Well look at that

Finished. Totally finished.

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Everything that I have to do with this book before it is a whole real book? Done. I wrote it, I submitted it, I survived the negotiation that is editing, then copy editing… and now it has spent several days on my desk being proof-read by yours truly one last time. I’ll walk to the post office in a few minutes and mail it, and that will be it. The next time I see it, it will be a real finished book. Any typo I didn’t find, any errors at all… once I mail it, that’s it.

In a few days it will have made it’s way to Kansas City, where my editor will look at the things I found, change the master manuscript and then send it to production with her fingers crossed that between the two of us, we’ve made the best possible book. I hope we have.

I love this book. It’s another book of short stories and essays, sort of a sequel to my second book (Yarn Harlot, the secret life of knitter). The pieces in it are longer and more developed than in the other kind of book I write. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of all of my work. All of it, but the other books are like cookies. Fun, good, awesome food, but they don’t make up a well balanced diet by themselves. The books of essays are different. I can take as much time as I want to explain an idea, I don’t have to dwell only in the realm of knitting for every moment, I can go further afield into human interest and experience – and I can allow a story or point to unfurl as quickly or slowly as it wants. It means that over the course of a whole book there will be funny things, happy things, silly things, sad things, thoughtful things….

The books of essays feel more like meals to me, and they are intensely satisfying to write. I feel like I get my way. I feel like they are not just a part of me, like my other books, but really reflective of who I am.

Writing something that you feel really reflects who you are has a downside, of course. .. and those of us who dabble in low self esteem from time to time know what it is. If you hang something out there that is really a part of you, something intimate, then if someone doesn’t like it, that feels like a very intimate hurt. (This is one of the problems with writing a personal blog too, if it’s personal, and there is criticism, then that criticism feels personal, because…. well. Frankly it is. Writing a blog has thickened my skin over the years and made me able to stand apart from criticism (or what passes for it, like “I’m never buying your book again because of how you vote” or “You’re a complete obsessive-compulsive who cares nothing for others”) far better than I would have been able to otherwise. There’s nothing like a drive-by comment about your parenting, politics or choices and how it relates to your worth as a human being to make you realize that you’ve got to pull back a bit if you’re going to retain any sense of true self.)

This is all a long way toward saying that putting this in an envelope and mailing it is the weirdest feeling.

I’m relieved to be done. I’m proud of what I’ve written. I’m scared to death of it being read. I’m horrified and honoured to have been given the chance. I’m worried about everything. I’m delighted it’s happening.

I’m going to the post office. I’m mailing my book. A whole, finished, big book that I wrote. Wow.

(PS. Happy 4th to my American neighbours. Have a fabulous weekend.)

I’m sure you’ll understand

This baby sweater, if you could see all the knitting that has actually gone into it, would be the size of an adult garment. The back’s been knit another time (killme) and now I’ve had to rip the shoulder all the way back to the end of the cable because when I was done, the top was bigger than the bottom. I tried to figure out how to make that a design element, but since newborn babies don’t wear a lot of really huge 80’s style shoulder pads (they don’t have the hair volume to pull it off) it truly presented a problem. I stared at it, pulled at it, blocked it, and could not figure out what had gone wrong. I had cast on 30 stitches, knit in garter stitch for a bit, then increased for the cable, then switched back to garter.

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Now normally, I would be horrified to report to you that it took 40 minutes to work out that increasing totally makes things bigger, and that if you want something to be the same size at the end that it was at the beginning – then you should have the same number of stitches at the end that you had at the beginning. Normally, this would be one of those blog posts where I would be embarrassed that such a simple explanation didn’t make sense to me straight off, but frankly the working conditions around here make it a miracle that I figured it out at all…. and I blame Joe.

I was doing just fine (by a knitters standards) until my loving and erstwhile husband said something unbelievable to our daughter Samantha. Something no parent that worked from home would ever present to a determined 14 year old musician, should they be planning on surviving a summer. That something? The something that has made it a miracle that I know my own name or can function as anything other than a raving lunatic and leaves me proud, PROUD, I tell you, that I can even knit garter stitch, never mind count? He said this:

“If you learn to play the guitar solo from Back In Black, you will never have to do the dishes again. ”

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All I want is a jury of my peers.

Little Pieces

Tuesdays are for spinning on this blog, and though I totally screw that up on a regular basis, I actually have a little product to show for yesterday.

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This is a batt from the Sanguine Gryphon in beautiful reds and orange, with gold and sparkles. (It’s not nearly as violently coloured as the photo would lead you to believe.)

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It spun up like butter, and although I’m usually anti-sparkle, the amount of glitz in this batt was charming rather than overwhelming, and the resulting yarn has become a skein that I may be able to use as a bribe to get one or two loads of laundry out of a sparkle loving teen or two. (I may hold it back until I see the action.)

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The only bad thing about this wee skein is that it is a wee skein, (and that it’s rather underspun) not even enough for a pair of mittens, though it would make a pretty border on a hat or something. I’ve got to start spinning larger quantities of stuff, or find a better use for these wee ones. Their role as decorative skeins is charming, but sort of pointless.

Even though I’ve created another wee skein of pointlessness to kick around, it was good practice, since I’ve decided to take part in Katherine’s clever Tour de Fleece this year. By now some of you know that I’m for sure not doing the Knitting Olympics this year. The Knitting Olympics will remain a winter Olympic sport played every four years just like other sports in the Olympics. (I know this disappoints some of you, but keep in mind that things are more special if you don’t get them to often, and that waiting is more than half of the fun.) In addition, I’m not so keen on taking part in an Olympics hosted by China within the context of their current human rights issues. I know there’s a theory out there that when you boycott the Olympics the only people who suffer are the athletes, but knitters aren’t really real athletes in the Olympics and none of us will have a crushed career if we don’t compete this year (especially since it’s only been two years.) If the politics of it don’t bother you and you want to compete this year, can I suggest that you do what real athletes do if they want to compete in the Olympics every two years?

Get another sport. I’ve long suggested that the summer Olympics are the perfect time for the Crochet Olympics, and that having them separate would mean that people who don’t knit at all get something good too, instead of standing in the shadow of another craft, and besides it’s double fun and another opportunity for those of you who are bi-craftual, or would like to be.

Me? I don’t crochet (or I do, I mean, I know how, but don’t care for it and am rather terrible at it) and I’ve sort of got that little Tibet thing that’s bugging me, but your abilities and politics (or maybe your ability to understand that Tibet and fun with crochet are actually unrelated may be greater than mine) and this idea might be just your cup of tea.

Me? Tour de Fleece. I’m all over it. Now I just need to think of what my challenge will be.

Oh Canada

Now, I really, really hate that I have to do this, but every year I’ve been given a whupping. Saying “Canada is a great country” is not a direct translation for “The US stinks”. Being pro-Canada is not being anti-US. Saying “I love the way we do things” does not mean “and therefore, you do it wrong”. This is a whole different country with different laws and culture. We will never be the same and that does not mean that either country dwells in the heart of darkness. Loving where I live is not bashing the US any more than having fireworks and shouting “USA #1” on the 4th of July (which I thoroughly recommend, since I think a country is only as good as the people who love and defend it) constitutes an attack on Canada. Thus ends the pre-emptive strike. Don’t be a hoser.

Every year I take a minute to write a little something about my country on its birthday. I love how international the blog community is, and can’t resist the opportunity to do a little PR for the good thing I think we’ve got going on here. I did “Things to do on Canada Day” and “You know you’re a Canadian Knitter when….” then “Stuff you maybe didn’t know about us” (Clearly I didn’t work hard on that title.) Then last year “Canada A to Z” (and that’s “Zed” not “Zee”).

This year I was at a loss. I felt like I’ve done it all, I took my knitting and a good brew to the backyard, and sitting there in the sunshine knitting, it hit me:

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In the fine tradition of Random days on blogs, this is:

Random stuff about Canada

This is a country where if we accidentally elect an arse, our political system allows for a do over. Admittedly this creates other problems (like 1984, when three Prime Ministers held office) but at least there’s a way out of a bad call, leadership wise.

This is a country with access to good beer, and nobody thinks you’re a lush if you drink it at lunch. (Also, if it is hot or if it is a long weekend you can drink it anytime you want. Heat and long weekends are a free pass in the beer department.)

This is a country with something as grand and glorious as CBC Radio. (Three cheers for Vinyl Cafe, As it Happens and DNTO.)

This is a country with a national sense of humour. We are a funny people, and a people that value not taking things too seriously all the time. The best evidence I can offer is that this is a country where a politician running for office appeared bare bummed and leaping into a lake during his campaign and it improved his chances of being elected.

This is a country where the Government (finally) apologized, took responsibility for and began the process of compensation to the Aboriginal People of this land for the shameful way they have been treated. While I can’t help but think that this might belong in the “too little, too late” category, I felt proud to hear the words “The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly. We are sorry.” come out of Stephen Harpers mouth. (It’s one of the only times I’ve enjoyed hearing the man speak.)

This is a country with the worlds longest National Highway. The Trans Canada Highway is 7, 821km long and goes from Victoria, British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland.

This is a country that is home to David Suzuki.

This is a country that generated the genius of The Logdriver’s Waltz, (which still fills me with joy no matter how many times I see it.) not to mention the National Film Board.

This is a country with Universal Health Care, which means that no matter what goes wrong with me or my children, we’ll be cared for by the best person for the job, not the best person we can afford. Sure, it’s a triage system which means that if we’re not very sick we’ll have to wait, while sicker people go first, but the fact that the only thing that can move you to the front of the line is your need, not your money? It just makes me more proud.

This is a country that is ranked the 4th most livable country in the world, has one of the highest life expectancies, low infant mortality, and 48% of Canadian adults have a college or university degree. (That’s the highest of all OECD countries.) We’re ranked 11th on the Global Peace Index, it’s safe here, we’re very tolerant and we eat more Kraft Dinner per capita than any other country in the world. (I can’t explain that last one.)

(Kraft Dinner is the Canadian name for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I don’t know why it’s labelled differently here.)

This is a country that prides itself on being a mosaic, rather than a melting pot.

This is a country that has the second largest oil deposits in the world and provides the US with more of their oil than the Middle East does.

This is a country with an exceptional Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (It helps that it was written in the 80’s. Nice and current.)

This is a country where 77% of the people believe that global climate change is a big problem, where Henry Morgentaler is about to get The Order of Canada, where the flag on Parliament Hill is lowered any day a Canadian Soldier is killed overseas, where 95% believe that our government has a responsibility to increase access to HIV/AIDS treatment in other countries, 25% use marijuana at some point in their life, (93% of Canadians support Medical Marijuana use) 78% believe in life somewhere else in the universe, 74% of people consider President Bush a threat to world peace, 54% use alternative medicine along with allopathic medicine, only 8% of us belong to an evangelical Christian church, but 10% believe they have seen a UFO. If Canadians could vote in the next US election, 17% would vote for McCain and 46% for Obama.

This is a country that values “Peace, Order and Good Government.” (This is Canada’s equivalent to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”)

This is a country that knits. A lot. Think huge knitting guilds with hundreds of members.

This is a country that invented peacekeeping.

This is a country:

where you eat a chocolate bar (not a “candy bar”)

where you line up or queue up

where you can buy milk in bags

where almost all tea is served hot, not cold

where you write the date day/month/year.

where you can still do all the hand signals to Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink, and you can’t imagine who can’t.

where there is the Queen’s Plate, longest running stakes horse race in the North America.

where when you and you’re kids design hallowe’en costumes, you make sure they can go over a snow suit.

where if a cop gives you a ticket you thank them.

where if the government wastes money it’s a scandal that brings down the government.

where it’s spelled colour, honour, woollen, woolly, centre, theatre, cauldron, axe, catalogue, cheque, grey, favour, glamour, misdemeanour and ardour.

where you can buy two-fours, chesterfields, Mickeys, poutine, screech, serviettes, tuques, pop… and if you have enough money… Tories or Grits.

where Cuba is an awesome vacation spot.

where you feel very sentimental about Casey, Finnegan, Rusty Jerome, Sharon, Lois and Bram.

This is a country that wants you to keep your stick on the ice. (Literally, and metaphorically.)

Happy Canada Day, and how about using the comments for your version?

Canada is a country where…..

(PS. Sorry about this guys, so many of you are leaving such wonderful comments, but I’m closing them. I know that won’t stop the private mail and I can live with that. Really, there’s a few people that I’m just gong to save from themselves. For the record, although I’m probably going to have to type it a hundred more times, Canadians having an opinion about the country with whom they share the worlds largest trade relationship and the worlds largest undefended border is appropriate and necessary. The US is a superpower, and what happens in the government there influences the lives of people around the world. US economy down in a mortgage mess = Canadians out of work. I understand the urge to tell the world to mind their own business…but as long as the US has a hand in everyone’s business, that’s simply not a reasonable request. To quote Spiderman’s Uncle Ben “With great power, comes great responsibility.” How Americans vote influences the world.)

(PPS: Seriously, as per the disclaimer at the top, saying Canadians have a national sense of humour is not a statement about the US. It’s a statement about Canada.)

(PPPS: While we’re correcting things, as for the Pride Day thing? Slag me all you want, but I still think that Human Rights should be extended to all Humans, and that Humanity should be the only criteria. I won’t be calling you names or threatening your livelihood if you disagree though.)