Hungry hungry kitt-os

Fresh food rocks! Zuzu has been finicky lately, but this morning I gave her 1/3 (rather than 1/4) can of food fresh from the can, and she gobbled it down. Yum! Then she curled up on the blanketed ottoman to take a nap. My kitty has CPS - Chubby Puppy Syndrome. :-)

Met with some SAAZ members last night to discuss the newsletter, and I think I walked away the editor. I wasn't necessarily the last person standing, but more likely the last person to duck.

Was very unhappy, as two of my sock needles broke, and the shop was closed last night when we stopped on the way down to Akron. Must get replacement 2.75mm DPNs! Brought some additional yarn, but not enough accessories to actually start something else. Also, I want to try another pattern for that yarn - was hoping to get that at the closed shop, too. May try again today, as I simply cannot knit a sock with only 3 DPNs. Maybe I need to get circulars and try to learn magic loop or something.

Need to call this morning and schedule a mulch delivery for this afternoon. Hopefully work won't keep me very long (and hopefully they will have my check!). But if you see me online this weekend, tell me to stop wasting time and start mulching...

Sleeping in, sort-of

In a bit of a tizzy this morning, as I'm starting some "other" work and was not sure what time I needed to be there... I can stay at home a bit longer, so that is good. Guess I should have worked out this morning.

The moon was lovely last night. Almost called Mike to tell him, but thought that perhaps he'd be on his way home when it was at its most beautiful. He was not. I took some pictures, which I'm sure did no justice. May upload a few, depending if they look better on the computer screen than they do on my camera's LCD.

He was out with his beer buddies, I was out with my knitting friends, and Poor Lonely Zuzu was home alone not eating. I don't know why she's being so picky all of a sudden, but it seems she wants us to open a fresh can of food every time she's fed. Kitty, you start generating income and paying for your food, and you can have a fresh can three times a day.

Working on the stripey socks. Discovered (and would have realized, had I thought about it) that toe-up socks are not the best for stripey yarn. Will keep that in mind with the other stripey yarns I have.

Anyway, just got a phone call, so I'm on the road. Standard road kit will include laptop, cell phone and knitting. Fun!

Truths of the kitty

1. Meow if you are hungry. Someone will prepare food.

2. Stare if you want to snuggle. The human furniture will adjust and provide suitable real estate.

3. Stare with big eyes if you want to play. A pouncing posture helps, too. A mysterious red light will appear and beg to be chased.

4. Announce yourself when entering a room, particularly if you want to play chase.

5. The blanket-covered ottoman is the best place in the house. Its only deficiency is a lack of sunshine.

6. The house is full of hiding places. There is always at least one place the humans will not think to look. Find it. Watch (and listen to) them search. Fun!

7. The recliner is mine. All mine. Don't even think about it. Stop thinking. Mine! That barstool by the window belongs to me, too. So is that sofa. Actually, everything is mine. Even you are mine, too. And your shoes. *Especially* your shoes.

8. There is something intriguing behind the television stand. It must be investigated every now and again, particularly when the humans are watching. Help them get their exercise by staying back there until they walk over to see what you're doing.

***

So she doesn't talk as well as these cats. She still gets her points across.

Seeing things in the fog

This morning, when I was driving to work, it was foggy. Noticed something in the power lines. There were hundreds of spider webs stretched between power lines (parallel lines, probably about a foot apart), and it was only possible to see them because it was misty - if you looked too hard, they'd disappear. Anyway, I appreciated it.

Started a stripey sock, and have the toe done. Plan on using the extra skein of yarn leftover from Kelly's socks to make a few pairs for my nieces, just need to get the sizing right.

One finished project

Finished Kelly's second sock last night (all except weaving in the ends) right as we got to the Bat Gala. We'd been mattress shopping, and were in the neighborhood, so we stopped by South Chagrin Reservation and checked out the festivities. We were a bit early, so we helped the shop volunteers (one of whom I knew) set up. And I do mean I finished right before - I bound off the final stitches as we pulled into the parking lot. I definitely prefer toe-up socks, although I'll try leg-down socks again, and see if my opinion changes.

Recently learned about double knitting, where you knit two socks at once, one inside of the other, and I am very intrigued. Tried it last night, but didn't get past the cast-on. I think I had an epiphany about how it works (let's hope so!) so I can successfully try again today.

Have a few more rows to go on the tote bag, then the straps, and then felting...

Finally got my card reader to work, after uninstalling some software. Posted pictures (someday, to Flickr!) of Kelly's socks, my yarn purchase, and my little ham, who is now sitting like a turkey.

Adventures at the yarn store

The yarn store (Stitch, Piece & Purl) is having their birthday sale today (25% off all in-stock products), so of course I had to be there.

Picked up a decent bit of yarn, and will post a picture if I can get my card reader to work.

New additions to the stash are as follows:

Sock yarn:

Regia Design Line - two colors of self-striping, one teal, grey, and blue with a hint of pink, the other dark blue, grey, and tan with hints of green, pink, and burgundy. 75% superwash new wool, 25% polyamide

Brown Sheep's Wildfoote Luxury sock yarn - Brown sugar. I've been tempted by this before, and gave in today due to the sale. 75% washable wool, 25% nylon

Other (I'm not sure yet) yarn:

Berocco Comfort - this may become socks after all. It feels like it would be wonderful to work with. Very soft, shades of green. 50% super fine nylon, 50% super fine acrylic

Malabrigo kettle-dyed merino wool - rainbow-hued, beautiful, soft wool. I've had my eye on this for a long time. They had a sock stitched up, so this may become socks, too. Nice, thick, cozy socks. For me. No one else. Be warned!

Rowan Tapestry Potpourri - a rosy, self-striping yarn. For whatever reason, I could not resist the pinkish shade. Will probably make a scarf for Mommie, as she likes pink. Or, perhaps I'll try socks. :-) It's probably a bit soft for socks, but hey, I'm on a sock kick. (No, really...)

Also picked up a drop spindle, as I've been thinking about trying spinning. A woman in my knitting group has some alpaca fiber ready to dye and spin, and she's going to share some with me. No better time to buy a spindle than when it's on sale.... Wish me luck!

Just call me Kitty... Kitty Furniture

Woke up around 5:00 as usual to a noisy kitty. Fed her, crashed on the couch (no work outside the home today, unless you include the grocery store). After she ate, she curled up on me, and purrrrrrrred.

So I'm wondering if I should post less frequently, as when I don't post I get more phone calls. No, we did not drown. We have one of the higher houses in this flat part of Ohio, and while our neighbors have had water/flooding trouble, we have not. *knock on wood*

Working on Kel's second sock, and am very proud of myself as I turned the heel at 69 Taps in Akron for SAAZ night (Tuesday). I was able to concentrate well enough with a group of people and beer. Still have a few more inches to go, but the socks should be ready to send soon. Will probably show off the pair at knitting group on Wednesday, then mail the box with socks and scarves. Kel, should I send anything else?

Started reading a garage sale book. (No, in most cases that shouldn't scare you - I picked up Life of Pi and Blink that way. This one however, well...I'm wondering.) Bought it for a quarter (maybe $0.50) because of the blurb from William Gibson. Loved Pattern Recognition and thought that a few coins could be spent on his suggestion. Book seems okay, I guess. I'm about 50 pages in, but nearly didn't make it past page 2, due to this sentence: "It was late early spring, and outside in the darkness it was raining." Late early spring? How awkward is that? I guess I know what he was trying to say, and perhaps he was trying to convey a specific series of days before spring has fully blossomed, but I was not impressed by the phrase. Particularly when other references to season mention winter. It's a quick read (50+ pages before bed), so I'll give it another chance. The writer could just be suffering from poor editing, as I also noticed a girl being called Betsy and Betsey in the same paragraph. Maybe I should concentrate on the story and not the writing. Hey, it worked for Dan Brown - he managed to make millions out of mediocre writing and a decent story (even if it did have the traditional Scooby-Doo ending ["And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!" was the only thing missing, in case you were wondering]. Angels and Demons was not nearly as Scooby-Doo.) Then again, maybe I'm just picky. Thoughts?