Oh Boy!

This week our new neighbours moved in next door. They seem like nice people and Dexter has been very interested as they have two dogs. But the extremely curious thing about them is what they have done with the pool. Tuesday night we went to sleep to the sound of water splashing into the pool as it started to fill. Our bedroom window looks right over their backyard, so when I woke up I checked to see how much it had filled. Boy did I get a shock! There were fish in the pool! Huge Koi. I've counted more than 10. I really like them. I peek often to see them doing laps or flipping their fins.

Sorry the picture's not so great, but it was taken through the bedroom window.

I've no interesting knitting photos either. Lace on the needles always looks the same. I've been really enjoying this project, staying true to it all week.

Irtafa'a

As I near the end I'm beginning to get excited about the finished product. I'm curious about how big it will be, and how lofty the fabric will end up.

In natural light the yarn, which is a mohair and silk blend, is a yellowish cream, but I thought it was more of a white. I was thinking of trying to dew bleach it to whiten it after re-reading Anne's House of Dreams. But a little internet research has persuaded me not to. Apparently, it's the damp and sunlight that will cause the white wool to go yellow and damp and sunlight are the whole premise of dew bleaching.

I guess my choices are to live with the yellowed color, or try hydrogen peroxide. I'm not keen on either of those. Ideas, anyone?

Good Vacation

You know you've had a fun time when the back of the car looks like this coming home:

We took the boys to Bingemans for the day and it was great! Not too busy plus new slides equals tons of fun. I got to test drive my new Monteagle string bag:

I finished this project a few weeks back and it's much more fun to use than it is to knit. Stylish looking too. It's worth the process to get this product.

Also this week, we made sour cherry jam:

There's nothing better than homemade jam made from fruit you picked off the tree that day! I'll be enjoying a taste of summer all winter long.

I've declared these last two weekend days of my vacation to be time to wrap up a few chores, such as wash a stinky dog, relax, and knit. The only thing I finished knitting on vacation was some traveling socks for Luke. I think he likes them. I like the contrasting toes.

Busy Relaxing

I've been on vacation the past week. Or I should say, a STAYcation. It's been an incredibly busy week. We've had two family gatherings already, with another one today. Yesterday we had a family fun night at the Palasad, which I managed to get at half-price through coupons and deals. There's been trips to the library and video store, and so lots of books to read, games to play and movies to watch. There's been long dog walks, a bunch of baking and even some stewed cherries from my mom's sour cherry tree. Lucky me, I get to do it again next week!

I even took a break from the knitting at first. I struggled with finding a project to work on. Two different sock projects have been scrapped and abandoned. This Norwegian sock is too tight for Jim to pull on:

I had started with the recommended needle size, thought the result looked too loose and so I went down a needle. Stupid me! All that work and now it's time to frog.

Honestly, I don't think the Briggs and Little sport works well for color work. Too rustic. I have four skeins, in three shades of blue and a white, that I think might work better in a shawl or blanket.

Then there's the almost completed Cat Bordhi sock:

It fits, but it bugs me. I don't like the pattern, design style, stitch.... but I love the yarn. It deserves to be something better.

I bought New Pathways for Sock Knitters thinking it would broaden my sock horizons, but it just doesn't work for me. Something about the designs and the way they are presented to the knitter just goes against the grain for me. I know a lot of people really like Cat Bordhi's designs and so I think this book should go somewhere it would be appreciated, so it's up for trade. Anyone interested?

Eventually I did settle in on a knit project, Anne Hanson's Irtfa'a worked in a mohair silk blend. While the start was complicated, I'm already into the second lace motif and finding it to be a fun knit. Anne's Bee Fields Triangle shawl was much more difficult to work.

Kitten Report - Sad News

I phoned London Animal Care Center today to get an update on the kitten. There was much searching on the other end of the line which should have given me a clue. But I was still shocked to hear that the rescued kitten had been euthanized. Apparently, there were two puncture wounds in its neck and the veterinarian felt that the animal was suffering.

I'm sad. It's good that there's a place to take a rescued animal, but I wish they could have done more for the kitten.

A Tug on the Heartstrings

Monday morning I rose early and leashed up Dexter for a walk. We hadn't gone far when I spied an animal, huddled against a wall. It was a kitten, and I could tell right away that something was wrong. At first I thought it had an e-collar on. But when I looked closer I realized I was wrong.

I tied Dexter up tight to a metal rail and told him to stay while I went to scoop up the kitten. It didn't make a fuss or move a bit. The poor thing had a plastic lid around its neck from a McDonald's McFlurry. I wrapped the kitten in the bottom of my shirt, untied Dexter and took the poor beast home.

With Dexter in the crate, we took a closer look at the kitten. It was crawling with ants, had raw open wounds and feces matted its fur. But oh! It was still such a sweet little animal with lovely tortoiseshell coloring and a pretty little face. I took a couple of pictures which I will post at the bottom of this message. Please don't look if you are squeamish.

So we cut off the nasty plastic lid, and I managed to get a bit of milk in the kitten. I had to dab the milk into its mouth until it swallowed. Once it got that first taste it licked the milk off my fingers and then took some from turkey baster. I was so pleased to hear that gulping sound of a baby drinking milk.

My heart just went out to the little critter and I would have loved nothing more than to keep it and nurse it back to health. But, as I wrote yesterday, we live in a loud and busy house which I didn't think would be a good environment for a convalescent kitten. Plus, there is the dog. Would you trust this face with a sick kitten?

I called up London Animal Care Center and Jim brought the kitten in first thing this morning. I'll be calling back in a few days to see how my little friend is doing. I have just two appeals. Please, if you are thinking of getting a pet, please consider if a rescued animal would be right for you. And second, please, please! dispose of your garbage. I'm seriously thinking of sending this kitten's pictures to McDonalds.

And now the kitten pictures. Don't go further if you don't like the sight of blood or open wounds.



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This little one has such a sweet face.


My best guess is that the kitten stuck its head into the cup to lick up the ice cream, but couldn't get its head out again.

In an effort to remove the lid, the kitten scraped the inside of its neck raw. This picture was taken between milk feedings. Just look at those trusting eyes!

My Home is a Frat House

A dog, two teen-aged sons and their friends have turned my home into a haven of video games, thumps and yells, endless snacks and clutter. Patrolling this chaos is my husband Jim, who greatly deserved his modest Father's day celebrations. Jim has always done laundry and week day cooking, but since being out of work he has also taken on extra chores, he helps me with the grocery shopping and has even learned how to bake. This past week he made bagels! And they were very yummy.

I'm so proud of him: of the great role model he is, of how he has grown since I have known him and how he still can surprise me after almost twenty years together.

Happy Father's Day honey!

As a Father's day gift for both Jim and my dad, I knit the ubiquitous Fiber Trends felted clog:

Sort of looks like I was knitting for the dog...

Tag Team Works in Progress

The Kauni progresses. I'm now at 13 inches of body.

Dave, you were right, the color progressions are working out fine on their own. Though I'm seeing even more slip as I progress. This could be because I've found very subtle knots twice now. These knots matched up the colors, but changed the length of the color progression. Sneaky! I've decided to let it go. Call it an artistic feature and roll with it.

This is a very intense knit, having so many stitches and such bright colors. While I do have the pattern of the leaves memorized for the most part, I still have to pay attention or I'll pay the price in mistakes. Ripping is not fun, and don't relish trying to duplicate stitch with this yarn.

Plus, there is further intensity from the fact that I'm designing this on the needles. I'm getting to the point where I will have to decide where to put the steaks for the arm holes. I've pretty much decided to make this a pullover, even though I have no idea how I will finish the edgings for the neck, hem and cuffs. Did you see the provisional cast on in the picture? I couldn't decide when I started either.

To take a get away from all that intensity, I'm giving myself a break with this soothing, simpler knit:

The pattern is V is for Violet, from Knitter's Fall 2006. The design has really grown on me, I think the stitch patterns are perfectly executed. I have plans to modify the sleeves to a three-quarter length because I think it will look more stylish. The yarn is Rowan Cashcotton from last week's sale and it is just gorgeous. Together the pattern and yarn are a perfect match.

I want to savour this knit, so when it starts to feel like a slog, I just tag Kauni back into the ring.

The Story of a Yarn Sale

Whoo, boy! did I have fun this week. My mom and I went to the Needle Emporium's annual tent sale. Here's what we bought:

Three of those are mine and the one on the right is my moms. Hey! I stayed within my budget so it's all good.

There were lots of knitters there, but I didn't remember to take any pictures until we were checking out and my mom took this one:

Looks busy, right. Well, this is after it had calmed down. Here's a busier shot over on Flickr.

This year the pricing scheme was new. In past years you paid by the bag and stuffed it as full as you could. This year, the prices were $3 for a 50g ball of yarn, $6 for 100g and there was a section of $1 odd balls.

Going into such a huge sale, a knitter has to have a strategy. Mine is to grab everything I like, and then cull. Oh, and I warned my mother before we arrived, every woman for herself. She was totally on board with that (love ya mom!). Things I culled were some alpaca in a sport weight because it's so warm and almost too drapey and some manos that I thought I'd make into a scarf. I also culled a couple skiens of Rowan Chunky Tweed because they were 100g skiens and I only wanted them for a hat.

What I bought was (with links to Ravelry):

20 skeins of Baruffa Merinos Otto
14 skiens of Rowan RYC Cashcotton DK
6 skeins of Regia Silk

The culled alpaca was replaced by these beauties:

5 huge skeins of JJ's Specialty Yarns montage collection. Should be enough for a sweater for Jim.

At this point, my mom started asking me if I wanted to leave. I think the long lines were making her nervous. Or maybe she was scared she'd buy more yarn if she stayed too long. But I said I waited all year for this I wasn't leaving yet! I wandered over to the $1 section and found a great collection of odd balls. Can't go wrong for a buck!

You had to stand in one line to be counted and then in another line to pay debit or Visa. What do you think knitters do, standing in line at a yarn sale? Grab more yarn! I found a beauty of a skein of laceweight while I was waiting:

The white is another $1 oddball and it's Kauni laceweight. I also checked out what the knitters were wearing while in line. There was a great lace cardigan made from Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. And a totally unique design of Kauni. You can glipse another cool design in this pic. I wish I'd taken pictures! But no, I was totally focused on the sale.

Mom caught a snap of me during the moment of purchase.


And after all that, you know what we did? Head over to the Needle Emporium yarn shop! I'd stayed well under budget and had enough money to buy another ball of Kauni for my sweater in progress.

So happy.... Can you tell I had fun? Oh good. Cause I did. Loads.

Always Coming Back to Socks

I'm always returning to socks because I have a heavy rotation of loved ones who love their hand knit socks.

There's my mother-in-law who likes socks in bright colors with just a touch of ribbing in them to help them stay up. She just got a pair for Mother's day. Now Luke started wearing my socks just this past winter because he found them warm and comfortable. He likes plain patterns and green or muted colors. These two types of sock aren't terribly exciting to knit, but I do it for love. I get great satisfaction out of knowing that my loved ones' feet feel great because I found scraps of time in which to knit a sock.

Here's one such traveling sock, so-called because it travels with me every where:

The yarn is ONline Supersocke, knit in my standard 72 stitch pattern, but on a smaller needle than usual, a 2mm. I used about an inch of k1 p1 rib at the top and then did the rest of the leg and foot in k5 p1. I like the look of the wide ribs, it works in this type of yarn.

Remember a while back, I was asking about what sort of ease you knit into your socks? Most of you said you prefer to knit your socks with negative ease because they bag out with wear. Well this pair was my first attempt at tightening things up. It didn't work too well, because the smaller needle size made a sock that's a bit too snug. I wanted to give them to Luke, but he had difficulty getting them on and declared he wouldn't wear them. Jim was willing to tug, so he gets this pair.

Jim is one of my favourite people to knit socks for because he's willing to wear just about anything. Like lace and bright colors...

This is Nancy Bush's Gentleman's Socks for Evening wear, knit out of Kataish's handpainted yarn. Aren't the color's gorgeous? I love that they didn't pool and that all the shades and tones are so beautiful. She used KnitPicks Gloss Bare as a base, so these socks feel quite decadent too.

Next to Jim, I am my favourite person to knit socks for, because I can knit myself whatever I like! Plus, I save all the best sock yarn for myself. But my sock drawer is pretty full, but Luke and MIL only have a few pair, so I predict it will be a summer of dull-colored and plainly knit socks for me.

I'd better go stock up on some more podcasts....

Minor Adventure

Yes Saturday was lovely, and it seems like many others around blogland enjoyed their Saturday too. Sunday, wasn't too shabby either. While walking Dexter through the ravine in our neighbourhood we came across a big snapping turtle! We hurried home for my camera and I snapped the snapper:

I've never seen such a big turtle out and about like this. I've only ever seen them in zoos. I knew enough to keep Dexter well away. The turtle pulled its head in when Dexter and I came along, so we stood back a bit and the turtle started walking. Using the zoom on my camera, I shot this video:

I'm such a nature geek. I find it very exciting. I only hope the turtle got safely home again.