knit-n-meow

Knitting animal lover, a place where I can talk about my endless number of knitting projects and go on and on about my cats, 2 dogs too!

Friday, March 31, 2006

Jackson...naughty kitty





Isn't he most handsome. This is Jackson and he is quite naughty. He stalks small children, bites you on the nose but is also the most lovable cat ever. Orange cats seem to have a unique personality and he clearly does. I was telling stories about him last night at the LYS so I thought I'd post some of his pictures on my blog. When I worked at the local animal shelter he arrived under quarrantine for biting a child and after it was up I could not let him be put to sleep, I had fallen in love so he came home with me. He was only suppose to stay a few months and three years later he is still with us. Due to his naughty behavior he has earned the nickname of an Austin Powers character. Those of you that have seen those movies just remember the large irishman. I still wouldn't give him up for the world!

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Knitter's joke

No offense to the blondes out there becasue I was once one but this joke was too cute not to share with other knitters.

KNITTING

A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on thefreeway.Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the blondebehind the wheel was knitting! Realizing that she was obliviousto his flashing lights and siren, the trooper cranked down hiswindow, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, "PULL OVER!"
"NO!" the blonde yelled back, "IT'S A SCARF!"

Readers Review


Since I don't have any new knitting pictures to print I figured I'd devote some time to my other passion, reading. Which has beeen on the side burner since knitting took over. I finshed Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver and I loved it. Highly recommend it, the humor was down to earth and funny and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Pigs in Heaven (I ordered from www.half.com the audio CD verison for only 5 dollars!). I'm almost finshed Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd also very good and very hard to put down. Up next on the mp3 is Prodigal Summer, Barabara Kingsolver as well as Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd (do we see a pattern here). I just gave as a gift Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See. If you have not read this book go out an buy it NOW and share it with every girlfriend, mother and sister. By far one of the best books I have ever read. The writing is excellent and the story so moving. You will feel as is you are part of the intimate details of the lives of the women in the story, as if you got their diary and are reading it. Her other books are great too but are more intrigue/mystery style. I finally have my husband reading more than magazines, he has Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire on audio and both of us are going to be fighting over Marley and Me.

That brings me to the next part, nothing about knitting. Dazzle, my dog that was featured under the D is for Dazzle, is sick. We have been battleing IBD (if you can believe a dog gets this) and the stress of the bassetts next dog has casued it to flare up and now it looks like on top of that she has a pancreatic enzyme defiencency. This means medication for the rest of her life but at least she will finally eat without her stomach hurting and she can enjoy her food. So now she is one a special diet called EVO, which is a raw diet of turkey, egg, herring and a bunch of veggies made into dry food, with fresh and cooked veggies made by me added to it. She gets carrots and broccoli as treats, no more dog biscuits, which she never ate anyhow. She can't have rawhides anymore either so this has finally given me the reason to pull out the food dehydrator that I HAD to have. She is going to have special rawhides of chicken and turkey jerky. Meanwhile her sister can still eat normal food with the exception that she has gone on a diet after weighing in at at almost 90 lbs, she's a lab mix that now has a tabletop for a back.

I have been accepted into Secret pal 8, I get my secret pal assigned in May, I can't wait. Next time I promise a knitting post. I just wanted to get something up before I lost the few readers I have!

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Scooter Mania


I am so excited, this may be my new scooter as of this weekend. My husband is still looking into some of the finer motor details and if it all checks out, which it looks promising then it will be ordered. Hopefully the weather will turn warm soon so I can ride it right away. I am so excited, storage space is limited so my yarn purchases may have to be small or I'll find some way to shrink wrap them for packing. But with all of the as money on the great gas milage I'll save, then I can buy more yarn!!!

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Yarn Protection


I had to borrow this picture from www.stuffonmycat.com blog. Don't we all need one of these yarn protectors.

F is for.....Fabulously Finished First Sock


My first sock, not the best picture, my husband is still learning the finer points of our new camera. But I most say a rather fine looking sock and I was carefully not to show any skin :) You can almost make out that I did the eye of partridge as my heel stitch.
At any rate, the next sock is almost finshed I'm doing the toe shaping now. My husband's sock is coming along, once he tried them on I was sad to see that the width of his leg sucked up the entire progress I had made on the sock so I must knit as much as I already have to make the length correct before beginning the heel stitch. I was miserably at the dentist yesterday having my teeth scraped, my head is very stuffy from allergies and a cold so the nitrous mask was not working as it should and my teeth are still sore today. Despite all of the whinning I accomplished much on the knitting front with my day off.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Weekend News



This is the Jo Sharp Fair Isle vest I was working on so long ago. The yarn was the Cascade Sierra and it knitted like a dream. The stitch work came out great and the LYS owner finshed the ribbing on the arm holes for me. I decided not to put any ribbing on the neck because the way it rolls looks so good and the ribbing would make that space so small. I wore it last night to the Texas Roadhouse where we had dinner. I am almost finshed with my sock class and my first pair of sock. I've actually started my next pair but these are on 2 circulars (Addi turbos, which are my all-time favorites but so expensive) and I like that so much better than the double points. These new socks will be for my husband since this is the first thing he has asked me to knit for him. I also picked up more yarns since I had money to treat myself this weekend. I got some silky wool to make a beautiful shell for this summer and another ball of Manos for my afghan.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Great Read


Some news from the knitting and reading front. My first pair of socks are almost complete but I have had to take a break due to a brusied finger. Can you believe it I actaully brusied my finger knitting socks, obsessive or what? My Jo Sharp Vest is beig finshed by the LYS owner, she's doing the ribbed arm holes and neck for me. In the meantime I had to stay with a critical patient at an animal hospital where I work on the weekends last night (feeling pretty tired the morning) and the LYS owner gave me a wonderful book to read. Bean Tress (Barbara Kingsolver). I had started Pigs in Heaven (same author) but left it at work, since this was a sudden thing on schedule for the night she lent me this book to read and I am loving it. The book is funny, sad and all together great. I highly recommended it to everyone. Of course us knitters can't hold a book and knit at the same time so you may want to try and track it down on audio.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

She's Famous


Well looky here, my famous kitty. Libby had her picture submitted to www.catdiary.com a hilarious newsletter to belong to if you are a cat lover, and she was accepted. I've tried getting my cats on www.stuffonmycat.com a very funny blog, with no success. So now I am the proud Momma of an internet beauty, posing in her usual adorable way in my bathroom sink. Funny how cats seem to think that is a bed all for themselves. Not much knitting posting going on with the start of the new school quarter but I have many things in progress with updates soon I promise.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Fair Isle KAL

This is the group at my LYS last friday with out Fair Isle KAL. Most of us finished some were still working on theirs. This store is the most fun, friendly yarn store you could find. Not only does the owner stop whatever she is doing to help you with even the smallest of problems there are always plenty of others around to help as well. Kudos to all who finished and are still working on theirs.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

E is for Enchanted child


This enchanched child is my attempt to play with editing photos. I changed the saturation so that the picture is black and white. My personal favorite is black and white and I left enough saturation so that the color of the ball and the flowers on the collar can be seen. She seemed so transfixzed on the ball and believe it or not this picture was caught on the moment it occured it was not staged. Comments welcomed on this photography and editing skill.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Yarn Cake

Yummy yarn cake is all I can say. This is the makings of my next project, already started of course. It's suppose to be a poncho that I am making for my Easter outfit but I am sure I will not be able to resit weraing it before. The yarns is mosty Crystal Palace including squiggle, splash, ribbon, fizz, eyelash and more. The idea started because of the party poncho designed by Sally Melville that was publish in akit mag, the pattern is written so that the poncho is made working 7 novelty yanrs as scarf strips then crochet them together. A woman at the LYS designed her own pattern of a poncho that is worked on circulars top-down and she made one using 7 different novelty yarns and it looked so good on me I had to make own. Small fortune later YARN CAKE and I can wait to finish it. Other news DH and I are going on a relaxing lake trip early June so I must plan for knitting projects to take along. I'm thinking about some tank tops but nothing too challenging since I will be away from civilization and a yarn shop when a pattern crisis occurs. I don't even think we will have access to the internet up in the mountains. School has started again, no rest for the weary.