Blue Fleet Heat

Say it with me...

FULMAR! :D

Gotta love that saddle sleeve!

How about all those cables?!

Okay, never mind that serious face. I really do love it!

Fulmar - Alice Starmore - Aran Knitting
Scottish Fleet - 5ply gansey - Navy
2.75mm + 3mm needles

This is the ultimate Aran Gansey (IMHO).
Wooly can't keep his paws off it and wants one too. I keep telling him it's a 'female' sweater! Okay, yes, men can wear it too! SSHhhh! I don't want to make another! It almost killed my hands! ;)


Autumn in New York

I was ready for some color and decided to knit along with BadCat again.

"OOoohh! Shiny!" Smoothie
"This is so my color. It's for me, right?" Kamati

I'm using Noro Silk Garden Sock in the same colorway as BadCat. You know how there's no two exact same skeins of Noro... mine looks totally different from hers, plus I'm following the beaded charts, since I miss knitting with beads. This yarn is testing my 'control' tendencies, because it's morphing from cobweb to chunky. I cut out a section because I knew there was no way I could hook a bead where I needed to. It's suppose to be fingering weight! Whatever!! :b


My Two Favorite Boys

"All you need is pajamas!" Mr K
"All I need is Alhambra!" me
"I need a strong drink!" Wooly

I love is photo! It sums up the evening. We took Dad out for his birthday. All I'm going to say is that things didn't go smoothly, it wasn't easy, and Brother & I both lost sleep over it. The only one who had a great time was Mr K, who was well behaved and lots of fun, like usual. Like my scarf?!



Superman

Hope, not fear

For the record:

Two years ago, when the presidential candidates were emerging, we were with Wooly's family and the question was posed, "Who's going to be the next president?" Everyone had their opinion. I said, "Barack Obama..." and was poo-pooed and shunned.

Neener neener assholes! ;)

His family is very political and news junkies. Ciss (Wooly's niece) and I sit in the back and knit and make bets on how long it's going to take for 'such&such' subject to emerge. Yes, we're the peanut gallery! :D

I do enjoy being with Wooly's family more than my own, but I've been known to be the black sheep (on both sides!)

Mr K calls sheep, 'bahh!' I told him it's very important to know what a sheep is... not to mention wool, yarn, knitting... :)

I like being a black sheep. Baahh... Wooly is a black sheep too. Baahh... Good thing we found each other!

Hope... it's a good thing! :)

Nice Pumpkins!

Mr K went to the Pumpkin Patch...

"I like big pumpkins and I cannot lie,

you other brothers can't deny..."

*

After he got done choosing his pumpkin, he decided to be Superman!

"Look out! Here I come to save the world!"

When the weight of the world has got you down...

"Put on your pajamas, and grab your balls!"

*

Or better yet, put on your favorite scarf!

"Scat Smoothie, your in my shot!"

"No, YOU'RE in MY shot!"

*

Alhambra - Ann Hanson

Whisper Merino laceweight-Flamingo

US 4 needles

12"x 57"

*

Mr K is trying to find out what's wrong with the Wii board.

"Why. What?! I see you! Blasted dust bunnies! Come out NOW!"

*

I told Wooly if his dust bunnies got any bigger, he would have to give them names! He immediately did a bunny roundup.

*

I sent Mr K a card (black cat) and stickers for Halloween.

"Oh! Nice! I'm putting it on my shirt!"

*

My Mom called me and asked if I sent him a card... yep... was it a cat... yep!

Mr K was pointing at it and saying, "cat, cat, cat, meeeooowww!"

Then they went on their walk and saw a real cat... he meowed at it. Mom was happy it didn't follow them home, since SIL doesn't like pets. (gasp!)

Did you send stickers too... yep... were they cute monsters... yep!

She said she saw them stuck on their floor!

*

LOL! hooray! :)
*

As Mr K would say, "all you need is pajamas and balls!"

*

I would insert 'yarn' before 'balls'! :)

*

Happy Halloween! Hope you're knitting!

Watch out for the bunnies! :)

Nine Cats

So, when was the last time you saw a short hair, all white cat...?
Was he waving at you?
Like Maneki Neko, the Beckoning Cat?

Holding a coin to attract money

Holding a Daruma to make wishes come true (success)

How about a Happy Home?

The story my family told about Maneki Neko isn't the traditional one.

We were told that the Samurai were between Masters and riding by, when they spotted a white cat in front of the temple . The leader said, "Hey! Look at that clever cat waving at us! Let's stop and meet the owner of that clever cat." As it turned out, it was the temple's cat, so the monks and villagers fed all the Samurai and made them feel welcome. They decided they were going to spend the night in the temple. That night, the roaming Bandits showed up to rob the temple and village, but to their surprise, the Samurai were staying there and 'saved' the day! Hooray! Thanks Maneki Neko!!

So, it's all about the value of animals and how they reflect their owners, making people feel welcome, and justice (rewarding good behavior!)

My Brother called and said they got a 'good look.' They've got another boy on the way! Mr K is gonna have a little brother to boss around. Oh joy! He's thinking of calling him Wyatt... because it rhymes with Quiet! That cracks me up! :D

I made a baby quilt for him...

Mom (Grandma) picked up these Maneki Neko batiks when she was in Hawaii a long time ago. She thought they would make a cute quilt for her grandchild. Little did I know, that I was going to make it! My Brother & SIL are very simplistic, so I made a simple quilt.

Notice the black one in the middle.

The black ones ward away evil spirits, so kisses to all my black cat friends!

Meanwhile, I think Mr K is in denial. Grandma is teaching him his numbers now...

Nine Roosters

Kamati: "Smoothie, you need to go to Grandma's and learn to count..."

Smoothie: "Bunnies don't count... they MULTIPLY!!!"

Kamati: "That does it! I'm outta here!"

Smoothie: "Wait! Come back Kamati! I made a funny! heehee!"

Yes, Mr. K got a quilt too... His has batik pandas. SIL is half Chinese. Brother took this photo for me, since I couldn't remember what I did for Mr K's quilt.

He was upset when Dad said it was time to put away the quilt. He was having fun lining up his balls in the squares. For crying out loud... let the kid play with his quilt!

I haven't seen any all white short haired cats in real life. I'm sure they're out there somewhere... maybe at the temple! ;)

Kisses to all the cats out there! Attract something good for your owners! :)

My Pink Sweater

Surprisingly satisfying...

Enjoy. This is as feminine as I get!

Geno by Marie Wallin

Rowan 43

Rowan 4 ply soft (merino) in #395 (fairy)

2.75 + 3mm needles

The whole time I was making this, Wooly kept asking if I was making it for a child. Okay, so I don't wear fitted shirts or pink... tomboy that I am. He asked if I knew what kind of buttons I needed. I said, "yes, half inch, flat, round, little bit pearly..." He says, "Oh, you mean Mother of Toilet Seat? (pearl)" LOL! It's never a dull moment living with him! :)

I wore my pink sweater to work on Monday... My co-workers immediately say, "Oh! Nice pink sweater Michele!" (Remember, I don't wear pink.) I say, "Thanks! I made it!" Their responses ranged from disbelief to, 'of course you did.' Then they asked what the name was for that color pink. I said, "Fairy." They bust out laughing and call me a Fairy Princess. Heh. Okay, so my nickname at work is 'Princess' because they think Wooly spoils me. In reality, he's just well trained. ;) Seriously! I was getting a complex about it and called my Brother, who confirmed I'm NOT a princess... farthest from it... they don't know you at all! Whew! So now I play it up with them and say, "Do I need to put on my tiara?!" when I don't get my way. I have one... and I DO put it on... :)

Speaking of Princess...

SHhhhhh!
I'm being very quiet about this because there are extremely fabulous knitters out there making this and I'm NOT one of them. Many start... few finish... I want to finish... don't hold your breath!

The edging

I'm following Laritza, who came up with a plan to make 72 edge points and pick up 12 stitches per point and one in the middle to get 865 stitches. You know what they say about knowing who to follow... I'm in good hands! I got the break pattern done (holes on top) and am ready to start Chart 1... but I need to psych myself up for that. I'm using Gossamer Merino one of the recommended yarns from Heirloom Knitting. This is one of those 'Before I die..' projects. It took me almost a year to get the edging done! Yikes! ;)

It's Fall... you know what that means...

Last harvest of beans.

Grandma said they picked all the beans. She showed Mr K how to pull out the bean plants since they were 'done' for the year. Mr K had so much fun, he wanted to pull ALL the plants out! He's an 'All or Nothing' kind of guy. :)

School time.

Grandma says he knows all his letters. He's teaching her now. He's a genius in our eyes. ;)

Hey! GrandmaGrandmaGrandma... SWING!

Look at our little pitcher... perfect fastball form with that right foot forward. Grandma DID hit the ball. I told my Brother this photo is priceless, because I'm pretty sure Grandpa was watching a baseball game on the tv. My Brother is pretty thrilled with his new bottom of the line SLR camera.

Hope all is well in your world... Happy Knitting!

Mom's White Sweater

When I first saw Geno in Rowan 43, I thought it looked like an updated version of the sweater my mom use to wear. Mom doesn't remember having a white sweater...

A month or so later, she called me and said I need to see this photo... boy, did we get old!

See! She's wearing THE WHITE SWEATER! She still doesn't remember it. She remembers that she made that muu muu for me... yeah, I wasn't afraid of color when I was young! :) She said she was going to send this out as our Christmas photo back then. I think it's funny that she has her hair pulled back... I do that now! When I showed Wooly, he didn't know it was us... he says he never knew my mom was so gorgeous... even with her eyes closed.

So, after seeing the photo, I had to make the sweater...

Kamati! Mom's losing it! You have to help get this off me! I can't hear anything! Hurry!!!

I'm using Rowan 4ply soft (merino) #395 (fairy) that I got at Marie's sale (Main Street Yarn.) The original is made from 4ply cotton. I don't like knitting with cotton. Wooly thought the left front was a sleeve because the sides were curling in. Making the back, sure was boring... I caught myself snoozing... that never happens when I knit lace!

Giftie!

I got my second place gift from Bad Cat! I love Lacey Lamb and the color is actually a gray blue with a tinge of purple. Very pretty... I've never seen this color. I'm pretty sure she made that peachy bag... She has directions on how to make it on her blog. She's very crafty. Thanks again Bad Cat!

In Mr K's World...

NO POOL??!! Say that to my face Dad! Go ahead... make my day! I don't care if that's a NEW camera! Pool pool pool!!
Wasting water?! NOT! I'm filling my pool! Why don't you go stand over there!
C'mon! I got the pool filled! You don't need no stinkin swimmies! C'mon! Time's a wasting!

Yep! Mr K is all go go go, all the time! Summer is almost over and he's making the most of every minute. I wish I had that kind of energy! ;)

Fall starts next week... Happy knitting! :)

Oh Happy Day!

Ever have one of those weeks, where you're totally fed up with everything (work), and everyone's attempts at keeping you down is working?!

For me, that was last week...

"Where's the good news? Why is everything so dysfunctional? Bite me dooshbag!"

By Friday, I had a huge headache, fell asleep on the bus (that NEVER happens), and was ready to pack my bags and ride into the sunset with Wooly (my only friend).

Oh Happy Day!

Look what Colette, Lorraine & Brigitte sent my way!
I'm so thrilled, touched and honored!
You snapped me right out of my pity party!

Colette (Lace Maven) is truly inspirational. What I love about her, is that she doesn't settle for 'good enough.' She could only find silk cobweb in white and dyed it a beautiful red for her Wedding Ring Shawl. She's a designer and lace knitting teacher at her LYS. She takes beautiful photos of her work, which is true perfection. I want to knit lace and take risks like her when I grow up.

Lorraine (Sheriff of Knittingham) is the total package. Traditional Fair Isle & Aran Knit Designer, loving mom (to everyone's kids and critters) and wife, and if that's not enough... she also knits lace shawls with the yarn she dyed. I want to be a loving mom like her.

Brigitte (Wrapped Around My Finger) is your best friend. She's got 3 celebrity cats, who I love like my own. I wish she lived next door so I could visit. She knits beautiful fair isle, aran, lacey sweaters & socks. Animal lover, generous with her gifts, bike rider. She and the kitty counsel are always up to something fun. She's hilarious and always leaves me laughing.

I'm suppose to nominate 4 people... but, everyone I was thinking of already got nominated.
(Carolyn, Anne, Laritza, Fleegle, Bad Cat,...) So, I'm nominating everyone I've ever left a comment for. :)

Summer Sampler Stole Celebration

Summer Sampler Stole - Bad Cat Design

Cashwool #987 - extra fine merino

2.5mm addis lace needles

18" x 72"

...three, four.. eight.. how many patterns are there suppose to be? 12?

You dumb bunny! You can't count! OMG! Watch out for the snake!

I sent my photos to Bad Cat, to let her know I enjoyed and finished knitting her stole and to join the celebration of us that finished. Guess what! I was the second one finished, so she's sending me 2 balls of Lacey Lamb in the light blue color that she knit hers in! I'm so thrilled! You know how much I love Lacey Lamb! and that blue is sooo my color! Hooray! Another surprise! Thanks Bad Cat!

Double Delight

My Double Delight rose - very fragrant beauty

So, thanks to you all, what a happy day Sunday was! Blue Ribbon & Lacey Lamb!

They say, if you surround yourself with people you admire,... you become a better person. In my case, you're all rubbing off on me and I'm feeling better already!

Love you all! Chin up! Happy Knitting!

Unst Stole My Heart

Hey! Can you believe it? I finished! :D
Yes, I love her! Can you believe it?!

Third time's a charm!

My favorite photo - all her glory

Kamati nosing in

Even Wooly's (stinky) chair looks nice

Unst Stole - Sharon Miller - Heirloom Knitting

Colourmart 2/36 Cashmere/Silk in Galaxy

2.5mm circular needle

35" x 76"

-

I don't know what else to say...

Everytime I pass by her I've got to stop and pet her...

Yes, it's that kind of love!

-

After I finished, I showed Wooly... he said, "Why don't you put it on the floor... and I'll get the vacuum out... and we'll see if it can 'eat' that whole shawl!" I didn't even bother to give him the evil eye or say anything. Big bully!

-

Summer Sampler Stole

Field of Corn -pattern 12, Snake in the Grass edging

I got the last pattern for this done and started on the edging.
The edging is going quickly - only 14 stitches. I like the cable twist - I think that's the snake.
The pointed corner is short rowed. I've never done one like that before.

In Mr K's World...
It's been a berry good summer...

Strawberry hunter

Blueberry picker

This is at Grandma's house. She tries to distract him, but he ends up picking and eating all the berries. See the orange bubble container she's holding... that's why his pants is wet in front - he was blowing bubbles and spilling on his lap. That's another word you don't say around Mr K - "B-U-B-B-L-E-S"

This weekend Marie at Main Street Yarn is having her 25% off everything sale. I've made my list and checked it twice! I definitely deserve yarny rewards for completing Unst v3. :) Since I looked in my closet and hate everything in it, it's sweater making time! Besides, I feel the chill in the air. No, I haven't forgotten about Fulmar!

Okay, I'm off to continue edging along... hoping the snake doesn't bite me! ;)

Enjoy these last days of summer! :)