Canada Day

was yesterday.

I totally never thought to post, but that's all OK because Stephanie summed it up beautifully.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

And in French -

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!

Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!

Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.

Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.


For the truly curious more information is here: http://pch.gc.ca/eng/1359402373291/1359402467746

Inspiration Struck.....

... despite the heat. Yup, Alberta is in the middle of a rare early summer heat wave. Yesterday we got up to 31C. Blistering. Today feels even hotter although I haven't seen the official high temperature for today yet. It didn't even cool off over night; since this area is one bare step up from true desert it is not uncommon for temperatures to drop into the single digits overnight even if the daytime high was over 30C. Spent most of the weekend knitting in the shade on the deck with a cool drink to hand. Best way to beat the heat I've ever found.

Even the dogs were chilling out. Or flaking out.

Back to the part about inspiration. Made tons of progress on my Sideways Vest this weekend. Probably because touching any amount of wool, even sock wool, was just too much. So, nice cool cotton it was. Hmmmm, looks like I'm going to need buttons soon.

Check out my new book -

Another great way to beat the heat was to go to the bookstore. There are several patterns in there that I want to try, should be loads of fun.

Ugly Christmas Sweater

Started an Ugly Christmas Sweater; this should be loads of fun! Improvising using Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage sweater method.

Found some cheap cotton yarn at Walmart - Bernat Handicrafter Holidays - in red, white, and green. I really didn't want to go with cheap acrylic, the standard for Ugly Christmas Sweaters, because it would just be too uncomfortable to wear and I want to be able to show up at Christmas parties and wear it. Will also be making this a cardigan, again for wear-ability.

This will be a pretty plain Ugly Christmas Sweater so I will try my best to do a "better" one later in the year but for now, this will do.

Starting with both sleeves. Doing them two-at-a-time means they will be exactly the same; starting with the sleeves means they can be a bit of a gauge swatch too. I've already adjusted the sleeve size. A total win-win.

The Mousie

Finished a mouse for the cats to play with. Pictured below with Mouse. How long it will be before it's destroyed by Ahab, lost under furniture, or otherwise disappears remains to be seen.

Pattern: Nose-up Catnip Mouse by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Local yarn from Custom Woolen Mills - %100 wool
Needle: 2.0mm
Gauge: not critical but somewhat tight
Stuffing: polyester and cat nip

Father's Day Update

Practiced a bit of Scent Hurdle with Soccer and he's still struggling with the idea of bringing back a specific barbell. He's always been a slow learner so this is no surprise to me.

Knitting

Father's Day Socks seem to have been well received as per usual. This is why I keep making socks, they seem to be appreciated by the recipients.

Made some progress on the Sideways Vest yesterday. About half way done now.

Still nothing on the small blanket but maybe I'll pick it up this week since I'm done the latest set of Baby Booties for Wee Bairn. Picture is all blurry but I'm too lazy to try again.

Pattern: Baby Boots by Frankie Brown
Yarn: Patons North America Kroy Socks FX
Needle: 2.75mm
Gauge: not critical babies grow so fast it hardly matters.

Socks and Other Stuff

Can't bear not to have socks on the needles so I started a two-at-a-time pair using the same yarn as the last socks. Not quite sure who'll get these but I might set them aside to go to Scotland for my sister there. The new parents might be in need of hand knits as well as Wee Bairn. Ummm, I guess that means I better do another men's pair next.

No progress on the sideways vest or the loom-knit blanket this week. Note to self: work more on these if you ever expect to finish them.

But I did decide to use up the Pepita leftovers for booties. Thinking that maybe I should just admit defeat and make a hat too.

Mouse decided this should be a cat toy..... maybe I should knit her a mousie....? Or is that asking for too much trouble?

Finished More

Finished my Father's Day Socks in time for next Sunday. Unsurprisingly they're for my Dad. Worked one sock at a time using the magic loop method, my favorite way to make socks. Although I am debating doing two-at-a-time next. I have done that method before but didn't usually because it was awkward on the train; since I don't commute on the train anymore I guess that part doesn't matter now. I wish I still did, I've lost a lot of knitting time by having to do my own driving to get to work. It feels so unproductive having to pay attention to traffic.

Pattern: basic sock with ribbing
Yarn: Nova Plus Sock in charcoal grey
Needle: 2.0mm