I Have Nothing To Say

Ever have one of those days? I haven't been able to get to sleep for the past three nights, so I'm definitely feeling the sleep deprivation. Last night I even broke into the dog's supply of benadryl, but even that didn't help.

Anyhoo, sorry, not much exciting to report. I HAVE decided not to frog the Daisy Socks just yet because I'm kinda intrigued by them looking at the pic from yesterday's post. Not sure what I'm seeing the pic that I'm not seeing in real life, but we'll go with it for now. And I'm awaiting yarn from Kollage so I can begin a test knit project for Anastasia (of Yarn Cocktails and Candy). That'll be fun.

Enough of my boring rambling, now the Queen has something to show you:

Lucy's not the only one who's shedding bucketloads right now. I just love the change of seasons. I'm starting to wonder if it's time to invest in a Furminator.

They're DONE!

The grey socks are DONE!

Pattern: Generic top-down sock, 68 stitches with 2x2 rib at the cuff and a slip-stitch heel.
Yarn: Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor #505
Needle: Inox 2.5mm 40" circular, magic loop style

This is the second pair of socks I've attempted with Mega Boots Stretch (the first I've finished), and I'm really not sure I like the yarn. It's very splitty and very fuzzy which can make it difficult to work with. But the socks are done, and as soon as I find someone in a colder clime with size 8 (women's) feet or smaller, they will have a home.

But now it's on to the next sock project:

A new pair of Tidal Wave Socks (pdf link) from the pattern by Deby Lake. It's TOFUtsies #727. And, of course, they're being knit on my new KnitPicks Harmony circular (32" 2.5mm). I am in love with the needle so far.

I love this pattern and this yarn. The pattern is a simple but interesting lace that's perfect for on-the-go knitting. The yarn is soft (and even softer when it's been washed a couple dozen times as my other pair of Tidal Waves have been), not at all itchy, and it holds up beautifully to wear and washing. I know there are those who really don't like it at all, but I am certainly not one of them.

And last, I had to share this little episode in our house last night. Monday morning is trash time in the neighborhood, so Sunday evening M empties all the trash cans and the litter boxes that need it so she can put out the trash barrel before we go to bed. Last night, when she emptied the smaller litter box, she came back in to find this:

That's our little K-Man settling himself in to the litter box. He loves to curl up in small spaces, but the litter box?! Fortunately, we use liners, so the box itself was clean, but still. He appeared ready to take a nap:

Crocus Blocks

[Sorry for the crappy picture. It's predicted to be gray and gloomy here all week.] The Crocus Tank is on the blocking board. I had to crack into ball #7 about 1/3 of the way into the armscyes on the front. M asked if I might need an 8th ball (remember, the pattern called for 6). I think I can probably make it with 7, though.

One comment about the pattern, however. On both the front and back directions, when you get to the neck shaping, it calls for working across the first shoulder, joining a new ball of yarn, binding off the center stitches, then working the other shoulder. From here you work the two shoulders at the same time. This works just fine for the back, but by the time you get to the front neck shaping, chances are you've already cracked into the last ball in the bag, right? And with June (which is wound around a cardboard center) you don't even have the option to work from both ends of a single ball. Don't pattern writers get this?

I should have had this blocked this weekend and finished last night, but M and I have embarked on a 14-day spring detox regimen (we were both feeling gross after the winter), and my body is still adjusting. By yesterday afternoon (day 3) I was weak and achy all over -- kinda like I had the flu only I didn't feel sick at all. Today I'm much better, and I predict by tomorrow I will feel fine. The tank should be done in time to be delivered on Thursday or Friday.

I'm off to take it easy for the day and maybe get some other knitting done. The Queen B has taking it easy down to a science:
Perhaps she'll give me lessons.

Snow Day Randomness

Pupper Is Out Of the Doghouse

Shopping is shopping no matter where you do it. M is the shopper in this household, and lo and behold, this morning she was able to find what I couldn't -- where LL Bean had hidden the rest of the slipper socks on their website. Still limited choices in my size, but they had them, and soon (3-5 business days), I will be the proud owner of a pair of these:
Aren't they lovely? And they will go perfectly with my jammies (a red and white striped night shirt and various red-based men's flannel pajama bottons).

A Workout Solution

Last Saturday we bought an exercise bike. Now M can workout in the mornings before work AND still have time to relax with the newspaper over breakfast. And I can clean, write, read, or whatever while she works out and then prepare us a real breakfast. Then I get to workout mid-morning. We don't have to worry about whether the equipment we want will be available or whether the TV will be tuned to the right channel; we can workout even when the weather is too crappy to drive to the gym (as it is today); and we can workout on weekends (when neither one of us was ever motivated to drive to the gym). Hooray! I figure I can even pedal on the bike while I watch "my show" (I've become addicted to Mission: Organization) in the afternoons.

A Valentine's Day Miracle

Sometime in the afternoon, between K-man's bouts of heat seeking, a miracle occurred:
That is all three of our critters on the same piece of furniture. K-man jumped off the couch almost immediately after I took the pic, but Lady B has taken to sleeping on the couch next to Pupper lately. She even snuggled between Pupper and me this morning on the bed.

Wonder How Many Showed Up?

When we woke up and turned the TV on this morning, it was showing a 2 hour delay for M's school. So we did the necessary morning stuff (walk the dog and feed the furry ones) then returned to bed to snooze for an hour or so. While M was on the bike after the second awakening, the scroll on the TV now said her school was closed. So did the two other channels. A quick phone call confirmed that the school is, indeed, closed. But I wonder how many parents and staff missed the second announcement and showed up at 10 wondering where everyone else is.

And here's to snow days that are Fridays!

What I Did With My Snow Day -- by The K-Man

So, in the house we lived in when we first moved out here we had a wood stove. A very nice wood stove which was inset into a gorgeous (it's why we loved the house) stone fireplace and chimney. K-Man's favorite place in this house was as close to that wood stove as it was possible to get. It seemed he could not get warm enough. Now, we haven't such a luxury, though we have what may be the next best thing: forced hot air heat -- that means that there are these things in the walls and floor which blow hot air sometimes, and the kitty is addicted.

So, here's where K-Man spent much of the morning of the Valentine's Day Blizzard:

What you can't see (or maybe you can -- it's to the left of the bag) is that under the baker's rack where this bag (our paper recycling depository -- yesterday was dump day, so it's nearly empty) lives is one of the heating vents. Often Mr. K can be found worshiping at the altar of the baker's rack, but this pose was new.

Later (after we'd gotten the mail and finished the newspapers so the bag wasn't so empty), we found this:

What you may or may not be able to see is that he's leaning (with one "arm" on top, like it's a bar) on another heating vent behind a chair in the living room. It reminded me of this picture that I took of him shortly after we adopted him. I call it his "little man" pose.

What did Mommy do with her snow day? Mommy got cranking on this:

It's Fantine from French Girl Knits in Rowan Big Wool #31. Color is fairly true in the picture. It's a quick knit and quite warm. Poor M has had to doff her sweatshirt to try it on a few times today (it's for her). She keeps claiming it's too small, and I keep reminding her it's a little jacket-ette. We'll see when it's done what she thinks.

Doesn't Everyone Freeze Their Yarn?

So, after "purchasing" for my favorite price (FREE) a green and brass baker's rack for the workroom (You gotta love small town D*U*M*Ps and their swap sheds -- the perfect bentwood rocker in my workshop was $5.00 in our previous town.) I set about reorganizing some yarn, and what should escape one of the tubs of wool but a moth. Ugh!

So, in a week, when we have the Sunday School over here for the annual picnic, and it gets hot and someone goes into the chest freezer anyone who knows us knows is where they will find the popsicles, they might get a bit of a surprise. Doesn't everyone keep their yarn in the freezer. I know at least one knitter who does. Alas, I do not believe that the damage is all that serious since this yarn was all stored in the same place in our old house and the same tub since being packed to move here, and not long before we moved I knit a felted stuffed hedgehog (yes, one of those) for my niece from some of that yarn and encountered no problems.

Of course, the rest of the workroom had to be sprayed down once again with lavender spray, so it's a little smelly in here. Good thing I like the smell of lavender.

So does Mr. K. And speaking of the beast, this is what happened when I tried to take a picture of the ribbing on my niece's penguin sweater:


All yarn and yarn accessories belong to the K-man. There are no exceptions, even for my dear (and irreplaceable) Brittany walnuts (yes, I realized I messed up the ribbing and will have to frog -- oh bother!):


Oh, well. We love him, and at least he isn't out on the streets doing 'nip and chasing the lady cats.

Some People!

Disgusting (not gross, just disgusting human behavior) thing I saw today:

There is some kind of metal working shop that shares our
road/alley/parking lot area, and they have a huge construction
dumpster. Last night as I was leaving work (at 4:30pm, so it was still
very much daylight outside) I saw two trucks pull up and a man get out
of one and throw an old lawn mower into the dumpster. Argh!

In a positive(?) development, tonight we learned that our little man,
Mr. K, is capable of defending himself, his home, and his family from
intruder kitties. Our two little ones were on the screen porch, and
the neighbor cat (who had previously hissed and growled at both of
ours) was outside looking in. We heard a commotion and turned around
in time to see Mr. K -- tail fluffed to three times normal size, hair
standing up all along his backbone -- trying to get at NC through the
screen. He actually hissed and growled himself. We'd never heard it.
Our mild-mannered linebacker kitty standing up for himself. It was a
proud moment. Of course, little man spent the next hour running from
window to window -- tail a-flickin' -- watching NC make his way around
the yard.