OMG! OMG! OMG!

I really wish I subscribed to HBO Canada right now.

On Sunday night, a series premieres, and I MUST. WATCH. IT. Game of Thrones is based on the first novel of A Song of Ice and Fire.

I listened to the first four novels in the series last summer while drinking wine and knitting on the cement pad. I picked them because each novel was at least 36 hours long (I have no idea what that means in pages). That was my only criteria.

Iwas captivated about 15 minutes in and I spent every spare moment listening for the next month.

Some of the characters on the good side are horrible. Some of the villains are so noble and kind they should be playing for the other team. People get hurt, people get killed. Heroines are so whiny and infuriating that you want to smack them upside the head. Gross, violent disgusting things happen. Some amazingly sweet and tender moments are sprinkled in the saga as well.

I soaked every word up. I dreamed about the books. I had trouble concentrating on things like... walking, because I was listening so intently. I forgot to eat. I fell asleep listening to them late at night. I was pissed off when I discovered that three more books are to follow, and the publication of the fifth has been delayed by several years (it's being published for sure this coming July. If Facebook says so, it must be true).

So... I will figure out a way to watch this, and must find a new knitting project to accompany it. Something ambitious, but not too complicated. Hmmm... should probably be lace.

I spend far too much time on the internet

But it is such a delicious way to waste said time.

Today, I've been catching up on Reasoning with Vampires. (What? It's Friday afternoon. There's no way I'm actually going to work).

I found this delightful Tumblr during a similar Friday afternoon several months ago, while reading the Huffington Post.

These are just a few of the posts that have actually made me laugh out loud this afternoon (and that was not good, because accounting is no laughing matter. I could have totally blown my cover).

I don't really have any desire to read Twilight, though I do own the first one (bought used for one dollah), and if anything I have read about it is true; I will absolutely loathe it. So, the mocking is funny. Really, really funny. More people should think about what they read so critically and talk about it so wittily.

My inner nerd is absolutely delighted

with the Periodic Table of Fictional Elements. I came to enjoy science fiction and fantasy much later in life than most nerds do. I sure am making up for lost time.

Now that Stargate is over (for now)

OK, I've worked my way through the ten seasons of Stargate SG1, two of the three movies and the five seasons of Stargate Atlantis. I stopped by the downtown HMV to pick up the first season of Stargate Universe. I left it there because it was $49.99. That exceeds my threshold of what I will pay for DVDs. So, that will wait. Or, I will get it on Ebay for hopefully much less.

So, I'm getting back to audio books. A while ago, I asked my dear beloved peeps at LSG to suggest epic science fiction/fantasy novels. You know, the kind that create whole new worlds, span multiple volumes, take over your dreams and leave you gasping for more. Things like The Sword of Truth or Song of Ice and Fire. You see, I had gotten the first three volumes of The Belgariad from the library, but the final two volumes were unavailable. I was forced to turn to Audible, and thought I should get some suggestions for my next selections from people I trust.

LSG delivered. Holy smokes, I was blown away by the number of responses and how movingly they wrote about the books. I compiled them into a spreadsheet, with the number of as marking how often that particular author/book/series was mentioned.

If I do a search on for epic fantasy, I get 490 results. It's remarkable how many match the recommendations I got.

I'm thinking Wheel of Time next. Or perhaps The Lies of Locke Lamora. Whatever it is, it will be many, many hours spent with headphones in and hands knitting.

After the exam is over

How does the world keep turning?

How does the free time grow?

How does a knit stay burning?

After procrastination's glow?

OK, that's all I've got, and it's pretty lame.

The exam was 8 days ago, and since then, I feel ten years younger, 40 pounds lighter and just generally good about things.

Which is a long way to say that the exam was... not bad.

While there is no doubt that I didn't do enough studying, because it is impossible to do too much studying for these things, I don't think I completely buggered it up. I didn't have that shaking feeling of anxiety during the 20 minutes between the reading of the instructions and being allowed to touch the paper. I turned the paper over and wrote solidly for 3 hours and 55 minutes. The MC questions seemed to be clear, the case studies drew on content that I was comfortable with, enough that I could issue an opinion without grasping for straws. There wasn't a consolidation question with foreign currency translation, thank FSM. Looking back, I should have tackled the big case question first. The exam suggested 1 hour, 55 minutes for that question alone. I had 1 hr, 45 minutes left when I got to it.

I know, from reading the exam blueprint, that I did not go into enough detail to get an extraordinary number of points, but all I need is 50. It's pass/fail, and there is no feedback unless the candidate royally messes up. So, I'm letting it go until February 5, when the results are released.

I did realize, however, that taking this course now was a really good move - it's a course that tests breadth, not depth, and it draws on courses that I took as long as ten years ago. Much has changed (IFRS/GAAP, I'm looking at you!), much has been forgotten. I can only imagine how much harder it would have been if I had waited even longer, not taking any accounting courses in the mean-time.

So, the next order of business is to get through the second one, and then return to my degree studies. And if I never get around to that degree, well, then I will have accomplished the goal I set for myself in 1996 - to complete the CGA program of study. I could be satisfied with that. Maybe.

So, what I have been doing for the past week? Well, I cleaned my house, because things had been sorely neglected during the run-up to the exam, I listened to Harry Potter 5 and 6, and watched the movies. And on Sunday... I saw The Deathly Hallows Part 1.

It was good. As always, the books are better (though I kind of agree with people who have said that the months of roughing it could have been considerably shortened). What I like (and I need to do more reading about the changes in writers/directors/producers) is that like the books, the movies have grown with Harry - grown darker, addressed more mature issues. The animation of the story of The Deathly Hallows was particularly well done. Part 1 finished in a good spot - about 2/3 of the way through the book, but right before the final action begins. I can't wait for July.

And speaking of Harry Potter, I was at the watering hole on Friday, and convinced another reader to pick them up. She, like me, had been reluctant to jump on the bandwagon. I think I may have convinced her by talking about how it was a metaphor for Germany from 1936 to 1945, with flashes of Anne of Green Gables.

But there has also been knitting! I knitted a hat. It's alpaca, details on Ravelry. I've even blocked it, and hope to give it to the recipient tomorrow. It's a wee bit big for me, so it should fit her perfectly. If not, I'll make her another. She bought me more than enough yarn to do so, after all.

I don't know what the hell is going on with the jog on the right side. Bad photography staging, for sure.

That's better.

A hat.

Anticipation

In preparation for this:



I am listening to all of the Harry Potter audiobooks. Not coincidentally, I am also a knitting machine these days.

Books! Squee! More books!

If someone isn't depending on me to show up to something, I rarely leave the house on weekends.

My home is my castle and all that stuff.

However, I visited the public library website the other day, and noticed that a used book sale is coming up.

I immediately put it in my calendar. I was going, because I haven't bought a book since sometime in 2009 (sadly, that is not an exaggeration).

I spent $25 and got many, many books. I am a happy woman right now (not that I have time to read, but whatev).

The first thing I found was A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence. For fifty cents. Sold.

I did a book report on it in Grade 10. It was the first Laurence novel I ever read, and it started a lifelong love affair with her work.

Then I headed to the mystery and thriller section. I spied several David Baldacci books - I've been listening to many audio books by this author this summer, and I just finished Divine Justice. However, I mistakenly downloaded an abridged version, and it was... clunky. I'm looking forward to finding out what parts were left out.

And I found another Baldacci, Hour Game. It's in the middle of a series, but I'm pretty sure the first two are available via the library's audio download (have I mentioned how much I love that service? If not, I really love that service).

Mysteries also found me picking up two Ian Rankin books. I read the first Inspector Rebus novel years ago, and I fully intend to read them all. In order.

I'll make a note of the titles and pick them up here and there.

I checked out the science fiction and fantasy, then. Not much there, and certainly not what I was looking for. I love the epic sagas that stretch over many books and thousands of pages. It's been my experience that those are not often found used. Nerds tend to hang on to their books (not that I blame us). I'm mostly looking for hard copies of books I've listened to, and now have to keep my eyes peeled. Of course, once I've started buying a series, I like to have the same format, whether hardcover, trade or paperback. It really bothers me when my series don't match.

However, I did pick up the hard-cover copy of Emily Giffin's Love the One You're With. It won't match my trades, but it is at least the same cover style. One has to compromise when paying $3.00 for a fairly new hard cover novel.

I cruised over to the young adult table, then. Specifically, I was looking for the first two Harry Potter novels, which strangely disappeared from my apartment, years ago, after my roommate had a party. HP is another one that is hard to find used. I spied a copy of Twilight for a buck.


I have sworn to never read this novel, because Bella is an annoying twat and VAMPIRES DO NOT SPARKLE.

But for a dollar? I suppose I'll give it a try, just so that I can be condescending with some authority.

From there, I spied the craft section. Always on the hunt for knitting books, I made a beeline for that table. There were two knitting books, one really shitty, and the other one I all ready own. But, for $1.50, I bought Big Girl Knits anyway. I'll give it to someone, because it deserves to be loved.

Also, why so much needlepoint and crewel embroidery? It's cool stuff, don't get me wrong, but those two crafts are really over-represented in used-book sales and shops.

Sadly, my dreams of finding a first edition Starmore remain unfulfilled.

After that, it was a cruise down more fiction and literature. I picked up The Blind Assassin, but my other Margaret (Atwood). That is amusing, because I woke up this morning thinking about The Handmaid's Tale, a novel that truly freaked me out, and made me sign up for my Feminist with a capital F membership.

At this point, my arms were full, so I made my way to the till. When I said to the fellow that I had to leave because I couldn't carry any more, he kindly offered to let me leave my stack there so I could continue shopping. How nice, eh? I wandered through the cookbooks (on the lookout for The Joy of Cooking and anything by Julia Child, just for fun). On a table earmarked for hobbies, I spied a one-volume set of the first four Hitchiker's novels.

For a dollar.

I nearly shouted with joy. I've been looking for these, off and on, for years. I read them in high school and think of them often. The recent movie was a tragedy, by the way.

Then, it was a quick cruise through the cds (Alanis Morrisette and Boyz to Men were seriously over-represented) and then back to the till. Time to come home and find shelf space for all these treasures.

I think I will try leaving the house more often on weekends. Long bus rides across town are also very productive when knitting socks.

BBC's Book List

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.


How do your reading habits stack up?


Instructions: Copy the list into a Note and put an ‘x‘ after those you have read, count ‘em up, compare tallies. This should be easy. Strutting and preening is optional.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (gah, I can’t get into it, but I own a copy)

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (x times 3)

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (x)

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (x times 7)

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (x – my cat’s name is Scout, FFS. I loved this book)

6 The Bible (does 25 years of worshipping in a Christan church help? I've read most of it. I expect I skipped over all the begats, though)

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (I know I should read it, and I own a copy, but I always think of the Monty Python skit, and then the idea is ruined)

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (I just joined a book club, and this is the first selection. I’m very excited)

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (x times 3)

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (x)

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (the movie made me ball my eyes out. I’m never reading this book)

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (x - took me 20 years, but I read it)

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (x)

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (I am desperate to read this)

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (x)

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (x)

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (x times 4 Why don't I own these? Also, there's a fifth?)

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (x)

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (x sort of. I’ve been about half-way through for about 15 years)

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen (ugh)

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (again, ugh)

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (x – I loved this book, until I figured out it was a metaphor for Christianity)

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (x)

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (x - I am not insisting on getting my $40 back because I have the illustrated version, and it's gorgeous, even though the story is stupid)

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (I've never even heard of this book)

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (x What Canadian girl has not read this?)

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (x)

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel (on the shelf)

52 Dune - Frank Herbert (I haven't read this because I know I will love it, and there aren't enough hours in the day)

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (what is it with Austen?)

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (x This was a delightful little book)

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (I want to read this, just because of the name)

61 Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck (x)

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac (x)

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (x)

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Inferno – Dante (I own this. I don’t remember why I bought it)

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (on the shelf)

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (x)

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (x Alice Walker’s novels are among the most horrifying I’ve ever read. But, her novels need to be read)

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (on the shelf)

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry (now added to the book-shopping list)

87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (x)

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole (I started it a long time ago, and then I divorced the person who owned the copy on the shelf. I need to replace it)

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (x)

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Hmmm. 25. If had actually read the books I eventually mean to, the count would have been 40.

This is a strange and eclectic list. I can’t really sense a theme. Using my googlefu, it appears to be a survey. That makes more sense, even though the list in the link is not the same as what is posted here.

Thanks to Purpleniko and Knitting Daisies for the inspiration. I always like to think about books.

Nine down, a billion to go

This is the stage I was at when I stopped for the evening:

Eleven boxes unpacked, and most put away.

This is the leftovers (box of cookbooks not shown. Also, how did I get so damn many cookbooks? I didn't even really cook until I moved to Chez Peepee):


Sorting out what was to stay and what was to go was simple and difficult at the same time. I mean, I know I don't need the copy of Fighting for Your Marriage that my therapist thought I needed. Clearly, that marriage is long over, and a similar situation is not likely to happen anytime soon.

Also, I have embraced being an atheist, and can safely toss all the books on meditation and spirituality that I bought when I was often asked to speak at faith-based events and lead devotionals (looking back: what the hell were those people thinking?).

I can also toss all the books I bought at yard sales, etc. for under a dollar and never was able to get into.

Some books, however, are still sitting in a to-be-determined pile. While it's unlikely that I will ever get around finishing Hobbes' Leviathan, it's handy to have around, both for making me look brainy and for squashing bugs. Plus, the Enlightenment, and indeed, most of the 18th century is my favourite period in history. I never know when I will want to look up some sort of obscure quote to support my drunken argument.

Same for my collected works of Sir Walter Scott. Who knows? Tomorrow, I may take a study break and decide that 18th century poetry (again with the 18th century! Sensing a theme?) is just what I need.

I'm thinking this is going to take a while, and I'd better move some stuff around.

Wish me luck

One of tonight's projects is to move these books:



Into this:



It's going to be difficult because there are at least five more boxes of books downstairs. Two boxes of CD's. Multiple boxes of knick-knacks.

I will have to be harsh.

Cold. Unemotional. Distant. Ruthless.

All easily done when dealing with lovers, boyfriends, husbands and the like. Not nearly so easy when it's my beloved books.

I will be reciting this post to myself, during the entire time. Especially #5 "If you don’t use it, need it, love it, or feel inspired by it, get rid of it."

I think it's serendipity that it showed up in my bloglines this morning.

I'm a reasonably smart person

At least, I think so.



I manage to dress myself each morning, get to work pretty much on time, feed myself, pay my bills, that sort of thing.



I'm also a pretty good conversationalist, and have talents that are an addition to my workplace. I'm reasonably well-read and try to keep up on current events.



But every once in a while, I do something so amazingly stupid that I have to wonder how smart I really am.



For example, this morning.

I knew that to safely stand on the incredibly crowded transit bus, I could not hold my bag, my coffee cup and the railing. Something had to go. That was my coffee, which I carefully placed into my bag. I was able to check on it, and make sure it was still upright.



The bus was really crowded when I got off, but I managed. Then I got to my transfer point, and realized that my coffee cup was sideways. And almost empty.



Just about everything in my bag was soaked, including my breakfast. Coffee soaked Ryvita does not taste good, for the record.

Yup, that's the wrap for the silent auction. Not quite sure how I'm going to handle that.

My brand spanking new book. Ruined. Well before I finished reading it.

My precious Ravelry tote. I had hoped to not wash it for a bit, to maintain that crisp stiffness of a new tote that I love so much. Whoops.

See? That's gross.

My school books got some damage too, but I'm able to reprint the stuff with the worst damage. The rest of it is just brown on some of the edges.


But the worst part? No coffee. I have very few domestic skills, but I can say, without bragging, that I make a damn fine cup of coffee. I dragged my butt all day, as a result. Until I got home at 10 pm. That's a long time to wander around, stinking like coffee but unable to source some of the good stuff.

My new favourite website

I was cruising around on the Winnipeg Libraries website, and just for fun, clicked on the download audio books button.

Then, I typed in the name of my favourite fantasy author, Terry Goodkind.

A few clicks later, I had the software downloaded, the security on Windows Media player updated, and Confessor, unabridged, coming through my speakers. It is the 11th and final book in the Sword of Truth series, and I have been waiting for the conclusion to the story for quite some time.

I knit on a project for the shop, and had a couple glasses of wine.

Sunray scarf / neckwarmer, available as a Ravelry download, on 5 mm needles, knit in Plymouth Galway.

What an awesome way to spend a Friday night. Now, if I can get this audio book sofware talking to my ipod, we'll really be in business.

Confession

Life has not slowed down much, here at Chez Peepee. What I envisioned as a leisurely, lazy summer, full of wine, knitting, and laughter, has been, well, rather frantic.

The whole house is a mess, there's wine to be bottled, six individual socks on the go (only one is a second sock) and well, I'm sure I'm the person in the neighbourhood whose lawn gets snickered at.

And I've chosen it to be this way, and for right now, I'm OK with with it.

I'm sure you are all wondering what has happened.

And no, I'm not drinking a whole lot. Certainly less than usual.

What I am doing is reading. Novels. For fun.

And this is the confession part. I'm re-reading a series of novels I first discovered in 1994. When I was so poor that I couldn't afford to buy the next one, and actually stood in Coles reading the latest installment, because the waiting list at the library was a year long.

Why am I reading novels that I have read before (to be honest, read just about every year since I was able to afford my own copies in 1997)?

Because I am a romantic (and it galls me to admit that, oh yes it does). I am a sucker for star-crossed lovers, or circumstances that won't give two people a bloody break. I secretly wish (or perhaps not so secretly, now) that there was someone out there that I could love throughout time, and that that person would love me back.

Well, there's not. But that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy reading about someone else:

I love, love, love this series of books. They've got everything - history, humour, a strong heroine, a dashing hero. The absolute best part is, I lived in Scotland for a time, and the 18th century was my favourite period of study. Bonnie Prince Charlie and all his lot. Diana Gabaldon has done a fine job of making 18th century Scotland come alive. I hear the voices of my friends in my head when I read these books. And that is perhaps the best reason of all.

Big mistake. Huge!

On Tuesday, I was exhausted and knew that if I went home after work, I wouldn't leave. At the same time, I didn't want to miss knit night.

So, I went downtown and to kill some time, popped into a book shop.

That was a seriously bad move.

You see, the one thing I like to do more than knitting is read. I haven't read a novel since Christmas, and it's killing me. There are sooooo many new books that I am just desperate to get my hands on, and going into that shop was like eating a burger in front of a starving person. And this wasn't even a particularly good book shop, just the only new book shop that remains open downtown.

I managed to leave with just one book, and I read it, in its entirety, in the next hour and a half:

Things I Learned from Knitting...whether I wanted to or not, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.*

It barely satisfied my craving. I cannot wait until this course is done, and I can read for fun again.

*Photo shamelessly swiped from Amazon.ca.

A thousand things to do, but I don't care

My to-do list for today is as long as my arm, but I just spent two lovely hours listening to Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and working on my shawl.

I can't imagine a better way to start a Sunday. Now, I'm walking to the good grocery store. In the sun.

The best-laid plans...

I had grand (well, to me) plans for this weekend.

I was going to do a thorough house-cleaning, tackle some little fix-it jobs and maybe even deal with some of the piles of stuff lying around.

All in preparation for the painters and floor installers that I hope to hire in the next month or so.

What I did: emptied and dealt with four baskets of unread magazines, unopened mail and other general crap that comes into the house. Which is impressive - it's six months worth of mail.

(You know that I did this in between naps, because I'm still sick. My nose is so raw that it's bleeding. Not pretty.)

The inspiration? I took a little book out of the library, for some fun-reading:

30 Days to a Simpler Life, Connie Cox and Cris Evatt*

While most of its advice is repetitive, and frankly annoying, it is making me think about the organized life I used to live, and how pleasant it was. I realize the life-fairy isn't going to give it back to me, I have to work at it.

Finding the time to work on it is the hard part.

*Photo shamelessly swiped from Amazon.ca.

Happy Yule to me

All that money was burning a hole in my pocket.

And, since I had to go downtown to pick up a memory card and the missing headset for my new pda, I thought I would pop into the bookshop and music store.

You know, if the shops weren't too busy.

As an aside, when funds permit, I feel no guilt whatsoever buying myself things during the holidays. My family doesn't exchange gifts. We give presents to the babies, and that's it. Honestly, not having to battle the crowds buying things that no one really wants makes this season so much simpler.

I wanted to spend a small amount of the unexpected funds on treats. Not new jeans or the long underwear I desperately need, but fun stuff. Stuff I want but never get around to buying.

Boy, it was hard to choose. Quite often, when I go shopping with idea of spending money, I can't find anything I like. It's when I've got a big bill coming up, or am trying to save for something that I find many things that I have to have right now. But, I persevered, and this is what I got:

Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave, Ann Budd and Anne Merrow, Editors

I got this because I spend lots of time knitting socks, and I really want to break out of my variations-on-a-theme basic sock groove.

No Sheep for You, Amy R. Singer

I have this fantasy of never buying another sweater again. But, wool is not always practical, so I figured that learning about the properties of different fibres and how the fibres knit up would be a good thing to do. Plus, the patterns are gorgeous.

Fitted Knits, Stefanie Japel

We talked about this at knit night - I think I am much larger than I really am, and anything I make for myself winds up being a small tent. I'm looking for some hints here, on how to produce garments for myself that won't clothe me and a friend at the same time.


For each of these books, there are at least three others I considered. There are some incredible pattern books out there, and I really do want them all. It's been at least five years since I bought a current book of patterns. Most of my knitting books come from the $4.99 bin. Also, I have very little in the way of reference books. Someday...


The music shop was insane, but the line was short, and I had 10 minutes to kill before the next bus. I swooped in and got two cds that were mentioned here. Everything I know about pop culture, I get from this blog.


Plus, these two artists are in heavy rotation on my favourite radio station, KICK FM. College radio is fun!

The Reminder, Feist

I had never heard of Feist before she played the Winnipeg Folk Festival a couple of years ago. I was blown away and have been a fan ever since (Yup, I pretty much live under a rock).

Back to Black, Amy Winehouse

I know she's a train wreck, but she keeps her panties on, unlike other train wrecks out there, and well, she writes beautiful songs.


I haven't purchased any music since July. I'm pleased to be adding something new to my ipod.


That is it for shopping for a while! I'm done, other than visits to the grocery and liquor stores. Except for the yarn sale coming up. New jeans and long underwear can wait until the crowds vacate the malls. Probably some time in February.

(All photos shamelessly swiped from Amazon.ca).

I am so proud

I got my first #1 hit on a crazy search term.

If you google "burning barrel Minneapolis" the first search return will be me.

While that is not as profane as I could have hoped for, it is bizarre enough to be pleasing, just the same.

In other news...

I barely got out of my pyjamas, all weekend. Which is a shame, considering the list of chores to do around here, but it was good for my knitting. My French market bag needs another handle, some knitchener, kitcener, I mean grafting (yes, I am tipsy), and then it will be ready for felting.

Oh, and I received a lovely, totally unexpected gift this evening. A dear, dear friend of mine was in Vancouver for a writers conference, and she knows Diana Gabaldon. I have a personally autographed copy of Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade. Such a treat, from a woman I respect, written by a woman I respect. It doesn't get better than that.

This does make up for my failure to go to Minneapolis.

J, thanks so much. You have a pretty good idea how much this means to me. Socks are coming your way, as soon as I find the appropriate yarn and pattern. This calls for something special!

A knitting report, finally.

It's amazing how the hands can be trained to do something one way, and then when it's time to switch it up, the hands can't change.

I've spent most of the day knitting. I should have been doing a thousand other things, but I wanted to knit. I did a pattern repeat on my Storm Water Scarf (for me, it will be a shawl), and that's coming along nicely, despite my inability to count to eight (and I'm an accountant. I manage millions of dollars of assets every day. Be afraid, very, very afraid).

I started the Winding Cable Knee Socks. These will not be bar-and-bus socks, I promise you that. Just the cuff has been messing with my head, and I'm only 11 rows in. Don't get me started on the charts. When I get there, I will have to be sober, that's for sure. (A note about the pattern size - it's geared to be a woman's shoe size six or seven. That's about the size of my big toe. And the leg circumference - 11.5 inches, stretched. Mine is 14.5 inches, and I have skinny legs, for my size. Yikes. Needless to say, I'm not pleased about this, because I adore the socks. Can't add stitches without messing up the entire aesthetic, so I've gone up a needle size (2.75 mm from 2.5mm). I hope that will be enough. If not, someone smaller that me is getting a fan-fricking-tastic pair of pink socks. That said, I have two sisters-in-law with birthdays this month.

I've also done a bit on the bar-and-bus socks. I'm reading a new book, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, and perusing blogs (and this little website called Ravelry) and well, I need simple knitting while I read. Normally bar-and-bus socks don't even come out of my purse at home, unless I'm grafting a toe, picking up gusset stitches or casting on (you know, critical points).

My bar-and-bus socks are just a variation on the Harlot's basic sock recipe. Instead of plain stockingette , I'm k2, k1tbl, p1. It looks really sharp and isn't quite as boring as plain knitting. Perfect for reading, since I only look at it every few stitches.

However, when I started the Winding Cable socks, I could not, for the life of me, p2 k2 for the 16 repeats required. I would p1 and then knit - 'cuz that's what I've been doing for the past week. Argh! Hence the first sentence of this post.

Other knitting stuff: when I was home last weekend, I took the babies' measurements. Christmas is coming, after all. Last year, I made identical sweaters, and it was so damn cute I wanted to barf. But, finishing the second sweater was agony. As the Harlot says, second sweater syndrome is way worse than second sock syndrome. I've had a request for a particular type of sweater (requiring intarsia) for one. I'll probably be designing it myself, since I haven't seen anything approximating the requested idea anywhere. The other? I have no idea. I'm enamoured of this sweater, but everything I've read about the sizing says that it turns out huge. This is a very, very dainty little girl we're talking about. Huge would not be good. But I'm intrigued by the construction...

Gotta get back to that book. Who knew that a straight woman could write about a gay man so well?

Harry Potter

Audio books are my new favourite thing. It's sooo much easier to knit while listening, rather than reading.



I've got three more disks to go. I won't spoil it for you, but I'm entranced.