Tootin' my own horn

First of all--I have finally dyed and swatched the yarn for Robyn's October Sock Club.
Go here and buy a slot.
:)

I am very excited to have some of my yarns out there.
As well, she is ordering some other yarn that I am soooper excited about.

Wanna see a picture of the Club Yarn?



Psst. Did you actually think I would give you a picture of it??
Silly bloggers.

You will have to wait until they are all sent off to their new homes.
:)

I am also super excited about an audition I went to tonight.
i audition for the local Theatre production of Annie.
I have always wanted to be Annie, but since I'm not 10, I had to audition for an adult part
:)
The singing went well (which shocked me because I was nervous) and the script reading was short but fun.
I'll likely find out on the weekend whether I have a part or not.

Fingers crossed.

:0

Alas, no knitting to show

Hubby has still yet to take my picture with the shawl.
Something about him always working and not home during daylight...

We did go to Canada's Wonderland on Tuesday with the kids and it was so much fun.



Princess B went on her first roller coaster, the kids had fun at the water park.


Little man crashed out in the stroller, we saw a Dora show and had a blast!


I am knitting a sock that I can't show you because I am swatching my hand-dyed for Robyn's Nest

I am dyeing up yarn for her store and AS WELL I am the one dyeing for the October sock club.
Go on over and buy a spot.

We have been e-mailing back and forth and had a colourway which is beautiful (can't show you, swatch-sock) but not great for showing off patterns.
So...back to the dyepots for a new colourway....I'm excited to try to have something we both love.

We leave for my sisters tonight for her Birthday weekend and my step-Sisters Birthday as well.
A weekend of knitting and tea drinking and swimming and spending time with all the family.
Yipeee

and I got my hands on Book 14 of the Stephanie Plum series...which means that I've read 16 books (the whole series minus 1 I am still waiting for at the Library) since the middle of June!

Have a great weekend
:)

A day for gettin things done.

Yesterday we went out to the camp to find my Dad and Step-Mom but they were golfing so we played at the "rainbow park" for a while. Kids were happy.

While Aidan slept, I harvested my first batch of compost from the worm bin!
Here is all the wonderful compost:


And for those of you who are totally grossed out--I use gloves whenever I touch the worm bin or worms and the gloves stay outside. When done properly, a worm bin does not smell--at all.
No, really. It smells no more offensive than fresh dirt.

I weeded the entire garden while waiting to put the worms back in the bin and found these:

Little potatoes from my garden!
I think all the rain had washed the soil away--so I put some fresh dirt on top with the compost and will let them get bigger.

Then I made a nice roast pork with cooked veggies including all of these carrots that came from the garden:


Then when the kiddos were sleeping and hubby was working I soaked the Forest Canopy Shawl for blocking. I didn't' actually get it blocked because Princess B had a nightmare and I ended up cuddling her a while.

I also finished the Picovoli, finally: (only a year in the making)



(craptastic picture with self timer as no one was around to help me with my photoshoot)

I like this tank.
I was very scared that the LionBrand CottonEase would be too thick to drape well and that my mods didn't work out.
For some reason, even though I measured myself and recognized that the tank is supposed to have negative ease, I made a size that was going to be too big.
So, I put more shaping in the bust/waist--which worked out well.
In the end I wished I could have added more length to the bottom but I didn't even have enough yarn for one more row....whew.

I like it I like it I like it.
Also, I think it will soften up with washing.

I like it.
(Did I mention that?)

Speaking of taking pictures--have I mentioned that Aidan is camera happy? Ever since he was a baby if you left the camera anywhere he would find it.
It was in my purse the other day after Princess B's soccer tournament and I just put the card in the computer and found about 35 pictures that look like this:

Actually a lot of them look like ceiling or his finger which he likes to stick over the lens. But what I noticed was somehow he was able to figure out how to turn the flash on and off--so you get variations on a theme.

This one is my favourite:


I love cute feet pictures.
That was a busy day...but it felt good to get some stuff done.

We are now getting our side porch rebuilt and the contractors wife came over to talk flowers with me. They are friends of ours and she is going to help me pick some flowers and do some landscaping in the front yard next Spring.
Yeah!

So, now I think I will go and block that shawl and hopefully have some more pictures to share tomorrow.

Pray the Olympics

I have spent a lot of time prayerfully considering how I respond to the Olympics. My hubbo is a swim coach and is eager to watch the swimming this year. My son vaguely remembers the oo-lymp-i-kits from when he was two and can't wait for the diving. I respect the athletes and the hubbo's position on supporting them and not focusing on the politics. I am being called to another action.
I will be praying the Olympics. Each day as the boys watch the ceremony, the events, the stories, I will be praying for different areas of concern, from Human Rights, for Christians who are imprisoned for their faith, for the young people deprived of freedoms, for Tibet, for families etc.
I will be knitting a simple pattern (still uncertain what) so that I may be quiet in prayer as I do so.
Whatever you decide, consider that ""None of us are free until ALL of us are free" and drop over here or here to see what others are doing during these next few days. Me, I'll be praying.

Olympics

So the Olympics started today.
I was watching the parade of Nations with my daughter and explaining what the Olympics are (and trying to explain to her why Mommy is not there as an athlete...)

I have mixed feelings about these Olympics.

I know one of the athletes for Canada and I know how hard she works every day to be the best at what she does.
I know the pride that athletes feel representing their country whether they win a medal or not.

I know the sacrifice that some countries make to send their athletes to compete.

But I am torn...
I am not in support of China. I am appalled that there has not been more discussion or outcry about their Human Rights Violations.

But--Pippi posted something about these sentiments on her blog, and now Bev offered a challenge for bloggers to feature something about Tibet and to remind us all that:
"None of us are free until ALL of us are free"

You can read more here and here

Pippi also dyed some yarn in a colourway called "Free Tibet" which was inspired by Tibetan prayer flags...
Awesome idea...

Hamster Brain

Ever feel like a hamster? Running on a wheel and never getting too far? You wash the same dish, the same shirt, pick up the same toys, here the same stories, attend the same meetings, etc, and the scenery doesn't change? Well that is not me. I am a running hamster all right, but I am running in traffic! So much is buzzing by me right now and I am trying not to get run over.
Hubbo and I have a lot we are trying to balance: family health issues (not us, but extended family), hubbo working over-time, Grandpa moving up from Florida, sister moving in, loving and supporting our friends who are struggling with serious family and marital issues, and church work which has increased exponential since this time last year.
Please hear me when I say I am not complaining. Hubbo and I look around at the struggles of others and we feel so blessed in our own little home. We are healthy, our son is a joy (though a trying joy at times), we like our work, love our church and we are growing in our relationship like never before. We can't even say we are busy compared to many around us. We simply feel like God is asking a great deal of us right now and we want to serve Him as best we can. To that end our only prayer for ourselves is strength, endurance and energy. We KNOW that He equips those He calls. We are looking forward to taking some us time probably into October when things are back into routine to regroup as a couple.
OK, now onto knitting which is why you read this in the first place. I am knitting steadily on a scarf for Grandpa (hasn't lived in New York in 20 years, expect he might find our winters a bit nippy) out of Sean Sheep and using this stitch pattern. It give a 2x2 rib look without having to purl (yeah). I am interested to see how a hat would look using the same stich- would it pull in too much?
I am knitting a basic pair of cuff-down socks in this. If you buy the yarn I do rec getting the pattern as you will undoubtedly cast on too many stitches otherwise. While on the needles they look like little elf socks, but fit nicely and are super cute.
I still have my first handspun project on the spindle/needles. I am happy to report my sister has loaned me her Babe spindle and I am anxious to see how it handles.
So I knit, I swim with Giraffe, I read Stephanie Plum novels, and watch many, many softball games. I will leave you with this:

A week in review

aka what we actually did while we were gone.

We spent from Saturday-Tuesday with hubby's Father at his house/chalet in Quebec.
We swam and ran around outside, ate great food and Princess B and I actually snuck in some time in the hot tub.

The other grown ups played tennis and golf while I chased Aidan around the many outside balconies. :)

My FIL is become a great gardener with his limited space--our evening meals contained some veggies and herbs that grew here:



The last morning, we had the best poutine EVER for lunch and Grandad took the kids for a spin around the gold course (Aidan is crying because I dared to try to sit beside him to hold him IN the cart)



Then we headed off to my MIL"s cottage, which is on an island near Athens Ontario.
The Island has been in the family for about 70-80 years and my MIL has been going to that cottage since she was a child!

The cottage is a great place--and will be even better next year when my darling son will understand that out ever door is either a cliff or water--which is not for jumping in/on/over to test your flying skills.
So--no sitting in the hammock for me this year, but I did get 2 books read and spent lots of time with my SIL (and hubby) up from Arizona and my BIL (Home for good from Europe) and
HIS FIANCE.
We are going to have another member to our family....
she's an artist (check out her site) having just graduated from OCAD and is setting up her studio in Toronto for the Fall.

So Wed-Sat was spent chasing a small boy, swimming, boat rides, canoe rides, ice cream, visiting with all the relatives that we only see in the summer.





Then home again.....

What a great week!

Yeah

Home
and internet
and coffee
:)

So, I am climbing laundry mountain--which isn't too bad--just shake out clothes (shake out the cockroaches), wash, fold, put in drawers--kinda like regular laundry except it's all the same stuff I just washed and folded a week ago.
I have had small trips to the store--the cashier recognizes me and thinks I'm weird...--but no real food in the house since hubby has to go out to events during the only time we are home and store are open.

I fell asleep knitting last night while watching part of Munich, which then turned into Jacob the Liar (really confusing to my sleepy brain as to why Robin Williams had anythign to do with the 1972 Olympic kidnapping).

I figured I should get my Picovoli finished while it is still summer. (So happy that knotionsmag.com has the pattern now that Magknits is gone. Not happy that I lost my pattern with all my measurements and markings on it...)

and speaking of Knitting Magazines.. have you seen it?
AMAZING
I 've been waiting, counting down the little circles for about 45 days or more and then it opened while I was gone and w/out internet.
Wow.
Patterns--wow
Articles--wow


So, shawl is still needing to be blocked...need to have a flat surface that kids don't touch...hmmmm

we'll see what I can find

We're home

We're home.
I read 2 books, finished my shawl (needs blocking)...

had lots of swimming, boat rides, canoeing, family time....now I have:
no groceries
cockroaches in my luggage
a big mess to clean up

but as Princess B said at dinner last night *Sigh* "It's good to be home"


:)