Meanwhile, back at the ranch.

Hey! Happy End-of-Daylight-Savings-Time! Upcoming-Election-Day!
First-of-November! Day-After-Halloween!

I've been a busy knitting girl - see?

Mom's birthday is Election Day, so to celebrate she's getting some requested dishclothes (yeah, I snuck in a tribute to the blue states.) Project specs: Pisgah's Peaches & Creme Cotton in the Pink Lemonade colorway done on #7 Addis and Aunt Lydia's Kitchen Cotton leftover from BYOB done on #4 Addis. The pattern is the Kitchen Cotton dishcloth from Dishcloth Boutique's website (however, the linky seems to be broken).

But before the dishcloths, I finished my Tonks socks. I love them: in fact I have them on right now. Project specs: guess what pattern using 1 skein of Opal's Harry Potter yarn in the Tonks colorway on #2 Inox needles.

The house projects keep rolling along: this month, it's the kitchen closet. This little space is under the stairs to our third floor. It's awkward and odd. My plan is to paint it with the leftover blue from the bathroom and then install wire shelving which should give us more space and make everything easier to access.

And it hasn't been all work: the CatMan and I have been enjoying the fall colors right outside our door!

The colors of Fall

The second red scarf is done - my box for the OFA is mailing off this week.

Project specs: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Blueblood Red on 10.5 Addis. I used the Enjoyable Rib pattern and yes, it was. The green wool is from my remnant basket.

This gorgeous (look -it's orange!) yarn is scheduled to become a Helena for a co-worker's little baby girl. She was born 3 months early, but is doing well! I think I'll be safe knitting the 6 month size.

And guess what else came early? The Harry Potter yarn! Of course, I immediately ignored my other projects so I could cast on for a pair of socks. From left to right: Lupin, Tonks (the one I started!), and Hedwig. I love Hedwig and think everyone should have an owl. However, my cats may not agree with that.

 

 The leaves here are gorgeous - I know my little Kodak can't do the colors justice. Hope you are enjoy your fall colors.

oOoO Pretty!

Here's a hinge before stripping:

Here they are stripped and beadblasted (one of the perks of working for a manufacturing facility!) I like the matte silver finish, but I still think I'm going to paint them glossy black to protect them from rusting. I also think the black will look better against the natural wood of the door.


While I enjoy knitting the second red scarf, I needed a little break. So I started an I-cord cushion for my desk chair (using some of the cut-up tees.)

Scarves 'n Stacks 'n Stuff

First - the knitting!

I finished Cypress Lace Ribbon and had a chance to wear it early this week (until it warmed up to summer temps again!)

Project specs: Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty using 4 skeins of Rowan Wool Cotton in Cypress Green (color SH968) on #3 Addis. I loved this yarn enough to get me through the acres of pattern repeats and have received many compliments already which I attribute to the lovely pattern, not my mad knitting skillz.

Then I (*pun alert*) blazed through my first 2008 Red Scarf using the great Harlot pattern.


The CatMan and I made the call to have the doors professionally stripped (way cheaper than I expected!) which may mean I'll have a chance to attack my reading stack.

And guess what? I had my 15 minutes of internet fame this week! (Izzie says I had nothing to do with it - she's just that purty!)

Wasting valuable knitting time

By attempting to do this - stripping paint off the upstairs doors. After 5 hours, I had only accomplished taking off the top layers. The CatMan brought home a heat gun - we'll see how that works!

But I did finally accomplish this:
This Devan is for the newest baby born in the CatMan's workplace. With 3 big sisters, I'm sure he's going to get dressed up alot! Project specs: Knit One Crochet Too's Soxx Appeal, 2 skeins of colors 9577 (the olive green) and one skein of 9500 (the blue and green ombre) on #3 needles. Pattern modifications: I knit the body on circs, eliminating side seams and I did a 2 x 2 rib for the sleeves and bottom edge.

In other news:

I love how just adding a simple mirror (cost: 1.99!!) totally changes the look above my ancient stove.

I got new glasses this week (my bifocal prescription is stronger...grrr), but the upside is I got to pick out a new case. I thought this one was perfect for my stitch holders.

And here are the last of the summer roses from the farm -

In praise of the long weekend.

I love the feeling of accomplishment. The apartment is clean, the laundry done and ironed, scones baked, and the Ukraine hats are done.

Project specs: Misc. wool remants from Kyarn's felting basket. Pattern is Seaman's Cap by Brenda Zuk, using #5 and #8 Brittany DPNS.

The Catman and I spent Saturday helping friends prepare their new home for human habitation. Dude, it took a PUTTY KNIFE to clean out the refrigerator! We were up on ladders cleaning windows, steaming off wallpaper, cutting down trees, and down on hands and knees pulling carpet staples out of the subflooring. Sore does not begin to describe the ache in our bodies. Of course, sitting in the car to drive to Boucherville's IKEA on Sunday didn't help that ache any! Once again the border patrol guard was slightly disbelieving of our IKEA receipt. "That's all you bought?" What can I say? It's not about the stuff, it's about the ideas.

Today is all about the lolling around, making some lists and gearing up for September. I hope you all have had a great holiday weekend! And don't forget, VT's Sheep and Wool Festival is next weekend!

Another Island of Misfit WIPs

Really I am not a knitter who does well with more than 2 WIPs at any one time. I get distracted and diffuse. Look! A new yarn! A new knitting pattern! A bright shiny object! So it's time to buckle down and get to work. Fall is just around the corner and I don't need any hangers-on. The hats for the Ukraine (upper left in pic) need to be done by this weekend. I have 1 1/2 hats left to go. The Devan (lower center of pic) is no longer for a co-worker's grandbaby (he would have outgrown it already) but for another little guy due in 2 months or so. And Cypress Ribbon will be done as soon as I get the #3 needle out of Devan.

This is the drawer of tee-shirts, cut up and whole for an I-cord rug melding in the back of my mind. I scored some really cheap tees at a local resale store which complement the ones I already cut up (thank you, clothes purging!) I'm not sure what size needles I'll use. Any suggestions?

Domestic tranquility

The contact papering is finished! Note the nicely organized shelves.

And I'm so much happier now that I purged

all the unwanted/stained Tupperware.

(I just found out that Chittenden County takes all plastics #1-7! Woot!)
You may not be able to see it in these pictures, but the trees in the marshy area of the Sandbar are already turning colors. That - coupled with the Halloween candy in the store today - does not bode well for summer.

Anniversaries come and go.

Sometime in the past two weeks, my blogiversary came and went with nary a nod from me. Maybe next year, we'll have a big party complete with prizes, cake and beer. This year, I'm in the home zone. Actually for the past 18 months I've been in the home zone, with the last few months being less about the renovations and more about decluttering/simplifying.

It is amazing to me that the more I declutter, the more I find to do. And I'm a purger by nature! I think a lot of it has to do with the fact this is the longest we have lived in any one place and the natural purging that happens when you move hasn't happened here in 12 years. I also find that as I get older, I get more ruthless. I have never been a sentimentalist, but now I'm finding stuff that was on the fine line between 'memory' or 'dust catcher' status has fallen decisively onto the "I don't want to clean/maintain this anymore" side of the fence. So Goodwill has received several CattyAbode dropoffs in the past month (cast iron skillets and a set of dishes, anyone?)

While I'm in the home zone, knitting is now deadline-driven only. I'm working on Chas Arthur's baby sweater, which is not speedy due to the sock yarn/#3 needle concept. And since he was born last Sunday (2 weeks early, thankyouverymuch) at almost 9 lbs, I've kicked the sweater up a size which only compounds my problem.

So it's time for me to get back to work, but I thought you might enjoy a picture of Isabelle in an empty box (I was purging old receipts and records.) I think she's honing her Serengeti skills.

Bring on the Happy

First, a FO! Jayda's Helena.

Project specs: Cascade's Cotton Rich DK #2 and #6 Addis. Pattern modifications: I shortened the skirt by one lace repeat and did a picot front edging. I'm not a big fan of self-ties, and I think this will be cute without any fasteners at all. The pattern was very easy and very fast.
 
Now on the needles: Devan for another co-worker's grandson-to-be. I'm using Soxx Appeal, which is very sproingy! But I think this sweater will be slower-going than Helena.

But the happiest moment of the whole weekend? Was realizing my favorite PA beer was 12 minutes away (by ferry).

And it's only taken me 12 years to realize it. *goes away to bang forehead on the wall*

Weekends

For some reason, I'm really enjoying weekends this month. So many times, the weekend blows by and I haven't much to show for it. However, the past 3 weekends have been a perfect melding of housework, rest, knitting, reading, and fun with the CatMan. Last night, after a wonderful light summer dinner of zucchini quiche and apple-bacon-gorgonzola salad, we went for a drive through the Islands. We live here year-round and I'm always amazed how much the summer people change the Island dynamic. There are those summer people who are the stereotypical obnoxious tourists and then there are those whose families have summered here for generations - they are the ones who bring that special 'vacation' feeling I sense when we drive around the Lake's shore.

And now for the knitting! As promised, here are some FOs.

The BYOB from Knitty. Project specs: Aunt Lydia's Baby Denim in Chambray Blue and Butter (the accent color is the orange mercerized cotton left over from the Jacquescloths). Done on #6 (the seed stitch panels) and #8 (the lace panel) circulars. The Baby Denim is not 100% cotton and doesn't seem as splitty as some all-cottons. I had a good portion of the yellow left over and some blue (probably enough to do the orange band yardage on another bag.)

And finally, the Trinity Wrap. Try as I might, I could not get a good picture of the beaded Trinity stitch insets. *sigh* But it's done. and I'm pleased with it's lightweight warmth and touch of girliness.

Project specs: Teal baby alpaca (on a cone so yardage guesstimate? Not so good!) with teal glass #8 beads using #8 Addi Turbo. The wrap is about 72" long and 24" wide.

I started Helena last night and am over halfway done. The baby shower is Wednesday and the betting pool is now open. I'm thinking it will be all done except for the front edging.

All but the knitting

It was a very productive weekend here at the CattyAbode. There was some cleaning (entire upstairs washed down), some purging (desk drawers /office bins), yarn organizing, some eating out and some eating in. We also went grocery shopping and car shopping (just looking at this and this.) There was napping both days and consuming of adult beverages. There was date night at Barnes and Noble and a loverly rainy restful Sunday reading this.

I also found time to block the Trinity Wrap (it's still drying) and I worked 2 pattern repeats on the Cypress Scarf. Maybe some time this week, I'll actually get BYOB and the scarf off the needles. Who knows, next weekend there will be 3 FO pics to post. Or I'll finish contact papering the kitchen cupboards.

It's a wild wild life here at the CattyAbode. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Crisp, clean and refreshing

Behold the newly painted bathroom. Oooh. Ahhh. (sorry, that was leftover from last night's fireworks display). The calm, restful blue is "Open Air" from Sherwin Williams.

Here's a closeup of the switch plate: I used a wallpaper map motif which picked up the blue paint color, the crisp white of the trim, and the dated beige wall switches.

I also did the same for this outlet - and I gave the wall pocket two new coats of white semigloss. Now you can really see the leaf and berries motif.

I started prep on Friday morning and got two coats of the blue and one coat of the trim on the walls. Saturday, I finished the trim, regrouted around the tub, freshened the shelf and wall pocket with white paint and trimmed up the spots I missed. Then I treated myself to a nice long hot shower and a bit of knitting on BYOB.

How was your weekend?

(I) Like a cheap distraction

Ever since we dug out the wedding pics last weekend, I've been on an 80s video kick. Here's one of my favorite bands singing one of my favorite songs.

This weekend has been about the punch list - all those little items that needed touchups/fixing. The separation between the trim and the ceiling over the bed, the missed 2nd coat of paint on the baseboard behind the laundry hampers, the loose lamp socket - all taken care of now. And to treat myself, here's a cheap distraction brightening my windowless bathroom. The bamboo is from Creative Habitat, the dish is an old canary birdbath picked up somewhere in my journeys, and the filler is from my jar of polished stones and seashells.

I'm off to iron a stack of clothes while watching some movies. And then on to this other cheap distraction -

Pip says, "I got my tummy to distract me."

A unplanned organizational side trip

Friday night, the CatMan was looking for our wedding pictures. Unfortunately, they were not in the album conveniently located in the bottom drawer of his nightstand. They were in the last box I pulled out of our upstairs storage closet. Culling through this space had been lower priority on my to-do list. This is the shred box (receipts/statements/etc. older than 7 years - Jack the cat is for scale.) I also have one banker's box of photos which need to be sorted and labeled; easy enough to do while watching TV.

Here's the closet, cleaned out and organized. What you can't see in this pic are my feet wrangling cats out of the way. This closet is the feline version of spelunking. With my clothes as the belay lines.

I ended up frogging last week's Cypress Ribbon scarf and started over doing it the right way. This is a little over 1 skein into the project. Yes, that is a safety line. I'm not tempting any fate while doing this lace pattern. I've got too many other projects to get on the needles.

Bandwagon--->Me

Yep, all the cool kids are doing it. Here's my version of the Lace Ribbon Scarf that 1180 Ravelry knitters are working on. The yarn is the Rowan Wool Cotton in Cypress purchased at Kyarns' sale. In my usual let's-not-really-read-the-pattern style, I didn't do the pattern repeats as outlined so I have solid stockinette ribbon alternating with the undulating waves. And I like it enough not to frog it. So there.

The finished Spring Cleaning socks. Project specs: Lang Jawoll Aktion (wool/cotton/nylon) , color 7113, using my favorite sock pattern on #2 Inox DPNs. And I can say my spring cleaning is done too. I think.

Isabelle says "It's hot, but I'm gonna sit in the sun anyway."

Where did May go?

Hello? I don't remember authorizing an ENTIRE MONTH to go by without my realizing it. When I'm in purging mode, that doesn't mean TIME!

The CatMan and I don't live a majorly stuff-filled life. My knitting stash occupies a 3-drawer bin, we I routinely cull over our books, and I've confined the CatMan's outdoor gear to one room of our apartment (which also doubles as his office/study). But this weekend, I took 6 computer paper boxes to a tag sale, 3 boxes to Goodwill, and several large trashbags to the dumpster. I am amazed and chagrined at the amount of crap that readily fills the corners of our lives which, if left unchecked, sucks our time in maintenance.

Knitting content will resume shortly - there is a light at the end of the spring-cleaning tunnel.

Rumor has it...

That I have a knitting blog. Seriously! Believe it or not, I have been knitting and thinking about said blog, but that's as far as I've gotten. Until now. Hold on, it's gonna be a garter-bumpy ride!

First up is the completed Bouncing Baby Blankie. This didn't photograph as well as I hoped, but trust me - it's cute and will be perfect for a coworker's new grandbaby due in July.

Project specs: Plymouth Wildflower DK in Grape, Lime, Butter, and Dove on #6 Inox circs. I used about 1.25 skeins for each block and then using the Butter color, doublecrocheted an edging around the whole blankie.
And how can I go on without showing you the haul from Kyarns annual sale?

Clearly, I can't. There's some Berroco Pure Merino in Cardinal (for the sweater I'm not going to knit), more Wildflower DK (1.00/skein!!) to add to the baby yarn stash, 4 skeins of simply lovely Rowan Wool Cotton in Cypress, 2 skeins each of Plymouth's Happy Feet in the red and moss green colorways, as well as some random skeins to keep me on my toes. Kalen was so enabling sweet to make sure I had two bags to fill.

Spring cleaning continues at the CattyAbode with the CatMan's office bearing the brunt of it. We made one dump run, numerous large garbage bags have been filled with debris, and now we wait for the UPS guy to deliver the new furniture. I have to admit, when it comes to purging/cleaning or knitting, the purging wins almost every time.

We are off this weekend for a long weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Since I won't be able to clean, I'm thinking I should have plenty of car knitting time to finish Trinity as well as my second sock.

In the air

...and nothing completed to show for it. Around the house, the first coat of spackling is done in the scary hall. Table has been rented for the big island tag sale next month. The ancient TV (and assorted other electronics) were taken to the e-cycle day. I've been trying to upload blog pics and balance my checkbook online but the webgods are not smiling favorably on me today. It makes me very angry {/Martin the Martian voice}.

Work continues on the Trinity Wrap

and I started a Wildflower DK mitered baby blankie.
I bought some goodies at Kyarns the other day. The neutral Happy Feet colorway will be socks for me. The purple (which looks blue in this pic) Cotton Rich DK is going to be a baby sweater to go with the blankie. And the Jawoll cotton is a stash addition (but probably more socks for me!)Now if I can just knock one of these balls out of the air.