Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Kitty Sweater Cuteness!!!
Surprisingly, Sophee the WonderCat actually liked the little sweater vest I knit for her in three days so I'd have a picture to send to Crazy Aunt Purl's Sweepstakes, and did nothing but purr, purr, purr while wearing it. Only problem was that the damned thing was a bit long for her skinny body and she kept getting her hind feet caught in it. Ah well, that's what happens when you rush. Either way I think for a first pet garment it didn't come out so bad, but next time I'm knocking off two inches from the body, extending the length of the neck AND knitting some sleeves onto it. Definitely needs the sleeves.
Anyway! If you like the pattern go and check out Christine Landry's page because that's where I nabbed it from (thanks so much Christine for posting it, it's sooo cute!). Hers came out better than mind did though! ;)
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Rhinebeck Recap and UFOs
Reason #158 why work is bad, bad, bad for me. What the other 157 reasons are, well, I can't tell ya, but I'm absolutely positive that the above is in it's correct place on the list. Sure, I'll bitch about my ass getting wider, but not until after that bag of fat-free (but sugar-loaded) Circus Peanuts is empty. I don't even know why I like Circus Peanuts. I mean, think about it, they're not really peanut-flavored and they certainly weren't bought while on a fun trip to the circus...but they're sweet and well, I'll blame it on my mother since she used to feed us all kinds of old-fashioned, "old folks" candies growing up. :)
Ah...it's been an incredibly busy, busy week or so, but at last I finally seem to be able to actually sit down (for a little while anyway) and tap away on this damned keyboard! Flash back to last Saturday - Rhinebeck. The greatest yarn-gasm of all time...or at least it will remain as such until I find a BIGGER wool festival to go to. Hoo boy, I'm just lucky I only brought cash because otherwise, I'd pretty much be a starving fiber artist for the next year or so...just until I got caught up with my bills. ^_^ You know how it is. A big place just loaded with all kinds of fabulous, woolly wonders. It just kind of sucked because the shopping was semi-rushed. I went on a Yarn Safaris day trip, and as nice as it was to be surrounded by all those fantastic knitterly women, we were late leaving the bus station, late arriving at the fest...but somehow managed to leave the fest right on time. Boo. And on top of that, I missed the Ravelry meet up while there AND got screwed out of the after party because of that damned bus. Will I be taking the Yarn Safaris trip again? Probably not. I think next year we're planning on staying over night to get maximum spendability...which means I'd better start saving in January. After all, I plan on making my rather modest haul from this year look like a tiny insignificant smudge next year. :)
Anyway, on to the pictures!
Here we are, all on the bus at a positively unGodly hour in hopes of getting to the festival in enough to time to spend our hard earned cash on gorgeous, yummy fiber! Up top, you'll see my SIL Pam knitting maniacally away. Then, it's Pam again, with my MIL sitting right next to her and finally we have my OTHER SIL Allison, looking surprise because I sorta snapped the picture without fair warning. I know, I know...I'm naughty. The bus leaves the station at about 8 a.m...late, but at least we're on our way!
Finally! We arrive at the festival at about 11:30 a.m (almost an hour AFTER we were supposed to be there...thanks NY for not letting busses on the park way and making us travel that hour OUT of our way). Don't we look happy to be off the bus? Actually ths picture was taken as we were leaving the festival, but well, it seemed to fit here so I just stuck it in. >:)~ After all, I don't have a picture of us happily getting off the bus only to be told that we need to wait, again, so the lady can go and get the tickets. Ugh...frustrations abound. It was like a knit-tease having to stand there and watch everyone else just walk right on up to the ticket place. Oh well. On to the shopping.
First stop was of course, The Fold, so we could snag some STR. And snag some I did!
Colorways "Alina" and "Mesa"...respectively, though I'm not sure which is which. I just liked the bright, saturated hues. What can I say? I'm attracted to bright, happy colors! See?
Weehee, that's from Ancient Threads Farm...and I think it's Merino and Nylon blended together but once again I'm not sure. Anyway, I also managed to score a lovely spindle that I don't know how to use.
Some fruity smelling Merino/Tencel Roving:
Some Merino/Tussah Silk Roving that just smells edible in a farm-y way...if you can understand what I mean there:
And finally, I snagged a pair of Addi Turbos and some cobweb lace-weight stuff from Skaskas Designs.
It's called Heaven, is 55% Merino and 45% Tencel, and can be found at Yarn Place if you really, really want some. It's soooo soft and has an absolutely gorgeous sheen!
I also saw lots and lots of fiber-making critters and enjoyed snapping pictures of this rather angry looking alpaca.
Oh and while I was there, I decided to snap a few pictures of some BFL. :)
I just thought they were so frickin' cute! :) Makes me want to hug them and squeeze them and possibly take them home with me so I can let them get woolly and then shear them so I can spin the fleece...of course, there is that little matter of learning how to spin, right? Heh.
Anyhow, after all that fiber frenzy, I went home, and passed out for nearly 18 hours and then had to work the rest of the weekend, which kind of sucked...but at least I got to eat yummy junk-food and such. Oh! That reminds me, I didn't really have too much to show off at Rhinebeck knitwear wise, but I did knit these Fetching two days before the festival in hopes that it'd be cold enough to wear them. Of course...it wasn't, but still, I had them just in case! :)
They're actually the second pair I've made, but I don't have a picture of the first considering I gave them away as a kind of belated Xmas present. Still, they did look the same considering I made the first pair with the exact same yarn. Actually, I made both pairs from the same ball of yarn (Plymouth Encore Worste), which is cool. Aaaand...I finally finished my Dashing...or rather I finally took pictures of the finished Dashing. Hehehe.
Of course, as soon as I took the damned things off again, the wifey snatched 'em right up and put 'em back on. I swear, she's been wearing those things all the time, even when she's indoors. She calls them her "video-gaming gloves". Prevents the "Joy Stick Chill". She's so cute!
OH! You know how sometimes you knit something and then don't feel like seaming it when it's finished so you just kind of stick it in one of your totes and forget about it for a while? Well, last year I started knitting yet another Romantic Ruffles Purse, but once it was done I just kind of neglected to finish it. I'd actually thought I might have thrown it away, but sometime this past week I re-discovered it!
Excuse the semi-messy room, but I wanted to snap a quick pic of it before I felted it. It's kinda scary looking just lying there, but once it was felted it came out gorgeous!
I think I'm going to give it to my Auntie Sharon for Xmas. Awesome! Isn't it great when you just "find" UFO's and realizing that they're really not *that* unfinished? I was thrilled!
Damn it. Now the suckage is about to re-commence. I. Must.Work.
Boo.
Oh well, at least I'll be able to get more knitting done!
Friday, October 19, 2007
So, I've been reading a lot of other folks' blogs these days and well, I simply had to steal this super cute meme from my sister in law, Pam!
Readers, friends and anyone else who gives a damn I give you... my (wo)man
1. Who is your (wo) man? Stephanie
2. How long have you been together? We've been married for two years but have been together for a total of nine years.
3. How long did you date? We dated for seven years before we got married. :) We've had our issues but managed to iron them all out before we said "I do."
4. How old is your(wo) man? 26
5. Who eats more? I totally eat more than she does. I love food, couldn't live without it (except if I had a choice between food and yarn I'd pick yarn). She actually forgets to eat most of the time and if it wasn't for me constantly saying "Hey, babe...you want me to make you somethin' to EAT?" then she'd probably starve.
6. Who said “I love you” first? She did. She wrote me a letter informing me of the fact. It was pretty, had all sorts of scrawly handwriting on it and hearts and cute things like that and I ruined it by crying all over it.
7. Who is taller? She is. In fact, when I'm not wearing heels, I have to tilt my head back a little just to get a good look at her!
8. Who sings better? She does, totally. She's actually had over fourteen years of voice lessons and is both classically and jazz trained. She also sings a mean karaoke (ask Pam!!!).
9. Who is smarter? I always say she is, but she says I am, so basically it's a losing battle. I still say that she is though. :)
10. Whose temper is worse? Hmm...a little while ago I would have said hers, but lately her temper is next to nill so I'd have to say mine. Except I never really get aggravated with her any more...I just get aggravated with other people. She keeps insisting that I broke her "mad-o-meter" and I suspect that it's probably true. I can be aggravating at times.
11. Who does the laundry? We kind of do it together...but it's supposed to be my job. Most of the time I'm just too lazy to get away from my knitting long enough to do it so she ends up doing it. I'm a bad wifey!
12. Who takes out the garbage? She does. Ew.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I totally do. She's a lefty and therefore must sleep on the outside. Besides, who wants to sleep on the outside when she has to have an arctic blast fan constantly blowing in her face? Not me. I like my warmth thanks! Luckily, she produces body heat like a furnace so we make perfect bed mates!
14. Who pays the bills?She does. If I took care of it I'd spend all the bill money on yarn and say things like "Who needs a car anyway?" I'm so bad with money.
15. Who is better with the computer? She is. I'm lucky I can figure it out enough to check my e-mail. I'm what I like to call technologically impaired for the most part.
16. Who mows the lawn? It's her parents lawn (yep, I live with the in-laws), but she's been known to mow it a time or two.
17. Who cooks dinner? If I can actually manage to get the kitchen away from the MIL then I do. She burns water for cripes' sake.
18. Who drives when you are together? She does. I don't actually have my driver's license at the moment because I have no desire to learn how to drive.
19. Who pays when you go out? She does, because she says it's "ungentlemanly" to let me pay. Unless it's her birthday or somethin' like that. Then I start insistin' that I be the one to pay. Not that it matters. We have a joint account. :)
20. Who is most stubborn? Me, hands down. Even if I'm wrong I don't give up. I'm like a dog with it's favorite chew toy.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Most of the time it's me, because even if she's wrong she still manages to convince me she's not...the clever bugger.
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Hers. We live with them, how can we not see them?
23. Who kissed who first? She kissed me...and surprised the hell out of me. It kind of freaked me out at first so I wouldn't talk to her for two weeks afterwards. Then she convinced me to come over her house and the trickster cornered me in her room and gave me another helluva good smooch. Yep. I'm a sucker for those kisses.
24. Who asked who out? She did. In my mom's basement. It was so cute.
25. Who proposed? She did. I was getting out of the bath tub and then there she was down on one knee holding a ring box in her hand. I blubbered the whole time. I cry a lot...
26. Who is more sensitive? Me. One time, I was washing dishes and she had the termerity to sniff one of the dishes I'd just washed (just to see if it still smelled like the tuna that had been in it for a week or so) and I flipped out. "I can't believe you SNIFFED that DISH!!!! FINE! Wash them all yourself...you're going to sniff my dish...hunh." It was the stupidest fight ever.
27. Who has more friends? Since most of our friends are married or couples, I'd say we each have pretty much the same amount of friends currently. Used to be she had more than me though. She's a social butterfly and I'm a homebody.
28. Who has more siblings? We have the same amount of siblings. She has two older brothers, and I have two younger brothers.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Please, she totally does! C'mon. Just look at her!
Honestly, I lucked out when I managed to snag her. She spoils me rotten, and loves to do it. Lets me buy all the yarn that we can afford (even if she fully realizes that for the most part, the kind of yarn I buy is pretty pricey), and absolutely adores the fact that I can be pretty high maintenance. Others have said that we are "perfectly matched" and I believe that to be the complete and utter truth. Further more she's the love of my life, and makes me smile and laugh like nobody else can...sometimes even when I don't want to!
Got someone special in your life? Because if you do, then consider this a tag thrown in your direction. I'm nosy, so I wanna know! :)
I love you baby! <3
Friday, October 12, 2007
Dexter is IN the building...
Yeah, it's going to be HUGE on him, which in a way, is kind of good. Maybe he'll get a couple of winters' worth of wear out of it. I mean, I knew he was a peanut...I just didn't figure he was THAT much of a peanut. Hehehe. Still, it's coming out cute though and I think the colors in it really make his pretty eyes pop out. He looks so happy to be wearing it too...hehehe. Next time, I might take the time to thread it on extra yarn though. It might hang better. Oh well, you live you learn, right? And if I have to wait for Dexter, at least I don't have to wait for my yarn. I got it in the mail a couple of days ago, all in a nice, sealed bag which I promptly tore open and discarded so that I could touch it's shiny, softy-ness...and oh it was soft and shiny, believe me there! I'm hoping it'll be enough for the sweater...but I've been told that I might need more but since I'm going to be altering the pattern slightly to suit my figure better I might not need the same amount. :)
And there it all is...a future Buttony! Weehee, I can't wait. I might just start it tonight, but I don't know. I still have a LOT of Christmas knitting not to mention some test knitting to get to as well so it may have to wait. I was wrong about the color though...for some reason I thought there was green in it and well, I must be color blind or something. Either that or my eyes were just plain tired. I dunno, but whatever it is I find that it's actually a grey with a misty bluish tint...kind of like a faded Confederate Blue I guess. I love it though and it'll look so great with the buttons I bought for it. It deserves these buttons because the color just kind of reminds me of a misty, sprinkly day in Ireland (or at least what I'd imagine such a day would look like).
Aren't they great? I love 'em! I know, I know...it seems that I don't have enough for the WHOLE sweater and that some of them are much smaller than the others, but never fear my faithful knitters. There is a reason behind my madness and I just choose not to divulge it because I want my alterations to be a *gasp* surprise! Or at least a surprise as I knit it...because naturally I will be showing a few pictures of it here and there!
Actually, so far, the month of October has been a good knitting month. Very good actually. Besides from the sweater, and my Jaywalkers. I re-cast on my Branching Out that I had to frog after I seriously screwed it up. That's what knitting lace and trying to pay attention to a conversation gets you, apparently. By the time I got back to it I didn't even remember what part of the pattern I was on it was that bad! Which kind of sucked, really because I'd gotten pretty far on it. Still...this is what I've got so far...
Not much I know, but better than a week ago when all I had was one messy looking skein of yarn that was...thankfully...fixed by my oh so loving wife!
Can't you just see the love? That's her "Why am I doing this again?" face! Hehehe. She makes me laugh. Still, the way I figure it, I'm lucky to have her. Any spouse willing to actually wind yarn into a workable center-pull cake for you is definitely worth having! :)
Also this month seems to have pushed into me the yen for actually trying to design a pair of socks, so I picked up my Big Book of Stitch Patterns and thumbed through it, landing on one that I thought was pretty neat and started from there. I picked bright colors to make me think of warm sunny days rather than icy-cold winter nights and cast on and voila! I discovered that it works! It might work better on solid yarn, or a yarn with a more even and maybe even subtle stripe, but well, I think it's coming along pretty well for my first ever custom-made sock. Of course I only have an inch of the leg done so...it's early times yet. But if I like it enough when it's finished and I have enough interest in the pattern I might try to write it down in some form of organized pattern and post it here for other knitters' freebie enjoyment. I like it right now, because it's similar to the Jaywalker pattern but it has a bit more stretch to it. 66 stitches and it fits around my calf comfortably!
You probably can't see the pattern, but once I have more of it done I'll try it on so anyone who likes can get a better look! I used my Knit Picks Memories for this...in the colorway known as "Hawaii". Nice and bright and beautiful and I think they captured the colors on that island nicely. Too bad Knit Picks doesn't sell the yarn any more. It's gorgeous to work with! I haven't named them yet, but I'm toying with "Lucky" since I'll be lucky if I finish it right and the pattern is horse-shoe-ish. :)
I managed to get a few more rows on my Jaywalker as well but not enough to document. I'm knitting a lot of socks it seems. Then again, October's a good month for socks. Very good actually. :) In fact, I think I'm gonna put my feet up and get to knitting. Like I said...lots and lots of Xmas and test knitting. :)
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Jaywalker of Intense Dislike!
I know it's not much, but I do love the way the colors knit up. Soooo happy and bright and pretty. Hehehe. Ah well. I really can't wait to go to Rhinebeck though. I'm counting down the days...I'm so excited about it that I couldn't even thoroughly enjoy my baked stuffed lobster dinner (provided by my wonderful MIL whom I love to pieces and is the best cook in the WHOLE world). You know how it gets, the mind wanders and gradually it wanders to yarn and then wool and then well, before you know it all you can think about it is all that money you're going to spend! So excited, can't wait, and yes, I know it's ridiculous, but I can't help it. An unrepentant yarnoholic like me just *needs* to get her fix in and a wool festival's the perfect place to do it. Is anyone else out there in Blogland going? I'd love to meet up!
Oh, and I know it's a strange little twist of topic but it kind of goes along with the shopping part of buying yarn...so yeah, that's my rationale. I was in the grocery store yesterday, minding my own business. I was just there buying the stuff I'd need to make strawberry shortcake - YUM - when I notice that as I'm walking down the bakery aisle this guy is staring at me...and not even bothering to try and hide it. So I'm like "Okay...just keep on walkin' Cadence and don't even meet his eyes for one second" and I keep on walking, stopping here and there to grab whatever else I need, and sure as anything, that guy follows behind me, trying to be all clever and stuff by trying to look like he's shopping too. At this point, yes, I'm getting very creeped out, but I keep shopping hoping that he'll eventually just leave me the hell alone. Of course, I had to stop to get the whipped cream though and when I turned around, well, there he friggin' well was, standing right behind me so I'd *have* to make eye contact, which of course I did, and I even smiled a little (just to be polite) and gave him a little nod before trying to walk away. He just kind of stood there and started to engage me in a little conversation.
Strange Guy: "Hey..."
Me: "Hi." (saying this and offering a little half-hearted wave)
Strange Guy: "What's your name?"
Me: "Uh...excuse me?" (I just wasn't sure I'd heard him because he said it kind of softly)
Strange Guy: "Your name...what's your name?"
Me: "Oh...uhm, Cadence."
Strange guy: (Offering his hand for a handshake) "It's nice to meet you..."
Me: "Right." (Kind of scared, but shaking his hand anyway while I look around in hopes of spying my wife...no luck there either.)
Strange guy: "Well, you're a very attractive woman Cadence..."
And mind you at this point I'm about ready to run and hide because he's giving me this weird, intense I-want-to-do-you-up-against-the-Rice-Krispies look. Trust me, this is a scary look coming from a very tall guy that you have to look up at just to get a good look at him. So I just smile, and finish off the conversation.
Me: "Oh, well...thanks, but I'm married. And a lesbian."
And then I proceed to walk very quickly away, thinking that I might just have to kill Stephanie for letting me walk around a grocery store by myself. Of all places to try and pick up a girl, I would not expect grocery stores to be a good spot, but well, I asked one of my straight guy friends if this was normal and he said that actually, grocery stores were, in fact, quite a good place to pick up girls. So beware my friends, of the man standing in the produce section looking at the eggplants with some confusion and scratching his head. He just might be one of those predators looking for a good-time girl to share pasta with for a couple of nights a week! ;) He says that actually he used to make a "killing" at Stop & Shop (of all the friggin' places!) back when he was single! Scary thought. Anyways, that last part may have been overkill now that I think of it (even if they're both true), but at least it made him go away. Then again, I'm sure there are some guys that would hear the word 'lesbian' and be like "Well, that's great, can I watch?" Dirty pervies. Okay, I soooo have to go now so I can hurry up and get to the leg of my sock!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
It was only a short vacation, I swear!
Anyway, so after I was done watching both seasons of Grey's, I needed something to do and I guess I needed a small break from the needle, so I snagged my wife's copy of Jeff Lindsay's "Darkly Dreaming Dexter", which I quickly devoured. So quickly that I *had* to go out and get the second book and read that one as well. Really, my "Dexter" addiction can only be blamed on two people, my friend Tiff and naturally, my crazy wife, of course!
See, she really IS crazy. And yes, that is a whole lotta Kale that she's wearing and uhm, playing with. She's strange. But I love her anyway. :) Oh! Speaking of addictions...I'm now on Ravelry so if anybody that reads this is on it, look me up! Anyhow, please excuse the blurriness of the Cap'n Kale picture, but I was laughing and well needless to say the camera shook and yeah, the blurriness occured. I suppose I have her to thank because as soon as I finished reading those books I picked up the needle again. No, I have not re-started my Branching Out (though I do plan on starting it up again sometime this week!), but I did start up a pair of Dashing so that I could properly thank my wife for providing yet more books that I still need to buy(as soon as they come out of course, we have the third one...but I'm putting it off so I can concentrate on my knitting). I used two skeins of Plymouth Yarns' Royal Llama Silk, and the result was a pair of the warmest and softest fingerless mitts I've ever tried on. I love them so much (especially because of the length of the arm itself) that I might have to snag more of it to make myself a pair sometime soon! I will warn you though, while the yarn does have some stretch to it, it's not a lot (or at least not in my opinion), so if you're using it for things that might have to stretch I'd be careful of the size of the garment being made. I have a few pictures of the gloves taken while the second one was still in the making. I've since finished them, but I've yet to take a picture of the finished product but when I do, I'll post it!
And...here's a close-up of the cable just because I think it's pretty!
I wicked love Cables right now...a lot actually. But the problem with them is that if there's too many of them on a sweater I tend to find them kind of fussy. Oh well, at least I can knit cable-loaded stuff for other people! :)
So, since I've finished with that, naturally I had to find another project and well, what I wound up starting was a Top Down for my friend's son Jeffrey. He's just the cutest kid ever and well, he deserves a cute lil' sweater so I went to my LYS and bought up some Classic Worsted
Long Print and started it up. I've only been working on it for a couple of days but I have almost the whole yoke done! It's going really fast and well, it's lots of fun to mindlessly knit it (a great project while watching "Dexter"!), not to mention the yarn's super soft and stripes up so beautifully!
I chose the bright greenish yellow and blue striped pattern because well, he's the kind of kid who deserves bright colors. I can't wait till it's done! I think I'll knit him a hit to go with it too...hrm.
Anyway, on other news fronts, a few weeks ago my wife found a little surprise in our basement. It's strange really, I didn't realise that thirteen year old cats could still get pregnant never mind give birth, but well, I guess I have to believe it because it happened. Why was the kitten in the basement you may ask? Well, Sophee (a gorgeous angora/calico mix) is the kind of cat that chews wires, scratches furniture and generally finds every which way to make herself a nuisance so...she lives in the basement and helps rid the househould of any mousies that may try to come in for the winter. She's really good at it. There's an orange tomcat that keeps coming around the yard, and we even found him in the basement with Sophee on one occasion, so I'm guessing that's probably when the cat got knocked up. Either way, by the time we found the kitten it had to have been at least four weeks old, and well, it's the cutest little orange and white fluffball ever seen! I mean, like calendar cute! See?
Super cute! We think he's a boy so we've named him Milo...which I think suits him perfectly. Right now he's a little people-shy but we're getting him out of that phase quickly so we can move him upstairs as soon as possible. There's nothing I like better than knitting with a cat curled up behind me. Somehow though, I don't think this kitty is the curling up kind. More like the play with the ball of yarn until it's spread all around your living room like a parade went through it kind of kitteh. Here's a few more pics of him!
That last picture makes me laugh simply because it looks like he's confused or something. Like he's saying "I'se nawt a shoulder kitteh...how'd I git here?" Too cute. And he's so soft and fluffy like his momma!
Okay, back to yarn. So, I was online, desperately searching for just the right yarn for the Buttony Sweater I plan on making soon, and wound up scoring a really good deal for some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky! A sealed bag of ten 50 g balls for only thirty-seven dollars! Talk about bargain. I mean, it's usually 8-10 dollars a SKEIN, so this was a complete and total blessing. Thank God for Ebay I tell ya. Now all I have to do is wait...which is my least favorite part of any order-by-mail transaction. It almost never arrives fast enough for a yarnoholic like myself. Still, I have other projects to keep me busy...yes, even that damned Branching Out. I don't know what it is about that lace pattern that eludes me. I'll have a good section going, and then whoops! I've stopped paying attention and I've lost my place in the pattern! This time, all I can say is LIFELINE! I'm gonna put one of those suckers in for every section I complete so that even if I do get lost I can try to save it rather than frog it! Anyway, once I get my yarn I'll start looking at buttons. I'm thinking something all Celtic Knotwork-y. Once I start it up I'll be posting pictures, but until then...I think I need to get off my knitty ass and get crackin' on something besides Jeffrey's sweater. I'm thinking socks so that I can put off the Branching Out a little longer. Heheh. :)