Bearl-y there

Despite Tux's escape attempts, I did manage to finish up the bear square

It's really more of a rectangle though. It ended up blocking out nice and large - 15.5 inches wide by 18 inches tall - which means I need less squares than I planned to make a decent size blanket. I think I'm going to do six colourwork squares opposite six textured squares of some kind (not sure what yet.)

My colourwork still needs work, but this one isn't too bad. I won't be casting on for another one just yet... I'm itching to get to Sherlock... but as soon as Sherlock is done, I think I'll knit a fox!

Getting out (and a little about)

Spring has FINALLY sprung here in Southern Ontario. We had a nice sunny, a relatively warm weekend and the boys wanted nothing more than to be outside.

Tux convinced me I need some fresh air too, so I took my bear square out and sat on the back step while the boys soaked up the sun.

I didn't get as much done as I'd have liked to, because I had to keep stopping to retrieve a certain three-legged cat. The fence between our complex and the rear neighbour came down in a  wind storm in December, and it hasn't been put back up yet. Tux is VERY interested in what's beyond those cedars.

For once, Rocky was the good cat. He was content to sun bath in the bee garden (which is in need of a good cleaning out  - winter blew in a lot of leaves and dead stuff.

Game of knits

It's Game time! Cast on day for our Game of Thrones KAL over on Ravelry. The new season doesn't air until tonight, but I'm re-watching Season 4 to get ready for it.

And what am I working on?

A new beaded shawl design in Fluffy Cat Light (Colourway is Duchess). The beads a lovely frosted pink, with just a touch of iridescence - perfect for the yarn.

 The shawl will be a crescent, with the upper portion heavily beaded. This design is called Missandei. for Daenerys' scribe and handmaiden...

... a former slave from Naath  - the butterfly isle...

Oh - and I've made a little something more for the prize pack

Come and join the fun! The KAL runs for two months, so there's lots of time!

Suds

I've mentioned before that I have a great love of bath time. Well, bath time just got even better!

I've been admiring Araignee's soap making skills since she started, several months back. While she might not think they are are all fabulous - to me, each batch just seemed to get better and better!

A few weeks back, she admired some yarns I'd flashed, and I proposed a trade - hand-dyed yarn for hand-made soap! (Yet another reason to love the internets!)

The package she made me arrived this week and I was so giddy going through and checking out each bar.

There's great flavours like Buttermilk and Grapefruit, Sweet Almond and Chammomile, Goats Milk and Calendula, Orange with Shea Butter and Mango butter, Exfoliating Coffee, and Oatmeal, Apricot Sread and Coconut Oil! And they all look good enough to eat. In fact, when Dave glanced over, he thought I'd ordered some fudge!

And just look at her packaging

I had to open these bags to check out the soaps inside, but I've saved the flowers... I'm thinking they'd look just perfect on a knitted cloche!

She even knit up a little soap rug to go with them

(I opened that one first because it has sparkles in it!!!)

Now... bring on bath time!

And so it begins...

After two days of fog and cold rain, and spectacular thunderstorm last night, Mother Nature has finally blown some nicer weather our way.

It's still a little on the cool side (and windy as all get out), but it's mild enough to keep the doors open and the kids are staying out a little longer on their romps.

It also means another fine weather tradition is starting up again here at Chez Wandering Cat!

It's a little hard to see what Rocky is watching, just beyond the fence. but if you look a little closer....

Yup... it's wabbit season!

UPDATE

I put some carrots and cucumbers out for Bunbun so a few hours later he came over for a little snack

Both Rcoky and Peno went out to check things out. Peno, at least, seems to have forgotten her adventures with Bunbun last year. 

She was more interested in eating the grass between the patio stones.

Got Gecko?

I've mentioned that the recipient of the baby blanket lives in San Diego. And though we work over 4,000 km apart - we work quite closely together. We are in constant contact by email throughout the day.

A few weeks back, I got a frantic email from her. One of her cats had brought in a lizard. When she went to take it from him, she discovered it wasn't dead. It ran away and was now hiding under her furniture. We went back and forth in email, with her giving me a play-by-play of her plight to get it out from under the furniture, and get a hold of one of her friend's husbands to get it out of the house.

I mostly sat there and laughed - there's not much you can do to help when you're more than 4,000 km away. Eventually... once the lizard was corralled and safely out of the house, I asked her what kind of lizard it was. I'm completely fascinated... except for maybe an unlikely salamander - there's just not much of a chance of the cat's bringing in a lizard here...

My coworker replied... somewhat reluctantly... that it was just a harmless gecko. We had another good laugh over it, and I told her she should have kept it as a pet!

So, when I finished up the baby blanket, and decided I needed to send a little stuffie along with it (it looked so lonely there all by itself....), you know I just had to send a gecko!

I found a sweet little pattern on Ravelry, and had a few hours to spare on Sunday afternoon, so...

Instant Gecko! Okay, it wasn't quite instant, but it really only took two and a half hours. I used some scrap Big Cat.

The toughest part was his toes...

Fiddly - but well worth the effort. After all, toes are what make a gecko. The original pattern has just plain feet, but another Raveller had posted instructions on how to make gecko toes.

As you can see, he's just a wee little thing....

 But, the blankie no longer looks lonely!

I am Sherlocked

The bear square is almost off the needles, and instead of starting another square right away, I'm going to start a project I've wanted to do since I first laid eyes on it.

I've dyed up some Stray Cat in Dark Chocolate, and paired it with some naked skeins, and I'll soon be casting on for #Sherlocklives. The pattern is a freebie, but it's only got one size (36 inch bust) and I need a little more room on the upper decks... so it's going to take a little bit of finagling... but I'm looking forward to it. Stay tuned... the game is on!

(Oh, and if you're wondering about that mug... I got it here. Once shipping was factored in, it was a stupidly expensive mug.. but I had to have it. I really am Sherlocked!)