Life from Death

So much has happened that I'm not sure where to begin . . . . . . .

When he was a cool dude . . .

Initially I was busy with school and also with preparing a challenge for, not one or two, but seven course!  Lots of work!  I finished the course and am waiting to find out about the course challenges.  

Nonno loved spending time with all his grandchildren

Meanwhile my dad who had been ill for some time finally gave up the ghost to cancer.  He was almost 77.  It's been a process and a journey and I am so grateful for the opportunity to get home with my family and spend time with them.  And that we had a chance to share our grief and say goodbye. 

Mum & dad at happier times

I'll just leave you with some memories: 

How do you sum up the life of a man whom we loved with all our hearts and souls?  How can you reduce a lifetime to a few short paragraphs?

My father would have found the words!  He was a man who loved to talk & share stories.  Making friends came easily to him & he developed friendships with many people, feeling comfortable around anyone and everyone.

What do I remember about our father? 
 
I remember being three & feeling so shy and overwhelmed.  I buried my head in his lap.  I felt safe.  Protected.  No harm would come to me.  He would be there to care for us.  Always

I remember the silly little things.  The horsey-back rides & the tickle fights where we laughed so hard, we felt as if our sides would explode.

I remember his veggie garden!  Even now, I can see him standing in the middle of his magnificent "gardino", surveying its progress & watering the "tinnirumi" and the "pomodori".  And always he had plenty to share.  With everyone.

I remember the long talks--and sometimes heated arguments--at the supper table after everyone finished eating.  We felt as if we had managed to solve the world's problems . . . 

I remember dad surprising me by picking me up from kindergarten.  Instead of going home, we ended up at the "billardo" where he treated me to pop & chips. 

And I remember all the long "passeggiare" along St Clair Ave where we'd look at shop windows.  Eventually we'd stop at the bakery or one of cafes and get a "gelato".

I remember him taking aside my then fiance to give him "the talk" before the wedding--just so he knew "what was what".  And I remember him telling me that he just couldn't do the father-daughter dance 'cuz it would've been too hard.  He wouldn't have the strength to get through it without falling apart.

These little moment make my soul happy.  They bring us peace and comfort.  So while our hearts swell with sadness, reminiscing about our shared joys & little moments of happiness fill us with hope.

Farewell :(
 

Almost Over . . . .

Pretty cone flowers

The days are getting shorter and the nights a little cooler . . .  In a few weeks, the fall fair comes to town and then school will start up.  Summer will officially be over. 

Tomatoes are getting big

Meanwhile I've been busy doing nothing.   That's right.  Nothing.  No crochet.  No knitting (hence no blogging).  Actually, there has been some knitting, but I've been distracted by family events, outings to the big city, games and technology.  Truthfully my knittin' mojo had been waning and now it's MIA!  I'm gonna have to find it if I want to finish those Christmas hats.

The beans that survived . . .

Hanging basket

Meanwhile I've been putterin' 'round in the garden: watering my flowers and veggies, pulling weeds and trimming over-grown bushes and trees.  There's something very primal 'bout planting seeds and watching them grow . . . 

Tomorrow I step back into the mundane ordinary life, and I'll have to re-focus my energies and prioritize my time. I'll keep you posted. ;)

Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!! :D

Photo credit: Nick Kenrick. via Source / CC BY

It's been a long week for me, especially since I've been fighting a bad head cold (I know: who gets a cold in the middle of summer?  Personally I blame my wee toddlers--many of whom have been sick over the past few weeks).  Happy to be able to rest and drink lots of tea.

Wherever you are in this fine country, I hope you are surrounded with family and good friends.  Enjoy the long weekend! :)

A Day for Moms

Photo credit: bambe1964 via Foter.com / CC BY-ND

Here in the Maritimes, the lobster fishing opens about a week or so before Mother's Day.  So in many communities, there are traditional lobster meals served on Mother's Day.   This afternoon, I will partake of this maritime tradition with family.

Photo credit: garryknight via Foter.com / CC BY

As I enjoy my buttery crustacean with freshly baked rolls and green salad, I wilI give thanks for all that I have, modest as it seems.  There are those who have much less.  And although my own mom will be miles away, I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to all the mothers out there.  Thank for you for your time, your kind words, your hugs and most of all, your love. :)

Happy Birthday

To me!

Photo courtesy of foter.com

We're gonna celebrate tomorrow night 'cuz one of my boys had band commitments. It was still a happy happy birthday. :D

Feeling thankful and very grateful for all the good people and all the good stuff in my life.  Also thankful for you.  Thanks for reading my thoughts and reflections on all things crafty.

Cheers!

No Mojo :(

Finished socks :)

So the socks got finished.  Yay!  Even with readings, assignments and a group project taking up my free time, I managed to pick at the project long enough to finally finish. I'd like to say that once finished, I immediately cast on something else.  But that didn't happen.  No.  Instead I was stuck--more like, lost in quagmire.  What to make next?

Fits great!

I thought long and hard, but couldn't make up my mind.  Do I make more worsted socks (enjoyed using Glenna C.'s worsted sock so much, I wanted to make more)?  My sock drawer was certainly lacking a nice pair of thick--almost "workman-type"--socks.

Maybe a beret?  With winter still around, I'd been itching to finally make that matching hat for my lovely cowl (I'd even printed off a bunch of beret patterns ages ago).  And hats are often quick projects, especially in worsted weight.

But I also needed mittens--specifically toddler mittens.  I had the pattern and lots of leftover yarn from Christmas.  Many a toddler at work often needed an extra pair and the spares at work were often too big for their wee hands.

Then there was that list of waiting WIPs.  Some of those projects needed just a little time . . . .

What did I do instead?  Nothing.  Nyet.  Nada. I made no choice, so sadly there was no knitting.  And now, my little peeps, I am feeling the withdrawals.  The fingers are itchy and twitchy.  My jaw is clenched.  My stomach is in knots.  I gotta grab some needles and string quick before I stab someone in the eye . . . 
:(

Shouldn't Every Day Be Love Day?

Too cynical, perhaps?  Maybe.  The older I get, the more critical I become of our disposable, consumerist society with it's on-demand, 24/7, must-have-now mentality.  And don't get me started on the science-denying, intolerant masses who leave nasty anonymous comments touting ignorance and hate.  What?  Too much?  Okay, I'll get off my high-horse.

Photo credit: yvestown via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Hey look at these pretty crochet hearts.  Someone made a pretty crochet heart garland.  This craftiness should change my mood . . .  ;)

Chugging Along . . . .

Finished socks

So the socks are finished.  Yay for me!  Still pondering which version I prefer (the highly modified or the less modified) . . . . 

Left versus right:  who wins?

Seriously, which toes do you prefer?  The left (not modified much) or the right (highly modified)?  Both have their merits. I suppose with wear and time, I will find one more comfy than the other.

Finished "lady" slippers

Meanwhile I started these "man slippers" that turned out to be just the right "lady slippers".  Hee hee! I've made these slippers before for my husband--just less than a year ago in fact (wrote about it here in this post and here ).  Just as before I combined three yarns: Phentex Slipper & Craft yarn (for strength), Bernat Roving (for softness) and Briggs & Little Heritage (for durability).

Sloppy assembly but very squishy

Admittedly my seaming and overall assembly is a little sloppy, but these slippers are the most comfortable.  Ever!  I swear!  They feel so awesome 'cuz they're so squishy.  Love 'em!

Modifications: Using 9 mm straights, I cast on 20 stitches as written; however, I changed the pattern.
Row 1: Knit all stitches
Row 2: Purl 5, Knit 10, Purl 5 
This change creates a garter stitch sole which creates the "squish factor".  

What's on your needles?
 

Winter? Bah!

Seriously Mother Nature?  We just had a storm on Wednesday and now you hammer us with an even bigger storm?  Why?  Weekends were meant for relaxing or catching up with loved one and knitting--not for shoveling.

Buried world

Mother Nature, did you have to dump so much?  See that photo above.  There's a car buried under there in the background.  It took three hours to get it all cleaned up . . . whew!!

Car freed from the snow

Thankfully I had help from my boys.  So much muscle power!  Yay for muscles!

Helper No 1

And in case you thought I was exaggerating, check out the huge snow piles.  By the end, we were struggling to find places to put the white stuff.

Helper No 2

Here's hoping there's a break from shovelling for a little while . . . Now maybe I can get back to my knitting. ;)
 

Looking Back . . .

I wish I had been more productive in 2015, but with two courses on my plate coupled with full time work and family life, my time was limited. Still I managed to finish off a few small projects. The year began with a collection of baby gifts, some of which were made at the end of 2014 and some at the start of 2015.

Baby Collection

As it turns out, my selection of yarn colour was less than ideal.  The baby born was a boy and maybe there weren't enough traditional "masculine" colours.  Nevertheless, I did like the individual items (although I wish I had made more than one bib).

My proudest moment was finishing my Bernat Crochet-Along Afghan.  That one had been in the WIP pile for years.  And I was very happy to make my first real grown-up shawl with lace edging.  There's some lovely yarn in my stash that's waiting for a more complicated lace pattern.  Here's hoping I can work on that during the year.

Some 2015 projects

The year marked my return to hand-crafted Christmas gifts.  I had decided to make gifts for all my nieces and nephews.  I started off gang-busters and then lost some of my steam along the way.  The result: some manic last-to-the-minute knitting, but I did manage to finish on time.  Sadly I wasn't able to photograph one little gift (I should really get my SIL to snap a photo for me).

Gifts for Christmas 2015

All in all, I had a decent year.  Bonus: only a few items in my WIP pile.  Hopefully these will get done in the not-too-distant future (I'm looking at you, lonely sock and almost-done scarf).

WIP pile left over form 2015

How was your year?  Did you get lots done?  Here's hoping there's lots of crafty goodness for all of us. :)

Happy New Year!

Photo credit: don2g via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Here's hoping the New Year brings happiness, joy and lots of laughter!  And of course lots of fibre and crafty goodness. :)

Cheers!

Post Halloween

Any trick-or-treaters at your place?  We never got any when we lived at the farmhouse, but it was nice to see some last night.  

Pumpkin dude--just hangin' out.

My boys were out on their own with their friends.  I'm glad they're growing up to be responsible young men, but I do miss those little rituals, like taking them out to trick-or-treat.  

Pumpkins on the deck

Hope it was a nice weekend for you.  I haven't  done much--it's been a "day off".  Today we deal with the time change and the fast-approaching darkness (I'm a summer girl with it's warm breezes and light-filled evenings). So Halloween always has me feeling melancholy (Winter is just 'round the corner).

All lit up for Halloween

There has been some knitting--well, very little knitting.  Maybe therein lies the problem?  Knitting cures all ills, including melancholy.   Persevere I must, so I hope to do more knitting in the upcoming weeks.  There are Christmas knits that need finishing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo from . . . ?

 Just poppin' in to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving on this lovely long weekend.  I know I have lots to be thankful for.  Hope you do too.

Mamamamama . . . .

Muffin time!  While I was visiting family, my mom gave me her old cookbook (along with some old family favorites--mostly special cookies she made for company).  Nothing beats the treats mom used to make.

The pages may be tattered here and there.  Some stains cover a few pages, but I wouldn't give up this book for the world.  It was my go-to cookbook when I baked as a teen.

And now I make treats for my own children.  They haven't expressed much interest in baking or cooking, but I know certain recipes have become family favorites--especially muffins.

Love makin' muffins for the kids to take along in their lunch cans-kids love the banana ones and pumpkin muffins are nice for the fall.  Always nice to offer homemade snacks whenever I can.

Neat gadget my SIL & BIL picked up for me a while back when they were in Halifax.  It's specifically used for mixing dough, but the beauty is in the design: dough won't stick to it!  Very nice for  mixing muffin dough.

Do you have any family favorites?  Watcha doin' this weekend?

Best Laid Plans . . .

Sometimes the best laid plans go astray.

Yarns waiting to become a hat

I had hoped to make the Snow Bunny Hat.  As I worked the first row with my novelty yarn, a little voice in head hummed and hawed.  I worked a few rows of ribbing before finally taking a closer look at my other yarns.  Eeek!  My bamboo yarns were much thinner!  **sigh**  My fuzzy brimmed vision was not gonna work with this pattern.  :(

After ripping out, I searched for a pattern using worsted weight. I settled on Easiest Baby Hat 'cuz it echoed the shape and style of the Sunny Bunny Hat. Sadly this meant my novelty yarn was not gonna be usable as the brim, but it could still work as pompoms.

As I worked with the bamboo yarn, that little voice hummed and hawed again.  I ignored it.  After a few more rows, I couldn't ignore it anymore.  The hat looked smallish.  I finally went online and searched Ravelry's databatse.  Ack!!  My bamboo yarns weren't worsted!  They were DK!  Seriously?!  **double sigh**

Stripey bamboo yarn

More ripping ensued.  Back to search for similar patterns in a DK weight.  Was there even such a pattern?  I really wasn't interested in designing my own.  **triple sigh** 

Pretty colours waiting for colourful pompoms

To my rescue: Tappee Hattee.  **sigh of relief**   This pattern worked with the yarn beautifully and there was the added bonus that it was worked in the round so no side seams or matching stripes.

Now I just have to figure out how to make pompoms . . .  :S

Makin' Christmas . . .

Remember the movie Nightmare Before Christmas?  Remember Jack Skellington taking over Christmas and making presents for all the kiddies?  During the movie, Jack and his scary pals sing a song with the verse "makin' Christmas . . "  Yup, that's me!

I hope I'm not makin' scary presents (that remains to be seen, haha!), but the tune keeps playin' in my head as I busily finish off some hats for my nieces.  Yup, it's gonna be a homemade Christmas this year for all my nieces and nephews. (Apologies to the adults 'cuz they're being cut out this year).

Using the free pattern Iceland Earflap Hat, I made some modifications.  Since the original adult-sized pattern called for super-bulky yarn, I took a chance that my less bulky yarn worked with smaller needles would produce a child-sized hat (FYI: using Lion Brand Homespun).

Berry Pixie Earflap Hat for Niece #1

I worked flaps as indicated, but added 2 extra row increases so that flap had 17 stitches (instead of the 15 stitches as suggested in pattern).  To keep the total stitch count at 60, I adjusted the count when connecting the flaps: knit across first flap and cast on 10 stitches (instead of 12), knit across second flap and then cast on 16 stitches (instead of 18). 

I wasn't too keen on the look of garter stitch flaps and ribbing next to each other, so I "borrowed" from Teo Hat which uses garter for the rim.  I think it looks nicer--more unified.

Rusty Pixie Earflap Hat for niece #2

Worried that the hat might not fit right (the brim of the berry version "looked" huge), I made the second hat with smaller flaps (15 stitches as originally written in pattern).  My big mod was to adjust the overall stitch count to 54 stitches (decreases happen in multiples of 6): knit across first flap (15 sts), cast on 9 stitches, knit across second flap (15 sts) and then cast on 15 stitches.  

I then realized that first version had a shorter brim (quite by accident I knit 3" before decreases instead of the required 4").  I think I need to take both hats to work where a few toddlers can try them on.  If they fit, I won't have to re-do any of them (oh please let them fit . . . !!). 
 

Funky hat for niece #3

I hope to make matching mittens to go along with the cute pixie hats, but right now I'm ready to start another hat for my older niece: a funky  Snow Bunny Hat

Lotta colours :)

Hoping to use a mix of different colours--although I'm conflicted about using the dark orange (not sure it works with the variegated novelty yarn).  Guess I'll just have to experiment with it.

This week I start my online course.  Hope it won't put too many demands on my time.  I've three more hats to make along with at least 2 pairs of mittens.  Just keep knittin', right?  LOL!

Home Sweet Home

Nathan Philips Square decorated for PanAm Games

It was great to finally visit my family.  It had been four years since I'd last been out to Toronto.  And I missed so much!  The city has grown, especially on the periphery where homes mushroom like weeds.  

Old City Hall

There was much knitting as there was lots of waiting in airports, on airplanes (I am not a good flyer--not one bit) and in subways.  And of course I got to shop at one of the best yarn shops--ever!  Romni Wools on Queen St W.  I was so intoxicated by yarn fumes that I forgot to take photos inside the store.  But yarn was bought--and I am happy, happy, happy! :)

Knitting, tea and good company

Most of all, it was good to catch up with family and friends: laughed and giggled with my sisters; chatted with my bro and mum; got to see my nephews and meet my niece; and re-connected with friends (and I mean really good friends.  The kind that when you start chatting, it's like you've never been apart).  Most of all, I got to spend time with my dad. 

Dad enjoying time with family

He's been ill with one thing or another and we had a few health scares in the last 10 months.  So I was happy to spend time with him, just shooting the breeze . . .  

There's still lots of summer left, even though In a few days I'll be back to work.  Hope you're enjoying your summer.

Summer's Whimsy

There's something rather whimsical abut capturing the colours of summer.  There's always a surprise in the garden, from the wild roses pouring over the fence from the neighbour's yard (these beauties are my absolute favorite with their intoxicating fragrance.  And they require minimal care). 

Staple of Nova Scotia: wild roses

To the wild flowers announcing their arrival and joining lovely green space in the lush backyard (wild phlox and some variation of Queen Anne's lace). 

Nature's natural beauty

Even something as mundane as laundry hanging on a clothesline can be beautiful.

Rainbow clothesline

Beauty lies all around.  You just have to open your eyes and see it.


PS (I'm on vacation and where I'm going there 's little or no access to internet.  I'll see you on the other side--and yes, I will bring my knitting. )