I got nothing .........

I've been sick for the last couple days so I'll use distraction to make you forget that you are not seeing any knitting at all. These two should do the trick.

They are now 7 weeks old and come running anytime the door opens. Always happy to see anyone who wants to play for a while. I've got to call the vet to make an appointment for their check up and shots so they can go to their forever home.

Did you know ....

that Joann's has sales of specific colors of yarn? Well I was in Waterbury with a little time to kill and I ended up at Joann's looking for acrylic for some charity knitting. I usually don't poke around the store but since I was in no hurry I spent some time walking up and down the aisles. I noticed that they have bins of yarn but only one or two colors was on sale while the rest was full price. Interesting ............

Bernat denimstyle in white, shades of blue and shades of green for $1.97 a skein.
Patons astra at $1.97 a skein. Lion wool grey for $2.97 a skein.
Sensations rainbow boucle for $5.00 a skein. All for a total of $49.43 minus a 10% discount. Should keep me knitting along for a while.
I've been working on this irish cable scarf which is coming out great ... that is when I'm not playing with my kittens. They are getting so big. I played with them for about an hour this morning .... and they fell asleep in my lap.
Oscar says: I hate those kittens. Well, not that I've seen them but I hate them anyways. And I hate you for spending all that money on yarn instead of cat treats for me.

Should I knit or ....

I've been knitting a little bit. I finished the second black pair of socks for my dad (who is recovering nicely from surgery) and gave them away before I had a chance to take a picture. Seriously like a pair of black socks is all that interesting? Don't think so.

I finished knitting these last night just before bed. A pair of woman's size 6 that will get put in the box to send off to the cheyenne river sioux project. Left over black for the cuff and knitpicks essential for the rest.

And I started this project while I was on a conference call this morning. It's a toy for my two new friends .....
These little ones are my first foster kittens. I while back I was reading in the paper that a feral cat group in my town was looking for foster homes before kitten season started. I called to volunteer. These two were delivered Sunday.

This picture was taken this morning. They now have the run of the upstairs bathroom.

This was Sunday when they wouldn't even come out of the corner of the cage because they were frightened.
And yesterday after a lot of petting and cuddling they were comfortable enough to venture out to the food dish for something to eat.
No names because they aren't my babies to name. I'll have them for probably 4-5 weeks before they go live with their new families (yet to be determined).

I have to admit that having them in the house certainly has lifted my spirits a bit so maybe I'll be back to knitting away soon. Well, at least I've gotten back to yarn buying .... my latest order placed this morning from Ray. More lace yarn. Think I've got a lace addiction which is now taking time away from my sock addiction.

You never know what the day holds for you

The Sunday before last I was having coffee and reading the paper with my dad. We do this every Sunday while my mom is at church and my hubby is out with friends having coffee. 5 yrs ago he cancelled his Sunday paper and decided to just come over and read mine. My dad is a man of few words who's gentle guidance has given me the strength to be the person I am today. And this man of few words came out with, "Well I'm going into the hospital on Wednesday for some surgery. They found a tumor in my intestines and some lesions on my liver. Don't worry because I'm 73 yrs old and I'm not afraid of death. I've lived a great life and plan to live a great life until the end.

Last Wednesday it was confirmed. Stage 4 cancer. He's watched many people die of cancer and decided that he will not seek treatment for this. He just wants to live out however long he has surrounded by the things he holds dear until it's his time to go. I understand his decission and will respect his wishes but it's hard.

So I've been filling my days with the routine that is my life. Mindless knitting.

And another pair of dreaded black socks. Dad really liked the first pair so I'm making another for him.
New patterns.
So I've been treating this like an elephant in a room. It's there but not talked about. I'm fortunate enough to live about 1.5 miles away from my parents so I'm there when needed. I'll spend all my time making the most of my father while he is still here and will deal with his death once it happens.

Signs of spring are everywhere

Flowers, flowers everywhere you look. My daughter was complaining that she couldn't find any cute little girl shoes around so I picked up a pair of cheap canvas sneakers and painted them with flowers in girlie colors.

If you live in CT Laurel Ridge is one of the best kept secrets in the state. Back in 1941 a couple in Litchfield, CT decided to plant some spring flowers on their farm. They kept adding to them year after year and the flowers themselves kept multiplying year after year.
And this is only a small fraction of them on a lovely Sunday stroll with my hubby.
This entire hillside is covered in flowers. Flowers everywhere.
And me thinking ..... hummmmm I know how to plant flowers .......

All about socks

With summer rolling around I put aside my nice hand knit yummy socks of goodness and color and went off the the land of Walmart to pick up some cheap summer socks. The good people at Fruit of the loom obviously think we're a little on the stupid side by leading us to believe that these $1.30 a pair socks will support our arches.

Aka they put a little ribbing at the middle of the food. So I guess when I rib the top of a sock I should give it to the person claiming I've offered calf support?
3 pr of socks for the cheyenne river sioux project. I only had one skein of the pinks which was just enough to make a pair of child size 9's. I also did a size 9 in blue and a child size 12 in blue with red toes. The pink dye rubbed off on my fingers so they are a lovely shade of pink today.

Then I was wondering how many pair of baby socks I could get out of a 50 gram skein of knitpicks essentials. The answer is 4 pair. Each one a little different. These are for the Cure Hospital for A4A. Green is a lucky color. I have 3 more skeins of green so I'll get those knit this week. Babies and new moms can always use a little luck.
And finally finished off the ends of my son in law's size 12 socks. Opal yarn with opal uni black toes. I like them. I think he will too.

So since I was in the ladies' department at walmart I decided to pick up some panties too. Made in Honduras. And this just gave me the giggles. Each pair rolled and taped. I can just picture the on the job training for this. "No you are taping too high. The tape goes here toward the middle and only on the back. No sides just the back." I gotta say this is almost as obnoxious as taking 50 pins out of a new shirt. "Honey, I'm just untaping my underwear! I'll be there in a minute."

And I'll leave you with this ..... more socks. Now sadly these do not have arch supports. My arches are gonna be left on their own in these socks. However .... they are in a reseal bag. Seriously like I'm going to keep the bag? Wear the socks, wash them (with fingers crossed that both will make it out of the dryer), fold them and what put them back in the bag? Yup, only me.

Whatever

Work has been nuts. I've been helping out in another department. It's a very nice department and they have all fallen in love with me. The supervisor wants to keep me but since my current supervisor had to work so hard to get me I don't see a transfer any time in my future. I love learning new stuff so it's been interesting for the past 3 weeks. You know the best part of my job since I work at home is that I get to meet people from all over the country all the time while never leaving my house.

Yesterday my son the techno geek was inducted into Epsilon Pi Tau; one of only 2 from his college. I was shocked that he applied but knew he'd be accepted. It's nice to see him come out on his own. He's always been 'one of the twins' but now he's standing on his own without his twin sister around. And there has been some knitting going on. I've been sock knitting for the Cheyenne River Sioux kids. I love using up some of the stash in larger quantities than baby socks.

Blue socks in knit pick essential knit to a man's size 8. Hey some kids have big feet.
Remeber the never ending black socks I was making for my dad? I didn't finish off the toe yet (want him to try them on to make sure they fit first) but at least they are so close to being done. These are Opal uni black yarn. I just can't stress enough how much I hated every friggin stitch in this boring pair of black socks.
These socks are super red. Put on your son glasses red. Knit to a child's size 13 and being donated too. Along with these woman's size 7 in knitpicks essential maroon.
Missy A's sweater has been in this state of knitting for 2 weeks. I forgot to get some measurments and for some reason I have it stuck in my head that this sweater is absolutely the wrong size. The girl will be over this afternoon so I'll measure her and get back to knitting soon. I love how it's coming out!

Cats and birds

I live by a couple of ponds. One of them is right in my backyard and the second one is behind the little red building on the left at the end of the sand. Last year a couple of geese decided to nest over on my side of the pond and apparently they loved it so much that they came back this year. Once the little ones are born they move over to a bigger field and stay out of the yard.

Usually the cats don't pay much attention but last week Joey and Charlie were stalking the geese every time they would come into the yard. Either the geese would fly back to the pond or the cats would get tired of the game.

Two weeks ago these two showed up on the back pond. They are beautiful swans who seem to glide around the front pond to check things out a couple times a day.
Monday they decided to make a stop on my side of the pond. Since I didn't have my camera during the event I'll tell you what happened.

I looked out the back and saw the swans in the yard. All of a sudden the male stood straight up and glared to one side of my yard. I looked over and there's Charlie stalking the swans. Seriously like a white cat with tiger patches will actually blend stealth like into a green lawn?!?!? But Charlie (who we call our Forrest Gump cat) doesn't seem to realise that he isn't blending in and continues to creep up on the swans.

All of a sudden the male decides that enough is enough and starts back flapping his huge wings while walking toward Charlie. Charlie freezes for a moment before deciding in his walnut sized brain, "What the hell am I thinking!!!" and runs thru the yard and onto the deck.

So I ran downstairs and snapped this picture of the swans sitting on the berm before getting back in the water and floating off. And yes the male is still giving Charlie the stink eye in the picture.

A case of knitting in denial

is never a good thing. Why is it that you continue to knit something that you just know isn't going to be to your liking. Take this sweater for my granddaughter. Really nice yarn that will meet my daughter's qualifications .... into the washer/dryer and back on the kids without shrinking. Shades of blue with 'girlie' buttons .... flowers .... ice cream cones .... maybe lady bugs.

But by the time I got the gauge correct it turned from a little lacey sweater to something that would stop bullets and make the child unable to bend her arm at the elbows.

Yet still I knit on.

24 rows of craptastic knitting.

Until Friday night when I had to admit that I was making a terrible mistake and would be the worst gram ever if I gave the sweater to the child.

Back to the stash where I found 2 skeins of this yarn (same dye lot) that I had picked up at walmart 2 yrs ago for 50 cents a skein.

Soft. Drapes well. Child will be able to bend arms at elbow.

Light and lacey.

When I own a book or magazine I photocopy the pattern so I can have a working copy of it. That way I can jot notes on my specific item without ruining the magazine. Once my project is completed I put my working copy in the magazine so that if I pass the magazine onto someone else I am not breaking copy write by having an additional copy of a pattern. I'll have to do a little digging to find the magazine the patterns came from.

A crime against yarn ...

was committed last night as I slept safely in my bed. A ball of beige yarn was brutally attacked.

With no regard to the fact that it was really nice soft wool.
Taken all over the room and left for unrolled.
I rounded up the usual suspects but no one is talking other than an occasional meow. Charlie has been cleared on all charges due to the fact that he got himself trapped overnight in the garage. That leaves me with these two who have formed a pact of silence.

Maybe promises of tuna will get someone to spill the beans.

I really shouldn't be starting ....

another project but somehow I just found myself casting on a sweater for my granddaughter last night.

I should have been hiding the ends on these .....

or working on these
or these

But no. I casted on a sweater for my granddaughter. My bad.

Easter ... the crafty holiday

"Gram, I have these flowers for you. They aren't real so don't water them." Can you spot the not real flowers? Just adorable. Joey says: Yes I'm sitting on the table outside. And it's too cold for you to do anything about it.
And my niece was crafty too. She made these cards decorating them inside and out. My hubby's friend was over to share Easter dinner with us (after spending part of the day camped out on his couch watching sports) made a comment "Someone has too much time on their hands."
What a stupid thing to say! To take time to create something beautiful and share it with others is a wonderful gift. And really couch potato watching sport vs my beautiful niece and her hubby sharing the day with us ..... I'll that the beautiful niece and her hubby any day.
Wilson and Mr Potatohead went to school yesterday to be graded by the teacher. They both received A's. Mr Potatohead is now living in my room and Wilson has been gifted to my youngest daughter. She'll be going away to school in September and D2 thought she might need a friend. Hey it worked for Tom Hanks.