nightshade's blog

I just finished reading "Left to Tell" by Immaculee Ilibagiza (with Steve Erwin). The tag line on the cover is "Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust", which tells you everything you need to know when you pick it up.

This is not the kind of book I normally read, I wouldn't pick it out for myself off the shelf. One of my bosses read it, was amazed and inspired by the story, and loaned it to me.

If I didn't know for a fact that Immaculee is a real person, I would find it almost unbelievable that the events described in the book actually happened. It is a very difficult book to read, the absolute horror of the genocide is laid out in very plain and clear language. There is no dancing around the issues.

There were certainly times in the book that I felt pangs of guilt. Guilt for not doing more, or even enough, with my life. Guilt for not making full use of whatever skills I have to help others.

I also found it extremely inspiring. Inspiring feels like the wrong word... uplifting might be better, which seems a bit odd given the context. While I, myself, am not a Catholic (or religious at all for that matter), that doesn't diminish my belief in the idea and the power of faith. Faith is not reserved only for those who belong to organized religions. Everyone has faith in them somewhere, whether it's faith in their family, the company they work for, their favourite sports team, whatever it may be. It's still faith. Harnessing and really embracing your faith is the tricky part.

I honestly don't know what my reaction would be to a situation like the one Immaculee found herself in, and I am extremely grateful that I haven't had to find out. I am awed by what she was able to do for others during the genocide and after it ended, as well as what she was able to accomplish within herself.

I'm glad I read this book.

I guess I still haven't gotten the hang of the whole "disciplined blogger" thing. Oddly, when these little hiatuses happen, it's almost like the first post back has to be something big. And the longer the absence, the bigger it should be. I have no idea why I wait or what I was waiting for. Strange.

Anyway, I have a couple of things that I want to mention, one of which is sort of time sensitive...

Thing the first:

The South March Highlands in Kanata are in danger of being clear cut and developed.

Blog here: Save Ottawa's South March Highlands

Petition here: Save South March Highlands Old-Growth Forest

If you're so inclined, please do sign the petition and pass it along. The developers are intending to fence the area off this week before beginning to cut, so time is of the essence. The story with this land is sort of convoluted, so I'll let you read about it on the blog. From what I understand the essence is that the developer was supposed to fill 89 conditions in a contract that have to do with preserving the environment, but they're trying to steamroll ahead (literally) without filling them and the city doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot to stop them (as a whole, I mean. Certain councilors are doing a lot.).

Thing the second:

I am really impressed with the Care2 site that the above petition is hosted at. I did a little bit of research and while they are a for-profit company, they are a Certified B Corporation (which sounds more interesting the more I read about it). I am seriously considering registering an account, it looks like it could be a really amazing thing.

Thing the third:

I apparently have a weakness for Japanese textiles. Most recently, I've fallen in love with Yubinuki (thimbles). The Ma Mercerie blog has some fabulous examples. I tried to buy a book about them over the weekend, but e-bay or paypall wouldn't let me. I sense a lot of searching in my future, but oh to be able to stitch those! It would so be worth it.

That's all for now!

This is the last "catch up" project post for x-mas 2009! I'm so glad to be caught up with all of these, they were a fair amount of work (making the items I mean, not the posts). Thankfully, it will also be the end of these underlit pics with the sheet backdrop (I was in a rush and couldn't wait for daylight).

I made this blanket for my newest nephew. I used 4 balls worth of Bernat Softee Baby in colour 31744 (such imaginative colour names these yarn companies come up with, no?) which is white flecked with green and blue and a 4.25mm crochet hook. I did a 2 round single-crochet boarder in white to finish it off. The blanket measures 40" x 32". I used a pattern I found on the Project Linus site (the one called "Crocheted Blanket").


I donated this second blanket to Project Linus (via my local Wool-tyme store) on behalf of my nephew's family.

This blanket used the same basic pattern as the one above, but with a 3 round double-crochet boarder. The main yarn is Bernat Baby Sport in colour 163124 (white with bits of yellow, pink, blue, and green).

The blankets collected by Project Linus are distributed to hospitalized and traumatized children. I believe the ones collected by the Ottawa Wool-tyme store go to The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. I think doing a donation as part of an x-mas present is a good way to go to add a bit more meaning to the holidays. This was the first time I'd done it, and I would like to do so again.

As promised, here are the particulars for the scarves I made for my family for x-mas 2009 (click for larger pics). There are 2 for women and 2 for men. All use 1x1 ribbing and were made using 4.25mm needles and King Cole Mirage yarn.

The scarf shown at the left uses colours 860 (shades of brown) and 866 (light brown and blue). It measures 5" x 70" blocked, not including fringe.





This one uses colours 861 (shades of blue) and 866 (light brown and blue). It measures 5" x 70" blocked, not including fringe.

I happened to find this yarn on sale sometime in October at the Kanata Yarn Forward store and immediately decided that I would make these scarves for x-mas. It was the perfect solution what with my not having a job at the time and all.





This is a detail of the knotted fringe I did for the women's scarves.

Needless to say, I have had my fill of 1x1 ribbed scarves for the moment. While I do love striping Noro, I don't think I will be doing so again for a while. At least, not until I can buy it without worrying about the price.





The men's scarves both used colours 860 (shades of brown) and 863 (shades of gray). One measured 6" x 72" and the other was 8" x 58". There is a large difference in the height of the recipients, so I adjusted the scarf sizes accordingly.

The lovely backdrop is the sheet that I used to lay the knitting on to dry after giving it all a soak.




As much as I have no desire to make anymore 1x1 ribbed scarves for a while, I do love how the King Cole colours stripe together.

Next Wednesday's post will feature the last of my x-mas 2009 knitting. As I type that (I wrote this post ahead of time and queued it), I'm realizing that I haven't completed any knitting projects since x-mas because since then I've just been starting them. Ah startitus, how much fun you give me.

I made these 2 hats for my older nephew for x-mas 2009. They are a basic 2x2 ribbed hat in the round on 4.25mm needles. The yarn is King Cole Mirage in colours 861 and 860 (blue and brown, respectively). You could probably get 3 hats at least out of one ball of this yarn, but I wanted him to have a choice in colours.

I made scarves for the rest of this part of my family (details to come in next week's project post) but I figured that a toddler wouldn't take too kindly to having something tied around his neck, so he got hats. I also might have been running out of time before having to mail the package of gifts for x-mas, but that was purely coincidence, I assure you. (ravelry details)

As part of my x-mas knitting for 2009 (yes, I know it's February 2010, but I'm trying to catch up with recent completed projects and I still consider this recent) I made up a bunch of dishcloths. This was my first time making dishcloths and now that I've gotten used to using them, it won't be my last. They are so much nicer to use than those thin store-bought ones.

I used one 340g ball of Bernat cotton with 5.5mm needles and got 12 dishcloths. I also got a sore wrist because I didn't know about cotton on plastic knitting needles, but now that I have a pair of metal ones it's all better.

In the future, I would like to be able to make these with organic cotton, but we'll see how the budget is doing. As always, more details on my ravelry page.

Wednesdays are for projects now, I have decided. This hat was a request from bf because he wanted a warm winter hat that would cover his ears while still allowing him to use headphones. I went searching online and found the Tychus pattern on knitty.com.

I didn't make any changes to the pattern. I used 2 strands each of Lang Tosca in a red/brown colourway and Patons Classic Wool Merino in chocolate brown. It knit up really quickly on 5.5mm needles. The softness of the Lang yarn hid the slight roughness of the Patons yarn, and I'm told it is a very warm hat. That was the goal, seeing as how it can get rather chilly here in Ottawa this time of year. (More details can be found on my ravelry page.)

If I were going to knit this pattern for bf again, I would probably rely on the negative ease a bit more and make it a bit smaller. He says that now that it's had a bit of wear, the hat is almost loose on him.

I'm back! The blog (and pretty much all other online activity) hiatus was not planned, and not intentional. I now know that it was partly due to medical reasons that resulted in my having absolutely no energy, but that's being addressed so no excuses!

I've started to draft all the posts I had been thinking about, so hopefully I will be able to build up a bit of a queue and maybe, just maybe, achieve some sort of regular schedule around here.

I've put some thought into what I want to get out of this little piece of the net and I've got a clearer vision of where I'd like to go with it. I hope at least a few of you will tag along for the journey, it might just prove to be interesting.

Lots has happened since June, but I'll just summarize since I'm not really sure how interesting it all is to anyone but me: I found a new job, sold my car, got a bus pass, got my hair cut shorter than it's been in a long time, started eating fish again, and may have to give up gluten. All caught up?

And yes, the caps are back. If I want to use this space as a place to try and get better at writing (and I do), I figured proper punctuation would be a good start.

Here's to not being defunct!

i'm still alive (but there is no cake), still trying to figure out how to get the government to send me back to school, still poking away at various craft projects (photos will appear here eventually), and still wrestling with the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?".

i don't have much more to say at the moment, i just wanted to poke in to say hi... hi!

back in january i became a statistic: one of the many layoffs in canada (hence the blog silence). i've been job hunting and looking into going back to school, arranging ei payments, and generally trying to figure out what to do next.

i've also had a fair bit of knitting time. just before i got the news, i received my invite for a ravelry account and i've now started putting it to use. i've just finished putting up the details for the projects i've completed since i got the account, and i wanted to share them here as well:


this scarf was knit with 2 skeins of noro silk garden sock yarn (2 skeins of s258, started at different points in the colour sequence) that were given to me by bf's parents for x-mas.

i love the weight of the scarf, it's warm without being heavy or bulky.

(ravelry link)


i've lost the ball bands for the yarn i used in this scarf, so i don't know what the colour numbers are but it was made with noro silk garden (2 skeins each of 2 colourways).

the silk content in this yarn adds a nice feel to the scarf, it softened up a lot after blocking.

(ravelry link)


the ball bands for this one have wandered off as well, but it is also noro silk garden (1 skein each of 2 colourways).

i might give this to my nephew for x-mas, not sure yet.

(ravelry link)

these are my last 3 striped scarves. my addiction has been satisfied for the time being, and i've moved on to other kinds of projects:



mittens! in the round! my first time!

issues: gaps around the thumb, and grafting.

(ravelry link)



second attempt, child's size. figured out the grafting, still have thumb gaps.

(ravelry link)

i've got a couple more projects that need blocking, they'll appear here when that happens.

"i believe there are two ways of writing novels. one is mine, making a sort of musical comedy without music and ignoring real life altogether; the other is going right deep down into life and not caring a damn." - p. g. wodehouse

i have always loved british comedy (and pretty much anything else i've seen come out of the u.k) so much so that i occasionally wonder if i wasn't supposed to be born there but somehow wound up in canada instead. don't get me wrong, there's lots about canada i love and i am proud to be canadian. i just have a strong weakness for things brit and older british authors are no exception. their work, not the authors themselves... you know what i mean.

i just finished reading 'hot water' by p. g. wodehouse, it was my first wodehouse book that didn't involve bertie & jeeves or blandings castle. true to wodehouse's style, this story could be turned into a wonderfully comedic caper movie and still have today's audiences laughing. it's got all the ingredients: romance, assumed identities, jewels, whimsy, and a varied cast of characters. it's almost like a modernized shakesperian comedy. i did find it a bit difficult to get into at first, but it picked up after the first few chapters. i think that was largely due to the number of characters and trying to keep them straight in my head until the various plots were established.

lately i've been very much enjoying wodehouse and e. f. benson (mapp & lucia!). if anyone has any other authors in the same vein to recommend, let me know!

the nuttiness of my x-mas holiday trip has passed and i'm settling back in to my routine. new year's is just around the corner and with it comes that confusing (at least for me) sense of having a clean slate to start on. it's confusing for me because even though it feels like a fresh start, it's really just time for a new calendar. i have my new year's resolutions (which can basically be summed up as "spend less time on the couch") but i also still have the effects of last year to deal with, mentally process, and learn from (as do we all). i guess i just get more contemplative around this time of year.

anyway, my trip for x-mas was good. i took the train from ottawa to whitby where my sis and her family live. our parents stayed there as well and we all drove down to st. catharines for our family x-mas eve dinner. the whole trip involved seeing family i haven't seen in far too long, eating too much (part of the whole "get off the couch" sentiment), and a lot of fun with my nephew (he's 2, and full of energy). all in all it was lots of fun condensed into just a few days.

there's still some handmade activity happening: i've been doing some knitting (scarves mostly but hopefully mitts soon), i crocheted snowflakes for x-mas presents (which i'm going to try and snap a few pics of before the last sets are wrapped and given), and i started a temari ball in the fall but had to put it down to start on x-mas presents (we'll see how it turns out).

now that i've gotten caught up in my blog reading, there's a few things i'd like to pass on:

jen stark is an artist that uses cut paper and lots of colour. i had seen a few of her pieces on various blogs, but now that i've seen her site i want to learn more. i love colour and paper and combining the two. wonderful inspiration!

these ceramic cup tiles are genius! it would be so fun to get a bunch of them together to use instead of a cork board.

these necklaces over at sulu appeal to me immensely for some reason. i love the simplicity and the little pop of colour with the beaded sections.

web ecoist and web urbanist have more amazing photography collections (but really, when do they not? such great eye candy sites).

did you know that canadians own the second most computers per person? i think myke has something to do with that

i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season (whichever holiday you celebrate) and i wish everyone peace and luck in the coming year!

nothing overly exciting has been happening around here of late. i'm in the planning stages of getting my x-mas in order (traval arrangments, making gifts, etc.) and winter is attempting to take hold of ottawa, but none of that seems blog-worthy at this point. i thought i would put together some fun links for the weekend, since there's always something going on in the land of the internets:

i discovered this week that one of my favourite brit people is on twitter: stephen fry! if you enjoy mr. fry, brit quiz shows, or trivia you might also want to check out qi (my favourite episode so far is the electricity-themed one).

this is probably the funniest protest musical i've ever seen! actually, i think it might be the only protest musical i've ever seen, but that doesn't make it any less great.

being someone who lives in ottawa, and works all of 2 blocks away from parliament hill, the mess that has been created in those hallowed halls is difficult for me to ignore. the yarn harlot took a break from knit blogging this week to explain the ins and outs of what is going on. (since that post the governor general has decided to prorogue parliament until january.)

i am echoing wil wheaton's "presented without comment" sentiment with regards to this video.

i've mentioned these striped scarves before. jared is by no means the first person to do them, but his photos were what pushed me over the edge and made me want to try making my own.

now another one of my favourite knit bloggers (the yarn harlot) has fallen, and fallen hard. it's nice to know that even a new york times bestselling author can be taken hostage by the stripes.

one of my striped scarves with noro's silk garden yarn is off the needles, finished, and blocked (i have a second one on the needles). i also did one with noro's sock yarn which is finished and blocked. i haven't managed to take any pics of them yet, but i have worn them both. i really must work on the pics part of this process.

i know i've been feeling somewhat disconnected lately, but this is ridiculous. what happened to october?

i've been happily trundling along somehow convinced that it's still august or september and i have lots of time to crochet snowflakes for x-mas presents. that changed when i walked into the office this morning and was greeted by halloween decorations. i'm certainly not panicking just yet, there's still time. it's just a bit of a jolt to realize that i've simply been letting time pass without doing anything constructive with it (or even noticing it, for that matter). i'm thinking that my to-do lists need to make a comeback in a big way.

on a completely unrelated topic, this is an awsome contest! i'm not going to enter because i doubt the odds would be in my favour, but i love the idea.