Making nice with lace

If you read my blog, you may remember when I started the Swallowtail shawl that I ripped out. I started it out of Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks. At first, I decided that I was going to cast lace out of my life forever. It was my enemy. Then, I got realistic... I know how to knit lace. I knit lace socks, I add lace panels to baby clothes... it wasn't the lace. It was just the yarn. Then, I decided I'd only do lace in fingering weight or thicker. No more lace weight for me. Then, I got realistic again, maybe it was just the lace weight I was using....

So, I started again with Knit Picks Shadow, which I had in my stash. I am loving it!! I think a lace monster may have been born.

I also just placed an order with Jimmy Beans Wool. I ordered yarn for the Apres Surf Hoodie!! I also ordered the Make It Modern pattern book from Classic Elite because they had it available, and I'm worried it'll sell out. I really love those patterns - I want to knit practically every one of those patterns.

Kitty update: We found the kittens mother, and sibling. It belongs to a neighbor a few doors down. At first the mother didn't want to let it nurse, but it seems like she has taken it back in now. We don't know how the kitten ended all the way down in our driveway?

And for a good laugh, here's a pattern for a kitty argyle sweater vest.

Anybody want a kitten?

Animals that are lost or sick always seem to know where to find us. They know we can not ignore them, and we'll take them in.

This was in our driveway. Sick, and hungry. He is sneezing and has pus in it's eyes and nose.

It didn't know how to eat so I went and got formula and a bottle and fed it a little. I gave it some Clindamycin drops we have for felines.

This is him after we cleaned his eyes out and his face off. My husband will take him to the vet on Tuesday.

We really don't want another cat, though. So does anybody want a kitten? :)

In other news, I went and spent tons of money today. I bought an oven, finally. (No, we haven't had an oven since we moved in.) I'm very excited because I used to LOVE to bake. I can't wait to bake again.

We also bought a new mattress for the second guest bedroom.

In knitting related stuff, I screwed up my Hemlock Ring big time. We are taking a break. Not breaking up, but definitely a time out.

I also knit about 7 rows of the Twisted Tulips sock, and while it's a beautiful sock, I hate it. I ripped it out, took it out of my queue. I think it's just way too complicated to satisfy my sock craving. I like my socks to be intuitive and flow easily. It's my relaxation knitting.

Fiber Arts Guild

My Fiber Arts Guild had a table display up today at something held at the county extension office. So much talent!

The quilters also had a beautiful display.

Now, I have to go organize and do some more planning. I'll be participating in the World's Longest Yard sale this year, as I live directly on this road. It's the first of August and I already have boxes of things to sale.  I think I'll go ahead and price some and pack them up in labeled boxes or I'll be overwhelmed come August.

Fun with Tagging

Michelle tagged me, so here we go~!

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was 19 years old, working on my art degree. I was having lots of fun. Age 19 was good to me.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Go to work, ... uhm, that's all. Actually I'm feeling kind of bad today, so just getting through the workday was a good thing, and that's all I needed to do. My husband's making my dinner.

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Oh, I love anything chocolate. I had a delicious chocolate hot fudge cake with vanilla ice cream today. They gave it out at our staff meeting ( I didn't go to the meeting because I was in the PACU working, but someone brought me some). I also have a secret sickness of loving Stove Top stuffing. I freaking love Stove Top, and I would pick it over sweets most days. My husband thinks it's a frightening part of my personality.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

I'd finish restoring my house. I also have a desire to work with AIDS patients (particularly children) in Africa, so I'd go do that and wouldn't need to worry about getting paid.

5) Places I have lived:

I've always lived in KY - grew up in Eastern KY, but now live in Central KY. I studied abroad in China, but I guess that doesn't count as a residence.

5 peeps I want to know more about: CTJen, Rachel, sheepishone, FreeRangeKnitter, and MostlySelfTaughtKnitter.

I have been knitting (slowly).  Still working on the Hemlock Ring.  I'm still not sure about what sweater I want to make. I've narrowed it down to three.  The Caitlin Pullover by Pam Allen, Apres Surf Hoodie from Interweave Summer 08 (look at Michelle's GORGEOUS version!!), and the Tweedy Aran Cardigan by Norah Gaughn.

I Need Yarn.

I have been having the urge to knit sweaters.  Everyone knows I don't have much of a stash, but I really don't have any sweater yarn stash!  I need to figure out what sweater to knit....  I can't choose!!!  Any suggestions?

I also had a birthday on Saturday.  I turned 29.  I got Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman!!!  I was so excited.  My husband got me the biggest, sweetest gift of all.  He gave me his mom's wedding ring.

Not much of a post today, but I am at a knitting stand-still.

FO: Saartje's Bootees

I finished up some of these super cute Saartje's Bootees. Sorry about the picture quality, it was cloudy and rainy today. I just snapped the pictures quickly because I took them to their recipient today.

Knitting toys badly!

I have been on this kick where I really want to knit toys lately. So I attempted to knit Little Knitted Sheep by Barbara Prime with some leftover yarns I had. This is what I have so far. I sewed her head on badly, but maybe I can hide that with a pretty little ribbon or knitted scarf. Also, I ran out of my leftover yarn, and so she won't get arms. Or a tail.

I also have been crazy obsessive today. I went and got some page protectors and started organizing all my printed out patterns. You can see that behind my poor little sheep.

Totally off toipic... I start my allergy shots next week. It'll be twice a week, two injections each time. Yikes. I am seriously allergic to the world!