Okay, I will say more

You will see them this close once a day. Even though they are in constant competition for my attention and affection, there is this one moment every afternoon, usually when I'm not around that the older one on the left, Brahms, will groom the younger one, Suki.

It often ends in a tussle, I suppose to set the boundries right again, but for that 3 minutes or so, there is connection. It amazes me, this ritual of caretaking, nearly in spite of themselves.

I see my Brahms aging and it makes me panic to think of it. She's 17. You'd never know it, but lately she just sits and looks at me. I don't know quite what she's thinking. Okay, I know, she's a cat. Why the heck should I know what she's thinking? But, generally I do. And, she a little more sensitive to the cool temps this winter.

They've taken to putting their paws on my left leg when I'm spinning and it's so sweet it makes me wanna cry.

Kittens in the Sun

Need I say more?

My Day Was Made

Sharon of Chickenlips gave me this "You Make My Day" award. Here are the official instructions:
"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

Well, aside from Sharon's smile, her blog makes my day, but she's already been honored by someone else, so here is my list of 10 blogs and the bloggers who write them, in no particular order. This is a nice way to pass along the love.

Oh, are they all knitting? Gee, how'd that happen??

Dharma--- http://dharmarants.blogspot.com/

Wendy--http://www.lanasdelibelula.com/blog/

Larissa--http://larissmix.typepad.com/stitch_marker/

Gary--http://blackthornecraft.vox.com/

Diane--http://dfnojunk.typepad.com/tailfeathers/

Anne--http://knitspot.com/

Nanette--http://knittingincolor.blogspot.com/

Dava--http://www.pea.typepad.com/

Patty--http://fiberlyone.blogspot.com/

Deb--http://www.independentstitch.typepad.com/

Two Cultures, One Sweater

I think this sweater is influenced by Norwegian and a bit of Arctic lace design. It's been calling out to me for a while from my A Gathering of Lace book. As always, I buy yarn and then later, sometimes much later I figure out what will give it life. For a change, I made the perfect choice of sweater AND yarn. The yarn I'm using here is Jaeger Luxury Tweed.

The pattern name is Ljace Kofte. The designer, Joan Shrouder told me yesterday that the name is actually wrong:

"I misspelled "Ljace" - there shouldn't be a "j" in there. I was mimicking the Norwegian word "ljus", thinking it meant the lice patts, but later learned that ljus means "light", not lice. So officially it should be just "lace", I guess."

No harm, no foul. I'm loving working on this! Thanks Joan.

The Start of a Nordic Sweater

This one will be at the bottom of my sweater because it measures something like 10 inches and would be too big for the chest.
This one below is a band that I'll use on the sleeve and perhaps on the shoulder.

Here are my swatches for the sweater, using various yarns from my stash. Based on the amount I have of the really deep green background, I may need to replace it with a different green. Other than that, it looks like I'm good to go for the KAL.

My Boy is Back!

Yes, baby love of my life, Ben is back from his vacation is Guatamala. He was gone FOREVER and look, a little grown-up baby!

(That blurred image in the foreground is Brahms, looking evil right there, but actually learning to be quite sweet with my man.)

Okay, so his hat is a little big, but I was planning for the future when I knit this bit of whimsy.

Oh, he parents are back too. Cool.

And then there are the gifts from knitters!

These are beaded wristlets that Paula made for us (we're waiting on the other half of the pairs!)

This is a felted potholder that Nana made for Elizabeth:

These are little bags holding tea that Nana made for me and Paula:

And Another

Well, this gift had a bit more strife connected to it but I am damn proud of how it turned out. I actually put a label in it and it's been a year since I've done that with anything!

The first go-round the gauge was off hopelessly and I had to start over with different yarn and a new attitude. I knitted it in white wool/alpaca and black merino. On the lower edge I ran a strand of elastic on the inside, invisibly to hold it firmly on the wearer. On other examples of this I had seen knit, it seemed to flair slightly at the bottom.

The pattern is We Call Them Pirates.

The Reveal

I can finally start posting some pictures of my holiday projects now that most of them have been received.
The first if a Forest Canopy Shawl for Paula in Baby Silk by Elann.

And...socks for Nana in Merino Handspun for her wee little footsies.

Holiday

The cats are resting in front of the heater this Christmas morning and I haven't even had my first cup of tea, but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve consisted of WAY too much good food at Paula's and a little watching of the Yule Log on PBS and an attempt at knitting. We opted for calling it a night because we were way too full and tired for even that.

All season I have been knitting so much that my hands are pretty tired today. I'll post my work after all the presents have been opened! Since I haven't posted since the 14th, it almost looks like I've been a slacker...but you all know better.

Now on to the first cup of tea and taking photos of some knitting before the last minute wrapping begins....

Testing, Testing...

This lame swatch is something I knit to test how these different yarns would work together in one Nordic sweater. I'm doing a KAL, sponsered by Donna Drachunus and am in the planning stages, trying to use my existing stash. My idea is to go with a Pacific Norwest tree theme instead of a snowflake theme, but we'll see how that does. The thing with designing at the DK gauge is that your motifs have to be simpler because you have less stitches to "express yourself", so to speak. I'm not usually a big planner, but I don't want to spend all this time designing a sweater only to have it not quite work out or not fit or the yarns not work well together. So, here I go on my adventure.

Meanwhile, the focus is on holiday knitting. I just got an email from my brother and I'm horrified to hear that the toes of his socks from last year blew out. They were knit from my dad's handspun. I asked him to send them back to me so that I can re-knit the toes. I'm dying to see what happened there!

Purple-ness Blocking

I have no proper blocking thing set up for larger pieces like this 71"x21" shawl, so I had to do it bit by bit on my ironing board in front of the heater. I used Clover Flower head pins and that worked quite well.

Soon, I'll get a picture of it modeled so you can get the full effect.

Leaves, not Snow

So, this is my answer to why Portland doesn't have hardly any snow equipment. They clearly blew the budget on LEAF equipment. Somehow for the past two years I've missed this ritual, but here it is in color.

(This post is meant for my out of state friends and their interest and edification)

Ladylike Presentation

Nana is here, anticipating the first bite of her Birthday Tart, compliments of Paula.
The Tart, featuring lovely antique lustreware and depression glass that Paula just so happens to have on hand to create the perfect "Ladylike" presentation. Oh, don't forget the Jasmine tea!

But here! Here is the true Paula. Her sentiments on this subject worn on her T.

Gotta love this girl....

SeaWool Socks

After a couple of froggings, these socks are finally done. What I found is that this pattern from the Fleece Artist folks who make this yarn was just fine, but too small. First off, you'll probably say that they look a lot like the Jaywalker Socks. I'm thinking the garter edge top is the difference. But, when you make a fabric like this, it's not terribly flexible. I had to increase needle size and add some stitches to the repeat. Thing is, you can see the "laddering" affect down the center, and between each chevron. That's because they are still pulling and a bit too small.
The color is VERY saturated and this picture doesn't do it justice, but I learned about the importance how the flexibility of your knitted fabric when making socks. (Still something I consider every time I think about fair isle socks after my first experience with them years ago!)

I Give Thanks

I want to thank all of my friends, cyber and local for their support, love and encouragement this past year. Blessings to all.

------Melissa

Another Purple Thing

This Bird's Nest Shawl from Oberle's Folks Shawls is something I've really been working and working on.

Until...I ran out of my own handspun...twice.

Unfortunatly the second time I spun more than the original 8oz, I spun some that was more like worsted weight than sport. So, here I go again. Diligent in my efforts to finish this baby up and block the biggest thing I've ever blocked before. It's 21"x72". Yow!

I know that I'm really going to enjoy wearing it, though. Imperfections and all.

Purple Flame, in the Rain, Not in Spain....

This is some fiber...mohair, polwarth and some shiny stuff that my friend Barb carded up and gave me. It was only when I started spinning it that it's glory called out to me.

Who can say what I choose what to spin on any given day? Right now I only have one bobbin for my wheel, so what I start I sort of have to finish. Other than that, it's pretty much up to my whims. Oh yeah, other than that Bird's Nest Shawl that it simply consuming merino. More on the way tuesday and that back to finishing that.

I suppose what draws me in on any given day is the color I want to be touching. But, as far as knitting goes, nothing is finishing fast enough for me. I feel quite impatient with several projects. I promised I wouldn't start my fair isle sweater until I finished the shawl and a couple of pairs of socks, but that was a crock! I'd say I'm about 3" into it so far and I'm really enjoying the undulating curves. (Picture to come.)

Blue Moon New Stash

Okay, so even though I wasn't interested in buying yarn, but fiber I walked out with this. The Kid Mo on the right is to go with two more skeins I have here in my current stash. Of course they're different dye lots, but I'll blend them every other row and it'll be fine. Fun was had by all, but for any of you whom have read about this yarn meltdown so to speak was planned for the whole day but nearly sold out in the first half hour.
Yow!

Some Spinning

This above is baby camel and silk

This is Jacob, which is not terribly soft, but I love the color and texture.

Then, we have one of my favorites to spin which is Corriedale. This has a bit more rust in it than shows here.