Crappity crap crap

Well I got another camera. I took pictures of the grey socks and the lone maroon sock; of rocky and the mess he made of my Japanese Peace Lily; of Peno and her water dish shenanigans, of Tux in all his fat roly poly glory.... but I can't show you any of it because I can get the @$^&#&*** camera to download... on ANY of the THREE computers in the house.

It just keeps telling me the USB device is not recognized, and I swear if I see that insipid, unhelpful bubble pop up one more time, I'm gonna hurt someone - so I've given up. Dave can fix it... that's what he's for, right?

It's not the USB ports, other devices work fine. It's not necessarily the camera, as it did this to me with my last camera just before I got this one. It might be the USB cable I suppose... but the other camera used a different cable, and what are the chances they are both screwed? I guess it's possible but unlikely.

So, tomorrow I'm going to take it up to mom's and see if it will work on her computer.

Until the, I'll leave you with the lovely new yarns in the shop...

Continuing the Wicked line we have........ Bad Moon Rising Sleepy Hollow

and Belladonna

There are also more Poison Apple and Witching Hour up if you wanted those and missed out last time (Belladonna is gone now though, as is Darkwaters - if you really wanted either of those email me at wanderingcatstudio@hotmail.com and I'll see what we can do).

We also got more naked yarn today, so expect to see more coming soon. And stay tuned for a special contest announcement.

Nothing to see here folks...

... because I'm between cameras at the moment. So, sorry - no pictures, even though I did manage to finish the maroon sock and cast on for the second grey sock. The Regia Silk (maroon) was nice to knit with, but it just doesn't compare to our Top Cat. I think it's the cashmere. I think the only thing that could make me love it more is if had silk in it.

A few of you have asked, and yes, once both pairs are finished, I'll make the pattern available. Provided there are no dire emergencies, it should be by the end of next week.

I think I had more to say, but my brain has decided to stop working (picked up and extra shift at job #2 tonight, job #1 was crazy (getting caught up from last week) and I'm doing it all on four hours sleep. It's time for a hot bath and a comfy bed I think....

Something wicked this way comes...

Well, Mom got into the dye without me again. (If you follow her blog you know this already) She put some of the fruits of her labour up in the shop today.

Introducing the Wicked Series....From left to right... Love Potion, Witch's Britches, Poison Apple and Witching Hour. You've seen both Witch's Britches and Witching Hour before, but mom wanted to expand the line. There is also Dark Water, which isn't pictured here. All of these are in our new Merino/Cashmere/Nylon - Top Cat. Both Witching Hour and Poison Apple sold within minutes of updating (There is a Witching Hour left in Alpaca lace, however), but Mom has plans to dye some more up tomorrow, as well as a few new colourways.

I worked from home again today. Once again, I got a lot accomplished, but every time I turned to refer to one of my papers.... ... I had to pull it out from under a cat butt. Rocky was by no means the only culprit either. Tux, while quite pleased to share breakfast in bed, wasn't too fond of having the share his afternoon nap space.

So, after a fruitful day of writing, I'm devoting the rest of the evening to knitting....Yeah.. I know.... I cast on for yet another sock... I wanted to see how the sock I'm designing would look in a solid as opposed to my semi-solid Top Cat. This is the Regia Silk I bought a while back at Julie's Tent Sale. I'm quite pleased with it... and yes I'm fully aware that this will leave me with three mateless socks... I should have cast on for the second nutlet, or the second Top Cat sock.. but what's the fun in that?

I could get used to this

Well, this morning I made a valiant effort to go in to work. I should have known when the minute I sat in the car and my back gave me that warning spasm. But I didn't listen, I drove into work and lasted a whole hour and a half, before finally deciding to pack it in. It took me another hour to gather up all my paper work and and organize my contacts, so I can at least earn some money while I'm stuck on my back.

But, I got home just after noon, powered up the lap top, stretched out on the bed and wrote my brains out.

My bedroom is bright and cheery (unlike the drab grey of the office), my bed is so cozy (unlike my work chair which could double as a torture device) I had my music on (as opposed to sales reps talking trash and classified reps booking death notices) it was great!I accomplished way more than I would have at the office. I could totally get used to this, except for the one tiny bug that needs to be worked out:Hmmm, I wonder if I could teach him to type.

And now it's time for a cautionary tale....

Don't drink and surf

A few weeks back, Dave and I were enjoying a pitcher or two of strawberry daiquiris (Dave recently discovered the mixes at the grocery store... this weekend is Margaritas!) and I was fooling around on the internet... and I ended up on ebay..... and one of my favourite sellers had some lovely Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in the prettiest shade of light green, and I was just too inebriated to resist.

It arrived today: ...so pretty, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.

There's a very pretty nightie pattern I'd like to do (imagine wearing that as a nightie!) but 1) I'd like to lose some weight before I do that and 2) silk stretches. I made a shrug out of Pure Silk two years ago and now it's unwearable because it stretched so much.

So I guess this will end up being a shawl... any suggestions? I have 1224 yards, and it's dk weight.

In other knitting news, after posting all my patterns yesterday, I started designing a new one

Yeah, I totally cracked into my Top Cat... I know, I said I wasn't going to until I finished the second nutlet... but I just couldn't resist... I think I may be raiding the shop, so if there was a colourway you really like, you might want to get it before I do....

Good things come in threes!

If there is one good thing about my back crapping out on me, it's that it's given me time to do a few things I've been meaning to get done for a while.... namely writing and formatting patterns. Sure, I'm not getting paid while I'm off and the bills are mounting, and I'm enduring horrific pain (okay, it's not quite that bad but...) but I'm accomplishing things, so I count it as good

First up, Nip Nuggets

When I was working on my crackghan, Rocky kept running off with the balls of yarn (he loves natural fibre, and face it - most of the balls are the perfect size for play) so I decided to make him his own sock yarn toys.... and ...well, I was already making mitred squares!
They are the perfect size for little cat paws and mouths, and the nylon in the sock yarn makes them nice and strong. Just make sure the cats aren't around when you're trying to fill them... it tends to result in chaos and the need to vacuum.

Next: remember the Panda Silk I was working with? Well it turned into Pip Squeaks!

A simple ankle sock pattern that's cute and cozy! (I am wearing them right now!)

And, at long last: Berry HillThe nuggets and the anklets are both free patterns. Berry Hill is $3, or you can get it for free when you purchase any of our sock yarn in the shop!

If I'm gonna be static...

... I may as well make use of the time... so I installed Photoshop, Publisher and Wordperfect on Dave's lap top (yeah, it's totally my lap top now) and went to work.

Petal is now available as a Ravelry download - until today it was only on my blog, but I finally put it in PDF form.

I also made another one this past weekend for a friend. I really like how it looks in the blue.

And so I carried that theme in the other hats I made:

One for papa, mama and baby. Dave is delivering them for me this week as a thank you to our friends who helped with my computer.

I also updated the shop with all those lovely yarns mom and I dyed last week, so shop away.... or at least let me know what colourway you like best.

This one is my favourite... (huntsman)

And it was really hard to put it up on the site and not in my stash.

So, now it's off to type up some more patterns, and maybe do a little knitting.

Broken....

...in more ways than one....

Dave finally got all the little things we needed to make the Mac work... and then my monitor died. It's been acting up on and off for about a year, so I'm not surprised, but the timing really is ironic. Dave has another monitor at work, but he won't be back for a couple of days.

In addition... I am broken too. At about 10 p.m. last night, after a day of fruitful knitting, my back decided it didn't want to work any more. It was too late to take any painkillers (they are chock full of caffeine and keep me up all night) and when I woke up this morning I could barely move.

So, Dave kindly brought my tv and dvd player upstairs, and left me his lap top (it's faster than mine). I had my knitting, a good book, and three very lazy cats - if I wasn't in intense pain it would have been an ideal day.

I have no pictures (of weekend or today's knitting) because this computer has no photo editing software.

Instead, I'll leave you with the fruits of last Friday's labour:

It should be in the shop by mid week.