Multiple Topics

This will be a Multiple Topic post as I'm still catching up from the knee replacements.  Update on that issue:  I am all done with PT, the xrays look fabulous (everything is all aligned) and the Doc has released me to go back to work on the 21st. I'm still not sleeping through the night and I have one more week before work starts to get that under control.  I have absolutely no pain in the knees whatsoever.  It still amazes me.  On Sunday, I cleaned house (dusted, vacuum), changed sheets, 3 loads of laundry, etc.  Normally, changing sheets alone would have made my knees hurt so bad that I couldn't do anything for an hour.  Vacuuming was even worse.  Yesterday, other than some residual fatigue, my knees did great, NO PAIN.  I still can't believe it and I'm ecstatic.  Fatigue is because I don't have my endurance back yet, but it will come.

 

New kittens.  Back in June we lost Maddux, one of our 4 yr olds. We came back from NYC and found her dead in the cat house.  I guess it was good that she came to a safe place to die and we never did figure out what killed her.  That left us one cat to keep the mice population down.  We knew we needed to get a couple new kittens soon, but with my impending surgery, we decided to put it off.  Well, we finally broke down on Wednesday (Oct 9) and picked up 2 neutered males from the local Humane Society.  They are so cute and friendly.  Both are approximately 4 months old. Supposedly brothers, but who knows.  They get along great.  Our 4 yr old cat is NOT HAPPY!!!  I don't know that she will get used to them, she won't come up to the house anymore. She is very mad at us.  She may even leave. Time will tell.

 

Meet Oscar. 

Meet Daniel

 



We have a new LYS and I went there on opening day. It wasn't their grand opening yet, but it was their first day open.  There was a sense of community upon entering.  I could tell that the knitters surrounding the nice big table all knew each other and that they had been knitting together for awhile.  I knew one person and caught up with her. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay to knit but there were a few fibery items that followed me home by jumping into my bag.

 

The first was this Berroco Boboli Lace. It's a Wool/Acrylic/Viscose blend (42%/35%/23%).  It's soft and comes in some beautiful colors.  350 yards per skein.



 

The other one that jumped in my bag was this gorgeous lace yarn from Juniper Moon.  It's called Findley Doppled and it's a 50/50 Merino/Silk blend.  It's very soft and comes with a whopping 798 yards in a skein.  The one I bought is kind of a taupe color, my mother would have loved it.  She LOVED taupe.  I may have to make something in her memory with this one.

 The next topic is a play/musical review.  We have season tickets to a local playhouse comprised of some very talented actors.  They are a young group (20's-30's mostly), most all have a Bachelors or higher degree in Theatre and Dance.  Again, very talented.  They do quite a few musicals and their voices will bring tears to your eyes.  They do well in all aspects of drama, comedy and music.  Anyway, this review is on Spamalot.  For any of you out there that are familiar with the Monty Python movies, this play is a spoof of all the movies put together.  This play has been on Broadway and in London. You can catch some pieces of the plays on YouTube. Just search Spamalot and you'll find some links.  I can't say enough good things about this play. We laughed.....ALOT.  Basically, what I'm saying is that if you get the chance to see this play, GO SEE IT. It's worth it.

As for knitting......I bound off the Mermaids Gift Shawl. It will be blocked this week and pics uploaded shortly thereafter. It was a great pattern, not social knitting for me, although it may be for some people.  The mink yarn is so very soft and I'm tempted to buy some more. We'll see.

Last night, I cast on for the Shlippers.  What a great pattern!  I'm using Galway Worsted that I purchased at 50% off and I already have one slipper knitted. I need to seam it, but the knitting is complete.  I would say it took a couple of hours to knit it. It's hard to say exactly because I was cooking dinner, eating and watching the baseball playoffs during that time too.  Once they are seamed, then they get felted.

 

I have Raggi socks on the needles and I have turned the heel for the first sock.

I'm still going strong on the Zoom Loom squares.  I'm up to 195 squares. They are just so much fun.  Yes, of course, I know I will need to seam them, but I like tedious hand work so I don't think it will be a problem.  I'll keep you updated on that issue.

I finished weaving my sample on the Cricket Loom and I'm ready to warp it with something I want for a scarf.  I'll do that this week.  I'm also spinning 8 oz of fiber called Rosebush.  I purchased it from Fiber Fancy on Etsy over a year ago. It's 85% mixed bfl (a blended version of white and brown blue faced leicester) and 15% tussah silk top. It's been a dream to spin.  I'm spinning two 4 oz bobbins and then will ply them together for a 2 ply.  This is a picture of the top.

I think I'm caught up for now.

Talk to you later!