2 February 2009

My friend says I can’t be Raw Canadian Girl anymore since I’m no longer a raw vegan.  I said I’m still a raw Canadian girl, it doesn’t have to mean I’m a raw foodist Canadian girl.  Only people who know what raw foodism is are going to assume that it implies I’m a raw foodist.

Anyway, I’m staying here until I can think of a better name. Any suggestions?  Primal Canadian Girl?  Primitive Canadian Girl?  I’m as lost as you are…

I made like a million of these knit cotton dishcloths for my family this year for Christmas.  (Okay, not a million, but a lot.)  This one for my sister is the only one I got around to taking a photo of.   It’s diagonal garter stitch and then my mom crocheted the edges since I don’t know how to crochet. I think the pink ones turned out particularly pretty.

This is the scarf I knit for my sister for her birthday.  It looks deceivingly short in this photo since I folded it many times to fit.  My sis likes extra long scarves so it took 3 balls of Soy Wool Stripes (SWS) to knit it up.

This is my sister’s dog Lulu who was just visiting here from Alberta for a week.  She got her hair cut at PetSmart the second day she was here and the employees had to phone my mom to come pick her up because she was having explosive diarrhea all over the store.  I’m sure they loved that!  With all the shitting and pissing (at PetSmart and then inside our house and on my bedroom floor, ew) I didn’t like her very much but then the cute little bugger grew on me.  I am used to big dogs and I love big dogs, so getting used to Lulu was different for me.  It’s so funny how different some dogs can be.  She is such a princess.

I made burn salve the other day with Calendula, Comfrey and St John’s Wort but I think it started to burn in the crockpot because I didn’t have quite enough oil to cover all the herbs.  I think it kinda smells burnt and that it’s the wrong colour, but I am not sure.  I don’t know what to do except make another batch and try to cover all the herbs with oil and then compare the two. I have no friends who are into such herby things to ask.

I also made some herbal shampoo this evening with a Rosemary Gladstar recipe.  It has comfrey, calendula and chamomile made into a tea as well as peppermint and lavender essential oil plus unscented Dr. Bronners and some Kukui nut oil.

Learning How to Knit

My first project - dishcloth made of upcycled yarn.

A few weeks ago I learned how to knit with the help of my dear friend, Liz, who is a prolific knitter and crafter.

My first project was a dishcloth made from yarn from my Grandma’s basement.  Although it will probably not be actually used as a dishcloth. It was made with old school Eaton’s label yarn.  (Eaton’s was a Canadian department store that no longer exists.)  I didn’t make too many mistakes and I pretty much got the hang of it.  My tension was really tight at the beginning as you can see in the picture, but then I loosened off and got used to not knitting so tightly.  After I knit this, I started to make another dishcloth out of the same wool but instead with the purl stitch.

My second project - scarf.

My second project is a scarf.  It’s made from Bamboo and Silk wool.  I also got bamboo knitting needles which are great for beginners because they don’t lose stitches as easily as plastic needles.

When I decided I wanted to learn to knit, my husband took me to Mary Maxim to get wool one Saturday afternoon.  I could have spent so much more time there!  It was neat to go there since my mom and Grandma used to go there back in the day.  I’ve gotten my mom interested in knitting again and she is making her first project after a break of many years.