Bad Blogger, No Cookie!

OK, OK, I am a neglectful blogger this month. Work is draining, I've been busy, I've been away, I've been reading Ravelry melodramas....

There's been nothing that exciting, really. I'm writing right now as the spouse is trying to nap in the other room and I can't really do anything that might make the slightest noise or it wakes him up - or at least, it sets the cats talking to me, and THEY wake him up.

Here's some socks that got done:



And another pair I just finished:


Lapis Monique and I have come up with two yarns, but nothing great:




I'm spinning too fast and over twisting, so these are a bit string-like.

Other than that, I just spent 3 days in Toronto, mostly at The Yoga Show doing some great workshops, and catching up with friends in the evenings. The TTC went on strike WHILE I was waiting for a bus and hence stranded me north of Dupont, but luckily it was just outside my friend Stephen's house and he drove me back to my conference hotel.

Back to the mundane tomorrow.

Inexplicable Knitter Update

So, nothing new from me today, but just got to update on yesterday's amusements.

Hot as my Firefighter with Sock was, I totally got trounced by some of the Toronto competitors.

Nobody actually caught David Miller, but a couple of people got the Mayor's EA.

We had Mounted Police Officers.

Apparently a somewhat questionable mis-interpretation of Mounted Police was not only allowed but encouraged by the Harlot.

These two totally take not just the cake but the whole damn buffet though: Gord Downie and MARGARET ATWOOD.

For.The.Win. Go, knitters, and congrats, all - I never had so much fun missing an event in my life.

Inexplicably for The Harlot

So, I'll bet today Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has accomplished more for Toronto Tourism than the city's entire budget for the year.

You can check out this post for the explanation of the inexplicable, but as many things Stephanie suggests seem to do (see: Knitters Without Borders), I'm guessing this got bigger than she ever thought. Just for fun I thought I'd play the home version, since I couldn't get away this time to go cheer her new book launch.

You'll be able to check out all the photos, mine and everyone else in the Canadian and International Freestyle categories, over here at this Flickr group. Have fun.

Here are my highlights:

First, one of the few that was an exact category point:


This is a Tim Horton's Employee holding my Sock, as well as The Doughnut Of Our People, a Maple Glazed, er, Maple Dip (Stephanie said Glazed, but there are Maple Dip and Canadian Maple, I think).

And while I couldn't get one of "Toronto's Finest", I hope I can still get a point for what I bumped into in the Tim's line - one of Waterloo Fire and Rescue's finest, and wow, this one's even a candidate for that Firefighters' Calendar they do every year.

In order to one-up the generic Tim's point, my entry to the Canadian Freestyle is Mark, here. Mark serves up a mean cuppa mornin' Java at Whole Lotta Gelata, a VERY Knitter-friendly business in Uptown. Whole Lotta' is not only a regular knit-night venue but the home of a weekly Roving Spinners' meetup. Mark is holding what may very well qualify as The Gelato Of Our People - a luscious Maple Walnut frozen confection handmade by his boss and the cafe's proprietor, Chris.

We took the sock out to Walk Club this evening, and while it was really too cold and windy to walk too far, my coaches and I wrapped up with some photos, including this one, which I *think* may be an angora goat have now identified via reliable intelligence as a Jacob Sheep. So I DID get a sheep point. If you look at the right of the photo, you can see the bum of her little lamby-pie there, the baby was busy licking a fence for some reason and wouldn't come over.



OK! So the whole photo tour will be on the Flickr group shortly.