33 and still handsome -- now closer to 50

How many times do you think I'll change my mind between now and the end of September, when I can buy more yarn? What will be the new project, once all the little projects are finished off?

This is my present pick. I've actually liked this sweater since 1989, when Vogue Knitting published it as a Then and Now pattern; the original is from 1956. I want to do some cabled something or other, but don't want a big bulky sweater. (This 1989 version calls for some yarn with golden nubs in it -- I'm all for tweed, but not glittery tweed!)

I could show you a dozen more, but let's not get overwhelmed with choices! And my Knitting from Stash means lots of little projects, since my stash is not full of sweaters-worth of yarn.

And the present projects are coming along:

Branching Out, with the patch of brown/ grey/ black in the forest of green. I like it.

Now I'm torn about how long to make it. Finish the ball, and make a quite long scarf, or have that little bit left over, making a scarf just long enough to tuck in? It doesn't seem right to make a long skinny lacy scarf...


And Arthur's second sock.

It gets carried around a lot, but not knitted on too much!

I've got banana bread in the oven, preparing for the Knitting Ladies to pop over this afternoon. Must get the clean laundry off the living room couch, and make room in the front hall for snowboots and big coats. It seems we're getting a bit of winter, after all. The thrill will wear off soon, but this morning the kids were up and ready to go early enough that they got the walk shoveled before going to school!

What a difference a day makes

Same view as yesterday, but cloudy and attempting to snow. Minus 8, my computer tells me.

One day soon, I'll have knitting pictures!

Saturday sky

Lovely day today, all sunny and clear! Cold, though, -3 Celsius. Good day for a matching hat, scarf and mitts!

It's Friday again

Not blooming now, but in a few months... It's trying to snow today, just to cover up the icy, dirty, frozen slush of the last couple of days. I just hope the bulbs under the ground are doing the necessary whatever to bloom when spring comes!

New books

I noticed a new bookstore had opened up down the street. I can't remember what used to be in that spot, perhaps some clothes store catering to the high school students. In any case, these days it's a store with long tables piled up with publishers' overstock bargain books. I have often found good things for the kids in such places, but now they are beyond the colourful ABC books that take up such a lot of the space.

However, I went in and looked around, finally finding the craft section -- passing over some beautiful gardening books, since, although we need to do some reworking of the front yard, we have a) no sun and b) not much space. Let's not get carried away.

There were a few knitting books, but I managed to come away with only Debbie Bliss's How To Knit. I like the stitch dictionary aspect of it, though the patterns are not so thrilling -- there's no way I'm ever knitting an entrelac sweater with cables on the little squares...

And I also got Color Harmony for Quilts. A lot of my knitting tends to use more than one colour, so I thought I'd have this at hand to look at the different arrangements. It's cool how just a touch of some colour spread through a quilt can change the whole look of it. I don't think I'll start in with the fabric and sewing machine any time soon, but I might need to go get a few more colours of Felted Tweed... in October, of course...

I've started on Arthur's blue sock, because I needed a subway-
friendly knit the other day. Am plugging away, and hope to actually be done before Blue season starts in Project Spectrum! And, as you can see, Branching Out is coming along nicely. I have a teeny bit of this yarn in a brown/ black/ grey colourway, and thought of adding a touch of it in here. Would it look good, a bit unusual, like metaphorical branches in the leaves, or would it look wacky, like I was worried I'd run out of yarn? I think there's only one way to find out!

After delurking week!

Looky that, I ask for comments, and I get comments! Not 801, like some people, but that's fine...

And some of the comments are easy to deal with (yeah, hi, guys) and some are more challenging.

Heather G -- Nice new two-headed blog! (And even though I am knitting from stash, I can still go to Alterknit to buy some needles and a brownie some day. Some day....)

Robyn -- I'm glad you got all that out! My brother does stained glass,too, and I think at about the same pace. Say hi to other Mary! And I think you are right about the photos, but why, oh why did old Blogger act more sensibly? I don't think this is an improvement. I sized this picture of my amaryllis down, and hope it works.

Lisa -- Yes, the hub is a super amazing physicist, as I understand. And you know, when you get to the oral defense part of the process, everyone will be so keen to recognise your excellence. Really.

And, the tough one, Anonymous Lucia. First, not tough, she asks for the name of the sock pattern: It's called Swordfish, and comes from an ancient Patons book, I think no longer in print, though they tend to reprint things these days. See the little fishy tails?

And then, she asks what I miss about the UK! Whoo.

I miss living in a small place, where I can walk across town without really thinking about it. And I miss being a foreigner -- I didn't have to get upset about increasing traffic in town, or have an opinion about the new shopping arcade or the recycling program. Here, things happen and I know that if they build some big building up the street I will have to live with it for the foreseeable future. So, I could be more detached from stuff there.

And I miss walking over a bridge over a river whenever I went anywhere, and I miss the frequent travel to very great places! And things being old, and of course the thrill of a new post box...

Plus also, right now we are experiencing freezing rain, ice pellets, and perhaps even snow this afternoon. The Brits don't stand for stuff like that!

So, thanks to all for saying hello, and don't be shy!

And now, a bit of knitting.

Both green socks are finished, toes grafted, all is well. The pattern was fun to knit, but since it's an adult pattern and I was knitting for an almost-10-year-old, I made them on 2 mm needles, which is toooo small! They fit fine, but my next trick will involve a simple ribbed sock, on the way-bigger 2.25 mm needles. Okay, not really much bigger, but if I don't have to check to make sure I did a p2tog on the previous row, I should be fine!

But now I have finished the green sock KAL, so, no more cool button...

Oh, almost missed it!

It's Delurking Week, I hear. All the kids are doing it, so come on, leave me a comment!

But now, here I am, asking for you to say hi, and I have nothing exciting to write about. It's a bit early in the morning.

I hear that Kentish KT is Kentish no more, and I saw the motorcade leave the neighbourhood yesterday afternoon heading for the airport to pick the family up, but haven't actually sighted them myself.

There's the sock club vs bank story, but you've probably already heard that one here, or here.

I could remind you about the Red Scarf Project -- it's time to mail your scarf in!

I could post a picture of my green sock, but I bet over the weekend I'll finish it and then I can show you the whole wonderful pair.

Oh well, today, you tell me something good, even "hello!"

What you might see in February and March

February and March see the beginning of this year's round of Project Spectrum. This time, each colour group gets two months, and to start, we have blue, white and grey. (One of my favourite things about this project is using those cool coloured words!)

I have a bunch of unfinished things in these colours, and since I'm supposed to be finishing up works in progress and knitting from my stash, it makes a ton of sense to do all these things at once!

So, I really, really, for sure, absolutely, will be doing those dang bag handles for the denim bag. I have gone through a billion ideas, but now think a) they have to be knitted from the denim yarn and b) they can't be i-cord, since that would be too narrow. So, I'm looking at some stitches in my little bookie, and might do stamen stitch, flat, about an inch and a half wide. I'm not looking forward to this, but I shall do it, since I think the bag will be ultra cool, ultimately. I don't know if you can see in the picture, but the balls of yarn are actually dusty from sitting on my bedside table since July.

I also have this single sock which needs a mate. Nice colour, nice yarn, nice pattern (simple yet elegant, I'd say!). So, no problemo.

Just need to finish the present sock, which is done down to the end of the gusset, and I'll be right on it. You can almost certainly see that my two socks will be made from different dye lots. I bought one ball on sale, and months later found another ball. Arthur's feet now need more than 50 g of sock yarn. I think I'll make the second leg from the same ball and switch when needed for the last few inches of the foot.

There's also this scarf, which, being slightly fuzzy, makes my kids sneeze. Pub knitting, if only I spent more time in the pub. Definitely lower priority, since it's a sort of make-work project.

That's probably enough blue, though I could start something new, of course.

And I have some grey Lopi, perfect for a hat or two, with a yellow stripe, perhaps.

I could go digging in the closet to find more yarn, but I think this is a doable quantity, and there's no need for me to burden myself with more!

Here's a Knit from Stash dilemma for you: I have 3 balls of red cotton left over from Elaine's dress. Should I take them back and get something more useable? I think that's perfectly legal, and since we're all making our own rules for this thing, that's what counts. I think another ball or two of Felted Tweed would be just the ticket.

And can anyone tell me why the clicked photos end up SO big? I think it's a feature of the new Blogger!

Green socks number 1 priority, yessiree

That Lolly, she's got me again!

She and another knitter are both knitting green socks, so they made a button and invited us all to join in. Since I'm already knitting green socks, and hope to finish up soon, I'll grab this groovy button and knit along with them.

I was cleaning beside my bed again yesterday, and came across not just one, but three scarves in progress.

One is the lovely Branching Out I showed you the other day.

One is for Streetknit, and the kind folks at Knitomatic gave me the yarn when I took in my last batch of hats for them. Can't just leave free yarn lying around!

And one is a condo style scarf made with a ball of Kidsilk Haze and some other blue wool I got at some sale or other. Can't just have a single ball of KSH lying around!

So, when I said that the sock and the one scarf were the only things on the needles, I really meant they were the only things I was paying any attention to! Along with the scarves there are several other bits and pieces about the place. So, I'm going to con-cen-trate on the green socks. Indeed. Right now. Yes.

And the green socks and the Branching Out scarf will be done in the next 3 weeks, so that I can then take up something blue out of my pile, and finish that!

On the needles now

Oh, it's Friday, so I shall find some Eye Candy for you.

I really wanted to show you the glorious decorated house sometime this season, but Mr Whosis, who decorates it, has not been in the usual mood. I hope he is not ill or something. This year, instead of a Nativity scene at the North Pole with light-up reindeer greeting Baby Jesus, we have a few push lawnmowers, a bunch of hay, and this ball peeking out. What's up?

But, things are getting a bit fancy -- the wooden fence bits are now protected from the elements by sheets of plastic. A never-ending source of delight, this...

And, what's getting knitted?
I am delighted to be turning the heel on this green sock. The first one was finished in June! Since I'm planning on finishing a pair of socks for each of the Project Spectrum 2-month periods, I'd better speed up! I did try the first one on Arthur again today, and it still fits, so at least he's not growing faster than I'm knitting!

His blue second sock will fit in with the Feb/March scheme, and so he should have 2 new pairs of wool socks just as sandal season rolls around. Sigh.

Funny, this Knit from Stash business. I've had
this beautiful ball of Lady Godiva wool/silk something-or-other for maybe 3 years. It may well be the nicest looking yarn in the whole closet. But since I am now knitting from stash, I simply must find something to do with it! Three guesses what the pattern is... Right in one, it's Branching Out. I hope it will be long enough!

That's really all I'm working on now, but I've started looking around for blue, white and grey projects for PS and find I have about seventy-million half-done bluish things lying around the house. I'm looking forward to these various blogiverse/ knitalong/ peer pressure things coalescing -- WIP Wipeout, Knit from Stash, and Project Spectrum to show the way. Come the end of September, things'll be different around here!

A new favourite store, and Hooray, new Project Spectrum

Today Elaine and I went to the mall. It was so exciting, she was dancing around. We went to get our ears pierced! Shriek! Apparently all the girls go to Claire's Accessories, so we did that too, and the woman in the store was very sweet and all went very well. Elaine did not make a murmur as the little earring gun did its work on her ear. She got a lollypop, which just goes to show that this is the place for the almost-seven-year-old to go! I, too, was stoic and silent, but I didn't get a lollypop. Harumph!

I did get my ears pierced long long ago, in something like 1974. And I had these earrings -- from a hippy shop in Gastown, I remember buying them.


And then I had my pseudo punk phase, when I got a couple of extra holes in my ears and wore this little axe through the ear, and odd zipper pulls...


But then I had kids, and earrings were too much trouble, and did tend to get pulled on once in a while, so I just haven't worn any for years. I learned that my second hole in my left ear is still open, so I can have 3 earrings at once! First, we have to be patient and wash our lobes 3 times a day for 6 weeks.


And I have to sort through the rest of this box! I made myself a lot of earrings with beads at one point! That is a bucket of fun, and I see a trip to the bead store in my future... But also, another trip to Claire's for a different kind of fun. Love that wall of colour stuff!

Added later:
Hey, this is great! I just read Lolly's latest, and Project Spectrum 2.0 is a go, starting Feb 1. It goes like this:

February / March
Blue, White, Gray

April / May
Green, Yellow, Pink

June / July
Red, Black, Metallics

August / September
Brown, Orange, Purple

I'll be there! Blue, white and grey first up... shouldn't be too hard!

It's only day 1 and I've finished something already!

This little number got finished up this morning! There's no edging around the neck or armholes, so once you're done, you're done! Three-needle bind-off on the shoulders, sew ends in, voila!

I made it several inches longer than the pattern said, and it's still none too long! I need to block out the bottom, so it'll lie down flat, but generally I'm very pleased with it.

I will now work on teeny dpns and finish Arthur's sock, and giant dpns to make a pair of mitts to match my Limeade scarf!

We had a quiet New Year's Eve last night. We used to have the Toddler Friendly New Year's Eve party, where people would come at 5:30, have potluck supper, and home by 9. Most often someone was pregnant, so the champagne consumption was minimal. The kids would have a party, and we'd all yell "Happy New Year" whenever anyone had to go home, so it was fine.

This year we're all pooped out after our Christmas week of festivities, so we just stayed home en famille and struggled to stay awake enough to play Clue and eat popcorn. The kids insisted on staying up till midnight -- and midnight local time, not London time! -- though they would take a break once in a while to flake out on the couch. At midnight it was pouring rain -- ah! it'll turn to snow by morning! (not) -- and our internet was down, so we couldn't tune in to any exciting countdowns...

This lack of snow is driving us to desperate measures. There' s a park nearby with a skating rink, and the Zamboni clears the ice and dumps piles of snowy icy stuff outside. Since this is the only snow-like stuff in town, Arthur and a friend were out there today, excavating, trying to sled, getting totally wet and muddy. I'm wondering if it'll snow once they go back to school!

I'm ready for the new year

I couldn't stay out of the yarn shops, though I did miss the day of the big sale. I heard from a man working in Romni that there was a lineup outside 45 minutes before they even opened. So if I had to pay full price for my yarn, at least I was spared the stress and fuss of shopping under extreme conditions.

I went with my friend Pat, who can always be counted on to buy more than me, despite initial protestations. At one point, I offered to remove her bodily from the shop, but she assured me that she could handle the situation. So, I got a ball of chenille for a small project and 4 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed, to go with my other 7 balls of Felted Tweed, and she got a sweater's worth of Malabrigo and another's worth of Manos. So, heck, I feel virtuous. I admired all sorts of stuff, but just couldn't commit to a sweater's worth of anything, and am actually fed up with buying enough of something for a scarf or hat, without having a person in mind to make it for. Heaven knows I do not need another scarf or hat! And you know what? All that yarn will still be there in nine months, when I am cleansed and pure and able to buy yarn again, and might actually have some idea what I want! I don't like having things I don't use, and I'm kind of keen to winnow down my moderate stash.

Crazy Aunt Purl has a list or two for 2007, and some of her things make great sense to me.

She says

• Walk on the treadmill each day, even if it's just for 10 minutes!

Well, I don't have a treadmill, but I did learn that milk is 40 cents cheaper at the corner store, so I plan to make a trip there, instead of buying milk at the supermarket, so that's an extra walk every day or two. And perhaps I shall set aside that 40 cents for October when I'll need the cashola for the yarn shopping!

• Spend 15 minutes each evening picking up and tidying the house.

This sounds easy... Perhaps... I won't commit to this one!

• Take a multivitamin.

Yup, should do that!

• Drink a lot of water.

Yup, should do that!

• Floss.

Yup, should do that, too!

• Leave five minutes earlier.

Well, I am what we call the quarterback in this house, and I am the one in charge of shoving everyone else out the door. I would be happy if they would leave five minutes earlier, so then the kids could actually get to school on time. I shall work on this one!

What I've been doing on my Christmas holiday

Phew... We are slowly working our way around the clock. Usually, I'm up after the 7 am news on the radio, and everyone is out the door to school or work before 9. Today, I woke up after 9! That first week of school will be kinda tough, I'm thinking!

We had a friend over on the 25th for dinner, and that was very nice, and we ended up with a seemingly endless supply of leftovers. I knew we were having a pile of relatives on the 27th and 28th, but was rather taken by surprise by teenagers who can go through a box of cereal a day. Next time, I'll stock up, though I think no one actually went hungry this time. (Is eating broken gingerbread train bits in your cereal a sign of desperation or not?)

I gave my brother and uncle dishcloths, and my sister-in-law a scarf as soft as a kitten (though it turns out she was keen for a dishcloth -- I told her the boys should be the ones using it most!). This is Arthur and his... um... she's my cousin's daughter, so that makes her my first cousin once removed, I believe, and then she's Arthur's second cousin? In any case, she is a fine cousin, who will push swings for a while before swinging herself. She seemed a dainty eater, unlike her other second cousins... I have pictures of the lot of them stuffing popcorn into their mouths, but perhaps they're not for general viewing.

I put aside the knitting I'd been doing because there should have been measuring and thinking involved, so here we have the temporarily abandoned green sock. I now realise Arthur's feet are several centimeters longer than they were a year or more ago when I knit his other socks, and so really do want to get going on these...

Elaine's red dress is almost done, I'd say. I have to finish the back of the bodice and then do the front, and there is hardly any finishing -- though shouldn't one do a wee crochet edging or something around the neckline? We shall see. Sorry for the flashy indoor picture!

Those are the two things I want to finish first, then I start on the nine months of knitting from stash... I didn't make it to the Boxing Day sales at all, though I suppose I still have a day to stock up. Last time I took stuff in to Streetknit, they gave me four balls of this nice multicoloured wool, and I've been doing a boring mistake rib scarf to pass the time. This is a ball and a bit, so it'll be about 5 feet long in the end.

And if I don't manage to post tomorrow, here's wishes for a Happy New Year to one and all! Mwa.

Oh, I hope this works

I just had a whim to switch to the new Blogger, and I'm not sure if it's worked. We shall see, but they are letting me type this, so that must be a good sign.

Guess what I got for Christmas?


Knitting on the Cam! Stephen printed the whole year and a half and put it all in a big binder, so we have the record of our year away all nice on the bookshelf. I wrote a very long book! It's a bit funny to read, since it's back to front, and the pictures sometimes break in between pages, but it's nice to have!

And, tomorrow is Romni's big sale. Everything in stock is 25 % off. Hmm. Should I stock up?

Saturday sky

I haven't posted a Saturday sky for a while, probably because they've looked a lot like this! Grey and dreary, but not cold enough to snow. If we don't get snow over the holidays, I don' t know what we'll do! Also, every dang picture of the sky taken around here has wires in it! Sheesh.

Happy holidays to you all from us all here! I'll loose a lot of my hits after Christmas, since, I hope, no-one will be searching "how long till Christmas"! Easy come, easy go....

Eyes and Candies

Today is a special day for Miss Elaine; it's the first day she gets to wear glasses to school! We picked them up yesterday, and she is delighted that everything is crystal clear. A couple of weeks ago, she misspelled something, putting in an extra letter. When I pointed it out to her, she mentioned that sometimes she sees two things instead of just one! So, off to the optometrist for you, young lady! At first she was a tad upset that she needed them, but we had a bundle of fun choosing frames, and I think the benefit of being able to see everything makes it all worthwhile!

I will get you all a picture of my favourite decorated house, but for now you have to put up with our decorated gingerbread steam train. Can you even tell it's a train, under all that green icing??

I'm looking forward to next year, when Lolly will be starting up a new round of Project Spectrum, I'll be using all that nice yarn in my stash, and all will be well with the world. Okay, maybe that's a bit much, but knitting-wise, it'll be fun. I just have to make it through perhaps one more gift-shopping venture, some dinner-making, a few relatives for lunch and that's that. Oh, and what to do on New Year's Eve?

And to use an old family saying, "Health, wealth, mealth and bealth" to you all!

Knitting from stash

It's time to think of New Year's resolutions, time to promise to do things better next time. So, knitters and stashers tend to think of reducing their stashes, finishing more projects and all that.

I have been meaning to knit up stash, and so I'll make some personal rules for Knit From Your Stash 2007.

1. The Knit-From-Your-Stash-a-Thon will start January 1, 2007 and run through September 30, 2007 -- a period of nine months.

2. I will not buy any yarn during that period, with the following exceptions:

2.a. If I decide to knit a specific knitted gift that I really and truly do not have the yarn for, I may buy yarn to knit that gift. And not a gift for me!

2.b. I get one "Get Out of Jail Free" card -- I am allowed to fall off the wagon one time.

3. I am allowed to receive gifts of yarn.

4. I will finish things! All sorts of things, especially things that have been hanging around for months.

5. I will knit hats and scarves for charities during this time, so as not to be caught short when winter comes around again.

And that is my plan. I think nine months will make a substantial reduction in the stash! I hope Romni's winter sale starts before Jan 1, that's all!

On track with two projects

I am switching between Elaine's red dress and Arthur's green sock, and I feel like I am making progress. I also have secret bedtime knitting, which will thrill and amaze you, after Christmas!
The pattern for the dress (in a Vogue Knitting Kids' issue from a few years back) tells me to knit the skirt 14.5 inches long, but that would be too short and she would grow out of it in no time, so I'm just using another of her dresses as a guide. I think, for once, I have tons of yarn for this project.

The sock is on 2 mm needles and involves yarn-overs and p2togs, and my poor aged eyes really don't like it! I love the idea of textured-patterned socks, but prefer to knit just round and round plain! The first sock of this pair was finished in June! I'd really like it to be done in 2006, so I must get cracking!

Eye Candy Education

Elaine has to write a sentence in this book 3 days a week. It's kind of boring, and often hard to come up with an interesting sentence. But Tuesday's was so cool, I had to take a picture of it! My big girl!

Arthur had to make a sentence with the word "force" last night, and ended up with "My mom is trying to force me to do my homework."

The new machine

Guess what we have?
A gigantico supremo mondo Mac, with a camera that can make Pop Art pictures of the user in their dressing gown!
Now, this is not for fooling around, and it's not for blog reading and knitting pictures and all that frivolity -- this is Daddy's Work Computer. And it's not for watching kid videos on the enormous screen or anything. Nor Marble Blast...

WIP Wednesday -- Willpower!

Last night I realised that I have knit 19 squares for the school blanket. This is certainly enough for now! The thing won't get sewn together until May! So I should stop for a bit, work on other things, like the dress I want finished for Elaine, the second socks to match the ones I made long ago, and many other bits and bobs, including a blanket of squares of my own!

The squares are so tantalising, though! They take very little time (unless one makes 19 of them) and they are so fun, specially since I have new yarn -- try this colour with that one, figure out some schmancy stitch pattern, use up this last bit of some colour... But, I must resist...

I'd show you a picture of the red dress -- because, despite the lure of the squares, I do take the dress out and work on it -- but until I reach the bodice (a few more inches to go) it looks much the same. So, stay tuned, but don't hold your breath!

And an update about the blind woman who wanted to knit the spiral defect chaos sweater: I suggested to her that she get someone, like her clever husband, to write a code to change the black squares to B and the white squares to W, and then it would be machine-readable, and she thought that might just work. Her previous idea had been to have someone read it to her, and she would Braille it out, which would take forever! (The other might also be a lot of work, but since I don't really understand about "writing code," but I do understand that it's a large chart to read out, I think one is worse than the other!) I hope she will actually make it!

Let's see now, I must sort out the kitchen, but perhaps I'll just start a red square.... NOoooooo!!

Keeping track, and WOW!

I think I'm done with "hats for the homeless" knitting for a bit. Here are two hats which will go off to a Salvation Army shelter today with other things donated at our school, and a divine (?) hat and scarf set for Street Knit.

This last is made with various yarns given to me at Knitomatic, last time I took some hats in. The hat is pale green acrylic/mohair fuzz, which still had a price tag on the label: $2.99. Mixed in with that is a strand of Kermit green something -- probably acrylic, from the sheen on it. It's quite eye-popping in real life! The scarf has a similar pale green, mixed with a purchasing error of mine -- I thought it would be jungly, and it turned out to look like a bad old couch. Anyways, it looks fine here. The middle of the scarf is a ribbing in a tasteful melange of any old yarn... Coming soon to a street corner near you....

Now for the Wow!
Once upon a time, I saw that someone had found my blog by googling "Mary Mary quite contrary knitting" or some such thing, which I thought was very silly, so I googled it, too, and ended up at...Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, duh. And I saw this post.


And so I brazenly introduced myself and said that I was knitting squares for the school blanket, and, holy smokes, she sent me a whack of yarn! It'll be great!


Ahem, it's much nicer than some of the yarn I've been using!

I shall give some of it a try very soon! Thank you so much, Mary Mary!


And speaking of how people find my blog, I am astonished that many folks still want to know how long it is till Christmas, and they come here to find out. Surely now, the 11th of December, one can just look at a calendar! But no, we like to see it in words, or a nice chart, laid out in black and white: It's coming!!! Only 14 days to goooooooo!!

I had to mail a number of presents, so I've got that out of the way, and just have to deal with the people I actually live with!

Yikes.

Eye Candy on the street

I saw these freakazoid shadows of the straight railings on the woven mat as I was walking along the street. I like all the straight lines, with the wibbly shingles and the wild shadows.

Back to post boxes

If anyone is hunting pillar boxes, I just found this page, pictures of post boxes in Cumbria. There just this one from Edward VIII, number 34. And there's a gaudily decorated Penfold, which has a plaque on it, but what does it say? Must get a grant from some postal funding agency to go investigate!

And, for the true aficionado, the Post Box or Cheese quiz. (Don't click at work; it has cheesy music!)

Knitting-wise, I'm having fun with the bag o' yarn I got from Knitomatic last time I took in some Street Knit hats. I'll show you what I've accomplished with the sea-foam acrylic/mohair ASAP. I'm not sure it'll be warm, but it'll be attention-getting... And Elaine's dress... might be done by Christmas, New Year's... Valentine's Day???

A sad attempt at non-knitting craft

Once upon a time, like the last day of November, the kids and I remembered an advent calendar we had once seen in an art book. I think there was papier mache involved, and much time and effort, but I am so clever, I can do this without the instructions, or the papier mache, or even much time or effort!

Step 1. Assemble lots of toilet paper rolls and cut them in half.

Step 2. Find an old cereal box, fold (because finding decent scissors is too much work) and paint red. Jeez, when the kids were littler, we had much bigger paint brushes around the house. This step took much longer than it should have.

Step 3. Glue the toilet rolls into a tree shape! Aren't I clever, indeed? Note the heavy objects holding the cereal box flat while the glue dries.

Step 4. Figure out how to hide treats in each hole, then cover each hole in such a way that a) the treat is hidden until the right day and b) the covering can be removed without wrecking the whole thing. I think that if I'd had the instructions, they would have said something like "Before you glue down the rolls, fill each one with a treat and attach a tissue paper circle carefully around the opening."

Step 5. Struggle to attach a cover on a roll in the middle of the tree, realise it's not going to work, have a chocolate and go to the store for "real" advent calendars. File important lessons learned away for next year.

Important lessons learned:
At least have the instructions somewhere nearby, in case of need.

Don't start your advent calendar on November 30.

Perhaps papier mache is your friend.

Wheeeeee!

Thanks to Anne and John for this link!

Knitting Marys

I have been reading one Mary's blog for quite a while now, but have recently discovered a bunch of other knitting Marys, and have added a list of them in the sidebar. I know there are lots more, so leave me a link if you know one!

Floral eye candy

I was trying, for a few moments this week, to find a non-natural thing to celebrate here on Eye Candy Friday. But, once again, you get a plant. This one is in my living room, where it is patiently waiting the return of its true owner, Kentish KT. It's just blooming like mad, occasionally dropping those odd, upside-down flowers on the table with an explosion of pollen. I hope I can keep it going for another couple of months, no, only 6 weeks!

Hey, PS. This is my Member of Parliament, showing off her energy efficiency at home. My MP on You Tube?! What is that she's wearing? Did she knit it, or get it at the Gap?

There has been a lot of talking around about putting solar panels on your house in Toronto to generate electricity. Some are concerned about how much electricity it takes to make the dang panels in the first place -- are you using a bucket of power to get a thimbleful?

But I wish we could see her sweater better....