The phone company made me do it.

I went to the mall today to get a cell phone set up (I haven't had a cell phone since 2007.... I haven't missed it) so Mom and I have a phone for the road trip to Virginia in a few weeks.

Well.... there was a 20 minute wait to speak to a sale person, so I stepped out around the corner, and smack into a clearance shoe store...

Now you guys know, the only thing I love better than a good shoe, is a good shoe on clearance....

 ...or two pairs of good shoes on clearance!

 The red ones are to be put away for a special occasion... the purple ones.... well I just couldn't resist!

Doo doo doo... lookin' out my back door

I know - I haven't posted since Sunday - again! But it's only Thursday, not Friday, so that's progress!

It's been hot and humid hear lately, but we finally got some rain to cool things down, so I popped out to check on the garden between rain clouds.

Remember the little veggie plot I planted in May?

Well...

It exploded! We've had lots of rain, and a great week of hot sunny weather. I need to get stakes for the tomatoes, and I should probably thin out the onions,  but I'm really please with how it's doing, with minimal interference from me!

 The cherry tomatoes are coming. There's lots of these little guys hanging off the branches - a few warm days sunny days and they'll be red.

I've got just one pepper between my two pepper plants - but I'm so pleased with that. All the gardeners I know have said they haven't had much luck with peppers. The pepper will actually be purple, so that dark colour on it isn't a disease - it's suppose to do that.

I wasn't sure if I'd get fruit on the strawberries this year - but three of the four plants had flowers, and one of them...

... just look at those berries! The other plants are just starting to push out the berries.

And I think I'm going to have a bumper crop of yellow beans!

I've got a whole row of plants and they are just covered in mini-beans!

And remember the mystery shrubs out back? Well the neighbour identified one a Gooseberry for me. And it's definitely berried!

There were tonnes of these hanging from the branches last week, but the birds have gotten most of them. There's only a few left now. The other plant is a Jostaberry.

The berries have only just started to turn dark - the birds haven't bothered with them much, but I suspect they will soon.

I also came across this very cool mama spider and her nest.

According to my googling, she's a black and white jumping spider. She's only about the size of my thumbnail. 

While I was out the boys just had to come out too. 

If I don't take Rocky out as soon as I get in from work - he screams at me all night.

Tux... I don't think the birds will come if you hang out right under the feeder.

It's been mentioned before that some people are amazed that the cats don't take off on me when we're out. Well that's not strictly true... it's just that Tux isn't really well enough to run fast....and Rocky is too fat, so they aren't too hard to keep corralled while I'm puttering around. Mostly they stay in the yard, but every once in a while, Rocky will decide to go full Cheetah and take off down the little gully that runs behind the houses (we don't have a back fence yet)

"I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

 I've learned not to run after him. He can only do short little bursts of speed. And then he stops. If I follow slowly and a few feet away, I can usually get ahead of him and shoo him back into the yard, where he collapses on the patio stones from too much exertion.

 "Okay Mum, I promise, I won't go cheetah again - don't make me go inside!"

Confessions of a chick-lover

I have a confession to make.. all though I am an unabashed cat lover....

I also love chickens! It didn't start out as chickens, but birds in general. As a small child, I always wanted a house bird - a budgie, or better yet - a cockatoo (go big or go home, right?). Mom always said no, because of the cats. But that didn't stop me from wanting one.

Then one day - Dad came home with Soup, and the poultry love affair began. City by-laws prevent me from having a couple in my back yard (though I would in a heartbeat if that changed.), so now I'm left to admiring them through blogs, like Knatolee's, and my yearly visit to  Poultryfest in Smithville.

Mom and I took a stroll over yesterday. It was a little disappointing compared to previous years, but it was a good walk and there were some very cool chickens.

I only got a few shots before my camera battery died, but they may have inspired some new yarn colours.

Seriously - how can you not love a chicken with a 'do like that?

Though I'm not opposed to geese either if they are as cute as the two of these... my neighbours won't notice a goose or two in the yard... right?

Better than blue jeans

It was ridiculously hot and humid today,  but I still donned a silk cardigan for you all!

Mr. Tibbs horns in on my photo shoot!

Despite being totally frustrated with the quality of the yarn - I absolutely LOVE this cardigan. It's incredibly soft, the drape is lovely and it fits perfectly - not bad for winging an upsize from a baby pattern. Though I could have made the sleeves a little puffier, the neckline sits just where I want. It's the perfect cardigan for pairing with the sundresses in my wardrobe that would otherwise be unsuitable for the office (the one in the picture is one of my favourites - its so nice to be able to wear it more often.)

As is always my quest, I found the perfect buttons too. 

In this pic, you can see the unevenness of the yarn

I think Mom got tired of me coming up and stealing buttons from her stash, because a few weeks ago, she gave me most of her button collection. The majority of them came from my great, great aunt, so there's some fantastic vintage treasures in there. These ones were among them and they were just the right size.

The brass of the button and the blue of the yarn reminds me of a good pair of blue jeans - and this cardigan is even comfier!

Inspiration overload

Holy crapcakes.... how is it Friday already?!? And I haven't posted since Sunday! I've been meaning post all week  - I just never got around to it.

Work has been crazy, and I've had several stories to do for the magazines I write for. I've also been getting busy, running around to get a passport for an upcoming trip to Virginia -boy is that a lot of hoops to jump through! And despite all that, I have had some time to knit - just not blog about it.

I actually have four new designs on the needles. Two are shawls - they've been packed away since the move, but I plan to dig them out this weekend and get moving on them.

The first is Mistress Anne.

 Beads, cables, lace - all in rich green Continental Cat. I really want to get moving on it. I don't have pictures of the second shawl - Egret - but it's a beautiful lacy confection knit in undyed Fluffy Cat.

Last weekend I was suddenly inspired to start a new sock design

 It's called Fergus and I'm knitting it in Twisted Top Cat.

And - I love my silk cardigan so much, I just have to knit another one...

 But I wanted different lace... and a lighter weight! Once again, I'm using undyed - but Slinky Cat. There's just something about natural lace -so feminine, so beautiful.... so perfect!

Man - when inspiration hits - it really hits all at once. If only I didn't need to keep a day job!

True Blue

This morning I finally got a chance to head into the dye studio. I did up a set of Alley Cat in some new fun colours, and I gave the silver cardigan a good long soak in some indigo dye.

I wasn't sure how dark or how blue I was going to be able to get it. Silk doesn't take dye as well as wool, and with a pale green base, it was bound to come out a little on the greenish side.

But I'm pretty pleased with the results.I blocked out beautifully - as only silk can. As soon as you wet it, it just opens right up.

It's funny - last year, I didn't have very much blue in my wardrobe. I tend towards much warmer colours. Green is definitely my favourite colour - but even then I tend towards ones that are more yellow or brown than blue. The rest of my wardrobe is mostly pinks, reds, burgundy and rusty orange. But every time I wore something blue, I'd get a compliment from someone.

So now when I'm out shopping, I don't automatically rule out the blue and as a result, I have several dresses this cardigan is going to be perfect for. Modeled shots will come next weekend, I think. Stay tuned!

FO: Pair of Hearts

As promised, I have pictures of my finished socks.

 But for some reason - the hearts show up much better in person.

 I tried taking some on my feet, to see if that was the problem.. but nope....

So, anyway - these were knit in Celtic Cat in "Olive". The Celtic Cat looks so rustic with it's little tweedy nubs, but it is sooooooo soft!

The pattern was fun and easy (and free!).  I made a few small mods: I cut the socks down to 60 stitches (and they are still a little loose - but that's my tension, not the pattern) and  I added a picot hem instead of ribbing.

And - not only is this a project off the needles, but it's also another project out of my queue! Woohoo! Now it's onto a new sock design - details will follow!