So It’s Friday

Friday means Finished Objects.  But guess what?  Big surprise that I didn’t finish anything this week.  I really feel like the week just started and finished.  No in between.  I’m really trying to remember what I’ve done this weekend and feel like I don’t have anything to share.  I haven’t accomplished anything this week.  Well, besides a decent amount of work on hubby’s Christmas present.  Even if I had finished that, I wouldn’t have been able to share.  That’s one of the things I don’t love about gift knitting.  I can’t share till they’ve been received.  Luckily I don’t have much more to do, gift wise. There are things I do love about the Christmas season.  Decorating.  Snow.  And Baking.

Decorating. I’ve done a bit of that this week at least.  Decorated the whole house for Christmas.  Now I just need a Christmas tree to make everything complete.  Either tomorrow or Sunday we will be going to buy our Christmas tree (no matter what the hubs has to say about it).  Then I will really feel like it’s Christmas.  Face it- no matter how many Christmas movies you watch, how much Christmas music you listen to, and how many presents you’ve wrapped, it doesn’t feel like Christmas till you have a real tree up.

Snow.  We’ve had plenty of that. I just wish the sun would join the snow so I can get some decent pictures.  Edgar took his first adventure in the snow.  He was a bit, well, confused.  And it is the only time he came back in the house voluntarily.  That tells you what he thought of it right there.

Baking.  I made Chocolate Pretzels.  Not Chocolate covered pretzels, but the pretzels you put in the oven with Hershey kisses on top, then place M&Ms on them.  They are pretty much heaven.  Especially if you use Peanut Butter M&Ms.  And they are also pretty much the easiest “baking” I’ve ever done.  Sunday will be much more of a feat.  I have 3 batches of the Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies (thank you Paula Dean) to make.  On Sunday I will be getting together with some neighbors to do a cookie exchange.  It was my idea to do this, and I’ve heard of them but never participated.  I told a few girls here, and then more friends were invited.  So I’m making more than planned, but that just means I get more goodies and we have a bigger variety of sweets!  I decided to get this cookie swap going because I love Christmas cookies too much, and I don’t want to make a bunch of different kinds just to eat them all.  This way I get a variety, but only a few of each!  Less carbs, calories and sugar for me.  I’m sure the hubs won’t mind.

If you were disappointed not to see any finished objects, then I suggest you head over to Tami’s Amis to check out everyone else.  I’ll leave you now with some pictures of Edgar taking on the big, fluffy, white stuff.

It’s Not Friday Anymore

I know, I know.  I’m a bit late.  I was actually going to participate in FO Friday this past week.  FO Friday is a meme just like WIP Wednesdays.  Why now?  Because I actually have an FO to share!  So yeah, I forgot.  Of course I looked at the calendar today saying ok, todays friday.  I think yesterday I thought it was Monday, and Saturday I thought it was Sunday.  SO  I have really been off my game lately and have had no idea what day it is apparently.  And thats with a gadget on my desktop that tells me what day it is.  Anyway, I’m going to pretend today is Friday anyway and show you what I’ve finished.

#1 is my citron.  Finally!  It was actually done a few weeks ago, but I still had to block.  I waited till after the fam left to do so.  And now I’m getting very frustrated because I had pictures of it blocking and I cannot find them on any camera, or the computer.  Although I know what camera I took the pictures with and they are gone!  GONE!  Technology can be so frustrating sometimes.  So you are subjecting to seeing the “other” pictures.  These pictures were taken after the citron was done, before ends were sewn in and before blocking.  And truthfully, I’m so close not to showing you these because these are nothing compared to the post-blocked citron.  Ugh.

#2.  Ok, not really a finished object, but it is half finished.  I have one glove of the Hands Over the Fire gloves done.  And I’m so happy to have it done!  The second half of it knit up so fast once I really got going and got the hang of the cables.  I was even able to memorize the pattern.  Right hand will be cast on very soon so I can wear both!  But it sure looks great minus the fact that ends still need to be sewn in.

 

Now let me introduce you to my trouble maker.  After making the citron it was sitting out for about a week.  One day I came home and it was sitting next to the cat’s water dish and not on the side table where it was left.  It was still folded might I add, but had a wet spot here and there.  I am SO lucky it wasn’t dropped right into the water bowl and swished around.  I don’t need a felted citron. It was hidden well after that incident.  Then I finished my armwarmer.  Left it on the table when I went to bed.  And it was in our bedroom doorway when I woke up.  No harm done to it though.  The culprit?  Edgar.  Not sure if I’ve introduced him yet, but he is our cat that looks like a cow.  He acts like a stoner.  And he is obsessed with yarn.  But usually just yarn, not the finished objects.  Those aren’t fun because they don’t unravel like yarn.  So I don’t know what his recent obsession has been but lets just say everything is getting put away from now on, even if it is done.

 

Behind Bars Seems Appropriate

 

 

 

You can see the "cowness" factor in here. That's Mifflin next to him.

 

 

WIPW, A Book & Some Bad News

Well, but the Citron and the Skyp Socks are both still on the needles.  The Skyp Socks will probably be on for a while since I’m not a knit-a-sock-a-week kinda gal!  I’m a bit slower than I would prefer, plus I’ve been ADDICTED to the Citron.  There are five sections in the Citron.  Or tiers as I like to call them.  I’m almost done with the fourth.  It’s a fast knit and I’m plugging right along with it.  I’m really loving the way the colors look.  I can’t wait to see how it looks once it is blocked.  After knitting this, I have decided that I will definitely buy some more Malabrigo Lace in the future.  I really didn’t like lace knitting.  After making this Citron, I have been opened up to the world of lace with a warm welcome.  I guess the yarn you use can really make a difference in your take on the concept.

I’ve also had something on the needles that I refused to share.  It’s not like I don’t want you to see it!  There’s just two people whom I don’t want seeing it!  That’s because it is a baby gift.  My husband’s brother and his wife welcomed their second son into the world last week!  And his name’s Cameron……I just love it!  This sure was a kick in the butt for me since I’m only about 1/4 of the way done with the gift.  It’s just a bit of an intricate stitch pattern that’s hard on my hands, but I need to get over it.  I pulled it back out last night and figured I would give you a nice little peek.  Really only because I love teasing!!

Also, I tried casting on a pair of leg warmers last night.  Turns out I need a bigger circular needle of some DPNs in size US 6 or US 7.    I’m going to check out a new yarn store  (yay!  it’s only 20 minutes away too!) that my friend from A Tangled Yarn discovered a few weeks ago.  I’m hoping they have what I need.  A large circular would be the best, because I just realized I would be able to do 2-at-a-time!!  Now that I know how to do that.  It’s not just for socks anymore……  My friend requested leg warmers for her daughter.  I decided on the Lil’ Legwarmers pattern published on the blog Knitted Fresh Daily.  I really need to spend some time perusing her blog. It looks pretty entertaining. You should go check it out.  I’m using a yarn I’m really excited about.  I picked it up around here somewhere (here being somewhere in Germany).  It’s called Lana Grossa Bingo Print and has small segments of gray to green to pink.  I just love the colors, and I think the little girl receiving them will too!

Onto the book.  I can’t believe I read it in a week.  With all, and I emphasize the word all, going on in my life right now.  We will get to that later though.  The book: Made From Scratch; Discovering the pleasures of a handmade life.  Being a very crafty person, I thought this was a book concentrated on crafts, and recycling for personal use and whatnot.  I was quite a bit off track, and I guess that happens when you don’t read the description of the book.  I’m blonde sometimes, what can I say?  But the book is about self-sufficiency.  Basically, living off the land, buying local, raising chickens and bees.  That sort of thing.  With a very minor mention to knitting and spinning.  I have no objection to this way of life, and some I agree with and some of it I don’t find practical.  For me.  But this book…..I just couldn’t put it down.  The author Jenna Woginrich just writes well.  Everything flowed so well, and made so much sense.  I didn’t feel I was reading, as much as just listening to a friend.  And I think that’s why I read it so fast.  I do suggest it, to anyone who has even a small interest in self-sufficiency and making more of an everyday connection to our ancestors in everyday tasks.

Now onto the bad news.  Remember when I said that it was basically pouring cats & dogs in my life?  And I mentioned that on top of a whole lot of other stuff my Grandfather had a heart attack?  Well he died this weekend.  He was a very kind and generous man who was very good to his family.  But in the past few years he’s changed.  Alot.  After this heart attack I knew it wasn’t going to  be much longer, and I was right.  Good news is that he is in a place right now where he can see well again, and he can walk and talk.  And he made it there just in time to join his wife for their wedding anniversary.  My cat’s also sick.  Really sick.  He had to spend two nights at the vet’s place and he still hasn’t really eaten anything.  More on that tomorrow, since this post seems longer than I had anticipated.  If you haven’t gotten bored yet, thanks for reading!!

Poor Girl

So I feel like a guilty Mom.  Not that I really know what that feels like yet, but I can imagine it feels something like this.  I have two adorable cats that we got as kittens.  Their names are Edgar and Mifflin.  Mifflin after The Office.  If you watch than you don’t need any other explanation.  All the characters work for a company called Dunder Mifflin.  And Edgar is after Edgar Allen Poe.  My husband is a huge fan.

Well, we may have gotten both of them as kittens, but Rob and I sure didn’t want anymore kittens.  So naturally they were getting fixed.  Edgar had his surgery once he was old enough.  The vets here on post were able to get him in right away, he had blood work done, and then his surgery the next day.  He came home a bit groggy, but was fine a day or two later.

Now of course a females surgery is much more invasive.  It took months to finally get her in for surgery.  And before surgery she has to have blood work done.  Needless to say, Mifflin is sick of the vet already.  She had to go in 4 times- once every week for a month.  The first time they tried to do her blood work they couldn’t get enough blood.  Her veins are so tiny!  She also doesn’t like to sit all that still, even if Mommy is trying to soothe her.  So she had to go back.  The next week.  Which means the surgery was post phoned.   They had to sedate her so they could get enough blood to do her tests, and everything was all good! Whats next?  Surgery right?  Or so you would think.  She went in for surgery the next week and the pre-op procedure didn’t go so well.  She wouldn’t go down for the procedure.  So, back home she goes!  AGAIN.  Finally this week she had her surgery, and everything went well.  She sure likes to give the Vet a hard time!

She came home and looked so drunk.  Really, she was on some great drugs.  Which was good, because I sure think she would have been in a lot of pain.  She tried to walk and fell over.  She was swaying back and forth like a drunken fool! She even fell asleep in her water bowl.  And of course, she isn’t allowed to lick her stitches so she has what they call an Elizabethan Collar on when we can’t watch her.  That big radar looking thing!  I hate it, but I really feel so bad for her.  And if you could see the incision on her, you would too!  I almost wonder if I did the right thing.  Sometimes she looks like she’s in so much pain and just doesn’t move.  I know I did what I needed to do, but I can’t help feeling bad.  She is my baby and so precious.  I hate watching her in pain.