The Fish Knits

(With apologies to Lloyd Robertson)

A couple of news stories of note, thanks to CBC’s As It Happens. Last night, we heard a report about some Nuns On The Run. No, not the movie, but some 55 real nuns, all named Maria-something or other, who are on the run from the law (how DO you solve the problem of Maria?). Seems the Marias have run themselves into debt to the tune of some $750,000 US. How you might ask?

Knitting.

Yes, you read that right, they started up a knitting business making knitwear for tourists (they’re in Greece), and thought they ought to get set up properly, so they bought a number of industrial knitting machines. Oh, and there should be some research done. So they flew themselves out to the FASHION CAPITALS, where they could take in the shows and the discover new movements in fashion.

Oy.

Over to North Wales we go for our next story. Brenda Dayne of Cast On must be getting a little chuckle from this one (yes, I know, she’s in West Wales, not in the north).

Flintshire County is having some trouble with the salt being used to keep the roads of Halkyn Mountain free from ice. It seems that until recently, the salt being applied to the roads was, for the most part, ending up in the verge rather than on the road surface. Obviously, they needed something with more stick. So they came up with a solution. A rather… sticky solution, but one which is very popular with some of the locals.

Molasses.

The local council thought that coating the rock salt in molasses would do the trick, and, it did. The salt now sticks nicely to the road rather than ending up in the verge. The thing is, the molasses also makes it awfully attractive to the local sheep. So now, rather than being stuck in the verge yourself once your car skids off the road, now you’re stuck waiting for the sheep to finish their snack.

I wonder… will their fleece smell sweeter?

So there you have it, tonight’s knitters’ news. Soon (once Evan is healthy again and we rid ourselves of the dreaded scourge of Pink Eye) I will take some photos of this year’s FO’s. Ii have been busy with the accessories!

Till then, I’m Sarahfish, signing off. Good night!

Post Recovery! This post was written a couple of weeks ago now, and posted into the Black Hole of the internet. I have no idea where it has been. Maybe on your site somewhere? Maybe it just wanted to go for a wander around, and have a little explore. All I can say is that I’m glad it’s home. Welcome back, errant little post!

I’ve seen this Meme around a few places, and thought it was neat, so when my friend Leanne offered to send me a letter I decided to hop on board. So today’s post is brought to you by the letter T.

Time: I never seem to have enough. I am time challenged. I am chronically late for things. I lose track of time. Time is something I have been struggling with or against all my life it seems… The funny thing is that as much as people almost expect me to be late for things, I hate being late. I hate it like you’ll never know. I’ll never understand then why it is that I can’t manage to get the hang of how long it takes to get places, or how long it takes to make dinner, or have a shower, or… well. I’m sure you can fill in the rest.

Timing: Ironically, considering the above topic, I coach a sport that is all about timing. Timing and rhythm. Yup, synchronized swimming is based on swimming a routine choreographed to music, and if you can’t be “on the music” you won’t really do too well. So while I can’t manage to get myself somewhere on time, you can bet I can get my movements on time! At the start of every year I spend a surprising amount of time going over the basics of counting music, and recognizing where the beats are. All about timing.

Three: I am the mother of a three year-old.

Which also means another T word. Tired! It’s amazing to me that someone so small can have such incredible energy output! And for such sustained periods! But I love him to bits.

Twin: My brother and I are twins, which was at times a lot of fun, and at times a pain in the arse. He’s a great guy, but of course that’s hard to see when you’re 15 and he’s finally getting his growth spurt (I was taller till we were 15!) and eating all the food in the house while you’re at practice, so you come home and can’t have that piece of banana bread you had your eye on that morning because he ate it even though you had (in your head) claimed it was yours because it was only fair since he ate the rest. I love my brother to death. (Now…) There must be ten million stories I could tell about my brother, and the kind of guy he is. I love that my son reminds me of Nick at times. I just hope Evan doesn’t get his uncle’s size 13 feet though… I don’t think I’d be too happy about knitting socks for a kid with size 13 feet!

Tone: One of the many jobs I have had, and enjoyed, over my life was as Pilates Instructor. I worked at a great little studio here in Ottawa, The Fitness Edge. I had a great time teaching both group mat classes and private/semi private Reformer classes. I really really really want to get back to practicing Pilates, but (again with the time) I can’t seem to make it work. I guess I just have to try harder!

Tidy: Is something I’m not. I have always had a more loosey-goosey relationship with order, and of course, it often comes back to bite me in the backside. In an effort to improve myself I have tried all sorts of programmes and tricks, but I usually fall off the wagon in rather short order. D’oh. The best I’ve found to date is Fly Lady. I totally see why her routines work, and that she is on to something. Now, if someone could just find me some time… ha ha! But really. I am hard on myself, so once I can let things happen a little more slowly I am sure I’ll manage to make it work!

Tragically Hip: Awesome. Canadian. Band. The Hip are like the soundtrack to my young-adulthood! As far as I’m concerned my Wheat Kings rendition is just as good as the original…

Tradition: I’m all about tradition. I love things that have a sense of history, whether they be physical objects or just “things we do”. Christmas? Love it. I love the way we do Turkey dinner. I have furniture in my house that was in my parents’ house before they moved, and even though I didn’t really have a place for the pieces in my house, I brought them home because I couldn’t bear to let them go. They’ve got history and meaning for me.

Type I: I love my car! I drive a VW Type I… Karmann Ghia! Usually Type I refers to Beetles but my car is, if I do say myself, way cooler! It’s a 1971 Cabriolet. Her name is Penny. I got her in November of 2000, just in time to put into storage. But she has been loads of fun to have around, and I get lots of comments on her! She looks rather reminiscent of a Porsche 356, so it’s funny when people think I’m driving a super desirable collector car. But hey- she’s super desirable to me!

Toboggan! We finally got snow! This was us this afternoon after the 10-15 cms of snow we received:

Welcome to 2007! May it bring health, happiness and peace.

I’ve been thinking about what to say in my first post of 2007 (well, I started thinking about what to say for my last post of 2006, but that went and ran away from me…), but it hasn’t really congealed properly in my mind, so somewhat random and possibly rambling will have to do.

In thinking of what to write about, I have thrown together a list of what I’d like to knit this year, as well as what I’d like to fix and finish. The To Knit list is by no means exhaustive, but it already looks like I’ll be busy.

Stuff I want to Knit in 2007 (In no particular order):
Anemoi mittens, End Paper mitts, Sunrise Circle Jacket, Hot Lava Cardi, Deep V Argyle vest (or maybe design my own?), We Call Them Pirates hat, Arr-gyle Socks, Jaywalker Socks, Log Cabin Socks, Orenburg Shawl (the one I designed for my friend but then totally snagged for myself), EZ style raglan pullover for Evan.

Stuff that’s already begun, which I want to finish in 2007:
Eris Cardi (about 1/2 done), Drop Stitch summer cotton sweater (body done, sleeves not yet started), Tomten jacket (about 5″ done), Top down raglan for Evan (needs sleeves), Perhaps that cotton tank out of a Phildar mag from oh, 2 or 3 years ago? I’ve only done about 3″ on that thing, and unless I switch needles it will be seeing no more love from me. It’s murder.

And the sad list, Stuff I have to Rip and Re-Make, cause I really really like them but they just don’t fit:
Ribby Cardi, Everyday Cardi (which I will make into a more flattering cardi- perhaps even the Sunrise Circle), Hourglass Sweater (which, once washed, grew to the point that I look like some unfortunate orphan in a silk sweater when I wear it. Wish I had a photo of me in it from Rhinebeck, pre glass of wine!).

Then there’s the Knit From your Stash 2007 challenge. I think I like it…

But we’ll see how long it lasts. Here are the Rules, grabbed from the link above:

1. The Knit-From-Your-Stash-a-Thon will start January 1, 2007 and run through September 30, 2007 — a period of nine months.

2. We will not buy any yarn during that period, with the following exceptions:

2.a. Sock yarn does not count. What? You think we are made of stone?

2.b. If someone asks for a specific knitted gift that we really and truly do not have the yarn for, we may buy yarn to knit that gift.

2.c. If we are knitting something and run out of yarn, we may purchase enough to complete the project.

2.d. We each get one “Get Out of Jail Free” card — we are each allowed to fall off the wagon one time.

3. We are allowed to receive gifts of yarn. (And I may buy yarn with the gift cards I received during 2006, as well as any I receive in 2007.)

4. Spinning fiber of any sort is exempt. (ed. this should help my spinning along!)

It’ll be interesting to see where this gets me. I have a decent stash, but by no means is it easy to “Shop the Stash” as it were. There’s some White Buffalo in there, some lace weight, a great big cone of some lovely fine grey stuff… A sweater’s worth of Peruvian Highland Wool. So I’m not hurting, I just have to be thoughtful. Which is not a bad thing.

What about the money I’ll save? Some of it will go to pumping up the numbers for Tricoteuses Sans Frontieres. The rest? Well, a second Christmas making dinner in the glorified version of an Easy Bake which I call an oven showed me that if I want to maintain some semblance of sanity ever again during the holidays I should get a proper oven. Oooo! Maybe a new kitchen? Now we’re talking! Oh wait. How much yarn exactly do I think I usually buy in a 9 month period? Never mind. I’m off to go re-organize the stash…