After getting stuck in the June Critical Mass traffic coming back from Horseshoe Bay, I’ve started to learn more about the ‘movement’. Critical Mass Vancouver had approximately 3,000 people riding today. They start at the Art Gallery at 6:00pm and ride all around downtown. The Critical Mass mantra: “We’re not blocking traffic; we are traffic!” is meant to raise awareness about sharing the roads. Unfortunately opinions have changed considerably.

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My cousin has a miniature long-haired dachshund named Taffy. She has a little orange ball that she goes nuts over. My uncle recently discovered that if you put it in a cardboard box, Taffy will go crazy trying to get at the ball. We also found a mouse that Henry had lost, so Taffy started to play with that too.

Check out the video I put together (to the song “Dreaming Of You” by The Coral):

Although we were practically stormed out for Illuminares, we still made it down to Trout Lake and John Hendry Park to check out the festival. Not many of the lanterns were lit, but before dusk I managed to get some photos of them. View all my photos from the evening in my Vancouver set on Flickr.

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Okay, so the Robin’s Egg Blue knitted hat is a bit of a stretch from “bonnet” … but the alliteration was too great to resist.
Ta da! The button is from Button Button and is porcelain and handmade by two sisters (fitting, no?) from the Czech Republic.

Birthday girl modelling the hat. She was joking she didn’t just turn 24, she just turned 4! Earlier she was running through a neighbour’s sprinkler it was so hot. I just stood in it… no running for me.

Admiring the decreases and bind off. I actually did the last of the hat with DPNs! I knit most of it on 6mm circulars, but once i got to a certain point, it was too small for the circulars. I took the plunge and tried my first foray into DPNs. While I find them much more fiddly and finicky than circs, I’m sure I’ll need them again some time.

The blue yarn used on the ‘brim’ is leftover from my sister’s weaving project. It’s Cascade 200, Navy Blue. So I selected some lovely purple Cascade 220 to make the rest of the hat with. There is still some leftover yarn from the weaving project that I may turn into something else to match her woven scarf.

Wednesday marked the first night of the HSBC Celebration of Light. For a while there, we didn’t think the firworks were going to happen. But I am proud to say that some Vancouver/Canadian businesses pulled through and the Celebration of Light is lighting up the summer night sky once again.

For those unfamiliar with the event, this is an annual fireworks competition with which is free to watch from public parks and beaches. Music simulcast begins at 10:00 p.m. on a specific station (Shore 104 FM in 2009). The estimated annual attendance is 1.4 million people. The main viewing area is English Bay, with the fireworks-launch-barge anchored 300 metres off shore. English Bay is in the heart of downtown and also has speakers set up to broadcast the music to the audience. Other prime viewing points include Kits Beach, Vanier Park, and Jericho Beach (where I usually go).

July 22, 2009 was Canada night, sponsored by London Drugs. The theme was “There’s No Place Like Home” with music from The Wizard of Oz.

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