YinYang Kitty Socks...With Whiskers!!!

Hello All,

Thank you for your kind comments on the YinYang Kitty socks.  Nance reminded me (as did Fletch) about the Whiskers!  How could I have forgotten?  I think I was just happy to have them off the needles.  Well, last night I re-did the eyes on the dark kitty - much improved.  And I added whiskers to both:

Now I love them!  The yellow eyes are just a duplicate stitch over the green (knitted) eyes that did not show up very well.  For anyone considering knitting this pattern I recommend that you do the eyes and nose as duplicate stitches rather than intarsia.  If/when I make these again that is how I will do them.  I was thinking these would make cute slipper socks in a heavier yarn.  Just an idea.

I mentioned that Fletch and I are planning our Fall camping trip.  That will be at the beginning of October - heading up to New England and going along the coast of NH and ME, then back down to CT and the Woodstock area of NY.  And, my annual Sisters' Weekend is now set for the 24-27 of October.  Yesterday I booked my flights.  Excited!!!  We will be back in Providence, RI so we can see Mom (my friend Leslie's Mom).  I've already bought some "for coming" gifts...need/want to get a couple more things for Mom.

We are expecting some heavy rain later today - I've been receiving texts and email alerts about possible flooding.  Hoping I can escape the workplace before the deluge happens!  Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Another Monday

Good Morning!

The past few mornings have been beautiful - temps in the upper 50's and no humidity.  I think that humidity will creep in today though and temps are to rise.  The weekend was absolutely gorgeous weather-wise.

I'm happy to say that I did accomplish so much this weekend (and also managed to relax a bit).  The bathrooms are once again safe to enter - lol - and the kitchen floor has been scrubbed.  I'm not clear on how just two people can create so much dust and dirt, but it is what it is.  All clean for a day or two anyway.

The YinYang Kitty socks are finished.

Yes, the eyes and nose on the dark kitty are difficult to see (a little better in person).  I will probably go over the eyes with more green and use an embroidery stitch...but that is for another day.  Right now I am just happy to have finished these.  And, yes, one of the ears looks a bit wonky.  But that's real life folks!  I'm a relatively new knitter, so I'm just proud that I was able to get these finished (and ALL the ends woven in).

To celebrate that finish, I have some new starts:

On the right is the start of the first sleeve for my sweater that was started a year ago.  On the left is a new pair of socks for my friend Leslie.  She is allergic to wool, so this yarn is cotton and nylon.  The stripes look like watermelon!  I want to get these knit and finished before Sisters' Weekend at the end of October.

We had some visitors in our yard yesterday.  Early in the morning I saw:

Later in the afternoon 4 showed up to eat the apples that have fallen from our tree.  They also nibbled ALL the hostas and were beginning to consume one of our burning bushes!

Yesterday I looked and there are once again two frogs in our little water feature:

So cute!  They are multiplying like rabbits - lol.  There had been two a few weeks ago and then one of them was dead in the water (Tyg's doing??).  Now there are two again.  Hopefully they will remain safe, because this guy...:

He is so anxious to *play* with Froggy and Froggy Jr.  They need to keep a sharp eye out for Mr. Tyg.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

TGIF August 9, 2019

Hello!

Another work week winding down - thank God!  I feel as though I have been groggy ALL week.  hopefully the cobwebs will disappear over the weekend.

Colin was over for dinner (he grilled ribs that were delicious) last night and snapped a couple of pictures of Froggy.

A little hard to see with the glare of sun, but we enjoy having him around.  Tyg particularly is fond of him!  Luckily Froggy is quite quick and has not come under Tyg's *influence.*

So...last weekend was tres busy for moi - so much running around.  I only have a few errands to run this weekend, but I desperately need to catch up on chores which have been neglected (I'm looking at you bathrooms and kitchen floor).  I'm hoping that I can leave work by Noon today and get a lot accomplished this afternoon.  I'd really like to be able to just relax over the weekend and do some knitting.  I need/want to get back to the shawl - Odyssey I was working on (but seem to have abandoned) and I re-discovered the sweater I started last summer - Juniper - AND I have so many other patterns that I want to cast on NOW.  I need to calm down and finish some things first.  Hopefully the YinYang Kitty socks will be finished this weekend.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - enjoy!

Unraveled Wednesday August 7, 2019

Good Morning,

Here we are mid-week already!  I'm happy to say that my knitting tote finally dried out after Monday's spill.  Thank goodness it was just water!  I have not done much knitting this week - work has been busy and I've had *things* to do at night (e.g., pay all the bills that had piled up - ugh!!).  But here is the second YinYang Kitty Sock:

The heel has been turned and I'm working on the gusset decreases (I think I've done 10 rows since picking up the gusset stitches).  Only about 12 more rows and then the ears will show up!  These really are a quick (though fiddly) knit.

Still reading "The Dakota Winters" which I need to finish - my loan expires on Friday. 

As you all know, I'm not much of a TV or movie watching person (I get fidgety and need to move around and do something other than just sit!).  But, Fletch and I have watched some good things recently (I should save these for Thursday because there are 3, but...).

Last night we watched American Experience on PBS which was all about Woodstock.  (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/woodstock/ )  Oh the memories!  No, I did not go...I was 15 and not even driving until a month after the event.  Fletch was living in NYC at the time and some of his friends did go.  I'm thinking it was probably a good thing that he did not, but still...such great music!!  And a whole lot of mud - lol.

Over the weekend we watched Antonia's Line which we both enjoyed.  Definitely a foreign film vibe and it was so nice to see actors with whom we were not familiar.  Similarly, we watched Agatha and the Truth of Murder (no subtitles in this one, but new-to-us actors).  I recommend both of these films - we really enjoyed them.

Finally, August is often known for "the dog days of August," but what about the Cat Days?  Here we have Tyg in one of his yoga poses, just relaxing and trying to stay cool.

I feel like I need to stretch like that right now!  Linking up with Kat and friends on this first Unraveled Wednesday of August.  Hop on over to see what others are doing!

It's Monday.....

Well Good Morning!

It's Monday and the sun is shining.  I am so freakin' groggy - did not sleep well last night and, apparently, did not have enough coffee this morning.  As I was leaving the house I put my water bottle in my knitting bag...not making sure it was closed tightly...it tipped over on my way to work and everything in my knitting bag got wet.

So, it is all spread out by my printer in hopes that it will dry.  The bottom of my bag (which is felted) is soaked.  I have that on a lower window sill with the blind open hoping the sun will dry it.  Ah well, at least it is just water (mint flavored).

The weekend certainly sped by.  It was filled with entirely too many errands - many of which were fruitless which is fairly annoying.  In spite of too much running around, I did manage to finish the first YinYang Kitty Sock!

Cute, huh?  Obviously I still need to put the whiskers on.  I will wait until Sock #2 is completed (and I'm on the heel flap of that one!!) and then decide how to do the whiskers.  I may use embroidery thread and put them on that way, or I may use the yarn.  Tacking it down is the issue.  The green eyes are only 3 stitches each so tacking down/sewing in the ends of the yarn was an issue and a bit fiddly - I didn't want the green showing through the white in other places.  Likewise with the nose/mouth.  But I also don't want lumps in the socks - lol.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Still, I'm happy with the result.  The 2nd one is the reverse - white on the cuff and the kitty body will be the dark grey.

This is shaping up to be a fairly busy week at work, but I'm hoping to show the second YinYang sock before the week is over.

Fletch and I did finish reading The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (I liked 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea better, but this one was very good).  Last night we started Around the World in Eighty Days - I guess we are on a Jules Verne kick!  I'm more than halfway through The Dakota Winters and still enjoying it very much.

The big tomatoes are starting to ripen (I picked two yesterday) and Fletch counted 5 cantaloupes on the volunteer plant!

Hoping you all had wonderful weekends and I'm hoping I will soon feel a little less groggy!  Here's to a great week!

TGIF August 2, 2019

Good Morning All!

It was kind of a misty/foggy drive into work today.  Dawn is definitely a bit later these days and this morning felt surprisingly cool (REFRESHING!!).  I ended up turning off both the AC and the ceiling fan last night and just slept with the window open - it was wonderful.

A few more garden things for you this morning.  First up these are the sunflowers we have growing in our tall raised bed box (this is where our garlic was planted - already harvested, and we have a couple of potato plants at the other end which are just about ready to dig):

These sunflowers have grown tall - the other ones we have are fairly short.  The purple blooms in this picture are loosestrife - an invasive species, but we love it.  Another spot of color and it really has not spread in our yard - it stays in our boggy area.

More tomatoes.  I picked these last night from one plant.  There will be the same amount ready to be picked tonight!

So many!  And so delicious!  The cukes in the background are from Colin's garden.

What are you doing for the weekend?  Mine is shaping up to be fairly busy which is a disappointment.  We have a lot of errands and running around to do tomorrow.  My hope is that we can get it all done and just be home on Sunday.  Fingers crossed.

Finally, because it's Friday, there should be a feline picture.

Here is the handsome Tyg looking like he would like to say "put the camera away and just let me be."  He is sprawled on one of the deck chairs on the patio (he stole my seat when I got up to pick the tomatoes).

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - Enjoy!

Welcome August

Good Morning!

It is a clear morning and feels better than the past few days have.  We had some fairly strong storms yesterday afternoon and that helped break up some of the humidity and it lowered temps (70's when I got home from work!!).

Fletch and I were sitting on the patio enjoying a beverage before dinner (red wine for me; coffee for him), enjoying the view of the garden, listening to bird song and waiting for the hummingbird to appear (he did not).  We have a hibiscus plant at the edge of our garden and we both suddenly noticed that it was blooming!

The buds were not even visible the day before.  We don't do anything with this plant (never have) and it just keeps appearing year after year.  Always a gift.

Next to this gorgeous plant is one of our raised bed boxes.  This one is filled with:

 onions!  I think it's time these get pulled and hung up to dry.  They can't stay in the ground forever.  We have both white and red onions here and these are some of the largest we (that is the collective "we" - meaning Fletcher) have ever grown.

Towards the back of the garden is another raised bed.  Fletch did not plant anything in it this year, but thanks to composting (and birds) we have several volunteer plants:

There are at least 3 cantaloupes in there, a cherry tomato plant and a tomato plant that is producing fruit that is more the size of Campari tomatoes (which I LOVE).  Fletch picked a bunch last night.

Tonight's dinner will include both onions and tomatoes!

Joining Carole and friends for Three on Thursday.  Woo-Hoo to the weekend being in sight😄