Beautiful babies....

My actual little baby - Taylor who is 11. He's not really little, but at least he's my youngest baby. *sigh*


My not so little 16 year old baby - Olyvia - in all of her natural radiance. :)*Sigh* *Sigh*

Time flies.....

Post Frolic recovery & Spring is finally here...

Some reasons to smile this morning...


Baby Rhubarb has appeared in my garden...


Our family pet/creature Java enjoying newly green grass...


Our backyard pear tree coming into bloom....

I had sweet dreams about yarn, fluff, high whirl drop spindle's, and other good wooly items...and as of this morning we are 364 days to next years Frolic.

No longer a Frolic Virgin...

Waking up at 7a.m. on a Saturday morning is never my version of fun, enjoyable in the slightest or amusing in any way, but I have to tell you that after looking forward to the Downtown Knit Collective's Knitters Frolic for more than a year now, I had a very hard time sleeping last night and was really looking forward to touching, feeling, smelling and being around all things woolly.

As I was a Frolic virgin this year, I had planned my day out with time for classes and time for shopping, time for knitting and finally time for socializing...in that order.

I have been particularly looking forward to the workshop with Lorriane Smith (editor of Spinner's Quarterly) on spinning.


The class did not disappoint me in the least. Lorraine's method for teaching was relaxed, informative and most importantly enjoyable.


This was my sad and extremely pitiful attempt at two ply made out of chocolate brown Shetland roving from Ontario.


I played around with all of the roving stash that Lorraine provided as part of the class materials and was really surprised at how differently everything spun. I have determined that I do not like to spin cotton - I was just not made with enough patience for that...and highly doubt that any level of meditation will get me there.

I really couldn't wait to get home and play with the fabulous roving I purchased from Black Lamb.


This is me experimenting with the beautiful hand carded mix plus some fabulous alpaca I got at Creativfesitval last weekend from Helga at Green Acres Farms.




After running in Shelley & Richard and then Janet after my spinning class I was feeling energized and ready to shop. After a good twice through, I felt completely overwhelmed and had no clue where to start or what I wanted to buy. In fact, I was too busy focusing on something else that Shelley and Janet had told me......

It seems that the Yarn Harlot was at the Frolic...and me having a small case of the starry eyes for her in an entirely yarny kind of way wanted to get a picture with her. Janet of course found this quite funny and was looking forward to laughing her ass/relentlessly teasing until the end of time. So after a little while she crossed my path (honestly I didn't hunt her down), there she was....

...and yes that's me looking like I am in shock and stunned and Stephanie looking fabulous!!!....***Sigh****

So maybe not my best look, but they can't always be perfect and as mentioned above I was in shock. I have never met Stephanie prior to today nor have I ever heard her speak. She is a very petite woman, with a very earthy voice and personality. She was very gracious to me for allowing to snap this picture - although she was in a rush to meet up with a friend....thank you Stephanie - you made my Frolic! :)

In addition to some spinning supplies I also bought eight of the most beautiful blush coloured baby alpaca/silk blend wool skeins (Blue Sky Alpacas)


...to make a fabulous summer ribbon shell.


I expected my day to end with a workshop on Crocheting with Cachet - but found the workshop way too challenging as the instructor was moving about 10,000 miles per minute. You absolutely needed to be an advanced crocheter to keep up. A bit disappointing - given the $40 workshop fee, but what can you do except know better for next year.

Overall, I think the day was smashing and I really enjoyed my experience there and would absolutely recommend it to any knitters in Ontario - well worth the drive to Toronto.

A day of sadness and gratitude....

Where does one begin to articulate one's thoughts around a tragedy such as that which occurred at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. As a mother, step-mother, aunt and cousin to children who attend universities across Canada, I am saddened beyond belief for all of the victims, families, friends, colleagues, and community of Virginia Tech. I send my heartfelt wishes for all of their recovery from such an atrocity and pray for them. I feel grateful that my family and friends were/are safe.

I am angry at the easy accessibility of handguns around the world and this event only strengthens my convictions that gun-laws need to be reinforced for the safety of all humanity. I also feel tremendously sad for the family and friends of Cho Seung-hui,as I am sure that no amount of time or space will allow them to have understanding and peace for the actions of their child.

Watching the events as a shocked spectator, I was so moved by the actions of Liviu Librescu - protecting his students to the end. I was proud to be a Jew in that moment. After surviving atrocities of the Shoah that none of us can truly imagine, Mr. Librescu truly lived a life dedicated to the service of others - his family, friends, students and peers should feel that proud as well.

Pondering the ' We don't leave our sons behind campaign'...

So yesterday, as I was sitting in synagogue as part of the seventh day of Pesach, I was thinking about the 'We don't leave our sons behind campaign' that the United Jewish Appeal has put out this Spring.



I have to admit that since doing my conversion classes (I was once Roman Catholic) that I have a heightened awareness of current events and world issues especially as it pertains to Israel and the middle east. Seeing these signs and billboards up the past month have made me feel a tremendous sense of compassion for people living within Israel and the surrounding areas as well as for those families who have had a child lost/taken or not returned during the war. As a parent to five children, including three who are Jewish by birth - being confronted with the reality that perhaps these could be my step-sons, or sons of other Jewish mothers I know causes me to feel a combination of emotions including anger, resentment and sadness.

Upon reflection, I know that any mother would feel this way if their child's life was sacrificed during a war, including those of the Palestinian people, Iranian people or any people for that matter. I have been thinking that I was proud that Israel has a proactive approach to not leaving their soldiers behind, however my world was shook yesterday as my Rabbi discussed in his congregant speech about how the Israeli army will sacrifice healthy/active soldiers to retrieve the bodies of the slain/killed/captured soldiers and that this in fact is a very controversial issue within not only Israel, but for every Jew regardless of where they live.

This shook me because I had felt proud of Israel. If I was a mother to one of these children - I would want them home, to be buried in peace and have closure. I hadn't really thought about sending someonelse's child in a high-risk situation to retrieve my child. That's something else - and I have no clue how you work through the moral/ethical dilemma surrounding that issue.

In the end, I feel...I don't know how I feel...except maybe torn.

Mother Nature is S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y confused....or...

has an awesome sense of humour. It snowed this morning. I was shocked as I settled into a volunteer-a-holic-catch-up-a-thon, which largely means dedicating some serious time to my volunteer commitments, I was in awe at how mother nature never seems to surprise me. It sure was pretty that flash snowstorm although I hadn't realized MN's full-mental breakdown until I went outside - damn it got cold.

Thank goodness my day only involves, completing expense reports, identifying faculty for a fab new program, creating lesson work plan's for the same program, creating a board agenda etc...none of that involved going out. That was until my almost sixteen (next Sunday boo-hoo!) asked to get dropped off at a friends house. Recently said teenager has been exhibiting some seriously hormonal behaviour which has me her hormonally challenged mother worrying a great deal more than normal. I have been spending a lot of time since January coming to terms with the fact that she is not a child anymore, that she is growing up, that she needs some space and that I need to step back a little and give her some freedom to move about, make mistakes and generally experience life.

I always thought I would be a cool, laid back mom, but it seems that I have turned into a mother like many generations of mothers before me...overprotective, over concerned, over involved and under needed. Its a sad day for all mothers when they start to come to terms with what they feel is the end of their role as the director in their child's life-play. I now am stuck like many others in that awkward state of 'I don't want to talk to you, I'm fine, nothing's going on' state of being where our daughters turn against us and no longer see us as an ally, a friend, a confidante, someone whose widsom can save them from a great deal of pain. It sucks! But I shall endure.

On a slightly sunnier note, I found two great new blogs today with some really really beautiful knitting on it...the kind of stuff that makes you smile uncontrollably and desperately wish you could jump right through your computer monitor to touch their beautiful knitting. It is honestly that beautiful. The second blog has the most incredible vegetable dyed eggs I've ever seen - just lovely and springy.

My day overall was a quiet one. I am still in Pesach/Passover recovery mode. The last two weeks have been a major blur for me with balancing client travelling with trying to get our home ready for Pesach. I got home Friday, March 30 at 10 pm from a couple of days in sunny and extremely pretty North Bay to land myself in the midst of Passover meltdown as my house was still yet to be finished getting Kashered for Pesach. This is a laborious process which always throws me for a loop and involves removing chametz from your house as well as changing over all of your meat and dairy dishes/cutlery/pots/pans/etc and cleaning every single spot in your home/car etc...that might have chametz in/on/near it. Anyways I got through the Kashering, got down to cooking for about 40 people and preparing myself to be charming and entertain all of those people over two days. When I woke up on the second seder day, this past Tuesday, Mother Nature had started to get in a mood and I knew this because I had a splitting headache. Given that we had 9 people coming for dinner, I had no choice to get up, finish cooking, prep the dinner table and be ready for a fun-filled night. Overall, it was a very nice evening, but by the time I had gone to bed a tornado couldn't have awoken me and Wednesday was another day filled with migraine hell. I am not sure what has gotten MN is a tizzy, but man Thursday was a very long day and I just couldn't look more forward to a second long weekend. And then as mentioned above - snow today.

The good news - is that is was a perfect day to stay inside, to get a lot accomplished. And that I did. Overall not really such a bad day after all. My reward for a very productive day - knitting time tonight. :) I am still working on my cherry tree hill socks and I'm using the Yarn Harlot's never-fail sock pattern int the hopes that I will actually be able to finish a pair fo socks. I will say this - its been slow going on 2.25 dpn's....man they're small.

Newbie Knitter Fun...

Friday night Olyvia and I went to the sneak peek, premiere of The Rocky Horror Picture Show being put on live by Can Stage. Besides being a midnight show - well past my typical Friday night bedtime, it was a blast. Olyvia and I spent our time marveling at everyone is costumes having fun. It was great for the two of us to spend some quality time together and she really seemed to love going on the opening night. Lifelong memories.



Last night David, and I had a quiet night alone as Olyvia was at a girlfriends house for the evening. We had a romantic dinner out and then came home to watch a couple of movies. We only made it through "Stranger than Fiction" - which was a charming and comical story, where I actually enjoyed watching Will Farrell on screen.



I had gone out earlier in the day to Knitomatic to treat myself to a yarn winder. I have been searching online to find one, but just decided I didn't want to wait to buy and have it shipped as I had all of the yarn from the Knitomatic sale a few weeks ago and just badly wanted to wind it. So all during the movie, I balled hanks of yarn - and had a blast. I know sounds kind of sad, but really it was a lot of fun...even with the occasional knot or series of knots.



Here's the finished product:



Yes above you should count 12 balls, plus I also, wound a my hank of cherry tree hill sock yarn (in colorway: Quarry Hill)- which makes 13 balls, as I have been having fantasies about knitting with it. This was actually the first yarn I used my winder on and ended up spending a good 1.5 hours having to undue the million knots...as I wasn't used to the over-the-chair method of holding the hank while you wound. Thankfully I had it finished about 10 minutes into the movie, which meant the other 12 went by in a flurry of activity. David was as marvelled as I was at the efficiency of this little plastic machine, although he couldn't understand why the hand painted/dyed hanks didn't come pre-balled and after trying to explain to him "handpainted yarn" let it go and just said because it would be too expensive.

This morning, I couldn't help but start a new pair of socks with it, as it is just so lovely to knit with.


Its' going to be a crazy week of travelling for me, but at least I accomplished something at home this weekend and can take a new and very portable project with me while I'm busy away this week.

On an unrelated note - they have broken ground on the property behind us finally. It was strange to come home after being away for a weekend to find the house imploded and now to have the ground broken. I am anticipating a long-summer of banging, dusk and construction folk while this house gets built. The only good part about it is that new houses continue to help develop the area and increase the value of our home. Many small reasons to smile.

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Welcome to the World Teagan Joan...

I am feeling rather nostalgic today...maybe its just mid-life mommy hormones and a serious lack of sleep. ;)

Today my extended family (through my boyfriend) formally welcomed into the world their last of three, but newest little addition to their family - Teagan Joan. Teagan is a bright eyed, four month old who was proudly shown off today by her mom Whitney and dad Michael to their extended family and friends. It was a lovely up-town type of event at the Richmond Hill Country Club, and was very swish all the way around. Teagan looked especially adorable in my favourite colors -pink and brown.



As usual, almost all of the extended family babies get given to me at some point, as I think I radiate "desperate and waiting grandma". I anticipate it will still be many years before that happens to me naturally, especially and hopefully given that my oldest child Olyvia is only turning 16 in a few weeks. I do have a much older step-son through my partner, however I think even he is a few years away. Almost all of the family babies eventually end up cuddled in my arms to let me work my mommy magic on them and help lul them to sleep. Its an absolute joy for me and allows me to have those fleeting moments of "baby-want" fulfilled.

Teagan was born just prior to Hanukkah last December (early in the month for those of you who have no clue when Hanukkah falls)and unfortunately was still too small to come to the annual family Hanukkah party. So, I have been waiting patiently to be formally introduced to her. She is an absolute beauty of a baby, and lit up the room with her coos and smiles. It completely warmed my heart.

Although, we brought along Hanukkah and welcome gifts to Teagan at the Hanukkah party, I just couldn't not come prepared with something today, since this was her coming out party.

I knew I wanted to knit something special and so spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what I could make in relatively short period of time..and pitifully the only thing I could think of was a baby blanket. So much for creativity.


This is while it's still in progress


This was almost at the end.

And ofcourse, I forgot to take a picture of it finished, but I think it turned out beautifully...snuggly and warm...just perfect for Teagan. Hopefully she enjoys it.

On another completely unrelated and yet funny note, both of our family pets have been captured this weekend in particularly cute fashion.


This is Mila in the kitchen climbing the sliding doors as though she wants to go outside for a run in the snow.


And this is beautiful Java, snuggled in my bed on her favorite pillow napping after too much fun on St.Patrick's Day...see she still has her green bow to prove it.

Avoidance...

Dear blog...

Yes, I can admit it...I have been avoiding you. It's not that you don't amuse me anymore, its just that you always want me to be creative, original and have clever things to say. You expect me to put out regularly, and I just can't always be in the mood.

This past weekend, I thought of you often, especially while obsessing over the fact that I hadn't written on you for a number of days. I realized that you likely felt neglected, unappreciated and completely taken for granted, especially since you have been a joy to me allowing for a creative outlet and space to share my knitty joy.

Instead, I have to admit, that I have been cheating on you...I was busy Saturday at the fabulous Knitomatic Sale buying a small and ever so reasonable amount of fun, joy-filled yarn.



Almost all of these were 'sale items'.





These two photos are of my first Cherry Tree Hill...unfortunately not on Sale.

What lovely folks I met in line, they kept me utterly distracted from thinking about you at all....however, I did feel mildly guilty later in the day, especially when i realized that I hadn't yet captured all of that woolly goodness to share with you.

I admit it, I am still new at this...learning how to be a good little blogger. It's challenging, perhaps if you gave me more feedback, critique, comments... I would feel compelled to keep you posted with little stories, life events and humour...OK so I am humor challenged, but at least I try. Haven't you heard it better to give than receive...well its a lie, I need you to give a little...maybe then I'll be in the mood to put out.

The winter blah(s) phase...a.k.a. a little winter kvetching...

So it's been a crazy week; I am feeling like my head is spinning from all of the activity and I am trying to just slow down a little and get my bearings. And to top it off I have a nasty case of the winter-blah's - you know that evil sad state we sometimes get in when we are vitamin D deprived and just need to be surrounded with a little sunshine and joy.

Most people would likely say that I am a relatively-high-energy-happy-go-luck kind of soul, but lately I am feeling just blah...and uninspired. I did have a brief moment of joy today as I finished Stephanie's "Yarn Harlot" book only to find that my next book on the list "Knitting Rules" had arrived via post from the on-line bookstore. My brief glimpse of joy was then overshadowed by major projects looming and the need to dedicate myself whole-heartedly to completing them, which potentially will mean a) no reading time and b) most importantly little knitting time.

I am currently in my resenting-everything-but-knitting stage and although M has reassured me that this is normal and so-to-shall-pass, I am just not convinced, and so go through my week counting moments down to be solely dedicated to my yarn and time alone or group knitting. It's funny, I don't mind sacrificing knitting time alone to be with a knitting group, in fact some wacko part of me loves being surrounded by all of that woolly goodness and other folks who seem to appreciate their art as much as I do. So, I am left today counting down moments to group knitting on Friday (if I can find the energy) and Stash shopping and amazing Yarn Sale at Knit-o-matic on Saturday. Not that I need yarn [or so I have been told], but perhaps feeling, smelling, rubbing,. holding and buying some new yarn will be just-the-pick-me-up I need to get re-inspired.

I am off to go and do some knitty reading before bed...here's hoping all of you have knitty-good-night dreams too. Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it, so I'm going to do my best to awaken inspired and joyful. Perhaps if I count sheep.....

The Yarn Harlot winter quandry...

I just ready the Yarn Harlot's most recent entry and had a hearty chuckle as I just had to use some warm woolies inside my rain boots to shovel myself out of my driveway (thanks Toronto city workers for sumping more snow there) and have to say - they are really quite warm. My daughter Olyvia stole my good Timberland boots to go out this afternoon so I had to find an alternative.



I don't have quite so much water as you do Stephanie, but warmth is key to surviving this icky weather, which seems to have started up again for mother nature's revenge episode two just a few moments ago. GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRR.





Ick!!!

Ick - Canadian Winter. Thank goodness for Yarn. :)

OK, SO while I love being Canadian, I certainly do not love Canadian winters. Ick!! Yesterday, mother nature in her infinite wisdom decided that Toronto needed to be covered and fluffy blanket of snow goodness. Now, while quite pretty, it was a nightmare to try to drive home in from work (like 35 minutes longer than normal) and poor David (my spouse) has three and a half hours of winter driving hell, which left him in not such a lovely and giving disposition. This picture below just doesn't capture the winter bluster quite as much as it should have.



Thank goodness he got home when he did however, as I was starting to think the snowdrifts outside our house might bury us in for good and I would be left to fend for Olyvia, Java and I alone. Thank goodness for the happy yarn stash and fireplace to keep me company. :) Now given that David likes to be anonymous on the Internet I have smudged his face out (don't you love technology), but wanted everyone to see how wintry it truly was last night.



Last night was a night for staying in, and giving some serious contemplation to what my next big project should be, especially since I am in sock avoidance. I have decided to start my lovely Colinette blanket, and it is all ready bringing me such joy, especially since the wonderful scallopy shape has all ready started. What simple, blissful joy.

Before:



After:





Really this blanket even in its infancy makes me smile a whole-hearted smile...I can just tell its going to be snugly and warm and be a perfect lap blanket. :) Even just looking at it is helping me cope with what I awoke to this morning.







I realize for you not exposed to a Canadian Winter this may not look too horrible, but that first picture with the family van had 3/4 of an inch of freezing rain on top of it and left my more little car "Chava" stranded in the down-facing driveway and she just couldn't get up which left me to work from home for the day...thank goodness the Internet is working.

Oh yes, I have to say that my other little piece of excitement last night (beyond my decision to start the blanket) was emailing back and forth with Larisa from Headwater Yarns as she is shipping me my first pair of Addi Turbo needles. Yippee!!!