And She Knits Too!

Now in brilliant colour!

The camera thing finally got to me. I am not the best photographer, nor have I had much desire to learn to be a better one (though I do regret missing Jacquie and Michelle's course on how to photograph my knitting), but I do like to have at least some close to the correct colour, not blurry photos of my knitting and the camera phone wasn't cutting it.

Claudia's comment gave me the push I needed. On her excellent advice, I spoke with Keri (who also just bought a new camera), I read some reviews, considered what I wanted and started some online research.

At first, I thought I just wanted a new version of my Canon digital elph. It served me well these last five years and I liked that I could just put it in my pocket and go. However, the lithium ion batteries were expensive and you can't just pop to a 7-11 and buy some--I wanted a camera that took AA batteries this time. I also wanted something with a more refined flash. My current camera tended to over do it and everything was too bright or whited out.

And, I have a romantic notion about people who can take nice photos. I admire their skill. I admire how they can see the world through a camera lens.

I don't just read Michelle's blog because she's a fun person who I like a bunch, but because her photos are always so lovely. Same with Cara and Claudia. I know they spend time with their cameras and editing photos afterward, and I may not really have the time to do that, but I want to learn more about taking pictures, since I do it almost every day. So I needed a camera with a bit more adjustability to do that. Not full DSLR adjustability, but more than compact point and shoot.

Getting another Canon seemed like a good idea because I was used to the interface, and they received good reviews in a number of places. In the end, I bought one a bit more jazzy than I expected because the price was right. It's a Canon Powershot a720 (just like Claudia's).

I used it for the demon spawn (aka moth) photo yesterday, some stash and some silly photos of the kids.

It was pouring today so I haven't tested it outside or anything, but it satisfies my needs and desires and I have a few weeks to practice with it before I put it to the real test in Banff.

Knitterly Weekend

Phew, what a weekend. I started with the Spring Knitter's Frolic, where I did buy almost enough hempathy to make Hip In Hemp (I need to find the dark brown, probably at Romni) and I won a fabulous skein of fuschia lace weight donated by the Sweet Sheep--thanks Michelle! I got to hang with Michelle from In Yarn Veritas for the afternoon too. Lots of fun.

Then I did some work around the house and after dinner we were off to the More Big Girl Knits book launch at Lettuce Knit. There were yummy cupcakes, loads of knitters, including Amy and Jillian the co-authors extraordinaire and Shannon Okey was up for a visit too. I tried on a bunch of the garments, won a nifty bag, and gah gahed over how everything looked amazing on Keri and had a few beers before we dashed off to see The Forbidden Kingdom (which while not extra fantastic, it was still pretty good).

I forgot to add a photo of the bag.  It's similar to this one.  They're made from rice bags and each one is different. Totally fun and fishy.

 

I managed to have a nice long sleep before spending the day close to home, watching Xander play ball hockey, doing more yard work (deck demolition, garage cleaning), supervising homework and scaling mount laundry. I did spend some time on the vino coat too--I'm an inch and a bit away from the arm hole decreases. Laura smartly pointed out that a Vino front is smaller than a Vino back, so if I can get this done, I'll be back to more portable knitting again. This is good because the next few days look a tad cold for biking and I'll need some TTC knitting.

Mission: Frolic Skirt

Tomorrow is the DKC's annual Spring Knitter's Frolic and it's always a fun fibre day.  I generally don't buy much at this event, though I love to fondle the yarns, get ideas, see my knitter pals and just get out with "my people". 

This year, I'm going with a mission in mind (though it's not a mission that I must fulfill or anything).  I want to knit a skirt.  Currently three patterns are up for consideration.

1. Hip in Hemp.  I wanted to make this the moment I saw the pattern, and still do.  I bought some hempathy in a bunch of colours to try it out and I dug out the yarn again yesterday. 

There isn't enough for the skirt, but I got a better sense of the colours.  I catch myself wondering if this is the skirt for me--it may be better as a kid skirt (Off to peek on Ravelry).  Emma would certainly like one, though I suspect she won't wear it as much as she professes.  I may use the yarn later to make a larger version of another of Gudrun's great designs that I know Emma would wear.

2. Lovely Leaf Skirt.  This one is really nice.  Hemp would make a nice skirt.  I think a chocolate brown version would be great.

3. Wave Skirt.  I like this one too.  In a solid colour.  Like Laura's.  I think the gauge is a bit bigger than I want (I think skirts should be in dk or lighter) but if the right yarn comes along at the Frolic, this may be the one.  Maybe a louet linen blend.

How did I fall in love with a $325 coat?

Natalia for Gsus, originally uploaded by greencurry24.

(peak at more photos here: http://takemorephotos.com/2007/10/29/gsus-on-the-runway/ you need to scroll a bit).

A shop I walk by every day has this coat in the window. It's a cut like a basic black trenchcoat but has this nifty flower print on it.

I like flowers.

When I stood back to look at it, I noticed that some of the flowers form skulls.

I like skulls.

I love this coat. I google but don't find much (the brand is Gsus sindustries--unknown to me since I'm hardly a fashionista) . Then I call the store and ask how much.

$325.

Shoot.

It would have looked crappy on me anyway.

Maybe it'll go on sale.

Close

Something ate this week.  I'm glad tomorrow is Friday, but wonder where the heck the rest of the week went.

I meant to blog about this a couple of days ago...

Tuesday night I went to the first knit night at the newly opened Purple Purl.  It's a great shop.  Jennifer and Miko are lovely proprieters, who make a great cappucino. 

The yarn selection is good; another ball of malabrigo in velvet grape followed me home. 

The knitters are great (of course they are).  And it's very close to home. 

I live at the top of the street it's on, the store is at the bottom.  It's less than 2km from my house.

That's either great or not so great, depending on how if you're thinking about this socially or monetarily.

I'm rather pleased.

Getting my Ravelry shirts in the mail made the day great.

Sick Day

Emma is home sick and I'm home with her and happy for it.  I'm not happy she's unwell, poor thing, but having another day at home, an unplanned day at home is a great opportunity to catch up on things.

I spent the weekend catching up on the other stuff of life, buying the kids winter boots (if you haven't done this, go now--all the sizes are gone, I mean gone), getting the coat thing sorted out, laundry groceries, birthday parties, stair stripping (7 done, 7 to go) and I don't know what else, but it made me tired when I plopped on the couch at 10pm to watch Myth Busters and then Robot Chicken. 

About the coats.  I didn't get just one, I got two.  Having my mom to shop with really helped.  She's a great shopper and enabler.  She bought me the dressier fall or not-so-cold-day winter coat

(mine is Brown, all the info is here).  The hood comes off and makes it a snazzy fall coat that's perfect for right now.  It is also the perfect coat for the Earth Stripe Wrap.  Thanks Mom!

I bought the super down filled puffy coat (Eddie Bauer, good basic stuff). 

I got style and substance (but you knew that about me already ;) ).

I also finished Sherbie.  Well, it was almost finished in the wee hours before I left for Rhinebeck but I didn't like it so I didn't bring it (good thing, it was tropical that weekend).  I actually still have one side of the zipper to backstitch (I do an overcast on the edges and then back stitch the middle) but since I have time now, I figured some FO pictures were in order.

It's warm, technically well knitted and okay, but I don't really love it.  It looks great on my mother in law who is larger and more curvy than me since the ribs hug her the right way.  And it looks great on my very tiny mother, since it's oversized on her.  But on me, I'm feeling meh.

I know that all over rib doesn't suit me, so I'm not sure why I made it since it makes me look all over ribbed.  Adding horizontal stripes doesn't help the matter.

 

But it is warm and looks good on other people so if I don't keep it, someone has a nice Christmas present.

Finally Fall, time for more shoes

Fall has finally arrived.  It was cool and crisp this morning and I got to wear a skirt with tights and my favourite Le Canadienne boots along with Poppy and my daisy shawl.  While I don't really like very cold weather, I love Fall.  Love it. 

The change of seasons also brings along a change of footwear.  Time to break out the hand knits socks and shoes instead of sandals.  I need a few pairs of shoes that are both comfortable and snazzy enough for working in a professional but slightly more casual office (we are in a university so it's not all suits and pumps here).  I rediscovered Danskos this summer (realizing I wear a 41, not a 40 made them a whole lot more comfortable), and it's time for non-sandal versions.

These ones are on their way (and taking their sweet time--I swear the border must be bogged down because of the high Canadian dollar--people here are doing serious cross-border shopping). (Aren't they fantastic?!)

I also need a black pair and I want to go the clog route.  Probably not as officey as they should be, but I have to walk my kids to school (2 km) and walk from the subway another kilometer each way so I need something that can facilitate a 6km walk.  I'm debating between the plain but popular Professional:

And the kicky cute Marcelle.   

I love Mary Janes.  Some of the reviews on Zappos say the seams on these ones chaffe.  Please feel free to weigh in and give me your thoughts.  I was hoping to try some on while in Rhinebeck, but it seems the local shops that sell Danskos don't carry the Marcelle's so I may have to buy through Zappos (sent to my hotel) and take a chance.   Or if you know a place in the Rhinebeck/Kingston/Saugerties area that sells these shoes let me know. 

The choices in Canada are really limited and Danskos are about 50% more here so I'm taking advantage of the at-par dollar.  The rest of the kidsilk haze I need to do the earth stripe wrap and the Rowan 42 magazine also fell into my shopping cart.   I'm going to be more of a browser than a shopper at Rhinebeck.

Bike for Cruisin'

I rode my bike to work for the first time today.  It's a bit late in the riding season for me, but my current storage situation (very old garage) and my own sluggishness kept me back. 

While on my bike this morning I wondered why I waited so long.  The exercise and general feeling of being on a bike was so much nicer than being in a crammed subway car.

I like my 12 year old Concorde Kudu mountain bike, but it's time for a new bike better suited to my commute and almost-37-year-old-skirt-wearing body.

Yesterday I browsed some bikes and rather liked this one:

It's a Trek 7000 and it has a nice upright style and is sorta funky.  It has 21 speeds which is probably more than I need and skinny road tires which is what I'm looking for.  There are some better models of this bike with more suspension (in the front forks) and better components but I doubt I need all that either.

While I liked this bike, I think I want something snazzier.  People buy cars for looks, and I see no problem doing the same for my vehicle.  I'm thinking I would like more of a cruiser style like one of these:

(Trek Wasabi 3 speed--so retro)

Giant Simple 7 speed

Trek Calypso 7 speed

I'm narrowing down what I want: a few speeds, fenders and a chain guard would be nice (though aren't mandatory), the ability to have a rear carrier of some kind (currently I use a milk crate which is functional, though not pretty), a more relaxed ride.

I would love to hear what other bikers have to say about their bikes, particular those with women's cruisers or hybrids.  There are so many options, it's hard to decide.

Wanties

I know this might be taking the sheep thing too far, but I adore this:

See a close-up here.

It only comes in kiddie sizes but I think it might fit me.  Except it really is a kid's helmet in style.  I saw it in the local toy store.  She's even knitting!

New shoes! New shoes!

Lookie, I got my Keen Calistoga's

They are perfect.  The fit is just right for my super-wide feet.  No blisters or rubs even without socks.  If all the styles are like this, I found my shoe company.  Next will be a brown pair.  But we're into prime Birkie/Naot wearing season so I can wait until fall.