I know, I know – this is the second post today. And I still have another five or six hours of “real” work to get done in the next day and a half, together with at least six loads of laundry, packing for a three week trip and trying desperately to finish the Tilted Duster.

However, you’ll soon see why I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to post.

I headed out into the blustery storm weather to get last minute errands done. To cheer myself up from standing in line at three banks and the drugstore and having trudged 20 blocks in the snow, I went and got a haircut:

A bit shorter than I had thought it would turn out – but hey. At least I won’t suffer hathead for the rest of the winter. “A la garcon”, as they call it in “the Greece” (why does every other language feel the need to bastardize French expressions? Hmm…).

I must say, however, that I am shocked at the amount of grey (which doesn’t show up too well in the photo, most of it being in weird clumps at the back). Why couldn’t I have that nice elegant salt-and-pepper look?!?

So, this necessitated another trip to the Shoppers to pick up some of this:

Pretty bold, eh? I was going to rush to dye it before JJ gets home from work (puir wee JJ, working for 12 hours on a Saturday!), but I figured he’d get enough of a shock with the crop job. He won’t be best pleased – although I don’t really think he should complain, as my hair was even shorter when I met him five years ago and that look worked just fine for him, apparently…).

Anyway, I still needed cheering up, so I headed to Knitomatic – hey, after all the yarn shopping this week already I felt I owed Haley a visit as well.

And here’s what I saw when I first got into the door:

Noro Silk Garden!!

(I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Until this week, I haven’t even thought about Noro since I made this hat with Kureyon a couple of years back!

My first ever crochet job, by the way. I then managed to promptly forget all I learned. Sigh. Anyway, about the Noro – let’s just say that Cat Bordhi has a lot to answer for!
It’s her fault that I thought about Noro again. I take no responsibility for my actions.)

But, Cat Bordhi didn’t cause me to buy this:

Rumplesilkskin, by Fleece Artist. (It is actually called “Rumplestilskin” like the guy who slept for 20 years – or was that another guy? I forget! – but I like my name better).

But really, could you have passed up this colour?!
Ahh….reminds me of the seaside in Greece. A necessary antidote for the December foulness that is the Canadian winter, in my view.

(Where on earth did Good Kristina get to? I wonder if she gave up and left early for the vacation???)

On my way to meet B. for a lovely falafel lunch, I picked up something for dinner at the Bathurst subway station:

… and some after-dinner mints.

I also managed to lose my gloves when I was out. Luckily I have another three pairs of fuschia gloves! And, on the upside, being gloveless enabled me to knit while waiting 20 minutes for the $#$@#$@$ Bathurst bus. I should note that, although I am a fearless Outlaw Knitter, I do not recommend knitting outside when it is -8 C (“feels like -15 C!!!!” Thanks, Weather Network! And for my friends in the US, this is “17.6 F feels like 5 F”) and snowing. But at least I got another repeat done on the Tilted Duster!

Unfortunately, when JJ gets home I have to make another foray into the cold – heading to the dreaded Forest Hill Loblaws to pick up dry cleaning, buy fudge and hit the LCBO. I would love to stay in and knit – but they’re calling for a huge storm tomorrow and I’m not big on shovelling myself out of the parking garage… wish me luck!)

Allow me to share with you a little-known secret. I have discussed at some length the holiday in the Annals of Brouhaha known as PayDay. This typically occurs on the 15th and the 30th of each month. Well, when the 15th falls on a Saturday, this means that PayDay actually occurs on the 14th!

So, in celebration of PayDay and despite the pile of work on my desk screaming to be done before I leave the country on Monday, off I headed to Romni over the lunch break.

(And yes, yes… I do remember what I said to you yesterday about not buying any more yarn in 2007. That steely resolve lasted approximately 1/2 hour and had flown away by the time I passed the Bank of Montreal on the way to the office…perhaps “cotton candy-like resolve” is a more appropriate term, really.)

I had actually gone in for the sole purpose of purchasing three skeins of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (approximate cost = $29.25 total). This was to be in aid of a Moebius hat for me to take on my trip with me. In this regard, I got to Romni and marched resolutely past the Handmaiden section, not even glancing toward the Butterfly Super 10 and made it to the very back of the store where they keep the Brown Sheep.

I had even managed to pick what I wanted for the hat when I spied this:

Malabrigo! In Jacinto, Fuscia, and Vermilion!!!

I have virtually “heard” reams about this stuff on message boards and had thus far managed to avoid looking at it or touching it. I now realise what all that talk about rolling around in it naked was all about. It was very difficult to restrain myself.

So, back went the Brown Sheep.

Unfortunately, I was persuing the Magical Knitting book by Cat Bordhi on the subway to work, and spied with my little eye something that was made with Noro Kureyon:

So, this will be a scarf at some point.

And, of course, right next to the cash the evil Romni types had placed a display of this:

More Grande Godiva!

Sigh.

Lest you think, however, that I am completely selfish, Aphrodite got something as well…

A windbreaker/rainjacket from Mountain Equipment Co-op!

All right, all right … I confess. It is really for me. Hey – I’m going to England and was told to bring an umbrella! I don’t own a rainjacket (or at least I didn’t until yesterday).

Will all my stash in hand plus a pile of work to bring home with me (sigh), I made my way to the Bar Wellington to meet The Tenant Advocates. A good time was had by all.

And what lies in store today?

Errands. Argh. Must go to three different banks and gather funds for the trip, get a haircut, buy Nicorette for the plane and President’s Choice fudge for John’s son and his partner. I will be meeting a friend for falafel at Cleopatra as well, so all is not lost.

Then… I will be doing a mountain of laundry and work that I need to finish and sign off on before I go. I’m a bit angry with myself as it seems I will not get my Tilted Duster in time to take on the trip as I had hoped. But I guess I don’t need to be so hard on myself… the only really tough part will be deciding what yarn to take with me on the trip.

And… knitting needles are allowed in carry on luggage in Canada these days! Yippee! And thanks to Sarah for reminding to triple-check! So, if worse comes to worst I can always finish the Tilted Duster on the plane!!!

A happy and peaceful Saturday to you all: and today marks the birthday of both Gustave Eiffel (creator of the Eiffel Tower, which I will be seeing “live” in a couple of weeks!) and Nero. How appropriate. I’ve spent around a week fiddling, and will now be burning up the books this weekend!

Sigh.

Anyone remember what I had to say on 1 December?

But of course, this is now it for the yarn spending for the calendar year 2007. I won’t be buying any more yarn until 2008.

Weeeeellllll…that was almost true.

You see, when I set off for Lettuce Knit after work the other day, I was really only going there to get this book, which I had seen there some time back:

She is the designer of this fabulous Moebius capelet, and I thought it would be nice to have a pattern book of hers.

But, strangely enough, the minute I walked into the store, this leapt into my hot little hands:

Some Handmaiden Flaxen…in periwinkle!!!

I really should blame Amanda for this. She is the one who originally put Lettuce Knit into my head vis a vis possible Flaxen acquisitions. Maybe she should be reimbursing me for the cost of the yarn?

But I can’t blame Amanda for this:

I actually managed to drop the Flaxen onto the floor when I saw this lovely stuff winking at me from the Sea Silk basket (conveniently located right next to the front entrance of the store. These people are wicked!!). It is in the Popsicle colourway, which I had never seen. So, of course, a must-have…

And here’s another one:

I think this is Popsicle as well, minus the blue.

So – five more skeins of Handmaiden. Evil Kristina made a great score, that’s for sure (Where was Good Kristina? Doubtless still at the office, trying to finish everything on the to-do list before leaving for vacation.)

However, all is not lost, and it was fated that I buy all of this yarn, really, as the following day Jenny sent me a link to some free vintage yarn patterns. Obviously I knew that I would need yarn to try out some of them.

(Oh, really? So, how about all of this in the stash?

Ah, I see that Good Kristina has finally looked up from the books – more than a day late and a couple of hundred dollars too short, as usual!)

Oh – I nearly managed to leave the store without looking for the above book. But luckily I did remember why I had actually gone to the store after all. And I also found this:

Shortly after I got home, I realised that I am not quite as subtle as I had believed with the stashing of new acquisitions. My usual cover is to grab the stuff out of my handbag and spirit it off to the spare room, then rustle around in there for a while pretending that I am cleaning.

J. “Eagle Eye” J., however, shouted from the living room approximately three minutes after I headed in there, “When yer finished takin’ photos of all that new yarn you got today and squirreling it awa’, could ye gi’us a drink, hen?”

Hmm. Foiled again. Then again, this might have been his first clue that I really don’t do a hell of a lot of cleaning in the spare room:
Well, TGIF to all – today is my official final day at work for 2007 (although, having spent too much time surfing the net…um, helping other people at work this week, I will be bringing one last project to finish up at home on Saturday.) We’re off on our Big Trip on Monday 17 December. And, of course, I won’t be buying any yarn in London. See?:

(1 December 2007) I am most certainly not going near any yarn store in London while I’m there… I don’t need any more Rowan products either!

Well, that might not strictly be true. After all, my Rowan stash will be severely depleted after finishing off the Tilted Duster with ASC:

I love this little detail on the sides of the fronts:

So, a happy Friday to all: and JJ will no doubt be thrilled when I tell him this evening that today marks the anniversary of the Glasgow underground railway in 1896. I shall have to raise a glass or three this evening at the holiday rendezvous of The Tenant Advocates!

Well, here’s a depressing sight to me upon leaving the house.

Even more depressing…

That is per litre, folks, not per gallon. And these days it seems we’re meant to be grateful when the gas price goes below $1.00/litre. Hard to believe that only three years ago the prices were hovering between $0.70 and $0.80/litre and some gas bars were lowering it to $0.50 at certain times to get business…

And look at this tree – with leaves still on it! Not in the natural order, really, for December…

But its time to stop lollygagging and get to work. Today, I think I’ll get off at Osgoode, the subway stop before my usual one, for a change of scenery.

The first thing I see is the sign for Campbell House, which currently houses the Advocates’ Society.

If you bothered to read the fine print, you would have realised that this is actually a mobile home. Yes, that’s right – it was picked up and moved at least a dozen blocks back in the 70s.

And what does this “mobile home” look like?

Ah, Toronto. No boring old trailer parks for us! Picture the truck that they got to tow that puppy!!

Westward ho…
One of my favourite (although rarely visited these days) watering holes, the Rex Hotel. Great music on a Friday afternoon…

And a little oxymoron for you…

Oh, look! A car is ready to run into the CN Tower!!!!

Eeekk!!

But I’m not one of these accident-happy rubberneckers, so my eye turns to a kickin’ pair of boots and matching satchel:

This is the store window at John Fluevog, my favourite shoe store. I am sorely tempted to smash and grab the following shoes every time I walk by:

They have left them in the shop window since the summertime, just to taunt me, I’m sure. At $270.00, my iron resolve has not yet broken, I’m happy to announce (after all, I’ve yet to try out Handmaiden Flaxen…). Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town this year during the one week a year they actually have a sale – after Boxing Day.

Next up – one of Toronto’s great independent bookstores.

I don’t know what the yellow construction fence is there for. I do hope they are not getting rid of Pages to build another condo.

After all, who couldn’t love a store which brought their prices down in light of the high Canadian dollar weeks before the big box bookshop chain which shall remain nameless bothered?!?

(In case you can’t see for the glare, that is a drawing of Captain Canada.)

And hark! What’s this? An ad for…

…yet another reality show. With absolutely no offence intended to my Australian friends, are we really so short of North American reality shows that we have to import them from Australia?!?

Oh – and just in case you forgot we were in Toronto…

Here is my favourite tree trunk in the city.

Cute, eh?

And – a moment of silence while I honour the passing of one of my long-time past haunts.

This was one of the first gathering places for the Friday meetings of The Tenant Advocates, where the beer was cheap, the snacks were plentiful (and even somewhat edible) and the times were good. Vale the 360!

And, since we are, after all, in December, here’s some Christmas cheer…

I actually took a photo of this because I thought it would make a good future inspiration for a freeform motif:

And some more Christmas cheer:

I’m never drunk enough when I pass this place to actually go in. Seems like it might be worth a trip some evening, however.

And finally, on the last left of the journey to my office – the infamous Dead Letter Branch which appears to have swallowed packages destined for the United States.

I blame the postie who looks like Santa. But then again, there was a woman in there once who seemed interested in yarn…

Happy Thursday! And please do note that on this day in 1959, Archbishop Makarios became the first president of Cyprus. War ensued between the Greeks and the Turks soon after and has since been a constant underlying threat. Beware the mixing of politics and religion…

…when it looks like this outside:

First off, accessories are very important, particularly when they help to keep one sane during the pushing/shoving/noiseridden commute:

Check out the fuschia earphones. And the iPod colour should always coordinate with the winter coat:

Would you believe that this coat is 20 years old? (I shake my head in disbelief that I’m actually admitting to this!!) I bought it on a trip to Toronto (at Simpsons, long gone now) when I was 17 and still living with my parents in Kingston. It cost $175.00. My mother nearly had a heart attack, but I had pinched my pennies and I wanted this cost. If my math is correct, the cost has worked out to $8.75 per year. Not too shabby (although you don’t want to see the lining and the insides of the pockets!)

This is the pin that lives on my coat, given to me by a dear friend about 10 years ago.

And now on to some little known secrets about the life of Brouhaha.

It is imperative to start off the day with a healthy breakfast, of course:

And have you ever wondered what top-flight lawyers carry with them in those boxy briefcases?

Well, I’ll show you. First, some essential tools of the trade:

These are my implements which I use to stab recalcitrant landlords.

Oops – I just realised that I also managed to bust a Christmas surprise. Sorry, Mom (who will truly be surprised when she finds out that the gift card is only worth $20!!!!).

Also, there are other essential secret things, carried, of course, in a Prada bag:

(Dang – did I leave the Prada at home again?!? Damn and blast!)

And of course, one should always have documentation in the event that one is summoned off to a top-secret international mission:

(Besides, you never know when the Bathurst tram might have to change its route due to construction, and decide it’s a good idea to access downtown Toronto via Buffalo!)

Other essentials:
… cash and housekeys…

(How do you like my bright money carriers?! Cute, eh? And of course some evil eyes for luck.)

Best also to have extra supplies of medication on hand…

(A friend bought this for me during my last period. Do you think she was trying to tell me something? But look – it’s medicinal. Really.)

I keep telling people, “Chocolate is good for you!”. This, I think, proves me right.

Getting down to the bottom of my bag of tricks:

This is something that I was given as a gift this past week. 100 grams of chocolate covered stale bread cubes. Calabrese bread, mind you. (At $5.00 for 100 grams of stale bread, I should think it was flown in directly from Italy. I paid $2.25 for a 650 gram loaf of Calabrese bread on the way home from work last night – and it was even fresh.)

And, finally:

But I haven’t even shown you how to dress for success yet!! Sigh.

This is my new top which I made from my Montego Bay scarf. It was a big hit at the staff lunch!

And finally, a very rare insight into the deep intellect of Brouhaha:\

(This is what I do when I’m not allowed to knit at the 5th website meeting this month…deep, eh? I’ll tell you a big secret – I actually wrote The Da Vinci Code. Yes, little old yarn-addicted me. Can’t you tell by this mystical diagram?)

Happy Wednesday… and a very very happy birthday to Bill Nighy, whom JJ suspects I have a raging crush on. Really I don’t. It’s just his acting. Really…

I guess one could say it’s official: Brouhaha is back off the knitting wagon!

Here are some concoctions over the past two days:

1. Moebius Capelet


I bought the yarn for this while on an unsuccessful quest for Handmaiden Flaxen at the LYS – but this project seemed fated in light of a dramatic error I made in sewing together my last knitting project, the Brioche Man’s Vest…
And here is the back of the Moebius:

As usual it looks far better on Aphrodite than me. This is likely because Aphrodite, although Greek like me, does not talk with her hands. After the first fifteen minutes it was on, here is how it looked:

Finally, halfway through the day I gave up on it and started wearing it like this:

Good perhaps for bad hair days – but as you can see it doesn’t necessarily work to hide anything. All I wanted to become was a classy capelet-wearing doyenne (is that too much to ask?!?), but I guess it wasn’t to be! So, it will be going to a better home very shortly.

Specs:

Yarn: Fleece Artist Grande Godiva, two 100g skeins (174 metres) – 50% silk, 50% wool
Pattern by: Cat Bordhi (sold with the yarn)
Needle Size: 9.0 mm with 47″ cord
Time spent: 3 hours approx.

Notes: This was rather fun to knit – that is, after I got over the initial hurdle of casting on for the thing. This involved casting on 75 or so stitches over the coiled cable attaching the needles, then stretching them around enough to knit the first round. This took me about an hour to figure out and by the end of it I was just about ready either to wrap the addis around my neck or fling the whole thing over the balcony.

Patience won out though… and the rest of the knitting was surprisingly easy. It didn’t hurt that the yarn. And I think I have finally exorcised my little “stupid, stupid knitter” voice by making an “on-purpose” moebius. Goddess knows I’ve made enough of them inadvertently when trying to knit in the round!

Highly recommended – and I will be picking up one of Cat Bordhi’s books. I’d like to make a hat with a Moebius brim and hope she has a pattern!

2. Montego Bay Tunic

This is a reconfiguration of my first lace project, the Montego Bay Scarf by Amy Singer.

The scarf was beautiful – but I just have to face facts. I am scarf challenged and could not manage to wear this long slim scarf without it getting all tangled around my neck (I detest those who can carry it off – but they could make some money giving people like me a seminar).

This is how it used to look (damn and blast Aphrodite!):

…and this is what it morphed into.

From this:

…to this:
The original scarf was made out of Handmaiden Sea Silk (swoon…) on 4mm needles. To put it together, I measured it around and marked off 16 inch increments. I then crocheted two thirds of it together in a tube at the edges, then brought the end edge over the right shoulder and crocheted it into place with some raspberry sea silk I had lying around. The right shoulder strap was crocheted with some old Fleece Artist stuff I had hanging around.

I’m thinking of doing a trim all around – but got lazy last night and want to wear it today. (It looked fine last evening on me – even better than on Aphrodite for once, I would say! But I suspect it will stretch badly. Having said that, I like it.)

I should note that JJ is concerned that I am going to wear this to work (or, for that matter, the staff holiday party) without any undercovering. This, I intuit from him calling me Barbarella last night when I pranced around with it on. I reminded him that the average temperature is -4 C these days, but he didnae seem convinced. Oh well.

And, finally: here is my progress on the Tilted Duster – I managed to complete this much of one sleeve during my commute!

I will never dread sleeves again. I would never have thought I’d find anything that would make me stop abhorring slowdowns during rush hour on the TTC….

Happy Tuesday! And, any proud Canadians visiting should be happy to know that today marks the 76th anniversary of legislative freedom from (and equality with) the United Kingdom. Why anyone thinks it’s a good idea to make laws from thousands of kilometres away, I have no idea (but then I guess half of Canada can say that about Ottawa…SIGH).

Cheers,

Kristina

…especially when one has to head out to the mall of a Sunday afternoon in December.

Oh, the weather outside was frightful:

(Ah, Toronto in the wintertime! Such lovely snow!)

… and frightful as well was JJs temper when the classical music station played “The 12 Days of Christmas” twice in a row and I kept singing it after that!!

JJ: Will ye’ stop singin’ that bloody song, lassie?!?

KB: Yeah OK, Ebenezer.

JJ: Did ye just call me an “old geezer” again?

KB: Isn’t it time to go for that hearing test, EBENEZER?!?

But really, I should have cut him some slack. He was the one driving the car, and this was the scene at the Yorkdale Plaza parking lot:

(This, on the side where there are always available parking spots… and this after John had driven around for 15 full minutes looking for a space on the main entrance side…)

We finally managed to find a parking space here:
But, because every cloud has a silver lining, I was able to knit all of this while JJ was circling and cursing:
(Actually, I lie to you. I did not seriously knit all this while we were in the parking lot. However, I did knit all this while sitting in the car on the way to and from the mall, and I would say that 50 per cent of it got done while desperately seeking a parking space).

I did not have the heart to take any photos while in the mall. Suffice it to say that the number of people thronging Sears made the parking lot look like an oasis of tranquillity.

We did manage to accomplish what we set out to do: buy lounge pants for me:
… a sport jacket and trousers for JJ (which have been left for alterations), and the rest of the Christmas gifts which I can’t show by reason of being secretive. (But don’t get too excited, o blessed future gift recipients – you’re just lucky that Sears is smart enough to put gift certificated cards next to the tills).

I had the requisite holiday shopping altercation with a complete idiot who was allowing her kids to play hide and seek in the menswear department. I stepped on one of them by mistake (really by mistake! Although I’m not a big fan of kids I would not deliberately do one harm, really!) and was immediately threatened with bloodshed and lawsuits by his raging mother. This kid, by the way, had nearly knocked JJ over while careening around like a madman, while mommy blatted on blissfully into her cell phone. So JJ stepped into the fray… and let’s just say that I won’t be facing a $2million lawsuit as had been originally promised me.

By the time we left, I finally understood the meaning of this ugly sculpture that has been haunting me for years in the Yorkdale parking lot.

It is a giant wraith of shopping-fuelled rage!

But our shopping adventures were not yet over. I asked if we could stop at Shoppers Drug Mart on the way home. JJ initially refused: “Haven’t ye had enough o’ the shoppin’, lassie?!? And it’s snowin’!” However, we needed essentials:

… and so we did have to stop.

When we got home, I decided to take out the mountains of recycling which had piled up in the last week or so (damn and blast the Toronto Star for sending “free” newspapers that we don’t even read!!!) and in this regard, passed through the apartment lobby. This is what you first see when coming in the front entrance to the building:

… and here are the holiday displays in their full glory:

Kinda cute, eh?

Oh – and check out the fancy candleabra next to the elevator:

See what a high class building I live in?!

And finally for some craft stuff. Here was my progress as at yesterday afternoon on the Tilted Duster

I love this pattern! What other pattern gives you something that starts looking like a garment in just a few hours?!?

(This would make a great tank-style bra with some Cascade Fixation, wouldn’t it? Hmm…).

I’m also hatching a nefarious plot involving my Montego Bay Scarf which I can’t seem to wear as I am scarf challenged and keep tripping over it (it’s 80″ long). Of course, I could give it to one of these people I love to hate who actually knows how to wear scarves… but why? Stay tuned…

And – in parting: let’s lift a glass to the memory of Eugene O’Keefe, Canadian brewer, who was born on this day in 1827:
(sorry it’s not O’Keefe’s, Eugene: I kinda lost interest in the brand when the stubby bottle died:

…but I’m sure you’ll approve, Eugene, of my Christmas tree! I do wish it were mine, actually, and that I’d thought of the concept: this came through on some group Email or other, unattributed…)

(as modelled by Aphrodite, in drag).

It’s done! And – minus the double Moebius shoulder!

Here are the buttons I picked out for it…and I even managed to sew them on in a stright line!

Specs:
Pattern: Brioche Man’s Vest (from the Best of Interweave Knits – pattern by Erica Alexander)
Yarn: Knitpicks CotLin (70% cotton, 30% linen) – colour is Nightfall
Needle Size: 3.00 mm, 3.75 mm, 4.0 mm
Buttons: from MacFab

Notes:
– a very enjoyable and quick knit. The pattern is great with minimal seaming (although I did manage to screw up one part of the seaming job).
– I really liked working with the CotLin – and the price was right at $2.50/skein! JJ reports that it is very comfortable and light to wear.
– I would definetely work with the brioche rib stitch again.
– I made a couple of modifications to the pattern… instead of working the buttonband and armhole trim seperately then seaming as suggested, I picked up stitches and then knitted these using K2 p2 rib (8 rows for the buttonband and four rows for the armhole trim).

Here is a photo of the proud recipient wearing it at the party we went to last night…

I know, I know, not the best photo. Will have to get a better one and post it eventually. But just to show – it fits perfectly!!

(What did I wear to the party, by the way? I was festooned in my Modern Straitjacket, of course.

Isn’t it festive? (Sadly, if there is a photo of me wearing it last night, I don’t know it. I always take my camera to these things then am too busy socialising to actually take it out. And, from the results with JJ’s photo above, this is probably a good thing, no?

I should also mention that I didn’t have the moustache going last night. I didn’t want to scare the kiddies.)

Other activities before I started partying: I got a good start on the Tilted Duster pattern.

This is Rowan All Seasons Cotton in a discontinued (and I think never actually sold by them directly) colourway called “Seaspray”. Just the thing to banish the winter blues! I might actually be able to get this done before next Monday when we leave for our trip…! Loving it so far.

Today, off to the shops. I will be taking my extra sharp Addi Lace needles to fight my way through the crowds…all in the holiday spirit, of course!

This seems a good time to wish a very happy birthday to my younger brother – the creator of the postmodern Santa depicted above. Many happy returns, V, and lang may yer lum reek!

Other notables born on this day include Dame Judi Dench, John Milton and Broderick Crawford. So – V is in very good company!

Happy Sunday!

I stole this from Jo’s blog – she has the best blog name, by the way – “Wild Peculiar Joy”! Wish I’d thought of that… feel free to steal from here as well

1. Elaborate on your default icon:
Ducky in lace? I have a weird obsession with rubber duckies for some reason. I don’t want to spend money on a psychotherapist to deal with this issue as this might mean the duckies would have to go cold….

2. What’s your current relationship status?
Shacked up with a Scottish guy for the last 3 1/2 years or so. It’s no’ half bad.

3. Ever have a near-death experience?
Thankfully, no. I did manage to fall through a glass door in Greece a long time ago, though – and had the great joy of having two huge gashes on my legs sewn up without anaesthetic.

4. Name an obvious quality you have:
A penchant for singing and dancing in public, especially on the tram when forced to stand.

5. What’s the name of the song that’s stuck in your head
right now?
Greensleeves. I can’t get rid of it.

6. Any celeb you would marry?
No, but there are a few I’d have a torrid affair with – I can’t remember them all right now. Sean Connery is at the top of the list, though.

7. Who will cut and paste this first?
Amy, perhaps… if she’s really bored. Like Jo, my readership is a bit down as well… I’ve wondered if the “pinko corner” has driven some people off. But I like it, so too bad. 🙂

8. Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity?
I’ve been told in past that I looked like Winona Rider, which might be true if you need eyeglasses and if she were having a really bad hairday. The oddest comparison I’ve heard is between me and Sigourney Weaver… if only because she is a foot taller than me!

9. Do you wear a watch?

Most of the time – and the odd time I forget, I catch myself looking at my wrist a couple of million times during the day. How rude.

10. Are you pierced?

I have one hole in each ear which were put there when I was six. I have not worn earrings for at least 20 years but they don’t seem to close up. I don’t understand why because when I actually wanted to wear earrings I had no end of problems. I did have piercings elsewhere for a while in my mid-twenties but got bored with them and took them out.

11. Do you have any tattoos?
No. And given my short attention span, this is probably a good thing (see nipple piercings, above)

12. Do you like pain?
Nope.

13. Do you like to shop?
Only when I have a specific thing in mind and can get in and out of the shop within 10 minutes… and I despise shopping for clothes. Probably why I knit so much!

14. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?
Cigarettes, pop and a lotto ticket yesterday afternoon.

15. What was the last thing you paid for with your credit
card?
I don’t have one. I was a bad girl in my 20s with one, and have since decided that it is not wise for someone who seems to view credit as “free money” to carry one.

16. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?

Barb – to find out what time the party was starting last night.

17. What is on your desktop background?

Nothing. I’m quite boring that way. I would have something at work just to amuse the colleagues, but we’re not allowed to change the defaults there.

18. What is the background on your cell phone?
I lost my cell phone in a cab this past summer and have not bothered to replace it. The old phone had a picture of Minnie Mouse on it.

19. Do you like redheads?
Yes – I wish I were one. I am sort of right now, but it’s not natural. My natural colour right now as best as I can tell is half grey, half dull dark brown.

20. Do you know any twins?
Only the children of one of my cousins – and Wannietta, I just learned today, is a twin!

21. Do you have any weird relatives?
The question should be “Do I have any normal relatives?” Then the answer would be “No.”

22. What was the last movie you watched?
In the theatre: the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Recorded from TV: I can’t recall. We watch a lot of movies at home, and I’m usually knitting at the time.

23. What was the last book you read?
the Crazy Aunt Purl Book. Currently reading a book called “Bitter Chocolate” about the history of chocolate.

24. Is there such a thing as love at first sight, or it is
more likely to be lust at first sight?
Oh, lust, definetely. How can you love someone without knowing them?

25. What’s your favorite book?
Either – any of the Rebus series by Ian Rankin or any of the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke.

26. When was the last time you visited the street where you
first lived?
About 20 years ago.

27. When was the last time you googled your own name?
A couple of weeks ago. No changes. Funny to see me mentioned at workplaces from 7 years ago, though. This is why I don’t really trust the Internet for research.

28. What was / is your favorite subject at school?
None. I hated school. Why I ended up getting two university degrees is a complete mystery to me.

29. What was / is your least favorite subject at school?
Gym – which I never attended after grade 8 or so.

30. Do you like having your photograph taken?
No. My goofy self-portraits on this blog are a little challenge to myself.

31. What time were you born?
I don’t remember.

32. Ever seriously questioned your sanity?
Pretty much on a daily basis.

33. How many phone numbers do you have remembered and can
say off the top of your head?
Too many, given that I can’t remember my computer passwords three-quarters of the time.

34. Can you Limbo?

I could about ten years ago. I haven’t tried since.

35.Have you ever killed your own dinner?
No. I don’t think I’m to be trusted with a gun, really.

36. How long have you been living at your current
residence?Three years and three months in the building, a year and a half in the current apartment.

37. What phobias do you have?
fear of being underground. Which does not bode well given that I’m supposed to go on the channel train between England and France in approximately two weeks.

38. What’s your ideal breakfast?
Twister bagel with peanut butter and bacon, with black tea on the side.

39. Where are you right now?
Where else would I be? Sitting on my lazy @$$ in the living room.

40. Why do you blog?

I started off because I am a shameless attention seeker – and actually, because I didn’t like computers very much and hated having to work with them all day, so thought that perhaps I could make it a bit more fun. And this has worked. Of late, I’ve gotten more bizarre and prolific with the blog writing as it is a good antidote to boring legal drafting I do at work.

41. What would you call your autobiography?
Buy This Book.

42. What’s the longest time you’ve stayed out of the
country / where?
In Greece, for two months.

43. Do you use ICQ, AIM, etc..?
No – I have never gotten into IM stuff.

44. Do you have nightmares frequently?
No.

45. If you were another person, would you be friends with
you?
Probably only acquaintances, really.

46. Which TV character could you be friends with?
Judge John Deed.

47. What’s on your mouse pad?
I don’t know what the work one has on it. Something boring, no doubt. At home I have a trackpad.

48. What is your ring tone?
It used to be just one of those plain annoying chirpy things. I had the phone turned off most of the time anyway.

49. What did you watch on TV last night?
A show called New Street Law with John Hanna.

50. Scary movies or happy endings?
Neither, really – I prefer comedies these days. I guess they mostly have happy endings, though.

(and no, you’re not going to get any pictures of me on horseback. My hair is not long enough, yet – and I’ll probably be taking the scissors to it any day now.)

I made a sortie to my work LYS, Romni, at the lunch hour yesterday in search of Handmaiden Flaxen. Alas, they do not carry it! In retrospect this is probably a good thing – although the ever-helpful Jonathan said “Why don’t you try [another place in the east end – I have blocked the name from memory because I really do not need to know about any more yarn stores in Toronto!!]”.

So, instead, I saw this:

Chunky half silk, half wool!

The actual reason for buying this was… well, do you remember this?

Check this out!

Now I can learn Moebius knitting for real! (Although having said that, I will probably manage to mess it up and it will turn out straight. Sigh.)

On the way back to the office, I stopped into a deli called Prague on a co-worker driven quest for cherry cheesecake. I do not myself like cheesecake, but have a look at this:

Czech smarties!!!

Which I had to get because it goes so well with the book purchase I made this morning at the newsagent:
I love these books that talk about the history behind common foods. They jump all over the world with one unifying theme: salt, cod, chocolate. (If you haven’t read “Salt” by Mark Kurlanski, it is highly recommended.)

But the festivities did not stop with shopping. After work, a couple of us repaired to an old favourite pub for a couple of cocktails:

But it was closed!!! For good!! One of our favourite spots is no longer.

Perhaps it was “condo-mned?”

The Lady Tenant Advocates then met en masse for a big Indian dinner at Dhaba. Sadly for me, this is another partial casualty of Condoland. What used to be my favourite Indian buffet place has morphed into a high end pretentious indian fusion place, offering such bounty as seafood samosas and venison curry. My favourite dish, chicken vindaloo, was nowhere to be seen. I will say that the chairs were rather cushy. This somewhat softened the blow of the price increases of standard items on the menu – one samosa for $5.00! The food was great in quality as ever, I hasten to say. But I won’t be back.

(Hmm… maybe had I stripped off all my clothes and wrapped myself in Grande Godiva I would have had a discount? Or at least a free ride home in a police cruiser instead of a $20 cab).

Well, I’d bet get off my lazy @$$ and get JJ out of bed so that we can head out into the day – a trip to the Yorkdale Mall for necessary holiday shopping. Grrr. The parking lot there of a Saturday in December reminds of the Colesseum in Rome on gladiator day.

In parting, JJ will surely be chuffed to hear that Mary, Queen of Scots was born on this day in 1542. I wonder if he knew her…??