New toys

Well, one new toy and a hand-me-down. Hey! I'm not proud.

I now have a flat-screen monitor. Been wanting one for a long time and my daughter had one going to the recycling. I am so much more worthy than that. And I have the new web cam hooked up - again thanks to daughter. Now, that IS fun. I can make corny videos - or really serious teaching ones. Political speeches, jokes, tai chi demos...the opportunities are endless. But, really, I can see practical applications for sharing knitting or rug hooking info/techniques. A lot easier to show someone how to do some things than just to talk about it. I'll have to figure out how to post videos, though. Maybe I should wait until I'm asked?

And, I have Skype, too. How much better can life be? I haven't really had an actual phone call so I'm not too sure how it'll work. But, it seems simple enough to fake...my kind of techno-wizardry.
Big things coming to this blog - all depending on abilities of this human mind.

More shoes, please

Barbies are always losing their shoes. Maybe they think shoes grow on trees. I have a whole tray full of shoes and boots to complete the costumes of the restored Barbies. I have lots of clothes: tops and bottoms, ball gowns and swimsuits. I can make their hair look fashionable even though it may be matted and frizzed. But I spend hours pawing through the shoe stock. Yesterday, I needed white heels - or pink, if no white - and up came 8 white shoes. Not one matched another. I had 5 pink shoes and not one matched. What do these young women do with the other shoe? Do they leave it at Ken's house and cab it home with just one shoe? Do they imagine that Ken will come calling round with the missing shoe and propose a lifetime of bliss?

But I can't just throw out all the singles. When new donations of dolls arrive there are always stray shoes. And, sometimes, one or two match some singles I have. Somehow, it all works out eventually. Maybe that's what Barbie is hoping for, too.

Learning to knit

I was reading a blogger's account of learning to knit. And why. It seemed like something that I should remember. But I don't. I know that when I was about 15, I saw a little Carnaby Street doll (remember the Mod 60's?) in a British women's magazine of my mother's and I wanted to make it. I didn't have to learn to knit to make it but needed a refresher in garter stitch. Fortunately, that was exactly what I knew how to do. I vaguely remember making an afghan square of garter stitch for Brownies. Looking at the doll today - of course, I still have it! - there was actually a fair bit of construction involved. And striping.

I think it's pretty typical that I fell into knitting because I wanted to make a doll. I was never one for playing dolls at all. Since I had younger siblings, there wasn't much interest in playing with plastic babies when I had the real thing. Nor was there much thrill to being a pretend mama - the real thing did not seem that exciting. So, dolls propelled me to learn to sew and, later, to knit. I loved making their clothes. Still do.

So, my Mod in a brown pea-coat led me to sweaters. The first was a gold pullover - I can still visualize the Sirdar pattern - made with yarn that I bought in Banff during a summer job. My friends were most impressed and began ordering sweaters. In those days, no one seemed to knit with any size bigger than 4 mm. It took a lo-ong time to knit a sweater. One memorable effort was emerald green cardi (very big color in our high school at the time) in all-over popcorn stitch with a brown crocheted trim. And that's when I learned to crochet.

I was still knitting when I went to UBC but things had slowed down a lot. One of the last request sweaters was an Aran style pullover in appropriate aran-weight yarn. The needles couldn't have been more than 3.5 mm and I remember struggling with the cabling which I had never done before. It was so tight and I thought I'd never finish it. Then and there, I vowed never to make another. A vow I completely forgot when my boyfriend (and future husband) asked for one a few years later.

None of these experiences ever put me off. The challenges kept me interested, I think, and I just sort of accepted each one as it presented itself. I know I never scrutinized anyone's pattern and said 'no, I can't do that'. And I'm still learning...the challenges are still exciting.

Midsummer

Last night, our seniors' group enjoyed a Midsummer Fest dinner. The dinner was authentic Scandinavian fare of meatballs, potatoes and red cabbage. It was fabulous! And all made by one person - for almost 60 diners.

Then we were treated to an hour of mostly energetic folk dancing from the Scandinavian Dancers of Vancouver. All were in various Scandinavian country costumes - their little dog, too. The dancing was accompanied by two fiddles and an accordion. There were waltzes, schottisches, quadrilles and a kind of line dance. So many of the dances looked familiar, especially the schottische. I remember learning it in Grade 8 as part of gym class. And we actually did this dance at our school dances. Different times.
There were a couple of dances that were termed 'ancient dances' and were very prayerful. Slower, minor key music and simpler moves contributed to the contemplative feeling. It was a little like looking through a window to a faraway time when Midsummer was a joyous occasion with reverence as a solid foundation.
We all got a chance to participate in a simple circle dance which got more and more complicated as the music played on. From the smiles on people's faces, I think they were having fun. Even the dog got to dance a few turns. He looked quite pleased with it all.

The Scandinavian Midsummer Festival goes on all weekend in Burnaby...we're planning to take in some of the events tomorrow. Should be fun.