And She Knits Too!

Come to think of it, I can't name three

Rick Mercer's post today presented an interesting challenge:

You could take a hundred bucks, you could stand on a any street corner in Canada, offer people five bucks if they can name three cabinet ministers off the top of their head – double their money if they can name the minister of health. At the end of the day you'd still have enough money for dinner and a movie.

When I first saw it I thought, "I can do that!"  I'm up on current events, I listen to CBC radio every morning and evening, I glance at the newspaper (my Post-doc work which involved reading 11 papers a day for 6 months killed any desire I have to read the paper).  But guess what, I can't do it.

I'm rather ashamed really.  Wait, I can do it... (It was really bothering me).

Tony Clement (Health, I think)

Stockwell Day (Security something or other or something like that)

Jim Flaherty (Finance Minister)

Weirdly, I have that guy, the one from Nova Scotia in my head.  The one who dated Belinda Stronach...He's a cabinet minister, but for the life of me I can't think of his name.  Sure it would make four and I'm being a keener, but it's bugging me.

Let me go Google and see if I'm right.

I'll be back...

***

(5 minutes later)

Okay I'm back.  I went to this site (the first one that comes up when I google "parliament of Canada cabinet ministers").  It doesn't work.  Did Rick Mercer break the server?  Or is Stephen Harper up to something?

This one does work.

Peter McKay is the guy I couldn't remember and he's Minister of Defense.

Stockwell Day is Minister of Public Safety

I got Jim Flaherty right (all those years in Mike Harris' fucked up Ontario make him hard to forget)

And woohoo for me, Tony Clement is the Minister of Health.  (It's not good for Canada as a whole, but I'm feeling good about my political awareness).

So where's my 15 bucks?

Look before it's gone

Motive and opportunity ran into each other during the kids' skating lesson and I snapped an outdoor picture of Roam-in-progress.

Then Fate swept in and let me know that I casted on 4 fewer sts than I needed.  I can analyze  volumes of data, yet cannot count to 55.

There is no photo of me ripping it out.  Fuck.

I'm almost back to the 12cm mark where I noticed this and I'm glad it was the left front and not the back.

In other news, there's still time to vote for the Canadian Blog awards.  I'm a finalist in two categories.

Best Personal Blog

Best Activities Blog

Also, my pal (and nominator) has a blog in the Best Business Blog--Canadian Silver Bug.  Check it out. 

10 Things I've Done

Rosemary tagged me for an interesting meme.  I'm to list ten things I have done that others likely have not.  This is really difficult--I'm a pretty run of the mill girl.

1. I worked in a chicken processing plant.  The chickens looked like whole ones from the grocery store when they got to the plant, I just made them into smaller pieces and boxed them.  This was a good "stay in school" motivator.

2. I attended a UN conference for University students in Seoul, South Korea and stayed in the Olympic residences.

3.  I read the complete Anne of Green Gables series ever summer for 10 years.  It's nearly time to introduce it to Emma.

4. I lobbied then Finance Minister Paul Martin about a tax issue for students.  And it led to the change we wanted.

5. I was elected Vice-President Student Issues of the Lakehead University Student Union.  I won by 3 votes (of about 3000).

6. I was the Chair of the National Graduate Council of the Canadian Federation of Students.

7.  I broke my nose playing Rugby.

8.  I sued someone in Small Claims Court and won (well we settled, but I got money!)

9. I had the Chicken Pox when I was 27 (I don't recommend it).

10. My appendix ruptured and I survived.  (I also don't recommend this).

I'm not going to tag anyone because I found this so hard.  But if you want to play, I would love to read your list

Our Day in Court

When we bought our house last year there was a teeny snag.  The new-ish fridge that was there when we signed the deal, was not there when it was time to close; an *old* year old fridge was there instead.  We later discovered it was manufactured in 1982, so it was a really old fridge.  One that froze our veggies in the crisper and apparently produces 400lbs of CO2 a year; it made a Godzilla sized carbon footprint.

We tried to deal with this before the closing, but the seller's wouldn't budge.  We were mighty miffed at the time since we didn't get what we bought and it was an expense we didn't want to consider.  Our lawyer suggested we go through small claims court and after some humming and hawing, we filed a claim last July.

We had our settlement conference yesterday.  I had prepared my case, thought through what I needed to say, collected my evidence (hooray for internet real estate listing with photos!) and was ready to fight.  Frankly, I was also doing this because I wanted to hold the seller's accountable, so it was also a wee exercise in revenge for making our first house purchase not so smooth. Knitter/lawyer Georgiana was very helpful too.  She helped me get to the meat of the issues and prepare and not over think things. 

We're not supposed to disclose what happened, but I will say the defendents acted as I expected and the Judge was good, fair and efficient.  I got hooked on the one thing I knew would be a problem--the age of the original fridge and the depreciated value (it's hard to document the age of something you don't have), but in the end we settled for a reasonable amount of money (about half the price of a new fridge) and I got a few other things I wanted:

We were validated in our claim (i.e. we were right)

We made them squirm a bit and got to tell them we weren't happy (i.e. a bit of revenge).

We learned some things for the next time we bought a house.

Do yourself a favour and record the serial numbers of the important appliances in your purchase agreement.  If they disappear you'll be able to prove that they were changed and the age of the appliances.  Take photos too.  I gather this kind of switcharoo happens more than you would think and while appliances are minimal in the price of a house (especially in Toronto), you want what you paid for and forking out unanticipated cash sucks.

Now we're going to go buy a new fridge.  I've been holding on to the clunker until this was over in case I needed it for some reason.  But now we can send it to the landfill where it belongs.

I have my eye on something like this:

Black (I don't like Stainless, and where the hell do you put all your notes?  They're not magnetic), freezer on the bottom, 22 cubic feet (we've suffered with tiny fridges long enough) and pretty plain (I can make ice and get water from the tap).  If any of you have any fridge recommendations, let me know, I'm new to this.

I should also say that if you've been wronged in some way (contractors, real estate, someone didn't pay you for contract work) this small claims court thing is pretty good.  It's not very expensive, you can sue for up to $10,000 and you don't need a lawyer.  I'm really not litigious, but since the sellers didn't come to us and work things out with the fridge, it was nice to have this option.

Aw, Shucks...

I've made the finals for both categories in the Canadian Blog Awards!  Thanks so much for your votes. 

Could you go and vote again?  You don't have to be Canadian, just a fan (or someone I gave money or yarn to).

Best Personal Blog

Best Activities Blog

And if you're looking for some good reads check out the other finalists.  I've found some more new reads. 

I'll also try to be careful out there after I discovered this:

The snappy folks at xkcd (funny cartoons for geeky types like me) started this and it's changing google algorithms everywhere! (Google and see!). 

Funnier than lots of the stuff out there

I haven't been following the US election that closely, except to listen to the radio reports (CBC Radio One is a constant in my house--even my kids have their clock radios set to 99.1) and read up on how mysogyny runs wild in response to Hilary's campaign. 

It's amazing how much a woman running for President makes sexism show.  You can follow it all on Feministing if you're so inclined.

This one is on the fence for me, only because it makes me laugh and doesn't call Hilary a bitch.

Not sure if it's real, but it is pretty funny.  Though the whole Monica thing was totally bizarre to me (and most other Canadians).

Phew.

You paid attention during 100% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

Okay, I need to confess that I couldn't remember how to figure out the area of a triangle, but I can google the answer and find out, which I see as a mark of intelligence.  I did the math myself.  I don't think you need to know all the answers, just where to look for the answers. 

Monday Morning: Make My Day

Thanks to everyone for giving me a whole list of new blogs to visit.  Sometimes my brain needs a break at work and it *kills* me when I've gone through my blogroll and I want more.  I have lots of new voices to explore now.

And even bigger thanks to Suzanne who gave me this:

I love it!  Thanks.  I have been a bit light on the blogging since I started my new job and I've really missed it.  I'm hoping to maintain my more regular blogging schedule from now on since I always have something to say and I really like to say it.

And now, as part of my award, I get to pass the award on to ten bloggers who make my day. According to the instructions, I am supposed to: "Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

Here's my ten in no particular order:

1. Everybody Loves Saturday Night

2. Dogs Steal Yarn

3. In Yarn Veritas

4. Rose Kim Knits (I *so* look forward to Thursdays)

5. Yarn A G0-Go

6. Claudia's Blog

7. Brainy Lady

8. Crafty Grrrrl

9. Cosmic Pluto (designer extraordinaire)

10. Enchanting Juno

It was hard to decide who to give these two since I love all my reads.  But today, these are it--thanks for blogging good stuff.

Why Alternate?

Right now I'm totally into knitting Roam.  It is a pattern that my Briar Rose Fourth of July yarn was waiting for and the results thus far are gorgeous.  Laura is a fantastic designer and I love the little touches she adds to the shaping that give it that extra style.  And Chris over at Briar Rose is on my short list of favourite handpaints.  Keri just made the Central Park Hoodie using her yarn and now I covet that as well.  Chris' use of colour is beguiling to me--I just want to see how things will turn out while I'm knitting.  Keri pinned what keeps me knitting--I'm all about colour. 

Another thing to like about my yarn is the 500 yard put ups.  That makes for few ends and some big balls (sorry I have AC/DC in my head).

Notice anything?  Yup, they look mighty different, but they're from the same dyelot.  I don't know anything about handpainting yarn so I don't know why it turns out this way, but one thing is clear from seeing these side by side: alternating skeins is a must since one ball reads red and the other says green to me.

It does make this project not so portable, since these balls are about the size of a large grapefruit.  But the results are very pleasing.

And there's no pooling, another peril of handpaints.  I bet alternating two different skeins of yarns with harmonious colours could be very interesting.  Something I might try on a pair of socks sometime.

Shout Out!

I want to add some new blogs to my reading list.  Can you all tell which blog is your favourite and why? (And don't say mine, because even though that will make me smile and love you dearly, that isn't the point).  I have a list of what I read regularly on the left so you can see what I'm into.  I will warn you I have an aversion to excessive cat blogging.

Friday!  (I've been saying that all day; I was up early.)

Three Plus Socks

originally uploaded by Dr. Steph.

I have tried to maintain a three projects plus socks WIP basket since I discovered the virtual knitting community. Before that I was a buy the yarn you need to knit the project, knit the project, then buy more yarn person. I've gone from being a good girl like Doris Day to a woman in an Amy Winehouse song.

But right now I'm still playing by my rules.  And this is the sock. It's for Emma and uses some very nice yarns. The cuffs, toes and heels uses a lovely purple Shelridge Farms soft touch ultra merino and the rest is Oak Grove Sock in a pretty oceany colour way. I bought them both a Rhinebeck. For kids, one skein of sock yarn isn't quite enough, but two is way to much, so I decided to do the co-ordination thing since I can make purple heels and toes on another sock and get more mileage out of single skeins.

And besides, the colours look great together. Oak Grove is up there on my favourite sock yarn list; it has a shine to it that is very nice and it makes beautiful socks. It reminds me of Rhinebeck, which is also rather nice.

Now to figure out how to get a seat on the subway so I can work on them more regularly. This overcrowding on the TTC SUCKS bigtime, but I'll save my rants about public transit funding for another time and instead stay in the sock yarn happy place.

I know it's not the Handmaid's Tale, but it sure feels that way

I was going to write about knitting today.  I even took pictures, but then this showed up in my inbox (I read a number of Higher Ed publications) and it warranted a post.

Questions Delay Creationist Master’s Degrees

It seems the Institute for Creation Research (who I will not acknowledge with a link) is attempting to get accreditation in Texas to grant degrees in creationism (which I will not acknowledge with capitalization). 

This stuff scares the crap out of me.  Isn't education supposed to be about learning to think critically and apply that knowledge to discover things about the world?  Sure, that may be a bit pollyanna-ish but my feeling is that deciding a priori that there is a god and he (because it's a he) made the world in seven days and that he created humans in fully human form from the start goes against current scientific wisdom and is the complete opposite of critical thinking.

This blog lays out the problems with this kind of thinking here.  It is the most succinct explanation I've come across and it really worries me that this sort of  "vertical thinking" is taking hold, not just in America, but many places in the world. 

Of course, my atheism is also showing, but I haven't seen anything good coming from organized religion historically or now.  Having it become the theoretical foundation for a graduate degree (rather than something to study as theology or philosophy) will only make those tendencies worse.

And, just to bug.  Did you vote for my blog?  You don't need to be Canadian.  Thanks!

Nine

Happy Birthday to my sweet Emma.  Today my eldest child is NINE.  I can hardly believe it.  I remember her baby days so clearly, the toddler tantrums (she was very good at these, there was sometimes even head banging), the pre-school chatter, the learnin to ride a bike, and bang, now she's in grade 3, a smart, beautiful, capable, charming and pretty funny kid of nine.

She's got pretty nice friends too.  Nineteen of them were at her birthday party and it was a very pleasurable experience.  Having it in a giant play place with a climbing structure doesn't hurt since I just needed to watch them run around, but all the same they listened when we spoke to them, were polite and didn't throw any pizza.

I didn't even need to drink a F(estive) A(dult) B(everage) when it was all over. 

And they were extremely generous with the gifts.  Emma asked for books and a donation to the foodbank.  They brought lots of both.

   

I'm particularly fond of the Daring Book for Girls.  It teaches her everything from how to put up her hair with a pencil to how to change a tire.  It's now on my "to get" list for other girl birthday parties.  Like her parents, Emma enjoys reference books.

She also rather liked the 84 gel pens since art and drawing are her favourite thing.  They add a little sparkle to the sparkle she already brings to everything she does.

Woohoo! I've been nominated

To whomever nominated me for a Canadian Blog Award, thanks!  I'm actually in two categories: Best Personal Blog and Best Activity Blog.  I suspect I would never beat the Yarn Harlot in Best Activity Blog (and frankly, her blog is funnier than mine) but I would love your vote all the same.

I promise I'll post more frequently.  I really miss the time I take to blog (and read blogs).  While Ravelry is great for the hard-core knitting stuff, there's a personal touch to blogs that I like much more.  And judging from the grammatical horror that was the first draft of a conference abstract I'm working on, I need to flex my writing muscles more regularly.

Thanks for your vote!

I need candles and earplugs

The two last things on the list and I'll be ready to confront about 20 kids aged 4-10 for Emma's birthday party tonight.  Thankfully it's not at my house.

If you don't hear from me for a few days, please lay a yarn path from Playground Paradise to the nearest knitter-friendly bar.

Knitterly Week

It's been a busy re-entry into work/life here at And She Knits Too.  Monday's return to school and work and the routine went pretty well, probably because poor Craig was home sick but able to get dinner on the table early.  Everyone is a bit tired though and it seems like there is a billion things going on; Brownies and Beavers, curling bonspiels, work, housework, new exercise routines (those holiday pounds--yuck) and a bunch of Knitterly events.

Last night I hung out at the Purple Purl and it was packed.  There was even a crew from Space TV doing a bit on technology and knitting.  It gave me a chance to do a few inches on Roam. 

Tonight there are meet-ups at the Spotted Dick and Lettuce Knit which I will probably forgo in order to catch up on laundry and bake cupcakes for Emma's birthday party tomorrow night.  We decided to do the big party at a great (cheap) play place with 20 screaming and crazy children.  I must remember to buy some beer to drink once it's all over.  I swore I would never do this, but I have learned that all resolutions before children are void--we all say things that seem so smart before we're parents that seem so dumb when we're actually parenting.

Friday is Drunken Knitters and Saturday is the opening of In the Loop (formerly Alterknits).  I'll probably go Friday and want to go Saturday, but I should also do some work on Knitty and a conference abstract.  I'm feeling the grind starting again and it makes me a bit harried.  I'm not sure how it gets so busy; it just does.  Perhaps I just need to dwell on it less (or ignore the laundry and the state of my house).   And, realize that none of us can do it all and have everyone pare down a bit and just relax.

Substitute Pictures

I'm turning into a really bad blogger.  Mostly because I blog so infrequently, and when I do blog I don't even have photos.

Case in point: Yesterday I had a bunch of friends over for an afternoon Stitch'n'Bitch.  It was a fun luxury for me to have a weekday afternoon to play with friends; many of whom have flexible jobs so they can do this when they want, a few like me who have school holidays and some who decided to play hooky (hee hee).  We ate goodies like Elizabeth's scones with Jacquie's hot chocolate, compared fibers, watched Denny spin pretty things, witnessed Keri's (yes, that Keri) seaming gone wrong and had a nice knitty afternoon.  Amy had some cool tools, another Keri had nice yarn, Kim showed off her new gorgeous hand dyed, handspun scarf, Petra is getting the knitting bug and lovely thirteen year old Allison kept my kids busy playing. 

I made good progress on my second Roam sleeve and didn't take a single f-ing picture.

So here are some substitutes:

Roam sleeves.  I love the colour so much I immediately casted on for the back.  I was planning on getting back to the Earth Stripe Wrap, but I'm liking this more.

Grey Mist.  6 long rounds until I split the body and sleeves.  Yum.

And my plan for the children if they don't get along. 

A two-week holiday may be too long for them.  I'm trying to be a good parent and cut back on the tv and PS2, but right now, I suspect that's all that will keep them from bickering.  They got a bunch of toys for Christmas but don't want to play with any of them.   All my suggestions to "I'm bored" are met with resistance.  Maybe I can convince them to play outside, or lock them in a closet.

Hallelujah, they went outside.  There is no yelling.  Back to Roam.