Iz a baaad blogger!

I suck. I know I haven't posted in like, 8 eons, but I hope you missed me. I have been learning how to take better pics so this blog isn't a huge blurfest. I have alot of FO's plus an extremely cute Boog halloween costume coming soon. Love and inexpensive yarn, -j.

YARNGASM!!!!!

I can't believe I have never been to The Tangled Skein before! My birthday money and I headed over to St. Peter this evening to shop there, and I was blown away by their selection. OK, I went a little (!) bit overboard, I've been on a yarn diet for almost 6 months, but this is the yarn equivalent of eating a whole chocolate cake at one sitting! I love Mary Lue's Yarn here in Mankato, but I really tire of Plymouth yarn and Filatura Di Crosa (which I can't afford most of the time) after a while. For me, driving the 13 miles to St. Peter from now on is totally worth it!

The bottom yarn is Cascade 22o in baby blue. On top of that is Classic Elite Yarn's Fresco#5375- I love the way this yarn feels, it's sooo soft but it still has alot of strength to it. I bought some Regia reinforcement yarn that kind of matches it, so I think these will become some snazzy winter socks. The pink stuff is Rowan Pure Wool DK. I don't know why I buy pink yarn- I'm not a "pink" girl by any means- maybe this time I'll actually do something with this. Note to any breeding people I know- Have a Girl!
LLH kid-Mohair in a really light blue. This is going to to be a winter hat for the Boog. The middle is Misti Alpaca and I love the color- it looks black from a distance, but up close it's a really deep, dark eggplant. Then, red Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora- This will definetely be more socks. The Coup De Grace- Alchemy 100%Pure Silk in Dragon 65e. I won't even say how much this cost. This yarn in so beautiful I'm almost afraid to knit it! I could just look at it and touch it forever. If I get the nerve to, I was thinking of getting some gold beads and knitting some panja (from One Skein Knits).

It's my Birthday!

Aaron is sooo gonna kill me for posting this pic. So it's my birthday! The big 2-7! I told Mark that if I was a rock star, this is the year I would have to aspirate my own puke and die, or something else appropriate to that genre. Instead, I think I'll just go to the Ole. (If you don't know, The Oleander Bar and Saloon is the best place to get your drink on in southern minnesota). Here I go.........

Angel- Before and After Pics

When Angel firtst came in for a haircut, I thought "Oh look, a cute little gray mutt dog". These pics don't quite give justice to how filthy and matted this dog was. She was a very good girl, though. She had just been adopted from the Humane Society.
It turns out there was a purebred(ish) white Bichon under all that hair! Hopefully now that she has a good family to take care of her she'll be able to get a poofier Bichon cut next time, since I had to clip her pretty short this time to get rid of her nasty gray dreadlocks. Don't you just love that smile?

Egyptian Coil chain

This is my FO of the "Egyptian Coil Bracelet" from www.instructables.com. I used 20g floral wire and a needle nose pliers and hammered the links slightly. This not a bracelet, but a chain about 14". It's too heavy to be a necklace, as I originally planned, so I think I'm going to split it into 2 anklets. My hand hurts.

"Dog ignoring cat ignoring dog." Thank you and Goodnight.

-J.

Cable wristwarmers

I'm really psyched about these. They are just a pattern-as-you-go type wrist warmer with 45 stitches CO on #5 dpn's with K2P2 ribbing at the top (which I haven't gotten to yet) and bottom. I put an 8 stitch cable crossed every 6 rounds on the top side. I did 7 cable crosses before the thumb and it looks like I will be doing about six before the rib stitch on the top. I'm using Moda Dea Bamboo Wool in color#3650 and I can't say too many good things about this yarn. It's really easy to work with, wouldn't dream of splitting or snagging, and it has a very subtle silver sheen to it that doesn't show in the pic, but it highlights the thick cable in a really slinky, sinuous way. I was a little worried about doing the thumb gusset, but it's just a few lifted increases and then some ribbing after you finish the rest of the hand part. This is the first one, so I've got quite a bit of knitting to do before I'm done with them, although I was really suprised how fast this one knit up. I also really like that the yarn is 85% bamboo, which is an incredibly renewable resource. I once read that bamboo grows so fast, you can actually SEE it grow. This yarn is super-soft and breathable, and since it's only 20% wool, I really doubt it will irritate my super-sensitive skin.

Time for some introductions. This is my husband, Mark, and The Boog.

The Boog.

Jasper, the WonderSheltie. We adopted Jasper when he was 7, and he didn't have a great life up until then, but he has settled in our home as a great companion and fetch-a-holic.

Eemo. I found him starved, wormy and dehydrated in a dumpster when he was a kitten. He was our first "baby" when Mark and I got together. He hates everyone but me, and sometimes Mark.

This is Squee. If you are are fan of Jhonen Vasquez comics, you will appreciate the name. Squee is 22 pounds of "love me" . We can't use the laser pointer to play with the cats anymore because Squee will continue to look for the red dot for HOURS after we turn it off.

This is Friday. She is a brat. She's the Peter Pan of cats. She never grows, she's still the size of a kitten, even though she's three years old. She still has all the naughtiness and energy of a kitten too. We still love her anyways.