Sins and Needles

My night

2004-11-18T19:17:00.000-05:00

Well, tonight I will be combing some wool I washed last weekend! Um, in an effort to get all the VM out, I sort of agitated the hot water wash a little bit and parts of it are slightly felted. Ooops! Good thing I like the uneven novelty yarn!! This is what me and dear old Bob Ross like to call a "Happy Accident".

The wool is still really dirty. Combing it gets out most of the VM. I really love the colors, but I think the seller should have WASHED the darn stuff before she dyed it!

I paid off the balance of my Ashford Traveller tonight, and I will be receiving it next week! YAY!

*edit* I am SO allergic to this wool! WOW! Either it's the remaining VM, or something, but I have the same symptoms I get when I'm around too many cats (*ahem* like at the shelter!!). Time for some allergy medicine. Wow.

Woolgathered.com

2004-11-07T19:48:00.000-05:00

My under-construction site, Woolgathered, is now selling knitting related clothing and other items (stickers, buttons, mousepads, totes).

If you have a slogan you would like to see as a shirt, please email info@woolgathered.com for more information!!

ALSO: I have a bunch of books that are knitting, crochet, sewing, and needlecraft related up on Ebay: Woolgathered on Ebay.

Frustrations

2004-11-07T13:22:00.000-05:00

So, I've had a yarn basket for about 2 years, and in those 2 years, my cats have *never* gotten into the yarn. But every morning this week, there has been yarn all over my apartment!! I haven't changed their food, or anything to do with them getting back at me. Heh.

In other news, I'm patiently waiting for my roving to come in from Blue Goose Glen Farms in Tennesee. I got 8oz. of red Corriedale, 8oz. of Bubblegum Pink Corriedale, and a puond of plain white Corriedale. I chose this wool because it was cheap, and so am I. I've heard decent things about it though, it's not supposed to be coarse or anything.

What I've been up to

2004-10-31T19:32:00.000-05:00

Pardon me! I've neglected this here blogarino for quite some time! I apologize. The wheels have been turning in my head, literally. I've caught the spinning bug, and I've been scheming to get myself a wheel. I've finally found a used Ashford Traveler in excellent condition for only $250 (about $100 of it's new price). It's got an antique finish, which explains the price hike. I know I could have gotten a Joy or a Kiwi less, but I really like the look of this wheel, and the company I'm buying it from (Woodland Woolworks) does LAYAWAY!!!!:

And, to satiate my spinning fever, I've spun a bit from my drop spindle. Here's some pinky angora I did yesterday:

I only have about 32 yards, because this was part of a batch of roving my cats got to. Also, I found it harder to spin than wool, I think it's because the fibers are shorter than wool. It was tough for me to draft. Practice, practice!! The rest of it I'm saving until I get my wheel. :D I have no fancy spinning equipment other than my drop spindle, so for setting the twist I improvised over a large plastic lid. To dry the skein, I hung it up in my shower and used a rubber monkey as a weight to weigh it down. Ha!

In knitting news, the last thing I finished was Hatmione. Alas, my camera is broken and I also gave it to my sister who is a student at Kenyon (8 hours away from me!)

In kitty news, I get to take Rocky to the vet tomorrow. Rocky is one of the shelter kitties- he twisted his back when he got his tail stuck in the bathroom doorjamb. :( Poor guy. He's a handsome tabby with medium fur, his disposition is as mellow as can be, and he doesn't deserve to have a bad back (OR BE IN A SHELTER!)!

Some finished things! And a picture of Robin

2004-10-03T19:32:00.000-04:00

This scarf was completed in three hours!

Another view. Really easy knitting, and a GREAT last minute gift.
Free pattern to be posted on Woolgathered

My prefelted Kitty Bed, from Wendyknits.net's pattern. This will be donated to Petfinder.com for their November senior animal adoption drive. Want to make one too? Join the Yahoo!group for the knit-a-long!!!!!

And Robin! She's regressed in her progress I'm afraid to say. We cut her nails the other night, and now she *hates* us. She really hates to be held at all, so I'm not suprised. Those things were little needles, though!! It had to be done.

Hooray!

2004-09-27T19:59:00.000-04:00

Another excuse to make a kitty bed!!

Petfinder is having an "Adopt a Senior Pet" drive in November, and now there is a Kitty Bed-along to go with it!! I have already started mine with some stash yarn and will continue it with Lamb's Pride Bulky (when it comes in from Patternworks-- whenever that is!)

I see so many kittens leave the shelter, and some younger pets, but it is rare that a senior cat leaves. True, there are some dear souls who will only adopt a senior pet, but don't you think these people need to be greater in number? Senior cats deserve to live out their last years in a home. Some people worry about the expense. While it is true that health problems can be expensive, you will eventually have to face the expense if you get a younger cat.

Also, when you adopt an older cat, you can be sure their personality has already formed. The shelter workers can tell you what cat will match what you're looking for. For some reason, when cats get altered, their personalities change. My little monkey man, Parsley, was just so rambunctious before he was fixed. Now he's sweet as pie. Or it can go the other way around...

Many people see a senior cat, and think they're in the shelter because they have behavioral problems. One thing we see over and over again in the shelter are male cats being dropped off because they're not using their litterboxes. Did you know that male cats can get urinary tract infections very easily? And that they associate their litterbox with pain after awhile, therefore leading them to urinate outside their boxes? Time and time again we take a new male to the vet to discover their bladders full of urinary crystals, which can be easily treated. It makes me so mad that these people didn't care enough about these sweet cats to take them to the vet, but then I think of how maybe kitty shouldn't have been there anyway, and their better off at my shelter.

So anyway, if you knit, make a bed!! Join the Yahoo! Group. If not, maybe make a little donation in the name of your favorite animal. Or, ADOPT A SENIOR PET!!

The little addicts!

2004-09-21T01:24:00.000-04:00

I made one of Wendyknit.net's Aran catnip mice tonight, and instead of using fiberfil or some synthetic along with catnip, I used raw, unwashed fleece. Greasy, farmy fleece. If you have cats, make sure you make them each their own mouse before throwing them down! Holy bejeebus. Robin was doing half-twisting four-foot leaps in the air!! The Russians and the Chinese see her as the one to beat in the next Olympic's gymnastic competition!

In other news, my new job entails proofing, correcting, paginating, and laying out academic books and journals. A lot of it is pretty dry, but today I got to do corrections on a forensic pathology journal... Oh man. Let's just say I had no appetite for lunch or dinner! That CSI show is misleading, as well. Forensic pathology is not entertaining to say the least!!

We had wine and cheese at our neighbor's last night, and I learned that the wife recently learned to knit while she was doing work on her thesis in Paris. She can knit and purl, but has no supplies here. :D :D You know what that means! Time to take her to the LYS! Like I need an excuse?

I have a feeling I will be making another mouse or two tomorrow- but I may give these to my buddies at the shelter. I think my pal Klaus needs a suprise when I have to put him back in his cage on Wednesday night (he's so rowdy he can only go out when the crews are there! Last time he *would not* leave my shoelaces alone- but that's a good thing sinch he usually just bothers the other cats! I wish someone would adopt him- he's a CRAZY tabby with brown eyes. He's also really small for being 2, he's like the size of a 7 month old kitten. Teeny. But he definitely makes up for his small size with a giant personality!!)

I should go to bed! Gotta work in the AM!

It's like a swamp over here...

2004-09-18T11:15:00.000-04:00

With all this frogging going on!

My poor little no-pattern green sweater... Well, let's be honest. I used Glampyre's directions for the yoke, but after that it was all up to my imagination. I did raglan increases for the hips after I decreased for the waist, but I didn't start the ribbing right away. Sooo, that left me with *really* funny ribs on the side. I frogged the whole thing (HOURS of ribbing, I tell you, since I knit English-style and that's the slowest way). I re-did the ribbing on sz 8 needles rather than doing them again on sz 5s. I am impatient after I mess up, I guess. It's looks okay.

Then, after doing 1/4 of the left sleeve in what I thought would make it poofy, I decided to frog that and make it fitted instead. Because of the way a top-down raglan works, the sleeve really begins about an inch after the shoulder ends, so the placement of the poof wasn't right. Maybe next time.

So, after all of this, I also think I'm going to run out of yarn! sigh.

Well, in animal news, the street fair was supposed to be today, but it was cancelled due to rain. My organization was scheduled to have a table there, and I signed up to work it from 1-5. I'm kinda bummed, but sort of not, because I know it'll be a day of asking people not to stick their fingers in the cages... Being outside in a noisy fair is already traumatizing enough for the poor kitties. But, it is great exposure for us. I just hate it when the cats all develpo colds from the stress after we bring them back to the shelter. But, it is great exposure for us.

In fostering news, Robin has really blossomed! I'm so proud of her. She no longer hides in the bedroom all day, but she comes out into the living room and kitchen. She sleeps on the end of the couch so she can look out the window on the odd occasion. :D She is also letting me pet her a lot more. Robin is still pretty scared of my biggest, fluffiest cat, but she tumbles around with my boy-cat Parsley. I'm really proud of her. I hope her progress continues to a point that when she's finally adopted, she will have a much smoother transition than she did here. Here's a link to her Angel PAWS profile: Robin. Some of my favorites at the shelter are also up there -> Check out Klaus, Hamster, Donut, Duncan, Carolina... well, check out them all! They're all great and all of them have such wonderful and different personalities. =^.^=

Gah

2004-09-12T23:04:00.000-04:00

I had to rip out all the ribbing on my sweater, because I did something silly. I didn't start the ribbing right away after I finished increasing for my hips. Because I did raglan-style increasing, it made a funny ridge that extended out about a half centimeter. It was just plain funny looking, like I had catipillars growing up the sides of my hips!

I've given up on doing the bottom ribbing with sz 5 needles, though, because that was just too annoying and not stretchy enough. So I'll continue doing it with the same size needles that I worked the body in.

I started one of the sleeves, and I hope those turn out alright! They're supposed to have a bit of a puffed cap, and I had no idea how to do it, so I improvised.

In other knitting news, I bought the 365 perpetual calendar- the one with all the knitting stitches. I'm taking it to work with me. :D

Hee, oops!

2004-09-04T22:47:00.000-04:00

Yeah. I've been so tired after work, I can barely knit, let alone update this thing. I'll get used to it. I was unemployed for three months, so working is very tiresome!

I am working on a sweater based off of Glampyre.com's top-down raglan pattern. I decided to do bust shaping as well as waist shaping, which you can sorta see at the bottom left of the sweater. All I have to do is finish the ribbing and then add sleeves.

We have a new kitty in the house!

Robin is a young cat up for adoption at Angelpaws.org. She was found outside a bank with her brother Batman at a very young age. Sadly, Batman was adopted as a kitten and poor Robin was almost forgotten about. She has been living in a cage at the shelter for most of her life, and as a consequence is *terrified* of open spaces, particularly those with people in them. I can pet her fine under the bed where she feels safe, but if she ventures out in the open and sees me or my husband, she freezes and then runs. Poor baby. She purrs like a chainsaw under the bed. :D We have her here as a foster- she needs to be in a home, not a cage. For months the shelter crews would try to get her to come out and play, and even left her door open all the time. Being a free-roamer at the shelter is encouraged, but poor Robin just wasn't into it. I really hope she'll turn out okay. She's very, very sweet and can catch treats in her paws. :D I see so much potential in her, but whoever adopts her needs to be prepared. It will take a loooong time for her to act like a "normal" cat. I personally have no problem fostering her until she warms up to the world, but I would love it if someone were to fall in love with her and help her out.

Non-knitting post!

2004-08-25T08:22:00.000-04:00

Language Log is a really great linguistics blog I read regularly. I have my undergrad degree in linguistic theory, so I like to keep up with the news.

DNA Along

2004-08-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

It starts September 5th! I don't know what yarn I'll use, but I'm making this for my Mom for Christmas.

I haven't updated in a while because things have been really hectic. I started a top-down raglan from the pattern on glampyre.com, and it's coming out really cute. I'm about 1/2 done. I did special shaping on the bust so it's more fitted (I did decreases like a seamstress would make darts). I also cinched in the waist, because I still have a small waist and I want to show it off while I can!!

I also got a new job. I'm doing production work for a typesetting company. The pay is not-so-great, but it's a job.

ALSO! I brought home a little girl named Robin to foster today. She's all black and has huge bat ears. She has been at the shelter for about a year, and it is taking her forever to overcome her shyness. Actually, she's scared out of her mind. She would never leave her cage at the shelter, even though we want her to (70% of the cats free-roam at the shelter I volunteer at). So, she's in my bathroom now, still in the carrier I brought her home in.

She's really, really scared right now. My three cats are also freaked out. I really hope everyone relaxes soon. Robin really needs to overcome her scaredness, but it's going to take a lot of work.

Oh my

2004-08-14T04:27:00.000-04:00

Well, I thought I would have pictures tonight of the Aran sweater I'm working on, but I noticed a mistake in one of the first cables and... I had to frog like 6 inches of it!! This is sadness only a knitter would feel!!

I have also started a sweater based on one a girl posted in the knitting community on Livejournal. Post is here. It's so cute, I had to figure it out and make it for myself!

FO!

2004-08-07T20:07:00.000-04:00

YAY! He's a little too big for the bed, but when I plopped him in for the picture he stayed in it for quite some time. :D

Pre-felt

2004-08-05T21:08:00.000-04:00

Finished the kitty bed #3, and I was even able to find Paton's Cha Cha yarn on sale at A.C. Moore. :D Tomorrow I'll wash it and block it, then I'll probably end up washing and blocking it again.

Last semester, I promised myself I'd check out my university's knitting books when I was all done with school. Today I remembered that promise, so expect some book reviews soon!

Kitty Bed-Along

2004-08-03T17:34:00.000-04:00

It's knit-along time!! Don't you just love Wendy's cat Lucy? Sooooooo cute.

This is the start of the third one. The first two I forgot to get pictures of, but I donated them to the shelter to sell (I asked Wendy's permission first, of course!!!!) I'm using Lamb's Pride in Amethyst on sz 13 needles, but when that runs out I have some pretty Lamb's Pride in Jaded Dreams to use. I don't think I'll put on the fun fur, because my funds are too low right now to buy a $6 skein of it.

I talk about Wendy like she and I are friends in this post, but really I just fangirl her a lot!!

FO!

2004-08-01T21:00:00.000-04:00

Mom loved it! I did make a few wee mistakes in finishing it, because I really just wanted it to be over. Yay.

Knitty cat take deux

2004-07-31T17:26:00.000-04:00

Phoebe always sits next to me when I knit, isn't that sweet? She's such a nice cat. As you can see in the picture, I have to wear a wrist supporter when I knit because I have awful tendonitis/carpal tunnel in my left hand. Funny it's in there, as I mainly use my right for knitting and everything else. Actually, it's from typing at my old job. Even on this laptop I feel the pain.

I'll be done with the body of the sweater by the end of the week! Yay!

Next on the needles will be Hermione's Prisoner of Azkaban cable and bobble hat, using Lauren's pattern. I think I'll start a Hatmione knit-a-long!! I have to buy the Cascade 220 online somewhere, I think I'll use Threadbear Fiber Arts, because I've heard they're really nice. And I also want to make Charlotte's Web (because how can I have a knitting blog on the internet without making this shawl??). I've heard they'll help match the colors for me. :D

Knitty cat

2004-07-30T21:44:00.000-04:00

Tamika has my collection of straights behind her!

No progress to report on the knitting. I'm busy brushing up research methodology for this interview on Monday. Wish me luck!

ETA: HATMIONE is ready for purchase!! Lauren is a good Livejournal friend of mine, so if you like Harry Potter and Knitting, buy her pattern! She rules!! It's only $5!!!

Old enough to know better!

2004-07-29T13:43:00.000-04:00

Last night was my volunteer night at the shelter. I brought my sister in tow with me, because I thought she might have fun and donate money (she said she wanted to earlier). Well, poor thing had a huge headache, and didn't have too much fun.

We have a few "scrappers" at the shelter, ones that in a home would probably not be such fighters as they are in the shelter. I think that living with so many cats can be hard on certain personalities. One cat, Klause, is this tiny and adorable 2-year old. He really looks like an older kitten, but he's not, and beware of his cuteness!! You can pet his nose for approximately 3 seconds before he tries to take a bite out of your hand. He's a brown tabby with brown eyes, and I've never seen another cat like him before. Right now his arch-nemesis is a beautiful all-white male named Klondike. Poor Klondike has a food allergy and gets a horrible reaction from it on his face. He looks like a prize-fighter! He and Klause, like I said, always fight, but yesterday I noticed something- maybe they weren't actually trying to kill each other, but were actually just playing? Seems like they formed a friendship based on their proclivity to kill one another, awww!

Another scrapper is Caroline, an 11-year old calico with beautiful green eyes. She's so completely adorable, I would love to take her home with me. She is so sweet to humans, but really goes looking for trouble with the other cats! I think it's because she knows she's one of the oldest, so she wants to put the younger ones in their place.

You can find all these pets at Angel Paws. Beware of the cuteness overload.

In knitting (k)news, I finished the left front of the sweater! Hooray! Just need to do the right front, the button and neck bands, and sew the buttons on. Oh, and block the darn thing. :D I should be done in at least a few days. I'll be pretty busy this weekend preparing for a job interview. Wish me luck! I really need to start working. This company I'm interviewing for would be a dream to work for! And the position is in the R+D department. I would be making up interviews and surveys for product development, and them performing them. Cool, huh? I hope I get it!!!!!

Just a quickie...

2004-07-27T21:54:00.000-04:00

I'm faaaaamous!

Bubbles Yarn Hat

My hat is the one out of the "Bubbles" yarn, it was SO much fun to work with. Pluckyfluff.com has the prettiest yarns, I swear!

Oh joy!

2004-07-27T16:12:00.000-04:00

Pictures. My USB ports were not working for a while due to some scary Trojan. But, they are better now! Yippee.

This is half of the KPPPM garter stitch baby sweater I'm working on, by Glenmarle Woolworks KIP Designs. I'm a loose knitter, so I have to use sz 4 needles to get the proper guage! I've never made a sweater on needles this small, so it's taking a while. I started Saturday night.

Here's a detail of the scalloped edge. It makes this otherwise very plain sweater fun. I wanted to find skull and crossbones buttons, but they're too expensive. Yes, you heard me, skull and crossbones. Yes, the baby is a girl. So? ;) I found grey/black pearly buttons for $.90 at my local Jo-Anne Fabrics (I'm so glad I'm not a sewer! It's the only fabric store for miles around here, and it's such a dive! Ugh!!)

Here is my only son, Parsley. He's almost 3! Big boy!! I rescued him as a kitten from our local shelter (not a no-kill one!!). Everytime my husband and I get into bed, he comes inbetween us and purrs his little motor heart out. He's such a snuggler.

And this is my baby, Tamika. I love her to pieces!! Everytime I ignore my alarm clock, she will head-butt my arm and knead my stomach until I get up (while making her cricket purrs). Isn't she the greatest? She was also rescued from the same shelter as Parsley, only she's a month older than he is. We got her as a companion to him, so she was older than Parsley when we rescued her. Although she has no certifications, she fits the bill of Black Maine Coon to a T (right down to her soft, soft mews!).

I would have a picture of the littlest one, Phoebe, but she was hiding when I had the camera out. She likes to meow "Good Morning" to us when we wake up and enjoys having her belly scratched. We got her from a friend who couldn't keep her. It was one of those things where we couldn't say no to this little cat, and now she has a better home.

Starting anew

2004-07-24T16:48:00.000-04:00

So I still needed to make that baby something, so I went to my not-so-local LYS Glenmarle Woolworks to see if they had anything to make. And of course they did! What do you expect from a good knitting store? They had a table set up with different variations of a baby sweater knit in Koigu. I asked the sales person how many skeins they were to make, and since the answer was two, I bought it. Yay! I had 2 skeins in my stash, but I did have to buy the #4 circular (Well, I didn't *have* to, since I have #4 straights). I'm trying to slowly bulk up my collection of 40" Addi Turbos.

Anyway, the sweater is super cute. It's got a lace-edged bottom and is knit in garter, in one piece. The button band is knit separately, but that's okay. Picking up stitches is no problem for me since I learned how to do socks.

The color is in Koigu's KPPPM, in a green/forest/black colorway. Not very little baby girl-ish, but it'll be cute because it isn't a typical color. Plus, the green will bring out little Jordana's blue eyes. :D Actually, it kinda looks like camouflage. Hmmm.

Ouch to cotton!

2004-07-24T00:11:00.000-04:00

I've found out the hard way that my hands do not like knitting with cotton! I hate it so much that I threw out the baby sweater I was working on (it was half done). I know you're thinking that I'm crazy and wasteful, but seriously. I don't care at this point. It was getting to the point where I could only knit one row and then I would have to stop. The baby would be 18 before I finished.

But, it does mean that I get to go to my LYS tomorrow for a yarn that is a lot more springy. :D

There is a beautiful stray that hangs around my complex dumpster that I feed whenever I see it. I think i'm probably the only one that does so, because that little thing can chow down an entire can of food like no one's business. I talked to the woman who lives in the apartment closest to the dumpster, and she said that it's definately a stray. I told her who I volunteer for, and asked her to ask around and see if anyone wanted to take it in. If not, I said i'd trap it and take it to the shelter. I doubt it's entirely feral, because it doesn't hang out in a colony and it meows at me when ever I approach instead of running away. So, I think it has potential to be a good pet.

Harry Potter Scarves

2004-07-20T13:40:00.000-04:00

I just read someone's blog where they were going on and on about being creative, and how they couldn't understand why in the world people would knit Harry Potter scarves. For them, it's just stockinette and stupid basic color changes, but for me-- it was the reason I started knitting in the first place!!

I am a HUGE Potter fan, and this leads me to believe that this person has never experienced such entertainment via reading. That's very sad.

Not only did they start me knitting, but knitting my huge Hagrid-sized Slytherin scarf taught me how to make perfect stockinette, how to do color changes, how to make fringe, how to end a project, and how to keep at it and finish a project before a deadline (the release of OOTP at midnight of whatever day it was released last summer).

By being such a huge fan, I not only get to entertain myself through reading, but I got to get excited and inspired by it too. I learned a craft that I always thought was so hard. I learned another way to solve math equations by relating them to something I can make. It gave me another tool to help homeless animals. It gave me something productive to do while I watch reality shows on TV! Ha ha. There are many benefits of beginning my knitting career through Harry Potter scarves.

I'm sorry, I just hate people who come off like they're better than the rest of us. There are reasons why people do things, and if you can't understand it, maybe you're the one with the "problem".

And just one more thing (a la Columbo): How creative are you when you're using a pattern someone else wrote? Hmmm?

"Hug Me" baby sweater

2004-07-19T02:37:00.000-04:00

So, I've been working on (another) baby sweater for the looongest time now- about 2 months. I would provide a link to the pattern, but Patternworks no longer carries it. Maybe because it's... a terrible pattern? I swatched, I followed the directions to a T, and I used the proper yarn. The damn thing is WAY too long for a baby, and I had to sub yarn in on the second side (as a sort of stripe thing) because I was going to run out of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece yarn. And it was too long, even though they gave measurements!! Argh. Plus since it's cotton yarn on sz 5 needles, my carpal tunnel is aggravated every time I pick it up, hence the reason why it's taking so long. Oh well. Good thing the baby is still entirely too small to wear it.

But on a good note for the day, I went to the cat show again to help out and drive stuff back to the shelter. I also found out about a cat boarding place near me, so I enquired later via email about a job (because I'm unemployed at the moment). The lady wrote me back a really nice email and told me that she was too small (as a business) to take on another person, but gave me ideas of where to look. I followed through on one place and sent them my resume. I wrote a really honest, heartfelt cover letter explaining that although I wasn't entirely qualified for the position (I don't have 3+ years as a fundraiser), I would be the most passionate person for the job. I hope I at least get an interview so I can basically beg for the job. I wouldn't even treat this as a job, you see. It's a lifestyle for me now. Every night I pray to God that the cats I meet find loving homes where they can be treated with dignity.

I never thought I could fall in love with something so hard that wasn't my husband, but helping cats and helping people who help cats is just something I *have* to do.

Speaking of cats, I have to knit this, but with a cat head!! How cute would that be? I would be the coolest volunteer ever. :D

Just wondering...

2004-07-17T19:27:00.000-04:00

Is this sweater just too ugly? I knitted it for my new nephew, and even though they just visited us last week, my sister-in-law never mentioned it to me. I know they got it in the mail.

I did knit it from stash yarn leftover from a Ravenclaw scarf I made (Lion Brand Jiffy), and I know the yarn isn't that great as far as fiber snobbery goes... but... am I wrong to feel kind of offended (because it's like they totally ignored a handmade present I spent more than a few hours on!!)?

If I had a baby boy, I wouldn't be embarrassed if he wore it. Even if it is summer... everyone needs to have a sweater now and then in the summer. Plus the yarn, although on the gross side, is totally machine washable/dryable. Hmmm.

Guess some people don't deserve handknit stuff. It was the thought that... nevermind.

Casting On

2004-07-17T18:28:00.000-04:00

Today I'll finish the second felted cat bed made from Wendy's pattern, located here. Wendy allowed me to use the pattern so I could make beds to sell for the shelter I volunteer at!! All proceeds will go to Angel PAWS (because I love them with all my heart). Both ones were knitted with Lamb's Pride Bulky on size 13 needles. The sides are kind of floppy, but if I roll the sides down it really does look like a Pi(e)! I didn't use fun fur for the trim, but I used some fun Rowan Biggy Print that I had in my stash. Pictures soon, I hope. My laptop is down for the count. :(

I went with the shelter to the Cat Show today-- with 16 of our cats! Hopefully a bunch will be adopted. The Show had a "competition" and awarded ribbons to some of the cats that were there to be adopted. My favorite ball of fluff, Miss Kitty, was awarded "Fluffiest Tail". A woman who was in the audience when Miss Kitty was being awarded decided she was the most beautiful thing and fell in love with her. She even put in an application for adoption! Also, I know it's a good match because the lady started crying when she heard Miss Kitty's story (previous owner OD'd and is in a coma). Another cat, Me Too, got awarded "Friendliest Cat", because he was lounging in a chair with his leash on all day. Also, another favorite, Muffin, got "Longest Whiskers". She totally deserved it! Her whiskers are at least 8 inches long.

I'm proud of myself, I didn't buy anything today!