Catching Up

Photos from the latest finished objects and other things!

The GGH eyelet scarf!


New ball winder courtesy of the hubby



Noro Iroha Capelet from Wrap Style


Finally, yarn! Sea Silk, some homespun from Ireland and the wool for the hubby's sweater

4 Years and Counting - How Do You Feel About the War?

Road Trip?

Anyone interested in carpooling on these trips, let me know!
Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival
Maryland Sheep & Wool

I'm there!!

thank you

Thank you to everyone who emailed or posted a sympathy note. Hugs to you all! I appreciate your kind words! It was a tough week, but we're getting through it. Roxy left us some really good karma :)

I have been knitting up a storm which has been very comforting. I'm nearly done with the body of Ben's plain ole sts sweater. Yay! And, I'm starting on another capelet (haven't even shown you all the one I completed out of Noro!) from the Wrap Style book. I also want to make the Dog's Steal Yarn Traveling Vines Scarf out of the gorgeous Handmaiden Sea Silk I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Wow is this a beautiful yarn! I'll post pix when I get home.

Roxanne

Yesterday goes down as one of the most difficult days of my life. My baby kitten of 17 years died around 3:30pm yesterday afternoon. Roxy - my spunky, somewhat grumpy tigress and I were together for 16 years - half my life. Although I know it was humane to put her out of her misery - she had a bad back and arthritis and was not cleaning herself anymore - I still can't get over the fact that she's no longer with us. Every time I come around the corner, I expect Roxy to be there. Every time I go into the kitchen, I hear her meow. Ben & I have a small shrine in the dining room - really an incense holder and some smooth rocks we've collected from our trips to Oregon and California. To honor Roxy, we placed a picture of her there this morning. We're not that religious, but I hope in some spiritual way it honors her and our tribute helps her into the next world. Ben wrote up a nice obit for her yesterday when I was too upset to call or write anyone who knew her:

At about 3:30 this afternoon Roxanne Cat passed away. She was ~17+ years old and is survived by a mother, father and a few odd stains. She was affectionately known as "The Cheet" (short for cheetah) because of her flesh from bone rending left hook. I first meet her on August 26, 2000 when I picked Susan up for our first date. All I saw was a flash of black and white making a beeline to the bedroom. Over the past six and half years I have spent a lot of time getting to know her and will miss her dearly; to say nothing of the loss that Susan will feel.

Ben

Needless to say, she will be sorely missed.

Working, Knitting, Traveling

It's been a crazy Spring. Not only do I have an insane full-time job (which is the job of about 5 people), but I'm teaching a graduate level course this semester too. What was I thinking! I was at a conference last week (Code4Lib - see the Van4Lib and Code4Lib photos) and realized how old and crotchety I'm becoming. Yes folks, 35 has already been a life changing year. I mentioned to one of my fellow Van4Libbers that I feel like I'm getting stupider as I get older too - I suspect that this has something to do with technology and the fact that the more I use it the worse my self-diagnosed ADD becomes. Does anyone else spend hours on the Web looking at stupid rabbit cartoons and open at least 40 Firefox tabs in any 1 session? As much as I love the Web, maybe my colleague is correct in that it's making us dumb (this should spark some comments :). I can't get away from it either! I'm a Web Apps Manager for goodness sake! I did decide at the conference that while I really enjoy working in the academic environment, I'm doggone tired. I think that a long vacation is in order. (But, Susan, didn't you just go to Prague? Yes, I did, but I already need a another vacation!) Maybe a yoga and yarn retreat?

Despite my ADD and inability to concentrate on technology, I have been knitting fairly consistently (Photos to be posted later). I finally (drum roll please) finished the GGH lace scarf I worked on for almost a year and a half. I also just finished a capelet from Wrap Style using Noro Aroha. And, I'm almost down to the body of Ben's sweater (oh my gosh, I've never knit so much sts in my life!).

This weekend Ben and I are off to our favorite state park (no, I won't tell you where it is because you'll fall in love with it too ) to stay in our special 1930s cabin. I can't wait - nothing to do but knitting, hiking and watching Poirot on my lappy. Hopefully, we'll see some wildlife since Spring is right around the corner.

Happy March 9th to everyone!

Scary Knitting

This is twisted. These are all knitted items!

Ben's mom first sent these to me in image format. I now see that they're on youtube. I like the bunny that's been impaled by a carrot.

Dog vs. Cat

Dog vs. Cat

Excerpts from a Dog's Daily Diary:

8:00 am-Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am-A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am-A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am-Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm-Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm-Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm-Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm-Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm-Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm-Wow! Watched TV with my people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm-Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary (can we say Roxanne?!):

Day 683 of my captivity:


My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.


They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed
hash or some sort
of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the
rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to
keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of
escape. In an attempt to disgust them; I once again vomit on the floor.


Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their
feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it
clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made
condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. The
audacity!


There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was
placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However,
I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my
confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what
this means, and
how to use it to my advantage.


Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my
tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try
this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.


The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and
seems to be more than willing to return! He is obviously retarded!


The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the
guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My
captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell,
so he is safe...

Finally

I was finally able to get all of our Prague pix uploaded and shared. They're out of order, but if you can make it through all of them, you'll see some amazing Czech architecture. The collections are here: http://bensue.shutterfly.com/action/
Pw: roxanne

It's been so long since I've posted that I thought I'd also share new (and end of the year) knitting projects.

In Prague, I completed a scarf that Sangeeta commissioned. I think it turned out nicely after blocking:




For Christmas and my birthday, I received so many thoughtful gifts. One in particular, a skein of Handmaiden cashmere, knitted up quickly into this little short row hat:


I also finally got around to taking a photo of my waterlily scarf which I wore religiously in Prague:


The KP&S top down sweater is coming along. I didn't take it to Prague so I pretty much stopped at sleeve one. I'm running low on yarn (yikes) so I'm going to rip out the bottom ribbing and redo in a contrast color. I'm pretty pleased with this 'weekend sweater.'



And, last but not least, I'm finally getting around to knitting Ben a sweater. I bought this yarn at the Fall Fiber Festival in Montpelier, VA. It's pretty rough right now and smells like the outdoors (sheep), but it knits up beautifully. This is the neck of a top down sweater (Albrecht's sweater) in the Morehouse Farms book.

Year in Review

Due to the fact that my knitting is a little boring right now (I'm almost to the point where I'll post some progress) and the fact that I'm freakin' 35 today!!! Urgh, I thought I'd do this meme I found on another blog site.

Instructions: Copy the first sentence that you posted in each month of 2006.

A summary for folks who think this is way too boring or long -
I'm terribly optimistic about knitting (I was about making pottery too); My lace/eyelet scarf will never get done and I did nothing in April :)

January -
No blog yet

February -
The body of my felted bag is almost complete!

March -
Okay, after figuring out the P2tog tbl thing and realizing from my stitch and bitch group that I was reading (and knitting) the purl rows the wrong way(!!!), the lace is coming along slowly.

April -
Wow - it’s been a really long time since I’ve written anything.

May -
My lace/eyelet scarf is coming along - only 200 rows to go.

June -
And I'm almost done with the other one too (only the toe to go!) (First pair of socks)

July -
knitting news: for some reason i counted incorrectly on my baby sweater and had to pull out several rows last night.

August -
i’m almost finished with the baby cardi from knitting pure & simple.

September -
The ISE scarf is complete!

October -
Due to various reasons that are posted on the ISE site (other than the fact that I am a perfectionist :), I've started on a new scarf for my pal.


November -
I'm optimistic I can complete the cardi it the next week or so.

December -
I searched all day and still no yarn store sighting! (Prague trip)