Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A New Currents

Listening: nothing right now

Watching: the news

Eating: supper - oven fried fish, mixed veggie medley

Drinking: ice coffee

Wearing: t-shirt, shorts, slippers 

Reading: knitting blogs

Weather: overcast, cloudy

Knitting: My Wish Shawl, plain vanilla socks, dish cloths

Spinning: "Mr. Attitude" fleece on my Minstrel wheel and Fibers4Ewe fiber blend on my Sonata wheel

Wanting:  to finish spinning my current bobbin on my wheel

Needingto pick up my meds at the drug store later

Enjoying: no pain in my mouth from dental issues.  :)

Looking Forward: next weekend's Happy Hands

Wondering: if the weather will co-operate for the weekend

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Full Bobbins and Needles, Feeling Better

First, let me say Happy Memorial Day to everyone.  It's important to remember the men and women who serve or have served to keep our country safe and help us to enjoy the freedoms we have.  Bless them all. 

Saturday was the monthly spin in at RI Handspun.  I brought a big bag of  "Mr. Attitude" fiber to spin.  Since I'm spinning thicker than usual, I wasn't sure how much I could accomplish and didn't want to run out.  I filled a bobbin and a half before switching to knit on the My Wish Shawl, which I'm knitting for the Apple Blossom and Ewe Shawl KAL. 

As of this past Sunday, May 27, I have 501 yards of bulky chain plied yarn toward my sweater.  I need about 1800 yards total.  This is for the Apple Blossom and Ewe Sweater SAL/KAL.  I've found my comfort zone and am spinning the thicker singles I need with no trouble now. The first bobbin had me really concentrating on it so I wouldn't do my default thinner singles.  The sweater pattern chosen is definitely the Top Down Swing Coat #603 by Deb Gemmell.

Yesterday, Monday, found me needing a break from all the gray fiber.  I put my hand in my "next" bin and pulled out Fat Cat Knits Polwarth in the colorway "Lilacs".  This is purples, greens, and yellows.  It's dyed in a sort of gradient.  There's purples at both ends with a little bit mixed in the greens and yellows.  It's just such a happy, Spring color combo.

While at the spin in, I also ordered the heddles for my table loom.  I'm looking forward to replacing the ones that came with my loom, which I found on Craigslist last year.  I can't wait to set it up on the deck under the awning, and do some weaving on it.  :)

Healthwise, I'm feeling better.  The dentist had to remove one of my implants temporarily in order to let my mouth heal and fight the infection which was returning again.  That has since gone away, and I'm finally on the mend. The diabetes numbers are better due to that, too. Everything else is good right now. 

The animals have adapted for the most part to the loss of Katy.  Megan still wakes up meowing and looking for her, but otherwise is fine.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012


Good Bye Sweet Katy


Today was a horrendous day for my family.  My little 15 year old diabetic cat has been having seizures off and on for a couple months.  This week the occurances have increased. Today, she started having them around 11:30a.m.  I called the vet and scheduled an appointment for her final trip on Friday.  Katy kept having little tremor type seizures and then two gran mal ones back to back before 1:30.  Pat and I decided she couldn't wait until Friday, so I called the vet back and took the appointment for tonight.

By the time I got her there, she had a total of eight gran mal and several small seizures.  Luckily, she didn't have any in the car on the way there.  Five minutes after getting in the office she seized and they rushed her into the back room for tranquilizing.  I held her in my arms, wrapped in a towel, until it was time for the procedure.  Katy was starting to be dehydrated and showing other signs of renal failure.  The diabetes and it's complications had taken a toll on her little body.  She was given the the final shot and crossed Rainbow Bridge at 7 p.m.

I'll miss my little girl, but, I know it's for the best.  She's not suffering any more. Now, she can play with Samson, Tiffany, Babs, and Hanna again.

This is a picture of Katy and Megan snoozing on the rocker they used to love to sit in together. Megan is 4 months younger than Katy. They had been together their entire lives.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

A Great Day For A Blocking Party and Photos

Yesterday, Saturday, was perfect weather for me to block some finished knitting as I had planned.  Unfortunately, I went to bed very late Friday night and therefore started my Saturday much later than planned.  This resulted in me skipping my dyeing day. 

Here's some of the items I blocked and took photos of yesterday.  The washcloths and socks photos are not blocked items.  I stuffed one of the socks with a hand towel to make it stand up for the picture.  I wanted to show the lace pattern more. 










Pat took the pictures of me with the Vittorio Shawlette.










The next picture is of me trying to show the length of the shawlette. It's about 72 inches long by 18 inches from top to bottom at the center.  Some of the points got folded under but they go the entire edge.


This is the start of the "My Wish" Shawl.  I wanted a neutral colored shawl so I'm using a skein of undyed yarn and a skein of one I dyed in shades of gray. I switched from the 16" needle to a 24" last night.  This part is a simple knit that is great for group knitting and chatting.


I didn't take a picture of the other washcloth and vanilla socks on the needles.  My yarn skeins still need their baths so no pics of them yet either.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Hello Sunshine! SAL/KALs in Progress

Today was a gorgeous, perfect day weather wise.  I just didn't have time to get my blocking done.  Plans are to be up bright and early and get my knitted goodies blocked on the deck where they can dry in the sunshine and breeze.  There's the Flamboyan which needs a gentle blocking, Vittorio which needs a regular blocking, and the Kandahar socks.

Hmmm.  I might even do a bit of dyeing and put that out there too.  I'll have to see about that one.  I've had a couple color combos running around in my head.

I've been spinning some of the Mr. Attitude fleece for a sweater. I'm getting the worsted/aran weight I want in a lovely natural, silver gray color.  It will bloom a bit when soaked and be perfect.  Sarah, of the Apple Blossom & Ewe Podcast, is having a SAL from May to November in which you spin for and knit a sweater of your choice.  Since I just picked up all my luscious fiber from Liz's mill, I was all set to participate in this.

Sarah is also having a KAL from May to August in which you knit a large shawl.  Requirements are that it be between 650 and 1500 yards. Last night found me finally starting "My Wish" by Laura Linneman.  I was going to attempt "In Dreams" by Susan Pandorf but don't think I could have finished it in time. 

Diane of the Knitabulls Podcast is having a washcloth KAL for the month of May. So far, I've knit four and plan to try to get at least two more done.

Come check out the links and SAL/KALs, and join us on Ravelry if you want.  There's still plenty of time to spin or knit for these items.

Monday, May 07, 2012

Re-Assessing Goals and Intentions For 2012

Remember New Year's Day and all the good intentions/goals I made?  Yeah, epic fail for most of them so far.  This is why I don't make resolutions.  Here's a re-cap.


1. Continue on my "get healthier" path.  This hasn't been so great due to the dental issues which caused other health issues.  The weight is doing a yo-yo thing but it's down a bit.

2. Work on a walking regime. Pat needs to set up my treadmill so I can use it in the basement.  Still waiting on the treadmill. Now that it's nicer out, I can try to walk in the neighborhood.

3. Spin/Knit down at least one bin of each in my stash.  This is has had a bit of accomplishment.  I've spun quite a bit so far this year with only a few new enhancements.  My fiber did come back from the mill last week, but since it was already here in fleece form, I'm not counting it as a new addition.  Yarn, umm, not so good. I went on the retreat, adding 5 skeins to the bin.  Three of them have already been used as well as quite a few stash skeins for projects.  The other two will be used next for the mitts, which was the retreat project.

4. Finish knitting my old UFO/WIP sweater from 2009, which I'm making with my handspun.  Not touched yet. :(

5. Finish spinning the yarn for my second handspun sweater and knit it.  Nothing done here either.  :(

6. Use my handspun either in knitting, crochet, felting, or weaving instead of just looking at it.  Accomplishment! I knit my Dragonfly Wings Shawl all with my handspun.

7. Use my spindles instead of letting them decorate the shelf in the hutch of my desk.  Small success here. I took a spindle on the retreat and did use it for a bit.  One other day was also spent with a spindle for a while.

8. Use both my looms which includes investing the time in proper lessons. Nope.  Nada.  I've watched a few instructional videos. There's a warp wound. Does that count?

I'll try to be better in the next few months in regards to meeting my goals.  Now that the warm weather is here, I think it will be easier to do many of them. 

How are you doing with your intentions/goals so far this year?