Second Weather Related Post in a Row

Does anyone know who I speak to about the weather we're having - I'd like to file a formal complaint about the current winter storm warning. Last week's snow melted in the next two days, this stuff looks like it will last longer than that.

As my husband was joking yesterday, we're Canadians, we live in igloos and it snows most months of the year...



Also, the frequent power outages are getting annoying - I think we're up to 4+ in the past month and a half. Last night we had 3 outages, 2 of them over 30 minutes.

Snow Again

Apparently that warm weather we were having was a teaser and we're not into spring yet... This is Calgarian weather right now.

Green Smoothie Challenge

As a result of several medical tests over the past 2 months and they've left me feeling like my digestive system is a little worse for the wear. Nearly every day I've been having tummy aches - even when I'm certain that the food I was eating was not cross-contaminated. That, combined with an urge to eat more vegetables made it that when I heard about the Green Smoothie Challenge via Heather of Shivaya Naturals I immediately signed up.

I was quite uncertain about the taste of the smoothies but I figured I'd go for it. And if eating them doesn't produce any of the benefits that other people have experienced, well, at least I'd drastically increase my fruit and vegetable intake for at least 2 weeks. It turns out that I love the taste of green smoothies - though the ones that I've made so far taste largely of fruit.

They are astonishingly green. This was my smoothie yesterday:



It was Basic Balance + an apple + 1 extra cup of water. Today I had Apple + Kale + Lemon + some romaine lettuce that I had in the fridge. I liked both of them - the greens got blended smoother today than yesterday - but the apple didn't blend completely. If these things become a daily habit I could see the value of investing in a good blender. I drank all of the smoothies each day - so over a liter each day. I don't want to over do it - but perhaps on the weekend I'll increase my intake. On my way home tomorrow I have to pick up more fruit and vegetables.

Sweatermaker Socks

Ravelry tells me I started this pair of socks last September (September 22, 2009 to be exact). I have finished one sock - I had issues with the heel flap being too long and having to rip out a lot. That stalled me beyond the ripping. I think patterned socks are knit faster because I knit by a repeat and so if there are only a few repeats the sock goes quickly. That said, the foot and heel of this sock went pretty quickly once I actually knit - so you may see this sock having a mate relatively soon.

Smocked French Press Cozy

I heavily modified a hat pattern (essentially took the stitch pattern from it) to make a cozy for my french press - my Smocked French Press Cozy.



I know that if you are a coffee purist you would decant the coffee after steeping so that it stops but I'm not a purist and I'd like warm coffee later in the day without having to warm it up.



Plus, this looks way cuter.



I've also been working on a sock that I cast on back in September 2009 - turns out that socks go fast if you work on them... And I've been spinning but I have no photos of that.

Ishbel & a Bib

I've been crafting - knitting and crocheting away - sometimes with no recipient in mind.

A lot of my friends are pregnant - so I am trying to stockpile some baby knits. The latest:
Frog bib


And for me:
Ishbel




What? Not everyone uses a large protractor while blocking a lace shawl? I felt pretty geeky while blocking but very pleased with the results.

Oh, and with the wider middle column it is easier to pull photos from Flickr and so I'm posting more because most of the pictures I want to blog about are already in Flickr because they are already in Ravelry. I don't know how long the increased posting will last...

Spinning

My wonderful husband bought me a spinning wheel for Christmas. Well, I bought it (because I went to Shuttleworks to try out a few) but he suggested it. I tried a few and decided on the Ladybug by Schacht. I really like it, and am having some success with it. I've tentatively named her Aurora, but that is subject to change on a whim.

This is the only photo that has much of the wheel in view - these are the first singles spun on the wheel. The fiber is Northern Lights Wool Top by Louet - another Christmas gift.

Which ended up becoming this



Since then, I've spun the following:
Fiber Optic Yarns 80 BFL 20 Tussah Silk (a batt)

Fiber Optic Yarns Superwash Merino and Tencel Roving

Mystery brand Merino and Tencel

and finally, Fiber Optic Yarns Footnotes Unspun (a pencil roving)


The Footnotes yarn has already been made into a Lacy Baktus



So you see, in the past 3.5 months I've added a craft (crochet) and greatly expanded a craft (spinning).

Modifications

As you can tell, I've been making some changes to the layout of the blog. I was going for an increased width of the main column so that medium sized pictures from Flickr would come in easier - what I found was Blogger Templates in Blogger in Draft. It was super easy to change the width of my main column and so many choice of background and other things. Ridiculously easy to customize - I'm not sure I'm quite done yet.

I have been knitting, spinning and a bit of crocheting - which reminds me that I haven't shown you my spinning fun. Perhaps tomorrow... hopefully this week.