Knitting goodies

Above you can see my Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl in progress. I've only done a few rows of Clue 2, and clue 3 comes out tomorrow. I'd better get a-knittin'. In the second picture you can see a closer view that shows some of the stitch markers I got from Lizardsmells' etsy shop. You can doubleclick on any picture to embiggen it. (Thank you Jebediah Springfield.)

Next, you see my No-Purl Monkey sock which I started last night. I love the way the twisted ribbing looks. The yarn is Wollmeise, which is very nice to use. It's not as lofty as some other sock yarns, nor does it feel as soft in the skein. However, it is really nice once you start knitting with it, and just look at those great colors!


Needle Nook got in these really cool needle gauges, and I had to have one. It's so compact, looks like a nautilus, and is shiny! Ok, the shiny part speaks once again to the inner magpie, but it looks almost like a piece of jewelry.


Please go sign the petition showing your outrage for the choice to kill cats by Fox Richmond. The RSPCA is looking to get 3000 signatures. Thank you for your help.

I have a cunning plan

I just love the way those words roll off the tongue.

Anyway, I have my plans for today.

1. Finish the gray sock. I am very, very close. Just a bit more on the toe, then the thrill of kitchnering 100 stitches together, and sewing in the ends.

2. Finish clue 2 of the GKAMS. I really want to get this done, and once Keith goes to work that's one distraction down. The cats are all out romping right now, so everyone should be good and snoozy soon. They just need to get a little sunbaked.

3. Start some no purl monkeys for me with the Wollmeise.

4. Get a nap. A two hour nap. Most easily done when the kitties all want to nap. Of course Grey will spend 10 minutes kneading my belly with sharp, prickly claws, but I'll pay that toll if I can get a couple of hours of blissful snoozing. Snoozing without the phone ringing. Snoozing without dreaming I hear Sassy whimpering to go out (and getting up to check, then standing outside in the dark while she runs around the yard exploring instead of tinkling). Blissful snoozing without the sputtering of a hubby's clogged sinuses.

Hmm, maybe I'll move the nap to the top of the list.

Only two rows!

That's all I was able to knit last night. We spent yesterday catching up on some of the deferred maintenance due to last weekend's massive basement clear out. Keith had to hook up the washer and dryer before I could do any laundry, so I got to clean bathrooms. Afterwards, I did laundry while he mowed the front and back yard and got the litterboxes. We had planned to henna my hair again last night, but time slipped away from us. We did try a new DYI project. Keith cut my hair last night! Before you are too aghast, my hair was down to between my shoulder blades. It's all one length, and what I wanted was to have a couple of inches trimmed. I knew that if it looked terrible, I could go get it fixed easily enough. He actually did a great job for a first try, and I trimmed it a bit in the front. I've found that ever since Tracy moved, I haven't found a hairdresser I just loved, and more times than I care to think about I've come home after paying decent $$ and trimmed it some more in the front. If I could see well enough to do it, I would just cut it myself anyway.

On to knitting. I find that even though I am so close to finishing, I just can't pick up that darn gray sock. I wanted to work on the mystery shawl last night, but some neglected kitty needed petting and would not let me knit. I was finally able to do one round of the pattern with very little ripping (thanks to the stitch markers). We were pretty tired, so we just went to bed early. Maybe tonight I can get some knitting done. I've made a huge dent in the laundry (I still have pet beds and some blankets to wash, but the clothes are mostly finished).

Dratted lace

Last night I picked out which chart from clue 2 for the mystery shawl I would do, and I got started.

It was one of those nights. I honestly do not know how many times I had to rip that darn row out. At least 4 times. After the 3rd time, I realized that I was reading one of the chart symbols incorrectly. Don't know what possessed me last night (tired), but I kept reading the S1 K1 PSSO as a S2 K1 PSSO. No wonder I kept ending up short at the end.

I tried several new things for me to do in lace knitting last night. I am using stitch markers to help keep track of the sections. I was reluctant to do this when I did MS3 last year as I thought the markers would be moving around too much as the yarn overs and increases would change the section sizes.

I also ended up knitting on 2 circs. This is a first for me. I have avoided this for several reasons. The main one being I just knew I would pick up the wrong one and knit with it. However, the shawl wasn't working for me on magic loop, so I've switched it. I think in a few more rows it will be large enough to use the 24" circ only.

As for the 2 hours of knitting last night - well, I got one pattern row and one knit only round done. 2 hours = 2 rows of lace knitting. Lace - not the thing to knit when you're tired.

I'm really glad that the weeks of working extra are over. I can use the extra money (who couldn't), but I feel beat. I know all the work I did last weekend to clear out the basement didn't help as I didn't have a decent day off. I'm so looking forward to later in this week when the hubby is off to work, and I can take a nice, long nap. I'm going to get caught up with laundry, trash out, litter boxes and such today. I will admit I do love knowing the next monsoon won't flood the basement.

Today is a BIG day

Let me list the biggest event of the day. Scooter turns 18 today! I haven't quite decided what to get him. I'm really thinking of splurging and buying him (us) some salmon. He loves it when we eat it, and as we haven't had it for awhile, this is a great excuse to get some.

Today is Clue 2 of the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl. I'm looking forward to it. I'm still not so sure I like the chart I used for clue 1, but I'm keeping it. I'll look for a more dynamic chart to do this week. I did like the symmetry of chart B on paper, but it's a little static once knitted up. I've started calling it the eye of the hurricane. A hurricane's eye is a calm, sunny spot in the middle of the worst winds. Mine will be a calm symmetrical spot in some whirling lace.

Today is also the Start of Summer of Socks 2008. For me, SOS08

won't officially start until I get finished with Keith's sock. I'm so close. I'll get the darn thing finished this weekend, maybe even tonight. Then I can start some Monkeys with the Wollmeise.

I promised you pictures

And here they are. Sorry that they are mostly yarn! We'll start with the lace. This is Clue 1, Chart B of the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl KAL. I'm using Jaggerspun Zephyr in Copper. I am also using the most wonderful Addi Turbo Lace needles. I love, love, love these needles for lace.

These are from trip 1 to the LYS going out of business. This was the 40% off day. I got Zara and Millefili Fine.

Hmm, it looks like I'm stuck in one color.

This is trip 2. This was the 60% off day. I was in search of a few more Zara, but found this instead. Having a list wasn't much help. As you can see, I bought more of the other colors I'm stuck in too.

This is the June surprise from the Nefarious Sock Club.

See, not even a single cat picture. Grey did help me take photos, but she was able to keep her paws and whole body out of the shots. I finally had to run her off as the space she was allowing me for yarn kept getting smaller and smaller.

ETA: Mr. Chubby is thinking about becoming a house cat. I caught him looking through the open door to see what all was going on. The shredded weatherstripping is complements of Grey. She panics if the door is closed while she's outside. I've caught her actually hanging from it about a foot off the ground.

This is why I started TNR

Please take a minute and go look here. This is really why I started the TNR. It all had to do with kittens. Don't worry, it's a great picture and story with a happy ending.

In knitting news, I started on my Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl last night. It's a pi shawl, which means it's circle that is started in the middle and worked outwards. I'm using Jaggerspun Zephyr in the lovely Copper color. I'm still undecided about using beads with it or not. Unfortunately, the beads I like best are the ones I'm using on the still unfinished MS3 from last summer. I'll have to make a decision tonight. My Addi lace needles aren't quite long enough for using for magic loop, so I need to buy some more today. I think I'm posting a lot of pictures tomorrow.