Here's another contest post for SP10, Robyn's group - contest#5.

Q: blog about what you do while knitting. Is there a unique way you like to cuddle up with your yarn and needles? Do you watch TV?... listen to the radio? A podcast? Do you drink tea? Coffee? Wine? Do you have to wear slippers? Do you have to have peace & quiet? Do you have a fave spot?

My most usual knitting spot is on the bus. Since I am vehicularly challenged (I do not drive) my primary form of transportation is Toronto's public transit system, also known as the TTC or "the better way". In the good weather, I often substitute my bike for the purpose of getting around, but I haven't yet figured out a way to bike in traffic and knit at the same time and stay alive, so I save the knitting for when someone else is doing the driving.

I am not a bus snob and so I bestow my knitting presence equally on my fellow transit riders on the subway and streetcars.While engaged in my transit knitting activities, I am usually entertained by the sharp staccato strains of multiple mobile-phone enthusiasts, who are all apparently compelled to relate to their listeners (and to everyone in a three-mile radius) the entire vast compendium of minutiae that comprise their existence in one conversational encounter at audibly threatening decibel levels.

Their strange music is often accompanied by a persistent obligato of contrapuntal shrieks and hollars from packs of adolescents apparently driven to outdo one another in both volume and excessively crude hilarity. These delightful diversions inevitably leave me contemplating the judicious application of sharp and pointy objects to the perpetrators, but thus far I have refrained from such antisocial behaviour.

I will knit sitting down or standing up, usually on a circular needle to avoid the otherwise inevitable precarious chasing of the aforementioned sharp pointy objects down to the other end of the moving vehicle. I generally choose to knit socks while in transit, but not exclusively. As long as the project is of a manageable size, it's fair game for transit knitting.

I have on occasion attempted to juggle both my knitting and a coffee-flavoured beverage, though only while seated, and due to a less than appealing experience, I don't do this anymore. Well, not much, anyway.

Nine times out of ten, while knitting in transit I am approached by someone who is curious and intrigued by what I am doing. Often the commentary consists of something wistful along the lines of: "Wow... I knit a scarf once, but I could NEVER do that!". In my self-appointed role as the transit commission's knitting-in-public good-will-ambassador, I gently explain that it's all really the same two stitches, knirt and/or purl, and the skills obtained in knitting said scarf are very easily transferrable to the making of more interesting projects, with only some patience and the aid of a good book or a willing mentor (easily to be found at any LYS and SnB gathering).

Often I am approached to give an impromptu lesson in some simple technique right there on the bus, as on the occasion when the grandmotherly lady swathed in a voluminous burka and seated just to my left had been a knitter some years before but had somehow forgotten how to cast off and therefore had a great pile of almost finished items languishing in a closet. I demonstrated a simple cast-off, slowly and carefully taking her step-by-step through the actions, while her daughter, seated across from us with her own young progeny, provided a simultaneous translation of my instructions, as the older lady spoke no English and sadly my facility with Arabic is rather weak.

Colour me Happy!

So I finally schlepped myself down to Romni Wools to pick-up my umbrella which has been waiting there for almost six weeks. I accidentally left it the last time I was there (for the training-walk/yarn-crawl on April 1st!) because I was tired and distracted by the pretty soft and shiny fluffy things and because I left there carrying significantly more than I had when I came in (I'm sure you can fill in the blanks). So with my senses overwhelmed (Romni is an experience that always leaves me reeling. SO much yarn, so many textures and colours all in one place), my hands extremely full and my body tired... it was pretty easy to forget on the way out that I had an umbrella with me when I came in.

Well, I have always said that things happen for a reason. I may not know what that reason is at the time, but there is surely some kind of purpose to all the seemingly accidental incidents in my life. As a favourite fortune cookie says: Life must be lived forward, but can only be understood backwards.

So while in Romni I decided to casually peruse their ginormous bookshelves, just for a pleasant diversion.

Really, I was just browsing...

Until I saw this:

Let me tell you that my inadvertent classically-trained scream scared the living daylights out of everyone in the store.

When I finally recovered enough composure to slap myself silly for not even thinking to look there in the first place (you wouldn't believe the contortions I have been going through in vain attempts to obtain this book), I apologized to the sales staff, the patrons, and everyone in a four-block radius. Then I calmly sauntered over to the cash register to claim my prize.

Gotcha!

My wonderful SP10 pal sent me these pictures of the beautiful Creatures of the Reef shawl she gave me.


Ahhhh... Better than 1000 words.

I'm overwhelmed with goodness!

As a true diva and a quintessential Leo also born in the year of the dragon (the ultimate acquisitive creature), you have to know I LOVE presents, particularly of the hedonistic variety. So my eyes have been popping around here at the goodies I've been getting from my SP10 Secret Pal.

Life and circumstances have conspired to delay the photo opportunity that would show off (albeit inadequately) my loot and her generosity. So this post is rather late in the making, and all I can offer is a humble mea culpa (though rest assured I have been profuse in my thanks via email).

Without further ado, I give you here the full pictorial essay of the bounty I have received from the sly "Unicorn94" -aka- my SP:

Package number one began with this cushy chenille. It will make a lovely scarf or headwarmer and mitts set for next winter. I confess that at first the yarn snob in me was uncertain about it, but if I'm truly honest I have to admit to a residual childlike glee for all the novelty yarns that exploded on the knit scene in recent years and seem to have vanished just as quickly. The diva/dragon/magpie in me still loves all this flashy and fun stuff.

This pretty pink stationary with a naughty black lace ribbon has a serious Victorian aesthetic, in my opinion. In this era of email and mobile phone I rarely get to write a personal note, but with this on my desk I am going to have to find more frequent excuses to practise a more genteel and ladylike form of communication.

Yummy coconut body-butter from the Body Shop! I'm a sucker for tropical scents and this delicious stuff smells almost good enough to eat.

But no need to consume the cosmetics. My pal has that covered too:
Okay. Can we just say here that if Lady Godiva had access to this chocolate decadence being sold in her name she would probably never have gone riding starkers with only her hair to protect her modesty. And in case you are so deluded as to think that box has anything in it, the contents are long LONG gone (though I shared them with DH because watching him enjoy edible treats is almost as good as sex).

I just had to share my good fortune and show off all these goodies so I called the DH over to show him too... then I saw the chocolate Matzos! I laughed so hard I nearly plotzed. See this package arrived just in time for Passover and let's just say that if you have to eat matzo for a week, it better be covered in chocolate.

More recently I opened a package from Cafe Press containing this and my morning coffee came snorting out my nose! (sorry for the image - I have no sense of propriety) It's a terrific mammoth coffee mug with the perfect logo! Of course, you realize now I'm going to have to shop for a whole set of knit-themed coffee-ware!

Shortly thereafter, package number two arrived on my doorstep containing yet more indulgence:

I've been very curious about this Austermann Step yarn infused with skin soothing aloe. I wonder if it will really make my hands feel good while knitting or help keep my feet soft... It's so pretty anyway that I can't wait to knit it all up!

My afore-posted craving for the patterns of Anna Zilboorg was not missed. My pal sent me this fabulous book of hat designs! Love, Love LOVE this!!! After pouring over this cornucopia of colourful patterns, I think I may use it even more than the coveted sock books.
My inner sex kitten purred when she saw this chic little box containing a vial of perfume and a pretty crystal pendant on a black ribbon.
I am going to wait until I unmask my pal to put photos of the two of us together in this lovely hinged multi-picture frame.
Because she also sent me the most beautiful hand-knit shawl in a deep blood red colour. I wish I had a good picture of it for you here, but none of the pictures of the shawl came out and I want to show it in all its glory. I will have to take it outside and spread it out in the sunlight to try and capture its beauty. (Dear SP - in the interim, if you have any good pictures of the shawl, please send them to me so I can properly flaunt it for all to see).

And after all of that, this beautiful card and the message inside actually made me weep.
Her warmth and sensitivity shine through all her communication and the thoughtfulness and care that has gone into these gifts only serve to reinforce that she is a lovely person and I will treasure getting to know her. I know this is the start of a lifelong friendship!
Thank you!

Runagogo!
April 2007 in review:
25.5 miles walked. 0 miles biked.
Whew! Has it actually been a whole month since we talked about this?

I have good news and bad news. First the good news: I am finally over the first 100 miles hump!!!

The bad news is that my mileage was lower in April (25.5 miles) than it was in March (30.5 miles). I just didn't get out as often, but I did pull off one great longer walk (6.3 miles) at the beginning of the month and that was encouraging, since in September I'll need to be able to do some 37.5 miles in 2 days.

I have to admit I really fell off the training wagon in April. I found it very hard to make myself go out and move. Except for a couple of days it was so soggy and cold and dark around here that I just became rather hibernatory and cocooned in the house as much as possible.

Add to that the huge emotional fallout when my rage-a-holic b.p.d. mother, who had been behaving much too reasonably and rationally (I knew it was too good to be true), just couldn't contain herself any longer and dumped a s---load of her baggage on me, at the same time an artistic director was having her panicked nervous fits in my direction, and then a couple of days later I had a huge blowout with my husband (who stepped on the very last nerve I had left and unfortunately I over-reacted).

Also, I was (and am still) digging through three years of receipts. I got behind in the winter of 2004-05 and then for the last few years I just shoved all our bills and receipts in a box, so now I have to sort it all out. It looks like a giant confetti maker threw up in my kitchen and living room. I still need to finish this and get my act together again with the recordkeeping on a day-to-day basis so that next time it’s not such a huge effort.

So all in all, last month was a tough one for me. I was shell-shocked and recovering my balance in the aftermath of three separate episodes of huge emotional upheaval while busy with some intense rehearsals. It's no wonder my immune system was letting me know it was not happy and it's a good thing I listened to my body, but I spent more than one of the precious few gorgeous days in bed fighting off a nasty little bug. I’m better now thanks to lots of sleep, ginger tea, vitamin C, and that Cold/FX stuff.

Another quickie post for SP10 Robyn's group - contest#4.

Q: What is the oldest yarn in your stash? Show us a picture, tell us when you bought it and why you bought it. Was there an intended project or did it just call your name and you wanted to own it just to pet?...

This stuff is Casablanca Grand Cable from Stahlsche Wolle, 68% cotton 32% acrylic worsted weight. It is at least 20 years old - the ball band says "made in West Germany". I bought tons of these at Simpsons (a store now long nonexistent) for 79 cents a skein (regularly $1.59). At the same time I picked up great quantities of this stuff in black, ecru, navy blue (what's left after the tragic garbage shute incident) and a burnt orange, but not nearly as much as I got of this saturated fuschia colour.

I probably have about 40 skeins of this fuschia stuff, some of them intact as these 4 are, much of it previously knitted (in the late 80's) and worn and washed and then dissassembled into balls and cakes which I pull out every year about this time and dabble with for a couple of months, promising to (finally) make something with it. As a matter of fact here's my current attempt, sneaking into the picture above.

There's also lots of Anny Blatt wool - worsted weight ("No. 4") in Royal Blue, Tomato Red, Deep Purple and Teal Green, as well as some in a slightly chunkier weight ("No. 6") in a Ballerina Pink - all from that same shopping trip, my first ever stash-building expedition. If I can dig that stuff out, I'll show it to you later.

What can I say - it was the 80's and my tastes ran to hot colours worn with black. And you know what - I still like them!

Yvette left me a comment on my previous post:

Stranded knitting? I'm not familiar with that term

Stranded knitting is the general term for the method used in traditional Norwegian and Fair Isle styles (and other intricate colourwork patterns)where two colours (or more) are used in a single row of knittting. Techknitter just started a series of tutorials on this subject with a terrific introduction. This type of work is called stranded because the non-working strand is carried along as you knit with the other and neatly woven into the wrong side of the fabric as it is being constructed.

Another good reference resource for anyone getting started with two colour stranded knitting is Fair Isle Knitting. There you will find lots of wonderful links to numerous sites offering everything from instructional videos, books and kits to really fabulous free on-line tutorials, and to phenomenal works of eye-candy in this style of craft-art.

Fancy Feet and Lacy Longings
As I am utterly and completely addicted to socks and captivated by my new fascination with stranded knitting, I am eager (ahem… understatement) to get my hands on Anna Zilboorg’s sock patterns. Unfortunately, my library has none of her sock books.
Socks for Sandals and Clogs is not hard to find, but what I really want is a copy of either Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey or Simply Socks: 45 traditional Turkish patterns to knit. The second is really just a reprint of the first, so either will do. In a perfect world, I hope to find someone who inadvertently got both of these books and then realized they are just different editions of the same. Otherwise, I may have to camp on AZ’s doorstep and beg for a reprint.

Meanwhile I am trying to distract myself with other projects – tricky as only accessories are on my to-do list for the present. I’m temporarily avoiding knitting actual garments of a fitted nature for a few months while I train for the 2-day 60-km Weekend to End Breast Cancer. As I’m on an exercise and health kick, it seems foolish to put all the work into making a sweater that will be too big (I hope) in a couple of months.

Hmmm… perhaps some kind of dangerously delectable lace will keep my mind off it for a while. I’m reasonably adept at lace patterning in garments, but I have yet to venture into the labyrinthine intricacy of a true lace-weight knitted shawl. Am I brave (foolish?) enough to attempt some Hyrna Herborgorgeousness, or should I stick with something simpler first?
Well, I finally broke down and ordered the Three-cornered and Long Shawls from Schoolhouse Press. This is a reprint of the near-legendary Icelandic shawl book by Sigridur Halldórsdóttir with instructions and charts for 27 lovely lace shawls and scarves knitted with Icelandic Laceweight or Unspun Icelandic wools and comes with a handy English translation for all the patterns by Marilyn van Keppel. I just wish there was also a translation of the probably fascinating history and shawl-lace knitting lore in the front section of the book.
Mesmerized by all the knitting books offered at Schoolhouse, I simply couldn’t resist getting Poems of Color — Wendy Keele’s beautiful book on the Bohus tradition. And then Cheryl Oberle’s Folk Vests just hopped into my online cart of its own accord. I was also drooling over Donna Druchunas’ Arctic Lace, but I might be able to resist that a while more (or did I order that one too? oh, dear – now it’s all a blur).

Someone posted a comment on my blog entry from last November where I announced my decision to walk 60km in two days next September in support of the Princess Margaret Hospital and the campaign to End Breast Cancer. The commenter's remarks regarding some pervasive myths about Breast Cancer contain valuable information, so I decided to post them for all to see (because though I am flattered, let's face it: he/she is probably the only one reading as far back as November 2006 in my blog, and even if someone did go digging in my archives, I can't see them going into the comments too!)

Anonymous said... Breast Cancer symptoms:
Common Breast Cancer Myths

The first myth pertaining to this disease is that it only affects women.

Second myth that is associated with this disease is that if one has found a lump during an examination, it is cancer.

Third is that it is solely hereditary

The next myth associated with breast cancer is downright ridiculous. Would you believe, that in this day and age, some individuals still think that breast cancer is contagious?

Conversely, some individuals foolishly believe that breast size determines whether or not one gets cancer.

Finally, another myth that is associated with this disease is that it only affects older people. This is not so. Although the chance of getting breast cancer increases with age, women as young as 18 have been diagnosed with the disease.

You can find a number of helpful informative articles on Breast Cancer symptoms at breast-cancer1.com

Meanwhile, I recently received this from the organizers of The Weekend:

Only 200 spots left!

Your friends and family have probably heard you talking about The Weekend to End Breast Cancer® benefiting Princess Margaret Hospital for some time and they’ve been waiting to decide whether to join you in this amazing adventure.

If you have friends that are interested in registering for The Weekend, forward them this email and let them know that the time to sign up is NOW because there are only 200 spots left!. Very soon, it will be too late for them to join us at this unforgettable weekend. Thanks to the incredible response we’ve received from caring women and men like you, registration for the 2007 Weekend is closing imminently.

Encourage your friends to join us today! They can select here to register, or call us at (416)815-WALK(9255).

Sincerely,
The Weekend to End Breast Cancer
Benefiting Princess Margaret Hospital

And remember, you can always sponsor me here or just click on the button at the right near the top of my sidebar the right.

It's really not too early to sponsor me, and the sooner you make your donation, the sooner the funds become available to the Princess Margaret Hospital foundation for use in crucial research and valuable support endeavours.

Any and all donations are welcome and appreciated. However, if it is within your means, please consider making a donation of $100 or $200 or more. As you know, people are more likely to make a larger contribution if they see that other folks have done so already, so your generosity will be contagious! And you'll get a nifty tax receipt to use next year around this time (something I'm sure we are all painfully aware of right about now!).

Fair-isle follies

I have been practicing my “other-handed” (ie: English style) knitting with the aim of applying it to some two-handed fair-isle, and I have discovered some interesting discrepancies in my gauge: Both ways are even in and of themselves, but I seem to knit obviously more loosely in my usual continental style than I do in the English way. This means it can affect the pattern prominence in a two-colour pattern. Apparently, in two-colour knitting it makes a difference which colour is carried below (if both are on the same hand) or in the right hand (if using the two-handed method). Either way, that strand will be (if only infinitesimally) farther from the work and a slightly greater amount of that yarn is used in making the stitches, and thus that colour appears to be the dominant one, and in general it’s advisable for that to be the pattern colour…

Meanwhile I’m drooling over library copies of Anna Zilboorg’s 45 Fine & Fanciful Hats and Magnificent Mittens and reading her “Knitting for Anarchists” (love it! love it! love it!). AZ encourages knitters to understand what we are doing instead of just blindly or blithely following instructions for techniques or patterns. She takes her readers step by step from the very first elementary principles about how stitches are formed through some of the most sophisticated techniques. As someone who needs to know why something works the way it does, I find this approach fabulous. Show me the underlying principles, be it a mathematical theorem, a logical proof, a musical form, or a knitting pattern, and I'm off to the races.

This is actually one of my personal peeves: there's something missing from the way we teach math and similar subjects. I was lucky. I could usually see the reason behind the formulas and knowing why they worked made applying them much easier, even (or especially) when deriving theorems from first principles. I was a math tutor in high school. I actually skipped grade 11 math. Well sort of. Instead of taking the class, I was teaching the material, tutoring a girl in grade 12 who had failed it the previous year. We just showed up for tests. And she not only passed, she got an A. Because we took the time to see what's behind the math and explain WHY the methods worked or WHY the theorems made sense.

Later, in university I was very tempted for a while to stay in academic circles specifically in order to teach in early undergrad classes in math and logic in this way. But music is a tempting mistress. When I found myself dropping a later undergrad physics course almost two thirds of the way through because it was interfering with rehearsals for a musical production, I had to acknowlege that without safe and effective human cloning techniques I just had to make a choice and the choice was performing. That was a tough one and to this day I remain an armchair scientist with my nose pressed up against the glass of the halls of academe. But there's no escaping or avoiding the performing addiction. It knows where I live. I can run but I can't hide. Believe me. I tried. And I am finally happily building the eclectic career and life I want.

Quick post for SP10 - contest#3 for Robyn's group.

Post a picture to your blog showing me either your fave pattern ever knitted by you - or your most hated project that once you finished it - you absolutely wondered "Why the heck did I knit this".

Here's my absolutely fave knit and the start of a long addiction: my very first sock ever! That's me last summer at Knitomatic just after I was taught by Haley (also the photographer). I'm the one with the squint and the idiotic grin on my face (Meaghan's behind me wearing her nifty quick shrug).


You really should have seen the look on my face earlier though, right after I finished the toe. I wanted to strut around the streets, chest puffed out like Tom Hanks in Castaway, bellowing: "I HAVE MADE fire A SOCK!" (Fire... meh. Socks will keep your feet warm and wool is even flame retardant so you won't singe your tootsies.)

Number one socks were simple stockinette made according to Wendy's Generic Toe-up Sock Pattern with Koigu KPPPM P115.
I have no pix of the finished socks but they were gifted to my mother and I can tell she loves them because she keeps them tucked in her usual chair in her home office to keep her feet cozy when she's at the computer or taking a nap or watching TV.

As for my most hated WTF was I thinking project - that goes far back in the mists of time to my first sweater knitting attempt (in the late '80s) and I don't have a picture of it, though if I dig through my old knitting mags perhaps I'll find the pattern to show you. The lovely navy blue cotton that I had knit into a sweater fit for Quasimodo became the scapegoat for my frustrated early and naïve gaugeless efforts. I had a full on tantrum during which I wantonly tossed the finished sweater down the apartment garbage shute. My inability to forgive it (or myself) complpetely turned me off knitting for over a dozen years.

But I'm feeling MUCH better now.

Please ignore the twitch.

"Gone, gone, gone, she been gone so long,
she been gone gone gone so long..."
Chilliwack - "My Girl"(1981)

Please stand by. We are experiencing technical difficulties.
We will resume our regularly scheduled posting shortly.

Runagogo! Round 1 Wrap-up.
Week thirteen: [25/3/07-31/3/07]
6.5 miles walke; 7.0 miles biked.
01/4/07 - Week 14, Round 2 begins with: 10k (6.3 miles) in one day!

NO this is not an April Fool's gag. That's my longest one-day walk ever since high school and it beats some of my weekly totals from the winter! I walked and walked and walked.

Yesterday a couple of local creative crafters and I went on our own self-directed training-walk/yarn-crawl. We started by forifying ourselves with brunch at a cute little LYS/cafe, then hauled ourselves and two 8-9 year olds (one boy, one girl, both knitters/crocheters!) on a 5 mile trek through downtown Toronto in search of stringy sustenance for the hands and soul.

Each leg of the journey was between 1-2 miles, then we paused to knit, browse, chat and shop, then we took off for the next purveyor of fibre goodness. I will post later this week about a couple of delicious yarn acquisitions I accidentally made on the way. They just followed me home. Really.

All in all I had a wonderful time. Having no children of my own (that’s if you don’t count the DH), I had a ball living vicariously through other people’s kids. When it was all done, and including the trip to our starting point and the trip home, I had put 5.15 miles under my feet through the day.

Then I came home and despite the blisters and sore feet, I dragged the DH out for another 1.15 mile in the middle of the night. So all told it comes to 6.3 miles which is just over 10 kilometres!

Wow. I am beginning to believe that come September I actually will be able to walk 60 kilometres in two days after all.

I finally had my bike tuned, picked it up last week and so far I’ve already biked 10 miles! I love my bike! I love to ride! It’s so empowering to pedal around the city and get where I need to go under my own steam. Literally. And it burns the best fuel possible - me! But - Owww! I forgot how many hills we have in this town. I live in a freakin’ roller-coaster! Aaaargh…. Well, as I build up the strength and stamina to tackle them, I'll be building the stamina to walk longer distances.

Thanks in large part to RUNAGOGO I have walked 74.80 miles (120 km) since the new year and I am ready to begin training for this event in earnest. That's not quite the hoped for 100 miles by April 1st, but still a very significant total for me, since I started from nearly five years of full-stop sedentary sloth. I should have the rest of my first 100 miles done by the end of next week, and I decided that I will not start counting mileage towards round 2 until after these first 100 are done.

So here I say "Thanks" to Rachael, Scout, Adam and Stephen for organizing this brilliant move-your-a##-along, and "Thanks" to everyone for the daily motivation I get reading your posts and comments. I am looking forward to pushing my personal limits in round 2 - perhaps I will start running. And this time I WILL earn that cool medal!

Making Breast Cancer History
in only 180,000 Steps!
The Weekend to End Breast Cancer:
Toronto - September 8 & 9, 2007
Walking 60 Kilometres in 2 Days
It may seem a long way off, but for me September is peeking around the corner.

I am a classical/theatre/jazz vocalist & actor, an obsessed fibre artist, unrepentant sock-knitting addict, and a chronically verbose blogger. A zaftig woman of surprisingly good health so far, I have spent 40-something years on this earth, most of them sedentary except for a brief period of physical fitness from 2000-02.

If you know me, you know what a tremendous undertaking this is for me. You may not know that in my family tree of genealogical medical histories you'll find the top ten tunes on the obesity-related hit parade, including assorted cardio-pulmonary diseases and cancer. My paternal grandmother was not a lot older than I am now when she developed breast cancer and underwent radical bi-lateral mastectomies. A dozen years later, she developed ovarian/uterine cancer which ultimately metastasized aggressively and took her life.

I am lucky that despite my tendency to Rubenesque proportions I haven't developed any life-threatening complications. But at 40+ I am at a chronological crossroads. So I am undertaking this journey from what is possibly best described as enlightened self-interest: I have some pretty good reasons both to want to build a healthier lifestyle into habitual behaviour for the rest of my life, and to raise awareness and funding to support people battling breast cancer and the research to end it.

I’ve already started preparing and training to walk 60 kilometres in two days (for those of you who think in imperial measure, that’s about 37.25 miles). Fear is a pretty powerful motivator and I am not ashamed to admit that I am truly scared. I am not worried about the first day - motivation and camaraderie will prevail...

I am REALLY afraid of waking up on the second day and trying to cajole my rebellious body to go back out there and do it again!

But that’s nothing compared to what hundreds of thousands of women face every year. Remember: one in every nine Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer - maybe even someone special in your life. And increasing numbers of men are being diagnosed with this disease as well.

I am walking to show my solidarity and support with these men and women, to help raise awareness and to raise money to support the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, an international leader in the fight against cancer and the largest institution in Canada devoted to cancer treatment, innovative research, and education programs. These funds raised will be used for ground-breaking research, moving us one step closer to a future without breast cancer.

Each walker must raise at least $2,000 for the cause, but I have set my personal fundraising goal at $5,000. With your help, I can meet and even exceed it. The money we raise makes a real difference in the fight to end breast cancer and to bring breast cancer education, care and research to those that need it most. Thanks to the help of people like you, we are making major headway with research initiatives, gene technologies, the availability of Herceptin, and in finding chemotherapies that are less toxic...not to mention hundreds of other break throughs!

I am posting this in the hope that you will help kick-start my fundraising endeavours for this vital cause by sponsoring me now. As you know, people are more likely to contribute if they see that someone else has done so already. Any and all donations are welcome and appreciated. However, if it is within your means, please consider making a donation of $100 or $200 or more.

Click here to sponsor me or to use the printable form to mail in your cheque donation. (SORRY, we cannot accept cash) so that together we can help to end this heart-breaking disease for good!

Please feel free to contact me via email or comments regarding this event or anything at all. Thank you for all your support on my journey and your contribution to this cause.

Wishing you and your loved ones all good health, happiness and prosperity.

MezzoDiva the Operatic Knitaholic

Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?

Robyn, our nifty SP10 hostess, has set up a contest for the participants in her group (apparently posting our SP10 questionnaire answers was contest #1):

Contest #2. Please post about your fave knitting accessory!
Talk about it, photograph it, explain how you use it, and why you love it.

My favourite knitting accessory is..... (drumroll, please)

Here's a hint: you're using at it right now...

THE INTERNET!!!!

(YAY! BALLOOONS! STREAMERS! CONFETTI CANONS!)

The internet is my ultimate knitting accessory. It's a resource that serves my knitting needs and enhances my knitting life in so many ways, I think it will be hard to enumerate them, but I'll try:

1. Inspiration - do I really need to spell it out for you?

2. Patterns galore - oodles of free ones (we are apparently a generous bunch) and lots of gorgeous paid downloads (as well as the extremely valuable opportunity for budding designers and self-starting publishers to disseminate their own patterns via e-commerce and thus develop their craft by doing it).

3. Fibre and needles and stitchmarkers... OH, MY! All sorts of wonderful stuff from knitting materials, tools and paraphernalia to knitterly gifts can be purchased, ordered, sold or swapped via the internet.

4. Research - techniques and tutorials, fibre facts, historical information, KALs and more, etc., etc.,...

5. Border-less community building - swaps like SP# and all the wonderful KALs and the myriad knit-blogger rings and...

6. Social Action - Have you seen how much goodness has been raised by knitters' good works initiatives? Go see the total (so far) at the Yarn Harlot's Knitters without Borders. Ever heard of StreetKnit or The Sheltering Stitch,... not to mention the many other like endeavours (as I said, we're a generous bunch).

BTW - has anybody done a comprehensive list or tally of the fibre-arts related charitable initiatives? I'd love to see that.

Runagogo!
Weeks ten, eleven & twelve.
[04/3/07-10/3/07]: 10.75 miles
[11/3/07-17/3/07]: 10.75 miles
[18/3/07-24/3/07]: 0.75 miles.

No matter what the calendar says, Today is always the first day of the rest of your life.

Wow! I just read Kelly Jo’s report of her return to active duty after health problems derailed her original plans – and her renewed commitment to 100 miles in 100 days on her own calendar. Go check out what she says about it. I’ll wait.

See? She’s so right and her attitude is most inspiring: it’s really not about any externally imposed calendar or any arbitrary deadline that someone else has set. There is no official magical date on which to start acting on your commitment to your own health, happiness or well-being.

I was demoralized because after proudly bouncing back from several setbacks, last week (number twelve) I just plain flaked (last week's total, week twelve = 3/4 of a mile!).

After that bout of vertigo I had a month ago (week nine: 3 miles), I got back up and put 10.75 miles under my feet both of the next two (weeks ten and eleven). Even with a sprained ankle (my own 17 year recurrent Achilles’ heel, as it were), I was out there treading the pavement.

But last week, I flaked. I walked less than one mile and I didn’t pick up my bike from the shop after its post-winter tune-up. I wallowed in sloth.

And you know what – I just realized that I needed that! The week before last was INTENSE. I had four days of incredibly concentrated creative output in rehearsals as well as another small performance gig and I got a pattern submission in just under the deadline.

So what if I fell off the wagon for a week! I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself. And I have already shown myself that I have the inner strength, grit, determination and emotional resilience to go the proverbial distance (even on that sprained ankle).

So I'm up to a total of 62.5 miles so far this year (only walking). I've known for a couple of weeks that I wouldn't make 100 miles on the hoof by April, but I figured on at least 80, and maybe get some or all of the rest on my bike. But after last week’s little unplanned holiday, I suppose I’ll have to settle for 70-75. And do you know what? I’ll settle for that. I don’t have to be an A++ student anymore. I can settle for a B or even a C.

Because I lied. There actually is a magical date to begin (or to begin again) and that’s today. Whatever your goal or desire, whatever change you need to make to reclaim ownership of your life, be it for your health, your relationships, your career, your community, or your spirit – do it. Now. Commit to the first (or next) positive act, the first (or next) block or mile, the first (or next) healthy choice, the first (or next) smile, the opening gesture, the overture, whatever will bring you even one step closer to your own purpose.

As a performing artist I have come to truly admire and respect those who can pick up the ball that was dropped: a good save is worth much more to me than a perfect show (and there never really is one of those, so get over it).

So I am gearing up and on my way out the door. Are you coming with me? I can wait until you get your shoes on.

Keeping my short-row toes crossed.

In case you are a new visitor or you haven't been paying attention keeping up, I will come clean: Hi, my nom-de-blog is MezzoDiva and I am totally obsessed with Dayflower Lace. (please insert the appropriate 12-step program greeting response here).

About 20 years ago I became addicted to knitting the first time, and for a couple of years I was hooked on the line of Pinguoin yarns from France and their pattern books. It was there I first laid eyes on what remains to this day my absolutely most favorite lace pattern. They referred to it as Campanula (Bellflower). You may be familiar with it by the name Dayflower Lace as it is called in Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury.

I'm addicted. I can't escape it. It haunts me. Whenever I knit other floral/leafy lace motifs, invariably they just do not compare. Sigh. As a result, I can probably knit that DFL in my sleep! In a (failed) attempt to exorcise (or at least alleviate) the obsession, I recently created a sock using the DFL and named the pattern "Campanula" for nostalgic reasons.

After much trepidation (do I even dare?...) I submitted the design to Knitty last week, sometime around 1:00 am the night before the summer issue deadline (which is why the early preview pix on my blog have been temporarily removed). It's my first design submitted anywhere for public consumption, so wish me luck!

I have to thank all my sock test-knitters - you all did me proud!

First was the intrepid and swift Lisa, who cut through her first Campanula like it was butter and whose eagle-eye found the first typos. She's no slouch, our Lisa!

After some initial false starts, Carol's Campanula came along beautifully and she was soon able to show some fancy legwork. Carol too found some eratta for me - whew! Carol also claimed she was a lace neophyte. (Snort.) Yeah. Sure, Carol. Whatever you say. She also has an unfortunate propensity to channel Bill Haley and the Comets (“We’re gonna lace-around-the-clock tonight…”), but we can forgive that because she’s so darned nice dammit.

I met up with (blogless) Shelna at Knitomatic's SnB a few weeks ago and we discussed some modifications. Shelna is an extraordinarily even knitter (domo arrigato, knitster roboto), but somehow her double decreases weren't coming out evenly: her SK2Ps were dramatically tighter than her K3TOGs, with the result that on one side the lace looked beautifully even, but on the mirrored panel the bell-flowers were looking rather drunkenly slurred. We replaced the SK2Ps with a K3TOG(TBL) to correct that problem. I was doing that on my newest pair of Campanulas and it's much more elegant, so I put that mod into the final version.

And last but certainly not least, the amazing agile Angela whipped up her own Campanula, caught a couple more of my pattern errata (when I could no longer see the trees for the forest), and tried out the sizing adjustment for me.

These lovely ladies all found my typos, corrected my mistakes, gave me oodles of useful feedback and challenged me to think through and justify each design choice. As I refined my pattern to make it ready for prime time, I incorporated all their input.

I am more grateful than I can say.

Everybody in the pool!

Ugh! The subtitle to this post should be: How to turn perfectly lovely yarn into some fugly crap.

I've been knitting a standard short-row toe-up sock a la Wendy J. with that gorgeous "Cha Cha" yarn I showed you last time. In the plain stockinette I've got 64 sts around (on 2.0 mm needles).

My poor little sock started to go horribly wrong very soon after I left the toe , but I just kept going round and round, hoping the pooling would somehow (magically) sort itself out.

It hasn't. I'm getting vast areas of stripes in white, white and black, and on the other side stripes in grey, grey and light blue (which looks like murky blue slush).



Here's the other side:


I got so turned off it last night that I put it away and dug into the Manos vest for DH (okay, so he'll wear it next winter).

But my mind is churning over the pooling problem: I need to find an enjoyable way to coerce this beautiful yarn into showing some better striping distribution. DH suggested working with two balls at a time, alternating every couple of rounds, but I'm not sure I want to go that route. Maybe I should try a wavy motif or a zig-zag pattern. Hmmm... True, I may be one of the only sock-knitters in the western world who hasn't yet made a pair of Jaywalkers.

Help! If anyone out there reads this and has a suggestion or has made something with this yarn - please let me know. I need ideas!

Instead of moping I decided to visit my fellow knit-bloggers for some cheering up. Sure enough, that did the trick. I found the perfect antidote for my petulant mood when I saw the following link over at Laura's. Check out this video: Gangsta Knitters.

Project Spectrum 2007
February/March: Blue, White, Grey.
Okay, Ma'am. Move along.
Nothing to see here.

The grey SRK Monkey scarf WIP is officially on hold. I'm just not feeling the fun fur right now, especially with it being nearly the official start of spring. Sue me.

But I definitely want both a pair of armwarmers or fingerless-mitts and a cozy earwarmer/headband in the soft blue-grey worsted Misti Alpaca. It's still cold enough here for me to need them for my walks. And so I have a pattern dilemna: I want cables. Nice and intricate cabling to provide density for warmth and also aesthetic interwoven beauty. I've tried out several nice cabled patterns, but the alpaca makes the cables blurry unless the ribs are quite wide.

I really should be working on a nice vest I promised to make for DH with the repurposed beautiful blue/multi Manos (colour #111). But again I am stuck deciding on a simple pattern that will let this gorgeous yarn be the star. I have narrowed the field down to two favourite plans: I'm thinking it will be either in Entrelac or maybe just a simple regular 5 by 2 rib?...

In case you couldn't tell: my Project Spectrum plans for February and March were rather severely side-swiped by my new obsession with fair isle and learning to do stranded knitting well. I've tried a few swatches (sorry, no pix) and I think I'm going to love this stuff.

But I need to get my technique in the groove. My knitting has to have an element of flow in the mechanics for it to be truly satisfying. It's a meditative experience for me: the action needs to be on cruise control, whether my brain is on vacation with a simple stockinette or analytically challenged with pattern complexities.

After exploring various possible fair-isling strategies and gadgets, I realized the simplest skill-based approach is best for me. You may have one that suits you better - no judgement is implied. I'm a big believer in whatever works for you and if it ain't broke... But I love the basic two-handed Fair Isle technique video tutorial from the Philosophers Wool website. In a little under ten minutes, Ann Bourgeois demonstrates with very clear instructions how to do two-handed two-colour knitting. After watching her carefully a couple of times the penny suddenly dropped and I get it. Really, I do. This does not, however, mean that I can actually do it. Yet.

Sigh. She makes it look so easy to do stranded two-colour work this way. But you really need to build up that double-handed dexterity since essentially the right hand is working English style (aka - throwing) and the left hand is doing the Continental aka - (picking). It's an equal opportunity pain in the learning-curve: whichever style of knitting you habitually use, you'll need to become comfortable with the other.

I'm a picker. My German-speaking Romanian grandmother taught me how to knit the Continental style, which is very ergonomic with an inherent economy of motion that allows for some very fast and even knitting. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that in recent years I have secretly become rather smug about being practically the bionic knitter (better, stronger, faster). Well pride goeth before a fall. Despite being otherwise right handed, I find throwing or wrapping with the right hand incredibly counter-intuitive: it just crosses the wires in my knitting brain and something shorts out unless I concentrate very very hard. My brow furrows, my jaw clenches, my palms sweat.

I am not finding it fun. It's a little like practicing piano scales (don't even ask!) with your non-dominant hand for the first time - while wearing stiff padded gloves. But I figure I need to become comfortable (dare I say perhaps even proficient) in English style if I want to embrace this wonderful method of stranded knitting and thereby avoid the tangled mess I get when both yarns come from the same side.

So I'm going back to some of my Project Spectrum plans for project ideas to work out the kinks with my right handed English.

February/March Project Spectrum colours are Blue, White and Grey. The SP9 sock yarn "ChaCha" from Perchance to Knit is perfect Project Spectrum material: fine fingering-weight Kona superwash merino in a handpainted silver-grey, black, white and icy blue. Mmmm... Yummy project spectrum socks.

However, I think I would rather start to practise English style on something bigger than size 0 (2mm) needles. There's enough potential for cramping without asking for it. I need a project with a lot of straight stockinette, either flat or in the round,and probably in a worsted weight to begin with. After that I will do a simple sock to really get the hang of keeping the working yarn tension without cramping up my right hand. But first...?

I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas?

SP10 Questionnaire Here we go again!

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I’m not a yarn snob, but I do prefer soft natural fibers or good blends. I adore cushy merino for socks, wool-silk blends for pullovers/cardis/wraps, soft cottons for summery stuff. Last fall I fell passionately for worsted Misti Alpaca, winter shifted into cushier merinos for cabling and marvelous Manos. I’m enjoying some of the new merino-tencel and bamboo blends for socks. My SP9 recently sent me some sinfully soft Karabella Chameleon (merino with silk and cashmere!) and I am seriously considering reversing my previous opinion on knitted underwear!

While I love a good FO, the tactile and meditative qualities of the knitting process are 99% of the experience for me, so I don’t enjoy knitting with scratchy yarns even if I know they’ll soften up after a wash. Acrylic leftovers from the 80’s live on in my stash, but I won’t buy them anymore. (Well, to be perfectly honest, there is some purpley/magenta worsted mystery-fibre stuff from a more recent sale bin – it’s got a pretty sheen and it’s nice and soft but a little squeaky on some needles so I suspect there’s a rayon or silky component combined with some acrylic). But it really all depends on the project.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Good question. Let’s see: I have a large plastic tube needle case with about half of my straight needles, the narrower ones. The larger ones are in their packages in an old Pingouin heavy duty plastic shopping bag I keep for nostalgia. My circulars and sock needles are in a separate smaller plastic Ziploc bag, along with my point protectors, stitch holders and stitch markers. I’m contemplating moving it all into a new and better storage system, perhaps by repurposing a picnic basket or a retro valise, but I haven’t found the right one yet. Oh, yeah - my cable needles, a crochet hook and Chibis are all in my purse just in case I get a mad urge to cable, fix a dropped stitch or do my seaming while in transit.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I consider myself a clever intermediate knitter with advanced aspirations. I am congenitally incapable of following a pattern without altering or tweaking it. I can be rather capricious so almost all of my projects go off on a different tangent than originally intended. But I love the process as they evolve.

I learned to kit in childhood from my grandmother - continental style with a long tail cast on which is still my favourite. But I REALLY got hooked on knitting twenty years ago (and was fatally attracted to the long departed Pingouin yarn shop in the great big downtown mall, hence the nostalgic shopping bag). However, after a very bad experience resulting in the furious wanton disposal of lots of perfectly lovely navy blue cotton that took the fall for betraying my naïve gaugeless efforts, I dropped knitting for a while. About five years ago I got an itch to knit again and it’s been a consuming passion for about four years now.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes - see the link on my sidebar to chapters.indigo.ca

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
I don’t like very flowery or heavy spicy scents, and though I adore vanilla as a flavour, it makes me gag in scented ambience or body products. I adore Sandalwood, Bergamot, Citrus, and Tropical cents. My current bath soaps are Coconut from the Body Shop and a Sandalwood soap found in little Chinese stores; my shower gel is Life Brand Coconut-Lime body wash.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
If it’s made of/with or wrapped in chocolate, I will probably eat anything. I love dark chocolate truffles and alpine milk chocolate. Caramel/toffee, nuts and coconut go over well. Other candies just don’t do it for me. I usually share with the DH, but when I discovered Toblerone in a dark chocolate, I seriously considered hiding the bar.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Though I haven’t done it yet, I have lately been more and more attracted to felting and hope to do some this year – maybe a gorgeous carpet bag and some slippers for the DH. I am also very keen to dye some yarn, and I recently got some dyes and bare sock weight merino from Knitpicks. And I plan to over-dye some yarns in my stash whose colours are making me less than happy at the moment (what was I thinking?).

I do not spin, although I admire those who do and I occasionally purchase some beautiful handspun. I don’t really need to acquire one more fiber addiction at the present, however spinning and weaving are both on my learning-to-do list... Of course, with wicked enabling intentions, my SP9 pal recently sent me a lovely hand spindle and some soft undyed blue-faced Leicester roving. So at least I have someone to blame.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
I like ALL genres of music, but I’m not much into contemporary rap unless it is non-violent, non-misogynistic and it has a strong poetic message. I can play CDs and MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
That’s a trick question. My favourite colours vary with my mood and the season. Mostly, I love the way different shades, tones and colours play off each other more than I do any particular individual colour. Right now I am passionate about the variegated effects of some Fleece Artist Kidsilk in a colourway called Cosmic Dawn, which flows through shades of charcoal, smoky purple, magenta, turquoise, teal, smoky green, and gold.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married, and we have no kids or pets – just one overly-anthropomorphized teddy bear (custody issues regarding the bear have prevented marital dissolution more than once). Actually, I am very much in love with this wonderful man who has shown the courage in recent years to manifest and become my soul mate, the inner being I recognized in him 23.5 years ago despite all of our mutual baggage.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves, hats, mittens. I also wear capes, but not ponchos. I’m rather zaftig (size 22-24) and only 5’3, so ponchos are not a flattering shape. But capes work well.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I’m a SOCKAHOLIC. I used to suffer from single sock syndrome, but Socktoberfest and recent experiments in design motivated me to make up the pairs and cured that disorder. I enjoy knitting tunics, tank-tops, cardigans, wraps, scarves, armwarmers. I’m considering a skirt or two this year. I haven’t been into purses, but lately I’m craving a nice large felted gag with some intarsia (which I also avoid). I’m also hoping to do a lace shawl, which I haven’t done yet.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I am knitting a few different socks, some armwarmers, a couple of scarves/wraps. Body-fitting garment projects are on temporary hiatus pending further progress with current fitness-and-weightloss endeavours.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Well, Duh! YEAH. Yep. Yes. Uh huh... Seriously, does anyone really NOT like to receive handmade gifts? Okay, perhaps an unfortunate handmade gift experience in childhood has scarred some people, but that should be easy to remedy.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I usually gravitate to circular needles, though I use all of the above except for plastic which irritates me. It depends on the project, the fiber and my mood. Whatever works best for the present needs.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
A ball winder followed me home last fall. No swift yet – just the human (me or DH) kind.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
What decade is this?

18. What is your favorite holiday?
My birthday, but any holiday that results in gifts and cake makes me happy.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
These days it's all about yarn, needles and patterns. I am trying to avoid going overboard, but not very successfully. Knitting has become my drug of choice. I suppose there are worse addictions.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? See my chapter.indigo.ca wishlist (it's linked on the sidebar).

I used to subscribe to Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting, but now I just buy them at Knitomatic – the owner is terrific and so I want to support her business as much as I can.

I am pining for Anna Zilboorg’s sock patterns. Unfortunately, my library has none of her sock books. Socks for Sandals and Clogs is not hard to find, but what I really want is a copy of either Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey or the reprint of that which is called Simply Socks: 45 traditional Turkish patterns to knit.

I'm intrigued by the new Addi lace circulars with the red cord and clear-coated bronze tips. I have some of the size 2.5mm in 32" length, and will try using them for magic loop socks. Then, if I like them, I will probably get some of the other sizes in longer lengths for fair-isle and lace projects.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I am a stranded-knitting neophyte just starting my first stranded project – a headband ear-warmer. I previously avoided multi-colour knitting unless it was conveniently printed or painted onto a single continuous string for me. Determined to lose my fair-isle virginity, I joined the Fair Isle February KAL and though I did no actual stranded knitting in February, I embarked on full immersion fair-isle studies. There are more than a dozen books I am pouring over, with several still in transit from the library.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
See answer to #12. And did you notice my blog url? it’s “sockit-tome”. My feet are size 8.5 and I have rather wide ankles due to several bad sprains in previous years. I don’t have more specific measurements: I knit my socks toe-up so I just try then on as I go and adjust accordingly.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
I am a true Leo, born on the first day of August in the Chinese year of the Dragon, among the last of the post-WW2 baby-boomers.
I was born on the day the final Looney Tune, "Senorella and the Glass Huarache", was released (before Warner Brothers cartoon division was shut down by Jack Warner). Coincidence? I think not.

Promises, promises.

Despite my best intentions to show off all the lovely SP9 loot I received from Laura, the swag didn’t have a close encounter with my digital camera for weeks! In my defense, there have been few days of coincidental good light and image capturing opportunity. But that’s a poor and shoddy excuse for not sharing her exquisite taste and generosity with all the bloggerly inclined.

We eventually had our photo-shoot last week and then I was knocked down with the whole room spinning thing... excuses, excuses... I will now (finally) post a detailed pictorial spread to tantalize you with the exquisite stuff she sent me. Feel free to drool and turn green with envy.



I opened my first package to find a gorgeous box-board valise decorated with images of exotic clay pottery. Inside were exquisite goodies, starting with this skein of luscious handpainted merino-mohair, a.k.a. Schaefer Yarn's Anne.



Along with that, there was a very heavy overstuffed box of Evelyn's hand-dipped chocolate truffles - sorry, no pix, they are long long gone (terrific boozy ones - all the important food groups were covered). And last but not least the Classic Elite book 9075 Luxe, which contains the pattern for my coveted curvy cabled cardigan!



My next package arrived near the end of January (and yes I did send a thank you note at the time). This box was practically overflowing with fibre goodness and various indulgences. Let's see with the whole shebang, then I'll break it down for you.



First the yarns. She sent me some gorgeous handpainted merino from Chewy Spaghetti AND two skeins of what might have become my new favourite thing in the whole world (if I could find more of it, which I doubt - I think it's discontinued): Karabella Chameleon, a dk/light-worseted merino with 20% silk and 10% cashnmere. Seriously - this stuff really might make me change my mind about knitted underwear. Sooooo soooooooft.



There was yummy pampering body scrub and body butter from the Body Shop in a tropical fruity scent. Also shown here is the card I received with a photo of her lovely baby girl. Since it's a partial nude, it goes here in the bath and body segment. I call this masterpiece "Becky-in-a-Bag."



A box of fancy sea-creature organic Belgian chocolates and a fabulous assortment of teas, as well as an appropriately titled book of decadent recipes (I gained 10 pounds just leafing through it!)



And last but not least some nifty polar bear stitch markers, travel size Soak samples, as well this lovely soft undyed wool roving (blue-faced leicester) and a truly beautiful hand spindle.



She's evil! Seriously - if I'd been paying more attention I would definitely have nominated her for a best pal award. Since I'm a SP newbie, I suppose she'll just have to settle for my deepest thanks and delight for spoiling me irredeemably rotten.

Runagogo! Week number nine.
A setback. I am unbalanced.

[25/2/07-03/3/07]: 3 miles.
40.5 miles down. 59.5 more to go.

This week’s obstacles included major menstrual cramps and headaches (though no migraine), snow storms and freezing rain, and then a three-day bout of vertigo.

Vertigo. It’s as though the room around me is spinning while my body is stationary. With my eyes shut, it feels like I’m spinning or moving; when they’re open, my environment seems to whirl counterclockwise past my field of vision. The symptoms are triggered by movement, worst when rolling over in bed, looking up, or bending over. When I’m not feeling worried or scared, it’s actually quite a fascinating phenomenon.

Given that, I’m satisfied with the 3 miles I did manage this week. It means I am just under sixty miles from the goal. With just four weeks left to April 1, I would need to get in 15 miles a week, so I might not get there after all. But I am farther along than I would be if I hadn’t started this walking project. And it doesn’t really end in April. This is just the start of a lifetime commitment to get up and move!

Meanwhile, I suppose it all depends on whether (or how soon) the vertigo goes away. It has diminished today, allowing me to finally get out for a short walk, but symptoms returned after we’d gone 1.5 miles so that became the finish line. And yes, if it persists I will go to see a doctor early next week. Actually, I’ll go even if the symptoms pass. Just to check things out.

Fair Isle Virgin now Smitten with Stranded

I'm still a bit behind - just starting my first project - but I am really loving the learning and planning stage and will be happily stranded on from now on. Fair Isle February Forvever!!!

Currently, I am enjoying full immersion in fair-isle studies. There are more than half a dozen books I am pouring over, with at least as many still in transit from the library. Here's just a taste of what's filling my head with visions of delight these days: