Reading a book for the first time

Today's Think Write Thursday task is to write about a book we wish we could read again for the first time.

The book that instantly popped into my mind was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

I first read it when Elaine was a baby, so about 16 or 17 years ago, a few years after it had first come out. I think friends were reading it for a book club. At the same time my dad had been introduced to it by another English-professor friend, and it was all very exciting.

by H-Johanna

What a world: wizards who were children and the idea of a whole school full of them; Muggles who couldn't see the entrance to Diagon Alley; and kids vanishing through onto Platform 9 3/4. The horrible Dursleys and the gigantic Hagrid.

by Phillippeaux

The genius of those books was in the little details. The minor characters and the little asides. Hagrid knitting his yellow sweater, the scene in the wand shop. Owls delivering the mail. The first flying lesson; quidditch, for heaven's sake... How did she invent all these things? Amazing imagination.

by HumorlessPoppycock

After the first four books, which I read more or less all at once, we preordered the books as they were published, and raced to read them. I had thought the kids would read them when they were around 10 or 11, the age of the characters in the first book. How wrong I was! Elaine practically learned to read with these books, and by the time Book 6 came out, she was tearing through it with me.

Kids won't have that experience again with these books. They were so omnipresent; it seemed like everybody from elementary school to the old folks' home was reading the same book at the same time, all over the world! The anticipation, that feeling when you go into a book store and see boxes and boxes of the same book, all preordered and all about to be excitedly devoured. You'd see a person on the subway or in the store, with a corner of the book poking out of their bag, and ask how far they'd got, did they like that bit about....

by TheGeekCanPaint

I read at least four of the books before seeing a movie. I could see the Reptile House and Gringotts and the Forbidden Forest.

From Pinterest. I wish I knew who the artist is. 

But nowadays, Harry looks like Daniel Radcliffe and Hermione doesn't really have bushy hair. The first movie was pretty good, but they soon went downhill and by the last few I forked over my money to see them rather grudgingly, duty-bound. Don't get me started...

I'm sorry to say that these books don't actually improve on re-reading. Well, okay, for the first dozen times, yes. But even at the height of our Pottermania, the kids and I had a list of questions we would ask JK Rowling if we ever met her, and it got quite long. Things don't quite work... a whole book relies on someone doing something stupid, or not doing something simple that they should have done. (Just a word to Dumbledore, please!) Elaine has got into the fandom thing, and says that while most online fan groups talk about how great things are with Dr Who or the Marvel comics or Steven Universe, the Potter fandom talks about how things could have been better.

by SquirrelGirl15

But, wow, I would really like to have again that thrill that came with going down Diagon Alley or riding a broom for the first time!

(I've found some art that is supposed to be book-based, at DeviantArt.)

To see more Think Write Thursday posts, go here.

Scrunched up

I have finished the zigzag edging on two sides of the gigantic shawl. Now all the stitches on the remaining side are on one circular, ready for a quick (!) and easy i-cord bind off. I hope that one day soon I can start on the million and six ends I have to take care of.

Eye candy

I am slowly finishing the Westknits gigantic marled shawl. The pattern calls for an i-cord edge, but I don't really like that. I prefer my shawls to have ridiculous, labour-intensive edges.

Only about 15 or 18 feet more to go... I have no idea how big this baby will really be!

What will I do in April?

Today's Think Write Thursday is a "Hello April" post. Even though it is not truly April till the weekend!

One hopes, year after year, that April will bring green things poking out on trees, a flower here and there, maybe an early trip to the garden centre. We do already have some crocuses in the 'hood, so that is nice.

Some neighbours cut down a big tree recently so we shall see, as the sun creeps northward, if our mornings are more sunny in the back yard.

I will knit another vintage accessory, this time a hat. I have some new purple yarn, and it shall be a lovely hat, I imagine.

Purple is kind of Elaine's colour; we'll see if I get a new hat out of this or not.

Stuff-wise, I have a lot on my plate in April. During which stuff will I get to knit, I wonder?

At the end of the month is the Hot Docs film festival, where I will again be volunteering and fitting in about ten movies. There are a few things to do in advance: work at training sessions for new volunteers, hand out this year's shirts, put a dozen muffins in the freezer!

Before that, however, I will be making a trip out west. My father passed away February 24th, and we will be having a memorial and celebration of his life on the long weekend. We held off a while in hopes that lots of family and friends will be able to arrange to be there.

And as the circle of life goes on, I'll be out there again in May for my niece's wedding!

Remembering that great hat

Earlier this month, we three went university-shopping around southern Ontario. We went to three universities, wandering around the campuses, seeing the residences and athletic centres.

I took this picture when I realized we were all wearing our excellent knitted hats. Aren't we cute?

The next day we were wandering around with my brother as tour guide. We had lunch, we saw a lab, I went to the ladies'... And then at some point I saw that I didn't have my hat! I did my best to retrace my steps, but it was a bit of a maze and we'd been out all morning, so I have to say that my brown lovely hat is lost!

When we left, I gave my brother instructions to rip it off the head of anyone he sees wearing it! But I am pretty darn sure I'll never see that hat again.

Bedroom booties

Funny-looking things.

Crochet! It wasn't hard, though I interpreted "s.s." differently in the two places it was used. One of the crushing traumas of my crafting life was learning that crochet abbreviations look the same but mean different things in the UK and the States. Being in between, I never know.

Pointing my delicate toe, like the one in the pattern:

Today we get clue 4

This season's Stephen West knitalong is almost done. Today the last clue comes out. I have, of course, lots of yarn left, although there are some colours I used more than others, and a couple of balls I didn't use at all (yet).

That little V is white sock yarn and the beginning of a Zauerball I bought. I need to make another shawl with a lot more of this in it!

This wrap-around boomerang was going to be all that pinkish colour. It is a mohair blend with little silvery bits in! Tiny bling in the crazy shawl. However, it irritated my nose and sinuses and whole head, so I only managed a few rows. The bright yellow is still great, but not as great as bling-filled mohair would have been. I'm prepared to suffer for my art, but not that much! (Not really very much at all, actually.)

The last bit I knit, section six, is moss stitch, changing colours all over the place. I even included a couple of eyelet rows, just for the heck of it.

Some people are using more unified colour palettes. Like this one. Or this one. And then there's this.  (So many, so good!) Some people swatch and rip and redo and make things perfect. Some people assembled yarn colours based on a painting or a scene. I imagine that when people can see the finished shawl and understand how it fits together, instead of being given a section or two at a time and making colour choices based on guesswork, colour palettes will be less crazy, but most of us just did what the designer said and gathered a bunch of odds and ends. I keep going back to a few green balls, especially when I veer into the bits of orange or pink. It is, in my mind, a green shawl.

The whole thing, so far. I love the non-parallel-ness of it. We'll see what today's clue brings. I hear there's a medium and large size option. I still have a bowl full of yarn, so I'm going for as large as can be!

Looking out a window

Today's Think, Write, Thursday task is to look out a window I don't usually look out.

In my house there are a couple of windows I don't usually look out of. One looks directly out on to the window and bricks of the next house, and it is in a sort of awkward place for looking out of, anyways.

My window, their window

One is under the back deck! Last summer we had to replace a few boards on the deck and realized we could leave a bit of a gap, so now sunlight can make its way down there. Nice, but nothing to see. I won't even show you a picture of it, since it is just a dirty window. I'm not likely to climb under the deck to wash it, ever!

I  just went out with the intention of looking out of maybe the library window, or the window of the grocery store, but the thought flew out of my mind. So you are stuck with my neighbours' house, and the hidden delights under my back deck.

Actual knitting content tomorrow!

To see out other people's windows, go here!

Think Write Thursday

Your Think Write Thursday topic for March 16, 2017 is to write about your heritage. Are you Irish and ready to celebrate St. Patrick's Day tomorrow? Are you Italian or Greek or English? Tell us about your ethnic background and culture and how the traditions of your heritage fit into your lifestyle.

I am Canadian. If one wants to get technical, you could say I am Dutch-Canadian, but my father came to Canada when he was eight, and the only Dutch things we really paid attention to were sweets. Gestampte muisjes, chocolate, speculaas. Oh, and my surname is obviously Dutch!

On my mom's side, we are a Canadian mish-mash for generations. A bit of French-Canadian, a bit of British Isles. So, the dominant culture, really.

I pay no attention to St. Patrick's Day. It, like Valentine's Day and many other days, has become a commercial thing, though it is sponsored not by Hallmark or chocolate makers, but by the Guinness brewery. It is, here, only an occasion for drinking lots of beer. I wonder if McDonalds still even makes green shakes, like they did in the 70s. Now that was a tradition. (Holy crap, lookit this. A quarter of a cup of sugar in one small drink!)

Like a good Canadian, I celebrate Victoria Day, Canada Day, and the weird August holiday that is called Civic Holiday some places and Simcoe Day here in Toronto. Or you could call it Emancipation Day. And this is the heritage I will pass on to my children: holidays which move around, don't move around, have different names, celebrate queens no-one else bothers with, and more.

Slippers so far

I have knitted two rectangles of ribbing.

I have sewn a seam to make a heel.

Now I have to partly sew up the toe end, then fold back the points, do some crochet edging, make them all elegant and delightful.

I'm pretty sure the second one will be better than the first.

I'm off for a few days, partly searching out the perfect university for Elaine and partly visiting my brother. Two train trips, and if all goes according to plan, two days of car trips as well. The knitting is, of course, my prime concern.

Some more knitting

I was given this outrageously bright yellow yarn for Christmas. It's too bad the pictures don't really capture the highlighter-yellow properly.

I mixed it up a wee bit with some brown, some green and a bit of pinkish. 

I made a shawl of this pattern several years ago. This time I made three strips, all the same length, to make a scarf.

I used every scrap of the yellow. I even ran out mid-fan and had to finish with the green. 

It's very pretty. It's light and warm at the same time. It's quite fancy-schmancy!

What I am knitting

First up, we have the March vintage accessory. This will one day be a ladylike slipper, with a crocheted edging and decorative buttons. Right now, it is a rectangle of grey ribbing. Not very exciting!

For excitement, though, I have Stephen West.

This is the first of four "clues" in his latest mystery knitalong. I should have something for scale... The line where the two textures join is about 17 inches long. No idea where we'll go next! The big deal is the "marl." We hold two strands of fingering yarn together, changing colours at will. As you can see, I have lots of green yarn!

The next clue comes out on Friday, so I have plenty of time to work on the grey ribbing!

Hello, March

March 1st was dreary and grey. Our winter has been so unusual, I don't know if we'll see an early spring, a return to snow and ice, or a bit of both! But I assume by the end of March we'll definitely be headed towards green things growing and lighter coats.

Big knitting thing in March: Stephen West is doing another mystery knitalong, and this one takes two strands of fingering weight yarn at a time, to make a marled slanket. A slanket is a blanket-sized shawl. I'm in!

At first, of course, I thought, "I don't have 7 or 800 grams of fingering yarn lying around here," but, of course, I do.

I have two big bowls out, with greenish yarns in one and lighter yarns in the other. I did happen to buy a skein of pinky-purpley-lime yarn the other day, but {cough} it may have been unnecessary. The first part of the mystery is revealed tomorrow!

Other things in March: It is time for March Break and since Elaine is in Grade 11, we will take a casual glance at some southern Ontario universities. Primarily, I think, the one her uncle works at, so we can get in a bit of a family visit.

Also, lots of good stuff coming up at the cinema, like this weekend of great talks. I will be volunteering at a couple of the talks, but unfortunately not the one with Jennifer Keesmaat, who I'd really like to hear. Can't have everything. March will also bring us the line-up for the Hot Docs festival; a few titles have already been released. I want to see at least half of those!

And so much more....

To see other Think, Write, Thursday posts, click here.

I took hundreds of pictures

The Honest Ed's farewell party was amazing. They even called part of it aMAZEment. Truly a blast. Here are just a bunch of pictures of the building and the art.

I am stunned at how clever and witty and resourceful these artists and organizers are. Just wonderful. I'm glad I saw most of it on Friday because there was room to move. I looked in at the Marketplace today and it was jam-packed. There is still time to volunteer Sunday as it closes down for good, but I don't think I'll manage that. I'm so glad I was involved -- even a wee bit -- though.

Eye candy Friday

I've mentioned the Honest Ed's store before, I think. It has closed and is going to be demolished soon, to be replaced with residential towers and a bit of retail.

This weekend a big party is happening there in the empty building. I am doing a bit of volunteering, mainly because I wanted to see how it all works out! I have done a shift of smashing tables and carrying nail-filled plywood, to make the space usable for party-goers; I scrubbed gunk off mirrors and swept floors; and I'm doing some community activities today and tomorrow. I'll report in when it's all done.

They've got the lights back on! Of course, burned out bulbs have not been replaced in some time.

These balls were just lying there, being pretty, in one of the Honest Ed's spaces. I took this while things were still being set up; perhaps it is part of some larger art piece, or perhaps they are just gewgaws. Bonus artist's reflection in the shiny ones!

And a frame outside. Painted over several times. Just a bit odd. I like it.

Movieland

Your Think Write Thursday prompt for February 23, 2017 is to write about the movie you can quote from the most. ... What's that movie, the one that once you start quoting from (probably with your friends) and you just can't stop? 

Well.

I see lots of movies, but mostly documentaries these days. We have been TV-less since 1981 (except for a few months around when the Berlin Wall came down) so we don't watch the Grinch every Christmas or any other late-night movie reruns.

Stephen and I have watched lots of movies together in the past, but there isn't a special movie we quote to each other. Maybe African Queen? "Well, do so, Mr Allnut." Yes, that must be the family movie quote.

Die Hard has some familiar moments, but there are no conversations I can repeat.

Sound of Music is certainly one that I know all the words to!

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

To see what other people quote, look here.

Eye candy

Just some nice oranges for you today.

Think Write Thursday

What are you procrastinating about? And why? And, finally, how are you going to address it?

There are the obvious things we deal with on this blog: how many half-knitted sweaters are lying around the house? Gazillions. The oldest work-in-progress project on Ravelry is from 2011... six years ago!

I have a few half-knit sweaters around. And how many sweaters do I wear regularly, out of all the sweaters I have knit over the years? Zero. They come out once in a while, especially in the spring and fall, when I wear them outside, but really, I do not need another sweater. (This can't be the only reason I don't finish them. It's unlikely I need any more shawls, either, and I can churn them out!)

One day, I will address this. I will get my bags and ziplocs and plastic bins and look at what's in them and do something. I can think of some frogging I might do.

But, you know, I'm busy these days! So things like making decisions about my handiwork get pushed aside.

Sometime in March?

You can read about other procrastinators over at Carole's blog.

February's vintage accessory

Voilà, a tea cosy! It is a bit large for the pot. 

It has a pompom, which I made with my neighbour's fancy-pants pompom-maker. It does keep the strands from going all over the place in the all-important "tie together" step of the process, so that is good. The fact that the pompom is a bit small and sparse is my fault; next time I will use more yarn! 

Nice texture! Squishy and thick. I'd be happier if it was closer to the right size, but I do like it a lot.

Eye Candy Friday

These chairs are in a top secret location. I think I am actually breaking the rules by showing them to you. I spent Thursday afternoon moving them into position, as well as carrying splintery wood, plywood with nails sticking out, plants that need watering, lost umbrellas and much more. All for the sake of art, I think.

Another Thursday

This week's Think, Write, Thursday theme is "a love letter." That's a bit personal, isn't it?

Of course, it can be "to a person, an idea, a project, a dream, a wish, a relative, a famous person, an ancestor or anything (or anyone) else you can think of."

Silly or serious? Alan Rickman or my kids? 

***

I wrote that earlier this week while pondering the theme. 
And got no further.
And now I am pressed for time and, what am I to do? 

Quick, a photo:

We had some freezing rain the other day, which made for a treacherous walk and some nice icicles off every overhang. This is the Little Library up the street. I was thinking at the time of writing a love letter to my neighbourhood. 

Okay, and now I'm off... but don't think I don't love you all!

Hello, February

Another Think, Write, Thursday This week's topic is Hello, February.

February is starting off with a bang. Today I had to shovel snow!

Knitting-wise, I am making a tea cosy for my vintage KAL. It is a very simple thing, but it's in what might be called "half-brioche" or some sort of fake brioche stitch. It's not quite this Fisherman's Rib. It's not quite the same as this variation of brioche, according to Woolly Wormhead. You knit one row, and on the second row you purl one, knit one in the row below. And that is it for the whole tea cosy! I had to rip out about an inch and a half because no size is given in the pattern and the cosy would have swamped my poor pot, so I started again with about 10 fewer stitches.

Other than knitting, well...

1. It is the beginning of birthday season around here. We do all four family birthdays between the middle of February and the end of April, and by some strange luck we go in order from youngest to oldest!
2. On Sunday I am going to the opera, something I have not done before. It is five hours long, and that's about all I know about it. 
3. At the end of the month, there is a big celebration in the empty Honest Ed's store. Honest Ed Mirvish was Toronto's big showman/ salesman/ rags-to-riches guy. He built up his business till he owned a whole block, covered his store in light bulbs and silly signs, had door-crasher specials and Christmas turkey give-aways. People have lots of stories about their immigrant families buying stuff at Honest Ed's, about buying things when they first set up house, as students, as newcomers to Toronto... I am volunteering at the final party, and even though it's only about 3 weeks away, I really have no idea how it's all going to work, but I'll keep you posted. And in a few years, that block will be covered in 20-storey towers and a whole new park. 
4. Stephen is going away for a week and Arthur is coming here for a week. 
5. I'm going to the first meeting to talk about volunteering at Hot Docs 2017. Whoo-hoo!
6. I'm training to volunteer at the Textile Museum.
7. I have a potluck dinner planned with my pals.
8. I plan to write to my MPP about road tolls in the city and my MP about election reform. I think that telling my elected officials how to do their job might be my Canada150 project! A letter a month, two in February to make up for a lack in January. 

I'm exhausted even thinking about it. 

A real Honest Ed's sign, on the way to the exit.