Virtual Synagogue Exhibit

Here's a link to my latest CBC opinion piece, which links this exhibit to teaching children about the Holocaust, and to the current refugee influx from the US into Canada:

Virtual synagogue exhibit shows pre-Holocaust German Jews embraced strangers: 'You should love the stranger,' synagogues said, 'for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.'

This exhibit should be coming to Toronto and Vancouver, too.  In the meanwhile, here are some links to images from the exhibit.

The first two images are virtual reconstructions of what some of the congregations looked like before Kristallnacht.

There were over 1,000 synagogues and over 7,000 businesses destroyed that night.  Here's one last image of the destruction from the exhibit.  Follow this link to read more. 

in the news!

On Sunday, the CBC-Manitoba website ran my piece on Slow Fashion.  It's a take on how we can integrate some of the ideas into our daily lives in moderation, even if we lack time and money.

We had a busy day too--a bright sunny one which broke all kinds of records for warmth in Manitoba.  My twins were up at the crack of dawn (5:50 AM, which technically was sleeping in for a whole 20 minutes) because of the time change... and then we rushed off to swim lessons.  We had a brief break in the busy schedule to play, and then I got to go to an adult education lunch and learn session on my own.  (Wow.  That was awesome.  A whole 2 hours by myself!)

Then we rushed off to a concert.  It was a kids' concert that both boys were keen to hear, with singing, guitar, banjo, bass... and  it raised money to support refugees, so it was all good.  Imagine our surprise when that too ended up in the news!  Both my boys are in the photos of the concert, as they were dancing and singing along right up in front.  So, the only person not in the news this weekend?  My professor, who prefers to avoid the limelight...

(It was held at a church, which accounts for the stained glass and weird lighting... my guys are in the orange shirt and the black and red shirt, standing close to each other and dancing and clapping along)
Photo link courtesy of the CBC website

After the concert, there was even more time spent playing and biking outside.  The warm weather this late in the year has been a great gift...even though most of the outdoor toys have already been tucked away for winter.

Cold Snap-a sale!

It's been genuinely chilly here the last few days.  (-40 windchills) Plus, we've been fighting a cold virus in the family; it's slowly making the rounds. One or two of us are sick at a time, which means that I've had several quality days at home with somebody sitting on the couch, watching kids' programming on PBS and CBC... but that's not all bad.

First, both twins suddenly made this huge connection... their Daddy (aka the Professor on this blog) is a scientist, and on an episode of Sid the Science Kid, they learned about how scientists use computers to do science and send emails reporting on their findings.  Whew, that suddenly explained why Daddy uses his computer all the time!  Pretty cool stuff to ponder when you are four and sick on the couch with a cold.  We experimented with an iPad later; we sent an email and watched it arrive, imagining it flying invisibly through the air.  Wow. Magic.

Second, I got to do a lot of productive knitting.  When I might normally have gone out to buy a birthday present for a friend of theirs or rummaged among our special home gift box, instead I stayed home and made a hat.  I used this pattern, but revised it to suit a girl who likes purple and flowers.  The crocheted flower rosettes were actually not made by me, either!  Long ago, I got them in a stash exchange, a half finished project was included.  This was some creative re-use!  Here's the project page on Ravelry.

NOTE: no preschooler noticed the photo shoot, was harmed in any way,  or even asked to move from his comfy spot while modelling any of this. :)

The skein of Quince & Co. Puffin yarn was really lovely stuff to work with, and I thoroughly enjoyed knitting up a second hat to be donated to a newcomer to Canada who might need woollies this winter. Information on creating a liner for the hat are included in these Ravelry project notes , these big stitches will not keep out prairie winds on their own!

Playing with this yarn made me realize that it would also work really well for Over, my new sweater pattern.  (Alas, with the current Canadian dollar exchange rate, I'm probably not going to be able to swing that, but another good Lopi yarn substitute might be  Briggs and Little Super here in Canada.

I also sent out a newsletter this week to my mailing list...(want to sign up?  Check out the sidebar to the right of this text on the blog)
and I included a little sale information.

I'm having a January sale.  Use this coupon code:
Cold Snap

and get 20% off of any of my Rav patterns or my eBook until the end of January.  Happy knitting!  Happy winter!  Now you can enjoy the sale too!

Oh...and don't forget!  Please remember to register if you'd like to learn to spin on Sunday, January 24th, here in Winnipeg.  I can't wait to meet you and spin with you!

Wool 'n won't

A few days ago, back when I was feeling well (more on that later), I washed fleece.  I had this gorgeous fleece--waiting to be washed-- from my friend Gerry's farm sitting in my basement since June. The professor bought it for me as an anniversary gift!

It is a Romney/Texel fleece, and according to her notes, 8.5lbs before washing.  It was pretty clean, but even so, it took many trips up and down the basement stairs to wash it.  I had to use the washing machine as a set tub, divide the fleece in half, each 'half' had one hot water wash and 2 rinses, AND because our hot water heater is not set to "very hot", I boiled water in my electric kettle (upstairs) to raise the temperature of the soak water.

(A note on childproofing: our hot water heater can't be really cranked up because the water can't be so hot as to burn twins' fingers.  Perhaps with one kid at a time, you can monitor whether or not they've turned on the hot water by accident, but with two?

Better safe than sorry...  our house is full of gates, latches, and other minor adult inconveniences which keep our offspring from killing themselves or others.)
---PS: The professor also fixed our 100 year old laundry chute as another anniversary gift.  It is bliss to be able to pitch down the dirty sheets, etc. to the basement from the second and third floor.  Yet, in another note on childproofing?  It is a secret amongst adults here.  The boys do not know it exists. SHHH!  We do not want anyone throwing toys or brothers down this chute....

The fleece is gorgeous and these basement snapshots do not do it justice.

Plus, taking a day to submerge my hands in fleece was really therapeutic.

In the midst of all this, my CBC piece on how Manitobans can pull together to welcome Syrian refugees came out.  

--Another Note: Please don't click on this if  you have small kids around or if you haven't already seen some of the graphic refugee images in the news.  I didn't choose the photos, and these were upsetting so that I had to hide the iPad from my kids when I saw the article online.

Despite the overwhelmingly negative comments on the article page, I got a lot of positive feedback as well from other sources, so I am glad it got published.

In a rare confluence of fiber/knitting and social justice, Ram Wools, one of our local yarn shops, is cooperating in the 1000 stitches for Syria campaign.  I discovered this group on Ravelry and wanted to participate.  Basically, since Canada is welcoming lots of refugees here during the winter time, knitters are trying to work together to provide each newcomer with a handknit woolly item--a hat, mitts, scarf, etc. to help make it through the cold here.  I was also thrilled to see the effort written up on the local CBC Manitoba website.

Now on to the "won't" part of my post.  A week or two ago, the professor and a house guest of ours both had bad colds/viruses.  We tried to take good care of them and I thought we would either be lucky (hah) or it would only be a matter of time until the rest of us got sick.  The professor got better, the house guest went home, and bingo!  The virus didn't want to leave.  On Sunday, we were at home nearly all day with two under-the-weather four year olds.

On Monday, one kid was well enough to go to preschool.  I spent both Monday and Tuesday on the couch with the other kid, watching WAY more Sesame Street and Sid the Science Kid than I'd prefer.  Now, the kid version of this seems to include sniffles, a cough, usual cold thing.  I have a virus too, but mine is world's worst fatigue, achey, hurt, sore feeling all over.

(Hint: It was so bad that I couldn't cook at all so gave everybody hot dogs, baked beans, and leftover brown rice for dinner on Monday.  The boys liked it anyhow.)   It was also so bad that any big ten years of blogging celebration has been scuttled.  Pffft.  Just like that. I'm sad about that, but seem to lack the get up and go to try to make a fuss.

Have you been reading this blog for ten years?  more? less? If so, say hi!?


It is now Wednesday, both boys are back at school.  Not all better, but getting better, and missing friends and school activities.  I, however, feel so limp, tired, and hurty that I am wary of attempting much.    I did gather this bag of three clean and new/nearly new knitted items and a whole lot of wool or wool blend yarn for others to knit up.  I want to bring it to the yarn shop to donate.  My stash is so deep that collecting this only took about five minutes, and I don't  feel I will miss any of it!  (wow.  That is saying something....)  I am even giving away some gorgeous lite-lopi (I love that yarn) in an electric blue that I just cannot see anybody being willing to wear.  It's a very 80s color.


OK, I'm off to do some more groaning on the couch.  At least it is quiet today, and I have the couch to myself.  I'm trying to transport myself back to that fleece washing day, where the wool locks felt amazing and I too felt strong and able....oh well.

Snow time and stash

It's here!  Snow time!  On Wednesday night, my twins were up half the night...which is not all that unusual, actually (yes, we still don't have good sleep, I am one tired Mommy) but the main excitement was the SNOW.  Yep.  We now have snow on the ground, and barring weird melting events, it is likely to stay there until April or so.  

This correlated with another exciting moment.  I have finished the first twin sweater of the season.  Each boy gets a new handknit sweater (from me or from their Didi --grandma--) each year, at minimum, and luckily, we are still fitting into most of our sweaters from last year.  However, this one was absolutely knit to order.  I used Rowan Felted Tweed dk, which I am not in love with, but all the "best" colors were on sale at the yarn shop this summer, so there you have it.  75% natural fibers (wool and alpaca) AND much softer than last year's Lett Lopi Icelandic wool, which I love, but which was pronounced too fuzzy and furry.  (they still wear it willingly on cold days, just with a long sleeve shirt with a collar underneath.)  I used a variation on this pullover because I have the pattern book and I did not want to design a whole new sweater from scratch!

Here are two photos of the sweater.  Due to the gray, windy, snowy day, I had to adjust the light in the images, even when I took them outside on the porch.  True color replications are nowhere to be found on a day like that!

When I announced that sweater #1 was finished, the other twin burst into tears because his sweater isn't ready yet.  He has ordered a chocolate brown with blue edging sweater, and depending on the moment, it will be a lightweight, heavyweight, henley, cardigan, pullover, with or without stripes. :)  Anyway, based on the gauge swatch, it will likely end up being something fairly similar to the one I just knit.

There are some special touches worth noting.  I've been spinning some chocolate brown wool while the boys play in the basement, and it is a great color, but the yarn is a bit too bulky for what I think this twin might need.  (He already has his fair share of heavyweight sweaters, regardless of style.)

So, I dug into the stash, and found this.  It's a brown handspun Shetland 2-ply, roughly 600-700 yards, that I spun on my Canadian Production Wheel.  I kind of knew where it was in the stash, and I used my blog search function to find out the yardage...cause I wrote about it in 2009.  Bingo.   I got the gauge wrong back then, or at least, I am going to knit it at a looser gauge now, on a #5 (3.75mm) needle...but when I found it, I found the perfect blue yarn to go with it.

Yup, I wrote a post that featured the perfect blue merino/silk contrast color in 2005.  There is something to be said for a deep stash!  I have sold or given away loads of yarn in the last 10 years, but these handspun skeins were saved and moved to Canada because who knew?  One day I would have a twin four year old who asked for this...

He stopped crying when I gave him his very own gauge swatch to race with...around the house.  (At first there was confusion over whether this was a watch, which both boys clearly wanted more than a gauge swatch, but whatever...)

I don't list my yarn stash on Ravelry (hey now, this is big.  It is nobody's business!), but I do have this blog.  This ten year old blog, where I've been talking yarn, and wool, and knitting, and spinning, and stories---for a good long time.  That is worth celebrating this month, as the blog turns ten.

Meanwhile, while I cherish these things I tucked away, I am also getting ready to give away a lot of woollies for our newcomers.  Manitoba is hosting 2,000 refugees, and they are coming soon!  I feel lucky to live among people who are opening their hearts and communities to those in need.  This article says it best....or maybe we could just open with We were strangers once, in the land of Egypt...?

Denise 2 Go giveaway

Remember!

In October, I am having an UNsale.  The UN (and many others) have asked us to step up to help the millions of refugees fleeing war right now.  If you buy any of my patterns or my eBook in October, I will donate 20% of the proceeds to the Canadian Red Cross Refugee Crisis Appeal.  The Canadian government is matching these donations...so it will double our efforts to help.  Thank you for helping me to help others!

---
Now, on to our exciting giveaway...

A while back, I was contacted by a kind person at Yarncanada.ca.  I was asked if I wanted to do a review of these new Denise 2 Go Knitting and Crochet sets.  I said yes. :)

Why?  I travelled all over the U.S., in Canada, and abroad with my handy dandy Original Denise Needle kit.  It has served me really well!  What do I think about it?  On a brief pro/con list...

There are many pros...and this new travel set is even better.
1) It's small . It fits neatly in a suitcase.  This new set is even smaller in size than the original, because it divides up the sizes.  The giveaway here is for the bigger needles, US sizes 10.5 through 15.  (Perfect for knitting several of my designs, including ones like Knitting for Mother Earth Cowl or Slippy the Cowl, on the go.)

2) It is flexible and you can knit on several projects at once, whatever comes up when you happen by a yarn store... with these needles.  The new soft packaging also includes a crochet hook, which is very handy for any last minute cast-on or finishing needs.

3) The colors are bright and cheerful.  You can see the needles as you knit.  This is no small thing.  Very good.

What's not perfect about these needles?
1) The plastic is a bit sticky with some yarns.  This is great for a beginner, it helps the stitches stay put.  It can be a bit slow for some fibers when an accomplished knitter is zooming along.  (I always ignored this issue, because honestly, if you have the right needle on a trip, who cares if it is a little slow.  Slow is better than nothing!)

2) If your knitting style involves some wrist movement, as mine does, it seems to eventually put some wear into the cord attachment.  In my case, one of the cords seems to like to detach sometimes now--after many years of use.  (I also do this to other kinds of circulars, so it is not unique to the Denise needles)  Solutions?  Buy a new cord. :)  Other solutions?  Change your technique...that's for me to work on in the future...

3) Last comment...sometimes, you might have two projects that need the same cord or same needle at once.  Again, you can buy extras and replacements.  This is maybe just the problem for people like me, who do several projects at once.  I've got a lot of needles though, and I'd suggest buying more if this is your issue, too. :)  I can never have too many #6(4mm) circulars, for some reason, and I need about 4 sets of #3(3.25mm) double points, but whatever, everybody is different.  This is why there are so many gorgeous needle sets!

I've decided to do a giveaway of these needles--to pass the joy along.  If you'd like a chance to win these, please leave a comment on this post
by noon CT, October 21st,
that allows me to contact you via email, Ravelry, or your blog (whatever works for you, but it has to work for me too!).

In the ideal world, please also consider buying a pattern to support the UNsale, telling your knitting friends about the UNsale, or making a donation this month to support refugees.  Winter is coming, and there are so many people who have lost everything...right down to their winter clothes and their knitting needles.

Thank you.

Super moon & more

Friday evening, I heard about how the moon would appear this past weekend, and caught a moment to look at it.  I saw this gorgeous sunset, and the full moon, bright and round, rose up, looking like the sun in the sky.   This photo is a poor approximation of it, but it filled me with a strange sort of awe.  Remarkable.

Also this weekend, I had this piece come out on the CBC:

Littering can be swept away, but regrettable social media posts last forever

Also, it was the start of Sukkot,  and my family was busy building and decorating our sukkah.  Here's a shot of what it looked like a few years ago; we haven't got a photo yet this year.  Since it was a holiday, there are several days without preschool...lots of time with 4 year olds but not so much time to post on the blog!  (or cook, or eat, or go to the bathroom by myself....ahem.  sorry...tmi)

I have some fun things planned for the blog in the near future, including a knitting needle review and possibly a give away.  Sound interesting?

I am also wondering about a way to help raise money to help refugees, which is such a big issue.  I'm pondering a sort of "UNsale."  It would be a way to purchase downloadable knitting patterns, without a discount, but some portion of the sale would go towards helping others who have been displaced from their homes and need so much, perhaps through the Red Cross.  What do you think about that?  I'd love thoughts from knitter readers--would you buy a pattern that wasn't discounted, but that donated a portion to a reputable charity instead? 

Finally, the Manitoba Fibre Festival is upon us!  It sounds like I will get to spend some time with the fleece display and the knitting relay event-- that is-- when I am not teaching.  Please drop by to visit if you're local!