Miss Pee Has Heart - A Contest!

Meet Miss PeeMiss Pee is my niece and if you visit Mom's blog often you're already familiar with this little munchkin.

Right now Miss Pee is participating in Jump Rope for Heart, raising money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. She's got a pretty lofty goal of $350 and we'd love to see her make it.

So, we're calling on all our blog friends to help out - and holding a contest to reward you (and it involves yarn!)

To enter:

Click on Miss Pee's "Fundraising Page" and make a donation (any amount welcome), then come back here (or to Mom's blog) and comment to let us know you donated.

Donations are being accepted until Thursday, May 13.

On Friday, May 14, Mom and I will randomly draw one winner who will receive their choice of any one skein of yarn from the shop, and a key chain sock blocker!

If you help Miss Pee reach her $350 goal, we'll draw for a few extra prizes of Wandering Cat Yarny goodness.

And just so you know, Miss Pee is a knitter too
Look at that awesome garter stitch!

Thanks in advance for your participation!

Might as well face it - I'm addicted to shawls.

This morning I woke up with two things in my head - Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" and a design for a new shawl.

Knowing, like my writing, the only way to get this new design out of my head was to start working on it - I cast on after breakfast (so much for cleaning the house today).I know it's hard to see the pattern, but I'm calling it "My Pet Dragon" so as you can guess, it's scale-like. I'm using our Top Cat yarn, and the colour is Magnolia. Every time I knit with it I can't get over how soft it is - I'm so glad we found a supplier with fantastic bases.

In case you were wondering, I have done a little more work on the feather and fan shawl, and would be further if I didn't get distracted by dream knitting...I really love the colours, and how the pattern makes them ripple. Upon closer inspection, I also discovered that it is not exactly like the Feather and Fan Comfort shawl - the comfort shawl uses an 18-stitch repeat, I used a 12. So, when this is done, I will do up a pattern and put it on Ravelry and share it with all of you!

And last, but not least - Happy Mother's Day to the woman who made this sad, sad addiction possible...

Recovering

I intended to have some knitting to show you today.

Something like some amazing progress on Dad's second sock.

As I mentioned yesterday, there was a road trip in the cards today. Dave is a bit of a Kijiji nut, and found a great deal on a projector screen, which he wants for his studio at work. The catch - it was in Belleville - a good 3.5 hours from here. But even when you factored in the gas - it was still a really good deal.

So, when he mentioned it, I thought - no biggie - that's seven hours of knitting time for me.... right?

Wrong.

When he hauled my butt out of bed at 5:30 a.m. this morning (after only four measly hours of sleep) I got to thinking (amazing that my brain functions that early in the morning), the projector screen is seven feet long. He drives a swanky, leather-filled sedan, I drive a beat-up cola-stained wagon. While his car is slightly larger, my car is built for cargo.

Either way, I knew it would be going right from the trunk to in between the fronts seats of the car, and there's a lot more room to maneuver awkward parcels in my car than his. And, in the event it was too big and awkward for inside - my car has roof racks.

Dave's car doesn't.

Sigh.

I guess I'm driving.

Now some of you are thinking "why didn't you let Dave drive your car?"

The answer. We don't do that. Never really have. The only time I've driven his car is if he's drunk, or otherwise unable to. The only time he drives my car is if there is something wrong with it and I want him to hear what it sounds likes. It's weird. To us, cars are very personal things - almost like lending someone your tooth brush. And it's not just Dave, I don't like anyone driving my car.

She's ugly as sin, doesn't go very fast, but she's mine. Don't touch.

So, I drove. Three and a half hours there. Three and a half hours back. No knitting.

I considered punishing him by stopping in at the Toronto Knitter's Frolic on the way home, but by the time we hit T.O., the weather was really sour and I was really starting to feel the lack of sleep.

We got home about 1:30 p.m. and I crashed, crawled back out of bed at 7. Went and got my groceries, and now I'm making dinner.

So.

No knitting.

How 'bout a kitty?

While you weren't looking...

... I was knitting.

Okay, so that's not really a big surprise. A long while ago, I mentioned that I was working on a secret knitting project. I showed you only a glimpse of it, and said it was knit in our Slinky Cat yarn.

Well the project was a scarf for my Mom, meant to be her Mother's Day gift (It's blue to match her winter coat and the gloves I knit her two years ago). A few hours after casting off the Sea Silk, I decided I better get moving on the scarf, it was half done, but Mother's Day was only two weeks away. So I picked it up and realized.... I hate knitting scarves. They are long and boring and long.

So I frogged it.

And I cast on for a shawl - something she could wear as a scarf if she wanted, but still enjoy during the warmer months. So I cast on a pattern I knew I could knit up quick (and she would still enjoy).

I cast on for....
...yup you guessed it. Another Frozen Leaves shawl.Cast on was April 26 and worked as steady as I could, casting off on May 1. Good thing too because I have had almost zero knit time this week.This one is smaller than the Sea Silk version but slightly larger than the Top Cat version. I did five leaf motifs, and only shortened chart two by about six rows.

I took it up to Mom today because I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to see her this weekend. Dave and I are on a road trip tomorrow, and my studio needs one hell of a good clean which I'm hoping to do Sunday. Plus, I've been itching to show it off since I took it off the blocking board.

So, that's five shawls for 10 for 2010! I'm halfway there!

I hope every one has a great weekend - and don't forget to call your mother!

It was bound to happen eventually.

As I was fiddling around on Ravelry today, I came across a shawl that looks suspiciously like the feather and fan shawl I'm "designing".

I opened the pattern and sure enough... it's basically the same - with a minor variance on stitch direction - I'm not as original as I thought.

There are only so many stitch patterns out there, so I guess there's bound to be duplication. Especially with a pattern as common as feather and fan. Oh well, I guess it saves me having to write out a pattern.

I have made absolutely zero progress on it. Yesterday was another total write off. After work I slid over to mom's to pay back some moolah I borrowed (First National Bank of Mom rocks!) and ended up staying for dinner - and Jeopardy.

By the time I got home, it was almost 8:30 and the house needed a good clean before Dave moseyed on in, then I made his dinner, and our lunches for work. Then it was bath time - after I was all squeaky clean, I looked at the clock and it was 11:30 so off to bed I went.

But tonight - tonight I'm going to knit something. It might not be the shawl, it may be a sock or a crackghan square or SOMETHING. Yarn is getting wrapped around a needle TONIGHT! (Provided of course the first spring thunderstorm doesn't knock out the power - I hate knitting by candlelight)

Man, I don't think I like this full-time work gig... anybody want to pay me $40,000 a year to knit for myself? No? Okay, I'll go scratch my lottery tickets and see if I have any luck there...
... in the mean time, enjoy this pic I call "Tux on the lawn"

Crap...

... this day's all shot to hell!

First I worked late, then decided to stop to pick up a few things at the grocery store, which turned into a full blown grocery shopping venture. By the time I got home, put the groceries away, fed the cats, fed myself and attended to all my email and blog comments, I looked at the clock and holy crap - it's 8 p.m.

By the time I finish blogging, put out the garbage, make tomorrow's lunch, and have a bath - it's going to be bed time.

Which means, I have nothing of my own to show you - but I do have some one else's pretty knitting to share:These were done by Mom in our Stray Cat yarn. Stray Cat is an eight-ply sport weight yarn - a little heavier than a fingering, but lighter than a DK. It's obviously great for baby items, but as you can see it's awesome for socks too - these are so soft and squishy - I wish you could touch them.

And the best part - they knit up faster than fingering weight socks!!! I'm totally dying up some for the big-footed men in my life!

There are six colours in the shop right now, and you can expect more soon.

In other yarn news, we finally got our shipment of Alley Cat base, so look for some new Alley Cat colours in the coming weeks!

Where does the time go?

Sorry for staying away from the blog for the last couple of days. The first week at work (especially Friday) was a hectic one so I've spent the weekend chilling out.

I took the boys outside to enjoy the nice weather several times this weekend.As you can see, Tux is quite tuckered out from the adventure (which includes trying to escape under the fence while my back was turned - good thing he was on the leash).Rocky took advantage of Tux's exhaustion to snag some couch time - sleeping off his outdoor adventure as well (which included getting caught in the wild roses).

When not playing with the boys outside, I've been knitting and frogging, knitting and frogging. I should be working on the Starry Zetor, or Dad's second F-day sock but instead I cast on for a new project.

I originally cast on for Multnomah, but decided I didn't like it. So, I started playing around with a "Multnomah-inspired" design (basically feather and fan). After frogging several times, I think I'm finally happy.The yarn is STR Silkie Sock in "Walking on the Wild Tide". It was a gift from the lovely Jeanne, and I love the way it is knitting up.

Tomorrow is back to work and another hectic week, but I'll try to stay on top of the blog.