Strong and FREE

Finally got Tony's photos off the camera -- here I am at the opening ceremonies, hoisting a cup of Team Canada Ravelympics' official drink — an apple cider (7% alcohol).


And wow, what a whirlwind weekend this has been. It went by in a flash, but here are some more photos of Vancouver during the Olympics!


The wet side of Vancouver showed up yesterday when we met Dotty and Markus for the RCMP musical ride (free, but they did ask for donations to the Right to Play charity). And no, Dotty and I aren't related, why do you ask?

Obligatory photo of sock-with-mounties.



Did you know that there's a maple leaf shaved into the rump of each horse, and the horses are specially bred for the mounties? Pretty cool.


Then today, Andrew and I headed downtown to check out some of the other free events. We caught a figure skating demo at Robson Square (the handpuppet is a kid's project from England -- her name is Ice Cream and she's travelling around the world to visit different countries).


Then we went to the LiveCity Yaletown celebration site. This is about the halfway point of the lineup before the site opened. Fortunately, it only took us about 20 minutes to get in once the gates opened (there was a security check/metal detector crossing at the gate).


There is one good thing about all these lineups — LOTS of knitting time on Andrew's socks! The first sock is already done, and I'm at the heel flap on the second sock.

Then we went off to the Sochi World area, by the Main Street SkyTrain station. The crowd there was too big so we didn't even bother to line up. We did go to the Saskatchewan pavilion ("only" a 30-minute lineup). And then we went for a walk on the waterfront. Across the water is the athletes' village. If you click on the photo, you'll see an enormous Canadian flag across the rightmost building. I couldn't spot the Australian banner, unfortunately.


And then there was this highlight for me. Surrounded by all the corporate advertising and lineups, there was a little bit of public art. People have gone down from the pathway and built inukshuks out of the broken-up concrete along the waterfront.


And of course Andrew had to contribute his piece as well. It was such an unexpected pleasure to find this little oasis of unexpected creativity and joy on our trip.


And finally, one last image of the whole family ...

32 horsepower

Dear Gladys,

We've finally thawed out. It took a plate of chicken feet and some shrimp dumplings (we stopped at T&T) and a large mug of hot chocolate when we got home.


The highlight of the day was definitely the RCMP musical ride. Those horses are beautiful (and some of those Mounties are mighty hunky). I uploaded the interesting pictures and two videos to Flickr.

While you were with the kids, you missed the part where Bionic (the handsome horse) grabbed the tie for my hoodie and tried to eat it. Serves me right for forgetting to bring carrots. It was a brand new coat and what a better way of breaking it in than getting some horse spit on it.

Hope you had a good time today. I did! See you Monday and maybe you can enable me into a little qiviut ;)

Love,
Dotty

True North

Hi everyone! Guess where we went today?

Here's a hint.
And another. (Downtown portion of the torch relay.)


And another. Only in Canada would you find a Coke-emblazoned Zamboni.


And another. (We ran into some Russian athletes.)


Yup, you guessed it!

We got there ridiculously early, in retrospect, so the security checkpoint was only about 10 minutes long. And yes, they did let my knitting needles through.

We were just a few rows from the top, in the nosebleed section, but it was still a great view.

These lovely boxes/drums were on our seats.

And yes, Dotty, there's your project bag with one of my Ravelympics projects in it! And yes, they did allow my yarn and needles through the security checkout.

Here's what was inside. A giant poncho (they asked everyone to wear white or light colours and then gave us ponchos anyways). A Canadian flag. A cool blue flashlight and candle. And a drumstick to use on the box/drum.

They had a crowd warmup, and then we counted down the last 5 minutes to the beginning of the ceremony.

I know you saw better video of the rest of the opening ceremonies on TV, so I'll just give you the shots of the Canadian team entering the building.

The boys barely made it to the SkyTrain before they lost all of their battery charge.

We'll see you in the morning, for the Mounties' musical ride!

let the games begin

I watched the Olympic torch as it made its way around Vancouver. It passed right in front of hubby's office building. He went out to watch and I took pictures of the event on our big screen TV. I got a picture of him:


Click to embiggen. He's on the left - I circled his head.

I've got all my Olympic gear ready to go.


And yes, that's a real cow bell. Scares the daylights out of Ricky when I shake it. LOL!


For the Ravelympics/Knitting Olympics, I am making Helleborus Yoke.




I don't know what to say about these two pictures except that Ricky is really attracted to wet wool.

sock ADD

I cannot seem to focus on a single sock. I don't know what's wrong with me. The socks are interesting and I love the patterns but there's no knitting love.

Here is my version of Outside In - now referred to as Inside Out:


I yanked the first version off the needles and cast on again with a whole bunch of modifications. I like this better but it seems to have stalled.

The same thing has happened with this sock:


I am using pattern 166 Doppelkette on page 104 of Maria Erlbacher's book. I converted it to an all-over pattern. Very pretty but again, it doesn't hold my attention.

Frustrated with nothing that I want to knit, I cast on a pair of No Purl Monkeys late Fri night and I've almost got the leg done (watching one movie & the Superbowl).


There's something about Monkey socks that make me knit like the wind. I cannot explain it. Whether it's the no purl or purl version, they just fly off the needles. No wonder that I've knit these socks 5 and half times (there was a half because I couldn't get the first sock over my heel).

And yes, those Monkeys are awfully loud. There's some neon pink mixed in with the bright bright red. It hurts my eyes if I stare at it too long. The yarn is Koigu KPPPM.

Off to wash some dishes - by hand. Blergh.

Day 6 and counting

Hello, my name is Dotty and I haven't used the dishwasher in 6 days. I hate washing dishes by hand. It's no fun at all. I called the parts people first thing Mon morning and because I accidentally let a tiny plastic ball go down the drain, I can't reassemble my dishwasher pump until Feb 25th (!!!!!). The repair kit containing the new impeller doesn't include this plastic ball which I have to pay an extra $5 for. I complained to my sister and she suggested that I either use disposable plates/utensils or let the cats lick everything clean. She is no help.

And some good news... After searching for 6 months, we've finally purchased a replacement for hubby's ancient & ailing '93 Jeep. It's a shiny Toyota Highlander complete with all the bells and whistles. Who knew that heated leather seats would become my best friend? And it came with bonus items like an orange crayon, 1.5 goldfish crackers, a bookmark, a 12" plastic ruler, a penny, and something squishy & brown that I could not identify (it looked organic). I got to drive it this week while my Subaru was in the shop. It feels like a cruise ship! Hubby threw his bike in the back today and he didn't even have to turn the front wheel up. Looks like we'll be able to pack the entire house into the back of it when we go camping this summer.


I made a little mitten this week. A friend is making a quilt and she's appliqued mitten shapes to the blocks. One of the colours in the quilt top is this soft green which matches some leftover yarn that I have. I offered to knit a mitten for her to use as a label (or to hold the label) on the back of the quilt. It's really cute!

The sun was out for a little bit and Ricky was doing his solar powered kitty thing.


I think he wants me to skritch his chin.

recipe for warm hands

Ta da! They're done and stored in my car.


Pattern: my own; see below for instructions
Yarn: Knit Picks Imagination; colour Pixie Dust; used 1 skein (50g; 219 yds) with only a few yards leftover
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Notes: Not a lot of yarn leftover. Perfect project for 50g of fingering yarn.

Since these fit a lot better than my first attempt at sock yarn mittens, I thought that I should write it all down so that I don't forget. The mitten & thumb tip decrease is adapted from the Round Toe in Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. This results in mittens that can be worn on either hand. As with any sock toe, feel free to substitute your own favourite mitten tip.

These instructions have NOT been test knit! You have been warned.

My gauge: 8 sts/inch on 2.5mm dpns

My mitten's finished size: 10.25" long from bottom of cuff to mitten tip (8" long excluding cuff), 8" diameter, thumb is 2.25" long. If you want to make your mittens larger, you'll need more than one skein (50g) of yarn.

Abbreviations
pm - place marker
sm - slip marker
m1 - make one (increase a stitch using your favourite method)

Cast on 64 sts. Join in the round placing marker to indicate the beg of the round. Knit in 2x2 rib until cuff measures 2.25" long.

Next Rnd: k31, pm, k2, pm, k31

Inc Rnd: k31, sm, m1, k2, m1, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k4, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k4, sm, k31
Inc Rnd: k31, sm, m1, k4, m1, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k6, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k6, sm, k31

Continue increasing one stitch after the first marker and one stitch before the second marker, every 3rd round until there are 22 sts between the two markers.

Next Rnd: k31, remove marker, cast on 2 sts using backward loop cast on, slip the next 22 sts onto some waste yarn, k31

Continue knitting in the round until mitten is 2.5" shorter than the desired length.

Dec Rnd: [k6, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 6 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k5, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 5 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k4, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 4 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k3, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 3 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k2, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 2 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k1, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next Rnd: knit
Dec Rnd: [k2tog]; repeat til end of round

Cut yarn and draw through the remaining 8 sts. Pull tightly.

Thumb

Place sts on waste yarn back onto your needles. Join yarn to the first stitch. Knit all the way around and pick up and knit 2 sts between the thumb and the palm. Place marker. You should have 24 sts on your needles. Knit in the round until thumb is 0.75" shorter than desired.

Next Rnd: [k2, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 2 Rnds: knit
Next Rnd: [k1, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next Rnd: knit
Next Rnd: [k2tog]; repeat til end of round

Cut yarn and draw through the remaining 6 sts. Pull tightly.

Weave in ends, blah blah, block. Show everyone in the house how lovely they look (even the cats).