Saturday, February 7, 2009

Question


The other night I was watching some skateboarders. I can't figure it out. How do they keep the board stuck to their feet when they fly through the air? Add Image

Thursday, February 5, 2009

For real!


Hey! The groundhog thing worked! Snow drops were spotted in Kitsilano this afternoon.

I wanted to get a shovel out and scrape away the foot of glacier on top of our patch. There were a bare spots around a tree and something green had made its way out of the ground. I could tell because the squirrels had chewed on it. Oh, well, I guess it's hard to find salad when the ground is covered in icy snow.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Feb 2

Can it be a happy Groundhog Day? The skies are cloudy and no sun will get through. I wonder if anyone has a marmot hole here that is observed for signs of shadow-watching. Observed or not, the lack of shadows indicates that we should be free of winter here soon.

Yes!!!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Firsts

Since it's the first day of the new month it's appropriate to share a couple of firsts. I always enjoy knitting socks but none more than when I don't choose the yarn. So, when I was given some yarn and a request for new socks, I could hardly wait to finish the knitting in hand and cast on.

But, wait...there's a little challenge here. The new yarn is worsted weight and I'm not sure how far it'll go in a pair of socks. So, enter the pattern for my first toe-up socks. And the first time I've used my full set of 5 wooden dp needles. These are very plain socks although I think the coloring in the yarn provides enough texture. It's very interesting when you look up close. Lots of different greens from bright blue-green to a yellow-green.


Of course, as I'm working my mind is whirring. The colors in the yarn made me think of a Chinese screen made from carved jadeite that I'd once seen.

That carving did make me wonder if maybe some kind of surface design wouldn't work well in this yarn. Next time, maybe. The socks are cuddly soft and knit up really quickly. As long as they fit well and feel good, I'll probably make them again.

I remember when I first saw the jadeite piece, it had such a vivid green in it that I was reminded of the dessert that was served at every fancy dinner I went to when I was graduating from high school. All the award dinners were put on by the various service groups and each one had a dinner. Probably they were all in the local hotel but maybe some were catered by the hotel folks. Whatever, the dessert was always vanilla ice-cream covered with a creme de menthe sauce. Very violently green. My father refused to eat it as he didn't hold with eating food that was dyed green. That included green jello and ,of course, no green beer!

So, thanks, Penny, for giving me an opportunity, some firsts and a few memories.

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