meme

So I have been tagged by and Sarah and Two Hippos to do a meme that has been floating around blogland for the last little while. I have never done a meme (just figured out recently what a meme was), and since I don't really have any FOs or any brilliant knitting to blog about, this comes at a good time.

1) what was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago was 1998; I was in a relationship with a photographer and living in a loft on a busy street near downtown. I worked for an oil service company, was getting into yoga, and was on an aggressive career path. I constantly worried about everything. Knitting and crafts were long gone from my life - school, work, being a mom, and paying bills was in. I am glad ten years ago is over and done with.

2) what are five non-working things to do on my to-do list today?

I need to finish a school assignment
I must go climbing with the babe at the climbing gym after work
We are going out for supper for a friends birthday
I need to knit some rows of my latest sock project
I need to plant at least one thing in my garden...not necessarily in this order.

3) snacks I enjoy

edemame
beef jerky (I am from Alberta, what can I say)
strawberries
expensive cheese and crackers
leftover cold pizza

4) things I would do if I were a billionaire

Immediately quit my job. ...and I mean immediately. Poof. I am gone. Spend my time travelling, reading good books, knitting, learning another language, buying property, learning pottery, doing yoga, pay for a personal trainer to come and work out with me every day....there just would not be enough hours in a day to do all the things I would want to do. I could support my favorite charity in a big way. I support a YWCA program that teaches women how to become master carpenters so they can become independent and be able to earn great money. Many of these women come from abusive backgrounds, extreme poverty, have no education, or have no viable skills to support their children. I could shower them with money so they could pay more teachers and put more women through the program. Grrrrrl power!

5) places I have lived

In this order:

Brno, Czech Republic
Paris, France
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Parksville, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
and...back to Calgary, Alberta, Canada

I hate moving with a passion.

6) jobs I have had

loans officer assistant
secretary
part-time typing teacher
operations manager for a direct mail marketing firm
executive assistant
and.... for the last 16 years...an Investor Relations Specialist

7) peeps I want to know more about:

Well everyone whose blog I read seems to have completed this meme, so whoever visits my blog and wants to complete this meme please do so and let us know by posting a comment on my blog. We can then all enjoy your meme.

The above image is a compilation of the things that comprise who I am - my kitty, my knitting, my garden...of course there is also the babe but, blogs are really about the author and her personal space...so babe will stay anonymous.

cloudy rainy days

The rain has been coming down for two days now but it stopped raining for five minutes so I was able to take a picture in the garden and document the raindrops - and, I can share my excitement over some new yarn I purchased from Applelaine. It is absolutely sumptuous... a soft blend of wool, mohair, silk and nylon...rich colors called licorice, chianti, and dark chocolate. I am already contemplating a great sock pattern that should showcase this wonderful yarn. Cloudy, rainy days are an opportunity to relish my moments of kicking back and reading a great magazine or knitting on a started project, with a good glass of wine.

I read five papers (mostly the business sections) as part of my daily work routine to ensure I know what is going in the global financial markets and the news. Lately the news is bad - global catastrophes, people struggling daily to survive and feed their families, people losing homes. I clearly realize how fortunate I am to live here; to enjoy my simple evenings and do things that give me great pleasure - safe and warm in my cozy home. I consider myself blessed.

warning: heavy gardening content

Since our spring and summer seasons are so short in Calgary, I get overly excited about gardening in the few months that I actually have to garden. We just bought our house a year and a half ago and this is my second season with my garden...I need to warn you that I love gardening as much as knitting and there will be many gratuitous posts with garden pictures etc. over the new few months.

To kick-start my 'gardening' season, I completed these socks from Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. They are the gentleman's sock with lozenge pattern with some unintended modifications (Oops! I completely missed the pattern for the rib part and did my own typical twisted rib top). I am not too keen on the seams on the back of the socks, which seem to prevail in all the patterns in that book. The yarn is Koigu from the painters palette...not certain which colorway...all I can say is it is not my favorite colorway, however the yarn knitted up nicely. The socks look ready for gardening season tucked into my gardening clogs. The Babe says that I will scare all the birds off with my color combination...I think that I will just camouflage nicely amongst all the pink flowers that will come up...eventually.

The bloom pictured above is the first in my garden - bleeding hearts.

rebirth.....finally

I realized that it is coming on to the middle of May and pretty soon the 'earth' element of project spectrum will be finished. Finally, after much ado, spring has arrived in Calgary. We had about 15 cm of snow as early as two days ago...I truly believed winter was never going to be over...but it is amazing what happened in two days. It is still a bit chilly out - about 11 C today, but the sun is out and - miracle - my perennials seem to have survived the many snow storms we have had in the last month and they are still alive.

The images for this post were taken in my garden today - the lady's mantle must have suspected that I needed something green to photograph and obliged by posing for a picture. Since there really is no knitting involved here, I decided that a celery colored green yarn would add the 'knitting' element. It is Melange from Blue Sky - the colorway is Relish. Though spring is officially here - this is Calgary after all - and winter is not far away. The super soft melange will make a cozy cowl that will get much use as soon as September.

simplicity

Another two weeks of freedom and I start another course....I am tired of school...but....I started this degree years ago and I only have about eight courses to go. It is something I want to finish at some point in my lifetime! Sigh! I wish it was something exciting like pottery, or fine arts, or design...but no, I am majoring in finance.

Because I am starting school, I feel like I need to have some simplicity in my knitting. I have been whining in my last few posts about not enjoying fussy knits. So I have decided to knit something minimalist and color-neutral. I have been researching possible patterns for a while now and finally settled on the pineapple cardigan from the queen of minimalist knit design - Setsuko Torii for Habu Textiles. I am eager to get started on this project. The yarn is made from pineapple fiber and is knit with three strands. The pattern is very simple - it is the texture of the yarn and the clever simplicity of this design that make the knit enticing to me - and it will be my first sweater that will need to be assembled - and it is my first Habu project.

ta-daaa!

pattern: Mr. Greenjeans
designer: Amy Swenson, for fall issue of Knitty 2007
yarn: Malabrigo, Burgundy (more like a brown/red)
modifications: used smaller needles. The smallest size on the pattern was a 33.5” bust and I am a 31” size bust size. Original needles called for 4.5 mm and 5.00 mm circulars – I used 3.75 mm and 3.50 mm to make the sweater smaller.

Sometimes a knit you THINK you won't like can result in a big surprise when you finish it.

Mr. Greenjeans was my second sweater project since learning how to knit 'properly'. I decided to knit Mr. Greenjeans for a few reasons: it was a cardigan comprising baby cables knit without a cable needle, a button hole, and ribbing along the front and the neckline. It was knit completely in the round, which I love because there are no seams to sew up. As added incentive, Mr. Greenjeans was designed for Knitty by the owner of my local LYS, Amy. The further I got into the project, the more I was certain I would not like the finished product. I found the cables fussy - they added a bulk to the sweater I did not like. I am a small person and bulk is not flattering on me. I surmised I would never wear the sweater and and it took longer to finish the project than I would have liked.

However, I started it so I had to finish it! I completed the knit, blocked it and tried it on.....the cardi is AMAZING, the fit is perfect - this is a knit I can absolutely see myself wearing. I do need to find a better button - my temporary button is too heavy. The malabrigo blocked out to a soft, wonderful yarn and the cables flattened right out adding a flattering fit around the waist. As you can tell by this post, I am excited.