I think I may need a crochet 12-step program soon. I received one of my two Noro crochet books today. All I want to do is go home and crochet! For the uninitiated, Noro Yarn is from Japan. It boasts interesting colour variegations that make unique finished patterns in the fabric. I recently discovered Noro’s silk garden, which is amazing to work with – it, is so soft and flexible. I predict that after November there will be much less blogging and a lot more crocheting!
Home
I am home. Back in the land of wet and green. I will write tomorrow about some of my observations. Right now I have a date with my chair, TV and crochet hook! Oh and dogs! Lots of dogs no doubt.
Dispatches from The Swamp – the ‘things I have crocheted’ edition
If we are friends on Facebook you already know how much I crochet. I thought I would share some of the items I have made recently here.
Realta Afghan – I made this for one of my staff who was having a baby. It is a blanket that can be used in the crib to a single bed. I am now making a queen size one for my best friend Joe and his partner Sheldon.
Baby Afghan from Granny Squares
Detail shot:
Scarf from Noro Yarn – to be donated to Bully Buddies next auction. I am in love with this pattern. It comes from a book that is full of crochet ‘stitches’ that are basically small patterns that repeat. You can make them as big or as small as you want as they are all based on multiples of a number of stitches.
Detail:
Another Noro Yarn Scarf:
Detail:
I will turn this into an infinity scarf. It is made from Diamond Luxury DK yarn:
Another Noro Yarn scarf worked the long way:
One more baby afghan that does not yet have a home:
Dispatches from The Swamp – the ‘I am on vacation’ edition
I have next week off. I can hardly believe it. I have been working full out since June and I have had no time off this year that did not involve my mother.[1] Deb also has most of next week off so we are looking forward to some serious together time and communing with the dogs. In no particular order, here are the things I plan to do next week:
- Crochet
- Let the dogs in and out about 15 times per day.[2]
- Cook. I want to make some soups for the freezer to take for lunches.
- Sleep
- Watch obscene amounts of TV whilst I crochet.
- Blog[3]
- Listen to music
- Play computer games
- Buy some new music
If I can help it, I intend to only leave the house to forage for supplies. I really could become a hermit if I didn’t have to leave the house to work. It sounds like a great week to me!
Evangelism at The Swamp
Over the years, I have been accused of militancy in many areas of my life. It started when my friend Joe told me I was a musical imperialist. This came about on a trip driving from Calgary to Vancouver. We did not have the same taste in music.[1] We decided that we would alternate playing a tape.[2] A problem arose when he would start a tape and asked me if I liked it and I would say no. He would try another one and I would still hate it. Then he gave up. I told him to just play his music and it would be fine but he said he couldn’t enjoy it if I hated it. Clearly this all worked out in my favour![3]
I can be a bit like a dog with a bone when I find something I really love. Of course I think this is a good thing. I like to spread the word so to speak. So here are 5 things I am a bit evangelical about:
- Raw Feeding– it took me a long time to come around to the idea of feeding our dogs raw meat on bones. I finally agreed to it when one of our Shih Tzus had to have a bladder stone removed at age 5. When I saw the stone it looked exactly like a piece of Iams kibble that she had been eating her entire life. I did a lot of research about what causes these stones to form and I learned that her system needed to be more acidic if we did not any more stones to form. Kibble fed dogs have a higher pH because of the carbs in their food. The only way to get a more acidic environment was to feed raw. Se we jumped in and we have never looked back. Our dogs are happier and healthier and our vet bills are much lower. I have written several posts about raw feeding if anyone is interested: here, here, here, and here.
- Nasal Rinsing – another friend of mine had been trying to convince me to use a neti pot for years to deal with my allergies. I was really suffering once we moved to Maple Ridge because of all the hay. My doctor referred me to an allergist who did some skin scrapings. Unfortunately, due to my ulcerative colitis I am on immune suppressant drugs and he couldn’t get a reaction. So he told me to rinse my nasal passages daily with a Neil Med bottle. I have not looked back. I do this faithfully every day. I also spread the word whenever someone is having allergy problems.
- Hopcott’s Meat – we have the best meat store relatively close to us. It is all hormone and antibiotic free and it tastes really good.
- Crocheting – I have become reacquainted with crocheting. I used to do a lot in my 20s and 30s but had stopped for some reason.[4] I find it much more relaxing than watching TV and being on the computer. I can almost get into a Zen-like phase as I create something. Here are some pictures of projects I have completed recently:
- Apple – my first computer was a Mac Plus. It had no hard drive and 2mb of RAM. Around 1995, I decided to get a PC as I was discovering I had a knack for computers. I even had my own mobile computer repair business for a little while.[5] I stuck with PCs until about 2009. I had noticed over the years that every PC I had became really slow no matter how much RAM or how fast the CPU was. It was infuriating. I did some research and apparently as Windows degrades the machine slows down.[6] The only answer was to format and re-install windows every year. I was not into doing that. The other answer was to get a Mac. I already had an iPod, iPhone and an iPad so I knew the quality of Apple’s products. So I made the leap back to Apple and I couldn’t be happier. Apple gets a lot of flack for its proprietary ways but really there stuff just works. I live happily in an Apple world.
So, for my 12 readers, what things are you evangelical about?
[1] He likes syrupy female singers and I think I was going through my male rocker/folk phase.
[2] Yes, that would be a cassette tape! I am that old.
[3] We had a passenger with us who threatened to get out and hitchhike if we didn’t stop arguing. My dog Tippy was with us too and she liked to dance on people’s legs in the car!
[4] I suspect the reason was dogs…
[5] I discovered that I really did not like going to people’s houses to fix their computers.
[6] Unfortunately, I cannot find the original article I was referred to.
Dispatches from the Swamp 