On the one hand...

I have to knit the mitts first, you see, so I know how much yarn I can put into the scarf.



Alas, the big orange cat is not Speedy, my landlord's cat. It is, however, hungry and persistent, coming into my house twice already today. It has a collar and tags, and I don't think it's really hungry. I think it is just thrilled to have found another source of food. Shoo, orange cat!

The Mystery of the Big Orange Feline

There's a ground-level window that I leave open when I'm at home during the day, so Bea can come and go freely. (She often comes in, meows, scratches something, has a bite to eat, and then heads back out.) This was the case yesterday, and it was a gorgeous day. I was sitting at the computer, working away, and at one point crunch crunch from the kitchen. "Hi, Bea," I said absently. Crunch crunch. "Boy, you've worked up an appetite out there, haven't you?" Crunch. Her food bowl is just around the corner from my desk. I stood up to do something just as a big orange cat came out of the kitchen! We saw each other at the same time, and there was one of those moments where everyone involved thinks, simply, "What the--?" And then I said, "Hey!" and the big orange cat ran back out the window.

But wait, there's more! An hour later I saw my landlord, who lives upstairs, and I asked him if he has a cat -- I was actually thinking of a particular grey cat that Bea has been getting into hissing matches with. It turns out that he had a big orange cat that went missing about a year ago. Could it be? Or have I just read too many "weird news" stories about cats who, say, fall asleep on a train car in Vancouver, wake up in Winnipeg, and then show up back at home six months later, having traversed the Rockies in winter and survived only by licking icicles that form on the tailpipes of big rigs? I really want this to be my landlord's old cat; he said, "The kids would sure love to get that cat back." Stay tuned...

p.s. Happy Moon Festival! No mooncakes for me this year, but I can actually see the moon at night now, so I think I get the better end of the trade-off.

Thrift shopping and bookmobiling, not studying

I went to la boutique V.V. today, and I knew then that I am home. Ah, la glorious boutique! How I've missed you! All the good times we've had together over the years, and here you are, still full of awesome crap that's a little overpriced. I know I can always count on you.

I'm great at shopping for tops. Bottoms, not so much. I've come to the conclusion that my bottom half is just not a standard size/shape. Pants? Forget about it. Skirts? Hit and miss. This is why I usually wear men's jeans or pants. Still, when I thrift I usually gather armfuls of cute pants just in case -- honestly, cute stretchy Gap pants virtually throw themselves at me. (I've got an eye for value-priced Gap, ladies and gentlemen.) It always ends badly. But tops! Tops, I can do. And look at this little cutie I found today:



This cap-sleeved cardigan is beautifully hand-knit. Every detail, every little cable and bobble, is perfect. Now, can anyone tell me of a situation that will call for wool on my torso and nothing on my arms? 'Cause I'm stumped.

I also picked up a green wool sweater, because I have a feeling that it's impossible to have too many wool sweaters in Ontario come winter. (Please advise.) When I finally tore myself away from la V.V., I went to see the visiting Bookmobile!



Check the tour schedule, and do go and see it when it rolls through your town. It's full of incredible handmade books and zines. This is what it looks like inside:



The show last night was great. I love live music. I can't go out again tonight, though, since I was out all day. I have a ton of reading to do. I need to get to it, in fact. I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Hot date tonight

It's been a long time since I've seen a band play live (you may recall that in the past three years I went to two outdoor shows: Beastie Boys in 2003 and the recentish 5678s/JSBX fest), so I'm very excited about the number of bands that come to play in my newly adopted university town. Tonight I'm going to see Sarah Harmer (no idea whether she is known in the States). The marquee at the local auditorium is awesome this week:

CENTENNIAL HALL EVENTS
SARAH HARMER                 SEPT 25
MISSION SERVICES FISH FRY     24

Sweet. Then tomorrow night Julie Doiron is playing. Awesome. I shall set aside Eclipse of Reason for the evening in the interests of being a well-rounded person. One cannot survive on the Frankfurt School alone! (Yikes -- the very thought sends shivers up my spine.)

I went to the public library yesterday to get a library card. On my way out, I made a wee detour through the knitting section (if you consider going up to the third floor to be "on my way out"). Holy Alice Starmore! So many pattern books. I resisted, since I don't need to start anything right now, but I'll definitely be back. The Starmore Arans? Swoonworthy. And I was strangely drawn to Folk Mittens, too, thanks to the Yarn Harlot. (Yes, somehow this post, while painful, makes me want to knit Latvian mittens. Go figure.)

Got cable?



Yarn: Mountain Colors 4/8's wool in Huckleberry
Pattern: Good Ole Cabled Scarf

Wednesday is the new Friday

All of my classes are on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so when I finish on Wednesday afternoon I have that giddy Friday feeling. Not that I then have a four-day weekend, by any means. In fact, I spend the next four days doing the real work: reading, thinking, and writing. But Wednesday afternoon feels like the end of my week -- the next week starts again Thursday morning.

This morning as I walked to the bus at 8:30, I could see my breath! Cripes. Now, mid-afternoon, it's boiling outside. But the fact that I could see my breath has inspired me to get a scarf on the needles -- by the time I finish, I'll definitely need it. I have some lovely Mountain Colors wool that Mia sent, which will be perfect for a warm scarf. I'll wind it into a ball tonight and then cast on for Rachael's Good Ole Cabled Scarf. I halfheartedly searched around for another scarf pattern I might like to knit, but here's the thing: I like to support my friends. Simple as that. Sappy as that. Rachael's design is nice, of course, but it's actually more important to me that it's hers. (Well, that and I'm in a phase where I want to knit cables into everything.)

'Fraid I don't have much to say today. Things are fine with me. The leaves are beginning to turn as my favourite season fast approaches. Bea is pretty happy. I miss Bill. My credit card debt is getting a little out of control. I'm reading a really good novel. I'm finding my way around campus. I appreciate the fresh local air every day. I listen to my beloved CBC Radio One almost constantly when I'm at home. My apartment is comfortable enough. I've knit one sleeve of Retro Prep 2 in that violet Peace Fleece, and I'm happy with it. You know -- stuff is going on, and things are cool.

Oh! Oh!

If I didn't already knit, I would start now just so I could make myself a vest like THIS! I'm in awe, I'm in love, I'm going to start ASAP. The chart can be found here. For this, I will learn intarsia, baby.

Making waves



These are the second pair of socks knit as part of the Six Sox Knitalong -- the pattern is called Making Waves. I used Regia 4-ply sock yarn (colour 1250) and a 2.25mm circular needle. These were knit from the cuff down, with an Eye of Partridge heel. The colour is true in the photo above; here's another photo -- where the colours are off -- showing the texture of the socks on my feet:



These are soft and comfy socks. Thanks for the yarn, Thuy!

It's Saturday, I've got work to do, and I'm stalling

I reknit half of the Everyday Cardigan sleeve for the third time and then I knew what to do: forget the EC and knit another RP. I know what I like, and I like my Retro Prep pullover. I think it'll be beautiful in the Peace Fleece. I'm going to hunt down the perfect cable pattern to knit into the front of the sweater. Stay tuned.

The powers that be in Beijing don't want the young people of China to know -- to really know -- about the horrors of the Cultural Revolution, but author Xinran does: "Younger generation of Chinese should know how brave their parents were."

Sigourney Weaver calls 'em like she sees 'em: "To me, big breasts, hot pants and a gun in your hand aren't what makes a heroine."

I see that Eats, Shoots and Leaves is still getting media coverage, as the author's book tour takes her to Asia. Just today, there's a Reuters story: "Comma crusader takes pedants' revolt to Asia" -- with a comma missing from its lead sentence. Tsk tsk.

There's a nice feature in yesterday's Christian Science Monitor about London (the one in England) written by a literature type: "A wordsmith's pilgrimage in London."

Canadians will already know about this, but I don't know how well our news filters through the border: Manitoba this week became our fifth province/territory to legally recognize same-sex marriage. (Most news stories claim that Manitoba is the fourth province to do so, which is true -- but the Yukon has made the same ruling.) Nova Scotia, you're next.

And speaking of marriage and good news, our Cari is getting married today. Go on over and wish her well, won't you?

Not good, not good at all

Wearing tops with batwing sleeves was pretty cool when I was about in Grade 5, but it's not a style I ever want to revisit. Yet this seems to be where my Everyday Cardigan is headed. Nooo!



If I follow the pattern, my sleeves will be 19 inches (48.25 cm) around my upper arm. But my actual upper arm is only 11 inches (28 cm) around. (Except when I flex my bicep -- then it's... let's see... 11.2 inches! Take that!) This leaves a lot of room in that sleeve. I don't want that much room.

I'm at the point in the first sleeve where I've knit 12 of the 21 called-for increase rows, and I don't want it to get any wider. (In the photo, the sleeve-in-progress is 58 stitches across; according to the pattern, it should end up being 76!) I could just stop increasing now and knit straight for the rest of the sleeve, but then it would look really weird, wouldn't it? Like this:



OK, I've just done a trusty Google search and found Polly's account of knitting this sweater. Oh my, she actually outlines how she streamlined the sleeves -- thanks, Polly. (Note to self: research knitting project before knitting.)

Work it

Wow, being a student again is a big adjustment! This is crazy. I'm taking three classes, and now I've had the introductory class of each one. This means I have the lists of readings and assignments. This in turn leads me to crave a stiff drink in the middle of the afternoon.

In one class, snappily called Foundations of Media Theory and Cultural Studies, I have to read a book each week. A book. Each week. Marx. Horkheimer. Barthes. Foucault. A whole book.

Two other courses, too, each with its own set of readings. Assignments to hand in on a weekly basis, plus papers, plus seminar presentations. I'm a teaching assistant, too, charged with grading the work of undergraduate students in a first-year course on Canadian news media. (It's not sexy, but it's required.) And did I mention that I'm continuing to work as an editor? Gotta pay the bills.

As I consider the above, the same four words keep coming to mind: What am I doing? (Four other words: Get me a drink.)

I didn't expect this to be easy. I don't even want it to be easy -- it shouldn't be. And I know my academic skills will come back to me, I'll get back into the groove, it'll be fine, yadda yadda, but till then? Till then, it's harrrd. Oh, and to make it just a little more difficult, I'm not used to reading being working. I need to spend hours on end reading, but the little voices in my head say, "Hey, you're reading again? Get to work!"

Whew. There you go. Don't run away screaming -- I promise I won't whine continually for the foreseeable future. It's just the first week, and it's scary. And Em said she wanted to hear it. She may regret that...

* * *

I'm not a big hockey fan, but I am a good Canadian. Our team's the best in the world! Woo-hoo! (I didn't watch the game on TV, but I heard the last few minutes on my beloved CBC radio.)

Back to school

Yesterday was my first real day back at school -- I'd gone to campus last week for various orientation sessions and meetings, but yesterday there were classes. And it was fun. And I have a lot of catching up to do.

In Taiwan, I never had qualms about blogging. I was pretty much guaranteed that my blog wouldn't cross any lines in my professional life, for example; none of my coworkers were going to find it and read it. (Of course I was careful to avoid mentioning identifying details of my job.) But now I'm here, and I suddenly feel a little weird, a little vulnerable. I've met one reader/fellow blogger in person, since we're in the same faculty at school. (Hi, Jen!) It occurs to me that I'm not anonymous here, in this English-speaking city of 350,000 people. Many bloggers have worked through this issue for themselves ("How much of myself should I reveal?"), and now I'll need to figure it out. In the meantime, this is why I may not answer your questions about which school I'm at, for example, though it's not hard to figure out (cheerleaders in purple -- you called it in the comments, Amanda!). I guess I'm just wary of my own Googlability these days. A little skittish.

Bra, bra, bra. Anyway, look! Here's the lovely violet Peace Fleece that Mia sent me to make the Everyday Cardigan:



I love my new floor. OK, I have to go and hit the books. xo

Photos, baby

Remember wa-a-ay back in August when I went on a vacation to Malaysia? And I took a pair of socks with me to knit? Well, I knit them:



I love this yarn: Regia mini-ringel (4-ply sock weight wool/polyamid) in colour 5343 [colour number originally written was wrong]. I knit these toe-up on a 2mm circular needle with a six-point afterthought heel. I think the afterthought heel is the way to go with these narrow stripes, since the pattern doesn't get messed up and the heel ends up looking good. I even managed to match this pair -- I just wanted to see if I could, really. You can click here to see how well they match. Thank you, thank you very much.

Bea likes to sleep on my lap when I'm sitting at the computer, but she doesn't even mind when I get tired of that and push her off. She just finds a new spot.

I only needed cream

Did you notice how I magically summoned the new issue of Knitty yesterday? Pretty amazing, eh? You're welcome. It's a good one, too. I'm happy to see cool-weather knitting again, especially because I'll no doubt be wearing lots of warm woolies this year. I think Zig Zag would look great in black, and I think Bill would look great in Petrol.

I'm a delayed-gratification type of gal. It's easy to tell which part of a meal is my favourite, for example, because I will eat everything else first. Earlier today when Rachael gave me the heads-up about the new Knitty, I knew I had to make myself a cup of coffee before even peeking at it. But I was out of coffee cream. What to do? I could go to the corner store at the end of my block to get some cream, but really, if I'm going out, I should probably go to the grocery store and get some other things at the same time. So I made a list and walked three and a half blocks to the grocery store. Things soon got out of hand -- grocery stores here are so big and have so many wonderful things in them! I found everything on my list and more, and I was almost at the check-out when I happened to notice the bajillions of kinds of ice cream there were. (Yes, that's right, I was forced to go down the freezer aisle to get to the check-out. There was no other way, I swear.) I can't remember the next few minutes too well, but at some point a two-litre container of Simpsons ice cream (Cookie D'oh) found its way into my cart. Who am I to say no to the d'oh? Anyway, paid for the groceries and staggered out of the store with eight bags full. What was I thinking? I managed to walk about halfway home, and I obviously looked pitiful, because an older lady called to me from her porch: "Do you need a ride?" OK, a senior citizen is offering to help me with my grocery bags -- there's something wrong with this picture. I kindly refuse and stagger on, reeling from side to side as the corner of a Cheerios box stabs me in the thigh with every step. Another lady approaches and offers to help; I feel like a jackass; she insists; we walk the next two blocks together with four bags each, chatting about the neighbourhood. All's well that ends well.

Do you remember the point of that little adventure? It was so I could have a cup of coffee while I looked at the new Knitty.

(Good news: I figured out how to get my photos into my computer! Bad news: Blogger isn't letting me upload photos today! Grr.)

And the to-knit list grows...

Yet again, Glammy Stef has won my heart -- this time with her Ubernatural pattern in the new issue of Magknits. I always love Stefanie's designs, and I have no idea why I've never made one. Maybe this time.

I also like the Frida poncho -- or is it that I'd like to be standing on a pretty, rocky beach somewhere with my hair blowing in the wind? And I think the Donna sweater is sexy, but I don't have the requisite sweater-filling shape.

When is the fall Knitty coming out?

Beatrix is here! All hail Beatrix!

Beatrix the World-Travelling Cat arrived last night. She has settled right in, and I'm so happy to have her here. Bill is still in Taipei, and Mooky the Huge Black Cat is still in Montreal, but I've got Bea.

And I have Internet in my apartment! This is so exciting. I've felt a bit desperate without it. So now I'm really back. And now I just have to catch up on about six weeks' worth of my favourite blogs.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to install my digital camera software on my Mac, so no photos yet. This is annoying. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon so I can break up this wall of blog text for you.

OK, I'm going to go and check out what y'all have been up to. Ciao for now!

I need to take a chill pill.

I'm trying to chill, I really am, but it's hard! I feel like I've been full-on busy for about three months now, and I am wound tight, people. It seems like everywhere I look there's a bunch of frat boys sitting on their front porches drinking beer, and I think, "Don't you have things to do? Don't you have to go to a class or unpack or earn a living or something?" (Answers: Yeah, right; Yeah, I'm unpacking a six-pack! and, Huh?) Here I am, feeling like an underachiever, when just today, for example, I did the following: drove my brother to the airport at 6:00 a.m.; bought a TV set; bought cat stuff, including one of those oh-so-dignified carpeted monstrosities for the cats to climb on and scratch; applied for and had my photo taken for my Ontario driver's license; picked up a telephone book; went to an info session at school about the teaching assistants' collective agreement; went to three used-book stores, desperately seeking Susan Sontag (with no luck); spent $100 at the university bookstore on three books; and went to school again for an evening class that never materialized. I think there was some other stuff, too. I even managed to bathe, dress myself, and eat. And do I feel satisfied? No! I feel like I should have picked up my bus pass!

OK, I just took the time to count to ten, and I'm feeling better. Anyway, the good news -- excellent news, really -- is that being on campus today felt so good. I felt so happy to be there. It's a beautiful old campus, and it was a beautiful day. So yay for that!

Walking to my non-class tonight, though, felt a bit like being on the set of a movie about the first week of university. Dude, it's Frosh Week! There are hordes of fresh young undergrads wearing matching T-shirts, depending on which residence they now live in. They're playing volleyball! They're playing Twister on the sidewalk! They're setting up trampolines in front of their houses! They're zany! I've never seen anything like this in real life. I even saw the cheerleading squad, all dressed in their teeny purple outfits! I go to a school that has a fancy cheerleading squad! Ready? OK!

(Oops, blood pressure is rising again. One, two, three, four...)

Each and every four rows

So, the most excellent sweater mentioned in my last post is the Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan (in Violet Vyehchyeerom, which is a lovely rich bluey-purple with sassy fuschia flecks in it that are not apparent in that photo). Dear reader Mia sent me the kit along with a huge haul of other yarns, in exchange for some magazines from Taiwan. Lucky, lucky me, I know. I'm dying to show you all my new yarn. Soon. Promise.

Yes, I did start a sleeve. And because I'm a doofus, I had to rip about six inches of it back to the cuff ribbing and knit it again. See, the pattern was odd: it told me to increase one stitch "each and every four rows." How quaint, I thought, as I read the instructions again. So off I went, increasing a stitch every four rows. You know where this is going, don't you? Any knitter who has ever read a pattern knows that it actually said "each end every four rows." Unbelievable. I can't believe I did that.

Actually, that's not true at all. I can totally believe I did that. Sigh!

It hurts all over

Yesterday was the big day: moving in to my new apartment. It's going to take me a lo-o-ong time to unpack and get settled. See, I have a house-worth of two people's stuff crammed into an apartment for one. And today I'm sore. But at least I have a home! Good thing, too; school doesn't start till next week, but I have an orientation tomorrow morning.

I won't have Internet access at home until September 10, so in the meantime I'll probably be finding a public computer once a day. I'll be checking e-mail, blogging irregularly, and not showing you any photos. Boo! But after September 10, I'll have cable Internet. Yay! (I'm still marvelling at the fact that ADSL is not an option in my new neighbourhood.)

I'm itching to knit a sweater. I think I'll have to set some kind of moving-in achievement goals, or else I'll knit amid boxes for the next few months. Thanks to one of my most excellent readers, I have a most excellent sweater waiting impatiently in the wings. Hmmm: set up my desk, knit a sleeve?

Gotta run. I'm paying four dollars an hour to use this computer! At that rate, every four hours is a skein of Koigu Kersti!