By Request

Some knitting! These are the main projects that are getting my attention (such as it is) these days.

This is a Comfort Shawl which will be headed for Conn. as soon as it's done. I'm using two shades of Jiffy--the darker one is called San Francisco, and I have no idea where it came from. The price tags say "Walmart $1.27" and I know for sure I didn't buy it there! (I went into a Walmart once, and it was so depressing I haven't ever been back. Target all the way, baby!)

Digressions aside, it's coming along. I think it will be warm and cheery. There will be two stripes of the paler color, and three of the darker. It's currently about halfway done, and it makes good "coffee knitting" or "watching something exciting on TV" knitting.

Next up, the Ab Fab in progress. It's coming out stripier than I had expected but I'm liking it all the same.
Definitely an interesting knit, unless one is (as I am) bored to tears with feather-and-fan. At least the color changes keep me awake.
Okay, here's my "problem child." I think this photo emphasizes the problem I'm having with this little blankie for Audrey.
The yarn is gorgeous--love the color, it knits like buttah, especially on my Options. The lace pattern in interesting, with only a few rows that require close attention. I think there will be enough yarn for at least 7 repeats, most likely 9. But I think the pattern is obscured by the yarn's variations. What do you think? It's currently one repeat and a part of a second in; should I frog it and use the yarn for something else?


Lady E III. I love the way the Tapestry shades--the color runs are long enough to do at least one and sometimes two blocks and the color-blocks don't pool much. It's another one of those wonderful projects--yarn, needles, and pattern all coming together to make for a fun and satisfying knit.

We're decorated for the holidays. (Thanks to D1 and her family for the wreath. It smells wonderful!)


Here's the holly bush I mentioned. You can see that the berries aren't as vivid a red as the traditional English holly, nor are the leaves as deep a green. On the other hand, they are also not as prickly, so it's a "friendlier" bush to have in the yard, and the effect is almost the same.

Been a while since you've seen a cat photo here, so I took a couple today while I was trying to fold laundry. My little "helpers" were equally busy.


Simon curled up in the basket and went to sleep. Can you tell which "parts" are visible here??



HiHi took it upon himself to keep the folded bath towels warm. Wouldn't want your towels to feel chilly, would you?
Didn't think so.
Camellia blossom, a large one--hand included for scale!


And, what's left of the berries.

Crumbs, and empty wrappers.

Yumm!

Holly-days happenings

...which reminds me, I need to get a photo of my big ol' holly bush all covered in berries. It's a Burford holly, not an English one--we had some of those but they have died off. I'm blaming the drought but the truth is, I'm thinking that even plants and shrubs have a life cycle and maybe they were just elderly.

Speaking of which...

I came home from knitting on Wed. to a porchful of packages, including a red and white box with some rather cryptic instructions:
"Close and lock doors.
Hide behind a large piece of furniture. Quietly open box. Savor and enjoy!"
This is what was in the box:

The box also stated:
Perishable! Once opened, contents may disappear immediately!"
Needless to say the box no longer looks like this.
Can I just say that chocolate-covered strawberries make an excellent breakfast?
Many thanks to D1 and her family!!
Oh, and happy birthday to Granddaughter Lizziebug today! Very special people are born on the solstice!
Another one of the boxes contained this tower of festivity:
Gevalia coffees and teas. From my bro. Who knows of my addictions!

The box of truffles is from son Jeff and his family.
Contributing to the delinquency of my diet, that's for sure, but so deliciously!

My darlings have taken my message to heart: I don't need more stuff! So, delicious consumables are great!

(Some rewards, I suppose, for being another year older. I got to talk to all the offspring, one way or another, as well as my brother.)


But, of course, not everything is going to be consumable.

Some things will just get used for "other things."
Like, for instance, this:

Yarn Pirate merino/tencel in Icicle.

I love the colorway. And the yarn is very soft. And shiny.

Hmmm...

Then there is the Austermann Inka, which just happens to come in a colorway perfect for the Laughing Carrots sweater. And of course, I do happen to know a little-boy-carrot who looks smashing in orange!
Props to Laura for alerting me to this special on Elann. I love me a good enablement!!

And then there was the STR order:
I am just nutso over the Pink Granite colorway. Had to have some Pond Scum.
I promise not to put them in the same garment. Well, maybe not...

On to some quilty goodness. Tuesday night was our last class of the year, which we celebrated with a potluck and some happy sewing.
Louise finished a tree skirt for her niece:

Drs. Harry and Ellin finished a wonderful batik quilt top. Here's Harry doing his Kilroy imitation.

Can I just say that these wonderful people sent off 14 boxes of quilts and clothing to New Orleans? 20 quilts, people! 20!! And some school clothes for the kids, plus they were able to raise some money with an art auction. As well as all the other things they do. Their particular focus in NO is the dialysis community, which has been hard hit and is having even rougher times. Not that many people in the Katrina/Rita disaster zone are having it easy; but when you add the additional problems involved with dialysis patients, well, it just multiplies exponentially. Ellin, a retired pediatric nephrologist, has remained connected to and committed to the network, and is putting a lot of time and energy into doing what she can to alleviate the sufferings.

What's really great to see is how much fun they have with their quilting and sewing and fundraising. Tuesday night, I helped them plot out another fundraising quilt, which will be for their granddaughter's school.

Whew, didn't mean to get so heavy there. Onward!

Anne is making a quilt for her granddaughter. This one is all blocks of the same design--Churn Dash/Monkey Wrench/Hole in the Barn Door, probably has dozens of other names too. The blocks are all different sizes, ranging from 16" down to 2.5". Her granddaughter specified turquoise and pink, so that's where the color combo came from. (Anne is SO not a pink and turquoise person--she had to buy most of the fabrics to make this--but there was a quilter's run on the Central Coast, and those shops did have pink and turquoise.)

In the midst of holiday prepping, the more mundane tasks still need to be done. Today will be devoted to paying bills, doing laundry, and if the stars align properly, I might even get to the cards. One never knows!
In case I don't get back to the blog before next week--I have been tapped for jury duty, starting on Monday--I'll wish you a happy holiday, whichever you celebrate, and a very good new year, too! (More on that. Going to be some resolutions for next year, you betcha!)

Enough, Already!

...with the LOLcatz? Okay then... on to other topics


Sweet Audrey, sleeping. I hear she does t---his for approximately 3 hours a day, mostly between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm.
FO Day at Montrose Monday:
Dim Sum Mary
and Patty finished their scarves. I especially like Barbara there in the background, holding her "kittens"!
She got some of Elann's new KSH clone and some Inka Alpaca and brought it for sharing.

Madgik is trying to get the last of her slippers knitted and felted by deadline.

Lastly, some of the cookies baked by D4 over the weekend. These are meringue cookies, known to my family as Forgotten Cookies (you put them in the oven, turn it off, and forget about them till morning--so they are always the last batch baked) and definitely a standby. D4 is an artistic sort of baker, so hers are piped onto the cookie sheet and not plopped, as mine always are!

Equal Time

moar funny pictures

By request, picture of the canine Miss Kitty. She's 12 (or so, in people years) and lived for a long time with my in-laws, who like many people in their 80s were not super active. So, when my FIL went to live at The Home (which is a tale for another day) Miss Kitty went to live with sis-in-law Linda, her husband, and their two mini dachsies. Kitty has been having a ball making up for lost time--she runs, she hunts, she lords it over the other two.

Yarn pics and knitty tails (tales?) shortly--gotta upload the pictures! Miss K. couldn't wait...

Miss Kitty, aka Miss Piggy

moar funny pictures

This is one of my Connecticut grandkittens, although I do think "kitten" is a bit of an exaggeration for her! Inspired by Barbara's version with Midnight in her cave, I was able to get Kitty's photo on the page.

We have another Miss Kitty in the family--my sis-in-law, Sadly Blogless Linda, has her parents' little dachsy, also named Miss Kitty. Maybe I'll need to look for a picture of that Kitty to put up alongside this one!

Counting down to Christmas and I think I'm getting a wee bit punchy here. What other explanation for my sitting here at the computer, doing LOLcats instead of cleaning/cooking/wrapping? Hmm. All right, I'll go work, and I'm hoping to have some knitting to share tonight too!