A Little Yarn On The Side

Two days in a row completely out of bed now, though my bedtime might be creeping up just a bit each night.  Yesterday I was out and about some, meeting my Great Decisions group in the afternoon and rummaging through some charity shops for a cheap but not too icky desk for the back bedroom, and just did a short walk at night to limber up the muscles without pushing them too hard.  Today I got up, maybe a little less enthusiastically than the previous two mornings, and took the cats to the vet for their annual check up and shots.  Since I've been hauling Theo around so much, I had bought a bigger carrier for him, so this was their first joint visit, and I can assure you that hauling around 35 pounds of cats is a lot of work no matter WHAT has been going on with one's back.  The room has pheromone mist for the cats, but they could really use a martini dispenser for the humans--or at least free chocolate.  After their ordeal, I brought the cats back home, grabbe...

It may not look like it, but this is a cat with stress issues.  We flew out to Indiana for Andy's family reunion obscenely early on Thursday morning.  Because it's such a busy time of year for our friends, how much I would worry about fires with the drought this year, and because I wanted to poison the little vole-monsters who have been plaguing the garden all spring, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to board the cats while we were gone.  Because of our travel times, the cats were due to check in the day before we left and get picked up the day after we arrived.  I made the reservations well in advance, made a copy of their immunization records, and thought I was really pretty clever for coming up with this whole idea in the first place. STILL feeling like I was planning ahead, we dug out the suitcases Tuesday night.  I have joked many times about Theo getting upset when he sees suitcases come out because he hates change so much, but I always thou...

DRUM ROLL PLEASE................ Project 41 , which puts me on target for the year, is done: Did I mention project number 40? More napkins!  Becoming a bit like the coasters, isn't it? Technically, I think I might look like some sort of Pepto-Bismal mascot in the new ensemble, but it really is one of my best colors.  AND it used up 4 1/4 yards of material that has been in the stash for well over a year, so perhaps I just won't wear it around anyone suffering from a hangover or nausea....... There HAS been knitting, I swear!  The second monkey sock is progressing and it is my fondest wish that this is at least a teensy bit smaller than it was at the start of the week.  I have been knitting from it for the last two hours and I swear that it looks exactly the same, but I keep hoping...... Meanwhile, Theo is finding all his new fame a bit exhausting And Calisto, out of jealousy and a desperate need for attention, has started posing for skanky kitty cal...

Tomorrow Andy leaves for a week for business, and I will be embarking on a crafting marathon (and obviously a week of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches as cooking is no part of my plan).  I have some gifts to finish, but I am really, really, REALLY hoping to finish both the quilt AND the kimono shawl while he's gone.  And, of course, I'm also hoping that the cats don't think I have been abandoned and feel the need to shower me with vermin gifts as they usually do when Andy is gone.  It's really cold here now, so even if they have the intention to do so, I'm hoping all the potential "gifts" have either flown south for the winter or are hibernating.  We haven't decided exactly what this says about the cats' interpretation of what Andy does around here.  Do they think he normally keeps me supplied with mice & birds, or are they trying to bribe me to let him come back or to keep him away?  Theo sulks if I'm gone for any length of time, but h...

The slip-stitching of the binding is going pretty slowly (though compared to the THREE AND A HALF YEARS that the rest has taken, it's pretty zippy), but at least Calisto is getting some use out of it as a yoga mat.

Glory be and hallelujah!!! The camera survived the swim! There's a little smudge now on the screen I look through, but it doesn't show up on pictures, so that is perfectly acceptable. So, with no further ado, the FINISHED Luna Moth: It's a small shawl--I was 2 rows short of using just one ball of Elann's Super Kydd , but I was knitting pretty loosely. Looks like most people made it with just one. A close-up of the pattern which makes sense now, but I just couldn't picture how this was working while knitting. I'm cutting out Andy's birthday clothes tonight, but Theo resented my remarks about him yesterday, so he has not been lured by the promise of sewing, so tonight's cute kitty picture has been provided by Callisto who never ever used to show anyone her tummy until she saw how much attention it got Theo. If they acted any more like children we'd have to put them through college.

Not that the cherry situation is completely under control, but after 3 batches yesterday--and helping a friend's granddaughter with a new sewing machine, it was time first time for a little quality quadruped time. A little sunbathing with Calisto: who never has to worry about skin cancer, and a little email with Theo, who is quite enamored of the new laptop--maybe it's the color? Then on to the knitting! The newest shawl--just a border & stitch pattern-is finally past the bottom border and into the stitch pattern. Since the yarn is dark green, I wanted a stitch pattern that was about the pattern of the holes, not the stitches. Then on to the socks, which are ready for the heel. If they're giving me nightmares, it's time to finish the things. I think I only have two batches of jam to go (I already did one today, so two more ought to finish them up), so there could be some serious knitting tomorrow! Right after I clean the jam off the counters...and the stove......

The moment of weakness has passed. I can now accept the fact that there will be discounted sock yarn available on Monday and that it is okay if other people end up with it. This is a growing opportunity. And the fact that the "fingering yarn" tub is completely full and couldn't hold even one more skein doesn't hurt. Today my "helpers" and I finished the blocks for the green quilt. Two strips are even sewn together, but I had to stop there. As relaxing as the cats find quilting I was about to blow a gasket. I ripped out & redid one seam 4 times trying to get the seams to match up. At that point, with the seams still not matched up, I decided it would be best if we spent some time apart before ONE of us ended up in a bonfire in the backyard. But it did take my mind completely off sock yarn.....

This might lead you to think I have Knitter's ADD....and you'd probably be right, of course...but THIS TIME I do have an excuse! The lovely lady who loaned us her condo last week refused to take any money for it, so I wanted to knit her a scarf, but have frogged the first two attempts. I thought she was in Arizona until sometime in later April, but it turns out she has returned early, and I want to have a gift for her when I return her keys & everything. So, yesterday I dug these out of the stash, and with size 8 needles to speed things along, I've been knitting and beading like a mad woman. The cats seem to have forgiven me and have been lending their moral support Or perhaps they just know that I am the bigger softie on tummy-rubs. And I swear that having the Kauni cardigan bogged down in the gold & orange colors has nothing to do with this.......

The Kauni cardigan and me....well, and Theo.......we're trying it AGAIN. My last attempt looked okay color-wise, but the ribbing was rolling, so this time I'm striping only on every-other row of the ribbing. No idea yet if that will still look striped or if it will stop the ribbing, but I did learn a couple things yesterday: 1. Unless you rip back both yarns simultaneously, the alternate stripes function as double knitting and it can be really hard to figure out what row either one of the colors is on. 2. This might increase frustration, and when one is frogging and realizes that one will have to rip everything out and start over, one might get annoyed enough to pull a little too hard, thus breaking the yarn. Thank heavens I have other, better behaved knitting projects. The scarf is zipping along And the first sleeve for the January Aran is almost done! Theo was obviously enjoying playing "Vanna" this morning. You can see the fur on his leg still hasn't compl...

This year I have high stash-burning goals. What am I working on? which doesn't qualify as either yarn or fabric. I have become completely obsessed with the darn thing. I guess I was finding lace knitting just a bit too speedy or something. This is what it will look like when done and that little green tag explains why I have more than one. Mark anything in the craft world 50% off and I'm a lost woman. Theo is completely unimpressed by the new hobby and Calisto is uncharacteristically lobbying for a new sewing project and she's right, of course. This is Andy's Valentines gift. Luckily, the box he's making me for my knitting needles isn't finished either, so we will be spending Valentine's Day making gifts for each other. It sounds a bit like an O. Henry story, but I promise I have not sold all my knitting needles to buy flannel to make pajamas for Andy. I love him dearly and everything, but my rosewoods???????

OK, so there hasn't been blogging in a couple days, but there has been knitting, sewing, and quilting. I know--how shocking is that? I haven't been that productive in quite some time, but if you look at the side tab you might notice that the goals are pretty high but the actual accomplishment is fairly low, so I thought I needed to pick up the pace a little. So, I finished the edging on another fleece blanket, assembled the Christmas quilt top which is actually pretty small--30 by 36 inches. I do have strips cut out that could make the quilt larger, but if I use this size I can actually make two quilts instead of one, which would give me two gifts for Christmas instead of one. So, I'm thinking of doing a larger border, maybe a narrow strip of green which I can do some sort of decorative stitching in gold on, then a wider red stripe What do you think? If I did about 5 inches on each side, the quilt would be 40 by 46 inches, which is still a small lap quilt, but not AS ...

After a year of not buying any yarn, I allowed myself certain purchases on January 1: 1. A reward sweater from me for the whole cat ordeal 2. A birthday sweater for Andy 3. a shawl for my mother as her retirement present 4. yarn to finish a pink blanket for one of my nieces. That was the plan. To achieve this was going to take 4 different online orders. 1. WEBS . The yarn I wanted was on back order, but I placed the order anyway. I also ordered a #9 circular needle because I really dislike the one I have. The same day, I received a confirmation from them, then the following day I received a personal email from them telling me the yarn was on back order, but they would process the rest of my order ASAP, then I received another email shortly after saying it had shipped, and I am currently in possession of my new circular needle, and looking forward to the yarn whenever it arrives. Great service as usual, but no yarn yet. 2. Elann.com . The yarn I wanted for Andy's sweater is...

I have 17 unfinished WIPS on the needles. I have finished 10 WIPS in a row. If I can just do 4 more, I will have finished more than half before starting something new. Just 4 more..... I REALLY WANT TO CAST ON SOMETHING NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Surprisingly, I don't have an actual project in mind--just ANYTHING new. Finally last night I could stand it no longer, so I dragged out some fleece from the fabric stash, and finished this today: I'm thrilled because that makes 3 more yards of fabric used from the stash this year and frees up some space in the sewing room closet. Theo is also thrilled about the extra space in the closet. Calisto isn't too impressed either way. My need for a new project wasn't completely sated with the fleece jacket, so my trusty sewing sidekick and I started a fleece jacket for Andy. I guess that was finally a little too much estrogen for Theo, so he went out for some Testosterone Time while I worked on the sleeves for Ruched M...