Extra Bags

My little one is 7 months in one week (which is hard to believe in itself!), and has already outgrown his infant car seat and his 6 month clothes and has his very own tooth!  The one thing I've noticed are the extra bags. We no longer live in a "grab the keys and run out the door" kinda house. Instead we live in the, "double check the diaper bag, back seat, purse, extra bag, booster seat bag, baby, dog, spouse..." kinda house. In part this could have to do with the cloth diapering because the diaper bag always needs to be emptied of the stinky stuff and reloaded, but more likely is my theory that bags magnetically collect around a baby, like a hemispherical forcefield of carry-alls. Case in point: under eye bags. Every new parent has them. You can't look me in the eye and call it a coincidence!  Must be the forcefield. 

The upside to this is that you always have EVERYTHING!  Spare bib, got it!  Diaper, got it! Clean clothes, wipes, hand sanitizer, check, check, check!  Spark plugs? They must be in here somewhere... 

The downside is, there is no room for knitting!  All these flipping bags, and by the time I'm loaded down and ready to head out the door I give my knitting bag a longing look and cast my eyes down, not able to tell it that it can't come too. But, I mean, really, at that point I just see it as one more thing to carry out the door instead of the bag of creative opportunity it really is. Even if I do bring it with me, I end up having so much parenting to do that knitting isn't even on the radar. 

I know this because everyday I bring my knitting bag downstairs and don't work on it. Then in the evening I bring it upstairs and don't work on it.  Thankfully, having it close by has a calming effect all on its own. Maybe one day soon i will be able to sort this out, but I doubt it. 

Taught with Love

It was on March 9th, 2012 that I learned my aunt who lives in Italy had passed away.  As we are coming up onto the anniversary of that date, it seems fitting that I finally finish this post which I started these three years past.  One might think that as a first generation Canadian, with very little family here with us, the bond of family would not be as strong.  One might think that learning of the death of a loved one you could love only from a distance, and a great distance at that, would not affect you, would somehow not hurt the same.  Maybe that's true, as I have no bar of comparison I don't know, but I can tell you that the bond I have with my family overseas is there.  And I can tell you that when I learned this news my heart broke to know that I would not get a chance to say good bye and let her know how much she meant to me. 

 

While it may be tempting to make this a post about loss - lost opportunities to know my aunt better, lost family history, I really think that my Zia, who in my heaven can read English, would not think that an appropriate tribute.  Instead, this post will show you what I learned from my aunt.

 

I was all of about 6 years old at the time, and couldn't speak Italian, that's for certain.  My whole family went to visit my aunt and her family in Turin as one stop on a grand adventure.  My cousin in England had just married his lovely wife and we (how this happened, I will never understand) were going on their honeymoon with them.  I'm sure that's not how it was billed at the time, but that's what happened.  My dad drove us all around in a van.  I'm fairly certain there were 8 of us in a 7 seater, but those were the times.  I recall it this way because as the littlest, I distinctly remember being seated on luggage.  How we fit 8 people and their luggage into the van in the first place is quite a mystery to me come to think about it. 

 

In any case, we went to my aunts apartment (how we all fit in there as well must have been a feat).  And when she went to make us all dinner, she made pasta. 

 

 

Now up until this point in my life, making pasta meant put dry noodles in salted water and cook.  Top with homemade tomato sauce and you're off to the races.  Well what my aunt meant was actually making the pasta. 

 

 

 

I loved to help in the kitchen and so she let me help knead the dough out on her wooden table top and press a tiny portion of it through the chitarra which cut it into spaghetti. 

 

 

This whole experience maybe took an hour, and yet here I am 24 years later (Good Lord, when did I get that old!) with the image of this day so clear in my mind.  The family was all talking while we made pasta.  It was noisy.  The house smelled warm and moist with the heat of the cooking sauce. The dough was squidgy and fun to play with between your fingers. And the pasta tasted like love. 

And so, when three years ago I learned that my aunt had passed, it seemed only fitting that I should make pasta to remember her with.  I did not have any of the right tools.  I rolled it by hand and it didn't come thin enough.  I sliced it by hand as well.  But it tasted good and it made me smile to think of that day so long ago that I spent with her.  I hope that wherever she is, she knows that I love her and will carry her love with me my whole life. 

Mamma needs to chat...

It has been so long since my last post that it hardly bears catching you up.  There have been changes around here.  Big ones.  And to a large extent they have changed me.  Changed who I am, what I value, and my overall focus in life.  I'm not so sure I had a focus to begin with and I'm even less sure that I have one now, but I do know that it's different.  One would suspect that in general as a knitting blog, changes in my overall self should be of any concern to you.  I wish that were so, but the fact remains that I am a hopeless rambler who falls prey to the whims of my own mind and often self-indulgently find myself writing about my life or my thoughts or myriad other things before, or at least in conjunction with my knitting, of which I lately do quite little.  To move things along fairly rapidly, I will sum up from my last post over a year ago in somewhat chronological order, but with no rank whatsoever on importance.  I believe that in that time I got a new car, my grandmother moved from my parents' home, where she has always lived, to a retirement residence where they are better equipped to help her with her Alzheimer's, I got pregnant, in the first trimester my baby died, I badly dinted my new car when distractedly thinking of that baby, I went to the Bahamas to escape that whole experience and wound up at the clutches of an evil hammock who saw fit to nearly break my rib, I got rubella from my MMR vaccine, I got pregnant again, I went to the Bahamas again and was safe from the hammocks, there was a baby shower, I got a cough that wouldn't end, I started maternity leave a few weeks early due to increased discomfort caused by my cough and extreme swelling, four days into my maternity leave my labour was induced and two days later I had a beautiful, healthy baby boy.

Baby boy is now just over 7 weeks and I really couldn't tell you what has happened in that time.  It's all a blur.  The first 3 weeks was just a twilight zone of joy over my new little man, and pain from my c section (which hurts a damn site more than anyone ever lets on, let me tell you).  Next was settling into my routine and my new role as mamma, and now I'm coming to you as someone who thinks a 4 hour sleep in the middle of the night is something akin to a holiday, and that a poopie diaper is somewhat a thing of beauty.  I was not sure about being at home or about what I might be like as a mother, having hitherto worked hard academically and professionally to prove my worth.  What I know now is that being home with this tiny human is about the most sure I have ever felt.  It is remarkable to me that I made him, and what's more remarkable to me is that someone made every single one of us and didn't make a nuisance of themselves telling us every single day of our lives how incredibly miraculous and special that makes every single mother and baby.  Now maybe it's the hormones talking or perhaps my pregnancy loss makes me sensitive to this sort of thing or maybe this is just what it's supposed to feel like, I don't know, but I look down at that little creature and watch him sleep, or nurse, or smile, or even cry and I'm so immensely grateful for his tiny existence and I'm so incredibly proud to be a part of it.  I'm in a state of hyper awareness that he has no idea that I feel like this, and that he will possibly never understand, and so I am a continuous fountain of praise.  If, God-forbid, I die tomorrow, I want this little man to know that I think he is the whole world.  I'm also suddenly aware of some measure of what my parents must have felt raising my brothers and I.  I'm eternally grateful for their love, support and knowledge. 

There is just one thing I'm still trying to get used to and that is the loneliness.  Is this par for the course.  I'm very productive at home and even get out of the house reasonably often but basically by the end of little man's long nap I feel like I've been in solitary confinement.  I'm working on this.  Being more active in online message boards, calling and pestering everyone I know who isn't working (not really a lot of people to be honest) and now, evidently resurrecting the blog.  I figure if I can talk, someone is bound to reply sometimes and that will be so nice.  Perhaps I should get on the facebooks, or something, but I have successfully avoided it for so long, I'm concerned that joining will show a break in will power, or at the very least, result in a complete time suck for which there is no cure. 

Anyways, I guess that is enough of a ramble for one day.  I don't know when I'll be back or if this will become a regular thing again but until next time, happy crafting and I hope to hear from you soon. 

Holidays are Coming!!

Around this time last year is just about when I quit on you all. Part of what began the demise of my blogging was a holiday to visit my parents in Florida. It's ironic, looking at it now, to be blogging about that trip with my heart and soul set on our next visit out there. Last year we went to Universal Studios and hung out a whole lot with the folks and just soaked each other up. With being the baby of the family, my parents' winter sojourn to the south always leaves a gap, but the visits I get to have with just me and them, and my hubby of course, are monumental because I get them all to myself. We see things and go places. Hang out. Share stories. Meet new people. And my parents are the kind who don't sit still so there is always something to be seen. You can see last year we had wonderful weather while we were down there. And to sweeten the deal my parents gifted me Madeline Tosh Pashmina in Baltic to remind me of the ocean, and Madeline Tosh Vintage in Amber Trinket just because I liked it, AND a pair of Addi's from the LYS down there. There's something uniquely strange about a warm climate knit shop. Kind of incongruous I guess, but I enjoyed the trip.



A Florida Pelican by Sea

A Florida Pelican by Air

Mr. Frogged with the Head Honcho at the Dock

In 9 days the Mister and I will head to the big apple for our 10 year anniversary! So exciting! My favourite city on earth and his first time visit so sure to be a blast. From there we fly down to Florida to see my parents just in time for my mamma's birthday. I know we will need some sun to bum around in to recover from the big city and I just can't wait!!! Much travel knitting will be packed.

Until next time, happy crafting.





Bad, Blogger, Bad!

So, it has been a while. Over six months and no blog post from me. I'm a bad blogger. No, I'm
not ill, or in a remote place where my Internet doesn't connect. And no, it isn't that I've been lazy per se, as plenty of things have been going on. I guess blogging dropped off of the totem pole of hobbies in favour of a sanity in which there is also time for sleep. Of course I could have blogged, but this is not something I ever want to become a chore, and so when the mood didn't strike, I didn't force it because nobody would want to read the stunted blog of a blogger with nothing to say.

My father's favourite expression growing up seemed to be "There's no such thing as can't." He used it when he had asked us to do something we thought was hard. We would whine, or well, I would whine, I don't recall my brothers ever whining, and he would say, "There's no such thing as can't, just don't want to." I'm pretty sure he was just trying to teach us not to be so darned lazy, but really it is something I always go back to and often it pushes me to do things I otherwise wouldn't do. Things that would be difficult for me, like sock or lace knitting, I learn to do for myself anyways because I always think, well, that I want to do it, so I should try. So when I realized I hadn't stopped by the blog in ages I began ruminating on all the reasons I couldn't. There wasn't enough time. I was away on holiday. I was busy. I had work. I wasn't feeling well. The weather was nice and I got outside more. I had writer's block. And then I had a really good think and realized that there is no reason why I couldn't, I just didn't want to. Don't get me wrong, I have missed sharing with you and hearing your comments and everything I love about the blog, but I was enjoying my time away too. In other words, I apologize for my absence, but I think there's no sense in me waxing poetic about why I couldn't blog when clearly you and I both know that I didn't lose my ability to type, think or feel, and so there's no better reason for it than, I was lazy and I just didn't feel like blogging.

The good news is: I feel like blogging today! I need to break this down into several posts since it has been so long, and the best way I think for me to do this is to send you a picture or two from my absence and a brief blog post every couple of days and just catch you all up.

So friends, until then, happy crafting and hopefully I'll see you really soon. :)

A Bouquet of Happiness

Hello friends!  I am so sorry for my extended absence, but on this lovely positivi-Tuesday, I know that you will completely understand. 

After I last signed off, I experienced some kind of super human bout of exhaustion that drained me for the balance of the week.  Last Sunday evening I was planning on submitting a post featuring my joyful bouquet of miniature roses, but instead I cut my thumb rather drastically, requiring two half-hour car rides, one two-hour emergency room wait, one confused ortho consult physician, one sarcastic general ER physician, three stitches, and six chicken nuggets (my comfort food of choice at midnight).

The irony of it was that I spent the entire day Sunday making sausages, that is, cutting, grinding, seasoning and stuffing meat into sausage form, and did not get injured.  When I got home, I made a salad for myself and Mr. Frogged and promptly attempted thumb-sassination. 

Since then, my knitting has suffered, let me tell you!  But on the other hand, my end weaving in has almost been completed, however this only means that I am to a point in the ripple blanket where I can CONTINUE crocheting and then weave in more ends...will the madness never cease!?  By the time it's completed the infant will be walking, talking, and going to prom at this rate.  I'm a bit concerned about my sock-knitting rate though as I'm aiming to enter these socks in the Knit One Heart 2 KAL due next Wednesday and I'm not even past  the heel turn yet. 

The Mister and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary on Valentine's day and to honour this he planned us a beautiful day together on the Saturday prior to both February 14th and the thumb-slicing incident.  Of course it went completely pear shaped, but it was the thought that counts.  We were supposed to go skating together, as we are apt to do on Valentines, when we woke up to a beautifully Canadian high of -25 degrees celcius with the windchill.  That kiboshed that plan.  Plan B.  Matinee showing of The Vow, it's just so sappy it might work, but alas, it was sold out.  So, we watched the not at all romantic Chronicle, which was just about the most stressful movie I've ever watched!  I needed to knit on my socks just to avoid getting anxiety-induced tremors.  Fortunately dinner went well and was absolutely delicious. 

I would say that would catch you up to PositiviTuesday this week.  I'm going to change up the positiviTuesday report a bit and instead of giving some positive news I'll try to review something (recipe, book, pattern, yarn, movie... you get the idea) each week, so that you can then go out and make your own positivity with whatever that happens to be. 

In any case, this week what I've been loving is hanging with my parents who have been in town from Florida.  It was my mom's #&th birthday (when you get to be her age, the number needs to be censored) and we threw here a party and spent lots of family time together.  It was awesome. 

Das my mom...Ain't she a cutie!?

I've also been loving hanging out with the Mister on this family day long weekend.  We barely changed out of our pj's on Monday and it was just what I was looking for in a holiday. 

This week I'm looking forward to having my in-laws and friends over this weekend and cooking.  It's been some time since I've cooked a new recipe and I think I'm trying something a bit different this weekend.  I'm also looking forward to visiting my parents in Florida in a week.  We were going to go to Legoland, but they are closed on Wednesdays (who knew?) and instead we'll be going to Universal.  The greatest part is that Mister Frogged has never been to either place so I get to see it through his eyes either way. 

As for a review, this week I will review my latest and greatest book, The Help.  I've not finished the book yet, but I'm about half way through and I'm really enjoying the writing style.  I like that it is written in such a way that I can hear the characters in their southern drawl in my mind and feel like I'm that much closer to them.  Sometimes it tends to drag a bit but all in all, I highly recommend the book.  I will be continuing through it and then watching the movie for comparison purposes, although I never like the movie version as much. 

Well, I think that about sums it up for me today.  I wish you a wonderful week and Happy Crafting one and all. 
xxoxoxoxoxx

Random Happy Thoughts

Hello out there and welcome to the Positivi-Tuesday Post today.  I have to admit, I'm a bit stumped today.  I guess I've got writer's block, but that's not what you want to hear, so I'll try to get something going, please bear with me. 

In the news this week, there has been a family lost and found and I think that's pretty good reason to celebrate.  A family of three in southwest of Portland, Oregon was lost in a forest for 6 days surviving on only stream water when they went out mushroom hunting.   Search parties went after them when they hadn't returned to their campsite.  They were finally found and airlifted to a nearby hospital, and after the entire ordeal only suffered a sprained ankle, minor frost bite, and a back injury between all three of them.  They were certainly lucky to be found, especially since it is said that they would not have been able to survive for more than two more days out there.  I don't know them, but I'm thankful they are safe. 

I have to say that this week I've definitely had my mood ups and downs, but I have been enjoying a number of things.  One of them is All Wound Up: The Yarn Harlot Writes for a Spin  by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee that I just finished.  Can I just say that I would like to be her friend?  Stephanie, if you're out there, let me know.  For those of you familiar with Big Bang Theory, I think Stephanie could play the Penny to my Amy Farrah Fowler.  Stephanie lives in Toronto, I live close enough.  Stephanie likes knitting, I like knitting.  Stephanie needs closets, I have spares.  I'm just sayin'....we could make it work.  This book was so entertaining, I even began reading a chapter here and there to the Mister and we shared a giggle.  Each chapter stands independantly of the rest of the book which makes it great for reading in fits and starts as I tend to do each lunch hour.  I wholly recomend this book, it is light and funny, touching and sincere and it certainly resonated with me. 

And when I'm on lunch reading the Yarn Harlot and the like, what else am I doing?  Eating?  Yeah I guess, but more imporatantly, knitting!  I've been ploughing through Mr. Frogged's socks (but that means on size 11 feet that I'm about half way to the heel turn.  I really like working on them though.  So much so that I'm fairly sure it's safe to say that they were calling to me over the weekend.  I make a point of only working on them when I am out of the house because they are my portable knit project, and I have other things on the go around here that don't travel as easily.  Lately I've been thinking about knitting on them all the time.  I was at three different parties this past weekend, and at all of the parties I couldn't help but think,  "Would it be inappropriate to knit here?"  Unfortunately, the answer was pretty resoundingly yes it would be inappropriate to knit here.  Here's my progress. 

What a cosy toe?

I've also been taking some time to be with my pets this week.  Tonka has been going to daycare three days a week since I began my new job and it leaves him equal parts cuddly and exhausted. 

 

 We gave our hedgehog, Penny (Penelope Pricklesworth), a bath tonight and some TLC.  Penny is a conundrum of creatures because by nature she quite frankly does not care to be doted on.  She's nocturnal and perfectly happy to not be bothered by us, but today we just had to brave her prickly temper and soap her up.  I think she's the happier for it, even though she totally bit the Mister - hehehe.

This is going to seem quite abrupt, but frankly, I had homework due at midnight yesterday and I am so tired, I'm falling asleep while I type.  So on that note, Happy Crafting one and all, and I will try to complete this post tomorrow. 

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting. 

Patina

With every new adventure, new knitting, new relationships, new jobs, there comes a point where a patina begins to develops. At the very start its all bright and shiny but that wears a little with time. There's nothing wrong with that exactly. It doesn't mean there's anything the matter with that drop stitch cowl you've been belaboring, or that you should run out on some kind of errant love affair, or that you should quit your new job and go into hiding in the back of a cube van and knit socks for a living - it just denotes the natural progression of time.

It actually is a realization of imperfection. Everything is absolutely perfect until the moment it isn't. As humans we tend to be a little overambitious in our expectations of just about everything, never cutting ourselves any slack for fear others will notice that we are living imperfect lives too. The fact that I'm now a little worried you all think I'm ungrateful and depressed for using the words imperfect and life in the same sentence is a testament to the negative connotations we give to the admission of imperfection (come on, this cannot just be me). Imperfect isn't bad though. Perfection, as in Stepford wife / Leave it to Beaver lifestyles would be immensely, and wholly boring. Challenge is the fuel to life's fire, we just all bitch about it anyway because, well, if we didn't we would quickly run out of things to talk about.

While I'm still very in love with Mr. Frogged I may not spend the same two hours getting ready for a date and giggling that I did when I was 18. After living with someone and having them see you lying on the couch for a week solid with a cold, frankly two hours seems excessive. This is probably a good thing since it leaves more time for the actual date and, as a bonus, results in more intelligible speech than that of a twitterpated teenage girl.

And though I'm still plugging away on those loose ends for my ripple blanket, I'm still excited to finish it. I think that project may have slipped below patina and into a slightly tarnished state of being, to be honest. I mean really, the amount of ends to weave is both obscene and masochistic. It doesn't help that I am seeking perfection and am a little paranoid about random ends wiggling loose so I split my yarn before weaving it, resulting in double the work.

And lastly, while I'm still enjoying my new job most of the time, there are days where it occurs to me that no matter how fast I learn on the job, I'm still learning. This is arguably a good thing. Surely switching careers entirely at this point in my life in combination with my knitting will provide sufficient brain exercise to cure all worry of dementia and Alzheimer's in my golden years. But when I've been a fairly competent person for a good 4 years I now feel like I'm playing the intellectual equivalent to pin the tail on the donkey. I know I'll get it eventually but in the process I end up feeling a bit of an ass.

What I'm really getting at is when the going gets tough, and the tough go knitting we should all remember that perfection is elusive, perfection is often impossible and frankly, perfection is overrated! Embrace the challenge. The results will be better for it.

Happy crafting!

A Pouch Full of Good!

Hello there fellow crafters!  I was just reading through the news and found that two local (local to me anyways) teenagers have spent their Saturdays constructing a home-made weather balloon complete with a parachute, camera and passenger!  They have launched the first Lego Man in Space well into near space.  I won't recount the entire episode, since that's what the link is for, but I thought that it sounded pretty neat, and way more determined than I would ever have been in my teenage years.  Check out the footage they got here. 

As for what's been making my week, well first off, there has been noticeably more daylight!  I don't live so far north that I don't have light for 6 months of the year or anything like that, but after a few months of daylight hours that begin at 8am and end at 4pm it really starts to get to you, or well to me anyways.  I'm so much more productive when I get more daylight - it can't just be me that feels this way can it?

The other thing that's been making me happy this week is my Koala Caddie!  I think that this is the COOL-est invention I have ever seen.  In a nutshell it is a knitter's apron. 

Worn full-length.

I ordered (and received) this item a couple of weeks ago but haven't yet told you about it.  I was having a bad day and turned to Etsy retail therapy.  Naturally when I saw the cute little frog prince pattern I knew I had to have it!!

Festive Valentine's Froggies!

 There is a fantastic slideshow on their site to show you all of the little features but let me share with you what stands out to me on this product.  First, there is Mary Shooshan, the creator of this little treasure, who convo'ed me both on Etsy and Ravelry, letting me know when it was shipping and exchanging messages in general.  She is one of the nicest people I've had the pleasure to meet online.  Secondly, is the product!  You can't see it from the photos but the construction is beautiful, the stitching is nicely matched in colour to the fabric and everything is straight and perfect.  You can see in this picture how the bag opens up to hold vast amounts of wooly goodness!  And not shown is that within that little inner pocket there is elastic pen/needle holders, which I wasn't even expecting there to be.  Love it, love it, love it.

Opened wide.

Tucked in the little pleat on that pocket is a new friend for my knitting projects and me.  I think this is the such a unique little detail.

Koala!

Here I've got it shortened with the snaps on the back of the apron.

I was also pretty excited today by a dalliance with some chocolate chips...it was a long day, alright, don't judge.  They were good, and I won't deny anything!  I don't regret it and I'd do it again, I tell ya!

Mmmmmm...Milk chocolate chips!

Yum!

Now this week, what do I look forward to?  Well, I have a couple of birthday parties this weekend, and one involves my FAVOURITE meal!  BRUNCH!  I can't wait - plus that birthday girl is one of my favourite girls around.  Other than that, just the usual - knitting, crocheting, and stitching along. 

I'll talk to you soon!  Happy crafting!

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

So, much like at the beginning of 2012, I'm again one day late, but Happy Year of the Dragon everyone!! At this link http://www.usbridalguide.com/special/chinesehoroscopes/Dragon.htm you can find all sorts of neat info about Chinese Horoscopes, be forewarned though, you may be there for hours. I think that such a massive and important holiday and celebration is positive enough to count for Positivi-Tuesday news.
As far as what I'm loving this week, I would have to say that I'm really ploughing through my Chick-Lit book of the moment, Divas Don't Knit by Gil McNeil. I'm not usually a Chick-Lit kinda gal but every now and then it's such a nice escape to get away to a simple girl meets boy story, or in this case a "girl moves house and buys yarn shop and meets famous people" story. The book reads like a conversation over tea with a good friend - a good British friend. There is definitely a tonne of British slang, which is fine by me. With an English mum, Brit-slang is my first language. In any case, I totally recommend the book.
I'm also loving the socks I'm making for the Mister. Knit1, Heart Too is hosting a Sock Knit Along that I'm hoping to enter them into before March. I'm working them toe-up with a 2x4 rib on the instep and I am pretty sure I started with my Judy's Magic cast-on inside out so there a ridge of purl stitches along the toe which looks like a seam. It's a mistakification and I kind of like it.
This week I'm looking forward to a movie and lunch date with my former boss. I will let you know what the movie is like. I'm also looking forward to finding some time to spin this week and weaving in some MORE ripple ends!!
Until next time, happy crafting!

An Extreme Case of Startitis...

It's not even three weeks into January and it has occurred to me that my "resolutions" seem to have ALREADY flown out the window.  It was only here that I listed them out, but apparently I need to keep a closer eye on them. 
Fortunately I'm keeping up with my blogging commitmenet of posting at least once a week and it seems to be paying off.  Today I hit 1000 pageviews!  I was impressed and excited and may even have done a little dance when I saw it. 
I'm not even going to talk to you about the healthy eating and excercise resolution, because I've basically pretended that it doesn't exist.  I'll get there. 
As for spinning, I've completely abandoned it for no real reason other than being sick and then promptly obsessed with knitting again.  I think knitting is my long term relationship.  You may not always feel the butterflies but there's definitely something there that keeps you excited and coming back again and again.  Crochet is more of a one night stand for me and spinning is kind of on par with having coffee with an old friend every so often.  It feels comforting and fun, but you never think to do it more often than that. 
And then there was the promise to get the ripple blanket off the hook and the mitts off the needles.  Sigh.  There are so.many.ends....gah!  I must be doing something wrong.  Lucy from Attic24 CANNOT weave in this many ends in each blanket.  That would be crazy-making and she seems fairly sane.  As far as the mitts go, is it possible to have second MITT syndrome?  If it is, then I've definitely got it.  So, perhaps I'll have these things done by the end of February instead?  I did finish an object in January already as you know from my last post, but I really just keep wanting to cast on new things. For instance, on Friday night I came to the abrupt realization that I had no "purse knitting".  Nevermind the fact that I carry my entire project bag with me pretty much everywhere I go, nor that I have about 6 things on hooks and needles that want finishing also...no, that means nothing.  What is really important here is the lack of project cluttering up my purse.  Right.  So what's a girl to do?  Cast on socks, that's what.  And that's precisely what I did do.  I cast on a pair of Wendy Johnson Toe-Up Socks with a Difference for Mr. Frogged since he has yet to know the delight of handmade socks.  He picked the colourway and everything.  The only mod I'm making to this pattern is a 4x2 rib on the instep and the leg of the sock.  I'll post pictures on Tuesday when I'm a bit further along.  There's no doubt in my mind that it will be on my positive things list.  Why are socks soooo addictive to make?  I can't figure it out. 

What I also did this weekend was cook!!!  I love cooking, especially when it takes little to know effort as was the case Saturday night.  Saturday night I made Pappa Pomodoro which is a dish I first ate on a trip with Mr. Frogged and my family to Tuscany.  We were having lunch in Florence at a tiny restaurant in a back street near the Uffizi where the tourists don't go (because frankly going where the tourists DON'T go is the only way to get good food on a trip).   The Mister ordered what we were told was a traditional Tuscan soup of tomato and stale bread.  I realize that this neither sounds all that appetizing nor does it sound much like something you should pay money for, but it was sooo delicious that when I came home I had to learn how to make it and since I like it so much I'm going to share the recipe with you. If you, like me, think the best part of pasta is sopping up the sauce with a good piece of bread, this dish is for you!

This will be less of a recipe and more of a...guide.  I don't ever measure anything and I don't write things down, I just cook to taste because that's how my mom taught me, so when making this use your own judgement on amounts and things to suit your own palate. 

The basis of this dish is essentially a good tomatoe sauce.  I make tomatoe sauce probably once every other week in a large batch.  I then freeze half for later use.  When I want to make this dish, I simply use that sauce from my freezer.  I think it's pretty imperative that you make your sauce from scratch for this.  To make my sauce I simply fry garlic and green onions in olive oil until golden, and then add tomato puree or blended whole canned tomatoes, basil, parsley and salt.  I let it cook for at least two hours to get the acidtity out of the tomatoes. 

Imagine you have this sauce in your freezer, and you have some left over crusty Italian bread or baguette lying around that you can't use for anything other than perhaps a blunt weapon.  First, obviously thaw your sauce.  Meanwhile fry MORE garlic (about another 2-3 cloves) in olive oil in a pot on the stovetop.  Add the sauce and 2 cups of chicken broth to this pot and stir.  It will appear to be a runny soupy sauce now.  Break up the loaf of bread into the saucepan and stir frequently.  As the bread absorbs the liquid it will begin to break down into a kind of mush.  It should have the consistency of a tomatoe-y smooth porridge, or polenta type thing.  At this point, simply ladel it into a bowl and top with parmesan cheese and chilli peppers to taste and there you have it!  Dinner made quickly and super cheaply!

 Buon Appetito and Happy Crafting!

Positivi-Tuesday!!

Ok, ok, so I know I'm not supposed to ONLY post on Positivi-Tuesday, but time just got away from me this week.  Before I go too deeply into the positive vibes I just want to mention that my all day date on Sunday was delicious  fabulous!  We had brunch at Frank at the AGO and it was amazing.  Definitely one of those places where they somehow manage to concentrate the flavour of a regular sized meal and squish it down into a daintier petite portion.  Dessert was a plate of cookies, and let me just say that I may have fallen in love with madeleines.  Naturally the gallery was wonderful too.  The exhibits we saw were inspiring and full of colour.  Have I ever mentioned how I love museums and galleries?  Well, I do...

Now on to the positive newa story of the week.  Tonight I found http://www.goodnewstoronto.ca/ which is dedicated to highlighting goodness in Toronto, Ontario which can regularly be forgotten in a large city.  For instance, this story about a local youth who has taken the initiative to not only volunteer in a wide and varied number of organizations, but has also facilitated the donation of hundreds of pairs of jeans to the underpriveledged.  He even bought 500 pairs of jeans for this cause with money he had saved from his own allowance! 

Knitters are also generally viewed to be generous people given our penchant for spending hours upon hours of time and energy on items given away (sometimes as gifts, sometimes as charity), but for this young man to spearhead this idea at such a young age shows his passion for this cause as well as his generosity.  Up to this point I have not knit anything for charity but I would like that to change in 2012.  I will be making blankets for my local doggie daycare.  They take in rescue dogs at a moment's notice and give them food, shelter, and most importantly love.  Find something that strikes your passion, spread the good and de-stash with some charity knitting along the way.  If you already knit for charity, leave a comment and let everyone know how we can get involved in your charity too!

Last week I breifly mentioned looking forward to my new job and now that I've started it, I am adding it to my list of things I'm enjoying this week.  I've met new people, I'm learning every day and I'm loving the challenges so far. 

I'm also really loving my friends this week.  Monday was the first day of my new position and at lunch time there was a delivery of a beautiful arrangement of my favourite flowers in one of my favourite colours (let's face it, I like all colours) with a note from my "besties" congratulating me on my new job.  Aren't they beautiful!!?!?  I have the bestest friends in the world.   

Beautiful, simple, modern - my fave!

Happiness in a vase.

If these things weren't enough to keep me smiling, I finished my quick-knit scroll stitch cowl Thursday night!  I love, love, love it.  The yarn was a dream to work with and the thick-thin nature of it kept the project interesting.  The scroll stitch pattern, which I picked up from Serenity Knits in Newmarket made the fabric of the cowl twist and turn into a bit of a wibbly accordian before blocking, but I wore the cowl pre-blocking anyway simply because I couldn't manage the wait.  On Friday night I washed it in some Eucalan and laid it casually over the back of a chair with a fan on it to air dry overnight.  Without even using pins, it blocked out into a completely different shape and feel, giving me a luxuriously soft cowl with a fabulous drape to it.  Now instead of crimping up the fabric, the undulating stitches simply add a flow to the direction of the fabric that I would never have expected to acheive.  I love to snuggle into it when I wear it, and the alpaca content makes it super warm in this cold spell we've been having recently. 

Still on the needles...

Nice stitch definition.

I may never take it off.

It doubles as an effective disguise.

What am I looking forward to this week?  Mostly socializing I think.  As you know, I was sick last week and really only got back to my regular self at the end of last week.  This means much catching up is to be done so I will have a few visits and outings to do that I'm eagerly awaiting.  I'm also looking forward to casting on my second thrummed mitten (betcha thought I forgot about that one) and getting more of my ripply blanket ends woven in (will they NEVER end!). 
Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Positivi-Tuesday!!

Hello one and all and welcome to this weeks installment of Positivi-Tuesday, your weekly dose of positive news.

The first thing I want to mention is a story I heard last night on CBC news The story and video are on the web if you follow this link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/01/08/bungee-cord-snaps.html
I'll give you this in a nutshell, in case you don't want to click around all over the interweb. So, a 22-year old Australian tourist was on holiday and decided to go bungee jumping. Not my idea of a relaxing vacation, but loads of people do this. The bungee in question is situated over a river in Africa where crocodiles live. I'm not going to say it was infested, but there were more crocs than I'd want popping round for dinner. She makes her jump and right as she gets to the end of the rope, it simply snaps and she continues to plummet downwards. She hits the water manages to swim to shore where a rescue crew came to her aid. After all that she's alive and relatively well considering! I think this is just amazing. If I didn't already believe in fate and destiny this sure would make me think.

As for what I'm loving right now, that has to be my selfish instant gratification cowl. It is almost done, 7 rounds to go in fact. The yarn is super squooshy, the fabric has a nice hand to it, the pattern is mindless but not boring, and its a speedy knit!

And what I'm looking forward to is still my all day date on Sunday and also, my new job, which I am starting on Monday. It's in a different company, different position, different location, but I'm excited by the challenges that's going to create. Wish me luck on that.

On that note I must be off to bed. Until next time, happy crafting.

Just Keep Stitching

So, instead of ACTUALLY knitting or crocheting this week, I've been painstakingly weaving in ends on the first half of my ripple blanket. I had crocheted over my ends but evidently that was not to be, so I pulled all the ends out a little and have been slowly working them in with a large eyed needle. Usually this would pretty much kill me with boredom, but instead it's kind of calming.
In other news I'm STILL battling my cold. What the HECK, man? Why is it my lot in life to enter every new year in a state of sinus malfunction? Clearly, things could be worse, but really? Is it necessary?
What I've noticed in my weaving in frenzy is that I can pretty whole-heartedly watch all the new years TV premieres and the most resounding thing I've noticed is that A) 5 minutes cannot pass without a diet commercial and B) every movie ever made is being released in 3D. I kind of resent both of these things. I understand the need for healthier lifestyles and in weight loss but it is obvious that they are just trying to max out the New Year Resolution bandwagon and play on people's insecurities. Maybe I'm just over sensitive because I'm sick and haven't been to the gym or Weight Watchers since before Christmas but I needed a good rant. As for the 3D movies, well they give me a headache and cost more. Enough said.
Woosh! Ok I feel better now. Thanks for that. I am off now to continue to find the peace within the end weaving.
Just keep stitching, just keep stitching...Happy Crafting!

Positivi-Tuesday!

Well that was a brief break, wasn't it? But here I am to kick of this new Positivi-Tuesday post! I have to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what this will become but bear with me.

Each week I will try to bring you one thing that can make us all smile. Some piece of good news, for a change, that floats out there in the media. I will also share one thing that is happening in my life right now that brings me joy and one thing I'm really looking forward to. Hopefully, these little gratitudes will raise all our spirits.

Here goes nothing. First, in the news we can all stop worrying about the 2012 Mayan prophecy. I have just read on a number of sites, including ABC, that the apocalypse will not be happening this December. This is excellent news since it will give extra knitting time. This isn't the first time I have heard this, though. My tour guide in Mexico last year also told us that the end of the world was not coming...merely the end of the calendar. Can you imagine if we all jumped to this kind of conclusion with a regular calendar?? December 31 would become the most dreaded date of the year. Fortunately, we have nothing to fear.

Aside from the continuation of life as we know it, I'm currently deriving a great deal of joy from people. Maybe it's residual good tidings from the holidays, or maybe I'm romanticizing things, but either way, I have found that sharing, talking, learning and laughing with friends, family and colleagues this week is making me super happy. That just means I will need to savour all the company I can get.

Lastly, I am really looking forward to this month's date night!! We have decided to go see the Chagall exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario and have brunch too! If artwork and Mr. Frogged weren't enough excitement, brunch is my favourite meal.

Anyways ladies and gents, that's all for now. Leave a comment with your thoughts and let's try to all generate some positivity! Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Happy Birthday, 2012!

Welcome to the new year everyone!   Did you enjoy it?  I certainly did.

Firstly, apologies for being a whole day late on my New Year's post, but I was battling a migraine from New Year's eve until half way through this morning.

Despite all that, I have had a brilliant New Year.  We decided to ring in 2012 at home this year with good friends, good food and good fun had by all.  A potluck and a few cheesy dollar store decorations put everyone in the mood without too much stress.  In a moment of carelessness that has made me the laughing stock of the family I sent my first rapid fire text of 2012 as Happy Birthday instead of Happy New Year.  I was only distracted, I swear, but apparently that wasn't the first excuse that popped into their heads.  Even though my head cold decided to relocate to my chest just in time for the party, it was one of the best New Years Eves I've had in a long time. 

Now I know that many bloggers spend their inaugural post of the year reminiscing over the last 12 months with stories and photos galore, but given that I haven't yet hit my blog-iversary I don't think it's quite fair to do a year in review.  I will take this moment to thank you for reading and to let you know that December was my record high for pageviews!  I'm so happy to know that that number grows each month, and I hope that I can keep you all coming back this year. 

On that note, I want to turn my sights to the other direction.  Forwards: to 2012 and all the promise this year can hold.  I have always been the kid who looked forward to the beginning of the school year, and the beginning of the new year for the clean slate it brought and the opportunity it gave to me to do better than the year before.  Some things never change, as I find myself full of goals and resolutions this year.  I know as well as the next girl that resolutions "never last," "rules are made to be broken" and so on but if my resolutions last just one month, then that's one month longer than they would last otherwise.  So here in front of one and all I will declare what I hope to accomplish, if only for a little while. 

Firstly, with this blog I am hoping to post at least once a week.  I know I've been a bit dodgy with the dates of my posts up until now, but inspired by Knit Nicole Knit's Awesome Thursday posts I've decided to post once a week with a Positivi-Tuesday report listing good things.  They may be in my life, they may be in the news, they may be only one sentence, but hopefully this will work two-fold to help the blog and help me to remember all I've got to be thankful for when my anxiety starts up as it has done this past little while.  Of course I will be posting with all the wool-brained antics you're used to as well.

Next, in the knit and crochet world I am planning to take January to finish all of my Works in Progress.  Now that doesn't include UFO's, because that would be crazy.  The hope is that January will see the ripple blanket off the hook and the thrummed mittens off the needles.  This will give me leave to continue on with the UFO's and bring them up to WIP status.  Ideally I would like to finish one project a month...we shall see.  In spinning, my goal is to hand spin a three-ply yarn before the year's end. 

Now resolutions wouldn't be complete if I didn't try to better myself as well.  Naturally, I am plannning on attempting to meditate and work out every week and to eat more healthily.  As well as cleaning up my act health-wise, I'm going to work on cleaning up my house.  Once a week I will focus on either upstairs or downstairs and have a good clean and tidy. 

Lastly, I realized yet again over this holiday just how much fun I have when I hang out with my Mr. Frogged.  Life so easily gets bogged down with social obligations and other responsibilities, but over the holidays, partly thanks to the colds we've been combatting, we spent hours watching movies or playing games together and it was SO MUCH FUN!!  So, once a month I want to harness that spirit of the holidays and have a games night where we can cuddle up at home with some two-player console games.  And to get us out of the house too, I think a date night each month is in order.
Do you make resolutions too?  How do they usually go for you?  Let me know and maybe we can encourage each other.  Until then, cling to the promise of the new year and happy crafting one and all!

Santa was Gooooooood.

It's all over.  Christmas is done, and all our visits are made.  All that's left is to enjoy our time off and prepare for our New Years Eve shindig. 

This time last year I was horizontal with a sinus infection and some H1N3-type virus that, I swear, nearly killed me and literally banned all fun from my Christmas holiday.  This, therefore, is the Mister and my first "vertical" Christmas married and living together, (although I do have a cold coming on...).  And I have to say...Santa was good. 

Christmas morning we settled in for present opening with our tea and biscuits as is our custom. 

Next we all opened our stockings.  Tonka's presents all go in his stocking as it becomes increasingly difficult to explain to a small dog why it is alright to rip apart paper on Christmas but it is expressly forbidden the other 364 days of the year.  Clearly he enjoyed his gift from his grandparents.  He alternated between playing excitedly with it and falling fast asleep - the poor little guy's not used to this much excitement!

Next I have to start by saying that the thing about a good marriage, if I can be so bold as to claim ownership of one of these elusive things, is that your partner will learn as much as necessary about your dorky hobbies to completely surprise you with all the swag you never thought you'd get.  The thing about a GREAT marriage is that both partners do the same!  I managed to score major brownie points by plying my hubby with various pieces of gaming hardware for his PC as well as the new Zelda game for the Wii.  He scored possibly bigger brownie points when he bought me my very own 1.6 oz. Golding drop spindle as well as two bags of beautifully coloured roving to spin with!  He said, and I quote, "I got you purple because purple is your new pink."  Bless his cotton socks, eh? 

This is my new baby.  This photo is from the Golding website.

 

He also bought me Clean'n'Go M-O from the movie Wall-E.  M-O is essentially a clean freak who is perhaps a little neurotic about it.  Supposedly I may or may not share some of these characteristics and I happen to also love this little character, despite his small-ish role in the film.  My new toy M-O runs over crumbs and collects them up for you.  He is just little, so can only manage a post-dinner clean-up I should think, however I've not decided yet whether he is a "collector" toy or a "play with" toy and as such he is still bundled up in his box. 

I must have been a good girl this year, as I had a number of gifts which I LOVED!  I'm not going to list them all here, because that frankly seems tedious.  Rest assured though that they were all loved and received with much gratitude.  However, there is one more thing that I thought was pretty rad and just have to share with you.  My cousin in England (the one who had the baby) sent me this blog mug!  I felt like I should have my own talk-show!  How cool is that?  I love it.  Stay tuned, as there will soon be an interview from her to show you that good looks aren't all that run in this family!  (clearly, there's modesty too...hehe...)

I am lucky in many ways this holiday because I was able to spend the last three days hopping about from one branch of our family to another and being swept up in love, laughter and the spirit of the season.  Somehow, Mr. Frogged managed to get me to Serenity Knits in Newmarket yesterday for their boxing day sale (their sale is on all week if you need anything, I recommend it) and I bought... Baby Me Boo!  If I didn't already think it had the cutest name ever, it is also soft as soft can be.  It's a blend of baby alpaca, merino and bamboo and it's going to be a quick knit cowl for me.  Watching The Little Cowl Company knit up stock for the holidays has left me coveting a nice thick fluffy cowl.  What better way to indulge than at a Boxing Day Sale?  I also picked up a couple of skeins of Estelle yarns for gift knitting and some sock yarn for the Mister.  I'm feverishly working on his Mittens in order to allow me to cast on something new.  I will still finish that crocheted ripple blanket I swear...

Effective January 1 I am on a yarn diet.  No purchases until more of my stash diminishes.  I have begun a list of resolutions and I'll let you know the final cut once I decide.  I realize I'll break most of them, but if I only keep them for a month that's one month longer than I would have otherwise.  In the meantime, no new projects without a WIP off the needles first.  That ought to keep me in line...I think....

Until next time friends, Happy Crafting!

Not Ready Yet

Ok so here it goes... My pre-Christmas confession. We are T minus 6 days until the Claus takes to the skies. I still have over 10 gifts to buy, my holiday baking is not done, I haven't got the ingredients for the stuffing I promised to bring on the 25th, I don't know what I'm bringing on the 24th, the gifts I do have are not wrapped, my cards are not written and they shed glitter like a pole-dancer (or so I hear) and so cannot be written anywhere but MY home, the cards to be posted are not yet on their way and of course my crocheted gift is still mocking me in its incomplete state in my project bag. It makes me want to say something to it like, "I brought you into this world, half of a blanket, I can frog you out!" but then I'd be the crazy person talking to my yarn (again...).
To make matters worse my anxiety is flaring up (yes it does that, like a bad back or arthritis) which means I'm supposed to do a series of techniques to chill out...riiiiiight. Yes I can totally see how sitting back and taking stock will help me calm down here. Oh, brother.
Tell me it's not just me!
Happy crafting everyone and in case I don't post before it begins (on Wednesday, I think) Happy Chanukah, too!