r-a-v

I've been a bad, bad blogger - I haven't blogged in aaaages. And the longer I leave it, the more stuff there is to mention, so I leave it even longer...

This morning we went cross-country skiing at Cypress Mountain. We drove over the bridge to North Van, along the trans-Canada highway for a bit, and suddenly we were in a winter wonderland. They have a 10-foot base layer of snow, and a foot of new snow. The trees are covered in snow - even their trunks. It was gorgeous up there. And it's such a perfect arrangement - the snow is up on the mountain where it belongs. You don't have to shovel it, or drive in it, but you can go visit it whenever you want.



Here are our friends Yanick and Tina:



The Christmas holidays are over, the days are getting longer. The friends who were in town visiting have gone home, the Christmas parties are over, and the Christmas baking is gone (though I might have to make another batch of shortbread - that stuff is addictive). We both had the flu this year, so the holidays were quiet. I feel rested, ready for the new year.

I have 2 new obsessions, both starting with r-a-v. Ravelry, first - it's facebook for knitters. I can browse patterns, looking for something new to make. Or I can pull a lonely bit of yarn out of my stash, and see what other people have made with it. Or I can check out how a pattern I want to make will turn out in various yarns people have used. I can see friends' projects. It's eating a lot of my time! There are a lot of other obsessed knitters in Vancouver, though - we tried to go to a late boxing day sale at 3 Bags Full on Main Street, and we had to leave because the lineup to pay for yarn was about 60 people long. The store was *packed* and everyone in there was in line with a basket or bag full of yarn.

O, and before I get to my next r-a-v obsession, I've found something else to do with wool - felting without knitting! My brother gave me a book called Felt: Handmade Style (which I can't find on amazon, oddly) about felting straight from unspun wool. It's crazy. You take the unspun wool (called either sliver or roving), lay it out on a sushi mat, wet it, roll up the sushi mat, bash it around a bit, and voila, you have a flat felted fabric. Crazy. You can also make bubble wrap forms, and make hats and bags, you name it. I'll post pictures when I make something other than a flat piece of fabric.

OK, and the next r-a-v obsession - ravioli!! We got a ravioli tray from the Italian market down the road (where everyone speaks Italian all the time), and have been making ravioli non-stop. mmmmmmmmm



Douglas has been working on camperizing the van, and soon, soon, it will be functional!! I can't believe the progress he's making. Here's the inside of the van (and me, looking silly):



I hope everyone is having a good New Year!