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! 

 

Catching up

Since the day I started this blog, long ago, I have never let it sit so many months without updates...but it felt like I could never quite get enough time to come back and visit. Everyday things I love fell by the wayside over the last few months, and I am only now getting them back.  The first big news is that by the end of February, we finally had our new kitchen.  The one where we had to gut the old kitchen entirely, put in a structural beam, get a lot of plumbing and frozen pipes fixed, etc.  This bread would be unremarkable, except we went many months without homemade bread...everyone in our house is so "used" to having it that going from November until end of February without bread was a long wait.  (Of course now, Passover is almost here too, so no more homemade bread, but at least there is a kitchen to cook and eat in again!)

Literally the moment the cookbooks got taken out of the boxes, we were looking at recipes again, discussing what to make next, and getting excited about future meals again.

When the kitchen was finished, we could move the stained glass from the old house and hang it in the new one. Everyone felt relieved at the move.  We bought this stained glass when our twins were infants, and recently the artist who has helped us with the glass in this "new" old house told us that this window stained glass was likely from the late 1800s or early 1900s, and by the way, many of the types of glass in it were no longer available.  All the more reason to treat it with caution.

Getting through this time with no real kitchen, managing two mortgages (until the old house sold), a part-time job plus my freelance work, and of course, managing our household, twins and dog--has been complicated.  We spent a lot of time outside and I have found access to winter time activities  and exercise like an outdoor rink in walking distance and the (frozen) river trail--have been a great gift.

Walking the dog out on the river trail among art displays, skaters, skiers, kicksleds...it's an amazing opportunity, like having a new provincial park at the end of the block.  When the trail closed, the dog and I were both sad!

I've also been sewing, knitting and spinning when I can fit it in, although not with as much regularity as I managed before.  This winter, we managed to have twins signed up to three extracurricular activities in January and February.  (Chess club, sewing studio and piano lessons) In March, we continued with piano, tried out kick sledding--with and without the dog, and also kids had an intro to racquetball.  Later in April, we're starting again with chess and sewing, but at least there will be fewer snowstorms and -30C evenings to contend with while driving around.

Each bit of renovation that happens is a triumph.  When our contractor brothers opened up this back door area and renovated it, it was like a doorway to the past.  My professor husband has been slowly getting windows fixed one at a time, rehanging the window weights, and we have so far opened up 4 windows and two doorways.  (2 more windows to go, I think.)  Whoever decided to close off windows and doors in a long-ago renovation...maybe in the 1980s or maybe much earlier...really wasn't the brightest bulb.

Here's the re-opened back door area.  Below are two high up windows in our new kitchen...both were blocked off but one of them had actually been left open, behind cupboards and walls, to vent a half-bath for perhaps 40 or more years.  No wonder why the area was cold and the pipes froze in winter!

We also finally have a working dishwasher, which is a huge deal when feeding a family all winter.  We were not surviving on take out or eating out during this time...but we did choose to use paper plates during the kitchen renovation.  It was probably the most paper plates we adults have ever used in our lifetimes.  It was worth it though, there are limits to what one family can manage...even an eco-conscious one.  It's also the first time in 20 some years when we haven't composted at all--because our dog got skunked in September right after we started composting.  So you know, we decided to stop composting until we figured out how NOT to attract skunks to the yard.  If you have tips on that, let me know in the comments!

Knitting continued as kids keep growing and needing new woollies!  This is another version of my "Stripe Freestyle" Sweater- slightly upsized as my kids are now a little bigger than the pattern I published.  The yarn for this one was my handspun Cotswold and silk singles.  I dyed it as well, the yellow was dyed with marigolds and the red came from a nice dye packet.  I wrote about spinning and dyeing this yarn on the blog in 2006.  Some yarns just need time to marinate in the stash!  In this case, I obviously had to give birth to twins first and then wait 11 years.

Here's another fun photo of kids enjoying the art installations this year--this one was taken at the Forks. This sail turned in the wind while you stood on it...but it also served as a much needed windbreak on a very chilly day.

I'm now on to knitting yet another "Stripe Freestyle" sweater for the other kid and the fuschia yarn in the background will likely be a sweater for me, someday.  (It's on hold while I knit more for kids.)  It never fails to surprise me which knitting patterns sell lots of copies and which don't.  The Stripe Freestyle pattern is a slam dunk in my household, but doesn't sell many copies on Ravelry, Payhip or Lovecrafts.  No idea why.  In any event, it's been a mainstay in these twins' wardrobes for years.

 Finally, I'm adding a much overdue photo of the lovely birthday celebration we had back in January- I had a big birthday, in the midst of all of this. We were stressed out and it went by quietly.  However, now that we're "down" to owning only one house, things are somewhat calmer.  Still lots of renovations to go and some ends to tie up, but I'm hoping for warmer weather and more time for writing, designing and playing ahead.  

End of year summary…

Our end of year has alternated between shoveling huge amounts of snow and resting and playing a lot indoors. There's a big COVID surge in Manitoba so we're doing a lot of hibernating and no one seems to mind. I am thrilled by the snowfall as we are in a drought and every bit of moisture matters.  Still it requires a lot of work to shovel out several houses and that's most of what we've been doing these days.  (It was maybe 10" or 25 cm of snow or maybe 12"/30 cm, and we helped out some 80 year old family friends, too.) Needless to say, we all like a rest afterwards, as you can see from Sadie the dog's photo.

We seem to also take part in a lot of toy sorting and match box car demolition derby.

I've also been doing some occasional making, spinning, knitting and sewing.  I've just washed all these skeins of handspun and tucked them away for the future.

I got an email from Yarncanada asking me to let people know about a charity knitting project giveaway. 

Here's an opportunity to get yarn for free to make things for charity.  Please apply soon if you're interested!

I'm continuing efforts to improve my "me made wardrobe."  This is a wool tweed tunic, based on the 100 acts of sewing dress no. 1.  It's a great warm layer with pockets, which is always good. I got this fabric for $4 as part of the MB fibre festival fibre trail and Costume Museum's sale in September. It's an amazing tweed, it looks very serious at a distance but up close, is full of bits of very bright colour.  Hot pink, neon yellow and green, electric blue.  Very cheerful, and of course, only very special people are allowed "up close" these days.  (Basically, the professor, twins, and a dog!)  

I'm continuing to spin up some well-aged brown Polwarth wool on my Quebec wheel, and I'm also working on a simple sewing project...but a sweet housewarming project.  Six napkins in a linen/cotton fabric - the gorgeous pattern matches the new owners' future dining room to a tee.  I could not resist the fabric when I saw it, and I'm rooting for things to go smoothly so that these napkins end up in use on a dining room table soon.

I've also been working (as I can) behind the scenes. I've had op-ed articles run in the Winnipeg Free Press and the Vancouver Independent.  Another article ran in PLY magazine, and I'm still very proud of that Winter 21/22 Vogue Knitting article that ran on moths and how to avoid them.  It's not been world's best year in terms of my freelance life, but considering how complicated the pandemic has been, remote schooling, not seeing family, and construction disruptions to our home life, well, I'll take what I can get. In just a few moments, I'll be bundling up twins.  It's -14F (-26C) right now, and that's the warmest it's been all day!  I'm looking forward to getting out in it so we can walk over to a medical clinic to go get their second vaccine dose, and I couldn't be happier or more relieved to have access to this opportunity.  Thank you, science.

Wishing you a peaceful, healthy, and happy 2022. 

Transitions

 Note, I am posting from a different device, format may be wonky!

What’s happening here? We had a longer warm period than usual, but alas, all good things come to an end.  We harvested our last herbs and greens, and the frost came.  All of us got used to life spent indoors, although we are still outside a lot.  Temperatures below freezing do not keep us home bound! Sadie the dog is here, on the steps, asking about her walk.

I continue to spin through deep stash.  This is some Polwarth that came originally from Australia, but I bought it in a fiber arts business retirement sale.  It is well aged!  That said, it is spinning up beautifully on my Quebec wheel.

Every fall, a kid or two gets a sweater.  This year, I made another one out of Icelandic plotulopi (unspun.). It is light and warm, if not the hardest wearing.  We were aiming for colour blocking here, but then my kid asked if I could knit the original early 20th century tile pattern from our bathroom into his sweater.  Of course!  I sent him into the bathroom with his iPad and then I knit it from the photo.  I did imagine doing those rows in the bathroom, just to see the tile in person, but thought better of it!

To keep cheerful clothing around, I also made myself another jumper using the 100 acts of sewing pattern and Rifle Paper Company print.  My biology professor husband (currently on strike at the U of Manitoba, but that is another story) suggests I am now dressing like a herbaceous border. I ignored him. I like it!

Last, but not least, our heroic boiler had finally died and we are in the process of getting a new one installed.  So, for now, no central heat, and a lot of toys to tidy in the basement so the new one can be put in.  I am excited about this, although it is an expensive home repair while my professor is on strike…because, well, in Canada, heat is life!  We are doing ok with running two gas fireplaces, a little radiator space heater, and of course, I am wearing a lot of wool…

Recalibrating

I recently had an article run that explained more about where I've been.  As the pandemic has been a constant, (nothing's back to "normal" for us yet)  I've worked and written at night when I can, but there's been a lot of time spent on other things.  Here is a link to the article: Recalibrating our life route 

This summer is another freeform one, where twins spend a lot of time on creative play in the yard, reading, making stuff and even doing a little learning...with outings to pick berries, swim at a lake for a day trip, etc. I mostly have stayed home with Sadie the dog while the professor does the out of town offerings.  I seem to be Mom in charge of playgrounds, farmer's market, wading pools, and long dog walks.

I've done some spinning, knitting, and lots of sewing....made my own version of MC Hammer pants...and even a brand new bag, with zippers... for taking care of business on those dog walks.

I've canned some jam (natural outcome after all that berry picking!) and, despite our hot summer, managed to make a pie recently after a kind neighbour gifted us with an entire quart bag of pitted sour cherries.  She pitted them for us!  This, of course, is neighbourliness and treasure beyond measure in our household...local fresh fruit and the gift of her time!

The tricky bit? We love many of our longtime neighbours but the infill and a recent construction in our area - also more generally targeted as part of Winnipeg's densification efforts- has caused our house's walls to be damaged. The noise and construction is hard to live through.  We also live along a very busy road. The increased traffic that returns, post-pandemic, from the nearby restaurant patios and their drunk clientele, the high schoolers going out for lunch, increased bus traffic, etc. - it gets to be a lot of noise. 

Anyway, due to the disruptions near us and the third wave of the pandemic in Manitoba... (and likely, a fourth wave coming for those who aren't vaccinated...)

--this summer has been different than planned. Whew.  Now, the professor has a grant due, our kids are too young to get vaccinated yet, and we still can't see any of our relatives across the border.  (They're vaccinated, we're vaccinated, but the delta variant, the travelling, health issues, and kids too young to be vaccinated yet--make this too complicated at present.)

So, in the meanwhile, here are some lightweight organic crinkle cotton pants that I made!  Here are some jars of jam!

Here's to the summer that got away from me.  Now, like those GPS things in the car, we're recalibrating--and readjusting our summer route.

Popping by

This has been a long time between blog posts...it's not usual for me. Lots has been happening, but it's kind of overwhelming.  Like, when the weather finally warmed up, and we had a radiator pipe burst in the basement.  Like that.  

When each challenge has happened this year, we've worked as a family team and well, just kept our heads down and dealt with it.  Often, it means I'm doing home school/remote school with kids and dog while closed up in the guest room while the masked professor deals with a procession of tradespeople.  But, you know, now our pipes work, our heat works, our hot water works, our dishwasher has stopped leaking, and even the mice influx seems to have finally stopped ... lots has been fixed while we continue to stay home. 

 I hear some people take exotic hot weather vacations. (not us) However, it's a pandemic, and last I checked, there are still 250,000 people ahead of us to be vaccinated in our province... so we just spent that money fixing stuff.  Thank you, careful, masked tradespeople! Did each bit of damage happen for a reason? because of construction nearby?  Because of the extreme weather? Because that one little dishwasher valve wore out? Who knows.

In the work department, I've had some articles published, but it's not been frequent work. In one case, somehow the article's comments became like, well, a real tire fire.  I've been told by my Canadian friends that in Manitoba, people say "dumpster fire" to mean the same thing. When I say the words 'TIE ER FIE ER" --my accent comes out, straight from Virginia, with hints of my time spent in North Carolina and Kentucky.  It's slow just like when you're driving on the highway and see the huge plume of black stinky smoke.  Everyone ahead of you slows down to rubberneck and you're stuck in this horrible endless traffic jam. People are all aghast at the fire, which will take forever to put out and how did it happen?  And what kind of nasty pollution will it leave?  While the thing burns on endlessly and stinks. It's so awful that it's hard to look away.  (OK, now you can imagine how negative the comments were.)

So, I'm not linking to that article.  No need for anyone to go read those comments.  Hint:  it ran on the CBC and in this personal essay, I implored people to hold on, the pandemic's not done with us yet. I say this despite really missing my family and being so tired of this, we'd been lucky so far.  We were privileged, despite losing a family member in NYC last spring. The article ran at the end of March, and well, here we are now, starting the third wave. Just. Not. Over... yet here, folks. (Sometimes the true news is an opinion that hits home.  That's what people really didn't want to hear...)

While all this is happening, I am actively making things.  Sometimes, it's lots of food to get ready for holidays.  (We had a great Passover and spring break, and having a Zoom seder works fine for us. It's also awesome not to have to go anywhere and pack soggy matzah sandwiches for lunch...)

I've also been sewing, knitting and spinning up a storm as I find it a tremendous way to relieve stress right now.  I made a really large scarf out of beautiful red silk from Japan (a deadstock fabric remnant sent to me from Fabcycle in Vancouver) and a tiny bit of coordinating floral print.  I am knitting a sweater...probably for me, maybe a new design, but I'm sort of winging it so we'll see how it comes out. 

I finished the big new wool bathmat from Churro and Hebridean wool.  It's been a great addition to kid shower or bath time!

--Also, I was recently told by one of my twins that there was no way he was going back to wearing store bought pajama bottoms as the flannel ones I made were so much more roomy and cozy.  But oh, by the way, spring is coming and both twins grew.  So, now I'm sewing a pile of lightweight pjs in cheerful colours.  There has been some dispute over who gets which fabric. (pretty much all from stash or deadstock remnants)  I've encouraged both kids to realize that since they share the same room, they can always get to see the pjs across the room, even if they aren't wearing them.  This seemed to briefly mollify them!

I've also been spinning up some Dorset/Rideau (I think) wool.  This fleece was handed to me as a gift.  It's really soft and cozy.  The first couple skeins were ones I processed myself from start to finish, but then I decided to have the rest of the fleece processed by my favourite local woollen mill.  The roving came back clean and lovely to spin. 

 Alas, despite everyone's best efforts, this fleece still has a lot of field left in it. At each stage, there's lots of vegetable matter to remove.  I'm likely to still be removing it as I knit.  However, the wool is really something...I have spun it as a chunky two ply and it will possibly make a sweater for one kid or another for next winter (after dyeing it) as they are growing like weeds.

There's lots more to tell you, dear blog readers, but no more time in a day to fit it all in.  For now, I'll leave you with one finished pair of pajama bottoms  and our table, set for the first Seder.  It was great having my parents 'sitting' at the end of the table with us.  The table was really long.  Thanks to Zoom, it started in Virginia, and ended in Winnipeg. 

-And, because we live in Winnipeg, and it's mid-April, we're expecting another snow storm.  Happy spring time!!

Scenes from February

February has been full of highs and lows...much like this textured bathroom rug I'm knitting out of my handspun Hebridean and Churro yarns.  On the good side, full of love and busy times at home.  I had a couple articles run in the Vancouver Independent: 

Tu B'Shevat when it's -30

and Rejoice or slog? You choose

and I've submitted some pieces for publication in the fiber arts world, which will hopefully appear in due course!

We've worked hard to keep spirits up during some very cold weather.  My lovely professor bought us flowers from the local florist--while they struggled with a flower shortage and some challenging weather.  We had an extreme weather warning for two weeks or so, and every single day was -40 windchill or colder. No, kids don't go outside at those temperatures, and we adults and the dog only brave it when we must! It has finally "warmed up" in Winnipeg today to -16C (3F) with a windchill of -26C (-13F) and I just about threw the kids, husband and dog outside to get some exercise while they could.  --Note:  I did the first walk this AM, when windchill was -35C, so you know, I'm taking a pass on the second walk!!

I'm continuing to work on a new design when I can fit it in.  Some kind followers on instagram convinced me that my newest wrap looks a lot like 'wings' and a hug.  I'm working on how to name it, as well as writing up the technical details at night when twins are asleep...but hopefully will finish it soon.

I also keep sewing, and while you cannot tell from this crumply looking photo, this dress is adapted from the 100 acts of sewing dress no2 pattern.  It's a green herringbone wool, and it's cozy with a cardigan and wool tights.  I definitely made some errors there in the sewing department, it's not perfect, but I'm continuing to make myself clothing, so I'm proud of that.

We've had a lot of drama lately with keeping the household running.  The cold temperatures make for hard times when the car needs fixing, and our dishwasher line has been freezing pretty regularly. A regular service call for our boiler became a big repair, complete with a new hot water heater as well.  It meant keeping two 9 nine year olds and a dog contained on the third floor for nearly an entire work day so the plumbers could work--and almost $2200 CAD in repairs.  Ouch.  However, we never went without heat and the water wasn't off for long, and during a streak of days when the temperature high was around -30C, well, being warm was most important. 

We're still remote schooling, too...lots of projects in play, including our own virtual week of Festival du Voyageur.  (You know I can't pass up a good festival!)

What's not happening?  Those who follow me because of my opinion columns may notice--none of these have been happening.  Why?  Well, I still try to write them, at night, on weekends--whenever I can fit it in.  However, I haven't had any luck in placing them.  Some editors never respond. Others write kind rejection notes--but nothing is selling.

What's new? I've written about a recent Winnipeg city council decision to support a multi-use development in my neighbourhood which will knock down three homes-- each one is a hundred years old-- to build an enormous new building over three lots.  68 people objected to this, and only 6 people supported it (developers, lawyer, investors, and real estate agents) --but Winnipeg is allowing it to go ahead. (Developers and their money apparently outvote the rest of us?)   

One media outlet didn't acknowledge my submission at all.  The other (local publication) said they couldn't run something like this, because then it would open the floodgates to anyone else who wanted to write about these 'specific disputes' and 'local skirmishes.'

Past pieces-written, but never sold:  About the gendered power politics of mask wearing and making room on the sidewalks...and another, about how nobody likes to hear "I told you so"--even when certain pandemic related events are easily predicted by the scientists. 

Yet, whenever I'm taking it all too seriously, I'm heartened by funny 'art' installations around the house.  I'll leave you with our grassheads, named Bob and Squidward Squeeesh (formerly known as Qushy Gushy.)  Here's hoping for warmer times ahead.