Goodnight!

Lullaby is done. I haven't mastered the art of self-photography, but you get the gist. Of course, it's now a bit chilly here for sleeveless, but Lullaby will be ready for Spring/Summer 2006. And for all my pattern tweaking (including yarn substitutions), I had EXACTLY enough. Yes, you read that right. EXACTLY. I'm just so pleased I could spit. I must be absorbing alpaca traits.

Next on the needles? Bubby in the chocolate Chinchilla leftover from SerendiPatti.

How do you spell relief?

F-R-O-G. The Grammie Hearts lapthrow was just not working for me. Stitches were dropping left and right, the heart pattern was not showing up like I thought. It was giving me heartburn. So it's frogged. I cast back on with the burgundy and rose alpaca held together. Bing, bing, bing - we have a winner (so far). I've added the extra rows of seed stitch on the border and I'm thinking of a purled argyle-type design alternating with rows of stockinette. Here's a pic of the new cast-on.

And the sticky, hot, non-September in Vermit weather? Is just now starting to go away. Thanks, Ophelia!

Hit with an ugly stick

Ayep I was. It started off a great day - up in plenty of time, legs shaved, the Catman made the coffee and I was at work before the bell rang. Then? A sharp careen downhill after that. 8:15 AM: Mystery zit #1 appeared at the inside crux of my right nostril. 9:30 AM: Mystery zit #2 surfaced near the right corner of my mouth. The hair? Flatter than a crepe. Somewhere about 4:30 PM, deoderant chose to stop deod'ing. The comfy flowing dress? Stuck to skin surfaces I didn't even think it touched. So now, hot, sweaty, stinky (to me), pustule-ridden, and humidity-trodden, I go grocery shopping.

The upside? Tonic water and Paul Newman's Limeade freshened with a good snort of Bombay. And a shower.

We can all just get along

If it's cold enough. Witness this.

Senor El Cinco and Jackablope = mortal enemies. Bellie and (thebigfat) Shew= bane of each other's existence. Yet, happy nappies abound here at the CattyAbode when the weather starts turning cooler. Is the solution for world peace as simple as just buying everyone an air conditioner?

Baby Mac Hat. It almost makes me want one. The hat that is, not the baby.

Hold your applause

Until the pictures are posted. The BabyMac hat is done and so is Lullaby! Well, Lullaby is almost done. I finished the neck, seamed the shoulders, and tried it on. And I love it...except for the length. Seems the rolled hem took up more length than I bargained for. Fortunately, it's easy enough to undo the edge, pick up the stitches and knit a few more rows. Since the rest of the sweater is done, I'm motivated to finish.

Which is a good thing since the new fall knitty is out. And I'm eyeing up this little lovely for me and maybe this cutie to go with the baby hat.

WIP

So I labored over Labor Day and this is all I have to show for it. (And no, I haven't finished Lullaby, but thanks for asking!)

This little cutie is for a virtual baby shower coming up in the next month. Once again, I've defaulted to my favorite baby hat pattern. I love it because you can use any gauge yarn or size needle - you just can't mess it up! Of course, it might not be newborn size, but a hat is a hat is a hat! I'm using Plush in celery green with Salsa in the pastel colorway. Better yet? It's all from the stash, baby!

Progress slowly continues on the Grammie Love lap throw. The alpaca is not being very cooperative with my Addis. The edge is curling a bit in this pic - I should have thrown another couple of rows of seed stitch on there. I'm just about to place the markers for the heart motif. The color in this pic is closer to the true color, but it's not quite this bright.

Fresh start weekend

I love fall. I love the colors, the cooler temperatures, the clearness of the air, the lack of humidity, the increasing excitement that leads up to the holidays. And I love the fact that as the days get shorter, the knitting time seems to get longer.

I got the new Patternworks catalog, eliciting the same response as the JCPenneys Christmas Toy catalog did when I was 10. It's next to the bed, so it's one of the last things I peruse before I go to sleep and have lovely knitting dreams.

In keeping with the time of year, (another reason I love fall - school supplies!)I did a little organizing of my knitting patterns. My patterns are currently kept in pockets or sheet protectors in a large three-ring binder. I sifted through them, throwing out the ones that I knew I wouldn't knit (a lace patterned scarf written in 1890's knitting code - I know I know, I thought it sounded cool at the the time) and the cat-chewed (I just can't get Cinco to chew in a graphed pattern). I found some patterns I had forgotten about and got excited all over again.

I've also started a throw for my grandmother with the burgundy alpaca. I'm making it up as I go, right now I'm doing a seed stitch border all the way around, and am thinking about a heart motif knitted in alternating bands.

And finally, just a reminder to support relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims. Here are just a few:
Red Cross
ASPCA
Christian and Missionary Alliance CAMA Relief Fund

Happy Birthday to me

Tonight's celebration will include a gin and tonic, House MD, and finishing (hopefully) Lullaby. The front neck stitches are on a holder, and the back's armholes are at the second set of decreases.

And the fun project is done. Remember the crows? I knitted them MINI scarves.

If 'stashing' means hoarding all remnant inches of yarn in hopes of one day using them up, then yeah - I've got it bad! But look! It's paid off. When the Crow Lady dons them for the autumn, I'll post a pic.

My Man in Lima

Ok, I really don't have a man in Lima. I have a man who visited Lima and brought me back these gorgeous cones of pure alpaca. The picture colors are a little off of actual - the pink is a dusty, antique rose, the middle one is a deep red/burgundy, and the end one is black. The yarn is sooooo soft and I already have some ideas. Stay tuned!

I finished Mom's dishclothes. The top one is a garter stitch with eyelet hem, the bottom one is basketweave stitch with garter border. Quick and easy out of Artful Yarns in a cotton blend, color is a rose/cactus green twist.

Shyeah, right!

"You are Merino Wool.You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to keep you close because you are so softhearted. You love to be comfortable and warm from your head to your toes."

I'll have to get back to you all when I'm done cackling hysterically.

Popping in

To say:
Not much more done on Lullaby - it was too bulky to work on during the car ride. I did however start a fun project I'll tell you more about later, as well as delved into the stash to knit up some cotton dishclothes for Mom.

Lake George was fun as demonstrated by the CatMan.

And the weather was perfect.

Frustration breeds the creeps

We are off to Lake George for the weekend so I'm scurrying about - packing clothes, toiletries, knitting. It's supposed to rain/be on the cool side, so I'm looking for my black 3/4-sleeved cardigan.

Still looking.

Looking.

Did I mention I was looking?

Right. No cardigan anywhere. Frustration/low blood sugar/exhaustion set in. I blame Meepus for dragging it up into the boxspring. I blame Cashew for making it a kittybed. I blame Izzy...well she's trouble and I just blame her 'cause I can. I even check the CatMan's dresser/closet on the off chance he's taken up cross-dressing. Rest easy - he hasn't. I've made a list of places to call tomorrow morning - I may have taken it off at our favorite restaurant or left it at church. To dissipate the residual frustration, I blogsurfed.

Look at this. Ok, now try NOT to look at it. This was created by a UK artist named Freddie Robbins. While the object is a bit repelling, the technique is a bit compelling. Maybe it would be less alien with an actual human being present in the pic. Or maybe not.

Wow. Just wow.

Here's the Update

Wendy jinxed me! After some blog commenting back and forth re: the trials and tribulations of knitting with Lullaby, I encountered my first issue today. I must have had an invisible snag on my fingernail which caught every. single. stitch. I have now filed that nail into oblivion. Next stop? Amputation.

I'm just finishing the second set of armhole decreases on the front half, then it's some straight-on knitting to the shoulders. I've got 48+ hours to my self-imposed deadline. Gentlewomen, start your engines.

Here's a pic of progress so far. 1 skein had some serious pooling issues. I'm leaving it - no time to frog. I'll see if it drives me "guano loco".

<

MIA Camera

Seems the digital went MIA again. Mr Catty took it with him to the Adirondacks this past weekend and promptly downloaded the pictures when he got home Sunday afternoon. But now? Not on my desk in its place of honor. Rassin' frassin'!

The Lullaby Shell is done to the underarm point, split onto two circs, prepared for the underarm shaping. From this point on, it's "front and back" until I seam up the shoulder seams and work the neck stitches in the round. Love the idea of putting live stitches on the needles to finish the neck - no annoying stitch pick-up (hate that process with the fury of a thousand nuns!)

So to satiate those of you who like a pic in the post, here's my next project. Remember Olivia the Poncho then Olivest that never happened? The Koigu is now designated for this sweetie. I think the "Meadowflowers" type colorway will be well suited to the Leaves and Flowers design.

Reality Check

Look at this beauty! For a woman constantly in search of the Holy Bag Grail, this one has angels singing, doves descending, and beams of light radiating from the lovely espresso lining. I reach for its funky rubber dotted body, but lo - it's $345.00+. Um...er...ah...

Let's take a moment to ponder this wicked twist. What else will that $345.00 buy me?
--4 new snow tires, mounted and balanced.
--1 very nice weekend in Quebec City, food and lodging included.
--1 month's worth of groceries.
--1 month's worth of lunches, tip included.
--150 gallons of gasoline.
--LOTS of yarn.

Sorry Orla Kiely! I'm gonna have to pass.

Potential Black Hole

I have a feeling the Lullaby Shell is going to be a time-sucking black hole. This is just over one skein's worth of knitting, started Sunday afternoon. Part of the problem? I've altered the pattern (I know! What a surprise!) to knit the body as one piece to the underarms, then split it out. I hope what seems like a endless knit now will be saved when I don't have to seam up this puppy. Other pattern alterations include a rolled hem (vs. rib) since the neck is rolled. It's all about balance.

Lullaby is fine to work with - there's a little issue of splitting with a too quick stitch and the yarn doesn't seem quite as soft knit up as it does in the skein. I'm thinking the post-knit wash and block will take care of that issue.

The question remains - will I have this done for the weekend of the 20th?

The Best Cat in the World

Mosa

May 4, 1984 - August 7, 1999

Meet the best cat in the world. I picked her out of the litter 2 weeks after she was born and she was my faithful friend up to her death 6 years ago. Mosa taught me some very important lessons:

1. As Queen, exert your authority quietly and without violence. Stare at the offender until the clue is received.
2. Be vocal in your happiness, not just your needs.
3. Bed is the ultimate happy place.
4. It is possible to retain cuteness, even in old age.

Even now with a household of cat personalities, I miss her peridot eyes and her wise love.

Bag Lady

I'm not a shoe person. I'm really not a jewelry person. But a display of bags/totes/carryalls? Get outta my way! Yet just as I'm on the endless quest for the perfect purse, so it is with a tote. This one's too big. This one's too small. This one has too many pockets. This one has none. Witness this:
This would be my collection of totes/bags. Most of them were gifts, not quite the Grail.

I can safely say the Monkey Bags are not going to satisfy my search, but I do believe they are going to bring smiles to the faces of their new owners. (And to me, because I'm finally moving on to something else!)

Downhill Slide

The end of the Monkeys is in sight! Can you see it? Over there? Maybe this weekend? Maybe if nothing else gets done for the next4 days? Ok, I'm not just hallucinating then! Lucy and Lullaby are starting their siren call from the stash.

Must...not...give...in...so...close...now.

It's baaaaaack!

It's amazing what a little flyby of your LYS will do to your get-up-and-go. I picked up this little ditty (pattern called for Eros, but I'm going with the cool tones of Lullaby).

And then of course there is the obligatory skein of scarf yarn (for a friend who I promised a scarf to over a year ago - oops!), another skein of fringe yarn for the Monkeys (cause you know how I am with trying to use up skeins and running out before the project is done!), and a skein of sock yarn.

Yep, I'm jumping on the Cherry Tree Hill bandwagon. KYarns just picked up the line and surprise surprise! They're Vermontian! Which explains colorways like "Champlain Sunset". This is Java and even the closeup doesn't do justice to it; it's a lovely coffee brown with subtle striations of olive and eggplant. It's drinkable! This skein is destined for socks, but if it knits up as lovely as it looks in the raw, I will have to find another project to knit more!