TUSAL: August 2011

Here we are at the New Moon for August.  I'm still not stitching so there's no new floss in the jar. There are a few yarn snippets, but not from anything specific.  The blue blob is from a working swatch where I was trying to figure out the stockinette stitch. 

Here's anothe view of the TUSAL bottle.  The nosy kitty is Tabby; she's part of the local cat colony.  It's not quite fair to call her feral as she clearly belonged to someone once upon a time.  I have no idea who or why she's not with them now.  Too bad the kittehs can't tell their stories to us.

My dear friend PP read my last post about stitching a scarf and a hat for the coming winter.  PP is an accomplished knitter (and fiber woman in general) and she made me some truly awesome fingerless gloves from the same yarn I used. Aren't the gloves beautiful?  Thank you so much, PP, for these awesome gloves.  You rocked my world!  When the cold weather hits, I'm going to be so ready for it! 

Here's another shot of these oh so comfortable gloves!

What I've been knitting lately are squares.  This is the pattern I used for the wash cloth that was my second (and third) projects.  The yarn came from Mama's stash.  Just your run of the mill cotton yarn.  It may be Peaches 'n Cream, or it may be just something similar.  I had the crazy idea to use this blocks like quilting blocks and use them to make a lap rug/throw/Afghan/whatever.  I've got some ideas for constuction but will keep that to myself until I'm further along on the project.

When I ran out of Mama's yarn (after three squares) I bought a new cone of yarn.  Wouldn't you know it they didn't have the same color, close but not the same.  Oh, well, it's not like anyone else will see this.  The smaller squares pictured above are 50 stitches wide at their widest.  The big boy above is at 86.5 stitches when the picture was taken and will ultimately be 100.  I want to knit at least four (or maybe six) of these jumbo squares for the center of the lap rug.

The odometer on the ol' Subaru is still spinning. And yes, it just took about 2.5 gallons of gas to get the 85 miles on the tripmeter.  The old gal will be 17 years old in just a couple of weeks.  We sure got our money's worth out of this car.  Rock on, Suby!

TUSAL: July 2011, Second of Two

Greetings, everyone, from the last day of July, 2011.  My goodness, how time has flown by!

I did a bit of research and found that the second new moon in a given month is referred to as either a black moon (according to this article) or a dark moon.  This list of moon folklore said that two new moons in one month predicted a month's bad weather.  Taken along with another tidbit from the same list (a new moon on a Saturday (as it was yesterday) supposedly brings 20 days of wind and rain) and we should be in for some lousy weather.  Believe if you wish, but I don't think that will be the case.

What are all the bits of colored fluffiness?

I've been a knittin' fool this month and the little bits of color are the trimming from the pom-pom that went on the hat I knitted.  Yes, you read that right: I knitted a hat!  And a scarf to go with it.  I've learned to knit in the round on cables and also on double pointed needles.  Both of those were an interesting experience.  The double pointed needles were difficult to maneuver when completing the crown of the hat.  I'm not sure I want to go through that again.  Perhaps it would be easier with smaller needles.  I used Size 10us.

The original pattern for the scarf called for three skeins and for it to be 65 inches long.  Well, I used all three skeins and mine turned out to be 78 inches (2 m) long.  It's alright, though, since I'm tall and like having extra length to wrap around the neck and over the face, if necessary.

The bright sunshine really brings out the beautiful colors in the yarn.  (It's Lion Brand Amazing yarn in colorway Mauna Loa.)  Hard to believe I'm taking pictures of knitwear when it's 100 degrees outside.  Ugh.  C'mon winter!

Ready for cold weather!

This is Ginger.  She's been a member of my feral cat colony for three years now.  Ginger showed up when she was just a tiny kitten, but already too wild to tame.  She has been spayed, though, so she's not adding to the cat population.  This was such a great picture of her, I just had to share it.

Here's Jack on the run.  (He really does have all four legs.)  And Bob looking a bit grumpy.  Pardon his rumpled fur but he got a bath on Friday and can't do a thing with it.

Nikki and the Binder, and a New Kitty

I got email from a nice lady named Nikki who actually made a binder from my tutorial.  This gave me a big happy!  And she sent pictures, too!

I gave this to my 14 year old son for his birthday. He is an aspiring writer, and puts all his works in the binder.  He loves it. 

I sew quite a bit, and I was asked to visit my daughter’s sewing class (high school) with some of my projects.  I brought the cover, and the teacher liked it so much she asked me for the website, and of course I obliged her.  She is considering using your tutorial for one of her class projects next fall, I believe. 

Doesn't that look like a great fabric for a teenager?  How nice to hear that a teacher thinks my tutorial is worth using! Hope I didn't do anything wrong in there.  Please, Mrs. Davis, I'd love to see pictures when your class completes their projects!

In early to mid-June we noticed a very vocal, little black cat hanging around the house.  He responded to "kitty, kitty, kitty" by meowing loud and often.  He acted afraid and didn't want to come close, but would run up on the porch and furiously nom the kitten chow left there for the ferals.  Eventually, he did warm up to us and started flopping over for belly rubs.  Upon closer inspection it was apparent that this was a young cat (about 7 months) who still had all his equipment.  He would often show up with cobwebs on his face so we figured he was living in the neighbor's crawlspace.  After getting to know him for a week and earning his trust, we put him into a cat carrier and took him to the vet so they could run him up on the rack and give him a tune-up and all the shots and neuter him.  We brought him back home to the house and he was happy as could be, even with the doxies and Bob.  Bob, on the other hand wasn't too delighted with the little cat - Jack, as he is called - and stomped around the house complaining loudly to everyone and no one in particular.  It took about a week, but Bob and Jack are now getting along together and Bob's got his sweet disposition back again.

Updated Score

The new score is Sunny 4, Skunks 1.

Last evening, upon hearing the outside food bowls rattling, I peeked out the window in the front door and saw Mama Skunk finishing off the last of the cat food. After getting a drink of water, she waddled past the trap -- not even giving it a glance -- and down the steps she went and off into the night. Score 1 for the Skunks.

I put out a bit more food and immediately Ginger came up on the porch to eat, so that was a good thing. A while later, though, I heard a cat commotion and found Tabby-with-the-white-feet (a cat that lives down the street but likes to eat our food) giving Ginger a hard time about the food, so I brought the bowl in.

This morning Patches and Ginger were both looking in the trap with guarded interest. Sho'nuff, there was yet another teenaged skunk in the trap. I had no idea there were this many! Sunny's escorting this little stinker to the wildlife refuge to join his/her brothers/sisters and start a family reunion in the woods.

Tonight, I'll try to bring the food in before Mama Skunk comes by and see if the grape jelly won't tempt her into the trap.

May TUSAL and various other things

Summer seems to have arrived this weekend. It's in the 90s and I hate it. Fall can't get here soon enough to suit me.

Again, I'm late. Here's my TUSAL progress shot for May. I'm worried about Yoyo, our gracious hostess for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-long. She hasn't posted since mid-April and I pray everything is ok for her.





My first feral kitty recently turned 3. She's the only one that I could tame because she came to us at two weeks old with wobbly legs and eyes barely open and a tilted head. She'd been abandoned by her mama. She went to the office with me so I could bottle feed her. With the help of the vet, she overcame her head tilt and grew into a very handsome kitty. She's a great pet and companion for Pookie. What became of Momcat? I was able to trap her and the two other kittens (a boy and a girl), got them spayed and neutered and they now live happily as barn cats in a rural town. Don't you love a tale with a happy ending?

This is my first attempt at framing. It turned out fairly well, at least on the front and for something I'm going to keep. If it were to be a gift, it would need somemore work on the back. If you're ever at my home, please don't peek behind it. Not pretty.

Here's a nature shot. I found Ms. Spider in the bushes and she agreed to having her picture taken. There was a red chevron on her back but it didn't show up in the photo. No, it wasn't a Black Widow, but I don't know what type it is.

I recently got a kumihimo kit from a mail order house. My ADD prevents me from telling you the name of the company. It has totally slipped my brain. This craft looks a lot like the friendship bracelets that kids used to wear. I can't say for sure because I was too old to be making them when they were in vogue. Now that I'm older and really don't care what anyone thinks, I'm trying this out as a new craft, mostly because I need some braid to go around the mushroom tin I made in Cincy with PP a while back.

This was a very relaxing craft once I got the hang of the pattern. This sample braid was made using cording that came with the kit. When I make braid for the mushroom tin I'll be using embroidery floss instead so it will be much smaller. The left side of the braid is the back, the right side, the front. For my money, I find the back side more pleasing and interesting than the front.

My lastest completed crafty endeavor was a purse/tote made from a very cool Tripp NYC mini skirt. This was a gift for someone I know. Most people at the party throught it was very cool, others had a more lukewarm resonse to it. Whatever, I thought it rocked pretty damn hard.


This is the interior pocket trimmed with aluminum dots. The pocket was lined but I forgot to get a picture of the lining.
All of the zipper pulls (two front pockets with zippers, and the zipper in the back) were these awesome skull & cross bones. I thought that the hot pink with skulls was a great, unexpected combination. The skirt was probably a once in a life time thrift find and I enjoyed making the bag.

Rainy Tuesday

I got a nice surprise in the mail: a $10 check from the State Fair Creative Arts department. That's $6 for the second place sampler and $4 for the one that placed third. I think that's rather quaint. Bet those prize moneys haven't been updated in a coon's age.

In the not so nice department, the city of Nashville no longer wants to foot the bill for the State Fair so this last one really may be The. Last. One. It was nice to have the experience of participating in it.

No stitching since the weekend. I've been mulling over the placement of the eyelets and haven't reached a firm conclusion. The original design called for two eyelets on each page and a ribbon run through both, tied on the front. That's great if you've just got a few or even several pages, but I'm dealing with 14 of those boogers. I'm thinking I need three to four eyelets for a more stable stitching book.

Mull, mull, mull.

Oh, Mr. Stinky II is browsing at the feral cat bowls. The first Mr. Stinky met his demise crossing the street last year, so I know this isn't the same one. Seems like I'm running a soup kitchen for animals these days: Patches, Ginger, Big Yellow Cat, Tabby with White Feet (who I now know is named Ziggy), Patches's Evil Twin, and Tippy, the chubby gray and white cat with the white tip on his tail that lives across the street but always likes to grab a bite or two on my front porch. And sometimes this huge white German sheperd comes by really, really early in the morning and cleans out what little is left in the bowl overnight.

Kitteh break

After all the heartbreak in the last week or so, it's time for a kitteh break. Sweet ol' Bob doesn't meow a lot, mostly he trills. It's adorable, but it would be nice if he'd talk like Cosmo in this video I found at ICanHasCheezburger

New Family Members

People who know me know I've got a soft heart (and some would say a soft head to go with it.) There are two feral cats (Patches and Ginger) that have adopted me. They each have their own story but that's for another day. Bob, pictured here, adopted me after he some how became separated from his people. Not sure if he got lost or if he was abandoned but the important part is he once again has a home.

Isn't he a handsome fellow? He's somewhere between 3 and 5 years old and had been neutered by his pevious people. Bob came to me with perfect indoor manners and is a delight to have as my buddy.

Like many kitties, Bob likes to sit in the window and look outside. Often, Patches and/or Ginger are out there and Bob makes little chittering noises at them. Thinking he may be lonely, I decided to adopt another cat as a companion for him.

Mourning "Sadie" Jones was adopted from Nashville Cat Rescue. She's a little over 6 years old, spayed, declawed and has weight issues. She's talkative and very loving - at least to me. Since yesterday, she's residing in the guest bathroom until she becomes acclimated to her new home. When I opened the door just enough for she and Bob to get a look at each other, she hissed; Bob fell in love. He rolled on the floor outside the bathroom and mewed to her while trying to reach for her under the door. I hope the adoration will continue when they do finally meet face to face, and that Sadie will realize what a sweetie Bob is.