Cattywampus

How traffic affects the space/time continuum

Someone is putting up interesting graffiti in my neighborhood.  It's the first time I've seen positive affirmation graffiti, pretty fun, I think.

This one below is by far my favorite though.  It's a little hard to read, it says "Make today a striped sweater day!"

Duke is finally his old self again.  He says "There is no such thing as too many pillows."

My Ravelympics poll disappeared from my blog.  I'm not sure how or why, it didn't max out or anything, but the Henley Perfected and the Layered Skater's Top were neck & neck, so I will have to choose between the two of them.

I am fairly fried right now.  We were going up to my home town in upstate NY yesterday to visit my grandmother in her new digs, see my mother and stepfather briefly, then drive down to my BFF's house to visit her, another college friend I haven't seen since our wedding.

It's a 3 and a half hour drive to where my grandmother is, then an hour to the next stop, then about 3 hours home the next day, it's a lot, but it seems reasonable, doesn't it?  It took us 6 hours to get to the first stop.  6 hours.  Because of this.  We didn't know why at the time, just that it really sucked.  A lot.  And the people we were visiting had to rearrange their plans numerous times through the day as we called with updates.

However, we did make it and the visits were all good.  Check that off as mission accomplished!  It  was great to see my grandmother's new place & hang with her and the rest of the fam for a while.  It was wonderful to see my two best friends from college and catch up.  The children are adorable (too hectic a visit for me to even remember to take any pictures!) and the dogs were good, if harried.  By this morning Pixie was even going up to the kids for some attention - of course running away when they tried to touch her - baby steps. 

The dogs are both crashed now, finally sleeping off the car rides, the chaos and the attention.  We are both exhausted.  We spent 11 hours in the car (because the 3 hour drive home took 4 hours today b/c of construction traffic) in 2 days. 

When one expects to spend 11 hours in a car in two days, it sucks.  When one expects to spend 7.5 hours in the car and instead spends 11 hours in the car - it sucks hard.  And harder.  And it makes one seriously consider getting one of those GPS dohickies with real time traffic.  Seriously.

The good thing about being in the car for 11 hours is that there is knitting to show for it.  Not as much as there should be - me being too annoyed and frustrated that our visiting time was being eaten up minute by minute to concentrate enough to knit for bits and pieces of the trip - but definitely some things to show.  Tomorrow.

Still organizing

You know how after you move you there is an adjustment period when you realize that THIS doesn't go THERE, it goes THERE but there's already something else THERE and you have to move that and you use the garage or the back porch or the foyer as a holding area while you figure out where everything goes?

Well.  Living in a condo in the city triples that adjustment period b/c there is no holding area, so you put stuff away and it is ever so tempting to leave it in the not so perfect arrangement just because moving it involves moving SO VERY MANY THINGS. 

Yesterday we just went through the one long term storage area we have and rearranged things to take some really, really long term storage things to keep in my mother's house (thank you very much for generous people with attics and garages!), put some of the shorter term storage in OUR long term storage area, and made the closet in the den a functional closet with guest linens and filing and suitcases and normal things that should be in closets and not sitting out somewhere.

It's very good, but of course in the process I dug out a bunch of stuff to go through & figure out if it stays, goes to good will, or just gets thrown out.

I found this.

This is the second quilt I ever made.  A sampler.  I will most likely NEVER make a sampler quilt again, but I learned SO MUCH from making it.  I finished the top 3 years ago before the chaos started, had plans to make it our guest bed cover but then the chaos happened and now it's now and I'm just finding it again.  I'm not going to leave it in a drawer, I'm going to take the silly thing to get quilted and use it as our guest coverlet.  Three years - crazy.

I also found this.  I had to use the flash to take this pic b/c it's SO FREAKING DREARY here, and the colors are way off - that drab green color is actually a lovely pale blue/green that matches quite nicely.

I made this on a whim on three day weekend a few years ago...I am not partial to it, and the little girls in my life already have quilts from me, so I think I'm going to find a charity that takes quilt tops to finish & donate it. 

It amazes me how I could finish these tops and then just let them sit for so long...it's amazing how far down the rabbit hole one can go after a few years like we had.  I feel like my creativity is really just coming back to the surface.

DH's cousin is expecting a baby boy in September, and I took the day on friday and made this.

The little characters are winnie the pooh.  It is AMAZING how fast a quilt can come together when you have a sewing machine that really works.  It's just FANTABULOUS!!!

Now I just need to pick up a blue border fabric to finish it off.  This might be the first baby quilt I will manage to get to the mother BEFORE the baby is born.  That would be something 'eh?

We braved the crowds last night in Olde City and went out on the town, stopped a few places for a drink and then headed to our dinner destination - cafe spice.  It was a series of unfortunate events.  First the waiter offered us a booth and then seemed confused when they were all full, then I sat down on a chair that was so wet my jeans took 30 minutes to dry, then dh used the restroom and the sink splashed him so violently he looked like he was trying to enter a wet tshirt contest, and after all that it had been 10 minutes with no one even coming to take our drink order...so we left.  We went to Pizzacato, which was lacking in effective airconditioning, but the waiter was attentive and the food was delicious.  Including the chocolate cannoli for dessert.  YUM.

The rain started at the same time as the fireworks, but we stood out and watched them anyway, they were pretty spectacular. 

Then the dog had issues again last night.  At 4:00 a.m. I was up dealing with it and at 6:00 a.m. I was outside with him...it's been 4 days on a diet of minimeals of rice and cottage cheese.  He seems fine now, but if this continues into tonight I will need to call the vet to try to get him something first thing in the morning.  I'll have to figure out some way to be home with him for part of the day, he won't make it 9 hours...SUCH a high maintenance little dog.  Updated to add:  we just went & got him some kaopectate, hopefully that will help.

Pixie doesn't understand what his problem is.  Pixie is also crazy.
   

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July everybody - if you're in the US, I hope you are having a grand day off with grilling and swimming and fireworks and all the other things that seem necessary on the 4th. 

Today things are distinctly un4thish here in Philly.  The fireworks will go on in that 'the show must go on' kind of way, but it's cool and rainy and that certainly doesn't bring out the crowds.  On the other hand, it makes for less crowds at the fireworks if we decide to go.

Our day started at 5 a.m. this morning with a dog having severe digestive track issues.  Poor little Duke - he just can't help being high maintenance.  The vet is closed today, of course, so we force fed him some pepto - I should have taken a picture of THAT - it was really funny, and we are sort of trapped in the house now b/c he needs to go out WAY too often for us to go anywhere for more than an hour or two. 

On the other hand, at least I don't have to take a day off from work to stay home with him...

I have some recent acquisitions to share with you.

I had been looking for just the right yarn to make Tempest and after much debating and flipflopping - thank you oodles to Heather who never fails to give me excellent advice no matter HOW MANY TIMES I ask about the same exact project - I landed on the Fearless Fiber's etsy site and Deb (kind and helpful as can be, as always) talked me through the real life color of a few choices I was debating between and I landed on these.

And if I'm brave enough I'm going to use all those little red buttons for this cardigan, red on grey & grey.  Maybe that makes me a tad boring, but I think it will be lovely.  OH - this is the merino/tencel blend (it's SO SHINY in person) and the colors are thundercloud and gunmetal (top).

I also picked up this while I was there - couldn't resist - her regular superwash sock in abstinence.

And after getting those socks from Jenny in Fleece Artist sock, I decided I needed to have some of my own, so I traded for this

YAY for yarn.  :-D

Random sunday events

My Goddaughter was here yesterday, so she reluctantly tried on the sweater - good common sense really, who would want to put on a sweater when it's 95 outside?

The sleeves are a little long, but on a 4 yo I think that's  a fine thing.

Today we journeyed to NJ to hit Target, there were a few things we needed.  Most certainly we needed a new one of these.

It was time.  The old one had served lengthily & dutifully, but it just didn't cut it anymore.

We also took a shot at those as seen on tv vacuum bags.

We were able to get all our winter sweaters & the guest bedding (including the duvet) under our bed with room to spare.  Very cool things.  I cringe in horror at the wrinkles that will exist come September when we drag them out, but that's easy enough to fix.

There were a number of horse & carriages driving by our place today, not their usual route, but it made for interesting views!

And now I'm off to work on a quilt before Sunday comes to an abrupt end all too soon!

Good Deeds Done Dirt Cheap?

When we finally moved my mother-in-law's belongings to our house in NC last year we ended up with two random things.  The mover called us about them, we found them and were supposed to fed ex them to the proper owner. 

Life happened, we lost the mover's number and the address to send them to and the next thing we know we're moving said things to philadephia.  I am happy to tell you that FINALLY last weekend I used the info on the outside of one of the packages to track down the proper owner of these things and they are on their way back to her.  She is thrilled to find out that these things haven't disappeared completely and didn't even question why it took us 9 months to contact her.  Realistically it's b/c they were in the storage unit with everything else until we moved and we forgot about them.  I feel bad that it took us so long to do the right thing, but good that we finally did the right thing and were actually able to find the owner.

Duke is at the vet for his xray today and Pixie is a little clingy, but other than that she's up to her normal doggy behaviors.

I finished my Goddaughter's sweater, and just in the nick of time b/c they will be visiting tomorrow - so as long as it fits we will get some FO pics on her then!

I love the buttons.

I detest the seaming.  I really don't see any reason to seam a sweater when it is SO much easier to do it seamless.  I would much rather do the calculations and convert the pattern.  I did, however, improve at the seaming as I went along.  Here's my first seam.

Not so hot.  Here's the next to the last one, it's a little blurry, but I think you can tell it's MUCH better.

My current bus socks are coming along.  I started these over Christmas & they got shoved to the bottom of a box during the move, I unearthed them recently & put them back in the line up.  It's interesting b/c this pattern (Aquaphobia) is supposed to prevent flashing & pooling - at the toe they are going along fine but then when I started increasing for the gusset they got all wonky.  It's all good, I like them, but I hope they go back to the other coloring after I turn the heel.

Sometimes the mail rocks

Sometimes something comes in the mail that's EVEN BETTER than pretty yarn. 

I know it's hard to believe, but it's true.

Yesterday I got these Random Acts of Kindness socks from Jenny. 

They are Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 (SO SOFT!) and the pattern is Froot Loop.

They are gorgeous variegated shades of red and the socks fit perfectly!  Thank you so much Jenny!

Random & Asst Things

A dog who is having his paw soaked in epsom salts because he stepped on a cactus is a very pathetic creature indeed.

Nature will prevail.

Even when you are highly allergic, kittens are still cute when there is glass between you.

I traded some yarn I didn't want anymore for this gorgeously red Ruby Sapphire Sock.

 

Ravelry is the best.

I've been busy.

First of all, thank you all SO much for all your advice on the quilt colors. I did rearrange a few of the colors before I started cutting the pieces out to give each set a little more contrast. I finished the yellow & purple groups today - using my FABU new bernina, sewing on it was a dream.

This is a really easy pattern, first you cut out the pieces of the stacked fabrics.

Then you rearrange them so each block will have one of each fabric in it.

Then you stitch them together.

Then you get your dog to wrinkle them. Maybe that step wasn't in the pattern.

My mom & stepfather came down this weekend to pack up some of my grandmother's things and take them up to NY where she will be moving next weekend, so we drove down there and brought everybody lunch yesterday. It was good to see them, but sad to know my grandmother will be moving further away even if it is the best thing for her. We will be going up to visit mid july, hopefully I will have this quilt finished and ready to take to her when we go.

I have been knitting, very little, but it does add up eventually.

A lot of things have kept me busy this past week, for one thing, I got a new computer - we have gone Mac.

For another, I spent time importing all my music and pictures and rearranging everything and that is a time suck to say the least. And the one last thing, dh was home inbetween his jobs this past week, I am SO glad he got time off to relax, but we kept DOING things instead of staying home and relaxing...hence, very little knitting time.

He starts his new job tomorrow and I hope he LOVES it.

Today I also fixed the Sorelle Lace Pullover.

As you can tell in this picture below, this top is sagging in the back, it stretched horribly, dropping the waistline by about two inches. I took the Harlot's advice and did a crochet chain across the back under the lace to tighten it up and keep it from sagging. It is now uber wearable! I will decide if I should do the same across the front after I wear it once, but I think it will be okay.

I might actually get to wear it this week as the weather is supposed to drop ALL THE WAY DOWN into the 70s. Frigid.

I have been working on my Goddaughter's sweater. I needed some buttons to finish it off, I wasn't near an LYS this weekend, so we stopped off at a big box store...all I could find was a giant bag of buttons.

Luckily there are quite a few matched sets in there, including those adorable orange flowers, which are almost exactly what I was looking for in the first place - serendipitous!

There are also these pretty little red ones, I'm not sure what they will end up on, but a grey mini-cabled cardigan would be SO pretty with red buttons, wouldn't it?

So. I'm trying to finish this sweater...and all the pieces are done, I tried to sew together the shoulder seams, the instructions simply say 'seam shoulders' - so I seamed them to where it looked like they should be seamed...but now it says to pick up 15 stitches on each front and I'll be lucky to get 6 or 7 picked up on each front. This is the first sweater I have made in pieces and am trying to seam together...I gotta tell you, I just spent a really frustrated hour trying to figure it out. Maybe I'm just being picky, but shouldn't it give me SOME clue how many inches or stitches I should seam together for the shoulder seams if it isn't obvious? Am I missing something major?

I would appreciate any helpful advice anybody can give me...I'm completely out of my comfort zone here!!

Really?

8:41 p.m., June 7, 92 degrees.  Summer says "HEY PHILLY, how are ya'?  Long time no see."

Ugh.

On the bright side, the Chocolate Bento Box at Buddakan is absolutely one of the best desserts on the planet. 

So.  Very.  Full.

Thanks Mom, totally rockin' anniversary present!! 

A harbor cruise and the end of touristing

We took a North Harbor Tour Sunday morning.  Here are some pictures with little to no explanation...I'm worn out, sorry about that, but hopefully it's mostly self explanatory.

(Sea Lions, not seals)

An actual Russian submarine.

The Midway Museum

 

The gaggle of frantic picture taking tourists (to the point of one woman throwing her bag on me to quickly snap a picture of something) who joined us on the tour.

A missile frigate off on the horizon.

We were touristed out, as it turned out, so after that - get this - we went TO THE MALL.  It was a uniquely Californian mall experience, as it was a 3 story outdoor mall, but still...it was the mall.  Then we went and sat in a coffee shop for a few hours, dh read, I knit - we went out for a drink, dinner, and crashed. 

Monday before the flight we found a yarn store!  More on that later.

Home, sweet, sneezy, laundry doing, dishwasher emptying, mail opening, grocery getting, doggy cuddling home.