We have heels!

Last night I completed both heels in record time - 2 hours each - perhaps it's because they are a smaller sized sock and perhaps it's because I finally get the construction of them.

There's four steps in the Crazy Toes and Heels method:
1...Short row down
2...Turn the heel
3...Short row up
4...Meld gusset stitches with the heel stitches.

They fit well and it's good to be on the home stretch. The cuffs will probably be plain ribbing, maybe 4 knit and 2 purl??

After some furious knitting the last few days, we have completed gussets. Heels are the next step.

I said that I'd try not to cast on for the next pair of socks until I was at this stage. For once I managed to stick to it. Last night I cast on using "Crayon" from my hand dyed stash. Can't wait to see how this knits up.

Hopefully I'll get to the heels Thursday if I can drag myself away from these ones.

Update

The socks are coming along nicely, I am now up to the gusset increases and almost ready to start the slip stitch pattern under the heel. I think I'll try the Eye of Partridge this time. Almost ready to cast on the other pair! - I am still on holidays this week and have plenty of time to complete the heels, so shh, we'll keep that a secret.

I can't remember how I divided this ball up, but you can see that I picked the right starting point for them. The pattern lines up well. I know they have a long pattern repeat but half a sock?! Don't know if I can do this again. With all my hand dyed yarns they are just going to be cast on, there is no way I can line them up as I just chucked the dye on willy nilly and fudged it to get the same effect overall. Busting to see how they turn out though.

Pattern: Queen Kahuna's Crazy Toes and Heels Book - standard pattern I always use.

Needles: 2 x 60cm circulars.

Yarn: Opal Magic Yellow.

The little guy is settling in, the others only growl at him in passing. This morning he was playing with Scrappy and Kitty in the yard. He has really made himself at home, last night he bounded onto my bed and plonked himself down with his head on my pillow and his butt in the bed!

He is fascinated with my knitting and will attack the needles which makes knitting difficult until he falls asleep. You just have to get his attention and he'll jump on your lap for a cuddle and a snooze.

Sock Progress

Now that the weather is getting colder, I feel more like knitting.


There's been some steady progress on Miss A's socks. Enjoying these, love making socks and I am restraining myself too because I really want to cast on for socks in some of the yarn I dyed last weekend. So I 've made a deal with myself, knowing heels take all day (3-4 hours each to fully complete, so I need to set aside a good part of a day to solidly knit heels) When I get to the heels and there's not enough time to finish one in one sitting then I'll cast on new socks.

D'ya reckon I'll last??

I finished this scarf for a co worker - finally - I had to choose a yarn that I didn't like so that when I was finished I wouldn't want to keep it. I've kept two others for myself. Even though this is very soft and warm, and the colour is not what I would usually buy, I like it. There were so many knots in this yarn I hope my joins hold out. Part of me thinks that I can't risk giving it as a gift if it'll come undone....fingers crossed.

Here is one that I just had to keep myself, I love this yarn, love the colours. So much that I had to make a matching hat.

This hat worked up quickly, but alas it is not deep enough for my big head. So another will be made shortly. Miss A is the owner of this now.

See what she's done with it?

It's perfect for a nest for her two Egg Flips - a new collectable (bird ??) toy here in Oz. They know how to market to kids don't they, cute looking, different smelling, you don't know which one you'll get when you buy 'em and you gotta get the whole set! Yeah right!

Aaww, aren't they just the cutest faced toy you've seen lately.

Can we keep him?

You know that we lost one of our cats 2 weeks ago...weeellll...

A couple of days ago the neighbour's boy came knocking at our door to ask if the bundle he was holding was one of our cats. He'd been feeding it but his Mum said they couldn't keep it. Do you want it he asks?
"Nooo!" says I, we already have three! "No thanks", and off he went.

What was sitting out on our outdoor chair in the backyard the next day??

I tried to ignore him but ended up ringing Mr Ex at work and saying that we've been adopted and what should I do. I was ready to pack him into the cat cage and head for the Animal Welfare. But Mr Ex said "Well give him some food" and the words "wait till I get home". With anyone else he would have wandered away but not our house. We are the ones most likely to take him on. What can you do??? Mr Ex said that he can't bury anymore cats and was reluctant to keep him, and it would have to be my decision and my responsibility.

Anyway later that night after checking to see if he was still out the back, we made a bed for him in a box with an old blanket, but he preferred the mat on the back step. It was getting cold and he has a sore leg (he's limping and so skinny too.) so we decided to let him in. You can imagine our other cats were delighted with this! They've only been hissing at him, nothing too fierce. So he stayed the night.

Guess where he slept? Yep, with Mr Ex.

Guess who I caught snuggling and smooching with him in the bathroom this morning? Yep, Mr Ex.

Guess who says he better stay for a few days to see if his leg improves? Yep.

He has made himself right at home here. I tell ya, he kicked a goal coming to our house.

He's not that old either I'm guessing around 10 months. He's very affectionate. Cute little face. Beautiful orange eyes. Miss A likes him.

Debate rages on what to call him though - I suggested "Andy", but Mr Ex says he's not standing out the back calling "Andy". He suggests "Tiger" because he's a tabby cat and our last tabby cat was "Tiger". Miss A suggests "Hoppy" because he's hopping.

So, can we keep him??

Dyeing Adventures

I trust everyone had a good Easter. For me it was the best one in years, Mr Ex has gone for the weekend and Miss A and I are having a girl's weekend in.

Ahh, Easter Sunday, a nice sunny day - a perfect day for dyeing some yarn.

I have more pictures on my Picture Trail albums. Blogger wasn't playing nice again and swallowed every photo I uploaded for an hour, so I have uploaded heaps to PT (my complete hand dyed collection and some 'in progress' photos in a separate album) and these below are yesterday's efforts.

Miss A and I had fun naming them.


First up is Marine Life:
This had black flecks too, but they washed out!

Here we have Moss:

This was made by using up all the left over dyes from Marine Life. Then saturating with a light green to help mute the colours.

Ooh Crushed Berry:

With purple and black, dabbed on randomly then purple was used to fill in the gaps.

Autumn:

The first one using flecks but they all washed out. I had another go below though. Oh and the pink turned into a coral colour.

Crayon:

Second attempt at flecking. I used more dye powder to help retain the hot pink colour. The flecks are more like spots. The spots were done with blue dye so the pink has purple spots, the yellow has green spots and the orange has brown spots - very pretty.

Cute Content:

Kitty likes the beanbag at the moment, she'll stalk it, wrestle it into submission then snuggle in it. She sleeps in it every night. Used to be the end of my bed but Puddy has that spot now.

Knitting update

Thanks for all the kind words regarding the loss of one of our cats. Much appreciated.

Ok, on to knitting content:

Currently knitting a Brangelina hat using the same yarn for the pink/ white chunky scarf a few posts ago.
Going on an excursion with the class, on a boat, to see dolphins this week and need warm accessories, eg. scarf and matching hat. Hopefully the kids won't laugh at me (like last time, lol) and I won't lool like a d**k (yep, duck :) ) Must remember to take gloves.

Must finish said hat and scarf too. Should disconnect internet and knit more.

A few scarves. Come to think of it I have not gone much further than my last post on what I am currently knitting.
I envy the people who churn out finished item after item. I seem to spend more time thinking about knitting than actually doing it. Hmm must rectify that.


I am thinking about Denise interchangeable needles and the Needlemaster set of needles.
Does anyone have any preference for either one? I think they both have their good points. Denise needles are available in Oz from The Woolshack for $85.00.

I also crumbled and ordered this. I have been coveting it for ages and finally decided to get it. Should be here very soon.

If I'm not knitting or thinking about knitting I'm reading about it! Yesterday Miss A and I ventured into the city to collect some books I had reserved at the library - 'A Good Yarn' by Debbie Macomber, and 'Knitting' by a local South Australian author - Anne Bartlett.

Also awaiting delivery from Amazon.com are two books 'Knitting Rules' by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and 'Mason-Dixson Knitting' can't wait.

Bye Gypsy

We had to say goodbye to one of our dear cats last night.

Gypsy had been sick since last week with pneumonia and went downhill rapidly 2 days ago. I took her to the vets Thursday morning and after some xrays and a blood test we found out that our dear girl had a low white blood cell count and was in the end stage of FIV (feline AIDS).

The vet said that it was unlikely that she would recover, so the decision was made to end her suffering. What else could we do, she was 13 years old.

Gypsy chose to live with us as she was the neighbours cat originally and just kept spending more and more time at our house. When the neighbours moved she was officially ours.

She was Gypsy by name and Gypsy by nature. You would often see her asleep in the rain, she would howl to go outside if she was in for any length of time.
I recall just a few months ago how she would go from Mr X's room to my room howling constantly until someone got the sh*ts and would let her out. In the end she couldn't meow at all just a squeak would come out.
She was an excellent mouser and would often bring home *treats* for us.

Once when Mr X left the shed door open she managed to climb up and tip a great big bucket of waste oil over herself and everything surrounding it. I have fond memories now of bathing (repeatedly) an adult cat who hates water! Oh the scratches we received. It took ages and many washes to get the oil out of her fur. That's something we'll laugh about.

We quite often referred to her as the 'Barbie' of the cat world as she was a bit slow and would forget that she's just been let outside and would turn around to come in again.

The hardest part was telling Miss 9 what was going to happen. We went to say goodbye to Gypsy and then we left while the vet did what she had to. I feel that I left her, let her down by not being there right to the end for her.
But she was on pain meds and was a bit out of it. Perhaps she didn't know. Oh, I don't do death very well. We had a nice cuddle before though and said our goodbyes. When we bought her home afterwards she looked so peaceful.
She is now next to Tiger and Smoochy and our rabbit ( who passed on last month )

Rest now dear Gypsy, seeya at the Rainbow Bridge!