Stars in my eyes

I wish I could paint. I really do. I dabble occasionally, but I'm more of a realist. I can look at something and paint it, but I can't paint something in my head. However, if I could paint the sort of thing that makes me happy, it would look like this (double-click to enlarge):



This was painted by Liz of Primoriginals. I am completely addicted to her work and had the pleasure of meeting her on several occasions at her booth at On Broadway. I have to keep myself from checking her Etsy shop too often because every time I do, another irresistable little gem has been posted. This painting was exactly what I needed to jazz up the wall behind my chair in the living room. It's not too big and the red in the bird is the color of my loveseat. It has little metallic stars embedded in the surface and they twinkle, especially after the sun has gone down and the lamp is shining on it. I'm calling it my housewarming present to myself.



With the pretty little redhead and her birds to inspire me, I've been working on a new scarf design. I think I've worked out the bugs and my test swatch is beginning to look like what I had hoped. I'm now busily knitting away and will post photos when I've finished. It's modular, so each piece doesn't take too long. I knit a module, seam it to the scarf, and then carry on with the next. I'm going to post it as my first pattern for sale and I hope the seaming doesn't scare people off. The seams are only about 12 stitches each and not terrible at all. I know there are knitters out there who hate anything with seams and others who hate purling. Alas, this has both. But it's a scalloped lace scarf with odd construction and there's just no way to do it in one piece. It's going to be called "Scallopini" and I will hopefully have it posted within the next couple weeks.

Now that the weather is getting colder, I'm ramping up my knitting and will have more things to share soon!

Purple Bliss is done!

I finally blocked and finished the Purple Bliss Baby Surprise Jacket and it was gifted to the mom-to-be this past weekend. It went over well and I can't wait to see it in action!

This was knit on US5's using sport weight 100% hand-dyed wool for the body and Sublime Yarns Cashmere Merino Silk DK for the button bands. I had 360 yards of the purple at the start and still have a bunch left over.

Blocked dimensions - should fit 12-18 months:
20” chest circumference
5.5” sleeve length
11” center back



I finished it off with little purple hippopotamus buttons. I couldn't resist adding something totally goofy to one of these jackets. This one somehow looked more serious and I like the touch of whimsy.



I am continually tweaking the pattern as I knit more of these. Keeping the stitches on hold on the circular really helped keep the corners tight. I broke the yarn and started knitting the held stitches at the collar so I could pick up both sides on a right side row, same as previous. It helps keep the ridge from picking up the stitches on the inside of the jacket on both sides. I added a step this time and knit two rows in the purple before I started with the pink. It prevented the jog of color at the corners where the stitches are picked up. Since they're not quite in line with the stitches that were being held, it has been a problem in my past ones. This time.. it's lovely!



I also seamed the sleeves using the seam from my Knitting Answer Book to join a top edge to a side edge. It's pretty easy looping back and forth and makes a nice flat seam that isn't too obvious. I don't have a photo, but it was a significant improvement over a crochet seam because it's more flexible. Yarn Harlot has a post showing how it turns out. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2007/07/11/surprise.html

I have a couple more of these in the queue. Everyone seems to be having babies all of a sudden, so I'll be handing them out left and right.

Kitty Breath

I've spent the past year without a cat for the first time in 17 years. It was a lonely year without purrs and kitty breath.

On Tuesday, I had the sudden urge to the Humane Society. I checked out the cats online and decided to go to one of the satellite adoption centers because they had a cat named Emma that looked sweet. The cats are all let out of their cages to roam together in the room, so I sat there talking to the adoption woman and meeting various cats. She pointed out all of the females, including Emma, and I met most of them except for a little red tabby who was hiding in a cat igloo in the corner on top of the cages. Emma was nippy and naughty and I didn't like her. I looked at some of the others and then started getting introduced to the males. None of the cats really interested me. They were nice.. but no spark.

After an hour, I was getting ready to leave my application and either check back another time or else go to one of the other locations when the little red cat came out of hiding. She walked across the top of the cages, hopped down, walked right up to me and started rubbing on my leg and arching her back while I petted her. The adoption lady was amazed because she usually hides and is very shy. She started playing with me and was so soft and sweet and not really scared at all.

She came home yesterday and I named her Lucy, after B.B. King's famous blues guitar Lucille. She was dropped off as a two year old in April because she didn't get along with the other animals in the house (I suspect they all picked on her). She wasn't happy with her previous owners and she's spent six long months waiting for someone to take her home, so I figure she's been singing the blues most of her life.

She has settled in so well since then. She's been purring, kneading when I talk to her and has started talking in little chirps and meows. I even trimmed all of her nails with no fuss because she was clicking all over my hardwood floors. She checked everything out and has been very curious and outgoing. The only thing that scared her so far was my hair dryer. Unlike any of my previous cats, she is a lap cat. If I sit still long enough, she jumps up and makes herself at home. Earlier today, she was curled up on my lap almost entirely upside down on her head.

Not a lot of knitting has been happening since this happened, but please note she's curled up in the Popsicle Kitty Pi. She has all three kitty pi's to choose from and hopped right in as soon as she saw them - even the gimpy purple and pink one that didn't felt properly. I knitted them after my last cat died and it's nice that they are finally keeping a kitty tuckus warm.

So, without further ado, here's Lucy: