Kitty: Wonders of Post Card Swap

I have been having so much fun receiving my post cards from the New Years Postcard Swap. Just look at these little wonders, they are all so wonderful. I thank my swap partners from the bottom of my heart. Getting mail is so much fun!

 

 

My sweet post card from MG and hubby, that I loved so much I had to share the picture.	The Bee Hive
My own little space	pyglet whispers
Sewing Stars
Thank you so very very much... They are all put up on my board to keep me company! Arf! Arf! Arf! Happy January 3rd.

Kitty: Canada is looking better and better everyday

Sorry no knitting content post:
What a sad day! The final door has probably been closed on a Woman's Rights to control her own body with Alito's horrible confirmation. The true leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Coretta Scott King has died. The post-feminist icon, Wendy Wassertein, one of America's Leading Playwrights passed away today ending her battle with lymphoma . Oh, and we can not forget the horrible event, that a former female postal worker shot five people to death and then killed herself in what is believed to be the nation's deadliest workplace shooting ever carried out by a woman. It is a horrible day and a blow to all women.

MG: look who's here!

i'm spinning 100% Wensleydale dyed by Blue Moon Spinnery. if you'd like a closer look, click here.


sighs and smiles. happy rumpelstiltskin.

Kitty: Gong Xi Fa Tsai!

Gong Xi Fa Tsai! Happy Year of the Dog!

Knit, Knit, Knit Spin, Spin, Spin

MG: keep going?

that's the start of my Norwegian Stocking for MJ's KAL!! it's an addictive knit. skipped lunch today b/c i couldn't put it down. there is a problem though (isn't there always with me?), the tint or shade of that blue isn't quite right. i was hoping for a subtle and muted effect, but this particular blue in combination with the brown and beige is screaming a bit. thinking about ripping back and using beige instead.


float-side out. wondering why the cuff is poofy and dense enough to stand a little? there is elastic in there, encased with a knitted hem (Marnie has a great tutorial here.) there were 9 DPNs involved in the hem-turning, but i'm pleased. it's clean finishing, and my stockings will be well behaved.

MG: edging

almost finished with the baby blanket i've been working on for months. this is the first time you are getting a peek since it was all garter stitch until recently and photographically uninteresting. i think i cast on about 100 stitches and knitted about 200 rows. 100 x 200 = 20,000 stitches of garter.

a few more leaves, and the edging will be done. it's "Tulip-Bud Edging" (pg. 357) from Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. oh, here is a useful database for Walker's first three stitch references.


there will be a moment of truth when this blanket comes out of the dryer. it's Blue Sky Alpaca's dyed organic cotton, 100% cotton that will shrink in various ways. fingers crossed for straight edges.

Kitty: Sneak Peak

Just a little sneak peak, I never could get the Blue Sky Alpacha to behave. It is a mystery why it looks so bad knit up. Mia suggested it might fluff up, but not sure I want to risk it.

So I went through the stash and found some Jo Sharp Heather Shetland and got the correct gauge. It may be a little stiff for what I had invisioned, but it is knitting so fast I certainly wouldn't mind knitting this pattern again it fits. <fingers crossed>

Kitty: Monday in the Kitchen at Knitbuddies

Traditional Chicken Rice Porridge (Rice Porridge aka. Congee) 1 whole organic chicken 3 cups of rice (uncooked) 10 dried shitake mushrooms 3 teaspoon salt 2 small handfuls of MSG Heavy shake of pepper to cover the top of the pot (or to taste) 1 tablespoon of sake 1 chopped diakon 1) Peal and chop diakon as you would a potatoes and place in the bottom of a large pot 2) Wash chicken and fill with 10 washed shitake mushrooms and as much rice as possible to fill the chicken cavity. All the rice will not fit just pour into the bottom of the pot with diakon. 3) Fill pot until the water just covers the chicken and bring to a boil. Once it boils turn to low and allow to simmer for one hour 4) Then add all the remaining seasonings to the pot and allow to simmer until the chicken splits due to the swelling rice inside the cavity. (probably 2-3 hours) Note: To reheat, just spoon up what you want to eat and reheat that small portion. Do not try reheating the entire pot.

Inspiration Mac and I both were feeling really under the weather and getting sick. So this will be our comfort food for the week with little vegetable side dishes. Luckily there is enough there for several days, since I don't even feel like eating not alone cooking. Yes, I realize the photos probably are not that appealing, but trust me it taste amazing if you like rice porridge. :)

Kitty: Panta!

The Specs: Pattern: Panta - Panta Knit along Yarn: Adrienne Vittadini Marissa Needles: Size US 5 Circular

Have you been following the super cute Panta! that has been making it rounds on many of the blogs. I first saw it on Carrieoke's Knitting Blog when she was going on vacation. I absolutely fell in love with it. It is a super quick knit and takes a skein of yarn. I did it with leftovers that I had from my tank this summer.

Kitty: Hubbies Harry Potter Scarf is Done!

The Specs: Pattern: Harry Potter Gryffindor Prisoner of Azkaban Scarf Yarn: 15 skeins of Karabella Aurora 8 in colour #2 and 2 skeins of Karabella Aurora 8 in Colour #704 (from the sweet gals at Kpixie) Needles: Size US 7 Circular
Don't you just hate it when Leviosa doesn't work!

It's Done! It's Done! My dear hubby has his Harry Potter Scarf by January 19th. :) It would have been done much quicker but I ran out of yarn and had to wait until Kpixie could find more. I couldn't believe how much yarn this scarf drank up. I am so happy with how it turned out in the end though. I only hope now that M enjoys it and it keeps him warm for years to come.

So you see, I have been training this week for the Knitting Olympics, 6,900 stitches in 1*1 ribbing in one evening. Just joking, I wasn't really training, but I was really curious how fast I could knit in an evening. Since I really wanted to make my self imposed deadline of exactly midnight on Jan 18. I was taking the last stitch off the needle at midnight.

Though if I had been a Japanese Animation Character I would have had oversized red hands throbbing, little sweat beads rolling down the forehead, and a look of sheer drive to get it done.

I am also trying to figure out what to knit for the Knitting Olympics. I haven't signed up yet, but I am really tempted.

Kitty: Advice Needed

Question: Has anyone knit with the Blue Sky Alpaca, 100% Alpaca? I have re knit this on three different types of needles for my swatch and my stitches just look horrible. I am getting the spot on gauge for "The Somewhat Cowl," but I certainly don't want wonkie stitches. I am curious if anyone else has run into this problem or if you think if I wash it they will fluff up? Or is it just me being spoiled for just knitting on Karabella Aurora yarn?

MG: lendrum ransom

in the comments to my last post, i received the following message:

Avast ye lily-livered lamb-lovin landlubbers! Ye'll not be gettin back yer wheel until ye pays the ransom! Doubloons aplenty!

--Cap'n Bulbous and his pirate crew

a certain someone, whom i've entrusted with my lendrum's journey, has orchestrated allowed Cap'n Bulbous to hold my wheel for ransom. even my beloved handspuns are but prisoners to this menacing crew out to exploit desperate fiber addicts. threatening messages and photographic evidence have landed in my email (pirates don't have real digital cameras, just cellphone ones):


"Arrrr! Cap'n Bulbous and his pirate crew are a-holden yer wheel until ye pays the ransom."


"Yo-ho-ho a pirate's life for me!" the cap'n himself in his monogrammed sweater.


"Arrrr!" i hear his eyepatch and dagger are made of post-its!


"avast!" post-it scimitar and newspaper hat.


even crabbycakes succumbed to the siren song of the fiber pirate.

as you can see, i'm in a pickle, especially since i've just run out of good old-fashioned Spanish gold coins. do you think Cap'n Bulbous and crew would accept handknit goods in return for safe passage?

Kitty: Library Treasures

Thank you again Kat!

Look what I won on ebay from the auction she ran right before Christmas. I have had them awhile, just haven't remembered to post photos of my new treasures. In the next couple of days I will post them in the library with some additional images. Just to cute for words. Thanks for sharing your treasures Kat. :)

 

Kitty: Crochet Treasure and Clover Scarf

I think we all have those special garment throughout our lives that we have held on to an treasure more than anything in the world; a first recital dress, a prom dress, a baby outfit, or a special hand made garment made by someone who loved us enough to spend countless hours to make something special. Well, here is one of my most treasured garments that my mom crocheted for me. I wore it to death in highschool and it always made me feel so loved when I wore it. It is made out of a silk and linen and has held up amazingly well given how much I use to wear it. Though it does live a very kind life now wrapped in acid free paper in an acid free box.

See I wasn't lying; my mother really is an amazing crocheter. :)

Through all my trials and tribulations over my first crochet project since I was a little kid doing granny squares I asked my mom where she learned. For some reason I thought she learned from my Great Grandmother S, but it turns out she was left-handed and my mom couldn't see to learn. She just got a book at Woolworth and taught herself through lots of practice. The coolest thing is that she still has my Great Grandmother's hooks.

The Specs: Pattern: Clover Scarf - Tutorial at Crafter.org Yarn: Chunky Hand painted Cotton Chenille MS&W Needles: Size 5 crochet hook Completion time: 8 hours

 

MG: restless

my lendrum still hasn't been able to join me in berkeley. i'm restless, especially with all the beautiful | spindling and spinning in the blogosphere.

winding yarn onto my spindle has always felt awkward, never found a neat and sensible way to suit me. when i read Eunny's post on the nostepinne, neurons fired simultaneously. i'm winding onto the spindle like a nostepinne. not sure i'm doing it correctly; need more practice.


knitting a cabled cap for someone whose favorite words include sammich and bulbous. i think there are color issues with the photo. the yarn is elann's Peruvian Highland Chunky in Chocolate Truffle and Tranquil Lagoon (medium slate blue with red heathery bits).


i didn't realize until i was knitting this hat... until i was making crosses with my little yellow cabling needle... cabling makes me feel loved. when i was eight or nine, my mom took an introductory knitting class and took me with her. i got to play with needles and yarn and books and learn along her side.

i don't know what it was about cables, but they apparently captured my attention. one night, supposed to be asleep, i huddled up in bed with various materials and taught myself how to cable from a book. i knitted for hours, happy and mesmerized... until i heard someone shuffling towards my room. i quickly pulled my covers over everything and pretended to be asleep. mom walked in, saw right through me and the big lump i was hiding.

mad i was still up, mad because she suspected i was up to trouble, she tugged back the covers and found my little swatch. she forgot to be angry; instead, she--amazed and with a hint of pride--asked me to show her how to make those cables.

Kitty: Progress Report on Harry Potter Scarf

I can so sympathize with Wendy at Knit and Tonic showing her husband the sock book. My husband had hinted to both MG and I that if he knew a knitster they could knit him a Harry Potter scarf. Though MG and I really though the colours should be for Slytherin, Gryffindor won out. I searched all over for the proper colours and ordered yarn from Kpixie right before Christmas. I made the big mistake to swatch 1*1 ribbing and stockinet to let him decide. As you guessed he choose 1*1 ribbing for the scarf and knit in the round.

This scarf is just drinking yarn for breakfast, the final count will be something like 17 skeins of yarn and weigh in around 2 lbs. Luckily the sweet gals at Kpixie was able to get me more yarn. It just arrived on saturday so hopefully I can get it done this week.

Since we actually had this lovely orange disk appear in the sky again today by some freak of nature, I rushed out to get a progress photo.

Kitty: Monday in the Kitchen at Knitbuddies

French TomatoSoup 10 Organic tomatoes 1/2 of a pint of half and half 4 pieces of Garlic (Unchopped) 1 small handful of Basil (Unchopped) 2 teaspoons of salt 1) Puree tomatoes (Seeds and peals included) 2) Place tomatoes, garlic, cream, basil, and salt into a pot. Do not stir the mixture. 3) Bring to a boil and then stir mixture 4) Turn down the mixture and allow to simmer for 20-30 min. (It is done when the mixture has become slightly thick)

Inspiration To be honest, the tomatoes were going bad in the refrigerator and it was the quickest way to use them up. I left one out to make tomatoe eggs in the morning.

Kitty: new project

A couple of weeks ago Little Purl of the Orient posted a list of scarves she really liked. One of the links that she linked to was this amazing Clover Scarf she saw on another site, Expiration Date.

After seeing the site yesterday ( Brown sweater, Red sweater, Squiggle chain stitches vest, Marble sweater) I decided that I really had to start the Clover Scarf right then and now. Mom, I am really sorry I didn't pay more attention when you were teaching me to crochet as a kid, but this project is proving I am not a hooker. I don't know what it is but after crocheting one row of the pattern my wrists kill, like when I practiced the piano to much killing.

I am using a hand painted chenille yarn, not the best for clean stitch definition, but also is covering up my mistakes which I am sure there are tons of. Why didn't I pay attention as a kid? I really adore the scarf, lets hope I can make something close.

Kitty: Pure Inspiration

I was just surfing and ran across this totally amazing Japanese site, Thread & Yarn Handing Days by am-tm. Be sure to click through the past entries to see what I mean.

MG: stocking swatching

i'm participating in MJ's Norwegian Knits-Along as one of a gaggle knitting the Norwegian Stockings from Folk Socks. it took me a while to get things together enough for my foray into fair isle colorwork, but i'm ready. i made a little 30 stitch swatch in the round last night, with 2.75mm and 3.25mm needles.



returning to berkeley is returning to spring, seeing home with fresh-from-frost eyes:


it's warm enough to read or dream under a tree, but the ground is too mushy--rainy season earth.


i don't tire of pondering the blue blue sky with a brightening moon.