Never on Sunday…

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I tend to refrain from shopping for yarn on Sunday, preferring instead to clean the house laze about, go out for coffee, knit, etc.  It is, after all, meant to be a day of rest (I am a subscriber of the “take what you like and leave the rest” school of religion, obviously).

Which meant, of course, that I had to go trolling for yarn yesterday!

Yes, yes – I was unfaithful to the Handmaiden yet again! I should be hanging my head in shame, not gloating about it over the Internet, I suppose.

But in my defence, I had the car yesterday and was in the mood to explore. So I headed up to a shop I had heard about some time back called The Enchanted Needle.

This shop is located in a city called Woodbridge, just north of Toronto:

Woodbridge used to look like this, apparently:

Now it looks more like this:

And it’s full of these:

Argh.  Let me tell you that the Enchanted Needle was the only beacon of light in what otherwise seems to be Strip Mall Hell.  It is a great shop, primarily focusing on needlepoints and tapestries.  I saw some kits for pieces like this:

I had to avert my eyes, because the last thing I need is another expensive and time-consuming hobby.  So, instead, I headed upstairs to the smaller space where they sell knitting yarns.

It is there that I found the Misti Alpaca Handpaints depicted above there.  Blue, turquoise and lime green – what’s not to like?!  I won’t tell you how many skeins I got there.  Suffice it to say that if I were to tie all the skeins together, affix one end to the doorknob in my apartment building and venture out on foot in Toronto, there are few places I couldn’t find my way back from.

For good measure, I threw these in:

2.25 mm knitting needles!  If you had told me I’d be buying such a skinny pair of needles a year ago, I would tell you that you had taken leave of your senses.  Instead, the senseless one is I.

I guess having new kilometres of yarn in the stash wasn’t enough, as I promptly arrived home and ordered the following from Blue Moon Fiber Arts: Blue Moonstone…

…and Star Sapphire.

Why did I have to take up lace knitting! It requires kilometres of yarn and every project takes a long time to finish.  This ensures that the stash will grow to brobdignanian proportions.

On that note, I think it’s time to go off and re-organize the stash.

But not before I explain the photo at the top.  That is a photo of Melina Mercouri, who was a famous Greek actress and singer:

The film she is probably known most for here in North America is Never On Sunday…

… where she played a hooker with a heart of gold who organized all the other hookers in Athens to stand up to the big bad bossman pimp, and led them in a strike!

A woman after my own pinko heart, clearly.  She later became a Minister of Parliament and they’ve even made stamps with her on it!

The whole country mourned when she died some time back.

Vale Melina.  I want to be you when I grow up.

Happy Sunday!

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My wish for you this weekend: that you have lots of time to..

Huh?

Well, courtesy of Gawker, I bring you these fabulous photos of bygone times, when people seemed oh so happy and funloving.

For example, they seemed to take pleasure from the smallest little humdrum things:

“Look, honey, Saran wrap!!!! AND enough sandwiches to feed a small army!!! Whoo-hoo!”

Great and inexpensive transportation methods…

“Hey gang!  See how fun it is to drive to the ball game in these newfangled convertible thingies? But I’m wondering if I should have bought the pickup truck instead…”

Women enjoyed all sorts of exotic delights and pleasures not available to us today…

“Ooooooh!  Fabulous pink shampoo!  I think I’ll use that and then go out and order myself a big old Pink Lady!

“And maybe after five or six of those, I’ll meet a great guy who will want to stroke my silky smooth pink shampooed hair!”

Now, I know that they lacked certain creature comforts in that era, such as personal computers and TiVos.  But hey, who needed the Internet when you could have a fancy dan car stereo?!

And 8 track technology to boot!  Wow, man.

So, why not take a step back in time into the late 60s and have yourself some guid old fashioned fun?

I’ll even provide you with the step guide.  Loud orange shirt not included though.  Sorry.

Happy weekend!

tempting the Photo Gods

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Well, the other day I got bored at work had some free time. So, naturally, I decided to mess around with all the photos I published here the other day, using the free photo morphing program in Flickr.

Here are my favourites.

Hey, do you think that this is what acid rain causes? Hmm.

Now for a diptych (big word, eh!):

As you can tell, I really like that radioactive blue colour. And what about electric blue?

Pretty cool, eh?

However, I think I’ve pissed off the Photo Gods. Here is the only non-blurry photo I’ve managed to take of Sherwood thus far.

Now, when I’m working on this project, I can’t stop thinking about this guy:

…which inevitably leads me to thinking about this guy, Dennis Moore:

Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore
Galloping through the sward
Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore
And his horse Concorde
He steals from the rich
And gives to the poor
Mr. Moore, Mr. Moore, Mr. Moore….

Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore
Dum dum dum the night
Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore
Dum de dum dum plight
He steals dum dum dum
And dum dum dum dee
Dennis dum, Dennis dee, dum dum dum.

(By the way, I do hope you didn’t click the link above, as this tune will probably be with you for the entire weekend. Yes, it’s one of those.)

I wonder where all these guys disappeared to who used to steal from the rich and give to the poor, anyway. They certainly didn’t end up in Parliament!!

On that happy note, let me bid you a fond farewell, gentle readers, and a happy weekend!

Regards,

Maid Marian

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PayDay mysteries… and a new family member!

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Well, what a coincidence that on PayDay, I came across a mysterious door…

…which led to a long and winding path through an enchanted forest.

And where did the path end?

My local yarn store!

Amazing, isn’t it? So, of course I just had to buy some yarn.

Misti Alpaca has managed to outdo themselves, I learned, with some new handpainted lace yarn in 800g skeins!

(In actual fact, I had learned this before PayDay. But it was a guid excuse to lay in some more stock.)

Isn’t this sumptuous?

I also succumbed, finally, to the temptation to give in to that dreaded Siren, Kureyon.

Now, I don’t quite get why I would want to knit socks out of this scratchy-as-hell yarn. However, I couldn’t resist the lure of the rainbow…

So, the lovely Leane suggested that I pair the Kureyon with a strand of this Kid Seta and make a shawl:

As you’ve probably gathered by now, I am highly suggestible to anything to do with the acquisition of yarn. But it’s lovely in itself, isn’t it?

Almost like a sunset in a skein!

I even bought some novelty yarn on sale because of the fab colour:

Fit for a Yarn Queen.

And, finally, this rather uncharacteristic purchase. The yarn is called Twelve and it’s got twelve types of yarn in one.

Funky, eh? I thought it would make a cute party scarf at some point.

But lest you think I was selfish on this very fine day, let it be known that JJ got a goodie as well:

A garden gnome for the balcony flowerbox!!!

And not only that, but it comes with a handy reference manual on All Things Gnomish:

In this photo is the author of the guidebook (I’ll leave you to guess who that might be):

JJ is quite chuffed, and as I write is talking to the gnome. I’m advised that his name is Wee John. (And now you understand why it is that JJ actually puts up with all my foolishness. He’s a bit barmy himself, eh?

And finally now I realise why I was so inspired to do my Group of Seven project!!

Methinks the wee pagan Quack Junior and Wee John will become fast friends…

I just hope that they don’t run off to the forest together!

Happy Thursday!


castles, Toronto and Spring – oh my!

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After all my moaning about Snow Madness this past winter, I am happy to report that spring seems finally to have arrived in Toronto!

Of course, the weeds were the first greenery to make themselves known, even pushing through concrete:

And until very recently, the cold finger of Winter was still more evident in the forest than the lovely leaves of Spring…

…but finally the spring greenery is emerging more clearly!

Now, because this is a part of Canada in which spring takes a while to appear, some flowers are slower to emerge than others.
But these budding tulips make me happy – they make me think of dancing arabesque ladies of the mystical East.
And funnily enough, just down the street there are fully-fledged tulips!
In fact, the road to the Castle is strewn with flowers.
There are also lots of other lovely spring colours there:
… as well as another sign that Winter is ever so slowly giving way to Spring:
The colours are overwhelming at this time of year after all that grey bleakness.

But don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining! (for once in my life, anyway).

I don’t even care that it is grey and damp outside when I see lovely blooms all around!


And even lovely cherry trees!

So, today I’m very happy. To top it off, it is that all-hallowed of holidays, PayDay. So, doubtless there will be more photos of Nature’s lovely colours as depicted through yarn on display here tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday!

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the legend of a shawl called Icarus

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Once upon a time there was a Princess called Aphrodite. She had the fairest figure in all the land of Trana:


For this reason, Aphrodite’s evil stepmother, the Handmaiden, was jealous. She kept Aphrodite locked up in this tower:

with only a shawl called Icarus for company.

Icarus was actually far better company for Aphrodite than one might think. He had been made of the finest Lace Silk which the Handmaiden had lovingly spun. Also, a wonderful designer called Miriam Felton dictated what form Icarus would take.

Now, Icarus had some very difficult moments growing up. He was constantly picked on by the full grown lace shawls in the tower. They even threw him outside a couple of times.

Even worse, he was attacked by the dreaded Frogman three times!

This left Icarus a little bruised and battered.

Perhaps it is for this reason that Icarus never reached his full weight. He was meant to become at least 150 grams with 1,000 metres of yarn, like all the other Icari. However, the Handmaiden used only a 3mm needle to make him – so he weighed only 90 grams!

However, his actual size was 66″ wide by 44″ deep – quite impressive for a scrawny underweight.

But back to our main story. Icarus, once he reached his full size, got restless and bored with life in the tower. So, one day, he escaped:

He initially got caught in the leaves protecting the tower, as you can see. However, he managed to disentangle himself and go exploring the grounds around the castle.

He found a rock wall to lounge around on for a while…

…but then got bored with this and went to find a more comfortable bed:

It was springtime in Trana. Being locked in the tower all that time, Icarus had never seen flowers, so went exploring a bit.

He had never seen anything so beautiful in his short life:

He then headed over to Millionaires Row – Aphrodite had told him never, ever to go there because the people who lived there were Evil and Corrupt Capitalists. However, Icarus didn’t initially see any evil people, only beautiful trees:

Meanwhile, back in the tower, Aphrodite wept bitterly. She could not be consoled by the other shawls, although they tried:

You see, unlike the other shawls, Icarus had a very delicate Rowan Kidsilk edging, which was lovely, but likely to shrink in the cold April rain:
.

As well, people called Icarus had had a history of melting in the sun, and Aphrodite, being the superstitious Greek Princess that she was, was scared for her little shawl.

(The Weatherman had said that it would not be sunny for several days. However, everyone knew that the Weatherman was always wrong – especially in April).

Icarus, however, wasn’t missing home a bit. He hung around in front of Spadina House for a while:

then found some pine cones to play with.

But suddenly, an Evil and Corrupt Capitalist jumped out of the bushes:

“Hey! Those pine cones are my property!”, bellowed The Capitalist. He then threatened to call the police, who would come and unravel Icarus so that Icarus could never trespass again.

Icarus ran as fast as he could to the safety of the Local Yarn Store, where he knew he would be protected by the Lovely Yarn Pushers:

However, he soon tired of all of the close up attention he was getting (Icarus was actually quite shy):

He also realised, seeing all the fabulous yarns, that he missed his lace brothers and sisters in the tower.

So, Icarus returned home to Aphrodite, who was thrilled.

And the Handmaiden, realising the folly of her ways in keeping all of them locked up, began to let them out from time to time:

And so they all lived happily ever after…

(Happily, that is, until Aphrodite got seduced by a Prince called Misti d’Alpaca who promised her all sorts of gold baubles:

…but then ran off, leaving her in a forest called Sherwood to fend for herself.

Stay tuned for the next fairy tale!!)

a sneak preview…

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Well, I know I said I wouldn’t be back until Tuesday. Well, I lied. Couldn’t resist offering a sneak preview of my Icarus, hot off the needles!

Sadly, it’s raining, so the field trip I had planned with Icarus today to Casa Loma won’t work. Sigh. Will have to scheme about other photo op ideas…

And here are the very early days of Sherwood, my test knitting project:

Off to enjoy the rest of my long weekend do some tidying up now.

As you can see, we’ve been partying hard in the Brouhaha household this weekend…

Man, those duckies just can’t hold their drink!

Happy Monday!

Knits

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Hello fair readers: I’m writing to say that I’m taking a wee break and won’t be back until Tuesday next week

I’ve had a very guid time out with friends, and as a result of this, will be taking a wee break from blogging (some of my “live” friends suggested that I didn’t have to blog this weekend).

I will be back next week Tuesday, probably with the finished Icarus, if all goes well.

In the meantime. check out the blasts from the past below..

Cheers

Kristina

This is a gallery of just some of my knits.

To see a gallery of some of my craftwork, click here.

To check out some of my free patterns and tutorials, click here.

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Welcome to my knitting page!

Here’s a sampler of my work…

Icarus (in progress) (Handmaiden Lace Silk and Kidsilk Haze)

Valley of the Beads (Svale of Danegarn)

Wham! (Cotton Fleece)

Shazam! (Handmaiden Silken)

April Showers (Fleece Artist Italian Silk)

Cumulus (Rowan Kidsilk Night)


Tuscany the Second (Rosarios Bamboo)

Savannah/Secret of the Stole II (Malabrigo laceweight)

Storm Water Scarf (Handmaiden Sea Silk)

Tuscany (Handmaiden Silken)

Stormy Weather (Handmaiden Camelspin)

The Perfect Dress (Romni Linen)

Swallowtail Shawl (Handmaiden Mini Maiden)

Nina Shawl (Butterfly Super 10)

Crazed Harlequin Dress (Berocco Suede)

Rainbow Dress (various yarns)

Montego Bay Tunic (Handmaiden Sea Silk)

Montego Bay Scarf (Handmaiden Sea Silk)

River Rock Scarf (Handmaiden Silken)

Intoxicating (SWTC Bamboo and SWTC Oasis)

Curve of Pursuit (Paton’s Decor)

Funky Pinwheel Blankie (Super 10)

Gaia (Handmaiden Silk Spun)

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Big Friday, redux

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I’m feeling lazy today…I’m taking a day off for religious observance. That’s right, folks – it’s Big Friday for all us Greekish types (see my post this past Good Friday if you want to know why this is so).

So, being the high holy day in the Orthodox calendar, I’m spending the whole day in church, right?

Yep. The Church of Icarus.

(Oh, what’s that? You don’t think that knitting is a real religion? Check out this recent blog post by fellow raveller Genuine: The Sacraments of Knitting: A Simple Tract. I was a skeptic too, but she persuaded me and I’m a lawyer and all – I don’t believe anything, really.)

Anyway, if that excuse doesn’t work, my back up excuse is that I need to finish Icarus ASAP so that I can start on a test-knitting project that I’m doing for Susan of Sunflower Designs! The project in question is called Sherwood:

So, of course I had to go out and buy some new yarn for it today at Amerigo:

Llama!

I know, I know – it’s not really my usual type of colour choices. Unlike, for example, the llama I already bought from Amerigo a month ago…

… or the Handmaiden Sea Silk from the stash that I had already designated for this project.

But I figured, what with the forest-like name and all, that I should go with a bit more natural hue. Makes sense, eh?

Sherwood also calls for 1300 beads to be strung on. Here they are:

I figured I’d have to get a bit of zip in with the beads, at any rate. That’s fair, right?

And hope I’m not jinxing Icarus.  I’ve just finished the 3rd chart and now have only 20 (very long) rows plus the edging left.  Decided to pin part of it out to shore myself up last evening:

JJ just said to me “Aren’t ye glad ye didnae throw it off the balcony, hen”.  So I am. And I will be praying this Big Friday – if only to the Goddess of Knitting to ward off the dreaded Frogman.

So, that’s how my Big Friday will pass. Oh, and am I going to observe the traditional Big Friday fast (i.e. no meat, no dairy, no oil, no food that tastes remotely edible)?

Am I hell! (as JJ is wont to say). In fact, I’ll be hooking up with some friends on the Danforth for a big fat Greek meal which will involve as much pork souvlaki, saganaki (fried cheese) and galactoboureko (custard phyllo dreamy treat) as I can manage to ingest.

Hey, we can’t all be saints, eh?

A happy Friday to you all!