If it walks like a duct....

Mr. Q's been complaining for some time that he needs a new wallet. Today I finally took matters into my own hands and played with duct-i-gami. Unfortunately, I ran out of the red tape and had to use some silver. I'm going to present it as a "space-age design feature"

I'm especially proud of the little bus pass window.

Last night, after trying to soften me up with a tasty curry and some wine, "Saint Jel" tried again to lure me over to the Dark Side:



I held reasonably firm...but it was very good wine! So I'm not entirely responsible for whatever fondling (of fibre!) may have occurred. (She's heading over to Ireland for a few days next month - if anybody knows of any yarn stores in Dublin, or knows anybody who might know, please go on over to her blog & give her a shout!)

Who knew that folk music could cause such a hangover?!

I really love the afternoon/evening light this time of year:

The photo was taken en route to a gig by Mr.Q's folk trio, the Gentle Infidels. They played at Trees Organic Coffee House, which supposedly has the best cheesecake in Vancouver. I can't say whether that's 100% true (I'd need to do a more scientific study...heheheheheheh!) but I thought I should give it a shot:

It was cranberry-orange cheesecake, and very, very good. Mr.Q tried the banana-white-chocolate, which was divine! The music was good, and the Horcrux sock & I really enjoyed ourselves:

I do wish the photo did better credit to the colours in the yarn, it's gorgeous. A couple of my friends joined us for the show, and afterward we went for "one quick beer." Which turned into several pitchers and a much later night than anticipated! So I'm having a bit of a rough go of it this morning, but Mr.Q has just put a cup of strong coffee in front of me, so I expect to feel quite a bit better in short order. Happy Saturday!

The most fun you can have with no clothes on....

Is not marking the end of the week by going for a physical.

Ugh.

'Nuff said.

Going to go mix myself a Very Large Martini now.

You're all a bunch of enablers (and I hope you never stop!)

You people are not helping! I put my problems out there into the ether of cyberspace, hoping some kind soul will say just the right thing to save me from myself. Instead, you all gang up on me! Never mind that I'm happy knitting socks (but did I not feel a moment of frustration just now, while knitting, a feeling of "will this ever end?" Though that could be attributed to my over-enthusiasm in casting on no less than three different pairs. Really, that's all it is!) Nope. You all chime in "Spin! It's fun! Come over to the Dark Side!"

And still I try to resist, and still you keep at me. (Never mind that my birthday's coming up, and I keep picturing myself coming home from a celebratory trip to the yarn store with a drop spindle and a bag of roving the size of myself....I virtuously put the image out of my mind. Resist!) I try to deny the idea that Resistance is Futile. I was doing fine at that.

Until my sister offered me a date with a llama. (How am I going to explain that one to Mr.Q? "Honey, we need to talk. There's something I have to tell you. Maybe you should sit down. I've been seeing someone else....") If there are ducks, too, I give up!

Stratford-but-no-Avon

I really can't think of a clever title for a post, much as I'd like to! This is actually the third time since Sunday that I've started a post, but the last two times I just fizzled out mid-sentence and had to give it up. Here's hoping I can get through this one! Maybe the full-moon vibes can give me a boost. Or maybe I'll just turn into a were-wolf. Or, more likely, a were-alpaca.

Last night, I found myself at the mercy of Our Lady of the Epithet, Rabbitch. So far, I have been holding out on the spinning front: it looks lovely, but I'm happy knitting socks, so thanks but no thanks. However, emboldened by her recent success in convincing my pal Jel to trade her soul for fibre, she just couldn't leave well enough alone. She made me fondle her roving, people. The merino was nice. The merino-silk was lovely (baby hamsters indeed!) But I was still holding my own, until she decided to play dirty. She made me touch her baby-camel-silk.

Unless some kind of intervention happens, soon, I'm afraid I'm lost. I'm a little apprehensive about that fact, but really, if I were playing with fibre that pretty and yummy and silky and luscious and sensuous and mmmmm...(oh! Sorry, just having a "personal moment" there. Ahem. Deep breath. OK, back on track...) Anyway, if I had that to play with, would I really miss my soul that much? Tough decision.

In blogging news, Pam the Yarn Goddess has surprised me by nominating me for a "Rockin' Blog Girl" award. Thanks, Pam! Yer swell! I'm delighted, not least because I hadn't encountered Pam before, and I'm quite enjoying her blog. Not to mention developing a severe case of Stash Envy! As far as I can tell, the procedure is now for me to pay it forward and nominate a few fab chicas in turn. If I could, I'd nominate darned near everyone in my favourites list! But since that'd prolly be overkill, I'll stick with five:

* Jel, new-ish to the world of (regular) blogging, fibre-ninja, cheese guru extraordinaire, and just darned fabulous human bean. It takes a special person to take photos of cat puke to email you while you're on holiday, to confirm that the beasties are OK. Thanks, hon!

* Rabbitch, who continues to be a bad influence on me (please don't stop!) and who should get to be prime minister on the basis of her vocabulary alone. I mean, assbeagle by itself would be enough!

* Barb, whose blog I have only recently discovered, and which I looooove. I've even decided I need to learn to make bagels now.

* Rebecca, who has a great new cat, a love of good coffee, great taste in sock yarn, and she knows what it's like to be married to a musician, and how handy a knitting habit is at a show.

* Rachel-a-go-go, who is a writing knitter (or a knitting writer?) and a cat person, whose Digit is amazing. Also, her wife has the coolest band name ever.

There ya have it. Go forth and continue to rock your blogs!

In other news, I was accosted on the street by a perfectly-coiffed, perfectly lip-lined and eyebrow-threaded Avon lady today. She asked me how to get to a bookstore, and when I gave her (rather hazy) directions, she gushed over my "great customer service skills." She wondered if I'd ever been in sales. Or if I would like to be in sales. Since she's the District Sales Manager, and she thought I'd be great at selling Avon.

Now, I have nothing against Avon or the ladies who sell it. But the idea of me selling cosmetics and beauty products is a little absurd. (Actually, if you'll excuse my language - or not - it's totally fucking hilarious!) I managed not to laugh when she asked me "what could be more fun than talking to ladies all day about make-up and jewellery?" as I was standing there in my hiking shoes, completely un-done hair, zero make-up (I did use some moisturizer with sunscreen on my face once or twice during the summer, does that count?), and no jewellery except my wedding ring. I mean, if I want to get really fancy, I might - might - put some anti-frizz goop in my hair. Before I ignore it and let it dry on its own.

The best part of my day, though, was when Mr.Q met me at work (supposedly to take the bus home together, but really it turned out that he had to work late, so he just met me to tell me to go home by myelf.) It was sunny, and I walked him back to his work-site before heading to the bus (and then being accosted by the Avon lady) Isn't he sexy in his work get-up?

Or maybe I'm just biased. But I can live with that!

(PS - Syd from the comments on the last post: the sock yarn in the photo is Blue Moon's "Love in Idleness" - you can see the finished socks a few posts back!)

(PPS - maybe now that I've actually used the F-word, I'll get better than a PG rating for my blog...it's good to have goals!)

"Knitting makes you look so, like, OLD..."

Or so I was told by someone at work yesterday. So last night I took my decrepit old self out to meet with some other fogeys to knit. Because we're so un-hip, we went here:


Where I had this:


A traditional Mayan (Aztec?) "chocoatl" made with chocolate, hot water (instead of milk), cinnamon, honey and chiles. Also, they had very, very good chocolate truffles. Some made with tequila, that had rock-salt sprinkled on top. Sounds weird, but don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em. They were frackin' amazing.

Yep, this knitting thing is definitely making me old before my time! And I'm pretty OK with that. Though I'm thinking about getting this T-shirt.

What's wrong with this picture?

Back:

Front:

YARRRRR(n)!

Yarrrrr, mateys! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

One of my not-so-secret dreams was to be a pirate. About as likely as being an astronaut, really, and probably a bit smellier. But there'd be rum! (Which I think I might have, actually, stashed somewhere...hmm!)

Avast, ye scurvy bilge-rats! Time to away anchor and get to swabbin' the decks! Yarrrr!

Chivalry lives

This morning, despite my initially having more than enough time to get ready for work and keeping more-or-less on track, I suddenly found myself late for the bus. Which wouldn't ordinarily have been a problem, but I actually had to leave a few minutes early so I could hobble to the bus in time. So there was no way I was going to be able to run for it. A sprightly shuffle is the best I can manage for any distance right now, so....what to do?

Well, my dear, darling husband offered to drive me to work. Which was a great plan, until we got outside and realized there had been a heavy dew last night. And the windshield wipers on the van don't work. (Gotta do something about that before monsoon season!) And we were in a hurry. As I was trying not to panic, he whipped off his t-shirt, ignoring the chill fall morning air, and proceeded to wipe the windows down with it. Then, putting the cold, wet shirt back on, he drove me downtown with nary a complaint.

(Though he did make me promise I'd post the story. Gallant, yes. Modest, not so much!)

More squealing, but no jumping.

Thanks for the happy thoughts for the last post - I will indeed spill the beans as soon as possible. Meanwhile, in other happy (and fibre-related!) news - I got my Ravelry invite yesterday - wahoo! It's like Facebook for fibre addicts, and it's great. I've already found 2 local knitters on there, and the plethora of patterns and pretty pictures is amazing.

My good friend Isolde, from loooong time ago, was in town yesterday. We met up, sans spouses, for a few hours. We had a great visit. She's one of those people that even if you only see them once a year (or two years or whatever) it's like no time has passed. Plus, she's funny as hell. And she knits. So of course, we had to cap our visit with a little swing by the yarn store. (oooops!)

I was actually quite restrained. She was not. She has only just moved to Edmonton, and doesn't know where the yarn stores are there. So she felt she should stock up a little. (A very kind gentleman in the store directed her to a family member's website - www.beeskneesknits.ca - a knit designer with connections in Edmonton, who could recommend some shops. I do love how knitting allows all kinds of friendly connections! I've had a few of those in the last couple of days - another post, perhaps.)

We decided it would be fun to knit ourselves matching socks. She bought the yarn for both of us, to save me having to give up the other yarn over which I was having a bit of a...well...a moment, if you know what I mean. The kind of moment best enjoyed in private. Ahem.

The sock yarn we chose:


The orgasm-inducing yarn:


It's Malabrigo, soooo soft, and the colourway is "Azul Profundo" - Profound Blue. How could I resist? It was a most satisfying visit, all around!

Meanwhile...why the not-jumping today? Well, yesterday morning I sort of took a tumble down the steps from the living room into the hallway. I sort of mostly missed the second step, and dropped right to the (hard, tiled!) floor on my knees, bashing the shit out of my left shin and, I think, re-stretching the ligaments in my right ankle. I got off pretty lightly, actually, given that the tiles are hard enough that, as I was going down, I was sure I was going to shatter my knees. NOT the most fun I've had on a Saturday morning! However, I still have the brace from the last time I fracked up my ankle, and Mr.Q's been good for a lot of TLC.

Also, it meant I couldn't really do much after I got home in the afternoon, so I got to park myself on the couch and do a whack of knitting and watch movies all evening. Not so bad! I managed to finish these, finally:


Socks that Rock medium-weight, in the Love in Idleness colourway. They're just a bit big, but not as close to a slouch-sock revival as I'd feared. They'll be brilliant for keeping my toeses warm in the winter. And I was making myself finish them before I could really get into the other sock patterns I've been coveting...which I then got to play with last night! There'll be enough progress on those to justify pics in a day or two.

Must make coffee! The kettle's taking an awfully long time to boil.

(that would be because I hadn't turned it on - doh!)

Eeeek! Squeal! Jump up and down with glee! (But it's a secret)

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

Super exciting maybe-good-news...and I can't even say what it is. I'm superstitious that way, I don't want to jinx it, and it's not really my news to share, anyway (no, Sarah, I'm not pregnant, and no, we didn't get another cat!)

But if y'all could send some good thoughts our way to help things along, I'd be awfully grateful. And I promise to reveal, as soon as I possibly can. Coz I may just explode otherwise!

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

Bits and pieces

I firmly believe that it's the lovely random little moments that make life rich and juicy and tasty....a few that I've had in the last few days, in no order:

I came home from work yesterday to the dishes done, and Mr.Q offering to make me a martini. This, after he got up to make me coffee before work. Who needs a pool boy?!

Mr.Q writes for The Nerve, and gets all kinds of sneak previews of stuff to review. Sometimes it's crap. Sometimes it's not. And sometimes it's a WAY cool surprise. Like the CD he played for me yesterday, called Raising Sand, a collaborative effort between bluegrass diva Allison Krauss, and Robert Plant. Yes, as in Led Zeppelin. The CD's due out in October. Buy it. Buy another and give it to a friend. Or someone you want to be a friend. Because it's AMAZING! (Also, Robert Plant is still totally, totally hot!)

On the weekend, I bought some buffalo burgers from the butcher shop. We haven't eaten them yet, they're defrosting for dinner tomorrow. I am anticipating enjoying them very much. Monday, Mr.Q went back to the butcher shop and bought a knife sharpener. All the knives are sharp for the first time in years, including my Swiss Army knife. I'm very happy, and have been slicing a lot of tomatoes with gleeful abandon.

Sunday, the Gentle Infidels opened for the incomparable Cara Luft. I love Cara's music, and she's a pretty swell person, too. I've missed her the last few times she's been through town, so I was really glad I got to the show this time. It was a great evening all around. I've been listening to her new CD, The Light Fantastic, non-stop since Sunday. It's great. Though I may have to curse her: it was first hearing her play a few years ago that finally motivated me to learn to play guitar. But I will never, ever be able to play like her. It's not fair!

But the album is awesome. And to make it better - I knew this, but didn't connect the dots, really, till after I had the CD in my hand - my good pal Anie did some of the background vocals on the album. Not surprisingly, she did a fine, fine job. (Listen to "Jerusalem" on Cara's MySpace site, and you'll see what I mean.) So I get to have warm fuzzies on her account, too, when I listen to the CD. (Anie also taught me to knit, coincidentally.) Anie just generally folks my world!

I started a new pair of socks, not to be revealed till they're a little further along, and I LOVE THEM! I'm living on the edge with these ones, too - nary a shade of blue or purple to be seen; they're red. Luscious!

There's a new chocolate shop in our neighbourhood that makes the best hot chocolate ever. Maybe. There's a knitting meet-up next week at another chocolate shop in Yaletown. I'm stoked to check it out and compare notes on the two.

Enough Wednesday rambling for the moment. I'm gonna go slice some more tomatoes before bed!

Hunter-gatherers

We haven't had any treats from Singe for a little while now...I guess Bagheera is feeling he needs to make up for the lack. We've been finding evidence of his favourite new snacks for a few days, but weren't sure it was him. Until last night. As we were sitting on the couch, watching a movie, he clambered in through the cat door (graceful he's not!) and stalked proudly into the living room, looking inordinately smug as he laid his offering of prey at our feet.

A moth.

The deeper mysteries of life

Imagine my confusion today when I came home from the grocery store and needed freezer bags. For their supposedly intended purpose of putting food in the freezer. And I realized I didn't have any. But not because I have a freezer full of food, oh no. Because they've all been used for yarn.

Weird, huh.

You know you're having fun when even your knees are sweating.

Last night, two of Mr.Q's bands were playing at the Fringe Club, as part of the after-show festivities for the opening of the Vancouver Fringe Frestival. I thought it might be fun to bring a posse out and have some fun. So I popped over to Jel's for a quick bite (read: another cheese orgy and a drink) and then we took our knitting to a friend's place. Sock and Scarf Ride the Bus:

We met up with some friends from work at one of their places, and had a few drinks and some snacks before heading down to Granville Island. One of the fun things about being a grown-up is putting a sophisticated, daring edge on the things once loved as a child. Like the old classic "ants on a log" snack. Subsitute dried cranberries for the usual raisins, use all-natural peanut butter, and you have a modern, edgy version: Fire Ants on a Log:


Eventually, we made our way down to the Fringe Club, in time to catch Mr.Q's first set, with the folk-rock trio The Gentle Infidels:


Which was great, if a bit intense and depressing. But really, it was great. A brief interlude, some good conversation over the appalling hip-hop house music, some very questionable porta-potties...and we got our eardrums blasted by Mr.Q's second band, The Feminists:



The Sock really enjoys the Feminists:

Jelaina enjoys The Feminists, blogging, and her wine:

We finagled a ride home at about 2:30 with some neigbours (Mr.Q's van being a little overloaded with gear...humph) in their Yaris. Which was the catalyst for a lot of pirate-speak, in preparation for International Talk Like a Pirate Day this month. (Taking our YARRRn home in the YARRRRRis. I'm not sure the driver thought it was quite as funny as we did. I can't imagine why.)

I think Mr.Q had more fun than anybody else last night, though. See? Sweaty knees!

Rickin' Frackin' BLARG!

Now, I have to confess that I may be one of the few people in the Lower Mainland who haven't seen "Sicko". So maybe I shouldn't say anything. But, Mr. Moore - while I'm not about to argue that the state of health care in the US is less-than-ideal...I'm not sure you should be holding Canada's system up as a model to aspire to. At least, not until you've tried to find yourself a GP. After experiencing that particular frustration, you may change your mind about how fab our system is (not!)up here.

I'm overdue for a physical, you see. And that's not the kind of thing I'm really comfortable just walking into any old clinic and having a stranger do for (to!) me. So I've been on the phone a bunch today trying to find a "real" doctor.

HAH!

Of the very few in reasonable proximity to me, only 3 are taking new patients. One is way the hell out in North Van, not really accessible by transit. One assists in surgery and has an erratic schedule. And her office doesn't open till 9:00, is closed for 2 hours at lunch, and is almost impossible for me to phone around my work schedule. Oh, and she'll do a physical for me as early as Friday, but I won't get to meet her first or anything. Might as well go back to the walk-in clinics in that case, except the big chain of 'em out here won't prescribe birth control, so I refuse to go on principle. (Have your personal morals, that's fine, but don't force them on me! And then expect me to pay for it through my premiums. Fuckers.)

So my last choice is one who is very conveniently located, but they can't see me for an initial appointment for almost 3 weeks (with a replacement, as the regular doc's on holiday) and can't book me for a physical for almost 3 weeks after that.

(I won't even get started on the number of doctors that are currently driving cabs or working as janitors in this city because they can't get licensed to practice in their new country.)

WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Happy Accidents

When we were gearing up for our cheese orgy the other night, Mr.Q decided he'd like some beer for the weekend too. "No problem!" says I. So off we headed to the liquor store. Where I had a little accident and sort of came home with the makings of a Lemon Drop martini. Or rather, since I had to buy full bottles and all, the makings of several Lemon Drop maritinis. (Oops!)

I'm really enjoying having those bottles at home. Really. A lot. Mmmmm!

(Also, I'm trying to cook dinner after having one...wheee!)

A first time for everything

Went downtown last night to hear some bands...I heard this before midnight, for the first time: "I'm tired, we can go whenever you're ready." This was unusual because it came from Mr.Q. Who has a hard time with the idea that a "night out" doesn't always have to mean all night out. Huh.

Meanwhile. The better part of a baguette was left over from our cheese frenzy the other night. They're really not good as day-old bread, and really not good as 2-day-old bread. What to do? A bread pudding, of course. With fresh-grated cinnamon, a rather large tablespoon or so of lemon zest, and a (very) generous splash of cointreau. Tres tasty!

Loving this long weekend thing...how 'bout you?

Recipe for the last long weekend of summer

No matter how many years I've been out of school, the Labour Day weekend always feels like the end of summer. After busy, busy weeks for both of us (Mr.Q has the blisters to prove it, poor guy!), I felt that we deserved a little something special and extravagant to start the weekend off right. Here's my recipe (add ingredients to taste; feel free to subsistitute where preferred) Preparation and cooking time varies.

Start with this, shaken-not-stirred:



If you don't have the proper shaker, this subsitution works well:

Add to taste:

And combine with:


Finally, gently fold in:


Let rest while satisfaction is achieved. Serve with your choice of a generous helping of good conversation, some sexy music, or a good movie. (I used "Woodstock" which worked well with the combination of flavours.)

(Please note that the last picture is askew not because I had too many martinis, but because I was trying to get the photo before Mr.Q inhaled the chocolate.)