Sunday, December 24, 2006

Cat Bed Anyone?


Weeeellll, I should've known better. Having used this yarn before (my size 15 mens slippers), I knew that this particular yarn doesn't shrink alot into itself, as opposed to straight, untweeded worsted or bulky yarns. That said, my bowl is not stiff enough to be a bowl, but it is an awesome (and large) cat bed. Does anyone need one? My cats have them already, so I'll happily give and/or mail this to anyone who could use one.

The felted slippers went much better and I like them a lot. They're not as fuzzy as Lamb's Pride, but just a stiff & formed. I'll definitely use Plymouth Galway again.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

More Felting




This is a fast "wash cycle" posting. :) I found a pattern online for a shallow bowl and it was a quick knit (methadone, if you will, until the Bristol pattern arrives). Here's the unfelted bowl knitted up. I used a bulky weight blue tweed (no name) 100% New Zealand wool purchased on Ebay (Bob from Yarn Barn is a delight!).

I also received my first ever skeins of Plymouth Galway and the slippers went faster than ever. It knitted soooo nicely and quickly; I was amazed. Now while the photo makes the yarn look blue, it's actually a very, very pretty green, "Forest Heather," to be exact.



Needless to say, once the Saturday housekeeping is done, I'll be cooing over my washing machine watching these babies shrink (big pirate laugh).

Happy holidays y'all!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Couldn't resist this one and didn't even try


I like felting; I really, really like felting and when I saw these bowls, my jaw fell open and "oooooohhhh" came out. That said, I bought the pattern and will be watching the mailbox like a hawk. I'm sure it's going to be a while before it arrives so in the meantime, I plan on studying color cards and figuring out combinations (though I'm sure I'll copy several that Carol Bristol used - - especially the center red and blue ones).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In the spirit of the holidays, my wish for you is an old Irish favorite:

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours!

Sunday, December 17, 2006

To Do



My father and his wife are coming up from Mississippi on January 10th. The Alexander clan is getting together the weekend of January 13th to celebrate the holidays en masse. Mentally, I've been preparing a list of things to be done and it goes like this....

1. Clean my car
2. Scrub gas grill
3. Scrub out oven
4. Clean fridge
5. Scour bathrooms
6. Reorganize & rearrange barnyard sty (aka daughter's bedroom).
7. Replace broken closet door in son's room (subject son & friend were wrestling at the time)
8. Grocery shopping and menu planning
9. Knit up three pairs of slippers for aunts X-mas gifts
10. Keep up with laundry, ironing, cooking, dusting and vacuuming.
11. Work full-time job.
12. Oh crap...rescue squeaking field mouse from ferocious kitten who just brought it into the basement as I sit here typing (job completed & now I'm grossed out). Does anyone else have a cat or cats that actually bring the rodents in instead of keeping them out?????
13. Knit dishcloths.

Ha ha...can you tell where my priorities are? :) The rest will get done in time and believe it or not, I'm not that stressed. TGTK...thank God there's knitting. Happy holidays everyone!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Soaps & Such

Okay...now I'm beginning to get a little frantic. I've been knitting for months now, but it just doesn't seem like enough. I've been shopping for Christmas since August (and I'm very well prepared - - better than I ever have been before), but I'm still starting to feel the pre-holiday "burn." You know that "I must do more" feeling.

It began when I saw Kristen's "ticker" and pirated one for my site. Now, every day, the Christmas countdown faces me first thing in the morning. The ticker must go. :)

In the meantime, the soap is finished and waiting to be shrink-wrapped. I completed a leaf washcloth and ironically, I had some matching molds for the soaps. Below are the finished soaps and one more washcloth.


Sunday, December 03, 2006

While one snoozed....


...the other slept at a friend's house and the husband was at work, I had some quiet time and made felted bowl "fillers," my soap.


The soap is a goat's milk base and I added a bit of dried lemongrass and lavender.







Fortunately for me, I had some help and/or quality control of a fuzzy sort.










Having decided that the soap was inedible, Liberty fell back into her
favorite standby, a sweet look. If that wasn't effective,

















a threat. Scratch me or be scratched.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Leftovers I Can Live With....


The Lumpy Bowl. This is an example of me goofing around. I had a small ball of Playa left from my last bowl, so I created this lumpy bottom half. With a bit of the remaining Lambs Pride (Andie's scarf), I knitted up the strange top. It's odd looking, but believe it or not, it looks cute on my kitchen window sill.







An Apple Hat made from Christmas stocking extras and a bit of Wings.



More Baby Hats (Pronto from Skander's scarf) and cotton (from Trevor's hat).

Friday, December 01, 2006

Conquering the Stash


What am I knitting? Slippers, slippers and more slippers. It's been the story of my life these last six months and as proof of that statement, I can honestly say that I barely glance at the pattern now. The monotony of it is driving me mad, but it'll be worth it soon.

To break up the routine a little bit, I've been using leftover yarn to make odds -n- ends, which I'll photograph and post tomorrow. It's fun to use the stash leftovers and see the pile of yarn get smaller. The word, "stash," is a pretty relative term though.

I have seen, with my own eyes, a large, two car garage that had floor to ceiling shelves stocked with yarn. The lady has industrial sized cones of yarn and hanks as big as my car. My stash? I have a half full wicker laundry basket.

The Knitnapper has discovered the wicker basket by the way. Liberty now stealthily creeps up behind the couch, under the end table and up to the basket. She then puts her front paws on the basket, leans in and grabs whatever ball is closest to her. Then, like greased lightening, she takes off. (Nascar drivers wish they could move so quickly). You wouldn't have any idea she was there, but for the "creeking" sound that the basket makes. I then shout, "ANDIE! CAT!" and resignedly, my daughter goes into the kitchen and begins to rewind my yarn. Libbie can have a small ball of yarn wrapped around the kitchen table and chairs at least three times in less than ten seconds.

This is the August photo of Libbie. I'll take a new one. She looks the same, just larger (and sneakier).