They’re so comfortable!

I finished the socks two days ago and wore them yesterday. No full pictures yet but have a preview.

For the record this is what happens whenever I stop moving for more than five seconds when I’m inside the house: cat tornado. Not pictured is two other kitties and a dog vying for my attention because they are FAR more interesting than a sock THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Today it’s my day off and I’m not exactly the most energetic being on the planet at this time so I’m lying down and watching Green Wing while knitting some tiny booties for my nephew-to-be. It doesn’t suck.

That’s a lot of people. Stage-fright imminent.

When I was fifteen I won my school’s “Dedication to Music” award. This would be the one they gave to people who were not the most talented in the group (though not the worst, either), but who were really enthusiastic about it. I went to every singing group/lesson I could once I discovered people didn’t grimace when I warbled and it was a brilliant escape from my less-than-stellar social life at school.

At the end of year ceremony I was asked to sing in front of a group of parents before I accepted the award. I’d sung in public plenty of times by this point but it was always as part of a group – this time I would be in a duet. As I looked out into the sea of about a hundred faces (our school was not large), I almost wimped out. That’s a lot of people, I thought.

It’s nothing on the alert I got last night through this blog.

I knew it was coming but wow, it skipped past me fast. One thousand people. One thousand! And that’s not including people who follow me on Twitter that WordPress handily (and rather sneakily) includes in my public figure.

That’s a lot of people.

I’ve been writing The Knitter Nerd for about five years now, though I’ve only taken it seriously in the last two. It’s been a wonderful outlet for me and a way to discover so many other knitters far more talented than me, and to talk to many of them. You all inspire me to do more.

So thank you to my followers. I’m glad you’re here; you make me feel slightly less like we’re all shouting into the dark.

Plenty of Plants

Yesterday was Mother’s Day here in Canadialand, so we took my partner’s mum to a plant store and bought her things.

Okay, okay. That’s only half the story. We also bought ourselves things, such as six herbs and an awesome planter with space for all of them. We also got a new air plant after the old one died of red dye (from the moss that came with it) which hangs in a little glass bauble above the sink.

You see, we have a problem, or at least my partner does. She’s prone to buying All The Plants. Spring may be the time I crack out the cotton but for her, it’s the time we make trips to buy anything green and growing. I can’t keep them alive so it’s my job to look at them and appreciate, preferably without touching them.

I am happy to admire these from afar, especially as I will also be eating some of them. Yum. I also got some lavender because it is the best of smells. If/when it flowers I may dry some out and make lavender bags with it because I remember those being so comforting when I was a stressed out child with all sorts of nightmares. I sleep easier these days but it wouldn’t hurt.

We’re going to have to make the spare room into a plant and yarn room where cats fear to tread. It’s the only way to keep all of these plants and all of my WIPs safe from them.

Kwaffee

Some days I am bored. Those days I am prone to starting new projects which generally means rooting around in my yarn stash for a while, but sometimes means going to the interwebs for some other ideas.

The other day I had one such moment and decided to try making cold brew coffee.

As a child I always enjoyed watching people make coffee. Whether it was a cafetiere, a French Press, or an espresso machine, I found the process fascinating. Maybe it was because I grew up in a tea-brewing family who generally did not touch coffee or maybe it was because I’ve always had a thing for any kind of comforting ritual.

Since I’m now a Grown Up™, I thought I may as well try out buying my own coffee-making device, especially since I can’t drink caffeine in that amount and worry about Tim Horton’s giving me normal instead of decaff. It’s happened.

I bought a French Press and a nice fancy grinder that I may marry in an elaborate wedding ceremony. It makes me feel fancy and good at adulting to have a coffee in the morning, even if it’s not for energy like many people use it.

Using the grinder I made some coarse brown mush with cold water, put it in a mason jar previously filled with my girlfriend’s mum’s delicious tomatoes, and put it in the fridge overnight.

Man, it was delicious.

Now, I don’t have a proper filter since I use a French Press, so I couldn’t filter it well enough. I’m going to try again once I buy some filters (or cut up an old t-shirt) but for now I highly recommend trying this.

Next up: cold brew tea!

Why I Like Reading Old Avengers Comics

So of course this weekend I went to see Avengers: Age of Ultron, because I would not be true to my geek roots if I did not. It has made me remember how much I love Scarlet Witch and the Vision in the comics and I’m back to reading my old Avengers comics.

I started on the first one with the Vision which was published near the end of the 1960s and it’s hilarious. Comedy genius, though not deliberately.

Case in point:

I’m enjoying putting together an article for the Vision’s first appearance in the comic book Avengers. HOLY CATS! pic.twitter.com/RLgB3KLnJM

— Polo Lonergan (@PoloLonergan) May 3, 2015

Then we have some great scenes with Hawkeye and Black Widow who were cohabiting at the time, or at least hanging out in a rather intimate way. Uh. Upside down.

This scene in Avengers #57 (1968) cracks me up. Upside down Black Widow! pic.twitter.com/hK0AMXfs1I

— Polo Lonergan (@PoloLonergan) May 3, 2015

There’s so much to love about these old comics. I’ve also found an old 4 part series where Wanda and Vision are moving in together after getting married, and believe me I’m going to enjoy that as soon as I get around to it.

Comics are my next love after knitting so I’m delving into my obsession. That doesn’t mean I’m not knitting as well. I bought some gorgeous cotton to make a top with and there will be pictures of that soon enough – I’m not using a pattern because I’m an idiot, so I’d like to document the process.

My Cat Would Like You To Know…

…That she is the queen of being comfortable.

Sean is a fluffy puddle of loud meows. She has quite the voice on her but she makes up for it with the softest fur of all our cats (we have three) and being really good at making us want to be cats.

I mean, look at her.

If that’s not the comfiest animal in the world, I’m a fish.

(Spoiler: I’m not a fish.)

Sean knows that she’s pretty and uses it to her advantage. On our Sunday movie watching time Sean decided to sit right in front of the screen. How dare we ogle the Guardians of the Galaxy on our new posh TV I won from work when we could be cuddling Her Majesty?

There is no knitting in this post, just cat. Cats have fibre on them! That sort of counts, right?

The Cutest Little Notions Purse Ever

I tried to resist. Honest.

Okay, it wasn’t much of an effort in the face of such cuteness but it still counts. I was chilling at Martina’s Little Green House of wonderment and joy last week and lo, a light did shine upon this thing.

It is covered in mushrooms!

Handmade by Sew Tara, a local crafter, it’s the perfect size for the items I use most. At the moment it has my stitch markers, my darning needles, and my yarn scissors. That means instead of lugging around the big plastic pouch I use for needles I can just grab this thing and my project and be set to go.

I probably could have resisted the temptation if I hadn’t looked inside though.

The green swayed me and with the wonderful little heart-button I couldn’t resist. I snapped it up and I’ve been carrying it around ever since.

I often skimp on things like this when it comes to knitting, mostly because of limited funds. But then I think about how much use I’m going to get out of it and how much I love it and it seems more than worth the modest price tag.

Besides, I’m passionate about supporting people brave enough to put themselves out there like that. People who sell their wares or start thriving cupcake companies or run yarn stores. It’s really important that small businesses and handmade items get their stage.

That’s much more important than resisting temptation.

…Right?

One Lovely Blog Award

How lovely is Bonnyknits? (Spoiler: very).

She nominated me for this very cute award. Thank you! It feels good to know people enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoy reading others.

You should go check out her blog immediately. She’d be on my list if she hadn’t nominated me anyway.

These are the rules of the One Lovely Blog Award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who nominated you
2. List the rules and display the award
3. Include seven facts about yourself
4. Nominate around 10-15 other bloggers and let them know about the award (their About page is a good place!)
5. Follow the blogger who nominated you, if not already. (Optional!)

Seven Facts About Polo

• I was born in the southwest of England and grew up on a small crazy island sticking off the coast.
• After visiting Canada multiple times since I was 18, I finally emigrated six months ago.
• I have a first class honours degree in Linguistics and Philosophy.
• My first and biggest passion is reading and writing: I used to cuddle books instead of teddies.
• I love strong flavours. As a kid I would take sips of vinegar.
• I’ve had OCD most of my life but it’s almost under control now.
• My day job is at a call centre and I love it because they let me knit.

So here are the people I’m telling you to go check out because they are super awesome.

If I’ve got your pronoun choice wrong, I do apologise – let me know and I’ll change it.

Lovely Bloggers

1. Gladeridercrafts.  Very talented, very sweet. Always has something interesting or nice to say in her blog and her comments.
2. Photosophiaus. This is my good friend Sophie. She is reponsible for my knitting addiction. She’s also very talented and a constant inspiration (though she doesn’t knit/crochet much now).
3. Kerry writes the most lovely posts with interesting tidbits and good photos.
4. Hardknitlife always has something new to say and is a very talented knitter.
5. Soknitsome is another blogger who I’ve grown to adore lately. Very friendly and her posts are great.
6. Little Church Knits posts wonderful things and wonderful photos. Make sure you bundle up if you click on her; it’s snowing on her blog right now!
7. Ways to Knit Forever always has something good on the needles.
8. Bamcrafts has excellent posts and often has new patterns on the go. Good ones.
9. Crosstitchery is a blog full of ideas and charming notions. Love visiting it.
10. The Sock Monkey knits a lot of socks. Some of those socks are from his own patterns. I really love socks too.

Honestly, I’ve been lacking in energy thanks to NaNoWriMo and the weather change. I haven’t been blogging consistently and I haven’t been visiting my old favourites. Thank you for making me miss it, Bonnyknits. I’m going to be clicking through all you guys and my reader all day now.

An Unexpected Hiatus

It turns out that changing my work schedule completely for the first time in months messed with my head. In the last week I have been unable to do anything useful whilst at home beyond walking the dog. I don’t even spend as much time knitting at home as I usually do due to the fact my job has become so quiet all of a sudden that I can get entire hats done in my shifts. I’ve knitted two in the last week plus most of a pair of socks.

The Brandywine Shawl I started a couple of weeks back has been quietly put aside. The mix of the pretty pattern plus the yarn with alpaca content just didn’t mix. It needs a yarn with some stitch definition so when I worked a couple of hours at Kniterary this Saturday I got some Cascade 220 in a lovely autumn orange. Sure, an orange shawl in an odd shape isn’t the most wearable of items but it’s not as though I’m averse to bright colours or weird clothes. I’m about to cast it on.

There’s a lot going on with my sticks and string lately but not much time to blog about it. This week I intend to get the hang of my new shifts and get back to normal service.

In penance (and in the spirit of the month), here’s a picture of some evil alpacas.

They’re watching you.

Sheep & Goats & Llamas, Oh My!

Since I’m working on my actual birthday (Thursday) we decided to celebrate a few days early by going to the Orono Fair. We went last year while I was visiting for two weeks so it was extra fun to know I’m here in Ontario for good this time.

There were lots of cute animals. I’m not gonna lie, that’s 90% of the reason I like going. The other 10% consists of weird shaped carrots, bad but delicious fair food (mmm, caramel apples), and of course the knitting and craft displays. I would really like to enter one of those competitions next year; I’m going to look into it.

The best part of the fair this year was my new boyfriend Tony the kissing llama. 

Previous encounters with llamas have left me vaguely terrified (despite fully planning on getting a guard llama for my future alpaca herd), but this dude was chill. He was so soft and fluffy and totally friendly. When you tapped your cheek he would come and peck you gently. Basically, this clever guy has figured out that anthropomorphised displays of affection result in food – or in his mind, ‘press cheek, treats come out’. 

This is Ozzy the therapy alpaca. He is a cutie. Very friendly and sweet although far more interested in the cows he could see past his pen than he was in us.

Ozzy likes to pose. Or just chew on the metal; we’re not quite sure. Either way this is proof that alpacas are seriously goofy-looking animals and I want them. I want them all. I want them all in mine and Nari’s hobby farm that we planned all day yesterday.

We saw a sheep getting naked but it was quite traumatising. She got a huge cut down her middle and the lady had blood all over her overalls. Aside from that it was interesting enough to watch it happen, although I felt quite uneasy afterwards.

Another picture of Tony, my new best buddy. Please note the huge rabbit chilling with him. They were good friends. Not as close as Tony and I though. 

“Hey. You got any food?”

“Seriously, dude, you can’t come in here without treats.”

This is my other buddy, Tiny Goat. Tiny Goat was a persistent little mister who definitely showed his species’s tendency to climb all the things as he leapt up onto my lap to grab the cone that contained the treats we had. He was trying to eat my face in this picture. I attempted to stash him in my bag and take him home but unfortunately there was no room past the emergency knitting I bring everywhere.

Orono Fair is a lot of fun, even if I got a bit of a side-eye for choosing it to celebrate my birthday. 

That evening I also got a Beaver Tail with candles in it. I wish I had a picture of that because it was totally adorable and really sweet of everyone since I love Beaver Tails (big friend pastries with gooey things on it) but as I munched on a caramel apple on the way home I was already stuffed. We shared out the Beaver Tail and I opened my gifts which was a SHIELD mug (yay!), some ‘Almoose asleep’ pyjamas, a bath bomb, a Michaels gift card, and some green Romney handspun yarn which is gorgeous and will be shown off later.

All in all it was a good pre-birthday celebration.

By the way, if any of you guys wanted to do the online equivalent of buying me a cuppa to celebrate another lap around the sun, I do have a Kindle wishlist.

How could I leave out the Jacob sheep?