Hi-Ho, Alpacas, Whoa!

So, on Saturday, I went to the Farm. I knew I had arrived at the farm when I saw the farm van...

...and the alpacas (and baby alpacas!)...

...and the steps to the farmhouse!

I love That'll Do Farm! I love the alpacas, and the green, and the bees, and the farmhouse! Saturday was a Fiber Fun Day at the farm, so I loaded up my Little Joe (spindle), and a fiber mix that came from the farm (including alpaca, merino, camel and bits of colored silk)...

...and in I went! While I was there, I saw knitters and a rug hooker, but I was a spinning fool...

...and by the time I left, I had a tall, skinny bunch of singles AND a short, fat bunch of singles. I do not discriminate based on cop* size!

I spun this yarn a little thicker than I normally would, and I've spent the last few days creating a two-ply that is about 12 wraps per inch (DK? Worsted?)...sooooo pretty! 

I have about 71 yards of this two-ply, close to 45g and about 12 wraps per inch (for my fellow spinners and knitters). Here's what it looks like in the skein:

I wonder what it will be? I'm open to suggestions, by the way!

I cannot wait until my next Fiber Fun Day! Until then, I wonder what else I will spin? 

*cop (from wordnik.com)

n. A cone-shaped or cylindrical roll of yarn or thread wound on a spindle.

Some Motherly Advice...

If you are bitten by a cat, even if it's your cat, and even if your cat has had all her shots, and she is a nice cat who had a bad moment with a strange dog in your house...if you are bitten by a cat, and the wound is deep, and you have asked your mother, and she has said, "I think you should go to the doctor, just to be safe..." Can you guess where I am going with this? Yes, I knew you would.

Snake and Dollface tried to rescue an energetic boxer puppy a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't work out. He was a very nice, and very energetic, and very muscular dog, and the cats did not know what to think. Well, they thought that this was the best place ever to stay for the dog's whole visit...

Dollface could only hold that pose for a few minutes, however, so eventually the cat had to get down. The dog was ready, the cat was scared, Dollface jumped in to protect her, and viola! Cat bite to the hand. Did she follow her mom's advice and go to the doc? Not at the time. It seemed to be healing. That was two weeks ago, and unfortunately the dog had to be returned.

Yesterday she called and asked if I would go with her to the doctor. She had made an appointment because the bite had swollen up again, and it was quite painful, way down deep-like. I knew what was coming, I've had infections. She knew what was coming, she had been trolling the internet. She wasn't ready when the doc cut into her numb hand, and she passed out, but she came back around quickly. I certainly was not ready for the wave of nausea that proceeded my nearly passing out after she came to and the doc finished draining the wound, you know, at the "all clear" signal. The two of us were a hot mess, and we were pretty flustered for the rest of the day, but ultimately, they say that we are both gonna make it. And now Dollface has a battle scar to tell her children about someday. For now, it looks like this...

...and one day, if she has kids, and if one of her kids gets bitten by a cat, even if it is a nice cat, etc., etc., etc.,...I hope they listen to their mother when she says they should go to the doctor. It will save them so much pain and passing out!

Yesterday was a long, worrisome day. Today I am going to play with fiber and friends at the farm. If he knew me, I am sure that Dollface's doctor would have written me a prescription for fiber fun following the day we had yesterday. I think I will spin some of this stuff...

...and perhaps there will also be knitting. I hope that you have a lovely Saturday, rain or shine, in your neck of the woods. Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health, friends!

And if you are ever bitten by a cat...well, by now I'm sure that you know the drill!

Celebrating!!!

For those of you playing at home, I ran yesterday. I woke up early, and I ran by myself, on the sidewalks around my home, and I DID NOT FALL DOWN! This. This is cause to celebrate! You know what else I want to celebrate?

This. This is my knitting!

It's my second Hitchhiker Scarf...

It's lacy and lovely...

It's knit of my own handspun rainbow yarn...

It's my newest favorite knit!

Isn't it pretty?!?

I've knit this pattern before, and I was not in love with the first scarf like I am in love with this one. This one is nearly perfect, and I cannot wait until I feel a slight chill in the air so I can wear it!!!

Three reasons I do not love my first hitchhiker (this much, anyway)...

1. I am not a fan of straight garter stitch. I added some lacy holes to this one, as per my friend KnittingSM!

2. The yarn I used for the first one was a fluffy, fingering weight. This yarn is more light fingering to lace-weight...much lighter and drapey-er. 
3. I do not like the straight edge as the pattern is written. I added "teeth" to my bind off on this one, to mimic the toothy edge created along the long edge. Notes on my project page. :)

Are you knitting something you absolutely love? 

I'd love to hear about it in the comments!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

It's the little things...

It's the little things in life that make life worthwhile, right? Right. Little things can bring great joy, like a baby sweater and hat for no particular reason, especially if there are owls on the sweater...

...and owls on the hat...

Yes, a little sweater and matching hat bring this knitter great joy, especially if they have been cabled with a trendy owl motif or two!

Little knitting always makes me happy. Just like anyone, I do enjoy the occasional bulky afghan or adult-sized sweater, but mostly I think I love the little knitting. That's the only explanation I have for knitting a second hitchhiker, with tiny lace stitches, currently on my needles:

This pool of lace-weight knitting just makes me happy to look at! As a bonus, the yarn is my own handspun, and a double bonus is that this project is past the half-way point, which is good...because I have been looking for my size 3 needles for a week, for a new project. Guess where my size three needles are? Bing!Bing!Bing! You got it...in my hitchhiker! lolz! I'm doing my level best to get that finished now, so I can cast on another pair of endpaper mitts...those were a fun little knit!

So that's it, in a nutshell, for me. I'm knitting little things, and I am enjoying it very much, thank you! What are you knitting this summer? Big things? Little things? Or maybe things that are "just right"? I'd love to hear about it in your comments! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Falling Down

Sometimes "Falling Down" means losing your resolve, as in, "I know I said that I wouldn't be buying more yarn (fiber, fleece, livestock) until next month (year, decade, whatever)...but I went to a local fiber festival and fell down. Here's my new stash..." 

Hangs head, slightly ashamed, and shows you a picture or offers a skein, braid or bump for petting and cuddling, as proof that no one's resolve is strong enough to resist this stuff...

Yes, sometimes "Falling Down" means failing at an endeavor, as in, "I had planned to cast on for, like 6 sweaters this week...but I fell down, and all I've knit are these 6 hexipuffs..."

Don't judge...these 6 hexis bring my total to 116!

But sometimes "Falling Down" simply means falling down, as in, "I went running on Monday, and I fell down...I scraped up my elbow pretty badly, but I'm ok."

Yep. I did. And this is the "cleaned up" pic, it looked much worse when my whole arm was bloody. Again, I am ok, but I am starting to think I should just stick to the knitting...

So, as I've said before, I fall down like it's my job, and now you have proof. But even despite all the falling down, I did manage to cast on for a super-cute baby sweater with owls on it...

I am in love with the owls. I hope to also make a hat, and I hope I don't fall down on that...

Between my falls, I also hope to get some more knitting done. I hope that you are staying on your feet, and on track with your projects! Until my Saturday check-in, I'll try to stay on my feet, too. I am sure that my elbows will thank me. 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Wild! Windy! Wet! Mitten!!!

We have had some weather. There has been wind...

...and rain and thunder...

...and intense heat (for here) and humidity (99-and-44/100%, or so) for the better part of the last couple weeks (including rain for 16-days-in-a-row). I am glad that this weather pattern has finally shifted away from us, and I am ready to be fitted for a Thundershirt (does anyone make these for nervous knitters?) if we get another spell like that!

On the up side, it has been cooler since the rainy, humid weather finally took a break. Of course, nice weather also means more time outside and, therefore, less knitting time...but I did get to take some pictures of the river, higher than I think I've ever seen it before...

...and I did get to knit a mitten. 

That's right, a single, toddler-sized mitten. Pretty impressive, huh? But it is a little bit impressive...if only because of the colorwork. Despite the impressive factor, I don't think I'll knit the second. There were a LOT of ends to weave in and snip on this puppy,...

...and knowing how quickly toddlers grow out of EVERYTHING, I just could not bring myself to cast on the second, knowing that I would have to deal with the weaving again! Oh, you know what else? This singular mitten is my 350th project on Ravelry...OMGosh! I can barely believe it!!!

(Mental Note: Colorwork is nice, and makes extra warm mittens, but for toddlers, I will stick to no more than two colors!)

I've got plans to knit a couple of sweaters, and also some more mittens and fingerless gloves this summer (there's a contest for one of my fave podcasts involving knitting mittens/gloves - Hi, Emily!!!), and I have a couple of bunches of fiber that I am excited to spin, so you should start to see a little more knitting/spinning content in the blog soon. :) 

Until then, I hope that you and I will Knit in Good Health!

What Cats Do?

A couple weekends ago, The Pretties went downtown for an adventure.

In general, I can't help but wonder what the cats do when the Pretties are not in the house, so I set up some surveillance this day...and here's what I found. First, there seems to actually be a lot of this:

No photo evidence of the other one napping on this particular day, but they are lazy kitties, to be sure. I am sure they both napped! But, I also found some of this:

White Cat: What are you doing NAPPING?!?

Black Cat: ZOMGosh, White Cat! You did NOT just wake me up!

White Cat: So what if I did?!?

Black Cat: So what if you DID?!? You did NOT just say that! I'll show you "So what?!?"...

Seriously? Napping and wrestling, that's all they did? How lame...and how is it that I don't notice this behavior at all when we're home??? 

Ohhhhh...that's right...the knitting. Always with the knitting, and taking pictures of the knitting. I probably miss a LOT of things around the house when I'm knitting. Hmmmmm, I suppose it has to be the knitting.

Well, it's either that or the mind control...

White Cat (quietly): Are your eyes on?

Black Cat (less quietly): Mine are on...are YOURS?!?

Pretty: What are you two up to???

Both cats (in unison): You see nothing...nothing out of the ordinary heeere. Hummmmm...

Pretty (in a monotone drone): Yeahhhhh...nothing... Nothing out of the ordinaryyy....

(Pretty exits, stage right, in a daze...shakes head a little)

What was I talking about again? Nevermind. I'm sure it doesn't really matter anyway.

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Hats and Gloves

Hats and gloves don't grow on trees...or do they?

No, they don't. They don't grow on bushes either...but hats and fingerless gloves DO grow on my knitting needles, and I am sure loving these small projects for summer knitting!

Trying to beat the heat and humidity? Grab a small project and head for the air conditioning! 

I'm spending most of my 4-day weekend in the out-of-doors, but I am enjoying a little knitting every evening! These fingerless gloves and this hat are a thank you gifts, and I have actually cast on another pair of gloves, aaand another hat! Who can resist knitting another hat? I am powerless against the cuteness!!!

What are you knitting to beat the heat? :)

Halfway Hat

This was going to be a "Wordless Wednesday," but who am I kidding? Even when I don't have much to say, I am not a wordless blogger! Still, there are simply not enough words to describe the cuteness of this Highway Hat:

The only thing that would make this hat more adorable is a little boy to model it, but I just don't have one of those on hand this morning... I knit this for the son of the dental assistant who came with his mommy to fix my tooth on a Saturday morning, after I kissed the pavement on Friday evening. (For what it's worth, I do not recommend sidewalk kissing. =/) 

That's all I've really got on this hump-day, halfway through the week...well, except to wish everyone a happy Fourth of July tomorrow! I hope that your fireworks are bright and shiny, loud but safe, and that you have a good time with whoever you are with over the weekend. :)

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!