Multi-Post: Canada Day, a Hummingbird Skirt, and a Dream Wardrobe

Okay friends, I'm going to mash 3 topics into this blog post, because I have a ton of post ideas and very little time to write right now.  BTW, owning a store?  Simultaneously epically awesome and completely exhausting!  I love it.  :)

Topic 1: Canada Day!

HAPPY (belated) CANADA DAY!!!  And to you folks in the States, HAPPY (early) INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

I reduced the shop hours on Friday so I could go watch the parade in town, and I do not regret it for a moment!  The parade was a ton of fun, and I went a little crazy waving and cheering at everything and everyone with my wee little flag.  My favourite float was this one:

It's hard to tell at first, but it's a little glass-blowing studio!  We've had one open up in town this summer, and I'm so impressed they got a float going for the parade!  The folks on the float pretended to repeatedly heat and blow "glass" (aka balloons and umbrellas) and a few people walked along side, blowing more "glass" and giving out candy.  I'm stoked to go do one of their glass-blowing classes - clever buggers also have a "date night" package, which is awesome!

I might've gotten into the spirit (though I didn't think of a float - NEXT YEAR!!!!) and was up until 2 am the night before (/that morning) knitting up an ugly colourwork hat for a Canada Day display.  Don't look to closely at it, the colourwork is atrocious.  But it did the job, and looked pretty good surrounded by all the red and white Canadian-made product and string I could find!

Topic 2: Hummingbird Skirt

Holy crap I sewed a skirt!

Haha I've been missing my poor sewing room lately, and I've gotten an itch to sew that was getting unbearable.  After closing up the shop at 4 on Canada Day, I came home to have some quiet me time (I'm an introvert - though granted a socially-inclined introvert.  I've been needing some me-time to recharge after the last two crazy weeks).  I'd planned to sit and work on a store sample and watch a movie, but the sewing room - she called!  I wanted a quick project and, needing a skirt desperately in my wardrobe, I pulled out the pieces of a navy Hummingbird Skirt (by Cake Patterns) that I'd cut out literally years ago.

I put on my favourite audiobook and proceeded to sew for the next few hours.  Ah bliss.  Look at those pockets!  I sewed them wrong at first and swore a lot while ripping them out, but otherwise everything went smoothly.

Hey look, straight side seam!  I can't remember what size I cut (I'm assuming a size 45" - based on how this fits across my hips and the size range), but I did absolutely no alterations and the fit is pretty spot on.  Granted, I'm not entirely certain how a skirt should fit, but it's pretty comfy.  It might be a little snug across the hips, but seems fine.  I'd probably add an inch or so length next time though.  I'm actually sort of happy with this length, but I don't normally wear shorts and most dresses I wear are closer to knee length.

This is the best invisible zipper I've ever done!  It really is invisible - there's just some weird shadows happening in the picture above.  And some wrinkles and various fluff that accumulates in a yarn shop - what can I say, I finished it the night before and promptly test run it at work the next day.

Don't ask me what the fabric is - some sort of suiting that feels a bit wooly, but definitely has a poly-content.  It was part of a box of fabric sent to me from a friend, and I'm glad to get more use out of it.  :) 

So I definitely need several more of these!  I think they're going to be a wardrobe staple, that's for sure.  :)

Topic 3: Dream Wardrobe

During MMMay'16 (erm - things got a little insane and I never got photos taken of outfits the last week or so of May, though I did stick with Me-Makes.  After hearing about the shop, I hope you now understand why), I won one of Zoe's giveaways!  It was a fun little 'go to the Fabric Godmother website and suggest a pattern you think they need to have on their site (mine was Cake Pattern's Tiramisu, btw - I do love me some Cake!), and I was so lucky to win one month of Fabric Godmother's Dream Wardrobe!  It was pretty cool, actually; Josie contacted me with a consultation document that I had to fill out, describing my colouring, my personal style, likes and dislikes, etc, and then she chose a pattern and fabric she thought would suit me.  I received her package last week, and this is what she sent:

It's perfect!  I love the simple but fun fabric, and I've been eyeing up Darling Ranges for years now!  This was definitely a good experience, and I'll probably recommend this service to family members back home who want to send me something special for birthdays or Christmas's. 

Itch to sew...RISING!

Running Running Running (from Zombies!)

I just finished week 2 of my 5k training program, and man do I feel good!  Well, my legs are wobbly and my face still looks like a tomato a half hour later, but SO PROUD.

Okay I know this isn't crafty related, but whatever, it's my blog and I'll post about running if I want to!

I think I mentioned it before, but I started the Zombie Run! 5k Training program.  Guys, this is so much fun!  It's like you're dropped into a RPG, and I'm so excited to go for a run every day.  I have to force myself to only go every other day so I don't hurt myself, but I'm literally stoked every time I get to go out to run!  I just want to know what happens this time and this time and this time.  :)

It's sort of important that I get trained up because I uh...signed up for the Klondike Road Relay this year, where we run from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon.  No, I'm not running the whole 175 kms myself, just Leg 1.  Sound easy?  Here, look at Leg 1:

Why yes, that does indeed say 442 m/1450 ft elevation mostly in the last 10 kms.  Oh hell.  I'm committed to run the first 4.2 km, and will likely walk/crawl/drag my ass up the rest.  Could be worse though; I could be running Leg 2:

Christmas in April!

 

I've been living in Whitehorse for nearly four years now, and haven't managed to make it back to Manitoba for Christmas since I moved.  It's sort of sucks, especially since Christmas has always been such a family thing for us.  Usually, we just mail gifts to each other and chat a lot during the holidays.

This year though, we were all sort of running late with our Christmas shopping, and I just wasn't feeling it.  I wanted to celebrate with my family.  So I proposed doing another Christmas in April, and everyone thought that was a fantastic idea.

I thought it would be fun to do some local or homemade gifts for everyone, and have been working my fingers off trying to get them all done.  They'll be part of a game that involves stealing whichever gift you're interested in and hoping that someone won't steal them back!

You've already seen the Moustachio'd Coffee Cozy, but here's some of the other gifts I've made up.

Boot Cuff Rav project page

For these boot cuffs, I used the Helmikuu Boot Toppers pattern with some left-over yarn from this old sweater.  I modified them a bit based on some project notes, decreasing the width by one pattern repeat (mostly because I used a thicker yarn).  I can't wear them without almost over-stretching them since I have some pretty hefty calves, but they look awfully cute one others.

Peekaboo Mitts Ravelry Link

The fingerless mitts I made last year for a family fundraising thing were pretty popular, so I made a hefty pair this time, meant to fit larger hands.  I used the Peekaboo pattern again, which will probably remain my TNT for most mitts cuz the pattern is so easy to follow and modify to your liking.  I bought this lovely skein of very rustic and sheepy Cestari Traditional Collection Wool.  I loved working with it, but it did leave a lanolin waxy residue all over my fingers.  I'm a little concerned about having enough gifts for the men in my family, although I have a feeling the women will be fighting over this one too.  Although I was smart and made a women's pair too.

Bonnet Mitts Ravelry Page

I'm pretty proud of this pair - I created the pattern myself, even if the basic mitt part is really simple.  I'm considering writing up the pattern though, since it's quite charming with the wrist strap and buttons.  I just finished these mitts the other day and my Mom is already plotting to claim these ones!  Basically I designed these around those cute little wooden toggles - I've been looking for a project to use them since our LYS brought them in a couple of months ago!  I used one of my favourite yarns, Drops Nepal, and I've called them Bonnet Mitts, mostly because I've made them out here in Lac du Bonnet.

Crummy photo, but I also threw together a fabric grocery bag the night before I flew back to Manitoba!  It was seriously easy and used up 3 fat quarters, so I definitely need to make up more of these.

I basically just cut out a plastic grocery bag and used this tutorial - so easy!

This one's a little more boring after everything else, but you can't really go wrong with a set of dishcloths!  It's my favourite pattern and my go-to for dishy gifts!

I knit up this cowl in an evening using Drops Cloud, and it's gloriously soft!  It's another one that I sort of came up with the pattern, but that basically just meant doing a gauge swatch, measuring out how wide I wanted it (24"), and knitting it in stockinette with 4 rows of  2x2 ribbing on both ends.  Granted, it wound up being 26" long, but oh well.  I need to make one of these for me...

This one isn't me-made, but I'm pretty stoked about it anyways!  It's a skein of yarn dyed by a friend of mine from natural products she collected in the Yukon.  The gift includes some circular needles and a couple of possible patterns for the receiver to make up themselves.  The gift also includes me winding this into a ball and teaching them to knit, if necessary.  What can I say, I'm a filthy enabler.

There's another cup cozy (this Owls cozy) that I've yet to take photos of, but the rest of the presents include mostly Yukon-unique gifts I've found all over Whitehorse.  I really love that dream catcher I found at the Indian Crafts store on Main Street, and those are some pretty good books there.  One of my favourites though is a glass from the Yukon Brewery plus two bottles of some of the beer the Brewery produces!  That's a cool gift for sure. 

Granted, my gift count is only at 17, and there's about 24 people going.  When I started there was only supposed to be about 10 of us.  Oops.  Ah well, I'll find some more interesting gifts to add to the collection tomorrow.

If you could pick any of these (and fight to defend them from other family and friends), which would you pick?  I'm thinking there's going to be quite the fight over the beer gift, the fingerless mitts (both pairs), and that Good Time Girl's book...

Holy Crap Canada!

We're going to take a short break from all things crafty, because something important happened in Canada yesterday!  For those not interested, click away and I promise to return to crafty endeavours tomorrow. 

Figure grabbed on 2015-10-20 at 11:05 am.

So for those who don't know, we had our Federal election here in Canada, and I think it's safe to say that most people were pretty surprised by the results!  The Liberal Party, which had almost been wiped out in the 2011 election (and kept only 34 seats), managed to not only become the ruling party but did it with a majority!  The Harper Government has been in power for the last 10 years, and you can see by the figures above how the majority of Canadians felt about that.

It was amazing to witness, no matter whether your heart was singing or crying.  I could barely knit as I watched, since I'd glance down for a second and suddenly there were 3 more Liberal-leading ridings!

The figure above may seem odd to other countries - I'm not that well-versed in politics and how it all works, but we vote in our local representative, and the party with the most MPs wins power.  There's other aspects to that, and we have a first-past-the-post election method which is not that popular (the Liberals have promised election reform - we'll see what happens), but that's the basics.

Voter turnout was up this year, at about 68.5% of Canadians voting.  Still not fantastic, but the highest since 1993, so that's something to be glad of.  The Yukon had the second highest turnout at 76%; only Prince Edward Island had a higher turnout at 77%!  I'm not exaggerating when I say that I started to cry when I found out - it's so empowering how engaged most Canadians were this year.

I'm pretty stoked to see that 10 Indigenous and 88 women MPs were elected.  The gender diversity is still low, with female representatives in the House at 26% (the UN recommend at least 30%), but we're getting there.  There's a nice range of First Nation communities represented, including 3 Metis (2 in Winnipeg!), 2 Inuit, 3 Cree, 1 Anishinaabe, 1 Kwakwaka'wakw, and 1 Dene, which is good to see.  They only make up 3% of the House, but again, representation is getting better!

I have so many emotions about this election, but I can't express them well here.  But lets just say that I'm so happy with how passionate Canadians got this year, and that we powered through Canada's longest federal election campaign (78 days! I know I know, that's nothing to you Americans, but our normal campaign is 35 days) and didn't let the length or poor behaviour of politicians lead to (too much) apathy and frustration.

Or maybe those are the reasons so many turned out this year?  Who knows - I'm just glad to see so many people get out and used their voice - no matter who they voted for.  :)


Oh, and apparently the Blue Jays are doing well?  I don't know, I don't follow baseball, but everywhere I look there's frantic Canadian baseball fans, so I guess there's a lot of really happy Canadians, and a lot of 'at least the Blue Jays are winning' Canadians. 

And then there's Canadians like me, who are going: "::shrug:: That's cool, good for you Sports Team!"  :D


ALRIGHT, BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED CRAFTINESS.  Carry on, nothing more to see (of politics, anyways).

Stupid Distracting Hobbies and Missed Eclipses

So I got distracted and I managed to miss the eclipse yesterday.  I'm so pissed at myself about it too, because it was a beautifully clear night here in Whitehorse and the moon was perfectly framed in my large front windows.  AND I have a camera that hates the colour green but takes wonderful pictures of the moon.  It was too light here still to see all of it, but we would've been able to see the last half at least.

I did manage to catch the very very tail end of it.  You can sort of see the Earth's shadow on the upper right side.  If you squint.  It was more evident with the bare eye, but my camera sort of caught it.  It's not as good of a picture as I can get, but I figured I'd lose my chance if I took the time to grab and set up my stand...thingy.  Thing that you put the camera on for steady pictures I'VE LOST THE WORD OMG HELP ME SOMEONE.

What was I distracted by, you ask?  A rerun of my (very unwise) favourite show, Mayday (it really don't help my flying anxiety at all) and knitting up this pretty dishcloth:

It's the Lizard Ridge Dishcloth by Laura Aylor (although I've dubbed it 'Waves of Colour'), knit out of some leftover bits of Bernat Handicrafter cotton I've had accumulating for a while.  It was a fantastic exercise in short rows, let me tell you, although I did substitute the Purlbee's short row technique for the one in the pattern, since it produced a much cleaner stitch.

I love the cloth and the show, but I don't think either was worth missing the eclipse.  :(  Did you get out to see it?  Was it as amazing as all of the pictures show?

If you don't say "No Heather, wasn't worth it at all, your dishcloth was a much better use of your time", I might cry.

My Northern (slightly feral) Garden

Welcome to my home!

Since no one said no to a garden tour in my last post, I'm taking it as a 'yes please' and giving you a tour!  As you can see, I have a very well manicured yard!

This is the stone retaining wall with an infestation of wild rose.  I 'trimmed' this area this spring by the fancy 'whatever survives the rake gets to stay' method.  It's actually a good source of rosehips in the fall, and I'm hoping to do some preserves with them this year! 

My planted garden leading up to the door.  This garden has been here forever, but I dug out the old dirt and replaced it with new rich soil this spring.  I love the rock tiers!

"Vintage Mix"  So pretty.

Aster, about to bloom.

Baby's Breath.  Surprisingly in purple, despite the 'white' tag.  I'm good with it, because it's pretty.  The white bits are some Lobelia that's not doing so well.

These are some of my favourites in it so far.  I've been waiting ages for the Asters to bloom, and it looks like one is finally about to!

View of my lovely grass lawn.  Or erm, tree- and rose-shoot lawn.  And a couple of pots with Petunias (one of my favourite flowers).  I love sitting out here and reading and knitting.

This is some sort of bush that grows behind the chairs.  I just noticed that there's some sort of berries growing on it.  Wonder what this is!  CAN I MAKE IT INTO JAM?!  Needs further research.

There's a ton of beautiful wild flowers along the side of the house.  Aside from the two above, there's also wild poppy, but it's done now.  I love the variety of wild flowers we have here in the Yukon.

Backyard!  I know, it's horrible, but I blame it on renos.  The addition there will eventually be our master suite!  There's a sea of (admittedly pretty) weeds growing under that bay, but eventually I'd like to plant some tall flowers there.  The hot tub looks ugly, but it's glorious in the winter!  Nothing like sitting out in a hot tub under the stars and northern lights in -30C. 

This is Fireweed, our Territorial flower.  It's my absolute favourite flower, and is entirely responsible for my new favourite colour.

Chokecherry and Saskatoon berry bushes!  We also have a Chokecherry tree and Saskatoon tree in the yard, which is pretty cool.  I love the contrast in the leaves and berries in both plants right now.  I've made all sorts of things with these, including chokecherry syrup, saskatoon jam, and saskatoon pies!  Mmm I'm so excited for fresh saskatoon pie.

And oh hey, there's my canoe veggie garden!  It's not actually doing as well as last year, but I blame the squirrel.  You can see the carrots in the front there.

The onions on the other side are dying, for some reason.  At least the dill is doing well!  Doesn't the bloom look like fireworks?

Broccoli across the top, with lettuce, radish, and beets across the bottom.  That big empty spot was supposed to be where I was supposed to stagger the radishes, but uh forgot.  I should get on that.

Aren't these broccoli so cute?!  A man at the greenhouse told me they do really well here, and if I leave them over a couple of frosts, they'll be really sweet.  CURIOUS. 

Kale and what was supposed to be spinach - which did well last year - but I fought a bitter battle with a squirrel this spring, and my spinach got caught in the cross-fire. :(

Don't know what kind of tree this is, but I keep calling it a weeping willow.  Looks more aspen or something, but whatever.  The bush to the right blooms pretty pink flowers in the spring - you can see them in this post.

And last but not least, the dead bush that lives below my sewing room window.  I'm going to rip this out and plant raspberries!

I hope you enjoyed the tour around my yard.  I certainly did - it made me look at everything closer, and now I want to know what everything is in it. 

Run for Mom 2015

There is absolutely Nothing I Made in this post, but there is something Awesome I Did.  I ran the Run for Mum today (eta: err, yesterday) in honour of my Mom!

My Mom, on top of being an awesome woman and my very best friend, is also a breast cancer survivor.  I talked about this before, on my old blog, and she's doing fantastic!  I'm so proud to be the daughter of such a strong woman, and I thought about her (almost) constantly on the run (because sometimes you need to concentrate on trying to breath or not stepping in dog poo).

The run is in honour of Moms on Mother's Day, but also raises money for breast health awareness.  The really cool part is that all of the money raised stays in the territory.  The Whitehorse hospital got a digital mamogram unit in 2009, entirely paid for by the Run for Mom.  Awesome, eh?

I'm not a runner, but I'd like to be.  I've started the Couch to 5k training program...many times.  This year, I've set a goal for myself - to be able to run the Millenium Trail (a very popular paved 4.2 km non-motorized trail in Whitehorse, winding around the Yukon River) by the end of summer. 

I started the first week a few days ago, and basically ran/walked the Run for Mom using the week 1 interval (run 1 minute, walk 1.5 minutes for about 20 minutes)...twice.

I am going to be in so much pain tomorrow.

Worth it.