Crafts are my passion, Cats are my obsession

My crafting adventures, my cats, my dogs, my opinons - I never did keep a diary as a child, but I'm doing it now!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

An excuse

to share pictures....

I got the Kilimanjaro Kat shawl off the needles last night!!!!

This isn't the bestest picture, but you *can* tell it is off the needles, lol. :) I will admit, I still need to block it, and hope to do that tonight.



So, I took a picture of the border, and it didn't show up well, so I did a re-take on a darker background. I do like the kitties... they look to me like they are mountain climbing...



Ok, still on the light background, but this is a close up of one kitty....


And here is a picture of how I hemmed the shawl - from the back side. This is the sort of ridge thing I was trying to explain....
So - now on to the KALs for playing ketchup :)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

How it is going....

I just took some pictures yesterday.... I've been making tons of progress on the Kilimanjaro Kat shawl. I took a pic when I had two more rounds to go on the border.... Then I took some more pictures of the progress... Oh, and in the above photo, you can see where I added a lifeline to make sure I knew where "row 49" was - to join row 60 to.










Someone asked me, about the name of the shawl. Apparently, "Kilimanjaro" is a mountain.... they said that the kitties upside down looked like a mountain range... Me? I see kitties no matter what the orientation, so I'm at a loss, other than that maybe the kitties are mountain climing, since their feet are on an angle??? Of course, I suppose I could always go over to knitlist, (I *am* a member there) and try to hail the designer, who is also a member of the list....

Notice in the pictures, how the colour of the shawl looks kind of taupe or "off brown" in the first two, but in the one on the right, the close up of the kitty pinned out, it is more grey? Well, the grey is the closer to accurate colour of the yarn. The one called "oatmeal" - - - Or, as DH said, "I wouldn't eat any oatmeal that was *that* colour"....

So, anyway - last night, I took out the lifeline. Turned out, that I was "jumping the gun" somewhat - I thought I'd need it to find row/round 49, but round 48 was done in purl, so it sticks out quite well. I also knitted the final two rounds.... and began my adaptation of the finishing touches... I knit together one stitch from the needle with the stitch back from row 49 that matched it in columns, then I knit the next stitch together with the next one from 49, then I knit those two new stitches together through the back loops. Then, I knit the third together with its mate from 49, then knit two together through the back of the stitch... Instead of passing one over like a bind off... It is making a soft but very stretchy ridge on the back of the shawl. Not a lumpy uncomfortable ridge - just a slightly visible one. Nothing detrimental, and it will definitely not be too tight for blocking :) It is a somewhat slow process - then again, we're talking about some well over 700 stitches worth... I got about forty of them done last night, along with the two final knitted rounds....

Otherwise, I've been letting the Secret of Chrysopolis and the Secret of the Stole languish a bit... I have puttered on Chrysopolis - I'm a bit more than halfway done clue two on it.

And I started a new project (I know, insanity doesn't run in my family - I have it all) - a scarf for a knitalong group using patterns from the book Arctic Lace.

(hm...blogger having problems all of a sudden.... I'll go read some email, and try the picture again in a bit....)










Actually, this scarf is sort of acting as a swatch for the almost ready to start Mystic Waters KAL. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysticwatersKAL I want to use this yarn, which is listed as dk weight, for that shawl. Different colour, though... Anyway - I'm using a larger needle for the scarf than I would if I were following the pattern exactly - needle size, qiviut lace weight yarn, etc. Not that it matters, in my opinion, since it is a scarf, and "one size fits all". Same with the shawl - it doesn't have to be a tailored fit... But, I think I'll use a smaller needle for the shawl.
I've also signed up for another KAL for January. Like I said, I have all the sanity... lol....
I think, come January, I'm going to do a New Year's Resolution to not do anything new but to knit from my stash of patterns and yarn... since I already signed up for http://groups.yahoo.com/group/springshawlsurprice , it doesn't count ;)
After I knit some more Kilimanjaro Kitties off the needles, I'll take another progress pic and share it :) Until then.....

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Slow Going and Ravelry

I've been knitting. But you wouldn't know it, if you looked at the projects. I haven't taken additional pictures yet - but I've been knitting. I've worked on the scarf from the Week in the Life of a Knitter's Cat; I'm on the neck ribbing part of the first half (finally - but that is my "mindless takealong project") and it really doesn't show growth much... got about one and a half of five inches into that.

I've worked on Secret of Chrysopolis KAL shawl. I'm slowly getting farther behind - I'm nearly half of the way through clue two - Ok, progress on that shows, but I want to wait until I'm finished the clue before I take a pic. And clue four is due tomorrow.

I've worked on the Secret of the Stole. I got a whole one row of clue two done. Started out great on that one - did the first clue in two days, right after getting it. Now, clue three is due tomorrow, and I'm barely started clue two. *sigh*. Well, I *do* have two lovely kitty helpers, and it *is* fine laceweight yarn, and there *are* beads....

I have mostly been focussing my attention on the Kilimanjaro Kat. This is semi-mindless. There are repeats that aren't too hard to almost memorize, with simple glances back at the charts. The only thing wrong with it - it takes me an hour - yes, a full hour - to work a charted, pattern round. Then, about half an hour to knit the plain round. It is big. I do not want to think about how many stitches.... There are a total of 60 rounds in the border. The first few are "plain" - well, they increase at the corners, so it will lay flat. Then, you get into the kitty charts. Then, you knit a few rows "plain". Then, you do a "picot" round, then several rounds of decrease. Fold over, and the directions say to whip stitch the final round to an earlier round in the back. Sew. Like, that is going to happen....

I'm halfway around the last of the chart rounds. Round 45 is the last chart round. Then, I get to do some plain knitting.... there are a total of 60 rounds. Round 60 is to be attached to round 49. What I plan to do, is after knitting 49, I'm going to put in a lifeline. When I get to round 60, I'm going to slip stitch or K2tog or something, and then bind off loosely, to joing them. If I don't, if I follow the directions to the letter, the shawl will turn into a permanent UFO. And I don't want that to happen....

Not that I can't sew - I love to hand sew things, like quilts and stuff. More like, that I am a bit distrustfull of the idea, that one can take live stitches, and simply whipstitch them in place, and that it will not pull, stretch, or otherwise distort the last row. Or, that the yarn used to sew with won't break, wear, tear, or otherwise come undone, and the whole thing unravel. So, I'mg oing to go with my comfort zone, and do it my way.

Finally, I cast on for the North Star Scarf, which is from a fantastic book called Arctic Lace by Donna Druchunas. There is a KAL for this - yahoo groups, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArcticLaceKnitalong and Donna herself is on the list...
I'm using a yarn that I'm going to use for Mystic Waters KAL http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysticwatersKAL So the scarf is sort of a swatch for the shawl. :)

Also, now that I've finally figured out and fixed my sidebar (the "help" section of blogger is quite good!! I found my answer there, and it was explained in simple enough English for me to follow!!! I am impressed.) I guess I'd better make the time to update my links and stuff. :)

So....

I have six projects on the needles in the "active wips" pile, (well, cast on for Mystic Waters won't be until first clue is released next week - but I've been doing so many stoles, and MW is a triangular shawl, which I also like) and one of those is actually near completion!! :)

Now - Ravelry - I don't think I mentioned I got in....

Everyone on Mystery Stole 3, now called Swan Lake, were talking about this Ravelry thing. They had a companion group going on it. Finally, I broke down, and figured I'd check it out. Mid-July. I applied for membership.... Then, in August, (early August) someone tried to explain it to me - and I thought, what is the difference between it, and a combination of blog and photo album? And why have that as well as Yahoo group? It seemed redundant, and I wondered how to un-apply....

Finally, I got my invitation at the beginning of October - So I joined. Because it took so long, I couldn't be Catlady, someone beat me to it. (did I think of Catsrme in time? NOooooo....) So, I'm Catlady2 on Ravelry. And I looked around.

And it isn't exactly like a Yahoo group. And it isn't just a combination of blog and photo album. In fact, it is entirely different. Better.... it is more of a database/journal combination. Searchable.

Ok, you can use it as a journal for your own projects. Something that just a photo album doesn't quite do. Simpler than a blog - which you can babble on endlessly about nothing if you want - true "journalling". More public, so you don't always want to reveal a lot of personal stuff, that you would write in a private diary or journal, but still... an outlet for your random thoughts.

You can keep track of your projects, your tools, your stash, your patterns, your plans. Like a database. And it is one of the best set ups I've seen...and I've been looking for a suitable inventory for a while....

But the coolest part - you can search the database for ideas, for inspiration, for others who have done, are doing, or want to do the same project as you. So - it connects people faster than a Yahoo group. Not that there is anything wrong with the YG for connecting - but I know on some groups, messages can get lost in the list - you post something like, "is anyone doing X" or "is anyone having trouble with Y" and sometimes, they are talking about A, B, and C, and they don't see your post. Or, they think someone else has answered. Or they aren't working on X or Y at the time, so they just ignore it. With Ravelry, you can search out X or Y, see who else has done it, or is doing it, and you can ask them for help.

There are other cool things, too...

I'm glad I waited, checked it out for myself, and gave it a chance. It's kind of neat....

:)

Friday, October 12, 2007

Catching up

Have the tail end of a nasty flu.... started last week, with an ear-ache. Moved to sore throat on Thursday, then the sinuses and the coughing started on Friday.... Made for a not so pleasant Thanksgiving weekend. Not to mention, making me miserable all this week....


So - I missed the second birthday of my blog. Yup - Oct. 4, 2005 is when I started this thing. Will need to try to make some appropriate posts later this month or something....

Jumping around here - one of the side benefits of being sick over Thanksgiving.... We were out to close up the cabin for the weekend, and to celebrate by having turkey dinner with our good friends in the country. Due to the number of family and friends who were there, we ate in a different room than usual (they have a dining room, which overlooks the falls - or we eat on the deck, which also overlooks the falls... they have a gorgeous house). Anyway - during one of my trips when I needed to excuse myself from the table to blow my nose, I managed to see the eagle again - only, it was being chased out of its favourite tree to perch in by a perigrine falcon!! What a HUGE bird that is - as big as the eagle!!! It was neat to watch the two in flight together. Swooping and diving - landing in trees - the falcon screeching at the eagle!! Finally, the eagle flew off upriver - something I'd seen it do often (and always heading out of camera range, lol) before. We could still hear the falcon calling (no doubt in triumph) for a good ten minutes afterwards....

Despite not feeling well (or maybe because of it) I got in a lot of knitting. Did the first clue of Secret of the Stole in two days....



Made progress on the Kilimanjaro Kat shawl... boy, those rounds of border are LLLLlllooooonnnnnggggggg.....

















At least the kitties are shaping up nicely :)


I finally, also, got the first clue done for the Secret of Chrysopolis stole, too... Clue three is out today. I started knitting on clue two last night. But - I'm into the body of the stole, where the repeats of pattern are a little more - oh, consistant? easy? I'm not sure how to say it... I mean, I love the borders - really - but found them a bit complex on the chart. So, it was slow going for following where I was up to. For me, anyway - but now, we're into some fascinating stuff - beautiful patterning - but less need to use stitch markers to help keep track of where the heck I was. Since some of the stitch markers were always getting in the way of the decreases, I'm glad I don't need them now. :)

The shawl is laid out on the chair I sit in, on top of a folded afghan so the lace shows a bit better. I'm using a rather large needle - 4.5 mm - but I'm liking the larger sized stole that is resulting. Light airy lacey thin stoles/shawls do have their place, but when one lives in a colder climate, larger thicker warmer lacey stoles also have a place!!

Well... Guess that is all for now... the critters haven't done much lately to warrent a new picture, so I dont' have any to share of them. Maybe they'll do something photogenic this weekend...

Thursday, October 04, 2007

The DH story....


I need to tell the whole story. It goes way back to when we were first married... It might be a little gross at times, but trust me, you need to hear the whole thing....

Now, this is something that happens to everyone, I'm sure, though for some reason, my very D DH seems to add something of a flair for the dramatic when it happens to him. He can't do it in a reasonably normal fashion. Don't get me wrong - it has happened, especially in recent years, in a more - oh, "normal" way...

The first time - well, the first time that I noticed the extreme - happened when we were going to a movie. We went to a pizza restaurant for supper before going into the theatre nearby. All through the meal, DH was fidgeting and fussing. He was giving other customers an "evil eye", kind of glaring at times at our waiter.... As we left the restaurant, he mumbled to me, asking if I noticed the bad smell in the place.... I told him I hadn't really noticed anything...then he said something along the lines of "uh-oh"....

Turned out, that he had stepped in some doggy doo on the way in to the restaurant (we even saw the pile on the grassy boulevard that we'd crossed after parking) and *he* was the offensive person, not the other patrons or the staff....

So - here was a guy, almost making a scene, and ending up being the cause himself....
The second time, was a little more funny. At least, to me....

We had been out for an evening - this was some years later - again to a movie. This time, though, it was a "screening" of a video - back in the days when VHS was new, and movie rental stores were new, my BIL's wife (who I often think of as an SIL) worked for a distributor, and there was this wine and cheese affair put on for the various store owners/managers/buyers... Anyway - we were also invited to attend. Now, this was not put on at a theater; rather at a convention center in our city's downtown business district. On a weeknight. Of course, it ran late, and being family, we hung around to help with clean-up, etc. So - it was quite quite late by the time we made our way back to our car. Streets were essentially deserted of traffic - there were few parked cars.... The street we had to walk down to get to the car was four lanes wide - one lane, the curb lane, lined with parking meters, and three empty lanes. Our downtown area is also filled with one-way streets. On this particular street, there is a sidewalk on only one side - the other side has a concrete wall, that "protects" the entrance to the underground parking and access for the convention center. There is no sidewalk at all. Because of the lack of traffic (as mentioned, this was a business district, late at night) and the location of our parked car, we were walking in the street somewhat close to the wall rather than on the sidewalk. Also as mentioned, it had been a wine and cheese affair....

DH was not walking in the straightest of lines, and his DB was kind of horsing around pretending to vault over the parking meters - they were laughing at each other, not really paying much attention to anything.

I told my DH, at one point, to watch out for the dog........................... And he promptly stepped in it.

Now - not only was he able to step in it, on this wide expanse of street, but I was left to wonder how it got there in the first place - in this deserted business area....
Of course, between these two rather dramatic "steps" were other ones - seems like if there is going to be some dog stuff somewhere, my DH is going to have to walk in that spot....

The third incident - we have pet dogs of our own, now. Spud, whose picture has been posted here several times, was a puppy about 13 years ago. She joined our family around the end of June or beginning of July or so. Perfect - summer time, we were going camping frequently, so she could get to know us well.... (She was born a couple houses away from where we lived - a neighbour's house - so she had some difficulty transitioning as a pup - always wanted to go "home" at the end of a day....) One of the things that occured, was that part of her housetraining involved going for a puddle with Daddy in the middle of the night.... He would take her out with him when he had to "go to the bushes" (Middle of the night, when it is dark, sometimes it wasn't always easy to go on a narrow path to the outhouse if you didn't need to - men don't always "need to")
So - because of the associations formed while camping, when we were at home in the city, she did her thing just outside the bathroom door. (until, two or three months later, she was fully housetrained).

The house we lived in then was arranged such that our bedroom was at the front of the house, our DS's bedroom was next to it, in the middle, then the next room was the bathroom, and then at the back of the house was the kitchen. The two bedrooms were off the livingroom, which seemed more like a hallway to me. I digress a little, but you need to know that I was in bed, farthest from the bathroom, and DS was right next door....

So, I got up one morning, and I saw - a pile of doggy doo, but with a smear right through the middle. A smear about two feet long, heading toward the kitchen. I knew instantly what had happened, and while I felt some sympathy (having one foot go out from under you can hurt) I couldn't help but start to laugh... DS was also getting up about that time, and he heard me laughing, and said, "how do you think *I* felt - I heard it happen!" DS heard the slip-stumble-thump, the swearing, and the bathtub running while DH washed his foot.... DS and I laughed about it for a few years before DH could finally see the humour in it....

Now - Well, since we have two dogs now and they do their thing in the yard, and since DH insists on being the one to mow the lawn, there are a lot more incidents - but being semi-expected, they are mostly much less dramatic.
Out at our cabin now, though - well, for some reason (likely inherent genetics) Bear would much rather do his thing in the bushes. He pushes his way into the undergrowth, and goes somewhere near some trees... Not easy to clean up after him, but not likely to be stepped in, either. Spud - she seems to like to wander away a bit, or when I take them for walks, she goes where there isn't likely to be much human foot traffic, even though it is in an open area. Neither dog really goes very close to the cabin. Though, it sometimes happens, especially after it has been raining for a while, and Spud hates to be wet, so she holds it for a long time, and of course, doesn't get far before she *has to* go....

Anyway - just after the September long weekend (I've been dying to post this story since we came back from our holiday!) we were sitting out back, enjoying a camp fire. We noted that the flies were being annoying - at least they weren't mosquitoes - landing and walking and tickling bare arms and legs. For some reason, they were especially annoying on one of DH's leg, more so than the other one. Since he was beside the picnic table, which we'd recently used for food prep and consumption, he moved....

The flies followed....
DH was in bare feet.....

He was *MAD*.....
So, with much swearing, and me trying not to giggle too loudly, he sent me inside for some soap, and he went out front to where the tap is that supplies washing water. He got out there, washed his foot, and his hands...I went back to knitting and giggling. I thought I heard something..... He was calling me, but very quietly... he told me to bring the camera.....










The green trailer isn't used by anyone anymore - and that brown structure is a garbage can stand, protected by chain link fencing wire....









I wasn't going to walk any closer to try to take a better picture.... I just did the best I could with the zoom feature, and cropping and zooming pictures after downloading....








When the bear realized he couldn't get through the wire, he wandered away, walking between the trailer and the bush line, turning left around the corner toward the bush and the riverbank.... we lost track of him then. And, of course, I had momentarily forgotten that I had finally figured out how to do movies with our digital camera.
So I missed some great shots/opportunities :(
But - we kept the camera handy. Remember a couple posts back, when I shared pics of frogs, and I described the wide trail that goes behind our current cabin? We changed areas - we used to have a trailer across the road from where that green one is now parked.... we've moved to a different trailer and cabin since then - when Spud was a pup, it was down at that old place - the outhouse there was behind our trailer (not the green one, you can't see our old one in these pics) down a narrow path.... Anyway, the place we have now, with the wide trail - I mentioned it in the other post. SO - when we heard some noises later on, some twigs breaking and stuff - I grabbed the camera, set it on "movie", and went and stood by the outhouse.

If you have speakers (first scroll down to the pets, and mute that silly chick) - you will hear some whistling - I could have KILLED DH at that moment - Like, I'm standing there, between him and the bear, and he's WHISTLING to it....

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Update of WIPs...

Even though I planned to do something completely different...

I have a story to tell. It is a long story, though. There are four parts to the story - and it won't work if I don't tell all four.

And today is Wednesday, and it is laundry day, and I already had company this morning, so I'm way behind.

So, instead of telling the story, I'll share some WIP photos, instead.
1. Week in the Life of a Knitter's Cat... There are 8 scarves, one for each day of the week, and one sampler using all seven of the other patterns. I started with the Monday scarf. It is a simple, mindless pattern - yet elegant looking. But, I only work on it when I need a mindless project - which means I haven't gotten very far....
Using On Line sock yarn in the Sierra colourway:
Probably will be taking this one to our local knit night get-together tonight.

2. Working on the Kilamanjaro Kat shawl - because it is done in the round, and it is large, I can't get a great picture. It's done in the style of Shetland Lace - that is, knit the center first, then knit a border around. The center is done in garter stitch, corner to corner, like a dishcloth, with cat's paws throughout. Then the border is stocking stitch, with cats around it... I'm about a quarter of the way into the border (which gets bigger as you knit...).

So - two pictures - the best I could do.... as far as taking the pics, anyway.... Until it is finished and off the needle....








3. Secret of Chrysopolis knit along - the group will be closing this Friday - the first clue is out, and the second clue will be posted shortly after the group closes. It is a German group, but there are lots of English speaking people there, posting, and the pattern clues are being posted in English as well as German. And already I'm loving this pattern - need to concentrate on it, but gorgeous and well worth it :)

This is not all of clue one - I'm knitting it fairly slowly - hard to concentrate sometimes... But it is really pretty....









4. (Interesting - my WIP's are a four part story, too!!) About to start the end of the week: The Secret of the Stole... this group is also closing at the end of the week. I have all my stuff ready to start, though:









The beads are SOOOOooooo pretty :)


I'm using laceweight yarn for this stole - Merino from Skacel - a gift from my sister. The stoles/shawls that are started are in my favourite shawl yarn, Briggs and Little Durasport. The Kat shawl is in "Oatmeal" - mind you, if someone put oatmeal in front of me that was grey, like this yarn, I don't think I'd ever eat it.... And the Chrysopolis is in "Bluejean" - which is really a blue with flecks of reddish in it. Giving it an almost purply overtone to a navy blue colour.... Very pretty.
So... That is where I'm up to. Project wise. Yes, I have socks on several sets of needles. Yes, they are in the "WIP pile" - aka in the living room. They haven't been relegated to the craft room - sure death for any WIP.... But they probably qualify for UFO status anyway. I mean, I am sort of tired of knitting socks - but I really want to finish them.... especially a pair I intended to give as a gift for Christmas... I may get back to them in time....Maybe. If not, her birthday is in June.
Here's another picture - see it? In the tree?
Ok, then, I'll make it easy - here's the cropped and zoomed in version....

A bald eagle :)

While I was trying to get a close picture of this one, a second one flew right in front of it... I got a few shots (not great ones, sadly) of the eagle that was flying - then this one flew off after the other one.... Here's one of the pics of the flying eagle.
Not great, but if you look really close, you *can* tell it is a bald eagle....
Ok - next post, I promise to tell the story. It is a story about my DH and one of his bad habits...

  Plan your trip
  Local Radar
  Detailed Forecast


Click for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Forecast Click for Winnipeg, Manitoba Forecast
adopt your own virtual pet!
adopt your own virtual pet!
adopt your own virtual pet!