Spring break happenings

Kids are back to school today after a long break!  We did a lot--we went to the zoo, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Artsjunktion, and more.  We watched our pitas being baked to order at a new Middle Eastern grocery store, we ran errands, and both my twins played for hours, and spent lots of time reading and listening to audio books. One of my twins took on a big cleaning task and re-organized and sorted all their books and tidied the playroom, too... It was busy.

For some reason, I chose this time to try out mitts from the fabulous, new (and fast selling) Saltwater Mittens.
 This was challenging like asking me to serve snacks while doing a handstand and singing the ABCs backward.  I had a hard time following the pattern the first time round while also helping a kid with his knitting, or reading a hard word for him, or taking care of dogs and kids all at once.  Given our household chaos, I was maybe overestimating my multi-tasking skills.  These are gorgeous mittens though, and the book is well-worth checking out.

However, I have produced one mitt (here is a bad photo, before making the thumb) and I'm well on my way to making a second.  This particular pattern, Little Corner Boy, seems to work out well for our size at the moment, and I'm hoping to produce another three mitts so we can start next fall with some new mittens in the mix.  (Our old mitts are still in use every single day, but getting sort of ragged looking.)

While all this was happening, my article came out in the Vancouver Jewish Independent:
Dig more deeply into identity

Otherwise, publications have been a bit thin on the ground lately.  I write stuff, sure, but finding time to submit and getting things accepted seems slow these days.  I hope this post-spring break time is productive, because I also have to start getting ready for Passover, which starts in less than three weeks.  (Whew!  Where did the time go!?)

More than apologizing...

Here's my latest CBC-Manitoba opinion piece.  It's about the (lack of) sexual harassment and violence support at the University of Manitoba.

U. of Manitoba's 'sorry' not good enough when it comes to harassment, assault on campus

This piece on diversity went live yesterday...

In a strange twist of fate, my piece on peaceful protest and diversity, written several days ago, went live yesterday on the CBC Manitoba website.  Here's the link:
Acknowledging diversity--warts and all

Meanwhile, horrible things were happening in Charlottesville, Virginia.  I grew up in Virginia, and I spent two happy summers at summer camp in Charlottesville.  My stomach was twisted in knots all day about what just took place there. 

 Let's not let violence and hate win.  Peaceful protest is the way forward--and using our critical thinking skills? Essential.  I'm so sad that hate (and lot of outsiders) took over--with violence against diversity, against African- Americans, and against Jews--hate took over Charlottesville yesterday. Let's vote for peaceful protest and love.  Love wins.

the curtain

Warning: Gratuitous pictures of completely mindless knitting ahead! Want complicated stitchwork? Come back another time...
Old houses have lots of quirks. Ours lacks a first floor powder room. (washroom/half bath, etc. choose your own vocabularly here..) As a result, the second story bath that we use daily needs to be clean and well maintained.

This bath has a fabulous old mosaic tile floor. At the very least, I need to clean the heck out of it. At best, it's time for some restoration. Some of the corner tiles are loose or missing. I'm not a mosaics crafter but I may become a mosaics repair specialist sometime soon.

The room also has two windows which overlook a busy street. They clearly needed a curtain so we could, ahem, do private bathroom things. For the first few days, I hung a Kenyan batik cloth on the windows. (I use it as a picnic blanket and it was in the car for the trip. Lucky.) However, when I did that the room became so dark as to be claustrophobic. Time to consider plan B.

Plan B: I had a lot of sock yarn with me, and a set of circulars. Using Green Mountain Spinnery's fabulous Spinnery Sock Art yarn--which happened to match that mosaic tile, I cast on 40 sts. (Actually, I can't remember what I cast on, but that sounds close.) I knit in garter stitch, checking my progress at the window as I went.

Our theory with old houses is that if they have hooks that look usable, it makes sense to use them. No point in removing old curtain hooks and risking paint flakes, holes in the plaster, etc. to put in new ones. In this case, there were hardware hooks I've never seen before that look like they perhaps held a very skinny curtain rod once at both the top and bottom of the window..perhaps for taut muslin or gauze curtains.

After I finished the first curtain (garter stitch on size #13 needles is speedy like a race) it seemed only logical that I rush on towards the second. After all, without furniture, there wasn't a lot else to do other than walk the dogs...

So, what do these accomplish? 1) They let in light. 2) They obscure things slightly, so that people on the street might not see completely nekkidness if they look up. (nekkidness=nudity if you're northerners. :)

These curtains do not insulate the window, and they probably are not the most modest option I could have chosen. They don't show off any kind of complex knitting talent, which is ok with me. I debated lace, but concluded that lace on big needles equals bigger holes, and, well, I didn't want the neighborhood to see that much!

I figure, come winter, I'll rethink my options if there's a draft or we need something more substantial. In the meanwhile...

The curtains seemed like an interesting metaphor. Lots of things in Winnipeg seem to be about "letting in the light." First, in a concrete way, because it doesn't get dark here until very late at night in the summer time...think 9:30 or 10. There are nights that I've fallen asleep before it gets dark. It gets light early too, which makes for wonderful dog walks between 6-7 AM. By 7:15 AM, forget it, our new neighborhood becomes like dog Grand Central Station. Not an enjoyably quiet meander anymore...

In a more figurative way, I've been so impressed by the efforts Winnipeggers make to appreciate and make the most of the diversity of their human and natural environment. Everyone seems to make an effort to go to the summer festivals and to spend time outside in cafes, exercising, and in parks...even when this summer is unseasonably cool. There's a citywide effort to support fundraising for a new national museum called the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. There's fundraising afoot to open an educational butterfly conservatory at Assinibone Park. Not only that, but they were thrilled to meet with the professor right away about enlisting his butterfly expertise for the effort. (in town 2 weeks and suddenly he's needed!)

The metaphor of the window as a way to see out into the world and the curtain (does it enhance or cover up the view?) has really struck me as a way people here see their city. When we explain why we're here...the professor to do research, and me, the writer...many people seem curious and excited about what we'll lend to the cultural/intellectual landscape--either that, or they fake it very well!

Most of the necessities of life are now unpacked. My office is still in boxes and there are definitely a lot of projects ahead. The backyard fence is being built today. I hear there's a "pick your own" raspberry place that's got me excited about a visit. Things around us are at once stimulating, intriguing and --in the home department--hopefully going to settle down soon.

I haven't been knitting since finishing the (totally mindless) curtains. While I don't need to sit down to knit, I do need both hands free, and that's hard to do while unpacking!