OK, I'm better. LoL. Well, maybe I should say I'm back to as normal as I get. Woot.

Knitting has begun again. Still working on the Yule scarf. It is a quick knit but I was so miserable I wasn't really knitting that much. Got to get the scarf done as I also have a mystery project that I will start work on next week. Can't say what it is but it for a Yule present.

I'm also in the midst of a purge. Been getting rid of a lot of STUFF. Books, DVD's, CD's. It's hard but I feel like it needs to be done.I've kept old fav's and some things that are out of print but otherwise out the door it goes.

I hate working sundays. I really do. Not for any religious reasons but I remember before Sunday shopping. Sundays were always the days you got together with friends and family, caught up with what everyone was doing and maybe cooked a big meal. Or maybe you had a lazy day in bed with ur SO, reading the paper or watching a movie. I really miss that. I find lately with my schedule and general busy-ness, it's hard to see people.

On a brighter note, I'm still sick but on the mend. I actually knit quite a bit yesterday on the scarf for my friend's Yule present. I'm hoping to finish it in the next couple of days. I have a few more things that need to be completed and send off to make it there in time.

Is it strange to miss someone you never met? My uncle Llewellyn was killed in action in WW2. I never met him as it was 26 years before I was even born. He was never forgotten by his family, including me.

He is who I think of each Remembrance Day.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

Lest we forget.

Today I am so...blah. I feel like I am dying with a cold. Good thing I work @ home otherwise this would have been a definite sick day. No knitting happening today. Just tea drinking and working. Vomit

This morning I was on my way downtown to bring GF something @ work. The sky was on fire. I had to pull over and take some pictures. This is a crappy pic taken with my BB but it should give you an idea of how brilliant it was. Within 5 minutes of this picture being taken, it was gone right back to grey overcast sky.

As to knitting news, I'm working away on my Yule present list. Right now I'm making the Yarn Harlot's one row scarf in Berrocco's Ultra Alpaca. A simple but elegant pattern. Hope the person it is being made for likes it :)

http://wovember.com/

One of the blogs that I am a frequent follower of is needled. It is a blog of knitting, hiking and recovery. One of the writers initiatives is too put forward the importance of wool. I like what they are saying. I almost always knit with 100% wool yarn(unless it is a present for someone who I believe will not be able to take care of an 100% wool garment). I have noticed lately in many high end outdoor stores that wool is back! People are rediscovering what their grandparnts always knew, that wool is a great product!

The past week has been eventful. One car accident and 2 pairs of these fingerless gloves. This blue pair are for me to wear in my home office. I also made a pair for my friend Stacey. The pair for her was actually meant for me but I decided to give them to her as they were in this lovely heathered green colour. The pattern is http://twin-knit.com/2007/11/26/thanksgiving-day-mitts/ . A quick knit and a nice pattern.

The car accident was really just a fender bender. Our poor car got rear ended when we were stopped @ a red light. We have a VIBE which isn't being made anymore so we can't ever update with the same car. We haven't got it back yet but can't wait. Our rental car is kinda shitty and smells bad. :(

So, I spent the whole morning going through my wool cabinets. Found lots of things I had forgotten about. Purged an entire laundry basket's worth. Going to bring it to Knit Night tonight @ The Rooms. Whatever doesn't get used will be donated to Salvation Army Thrift Store.

WOW. Been awhile. I'd kinda even forgot that I used to have a blog. So. Still knitting. Really involved in my local knitting group. We meet every Wednesday night @ the Rooms. We can be found on Ravelry as the NL Knitters and Crocheters.

here's what i am going to be working on... i made myself a spiral cowl but decided cowls are not for me...sooo, i frogged it...i'm either going to make myself an irish hiking scarf or some easy lace pattern....

the weather here is soo nice today..i spent most of the afternoon in the backyard carding a feece that i bought about 4 years ago @ the royal winter fair in toronto,ontario....i got it still warm from the sheep..i've lugged it around the country and decided today to start working on it so i can start spinning again..it's so organic, seed heads and all

i'm glad that the weather is finally heating up here in newfoundland ..i've got a fleece that i bought about 3 yrs ago right off the sheep and is locked away in a trunk in my living room..i haven't done much spinning lately but i have spindles and a nice ashford wheel and 2 sets of handcarders and i have vowed that i'm going to start spinning again..my friend's dad has a sheep farm and i can probally score some fleece from him but i want to make sure that i still like to do it ... i have a 2 bedroom apartment but it's kinda chocked full of stuff so i want the weather to be nice so i can go in my backyard and comb it out w/out freezing my butt off or it all blowing away

i'm whipping along on the sweater from EZ's almanac, it's on size 10 needles so it knits up pretty quickly..i'm sure i would have a lot more done if it wasn't for the fact that my work place has now banned knitting @ work ... otherwise, my only other WIP is the afghan made from all the bits&pieces from my stash..i also have to just sew on the button band on my cardi and it will be done..yea!

i started reading jackie fee sweater workshop a couple of days ago..i think that i'll be knitting the sampler once i get caught up on e/thing else i'm doing..my wip are multi cardi that i just have to sew the button and buttonhole bank on,my remembrance afghan and i'm going to start the last minute sweater from ez's almanac on my next day off , sunday , june 1st..wonder how long it will take?.. i also have a couple of co workers are having babies in the next couple of months and i want to make a in the round blanket for each of them..ack.. now that my work has cut us off from knitting @ work, i don't get to knit as much, those bastards!

i just started to read knitting w/out tears and i LOVE it!!! i was someone who knitted as a kid and in my teens but didn't really keep knitting that much until moved back to newfoundland in 2000.. then, i quit smoking about 1 1/2 years ago and used it as diversion therapy..so i didn't know who she was until i joined the glbt knitting group and heard people talking about her .. i read the almanac and now w/out tears and i wish i had read her before she passed on so that i could contact her and tell her how great she is..she has put a whole new spin on how i "see" knitting

i just have to vent..for almost 3 yr i've worked @ the same place , a call centre providing cust care for a "major wireless provider" in the u.s.(even though i'm in newfoundland , canada)..but i digress..anyway, today we get this REALLY snotty memo that we can no longer knit, or cross stitch etc..i am so p*ssed!!! it's supposed to be b/c we are supposed to be more ergonomic @ work... i've been knitting there since about the 2nd week... it's my stress relief @ work... now i am doubly stressed ..arrrggh! sry..i just have to vent!...what should it matter what i do when i'm walking people thru getting their voice mail mesages or taking there payments.. they can't see me, i could be sitting there naked and it would not matter one iota..not only that, several of my recent projects(baby blanket, some scarves and a couple of hats have all been for some of my supervisors @ work) .. can't have effected my job performance that much..

i'm still plugging away on my afghan but just scored a bunch of merino blend yarn from wal-mart that was on sale..i've been looking at a pattern in the EZ's knitter's almanac ... the yarn is bulky and that pattern calls for bulky wool..i also just cashed in my president's choice points and got $60 @ chapter's bookstore and ordered knitting w/out tears and the sweater workshop ( i actually ordered off their web site as on line both books were on sale but if i ordered them to from the store, they don't honour the on-line sale price!!!)so i'm holding off on starting until i check out the patterns in both of those books .. also i have to make some more of those(in the round) baby blankie's as a couple more of my co-workers are pregnant and i think they make good baby prezzies..

it's still bloody freezing here in newfoundland..it's rainy and foggy as hell..on my way to work this morning the lake i pass by e/day was flooded almost up to the road & the water in the river under the bridge was running fast & high..i guess all the run off from the snow and the rain itself is taking its toll..on a better note, i finished the baby blanket today in time to wrap it up and bring it to the baby shower i was going to..i didn't get a chance to take a pic of it but i'm planning on making another one for another co worker for next month and i'll be sure to take pics then..i'm gonna finish that damn cardi this weekend and then start in in the top down sweater that i bought all that merino blend yarn for the other day..

today it is poring outside and even though spring is here and summer around the corner, i just bought 13 balls of chunky merino/acrylic @ wal-mart getting all ready for next winter ..all on sale for about a 1/3 off..i'm just finishing up a baby blanket , the pattern is in the round from geekknitting.com site..my other WIP are a cardi that i just have to do the button band on and a remembrance afghan made from all the bits and pieces in my stash..

this is a link to an on-line knitting group that i belong to.. the gblt knitters list is an e-mail discussion list for gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, and g/l/b/t friendly people who like to hand or machine knit and who are looking for a forum where they can discuss knitting, g/l/b/t issues and relationships.. it's not a general access group but you have to become a member..it's a great group as we have people @ all levels of expertise and if you have questions, someone will have the answer

glbt knitters