LAST DAY! Take Steps, Be Heard for CCFA

Final day of the fundraiser!

We're at nearly $400, not too shabby!

Still have those 10 prizes to give away, doesn't matter if you're the first to donate or the last; any donation earns you an entry into the drawing!

So donate.

Donate.

Donate!

Did I mention donate?

If we don't raise $500, Dory will go to jail:

Just kidding. Kinda.

Take Steps, Be Heard--final days!

I know, you're sick of hearing about it.

But the good news is, it's almost over! Today, Sunday and Monday are the final 3 days of my fundraiser for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America.

The bad news is, we're only about halfway to our goal.

But the even more good news is, the number of donors is relatively low, so if you donate, you have an excellent chance of winning a prize.

Like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or one of seven other prizes!

So if you've been waiting to donate, wait no longer. Do it today!

On ancient artifacts

Approximately 77 years ago, or possibly on September 1, 2010, I started knitting a Deep V Argyle Vest. I had every intention of finishing this vest on or about November 30, 2010.

Needless to say, that didn't happen.

Otherwise I wouldn't be writing this post, would I?

No, other life events cropped up, other more pressing knitting, and the vest was pushed aside. It's spent the last . . . 16 months or so in this project bag:

But I still really want to own this vest.

For starters, I love Eunny's design.

And I adore the colors I picked for it.

And I like vests.

So I have every intention of finishing this vest.

Even if, today, it still looks like this:

And I'm not even certain exactly where I left off.

The vest pattern includes something that strikes fear in the heart of every knitter--steeking.

With that in mind, and having recovered from wasting my time with a steeking class at Rhinebeck last year, I signed up to take a class on steeking at Fibre Space this past Tuesday.

The class covered both handsewn steeks (useful on non-wool yarns) and crochet steeks. Crochet steeks were what I was most interested in, and worried about, given that most days, I can barely remember how to do a single crochet.

Way back in September 2010 when I was planning for my vest, I knit a swatch--in the round, with vertical stripes for the steek, for practice. And then left it sitting in the bag with the rest of the vest. This seemed like a good time to pull it out, so I brought it with me to class.

The instructor ooh'd and aah'd over my swatch and color choices, and that made me feel special. Yay!

But then, the hard part came.

Except.

It wasn't really that hard.

I did a somewhat sloppy single crochet along two separate columns of stitches, and then sliced the swatch open.

Easy peasy.

(The instructor didn't measure off enough yarn for one of the rows of crochet, so that top corner is unraveling, but since it's a swatch, no biggie. I'll be certain to measure off more than enough yarn when I do it for real.)

You can see the crochet is holding the yarn nice and tight, no reason to worry.

She even went over how to pick up stitches to do whatever finishing you're going to do--picking up stitches is a little awkward in the middle of the piece of fabric, so I appreciated a lesson on that.

I left the class feeling confident about steeking, while simultaneously hoping I'll still remember everything we did months (years?) from now, when I'm finally ready to steek my vest.

And now that I've steeked ONE WHOLE TIME, I'm thinking about putting together a little tutorial for the blog.

Because if I can do it, anyone can.

On movin' on up

We did something awesome yesterday.

We bought a house.

Well, to be more accurate, we signed a contract to buy a house, assuming it's not leaking radon, infested with dementors, or dissolving into a sinkhole.

Look, here it is!

A little obscured by the tree (look at all that shade! Bet it keeps the front of the house nice and cool in the summer), but this is it. 

It's awesome.

The master bedroom has a "sitting room;" I've already taken to calling it my yarn room. It has a big, beautiful window where I plan to put in a window seat and knit away.

It has a lovely kitchen with stainless steel appliances, a squillion cabinets, and an island.

(Well, it will be lovely after we paint it; it's currently BRIGHT PURPLE. What are people thinking?)

It has a finished basement where CP can play all the video games he wants without their obnoxious repetitive sound effects annoying me.

It has a woodburning fireplace, a flagstone patio in the backyard, and more than enough space for a veggie garden. And hydrangea bushes. And lilacs!

And it's a five minute walk from a very dear friend of mine.

It's not perfect. Our commute time will likely double, and it has one of those nitpicky home owners' associations. But those are things I'm willing to live with to have a gorgeous house in a quiet neighborhood (and still an easy drive to D.C. when we want a night out on the town).

No more crazy upstairs neighbor flooding our condo.

No more doors and windows rattling every time someone drops the dumb bells on the floor in the gym.

No more hauling our groceries through the garage, into the elevator and down the hall, raining grapes along the way.

Mail delivered directly to us instead of being entrusted to front desk staff who promptly lose it.

Walking right out the back door for some fresh air.

I know the time will fly by, but I feel like moving day can't get here fast enough!

Tuesdays with Dory

Dory really doesn't like snuggles. But I do!

Let me preface this by saying, last night I caught Dory trying to play with a bit of the design on the rug. So she may not really be all there, mentally.

Dear Dory,

I've tried and tried, but my cat just refuses to learn her name. I call for her and it's like she doesn't even hear me. What can I do? If she remains nameless, she might have an identity crisis!

Ignored in Illinois


Dear Ignored,

Trust me, your cat knows her name (and she likely hates it). She probably understands every word you say. But we do things on our own schedule. If you wanted a pet that comes when you call, you really should've gotten a smelly ol' dog.

If it's really essential to you that your kitty come when called, try calling her while holding a can of tuna.Voila!

Have a purrrrrfect day!

Dory


Well, wasn't that insightful? Another problem successfully resolved by the world's crankiest cat.

And don't forget, cranky or not, Dory still wants to see some more donations coming in for the CCFA! Don't miss your chance to win delicious yarn and other prizes, donate today!

Nelly's less irritated. Or just not fully awake.



On accidents

I had a bit of a, um, yarn "accident" this afternoon:

I didn't intend to do any yarn shopping, but we got a call asking for a showing of the condo, so we had to make ourselves scarce for about an hour. What better way to do so than to visit Fibre Space??

I came away with just this, which I think shows at least some restraint. Sort of. Although with MD Sheep and Wool in just 2 weeks, I know I really shouldn't have bought anything.

Oh well.

Pretty.

I also wanted to give you guys a peek at the latest shipment I received from the Madelinetosh yarn club:

This is the new (I think?) Tosh Mo, a blend of superwash merino and kid mohair (70/30). I'm not usually one for mohair, but I don't find it scratchy or unruly in this blend. The yarn is soft, and the color is gorgeous, a silvery/sage/cream. Ravelry has it listed as a DK, but after knitting up a swatch, I definitely think it's a worsted. I'm hoping to turn it into a short-sleeved cardi, possibly this one (with, you know, short sleeves, obviously).

And last but certainly not least, these arrived in the mail, soon to become some new designs!

 

For someone hoping to move soon, I certainly am accumulating an absurd amount of yarn. 

Which brings me to another point: just over a week until my fundraiser for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America comes to an end! Now is the time to donate--you'll be entered to win a prize, and I'll be able to mail the prizes out, giving me one less thing to pack up and move. Do it today! We've got $350 to go until I reach my goal--so spread the word. Facebook, Twitter, Ravelry, tell everyone you know--small donations add up, and every bit counts!

Tuesdays with, er, no one

Dory's too tuckered out to answer any questions today--our condo is finally on the market, which means strangers are tramping in and scaring the bejeezus out of her on a regular basis, so extra napping is required to recover.



(Actually, I'm stuck in a meeting all week and don't have the brain power to come up with any clever kitty advice today.)


So instead, here are some random photos from my life:

This distracted us from work for a few minutes this morning:

This was pretty awesome to see yesterday:

Plugging away at Terry's Pullover for my dad:

Here's how we spend Easter in my family: blowing each other up

Popcorn with Old Bay--a winning combination:

And a new design in the works: