So many hobbies!

It's been a year

I can't believe it's been a year since I adopted Galen and Tyr.  They have added so much to my life since they came to live with me.  Even though Tyr steals my yarn... and potatoes... and the change off the sofa table... I wouldn't give her up for anything.  And Galen, he's my snuggly boy.  Every time I lay down on the couch, he's curled up on my side.

Here's Tyr the day I took her home:

And here she is today:

I'm always amazed when I compare pictures just how big she's gotten.

Here's baby Galen:

And here's my favorite picture of grown up Galen:

I just don't know how people can live without a cat, or without a pet at all.  The kids greet me at the door when I get home (granted, they're looking for treats, but still) and sleep with me at night.  They take naps with me on the couch and bring me toys to throw.  My house is just more alive with them in it.  And I'm a lot less lonely.

Andrea's edging

This is 75 repeats completing the edging for Andrea's Shawl.  The original pattern calls for 93 repeats but the yarn I'm using is a lot bigger so I went down one set of repeats.  I'm knitting a shawl, not a sail.  I started the edging Thursday morning and finished it Sunday morning.  I want so very badly to start on the lace portion of the shawl but I've only just started spinning the yarn.  Then, of course, I have to dye it.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to find my dyeing book so there's another delay.  Frustrating.

Did you survive Black Friday?  I'm happy to say I spent the entire day, with the exception of lunch with my sisters, at home and never set foot in a store.  I hate crowds.  I hate standing in line.  Most of my shopping will likely be from Amazon.  My preferred gifts, when possible, are art supplies and books.  My niece is getting art supplies and I bought them Thursday night at Michaels.  The Christmas shopping has begun!

Finally, some knitting

Finally, the socks of many colors are finished!

It's been so long since I started these, I can't remember exactly when that was.  I'm pretty sure the yarn is Merino/silk.  Or was it Merino/bamboo?  Can't remember that, either.  Anyway, I took two colorways, spun them up and then plied them together.  The pattern is my generic sock pattern with a short-row heel.  I used Judy's Magic Cast-on for the toes and both were knitted at the same time.

I just love the colors. 

On another note, apparently, fingerling potatoes make great cat toys.  That's the only conclusion I can come to when Tyr steals them off the kitchen counter and then bats them around the floor.  I think there's two of them under the bookcase.  She is the funniest cat.

Now that the socks are finished, I can start on Andrea's Shawl.  Woot!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the US.  Have a great holiday and good luck shopping on Black Friday.

I am now persona non grata

I was working in the kitchen and Galen, who always seems to be underfoot, got his paw under my foot.  His scream was terrible and now he won't let me touch him.  Even Tyr abandoned me to see how he was doing.  I feel terrible.

This was as far as I got at the end of the first day, with a lot of help from my dad.  I got a bit further today but of course, I forgot to take a picture.  I've reached the point where you start weaving the cane in and that takes a lot longer than just the straight stringing you see above.  I ordered a book on caning which should get to me sometime this week.  Dad took me around their house so we could see examples of other types of seats that were caned.  One of them is a rocking chair that was my grandmother's and has both the seat and the back caned.  I should have taken a picture of that one, too, because my dad did a great job with the caning.  I need another couple of weekends with my dad to finish this chair. 

It was a fun craft weekend.  My sister worked on some sewing projects, Mom wrapped Christmas presents and Dad and I worked on the chair.  There was much laughing and a good time was had by all.  I suspect we'll be doing more of these weekends.  Now, I have to go check on my boy.

Craft weekend

I've been trying to write a post for a while now and nothing's coming out.  The only thing I've done tonight was wind that 700 yards of yarn into a ball and watch more Doctor Who.  Not really anything blogable.  I'm heading to my parents' this weekend for a craft weekend.  My dad is going to teach me to cane chairs.  He's got a couple of chairs that had needlepointed cushions when they bought them but the seats had worn out.  So, Dad took the old seats off, cleaned up the chairs, sanded and varnished them and they're all ready for my first caning lesson.  The chairs' original seats were caned so they're already ready for new caning.  And that is all I have to blog about.  Not very exciting but there it is.  I'm kind of hoping to drive to Frankenmuth and Bronners on Saturday to buy a few Old World Christmas ornaments but I don't know if there will be time. 

Ach!  I need to go to bed.  I've been cranky all day.  All morning I'd been thinking it was Friday only to get jolted when I realized it was Thursday.  Thank goodness I didn't pay my bills thinking I'd gotten paid this morning.  Tomorrow should be better.  I think I'll order some new knitting needles for my new shawl.  (I need size 11 needles.)

Yup, I'm a crier

So, not only do I cry at the end of The Lord of the Rings, I also cry at the end of season 2 of Doctor Who.  I'm sniffling as I type.  Anyone who wants to travel through time and space with David Tennant, raise your hands.  Me!!

I've been searching for the perfect shawl pattern and I found a few that were close, but not quite there.  I've pretty much decided to knit Andrea's Shawl again.  This is the first one I knitted.  I enjoyed knitting it the first time so I'm looking forward to knitting it the second time.  Before I do, though, I need to spin up the yarn for the contrast color.  Has anyone bought the Merino/silk roving from Knitpicks?  I wonder how soft it feels.  I've got two produce bags of onion skins collected from the onion bin at the grocery store.  I think the produce guy though I was nuts for collecting them but I'm not afraid to be seen as a nut job for my art.  Besides, it would take ages to collect enough skins if I didn't get them that way.  Can't wait to try dyeing with them.  Something new!

Must go to bed now.  The TARDIS wore me out.

 

Yarrrrrn!

(Sorry, my inner pirate couldn't be denied.)  I ended up with a little over 700 yards of soft, squishy, gorgeous worsted-weight yarn.  It's uber soft.  I can't wait to knit with it.  Speaking of knitting, I've changed my mind on the contrast color of my future shawl.  Pink will be a bit too garish, at least it is in my head.  I've started collecting onion skins from my local grocery store to use as dye.  Once soaked and cooked, the onion skins will give a lovely shade of gold.  I think the gold will contrast much better with the brown than pink will. 

My ankle is a bit better but I'm pretty sure I tore something, not just stretched it, when I stepped wrong.  This little injury is going to take a lot longer to heal than I'm going to have the patience for.  I'm already tired of dealing with it and it hasn't even been a week.  It's strange that I have the patience to wash wool, card it, spin it, ply it, then knit it up but I don't have to patience to deal with waiting for an injury to heal.  I suppose I should be grateful it's my foot that's injured and not one of my hands.  That would be REALLY irritating. 

Hobbling along

I've spent the week limping from one place to another.  I learned, again, that I can work my single-treadle wheel with my left foot.  Which is good because my right foot looks like this:

Plying has commenced and I'm about a third of the way through the bobbins.  Now I have to find the perfect shawl pattern to fit the yarn.  It has to have an interesting body, because no one wants to knit a boring shawl, and a border that I can knit in a contrast color.  Now, however, I've had a Doctor Who marathon and I'm going to bed.  Have a good weekend people.

Epic fail

Yesterday's Monday was bad on an epic scale.  On my way to the bus, I twisted my ankle.  Badly.  I managed to hobble in to work and ended up getting an x-ray.  Fortunately, it's not broken but it's pretty swollen and I can barely get my shoe on.  In the past 24 hours, however, I've learned I can spin on my double-treadle wheel with one foot.  My ankle is feeling better but it's still very unhappy.  I stayed home today to rest it and I managed to finish spinning my brown Merino/Polwarth bats.  Yay!

Plying will have to wait for my ankle to heal, though, since my plying wheel is a single treadle and it's my right foot that's messed up.  As much as I want to start plying, I'm not interested in becoming a contortionist to do it.  Now, I have to go lay down on the couch and put my foot up.  Anyone with tips on fast healing, I could use the advice.

One hour wasn't enough

I need another day, not just an extra hour.  I've spent most of the weekend spinning up those awesome bats and I've only got about two and a half left.  I'd really like one more day to finish spinning and then ply.  Oh, and my guess of one pound of wool was way off.  I've got probably 9 ounces which plied, should give me enough for a shawl, plus the border that hasn't been spun and dyed yet.  I didn't take a picture because the second bobbin looks just like the picture I took of the first one.

Speaking of dyeing, I've seen some pictures of the colors Cochineal produces and I can't wait to start dyeing.  The pinks are absolutely luscious.  I'm thinking I'll try growing the big three next year:  weld for yellows, woad for blues, and madder for reds.  These three plants have been grown for centuries for the intense colors they produce.  Woad produces the same pigment produced by indigo, just not as much of it.  It takes much more woad to dye a pound of wool than it would indigo.  Woad however, unlike indigo, can be grown in cooler climates like mine (unless you have a greenhouse, which I don't).  Of course, then I have to figure out how to get the pigment out of the plants.  I've heard it's a bit complicated.  I guess I'll find out.  Should be fun.