Melting

I’m melting. Actually.

Today is supposed to be the hottest day thus far this year, and it may be record-breaking in terms of heat. Guess where I work today? The one library in the whole county (okay there’s two) that doesn’t have air conditioning!

Kill me now.

If you never hear from me again, it was nice knowing you. Only 1.5 more hours and then I can jump into my air conditioned car and drive back to my non-airconditioned house.

That’s all I can manage for now folks. The knitting updates are going to have to wait.

It’s raining, it’s pouring

It’s raining! I’m looking out the window, and let me tell you how excited I am. Last year at this time, I would be sad at yet another day with a miserable forecast. We’ve had an awful drought this year though, and everything is dusty and brown. The rain is welcome. There’s a country song that goes, “Where I come from, rain is a good thing”. It couldn’t be more true. All of the farmers will be doing a happy dance!

Enough of my excitement over the weather. Back to the knitting. Have I mentioned that 35 degree Celcius weather is not conducive to knitting? No, it’s really not. So instead, while at work, I’ve been looking up summer patterns on Ravelry.

Here are some cute drink cozies that look like watermelons.

This is the cutest tunic for kids (good thing I have a new cousin).

And then there’s this excellent shirt that I wish I had the fortitude to start.

The socks? Down for the count. If they could tweet, I would be hearing about it. It’s too bad that they can’t, really. It might motivate me to spend a little more time with them.

I can just see it now: “SamplerTextureSocks: @thetravellingsock you’re awful, I’m almost at the toe and you leave me to die in this heat, on the coffee table without the protection of a bag? #pathetic #notarealknitter” “ZoomobileSock: @thetravellingsock I’m still stuck in my prison, the knitting bag, where I haven’t been touched since your trip to the zoo. This isn’t second sock syndrome, this is first sock syndrome, you fickle thing. #helpless #abandoned”

And I get mad at others because they don’t like my knitted things enough? Ha. I don’t even like them enough to finish them.

Tonight. I’m going to go home from work. Do the chores, boil some water and make some tea. Turn on the Food Network, and finish these babies.

What? You think I can’t finish the toe of one sock, half of another, and another entire sock, while still getting a reasonable amount of sleep? You of little faith. Challenge accepted.

How about this one? It’s the Summer Blues Cropped Lace Cardigan (click photo for link)

Finally!

Woohoo! I’ve finally made some progress on those Sampler Texture Socks! They aren’t finished, but still…

Last night I finished the purple yarn and switched to the pink. I can’t believe how long it lasted – I thought for sure I would have run out long ago. I only have about 25 more rows of the chart to do before I’m onto the toe decreases… Then done!

I’m excited that I’ve actually got some of my mojo back.

Now if I could just regain my readers… No views since last Sunday.

Hmm. Maybe I can lure you in with some photos on this fine Canada Day weekend. I’m going to see the fireworks down at the beach with the boyfriend tonight. It should be great, since it’s such a gorgeous day!

In other news, I’m wearing a dress today. Now, to most of you, this seems like not a big deal. But if you knew me well, you would understand that I have an aversion to anything girly. But I am at work today, in the NON-AIRCONDITIONED library. It’s like 35 degrees (Celsius) out there people. And I can’t wear shorts… Mine are all way too short to be deemed work appropriate.

Ah well. Tomorrow I’m working at the ice cream store, scooping ice cream. At least it’s airconditioned. And I can wear shorts there.

Who wears short-shorts? I wear short-shorts!

Catch up

So I’ve noticed significantly less viewers on this blog… Probably since I’m an awful blogger and I never have any good pictures for you guys!

But here I am to fix that…

As promised, weekend photos!

This sunset was on Sunday night, just after the rain stopped. You can’t tell from the trees, but if you look in the lower left corner, you can see the lake from my house (its a twenty minute drive, but we are high enough that we can see it).

There it is again… You can kind of see the rain sparkling on the corn in the field, but only sort of. Unfortunately, photos don’t do it justice.

As mentioned, there was a tractor pull. Those wristbands are worth their weight in gold… The red one cost $10, and the yellow cost $15! I thought they were totally overpriced, but I’m sure some of the money went to supporting the village, so I can’t complain too much. It the closest village to me.

Now. Onto the knitting. Here we go:

Taken with my phone as I was running out the door, so it’s not the best quality… But that is the Eye of Partridge Heel Flap! Conquered. Yes.

Both of those photos are awful, I’ll have to make sure that I use an actual camera when they’re finished and I take photos. The colour difference is shocking, but that’s all from a difference in light. In person, I think they look more like the first photo.

And here are the socks, wanting to go outside in the heat and be finished. It was 30 degrees Celsius out this morning (which is 86 degrees Fahrenheit for my American readers) at 7 am. 7 am!! It’s only going to get hotter!

My sock progress is extremely slow. These ones should be finished this weekend though… I have a long car trip ahead of me, in which I’m not driving (perfect!). Socks, you will be conquered…

A Thursday List

1. OMG I’ve been surfing the blog-sphere and I’ve found something amazing. I kind of want to try it. Kind of. I found it from a post on the lululemon blog, which then linked me to the real blog that they featured in the post (confused yet?). The blog is called 12 Months of Lent and its all about goal setting… With a twist. The writer picks something she’s always wanted to try/do/improve, and dedicates a month to it. Some of her challenges are fun, some are not. I’ve been reading through the blog and it’s addicting!

2. Writing: I’ve got 3 chapters done on each book I’ve been working on. I discovered that if I sit down at the computer and think about writing a chapter instead of writing a book, the words come to me a lot better. I also print each chapter after I finish it, so I can watch the pages physically stack up. It’s like watching your knitting grow; I just can’t wait to keep writing so I can watch it get bigger! Inspiration comes in the strangest forms!

I had this quote on my wall in sticky notes all year. Read it. Live it. (And for me, that means write it.)

3. Happiness. I’ve definitely had a great life. I would say a fantastic life. I’ve been given lots of opportunities, and my family is very close. That said, I’ve definitely had a battle with happiness. Over the past year, I’ve come to terms with an event that occurred thirteen years ago. It was traumatizing, and it was a huge struggle to overcome it. That’s why I’m going to write a series of essays or a book or an article or SOMETHING to celebrate my “getting over” this event. I’m really proud of myself, but I would love to share my experiences so people in similar situations realize that they always have somewhere to turn. I don’t know how/where I’ll publish it, if I even do, I just think that happiness is so undervalued and yet so necessary. And I want people to be able to overcome whatever is holding them back… Can you tell that this is still a very nebulous idea in my head?

4. Knitting. What’s knitting? Oh yeah, that thing that this blog is supposed to be about… Right…

5. My sister. I’ve mentioned offhandedly a few times how my little sister is severely disabled. She had surgery in April to repair hip dysplasia (dogs get it often… it’s similar to dislocation but I’m a little fuzzy on the exact details). Since she has limited walking ability in the first place, we were concerned that she would never be able to walk again. Yesterday, with the help of her walker, she made it the entire length of my house! It made me smile so much, I thought I would share.

I don’t live here (just erase the mountain and then its about accurate), but the weather is the same where I’m from. Get outside people, the sunshine will make you smile.

6. In light of #1, there are so many things I want to accomplish this month! I’m going to make a goal list for the summer, right now. But I want to try making someone smile each day. I want to write at least 50 words every single day. I want to train for my half marathon. It’s all too much. Time for some prioritizing.

Peace & love.

Let’s go to the zoo!

1. Knitting progress: Sampler Texture Socks: only one more section of that stupid chart to go before I’m onto the #%$@&^$ Eye of Partridge heel flap. I really think it’s going to work out this time. I really do. Think positive.

2. Last night, the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup. For those of you who aren’t Canadian, you won’t understand the fascination with watching a team that I don’t normally cheer for… It’s a Canadian thing. We watch a lot of hockey. That’s just how it goes. So, with hockey season officially over, I’m going to have to start renting movies. I mean, I watch hockey, and I knit. That’s how it is, from September until June. 

3. Horses: I got a new coach (as I mentioned a little while ago) and she’s fabulous. But she says no more showing for this year, at least not at the level I had planned on. This sucks. For anyone who plays sports, this is like practising and practising and never getting to play the game. I mean, I get why. My horse isn’t far enough along in her training to show successfully at that level. But still. 

4. Zoo pictures! (I have to stop making lists… each number is a paragraph).

   

Peacock… all fluffed up!

Grizzly bear

Giraffe… I loved them

Hippos… The boyfriend’s favourite!

This warthog was all tuckered out.

The new polar bear cub, born in January.

This is the mother polar bear, angry to have been separated from her cub.

Penguins, enjoying the water on a hot day.

Zebra… My favourite!

This is us touching sting rays. They loved to be petted. We also got to touch some sharks!

All in all, an excellent trip to the Toronto Zoo. If you haven’t been… Get there. Giant Pandas are coming in 2013. I think I may have to go back to see them.

In Canada, we call it Victoria Day

Today is Victoria Day in Canada, meaning that it’s a long weekend! It couldn’t have come at a better time, either… The weather is perfect. I spent the weekend alternately at the beach, riding my horse, and chilling with family (it involved my excellent patio and some cold drinks). In short, the perfect weekend.

Needless to say, the current SIP (sock-in-progress) has been totally ignored for the weekend. It called to me from the living room this afternoon. It wanted to venture outside into the sun, and, feeling guilty as I was for ignoring it for so long, I dutifully photographed it. Here it is, in all its woolly glory! The pattern: Sampler Texture Socks, from The Big Book of Socks by Kathleen Taylor. Yarn is questionable… It came from the big pile of unused leftovers. My mission is to make this pile non-existent… Let’s just say that it’s a long process.

Wow. A picture. My skills with this blog thing are getting better. I would also say that I could do without the lavender colour of that yarn, but this is what happens when you are too broke to afford yarn…. You use the leftovers and don’t complain about colours. Such is the life of a university student.

Now pour yourself a glass of something cold, and get back outside to enjoy the weather!