What I Did On My Summer Vacation (Part 2)

While I was at the lake, I had to visit the wonderful LYS in Osage Beach, the Yarn Basket. It is owned and run by 2 very delightful and helpful women (please forgive me as I've forgotten their names) who have their store filled with a fantastic selection of beautiful and well-priced yarns. There were several equally warm and welcoming women there knitting and they all made me feel very welcome. I just wish I could get down there more often. I am currently trying to knit from my stash before buying more yarn, but couldn't resist these yarns from their shop:

The purple ball and pink variegated ball are Cascade Fixation, for 2 chemo caps. Someone brought some in to drop off at the store's collection box and commented how much the ladies undergoing chemo liked the caps made from Fixation as night caps since they stayed on so well and didn't make them feel too hot. Above the Fixation is some of the soft and lovely Panda cotton I have read about and can't wait to try (I actually bought 2 skeins). The white with the colorful flecks is an acrylic blend called King Cole that feels a lot like soft wool. I'm using it to knit a stuffed bunny for a new baby and wanted something that could go in the washer and dryer.

The 2 on the right are my favorites - Alpaca With a Twist in beautiful, complimentary colors - the mint green has chocolate flecks, and the dark brown yarn has mint green flecks. When I was in Charlotte, my niece told me how she is always taking the Stormfront scarf I designed and knitted for her mom and hinted she would love her own. These are 2 of her favorite colors so I think this will be her Christmas gift.

I finished another Calorimetry in the Colinette Cadenza I got in Charlotte. After Nichole tried hers and found it was big enough to cover her and her 4 dogs (even after I swatched), I modified the pattern. I followed some recommendations I saw on Ravelry, casting on 80 stitches and reducing the 5th and 7th rows. This one is a bit too small, and will be given to my younger niece or friend's daughter. I may try again one day, because I'd love to have one, but I was a bit frustrated after this. Maybe I'll be like Goldilocks and try one more time and it will be just right.

I'm really happy to show off my other accomplishment - my first sock! I taught myself using the Wee Tiny Sock Swap Sock pattern I found on Ravelry. It's written for dpn's and I wanted to knit with the Magic Loop, so I used the Magic Loop instruction book to help me figure it out. I've been afraid of tackling socks and have avoided it for so long, but it's easier than I thought it would be. I want to make more! These were done using Magic Loop technique, cuff down. I'm still trying to decide what pattern I want to use for my first official pair, which I want to try toes-up.

So cute I could eat it!

And speaking of cute, here are some pics I took of Wolfgang. Even before his picture could go up on Pet Finder, he was adopted by a lovely couple that I met at Animal Haven. They had spent almost a year looking for the dog to replace their beloved schnoodle. I talked to them about Wolfie and they came right over to our house to meet him. They couldn't get over how much he reminded them of their previous dog (who lived a long and indulged life), down to the way he turns his ears inside-out when he's happy and the tiny white goatee under his chin. We're sad to see him go because he is such a joyful little goofball, but knowing he'll have a great new family makes it a lot easier.

The kittens are all adopted and settled happily into their new homes Curry and Gumbo both have new cat and dog siblings who have accepted them. Dora and Lucy are only children, but will be lavished with love and not having to share attention, food or toys with their obnoxious brothers.

I made each of them snugglers to take to their new homes. These were all made from the leftovers from the larger snugglers I made for the previous foster pups.

I still had a bunch of scraps left, so entertained myself by making a bunch of cat and dog toys that I donated to the shelter. Couldn't be easier.

JoAnn's had fleece on sale last week, so I bought more - I hope to get 28 cat and dog snugglers out of the next batch. Which will make 5 for these babies:


with 23 left over to donate to the shelter. Yes, I have a new batch of kittens - once I saw the poor little babies, I couldn't say no. They were picked up with their mother, who is a feral. She is very aggressive and they had trouble getting the kittens away from her to give them routine medical care. She will be spayed and then returned to her colony. The kittens will live with us until they can be adopted into great homes. I've only had them a week, but we've had some adventures already. They're only 4-5 weeks old and are such little bitty babies. They have to be fed 3 times a day, then cleaned up and medicated. I am getting up an hour earlier than I'm used to (and I am so not a morning person) and getting to bed later. Suffice it to say, not much knitting is being done.

I am dedicating any computer time I get this weekend to catching up on your blogs, which means I may not get to post again until next weekend. In the meantime, take care and happy knitting!