At some point in grade 4, I was identified as a “gifted learner”. So, for grades five through eight I attended King Edward School with 49 other students.
We were split into 2 classes, and spent the next 4 years as part of a grand social experiment. (No one will actually ‘fess up that it was an experiment, since the “ac-tal”, or academically talented program had been running for several years, and continues in some form or another to this day.) I think they refer to it as “enrichment” now, but I always swore that I would never pull my children from the neighborhood school to attend a “special” class across the city. (Their invitations must be lost in the mail- neither of them were invited. I can only imagine that it was a gross oversight, or that some Canada Post employee is sitting on a couple of bags of mail.) I don’t remember much joy at King Edward, and carried a lot of baggage around for many, many years. Needless to say, I was not one of the In Crowd.
Long story short (as if…), a movement started last summer that gee, wouldn’t it be cool to have a reunion. After all, we had been out of grade eight for 36 years, and most of us had weathered one or more high school reunions. And, being special, we thought that 37 years was a good milestone. Then, to reinforce that we are special, we decided to have the reunion not in our hometown where we had gone to school all those years ago, but in the nation’s capital of Ottawa. Why, you ask? Well, the guy who suggested that he had a really great house for a party lives in Ottawa, and when he offered to host, he never dreamed that we would show up. So, there we were last weekend, 21 out of a possible 42 middle-aged people, and a few spouses and offspring, catching up and having a lovely time. My friend Carole (we go back to grade 2) came up from Mississauga, Barb came all the way from Victoria on the west coast, Rod drove from Nova Scotia on the east coast, and everyone else from points in between. You know what? Lots of us had a crappy time in elementary school. I was able to expunge some adolescent demons (I love that word- expunge. It has a ring of finality to it.) and I finally feel like I’m all grown up. Only took fifty years, but who’s counting?
One bit of sightseeing that I did was to track down a couple of fibre purveyors. The first was Knit Knackers , which at first seemed unremarkable, taking up just one room in an old house. It was like an onion, though (Shrek reference there), and once I nosed around a bit, I found some interesting things that I can’t get at my LYS. Probably the best was the bargain bin, from which I scored:
Yup, Yuzen, and for a ridiculously low price. It’s so low I can’t even tell you because you’ll be very sad.
Also, I got one skein of this:
which I think is destined to become a Swallowtail, and is going to be gifted to an anonymous person. It was also ridiculously cheap (like me) and once again, I can’t tell you how cheap because your brain would explode. I picked up a couple of other balls of sock yarn, including a ball of Tofutsies because I’d like to try wearing shellfish on my feet. I cannot say enough about the selection in the store, and if you go nowhere else in Ottawa, go to this store.
Because it’s not a holiday unless I walk several miles more than I should, I boogied on down to Yarn Forward, and snagged some more sock yarn.
(I beg forgiveness if I’m mixing up what I got from where.)
I found this kind of interesting:
It’s probably run-of-the-mill for those of you with a handy supply of Lang fibres, but sadly, I must leave my cocoon to marvel at the insightfulness of the brains at Lang who have the genius to include matching reinforcing fibre for the toes and heels. What a great idea! (Yes, I am easily amused. Why do you ask?)
Our hotel in Ottawa was in the Byward Market area, which has all sorts of historical significance with which I shall not distract you. The day I came home I was on my own after Carole left for home, so I spent a fun afternoon wandering around the market (except for the fish part) and behaving in what I thought was a very continental way. (translation: I had wine with lunch, even though I was alone.) In a little souvenir shop which specialized in everything, I actually found this:
Recycled Sari Silk. I have used this before, with dubious results, but when I saw the price I just had to have it. I kindly left a skein for the next knitter, but I think that after an appropriate rest in the stash, it will become something beautiful. I just love the colours.
The weekend wasn’t all shopping for wool and drinking alone. I also finished Mike’s stupid never-ending socks.
They are knit from Knitpicks Imagination, which is a lovely wool, but a wee bit splitty. Halfway through these socks I decided the colour was less Woodsman and more camouflage, for which I don’t care. I gave them to Mike and told him that they were now his responsibility (apart from laundry, all of his which I do anyways). I will not darn holes, I will not replace missing socks, I will not shed a tear if they itch or felt. The only way I forsee knitting him another pair is if his feet suddenly get three sizes smaller.
I also took along another project. I seem to be delusional when it comes to road knitting. Thank heavens I am somewhat enthused about socks; they really are great portable projects. From the “what the hell was she thinking?” files I present:
I had some Douceur et Soie in the stash from, oh, ten years ago, so when I saw this pattern from Knitty, I decided to triple the width and knit until I ran out of wool. I’m not sure how it will block out, but I may have just enough to do it all in one colour without putting in a panel of blue Kidsilk Haze in the middle. It’s fluffier than in the picture, and this morning I decided that I will never again work on it past midnight. It’s a real bugger to tink.
So that’s where I’m at. I have not done an entry about my son’s wedding, because it affected me in a deeply profound way that I did not expect. I am still digesting the whole thing, and may post a picture when I get one. In the meantime, one knits because one must.
