# Carol Tomany


## Posts

- [To Be or Not To Be](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=370): The phrase is perhaps a little trite, even though it comes from one of the greatest plays (Hamlet) written by one of the greatest writers (Shakespeare) of all time. Perhaps we have said it too many times. Maybe that’s because this soliloquy was one of the few that we had actually memorized or maybe we hadn’t memorized it, but others had, and said the opening lines to us and all we know, then, are the first few lines. This situation may be about to change. Let me quote from Wednesday’s paper, “The Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, which already […]
- [Let's Hear it for Herm](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=313): Herm is one of the Channel Islands, one of the smaller Islands. Apparently you can walk across Herm in about 10 minutes. Sixty people live there full time and its main source of revenue is tourism. So Herm has to do a lot of marketing to get people to take the boat from Guernsey to Herm to spend 10 minutes to have a look around, maybe have a cuppa, and then go back. How can you generate enough tourist dollars to keep 60 people going all year round in an area that’s less than the size a city block? Well, […]
- [Pushing the Edges of Sagittarius](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=311): Well maybe it’s not really pushing; it’s more like thinking really hard about how I am going to add a lovely finish to the pink lace shawl that I am working on. But the ideas are not really taking on any shape, so I am pushing for some inspiration! I have found a lovely stitch in one of Barbara Walker’s books that could work as a knitted on border. In fact, it actually looks like the bow – as in bow and arrow – that Sagittarius is often seen with. If I used the bow idea, I would need some […]
- [The Catherine Wheel](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=308): Originally posted Nov 25, 2010 I was concentrating so much on the novel challenge that I forgot to post for two of my favourite days. Nov 25 and Nov 30.  Here is a re-post for Nov 25. November 25 is the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria. In Christian lore, St. Catherine was martyred upon a flaming wheel for her beliefs. The story, not only stuck; it flourished, to the extent that many common things that we use today are named after St. Catherine and her “wheel.” The “Catherine Wheel”  lends it’s name to: a firecracker, a rock band, a medieval […]
- [Let Chaos Reign](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=306): Originally posted Nov. 24, 2010 On Nov 18, 1883 Sir Sanford Fleming spoiled all the fun – he got North America to adopt Standard Time. As a result we now have boring predictability. Why, because apparently before standard time each railway company (think airports, railways stations, bus and subway platforms today) literally had it’s own clock. One station could have 5 or 6 clocks all set to their own time or the schedule established by their particular railroad – confusion reigned. Can you imagine Air Canada, Westjet, Porter and all the other airlines that fly into airports, with their own […]
- [I believe in Dreams](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=303): Originally posted November 23, 2010 On Sunday I bought Susan Boyle’s new CD “The Gift”.  I wanted to keep her dream alive!  And so it seems do a lot of other people, apparently, her new CD sold 318,000 copies in the first week of its release.  It also topped the US and UK charts simultaneously. In fact her first CD did the same thing less than 12 months ago – a feat achieved only by the Beatles in 1969 – Susan would have been 8 at the time – she was born on April Fool’s Day 1961. Susan bravely went […]
- [Anti-Matter - Does It Really Matter](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=301): Originally posted November 22, 2010 I read the other day that they (great thinkers, scientists, surrealists) have been able to stabilize anti-matter for about 10 seconds – long enough for science to study  it.  Anti-matter, apparently was there at the “Big Bang”. It was the universe as we know it, but with a negative charge and so it disappeared – sounds like my credit cards – any negative charges sure disappear in those positive charges (or is it the other way around?). Well, today, I decided to set about to try and understand the concept of anti-matter. It’s a slow […]
- [What Toque You So Long?](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=299): Originally posted November 20, 2010 I always love it when knitting becomes some big time in your face “thing”. I love knitting “bombs” and I love it when advertisers use knitting in their pitches.  Years ago Campbell’s soup had billboards with knitted cans of soup and knitted radiators shown graphically in yarns of their iconic red and white colours.  The billboards were arresting! There was a similar campaign out last year in Quebec where they dressed bus shelters in large “knitted” toques to promote MILK as a natural comfort food to get you through those long Quebec winters. Here is […]
- [Not Your Grandmother's Apron](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=297): Originally posted November 20, 2010 My youngest – the soon-to-be-18 year old (male) is taking fashion design at school.  This wasn’t necessarily by choice – but, because he tends to dress as a “fashion plate,” his guidance teacher suggested that fashion design might suit him – no pun intended. His response, as usual, was – whatever and when can I get back to the computer! Well, we have discovered, because he has to commit to a post secondary program this year, that he wants to write apps – good choice since soon the Internet will be just a collection of […]
- [The Last Rose of Summer](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=295): Originally published November 19, 2010 This may very well be the last rose of summer. It’s also the title of a very beautiful, yet very sad Irish folk song. The Irish may, in fact, be one of the few cultures that have turned death into an art form. Here’s the link for the song, sung by John McDermott Albert Camus, once said, “Art is the distance time gives to suffering.” Certainly Art is one way that we have of dealing with suffering or just dealing with the human condition, which means dealing daily with a sense of loss – lost […]
- [Mushrooms in Motion](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=293): Originally published November 18, 2010 I saw this slogan printed in very large letters on the side of a truck the other day.  It sounds like one of the great euphemisms of life. But that company certainly has brought a lot of life to, well, fungi! Now, if you thought knitting companies had difficulty finding a marketable name, given the sedentary nature of knitting, try being a mushroommonger! At least knitting stores get to use names like Passionknit or Mad About Ewe – Porcini with Passion or Crazy Crimini just don’t make it. Now there is a company in Ontario […]
- [Button Day](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=291): Originally posted November 17, 2010 November 16 was Button Day, so I am told. I am not sure whose idea this was. Most days of real significance have their origins in historical or cultural occurrences. Somehow, to have a day for buttons seems a little frivolous. A quick Google search led to this blog and their offerings: I also found a site that claims to be the Zany Holiday site. OK, I know that November can be a bit of a drag, often dreary and gray – Remembrance Day, mostly under the sign of Scorpio, waiting for winter, not much […]
- [Gotta get A Pawpaw](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=289): Originally posted November 16, 2010 What’s a Pawpaw? Actually, it’s a tree that grows well in the Toronto area, which is rather amazing given it’s unique name and even uniquer (is that a word?) fruit. Pawpaws yield fruit in September that look like small clusters of round green bananas, which apparently taste like a cross between a mango and a banana – WOW how exotic!  I found out about the Pawpaw from an article this weekend in the Toronto Star. Yes, you learn something new everyday.  Here it is: http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/outdoorliving/gardeningandlandscaping/article/885369–day-little-known-native-fruit-grows-in-the-gta The only problem with the Pawpaw is finding a place […]
- [The Enrichment of Advent](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=287): Originally posted November 15, 2010 My daughter called from university today to ask for an Advent calendar.  These are the rather large, but quite thin boxes that hide chocolates under numbers, which count the days before Christmas. It’s also a very clever way to sell chocolates and to count the days before the day when lots of people get to open the socks or whatever, that we knitters have managed to knit for them. Actually Advent has its roots in both christian and non-christian practices, as a time of austerity before a big event, Christmas and the feast of Saturnalia perhaps. However, if it […]
- [Get Drunk on Knitting](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=285): Originally posted November 13, 2010 Lucy Neatby posted to my Facebook wall that she was off to teach a class on 3 scarves – Sea Lettuce, Falling Leaves and Mirror, Mirror and her comment was..”a nice knitting cocktail!…” Lucy is an amazing designer. She may even be considered a knitting acrobat. What she does with the simplest of stitches is pure entertainment. Here is sea lettuce. It is a ruffled scarf based on the short row technique. The other two scarves are just as exciting. The idea of mixing “things” up into a cocktail got me thinking about a number […]
- [Feed Your Inner Russian](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=283): Originally posted November 12, 2010 Borscht, I’ve decided is an acquired taste. I varied the recipe, I posted earlier this month, a fair bit and I did have two helpings (my husband managed one), but you really have to like beets. This is what I did:1. I cut the ingredients back by a third – and still had enough to feed the Russian army.2. I added the vegetables, in order, by the length of time it would take them to cook – I know that I am talking to a seasoned audience – no pun intended.3. I used just one […]
- [Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=281): Originally posted Novmember 11, 2010 Remembrance Day is the one day of the year that I read “In Flanders Fields.” It is all about being connected, about paying back in some small, more like infinitesimal way, the great debt that we owe to those who did not make it back from the many battles that had to be fought, so that we could be a democracy, so that women could be considered “people”, so that people could be gay, or right or left or what ever they wanted to be and  pray to whom ever they wanted to, and say […]
- [Take an Author to Lunch](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=279): Originally posted November 10, 2010 My friend JB told me about a new program at the library.  Apparently it started in Denmark about 10 years ago and has spread. Participating libraries arrange for you to take out an author, for an hour or so, on your library card! Well it’s one way, albeit a very time consuming way, of reaching the public and reminding them that writers, designers, artists, creators are flesh and blood people. The music industry is holding more concerts; there are more signings, more pop up events, more trunk shows, etc. In fact, much more leg work […]
- [Think Pink](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=277): Originally posted November 4, 2010 There was an article in the business section yesterday, which was actually “clipped” from INC magazine – (they provide the horoscopes for this site). It was about the importance of having something “flashy” in your store window or among your display samples etc…to get people excited about buying, which in our case is, yarn. The magazine gave several examples. One was Volkswagon’s neon green car – tricky for a yarn store window, I agree.  This is not the colour that most people buy; but it is the colour that draws people in. Another example was a shop that put a […]
- [Robert's Your Father's Brother](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=275): Originally posted November 3, 2010 I promised that I would research the term “Bob’s your uncle” and found some fascinating info. First, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob’s_your_uncle Lots of information about Lords, named Robert, appointed to do things. I did like the one about Lord Frederick Roberts (1832-1914. 1st Earl Roberts, and Roberts of Kandahar) who led a successful siege in Afghanistan – too bad he’s not around to-day – we might be able to end this terrible war. I also had a chuckle about the British version of the term – ” Robert’s your father’s brother”. Canadians have apparently shortened the entire phrase to […]
- [Feed Your Inner Zen](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=273): Originally published November 2, 2010 I am relatively happy with the intelligence that I have been given, because I know that I will never have to worry about crossing that line between being a genius and being insane! I was reading an article about Michael Clarkson in the Toronto Star. He is a former “Star” reporter and he has built himself a refuge at the bottom of his garden. He spends a lot of time there either thinking or de-thinking, that is, somehow trying to rid himself of some of the 66,000 thoughts per day that each of us has, according to Clakson. […]
- [Lil's Not Your Aunt](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=271): Originally published November 1, 2010 I was about to write..”OK, you can claim my great aunt Lil as your aunt too, because Taurus, the shawl with the 800 stitch ruffle, did not get finished this weekend.”  Well, I amazed myself. I finished casting off this morning. (I still count finishing off something, from the night before, part of the night before.) The reason that I was running out of time was because, I had bought “Facebook for Dummies”. There were just too many things I didn’t know about Facebook, so I needed a primer. I then started working on  my Facebook […]
- [Lovliest of Trees](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=269): Originally posted October 31, 2010 Piglet said, in the Disney version of Winnie the Pooh anyway, maybe even in the real version, “I don’t mind the leaves that are leaving; it’s the leaves that are coming….” He was raking on a rather blustery day. Today is a blustery day and my garden is full of leaves from the Maple and Birch, that crowd out the Apple and Cherry, which keep their leaves into November.  I love trees and now there is a tree calendar available from Toronto Parks and Trees – here is the link. http://www.torontoparksandtrees.org/portraits.htm The great thing about […]
- [The Times They Are A-Changing](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=267): Originally published October 30, 2010 I have just spent the last few days mining the V & A’s (Victorian and Albert Museum) knitting section. (see link in “Mrs. Brown” post)  It is AMAZING!! I took this quotation from some text describing a knitted pin cushion (in silk, no less). How many of us have knitted, silk pincushions today? “The Industrial Revolution in the 19th century transformed knitting, as it did many other handicrafts, into an automated process. Hand knitters found it increasingly more difficult to earn a living and knitting started to become a leisure pursuit.” Fast forward 150 years and […]
- [Hallowe'en, Horoscopes and other Happenings](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=265): Originally published October 29, 2010 I read my horoscope these days. I don’t live by it; but I find its little ironies interesting. There have been times in my life when I refused to read newspapers, let alone their horoscopes…there was just too much bad news. Yes, the bad news is still there, maybe I’ve become inured to it or maybe I’ve just found different ways of coping, such as, comparing one’s horoscope to what really happens in a day. Well, yesterday, my horoscope said that I would be much richer by this time tomorrow – which is actually today […]
- [Thank You Mrs. Brown](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=263): Originally published October 27, 2010 It’s a grey somewhat rainy day, today.  There was nothing very magical in the paper, this morning and nothing really exciting on the internet either. It’s one of those days that you have to work at keeping “up”.  OK, time to start with the check list: 1. Not sick – this is good; because, if you have been sick and get better, a day like today seems like a gift! 2. Lamb tonight for dinner. I like lamb. Most knitters like lamb – with or without clothes – on the lamb that is. 3. Sales are good. I’m always happy when […]
- [Of Websites, Web-spiders and Other Creepy Crawlies](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=261): Originally published October 27, 2010 I always think that Fall (or Spring) are good times to clean out the cobwebs, re-structure, re-think, pull out the map – make sure that we are going in the right direction and so on……  I joined the visa entrepreneurial group on Facebook and came across some really interesting information. One was an article by Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Mobile etc.  I’ll talk a lot about this later but here is the link http://www.visabusinessnetwork.com/library/2171?sort_by=date&type_id=2 If you have trouble with this link – you may have to “join” sorry. He really is a very funny […]
- [Feed Your Inner Bookie](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=259): Originally published October 27 2010 Paul, the octopus, has died. You remember Paul. He predicted the winner of 8 world cup matches in the last world cup series in South Africa. OK, he was based in Germany – or should I say “tanked” in Germany. Caretakers would put a flag from each of the opposing teams on one of two tanks. Whichever tank Paul crawled into, that team was predicted to be the winner – and he was right 8 times – he was an Octopus. The Yin….as one British bookmaker said…”it created a lot of interest in betting from people who would not have bothered, […]
- [It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=257): Originally posted October 26, 2010 ….And it’s not over yet for Hazel McCallion. I just had to write this up today – the morning after a rather amazing election in Toronto & surrounding areas.  I am not from Mississauga and I don’t necessarily like Hazel McCallion’s politics – but I love her stamina.  The very idea of running for mayor of Canada’s 6th largest city, at the age of 89 is AMAZING. And what’s even more amazing is that she got elected… again. OK she’s been the mayor 12 times since 1978, this in itself may be a record; but she has […]
- [Celebrity Knitting](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=255): Originally posted October 24, 2010 It bugged me that I had to leave a blank in my last post on upgrading your “About Us” page by adding someone famous who visits your store. No one came immediately to mind. So I went looking for famous knitters. There are a lot of articles out there on celebrities, who knit.  It’s not that there are a lot of celebrities who knit; it’s that anyone in knitting tries to raise the status of knitting by linking it to someone famous, hence an overload of articles. I’ll skip Rosalind Russell – if she did visit your shop, […]
- [Small Changes Big Results](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=253): Originally posted October 21, 2010 I was testing the link to INC magazine on my Infiknit blog today – just had to check that Horoscope forecast – when I noticed in INC’s right hand side bar a link to some interesting articles – One in particular really stood out “How to Design A Great ‘About Us’ Page on Your Website”. Well, I’ve had a website since 1995 – I know, a really long time and you’re right, I have not tweaked my “About Us” page in maybe as long. Anyway, according to the article your “About Us” page is one of the […]
- [Customer Loyalty Programs](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=251): Originally published October 20, 2010 This is an interesting article published Oct 11, 2010 in the Globe and Mail. Here is the link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/your-business/grow/customer-experience/why-you-shouldnt-just-reward-your-best-customers/article1753081/ Be sure to click the 3 headings in the middle of the article to read the full article. If you have ever thought of putting in a customer loyalty program, read this first. Even if you haven’t given customer loyalty a thought, there are some interesting suggestions for observing customer behaviour, trying to move less frequent customers up to being more frequent customers and looking at customers in different ways – such as – recency, frequency […]
- [Back Again](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=249): Originally published October 20, 2010 I can’t believe that it’s been almost 3 years since I last posted. Well what can I say? I got caught up in knitting lace and have spent the last 3 years creating about 30 patterns under the nom de plume Queen Anne’s Lace. Here is the link for my lace blog – http://queenanneslaceknitting.blogspot.com./ I’ll be posting more personal knitting & lace related items there. For my Infiknit blog, I will be featuring a wider variety of patterns, yarn and marketing ideas for yarn retailers and designers. My goal will still be to divine that […]
- [Now Where is that Degree in Engineering?](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=247): Originally published Nov 18, 2007 I think I’ll need it; because I have to make this on the right, look something like this – below – with or without the sweater. Well actually I started to assemble my woolly board a.k.a sweater blocker a few weeks ago and found that I was missing 3 wooden knobs – now even an engineer would have difficulty with that. How does the old adage go..? “For want of a knob the sweater was lost..” hmmm doesn’t sound quite right. I know the original is – “for want of a nail the horse was […]
- [Nuit Blanche Deux](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=245): Originally posted Sept 30, 2007 Last night was Toronto’s second Nuit Blanche – an all night “Art Happening” that started at 7:00pm and ended at 7:00am. There was some discussion throughtout last year as to whether Toronto would stage another Nuit Blanche after the first which attracted almost half a million people – double what had been predicted – did I mention that it also poured rain last year – WOW – for the love of Art or midnight madness – take your pick!!! Well we have a very short sighted mayor – taller than our previous mayor but with […]
- [Hi, I'm Back](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=243): Originally posted September 13, 2007 I know it’s been 3 months since my last post, but I’ve been bitten by this terrible lace knitting bug and literally have not stopped knitting lace since mid June. Well I did stop to fill orders for Infiknit and of course, June and July were very busy months. Then I was on holidays in August for two weeks – more New York city and our annual trip to Hilton Head SC. All strung together with lace insertions. Yes I am still knitting Gifford – nearly done – just one sleeve to go – unless […]
- [Our Lady of the Peonies](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=240): Originally posted June 13, 2007 …Or maybe it’s Aberlady of the Peonies. I have finished Aberlady my 4th sweater from Knitting in the old way and I must admit I really enjoyed knitting it. I even managed to find an attractive model to wear it for the picture. She complained a little – it was about 28 degress celsius at the time. Alas cooler weather will be here before we know it. I think if I were to redo the sweater I would make these changes1. Use a flower motif that was not an eyelet pattern. I like the texture […]
- [The Road to Aberlady](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=236): Originally published May 25, 2007 About 20 minutes further up the estuary from Dunbar on the Firth of Forth is the lovely seaside village of Aberlady. It is more sand, beach and golf course than the gritty working harbour of Dunbar and so it calls for a gentler design in a sea going sweater. This is also a village from my husband’s childhood. When the family didn’t go to Dunbar, they went to Aberlady for holidays. In fact my sister-in-law once bought the main floor of a house in Aberlady when she thought that she had grown tired of Edinburgh. […]
- [Dunbar](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=234): Originally posted May 17 2007 Finally, I have finished the 3rd in a series of sweaters from “Knitting in the Old Way” by Pricilla Gibson-Roberts. I have discussed my various detours in other posts and will summarize my knitting journey by saying that this sweater may be constructed in a number of different ways. 1. The way I set out originally with a ribbed beginning. A K10. P 1 interval and the traditional patterned motif at the top. 2. Or begin with a K1. P1 rib; insert a panel of the top pattern after the rib, as I had to […]
- [Detours on the Road to Dunbar](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=232): Originally posted April 30, 2007 – sounds catchy maybe there’s a song with that title. 1. When I had decided to knit Dunbar for my husband I remembered that he liked very traditional sweaters that were not too long with ribbed bands at the waist and neck. This should not be too difficult; should it?….I measured the “model” did a swatch and cast on. 2. With some twists and turns I finished the sweater to the shoulders and tried it on said model – alas – too short. Some how over the 20 something years of our marriage he has […]
- [The Road to Dunbar](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=230): Originally posted April 4, 2007 Well… maybe just lengthening it. Let me explain. My third sweater from Knitting in the Old Way is a gansey which I am calling Dunbar – after a fishing village on the south east tip of the Firth of Forth where my husband used to vacation with his parents when he was young. We’ve been there many times – for me it’s a little like a Land’s End because you are so close to the open sea and the wild whims of the North Atlantic. Well the eponymous sweater also had\has some turbulence – not […]
- [Irish Danish](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=218): Originally posted March 18, 2007 …or at least the green natroje. I finished my second sweater from Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts on St. Patrick’s Day so I am going to call it Irish Diamonds. Sorry I didn’t post it right away. I spent most of the day reading articles about all the changes in Ireland and sadly realizing that one can never go back. I have to tell you, though, that I love the sweater! At 24 sts to 4″ three strands of lace weight Zephyr makes a very light garment – a throw on and […]
- [Irish Diamonds](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=216): Originally posted March 4, 2007 Well I have started the second sweater from Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. I decided on using 3 strands of Fiddlesticks Knitting lace weight Zephyr which gave me a gauge of 24 sts over 4″. Just a bit finer than DK; but I wanted a lighter sweater. I also decided on the colour Basil over Royal – a really tough decision – only because I have green eyes. Not that I have anything in my current wardrobe that will go with this particular shade of green – but that has never stopped […]
- [Gussets With Gusto](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=214): Originally posted February 11, 2007 have finished the first of many projects, I hope, from Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. As I said, this knitting journey is to be a learning experience so let me tell you what I have learned. 1. Tah-dah- Gussets!! I never thought that I would be so excited by something that went under the arm; but I had never made a gusset before – not only is it easy to knit, it is also comfortable to wear. 2. Weeee – welt-hems. Quite easy at the beginning except that care must be taken […]
- [January Survival Kit](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=212): Originally posted January 28, 2007 Well it’s January 28 and I’m into survival mode – I need to get through the next 6-8 weeks of winter. I know, I complained about the warm weather in January and now I’m going to complain about the cold -20C. But I have survived this month so far because of: – One dark Benfica – a glorious crimsom Amaryllis that is somewhere between the shades of Garnet and Cinnabar in the lace weight Zephyr (god of the south wind) yarn we distribute. – Three mini bags of pretzels given to me by a kind […]
- [Skippy to the Finish Line](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=210): Originally posted December 29, 2006 I have finally finished “Skippy” – so named because he’s the colour of peanut butter and a “jumper” – a basic pullover. I ‘ll not bore you with the number of times I knit the end of the sleeves – from mid-forearm down – too short, too tight, too short still…it went on and on; but it fits! The neckline is garter stitch because I didn’t start it early enough and therefore had no room for a ribbed finish. Knitting by the seat of your pants may free you from patterns; but not, human error. […]
- [Here We Go A-Reavelling..](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=208): Originally posted December 20 2006 …among the sleeves with care….or something like that. If sleep does indeed knit up that ravelled sleeve of care, would we sleep better the more sleeves we ravelled, err knit? I say this because I have been knitting and ripping out the same sleeve for the 3rd maybe 4th time. First it was too big. Then I didn’t like the way I had tried to merge the diamond pattern in the decreases – I didn’t like it twice. So now I am knitting a plain sleeve and hoping that I don’t have to unravel it […]
- [Oh Solstice, My Solstice](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=206): Originally posted December 21, 2006 I had to write to-day because, my favourite day of the year – December 21 is at hand. It is the day set aside to mark the winter solstice- the day that the sun stops going south and turns around to head north again. I know the Earth really tilts on its axis, but at one time people believed that the sun might, one day, just keep on going and we would all live in an eternal winter – not bad for knitting, but the sheep need to be shorn. So when the sun began […]
- [A Diamond For St. Andrew](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=204): Originally posted November 30, 2006 Many apologies for the delay in posting. I have been dealing with FAMILY and I am sure that everyone can relate in their own way to the tremendous responsibility that family, be it biological or otherwise, involves. We, who do not choose to be islands, know that in order to have our infra-structure when we want it , we must nurture it – maybe when we don’t actually quite have the time to do so. Anyway, my father’s house has been sold and he, my sister and nephew have moved to a newer house in […]
- [We Are So Misunderstood](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=202): Originally posted November 12, 2006 I was doing a crossword puzzle the other night – I know I should have been knitting – just taking a break from a sweater I had started in a nice wool and alpaca mix from Grand River Yarn. I have recovered from my steeking mishap. Well, the clue was “Crochet again” and I could see by the letters there, that the answer was “reknit.” There they go again. No real understanding of the needlework medium – sigh!I always like the clues around “making lace” – “tatting”. They suggest that the creators have at least […]
- [To Steek Or Not To Steek](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=200): Originally posted November 5, 2006 I have just wasted another Sunday morning on http://www.mentalfloss.com/. It’s a great site if you like lots of semi- intellectual, semi-literary banter. It also has some of the most amazing T-Shirts that I have ever read! Slogans like: The Pavlov T-shirt with the line – “that name rings a bell.” Or from Sigmund Freud – “There egos again” or the Gregor Mendel one that reads: “Giving peas a chance since 1856” Of course I couldn’t resist. I know that there are a number of great knitting T-shirts out there, such as, “I knit, therefore I […]
- [Spinrite or Spunwrong?](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=198): Originally posted October 28, 2006 Here is the story of the other dust bunny that crossed my path last week. I came home Friday night to my Oct. 23 – Nov 5/06 issue of Canadian Business and lo and behold there was an article about Spinrite under the heading “Spun Wrong”. Now anyone who has ever knit with Patons, Bernat, Phentex or Lily has worked with a Spinrite yarn. Spinrite is a Canadian institution based in Listowel ON, a small farming community about 2-3hrs north of Toronto. Actually Spinrite started under another name – Perfect Knit Mills sometime before WW […]
- [Big Business - What Do They Know?](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=196): Originally posted October 28, 2006 I’ve said before, – I love it when “things”, interesting “things” happen in clusters, criss crossing, like – well I would like to say lightening bolts, but really my life isn’t that exciting – how about dust bunnies – in an otherwise ordinary day….well week. On Wednesday I took my father out to lunch for his 92nd birthday and he insisted I take his copy of Forbes magazine home because it had an article on organic cotton in it. Now I have been fascinated with naturally coloured, organically grown cotton since I first read an […]
- [Endangered Species](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=194): Originally posted October 21, 2006 I never thought that I would feel badly about the demise of a plastic ornament, most specifically a pink plastic flamingo. But there he (or she) was on the front page of the business section of Saturday’s paper looking a little forlorn under the heading “endangered species” and I thought “oh no!” I never really liked them. However, they were humorous in hordes – let’s say 50 – surreptitiously set out on a front lawn to the surprise of a birthday celebrant! – fun for a day and then gone. It’s the ones that hung […]
- [Lock Down...?](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=192): Originally posted October 12, 2006 The times, they have changed. “Lock out,” I understand. It’s a union “thing” or an anti-union “thing” – I was once a teacher and I paid dues to a union – I believe in community support. Even now that I am self employed – I know that it is my knitting community that supports me and I hope that I support them in return – everything that goes around – comes around. But a lock down?…. this is not what your landlord does when you don’t pay the rent. His is closer to a lock […]
- [Dressing For Art](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=190): Originally posted October 8, 2006 It is a week after Nuit Blanche and all the reviews are in. It was a huge success ! In spite of the rain, almost half a million people came out to visit Art installations both in doors and out doors – all through the night. Well done Toronto!! I mentioned in my last post that our favourite installation was Fog in Toronto #71624 by Fujiko Nakaya. It was also the favourite of the photo-journalists – it showed up in all the newspapers. The second favourite was one that we had hoped to see first. […]
- [Nuit Blanche](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=188): Originally posted October 1, 2006 Nuit Blanche – white night – or in our case – wet night (it rained) was an all night “art thing” presented by the City of Toronto with major funding from Scotiabank. Nuit Blanche is staged annually in several European cities – most notably Paris as a way of having a city, its residents, streetscapes and general atmosphere interact with Art – very cool! I loved the idea and was determined to support it, in spite of the rain. Anything that moves Toronto into the realm of those other special cities is a plus with […]
- [Knitted Neurons](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=186): Originally posted September 25, 2006 I saw a knitted brain the other day in the newspaper – this is not a joke. It’s from the Museum of Scientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art – I don’t think that this title is a joke either – it was in the newspaper – now some people will say that this particular newpaper is a joke – I guess you just can’t win. Anyway here is the website.http://harbaugh.uoregon.edu/Brain/It resides in the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon. Now if I remember correctly that is where the person who knit the entire digestive […]
- [Back From The Beach and Other Realities](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=184): Originally posted September 17, 2006 It must have seemed like a long swim – about 3 weeks or so. Actually it was a short holiday that was over too soon. By the time I arrived, decompressed, took up the leisurely pace of “holiday mode” – the vacation was over. It drove me crazy that my husband rushed us around doing this and doing that in an “I’m going to enjoy this holiday” frenzy, when all I really wanted to do was sit and knit or crochet and write – but no… we had to bike 3.5ks for breakfast almost every […]
- [A Little Travelling Music, Please](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=182): Originally posted August 27, 2006 ……. Something to feed the gypsy soul. There were a few things that had to be done very early Friday morning before we set off for the first leg of our trip to Hilton Head. Yes, we were driving. It’s an 18 hour haul which we spread over 2 days, stopping for the night in Beckley, West Virginia – 10 hours from TO. I guess that there aren’t that many people these days that take long driving holidays, when it’s relatively cheap, quick and easy to take a plane – not with 4 people; but […]
- [maggie and millie and mollie and may](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=180): Originally posted August 16, 2006 “maggie and millie and molly and may” maggie and millie and molly and maywent down to the beach (to play one day) and maggie discovered a shell that sangso sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles, and millie befriended a stranded starwho’s rays five languid fingers were; and molly was chased by a horrible thingwhich raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and may came home with a smooth round stoneas small as a world and as large as alone. For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)it’s always ourselves we find in the sea.” e.e.cummings is […]
- [Send Me The Pillow You Dream On...](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=178): Originally posted August 10, 2006 More on organic cotton and beaches. The picture is from Fiona Ellis’ new book “Inspired Cable Knits” (with permission from the publisher…….) When Fiona first started to work on her book she asked me – and others – for yarn suggestions. I was thrilled to be able to give her skeins of organic cotton. I was equally thrilled when I saw the finished project. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined such a perfect combination of pattern and yarn. The photo from “real life” – where Fiona took her inspiration for The Beachcombing […]
- [Carolina Dreaming](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=176): Originally posted August 1, 2006 In just over a week’s time, I’ll be travelling with my husband and 2 of my 3 children to the beach, actually to Hilton Head at the southernmost tip of SC. I can’t wait. Certainly it’s the idea of a holiday, of being with family, uninterrupted by work, of eating too much SC shrimp and spending too much time in the sun, sand and water but it’s also about going to the ocean! Even though I have spent most of my life landlocked in southern Ontario, I am fascinated with the sea! I love poems […]
- [Opus Difficilis](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=174): Originally posted July 17, 2006 I was reading in the weekend paper about several children’s books that had been translated into Latin. Now I knew that Winnie the Pooh and I believe Peter Rabbit had both been translated into Latin – well these are classics and what better venue than a classical language! But “Walter Canis Inflatus” – Walter the Farting Dog. Now this is one of these “not so tasteful – bare all” topics that fly in the face of the subtle, cerebral classics – not that the Roman army could really be called subtle – disciplined, yes – […]
- [To The Big Apple Without Our Mackintoshes](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=172): Originally post July 12, 2006 Yes, we decided to ignore the weather forecast last week that called for more rain along the eastern seaboard of the US – that is, more rain in addition to the rain that had caused considerable flooding in various NE states, including NY, and head to the “Big Apple” with the “kids”. The border crossing at Queenston/Lewiston at 3:00pm was a piece of cake – unlike one return journey where we spent 3 hours to travel 3 miles – how about “Knitters without Borders” – then again you have 3 uninterrupted hours to knit, unless, […]
- [Best of the Show](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=170): Originally posted June 22, 2006 I think that I may have finally recovered from TNNA, as the orders we took there are now being shipped, our show booth has arrived home and the follow up orders, from stores who met us but needed to think about ordering, have started to flow. Also, I have to report that in the midst of all of this exhaustion, my 91 year old father decided to do some welding in the barn, dropped the blow torch while still lit, set a small grass fire which he couldn’t put out, fell into the fire and […]
- [TGIF & TNNA](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=168): Originally posted June 16, 2006 Well it’s the end of a week that began June 9 and it is now June 16 – where has the time gone!!!! 1- I know that I spent two days of it travelling to and from Indianapolis and either putting up or taking down our show booth at TNNA. 2- Another hour or two was spent moving quickly from the 100 aisle to the 8000 aisle to arrange with show management, things like lighting, which I had decided not to order, but now really needed- none available – but through a little magic, I […]
- [We're Off To Indianapolis in the Morning](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=166): Originally posted June 7, 2006 Yes, I’m leaving very early Friday morning – the limo comes at 4:45 a.m. – alas what one does for the love of knitting! Now I know that I have some explaining to do. I haven’t posted in almost a month and why am I going to Indianapolis…..here are my excuses/reasons: 1. I should not complain. I had 3 months worth of orders squeeze themselves into the month of May, which customers were expecting to be delivered in a timely fashion; so I couldn’t just sit there and enjoy myself – musing through my weblog, […]
- [I'm Back, Briefly](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=164): Originally posted May 12, 2006 Sorry, I’ve been a little behind in my posts. Just some big orders to fill, learning the ins and outs of new machinery, putting the finishing touches on the new website and getting ready for TNNA. Did I mention that the house is filthy and the kids have been eating bread and jam for more than a few days; but I do have several new patterns and the garden planted – well almost. I really did mean to take that course on time management and setting priorities – maybe next year – right now I […]
- [Cockroaches - What's Not To Love](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=162): Originally posted April 24, 2006 I had just finished posting about the crocheted coral reef when “The Women’s Post” – it’s a free local newspaper- arrived with an article about The Museum for Textiles here in Toronto. It seems that the museum is hosting the work of Wisconsin-based artist Jennifer Angus who has displayed her personal collection of 15,000 Southeast Asian insects (some have to be S.E. Asian cockroaches) on the walls of the museum as textile designs. The bugs are precisely arranged in patterns to emulate designs from Japanese, Egyptian and Indian textiles. I did not say “It’s enough […]
- [Save the World with a Crochet Hook](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=160): Originally posted April 24, 2006 I came across an article in the newspaper on the weekend about an institute in California – The Institute for Figuring, which is doing, among many things, a crocheted coral reef. It is a project that is both mathematical and environmental. The project is being co-ordinated to call attention to global warming and its disasterous effect on the fragile coral reef in Northern Australia. (environmental) You are invited to submit crocheted pieces to the project, however, they must be based on hyperbolic crochet .(mathematical) http://theiff.org/exhibits/reef.html The pictures are fabulous! I would love to do something […]
- [Happy Birthday HRH](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=158): Originally posted April 21, 2006 Today is Queen Elizabeth II’s 80th birthday. It is the day on which she was actually born, but for some strange reason the formal celebration of this day is in June. I could never quite figure that one out. A royal birthday suggests something regal and what better than a “cuppa” high tea brewed under a monarch’s tea cozy. I actually knit this years ago from scrap yarns and never bothered to write down the pattern, but I think this is what I did. It is worked back and forth in 2 pieces. Measure with […]
- [Coffee Cozy](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=156): Originally posted April 17, 2006 Here is our first designer coffee cozy. Ann, designer of Sarah James Patterns, has kindly given us the pattern for her basic coffee cup cover. Thank you so much! To see more cozies, beyond the basic, curser down to the bottom of this page on Sarah James’ site. The pattern may be ordered from your favourite yarn retailer. It’s gorgeous! http://www.sarahjamespatterns.net/hatscarves.htm Knit up this cozy to add a fabulous “designer look” to those everyday coffee containers You will need: One empty 12 ounce coffee container. Yarn: One 50 gram ball of sock yarn for basic […]
- [Sunshine and Lollipops](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=154): Originally posted April 17, 2006 I thought that you might like some eye candy, just in case you didn’t get any treats from the Easter bunny. Here are two new scarves from Fiddlesticks Knitting which can be joined with a twist to form Mobius’. I think it’s tricky to make that one plural. What was even trickier was trying to name the pattern. We started out with “Twice as Nice” and “Twisted Twins”. Well the former was OK, but didn’t really sparkle, whereas the latter was just a little too weird. I needed my thinking cap. I began picturing summer […]
- [Of Cats, Spats and Cream Soda](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=152): Originally posted April 10 2006 The story about Sir Humphrey reminded me of a poem by T.S. Eliot in his book “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” – the basis of the musical “Cats”. In fact I had had this particular cat in mind when I designed one of my cat mittens. Here is the first verse of the poem and the mitten. Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones–In fact, he’s remarkably fat.He doesn’t haunt pubs–he has eight or nine clubs,For he’s the St. James’s Street Cat!He’s the Cat we all greet as […]
- [A Cat For All Seasons](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=150): Originally posted April 9, 2006 Perhaps you’ve heard of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the infamous cat of 10 Downing St. Well I hadn’t and I was amazed to read an article about him in a magazine recently. Apparently Sir Humphrey has been around for a long time. He appeared one day at the front door of the aforementioned address, when Margaret Thatcher was in residence. Well forget about all this “iron lady” stuff, she was really a pussycat at heart – or at least she had a soft spot for cats, especially a lonely black and white Jellicle, without a calling […]
- [Snuffier Snowdrops](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=147): Originally posted March 31, 2006 This has nothing to do with Spring allergies. I just thought that the picture of Snowdrops in the earlier post wasn’t up to “snuff.” It didn’t really capture the “essence” of Snowdrops – whatever that might be, so I took a few pictures of other more sheltered clumps around the garden and came up with these. I also tried my hand at some intarsia Snowdrops. I was trying to work out a stitch pattern that would “scream” Snowdrops. Now this a little difficult to do when one is still trying to develop one’s artistic skills. […]
- [A Snuff of Snowdrops](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=145): Originally published March 26, 2006 Sorry that’s the best I could do with Snowdrops – a Flowering of Forsythia was easier. Anyway we take our highs where we can get them and these are the first flowers up in the garden. Actually they were up about the second week in March; but it turned cold again, so I had to wait for it to warm up to take pictures. I love flowers and I love knitting floral themes. I remember the beautiful intarsia flower sweaters from Susan Duckworth and others in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I was talking […]
- [Romancing the Bean](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=143): Originally published March 20, 2006 Jolene Treace very kindly sent me her thoughts on designing and related them directly to designing a coffee coat. Jolene’s ideas are pure poetry. Such sensitivity and understanding for such a simple task suggests the tremendous amount of thought and feeling that Jolene brings to her sweater, shawl and scarf designs. Here is what Jolene says about designing: “The creative process for me is very much one that takes me over. Something catches my eye, and one thought leads to another. I am often inspired by whatever happens to be around me. I suppose it […]
- [I Come Greymalkin](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=141): Originally published March 14, 2006 …..and paddock and harpier. These are the other familiars mentioned in Macbeth, however, they are NOT cats. Chelle was the first to post the name of the cat familiar from Macbeth- it was/is Graymalkin! Thank you sooo much Chelle for participating. Your yarn is going out very soon. Actually, the other two familiars are quite interesting too – Paddock is a Hedgehog. (Please ignore anyone who says he’s a toad – he isn’t.) He has to be a hedgehog, because Fiber Trends has just brought out a brand new pattern for knitted felted hedgehogs, not […]
- [A Tale of Two Sweaters](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=138): Originally published March 18, 2006 For March break, we decided to take our two youngest children(13 & 14) away for a few days skiing & snow-boarding. I ski; they board. I knit; they get bored – It’s hard to keep everyone happy. Anyway, so as not to be too “boring”, I decided to take a mindless project with me. Then I could still be part of the family arguments – as in- 1. You can’t watch THAT music video. 2. What do mean, you left your only pair of mitts at school? 3. When exactly in the last 24 hours […]
- [A River Runs Through It](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=136): Originally published March 10, 2006 n my last post I asked whether you could tell from her designs that Jennifer Appleby was from Northern BC. I said that because I knew I was going to post designs from an other designer who lives in Montana and draws a lot of her inspiration from the Montana landscape. I think that knitting one of Sarah James’ designs might be a bit like capturing a piece of Montana on your needles – to die for! Here is what Anne says about her design inspiration: “Before I put yarn to needle I think about […]
- [These Boots Were Made from Talking](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=134): Originally posted March 10, 2006 A number of designers contacted me by e-mail to suggest what goes on in their minds when they design. (A little different, perhaps than what goes on in the knitter’s mind when they knit the design…. maybe not) Their comments are as unique as their work. Jennifer Appleby of The Woollen Earth was the first who said: “My goodness…that’s like trying to pin down exactly how you “seemingly” jumped from one topic to the next…backtracking, saying, well, first we were talking about this, which made me think of this, which made me think of this… […]
- [Magnifi...cat(s)](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=131): Originally posted March 7, 2006 One of my colleagues when I was teaching decided to develop her skills as an artist. I thought that this was a great idea given that as a history teacher she had already developed her memory. She also spent an inordinate amount of time reading about events in the past to make sense of the present and to hopefully improve the future. Developing her artistic side, I thought, was time better spent! I bought one of her pieces before I left teaching. It was a charcoal drawing of her cat, a black one, which she […]
- [Familiar Knitting and Knitting Familiars](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=129): Originally published March 6 2006 The two animals closest to a knitter’s heart, I have to believe, are the cat and the sheep. There are great references in literature to the lion and the lamb and then there is, of course, the Tyger. Cats are the witches’ familiars – the form that witches take when they want to disappear. Some also believe that cats are the spirits that give the witch her greatest inspiration. In Britain, cats, especially black cats, are good luck. Ironically the white ones are not. What is the synergy, though, between knitter and cat? The newest […]
- [Food For The Knitted Soul](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=127): Originally posted March 3, 2006 One of the amazing things about the human spirit is its ability to “bounce back” and make the best of things. I might have been “a little down” March 1; but I’m up and back at it to-day! March after-all is the Month of Madness and I am determined to enjoy every insane minute of it!! Fasten your seats belts, this could be an interesting ride! First I need some help. I read an all too brief article about a group of knitters who are drawing their inspiration from street culture and as a result, […]
- [Of Omens and Ominous Knitting](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=125): Originally posted March 1, 2006 To night at about 6:30pm, as I was bringing my youngest home from an after school class, I looked into the sky. I often wonder if these seemingly vague glances at the heavens are really a lot like casually looking at one’s watch – just a quick check or re-aligned with the universe. (What time is it really? or what is the real time?) However small or minute we may seem to be, we are actually part of a really grand system. For me being a small part of something really immense and enduring is […]
- [Let the Fur and Feathers Fly](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=121): Originally posted February 28, 2006 I am always amazed at how inter-related people, events – well life in general – really is. I was looking at renting new space for Infiknit and I met a Real Estate agent which Marsha White of The Needle Arts Book Shop had recommended. At the end of our meeting, John asked me if I knew Paula Lishman. Many of you will know Paula as the “fur” lady. Years ago Paula discovered a way of cutting fur pelts into fine strips to make yarn. Knitting with fur became a reality – an expensive reality at […]
- [Once More into the Breech](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=119): Originally posted February 24, 2006 Just as Salvador Dali can be a study in opposites, so too can the work of Debbie New – not the person – just the work. We have on the one hand teacups that melt and on the other a knitted vest as rigid as cement. At left is the Armoured Vest, an amazing work. Debbie designed and knit the vest, then soaked it in Plaster of Paris. In order to have the vest harden in the shape of…well… a vest, Debbie had to wear it around – cold, wet and rather heavy – for […]
- [The Chambered Nautilus](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=117): Originally posted February 22, 2006 Thank you, Knitti-me for your request to see something done in Opal the colour that I suggested most resembled a seashell for the Venus Vest pattern. Kaleidoscope Wrap is knit in Opal. The soft peach tones melt into beiges and creams with hints of pink and blue. The dyer has tried to capture that gorgeous pearlescence that we see when we turn over a seashell after its occupant, the chambered nautilus, has left. Hope you like it! Of course, I couldn’t leave you with out a look at Debbie New’s take on seashells. Here is […]
- [Psst...Wanna buy a watch?](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=115): Originally published February 21, 2006 Well, OK, so it needs a little work. Do you really need to know the time? Maybe we all could use a little break from “Time” now and again. Read on…. Playing around in my mind was the comment that I had quoted about Debbie New being the “Salvador Dali” of wool. (I have posted about Debbie and her art in the medium of knitting in earlier posts.) I was puzzled by these comments partly because, I knew very little about Salvador Dali and partly because I know, I will never know a lot about […]
- [Amaryllis and the Lost Shepherdess](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=108): Originally published February 18, 2006 In checking my spelling of Amaryllis, I discovered that it is also the name of the shepherdess in a love poem by Virgil. How appropriate! This is the intricate layering of Art and Nature, yarn and knitting. I also found another pattern that made me think of being wrapped in a flower. At the right is Ole Bolero from Fiddlesticks Knitting. The lovely flared sleeves look like the flowers of the Trumpet Vine – spectacular flashes of red in August. This fetching cropped top could also be knit in Periwinkle, at left, then it would […]
- [An Opening of Amaryllis](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=106): Originally published February 16, 2006 Amaryllis always make me think of the work of Georgia O’Keeffe. That wonderful American artist who paints pictures of flowers – amazing flowers – flowers so big you could crawl inside them, like Thumbellina. The image of actually living inside a flower is so surreal, maybe even sublime. Just think. You would be surrounded by the exotic perfume, touched by the velvet petals and rocked by the gentle movements of the blossom…..Where can I buy my next ticket to paradise! I thought of the equivalent in knitting. I thought of little capelets of petals, draped […]
- [Valentine's Day and the Romance Shawl](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=104): Originally published February 14, 2006 To-day is Valentine’s Day or St. Valentine’s Day as it used to be called before St. Valentine was stricken from the roster of saints by the Catholic Church for seemingly not having created any miracles. I don’t know about that. He used to be reverred for his letters, mainly on the subject of love – spiritual love. But he did write letters, that in itself could be considered miraculous! He wrote letters; we send cards – pretty or funny or really sloppy, commercially generated cards. Some of you will be lucky and get a hand […]
- [A Flowering of Forsythia](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=102): Originally published February 11, 2006 There are more signs of Spring in evidence even though our mild January has turned into a pretty frosty February -10c with wind chill factors. Don’t put those needles down yet. There’s plenty of time to wear out a mitten or two. Still Orion is in the Southern (oh, how I love that word) sky – at least I think he is. It’s been so cloudy that I haven’t seen a star in days – and the Forsythia brought in for forcing is now in “forced” bloom. Actually very lovely blooms of sunny yellow to […]
- [Put On Your Dancing Socks](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=100): Originally published February 9, 2006 When I asked the question in an earlier post whether a work of art bore the “genetic” imprint of the artist, I thought of Robyn Gallimore of Red Bird Knits. Robyn is a sock knitter and a phenomenal sock designer. She has a sock of the month club and so designs a new sock every month. The club has been going for more than 3 years that means more than 36 sock patterns WOW!!! and I thought that I had trouble with math. I once commented to Robyn about one of her new designs. I […]
- [The Disarming Venus Vest](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=98): Originally published February 8, 2006 Venus is the goddess of Love. Her other name is Aphrodite – may have something to do with aphrodisiac – not sure? I mentioned in my last post that Dorothy Siemens of Fiddlesticks Knitting has just finished a gorgeous garment called the Venus Vest- the graphs are being checked at the moment and the pattern should be available very soon. I asked Dorothy about the finished project. She said that she was very pleased with it, although it was a difficult “birth.” I think that you should hear directly from the artist how much labour […]
- [Born Somewhere Between Bloor and Wellesley](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=96): Originally published February 6, 2006 My husband came home last night to say that a child had been born on the subway some where between Bloor and Wellesley. Now I have always considered one’s lot in life to be primarily an “accident of birth”. I know for many parents, birth is not an accident. It is generally a considered undertaking, with lots of preparation, lots of pain, lots of joy… all that goes into a moment we call life, which we actually happen to give at that moment! On the other hand the offspring of all this care, pain, joy, […]
- [Me Old China.....](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=91): Originally published January 30, 2006 For those not born within the sound of the bells of St. Mary – le – Bow, the complete phrase is: “Me old china plate – me mate.” It’s a Cockney phrase. When you refer to someone as “Your old china..” you are actually calling them your mate or friend – it loses a lot in translation, but it has a wonderful old country feel when rattled off by the barrow boys in Petticoat Lane or Portobello Road. My father, who was stationed in London during WWII, came home with lots of London expressions just […]
- [La Follie De Laine](https://lifeiswhathappens.ca/?p=94): When I started out in the knitting business or this business of knitting, there was a small mail order yarn store in Quebec called La Folie de Laine. I once asked the owner what the name of her business was in English – not a great question since we should be a totally bilingual country – but we’re not. Anyway she – sad to say I have forgotten her name – Shirley Scott will remember – said, it is difficult to translate exactly, but basically it means – “the madness of wool”. What a perfect concept – maybe not a […]


[comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)