Authenticity

Many bloggers have been talking about the Frey/Oprah fracas. If you haven't been paying attention here's the synopsis: Frey wrote a memoir about his experiences as a drug addict, Oprah practically wet herself proclaiming the books brilliance, it turns out that significant segments of the book were fabricated, Oprah ripped a new orifice in Frey and his editor.

Many people think Frey is evil for lying, many think the same of Oprah for grandstanding and quite a number of folks couldn't care less, feeling that any work of art is at its core a kind of fabrication or artful twisting of truths and notions.

I fall in line with the folks who don't like Frey much. I never was the biggest fan of Oprah, but when Frey claimed his memoir was totally non-fiction, even when The Smoking Gun offered him and the world clear proof that he was lying, Frey committed a heinous act. And, as much as I recognize that Oprah is in the business of making money for herself and her sponsors, I am glad that she called him to the carpet on this issue.

Earlier today, I left a fairly strongly worded comment on a friend's blog. It wasn't so much in response to her post as it was to the various commenters' flippant or obtuse views regarding a person who publicly got in trouble for lying. I haven't been back to see the damage mostly because I'm a coward, and partly because I think my comments were too strict for the particular forum.

Authenticity is so important.

I want to be authentic when I write here. I want to be authentic in my dealings with people. I want to read and watch and listen to authentic stories in my entertainment, as far as that is possible. I dream of a day when our politicians are authentic (and I've voted for the same authentic politician in my riding every single time I've been able to vote, from the time I was 18), when our employers are authentic, when the companies we invest in are authentic.

That's why, when I see people like Frey try to get away with lying in a forum where lying is supposed to be verbotten, I feel disappointed. It's also why, when I see people making light of the lies of others ("it was just a book, get over it") that I get angry.

How many supposedly inconsequential lies will we as a society put up with before the lies we are being told get us into serious trouble? Put another way, if you let this lie slide, it'll just make it that much easier to tell you more and more serious lies (lies like "there are WMDs in Iraq" which cost us the lives of our children and which cost the Iraquis the lives of their families).

I like authenticity. I want more of it.

And, in one of the most authentic moments of television I've seen in a while, Craig Ferguson used his monologue on The Late, Late Show to honour his father, whom he lost on Sunday night. It's funny and sweet and heart-wrenching all at the same time.

Dora-Dora!

Kieran loves Dora. He sits mesmerized by her on TV and often shouts back at her or jumps around when she shouts "¡salto!" Often, looking for clothes in Zellers, he's kicked up a huge fuss when spotting anything with Dora on it.

Of course, they're all heavily coloured for girls in pink and purple, often with little frilled edges or glitter. I'm a feminist and a punk at heart, but that's not a paradigm I want to make my son subvert at the pre-political age of 2 (and 10 months!). So, no go.

What's the big deal? Why can't my son proclaim his Dora love in gender-neutral or even stereotypical boy colours? Are marketers afraid all the boy toddlers will turn out to be pansies for having a girl hero and having her on their backpacks and boots and jackets and t-shirts and pjs?

I'm certainly not the first parent to have these problems with the people in charge of merchandising for this show. Blogging Baby had this discussion a while ago.

And, sensing that boys identified with the sissy-fying Dora, the gawds of children's animation created Diego, Dora (male, duh) cousin. Kieran likes Diego fine, but it's really Dora who he is in love with.

So, it looked like my son was destined to never be able to proudly wear Dora themed clothing, until such time as he theoretically had a sexual awakening, and discovering he batted for the boys team and had a hankering for kitschy cutesy stuff, bought himself a sparkly pink and purple backpack. Hey, it could happen. And, I'd still love him even if he dressed and accessorized like an idiot.

And then, at Christmas, my sister gave Kieran and his niece Kaitlyn character socks. Kieran got two pairs of Blue's Clues socks (siderant: last time I checked, Blue was a girl, and despite the name, I don't see manufacturers forcing boys out of that game with their gender segregating girl colours and boy colours, but it's OK to do it for Dora?). Kaitlyn got two pairs of Dora socks.

One of the pairs of Dora socks was blue. It had a tiny bit of pink on it, but not much really. Mostly they were just blue. Blue!

I saw my oppourtunity and I leapt, almost literally, at my sister.

"So, I saw you got two pairs of Dora socks. I got two pairs of Blue's Clues socks. Wanna trade a pair?"

Caught of guard amidst the frenzy of four people under the age of 6 (most of them toddlers, though) ripping through Christmas presents for the sheer joy of ripping paper, my sister looked at me a little confused.

"Kieran loves Dora and that sock is blue. Wanna trade it for one of my Blue's Clues socks? Then Kait can have a pair of each!"

My sister was still a little confused but I sounded reasonable and eager and she knew she was no match for me. "Uh, OK. I guess so."

I turned around to the sister who had given the socks as gifts. "That OK with you?"

She, too, was a little dazed by all the flying wrapping paper and the sheer abundance of children's toys. The noise in the room was full of squeals and shrieks and shouts for "more, more!"

"Yeah, sure. I guess so," she replied a little overwhelmed and not entirely sure what she was agreeing to.

Aha! Victory was mine! Kieran would finally have his Dora socks! And he loves them.


[Thing #4567 that I said I would never do when I had children: allow them to be advertising space for anyone or wear ugly cartoon characters on their clothes. The reality: aside from the Dora socks, we have a couple of Scooby Doo items that are totally cute and Kieran loves them to no end. Ahhhh, the naivete of pre-parents!]

A Visit From The Knitting Fairy

I got a message from my Secret Pal that there was a special something waiting for me at my local yarn store Yarnopolis.

I was going to be all laid back about it and wait for a couple of days to go and pick it up, what ever "it" was. But, the more I thought about it, the more breathless I became, until Sean returned home from work and with heaving bust I begged him, "take me to the yarn store!"

Good man that he was (and with a secret plan to con me into letting him buy the new Velvet Underground DVD, I mean, if I got to got to the yarn shop, he was surely allowed to go to the record store! **true story: the Velvet Underground just started playing "Rock and Roll" on my iTunes Wedding playlist) he not only drove to the yarn store after supper, but he also came in and looked over my shoulder a little.

Not knowing what my present was, I came armed with a pattern in hopes of finding the perfect yarn for it. All I needed were two skeins of luxury yarn in fingering and DK weights, preferably in a variegated/handpainted colourway and coordinating solid that had a little fuzz in it. I was looking for just the right two skeins to make the Mrs. Beeton wrist warmers from Knitty.com.

I couldn't find any yarn to spark my fancy. I had just started to obsessively walk in circles around the same couple doxzen balls of yarn when the proprietor came over and asked to help me. I was looking like I needed it, I guess. I told her who I was and she gave me an envelope.

So, a gift certificate from my secret pal! Whee! How wonderful!

I opened the envelope and pulled the little card out. Opening it up, I read the gift amount, printed in large numbers right under my name.

Holy mac & cheese! It was a big number!

I don't want to say the exact amount, but suffice it to say that I could have bought enough yarn to make a half dozen delicate wrist warmers!

I felt a little faint. I suddenly realised that I could abandon my hopeless search for delicate yarn and focus on much larger possibilites. Immediately I felt the magnetic pull of a wall full of Manos del Uruguay!

Now, I know that I sing the praises of Handpainted.com's yarn quite frequently. But, the thing is that Manos has a number of truly breathtaking colourways that Handpainted.com does not. That, and the fact that I was standing in front of a wall of Manos and a big fat gift certificate!

Who needs dacquiris when you have the means to buy up a pile of gorgeous yarn? I was feeling quite giddy.

Sean had told me that I could spend $50 on top of the gift certificate to get a respectible entire project's worth of yarn. Do you know what that meant? It meant that I could afford to buy the four skeins of handspun, handpainted yarn I wanted to do the Feather & Fan Comfort Shawl!

Gimmee a second. I'm getting dizzy again.

OK.

I went through about six different yarns until I came up with this combination.

Nice, eh?

I bought Moss, Sage, Agate and Woodland.

I was inspired by this shawl; remember me drooling over it?

I'm going to indulge myself in a nice long fat bamboo circular needle to knit it up. It should work up in to a warm and colourful shawl.

And, inspired by having all the yarn for this large project, I have decided to enter the Olympics. The Knitting Olympics, that is. On February 10, during the opening ceremonies, I will be casting on the Feather & Fan shawl and I will be finishing it during closing ceremonies on February 26. I will be proudly representing Team Canada. However, I may defect occasionally and represent Team Chocolate. While I will be rooting on Team Merlot and Team Chocolate, I will be mouring that Team Dacqueri did not make it to the big show.

Wish me luck!

And, thank you. I am lucky indeed to have such a wonderful Secret Pal.

And a very special thank you to maramalade.ca for the Team Canada button!

Mmmmmmmmm! Mac & Cheese

Kids are so predictable! I go and make mac & cheese for Kieran and he LOVES it! LOVES it, I tell ya!



Who can blame him, really. It combines two of his favourite foods: noodles and cheese. So, every couple of days, now, I'm making Kraft Dinner for him. I've been choosing the "Sharp Cheddar" version to give it a more normal taste (or, really, any taste at all) and I'm thinking of grating real cheddar over it as soon as I can get to a grocery store.

It can't be hard to make, can it? Does anyone make Mac & Cheese from scratch? What's your recipe? Is it easy to make?

Don't Go Telling Me Big Fat Crap Yarn Is Cheaper!

Go Knit In Your Hat: The myth of cheap big-box craft store yarn

Go Knit In Your Hat: More on the economics of yarn (or why you need a calculator at the LYS)

These are the first two in a series of analysis proving that quality yarns sold by local yarn stores and independant online merchants can be far more economical than that which is sold in big box stores, putting to rest once and for all the notion that people who knit with acrylic do so because they can't afford nice yarn.

And the second analysis reveals how to find the best deal in yarn and reveals that it's cheaper to knit in lace-weight than in bulky weight!

WTF??!!

MSN Search: sexy women giving birds to their babies

I don't get it. I just don't. And this person waded through 4 pages of search returns to get to my page!

People are weird.

My Old Man

I didn't get a chance to post about this yesterday, because I was really busy. I was busy getting ready to celebrate Sean's birthday!

Yes, my man, the guy who I fell in love with seven years ago, had a birthday yesterday.

Now, this might not be all that big of a deal (love that use of the English language there, eh?). After all, Sean only turned 34, which is an impressive number, but really not significant in any way. It's not like a 40th birthday or even a 35th (see that, I'm prepping you readers to think that 35th birthdays are important because in a month, I myself will be turning 35 and you folks had better make a big bloody noise about it!). However, it's not the number of years that's important to me. It's the day itself and what it signifies.

You see, it was the day before that birthday, seven years ago, that Sean and I had our moment. That moment that defined the entire rest of our lives. The moment that made every other moment that happened afterward just a tiny bit more magical. Well, all except that time when Kieran was about 3 months old and I spent 3 solid days puking and involuntarily losing control of my lower half, landing me in the hospital getting three IV bags of fluid injected into my arm, but that's a whole other story.

Yes, it was the day before Sean's birthday, seven years ago, that I was invited to join friends at a bar to celebrate Sean's birthday. I'd known Sean for about a year, not terribly well, but well enough to toast his growing-old-ness with a beer or six.

Amidst the throng, Sean and I seemed to wind up talking exclusively to each other. I tried to buy him celebratory beer, but he kept buying me beer and soon we were paired up at the pool table playing against his work friends. When there was a lull between games, Sean said to me, "I'd kiss you."

What I understood that to mean was not that he wanted to kiss me, but that he thought I was good looking enough or interesting enough to kiss. After all, I'd just been lamenting a near romance that was more near and less romance. It was like Sean was trying to make me feel better, assuring me that I was romance-able.

So, I kind of shrugged the statement off and didn't pay it much attention. He repeated it, adding, "I'd kiss you, if you wanted me to." There was a certain bravado in his voice that made it sound more like a challenge. He was babbling and, frankly, I wasn't really absorbing everything he was saying.

Finally he said, "I'd go out with you, if you wanted me to."

I'd had enough! "For gawd's sake, Sean. If you want to do something, just do it! Don't talk about it all night. A person would die first before you got around to doing anything!"

And he kissed me. Right there, in the bar, up against the wall, by the pool tables, in front of just about everyone he worked with, all of our mutual friends. My heart convulsed and I could barely breathe.

Around the time I had finally recovered and succeeded at pretending that nothing out of the ordinary was happening, he said, "I'd kiss you again, you know. I would."

And he did.

Well! My brain function was minimal for the next little while. Inside I was panicking. I liked Sean. He was a good guy, a nice guy, a kind guy. He was funny and intelligent and gentle. And he had awesome taste in music. (Though, to be fair, I had no idea about the Grateful Dead obsession.)

I didn't want to screw up yet another relationship. Cuz I had messed up a few. They used to call me the Black Widow. I didn't want to eat another man up and spit him out. Not this man.

I called a cab and tried to sneak away, not telling anyone I was leaving. And, just before the cab arrived, Sean came bounding down the stairs and begged me to stay. I couldn't. He kissed me. He asked for my phone number. He told me he wanted to call me and hang out with me. I tried to be coy and told him to find the number himself if he wanted to call me.

But, I wasn't really being coy. I wanted to stop this before it ever got started. I didn't want him calling me and I didn't want to hang out and talk on the phone. Because I knew if that happened, eventually I'd get my heart broken and so would he and I didn't want that.

And, now, seven years later, we sit at our kitchen table where I have made one of Sean's favourite meals - a bastardization of Butter Chicken and Aloo Gobi - which our nearly 3 year old son refuses to eat. I light the candle on the Rocky Road birthday cake I made for him. I pull out the gifts I bought for him, a combination of things he asked for and things he didn't yet know he needed.

Our wedding anniversary is in July, but it's always Sean's birthday that makes me truly appreciate how much I love this man.

Step Number Two

Now that I have my logo created, I've printed off my hangtags and made the first of a couple different things to sell.

First up are my beaded bookmarks. I have to figure out the pricing. Someone one said: figure out what it costs to make one hundred and then divide and alter the pricing as required. Well, I've made a bunch as gifts in the past, and here are 15 I made to start off with.

100? I can't be bothered making that many and frankly, I don't have scads of time to site making 100 in a single go. I got a kid and a husband to keep fed and happy!

Actress Shelley Winters dies at 85 - TV Squad

Actress Shelley Winters dies at 85 - TV Squad

Wow. I never thought Shelley could die. I thought she was immortal. By gum, she was one tough broad. Smart, sassy, sexy, funny and she never took shit from anyone.

She will be missed.

Baby Steps

OK, I hear ya.

Here is the first thing that is a barrier to my selling crafty goods: the logo for the hangtag.

Here is my attempt.



Whaddya think?

I just wrote in one of the many products this will be used for. This is not nescessarily what I intend to offer for sale in my friend's shop. But, I may do up a dozen batches for the LYS.

Any actual graphic designers and/or illustrators in the house care to improve, change, critique it?

On My Mind

Some things that are on my mind:

Becoming a Doula.
This is something that I've thought about since I gave birth to Kieran. I had such a positive experience with my Midwives and with my Lactation Consultants that I was inspired to somehow make helping other mothers and babies my life's work. I read about DONA's certification requirements way back before Kieran even celebrated his first christmas but I was scared: we don't have a lot of money and I would not be bringing in any income while I worked toward ceritification and Sean makes too little money to support us while I'm doing a bunch of studying, which costs money in itself.

Instead of following the dream, I went back to my sucky but good paying job, only to get let go last spring. In the meantime, I do what I can to help women who need it, offer good and positive advice to pregnant and nursing mums. I feel like its a form of community service or pro-woman activism. It's really an honour to be of help, to make a new mom or a scared mom feel better about what's happening in her life.

So, again, back to looking at being a Doula. Can I get my certification? Can I afford to? Will I be able to make a living, even a modest one? I want to work part time hours, on a flexible schedule that will allow me to stay home with Kieran and to do my very modest freelance writing and some crafting for cash. Is being a Doula the answer?

Crafting For Cash
My friend Dave (and his lovely wife) opened up an art supply store that also sells smaller arts and crafts pieces. There are lino prints, screen prints, cards, journals, postcards, zines, soft sculptures, buttons... I think I could make a few items that would sell in his store. I'm nervous. I don't know why. Why am I so fucking nervous?

I've been wanting to parlay some of my so-so crafty skill into income. Somehow, I never seem to actually do it, though. I have at least two very specific ideas, one of which I've actually made for people. But what do I charge? And I suck at graphics, though I have an idea for a brand name - I want to make a great logo or label but I'm afraid I'll suck at it.

Running
I went running on Wednesday with my friend Erika. Bottom line: I sucked. Real bottom line: I actually did it. And I'm doing it again tomorrow morning (today?).

Wow, my lungs and my heart are very out of shape. And, since I weigh almost twice what I should weigh, that's a lot of fucking blubber to drag around a track! I'm sure the whole time we were out there Erika was dying to open up her engine like a teenager in a muscle car. Instead, she stuck with me, running for a one time maximum interval of 45 seconds before I would need to stroll lest I vomit my heart up before bleeding out my eyeballs.

The kids had a good time running around on the track and splashing through the mud. I don't have a jogging stroller so trying to get my Volo through the red clay gravel was annoying and difficult.

Some of the moms at the park I ran into said they too wanted to come running. They must have figured if I can drag my mammoth self around a track a half dozen times without dying, they surely could. I mean, have you seen the size of my ass? It's stuffed with solid chocolate whose density must be measured regularly by physicists lest I suddenly become a black hole!

I don't know how Erika will feel about more beginner runners, but I think it's kinda cool. If I can inspire a couple of non-athelete moms (and I mean that in the most kind way, they aren't freakish or anything), well, that's another pro-woman thing to do.

So, I'm on the eternal path to becoming the best I can be. And, along the way, I'd love to help other women become the best that they can be.

Maybe being the next Oprah is my calling? Anyone want a free car? I got a toy box full of 'em!

Secret Pal 7: Questionairre with Answers!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand?
Yes, unabashedly. I like nice fibres. I like fibres to last a long time, to hold together well and not pill, to retain their colour, to be the kind of fibres that would make you go "Yum!". Sometimes there are manmade fibres that do that, but I am trying hard to stay away from the corporate yarns and taking up with those crazy hippie yarns spun by cool chicks or small farms or co-ops of chicks in Uruguay or something.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I don't spin, yet, but it is something that has intrigued me recently. I don't crochet. I'm not much interested in crocheting, since I seem to do just great with the knitting thing.

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I keep most of my straight needles in a needle roll I bought at the evil empire (one of my last purchases there, but it was so cute and I've been too lazy to make my own!) I have a few pairs of needles that are too long for my cool roll and those are kept in this weird wooden cabinet that is shaped to look like fake books. I think it's intended to be a booze disguiser for fancy offices or something, but it's currently being coopted to hold needles. I'd love to have a separate roll for dps, one for wooden needles and one for long needles.

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've technically been knitting since I was around 10yo. I didn't do much beyond knit a couple of squares. In my mid-20's I got inspired by a very cool woman who runs the site Woolworks when I watched her party the night away, drinking her beer, flirting as appropriate and holding lively conversations, all while knitting a very complicated cable sweater. A chick like that is inspiring, and I went back to my Granny for a refresher course, she bought me a bag of wool and I created a big sweater without the benefit of a pattern. I didn't knit much for many years. Mostly I started various projects with yarns I didn't love and abandoned them when they took too long or got boring. I started knitting in earnest again in 2005 after my son was weaned off the boob juice. I am obsessed. I knit just about every day, often for many hours.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes, and I will be adding to it occaisionally, as I discover new and exciting things to put on it. www.thethingsiwant.com/ My name is Mamaloo on the site, so if you can't get there direct, try searching for my name.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I love things that smell citrus-y. I love grapefruit and cranberries and tangerines, papaya and mango and pineapple. Fruity smelling things is good.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Hi, I'm female, so chocolate is life. I'm a big old fan of German and Swiss chocolates (you really should take out stock in Lindor, because I'm the reason they decided to conquer the North American market, you know.) But, I think candy in general is a good thing. But so are weird Japanese snack foods like wasabi peas and shrimp crisps. I love nuts. I can totally polish off a can of cashews in an evening. Which probably explains the size of my ass!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I like to sew and bead and do papercrafts. I own a dremel knockoff but I have no idea what to do with it. I'm the chick who handmakes most of her christmas presents.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I'm a big indie fan. I have an ipod (and an iriver, but whatever, you know?). I love french pop , especially ye-ye, I love modern northern soul and twee pop, I love alt.country and bands like The Who, Spoon, The Postal Service, Super Furry Animals, Salako, Neko Case, The Sadies....

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like most colours by I seem to be attracted to some specific shades: reds, plums, pinks, oranges, greens, purples, browns. Any fibres in any combination of these colours is awesome. I love a handpainted effect.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married to a man I've been in love with for seven years. We have a son who will be 3 in April. The only pets we have are the mice who we hate, who bore holes into our loves of bread and steal all the good chocolate.

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear all of these items, though, admittedly, I don't wear mittens all that often. This may be due to the fact that I don't have a pair that I love. I don't know. I also have a shrug I've been know to wear.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I'm sort of obsesssed with any of the yarns from handpainted.com. I wish they sold their Malbrigo worsted weight merino on their website, but alas and alack, they don't.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
If the label says Berrocco, Bernat, Red Heart, Lion Brand or Patons, chances are I'm not gonna be thrilled with the fibre content. Aside from cheap acrylic, I'm not a huge cotton fan.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Socks and self-striping sock yarn, finding a great and flattering sweater/cardigan pattern for myself, multi-hued handpainted yarns.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I don't have a favourite item to knit. But I do like clever patterns. I like ingeniously knit things that make you smile when you discover an interesting technique that makes shaping nice or reduces the need for future seaming.

17. What are you knitting right now?
I am knitting two pairs of socks, one for me and one for the hubby. I am also almost finished a shawl collared cardi for my son. I am about half-way through a stash busting blanket for my couch (one yarn per row, all in red yarns).

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Does the pope wear pointy hats? Of course I love to receive handmade gifts! In all my gifting of handmade objects, I rarely receice handmade gifts, but the ones I do receive are always my favourites. Did you see that papercrafted page my sister made for me for christmas? I wept for at least five minutes after opening it.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Strangely, I like straights. I don't know why. I love working on circs, though. But something about a nice pair of straights is very comforting to me.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Every different needle has its place. Sometimes you need to slipperiness of the aluminum for a project and sometimes you need a wood or bamboo needle to give more grip. That being said, I am amassing a small collection of beautiful natural needles. I'm curious about casein. I'm curious about Addi Turbos. I definately need some bamboo dpns.

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No, and I am constantly dreaming of owning them. I also dream about a drop spindle and fibre brushes for brushing out raw fibre.

22. How did you learn to knit?
My Granny taught me when I was a kid. When I took up knitting again in my 20's, my Granny started giving me all of her knitting stuff. Her arthritis was becoming too bad to knit any longer. Just before christmas she found a fistful of skinny needles in the bottom of a drawer and gave them too me. I am most grateful to her for giving me the gift of creation.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
C'mon, that's like asking a lady her age! Some things just aren't discussed in polite company!

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I like robots and spaceships. It's especially cool if they look like they are from the '50s or '60s, at the height of the Red Scare.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
I love christmas and easter in a totally secular way. I especially love the day we worship chocolate: Valentines Day. That's my kind of holiday!

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Robots and spaceships, yarn, paper, little tiny fake trees (the kinda of thing you might find in hobby shops intended for model train nutters), beads, love, knitting books and magazines.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I just signed up for Interweave Knits. I figured that with the exchange, it was gonna cost about the same as on the newstand, so I may as well get it in the mail and let my favourite knitting magazine have more of the profits. I want subscriptions to Bust, Bitch and Brain Child and Ready Made. I have to talk to my husband about those.

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?
I'm trying to stock my wishlist with these things, but I'm betting it would be hard to disappoint me. I am interested in sock yarn, shawl patterns, perhaps some lace or worsted weight yarn for said shawl, handpainted yarns for sure and whatever books you think might delight.
**addendum: I want to note that I'm not afraid of thrifted and used items. So, old or otherwise used knitting magazine, books, needles or even yarn, if you think they might be of interest, would be totally cool.

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I would like to learn how to cable. I'd like to learn how to do lace. I wish I could knit continental.

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I do knit socks, now, but I'm a beginner. My feet are 10 inches long and 10 inches around (at the ball and the ankle - yes, I have huge, fat feet). I like a bit of negative ease, perhaps 10%.

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
It's a big one, sort of, this year: I'll be 35 on February 23.

Please ask pointed questions if you want specific information not provided here.

Craftster Circular Shrug

Swatch yarn in mock rib stitch to get stitch gauge in your preferred needle size.

Measure across the top of your shoulders from shoulder edge to shoulder edge. Add 4 inches to this number.

Multiply your stitch gauge (# stitches in one inch) by your shoulder measurement. This is the number of stitches you need for the mock rib section of the shrug.

Multiply your stitch number by two. This is the number of stitches you need to cast on (CO).

CO required stitches.

Work K2P2 (Knit 2 stitches, Purl 2 stitches) rib for 5 inches. If you are generously proportioned, you will probably want to increase this number to 6 or 7 inches, depending on how voluptuous you are.

K2tog, P2tog 1 row, half the stitches cast on remain on the needle.
Work mock rib for 20 inches. Again, if you are more generously proportioned, you may want work to 21 or more inches, depending again on how voluptuous you are.
KF&B, PF&B and repeat across the row, for one row. The same amount of stitches cast on will remain on the needle.

Work K2P2 rib for 5 inches or the same amount as the first section.
BO (bind off) in pattern. Draw yarn through remaining loop.

To assemble: Fold wrong sides together, with both K2P2 ribs together.

Seam in mattress stitch along the side edges of the K2P2 rib and continue seeming 4 inches into the mock rib section. This length is approximate and may be shortened or lengthened to fit your needs.

Weave in ends.

Mock Rib Stitch Pattern: RS (right side): K1P1 rib across. WS (wrong side): P1, SL1YF (slip on with yarn forward) across. Note: Another stitch can be used for the middle section. Be sure to swatch in your chosen stitch to get your stitch gauge before beginning your project.

Many thanks to julsey723 and Keridiana for use of their images and instructions. Thanks also to the generous and innovative knitters on Craftster.com who created the pattern by committee.

ADDENDUM: How Much Yarn

Some rights reserved: This pattern is free. You may link to it on your blog via this post. You may distribute the pattern in printed form only to friends and family. Any reprints of this pattern must be approved by the authors. It may not be sold or used to create commercial clothing, except by the express permission of this author, julsey723 and Keridiana.

'Tis Better To Give Than To Recieve, Part 2: Recieving

No matter how old I get, I love opening gifts.

Of course, the older I get, the fewer gifts I get, which sucks. I mean, Kieran gets to be universally adored and given presents at random, sometimes from total strangers on the street, does he really have to corner the Christams present market, too? The nerve of that kid!

I did receive a number of very cool gifts, starting with my Secret Pal (SP6) Dragon Mad Knitter's final installment in the parade of knitting gifts.

DMK sent me a very, very cool pattern-a-day calendar (today is Toesties Garter/Rib Slippers), a little knitting themed purse calendar, two bars of handmade soap in Grapefruit flavour, two bars of super fancy coffee flavoured chocolate (dark and milk), a packet of fancy black currant tea and a fist full of 8 inch long hand turned wooden knitting needles in what various gauges.

All of these were amazing gifts, but the wooden needles, made by an artisan, were especially beautiful. I'm really thrilled to have them. Now I feel like a real Knitter. Before I was just a hack!

On Christmas morning, there were a couple things under the tree for me. Sean was good and I didn't have any idea what they were, well, I didn't know about anything unless it was in my stocking!

I had asked for it and Sean was kind enough to get me the illustrated Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. I finished the thing in three days. Sean kept telling me to slow down but, frankly, that was slow! I loved it, with qualifications. While I found the subject matter very exciting and the story itself was pretty good, the writing was pretty poplit quality. As my friend Erika said, "Can you imagine if Umberto Eco wrote that book?!" I can Erika, I can.

Next to be opened and obsessively consumed was season 1 of The Gilmore Girls, on DVD.

Sean and I had seen random episodes, on the recommendation of Mojo magazine (very good Brit music mag with excellent writing). It wasn't until the current season that we started watching regularly and we both got hooked. I liked the witty dialogue, the realistic timeline carried through the season and the intriguing, intelligent and fun characters so much I told Sean that it was the sort of show that should be in our permanent collection. So, we started looking around for pre-viewed copies and got season 2. Since it didn't make sense to watch them all out of date, I excecised what little willpower I had and didn't watch any GG until Santa brought season 1 to me on Christams morning. It is now January 10 and I am almost through season 3 (4? good gawd, am I that obsessed).

Sean also got me a the new Margaret Cho DVD Assassin. Good, but not as sideslittingly funny as I'd hoped for. Cho is cool, though, so that's alright.

My sister-in-law gave Sean and I joint gifts in the form of a gift certificate to our favourite restaurant and a gift box of locally grown peanuts. So, there was me, all week long, shovelling peanuts into my mouth while watching endless episodes of Gilmore Girls!

Finally, my sister Colette made me an incredibly sentimental gift: a papercrafted page honouring we three sisters and our three little ones called Sisters - Cousins - Friends. When I opened the gift, I was floored. I've been encouraging her papercrafting creativity by buying her crack paper and assorted doodads. She's got a helluva knack for the craft, as evidenced here. It's beautiful and I cried and cried and cried and then weeped openly for a little while. You'd think I was the pregnant sister!

Looks like I was a very lucky lady this year.

Scarf Me?

Hey, are you my Scarf Me pal? Did you send me a scarf?

I can understand late. My own pal had to wait until early December for her scarf to arrive. I'm cool with late.

But forgotten? That makes me sad.

So, if you are my Scarf Me pal, leave me a message. My direct contact info can be found in the sidebar.

I have no idea who you are and I don't know if you sent a scarf, it never arrived and you think I'm a jerk because I have said thank you, or if you are scared because you are super late, or maybe you feel like a dork because you over-committed and had to cut something out to make life work. I don't know, but I'd love to hear from you.

Seriously, no hard feelings if things went slack. Heck, stay anonymous, if you want. I just want to hear what's up.

Thanks!

P.S. Where did Earth Mother go?

'Tis Better To Give Than To Receive: Giving

Kieran got an heirloom for Christmas.

When it became apparent that Kieran was cuckoo for cocoapuffs crazy for trains, early in 2005, I announced to anyone who might be interested in getting Kieran gifts for Christmas that we would like to help him begin a collection of Thomas the Tank Engine related toys. We encouraged people to buy wooden train pieces and/or wooden rails. I thought it was a perfect solution for both him and gift givers: he'd get lots of trains and rails and people could buy gifts for him according to their own budgets. Gift givers looking to lavish Kieran could buy him mulit-train car sets and expansion rails while those with more modest budgetary concerns could buy him a single engine or a single set of tracks.

Back in November, I looked into the options available for train tables and was surprised to see that the official Thomas tables were selling for a minimum of $200 in Canada. Off to eBay I went and that's where I discovered people selling train table carpentry instructions. Ingenius!

Completing a minimum of research, I decided on the set I liked best (after dismissing pre-made sets and a number of free instructions around the web) and bought a set for $10. The one I chose came with instructions for two trundle boxes that fit neatly under the table and would easily hold all of Kieran's future train and track collections.

My stepfather happens to be a carpentry whizz, so I asked if he would make the table and boxes. I think you will agree he did a bangup job! He added white-washed "K"s to the front of the trundle boxes to personalize them. I imagine Kieran in his twenties, drinking too many cokes while sitting around this table playing RISK with his geeky friends.

I can dream can't I?

Other notable and cool presents Kieran was given: Thomas, Rheneas, the Sodor Fire Crew, Alfie and a number of other cool Thomas related items; a "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight" gift set that included pyjamas, a stuffed dino (holding a terddy and a blankie) and a book; a wooden toy trunk, a floating Bob The Builder soap dish shaped like the red front end loader, a classic Canadiens toque, a Kieran-sized Olympic Hockey jersey, Ricky Gervais's book "Flanimals" and two DVDs (The Backyardigans Snow Fort and Madagascar.

Sean got a portable DVD player.

It's a geeky guy dream. We couldn't afford to get a powerbook, as I desperately wanted, so I sunk a little cash into a mini DVD player for Sean. It's got a 7" widescreen and nifty case that can strap to the back of a car seat or hang between two car seats in case we are ever on a mind numbing road trip.

This is one of those gifts that is kind of for me, as much as for Sean. Now I don't have to watch every DVD he gets to review. I don't even have to hear them! He can sit on the couch, slip on his headphones and watch bad music DVDs without making me crazy. The extra bonus is that when Kieran is really freaky, and noone else is in the modd for watching Mighty Machines for the billionth time, we can plop him in front of this magical little machine!

My two beautiful nieces each received a beautiful knit toy. The pattern is "Kate" from Knitty's Winter 05/06 issue. I knit it in ridiculously inexpensive acrylic, instead of the recommended wool. These girls are both currently under 2 years of age, so I'm guessing their little friends will have to visit the washer and dryer a few hundred times. The one you see here is for Kaitlyn. Julia, my other niece, recieved a purple and cream version, clearly marking it out as hers.

For each of my sisters, including my sister-in-law, I gave a blank recipe book, with one starter recipe, in which I've asked them to accumulate their favourite family recipes. I hope that when each of their children reach the age where leaving home is prudent, this recipe book, filled with recipes from their ancestors, will help them feed themselves well and perhaps tell them a little about some of the people who contributed.

I also gave everyone a bundle of handknit cotton washcloths. I've been knitting the cloths since October and it was my one holiday gift project that was finished well in advance. I had amassed enough cloths to give 5 people 4 cloths. I still have lots of cotton yarn, so I'm open to requests.

Tune in again tomorrow when we have the second installment of 'Tis Better To Give Than To Receive when I explore receiving!