Sunday, April 28, 2013

Going to Paris in 5-4-3-2...

1 day before I'm off to Paris!
I have so much to do before I leave that I won't write much, except to say that:

  • Last weekend was spent in Montreal eating and partying with friends and at the airport picking up a famous epidemiologist. I spent the week driving her around the city, taking her to restaurants at night, explaining her how things worked in the department and research group, even having her here for our first BBQ of the year. It was awesome, she was so interesting, an intellectual like I like them, who can have a discussion about anything, because she can find something interesting in anything. I'm very happy I got to spend so much time with her, it was a very intense intellectual stimulation, even if it meant not to be home one single evening. 
  • I have 10 inches left on 1st woven baby blanket, hoping to start blanket #2 today. Now I have to learn how to crochet the edges. 
36 inches done, 4 more to go! 
I really like the pattern, I can't wait to see what it will look like when I wash it.
  •  I still didn't find the knitting I lost 2 weeks ago. That included a set of Denise interchangeable needles, yarn, and other stuff (I can't remember what else was in the bag). It is very frustrating, because it was almost, almost finished. 
  • My blouse is also starting to look more and more like a blouse. I'm really hoping to finish it before the end of the sewing semester (early June). 
Can't believe I know how to make collars! 

I will totally wear that, one day! I can picture it with my jeans skirt.

Still can believe I can make collars!!!:-) 
  • I went to a weaving class last weekend. The highlight of the day was to meet 2 new expats from Montreal in 3R. The other highlight was that I was feeling comfortable around all the looms. I think I'm slowly becoming a weaver. 
  • Other highlight of the past few weeks: I started to take the bus with a girl I met in the farmers' circle, and discovered that we have a lot of common interests. Well, that shouldn't come as a surprise, since we both belong to the same craft circle. But we also share the fact that we follow sewing and knitting patterns in English (oh, being able to talk to someone without having to check/translate every single word I say...), we both want to learn the complete way (no short cut that our fellow farmers like so much), we like to make our own clothes, and we like vintage sewing patterns. We discussed the possibility to have a sew-along this summer, because we both want to make Gertie's shirtwaist dress. I think that after having sewn 2 skirt and 1 blouse, I can tackle this project, especially with the help of someone with much more experience than me :-).  
  • My man decided to organize our housewarming party (a year after we got the house) on May 18. Those who know me and are not on Facebook, consider yourself invited. We will try to get the house ready on time...and have enough alcohol so you can't see what is not finished. 
  • Oh my, I'm leaving for Paris tomorrow, and I have nothing ready, except for my passport, plane ticket, a few euros from previous trips and list of stores to visit. I don't even have my aunt's address. I didn't even talked to her about the trip yet, her sister (who I am travelling with) organized everything. I hope she knows I'm coming. Those who know me know that this is not normal. However, I'm hoping that this will mean real vacations. I have a friend who went to Paris last week, and on his Facebook status, he mentioned that he had to wait several hours on a Tuesday morning to visit the catacombes. This is now the only thing that is on my list as NOT to visit. 
  • I have 24 hours to find my camera battery charger. It is probably somewhere with my knitting :-( 
  • Ok, there is one other thing that is almost organized for that trip, and it is what knitting I'll bring. I decided on Graylina, except in a red that will match my blouse. I just need to find needles to do the ribbing, since the ones I need are on the lost knitting. 
  • I might have forgotten to tell you that a few weeks ago, my man invited out to lunch, and asked me if I really, really wanted to go to Malaysia for my big 4-0 this year. He was not too warm to the idea, but had to give his vacations dates at work, so a decision had to be made. Final verdict: we are going to Malaysia for 4 weeks over the Christmas holidays! I can't wait, I am so excited. 
  • Meanwhile I also bought tickets to Santa Fe in August, where I will spend a week with my friend from Lilloet and a few of her friends. 
  • Life is good, very good. 
Talk to you soon about Paris! Have a good week!

Friday, April 12, 2013

In need of vacations

Well, first thing I want to say is that life is good again! After a very intensive week training the person who replaced me at the university chiropractic clinic, I'm now finally back in my quiet research jobs. It's still 2 jobs, and it is still not permanent, but at least, it's only 2 jobs with 1-year contracts, the longest I've had in a few years (including the last jobs I had in Montreal). It makes such a difference, although I still need to rest from the 4 last months' craziness. I don't seem to be able to get that at home. I just look around and get depressed about the house and everything I should be doing in it. But then I have no energy to do it. So I get more depressed.

The knitting, sewing and weaving also suffered from this lethargy.

For example, I knit those baby booties at the speed of the light, because I wanted a friend to bring them in Hungary at the end of March to give to a friend who is expecting. But something went very wrong..I did not notice anything before I almost gave them to him. The plan is now to knit a 2nd one for each of them. While in vacations.


I also started a little kimono for another friend who was expecting (she had a beautiful baby boy last weekend). It's an easy knit, which I keep fixing, because I seem to have forgotten how to read instructions. Or that there are instructions to be read. I don't have a picture here because I can't find the bag in which it is. Vacations, vacations...please come soon!

I missed about 3 sewing classes in the past month, between Washington and a meeting. So when I went back this week, I was wayyy behind everybody else, although one of the things I love about this course is that everybody can go at their own rhythm. The other excuse I have for being behind is that I had to do everything twice so far, mostly because we had to modify the pattern to fit me after the first try, but also because I can't seem to be able to sew straight anymore. I have to admit that I am a little bit happy that we had to modify the pattern, because I have been complaining my whole life that nothing fits on my unexistant shoulders, and this seemed to have proven my point.

Looks more like a pyjama than a blouse, I know
Did I show you my beautiful fabric, and the beautiful buttons I found to go with it?

I can't wait to wear it, and I feel I should knit something to go with it. I'm thinking about this or this. What do you think?

The good news of the week is that after about a month, I finished warping my loom, and started to weave a little bit.

It's a baby blanket for the baby that was born last weekend. I better hurry if I want him to get it before he enters kindergarten! It's a beautiful pattern, easy to follow, but I still need calm and quiet so I don't get confused between the treadling. Can you see the mistake I made already? The problem is that in our new house, the loom is facing the TV. So I got totally distracted when my man started watching it while I was weaving. I will try to weave with ear plugs, so see if it makes a difference, but it is something I already wrote down as having to change when we redo the basement.

a mistake, already :-( 
So, really, I need vacations. I can't keep working like this, one stitch/one mistake.

The only thing that can help is a little trip, and I am looking forward to Paris a lot! I think that the fact that it was not planned, nor even part of my bucket list makes it even more exciting. I mean, of course, I'm happy to go to Paris for a week, but it is not in my top destinations, so I have no expectation, and no plan, except for having a "café-crème", and a glass of good wine.

Well, of course, I started to make a list of interesting stores to visit. Most of the addresses I found here. I looked around, and most stores seem to still be open (the post is from 2009).

But there are still 17 days before I leave...Hopefully that means about 40 inches of baby blanket, but I suspect it will be 17 days of mistakes. Until then, I'm going to go play in the snow, because, yes, of course, we are getting 5 to 10 cm of snow today. It's a very wintery spring, this year. Meanwhile, in Paris, they are expecting 23 degrees this weekend. Imagine in 17 days!