Weekend in Quebec

I somewhat spontaneously decided to put some miles on the car and go to Québec with my father this past weekend to visit some family (my dad grew up in Québec). It was mostly spent visiting said family but I did have a couple hours to spend in Old Québec. I tried to practice my french while I was there and found I did pretty good in the city. One girl in a shoe store didn't even realize that I wasn't from there, which I find surprising since my accent is horrible. But out in Saint Raymond where my Grandmamman lives I went to a restaurant and the waitress couldn't understand me when I ordered a glass of water (une verre d'eau). All in all, the Québecois population are not nearly as snooty as people say they are, but there are always a few...


Here is a cute little street there. I love all the little shops and cafés, it looks so European.



And this is my new car!!! Haha, no, I saw it parked on the street there and had to take a picture. It's a Lamborgini. I wonder if the owner of this car is single?



And of course, the beautiful Chateau Frontenac.


And now I am back home completely sick of driving... for now.

On the road again...

This weekend I'm going on a rather last minute trip to Quebec city with my dad. I have some relatives there whom I haven't seen since I was in highschool so I think it's about time I go back to visit. I'm starting to wonder why I ever bother unpacking in the first place, as I seem to be repacking shortly thereafter. Ah well, it's nice to have so few responsibilities that I can do these sorts of things.

On tuesday I finally remembered to bring my camera to KOL, and even more impressive, I remembered to use it!

This is newest KOL member, and the cutest!

Song Game (aka-wasting time on my coffee break)

Song Game, Stolen from Frozen Extremeties facebook...
Share

1. Open your preferred music player.
2. Randomize playback
3. For each track, enter the song info as the answer.
4. Post it on your Facebook. (Or Blog!)
5. Don't cheat, it's way more fun!

Opening Credits:
Narc-Interpol

Waking up:
Mine's not a high horse - the Shins

First Day at High School:
Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead

Falling In Love:
If you were here - the Thompson Twins

Fight Song:
Brisbee Blue - Calexico

Breaking Up:
Give me one reason - Tracy Chapman

Prom:
Tower of song - Martha Wainright

Life:
Shine a light – Wolf Parade

Mental Breakdown:
I want to know - the Mavericks

Driving:
You take my breath away - Sara Brightman

Flashback:
Oceano – Josh Groban

Getting Back Together:
Next Exit -Interpol

Wedding:
Warning Sign – Coldplay (I don't think that playing a song called Warning Sign at a wedding would be very good luck!)

Birth of Child:
the New Year - Death cab for Cutie

Final Battle:
the Police and the Private - Metric

Death Scene:
i hear noises - tegan and sara

Funeral Song:
Just for now - Jill Barber

End Credits:
All I wanna do is make love to you -Heart

(Morning had broken by Cat Stevens came next... that would have been a perfect waking up song!)

Sock it to me...

Another finished pair of socks! These are Fleece Artist Merino socks. I based them on the fleece artist sock pattern but I had to invent an Extra Small size and I decided to do ribbing all the way down. This yarn is sooo soft and the colour reminds me of goldfish. I thoroughly enjoyed knitting these ones.



I also started a side project as I was getting board with the baby blanket. I had this Cascade fixation that I picked up in the half price bin at Tangled Skeins and I had cast on Hedera, but it wasn't going well so I frogged it and cast on Broadripple instead.



My knitting ADD is getting the best of me. I still haven't seamed the baby sweater that I knit back in January (I dislike seaming) and I have one purple bootie awaiting a mate, but I have until August to get this stuff done and in the mail before I go to sea. Oh yes, and I promised to knit a hat for a charming cadet I met in the campus bar at the coast guard college. Some people drink and say stupid things, I drink and offer to knit things for people.

Mending my bad knitting ways...

I finally made it back to KOL this week after being away for a while and met a few new knitters (new to me knitters anyway). After a while one of them asked if I was twisting my stitches in my stockinet. I wasn't doing it on purpose, and after closer inspection we figured out that I twist my purl stitches and I have been doing it all along. It turns out that I taught myself to purl incorrectly. It's too late to change it on the baby blanket and I am not about to start that one over so I guess I will have to live with the twisted stockinet.

Mrs. Yes brought her beautiful new munchkin as well. I held him. He cried. I guess the maternal instincts have not kicked in yet, which is ok considering that the only living thing in my care is a cactus and I don't think that will change in the near future. Besides, I will get to practice not making babies cry on my little neice when she arrives.

I am looking for a good manly hat pattern. I think I'd like to use Manos for it. Any good ideas?

Gyro Standard 20 Course May 2007

I have never been on a technical course where they felt the need to take a class picture, but they did, so here it is. Also notice that there is actually another woman in my class, not very common. The really interesting thing is that the instructor on the right is actually from the same little community in NB that I am from. He used to live down the road from my parents, and I've met his daughter and everything. What a small world.

BBB

If you are my unborn niece, please look away or the surprise will be ruined! Also, I hope you are infact a girl or this blanket will not be very appropriate.

I found the pattern here http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2005/07/29/welcome.html and I am using Butterfly Super 10 Cotton. My sister is not a fan of wool because it is itchy, so I decided on cotton instead. I started it last week while I was on course at the coast guard college in Sydney. The course was really good and seeing all those cadets in uniform everyday wasn't half bad either. Sorry, i have no pictures of them!

More of Winston

julie & chien, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

This blog seems to be more about Winston than knitting lately, but he is just so lovable...

I was sitting on the sofa reading when he randomly walked over, sighed and fell onto my lap in this position. Nicole and my mom thought it was amusing and took a picture. He looks so depressed here. It's a hard life, Winston, a hard life indeed.

Socks, sisters and apples.

This is the pair of socks that I started two years ago and finally finished a couple weeks ago. These socks did some travelling while I worked on them. They have been on the CCGS Hudson on the Grand Banks and well as on the CCGS Matthew surveying the Swiss Air crash site. They were also the project that I brought the very first time I every came to KOL. I think they will make very nice work socks. Oh yes, they are Patons Kroy socks yarn on 2.25 mm needles.

This is my sister and her dog showing off the nursery for the new baby. They got it all set up while I was visiting them a few weeks ago. I don't think Winston is going to enjoy the lack of attention he will get once the new addition to the household comes!


And this is my most recent addition to my household. A 2.0GHz 17" iMac. I got it on friday. I am still trying playing around the OS. It's been a long time since I have used a mac, but so far it's pretty cool. They are a lot of neat little apps and it's very pretty. I am still having internet connection problems though. Not only if my connection as slow as mollasses (sometimes as low as 50kbps) but it drops out SEVERAL times a day especially during peak hours. I have called Aliant a few times and they are incredibly useless, especially since I know much more about this sort of thing than those silly call centre agents do. (At least I like to think that I do) If this doesn't get sorted out soon I may switch to Eastlink. Does anybody have any comments on the Aliant/Eastlink situation?

A baby is on the way...

Winston1, originally uploaded by leclerc_jk.

No, this is not said baby. Even though Winston is quite whiney. The pic is dark because he doesn't like the flash,
My trip to Ontario went pretty well despite the horrendous driving (and my terrible spelling). Of course we had to hit snow on the way there and the way back.

My dad got the nursery painted and the crib assembled, and we went shopping for baby things and stuff. My sister also had her first ultrasound while I was there and since her husband is fighting in Afghanistan right now, I got to go in with her and watch. My little niece appears to be quite healthy.

So, now that we are 95% sure it's girl, I can start more knitting and not have to make everything green or yellow! Yippee!

I will have more knitting posts once I get around to unpacking my camera and whatnot.

Antropologie Capelet

I finished the anthropologie inspired capelet found here: http://peonyknits.blogspot.com/2005/11/anthropologie-inspired-capelet-fo-and.html . I used about a skein and a half of Patons Katrina on size 11 Denise needles. It was a pretty quick and easy knit and I learned how to do raglan shaping. Yippee. Now I just need to learn how to take decent pictures of myself. It's tricky!




My computer is behaving very well now. Fred helped me get it all fixed up. I still have the urge to go out and buy a sweet Apple but I do not have 1700$ laying around so I guess I will have to make do for now.

Next tuesday I leave to go see my sister in Ontario for a week. I can't wait. I will however miss KOL for a couple weeks :( Glad the new digs are working out though!

Green scarf and my computer is possibly recovering from it's flu?

I made a scarf from the leftovers from the Lady of Lake Jacket. There's still more yarn left too, I think I have enought for a hat!

My PC has been acting up lately and I've been formatting and reinstalling windows, etc. Tonight, I was getting so fed up that I went to look at computers. Then I got home and everything seems to be working ok. Maybe my computer just needed to be scared into being replaced to start behaving properly.

tagged

All answers must start with your first initial:

Your Name: Julie
Famous Music artist/group: Jill Barber
3 letter word: jab
Color: Jade
Gift/present: Jewels
Vehicle: Jetta
TV Show: Jetsons
Country: Jordan
Boy's Name: Jim (my boss)
Girl's Name: Jenna (my best friend in middle school)
Alcoholic drink: Julep
Occupation: Janitor
Flower: Jasmine
Celebrity: Julie Andrews
Food: Jelly beans
Something found in a kitchen: Julienne Peeler (i had to surf the web to come up with that)
Reason for Being Late: Jam (the traffic kind, not the strawberry kind)
Something You Shout: I don't often shout


I have a few pictures of FO's to post as well, but my computer is being wierd and I haven't brought my camera into work to upload them. I tried reformatting this weekend but that didn't seem to fix it. I'm going to try reinstalling windows one more time and if that doesn't work, I may have to consider acquiring some new hardware, which is so not in the budget right now.
Ah, technology.

Look What I Got!

It finally came! The deleivery guys showed up yesterday afternoon and brought me the new bed. It's very comfy!
And here it is all made up with my new Duvet and duvet cover ensemble. As you can see, some of my pals are testing it out. They approve.





After the busy day I am having at work, I can't wait to go home and nap, but I will try my best to drag myself back from my cloudlike haven to check out the Wired Monk tonight.

I also finished a scarf that I made from the leftover yarn from my Lady of the Lake jacket, but I have not sewn in the ends or taken pictures yet. I think I even have enough yarn left to make a hat as well. Pictures to come shortly.

A little FO

I finished the shrug I have been working away at. The pattern was free on the Interweave Knits website but it originally had little ruffles on the sleeves which I left out. I used just under two balls of Patons Katrina on size 10.5 Denise needles. My flash is kinda bright so you can't actually see that this was all done in ribbing.

I finished this a few days ago but my internet at home has been incredibly flakely lately and would not let me upload pictures.





My new bed should have been here by now, but it's not... Hopefully soon it will arrive and I will have pictures of it and my new Duvet. Or maybe it will be so comfortable that I will stay in bed forever never to be heard of again.

Filing in space

Haven't finished a project in a while. I have been knitting, but as always, I am working on several things at once and have not finished any of them. So here is some mindless meme stuff to fill in space and let you all know that this blog is still alive.

**Go to the google search engine and type in your name and the words "needs" after it, i.e. "Morgan needs". Write down the discription that appears.

"Julie - Needs Early Start"

Hmmm... What do I need an early start on? Maybe I should figure that out so that I can get started.

Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three neat facts, two births and one death in your journal, including the year.

1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland was devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
1969 - IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer.
1997 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage.

1958 - Kevin Bacon, American actor
1970 - Beck, American singer

1999 - Pete Conrad, American astronaut (b. 1930)

Boy was I born on an important day!

FO and weekend shopping spree.

I finished my wrister warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts last week. They were pretty easy and quick to knit, but I don't know how much I'll wear them since it's too cold out there right now.
I stopped by LK Yarns on friday and picked up a bunch of sale yarn, as if I needed more yarn. I do have plans for all of it though. The Patons Katrina will be used to make a couple shrugs, that multi-coloured stuff in the bottom right will make a nice lacey scarf and the purple cotton in the left will make booties and a hat if my sister has a baby girl. If she has a boy, I will have to rethink it. As you can tell, I am hoping for a girl.

The yarn wasn't the last of my weekend shopping. I also went to Simmons and ordered a new bed. After sleeping on a 30 year old mattress (clealy a hand-me-down) I figured it was time to upgrade. Now if bowling balls were to drop on my bed beside me, I can sleep undisturbed.

Trying out the whole meme thing...

Countdown Meme (taken from http://thedailymeme.com/)

Ten movies you’d watch over and over:
1. Phantom of the Opera
2. Rent
3. La Vita Et Bella
4. Amelie
5. LOTR
6. High Fidelity
7. About a Boy
8. Million Dollar Baby
9. Motorcycle Diaries
10. Star Wars

Nine people you enjoy the company of:
1. my Mom
2. my dad
3. my sister
4. Tristan
5. Dawn
6. Adrien
7. Pat
8. Sarah
9. Everybody at KOL!

Eight things you’re wearing:
1. my Glasses
2. a grey long sleeved shirt
3. a blue sweater
4. my Helly Hansen fleece jacket (yes it's that cold in my shop)
5. Jeans
6. wool socks
7. sketchers
8. my watch

Seven things on your mind:
1. I have to go to the gym tonight
2. I should be drinking more water
3. I need to get all those cables made up for the new boat
4. I would like to rearrange my living room
6. Before I can rearrange furniture I have to clean up!
7. I have too many knitting/cross stitch projects on the go.

Six objects you touch every day:
1. The steering wheel of my Integra
2. my keyboard
3. the fridge
4. the coffee pot
5. the alarm clock
6. the door knob

Five things you do everyday:
1. wake up (hopefully)
2. brush my teeth
3. shower
4. check my e-mail
5. drink coffee

Four bands or musical artists that you couldn’t live without:

1. Belle and Sebastian
2. Sarah Slean
3. Tegan and Sara
4. Calexico

Three of your favorite songs of the moment:
1. Legacy - Jill Barber
2. Paper Bag - Fiona Apple
3. Warning Sign - Coldplay

Two people who have influenced your life the most:
1. My parents
2. my sister

One person who has been nice to you today:
1. Gerry, one of my coworkers, gave me some cinnimon hearts (because his wife gave them to him and he doesn't like them) Seeing as I haven't been anywhere but work today, that's all I've got.

I have too much spare time.

What a fun website! After seeing this I decided to try out this nifty site for myself. This is my sister's dog Winston. Not really sure what look he was going for here.

My First Sweater!

I finally finished my first sweater! It's the Lady of the Lake from Fleece Artist. I think it turned out okay for my first attempt. I tried to take a picture of myself with it on, but that didn't work out so well, hopefully I will have a good shot of it soon...If you look closely you can see how desperately my carpet needs to be vacuumed...