Life's a Stitch

Is there any activity that takes you right back to the happy feelings of childhood? Rolling down grassy hills? Curling up on a rainy day, in a warm corner with your favourite book? Not all are relivable in a practical sense. A couple of years ago I gave into the extreme urge to do a cartwheel and my wrist still groans from time-to-time reminding me to give those urges a second thought.

"Watch this girl, she really knows how to fly." I heard a man tell this to his adult son, in reference to me, two weeks ago. Way in the thick of my adult life I felt like a happy nine year old, perched high up on the water slide platform, ready to practice my technique, perfected by 32 previous tries in the preceding two days. And no part of my body ached in rebellion! So off I went, flat on my back, hands supporting my bad neck, elbows and chin tucked, toes together pointed forward,seven seconds of bliss. It was, as we say in our family, "a good cherry to end on." You never want the last cherry you've eaten from the bowl to be a rotten one. That try on the slide, the 33rd, was good enough to keep me going until the next time. Life is good.

Is it just me? Does anyone else have these moments?

REMINDER: the blog contest is still open, each comment is an entry 🙂

What's a blog without readers? Let's start with this:

1. Pretty in Peach

Originally designed for variegated yarns, doesn't it look good in a solid? Thanks to Criquette for sending her FO photo of my Herringbone Rib scarf pattern:

2. A contest

Four years and almost 5000 comments later – a thank you contest or a bribe to keep you coming back, whichever way you want to look at it. I'm offering a 250 meter skein of Canada's famous Fleece Artist Hand Painted Peter Rabbit Angora, in the Cornflower colourway. When I hit comment #5000, which should be happening in the next few weeks, I'll be giving away the yarn plus my always free-for-the-asking Herringbone Rib pattern. So, tell me something, anything. You could even tell me to get lost, but as a valued reader you'd still be in the running for some ultra soft yummy yarn:

Sixteen days crossing the Atlantic allows for some serious people and sky watching. Even though it was a bargain, starting at as little as $51 per person per day for the all inclusive cruise with taxes, not many can take that much time away from work, resulting in an average passenger age of over 60.The ship's kitchen ran out of prunes and oatmeal. Other observations:

• It was evident that some were there primarily for the food. These are the same people who love buffet restaurants, only here the food was available in one form or another 24 hours a day.
• There were a fair amount of anniversary and honeymoon (many second timers) couples. Word of warning: just because the balconies have solid dividers, it is possible to see clearly what is going on on the balcony next door from the reflection in the glass barrier. There is no missing it. Sound carries, too.
• A Canadian observation: there were many retired US military people of the Republican persuasion on board, hence the lack of enthusiasm for the Obama win. Just an observation.
• Since the inception of the Idol competitions on TV, Karaoke is no longer a fun place to get up and make a fool of yourself with your friends. It is a competitive activity, the same people every night having had much at home practice or those who take themselves very seriously but are in need of more practice. To heck with that, we got up anyway.      

• I do love cruising, the value and the opportunity to visit many countries while having to unpack only once,  but the amount of lining up promotes a herd mentality. One older woman physically pushed me out of an elevator. "Excuse me" would have worked just as well.
• Carnival Cruise Lines, now under new ownership, is doing a good job of changing its focus from the rowdy spring break drunken crowd to a more civilized atmosphere.
• A bonus – crossing the Atlantic in a westward manner allowed for five nights of an extra hour of sleep. It was the "Groundhog Day" of the end of daylight saving time,
• Adult content: On a van tour of St. Maarten, we were taken past a beach. We parked for a few minutes near the sign of demarcation, one side being the "bikini" beach and the other the clothing optional beach. Upon our arrival, a Dutch couple from our van found a rock from which to observe both sides, she the naked side and he, the bikini beach. Interesting.

Here are my conclusions about the experience. Although unlikely to partake in the activity myself, I understand the naturalist persuasion and the desire to bask in warmth of the sun in one's birthday suit. However, what is the deal with strutting your stuff up and down the beach? Granted we were only there for twenty minutes or so, but the only clothing optional people we saw, with the exception of one exhibitionist man who appeared to be crossed with a horse, were huge pot bellied men with little dangly bits. One old guy, with his Brazilian hairstyle, so to speak, standing near the van, invited people to pass him, positioned in a way that there was no way to avoid a glimpse of his goods. Ikkk.

• My sky at home is very small given the mountains in the way.I appreciated the opportunity to experience the activities of a big sky, the sunsets, rainbows and shooting stars.

Thank you for the comments while I was away and the pattern requests, which I will be sending shortly, when I recover from:

Worst souvenir: a combination sinus, ear and chest infection. I have a new sympathy for babies having difficult times in flight. I thought my head might explode.

Most cheeky moment: telling a man that he was mean for not letting his wife take her knitting on a 16 day trip.

Most productive knitting:

Variations on a theme, care for a pumpkin? One was for our dining room assistant server's expected baby.

The most stupid human trick that only Li could accomplish: spraying red wine over a white duvet before the bottle was even opened. While using a terrible corkscrew, I managed to push the cork into the bottle resulting in a fine mist of red stains. Yes, yes, yes, that was in addition to the wine spill in Rome.

What I missed most (other than the conspicuously absent Chuck): a reliable Internet connection. The satellite connection could take up to twelve minutes to send an e-mail. Still it was wonderful to have the opportunity to stay in touch with the home front.

Port where we found the most yarn shops: Madeira – three within blocks of each other.

Oink moment: the favourite nightly dessert was a seemingly innocuous chocolate melting cake. Really, how many calories can pudding cake with a teensy scoopette of ice cream have? One of our group members ordered this 15 out of 16 nights. On the last evening he was presented with the recipe. There was a collective gasp when we discovered seven servings contained a pound of butter, 10 eggs and a pound of chocolate. Low in sugar though.

Surprising aspect: how peaceful and relaxing five days bobbing along the Atlantic can be.

Most fun, though probably not a pretty sight: me and my middle age friends on the onboard water slide. That one deserves a post of its own, but for now I'm off to make a big pot of turkey soup.

We’re right in the middle of five days at sea.  Yesterday made the seasickness and rough seas seem worth it. It was warm and calm. The sunset was spectacular. Sitting with my knitting, facing the ocean, nothing but sea and sky. Nothing. No birds, no other ships, no land and then suddenly, flying fish. So cool.

 And again, if you are looking for my pattern, leave a comment and I will e-mail it to you after the 14th.

…falls everywhere. It´s not dampening our spirits, though. I have no pictures as I´ve been using a satellite connection and it is slow and expensive. 

For five days we´ve consistently sailed in 100kph winds making the ship feel more like a train in movement. Thank God for Gravol (Dramamine).

Tissues out for this one. In the someone always has it worse department – BIL Greg met a woman on the trip who had reserved it with her daughter two years ago. Her daughter died of cancer in the meantime and she is now on the trip alone, strewing her daughter´s ashes along the way. Makes my travelling solo seem insignificant.

Chuck update – he is glad to be at home as his recovery is moving slowly. A crease in his retina is causing double vision which will eventually go away. He has 30% of his vision back, but has an 80% chance of his other retina detaching. Learn the symptoms and get help quickly – an increase in eye floaties, flashing lights and a blackness taking over your vision from the outside in.

Thanks, everyone for your good wishes, I´ll try to write more when I get to another reliable internet connection.

PS visited two yarn shops so far 🙂

If you are seeking my pattern, please leave a comment and I´ll send it to you when I get home in two weeks. Thank you!

1. Don't take a picture of a Swiss Guardsman until you exit St. Peter's Basilica. Even if you are five feet from the exit.
2. Learn enough Italian to be able to purchase cheese in expected quantities that cost less than 17 Euros.
3. When you stand on the Metro, noses land uncomfortably close to armpits. I guess that's better than the alternative of sitting.
4. The Vatican Museum is an overwhelming combination of humanity and art.
5. The yarn store is closed on weekends.
6. A litre of house wine at Guido's costs 4 Euro and is served in a whiskey bottle. A bottle of Montepulciano at the grocery store costs E2.49.
7. No matter how bad a Catholic one considers oneself to be, seeing the Pope in person is still a moving experience.
8. What do you do when you spill red Italian wine on your yarn? You immediately try to suck it out 🙂

An emotional roller coaster ride has come to an end. As of tomorrow I'm off to Rome without Chuck, who is still laid up recovering from his detached retina surgery. It was a difficult decision because honestly, and it takes a fair dose of honesty to remain happily married, I know if the trip had been as planned, and the tables were turned, there is no way I would be encouraging him to continue without me.

My reasoning?
What was originally five couples has turned into three couples and three women. Our good friend's partner had to cancel due to a death in the family and she will be accompanied by a work friend.
C is fine to be left alone. In fact he'll be retuning to work in another ten days. He realizes that even if he could go, it wouldn't be enjoyable as his impaired vision makes him feel quite motion sick.The kick in the butt is that he'll be covering for a coworker who will be on the trip. Poor guy.

What have I learned?

• Pizza is my comfort food. I'm going to the right destination.
• There will always be someone on the outside who doesn't understand.
• I'm good at fretting.
• I'm good at guilt.
• Blogland is a very supportive place.
• Knitting helps me cope.

I managed to whip this up this weekend. A baby gift for my physical therapist:

My three week trip knitting is planned – a couple of baby hats, a scarf and the beginning of a gift for a regular reader. Blogless Marsha and my knitting SIL are coming along. Who knows, maybe we can arrange an onboard Ravelry group. I hope to have enough internet access to post now and then.

Arrivederci!

From this:

To this, in one week flat:

A Round Ripple Afghan with an added picot edge:

It seems I missed the call of a lifetime today. Arriving home after work I checked out the call display: Out of area (no number listed), Scotiabank (my friend, Lynn), N Shore Comm Res (that was me, calling from work – North Shore Community Resources,checking up on Mr. Sideways), and Responsive Mark. Hmmm, don't recognize that one. Let's let the imagination run wild.

Who could he be, this Mr. Responsive Mark? Calgon's replacement, waiting in my bathtub, wanting to take me away? A knight in shining armor, whisking me away on his steed, relieving the stresses of my week – the suffering husband who cannot exert himself enough to blow his nose or lift five pounds for fear of detaching the newly repaired retina. The decision to cancel or not, my half of the longed for trip – five nights in romantic Rome and 16 nights at sea with eight close friends. The work week from hell – the Annual General Meeting plus three HUGE grant related deadlines and two newspaper articles due.

I know I know, there is no such thing as Responsive Mark. It was really Responsive Marketing, calling to ask my opinion about canned chicken soup.

Now I bet you're wondering about the Whiny Butt. Besides me, that is, whining about my woes. This is my third haul of winnings in a recent blog contest. It came from Quiddity's Jane's annual sock knitting contest. I won by default, being the only entrant in the non sock knitting category. Her prize featured Numma Numma Toasty Treat yarn in the colourway "Whiny Butt." Here is Jane's priceless explanation of how it achieved that moniker:

"The woman who dyes Numma Numma lives across the street from me.  She has three
girls – 7, 5, and 3.  She dyed some yarn and named it "No Wikey Green Beans,"
after something her 3-year old said.  The kid walked around the house, gloating
about mom naming yarn for her, and the 7-year old couldn't stand it.  She kept
begging mom to name some for her.  Dad said, "too bad we can't name it Whiny
Butt."  But it appears they can.  LOL" 

Thank you Jane!