Ladybugs & Yarn

And today it rained. Mid-morning, it was still sunny and oppressively hot, but the clouds rolled in at noon and there was thunder and lightning and pouring rain that went on for hours and hours. I went outside without a coat, just because. Glorious.

A butterfly joined me at work today. It flew in the open window and settled quietly on the edge of the counter–if it had been flapping in my face I would have been skittish, but it just sat prettily for a long while and opened its wings every so often to give me a good look at its gorgeous markings. Someone told me that butterflies bring good luck if they land and sit beside you, and although I’m not superstitious the sentiment seemed appropriate considering the direction life’s starting to take for me.

It’s still raining, but the storm’s moved on.

I have the theme song from Nintendo’s “Kid Icarus” (a game I haven’t played in at least fifteen years, if not more) on auto-repeat in my head. The memory might be weird, but it’s not entirely random–guess what I cast on for today. In amethyst-coloured Handmaiden Lace Silk.

I’m thinking about looking for a new circ to knit it on, though. I do love my pointy-tipped KP needles for lacework, but the silk is too slippery on the metal, even knitting as tight as I do. I transferred it to a bamboo circ, and the stickiness hit the other extreme, plus this circ in particular is quite dull-tipped. Have any of you tried Addi’s lace circs? I don’t like their Turbos, but I’ve heard the lace ones are very nice and have just the right amount of grip.

So I tried on the first Bordello sock after I finished the gusset decreases, and the blasted thing will absolutely not fit over my heel. I should have known, because a) I have high insteps; b) the stitch pattern is on a bias and is therefore less stretchy than stockinette. Bah. So I frogged it. I’ll choose another pattern, and soon, because the Sea Wool is gorgeous and I want it on my feet. I’m thinking I might knit a pair of Embossed Leaves socks, but I have plenty of patterns to choose from.

Bedtime, now. If I can find room amongst the cats.

I may not be the Wicked Witch of the West, but I’m positively melting. I’d welcome a bucket of water over my head at the moment. The ceiling fan doesn’t seem to be cutting it this evening, and all the portable fans in the house are spoken for. My fingers are impersonating blowfish at the moment, so there’s been little crafting today save for two rows on a cat blanket.

I cast on for the blankie two nights ago, after watching Stevie cuddle up to a big ball of baby yarn. He, being a cat, of course likes yarn, but he seemed so enamoured with this particular ball that I decided I had to knit him something out of it. Cats don’t tend to like clothing and Stevie likes being covered when he sleeps, so a blankie it was. Knit from corner to corner in garter stitch, to make it a little squishier than stockinette.

It’s not even half done, and he’s claimed it already.

Note the paw on my Tinkerbell-pajama-clad knee. He’s not a demanding boy, but he finds ways to get himself noticed, some less subtle than others.

Oh, and obviously the blog is no longer pink. I had the urge to remodel, but I took the lazy way out by just making a new header and slapping on some new colours.

I may have become immune to some of the quirks of my region, but it still amuses me to no end that I live in an area where eating seaweed directly off rocks isn’t occasion to fetch the men in white coats. I’m still not fond of dulse, but I have memories from when I was small, of it being picked and eaten, with or without sun-drying first, along the shores of the Bay of Fundy. I’d love to take my overseas friends to St. Andrews, one of my favourite perfect little Canadian seaside towns, or to Hopewell Cape, because the rocks are beautiful and the tides really are as amazing as the tourist guides claim. I’d take people to the Annapolis Valley, too, not only for the orchards and vineyards and general loveliness of the place, but for areas like Scott’s Bay, where you can find amethyst crystals along the beachside cliffs, or where you can walk in two-foot-long fossilized footprints that belonged to something that lived a million years ago.

Even here, hours north of those favourite places in this town that I dislike and constantly criticise, there are beautiful things. Pabineau Falls and Tetagouche Falls, the gorge and Nepisiguit River, the sandy beaches at Youghall and the rocky, lonely ones downshore in Janeville, Stonehaven, Pokeshaw. There’s always the faint scent of sea salt in the air, and that’s one thing I’ll miss when I move. I won’t miss the narrow-minded, judgmental people with their constant fights over bilingualism, but I might miss a bit of the landscape, and being able to see the water out my bedroom window.

And now I’m going to waffle about other things.

I’m currently holed up in my room with yarn all around and So You Think You Can Dance. I can’t seem to settle on what to knit, though. I have my Bordello socks, a baby cardigan, and a blanket for the kittens on the needles and none appeal at the moment, plus I have two new sock patterns that I’ve written up and need to test-knit. Can’t seem to choose the yarn for either of them, though, and believe me, I have lots to choose from.

Perhaps I’ll just flip through some books and see if something sparks. Or poke at the fabric stash.

I’ve finished the final Harry Potter book and have much to say, but I’ll keep my mouth shut until I can remember how to make a cut-tag so that it’s optional reading for those of you who are still waiting for and/or reading your books (or don’t give a flying fig to begin with!).

The links to my free patterns don’t work at the moment–I’ve just acquired Adobe Designer so I can make better PDFs, and have therefore taken the patterns down while I redo them. I should also mention that I’m re-uploading them under a different name. I’ve renamed my little (empty at the moment) Etsy shop to Ladybug Yarns, and am therefore redoing the patterns to match. It takes a bit more time to do a pattern with Designer, as opposed to doing it in Word and exporting as a PDF, but oh, it makes the files much prettier. Here’s a little preview of what the new pattern template looks like:

Pretty, yes?

I have to go off and flail more about the HP book. Fortunately, I have people online at the moment who are as nerdy as I am.

ETA: I just re-uploaded the new version of the Parasol Socks pattern. It’s much shinier than the old one.

I’m registered for college, have paid a deposit on my tuition to reserve my seat, have been pre-approved for an education grant from the government, shouldn’t have issues getting approved for the bank line of credit to cover what EI can’t, have been on the phone with landlords to set up apartment viewings in the city, am working again, and my moving date is September 1st.

… I can’t even believe it.

And I won’t let myself dwell on the wasted years and the dead ends–all I need to think about now is moving foward, because it looks like it’s happening. Actually, screw “looks like”–it is happening. I’m going to be taking a day trip to Moncton sometime in the next couple of weeks to find an apartment, and I think once I’ve walked into the place I’ll be living and signed whatever I’ll be signing, it might start to feel real.

Thank you all for the comments on my little purse–I haven’t replied to each of them like I usually do, due to zooming around like a nutter these past few days getting things in order. Forgive me, this once?

I’ve been happily knitting away during waiting times in offices, hold times on phones, callback times, etc., and I have to admit it’s been mostly plain, diagonal-knit dishcloths. I’ll need some for my kitchen, and the handicrafter cotton was on sale a few weeks back at under a dollar per ball. Mom suggested I knit them to match the small kitchen appliances and dishes I have, but I chose a rather hodgepodge mix of colours, instead.

I’m going to have the final Harry Potter book in my hands in a few hours. Glee!

Now, I’m off to finish another cloth, and then catch up on blog-reading, because I <3 you all.

Pattern: Twitterpated Purse from Zephyrstyle
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool in Worn Denim
Needles: 4.5mm for the body & 6.0mm for the frill

I didn’t like the pattern when I saw it the first time, but it grew on me, and sometime last week it hit me that the thing was actually adorable. So! I knit it with stash yarn, and found the cute coordinating lining/strap fabric in a remnant bin at the local fabric store for fifty cents. The lining went in very neatly, which pleased me; I’ve been sewing since kindergarten, but I’ve never sewn a lining into a knitted bag before.

It’s quite small, just the right size for my wallet and keys–good for days when I don’t want to lug a huge bag around, but don’t want to just put the keys in the pocket and carry the wallet in the hand.

To make a long story short, my job situation is now on shaky ground. I have a meeting with management on Friday when the store manager gets back from her vacation, and if they can’t make me believe that there’ll be steps taken to end the bullying and harassment that I’m dealing with at the moment, then I’ll be typing up the resume and hitting the streets. I’m terrified, because with only a couple of months until the college year starts I can’t afford to be off work for long, but at the same time I know that my health (both mental and physical) has to be my number one concern.

Moving on to things that don’t stress me out, having this entire week off means that I have time to do things that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I moved my furniture around in my room yesterday, to get things in a better position to be cleared out and sorted through. I’ve started to fill a small corner of the den outside my bedroom with all the things I need for my apartment but don’t use at the moment, like kitchen things and small appliances. The dishes in the kitchen upstairs have been collecting up, so I’ve promised my father that I’ll do those tomorrow. I also need to start going through the clothes packed in boxes and make a pile to donate to the local volunteer centre. And clean out the cats’ water fountain–the motor has been making some interesting noises, so I imagine the filter is a bit clogged.

Of course I’ve been making time for the crafting, as well. Samson’s getting a new dog bed, one with an attached blanket, made from navy blue plaid flannel and coordinating blue fleece. I’ve cut the pieces but haven’t started the sewing–that’ll be for tomorrow evening, I think. I also have some pink-and-black crazily-patterned fabric lying on the cutting board right now that’s destined to become an apron, because I’d like a cute one of my own rather than the old gingham ones that have been hanging around the kitchen for a couple of decades.

On the knitting front, I started a Twitterpated purse this afternoon and should have it done tomorrow. The flowered fabric in the photo is for the lining and the strap. I have two silver d-rings to attach it.

I’m going to make it a little longer than the pattern dictates. No idea how much, though… I’ll just keep knitting until it seems like enough.

Bedtime now.

(I have a ticket to see Order of the Phoenix tomorrow night. Whee!)

… there are a lot of photos in this entry.

My survival strategy for the weekend mostly involved escaping outside when the house became too crowded with relatives and/or loud. The deck’s railing is no more than five feet from a beautiful little tree-lined river, so it was a lovely sanctuary. It was wonderful to see my grandmother, although I could have done without the reunion/birthday party. I didn’t manage to make it to Kejimkujik National Park, just ten minutes down the road from the house, but I did manage to make it to two gorgeous yarn stores, a tea shop, and the Halifax Public Gardens on the way to the south shore.

The ducks in the Public Gardens were remarkably social. I imagine they’re quite used to people, but it still seems odd to be able to pet a duck on the head and not have it a) run; b) eat your face. I stayed away from the swans, though–they might be beautiful, but they’re evil, all of them.

Photo time. First, the animals!

Dachshund in a car.

Dachshund in a basketball jersey.

Dachshund making sure we don’t leave him behind in Nova Scotia.

Splat. Note the little hind legs out behind him.

A mallard duck in the Halifax Public Gardens. He didn’t mind the photo-stalking.

This little bird not only didn’t mind it, he showed off by stretching his wings out in the grass.

… Okay, so it’s a sculpture. But it’s a life-sized mastodon! How neat is that?

And now for the flowers!

An iris in the Public Gardens.

Many irises. In a pond, even.

Purple things!

White things!

Orange thing!

And a vase of wildflowers on my grandmother’s kitchen table.

Time for scenery!

A lake we drove by in Harmony.

Had I been able to get to the shore, I could have photographed the gorgeous yellow water lilies that were clustered with the lily pads.

… Did I accidentally walk into a Monet painting?

I took this from the chair I’d spent time curled up in, to show the view from the deck.

Leaning over the rail, this time, for a better photo.

A different part of the river, just upstream.

Fire. Pretty.

And finally, the yarn!

Clockwise from top left, there’s 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Pale Green, 2 skeins of London-Wul handspun hand-dyed sock merino, 2 skeins of Cascade 220 in Lake Chelan Heather, 2 skeins of Manos del Uruguay handspun, a skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Nova Scotia (hee!), a skein of Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino Dream in Seashell, and 2 skeins of Louet Gems Pearl in French Blue. I forgot to take a photo of the patterns, but I got two from Ilga Leja–Earth Maiden and Open Waters–plus the fabulous Lace Style.

I had the good fortune to visit both the lovely rustic London-Wul fibre studio and the modern The Loop yarn cafe, both of which I loved. I drove by Lucy Neatby’s store (Tradewind Knitwear) on the way back to New Brunswick, but it was closed for the Canada Day weekend as far as I could tell. Oooh, and I found a tea store across from the Public Gardens that sells only organic fair trade products, so some loose Earl Grey and dark hot chocolate came home with me.

Stevie made me promise I wouldn’t leave him alone for the weekend ever again.

You people = fabulous. <3 It’s wonderful to wake up from a loooong refreshing snooze the day after a trip and get to read all those lovely comments. Most of them Wordpress didn’t even e-mail to me, so I got a surprise when I navigated to the page itself. I’ve had online friends before and been a part of online communities before, and yet save for a very few I’ve never gotten the kind of support that you lot offer up. It fills me with joy.

Just more proof that knitters (and other crafties!) are, in fact, the most awesome people ever.

I have rambles, photos, and yarn porn (I managed to squeeze in two yarn shop stops between the madness), but that’ll be in a little while once I sort out the explosion of visuals on the camera card. Yes. And after I manage to make a substantial entry, I’m going to play at Ravelry, since I had an invite waiting for me in the inbox. I’m seventykay there, FYI.

<3