splityarn

bow to your cute overlord

Ahh, kittens. Bundles of manic energy one minute and crashed out asleep the next. Teek came home quite sick but has been recovering and regaining energy every day. He's gone from the at-death's-door, sneezing blood, sleeping kitten to the "terrorize my new sisters and no I don't want to take my meds and I have toys to play with kthxbye" kitten in under a week. He's still getting some time with the nebulizer, but we're finished with the antibiotics thankfully.

I'm flying to Vancouver this afternoon so I won't be seeing this little guy for a couple weeks. He might be all grown up by the time I get back. Wah! Yeah, well, not really, but behold! The Keymaster in all his cuteness. No kitten pictures for at least 10 days.

Now to plan what knitting projects I'm taking with me. Socks? New Husband sweater? Other socks? I know I'll change my mind about 80 times before I leave the house.

seventh socks finished

Pattern: Mona Schmidt's Embossed Leaves Socks from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM
Needles: Size 1.5 US (2.5mm) KnitPicks DPNs
Started: April 4th, 2007
Finished: August 18th, 2007
Final Verdict: Sorta meh. The cast-on used in the pattern is weird and non-stretchy and created a wobbly ridge that irks me. After you turn the heel you're supposed to break the yarn and start knitting one needle back and that seemed goofy to me too. Why create another end to weave in if you don't have to? I did it on one sock to determine if there was a benefit to doing it, but I didn't find one.

I like the lace pattern, but if I were to knit these again, I'd do a regular cast on, non-twisted rib cuffs and an eye of partridge heel. If I'd modified the pattern to suit what I like in socks, these wouldn't have taken 5 months to knit up. Should have listened to my gut.

Ravelry project details

and now we are five

We have been living with two kitties in our home. Indy is a mild mannered, quietly charming orange cat. Adopted and returned to the pet store 3 times before she came into my life 10 years ago, she's a sweet lil' kit. Grew up to be a lot like me. Polite, assertive and cute, but you never know what she's thinking (cheeky too.) Sometimes a little too smart for her own good, she can open a door on her own, never questioning which way it swings.

Bicoe on the other hand is beautiful, talkative and immediately endearing. She is the first cat to win over guests in the house. Always afoot, always chatty, always present. Full to the brim with personality, but not so smart. She's socially awkward with other cats and we're never sure if she is ready to attack or just doesn't know how to say I love you. The previous owners of our house abandoned her (don't get me started) but she was a welcome addition to our family.

The two have never become friends. Bicoe would love to get to know Indy, but Indy hates her with the same passion that she loves tuna juice. When we go on holidays, we can't leave them in the house alone together. One has to go to "camp" at the kennel, the other stays in the house alone.

To bridge the gap between the two, we've adopted a wee boy kitten we've named Teek. (Short for The Keymaster) The hope is that Bicoe can rip around the house with him and expend some energy while Indy will have a companion to keep her company when we're at work. We're taking the introductions slowly. Bicoe is becoming familiar with his smell on blankets and shirts, while Indy has already met him in person a couple times. We’ve loaded the house with Feliway diffusers, but I'm wondering if anybody has any other magic tricks to share to make the transition easier.

hanami is finished

I realized today that I haven't had a knitting FO since May. Time to fix that.

The Project Details

Pattern: Hanami Stole by Melanie Gibbons, Pink Lemon Twist

Yarn: 2 skeins of Handmaiden Seasilk in Ebony bought on eBay. I wish I'd had the option to buy this in person as the two skeins are different colours. The basketweave section has a pale pink running through it and the blossoms ended up with more orange than pink. If I'd noticed it sooner, I would have knit them with opposite skeins.

Needles: Size 4 US Addi Lace Turbos.

Started: May 21st, 2007
Finished: August 8th, 2007

Modifications: I only knit 4 repeats of Chart G, I skipped the ruffled edge and finished with a beaded bind off instead.

Final Verdict: The yarn substitution worked out perfectly. It has a beautiful drape, sheen and crispness to the stitches. Blocked out it is 21" x 70". The only drawback to the Seasilk is the smell. It's faint, but if the project spent any amount of time in a ziploc (for travel) the silk smell hit you full on.

To see the full length flat pic, click here.

amidst the chaos

You'd think that with all the airplane knitting time I had last month that I'd have made faster progress on Hanami. Throw in a weekend knitting retreat and it should be blocking right now, right? Yeah. Well. Not so much. I purposely put Hanami in the checked luggage to force myself to finish a much-delayed sock. The damn sock is still on the needles, but I have a full sudoku book. As for the knitting retreat, I made better progress on my liver degeneration than I did on Hanami.

This week I've been concentrating on trying to get this stole off the needles. I'm two dozen rows away from completion which means it could be finished in time for my next trip to Vancouver at the end of the month. Should be perfect timing as that's where its intended recipient lives. Did I mention I'm giving it away? I'm waffling about it, but I think it's the right thing to do.

the best kind of WIP

I've had a post in draft for months now about our move to Minnesota. I'm not getting any further on that post, so I'm just going to pull the tape off. We're not going. It's a long story for another time, but the move didn't work out. I'm bummed that we won't be living downtown in a walkable city but I can console myself with our finished house renovations and the knowledge that my knitting girls are still just around the corner. They’re always ready for a glass of wine at the drop of a needle. 

One of the hardest parts about leaving Austin was going to be leaving my knitters. Our little group of 7 women was at the top of the list of reasons to stay in Texas. Friendships like these don't come along every day and were worth considering. Thankfully I know I'm not alone in those feelings, because this weekend at our knitting retreat, the ladies presented me with the most incredible of knitterly gifts; handknits.

Back in the winter while I was preparing our house for moving and sale, my knitterly chicas were furiously working on squares of Lizard Ridge. That stack you see is enough for an entire afghan except for one solitary square. One square to be knit by me. It wasn't supposed to work out that way; they wanted to knit and seam the whole thing, but you know what? I'm happy that they were short one. It makes me feel that our friendship is stronger knowing that I'm contributing to it as well.

Thank you my crazy ladies. Jene, Snowden, Amy, Abbe, Kristin, and Meg, I love you and I'm happy that I didn't have to leave you after all.