It's Lie in the Sun-Day

Sneak Peak

I finally finished my In the Pink shawl (or in this case, the "I've got the blues" shawl). A sneak peek of the blocking shawl.


Speaking of peeking.....Camellia likes to peek out of her hiding spot...keeping her eyes on the Little A who sneaks out to eat her food.

Holiday Cards

Why is it so hard to get decent family pictures for a holiday card? The beauties refuse to be anywhere near each other, so we need separate pictures. And cats (at least our cats) are not known for their action....so action shots are generally out. Yesterday I got a fantastic picture of Camellia......only to find out that the camera was set at a low resolution and the picture wouldn't come out well on the card (thank you Costco for letting me know). The picture was too good to let it go to waste, so here you go. In mid-leap.

Spring Cleaning

I love to be organized -- though I don't always achieve that state. But it's always nice to do some spring cleaning and take stock of one's stash (yarn and fabric). The larger bins are lace-worsted-fingering weights while the smaller bin stores leftover bits/pieces. When I look at it this way -- it's not an outrageously large stash!

And what's wrong with this picture? Camellia decided that my desk chair is hers. If I dare to sit on it, she jumps in front of the computer and sits there (blocking access) until I get up. Now I have a rickety wooden chair (low, no wheels, very uncomfortable) while she snoozes away, nice and comfy.

Spring Sweater

The weather in New England is really all over the place in the spring/summer/fall. Cold, hot, just right, rainy, sunny, etc, etc. It seemed like a nice cotton sweater would be just the right thing for those in between days. So I jumped on the Hey Teach bandwagon (already 873 projects on Ravelry -- by the time I get around to something popular, everyone else is - unfortunately - on to the next great idea -- oh well). I'm knitting the fronts/back together and have just started the lace portion. That's a lot more fun than stockinette stitch (zzzzzzzzzz). And I have to be the worst k1/p1 ribbing knitter in the world -- it always looks so sloppy, even though I try various techniques to make it less so.


And here's my knitting helper...always ready to lend a paw. You'd think that at age 17 she'd know not to eat yarn.

March -- In Like a Lion

This has been a never-ending winter....with lots and lots of snow. March definitely came in like a lion -- with probably about a foot or so of snow -- hard to say definitely because of the wind and blowing. It is nice to have a snow-blower!


The beauties definitely believe the adage "dogs have owners, cats have staff." The Little A's staff bought her a new plush pad that somehow absorbs/reflects her body heat...which is especially good after she toasts herself in front of the fire.

Sneak Peak

This isn't ready for prime time (aka Finish or Frog Friday) yet. But I was sitting at the computer and heard a snoring sound -- and discovered Camellia snoozing on my blocking shawl. Argh -- there are pins everywhere holding it in place!

Do you know how difficult it is to get a cozy cat to move? I couldn't lift her -- those claws would come out and snag the shawl. And she was really annoyed when I caught her later to make sure there were no pins caught in her fur!

How to Keep Warm

I have several hats to keep my head warm in the winter. Unfortunately, since I usually have my hair up, the lumps of hair result in a very odd look. So I searched Ravelry and found the perfect thing - a pony-tail hat (Hannah - Ravelry link). This was a super-fast knit and only took me a day to make. The yarn is Paton's Soy Wool Solids and started as off-white (this yarn is like knitting with twine). First I Kool-Aid dyed it with Berry Blue and Blastin' Berry Cherry. That was a nice deep rose color. Now normally I'm a walking Fashion "Don't" -- but even I didn't like the rose hat with a red jacket, so I overdyed the hat with a Berry Blue/Grape mixture, resulting in a nice mottled look.


The Little A has an even better way of keeping warm -toasting herself in front of the fire. We had to set her quilt back a couple feet, otherwise she would sit inches from it.

Models

The Little A and Camellia each has staked a claim to her own spot -- Little A on the couch, Camellia on the love seat. The Little A sits with paws crossed; Camellia lies with her front legs/arms straight out over the edge.

There is an Alien Among Us

Camellia always knew there was something a bit different about the Little A. She couldn't put her paw on it until she started watching re-runs of Stargate SG-1 on the Sci-Fi channel. Then one day, she saw it -- the Little A is a Goa'uld -- an evil alien creature..........

The Queen is Finally Frozen

After what seems like forever (OK, only a month), the Ice Queen cowl is finally finished! It's a little shorter than I'd like (but that's all the yarn I had) -- maybe my head is just bigger than the average bear's. It's tempting to make another -- just not in mohair and with more yarn. It really is pretty -- maybe not the real me -- but very lacey and delicate.

As a reward for finishing that, I started my SAM5 March socks AND a Forest Canopy lace shawl. WIP pictures at 11.

After having senior cats for so long, we'd forgotten what it was like to have cats that jump, play, run, and get into mischief. There's no obvious reason she jumped on the bathroom counter, but cats never need a reason.

Camelia

Here is the newest member of our family -- Camelia.

Age = 7 years

Breed = "free to good home"

I can't say her older sister is proud to welcome her. If they ran into each other, each would probably faint from fright! Neither is a brave heart. Hopefully the acclimatizing process won't take too long.

First KAL

Sometimes it's hard resting all day.........



I signed up for my first KAL -- the Sock-a-Month Knit Along. 6 pair (or is it pairs) of socks in 6 months. I've got four patterns picked out......and a sock book in the mail. I'm sure there'll be plenty more inspiration there. My first pair is started; they're the Back to Basics socks in Trekking XXL, color 110. These are my first toe ups and so far, so good. I like the more roundy toe. And I've only knit from the wrong set of needles a couple times. The color is a bit more orangey than in the picture.

Ho Ho Ho

The Little A says Happy Holidays to all. Actually, I think she's saying "I can't nap with this stupid hat and collar -- so take it off -- NOW."

I finally finished my fingerless gloves. Good thing since they're a Christmas gift. I had to redo the "fingers" three times. First time I made the actual mini-fingers, but they were too bunchy. So I did a k1/p1 rib, but that just looked awful. I couldn't do a k2/p2 ribbing to match the cuff (54 stitches), so I did a k4/p2. Came out very well, if I do say so myself. I think there's enough leftover yarn to make a pair for me. I do want to practice some new cast on/bind off techniques.