tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45284916521926692932024-03-13T15:04:52.149-05:00Double Pointed NoodleMusings, silliness and the occasional deep thought from a knitter, musician, writer and non-profit sector lifer on the Canadian prairie.Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-59055588677831723782010-08-30T20:24:00.001-05:002010-08-31T14:34:00.389-05:00CopperheadA couple of weeks ago, Kevin and I spontaneously decided to take care of one of the items on his "bucket list".
Since he was a little boy, Kevin has loved fast cars. Though there is a National Hot Rod Association race that takes place within driving distance of us (6 hours south in Brainerd, MN), he had never been. There were always other priorities, always next year. With the recent Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-65038725270286704062010-07-24T11:06:00.002-05:002010-07-25T08:23:40.645-05:00140 CharactersLately, I've been spending a lot of time on Twitter.
I was reluctant at first, mostly because of the hype, and a bit because of the overwhelmingly rapid-fire social nature of it. But as I've begun using it more, I've noticed something: among the myriad of tweets about what was for lunch, and the weather, and the activities of children, pets, and neighbours, there is something interesting Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-88667234883314540922010-06-20T16:05:00.002-05:002010-06-20T16:09:10.880-05:00KickstartI have considered writing many times over the past month, even sat down to do so on many occasions, my unpublished blog list growing like a pile of laundry. I have a lot on my mind these days, not much of which meets full-bloggable criteria (gift-knitting for a reader, too personal, not personal enough, too common, too important, not my story to tell). These factors, coupled with a nasty Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-64001039095670880852010-05-17T21:48:00.000-05:002010-05-17T21:48:00.903-05:00Worth A Thousand Words
For Christmas, I got the best present in the history of sock knitters. (The story is here if you missed it.)
This past weekend, after several weeks of consultation and a good few weeks of close fair isle attention, I finished these for my Kevin, provider of said unparalleled Christmas gift.
From Russia With Love by Sabine Reifler in The Joy of Sox,
Wollmeise 80/20 in Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-14276262834598511862010-04-26T21:30:00.005-05:002010-04-27T13:35:50.052-05:00I am the Green Hat Knitter
Despite what is often assumed about people who are performers, I am a terribly introverted person. If I got to pick a super-power, I would pick invisibility over all others, no contest. It's not that I don't like people - generally speaking, I really do - it's that I would prefer to be on the sidelines, enjoying the world and the people around me by observing them rather than Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-86151212956279980382010-04-18T12:08:00.000-05:002010-04-18T12:08:54.852-05:00The End of the Blog's ProrogationHi Blog, I've really missed you.
It's been quite the month here in the life-of-me, and I have on many, many occasions wanted to write here about it. Over the past year, this blog has become a nice little vacation spot for me: a place to reflect, to pause, to ramble and to creatively recharge by sharing my little stories with you.
I really needed those things, because about a month ago, Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-12495270597460378502010-03-10T21:25:00.001-06:002010-03-10T21:27:49.618-06:00When the Student is ReadyI've been thinking a lot about learning lately. One of those "thinking about lately" phases that makes you see everything through a certain lens... like wandering around wearing a pair of curoisity-coloured glasses.
It started innocuously enough. I knit a sweater for my Knitting Olympics project. I was feeling very smug with 36 hours to go, being that not only was the whole thing knit, it was Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-29305800261239669592010-02-16T20:29:00.001-06:002010-02-16T20:33:59.258-06:00Faster, Higher, SmooshierIt's Knitting Olympics time!
This is my first year participating, which seems fitting as the games are on home soil.
For the uninitiated, the rules of the Knitting Olympics are as follows (from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee):
1. The project must be a challenge for you to complete in 16 days.
2. There are no rules about what a challenge would be. Like the
real Olympics, there are many areas to Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-31792347358618924972010-01-28T19:50:00.004-06:002010-01-29T13:25:42.508-06:00Um, Squee.If you're here because of the irresistible force that is Lime & Violet, (because really, who can resist their power? Not I, that's for damn sure) the post that they talked about on today's podcast is here. (If you're here and you haven't discovered the Lime and Violet podcast yet, go. Go now. Discover them, drink their Kool-Aid.)
I briefly considered trying to be all cool about Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-78468256829042160242010-01-17T12:41:00.001-06:002010-01-17T13:14:02.199-06:00Forever YoungWhen I was a kid, I really liked my January birthday. My birthday parties were usually tobaggoning, or skating on the duck pond at the park near our house, or, if the weather was prohibitive, bowling. More importantly, if Santa didn't quite get the message that, no, really, I DID want an Easy Bake Oven above everything else on the list, I always had the birthday ask to fall back on.&Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-81815854568252108052010-01-12T23:03:00.001-06:002010-01-12T23:03:44.077-06:00What I Did on my Christmas VacationChristmas passed in even more than the usual whirlwind this year, and not just because of the Wollmeise.
Kevin's 88-year-old dad is what they call a "snowbird": one of those wise sorts that enjoys the very pleasant summers here on the Canadian prairie, then hightails it for southern climes come winter. (Like I said, wise sorts.)
Kevin's dad winters in Apache Junction, Arizona, and likes to haveJenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-6109479297449608892009-12-27T13:41:00.006-06:002009-12-27T15:30:56.063-06:00Good King WollmeiseI knew he was up to something when this gift was the first to appear under the tree.
And when this sign appeared on our door on Christmas eve, I knew he was up to something... elaborate.
Christmas morning, this is what I found...
At the door...
And down the hall...
And in the kitchen...
Kevin (a.k.a. Love of my Life) was "perplexed" by all of this, but Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-85457077782440799792009-11-28T23:32:00.000-06:002009-11-28T23:32:08.226-06:00Wee Postcard from the Cardboard JungleWe're in. All of our worldly possessions are here, under one roof, with us. All that's left to do now is unpack, set up, clean, plug in, dust, fold, sort, assemble, attach felt feet to, arrange, and make sense of it all. We are exhausted, and excited, and sore in places we didn't know we had. But we're in.
I will, I'm sure, have more profound things to say about all of this at Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-45158767969729095742009-11-21T09:57:00.004-06:002009-11-21T10:59:32.493-06:00Preparing for LaunchIt's Saturday morning. Not just any Saturday morning, but the Saturday before moving day. I am sitting amid piles of boxes, files of bills, and lists of lists of Things To Do Before Moving Day. The love of my life is at Home Depot in an early morning bid to accomplish items 67 through 82 of Supplies That Need to Be Bought For the House list, and I'm here alone, drinking coffee, Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-41060437510276823482009-11-20T20:51:00.002-06:002009-11-21T10:51:12.016-06:00An Echo Full of Instruments, Pt. ILast weekend, the band and I went to Thunder Bay, Ontario to headline an event called Celtic Bash 12. Put on by The Pipes and Drums of Thunder Bay, it's a fundraiser for the pipe band and a celebration of all things Celtic, with highland dancers, three different pipe bands, a more traditional Celtic group, lots of beer, and us.
Thunder Bay is an eight-hour drive east of home, but with the Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-33166510644580954052009-11-09T20:29:00.004-06:002009-11-10T06:04:56.222-06:00Things I CAN Share...It's officially full on pre-Christmas knitting season, which rules in that I have a ton of stuff on the needles and a ton of ideas for more things to put on the needles (and a quickly dwindling supply of empty needles), but sucks in that I can't tell you about any of it in any sort of detail.
However, I am getting a bit of relief from all of this surprise keeping, due to the fact that my Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-9718205894795368132009-10-30T17:51:00.001-05:002009-10-30T18:25:14.435-05:00A Sense of PlaceAsk, and ye shall receive.
Not 72 hours after I wondered here what I was going to blog about in the pre-Christmas knitted gift frenzy, we got an unbelievable surprise that makes a relatively non-knitting post not only possible, but very easy.
Having sold LoML's house, we had just started house shopping. The housing market here has been much more on the "Seller's Market" side in the last Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-34268470792013702252009-10-25T10:02:00.000-05:002009-10-25T10:02:24.113-05:00Pre-Christmas Cast On(s)I learned how to knit on a tour bus full of dancers somewhere on the TransCanada Highway, when I was working as a pianist for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. My friend Kevin, who worked in the wardrobe department, taught me how, and it was a wonderful place and time to learn, because being on the road means that you have long hours of uninterrupted knitting time as you travel from one tiny town Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-38861451693690344772009-10-12T09:48:00.005-05:002009-10-12T16:17:12.129-05:00ThankfulLast night was Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's, and we were the smallest group we've ever been. My three siblings and their partners don't live here anymore, so it was just mom, dad, Love of My Life and me. Because we were such a small group, mom eschewed the traditional meal for something a little more practical, leftover-wise: cedar planked salmon (done on the barbecue despite Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-2410935771709437362009-10-09T20:56:00.003-05:002009-10-10T07:26:13.531-05:00A Canadian Prairie Brush with FameLast weekend was Alexander Keith's birthday, and Venus Murphy (the celtic rock band of which I am one fifth) had two shows in Saskatoon, an 8 hour drive west of home. We play there fairly regularly, and have a great following, the venue is awesome and everyone is always really nice to us. It's kinda funny, because they treat us like we're famous. (We're not. But for a weekend, it's Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-32601272807517795872009-09-21T19:54:00.011-05:002009-09-23T14:37:17.209-05:00Snapshots from the SectorMy entire adult life, with one short-lived exception, I have worked for not-for-profit organizations. For fifteen years, I have gone to work in places that struggle to make ends meet financially, depending on the kindness of strangers through donations and volunteerism. I have worked in places where we joked (in a laugh to keep from crying sort of way) that we would make more money Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-10758434940307671892009-09-10T10:47:00.002-05:002009-09-10T10:57:55.943-05:00You Want to Like A Good Yarn StoreA fellow musician and I years ago were talking about a colleague who was a truly gifted pianist; great technique, beautiful tone, tremendous sensitivity. Great player, no question about it. He was also - not to put too fine a point on it - a jerk of truly epic proportions. After philosophizing for a while on how these two seemingly contradictory states of being could co-exist inJenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-11168955745212659492009-08-28T13:26:00.025-05:002009-08-28T14:17:49.708-05:00Missed it by That MuchRecently, I finished these for my youngest brother.
Sam by Cookie A., Tanis Fiber Arts fingering weight in the Shadow colourway.
I put a lot of thought into this project, both about my brother and the socks themselves. The yarn is by an indie dyer from Montreal, where he just finished his music degree. The cables, to me, invoke the mountain peaks andJenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-24452949961445925102009-08-16T08:07:00.018-05:002009-08-29T20:42:45.766-05:00L'Homage a L'Harlot, L'Histoire & L'HomecomingI love the Yarn Harlot. (Go read her blog if you haven't before. She's a goddess. I have all her books. She, as my sister would say, makes me happy in my heart. Go read. I'll be here when you get back.)
Friday night, the month-of-traveling-goofily came to an end, and, tidily enough, the socks that I cast on as travel knitting as the airplane took off for trip #1 (Vegas, June 28), were in myJenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528491652192669293.post-84749271596375772972009-08-02T13:26:00.007-05:002009-08-29T21:43:24.869-05:00Progress UpdateBack from Boston. Heading out to the lake and will blog properly when we're back.
But in the meantime, here's a quick update:
Highlight: http://www.unionoysterhouse.com/. Check out the dinner menu. I had lively conversation with intelligent, funny company (three counterparts from other Canadian hospital foundations) and ordered the Lobster Scampi (I say ordered, didn't come close to Jenn (JennJustJenn on Ravelry)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08973451363486802215noreply@blogger.com0