Baby, it's COLD outside!

D'you know what the radio told me today?

That with windchill, it's going to drop down to -49 degrees Celsious tonight. FOURTY NINE DEGREES. I just need to emphasize how much of a shock this is to me, as last week we had a couple of days that were almost zero degrees!

Damn chinooks, making me think that maybe winter was leaving us!

Bah.

ETA: I'm editing this to make a point. When I got to work Tuesday morning, my freight guys were there. When they pulled into town at about four in the morning the temperature was MINUS SIXTY ONE DEGREES with wind chill. Do I need to emphasize how sick and wrong that is? Even for up here? Dayum!

Winding and winding and winding. . .

I wound my very first center-pull ball by hand the other afternoon! A very proud moment, so bear with me. :)

It was a skien of handspun that I bought from See Jayne Knit's Etsy shop a couple of weeks ago, which is absolutely gorgeous! No idea what I'm going to use it for, but I'm madly in love with it. :P It took me way longer than I expected, though, I spent probably an hour between winding and untangling the big mess that I made of the yarn halfway through. However, the way it turned out was fantastically satisfying, so I'm not going to complain!

Aside from that, work continues on strips for the Lizard Ridge afghan, which I might finish sometime this summer. Hahaha.

Some of the most beautiful flowers live in the darkest jungles. Some of the most beautiful fish live in the deepest ocean trenches. Some of the most beautiful people are at their most beautiful in the dark.

Lizards and kitties and Noro, oh my!

So, I started working on the Lizard Ridge afghan from the fall 2006 issue of Knitty. My first project ever that involves short rows! According to the pattern, you're supposed to make this piece in squares, however, there was a post on one of the Ravelry forums that suggested instead of having to seam together dozens of blocks when you're finishing, you could just attach the next skien of Kureyon as you run out of yarn, and build the blanket in strips!


Well, I'm always one for shortcuts and honestly? The less pieces of afghan I have laying around, the less likely a cat will sleep on a piece and pull out stitches with their fiendish little claws.


Because that's what my cats are good for. Sleeping on WIP's and eating my yarn. Maybe they're jealous because they can't knit for themselves, but regardless! Work untouched by animal is a rare find in my house - a rare find, indeed.

An Exercise in THE ROUND! (Oh my!)

It's been a productive week on the knitting front - at least, it has been for me! Sifting through the patterns on Ravelry a couple of weeks ago, I came across Fetching from the summer issue of Knitty in 2006. Which is to say, I stared at them for two weeks because I hadn't managed to successfully venture into the terrifying world of KNITTING IN THE ROUND. [shock! shock!!] Needless to say, I was intimidated.

However! Not one to be defeated, I sat there with my lonely little skein of Red Heart "Soft Touch" and I perservered. After a few close calls involving the slippy double-pointed needles and my eyes, we were well on our way to a beautiful almost-glove!

The tutorials at KnitPicks were a huge help, as were a handful of other random knitting sites that I found with my Google-fu. (Of course, none of which I can remember!)

So, to make a long story short, I finished them this evening after about a week and a half of torturous learning experiences. What have I learned? I need to work on picking up stiches, but I really like knitting in the round! I can see socks in my not-so-distant future. :) Here's hoping.

(Did I mention that my cat has taken to nesting in the basket that holds my small-ish stash of yarn? It's driving me crazy, but I'm too much of a pushover to move him every five minutes when he comes crawling back. Hahaha.)

Knitting is very conducive to thought. It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again.
- Dorothy Day

Introduction

In Northern BC, there isn’t a lot to do at night, or in the evenings for that matter.

Especially in the winter!

Recently, I’ve re-taken up knitting to keep my hands occupied. I’m becoming something of a fiber-hoarder. The large basket that I initially dedicated to knitting “stuff” is quickly becoming overfull.

Another way I occupy myself is with photography. However, it’s taken a backseat to the newer hobby. Whoops!

Aside from that, there’s not much else of note here. I’m recently married, and Heather is my secret lover.

;)

Anyway. Most of the content here will be either knitting or photography related. With the occasional subtext of baby-craving or the people in my life. Hah!