Thursday, December 13, 2007

a long-forgotten fairytale



Twelve days until Christmas.

I've been commissioned to make a red scarf.

Christmas is my favourite holiday. I love the lights and the carols and the parties and the office slacking.

It makes me want to buy everyone presents.





































and a long-forgotten fairytale is in your eyes again
and I'm caught inside a dream world where the colours are too intense
and nothing is making sense

there's a floating town of eiderdown in a mist of mystery
there's an old enchanted castle
and the princess there is me
decked out like a Christmas tree

Thursday, December 6, 2007

you spin me right round


Once upon a time I saw a woman knit two socks at a time on circular needles. I was envious. So I went and bought these:













But the woman at the yarn store told me that one skein would not be enough. Because I'm cheap and yarn is expensive, I decided to stripe it with a blue yarn I already had at home. I was a little disappointed in the end because it gave the socks a darker colour than what I was hoping for and I have enough yarn left that I could have done the main body with just the grey. I guess I'll just have to make another pair!




Monday, November 19, 2007

loop duplicate my heart

I found a reason for not going out tonight
I'm making out tonight
with my computer :

Thursday, November 1, 2007

i am a faulty string of blue christmas lights
















hey I found the safest place to keep all our tenderness
keep all our bad ideas
keep all our hope
it's here in the smallest bones, the feet and the inner-ear
it's such an enormous thing to walk and to listen

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

i love you (but you're boring)

Once upon a time I stepped on a screw. It poked through my sneakers and stabbed me. Just barely. Because tetanus is a scary condition, I went to the hospital to get a tetanus shot. They took a urine sample for a pregnancy test even though I told them that despite having just been "screwed", I was in no way pregnant. I had three x-rays taken of my foot and was put on antibiotics for a week. It was barely a pinprick. I'm currently trying to get copies of my foot x-rays because I am a bit narcissistic, but until then, here are some other pictures from the day of my wound.



















I haven't been very creative lately. Or at all interesting. But hopefully you love me anyway.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

strawberry fields forever

fruit !



juice !



almond flour !



blending !



blended !



delicious !

Saturday, July 28, 2007

line three, I forget

Today a friend turned another year older. I baked her a little cake. It's hard to gauge in the picture, but it's only 6 inches in diameter!



I work at a university. Sometimes I overhear the young people talking and I think they sound so silly. I am sure, oftentimes, I sound silly to people older than me.

I am thirty-three.

Sometimes I remember where I used to think I would be at thirty-three. It seems so silly now that I'm here. Not there.

Anyway, at dinner we clinked our glasses, cheers, to my friend. I love that noise. The clink clink clink. Good times.

let's take a look at these crow's feet, just look
sitting on the prettiest eyes
sixty 25th of Decembers
fifty-nine 4th of Julys
you can't have too many good times, children
you can't have too many lines
take a good look at these crow's feet
sitting on the prettiest eyes

Monday, July 23, 2007

a new name for everything


the boxes you brought here
and never unpacked
are still patiently waiting to go








mine, too!

But I've been getting better at it and have emptied these boxes (on the right), which are now patiently waiting to be thrown out.

Though I have to admit, it was mostly just transferring their contents (yarn, fabric) to plastic containers.



The fabric was from years ago when I was a more active quilter.

I'm kind of embarrassed by all my hoarding. I'm really in love with patchwork quilts and went through a phase of recklessly collecting prints.
In an attempt to reduce, I've picked up one of my UFOs. Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough of the purple! I will have to wait until my next trip to Toronto to see if Fabricland still carries it.

In the meantime, I've been wasting hours and hours looking at Quilt Blocks Galore and wanting to buy even more prints. I'm quite fond of Amy Butler at the moment and it's taking all self-control to not hit "add to cart".

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

judge a book by its cover

Last January Knitty City held a book launch for Kate Jacob's new book The Friday Night Knitting Club. They promoted the event by promising free copies of the book, free knitting kits, and free refreshments. Keyword: free. Hordes of knitters gathered round, crowding the store past capacity. Knitty City gave out
gift bags for those of us willing to leave immediately. My friend and I each got a bag containing a scarf pattern and two balls of
Tahki Yarns: Cloud (colour 4). Kind of ugly, eh? So ugly, in fact, that I ended up with all four balls as my friend claimed that she could never knit anything with it. I don't know, I thought. It could have potential. I told her that I would take the yarn and knit her a birthday present. She didn't seem that excited but after I suggested a bunch of random objects, she consented to take a pair of armwarmers. I don't think she believed I'd actually do it.

My friend's birthday was over a week ago. I had six months to make them but of course I procrastinated. And while I left enough time to knit them up, this yarn is not only ugly, but a bitch to work with on account of the sudden transitions from fat and fuzzy to really thin.

I had to really struggle to get even tension throughout and after starting over several times, I finally finished one arm using a k2p2 rib. I guess it didn't turn
out that bad? Though I think I will be able to finish the pair using only one ball of yarn, leaving me with three more. I feel burdened by the free yarn!

Monday, July 9, 2007

it's tragic, yes it's true

chelsea elvis chelsea hydrant
hey eleanor, it seems your heart's on your sleeve
and it's the reason that you want to leave
so if you're going to go
just go, just go

we've come to understand that the letter in your hand
it came from a boy who won't be your man
it's tragic, yes it's true
but don't let it ruin this town for you

eleanor, it seems that train's going to leave
and you'd better hurry if that's what you need ..........(cftpa)
but if you still don't know
don't go, oh honey don't go







There is something really exciting about living in New York. I used to have to sometimes jump up and


down to dispel the energy. Now I just kind of bounce. One day I will have to leave, but for now, I have great friends who tell me: Don't go.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

a hiccup in your happiness

the start is the hardest part
to step inside and announce a newly broken heart


I often get the hiccups late at night.
When I've been out.
And have partaken in some drinking.
Last night I learned a new trick.
It's foolproof!


take a deep breath.
without exhaling, take several more small breaths until you can't inhale anymore.
let out the air in equally small increments until you are empty.

it hurts, but it works.

I had gotten the hiccups on the way home from seeing
The Ballet at Cinders. Cinders is the cutest gallery ever! There I discovered my new favourite artist, Kevin Hooyman. Browsing his website I found this:



but please don’t despair, Louise
today will end and your heart will mend, if by degrees

and it hurts even more than you thought
and it feels like forever just now
but one day you’ll look back on this
as a hiccup in your happiness.


I can't inhale anymore.

Friday, June 22, 2007

speaking of outer space...

I went to Iceland.





We spent one afternoon at 12 Tónar. Their hospitality and expresso making skills compelled me to spend an exorbitant $60 on only two CDs. I purchased self-titled albums by Apparat Organ Quartet, who are currently providing my soundtrack tune (The Anguish of Space Time) and are pictured on the wall above my head, and Benni Hemm Hemm, who are playing in New York soon with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Go see them!

Yesterday was the summer solstice. In New York the sun rose at 5:24 am and set at 8:30 pm. In Reykjavík the sun rose at 2:55 am and set at 12:04 am equaling over 21 hours of daylight. Crazy!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

the anguish of space time

I have too many UFOs in my life.
(UFO = UnFinished Object in knit blog talk)
Some of these I haven't touched in years.
Some are shockingly belated gifts. (sorry!)
Some are from unphotogenic parts of my life.




























just, sometimes the start is the most exciting part.