5 And A Beagle

Here she is, the newly re-named Isabella. Waiting patiently amongst the nicknacks for an invite to the cafe for an espresso and maybe a biscotti
And here she is outside the Cafe Parolini, braving a few Spring sprinkles. Modeling her new scarf, a 4 stitch i-cord made from recycled Nepalese saris.

Tuesday after a long weekend here in Canada. Three days off work and what did I do? I spent 9 hours over 2 days at the high school, gardening. I take a look at my own garden and its screaming for attention. But what can you do when you’ve got a quota of volunteer hours and the deadline to meet it is drawing near….you coerce your son and his friend to come and spend some quality time with you, a few brooms, a leaf blower and a couple of garden hoes. Fun times!

Turns out though, that we brought a little something home with us when we left the school grounds on Saturday. Have I mentioned how much I dislike spiders? I think I have. Well, I must have brushed against a spider ‘nest’ as we were packing up to leave and hundreds of Charlotte’s newly sprung babies were flying like trapeze artists from my legs, arms and purse.

Good thing my son was driving the car, because if it had have been me behind the wheel, heaven knows what I would have done in my panic to GET OUT OF THE CAR. My son pulled over after I said once and then yelled a second time… you need to pull over… NOW!!!!!! While I’m brushing the little beggars off my arms and legs, my son casually says, “You might want to get the ones off your backside.” WHAT? Which was followed quickly by, “Don’t look at me, I’m not brushing them off.”

After dancing a strange little jig while brushing off every part of my body, I got back in the car. I was still picking out the stragglers and flicking them out the window as we drove home. ICK.

Back at the school for the next go round on Monday, I made certain to stay away from any shrubs.

And here is a ‘web’ I won’t mind having on my shoulders. Frill is progressing, however I’m not as fast at knitting mine as those spider babies are at spinning theirs.

  

And what's this? A little acupuncture treatment for mother's day?


Saturday was the first of another round of Teddy Bear Picnics with Barbara Irwin Shynkaryk. This time it's Theodora. Here she is....legs only... waiting to be stuffed and assembled. I'm never certain as I'm making the bears I've made so far, who they will be for. Last year, the idea came to me around the time I was stitching the paw pads on, to embroider a 'W' and give it to my brother for his 50th. And as I saw how "easy" it was to make with Barbara's wonderful guidance, I decided to purchase a second kit to make one for 'W's girlfriend 'C', and give it to her for her 40th.

On Saturday, as I was stitching the paw pad for Theodora, I realized this was the perfect gift for little Marta in Italy. Attach an applique of the maple leaf and there you go...a lovely keepsake for baby from her cousins over in Canada. And of course, just like last year, I decided to pick up another kit. We just found out the wife of another cousin is now expecting.

Seems like these teddy bears like to come in pairs.

4 years ago we visited the beautiful city of Cologne. We arrived via train from Paris and as was proving to be the order of the day in our experiences with the rail travel portion of our trip, it was not without incident. Prior to leaving Vancouver, we saw this ‘statue’ in the airport.
I had a feeling it would be a close representation of any one of the 5 of us on this trip.

Mid morning on a Saturday, we arrived at Gare d’Nord in Paris with minimal time to spare to take the next possible train that would transport us in the least amount of time, through the fewest countries to our next destination – Cologne. The train we needed to board was leaving in 2 MINUTES. Like O.J. Simpson in a Hertz commercial, we sprinted down the line while a conductor urged us on. We found the car we were to board and huffing and puffing, #2 turns and picks up #5 and places her on the train. As he turns to help #3 and #4 get on board, the doors start closing and the train starts moving. WITH ONLY OUR 9 YEAR OLD ON BOARD! I let out a scream; husband plucks panicked child from the moving train and off it goes without us. Two hours later and a little calmer, we board the next Eurorail and somewhere around dinnertime on Saturday, we arrive.


First stop, the tourist bureau and we secure accommodations in this great hotel right on the river. The Hotel St Martin on Frankenwerft. Top floor, fantastic view, our own bathroom, comes with breakfast and a separate room for the kids – all for 75 euro a night. We had 3 wonderful days in the city wandering around the old and new parts of town.

Beer in the gardens below our room, dinner in the plaza beside the river, cruising down the Rhine, Danish ice-cream, Mass at the cathedral on Sunday and a great workout to wear off the ice-cream as we climbed the many steps to the top of the spire.




So what does all of this have to do with knitting? Well, yesterday I received a beautiful pair of socks from Alexandra from – you guessed it – Köln. And what should be on one of the postcards accompanying the socks but a photo of the area we stayed in.

The socks are fantastic! The craftsmanship is absolutely amazing. I wish I could turn a heal so perfectly.
I didn’t realize until #5 pointed it out, that stitched to the side of each sock was a delicate little edelweiss. How perfect!! Thank you so much Alexandra, they are just beautiful! I love the colours and the style and they will always remind me of your city and the fun our family had there.


Typical Miles, he's more interested in playing catch than in admiring the socks.

A little parcel arrived in the mail today, but I'm too tired to post about it now. I don't know why it is that the more you want to do something, the less likely the computers and camera will cooperate. It's taken over two hours just to get the pictures downloaded, transferred to the correct computer (the one with picasa) and it's past my bedtime. Darn technology! Tomorrow - - - the grand unveiling. Tonight - - -zzzzz sleep.

Okay, just one peak  Now, it's off to bed, really!

A new month...a new order from Elann. I love ordering from this company. Their selection is great, the prices are very reasonable and the delivery is so fast, I can hardly see the point of driving the 35km round trip to the nearest well stocked yarn shop. If I can wait 2 business days, I can have my pick from their wide variety of yarns.
Pictured here: Pacific Blue and Summer Sky Austermann Egyptian Cotton 50g each $3 cdn
Regia sock yarn 50g each $3.90 cdn
What's missing from the empty band?

That would be one skein of Summer Sky. I couldn't wait, I had to cast on for this wrap. I've done it in separate pieces before. The frill and the body. But now it's time for the complete project.

I know I should finish the second fairisle sock, but I just couldn't resist. Kinda like the box of chocolates that you know you shouldn't dip into. But really - when they look so tasty, how can you not?