Yarn Binge

A local yarn store is going out of business. This makes me so sad. I will miss the place. Everything is 25% off at the moment, so I went yesterday. This is all I bought since I don't get paid again until next week . . . when I'll go back. It's a sickness. I can't stop buying yarn lately.

I'm hoping to cast on a lacy scarf today with the Alpaca Baby Twist. So yummy soft!

I also received some yarn in the mail that I bought from an etsy shop. I'm so addicted to etsy. Can't stay away.

Sock yarn. The colors are just gorgeous, and it's so soft. That will become socks in the future. Gotta find the right pattern.

I finished a hat I was working on. Winning Ticket Hat is the pattern. My friend Cathy wrote it. The hat was worn in a local lottery commercial during the holidays which spurred her to come up with a pattern for it. Isn't it cute? I just love it! It's made with Shepherd's Wool, color Milk Chocolate.

It's a lazy weekend around here. Had another snowstorm yesterday, so I had to dig out of that. My new cat had her surgery, spaying and front declaw. Come to find out, she was already spayed. There was no way to know that until they cut her open. No charge for it anyway. She's home now. Resting. With a lampshade on her head.

Poor kitty. She sure is happy to be home! She also has a pain medication patch. When I take the patch off, I'll take the lampshade off. She's doing well! I missed her while she was gone, and I'm happy she's back home too.

What's in your knitting bag?

When I came home from work the other day I found Pixie all cuddled up by my knitting bag, sleeping so soundly as if she owned it.

I let her stay there for a while as I wasn't going to be knitting at that moment. I didn't have the heart to disturb her. Cats rule the house around here.

Then when I got up this morning, this is what I found:

She made her way INTO the bag. Again, I couldn't disturb her for a while. So cozy. She must like that pink cloud in there that I'm knitting. I won't be able to show you the pink cloud for a long time. That's what I'm calling the project in that bag.

On the needles I also have a pair of mittens. Owl mittens. I'll show you next time. Purple owl mittens, really cute! What's on your needles?

I've been on a buying binge of yarn this week. I couldn't stop. I bought more SWS and ordered some yarn from an etsy shop. I must stop this.

That pink fabric is for a future sewing project. Now back to my knitting. I'm going to try and knit from the stash for a while and not buy any yarn. That resolution may last a week. Maybe.

Good Knitting Weather Today

It's rainy and dreary. A good evening to stay inside and knit! I started my two-color knitting class yesterday. I actually have homework, lol! No pictures to show yet as I'm still casting on. I've recently learned the long tail cast-on and I'm trying to get my stitches even, some have been tight, some too lose. Practice practice practice! So that will keep me busy tonight.

I recently bought this adoreable pattern from an etsy seller. I just fell in love with it, and had to have it!

Isn't it cute! I also got some yarn to knit the little critters with. It's really hard to find brown yarn in a worsted weight. I finally found some at Walmart.

Even my cat Pixie wants to play with yarn. She's always by me when I knit. You can see her guarding my yarn. That's my sock she's laying by. Some day I'll finish it.

So until next time, I'll be busy playing with yarn and sticks.

I had to have a home repair. Not a fun one. I had sagging gutters. But all fixed now and nice and snug. One repair down. Next: Replacing my leaky kitchen faucet. Oh the joys of home ownership!

Cider Mill Season

The weather has been just beautiful lately. Cool nights, warm days. It's just about that time of year to go to the cider mill. I'm feening for some cider and warm donuts. Yummy! And I want to get some apples and make some homemade applesauce. Love that stuff!

I made some more jammies. I'm addicted to jammies. I can't stop making them. The pink ones I made for my daughter and I took them to her when I went and saw her this past weekend. She loves them! Once she tried them on, they stayed on. She said they were very comfy! The other ones are for me.

I'm so glad she liked them!

I've also been working on another little ragdoll and finally got her finished. I love how she turned out! She's very pink. Another little cutie to add to my stuff around here.

I just have to share this next picture my son sent me. It's my son's cat, Smoky. My son is a big U of M Football fan and even the cat has to get in on it. Smoky doesn't look like he's enjoying this too much, lol!

The little sweater did not stay on him long. Long enough for a picture and he had had it, off it came!

Another Little Ornie

I got another ornie done. I cut the pattern out wrong on this one, forgot to add the quarter inch seams to the body so this one is skinny. I call it my anorexic ornie. I still think it's so cute! I'm going to send this one to my aunt. She just loves Christmas stuff.

Kind of hard to part with these little cuties.

Another three day weekend for me, yay! I'm going to Joann with my daughter tomorrow. Flannel prints are on sale, time to stock up for some more of those jammie pants. Too hot to even think about sewing them at the moment. But so fun to buy and look at fabric!

My Katie went back to the vet today for a recheck. Her skin problem has resolved, but now we have new issues. She can't keep food down. It's been really gross around here, I won't go into details. More medicine, and another shot, and another bite out of the wallet. Getting old sucks whether you're human or animal.

I found this photo of her on the computer. My daughter must have taken it. Look at those eyes!

I have a new cat

I've been wanting this cat pattern for a long time. Finally had my chance to get it. McCalls patterns were $1.99 over the weekend at Joann and I picked it up along with some fabric to make this cat. It was a lot of fun to make. I haven't made a stuffed animal in a long time.

That kept me busy over the weekend. Now you know what that mystery thing was on a previous post: The body.

I really haven't been in a knitting mood. It's been so hot I can't stand to touch wool. So I've been working on dishcloths. I can handle touching the cotton. This one is from the Monthly Knit-Along group on Yahoo. Love to Knit.

I'll get my knitting mojo back soon. I just don't know what to make yet, nothing is screaming at me to be knit. In the meantime, I'm very content making dishcloths. And sewing.

Fat Quarters and Other Things

How was your 4th of July? Mine was grand! I went to Joann yesterday with my sister and my daughter. We had such a grand old time! We were there for three hours! I think we could have stayed longer, maybe stayed the night if they would have allowed it! We had so much fun just taking our time and looking at stuff. We spent the most time in the fat quarters area. They were on sale for 99 cents. Had to stock up! Here is some of what I bought:

I seem to have gotten lots of purple. That big piece is flannel. Don't know what I'm going to do with that yet, but I wanted it. Maybe I'll make another project bag. Haven't made one of those in a while. I've been working on this today:

Can you guess what it is?

I need to take my kitty back to the vet this week for a recheck. She is doing so well. You can see where her fur is growing back on her back. She's doing real well. Just a couple more days of getting the antibiotics in her. She's onto me. I've been getting very creative with stuffing her pill in a treat, or in tuna, any way I can get it into her. The other cats love it. They get treats at the same time, but no pill.

Hope you're having a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I am!

Let's run some tests

My poor kitty has a skin condition. Some fur has fallen out and there's bare skin. The skin is all scaley, like dandruff. So I took her to a new to me vet. In her cat carrier. She doesn't like going in that thing, but she was cooperative this time.

The vet couldn't figure it out. I know it's some kind of allergy, she's had it before, just give her a steroid shot and she'll be fine. No the vet says, we need to run tests to figure it out. In comes the estimate. $390 in tests! Hello, I don't have that kind of money. This is a cat. I agreed to a blood test and the steroid shot and some antibiotics and some kind of vitamin for her old arthritic hips. That made the total $190. Good-bye almost paid off credit card balance. So we waited for test results before the shot.

When you're bored at the vet, just take pics with your cell phone, lol!

Whatever happened to the old days where you took your pet to the vet and the pet got a shot or a different food? All this technology stuff has gone overboard at times. Health/dental/vet costs are out of control. Take for instance going to the dentist. I needed to find a new dentist last year. Found one and went. Oh, they wanted to do this and that and scrape under the gums and replace fillings and drill and file teeth and whiten them and how about taking each tooth out and cleaning it and putting it back in, ok, they didn't say that part. But whatever happened to the dentist down the street? You went in, they cleaned your teeth; you got a cavity, they filled it. Now it seems like it's an all day procedure to get x-rays, and fancy panoramic x-rays, cleaning, plan of treatment, etc. And not cheap if you don't have dental insurance. My teeth are probably going to have to fall out of my head.

I think I need to go sew. At least I can do that and afford it. The laptop bag/carrier has made some progress. Hopefully it will soon be done.

I need to go on line and look at puffins or something pretty.

It's Cadbury Egg Season

mmmmmmmmm, I bought some Cadbury eggs today. I love the caramel ones. I could eat them by the dozen. No one saw me eat one so it doesn't have any calories.

I finished the knit-along beret. I like it. It fits. Since Easter is so early this year and it's still cold, I could use it for my Easter bonnet.

It was the Great Yarn Race at the end. Look how little yarn I have left. Phew, I made it with just a tiny bit to spare!

I had my little four year old grandson with me all afternoon. My daughter-in-law got into a car accident and I had the little guy here while she went to the hospital. She's OK, thank god. But, anyway, that little guy tired me out so much, lol! You forget what it's like to have a little one around. All that non-stop talking! But all in all, I did enjoy him. We had fun together. He's such a crack up. I love being a gramma!

And I just could not resist . . . when I was done with the beret, I had to use Pixie as a model again. She obviously did not like this.

More Jammies!

The sun is shining brightly today, the snow is melting, I can even see patches of grass, yay! We're not out of the woods yet, we could still get snow, but we sure needed this nice day. In the meantime my daughter is on spring break, out of town, in Florida. She sent me this picture of the beach . . . sigh

I could use a spring break. Instead, I've been home. Still sewing. I got the fishy flannel fabric sewed up. Very comfy! I wish I could wear these to work.

So, yep, I'm still having fun sewing. I ordered some Japanese fabric from some Etsy vendors. So cute! Can't wait until it comes. Not sure what I'll make with it, but I HAD to have it. I may make a laptop sleeve with some of it, not that I ever take my laptop anywhere, but I may some day.

While I was sewing yesterday, Katie thought she'd curl up in my sewing machine cover that I just threw on the floor. She fit into it nicely.

Cats. They don't leave anything alone.

I'm still working on the beret. Finally made some progress and I'm decreasing. I'm worried that I don't have enough yarn to finish, which will make me really sad. I hope I don't have to order more. So, now it's time for The Great Yarn Race. Hope I win!

Gorgeous Color!

Just look at that color will you! I had to go outside and take the picture in the snow as I knew the indoor lighting would not do it justice. I think the colorway is called Orchid. It's for the beret-along I'm going to do. I could stare at it all day. I also bought this from Sonny & Shear and she sent along a little sample yarn too. It's so cute! I'm loving the colors in that too.

And YES I am getting a tax refund, yay! I will be able to get a new little TV after all. No more smacking that piece of shit little TV any more. And I can get my kitchen faucet fixed, finally. I'm sure I'll find things to spend it on, get caught up on some bills, and stash some in the bank.

I'm hoping to get the scarf done tonight. I've got about 2 or 3 more inches to go, then add the fringe. Good mindless yarny activity while watching American Idol.

Here's my other cat, Mia. Just because I felt like taking her picture today.

Lazy Sunday

Meet Katie. She didn't want to be a knitwear model like Pixie was last week. She wanted nothing to do with this.

I finished the first Very Cabley Mitten. All went well. I love love love this color.

Mitten #2 is now on the needles. I plan to sit on the couch the rest of the afternoon and knit. I've got a pot roast in the oven, mmmmmmmmm!!! It should start to smell yummy in here pretty soon. A good day to stay inside, very dreary out. There was freezing rain this morning, but that's now stopped, it's been raining off and on.

Random Thoughts

Why can't we buy hamburger or hot dog buns singly? Buying the whole 8 pack is just too much. I hate freezing them, they just get that "taste", that icky freezer taste.

I think I'm spending too much time on Ravelry lately. Lots of bickering going on in some of the threads/boards. I'm staying out of that crap. Too negative. I'm just going to stay in my own little corner and quietly knit and avoid the controversy.

This is my 101st post. I can't believe I've had 101 things to post about, lol! Some days I'll just write about anything just because I feel like writing.

Tomorrow is another government holiday. No mail, no bills, no day off for me. Still gotta go to work.

And now it's time to go get comfy on the couch and play with my yarn. I hope you have a nice Sunday!

Pixie

Meet Pixie . . . she was my model last night.

I finished the beret, and since she was laying right next to me, I put it on her head, grabbed my handy dandy camera phone and snapped this picture. She didn't stay by me much longer after that.

All in all I'm pleased with how the beret turned out.

My daughter has a smaller head than me, so it should fit her just fine.

Now, onto a new project. Knitting from the stash of course.