And since we are all about born free

How about a free sock pattern? I know I have been promising this for a while* so here you go!!

Garter Toes!

Keep your eyes peeled for more freebies. All in celebration of knitfrontandback! I have a super cute hat pattern on the way. Now go buy something yummy!

*come on.. its free!

Born Free

Know what this is a sign of?

HOT DOG!

Pickles has taken to sitting directly in front of the heat vent. Who can blame him at -45 with the windchill? Poor thing has to pee outside you know. Max, he sleeps. And looks at me reproachfully when I make him go out.

Me? I plan on not leaving the house until its not stupid cold. I is SMRT!

ANNOUNCING!!!

The grand opening of:

knitfrontandback

Go forth and buy yarn, fibre and keep your eyes peeled for more fabulousness.

Bacon Bringer indeed!!!!!!

Clean lean and mean

Finally! The corner cover showed up and we have a complete new sectional. Mmm.. streamlined and comfy. Shiny and new! Even if it drove the wee dogs batshit crazy for a couple of days while we put together various elements, it was worth all the aggro. See, the cushions look good eh? I knew I bought that crazy fabric for something!

We have been taking this time to go through our crazy ass mess basement and have the diabetes people coming tomorrow to pick up a whack of stuff. Did you know I had the worst time ever finding someone to come and take our old couch and chair? I thought we were going to have to call the 310 DUMP guys to come and take it away! Finally, after huge amounts of phone calls, emails and asking everyone I knew, the Drop In Centre are coming to get it. You know, there is nothing wrong with it. In fact it is super comfy and in fantastic shape. I just could not get a single taker on this awesome set. I tried freecycle, Salvation Army, and even some random guy from Weeds on Saturday who overheard me complaining about this. None of them followed up or would come and get it. It is weird. But bless the Drop In Centre, they were more than happy to take it. HURRAH!

It feel good to clean out stuff we don't use and knowing it will go to someone who will. The accumulation of crap is pretty damn overwhelming. This is the kind of cleanse I like.*

I have been spinning and knitting and knitting and spinning. This weekend was a flurry of productivity and the results will be up for viewing very soon. Keep your eyes peeled.

Someone loves his clubhouse yes?

*The non hurty kind.

Aftershocks

So not only did I pay for that damned cleanse dysentery, I am STILL paying for it. Apparently my body refuses to believe that it can eliminate on its own without LAXAHERB. Damn you vile WILD ROSE CLEANSE. Me and my fibre pills will surely defeat you. Even if it takes another week. BASTARD..

Oh and please blogosphere, next time I say something as stupid as CLEANSE* tell me you won't wait until AFTER I announce my flounce to chime in with horrid tales of woe. I got more stories of badness both on and offline about that particular endeavour than anything. I understand schadenfreude but that was just cruel of ya'll to let me get that far..

In non-poop related news...

We got our sectional! Well.. most of it. We are still waiting for the corner cover. It looks spectacular except for the corner) and I even sewed pillows for it. I am sew not a seamstress. Nope no sir. But they look good sew isn't that all that matters?

I finished a pair of faux cable KNEESOCKS out of the Casbah sock yarn. Who knew 115g would go all the way up? Pics to come when I can get Chris to take some.

We have taken to calling Max Mesmer now. He seems to be able to control Pickles with his mind. Since Pickles is so much more um, vocal than Max, Max uses him to annoy us when he wants to go out. It is remarkable really. You ask Pickles is he wants to go out and Max is already waiting. They keel me...

*Unless I am referring to my house, car or dogs.

Day 5

Ok that's it. I can't take it anymore. I surrender. The 5 day monstrously huge headache and the ass blasting trips to the loo? I am DONE. NO MORE. I need my sugar. I need my milk. I am finito. Screw you Wild Rose Cleanse. You beat me.

I am so going to make a proper coffee. Right now.

Oh. My. God. Or as my Dad would say "Nectar of the Goddamned!" Coffee the way nature intended it. Full of milk and Splenda* is a thing of beauty.

So as not to make this a full on failure, there are some things I learned from the Wild Rose Cleanse.

-I like MILK.
-Laxative herbs (LAXAHERB!) makes your colon go BOOM.
-Brown rice is pretty darn good.
-Anything that depletes your energy, gives you a 5 day headache and makes you poo.. is usually a flu or food poisoning. Why I paid to feel like this? I DON'T KNOW.
-My usual diet is pretty darn good too.


I don't reckon this is for me, but you hardier souls (Dana!) keep on keepin' on. Me? I'm getting a cheese pizza for dinner and calling it even.





*Irony yes?

Day 4

Cinnamon is a wonder spice. Did you know that? Enough of it in your watery almond milk and you can make it taste *almost* good. I realised I had not read my foods list too closely when I discovered oranges are on the VERBOTEN list. Oops. Good thing I only ate 3. ooh and they are super good oranges too. Called Cara Cara from Planet Organic. They have a dark pink coloured pulp and are sweet beyond belief. I will save the last one for the end. Also, I can eat BUTTER*! So I had a giant bowl of air popped (at first I wrote pooped hahaha) popcorn with REAL BUTTER. OMG. Guess what food jag I am on now?

Down a total of 3.5 lbs, but its not really about the weight is it? Is it? Nah, I wanna see if the fuss is all that and a bag of chips. mmm.. chips. I felt pretty good yesterday, but did have a wicked headache that even a whole whack of h2o couldn't fix so caved and took some Tylenol. MUCH BETTER.

I got a package from my pusher fibre source The Sweet Sheep, and as usual she tossed in a few Hershey's Kisses. It about did my head in not to gobble those bastards down, but I abstained. See? That virtue thing! I got some Funky Carolina Roving in the Sweet Sheep exclusive colourway called Michelle that I spent my afternoon spinning up (while watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre; The Beginning. Grosstacular!) into a nice balanced double ply. So gorgeous! I'll show you some pictures when I figure where my camera battery charger is.

Oh and the other thing I wanted to share with all 2 of my loyal readers is my new favourite show. How to Look Good Naked. Its on the W network (originally from Britain, Channel 4) and I have never seen anything like it. It is hands down the most body positive show out there. Gok Wan is my hero. His reinforcements about how was should all love our bodies are inspiring to say the least. Go watch this, but be warned, lots of nudity. All female, all real, all good.










*So this is proof there may be a higher power. Thanks Voodoo Man!

Day 3

Oh cupcakes! I am surprised that the thing I am missing most is SWEETNESS. I never really thought of myself as too much of a sweet tooth* but damned if I am not missing a sugary fix about now. Day 2 went ok, I was feeling some fatigue in the afternoon and the trips to the loo are still ridiculous. I also had some nausea last night. I have rediscovered water with lemon as a drink and have tried some new herbal teas too**. Also can I take a moment to say HOLA CHILE!! Thank you for your bounty of fresh cherries in the dead of winter. Although I should probably not eat a pound of them at a time while taking *laxaherb*. Oops. Lesson learned.


I spun up some fibre from MamaE (super wash merino) that I got from Morgan, it is going to be some seriously spectacular socks I tell ya. I working on trying to get a consistent worsted weight single (ala Malabrigo) and thanks to the boards on Ravelry, have been inspired to try some new things. Man, that place is a wealth of information!



Ugh. I am feeling a bit le' crappy (LITERALLY) but don't cry for me Argentina, I am doing this of my own free will.

*unlike my husband who I watched eat half a pumpkin pie yesterday. With cream. Dammit!


**Celestial Seasonings! Cherry Berry is gross, Tangerine Orange Zinger is not.

Day 2

Brown rice tastes pretty good. I am usually not much of a rice/pasta/carb loader, but damn, I am surprised at how much flavour it has. That's what I am noticing about being restricted, the more subtle flavourings of food in its natural state. I have to say I am missing my Splenda. No Crystal Light, no diet Rockstars, nothing in my latte (and almond milk is SO NOT FOAMED MILK) the only sweet is coming from fruit.

As far as the supplements go, I am having a little GI immediacy* and the one supplement makes you pee more. I told you there was going to be TMI. You have been warned.

I feel good though, no real lack of energy but I did/do have a slight headache. I drank lots of tea (peppermint and Bengal Spice!) and water so GO ME! I am also down 1.9 pounds. I reckon its a fluke as I ate all badness the day before to compensate.

Stay tuned for more cleanse reports. Oh yeah, Dana.. I thought you would be one person who has done this whole cleansy thing before. Hope yours goes well.. :)






*subtle huh?

Not cleanse related..

Other exciting things:

-I bought sweatpants! So not exciting to most, but this is the first time I have bought sweatpants since before Jake was born. See I hate the sweatpant as a rule*, but I wanted something more snuggly to wear around the house. I found some I really like at American Eagle but am far too cheap to spend 30$ on something I'd NEVER wear out of the house (even though they are DREAMY) so went on a hunt and sure enough.. found some nice ones at Bluenotes for 9.99$! SCORE. I am so past lame.


-Am knitting socks with Handmaiden cashmere sock yarn, Casbah. Can you say scrumptious? I did hit a whole bunch of boxing day yarn sales and did a whack of stocking up. Gina Browns was fantastic as was Pudding. Oh my such beautiful fibre.


-There looks like there may be a Vegas trip in the future. Details not available, check back later. 40 years looks like a milestone for a bunch of us. ;)


-All the dogs at Morgans this weekend means DIRTY DOGS INDEED! Poor Rowdy, Lola and Whitley got a visit to the dogwash while wusstacular Pickles and Max got a bathtub experience. Who knew such little dogs could hold so much dirt!


-Exciting things in the works. Trust me.. the fibre fiends will be pleased.












*I prefer the yoga pant. Not much different but enough for me.

Next to godliness

I am embarking on something completely foreign to me. A cleanse! I have always wondered what these do for a body so what the hell, I plunked down my 34.95 and today is the day. This morning I had my coffee (allowed) with some unsweetened almond milk* and a bowl of Bob's Red Mill Spice 'N' nice cereal with more almond milk and some strawberries. No dairy, no flour of any kind, no sugar, nothing fermented, no peanuts. I went to Planet Organic yesterday and stocked up on brown rice cakes, brown rice, organic fruit and my last chocolate bar** for 12 days. I took my pills and my tincture this am, and I'm off.

I think I am going to try to blog this whole experience, so stay tuned for possibly more information that may want to know about my colon/cravings/whingeing that ever before!!





*hmm. It is watery but doesn't have the funky soy fermented taste I hate. I might be okay with this stuff. We'll see.

**Dagobah Lavender dark chocolate bar. OMG my hands down favourite choccy bar of all time. Mm.. and I only eated half. :(

Wrap up

Yay! The nonsense is all over. My house can get clean again. My laundry will be done. The loo will shine. Not that we celebrated mightily, but even having Chris home for a week proves too distracting for mundane chores.

We had a lovely dinner with Jake while he was up here visiting friends* at one of our favourite places, Crush. The waitress asked us if we wanted to sit in the lounge. Um Jake is 15, but he was tickled. :) ooh my widdle baby...



We also decided with all of Chris' health stuff going on to put off the trip we had been sort of planning to Vegas and instead bought a new sectional from IKEA. We sit a lot, so why not right? It should take a couple of weeks, but we need to get rid of of our old stuff. If anyone out there local knows someone who needs a super comfy couch and chair, give me a shout. I'll send pictures and be happy to give it to a new home.

While at IKEA we saw what we immediately called the Pickles clubhouse** and had to pick it up for him. A success was had with this! See below for proof.




See.. he LOVES IT!

*Teenagers. Friends are the living end man. Groovy, can you dig it? Hahahaha.

**No gurls allowed.

Annis Horribilis

Yes, like Elizabeth* I have had my Annis Horribilis this year. I can look and find some fantastic things that have happened** but truly this is a year I will look back on with no great fondness. Too much personal drama and upheavals combined with strange amounts of stress inside and out make this a see ya later kinda year.



Come on in 2008... and welcome! Please don't suck ok?

* But not nearly as bad as this guys.. Samuel Pepys - Pepys' London 'A Malicious Bloody Flame' Samuel Pepys, by J. Hayls, 1666.

On this day in 1666, the Great Fire of London began, enkindled by the King's baker when he failed to damp his oven properly. While only sixteen people died, eighty per cent of the City was razed over four days, leaving 436 acres leveled and 100,000 homeless.

Much worse than mine ok?

**Finding wonderful friends. Learning I know much more than I thought I did. Refining my craft(s), and moving on from toxicity. To name but a few. Oh and good coffee. Lots of it.