Catching up

Long time no post - well not really given my track record but longer than I'd like. I visited my mom in Kelowna before she left for Italy for 2 months (to visit family) so that threw a monkey wrench in the posting - well that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Here's a few photos that I've taken in the last few weeks - I'll use them to catch up.

I finished my Jedi Mind Trick socks - love them - have loved most of the patterns and all of the yarns this year in the CookieA club. I'm 90% certain I'll sign up for the club again - my only issue is that it takes so long to knit socks that if I wanted to knit all the socks in the club I'd knit little else through the year. And I'd like to knit a few sweaters - it makes sense given the climate I live in. I'm a little torn. I think I'll sign up again and delay my decision for a year. I've knit 3 out of the 5 sets of patterns - so 3 out of 10 patterns but still 3 from 5 shipments. I think that's pretty good - right? right!

In Kelowna I visited with mom and my canine brother - Zeke. He's a love but he smells a little like a dog and likes to steal my seat. He's a beautiful, chubby, pure bred beagle.

While in Kelowna I knit most of a pair of after thought stripey socks - love stripey sock yarn - these would be done but I had a lot left over so I ripped out the cuff and am knitting them taller. The cuff was annoyingly short. Socks would go so much faster, I'm sure, if I didn't rip out bind offs. The yarn is Canon Hand Dyed - Charles base (I think) in the colourway, In Mine Eye She is the Sweetest Lady. It is my entry for the AlphaKal that my LYS is holding. I've got until Oct 31st to complete them and I should make it.

And finally, we've really hit winter weather here in Calgary. I've got to be honest - winter is my favourite season. I don't mind the cold, and I love how the world looks with snow all over. I like that I can add layers and be warm and snug - whereas in the summer there are only so many layers that you can take off in public. Plus we don't have air conditioning or windows we can open to create a through breeze. I also like watching hockey (though with the strike we're watching a lot more NFL and so I'm starting to understand football and therefore liking it more). I also like how winter makes my hobby really useful and there is a lot of time in which to use hand knits. It has been knit sock weather for quite awhile here - LOVE IT! What I don't like is driving in winter conditions - or taking transit when roads are bad. Transit has already been disrupted 2-3 times this season and that is a lot given how many weeks of winter we've had. It doesn't bode well for the rest of the winter.

Update

I haven't posted in a ridiculously long time. A lot has happened in that time including

- issues with doctors - still no diagnosis and a long wait is occurring before I will get to see a specialist - prior to the referral I changed doctors, the one on campus was frustrating me.

- our 3rd wedding anniversary - went to shakespeare in the park again but got rained out, had a lovely time none the less.




- British Columbia is having a horrendous forest fire year. Two fires broke out near my home town (Westbank - they call it West Kelowna now but that just sounds weird to me). A lot of people were evacuated (over 10,000 evacuated, another 7,000 or so on alert - the town is only about 40,000 people...), and the apartment that my parents were buying was put on evacuation alert.

- We went to Penticton for a wedding of some college (undergrad) friends. Saw a lot of old friends and got homesick for the Okanagan. The dream is to move back there some day. The issue is that there aren't many employers for me...


- Cory drove home and I stayed to help my parents move - what a gong show that ended up being. Since I was there for longer I saw some more friends - one that I hadn't seen in years and another that I don't see much of. Also spent time up at the cottage and saw a niece and nephew and brother - brother I saw within the last year (still good to see him though), niece I hadn't seen in 2 years, and nephew I hadn't seen in 3...


- introduced said niece and nephew to the wonder that is the Ames Brothers and Rag Mop (my happy song - I should go see if iTunes has it - okay I'm back, they do and so now I need to go buy a copy - also a fan of Sentimental Me on the other side of the record) via my grandparents gramophone. I've been told that my grandpa Gross had this gramophone while he was courting grandma Gross.


- While in the Okanagan I cast on the Trellis Scarf by Evelyn A. Clark (Interweave Knits, Spring 2006) for Cory's Aunt Paula. She saw the scarf I made for his Nana (branching out, pink kid silk haze) and requested one. I think she'll really appreciate it so I'm knitting the Trellis for her in KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud - Peppermint. Love the yarn and pattern - am about 7 repeats into the pattern, but it doesn't seem very long - I have a spare hank of the yarn if need be. The cats are "helping" and unfortunately are somewhat interested in the ball of yarn - not sure if it is the alpaca (they like merino for sure) or the way it is wound.


- wound the ball of laceweight by hand because I was at the cottage. Luckily I bought my mom a swift for Christmas this year. I swear it took 45 minutes or more. Niece and nephew found the whole process very interesting for almost the whole time - and laughed hysterically at me when I would drop the ball and it would roll on the floor.

Okay, well that about does it for the past month. I'm feeling pretty fatigued lately and sleeping a lot. Also watching a new-to-me show that I find hilarious - Big Bang Theory. I just wish I could relate less to the geeky scientists...

Introducing Emma

Hi Y'all. I'll post pictures when I get home, I've finished Cory's gloves. They turned out awesome.

But my big news is that my niece was born 2 days ago. She is #6 and the pictures show her to be a beautiful baby. Her big sister (16 yrs old and the oldest niece of the bunch) is so proud and has sent me pictures but I have the distinct feeling that my brother and sister in law (Andrea and Jennifer) would not appreciate me posting pictures, even to the nice people here.

Emma joined us at 11:38am on Friday Feb 16, 2007. She is 6lbs 4 oz, about 49 cm long and has a mop of hair.

Welcome little girl!

No one to talk to but you babe

So I'm at school checking my email and I get a message that my mom has flown to Italy today, last minute, because her uncle died last night. My bis-zio (great uncle) Ettore died last night. He had parkinson's disease and lukemia and was currently taking a round of chemotherapy. I would call Cory but he is not home. And I could talk with the people in the lab but all they will be is sympathetic. What I really want to do is talk with my mom or nonna. More my mom. I hope Nonna is okay, it was her little brother. Enrico died a few years ago too I think. So now it is just Nonna Lucia and Zia Lisa (bis zia but I always leave off the bis, the "great" part). I didn't know Ettore very well so what is really bothering me is that it reminds me even more than normal that Nonna is getting old - and fast. I will miss her very much when she dies. I suppose it will be a sort of relief for her. I think she is very lonely and in declining health. She still does a lot but gets tired much faster. And my uncles (the non-bis ones) are pains in the ass who do nothing but stress her out. I don't like them because of how they act and how they make her feel. It makes me mad. I still love them, after all they are family and you love family, but I don't like them. There is a fine line of a difference. A slight distinction that most people don't make. Can you love someone without liking them? It is not a grand love, it is more of an obligatory love, a compulsion that we must feel some sort of good feeling about a family member. I feel sad that I no longer like these relatives. I used to like them. Anyway, I must go now so ciao.