FO #2!

Wow! I can't believe that I have finished two, count 'em two, sweaters in the last month! Rusted Root is done! Finito! I wore it to work today!
Here's what it looked like two nights ago:

I used my new lace wires to make sure that the lace panel was straight.


Here's the typical self portrait of me in the sweater:

And here I am at work in Pheelya's media center!

Details:
Pattern: Rusted Root by Zephyr Style, Size Small
Yarn: under 3 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Sedona Red
Needles: 24' and 32" Knit Picks Options size 6 and size 4; 12" inch Addi Turbos size 4 for sleeve ribbing.
Time to complete: Just under 3 weeks

I'm waiting for the next Sexy Knitter's Club KAL to start another sweater. I started my Lily of the Valley Shawl last night. I have to say that this type of lace knitting is an entirely different animal! I am using Jaeggerspun Superfine Merino which has 630 yards in a 50 gm. ball. This is some thin yarn! I splurged and bought a pair of the Addi Turbo Lace needles in size 6 for this shawl! VaVaVoom! I love these things! They are even more pointy than the Knit Picks! This pattern has a wierd little stitch called a "nupp" in which you K,YO,K,YO,K in one stitch then purl all 5 of those stitches together the next row! That's a toughie! It will be beautiful though. I've decided that my goal is to knit one, possibly two repeats of the lace pattern, which has 28 rows, per week. The entire shawl has 10 repeats of the pattern then the edging is knit on. I can easily finish it before the end of the summer at that rate!

School ends for the kids tomorrow! If I had a video camera handy, you would see me jump for joy!

Kitty Cam:
Mikey waits on the towel rack for me to get dressed in the morning. I love to see him like this because you can really see him in all his polydactyl glory!

Out with the old, In with the new . . .

Projects, that is. I've been feverishly working on my latest project this week.

This is Rusted Root by Zephyr Style. I really like the pattern. It's well designed and easy to knit on autopilot. The only thing I really have to pay attention to is the lace section. The yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Sedona Red. I love the color but I doubt I will use this yarn again. It looks nice, but I'm finding it to be a pain. It splits and I have to watch carefully or I end up with little threads from splitting the loops. The other problem is that there were tangles in the skein. It is wound as a center pull skein and I pulled out a huge tangled knot. I fiddled with it for about 15 minutes and gave up, cutting the thread and just getting rid of the knot. This happened again toward the end of the skein. There was also a knot where the yarn was actually pieced. I haven't had that happen before either. I would have liked to use Premier by Classic Elite of Touche by Berroco, but neither one came in a similar color! I am rushing to finish it so that I can start my lace shawl.

Here's a lovely photo of DH in the National Memorial Day Parade in DC.

My guy is the fifer! WoW! I've always liked guys in bands, but this isn't exactly what I had envisioned!

I am currently looking for some coral colored silk yarn to make Sizzle by Wendy Barnard. I don't know what it is about these low cut sweaters, but I really like them! I have found some Debbie Bliss Pure Silk on Ebay. I'll have to check the color out as it may be too pink and we cannot have that!

Kitty Cam:

So this is what I found when I stepped out of the shower this morning--the twins anxiously waiting for breakfast!

Celebrate!

It's Memorial Day weekend! I believe this weekend was meant for reflection, but in true American fashion, most citizens turn it into a celebration with food as the centerpiece. So here is my tribute to the red, white and blue:

What is this you ask? Why the red is the strawberries in the brown bowl that DH picked from the garden. The white and blue are two containers with more strawberries--about a gallon and a half or so! This happens about every other day this time of year.
How does this amount to a celebration?
Well, you have to add this:

The plan is to make strawberry mojitos.
We had an impromptu afternoon of going to the movies with Ems, KC and Bird followed by a cookout in the rain.
In reference to the movie--I generally don't prefer my men with eyeliner. However, I will make an exception for this:

I decided that the kitties should celebrate as well so I put a heavy dose of fresh, organic catnip on their turbo scratcher. For those of you who aren't cat owners, this would be like getting your kids liquored up or high only it's not illegal. Also, cats can't get DUI's because they don't drive. I guess if they were to be charged with anything it would be PUI (playing under the influence), EUI (eating under the influence) or SUI (sleeping under the influence). That pretty much encompasses the typical feline day. Now if your cat is a serious mouser, then I guess he could be penalized for being intoxicated while on the job.
Harley was the first to get to the scratcher where he proceeded to act totally foolish.

Then a line began to form.

Looks like Harley got intimidated by Mikey:

who clearly had no intention of relinquishing the catnip!

Next Sammy got into the action!


As you can see by the body language, Greg decided to take control of the situation and get Sammy to move!

Greg seems victorious and he has no intention of giving up the turbo scratcher!

I guess I will have to post this public service announcement next to the turbo scratcher:


Knitting news: I have worked some more on Rusted Root. I love the pattern but don't love the yarn. It sort of reminds me of when I made Maddy's Fetching mitts. The finished product was wonderful, but working with the yarn was a drag. This cotton fleece splits a lot --probably not helped by the sharp points of the KnitPicks needles. It will all be good in the long run though!

And now from the WTF department:

How did this:

Turn into this?

In 3 short years no less! My God! What can the future possibly hold in store for our family!

Kitty Cam:
Duh--I think you've seen it already!