Jesse had a party at playschool today. Not a Halloween party as some parents were not happy about their child celebrating that. Ok so we all have our beliefs. When I grew up in England, there was no such thing anyway. So I make the most of now being the big kid that I am.

I know the kids got far too much sugar there today. Jesse was so hyper that it was like watching somebody on drugs. I did manage to get him to stand stil long enough to take a picture of his cute face painting. He is into silly smiles this week. Makes me wonder how the teachers got him to stand still long enough too!!

Finished the little poncho that I designed. Now if only I could get a good photo of it. It looks really creased in the photo but it isn't. We are low on daylight in this part of the world at this time of year. It is pretty gloomy outside or just too cold to go out and take photos. It is knit from the top down on circulars. The only sewing required is weaving in the yarn ends (BIG YIPEE from me as I don't like to sew). Fits children from 2 -10 years.
If anybody is interested, it is available for purchase in the right hand column of this site (US$) or on my business site in CAN$.

All the stress of the past few months is over. The motion to rezone the lot opposite our house was defeated by a vote of 4 to 2. One councillor excused himself as he is the boss of the landowner and another is too sick to attend. So we WON!!!!!!! I was ready to jump up and make my voice heard if they voted the other way. That may have even got me arrested (although I was sitting next to my ex neighbour who used to be the RCMP Staff Sergeant until he retired). Luckily it did not come to that. Ron and I have put our hearts and souls into fighting this. It probably isn't completely over as we have no idea on what will be planned next -- but it can't be worse than planning to build a 12 plex which will all be rental suites. We are a low rise single family area that was built about 30-40 years ago. Suddenly dropping an apartment building in the middle of us ( BANG SLAP in the middle as it is a small crescent) would have destroyed the great community that we have. Most of us have lived here for over 8 years and some have been here 20 plus years.

One councillor said that we had opposed everything offered - a seniors home, a young offenders home - but we had not ever heard about the seniors home. That would be perfect. The young offenders was not officially on the cards either. It was a rumour and then they looked at a different area. That crescent fought against it and they now have the Playschool that Jesse attends on the land.

All I can say is Thank God we learnt this was all being rushed through in breach of bylaws back in May/June. If we hadn't - they would have passed this before we ever learnt what was happening. Maybe they now realise that their "old boys club" is starting to fall apart. And wait until the next election!!! There will be some changes if we have anything to do with it. (And if I get my Canadian Citizenship by then, then you may even see me stand as councillor)

Hope all the Canadian's reading this had a lovely Thanksgiving. We were supposed to go down to Alberta but Ron had to go north instead. It would have made the trip too short and too crazy by the time he got home.

I am still working on the cable sweater for Jesse. The yarn is quite hard on my wrists so I just do a little of that at a time.

Also designed a little Pumpkin Patch Hat which he proudly models.



My next brainstorm was a little poncho design. #1 problem - why has it only got 3 shoulder seams instead of 4???? GRRRRRRR. I was about 1/3 of the way through the design before I finally woke up. It was really heartbreaking to frog it. But I did it without tears. About 1/4 has been re-knitted. It looks so much nicer with 4 shoulder seams - grin


Jesse seems to be coming on in leaps and bounds since starting play-school. He nearly made me pass out with shock when he came home and pointed to B and said what it was. He knows J for Jesse and Jackie and sometimes R for Ronald. We have a great gift on the fridge. It is a magnetic alphabet that Jesse's Nana Norma gave him. Made by Leappad. It really helps him learn his letters as he can sing along....and he loves to sing.

Feeling gross. Picked up yet another cold - Jesse caught this at playschool. I haven't stopped coughing from the cold we got on vacation yet. YUCKY!

We had the Public Hearing for the rezoning of the land opposite our home last night. I think the residents did very well in letting their opinions be known. My Hubby was almost sick with worry about having to stand up and speak but he pulled it off. Now we wait. 12 apartments in this area just **doesn't** work.

On the knitting front I began a new project. It is from Cabin Fever's wonderful book called Top Down for Toddlers. I am making the cream coloured, cable pullover for Jesse. The yarn I chose to use is a beige fleck. Not been a cable knitter before and I quite surprised at how easy I am finding it. It sure doesn't look too bad for a first attempt.

As promised Jesse's Placket Pullover completed.
The colours are slightly darker than the pic shows. More burgundy and darker green. Both of our cameras were doing this to the sweater. I will try to take a pic of it on the little guy tomorrow - outside.



And here is a picture of him just going into playschool on his first day.



I was SOOOOO proud of him. He went off with the teacher and never really looked backed. The bus brought him home and there was this little face waving at Mommy out of the window. He was so excited to have been on a school bus at last. He rushed in, un-zipped his backpack and pulled out a magnifying glass that he had made in craft-time. He was terribly proud of it. He told me he peed at school (big achievement for him) and that the bus was bumpy. Hopefully I won't be such a wreck on Thursday when he has his 2nd day.

Jesse's new sweater is just about finished. I have 8 rounds of 1x1 rib, sew on buttons and weave in ends. This has been just about the fastest project that I ever worked on. Not sure if it is the pattern or me. The pattern was very well written except for one line which was out of place. Luckily, as I have knitted top down sweaters before, I knew that I should knitting one round of increases and then one round straight. So I should have a FO to show later today or tomorrow. (About time too!)

My little boy has his first day at playschool without me this afternoon. The bus was coming to collect him but Ron and I decided to take him the first time. We want to make sure he is OK and to take pics of him entering the school on his first day. He seems so little to be doing this. I was actually only 4 years old when I started school full time. Back in the early 60s in England, that was how it was done at the local school's. Jesse is only going for 2 1/2 hours - 2 afternoons per week. And I am so worried about my little love. Aren't I silly?

Here is a lovely pic of Jesse on our vacation. This was taken in Robert's Roost RV park in Quesnel, BC (great place to stay).

Jesse's first time at Play-School went quite well. I think Mom was the most nervous. Jesse was rather upset that the school bus didn't come to collect him. He assumed that it would if he was going to school. They do have a small bus which they use for outings....and lucky for Jesse, the kids in the afternoon classes can be collected by the little bus. He is going to be SOOOOOO happy when it comes to get him next week. He already knows the lady that drives it -- she is not only a neighbour but also one of the teachers.

He wouldn't sit for the book reading which was highly embarrassing for me. All the other kids sat and listened to the story while Jesse got into any toy he could find and generally was loud. I think he will be OK if I am not there though.

So all in all, I was happy. The setup is great and Jesse will benefit from more structured activities without Mommy around. He has only ever been away from me for one morning in 3 years!!!!

Thing about making the Poncho Pullover that seems to be the rage at the moment. Cabin Fever sold masses at a recent show evidently and I can barely keep it in stock. It's extremely popular. I wondered if it might be something for me. Not sure if it will suit my short frame though. But perhaps the point might make me look taller???? Comments anybody???

Long time since I blogged. Can't shake the cold/cough that I picked up on vacation. I feel so tired. Still trying to get fit enough to go and have my blood tests done as I am always so tired. I know I work a lot and have a toddler but I don't think I should feel THIS tired.

Talking of my adorable toddler. He starts Play School next week. We go to meet the teachers and other pupils on Thursday. There are only 6 kids in his group. We only know one of them. He starts for two afternoons per week as of the 14th. I am sort of excited and equally as worried. I guess that is what you call "being a Mom".

Had to give up knitting the Georgina cardigan as I knew I would run out yarn. Tried desperately to get more but it is no longer made and nobody seems to have a couple of balls spare.

My new project is a sweater for Jesse. I have had a book for ages but hadn't got around to knitting anything from it yet. It is called Kids to Grown Ups Seamless Sweaters . So far the instructions seem clear and well written. I am making Jesse the Kids Placket Pullover. The yarn is basic Red Hear TLC in a variegated colour called Polo. Red Heart is not wonderful to knit with but it sure is great for a kid like Jesse to wear.

My garden died last night. We got hit by a -6c frost. It hadn't been predicted. I lost all my peas and beans. We had barely had anything from our garden this year due to a total lack of rain. Oh well.

We're all going on a summer holiday
no more working for a week or two.
Fun and laughter on our summer holiday,
no more worries for me or you,
for a week or two.

And if you have never seen the Cliff Richard movie Summer Holiday, you have no idea of the tune to the song above.
We used to sing it as kids when we were on our way to Norfolk (county in England) to see Nana and Grandad.

Anyway, we are heading out on a little vacation. BC here were come. Hope it won't be too hot but I hope it won't rain either.
Not seen much rain this summer so it has to arrive eventually.

Later....

George Bush - Best Bushism Yet

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.
They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

George Bush,
Washington, D.C.,
Aug. 5, 2004

Just about caught up from our trip to Barrhead/Edmonton, AB.
The main reason for the trip was to visit the in-laws. Ron's Mom began raditation treatment the day after we arrived. She seemed to cope well but got very tired a few hours afterwards. I think us being there helped her cope better. But after a few days I wondered if she wasn't trying to stay out of bed just because we were there. Ron agreed. So we left on the Wednesday. It takes us 2 days to get there and 2 to get back -- driving the 12 hours in one day is just too much for Jesse. Looks like we will be heading south again soon...we haven't really had a vacation this year yet so we will either go to Barkerville or maybe Slave Lake, AB. The beach at the Slave Lake would be perfect for Jesse and perhaps the in-laws could drive up with their 5th wheel and meet us there. FIL often goes there to fish anyway.

We had our new (2nd hand) 5th wheel hitched behind us for the first time on this trip. The truck misfired every time we hit a hill. For those that have travelled between Valleyview and Edmonton, you know there are LOTs of hills. It was over 30c too. Plus Jesse wanted to stop and pee about every 5 minutes. Needles to say, the trip down wasn't great. The air conditioner was a godsend as was the microwave. Pure luxury after our little truck camper.

We took the truck into a dealer in Spruce Grove to see if they could find what was wrong. Thankfully they did. Cost $300 to fix but it was worth it. Zender Ford has a great little waiting area for customers. Cafeteria, kids toys and TV. We waited for 2 hours and it was the only last 10 minutes or so that was hard on Jesse. The funniest part was when he looked out of the window and saw the mechanic driving off in our truck. He just screamed; "Man steal truck! Man steal truck!" He was mortified. Sobbing like mad. Poor thing. So funny for everybody else though.

On the knitting front. I took out my Bond Knitting Machine for the first time in 3 years (BJ - Before Jesse). Wanted to see if I could make the Shapely Tank on it. Couldn't figure it out so I began to knit another tank. Well wouldn't you know it - I found the pattern for a Bond version of Shapely Tank in the files for the Bond Knitters Club. I will finish the one that I making and then attempt the Shapely Tank. Luckily I have enough yarn here for both.

Just learnt yesterday that Jesse's birth mom is pregnant again. She blurted it out while we were standing outside the food store last night. Ron and I were floored at the way she said it. She says she keeping it this time. I haven't spoken to her mom yet but my guess is that she is pretty upset too. She has been given every chance to turn her life around - but she kept partying, kept loosing her jobs because she could get up in the morning etc etc. Now she says she is moving to Edmonton (on Canada day she told us she was saving up to go the Thailand!!!!!). I am just worried sick about what will happen to her. She just doesn't have the mental ability to look after herself down there. And what of the baby??? Her reality doesn't seem to be anything like the "real' world. I can see the baby being taken into care in Edmonton. At least if she gets into trouble up here, there is her family and us to keep an eye open. Knowing that the baby is Jesse's blood brother or sister makes me feel kind of responsible too. Is that weird? I am very concerned about any effect this will have on Jesse in the future...at school etc.

Been doing a little of the Georgina cardigan each day. It is too warm and smoky to feel like knitting much. But I know realise that I am going to run out yarn. And Elann doesn't stock it any longer. And the wholesale that I thought I could get some from also doesn't stock it any longer. SOOOOOOOO if anybody has, or knows where I can get, 3 balls of Schoeller Stahl Bandolino Colour#727 (Aubergine Oops forgot the North American word - colour is Eggplant), please let me know here. (Remove the obvious before emailing)


Hot and smoky here. Only one downpour of rain in about two months. The grass has forgotten what colour green is!!!!! I seem to be plagued by headaches which I think are heat related.

Ron's Mom starts radiation treatment next week. Ironic that she quit smoking 3 years ago and now has lung cancer. I hope it is not too advanced. Don't think she asks many questions when she sees the doc so I we don't know much either.

Couple of days late. It's hot here so we want to be outside.

Jesse on Canada Day - just before his brithday.



We had a wonderful time with Jesse at the Canada Day parade. Jesse's birth mother watched with us.

My adorable little son is 3 years old today.

Happy Birthday Jesse!!


Will try to post a pic of him later today.

Jonah's funeral is today.



Farewell my young buddy.........

For Jonah

Words can never express how sad we are.

Your life was cut so short.

We are going to miss you so very much.


Jonah passed away on Friday night. He was just 16 years old. He was the lively smiling face boy who delivered our local newspaper. He never complained about anything. He delivered the papers no matter if it was -40c or +40c. He played with Jesse. He chatted about Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. He was a wonderful person. A few months ago he told us that he didn't feel too good. We both thought it was unusual as Jonah was never sick. That was the last time we saw him. We found our he had been diagnosed with cancer. That cancer took his life.

God bless you Jonah

In Memory...
No one told me the way I should feel
You left an aching heart
Lost and lonely, the feeling goes on
You were the one friend I had
You gave me so much love
Now the tears remind me you're gone

It still haunts me there's a silence
Where you used to be
It still haunts me
Just an empty space in history
It still haunts me
But life must go on, on and on

It's still haunting me
It's still haunting me
Haunting me
Haunting me

            Black Sabbath - Lyrics by Anthony Iommi

I am getting a beading bug. Been a long time since I beaded. I noticed that Growing Together has beading classes starting next week. Growing Together is a place two block away that has programs for families and their kids. They have cookery classes, play mornings, toy lending library and such. I taught myself to bead about 7 years ago but I would love to learn properly. It is also a good excuse to leave Jesse with his Dad so that I can take a break for a couple of hours....It is so rare that I do that.

Anyway, has anybody seen any online instructions for making beaded stitch markers? I found this site with ring style Beaded Stitch Markers but I am looking for instructions for making ones like drop earrings.

We thought summer had arrived. Yesterday - Sunny, warm and around 22c. Today - freezing fog and 2c this morning. And guess who planted her bedding plants yesterday. Silly ME!

Oops. Has it been that long since I blogged?

Things have been rather busy around here.

Firstly the guy that bought the lot opposite has put it for permission to have it re-zoned. We hear he wants to put a 12-plex on the land. The land used to house a lovely old buidling that once was the baptist church. Then it was occupied by the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre until they moved to a new location. Used to be wonderful when they had any special occasion and we could hear fiddling and drumming without having to leave our yard. Anyway, we have all signed a petition and will be at the Town Hall on Monday. Ron and I have done most of the leg work. Fingers crossed for us.

Then I re-vamped Karp Styles. Just new logo menus. "Just" she said. It took days. Wanted to install a new shopping cart but I can't find one that suits my requirements.

Last night we went to enroll Jesse in Playschool. He starts next Septemeber. The school is quite new and has great facilities. As soon as we go there he took off on his own. For 40 minutes he seemed to totally forget us. I think he will do great there. They even have computers. Jesse loves to come and help Mommy work so you never know, he might be the one printing out invoices soon LOL.

Way to Go Fantasia!

The best American Idol winner to date.

The emotion she puts into a song will surely make her a top artist. Not just a singer - she is pure, raw, powerful talent.
I was weeping buckets at the end - had to go and clean my glasses as I couldn't see.

On the knitting front - I have just finished the back of Georgina and cast on for the left front. I think this cardigan might become a fave of mine. It sure looks pretty so far.

The past week has not been fun at all...AT ALL!

Jesse had a bad cough the previous week. Daddy went to Inuvik on Monday. Monday afternoon, I took Jesse to Tree House (a kids play/craft group). One girl had a runny nose.... I didn't think much of it as Jesse probably had the same bug. Next morning we went to Tumbling Toddlers. Fisheries and Oceans Canada had a young guy visit to give the kids a little show about pond life. He bought bugs - Jesse was mesmerized. He and another boy called Brad were laying on their tummies glued to the bowl of water with the bugs. Jesse has never been so still or quiet. But Brad had a runny nose. Meg, Jesse's girlfriend, also had a runny nose. On Wednesday Jesse got sicker again. Luckily Daddy came home Thursday evening. This weekend he has been really bad. Poor kid has been running a high fever and was a bit delirious at one stage. He wasn't too bad this morning but, after his afternoon nap, he was burning up again. Daddy gave him a tepid shower and Mommy gave Tylenol. If he isn't better tomorrow, we will call the nursing desk at the hospital for advice. He has been ill too long. Poor kid's nose is bleeding often as well. Mommy hasn't slept much for nearly two weeks now.

Then we heard that Ron's Mom has been ill since around Xmas. She had back pain when she was here but she said it was due to the long journey...very likely. Seems she hid how bad she felt when we all met up at Easter. Now we learn that she has a spot on her lung. We are worried out of our minds. She quit smoking around the time Jesse was born. I always thought that she quit because of him but now I wonder if she already knew something. Ron thinks the same. Please send good thoughts and vibes her way.

Happily the Northwest Territories has banned smoking in any restaurants, bars or pubs now. Maybe that might stop at least one person dying of lung caner. Basically you can't smoke in any workplace at all...and that includes where waiters and waitresses work. Well done NWT!!!! Hay River had already banned smoking in restaurants. As an ex smoker - I am really happy about this. I cannot tolerate the stench of smoke at all now. It has stopped me going to Christmas parties at Ron's work etc.

American Idol - what a joke
The program totally lost any credability tonight. It is pretty clear that votes are being rigged. But that doesn't totally surprise me. You could set a computer up with a script to dial in over and over again. Imagine what fun hackers can reap on the voting. If they allow more than one call per # then it can be rigged easily.

I didn't like La Toya's attitude too much but she is a GREAT singer. She seemed a tad toooooooo confident. Watch now -- Fantasia will get thrown out next.

I feel pissed off!

Georgina is working up nicely. I love how it looks so far. I am about to decrease for the armholes on the back. Not had too much knitting time this week as work has been busy. Jesse is under the weather again too. Was up all night as he had a bad cough. Poor baby!

The colour of the yarn is very hard to get on camera. Sorry, I didn't feel like going outside as it is still around freezing. But you can get the idea at least.

My Shapely Tank
Yarn: Sonata
Pattern: White Lies Designs



Squashed my index finger of my rh between a wooden box and a wall unit last night. OWIE! Have a lovely black nail and my finger has throbbed ever since. Don't think it is life threatening though :-)

Jesse trouble of the day - knocked over Mommy's plants whilst Mommey was showering. Guess I really can't shower any more eh?

Shapely Tank is finished. It is GR8! I really do like a lot. Will probably make more.

The neck and armholes were too loose. Typical - I actually made a point of casting off looser than normal as I often do it too tight. So I frogged the casting off and re-knitted.
Will post pics as soon as I can.

Now onto my next project. Paula found this pattern for me. Thank you!
It is Georgina by Kirstin Cowan
Yarn is Schoeller Stahl Bandolino (sp?) in purple.
If anybody wants to do a knit-along, let me know.

My dear sweet innocent son (ha ha) managed to get into a cupboard that he can't normally reach today. He found white glue, glitter, crepe paper and a brush. I was in the shower for 5 minutes and Jesse was creating a work of art. The mess was not fun. Now I know he can reach this cupboard I have moved everything. I can't put a childproof lock on it so moving things is my only option. He can open cupboards with most childproof locks anyway. Kids are more clever than the folks that make these things!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to Me.........

Can't belive that I am 47 already. Where have all those years gone? Mommy to a toddler and 47!!!!!! Perhaps that is why I am always tired. But I am always smiling too. He gives us so much joy.

Jesse sang Happy Birthday to me this morning. It was extremely moving to see a 34 month old singing so sweetly. He and his daddy woke me with coffee in bed. They were both wearing party hats. Jesse seems to know that you wear hats and have balloons at birthdays....so it was his idea.

The Hay River is breaking up today. It had broken at the falls (see photo below for that the falls looked like last weekend) but it hasn't broken near our home. No fear of flooding this year. The weather melted lots of the ice before the break happened.


Alexandra Falls

Just took this quiz on Quizilla. The result is so funny. I will always be the first to admit that my spelling and grammar suck. Give me Math any day!
But clearly my grammar is good when taking a quiz or test. Just not when writing emails, blog entries or letters. Maybe I don't concentrate enough in those situations. Somebody even wrote me an anonymous email to point out that I wrote "sort after" on my website. DUH Jackie! I know it is "sought" after. Brain on a go slow perhaps.


You are a MASTER of the English language!


While your English is not exactly perfect,
you are still more grammatically correct than
just about every American. Still, there is
always room for improvement...


How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


A few things that bug me are:
"There" car instead of "their" car.
Web "sight" in place of "site".
"To many" where it should be "too many".
"I no" or "I now" for "I know"
etc.
Is it time for me to join the Grammar Avengers????
Well done Pinner Grammar School in Pinner, Middlesex, England for actually teaching me something!!!!!!

As far as my knitting progress goes.....
Have now finished the front of Shapely Tank. I think it will fit like a glove. Perhaps I need to do a few more laps of the block to loose a pound or two. Really like how the tank is turning out and feel really enthusiastic about it. I have some solid purple DK yarn and would like to make a little cardigan to go over the top. Something similar to Sitcom Chic. Anybody know of a nice pattern that I could use?

DH is off on a business trip for two days. I really miss the couple of hours break from the whirlwind two (nearly 3) year old. So if you don't hear from me, I am lying on the floor somewhere, totally exhausted .

What a gray day! It doesn't rain *that* often here - well not anywhere near as much as it does in England (my homeland). But it has rained all day. The back yard is flooded as the rain is making the rest of the snow melt very fast. We are actually trying to pump the back yard water into the ditch in the front yard. From there it will eventually flow into the river which is about 100 yards away (and still frozen). Look out for river break up pics as soon as it happens. Hopefully no floods in the town this year.

Making slow progress with Shapely Tank. I just haven't really had enough knitting time lately.
Here is an "in progress" shot. This is the front - I always use circs even if I don't knit it in the round.
The rug is actually silver - the purple of the yarn isn't showing too well either.

The pattern states to knit 13 inches before the short rows for bust shaping. As I am short-waisted, I think I will do 12 inches instead. I don't want it to be too long and for the waist shaping to be near my hips!!

So who are the people with no ear for music that keep voting for John Stevens and helped Jennifer get voted off. DUH!
Sorry but it sure seems as if that program is rigged.

VENT over.

The Shapely Tank is coming along nicely. I really love this Sonata yarn. It is a dream to knit with.
Will try to post a pic tomorrow.....when I have stopped steaming about Idol.

Decided to join the Shapely Tank Knitalong

I have been looking at that pattern for ages and really liked it. Theresa knitted it in the round so I have to decide if I follow her or stick to the pattern.

The yarn I will use in Sonata in a purple variegated. It is not shown on the Elann site in this colour any longer. Sure hope I will have enough....

We have all been sick with bad colds for about a week now. This really is the worst cold that I have ever had. Sort of feel as if I have cotton wool in my head. Seems as if half of Canada has the same cold.

One of my most favorite shows ever ended recently. We got to see the last one a couple of weeks ago in Canada. Saw this quiz on Brenda's blog and thought I would take it.

You Are Most Like Carrie! You're quirky, flirty, and every guy's perfect first date. But can the guy in question live up to your romantic ideal? It's tough for you to find the right match - you're more than a little picky. Never fear... You've got a great group of friends and a great closet of clothes, no matter what! Romantic prediction: You'll fall for someone this year... Totally different from any guy you've dated. Which Sex and the City Vixen Are You Most Like? Take This Quiz Right Now! Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

We made the long drive to Grande Prairie, AB for the long Easter weekend. It takes about 8 hours to drive there. Ron's parents drove over from near Barrhead to meet up with us. We shopped till we dropped on Saturday. Spent Sunday with the in-laws. Jesse was having such fun with grandpa. He doesn't get to see them nearly enough. But Sunday night things got BAD. Jesse got a fever and was crying and not sleeping. I was up all night. Around 6am he threw up in the bed (we were in a motel so this was NOT good). By 7am, we gave up trying to sleep and decided to head home. No breakfast with Ron's parents and a really abrupt goodbye. We stopped to grab coffee and gravol. Luckily Jesse only got ill once on the way home and he managed to warn us this time. It was a long drive on no sleep though.

Next day I woke with a sore throat and Jesse was sneezing. Now we both have really heavy colds.

So much for having a fun weekend eh? At least we had one good day with Ron's ma and pa.

Knitty just blew me away with all of its new designs. The best issue to date. Check it out!

My fave has to be Alison's Rosebud but I also really like Grace and Otis.

Spring has Sprung!!!! In Hay River that means you spend hours diverting the water that is trying to head for the basement. We had about 3 feet of snow around the house and the melt happened really fast this year. Yesterday I spent hours clearing snow from near the back walls and emptying garbage cans full of water. The eves-troughs were overflowing at one section and it was all heading towards the house. I grabbed the garbage cans to collect the water. Jesse thought it was all such fun though. He was soaked when I finally got him to come in.

Today the driveway melted and that began to come in near the basement windows. So I was syphoning water from that area all afternoon. The snow on the grass is now so soft that Jesse keeps loosing his boots. Soon it will just be under water - then what do you do with an energetic 2 year old????

You should see the ice crossing on the river. It must be 2 feet of muddy water. But everybody is still driving back and forth to the reserve. I won't be taking my shiny van across any more until it freezes again next winter. A couple of years ago a truck went through the ice. That was the most exciting thing to happen here in years

Finished Meg's little crocheted dress. It sure looks cute. I think it is too big for her but she will soon grow into it. Hope to get a pic of her wearing it as soon as I can.

Still knitting a few rows per night on my dishcloth for Brenda's Dishcloth-Along . I find cotton hard to knit with...wears my poor wrists out too quickly. (And all this snow moving has just added to that - plus blisters). I guess I am about halfway along now.
Here is the progress photo.

Distraught!!!

Hold it All Handbag is finished and felted. And just as I was trying to shape it as it was drying, I noticed an error. Falls on her knees in complete sadness I clearly started the strap in the wrong place so it doesn't match on both sides. Can't believe I messed up so badly. All I can say is that I was probably more worried about running out of yarn (which I did) than paying enough attention to my work. DUH DUH DUH!!!!!!!! The bag is useable or carrying Jesse's spare pull-ups and stuff and probably I am the only one who will ever notice that it isn't symmetrical but......

Oh well! Now I guess I need to make another bag and try doing it correctly this time.

Thought spring was finally arriving this weekend and then back came the -25c and snow. It is windy out too so the windchill must be bad. Poor Jesse just wants to go outside and play but it is too cold.

Been working on the taxes. It is a lot of stress as I do the books for my business and DH's taxes too. Hopefully we can Netfile them tonight and then I can do the GST return tomorrow. After that, perhaps I can take a break from stressing myself SOOOOO much. My name is Jackie and I am a work-aholic. And working from home means that I often find reasons to come in the office and work when I could be relaxing. Crazy!

At last the White Buffalo yarn arrived so I can finally finish the Hold It All Handbag. It has been bugging me that I was so close to the end.

Also started knitting a dishcloth for the Dishcloth-Along. I decided (though God know why) to use straight needles. Managed to knit two rows and my arms were really aching. Now I remember why I much prefer to use circulars for any work - not just knitting in the round.

The pattern that I am using comes from this book. Nifty Knit Dishcloths The design I chose is the beige one in the bottom row.

Just got home from watching the local skating club ice show. It was the best that I have seen yet. Watching all these tiny tots wobble about on the ice just brings me to tears. Heaven help me when Jesse starts skating next winter. I will be the blubbering mom in the bleachers. Some of the skating was quite impressive for a little town of only about 3500. The new coach that was hired in 2002 really seems to have improved the abilities of the skaters in all age groups.

But the highlight of the evening had to be McKenzie Pederson. She is a grade 8 student from Okotoks, AB who came up to do a show as guest skater. If I am not mistaken, she is heading for great things. What amazing talent! She has poise and charm of a skater much older. I can't find a photo of her online but I did find an article about her. Read it here. If any of you are skating fans, remember her name. I think she will be a top ranked skater in Canada before too long.

Finally took a picture of the little dress that I was crocheting for Meg before I hurt my wrist. Still have a few inches to go on the skirt.

  Pattern is American School of Needlework's Crochet Summer Sweeties

Going to try to do a little crocheting this evening...will try not to use the left hand much. Really good that it was my left hand and not the other one.

Can't stop Hubby from driving since we got the van. We are getting to the point where we just might start arguing about who drives LOL. Everybody looks at it when we are out. It does really stand out, especially when the sun is shining.

Here is a better pic of the new van complete with just about the worst photo of me. Talk about toothy grin!!!!
Photo was taken at DH's workplace hence all the telephone cable reels in the background. But check out that blue sky! It is about -25c but so sunny. Love days like this!

So long as I don't do much, I can use my wrist again. It gets sore fast if I overdo it. No knitting yet.

Well I have officially become a "frump ordinary family person". That is what my neighbour said anyway. We bought a Ford Windstar van today. Had spent 3 sleepless nights trying to make up our minds. Test drove 2 . Last weekend we tested the following for 2 days - a 2000 Ford Windstar SEL NWT Diamond Limited edition (NWT being Northwest Territories which is where we live and Diamond most likely is some celebration of the diamond finds up here over the past years). Last night we had a 2002 Ford Windstar Sport. The latter was driven by Hubby who wouldn't comment. Then I drove it a bit. It just didn't seem such a nice ride as the 2000 model. It bounced from side to side more. The engine was noisier too. Hubby then commented. He thought exactly the same as me.

Jesse loved the first van. He kept saying "Back! Van!" every time we went anywhere near the sales lot. He is a totally different child in a van than when he is in the truck. Just that alone was a huge selling point for us.

So now I am a frump. I never would have guess that I would have ever owned a van. Felt they were boring. I always drove the fast sporty type cars in England. Here I drove a F150 truck here which I felt drove me, instead of me driving it. HATE rear wheel drives. That truck was traded in for the van. Now I am back driving a front wheel drive. And this has so many bells and whistles including and power opening passenger door...and that really caught Jesse's attention.

Here is a bad pic of it at the showroom. Will try to take some good ones soon. It has chrome along the side which looks just awesome.

What color of sock yarn do you prefer?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks for all the concern over my wrist/arm. It isn't broken (huge sigh of relief).

It seems I have trapped a nerve and also sprained the wrist. The doc did a bit of manipulating which seemed to help a bit immediately. Right now it is strapped up and I am trying not to use it at all. Ha Ha.Ever tried to not use an arm when you have a two year old whirlwind son?? It is impossible. But I am not typing with it and Ron is helping me with my business as much as he can. Unfortunately I also acquired a really sore throat and fever this week.

Back in Oct, 2003, I sent in my paperwork to get a Permanent Residents Permit. I am a Landed Immigrant already but after 911, Canada changed its rules. So I paid my $50 and sent in a mass of paperwork all correctly witnessed. I know they take forever but this was getting silly. If I had to rush back to England, I would not be able to get back into Canada as it stands now. So I checked the status on the website. The card was approved Jan 5, 2004. I would get a letter to collect it within 4 weeks. Now nearly 8 weeks has passed and no letter. Found a 1 800 to call. Spent 4 days trying to get through. Finally got through this morning and tried to talk with a toddler shouting at me. Well I wasn't going to call back when it took 4 days already!!!!!! She said the card was in the local office. "And where is that?" I enquired - knowing full well there is no office in Hay River. "Edmonton" was the reply. TOO FUNNY!!! As if I would drive for 12 hours to collect it. Not paying $600 to fly down either. So now I have to see why Edmonton has the card and not Yellowknife. It seems the RCMP in Hay River have given some cards to other immigrants. I wonder why mine went to Alberta.... I just HATE all this hassle. It is like this every time I try to do anything connected with a bank or government office. Grrrrrrr.

And that took forever to type with one hand!!

Here is a pic of the love of my life - Jesse

Oh the pain.

Fell over one of Jesse's toys in a dark room and crashed down on a wooden captain's chair. My left arm and boob took most of the fall. Amazed I didn't bounce right back when my boob hit :-))
My arm and wrist hurt but eased up the next day. Well today I stretched my arms above my head and something gave in my wrist. And it hurts so bad. I can only type with my right hand. Can't knit, can't crochet, can barely work. Hubby has to come and cut boxes for me and pull tape off rolls. The pain just shoots up my arm. I have a wrist support on and will take some painkillers too. Then I guess just rest it and pray.

Dear Brooks has allowed me to sell another one of her designs. The Shire Scarf modelled by her other half.

Check it out!

Saw this on Terri's blog. Terri showed the US states that she has visited.
Well here is my version - the countries that I have been too. Remember that I live in Canada, come from England and spent 8 years in Sweden too.
Listed - England, Belgium, Germany, Luxmebourg, Netherlands, France, Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Austria and 2 states in the USA (Idaho and Montana) and of course Canada.



create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

You are pink aluminum.
Retro, straightforward and fun, you love classic
things. If they're 99 cents at Goodwill all the
better! You are moved by striking colors and
tasty morsels, and you like a stitch-n-bitch
session in the sun. Just remember, while
you're being kitschy cool, don't get too cold.
Ice cubes are best kept in your cocktails,
baby!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

My yarn to finish Hold It All Handbag STILL hasn't come. I so want to finish that bag. I can't frog it back and make it smaller as the yarn basically falls apart if you so much a pull on it slightly. (White Buffalo yarn).

We were convinced we were all coming down with colds yesterday. Jesse was sneezing, I had a streaming nose and DH was moaning (Men when they feel ill are just the pits!). I got out the Echinacea and gave each of us a dose. Today we are all just fine. No idea if the Echinacea did the trick or if it was just a one day bug.

One of ThOZe daZe!!

Overslept this morning - think my body was trying to tell me something.

Heard a little voice in Jesse's room whispering, "O Oh, o oh".

Walked in to find a semi naked 2 year old, no diaper and poop EVERYWHERE. About that time I thought I might still be asleep and this was a nightmare. Telephone began to ring. Jesse went to try to help clear poop. Mommy panics. "Can't answer telephone. Must deal with this". Forgot that I was supposed to be going out and it was my ride on the phone. Then the business phone began to ring........ dog pooper scooper in one hand and brain telling me to forget the phone.
Carpet steamer wouldn't work....Jesse's trying to help, didn't help...but you had to give him credit for trying. Telephone rang again....I tried to get there and tripped over the carpet steamer and pulled a muscle in side. It was WRONG number.

I looked at the calender and wondered if it was Friday 13th. Oh no, that is tomorrow. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

You are Dishcloth Cotton.
You are a very hard worker, most at home when
you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly
born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain
Jane, but you are too practical to notice.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


And there was me hoping to be Chenille or Fun Fur LOL!!!!

Still can't finish my bag as the yarn is on back order. Ho hum. Started crocheting a dress for Meg (Jesse's 2 year old best friend). Had to frog once as my gauge was way off. I am so bad at checking first. Slap my wrists!

Feeling tired still but slightly better. Was hoping to get out tomorrow morning. Tumble Tots is on Tuesdays and it is a nice break from the house. Was loads of mums there last week. BUT we have a blizzard outside. It rained this afternoon which is REALLY weird for us at this time of year. Then the snow started and it just got worse and worse.

TIRED

No idea what is the matter with me but I am totally worn out. I can barely struggle through the days this week. Maybe it is winter, cold weather, lack of walks or maybe I am just trying to do too much.

My ex neighbour and her little girl took Jesse to the library for the little ones reading, songs and craft time. I had loads of orders to do, laundry and a floor that needed washing. It was the first time that anybody had taken Jesse for me since the day we adopted him. He just waved bye bye and was as happy as anything. Mum, meanwhile, had tears in her eyes watching her little boy go off. I am so soft.

Anyway, I thought that Jesse would be tired this afternoon. When he came back from the library, he had lunch then we walked to the mailbox. Afterwards he wanted to play outside in the snow. He was pushing snow for 45 minutes. But would he nap? Nope!

So is it just 4.20pm and I feel like I will collapse with exhaustion. I can't work out if this is normal or not. I often get tired but not this badly. I am a bit worried.

Anyway, Jesse had finished watching Max and Ruby so I need to fly.

Almost finished the bag and ran out of yarn. I knew I would. Drat! I have ordered another ball but it will probably be a few days before it arrives. I was so looking forward to felting the bag.

Weather has warmed up to a hot -15c. It really does feel warm compared to the temps that we were getting. I might even go outside (SHOCK, HORROR) and kick a ball around the snow with Jesse. He needs to escape as much as I do.

Weekend was quite nice. Ron took Jesse out on the snowmobile on Saturday and Sunday. Must say I was jealous. We normally squish all 3 of us on. The German Shepherd used to come too but then Jesse took her spot. I need to get my own machine but we never had time to sort one out this winter. It has probably been too cold to have been used much anyway.

Still bitterly cold up here. But warmer than the -51C that we had on Sunday. I don't think I have ever experienced such cold before. Yes, it gets mighty cold up here each winter but Sunday was the worst!

Hold It All Handbag is coming along nicely. It is a wonderfully straightforward pattern. I really like the way "Two Old Bags" patterns are written. My only worry is that I may run out of wool. It seems be disappearing a wee bit fast than anticipated.

Have a bad headache so I don't think I will be on the puter much longer tonight. This is what I call a "Toddler" headache. He screamed all through supper and never ate a thing. We have nightmares at mealtimes. I am trying to train Daddy to ignore the "Monster" outbursts. I don't know who has least self-control - Jesse or his Dad :-)

BRRRRR
-31c (-41c with windchill)
My throat is really dry from lack of humidity. Since contracting Whooping Cough a few years back, my throat and chest have never been quite the same. (Was immunized against that as a kid too). For the past two winters, I had to go to Emergency as I got such a dry cough and couldn't catch my breath. I sure don't need that again this year.

Tried to start a sweater with Sirdar Snowflake but I got pretty frustrated. The yarn is dark so I don't think that helped me see the stitches. One row too many sts, next row too few. I frogged. Tried again. Frogged. Maybe when we have more daylight hours I will attempt it again.

I think I might try to make a Two Old Bags purse. Received stock of these patterns last week and have been eyeing up one pattern in particular. The Hold It All Handbag Need to get Hubby to help me wind some wool though...and he keeps finding reasons to do something else. The link goes to my new website - and, if anybody has any problems with the menus taking up nearly the whole screen, can you let me know? It does that on one of our old computers but not on the new ones. I wondered if it was just that puter....sure hope so.

Design spurt over. The crocheted dog sweater design that I have been working on is complete. Had a few people pattern test it for me as I am not good at typing up instructions with a 2 year old having a terrible two melt down right next to me.



Itsy (my Shiba Inu dog) is the stunning model. She doesn't exactly need a coat as her fur is so thick. And she wasn't too happy being model either. Her tail should be curled up on back but she holds it down when she is depressed. Poor baby!

For any crocheters reading this, the pattern is available to purchase as a pdf file in the Patterns to Dowload area of my website.

At last I remembered to take a photo of my finished Ribby Pullover.
The photo is pretty bad as it was taken at night, with a flash, in a room with bad light. I had hoped to take a better one in the sun and snow this morning but it is cloudy.
The sleeves look really narrow but that is due to the 2x2 rib. It fits well...a bit too well considering the extra pounds I added over the holidays. Oh well - better work that off on the treadmill.


My urge to design something took off again. I have almost finished a crocheted dog sweater design. I thought a crocheted one might be easier to attempt first. Hopefully I can translate the design to knitting eventually.

Finally got my Christmas present working. DH bought me a dishwasher. I had nagged him since I moved here almost 8 years ago. Our kitchen needs remodelling and is not very large (considering how much I like cooking). So we had to buy an extra unit to put it in. Unfortunately the unit didn't arrive until Jan 5. DH has worked every night to install it for me and we finally got it running on Wednesday.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Gott Nytt År!

Bonne année

Gutes Neues Jahr

May you all be healthy and happy in 2004

Worked like crazy on the ribby pullover yesterday. Probably overdid it as my left arm is hurting today. I desperately want to finish this for a couple of reasons.
#1 I am fed up with knitting all this rib. It really does a number on my wrists for some reason.
#2 I am in design mode. Want to design a dog sweater. No idea what is making me want to do this, but I will see if I can. It might take a week..it might take a few months. It might be knitted or I might crochet for the first time in over a year. Lots of "mights".

Christmas was really tiring. I am not used to cooking 3 full meals a day. The in-laws expect cooked breakfast, lunch and supper. I seemed to do nothing else. Ron bought me a dishwasher for Xmas but the cabinet we are putting it in still hasn't arrived from Ikea. It was shipped on Dec 6th so I am getting worried. The dishwasher would have certainly saved me even more time in the kitchen.

We bought Jesse a little keyboard for Christmas. He loves it. That boy is so musical. Grandpa played the accordion and Jesse was bashing away on the keyboard. It was too cute!

Season's Greetings to you all!

Wishing everybody a safe holiday.

Got up this morning and decided I needed a change. Pulled may hair around and thought, "CUT IT!".
Now I am not one that likes going to the hairdressers. I have had long or longish hair nearly all my life and I "taught" boyfriends and husbands (yes there have been more than one) to trim it. So I asked DH if he thought he could cut it how I wanted. He agreed to give it a go. Well I have to say that he did great. So I went from long hair halfway down my back, to hair neatly cut above my shoulders. It hangs really well. I love it and people keep commenting on how nice it looks. Amazing!

Ribby Pullover is now all on one big circular. I just managed to slip all the stitches onto one needle before Jesse woke from his nap. When he has gone to bed for the night, I will get back to it. I found this much ribbing to be really hard on my wrists for some reason. Maybe the yarn was a tad stiff so that wouldn't have helped.

Everybody ready for Christmas? Me neither. Feels like I am going down with a cold too. I had a bad cold last Xmas. Jesse had one the year before.

Gosh was it THAT long since I entered something in the blog. Oops.

We put the tree up on Sunday. Jesse was napping. Got the camcorder and digital camera ready for when he woke. He walked into the living room and literally jumped with glee. He skipped around, he sang. He was so cute that I couldn't hold back the tears....and that was the end of the photographs. All night he just sat next to the tree. Wanted mommy to sit there all night too :-) Christmas has a new meaning now that Jesse is old enough to get involved.

On the knitting front - nearly at the end of the 2nd sleeve of the ribby pullover. Then I have to attach sleeves to body and knit the yoke.
Once I have finished this, I plan on making some felted slippers (Fiber Trends patterns) and a bag. Not sure which bag pattern to use yet. I don't want anything big and bulky. Just need something to hold my wallet and credit cards.

Inlaws are coming for Christmas. Been reading Terri's KnitBlog and now am living in fear of the mother-in-law.

Hubby flew north to Inuvik this morning. Must be dark nearly all day up there. And colder than here...and we are hovering around -25c. BRRR
He is gone all week. I can tell that Jesse has worked out that Daddy has gone away as he is acting up already. "I will survive" - not that I have much choice, of course.

Managed to knit a few rows on my Ribby Pullover. Haven't knitted for days as my right wrist was really hurting. Too much time on the computer last week. Worked on my website a lot. It didn't help with the Google thing but at least I felt like I was doing something.

Want to thank Brooks for letting me sell her lovely Zipple Hat pattern. It is awesome. If you haven't checked it out yet, please do. (Support Brooks and help solve her bandwidth problem).

Just wanted to thank so many of your for your wonderful emails and messages. Most businesses are still are affected by the Google search engine problem. No idea if it will ever go back to how it was. Most of us are trying to find other ways to get our businesses noticed. Sadly we don't all have the huge advertising dollars of the big companies. Thankfully I had built up quite a customer base so I am not totally down and out. Will work hard in other directions now.

Things got put into perspective this week. My Dad's wife emailed me to say Dad had fallen out of bed and fractured his hip. He is 74. Not a good age to do something like that. He had to have a plate inserted and can't walk well at all. I feel out of touch as I am in Canada and Dad is in England. It took 8 days for anybody to tell me. My sister didn't even bother emailing me!!!!!!!

Then I read a friend's blog and cried over her brother's cancer worries. Things like this are awful. You can't help. You don't even know if you are saying the right words. You can't hug the friend as they live on the other side of Canada.

So while my business problems are a worry, they are not anything like my Dad's problems or the problems of my friend's brother. I have my health. I have my son.

Well things haven't picked up on the Google/business front. Many small businesses have been affected. Most of us noticed that other search engines are showing much more normal results still. So if you are looking for a good, non filtered, unbiased search engine, here are some.

Altavista
All The Web

Was just swapping emails with a competitor in the USA. She is almost out of business and hasn't seen an order in over a week. What a sad time for the "little man".

Despondent Jackie alert!

Google has just about put me out of business by filtering certain searches for businesses. Last week a search for Crochet Hooks put my little business at #1. Now you can't find me. A search on Crochet Patterns had me at the top of page 3 (pretty good). You can't find me in the top 800 now. Basically Google has done this to generate revenue it seems. I am not a big enough business to pay huge amounts for advertising. I did go on their Google Adwords but it is costing so much and not bringing in any customers. They click, I get charged but nobody buys. I can't afford it for more than a day or so more.

To say that I am depressed is an understatement. I have worked my butt off building up Karp Styles from nothing. It has taken 4 years to get where I am. I was doing OK. Not a big business by any means. Not a high earner. I have worked until 2am some nights. Now it seems to have been taken away by one search engine. Isn't it sad that they have so much power?

You can see the filter in action. Do a search on CROCHET HOOKS. Karp Styles is not there. (I may appear in the sponsored paid ads on the side that are costing me an arm and a leg for nothing). Now do a search on CROCHET HOOKS -googlegoo . Voila! Jackie's business appears again. The -googlegoo takes the filter away. So many small businesses like mine have been affected by this. I had just bought in thousands of dollars of stock ready for Christmas.
Now our family income has been cut in half.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas Google!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This morning was FUN! We braved the snow and slippery roads and headed off to Tree House. Tree House is a group for parents and kids. It is a fairly new group. We have a Tumbling Tots morning every Tuesday in the Pentecostal Church. Nice big room for the kids to let off all that energy. You SOOOOO need somewhere like that when it is -30 and they can't play outside. Anyway, today we had a party. We were celebrating World Children's Day or International Day of the Child. The reason that I am not sure which is a 2 year old who distracted me :) Shannon (who runs the group) played guitar and we all sang kids songs. Hey what do you know? The words are different in England. So Mommy Jackie was singing one version and the Canadian Moms are singing a different one. It was funny. Then we had a puppet show. Jesse decided he couldn't live without seeing how the puppets were being worked of course. He can't sit still for a minute anyway. Then we had Gingerbread men and snacks. It was a nice morning. I badly needed to get out of the office and house. I have felt like a prisoner lately. That is often I how feel at the beginning of winter. As soon as we get out on the snowmobile, I start to enjoy winter. Not quite enough snow coverage yet...but if it keeps up, as it has all day, we will have enough.

On the knitting front. I am throwing caution to the wind. Began knitting Bonne Marie's Ribby Sweater. Although it is made flat, I have decided to try to make it in the round. So far, so good. Touch Wood. Fingers crossed. etc etc. I am trying to use up some stash so this is being made with RH yarn (don't all groan at once) in a nice dark blue fleck. Will try to take an "in progress" photo later.

Was hoping to update the blog this morning but I think the pre-Christmas rush started this week. I have been packaging orders non-stop all day. OK I did stop to put a joint of beef in the oven.

Big thank you to Missa for the button that she kindly made me. It is perfect.

Finished the 2nd flap cap. This one is for Hubby. Made in black fleck chunk yarn. It is from my stash from years gone by. Can't say what it is other than it is Patons.

Not sure what to start knitting now. I have a few ideas but I look at the patterns and find something about them that I don't like. It is normally the seams that put me off. If I wasn't so tired, I would think about making them on circs and then separating for the front and back at the armholes. But I am just pooped tonight.

A Poem for Remembrance Day



"The inquisitive mind of a child"



Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?

Selling poppies in town today.

The poppies, child, are flowers of love.

For the men who marched away.



But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?

Why not a beautiful rose?

Because my child, men fought and died

In the fields where the poppies grow.



But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?

Why are the poppies so red?

Red is the colour of blood, my child.

The blood that our soldiers shed.



The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.

Why does it have to be black?

Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.

For the men who never came back.



But why, Mummy are you crying so?

Your tears are giving you pain.

My tears are my fears for you my child.

For the world is forgetting again.



Author Unknown

Finished this project so fast that I never even had time to mention that I had started it. The pattern is Little Flap Cap by Cabin Fever. It is sized for kids but I used chunky yarn and a 6mm circular. It fits me perfectly.

Just started another for hubby. This one is in black.

Bonfire Night - Guy Fawkes - Nov 5th

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

Gunpowder treason and plot.

We see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!



One British tradition that I miss (and I don't miss many) is Bonfire Night. Nov 5th meant fireworks, bonfires and making a "guy". A 'guy" is a dummy that we make to put on the bonfire. I used to make him out of my Dad's old clothes and stuff him with fallen leaves. Then we would take him around the streets chanting " Penny for the Guy". And people would give us money. Of course the "guy" represents Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. Bonfires were lit all over London when the people leant that the King had been saved from this fate. Hence the fact that we light bonfires on this day still. Our "Guy" would be placed on top of the bonfire and burnt. Then the fireworks began. Read more about the Gunpowder Plot and Bonfire Night

Halloween was cold! Tried to clear the drive and paths of snow and 10 minutes later, we had another dump of the stuff. Well at least I got some exercise!!!!

Jesse was a dalmatian. He wouldn't bark though. He pretended he was a monster. After the first house, he got the hang of carrying his bucket and looking cute. Of course the cuter he looked, the more candy he got. Not a dumb kid by any means. He was very polite and remembered to say "thank you!" to everybody.

Finished Jesse's 2nd Top Down Raglan sweater. He wanted to wear it today and keeps saying "Nice, Nice". It is RH Kid's in Crayon colour. Perfect for a kid that adores and suits bright colours.

It is -13c (9F) today. I need to find another knitting project to do as I sure don't feel like going outside too much. And to think it will reach around -40 eventually. Not looking forward to it one bit.

This is what we awoke to this morning. Jesse giggled in delight. He is crazy about snow. Shame that he is still sick or I would wrap him up and let him play in the yard.

"Walking in a Winter Wonderland....."

The 2nd Top Down Raglan is coming along well. On the 2nd sleeve now. I was sidetracked watching Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion. I found it very emotional. Tears kept messing up my glasses. In the end I just watched it and put down my knitting. If that happened today, it would be horrendous, but I kept thinking how much worse it must have been back then. They didn't have the luxury of the medical system and technology that we are SOOOO fortunate to have. Communications were slower. People must have suffered so badly.

Jesse's "Top Down Raglan" was finished on Friday but I never had chance to take a pic before now. He is a wriggler so this was the best picture out of the bunch. The pattern was very simple and it knitted up really fast. I like it so much that I am making #2. This time I am using Kid's Red Heart in Crayon colour. He loves bright colours.

DH took a pic of the carving that he brought back from Iqaluit. The base is soapstone and I think the birds are bone. It is only a few inches across.

A Fond Farewell

October 24, 2003 - Concorde will make her last flight

Celebrate Concorde

To say that I am sad is an understatement. Before I left England, home for most of my life was about 15 minutes drive from Heathrow Airport. My Dad worked for a company that supplied safety equipment to many planes including Concorde. I worked for the same company in my late teens. Concorde was special. Concorde was the plane that would make the traffic come to a halt on the Ring Road at Heathrow. Sadly, as I have not lived in England for 14 years, I have only caught glimpses of her when I landed at Heathrow on trips back to the UK. My dream has always been to fly on her and that is probably the only dream that I will never realise. I expect that there will be a huge turnout at the airport to bid her farewell. Wish I could be there........

Dull, dreary, drizzle outside. Reminds me of my homeland...England. Just thankful that we don't live in the SW of BC. Unbelievable amount of rain over the past few days. And I heard that more is on its way. My thoughts are with you guys.

Hubby came back from his trip to Iqaluit, Nunavut. He brought yet another cold home with him (along with a cute soapstone carving that I will try to photograph tomorrow). That is 2 colds for him in 7 weeks and it will be 3 for me if this sore throat gets worse. I have never had that many colds in one year, let alone 7 weeks.

Jesse's "top down raglan" is coming along fast. I forgot that kid's items are speedy knits. Been years since I knitted any. Well actually the last kid's garment that I knitted was for my nephew who is now 30!!! That was knitted when he was around 8 months, I think. I crocheted a few things for Jesse but this is the first knitted one. We had far too many Gymboree, Gap and Old Navy tops to wear out first. (I am addicted to buying wonderful kid's clothing - and I hate buying clothes for myself.)

Here is my version of Sonnet. As hubby is away right now, there is nobody to take a decent photo of me wearing it. I don't think a 2 year old would get more than my legs :-)

The cardigan looks heavy but DGB Tweed yarn is very light even though it uses a 4 1/2mm needle.

Now onto my next project. Off to the basement to dive into my stash and see if I have some yarn to make a sweater for Jesse. The pattern will be the Kid's Basic Top Down Raglan from Ann Norling.

The knitting part of Sonnet is completed. Now comes the part that I don't like - the seams. At least there are no side seams. Just shoulder and sleeves. Hope the buttons will look OK. Went to the local so called "craft" store for buttons and they wanted roughly $15 for 6. These were basic, nothing special buttons - not gold plated!!!!!!!! So I went to the thrift store to see if they had any. Found some toggles, some wooden buttons and some gold ones. When I have sewn it together, I will see which buttons look best.

Hubby is away on the other side of the Canadian Arctic all week. Kids must know to act up the minute that dad goes away, don't you think?? Jesse is sure having a bad bout of terrible twos this week. We went to to the new play-group this morning which seemed to help burn off some of that energy. He is one of those 100 miles per hour kids at the best of times. This week he is 1000 miles per hour. Thank God for nap time.

Took my camera with me on our daily walk today. It was another amazing Fall day in Hay River. 64F - I stripped down to a sleeveless t-shirt and I was still feeling the heat

Jesse jumping from a rock on the Kiwanis Nature Trail

Fall on the Hay River - taken from the nature trail about 250 yards from my home.

On the knitting front - Jackie made a boo boo. Finished the body of Sonnet and noticed that I had two different widths on the front. I had knitted 16 rows after casting on after the last armhole. I should have knitted 26. DUH! So I frogged back to the error. Oh well at least I noticed before I was wearing it :-)

The weather has been gorgeous here. Most of my free time in the day has been spent walking the trail by the river. Jesse is totally amazed watching the leaves fall from the trees. Then he discovered that they crunch when you jump on them. He picked up yellow leaves and put them in his basket. He added cones that he spotted along our route. A new world opened up for him this week. It was wonderful to be a part of that.

Been managing a few rows of Sonnet each evening. Not as much as I would like as I have had endless deliveries of patterns this week. Am just about to start knitting the buttonhole part - that is the very last part of the body. Then onto the sleeves. Must check if the correction to the pattern has been added to Knitty. I think I will probably make the child's version Haiku for Jesse's little girlfriend, Meg. She would look so cute wearing that...well she looks cute anyway so I should say "cuter".

Grabbed a few minutes to knit a few more rows of Sonnet this weekend. We were out digging up the potatoes and clearing the rest of the garden so that ate into my already short knitting time. This is what Sonnet looks like so far. I am just starting the back section. It is such a nice pattern to follow. Very straight forward. Great pattern Kristi!



The front and back sections are really the same height...I didn't straighten it properly before I took the photo.

Cast on for Sonnet last night. Realised early on that the cardigan would be far too long on me...being short as I am. I reconfigured the figures and started again. Have about 3 inches of garter stitch done.

The yarn that I am using for Sonnet is pictured below. It is DGB Tweed and I am not sure if it is available in many parts. I got it from the company that makes DGB Confetti sock yarn. DGB Tweed comes in big balls of 250g. The colour is a nice burgundy. It 56% wool, 35% acrylic 5% Viscose. I also have the same yarn in grape and am looking for something really nice to make with that.

My garden was totally destroyed by the snow and now cold temps. Need to dig the spuds this weekend and then clear it all. So sad to see my string beans gone. I do love those.

Hoh hum. We had snow this morning. It was just about 1/2 inch but that was more than I anticipated (like NONE). So much for our Indian Summer.....

Did about 3 inches of my new project. Kept looking at the new Knitty patterns. Think I am going to ditch the new cardigan already. I am so in love with Sonnet and I think I am going to HAVE to make it RIGHT NOW. My fingers are itching. Off to do a swatch if Jesse will let me knit. The monkey runs off with the yarn and it gets to be pointless trying to knit. Terrible twos don't last forever - so I keep reminding myself.

We had a wind chill of -10c today. BRRRR. Tonight I saw the first tiny flakes of snow. Yes it really is only September 15. We don't normally see snow until Oct.

My next knitting project is going to be something of a mystery. Not only for you but for me too. I have begun a cardigan based loosely on Sitcom Chic. So far I have changed the ribbing to garter stitch. I will also be changing the neckline (hopefully as I am far from being an accomplished knitter). I am using Stahl Bandolino in Aubergine.

On a really sad note. My friend's husband died last week. He was just 38.He died of Colon Cancer. Emma had just given birth to their 2nd child in May.
As the ad on TV says "Don't die of Embarrassment!" Get checked! You can find more information on this website.

We were away for a week being shopaholics in Edmonton. If anybody from Ikea reads this...what were you thinking when you planned the new store???? You shop downstairs and have to pay at the checkouts to go upstairs to finish your buying???? I then wanted to buy Jesse some bedding. The quilt covers were upstairs and the quilts themselves were downstairs!! Upp och ner, upp och ner. Jag blev trött väldigt fort. AND you raised the height for accepting children in the play area. I was SOOOO looking forward to dropping Jesse off and he was about 6 inches too small.

Bitch over!

Finished the cross-over sweater last night and hope to have pics up today or, at worse, sometime this weekend. I LOVE it. It fits perfectly and is so me. It took me so long to sew it together though. If I made another I would knit the sleeves in the round and most of the body too. Anything to avoid my awful sewing.

What to knit next?

The cardigan at bottom left in this photo ?

The sleeves are just knitted to a longer length than normal. I would finish them shorter. Not a fan of long sleeves. 3/4 length suit me well. The cardigan is knit in the round too. Yes, that means I don't have to sew Yipeee. I think the way they photographed this cardigan makes it look so shabby.

Or this from Jo Sharp's Holiday Island Collection ?

And I am sure I will find more before long....

Later that day........

With the aid of a mirror and my handy dandy digital camera (been watching Blues Clues too often), I have a picture of the cross-over sweater ready.