Why yes, I'm still working on Dear Jane, sort of

Tonight was Dear Jane night again. Seems like just yesterday I started this block, got 3/4 of it done and my hand hated me for a week afterwards. But I finished it tonight.


H-12, Hannah Lou's Hearts - not perfect, but finished!

I'm up to a nice round number of blocks (70), but I have 15 blocks, 5 triangles and a corner kite to do if I'm going to hit the half-way mark. Not likely, especially since so many of the blocks require some amount of hand work. My hand just can't take very much needle work at one time. Stupid arthritis! I have a week's vacation coming up, so I might get a few done then.

My newest obsession doesn't hurt my hand like hand sewing does, thankfully. Here's what my Gaia shawl looks like:



It's supposed to be made with Noro yarn, with the stockinette and reverse stockinette sections being triggered by the color changes. Since I don't have color changes, I'm just winging it. I had intended to make this to wear to my cousin's wedding on Nov 14, but quickly realized there's no way I'd get it done in time, especially since I'll need a few days to block it. I decided that the yarn is indeed brown not black. I'm sure it would look fine with my red dress, but there's just no time.

SO, I put that one on hold and found a pattern for a similar style shawl, using bulky weight yarn.



It's not as pretty, and I've decided I really don't like knitting Lion Brand Homespun yarn, but it was cheap and readily available. I guess it looks okay from a distance. And since I have a 3-day weekend coming up, I *might* get it done in time for the wedding. I bought a shrug tonight, just in case....

Everybody loves cat pictures (if not, you can skip to the bottom).


A very relaxed Emma...


...and from a different angle

I did indeed get new fish after I cleaned the aquarium.


"I love the new season of Fish TV!"


"Why can't I get them??"

Here's something you don't see every day!


"Hey, this heated kitty bed is nice! Why didn't I ever try it before?"
"I hate kittens!"

Lizz left a comment asking about my Mermaid sock. I updated that post with a link to the pattern, but it's the Show-Off Stranded Sock, by Anne Campbell.

I'm taking a workshop with Cookie A on Saturday! I'll be sure to post a report.

Bad news, good news

Bad news: I was happily knitting along on the mermaid sock at the doctor's office today (sinus infection, woohoo!) and noticed there weren't enough stitches on my needle. I needed 16, but for some reason there were only 15. Uh oh. I looked and found I had dropped a stitch 2 or 3 rows down. Given the stitch pattern, I wasn't confident I could fix it in place. I was going to have to tink it back.

Good news: When I made the last batch of small project bags, I made some removable stitch markers to keep on the zipper pulls of my various bags:



Pretty and functional. It kept that pesky stitch from unraveling until I could tink back to it. It's all fixed now. I haven't caught back up to where I was before, but it shouldn't take long. Those removable stitch markers really come in handy. I used one to mark the location of the heel flap, then the toe decreases on the first Mineral sock so I could easily compare the second sock to it. Very handy.

In other news, apparently this is what the cats do when I'm in the kitchen and they're not.


"We like staring at the Magic Door!"

And last night Blue and Emma were joined at the butt:

Victory rose

Every time I think the rose in my office is DOA,



...it sprouts new buds (sorry, crappy cell phone pictures).



I cleaned the aquarium today.


Gossamer the monster catfish is a little camera shy

One day next week I'll pick up some new friends for him. The last of his former friends, a unnamed pearl gourami, died on Friday. :-(

I have a couple of stealth projects I *should* be working on, but instead, I started this:



This is a Gaia shawl in Celestial Cloud sock yarn by KnitWitch in the Witching Hour colorway. I haven't decided if it's dark brown or black. I'm hoping it's black, since I want to wear it with a sleeveless red dress I just bought for my cousin's wedding next month. We'll see if I get it done in time.

The cats have been busy lately, too.


"I love the Halloween woobie Mama made for me!"


"I see something out there, Runt!"

Finished objects

I finished the Mineral socks!



That's just a plain sock pattern in Patons Stretch Socks yarn in the Mineral colorway. They're pretty comfy.

The rest of the finished objects I can't take credit for.

I've worked in downtown Cleveland for the last 3+ years. That whole time, they've had scaffolding up on the top of Terminal Tower (the building I work in is the big one on the left side of the picture). Last month they finished the renovations and took down the scaffolds. Doesn't it look great?



And saving the best for last, one of the ladies in my Dear Jane group finished the center of her quilt top.



We've been meeting for a little over 2 years. I'm not sure if she had any blocks done when we started or not. I think she's going to take a much-deserved break before she decides whether or not to do the triangles. Congratulations, Judy, it looks great!!

Speaking of Dear Jane, it's very unlikely that I'm going to make it to the half-way point on mine by the end of the year. I have two weeks of vacation time left to burn by the end of the year, so if I spend a few of those holed up in my sewing room, I might get close. But don't count on it.

In other news, we turned on the heat yesterday. Can you tell??


"Mmmmm, warm air....."

Before and after

The charcoal scarf project "Before":



The charcoal scarf project "After":



Much better, yes? After my furry children destroyed my loaf of bread, I opened a surprise package in the mail. My friend send me a handmade project bag. Isn't it great? Thanks, Sarah!

I actually used my embroidery machine this week.


Baby blankets for someone at work to give as gifts

Cuteness:


"Mama did feed us the other night. We love Mama."

We have a new rule

On days that I have food in the crockpot, naughty kitties are not allowed in the kitchen when I'm at work. It stimulates their already over-active appetites. Thankfully, this is what I found on the kitchen floor when I got home and not the crockpot.



Cute cat pictures are not on my to-do list this time around. Also, for some reason I'm not feeling overly anxious to feed the little monsters their dinners. No idea why....

We interrupt this blog....

Knitting and sewing might be kind of slow for a while. Why?



The latest Jamie and Claire novel, "An Echo in the Bone" came out on Tuesday and I picked up a copy at the library yesterday. Sorry for the glare -- that shiny library cover is hard to photograph. I love this series! If you like 18th century historical fiction and/or tall, red-haired Highlanders, check it out. The first in the series is "Outlander". Be warned, these are for adult readers, there's sex, violence, betrayal, death and adult language in them. Some of the language is in Gaelic, though. ;-)

I have made progress on the second Mineral sock.



I hope to get it close to finished over the next couple of days. I'm going to a party today (if I'm not driving, I'll knit in the car on the way) and to my parents' house on Sunday. It wouldna be polite to take yon book wi' me and read it there, ken? [sorry, it's hard not to pick up the language from the book] I can knit and talk at the same time, however. ;-)

Boys night in....