At last some blue knitting

This was Debbie's birthday present: a custom-made, asymmetric, two-colour, many-patterned pullover.  (Never mind that her birthday is in March.)

It is "inspired by" this sweater I saw in a shop window last December. I wish I knew what shop it was... 

I first made the plain charcoal side, following a pattern pretty closely. The blue side was just some of my favourite stitch patterns made to sort of reflect the original. I do love the leaves twining up the front. I thought I was going to make the sleeves a more practical length than in the original, but longer sleeves were requested. The cuffs can be folded back, of course. 

It seems it is a success, and sweater weather is certainly on its way. 

Gumby goes to heaven, and more

I was downtown the other day and got a picture of some blue sky and our RCAF memorial, commonly known as Gumby Goes to Heaven. (And now I know there is a blog about Toronto public art and I must read it all!)

I was on my way to the Textile Museum, my old haunt. They have spent the pandemic reorganizing some of their space and improving lots of things, like the front entrance where I used to volunteer. Much nicer looking now. They are no longer going to have the bone-crushing, soul-destroying annual sales, but offer their donated yarns, fabrics and books every day in a small room in the museum. Same low prices, much less competition. I do wonder if people will buy as much if they are not fighting a crowd to do so, though. 

Best of all, they are open for free till the end of 2021. 

The first show was by Jagdeep Raina, and had embroidered works, some video and mixed-media works on paper. 

I really enjoyed the paper works. 

The larger show is of fabrics designed and printed in the Arctic, Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios. 

These fabrics were designed by Inuit designers and printed in Cape Dorset. They were shown at Expo 67 where people loved them, but they didn't take off in a big way and eventually production of a few designs moved down south. 

The fabric is generally quite heavy, perfect for curtains, cushions or bedspreads. There were photos of people wearing clothing made from it as well. 

If I had a cottage, my curtains would be made of this caribou one. 

Power poles as decoration! 

This racing dog was part of a very large hanging, made mostly with sealskin on heavy felt. There was also a sealskin coat for sale in the shop. 

It was a really interesting show and I may go back again! I always want to paw and stroke the pieces, turn things over to see the back and so on, which of course one cannot do. But looking again might suffice. 

Quick blues on election day

Yesterday I was sitting around outside waiting for a friend to finish her shopping. I saw a blue thing -- I think a rack for delivering buns or bread from a bakery, maybe. 

I saw the blue sky, but also on the left a blue bike rack and if you look very closely you will see a blue elastic band lying on the ground. 

Over to the right of where I was sitting was this mural. Not sure, sort of a plane flying? Maybe something completely different. 

This morning I seem to have volunteered to be a scrutineer at a polling place. I think I just poke around and keep my eyes open for three hours, hoping nothing untoward happens. Home by lunchtime. My MP at the moment is the deputy prime minister, so it's unlikely that that will change. But stranger things have happened! 

Blue is everywhere

A friend of ours is a jazz guitarist (and philosophy professor) and during these Covid days has hosted concerts on his front porch. We hadn't gone before because it was at sort of an awkward time, and, oh, no, other people, and it's not right around the corner... so many not-serious obstacles. 

This past week, though, a saxophonist with whom Stephen has collaborated was visiting Toronto and playing with a bassist and drummer. It was great to sit outside and hear some live music. Rather wild modern jazz!

I took this picture of the dull brass instrument, but then noticed it is pretty blue! 

On a more sedate note, this giant wave is painted on a building down the street. It actually goes along the backs of several buildings, but this is the real tsunami. 

Our neighbourhood has several of these little libraries, and I am finding them great for our slow but steady decluttering. A few books can be sold for a few bucks, but the majority of ours are too "well-loved" to be acceptable to the book shop we go to. Of course, I treat these boxes sort of like real libraries, in that I often borrow novels or cookbooks for a bit and then return them! 

Any day now I will pick up my blue knitting. 

Blue September

According to Mary's own personal Project Spectrum, September is for blue.

I do actually have blue knitting to be doing, and as it is not supposed to be super-hot this week, maybe some work will be done on that. I shall try to look up to the blue sky instead of down to the flowers and grasses this month. 

Until very recently, September was the big month of change and disruption and new routines. With an academic husband and kids in school, it was always a big deal. This should be the husband's last September of teaching and the kids are mostly done with school for now, so perhaps we can relax a little.