Thursday, September 6, 2007

A very bad dog.

A couple weeks ago, I came home to this:

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"Ummmm... me? Nothing..." You see, if our beautiful Australian Shepard/racing breed mutt isn't brought to the dog park as close to every day as possible, this is what you get. No, walking will not help much- we can walk her an hour a day, and it does almost nothing for her... she needs to run. A lot.

She's pretty good if she gets enough exercise, but her eating-fits are very unpredictable. She's a year and 7 months-ish old, and in the year-plus we've had her, she's only eaten one shoe (only one little strap on said shoe, in fact), but then she pulls out all the stops and does this:

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That would be: one ball of Rowan 4-Ply Soft ($9) mostly destroyed, one brand-new customized GoKnit Pouch ($20) that will need major work, one discontinued walnut #11 Brittany knitting needle ($25-50 on Ebay) that just happened to be half of my very favorite needles, one set of #7 Clover 16" circs ($8) destroyed, one Chibi needle case (not shown, $5) destroyed, and an evening spent repairing/rewinding damage.

Not that it couldn't have been much worse, I know, but still. I really, really wanted to strangle her. She's very lucky that she's adorable.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Oh Baby!

Here's a set I made a while back, but I didn't want to post until after I gave them to Rhiannon's mama at her baby shower... it's the Baby Bolero from One Skein, the hat is from One Skein Wonders (altered so it wasn't so crazy tall... who has a head like that?), and a washcloth (pattern from the lovely ladies at my LYS, Filati). The leaf & flower embellishments are from various stitch collection books.

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The yarn is Plymouth Fantasy Naturale (100% Cotton): 8011 (green), and Bernat Cottontots (100% Cotton): Pretty in Pink. I'm hoping to get an action shot at some point...

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I reeeally want to steal her.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Big City Knitty

So, here's a couple knits from Wenlan Chia's Twinkle's Big City Knits... I had been putting off knitting from this book because of sizing issues (I won't be staying this size for long, read more below), but I had heard they stretch quite a bit, so I gave the Balthazar vest a try as a test.

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Lion Wool Ease Thick & Quick: Pumpkin

Maybe not so great on a big girl, but it did turn out super stretchy,
so it will definitely fit when I'm smaller.

And you can't go wrong with a hat:

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Lion Wool Ease Thick & Quick: Raspberry

I'd love to use Twinkle yarns, but even cheapy Lion gets expensive fast for the larger projects in the book (there are also a couple Twinkle patterns in Interweave I've had on my list of to-do's for quite a while now). The Thick & Quick works well for gauge, though, and comes in some pretty rad colors if you shop around.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Fresh off the needles.

I've been on the lookout for pieces to knit that would fit if (when!) I get to my goal weight (20 lbs. down, 40 more to go...). So I thought most shrugs would be good for that, since they don't cross the boob-age. I've already posted one recently, and here's a couple more:

Ok, this one was a bit of a pain... It's the Viennese Shrug from Interweave. First I started knitting it without checking for errors (and without swatching, so I have no one to blame but myself), but it turned out that instead of the worsted weight the pattern called for, it actually used sport weight. I got this far before realizing the mistake:

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So, I started over and got through... It was the most intricate pattern I've finished yet, but a lot of fun. And worth it, I think...

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The pattern was from Interweave Knits (Summer 2005) and
the yarn was Knit Pick's Telemark in Tidepool Heather.

Next is the Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style:

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It's knit in Knit Picks Andean Silk (55% Super Fine Alpaca,
23% Silk, 22% Merino Wool ) in Cream.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Fare thee well, Fabcon.

RIP, Fabcon. It's over folks... mourn ye well.


July 2007

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June 2007
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May 2007

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April 2007

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February 2007

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January 2007

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December 2006

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Oh Fabcon, we hardly knew ye.

I'll still teach anyone to knit. Pretty much whether they like it or not. xoxo.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Ranch. Of the Sea.

As in, Sea Ranch. Pictures from our 2nd anniversary vacation there are up on Shutterfly...

So, most people want to go somewhere warm on vacation, but living in the Sacramento valley makes us long for places like this:


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Here's the house where we stayed (Thanks, Adrian!):

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Oh deer!

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And our dog was in mid-air for the majority of the 5 days.

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Go see the rest here: http://awesomefraser.shutterfly.com/action/

And just to make this knitting related, I posed for pics of my Ribbed Lace Bolero (fabulous pattern by tragicheroine---> http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=181117.0):

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And my new labels!

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I used 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran 300611
(compensated for by going down a needle size),
which is, as I have stated in the past, soft as kittens.
Kittens, I say.

Friday, July 6, 2007

My knitting neglect.

Ok, I have been knitting... I've got a sweater almost done! I'll post pics when it is.

What I have been doing:

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New inventory for Etsy! There's tons of shrinky pieces (my first!) and some other bits and bobs I've been working on. I'm pretty happy with the new stuff... I hope others are...

Go here to look:
http://nillakitty.etsy.com/

And gardening! It's harvest time, yo!
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Our new garden! We only built it a couple months ago, so I didn't plant a ton of stuff since we we so late, but since we had such a long cool spring everything did really well...
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We even have lettuce still! Not for long I bet... It's like 104◦ out today.
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Chamomile! I'll have maybe enough for a whole pot of tea this year!
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Mini-peppers, squash, and lemon cucumbers are all ready (the melon will take awhile longer), plus chard, beans, and lettuce... Tomatoes in a couple weeks, methinks...
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Laika's not sure about the looks of this...
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Yaaaaay! A salad entirely from my garden! Yummmmm...

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Hoot Hoot!

The owl hat is now available as a pattern on Etsy!
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Buy it here:
http://nillakitty.etsy.com

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Etsy Shop UP and RUNNING!

Visit my brand spankin' new Etsy shop where I sell stuff! That I made! So I don't have to get real job! Yaaaaay!

NILLAKITTY'S
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http://nillakitty.etsy.com/


You can buy my Bubble Stitch Bag Pattern, fine silver jewelry, or commission a painting!

My new fine silver pieces:



Friday, June 8, 2007

Knitting Nature Hats

I LOVE this book!
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Unfortunately, I'm not knitting sweaters until I get close to my target weight, soooooo....
hats it is!
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Cascade 220 Heathers (100%wool): 9454
This pattern was a tiny bit tricky for a somewhat beginner, but so worth it.
I'm so in love with this yarn's color...

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Cascade 220 Heathers (100%wool): 4009
This is the second one of these I've knitted- there's a pic of the first one here:
I added a crocheted edge to both of them because they turned out a bit too short for me.
Now I can't decide which one I like better...

Kureyon Bags!

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Noro Kureyon (100% Wool): 164
Two Old Bags Pattern
My friend Katherine knitted one of these for her first big project after I taught her how to knit (the girl's a natural!) & I loved her hot pink tweed one so much I had to make my own version...


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Noro Kureyon (100% Wool): 95
Lined with Wool Felt
My Pattern
Lining this one was kind of a pain in the arse (I'm not much of a seamstress, other than having to hem every pair of pants I buy- I'm 5'1"), but I love how it turned out...

My B'OWL is sooooo pretty.

For those Tim & Eric fans out there:

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