S.O.S.

Second Ornery Sock - new code for frustrating second sock experiences.

My problem? Well, let's see, I had to rip out 5 inches of the leg because, well, er, I forgot that it was supposed to be a 3x1 rib and not straight stocking stitch.

Then? Hmmm, er, I started on the heel, picked up the gusset stitches and then realized that I was about 2 or 3 rows short on the leg, which made the self-striping pattern out by one full stripe by the heel turn. Ripped it out again and added a few more rows.

Not fun but maybe if I wasn't such a perfectionist about this sock, I wouldn't be quite so frustrated. I figure, though, that if I went to all the trouble to do the Knitting Olympics to become a better knitter, then maybe I should strive to maintain that facade ideal.

I did receive some feedback on how to do two socks at once on circs so I think my next pair will attempt the pattern that way. My thinking is that if I do them both at the same time, there's less chance that I'll forget what I'm supposed to be doing on the second sock.

Yeah, that's the idea anyway.

Happy Tuesday, M

Still Winning

Canada is still winning medals on the last day before the closing ceremonies! I am absolutely blown away by our amazing athlete's. I've cried during the national anthem so many times this week.

I'm still winning, too, because not only did I finish my Olympic project but now I'm making socks!


A little wildlife pic of something that doesn't actually live in my house.


It's a beautiful, bright sunshiney day out there and all feels right with the world.

Happy Saturday, M

Nothin' But Cozy

Just to prove that it is actually full length, here it is getting ready to be blocked/steamed.


Whew! I'm so glad that's over. Now it's time to work on some socks baby! Or mitts! Or a hat! Or anything that doesn't require that eight-row repeat!!!!

We have a four-day weekend starting yesterday at 3:00pm. I have already cleaned the house, done the yard work and cooked up some soups for the freezer. Now that Cozy is ready for the mail, I have the rest of the weekend to read, knit, watch Buffy, read some more, knit some more - you get the picture!

Happy Thursday, M

Could Today Be The Day?

So close to finishing. Less than 4 pattern repeats - probably about 30 rows. I'm going to community craft night this evening. I'm pretty sure I can get it done there. Then I have several days for blocking.

I can see the finish line from here. Barring any unforseen accidents, I can almost touch the gold medal.

Only 4 more full days folks!

I'm worried about The Yarn Harlot. She seems to be floundering and since she's the one who started the whole thing thought it up, I would hate for her to not finish. Please send her some good vibes.

Happy Humpday, M

Update

Knitter's wrist seems to have recovered after a 20-hour-hiatus. I knit a couple of rows last night without pain so that's a good sign.

I have more than 56" done now. Only 9 more pattern repeats to go. Thank goodness for that.

I will be glad when this project is over so I can knit for fun again.

Happy Tuesday, M

Olympic Injury

I knit for eight hours yesterday. Scary! I now have a sore wrist. Never before have I suffered a knitting injury. Whether it stops me or not is yet to be seen. Stay tuned!

Grrr! Argh!

Knitting Olympics - never again. Not like this.

Don't get me wrong. I loved the idea in the beginning and it took a whole lot of resisting before I finally signed up. Very cool, feeling so connected to all those thousands of knitters out there.

But I gotta tell ya - I'm bored and frustrated and have never spent this much of my time/energy/concentration on a project in one week before. I know why I prefer mittens and socks and hats and scarves - they're little. Period. End of sentence. End of thought.

Last night, I discovered another error and I had to rip back five rows. I know - it's only five rows. But five rows on a project that I am loathing right now is too blinking much, okay?!! Okay.

So if I had to do it over again, I would do the Finished Objects Olympics. I could have finished all kinds of things this week. I think I'll refrain from listing them, though, if only to stop me bursting into tears.

Please, please remind me the next time I decide to do a bigger project on a time limit again that I'll hate it, hate it, hate it.

(At this juncture, I would like to apologize to my friends and family who have to listen to me bitch about it. I love you. I owe you. Will socks do?)

Happy Sunday Morning, Olympic Knitters. Only one more week to go. M

Friday Furry Cuteness

My Wee Molly


She's so camera shy that it's hard to get a good photo of her as often as the boys. I think it's the flash that bothers her. As soon as she sees the camera, she starts to slink ever-so-slinkily away.

Since I finally got one that shows how sweet she really is, I thought I'd share.

In Knitting Olympic news, I'm up to 30" as of last night. Nearly half done and today is day 8. I'm planning to plunk myself down on the couch for the whole night tonight and get at least another couple of inches on the needles. If I can keep up the pace, I should be finished by the end of the games. Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Weekend, M

-49 Degrees Celsius

Too cold for school today, which doesn't happen very often. Good day for knitting!

Happy winter, M

Snow Sculpture

One of my neighbours is a die-hard Montreal fan and obviously a talented snow sculptor as well.

It's a slide of ice for his daughter that he just kept embellishing with bits and pieces of Montreal Canadiens gear. The model of the Stanley Cup is even covered in aluminum foil. It's not to clear in this picture but there's a player bowing down before the cup (Guy LaFleur actually)!

Another Wednesday is upon us and I feel accomplished because I've made it to the middle of the week. Friday is in sight!

Happy Humpday, M

More Valentines

Another student gave me a heart-y treat. I am such a lucky teacher! I really never expected anything.

This is the bag it came in.


And this is the beautiful candle (chocolate-dipped strawberry scented!) with the gorgeous stand covered in HEARTS!

The kids are having tons of fun teasing about the cake. The whole school seems to know who it's from but me and they are not telling! Apparently this doesn't keep them from eating it as there's only one piece left and there's still another class before the end of the day.

Happy Heart Day! M

Valentine's Update

I had a delivery of a secret valentine.

A couple of my students dropped it off but they won't tell me who it's from.

It looks awfully yummy but I have no idea who could have sent it. Should be fun trying to figure it out today.

In the mean time, let them eat cake! M

Can You Feel The Love?

This is my Grade 12 student, Megan. She brought me a Valentine today.


Inside that rose is a pair of pearl earrings. Very cool!

~Sigh~ Somedays, teaching is so worth it. When even the students appreciate you, it's hard not to feel the love.

Speaking of which, here are four cutie puppies sitting on my heart-filled bed feeling the love from me. Good puppies. Sit nice for the camera.


Valentine's Day is my favourite day of the year because I heart hearts A LOT! I was just saying the other day that I can skip Christmas and I can skip birthdays, but if you love me, you gotta send me some hearts today. Apparently my students were listening!

Happy Valentine's Day. Hope you're feeling loved, M

Olympic Knitting Progress Report

We find equipment and supplies - all the necessities for a successful knitter.

Clockwise from lower left: water glass, stitch guide, pouch of knitting notions, chocolate, hand cream, remote control. In the center is the printed pattern with post-it line guide and pattern-repeat grid, pencil, crochet hook, and stitch marker. Everything to get the knitter through her first day.

The progress:

A full 12 inches for day 1. We may not have another day with this much knitting but to start off this way is very inspiring. She's definitely giving it everything she's got.

Knitter's comments on the challenge so far: Well, Brian, I feel like I have become a better knitter since the last time I attempted this pattern. I'm not perfect yet but I am skilled enough to fix the mistakes before I get more than a row or two away from them. So far it's pattern perfect whether the first time through or on a correction. This is a big improvement over the original start 15 months ago. Now, if I could just be pattern perfect and fast, I might actually get it finished in the 16 days. Right now, I'm not sure that's going to happen but I'm taking one row at a time. I'm just happy to be here and thankful that I have the opportunity to participate.

Happy Olympic Knitting, M

Now I Get It

Olympic Fever - never really got it before. Then I watched the Canadian Women's Hockey team at Salt Lake. I've been looking forward to these games ever since.

Man, am I hooked! I love those women. I'm watching their first game now against Italy. The Italians are holding their own considering their playing against the Canadians. I give them full credit for only letting in seven goals so far. Their poor goalie has had 30 shots on goal.

Jennifer Heil from Alberta won a gold in Moguls earlier. It was great to watch.

I'm watching, cheering, knitting, swearing, watching, cheering, knitting - you get the idea. I am also currently wishing I had chosen a simpler pattern so I could do more cheering and less swearing.

Happy weekend, eh! M

Team Canada In Training

"She calls this training?" you say.

"But of course. I am training my mind and hands to do something new with new tools used in new ways. I am preparing for my Olympic Knitting event both mentally and physically. I am limber and ready to compete" I reply.

Or maybe I just say "Is this your business? No? Then don't bug me already! I call it training and training it shall be!" Choose whichever answer fits into your reality.

BTW, does anybody know how to do two socks at once with these circulars? I thought I saw it on someone's blog and I cannot for the life of me bend my brain enough to figure it out right now.

In other news, I had Zach stay with me the other evening. This is Zach.

He basically tortured me by playing X-box all night, which is kind of like an animated movie but way boring. Then when he realized I was watching Ghostbusters on my laptop, he came and sat with me.

Thought I would also slip in some furry cuteness because I can.

Yet another shot of Sara in a cupboard - this one's a new locale for her. She discovered the towel cupboard on the weekend and hasn't left it yet. I kid you not. (Or if you prefer, I kidd you knot! I love that one. It cracks me up every time. Yes, I am easily amused.)

Finally, some pix of my Chemistry Kids again. I swear to the Science Gods these were not posed. I just actually caught them helping each other out and enjoying the problem solving.

Please don't tell them you saw this. It might make them stop doing it where I can see them.

Well, folks, that was Wednesday. Happy Humpday, M

I Can No Longer Resist

I did it. I finally gave in. I have surrendered to the inevitability of the Knitting Olympics.


I wasn't going to join. Truly I wasn't. I was going to be an unofficial participant - all the glory, none of the pressure. But alas, despite my best efforts and previous bad experiences at the joiner thingy - I have succumbed.

(Oh, please. Who am I kidding. I joined. I admit it. I couldn't resist. I'm weak. Probably a little loopy to boot. But I digress.)

I'll be knitting Cozy from knitty.com, also something that appears to have been inevitable for me.

Why is it a challenge? Well, I'm still pretty new at lace-like knitting and on a previous attempt at Cozy, I got lost in it. I'm hoping for more success this time.

Is sixteen days enough time? Probably not. Does this discourage me? Not yet. Check back, say, middle of next week. I may have a different answer by then.

I considered joining Team Chocolate as it was, again, very tempting. In the end, though, I'll be knitting for my country. GO TEAM CANADA!!!

The Week That Was

Oiy! Such a week! Why is it that when I actually have stuff to write about, I don't have any time to write about it? Funny, that life business.

First, some knitting content. I have actually been knitting in spite of all the other things going on. This is a basic increasing garter stitch triangle done in Patons Bright Clouds.

Fast, colourful, mindless knitting to fill the hands when the head is already full.

We had two ski events this past week and my ski chickens had all kinds of fun.

Friday, we drove for four hours to do a 30 minute ski race but it was great. They had such a blast and we got to eat fast food. A strange indulgence I know but I do live VERY FAR NORTH!

Lastly, I'll give you a shot of my Chemistry Kids studiously doing the lab thing.


In Laddie news, he's found a new home right next door to us. The principal has taken him in and I still get to look after him when his new owner is away.

I've decided that I'm going to be an unofficial participant in the Knitting Olympics. I'm not submitting my name because I think the organizers are seriously overwhelmed with the response (they have more knitters than the Olympics have athletes). I can work away on my own personal challenge. I'll have more details later.

A very brief synopsis of a week from hell but you get the general idea. I'm hoping to get more rest this week.

Happy Monday, M