Pretty pictures!

I took this picture of the sunset ton Tuesday, in the midst of some crazy thunderstorms/tornado warnings. It's pouring down rain in the picture, but the sky was just amazing. Another interesting aspect of the picture is the house they are building in my backyard. That thing is going up pretty fast! You can also sort of see my veggies in their rubbermaid containers on the deck.


I spent this past weekend spinning up the tussah silk fiber from my last post. I managed to get about 250 yards of 2-ply laceweight out of 37 grams, and although it's pretty underspun, I think I'm really getting better at making consistently thin singles. I also learned to spin from the fold, which is apparently a good thing to know. Shrug. Perhaps I will turn it into some sort of lacy scarf/cowl/shawl.


Here are some pictures of my cats being their cute little selves. Calvin loves to go out on the deck, even when it's almost 100º outside, and he's discovered that hiding in the bean plants is a good way to stay cool. Mainly because it's so darn cute that I wait awhile to kick him out of there.


Cuddle Duds loves being in boxes, and is helping guard the mail basket.

New yarn 'n things

I bought myself some merino/bamboo fiber as a graduation present to myself, and I finally got around to spinning it this week! The colorway was called Antique Rose Petals and I think that is quite fitting.
In case anyone's reading who cares about these things, from my 3 ounces of fiber I got 208 yards of a slightly underspun 2-ply. Not sure what I'll make out of it. I was thinking socks, since it's superwash (yay!) but I don't think it's tightly spun enough to last very long as socks. I don't want to add more spin either, since it's impressively well balanced right now. Maybe it will be a hat (foliage?) or maybe I'll just knit socks tightly and wear them anyway.

Here's how the fiber started out.


Here are the singles before plying.


And here is the silk fiber I bought nearly the instant I finished spinning that purple stuff! I am spinning it really thin, so it's taking for.ev.er. but it's so shiny and soft!

I've also been gardening, despite the help of a rather pesky gnome. I've been eating fresh salads for awhile now, and the beans are nearly ready, too! It's a bit harder to tell with the onions and carrots, but a few might be nearing edible stage, I think, possibly...

Swallowtail shawl

I made a Swallowtail shawl! Hooray for not having a job and having lots of time to knit!



Here it is before blocking. Holy cow, blocking makes it so different!

I've been baking!!!

Look! I made a Domo Kun cake for my friend's birthday!


And I made some cupcakes on a stick! Like from Bakerella.




I've been knitting too (O_o) but more on that later...

Look! I'm knitting!

It's gonna be a mitten! That flips open to be fingerless gloves! Eventually! The pattern is based on the Leyburn socks pattern.

Snow, hat!

Hi! It started snowing again, so I started knitting again. I decided I needed a slouchy hat, because everyone I saw when I went to a conference in Philadelphia was wearing a slouchy hat, so I made one! Here it is!


I'm not completely convinced that it doesn't make me look like Mario, but I love it anyway, and it's the first thing I've knit in AGES! It feels good to knit again. I already cast on for a matching scarf. Well, the hat was made using Lamb's Pride (and I had to modify the pattern a bit for that sub) that I frogged from the Fake Isle hat I started awhile back, and the scarf will be out of some really really skinny yarn. I don't anticipate the scarf ever actually getting finished....

Here's the pattern for the hat, if anyone is interested: Tam Pattern

Turtle Power!

So, I read other people's blogs and think to myself..... "maybe someday I will update my blog!" Well, today is that day!

Here is a picture of some karate friends and me in our rockin' Halloween costumes! They were so fun to make. We sewed pillowcases into shell shapes and drew shell patterns for the back. We painted cardboard for the front shells. The mismatched green sweats were very comfy and I felt very smug in the face of all the other "slutty-whoever" girls dressed up downtown. Go us!


Since they are my favorite, here is a picture of the kitties and cute and cuddly on the couch. This never happens. Usually Calvin is trying to kill Cuddle Duds.