Ladybugs & Yarn

Pattern: Based on Toque Sweet from Canadian Living
Yarn: Patons Rumor, one ball of Hibiscus and less than half a ball of Flannel
Needles: 6mm 24″ circular, plus a 5.5mm crochet hook

I’ve been feeling low these past few days, so to cheer myself up I knit a doofy hat. It made me smile as I worked on it, so mission accomplished. The pom-pom was fun to make, even if it did require trimming to make it even and round.

The yarn is a soft alpaca/acrylic blend. It was a quick knit, and the only error I made I can blame on my inexperience with crochet–I did the edging with the wrong side facing instead of the right side. It makes the outside slightly messier, but I’m not stressing over it. It’s a fun hat, regardless.

Because the brain is too fizzly for intelligent blogging.

Yawn, says the Pirate. I tend to agree. There was a woeful lack of good cartoons on TV this morning, so I had to resort to torrents. Sad.

He’s a speaker set for my Lyra, and he needs a name. My mother came home with him a couple of hours ago. I’m a dork and I admit it, but look, he’s so cute.

This is what happened Thursday approximately four seconds after I took the tags off my new purse and put it on the bed.

And here’s a random photo of Pirate-almost-all-grown-up, just because.

Hmm. It’s been a week since my last entry–longer than usual.

I had a couple of really good skating sessions this week. I’m working on a fun new artistic interpretive program, and I’m also working on getting my coaching certification renewed. I used to teach all levels of CanSkate, but my favourites were the preschoolers. I loved teaching the young skaters who’d finished all of their CanSkate badges, too, as they’d be just geting into their first jumps, spins, and footwork, and would always be so excited about skating their first solo and maybe going to competition.

Outside of the arena it’s been a bit of a rough patch (I guess, in some ways, that seems to be the running theme for the past year or so). I’ve been getting bizarre symptoms, from moderate to severe, that feel just like the “discontinuation symptoms” that are common with my prescription if it’s stopped cold, but I’m still on it and haven’t missed doses. I’ve been getting the extreme fatigue, little “electric” zaps through the head, vertigo, memory and/or concentration disruptions, shakiness, hyperemotionalism… it’s not pleasant. It makes me feel like I’m going crazy. I’m at a loss to explain it, plus it’s making it so that I can’t handle even the slightest amount of stress this week. One of the girls said something especially bitchy and confrontational to me at work today, and for the next hour I was on the verge of an anxiety attack. Things like that always anger me, but they don’t usually leave me shaking and lightheaded and short of breath with my blood pressure through the roof.

I don’t have an allover negative view of anxiety meds or anti-depressants–I can look back over the past two years and see where Celexa has done a lot of good, and where it’s helped me to reduce the anxiety to a manageable level, which in turn has allowed me both more freedom and the ability to start working on dealing with some of my panic-attack triggers and related issues. I think it’s possible, though, that I might be nearing the end of the period in which this particular prescription is helpful to me. It might be time to move on to something else. I’d like to talk to my doctor about it, but she’s gone on maternity leave and I might as well talk to a wall as talk to the doctor I’ll have to see instead.

All right. Enough with the medical crap.

Turns out that my KnitPicks size 2 classic circulars are 3mm, not 2.75mm, and now I see what a difference .25mm can make with small needles. I had a sock-in-progress with Socks That Rock’s gorgeous Mist colourway; I forgot, however, that the yarn always knits up just a teensy looser for me than other sock yarns, so add that to the needle size difference and you have frogging. I’ve ordered some 2.5mm circulars from KnitPicks, so I’ll restart soon.

And speaking of STR, there are some gorgeous new colourways for spring. I need a skein of Downpour. Yes, need. I’m also eyeing several other colourways, and reminding myself that I have quite enough sock yarn. I should be reminding myself that I have enough yarn, period, because there’s also a new lovely-looking brushed mohair/silk laceweight yarn that comes in some of STR’s colourways.

*slaps wrist*

I finished one Lorikeet ankle sock, and it’s obnoxious. I love it. I’m hoping the second sock doesn’t match, and if it decides to try, I shall rip back and start over at a different spot in the colourway. Before I start the second, though, I have an alpaca-blend yarn that’s waiting to be turned into an earflap hat.

Okay. Sleep now.

Actually, one more thing. I’ve been getting so many spam comments on the blog that I installed Spam Karma 2. It’s supposed to be fantastic at weeding out spam from legit comments, but please, if you try to comment and it flags you or doesn’t display your comment, let me know through e-mail.

Zzz.

I opened the provincial paper this morning to read a preview for the men’s short program at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships, which is running this week. There were two photos beside the article–one skater I’d run into at competitions a decade ago, and one skater I’d trained with almost twenty years ago. Crazy. The championships are in Halifax this year–if I’d known earlier, I could have gone to watch.

I’m actually watching the men’s short program on TV right now, therefore only clicking away at the keyboard on commercial breaks. Vaugh Chipeur stood out for me tonight–keep an eye on him, he’s a fast-rising future star–and to make it even better, he skated to orchestral versions of Metallica’s Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters. Love. The judges’ scores don’t quite sit right with me, though, and he’s in fifth.

And speaking about (or flailing over, as the case may be) competitions, three nights ago I found out that the Skate Canada system has changed dramatically. There’s still the standard competitive circuit set by the International Skating Union (the circuits we all see on TV), but now there’s a second competitive circuit, one based on the skills, dance, and freestyle tests we all take. In this circuit, a skater can compete in dance without a partner, in interpretive skate (artistic lyrical skating), in ‘traditional’ freestyle, in interpretive skills… and not only are there the standard levels, there are now levels and categories specifically for skaters over the age of 25. The adult levels are based on current skill levels rather than on tests completed, so it doesn’t matter how good a skater was when s/he was 16—s/he’ll be able to compete in a category based on what s/he can do now, not what tests were passed before. The system has expanded, all in all, allowing far more variety and allowing more skaters to be able to shine and to focus on what they’re good at.

Emanuel Sandhu’s music was apparently inspired by So You Think You Can Dance. I’m amused. Not so amusing, however, was his skate; he messed up two of his most important technical elements, and he didn’t come across as being really “into” the performance, although that could be because he skated after the very charismatic (if inconsistent) Shawn Sawyer.

This year’s junior pairs champions are adorable. There was a string of highlights from their programs before the start of the women’s long program.

I really like Leslie Hawker, another skater I’ve not seen before this year. She seems so genuine and charming, and is one of those rare skaters whose love for the sport just radiates when she’s on the ice.

I danced three nights ago. The same coach who’d guided me through all those years before helped me pick up where I’d left off, re-learning the dances I’d been working on when I left. He showed me the first six steps of the Blues and my feet started to remember the rest. I’d like to do the Starlight Waltz again, just for old times’ sake, because it’s still one of my favourites.

There’s a true Canadian blizzard outside–the wind is howling, snow is blowing and drifting, and with over a foot down already and the storm supposed to continue until mid-morning tomorrow, we’ll be buried. I love a good storm.

11 inches overnight.

The snow started yesterday afternoon and fell thick and fast until this morning.

It’s all fluffy and perfect for slogging through. This is the best kind of snow, because it’s light enough to sit on branches and plants, and it sparkles in the sun. Just before dawn this morning the sky and snow were that eerie, soft orange that we only see when it snows in the night. I should have taken a photo.

One of the cats has spent the evening slinking around with that I-did-something-bad look on her face–thanks to a clumsy vault onto the computer desk and a cup of water, my keyboard is currently drying in front of a portable heater. Hopefully it’ll survive. I’ve already ventured upstairs to the Island of Misfit Puter Parts (otherwise known as the spare room) and pawed around for one that’d do for now. It makes an awful clacking racket, but hopefully by tomorrow mine’ll be functional again.

I’m registered with Skate Canada again. If I’d known the fee was so small, I would have stayed registered even through the years I didn’t skate. As soon as my new blades arrive, I’ll be able to start getting some of my more technical skills back. The figure skating club will only give me an hour of time once a week because I’m considered an ‘adult skater’ and not someone in competition and/or test training (which I think is bullshit… if I pay the ice time fees what’s the difference?), but I’ll have to be content with that. I’ll keep going to the public skates early in the mornings–few, if any, people show up, so I can get away with some form of practice rather than just skating round and round.

You know, I’ve been trying to lose weight for ages (er, like since I was fifteen). I finally lost quite a bit when I lived in Nova Scotia a few years ago and gained it again when I moved back to New Brunswick thanks to both the family meal tendencies and the medication I’m on. I couldn’t seem to stick to a plan, whether it be exercise or changes in eating habits or both. I’d conk out after less than a week. Being back on the ice seems to be a great motivator, though. I’ve been walking a couple of miles at a good clip a few times a week, and I’ve been on the ice for public skating at least twice a week, too. I’m working on the eating habits, too. I won’t jump for joy just yet, but I might just be on my way. We’ll see.

I’ve been tagged by Fiona for the weird-things meme, so now I get to share six more weird things about me.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. I have hundreds and hundreds of books, but I rarely read one cover-to-cover more than once. Even if I loved it, chances are I’ll only read parts over again.

2. I’m the opposite with films. I go back to my favourites time and time again.

3. My right leg jitters constantly when I’m at the computer.

4. I love makeup but usually can’t be bothered to put on much for work. Just tinted moisturizer, mascara, and lip gloss.

5. I’m overly sensitive to other people’s moods, and by that I mean that yes, I can sense tension in the air like most people can, but it goes far further than that.

I’m tagging… nobody! Because I tagged people last time.

Tomorrow’s my day off and I plan to organise my mess of a bedroom.

Pattern: Basic 56-st DK-weight sock
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Glenwood
Needles: A pair of 3.25mm 32″ circulars

I do knit with other yarns. Promise. I just seem to be on an LL kick lately. These are a gift for the same friend who now has that maple shale scarf around her neck. She chose the colourway, and although I was rather indifferent to it at first I’ve grown to like it a lot. It reminds me of different flavours of sorbet.

And now, I’m off to cast on for socklets for me with the same yarn, only in a far more obnoxious colourway. <3

I’m in love with the ice. I don’t know why I ever left.

… it’s babbling in point form.

– I cast on for a sweater for myself last night. I picked out the pattern months ago and have had I’ve had two colours of KnitPicks Shine Worsted sitting in the stash for it since then. I’m not sure what kept me from starting it before now–I think I was afraid to screw it up, even though if I can knit a lace shawl then there’s no reason I can’t knit a simple top-down raglan.

– I’d like to knit my grandmother a doily for her birthday, even though I know the combination of old-fashioned lace, size 0 needles, and crochet cotton is a recipe for squinty eyes and slight insanity. I’ll do it, though, but I’ll wait until my sweater is done. I still have quite a few months.

– The next project I knit for myself is going to be this hat in Rowan Felted Tweed.

– Tips were even better than usual at work today, so I stopped by the sale at the bookstore. I now have the new translation of Elie Wiesel’s Night (which I’ve already finished), Patrick Süskind’s Perfume, and PD James’ The Children of Men.

– I also found a pair of pink-and-white cross-trainers on rock-bottom clearance for… seven dollars. Madness!

– I saw The Good Shepherd, and I liked it. A lot.

– I now have just one helix piercing instead of two. They weren’t even half a centimetre apart, but the second one was prone to inflammation and infection while the first (along with every other piercing I have) gave me no trouble. The latest infection made me decide to give up on the second one and take the stud out, although I really liked the look of the pair rather than a single.

– Nothing’s funnier than the confused, slightly alarmed look on the dog’s face when all five cats are getting high in a pile of catnip.

– One of my regular customers gave me a delicious warm-from-the-oven meat pie that his wife had baked. How fantastic is that?

Pattern: Old Shale lace worked over 36 stitches
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Maple Leaves
Needles: 4.25mm bamboo

I knit all but the last two repeats of this scarf in bed, amongst many pillows and watching cartoons. There may even have been a roll of Wild Cherry Lifesavers involved. The stitch pattern, Old Shale, is my knitting equivalent of comfort food, and the yarn is a favourite of mine, too.

It’s a gift for Ali, because I haven’t yet managed to mail real autumn leaves to England.

My second FO is very tiny.

It’s made from a bit of yarn left over from my mother’s shawl. Next time I knit one I’ll make the foot a little longer, but it’s still cute.