vintage quilt. well, errrr, sort of.

thanks to my mother sorting through some of her clutter, i've recently been reunited with a childhood blanket. i had forgotten about this one and it tickles me to look at the pictures on the fabric. my cousin had made it for me many, many moons ago.

it is very lightweight and i am amaaaazed at how warm it is.
i think this blanket has super powers.


this is one side:




this is the other:




i like how there are many kitties on both patterns. i might not be consistent in many things, but love of cats (and critters in general) goes waaaay back.






aren't they cute? i like the blue hair, and blue fur!

Sunshine...on my yaaa-aarn...makes me happieeeeee

gosh this yarn is beautiful.



i've changed my mind about the needle size. 50 was indeed too big for what i wanted, so i'm using my 35's instead. i love the uneven-ness of the stitching. i'm a big fan of the "imperfect" looks of certain fibers, weaves, etc. Not always what a project calls for, but its a look i'm very fond of.



it looks so pretty in the sun. i think its amazing that a beautiful yarn can make a simple garter stitch look so fanciful.

Next!

Here is a very cool yarn store - "And the Beadz Go On" in the lovely village of Wickford, RI. i bought this beautiful yarn there.



It's made by Schaefer Yarns, "Danya" from their Color Concepts for kids line, color "Little Barney", 78% mohair with wool and nylon, is very soft indeed for a mohair fiber.

These muted colors remind me of clouds and bunnies and easter eggs.



I'm going to do a swatch (i confess i am a swatch-hater and trying to get over that) with my mondo Susan Bates size 50's. yes, that is "50", not "5.0". what can i say, i like the speedy gratification of a quick knit. i'm aiming towards making an airy wrap. we'll see what the swatch tells me.

the 11th hour

well i finished my mother's scarf less than an hour before we are to meet. if anyone has any tricks with weaving in ends, i'd love to hear it. seems no matter what i do i wind up with a tail that eventually comes loose and looks messy, or if i dare put a knot in it, that shows almost every time.



mr. biddles is doing his "yay-another-project-is-done-whats-next?!" jig.







oh mr. b you are such a silly kitty!

lookie who made it on CO!

imagine my surprise and pure joy yesterday afternoon when, during one of my MANY daily visits on www.cuteoverload.com, i see pictures i had submitted of my wonderful mr. biddles. (sorry, you have to scroll down to yesterday's post (april 3) on their website.)

first we win jenla's cutest toesies contest, and now this?? oh my..ummm...yoohoo..mr. biddles? mr. biddles!? how are you handling your sudden celebrity status? are the media crowding your personal lifestyle? are you letting it get to your head?!!


whew. it appears he is taking it all in stride. (he's so grounded.) you're the best, mr. b! mmmmtwchaa!

a plethora of things

i've been remiss with my postings. so here i will ketchup:

• first, if you love animals as i do, and enjoy hearing about people's lighthearted predicaments, i highly recommend this book which made me lol many times over. ("enslaved by ducks" by bob tarte)

• i received my first issue of adorn magazine recently. i wasn't sure what to expect but let me say that i am quite impressed. it's a small magazine but packed chock full of wonderful ideas and crafts. you will notice that the advertisements are nearly non-existent (except for crafty resources) so i wager that pound-for-pound, this smaller mag has just as much if not more real info in it than your average home/art mag. (i'm not mentioning names)

• here is a wonderful childrens book i've recently discovered. there is no text, which might throw off the average person at first, but after a good look i'm convinced that text would only have taken away from the beauty of the drawings, which are amazingly beautiful. (its "flotsam" by david wiesner.)

• breakfast with mr. b:

my fav decaf tea is the chai made by "stash". de-lish with warm milk and a dollop o'honey (which is so much better than sugar, or, egads - that nasty artificial stuff). mymy, what a messy counter. here is the line-up:



and how are you this lovely morning, mr. b?


you've got something on your face, mr. b - oh, its your tongue. yummy breakfast, i take it. time for nappies soon!

• petal people.

i love Klutz. i've had a lot of fun with their kits. i purchased this kit. it sat on my coffee table for a little while, until, one dark and stormy night.....



thanks for the tap, barbara-kay

easter scarf

i'm pleased with this light and decorative scarf. i'm not a big fan of novelty yarns but these colors are quite pretty.



i'm eager though to start a new project. not sure what that will be just yet but i've got a lot of yarn staring back at me from my stash mountain pile.

i've been using my circulars for this project although they certainly were not needed (its only about 5 inches wide). initially i switched to my circs because of the snagging action going on with my straights as a result of a feline nibblefest. (ahem)

i havent quite made my mind up yet but i think i'm developing a preference for circulars. they're more mobile - especially when sitting in tight quarters- and easier to handle.

all this knitting makes mr biddles very tired.

Next Project

ok, ok, so i havent completely finished the scarf yet but its almost there. i wanted to start messing around with this new yarn my mom picked out. i'm going to make a thin decorative scarf. i forget what kind of knitting pattern this is - its k4, p4 for 4 rows then reverse. reminds me of a waffle or something.

pretty colors, isnt it? it snags a bit on my wooden needles because, ahem, a certain someone - a feeeline - yes we're talking about you mr. biddles - chewed on my brittany 8's!! there's just enough miniscule roughness on one needles that catches/pulls a little bit on this particular yarn which is kinda fine and rayon/poly. hmph! silly kitty!

Almost Done

almost done - thought i'd wing it and see what would happen.

i've used reynolds fusion rockface 009 - 2 skeins. its a beautiful mohair mix yarn that is so warm and soft. i love it. the colors are nicer than i initially thought. i loosely based this wing-it pattern on alterknits multilayered tube scarf.

i didnt have enough yarn, and the yarn is stiffer than what their pattern asked for, so i messed with it a bit. it looks and acts very nicely wrapped once around the neck - one end tucked inside the other - since its a tube. i'm really pleased. i made it for my mom. maybe she'll let me borrow it for a couple years?

"Me Luvs Catnip!"

chester loves catnip!

chester says "mmmflurgle!" catnip heaven. kibble and nip for zee kitty!

(offkey singing voice) "Reee-united, and it feeeeels so gooood....

i look outside from my back door today and saw this. this is chester (pronounced "chethhter") and i had not seen him for 8 months, folks. 8 months of thinking the worst. granted, he is not 'officially' my cat. he appears to be a stray, unneutered male, but we had become good friends for a short while last spring. after july the 4th, he disappeared. i feared the worst, that local fireworks sent him into a blind fright, running far from this area, crossing dangerous roads, etc. you know, the mind rambles.

but here he is. the first piece of good news i've had all week (omg, is it just wednesday???!). he looks really good. he's cautious, so we're not starting where we left off, but he had himself some kibble, and had a roll in his favorite catnip. he must have a support network around here because he looks well. he is a "seasonal" visitor, i now believe, on the prowl for mating season.

its so good to see you again, chester! we've missed you! see you tomorrow!

Cute Pawsies

i could not choose which photo portrayed my cat's fuzzie feetsies the bestest, so here are the four of them. i love how he was so smushed up that we have several "nose on paw" shots here and how cool is that?! i wanted to kiss hees feets but i knows that would have turned out very badly for me. that would have been pushing mr. biddles' tolerance over the edge. talk to the paw, man, talk to the paw.

Thanks La