A Tale of Two Divas

Hey Everyone, thanks for coming back! How thrilled am I that I got comments! Me! So cool... There's Lorraine - who also showered me with compliments on her site and made me blush (aw...). My buddy Rachel H. (who's blogless...but we all know how quickly that can change) stopped by too! She's a commenter on many a blog, and we work for the same company. Oh, and she's also responsible for getting me hooked on socks. Ever since then, all this sock yarn just keeps showing up on my doorstep, and muscling it's way into my stash. Dunno how that happened. And Marina popped in to say Hi as well. Check out her FO's...and her cutie pie doggies! And Carrie K. too! Wow! It may not be much to some, but I'm so happy!

Thanks Knitsters!

I figured there'd be a lot of different things I could ramble on about, and then I said to myself - "Self, you've too many WIP's,". And you know the battle I face each day, trying to prevent myself from starting something new (socks DON'T COUNT). Get 'em out in the open, and they cease being neglected, in a twisted sort of way. Acknowledge them. So, I thought I'd introduce you to two of my current loves...

A Diva, and "the" Diva.

"Ophelia" is just a beautiful design that I purchased from Anne at She Ewe Knits. Here she is in all her (partial) glory! OK, so she's above... Ophelia sprung from the fertile design imagination of Lorraine the Knitting Hammy! So, go check out Anne's online shop, and have a peek at Lorraine's other designs - go, go. I'll wait.

(La la la la la...doo de doo...)

See? What did I tell you? Aren't they marvelous? Did you check out "Fair Rosamund" and "Windsor Waistcoat"? Ophelia is a joy to knit - the colours work well together, the pattern flows and is 'logical'. Know what I mean? There's rhyme to her reason. It works so beautifully, that you can't help but be so thrilled with the outcome. I love a good Fair Isle pattern that makes me smile after each round... She does become a bit of a diva when the weather gets to be a bit humid though. She tends to not want to cooperate, so I don't push her too much, and let her rest in her basket 'til such time as she feels she can be worked on comfortably.

(OK. Lovin' my projects just a bit much...)

And then there's THE "Diva", in the colours as shown. Don't be fooled! She may be a garter stitch, but she's a devil in sheep's clothing! I mean, I love Hanne Falkenberg - she's original, and her designs attract this traditional knitter, with their tiny needle, 2-ply wool construction. I can certainly see myself, in a fit of intoxication maybe, purchasing more of her kits. However, she's not for the faint of heart. There really should be a warning sign on her patterns. IT NEVER ENDS. Sweet DPN's. You will knit through some funky instructions, and then...just when you think the end is near...there they are. The next funky steps. It. Never. Ends. Keep in mind that she designs so that finishing is minimal, and you are knitting and shaping in ways you never thought possible. And you really do need to read ahead. Because it's rare you're only executing one set of instructions at a time. Which in itself is not unusual in a knitting pattern, but this stuff is short row/decreasing/colour-changing on a full moon/ridge counts if your cat is orange vs. grey kind of stuff. OK, not quite, but you know what a mean. Phew.

Try not to cry! It can be confusing, but trust her! She does know what she's doing, even though it may seem like phooey at times. You will cry (not a Starmore cable chart kind of tear), but you will heave a few sobs. But it is SOOOOO worth it. Just when you think that's the dumbest instruction you've ever read and no way will it work - Diva turns around, slaps you upside the head and says "See?", told you I'd work.

And I love every stitch of her. Which is why she's a Diva. I can't wait to knit her sister, Mermaid. Eventually.

Hey - guess where I picked them up? I ordered them from the Cucumber Patch in the UK. Great prices - you can get most of HF's designs from them, and they are cheaper as well - even when you factor in GST and the screwing you get in duty when you pick up the package from Canada Post.

Anyhoo.

As I was looking through some new baby puppy pics of my sis and sis-in-law's new, well, baby puppy (Finnegan!), I realized that the little Dudes I share my apartment with were ignoring me. Of course, only when they weren't being fed. Then it dawned on me! I didn't post their pics! Jeez...

So, without further ado:

Here's my fuzzy buddy Atticus - he's a bit blurry right here, I'm no gifted photographer, 'kay? He may be considered a "senior" cat at 8 years old, but he's still a kitten to me!

And his sister, my little baby Mae.

Don't mind the dust and my Organic Food delivery box. I get pictures of her when I get pictures of her! She's also considered a "senior", at 7 years old. Both came from the same mother cat, and were the runts of their litters. They came to live with me after spending their first weeks with a nice lady here at work, who then let me adopt them.

They make me smile and laugh everyday! And swear!

Up next - cables. And not just the Starmore kind. You can be sure there will be some Starmore content too!

So, thanks for stopping by!