The Old Man

Our old man passed away this morning. He was R's cat and companion for the past 14-15 years. He was found on the Marine base here in town as a kitten and R brought him home. The last few days have been rough, KittyBoy hasn't been eating or drinking, not even wet food. He was also acting funny. No purring or talking to us. KittyBoy, you will be missed. You were the ultimate gentleman.

a FO and decisions!

I finished Uncle M's Christmas present today. Here is R modeling it for me.









Meme's triangle shawl is about half done. It is hard to guess because it keeps getting bigger, but about half of the yarn is gone. It is turning out very nice. No pictures yet.

I took the first test of the semester, and I got a 83!!!! I am so proud of myself. Now, I just need to keep doing what I have been and keep getting 80's and over. I am very happy with a "B" grade.

That is all for today. Now, I just need to figure out if I want to cast on another project or finish Uncle D's sox. Decisions, decisions.

Busy, busy

I have been so busy! I had almost forgotten how much reading nursing school required. Ah well. I am still knitting away on Christmas presents. Got two finished yesterday and one blocked yesterday. The other one is being blocked now. The lavender/purple one is for my grandmother's sister.








DeeOGee is modeling it for me.








I decreased somewhere in the middle by 6 stitches, so I free form knitted the end and put a tassel on the end. Came out cute and I think that she will like it. I based it on this pattern. I put a lavender triangle in the middle of the purple as I didn't have enough of either color to make it all that color. I love buying single balls of yarn for some reason. It gets me out of my comfort zone and do something really cool. I also threw in some stockinette triangles to play with texture.

The other scarf is for one of my aunts. It is a cable with a braid on each side. I over dyed it with koolaid to make the cable and braids stand out better. The long shot of it is truer to color than the closeup.








It isn't quite as long as she asked but I can wrap it twice on me, so it should be ok.

I got yarn!!! Chan sent me this yarn. She is so wonderful! Thank you Chan!!!








R has already claimed it, so it will be something for him. I don't know what yet. It is sock yarn, but you can use sock yarn for other things than sox. The colors are pretty true.

Katie has gotten so big! Here she is when we got her:








Here she is now.








Both are in comparison to one of the big dogs. She is 30 pounds and only 6 months old! I hope that she doesn't get much bigger than that.

I was making a sock. I had to frog it totally because I didn't like the ladder and I made a mistake about 2 inches back. I have more circulars coming in this week. I will try again then with two instead of one circular.

I have started the second of the big blue sox. The toe is done, but that is about it. I have started a Christmas hat for another uncle. Using Paton's SWS yarn. I really like the yarn, I just have to be careful because it likes to make ladders. No pictures yet.

Have to go read for class. Take care!

Hello

Haven't really been able to chat. Getting ready for school that started yesterday (yeah!!). I did finish a sock but am going to have to frog some if not all. I am NOT happy about that. Why is it that you can follow the same instructions for the second sock and it comes out smaller!!!! I don't have enough yarn, so it probably will sit. I did work on a shrug and got it almost finished for class. My classroom is almost always too cold. So, four days before class started, I started a shrug. Really cute, basically a rectangle with cuffs on it. Used alpaca, and didn't have enough gray, so I used lavendar with it. Came out very cute. I think that I will frog the one completed cuff because I think that the gauge is too small for the item. Pictures will come later, I have to go read for class. Take care!!

not so arugh!

My last post was about a sock that didn't want to grow anymore. I did rip back the heel stitches a few rows and tried to complete it with the yarn I did have. As I am on a strick yarn diet, I knew that I couldn't just go and buy another skein of yarn. Good thing that I like anklets. The first one is finished. This is how much yarn I had left:








This is the sock on my foot. The front is rolled down because it is longer than the back. And the toe to the mate is also pictured.



I really, really like this yarn. I just now know to buy three skeins of it when making sox for me.



I did finish half a Christmas present. It is for someone in my family with really large feet. I hope that the sox fit, as I am guessing at the shoe size. The yarn is Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted. It is being knit on Brittany's sz4.








I did start the other sock but had to frog it because I started the toe too narrow. I guess that is what I get for not taking notes.

I didn't knit any today because of this:
It started out that R and I were at HomeDepot, and they had some faucets on clearance. I saw one that had all the things on it that I wanted. So, we got it. Along with the rain showerhead that was also on clearance. (why is it that we never can seem to leave with only what is on the list?) I tried to take the faucet off the kitchen sink. And found out that someone had glued the last faucet to the sink!!! So, the sink that has been lying around to be put in got put in. And new lines and P trap and such. So, nine hours later I have this:


The blocks are to hold the sink down while the caulk sets.




So much for only replacing the faucet!

I forgot to show you! I spun up some yarn last week. Take a look at my new pretty:








And a close up:







It is wool samples that I get from the Bellwether. For I think $16 a year, they will send you samples of their rovings 4 times a year I think. Wonderful stuff, I didn't know what to do with it. The samples sat around until I had 3 envelopes full, and decided I was going to spin it up. The cream is merino. The colors are wool. Some of the samples have silk blended in them. I have found that I really don't care for silk noils in my yarn. I like a smooth yarn. The cream spun up beautifully. And the hank was a balanced ply! That makes me really happy, becuase I am not very good at plying. This is going to be a gift. I am going to smooze and give it to one of my professors at school that knits. I hope that she likes it. No, I don't know the twist or anything like that. I just spin the singles and then ply. So far, it has worked out.

Until next time, Take care!!

Arugh!!!

I was working on my sox, and I was just about to turn the heel when I pulled on the yarn to see how much I had left. I have 18'' left!!! For the rest of the heel and the anklet top!!! I don't know what to do. First I think that I am going to rip back the heel a few rows and try that. The yarn is really squishy and elastic, I might be able to make that work. If not, I am going to have to wait until new job starts (no new job yet) and so money comes back my way. So it will hiebrnate if I can't fix it. Poo!!!!!!

I got a BOX!!!

My Sock4 box arrived today!!!!!!!!!!!!







(note - major pic intensive)



I was winding up some yarn when the mailman came and handed me a box with my name on it. Now, I usually don't receive boxes unless I order something, so I was really, really excited!!


Really pretty wrapping! I love the pink and green together.





An overview of everything. (please excuse the mess on the kitchen table, was winding yarn!)






A set of pretty glass frog stitch markers







Rinse - free wool wash. I can't wait to try out the different scents!






Sox and leftover yarn! Looks like there was quite a bit left. Her blog says that the yarn is Knitpicks sock memories in "Spring Prarie". The pattern is "Cafe Curtains". Very pretty combo. The fit is perfect!




A Lantern Moon lamb tape measure, a cute knitting card, and a steel crochet hook






Sock blockers that she made herself to block my sox







Yarn! It is Lily Pad Love hand dyed yarn. 100% Peruvian Wool. So very soft!!!






The back







The sox on my feet!






Thank you, thank you, thank you Frenchy!!! You went above and beyond.