before and after

Still no knitting for me. I tried to eat lunch with chopsticks but my hand hurt so I had to ask for a fork. I'm Chinese - it was embarrassing. BTW, it's really tricky eating chicken's feet with a fork.

To keep myself busy, I did some quilting yesterday night. Remember when I "rescued" this quilt top last Nov?


Here's what it looks like now (click to embiggen):


I carefully pulled off the original border and stitch ripped (such tiny stitches!) some of the blocks that needed their seam allowances kept. I cut all the remaining blocks. I feel so bad because someone stem stitched between all the seams. I carefully assembled the blocks in the exact same order as the original top.

I was going to baste it tonite but I don't have any unbleached cotton for the backing. I showed hubby the bleached cotton but he thinks the unbleached would look better. I'll pick some up when I go fabric shopping tomorrow. I guess I'll work on pulling apart the second quilt top. It's much smaller but the back of it looks like thread barf because the embroidery tails were left long and they're tangled up with the loose threads from the base fabric. What a mess.

I was out and about today enjoying the good weather. Since I can't garden with my gimpy hand, I toured the boarding place that the cats will be staying at while we're away - Cat Paws Inn. Talk about fancy - radiant floor heating, sky lights, outdoor runs, air conditioning, and every room has at least one window. Some rooms have been designed for elderly cats (window is at floor level). You have to pass through 2 doors to get inside and the second door won't open unless the first door's closed and vice versa. I got Ricky and Phoebe side-by-side rooms with a connecting door so that they can visit each other yet Phoebe has some privacy during meals. This is going to be great - expensive but great. Nothing but the best for our beasties!

I also hit a major antique area to look for extra dining chairs. I found out that my chairs are "Canadiana T-back with carved feet". I could only find ones with the uncarved feet today. So I guess, I'll keep looking. The antique mall told me that they see them regularly. I bought some metal sock blockers for hubby (only $8.50!) and I found wooden stocking blockers but I didn't buy them because the foot was too small.

Off to decide what I'm making for supper - stir fry noodles or hash browns & omelets.

it hurts

I can't knit. My right hand hurts when I grip the needle. There's shooting pain along the back of my hand right between the knuckles. Ugh! Maybe I strained it pulling super jumbo weeds on the weekend.

So no knitting to show you. I am so sad. What am I going to do tomorrow at knit nite?

I will distract you from the lack of knitting with a picture of Ricky practising his yoga.

sock success

I frog'd the socks that I started yesterday with the Blackberry Ridge wool/silk lace cuz they were too big. If you have wide/large feet, the New England pattern by Nancy Bush would be a good option. After browsing through my Ravelry queue, I cast on the Waving Lace socks and so far, so good.


Although, this is lace yarn, I'm pretty close to gauge on US0 (2mm) dpns. Speaking of dpns, I'm using HiyaHiya ones for the first time. They're nice and light and very pointy.

The cats are eating again which means they've recovered from their vet visit. Phoebe got off her rump and ate dinner from her bowl's usual spot. And ten seconds after I put the chicken cordon bleu on the table, Ricky's head popped up from a dining chair. Hubby tapped Ricky on the head and shoved the chair further in. About a minute later, Ricky's head pops up again but from a different chair. LOL! Ricky really loves chicken but he never gets any.

my poor kitties

Phoebe and Ricky went to the vet yesterday for their annual vaccinations. The minute Ricky saw the crate, he meowed "no way" and hid under the ottoman. I shoved the ottoman out of the way and when I picked him up, he was velcro'd to the rug. At the vet's, Phoebe wouldn't come out of her crate. She had all 4 paws braced.

They were mostly ok when they got home. Ricky did have an upset tummy and had trouble keeping his supper down. Luckily, he let out a "my tummy hurts" meow and hubby hustled him into the bathroom. Phoebe couldn't get herself to her bowl this morning so she got breakfast in bed. She's lucky she's got servants. They go back to the vet in a few weeks to have their annual bath and their teeth cleaned.

Yesterday was a bonus mail day. My Monkey swap package arrived in the morning and my Old Mill Knitting prize got delivered in the afternoon. I picked the shawl pattern and the dark blue Naturally Dawn.


Old Mill Knitting is running contests all year long. Once a month (date and time is randomly chosen), the contest is open for entries. The first 3 entries that meet all the qualifications (Canadians only; 2 out of 3 winners must have a Ravelry id) will win a pattern and enough of the featured yarn to knit it. The yarn/pattern changes from month to month. The May contest is over so go check it out in June.

Instead of knitting, I finished the quilt for Gladys' youngest son.


It's only taken me a year or so. I used a product called Quilt Pounce to mark the border. I don't think I'll ever use it again. It's like a chalk board brush but the brush dispenses the chalk. Of course, the dust gets everywhere. I definitely prefer my Clover chalk pens.

Yesterday night, I picked up a skein of Blackberry Ridge lace silk blend in dark clover. It's labelled lace but I think it's closer to fingering. I've cast on for a pair of socks but I think they're going to be too big for my feet. I'm going to frog it and look for another pattern.

Monkeys from Oz!

The doorbell rang before 9am (while I was eating breakfast and still in my Pooh bear pjs) and it was my Monkey swap package from Mel in Australia!

She sent me some wonderfully crazy purple Monkey socks! I don't know what the yarn is.


Plus I got some great monkey goodies and sock yarn galore - you can see it all in the picture below.


She sent me 3 (!!!) different sock yarns. The Knittery Merino Slim is soooo silky and smooth. It's hard to believe that it's just merino. I can't stop petting it. And I love the monkey fabric. I've been spoiled :) Thanks so much, Mel!

The Auburn Camp Shirt is going gangbusters. I'm on the second ball of yarn and it's about halfway to the armhole.


I took it to Prince Caspian and the theatre was pretty empty so I managed to knit at least a few rows when I wasn't riveted to the screen.

lovely long weekend

This morning's weather of thunder and heavy rain signals the end of a very nice long weekend. At least, there were 3 dry and sunny days.

I did very little knitting because I was too busy with other things. I've picked up my Rivendell socks again and I'm halfway to the heel. I also cast on a washcloth (I am horribly behind on those) plus the Auburn Camp Shirt. I've only got the hem done so I won't bore you with a picture.


These are commissioned knitting bags. I love the cow fabric. The medical themed fabric was particularly hard to find. And I bought a ton of the yarn balls fabric so that I can make more.

Hubby and I had a "date" day. We went to Granville Island and looked for a brunch place. We didn't find any so we loaded up on pastries from the french bakery and ate things like chocolate filled croissants. Then we shopped for a bit. Maiwa moved from their current location to a new place and they are selling yarn now. I picked up 2 skeins of Hempwol. The skeins are huge at 250yds each.


Not sure what I'll use these for but there's enough for a pretty large scarf or 2 hats. Maiwa also had several Zitron yarns and lots of Zitron roving.

I also poked my head into the Silk Tree and Fiber Arts studios. Both times, hubby was elsewhere (with my wallet) so I didn't buy anything. The Silk Tree had renovated and their space was very nice and spacious with lots of room for all those looms. They had this neat silk eyelash type yarn. Oh so soft! The Fiber Arts studio had lots of hand dyed yarn - bulky mohair, mohair boucle, and lots of fingering yarns, too.

After Granville Island, we went home for a little snooze and then headed out for dinner at a local greek restaurant. It was the first time I had salmon souvlaki. It was very good and the portions were huge. We were planning to go see the new Narnia movie afterwards. But as we finished dessert, we realized that we only had 10 mins before showtime. Yikes! We decided that we didn't want to spend 2 hours and 20 mins in horrible seats so we're going to see the movie tonite.

And here's Ricky sleeping in front of the largest open window he can find. He loves fresh air.


A new cat toy in the foreground... That toy travelled all the way upstairs and made it into our bedroom courtesy of Phoebe. That explains the middle of the night dance she did on my stomach. Oof!

I love columbines

The weather's been great so I've been out in the garden instead of knitting.


This picture taken about 2 seconds before they smacked each other in the face. Why can't they be nice to each other?