New: What I Love

Blogging has always been a project.

And I am notorius for starting projects, and just not quite following through. Why? I get bored. Or, I get too involved, too complicated, that it's too much to handle.

Looking at other fave blogs I love, I realized I am a short-and-sweet kind of girl. I need a burst of inspiration, lots of photos, and to-the-point "reading" material.

I have my novels, I get them from the library. And I love them.

Blog reading is totally different.

In the world that is too fast, everyone is trying to slow down. But who has time for that when reading a blog? Life is too short for slow electronics, that's what I say.

So, in this mindset, I have joined the Twitter (pronounced "Twitta") movement - nice little 140 character packages. I would rather use majority of my time to gather life experience - researching, working, connecting, knitting!, and progressing. Onwards and upwards, I say!

Onwards and upwards!

I am a woman of lists.

- 1 blog post every Monday (because we all need a little inspiration on Mondays)
- a new column called What I Love.
- knitting, reading, life comments, etc.
- lots of photos

One thing you'll notice about me in my photos. I love my Lululemon navy blue/purplish hoody. I will probably be buried in it. It is washed often. Don't judge.

Question of the week:

What piece of clothing will you be buried in?

Nice to meet you (again).

2013 And the Next Project

Ok, so it's been awhile. A longggggg while since that last post.

Life got in the way. I was enjoying the summer, and for the first time, started my Christmas present knitting in August. And therefore, I couldn't blog about those. Then, there was a 2 week trip, crazy work days, and there you go. It's now Feb. 2013, and I finally feel like blogging again.

As always, the Next Chapter on CBC is my favorite podcast, and recent episodes has reminded me of Canada Reads 2013, where celebrities defend the 5 finalists of top Canadian novels in fiction.

 

So, I take this, as always, as a last minute challenge. Immediately putting these books on hold, like numerous people in Vancouver, I was able to first get February, by Lisa Moore.

I really liked how readable this book was. It was a page turner, with lots of breaks and shifts of timelines to keep it interesting. I am also a sucker for historical fiction, learning about real history through the comfort of fiction. Previous to this book, I was quite ignorant about the Ocean Ranger disaster in 1981. This book made me laugh, and cry, mostly thoughtful, and it provided a different perception on what it might have felt like to be on that rig going down.

 

The second book, The Age of Hope, by David Bergen, was also easy to read. Looking at the "perfect" housewife and how she is unable to keep the facade with others.

One passage I thought was great, being a reader, and not a bad idea, although I cringe at actually cutting a book:

"When Emily heard that Judith was heading off to Europe, she had said that Hope should read the Drifters, a story about boys and girls Judith's age who travel through Europe in the late sixties. Hope ordered it through Book of the Month Club. It was eight hundred pages and she did immediately what she did with all big books. She cut it into three sections so as to make it more manageable and to save her wrists. A heavy book was hard on the joints, and in bed the weight lay on her chest. The problem with cutting the book up was that sometimes she misplaced the second or third section and so had to hunt through the house, trying to remember where the rest of the novel was stored."

I just finished the third book, Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese. This book was an absolute surprise. From the first chapter, which is quite short (I love books with short chapters), this book floored me. Combining the narrative of a boy going through residential schools, finding the way through hockey, and traveling the Canadian small town working lifestyle, it was masterfully written, and again, easy to read.

I was super ignorant about residential schools before reading this book. Prior to reading this my thoughts of residential schools was it was a Catholic brain-washing schooling of Indian youth, with sexual abuse involved.

Boy, did I only have a piece of the puzzle. Residential schools were labour camps, where they were lucky to read anything. No grades, no proper classrooms, strapping, beatings, torture, suicides, trapping in the dungeon in iron cages, children dying without mention. This is Canadian history. This is my beloved country in the 1960s. No wonder this affects generations.

Read this book, you will understand.

 

Next up: Jane Urquhart's Away.

On the needles this week: 2 more honey cowls on commission!

Sprout Craziness

Well, the last week or so has been great.

Why?


1. I got to see Yarn Harlot and take her class through Knit Social! It was so awesome (although I mistakenly though it started at 7 pm, instead of 6 pm - that sucked!) Nothing is as bad as walking into a room at the library full of 17 knitters who all turn to look at you and I bet they were wondering: "Oh my goodness, I can't believe ANYONE could possibly be late for a Yarn Harlot class!" Trust me, I couldn't either.

But once I was there, I had a blast. She is just as sarcastic in person as she is in her blog and books, and I am trying to learn her way of lever knitting, to make myself more efficient and avoid injury so I can knit forever! She also did a lecture on the history of knitting which was actually quite fascinating and surprisingly entertaining. History and knitting for Ashley? Yay!

2.  I took this great photo walk in the Olympic Village, with a pro photographer Feeling Photography. I really wanted to learn how to use my point and shoot camera better, to take better photos for the
blog - and what better way to spend an afternoon in my neighborhood?

I learned lots of great tips and techniques, and although it is better in these classes to have a SLR camera, I learned a lot as well, and feel more confident after the 2 hours of practice. Check it out, I highly recommend it.

3. That same day, I had a knitting party at my house, with the ladies! Andrew was scared out of the house quite quickly :) Some people think knitting just isn't condusive to summer - I think this just proves them wrong!

Closest to farthest: the amazing Joanne, Kynna, and Kim (let's just say this is evidence that a whole lot of knitting wasn't going on - mostly posing, drinking beer, and looking at hot men pictures)

The lovely Iona, showing off another hot man photo specifically this one.

Here is Janice - the wine is down, and she's actually knitting. Good work!

The latecomers - Laura and Melanie - I'm glad you ladies could join! Too bad Melanie forgot her knitting - thankfully she could make fun of my very loose tension on my crochet square and she could finish one up too! I'm just saying, mine will be the centre square - the largest in the land :)

Miss Marianela knitting with her gorgeous Madelinetosh in Jade. And having a bloody fantastic hair day, if she does say so herself!

Alexa chillaxin' in her chair - if you are expecting though, this really is the most comfy chair in the house, and closest to my stash. Check out her upcoming book!

4. I have been knitting up a Sprout storm! I love this pattern, and when I realized just how many babies are about to be born in the next couple of months, I started a knitting factory! And the yarn was on sale at Urban Yarns in some great colours, so that's fabulous!

Sprout #1: in Sage for Cindy at work's #2:

Sprout#2: in baby blue for a boy (for a recipient that cannot be named):

Sprout#3: in rose for the Miki Sushi (my Friday sushi lunch hang out - the manager lady has great customer service) lady:

Sprout#4: in rose for little Holly just born:

Sprout #5: in hunter green for Mary (a client)'s little one to come:

Sprout #6 is on it's way for little Ethan born a couple of months ago, who I am very excited to meet shortly.

Love whipping these up!

My latest Urban Yarns KAL is coming along great - although carrying 3 skeins is a bit bulky. The short rows are also not that short any more, but I'm almost to the end.

As it's almost the end of July (crazy how time flies), I was inspired to start looking at projects that are near completion - getting those WIP (work in progress) that are sitting there like couch potatoes, and giving them some action. Either frogging completely (rip rip!) and getting them out of much not-needed project bags (but that's beside the point) or just finishing them. Either way, make a decision, and get them out of my hair, and into someone's hands to use as a gift. Out of my house!

So, once this KAL shawl is blocking, this is the plan. Tighten things up for fall.

Happy summer knitting!