Weekend Warrior

Edit: Tonight at 6 PM PST is the Paralympic Opening Ceremony...the beginning of another chance to get our cheer on! And check out our goalie, the defending gold medallist from Turin - he seems pretty driven, if highly unlikeable...apparently he doesn't care if he's remembered as the 'biggest prick in the world'. To which I say, "get us another hockey gold, you can call yourself whatever you like.

=================

Here I am back at Friday, March 12th of all things, and the last time I posted was March 1...the time does fly.

I had a great time last weekend - it was International Women's Day and we danced at a benefit for a local Women's Centre, to a wonderfully responsive crowd. Dancing for women has such a positive energy: so friendly, and very different from a mixed crowd. The presence of men adds a bit of tension and judgment that I've never felt from an all-female audience. - it's interesting. And it reminded me that historically, Middle-Eastern gender segregation being what it was, belly dance was by women, for women - not for men. Belly dancers did entertain men, but the dancers were male. Male belly dancers are hard to come by in North America - and their figures make the dance look quite different - but their abilities can be just as dazzling, as you'll see if you check out that link.

So that was Saturday. Sunday was awesome too...I got up early and went to a neighbouring island to take a workshop with Cat Bordhi who, I can tell you, is a very intelligent and free-thinking woman. I liked her a lot. It was a fun day full of yarn and needles, plus anytime I get to take an island-hopper ferry, I'm a happy girl.



View towards Vesuvius, from the car deck.


We were all knitting swatches and making up our own stitch patterns. I cast about in my head for a clever and original idea (Cat Bordhi's in the room - no pressure or anything) and decided on a "*yo, SSK, rpt * to end" on every row. I knocked off a couple of inches of that, then changed which stitch began the SSK and did an inch or so more. I was quite happy with the result, and was considering whether I could use it for the bottom of a summer tank top for my daughter, when Cat came around. She took the swatch from me and looked at it, then said "Oh, nice...it's like a market bag stitch."



(Hear that noise? That's the wind leaving my sails.)

My other swatch was a little more original, thankfully.

You'd write it like this, I guess:
Row 1: *k3, (knit 3 as follows: k third st tbl, then k second st tbl, then k first st tbl, then slip all 3 off together). Rpt from * to last 3, k 3.
Row 2: p
Row 3: *(knit 3 as follows: k third st tbl, then k second st tbl, then k first st tbl, then slip all 3 off together), k3. Rpt from * to last 6, k 6.

In the middle section I stacked the patterns instead of staggering them, and added a pattern row on every other WS row (p3, p3rd tfl, then 2nd tfl, then 1st tfl, slip off together). On the top section, I dropped the RS row pattern stitch, so it slants the other way.

Anyhow, much fun was had, and if you get a chance to take a workshop with Cat, you definitely should. She has quite a few good tools for encouraging your originality.

Now I'm off to add the fourth experimental incarnation of a closure for my Uncle's slippers. I've knit him three pairs now, but the first two apparently don't stay on very well...I am working the problem, but the solutions keep winding up somewhere between an outsized bootee, and a crazy Brobdingnagian Mary-Jane.

But I figure, 'if at first you don't succeed'. Don't worry Dave, this time I'm sure to get it right.

Swiffed.

If I showed you a picture of the bottoms of my feet, you'd know what we needed the Swiffer for. Public hall floors are disgusting.

People had cameras, so you might get to see a photo if any of them turn out (doubtful - it's hard to take good photos of dancers) but I took one self portrait for the blog header anyway, to give you a teeny glimpse.

It was a great night - lots of dancers in the audience, which is always energizing. Thanks, everybody who showed up - Rona, Brenda, Alison, Kate and her mum, my friends Sandy Leanne Teralee Renee AND my lovely mother - it was great to have you there, girlies.

We're finished for the year now - this was our last show - but as usual, post-performance, I'm buzzing and can't go to sleep. So I'm going to watch some Buffy and drink another Stella Artois...party time!

O Solo Nervoso Mio

Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone - last night was.......well, pretty good for a first solo. The dancing was a bloody doddle compared to the stress of maintaining an acceptable facial expression. I kept shrieking at myself (mentally) "Smile! For the love of sheep, SMILE!!" followed in a few moments by "GOOD LORD woman this is what is called a GRIMACE, RELAX YOUR FACE!"

So basically I spent four and a half minutes alternating between a Scantily-Clad Undertaker and Maniac Stepford Harem Girl.

But the dance itself was flawless. I wowed them with my swirling veil and my skilled rhythmic zilling. No photos, I'm afraid - it was all I could do to get the assistant to figure out how to put my CD on, never mind actually work my video camera. But I'll be dancing with my troupe next weekend (on TV this time) so I may record that for your viewing pleasure.

Postes Canada Post came by the other day, and dropped off a V-E-R-Y interesting package. Here it is.

Lest you missed it, let me draw your attention to the return address:

Oh Em Gee!! Oh Em Gee!!

Here's where I say a huge THANK YOU to Mairi Macleod for writing "Value: 25 GBP" on the customs form, instead of "Value: 115 GBP", resulting in my having to pay $7.43 duty instead of $20.

And if you want to know how much $240 gets you at Virtual Yarns, take a gander.

It doesn't look like much, but.......well okay, actually it's not much. But hey - this is some quality wool. And all this wool PLUS a couple of hundred hours of my time EQUALS a pretty wrap! So if I paid a dollar an hour to knit this I am TOTALLY WINNING! Basically it's costing me nothing! Yay!

Dear Mr. Buhler: thank you for all the time you spent teaching me remedial math. I'm sure you're happy with how it all turned out. Affectionately, Shannon

I'll be swatching this baby as soon as I get some WIPs out of the way. I have promised myself to finish off the Log Cabin Blanket and the Marina Piccola socks before I start Rheingold. (I'm not talking to the lace right now, by the way. I have threatened to send her to my riding-crop-owning friend* for a bit of spankin' if she doesn't start behaving soon. So far she has responded to that just as she responded to my tears and cajoling - with stony silence. We'll see how stony she is WHEN SHE'S GOT A FEW RED WELTS ON HER BEHIND, YES YOU HEARD ME BEYOTCH, YOUR TIME IS A'COMIN.)

On that happy note, I'll bid you all a fond adieu. I'll be back tomorrow (or possibly Friday) with another addition to my ongoing meme.

* I'm sure you're all interested to find out which of my friends owns a riding crop (although I'm betting it's more than just one) but I will be coy about identifying her....though she should feel free to identify herself, should she wish it.

Edit: Thanks Annalea - I forgot to link to Rheingold.

Dum Dum Tek Ka

Tonight is the Middle Eastern cooking class, with Shan as the floor show. Wish me tips.

Photo from www.heavyhips.net.

Half a Loaf.

The first order of business was to write another book review, seeing as how it's been several weeks since I posted one. Now that's done, I need to address some of the comments from last week.

Firstly, Anna, I feel that as far as Lorna's Laces go, beggars shouldn't be choosers. That said, I have only ever tried the Shepherd Sock, and haven't even petted any other types of Lorna's Laces. I do like lace knitting, though, and have heard good things about the Helen's Lace. If you are TRULY SERIOUS about sending me some, I can only thank you happily and dash away furtive tears of joy. I love red, pink, blue, green, grey and purple.

Secondly, yes I belly dance. It's great fun and very affirming from a feminist perspective. It's not easy to get over stage fright, but I wouldn't like to think I had given up an interesting and enriching life experience just because I was worried that people would laugh at me. I've been mocked many times in my life, and have come to the conclusion that people will do it even (maybe especially) if you're fully clothed, sitting in the corner quietly, and trying not to be noticed. So you might as well put body glitter on, don a sparkly costume, slide cymbals on your fingers, and jump up on the stage.

Thirdly, I have been tagged for another meme. I've come to a more mature perspective on memes, and no longer feel that they are necessarily Of The Devil. Therefore, I give you seven more things, courtesy of Annalea, who tagged me. But I will stretch the meme out over the next few posts because I can only think of one, right now. Surely by tomorrow some more will come to me.

1. I have this recurring fantasy where I hide in the library until they lock it for the night, and I spend all night in there drifting through the stacks, lying on the floor reading random bits of random books, and nobody bothers me. It gets dark and maybe it rains (our library has a leaky roof right over the children's section) and I eventually end up in the occult section, freaking myself out with spooky books like you'd find in the Sunnydale High library. Flashes of blinding lightning illuminate the towering stacks like angular, monochromatic gargoyles.

How's that?

What, you're still here?

Feast or famine, eh?

I've been busy with a few things. I'd like to say it was all productive, but in reality I've been drying my eyeballs out staring at the Ravelry forums. Fora. I tell you what - people sure do get worked up. I joined the BID - Big Issues Debate forum - and you could just sit there all day watching the hissy fits. Some of the threads are interesting, many are simply virtual Molotov cocktails that get tossed into an already hot crowd.

But it hasn't all been "Are you in favour of same-sex marriage?" and "I feel Creationism should be taught in public school science classes". I've been doing some ACTUAL things as well.

My friend recently opened a gourmet food store, and she is offering a Middle Eastern cooking class this month. She asked me if I would come and dance at it.


Belly dancing. By myself.

At first I figured I'd decline, but I decided life is short and realistically, any kind of bellydancing looks good to people - objectively, I'll probably get more admiration than derision. So I'm going to go for it. (Ack!)

My daughter took a picture of me practicing.




And I got the loveliest surprise the other day. A USPS priority box from a (mostly) non-commenting, non-blogging Reader, CHOCK FULL of beautiful and yummy things. Look!


See how happy it made my daughters. (Though you can only see one of them in this picture.)



Thank you so much, Anna from Chicago - and to your question (and I quote) "Maybe you'd like some Lorna's Laces? They're from Chicago. Let me know!", an extreme "Will you marry me?"

After all - it's legal.

Quick Boring Update

We are languishing here at Maison HSB, waiting for Mr HalfSoledBoots to come home from a four-day conference. The night he arrived there he phoned and said he had opted out of the "Meet and Greet" event which opened the conference, because he wouldn't know anybody there. "Hence the name," I remarked.

But that is the strange thing about being as garrulous and outgoing as I am: you end up surrounded by those who are, themselves, shy and retiring. We chatty folks are the only ones with the power to draw them out of their shells.

Last night my (shy and retiring) friend came over to do a bit of dancin' and zillin' and shakin' of the booty, then stayed to (re)watch Once More With Feeling. We had Fresca and buttery maple-sugar-sprinkled popcorn. It was so nice to spend some time with a fellow Buffy zealot.

So I haven't had much time to post this week, due to single-parenting. It's not so much that I am doing two people's jobs: it's more that it feels a bit like a holiday from the normal state of things, and the girls and I have been making the most of it. Today we are on our way to the picturesque and retail-rich city of Courtenay, to look at the bellydance store, buy some pyjamas for my little sweeties (at a different shop, of course), and get an ice cream cone. The sun is finally showing itself today, so it's a good chance to get some walking and playing done. I'll do my best to present a pictorial record upon our return.

***
PS: Wanna see some Ogee progress? I present Sleeve the First.



I estimate I'm only about 70% done this sweater. Kill me now.