Ups and downs

Up.
After almost 10 years, Dave and I have finally decided to make a public declaration of our commitment to each other. I booked a pretty little venue by the lake for the ceremony

And today I put a deposit on the hall down the road for the reception. The date is September 29 - the countdown is on!


Down.
After doing some running around with Mom, I stopped in to cake up my skeins for Colour Infection. Since two were just part skeins, mom suggested I use the yarn counter too... and sure enough - I don't have enough for the shawl. I thought I had much more than I do. So it's back to the drawing board.

Up.
I've gotten to 11 inches on my Slinky vest!

Down.
I've decided I want to make it 13 inches. So it's back to the needles for me. Hopefully I'll have blocking pictures to show you tomorrow!

Surmount the Stash - May Roundup

 This month was another month where I felt I knitted way more than I actually did.

All of them were small projects too.

First up Octavia and Octavius Bill

The pair of them total about 200 yards

 Next  up - my Frost Queen design in gorgeous but scratchy handspun, and then again in much softer Twinkle Cat DK

This pair amounts to about 300 yards







And finally - my coworkers Grey Loop Cowl, which comes in at 220 yards of Twinkle Cat DK.

So this months total is a meager 670 yards.

Next month is going to have a much better showing - I can  feel it!

Housekeeping

This is just a post of little things I want to get out of the way before my Surmount post tomorrow

1) Remember that pretty cowl I designed, but was too itchy? Well here is a quick pic of it done in Twinkle Cat DK:

The pattern is revamped a little and the Twinkle Cat was an excellent choice. I'm hoping I can eke out a small pair of matching fingerless mitts from the rest of the skein, but we'll have to see. As soon as the pattern is ready, I'll announce it here.

2) Minding My Own Stitches asked if I was catching the Colour Affection infection, and I have to admit, while I wasn't overly excited when I first saw the pattern - after seeing all the different versions, it's really grown on me. I've definitely got the first signs of the bug now. Here are the colours I've picked out:

All three skeins are Top Cat. Now I just have to decide which order I want them to go in. I'm trying to be good and finish my Slinky vest first. It's a very good thing that the swift and yarn caker are at Mom's  - otherwise, I probably would have this puppy caked and started.... In my defense - it's a perfect stash down project - two of those skeins have been in the stash for a couple of years!

3) Speaking of the Slinky vest - I completed another half repeat on my lunch today. I think it might be growing. The good news is, once I finish the body, it's only a handful of rows to finish off the armholes, so technically - I'm a lot further than I think I am.


4) I love this picture of Rocky I took the other day. He was inside, begging to come out:

He looks so innocent... don't believe it.

5) And, speaking of brat cats. I keep a towel on one end of the couch, so I'm not constantly cleaning cat fur off it. Tux, Peno and Rocky all adore towels, and will lay on one every chance they get. Mopar?

 

...Not so much.

Another boom

It appears there is another little baby boom amongst my circle  - this time it's the cousins edition.

My littlest cousin Hailea and her boyfriend Chris are expecting a little boy in October.

and my cousin Sean and his sweet girlfriend, Katie (who oddly enough went to college with me - she was already dating Sean and we ended up in the same class!)

have just announced they are expecting as well. Their baby is due in January.

Fortunately - I have quite a bit of "baby" yarn in the stash already, so I think these two babies are going to go a long way to helping me surmount the stash!

I have big ambitions, but we'll see how it all pans out. I'd like to do a whole layette for each - blanket and outfit, but that might be too ambitious. Oh, and Katie's a Star Wars fan, so you know there's totally going to be another Yodagurumi!

In the meantime, I'm trying to knit monogamously on my slinky vest - but it still doesn't feel like I'm getting anywhere. I am - I've got about six inches done from the underarm, I just feel like I should be a lot further.

I've started taking it to work. Since my coworker has departed, I'm without a lunch buddy. So now I'm eating at my desk and using my lunch hour to enjoy the sun and get a few rows done. I was really hoping to have it done by the end of the month to include in my otherwise meager stashdown tally, but I don't think it's going to happen.  With any luck it shouldn't be too far into June by the time I get it finished, but we'll see... if I can stay monogamous... but I've been poking around in the stash for Colour Affection combos.....

Fibreiffic!

Mom and I did end up going to the local Fibrefest today. When I was working for the newspaper here, I covered the very first Grimsby Fibrefest - it hasn't grown much in the last 7 years, but that's actually kind of nice.

Naturally there were lots of sheep...

and lambs galore!

And alpacas...

who are either just shy, or really snobbish! Not one wanted a pet.

We also got to watch them shear an alpaca...

 

There's a lot of fibre in that back and they aren't even half done!

They had herding demonstrations too. It was fun to watch the dogs work, but I especially loved this guy...

Just sitting, waiting patiently for his turn to herd! You'd never get Ladydog to sit like that if there was was something to chase!

There was a  small marketplace, so Mom and I indulged in some homemade ice cream  - in a handmade waffle cone! And you know were weren't coming home without wool!

Mom snagged some lovely bamboo, alpaca, and some BFL.  But I was feeling a little more conservative...

Just a natural alpaca scarf kit and a bottle of locally-grown-and-made tart cherry juice! Delicious!

We are thinking of vending there next year - I'll keep you posted if we go for it!

Loop-de-loop

I've had this project done for a few weeks now, but the coworker for whom it was made occasionally reads this blog, so I wanted to keep it a surprise.

Said coworker marked a birthday and her final day at work this week (she's leaving for a much cooler job - so jealous!). We celebrated with lots of food, ice cream cake, a movie (Dark Shadows) and of course - handknits.

The pattern is A Grey Loop. I modified it to use just one skein of Twinkle Cat DK - colour is Aster. (notes are on my pattern page)

It's a really quick, easy pattern - I had it done in an evening and an afternoon. Nice mindless knitting- I can see more of these made as Christmas presents!

The Twinkle Cat is soooo nice to knit with  - absolutely love it. I love it so much, I've designed a pattern for it, which I'll release soon.

Now I'm off to the dye studio - and there's talk of visiting the local fibrefest this weekend if it doesn't rain. I'll keep you posted!

Blog friends rock!

One of the things I love about blogging is the wonderful people I've met.

A few weeks back, Smoking Hot Needles posted a pic of a crocheted project bag she made with her handspun. I admired it (because it was totally awesome). Today, it was in my mailbox...

...along with a super awesome Skineeez cat toy for the kids. I don't know how she knew, but Skineez are one of their favourite toys.  See...

"MINE!!!"

"Nom, nom, nom..."

"I wanna play too! Giiiiiimmeeeeeeeeeeee"

"Oh man... why'd you give it to Tux first??? Now it's all slobbery....."

Peno however... she knew the bag was the real treat!

"Is anyone looking... no? Good."

"Those stoopid boys will never find me in here."

As soon as I extricate Peno from it - it's the new home for my socks-in-progress. Thanks so much Smoking Hot Needles!