october

Phew; it’s been a little while since I’ve posted! (*blush*) I haven’t even truthfully been that busy or anything, so what the heck?

As you’ve probably noticed, it is October already (!!) … and I am actually enjoying the cooler weather for the most part. Usually I find fall a bit depressing, at least when it rains tons and the leaves all turn brownish. Just not really my thing. However– I love love love wearing rain boots, so… it kind of evens out. Mine are blue, with birds on them. But I sort of fell for these:

… as well as numerous ones I saw in the Cath Kidston catalogue (which miraculously got delivered to me, even though I don’t live in the UK! Woo!)

And then there’s jackets– I do love jackets. So I’ve also recently become obsessed with the idea of a yellow coat. Maybe it was this-

And I definitely spent some time examining one in the Sears Wish Catalogue last night. Not sure if it has something to do with the fact that I highlighted my hair, but I’m loving yellow for fall.

I’ve been regularly feeding my British magazine obsession, mostly with Country Living UK (where the above two photos were from), but also House Beautiful UK, and Coast.

We’re a bit behind on UK issues in Canada, but I managed to score the October House Beautiful the other day in the Coles in our teeny mall!

Also I’ve been working on a new crochet project– another (yes!) Ripple Blanket!

I realize I only just completed the previous ripple, but my hands were aching for the soothing repetition of rippling, and I found myself wanting a nice woolly fall project that I didn’t have to think too much about. This time I’m trying out Lucy’s Neat Ripple pattern, and I like how the ripples are a bit softer than in my last blanket. The grey yarns are from my stash; I was meaning to make a boy sweater with it, because of the amount I had, but I couldn’t face sweater knitting just now, and I decided to use the yarn up on something I’d enjoy. It’s subtle, but I do like it.

I have a new favourite tv show- well, it hasn’t taken the place of 30 Rock (which premieres tonight! Yaaaay!!), but it’s come close. It’s The Office (US version). But no spoilers please! I’m only on Season 4 (they’re  currently airing Season 6), because I borrowed the dvds and am watching every episode in order so I don’t get spoiled by watching the new episodes. Hello? Awesome show. Just amazingly funny. I love it.

I have my heart set on a “The Office wall calendar” that we’ve seen at the mall bookstore. I saw the (unrelated) movie Office Space months ago, and it has a gift set you can buy that comes with an actual replica of the red Swingline stapler from the movie. I also want that, haha. Imagine using it at work.

bonus day off

So, I have the day off tomorrow (don’t ask). Yes, it is a Thursday, and no, it’s not an official holiday. This comes right before the real Long Weekend, which I randomly *do* get off– all glorious three days of it– so it’s rather nice, although unexpected.

If only the weather would be as nice as on the day I took these pictures (about a week ago, in a brief respite from all this rain!), I might consider ambling about for a nice walk.

There’s certainly no shortage of lovely scenery around, although I am heavily leaning towards spending the entire day wearing pyjamas* and snuggling with the kitten. (*I will not, however, leave the house wearing said pyjamas, something I have unfortunately seen much too much of lately. And not just at Shoppers Drug Mart either, when it might possibly be excusable to run out in pj pants on your way to get cough syrup or something. Ack– pet peeve alert.)

Who knows? I suppose the weather will partly dictate my plans.

To anyone else enjoying an unexpectedly long Long Weekend, have fun! And sniff lots of flowers.

PS- I will soon take more photos of our balcony garden… the herbs have absolutely taken off (we had to cut back the chives!) and the colourful flowers look wonderful.

ripply update

So, the ripple blanket progresses:

Currently, I have about one and two-thirds of a skein of yarn left to knit with, and the blanket almost stetches across the end of the bed. It’s likely destined to become a cozy foot-warming sort of throw, for times when  it’s too hot for a duvet but too chilly for just the bedsheets. Since it’s cotton, it should be a nice summer-weight blanket, and I may even use it for snuggling on the couch in the evening. It’s made entirely with various colours of  Bernat worsted-weight Handicrafter Cotton, and a 4.0mm* hook.

I may progress a bit more tonight; it’s awfully thunderstorm-y and I have laundry to look forward to, so some crochet time might be in order, I think!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-

*As I mentioned,  I started this blanket ages ago– January, to be precise. About a month ago when I picked it up again, I couldn’t remember what hook I’d been using, so I grabbed the nearest one- a 4.5mm, and rippled away. It was only after using up the rest of that skein of cotton and more that I realized the stitches looked a teeny bit looser than those at the beginning of the blanket. It then occurred to me that I should be using a 4.0mm hook, which I intend to finish off the blanket with.

PS- I finished that last sentence with a preposition on purpose. Sometimes “with which I intend to finish” just gives off the wrong tone. Ah, grammatical rules.

rain-o-matic

So yeah, remember how it’s September? Well so far, all that’s meant is rain. And more rain. And… etc etc. Plus last night this huge tree a block away from us got blown over by the wind, cracked right down the middle of its trunk, and fell right into the road. Luckily when I left the house at 6:45 this morning (!!!) they’d moved it of the road and barricaded it in. There’ll be no sneaky esacping now, fallen tree!

Why was I leaving the house at 6-freaking-45 this morning, you ask? Oh, it’s just for work. Although the thing is, I complain like the dickens about waking up early, stomp around the house mumbling about coffee, and then like two hours later when I get home (short shift!) I’m all like: Hey! It’s only 9 o clock! This is great- I have the whole day ahead of me, what shall I do with it?

I think one of life’s greatest conundrums is whether it’s better to sleep in until noon (because hello? The sleeping?) and “waste” part of the day, or wake up super-early (let’s face it, anything before 9:30 a.m. is not natural), be grumpy, and then get a longer day. I dunno. Leave it to the philosphers.

In other news, I finished a scarf:

It’s Danica, from a past issue of Knitty, but I found it on Ravelry. I totally hijacked the use of Soy Wool Stripes for it, after seeing countless gorgeous versions online done in precisely that yarn. Plus it only cost $4 a ball, so at 4 balls, this scarf only cost $16. Woo! Anyways, people have complained about this yarn (which is 70% wool, 30% soy– who knew, go go gadget soy!) being “scratchy” and yeah, it may cause an itch on the neck or two, but it’s freaking gorgeous. So, much like a cute pair of heels that sort-of-okay-actually-more-than-sort-of hurt when you walk in them for more than 5 minutes, I’ll wear this baby through the pain mild scratching sensation.

(It’s not that bad, people!)

Oh, so anyways I was going to mention that the technique, entrelac, is soooo much fun! Seriously, I havent tried it before because I was intimidated by its criss-crossy interwovenness. But hi– it’s just stockinette stitch done from differnent angles, 10 stitches at a time. And okay, there’s a purl-two-together or two thrown in, but nothing *that* bad, I promise!

I can’t wait to wear it– bring on the cooler weather (yes I actually did just say that. I’m just yearning for a nice pair-of-pants, long-sleeved sweater, jacket + scarf day!)

PS: I got owl earrings!!!