Thursday, August 07, 2008

Marmalade

Here are some pics and info about my cat Marmalade. You can see by looking at him how he got his name!
Here he is helping me organize patches for an "I spy" quilt.

He has some interesting napping positions!

"Now I'm comfortable!"

"Well, maybe this is better?"

"Hey, man, turn off the lights! Can't you see I'm sleeping here?"

He also sits outside the shower and waits for you to finish. Then goes in it, yes the shower, afterwards and licks the warm water up off the floor of the stall! He just loves water--well, to a point I'm sure. He hasn't taken a dip in our pool yet! But he plays in the water dish that he and the dog share. It is a little play pool for him! He'll play in the toilet too if you give him a chance. Yuck!

On that lovely note, I am going to change the topic. Thank goodness! And show you another project I did this summer, that I neglected to post when I made it! It's a table runner out of Kaffe Fassett fabrics that I did for a friend's daughter who got married this summer. In fact, the daughter is a friend of ours too. And so is the groom and his family! They all go to our church. They are a great young couple. We all just love 'em. They will be living in New Mexico!

Rose & Derek's Tablerunner

Buenos Nochos,
Wasie
:oD

2nd Socks!

No, they're not done yet...
I am doing too many things at once!! So I am knitting when I can--like waiting for my daughter at her flute lesson--stuff like that--and finishing up my older daughter's quilt for her dorm bed! Yikes! She informed me that she would leave for college EVEN IF IT WASN'T DONE! Now how about that! Curses! Foiled again! So now I am on a deadline... I just have a few blocks left and then I put the top together. I'll put a pic up of the top when it is done. I LUV IT! Picked up the backing fabric yesterday. I am glad that it is twin-sized since it is looking like I will have to machine quilt it myself on my sewing machine. So glad I had it tuned up!!

Well, I digress, back to the socks. I am making them out of Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Cotton. It's a bamboo/cotton/nylon mix color dreamy #0142 and is very soft. Needles are crystal palace US 2 dpns. My gauge was 7 st/in. I am just doing a 2x2 rib for the cuff and doing them basically like the last pair. I actually did try a pair in between these two but I messed up on the heel and ended up taking it all out--both socks. And I had done a fancier cuff--the rib was swirled. I decided it was too much for that yarn anyway--it was self-striping--and I don't think I cast on enough stitches. However, I think I figured out the whole heel business, what I had done wrong and all. (I couldn't get the stitches back on the needle to save the one sock, so I tore 'em both out. I live too far away from a yarn shop to just "pop in". It's a major drive down.) Anyhow new socks, new yarn, new beginning for socks #2. AND I have promised myself that if I am stuck that I WILL go down to the Woolie Ewe and ask Sue for help this time. So there. Here are the cuffs partway done.
Socks #2! Panda Cotton Dreamy

I have not been posting ANY of my quilting projects either so I will post at least one pic of one of them today. This is Peng's quilt. If you recall, Peng was our Chinese foreign exchange student last year. She left very early in June for China. She will return to the US in the fall for college, but not to Texas! :-( She is going to a school in Oregon. We are hoping to get to see her though at Christmas break.
Peng on the left; my oldest daughter Jess on the right.

Peng's Quilt is a quick and easy "Take 5" pattern by teachers-pet. If you need a pattern that you can do quickly this is it! I chose Peng's favorite colors and prints. Hopefully, she will enjoy using it at college.

Smile!
Wasie
8-D

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

My first socks!

This past May I took a beginning sock knitting class at the Woolie Ewe. It was so much fun! We had one class a week for 3 weeks and homework in between. The socks we made were just basic socks. I did a 2x2 rib for my cuffs and then just stockinette on the foot. The yarn I used was a great hand dyed merino wool from Peru: Hacho shade 301. I used double pointed needles US 5.

(They probably need to be blocked... Haven't really figured that out yet.)


A perfect fit! Warm & comfy!

Now I'm working on my second pair in between quilting projects!! I need to put up some photos of those too!

Have a great day!
Wasie