Spring funk

 I've been in a bit of a funk this weekend, so on the advice of my mother, I took the boys outside for a little sunshine.... and promptly got stung.

Actually - I think it's a bite, not a sting - I can't find a stinger and there was no dead bee hanging around. Whatever it was, it flew right up my skirt and got me on the inside of my thigh, just above my knee. Ow!

While I was nursing my hurt, the boys were munching and exploring.

I love the look on his face - it's kind of like he got caught in the cookie jar.
Rocky wasn't nearly as nervous as he usually is.

 

I think he does better off-leash.

The wild violets have carpeted the side of my lawn again.

The maintenance guy mowed them all down earlier this week, but within just a few days, they were blooming again. When I leave this place, I'm going to dig up a bunch for my next garden.

And my lone peony bush is getting ready to bloom.

Last year that corner of the garden got taken over by and evil tree-like weed. I didn't get it out until later in the summer, so the peony didn't get a chance to bloom. It has two heads on it right now. Hopefully there will be more.

This weekend would have been a good day to tackle the annual hack and slash on the wild roses, but I just didn't have the energy.

Instead, I mostly watched movies and knit.

These are the socks I mentioned last post. My blockers aren't wide enough to stretch out and show the pattern - but that long column is a wave that ripples down the entire leg and foot. This is my latest design, and they will be socks for my Dad for father's day.

I'm using Alley Cat Falkland (colour is Armada) and I love it. I think it's my new favourite sock yarn. It's got a really nice squish to it.

I also started a lace-weight project (one of my stash-down goals)

This ball of Silky Alpaca (Classic Elite) was in my goodie bag from knit camp. I'm making the Jeweled cowl and using coordinating sky blue and emerald beads. It's looking very pretty, but I'm finding the lace weight pretty tedious. I think I'll stick to fingering after this.

So, how was your weekend?

Button up!

Mom and I decided against going to the Frolic this year. Both of us are on a stash down, and neither of us has knit any of the yarn we bought there last year... but when Minding my own Stitches posted about some great buttons she picked up there this year...


Well I just had to follow that link down the rabbit hole...

I ordered these birch buttons last weekend and they arrived today. They are gorgeous! And they even smell good. The company is called The Woodlot, and they are located right here in Ontario (just a few hours drive from home).

Not only are the buttons beautiful, but I love the fact that they are homegrown. I think I might design a cardigan just for these buttons!

The same day, I popped onto ebay - I've been in search of some sort of closure for my  Ladyslipper vest I'm not doing button holes, so I needed some sort of toggle or frogs.

I came across these...

They are pewter clasps for jewelry - but I think they are going to be perfect for the vest, which has a lovely leaf motif.

I will take pictures to show you soon, but lately I've been focused on a new pair of socks. They are knit with our Alley Cat Falkland and I think it might be my new favourite sock yarn... but more on that in another post!.

Surmount the Stash - April Round Up

Looking back, April wasn't near as productive as I thought. That appears to be because some of the things I was working on aren't finished yet, so they will have to be part of another month's round up.

It still wasn't bad though. Naturally, my biggest accomplishment was my lace vest.

It used up almost two skeins (approx 855 yards) that have been in my stash for a couple of years now. Kudos to me!

Next would be my newest design, a pair of lace socks that I just finished last night.

These used a skein of Alley Cat BFL that's been kicking around for a few months, at approx 360 yards. (Pattern and better pics coming soon)

The only other project that got completed this month was Octavius Bob - the Octopus I knit for my coworker (he just got his name today!)

I will admit,  I dyed up the Fat Cat just for this project, but as it's Wandering Cat Yarn, it doesn't count as stash enhancement! I did use leftover Tabby Cat for the underside, and more of the Fat Cat will get used up on another Octopus requested by another friend. Octavius Bob brings my used yardage up by another 100 yards.

My total this month is 1,315 yards knit. That makes it 4,294 yards knit this year so far!

If you look at this from my goal perspective, I've made some good progress too.

1)Knit four sweaters this year
As far as I'm concerned, the vest is cardigan-like enough to count as a sweater. So that puts my count at two completed (You may recall the Lore Hoodie as sweater number 1)! Woohoo

2) Knit 10 pairs of socks (5 for family, 5 for me!)
Theses socks make pair number 2! So I have 4 left for family, and 4 for me!

Not too shabby after all!
 

A day at the studio

It's been a few weeks, but I finally got back in the studio and did some dyeing today.

What you see there is  20 skein of Slinky Cat and Alley Cat BFL. Quite a productive day if I do say so myself.

Afterwards, Mom helped me finally get a few decent shots of my Bugga vest. Naturally, Ladydog had to help...

The pattern is the Vintage Vest. It has a really simple construction, and the lace pattern is very easy. A good pattern for  a lace beginner. The only mods I made to this pattern were:

1) The yarn - the pattern calls for lace weight, I used fingering and went down a size to accommodate the thicker yarn.

2) The pattern has you doing the front bands and neck bands separately. But with a few cleverly placed increases and decreases, I was able to do the bands all at one. I think it makes for a little more polished finish.

A little about the yarn. As mentioned before, it's Skinny Bugga - a nice MCN blend. The colour is Oaktimberworm and as you can see, it's a lovely brown with touches of green, blue and rust. This is going to go so well with so many things in my wardrobe! I still have one skein left and I'm debating... socks for me... or socks for Dave....?

Finally Friday

My back is almost back to normal, so it looks like Monday, I'll be a commuter once again.

I always enjoy working from home, but it does have it's disadvantages. I miss my cubicle-mate. She's always good for a laugh, to bounce ideas off, and just general good company.

 At home I can bounce ideas off the cats, but the response is usually the same.

"What care I for the flow of that sentence?"

or

 

"I eat random crud off the floor, and  you want my opinion?" 

or

 "Not now, can't you see we have some very important napping to do?"

or

 

"What they said"

You don't really realize just how much your cats sleep until you're home with them for a full week. Note to self: Reincarnation as a cat is a must. 

When they aren't sleeping they are, naturally, far more disruptive than that loud guy at that everyone has at the office. Their only saving grace is that they're cuter, because at home I get disrupted by

"What are you eating? Can I have some? Just a little piece? Seriously, just drop a crumb on the floor. No one will know. C'mon, I'm eleventy-billion years old. Take pity on me. This could be my last snack... like I mean EVER."

or

 "C'mon.... play with me. You need a break anyway. C'mon, stealth kitty is your favourite game.....No? Fine, next bathroom break, stealth kitty is going to break cover and run right in frontof you as you head up the stairs... see how fun  work will be with a cracked noggin."

or

 

"Yeah, I'm sitting on your stuff. You don't need this do you? Seriously, I don't think you need this.I think you put it here just for me. I can't see any other purpose for it than for my pleasure.Speaking of my pleasure - I want a belly rub and some fresh tuna - stat!"

Okay... yeah.. I'm ready to head back to the office...

A little lace to lighten your mood

Thanks for the well-wishes . I'm still working from home because my back still isn't up to snuff - but it's better.

After I packed my work away for the day, I went on a mini cleaning rampage. I focused on my knitting station/coffee table and frogged some UFOs, organized some patterns, and rediscovered a design I had started a few months ago...

It was only a few repeats from being done, so I put my nose to the grindstone and finished it off. The pattern needs a few minor tweaks, and of course the second sock knit - but I'm quite pleased with it. It's very light and lacey - the perfect spring/summer sock.

This one is knit in our Alley Cat BFL - it's not my favourite, but it's still a good sturdy sock yarn, and washes up beautifully!

I've got a few more octopi to knit for friends (a couple of requests came in after I posted the last on Facebook), but I expect I should get the second sock done pretty quick. It's one of those patterns you seem to breeze through, because you just want to knit a few more rows to get to the end of the lace repeat.

An octopus a day....

...keeps Valerie entertained when she's stuck on the couch. Why was she stuck on the couch, you ask? Because she spent an hour on Saturday playing Cinderella.

While she does have sparkly clean floors now, she was rather hoping to be rewarded with a wicked pair of shoes, instead she got a spine that decided to pretend it's an unbendable  iron rod instead.

C'est la vie. It gave me time to knit up this little cutie

He's knit in Fat Cat (Pansied) with some leftover Tabby Cat (Tangerine Dream) for his underside. My co-worker asked me to knit her an octopus a few weeks ago - and well, here he is.

This is of course, another great pattern from Amigurumi genius Hansi Singh. This is the second octopus I've made, and I absolutely love how they turn out!

In other news, I have frogged Skew and set the aside the yarn for now. I flirted a little with my Cheshire socks, and some new Camel/Silk yarn (before you freak out and mention my stash down - it's technically Wandering Cat Yarn and I'm testing it to see if it's worth carrying in the shop) before settling down and knitting the octopus.

I think I needed a quick-finish project to clean my palette - now it's back to some WIPs..... maybe....