I bet you're wondering about that date…

Well… if you must know I am a self confessed bad boy addict. The more badly "the Hanger" behaves the more I like him. Give me a guy who's amoral, self-absorbed, distant and incapable of commitment and I'm all over him. "Search n' Rescue Guy" is none of those things so naturally, there was absolutely no chemestry at all. We had fun, he's a nice guy but… zip, zero, nothing , nadda. He's way too ernest and for lack of a better word… decent. And this is why I'll never re-marry. At least I'm not unrealistic. You hang out with a "Hanger" and you aren't talking serious relationship. I know it's fun and that's all.

There is part of me that would love to find someone I could spend the rest of my life with and the other part of me is just way to cynical, not to mention independant, impatient, hard hearted and unsympathetic. I told "the Hanger" that the reason I hang out with him despite his many obvious flaws is that we always have a great time and he doesn't annoy me. Most 40ish men do seriously annoy me, they whinge and whine and feel sorry for themselves and who the hell knows why! I want to say "Suck it Up SweetPea! Your life just isn't that bad." It makes me think of that song by DIdo, "See you when you're 40". The part that goes: "Not sad because you lost me but sad because you thought it was cool to be sad, you thought misery would help you stand apart from the crowd but had you walked past me tonight I wouldn't have picked you out, I wouldn't have picked you out."

See I am not all sweetness and light… there's this whole other black hearted, witch queen lurking under the surface and the longer I am on my own, the more I turn to the dark side. It ain't pretty.

Look WIPs and lots of 'em…

I think I may be incapable of finishing projects. I am half way done a stack of projects. The pretty blue wrap that I've been working on forever (that darn ball never seems to get any smaller) I found a sparkly blue brooch to wear with it when it's finally done. Violet's violet scarf (I was having problems with the eyelet stiches and ripped it out a couple of times.


My son's boarding hat (it seems like the project most likely to be finished in the near future).

My sister's first sock… I am in love with the colour shifts… my second sock. Heavy sigh… I'm not even casting on for the ribbon shell until I get a few of these done. I am enjoying all of these projects and wanting to start more. I almost went to M1 today but if I buy more yarn I'll just want to start more stuff. My problem is I get all inspired by new patterns and new yarn. Now I have even more patterns and more patterns not to mention yarn calling me but I must resist! Guess it's time to stop buying knitting books too. With the new job, I don't have as much time to knit as I did (darn earning a living for getting in the way of my knitting). I also took on a little freelance project that needs to be finished and sent to press.

And, tonight I have a date! And not with "the Hanger" either. This is like a real date. The hanger is a great guy, at least he always is to me, don't get me wrong but he is a total guy. shallow as they come (even he admits that). He disappears for days at a time, watches porn and plays video games 'til 2:00 in the morning when he doesn't have to work, then sleeps all day etc. He's a friend and we have fun paling around, but he's an unrepentant bad boy and I know way too many of his dark secrets. He cheated on his wife, he cheated on his live in girlfriend to quote one of the girls I work with he's… well he's "skeezy" no matter how much fun he is. No, this is a guy I met through someone at work. He likes kids, does volunteer work (firefighting and search and rescue), is outdoorsy etc. I'm not at all attracted to him but he asked me out and what the heck just because nice guys don't attract me doesn't mean I shouldn't give them a chance right? Right.

Just call me slumpy…

I haven't updated things for a while. I am still loving the new job. I finished training today have a couple of days off and am going to my permanent location on Tuesday. We had cupcakes from Crave to celebrate. Other than that, loving the nice weather we've been having lately. My garden needs a ton of work but at least there is lots in bloom right now so it's pretty. There are only so many things you can do, I work on it as and when I can.

We had a nice Mothers day, the boy made me a card and brought me toast and coffee in bed, we went to rugby and it was a great, and we barbecued burgers for dinner. Mother's Day always makes me so sad. I miss my Mom and usually spend the day (and the week before and the week after) depressed but pretending to be happy so my son won't think he's done something wrong.

I'm still working on a few knitting projects but it would be nice to post a picture of something that's finished and I haven't finished anything lately. My sister's socks are progressing nicely and I'm almost done a very simple wrap I started ages ago. I've swatched for my tank top but haven't started it yet. Knitting blahs must be catching, you read about someone else in a bit of a slump, next thing you know, you are too. Hope I don't pass it on.

I don't know, I'm trying to be upbeat but truth be told, It's been a rough month and I'm having trouble getting my head around some things. Good things have happened (like the job) and some not so good things are happening as well. Not to do with me directly but my family and it's just getting me down. I tend to go quiet when things are not so good, nobody likes a Gloomy Gus right? I got an e-mail from a very special old friend today. When ever he e-mails me to see if everything is OK, it's usually a sign that is isn't. Last week, my oldest girlfriend e-mailed to ask if I'd changed my e-mail. Guess it's time to pull up my socks (or go work on my socks, one of the two).

Guess I blew my yarn diet…

Well, not really. Amazing deals like 77% off don't really count do they? Also, there were two projects I promised myself as soon as I started working again. One was this Blue Sky Alpacas Ribbon Shell which I wanted to make from the moment I first laid eyes on it. The plan was to make it with Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk (it calls for either 6 hanks of that or 3 of the Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton I've been using so often of late) but I found this Misti Alpaca 83% Cotton/17% Silk blend. As a bonus, I only need 3 hanks of it which falls a little more in line with my budget. As much as I LOVE the organic cotton (wait until you see the boarding hats they are coming along) I was really craving some silk. With the Misti Alpaca, I'll still get some silk and the nice sheen I was looking for, plus I love this shade of summery blue.


The second project I've been longing to make is the Airy Scarf from Joelle Hoverson's "Last-Minute Knitted Gifts". I love the projects in her book but she picks some very pricey yarns to make them with. The pattern calls for 25 grams of Rowan "Kid Silk Haze" which I looked at but at nearly $19.95 for a 25 gram ball, Yikes! Instead, I found this lovely Crystal Palace "Kid Merino" in Painted Iris it's a 28% kid mohair/28% merino wool/44%micro nylon blend and at $7.95 for a 25 gram ball a little more in my range. It's exactly the same weight and I love the colour. When I'm done I will have a lovely violet scarf for a lovely girl named Violet… how appropriate is that?

Some Stash… Summer Reads… and… my house is worth what???

I feel guilty about this but the craft store near my house is closing in 4 days and everything is 70% off (plus I bought a membership there ages ago that gave me an additional 7% off). So today, I bought silk flowers and of course yarn and more patterns. Sock yarn in beige and a varigated lilac (that isn't showing up very well) and some yarn in an acrylic/alpaca/mohair blend for a shawl and ribbon yarn for a tank top. All together I spent less than $50 and came away with yarn for 2 large projects and 2 pairs of socks, Massive bouquets of silk flowers one of hydrangeas and the other of sunflowers and a smaller assortment of brightly coloured gerber daisies and a brooch to pin the shawl I'm currently working on. I'd rather not have got the deals and have the store remain open but what can you do?


Also, real estate in Calgary is officially INSANE. There is an open house next door to me today, the house is the same age and size as mine, it's on the same size lot except it's a corner lot and they have a basement suite. The asking price… $519,000. It's an unrenovated post war 2 bedroom bungalow with a basement suite (see pic)!! I just about keeled over. When I got my house, it was well under $100,000. Holy, whack me over the head Batman!

I was out with a friend today and told her, I am convinced my mother's spirit is slowly taking me over. My Mom was class personified. She had impeccable good taste. She loved reading, knitting, home decor and gardening. I have always loved reading but only more lately become possessed with knitting, gardening and home decor. It seems these days like she's watching over me and smiling.


I have been in the same book group since my son was three-years-old. The ladies in the group are a diverse, wonderful bunch. Every June, we pick books for the following year so that we all have a nice selection to read over the Summer. Anyway, it is almost Summer and everyone likes to have a good read for at the beach… or the cottage… or their own back yard… where ever the Summer takes them so I thought I'd share some of my personal favourites, no trash here, these are all well crafted books. First of all: "The Republic of Love" by Carol Shields. This is a lovely little romance about two people, a woman who can't commit and a man who commits all too easily. It's just a nice story about love over the age of 35 and because it's Carol Shields, it's very well written. "About a Boy" by Nick Hornby, speaks volumes to me about the harsh realities of being a single Mom and the shallowness of men who want to remain little boys forever. My dear friend "The Hanger" is Will to a Tee--he's so shallow it's almost charming--I said almost. I love the movie too. For sheer fun, I suggest "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde. Not only is it totally whacked (in a Douglas Adams meets Penguin literary classics meets Nancy Drew kind of way) you'll love it even more if you've read some of the classics like "Jane Eyre" but it's fun even if you haven't. If you like the first one (and I loved it), there are three more in the series. I also recently read "Small Island" by Andrea Levy, I'm planning to recommend it for my book group. It's set in Post war Britain and looks at the several thousand Jamaican men who joined the RAF and what happens to one couple when they emigrate to England post war. It won the White bread and Orange prizes for fiction. Finally there is one of my all time favourites "The English Patient" by Michael Ondaatje. Heavier than the rest but a stunningly beautiful book, winner of the Governor General's Award and the Booker Prize that was turned into an equally beautiful movie. I could go on and on… but I'll leave it there, a few suggestions for those warm days ahead. Oh, and while I reference Amazon for my books, this is my favourite place to buy them.

Socks 'n Animals…

I'm a little bit sock obsessed at the moment. You see, I've picked up a couple of new books I was just going to get the one Sensational Knitted Socks but I've heard good things about Knitting Vintage Socks and Amazon has a deal on ordering both. I've decided socks are a good thing for me, mostly because I am on an insanely tight budget and they will keep me happily occupied for days and days. I am loving both the yarns I am working with, I posted about the first pair of socks here and now I am making a pair for my sister using Trekking XXL which I've heard good things about. So far, it's great. I love the way the colour slowly tansitions, you barely notice the change from one colour to the next. It's all soft pastels and springlike without being too bright. I am making the body of the sock in a seed stich ribbing so it's a bit different. I thought the K3/p1 alternating with K All ribbing might result in a slightly more fitted sock. I love working with 5 dpns (as opposed to 4). I still like the socks I'm making for myself but the first one is not quite as fitted as I'd like. I went down one needle size for the next pair and that combined with a bit of ribbing should make for a nice fit.


I also couldn't resist a rare pic of my two beasts together. They avoid each other (or at least Ginger does her best to avoid Billy) unless Billy is feeling cruel, then she lays in wait for Ginger and takes a swipe at her from a top a chair or some other suitable hiding spot when Ginger least expects it. It was worse when I had 2 cats, they were sisters and delighted in setting traps so that there was no way Ginger could get past them without getting close enough to one or the other for a good swat. I am sure Billy was the instigator of that little game, her tattoo reads 666 and the vet didn't give it to her for nothin'!

The boy is at outdoor school this week and I'm working evenings 'til he gets back so I am enjoying a beautiful day. If only the city workers digging up the road outside my house would go away.