6 Weird Things About Me

I've been tagged by Carole over at Crafty Carole. That's a first. Now, don't go thinking you can tag me for all sorts of other things. I'm not usually one for these things, really, but here goes... (This was hard, by the way. I hate having to think so hard!)

1. I can't (and I DO mean CAN'T) eat oatmeal/porridge. I've tried. I don't mind the taste. I appreciate the health benefits. I just can't get it down my throat. I gag on it. Custard, too. And mashed potatoes.

2. My eyes are two different (slightly) colours. One's more blue than green; the other's more green than blue.

3. I don't often eat sweets. Give me a choice between something sweet or something salty and I'll take salty every time (I even have a "stash" of potato chips and Cheetos at work).

4. I don't wear makeup but I love buying it. I have a makeup bag full of stuff that I can't really wear. It's not cheap stuff, either. It all irritates my eyes. But I love it.

5. If we're at a lake (and we've lived on one for 2 summers), I prefer to jump into deeper water rather than walking into the water slowly. For some reason, I get really nervous walking into the water. (Maybe I just prefer to jump into things??)

6. I have a touch of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) when it comes to multiple light switches on a single plate. They all have to be either up or down, not one up, one down. It used to me more of an issue for me, but I've got that one under control.

I'd be more than happy to tag 6 people, but I'm having a difficult time finding someone who hasn't already done this. To that end, I'll leave it open. If you want to take up the challenge, feel free to reveal 6 weird things about you on your own blog.

We are still not in the new place. There has just been hold up after hold up. We brought one load of boxes over and packed into the garage before the snow started falling. J&B are not completely moved up yet, so it will be another day or so before we can get in. In the meantime, we're twiddling our thumbs here (well, I'm knitting, John's twiddling his thumbs). Tonight, we'll go to the rec center once more as I have to work tomorrow and need a shower.

Hopefully, the next post will be from the new place. TTFN

Last Post from the Lake

Yup, you read that right. This will be the final post from this house. We are 99% ready to go. All we need now is word from J&B (the couple who are moving out of the basement suite) that we can start moving things into the garage. That will most likely be tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorrow morning, the computer will be disconnected and gently cleaned. That, of course, means that I'll be out of touch until the cable company reconnects us.

That's how the garage looks right now. All that's left in the house is a few dishes for us to use as needed, two sofas (one's a hide-a-bed), our bed and a few odds and ends. All in all, we're just camping here for tonight and, possibly (hopefully not) tomorrow night.

Until we're re-connected, see you all later. I promise pictures and more. Oh, while I think of it, I realize that some of the patterns on my freebie page aren't loading. I'll fix that when I get back up and running. Some of the file names got gibbled in the move across to the other blog and I just need to re-do them. It won't be a big deal, but will take a bit of time to do it and make sure they all work. At least, I'm aware of the problem.

Till then... stay warm, knit lots!

Update

It seems like forever since I've posted. There hasn't really been a lot to tell you. We've been enjoying our stay at my friend's home. Baths and laundry facilities have been greatly appreciated. Tomorrow, we will be back here; our move is tentatively scheduled for the coming weekend. For any of you living here in Kelowna, if you're willing to help (especially if you have a pickup truck), get in touch with me at the store. Believe me, it will be appreciated.

Anyway, that's not why I'm here today. I do have one picture to share with you. There should be more, but the inspiration for picture-taking just hasn't been there yet. Once we're settled, be prepared for pictures!

I decided that, since I'm the crochet teacher at the store, I should at least have a couple of crocheted items there. Sounds like a good idea, yes? To that end, I started this...

The pattern is Sirdar #8681. I'm extremely disappointed in the pattern. Don't bother even trying to follow it. There is no schematic of the shawl and the text is confusing to say the least. I've finally figured out how it all fits together, thanks more to the picture than to the actual pattern.

The yarn I'm using (working from memory here; the yarn is still up at my friend's house) is Lana Grossa (I think) Merino 2000, Cool Wool. It's 100% wool and it is a dream to work with. I'm working it on a 5.0 mm (US8) crochet hook. All in all, there will be 66 motifs. I have 21 motifs done as of this morning. I think this will be a nice store sample, don't you?

In addition to the crocheted shawl, I'm also working on another pair of gloves for me (out of Fleece Artist Merino Sock wool), 2 shawls as referred to in my last post and a variety of other little things. Like I said, just wait till we get settled. You want pictures? You'll get pictures!

Now, it's time for me to call my daughter. Today is her birthday. I called her briefly this morning to find out a good time to call her (she's in school and then has to pick up her daughter, so...). That's now. More soon.

Oh, Carole? I do have my "6 Weird Things About Me" post almost done; just have to find 6 people to tag. It will be posted soon.

So...

What's happening in YOUR corner of the world? Here, we're just marking time until we can move into the new place. Everything's packed that can be packed; it's too cold to do much in the way of cleaning (don't ask). All that's really left to do is to move furniture into the garage. Then, we just need some help to move it as soon as we get the go-ahead.

In the meantime, I'm working and knitting. It all helps mark the time. Tonight, I finished another Harlequin Cap from Elann.com. It's a child-sized hat, which will be put to good use by one of my grandchildren, I'm sure. I'll show you a picture another day. My camera's resting for the time being. (In reality, I just don't feel like taking pictures around here.. what can I say?)

I've also started (surprise!) a couple more projects. Last week on Chatters (see here), there was some discussion about lace and lace knitting. Wouldn't you know that that would get me lusting for some lace knitting! Don't ask me about the lace projects I already have on the go (like Icarus and a Myrna Stahmann shawl.. and... um... at least one other one); they're all packed away, waiting for the new house. I just HAD to!

Oh, which ones have I started, you ask? I'd show you pictures of the projects, but that would mean having to search. One of them is the Persimmon Lace Shawl from Knitters, Summer 2005. I'm working it in the same yarn as the pattern uses, Rowan Kid Silk Haze in the colour Marmalade. The other project is the Estonian Garden Stole from Fibertrends. I'm doing that one in Alessandra's Kid Silk, just like Rowan SLK, but not as pricy. I'm working it in a lovely rust colour on 3.75 mm (whatever that is in US) and it's a fairly simple knit, so far. At least, it's purl every wrong side row. The Persimmon shawl is patterned on both the right and wrong side, so it will need some concentration.

This week, we'll be staying at the home of a friend and the Persimmon shawl will accompany me. She's got better lighting in her house than we do here, so I'll be able to work on it in the evening if I so choose. I may even cast on for another Harlequin Cap.... just to keep the mindlessness going.

Oh, before I forget, John brought the neatest thing to my attention last night. It's been pretty cold here for the last couple of weeks and we're beginning to see ice on the lake, especially when there's no wind. Before we went out for something to eat last night, John told me that the lake was talking. I had no idea what he was talking about and all he would tell me was that I should go downstairs, outside and listen to what it had to say.

I bundled up and went out onto the deck and he was right! The water and ice moving together was making all sorts of sounds... cracks, pops, whines, squeaks... it was incredible! I'd never heard anything like it before. Today, we've got some wind happening and the ice has dissipated, so there are no sounds now, other than the water lapping at the beach. I don't think I'll ever forget that "concert".

In all likelihood, I won't be posting again until after we've moved at the end of the month. I will be online now and then, but won't take the time to post until we're more settled. For now, this is "see ya later"...

This and that

First, Robbyn, thanks for your offer! We're at a stage right now where we need to slow down with packing. Pretty much everything that can be packed up is already packed up. Now, it's a matter of moving some of the unneeded furniture into the garage. However, we still have three weeks to go before we can move in. We're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. When moving day comes around, though, we sure could use some help moving furniture. Anyone going to be around???

One week of those three weeks will be spent house/catsitting for a friend. That will help the next few weeks go by a little quicker.

Second, you may have noticed that my sidebar's looking a little leaner. All of my free patterns have now been moved over to my freebies blog and deleted from this blog. When new patterns are posted, they'll be posted there, blogged about and linked to here. The address? Of course... http://sntfreepatterns.blogspot.com

I think that's it for today. I have a feeling today will be a knitting day for me. John has to meet with his boss (who's in town for a few days) for lunch today. There are a few groceries to pick. Other than that, there's not much else for us to be doing today. Oh, other than hitting the pool again. Last time we went, we couldn't use the big pool as some kid had had "an accident" and staff closed the pool for cleaning. The hot tub, sauna and showers were still available, and those were all we really needed to use. Now, John's more than a little leery about swimming in the main pool; can't say that I blame him and I'm quite happy just getting into the hot water of the hot tub and showers.

On the knitting front? I did hear back from the designer of Interweave's Old World booties. There is indeed an error in the stitch count of the size I'm making. It's not a big deal for me; I had already adjusted the stitch count to make it work and it just happened to be the right way. I'll have one bootie finished today and will likely cast on for the second one. The Harlequin Cap has grown another couple of inches; it will probably be finished before the week's end.

I'm off and running!

Knitting, As Promised

I HAVE been knitting. Really, I have. It's kept me sane over the last couple of weeks. I haven't been doing much in the way of designing; as a matter of fact, it's all I could do to follow a pattern. Heck, I started this little thing 3 or 4 times. I lost count.

When completed, this, and it's mate, will be the Old World Booties, Green Serf booties. I'm making the middle size in a dark green Classic Wool. The pattern is a little confusing. The stitch count for the sole on the second size and the final stitch count for the foot don't work out. There are increases on each right side row, multiples of four, but the final stitch count at the end of the sole is 26 sts. That's not divisible by 4. I've emailed the designer to ask her about that, but have heard nothing back. I've worked it out my own way, rather than getting frustrated and ripping back time after time.

The other little project is another of the Harlequin Caps, found on Elann's website.

This one is being worked from end to end again. The yarn I'm using for the patterned side is Trekking XXL in colour #106. The solid yarn is Regia Silk. I don't know the colour number; this was an unlabelled ball I found in my stash. It's not a perfect match, but it works. Like I said earlier, a mindless knit. Just perfect for right now, when the last thing I want to do is think.

Once we're settled in the new place, I'll organize my knitting, see how many projects need finishing and decide on priority. For now, mindless knitting that requires minimal thought and light is the order of the day. Besides, knitting will be on the back burner for the next few weeks. We have a house to pack up. That's moving along very well, actually. The kitchen, other than those things we absolutely need, has been pretty much packed up already. Today, we boxed up all the herbs, spices, bakeware and those things we know we won't need in the interim. Apart from furniture, the kitchen is the biggest job. In a few minutes, I'll be packing up some of my office stuff, paperwork we won't be needing any time soon, stuff like that. The next biggest thing is moving the furniture (and that won't be done until necessary... other than moving some of it into the garage). And then, the cleaning. Fortunately for me, I'll be working quite a bit over the next couple of weeks, so John will end up doing most of the cleaning. It's a good thing he doesn't really mind cleaning TOO much. *grin* (He's definitely a keeper!)

I'll leave you with a picture of some of the insanity.

Yay!!!!

We went to view a basement suite today. And decided to take it. We found out about an hour ago that the suite is ours! We can move in at the end of the month.

It's the two-bedroom, bright basement suite I wrote about in my last post. The young couple (who have two small boys, one aged about 3 years and the other 7 months) living there now will be moving upstairs and we'll have the suite. It's got a lovely big yard with lots of fruit trees, about a block from the most popular beach in town and about a 15 minute walk from the yarn store where I work. As well, our favourite shopping area is also in the same area, all within walking distance.

The suite may have a drawback or two, but nothing we can't live with. Best of all, we'll have a private garage that we can use for storage. We'll need that. Now, all we have to do is get to the end of the month. And we can do that, knowing we have a place to move to.

Are we happy or what? Thank you all for your good thoughts and crossed fingers!

Knitting content tomorrow!

Big Sigh

Well, we still have no place to move to. The places we were going to look at the other day didn't pan out too well. We will be checking out a basement suite tomorrow. It sounds promising. It's a bright (according to the ad) 2 bedroom basement suite, appliances included, as well as an attached garage. It's within walking distance of my job and "our" shopping area. The price is within our range. I've already told John that if it looks good, let's take it on the spot. As well, on Monday, we'll have a look at a 2 bedroom apartment. It's a little farther from where I work than we'd like, but that we can handle. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

One thing that we've discovered in our search for housing is that there really isn't much available in Kelowna. John called all of the available postings for apartments and all had already been rented.

In the meantime, we're coping as best we can. There are times we both feel more than a little discouraged. Knitting, right now, has been completely uninspired and uninspiring. I'm working on a pair of booties (Old World Booties from Interweave... free pattern on the Interweave Knits website) for one of the babies (did I mention my neice had her first baby, a little boy, on Jan 1?). As well, I started another of Elann's Harlequin caps (reversible toque) in a toddler size. I'm knitting it end to end again (rather than starting in the middle with a provisional caston); it's mindless at this point. After the initial shaping at one end, it's just stocking stitch for 7", then change colour and knit another 7" before the final shaping. Mindless. Perfect.

That's about it. No pictures. Little knitting. Do you think if I go to bed and sleep, by morning I might find that this is all a dream? Not likely, huh? *sigh*

Short, sweet and to the point

This is just a quick update for those of you who've been following the saga of John's eyes. On Tuesday, he got the new lens for his glasses (approximately 6 months after his original injury) and he can finally see properly again. He's thrilled, I'm happy!

We're going to look at houses today. There are four to look at today. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I'll let you know what happens. Then, tonight, we're going swimming.

There. Short.

It's 2007...

...and I have a finished object to show you. This one was started, and finished, yesterday. Don't you just love quick knits?

I'm calling it "Triangle Check Woman's Hat". Really, it's a one size fits most kind of hat. It's knitted with Paton's Decor in black and Paton's Canadiana in a crayon coloured variegated yarn on 4.5 mm (US7)circular and double-pointed needles.This one is from the ribbing up, not top down.

You'd love to see a picture, wouldn't you? Well, I don't have one yet. At least, I don't have a decent one. As soon as I do, I'll post a picture and the pattern, which is all typed up and waiting for a decent picture.

edited to add:

Here's the pic... not the greatest, but at least you can see what the hat looks like. The pattern will be posted either later today or sometime tomorrow.

Speaking of patterns, I've got SnT Freebies up. All of the patterns on this blog are now over there. Eventually, I'd like to get pictures of each item up along with the pattern, but that's a project for the future. For now, at least, the patterns are there. I'll leave the links here as well for the time being, but at some point, all my free patterns will be posted on the Freebies site rather than here.

I have one other picture to share with you. Romeo, the house cat has decided he likes us and hangs around with us when the kids aren't home. He's been seen hanging around our bedroom, perched in front of the bedroom window where he can watch the cars come and go. Now that we've started packing... well, let me just say... cats and boxes... need I say more?

It's January 2. Today, we get serious about packing and hunting. Happy 2007 to all of you!