Something else stolen from facebook...

At least two of my facebook friends have posted this. I'm posting mine in my blog instead, cause it's another attempt at upping my post count without having to be original or witty. I cut and pasted this from Sarah, and 3 of her first 6 answers are the same as mine, so that lets me be even lazier!

1.) Where did you begin year 2007?
Lara and Mark's house.

2) What was your status by Valentine's Day?
Same as it's been since 1995.

3) Were you in school anytime this year?
No. Well, we did go visit some schools to promote SRP, but that was fun.

4) How did you earn your money?
Youth Services Librarian.

5) Did you have to go to the hospital?
Nope. Except to visit people who'd just had babies.

6) Did you have any encounters with the police?
Nope. Well, they did drop into the library rather a lot this year, and some of the staff seem to have a thing for men in uniform. Poor police officers.

7) Where did you go on vacation?
Edinburgh, Dunfermline, Manchester, Loughborough, York, Cockermouth, Corsock, and back to Dunfermline. It was fun.

8) What did you purchase that was over $1000?
Three plane tickets, but they were only $500 each, so maybe they don't count. Although I did buy them all at once, and still have the credit card balance to prove it.

9) Did you know anybody who got married?
Some work acquaintances, but I think that's it. We're into the all our friends are getting a separation or a divorce age bracket. Rapidly approaching the all our friends are getting remarried age bracket.

10) Did you know anybody who passed away?
My Great Aunt.

12) Did you move anywhere?
Nope.

14) What concerts/shows did you go to?
Thomas the Tank Engine Live on stage. I think that's it.

15) Are you registered to vote?
Absolutely. If I don't vote, then I can't complain about the government, and I want to be able to complain!

16) Who did you want to win Big Brother?
Can honestly say I've never watched it.

17) Where do you live now?
Same place as last year, Halifax.

18) Describe your birthday.
Can't remember. I think I was at home. Did we do anything? I don't think we did.

19) What's one thing you thought you'd never do but did in 2007?
Magic loop knitting. And I didn't like it much, so maybe I was right about thinking I'd never do it.

20) What has been your favorite moment?
Of 2007? The surprise on The Boy's face when we went into the train station in Loughborough and he saw Thomas in real life. Classic.

21) What's something you learned ?
Well, since you can't teach an old dog new tricks, I probably didn't learn much! Although I made a mean ham and lentil soup on Sunday, which is something new for me.

22.) Any new additions to your family?
No.

23.) What was your best month?
October--UK, family and friends, and Thomas the Tank Engine. It was a blast.

24.) What music will you remember 2007 by?
Probably not by any music. Haven't been able to put a date to a song since my university days.

25) Who has been your best drinking buddy?
Not much of a drinker.

26) Made new friends?
Yes, those KOL ladies who just joined this year.

27) Best NEW friend?
Not sure, really.

28) Favorite Night out?
Tuesdays at KOL. Probably one of the ones with things on people's heads, and anatomical terms being shouted loudly. Or maybe the one where we went to see the Harlot and had beer with her. Although, come to think of it, I'm not sure I actually had a beer. Oh wait, I did, and the shock of paying $8 for a glass of draught (It wasn't even bottled!! It was draught!!) nearly killed me.

29) Someone you liked?
Yes.

30) have you kissed the one from question 29?
Yes, but then I should hope I have since he's been the one from question 29 since the mid 90s!

31) kiss any one of the same sex?
No.

33) something you look forward to before 2008?
Before 2008? Week off from work. Playdate with Nat and Liam. Getting to spend a Thursday morning with Mrs. Yes, Cate of the no Sheep, and Charlene and Miss R.

34) where will you start 2008?
Well, since we have NO invitations yet, probably at home with House Man and The Boy.

Traditional Christmas Cookies

CanKNITian had this up on her facebook. Very good recipe, tried and true, tested by many over the years. Enjoy, and let me know how yours turn out.

Traditional Christmas Cookies (Very Good)
Ingredients:

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp of lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Smirnoff Vodka

Sample the Smirnoff to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Smirnoff again, to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer... Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar... Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the Smirnoff is still OK, try another cup .. just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit, Pick the frigging fruit off floor...Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the Smirnoff to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who giveshz a sheet. Check the Smirnoff. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Smirnoff and make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.

CHERRY MISTMAS

A meme...

Swiped from Fiona. Because I really need to waste time like this, a meme is a lazy way to come up with a blog post, and I know you all really, really, really want to know these random things about me!

Do you have any pets?
Angus and Kitty. Angus is a cat. Believe it or not, so is Kitty.

What color shirt are you wearing?
White t-shirt with denim "Public Libraries" shirt over it. It's cold, I'm thinking about adding another layer or two.

Name three things that are physically close to you
Kitty (yes, she's a cat), my Wallace and Gromit address book, a stack of 4 empty Quality Street tins (I was going to freecycle them, but haven't got around to it yet)

What is the last book you read?
Wait, let me check my LibraryThing. Looks like the last book I added was Tanglewreck by Jeanette Winterson which, come to think of it, is the one I put down before I came to the PC to check my e-mail then got sucked into this meme thing.

Are you or were you a good student?
I was. I sat in the front row until I took Physics in third year university, and suddenly I got to be one of the crowd in the back of the classroom who always seemed to be having fun. Would I be a good student if I went back to school now? Probably not.

What's your favorite sport?
To watch? Or to take part in? Walking is nice.

Do you enjoy sleeping late?
To be honest, no, it gives me a headache. I'd like to sleep til 7:30 without being woken up by The Boy though.

What's the weather like right now?
Dark, cold, there's snow on the ground, but not too much.

Who tells the best jokes?
Not The Boy. His only joke goes like this:
Knock knock?
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Banana Shell, that's who!
followed by hysterical (or perhaps it's maniacal?) laughter.

What was the last thing you dreamed about?
I can't remember. I'm usually woken up suddenly by The Boy, so tend to forget what I'm dreaming about.

Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?
Yes. And yes again. Twice. But at least I hit or was hit by other moving objects, not things like next door's house, or the tree down the driveway. Or the ticket booth at Atlantic Motorsport Park. Those were all House Man's. That poor ticket booth never stood a chance.

Do you believe in karma?
Not sure.

Do you believe in luck?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Do you like your eggs scrambled or sunny side up?
Over hard, actually.

Do you collect anything? If so, what?
Not really. Not as a collector. I do have lots of books, but I wouldn't call them a collection. I have lots of yarn too, but again, not really a collection.

Are you proud of yourself?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Are you reliable?
Most of the time, yes.

Have you ever given money to a bum?
Occasionally. Have also handed over tins of cat food to a bum with a dog, and in Haiti have handed over clothes and toys to children begging.

What's your favorite food?
Fresh baked bread.

Have you ever had a secret admirer?
Yes, once, I don't even want to go there, it was completely out of the blue and still weirds me out to think about it.

Do you like the smell of gasoline?
I used to when I was little, til I put my nose right up against the gasoline hose when someone (mum or dad probably) was filling the car and took a big sniff. Now, well, no, I have to say, I really, really do not like the smell of gasoline. Or petrol as I would have called it at the time.

Do you like to draw?
No. And you wouldn't like me to draw either!

What's your favorite invention?
Knitting needles?

Is your room messy?
No, but the rest of my house is.

What do you like better: oranges or apples?
Apples

Do you give in easily?
Usually, yes, unless it involves getting my own way on something that I really want.

Are you a good guesser?
I'm good at predicting plot twists in movies and books. Terminator? Totally saw that coming.

Can you read other people's expressions?
People that I know I can. Strangers, well, it's more hit or miss.

Are you a bully?
I don't think so, but someone did once call me a bully.

Do you have a job?
Yes, and most days I really enjoy it.

What time did you wake up this morning?
3:33 am, then 6:21 am, then 7:00 am. The first two were The Boy, the third one was the alarm clock.

What did you eat for breakfast this morning?
Frosted Flakes.

When was the last time you showered?
Probably 7:11 am (alarm clock plus 9 minutes on the snooze button, and two minutes to get upstairs and turn the water on!).

What do you plan on doing tomorrow?
Vacation day, take The Boy to the doctor. Unless I'm sick, in which case, send The Boy to the doctor with House Man and stay home and feel sorry for myself.

What's your favorite day of the week and why?
Tuesday. KOL!

Do you have any nicknames?
Well, you can call me Al. Although nobody ever does any more.

Have you ever been scuba diving?
Once, in the pool at the Sportsplex for a free lesson.

What's your least favorite color?
Not sure. Puke green probably.

Is there someone you have been constantly thinking about? If yes, who?
No comment. Right now, since I'm not feeling well, I'm mostly thinking about myself and whining.

Would you ever go skydiving?
No. Never. I'd turn down a million dollars if you offered it to me if it involved me having to skydive.

What toothpaste do you use?
Sensodyne. The green box.

Do you enjoy challenges?
Depends what kind.

What's the worst injury you have had?
Never broken anything yet, knock on wood, nor had stitches for anything that wasn't intentional. Had some nasty bruises, but that's about it so far.

What's the last movie you saw?
Ratatouille. You know, my spell checker underlines Ratatouille, and when I right click, the suggested spelling is Bouillabaisse.

What do you want to know about the future?
Nothing that I care to share with the internets.

What does your last text message say?
Yeah. We just touched down. Can I call u while you're at work?
In the spirit of full disclosure, it's the 6th of 6 text messages I have ever received. And it took me a while to compose the stunningly witty reply "Yes. Please do". Which I then thought I'd sent, but found out two hours later, was actually sitting in my outbox waiting for me to send it.

Who was the last person you spoke over the phone to?
Mum.

What's your favorite school subject?
History and biology.

What's your least favorite school subject?
Art.

Would you rather have money or love?
Duh. Love of course.

What is your dream vacation?
Madagascar and lemurs. Or maybe Costa Rica. The Boy and I have been watching Are We There Yet? World Adventure and Sam and Molly seemed to be having a really awesome time in Costa Rica. It's currently The Boy's dream vacation as well.

What is your favorite animal?
Cats. Lemurs. Those little foxes with the big ears--fennecs? Yes, fennecs. Aren't they adorable?

Do you miss anyone right now?
Yes. Don't we all?

What's the last sporting event you watched?
DTMs on Speed.

Do you need to do laundry?
You know, I think we're caught up right now.

Do you listen to the radio?
All the time in the car.

Where were you when 9/11 happened?
In a training session at the library. I found out what was going on when we went to Tim's for break, and the Commissionaire in the ferry terminal had a tv on, and everyone was standing round watching it.

What do you do when vending machines steal your money?
I mostly try to avoid vending machines on principle. Not sure what principle, but still.

Have you ever caught a butterfly?
I don't remember. Certainly not recently.

What color are your bed sheets?
White.

What's your ringtone?
The one that came preset on the phone.

Who was the last person to make you laugh?
I just read a blog by someone who has designed knitting patterns for the whole team of Top Gear presenters. As in you can knit your own mini Richard Hammond. She made me laugh, so I added her to my bloglines.

Do you have any obsessions right now?
Not really.

Do you like things that glow in the dark? Yes. Especially when you didn't know they glowed in the dark, and they surprise you. I also love sparkles of any kind, but not sequins.

What's your favorite fruity scent?
Strawberry or watermelon.

Do you watch cartoons?
All the time. With The Boy. We love Little Bear and George Shrinks right now.

Have you ever sat on a roof?
Yup, a few. We used to jump from our back veranda to the roof of next door's garage. A two story drop onto concrete below. In a country not known for ambulances or emergency medical care of any kind. Kids.

Have you ever been to a different country?
Yup, a few.

Name three things in the world you dislike
Snobbery, racism, inequality

Name three people in the world you dislike
No.

Has a rumor even been spread about you?
I don't know, but probably.

Do you like sushi?
Only vegetarian things like kappa maki.

Do you believe in magic?
I believe!

Do you hold grudges?
I try, but I'm not very good at it.

Wow. You're still here. In that case, you're tagged!

Dear Santa...

The Boy is four and a half now. Each Christmas he becomes more and more aware of what's going on, and the anticipation becomes harder and harder for him. This is the first year he's asked to send a letter to Santa. The Boy, however, can not write. The Boy isn't actually that interested in writing, and I figure he'll come to it in his own good time, so I haven't been pushing it. This is the first time he's ever been concerned about his inability to write. So, because he's a bright kid, he came up with this idea:


Yes, this year's letter to Santa is a photo collage. I told him I'd post it to Santa, but I think I might just e-mail this scan instead, and cc it to some of Santa's little helpers. I believe that most of these were cut out from the Scholar's Choice catalogue, which is quite convenient, because Santa has been known to shop at Scholar's Choice, possibly because they do free gift wrapping as well.

Collage seems to be the new thing at our house. There are now four collages on my kitchen table to be sent to Santa. This one, I have been told, has the BEST stuff, because it was first.

Thank you...and more Thomas!

Thanks to the Ninja for the dyeing fun today. And thanks to the Ninja's husband for building a tree house that The Boy will be talking about forever. And thank you to Mr. Munchkin for letting The Boy play in the tree house. Thank you to Mrs. Happy for letting The Boy hold Henry all the way home (oh, and sorry about that coughing thing, I hope you didn't get too, uh, you know, splattered!).

I can't wait til my freshly dyed yarn is finished and I can take a photo!

And now, for the pleasure of a little boy who's mother is a knitter, more pictures of Thomas and friends. Enjoy!

Imagination meets reality...

Loughborough Station, October 2007

I just wanted to share this photo from our recent trip, for all those of you out there who doubted him. In the words of The Boy just before this picture was taken, "He's really really real!"

For those of you with small children--if you ever get an opportunity to spend "A Day Out With Thomas", it's worth every penny. Not much chance in Canada, although he does visit Ontario, Alberta and BC.

Another fingerless mitts update

I have completed 6 fingerless mitts in 6 days. Pictures to follow at some point soon, when I can get the camera back from House Man who has taken it to the Model Train Show with The Boy.

The fingerless mitts update

I have 4 mitts done, I'm on the 5th. Christmas knitting here I come!

For those who have asked, the pattern is a freebie that I found on the internet. It's a very nice pattern, easy and the finished result is a great mitt. You can find it on Ravelry if you know me there (I'm Alison on Ravelry as well). If not, then here is a link.

Christmas Knitting.

No, seriously. Those of you who know me also know that I swear that I never do Christmas knitting. Well, somehow, this year, I have been sucked into the bottomless pit of despair that calls itself Christmas knitting. It started with these:

Hmm. That's not a very attractive background, is it? Maybe this one is better:

The socks are for the only non-knitting commenter on this blog. She's seen them, and even tried the first one on, so I'm not worried about her seeing them here. No surprise for you this year Fi! Also, according to her blog, she's just started knitting again. And this coming a mere two weeks after I visited and let her try on the socks? Coincidence? I think not! Muhahahahahahaha! (ETA--read the comments--she just outed herself as a knitter! Fiona, you can live in denial no longer. Knitters will have world domination, and you are one of us now!)

Then I found a blanket that I started years ago (possibly for my niece before she was born--she's almost 6 now, so it really has been a long time!). I have no idea what size I meant this to be, but I still have 3 balls of the yarn left ( Lily Sugar Babies cotton), and they're each 140g. Anyway, I decided that I would just cast off right then and there and have an almost instant finished object. It's cradle sized. I also decided to continue with the black and white cat motif:

Well, when will I learn not to put blankets next to cats?

I'll never get that blanket out from under that cat! Literally, he's a very heavy cat.

Moving on to the next bit of Christmas knitting:

I've finished the first pair. I need to do two more pairs. Somehow, I had the brilliant idea that I would knit them for The Boy's daycare teachers--he has three daycare teachers. One of them saw my fingerless mitts when I dropped the boy off the other day and remarked that they would be great for tying shoelaces out in the playground in the cold weather. Anyway, you can see that the blanket is still firmly attached to the cat. The yarn is from Mirasol, and is lovely. And only $8 per skein! A skein is just enough to finish these fingerless mitts. I have 300, 303, 306, and 308 in the Hacho.

Anyway, I'm off to knit some mitts.

PS I organised my stash on Saturday night. The Boy informed me that I had made a big mess and needed to clean it up! I have 4 rubbermaids, 6 individual bags of a sweater's worth each, and some other stuff hiding under the couch that I don't yet have the courage to confront! I have an entire large rubbermaid container of acrylic in my house! How did that happen? Who brought that acrylic in here?

PPS I just confronted the yarn under the couch. Barely enough for two adult sweaters and three child sized ones, so not as bad as I feared. Found I had this hidden under there though. That's the entire kit, not just the pattern.

PPPS I'd actually like to finish with this photo:

I can't take credit for this. I got it from the Daily New's website. You can find the entire slide show here. The photographer was Paul Darrow (funny Halifax-isn't-it-a-small-world-story, he's the brother of the boyfriend of a friend of mine!). I hope he/they don't mind my stealing this photo and posting it here. The Boy has been to a Remembrance Day service every year since he was born This year he actually asked questions: Why do we wear poppies? Why do we need to remember the soldiers? Why didn't they come back from war? What is war? I wish I had better answers for him.

The Mysterious Ticking Noise

Enjoy.

My apologies

It's been busy. We went away. It got even busier when we came back. I swear I'll have an FO soon, and I might even post some vacation pictures. Maybe even vacation pictures with sheep. Definitely cars and probably trains. Soon, I promise, I just need to get over the jet lag, and the training sessions I'm giving next week, and the Fall Fair at the daycare, and the Therapeutic Paws of Canada evaluation session that I volunteered to take The Boy to so he can help out. Then I need to pay all the bills that have come in during the last three weeks. I think maybe things might slow down around Remembrance Day!

See, I told you there would be sheep...

My excuses for not blogging much lately...

We are dogsitting:

Mikey

I won't tell you how much he weighs, but he probably outweighs you. Easily outweighs any single founding member of KOL.

Jani

She just looks cute and innocent. She's actually like that kitten in the youtube funny cats video, the one that squeezes under the door. You know the one I mean? Yeah, no gate, no fence, no rope, nothing can keep her in. She must be free...

Mocha

Mocha is a sweetie. She's just insane, that's all. Yes, truly, but in a happy way.

I'm dog-tired these days, because someone's not sleeping very well.

Hmm, I guess it's not the dogs. Mocha certainly looks comfortable enough.

Yeah, that's the one. He's been having nightmares. Last night it was about the carrots*. I guess they were coming to get him. As a parent, I can't tell you the horror that the words "mummy, the carrots, don't let them get me, the carrots, noooooo" can bring when they pierce through the night to awaken you from a sound sleep. Your heart stops and your blood runs cold. Carrots can be scary, you know.* I found the carrot monster here. Also check out the Love monster, the Woolen glove monster and the Chair monster. You'll think twice before you sit down again!

Look at this...

That's from Jan Messent's Knitted Gardens. Do have a look inside when you get to amazon. They have little knitted monks in there!

Oh, and this one:

Again, make sure you click on the search inside option. Lookit the little knitted knight, and the teeny knitted wizard!

Sadly, I do not own either of those. However, if anyone wants to knit teeny tiny animals and barns and bales of hay, I can lend you this one:

Again, have a look inside. There's a little mama slinging her little baby inside, and teeny tiny dogs and cats and chickens and horses and barns...oh my!

For those of you who don't read Lime and Violet's daily chum, I strongly recommend you add it to your bloglines. That's where I found out about Knitted Gardens, which of course lead me to other titles. Oh, and didn't you always want a turkey?

Done and blocking...

So it turns out that I don't have anywhere to block FOs that isn't needed for someone to sleep on.

Those are the cushions from the couch, moved to the floor. I could have left them on the couch, but that's where the cats like to sleep.

Looking more closely:

Please note the pedicured toes. That's I'm not really a waitress from Opi. Someone actually said that to me on Monday, "Is that I'm not really a waitress on your toes?" I think I have trendy toes.

And a closeup:

Carp. In my excitement I've managed to blur it.

This is one of the Diamonds on the Diagonal patterns from Ilga Leja. It's meant to be a scarf, but I've added repeats to make it wider, and used two skeins of Celestial Merino in bittersweet chocolate instead of one. I love the way that it looks, and I hope it's long enough. If it's not, I'll have to reblock it somewhere longer, which might mean House Man and I will have to sleep on the couch while the bed gets used for blocking!

And because I love them:

The Boy, Provincial Ex, Truro, 2007

House Man, portrait by The Boy, Provincial Ex, Truro, 2007

Stash Swap at KOL

Dramatis Personae:

Ninja Knitter--swap organiser and chief swapper
Mrs. Happy--chief assistant and Vanna White to the Ninja
Assorted KOL Knitters

Act 1

NK: Who wants this lovely skein of Very Desirable Silk/Cashmere/Platinum/Diamond/Merino Yarn hand spun by Famous Yarn Person, from her rare breed of sheep only found on the top of a single mountain in Wales, sheared at midnight on Midsummer's Eve with golden shears, and then hand dyed by Other Famous Yarn Person using dyes from plants found only in the deepest reaches of the Amazonian rain forest, that she picked herself at the last full moon of summer?

Mrs. H: Holds up yarn and waves it around

Assorted Knitters 1, 2, 3: (waving arms in the air) Oh! Me! I do! (look around at each other, slowly lower hands)

AK1: Oh, that's okay, I don't really need it.

AK2: Oh, you should have it, I already have lots of yarn.

AK3: Well, I only want it if nobody else does.

AK1: Seriously, one of you guys take it.

AK2: Well, if you're totally sure, but I think you should have it.

AK3: I'm okay, I got this skein of crappy acrylic already from the swap, I'm fine, really.

NK: Somebody take this yarn!!

Knitter's Honour

Okay, thank you to Mrs Happy for pointing these out, or I might have missed them (I'm a bit behind on Cast On now that I'm not on the bus every day, the bus, of course, being my podcast-listening time). I present the badges that I believe I've earned so far:

The “Proselytize Knitting” Badge

The “Knitting Has Forced Me to Seek Medical Attention” Badge
(Level One)

Okay, I admit, I didn't actually seek medical attention, but I did apply a bandaid. Those knitpicks dpns can draw blood!

The “I’ve Knit Items With No Conceivable Practical Application” Badge

Baby mittens. The thumbless kind. Only I was trying to teach someone to knit at the same time, and forgot to measure. Might have made a good thumbless mitten for an octopus. Or maybe a thumbless baby arm warmer. I only made one.

The “MacGyver” Badge
(Level One)

Paperclips rock.

The “MacGyver” Badge
(Level Two)

Straight needles to unlock doors that The Boy has inadvertently locked behind him and can't manage to unlock.

Haircut

Before:


After:

life sucks so i knit

I've been obsessing over my site meter lately. Well, ever since the day the Yarn Harlot linked to me and over 2000 people visited my site in 24 hours. It's interesting when site meter shows somebody finding you through a google search. On August 18th, somebody somewhere in Texas googled life sucks so i knit and found my blog. Specifically this post from last summer. Well, I tried the google search, and sure enough I popped up in the results, right near the top.

Today, it seems, my life no longer sucks! Yes, try googling life sucks so i knit. Go on, I'll wait.... I'm not there, am I? Not in the first five pages at least, which is all I could be bothered to scan. So, according to google, my life no longer sucks. Thanks google, showing up in your results for "life sucks" wasn't doing anything to help my current slightly sucky frame of mind!

Disappointing road trip to Gaspereau Valley Fibres

Cate of the no sheep, Mrs. Yes and her family, Charlene & Miss R, The Boy and me all went on a road trip today. The ultimate goal was Gaspereau Valley Fibres, but we managed Just Us along the way, as well as a yard sale where Charlene and Miss R. picked up an awesome wagon and trailer (that's not what they paid for it!). How we fit three adults, two car seats with children in them, and a wagon and trailer into a small mazda, I'll never know, but we did it! Cate might even have pictures!

Gaspereau Valley Fibres was disappointing. Before heading out, I had read this blog post by Ariannah from a year ago. Doesn't that make Gaspereau seem like a lovely place? The shop itself is lovely, full of wool and other fibres from all over, a nice book selection, spinning wheels and other tools, all in a lovely setting with some sheep and some very attractive chickens. The service, however, left something to be desired. Certainly, no staff person offered us the service described in Ariannah's post!

Nobody greeted us when we arrived in the shop, even though there were no other customers there at the time, and two staff people. Charlene, Cate and I had arrived early, which meant we had to wait for Mrs. Yes and family, who were "cottaging", and therefore not coming from home. We had a quick look around the store with The Boy and Miss R., then went outside and waited quietly, down behind the store where we had parked the car, sat under a tree and ate our picnic lunch. The Boy and Miss R. had a quick game of hide and seek--our children are nice kids, and both very cute, and were laughing and playing. When Mrs. Yes and her family arrived, we left Mr. Yes outside with the children so that we could browse around the store without them. There were 4 children aged 2-8 (newborn Gabriel came in with us), and they were quite happily chatting away at a picnic table conveniently located under a tree outside the store.

When we returned to the store with no children (except Gabriel) and started browsing, I found a lovely row counter bracelet, that I decided to purchase. I picked it up and continued browsing the yarn. I was taking my time, enjoying the freedom to browse a yarn store while somebody else minded The Boy. I picked up many different yarns, browsed some books, looked around at various things. There was some Misti alpaca that I was seriously considering purchasing.

After a while, I realised that one of the two ladies working in the store seemed to be hovering, in fact, she'd been following me around for a while. Not actually saying anything, mind you, not making any conversation, asking if I was visiting, or if I needed any help finding anything. No, just hovering, and had been since I picked up the bracelet. Finally, she asked me if I was intending to buy it, to which I said yes. Her response was to tell me that we should go ring it in now, because it was turning into a bit of a picnic in the store (I think she was referring to the fact that Mr. Yes had just brought the children in to see if we were ready to leave yet--we'd been there for a good twenty minutes at this point, without actually being approached by either staff person until now). So, a staff person finally approaches me, but it's not to ask if I was finding what I needed, but rather it's to tell me that she thought I should pay for the bracelet in my hand now.

I'm a little dense, so I didn't realise right away how odd this was. As I was paying for the bracelet, I realised what was going on. SHE WAS WORRIED I WAS GOING TO STEAL THE DAMN BRACELET. I was nowhere near the door at this point, and was actively browsing yarn. In fact, I had fully intended to buy yarn at the store today, but she rushed me to the cash register without asking if I was done because she thought I might forget to pay for a $20 bracelet. Gaspereau Valley Fibres lost a sale from me today, at least $30 in Misti alpaca for sure, possibly more yarn if I'd been left to browse longer, or better yet, been asked if I needed any assistance or engaged in friendly conversation of any kind. I am stating right now that I will never spend another penny at Gaspereau Valley Fibres after my experience there today. I am very glad that Gaspereau is not my local yarn store, and thankful that the lovely people who run my local yarn stores would never make me feel like a thief.

It gets better too, but I'm going to let Mrs. Yes blog the next part, because it's her story to tell! Lesley, I hope you tell it well, because I'm still fuming about the whole experience today!

However, the day was not a complete loss. Just Us is lovely, and the wagon, well, the wagon will serve Miss R. well for a long time to come!

Brush with fame...

The. Yarn. Harlot. Linked. To. Me.
Must. Try. To. Breath. Slowly.

Okay, for those coming from the Harlot's blog, the post you're looking for is 3 posts down from here.

Ravelry again

I'm in. My username is Alison in case anyone wants to know. Not that it matters, I'll hunt you all down anyway!

Ravelry

106 people ahead of me. Just sayin'.

A Harl-lot of fun in Halifax

Okay. The bad part about the Harlot visiting Halifax? I had more fun last night than I've had in ages but today at work, I couldn't tell anyone about it! Yes, I work with a library full of muggles, and they just would not have understood. Thank goodness I have the KOL girls to share this with. We may not have anything else in common, but we'll always have yarn! Have I told you before how much I love them all, despite how impatient they might be?


Okay, I'm not feeling particularly creative right now, so I'm just going to share my favourite pictures from the night.

A young knitter (Miss R.), enjoying herself immensely


Ladies, boobies forward


Gabriel, plum tuckered out


The mandatory picture of me and the Harlot (Stephanie, you are taller than me, I have like 2 inch soles on those shoes!).


I don't look that happy, but that's because Lesley blurred the first picture, where I really was smiling!


See what I mean?

Knitters out on the town: the Master and Commander (possibly not a knitter??), the Harlot, Hope and the Pharmaceutical Speed Knitter (I can't believe I actually caught her not knitting in this picture!)


The Ninja Knitter and Mrs. Happy having fun (I think they were having fun. Does that look like a fun face? I'm not really sure!)


And all who have been following her blog will be pleased to know that Mrs. Yes did regain the power of speech before the event


Jesslyn had fun too


Jesslyn, I said fun!


Much better!

Moe tried out the latest fad, invisible knitting


She's quite good at it!

Okay, I'm done. Somebody e-mail me a picture of all of us, would you? I didn't get one, because there were just too many cameras, it didn't seem fair to push the kindness of strangers too far!

Okay, stole it from Mrs. Happy. Thank you Mrs. Happy!


And Lesley redeemed herself with a picture of me that's both blur-free and smiley, taken with her own camera



See?