Sock Wars!!!

Sock Wars has begun!! Actually, it began last week. However, I as a grad student who is also a slow reader excuse myself from not having sent my socks off on Monday. I'm getting there!! Right now I must sleep. Will definitely post later on the wonders of camo socks and the domestic ideal in 19th century fiction (although not in connection with each other).

Ahhhh Saturday...

I had a beautiful day.

I woke up this morning and saw Job off to work, picked up the paper, and came back upstairs. I sat on the balcony (it's starting to get nippy out there!) wearing socks knitted by my best friend's mom (among other clothing items, naturally), drank tea and read the paper. Then I did the crossword. Well, I started the crossword.

I'm trying to learn Cryptic Crosswords and they're not simple. My great aunt Iris taught me awhile ago but my brain has not grasped it. There are so many techniques, and once you master them you're good to go, but the only one I can ever remember is the mix-up-the-letters-in-part-of-the-clue one.

Anyway I tried that for awhile and then walked to the library (I live right next to the campus), gave a short tutorial on the reserve room to a couple of first-years (spur-of-the-moment kind of thing), and returned home to read some school stuff.

All in all a wonderful, relaxing day. Any day with newspaper crosswords and tea is a great day. I took some pictures that I could meditate on later, but I'm posting from the laptop so they'll have to wait.

Hope everyone else had a good Saturday too.

Except of course for the Pope. I'm sure he's kinda miffed.

Yikes! Neglected the blog yet again!

Well, here it is, September 12th. My, my, my, how much has happened since I last posted.

1. I didn't win the contest :( However, the winner of the contest was supremely deserving.
2. I went to Edmonton for Job's one week vacation (poor guy is doing school straight through this year) where much life changing happened (see below).
3. I started my Masters program at UVic, which involved a lot of reading, a lot of hyperventilating, and a lot of coming to grips with essays twice as long as I'm used to writing for a class. That's okay! I can do it!

So what happened in Edmonton, you ask?

Well, on the way to Edmonton we stopped at the Cafe Mt. Robson, which we love, and ...

Job proposed.

It was perfect and beautiful and wonderful and at one of my absolute favourite places. Here is Mt. Robson as seen from the highway:


And it was a perfectly clear day. Job's dad was saying that you almost never see the top this clearly. It was just a perfect day all around. Sometimes I can't believe I'm lucky enough to live here. How gorgeous is this?!?!?! It's unreal! They don't touch those pictures up for postcards and calendars, folks. It really looks like that. And I'm a terrible photographer.

Anyway, Job and I also became godparents on the trip. Job's sister isn't very religious, but they asked us anyway and we stood up there with little Austin while he screamed his head off. Actually he was pretty good, considering there was a strange man carrying him around and dipping his head in water.

They have this tradition in Job's family where every child wears the same christening gown and Job's aunt embroiders the child's full name onto the under-dress part. It has been used since the sixties, I think, and there are a lot of names on there. It's quite a cool tradition, I think.

Anyway, I now have a wedding to plan. It's two years away still, but the more I learn about weddings, the happier I am to have all this time!!

Also in Edmonton, I finished one half of one Pomatomus. However, I have so many projects on the go right now that I probably won't finish the pair for awhile. More because of grad school than other projects, actually. What a lot of reading!! I'm actually reading as I type. That's a lie, but I feel like I should be.

Here is Pomatomus the First:


My flash kinda washes out the colour, but this is pretty close. I am on the foot part of it, which isn't obvious from the picture, but there it is.

I can totally sympathize with Kristi about having to reteach yourself to knit NOT tbl. I got through three rows of lace on another project before I looked at it and realized that all the knit stitches were twisted the wrong way. Whaaaa???

Anyway I am loving this pattern and have gotten SO MANY compliments on it!! Unreal!!! Thank you Cookie!! Although I can foresee many requests for Pomatomi, and I'm not sure if I have the patience or finger strength to do this pattern several times. Hmmmm. Maybe I'll just have to send the pattern out with the Christmas cards and offer email lessons? Hahaha.

That's all for now!