Beach Stories

It is sunny! And in my eyes. Ow.

Don't worry, I'm not just sitting here complaining, I actually spent the last few hours out enjoying it. First, I visited my LYS, since I haven't been in for ages (no money for yarn). Then I went to cafe nearly next door to grab a cup of their super-good coffee (local roastery) and one of their homemade blue cheese scones. So. Damn. Good. And, because I am knitter, hear me roar, I headed down to the beach to get some quality knitting time in, and am now halfway through the thumb gusset decreases on the second Snow Tiger. It feel like a day at the zoo...

I suppose I had it coming, it's been ages since I've had a comment about Knitting In Public (except for the lady who decided to knit alongside me on the bus during exam week, that was cool), but today, the crowds were out in full force. Again, I shouldn't be surprised, as what with the gorgeous (and first day of decent) weather, everyone and their mother was down at the beach.

I have named the various encounters: (please note, these took place in the following order, and all while I was sitting on the same bench, I was there for about 30 minutes)
- Counter Culture
- Corrupted Kids
- Crones
- K-nitting Compliments
and
- Checked Out (couldn't make it fit, damn)

Firstly, Counter Culture, or how I can justify anything.
I am sitting. And knitting. And knitting. And sitting. When a dude walks up to me. I know he is a dude, because he says 'dude' a lot. I have a number of dude friends and acquaintances, so I think nothing of it. But then, he speaks.
"Dude, what are you doing?"
*I look up*
"Knitting. Hello."
"What?"
"...Nevermind."
"Dude, isn't knitting, like, for chicks or I dunno, preps or something?"
"Not as far as I know. Are you trying to tell me I'm giving into a cultural stereotype?" (I live in what is often acknowledged as a rich and pretentious neihgbourhood.)
"Well, dude..."
*I cut him off*
"Because, if that's all you're trying to say, you're way off the mark, man. This, this is COUNTER-culture. You see, nobody excepts a guy to be knitting. I'm really just sticking it to them, making them think, man."
"...Dude."
The dude walks off. I return to my knitting, thinking about counter-culture movements that a lot of my friends are into. You know, I'm not COUNTER-culture, I like culture, it can be a useful thing. But I would say it's a sub-culture thing I do. Go figure.

Corrupted Kids
Still knitting, but my ears are cold, and I forgot a hat. Thankfully, I brought my portable music device which has a nice big set of warm headphones, which I slip on without turning the device on as I like the sound of the ocean. I hear, and see out of the corner of my eye, a small contingent of children (maybe four or five of them) watching me. Cool, I like kids, and so far they're not getting in the way of the yarn. But then I hear their parents.
"What is he doing?" (Valid. Small knitting, and I was kind of hunched over.)
"Don't let the kids watch" (What, did I do something indecent?)
And so on. And then...
A shadow is cast over me, I only assume that it is some misguided parent chiding me for corrupting their children.

Crones (and Compliments)
But I was mistaken, it was a very sweet old lady.
"What are you making there, young man?"
"Me? Oh, sorry. I'm knitting some gloves."
"Those don't look live gloves." (Thanks lady, thanks.) "Oh, I'm sorry, they don't have fingers! Well they look very good, and so complicated."
*I drop into a whisper*
"Thank you ma'am. It's really not so hard..."
*Trail off into incoherency* (I am bad with compliments. Critiques and stabs I can take till the cows come home, but compliments trouble me.)
"Well, have a nice day, young man."
"You too, ma'am."

Repeat the conversation about three minutes later with another cute old lady.

Checked Out.
I pulled my headphones back on to keep my ears warm, and keep on knitting. A short time later, I hear two people walking past behind me. One is a young mother (I assume, judging by the stroller with the very little infant in it that she wa pushing) and I presume her friend. Both look to be in their mid-twenties.
"Hey look, is he knitting?" Mutters the woman with the stroller.
"Yeah, I think so. Man, guys who can knit, well, that's just hot." Replies her companion.

Thanks. Now, why can't any cute girls MY age agree? Stupid world.

No photos today, but all is well with the knitting. Have a good weekend y'all!

Let's Play

Thank you Shash for calling us all out to play the other day, this is my contribution.



So, what was going on while I was taking this photo...
I actually took it yesterday, as I (corectly) anticipated a busy one today. It was taken in the late afternoon.
The same time the day before, the view outside my window was mostly snow-covered. Some rain took care of that.
It was dead quiet. Thursday's are my day off, my father was at my work, my brother at school, and my mother out for coffee with friends. I love this house when it is (rarely) quiet.
Those salt shakers were picked up in Quebec by my father and brother on a bike trip last spring, and I love them, so fun.
The fern was given to me by a childhood friend a few years ago. We are not really in touch much anymore.
There was also a laptop and a stack of picture books on the dining room table, I was working on the paper for my Art Education class.
Speaking of the table, we have had it for longer than I can remember, but we are getting it replaced. The new table was inspired by 5 table legs that belonged to a table my great-grandfather had (apparently) and will be used in it. The table in the photo will become mine, I have needed a real workspace for a long time.
I love working in the main room, but I usually can only get it every week or two for a few hours (public space and all). It is much nicer than my bedroom in the basement with no natural light.

It's been fun playing, and I suggest you go check out Shash's site, and I hope you all play along too, if you can. I plan to do this every week if I can.

I Like My Coffee Like Me: Bitter.

So I picked up the Snow Tigers and knit the first 3 rows of colourwork. The gaps between fingers looked worse on this one, I can't remember if I did anything different last time... It was the first time I've even touched yarn since Saturday, but I don't seem to have forgotten how to knit... I don't think my knitting mojo is fully back though.



And because this is in the background of that photo, I figured I may as well show it. It's ink on canvas board. I did a few like it, just started smooshing the ink around with a scruddy old brush until I got an idea, then ran with it and started refining the image. Until a few days ago, it was buried under a huge pile of junk on my floor. Normally I am never happy with my 'real' art work (I do not consider my knitting to be art, it is something else), but this guy makes me grin for some odd reason. I think it is his eyebrows, nose and teeth. Hmm, I also unearthed a small series of ink drawings I did last year in my French class (and one or two in English). I don't know if they are really what anyone who reads this are into, but I might put them up over the next few days, as I kind of want to do something with them.

Red Riding Hood as The Thrice Told Tale: An Apparently Alliterative And Assonant Analysis

I just handed a paper in today, and save for a physiotherapy appointment and some scrambling to get some preliminary research cobbled together for a course on Friday, I shall have some time to knit and to blog. I hope. I have been feeling really... not terribly well put together lately, which has impacted school, and of course, knitting. The first Snow Tiger is done, as are the knucks of the second (which are joined, and waiting for me to show some love and get going on the colourwork). I am still very much worried that they will not fit, but time will tell.

I really like this idea by Shash over at Mecozy. I hope to give it a go (maybe make it a recurring theme if I like), and I hope you all try it as well. http://mecozy.blogspot.com/2007/01/wanna-play.html

I promise to try to make this blogspace a little more interesting in the forseeable future.