The Amadeus of Our Generation

When I was in high school (should I even say when that was??) I went on an Easter break trip to England. As the bus full of kids went down the motorway we saw a bill board advertising an Elton John concert taking place that evening. Eighteen teenagers groaned and complained the rest of the trip that we hadn't known about the concert before hand.

I have never forgotten about that missed opportunity.

So 30 years later (you do the math) I finally got to go to an Elton John concert. We went to the Rolling Stones concert a couple of years back (little ole Regina got 2 - count 'em - 2 shows, the only stop on the tour to get more than one date) and that was fun and all, but it was Elton John that really defined the music for my generation growing up.

We were very lucky to get tickets for the concert (without paying exhorbitant scalper fees). Sir Elton played two shows here also, but tickets were nearly impossible to score. Our seats weren't too bad. We had a clear unblocked view of the stage from fairly close. My pictures are very poor quality since I was afraid of taking my good camera with me. I needn't have worried, though, since no one even asked to look in my purse on the way in. It must be a sign of the general age of the audience when the security was almost non-existant.The concert was amazing! Elton sang and played for nearly 3 hours straight - no opening act, no intermission. There was a camera on the keyboard and watching him play was incredible. This man is simply a musical genius.

Of Potatoes, Socks and Squirrels

I went out to the garden this morning to dig up some potoatoes for our dinner. The ground was fairly muddy and the potatoes came up covered in gooey muck. So I left them sitting on the ground to dry off in the sun while I ran up to my favourite LYS to look at some Jaquard dyes. As soon as I pulled up in front of the store I had to smack myself on the head since I always forget that they are closed on Mondays. And with gas at $1.45 a litre I was quite ticked at myself for the wasted trip. So now I have pretty much everything I need to dye some yarn except the much-needed dye.

Anyway.... I returned to the garden this afternoon to gather the potatoes. And found little tooth marks on a few of them. Too big for mice, way too small for a dog (and a dog wouldn't be stupid enough to leave any sign of evidence). The only thing I can figure out is that the neighbourhood squirrels had to sample a few to find out that they didn't like raw potatoes.

Oh well, at leasts this kept the squirrels on the ground and off the overhead power lines. It seems this summer they have been frying themselves quite regularly and I am getting tired of losing power everytime they do.

I am actually knitting a sock that isn't stockinette! I knew the time would come when stockinette would start to lose its appeal and I would become ready for more of a challange. Baby steps, though, baby steps. These Bamboo Walking Socks (although, I am doing them in Opal Smoke) fit the bill nicely. It is still a very simple pattern, but creates a nice look the with varigated yarn.

I am still a complete knitting idiot, though, and need a counter to keep track of the 3 row (2 of which are stockinette!) pattern.

I was reading She Knits Socks' blog today and when I read that she was lusting after Opal Petticoat yarn in the 1290 colourway I remembered that I had a pair! These were the second pair of socks that I ever knit. I really love this yarn also. I am a complete sucker for pastels.

Dyeing for Dummies

I had my first lesson in dyeing yarn yesterday and just as I feared it was pretty fun. So now I suppose I will have to start slowly buying all my own supplies. I really like how the blue skein turned out and am eager to see how it will knit up. The green one is another matter. The colour chart showed the two greens matching far better than they do in real life. I will have to head back over to my sister Susan's and try some overdyeing to see if I can come up with something that tones down the brightness of the bits of leaf green poking through. The picture is actually flattering to it. When it dried it became more pronounced.

I have made a vow that I will not touch my sister's spinning wheel for at least another year. Regardless of the cost, I simply do not have the room for one of my own!








I did finish a pair of socks the other day. Here is Lisa Souza Pink Ribbon.

The mounties would be proud.