Playing with my new camera

For 16 years now, I've been passing the sheep in the field at the top of our hill and often thought that it would be fun to go and take some pictures. So last night I set out with new camera in hand to see if they would pose for me. Well, sheep being sheep, one of them looked over at me and as soon as she did that, the rest of them looked over and started to move away. This picture is taken at the extreme zoom level and really fast before they all took off out of range. I was impressed.

One solace of having your things stolen, as my camera was on the last day of the train trip, is that you sometimes get to replace that which was taken with something even better. Last spring I took a short photography workshop and was pleased to discover that my old little point-and-shoot Kodak was actually not too bad but more important, I learned about the potential of other cameras that mine just nodded at. This new camera is just a step up from the last one, and I'm having a great time playing with it.

In another vein, I'm looking forward to Knit In Public Day/Week which for me will begin next Saturday, June 12th teaching the Sock in A Day class, then heading to the market Downtown to knit in the square for 1/2hour. I hope to keep up this knitting meditation in different places throughout the city for the week.

Under most circumstances, such a fun opportunity to knit for 1/2 hour each day would call for a special new project so I looked up a pattern that I had seen in a couple of the LYSs in my travels: The Travelling Woman shawl. I found the Free pattern up on Ravelry and was all set to take on the relative challenge of knitting a small lace shawl while sharing the benefits of knitting with strangers as they pass by.
Then the sensible angel on my other shoulder asked me precisely what I thought I was doing, beginning a new, unknown to me pattern when I already have a sweater and 2 sets of socks on the go, all of which I feel perfectly comfortable knitting while talking to passers by, AND all of which need to be finished for birthdays over the next couple of months.


So, properly chastised by my good angel, I will be working on these UFO's but encouraged to complete them so that I can get on with the Travelling Woman Shawl with one of our beautiful sock yarns that I haven't had the opportunity to try yet.

Cowichan Knitting in Vogue Knitting, Early Fall 2010

I always love to see the new magazines when they arrive at the store, and I had been forwarned of the latest issue of Vogue Knitting. Everyone who had it was asking me if I'd seen the article on the Cowichan sweaters.

Well, things being as they are when one returns from an extended time away, sitting down to peruse the latest knitting magazine was not at the top of the TO DO list, but I did make a point of checking out the article this week. What a lovely surprise: there they featured Emily Sawyer-Smith who was the lovely lady that I was speaking with during my trip to Duncan B.C. She is also the lady that I gave my copy of the Japanese book: Cowichan Sweater Hat and Small Goods pictured above. Link here to the latest WOOL-TYME Kingston newsletter where I describe my visit with Emily.


While searching the net for a nice picture of Emily to include in this post, I came across the best blog post on the Cowichan knitting tradition that I've seen so far, written by Ouno Designs of Vancouver who describe their blog in this way: "This is a long, messy, eclectic photo essay on design." It's actually a really interesting peephole into modern culture and certainly worthy of a good browse.

Among other rare pictures, they featured this amazing one of Canadian WWII officer Cecil Merritt in a Cowichan sweater sent to him by relatives in Vancouver – he’s photographed here in a Nazi prisoner of war camp along with fellow officers.

Don't you just love dawdling along on the internet, there are just way too many fun things to discover.

A great month

So here I am last week, returning to Kingston after nearly 3 weeks on the road.

I have certainly felt worse, and don't think that I look too bad in this picture.

I spent this last week of my sabbatical month working from home, consolidating some of the information that I'd picked up out west and working on the rug. And below is a picture of how it ended up as of today, Monday May 31st. I also got one of the toe up socks finished and began the second. I would say that I definitely accomplished what I intended to do.

All in all, I'm so grateful for this time away from regular life. I've always been a person who can do a lot, but of different things in smaller quantities. My motto should be "In diversity is happiness." I really thrive on a change of scenery, which is strange as I'm a cancer, and cancers are supposed to be homebodies I thought.

So to sum up I learned a lot from this trip. I learned that the word Quinoa is pronounced Kin-Wah. That there are many business that have survived and thrive by combining interests and branching out. That for a long trip, if you can afford the time, the train is definitely the way to go. I discovered that I like asparagus, and halibut is a beautiful fish. I realized that a bit of mist is what makes the west coast particularly beautiful. And from a business perspective, I've come home with lots of fresh ideas and a refreshed attitude.

Now for next year...

Heading East Part II

It's a little weird, getting on the train at 11:30pm as we did in Winnipeg heading for Toronto. Everyone is tired and just wants to settle in as quickly as possible. But consider for a minute that traveling by coach in a train is a lot like camping (without the bugs and elements, I say thankfully). Imagine arriving to your tent at 11:30 at night and having to get your nest for the night established, especially when you find yourself, as a few of our fellow passengers did, stuck up beside a stranger. All things considered, it's surprising how quickly everything becomes quiet.

On Friday morning, we woke to a slightly grey day in northern Ontario. It was nice to see a more familiar territory. I brought out my rug hooking stuff and my fanny pack with essentials and valuables, and headed for the dome car to watch the scenery go by.

About twice an hour the train would stop along the tracks. We never knew exactly why: sometimes it would be to bring on supplies, sometimes for passengers, sometimes to let a freight train go by. About 5 minutes after one such stop that morning around 7:30am, the club car below the dome where I was sitting was invaded by a gang of very loud and playful guys. We could hear the card decks being fanned, backs being slapped, guffaws all around. Those of us who could hear it all yet couldn't see anything were amazed that anyone who had slept on this train could possibly have so much energy at this hour of the morning.

Then a couple of 20-something guys who joined us in the dome car explained what was going on. This group of 18 men from Madison, Wisconsin had been coming to the Allenwater River for a week of fishing at the end of May for decades. They had driven up and parked their cars in Savant Lake, boarded the train which would bring them to their fishing camp (accessible only by float plain or Via Rail which crosses the wilderness of Northern Ontario) 40 km down the tracks.
20 minutes later, the train stopped again, the gang got off and from where I was sitting I could watch them unload their gear from the baggage car: a mountain of beer cases, two dozen coolers of every size, lots of sleeping bags and a few small knapsacks. I'd say they guys had their priorities well defined. In my amazement I took a picture of the gang of them as we passed their cabins. When we crossed the Allenwater bridge, pictured here, someone pointed out that all the wives had probably gone to New York City.

This, unfortunately, is not the picture that I took. I borrowed this picture of the Allenwater Bridge from flickr and hope that it's owner understands my need: I put my camera on my small pack at my feet and continued my rug hooking for a bit then returned to take a nap. When I woke up I realized that I'd forgotten my fanny pack in the dome car...needless to say it wasn't there. It actually was a bit of a surprise as people left their bags everwhere as they went to get a coffee or pick up something back at their seat. But truly, this was my own fault...I might as well have put a sign that said: Take Me, as leave the camera on top of the bag.

All that to say I had no credit/debit cards, cash ($20), phone nor camera. But I did have my ticket from Toronto to Kingston and enough food to get me through the next 24 hours and was hoping to connect with daughter #2 in Toronto.

As it turned out, the train was reaaallllyyy late, and we barely made the connection to the cramped oversold commuter train from Toronto to Montreal. I was tired and hungry for the last leg of this journey, but I did have internet access so I was at least able to email my daughter's blackberry to let her know why I didn't show at the station.

It occured to me that the entire trip was an almost euphoric experience. So many chance occurences, insights, lessons, fun times, reconnections. How could I possibly complain about losing a couple of things and the inconvenience of waiting for a new credit card? My experience on the train, up until that point, was so perfect, that I might have been tempted to run away from home and become a railway bum.

Anyway, I arrived back home to a perfect Victoria Day weekend with the neighbour's traditional camp fire and some down time before tackling that which awaits me at home and at work. Life is Good!

Beautiful days in Winnipeg

The weather and the city have been beautiful during the past couple of days here in Winnipeg. It is predicted that the "MOSQUITOS" are 3 to 5 days away...quite early they say, brought on by a wet winter and very warm spring weather. It would appear that Winnipeg MOSQUITOS really do deserve a whole set of capitals. I'm glad I missed them.


This scene made me feel right at home. It's a clematis in full bloom around a light standard. Winnipeg is built, as Kingston is, on a bed of limestone which accounts for our wonderful blooming clematis, but full bloom on the 20th of May is a little incredible.



I'm here in Winnipeg with my daughter, Catherine and her boyfriend. As he grew up in Winnipeg, we have a great guide. Yesterday we went to Assiniboine Park, home of one of the best zoos I've ever been to. This is a picture of Catherine who was thrilled to meet a new friend except that the turtle got one of her last clean shirts dirty, but he (the turtle) was very cute and posed well for the camera and so was forgiven. We know that it was he as the keeper explained how you can tell the difference between the boy and girl turtles: the boys have concave undershells, and the girls have flat shells.


Day 2 in Winnipeg had me meeting up with a friend from my teens whom I hadn't seen since 1976. How fun! We might look different but inside, we're all pretty much the same.


Then I got to do the yarn store tour. First to Ram Wools Yarn Co-op which has recently moved up Portage Ave from downtown. Many of you will remember Ram Wools and their gorgeous catalogues. For years, we at WOOL-TYME Kingston were the unwitting recipients of the excitement that always followed their mail out. I knew that they had stopped publishing the glossy catalogue a few years ago and had gone strictly to on-line marketing in addition to their storefront, but I was surprised and intrigued upon entering their store to see the addition of the "Co-op" in the name. I went on-line to discover that a worker owned cooperative has been established to keep growing this highly respected fixture on the North American yarn scene following the departure of Inge Gaspard, its founder and driving force.


On to WOLSELEY WARDROBE, a really fun store that has found a couple of great overlapping markets in the lovely Wolseley neighbourhood of Winnipeg. Check out the website and see how they delightfully blend a quality second hand clothes boutique with a lovely little yarn shop. Both the clothes on display and the selection of fine yarns show that quality and fashion are where this business has made it's commitment.



One of the great things that I've seen over and over in the past few weeks of meeting business people of all stripes, from my brothers' friends, Schnepps and Kathleen in Victoria who spend winters in Asia purchasing beautiful jewelry to bring back and sell at markets all over Victoria area, to the folks at Knotty By Nature in Victoria, is that it takes a LOT of resources to start up and continue a small business at the best of times. If you don't have a LOT of money at your disposal, then you have to rely on other resources: friends to scavange from, barrels of creativity and great ideas, and a certain chutzpah and commitment to keep you on track for as long as it takes. Book store/cafes, yarn store/picture framers in Sidney, farm/residential care centre/ general store owners in Glenora, and now Wolseley Wardrobe in Winnipeg...all of these people have found their multiple niche-S that have supported them and enriched their business lives.

Heading East - part I

Heading back east again, with a stop over for a couple of days in Winnipeg.


This is the train as we stop in Blue River B.C. for a smoke break/fresh air break. How beautiful this little town is. This is very long for a passenger train (about 20 cars) as we pick up 2 tour groups in Jasper. By the way, Blue River is home of the oldest store in Western Canada. It's just a little storey and a half frame house that now sports a somewhat weathered sign that says "Janie's Convenience Store."


While stopped here, I found this spike. I'm not sure why I decided to bring it with me, but it just seemed like a fitting souvenir of this wonderful trip, to have a real piece of the railroad...it just looks so old!

The time on the train really does remind me of a lazy visit to a cottage. You mozey along doing whatever you feel like doing...reading for a bit, napping for a bit, going to the dome car to enjoy the scenery for a bit, playing cards or Scrabble or just socializing with others in the club car while you feel like it. We had a lovely little passenger on this trip named Coco. She's just 3 months old and was on a trip to visit her great grandmother. Coco's mom was more than happy for any help and so we all got to play pass the baby.

On the trip west, you miss out on the true visions of the prairies as the train goes through this area at night. There aren't nearly as many of these great horizon views as you get on the Trans Canada Hwy further south, but just enough to remind you of the effort that the early settlers must have put out to claim this land. I had lunch with a couple who had come from Britain 50 years ago and settled in Kamloops. They were struck by the stories of the trains of war brides who came through this territory after the war. I would think that many of those young women might have been horrified at the thought of the remoteness that faced them.

So, after day 2 on the train, here is the rug hooking sampler that I've been working on. Some of the same passengers from my trip west are back on the this train and recognize me from our trip out because of the rug.

By the way, I ran into a customer of mine who had moved last year to Edmonton and was coming back east for a family get together. Also played Scrabble with a lady from Kingston with whom I share a dear mutual friend. It is a small world.

Now in Winnipeg, I'm looking forward to a visit in Neil Young/ the Guess Who territory. Although it would appear that Winnipeg has another reason for being famous that isn't so great: Coco's mom says that it's the home of the largest swarms of mosquitos in the world (or so she remembers from her childhood). I don't do bugs well. I'm hoping that it's too hot for them...we're expecting 30 degrees tomorrow.

Last few days on the Coast.

A few notes about the last couple of days on Vancouver Island, as internet time is very limited. (I can't believe that I'm actually here answering emails and working on the computer while standing in the train station in one of the most magnificent towns in North America - Jasper, that is).

One of the reasons that I wanted to go back to Vancouver Island was to try and discern the origin of our store mascot: this beautiful Cowichan sweater. I did locate it's store of origin (Sasquatch Trading Co. on Government St) and was even able to get a couple of likely possibilities of knitters, which is quite a feat considering that the people in the know in Duncan figure that it was knitted about 30-35 years ago. I'll be getting it back on display early in June and hope to keep researching from home based on the info that I got here.

This is Anita. She is by her own account a "fanatical knitter" andd is selling her beautiful socks as the Moss Street Market on most Saturdays. I had to get a picture of her with her LOOOONNNGGG double pointed needles. She explained that her family is Dutch and always knitted while supporting one needle under their arm. So obviously to do that with dpns, they too must be very long. The other lovely thing that I discovered when speaking with Anita is that she's originally from Napanee and will be visiting Kingston this summer. Hope to see her then.

The reason that we got to go to the Moss Street Market was that for the first time in my brother's very long history on Vancouver Island, the foot traffic tickets for the ferry to Saltspring Island were sold out when we arrived at the terminal on Saturday. Oh well, all the more reason to hope for a return visit in the near future.

This great little shop The Button and Needlework Boutique between Trounce Alley and Bastion Street caught my eye and imagine my suprise when I went in expecting a million buttons and nothing more, to be met by a wonderful selection of yarns and exquisite array of knitted sample garments. In speaking with the owner, he explained that they decided to take on the knitting world a couple of years ago to offer a broader selection to their needlework customers and to bring in a few more new customers. It's a great location, a lovely and friendly shop...and I love the button.

On Sunday morning, the day I was leaving, I took one last walk into the downtown area and was browsing around when I met this lovely lady. Victoria is full of interesting people of all ages who are "living the dream". This lady explained to me that she went shopping for a scooter for her friend who had been recently diagnosed with cancer. As she entered the store she saw this lovely pink scooter that was designed to support Breast Cancer Awareness. She never did tell me if her friend got a scooter but she said that she fell in love with this model, and despite the fact that she is able bodied, she bought it as a convenient and safe way to get around the city and carry groceries, etc. She then dressed it up with pink and black Skull and Crossbones and is quite a noted figure around town.
I love to be inspired by seniors who are thoroughly enjoying their life.