Armwarmers - Just In Time For Summer

I had a request from C. for some crochet arm warmers awhile ago (March). Crochet is not my favorite thing to do, but I agreed. Of course I managed to put it off with excuses such as, "I need to finish this other project", and "I've misplaced the yarn."

None of the excuses were lies. But I saw C. the other day and was so embarrassed that I hadn't worked on the arm warmers at all that I barely even said hi. Needless to say, I guilted myself into making the arm warmers. Just in time for summer.

Three Week Old Kittens

The kittens are so cute they make my brain hurt.

They are so playful. I tickled one of the kitten's tummies and she wiggled around.

This one is Baloo. It is a bit chubbier than the other kittens. All the kittens have blue eyes.

Sher Khan climbed up my tummy and eventually made it to my shoulder. She mewed into my ear. So cute. If kittens stayed kittens forever, I'd want one.

In other news, Scooter has a new favorite spot on the couch. He loves the couch arm. I get bonus points when I put a pillow there for him.

Andrea's Shawl

It is official. I have completed Andrea's Shawl. The pattern is by Kirsten Kapur and can be seen here. For all the things that could have gone wrong (I used thicker yarn than the pattern called for, I didn't swatch, I didn't know how much yarn I'd need), this shawl came out pretty well. The yarn is a mixture of Noro Retro and Wisdom Yarns Poems. I've raveled the project.

My coworker, the very lovely Marcail, modeled for me. I told her the pictures were very Wuthering Heights.

Today some ducks came by the house. I went out to feed them bread. Justin went in to grab the camera. As he came out, Scooter managed to scoot through the door. He ran after the ducks and scared them off. (Chasing ducks is a new bad habit of his) Luckily he came back after we called him. I was worried he would run into the street.

He seemed rather smug after the ducks flew away. Needless to say, there are no pictures of me feeding the ducks.

Who, me?

Hung Out To Dry

Today I finally got around to setting the twist on a bunch of my hand spun yarn. There are eight skeins being hung out to dry. While I was at it, I blocked a shawl that was recently finished. I'll leave you all in suspense over which one it might be. The Icarus Shawl or Andrea's Shawl.

The other day I was the recipient of a lovely gift. A cute purse I'd been eyeing. Who couldn't love a saddle purse.

And inside was the blue yarn. Mmmm.... yarn. The next day the green yarn showed up on my doorstep. Although, I was expecting that one. The blue yarn is a Mulberry Silk by Silk and Shine. The colorway is Glacier. The green yarn is 70% baby alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere by Stitch Jones. The colorway is Hemlock. Now to choose patterns to go with the yarn.

All the lovely gifts made the memory of being sick last weekend fade a bit quicker. All was not lost. I had a chance to sit down and read. I've been devouring the Anne of Green Gables Series. I'm already on book three.

I did put them aside yesterday though. I made a trip to the thrift store and found this book.

It was a bit chilly out, so while I read the spy book, Scooter opted to sleep under his blanket in his bed. Justin was affected by Scooter's bambi eyes kind enough to bring out the bed.

Happy Birthday Mum!

I know that this gift is no secret since you picked out the pattern and argued with me about picked out the yarn. But since I can't be present when you open your present, Happy Birthday. Love Me and Scooter. (Scooter added some hair on your present. He said it would add to the love)

Note: The pattern is the Inside-Out Scarf and the yarn was Limerick by Wisdom Yarns. One ball in 31804 and 31805.

Fiber Gifts and Ladybug Food

I have gotten much better at using a spinning wheel. Another thank-you to Kate. I spun up Koi, which was last seen in this post.

I have come into lots of fiber recently. A very lovely lady, Gayle S., who picked up her fiber order from the Mill on Friday gifted me some roving after I mentioned that I was pretty new to spinning. She let me pick out the color. I chose Springtime. It looked like an oil slick to me. It looks grey, but it has subtle shades of pink, yellow, and green in it. I spun it all the same day she gave it to me.

On Thursday I asked Jane about what happens to the big bags of waste fiber we have. The fiber is still in good condidtion, but it is too short to use in the machines. She said I could, "Help myself." I didn't need to be told twice. We had three big bags of fiber. I spent two hours (during which the roving frame was working fine) sorting through the bags to pick out the nicest fiber. I plan on sorting it by how soft it is, then spinning the colors up randomly.

My Lemon Verbena has come back for a second year in a row. I am always convinced that the dead-looking stick is never coming back, but it seems to like living. I spotted some aphids on it, so Justin helped me find a ladybug. Note that in the picture, the ladybug is shoving an aphid into its mouth. Go ladybug!

Scooter has been parked on the couch with me over the weekend. I caught some sort of cold. Who catches a cold in May? As long as I have my his favorite orange blanket nearby, he stays. Unless, of course, if there is something more interesting going on in the house. Then he jumps on my tummy and runs off barking. What a devoted little guy.

The Day The Ceiling Fell Down

I just thought I'd share a little something that comes with living in a house that is nearly 100 years old. The ceiling fell down.

I came out of the bathroom to find Scooter investigating some dry wall that was on the floor. I am so happy he didn't get hit by the ceiling. I called the landlord and it was fixed within a week.

Typical Scooter

Hey Scooter, what are you doing?

Come over here.

Scooter.

SCOOTER!

Scooter you had better come over here right now, or else. I mean it. Are you EVEN listening? Scooter? SCOOTER?!?

Kitties

Kittens were born at the mill on Thursday! I started naming them after characters from The Jungle Book. Here is Sher Khan.

They are so cute. They like to say "Mew", which I assume means, "Where is the milk bar?"

I can't wait until they want to play.

In other news, my lovely and talented friend Kate has loaned me her spinning wheel, an Ashford Joy of Spinning Wheel. I'm in love. It is so easy to spin on this machine. (Look at the nice posture Scooter has)

In no time I went from spinning singles.

To having some plied yarn. Go me!

Clouds and Cleaning

I got Cloud Yarn! The talented Moonrover made it.

I was convinced I could knock out a hat in the very same night that I abandoned the icarus shawl.

I did finish the hat in a night, but I hadn't counted on it being ugly. The yarn is so pretty. How could I have gone wrong. I let it sit in my knitting caddy for a few days before Katya came over and suggested I make a pillow case instead. The hat has since been frogged.

While I was ignoring the cloud yarn yesterday, I planned to clean the house. It has gotten a little gross (except for the bathroom oddly enough. There was a group cleaning effort on that one.) The day went something like this.

10:40: I hear the dog scratching the door. Usually means he wants to go out. But today was my sleep in day, so I ignore him.

10:45: I hear the back door opening. There is no way Brennan is getting a shower before me, so I leap out of bed and claim the bathroom.

11:30: I look at the sink and think that the dishes should be done sometime.

11:35: That sometime might as well be now.

11:50: The laundry needs to be sorted. I found a sock that I haven't seen in 2.5 months. I wonder how long the laundry sorting has been put off.

12:30: Coffee break.

1:00: Finish putting away the laundry and start cleaning up all the junk in my suitcase that has been lying on the floor since mid March.

1:30: Found some yarn I bought in December in a bag under the suitcase.

1:35: Looking for neat patterns to go with the yarn. There has to be a shawl that qualifies for 10 Shawls in 2010 that requires the limited amount of yarn I have.

1:40: Call Mum about who she thinks might like the shawl I want to make. Conversation veers off into how cute Scooter is.

2:40: Looking at fiber magazines that were in the suitcase. Wonder if Borders has this one magazine I'm looking for. The house still needs to be cleaned.

3:10: Walk the dog.

3:20: Walk to Borders.

3:30: Knitting magazine is not there so I walk over to the knitting books only to overhear some dummy 15-year-old insult knitting. I think about giving her an earful.

3:35: Decide against talking to the teenager as I do not have any of my knitting on. Do not wish for her to believe I am "all talk".

3:45: Tell Justin about the idiot teenager. He agrees. She is indeed an idiot teenager.

4:10: Eat lunch, watch America's most wanted.

4:20: Finish lunch, still watching America's Most Wanted. Decided that I should be productive and knit while watching. Print out Andreas Shawl. Finish weaving in ends for Mum's birthday scarf.

4:30: Looking for needles, start cleaning room.

4:40: Find a UFO (unfinished object) that I had been looking for in January.

I spent the rest of the day alternating between knitting and cleaning while looking for certain knitting notions. I stayed up rather late working on Andreas Shawl

Reason's this shawl is going to have serious problems in the near future:

1. I didn't swatch

2. I'm using a heavier weight yarn than the pattern calls for (I've resolved this somewhat by making the "small" shawl)

3. I don't have much yarn to begin with.

Reasons I cast on anyway:

The yarn is variegated. If I run out of yarn, it shouldn't matter what dye lot the yarn was from. Right?

Thrift Store Score

I love going to the local thrift store. It is so much fun to see what someone has discarded or deemed worthless.

Behold. Today's score. An antique book in reasonable condition (it has all it's pages and the binding is still together - a bit weak, but still together). My guess is late 1800s, early 1900s. The textile is definitely something that recycled into a pillow case. Best guess, and Afghani embroidery. Total cost for both: $5

I found these a little while ago. ~Que Bond Music

When I got home with these my conversation with Brennan (my housemate) went something like this.

Me: Brennan, Brennan. I found the coolest thing at the thrift store today.

Brennan: This had better be the best thing ever.

Me: (unsure if Brennan would feel the same way about books as I do) I found the whole series of James Bond books.

Brennan: That IS the coolest thing ever.

Price of coolness: $6 for all of them (maybe $4. I can't remember)

I have a bit of an obsession with little candle or oil lamps. I have a hard time saying no. When I saw these I was sold. When I saw the price, I probably looked a little like Golem. Something about "My precioussss" Two oil lamps: $4 total

I also have a love for textiles. All the time an effort that is put into them. It disappoints me how undervalued textiles have become in western society. I blame the industrial revolution.

I can't help but buy embroideries. (The one on the bottom right is a Mola, from Panama or Colombia) Each were bought for $1-$6

At some point we needed pot holders for the house. $0.50- $1 each. I think I got a good deal one day and paid $1 for 3. When I saw the owl one, I could only see the feet. I thought it was a hamster.

I have a favorite thrift store out of state. It is so cool, I won't even mention which state in an effort to keep it to myself. I found this afghan for $1 there. Actually, it was a $1 a bag sale. I stuffed the afghan into the bag along with some books.

I've saved the best for last. At the same super secret store, I found this for $7. It fits my full size bed. The lady who sold it to me said her grandmother had made it and she remembered it from childhood. So the quilt is at least 50 years old. The picture will never do it justice. It has teddy bear fur all along the edges! Teddy bear fur! So warm and snuggly. Scooter agrees. It is all I can do to keep him and his fur off of it.