Saturday, July 9, 2011

Sylvi Socks #8

Here's my 8th of 11 pairs of socks to knit for my Sylvi Sisters. Woohoo. Only 3 more to go ;)

Friday, July 1, 2011

How many times is it ok to be 27? Really?

Ok, let's just say that I was born in 1967 - for example. That would technically make me 44 today. But seeing that I'm creative and not technically inclined, is it ok for me to celebrate my 27th  birthday today - for the 18th time? Is it wrong? Na! Weird? Na, women all over the world do it, so it's not weird. So, it must be ok.

To quote a much loved and wise man, my dad "never act your age, cause people expect too much". Them's words to live by for all time.  So, thanks Ralph Levitt Grew (1933-1999) for the worlds best advise ever!

Today's cool location: Hawker - Now that's a place you wanna call home ;)

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Vacation - 10 Minutes in Advance

Well, I'm off this week for a 10 minutes at a time vacation. Huh?  As a modern woman in these busy days, it's hard to sit and be still AND be okay with it. Have you ever had those weeks at work & life where everything is incredibly stressful, with everyone & everything pulling at you in a 1000 different ways? Well I've found the cure is a 10 Minutes in Advance Vacation. All this week, I'm sleeping when I want. Eating when I want. Knitting when I want. But must of all, I'm not planning anything more than a 10 minutes in advance. Wow, does it ever take the stress out of the day.  If you are only living for the next 10 minutes & tell people that, it's hard to have them & things pulling at you!

Today's Location - Warsaw, Poland.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Mad Sock Knitting

Ravelry - a knit and crochet community

Well, I have 2 full pair and 1 sock each of two other pairs for our Sylvi group. I'm going to knit a pair for each member of our KAL that finishes her Sylvi, plus one pair for our Photographer. It sounds like alot of work (there's 11 of us doing the KAL) but it's so much fun to see how excited the girls are getting. Angie is going to take a photo of us all in our Sylvis and wearing our socks ;)
Now, I have to get my needles together and finish my Sylvi too!!

This evening I spent the evening with Trish at her shop with Cameron. We knit and chatted until Frank was done is Union meeting. Alishia-Marie was out for supper with a friend, so Cameron and I hung out and cuddled. We were playing on the computer and somehow he managed to scrabble the letters on the keyboard. He's soooo cute!!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

My wee little rant.

For those that know me, they know that once I get my knickers in a knot I'm a fireball looking for a target. Well, I tied my knickers up all by myself right good and the fireball target is ME.  I'm gonna share with you my learning experience.
I felt like the ignorant redneck from the back woods of some place really back wood-sy. You know what I mean. During supper today, I was sitting beside two Aboriginal Women and I realized that I know absolutely nothing about their history, their culture or the discrimination they've experienced. Not only didn't I know anything, but I'm so backwood-dumb-ass-redneck that I didn't even know how to ask the questions to start the conversation and to learn from these two ladies. I'm sure they thought I was putting them on when I asked them to explain something to me. It was like when someone outside Canada asks us if we live in Igloos because they don't even know we are a fully developed country.  Yip, that's me. The ignorant goober.  I didn't want to offend her by referring to them incorrectly, so I asked if the correct wording was Aboriginal or Natives. She was explaining that it's different by region. I mentioned we have MicMac in New Brunswick and I got lost from there. I was trying to understand how the different Nations are organized. So I asked if Mi'kmaq was like being Irish or.... Not a good question. Actually, it was a pretty bad question and a pretty stupid question and she let me know, I'm telling you. Not in a mean or hurtful way but in a way, let me try to relate it to something else we can easily understand - like when you say to your son of 7 years old, that he likes the girl next door and ask if he was going to marry her when he grows up.  He peers at you in utter disgust because she has coodies and that's just gross.  So, comparing an Aboriginal person to anything "white" is like asking your son if he's gonna marry the coody invested gross girl.  She doesn't see the world through the rose colored glasses I've always worn, oblivious to Indigenous people. The Lone Ranger & Tonto were NOT good depictions of the real world but are the only images I had.  Shame on me.  When she corrected me and rebuked my way of  relating anything Aboriginal in the European Colonialism of hierarchical measures, I felt the sting of being shame. I could almost hear her inner voice calling me a stupid white woman and I deserved it to be said out loud. First, I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about and I'm sure I haven't stated it here clearly, and second because I knew I'd stuck my big old foot right down my pie hole. In no was was she rude or abrasive but I was just plain dumb. How can I live in Canada and not now our Parliament and Supreme Court are built right over agent burial grounds? How could I not know that the Treaties signed between the THEIR land, our government made promises that had no expiry?
Thank you Grace & Tracy for giving me a wake up call that I promise the next time we meet, I will not be the dumb, redneck too clueless to converse with you. Thank you, ladies for this opportunity to grow as a person!!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Socks for Sylvi

There's a group of 11 of my knitting group tha are knitting the Sylvi coat out of Briggs & Little Atlantica. To keep it interesting, I have promised to knit socks for the first 3 girls done. One pair is done and I've started the second. As they all have such different sized feet, I wll knit to the toe decrease and then finish them once I know the winners.

Catching Up

Last night was our weekend Knit In and as I sat around and looked at all the faces I realized that I've been blessed with some wonderful women in my life.  We're housewives, mothers, professors, shop owners, policewomen, managers.  We're young and so young at heart. There is acceptance and sharing. No power struggles or judgments. We laugh at some of the funnies stories ever heard and cry as some truly sad events in each others lives. So, thank  you dear friends for welcoming me and making me feel welcome!!