Iris's First Christmas

I finished knitting Iris's Christmas stocking last night, and now there are four by the fire. Merry Christmas!

Yellow Baby Blanket

Once again, I've knit the Big Bad Baby Blanket, this time with a cap to match, because we've got a new baby coming to live at our house in the next few weeks. The yellow was Big Sister's choice, and we think it is a good one. Looking forward to meeting our new little girl!

Big and Bad Again!

I think this is the fifth time I've knit the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Debbie Stoller's Stitch and Bitch, and it's a testament to how far I've as a knitter when I compare this latest blanket to my first one, knit years ago, whose end result was an absolute mess. This latest blanket is also significant for a number of other reasons, not least of which is that it's the first time I've ever knit a blanket for a baby I knew would be a girl, and while the colour I chose is not particularly girlish, it was certainly fun to knit in a pinkish hue. And finally, the blanket is especially significant, because it was knit for my best friend's daughter who is due to enter the world in a couple of weeks from now, around Harriet's 3rd birthday. We're all very happy, and I don't think I've ever been more excited ever about a pregnancy that wasn't my own.

I knit a hat!

 I knit the largest size the pattern allowed and it still ended up fitting a bit snugly. I have a huge head, and my dream of roomy headwear may never come to anything. I like the hat though (which is made out of leftover wool from the cardigan I knit in 2008).

Edible things

Here is one of this summer's many pies, this one a cherry pie for Canada Day (which will have maple leaves next year-- I have since bought the appropriate cookie cutter). It was my first cherry pie, and taught me that hulling cherries is pretty annoying, but the pie was delicious. Thank you Farmer's Market for the freshness. This summer we also had strawberry rhubarb pie, peach pie, raspberry pie, blueberry pie and apple (of course). It has been a very delicious summer. My pastry continues to be amazing.

Also featured here is Harriet's first birthday cake, which was supposed to look like a ladybug and turned out rather successfully. It was also delicious, unfortunately Harriet couldn't eat it as it was loaded with artificial colour. She liked her more natural banana cupcake plenty, however, and has definitely been turned on to refined sugar. Because she is human.

A blanket for my almost-nephew

For the past while, I've been knitting this blanket for my friend Britt's baby, who is due at the beginning of December. I bought the wool before I knew he was a boy, thereby causing him to be one so that the colour would not be inappropriate. I didn't use a pattern, therefore the blanket is not *quite* as wide as it should be, plus I think one half comes from a different dye lot than the first. But I didn't make any fundamental mistakes, all stitches are sound, and the frame is a seed stitch that looks all right. I am quite happy with it, and it should keep this winter baby nice and warm one he arrives (unless he is unusually wide, in which case it will keep part of him warm). But nevertheless, yes, knit with love. I can't wait to welcome my first almost-nephew!

A sweater for Harriet

I knit Harriet a sweater! It's from the Debbie Bliss Baby and Toddler Knits book, and I've been working on it since last autumn. Seeing as I only knit whilst watching TV and that I hardly ever watch TV, this is not bad progress. We have Mad Men Season 1, Midsomer Murders weekly and a few movies borrowed from the library to thank for this project.

Naturally, this sweater was knit with the wrong size wool AND needles, using cheap polyester wool I had around the house. Considering all this, it turned out surprisingly well. I messed up the collar though-- there were supposed to be two buttons on the shoulder but I ended up with the second buttonhole on the wrong side of the sweater, hmmm.

I'm pretty proud of myself though, and the sweater is cute, even if it makes Harriet look like a boy (according to the waiter at the restaurant we were just at). I will not make her wear it after today, as she has clothes that are cuter and far less wonky. I expect in a few years it will have been relegated to the doll clothes pile, but still-- go, me!

Making stuff lately

Harriet's sweater has been on hold as I've tackled more urgent seasonal tasks, namely Harriet's Christmas stocking. I knit the other two four years ago, for our first Canadian Christmas. Harriet's is knitted with a bit less care, and with a purple flair, because she's that kind of girl. Kind of wonderful to think as I knitted it that she's going to keep this all through her childhood, that she was witness to nearly every stitch created, and strange that she won't remember a bit of it. Anyway, she's now officially a part of the family, or at least the bits of us that hang above the fire.

I've also been baking cookies to give to our friends, which is good because the cookies are delicious and I've finally found a use for the mason jars I've been hoarding for years and years (in vain hope of one day taking up canning, which isn't happening any time soon).

And finally, we've been making baby food. Which is the kind of thing that makes it obvious that I've only got one child.

I've been making this lately...

And that is all. Oh, and sorbet. And I just started knitting Harriet a tiny sweater, and will post an update when it's done.

Wiped

I've not been making cats lately. but I did find this one asleep on my baby's change table, on top of Baby's going home outfit, no less. This is my part-time cat, belongs to our next door neighbours, and she likes to sleep curled up in inappropriate places. I've also never posted a photo of a cat on a blog before, and thought this represented an ideal opportunity. Mostly because from this photo you can see that I've been busy preparing for baby, who actually has clothes, books, toys, and a changing pad. And also the stack of reusable wipes in the lower right hand corner-- I sewed them myself!! I learned how to thread my sewing machine, how to wind a bobbin (well enough for it to function, though not quite correctly) and made these wipes out of towel and an old shirt. Stuart helped cut out the pieces. And I'm pleased with them, pleased that learning how to sew might not be an impossibility, though I don't actually think that I like it that much. Sewing is not a multi-task, is it? But still a skill I'd like to acquire.

Baby Blanket DONE

And knit with so so much love, every stitch. We can't wait to meet you, little squirmster!

December knitting

My most exciting project lately has been growing a baby, and this seems to have been going well for the past nineteen weeks. On Wednesday we'll discover whether I'm growing a boy or a girl, which is very exciting. Also to see those kicking feet again, and get some kind of sense that this is real.

Below is the baby's blanket, knit from a recipe in Stitch and Bitch using "granite" tri-coloured Mission Falls wool. I spent $50.00 buying the wool, only to realize that I'd only bought half what I needed, and I need to get some more of the stuff, but none of the knitting stores I went to had any of the tri-coloured left. There's time though, as the baby won't be born until May. And this blanket-so-far is quite significant, different than everything else that I've ever created, in that it has absolutely not one mistake. Yet.















Next up are the booties I've made for our friends' Steve and Carolyn's baby. Project was a little more urgent as wee Spud is due in March, and so I whipped these up as an in-utero Zmas gift. This is my third or fourth time making these, and I never fail to be overwhelmed by their adorableness at completion. How amazing to contemplate a real live baby-to-be whose tiny feet will fit these.















And finally, I had to knit this rather furtively so Stuart wouldn't have his Christmas morning spoiled. Not that the hot water bottle was the highlight of his pickings this year, but still, I didn't want him to know. So I told him I was knitting a sweater for the cat, and though he didn't believe me (I am quite outspoken about my loathing for animals in clothes), I sure confused him plenty. This was a last minute project, knit from scraps in my basket, which is why the front and back of the cozy don't match. But it looks quite cool, actually, and is somewhat brought together by the snazzy matching buttons. I am proud of this, and it was most well received.

Cardigan Completed

My cardigan is completed, after ten months of knitting fun. Which is sort of impressive seeing as I don't knit very often at all, and that I've never made anything quite to this scale (except for the unfortunate electric blue poncho that proved unwearable but taught me a lesson about me NEVER again wearing ponchos or chunky wool.) Back when I started the cardigan, I predicted it would turn out wonky and though my prediction came true, it did far less than I would have imagined. The biggest problem is that the buttons are spaced haphazardly, and indeed I don't know what I was thinking. I've decided to ignore this, however, and revel in what's right instead (which definitely isn't the ribbing along the edges either, but alas). What is right is that the cardigan fits, and that it's even wearable. That the sleeves aren't too long, are even the same length, and there are no holes anywhere from dropped stitches. Never mind that the cardigan looks a bit lumpy, and makes me look a bit lumpy, for what can one expect from a cardigan? I am very pleased. The pattern came from here (though we will not talk about how their model is skinnier than mine), and I thank Erin Smith for her learned counsel.

Summer of Pie

'Tis been the summer of pie, mainly. And because half of it has gone into the freezer, we don't yet look like this has been the summer of pie. Also because we've been blessed with good friends to share pie with. We started the season off with rhubarb strawberry, then in June went strawberry picking and came home with bezzies for jam galore and two strawberry pies. July brought forth raspberries (albeit from the market), and then peach (as shown here). Blueberry has proven a favourite, however, and we've just made another last night. All pies with either lattice crust or marked with their initial. We're looking forward to a winter of fresh fruit celebration, that is if we have to look forward to winter at all.

Booty Call (Ha Ha)

I haven't completed a knitting project in ages. Was lucky this weekend to have the excuse of a friend's upcoming bebe to get on it. Here are two adorable booties, pattern via Crystal's blog. Crystal's are nicer, and these are way wonky, but they are undeniably cute, and were fun to make.

Other things I have made lately include a heart shaped chocolate cake, a dinner party, an entire (finished) novel, a fabulous short story, and a tidy house.

Post-Season Round-Up

My major knitting project this winter was not so major as my "major project" this winter was finishing the manuscript of my novel and it's finished... until revisions begin in September. So there was no sweater, but I also know enough to know how terrible my body looks in knitwear-- I learned that the hard way with a poncho, and that was a lot of effort for nil. Maybe next year. I did knit a blanket for my friend Lynda who is expecting un bebe in June. I just need to tie up the ends and send if off to California. And for the last while I've been knitting up squares with ends tangled up in my knitting basket, and I've just sewn them together. I intend this patchwork to be a lifelong project, and I think it's pretty cool thus far.

Coming up: new Pickle Me This Press Book this summer with limited circulation, though copies of "I Wish My Enemies Were Russians" are still available.


Please note I still have yet to successfully bake a chocolate cake.

Scarf

Here, modelled by my bannister, you will find the scarf I just finished knitting. It is my third scarf this Fall, as I knit an autumnal one for myself, and another for my sister's birthday. My next project will be something babyish, as our friend Lynda has a child forthcoming, and then that sweater I've been talk talk talking about.

Multi-Projecting

My Fall scarf in progress, the new Pickle Me This Press publication and the first draft of my thesis-project.

Pie

Recently have become an enthusiastic pie maker, along with my favourite partner-in-crime. My pastry is excellent, and he makes a filling that's rather superb. Pictured here is our peach pie. We also do a mean strawberry.

Rock my sox!

Hurray for another knitting project complete! I've knit my first pair of socks, and feel ready to soon tackle something with a sleeve.

Toque Tea Cosy

This is my third tea cosy, and the one I get to keep for myself. The toque effect is of my own design and it keeps my tea a-steaming.

Joyeaux!

One stocking down, one to go.

Overdue Haiku

Here is my haiku book, which was completed over a month ago. We're going to have another run available before Christmas. and they're on sale for $5!

Our coffee table

I've been meaning to post this beauty. My postcard collection + a coffee table out of somone's garbage=cool!!! Stuart and I are very pleased with this.

BookLust 3

My Independent Bookseller Wishlist
Snow by Orham Pamuk
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Pearls in Vinegar by Heather Mallick
Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
A Natural Curiousity by Margaret Drabble
The Gates of Ivory by Margaret Drabble
Osprey Island by Thisbe Nissen
Travelling Mercies by Lorna Goodison
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend (borrowed)
Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan
Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

*This list is shorter than usual. On account of my birthday, I recently came into substantial bookwealth.
** Update: Wow! Thanks Matthew. This list is getting smaller and smaller.

Hobby Countdown- five, four, three, two one!

After a long break from hobbying, I've jumped back on the horse. The hobby horse. Ha ha. First, we're getting wedding part 2 organised, which is much less stressful than wedding part 1 was but still involves lots of crafty business. We made party favours and table tags today. I also have to get some sort of confectionary on the table in my colour scheme and this requires a burst of brilliance in the next day or so. Second, after lots of talking about it, the haiku book is evolving! I downloaded a desktop publisher program called Ragtime Solo and it's excellent. Most of the layout is done, and now I need to scan the Japanese text and then add that to the layout, which will involve lots of fiddling. My plan is to sew the bindings myself, which isn't going to be easy but will have a professional result. I'm hoping to have the run of 50 finished by Thanksgiving (Canadian one), and then the desiring public will be able to buy a copy. Third, I have begun to make notes toward a series of poetry that will be based on "Tigers and Other Large Game" by AE Stewart, a fabulous guide to hunting in India. Fourth, once my knitting needles arrive, and then I am moved into my new apartment where knitting paraphenalia can be properly sorted, I am going to knit a pair of socks. I am thrilled to be back in the company of such knits gurus as Erin Smith, who can advise me and go wool shopping with me. Also looking forward to the crafting inspiration of wunderkind Carolyn Brown. I absolutely can't wait until Toronto. And fifth, though it doesn't really count, I am busy watching the two DVDs of EastEnders my mother-in-law recorded for me and sent across the sea. I absolutely love that show.

I made a tiara!

Here is the tiara I made today. Extra surprises in this photo include a bird's eye view of my messy room, part of my large Miffy head and a genuine Erin Smith painting packed in a box (for transit of course, not in my "to be sent to charity" collection). I've not been now doing a lot lately, save for lots of reading and and wedding planning. All plans are going very well!

Idle Days

Lately I've been waking up early in the morning and been too excited about absolutely everything to go back to sleep. I absolutely love April. I have two more weeks of employment and then projecting will be my way of life. First of all, I've been accepted to university so goodbye to 9-5 (or 1-9 as it is). I am spending the next four months rather idle, apart from cross-continental moves and wedding plans. And so I plan to spend them well.

1) I am going to finish my novel, which has now become "The Chronicles of Kevin", by the end of August.
2) Our own Pickle Me This Press will publish my book of haiku this summer. Ms. Eri Hashimoto is in charge of the kanji, and Stuart is going to aid in the construction. Copies will be about $3 and on sale in August we hope.
3) I am going to learn to cook! Stuart and I together (note- he is already a much better cook than I am) have vowed this objective. Anyone in the neighbourhood will be invited to a celebratory dinner party in September and I promise not to serve bagel pizzas, a staple of my university diet.

Posted!

We finished our wedding invitations and posted them this morning! We spent about $10.00 on the handmade paper, $40.00 on the stationary and envelopes, $1.00 on glue and $3.00 on photocopying. Altogether economical and I am most impressed with the result.

Hobby Recap

I quit yoga because it was boring me out of my tree. Stuart and I have joined the gym instead as I am starting put on weight. My gym regime (sitting on a stationary bicycle reading a magazine) has never been famous for weight removal but I am enjoying it.

I have written three short stories this last while, "Good Intentions", "The Secret Shopper" and "Things Happen." I have an idea for another, but I am focussing on my novel for the time being. I am attacking it from the inside out and am on a roll at the moment. It hit 70 000 words tonight and it's getting better all the time. No progress on the haiku. I am going to make it this summer. I'll certainly have the free time. I have an idea for a very interesting story for a local magazine and am pursuing it at the moment.

I knit a small bag for my mini-disc player out of the wool leftover from my laptop bag. It's not so great, as I made it sans pattern and didn't have enough wool so had to finish it with cheap acrylic wool the last three rows. This is why I'll never go pro. I haven't sewn the seams. I did find a ball of Rowan Chunky wool leftover from my poncho (which does look awful on me by the way). I don't know what to make from that (April doesn't really inspire woolen inspiration) but something will come.

In wedding news, the invitation bits are all cut and ready to be glued. Envelopes have to be addressed. Our aim is to get them out this weekend but that feels ambitious.

Mission Felted

My laptop bag is felted! Erin posted this picture on her site and I'm so excited, though more excited to have it home.

Lately I've Been Thinking

Lots of hobbying of late. I've put the finishing touches on one short story, and begun and complete another in the last week. I've also written a new poem, "I Wish My Enemies Were Russians." As well, my novel has gone over 60,000 words and I'm now stranded in the final chapter with an aim to finish in the next two weeks. And then will begin a major process of rewrites and analysis. My haiku book remains in the works but I'm not sure when it's going to happen. Perhaps will have to wait until I'm home again.
In knitting news, I've nearly completed the first of a pair of legwarmers for me- bigger than the last pair which I had to give to a wee friend. And after being lost on the mail for three weeks, my Noro laptop bag got to Canada and was felted by Erin. It will get back to me when Canada Post decides it should. I've also found out a coworker is having a baby, which means another project in the works though I haven't decided what it will be.
Further hobbies, I've been a bit lax at yoga and French and elephant training just isn't in the cards these days. We've also got to get the ball rolling on our wedding project.

Chang Chang Chang

Here is a scan of my article from The Globe, sent by my wonderful friend Carolyn (who knows a thing or two about elephant camp).

Alternative Tourism with a Purpose

From the February 2005 issue of Kansai Time Out:

Global Village: Alternative tourism with a purpose By Kerry C.

The authentic travel experience is fiercely chased but less caught, and the local consequences of this manic tourism are rarely considered. Foreigners living in Japan, who have the opportunity to explore Asia as many Asians never will, can have a major stake in this imbalance.

The Global Village Program aids in redressing the problem, operating through Habitat for Humanity-- an American ecumenical organization committed to providing decent housing to those in need and the empowerment and independence of its homeowners. Habitat houses are built with voluntary labor, and Global Village began in 1989 in response to requests for short-term work projects internationally. Habitat Affiliates now exist worldwide, including 26 countries in Asia/Pacific. In November, a group of 24 took part in a building project in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

It's remarkably easy for a tourist to pass time in Chiang Mai. Street markets, massage chairs and trekking expeditions beckon. English is widely spoken. Prices are cheap. The hedonistic potential of Chiang Mai- albeit enchanting- underlines how travel can become such a shallow enterprise. But Global Village gives a vested interest in the community and a reason to be there. The above pleasures become fringe benefits, after days spent digging septic tanks, laying concrete floors and building brick walls.

Volunteers provide the drudge work, under the supervision of local skilled workers. The home's owner also participates in the build; this principle known as "sweat equity". (Habitat houses are not given to the homeowner, but rather purchased by them with an interest-free mortgage, which is then used to build other houses locally. The homeowner must commit to help build their own and future houses.) It's quickly apparent to all involved that shared language is overrated. Gestures, facial expressions and that useful English question "okay?" suffice for communication. They have to, because after all, there are only ten days to build that house together. Miniature language exchanges are ongoing, jokes are exchanged and real relationships are forged between homeowners and volunteers.

Global Village trips vary considerably in terms of type of location, accommodation, transportation and the work required. Volunteers need to have flexible personalities. They are asked to do only the work they are physically able. Some groups have a religious focus, but this also varies and is up to the discretion of individual Global Village team leaders. The organization strongly stresses a focus of "faith in action", and not religious conversion. Volunteers come from all over the world and for a fascinating array of reasons. Personal backgrounds vary widely. On the Chiang Mai build, the group ranged between ages 19 and 76. Learning to work together and the friendships that follow are one of the best parts of this experience.

The Chiang Mai team built three houses in villages close to the city. The homeowners were women-- two widowed and all with children. Volunteers stayed in basic accommodation in the city and were delivered to the work site crowded into the back of two small pick-up trucks. Lunch was Thai fare, catered by a Habitat homeowner who, since receiving her house, has opened her own restaurant.

On days off and in the evenings, volunteers soaked up the festive spirit of Chiang Mai's Full Moon Festival, Loy Krathong. The group visited the village school, released hot-air balloons with the children and decorated small floats made from banana plants with flowers, incense and candles. The floats were released in a ceremony at a nearby pond. Volunteers also had the opportunity to take Thai cooking and language classes, and partook in a three-day R&R activity at the end of the build- in this case, an elephant training course at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in nearby Lampang Province.

The final night of the Global Village build is emotional for everyone. The houses are dedicated in a ceremony and the homeowners receive their keys. Each family gains the stability and security of a roof of one's own. Volunteers come away with new skills and rare cultural insight. It's difficult to think of a travel experience more worthwhile.

Details:
Global Village trips in Asia cost between 1200 and 1500 US dollars, plus airfare. Room, board, in-country transportation, cultural activities and a donation to the local affiliate are included in the cost.

Contact www.habitat.org for details of upcoming Global Village trips and to apply online. A telephone interview takes place with the team leader before applicants are approved.

Warmed Legs

Julie's legs modelling their new legwarmers. Her house is not heated, so she particularly needs them. And they were too small for my sexily muscular calves anyway and meant for someone wee.

Noro

My new computer and the beautiful Noro wool for its bag-to-be.

Legwarmers!

Legwarmers! The wool I received from my boyfriend's parents for Christmas was just dying to be made into 1980s relics. They're like socks but easy. Because they have no feet.

Miffy World

Here I am at Miffy World. Miffy is definitely one of my hobbies. I spend a small fortune every week in support of her empire.

Booklust 2

My Independent Bookseller Wishlist
Snow by Orham Pamuk
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Pearls in Vinegar by Heather Mallick
Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
A Natural Curiousity by Margaret Drabble
The Gates of Ivory by Margaret Drabble
Out of the Girls Room and Into the Night by Thisbe Nissen
Osprey Island by Thisbe Nissen
Travelling Mercies by Lorna Goodison
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend (borrowed)
A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg (new!)

The Winter Set!

The winter set! I have stayed up very late to finish mitten two, and my eyes seem to reflect that. Yea!

I made a mitten!

I made a mitten. Of course because it was I who made the mitten, it's riddled with numerous imperfections and never mind the fact I have to knit a mate and neglected to write down any of my measurements from this one, but the fact remains that I made a mitten.

Shumi Days

Elephant training is my hobby de jour. Fully intending to save funds to take the ten day course in the spring. I think it's a really useful hobby to have. You never know when you'll need it. Knitting is on the backburner. Mittens don't seem to be my destiny. The first one was too small and this one's enormous. I may venture out to buy a pair now, but that's such an admission of defeat. Haiku is also in focus. I have yet to learn how one makes a book, especially when one has next to no creative skills. Pickling is on hiatus (this is getting to be a rather sad hobby blog entry). However Picklemethis will live on as my publishing company. Once I learn how to make a book that is. Hopefully decorating my Christmas tree will be much more successful than anything else has been. Oui oui.

My newest hobby.

The scarf has been completed, and I received the Burberry one as a gift, which is perhaps the strangest gift I have ever received but it's real burberry so therefore might be the most expensive gift I have ever received.

Mes pastemps

New hobby! I start weekly French conversation classes on Monday and am very excited about this. Plus, the wedding invitations are nearly set. We've designed them on the computer and bought handmade paper to serve as backing- from the 100 yen shop! So basically our wedding invites are going to look absolutely gorgeous and cost about ten dollars in total. Japanese 100 yen shops are an economical miracle.

Shumi shumi shumi

Hobbying has been on the backburner of late, as I have been tremendously lazy, had a massive attitude problem that resulted in my lying on the sofa staring at the ceiling and despairing my existence and I have been a bit busy applying for graduate school, though not busy enough to be any real excuse.

The scarf is coming along beautifully however and will not be long finished. It will be long and warm, and the weather is getting cool enough to warrant this. I have received a pattern for mittens which seems a bit ambitious for my skills but I am going to give it a try. I also was introduced to Craft Central in Sannomiya. It's eight floors high, one of which is devoted entirely to wool and so I am envisioning an interesting project of some sort when the mittens and the scarf are all finished.

Business Kevin is nearly at 50,000 words. He's now in a relationship with a man called Gary even though he isn't really gay, and he's about to have an affair with his former stepmother. I absolutely love it.

No haiku progress, though I did write a new one. My current project is figuring out how exactly Eri and I are going to construct this book, especially in the land of no photocopy shops.
In pickling news, there is pickling news! I have a pickling sensai at work- she once made pickles for all of the teachers and is my inspiration. Anyway I told her about my tragic pickling results, and indeed they were tragic. Today she brought in a jar of instant pickling vinegar, another of plain vinegar so I can add my own sugar and salt, and a small jar of pickled onions she had made herself. She said she wants me to be a success. Unfortunately I forgot the goods at work tonight, but that doesn't mean I appreciate it any less.

In yoga news, I still can't do the crane pose.

And wedding news? We designed our invitations and made a lovely site here.

We're Number One!

Congratulations to everyone here at Ever Projecting! We're now the number one site listed when one googles "Knitting", "Pickles" and "Haiku". Add "Margaret Drabble" and we're actually the only site listed! This is what we've been working for all this time, and it's a tremendous honour to finally be recognised for our singularity.

It's a tense time at Pickle Me This as we count down to the pickle deadline. Things have been more positive of late, as there has been less noticeable shrivelling in the past few days but the scum forming on the bottom of the jars doesn't bode well for greatness. We're not giving up hope yet. Until Monday.

In haiku news, Eri and I have been communicating, via my Heidi Girl of the Alps Stationary no less. Apparently she is excited about the haiku project and we may discuss it more tomorrow night, as she should be at the same barbeque as I am. I think we're going to get started in December after my trip to Thailand.

In Business Kevin news, his format has been changed in Microsoft Word to that of an actual novel in terms of words per page, margins and lay-out. This boosted my long blase attitude toward Kevin et al, and now he's broken up with Amanda, and about to have an affair with his former stepmother who is in an unhappy marriage to the heir to an American discount retail empire. His name is Jack Stock. Kevin's at 42, 600 words.

My scarf is getting quite long and I bought a second load of yarn on the weekend but they had only one orange left. I want to finish it up and start with mittens.

Otherwise now doing graduate school applications and my portfolio.

Coming soon: Now Doing... My Wedding! The Project of the Year. And something new at Now Reading.

Haiku progresses

Jonathon's girlfriend Eri has agreed to translate my haiku book, which is sugoi. We will be meeting up in the next few weeks to talk about it. In the meantime I am planning the book itself- it will be written in romanji with kanji inserted as an object. I am not sure about the actual construction of the book itself, but have faith I can make it happen. The overriding issue now of course is what to name my self-publishing press.

Dubious pickles

The pickles are shriveling up in their jar. Perhaps there is a reason the recipe called for white vinegar and actual measurements of the ingredients. I have not yet given up hope however.

Booklust

My Independent Bookseller Wishlist
Snow by Orham Pamuk
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Pearls in Vinegar by Heather Mallick
Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
A Natural Curiousity by Margaret Drabble
The Gates of Ivory by Margaret Drabble
Out of the Girls Room and Into the Night by Thisbe Nissen
Osprey Island by Thisbe Nissen
Travelling Mercies by Lorna Goodison
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke

Pickle Me This

I may have a translator for my haiku project! Will get a definite response in the next few days but it looks positive. And so am fretting madly with the technical problems of book building. In novel news, Business Kevin hit 40,000 words this week but I am suffering from a realistic fear that it's rubbish.

Are pickles supposed to float?

The humble beginning of the Pickle Me This corporation (soon to be taking over a world near you!)

Hobby Update

I spent the weekend with my friend Becky, who is an enthusiastic hobbiest. We got to talking and it was productive conversation. I have decided to take up pickling. Also to add pockets to my scarf, for hands or things I am not yet sure.

Now Reading

Now Reading was originally going to be mine and Bronwyn's World Famous Webzine, but Bronwyn suffers from that oft-inhibiting perfectionism and so it's been a solo effort for the most part. Just reviews of various print-of-note I have come across.

Business Kevin

Business Kevin is the novel I have been writing for a year now. Kevin is a character concocted from the collective mind of Stuart and I when we once took the train to Lancashire and sat across from a pimply kid in a suit. He was sitting with an older man in a suit who we assumed to be a boss of some kind, and they proceed to analyse graphs and numbers on a laptop computer for two hours. What a desparate way to spend an afternoon, and we vowed to never become him and Stuart named him Business Kevin. This character morphed with a similarly aged boy in a suit who took the Yellow Bus line with me in Nottingham from Sherwood Rise into town. He was the best dressed boy in town, but we realised wore his suit into town on a Saturday which meant he probably worked at Car Phone Warehouse and that was terrible. Anyway, Kevin developed a host of imaginary associates including his paraplegic porn star father Frankie, his mother Delores who is the lesbian owner of a garden centre and his girlfriend, the Diana Princess of Wales devotee Amanda Almond. Kevin grows slowly. He is just about 40 000 words long and had a long hiatus while I went through a summertime non-fiction obsession. However he has just lost his virginity, Princess Diana is just about to die, and so things are really really getting good.

The Haiku Project

I became interested in haiku when I moved to Japan and began to write my own. This infuriated the Japanese, who didn't believe haiku could be English and they were sort of right. I concede that they aren't real haiku but that haiku are a really interesting and important form of poetry.
Haiku are traditionally 17 Japanese syllables, with a seasonal reference as an anchor. English, having broken all the rules from the get-go, are more flexible and often have fewer than 17 syllables, as English takes less to say the same as Japanese. Haiku are very concrete, do not personify, are about nature and capture an action in its instant. Haiku are the snapshots of poetry, and are an interesting challenge to the more verbose among us.
My haiku project is to self-publish a small book of my haiku with their Japanese translations. The challenge of finding an appropriately bilingual translator lies ahead, and the challenge of printing Japanese letters and working with quite limited resources (the photocopier at the local 7-11 mainly). However I am looking forward to the result!

The beginning of my garish scarf- or muffler as they say in these parts. The wool is cheap, but the needles are bamboo!