This Is What Happens

When you don't pay attention to what you're throwing in the washing machine.

Very bad things.

I don't know how this one got past me. But it did.

"...I wonder if that would fit me..."

It's been another busy week here. Not so much work, but at home too. Malcolm seems to have recovered nicely from his surgery, although he did have a bit of a stomach thing last week - much to the delight of the paper towel people. Now. Not to jinx anything but a surgery bonus? He no longer seems interested in playing with doo-doo.

I've only been waiting 3 months for him to grow out of that most annoying habit.

"I'm a slow learner, Atticus. But I now realize that playing with poop is really gross."

"...uh huh..."

"Not to mention Mom really didn't like it."

"...uh huh..."

"Instead, I'm on the hunt for something new! Snowflakes! If it's the last thing I do, I will catch some. I mean, how hard can it be?"

"...*sigh*..."

We have had quite a bit of mixed weather here this past week. Snow, rain, snow, rain, then a lot of snow, then freezing rain, now a thaw, and more snow this up coming week. I have no issues with the snow, or the cold for that matter - it's the temperatures hovering at freezing level that I have an issue with (listening, Mother Nature??). The dampness aggravates my arthritic knees, and makes me feel sluggish. And this has been a very damp winter.

I know. Bitch bitch bitch. I'll stop now.

Good news! I did finish up Sapporo's motif!

Bad news! I now have 4" of plain stocking stitch to do in order to complete the body!

YAY.

I'll be happy when it's done. What more can I say.

"Good thing you dusted yesterday, seeing how there are shiny things in this picture."

I'm hoping this week will be more productive knit-ways. I have, as always, quite a bit on the go.

Sapporo
Dunadd (which is a really fascinating piece)
Princess Line (she hasn't been abandoned)
Norfolk (what?!! Did I start that?!!) I am obsessed with using up my navy blue Scottish Fleet that is still in my stash after frogging Western Seas. Don't hold your breath on this one though. I have about 8" of plain stocking stitch on 2.5mm needles. This may take awhile.
Fulmar (which I did fix, and it wasn't as painful as I anticipated. Restarting those 30+ rows was though...)
Delores (not forgotten...)
and Stealth Project Shhhh.

I don't think I forgot anything. Oh, right! Socks. Remember when I found one sock, knit up but without a mate? Well, I did knit the second one. And for some reason, it feels much more snug on my foot than the original one. So, note to self. Don't abandon socks. Because you'll just forget what size needles you used. Either that, or what I think are my current 2.5mm really aren't. Well. That's why they're socks. They go on your feet, and so what if one is higher than the other?

Yeah. They're in the laundry bin right now, so no. No picture.

I might (I said *maybe*...) be inclined to show you Stealth Picture Shhhh next week. The only reason it's been named "Stealth Project Shhhh" is because I started it after the Knit a Norwegian KAL started, and you know. I really should just have been working on the KAL project...and not something new...

OK then! Have a great week everyone!

Remember When...

...Malcolm was this tiny?!

"I'll hug him and squeeze him and call him George! Wait, no. Malcolm. I'll call him Malcolm."

At his first vet visit, he weighed in at all of 1.7 lbs.

And now? The boy went in last Friday for his neutering, and weighed in at 10.4 lbs.

"I'm a bruiser!"

But he's still a doll, and such a sweet little boy. When he's not body slamming Atticus or playing with doo-doo and/or harassing Mae that is.

Gandalf was a bit concerned most of the day.

"Where's my Malcolm??"

"You're leaving him there, right? Right? RIGHT???"

He came home, no worse for the experience.

"That was trippy, Atticus. But I feel...funny...now. Like I want to arrange flowers and redecorate Mom's bedroom."

The henna is a keeper! I LOVE it. It worked out beautifully, and I'm so pleased with the results. It did a great job covering up my grey hairs - at the temples, it turned gold/red, and everwhere else, it turned it a darker shade of red. Overall, it's an auburn colour, and it's the perfect shade for me. I ended up doing it twice - the first time I made the mixture too thick, and I missed some spots as a result. And I didn't leave it on long enough. So, a week later (that's the beauty of henna - you won't fry your hair) I did it again. I made the paste much thinner, and left it on a lot longer (nearly 4 hours). I also put the henna is a squeeze bottle (an old, clean mustard container) for easier application, and used a toothbrush to get at the little hairs around my ears. As a result - perfect application!

Now. It does smell. And yes. It's messy. But it works, and it does a great job. I will be doing it again. The henna I bought came from LUSH, and I used the Caca Marron (yes, you read that right) shade. They have a few other shades as well.

Don't let the name put you off - if you've wanted to try henna, I highly recommend it.

Oh! Right! Knitting.

Well, here's what I've accomplished on Sapporo in the last week or so.

OK, it doesn't look like much, but I have completed the bulk of the motif. It's...different, that's for sure. At this point, I'm more curious than anything to see how it will look once completed. It takes some getting used to. Once it's done, I know I'll be thrilled with it. Just takes some getting used to (why do I keep saying that?). I've never knit a ski sweater before, and I suppose if I'd cut my knitting teeth on ski sweaters and other Dale of Norway designs and was making a Fair Isle design for the first time, I might feel the same way.

This is the time of year when my hands and feet develop eczema, which can make knitting with certain fibers a little difficult. So, I've been knitting small things - socks mainly, as the yarn tends to be a bit softer. I went a week without touching Sapporo, mainly because the yarn was irritating my small girly hands. Things are clearing up now - now they just look red and really, really angry (my hands, that is). When I was a kid? I used to have to wear heavy socks and plastic bags around my feet, and use this smelly cream on them too nearly the whole year. What can I say? I was real popular.

"Oh yay. He's back."

Despite the sarcasm, I'm pretty sure Mae's relieved to have Malcolm home.

The Things I Do.

Like try something new. Well, sort of.

I've done a Norwegian design before, but I've never done a Dale of Norway design before. Above is my Sapporo (if you click on the link - I'm making the same design as shown in the last picture)! I've only been labouring on the black stocking stitch part for 2 years (ok, to be fair to me, I did go months without even thinking about it, let alone work on it), but I brushed off my Continental knitting skills, and zipped through the last 4" or so, and *finally* reached the chart. Yay...! At first, I wasn't too sure if I like how it was looking. Probably because the colours of the lice design at the start of the chart looked a bit too confetti-ish to me. I like all of the colours - deep red, burnt orange and yellow, but together, they just looked...funny (and not ha ha either)... against the black. But, now that I'm working the chart, and the snowflake design is starting to show up, I'm liking it much more. And you know what? I guess I'm used to the very symmetrical motifs of Fair Isle, where it begins and ends quite sensibly. Norwegian designs? Free for all. The front ends where it ends, and the back starts where it starts. And if it doesn't match up at the sides? Oh well. I have my magic centre stitches marked, and that is apparently as important as your future retirement plan.

Oh. And the yarn I'm using (Dalegarn "Falk")? All I can say is that this sucker better block out and nicely. If not (to quote Lorraine), you may just read about a giant fireball seen in the east end of Toronto.

Look what I've got goin' on this morning!

No. Not cooking with chocolate. That ain't chocolate, let me tell you. It's a big hunk of henna for my hair. I haven't henna'ed my hair in years; I've been a slave to the caustic chemical stuff for awhile now. Lorraine told me about the Herbatint she started using, and that started me thinking on using something different to cover my greys. My many, many greys.

So, auburn henna it is.

"Oy, that stuff smells funky..."

She's got that right. I have another hour and a half to go with this stuff on my head. And it is no exaggeration when I say that I smell like a latrine.

The things I do to cover those greys...

"Why do you have cling film on your head? You'd better not be going outside like that."

"So anyway, I told Guido that no way was I going out with him if he didn't at least brush himself and that he'd better not be thinking of getting fresh with me because I have 3 brothers who would not hesitate to give him the beat down of all beat downs if he even tried getting frisky with me and even though there are times when it seems that I don't like being around Gandalf and Malcolm I really do it's just that you know. They annoy me."

"...uh huh..."

And in other knitting news. The things you go through to give an Aran the justice it deserves.

I was so happy, and all ready and psyched to report on a finished back, but when I put Fulmar down on Friday night, I saw that a couple repeats down - I'd messed up the centre cable. I might have vomited just a tiny bit. You can see it, on the left side of the middle portion of the centre panel. *sigh* So. Looks like it's one step forward and two steps back for Fulmar, as I remove the needle and painfully frog until I reach that row (should be oh, about 25 rows, but really, who's counting). And it's not just the centre panel. There are a total of 3 of those panels along the back, and I messed up all 3 of them on that row.

Ouch.

At least Malcolm isn't bothered by it.

"What is this "Fulmar"? Do I know this project? OK, later. Sleepies now... *yawn*"