Jo Knits!

Good bye 2004

On this day of new year's eve I would like to say thanks to those who work to protect us day in and day out. They are the first respondants when accidents happen, they will put their own lives on hold many times to save our very own life. To the very happy firemen I met while grocery shopping yesterday, I hope there is no fire alert around supper tonight. I saw all the yummy food you happily added to your shopping cart. You were 4-5 firemen, you were smiling like kids going for ice cream, actually I did notice that in your cart too. I saw the eggs you'll be enjoying for new year's breakfast. To the police force that are in the cars roaming streets, the the 911 dispatchers awaiting to answer emergency calls. To the people working at radio stations that brighten up my day with music, thank you for working on days that most are off. To our mail carrier, whether she brings bills or a lovely letter, rain, shine or snow storm the mail's always delivered. I thank you all for making my own life a little easier each and every day. Those are tough jobs and still you smile as you are doing them and I personally thank YOU! :)

To those trying to save lives in the many countries affected by the Tsunami events, thank you. To the multiple charities that are helping out on site. Thank you! To Zoe's godmother who had planned to go to Thailand for vacations, thank you for getting pregnant just at the right moment and deciding on going south instead. ;) To the alliance between the Canadian Government and Oxfam Canada that makes each donated dollar worth double, thank you. I am proud that our country is helping out in a way that encourages us to give also. This is the blurb from the Oxfam website: The Canadian government announced today that it will match Canadian public donations to the Current crisis, dollar for dollar. I am proud to be Canadian! :) (Thanks to Stephannie for posting about this.)

The seconds prior to midnight we will be watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve show to see the ball shine in the New Year, just so you know Regis Philbin will be hosting the show this year. Checking online I just learned that Dick Clark is recovering from a stroke but he will still watch his own show for tradition's sake. You will be in my thoughts and hopefully you'll think of me at the same time. It is always fun to know you are not the only one watching a show. So it will be sock knitting for me as the new year rolls in, we bought sparkling crisp apple juice to celebrate with the kids (we are SUCH party people, I tell ya!) ;)

hugs, may the new year bring happiness and joy to your hearts and families.

Work,

Eyes are still semi-open, stomach has this oh so familiar queasy feeling and I feel a headache starting. What's all this? After a whole month of not working, today both Carl and I gotta go work. UGH! I love my job but I still get nervous before each store we go at. It's silly as I know my job well, at first I even cried after thinking this job was too hard for me. Oye! Today is a fun job too, we will be doing the inventory of a bookstore, then after Carl and I will get to go shopping downtown. Also BIG bonus we start at 10am, tomorrow though will be a different ball game, we will be working at 6:30am. That always makes me even more queasy to work so early, let's just say tonight we'll be having a Keith before going to bed around the same time as the kids. LOL!

I'm starting the gussets on both my socks, sooooo exciting. teehee! I am loving this project and will be knitting socks regularly from now on. 1- no one has too many pairs of socks, right? 2- they'll make a great travel project once we start the Walmart tour. Some mornings we'll have to travel more than an hour away and we will still have to start working at 7am. Then I'll get to show off my socks to all the non-knitters at work too, how's that? LOL! Oh and Carl is heavily hinting that the socks I'm working on will be too big for me, oh so sweet Carl, I think not!

A BIG welcome home to my friend Lee Ann, she rudely decided (without asking me mind you) to extend her vacations with family one more day. Well that made for a LOOONG day for me, was I worried, was I hope she was all ok? Of course, how rude! No, really Lee Ann, what about me? Luckily she made up for it already but ugh! this has put a strain on our friendship I tell ya! ROFLOL!!!!

Dream,

Do you have a list of things you want to do in your life, dreams, travels, buy things, whatever!? You see that often in movies too. Well I have a few dreams, some really basic things, other might not be happening in this life time, we'll see.

One dream that did get realised is me owning a Kanuk winter coat. To me those who wear a Kanuk are people that have succeeded, sure they might not be all successful people but at the price these coats are, you need to have the dough. Well, that again depends.... it depends if Santa was on their side this year too. I was lucky enough to get such a jacket for moi and I am on cloud nine, it might be just a winter coat but to me it is much more, I feel important wearing it. We all deserve to feel like that some days. It is also a 'feminine' coat, I usually wear very sporty coats but I'm really liking the look, I feel lady-like. woohoo! LOL! So come on cold weather, I'm ready for ya! ;) Onto making another dream true! :)

The socks are going super well, I did have to frog about an inch back to reduce the number of stitches I was knitting with. I am pleased though, these are knitting up like charm and I truely enjoy the 15cm needles I just got too. :)

hugs,

Boxing day..

Not having a printer is causing problems, it's really hard to knit away from the computer when the Mariah sweater has so much cables to work on.

So instead I have finished an old UFO, all that was needed was to complete the decreases on the top of the hat. Also it gave me a chance to free up some much needed needles. I'm funny like that, when I am almost done with a project, I'll start a new and then leave the older on aside. This hat fits nicely and I like it so I am happy it's done, I'll get to wear it now. :)

Socks, socks, socks, it's all about socks! This morning I did my little funny swatch in the round and looked online for a toe up pattern that does not requide a short row heel. I never liked how nicely ariegated yarn knits up with a short row heel, I prefer the old basic sock pattern but since I am not sure how much yarn it takes to knit up size 10 socks I want to be safe. After the 1st pair I will know more and get to knit top down if I prefer. I will be using this sock pattern, I like how it's done and you can use any gauge, any yarn. Socks 101 is always the reference though to look up something I might have forgotten when knitting socks.

Zoe's now on day 3 of being sick, must be nerves or something she ate, it started on the 24th at 11:53pm. I wouldn't mind now if she could keep food down for the rest of the holidays though. What a bad time to be sick. Ugh!

hugs, hope no one's drinking too much spiked egg nog. lol!

Merry, merry!

From our family to yours, merry christmas!!!

I've been knitting while waiting for Santa to hit our house, worked on the sweater for me! :) I am knitting both sleeves at once, it's all cables so I thought it was easier to knit them together. I am knitting the Mariah sweater from the latest Knitty issue.

hugs, be safe and have fun!

Track Santa!

Santa has started his trip across the world, to help you track down where he is now, visit Norad's Tracking Santa website. The website is filled with fun stuff so be sure to check it out yourself or with kids.

Yesterday afternoon, I received my Christmas gift! It wasn't wrapped up in a box, nor did it have a bow on top. After getting the groceries Carl said he had one more thing to do before heading home. We went to the cemetary, he parked the car, got out and told me *I* was having my 1st driving lesson. Oh my goodness! I was like a true kid, I have taken lessons about ten years ago to drive and even had a learner's permit but I wasn't ready at that time. We did about 10 minutes at 30km/h and let me tell you it was fast enough for me! LOL! ;) Carl had me turn many corners and I even backed up and turned, not easy for someone who hasn't drived in 10 years. It was so much fun though and I think I will try to get my learner's permit in 2005 again. With Carl as a teacher it'll be fun. teehee!

As a gift to myself, I went crazy at the yarn shop, we had a little evening of knitting with friends which was very enjoyable as there were cookies too. teehee! I bought some lovely alpaca/wool to knit myself a SWEATER!!! This is not a raglan either, (it IS a raglan, oops!) it will be a true sweater with pieces to sew up after, a zipper to install in the front and all. I believe Veronik will need to give me my first sweater finishing lesson then. (Right V. you won't let me stuck all by myself?) So I have been swatching since we got home last night, I think I should accept that by now I knit loose. I am posting a picture of the swatch because I am actually making a swatch for once, this is something I hope to do more in the new year. If I post the swatches it'll prove that I did make them, just a way to justify myself to you all. LOL!

In my bag a few balls of Regia hoped in their also, I will even knit myself some silk socks, ain't that just fancy or what? I want to get some short dpn's before starting then socks will hopefully because my travelling project, we sometimes travel for our when we work for Walmart inventories and we all need socks. ;)

hugs, may you be surrounded with friends and family tonight and have the merriest of Christmas! :)

Life goes on,

July 16 is a date to mark down on your new calenders for 2005. It is the date on which people will line up for hours to get the last J K Rowling book: Harry Potter and the half-blood prince. I am one of the very few that hasn't read the whole collection even once. I saw the first movie, then started reading the second book, never finished it. Carl rented the 3rd movie a few weeks ago and it looks pretty good, not enough to get me into reading the books anyway. I must be the odd one out there! ;)

Finally get inspired to start a new project, a baby sweater for a friend due in march. Well for one, I notice the yarn I substituted with is way off, there's a 35 metres difference per each 50g ball then two, I can't find the correct needle size. So off to Walmart to get cheap needles, Carl and my mom had some errands to do there anyway. Once in the store I saw one of the security guys I worked with when we were counting that store last year, it made me laugh and seeing that he was pretty busy I steered clear from him. Soon enough I will most likely see the guy again as their inventory is coming up before march. ;)

My mom found these little decorative charms in the sewing section and right away thought of me. Aren't these neat stitch markers? Six markers for less than 2$ Canadian. LOL!

Here's a big picture of my little drummer boy, he is happily playing music (note this is our smallest drum!) next to our Christmas tree in all it's glory. The kids had a blast decorating it this year and over the holidays we shall add a few handmade ones to it too. Sadly Carl and I will be working a LOT while Zoe is off from school but for the last month we've been home so the kids have seen more than enough of us. LOL! Also we will work mostly half-days so we still have plenty of time to go skating and playing in the snow oh AND....... bake cupcakes, woohoo!!! :)

hugs,

It's as simple as that.

I went to a party, Mom, I
remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, Mom,
so I drank soda instead
I really felt proud inside, Mom,
the way you said I would.
I didn't drink and drive, Mom,
even though the others said I should.
I know I did the right thing,
Mom, I know you are always right.
Now the party is finally ending,
Mom, as everyone is driving out of sight.
As I got into my car, Mom, I
knew I'd get home in one piece.
Because of the way you raised
me, so responsible and sweet.
I started to drive away, Mom,
but as I pulled out into the road,
the other car didn't see me,
Mom, and hit me like a load.
As I lay there on the pavement,
Mom, I hear the policeman say
the other guy is drunk, Mom,
and now I'm the one who will pay.
I'm lying here dying, Mom....I
wish you'd get here soon.
How could this happen to me,
Mom? My life just burst like a balloon.

There is blood all around me,
Mom, and most of it is mine.
I hear the medic say, Mom, I'll
die in a short time.
I just wanted to tell you, Mom, I
swear I didn't drink.
It was the others, Mom. The
others didn't think.
He was probably at the same
party as I.
The only difference is, he drank
and I will die.
Why do people drink, Mom? It
can ruin your whole life.
I'm feeling sharp pains now.
Pains just like a knife.
The guy who hit me is walking,
Mom, and I don't think it's fair.
I'm lying here dying and all he
can do is stare.
Tell my brother not to cry, Mom.
Tell Daddy to be brave.
And when I go to heaven, Mom,
put "Daddy's Baby" on my grave.

Someone should have told him,
Mom, not to drink and drive.
If only they had told him, Mom,
I would still be alive.
My breath is getting shorter,
Mom. I'm becoming very scared.
Please don't cry for me, Mom.
When I needed you, you were always there.

I have one last question, Mom,
before I say good bye,
"I didn't drink and drive, so why
am I the one to die?"
This is the end Mom
I wish I could look you in the eye
To say these final words
"I LOVE YOU
AND...GOODBYE"

This is the ANTI-DRINKING AND DRIVING POEM that I heard on the radio yesterday, my heart stopped. It is such a touching poem, people call the station in tears each time it is played. So as this holiday season is preparing, please think of yourself and others. Do NOT drink and drive even if you think you can still drive, is it worth it? Is it worth to loss of a loved one?

Via the internet I was lucky enough to hear the interview with Amy Singer yesterday on another radio station. It was fun to hear her talk about knitting even though the interviewee obviously didn't knit. She did well and I am proud that Knitty got even more exposure. :)

On a funny note, as I paid for my new S&B Nation book yesterday at the bookstore, the cashier happily let me know that had that same book put on hold. I ever so smoothly recommended her to check out Knit Wit also. teehee! Oh, I'm GOOD! LOL! ;)

Malade comme un chien!*

*Sick as a dog (it's a french expression and just like Caroline I wonder if this translates to english or not). So I basically spent to last 36 hours in bed shivering and sick as if a bus ran over me and then decided to back up. My mom and both kids also met this bus, so Carl was destined to take care of everyone over the weekend. Even watching tv or the computer hurt my eyes so I stayed away and didn't even knit a single stitch, I was freezing, I couldn't do anything.

This morning though I'm a new woman! I feel GRRREAT, well I still need to catch up on some sleep as I never did rest the night from saturday to sunday. The kids are doing much better today and Zoe was a burst of energy this morning, ready to go to school. Lucas is playing around the Christmas tree that was decorated over the weekend.

Saturday afternoon was the kids skating club party. When we came in the room there was music blasting the speakers, that scared the kids and they didn't want to join in the fun and games with other kids for at least 30 minutes. Even their favorite coaches came by to have them go play but the kids weren't ready. Zoe was very lucky and received gifts from her assistand coach and private lessons coach, both gave gifts that pleased her to no end. Another teen coach came along and Zoe felt like going to play, then Carl went with Lucas around the kids and Lucas decided to sit on his favorite coach, he didn't play games but was still in the middle of the area safely sitting on this teenager. LOL! It was quite surprising as we never thought the kids were shy, they are usually very outgoing.

The party was quite nice and worth all the running around I had to do for getting gifts for all the coaches, even after the kids skating lesson saturday morning I had to run until it was time for the party barely having time to take a small bowl of soup as lunch. Each coach received gift certificates for the movies and let me tell you they were all very appreciated. I think if I were a teenager I'd love the chance to go to the movie around the holidays for free, some girls exchanged phone numbers and are planning to go together. So my gift gave the chance to some coaches to get to see each other away from the rink. :) The gift also included a picture of each kid. They all appreciated the pictures almost more than the gift itself. LOL! I really like how these pictures came out, actually we got an order to print more for some friends too. LOL!

Something that was sweet is that I noticed Zoe's assistant coach wearing the skate pendant we gave her back in April at the Montreal Games. She was the one that had choreographed Zoe's number for the Games and brought her to winning her 1st gold medal. Her coach told us that she never took the pendant off since we gave it to her, I thought that was so nice (makes you think she really enjoys it too!). LOL! Funny thing is.... I had gotten it at Walmart. teehee!

After the magic show at the party, Santa made his big entrance and the kids were ecstatic. Lucas was the first child to get his gift and he couldn't be more pleased, He received a firetruck set (exactly what he's into right now!). Soon enough it was Zoe's turn and she received a very neat Ello set. Every child received a snack and then it was goodbye to Santa, the kids waved like crazy to him, they adore Santa this year. Lucas just loves the magic of Christmas, the tree for him is pure amazement. The year I got a natural tree, it's another first in this household, my mom is loving it she's really happy I went with that and everyone is just happy over the tree. Wait until a few wrapped gifts appear under it too. ;)

It is -26°Celsius or -15°Farenheit today, not a great day to be outside. So I'll stay snuggled up inside with some nice hot tea and the wave scarf to keep me busy. :) Unless I brave the cold and make it to Indigo to get the latest Stitch 'N Bitch Nation book. They now have received the book in Montreal, I couldn't be happier to use my IRewards card on this book too, hey I'll get 10% off!

hugs,

Extra, Extra!

Just passing through at high speed.

Yesterday we:
-bought our Christmas tree
-bought ormanents half price at Ikea
-Zoe had lunch at school with her classmates and teacher (1st time she eats at school)
-Went to a thousand stores and back (it was crazy, today will be worst)
-woke up before 7am (ACK!) and didn't stop moving until past 11pm
-bought lights for the tree (it's still outside, we'll decorate tonight)
-bought gift certificates at 10pm to give away twelve hours later
-went to a great christmas party in a yarn shop (that's on thursday)

Today:

-Zoe gets her 1st skating dress!!! (she lost her skirt last night...)
-Skating lessons this morning
-Skating club party this afternoon
-need to buy groceries in between
-need to find time to nap in between
-gotta go we are already late

Knitting:

I'm loving this wavy scarf pattern, for the very few scarves I have knitting this one is neat. :)

p/s: Please pass the coffee my way, luckily Tim's is right next to the rink!

Sickies

Zoe has finally done it, most kids in her kindergarden class have done it also. Actually Zoe was one of the very few that hadn't gone through this yet... She has missed school! ACK! :( It was a very long day and a half away from her teacher and friends but doctor says she's got a full blown ear infection and a little cough, her temp was up like crazy so we kept her home. She finally convinced us yesterday afternoon to let her go, she was slow at school but her teacher congratulated her for making it anyways. She did warn Zoe that it is OK to miss school and it is best to stay home when sick. This morning though she was well enough to go and she was really excited about that. Now having more than one kid means usually that as soon as one is sick the next one is to follow. Sure enough Lucas stayed up most of the night with his forehead hurting (aka fever). This morning I woke up with the sniffles too so we might be back to the doctor's tomorrow morning if Lucas's temp hasn't gone down.

Bought myself the Confessions of a Shopaholic book as a special 'getting out of my knitting funk' treat. Sure enough I have knitted a baby bootie and hat in the last few hours. The boothie is from Knitting for Baby and hat pattern is available at Miss ChicKnits website. I had to frog it twice, luckily it was at the ice rink that I was frogging so I didn't mind too much. I am using up some of my very favorite yarn, curious to know what it is!? Perhaps it might be a luscious expensive yarn, something from a designer's yarn collection!? Well NOPE, I Jo~Knits love Lamb's Pride worsted yarn, yes that readily available wool/mohair yarn that is great for knitting, felting and just pain old holding. LOL! Well here's my sad story.... it is readily available in the US and Canada EXCEPT Quebec.... sigh, of course I live in the only province that doesn't have it for sale. So I dream of going to Toronto once again to stock up in that lovely yarn. I still have 2 balls of this lovely soft wool but they are reserved to be knitted up as fuzzy feet in peacock color (think greenish blue), I'll most likely start these in january before working on the road again, they'll become my hotel slippers. We work standing and walking all day, so most of us would walk around the hotel at night with only our socks on, I prefer slippers. lol! Especially handknit slippers of course, so my precious lamb's pride will be well loved as we travel all over eastern Canada.

Now to finish my day of yesterday was a great ice show on television called holiday festival on ice, it was lovely. Sadly it was playing too late for the kids to watch after their own skating lesson. It's going to be presented on tv later around the holidays so I'll make sure the kids see it then.

Off to go read!

Ugh!

Ever just look at patterns, books, yarns and wonder, what should I knit next? Well.... sadly, I feel just like that. Should I start a baby project for someone due in march, maybe knit a quick hat or even booties to use up some odds & ends. Perhaps I should start a sweater for myself but ugh.... I am so un-inspired by patterns right now. No, it's not as simple as design myself one either as well, I am not into designing much, I don't feel the need to do it and have no ideas of what I would even want. So here I am checking blogs and hopefully get inspired by others projects, I have already checked all the archives from Knitty too. Maybe it's just a day to not knit but I feel so useles. LOL! So many are busy knitting like crazy for gifts but I have nothing planned on my to-do list.

I could always go out to get that book I've heard about from author Sophie Kinsella, Confessions of a Shopaholic. I was recommended this book as a story that really makes you laugh out loud. This year I had hoped I would read one book a month but that didn't happen, shall I end the year with at least a funny book to read!? Anyone has read this?

Maybe a day or two without knitting will inspire me or.... not. Oye! It's sad that I just don't know what to start right now. UGH! So frustrating, it really is.

hugs,

hugs,

Toutou!!!

Blogs are fun, right? You read them, learn about new things, new ideas, new yarns. People start to become like friends and sometimes you might worry if someone doesn't blog for a few days. Yesterday I saw Alison blogging about Ikea and thought to myself, hey why don't we go there today. Well the smart side of me knocked the impulsive one aside, let's go monday and avoid all the people in the store. So my internet travels brought me to learn about something else, the Build-A-Bear Workshop. Hummm... now THAT sounds interesting, lets google about that and see where these workshops are... Uh oh, the impulsive one is back again!

I remembered hearing about a place in Quebec to make your own teddy bear, I had seen a piece on this on a show. Searched for the show's website then searched the archives week by week until I found the website. Did I want to go or not? LOL! We find out the place in Quebec it's called Atelier Toutou and it is found at the #1 ski resort in Eastern North America, let's just say it almost made me want to try skiing for the 1st time. LOL! Mont Tremblant is like a little piece of heaven, Lucas kept asking if Santa lived in this or that house on the mountain. It felt like Christmas walking around in the snow, they have little spots with adirondack chairs and a roaring fire to keep you warm. The sun was setting so we mostly visited as the night came up. I hope one day we will get to go back and see this place in daylight.

Now the workshop is a WONDERFUL place!!! The employees truely love their job and as soon as they open one in Montreal I'm sending in my resume. LOL! You go in and there's a wall of bears and other animals that you choose from, then it's off to the fluff machine where with cuddle tests you get to decide when you new friends is perfectly stuffed just for you. The child then gets to choose a guardian angel or star which will hold a special secret within the bear. We opted not buying clothing but there's plenty of cute outfits for the new bears. You then have to name your new friend and a passport is made, they each leave the store in a travelling box. Not before the pledge of love and promise of cuddles made by each person buying a bear.

It was truely a magical time spent at the workshop, worth the TWO hour drive to the mountain and then two hours back. Luckily our kids are good car 'nappers', we ate in a fun little pasta place and went back home in the darkness. We didn't spend much time at the mountain but we will be back! Someone else wants a teddy bear..... hummm who can that be???? Ok, ok, I resisted getting one yesterday but now feel bad, I should've indulged myself in getting one. LOL! Last year when we travelled for work I brought a small Elmo with us in every city, the kids and I both gave our mutual Elmos hugs before leaving each week. I think a new teddy to travel with us this year would be fun. YES, I'm being childish too, I love stuffed animals and don't own any, so why not splurge and get myself one made just for moi! :)

The bears safely sleeping in their luggage box. Kids awaiting the ride to go back home. A great evening we had in a beautiful place. :)
hugs,

Extra, extra!

One day only! Get to see the kids in action at their skating lesson of saturday morning, I warn you that the quality and lighting is all wrong but the kids are still cute. ;)

Sorry you missed the active links.

I use QuickTime to view them, these are big files sorry to anyone dial up reader. I might be open to emailing the files if requested.

View while you can, I'll zap this entry on monday.

Gotta Skate IV!

The other night we watched a lovely tv show called Kurt Browning's Gotta Skate IV. You can see pictures HERE and HERE. The show was great, the skaters were wonderful together and who doesn't love Kurt Browning, he is a fabulous entertainer. :) The show is scheduled to play a few more times this month so if you like skating shows, be sure to check your local listings. LOL! I sound like a tv ad. :)

On tuesday night I got a great gift, not the most expensive but surely the most appreciated that anyone can get over a simple plastic bag. Ain't it neat though!!! I think the store name is just too cute, sadly they don't have a website yet but if you ever go to Omaha, NE be sure to stop by. I hear it's a lovely yarn shop and hey, with a name like their's how can they not be. ;) I love their logo nifty logos like that, anyone notice Naked Sheep's logo or Lettuce Knit (both in Toronto)!? Someday I'll travel the world and visit yarns shop, for now I'll stick to the Mouline Yarns is Montreal. Want to know something really funny!? Google Mouline Yarns, who comes up before the store?

I had started the heart scarf but didn't like how it was going (the result, not the pattern!) So I am using the pastel Fleece Artist yarn for a simply ribbing hat.I really enjoy knitting with Bluefaced Leicester wool. I have enough natural wool to knit a sweater from it, I'm keeping it for my 1st aran that I will knit up someday. For now hat number four is finished. :) Well I may add tassles to it but the knitting part is done. LOL! I haven't been feeling too well this week and have not knitted as much as I hoped, the hats schedule isn't too behind but I won't kill myself over the goal I set.

Now for the non-knitting part of today's entry, eighteen years today a small kid learned at school (it was a wednesday) that her father had died. It was only years later that I finally got to know how is died and let me tell you it's a silly and very preventable death. Oh well, life had other plans and it's been 18 years since I got to read the Montreal Gazette comics sitting next to him with a hot chocolate while Start Trek was playing on tv. ;)

hugs

Fire!!

Have new oven, start fire. No need to worry our smoke alarm works perfectly and alerted us something was wrong. You'd think that the alarm being next to the kids rooms it would wake them right!? Scary that they were sleeping too deeply, maybe it's the fact that my heart stopped and I hurried to stop the screaming sound so quickly it didn't seem to have bothered them.

Sadly we now have a box of burnt donuts flung in the backyard and I never got to eat one. LOL! Now next time we make tea we will check which burner we are using, hopefully it'll boil water and not start an other fire. Don't worry the oven survived through it's first fire unscarred, the fire extengusiher was not far and as you can see our fire alarm works and is now back into alert more.

Last night was Zoe's first private lesson at figure skating. She got more than the half-hour we had agreed on which was nice, I'd say she got more like 45 minutes of one-on-one attention. Her coach is also one of the head coaches on the other skating lessons both kids take so she'll get to give little tips to Zoe on the other days too. teehee! She was impressed that Zoe could land a cherry flip already, she taught it to Zoe on saturday only and this was the 1st time she got to practice it. [Cherry flip (also called toe loop): The skater takes off from a back outside edge, picks the toe of his/her other skate into the ice to achieve height and does one 360 degree turn, or move, in the air and lands on the back outside edge of the takeoff skate.] Next private lesson she'll teach Zoe a new jump, Zoe's reaction was.... oh yeah!? teehee!

Zoe did enjoy her 1st lesson and she got to see many of the assistant-coaches that help out at the kids lessons. Zoe was (as expected) the only child with a helmet on but as she will learn new tricks I think that helmet will be very useful to protect her. She was about the smallest one anyway so it was cute to see the teens she knows give her thumbsups and way-to-go Zoe cheers! :) Zoe felt so 'big', I believe she was proud to get to skate at the same time as the taller chicks. Now Lucas is hinting he needs private lessons..... You should have seen her foucsed on her elements to practice, she was the cutest, the private lesson was split so that Zoe got to learn from the coach and then practice and again the same learn then practice. Her coach drew signs on the rinks walls 'cause Zoe can't read. LOL! Zoe would skate away, come back look as her next tasks go do it come back, she seemed so big to be doing on her own like that. Awwweee! I'm so proud, she didn't need constant attention like other kids.... that can't stand to share their coach. ack! Or some parents that scream to their child to practice this or that... sure you pay for private lessons but no one asks you to the your kid's coach, so let them do their job!

Started a heart scarf for a lovely little girl, this will go along with her new hat and mittens. :)

hugs,

Winter Knitty!

The newest Knitty winter issue is up this morning. I actually had the chance to read through it last night before going to bed waaaaay after my bedtime. LOL! The articles are interesting, always something new to learn in those articles. The patterns, something for everyone, what continue to amaze me is that there are new designers thinking up great patterns in each Knitty issue. Oh and I personally LOVE the ads all over the issue, makes me think of my favorite knitting mag where I'll check out the ads in the net after reading it.

Funny thing is, I was hoping to get a Mancala game for the holidays. To my surprise someone made up a pattern to knit the game. I'm tempted! ;)

Today marks a very tragic day in Montreal. It is the 15th anniversary of the Montreal massacre, I was 12 years old when this happened at we were just breathless to see this on the news. Everyone was just amazed that such an event can happen. Fourteen women were shot on the day, 14 daughters, sisters, girlfriends, perhaps even mothers have been killed in a school they were attending for a better future for themselves. This day is now dedicated the: National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Hat number three is done and I have made a mitten to go with it, I hope to finish the second mitten this morning and get to scarf a scarf as soon as possible. These are for a little asian girl that is sadly not dressed warm enough for our Canadian winters. Hope she likes the handknits and that they will keep her toasty for the months to come. :) Thanks to Kate for her gifted mittens pattern, it is easy, speedy and works well with two plies of worsted. ;) If you fear knitting mittens, this pattern if for you, it's knitted flat, you close up the thumb before knitting the hand. Good I tell you, good pattern!

I have a few project to work on before starting another hat but don't despair, I'm doing great on my hat schedule. LOL!

hugs,

accident

I have been on edge for the last few days and it's really hard for me to deal with this. What do you say to parents who's kid just had a major accident!? A friend of Carl and I was involved in a frontal accident. He is barely 18yo, is a rock climbing maniac and was a burst of energy. He is in the coma right now with a fractured hip and perforated lung. My stomach has been in knots since I have learned on this accident on friday. Ten days or so, there was an accident on the news in the small area David is from, Carl said I bet it's him, the accident and I of course, brushed it off. Come on there are so many white civic cars in the world. He was right, I was not, my heart aches for his parents only days before Christmas.We were going to see David again when we start working on the road in january, he is such a great guy. It pains me so much you have no idea. :(

The second hat is done and keeping Carl's ears warm and toasty. :) Hat was quick and easy to do, I finished it on the way to our second craft show yesterday. Since friday I have been to three shows and they all had something great to offer. The main show in Montreal is always a pleasure to shop at, to go in in free and it lasts a few weeks, I know I will be back before it ends. We went to a craft show with a purpose after the kids skating lesson (yes, Zoe needs to start an intro to private lessons says our trusted skating expert friend!), we went to Rosalie Jette school, which is a school for you teen moms to finish their high school and learn a bit how to become a mom at such a young age.

I have started a third that I hope will be done by tonight, I really want to give it to the intended child tomorrow. I have "adopted" a kid from Zoe's school to knit for, she should receive hat, mittens and scarf but I'm a tad late on my schedule and was hoping she would get it all by monday, I started knitting the hat late last night. LOL! I am recycling some yarn from a project that didn't go too well, thrum socks sounded like a good idea until I got into making the actual thrums. ;) So anyway, I have just one ball of this pastel-ish color, we'll see how much I can knit out of it. I'd love to use Kate's quick and easy mitten pattern but I am using an aran weigth yarn and won't go into fudging the numbers to make it fit the yarn. I'd end up with something totally wrong. :-P

Starting number 2!

Gotta love how the internet can make distances disappear. Last night I was chatting with a friend from the States (waves to Crystal!) and two guys in the next province. I haven't talked to the guys in six months and it was like I had seen them yesterday, we chatted a few hours (no knitting as they type pretty fast) LOL! It was so nice to remember memories we had built from travelling east Canada with them last spring. I can not believe it's been six months or that no matter how far they are we had so much fun chatting up a storm, laughs were heard, smiles were typed and good friendships can stay strong no matter the distance.

Well as I am about to go to sleep I have finished the first hat, weaved in threads and all. Second up is a hat for Carl, I am sorta cheating, already, sight...If I knit a hat for him can I count it as a donated hat to a loved one? This Seaman's cap, looks warm, easy and somewhat quick to knit. Since we just got our 1st snowfall in Montreal, best to keep his head warm as my guy has a cold and I prefer him to be healthy instead of grumpy. ;)

Now what is our day going to bring us? An oven! What!? Indeed today we shall receive a brand spankin' new oven and I can't WAIT to back banana and chocolate chip muffins in it. How convenient, we have some bananas in need of baking and we haven't made muffins in a few weeks since the oven died on us. We had bought it used and it did it's thing as long as it could. It'll be fun to get a new appliance 'cause I'm quirky like that, I love getting new manuals and read through them, I may not cook but I'm the official owner's manual reader in this household.

p/s: Did you hear!? There's something to look forward too on monday!!!!!!

Wishing you are a great weekend, we will most likely visit THREE craft shows over the next few days. :)
hugs,

"5"

Well like I predicted last week, Zoe now has earned badge number 5 at the figure skating lesson last night. Most kids that are at her level take private lessons, she is now one of the most advanced kids in the learn-to-skate program. The badge 5 called Power is for a skater who masters power development skills. e.g. forward crosscuts in a figure eight pattern, forward power jump. Both head coaches checked as she did her test and both agreed she was ready to receive this new badge. They both recommended that we should look into private lessons for her. It's odd to see Zoe is so far in the program at five years old when some kids only learn to skate a year or two later. Lucas on the other hand will stick with the program for a while, he's doing very well for a 3year old. He's got 2 badges and skates with kids that are mostly 5 and older. Poor kid sometimes he doesn't quite understand what his coaches are expecting from him but they make up for it by giving him some one on one time, then he usually understands better. On saturdays he's in Zoe's group so she gets to show off to him also. LOL! She's like his little protector, so cute. :) All the assistant coaches on the ice (basically teenagers that teach the kids) say how lovely both kids are, never a problem, never not wanting to try a new skill. We've seen so many kids whine at the lessons it's sad, luckily our kids love it so no problem there. :)

Hat number one is on the road to being completed, not sure what kind of hat I will do next, I want to try to knit textures instead of plain old stocking hats. At least for now and then, I'll just crazy knit a few roll brimmed hats in the end. LOL! I'd rate this cable hat pretty easy, it's an eight row reapeat that you can easily memorize, it's a fun knit to do and I will most like knit another one very soon. :) Notice that row counter, it was really easy to make and does the job well.

It's a splendid day outside and we are off to go shop in an area that is known as a ski heaven in the winter. :)

hugs,

Let the hats begin!

Today marks the 1st day in my new challenge of knitting 12 hats for Christmas, give or take a few days, I'm giving myself until new year's eve to achieve my goal. Last year I started this crazy project a little too late but did knit a couple of hats to donate in december. The first hat I will on is a cable hat, big surprise! LOL! This cutie pic made me fall in love with the hat. It can be seen at Little Turtle Knits for anyone wanting more information about the pattern.

Today also marks the world aids day.This chart was made available to the knitlist years ago by Miss Véronik Avery, I changed the colors with her permission last year. Funny how I keep stumbling into Veronik online without looking, on a blog I saw a beautiful hat that she designed last year, then in the super secret special interweave section, I saw a beautiful pattern. Yup! Veronik was behind that again too. :) I still remember the 1st time we met more than a year ago at our favorite place to meet, a simple bookstore with a knitting section. LOL! One day I'll knit up the Shimmering Aran that made my heart stop on the very 1st Interweave issue that made it home with me. :)

pic later on
Now happiness can be measured in many ways, a smile, a burst of laughter, sometimes it's something odd like a pair of skates. Ok so in this household that is NOT consider odd but what is great is that now the whole family has a pair and we've been going to the rink all together for the past two days. Now today is the kids figure skating lesson so I just might go skating on my own to spare their little legs but it's been so fun to see the kids so happy that we are all skating together. Lucas keeps holding my mom's hand to prevent her from falling, wonder who's really holding onto the other. ;) So we can't way to go skate all together again, the kids love it as they get to do whatever they want on the ice, including teach mom how to stop! LOL! Hey, I'm getting there, you should see Carl spin.

have a wonderful day!
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Small update, it's 10am and I'm about to start to work on hat #1! I am using Bartlett yarn in 2 ply, it's a rustic feeling yarn but very nice to touch. I think mittens would feel great in this yarn. This yarn would be really good for mittens, producing a nice thick 'fabric'. As you might have noticed the background of my yarn picture is SNOW!!! Montreal is having it's first snowfall of the year and I LOVE snow, especially thick fat sticky snowflakes, I just want to eat 'em up. :)

Ok, off to knit!!!