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…??

Gentle Reader:

Well, today I feel a bit too Pollyannaish (Pollyanish?) for my liking, but touch wood my fortunes seem to have reversed since the gloom and doom that was Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

How so?

First: remember this?

(I should note that I incorrectly characterised this yesterday as a Moebius shoulder. It is actually a double twist shoulder. Or is that a triple axle? Why do I feel as though I’m watching figure skating?!)

…which I then turned into this with the creative use of some scissors (eek!) and some frogging?

Well, I’m pleased to announce that it has now morphed into this!

And I managed to finish the buttonband last night. (Note that Little Ms Type A came out hollering and screaming “You should be finished the whole thing by now, you lazy twit! But Doug McKenzie came along to save the day. He said:

“Take off, eh?”

And off she took, prissy little wench that it is.

Second: on Tuesday I went looking for this book at Big Box Small-Bookstore-Eating Starbucks-Pushing Conglomerate Chain Bookstore Which Shall Remain Nameless, while at the Eaton Centre (a place I completely detest, by the by. I think of it as the High Temple to the Almighty Dollar.).

Did they have it? Did they, hell, as JJ is wont to say. To add insult to injury, when I looked to see if any other stores carry it (because there are probably five thousand or so in the GTA) the screen said “ZERO available in Toronto”. Oh, come on!!

As far as I can tell, this chain specializes in carrying the million books that I do not wish to read, and none that I do.

Except, however, this one:

So I bought it. (insert hiss of cat o’ nine tails in the hair as I flog myself mercilessly on the back. I’m such a hypocrite.) It cheered me up immensely once I started to read it. Get a copy. And visit her blog, too.

Anyway, yesterday I had a brainstorm: why not call up Pages and see if they had gotten any in yet.

Yes! It came in the day before!!

So, after work, off I trotted merrily (and ajing jing jingling too, I think…) to Pages to snap up a copy. I also found this there:

It even has instructions for how to convert an old manual typewriter (remember typewriters? If not, you may be too young to read this blog!) into a computer keyboard. Very cool.

(Lest you wonder where Good Kristina is hiding herself during this spending spree, I should advise you that books do not count. They’re educational, after all.)

I then went back to the dreaded Eaton Centre to visit the Apple Store with my busted iPod that some wanker destroyed when splashing me with his/her SUV the other day. This visit contained an object lesson for me. I went in prepared for an argument (or at least a good rant) on the topic of “The thing breaks after nine months after being splashed with a little bit of water? It cost $160.00!!! Do you not think that is an extraordinary short life cycle, even by the shoddy standard of modern electronics?!?”

Instead, I was told that my warranty still covered it – and they gave me a new one! One would think that, as a lawyer, I keep receipts and documents for large purchases and would have known this before stewing about it for two days. One would be wrong, though.

(I feel compelled to say, however, that I find the Apple Store completely depressing. I remember going to the arcade when I was a kid – do they still have arcades, by the way? For half a roll of quarters you could amuse yourself for hours and hang out with other kids. It strikes me that the Apple Store is the 21st century version of the arcade… except that no-one is socialising and everyone is being sold big ticket items, including $300.00 [$300.00!!!] earphones for your iPod. Bang&Olaffson headphones, mind you.)

So, all’s well that ends well (touch wood).

And, today I’m taking this with me to ultra-boring legal seminar number 57 of the year:

Hee hee hee.

On the downside, it’s still “-7 C feels like -14 C”. Oh well. If life were perfect, it would be very, very boring indeed (or so I keep telling myself…)

And, you’ll be glad to know that the Encyclopaedia Britannica was first published on this day in 1738. (Do you think it has knitting patterns in it? Hmm…)

I remain,

yr humble servant, kristina

I have some good news and some bad news.

First, as is the custom, the good news: I finished (most of) the knitting on the Brioche Rib Vest cardigan (everything but the edging around the neck and armholes and the button band). I seamed the pieces together and made JJ model it:

Doesn’t he look like a taller version of Napoleon of France?

And look, Ma – it fits!

(even if “Ma” couldn’t take a photo to save her life…)

But wait a minute… let’s have a closer look at that right shoulder:

AGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!! %#$#@&$*(@&$(#*&$(@*#&(*$@&($*#!

I managed to turn the right shoulder into a Moebius strip! Although I love looking at Cat Bordhi’s work, it was not my intention to have it come out like this:

“Hmm, maybe JJ won’t notice,” I thought.

Then I heard:

“Honey, is the shoulder meant to be twisted like this?”

I tried to convince him it was a design feature. He wouldn’t buy it, though. Instead, he started to crack jokes about me getting distracted by watching Henry VIII (before he got super fat) and Anne Boleyn get busy on the season finale of The Tudors.

(Well, wouldn’t you get distracted too?)

This was no laughing matter, however. I may have mentioned that I have a bit of a temper. The vest nearly perished at my hands last night:

Then I thought better of this and decided, more rationally, to unpick the shoulder seam.

Well, guess what? This may be the only time in 25 years of knitting that I managed to sew a knitted piece together perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that I could not even locate the seam. I couldn’t believe it!

So, I had to take the scissors to it at any rate – to cut open the seam. Then I unravelled both sides back to the beginning of the shoulder shaping and reknit that. See?

Almost as good as new.

By this point it was well after 11:00 p.m. so I decided, in my usual level headed fashion, not to attempt to reseam the shoulder.

(I don’t seem to have good luck with cardigans for some reason. Some years back I knitted one for myself and went to assemble it, only to find that I had knitted two front right pieces. I did not fling it over the balcony – primarily because, at that point, I didn’t have one. Let’s just say it went missing a short time later.)

So, all’s well that ends well, I suppose. This evening, I hope to finish it altogether and maybe get a start on the Tilted Duster.

Happy Wednesday – and happy birthday to the late Walt Disney, who brought us Fantasia among many other great animations!

(Looks like the last time I tried to do housework. I can’t help it if the broom keeps walking away from me, can I?!?)

Well, time to finish my energy bar…

…don my coat and scarf:

… and head out into the world. Another day, another bunch of money for some more Handmaiden…