"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman
Showing posts with label cashmere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cashmere. Show all posts

5/7/17

Random Newsy Stuff

Spring is here. Yay! My flowering Cherry is in bloom. It has 4 small bunches of flowers on it.



Not as good as last year, but I'm not complaining. At least it's blooming.



My daffodils are in full form too. These ones were planted the year we moved here. We had a huge bulb garden. Unfortunately, the deer thought it was their personal smorgasbord. The only thing they didn't eat was these daffs. We planted grass and turned the bed into part of the lawn. The daffs survived and are 25 years old now. I admire their persistence.



This past week I've been working on a baby cardigan for the next layette set.



I got an idea to make it look like a lettermans jacket. It requires knitting in Intarsia if I want to knit from the top down and have no seams to sew. Haven't done Intarsia since I had my shop. I'm happy with how it's going so far.

I had intended to do a Caturday post yesterday, but my plans were altered. So I'll post the pics of my kitties now instead.

Chenille is hangin' in her window bed. She loves this silly thing and spends a lot of her time in it. It's just her size. The boys are too big to fit in it.



Here she is atop the cat tree. I actually took this before we moved the tree to the dining room. Just never got around to posting it. She loves posing for the camera.



I got Merino on the cat tree a couple days ago. He has his "I'm a ferocious panther" expression.



That changed when I started giving him chin scritches.



I could not get Cashmere to sit for a photo. I had to wait until he was asleep. When the boys did this, I had to grab the camera. They don't sleep together very often. There isn't quite enough room for both of them on this chair.



Some news I haven't shared yet. I was texting with my sister earlier last week, talking doll talk as usual. I brought up the subject of an Iplehouse JID doll I've been wanting. I've been saving the money I make teaching knitting classes for this doll. I went to the Iplehouse site to get the link so she could see it, and we ended up both talking each other into ordering new dolls. They were on sale. A good sale at that! Price was knocked down $150. I've ordered JID Asa. She'll have the same face-up as in this photo, and I've ordered that beautiful black wig for her as well. I could not get the red outfit. Not to fear, though. She's the same size as Sierra, so she'll fit in clothes I already have.It's no longer available I guess. She will be here in a few weeks. I'm excited.



We were discussing how hard it is to find clothes to fit these dolls. It's the biggest complaint about them. We're going to see if we can fill that need a bit and make clothes to sell.

Speaking of doll clothes. I've already been working on some dresses to fit the JID girls to sell in my Etsy store. The knitting is done. One is pink.



The other is light yellow with blue fur yoke.



Not very good pics (I took them with the phone while texting sis), but you get the idea. I'm making jewelry this weekend to go with them. Then it's official photo time.

It's a beautiful day out today. I think I'll go get some sunshine.

Live long and prosper. \\//

1/31/16

Hoping for Some Cat Love

Cashmere and Merino seem to be adapting to Ruth being away at college. They're doing much better than I thought they would seeing as how she was their favorite person in the house. They just barely tolerated me. For the first couple days the boys wandered around the house yowling loudly and looking for her. Then they got over it and went back to their normal selves and are having second thoughts about me. I'm helping that idea along with frequent offers of treats. They are all spending a LOT more time in my lap. I can't sit down without someone wanting to be on me.

At one point, Merino and Cashmere started to fight over me-in my lap. I put an end to that right away and did it without losing a single drop of blood. I know they don't actually care about me yet. They just want a warm spot to lie down and their favorite human is not available. But I like to pretend. Who knows, we might actually develop a relationship. In the meantime, Chenille, who does love me, is not happy having to share me now. She'll get over it.

Cashmere in my lap bagging z's.



When they can't be in my lap, they lay on the back of my chair half on my head. Sometimes Merino lays there batting me in the head because he wants his chin scratched. His butt half is heavy. My neck starts to ache if I don't push him off.



On Wednesday I took my car in to an auto body shop for an estimate on repairing some damage. Last winter (or was it the winter before?) my car slid into the mailbox when I was creeping up to it on the ice. The ice was a mound and the front tire just slid sideways right off of it. The result was 2 little dents where the front bottom corners of the mailbox contacted and a nice long scratch as I tried to move the car away. It's never bothered me, so I wasn't planning on getting it fixed. I saw it as a way to tell my dark gray Toyota Camry apart from the thousands of other dark gray Toyota Camry's around here. (It was the only dark gray Camry on the lot when we bought it. Thought it was unique. I didn't realize it was actually the last dark gray Camry and all the others had already been sold.) However, Sweet Hubby has been on my case to get it fixed lately, so I am. The estimate was lower than I expected, so I've made an appointment for the repairs. The closest appointment I could get was February 25th. Must be a lot of folks hitting their mailboxes this winter.

I had a couple Sears repair guys in on Friday to look at my stove. It's a ceramic top stove, and I love it. Doug and the kids gave it to me as a Mothers Day present several years ago when I still had my yarn shop. One of the front burners will only run on high. Off or high is all it will do. Nothing in between. Makes it hard to cook things, and it's the burner I like to use the most because it's a double burner. A large one with a smaller one inside. The guys figured out what is wrong and will be back on Monday with the new parts to install them. I'm looking forward to it.

While they were here, I also had them look at my dishwasher. Ever since the pump was replaced a couple years ago, it's never worked quite right. I get gunk buildup way faster than I used to. I find myself having to clean it out at least once a month, and the odor! Ugh! Turns out it's not my dishwasher that is the problem. It's the dish washing soap. The formula was changed in all dishwasher soap to eliminate a chemical that was bad for the environment, which I'm all for because we need to stop polluting the planet, but what do I do about the gunk? They recommended a product called Affresh, which is a cleaner that is supposed to clean gunk build up. It comes in tablet form. I shall acquire some later this week. They also recommended a different brand of dishwasher soap that they say works better than the one I've got called Finish because it has a rinse agent in it that helps decrease the gunk build up. I use the Costco Kirkland brand. I guess I'll try their suggestion and see if I like it.

Well, a cat wants my lap so I guess I'll sign off.

Live long and prosper. \\//

4/20/15

Little Garter Checks in Brown

A FO! Hurray!



Little Garter Check Mens Mittens in Brown

Pattern: Little Garter Checks  by me for Knitwits.

Yarn: S.R. Kertzer Northern Worsted
Content: 100% Acrylic, worsted weight
Color: Twig

Needles: Circulars size 5.

Cast on: March 5, 2015
Completed: April 9, 2015








I have an update photo for Hummdog too.



Just that corner is left! I see light at the end of the tunnel. I've had to slow down on it though. The stitching is straining my eyes quite a bit.

We had beautiful weather over the weekend. It was so sunny and warm. I caught Cashmere napping on the deck.



Live long and prosper. \\//

11/3/12

It's Caturday

I tried to get them to pose for a portrait. Not easy. If they're not moving, then they are sleeping.

Cashmere

Merino







Love cats? Care to join in the fun? Go here: Tanya's Caturday

Live long and prosper. \\//

10/27/12

Caturday and a Bracelet

It's Caturday! A couple evenings ago my daughter was drinking some blue kool-aid type beverage (blueberry lemonade?). Cashmere, being the ever curious cat that he is, decided to give it a try. He liked it too-a lot. Getting to it, though, was a challenge.



I worked on the lace bead woven bracelet a little bit each day this week and finished it. Click on the photos to embiggen.



The pattern, written in French, is called Couvige and is posted on the blog Marie Noel Creations.



It's made entirely of 2 sizes of seed beads. I used a matte solid gold size 15 and silver lined a/b rootbeer size 11. But it's just as pretty using the same color for both size beads.



It's woven with a combination of Right Angle Weave and Netting stitches.



A little detail of the bracelet.



I used a button for the clasp that is just the right size to fit through the holes in the pattern.



There's a crystal in the middle of the button, but it refused to sparkle for the camera.



It was a very fun project to do.



Tonight is gonna be fun. My niece gave us tickets to see the Spokane Symphony. I am so excited!



They are playing Dvorak's 7th Symphony and a Brahms Serenade. It has been so long since I've been to the symphony. I used to go quite often. In fact, I used to play symphonies when I was in college. I was a music major at Western Washington University. My instrument is the violin, though I've also played percussion. I used to live, breath, eat, and sleep music. Those were fun days, but from another lifetime. Now I'm lucky if I get to see a performance at all. Tonight is going to be an awesome treat!




Love cats? Care to join in the fun? Go here: Tanya's Caturday

Live long and prosper. \\//


10/3/12

WIP Wednesday 10/3/2012

Todays featured WIPs.

The Chevron sweater back is done and I've started the front.



I took some measurements and I'm exactly on gauge. Hooray!!!

Here's where I am on the first Argyle sock.



2 shades of blue and white are the colors I settled with. The medium blue is a variegated tweed with long color repeats. I have to tink the last 2 rows because I've made a mistake. Urg.

However, all knitting has been put on hold while I work madly on this cuz I've got a two week deadline for it: Lace scarf.




Making this for a gift. It's one of those "Sheesh! I almost forgot I need to do this" projects. The yarn is Mini Mochi which is perfect for this project. Fortunately, it's knit on size 10 needles and the stitch pattern is super easy so it's going fast.

I'm super busy this week, being the first week of the month of October, so I'll leave you with this pic of Cashmere.



The kittens are having a ball with my laundry basket. Everything is a toy when you're a kitten.



If you're interested in participating in WIP Wednesday, please join us.

Live long and prosper. \\//

9/29/12

Caturday 9/29/2012

Mine. AAAAAALL mine!

It's dark out there.


Sweet Cashmere


Playing with a paper bag together.

What is out there?




Love cats? Care to join in the fun? Go here: Tanya's Caturday

Live long and prosper. \\//

9/12/12

WIP Wednesday 9/12/2012

It's WIP Wednesday!

Yesterday I dragged a project out of hibernation. I've already added 2 inches to it, including decreasing for the armholes.



I put this in hibernation last year because I got to the armhole and didn't know how I wanted to do it and got frustrated. I have to 'adjust' the pattern so it will fit me. It only goes up to size L and I'm well above that. Putting it away for awhile was a good idea. Taking a break gave me the step back I needed to figure out what I want to do. Now that I know, knitting has commenced. I want to finish this baby so I can wear it!

For KIP knitting, I've started another Fancy Flossy Shrug for Knit Wits, this one in pinks.



I've got a lot of fur yarns to use up for Knit Wits.

I was making some fairisle mittens, but it wasn't working so I frogged them.

We got a heavy frost this morning, so anything that might have survived Tuesday mornings frost is mush now. When I got up the house was so cold I felt the need to turn the furnace on for just a bit.  Eventually, it warmed up to a nice 69F outside so I spent most of the day out on the deck, in the sunshine, soaking it up while I can. I did some beading which I'll post about later.

Took some more pics of the kittens.

Cashmere has such a pretty pink nose.



Sleeping while brother Merino guards.





If you're interested in participating in WIP Wednesday, please join us.

Live long and prosper. \\//