A month of change

This space, on our second floor, is being renovated now. When this house was new, in 1913, it was a master bathroom, very modern for its time, a light filled space on the way to a sun porch, and possibly a dressing room or nursery space,  although it is hard to tell exactly what else was there.  When we moved in, it was renovated to contain an enormous master bathroom with a circa 1980 hot tub, Cookie Monster blue shag carpeting, and failing plumbing.  In order to redo this, lots of quarter sawn oak flooring had to be pulled up (water damaged by the hot tub, of course) and we discovered the original hex tiles, a 1925 penny and other surprises.

Also during this time, I had a series of freelance articles come out, including two pieces in the Winnipeg Free Press…this one, about women’s value in the workplace, got a lot of positive responses. At the same time, my part time job ended, which has been for the best.  It was difficult juggling the renovations, the family household demands, and the freelance work with this job, which did not work out the way I had hoped it would. —In a moment where “remote” work is suddenly becoming hybrid or in-office again, I remain the parent who needs to work remotely as my professor has gone back into the research lab with new research students.

Each spring, all the woollies have to be washed - and this year, I experienced it in a new location.  After moving house, some household tasks morph.  Here, I was delighted to have the use of the new chain link fence for drying purposes as it was a windy day and the huge wooden drying rack would have toppled over.  Some day in the future, we may be able to dry everything in a sun porch or two, but right now one of ours still leaks and the other is full of construction materials, so fencing worked just fine!  (The bright orange, blue, red, and gray sweater is a brand new, upsized version of my “Stripe Freestyle” design- available on Ravelry, Payhip and Lovecrafts.com.  Finished for a kid just in time for warmer weather, I sure hope it still fits in the fall!)

Speaking of kids, these twins just turned 12!  Hurray!  We celebrated with a pizza and ice cream cake party with a few of their friends.  On their actual birthday, they were performing in the school musical, which was a huge production.  It went very well on a stifling hot weekday night in the school gym.

Just after that, one of our guys had a long-planned medical procedure.  He is just trying out school today for the morning for the first day, it has been a week of recovery and things are still hurting.  Recuperation was aided by handmade loose fitting cotton pyjamas - his feature unicorns and other magical creatures.

Our dog Sadie decided that a bear stuffed animal which arrived as part of an amazing “get well soon” gift belonged to her.  She thought it would be most comforting if she stayed right nearby, with the bear, nearly all the time.

I thought through everything that has transpired over the last month or so as I could, and actually, it’s been quite a lot. Five freelance articles that I wrote have been published, twins turned 12,  a kid had surgery, a long-delayed small claims legal matter has been dealt with (not as we’d hoped, but hey, we were accused of extortion because we chose to pursue this in small claims court, so it was not without its comic moments…) and, among other things, I have sewn four pairs of cotton pyjama pants and two pairs of shorts…still have more to make, but everyone is happy and sleeping comfortably, so that too is a big accomplishment. Yes, things are still busy, but I have regained some equilibrium about my work life, and that time has been a great gift.

What’s coming up?  Summer break, visits with grandparents, and more. In August, I am excited to say I have been invited to give a talk/learning event about Accessibility in Pattern writing/pattern use at the Manitoba Craft Museum.  More interesting (and flexible) work to come soon, I hope! 

 

What's going on over there?

 Just before we got Sadie, I thought--I'm about to finish a knitted tunic!  (It's a Nutkin variation in navy Briggs & Little Tuffy yarn, designed to stand up to hard wear in our household.)  However, the tunic features pockets, and my house keys often wear holes in knitwear pockets.  So, I sewed two little pocket inserts on my sewing machine out of matching cotton fabric remnants...but the tunic isn't done yet.

Since getting Sadie, it's been all about managing our new dog, our new dog with our old dog, twins, and household.  Yesterday I did something crazy for myself. I went to my physio (physical therapy) exercise class.  I crated Sadie and left her at home for about an hour and a half.  When I got back, her brand new wire crate looked like this:
Shed pushed out the tray on the bottom, cracked and chewed it, bent the crate wires, and shredded towels and sheets that were both above and below the tray.  Oh, and she finished the peanut butter in her chew toy Kong, in case you were wondering... (Yeah.  Not good.)  So, we've got a dog with (note irony) a little separation anxiety and some crate issues.

Since yesterday: We've bought a plastic hard sided, smaller crate.  I've taken Sadie to the vet for a once-over, and for the short term, we're getting some nice drugs to help her calm down so she can be in the crate for a little while at a time, or to sleep in at night.  --Ain't no way I am leaving this dog alone in our house, free range, if she can do this to a crate.  We're doing more walks (vet approved, even though she just had spay surgery on Wednesday) and more training.

And last night, with the first attempt at calming drugs, new crate, etc., she was only quiet and calm on her own in the crate from about midnight until 5.  I am tired.

So, new dogs cost a lot of money!  Last month, I had a marvelous run of pattern sales over at Loveknitting.com.  I was so thrilled!  Then, April came, and drum roll....on both Ravelry and Loveknitting, I have sold a total of ONE pattern this month.  ONE!  So, when the fees are taken out of that?  It's worth about the same amount as ordering a single cup of coffee at a coffee joint.  I emailed the Loveknitting folks, and it turns out they wrote something in a March newsletter that encouraged people to do a pattern search--and this helped knitters find my patterns.  Since then, Nada.

To boost business, I took out a Ravelry advertisement for a few days.  Lots of people are clicking on these ads...So this is a pitch.  Are you a knitter?  Do you like knitting my designs?

If so, please share your projects on Ravelry, link to my design pages, and feel free to talk up patterns you like to your knitter friends.  ...Cause I have an expensive crate-eating dog over here....and I'm going to need more sleep before I can begin even thinking about writing more articles and patterns this week!

This Soft Basket, featured in this photo, is currently filled with dog toys at our house.
Stripe Freestyle, in the ad below, is currently in use--the 6 year old in the photo is wearing it today at school!

A 95th and other small treats

Part of my trip to Virginia was spent in celebration of grandmother's 95th birthday. The real event isn't happening until the beginning of February, but my mom invited lots of relatives for a family dinner. My mother expected a total of 14 dinner guests. When I fell asleep my first night in Virginia, I realized there were 8 people in the house, and usually there are half that many occupants. Even so, the day before, my uncle and his partner decided they shouldn't come from Boston because he had a bad cold and didn't want to get anyone else sick.

My mom had just cleared away their place settings when my best friend's parents called...they were travelling from Pensacola, Florida, to their home in Vermont when their car broke down. Luckily, it broke down nearby in Virginia. Shortly afterwards, the tow truck delivered my "second set of parents" and their two dogs (German shorthair pointers) to my parents' house! Next thing we knew, the place settings were back! Also, the professor and I played musical beds--we went to stay at my brother's house and guestroom (about 5 minutes away), so that my brother's dog wouldn't also have to play host. We all figured that 3 dogs and two little boys who are 5 and under seemed like too much chaos at his house. Instead, we just added one pregnant sister and her husband...

The short version is that our trip to Virginia was lots of fun family time, lots of food, and very social. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the family. I especially enjoyed my nephews, who saved up all their screaming and crying jags for us...but I didn't mind the quiet afterwards when they left, either! (One of my nephews had a couple of ear infections which were only diagnosed after we left.)

We arrived in Florida yesterday to see some of the professor's family. The temperature shift is enormous, fully 100 degrees Fahrenheit warmer. When our plane landed, it was 80F. When we left Winnipeg, it was around -25F. While it is still warm here, I continue to bring the weather with me. This morning, there was a huge thundershower and lots of fog. While this means the professor cannot go out to do his field work and collect his butterflies, it does mean we have some quality time together instead. Butterflies don't fly while it is rainy, windy, cold or foggy out.

We went to Whole Foods (fancy grocery store) where the professor found these tomatoes. He loves heirloom tomatoes, but I think the package is pretty funny, too. Fibery people, I am sure you will see the joke here. I found myself wondering how they'd gotten one of these into the package.

Next, we found a Florida grown Pomelo, one of my favorite fruits. When I was a teenager, I lived on a kibbutz for a year as a study abroad program. Behind our class dorm area, there was a citrus grove with Pomelos. We could pick them after school and eat them as a snack. My roommate and I used to share one. It always takes a long time to eat! I am thrilled to see these are now being grown in North America as they used to be hard to come by. I used to only be able to buy them in Asian groceries each winter, since they are mostly grown in Asia.

We also found moose dog toys with squeakers--so weird to find these in Florida. In Manitoba, we actually have moose living in the province. I have never seen a moose in Florida, but apparently the dogs needed us to travel to Florida to get them provincially appropriate squeaker toys. (As some of you know, my dogs are suckers for these toys...they love them.) We had to buy two, of course, as they fight over any toy without two exact replicas. Good practice for twins, we figure.

We've also seen egrets, armadillos, sand cranes, palm trees, a great sunset and lots of flowers...but I never had my camera ready to catch those images. My knitting for this trip is mainly black wool, so it is very difficult to photograph.

My father-in-law has saved me months' worth of New York Times "dining out" sections to enjoy. He must have waited unconsciously until I stopped being quite so sick to my stomach. I am now still occasionally nauseous, but at this point, I can eat out and read about food. It makes all the difference. Note the section on top--about how pies are now gaining popularity over cupcakes. (Those who know me know I am very serious about pie...especially fruit pie. I love it.) Of course pies are now the newest fad in NYC and San Francisco. Of course--they were the most popular fad in my house a long long time ago!

Just thought you might like a vicarious slice of vacation frivolousness. I'm off to eat some chocolate and take a nap. Ain't vacation grand?

Hanukah and winter stimulation

Hanukah's nearly over and we've had a nice, quiet holiday. Aside from being grateful for plumbing (every night!), it turns out the professor bought the dogs a game before our drainage woes began.
We both notice that Harry and Sally become restless and bored in the winter time. Although they get a walk every day, in the winter, it is too cold for them to spend long periods playing together in the backyard. By "too cold," I don't mean below freezing. I mean, when the high temperature of the day is 9F (-13C), that is too cold to be playing outside for extended periods. It isn't unusual for it to get down to -40 (C or F, it doesn't matter) this time of year, so we need to be careful about how long we spend outdoors.

This year we splurged and bought a fancy dog toy that helps encourage mental stimulation. It requires play with dog and owner. Since there are two dogs in our household, one of us holds a dog in the sit/stay position while the other dog gets to play. The game, called "The Brick," has been perfect to play while the candles are burning...it fits exactly this relatively minor holiday's "30 minutes of fun while the candles burn" each night perfectly.

If you're interested in learning more about the game, it's called Company of Animals Nina Ottosson Dog Brick Interactive Game. We bought it from a local pet store but I'm pretty sure it's easy to buy on Amazon, too. You do have to train your dog to play with it and you can't let the dog play with it on his/her own. That said, when I go anywhere near where the game is stored, the dogs now get very excited. Obviously, this worked in terms of keeping our brains stimulated around here!

In human terms, new knitting patterns do keep our brains stimulated too! Someone from Saskatoon asked how one can buy my downloadable patterns. My full line of patterns is available for download on my website. Most of these patterns are also available for download on Ravelry as well. Of course, you need to use Paypal for most of these transactions.

I don't make these patterns available to stores. That is because it costs a lot to print, mail, and stock paper patterns...and it increases the carbon footprint of each pattern. It's just not cost effective if I want to keep the pattern price low. I made this decision back in 2005, and I've chosen to stick by it. For most people, it works.

If you want to buy a pattern but cannot download it yourself for some reason, you have these options:
1) Ask a friend with a computer/printer/Paypal account to help.
2) Contact me via my email address or Ravelry personal message to make other arrangements. On rare occasions, folks send checks through the mail--and if you do this, please add $1 US to the price of the pattern to cover postage, etc.

Unfortunately, I can't do business through my blog. It's very hard to track people's contact information down this way!

I hope everyone's staying stimulated mentally, physically, and socially this winter. I am off to take some homemade meringues out of the oven to enjoy some treats that look just like snow!

Taking a rest

Spring has sprung here. We've seen our first flowers (crocuses and another blue flower that we're not sure of--the flora and fauna are all different here from what we know) The professor tested out his Manitoba butterfly identification skills today on a long walk with me--we saw one that he said was a Compton Tortoiseshell. By way of comparison, he mentioned that according to the historic records of butterfly spotting in Kentucky that he'd studied, someone saw a Compton Tortoiseshell there and it was very rare. Spotted only once in the recorded Kentucky history. So, we're learning about new moths and butterflies, too!

The dogs have "livened up" as is their practice come spring. They spend a good part of every afternoon and evening roughhousing as if there is no tomorrow. When we put them out in our small fenced yard, they have to be watched every second. Every new smell and noise riles them up. Their current research project involves excavating under the foundation of our garden shed (an entirely satisfactory shed which we'd prefer not to have undermined) because something lives under there. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but I did see a gray furry bottom-bigger than a mouse or squirrel scoot faster than lightning when I let the dogs out one time. It might be a cat that shouldn't be in our fenced yard, but it might also be something a bit more wild. Gopher, perhaps? We've no idea. We're busy defending the shed!

Also, our schedules are busy, too. The professor is off on a research collecting trip for a few days this week; I just dropped him off at the airport. I've got several teaching and other social commitments too, and then at the very end of April, we're off to see family on a whirlwind trip on the U.S. east coast.

So, all that said, I am really enjoying every single sunny moment when I get to work quietly by myself! I just gave away some tickets to a special movie showing because frankly, the idea of sitting at home on my own, weaving or spinning or knitting and listening to my audio book--well, it sounded like pure delight. Every bit of sunny silence is fabulous. I even managed to nap yesterday through a neighbor's yardwork--with chainsaw-- after I came home from being in charge of family service at synagogue. I needed that nap!

In honor of that heaven--a nap on a sunny warm afternoon--I managed to catch my whirling dervishes at rest. When I come up the stairs to the second floor, I often see Sally. She's staked out my bed and gosh she's enjoying it! (She especially enjoys the wool counterpanes we leave on there so the bedding isn't quite so, umm, doglicious when we go to sleep.) She sometimes will even share space with me. If you look carefully at that first photo, you can see a white basket in the hallway, full of dog toys. Yup--that's the one! If you've seen a copy of Knit Green, you'll know more about that basket! It's now decommissioned and spends its days holding onto very important dog toys.

Harry is often guarding the first floor--here he is in the front hall, keeping the living room, dining room, and staircase upstairs safe from invaders.

Happy spring! I hope you get the chance for both long walks with dogs in the sunshine and... a bit of rest afterwards.

slithery topics

Travel always gives me lots of topics to write about. (glad you enjoyed the last post! It was kind of funny, wasn't it!)

On Monday morning, we had a big family breakfast. My uncle, my nephews, my brother and his wife, my parents, grandmother and I were all enjoying the last bits of french toast and fruit, coffee, tea and juice when my mom went downstairs. She stopped on the landing between the sets of steps to announce the S-N-A-K-E she saw downstairs.

My uncle (who had been sleeping downstairs, as I had) turned white. Nephews (nearly 4 and 1, were kept upstairs.) My brother rushed down -wearing sandals. I had on shoes, went out right past the snake, down the hall to the garage, got a shovel, and, well, there was a violent and premeditated snake death. I did it.

I also taught a knitting class on Monday afternoon, and said nothing about this, of course! No need for them to know I was a killer....

There's something of a debate about the snake variety, it could be a rat snake or even possibly a copperhead. We're unsure. I disposed of its remains before we could discuss the matter with my youngest brother, who actually took a herpetology class in college.

Anyhow, I'm keeping the shovel inside until I leave. My uncle got his bags and left for the airport a wee bit on the early side! My dad keeps suggesting I go downstairs first, turn on the lights, and scare the critters away. Apparently I am the brave daughter here!

So far, no more sightings...although I did learn that over at my nearly 4 year old nephew's house, they now do a monster check every night under the bed and in the closet, complete with help from their dog, before he's ready to go to sleep. Obviously, I am responsible for monster checks here at my parents' while I'm visiting! (Nephew asked about the shovel while over here and when I explained I needed it for the monsters, he totally understood.)

It's getting to the point in my visit home where I am missing my house, my dogs, and the professor. I realize now that my dogs' frequent snake adventures have trained me well for this. It's gross, I'm not enjoying it, but hey, somebody needs to have confidence with a shovel.

All this is to introduce another pattern from the book, Knick Knack Paddy Whack Dog Toys. My (snake killer) dogs love these toys, and since they carry the toys around in their mouths, it's good that the yarn is natural in color, organic, and they absorb no toxic dyes while slobbering on their toys. (I try to block out what they absorbed while killing snakes in the yard in Kentucky.)

Meanwhile, I heard from the professor that the pump that circulates hot water in our boiler system heat isn't working, up in Winnipeg. Better to get that fixed now than in January...but I'm feeling an odd relationship to the Yarn Harlot right now, as she is having her furnace replaced. (I hope we don't have to!) Perhaps it's all for the best that I'm protecting my family from snakes down here in the basement in Virginia at the moment.

Last slithery topic--I had a circular needle break at the join... Right after I knit the cable row on the beginning of a sweater with over 170 stitches on the needle. Those stitches popped off like a snake on the loose. Luckily, I was in the basement--right near my mother's needles. All stitches have now been rescued. Messy, but not fatal.

Oh, and I'm looking forward to Rhinebeck this weekend, I'll be all ready to sign books on Sunday from 10-12, although the weather report is calling for both rain and snow. Lovely. Guess I won't be missing either Winnipeg's weather OR my parents' basement this weekend! Happy slithery weekend to all...

busy fall in Winnipeg

Well, considering we've only been in town since July, I've gotten a fair bit done. See that shelf? It's what I've canned so far. My kind professor has recently picked me a lot of crab apples, so there may be more canning to come. (the big jars of yellow stuff? Those are called yellow apple cucumbers or lemon cucumbers. They are round and make beautiful pickles!)

The photo there of our back yard shows off the patio furniture and our brand new eavestroughs. (gutters.) They have this fascinating thing here on the prairies where you snap down the gutters when there's a big rain so that the water is drained away from the basement. However, dogs and people have been known to step on these long gutters, so the gutters snap them up when it's not raining or when the snow comes. (I am such an innocent about life in flat terrains that this seems novel.) We're currently having the warmest September that Winnipeg has had in a century, so no rain and no snow at the moment! (It's lovely warm weather mid-day. I still have to wear a sweater to walk the dogs in the AM though!)

We're still so busy with settling in, doing job and household and moving stuff that not a lot of fiber arts are getting done. However, I do have this one bobbin of gray Romney/Border Leicester cross/gray mohair yarn to show off. I've also knit some socks recently, they might get a chance on the blog sometime as well.

However, people still need to eat around here. Winnipeg has great bakeries. That said, we're spending a lot of money on eavestroughs and other home repair issues...so it's back to baking our bread as it's less expensive. That is, in part, because I found a bag of all-purpose white flour, milled in Manitoba, at an unbelievable price. So, 10 kg or 22.5 lbs of locally grown/processed flour for...$8.97 Canadian. Practically free. It's not organic, but gosh, it IS local! I made some bread.

The dogs thought it smelled really, really good. (the humans didn't share though...)

Now, on to the big news...

For months, I have been trying not to share any of the projects in Knit Green. They are all meant to be a surprise and to be shown off when the book comes out. I've been trying hard. I'm absolutely terrible at keeping secrets.

Most of the projects and the samples are safely tucked away, but I've been wearing a couple of things, and there are some dog toys that I just let Harry and Sally have. They love these handknit toys out of organic yarns, and carry them around constantly. I recently snapped this photo of Harry with his handknit, handfelted bone.

Then, I got these in the mail. The book's big release is October 5th...but now I've actually seen a copy. It might be time to tell you about Harry's favorite bone now! (The suspense has been killing me!)