Afghan Inspirations

We've been in the new house for a year now. It is interesting how many of the things we have "collected" (using that term loosely) over the years seem to have a place in this new house as if they were meant to be. For instance, my husband brought home this print one year and it sat in our old basement forever, never finding the right place. It was instantly welcomed in our new home above the fireplace as if it were purchased exactly for that spot.

Our living room is very neutral with tan couches and chair so I wanted to bring in a little more color into this room and emphasize the colors in the print. So last spring I happened to come along a colorway of Noro Silk Garden that I thought would be wonderful. It was one of those instances where the moment I saw it, it had to be mine. It was #245 ( last picture). I started blocks for the Lizard's Ridge Afghan but after completing two, it was stashed in the closet for later. I realized I did not want to do that afghan with this colorway.
So this January was a month for reading, looking over old "Spin Off" magazines, taking a break from spinning and very little knitting. It was like I was in hibernation mode. I didn't feel like working on anything in particular. However, that afghan wiggled it's way back to the forefront of my brain.
I tried several different patterns and ripped them all out. Then all of a sudden, last Saturday, I sat and played with a few stitch patterns. I knew I wanted something simple to make the most of the colorways. I knew I needed something simple because my brain still seems to be in hibernation mode.
So I cast on and ripped and cast on and ripped, until I found the right pattern for what I wanted. All of a sudden, I was excited about knitting this and I found myself picking it up at odd moments and watching it slowly grow.
And then...as it frequently happens with me...I find that I am working with the colors in my surroundings. Often I am knitting away and then notice, "Hey, that's like what I'm knitting!" My eyes focus on the "malachite" green tiles of the fireplace, the gold, copper, grey, black and touches of blue in the print above the fireplace. Looking out the window, I see the dark bark of the trees with touches of white snow and shadowy greys, along with the brown crispy leaves and the evergreens hinting a promise of the green to come. And...unconsciously, with the foggy, snowy grey days of winter, I wanted to bring more light into our home and I recently purchased simple candles. I found inexpensive glass containers and I added colored pebbles (anything to bring nature indoors)...but look at the colors...hmmm. Last but not least, is the quilt from my Aunt Marilyn which is the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning as it covers me while I dream.
So, I guess it's no surprise that this is the yarn I picked. Although it has been stashed away until recently, my subconscious has been working on this project for quite some time. Now I am off to curl up and knit my afghan and take comfort in it's warmth as it continues to grow. Hmmm...maybe a hot cup of tea and a good book would also be welcome.

Finished Objects!! Finally able to post...

Whoo Hoo!! With Blogger download problems this month and extremely SLOW dial up service, it has been extremely frustrating to try to blog. Hopefully things are on the mend.

Here is the 2nd Noro Striped Scarf which I knit for a surprise for a good friend of mine, Judy, in WI. I used Noro Silk Garden: 2 balls of #34 olive/brown/lavender and 2 balls of #88 soft neutrals of tan/grey/lt green. I loved how it turned out. The pictures here make it brighter than it actually appears.

I finished it at the end of the year but I had to wait for Judy to receive it and for Blogger to work in order to post it. Thankfully, she loves it too. With this cold snap, hopefully it will be a welcome addition to her wardrobe.

The Felted Kitty Bed is finished and since I held one strand of alpaca and one strand of miscellaneous, Noro Silk Garden, grey merino and handspun together, I used up 1022 yards of stash which goes towards my knitting a mile for Stash Knit Down 2008. YIPPEE. I followed Wendy Knits pattern but did an extra increase row and knit several rows after that. For the decreases, I did 3 decrease rows with 5 knitted rows after each decrease. It blocked to a diameter of 17". I wanted it bigger to accomodate various sizes of cats: 5 lbs, 7 lbs, 14 lbs and 17 lbs. Since my colors were so muted, there was not a lot of variation in the piece after it was felted. After finishing this one, I decided that the cats would just have to share. One was enough for this household. So....

Olive has graced it with her mouse on a string but hasn't taken to sleeping in it.

Jaguar and Pinky were snoozing and grooming.
And Tigger found it a cozy place to cuddle. Good thing I made it extra large! All of this was done on the first day it was on the floor. So the results are in....(drumroll please)....

3 out of 4 cats prefer the Felted Kitty Bed. :-D

Pinky's Seal of Approval

Mary asked me if I thought the cats would actually use the Felted Kitty Bed. Pinky couldn't even wait until it was finished and felted! She snuggled right up in my lap while I was knitting. I am SO close to getting the knitting finished; I keep adding odds and ends of yarn. However, it is quite the challenge to knit in the round with a kitten inside! :-D

Stash Knit Down and Kitty Beds

Noro Silk Garden #88 and Alpaca With a Twist worsted from my stash to start the Knit A Mile Challenge on Stash Knit Down 2008. The purpose of the challenge is to knit a mile, 1760 yards, out of yarn from your stash from Jan 5th to Feb 19th. I've been a little late in starting. I have a few smaller projects picked. However, I decided to knit Wendy Knit's Felted Kitty Bed. So I started this one Tues afternoon. This is the progress so far:
I love how the one strand of the Noro Silk Garden and one strand of the alpaca are knitting up together. I can't wait to see it finished. It should be soft and cuddly.

Why the urge to knit kitty bed(s)? Well, if you read my post, Animal Tales, you already know that I have two cats , Tigger and Jaguar, which were abandoned on the road as kittens. We found them just in time. They are great cats and deserve kitty beds. However, they are now just getting acquainted with their two new sisters:

Meet Olive. In my post, Animal Tales, you may have read how my daughter lost her best buddy, Shadow the hamster. Well to fix a broken heart, she needed a new buddy. So last Saturday, we found Olive at the Humane Society. She is a little over a year old, is 7 lbs of fluff. Poor Olive has been at the shelter since September. There is no other history on her. My daughter picked her out from a roomful of cats and said to me, "Mom, meet Olive." She said the name just popped into her head as soon as she looked into Olive's HUGE bright green eyes (which look like olives). Haha. Cute name so it stuck. Olive came home yesterday and is in kitty quarantine in the downstairs bathroom for three days while she is being treated for fleas and earmites. She is a wonderful, laid back, lovey cat who likes to chatter to you. Meet Pinky. She just came home Tues night. A. had seen Pinky's picture posted on a pet store bulletin board and that was where we were headed when we stopped at the Humane Society. As soon as I held Pinky, it was love at first sight (or purr). She is a little lovey motorboat purr baby. She is a Blue Cream Torbie ( I'll have to look that up on the internet as I've never heard that term before). Anyway she is buff/cream colored with light grey and her belly is very light cream with grey dots. It looks like a snow leopard's. Very cute. She has the most beautiful amber eyes but when her pupils are dilated, her eyes look so dark compared to the rest of her.

Pinky was named by the animal rescue foster home. She is 5 months old and ended up in foster care 3 weeks ago. She was found living in a car with a woman and 7 cats. All except Pinky and another kitten were euthanized. How sad! Pinky fostered in a home with 5 dogs and several cats so eventhough she is TINY, she is not fazed at all by our 80 lb Collie, Simba. She takes all the animals in stride. In fact they are more cautious of her than the other way around. Jaguar, 14 lbs, thinks she's fun to watch. Tigger, 17 lbs and scared of his own shadow, chooses not to look at her when she is sniffing him. It's like "if I can't see her, she's not really there." Too funny!

We love the name Pinky. I have a friend, Judy, in WI who has a cat named Pinky and we always loved that cat and name. I apologize for not the greatest of pictures. Neither cat wanted to stay still; they are more interested in being petted.

So it looks like 4 kitty beds will find their way to my knitting needles!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Wishing everyone, laughter, love, health, and prosperity. Enjoy the ones you love and engage in the pursuits that make your soul sing.

Snowed In

EGADS!! December 17th already?? Things have been quite hectic around here. This is always a crazy time of year in our household but this year seems like time is going WAY too quickly.

I have been scrambling to get some much needed production spinning done for here. The latest batch was 2 lbs of wonderful cashmere/silk blend which will make some lucky soul a beautiful sweater! It is spun DK to light worsted weight. Sorry I didn't check specifics like WPI, etc. Note to self...must document more to share. Thanks Jenny for teaching documenting is important and thanks to you readers for being patient with me. :-) I'm a WIP!
While trying to production spin and trying to knit a Christmas present, I have to admit I'm feeling a little of Yarn Harlot's Christmas deadline insanity this year. Although I don't have the overwhelming knitting schedule she does, I am beginning to feel a little anxiety as the days tick away. Will I get everything done?? To add, my munchkins have been home from school a LOT in the past three weeks starting out with 2 half days for teachers' workshop and ice/fog then 2 full days for an ice storm last week and then again a full day today for a snowstorm. Mother Nature is laughing as she's tampering with my Christmas preparation time.

We seem to be stuck in a weather cycle lately with storms in the Midwest over the weekends. A week ago, we were graced with an ice storm. Luckily, A. and I were able to leave early for the weekend to go to Indianapolis for a much awaited Hannah Montana concert. We drove the 6 hours roundtrip in driving rain, sleet and ice but we made it! All the while I was worried about getting there, getting back and having less spinning time for my deadlines but do you know what?? It doesn't really matter because the look on my 9 year old daughter's face when Hannah came out singing A.'s favorite song was absolutely PRICELESS!! And of course, in our rush to "beat the storm", I hurriedly packed and forgot my camera. DUH! However, it was a fabulous time.
This is the view outside yesterday morning. We woke up to a foot of snow and it was still snowing and blowing until midafternoon. We were definately snowed in.
Just a view of the table and bench on the deck... Isn't it funny? We received about 14 inches total and school was cancelled for today. It was a nice day to be snowed in although an albeit exhausting one. My wonderful hubby, who is in denial about snowstorms, has yet to break down and buy a snowblower. After 7 hours of shovelling out our driveway, (mind you, we live in the country and it is about 400 winding feet downhill to the road) he exhausted as can be, proclaimed, "If I ever get out of here, I am buying a snowblower". Mother Nature won that battle! :-D However, he is my hero. I pooped out after 3 hours of shovelling and bed never felt so good last night!

This was our reward after all the shovelling. The sun finally came out...frosty blue sky and sparkling snow. It was absolutely beautiful!

Stay warm, cozy and safe all of you who are battling the winter weather! I will be travelling later this week so I wish you all the warmest of holiday seasons!

Ice, Snow and Knitted Daffodils?

DECEMBER ALREADY??? Mother Nature decided to start December with a winter storm watch from yesterday afternoon until this morning. It was 15 degrees Friday night and that was without the windchill factor. It had been a chilly week and a windy one. We got a good dusting of snow which then turned to freezing rain and later just rain. As you could tell from the picture I took of the driveway, with the reflections of the trees, it was wet this afternoon!

I'm behind in my knitting and spinning projects so I took advantage to cozy in last night and work on them. Sorry, no pictures, some are for Christmas. I'll show later. However when it warmed up above freezing today and was raining like crazy, I took advantage of the weather for something else...
YES, that's ice and yes, that is a daffodil bulb. I have been late in getting my bulbs in this year. It is not the first time I've planted after a light snow. However, it warmed up enough that the ground was saturated and soft. I had at least another 30 bulbs to plant out of 70 or so. So out I went with raincoat and trowel. In hopes that I can see this, next spring.

We moved here last December. In the spring, one of the things I missed the most was my daffodils. At our old house in WI, I scattered bulbs every year for about 6 years near the woods. I would stand outside and toss the bulbs in the air and wherever they landed, is where they were planted. Later on, I tossed tulip bulbs, grape hyacinths, snowdrops and crocus also. Each spring, after a grey long winter, I would be excited to see my own sunshine in the backyard.
So last spring, when I was flowerless, I purchased this yarn. It is a soft buttery yellow 70% baby alpaca, 30% silk laceweight. It is Alpaca With a Twist, Fino. Along with the yarn, I picked up Fiber Trends, "Spring Blossoms Shawl" by Eugen K. Beugler. I figured since I didn't have daffodils yet at my new home, I'd have to knit some! So when the grey winter days stretch out too long this year, I will be knitting my daffodils and awaiting the arrival of a little sunshine in the yard. I love surprises and hopefully some of the daffodil bulbs will survive deer and critters.
A daffodil story to share...many years ago, when my children were still tiny, my husband was out of the country on business during our birthdays. Our birthdays are two days apart and in the middle of March when it is still cold and dreary in WI. Anyway, one night, I had an unexpected knock on the door. I was alone with my little ones and it was after 9 pm so I was startled that anyone would be knocking. I went to the door and turned on the porchlight to find my mom standing there with a huge grin on her face and a bouquet of daffodils. She had picked the daffodils in her yard that morning and had driven all the way from Arkansas to Wisconsin (about 11 hours) to wish me Happy Birthday!! What a total surprise! I loved it and it will always be a great memory. I think of it every spring when I see daffodils. Thanks, MOM! I love you.