Happiness is....

Happiness is.... a cat with a new box...

...apparently more so if the box is edible

Half way done the last sleeve on Dave's sweater...

I'm not as far along as I would like because I've had a couple long days at work. How rude of work to get in the way of my knitting time.... I can't understand why newspapers think their deadlines are more important than my deadlines.... the nerve! I would like to do a little more tonight, but I have to be up early to do a walk-through of a house.

My goal is to have it done for Friday, so the sleeve can block over the weekend and I can sew it up Monday, and have it done for the guild meeting Tuesday. Wish me luck!

T.R.O.U.B.L.E

This is why I can't have nice things:

Rocky (the beautiful little eight-month-old wonder that he is) seems to have just learned he can jump. And he is jumping on EVERYTHING! Right now he's sitting on top of the computer tower, staring down at me, wondering if I'll notice if he jumps onto the shelves above the computer. (where the wool for current projects is stored)

But nothing is safe anymore. Including the fish tank which is a good two feet from and three feet higher than the couch which serves as launch pad. I don't have a picture of that one, I was too busy having visions of a swimming cat to grab the camera. (It happened to Kobi one weekend when I was at Dave's. Fortunately, the parents were there, but the lid to the tank still bears dad's make-shift plexi-glass repair where he went through it and had a little swim.)

I did however manage to capture this....

When I heard the commotion in the kitchen I assumed he was on the cupboards above the fridge. (another picture I've yet to capture, but one of his new favourite places) I just about crapped my pants when I saw he was perched precariously on the basement door, the door swinging wildly with every little movement he made.

Near as we can figure, he must have jumped from the fridge, which is just to the left, out of the frame of the picture. Sometimes I really wonder what goes through his mind.... he use to be such a sweet kitten.

Oh well such is the fun of sharing space with cats. Though if he breaks my favourite faerie one more time..... (and people wonder why I don't want kids)

In knitting news.... I FINISHED A SLEEVE... 9 days to finish the second.... well actually less because I want to have time to block and sew it up before the guild meeting. I didn't take pictures because it's just the same boring old brown ribbing. The front is blocking now. I'm going to block the back tomorrow. If I can get the sleeve knit for Friday, I'll have it all together for the guild meeting. Guess the dishes aren't getting done all week again....

Ooooh I also stole another of mom's great ideas.....

So... off to finish sleeve number 2.. and never-ever knit a ribbed sweater ever again!

Yaaaaaaaaawn

Nothing quite like a lazy, sunny Sunday afternoon...Peno agrees.

Dave and I didn't get up to much this weekend. He's still a little under the weather. He did spend Saturday afternoon rebuilding the carburator for my grandfather's tractor, so I hadthe chance to get some work done in the sleeve of his sweater. Again, it's Leo from Knitty.

Mom got me Photoshop so I was able to lighten this pic up a bit to finally show you the colour and detail. Not that there is a whole lot of detail, it's just a 5-3 rib... but at least it doesn't look black. Don't know if I mentioned it before... I'm knitting this in Debbie Bliss Alapaca silk... very soft, but sheds a lot... of course with all the cats in the house it just blends in. It's sinfully soft though, and I have a feeling when it's done, I'll be stealing it frequently. The goal for this is Valentine's day.. well actually, the guild meeting before Valentine's day which is 16 days away.... wish me luck!

In other Dave sweater news, Mom finally sewed the first Dave sweater up!

This was made for him for two Christmases ago, but about three days before, just as I was finally finishing the last sleeve, I mocked it up on him and we realized the sleeves were going to be several inches too short! Not an irrepairable problem except this wool was bought at a knitter's fair several years before and is no longer available (stupid long-limbed, big-shouldered boyfriends). So after crying for about an hour I decided to keep it for myself.

However I had some issues with sewing the sleeves in, so I sent it over to the expert knitter to do it, and she finally did. Yaaay Mom!

It is a lovely sweater, with the pattern on the back as well. It's a wool/silk blend (my obsession with silk yarn runs a close second to my obsession with alapaca) and feels absolutely lovely. If i could change one thing about this, I would do it with saddle shoulders and continue the pattern right up to the neckline.

Hmm.... seems all my news is about Dave this weekend.

I needed to step away from his sweater for a little bit (ribbing making me go cross-eyed) so I started making him a new hat. I made him one last year which he loves, but it was done with $1 a ball acrylic (yes, you told me so mom) and it's all stretched and yucky now. I hate it. So I'm making him a new one with some yarn I bought from Julie's ,.... Berrocco Ultra Alpaca. I bought four skiens for a project I'm designing ot submit to Knitty , but I changed my design a little and I'm only going to use one skein. So, Dave is getting a hat and I may design a shawl for my Grandmother with the rest I didn't want to do a plain old ribbed band so I added in a cable. The colour matches his leather coat perfectly. This is a wool/alpaca blend, so I hope it's not going to be too itchy.

UGH!

(Warning! This is a Rocky Heavy Post)
Finally... the front and back are finished.... only sleeves left to do!

(This was on the floor for about two seconds while I ran upstairs to get the camera, came down.. Rocky made himself comfortable on it)
It's a little hard to see the details, but this is Leo , a ribbed sweater from Knitty I'm knitting for my boyfriend. It was supposed to be for his birthday last July... then Christmas... now Valentine's day.
Dave was sick this weekend, so while he was lying around on my couch I got the opportunity to really work on it. We watched a lot of the History Channel (I know more about the Luftwaffe than I ever wanted to) and I got a lot done (the front was about half done when I picked it up Saturday afternoon) After Dave went home I popped Pride and Prejudice in the DVD player and had a little knit-a-thon to finish it up.
All I have left are the sleeves!!!!! (Technical note: Knit in Debbie Bliss Alapca Silk, Dark Brown)

And, as you can see from the picture above, Rocky is a bit of a problem cat...

I'm not sure if he thinks unwinding my wool is helpful.... but it certainly looks like he had a lot of fun.... tired him out. Dave and I heard him doing this.. I thought he was upstairs playing with one of his mice in my curtains (one of his favourite games) How wrong I was.


And, Rocky had a little sleep over a couple of weekends ago

AWESOME!!!

Valerie --

[noun]: A real life muppet

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Two scarves, two divas...

Well the ruffle scarf is finally done.

Doesn't it suit Tux so well?
(I really need real models. I'd try to take a picture of it on myself, but with an SLR camera it's just a pain in the bum and I'm too lazy to set up the tripod.)
This is a Christmas gift for the girlfriend of Dave's friend. We were suppose to see them at New Year's but our plans got messed up, so it's still here.
It's done in Flamenco Yarn by Premier Yarns, and is knit up using an odd and very annoying technique. I love how it turned out, but I hated every minute of knitting it! Maybe if I buy the wool I can talk mom into knitting one for me..... Mom?!?

I also knit this scarf as a present for my friend and fellow artist, Bree

Rocky is modelling this one and doesn't he look divine?
Bree is a fellow Saggitarian (same day as my dad) and the scarf is part of a birthday/christmas package of goodies for her. We were supposed to get together BEFORE Christmas, but things around the studio just got too hectic.
(which is also why I haven't made it out to see you and the kids Sam...)

In other news, I have an etsy store now.....

The URL is www.wanderingcatstudio.etsy.com
Go check it out... you can by my beautiful jewellry creations there!!!

Now you may be wondering why Miss Peno didn't make it into any pictures this week. Well I didn't have a third scarf, and besides, she's too smart to lay around while I take ridiculous photos and embarass her... after all... she is a girl!

I've still got several other projects on the needles, including two which I'll be submitting to Knitty. (One for Summer, one for Fall)
Dave's sweater did not get done for Christmas (no big surprise) The goal is now Valentine's Day!