I don't need a picture to say a thousand words...

I keep putting of blogging because of a lack of photos. I could blame this lack of photos on a lack of camera, but that would be a lie…really it’s sheer laziness. I seem to believe that I can’t blog without photos, like my writing isn’t enough for my readers. I have lots of interesting things to talk about with very few photos, hopefully I can be descriptive enough to be interesting.
I went to the Fall Fair on Saltspring Island a couple of weekends ago, it’s something I try to go to every year. The Fall Fair is like a mini reunion, I get to see a lot of old friends and enjoy a fantastic event. My Mom is the poultry coordinator, so I spend a lot of time with chickens volunteering. The past couple of years I have assisted the judging of the poultry, I think it is possible that I now know more about chickens than a person who doesn’t actually own a chicken should…I also attended a breeding seminar so I could learn how to breed my non-existent chickens. However, 0+0=0, so I still have no chickens.
I entered a lot of things at the Fair, I entered a whole bunch of spun yarn and a sweater. Mom entered some yarn, sheep and chickens, and Mackenzie entered yarn. We all did very well and when we gathered all of our ribbons I discovered we had 30 ribbons, 3 rosettes, and 2 trophies, which was a pretty darn good haul! Mom’s cockerel got best chicken, which was awesome because it was a record year for entries!
Another great thing occurred at the fair. I met a lovely lady by the name of Alinka who had an angora rabbit she no longer wanted. This lovely bunny included a crapload of rabbit feed (I say crapload because honestly…that’s what rabbit feed turns into…) a beautiful hutch and all the accessories needed for a happy bunny. She is a delightful bunny but I am unsure of her parentage (which I don’t hold against her) I think she is a cross because her fur is not that long. She might be part Satin or French because she has no fluffy stuff on her ears or face…she could be a French and the lack of fluffy on face and ears is the result of crossbreeding. Either way she is delightful, her name is Liela-which I was sorely tempted to change because I had a boss named Liela who was HORRIBLE-but I can’t seem to make anything else work. I often call her Bunny-wei, which is what all the “Egyptians” in Stargate were yelling all the time. She is a fantastic smokey colour, mostly grey with just a hint of brown. And she is so incredible docile and polite. She likes crackers. The cats are undecided about her. Chase brought in a baby mouse and played with it and ate it in front of the rabbit. I think it may be a warning…
In terms of knitting, I have burned through a couple projects. I knit the Louisa hat and it turned out great (I gave it to Alinka). I designed a hat pattern that I test knit and need to tinker with a bit and get test knitters for-it’s a fair isleish style pattern of a dragon/phoenix. It looks really cool and is knit from a neutral colour and Noro.
I finally started knitting Tiny’s sweater. It took me 1 day to burn through the first ball of yarn and has taken me 5 days to get through the second!!! The yarn is…not stretchy…it makes my hands ouchy. Because of this I keep looking at other patterns and get to the point where I am pulling yarn and needles out of my stash and then have to throw them on the floor while yelling ”BAD CAROLINE!” I know because of the difficulty with knitting this yarn (an incredibly inflexible Icelandic Lopi) if I stop knitting this sweater, I will never start it again. I will say that I particularly enjoy the cabling in the back because it looks like a Klingon’s back. This sweater is a circular knit cable sweater with raglan sleeves. If it turns out well perhaps I will write the pattern down and have it on etsy. I may need test knitters!!!

Time after time

Lately I have been having a hard time keeping up with blog posts. I have been finding the process a little frustrating-it is so slow to add photos even with my brand new speedy computer that I have a hard time gettting th emotivation to do new posts, and I prefer posts with photos.
I have also been very busy, already spending a lot of time on my computer so adding the time do blog posts is not a high priority. *postscriptum-the layout of this post is a little messed, another frustration with posting...
I have also noticed that the internet has become an outlet for less than happy thought for a lot of the people that I know. It's great that poeple are finding a way to share and I am glad that the internet can be used as a form of therapy but it seems to have the opposite effect on me, I read about everybody else's problems (especially on facebook) and it makes me not want to share. I think maybe people are trying to reach out in a way that is not as intimidating as walking up to a friend and saying "Hey, I have a problem..." and I totally understand that, what I don`t understand is fishing for sympathy and lolling in misery (actually that`s a lie, I understand it only too well and I know how unhealthy it is). I guess I am being slightly hypocritical by complaining about stuff on the internet myself. But I think a lot of misunderstanding is fostered by communication through the internet where inflections and facial expressions are missing. Nothing beats good old fashioned face to face, human interaction.

Our vacation finished well. It ended at just the right time, when we were ready to go home. We saw a lot of really great things and went to some fantastic places. One of the best parts was when we were walking down the street near the gay village in Toronto and 2 guys in bondage gear (seariously, one dude was wearing a leather g-string) were eyeballing Tiny like he was a tasty pastry.

The cats were really happy to see us when we got home.

I have had some pretty severe startitis in the knitting department. I have started many projects but haven't managed to finish anything. Not really sure why. I think maybe it's just that I have way too much yarn available in my stash (is that even possible?)

I just got some Fleece Artist special for an amazing price in an incredible colourway. It seems to be spurring me into a knitting marathon that will hopefully clear up my startitis.

It is Fleece Artist Angel hair and Merino 2.6. It was an great deal, the Angel Hair was basically free. I am knitting a cardigan. The top is the angel hair and the bottom will be the merino. The collar is also going to be merino, I think it will help to hold the shape of the top better. It`s a super quick knit. I am using the Mr. Greenjeans as a guide for the stitch numbers but the rest I am making up as I go. I am doing one thing very different fro how I have done sweaters before and that is, although it is top down, I am knitting the sleeves before the body. This, I think, is a better way to knit wiht a limited supply of yarn. I can weigh how much yarn I have before starting the first sleeve and figure out how long I want to make the sleeve before going on to the next on ebased on the amount of yarn I have left on the ball. I think that would be a great project, to write a book or pamphlet that is a stashbusting guide with basic patterns and ideas on how to make the most of what you have (there`s nothing worse than knitting a patterna nd getting to the ned to find you don`t have enough yarn!!)

Hopefully I will finish the sweater and continue to post!!!!