More sweet than bitter

Behold Bitterroot!I popped up to Mom's today to get some pics - lighting still isn't great because I was too lazy to put on my boots and go out in the snow (not to mention Ladydoggy wanted to play ball and I didn't want to encourage her) but it's better than I'd get at my place.
It's a nice big shawl - 72 inches wide - and knit in our Fluffy Cat Fingering which makes it an absolutely decadent garment to wear. The colour is Winter Spruce - a blend of two shades of greyish-green - scarily close to the colour of my eyes - which was not the intention, I couldn't tell you how I got this colour, so please don't ask me to dye it again.

Suprisingly, I made no modifications to this one (except I left out the beads), though were I to knit it again, I would. I'm not overly fond of the first transition in the pattern:
You see the part I circled? I find it visually jarring - it just doesn't flow with the rest of it. Were I to knit this again, I'd go straight from the first pattern into the the more leafy pattern. But other than that I do love this shawl!

Yay! I finally have a Fluffy Cat shawl (Definitely NOT giving this one away!!!!)

Now, it's time to start a new shawl. I really wanted to restart the Crow Waltz shawl and use that nummy nummy handspun, but I've gotten a little distracted.....
I dyed this up last Friday. It's our Jungle Cat and the colour is "Temptress" (I can make this one again.)

Tune in tomorrow to find out which one wins!

Road Rules!

I've completed my first week of commuting - and survived!

In honour of it - I'm going to start a new Friday thing - observations from the road - a new thing I've discovered each week in this vehicular adventure we call commuting!

Road Rule #1

Just because you left work early, doesn't mean you're going to get home early. Traffic will inevitably be backed up due to:
a) an accident
b) an oversized transport and police escort
c) the fact that everyone has to stop and gawk at the guy with the flat tire
d) or look at the guy who got pulled over for speeding
e) tourists heading to the airport and/or border for March Break

Or in my case... all of the above! Which meant instead of getting home early - I actually got home later than I normally would have.

TGIF - who needs a drink?!?

And in honour of the weekend - here's some Muppets:



That dancing bunny at the end cracks me up every time!

Silly Peno

I have been knitting, but becuase I'm still adjusting the commuting hours, it hasn't been much. And I can't show it to you anyway, because it's a secret

So, in the absence of knitting - Princess Peno is here to entertain you all.

You may remember the curved scratcher Mom bought the kids a while back... well, like any spoiled princess, Peno has laid claim to it. They boys still get a turn, but when they aren't around it's all Peno's:

"Silly human, can't you see this was made just for me...
look how nicely I fit. Those stoopid boys don't fit like I do."

'"Seriously, I'm quite comfortable like this."

"It's the perfect place to contemplate world domination...... ALL WILL BOW TO ME!!!!"

I've also been doing some rearranging and recently brought out their old scratcher. You'll never see Peno go in the house in the bottom - only one entrance and she needs a good escape route - but she loves the saddle on the top (and that scratch damage is all hers - Rocky uses everything but the scratchers)

"I shall hypnotize the world into submission with my 'crazy eyes' !!!"

It also gives her a little refuge from the dangers lurking below

"Little brothers are the scourge of the earth."

Commuter

I started my first day at the new job - and so far so good. I have my own little office, which is nice for a change. And I have HUGE window. I'm going to get some plants. I love plants but I have very few at home because a) I'm a notorious plant killer and b) even when I managed to NOT kill the plants, someone thinks they are his own personal buffet."Who? Me?!?"

Yes, you Rocky.

So far, the only downside to the job is the commute. An hour and a half... one way.

It'd be shorter (about 45 min), but it's the QEW through Halton and Mississauga, so the traffic load is pretty heavy during rush hour. (Though the new HOV commuter lane has made a difference)

I don't mind it too much. I have my music, and I'm pretty mellow in traffic (one of the reasons I do most of the weekend driving instead of Dave). I actually quite enjoy driving, even if it's sometimes stop-and-go. When I first started driving, sometimes I'd continue on to my grandparents after work because I just wasn't done driving. (They lived another 22 kilometres past my house).

When I started my job search, I knew I had to go to the Greater Toronto Area to get the compensation I was looking for (there is very little marketing work around here, and what there is doesn't pay well) but I was hoping to get a job where I could take the train, so I could spend those 3 hours KNITTING! Alas, it was not to be and I'm driving.... for a few months at least. So begins the new apartment hunt!

In knitting news, Bitterroot is still blocking. I'll get some decent photos of it this weekend, and give you all the knitty-gritty details then.

I plan to start my second Stray Cat sock this week and hopefully finish it by the weekend. Man I really wish I could knit and drive.....

Weekend down the drain

Nothing went as planned this weekend.

It wasn't all bad, just... well... not as planned.

It started on Friday ( I had a long weekend between jobs) when I went up to Mom's to dye yarn. I had intended to dye a bunch of our spring colours, (Aurora, Breath of Spring... etc) but it just was working. Every time I tried, they were two bright or I messed something up, and had to fix it - and in fixing it, it becomes a completely different colourway.

Now, that's not to say I didn't dye some nice yarns. Just not what I planned.

Next up was a romantic lasagna dinner with garlic bread - except with out the garlic bread (my favourite part) because the loaf of French bread I'd bought the day before was already hard as a rock. Sigh...

Saturday was suppose to be cleaning day, followed by a quick jaunt to the bookstore for some new reading materials and then and evening knit-a-thon to finish off Bitterroot.

But I woke up with a horrible migraine and ended up laying down for a nap at 1 p.m. I woke up at 5 p.m...... with a minor headache and the beginnings of a chest cold. Fortunately, there was leftover lasagna for dinner, but still no garlic bread.

Since Saturday was a complete write-off, Sunday was relegated to "cleaning day" as well as "spend time with Dave day, since I spent all Saturday napping"

But then Dave's uncle called at 10 a.m., and off Dave went to help him with his jeep. Sigh. I could have cleaned, but the cold was sapping my energy and I'm trying to save it all for the first day of the new job on Monday.

So, I managed a couple of loads of laundry, and then Tux and I stretched out on the couch for an Indiana Jones marathon. The good news... 8 hours of Indy makes for good knitting time and Bitterroot is off the needles and on the blocking board:
Hopefully this week I can get everything back on the rails.

Oh - one thing that did go as planned... Mom updated the shop and Friday and there's lots of new lovelies for your knitting pleasure.

Knit on, young jedi

The force is indeed strong with me....
Master Yoda is now available for your knitting pleasure!

February's over - here's a Freebie!

Wow! Once again you guys have blown me away. Less than 24-hours and already Highland Lass has 60 hearts!

You have no idea how cool I think it is that other people want to knit my patterns. It's just an awesome feeling!

And.. I've got another pattern to share with you all.This is Turner - the fingerless mitts I knit up for my soon-to-be-former co-worker. (Thanks to Mom for the mad photo skills)
These mitts are knit with our Stray Cat (sport-weight Merino), so they work up nice and fast - just a few hours for each mitt. This yarn was left over from Dave's socks and the pair takes less than half a skein.

If you want to make your own pair you can find it on Ravelry here! It's a freebie too! And if you need yarn, there are still a couple of Stray Cats in the shop - and more to come soon. There will be an update on Friday!

I still have three more patterns to share with you all - I'm feeling pretty motivated so you might see one or two more before the week is out!