I'm Baaack!

WOW!

It has been weeks and weeks since I've been able to sit down at the ol' computer. The room was full of rambunctious kittens who would climb your leg in 2 seconds (it didn't matter if you're wearing long pants or shorts - those claws could penetrate hardened steel if needed!). So to avoid unnecessary lower-limb injury, we pretty much avoided the desktop computer at all costs.

But now the babies are all grown up, getting fixed tomorrow, then getting adopted out to great people. They were so sad when I left them at the shelter this morning. But I was strong. No tears were shed, because I know 4 of the 5 already have homes waiting for them. And the 5th kitten will get adopted lickety-split because he has such good manners.

 The house seems so quiet without them. 

Not for long because 2 little orange dudes are coming right back here to be ours forever! 

Mini Post

I'm doing some experiments today. First and foremost, I'm composing this post on my handy-dandy tablet to see how it goes. Secondly, I'm doing a test-run with my yarn dyeing. At the moment, the mini-skein of yarn is soaking in water and vinegar. Let me tell you, the smell of wet wool and vinegar is not pleasant.

  Last night LMS played at a benefit dance for a Veteran's organization. It was a good gig, we've done it twice before. I had a last-minute solo. Normally, this would rattle me, but last night it was fine because the solo was not on my trumpet. It was a whistling solo. Making the jump from trumpet to whistling isn't easy, so I'm not sure any sound came out for the first few measures, but by the end, I was cooking!

  Oh, there's my timer. Time to dye some yarn!

My Sincerest Apologies

  I have been remiss in blogging lately. Mainly because I can't sit down at the computer without 2 kittens climbing my leg, another sneaking onto the chair and up my back, and two more wrestling with my feet. This morning they all (Mama included) settled in on the desk chair, and I didn't have the heart to move them. I squatted at the desk for half an hour.

You can't find us because we're hiding!

 We're having trouble deciding which one(s) we're keeping.

Big mean Karl hates kittens, can't you tell?

So, as we head in to the Mother's Day flower rush, I hope I can find a few minutes to complain share my feelings about life in general here at the ol' blog.


PS - STILL NO ENGINE!!

Yay!

  I'm starting another new knitting project today, and I'm excited. I'll be excited for about the first three inches, then it may turn tedious. But I will persevere, for these are Birthday Socks! For my favorite husbeast. The dude has big feet, which makes this a bit of a rush job. His birthday is quickly approaching. But fear not! I have a full workweek coming up, which means plenty of knitting time. 

Colors of the German flag for my favorite sour Kraut!

 I hope he likes stripes.

  Spring appears to have sprung, the back yard is muddy and the daffodils are poking their heads out of the ground. It's almost kitten season, and I'm making the leap (again) to start fostering kittens. We just need to get the bicycles out of the office and cover up all the computer cables, and we'll be good to go. There's nothing better than laying on the floor and being covered in kittens!

PS Still no engine (Boo!!)

I Can't Read

  Last week I was raving about how I ordered some really great sock yarn for a project. I guess I didn't read the description very closely, because it's not what I thought. The yarn is spun onto three pound cones, but is sold by the pound, not by the cone. So, when I ordered "1" I got one pound, which is not enough for a blanket. It's still a really good price for sock yarn though, so I went ahead and ordered 2 more pounds. (comes out to about $4.50 per pair of socks, which is much less than the $20 I usually pay for hand-dyed yarn!) So I'm still excited about the purchase.

  And I've decided on a color scheme and dye pattern. Now, I just need the snow to melt and the weather to warm up so I can work outside (that way I don't have to worry about dripping & staining anything!)

  In other news, it's Spring Break for Katrina, so yesterday we drove down to Chicago to the Field Museum. They have an exhibit about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago - one of Karl's favorite subjects. They were exhibiting some artifacts from their collection which were also exhibited at that World's Fair. It was pretty cool to see those things - some were shown in their packing crates because they were too fragile to remove all the way. We were disappointed that there wasn't more about the actual fair itself. We did learn a few things, so it wasn't a complete loss.

  And today's Spring Break activity? Shoe shopping with my mom! (YAY!)

Warning: May Contain Knitting

  When everything is crap, the little things are just so much more exciting than usual. Take my hobby of knitting, for example. I was so happy to finish the back piece of a sweater that's been languishing for a while. I quickly started to front to keep my momentum going. There are 14 inches of boring before it gets exciting, so that's good knitting to take to work. Then Katrina says that one of her teachers is having a baby, and would I maybe knit something for her? Ooh, baby stuff- so adorable and quick! That's going well also. And those funky socks? Set aside so I can finish the baby sweater.

But what really got me excited was a yarn purchase. 

A little background: A while back, a friend hinted that they kinda wanted a blanket similar to the charity blanket I worked on last year. Who can blame them? It was gorgeous. So, I've spent a lot of time gazing at pretty yarn, wondering how I will come up with the funds for this masterpiece (considering I have an engine to pay for!). Good yarn ain't cheap. Non-knitters don't realize knitting a pair of socks usually costs $20 - $30 if you use quality yarn. And this blanket? About 9 pairs of socks worth of yarn. So last Monday, I was gazing at yarn again and came across something I had overlooked. A three pound ball of good sock yarn for $20. Three pounds! For twenty dollars! That's about 14 pairs of socks! JACKPOT! What's the catch? It's undyed. 

  Undyed yarn does not, in any way, present a problem. I love dyeing yarn. The problem is deciding on a color scheme. Any suggestions?

The color wheel is your friend!

Hey, how's that new engine working?

  I don't know, because IT'S STILL NOT HERE!

  Perhaps I'm getting tired of the crappy things that have been happening. Perhaps it's just PMS. But either way, I want my car back, and I want to see the grass, and I want a vacation from my life. 

2014 can suck it.

  On the bright side (there is always a bright side), it was really nice driving Dad's truck to my gig in a snowstorm.

 

  I'm going to go knit now. Because knitting is like Valium. (Even when you have to rip out and re-knit about 8 inches of a sweater because you can't do basic math.)