Suprise!

Last time I mentioned having a specific project to complete for the Kitty Knits blog tour.

Well, hold on to your hats kids, because can you believe it?: I actually finished knitting something a few days before the deadline! (While I am posting this today, due to my work schedule, I wrote it on the 4^th) As I type the kitty bed is drying and the mouse is felting.

The first project I chose was the felted cat bed. I used Patons Wool and bought the required yardage (2 balls of each). However, I would have easily had enough yarn if I had only purchased 1 ball of each. If the furies like the bed, I have plenty yarn left over to make another or maybe I will make something for me… like a felted purse… hmmm. Okay, back to the felted cat bed.

I found this a quick & easy knit. From cast-on to cast-off, it took less then 8 hours of knitting time. The pattern was so easy to follow, perfect for knitting at a Stitch and Bitch or during a lunch break at work. The i-cord bind off along the bottom edge was the hardest part, but the glossary explained the process well and once I got the hang of it, it was fun. The pattern calls for a mouse to be needle felted on after felting, but I chose not to do this. I also changed the colors (had to match the couch!). The Patons Wool worked really well for this project; it felted nicely and quickly (about 8-10 minutes).

Here it is before felting:

   

As you can tell, Sumnus already liked it. She was a little hostile when I dared to remove her from the bed.

Here is Devi inspecting it after felting:

She tried to get into it, but it was still wet and her little paws don’t like to be wet.

Final Verdict: Um… remains to be seen. The bed is still wet, so it’s in hiding until it dries; but they really liked it before felting! Update: the kitties freakin’ love this bed. It has been occupied since I put it out for them.

The second project I chose was the felted catnip mouse.

Talk about a quick and easy knit! Only plain garter stitch is easier then this. It is taking longer to felt the damn thing then it did to knit it! Seriously, it is. It took me about an hour to knit, and about 15 minutes to seam and stuff. Currently it has been felting for 1 ½ hours!  I just checked on it and it is almost done.

Why so long to felt? I think one reason is it’s a small item and when I took the bed out I forgot to add a pair of jeans to help with agitation. The other problem I believe is the wool I used. I used some free samples of “O-Wool” (an organic wool) I had in my scraps basket. I knew it would take a little longer to felt, because it took forever to spit splice. But, come on! Over an hour and a freaking half to felt a mouse?! Really?! I wonder if all organic yarn takes longer or if it is just this one…

At any rate, here is Neko checking it out pre-felt:

  

And here it is post felting:

  

Not that it really felted that well, but I don’t think Devi minds at all.

 

Sorry for the blurry-ness, but she was going nuts with it!

    

Final verdict: passed rigorous kitty inspection with flying colors!

These patterns (and more) can be found in Kitty Knits by Donna Druchunas

I chose to knit these 2 things because I was short on time, not because of lack of projects. I would have made the color work chullo and/or ballet cardigan pictured on the front but I procrastinated too long. I procrastinate….a lot…but you know that already.

I passed this book around both my stitch and bitch groups and it was met with approval. (Even the one who doesn’t like cats liked the patterns) The most popular patterns were the chullo, cardigan, cat lace scarf, and felted carpet bag. One of my friends commented on how nicely done all the charts are and all agreed the patterns seem to be well-written and easy to follow.

Being fairly new at blogging and never having participated in a blog tour, I am pleasantly surprised how smooth this went, and how much fun it was.

 Thanks Donna for writing such a fun book for kitties and their owners, and for putting this all together! PS I noticed you live just north of me. If you are ever in Westminster/Thornton area on a Thursday night check out the North Denver SNB ! We would love to have you. 

Oh… one more thing I would like to add: none of these pictures were posed. I have some seriously nosey and camera hogging cats! If you don’t believe me, come over, put down something new and pick up a camera. I guarantee you at least Neko and Sumnus will appear, and sometimes Devi too. The only one you will never see is Persie- she’s a little shy.

PS: Chemistry still sucks! In case you were wondering.

 

You knew it wouldn’t last…

Well, I tried to post weekly, I really did. I swear. Damn life got in the way. Maybe I should shot for monthly posts …

Sit back, get comfy, grab a cup of tea or a nice cold beer, ‘cause this is may take awhile:

We spent the better part of the last couple weeks at the hospital with my dear MIL. She had been having shortness of breath (SOB is the medical abbreviation- not very original, but kind of funny). They have done test after test after test. It’s been very frustrating for all of us. Anyway, she started having chest pain (CP) , so they decided to do a heart cath. (basically they stick a long wire from the artery in the groin up to the heart, inject dye, and take pictures to see how the blood is or is not flowing).  Well, my MIL, who has NO RISK FACTORS AT ALL for heart disease, has pretty significant heart disease. At first they were concerned she would need bypass, but thankfully she does not.  She is now the proud owner of three stints in the main vessel that supplies blood to the heart and will be taking blood thinners and cholesterol medicine until the day she dies, which hopefully won’t be for many more years. That’s the good news.

The bad news: none of that resolved her SOB or CP. What the fuck?? As it turns out, after a few more days at the hospital and much more testing, her heart is fine. The new theory is she has really, really bad gastric reflux. They upped her meds and she is currently symptom free and vacationing in Italywith my FIL. Whew!  The really good news: although none of her symptoms were related to her heart disease, at least they found it. It would have been very bad if those blockages had gone un-diagnosed! Needless to say, we are all relieved and grateful. My MIL is the most awesome woman I know. It’s nice to have her healthy again.

There’s my excuse for not posting. It’s a pretty good one, don’t ya think?!

Moving on…

My last post was unintentionally divided into sections (class, dancing, knitting) I liked how that worked; so I am going to try to keep the same format going. As an added bonus: if you don’t give a rat’s ass about, say my Chem. class, you can scroll right on past. Because I am a little (okay a lot) anal I am going to proceed in alphabetical order: class (Chem.), dance, and knitting. I am also a little evil because this makes you at least glance at the ongoing drama of Chem. class, ‘cause I really want you to suffer along with me!

Chem.: What can I say? I got my first test back and I earned 84%. I’m a little bummed I didn’t get an A. Not just because I am an over-achiever, but because when I was done with the test I really thought I did well and because a couple things I missed I knew, I just had a little brain fart. Not the end of the world I know, but it still sucks. We do have three more tests and a final left; so I have plenty of chances to make it up. Yippee.

Dance:(in a sing-song 5 year old voice) I got new dance shoes, I got new dance shoes, and you-ou  don’t ! Nanny, nanny, nanny! Okay, you might have new dance shoes, but whatever; let’s look at mine shall we:

 hey, it’s hard taking pictures of your own foot!

I especially like this one. It shows my other foot with socks and jeans well: nice touch, no?

Aren’t they fabulous?? I finally bought the Werner Kerns I’ve been  lusting after since hubby got his pair. No, hubby did not get the same pair! He wouldn’t look good in strappy heals; he has a very manly pair, thank you very much. I had been procrastinating because they are a little on the pricey side (good thing I did, because I got them on sale), but after wearing them, I would pay full price in a heart beat. Trust me, they are worth every penny. Good news/bad news again:

Good news: I got them for 30% off because the store is closing (also bad news). They are the most comfortable shoes ever! I don’t even want to wear my other pairs. I love these shoes! They are so well made and so sexy. Hands down: The. Best. Shoe. EVER.

Bad News: They are the best shoes ever. I want more. Even if I could get more at 30% off, which I can’t because I took the last pair in my size, they are still not exactly cheap. Maybe I’ll get another pair for my birthday or ground hog day or something. For now, I’ll cherish these and pick up change off the ground in an effort to get another pair.

We were able to make it to the Denver Turnverein the last 3 weeks. We really like it there. The floor is nice, they play a good mix of music, it’s a great atmosphere and they have a bar! Nice! Not that we are getting loaded or anything (you try to Tango with a buzz, not good, someone could get hurt!), but a glass of wine or a beer is refreshing and tasty. It seems like the same core group of people every week, and we have already talked to a few of the couples, so we feel more comfortable each week. We are happy to have found a “home” to practice.

Knitting:

Still working on the never-ending ribbing on the sweater. I managed to get a fair amount done (like 4 inches) while Mom was having her heart cath. That’s the nice thing about tedious knitting; it keeps you busy enough to not go totally crazy, but it’s not too challenging and you can put it down anytime. Only a few more inches and then on to the sleeves, with any luck I should be done with this by NEXT winter!

 

Other projects: I have another section of Aliens in Spring done. I am almost halfway done having 2 ½ out of 6 Alien heads complete. I couldn’t be happier with the colors I chose; I love it so far.

When I was at the hospital with Mom, I ran out of the yarn I brought for my sweater. Instead of driving home to get more yarn, I started the Diamonds sock from More Sensational Knitted Socks. I am doing it in black and hot pink. So far I have the ribbing section of one sock done. I tried to take a picture, but it wasn’t working for me today. It’s not that exciting anyway: 1 ½ inches of 2 by 2 ribbing in black yarn…wow.

I have all but the thumb done on the first of hubby’s gloves. If I can just get that damn thumb done, I will be able to get going on the other one. The fingers/thumb are such a pain, I keep putting it off. I really need to get those damn things done.

However, it won’t be this week. I have a place on the upcoming blog tour for  Donna Druchunas’ new book Kitty Knits on March 7th.

I am planning on making a couple of little things from the book and of course I procrastinated and now I am pushing the deadline a little. The only knitting between now and then is from the Kitty Knits book. I do have one thing almost done and should be able to get the other done the next couple of nights at stitch and bitch. Sorry, I can’t tell you what. It’s a surprise.

Finally: hubby was kind enough to take me to the Alpaca Extravaganza in Longmont last weekend. Wow. The alpacas are so cute and soft. I wanted to take them all home.

 

 

 

The breeder was kind enough to let me and my friend Nissa feed the little guys. They weren’t so sure about us until we had grain in our hands. Then they were all about us!

 

 This guy is a Paco-Vicuna. I love his big brown eyes. The breeder says they are much softer then Alpacas, but he was a little shy and not in the touchy feely mood…too bad I didn’t save some of that grain! In addition to being softer, their fleece is also something like 10x more expensive then regular alpaca.

 This guy is a Suri. I love this picture. He looks like a little old man.

 

  Ah, the much lusted after “panda” alpaca. I totally wanted to steal this one. The markings are amazing. Unfortunately he was a little camera shy, and this is the best picture I have of him. I’d like to give a shout out to hubby for taking all the pictures: thanks babe!

 

In addition to all the alpacas, there was roving and a fair amount of alpaca products (socks, sweaters, teddy bears). There wasn’t as much yarn selection as I was hoping for, but they did have some. I bought a couple of skeins from a local farm: Kitchell Kriations. They had a few things the owner had knit and crocheted and it seems to work up nice and soft with  that nice fuzzy aura alpaca has . It was pretty reasonably priced at $6 per ounce, so I bought 4 ounces. I also really like the heathery gray color (most of the vendors only had shades of brown) I’ll keep you posted when I make something out of it.

Are you tired of reading yet? I’m know I am tired of typing! Good thing I had Sumnus to help.

 

Happy Leap Day! I hope you enjoy your extra day.

 

I kept my promise…kind of

I promised I would try to post once a week and tada! In truth it’s been a little over a week, but close enough. So, what’s been going on this week you ask?

First a few knitting updates:

I finished my second cupcake hat for a co-workers baby. Poor thing, she is having a little girl, not that having a girl is a bad thing. It’s already having 3 boys and having a 4^th and the 4^th being a girl that makes me feel bad for her. So, I wanted to make a super-cute girly kind of thing for her and I think the cupcake hat works perfectly.

The original pattern called for 80 stitches to fit 6 months to 2 years. As my friend is tiny, I decreased the number of stitches cast on to 68 to make the hat more suitable for a small newborn. I used Bernat Cashmere Blends for the hat. Can’t say it was my favorite yarn to work with, but the FO is nice and soft with just a little sheen. I wish I could have found the colors I wanted in something soft and machine washable. I feel like a little bit of a bitch giving a woman with 3 boys and a newborn a hat that needs to be hand washed, but at least it looks super cute! I hope it looks as cute on the little one.

Also, I got a little bug up my butt the other day and decided I needed to make Urchin with the Limari I purchased last week. It was a very easy knit and only took 2 hours, but I am not sure if I am in love with it. I love the color, but the hat feels a little big, and like the yarn is a little bulky. I might frog it, but for now here it is:

 

Note to self: need to get one of those glass mannequin heads for hat modeling and shaping!

 

Another of my current projects is the Alien Illusion Scarf from Stitch N Bitch. I am going through a stage in which I want to try every technique and I think illusion knitting is fascinating plus this a super cool idea for a scarf. While I loved the idea for the scarf, I was not crazy about the green/black color combo used in the book. The problem being I really believe the alien should be green. That left me trying to find a  contrast color. Finally, I decided on pink and green, so when Lenore  and I went to Brown Sheep I picked up the yarn I wanted and cast on for what I have decided to call Aliens in Springtime:

 

 

I have one section complete and am about halfway through the second. I love the way it looks so far!

Other Updates:

Dance:

Last week Hubby and I were planning on going to the Denver Turnverein to check out their Monday dance. According to another couple we dance with the Turnverein has a nice dance floor and the admission price is very reasonable. We are planning on competing in the Denver Star Ball in June and we need to find another place to practice. We were practicing at the rec center, but they won’t let us wear our shoes. They said our heals were pulling up with wood… ahem… bullshit I say! How on earth is my rubber heal getting in between the boards covered in varnish and pulling up the boards? And more importantly why doesn’t this happen at dance halls? Okay, moving on, I said we were going, but the weather kept us in. Damn snow! Hopefully, we can make it tomorrow, like I said we really need to practice. The plan is to compete in Rumba and the smooth dances: Foxtrot, Waltz and Tango. While we have the room to practice Rumba at home, the smooth dances require a much larger space then out 10 by 10 room. So let’s hope the Turnverein works out.

School:

Chemistry still sucks. While it is significantly easier only having one class, that one class is still Chem. The bright side is I feel like I actually know what the hell the instructor is talking about this time, but I’ll let you know how the first test goes in a couple of weeks. The other bright side? This is the second of three Chem. classes I need, so only one more after this one! Of course, the next class is organic, but let’s not discuss that right now.

Finally, I’d like to share with you the sad, pathetic creature that is our cat Devi right now:

 

 

Poor baby, she had a little scratch that she managed to lick absolutely raw. We had to put the collar on her to keep her from licking herself anymore, You can’t see it in the picture, but she has a huge bald spot: silly cat. Hubby has taken to calling her “Satellite”. Nice.

 

Yet another fun-filled semester

Yep, you guessed it, the spring semester started today. Yippee. The bright side is this semester should be much easier then last one because I am only taking one class. This is not by choice mind you, the other classes I need to take are not offered at times I am willing to take them at. No way I am working 12 hours then going to a 2 1/2 hour Calc class- not even I am that nuts! The other class options were at the exact same time as my Chem class. Yep, that’s right , more Chem. Did I say yippee? At least I have the same instructor as last semester so I am well acquainted with her teaching style. I even have the same seat as last semester. Of course, I had to give the kid that took my seat some serious puppy-dog eyes to get it back, as did the girl that wanted her seat back which I was now occupying, but I am not adverse to begging to have my seat back. ( I’m not at all resistant to change, nope, not me)

Consequently, I may not be posting as much as I have been recently, but I will try to post at least once a week…. I promise… well… I promise I will try.

Oh! I am so looking forward to Spring Break. Besides the obvious reasons, Hubby and I are planning a road trip to Phoenix to see our nephew (when I say Hubby and I, what I really mean is Hubby; I’m just along for the ride). Not that Phoenix is that exciting, but my nephew is and strangely enough Hubby and I both enjoy road trips. The really cool part is he’s planning some tourist-ie things for us: going to the Sand Dunes, the Grand Canyon and a few other monument/park things that I have never seen. It should be fun. The super cool thing is: Hubby is looking for LYS along the way, he’s even looking to see if he can find any mills! How cool is that? You gotta love a man that supports your addictions!

Speaking of yarn, as a parting gift today, I would like to share with you what happens when you leave cats home alone with mohair yarn somewhat accessible:

Lil Bastards! I love that Neko appears to be sticking his tongue out at me! I can hear them now:

“Silly Human. Did you think a bag was enough to keep us from your yarn? Hmpf! Shows what you know. Now, feed us some Kittie treats or the Alpaca yarn is next!”

 

Happy Halloween

The ferocious four wish you a devil-ish Halloween. 

Cause there’s nothing cats like better then getting into costume!

Neko

Devi

Persie

Sumnus

 

Thursday’s mail

That’s right…… Thursday. So I’m a little behind, geesh.

So on Thursday I received 2 packages! Yippee! I love packages, I mean, who doesn’t right? My first package was from Vickie Howell. Well, not Vickie personally, although I have meet her and she rocks. I digress, this package was from her assistant peoples. You see my friend Lindsey let me know I could get free yarn for posting a link to Vickie’s podcast (see blogroll) . Free yarn, yeah like I had to think about that for like 1 second. As hubby would say: I was all over that like white on rice. Wouldn’t you know, a few days later FREE YARN!

Wow, not just any yarn but Love! The only thing better then free yarn is free bamboo/silk yarn! I made an ascot with Love before and it is amazing to work with and feels soo good against my skin. Did I mention it was free?

The second package that arrived was from Mitchypoo on Ravelry. Mitchypoo does a little cat themed bingo game and, yep, you guessed it: I won. Because she is an awesome person, she sends out a little gift for the winner. Mine included 2 seashell candles and cute little clay kitty for me. The kitties received a bag of organic kitty treats and some yarn mice.

We should have named him Neko the Nosey! I swear I have other felines, he is just the most…ahem…curious?

Mitchypoo- thanks again from me and the ferocious four, you rock!

 

Procrastination

Among my many personality quirks is the art of procrastination. I am seriously good at, almost perfect really. Take today for instance: I have a rather important (aren’t they all) test in Chem tomorrow and midterms in History next Wednesday. One would think I was hitting the books…..hard. Sad to say, that is not the case. Not that I haven’t been studying. I’ve just been taking breaks……frequent, long breaks.

*Justification Alert* I attended a study skills seminar last week, for extra credit of course. The very same study skills seminar I have attended for the last 3 semesters, with the very same information. Ugh!  Never mind, I digress. Any-who: according to the aforementioned seminar, when studying one should take a 10-15 minute break each hour of studying. So there!

Hmmm, my breaks have been longer than 15 minutes….  well, a girl needs to rest her brain!

And photograph her stash……

 I decided I was slacking on my stash photography for Ravelry, so today was a good day to catch up a little, what with me not studying and all.  As anyone with cats will tell you, they are some nosey little shits. They need to know what you’re doing, when, how, and why. Kinda like a kitty gestapo. Plus my little twerps love a good photo-op. As I was staring dumb-founded at the amount of cotton yarn I have acquired (what’s pictured does not include all my partial balls!!), Neko snuck behind the pile and, in a moment of weakness, I gave in and snapped a picture.  

In continuing with the study avoidance theme, I thought: Hey, that’s kinda cute, I should post that on my blog, thus allowing me to put off studying a little longer. Fucking Brilliant, I tell ya!

You know, I do think about Chem when I am procrastinating, doesn’t that count?? Not to mention I get a lot of house work done.

 

Cats in my stash

Even Neko likes the new yarn! He was espicially interested in the hemp yarn…hmmm……..