Quicky post.... today will be a long day :)

I haven't taken many pictures lately - been crazy around here. "Summer hours" have started, which shortens my week by a day - I've said it before, I'll say it again - I love my DH, but having him underfoot instead of at work drives me nuts!!! So, my routine is being messed with. Plus, this coming weekend is known in these here parts as the "May Long Weekend" - varies in dates year to year, but the sentiment is the same - gardens get planted, summer hideaways get opened for the year.... So, we'll be off to open our summer place and plant a garden. We do have a not too bad yard here in the city, but when you have friends who live on a quarter section, and offer you garden space, it is very hard to resist taking them up on the offer!! And, when your hubby works for the same company long enough to qualify for 6 weeks of paid vacation, and the company offers the deal that if you work a little extra each day, you get every second Friday or Monday off (he used to get Fridays, but now he's considered "office" staff, so he gets Mondays), well, you tend to spend an awful lot of time in the summer out at your summer place.

So, if I seem scarce for a little while, it isn't 'cause I got nothing to say - it's 'cause I'll be miles away from the 'puter!!!

Now, for pictures - I got a couple pics of some past projects - one is hard to see, but it is my very first ever quilting project. I have a book of cat line drawings to use for making appliques or quilting designs, and I selected a few from it, and made myself a cushion. I learned something very quickly from that. Corduroy does not show off quilting stitches very well..... But, for a beginner.....

Having learned my lesson, I tried a second cushion - this one I used a cat printed panel of fabric (one of the rare moments when I actually cut some of the kitty fabric collection....) Besides the simple outline quilting, I did a little sort of tarpunto type thing, but adding suffing to some parts of the kitty, and to the fish:

Next offering is an afghan I knitted - the pattern was one of those free tear off sheets at the store - and my first time working with an eyelash style yarn - Red Heart Foxy by name. I think it looks rather nice - feminine like :) Not at all like my personality, but what the hey - I like it. LOL.

Ok, so now you've seen some of my work - I knit, I crochet, I quilt, I latchhook, and I do many others, which I haven't got pictures of.... BUT - the key thing, is that you can see that I really can do many different types of crafts. When I say that "crafts are my passion", you can now see that I really mean it. I have a passion for doing all kinds of crafts. Oh, right - if you look in the photo album, my yahoo photo album, I know I have a link for it on the right side bar, you can see a tiny bit ('cause I'm still quite new!) of my spinning, too.... Anyway, as I was saying, I have a passion for creating things. I really and truly enjoy taking raw materials and appropriate tools, and turning them into things of beauty and function.

The other part of my sig line and title for this blog, "cats are my obsession" - well, I keep telling people that the kitty collection has something in the neighbourhood of over 5000 items. Here is a fraction of that.... (some pictures are a little fuzzy - sorry, I will be taking better pictures one of these days, but these were just some I "snapped" to share with somebody....

Yes, our walls are blue. Yes, blue is supposed to be a cool colour. Yes, our living room feels quite warm. We managed to find a blue with just enough red undertones in it to make it comfortable without becoming purple. Neither of us like the greenish blues. We like the ice blues, or the warm blues.

And, yes, that clock on the wall - it meows ever hour. :) I love it.... the books on the shelves - the top row is all cats, mostly fiction. the middle shelf is about half cats - I have my Harry Potter books, and the few John Sandford "Prey" books in my collection, and a couple reference books. The third shelf - that is all cats.

On the top row of pictures, on the right hand side, (I know, it's very fuzzy - I didn't realize until I'd downloaded just how fuzzy) below the yellow fake flowers, there is a white potpourrie burner, and an roange fat-fat, and in between a cat face.... the cat face is my cat spindle. :) I like my cat spindle..... It has a bit of a wobble (top whorl) but if it gets flipped over to act as a bottom whorl, the wobble isn't bad. Now, remember, I'm a beginner - this was "discovered" by my spinning mentor. Me - I bought it 'cause it was a kitty, lol. Of course, I love it when my kitty collection is functional as well, and when I get better at spindle spinning, I know I will use it from time to time, but for now, it is on display. I have a bottom whorl Louet, and a top whorl Ashford to learn to spin on, and a very well balanced "llama" spindle. Hm, or is it an alpaca??? :) It just occured to me.....

I know, the person who made it said it was a llama spindle, but since it is just an outline, a silhouette, I can pretend it is an alpaca..... :) LOL.....

Ok, back to checking my email, before I head out for my haircut, laundramat, chiropractor, bit of shopping.... Like I said, today is going to be a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG day.....

Some stuff....

So, I had to wash some doilies/coasters I had made some time ago. Couple years, at least.... After washing, I blocked them, and took pictures:
These are called "Starflower Coaster" and they are from a free pattern on the net. You can see the one on the left, I sort of never got around to weaving in the end.... But, it is done now. :)

I made a doily once - I couldn't find a doily pattern I liked at the time. You know, how sometimes, you want to make something, and even though you've collected patterns that you like and everything, but that particular day, nothing seems interesting? Well, that was my problem. I was going through my Magic or Decorative Crochet magazines, couldn't find "the" doily to make.... Then, the idea hit.... There was a vest thing, that I would never make or wear, but that had an interesting motif. The garment was done in size 30 thread, and I figured, well, a single motif in size 10 should make a nice doily.....

Ok, so my pinning isn't always perfect.... But the pattern is quite nice :) (one of these days, I'll break down and invest in one of those official doily blocking boards with all the lines printed on it, so you can start out symmetrical, instead of pinning and repinning and then pinning again to make it look even.....)

A more recent doily finish:

Kitty doily. Was a doily of the month project that I didn't finish in the time frame.... I was working on this one in the hospital with DH a few weeks back. I think I'm going to get it framed... Maybe. But I washed and blocked it and then..... (One of these days, I gotta invest in a blocking board.....)

Knitting: well, I've been working on some dishcloths, and some socks. I've got a sock in progress, working on the foot. Wool sock, warm one, dyed with food colour. Bright yellow, and I couldn't leave it solid colour- oh, no, not me!!! I had to play.... I added some green at one end. Took it out of the dye bath before all colour exhausted, though, because the green was really wicking into the yellow. So, I have a bit more green than I would have originally wanted, but they sure are bright!!! I haven't taken pictures of all the dishcloths, either. I've been knitting my way through a dishcloth leaflet, 15 heart patterns. I wanted to make each one, because I wanted to see what they all looked like and worked up like, in case I could use them for afghan squares, too.... :) I plan to take pictures of them when I have finished the last one... today or tomorrow that will happen.

Socks off the needles: Sixth Sense Socks from the Six Sox Knitalong group :) I love these socks. Still hate the yarn, but the socks are great. Finished knitting them Friday night, weaving in ends Saturday morning, then I wore them all day Saturday. Nice socks...

Now, while I stand by my convictions and will not ever again buy any of that horrid yarn - I really don't like it for a lot of reasons - I must admit - I made no effort to match starting point or anything like that. I don't mind fraternal socks at all... Remember the Rhodonite STR socks? LOL..... One sock colour pooled, one striped.... Anyway, I just knit one Sixth Sense Sock, then cut the yarn, finished off the toe, etc. Then I cast on for the second sock, right there in that spot in the yarn, and - well.....

I got twins.... I know, they are just far enough apart, but if you look, compare the purple bit on the heel, the way the turquoise is on the toes... count and compare the turquoise stripes.... They really are the same!!! Don't know how, but find it fascinating, lol....

So... That's all I've accomplished lately. Oh, and I've got most of the kitty collection back onto the three sets of bookshelves in my living room. I've added to the collection since taking down the one bookshelf, so I've got a couple leftovers that need new homes.... Or I'll weed out the non-kitty decor a little more... I already did remove a few non-kitty items. Things that I did sort of like, at one time, but they don't really fit.... They'll be heading off to freecycle or something soon. But the kitty collection is back in view!!! I've missed some of those pieces - especially my cat drop spindle!!

Laundry day today (yuck) so I will keep this short. Maybe I'll take some pics of the shelves next time I'm doing progress shots.... I hope to get the dishcloths finished, and pictured up, and I should get a few more rows done on a gift afghan - too small right now to really take a nice picture. Can't see much at this stage....

I'll leave you with one more shot - the old girl - my "Rock" - the one that I've always said was stubborn enough to outlive all the other animals.... Roxy. She's passed her 18th birthday now....(I got her at 8 weeks old in the first week of June, 1988)

All right :)

Ok, I followed this thing from someone else's blog or whatever.... I did the quiz, and - oh, gee - what a surprise!!!! LOL....

I also saw, after posting yesterday, that I *did* get a duck after all. Ok, so I am obsessive about those pet things.... I also see they've updated the kitty - Fuschia Kitty can get out of the basket, and eat a tin of food :) She goes at that just as much as the real kitties here attack tinned food!

Ok, so I still need to find my way to the flickr thing, so I can load up on some blog button thingies, for the groups I'm in.... :) I gotta weed those out one of these days....

I also have to get busy here, finishing the carpet. DH remarked about it last night - which is not a good thing to do when he's just finished telling me all about the things that not-so-D son is doing/wanting us to help/wanting us to commit time to.....

So, I snarled an answer.... He snarled a bit back..... we sat in silence most of the rest of the evening.....

So, I best get busy, instead of sitting here on the 'puter....

seeing what happens.... I did this thing....

You Are A: Kitten!

Cute as can be, kittens are playful, mischevious, and ever-curious. Like you, kittens hate getting wet. Kittens are often loving, but are known to scratch or bite when annoyed. These adorable animals are the most popular pets in the United States--37% of American households have at least one cat. Whether it is your gentle purr or your disarming appearance, you make a wonderful kitten.

You were almost a: Turtle or a Pony
You are least like a: Duckling or a MonkeyWhat Cute Animal Are You?

I bin TOLD!!!

That is was high time I updated my blog. :) So... here goes.

I *did* add a pet.... a hamster. I think that about covers all the cyber blog pets, except for a duck and a hedgehog. I might do the duck.... they are going to add a monkey next. I don't think I want a monkey. Depends, though. I'll have to see it. But for now, I don't want a monkey.

Pictures- well, I haven't been making enough progress on some stuff to warrent pictures.

Why not? Well, I'm trying to clean my carpet. At the rate I'm going, by the time I'm finished it will be time to start again. I keep getting interrupted. I plan to spend a day moving stuff around, and someone else decides they need me to do something. And it is usually the kind of need and the kind of something that I just cannot morally say no to. So.... I get stuck. Then I get annoyed, and a tad resentful. Like, why is it that when I ask for help, no one seems to be available, or capable, or whatever, but they sure do think of me first.....

But, I try not to let it get to me for too long. Resentments don't do me any good. They just keep me frustrated and tied up in knots and all that. But, I'm human, so I do get them from time to time. I just try not to let my resentments rule me.

Anyway..... I do have a few pictures. One is of the grandkid. Taken at Easter. And since she was using her sister's afghan that I made a few years ago, I got a picture of that, too..... And I have a picture of my yard. With my Border in it.... So, what say everyone - think it is big enough to have an alpaca (drool) for a pet? And try to convince the neighbours it is an overgrown dog? The neighbour who's house is right beside the fence is a knitter (former - age and body wearing out has made knitting too painful for her) so she would understand the fibre addiction, I'm sure :)

So, here's the pics:












Now, before anyone goes getting all excited here.... The cool thing about crochet is that you can use any square graph - like from a cross stitch or latch hook pattern, and you can crochet the picture. So, no, I cannot share the graph, but if you look in other areas of your local craft store, you just might find something you can work with..... :)

And, I'm working right now on a graph afghan that I had to design myself, because I couldn't find one anywhere already made of a ballet dancer. I'm making a gift afghan for a child who's birthday is in June, and for some reason, I missed the boat on making a gift when this child was born. My DH's boss - had two kids and no gifts, but DH's co-workers have been getting gifts... Don't know where in the heck my brain was.... So these kids are getting toddler afghans.... The girl gets the ballet dancer, and the boy (who's birthday isn't until December) will be getting something with cars/trucks on it. That should be easy enough to design.....

And graph afghans work up so quick!!!

Anyway, here's Bear, and a good veiw of the side yard....

So, project wise, I've been working on a few of the dishcloths, getting them done. I spent some time designing, drawing, graphing, refining the dancer. And I've been playing with food colour. I went to Ram Wools (www.ramwools.com) to see what price they were going to sell the Handicrafter Cotton at.... (so many lys's around here have been closing down, and Ram is trying to pick up the slack as best they can - and now you all know a little more about me - like what city I live in, lol....) and picked up some wool because I want to try Easter egg dyeing. Well, I also figured out that I needed a second pair of wool socks, because I'm hording my one pair.... I won't wear them because then I'll have to handwash them before I can wear them again, and what if it is cold before I get to.... So, I am knitting myself a second pair. I also wanted to see if I could get a nice yellow.... So, I did the food colouring instead of the egg colouring. I got a very nice yellow.... and since I had some green food colour mixed up for something else, I poured some of that at one end of the dye bath. I'm getting some neat striping yellow and green cheerful spring colours!! I'm happy....

And I'm past the heel of the second sock for the six sock knitalong.

Oh, with all the running around I was doing last week, that is mostly what I had been focussed on - portable projects. So, I've finished off some dishcloths and progressed on socks. I still have a languishing shawl, a need to start shawl, another crochet afghan, some doilies, a pile of UFO's, and I should also make some DH style socks soon... Been a while since I made anything for him :)

And, I guess I need to do some blog button updating, but I see that it is almost time for the computer to go through it's paces, and since I still have boxes of stuff all over the living room that need to be unpacked and put back on shelves so I can get the floor finished, I may or may not get to the buttons today or tomorrow.... I'll try, though.... :)