Apparently I'm Alice

which alice in wonderland person are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as alice you are like alice, she's really curious and has a wild imagination! white rabbit 55% alice 55% cheshire cat 50% mad hatter 35% queen of hearts 35%

EZ Bind Off

Have you ever tried Elizabeth Zimmerman's EZ sewn bind off? It is really cool. Essentially you thread your tail onto a blunt darning needle then use the needle (as if) to purl two stitches, go back and (as if to) knit one, drop knitted stitch. Repeat purl, purl, knit, drop. It is the best bind off I have ever used on a sock. I love it. On this sock I did 7 rows knit then EZ sewn bind off so the result is that the top curls down which is the intended effect. I read the method in Cat Bordhi's book but I happen to have Knitting Without Tears out from the library so I went and checked the original instructions. IMO, Cat Bordhi's are easier to read and follow and I like her finishing technique of casting off the first stitch twice. Very cool. Note: this sewn cast off uses more thread than you think. Leave a long tail.

Cat Bordhi is a genius

Really. This is amazing. I started making socks for...well, for me...because my foot was handy and I wouldn't ask questions when I started measuring length, circumference, arch etc. Others would.
Also because I went to Madrona (grin) Marketplace and I bought Blue Moon Fiber Arts mediumweight sock yarn in colourway Watermelon Tourmaline and it is really yummy. Mmmm. And I couldn't resist so I started to make socks...for me.
As I went on my merry way, trying out the Master sock pattern, working out the numbers (which is, let's face it, algebra) I started to doubt. I thought, there is no way this is going to work. I thought, seriously, my feet are not THIS big! She is clearly crazy. Then something completely bizarre happened. I tried them on (because I am knitting toe up and you can do that kind of thing). And guess what! They fit. Perfectly. Like they were custom made, just for me. Like someone had used algebra to make sure the arch sat at just the right spot and the heel curved at just the right moment. Cat Bordhi is a genius.
So, I went to Madrona. Not as a participant, but as a lurker. I went to the market place and started chatting with a lovely lady. We gave our opinion on knitting blankets. We talked about structure and knitting in one piece compared to knitting in blocks and joining with seams. I opposed her opinion in polite discussion. Then I looked at her name tag. It was BEV GALESKAS. You know, the genius behind the felted clog. I felt myself turn ten shades of red. The impertinence! How dare I try to tell Bev Galeskas that a blanket needs seams to give it structure.? What do I know? Crazy.
The reason I have had all these fun things happen to me is because my husband took me to Seattle for 2 nights away from the rat race. It was so fun and relaxing and excellent. And I actually looked at him for the first time in a long time. I mean really looked at him without someone yelling "mom" and without thinking about what I was making for dinner and how many loads of laundry I have to do and what is that mess on the wall anyway? It was really nice. I liked who I saw. I am glad I married him. I just have to take a minute to look at him once in a while and remember who he is. He's pretty great.

There are girls in my house.

Last week a friend of mine came to stay. Him and his wife (my friend too) are having some trouble and we are trying to be supportive. So he came to stay with us so he could be closer to his family while they work through their stuff. Last night 2 of his kids slept over. Two girls. There were girls in my house. Here are a few things that I noticed about girls.

1. They are quiet in the morning.

2. They smell nice.

3. They brush their teeth without being asked.

4. They comb their hair (a lot) without being asked.

5. They (these two) like to read quietly on the couch.

6. When they leave for school they look nice (and...see #2 above) even though their mom wasn't here to do that final check.

7. They smile and say thank you when you get them breakfast. Imagine that.

I like girls. I like these girls. I should get me some.

This photo was taken last summer when we spent our vacation with them in Nelson, BC. Good times.

Have you ever had a friend

1. Who calls to say she's coming over and you don't clean up? Not one bit?
2. Who makes you feel good just being around her?
3. Who is smart and funny and beautiful?
4. Who you admire not because of what she does but of who she is?
5. Who would wear your old sweats that you normally sleep in or paint in or garden in, and doesn't complain because it means she can sleep over even if she didn't bring a toothbrush?
6. Whose husband you love? Just like that? Even if he's done bad things? But because she loves him, you do too?
7. Whose kids you adore?
8. Who you pray will have something good happen to her very soon because she really deserves it? And nothing good has happened to her for a while?
9. Who you want to give everything to just so she'll be ok?
10. Who looks really together on the outside but who you know is falling apart on the inside and that's ok because she can fall apart at your house?

Have you ever had a friend like that? I have.

Ten years ago today...

...I became a mother for the first time. I still can make myself cry just conjuring up the memory of looking into those eyes for the first time. He just looked and looked at me, blinking frequently, just not sure what to think of all this. Or maybe he knew exactly what to think. Maybe he was thinking, "Oh, there you are. It's about time you looked at me. I've been wondering when this day would come." At any rate, the last ten years have been pretty crazy. And he's just so big now! Really, he's tall. Really tall. Taller than all the other kids his age. And smart. Really smart. And athletic. He got a basket in a game on Friday that blew me away. Where did he learn to do that? And he played in goal on Saturday for his soccer team and made a save that was amazing. And he's reading "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", and "Spiderwick" and I've read those books and we're having real conversations about the characters and the plot and foreshadowing. He's an amazing kid. And I'm his mom. And I have been for ten years. Ten. Years. Today.

New Year's Eve

This is a post in response to the wonderful rant on Yarn Harlot today. I have to tell the story and although no one ever reads my underground blog, I will write it here.

On New Year's Eve we had some lovely friends over to ring in the new year in the style we have grown accustomed. Read: say Happy New Year at midnight and head straight to bed. We do, afterall, have children who wake up at 7am no matter what time we put them to bed.

After a fun meal (in which I attempted a Rachael Ray dish of Roasted Beet Risotto), and during a rousing game of Cranium Family Version (in which we were going head to head against the other family, although we swapped a few kids to make it more friendly), my younger son calmly, and with a sheepish smile on his face, enters the living room and says quietly to me, "Mom, it's an emergency." With his calm demeanor and sheepishness, I reply, equally calmly, while at the same time trying to listen to the trivia question in the game, "What's an emergency, son?" He says, calmly, "You need to come to the kitchen." "Why?", I reply. "Because the napkin is on fire and I can't blow it out!" "What's on fire!!!???!!!!" I leap into action, dodging children and tables of food as I dash into the kitchen to see one of the lovely, paper Christmas napkins being consumed by flames as it attempts to convince some of its nearby friends to join it. I swiftly grab it by the unconsumed edge and drop it into a sink full of dirty dishes and (luckily) dirty water. The fire is out in a split second and by this time, the living room has emptied as everyone followed me out of the room to see what I was running to. I think I yelled something about "FIRE" as I darted from the room but things are a bit fuzzy as it all happened so fast. I am sure the wine didn't help. (it was a lovely Australian Peter Lehman Shiraz if anyone is wondering).

What happened? While we were all busy in the living room I had left a candle unattended burning in the kitchen. Baby boy thought it would be a great idea to see what the napkin would do if he lit it on fire and blew it out. Only it wouldn't blow out.

The irony of this story is two-fold:
1. My son was so calm and although he started the fire, he did exactly as he was taught in all the fire safety lessons. He stayed calm. He asked an adult for help. The only thing he didn't do was stop, drop and roll. The little monster. Other guests at the party tell me he had quite a grin on his face as this all played out!

2. And this is the doozie. My dad, much to the chagrin of my brothers who thought it a most disgusting gift, had given all of us FIRE EXTINGUISHERS (one for the kitchen and one for the car) for Christmas. I was the only one who thought it was great because I didn't have one already and always felt a little guilty about that. When I told my dad about our little fire, he said, "I hope you didn't waste your fire extinguisher on that!"

So now today, after reading the Yarn Harlot's post about acrylic and it's flammable qualities, I have decided that That Boy will only get wool sweaters. Sigh. Good thing I am knitting a WOOL blanket for the new baby joining our family any day. Of course it won't be done in time but what can I say. It is inspired by the felted patchwork blanket in the Toving magazine TEMA 11. Right now it is just a bunch of boring stocking stitch squares but I am really looking forward to the needle felting part later. And since I took that finishing class, I am actually looking forward to sewing the blocks together so I can practice some of my new techniques. Pictures:
I hope everyone reading this never has need to test the anti-flammable qualities of wool. BTW, A Cranium trivia questions we had during our game: What is the difference between Flammable and Inflammable? Answer: There is no difference. They both mean the same thing. Boy, do they.