Feeling rather chuffed.

This Sunday I had a rather nice day. I was quite productive. Not only did I do a bunch of laundry, but I made a nice dinner for me and DH (flu-stricken as he is, poor thing), went to the Library, perused the local junk store hoping to find more interesting objet (found none, alas).... and, oh! I made my own blocking board.

How did you do that, you ask? Well, let me tell you!

How to make a Blocking Board, cheaply:

1. Go to Home Depot, enter Lumber Aisle
2. Ask the guy where the sheets of styrofoam are kept.
3. Purchase a 4' x 8' sheet of 1 1/2" thick styrofoam

[3a. Struggle against the wind, trying to get it to your car without it or you snapping in half
3b. Ignore macho construction guy who makes unhelpful and obvious comments as you try to get across parking lot ("Oooo... that's going to snap.")
3c. Try to fit said foam into car.
3d. Break said foam into 2 or 3 smaller ragged chunks.]



4. Measure and cut styrofoam using your art school tools and gadgets (i.e. 36" metal ruler, mat knife)



5. Cover one side of each blocking board with contact paper (from kitchen aisle at Target).
6. Staple the contact paper in securely in place.
7. Commence blocking! Spritz and spray away! There's contact paper on that sucker, so your board won't get soggy.


What you see here is a finished lace stole, that has been gently soaked in a lavender fiber wash, and pinned out to block and dry. Per pattern instructions, I'm also knitting a beaded loop with elastic inside to use as an optional clasp to hold the stole together when worn. I'm too lazy to take a picture of that right now. All in good time.



Here's a closer look at the zig zag pattern



What you see here is something striped, looking for some trouble.

Sci-Fi Monday

Give us the access codes to your tuna and kitty litter! Obey our commands!



Or we will unleash our terrible breath wrath..



HA! That is just Patches yawning. Her incessant napping prevents any cat uprising from being successful.

I have been "multi-tasking" (uh oh). Here's a little peek.

"Project Blue"


"Project Green"

Who IS this guy?

One day recently, I once again had that funny "I'm being watched" feeling


... So I look out the window, and I see THIS guy...




He seems to lord it over the window sill now, although I do occasionally see the other one. The only city that has more cats than this one, is perhaps Rome

Farewell Emmy.

My friend, The Rev lost a very dear four-legged friend this week. I'm thinking about you! I tried to send you an email, but I got some weird error message, so I thought I'd send you a message via blog instead.

Close encounters....

... of the CAT kind!

This weekend, DH and I had a lovely new storm door installed. It was not cheap, but we think it is going to save us big $$ on our heating bill. The front door is old and very pretty, but lets a big draft in. We're also putting in new "sweeps" along the bottom. Hermetically sealed is the effect we're going for.

I was showing DH the features of the new door, when out of nowhere that rough looking orange tabby came running up the steps and nearly squeaked in. Patches happened to be loitering nearby, and they locked eyes.



Let's run that photo again, so folks can get a better look.



Whoaaaa! I guess Monsieur L'Orange isn't quite ready for his close-up. Simmer down, buddy.

Here's a peek at sweater number two not-fully-frogged. I frogged one row, and have five more to go, which I think I'll tackle tonite after dinner:

A Cold War Has Begun

Do you ever feel like you're being watched?

This weekend, I was sitting on my bed, in a Hopper-esque manner, contemplating my plan for the day, when I got this uncanny feeling someone was watching me.

Then, staring out my window at my neighbor's house you know, the one whose hideous boyfriend revs his harley motorcyle every morning at 4:30AM , and locked eyes with this:



You probably notice that he/she looks like a mini Patches. Dammit. Stop haunting my dreams, kitten.

Lady S swung by for a visit. What a nice day we had! Oh, and just as she was pulling into my driveway, I.... ummmm... finished the LAST SLEEVE. I KNOW! I can't believe it either. This week, I'll be buying a blocking board so we can get this puppy put together. Here's all ze parts:





Patches has pretty much taken over the command center. Notice the permanent cat-dent she's made on the upper right part of the back cushion?