And we're off...like a herd of turtles

Last day before we leave, still so much to do.

My SeaSilk was waiting for me at home last night, two skeins snuggled side by side in the envelope, kind of like kittens. Same size and shape as snuggling kitten-loaves anyway.

I have packed an extra circular needle in my checked baggage, just in case airport security decides my current bamboo one is a dangerous weapon, and will be threading a small zip tie through the live stitches just in case. All of my belongings are divided into ziplock bags with a list of what each bag contains, to make life easier for the secret police, and hopefully tidier on the other end for me. What is the world coming to? Next we'll all be travelling in airline supplied paper jumpsuits and booties. Mark my words.

My pets all know something is up. Even the mice.
Simon has had several "snuggle emergencies" the past couple of days; this morning he accosted me the moment I sat down on the commode, pinning my foot to the floor with his furry body and snuggling his muzzle into my ankle.
The Cloud Mice run and line up along the front of their cage with their tiny paws up on the bars (well, three of them).
Kitt bobs up and down on his hind legs, paws against his tummy. (I can't seem to post a photo of Kitt right now...)
Rosebud sits in her mushroom loft and pops her head out, then extends a paw to draw my attention, or just mills around and leaps occassionally up to rattle her door. When she comes out, she grooms my hand and arm madly then rests her tiny chin on my thumb.
Sufa and Freckle camp out in any luggage left open, and protest when removed.

We will miss them so much.

Scrape me off the ceiling...

It's not even 10:00 a.m. and I'm so happy it's taking every inch of self-control not to (continue) running around the office squealing with delight!

Good thing #1: My friend Kirsten gave me my birthday present early: It is a bag of wool roving from Narnia II Farm in Chilliwack (she recently was in BC on vacation).
Shades of Narnia, sprinkle-dyed and the most juicy colourway, if that is an acceptable term for roving, like delicious cranberry and grape juice with lilac swirls and a speckle of sky... It is sooooo beautiful, I'll have to practice my spindling a bit more so I don't spindle this lumpy. What will I make with it? Mittens? Scarf? Handwarmers? One of the characters on Deadwood, Trixie, sports a pair that I've taken a shine to. Or trim for something larger?

Good thing #2: My SeaSilk is ready and will be shipped today!! Two skeins dyed to match the sample I sent last week. Thank you thank you thank you to the folks at Fleece Artist!! If I am lucky I will have it before we leave for Nevada; they are shipping it Express post. I was concerned, to put it mildly, about all that knitting time on the shawl that might be lost... something like 16 hours total there and back, plus time in the car...
I won't be knitting the shawl at all once we arrive, due to the fine alkali dust that gets everywhere and is impossible to completely remove. I'll have to choose another small project, something I don't mind being ruined, something to keep the fingers busy.

Good thing #3: We have both tickets now for admittance into BRC. One from a friend and the other unfortunately for pick up at the Will Call office; I just couldn't wait any longer for things to fall into place. A shame, since I got an email with a second less expensive ticket from a local burner just hours after I bought the Will Call ticket... Folks who are selling stuff on craigslist this close to the event really ought to check their email more often that every five days... a loss for both parties concerned. *jumps off soapbox*

Good thing #4: Saturday is my sixth wedding anniversary, and we are still madly in love after being together a total of fourteen years.
I have no idea what to get the man for his present. Something useful? Traditional, like iron (American), sugar (British) or wooden (modern)?
Dinner is in order as well, perhaps I will take him to La Palette.

EEEEEeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

At the suggestion of Kirsten:
Today's Earworm: Song 2, by Blur

Commence Snoopy Dance

The stars have aligned and we are able to go once again here:

I am elated.

And I wonder if I will have to check my sombrero on the flight? I brought it as carry-on last time, but in these times it may be considered a dangerous item…

Today’s Earworm: Universal Mind, by Psychopod

Disaster Strikes!

But Fleece Artist may yet save my ass.

I misremembered how much Sea Silk I needed for the Convertible shawl, and then further miscalculated for gauge differences, and then procrastinated going back to Lettuce Knit for the rest of the yarn in the same colourway that they had in stock. Guess who’s taking the “Math for Knitters” course at the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival next time?

My patient and loving husband was good enough to drive me all over the city comparing skeins on Saturday, to no avail. The closest skein looked like a knitted bruise next to the golden subtleties of my shawl. The shopkeeper at The Naked Sheep suggested I contact Fleece Artist and – lo and behold – they asked me to mail them a length of what I have and they will see what they can do.

Question is: Will the new yarn arrive in time for me to finish Convertible in time for our trip to France at the end of September? And if not, will KLM allow me to knit on the plane? Only time will tell, I guess. I am strategizing as we speak.

It’s been a while since I posted, due to the strains of my day job, but I did take some nice photos while we were up visiting my parents for Civic Holiday weekend recently.

Here you can see the shawl on my parent’s beach, enjoying a bottle of mead by the Ottawa River:

We had some company on the beach, the shawl and I. Sufa, one of our cats, came to see what on earth I was doing to make my mother call down to see if I had fallen over (I was trying to get a good shot of the shawl).

A while later, Michael arrived.

As the sun weakened, the flies chased us in. It seems the deer flies have crossbred with the houseflies to make a wicked hybrid that looks harmless but has the same big choppers. Note the flyswatter on Michael’s chair.

We had a fire that night; fires are big fun where I come from.

My poor camera skills yielded a fun result: the cool fire. A good deal of my pictures of the Saturday night Man burn at Burning Man last year turned out like this.

The drive home yielded a few inches of progress on the shawl, and it was then I realized my predicament after a glance at the shrinking ball. While I wait for a response from Fleece Artist, I guess I’ll have to address one of the UFOs. But which one? I have decided I don’t like the way the lace camisole KidSilk Haze was knitting up, in stripes, rather like fuzzy lacy pyjamas. Not the look I’m going for.

Today’s Earworm: Minor Earth, Major Sky by a-ha