Lots of hockey = lots of knitting

If you aren't someone in the hockey loop, (or kept in the hockey loop by a loved one) you may not know that it's the playoffs right now. This means that there is lots of hockey on. Lots of important hockey, as I have been told.

Now, I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but Dave loves hockey. Well, that may not be entirely accurate... Dave has an unnatural obsession with hockey. Dave loves playing hockey.

As an example of his love of the game; he has come back from being at sea for a month, to come home and that night, go out to play hockey. When I, innocently complain about this, he just doesn't seem to understand. He doesn't comprehend why I would want him to stay home, with me, when he is only going to be gone an hour to play hockey. Lets put it this way, if hockey was a woman he would have left me for her years ago. He also loves watching hockey. Though his love of watching hockey is more a way for him to live vicariously through others that are playing. Again, he would trade me to be a professional hockey player.

Now, I do not share this obsession. I try to be supportive, but I am just not a group sports person. I don't understand the high intensity competition of group sports. I am just too soft to get into the "kill the other team" mentality. I guess it's just my hippy showing. Even though it isn't my thing, as you may guess it was a requirement for the well being of our relationship that I go along with it. Much in the same way that he has accepted the yarn all over the house, and listening to me going on about that "beautiful knitted sweater" and how amazing Cookie A. is.

So, as the good woman I am, I have been sitting through hockey games since the beginning of our relationship. Though, the playoffs is another league of hockey watching. It's hockey all the time. Two games every night and highlights all day long. So, to cope with this I knit... a lot.

Oh, and lately I have been knitting like mad. I have two socks on the go, a Socktopus for Ella, a blanket for Ella, and I have been planning other projects like too. I think that the hockey has brought out the startitis in me. I have been considering putting in a KnitPicks order for a sweaters worth of yarn... I don't know what sweater to knit, but I think I want to make myself one.

The thing I have been working on the most is a blanket for Ella. This was a plan I had in December, before Ella was born. It didn't end up getting started until this month.

I now have the first green tree square done. I am quite happy with how it turned out.

The blanket is supposed to represent the four seasons and the cycle of life. There will be four squares like this. I am going to embellish each one with embroidery to represent the seasons. One will have snow, another fall leaves, the third with flowers and the last with apples on the trees. The four corners were going to have colour work to represent the seasons. One with a ladybug, snowflake, flower and a fall leaf. The center square will have a sun/moon. I am also going to use fabric as a backing so you can't see the bad side. I am really excited to see my idea come together.

Though I am now questioning my plan. I am really enjoying the look of the cabled trees. I am thinking of now changing the corner squares. I recently bought Continuous Cables , and am itching to try a cable pattern or two. I was thinking of changing the corners to closed cables, to represent the cycle of life... I could do each corner in a different colour... I don't know. Maybe I am just over thinking this and should stick with my original plan... sigh, what do you think?