I've been wondering for some time now (read 1.5 years) how to begin my blog and now I think I'll just leap right in and not worry too much about the whys and wherefores.

I am thinking however I need to change my masthead because I don't know if I'll be a "country knitter" much longer. Due to a readjustment in my marital status I've had to sell my house in the country (perched on a rocky ridge surrounded by 75 foot white pines) and must now find a new home. I'm not quite sure where I'll end up in 3 months but I know it's going to be a surprise to everybody including me. Just this weekend I looked at a very new 2-story home in bland new suburbia, on a lot measured in 1/100's of a foot (gosh hope that fence isn't off!) and a teeny, tiny, age unknown, bungalow on a half acre, 15 minutes from town. All you real estate agents out there are just cringing; I can feel it from here. She's the nightmare client, she'll have us running all over rural Ontario and then buy a place in town.

My backyard garden this spring. No visible neighbours. I'm very good at being a hermit.

Last week - notice 2 septic lids cleverly disguised by a boxwood shrub and a water/pond barrel

City or country? Do I want to look at my neighbour's barbecue and let them know they are over cooking their steaks? Not really.

Do I want to worry about mouse entry locations and the 30-year old septic system that needs to be replaced? No, not that either. I look at the dogs and I know at least what they want. Chipmunks!! lots and lots of chipmunks.

Truthfully I've been so stressed over selling and the Great House Search that my knitting has really suffered. I've been unable to concentrate, haven't actually knit much of anything and when I do I keep making mistakes. For example, I've started the lovely little Alcea by Susanna IC. 5 times now, yes really FIVE. You'd think after casting on 331 stitches 3 times I would have worked the bugs out. Not really. Just this last time I ended up with 4 extra stitches when I got to my first pattern row and said to heck with it and did a few knit 3 togethers instead of knit 2 togethers. The next purl row showed me I was off on my stitch count again and I just fudged a yarn over (the brakes were off, I was playing fast and loose, caution to the wind, letting it all hang out, and it wasn't pretty). And then, I looked up at exactly the wrong moment when I saw that Betty of Mad Men was, gasp... FAT, and dropped a couple stitches. I put it down (well put it down very quickly several feet away in an over the arm motion) and decided I needed some red wine to calm the nerves. One of my dogs came after me, hooked the yarn around a toenail and followed me out of the bedroom, down 1.5 flights of stairs, into the kitchen and almost made it outside to the deck before I realized that purple blue blob attached to her tail was half my ball of yarn, tangled with 50 stitch markers and a few dust bunnies plus leaves. I will put this away for now and find some extra bulky yarn and knit a very quick hat as therapy. I don't even have the will to rip it out.

BTW this in no way reflects badly on the pattern, it just says I can't count right now. At all. Even to 22 which how many stitches should have been in each repeat.

Here is a photo of Attempt #4. The yarn is Estelle Super Alpaca Lace Paint, 100% alpaca, squishy soft.

I'm actually spending most of my time looking at patterns which as we all know is soooo productive. I'm one of those knitters that has to find just the right pattern for my "yarn vision" and won't stop looking until I am absolutely sure I've found IT, or as close to IT as is humanly possible without getting a research grant from the government. I've been looking for years for the perfect wrap around sweater with a shawl collar and just recently realized that what I've really been wanting is a wool version of a house coat.

What's been knit successfully you ask? 
Well I just finished the Ashton shawlette out of a really delicious cotton linen mix Pima Lino Lace. I went quite tight on the gauge for this one and reduced the needle size to 2.75mm. Smaller needles because lace knitting isn't challenge enough and I wanted to reduce the loopiness factor. The shawl is very summery feeling and the teal colour is terrific. I've added beads —my first time trying this out — and I liked the way they weighted down the edging, no curl here, and added a little extra vavoom.

Well there it is, my first blog. It's been a long time coming.