Wandering Rose

I finally have my pattern down on paper and up on Ravelry. This was a project I had been working on for the last several months for Sheila of Wool2Dye4.  She has started The Honeysuckle Project to raise awareness for Breast Cancer and asked if we would like to participate, so of course how could we not.

She will be at the Sock Summit 20ll, where she is displaying the patterns and projects donated by all participants.  I understand the website will be up and running the first week of August, but you can check out any upcoming information on her Ravelry group.
So in honor of her efforts and continue with her generous work I will also be selling my pattern and donating all the proceeds to charity.
You can purchase it on Ravelry or here on my pattern page.

Hot, hot, hot..........

Not much knitting going on in this heat wave, and I have a couple of house guests, so we're doing a lot of this.....

and a lot of this....

then a little of this

Finally some progress...

this weekend.  I finally feel that I've made some progress on projects and things that needed to get done.
First:  I finished up the baby hoodie that I'm trading for some yarn.

This is my own design, and I wanted to knit it again so I could familiarize myself with it again so I can get it published with some other sizes.  This one is in some Sirdar Snuggly I had in my stash, so I was happy to use some up. 
Next:  I made a little progress on my Taygete shawl by Romi, I'm finally getting the lace section close to the end

I'm also on the back of Julie's next project, I'll get some photos this week. Plus I managed to dye up some new stripey yarns for the shop.  We'll be having an update in the next couple of weeks.  I'd like to get a few more done this week, because I have 2 young visitors coming to stay for a week and I don't think I'm going to get very much done on the knitting front.

Foto Friday.

Fishing........

Foto Friday.....

Just like buttah....

BossCat had a little fun last week in the studio, she asked me to soak 2 skeins of Slinky so she could dye something for herself.  Well, that's not good enough for me, if you're going to mess up my house you may as well make enough to put some in the shop too.
So this is what she came up with...

The only one's that have a name are the pink ones which are Wisteria Lane.
She did several Barn Cat in Misty Highland which some have already been sold.  I love the way these always come out. No two are the same.  I'm going to ask her to do a couple in House Cat for me for a particular shawl I want to do.  More on that on another day.

and a top secret project that I'll explain later, but I'll give you a sneak peek.

I'll have some project pics very soon.

While I'm working......

 this week Mr. "D" is at home for the week. He usually does a little around the house and spends the rest of his time fishing. Today, this is what I came home to, his annual reseeding of the back yard, and he has to come up with some kind of deterrent to keep the Lady dog off of it. Last year it was some kind of netting that the DOG ended up jumping through several times, so this year he decided to do something a little different.
Check this out.........I feel like I'm living at Green Acres.

A Perfect end..........

to a perfect long weekend.
There were no plans for long drives to far away cottages on this first long weekend of the summer season, just a nice quiet relaxing one at home.  Between the endless roar of lawnmowers throughout the neighbourhood, you could still hear all the sounds of mother nature coming through loud and clear.
Morning Doves, Blue Jays, endless Sparrows and the odd little Finch.  There were winds howling, sun shining, thunder rolling off and on, the pop, whistle and crack of fireworks every evening and one sad Lady dog hiding in the closet most nights.
I wound up yarn for stripes, I dyed yarn for future projects, and I packaged up yarn to ship out to other knitters.  In between all that I managed to get some knitting done on 3 different WIP's.
Mr "D" ended off with a couple of roast chicken breast with stuffing, summer squash and sweet potatoes. What more could a girl ask for.
I think I found my "Rapture".

Have you ever.....

had one of those days, when all you could think about was getting done work and just going home.  That was all I could think about all day.  It was a long one with over-time but at least we had some warm sunshine, NO RAIN.
So with the long week-end here, my thoughts are only about knitting and dyeing. Tomorrow is supposed to be a fine day in S. Ontario so I think I will take full advantage of my back yard deck and lots of tea and knitting.
Last week-end was a rainy miserable one and Mr. "D" and I spent Sunday driving around and hitting some of our favorite antique shops.  I had no plans to buy anything but Mr "D" found these in a corner and I couldn't resist.

They are from the Canada Spool & Bobbin Company Ltd Walkerton Ontario and they'll make great sock blockers, they even have the sizes stamped on them.

What's New....

you ask?   BossCat and I have finally gotten around to dyeing up some of our Top Cat MCN in DK weight.
We've been sitting on it for awhile, because we were talking about dyeing it just for ourselves and then decide if we would stock it in the shop.  
Well, we haven't had a chance to knit any yet only because we're too busy fondling it and imagining it in a sweater. So I took it upon myself (executive decision) and dyed up a little for hats and mitts so everyone else could see how scrumptious this yarn really is.

And on the knitting front, I've started a new cardigan for Julie....more on that later when I get a little further, and BossCat and I are working on a top secret project that we just can't reveal at the moment, but we'll let you know very soon.
If you don't hear from me for a couple of days (I know that's not unusual), I haven't gone far, I'm just in the studio playing with colour.

Summer Stitch-a-long!

Boss Cat and I had so much fun with out last KAL at Chez Wandering Cat, we've decided to start another one for the summer.  I think summer is the best time for knitting socks, they're small, generally knit up quick, and you can work on them comfortably in hot weather.
But we know not everyone likes to knit socks like we do so, we've decided to include any project as long as it starts with "S", and knit with WCY.
So here are the details and obligatory "Cat in Knits" picture:

Wandering Cat “S”ummer “S”titch-a-long --Dates: May 23rd- September 5th 2011.

Projects must be knit or crocheted in Wandering Cat Yarn.

Project type must start with the letter “S” (ie socks, shawls, sweaters, stoles, scarves, skirts.. even snails. If it begins with an “S” - you’re good!)

Projects must be completed between May 23rd -- Sept 5th, but can be started before May 23rd.(so if you have already started something as long as it is finished on May 23rd or after or after you can enter it.)

Tag your projects with yearofthecat

Each completed project = one entry. Enter as many times as you like

FOs that are also knit from a Wandering Cat pattern will get an extra entry.

Prizes:
There will be three prize kits, drawn at random from all entries.

Shawl Prize Kit - Any Wanderingcat or redknitz shawl pattern, and enough yarn to complete it. Yarn base is in weight corresponding to pattern, but is choice of winner (from bases in stock at the time) - custom dyed to semi-solid shade of winners choice.

Sock Prize Kit - Any Wanderingcat or redknitz sock pattern, and enough yarn to complete it. Yarn base is in weight corresponding to pattern, but is choice of winner (from bases in stock at the time) - custom dyed to semi-solid shade of winners choice.

Stripey Prize - A custom dyed (winner’s choice of two colours) self-striping skein in Top Cat, Barn Cat or Alley Cat.

So.... if you want to join in the fun - come join our Ravelry group!

What a Frolic....

It was a perfect day, sun was shining, Boss Cat was driving, and I got to knit on our way to Toronto.   After a few wrong turns, and giving her a hard time about not wanting to take the GPS, seeing a few parts of TO I've never seen,  we finally got to the Frolic.
The place was crowed,  but we did manage to snag a few things.

Some Eucalaan wash, Heel Cream from Soak, 2 Japanese stitch books from The Needle Arts Bookshop, 2 skeins of Willow Street Silk in Pussy willow, and 2 unexpected skeins of Malabrigo sock, one which was a gift from the Boss Cat for Mother's Day.
I also got an Indigirl pattern "Every Last Yard"  from Julie's booth, but not the yarn.

  She's getting a new shipment of Madelentosh  in this week so I'll pop in and pick some up.  She had so many gorgeous colours it was hard to make my mind up anyway.
Now, I'm just finishing up Halett's Ledge for her, and then I'm back to some of my projects that have been put aside.

So smart...

I scare myself sometimes.   I was wondering how I was going to block the sleeves for Hallett's Ledge, seeing as they are knit in the round.  Flat pieces of knitting are so easy to lay out and pin.  But these really need the blocking but no way to lay them out and pin neatly.
Then I remembered I had a piece of foam core board I used  for photographing.
Voila, I cut out pieces the size I needed, soaked the sleeves, squeezed all the water out and slipped them on the boards.
And the best part was, I didn't need the pins.

Now I just have the button bands left.

Slow and sure....

slow being the first word.  I've finally made a little headway on Hallett's Ledge, the body is blocking and I'm on  to the sleeves.

I'd probably be a little farther along but that darn Cat yarn keeps calling me.
Ever since I saw Romi Hill's pattern for Taygete I had a vision of what colours I wanted.

I really love our Stray Cat sport so Boss Cat and I got down to the studio and dyed some up in Squid and Misty Highland, but I promised myself I wouldn't start it until Hallett's is done.

Then I saw Jared Flood's new pattern for Rock Island and thought I had died and gone to heaven.

  I wish these guys would stop making these beautiful shawls, I just dropped a skein of Twinkle Cat Lace in the dye pot.  I need more hours in the day.

Enough...

of the snow pictures already. It's pretty much gone and tomorrow is April 1st.  So, to start spring off we're having and update on Saturday April 2nd @ 11am over at Chez Wandering Cat.
We have some new Alley Cat BFL. I've had several customers ask for it so we're going to try it out. And of course before I could get it all dyed up "Boss Cat" snitched one for herself.
So here's a little sneak preview

 And we'll be launching our new Aristocat Singles.  This is a single ply yarn of  40% Baby Alpaca/40% Wool/20% Silk and all I can says SooooooooooooSoft.

Hello Spring?

I love living in Southern Ontario.  Look what we got today.....

 

Someone would love to have the snow all year round if she could!!!

 Mr D had to haul the snowblower back out of storage too.

Coming soon.......

to an etsy shop near you.
Some new Slinky Cat

some new Twinkle Cat Gold

and several new Self-Striping

These are a few......

of my favorite things.

A snowy day and a silly dog....

A hot cup o' tea........

my Addi Turbos......

and a batch of fresh dyed yarn.

Willow...

I can't believe I forgot to post my pictures of Willow.  It's been delivered and absolutely loved. I'm still not sure how I feel about knitting with the Wollmeise, but I am in awe of her saturated colours. I think if yarn was art (maybe it is) I would keep a few I have in my stash forever.

Update time....

After a very long week at work, I decided today would be a non-day.  I spent most of the morning finishing off the Willow Cowl I knit for a friend, it's drying now and I'll have photos tomorrow.
Then I took a couple of hours to re-skein last weekend's dye day of Twinkle Cat Silver and Gold. We have several shades going in the shop on Friday March 4th around 4pm. I wasn't sure how the gold Twinkle would look dyed up, but I must say I'm very impressed. I'm going to see if Boss Cat will dye me some in my favorite colourway "Misty Highland".  Here's a sneak peak.....

 Tonight is going to be spent in front of the TV knitting on Hallett's Ledge. All I need is Mr. "D" to share the remote.