Knitting on Impulse

Monday Consolations

Monday morning, and my poor little girl is missing one of her precious six sessions of ski school for the latest nasty virus to make the rounds of our house.  And because I am a total pushover as a mother, I gave in and created her consolation of choice:

Sugar, corn syrup and a dash of orange extract makes a treat with a surprisingly sophisticated flavor.  (She swears they help her sore throat, too.)  These are a wee bit more flexible than I think is strictly ideal - lacking a candy thermometer, I dusted off a vague recollection from the candy making days of my youth and dribbled sequential bits of the boiling syrup in a glass of ice water until it produced something one could reasonably call a "hard crack".  (That should drive up the Google hits... sigh.)  In retrospect, it could have boiled for another minute or two, but I rather like the freeform rolled versions.  I think if I planned ahead, I could make something fabulously floral with this. 

Speaking of sweet things, since I have now been nominated for the Make My Day award at least three times (thank-you VERY much), I should really emerge from the paralysis of social anxiety (will the folks I don't list hate me, how do I pick just 10, is it wrong to nominate a nominator, what if I do it all wrong, etc.) and make my own list.  Especially since I have already discovered a number of exciting blogs via other people's lists, which I think is the whole point of the exercise.

• Enchanting Juno - because she is a terribly cool person, an engaging writer, and feels rather like a kindred spirit.
• Celtic Memory Yarns - I love the way she conveys her connection to the land and history of her Irish home, and her husband takes the most divine pictures.
• Brenda Dayne's Cast On - I have just discovered podcasts, and if CBC Radio One were to do a weekly knitting program, I'm pretty sure it would sound exactly like this.  (Except, you know, with more Canadian content.)  I can give no higher praise.
• Ysolda - she has an impeccable design sense, but at the same time a manner of presenting her work that is accessible and unpretentious.  Plus I love the glimpses of Scotland.
• Tiennie - totally inspires me to do a better job of knitting for my family.
• Red Thread Studio - I discovered recently when she linked to me - she has a passion for what she calls Slow Cloth (something of a correlate to the Slow Food movement). Textiles made with care, craftsmanship, and attention to detail, made to last, made in mindful awareness of their impact on the environment.
• Dogs Steal Yarn - writes about her writing and her knitting - very inspiring.
• Graine de Memere - the first blogger I ever met in person - all the way from the South of France!  Knitting has been sparse lately, but her photos of Provence are inspiring, and her recipes are divine.
• Dances With Wool - a well rounded artist, with thoughtful posts, inspiring knitting and other textile arts.
• Knitting in the North - like Tiennie, Charity inspires me with her generous heart and commitment to her family. 

There are many many more, of course (which is why I have a blogroll in the sidebar) - some that are so popular already that I can't imagine anyone who hasn't already discovered them, and many (sadly) whom I followed avidly but have lately either drifted away or gone on to become so successful in the fibre world that they no longer have the time or inclination to blog.

Random Facts

I meant to have the blue sweater done today, I really did.  But then I got a phone call yesterday, relaying the happy news that I have been accepted to one of the best venues in town for the summer season, but with the slightly disconcerting caveat that a goodly chunk of my jewellery inventory (though explicitly acknowledged by the jury to be of superb quality) can not be shown at this venue because it might compete with other established artists.  Also, they want to see many more textiles - handknit silk scarves, evening bags, and the like.   I'm not complaining - that's the rules of the game when you're trying to make a living as an artist in a small resort town - but it appears that I am about to take the plunge into production knitting.  Which I suppose will be good for blog fodder, but less good for personal knitting.  (However, as I have finished my production quota for today, I am now allowed to knit on the blue sweater, so you will doubtless see it later this week.  I think it is going to be a winner - I can't wait.)

So, in lieu of knitting pictures (because I was too hyped and distracted to remember to photograph today's project) I will get on with the meme for which I have now been tagged twice. 

Eight random facts about me (some of these I have mentioned before, but way back in the early days of the blog when I had only a handful of readers.):

1) I can't keep a manicure looking decent longer than about 5 minutes.  (Nor have I ever learned to apply nail polish anywhere but my toes, and that's only acceptable because nobody looks too closely.  Or at least I don't, being tall.)  I can clean up all right with the hair and make-up and clothes, but I never manage to have ladylike hands (beyond clean and neatly trimmed, that is.)

2) I grew up in Monte Carlo from birth to age 9, and never had any inkling until much later in life about all that casino / rich people stuff.  It was just home - clean, safe, and with some awfully pretty country behind it.

3) I didn't get my driver's licence unti I was 23, and the very next day set out cross country from Calgary to St. John's, Newfoundland, in a little red pick-up loaded to the gills.  I was exceptionally worried about the possibility of failing, because I was on a tight deadline to arrive in NF for the next phase of my training. 

4) My first ever running race was a 1/2 marathon, followed by a full marathon 5 months later.  (We shall not discuss my times.)

5) I was married on the HMCS Calgary (a Canadian navy warship), with the captain of the ship officiating.  The ship was tied up in Hania, Crete - in whose city hall our legal ceremony was performed earlier in the day by the mayor, in Greek, with a Tunisian hairdresser whom I met on the trip down providing a rough translation. 

6) Every Christmas Eve, we sleep under the tree as a family.  Thankfully the kids are sound sleepers, because we have to fill the stockings right beside them. 

7) I met my husband in Goose Bay, Labrador (where he was posted at the time).  The vehicular aspects of our courtship were conducted exclusively to the accompaniment of Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell", which was permanently stuck in the tape deck of his aging Chevy Blazer.  I still feel all tingly and romantic when I listen to that album now.

8) My current dog is an Irish Wolfhound, who outweighs me by a considerable margin.  Bred to run down wolves, she lies down and refuses to budge if you try to make her walk more than a couple of blocks.  (There's nothing wrong with her, either.)  My last dog was a Newfie-Black Lab cross who was afraid of water, and refused to retrieve anything ever, for any reason.  He was also afraid of cameras, or any other object masquerading as a camera, such as a Belgian endive.

I can't help it, the sun is setting as I write, and it is so lovely:

(I haven't tagged anyone else, because I am too shy - perhaps a 9th strange fact about me.  I'm OK with that, though.)