Let There Be Pictures!

Well, it took me an extra day, mostly because we spent yesterday at dentists and lunches and book stores and riding lessons, so that by the time I got home there was neither the will nor the daylight for taking pictures.  

But today is not only a new day, it is a car-free day.  El-Husbando took his car to the shop and then took my car to work, so the rest of us had no choice but to lounge around the house in our jammies.  I was supposed to get a whole bunch of stuff done this morning, including exercise and a massive clean out of the basement, but instead I read my book.  So there.  

I also snapped a few pictures, and here they are.

First up, my new sweater.  I had a lot of yarn left over from my not-a-clown-sweater (which, incidentally, is now one of my favorites).  So naturally I ordered a few more skeins of the red and made another sweater:

I love this one too; the lite lopi is toasty warm, but no so bulky that I can't move my arms around once I've put my winter coat on, so that's perfect.  Unfortunately, there's still a heap of the lopi left, and I'm now considering making a series of felted bags to use up the rest.

I started these socks (True Love, by Chrissy Gardiner) right after downloading the pattern, which was a valentine's day freebie.

I had no business starting a new sock, and I haven't gotten too far anyway, because I still have a heap of other projects to finish, including these socks:

They were supposed to be Turbo Toes, until I realized that I had changed everything in the pattern and had better call them something else.  I think of them now as Yellow Socks, which is a bit more encouraging than Irritating Socks That Have Had Two Different Toes and Three Different Heels and Will Probably Never Be Finished Because I Can't Work on Them Without Crumpling Under the Burden of Impending Failure.

When I wasn't busy knitting either the Socks that I Shouldn't Have Started or the Socks  That I Really Should Finish, I took some time to vandalize these poor things.  I knit them for a class and chose the yarn its for beauty and softness, rather than for its ability to last for more than one or two wearings under my nasty feet.  The construction of the sock allows you to replace just the sole.  I hope.

This, of course, is a mitten, a Super Mitten, to be precise, from the book Weekend Knitting. It's one of my favorite mitten patterns: quick, easy, and, if you line them with alpaca, super warm.

There's been some weaving going on too, or at least preparation for some weaving.  I bought these two color combinations in the fall

and today, since I couldn't drive anywhere, I finally put the finishing touches on my plans for the cloth and started winding the warp.

 It's going quickly, but my loom is set up for some towels right now and, unlike knitting, you can't just stick your current weaving project on a stitch holder so that you can use the loom for something else.  There's no way out but through, so I think you'll be able to guess what I'll be doing this weekend.

I did some spinning too.

 These lovely yarns are my kids' school colors (if you are willing to accept that the bottom one is more black than blue) and they were intended for a double layer hat for my daughter to wear for softball since a spring sport around here automatically means a lot of people standing outside for a long time in temperatures that are one step away from winter.  At least that was the plan right up until she told me that the hat was supposed to be her school colors (black and gold) on one side and her travel team colors (not black and gold) on the other.  Oh.

To ease the disappointment of having finally purchased fiber and spun yarn for a specific project, only to be thwarted by a misunderstanding, we baked cookies

and scones too, just in case.

I think the muscle burn from winding the warp has finally worn off, so its time to go and finish that task.   Just as soon as I have a little snack to sustain me in my labors.

Happy Thursday!

In which I am Free, and a Bit Giddy

Wheeeeee!!! I'm done!!! ImdoneImdoneImdone!!!! I have been working almost non-stop for days and weeks and months, culminating in two marathon work days at the beginning of this week and FINALLY I have gotten myself just far enough ahead that I can take the next few days off while the kids are on break from school.  Want to know a secret?  I might also take next Monday off, especially because even though they will have gone back to school by then.

All this work stuff means that, even though I have been knitting, I haven't been taking pictures so there isn't much to show here.  As a substitute, please enjoy the following pointless images from my (limited) non-work life:

1. This is Timmy.  He is close to 15 years old and likes to eat and lie on things.  Here is he telling me, via feline ESP, that he would like a snack.  Now.



The reason he is standing on the washing machine and asking for snacks is that I keep the kitty snacks in the laundry room.  The cats only ever ask for snacks while I am in the laundry room folding the laundry.  Either they are not bright enough to realize that they could ask for snacks in another room, or they think I'm not bright enough to understand them unless they ask while I am in the same room as the snacks.  Either way, it's a reasonably workable system.




Here they both are eating their snacks.  The picture I meant to take was much better than this, because the cats were standing in exactly the same pose.  But Tim moved, and that was that.

Sometimes the dog, who is foolishly optimistic, comes to the laundry room to beg for cat snacks too, even though we never share with him.

Here is Timmy in his most common non-eating position, i.e., snoozing on the chair in my office with the heater warming his old bones.  I think he's dreaming that he's SuperCat, flying through the skies to protect the innocent.



Here is what my van looked like a few weeks ago after it overheated while we were 15 miles from home with a trunk full of groceries. Again. It's been fixed and, because we are even more foolishly optimistic than the dog, we like to believe that now the van will run without problems for the rest of the year.



Here is what the world looked like not too long ago.  We haven't spent the winter covered in snow, but when it has come, it has been impressive to look at.



After we shoveled the top of the driveway, I made my husband take a walk so we could appreciate nature, etc. etc.



Here, apparently, is what the inside of my pocket looks like after a snowstorm.  Who knew?



Now that you've seen the inside of my pocket, I think we can all agree that we've probably seen enough for now, right?  Anyway, the kids are clamoring for dinner-- even though I will surely make it only to have at least one of them say "we're having that  again?" --and I don't know what I'm supposed to make tonight because I can't find the shopping list.  Hopefully, now that I'M FREE!!!!! tomorrow will bring better organization and a few pictures of knitted things.