I've been meaning to post...

For close to a week I've been meaning to sit down and write a post and for whatever reason it hasn't happened.

This past weekend I took part in a class offered by our quilting guild. We made Easter wall hangings (12"x21"). While hanging decorative quilts on my wall isn't really my thing, I decided to take it to learn some new techniques and to brush up on some basics.

How cute is that? I'm going to send it to my grandma for Easter. Generally I'm not a pattern follower when I quilt - mostly because I just make patchwork quilts - so this was a bit of a step for me. Even though I know how to sew I felt like a total newb because I've never followed a quilting pattern. Because I like to torture myself I'm doing another quilt on Mondays using a pattern. Actually, using a pattern is good because you at least know how much fabric you'll need to make a quilt X size but sewing random 5" squares together uses a lot less brain power lol

Tuesday was our last night of hockey for the season :-( I really wish the ice was in for a few more weeks especially since I probably won't be here for the next season.

My visa application has been recieved by Ottawa, I have a case number, a case worker and my visa has been charged the application fee (!). In the email I got from them on Monday, they said that the typical processing time is 12-16 weeks and I'll be notified if we need to send in any other documentation or have to go in for medical checks.

So there ya go! Probably a better post than if I would've written yesterday. All you would've heard about was me ranting about doctor's appointments and having a flat tire (suffice to say yesterday was crappy).


Temperature: -23C
Sunrise: 8:26am
Sunset: 9:34pm

Better Late Than Never!!

After much anticipation my v-day secret pal package has arrived!

Normally when something takes AGES to get here I say it's come by dog sled but I think even a dog team would've gotten the package here faster.
I got: two lovely skeins of Knit Picks Imagination in "Lost Boys" , a cute paisley tin (I'm in the process of doing a paisley glass etched mug!!), stitch markers (awesome! I actually need some more!), an incredible skein of Manos silk blend <3 <3 and some tea (smells yummy! I'm going to have a cup after I write this post). yay!! Thank you!!!!

I was going to pair this post with my latest sewing creation but that's going to have to wait for another day - I'll tell you about it now though! I made the Mei Tai baby carrier from Sew Liberated. It only took a few hours and it turned out really well! The distinct lack of a baby and my helmet hair prevents me from taking a picture of it but I'll try to get one soon. I'm definitely going to make a few more - they'd be a great gift for all those people that seem to keep popping out babies!

Only two more nights of hockey left :-( I'm really sad, I've been having SO much fun. I even got two goals today (grand total 5!) and my skating is definitely improving. Hopefully Glen will come along next week and take some more pictures.


Temperature: -23C (feels like -31C)
Sunrise: 9:30am
Sunset: 8:39pm

Trying to Getting Used to the Silence

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments. It's been pretty tough to get used to not having him around. Like I mentioned before, Finnegan was very demanding of your attention and he let you know it if he didn't think he was getting enough. Sure it was annoying sometimes (like when we were trying to sleep - or when your arms and shoulders were too sore from carrying him around all day) but now that he's not here, everything is so quiet. Tilley is not a cuddly, affectionate cat and I miss getting those kitty snuggles and headbutts (he loved being kissed on the forehead). Finnegan was pretty much everything I wanted in a cat (minus the near constant meowing). I wanted a cat that would sit on my lap and want to be cuddled and snuggled when I wanted to and not just when they were feeling like it - it was a pretty rare day when Finnegan wasn't up for a good snuggle.
I'm having a bit of a hard time with just Tilley because she isn't cuddly and affectionate - she was the reason I got Finnegan in the first place...

Anyway... It's all about adjusting to how things are now and we're trying our best to look back at all the funny any annoying things Finnegan did and laugh (instead of cry which has been a pretty common occurrance lately). The one that got us laughing the hardest the other day (and my mum later when I told her) was the rivalry Finnegan had with Glen. Finnegan knew that he was here before Glen and took every chance he could to show how absolutely jealous he was anytime Glen and I were near eachother (ie: if we were sitting together on the couch or even worse if we were laying on the bed). Finnegan would physically get between us but the worst (and funniest) thing of all was that any time Finnegan had to jump up where we were or walk past Glen he ALWAYS (and I really mean always) stepped or jumped on Glen's crotch. Every.Single.Time. Any time Finnegan would go near Glen, Glen would be covering himself to avoid the inevitable.

I'm going in for a massage at 6 tonight and hopefully that will help me feel a bit better physically. Besides the stress at work (which, honestly has been pretty minimal - there's usually a once weekly occurrance of ridiculousness but it's usually been resolved in a few days) the Finnegan thing has really messed my body up (oh, I have a cold on top of it all too - great!). After my scope and getting my new stomach meds, things were going pretty good and now... Yikes... Things are worse than they were before the scope... I'm not getting too worried (though my doctor will probably freak the fuck out tomorrow if I tell him) because I'm pretty confident that it's the stress causing it and if I give it a few more weeks, things will be back to normal. Waiting out the symptoms is the toughest part.

We're getting our new hockey jersys tonight too. I'll try to post a picture soon wearing it. (I'm looking forward to hockey tonight - good stress reliever!).

Thanks again for all the comments.

Temperature: -25C
Sunrise: 11:34am
Sunset: 4:39pm

I Guess We Don't Open Our Curtains That Often...

Look what I found yesterday when I opened the curtains:

Yikes!

Where did THAT come from? And how come we didn't notice it a looooooong time ago?! I don't think something like that grows overnight - it would've had to be a few days - or at least a week! And we thought the one we had last year was massive...

Today's my first day at my new-old job. I had 5 days off (3 for the craft fair and my regular 2) and managed to get A LOT done. I took pretty much everything out of the packrat room and am trying to get it to be a more functional room rather than a room stuff gets tossed when we can't put it away... I should've taken a before picture but it was embarrassing (think NO floor space and things piled everywhere -- when we showed a friend that room she said "you can call one of the community groups and they could come and take all that stuff to the dump for you" haha :-( Its not all garbage just... stuff... We are clearly living in too small an apartment for my things...). Anyway, there's floor space now and things are a bit more organized but there's a long way to go. Our main hallway is cleaned out too and as soon as the livingroom is done I'll put our tree up (for the livingroom to be clean all the stuff has to be moved into the hall where the tree is going). Progress though!

I had hockey lastnight and it was fun minus the fact I think I'm getting a cold so it turned out to be pretty hardcore... I felt OK before I started and when I got home I was pretty exhausted and miserable... Almost got a few goals - it means I'm at least getting the puck and getting a chance to shoot!


Temperature: -29C (whaaaaaaaaat?!?!)
Sunrise: 1:03om
Sunset: 2:24pm
(only 3 days left!)

I've been scolded!

Sorry for the long silence it's been a long and confusing two weeks.
I don't really have any news so that's the main reason I've been waiting to update. I've been offered my regular position back but haven't signed any papers. I don't think I'll get screwed over but I wouldn't be surprised if something random happened. Things at work are really confusing because there are some staff members that aren't getting their job back and they are WAY disgruntled (don't blame them really) BUT they're making everyone else's life difficult. So much so that a few of us aren't telling that we've been offered positions. Yikes... It also means all the things I wasn't going to have to do (like putting together Christmas lists for 5 people) I'm going to do. So I brought all the latest Sears catalogues home with me tonight to hopefully compile some lists on my days off.

My days off lately have been rather unproductive due to me deciding to get a life. I've been faithfully going to quilting every Monday (not really getting a lot done though... hmmm) and then hockey on Tuesdays. Hockey is SO.MUCH.FUN. I'm having a blast. I hurt myself pretty bad last week but I should be good to go by Tuesday again - thank goodness for pads and a helmet!!! My head bounced off the ice (I don't even know how I fell but I lost my balance, my feet came out from under me and I landed on my back) so I've been recovering from what I imagine is ice whiplash :-P And a lot of soreness. But, totally worth it.

Knitting wise, I haven't gotten a lot of big things done but many, many small mittens. I'm embellishing them (and some mini sweaters) with felt cut-outs (Christmas trees, presents, stockings, snowmen, hearts etc). I spent my evening yesterday tracing out, cutting and embelishing little felt things. I'm really pleased with how they're turning out. I'm seriously going to make an effort to unpack everything and take a picture of it!
Speaking of the craft fair, I got my big box of "table stuff" on Thursday (table cloth, cash box, gift bags etc) the only major thing I have left to do is figure out a backdrop thing for my photos. I'll either borrow one or build one (yikes!). Only a few more weeks!

So there ya go! I think that's a pretty decent update --- Oh! And if there are people reading that I owe letters to I'm going to try super hard to get them written this week! Sorry I'm such a terrible penpal! ugh! :-(


Temperature: -12C (feels like -18C)
Sunrise: 10:19am
Sunset: 4:54pm
(stupid time change! Only a month of daylight left!)

Hockey Night In Inuvik

Had my first night of hockey tonight! I had a lot of fun despite falling a few times and not being the best skater (I did pretty good though).

Glen came and took some pictures (I'm the one in all black):

Next week is a power skating clinic so that should be fun - wearing all the pads helps feeling more secure on the ice!


I've been super busy with knitting for the craft fair (Nov 28-30). I've managed to get one thing per day done even if it has meant staying up until silly times to sew the last little bit on. Hopefully I'll have a nice full table by the time it's all said and done!



Temperature: -6C
Sunrise: 9:27am
Sunset: 7:54pm

Winter Wonderland

Look what I woke up to this morning:

I don't a lot of progress on the second thrummed mitten. I haven't really felt like knitting the last few days. I did some reorganising in the "packrat room" on my days off though. We went and bought some HUGE clear storage bins so I could get my yarn out of the random bags and boxes they were in (you know you have too much yarn when all the yarn you have of ONE brand won't fit into the bin!).

We went to the community sign up night on Monday so I could register for hockey and I also signed up for the quilting guild. One of the girls that runs it has been bugging me for over a year to join. They meet on Monday nights (day off!) and they have a better location than they did before. It'll give me an excuse to get some quilting done! And I'll probably learn some new techniques. I was taught to quilt by my grandma (basic patchwork quilting) and obviously there's SO much more to quilting than basic patchwork (which I really enjoy but it would be nice to do patterns and appliqué and all that sort of thing). The girls also want me to teach them needle felting so that should be fun too.


Temperature: -1C
Sunrise: 8:48am
Sunset: 8:40pm

Thrum-tastic (a WIP)

I have LOTS of roving left over from my needle felting workshop this summer so I decided I needed some thrummed mittens (I LOVE mittens!).

I used the Yarn Harlot's pattern and instructions. I only made minor changes in the top shaping and the thumb (to get the right amount of thrums on the thumb I needed to decrease 4 stitches) and I didn't make my thrums quite as large - I did half a mitten then decided to rip it all out and start again with smaller thrums - one reason was because I was running out of green roving and another was because they were kind of distorting all the other stitches. Oh and I changed the measurements - I did more thrums before the thumb section and a longer cuff (3").

An example of how big my thrums are (size 3.75mm needles)

I'm still working on mitten number two since I didn't bring it on the trip (I started a pair of socks though and managed to knit in the truck for about 5 hours! I get car sick SO easily - especially lately for some reason - so this is a huge accomplishment since all I can normally do is stare out the windows).

Another knitting thing I'm kind of contemplating is knitting a pair of hockey socks (which are really leg warmers and not socks). I've decided to start playing hockey this fall because the women's team plays on Tuesdays (one of my nights off!) and it sounds like a fun thing to do. I've never played hockey outside of school so this should be kind of an interesting experience lol They welcome players of all ages and a friend of mine (one of the girls I went to Whitehorse with) is going to be playing too. I picked up all my gear in Whitehorse so I'm all ready to go. Registration is on Monday and the first night is the 7th. I'm super excited and if all the gear wasn't so hot to wear I'd totally be wearing it around the house lol.


Temperature: +5C
Sunrise: 8:30am
Sunset: 9:01pm

Whoops!

I didn't realise it had been so long since I updated!
Well, since the last time I wrote, Finnegan has come home from the vet (two and a half weeks home and still not blocked!) and is still recovering. I'd say he's about 90% back to how he was before. My brother has made the quickest cross country drive ever (it took them just over a week to get from here to southern Ontario and that's with 4 days visiting family) AND got engaged! And I've finished two pairs of socks and started on a pair of thrummed mittens!

My brother, Cristine and her dad driving away

Finnegan (the fur is taking a while to grow back).

Afterthought heel socks in Knit Picks Felici - Coney Island and OnLine Tropic.

On Friday I'm going on a road trip with some friends to Whitehorse (we'll get back on Tuesday). We want to stock up on some supplies before winter sets in and prices go up like crazy and I also need to pick up some special cat food for Finnegan (one of the friends has a cat that had the same problems as Finnegan and she needs cat food too). I'm thinking of joining the women's hockey team in town (Tuesday nights - one of my days off!) so I'm going to pick up some gear when I'm down. I'm really excited about this trip since I've never been to Whitehorse before and the furthest I've been down the road is the Arctic Circle sign. The Dempster is supposed to be really nice in fall too so I'll have my camera for lots of pictures.


Temperature: +3C
Sunrise: 7:46am
Sunset: 9:53pm