And lookie, a new addition for the sidebar. Gotta love a woman who knows her priorities.

Isabelle taking a rest from being very dangerous. And yes, that's Plush Blankie II acting as Protector to the new futon.

The view from the gable. Sunset - check. Rolling farm land - check. Red barn - check.

Whew!

The cleaning frenzy finished this afternoon. I even got MrCatty's office cleaned out (without throwing too much away, dear). My hall is now filled with stuff for the garage sale and clothes to go to Salvation Army.

I'm working the last two scarves of the scarf project - a farrow rib in the violet Kidsilk Haze and a pocket scarf in a Manos Cotton Stria multi-lilac colorway. The double eyelet scarf is being blocked and all the other scarves are wrapped, tagged with the Catty tag, and ready to be given away.

While I'm caught up in the now mind-numbing scarf knitting process, I'm pondering my next project (note that I'm totally bypassing the monkey purse project - why oh why did I agree to 'go there'?) I'm thinking maybe Clapotis (with the Koigu from Olivest), or a sleeveless tank (with my leftover skeins of Sunsette from Sitcom), or (squeee!) maybe my Peruvian Alpaca will be here this weekend.

4 days and counting

'Til I'm off for a few days. In addition to cleaning the Catty House from top to bottom, I've slated the scarf project to be fini, make a dent in the purses, and plan my next project - something for moi. And I think Olivest is going to be frogged. It's not you, Olivest - it's me.

Nice purrrrrrrse

Here's the kitty purse, all done. Let's play "Where's Waldo" : there are actually 4 kitties visible in this picture. The girls at work have picked out their monkeys and their yarn colors, so now my work is officially ready to begin.

FluffCuffs

I have a Bean fleece jacket that needed some cuff camouflage. I have a 1/4 skein of Whisper in the exact same color. Hmmm. What to do? What to do?

Since the Whisper doesn't like machine washing, I knitted the 12" long cuffs on #9 needles and attached them to 4 small buttons I sewed around the cuff band via pulling the knit apart slightly to stretch around the buttons.

And guess what? I had yarn left over this time!

It's a Block Party

Monkey Purse, being blocked.

Purse Prototype

I started the Monkey Purse Prototype. It knitted up very quickly, but here are some changes I made to the pattern.

1. I used Inox circs instead of the metal DPNs as recommended in the pattern. I had no issues at all with the twine seizing up on the needles.
2. I single crocheted the bind off. Doing a traditional bind off was very annoying; the twine was very tight on the needle. The single crochet was a breeze since the bind off was taking place off the needle.
3. I hate the I-cord handles, so I did a triple crochet band. It's flat, but I think for the amount of use the purses are going to get, it should be fine.
4. For some reason, my bag is 6-CDs worth of blocking, not the 16 as noted in the pattern. Hmmm. Ya know, I really don't mind the cute littleness. So I guess the prototype will be mine.

The monkeys should be here this week. (And I bought the Black Cats for me)

Piles of stuff

So in this corner, I've started the 11 scarves...2nd up (Aria is #1) is a drop stitch scarf in Berroco Suede. Since it's being knit on #17 needles, it's going quickly. I'm hoping to have it finished and fringed by the end of the weekend.

Over in this corner is the new shipment of 11 skeins of 48 lb twine for the monkey purses. I can't tell the girls at work that it's here or I'll have to stop the scarf project (or quit my job to make enough time).

Of course, we can't neglect the corner over there where Aria is waiting for her eyelet trim to be finished and stitched on...

And of course there's corner 4 where Olivest continues to languish.

Oh, and the order for the Alpaca is in, but won't be here for 2 weeks or so. I think that should give me enough time to clean out the corners.

A Barrel of Monkeys

That's what I'm gonna need to create the great Cocktail Monkey Purses for all the girls at work. Be sure to check the pattern out here.

I also received this for inspiration on the scarf project I need to finish by next month.

And to give me something to look forward to - a friend of mine is going to Lima Peru next month and has promised to bring me back some gorgeous alpaca. My mission - to figure out the yardage conversions for the patterns I want to knit up. I wonder if he has a weight limit on what he brings back....

Just call me Carmen Sandiego

Ok, I really haven't been anywhere interesting or even done some knitting, but I definitely feel like I've been missing in action. As I mentioned last month - I've been divesting myself of responsibilities/commitments/etc. and that is turning into more work that just keeping the farkin' jobs themselves. But I think I actually may get some knitting done this month. Olivest languishes in one knitting bag, Aria is being worked on one set of 5 rows at a time. I've decided to knit scarves for the 11 women who have been my ministry team for the past 6 years. I'm trying to pick out yarns/colors indicative of their personalities, yet go with their wardrobes. So you know what that means? A trip to my LYS! Woohoo!

Speaking of the LYS - check out the new buttons over there---> Ayep, There's one for KYarns (my LYS) as well as one for Bogie's site, Knit Flix. Knit Flix was one of the first knitting blogs I came across and has been a motivation/inspiration for me. Dang, that girl can KNIT! So thanks Bogie! And congrats on nearing the 20000 milestone!

Another Blankie on the Wall

Plush Blankie II

I think I misposted when I said I used Gatto - the trim is actually Crystal Palace Whisper. I really like using brighter, more intense colors for baby stuff. Fire 'em up a little. Get 'em jazzed. Kick 'em up a notch. Ok, I'll stop now.

In other knitting knews - I frogged Aria. The YO patterns SO don't work for me. I'm thinking of doing a cable pattern instead, and using doublepoints for the knitting.

Olivest is coming along - I have about 9" inches done; I figured 14" to the underarm so I'm over 1/2 way there.

I spent this week resigning from a lot of personal commitments; this is a good thing. One little, not-so-silent corner is being selfish in thinking there is going to be more time to knit. Poor little deluded selfish corner!

Not just for ponchos anymore

And the progress on the Olivest. It's about 5 inches worth. I figure I have about 8-9 more to go to the underarm.

Valentine's in March

"Love" for Mom - in Eros and Colorlash on #10 Brittanys.

"Pepe LePew" also for Mom. I'm not sure why she wants to look like a zebra, but hey - I love working with Splash, so who am I to argue with Mom? This is a boa in 11 stitches on #10s (what can I say-it's what I had in my knitting bag when I started to knit it up!)

Spring is a state of mind

Aria in periwinkle. The pattern is a simple YO, K2together on # 7 Inox needles.

I couldn't decide on a Rowan Kidsilk Haze color - so in addition the periwinkle, I picked up this teal. And meanwhile back at the shop, there's a lovely rose (almost the same color as my shirtsleeve in the pic.)

Chchch-changes

It's been a very busy week here in Cattyville. The upside is I start a new job on Monday. The downside? I start a new job on Monday. That being said, my knitaddiction is suffering.

I did finish Plush Blanket - since I couldn't find a shade of Plush that went with the rainbow colorway, I ended up knitting the whole blankie in one color and used Gatto in an acid green as a double crocheted border. And it works nicely. Trust me; the picture is coming.

I also started and finished a black and white Splash boa for Mom (who loved SkinnyMcGinny II). The scarf definitely has a Pepe LePew vibe which should make Mom happy - she likes the Warner Bros. crew.

I figured since I was mailing Mom a scarf, I should make it worth the postage and send two. So I've started a triangular dress scarf in the leftover jeweltoned Eros from "Mata II" with the fuschia Colorlash from "Flame". And as usual? I've run out of yarn 80% through the knitting.

Objects in the lens...

Are closer than they appear. This is my friend Comet. Or actually, Comet's nose. And rump. Comet lives on my friend Annie's farm along with sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, cats, dogs, and more llamas. Comet's likes include sneaking up behind you and attempting to give hickeys and making sure Heidi the goat doesn't get any loving that could possibly be redirected to her.

But hold the camel!

Tea in the Sahara. To keep that Stash Lemon Ginger Tea hot hot hot.

Can I get a cabana boy with that?

Fan's Dance in the South Seas colorway of Splash.

And on the other side of the temperature spectrum - Black Ice