Earth Hour

Last night's Earth Hour at my house . Knitting by candlelight .

Spring cleaning

I'm doing a little spring cleaning of the knitting basket . What you didn't think I meant housecleaning did you ? Spring has still not sprung here in Quebec , so the major housecleaning that signifies the end of winter will have to wait a bit ... too bad , so sad.

There are a couple of projects on the needles that have been there way too long , so while I may be tempted to cast on new knits, especially baby knits , I'm trying to do a cleanup of the WIP . First off the Monkey socks . according to my knitting journal these have been hibernating since August 2007 . It's time to get them done - it really shouldn't take 6 months to knit a pair of socks .

Speaking of babies , thank you for your congratulations on our upcoming grand baby . I've been spending a lot of time on Ravelry searching for knit patterns for babies . There's so much info available , both free and in books and leaflets , I don't think I'll ever run out of something to knit. My Ravelry queue is certainly getting longer and longer.

Having said that I'm not going to cast on any baby knits right now, there is a little top down cardigan that I just couldn't resist starting. It's my bring along project. I've been spending a lot of time with my friend Marie . She's not doing very well health wise and this winter has been extremely hard for her. She's unable to keep up with knitting socks these days , but is knitting some plain garter stitch ribbon yarn scarves. She needs something to occupy her and for the moment they fit the bill. Once a knitter always a knitter.

Happy News !

It can finally be told , Mike and I are going to be grandparents ! We are just over the moon . Casey and Chantal had often talked about starting a family right after their wedding . Guess they weren't kidding. She's in her 11th week and after her doctor's appointment last week everything seems to be progressing normally. She's had some morning sickness and feels tired all the time , but otherwise everything is fine. This will be the first grandchild for both families . I guess there will be more baby knits on the needles this year.

When Irish eyes are smiling !

Yesterday was Montreal's 184th St. Patrick's Day parade . According to today's paper , there were approximately 300,000 people in attendance.

We were very lucky with the weather , not sunny, but mild . a great time was had by all , young and old ! Happy St. Patrick's Day !

Wintery week-end

This was the view from the end of our driveway as the snowstorm started on Saturday afternoon . By the end of it all , we got about 35 cm of new snow. Apparently we're just another snowstorm away from shattering the record for most snow in a winter. You can't really see how much there is from that picture , but the snow in our yard is waist high , not drifts of snow , but overall snow , waist high is mind boggling. When you're shovelling the snowbanks are so high you have to shovel up , way up. I was so happy just to hunker down with my knitting , tea and a good movie . I was worried about Casey and Chantal who had a wedding to attend on Saturday afternoon . The reception was on the south shore , just off the island of Montreal . By late evening the roads in the area had to be closed , due to the poor visibility and blowing snow . They got home early in the morning , after it had all died down and the plows were able to get out. I was so worried till I got the call that they were home safe and sound. You know how moms are . Sunday was spent shovelling and trading stories about the snowstorm. All the neighbours were out helping dig each other out . One of our neighbours has 3 young children , who should be the poster kids on how to enjoy winter . They were out with their parents and their shovels and just having a blast. This could last another two months for all they care - bring it on ! The rest of us old folks are just saying enough already !

Here's what kept me occupied On Saturday evening . I finally finished EZ 's February baby sweater . I'm happy with the finished it knit overall , but have some issues with the sleeves . I knit them in the round , which meant a little less seaming , but finishing isn't by strong suit , so I'm not altogether pleased with the underarms. This one will go into the hope chest and I'll attempt another and do the sleeves differently . On the needles at the moment is a birthday scarf for Stefanie to match her Koolhaas hat . Her birthday is on Friday . The needles better be flying this week !

Recovering

Last week Mike came home from work with a fever and the chills . He actually took a day off work the following day, something which never happens so you know he was really not well . Two days later , guess who fell down with the same nasty little virus ? Yup , that would be me , and I was doing so well this winter with avoiding coughs , colds , and flu . Fortunately the misery was short-lived and I'm feeling much better now.

There's no photos of knitting due to lack of progress on that front . I seem to be in slump with that , though progress has been made on the baby sweater . I've been reading instead and finished a very interesting and thoughtful book by Geraldine Brooks , "The People of the Book " , a novel that traces the travels of the Sarajevo Haggadah , an illuminated Jewish manuscript , from the years of Queen Isabella through to the 1996 Bosnia after the conflict there . The main character of the present day is a rare book expert and conservator . The author uses the literary device of taking some discoveries found in the book and linking them back to various events in its history . This book has been been given quite few rave reviews , so when I saw it at the library , I thought it might be worth a read . I liked it very much but in some sections , I thought the characters were less compelling than others . I wanted more character development . It does however make you think about the history of the Jews and the continuing divisions and intolerance between different faiths today . It seems like the more things change , the more they stay the same . A good read and time well spent recovering from a virus.