World's Best Sockpal

I have the world's best sockpal. No question. I got 2 pairs of socks (2! 2!) and 70% Cocoa German chocolate. I know my wonderful sock pal's name...but it's on the envelope, which is on the bookcase, which is far away from the couch where I am prostrate with pain from a nerve they nicked during an injection. Therefore pictures and more specific thanks will have to wait for a little bit. The socks are gorgeous though, and one pair is made from Regia Canadian Colors! (they spell it the American way). My socks are still waiting to go out due to technical difficulties, but they are travelling with a horde of goodies to make up for lateness. It's silly, because the socks were done a week before they were supposed to be sent out. A combinatin of pay-cheque waiting, stat holidays, and boyfriend work schedules made it impossible for them to go out before now, but very soon.

Quilt Help

These are all the colour variations of the queen-size quilt I'm making. Please help me decide which you like best! My favourite is "C" or the third one, which has a chromatic outwards spiral. However, if you feel another is nicer let me know!

Posting will be slowing

Posting is going to slow down a bit, because I have a lot of hard physical work at the Fort, and that doesn't fit well with the stomach-problem-no-one-has-solved. I need to rest lots after work so that I don't get sick, and so I can stop losing weight (7 lbs in 2 weeks!!!). Because I've been resting, there's been very little knitting and sewing. My only news is that I went to my hot and stuffy graduation, but had a lovely lunch and dinner with my family, and suffered a wicked migraine yesterday.

It's very hot here, with a humidex of 29C (for anyone who doesn't know, the humidex is the actual outside temperature that your body feels, which is higher than the air temperature). People sometimes think of the humidex as the summer equivalent of wind chill, which it isn't. Wind chill is an indication of how much faster heat and water will dissapate from human skin - only exposed skin will feel colder, and it can freeze faster. However, the temperature outside is still the listed temperature and not the windchill. If the temperature is -30C, exposed skin will freeze in less than 5 minutes, but if it's windy, you may see a "-40C Windchill" on top of the -30C. This means that exposed skin FACING THE WIND will freeze in less than one minute, the time in which it would freeze if the day was -40C with no wind. The temperature is still -30C, but your exposed skin facing the wind will behave as if it is -40. This is why some provinces use a windchill factor number (a sever windchill is 2800) to better explain the phenomenon, instead of giving a temperature.

Humidity in the air actually raises the air temperature, but thermometers only measure the dry air temperature (don't take my word for this, this is based on my memory of a book by David Phillips) - therefore the weather service takes into account the amount of humidity in the air, refers to a table, and finds out what temperature it actually is. Dry heat feels less "suffocating" than humid heat, which often irritates asthma and allergies like it is today.

Quick Update...

Just a quick update before work. I'm making a One-Skein Wonder out of Noro Silk Garden to (hopefully) wear with my dress for grad, right now I'm frantically trying to book a portrait appointment so that I can get my photos done with the regalia (since it goes back on Saturday after the grad).

I also still have to hem my dress and add the buttons and button holes. Eeek!

I'm a finalist!

In the ABC-along "I" contest, I've become a finalist! The other entries are also fantastic and touching. I'm absolutely thrilled, of course. My entry is here. I really love the picture. I took it when I worked at Blue Lake Provincial Park. We needed some nice close-up pictures of different plants we could turn into slides, so I took our new digital camera (which had a close-up setting - I'm eventually going to upgrade mine when I'm working full time) and took pictures of all the wonderful things I found. This Indian Pipe picture was one of them.

Feel free to vote for me of course ;), but the other finalists are wonderful too. Check them all out!

Oh and Linz, yes I did beat you to Norweigeian Purl....but I give all credit to you! You were completely my inspiration to break through and try true continental. When looking at videos of both regular continental purl and Norweigeian purl, I actually thought that Norweigeian (man, that word is hard to spell and I'm fairly certain that I've done it wrong) looked more like something that would suit me. It was a little complicated to learn at first, but then it seemed to become much better and I think I really have the hang of it. The biggest complication was actually finding a new way to hold DPN's! I don't reccomend learning Continental on DPN's, use straights instead, because you can grip the needles in almost the same way as you do in English. Overall though, the socks are going fairly well.

J is for...

Jenny! My wonderful friend Jenny. We met at SJR (my high school for Grade 11 and 12) in the infirmary, where we bonded over our mutual health-misfortunes. In Grade 12 we had lots of fun by meeting on Saturdays and window-shopping at St. Vital, then going back to her place and making fun meals (mmmmmm....asparagus cream soup and indian potato-cheese omlettes) and watching TV until her parents came home and gave me a ride back to the school. We still get together at least once a year, doing fun things like sliding and shopping and swimming. She's one of my trifecta of best friends (hee hee, trifecta) and I miss her since she's moved to Toronto for university.

New things

1. I sunburned my nose and cheekbones at work the last few days while hiking at Kakabeka Falls and working on-site.

2. I am knitting socks continental...using Norweigian Purl

3. I will be getting my BA English, as well as my BSc General

4. The BSc General is in First-Class Standing

5. I get to miss the last day of orientation (that's good) to work an OVP that will be in the rain (that's bad).

Back from the 'peg

Well, the interview went well I think, I hope I have a good shot at getting in. However, 300 people interviewed for 150 positions, so I no guarantees yet! Sean and I are looking at apartments in South and Southeast Winnipeg, all of which are pretty nice and MANY have really great features like pools and saunas for less than $750/month for a two bedroom. Most of them are even under $700! Even though vacancy is really low in Winnipeg, it's still a very competitive renter's market. Very glad I'm not buying though!

I got my graduation present at Ram Wools, which is the coolest yarn store ever. It's very big (at least to me, who's used to rather closet sized/shaped LYS's) and has a great selection. I spent at least an hour in there with my Mom, picking up and putting back meticulously to fit into the budget she'd given me. They had KPPPM which I wanted REALLY REALLY badly, but ended up putting down in favour of 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden in three coordinating colour palettes. I'm planning on making a little lace wrap, although I might have to work a few more skeins into next month's budget to do that! I also got some Classic Merino in Peacock for another Rogue, some grey sock wool for socks for Sean, and some Purple faux-fair-isle Regia for socks for me. Pictures as soon as I get the energy to get my butt off the couch.

I also went and spent this month's allowance at LUSH, buying a Happy Pill, Waving not Drowning, Avobath, Think Pink (all bath bombs), Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly, Creamy Candy Bubble Bar, Melting Marshmallow Moments, Party On Temple Balm, and Red Rooster Soap - which has no link because it's discontinued, but it's a combination of citrus and spice. Very nice!

Lastly, I had my appointment with my old allergist, and she thinks all the illnesses and stomach problems I've had for the last few years are a little worrying, so she did some blood tests (they took 12 vials! I'm not kidding! 12 vials all at once!) and I'll be going back in 2 1/2 weeks for the results. She also thinks she can get me in to the gastroenterologist before August 16th, which is when my appointment was for here.

And totally check out all those LUSH links, because their stuff is delish, made in Canada, mostly organic, mostly vegan (they specify what products are vegan with a "v" symbol), and all fair trade with no animal testing.

A sad post

A little girl I love was just recently diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. I'd really like to do something for her, and I can't decide whether to knit an afghan or sew a quilt. I want to do something for her older brother as well, since his life is also going to change. Since CF treatments mean a lot of one-on-one time, he's going to be learning to play alone a little bit more (since he doesn't always do that much of that right now).

I'm thinking a quilt would be really fun, especially since I can personalize it with fabrics that she'll like, plus it'll come together a LOT faster than an afghan!

I'm leaving in the morning for Winnipeg for my interview, so hopefully it'll go well. I should probably go back now...I'm staying up until 12:30 so that I can do the WestJet online check-in.

Knitting Roulette...

So I was feeling uninspired by my current WIP's - I'd like to point out the facts:

a)I was totally honest, listing every single project that is on the needles
b)one (VK tank) is in stretchy yarn I don't feel like dealing with
c)5 are winter projects

I needed something to knit until I get to go to Winnipeg next week and spend my graduation present money on yarn for something :D I also had nice sock yarn from Value Village to use. So I decided to play Knitting Roulette - would anyone else like to join me?

I went to Knitting Pattern Central so I could have a huge listing of free sock patterns, then I closed my eyes and scrolled up and down and back and forth until I randomly clicked. I would now be knitting these socks except for the problem that they're for worsted weight yarn. So I spun again...

And got these. Generic sock pattern is not what I was looking for, particularly since I have two wonderful colours.

Try 3: OK about now I'm ready to give up. I come up with a website that has moved and sends me to the new homepage, thereby eliminating the random aspect of the roulette and driving me to distraction.

Send chocolate, and ideas.

Hello everyone, sorry, work is busy so there's no real news to report. I haven't knit anything new, or even worked on it. I had Susan pin the straps on my dress up so that I can stitch everything in place - then it's just hemming it and finishing the seams. I can't finish the seams until I find my woodburning tool, because since it's 100% polyester I can heat-finish the edges with no extra sewing, and more importantly no fraying. Although both fabrics are fraying badly, the inside is REALLY bad and will have to be heat finished, no question.

That wood burner has to be somewhere...

And thanks everyone for the wonderful comments on the socks! I adore them as well, and I'm think I might post the duplicate stitch charts on the blog for free. I'm also planning on developing more complicated Alice In Wonderland socks, and trying to send the pattern to Knitty. What do you think, would that go over well?

Sockapaloooza!

Yay for the socks! They're all clean and blocked, and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I hope my sockpal likes them! I hope they fit too...I'm a little worried they might be a mite too long for her, since they fit me almost perfectly and her feet are shorter than mine. However, they are slightly short for me so maybe they'll be OK. I can't wait to make a sock band for them and send them off.

I also finished the Fort hat (for some reason it said Fort Scarf in the side bar, I don't know why), but I have no pictures since Sean's not home. There likely won't be pictures for awhile because right now our schedules couldn't be different - I work 9-5, he works 3-12. The only time we get to have a conversation is when he drives me to work in the morning. However, I solved the getting home from work problem, since the lovely Crystal (I'm not sure if I spelled that right...) is giving me a ride home every day.

Quick notes...

Susan is going to be at work until the end of June!!!! I'm sooooo excited!

The lilac dress looks absolutely fabulous on me, although the bodice is tight enough (in a good way) that one of the seams warps pretty badly over the lump on my bottom left ribs where the cracked ones healed over.

Still waiting eagerly to go to Winnipeg for the interview. Besides the interview, there is a prime goal of going to LUSH at Polo Park.

STUPID LAKEHEAD. You can tell their only priority is to get their new Medical Faculty working. On the day that all of our marks are supposed to be posted (this past Friday) they take down our information system for the WHOLE WEEKEND so that they can hook up the Orillia Campus (part of the Medical Faculty). That means we have no access to any of our marks until tomorrow morning. MAN I hate this university.

People are thumping up and down hallways and stairwells, moving out I assume. It's a little distracting.

The last two nights I have slept over 12 hours, and didn't get up overslept either day.

I is for...

Indian Pipe. This gorgeous plant doesn't actually contain chlorophyll, which is why it is white. It instead feeds off nutrients in the soil and other nearby plants. They are common in the boreal forest of Northern Ontario, although it takes careful looking to find them. I plan on going out this summer and finding photos of lots of other common but unique plants around here, including two carnivorous plants - round-leaved sundew and pitcher plants.

EDIT: Hi to anyone who's gotten here from the "I" ABC-along contest! I thought I'd add some other information about the photo.

It was taken when I worked at Blue Lake Provincial Park as a park interpreter, and it was one of the best jobs I ever had. I got to spend all day outside in the sunshine, in a beautiful BEAUTIFUL place, teaching people everything I knew about the fascinating plants, trees and rocks around them. This was taken with the park's new Sony digital camera, using the close-up setting. We needed good pictures of many different plants and animals to use as slides for slide-shows, so one afternoon I went out and went crazy with the camera. I got lots of wonderful pictures of things like Kinnikinnick, Blueberries, and Crowberry. This Indian Pipe picture however turned out the best of all of them, and is one of the most beautiful pictures I've ever taken. It really shows the tranquility and beauty of the boreal forests of Canada. Everything is incredibly green and still, with sunlight filtering through the pine and spruce. It's cool, but not too cold, and the ground is soft with sphagnum and peat. You rarely hear bugs (once you're in summer's heat and wearing Muskol ;) but instead hear white-throated sparrows. As you move into a clearing you'll find Indian Paintbrush and Buttercups. By a stream you'll find Spotted Touch-Me-Not, Wild Mint, and Blue Flags. You can see minnows and little bass in the water.

If I could spend my whole summer doing nothing but hiking in the bush I would be incredibly happy.

Thanks for all the great compliments everyone :) Now I'm just working on that lilac dress, I'm hoping to finish it before work starts. It's a little frustrating to work with since the material is SO slippery, and trying to figure out how to make a free lining is also very difficult. I think I've figured out how to sew it down next to the zipper though. We'll see!

H is for Hoodie

Rogue! I know I'm slumping really badly in this pic, but Sean was on his way to work and we didn't have time to make a better pic. The light is also bad because we never have a lot of natural light in our apartment. Our big windows face just North of East, and our other windows near North, so there's no direct light of any kind. Nice to stay cool, but not helpful for picture taking.

*edit* I'm not throwing out the gorgeous beaded window hanging you can see sitting across the garbage can, it had to be moved off the table and is temporarily resting across that (paper only) garbage can.

I also got an interview at U of M!!! I'm so excited. I'm going to fly up on Tuesday, and my Mom is going to meet me so she can take me everywhere I need to go. We can visit Sean's family some more, and I can have a nice little mini-vacation with my Mom. I haven't been home since February, and I won't get home for a while yet, so it'll be nice to see her. Plus, it was her 50th birthday on April 6!!! I'm pretty sure I forgot to post it on the blog, although I made sure to call her. I havne't finished her birthday present yet, so it'll be a wee bit late.

Hi Sockpal! I don't mind waiting until mid-to-end May for my socks, I understand busy schedules! Whichever way is best for you.

I got my job back at the Fort this summer, and although I was supposed to start in about two weeks, in fact I'll be starting back on Monday since they desperately need someone in costuming. Peter tells me that he's trying to work out how to get someone else in there with me, because that is a full-time job for 3 people, not just one (something I can completely vouch for).

After finishing the sweater (pictures today I really hope!) I'm feeling a little lazy about knitting, so I'll maybe be knitting a Kitty Pi, and doing some sewing. Since I need a nice dress for grad I'm going to try sewing two. I have a really nice black and white cotton floral print to make this dress, and a soft, silky lilac polyester to make this dress. I'm not worried at all about the black dress, since it's cotton and cotton is easy to sew. However, I'm slightly more worried about the polyester, just because it's very slippery. However, I have sewed with slippery fabric before (bridal weight crepe-back satin!) so I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll just go slow and careful.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

1. Ask the individual to SMILE.

2. Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

3. Ask the person to SAY A SIMPLE SENTENCE (coherently).
(example: "It is sunny today.")

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

BE A FRIEND AND SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE; you could save their lives.

Taken from Lisa

My nerd score

One sleeve to go...

I finished one sleeve of Rogue...just less than another sleeve to go (since I stopped knitting two at the same time at row 8). I'm really tempted to pull an all nighter and finish the sleeves, since today I wrote the last part of my Speculative Fiction exam, and finished my Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees (well, potential BSc. The university keeps saying it will give it to me, then it won't, then it will, then it won't...)

There will be a finished sweater around here very soon! I'm so excited. And luckily it's still quite chilly around here. My Mrs. Beeton's have gotten lots of use.

I'm even more excited because Sean has pledged next week, and more importantly next weekend to me. Between writing his thesis and final paper, and trying to keep visiting a few friends before they leave forever, he hasn't been home a lot. Conversely, between lack of school and lack of work I've been trapped within these 4 walls for wayyyyyy to long. I do go out every day for a quick walk or something but I'm still all by my lonesome a lot. I've made a real effort to make friends here, but unfortunatly Thunder Bay is not a very friendly place amongst the student set. It's very clique-y like high school and difficult to break in to a group of friends. I made a few class friends, and I'm planning on asking one of them to go see a movie next week - although she's getting married this summer so she'll be busy!

I'm really looking forward to us moving to a new place, where I'll be starting anew either at a job or in education. Since everyone there will be starting fresh it'll be easier to make friends - plus there's student groups and such I can join that weren't available here. The biggest problem here is that a great deal of the students were born and raised here (not a lot of non-local or international students), and they already have groups of friends from high school. It's ironic that except for one girl, all the class friends I did make were not from Thunder Bay. Try as I might, I couldn't break into the TBay sets. Some of them were friendly (a great deal weren't, I think in part due to cultural differences *ahemItalianmafiaahem*) though.