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elizarde.bsky.social
@elizarde.bsky.social
480 followers 310 following 950 posts
I can barely be arsed at this point. Profile to come? I just miss my people from the smoking, bird-shaped crater who didn't move over to Mastodon.

elizarde/k2cuss2/EElliottKnits, in case you're wondering who the latest weirdo who followed you is.
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elizarde.bsky.social
After his scary health stuff & despite my stupid knee stuff, Dad & I have resumed our Sunday walks. Today's reward: a slightly chilly walk through misty woods, and our first trumpeter swans of the year.
A lake viewed from a marshy bank. In the right foreground are dead reeds; the background is coniferous forest under a blue sky. Across the centre of the photo is a still lake, reflecting both the trees and the three trumpeter swans floating in the middle.
January 19, 2026 at 1:47 AM
elizarde.bsky.social
I'm on the lining of the 2nd mitten from @kateatherley.bsky.social's Toasty Mittens & Hat Set. (Did I finish them in time for Whitehorse? No, I did not.) using some JDMS Mohonk from the stash + Fyberspates Cumulus. So cozy I may have to go back north just to wear them www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...
A bright red, hand knit mitten on a hand knit cushion cover in grey & green diagonal stripes. A bright red, hand knit mitten on a hand knit cushion cover in grey and green diagonal stripes. The mitten is inside out to show the soft, fuzzy lining.
January 7, 2026 at 4:48 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
While in the frozen north, I went for a walk with my sister through her neighbourhood. We followed a path through some trees, rounded a corner, and suddenly, this. (Click for full photo.)

I'm not generally a fan of real winter, but damn.
Night view from the top of a hill over a valley of trees covered in snow. An almost-full moon lights the valley. A very old mountain can just be seen in the background.
December 28, 2025 at 4:10 AM
elizarde.bsky.social
Watched del Toro's Frankenstein. It is, of course, gorgeous to look at--the colours, the cinematography, the design, all so well thought out and visually striking--appropriately melodramatic, and (I think) a worthy interpretation.

However, I can never hear the name Frankenstein without thinking
December 3, 2025 at 6:08 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Follow-up to the other day's post on the cat-tree-to-new-vacuum pipeline: Proof that 1. George has decided that he likes his new castle & can get all the way up to the top, and 2. This thing is so ludicrously extra. I laugh at its ridiculousness every time I look at it.
Late night, poorly lit photo of a grey cat sitting at the very top of a large and elaborate cat tree, as seen from my knitting chair. You can't see the cat's expression, but trust me: He is very, very pleased with himself and his lot in life. For now.
November 27, 2025 at 2:23 AM
elizarde.bsky.social
So pleased to see Mystic Beach done in a Canadian yarn: Beehive Wool Shop in Victoria did their sample in @lainesjulieasselin.bsky.social Fino, spun & dyed in Canada. Beehive has the pattern + some gorgeous Fino skeins here: beehivewoolshop.com/collections/... beehivewoolshop.com/products/fin...
A woman wearing a hand knit cowl in a twisted stitch pattern of diagonal ridges and waves, in a subtly varying light blue.
November 27, 2025 at 2:04 AM
elizarde.bsky.social
Since it's come up today, here's a knitting chart-reading tip: In some stranded colourwork charts, you have sections of several stitches of the same colour. These can be a flow-breaking PITA to count, so some charting programs will add the number of stitches in the middle of each stretch, like so:
A stranded colourwork knitting chart, showing the head of an octopus. Stitches in the main colour are shown as white squares, with the contrast colour stitches as black squares. Wherever the chart has 6 or more stitches of the same colour in a row, there's a number in the middle of that stretch of stitches. That number indicates how many stitches to do of that colour before switching to the other colour.
November 13, 2025 at 7:05 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
A clip from the Go-Go's video for 'Vacation', showing them waterskiing in a row, wearing pink bodysuits and short, white tutus. The lyrics "Vacation, all i ever wanted" are in yellow across the bottom.
October 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
I did the Marcella Hazan route with mine (the food mill method), and then froze the puree. It worked beautifully.
September 15, 2025 at 10:54 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
One of the most rewarding things about the community garden is making friends who really get you. Sometimes they even bring you thoughtful gifts.
A hip flask with a wraparound decal: a drawing of a woman in a 50s style yellow cardigan, black and white striped skirt, and gardening gloves, kneeling in a garden bed and holding a trowel, looking into the distance with a faint smile on her face. Above the drawing is the caption, "Gardening, yoga, bubble baths, medication...and I still want to smack somebody!"
September 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Pesto time!
A large shopping basket filled to overflowing with branches of basil, sitting on a kitchen counter.
September 3, 2025 at 8:59 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Another great morning in the #CommunityGarden, including a nice haul for the local food bank. (This is just what I picked; others picked & brought more.)
A large aluminum colander sitting on green grass. In the colander are quite a lot of cucumbers and red, orange, and yellow cherry tomatoes; green beans; basil; rosemary; and thyme.
September 2, 2025 at 6:50 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
My uncle is a really good amateur photographer, & took me to a bird sanctuary to teach me about how to use my camera. Here is the one shot I got of a beaver who appeared near the end of our walk. I call it "Card Full". ("and now you've learned another lesson about photography.")
A pretty good photo of (I think) a willow in sharp focus in front of a very out-of-focus lake. The darker blur from the right edge to about 1/3 into the frame is the beaver I was actually trying to capture, and its wake. Or maybe it's a samsqanch. We'll never know.
June 20, 2025 at 5:50 AM
elizarde.bsky.social
Finally, the balcony is scrubbed, planted, and put back together for spring. It's sangria o'clock, baby. (Glass courtesy of @flisswave.bsky.social )
#gardening #ContainerGardening #BalconyGarden #VancouverIsland
View along a long, narrow balcony. In the foreground is a table with a copy of Emily Carr's book Klee Wyck, a highball glass containing sangria with a skull and the words 'Sloth love punk' painted on it, and a tarragon plant in a pot. In the background is a patio chair, a jasmine growing up a wall, and a shelf with various herbs in pots. A honeysuckle is wrapped around the railing on the right.
May 9, 2025 at 11:27 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Well, would you look at that. Delicate wash (warm, because my machine doesn't give me a choice), dried flat, and it did just fine.

Yarn: Laines du Nord Matera: DK weight, 100% Merino Gentile (an Italian sheep breed grown in Puglia), 160 m/50 g or 175 yds/1.75 oz.

#knitting #wool #WoolLove
Hand knit swatch in a light bluish grey, with twisted stitch patterns of waves on the left, mountains against garter stitch on the bottom, sort of conifer trees in the middle, and something that when I play around with the placement will hopefully evoke grasslands. The swatch is now blocked, so it lies nice and flat and the stitches are more even.
May 7, 2025 at 5:41 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Commemorating this baby blanket swatch in case the lovely, woolly yarn I picked up at my LYS is 'European washing machine safe on wool cycle' and not 'North American top-loader delicate cycle safe.' Wish me luck! #knitting
Hand knit swatch in a light bluish grey, with twisted stitch patterns of waves on the left, mountains against garter stitch on the bottom, sort of conifer trees in the middle, and something that when I play around with the placement will hopefully evoke grasslands. The swatch is unblocked, so the stitches are a bit wobbly and the top garter border is curling up a bit.
May 6, 2025 at 5:13 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
The other one I've made before, and will be much easier to ship. (Photo is of the last one I made.) www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...
Composite photo of a hand knit toy sitting in a flower pot full of seedlings. Clockwise from left: a cream-coloured egg; a smiling turtle in shades of green with a striped shell; the same turtle from a slightly different angle, so the face is more visible. The turtle turns inside out to become the egg; the egg becomes the stuffing for the turtle.
May 1, 2025 at 5:11 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Trying to figure out how to convince my landlord that installing one of these from our balcony to the parking deck would be an excellent, not-at-all-ridiculous idea.
A boxed zipline kit in the window of a toy store.
April 27, 2025 at 3:24 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
And so it begins. #CommunityGarden
A raised bed in a community garden. In the bed are tiny spinach and bok choi plants, a coffee sack with soil and potato plants, various alliums, and at the end, some snow pea shoots against an improvised trellis. In the background is green lawn and some cedar and deciduous trees.
April 22, 2025 at 5:11 AM
elizarde.bsky.social
Friend & local legend Joe Fortin died a couple of weeks ago. He made the most wonderful bird houses, but I never bought one because we don't have a yard. At his celebration of life, I realized that I didn't need a yard: it's okay to just have one as a piece of art by a friend.

I miss you, Joe.
A wooden bird house/art work showing a stylized human figure bowing before a sun that looks like a sunflower. The background is in undulating shades of green below with a bright blue sky. The bird house has an asymettrical shape and a wooden shake roof. It sits on a wooden shelf suspended by ropes from the foot of a metal frog.
April 20, 2025 at 7:16 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Suggestions, old-furniture-loving people? I found this for a reasonable price. It would be perfect in our bathroom, except that it's ~2 in too low to clear the baseboard heater that we never use. I've looked at casters, but they're often not high enough & I don't want to screw anything into the feet
An old, wooden, 2-drawer chest of drawers in a shop. There are bowls and another table sitting on top.
March 28, 2025 at 10:19 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Doing a bit of a book purge, I came across this. It was a much-treasured gift from my dad during my heavily-into-ballet phase--signed! to me! by Veronica Tennant! the National Ballet's prima ballerina at the time! I was over the moon. It will now go to my dance-mad niece. May it bring her joy, too.
TItle page and illustration from the book 'On Stage, Please', by Veronica Tennant, with illustrations credit to Rita Briansky, published by McClelland and Stewart. The inscription reads, "To Elizabeth, With my very best wishes, Veronica Tennant."
March 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Today's shopping list:
#LivingMyBestLife
A shopping list written on a Post-It note. The list reads: Rubber boots, Dexedrine. Both items have a check mark beside them.
March 25, 2025 at 7:37 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
This morning's task: thinning out the seedlings with my tiny beheading scissors like some kind of demented botanical Highlander.
GIF from The Highlander: There can be only one.
March 21, 2025 at 11:35 PM
elizarde.bsky.social
Though we don't generally do Valentine's Day, I couldn't not get this card for @bitteroldpunk.bsky.social
February 14, 2025 at 11:06 PM