Sick again

Hi folks - remember the nasty sinus infection I had a while back? well, it's back ... explaining why I haven't had much to blog about lately. I am still working on detangling the washed, unraveled St Brigid yarn, and the Eleanor socks should be done soon. I've been sewing a bit too, making placemats, pillowcases, and other simple things. (Even a zippered case!)

Anyway, I'm waiting to find out whether I need more antibiotics, and hope to be on the mend soon so I can share more pics and progress with you!

Meme time!

Thanks to Chelsey for the tag:

4 jobs I have had in my life:

1. Shelving books at the library in high school ... and getting caught reading the books.

2. Teaching German lab in university ... and totally forgetting about my first day at work.

3. Typing car serial numbers onto carbon duplicate forms.

4. Sam the Record Man! Best ... discount ... ever.

4 films I can watch again and again:
1. The Big Lebowski As a friend of mine says: "Pee-your-pants funny."
2. Hannah and Her Sisters
3. The Lord of the Rings (all 3 movies)
4. The Remains of the Day

4 places I have lived:

1. Toronto
2. Saint John, NB
3. Montreal
4. Hamilton


4 TV series I watch:

1. Hi-5
2. Dora the Explorer
3. Go Diego Go
4. Zobomafoo
Do we sense a pattern here?

4 places I have been on holiday:

1. New England
2. Dominican Republic
3. Newfoundland
4. Banff, AB

4 things I do every time I am on the Net:

1. Check email
2. Read bloglines and news feeds
3. Check Figure Skating Universe
4. Check Google Calendar

4 things I would NOT eat for anything in the world:

1. Cilantro. UGH
2. Anything with visible eyeballs
3. Anything with tentacles
4. Hardboiled eggs. Gag!

4 places I would love to be right now:

1. Tuscany
2. Japan
3. On the beach in PEI (Prince Edward Island for you non-Canadians)
4. At Deborah Voigt's recital in Toronto this evening!

4 people I tag, if they have not been tagged already:

Natalie
Heather
Wendy
Shannon

Knitting update

2 repeats done on the back of St. Brigid:















At this rate, I should have the thing done by the time I'm, oh, FIFTY. And this is with only two projects on the needles, people. It's the damned internet. I need to focus ...

I did manage to finish the first Eleanor sock, finally.















I do like how the lacy pattern shows up in the Fleece Artist. Interesting without being over-busy. The second sock is on the needles now ... no 2nd sock syndrome for me.

Another cool thing that happened this week was that I became one of the lucky beta-testers for Ravelry. I am in the illustrious company of Marina and Theresa, among other fabulous knitters and knitbloggers. It's very cool to be able to compare your projects directly with those of others, and to see multiple versions of a project you're contemplating. Major kudos to Jess (frecklegirl) and Casey for this great endeavour.

I've been getting back into sewing on a very small scale, pursuing some of the little projects in the first issue of Sew Simple. My finishing techniques are, predictably, somewhat spotty, but improving. And they don't seem to mar the finished products too much. Next up: a purple pillowcase for my purple-obsessed little princess, some placemats, and some hand-embroidered (!) kitchen towels.

The preshrinking part would be a lot easier, of course, if my dryer was actually pumping heat instead of just air ... but I guess I'm being unconsciously enviro-conscious then, aren't I!

Classical music and museum culture

Lawrence Kramer, whose work I've admired since I started grad school so many years ago, weighs in on how the classical music world can learn some new tricks from visual art museums. I think that some of the more forward-looking ensembles are already thinking along similar lines ... I Furiosi and eighth blackbird come to mind ... but more of us could definitely stand to ponder these ideas.

No. 3!?

I see that Chris at the Collaborative Piano Blog has put together a ranking of Canadian classical music blogs (using Technorati ratings).

Amazingly, PianoKnits comes in at no. 3.

This inevitably brings to mind the eternal adage: "If you're number 3, you don't try at all!"

Also, Chelsey (bless her heart) has gotten on my case about not posting enough ... in the nicest possible way, of course! So, I think I'd better start stepping up to the plate a bit more.

Soon to follow, then, a knitting roundup, and possibly some reflections on the season (Royal Conservatory exam season, that is!!)