Inspired 2…Sailboats and Sunsets

Instead of boring us all with the details of when and where, I think I will just share some of the photos from our trip.

I tried.

I was working right up to the wire hoping that I would get something finished and posted tonight. But I didn’t like the way some of the finishing looks, so maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime, I will leave you with one of the pictures of Dexter from this summer on the boat. He is the kitten that we decided to keep (and I don’t think I have posted about it on here).

Herding cats

The pictures say it all! 

They are still available and getting more adorable everyday!!

Quattro and Sophie

Socks and Sassy

And on the calmer side of things…

finally got my cats a tree and they LOVE it so much more than I thought they would.

And Quattro makes 4!

Oh boy!  Do I need to catch up!  I haven’t even looked at Bloglines…it would only depress me. 

So let’s start with…

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the “master trapper” (my sweetheart) not only trapped LK (Little Kitty, the kitty momma) and Curly (the suspected kitty daddy), but a couple of days later he traps “the one that got away”, aka Quattro.  Don’t you just love those black paws?!?

So even though I can’t seem to get a picture of all of them together, I do have all 4 kittens.  They are wonderfully adorable and I want to keep them all but have been forcefully and repeatedly (!!!) told that I can not.  Anyone want some kitties?!?  We estimate their age at 11 weeks (I’m saying they were born on Good Friday (March 21st)).  2 boys and 2 girls…although they have been “fixed” now.  I would love for them to go in pairs because I think it would just be easier on all of them.  I’ve had the first 3 since they were about 5 weeks old and we have had Quattro for 2 weeks now.  They are the healthiest kittens you will ever encounter…fat and happy.  No health problems at all!!  And so sweet!  They come running to the door when they hear me coming and their engines are purring so loud.  They love crawling all over you.  And they all love their bellies stratched.   Hmmm….I take it back…forget J, I’m keeping them!!!

Also refer to these past posts for additional pictures:

http://castingaway.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/not-that-there-arent-other-things-to-report/

http://castingaway.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/gratuitous-kitten-pictures/

http://castingaway.wordpress.com/2008/05/09/rainy-lazy-day/

Coming up next…the other reason I’ve not posted lately….

Have 6:57 to spare?

This came out about a month ago but I only just saw it.  Hilarious!  Especially the cat yodeling part.  Oh, I should say that it is about cats so if you aren’t into that thing.  It also makes a little fun of engineers…so if you are sensitive to that sort of thing.  But I think they hit the nail on the head…snort!

Rainy, Lazy Day

Its sort of yucky outside but the perfect day to catch up on some things I need to blog about.

First, remember this?  The gorgeous yarn I won for simply leaving a comment on Tiennie’s blog?  Look at what I did with it!!!

Cider Moon Sidewinders
Sidewinders: A PerpenSOCKular Pattern by Nona
9-10M
US 1½ / 2.5 mm
Cider Moon Blizzard
No mods.
LOVE THEM!!!

Non-knitting:

 

Its a Puzzle Gourd…cool, huh?

Oh, gosh, I have other things to show you, too, but I’m just too lazy.  WordPress changed how you can put photos on here and its really just not user friendly anymore.  I hope they find an easier way soon.  Anyway, I will leave you with some more kitty photos.

Bonita being her normal, cheerful self.

Marmalade LOVES his alpaca mouse.

And everything is good in the world….

Gratuitous Kitten Pictures

Sophie was the first one I caught.  She is also the first to offer her tummy for scratching and the first to purr.

Socks is the little boy in the group (as far as I can tell…hee).  At first he was shy but he is warming up now and is definitely the most playful.  Really, how could I not have a cat called socks!  BTW, that is a Kitty Pi that he is lounging on.  They love it!!

And Sassy.  She was named for her spunky attitude in the beginning but she has really become so sweet.  She was the second one to purr and offer her belly.

They are just hours of entertainment!!!  I really hope we can find them good homes and, preferably, together.

Not that there aren’t other things to report…

I did want to report that I FINALLY finished and got the HSS3socks in the mail and to their recipient!  And she likes it!  She really likes it!  She is Sally-Anne Skrewt or Twice Knit!  You can link there for the picture of the whole package (cause I forgot to take a picture).   But I did get a picture of the socks:

Pattern: Hiiumaa Mismatched Socks
Yarn: Louet Gems Merino Sport Weight in Ginger and French Blue
Needle: 2.25mm
no mods.

Gotta show you what has been distracting me for the past week:

Starting at the 3 o’clock position: Socks (white feet, ya know!), then at 7 o’clock we have Sophie and then at 10-11 o’clock we have Sassy.  These are some “feral” cats I rescued from a mom in my neighborhood. They were born just before Easter.  They have another brother but he escaped after I caught him.  Anyway, the other 3 are doing great and will be adoptable in about 2 weeks.  Anyone?  More pictures will follow.

What I lack in quantity…

I hope to make up in quality.  This will be a picture heavy post.

OY!  Where did December go?!?  Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Went home for Thanksgiving/Christmas.  The knitted hats went over even better than I thought! 

My nephew liked both his and his sister’s.

T’s hat didn’t work so well for her pigtails…the holes were too low…but she didn’t want me to sew them up, so there you go.
Great visit with family and lots of Mexican Train was played.

I know you have all seen these photos from fellow East Coasters, but I have to share mine (from a little over a week ago), too:

view from my front porch

view from my backyard

4″ is a pretty big deal around here!

OK, knitting content:

Another finished gift.

The Girlfriend Shrug by Wendy Bernard
Sockotta by Plymouth #6063 (just over 1 skein, unfortunately, so socks or a hat will follow)
mods: none ON PURPOSE but when you misread the recipe at the very beginning…well. It wasn’t anything, I hope, that will effect the fit. I will know in the next couple of days when my nearly 3 yo model gets to the US. Pictures, I hope, will follow.

Nearly there:

L2′s sweater. All the bits are done and I just have to seam it up and put the collar on. Whew! I LOVE this sweater.

My goal is to have all the Christmas knitting for this side of the family done by tomorrow. I only have this sweater and 1/2 of a pedicure sock to go. I think I can, I think I can!

Things other than knitting:

Took at needle felting class and made these:

It was really fun.

There is a basket class tomorrow at the shop but I will have to see how the knitting and housecleaning go today/tonight. I don’t have high hopes.

Speaking of the shop…our little town has a candlelight house tour every year and there are horse drawn carriages and people in Victorian era clothing. The carolers stopped by:

And, should I get totally over whelmed and not make it back to the computer to post again before the BIG day…

How long is too long?

OK, I might need some help here.  When I was trying to figure out which size pattern to knit for my niece, I asked my mother-in-law.  She does a lot of sewing for the kids and keeps up with that sort of thing.  The size 2 had a chest measurement of 21.5″ and a length of 19.5″.  The size 4 was 24″ in the chest and 22″ long.  My MIL said that the 21.5″ was better but the length should be closer to 23/24″ to fall just below the knee from the natural neckline.  OH!  Now that I read that email again I think I’m ok.  The finished dress (well, nearly finished) is 24″ around (which I think is better for longer wear, I think) and 27.5″ long from the shoulder.  It seemed so long.  What do you think?  I just don’t even want to think about having to take length out of this dress!!

Well, here’s a picture:

I was thinking that instead of a single button under the right (or left) arm, I might do 2 to help it stay closed better…about 2 inches apart.  Still thinking about that one.  All I have left is to pick up and knit 4 rows around the neck.  And her birthday is still 3 weeks away!! 

I was thinking I might do a hat like the one I did for Vi.

After all this I feel I might have to do more for the twins.  Maybe I will do those bloomer things for K and then I need to come up with something else for L2…pants?  I don’t know.

In other news, check out the Wild Kingdom in my front yard:

There were 4 of them.  The other 3 were younger (I assume, since their antlers weren’t as big).

OK, maybe I can get some work done on my Sockapalooza’s socks, since I don’t think Marmalade is going to let me get back to L1′s dress right away.

What is it with them and knitted items?