What's a Mama To Do?

And by mama, I mean to our kitten. We got a new kitten in December and he is absolutely adorable.



He's fun, rambunctious, cuddly and all the great things a kitten should be,





but there's one small issue. The boy won't let me sleep through the night. He has this habit of kneading in my hair as if he were trying to nurse on my head. As funny as it was at first, I really miss being able to sleep through the night. I have had to wear hoodies to bed and tie them up tight. If I don't wear a hoodie, I have to wrap the sheet tight around my head and leave a small hole to breathe through. I MAY be catering to the kitten just a little...

I think about locking him out of the bedroom, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Tonight might be the night. Besides I miss having our first cat sleeping on the bed with us.

I also hate the fact that my hair has become the kitten's new felting project!

This is the original cat:


Doesn't that look just say, "I'm cute and I miss sleeping in bed with you guys. I promise I won't wake you in the middle of the night or knead in your hair (although I did suckle on your arms and neck all the time when I was a kitten...)."

Just Barely

I have been working on the Pinwheel Baby Blanket and finally finished it today, barely.

Most of my recent projects have been done using up stashed yarn and I have been doing really well on my yarn "diet." I had four balls of pink yarn that I used to make this blanket:



By the time I decided it was time to do the fancy edging on the blanket, I had 500 stitches all the way around. I was binding off and I had 79 stitches left and this is the amount of yarn I had:



DRAMA! Sure I found some people that had the yarn showing in their stash on Ravelry, but I really didn't want to go through the hassle of ordering it, paying for it, and waiting for it when I needed so little. I had several ends to weave in, so I came to this idea. Instead of weaving in the ends, I tied knots (I know, GASP!) and saved all the little pieces:



Then I tied those together (I know, more knots):



Then I prayed that I could bind off the last 79 stitches. It worked! Although it wasn't without some sweating (and maybe a little cursing) on my part. This is how much of the tied together scraps I had left when I finished binding off:



And finally, this is ALL of the remaining yarn from the 4 balls I used to make this blanket:



I NEVER want to have that happen again. I guess I had to up do myself from when I thought I had hardly any yarn left here.

I just hope the recipient loves it...and she's not a knitter so she may not notice all the knots :)

Fiber Friday

Many bloggers have specific themes for specific days, like Wordless Wednesdays or Random Mondays, and I have always liked the idea. I'm sure it helps you to keep blogging on a more regular basis. I don't know that I will continue Fiber Fridays, but it's fitting for this post.

A couple of years ago I bought a drop spindle at Stitches West. I don't really know anything about spinning, but I have been curious. I finally decided to buy one about 10 minutes before the market closed. The woman I bought it from was kind enough to show me how to use it. I think I tried it once after that and it then sat in the closet. Until this last Wednesday night that is. One of the girls that attends the meetup said that she would teach two of us how to use our spindles. She was very patient and even gave me some better fiber to use (we knitters/spinners will do anything to temp others to fall for our craft). This is what the fiber looks like before it is spun:



And this is what it looks like after I spin it (tangle it up):



I have tried to do a little each day and like all things it takes practice. I have also put a book about spinning on hold at the library, so maybe that will help me figure things out.

Yesterday, I attended my second guild meeting. One of the members taught us how to make the silk azalea pattern she designed from silk hankies. It was so much fun and so different.

You start with a silk hankie:



Then you pull one layer off:



Next, you draft it out. This is done by poking a hole in the center with your finger and pulling it open. When it is thin enough, you break apart the loop and it will look like this:



Then you knit the petals (no spinning required):



I will be sure to post the finished product when it is done.

Happy (Fiber) Friday!

Inspection Team

Just so you know, most of my knitting projects must pass an intense inspection. You can see the team hard at work:



After working hard, some members love playing in their "crinkle tube" that Santa brought them this year:





I tried to catch Oliver poking his head through the hole in the middle because it is so cute. This is me tempting him with string:



Unfortunately, he didn't fall for it. Oh well!

Here are some recently finished projects:







I love the colors on the cowl and the yarn is SO soft! It was a birthday present, so I did have to part with it. I'm trying to be better about letting go of some of my projects. A lot of times I really want to keep them because of all the hard work and time I put into them. That's why I tend to be a little selective on where their final home will be.

I also made my first 2 layer cake. I know it's nothing spectacular, but I was proud of myself and it was much cheaper than a store bought cake (and much tastier, if I do say so myself).

A New Year

I'm bringing in the new year with a finished project. A Christmas present from last year (but not as late at that makes it sound). I just mailed it off today and I am SO ready to move beyond socks.

The yarn is STR from Blue Moon Fiber and the colorway is called Tidepooling.



The pattern is Seedy Rib Socks.



The way the coloring turned out is interesting. I love the colors, but I'm still deciding on whether or not I like the way the colors worked up on the foot. Hopefully the recipient enjoys them!



I was getting nervous that I was going to run out of yarn as I was nearing the end of the second sock. Here is what I had left:



I've seen much closer calls, but it was still very nerve-racking to me.

After reading Frugal Family Fun blog, I started thinking about what I could do with some recyclables that I had around the house and came up with this:



I'm pretty sure I've seen a similar container used this way before, but I was proud of myself for making it and adding the fabric to dress it up a little bit. It keeps the yarn neat and a little more hidden from some curious cats around here.

I wanted to also post a Christmas gift that I received this year:



I love it! It is so perfect. The only one of those four things that I haven't been doing is grading. Due to layoffs, I don't need time to grade and I have more time to knit (if you want to see the bright side of losing your job...)

To celebrate New Year's this year, we went to Reno with some friends. We usually just stay in or go to a friend's house nearby. Since some friends invited us and it is our first year as a married couple we decided to go.

The drive up was beautiful and no chains were necessary:



We celebrated our first "married" New Year's:



And the drive home wasn't quite as beautiful (if not a little scary in a Honda), but still did not need chains:



Hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's!