'Tis the Season (to file taxes)

Yes, this weekend I'm in Drudgeryville, making sure all the receipts and entries are in order for the bookkeeper, the tax accountant, and Revenue Canada. No one ever said having a business was glamorous!

But, it's time for a break from the drudgery, and give you an update... The first two submissions for A Needle Pulling Thread are 'in the can', to use film-speak, and the third needs a few more 'details' to satisfy the editor. This one, scheduled for the Festive, 2010 issue will be done by the end of the Easter Weekend.

Back in January, I posted news of a new baby in the family. She, as yet unnamed, will be along in a few more weeks. I finished the little pink number photographed in progress in my January 2 post. Here's the result:

The yarn is Sunbeam Montego.

She will also receive Baby Surprise Jacket No. 5, a 'grown up' number in my modified version, made with navy blue and white marl yarn by Phildar, with fuzzy navy blue trim in Patons' Venus or Valencia (never could get those two straight), and little pewter buttons.

I also started a baby blanket, but since 'Great Nana' made her a beautiful mauve blanket, and Mom has other blankets from child # 1, this effort will probably be put aside for future consideration - perhaps for an expectant niece (in a few years... The one of child-bearing years is going to be like her dear old aunt, I think, and opt out of motherhood.) This project is being crafted from Phentex Merit, in a variation of Grantmother's Checkerboard, a pattern in Knitters' Best of Shawls and Scarves. I adapted the pattern for knit and purl design, and dubbed it "Nanu's Checkerboard", as Darling's grandson calls me "Nanu". I bought the yarn for 99 cents a ball at a department store that is probably now out of business -- perhaps K-mart? (For our American readers, there are no K-marts in Canada anymore.)

All three of these projects are part of a 'stash busting campaign' started late last Fall. The three project so far have used up 12 balls of stash yarn, and so far this year I have purchased only one ball of yarn. I bought it to finish yet another baby jacket (a Carnival Coat by Cabin Fever in their Top Down for Toddlers book) that I made from leftovers of this project, the Basic Cardigan from the same book. Thus, the ratio is 12 balls used to one ball purchased -- a complete first in my world.

Now, I need to clarify, that I *have* purchased more yarn, but it was yarn for yarn reviews and projects for Canadian Guild of Knitters. Business purchases are exempt from the process.

I started the Basic Cardigan in 2006 for a friend's grandson. The good news is that Owen now has a little brother, and if this doesn't fit him (it's a size 4, so the timing appears good...) it will fit his little brother.

Anyway, in addition to being a stash reduction kick, I've been on a project finishing kick. Over the Christmas Holidays, I found about 6 knitting bags with UFOs (UnFinished Objects) in them.

First, I finished the blue and red cardigan, then I picked up the Shetland cobweb project I started for the yarn review in the August, 2009 issue of Knit Together. It's had only a little progress, because it was relegated to the bedside table, and I find it is a bit fine for working in the dim light of early morning with hands that haven't been 'warmed up' for the day. Still, it made a little progress before morning coffee moved to the love seat in the bedroom to watch the bird action on the bay. For that, I have pulled out my Sleeves in your Pi coat in Briggs & Little Anniversary Twist, and am about 1/2 way down one sleeve (with just the sleeves to go).

I also finished off a pair of socks from last summer, and I've been working yet another pair of socks, the Celtic Cable socks by Cabin Fever in Shelridge Ultra. I think I started them in about 2006.

The next UFO to be tackled is the Fair Isle sweater for Darling... but in the meantime, some of the Florida knitting included a scarf and matching hat for him, to ensure he feels he is getting some attention.

Then there's the Celtic Shawl I'm designing that has had SO much attention on my Ravelry Project page. For that, I'm going back to the drawing board and creating a whole new design from scratch.

There are two other UFOs -- a baby sweater from a Sirdar Pattern that I started for Grandbaby No. 1, and a sweater in Patons' Brilliante for moi, but they're a little way down the list, currently, as is the Faroese Shetland Garden Shawl, which met with an unfortunate mishap when I forgot to purl a row, and did about 10 rows in reverse stocking stitch. AARRGH!! It is in its second lengthy time-out.

That's the plan for the remainder of 2010, and still write pieces for A Needle Pulling Thread, spend time with a new "granddaughter" and keep a full-time job. Stay tuned!

Now, I have to get back to the tax man's goodies... yummy.

The Official Announcement

The November issue of Knit Together announced that Canadian Guild of Knitters has made a change with regard to its publication.
Henceforth, CGK members will receive A Needle Pulling Thread with their membership instead of Knit Together.
A Needle Pulling Thread, a multi-craft Canadian publication based in Newmarket, Ontario, recently expanded its knitting section by hiring editor Kate Atherley. Cynthia is pleased to announce that she will continue to communicate with Canadian Guild of Knitters' members in the way of technical articles, designs, and other writing for A Needle Pulling Thread.
This is a value-added matter for members, as they will now receive a 100+ full-colour publication with their membership.

The Knitting Accreditation Program, Random Acts of Knitting, and our branded products continue to be offered exclusively to CGK members; the only change members will see is in the publication.

To register with Canadian Guild of Knitters, visit our website, www.cgknitters.ca
The website is next on our list of things to take care of, so please bear with us if it hasn't been updated before you visit!

Knitting on Location

Usually I try to get some 'on location' photos of me knitting on vacation. Darling usually accommodates, but he's been a bit busy on this vacation because this one has been about BIRDS. Birds, birds, and more birds. And he loves birds more than I love knitting (yup, I know, it can't be done, but he's done it.)

Herons, anyone? More than I have ever seen in my LIFE, and I've seen more herons than a lot of people. First, because I really like herons, and second, because I live on a river where we get two types - the Great Blue and the Green.

Herons are like a lot of birds; simultaneously pretty and ugly. It's kind of amazing how they do that. Herons and woodpeckers have been defined as my 'totem birds' by a First Nation's fellow from the West Coast of Canada. Woodpeckers to represent my strength, and herons because of my love to be near water. He was one smart Salish man!

I do like birds, just not quite as much as Darling. Even for an amateur birder like myself this has been a dream birding vacation... I have seen more green herons in the last four days than I hafe seen in my entire life, let alone as many types of heron. And they're all beautiful! (and ugly)... here's an example: Check out those wing feathers... amazing!

Then there's the little blue heron - one I didn't see before this vacation. There's a photo of him at left, but my program crashed before I could add a photo of my new favourite: the tri-coloured heron... whose neck is the colour of pale amethyst and whose back is just about the colour of rose gold. That and a white tuft of feathers behind the head. Such beautiful creatures!

Then there are the yellow-, and black-crowned night herons... perhaps the more logical for me, because they are hard to find during the day. But, we found 'em!

On the right is a black crowned night heron... This one doesn't have the long, streaming breeding feather that some of the ones we saw did. I've only ever seen these guys in pictures.

At the risk of acting as a tour guide for the United States National Parks system, I have to say, the two I've been to so far are definintely worth the visit... Everglades National Park is a birder's mecca. The Everglades are as much a natural wonder as Niagara Falls. Rocky Mountain National Park is just plain pretty scenery.

True, I'm a flag wavin' Canadian, but it's good to see some of the rest of the world! Besides, a lot of the birds we've seen on this jaunt will be back in Canada within a couple months... Darling just couldn't wait for them to come back, and I'm quite happy to have come along for the ride!

If you DO want to stay in Canada and see a beautiful national park, my favourits so far are Algonquin ( which is about 20% larger than Everglades National Park -- I looked it up) and Cape Breton National Park in Nova Scotia. I'm an equal opportunity national park visitor!!

Absence Alert!

This is just a quick notice to advise that Canadian Guild of Knitters' office will be closed from February 13 through February 28, 2010.

Our phone and e-mail services will be on, and we will respond to your inquiries upon our return.

The latest issue of Knit Together is in the mail now, with stories about a yarn shop in British Columbia, a knitter from Quebec, and a knitting designer from Toronto, plus all the usual features -- yarn and book reviews, etc.

There is a big CGK knitting bag sitting by the door, stuffed with items to knit while we're away!

At the printer's

Knit Together is at the printer's -- I just uploaded the file to their ftp site. It's always a good feeling. I'll have proofs by Tuesday, do a final run-through to catch those nasty apostrophes, and we'll be good to go. Here's a sneak peek at one of the yarns I reviewed last weekend:

It's Cabin Fever's Silk and Silver, a kettle-dyed yarn with merino, silk, nylon and actual flecks of silver in it. Yum!

Other items coming out in this issue include part 2 of the twisted stitch series, the second segment of Getting Gauge, our final nod to the International Year of Natural Fibres, and a over a dozen Random Acts of Knitting.

As Knit Together winds down, I look forward to the new assignments Canadian Guild of Knitters will be doing for A Needle Pulling Thread. The knitting adventure continues, with articles about steeking, ribbing, and vintage knitting.

Writing Along

Another full day in the office. I discovered last night there were two yarn reviews needed for this issue! YIKES! So, last night I chose two yarns and worked frantically this morning to get them sampled. The research is done and there's just the text to finish drafting.

Finding a designer has been another particular challenge, and I've been lucky enough to find one who has a blog. I did half the research before ever getting to the interview!

There is other, sad news: in my last post, I mentioned 'planned illnesses', which is to say illnesses of which we, as a family, were aware. One was a terminal diagnosis my sister's fiance received this past October. The disease took him quickly -- on January 12. Having passed his age just a year ago, I can say with conviction that 49 is too young to die.

There is some good news: the other 'planned illness' another family member endured in the past two months ended with the best possible scenario.

The 'unplanned illness' of our cat had a happy ending, too; he's eating well, and purring once more.

Life sure has its ups and downs.

Happy New Year!

I knew December would be hairy, but I never expected it to be blogless! There were a few illnesses during the month, some expected and one (the cat's) really unexpected. I figured something was up the night Wolfie (the cat) snuggled up to Zoey (the dog). By the end of the next day we knew something was wrong, and on the Tuesday before Christmas we ran the old boy (Wolfie is 14) to the vet. He "enjoyed" an overnight stay. Before it was over he was a VERY sick cat. He appears to be on the mend, but I never knew I would be so attentive to the intake and output of the cat.

2009 was a really tough year for me on several levels, and I'm happy to see the back of it, even though it's an adjustment to type 201 instead of 200... this happens at the end of every decade!

The next issue of Knit Together made some good progress today. I wrapped up a couple regular articles and got a half page feature ready, save for two photographs. I found just the chart for my twisted stitch piece. The mini project in this issue is JUST PLAIN FUN! I test knitted it during the past weeks, and I hope you'll like it as much as I did!


As far as knitting goes, I continue to work on yarn reviews, and a few baby projects. Since the last post, I've learned there's a 90% chance that the new "grandbaby" will be a girl, so I set out to knit the Harvey Kimono from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms [Ktog, Feb/07] I'm using yarn from my stash (believe it!)by Sunbeam called Montego. I can't remember where I got it, but it's from the days before they put yardage on the label!

Lunch hours and evening meetings have helped me get more Baby Surprise Jackets done for the same wee one: the one above is King Cole Splash with blue Astra chosen to match the blue fleck. I had the trim yarn for the pink-trimmed one in my stash and varied the pattern to offset the front closure. Eventually both will have the happyface buttons shown on the pink one.

I love knitting for babies!

Some of the knit lists have been rambling about new years' resolutions for knitting. I have decided just to go back to my "in and out" system of trying to reduce stash. I can only buy yarn to replace yarn that I knit up. The goal for 2010 is "net zero stash growth". There, I said it. It must be do-able!

I wish you all a knitterly knew year!