Collecting...For A Contest

Sarah, over at Life With... , is having a contest! Yippee! We loves contests! Her contest is dedicated to special collections and I got to thinking about mine. I, ahem, have a few. It seems I’ve accidentally become a collector, at least if the quantity of my ‘stuff’ is anything to go by. Here’s a start. I have a hefty collection of unfinished wood pieces to tole paint; a collection of European folk art (Hindeloopener, Bauernmalerei and Rosemaling to name a few); a collection of cross stitch kits to stitch, a collection of quilting fabric to sew into beautiful quilts, a hand-made (some by me, some by others) teddy bear collection, yarn… You get the picture.

However, I decided to post pictures of one of my most favouritist collections as it’s one I believe I started from birth and have continued adding to: my children’s book collection. You can assume that I had some help at the start of this particular collection. After all, no one was handing me a credit card at the tender age of 5 days old. That was probably a good thing. I’m a menace in the children’s book section. Prior to having Iain, I’d surprised many a parent when they brought up their child’s favourite book and I’d exclaim "Oh yes! I love that one! And, have you tried…?" I really missed my calling as a librarian or a book seller.

I know I’ve mentioned the fact that I LOVE children’s books on this blog before. Pictures books, board books, fairy tales, novels and on and on. I decided that I wanted to be buried with C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia books when I was young. Yes, I realise that that is a weird thing for a young child to decide. However, my father is an Anglican minister. We heard about death a lot. We also had very quiet neighbours as the rectories we lived in were usually parked next to the town cemeteries. Interestingly enough for a child with a very vivid imagination, I was never scared of cemeteries. My best friend in high school once told me that she had no idea how I walked home from her place at night because I had to walk past the cemetery, next to our house, first. Sad to say, I was always a bit more concerned about the living…But, I digress.

Here is my entry for Sarah’s contest – enjoy! If you look closely, you will likely see some classics. Anyone else every heard of Noddy? I love/d Noddy. I also have a First edition of Mary Mapes Dodge’s Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates (found it in a used bookstore called The Bookery in the same building as The Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY. I love that town and I love that restaurant even more!). I have books about border collies written and illustrated by Kim Lewis (Floss is a great one). I have Mister Got To Go about a cat that just moved into the Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver and never left.

I could go on but it’s Friday night, DH just got home this afternoon and Iain is being readied for bed as I type. Ah, life is good.

Thanks for hosting us a contest, Sarah! I’m almost over your midnight deadline but I think I made it!

Dreams Really Do Come True

When I was a little girl, Canadian actor Ernie Coombs, AKA "Mr. Dressup", was one of my favourite shows. What I loved best about "Mr. Dressup" was his Tickle Trunk of dress up clothes. It was amazing. It didn’t matter what make believe game he would get ready to play, that Tickle Trunk always had the best and most elaborate costume! It must have been like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag because that Tickle Trunk had to have been two stories deep to hold all of that costume treasure. How I loved those costumes and dreamed of having a Tickle Trunk of my very own.

When I was a camper and, later, a camp counsellor at Killdevil Church Camp, (Lomond, Bonne Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador) there was a place that gave me a similar joy. Killdevil is comprised of some lovely old buildings and, at that time, at the top of one of the buildings in an area I can only describe as an ‘attic’, there was a magical treasure store of old clothes. One of the best parts about planning a skit for camp (apart from actually writing the skits as I really enjoyed doing that too) was going up into that room and rifling through the clothes. I even remember how it smelled with a combination of summer heat, of old wood, mustiness, and old clothes. Despite the concerns of our over-sanitized world, I really hope they kept that space as it was as I’m sure it would give the campers there today as much joy as it gave me.

This past Friday, a dream come true was delivered to our post office here in Middleton.

I have an uncle and aunt who, despite the fact that they live in Newfoundland and Labrador, we did not see a lot when I was growing up. Although my siblings and I rarely saw this uncle, one of my brothers is the spitting image of him. My mother often exclaims how my brother walks, stands or makes a comment just like Uncle D. It’s incredible how many family characteristics are passed on genetically as there was no way my brother could have copied my uncle’s behaviour because we so rarely saw each other. Unfortunately, through life’s jigs and reels, we have yet to meet this particular aunt face to face. However, partially due to the wonders of the Internet, I feel that this aunt and uncle have become a little closer to us recently.

A number of years ago, one of my computer savvy cousins developed an email list for my mother’s side of the family. The main purpose of this list was to provide weekly updates, which were printed off by another extended family member and brought to my grandmother for perusal. These documents were very precious and special to my grandmother. Even if you were playing cards with her, and that woman was a hard core card player, when the emails came in she would drop everything and read through them all. My grandmother had nine children who all have spouses and most also have children. That meant there were a lot of emails. The uncle I was writing about earlier knew how important these emails were to my grandmother and he was a force in rallying the family to write often and write much to keep that lovely lady in contact. After her reading was done, my grandmother would then write all of us an email by recitation. Not bad for a, then, octogenarian!

Since my grandmother passed away ‘the List’, as we call it, is not as busy. We are all busy with life and not having my grandmother around to focus our thoughts on once a week has not assisted with our contact with one another. However, those years of frequent emails brought a family stretched across Canada and the world, in very close contact and, I believe, to a new dimension of friendship. This brings me back to my aunt and uncle.

A number of weeks ago, my aunt contacted me by email to see if I was interested in some items she was thinking of discarding. In particular, she was thinking of getting rid of things she used to use for fancy dress parties. As DH is in the military, we usually have a fancy dress event once or twice a year and I came to mind.

This past Friday, that box of discards was delivered. On Friday night, I was transported as I pulled out clothes and jewellery from my very own brown box Tickle Trunk. It was enough to make the over imaginative nine year old in me swoon with delight. And, you know what? The contents of that box are way better than what was on television all those years ago!

Thanks so much for making my dreams come true, P!

A Picture Diary, Part One

When one doesn't have knitting content to show you, one turns to cute baby photos. I do have an FO to show you soon but, as I would like to also show you a beautiful model as well, you're going to have to wait a bit longer.

Rather than knitting, I thought I'd give you a glimpse as to why my blog entries have been on the wane lately. Here is a couple of weeks in pictures, just for you!

Here's Iain on Tuesday evening, February 5th:

On Monday, February 11th, we had a snow day here. Here's what a snow day looks like at our house in Nova Scotia. Here is Mommy and her baby watching the events outside (this is also my favourite picture of Iain and I to date):

Here's what is happening outside. This gentleman, who also happens to be the grandfather of one of Iain's wee playmates, is a Godsend! Every time it snows, in he comes with his tractor to clear the drive way for us! Get this - he does it for free because he 'enjoys it'. Now that's a small town advantage!

On Wednesday, February 13, all of that lovely snow melted and we had this problem.

Yes, that's water pouring in from around our chimney. Yes, our gas insert fireplace has sustained some damage (it's turned on in the picture in a desperate attempt to dry things up). The hardwood floor and basement also sustained some damage. Yes, that bucket is filling quickly - about 12 minutes a bucket full. DH ended up on the roof with a blow torch (no, I'm not joking) and buckets of hot water to melt the ice dam that he believes was causing the problem. No, the roofing company has not made it over to remedy the situation. Yes, DH is now away and we're going through another melt/freeze cycle. Good. Times.

On February 17th, I finished this:

Okay, I lied. I am giving you a preview of my FO! I'm very proud, what can I say? More details to follow when I get pictures of the recipient modelling her pressie!

A Valentine’s Conversation at Chez Fibreholic

Him: "Hon? Where did that 450g container of Hershey kisses go?"

Her: "Gee, Hon. I have no idea."

Him: "You didn’t eat that whole package by yourself, did you?"

Her: "Of course not! Jeesh! What do you take me for? Eating a whole container of chocolate all by myself?!? No way!"

Him: "You ate the entire thing didn’t you?"

Her: "Absolutely."

Have a wonderful and ‘heavy on the chocolate’ sort of Valentine’s Day!

A Trip in Pictures

Suzanne, over at Yarnhog, entered a contest with the entry being a knitting story in pictures. She won an honourable mention too! Congratulations, Suzanne! I'm too late for the contest (and did not have a new knitting story in pictures to tell you about) but thought the idea of a story in pictures was a great way to tell you about our ski week! Here goes:


Iain's first driving lesson. While we were waiting to take the ferry from Digby, NS to St. John, NB, it was far too cold outside to be walking far so we waited in the car in the ferry line up after I finished nursing. As you can see, Iain loved his new toy!

This was Iain's second trip on this particular ferry (see here for his first ever ferry ride on the same ship). He seemed to enjoy this trip much more. He got to meet a new friend who was just a few weeks old and he got to play on the floor. Naturally, he got to sleep too. It was a three hour ferry trip after all.

Here's Iain's mother on the ferry! And, you're right, that doesn't look like knitting. The birthday cake hat required crocheting too.

Iain playing on the floor of our room at the Hampton Inn in Bangor, Maine. This overnight went well. On the way back, we stayed at the same hotel but it had been a rough drive from Sugarloaf because of a snow and sleet storm. I was too tired to take any other hotel pictures so this one will have to suffice.

Picking up groceries in Skowhegan, Maine. This was also Iain's first time in a shopping cart without being in his car seat. I believe he likes the freedom.

The living room of our condo at Sugarloaf. Yes, it was gorgeous. No, none of us wanted to return home. The condo was comprised of two stories. S and ML generously allowed us to have the top bedroom. The condo could be divided into two condos as our 'bedroom' had two doubles beds, its own small living room and television, a bar fridge and bathroom. We spent all of our time on the main floor in front of the gas fireplace though.

DH and I split days; he skied in the mornings and I was out in the afternoons. Ski lessons were included in our condo package (as well as lift tickets and full access to the fitness facility. We felt we got a great deal for the money we paid) so we all took lessons. I was the only beginner beginner though.

I had to get at least one other 'quasi-knitted' shot in here. This is Iain playing with one of Mommy's socks. Grandma knit them for Mommy. I really should do an exposé on Mudder's knit socks. I have about a dozen of them and, I daresay, DH has more. We are very spoiled and love the socks (and Mudder of course) to bits! Apparently they are now Iain approved as well ..

The built in high chair at our condo. DH's squadron at the base here at 14 Wing Greenwood is having a beard growing contest for Winter Carnival. DH is looking decidedly scruffy. It comes off this week. I can't wait...

My first time on downhill skis. Ever. I was so pleased to finish the week with a smile, no broken bones, and now being able to say that I can ski! As you can see, the weather was gorgeous. We got to ski four out of five days - the hill was closed on the Wednesday due to high winds - and three of those days were bright and sunny. The last day, Friday, was overcast and I ended my day skiing on the mountain in heavy snow. It was wonderful!

One of my concerns about skiing/snowboarding is my fear of heights. I'm terrified of looking down a hill and of using the lifts. For some reason, the lifts didn't scare me this trip. I'm on the left and my instructor, M, is on the right. I forgot to ask her permission to post this but, as you can see, she is hardly discernible so I decided to use the picture anyways. I must say, the instruction at Sugarloaf was excellent - we all took advantage of the lessons included with our condo package and we all learned a great deal. I was also very impressed with their committment to safety. DH and I took snowboarding lessons in Europe. Safety standards are a little different there and I felt much more comfortable taking ski lessons at Sugarloaf than I ever did in Europe.

This was Iain's first bus ride! Yes, there were a lot of firsts for Iain on this trip.

Iain's very first time in the pool. He looks okay in this shot but he was actually very concerned each time we got too far down in the water (e.g. his chest level). The pool was at regular pool temperature and I suspect his concern was mainly due to the fact that he simply found it too cold.

Playing on the floor at my cousin's log cabin home on Darlings Island, NB. We stayed here on our way to and from our holiday and had a great visit both times. Although it looks like it, Iain isn't crawling yet in this picture. He had mastered pushing himself backwards and has himself stuck under the couch!

I didn't get any ferry pictures on the way back. I was feeling a little green so DH cared for Iain while I slept most of the way. It was a fantastic holiday. When we arrived home, both DH and I felt like we'd been gone a year. Although we hadn't wanted to leave Sugarloaf and our friends, we were happy to be back in Middleton.

It's a snow morning here in Middleton - yeah! You never know, maybe I'll get a chance to write another post again this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

A Reprieve!

No, it’s not done. I had really hoped to post a big ‘TA DA’ photo on Monday but it just didn’t happen. Thank you, THANK YOU to all of you for your supportive thoughts and good knitting energy. I could really feel the love from here. How I do love knitting bloggers! You are such a kind and friendly and nice bunch! I’m just sorry that I have not had time to respond to you with individual thanks as I’ve been very busy packing (see para 3).

The hat itself is complete. It’s the ‘accoutrements’ that are doing me in (crocheted ‘frosting’ and I’ve knit the candle and wick twice and still don’t like them. Plus, I’m having a hard time sewing them on – do I just tack them on or attempt some type of mattress stitch???). Anyway, as was forecasted by the great Yarnhog who knows about the fickle nature of gift deadlines, it turns out that I have a reprieve on the hat. One of the recipient’s parents’ is away until February 3rd and the birthday party will not be held until after that at the earliest so I should be able to finish the hat today/tomorrow and put it in the mail. I will post a photo when we’re back.

Back from where? Oh yes! I forget to tell you! Iain is going on his first ski trip! Well, actually, Iain is tagging along on his first ski trip. No skis for him yet – DH and I will take turns caring for him while the other is skiing/taking lessons (that would be me. I know how to snow board, not ski and, frankly, I’m not very good at snow boarding either. DH is the skier of the family). We are headed to Sugarloaf, Maine and are en route this afternoon. Although there is a childcare centre at Sugarloaf, I am not yet comfortable leaving my little one who has not been separated from me for longer than three hours in his entire life at a day-care centre for an entire week. I am going to check it out, though, as I might consider one afternoon of childcare as an option.

Anyone out there know of any knitting shops along the way? We’re going through St. John, New Brunswick, crossing into Maine at St. Stephen, over nighting somewhere near Bangor and then off to Sugarloaf on Sunday. Unlike many other things that need to accompany us, my knitting is packed. That was the first bag I got ready. When going on a road/ski trip, one must have priorities.

Because my hat progress is not much yet to look at and I’m trying to post equal knitting to Iain shots (and failing miserably), here is my knitting shot for the day. Allow me re-introduce…my feet.

The relaxed nature of this shot belies the actual pandemonium of my residence at present.

Gotta run! Talk to you again after February 3rd.

Desperate Knitter

Desperate knitter seeking act of God. Somebody special turns three at the end of the month. I just found out that her birthday party might be earlier than her actual birth date. That means this hat must be finished this weekend. Must. Knit. Faster.

Send me luck, K?

PS I’m knitting the ‘Birthday Cake’ hat from Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hat book.

Have I yet mentioned just how darn clever I think Susan B. Anderson must be? I love this book. Thanks for raving about it, Samantha, or I likely never would have bought it.

Edit: Oops. Sorry about that Susan B. Anderson. I was giving Louisa Harding all the credit for Susan's book. My mistake. Not that Lousia isn't a genius - I'm sure she is - but I'm rooting for Susan B. Anderson right now! Thanks for the correction, Renée!

A Book Reading Meme

Back in October (yes, you read that right. October. Of 2007. Yes, that October), Elizabeth meme’d me regarding a book I was reading. My task was to open the book I was reading to page 161 and read the fifth sentence on the page, then think of 5 bloggers to tag.

Now, October may be a long time ago but I happen to remember which book I was reading at the time. That’s because it was pretty much the – gasp! – only book I was reading at the time. Well, knowing me, it may not have been the only, ONLY, one but it was certainly the one I was referring to most frequently.

Page 161, sentence five from my book reads "It was a wonderful means (and a challenge!) to be available to my son’s needs, on the spot." The quote is taken from the book Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer. This book is one of my favourites because, as is indicated by the name, Iain and I are on our way to becoming diaper free.

Yup, I/we use diapers (cloth) as a back up. Iain uses the potty, or the toilet depending on our mood and opportunity (e.g. I don’t tote the potty to the mall). And, yes, Iain just turned six months old. (If you’re interested, keep reading. If not, scroll to the bottom to see if you’ve been tagged. Otherwise, see you in my next post!).

We started practising elimination communication (EC)/natural infant hygiene with Iain when he was about 3 ½ months old. I would like to stress that we are NOT toilet training him or encouraging him to 'hold it' when he needes to eliminate. The premise behind EC is communicating with your infant regarding his/her need to eliminate. I have learned to recognise when Iain needs to nurse; learning when he needs to eliminate is based on the exact same principle.

The book suggests that infants under six months are aware of their requirement to eliminate and simply lack the ability to get themselves to a toilet place. That’s where we come in. When Iain tells us, we take him to the potty.

Although I did not start taking Iain to a toilet place regularly until he was 3 ½ months old, I had been reading the Diaper Free book with the intention of beginning as soon as I felt comfortable holding Iain over a toilet or on the potty. Three and a half months was the age when he was big enough for me to feel confident that I could hold him over a toilet without losing him. It was also at that age when he ‘sat’ (with assistance) quite comfortably on the potty. I also spent his first 2 ½ months looking for signs of when he was going to eliminate.

Now, I figure most people, parents or not, are able to tell around when a baby is going to have a bowel movement. Red faces, looks of intense concentration, grunting or breaking wind – these are all familiar, right? Iain is no different. In the past three months, DH and I have changed four dirty diapers. That’s right, four.

Pees are not so easy to catch. Like many babies (again, according to the Diaper Free book), Iain was not clearly communicating when he needed to pee. I mainly used time since our last toilet visit to catch pees. More and more, Iain is fussing to tell us when he needes to pee. Additionally, we have found that Iain does not pee while sleeping. Therefore, as long as he goes to sleep with a dry diaper (which is 98% of the time), he can wake up, nurse for 45 minutes and then be pee’d – and still have a dry diaper. He is also dry first thing in the morning if I get to the bathroom before he fully wakes up.

I have really gotten away from knitting content today! So that I do not stray too far from the knitted track, if you are interested in more information on EC (it apparently works with older children too but I can only speak from my experience which is with an infant), talk to me offline via email.

If you have had time to read recently, then Life With, Yarnhog, Me, Myself and Milotis 78, Clandestine & Candour, and I Like Yarn – consider yourselves tagged!

My Weekend

These photos represent my Saturday morning.

This is now (see the sleeping boy on the couch? Thus, blogging time!).


Whew!

Iain also experienced his first ‘solid’ food (rice cereal thinned with breast milk ) meal yesterday. He’s growing up too fast…

Knitting My Son to Sleep

It was a wonderful two weeks. DH was home for all of it and, I must admit, I was quite selfish about sharing any of my time with him and the outside world. Thus, little blogging action! We had a great holiday with a nice mix of quiet family time (Christmas) with visiting (between Christmas and New Years) and company (just before Christmas and New Years week). We were all thoroughly spoiled by our wonderful family and friends and feel very thankful and blessed in every way.

DH went back to work on Monday so Iain and I are slowly trying to re-establish a routine. Only one of our usual baby programs starts again this week so I had a couple of girlfriends and their babies over yesterday afternoon so that the young ones could get reacquainted. Iain and I also attended a Pampered Chef party at one of those girlfriend’s homes on Monday night as well as attending our first La Leche meeting last night.

There were some stresses that arose with the holidays. Either because I was too busy (I tried not to be but was likely giving off ‘busy’ vibes) or because Iain is now distracted by EVERYTHING, he decided to stop nursing. Therefore, a great deal of the holidays were spent pumping and fretting over why a 6 month old who has not yet started solid foods would be weaning himself already. Luckily, he continued to want to nurse for his before bed meal and throughout the night. As a matter of fact, he refused the bottle at all at night which greatly assisted in making me feel better. As of Monday, we seem to be back on track with nursing during the day. I just need to be patient and allow him to pull off and look around and re-latch many, many times over the course of a feeding. The La Leche leader last night said that his behaviour is part of a developmental stage and, likely, he will go back to enjoying his usual nursing sessions at some point. I’m hoping!

Another thing we, or rather DH, noticed about Iain was how to get him to sleep for naps. I know I’ve said this before but our child does not sleep much during the day unless it is stroller or car induced. Yes, this means his nights are fairly pleasant and, luckily, despite the lack of naps, he is generally pleasant during the day. However, he was getting up earlier and earlier before the holidays (0430 – eek!) and going to bed earlier and earlier. We wanted to see if we could change his routine a bit. One day, after a very fussy morning without either of us being able to get Iain to have a nap, DH decided to take him for a walk in the stroller – a tried and true method for many parents I’m sure. So, he got Iain all dressed up in his fleece suit and then into his snow suit and bundled in a quilt. There was some screaming as is usual for dressing him up fully for winter. While DH was getting himself bundled, Iain fell asleep. On the kitchen floor. With lots of things going on around him, not the least of which was a black and white border collie wondering if she was going for a walk too (she was). Yes, Sir, there he was. Gone.

Now we’re calling Iain’s fleece suit his ‘super suit’ (The Incredibles can take some credit for this – DH is a fan). When Iain gets fussy during the day, usually indicative of naptime, we put him in his super suit and either walk him for a minute or two and put him down or….

Just put him down while I sit and knit and hum to him until he goes to sleep. He watches the fibre move through my hands and drifts off. Here’s proof of that process.

I haven’t managed to get much knitting done using this method as I’ve just discovered it but I have managed to knit a few more rows since last I wrote. It felt good too.

Happy 2008 to all you lovely knitters out there in blogosphere land!

Contest Entry

I'm entering a contest for a sling! I already have two (I use a Moby UV sling most often at the moment) but a mommy can never have enough slings! All youse with young children, sign yourselves up for a chance at a loverly win!

And, thank you, Elizabeth, for the contest information!

Sadly, I have no knitting news. I. Haven't. Knit. A. Stitch. In (shudder). Weeks.

Friday Day

Ah, the early hours of morning! I’m seeing a lot of them these days. It is also a pretty good time for Iain, until he starts to fuss because he’s tired and hungry or just plain tired. I really enjoy the days when I can go back to bed with him. Today isn’t one of those days as I’m getting some help with cleaning today in preparation for DH’s work Open House (at our house) on Sunday.

For the first time in a long time we will not be getting Christmas presents in the mail on time for Christmas this year. I’m having a bit of trouble accepting that fact. I’ve always been terrible at getting birthday presents in the mail. I usually have birthday presents purchased well in advance of the recipient’s birthday, only to include it in their Christmas parcel in the Fall! Terrible I know. This year, however, even the Christmas parcels won’t be making it in time to share the ‘under the tree’ glory with the big red suited guy’s presents.

Speaking of the guy in the red suit, Iain and I attended a Christmas banquet yesterday. It was a bash put on by the Annapolis County Family Resource Centre’s Family Matters program. It was huge. I attend a Mother Goose program here in Middleton and that one usually hosts around 15 parents and their wee ones so I was expecting about that many. I’d say there were over a hundred people there.

Over the past few weeks, I have been having a lot of trouble nursing Iain in public as he is so curious that, when he hears something different, he turns to look. Usually taking a sensitive part of me with him, I might add. Therefore, when he indicated he was hungry yesterday, I took myself off to what I thought would be a quiet corner to nurse him.

Now, with about one hundred people and, say, 50% of those being children, it was hard to find a quiet spot. Therefore, I used a receiving blanket to shield Iain’s eyes (I don’t usually ‘cover’ as I don’t think women should have to in order to feed a child). Each time he heard something, Iain would turn his head and only see the receiving blanket. Naturally I was reassuring him with "It’s okay, Iain, there’s nobody there (I never knew that I’d have to lie to him and at such a tender age!)." He seemed to believe me and settled in for a quiet nurse in a lovely little corner in a different room from the banquet itself.

There we were, minding our own business and having a lovely little nursing session when what to my wondering eyes should appear but sixty tiny children and a man they held quite dear. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. I had parked us two seats down from the red suited guy himself. Iain, bless his heart, was really committed by this time and continued to nurse through the whole picture with Santa and gift giving event. He eventually nursed himself off to sleep.

Seeing as you haven’t seen him in action in awhile, here’s my budding reader reading a story of his own creation to Hobbes. I think he thinks Hobbes is real as he is always talking to him and cuddling up to him. He seems to love how soft Hobbes’ fur is as he always smiles when I rub Hobbes’ nose against his face. As you can see in this video, he even initiates his own cuddling with Hobbes when Hobbes doesn’t do it on his own…

Note: Sorry! It seems I hit 'publish' before the video was fully loaded. Let's try this again...

Lost That Christmas Feeling?

Iain is helping me to remember that this is what this time of the year is really all about! The rest? Unnecessary gravy...

Early Hours

There’s a little boy smiling at me from his place on the foam tile alphabet on the floor. I’m lucky that he is such a little charmer at 0500 hrs in the morning. It helps me get out of bed. Seeing as I’m getting up for him anyway, the fact that Iain is smiling when he wakes me up makes the whole process a lot more bearable.

Knitting has come to a grinding halt. I’m hopping on the Yarnhog bandwagon and announcing that I am not knitting any gifts for Christmas. What a great idea - I love Yarnhog! My joining the crowd is more of an affirmation as I was not really planning on knitting anything for anyone for Christmas this year. A number of years ago, Patty would be found up in the week hours of Christmas morning working frantically away at home-made presents. A few less years ago, however, I decided to stop that nasty tradition. Now, I look at my list and decide who will get the handmade gift this year, if anyone. I try and keep it to one handmade present a year. Yes, at this rate I’ll be 116 before everyone on my list gets anything home-made from me. That’s okay as I’ve long planned to live until I’m 116 anyways ;).

Despite my lack of current knitting, I would like to pull back the curtains to reveal my mystery FO. What’s it been – two years since I starting talking about my mystery WIP? Well, it has arrived at its final home. The recipient was one of my DH's Aunt J’s grand-nieces (there are two). I thought it would be nice for them to each have a sweater from their great-aunt’s stash which I inherited – almost like having a sweater from Great Aunt J herself. I hope to start on another sweater for grand-niece number two in 2008.

Until I get a photo of the sweater being modelled on a real person, you will have to make do with these shots. I took these photos in October (yes, I’m am hard up for current knitting content) and still had to meet anyone that it would fit locally who could model it for me.

Despite how long it took me to knit, I really enjoyed this project. The knitting was fun and I learned a great deal (e.g. how to knit a ruffled edge, perfecting my mattress stitch, three needle bind off, etc). The pattern is from Sirdar’s Kids in Denim book. I used Patons Astra’s Ultra Blue from my inherited yarn stash. I had to purchase two other balls of yarn – the pink (Patons Astra’s Hot Pink) as well as a non-lot matching Ultra Blue to finish the button bands and collar (including the ruffled collar). The new lot was a lot ‘shinier’ than the original colour and I didn’t like it as much. Despite my initial reservations when I saw this yarn, I think it is perfect for a child’s sweater and ended up really falling in love with the colour.


How is everybody doing out there? I haven’t been able to conduct my usual blog perusing in many weeks so my apologies for my lack of comments on your blogs. Now that our house is almost back in order, DH is away most of the week AND we’re hosting around 30 of his work colleagues here for an Open House on the 16th. Therefore, this will likely be another week marked by a lack of blogging and reading. Bear with me – tis the season after all!

Snow Day!

The base is on minimum manning until 1:00 PM due to the snow that fell last night. This is what Daddy did with his 5 month old (exactly 5 months old today – Happy 5 Month Birthday, Iain!) son this morning…


Here is a sample of the snow that fell. It is now warming up. If it freezes again today, we are in big trouble.

I have the back of Iain’s sweater completed and on a stitch holder.


I have about 1" knit on the front of the same sweater. I figure that 1" is better than no inch!

The painter finished on Friday and the house is, slowly, coming around. I will try to include a photo or two over the coming weeks.

Life is good.

First Trip to Newfoundland

Carol wondered where I’d purchased the yarn for my sister’s shawl. I purchased it at Yarn Forward but have yet to find that pesky yarn band to give you more details. I promise to do so when I find the band. Another missing in action problem due to our move. And, yes, Sarah, DH did indeed make that cheesecake. That ability was one of the reasons I married him!

Alright, alright! I’m blogging about our trip to Newfoundland! Jeesh! I’ve had many comments and as many emails about ‘when are you going to tell us about Iain’s trip to Newfoundland?’ that I cannot postpone it any longer! Actually, it's quite nice to know you care :). WARNING: This is a long one with very little - gasp!?! - knitting content. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Our trip home was, in a word, wonderful. Iain did beautifully on both his first and his second aeroplane rides. He slept during take off and for half of the trip to Newfoundland and then proceeded to chat to me for the rest of the trip, including the descent. He was fussier on the way back but not because of his ears. He was fussy because he was bored and had figured out that his movements were, essentially, restricted on an aeroplane. This is the same reason why Iain still does not like getting buckled into his car seat. The child hates having his movements restricted.

Here is a view of Iain on his first aeroplane flight.

The nice Westjet lady took the picture for me as I had my arms full.

Our trip many involved much visiting. Everyone wanted to see Iain; I was simply the chauffeur. I was home for long enough to visit with all of my siblings and their significant others, my neice and brother-in-law, and many other family members and friends.

Iain and I consider ourselves very lucky to have attended my youngest brother’s convocation to celebrate the completion of his Masters degree in Archaeology on the 19th of October. That was certainly a thrill. The nice thing about the fall convocation is that it is not as busy as the spring convocation. Therefore, my brother managed to snag enough convocation tickets for the whole family to attend. We are so proud of you, Little Brother!

Iain and I visited a friend of mine from university’s family in Torbay.

We were a little early for the visit so we drove down to Torbay Beach for a few Atlantic ocean shots. The first picture on this post is of a view from that beach as well.

Here’s Iain visiting Torbay Beach.

He desperately needed this nap so I didn’t wake him to see the waves. I believe he slept for over two solid hours during our visit that evening. The poor little nipper was some tired.

Here's a better shot of that lovely, new and larger bunny hat from Itty Bitty Hats. I SO love that book!

Mudder and Fadder have purchased my Mudder’s great-grandfather’s house in Victoria Cove, Gander Bay awhile ago. It’s a lovely spot so the four of us drove down to Victoria Cove for a couple of nights (it’s a 4 hour drive from Upper Gullies which is 20 minutes outside of St. John’s in Conception Bay South…Stop laughing, Yarnhog, I can hear you from here!). That was bliss. My parents house was very busy while we were there. Actually, it was bedlam! Fun bedlam but bedlam all the same. The trip to Gander Bay provided a bit of a retreat and also allowed us to not only visit with more friends and family but, more importantly, to get a couple of games of cards in.

Mudder and Fadder also own a cabin next door to the old house, still on historical family land, and that’s where we stayed. They will stay/live there while the old house is under renovation. Here’s Iain enjoying his time at the cabin.

Here are some shots in and around the old house.

This is a shot of a clump of dogberries on the cabin property. There is probably a more scientific name for this type of bush but we call them dogberries where I come from (Mountain Ash, I believe).

My great-great-grandfather’s house was, literally, built on a rock. It hasn’t moved since it was built – look at those straight lines!

Here’s a shot of the rock underneath it just in case you can't imagine it/don't believe me. Fadder has the whole house jacked up in preparation for a poured concrete foundation so these shots are some of the last of this rock before it is hidden from the light of day.

The view from the front door. Lucky ducks, eh?

I am so proud of my parents for taking on this project. They plan to fix it up and retire in it and this type of idea has been a dream of theirs for a long time. Mudder’s best friend and her husband are conducting a similar feat just up the road from my parents old house. We had a tour of their house and, if it’s any indication, Mudder and Fadder’s will be just gorgeous when it’s complete. I will keep you posted.

Here's Iain on our flight home. Looks like he's really suffering, doesn't he? I was so worried about him on the way over that I developed a migraine for my first two days on the island. Ouch!

My thanks to Iain Daniel who is currently asleep behind me. It is my and Iain’s very first night alone with only the pets to keep us company. DH is gone to Ottawa for meetings for a couple of days.

On the painting front, our den has its first coat of red on it! Yes, I said red. Stay tuned for more details about painted rooms, birthday socks and my yarn winder. No shortage of blogging material this month!

Thanks, Mrs. H, for my surprise! I am both surprised and very flattered! I will add that lovely award to my blog just as soon as someone tells me how to do that...