Dear P,

Remember that yarn you gave me for Christmas? The silk/seacell blend that was oh-so-soft you snuggled with it in the store before purchase? You do? Good. Then also remember that I tried to knit the pattern that it came with, I really really did try. And I really really hated it. I didn’t like knitting with two balls at once. It was twisty and confusing and I think maybe a smaller two ball project would be a better way to start. And as the project grew I also realized that I didn’t like the pattern. Ruh-roh. Danger. If I don’t like the pattern am I going to keep knitting it? Nope. It’s going into “the room” and I’m leaving it there for-evah. So, instead of doing that, I changed patterns! I know that pre-christmas I had sent you a link to this shawl because I am in love with it. The pattern has been knit eleventy-billion times. Right now there are 11,532 projects posted on ravelry. It’s simple and for some reason this one by Terhi over at mustaa villaa made me need to knit it.  Of course, I love most of what she knits.

Anyway, I’m side-tracked.  The new shawl is coming along.  You’ll get to see it in a week when you get here!  I can’t wait to show you.  I know you’ll pet it and ooo a little bit.

love, J

Techno geeky

Blogging from my new iPod touch. And from bed! This is the coolest toy ever. Now, I think I’ll watch some rick mercer report episodes or maybe a movie…

what, no one cares what i had for lunch?

I’ve been thinking a lot about my blog and blogs in general. Why am I driven to blog? Is it because I never wrote that book? I feel the need to connect with the outside world? I want to share what I think and what I’m doing with total strangers? It’s an odd compulsion.

I read a lot of blogs and have been trying to figure out what I want MY blog to be. Is it going to be just a personal account of my daily life? Is it going to be a hobby blog (relating to knitting I guess…)? Is it going to be random opinions on current events, failed experiments (like me + any living plant = failure), or…or…or… ? A lot of the blogs I read are personal but what sets them apart is that they’re well written and/or I share the writers attitudes about life, politics, food, etc. Some are hobby blogs and I only go there for hobby content – and am quite dismayed when the writer goes on vacation and I get days and days of pics of them around the world (because I don’t care about THEM, just what they produce). So how am I going to balance what I want and like in others blogs in my own?

This is going to require some planning.  The old blog started out with a very specific purpose – to chronicle my trip across the country, the summer spent in Vermont, and the subsequent move here (affectionatly referred to as the island in the middle of nowhere).  Once I was safely here, employed, and living my normal life again the old blog lost steam.  The original use had been satisfied and there was nothing else that struck me as important enough to blog about.  Now, I’ve been focussing more on fibre arts and how fibre plays an important role in my life (and is playing a more and more important role every day).  So maybe that’s my thing.

I know I don’t want this to be solely a personal blog.  Yes, there will be some personal element to it of course, but that’s not the point of this.  If you want to be up in my face on a personal level then you can find me on facebook or ravelry.  So…  I guess now I have to decide what I want to talk about.

* post title shamelessly stolen

paper products = evil

I’ve been doing some reading about paper products – tissue, toilet paper, etc – trying to determine what products are the best both environmentally and economically. I found these two links useful:  Greenpeace Tissue Guide and NRDC Shopper’s Guide although they don’t have the President’s Choice brand on there which is what I usually buy. I think the other half hates that I buy “scratchy” toilet paper, but I just refuse to buy a product that is so obviously damaging to our planet. For facial tissue I’m happy to use a slightly scratchier product for the every day nose drips, but when I have a cold or the flu I need something softer. I go through the winter with a nose that has a permanent red glow on the sides from blowing. I’m thinking old school hankies might be the way to go.  I’m not grossed out by my own snot.  Someone else’s snot – yes, but I don’t plan on sharing.  We use cloth napkins, but we still have paper towel which is unnecessary.  These cloth hankies must be easy to make, if you have a sewing machine, which I don’t.  This family actually uses cloth wipes for going to the loo as well…I can’t say I’m at that point yet…  don’t think I ever will be, but I admire their determination to reduce!

an actual conversation…..

(on the telephone)
Neal: Is Bob there?
Woman: No. I shot him.
Neal: … … Sorry? Is Bob there?
Woman: No! I shot him!
Neal: What?!
Woman: Haha. (phone clunking on table). BOB! BOB!! PHONE!!

skype

i know that skype is nothing new; i’ve been using it for at least three years in both my personal life and my business life. but every once in a while i am reminded at just how cool it is. when you can sit for an hour and chat with your sister who is 7,625 km away from me (and 4.5 hours in time zone difference) and have it not cost you a cent; or when you can talk to a friend who you maybe haven’t spoken to in about 6 months because you couldn’t find the time…and then there they are on skype at the same time as you and whammo – before you know it you’ve been given a video tour of their new apartment!

technology is wicked.

and it makes it seem like home (in the sense of the people) is not that far away at all.

a long two weeks

it’s been a looooong two weeks with ian out of town. he’s supposedly coming home tonight but of course the weather in montreal is bad so even though his flight from paris has landed there, the chances of him getting here without delays are pretty slim. i think that his flight is already delayed one hour… *sigh*

i actually have NOTHING to say. just… *sigh*.

holy eye surgery batman

i had eye surgery two weeks ago today… they are doing really well, but are still totally dry, irritated and scratchy. general uncomfortableness has taken over. the computer is a bit of a difficulty, which is too bad since it’s my work and my school… oh well. it should be much better in about two weeks they say. here’s hoping! can’t really blog much….must go put eye drops in…

changing the look

i’ve changed the appearance of the place…just changed the theme to another custom header design from wordpress. this might happen several times over the next while until i find one that i like…

and now i can’t get my custom image to upload. ARGH.

oh…there it is… 

hello 2009, goodbye 2008

2008 was a pretty good year, I must say.

Looking back over it all I’ve been pretty successful in everything – school, work, personally and on the hobby front as well.

I passed 2 courses, failed 1, am still waiting to hear on the 4^th (fingers crossed…tightly) and managed to get 91% on my first business case (woo!). I managed to convince my company to demote me to a more applicable level (which sounds backwards but the stress relief was so very worth it) plus I managed to get a big raise out of it which is always good (and again, seems backwards, but like I said it was for the best). And then of course there was the engagement. Which of course was probably the highlight even though it happened in the final week of the year and still feels a bit surreal… (as my friend Peter said to me today: Happy New Year and I hope you have a better year this year what with that engagement that happened last year and all.)

We took a bunch of fun trips: marble mountain in February, Champney’s in May, Minchin Cove in July, Champney’s – Lumsden and Gros Morne in September and of course Colinet for New Year’s eve. I’ve been lucky to see some really incredible spots in this province during the last 12 months and I look forward to more exploration adventures in 2009.

from lift at Marble, February 2008

near Champney's, May 2008

Minchins Cove, July 2008

somewhere on Bonavista Bay, July 2008

Colinet - St Mary's Bay, Jan 1 2009

On the hobby front, I took a weaving course and made a scarf (still need to sew in the ends and wash it…and that was from the summer…whoops. Plus, I finished 10 knitted items (according to ravelry) – that total includes 16 mini sweaters plus about 15 korknisse….and two sets of 5 finger puppets each.) – there are also 3 pairs of socks in there, which for me is a LOT of knitting. i’m hoping this year to get more like, 7 pairs of socks for the year PLUS a sweater (really simple pattern and i already have the yarn), a STACK of knit dishclothes – basically I want to demolish my stash of kitchen cotton, plus finish a crochet granny square afghan that I’ve already started to use up all my gross acrylic and random yarn ends. I’m sure there will be some more korknisse in there as gifts for next year, plus some sweaters for ornaments…

So… yes, all in all a really good year. Can’t wait to see what 2009 might bring!