photo documentary

It's kinda late at night, but I really wanted to get a few blogs in. So this is in no order whatsoever. I just downloaded a bunch of my photos from my steals in Vancouver (I have no camera :( so no photos of there) and I'll just comment on them as I go along. Let's just clear some things up first however a) I saved up for this trip so it's not like I'm crazy rich b) it's YARN people, YARN and c) Jenn's cat Chuck just jumped up and took the post its that were beside the computer in his mouth and ran away with them.

So here is my precious brushed suri yarn. Love it. I had to forcibly take this away from Sheena, who, coincedentially (can't spell tonight), has the best burlesque name ever, very knittery. I have no idea what to knit with this because I love it so and due to it's price only got one. Apparently it knits up a heavier weight than it appears so I'm thinking.... nothing, I got nothing here people.

Oh, this is the cotton I got for Julia's baby blanket even though she's not planning on having a baby any time yet. I like to get a head start on these things. There is a brown skein to the right there that kinda meshes into the couch. This stuff, when it is washed, I tell you it feels like butter. It's what the boobie square was knit out of, and yeah, the boobie square is only a four inch square and it was knit using a modified pattern from this knitty. Julia picked out the colours and we're thinking a fair isle argyle pattern with a lining so I don't have to weave in the ends.
Mmmmm..... this is a present for someone! Well, once I knit it it will be. Wheeeeeeeee! (ps- Lorna's Laces)
My new purse! And, this was a necessary item because my Emily purse got soaked my first day in Vancouver (really, in Vancouver? No!)
Heh. Shiny for my eyes. Julia and I had a fun time in the MAC shop. I'm so glad I don't live closer to one.
Look! It's a new duck! And unlike Satan Duck, Pirate Duck doesn't list, probably because he's more use to water. I mean, you would think that Satan Duck would have a problem with being submerged into water, what with the fire and brimstone. Heh. Pirate Duck and Satan Duck both come from a most darling friend (Hi Sheena).
New shoes! New shoes new shoes new shoes! (Theme? What theme? I see NO theme!)
Oh! Tassles! On pasties! My most delicious friend Melly (ohhhh.... pretty dress) a host of a Pasty party and I made these (so much fun!) and then we all put on the pasties and had a swirling lesson. It was a blast. My burlesque name is Ruby Kitten. Seriously, it was one of the highlights of the trip.
Yarn from Quebec that I'm planning for a sweater one day.
Another shot of some yarn. The Lorna Laces is on the left, the Suri on the right, the middlest is called bunny hop and is mostly synthetic but has some angora in it and is a lovely colour scheme and the reds are part bamboo and wool (called Panda Wool) and some nylon so they may become socks. I also bought the middle three because the labels were so cute.
And that appears to be the end of my photo commentary for today. Thanks for dropping by. Sorry for my absence in the blog world of late, as you can see I was quite busy in Vancouver, I didn't even have time to knit, I think I may have gotten about an inch done of my sock while I was there. I had the most wonderful time and even though I went a wee bit over budget (mostly due to food which was a problem in the creation of my budget) I would do it over and over again. smoochies to Vancouver!

Mom go no further

Another souvenir of Vancouver......


Grrrr argh I be a pirate!


(right side ribcage)
(the part of the skull that looks like my skin is actually white- I want the credit for getting ink there too even if it isn't obvious)
(comment-this tattoo looks a lot more bad-ass taken out of it's context ie. Me. Why? Because I am so cute that even a skull and crossbones gets affected)

oh my

Going to be in Vancouver in... 12.5 hours. Heh, kick ass!

In other news, I have a picture of my sweater that would make most knitters cry. I'm so anxious to finish and to see if it fits that I'm not weaving in the ends of my intarsia skulls. So currently that's about 60 skulls (120 ends) with the borders and another row of skulls to finish. It's not a bright idea not to weave in the ends but I don't care- must finish sweater! It will hopefully not take much longer but I won't be taking it to Vancouver with me.

It's reading break!

My feminist history class exam was the first exam where I was literally scrawling text across the page in a mad rush as my professor told us it was time to pack up. Scrawling I tell you. And I couldn't remember the National Union of Women's Suffrage! Argh! I remembered everything else but I just made something up for the name.

The Yarn Harlot is coming to Victoria! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm going to try so hard to get there but I don't know. Still, that's pretty close!

Applying to schools is stressful and hard. Boooooooo!

Wish me a good trip!

6 doohickeys

I am so sick right now. Today I missed my POO class which was fine, but I also had to miss my kickass feminist history class which sucked. This cough is going around the university and I know who I caught it from so SCORN but she doesn't read my blog so meh. I sometimes like memes. I think most of my dislike is that I can never remember the correct way to pronounce them (me-me or meme like french?). I find the weird meme interesting however. I mean, who is defining weird here? Cause a lot of people have memed things that frankly don't seem that weird to me. Anyhoo, I've decided to do a 6-doohickey meme. Just six things about you, which I know is the theme of other memes, but frankly, with a vague term like weird or strange attached, it's just a matter of opinion so. And I tag Julia, Melly, and Eileen. And by tag, I mean, whatever, you don't have to.

1. I organized my stash last month. I have a lot of mohair.
2. I buy toys and people I love buy me toys (the blonde is from Cairo).
3. I can't decide who I like more, Batman or Superman. I make up my mind and the next week I'll change it. Batman can be way too much angst for me, but sometimes Superman is just so squeaky. I mean, we all know that Spiderman comes in first, but who is second?
4. My art teacher from high school gave me his time-life art collection of the masters and so far I've only read one (bad art student bad!) They are my pride and joy.
5. This cat knows I love him and will use that to his advantage whenever he can.
6. I really like my Emily the Strange bag.

Is a turtle

This, as of yet, unnamed turtle now belongs to a friend who was having a really shitty week at work (and I can't just offer to cook for her and clean like I do with Jenn- well, I guess I could but regardless, I just knit). He's knit out of 100% bamboo. There was a major booboo with the crochet aspect which than unfortunately affected the i-cord but overwell he went really quickly. I'm hoping to knit him some more shells once I forget all the cursing I did with the first one (Jenn was there, she can vouch).
And the four muppet heads for this lovely lady who is doing this for children with cancer. The second from the left made an amazing swirl pattern, which was funny at first, because it reminded my of jupiter, and then I thought 'and it was jupiter one's blog that drew my attention to this cause in the first place' and then a few hours later I realized the blog is JanuaryOne, not Jupiter One. And this is pre-medicated Leone state.
And how nice that the same day I finish all the work on the Skull Yoke sweater I can I get a phone call letting me know that my freakishly expensive addi turbos are in (the only ones I could get in that length) so I can start on the yoke! The body is a lot longer on that it just curls up right now.

Okay, I'm going to go do another post, which you have probably already read cause it will show up above this one, unless you get here right after I post this one and before the new one. Medication makes for a boring blog doesn't it?

Silent Poetry Reading

So this is from this. And I thought Adrienne Rich would be best due to all my ravings. I would highly recommend reading this poem, even if you don't care for poetry (I know you know who you are- punks) and even though this is silent on my end, I would also recommend reading it outloud. Who knows, the other people in the computer lab may actually appreciate the break from textbook jargon. Yes Jodi, I am talking to you.

Integrity

the quality or state of being complete; unbroken condition; entirety -Webster

A wild patience has taken me this far

as if I had to bring to shore
a boat with a spasmodic outboard motor
old sweaters, nets, spray-mottled books
tossed in the prow
some kind of sun burning my shoulder blades.
Splashing the oarlocks. Burning through.
Your fore-arms can get scaled, licked with pain
in a sun blotted like unspoken anger
behind a casual mist.

The length of daylight
this far north, in this
forty-ninth year of my life
is critical.

Th light is critical: of me, of this
long-dreamed, involuntary landing
on the arm of an inland sea.
The glitter of the shoal
depleting into shadow
I recognize: the stand of pines
violet-black really, greeen in the old postcard
but really I have nothing but myself
to go by; nothing
stands in the realm of pure necessity
except what my hands can hold.

Nothing but myself? . . . My selves.
After so long, this answer.
As if I had always known
I steer the boat in, simply.
The motor dying on the pebbles
cicadas taking up the hum
dropped in silence.

Anger and tenderness: my selves.
And now I can believe they breate in me
as angels, not polarities.
Anger and tenderness: the spider's genius
to spin and weave in the same action
from her own body, anywhere-
even from a broken web.

The cabin in the stand of pines
is still for sale. I know this. Know the print
of the last foot, the hand that slammed and locked that door,
then stopped to wreathe the rain-smashed clematis
back on the trellis
for no one's sake except its own.
I know the chart nailed to the wallboards
the icy kettle squatting on the burner.
The hands that hammered in those nails
emptied the kettle one last time
are these two hands
and they have caught the baby leaping
from between trembling legs
and they have worked the vacuum aspirator
and stroked the sweated temples
and steered the boat here through this hot
misblotted sunlight, critical light
imperceptibly scalding
the skin these hands will also salve.

-1978