best laid plans...

You woulda thought that with a trip to Ireland, the annual Jane Austen weekend in the Rockies and other odds and sods over the months that I would had lots to talk about. I did... but I was too busy and too lazy to write. I certainly wasn't too busy to knit. In fact, my time in Ireland produced one cashmere shawl (oh yeah, cashmere) and two pairs of socks.

My visit to my Heartland was a little different this time round. I was to meet up with my best bud and spend a month together wandering around sharing our favourite places while enjoying a Guinness or ten! Excited doesn't come close to what we were feeling. All the planning in the weeks prior to boarding was half the fun... and then things changed.

As they say... best laid plans! Arrived in Dublin a day late due to weather (this brought about ample airport/flying shawl knitting) but my Bud wasn't able to meet me as scheduled due to business. For that matter, her work kept her busy for nearly two weeks. Yay for knowing my way around and my other friends who took care of me. But it wasn't what we had planned. Didn't have a car rented cuz my Bud had that covered so was 'trapped' with bus or train travel. I was good with that. Shawl done and socks started while waiting and wandering. Knitting in St. Stephen's Green was a delight... so says the knitty geek!

I love my Heartland but I was missing my dear one... and then she got sick and everything changed. Best laid plans indeed for she flew home because of her illness yet there was still two more weeks before I was going home. Oh, did I feel sorry for myself and in that self-pity... frenetic knitting ensued. If I kept knitting I wouldn't have to time to do the "what if's".  But in that knitting, the mind cleared up. I mean, for feck's sake, I was in Ireland.  I WAS IN IRELAND... the place where my heart was first healed... so stop moaning about what could have been and move on!!

Best laid plans indeed but sometimes plans do change. It's how we deal with the  change that determines one's mettle. So along with making new friends, eating my fair share of fish n' chips, drinking up the Bulmer's and hanging round museums, Irish Film Fleadh, Titanic Exhibit and pub knitting... yup, I managed my change of plans and good craic was had by all.

love 'n such

A stolen afternoon from work and no guilt here! Oh, it's standing at the door but I sure ain't letting it in for a cup of tea!

I have more on my plate in my personal life than my work life but isn't that always the way for everyone? So, while I have a wee lull in my work world... time to catch up in my real world. Lots of knitting projects to do and... ack... already trying to plan out the Christmas knit list. 

STOP!!! Don't get ahead of yourself girl... relax and finish the summer knits. 

There's a wedding to attend in three weeks and only 1/3 of the project completed... travel over The Pond in five weeks and haven't even started the two gifts let alone finish the lace pullover I want to take for myself. Do I plan too big? Knit too slow? I know I'm a polygamous knitter but being bored with one knit atta time is NOT an option. 

To take the whole summer off would be a delight. Not just for traveling or knitting up a storm but to do more things in my fair city. I love Edmonton and all that it offers... the festivals, the markets, the food trucks, the parks... I could go on and on. Suffice it to say I want to be able to give back in some form to the city that has given much to me. I know, a wee bit sappy but it's true. Oh to combine giving back with knitty goodness... oh, the mind is scheming, I mean planning already... Yarn Art anyone?

I'll leaving the over-active mind whirling away in the background but in the mean time, back to the gifts and knitting in the warmth of the sun with my cup of tea!

Labour of Love...

Remember the dreaded scarf project that when on and on, forever and ever? Well, The Boy has his treasure. His grin says it all and I just can't stop grinning and happy clapping. Yup, we're both nerds and we love it.

While I never really complained about knitting this lil' treasure... it was a long, boring, tedious, never ending, what have I gotten myself into knit... but I never really complained!

Like life... there are things we do that at times we wonder why we even bothered. We're living in an age of instant gratification... all those devices that make every connection immediate. Why bother doing anything that takes longer than a minute to produce?

While I do love that texting thing... there is something to be said for the Slow Movement ideals... the end product makes every moment of the journey worth its while. Now I must remember to remind myself of this on all my big and small heart-made treasures.

And I still can't help but giggle and happy clap whenever I look at The Boy's grin... Just don't ask me to knit another...

start the day right...

So I got me a broken molar... this makes for a very cranky and a very short attention spanned knitter.  I started up a wee shawlette but after 2 days of evening knitting it's not done yet. Then started up a cotton bath-mat from Jane Austen's Sewing Book for a change of pace and after one day of evening knitting it's not done yet. This sore jaw is really cramping my style. As I reached for my luke warm coffee knowing that a stronger bevie on Sunday morning would be all wrong, I knew what I had to do. Knit up a coffee cosy and not just any coffee cosy... a Guinness Coffee Cosy...  for mornings when you really want something more than coffee. In the mean time, I'll grab me some pain killers and get back to that bath-mat.

Guinness Coffee Cosy
White and Brown Worsted Weight
Size 4 or 5mm Double Points (Depends on the size of your mug)
2 stitch markers
KEY
K- Knit
P- Purl
K2T- knit 2 together
PM- place marker

In White, cast on 54 st. Join in round.
Round 1- K1, P1 to end of round
Round 2- P1, K1 to end of round.
Round 3 - 6 Continue with moss stitch
Change to brown
Round 7- Knit
Round 8- Place marker, K2T, K 25, PM, K2T, K 25
Round 9-12, Knit
Round 13- K2T, k to marker, K2T, knit to end of round
Round 14-17, Knit
Round 18- Repeat R13
Round 19-21, Knit
Round 22- Repeat R13
Round 23-25- Knit
Round 26- Repeat R13
Round 27- K1, P1 to end of Round. Repeat K1, P1 ribbing for total of 5 rounds.
BO loosely. Fits comfortably over a large travel mug.
Sláinte!

Perseverance...

It's near the end of January 2012... where has the year gone already? With all the Christmas marathon knitting that occurred in December, January seemed a bit un-frenetic! That doesn't mean there wasn't anything happening. January became the perfect month to finish a very long project... long in that it was started in Feb '11 and long that this project was the infamous Doctor Who Scarf finishing at 14 feet. 


Now why, do you ask, would one want to be knitting the Doctor Who Scarf? I mean, it's nothing fancy- no cables or lace work, ordinary colours, from the old Doctor series. Why indeed? It was a labour of love for an adopted nephew who has since become enamored with The Doctor. Perseverance indeed!! 


Perseverance is required for a lot of things... relationship building, fighting illness, weight loss, renovations... anything worth having takes time to achieve. Anything worth achieving takes time. We must persevere through the bad for only then can we truly appreciate the good. Investing in ourselves and others is the kindest and truest of all achievements. I just need to remember this when I fuss about my weight...