel plans are coming along. It looks like we'll stay in Galway City for the first week (with J. and E. and maybe Steve!) and Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, is looking good for the second week. We've been emailing about a gorgeous 3-storey townhouse with 5 bedrooms!! The place in Galway is an apartment.

Two years after finishing a Luna Moth shawl in Pixie Floss from VV, I dyed it (it was a hateful pale yellow). I used butternut husks we gathered last October. The colour is a beige more than a brown. I do like it better than the yellow. It's blocking now, so I'll see how it looks unpinned. I just have SOO much beige yarn! Why do I do it?

I'm Thankful

In an update to the pickling news, cooking the mustard pickles quickly on the stove, rather than slowly in the slow cooker, is a much greater success. I was ready to blame the recipe, but it's defo the method. The stove-top ones are bright yellow, crisp and thick. The slow-cooked ones are mushy, brownish and runny. I have learned my lesson!

Excitement of an Irish dancing nature: We have tickets to Riverdance for tomorrow night - this stop in Charlottetown - for 18 performances - is their last performance in Canada. We all thought they were crazy to have so many shows in such a small place - and they've sold out! So much for *my* understanding of theatre and such!

Anyway, one of the principal dancers got in touch with Helen, our set dance teacher (through Bill Lynch's Set Dancing News, presumably) and offered to hold lessons for local folks. Seemed like a great opportunity for local step dancers and such; so, with some misgivings, Helen took it on - notifying all the dancing teachers and getting the word out. She has had a great response, and there are four classes set up. Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced step, and a set/ceili dance workshop for us old folks. I'm not sure what we'll get out of it - it will either be far too simple for us (with 12 years' experience!) or well over our heads with stepping and high kicks, etc. Should be an adventure in any case.

All the parents who came in to register kids are very excited, and most have already seen the show. Wouldn't it be great if someone were to capitalize on the interest in Irish step by becoming qualified, and starting to teach Irish step on a regular basis?

We're having a week or torrential rain and wind - potato farmers are in despair, as their heavy machinery can't work in wet fields, and the fields are really wet... standing water in many cases. My consolation is that at least it's not frosty, so my remaining veg are getting more ripe - Marjorie Williston, the CBC garden guru, says ripening is a matter of time, not sun.

I'm struggling to finish the sulphur yellow socks - a mystery pattern by Nancy Bush in Ravelry's Sock Knitters' Anonymous group, and the September challenge. I have until the end of this month to post a picture - have done of the heels on both, and progressing slowly on the feet. My problem is that I'm not being true to my socks as I've started a jacket with some lovely heathery Briggs & Little Heritage 2-ply and it's claiming my heart at the moment. The socks are at the stage when they are good car knitting, but as I'm driving mostly when I'm in the car that doesn't work very well.

ETA: I have planted the Samuel Holland climbing rose at the south end of the deck - there should be plenty of sun, especially as I have cut down the old lilac which has been such an eyesore the past three years. I'm also planning an expansion of the flower bed in front of the lilac hedge by plastic-mulching - I hope that next year the area will be easy to dig, with the grass all killed off underneath. Fingers crossed.

I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can

This is busy week. I foolishly signed up for Sock Madness III on Ravelry, and the pattern came out on March 19. It has a few curves, and a pattern that has to be watched constantly. The cast-on was OK (German twisted) and then there's an afterthought heel, which is good to know, but hard to do for the first time. I've posted my beginning photo, but I doubt the pair will be done by the end of the week. And many people are done ALREADY. What was I thinking?

And this is Evita week. Rehearsals every night from 5 to 10-ish, then Dress on Wednesday and Opening on Thursday and then Friday and Saturday. It's pretty exciting for everyone, the show moved to the Confederation Centre yesterday, so the run-through (without costumes) was last night, which gave us all a chance to work in the space. There's a LOT of chatting and giggling off-stage, it will be interesting to see how it is tonight. We had lights backstage last night! But none henceforth. Must remember to get my stuff in place early. I also can't speak to Evita backstage because she'll be miked.

We have been continuing with the ballroom dance lessons (with new teachers) and have been having a good time with it. I feel much more like we are actually dancing most of the time - a combo of more experience, better music with a stronger beat, and good teachers. We're waltzing, foxtrotting, jiving and have done a bit of quick-stepping. No tango or Latin yet.

The previously predicted St. Patrick's Day storm has arrived a week late. Schools cancelled, whiteouts, slippery roads and quite a bit of snow. Will it never end?

Time's Marching On and Evita's coming soon!

...but the weather continues dreadful. Minus 14 this morning, and once again the car was reluctant to start - and go - and I was full of fellow-feeling. At least the sun is shining, and the house is always warm when we get home - thanks to those westward-facing windows.

So, all the excitement of March is approaching - St. Pat's of course, with several opportunities for dancing and playing music. There's a parade, too, but it's held on Sunday. We don't usually go, as it ends at St. Dunstan's for Mass. Not exactly non-denominational. And Evita is on at the end of March - the 26, 27 and 28 (She's above there, with Peron, in her "ugly pyjamas"). I picked up tickets yesterday for Fred, he wants to go on Saturday night (as well as Thursday) and there were very few tickets left. Looks like full houses!

And of course March Break! Doesn't mean as much when there aren't any children to plan trips with, but it's still a change in the daily fabric, and usually we can plan - or hope - for an improvement in the weather, once the traditional St. Pat's/March Break snowstorm is over.

I've been having fun with word-play books lately. Cat's Eye Corner is a kids' book, one I would have loved when I was one. I've been reading Percy Jackson books too, but finding them a bit - juvenile and talk-down (I'm reading them because my sister's working on the film version).

And on the adult front, The Stories of English. It's a survey of where the amazing variety comes from in the language, and gives much more credence than is usual to regional dialects (I find myself discussing this a bit with tutors who are determined to eliminate such from the vocabularies of people who have been speaking this way for 50 years!).

I've been knitting too - but also frogging. I made a sock that was just un-wearable, and decided to take it back and re-use the yarn for something else. I got a big batch of Briggs & LIttle yarn and am making Fred a new winter scarf 'n' hat set using the Palindrome pattern - amazing designer figured out how to have cables on both sides. I am also hoping that determinedly continuing with the wool knitting will fool the weather into thinking I actually LIKE all this wintry continuation. But we know differently, don't we?

Heritage, Valentines, and Fantasy

We had a splendid time at the Private Lives Ball. The Prince of Wales Ballroom (built 1933) looked surprisingly good, given it's now used as a gym. Plenty of swathed fabric, and lots of minilights over the windows. White tulips in big bowls on the tables, as well as beads and candles. They had put clip-on lights, like little book lights, on the edge of the bowls of tulips so the water was lighted up. I should have taken a picture of that.
There were many pictures taken, however. Here we are dancing. It's a bit dark! We actually won a prize for "Most Improved Dancers". There was lovely free champagne(-like drink), crepes and a chocolate fountain. They pulled it off really well, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. We will have to do more of this ballroom stuff, and quickly, before we forget what we know.

As it's Heritage Week, Fred is busy almost every night. We both went to the Heritage Awards on Monday - best award: Chuck and Albert for preserving Acadien culture. They were a hoot. Hugged everyone on the platform, got everyone into the photo, and Chuck wondered aloud: "where his Ipod was?" [two students, winners of the poster contest, were presented with Ipods. Unfortunately the adults had to make do with certificates.] Then last night it was certificates for designated heritage buildings in Summerside. Fred wasn't home until 11:30.

Tonight's just dance class, with maybe a trip to the gym beforehand. It will be nice to dance to straightforward jigs, reels, hornpipes and so on, rather than wondering just what tempo this tune is and what one should dance to it. There were some very good dancers at the ball, of course, so we just watched them when we were unsure!

The rest of Heritage Week in Summerside includes a bean supper tomorrow night (but we're expecting a big snowstorm so that may be cancelled) and the Mayor's Heritage Tea on Friday, I think. I've been to that before now, and it's always a big deal, with folks in costume and everything.

I've been reading a lot of fantasy lately (Judith Marillier's stories of Irish myth and magic) and watching "Doctor Who" as I knit in the evenings. Very strange combo, I know. I am also reading another of Nuala O'Faolain's books, this one the autobiography. So, it's her for the bike at the gym, Marillier's Dark Mirror on CD in the car, and her Child of the Prophecy in book form otherwise. It's just like my knitting - I'm all over the place.

Speaking of which, I'm finally working on Fred's Durrow sweater - I've frogged and ripped the first sleeve a number of times, and I think I'm better off just LOOKING at the photo of the cable than trying to read the chart. I seem to go terribly wrong when I'm following that - I can be absolutely correct, every stitch in the right place, etc., and then on the very next pattern row I have too many stitches in one spot and not enough in another. But K's teal beaded socks are done, and now I must pull up MY socks and get a few things finished - My Teach is still on the first front, E's first kilt hose still in mid-calf, and the Durrow has to be finished before it gets too warm to wear it!

I've been awfully tempted by various vests, however. I have two different sorts of lilac-coloured yarn, one Briggs & Little (2 skeins of Regal, I think), and one Shetland DK (VV find, 4 skeins, 50 g. each). I'm terrified that neither is enough for a vest, though. After all, vests are just like sweaters without sleeves, and sweaters take a LOT of yarn. I have several skirts which would be greatly enhanced with a lilac-coloured vest. How about THAT! Thinking that far ahead is very unusual for me. I usually just choose fabric or yarn I like because of the content or the colour, and worry later about what to wear with!

So, waiting for the next snowstorm (we're actually down to one every two weeks now, instead of one per week.). The piles of snow are unbelieveable! It just hasn't melted since before Christmas. You risk an accident at every corner because visibility is so bad, due to the enormous piles of snow. I usually scorn the idea of "going South" but this year...it looks attractive!

Vishten Concert

We went to a concert/live CD-making with the Acadien-Celtic group Vishten on Saturday. It was a great time, and afterwards Pierre Chartrand did a couple of figures of a Quebec dance he'd taught earlier in the year at the BIS.

In the knitting-related part, Emmanuelle Leblanc was introducing a song (Mariez moi, the first track on their first CD, Vishten) and explained that the protagonist says in the song that, if she's not married by the time she's 20, she is going to give up knitting. Emmanuelle then asked if anyone in the audience is a knitter, and I waved my sock! She asked if I was actually knitting during the concert (I was, of course) and she seemed surprised - perhaps she thought I would be too busy to applaud!

Anyway we bought their CDs and pre-ordered the new one. They are pretty fabulous.