Good night sweet Luna girl.

We miss you already.

Took Luna (the cat on the right being snuggled) in to the vet this morning. She was 14 & suffering from renal failure.

I got her when I was in graduate school in Florida. She was 4 months old and covered in fleas in a dirt-floor shelter. I used to smuggle her back and forth to Massachusetts on the plane. She then moved to California with me, saw another cat come and go. Then her partner in the picture above was rescued from the Oakland shelter.

She came back to Massachusetts and used to sit by my father in the sun the year he was sick.

And then to RI where she was very tolerant of the puppy.

She purred up to the end as I talked to her and rubbed her head and then her eyes just closed.

Athena's been waiting for 6 years, with all the sun to bask in and a constant supply of food and clean litterboxes.

Sweet dreams.

Fire Fingers

It seemed like a waste to hide the flames in my shoes so I modified this pattern into fingerless gloves.
Dale Baby Ull
US 1 & 2

The woman who designed the Scandinavia Mitts I gave my mother for Valentine's Day has another pattern out. They're beautiful & designed with elements of her hometown incorporated. I love the crabs! Also love the downloadable patterns!!

Showed my mother her blog & she was enchanted with the Frig mittens & the wonderful little birds - so bought that one for her.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Mittens for Mom
"Scandinavia Mittens" by Randi K. Designs available here
Cascade 220
Size 4 needles
(I may not have been blogging but I've been teaching myself colorwork!)
Ravelry post w/ more details here.

Random Leo Picture

Law school is killing Christmas (pictures AND bitterness included)

I still have an exam and a paper due. I have run out of steam, again. Somehow, w/in the next 24 hours, I have to cram and incredible amount of information about Wills & Trusts into my brain. Huh.

So let's blog about knitting (warning: Ravelry links). The GAAA got stalled out at 16 blocks and I officially conceded defeat. Fortunately, Mom is a knitter & I will wrap what I have with an IOU for the last 4 blocks. So I went to plan B:
Gretel Hat: Not thrilled with the Cash Iroha for this because the cables are not as crisp as I would like. However, this project finally got me pretty adept at cabling w/out a cable needle, a process I have always resisted.
Chevron Scarf: Colinette Jitterbug & STR. This is getting finished (hopefully) in spare moments. It seems to be eternal. She saw me wearing mine and liked it. However, I knit a Noro striping scarf (which I love) and then combined the 2 into a Noro Silver Thaw Chevron (which I REALLY love).
And now another Chevron. Little tired of the concept!
The brother is getting a Malabrigo Steam Scarf. Highly recommend this pattern - turns out beautifully w/ gorgeous reversible cables!
Aunt is getting Ella (which was knit a couple of yrs. ago and put aside).
And a friend is getting "Ruffles" from Scarf Style in Nashua stripes (sorry no pic).

In my dream world, I would be drinking eggnog, eating french toast & making a lovely little tree forest filled with kitschy Xmas trees, these little beauties & Korknisse for my mother's mantle.

I'm going to have to settle for coffee, cold cereal, & Wills & Trusts.

Happy freakin' holidays!

(Sorry for the "bluey" pictures - I think something got screwy on the camera & I'm not sure how to fix it!)

The Coolest Hoodie EVER

I admired this hoodie on Ravelry a while back & left a msg for the designer that I would love to see the pattern if she ever put it together. Got a msg today with the link to the pattern!! Go look. Now. How awesome is that??? I just adore it.

Now if I were just clever enough to figure out how to convert it to worsted weight...I tend to wear those more often than bulky.

Holiday guilt

Do you remember being able to pop out to the store and just BUY a gift? Or maybe even just give an Amazon gift certificate (gasp of horror)?

I don't.

It's time for holiday knitting. Actually, depending on the number of giftees / the complexity & size of the knitter's ambitions, it's been time for holiday knitting for months. Holiday knitting, if you start early enough, can actually be quite joyous. there is great pleasure in knitting for someone else. Knowing you are putting such love and thought and skill into their gift (etc., etc., other knitters have said this much more eloquently than I).

I blew it. I'm already tired of my holiday knitting and I am wracked with guilt. I decided I finally was going to knit the Great American Aran Afghan for my mother. She turned 75 this year and I only knit her a scarf version of the Morning Glory stole for her birthday. It felt inadequate.
I knew the afghan was going to be a lengthy project so I started in early August and was quite dedicated for quite a while. I actually got 12 out of the 20 squares done (sounds pretty good but don't forget all that blocking / seaming / border).

Then I decided I was so far along I could take a "break" for the month of October and knit a couple of things for other people & for myself. Now it's November & I'm finding myself bargaining with my inner knitter: "Just let me work on this for ONE more night and then I'll start another square...just one more sock...I just want to finish that sweater because it's getting cold...and I actually want that scarf to be done...I NEED it...I'm not just selfishly knitting for knitting's sake."

For F*&k's sake. When you are guilt-ridden beginning in August about doing any knitting but holiday knitting, you have a serious problem. Damn afghan. I wore my chevron scarf the other day and she admired that greatly. Turns out she wants a chevron scarf. Hmmm. Maybe the afghan can wait until mother's day.

Other notes from the holiday knitting: brother wanted knee length kilt hose. Brother is getting a steam scarf (Ravelry link) which is almost done. Friend had a scarf knitted (and FINISHED) b/c she was having surgery. Friend is now well on her way to recovery & will get the scarf for Xmas b/c I am lame & never got to the post office. Aunt didn't make any requests but was wearing a really awful crocheted shawl to something last year. Aunt is getting Ella, which I made a few years ago and never wore (I even feel guilty about THAT but I assuage my guilt w/ the fact that Aunt got a handknit sweater 3 Xmas' ago). Friend was going to get Bicycle Helmet Ear Warmers from magknits(?) but I asked & it turns out he will never wear them so they can be safely taken out of the Ravelry queue.

Through all of this - keep in mind that some of my psychosis may be congenital. I come from a family with a long tradition of handmade gifts. I happen to know what my mother is making me for Xmas & it is freakin' gorgeous.

We'll see how far I get on the afghan. I'll restart this weekend. There may be some last-minute chevron scarf knitting in December. I already have the yarn. Just in case.