tom’s favorite mitts.

Apparently Thomas has a favorite pair of fingerless mittens.

It began when I left a pair in progress on the couch and came back to find him using the ball of yarn as a pillow. He had been resting his chin between both balls, but then adjusted to favor the blue-green one.

Then, after I had finished knitting the pair, I brought out the stool to take photos. He joined me.

Or perhaps he just wanted to look out the window.

kitty

big fat buttons!

Monday morning. I get to work unusually early. Approaching my desk,  I see a large bag sitting precariously on the corner with a box sticking out the top. What is this? What kooky task have they conjured up for me today? Warily I peer into the bag, but I am pleasantly surprised at the contents.

BUTTONS!
LOTS OF BUTTONS!

Then I recalled a conversation with a coworker on Friday. “My aunt had a button collection. I can’t imagine anyone would buy it at the garage sale. You can have them if you want.”

I spent the afternoon sorting them. It is not what I would call a unique collection considering there are large quantities of a single type. But if ever I decide to knit a floor length cardigan with buttons 1/4 inch apart, I’ll be set.

my brain: lazy and a bit disorganized.

I just have not been feeling the whole “blog” thing this weekend. I haven’t been reading, participating, updating, etc. There was knitting to be done. I added several more mitts and neckwarmers to my stash. And did a bit of Christmas knitting too.

Friday I had wandered around Pat Catans with my friend and last year’s table-mate. We discussed different ideas and had a small adventure [finding the restroom]. It made me realize that I needed to see what I was working with before I could go and buy or make shelves, signs, decor. Today I got everything out and spread it on the table. Working with what I had from last year, I don’t think I’ll need to add much. I’ve got the two hand displays and also I have two neckwarmer displays made in the same way. The tree is new this year; it’s for the acorn ornaments. Definitely more yarn now too. And the bags I ordered arrived today!

Also, I’d like to introduce Celeste, our new feline. She is tall but very thin, so she can fold herself into small spaces. This is a baking dish I got at the flea market. It’s been sitting on the table and has collected a few catalogs. And also a Cat. How do they find these places to sleep?

usual assortment

Sharing some new yarns. As I mentioned before, I really have enjoyed the new Columbia fleece I bought at the county fair. I’m going to take out a few pounds so I can continue to process it myself, but the rest is going to Zeilinger’s to become roving. I love the texture in this! It’s almost so textural it morphs into a single clump.

Here is a Corriedale yarn made from two separate colorways I had listed in the shop. They were each dyed only two colors, so not overly interesting when there are 400 other options available. I decided to take them down and spin them myself. I like the way the colors came together. I’ll probably list this on Etsy eventually.

Yesterday I bought some green ribbon to use as a reinforcement on the back of my cardigan’s button band. Whenever I buttoned it up, the knitting stretched quite a bit making it look like it was too small. I thought having green would be a fun little detail.

i think that funky smell is me.

Where I live, everything is relatively spread out. It is very rare to see anyone walking rather than driving to their destination. Few people actually live where business takes place. Regardless, I decided to walk to the post office this morning, as I had a couple etsy packages to go out. It is not what I would call “close”, but also not life threatening! I think I left around 9:30 and returned 11:15. I believe it got to 90 degrees today? Hence the stench.

Rather than walking down a busy street without a sidewalk, I chose to venture through the residential neighbors between my house and the post office. Luckily it is Friday and guess what people do on the weekends? Sell their crap!! I stopped at two garage sales on the way there – nothing of note. However, while out, I kept seeing signs for the same sale over and over, but had no idea where it was because the streets didn’t have signs! Then, I saw a sign on the corner of the street and decided to make the turn. It would mean back tracking, but I did it anyone. Turned out to be a good idea!

She had several pieces of Pyrex and other glassware, but not in any patterns I collect. However, I bought this tall glass pouring thingy (what does one put in it?) made by Hocking; a pink clutch (I’m not wild about pink but I found it endearing); and a cast iron enamel sauce pan made in Belgium. All for $1.00. It was the best deal I’ve had all summer at a garage sale. And she was nice to chat with.

On a completely unrelated note.. here is Phoebe sitting with on of my newest yarns. It will be added to the shop in a few days or something.

a new fiber art

Sewing counts as a fiber art, right?

This weekend I attended Northern Oaken War Maneuvers and had a great time. Several friends camped with us, which made it even better. I shopped around, took a class, relaxed, got very sticky and stinky. Saturday night we had a terrific potluck feast in camp: chicken and lamb kabobs, couscous, cheese, fruit, veggies, bread, and cookies. We sat under the trees and enjoyed the sounds of a hammer dulcimer played by a fellow camper.

In my free time I hand-stitched some trim onto one of Rich’s tunics. I’d made the tunic last year some time (using a sewing machine), and after washing, the yellow fabric around the neckline began fraying. How embarrassing! I could not let him wear it until I had fixed the mistakes. So, at War Practice I bought some trim to cover up the edges of the yellow. I’d never sewed trim in a circle like that, so it was exciting. I’m very pleased with the way it turned out. Now I want trim on all my dresses!

Rickard’s tunic. Keyhole neck with new trim.

And one more thing… last weekend Thomas crawled into the window of car. He does that sometimes. I spotted him hunkered down on the floor, asleep under the peddles. He didn’t seem to mind a photo-shoot, although he woke up eventually. Someday I’m going to drive away without knowing he’s there!

there’s cat fur in my cup

This morning, since I had NO SCHOOL OBLIGATIONS, I enjoyed the empty house and worked on a few things that I’d been missing. I dyed the remaining ounces of a pound of Falklands. Those are still drying, so photos will come later. Two of them turned out really dull and muddy, so I think I’ll spin them together and make one really big skein of bland boredom. I also finally got to my laundry, but that’s not interesting. 

I took a bunch of pictures of Phoebe the other evening because she was lying in the middle of the floor and being adorable. Yawning, sticking her tongue out, being fluffy. Her hair is finally starting to grow back! She doesn’t look quite so mangy anymore.

Monday night I saw Iron Man. Luckily, the best housewares Goodwill is in the same plaza as the theater, so I took a look around before going to the movie. They had loads of Pyrex stuff, but mostly ugly ones. Ugly Pyrex? How dare I say such a thing! Ever see Early American? Blerg. I’m all about the Verde, obviously, and there just happen to be two pieces there that night. One was a round dish missing its lid and one was a small dish missing its lid. The small one was marked as having a lid, but it was no where to be found. I bought it anyway because it completes the 3-piece Bake, Serve & Store set that I had two pieces for already. 

I also picked up to green mugs that go along with the other three mugs that I seem to be collecting. The middle one, which looks quite different from the others, was the very first. The two on the left I swapped with Cosy for; I gave her three matching ones that didn’t go with mine. The two on the right are the newest additions. 

big news!

Attention friends and neighbors! My yarn is now available for purchase via Etsy. You can check out my whole 3 listings at granolasuit.etsy.com. Hoobah! I’m sure there are things that need adjusted or improved, but I’ll figure it out over time. The real question is: will anyone want it?

Other things to report… Here is my first skein of Falklands yarn. I like it better than the South African Fine. It’s not as smooth and more interesting to spin. I tried to get more out of my ounces, but this skein is only 76 yards and 3 ounces. Why can’t I get more??

A Seagull’s View

As for thrifting, I found these four juice glasses today at the flea market. They were $4.00. I suppose I ought to have filled the glasses since it’s difficult to see the images. Cute, eh?

Here’s a peak of my new set of dishes. The pattern is called Echo. It was a 35 piece set for $9. I kept grasping at justifications for buying it.. because what do I need another set of dishes for? Now I have every day dishes and ‘fine china’.

I’ll leave you with a photo of Phoebe, who we haven’t seen in quite some time. She had a haircut due to some crazy matting of hair. It was a bit scary looking for a while, but it’s calmed down. I couldn’t resist her cute little face!

merry christmas eve

Socks are done! I finished them last night and I am very pleased with the end result. The pattern has ribbing on the top of the foot which is an excellent way to get a good snug fit. I tried a sock in self-striping yarn with a similar pattern, but the heel flap was too short and I finished the sock anyway. I was not inspired to start or finish its mate. From now on, I think I will stick to 2 circs for socks. For some reason, the tiny needles and yarn don’t bother me as much as tiny DPNs. Although, for my fingerless mitts, I will stay with the DPNs. My next pair will be for my dad since I haven’t made him anything yet!

Tomorrow is Christmas! I can’t believe it. My mom said I’m not getting anything because I am too difficult to buy for. Isn’t that thoughtful? Well, in the end I don’t really need more stuff. I know of at least two things I’m getting. We’re also doing the medieval dinner again. It’s so much fun to dress up and eat old time food. Our dining table is right in front of our biggest window (it’s actually in the living room, but since we do more things at the table than on the couch, it sits in the largest room), so when people drive by they can see RIGHT into the house! So, if you happen to drive by our house tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be dressed in 13th century clothing eating duck, barley, and pea soup.

While I was snapping [bad] photos of yarn the other day, Phoebe got up on the stool and sat right on top of it! This is a BFL 2-ply, dyed in green, turquoise, and purple (jacquard acid dyes). I gave it to Laura for Christmas! Did I forget to mention Phoebe sat on it? I hope you aren’t allergic! ^.~ And below is the debut of Thomas, our large fellow. He’s very difficult to photograph because he’s always moving around and the pictures end up being streaks instead of eyes.