Finally.. a cat success

Now over the years, I've made my girls a kitty pi bed, multiple felted toys (with catnip in them), and little felted rugs for them to play with. They've turned their noses up at it ALL.. until today!

Warning: pic heavy


This is the toy I'm trying to replace. I bought it well over three years ago now, and haven't been able to find another one since. This is Seasa's favorite toy. I've taken to hiding it, since it's so beat up and she will sit in front of the closet and meow for me to come play with her. You swing this around, and she'll do backflips to try and get to it.


As you can see, Seasa has really loved this toy to death. The eyes are once again falling off, they've only been repaired about ten times already.

When she finally gets a hold of it, she likes to chew on it. There are three holes on this side, and two on the other. I just repaired a few other holes on the body a month or so ago.

A comparison of the two together. The new one is a bit heavier, and the legs didn't quite turn out how I would have liked.. but on the plus side Opal isn't scared of this one and is currently playing with it as I type.

A closer view. Basically just two sock toes, stuffed with some wool. I will admit to adding catnip. The legs are crochet chains. I originally braided them, but it was too flimsy... this is almost too stiff. I may make another one, but it was sport weight wool and I made it on zeros. I have the black and blue mark on my finger to prove it!




A few pictures of Seasa playing with her new toy. This is a play with mommy toy, hence my blue slippered feet in the pictures.

Rhinebeck pr0n

I didn't bring a lot home from Rhinebeck this year, but we'll see how long the yarn pr0n will last.

First up: Ellen's Half Pint Farm Bamboo/Merino Sock yarn.





The shot above is the wallpaper on my computer screen right now. If you think it's pretty here, you should see it across a 13 inch screen :)



Mom liked the feel of this stuff so much she even bought a skein. Now I have to go over there and teach her to make socks!

I've never used a bamboo blend for socks. Any tricks I should know?

WIP Wednesday

I don't think there will be a WIP post today. First off, it's dark, gloomy and wet in Philly today. We're even driving the 7 blocks to clinical instead of walking. Second, the only things I'm working on currently are either surprises or gifts, so can't show those.





So, I'll leave you with a picture of Opal who is getting tired of being told to "look at the camera"

Rhinebeck Haul

Okay, I know you've all been waiting for the goodies, so here they are. I was very good this year, and didn't buy too much. Most of the impulse buying was on Sunday when I could actually see into the booths.

First stop: Brooks Farm Yarns. I love this place, and usually spend well over $100 at this booth alone. This year, I got out for about $40. There's a skein of the most lovely charcoal gray Acero for dad's socks. I love it when I find the perfect yarn! Then on the sale rack were two skeins of squishy, lovely 70% wool, 30% alpaca. It's a discontinued line because they can't get the base yarn anymore.

Next up, Ellen's Half Pint Farm. I've been meaning to get something from there since last year, but for some reason never did. This year a skein of the bamboo/wool sock yarn came home with me. Even mom bought one.. now I have to teach her to make socks!

After saying I wasn't going to get roving, this jumped off the hook and into my hands. It's all merino, a bit over 4 oz. No clue what it will be, but I can't wait to see how it spins up.

Finally made it to Morehouse this year, and I guess that was a good thing since it seems they are closing the store. Scored these three skeins of worsted out of the sale bin for $4 each. Now I just need to get my hands on the Puff pattern. I know, they sell it there, but $25 for a scarf kit was just not something my brain would let my hands do.


My day two purchases. 2 bundles of 2oz superwash roving (I'm thinking of plying them together, how messed up is that?) and 4 oz of merino/angora/silk roving. I'm currently debating dying it before I spin it up.

That's about it for me. Not a bad haul and with food I stayed under $200 for the weekend.

ETA: the cool t-shirt below can be found here.

Rhinebeck pics

This is a VERY picture heavy post. 15 selected shots from my weekend at Rhinebeck. No yarn shots, I'll get around to taking pics of my purchases later.

Okay, this one isn't Rhinebeck. See, if you go South on rte 9 to Hyde Park, you'll find a very cool place. The Culinary Institute of America is down there, sitting right next to the Hudson, on one of the most beautiful campuses I've ever seen anywhere. Did I take any pics of the outside, NOPE. It was raining when mom and I went for lunch on Friday, but trust me, it's a WOW. This is part of the decorations in the Apple Pie Cafe, where we went for lunch on Friday and tried to get an apple pie. Seems it was a graduation day, and there were no pies left, but I did get the last slice!

Felted tree spirit. Totally forget which booth this was in, but they also had a really cool felted Koi in a felted river. Didn't see the Grafton Fiber's mermaid this year. Mom and I slipped into building A first, not for The Fold, but for Brooks Farm. I got out of there with three skeins of yarn and money left in my wallet (which is VERY unusual for me, I'm a sucker for their yarn). I got to see the MasAcero, and wanted it for a sweater, but decided against it for now.



Next up, who should we run into but Pam! I first met her at the Philly meetup, but I've known her online for years now. I love the Shawl! We caught her and her hubby on their way out to the car with the morning wine purchases and were able to give her our Hats for Alex. A very good thing since mom had 21 of them in a bag that she was complaining about carrying!

In the pic (L to R): Pam, Carol, Jena, Me and Mom


Ran into Sharon a bit later. She was taking her Blogger Bingo responsibilities very seriously. If anyone had her on their card and didn't find her on Saturday it was NOT Sharon's fault. And if the shirt and the ears weren't enough, her husband was wearing a kilt! How do you miss that couple?














Later in the day we ran into a woman with her two new baby bunnies in a pink stroller carrier! Only at Rhinebeck!











If the yarn and fuzzy animals weren't enough to keep you occupied, this guy was walking around using his horses! We stood and watched him for a bit on Saturday then ran into him again Sunday morning. The horses weren't quite as well behaved on Sunday and the rider got to demonstrate how flexible he was.







Can't have Rhinebeck without a life sized sheep. And yes, that costume is made from a fleece. I felt bad for the person inside, it was rather warm in the sun on Saturday.















Ravelry meetup on Sat night. Free on tap beer and great food. The sponsors did a wonderful job. I wonder if this is going to become a yearly event.

Four of my house mates. We shared this GREAT house not far from the Fair grounds.







Yes, there were a LOT of people there, and the locals didn't know we'd be taking over their restaurant.











Two shots of the bar area as we waiting for them to clear the dining room for us.












Mom and David. I have to say, I think I'm in love! A man who not only wears a kilt, but knits his own sweater and kilt hose! He was on mom's bingo card. So there's another reason to play blogger bingo next year...














What's Rhinebeck without sheep? Okay, I didn't take many pics on Sunday and wanted at least one fuzzy creature.











A shot of the fairgrounds and the beautiful day we had on Sunday













There were students from the CIA there carving pumpkins. Most of them were carving traditional type pumpkins, but this guy was doing some beautiful work. I had to get a picture of it!










And last, but certainly not least. I WANT this shirt. (I did get permission to post this before putting a strangers chest online)

If you can't read it:
1. Yes, I am knitting
2. No I'm not crocheting
3. No, it doesn't require a lot of patience
4. Yes, you could do it. Really. Want to learn?
5. Yes, I know you can buy sweaters, socks, etc for not much money. What's the fun in that?
6. Yes, I'm sure your grandmother did knit for you. That's nice.
7. Well, yes, it does require some concentration, depending on the pattern. So could you shut up and let me knit now? Thanks!

She said she got it on cafe press... I have to go hunting for it now.

Rhinebeck

Okay, day one was overwhelming.

Got there around 9:30am, after picking someone up at the train. Really cute train station, and I got to see all the people standing around waiting for the taxi cabs to come. Saw the line for STR, not nearly as bad as Maryland, but still enough that I didn't even go near the booth. Stopped at Brooks Farm and found a charcoal gray Acero skein for dad's socks and two matching skeins of an orphan that was 70%wool 30%alpaca. It's really loosely spun and loosely plied, I may run it through my wheel before I knit it up, but haven't decided yet.

Went to the blogger/ravelry meetup, marked off a few squares on my blogger bingo then ran away because it was way too many people in one place for me. Ran into Trillian42 a few times, LOVE her shawl, pictures do NOT do it justice.

This is totally disjointed. I'm staying in a house this weekend with 8 other people and truthfully, I'm NOT a people person. I know most of them from previous events and enjoy all their company but at 8 am, they're too much. My brain is NOT working.

I've probably missed a lot of stuff, I'll post pictures from this weekend probably tomorrow. I have pics from the fair and from the ravelry party afterwards.

Blogger Bingo

Okay, I've given up on Rogue. It's going to be WAY too warm to wear it. I still want to finish it this weekend, and will probably bring it with me. I still need to sew in the sleeves.

So, for those playing blogger bingo and trying to find me.

Rainy weather: hiking boots, black nylon rain pants, blue nylon rain jacket, baseball cap with a bright pink hand on it. Green backpack may or may not be hidden under the jacket.

No rain, but mud: hiking boots, jeans, sorry no distinctive shirts, green backpack.

No rain, no mud: tevas with either my jaywalkers or monkeys, jeans, green backpack.

If it's chilly, I might have my new fingerless gloves on. If it's really chilly, I may have my Lady Elanor on as a scarf.

No pics yet...

since I'm at mom's and forgot the camera (whoops)..

Stopped by Twist today on the way to mom's. Actually managed not to buy anything except a button for my calorimetry and the new Interweave.

One Rogue sleeve sewn up, I renew my dislike for mattress stitch. Not that it's hard, but 18 inches of it on each sleeve takes forever. Not to mention that the fuzziness of the alpaca is making life harder. Now I'm wondering how I'm going to set the sleeves into the sweater, but that will probably be tomorrow's problem.

Now, Rhinebeck is getting closer.. and I will have this done by then, even if I'm weaving in ends on Friday night. I was thinking that I should probably have another way for people to recognize me for their bingo cards.

Options:
I have a small Alaska toy license plate I can wear on the back of my hat (or weave into my hair)
I can take one of my car Alaska plates and put it on my backpack
I can tie a fish to something and have that fly around
Or I can just let people ask and wear my "I'm a square" card. Not like I'm hard to find if I'm with mom, how many one handed people will be walking around?

Hurried YPF...

See, this week was a rushed YPF. I wanted to share my handspun yarn, but I also wanted to make these:

Sorry about the bathtub pictures, but at midnight, that's the only room in the house with enough light so I don't need the flash. I love how these knit up. So soft and warm. I have a feeling that with as tight as I knit these, the stitches won't be visible much longer (some of them have already fuzzed up).

Pattern: My own - first time using a sewn bindoff
Yarn: My own handspun - roving from Susan's Spinning Bunny 50/30/20 alpaca/merino/silk
WPI: no clue.. I used size 6 needles and you can't see any space between stitches, even if you tug.
Used: 3.2 oz of a 5 oz skein

Now what do I do with the remaining 1.8 oz of this? (about 57 yards)

I might just finish

All the knitting on Rogue is done!

The sleeves are currently blocking so I can seam them up.

The hood is seamed.

There are hundreds of ends to sew in :( (okay, maybe not hundreds, but still)

Pics to come later..

YPF

We interrupt our current Garden State Sheep and Wool Festival series of YPF because, well, it's getting dull. The last skeins are a semi-solid colour and how many times can you look at the twist on KPPPM?

So... I decided to move on. And I had to move on quickly because I started to knit this yarn up last night. See, I pulled out my Cash Iroha fingerless gloves a few days ago and realized that after three years of hard use, they're a bit ratty. I could probably de-pill them, but that wouldn't help the areas where the yarn has thinned. On the walk home from school, I decided to make a new pair. It's amazing how much faster the walk home goes when you are mentally reviewing your stash in your mind.

I came up with this... I know it's not in my ravelry stash, but that's because I've been horrible about uploading new stash to ravelry lately.
A single view.. yes it really is that fuzzy. Handspun from Susan's Spinning Bunny's Alpaca/Merino/Silk top (50/30/20). I didn't measure WPI, but I'm knitting it on size 6's and getting a TIGHT fabric. I also wasn't quite as consistent as I would have liked, so the smaller needle size is working well.
Another side view... very fuzzy yarn. I wanted something for the hand warmers that had either alpaca or silk in it, this way I get both. I may have enough for mittens, but I really just need a new pair of fingerless gloves.
A shot of how its knitting up. I love the colors!

WIP Wednesday

Today is WIP day for both knitting and school.

School wise:
Paper due tomorrow : finished
Midterm in Developmental : finished
First lab report: finished
Midterm review of progress in clinical: finished, and I interact well with children :)

So I'd say school is going well. I can't believe it's midterm already. I have one more exam for midterm in another ten days. That's the hard one with all the embryology on it.

Knitting wise:
Rogue is moving along, I've finished one side of the hood and just need to finish the other side and sew it together.
I may actually have this done for Rhinebeck. Now the big question, will it be cool enough to wear it?

My other project is kinda secret right now, I'm debating submitting the pattern to knitty.
So you get a blurry shot :)

A treat for myself

Now... this treat started way back at the end of August. Why did it take so long you ask.... well, I got to pick out my own fabric, so obviously I was at the mercy of the online fabric company and the post office took their sweet time getting it here.


What is this new treat you may ask.


Those who have seen me lately might have noticed a certain kitty print bag that I tend to pull out whenever the teachers aren't talking. Yes, it's my Monkey Bag. Said monkey bag is getting quite a lot of use, to the point where I've lost one of the beads from the elastic and have managed to poke a small hole through the inner lining (I think it was the latern moon double points that did that one). At a certain point, when I finally had two pairs of socks started, I would trade out the pairs and bring whichever one I wanted to work on that day with me. But this left my socks in progress to the mercies of the kitty kats, without the protection of the bag.


So, after not finding a print I really liked, I asked about a special order.

Meet the Elvis Bag:
Ummm... please don't ask me to explain why it's called Elvis. My mom knows, and I promise it's NOTHING to do with the singer. Momma Monkey centered the fabric beautifully, which is hard with a print this big and a bag this small.

Along with Elvis I got a little surprise:


A double point roll that matches my original kitty bag. Now you ask, why are there only four sets of double points in it? Well, seems most of my double points are too long to fit. Guess that's why I always look like I'm playing with skewers when I'm making socks on them. The only sock ones that got in here are my 2.25mm and 2.75mm. Maybe I'll have to order a new Harmony set just to fill it up. (how's that for rationalizing)

Garden State Pr0n - week 3

Wow.. at this rate I'll have enough new yarn to do pr0n until I get to Rhinebeck. Grandma sent me a birthday card this week that had birthday money in it! Now I have more to spend at Rhinebeck, though I'll admit, I really can't think of anything I need or even want to make in the next year. I know I should finish the fish by December (oh why does hannukah have to be so early this year), but I have no idea what my big project will be after it. Considering I have the yarn for a Dale sweater, and a sweaters worth of both Manos and Galway, I'm not sure if I really should be buying more.

Okay... done feeling guilty. Here's this week's yummy yarn:


Yarn: KPPPM
Color: P436 - 2 skeins

These two, along with last week's pr0n (for heels and toes if needed) will soon be socks. I do seem to be on a sock kick lately, but I've gotten bored with plain socks and somehow I never get gauge for the pretty patterns that are out there. Guess I knit tighter than most people, or just prefer a tighter fabric.

Late WIP Wednesday..

Sorry I didn't post earlier, but Wednesday is a busy day for me school wise.

So, there's been some work done on Rogue (as seen below in the bad picture), but at this point, I'm not sure if I'll finish by Rhinebeck... simply because it's once again too hot to work with this much wool/alpaca in my lap. Not to mention that I'm not a fan of seaming, and that can take me quite a while.



So... should I not finish Rogue in time I'll have to find some other way to distinguish myself so whoever has me on their Bingo card can find me..

Options:
I can pin a fish to my backpack.. I think everyone who has ever looked at this blog realizes I'm the fish woman right now.
I could put a fish up on a dowel so it flies over my head like a flag.
If it's cold enough, I can wear my Lady E as a scarf.
I could go totally insane and wear my hair down... no way you could miss me then, though someone might try to shear me!

Any other ideas? I'd like to make it easy for people to find me. Not like Rhinebeck is crowded or anything.

Early BD gift

Way back in June when my mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday I asked for an iron. Not that I care about how my clothes look or anything like that, but I wanted a good steam iron for blocking stuff I didn't feel like getting soaking wet. So when I moved to Philly this summer, mom gave me the iron she bought for my birthday, saying I'd need it for school. See... they actually make me wear nice clothing to clinical, even though we're on the floor of a daycare playing with children.

I figured that was it, I already got my gift and would just get a card or something on my birthday. Nope. I went home last friday for my sister's BD, and my mom started asking if I wanted my gift. I said no... let it wait till next week when I come home for my birthday. She kept bugging me about it. Finally I said... if it's a scale, I'll take it, otherwise it can wait. Well...
This is what she handed me. Yes, it wasn't wrapped... but she did have a battery for it, so I can't complain too much. I love my new toy. I spent the first day going around weighing all the little extra bits of yarn I had left over. I found out that some of the little extras I had are actually enough to do stuff with.

And since I didn't post on Caturday
Opal in her tower perch. She came running into the bedroom as soon as she heard the camera turn on.