Hey, look, a sweater. I think.

Apparently, its really cool to sleep on a bed if you are a cat. Stubbles has been sleeping on my bed lately, and she just looks so cute and comfy that I have been letting her do it. She sleeps on the blankets, rather than the sheets, so its not a big deal. It appears that Ditto wanted some of this bed action as well. I snapped this a few days ago: I couldn't resist, they are so cute.





About 15 seconds after I took these pictures, Ditto jumped up and ran away. I guess she thought she was in trouble. Thats pretty funny, considering she doesn't ever see the problem when she decides to sit on the dining room table. It's pretty gross, and when you yell at her and tell her to get off, she just looks at you with her big, innocent, crazy eyes. Oh well.


So I am working like mad on my mom's sweater. I am almost to the end of yarn ball #3, and there are 11 balls of yarn required for this project, so I am guessing that I am about 20% done. I am so proud!
This color isn't very accurate:



This color is, though. Stubbles is looking at the sweater with such disdain! Yes, she is on the bed again. Notice that she is on the sheet now. I guess I need to make my bed so she won't lay on the sheets. Or I could stop pandering to a small hairy mammal and shut my door to keep her out. Guess which one I will do? Make the bed.

This sweater is getting pretty heavy, and is so big that I can't stretch it out on the needles. It kind of looks like a wadded mess, huh? I am to the part where it says: "Knit at least 3 rows of garter stitch, knit until the sleeves almost meet under your arms..."
Although next week will be full of knitting time as I only have 1 day of class and then 2 finals the rest of the week, I will not be able to work on this. I won't see my mom again until next Sunday, the 13th, when she comes to Little Rock to see the Nutcracker ballet with me. I really need to see if the sleeves "almost meet" under her arms. Dammit.


I guess I will start a hat for her. She requested one, and I wanted to give her one more small knit. If I finish the hat before Sunday (and I likely will) I guess I will have to cast on the Firestarters for myself. Oh no! What a tragedy! :)

For my sister.

So my sister was asking me on Facebook: when am I going to post another blog?? Right now, dear sister.

This year I decided that, due to a low level of funding, that everyone will be recieving hand knit gifts this year for Christmas. That, and the fact that I am so sick of buying and selling that I could loose my cookies. It probably doesn't help that I work in a store that sells things that are completely unnecessary, but people spend inordinate amounts of money on every week. Of course, those are the people paying my bills so let me stop while I'm ahead.

Anyway, most of the gifts that are done are my sister's gifts, so there will only be sneak peaks for you, Jamie.

I have finished a pair of felted slippers for my mom, they are called Fuzzy Feet from Knitty Winter 2002. I always knit her slipper/socks, but everytime I knit them in acrylic they would wear out really fast. I knit some for her in wool, and she caught them on a piece of stripping between her carpet and linoleum and now has a hole in them (this womas is really accident prone). In exasperation, I tried to think of what to do....and then I was reading some of Yarn Harlot's back postings, and she was making Fuzzy Feet. I thought to myself, BINGO.

Try to snag these, mom. Or wear them out in the next decade. They are felted bulky wool, as you can see they stand up by themselves.

My mom's other gift will be a cardigan, the February Lady. I was knitting on it, and kind of messed up the first buttonhole, but it was still a hole. I came to the second buttonhole, and tried really hard to get that one right. A few rows later, I realized that not only had I screwed up the second buttonhole, but it wasn't even a hole. As this is my first sweater, and a gift, and a gift for my mom, and I am kind of a perfectionist about my knitting, I am frogging back to the row of the first buttonhole. I will get to that as soon as I finish my sister's last gift, which I only need another hour or two to finish. I may even finish tonight! I won't have any pictures up since obviously she reads this blog, but I will post them soon on Ravelry, which she does not have access to. Ha ha Jamie, I told you that you should have joined Ravelry!

To end, here is something Sylvia and I had for dinner recently. Mashed potatoes with vegan butter, kale sauted in olive oil and chopped garlic, and autumn latkes from the Veganomicon. Yum!