Stuff

It's November. Almost December...

And I for one don't mind winter at all. We had our first major snowfall last Thursday, and after the rain had turned into freezing rain and then into ice pellets - it snowed, and by the end of the day, it was a lovely, white fluffy landscape.

It always makes me wonder though. You know - it's snowing, cold, windy... And you see people (who go on and on about how cold and gross it is) with their coats open, no scarf, no hat, no winter boots. Gotta wonder though - did they maybe forget what "cold" was?? The people with no scarf and an open coat - they're the ones I want to run to and cover up! Dude! It's winter. It's Canada. IT SNOWS AND IT'S COLD.

C'mon...

Anyway.

Speaking of things that keep you warm...

I knit these last year around this time. And I love them! However, the mittens have gone missing... Not sure where (and no, Gandalf has nothing to do with it...at least I don't think so...), but somewhere between getting out of a car and coming into the house, they disappeared. *sigh* I love those mitts... They may have fallen to the ground and are now buried under the leaves and mushy snow, but... I think I would have noticed by now. Or not. So I'm thinking they must be somewhere around here in the apartment, but do you think I can find them? The search is still on! Phew, at least they weren't my Vinternatt mittens... You know, I should probably string those through my coat, like when we were kids. Because with my luck...

This past week has been all about the stealth knitting...heh heh. Well, that and charity knitting for the upcoming Annex Cat Rescue bazaars. I've been knitting wee little catnip mice! And, because of the mass destruction and anarchy that results from catnip being in this house, I'll have to stuff the mice at work. If I were to bring that catnip home, I don't think there would be much left of my arms, or the catnip. I think I may whip up some blankets too... That way Mr. Black Cat won't be so inclined to whip them up into the air and chase them around the room at break neck speed.

As for the stealth knitting... I haven't even loaded it into Ravelry yet. Probably because I've started and ditched probably, oh, 7 designs up to now... I think I've got the keeper now. I think. And hope.

So, not much in the way of knitting pictures. Not much Laleli, not much Fulmar, not much of any of the other gazillion WIP's I have on the go.

"Gandalf. Dude. You gotta stop running into the walls and stuff. I know you're chasing your imaginary friends but you're loosening up a few wingnuts up there every time you bonk your head."

"Lalalalala..."

"Do you think he'll ever learn?"

"You know Mae, sometimes you just gotta laugh... He may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's always good for a laugh."

It's That Time Of Year

"...hey wait...where you...gonna catc...catch you...wait a sec...stop going so...hey...hey...hey...stupid leaves...wait...a bird...gonna ca...gonna...catch...you...hey...oh I'm dizzy now."

It's that fun time of year when Gandalf and Atticus plaster themselves next to the windows, and try to make friends with the birds and falling leaves. Many a "bonk" against the window has been heard. Mae? Not so much. She figured it out after her first autumn.

It's also the time of year when I start my covert Christmans knitting, and my charity knitting for the Annex Cat Rescue, Gandalf's foster care organization. So even though it makes for fun and enjoyable knitting for me, it's not something I can post about. Well, the kitty knitting I can - and I will. Other stuff, um no. At least not until after Christmas!

(Wow, is it that time of year already?!)

But, I do work a few nights a week on my WIP's, and I'm happy to report that I'm finally up to Laleli's armhole steeks! I know I said that a few posts ago... (never report you're near something before actually getting there - you will grow extra thumbs and have a mushy brain just so that the Knitting High Priestess can put you in your place. Mere human. Don't toy with me.)

Look!

Pretty, pretty Laleli flowers! I love her. Once I've cast on the armhole steeks, I work for another 25 rounds or so and then I start decreasing for the v-neck.

Last year I picked up a kit for Alcea, from Anne at She Ewe Knits. Now, beautiful as the design is, the sizing is pretty bizarre - the smallest is a 36", and the next one up is something insane like 45", which is wider than my St. Brigid, and that's a bulky sweater. I bought the smallest size, thinking that I would figure out a way of increasing the width without compromising the overall design. I think I'm going to make a vest out of it, but I'm still not quite sure how. So, anyone have any ideas? I'm not too keen on a button up vest, I'd like to make it into a pull over v-neck type. Also - I'm wondering what going up a needle size would do to the overall design? I know, I know - "swatch".

Look what the mailman brought me!

Just the coolest sock bag! Sent in stealth-mode by sneaky Chris to replace the one I lost! She purchased it from Karen's Heavenly Creations on Etsy (click on the link at your own risk!), and let me tell you, it's heavenly all right! Nicely padded inside, tasseled drawstrings and very nicely made. Awww, thanks Chris! It's almost too nice to put into my back pack, but it's in there, with a new sock I should finish in oh, 2009 at the pace I knit my socks these days...

"I can get a date with Daisy? No? I see her on TV in all kinds of commercials. She's a cutey alright! What? I am so NOT stalking her, c'mon!" - Cousin Finnegan

What's That?!

Now that the days are getting shorter, and the weather cooler, She-Who-Does-Not-Photograph-Well - aka Miss Mae, graces me with her presence in the evenings. Usually, when settling in for her evening snooze (not to be confused with the night snooze, of course), she plops down in the kitty condo, which is in another part of apartment. Now, she settles in on the old quilt bed I have down for them, which sits next to the couch.


The other night, while sitting and knitting and watching TV, I noticed a funny rumbling/buzzing kind of sound. I thought it was the neighbours? No. They're always quiet. Is it the fridge? No. The furnace kicking in? Nope. Gandalf snoring on the couch next to me? Uh uh. Something on the TV (and I got up to listen up close)? No.


When I finally muted the TV to try to figure out what was rattling, I realized that the oh so dainty and sweet Mae had fallen asleep on her back, mouth open a la Gandalf, and was snoring away. Loudly. Enough that I couldn't figure out what the sound was!


My little girl.

"Hmmmph. Well, undignified that may be but at least I don't announce it to the world after I've used the litterbox like some little black cat I know!"

Look what I finished!

"Notice if you will the attention to detail and the different patterns on the front and palm sides of these Norwegian mittens. The detailing continues on the thumb, incorporating different patterns on either side. I believe Mom mentioned something about these being so warm she will probably pass out regularly if she doesn't take them off. Wha' the?? Enough of being cheesy - eeeeeeee!!! Mittens with lots of lanolin! Hee hee hee heeee!"

Of course, after this picture was taken Gandalf reverted to his true self by flipping himself over onto the mitts and rolling around on them.

On Thursday night, I'm going to check out a new yarn shop opening up here in Toronto, conveniently located half way between work, and home. On the streetcar line. Cool, thanks! And Chris - you'll love this name! (Marina, not so much.) It's called The Purple Purl, and it's part cafe, part yarn shop. It's all good to me!

Gandalf flashes Mayhem!

" *sigh* I can't believe Mae told everyone that I like a good rawwwwr after I go to the box."

The Smell of Wool and Leaves

Just because you live in an apartment, doesn't mean there aren't leaves to clear.

"So, really. I'd help you, but I don't do outdoors. So, you know. I'll watch, cheer you on... Go Mom! Way to rake those leaves!"

This is one of the piles I swept up from my deck - two large century-old oak trees in the front yard means a LOT of leaves landing on my deck at the back of the house. I actually filled two large paper leaf bags, and this won't be the last of it either! I love this time of year - the temperature is cooler, the leaves change, and we finally get to wear all the knitted stuff!


So - good times! Look at the lovely stuff I got in the mail yesterday:

Yummy sock yarn from Rebecca's "Bellamoden" shop on Etsy! There are 2 skeins of merino in the "A Circle of Quiet - sedimentary" colour way, and my surprise skein, in "A Night to Remember - graffiti". The colours are just so vibrant, and the whole package was so nicely put together. And the Circle of Quiet is going to be made into my *hopefully* first pair of non-plain ol' stocking stitch socks.

Thanks Rebecca! Go check out her yarns (she's got some great stuff!), and...she now has some up for sale at the Loopy Ewe as well. (And - she's a Stephen King fan too! Which is very cool.)

OK...so, knitting...knitting...oh right. Right after I comforted Carrie K. for going through a knittingless phase, I went through a couple of days where only a few stitches were done...again with the work thing. *sigh*

But look! Ooooo, I have one of my Vinternatt mittens completed -

"Pat us Mom!! C'mon! Pat us...oh, hey... I like this... *sniff*...Oooo Mae, lanolin..."

"Move it squirt, I want to check it out too...oh...wow..."

What is it with those two and the smell of wool? Not all wool - but this particular brand, the Rauma Strikkegarn yarn - make Mae and Gandalf goofy. Well, goofier... That and Bartlett yarns (remember Lorraine?!). I had a bag of it for Lorraine, and Gandalf pretty much shredded the bag just to get into it. Atticus? Ehn, he's more of a 2-ply Hebridean man.

Speaking of 2-ply Hebridean... I'm a few rows away from casting on Laleli's armhole steeks, however my batteries conked out before I could get a picture. :( And poor Fulmar hasn't budged, every time I picked it up something ended up distracting me and I really haven't done more than a few rows in the last week.

This week - a bit of stealth knitting, and hopefully a second finished Vinternatt mitten!

And of course...Ravelry. Duh.