Life's a Stitch

"Did I really knit you?" I asked Marina. Was I really capable of something so complicated? Where did my brain go? Was my vision good enough to digest that chart? Was it just five years ago? Scary. I've been working on this so long it's looking worn as a well loved teddy bear.

It took half a day to find the pattern, the yarn and to pick up the rest of the sleeve stitches. I'm ready to go, but haven't had a solid block of time to muster up the required concentration. My knitting devil sits on one shoulder tempting me to turn Marina into a vest. But the angel always wins. So far.

Today is Canada Day, the Canadian reasoning for a July day off, and off I'm taking. In fact, due to its proximity to the weekend, I took an extra day for a total of four days off in a row. As timing would have it, C has to work the same four days. Still looking forward to it.

My goal for Day #1? No must do's, nothing, nada. No laundry, no paperwork nor fulfilling obligations of any sort. A true day off.

My objectives in achieving that goal?

a. Invite an old friend to visit. Remember Marina?

As happens sometimes in life, I found that time, the wisdom of age and acceptance of differences has erased our major sticking points. I'm ready to pick up where we left off and that involved finishing a premature cutting of the steek to determine there was still a good fit: 

Only obstacle – I have to find the patten with my notes. Never seem find the two in the same room.

b. Spend a bit more time researching GPS's for my other pastime- geocaching. This is a complicated but enjoyable task given our Canadian location and standard maps available on American products.

c. Stay in my jammies all day.

So far, so good. Now I'm off on a pattern hunt.

Who says dogs don't smile?

Really, take a closer look. Click on that picture and tell me she's not smiling.

That's Gracee's new favourite game – Bocce Ball. We play by Gracee's rules, wherever she moves the ball, that's where we leave it for scoring. She's part of the family after all.

Father's Day, plus the lowest lobster prices I've ever seen, equals:

Can you believe that's my boy from this post just five years ago?

Instead of butter we made Thai lime dipping sauce:

Stir together the juice of 2 limes, 5 teaspoons of Thai fish sauce, 2 cloves of garlic, chopped fresh chili peppers to taste – the more the merrier (!). You know how you feel icky after eating melted butter? You don't feel that way with the lime sauce.

More spoils from Vancouver's Dressew's regular price of $1.99 a skein:

 

Blog followers, seriously, if you are in need of major stash enhancement, it might be worth the trip from afar. They have lots of Rowan, Regia, Nashua Handknits… Consider that an invitation.

What do these have in common?

A couple of ducks in sheep's clothing.

Another sheep, this time in wood.

Sterling silver and genuine amber. I like.

These are the spoils of nearby Geocache hunts, where you use a GPS to find hidden treasure. Don't now why it appeals to me so. Is it a genetic influence from the Corsican pirates of my Puerto Rican background?

I'm fortunate to have a BIL who indulges me by accompanying me on hours of these hunts, some in wickedly wild terrain. Unfortunately for him, though, he had more time this visit as C had weekend work and his wife, my poor SIL had to lay low, recovering from a terrible fall she had while she and I were on a knitting adventure. So off we went to the local wilds of North Vancouver:

The first clue was "This is the start of the trail, turn left and go up up up." Honestly, that was the trail behind me – the one with the fallen trees.  "Was" is the operative word here, the trail starting with a warning sign about unmaintained areas. I put on my brave hat and up, up, up I went, sometimes on all fours, crabbing my way hundreds of feet above a raging creek on a slippery slope, to peals of BIL laughter. We made it to the very top.

It was crazy. It was fun. It was unproductive in the geocaching sense. We didn't find the prize. My excuse? The car GPS makes a poor geocaching GPS. I should have learned from past experience (right, sister Jane?). That's my story… 

But wait, still enthusiastic from other decent hauls, and borrowing a quote from the Parent Trap, I had a scathingly brilliant idea. What if I buried a knitting themed cache, in my own front yard, and watched for like-minded geocachers? Turns out it won't be the first, I found six knitting based North American geocaches, but none near me. That's my goal, as soon as I borrow a more reliable GPS, I'm putting one together, with a special prize for the FTF (that's geo speak for first time find). Any takers? Log onto Geocaching.com soon and search for the Life's a Stitch cache.

 

Here it is, the Pavlova recipe that goes along with my previous post:

We have a local bakery that specializes in Pavlova, our favourite celebration wheat free “cake.” It is an expensive, but special treat. Although not quite as pretty as theirs, we were pleasantly surprised that this recipe resulted in an as good, if not better pavlova.

Ingredients:

 6 egg whites (without one smidge of yolk!)

1¼ C sugar

3t cornstarch

1t white vinegar

1t vanilla

Whipped cream (made from 1-2 C of cream)

Fruit for top – bananas, berries, kiwi

Preheat oven to 290 degrees F (a fully preheated oven will assure that there is no moisture present). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Draw a 10-11” circle on parchment.

Place egg whites in a large, dry mixing bowl. Beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar beating thoroughly after each addition. Continue to beat for 4-10 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Fold in cornstarch, vanilla and vinegar.

Spread mixture onto circle marked on parchment. Shape evenly, running along edges and top with a flat bladed knife to achieve a smooth look. Run knife vertically up the edges all around (see photo). This is not only decorative but gives the Pavlova structure.

Bake 40 minutes until pale and crisp. Turn off oven and cool with oven door ajar. Top with whipped cream and fruit (recommendation – assemble and refrigerate just prior to meal at which it will be served).

Rowan Kidsilk Haze, Malabrigo Lace, Pavlova. I'm mixing knitting with food, two of my favourite things. No shame in that.  Do you know Pavlova? The Aussie dessert named in honour of ballerina, Anna Pavlova, light as a feather. It looks like a giant meringue, however it's soft on the inside, not crunchy all the way through. Not too bad for you unless you count the sugar and whipped cream 😉

Lucky us, one of our recent guests, Cassie, a genuine Aussie, made one for dessert:

 

Don't have time to post it now, the recipe will follow. Thank you, Cassie, and to your mom, too, for passing on her baking skills.

In my dating years I used to say you could tell a lot by a guy by the books he kept at eye level on his bookshelf. What does a ring tone tell you about a person? We went around a table the other night, filled mostly with younger folk, each announcing their ring tone: theme from Halloween, old fashioned telephone ring, one that went "wah wah wah wah wha," and one who leaves hers on vibrate (got some snickers from the guys, go figure).

The discussion shifted to annoying ring tones: Fur Elise (oh that repetition), Who Let the Dogs Out, and a woman who recorded her young child screeching "Mom, get your phone, you phone is ringing, nowwww" (nails on a chalkboard).

My ring tone history: a chicken sound (affectionately called my bucking phone), New York New York (my birthplace), calming chimes (early menopause) and now a cheerful ditty called "Happy." I guess that's a good thing.

We're starting visitor season here in Vancouver. Funny thing, when we lived in Omaha hardly anyone came to visit No complaints, we love company hence the affectionate name for our house: L'Hotel B. SIL Ellen arrived yesterday with a gift. Knowing my predilection toward complicated knitting she gave me something she said I'd never knit for myself, and she's right. Three pretty dishclothes in my current favourite colour:

The closer to the equator the larger the creatures.

A hitchhiker from our recent Panama trip:

I remember, as a kid, returning home from Puerto Rico with fabric luggage covered in ticks. I discovered it when I woke up in the middle of the night, a crawling sensation on my neck, my suitcase next to the bed. Gives me the creeps even now. 

Used to be, flying there, just prior to landing, they would spray the inside of the plane's cabin with insecticide. The  flight staff dubbed this flight from NY to San Juan "the Roach Coach." Seems to me it might have been more necessary for returning flights, not that we needed further carcinogenic exposure in a confined space. Those were also the days when inflight smoking was permitted.

These are the real deal, in the wild, shot from an overpass, meters from our parked vehicle:

  
 

This was a beautiful, but very poor country, with an ironically modern highway system.

A local enjoying the oppressively hot sunshine. If it were humanly possible to melt, I wouldn't be here to tell this tale. Does being cold blooded help?

Back home in the cool Northwest, I can think about knitting again. Another Dressew purchase, 10 skeins of $1.99 bulky weight self striping yarn, in an aptly named colourway – Tropical Sea, in need of a pattern.

 

Scanning the blogs, there's some sentiment that there's not much knitting happening. Time to refocus. Easy enough, I had a dental appointment requiring some prophylactic stress treatment.

It's not that I don't like my dentist, we have a 25 year relationship and he's an admired professional. Believe it or not I used to look forward to my dental visits, a chance to kick back in a semi quiet atmosphere away from my reality of social service work and my family of three little ones. Although pleased with the ease of their work, his staff agreed I was one sick puppy. 

Kids grown up, work devolved from hair raising direct service to the role of full time in-office professional money begger, the dental visit doesn't have the pull for me that it used to. Now, while lying back in the chair, between a mouthful of conflicting tickle and prick sensations, my eyes are closed and I'm thinking of knitting. It's the project above, another Free and Easy Pie Wedge Shawl. In laceweight, they can be scrunched into lightweight  scarves. This one is made of hand painted semi solid Zephyr. It's difficult to find hand painted semi solid laceweights, especially in tones of brown, so if you're interested, check out Beyond Basic Knits.

It's back to the dentist this afternoon. I think I'll knit a few more rows.

Additions to my quirky sign collection:

 

How do you like your lite men? Rare? Well done? This is the place for you if you like yours with potatoes.

 

I know, it's in French, but it struck me funny that you could get pain in the spa buffet, but not in the general dining area. There is was just plain bread. No pain some gain. 

Be careful of the traditional treats of Costa Rica:

Vegetarians, cover your eyes. 

It's a ling pig:

Admittedly gross, but delicious (thank goodness for IPhoto's retouch tool). Brought back a memory of being eleven, and my parents hosting a New Year's Day party featuring a roast pig. As the guests entered the house and passed the dining room, my father introduced the guests to the cooked pig, saying "You remember our dog, Whiskey." No wonder I'm the way I am. 

This sign tells me "Don't get into trouble in Panama:"

 

Finally, some good advice for all of us. Whenever possible, live your trace on the sand. But remember your sunscreen:

 

My favourite picture of that day. No sign necessary – Mr. B, obviously a tourist.

Thanks for putting up with the departure from knitting, it's been a slow go with recent hand problems. Pictures soon.