Tippy Canoe

This was in my driveway tonight:


Hubby has been talking (and talking) about how we need a canoe for fishing.

"Haddy. We need a canoe."
"Wouldn't a canoe be great?"
"I found this guy on craigslist. He refinished canoes for *this many dollars*"
"Haddy. Seriously. Let's go buy a canoe."
"What we need is a short canoe. Easy to maneuver. Light enough that I could manage it on my own. Wide enough to be stable."


That's the way it went through last weekend ending with this:

Hubby: "Dude. That canoe guy. He's got one that we should buy. 13 foot. We can pick the color. What color?"
Haddy: "Hmm... I say if we got one it should be green."
Hubby: "What about red?"
Haddy: "Naw. Green. It'll blend in better."


At work Thursday, I get this skype:

Hubby: "Our canoe's ready. Red."
Haddy: "What canoe?"
Hubby: "From that guy. On craigslist."
Haddy: "Oh. We decided to buy one? Wait. I thought we said green because it wouldn't spook the fish?"
Hubby: "I said green or red. He says, red."
Haddy: "Ok. Whatever."

Story of my life. The man is not so great on details. So as of yesterday I knew that it was pretty likely the we were going to purchase the "perfect" red canoe from the canoe guy on craigslist.

Tonight:

I pull in the driveway first. Weird. Hubby always beats me home lately. I let the dogs out. Sit down. Check email. Still no Hubby. No phone call. I'm about to get up and check my phone to see if he's called when he walks through the door.

Hubby: "Look what I've got!"
Haddy: "The canoe! You didn't tell me you were going to pick it up tonight?"
Hubby: "I told you yesterday!"
Haddy: "No. You said it was ready. You never mentioned actually picking it up."
Hubby: "Oh. Well... I got it! The canoe guy said he couldn't believe how well it fits my car!"

C'est la vie for the McGillicutty household and that's how these two kids became the proud parents of the perfect red canoe.


Truth be told it is the perfect canoe. The canoe guy repainted it and polyed the inside so that it looks like new. It has padded seats! It is very, very nice. Hubby says we need to pimp it out. Fly boxes that attach to the sides, knitted seat covers with our initials...

Apparently the canoe guy from craigslist is passionate about canoes. He gave Hubby over 45 minutes of instruction including how to mount and carry the canoe, how to tie it to the car, how to tie a half hitch, how to lift with your legs, etc., etc.


He even gave us refinished paddles.


We're not sure how old this canoe is, but it has cool stuff like this:


Standing in the driveway, admiring it:

Haddy: "So, *this many dollars*, huh?"
Hubby" "No. Well, *this many dollars*+$150."
Haddy: "*this many dollars*+$150! What happened to *this many dollars*?"
Hubby: "Well, this is a Great Canadian. See this metal edging, the padded seats, the cup holders?" (it does have cup holders.)
Haddy: "Oh. It is very nice."

Using his new found skills, Hubby was able to move the canoe to the shed:


It was all I could do to bear the disappointment on his face when I said I didn't want to take it out after dinner tonight. It was dark. The bugs were vicious and we weren't even near water. I haven't seen him this excited since he installed the heavy bag in the basement.

I'll leave you with this pic, because I swear I didn't pose him. He said he was "tucked in." I love this man.

Ascot

Kick Ass

Pattern: Lana & Clark Ascot by Vickie Howell

Source: vickiehowell.com
Materials: Classic Elite Premiere in Color # 5255 Burnt Orange
50% Pima Cotton 50% Tencel
Amount: One skein.
Needles: US7 Circular 32" Addi Turbos.
Start Date: 28 May 2007
Finish Date: 29 May 2007

Not bad. Not bad at all. Highly recommend this yarn. Lovely.

Knitting Portfolio

Lately I've been thinking about all the knitting I've done. I tend to think of myself as a beginner, but lately I've realized that I can crank some stuff out.

I've been meaning to catalog my works and this weekend provided the time to get it done. I put together a web album of my completed projects. I actually thought there might be more and I think there is. There are a few things I didn't capture, mostly gifts in the early days. My dad has a few hats from spring 2006. I knit a couple babydoll blankets for my nieces in the fall winter of 2005. My first pair of socks went to Weaver in September 2006.

Check the web album out here.

Meet Russet

This is Russet:


He's a hedgehog that I knitted for my friend Chrisie. That's the secret fun fur project I was working on.

My friend Chrisie was a partner in crime during my years in college. We shared late nights in her room. Chrisie always had snacks, a computer and an incredible sense of humor. We were both RA's and later I turned my RD apartment over to her. We ruled Brooks Hall: from First Hulings to the spooky attic. Chrisie first taught me of IM, she hated my grape iMac and indulged me when I was obsessed with WhirlGirl. She's a keeper.

Chrisie is the only person I've ever known to have a hedgehog. She's that kind of girl. Unique and gives a rat's ass what you think. When I first met her, she had a hedgehog named Potato. Currently the hedghog that lives with her is named Chip - get it? Potato, then Chip?

So when I found a pattern to knit a hedgehog, it was on! I made this in a weekend and now that I think of it, it took longer to dry than it did to knit. So much fun to knit! I even found eyes and a nose! So cute!

Chrisie ran the Ottawa marathon today. Her first marathon! Pretty exciting and inspiring. We had some local friends also running Ottawa, so I sent him with them to meet Chrisie. I got the funniest voicemail from Chrisie. She's thrilled about him! She named him Russet. Perfect.

Roxie's missing Russet already.