W.I.P. Friday

I'm actually feeling pretty productive this week despite the fact that Aaron has been traveling all over the continent on business (L.A. this week, NYC last week) and Miss Ruby has been extra busy with her classes and playing. But I've got some knitting and some sewing on the go, which feels good. To be honest, my commitment to only knitting small things has started to bore me (not much challenge in simple baby hats) partially because I don't like the look of small items with too many flourishes. A toque with a bunch of cables all over it? Lace gloves? No thanks. After my Xmas knitting is over (which may be sooner rather than later, I'm seriously thinking about just buying stuff this year) I think I'll tackle a fine knit sweater or a lace shawl just to have a long term challenge to get me out of my accessory ennui.

For now though, I'm knitting something for myself: Glampyre's City Shawl. It's that big black lump that you can see. Almost done, I'll give you all the deets once it's off the needles. And that piece of orange fabric is the sleeve to Ruby's clown costume, which'll hit the machine tonight if all goes well.



Oh, and since the W.I.P. photo isn't much to look at, I present you a lemon loaf that I just whipped up for tea with my neighbour later this afternoon. I love lemon loaf, but have never actually made it since Aaron has laid down the law with a strict "If it's not chocolate, it's a waste of dessert" decree. But, I've snuck a taste and despite the fact that I usually agree with him on the chocolate thing, the lemony deliciousness is perfect for a ladies/babies tea party.

Spoiled Old Me

I've been bad. Yesterday Leena and I stopped by our favourite LYS, Make 1 to show off the poncho that she made for Ruby. Leena also wanted to pick up some felted bag patterns, as she's participating in this great charity handbag sale that's raising money for grandmothers in Africa who have been left to raise their AIDS-orphaned grandchildren. I wanted to buy a little something to get started on my Xmas knitting (I know, I announced the commencement of Xmas knitting a month ago, but I've gotten nowhere) and I was seduced by the Lorna's Laces.

I was immediately drawn to the Shepherd Worsted in the amazing "Hawaii" colourway. Look at it! This will probably end up as a gift -- I've been wanting to make a pair of Sweet Mary Jane slippers since I stumbled upon the pattern via Sam's blog months ago. The Shepherd Worsted is superwash, so I think it'll work out nicely. I also very greedily picked up some Shepherd Sock yarn in the Sassy Stripe colourway because, well, I couldn't resist. I rarely buy yarn simply to stash, but a good sock yarn is hard to come by and my fingers have been missing the pleasure of sock knitting. I think I'm a lifer.

I'm also buzzing because I'm home without Ruby today, as Wednesday has been designated "Ruby stays with Grandma or Nana while Mummy tries to get some work done" day. I spent a nice chunk of my morning on the phone doing an interview with a very high-profile British rock star. I won't name names (don't want search engines ending up here and poking in my personal business), but he's the guitarist/chief songwriter of a very prominent and long-standing British band that his brother is the lead singer of. Got it? I've spoken to this gentleman before and he always leaves me swooning. Receiving phone calls from rock stars always makes me feel like less of a suburban housewife. Hooray!

Merrily I Sew Along

As I mentioned last week, I've been bit by the sewing bug. Hard. My mother bought me a sewing machine for Xmas last year after I expressed a motherly desire to be able to eventually make Halloween costumes for Ruby. Because of my knitting habit (or, more specifically my 2006 sock obsession), vacation, the move and general busy-ness, I didn't even take the machine out of the box until very recently. Also, I was intimidated and too shy/busy/lazy to take a sewing class. Anyway, Aaron's been out of town a lot lately, giving me plenty of sewing time in the evening, so I decided to go for it. Once I figured out that I was using the wrong size bobbin, I fell in love with the machine.

With the machine my mom gave me a bunch of fixin's, a Simplicity apron pattern and some cheapo Walmart fabric to cut my teeth on. So, over the course of the last week, I whipped up this little apron. There are lots of mistakes (I totally botched the ties) and the finishing leaves much to be desired, but overall, I think it's pretty darn cute. I have a grand vision of making a few of these with Jenny Hart embroidery on the pockets and giving them as gifts. I don't know if I can swing it by Christmas (my sewing time is pretty limited, what with Ruby and all, so I may have to crank out smaller knit gifts and some Wee Wonderfuls), but maybe I can stock pile a couple aprons for birthdays. Either way, I'm excited and after a trip to a beautiful quilt store in my neighbourhood and little scared of the price of nice fabric. I'm already having trouble fitting my yarn habit into my budget -- how am I going to afford kitschy Japanese fabric?

In Praise Of Other Women's Knitting

As I've mentioned before, Aaron's Mum, Leena is a fantastic knitter. She's far more patient than I am and has a remarkable gift for choosing tasteful patterns and beautiful yarns. Naturally, she is thrilled by the notion of getting to knit for her one and only grandchild and Ruby has been suitably spoiled with plenty of Nana's handknits.

On our first sojurn to Make 1 Studio a couple months ago, Leena was seduced by a hank of very colourful and very soft yarn that screamed Ruby. The nice lady at the store helped her flip through the pattern binders to find an appropriate sweater pattern but we were both much more taken by this little pattern. The original was knit up in a kind of little red riding hood motif, but I like Ruby's acid pink/yellow combo even better. It's soft, it's warm and the girl looks adorable. Thanks Nana!

On a side note, I think I've got myself in trouble. I finally figured out how to use my sewing machine and all I can think about is sewing. And knitting. And sewing and knitting. And I'm under strict instructions by Aaron to find more freelance work -- but who can think about writing when there are so many Wee Wonderful patterns to knit up?

Self Portrait Challenge: With Aaron

Last time around I posted a photo of me with the most important person in my world: my sassy little girl Ruby. Her father follows at a very close second -- not because I love him any less, but simply because I spend less time with the guy. Since it's unlikely that Aaron would ever consent to his photo appearing on my blog and it's hard to pin the guy down (his job has been keeping him really busy and he also has his career as a handsome singer-songwriter to contend with) I'm posting a photo of a drawing that our friend Carl gave us for our wedding five years ago. I love it and I think it captures the Aaron/Elizabeth pretty damn well. I also really like the frame.

I'm not going to gush about how much Aaron means to me and all that -- he's a private person and would be mortified if I let my mushyness go that unchecked in a public forum. So, to add some beef to this post, I'll indulge in a meme that Mamaloo posted over at Momcast. Usually I hate these "porn star name" kind of things (partially because the street I grew up on was called Bunny Hollow Road. I'm not kidding), but I thought this one was king of fun and it's a rainy day in these parts. Let me know in the comments if you decide to participate.

YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your moms side, your favorite candy): Ruby Lindor
YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of last name, first three letters of your middle name): B. Joy
YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Pink Kitten
YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Joy Tripoli
YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.): Booelrocal
SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, favorite drink): The Pink Shiraz
NASCAR NAME: (the first name of both your grandfathers): Ed George
FUTURISTIC NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne and the name of your favorite shoes): Lovely Rocketdog
WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother/father's middle name ) Ann Glenn

Miss Pink

Okay, I know that I said that I was going to send the failed Children's Cotton Hat (intended for Ruby but waaay too small) to my cousin's newborn. But I just couldn't bring myself to part with the Suss cotton that had been sent from Vancouver by my OS Secret Pal. So, I reassessed the situation, decided I had enough yarn to go up to the "child" size hat, ripped out the old one and knitted away. I knit 'er up really fast, since it's really cold here and I can't seem to find much of our winter gear in our state of still-unpacking. I doubt that any of Ruby's stuff would fit her anyway, what with her seemingly giant head and all. Since this is now a full-fledged FO, here are the specs:

Children's Cotton Hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Suss Cotton
Needle: US 8 DPNs
Mods: Well, I obviously substituted the yarn and I also went up a needle size. I also knit the body of the had a half inch longer than the largest size suggested. I still haven't officially measured for gauge, but others have told me that even with the suggested Mission Falls yarn, these hats have come up small. I knit for the biggest size (child), even though at 19 1/2 months, Ruby is barely even considered a toddler in some circles. As it is, I didn't even include the lace-through i-cord because any cinching would have made the hat too snug. So, the eyelets are purely decorative and Miss Ruby has already received many compliments on her very soft and very sweet little cotton hat.

From The Hats Of Babes

Babies. Now, I consider myself a pretty observant mother, but I seem to have a huge mental block concerning the size of a baby's head. In addition to my own babe (who is now by all measurements a full-fledged todler) there suddenly seems to be babies coming at me from all directions. And for a knitter a new baby means one thing: whipping up gifts of baby hats (or, for the more industrious, blankets).

It seems that despite making at least half a dozen baby hats over the last couple of years, I've lost my ability to gauge the size of a child's head, newborn or otherwise. Last week I needed to make gifts for two August babies: Ashley (my cousin's new daughter) and Anita (my friend Barb's two-week old girl). I ended up giving them both SNB Umbilical Cord hats knit up in Brown Sheep Worsted. I went up a needle size, so for the first one (which was given to Anita at her shower last week) I decreased by a few stitches. While it seemed tiny, Barb assured me it would fit. For Ashley's I knit to pattern and I have no idea if it's going to be way too big. Ruby's baby (who is named, simply, "Baby") is modeling Anita's hat. Luckily, Anita lives in Calgary, so she'll be needing the hat pretty much right away, while it still fits.



I also made a couple attempts at Last Minute Knitted Gifts' Children's Cotton Hat with disastrous results. First off, intended for Ashley, I tried to modify the pattern using some bulky purple yarn. No dice. As you can see, though, the hat fits Blythe perfectly, so it's clearly too small for any baby. And too un-fetching, I may add. Still, it's '70s quality suits Blythe, so on her head it'll stay.



So, I tried to knit another one, in toddler size to spec using my skein of Suss cotton, which should have subbed well for the Mission Falls. Nope. Granted, I didn't test for gauge, but it seemed to be a decent size until I tried it on Ruby's head. Not even close. Does Ruby have a giant head? Sort of, but I think the hat is also smaller than it should have been. I would have ripped it out and reknit it in the "Child" size, but I didn't have enough yarn left over. So, this one's going off to Ashley too with the hope it'll fit her in the spring. Now I'm off to dig through my stash to see if there's something I can use to make Ruby an adult size hat, since that seems to be the only sure-fire way of keeping her head covered this fall.

Circus Of The Socks

For six months, I knit socks. Through a trip to Hawaii, the sale of a house, a move across the country, the purchase of another house and an intense period of readjustment, I knit socks. All in the name of the now finished Project Spectrum. When PS began I had just completed my first pair of socks (Jaywalkers, natch) and I was so enchanted with the process of turning that charming heel that I decided to sock it up right through the summer.

So here they all are. A pair each of Mata Haris, Simply Lovely Lace, Retro Ribs, Pomatomus, Madder Rib and Yarrow Rib. Each a completed pair. That's right -- no second sock syndrome here, buddy.



I must say, while I regret nothing, it may be a while before I do another pair of socks (I briefly contemplated joining Sock Wars, then concluded that my insanity must be stopped). First up, I have more than enough hand-knit socks in my wardrobe now (since I'm still a relative beginner, only one of these pairs is suitable enough to be gifted) and also, I yearn to use a needle bigger than U.S. 1. Bring on the worsted yarn -- I'm ready for a quick knit!

Self Portrait Challenge: With Ruby

This month's SPC is "with someone" and I'm betting my bottom dollar that at least half of the bloggers out there are going to be putting up pictures of their little ones. But who would I include in this first week if it weren't for my constant companion, my fair Ruby?

I couldn't narrow this down to just one mother daughter shot, so I'm choosing two. Above is one of my favourite Ruby/Mummy photos (I do have another that my friend Kim took on film last fall, but it's packed away, as is my scanner). This was taken in Vancouver during Ruby Tour 2005 when we took the then four month old bambino West to meet her family. We're in Aaron's sister's old apartment and I'm playing with Roo as she suffers through her first cold.



And secondly, a more recent shot for you Ruby fans, taken last month on our trip to the West Coast. She loves to kiss -- through glass or otherwise. I love to kiss her back.

Oh, Me Of Little Faith

I said I couldn't do it. But why, oh why did I not believe in myself and my quick little fingers? After a month of very little knitting and a week of extreme fatigue, I managed to finish my last pair of Project Spectrum socks last night. On time. Oh yeah, I rock.

Yarrow Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Opal Superwash in a black/white stripe
Needle: U.S. #1 bamboo
Mods: I did a 7" leg instead of 8 1/2"



Not much else to say. Another simple ribbed sock, no big deal -- though I quite admire the German heel. More Opal, 'cos that's what I could find in a neutral colourway. I'll do a nice photo shoot with all of my PS socks over the weekend at sometime so I can bask in my own glory. Until then, I'm doing a bunch of baby hats because infant children seem to be appearing everywhere in my life these days.

Mmm... Cheeze

Okay, guilty pleasure time. Does anyone else out there like MacLaren's Imperial cheese product? For those who haven't had the pleasure, it's basically a hoitier and toitier version of Cheeze Whiz. It's crumbly and tangy and ultimately pretty gross. For some reason though, I feel compelled to buy it every couple of years or so, though I never eat the whole tub. We'd get it around Christmastime when I was a kid. For some reason, in the 70s, smoked oysters and MacLaren's Imperial made for a pretty classy treat. Maybe it was the goat cheese of it's time. Or, the synthetic oil-based goat cheese of it's time, at least.

And yes, all of this is a smokescreen to distract you from the fact that the end of the month falls this week and I've yet to even turn the heel of my second Project Spectrum sock. Unless I knit at a crazy speed during the next two nights of Rockstar Supernova, for the first time in six months, it looks like I'll fail to reach the finish line, which is a shame, because this month is one of the easiest patterns I've done yet. I was looking good, but then I went to a dear friend's wedding on Saturday and stayed out (sans Ruby, of course) until about 2 a.m. and drank a whole bottle of wine. The problem with going out without your kid is that unless you have the foresight to leave them with their grandparents overnight, you're going to have to get up with them at 6:30 the next morning (unfortunately, Aaron followed my cue and hit the bottle). Going to bed at 9:30 every night since hasn't afforded me much knitting time. Oh well, it was all worth it.

Self Portrait Challenge -- Enclose Me

I've been super delinquent with the SPC this summer, but I decided that if I treat it too much like a homework assignment it'd become a real drag. And really, do you all need to look at my face every week -- especially when the posts have hardly been coming fast and furious over the summer months? So, I still contribute to the site and do the self-portraits when the mood strikes me.

Here I am in my shower. It's an enclosed space (as this month's assignment dictates), but it actually feels very liberating and free in there, because there's a full sized window right in the shower. Now, to me a bathroom is rarely a deal breaker when it comes to buying a house. We don't have enough money to be perfectionists when it comes to our home, so I've never had a bathroom (or a kitchen, for that matter) that I'd consider ideal. But the one thing that I've always coveted in a loo is a window in the shower. Nothing feels better than standing under the tap and looking into the garden. Especially our crazy garden full of lawn ornaments.

So, here I am. Enclosed, but free. Nice, eh?

With A Cherry On Top

So, what did you do this weekend? My life has weirdly exploded into a parade of social engagements, which I'm finding wonderful, but strange. I actually had to turn down an invitation to go rollerskating tonight because I'm going out dancing. It's like I'm 21 and childless all over again!

Well, not quite, but I have been having fun. On Friday, after we last spoke, Aaron took me out to a chic new pizzeria for my birthday dinner. I was surprised to find a table full of my friends waiting for me -- surprising because Aaron pulled the same gracious stunt last year and he hasn't traditionally been a huge birthday planner. It was a great time and I was plied with gifts of desserts, which I spent the rest of the weekend eating. Then on Sunday my friend Jenaya hosted a huge front yard consignment sale, which I provided some clothes for and spent the day hanging out at. While the sale was super fun, we were all a little disappointed that despite Jenaya's efforts at handing out about a zillion handbills, we didn't attract many hipsters. It was mostly just the average garage sailors, who weren't willing to shell out for our consignment store prices. It was too bad because there was so many awesome items to be snapped up.



I myself chose a gorgeous green vintage coat and a poly dress with a lovely cherry print. Aaron can't get behind the dress -- he's calling it too '80s retro, which is a fashion trend that neither he or I can really pull off. Granted, the belt and gathered neckline and cuffs does evoke a certain red Avon lipstick/tan hose/menthol cigarette swirl that reminds me of the 30-year-old version of my mother, but I love the dress and plan to wear it with the coat and a pair of red heels to many a Christmas party this winter. Minus the Avon lipstick, tan hose and menthol smokes (I find all smoking gross, but menthols take the cake) of course.

So, tonight I'm off dancing (for a bachelorette party no less), I have a girls movie night on Friday, a wedding Saturday and my dad's birthday Sunday. If this isn't enough to lift me out of the "I miss Toronto" blues, I don't know what is.

WIP Friday

When Fiona instituted WIP Friday, she asked crafters (who tend to work on tables, not from an easy chair) to capture pictures of their desks. Since I, for the first time since I've lived with Aaron, actually have a work room of my own these days, I've been storing my knitting on my desk, rather than various baskets and magazine racks shoved into Ruby-proofed corners of the living room. So here is my messy desk (note that the room itself is still a WIP).

What am I working on these days. Well, I have dozens of projects in my head and even have acquired supplies for some of them (including Hillary Lang's adorable Stichette kit) but my main project on the go is my final pair of Project Spectrum socks, pictured above. I'm doing a simple rib from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks in a black and white striped Opal sock yarn. I'm also still working on Jess Hutch's Squarey, but he's been pushed back behind the backburner.

Also on my desk you see some Noro Kureyon, which is intended to become the children's ribbed scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I'm not sure who it'll be gifted to, but I liked the idea of working with Kureyon, which I've amazingly never tried out before. This pattern really maximized the weirdness of Kureyon's colourways and should be easy-peasy. Also on the desk is a book called Supernatural by Graham Hancock that Aaron's uncle lent him. I'm not going to go into it.

Thanks to everyone who sent their birthday wishes via the blog or otherwise. I had a great birthday and was more than spoiled by my loved ones. Hooray.

Warmin' Up The Wrists

Hey, how about a FO that isn't a pair of socks? Okay, wrist warmers aren't that far out of the sock family (mind you they're much much easier to whip up on a moment's notice), but I personally am quite pleased that for once this summer, I've veered away from my own feet. What you see here is the hand-knitted gift that I whipped up for my One Skein secret pal. Here are the deets:



Hand/Wrist Warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Malabrigo kettle dyed pure merino wool in "lettuce"
Needle: U.S. 8 DPNs
Mods: Decreased stitch count due to larger needle/thicker wool
Comments: After doing six pairs of socks on U.S. #1s, I was shocked that I managed these over the course of two evenings in front of the TV. I love the diagonal rib pattern and the luxurious practicality of these accessories. Most of all though, I've gotta give props to the wool. My goodness, is it soft. The finished product is warm and lovely and I hope my pal gets good use out of them.

On a side note, this is my last day as a 30-year-old. As of tomorrow, I'm 31. Weird. (Also, do I look pregnant in the body shot? If so I'm not, I'm just doing a weird belly-stick-out).

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Well, our little family has just returned from an exciting week and a half on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast. For those not in the know, the Sunshine Coast is a little area just north of Vancouver. While it's on the mainland, it's separated from the city by an inlet and the mountains, so you have to take a ferry to get there, which gives the whole area an isolated island kind of feel. We were there to hang with Aaron's aunt and uncle and their two young daughters, who visit every two years from the U.K. It was actually pretty amazing -- Aaron's mother has two younger sisters and a much younger brother and they're all incredibly interesting and articulate people. Ruby got to hang with her (second) cousins and it was amazing to see all these blonde kids playing together. Physically Ruby seems to have snagged a lot of Leena's Finnish genes, so it was pretty cool to see her romping with family members who actually look like her.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the things I did on my summer vacation: played on the beach, paddled a canoe, tasted blue cheese ice cream (not good), found a knitting store and didn't even buy anything, visited a place called Ruby Lake, collected stones, watched the sun set, ate too much, drank Pimms almost every evening, read a book, realized that straight stockinette knitting is pretty boring when you don't have the TV, listened to music, had great conversations with a 13-year-old, played cards, drew with crayons, went on a hike, drank coffee, wrote a mini-novel about the family in my head...



Aaron uploaded the vacation pictures onto his laptop, so all I have for you here is a peek at some of the fantastic books we found at the various coast thrift shops. In addition to the 18 volumes of Creative Hands (circa 1968) that Leena found and purchased at a place called the Bargain Barn (neither of us had room to bring them back, so they're currently living with Aaron's sister in Vancouver), I found some old Family Circle Illustrated Library Of Cooking books, plus a Scandinavian cooking book that's part of some ethnic culinary encyclopedia set. My fave recipe in the Family Circle editions is the hot dog tiara -- a ring of wieners surrounding some stove-top stuffing jazzed up with orange juice and green olives. I want to make some of these gooey old recipes, sort of as an homage to the always entertaining My House Is Cuter Than Yours.

Gone Fishin' -- Again

I was going to post a picture of the wristwarmers that I just whipped up for my secret pal out of the most divine yarn ever, but our camera was being a brat, so no pics. Either way, I'm taking a break for a couple weeks, so you'll all have to wait. We're off on vacation -- I'll see you mid-August.

Two FOs For The Price Of One

Not only does she babble on at length about her yard and her child, but she knits too!

That's right. Two finished projects. In the last few hours I've managed to finish off a scarf and my July Project Spectrum socks. Not bad for a month during which I've moved and have been faced with 5,000 lbs of useless stuff piling up in my basement.

First up,
Madder Rib socks from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Sheppard Sock in Fresh Stripe
Needle: U.S. 1 bamboo DPNs
Mods: None



Comments: Love the yarn. Like, really, really love it. This is the first time I've used any Lorna's Laces (I'd never actually seen it in a store until I moved to Calgary and found Make 1 Studio). It's beautiful to work with and beautiful to wear. I do think the one row stripe pattern is a little wonky and would have preferred wider more consistent stripes (they repeated every row plus 14 stitches at this gauge), but I love the colour and kind of appreciate the wonkiness. The pattern is great too -- very simple and introduced me to the pointed toe (I've only ever done flat). I don't think that I'm going to have a life-long love affair with the pointed toe, but it was fun to switch things up. I think my next pair of socks will be another one of Knitting Vintage Socks ribbed variations. It was nice to actually be able to relax while knitting after the stress of Pomatomus.



Next,
Airy Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Kid Mohair (I lost the band in the move, but it's basically a cheaper version of Kid Silk Haze, minus the silk)
Needle: U.S. 10 cheapo aluminums (my supplies were still in transit, so I cheaped out)
Mods: I had to add extra repeats to lengthen the scarf
Comments: I love the fabric that the large needles created -- very gauzy and lace-like even though the lace repeat was simple beyond simple. I originally intended this for my One Skein Secret Pal, but it seemed a little too flimsy for the exchange (I think I'm going to whip up some wristwarmers instead) and it's also perfect for a birthday party we're going to tonight.



Speaking of gifts, after I finish my August socks, it'll be time to start work on Xmas gifts! I think between my love of Last Minute Knitted Gifts and my desire to learn how to sew softies (Hilary Lang, here I come), I'm just going to start making stuff and decide who the recipients are later. I really love making small items (who needs the stress of a sweater) so I'm pretty excited about gift season.

Secret Pal Strikes Again

Nothing quite matches the feeling of seeing the Canada Post truck (the one that carries the parcels) coming down your street and realizing that it's stopping at your house. I must say, I'm not overly impressed with the One Skein book, but I am enjoying their Secret Pal exchange immensely. My West Coast SP has been suitably spoiling me with fancy yarn. This month she sent me a gorgeous hank of Suss cotton in hot hot hot pink. I haven't decided what it'll become yet, but I'm thinking it will inevitably be worn by Miss Ruby. My lovely SP also sent a cute bunny bath mitt and a super cool little card. Thanks SP!



Speaking of being spoiled, take a look at Reason #437 that my husband is one of the most lovable creatures on earth. There's a great cupcake bakery called Crave near his work and for the second time since we've lived in Calgary he came home with a selection of delicious cupcakes. Last night I tried one of the pink vanilla cakes, tonight I'm going for chocolate. The plate, by the way, is from a set that Aaron's mum, Leena, lent us while we were waiting for our stuff to arrive from Toronto. The set used to be her mother's "good set" of china, later to become her "everyday" set, then Leena's moving out set, Aaron's moving out set, and finally they were relegated to Leena's basement. They're turquoise, in pretty great shape and have a "Poole" of England stamp on the bottom. I suggested to Leena that I not return them once my own Ikea dishes showed up and she did not protest.

Oh, and I've finished my purple socks. Photos to come a.s.a.p.

Self Portrait Challenge -- Self-Portrait As My Mother

Okay, so it's a bit of a cop-out to use Ruby for SPC, but I really don't have the creative energy to play dress-up this month. So here is a portrait of Ruby dressed up as me. Get it? The little princess has become obsessed with prancing around in my shoes. I have to hide all shoes from her (hers, mine and Aaron's) otherwise she cries and whines until I put them on her feet. I'm constantly afraid that she'll do a head-dive into a sharp corner as she stomps around in my mary-janes, but I can't deny her the pleasure of dress-up. Note that she's also got one of my old purses, which she long ago claimed as her own. She likes to carry around an old set of keys.



And, here's a gratuitous shot of the growing girl's face, along with Mommy. I can't believe how fast her little brain is growing or how true all of those clichees about how quick they change are. Sigh.

p.s. Both photos are blurry because this kid never (NEVER!) sits still. Never.