Uh oh...

Today Mr. Happy, Henry and I met up in Halifax to do a little shopping. We wandered into La Cache and discovered that the store is closing. Very, very sad news. La Cache has always been a great place to find beautiful ($$$) dresses for little girls (that always went on sale for $ at the end of the season), colourful accessories and all sorts of other good things, like bedding.

After a quick consultation, Mr. Happy and I decided that it would be a good time to buy a new duvet cover. Hopefully a certain fur-nephew won't puke or poop on this one. (I'll post a picture tomorrow.)

While we were at La Cache I called Ms. Electron-knits, thinking that the sale might be something she would be interested in - despite her sea-faring lifestyle, Ms. EK looks nothing like an "old salt" and often wears cute girly sundresses in the summer.

Mr. Happy, Henry and I ended up having lunch with Ms. EK. During the course of conversation, Henry discovered that Ms. EK's significant other is out to sea right now. One thing led to another and Henry decided to blow us off in favour of keeping Ms. EK company.

I know that Ms. EK and Henry are both consulting adults, but I do worry that Ms. EK's sailor might come home early. Oh Henry, what kind of trouble have you got yourself in now?

WWKIP - 16 days later

June 14th dawned bright, sunny and windy enough to make a half knit sock fly like a kite. I gathered up my knitting and ran (literally) down the hill to Tangled Skeins where I dropped off a special shirt for Ms. Extremities:

Nothing says "Lurve" quite like your own Henry shirt. I made two at the same time, so I hope that Ms. Extremities doesn't mind being my "shirt twin".

I then had the pleasure of heading to WWKIP with Mrs. Knit, co-organizer of our WWKIP day. Here she is, smiling despite the anxiety I'm sure she was feeling.  Will people come to the party? What if someone else tries to steal the space in front of the library? What if I can't beat them out of our space with my 10mm needles? - you know, the regular things that event organizers worry about.

All the anxiety melted away when we arrived at the library to find KNITTERS on the lawn. Happy, smiling knitters, who registered for the event and made donations to Bryony House.

There were knitters from far and near:

That's Dolce and Gasman (Ravelry names) - Dolce who is from England, was visiting her brother (Gasman) and stopped by the event.

There were new friends:

Amyjobean and Henry
Note:  I think she may have run off with him to the Wedding Chapel if I someone else hadn't recognized Henry and asked for a picture.  

And old friends:

Mrs. No Sheep and her Girl
Note: Mrs. No Sheep is allergic to Henry's wooly exterior but gamely held him in place with the aid of a jacket.

Mrs. "My Husband Leaves Town and I Buy Houses" aka, Moe
Note: In May 2005 Moe, the wee Miss Mines and I started the KOL group. Three years of KOL! Yay! Three years of knowing Moe! Yay! She's the best stalker ever. *waves to Moe hiding behind hydrangea*

Ms. Wednesday
Note: Ms. Wednesday's adorable boyfriend showed up later to knit on his work socks with us.

Some people met their new BFFs at WWKIP:

Henry: Wanna go trolling for chicks?

Gnome: Aye! But let's leave the trolls at home!

Henry: I'm with ya, buddy, I'm with ya!

There were friends we don't see nearly enough of:

Will you just STOP ripping out your projects, lady?

Everyone's favourite chef-in-training, Jaichan!

And divas with babies who don't like coffeehouses:

The Ninja - shortly before she ran off with my camera.

Here, Henry got a chance to feel Alison's baby kicking.

Awwwwwww...We see the a moment of affection between an experienced knitter with a new knitter in the womb, and a tiny green knitted monster's affinity for them both.


Perhaps the most exciting part of the day was when the yarn started flying, literally:

These little balls of yarn were donated by the Loop and garnered much more excitement than a wedding bouquet toss.

Note: This is the only photo I have of Cali, the other event organizer. If you squint, you can see her on the left, smiling and chucking yarn.

These weren't the only prizes for the day - Tangled Skeins gave a Jo kit for the photo scavenger hunt, there was a Loop bag and LK yarns donated prizes as well. Ilga Leja donated one (or was it two?) of her patterns for prizes.

Speaking of Ilga, here's a photo of her and Henry together:

This photo was taken shortly after they signed a landmark, international agreement to bring peace to the world through yarn and beautiful patterns.

If only, my friends, it could be that easy... Ilga would be the one to lead the charge. And Mrs. Yes, Cali and the rest of the knitters would be there to organize the rest!

Thanks again, ladies. It was a wonderful day. Henry was completely exhausted when we got home and missed his date with Ms. Electron-Knits

Oh Hai

Have you been waiting long?

Ok, ok, I admit, I've been slack around here lately.  There is almost as dust on this blog as there was behind the dresser in my bedroom - but that's a story for another day. 

It's been a busy few weeks, and to be quite honest, it wasn't until I realized that this was the last weekend in June that I realized, "OMG, THIS IS THE LAST WEEKEND IN JUNE!"

Time flies, people, it really does.

Last weekend my dad's eldest sister, Auntie Ruth, was in town. My dad has three younger sisters. Here she is with her friend, Sandra, and the lovable flirt, Henry:

(Auntie Ruth on the left, Sandra on the right.  You all know Henry.)

I think we were heading to the market in this photo. We had a great visit - going out for Thai food, having chocolate croissants in the market, sharing shoes, buying yarn... It had been much too long.

I really wish that Ruth lived closer.  She's just so much fun.  Bonus: she has great taste in shoes and her feet are about my size.

The problem is, Auntie Ruth lives in St. Kitts. That's a long way from Nova Scotia. Take a moment. Check it on a map. Yup, that's right, in the Caribbean. Picture sun, sand, etc. Imagine how serene you would feel with all that vitamin D in your body. Imagine fresh fruit growing in your yard. Imagine the cabana boys... er, nevermind.

There is one great tragedy of my aunt's otherwise enviable living situation:

There are no yarn store on St. Kitts. Not one. Nary a knitted needle to be had.

I'll give you a moment to feel sorry for my perpetually sun-kissed aunt... the one who has passionfruit growing in her yard.

No yarn stores. And, worse yet, no book stores. I mean, really people. WTF? Other than the sun, sand and wonderful fruit, why on earth would you want to live there? (Don't answer that, Auntie Ruth. You'll just make us all sad about our cold winters and short summers.)

One thing she does have? A niece who will ship needles and yarn.

After all, there's only so much a lady can pack in her suitcase and not be accused of smuggling the entire country of Canada into the Caribbean.

Have no fear, Auntie Ruth! The yarn will be ordered and shipped!

Now I would like to redeem myself as a knitter and a knit blogger by posting a photo of a FO. 

I managed to finish these socks while my auntie was visiting:

Pattern: Charade by Sandra Park
Yarn: STR - Christmas Rock
Needles: 2.5mm
Stitches: I dunno - check my Ravelry page.

This is my second pair of Charade socks. Those of you who have looked at this pattern on Ravelry will notice that this photo looks very similar to one of the photos posted there. That's 'cause those are my feet on Ravelry! Tee hee. Of course I had to take a similar picture again this time... but I'm sorry you can see that my front steps need to be painted more than they did last year. Ugh.

The same weekend I took those photos, I came home after working at the pharmacy to find this in my kitchen:

Dinner, looking angry.

I have the best husband in the whole wide world. It may have been cruelty to crustaceans in my kitchen last weekend, but it was tasty cruelty... with butter.

Henry's Big Interview

Buzz about Henry's appearance at WWKIP Halifax reached a fevered pitch yesterday, when Henry was interviewed by Nina Corfu - a local CBC reporter. 

The two strolled through Alderney Landing, discussing how knitting has impacted the lives of so many Haligonians. Henry was on his game, answering questions with wit and charm, posing theories that seemed to impress Nina, asking questions of his own... and flirting shamelessly.

The interview became a bit steamy, and that's why, I'm sure, it didn't make the afternoon show yesterday.

Henry invited Nina to WWKIP, but I'm not sure if she'll come. If she does, she'll have to leave her fiance, one D. Myles, at home.

We'll see you all later today at WWKIP! Henry is ready to roll - he's bathed, he's primped and he's ready for LOVE!

Good Friends + Tiny Chihuahuas = Great Vacation

Ok, as you know, I spent the last week of May in Vancouver with my dear friend, Angela, her boyfriend, the Dictator, and their two chihuahuas, Minou and Birdie.

I hadn't seen Angela, the Dictator or Minou in FOUR YEARS and hadn't met Birdie at all. I was a bit nervous that Minou wouldn't remember her Auntie Steph and that Birdie wouldn't warm up to me at all. I didn't want to miss out on tiny dog snuggles...

As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about... Minou remembered me:

Almost every morning I woke up to the sound of her running and jumping onto my bed. Her long tail would be whipping around as she gave me a quick slurp on my nose before sneaking under the blankets to sleep by my tummy. Say it with me, "Awwwwwww!"

Miraculously, I woke up the first morning to find Birdie dancing beside my bed, begging to be lifted up. Birdie, the grouchy dog who acts stand-offish and has been known to bite people she doesn't know, wanted up with me!

I think it is safe to say that I've earned my title as "Chihuahua Whisperer".

Angela mentioned that we are the kind of friends who will attempt to eat a dozen donuts together... but when your friend makes you breakfast that looks like this:

...who needs donuts?

Or when your friend makes Cardiac Arrest Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream:

...and introduces you to Pajos:

(amazing crab cakes, delicious fries and perfect lemonade!)

...who needs to worry about fitting into their pants? Size 6 is overrated.

These two ate with us, and they don't worry about pants:

Lest you think that all we did on this trip was eat and lay about, I will tell you that we went for walks:

We chased squirrels:

We hung out with old friends:

and new friends:

We went shopping:

1. Amy Butler Fabric, 2. And then we went to Tarjay, 3. Koigu, 4. Soya Sauce containers, 5. Bento boxes, 6. watch out for the crocodiles!

We sang:

We sewed:

...and we did other things that burned energy:

...some of us more often than others.

Captions for Henry

At KOL on Tuesday night, Henry "tried on" Val's yarn. She was in the washroom and came out to find me taking his picture. We were both a little embarrassed (Henry and I, not Val.)

Leave a caption for this photo in the comments and I'll do a random draw for yarn from my stash. I haven't chosen the yarn yet - I decided to do this draw about three minutes ago. But I'll let you know as soon as I figure out what I can part with.

In the Land of the Blind, the One Eyed Man is King

A couple weeks ago, at KOL, Kathryn (blog-free) proudly sat her duck on the table, the duck that has taken her so long to complete.

Henry heard the duck quacking and climbed out of my backpack to survey the scene.

Duck was winking at one of the girls, when Henry walked up and asked, in a low, growly voice I've never heard him use:
"What the h*** do you think you're doing here?"

Shocked, Duck replied that he was just hanging out and didn't want to cause any trouble. Duck started to walk away, when Henry, with a strength I didn't know he had, pushed Duck over, sat on his chest and said, "I don't think so buddy. This is my turf. There will be NO cutesy little ducks comin' 'round here, flirting with my girls."

Henry then slid down and started strangling the Duck.

Duck put up a good fight, managing to wrestle Henry to the table and hold him for a while.

Henry, though, was full of piss and vinegar and the photos I captured of their fight are so graphic, that I couldn't post them here without horrifying all of you (trust me - these photos are bad enough). We tried, in vain, to break up the fight, but the ferocious quacking from Duck and the growling coming from Henry was enough to keep us all away from them. We agreed to let them fight it out.

In then end, Duck admitted defeat after Henry started whipping bamboo DPNS across the room at him.

Thank goodness Duck is stuffed. This could have been really, really messy.

When Henry's freakish adrenalin rush was over, I pulled him off Duck, shook some sense into him and asked,

"What, for the love of all that is holy, was that all about?"

Henry was sobbing at that point and cried, "He has eyes."

Ohfergoodnesssake.

Henry Takes a Bath

Last Thursday, Henry went to supper with my manager and me at a local Italian restaurant. After supper, I went to work at a career fair and Henry went for a nap in my backpack along with my manager's leftovers - a pasta dish with lots of oil and garlic.

Just before the career fair started, I discovered that Henry had gotten into the leftovers and was covered in oil and garlic. It was awful. He smelled like he had eaten an entire clove of garlic and washed it down with a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil. I squeezed as much oil out of his head as I could, but that didn't help. It was coming out his pores. I tucked him in my backpack and brought him home.

Since Thursday, Henry has been hiding from me because, as it turns out, he was scared of having a bath. It was his fear of shrinkage: He didn't want to end up smaller than he already is.

Men. They're so irrational.

Tonight, after much pursuading, he agreed to have a bath. (I think the smell was getting to him too.)

He insisted on taking a book with him to the bathroom, but I wouldn't let him read it in the bath because I didn't want a soggy book.

He really liked the scent of the camomile shampoo:

Once I filled up the "tub", he jumped right in like an old pro:

The majority of the oil and garlic was on his face, so I lathered him up and then we made shampoo mohawks:

After I was satisfied that I had done all I could with the shampoo, I let Henry relax in the "tub" for a while:

He asked for the candle.

I let him have some privacy and went downstairs for a bit... reassured by the sound of Henry singing and occasional splashes and "bubble" noises. When I figured that he had had enough, I went upstairs and drained the sink.

Erm...

Perhaps I should have worried about "shrinkage" after all?


* Please note: Henry was squished for comedic effect. He did not shrink and was not harmed in any way. He still smells a bit like garlic.