Practical Joke!

The title of this blog is directed toward Mother Nature. How could she? Here we had a series of lovely 70 degree spring days and then, boom! It all came to a screeching halt! Yesterday, I went off to school with open toed shoes and a cardigan knowing that it was going to cool down that night. However when I walked out of work at 4:00, the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees and by the time I got to my massage at 5:30, it was pouring rain and freezing!

This comes at a most inconvenient time as I am getting sick and cold, wet weather does not help! I'm playing hooky today to rest. I feel like I am getting bronchitis which would not be a good thing since I'm going to Chicago in 6 days! That would just royally suck!

When I got home, I was greeted by the herd.

It's funny how they are. Anyone else walks in the house at dinnertime and they don't react in the slightest. The minute my car door closes, apparently they all come running and they are at the door like little kids! Even funnier is the fact that they don't meow or carry on until I am actually ready to feed them. They seem to know that I have to unload groceries and put stuff away. Once I've done all that, however, the singing and dancing commence! Mikey gets on the barstool to attempt to get in my face!


I didn't get anything done on the pop up paw last night. I crashed in front of the TV and stayed in bed late this morning. This is definitely one of the more unmotivating projects I've done. I need to finish it just to get it out of my hair.

When I came down this morning to fix my latte and crash on the couch, someone had beat me to it!
They certainly know how to spend a cold rainy day!

Spring Has Sprung (or so it seems)!

Everyone who know me, knows I love the snow. As much as I love it, though, I'm ready for spring. Snow helps me make that transition. It is just the natural progression of things. I don't know how people cope in climates that are the same year round. This weekend brought in some nearly spring weather that was delightful. No winter coat--just a heavy cardigan or sweatshirt! The kitties seem to enjoy it as well! I found Bar (Harley in formal speak), lounging in the sun on the dining room table in the construction site!



My friend, Cat came over yesterday for a trip to Savage Mill to get a beaded ID tag holder at ArtCraft. I had my biannual 20% one item coupon and was delighted to find the most gorgeous beaded bracelet. It is a Holly Yashi creation made with gold filled chain and Swarovski crystal beads. It definitely falls in the "why didn't I think of doing that" category. All the bead stringing that I've done and I never thought of putting the beads on wire between chain the way this is done. It is simply stunning! Unfortunately the photos just don't do it justice but it sparkles incredibly! Needless to say I wore it to work today!



I have to go do a mile or so on the treadmill. My metabolism has come to a grinding halt! I tried on some of my spring skirts in an effort to find the right outfit to wear to a reception for new NBCT's at the Board of Ed tomorrow night and everything I own is a little too snug! Bottom line is that I've put on 25 pounds in the last 3 years! I have never had to diet in my life and I eat a really healthy diet--lot's of fresh produce, no red meat, only whole grains and all organic. I hate the thought of dieting because then I actually think about food, which I typically don't do. I lost weight when I walked a brisk couple of miles everyday, so I need to get myself back into that routine!

Next week will be crazy because of all the end of season hockey stuff plus I'm going to Chicago for a conference so I better start tonight! After the treadmill, I can sit and watch 24! I guess I'll get the cuff for the second pop up paw done since I can do that on automatic pilot. Hopefully I can complete it for DH to wear on Saturday!

Ta da !

Finally! I've just finished the first Pop Up Paws glove. It turned out well except for a couple of flaws that aren't noticeable to the untrained eye. This glove is knit in the round on dp's but there are a few short rows which make the glove really fit the hand. With the short rows I have to turn the work and purl. The tension on the purl stitches looks much looser than the knit stitches which is not typical of my work. The other flaw is where I had to wrap the stitches to turn the work for the short rows. The pattern says to work the wrap with the stitch on the next row and that left a little hole on the back of the hand. It doesn't really show however. On the palm side one of the wraps is sort of loose. Oh well! The second one will be better. As far as patterns go, this one is extremely well written. It was my first attempt at gloves and I was pleased with the overall result.
My issue with this project is that it doesn't motivate me. It's simply a utilitarian item which is uninteresting --read "boring"-- to me. I like to do things that either have interesting patterns or are something that I want to wear. I'm now debating whether or not to take a break from the Pop Up Paws. I have a felt hat that I'm dying to make. That would take 2 or 3 nights then I could do the second Pop Up Paw. My fear, of course, is that I will never do the second one. DH wants to wear them on the 17th so I have a deadline which is good. I think that I will be a big girl, suck it up and just do the second one. At least the yarn, Plymouth Suri Merino, is very pleasant to work with. The hat will be my reward! A fun thing for ME!

Now--about the cats--I find it interesting how the siblings seem to know that they are siblings. Sam and Harley cuddle together yet they won't cuddle with any of the other cats. The same goes for Mike and Greg. They just seem to know who the blood relative is! Go figure!

Here we find Mike and Greg cuddling for their nap. But, wait! Where's Greg?



There he is!



I've never seen a cat who gets under the bedspread like that! I can always tell when he's been there. Often when I get home from work, I find the pillow shams in a dishelveled state. Apparently he crawls between them under the spread! I guess he figures if he can't see anyone then they can't see him so he will be left alone!

I guess I'll go cast on. Maybe I can finish this darn thing by Sunday!

Problem Solved!

After pondering my yarn quandry for the felted hat, it occured to me that I still had an extra skein of Frog Tree Merino that was left over from Maddy's mitts and it was in the perfect beige shade I was looking for! Whew! It must have been a senior moment--something that I am having way too many of lately. I vaguely remember that same yarn in a brown, so I zipped over to Cloverhill after work and lo and behold they had it.

Now the next quandry is whether or not to return the teal Cascade 220 and matching Quattro yarn or just keep them for some felting project. I tend to think they will be added to my ever growing stash. I think I will still plan on making the purple and green hat, depending on how the brown one looks.

My son informs me that Maddy has a birthday this weekend. I wish I had known sooner as I would have made her something. She loves the hats and Fetching Mitts and I would love to do a scarf for her but can't possibly get one done by Sunday--well, maybe. I'll think about it.

I came to realize today that I have work to do where my kitties are concerned. Check out Nora, the Piano Playing Cat and you will understand! I'm the musician! I should have been giving Mokey piano lessons instead of dressing him up! Who knew?

Went to the 4th Wednesday knitting meetup tonight and it was fun as usual! I have to do the last 2 fingers on the first glove then it will be done! Of course then I just have to make myself do the second glove! I now understand why people only knit one sock! Fortunately DH wants these by March 17 for an outdoor function, so that will keep my ass in gear!

The week from hell!

I haven't blogged all week because I have been a zombie! It's always a major adjustment after being off --getting up before dawn. I don't care what people say. Some of us will just never get used to that. My ideal job would allow me to go to bed at 3 a.m. and sleep until 10 or 11 a.m. which is basically what I did on all those snow days! I am counting the minutes until I get out of school today. The kids have been stir crazy and the adults have been exhausted this week, so I think all of us are anxious to hit the parking lot this afternoon! I, for one, will be going to happy hour at the Rams Head which is something I haven't done in too long of a time! They have the best Reisling there. I have to remember to ask them what brand it is!

And now--from the "you know you're getting old when" column--I was thrilled to get a cortisone shot in the base of my left thumb on Tuesday. Isn't it sad that I would look forward to something like that? I don't think all the knitting has helped, but the shot is finally taking affect and the hand feels much better!

Wednesday there was a reception at MSTA headquarters in Annapolis for the new NBCT's which was very nice! What a great location for an office--right on Main Street, across from the Ben and Jerry's! I would weigh a ton if I worked there!

It will be nice to sleep in tomorrow. I've spent the last few Saturday mornings taking Mikey to get his glucose checked. Unfortunately the vet is only open until 1 on Saturday and the test must be done 6 - 8 hours after he gets his insulin shot. So I found myself getting up at 6 a.m., feeding him, injecting him and going back to bed. Bummer! I get to skip this week even though his glucose was over 400 this past weekend. Hopefully, it will come down with the increased dose of insulin twice a day!

The pop up paws are progressing nicely. There's a long ribbed cuff and I'm actually on the hand part of the first one. I haven't done much with it but hope to get at least the first one done this weekend!

My last day of freedom!

This is my last day of freedom as can be evidenced by the fact that it is almost 1 p.m. and I am still in my pj's. One nice thing about being off is that I've been able to spend some quality time with Peanut, alias Deke. He's 17 years old and in failing health. Given his symptoms of extreme weight loss, drinking a lot of water and peeing excessively and everywhere; he either is diabetic or has renal disease. I will probably take him for a diagnosis, but I won't put him through any extensive treatment. He won't take pills and reacts almost violently if he has to stay over at the vet. He's just too old to go through that. He's so skinny and it's hard to believe that he was once actually on weight reduction cat food! He's been cuddling next to me on the couch when I sit to knit. It's difficult to pet him because his spine feels like a stegosaurus due to his arthritis. He's in a good mood and gets playful sometimes. It makes me sad to see him in failing health.

I was excited to see snow yesterday afternoon, but it turned out to be just flurries. The cold wind remains and the twins, Samantha and Harley, have been competing for space by the portable radiator.

One of them ends up sleeping there all night.

I started the Pop Up Paws. This project is reaffirming my realization of being a yarn snob. I am making them in Plymouth Suri Merino yarn and it feels to incredibly good! It makes it hard to put them down which means I should finish them quickly! A sweater out of this stuff would be an absolute dream! I'll post a photo when what is on the needles actually looks like somthing! Right now it is just 10 rows of ribbing!

The mystery is solved!

Dorothy and I took an entrelac class today and I must admit to being totally surprised as to how easy the technique is. It is basically nothing more than a lot of short rows! WoW! Who knew?! That wasn't the only thing I learned, however. I learned that I was a much bigger yarn snob than I thought. We were told to bring scrap yarn so I stuck a couple of colors of Cascade 220 in my bag. When we got to class, we were each handed a ball of yarn and told that we would pass them around for each row of squares. The first ball I got was beyond awful! It reminded me of that craft rug yarn we would use for weaving in girl scout camp. It was nasty stuff! The next ball was some acrylic worsted which was a little better, but not much. For the third row I just pulled my own stuff out of my bag and it felt 100% better! It really doesn't matter since it's just a sample, but the cheap stuff just didn't feel good in my hands. I've been told that I'm way too anal about my tools and materials, but nice stuff feels--well--nice! If I'm going to spend hours with this stuff in my hands, why wouldn't I want it to feel nice!

Here is my sample. The different colors really help you to see where you are. Now I have to see how I do with a self striping yarn and garter stitch entrelac. I have some Noro Silk Gardent to do a scarf.

I got out of Lovely Yarns with a minimum amount of money spent. I almost bought some Crystal Palace Popcorn yarn but I didn't like the color selection. I found a wider selection of colors online, but I don't think I'll buy it until I know I'll really use it. As I was getting ready to leave the store, I saw a gorgeous little scarf on display which was made out of a new Bamboo tape which was very nice! It looks like Rayon in that it has an incredible sheen with some higher shine spots which give it almost a metallic gleam. The scarf pattern is a simple lace which I thought would be nice for spring and summer which is why I picked out a light beigy color.


Before we went to the class, we stopped at Cloverhill where I found some nice green sock yarn for the Fiber Trends Leaf Lace Sock Pattern that I have. That pattern needs a solid color to show off the lace pattern and I have been looking for a green. They had Louet Gems 100% merino sock yarn which is gloriously soft! I also broke down and bought the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook.


It is going to be a major adjustment going back to school on Tuesday after almost a full week off. Talk about being spoiled! Tomorrow is my last day of freedom! I think I will go start David's Pop Up Paws this evening. I'm leaving off the flap and just making the fingerless gloves for him to wear when he plays his fife. He wants the style to be as historically correct as possible. I didn't tell him that I'm using a merino alpaca blend yarn. Granted it's all natural fiber, but in Colonial times they probably used some scratchy old wool which I refuse to do. It's bad enough having the little woman sitting at home knitting these things. That's already taking the authenticity to the extreme!