So, one of the activities that was put together for my local WWKIP day event, was a photo scavenger hunt. I spent from 10:00 this morning to 4:00 (5:00 if you include transit time) going around the city with my aunt Crystal (and 9 week old Benjamin) taking pictures of me and my knitting in various places. I'm going to be getting more tomorrow, but I just had so much fun today that I needed to post. So here goes a tale of Gwen and Knitting on The City.
First we start off at Tangled Skeins in Dartmouth. It was my first time in, and I gotta say, wow sock yarn. And Sale. BUT I didn't buy anything, I did good right? I really wish I had bought something...
Second you see my feet, and Halifax. This was on the ferry going from Dartmouth over to Halifax. And yes, that is how and usually where I sit when on the ferry. Except in rush hour, then I don't take up ridiculous amounts of space.
And there's Ben! Nanny knitted the sweater he's wearing (and I figured out that it's a top down Raglan, with the arms knit flat and seamed afterwards). And I knit the pants! They're roughly based off of Cargo from Knitty. I had to alter the pattern though because Ben, although being 9 weeks old, is still teeny tiny.
Fort Needham Park. This was on the way to the Hydrostones. I'm thinking that I should do a map up and show you all everywhere we went. I swear we walked (and pushed the stroller!) at least 5 kms today. I don't even feel tired which is the scary part. :S
Next we went to LK Yarns in the Hydrostones. OMG, YARN. That about sums it up. I should have taken a picture of the sign on the door which Crystal most gracefully hid from me on the way in. A really bad four letter word. Sale. It was so hard to not buy everything. So much pretty stuff.
Look! I can fly! Well, not really. This is at the Halifax Commons. My brother plays baseball with the Senior Men's team on that field quite often. It's a gorgeous open part of Halifax. Also the site for Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, and soon to be Keith Urban concerts.
My god it was windy. This is me with The Citadel Fort in the background. There was no way that we were going to climb the hill with the stroller in that wind. We had almost lost it twice before that in a "sheltered" area.
Ducks! This is at the Halifax Public Gardens. They are really quite tame due to people feeding them even though you're not supposed to. The one that was coming towards me actually kinda nipped at me right after the picture was taken. Crystal had a good laugh.
SWAN!!! These things are huge, and I hadn't realized it but the big guy was actually trying to get through the fence to bite my knitting.
No knitting here, but this is what was right behind us making a racket while we took the Swan picture. It's a baby swan, something that you don't see very often in the Public Gardens. Actually, I rarely even see the swans!
Look! It's me on a bridge! This was once again, in the Public Gardens.
Vegetables. mmmmmm. There were mint plants too, and it reminded me of the time I decided to grow a mint plant in the backyard. It ended up taking over one entire flower bed. But it was great in the summer because we'd rip off a chunk and throw it in the Compost bin to keep it smelling....not half bad. This is at Pete's Froutique. Unfortunately Pete wasn't there, but I've met him before and he's a great guy.
And now we're onto the third (yes that's right, THIRD) yarn shop of the adventure. This is The Loop, my main yarn store. Mainly because it's half a block from where I went to school (that hurt my pocketbook) and only two blocks from where I work.
Are you envious? This is at Venus Envy, one of the local sex stores. It's really neat because the front is all new age stuff, and sensual sex books, then you get into the harder stuff, Karma Sutra, and bondage books, and then the back, BAM. Wall of sex toys. These were two little things I found and laughed my butt off about, they're crochet manly bits, with harnesses on them. And the guy in the picture is a very helpful employee. Is it bad that I almost bought a toy on my knitting adventure?
This is a nice bright picture of me and the stroller (which at that point was going on like 5 almost tip-overs) in front of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. It's a really cool museum on the waterfront, I haven't been in since I was in middle school though. High time to return eh?
Harbour Hopper. The best tourist attraction, but the pits if you're living in the city. It's loud, it's big, and not only does it drive around the town, it goes in the Harbour. It was windy, as you can tell by the hair (that needs another dye job) that is everywhere.
And now here's the Tallship Silva, on which my Aunt Crystal and Uncle Shawn (Uncle is my mom's brother, aunt has turned into an amazing friend) had their wedding on. I'm also holding a Beaver Tail, which is a dead fried pastry. I got the original one, which is cinnamon and sugar. So good. So very very good. And huge, for only $3.75!
Theadore, he's a tugboat and a happy tugboat too. Theadore Tugboat is a children's show that uses models as the characters. It's based in Halifax Harbour (where I live) and a few years ago someone (I forget who) got a live sized Theadore built. He's huge, and the eyes that are on the front actually move. It's kinda creepy. And yes, he has a big red ball cap on.
Lobsters. And a trap. Would it be Nova Scotia if there weren't lobsters?
Cows Ice Cream. Hand made fresh (you watch them make it) waffle cones and ice cream that comes in a bazillion flavours. It's a summertime staple. (bazillion doesn't come up as wrong on spell check. wow.)
I was going to go in, but it was really busy, and we didn't want to take up loads of room with the stroller, so here's a picture of me next to the Split Crow sign. (the Split Crow is one of the older pubs in Halifax, it's also where the Melotones play on Thursday nights. They're the band that one of my teacher's plays in.)
Freak Lunchbox. They don't allow pictures inside, so this is the best I could do. It's a candy store, with all of the odds and ends that you'll never find anywhere else. So good. And yummy. And teeth rottening.
Hahaha, funny story. So as Crystal took the Freak Lunchbox picture, and was about to put the camera away, this guy walked out. One of the items on the Scavenger hunt is "A man or woman in uniform". This guy was just in the right place at the right time. Although, I think we scared him because as soon as he walked out Crystal and I both at the same time squeeled and said "Excuse me!?" I then explained to him, he kinda chuckled, and agreed to have a photo opp. It was a "Had to be there" moment.
Um, yea. This was Crystal running out into the middle of the street, snapping a picture, then running back to the sidewalk. All the while dodging cars. lol. Though to be truthful, the only car moving on that street at that time was the one up the hill a bit.
Me outside the Metro Center. I wish I could have gotten a picture with the big Metro Center sign, but they were doing construction and couldn't get anywhere near it.
Crystal, since it was like 4:00 at that time, decided to go meet Shawn at work and go home with him, we were done our adventure anywho. So as I was going home, I saw a smoke trail from the bridge. This is a picture taken from Penhorn Mall. Pretty much, all of Porter's Lake, Lake Echo, Mineville, and a bit of West Laurencetown were on fire. The Scout camp (where we're going next weekend) is out that way. The RCMP even evacuated a huge number of people in that area, including the Scout camp. I'm just hoping that the camp doesn't catch fire. I think I might cry if it does.
After I got home, I decided that I was going to go to the BBQ that a few friends were having over in Halifax, so back on a bus I went (I really don't mind commuting, gives me more knitting time). This is a picture of me on a bus, on the bridge. It actually gave me a few points, so that made me happy.
All in all, it was a great day and I got so much exercise in. Of course, now my legs are starting to hurt a bit, but at least my knees and back feel fine. I can't wait for KIP day tomorrow. Seriously can not wait. :D
-cheers and happy knitting!
