Awwwwwww

Look what Paul found in our garage yesterday. Aren't they cute?



He was rummaging around trying to get the lawnmower out, when he heard a commotion. He saw a cat scurry across the garage and hide behind some boxes stored in there. Then he saw the kittens and called me out to see them. Their eyes are still closed so they aren't very old. So adorable. Mama is a feral cat living in our neighborhood. When I came out to the garage to see, she took off across the street and I was hoping she'd come back if we stayed away. We got her some food and left it out in the garage then left them all alone. We didn't see her all day yesterday, but this morning Paul saw her. She's been in the garage all day today with her little ones. As long as all we do is peer at them through the window and not make any quick moves, she tolerates us. Once the kittens are old enough, we'll take them to a local shelter that won't put them down, and see if we can't trap Mama and have her neutered. There are several feral cats in our neighborhood. Looks like I'm going to be a crazy cat lady like my mom lol.



This afternoon I finished up sackboy. I think I'm going to knit him a hat too, but that will have to wait for another day. Now I only have 2 of the newly cast on projects left on the needles.



Last night I pulled out the Silky Wool Vest and finished the first of three balls of yarn. This shouldn't take too much longer to finish since it's a cropped vest. Hopefully by the end of the month.



I'm only a couple rows shy of finishing the bodice of the Yesterday Once More top. Tomorrow night at my crochet group I'll begin the pleated bottom border.



This afternoon while Paul and I watched a couple of movies I worked on the felted Pond Turtle I started for myself last summer. Ran out of yarn .... ugggggg. Since It's felted I'm not too worried about the dye lots matching perfectly, so a trip to JoAnn's to get another ball of Bernat felting wool is in order sometime this week.

Squee!!!

I have a lot to squee about today. Everyone "squee!" with me!

Squee!!!!

Look what I got in the mail. My SP pal, Knitting Ladybug (the one I was spoiling), sent me such a sweet and thoughtful gift. She knit me socks! Soft, beautiful, stripy, merino and bamboo socks! And, she sent me the Knit Kit. It has 7 different tools that knitter's need (and usually run off without when they need them most lol). This went straight into the bag that goes with me to my weekly group right after the photo was taken. The socks will be worn tomorrow! Thanks Debbie! I love them :o)



Also squee! worthy is the fact I finished 2 more of my BOS projects this weekend. The Moorish Stripe Socks are now tucked into a padded envelope and will be off in the post to their recipient tomorrow. I hope he likes them!



And, I also finished the Roped Shell. Wove in the last of the ends last night after my weekly crochet group meeting. I changed the pattern a bit to raise the neckline and add more fabric on the shoulder to hide bra straps. I am really happy with how this turned out. I made it using GGH 100% silk and it is so soft and luxurious. Can't wait to wear it!



Sackboy is almost done. Tomorrow night I will knit the head, then Thursday will start the seaming and finishing.



The handy dandy spreadsheet chose the Islander Pullover for me to work on next. This poor sweater was started a year ago for Paul, then after only 4 rows of the ribbing were completed it was shoved in the bottom of a knitting bag and has just now seen the light of day again. The sad thing is I don't think I bought enough yarn for this, so I will need to order more and do the knit 2 rows with each dye lot thing ..... ugggggg.

WIP Status

Friday night I finished up the Flying Carpet Socks. Now I don't feel so guilty about casting on that Silky Wool Vest. Of course, as you'll see later in this post, I still have plenty to feel guilty about lol.



The current state of my WIP list looks like this. I've finished 5 of the projects that were OTN at the beginning of the year, and have 2 more that should be finished in the next couple of days.

Basket O' Shame Projects Flying Carpet Socks Mermaid Jacket Merging Colors Bolero Felted Pond Turtle Sipalu Bag Moorish Stripe Socks Roped Shell Mary Tudor Cardigan Lace Knee Highs Asymetrical Jacket Ravenna Satchel 1 Ravenna Satchel 2 Islander Pullover Zarah Pullover Bamboo Socks Scheherazade Shawl

Non Basket O' Shame Projects Yesterday Once More Filet Dragon Throw Emily's Gloves Jenn's Gloves Rose Wrap Shell Sweetie Pie Cami Santa Fe Shawl Bellydance Halter Solo Sackboy Salvia Silky Wool Vest

According to my self imposed rules, I should only have 2 newly cast on projects (one of which is now complete). But, I was a bad bad knitter and cast on 2 additional projects *sigh*. Kris plays Little Big Planet and I couldn't resist casting on Sackboy. Luckily it is a smallish project and should be finished in record time. I didn't feel too bad about casting that on, even though I haven't finished the Silky Wool Vest, since I was almost finished with another WIP. I do feel a twinge of guilt about casting on Salvia though. Rowan yarn is an evil temptress indeed. I am limiting my time working on this project until I get a couple more of the BOS projects finished.

I am currently finishing up the toe on the Moorish Stripe Socks. Then they will be shipped off to my stepdad.



The Roped Shell is also almost complete. Last night when I took photos she looked like this.



This morning she is complete with the exception of the I-cord bind off on the arm openings and the cabled neckband.

The beaded purse is getting some attention too. Progress seems awfully slow compared to the knitting, but I've increased my speed to about 3 rows per 30 minutes. The problem is I can only work on this about 30 minutes at a time. It's just too hard on the eyes!



I mentioned Salvia earlier in the post. It is a shortsleeved cotton cardigan with intarsia flowers on it from the latest Rowan magazine. I took Friday off work as comp time last week and made a trip to my LYS to look at shawl pins for the Merging Colors Bolero. While there, I spied yarn in the perfect colors for Salvia, a soft grey and beautiful blue. I have absolutely no willpower whatsoever, so you know I bought it and cast on as soon as I got home. I only allowed myself to complete several rows of the colorwork pattern before setting it aside and pulling out the projects I was supposed to be working on.



I think I'm going to sift through the list of WIPs and find one fairly close to being complete to work on next. Salvia shouldn't have been cast on until I had 8 finished, and when the socks and shell are done that will make 7. Why do I do this to myself? My WIP list never seems to have fewer than 20 projects on it!

Bugs!

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh I have a bug infestation! Carpet beetles!! Ewwwwwwwwww

I discovered the problem yesterday when I pulled out one of my Basket 'O Shame projects to work on. I noticed a small hole in it when I began knitting. It looked like the yarn had been snipped and one of the stitches had unraveled. Repairing it was a pretty simple matter. Then I noticed another hole, and a couple of spots that looked like the yarn had been snagged. Upon closer inspection, I found a couple of the telltale shed skins of the larvae.

I've never been very careful with my stash or the projects I am working on. The stash is stored in plastic drawer containers, but not put in ziploc bags first. The projects I've started are kept in the various knitting bags I've collected over the years. I've learned my lesson! Multitudes of freezer bags were purchased today and a good portion of the stash now resides in them.

So far I haven't found any further signs of infestation in the craftroom, but I found a couple of the adult little buggers wandering elsewhere in the house. I can't tell you how creeped out I am right now.

The infested project is in the freezer right now, along with as much of the stash as I could fit in there with it. It is going to take me for freaking ever to freeze it all just to be on the safe side. I use that freezer for um foodstuffs. Never again will I let yarn sit in my craftroom until it has been properly frozen in its freezer bag.

At least there's some good news on the knitting front. I finished the Merging Colors Bolero Friday night. I just need to find something nice to use as a closure and it's ready to wear. I love how this turned out and can't wait to wear it to work.



I worked some this week on the beaded purse. I wish this photographed better. Maybe when I have nice sunlight outside and don't have to use the flash I can get better pictures. My speed has gotten better, but even at one row every 20 minutes or so, this is going to take a long long time to complete.



Since the Asymetrical Jacket has a bug problem at the moment, I let the spreadsheet pick out a new main project. I had forgotten how much I liked knitting the Roped Shell. Not sure why this wound up sitting in the bottom of a knitting bag, but it's got center stage again, and should be finished up fairly quickly. No sleeves and minimal shaping make for a fast project.



Wish me luck in my quest to rid my house of the disgusting carpet beetles!