Goodbye 2014

Phew. I'm so glad 2014 is over. I think I said that about 2013 too. Both 2013 and 2014 have brought me an incredible amount of challenge. So much that I'm a little leery about being excited about 2015 and what it may bring.

There are so many deeply personal things that have happened but I'm still here. I don't know if that means I'm a survivor or just too stupid to figure another way out of where I am. I'm trying to get my house ready to be sold. I've been in the process of downsizing my yarn stash. I've sold a lot of it but I still have more to go. 2015 will bring a simpler life for me. It's easy to get caught up in all the social media that's out there... Facebook, texting, FaceTime, Ravelry, e-mail.... connect - connect - connect. I gave it a lot of thought but I got rid of Ravelry. It was too much of a time suck and it made it difficult for me to get rid of a lot of my yarn. I would look at stuff on Ravelry and look at yarn in a bin and think, "Oh! That yarn is perfect for this project. I guess I have to keep the yarn!" Well, now that there is no Ravelry, there will be no more conflict in viewing what yarn I really want to keep. After I move I may reconsider reconnecting with Ravelry with a new fresh account and a much smaller yarn and fiber stash.

I've decided to utilize my blog a lot more in 2015. It will allow me to keep connected to any of my knitting friends that still read this. If nothing else, it will be a cathartic place for me to be.

Happy 2015 to anyone who is still out there in the Blogosphere! Hoping for a happy and peaceful year for everyone. Including me!

Despair No More

I finally finished these socks. I had one completely done only to realize I needed to increase the top of the sock to fit better. So I completed the 2nd sock and then ripped the other sick back down to increase it like the other. The fit is perfect. This is knit from a sock blank dyed in the colorist Despair from Fat Cat Knits. Meow.

Ten on Tuesday but on Thursday

I just realized that it's Thursday and I somehow skipped Tuesday. What happened on Tuesday? I have no clue.

So - here's my Ten on Tuesday but on Thursday.

Ten things I do for my cat and things she does for me and things about her you didn't know.....

1. I put up with her incessant licking. She licks and licks and licks. No amount of scolding or reprimanding helps. Her favorite? Licking my feet and ankles when stepping out of the shower. She waits for me to get out and then follows me and waits while I stand there drying my hair.
2. I talk to her. Sometimes we get quite a conversation going.
3. Of course the important things need to get in here...... feeding her, keeping the litterbox clean, and the fresh water. Let's discuss the fresh water for a minute, shall we? The bowl is a clean one fresh from the dishwasher and filled with the freshest of fresh water and sometimes even an ice cube or two. She proceeds to dip her paw in the water and drink the water fron her paw. After a few rounds of this she discovers a fine film of black fur floating on the surface of the water. Suddenly it's no longer "fresh" and one must dump it and refill it.
4. She ignores me when I get home even though I try to pick her up to give her some kitty love. I sit down in the evening to knit and she sits beside me and seems quite happy. It isn't until I go to bed with the door shut (the other 2 cats can't come into the bedroom) that she suddenly feels the urgent need to be with me. I get out of bed, let her in, get comfy in bed again only to be meowed at to be let back out again. :sigh:
5. On a daily basis I tell her how cute she is, especially when she's belly up. She is rather :ahem: rotund so sometimes when she's on her back she has to wiggle her hind legs to gain a little momentum to help her roll back over on her side. It is pitifully cute.
6. Yearly (about this time of year) just as the SF Giants season is beginning to start, I take the annual portrait of her in her Giants sweater I made her. I realize she doesn't like it but I consider it a small payback for items #1-5 above. So, I suppose this could be qualified and something she does for me. She is a black cat and she goes with every color!
7. When I've had a very bad day, she is there for me. She senses my sadness and she's immediately there for me. When I had surgery several years ago she could smell that I was somehow different and was the most attentive nurse anyone could ever have.
8. I think she's addicted to Cheetos Puffs. Not the crunchy ones - the puffs. She found one about 6 months ago and I caught her licking it while it scooted on the hardwood floors down the hall way, trying to fit the whole thing in her mouth. At the time I didn't know what it was she had so I picked her up. She sheepishly looked at me and with the cheese powder on her face and whiskers and it was impossible to not laugh. She just looked at me and then licked her chops.
9. Meems can open the screen door by herself. She has discovered that if she puts her claws in the screen and pulls, she can open it enough to go outside. When child #3 discovered that a dowel high up on the door would stop that from happening it would frustrate her. ha ha
10. Even though she's a solid black cat, when she is taking a sun bath you can see that her fur is actually a deep dark gorgeous brown black.


Okay - there you go. 10 things you probably didn't care to know.

I Live in the Wrong Place

I need to live in a part of the world where it actually gets cold.

Long Forgotten Favorite Socks

These socks were found way in the back of my drawer. Wool sock season is just about over and I found them just in time to wear them once this year. These are the first socks I've made from hand spun. I got the roving from Fat Cat Knits and can't remember the color way name. It's a blend of wool and bamboo.

They make my feet happy!!

Ten on Tuesday

This week's post is ten thoughts on the Oscars. Some years I watch it and some years I don't. This year? I watched. Why?

1. I watched it because Ellen was the host. I thought she did a great job. She seemed relaxed and involved the audience - she bought them pizza!
2. Watching the Oscars is fun because I want to see what everyone is wearing. I prefer the classy elegant look.
3. I wanted to see if Jennifer Lawrence tripped on her way up to accept her Oscar this year.
4. It was great to see Judy Garland's children and the tribute to the Wizard of Oz - one of my most favorite films ever. I think Pink sang Over The Rainbow beautifully.
5. Jared Leto's acceptance speech was perfect.
6. Lupita Nyong'os acceptance speech was heartfelt and inspiring.
7. Speaking of Lupita, I thought her dress was amazing. The color was perfect for her, classy, and elegant - however, I think I would have changed the low cut front to be a tad more modest.
8. I thought it was funny that when the pizza was delivered the guy thought he was delivering to some writers. He had no clue he would end up on stage. Ellen had him on her show the next day and gave him $1000 - $600 came from donations from Oscars night and were collected in Pharrell's hat. Ellen gave him $400 extra to make it an even grand.
9. I'm glad that no political and/or religious rants happened - at least from what I saw. I wasn't able to see every minute of the Oscars. There are those of us who do have to get up early and go to work. :-)
10. I thought the picture Ellen took and tweeted was cute but it has now become way overrated.

Ten on Tuesday

I'm jumping on the bandwagon here and I've signed up for Ten on Tuesday. This week will be: Write ten sentences that begin with "I feel..."

1. I feel I need a vacation.
2. I feel I have way too much yarn.
3. I feel the millions of $ spent on different venues for the Olympics is a waste of money. Not saying that the Olympics is a waste of money. I think there needs to be a more fiscally responsible way to do this.
4. I feel I have the best knitting buddies in the world!
5. I feel that sometimes I don't realize I have so much and I need to be more thankful.
6. I feel I spend way too much time on Facebook.
7. I feel I have the sweetest cat in the world.
8. I feel I need to blog more, more time on Ravelry, and less time on Facebook.
9. I feel I need to knit and spin more.
10. I feel I won't have enough time for #8 and #9.

Stitches West

Here are a few things from Stitches West that made me LOL.

Sochi 2014 Olympics

I started my Winter Olympics sweater and so far have gone about 6 inches into it. That's kind of where it is. I've never been able to knit a whole item during the Winter Olympics. If I had chosen socks - perhaps.

Changes.....

2013 was an interesting year. It was challenging in so many ways. There were a lot of personal issues to be dealt with, but I survived. 2014 will be challenging again, but it will bring out personal growth and I will be in a place that is much, much better. I don't know if I will blog as much as I'd like, but I will certainly try! So, dear readers (if I have any) - please don't give up on me!

The Final Cut

I think I've been spinning yarn colors for my Rams and Yowes blanket for at least 3 or 4 months now.   In total, I spun 15 (I think) colors and needed 9.   Here are the final 9 colors.  The original yarn called for was Jamieson and Smith Shetland Supreme.  The Fat Cat Knits colors I chose are listed followed by the Jamieson and Smith colors in parentheses.  Again, all yarn spun is Fat Cat Knits Semi-Solid Handpainted in Falkland fiber. 

Bottom row: Smoke (mooskit), Toasted Almond (sholmit), Specter (katmollet), Natural (white)

Middle row: Gandalf (yuglet), Dove (shaela), Black Walnut (black)

Top row: Columbian Roast (moorit), Light Taupe (gaulmogot)

Here are all of the browns I spun:


Top to Bottom:

Light Taupe

Ash Beige

Taupe

Toasted Almond

Sienna

Chestnut

Columbian Roast

Walnut

Black Walnut

Here are all the greys/browns and natural I spun:

Top to Bottom:

Natural

Specter

Dove

Smoke

Gandalf

Charcoal

The original design, by Kate Davies, is only 3 feet x 3 feet.  I want it much bigger, so I'm making it 6 feet x 6 feet, basically 4 times the size in the pattern.   I have no idea how many yards I'm going to need, so I will be keeping a tally as I go.  I don't have enough experience in spinning to know I will need X-amount.  So, this is a learn-as-I go experience, that's for sure.  I enjoy the fact that I can take my time with this.  Also, Ginny has been phenomenal.  I had originally chosen Taupe as one of the final colors but it just didn't quite fit in.  If only I could have had it lighter.... so I asked and she delivered .... and it is perfect!!

Next up is the Rams and Yowes swatch.  I'm going to wind off the yarn and see how many yards I have in each 2 oz skein.  Stay tuned!!

Of Butts and Tails

Once in a while the cats do some cute things.  Well, Meems always does cute stuff but the instant I get the camera out, she runs away.  I'm not kidding either.  So, sometimes it takes Poppy (aka Pinhead) to get her to come out of her shell and I get some good shots when they're playing.

While I prefer the other end of cat butt, this one was kinda cute.  Meems would be horrified if she knew that her back-side was now on the internet.

A Total Pick-Me-Up

There are very few things that can turn a crappy day into a happy day!  Here are a few of them!

Old Rose in Polwarth

The other end of Old Rose

Toasted Almond in Falkland

Brawny (top), Toasted Almond, and Black Walnut, all in Falkland

Black Walnut, Baby, Toasted Almond, Brawny - all in Falkland

Baby (oh Baby) - in Falkland.  Love this pink!

The Black Walnut, Toasted Almond, Brawn, and Baby in Falkland are the last of the colors for me to spin and will be amongst my pile to make a final decision in the colors I use for my Rams and Yowes Blanket.  The Old Rose was well, just because.  This girl can never get enough of pink!

Oh.  P.S.   I successfully picked up all 865 stitches on The Princess.  Now the rows are incredibly l-o-o-o-n-g!

Four Sons

While I may not agree with our politicians and the decisions they make, I am still proud to be an American.  I am thankful for all of our service men and women who have served our country.  My special thank you goes to the families whose loved ones didn't come home.

My grandparents had all four sons in the service at the same time.  Thankfully, they all came home.  I post this every year (click on the link below).  Marlowe was my father and I miss him so.

Memorial Day Post.

Eighty Five Princess Points

I feel I deserve way more than 85 points for these eighty five points.  If I have a chance to wear this, I better feel much more regal than a Princess, that's for sure.

I finished the eighty fifth point last night.  The ribs will take approximately 3 hours and what better time than to start picking up the stitches.  All eight hundred sixty five of them.  Yeah.  865.  I did this one point at a time. so I'll do it picking up 50 stitches at a time. 

I was curious how long this was.  Here she is, unstretched.  I laid this out being careful not to stretch it.  As anyone knows (who has knit lace) when you block it, it pretty much doubles in size.  Unblocked, unstretched, it measured 12 feet 2 inches.  Holy cow.

I was out in the back yard this morning and I decided my next yard project will be cleaning up and painting this little miniature bench.  I want to paint the metal black, and think the wood is best served by painting versus staining.  

I love the cats playing instruments in the back of the bench.  One is playing cymbals (or tamborine?), another is playing a drum, another a cello, and the one on the far right a violin.   So cute!

Where I Post About Other Things Besides Knitting and Spinning

This year I decided to take Jewel's gardening down a more aesthetically pleasing path.  I have lots of annuals growing and I'm having a lot of fun.  I do still have strawberries and I planted some baby beans from seeds and they have been doing quite well.  I noticed that something has been munching on the leaves and a few of them are missing the leaves entirely.   Little did I know what I would find outside in the garden:

The poor thing.  I had sprayed poison to kill the bugs and it ate some of the leaves after I sprayed.  I'm glad Kyle has graciously volunteered to dispose of it.  While we have 3 cats, you can't count on them for anything.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of some of the pretty colorful annuals.  I am also proud to announce I am the proud Mom of 4 baby pumpkins, two of which are shown here.   Just letting y'all know I do more things than spin and knit.  But not much.  :-)

Of Rams and Yowes

I know I have knitters and non-knitters alike reading my blog so the non-knitters may not relate to much all of this, but you just never know! 

As a knitter when I see something like this, it screams to me, "Drop everything you're doing and make me!"  When I saw the Rams and Yowes, I knew this had to be mine.  However, being a spinner I furthered the challenge within myself and decided to spin the yarn for this.  Of course, Fat Cat Knits was the only way to go with this.  I selected Falkland fiber base because of its texture and is perfect for this.  Then I realized, "Self... if you're going to make this.... go big or go home!"  I mean seriously - the original pattern is for only a 3' x 3' size and I mean really.... it would fit my right foot and maybe a cat.  So, I'm going to quadruple this and make it 6' x 6', or thereabout. 

Let's recap here.   I'm making Rams and Yowes, spinning the yarn, and making it 4 times the original size.  I'm also still plugging along on my Princess and I'm thrilled to state that I am on point #70 of 85.  15 to go! 

If I haven't hit certifiable insanity before, I'm there now.

Here are some photos of what I've spun so far.  Again, these are all in Falkland base and are each 2 ounces.  I am expecting four additional colors and that should round out all of the possibilities of colors I may want to use. 





Bottom row: Carbon, Specter, Gandalf, Dove, Natural.
Middle row: Chestnut, Sienna, Taupe, Ash Beige.
Top row: Smoke, Cameo, Columbian Roast





Sometimes Specter looked like natural in some of the photos, so here they are side by side for comparison: natural on the left, Specter on the right. Specter: For those times when a girl wants a bit of ghostly color. Sorry. :-)


Bottom row:  Specter, Gandalf, Dove
Top Row:  Sienna, Taupe, Ash Beige



Bottom row:  Taupe, Ash Beige

Top Row:  Cameo, Columbian Roast

Bottom row:  Carbon  Gandalf, Gandalf Dove, Natural, Specter

Top row: Taupe, Ash Beige.

Cameo is peeking out on top of Taupe.
Sorry for the error in the colors above.

So there you have my progress as of today.  I need 9 colors total.  I know which ones I will be using for sure, but I need to fill in the spectrum.  I have on order 4 more colors from FCK and I will post for all my knitting/spinning buddies.

Meanwhile.... the Princess awaits.  This is going to be a gorgeous shawl, destined for something very special some day. 

Being a Princess

I finally decided to take the plunge and knit Sharon Miller's Princess Shawl.   There are 85 points to knit along the bottom edge and then over 800 stitches are picked up and the shawl is then knit upwards.  I'm currently on point number 14.   This is definitely a test of my patience and I ran out of it before I could finish the first point.  sigh.

I hope to have this done in 12 to 18 months, but we shall see.   Here she is with 3 points being done.

Well, Hello There!

Yessiree.  It's been since May that I've posted anything.  Life has kept me busy!

I've been tackling the Knitting Room, or wanting to, for quite some time and today I made a huge step in the right direction.  Last Christmas I was given a gift card from a very generous friend and I finally spent it on something to help organize my tons of circular needles. 

So, today I put on my big girl panties and just sat down and did it.  It took all afternoon too.

Big Bag O'Needles



I started cataloging them in Ravelry and of course, I had a lot of help from a very helpful cat.  How would I ever have managed without him?

"What?"

I got out the labeler and finally finished it.  Not bad, eh?

Three little Namastes, all in a row!

What's next?  My pile of DPNs.  I have to turn them from a pile of sticks into something much more organized.  

Happy New Year everyone!  2012 is going to be a fab year for me!!

Busted!