Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Old Cat, New Bed


A couple years ago I made beds for my 3 grandcats, but my own kitties had gone bedless. After getting some furniture reupholstered, though, it seemsd like a good time to make a bed for the cat who had claimed a spot on the new upholstery. Frau Kitze is a sweet old lady of 20 who sits in my lap every evening as I knit (and contributes some natural fiber of her own to every project.) She seems to be enjoying the bed, which is based on the improved cat bed pattern from Wendy's book. The improvement is that the side wall is doubled, so it is less prone to flop over.
I made a scarf this weekend for DS's girlfriend, using some pink ribbon and novelty yarns knit longwise. It is very cute (for someone less than 40) and since she expects to live in Colorado next year it should be useful. It was so much fun to make; I felt like I was knitting a party.
I saw the new Knitty on Friday and found 3 gotta-have projects: Spirogyra, Laminaria, and the Ribbon Lace scarf. I stopped at the LYS on the way home and bought a skein of Silky Kid (on sale) for Spirogyra, and the left on is almost done. I went one size down on the needles and it is still a bit loose in the wrist, but I can't wait to have them for meetings in super-chilled conference rooms. I plan to make the other projects with stash yarn--a big skein of Pro Natura Trekking (wool and bamboo in deep blues and greens) for the Ribbon Lace scarf, and Malabrigo lace-weight merino in blues and grays for the laminaria. It feels good to find tempting patterns for yarn I already own.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Belle Complete



It is finished; I've worn it, it is just as nice as I hoped it would be. The yarn's hollow core construction makes the sweater very light, which is important because of all the cables in the peplum. There are a few minor mistakes that I discovered way too late to correct, but for the most part everything worked out okay (probably because I was willing to rip back or tink back an fix problems as they came up.)
BTW, the pictures are not just to show you the sweater, but also the redone patio. It was a birthday present; we hired a true concrete artist to resurface the patio and create the faux paving stones. It exceeded our expectations!
Since I finished la belle dame, I've gone on to mindless projects--a stash-eating cat bed and finishing up the silky wool seed stitch tie. There are just a few inches to go. My thumb has been hurting and I think small needles and lightweight projects will be theraputic. (The cat bed was a mistake!)
There are several thing in the new Knitty that have piqued my interest, esp. the Estonian shawl. Is it light? yes! Are the needles small? yes!
Gotta flit; work calls.