Mother's Day gifts

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday...now Monday.

These would be my Mother's Day gifts. The first-a flower and card-would be from my daughter. I love the Optimistic part! I wonder why she chose that word. It's such an odd word for a 9-almost-10 year old to use to describe her mother. But I am always optimistic. Always optimistic that I will be able to "get it together" one day and have great lunches made the night before and their laundry washed and folded and in the right place before they can yell out their bedroom doors on a Monday morning "Mom! I'm outta underwear!! Where's my underwear??".
The second collection of items would be from my son. He is hilarious. The licorice all-sorts, bought from the corner store are something I like. The random packets of condiments are to make sure I am always prepared and a nod to my dad who is terrible for always picking up packets of things to have in the glove box "just in case". Who ever has a ketchup emergency?!?
So I guess this would be part of my Gratitude Sunday list-Mother's day gifts. Always a highlight. Also:
~peas coming up.

And onions. And lettuce. No potatoes yet but I'm told I need to wait longer.
~planting flowers
~warm sunshine and time alone to lie in the warmth and soak it up and read some and knit some
~coffee-always grateful for coffee.
~having the windows open all day and letting the fresh in and the stale out
~a husband and kids coming home happy and calm because they certainly were neither when they left.
~the new-found place inside to say no to things I don't want to do because I just can't with the energy I currently have. Looking after myself first so I can look after my family properly next.

Clearly new needles will make me a better knitter.

(Originally written last night)
I am an intelligent human being. I am licensed to trouble shoot and fix airplane problems and I manage to solve all the day to day problems that 2 kids and a husband can create and I can overcome this one too. But this Kirin shawl is kicking my butt. I've cast on twice for it and each time I knit furiously away and end up with too few stitches and then too many stitches. I have a beautiful new ball of wool in my awesome yarn bowl

and you'd think all that goodness would ensure success but no. Here I am about to rip it out again and restart.
I think I should've gone with my original instinct and bought new needles along with my new ball of wool. Yeah that's it. This has nothing to do with my knitting abilities it's clearly the needles' fault.
What I should do is rush right over to the knitting store and set things right and pick myself out a shiny new pair of 3.25mm circular needles.
However I just ate salsa dip for dinner and a slice of truffle cake and I'm feeling a bit...immoveable right now. In fact, I think I might be going into a diabetic coma.
But I shall forge on! I shall cast on again and get beyond the 9th row (which is as far as I've managed) and I will beat this thing! Possibly trying this time in an empty house without distractions (because I can't really move right now) will ensure success as I am not knitting while supervising bedtime which is what I was doing the last 2 times I tried casting on and following that chart. I don't know, I'll keep you posted ;)

Of Mice and Mittens-Yarning Along

Joining Ginny at Small Things blog for Yarning Along.
Last night my daughter was part of the 27th annual Kodaly choir festival here in our region. Kodaly (pronounced Ko-dai) is a method of music education developed by a Hungarian man and used in our school board to make learning music fun and effective. She was part of a huge choir, 400 children strong, accompanied by an orchestra made up of volunteers from the school board and our city's symphony.

(That's what 400 kids, a high school concert choir and an orchestra look like from the nose-bleed section. I love the guy with the "Bravo" sign. Can you see my girl-she's on the right ;))
Oh wow. It was amazing. Tears came to my eyes listening to their singing and the orchestra. Such beautiful voices and sweet songs. My favourite was the jazzed up Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham.
While waiting in line to get into the theatre I pulled out my mitten to enable patient waiting. Because we all know a knitter knitting in line is less likely to kill someone and more likely to wait patiently!
Someone in our party (who will remain nameless) was horrified that I should pull out knitting and begin knitting. Tell me-is there an etiquette rule that says that knitting in public is like picking your nose and I didn't get the memo??

(an odd picture of me. Can you see how the Holden Shawlette sparkles?? :))

To be honest I sometimes do it to start up a conversation if other knitters are in the vicinity. It's like putting out a beacon that only die-hard knitters can hear and they suddenly start looking around to find the knitter so they can ask about the project or pet the wool. Maybe it's just me with the beacon. I'm not sure...
After we were seated the mitten got to come out of it's bag again and I got the thumb gusset done while people-watching and waiting for the show to begin.

(a mouse mitten photo a la the Yarn Harlot)

I guess I was doing more people-watching than paying attention because I ended up increasing 2 more times than I should have and now I have to rip it back so I can start the thumb. Good grief.

I am reading Craft Corps by Vickie Howell. The stories of other crafty people inspire and motivate me to keep on keeping on with my own creative endeavours. I'm also still reading and working my way through The Artist's Way.

Of new knitting, new energy and tired children-gratitude sunday

Joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday.

I feel grateful today for:
~a weekend off from parenting responsibilities, time to get refreshed and renewed for the week ahead and time with my husband to reconnect and remember who we are as a couple.
~my children's Cub and Scout leaders who put so much of their time, effort and money into providing all of these kids with an awesome experience outdoors and together at camp this weekend

(view into the cedar woods at camp)

(Ah, the outhouse. Not used very much I don't think)

~my children home again with so many shared stories of good times had.
~sunshine after 4 days of rain
~leaves beginning to unfurl and everything greening up
~peace in my house (because the kids are too tired right now to make much noise)
~new wool and a new knitting project

~a run this morning and coming home to bacon, eggs and coffee for breakfast

How about you? What are you grateful for today?

A funny thing happened at the knitting store...

So, I had $40 burning a hole in my pocket today so naturally I headed to the yarn store. I intended to buy some fancy sock yarn and knit me a new pair of socks. Maybe something with cables. Something not too difficult, maybe in a green colour because green is all I can think about these days what with spring being here and winter being finally freakin' over.
So, I walked into my local yarn store and I made a bee line for the sock yarn room (I love that my local yarn store has a room dedicated to knitting socks and other things you can do with sock yarn). I saw a sale on some really nice yarn in GREEN no less, grabbed 2 skeins and was about to leave when I thought "Well, I'm here anyway, how about a look around". OH BOY.
That's when I saw it. The Kiran shawl. Oh be still my pounding heart.
I think I'm hooked on shawl knitting. I thought it was a one-off but no, it wasn't. And right below the sample were many baskets of the yarn I would need at a price I could afford. Including one in green and a really fetching orange and the most mesmerizing blue variegated situation.
I did the most sensible thing I could think of (not) and walked away to see what else there was to see. You see I'm a girl who likes a plan and likes to stick with a plan and doesn't want to deviate from the plan in case something crazy happens like a shawl.
But that shawl and that green kept creeping into the outer edges of my mind so here I am sitting at home petting the most lovely shade of green wool I can imagine with a newly purchased and printed pattern for one Kirin shawl by Katherine Matthews.

(my new geranium-yet-to-be-planted demonstrating the green awesome-ness of my new wool)

The wool is Zoe superwash merino sock yarn from Shalimar Yarns in the colour of sweet pea. How sweet is that?? Now I just have to learn how to read a chart...