Cats on the Carpet. . .

Cats on the carpet with a ball of yarn,
Pretty's brain is fried from this week, seems so long. . .
Whatcha gonna do with a tangled mess?
Don't know, but stay outta the rest, please!
You know we can't stay outta the rest!
6 weeks to the wedding.
Less than 2 weeks to the shower.

My house and my brain are just a hot, cluttered mess. . .so I gave the cats some yarn. At this point, why not?

Yeah, why not, Mom?

Pretty's brain is a little like all that yarn up there. . .tangled and tossed about this week! There will be more knitting (and more blogging) soon. . .I hope!

Until then, thanks for stopping in to see me in my madness this week. :o) Knit in Good Health!

Black-and-Whites

Some of you may know that Pretty knits. You may also know that she occasionally knits like a maniac to meet deadlines, and that is exactly what she was doing the other night. . .trying to make some headway on these mitts for a party last night, and forgoing sleep until the wee hours of Friday morning. Pretty was verrrrryyyyyy tired at work on Friday.

These are the times I wish I could turn it all off and sleep like a swaddled Peanut! But even though it was late, and I was stressed, I did get to see something pretty cool. . .

As I sat there in the front room, knitting and watching TV with the volume turned way down low (A League of Their Own was the movie, and I totally missed the last half-hour in all the excitement), I heard some rustling outside (open windows, lovely night), and so did the cats. The cats were actually competing frantically for the prime real estate on that driveway-facing windowsill. "What the ---?," thought Pretty. Oh, the skunks.
My neighbor (a kind and lovely woman whose company I enjoy on the rare occasions when we are both at home, and outside, at the same time, and neither of us is running in or out like chickens on a mission), my neighbor has a porch. It's a lovely porch that she added to her home shortly after she moved in. Apparently, it's also a lovely home for the black-and-whites!

Five, count 'em, FIVE baby skunks were rooting around under that tall, grassy bunch of foliage! (I know, it's a bad cell-phone photo at night, but I couldn't get all 5 with the camera, which takes slightly-less-grainy night shots.) They were going back and forth, in and out from under that porch. . .

. . .through the side yard to frolic in the grass and look for grubs and bugs (they eat grubs and bugs, right?). . .

. . .never venturing very far from the tall grass, planted just for them to dash under and hide, apparently!

They were cute, "stinkin' cute!," and apparently not at all bothered by me hanging out the window with my camera! That's good, because I cannot really think of a smell that I dislike more than fresh skunk when I step outside (or streaming in through the open windows on a cool summer night). I never did see the mama or the papa, but I assume they were somewhere under that porch. After all, they had clearly put all of the kids to bed at a decent hour, there's no reason they should stay up, expecting the kids to sneak out to goof off with their friends after bedtime, right Army Boy? Wait, skunks are nocturnal, they SHOULD expect that. I'm gonna go over there and let them know just what those kids were up to last night. . .they really need some parenting advice, and I'm gonna give it to 'em!. . .

On second thought, maybe I'll just knit. I'd rather tangle with sheep and alpaca than with stinky black-and-whites! I don't think I have ever heard of anyone knitting skunk yarn. . .

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health, and please don't do anything startling in my yard anytime soon!

long day. . .need coffee. . .

I don't "tweet" often. Yesterday, as I realized that I had accidentally left my cozy bed almost an hour sooner than I needed to, I tweeted the need for more coffee on the Summer Solstice. My beautiful daylillies don't seem to mind all the "awake" time,. . .
. . .but the Pretty is having trouble keeping up! After all, there is yarn to be knit and crocheted into precious things, sometimes even secret things. . .

. . .and there are photos and paper to be scrapped into creative masterpieces to adorn the days of our lives for these next few "big events" this summer. . .

. . .and there are plans to be finalized for a wedding, and work, and a home life, and my friends, and all my hobbies. . .yawwwnnnnn!!! Bring on the java!

I wish Peanut would come and visit again, so I could catch more of these:

In just a few weeks, we will see her again. . .I can hardly wait.

For now, Happy Wednesday, blogworld! I'm glad you stopped by! Grab yourself a cuppa coffee or tea, or your bev-er-age of choice, and Knit in Good Health!

Flowers, Fabrics and Favorites

The phone rang last weekend, but I was on a walk. Even though I have a cell-phone, a really incredible cell phone even, I decided not to answer. Maybe it's the old-fashioned in me. . .Maybe I was enjoying Sweetie's company so much that I couldn't bear to interrupt. . .Maybe I did not want the caller to know how out of breath I was after that last hill. . .whatever the case, I did not answer when it rang.

Eventually, though, I did listen to the voicemail, and I did my best to give the Mother-of-the-Groom a call back (at a time when both our schedules allowed some relaxed and fun conversation), and I was glad that I did. I guess with Peanut visiting, and jury duty looming, I had not realized how fast the time was hurtling forward to Snake and Dollface's BIG DAY!!!

"How is the planning for the shower coming?," she wanted to know. . .which is a fair question, especially when that event is less than a month away! So, we talked, and I assured her that I have everything under control (as though I was a teenager, pacifying my parents about final exams. . ."Don't worry moms and pops, I got it under control!")

Truth is, it was still on my back burner. The flames were not out, but I had not yet felt the urgency to actually plunge headfirst into the planning. I am so glad that Snake's mom called me and re-lit that fire! Now, I think I've got it under control. . .or at least more under control than last week!

That picture up there, that's gonna become centerpieces for the shower, and I think I have a handle on the favors, too. And the fabric down here:
Well, those have to do with the wedding. . .still a bit of a surprise, but I promise to show you when it's a finished project!

And down here, my Favorite of all. . .is this little work in progress. . .!

Well, that's just a Gramma being a Gramma. Thanks for indulging me!

I don't know how much knitting will be done over these next couple of months, but I promise to share all of the creativity that goes into this wedding, yarn-related or not! If you're looking for the wool. . .I apologize, and I hope that you can hang in there for a little while. . .it will be back. After all, don't babies come after weddings? And we are having a wedding this summer!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Knitting and Nuts!

Recently, I mentioned in a blog post that I was working on a project that I couldn't mention yet, because it was for a gift. Well, the gift has been gifted, and now I can show it to you!

Dishcloth Britches are a favorite project of mine for bridal showers, and I have recently taken the time to record a couple of variations of the poem that goes along with them on my project page for this gift (I can't take credit for any of the verses, I trolled the internets to find them, and I used the first one on this project). The idea is simple. . .knit two, square-ish dishcloths and "sew" them into tiny britches with ribbons at the waist, ankles and a little bow at the top of the inseam. . .cute, huh?To use them, the recipient undoes the ribbons and bows, and viola! Dishcloths! (Or washcloths, one of the poems has an option for that, too!) Super cute! You know what else is super cute?

Peanut and Grampa in their matching sun hats! Peanut looks a little unsure about it at first, but Grampa looked high and low for that hat for her. . .you gotta protect that soft, baby skin. . .and now they match! lol In the end, her time with Grampa left Peanut in stitches!

Those two, they are Nuts about each other. Who can blame them?!?

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Not the normal routine. . .

The normal routine, for Pretty, is to wake up, get dressed, knit, go to work, come home, knit and go to bed. There are other things that happen during the course of the average day, and on Wednesday and Saturday, Pretty also blogs. . .unless she forgets. . .which she almost did this morning. . .bad Pretty! :(

In the nick of time, I remembered to stop by and say hello, and to update you on my newest finished object (Starting Over Socks), especially since Wednesday's post was more of a tragedy than a comedy!

They turned out pretty well, even though the knitting has been scarce around here lately. . .due in part to the visit of a very lovely girl. :) Since I am short on time today, I will simply share with you some shots of Dollface and Peanut from last week's visit. . .with a little Photoshop fun thrown in. . .

All together now, "Awwww! Ain't she the CUTEST?!?" We all concur! (So does Peanut!)

This is good practice for Dollface, what with her upcoming nuptials and such. . .good practice indeed! Now I am off to be on with my Pretty Knitty Day. . .

Thanks for taking the time out of YOUR day to stop in! :)

Knit in Good Health, you prettyknitty people!

Sniff!

Here are a few of the alternate post titles I considered for today's blog:

What was I thinking?!?
Sick! I am just sick over this!
Something in Red (part 2)
Ahhh-chooo!!!
Doomed Knitting
Failures in knitting. . .
Something in Red (final)
Lifeline,. . .do I have a lifeline?
Aaaaarrrgh!
Never again, Cotton Lace!
Why Brides should not wear red. . .

Oh, the list goes on and on really. . .but I suppose I will stop there.

On Monday evening, I sneezed, and 5 stitches leaped off of my needles. I was able to recover each and every one of them, despite the fact that this cotton is very slippery. However, in picking up the stitches on row three of the ruffle hem, I realized that I had dropped stitches in about three places on the red shawl for the wedding. Remember the 6 rows of 1198 stitches in that pattern? Yeah, I was on row 3 of that. . .and the stitches had been dropped far enough back that they had unraveled into the lace yarnovers. . .and I tried to pick them up and make the necessary repairs. . .and I thought about ripping back to the one lifeline I had placed somewhere around row 40. . .there it is, the blue and white lifeline that I eventually just yanked out entirely. . .
. . .but by the time I had unraveled about halfway to the lifeline (there are a total of 89 rows in this shawl, and I was on row 87 when I found the "holes" that were beyond my fixability level), and by the time I started really pulling out the stitches, I realized that I was done. "Oh, FROG* it!," is what I think I said, but my husband insists that my language was somewhat stronger (and probably louder) than I had intended.

The first time I knit Bella, I loved her. I struggled with 6 rows of 1198 stitches each, but I loved her. I loved the wool and silk yarn, with just enough "sticky" to hold stitches if I moved (or sneezed), and I still love the off-white beauty she has become.

I do not love Bella in red. I do not love Bella in cotton.

I love the bride, but I cannot keep up the facade of loving this shawl.

Mother-of-the-Bride Fails, story at 11. . .

Oh, yeah, while I was frogging Bella, I also frogged my second Spring Garden Tee. . .ugh! Still love both patterns. Still love both yarns. Monday was simply not a good knitting night.

I think I'll go knit socks.

Don't cry for me, Argentina. . .Knit in Good Health instead. . .

*For my non-knitting friends and family, who may not know, Froging is what happens when you unravel a piece of knitting quickly.

You rip-it, rip-it, rip-it. . .and wind the yarn into a ball, weeping quietly on some occasions.

But, Where's the Yarn?

So, last weekend, Pretty went to a fiber festival. . .and on Wednesday, she showed pretty pictures of her friends and all the fun they had. . .

But what about the yarn?
Did she buy any yarn?!?

Well, my friends, yes. Yes, she did.
She did buy yarn, and more. . .here's the haul:
It all fit into two bags, my market bag and a paper bag from Calla Lily, so it didn't look like much, but I think I got a pretty good bang for my knitting buck last weekend! This is 100% corn fiber "tape" yarn (which is different than tape worm, trust me) from Calla Lily. I am not always a fan of tape yarns, they twist when you knit them, but what can I say?. . .it was on sale!:And this is my favorite cotton-blend sock yarn of all time, from Yarn Knit by Sue! I don't know why, but if it's a limited anything, I gotta have it!
Following the theme of cottons-and-other-non-animal-blends-in-subtle-and-muted-colors, here is some Cotton Fine, from Pollywogs (one of my favorite vendors at this festival). The cotton for my Hey, Teach! cardi was from Pollywogs two years ago, and my only regret for this year's purchase was that I forgot to bring my punch cards to get punched for discounts. . .ugh!
And now, for the non-yarn purchases. . .

I had seen these DIY Stitch Markers (plastic with a hole for a jump ring of your own, marked with common knitting abbreviations) at 7Yaks Designs on Etsy just two days before the festival. . .the ones listed were green, and I would have bought them online (same price), but I wanted more colors. At the festival, there was also a lone bag of red ones, sitting there looking at me like a puppy that has just found it's new owner. . .what could I do? I am powerless against the puppy-dog eyes!

I mean, just look at them. . .full of promise for future knitting projects. . .I know just what I am gonna do with these - squeeee!

And for the finale (remember, Pretty needs another hobby like she needs a hole in her head), Michelle and I decided to pick up needle felting kits from Big Springs Farm, to make Christmas ornaments for this year's tree! Why not? I mean, it's fiber and it looks like fun, I'm going to see if I like it!

And, just in case I DO like it, I also picked up an extra felting needle (the kit comes with a one-needle tool, I got a 4-needle tool as well) and an extra cookie cutter (like I don't have a million cookie cutters at home already) from Big Springs, and 8-$1 balls of colorful fluffy wool from Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm to felt with!

Then I laid everything out last night to take a few photos for the blog, after a day of work and shopping for Peanut and shopping for food and cleaning up and putting everything away for the weekend, and Sweetie poured me a small glass of sangria. . .yummy and sweet!

So there you have it. There's the yarn, and fiber, and toys, and all of the promise of new projects to be started. What should I work on first today? Hmmm. . .

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Plum "Palooza"-ed Out!

Whew! It was a busy weekend for Pretty, and now for the pictures. . .you know I like yarn. . .
. . .and so do my friends!

"Ze yarn, she is mesmerizing, Sister!"

We started off on our journey to Wool-a-Palooza last Saturday, with fresh feet. . .

. . .ready for an adventure! Even the youngest member of our group was quite eager to sample the wares at our first stop, Calla Lily Yarn and Gifts in Wooster!

Some of us were very, very excited to be spending a sunny Saturday shopping for yarn! Wait, is any of that yarn under her shirt?!? Hmmm, hard to tell. . .

This shop stop has become an integral part of the palooza tradition, and this year we started here. . .it was pretty tough to not blow our budgets before we arrived at the fairgrounds!

What-dja get? Oooohhhhhh!, pretty. . .

Once we had all made our final purchases, it was off to the fiber fest, where we found yarn upon yarn upon yarn. . .

. . .and fibers of all kinds, and the cutest little gifty things for knitters!

Eventually, we all needed to refuel, and this looked like just the spot. . .

. . .some of us were almost too tired to eat lunch, after all that shopping. . .

. . .almost. . .

. . .it was nice to sit down for a little while, knitting and enjoying the sun. . .

. . .Pretty worked on simple socks while she laughed and enjoyed the day. . .

. . .I think this may be about the best part of Wool-a-Palooza. . .fun times with friends!

It wasn't long, though, before our wallets were crying out, begging us to get back on our feet and make those final purchases. . .so we cleaned up and headed back to some of our favorite booths. . .

. . .and we eventually returned to our rides to stash our stash in back for the drive home. . .

I could not have asked for more out of a holiday weekend!

But there WAS more. . .look who came to visit!. . .

Peanut came to visit Gramma and Grampa on Saturday night! We had a sleepover, and she came to church with us on Sunday, where our friends oooh-ed and aaah-ed and coo-ed over her delicate beauty!

Wool-a-palooza + Baby-palooza = 1 tired Pretty!

I did not get much knitting done these last few days, and I haven't even really "flashed" my new stash from the fest. . .but, I am one happy, tired Pretty, and I will fill you in on all the details in coming posts! For now, I am gonna work on addressing invitations to a wedding and bridal shower. . .

. . .then I hope to work a few stitches here and there! I hope that your summer is starting off as well as mine has!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!