My new obsession...

Several months ago I took a chance on an ebay auction and won.  I had no idea if I could get this to work but I just knew I had to give it a try. 

With some great advice from a friend in the know (the lady I bought my first CSM from) Mr "D" and I took this piece of history apart and started to clean it.

It was quite an experience and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.  We found brass rings under the surface rust, pretty shiny steel and remnants of gold stenciling.
We had no issues putting it back together because we took pictures of each step and of course Mr "D" knows machinery.
This is what we ended up with and "Winnie" is now purring like a well oiled sock machine.

I think these are my favorite parts, the patent dates.

March already....

Time is flying by way too fast, but don't get me wrong, I won't miss winter, even if it's been a good one.
I finished up my Honey Cowl this weekend.  I have to say I love this yarn. It's soft, and squishy and knits like butter.

Pattern:  Honey Cowl by Madeline Tosh
Yarn:  2 skeins of  Wandering Cat Twinkle Cat DK
Needles:  5mm
This was a nice easy relaxing knit, and not so big that I couldn't knit on our drives.
The silk just gives it that little something extra and the sparkle is not over powering.

I'm home for the rest of the week so I think I'll be in the studio whipping up some new colours, and maybe getting some socks finished.

Yup, it's me......

I haven't been much of a blogger lately, I leave that up to BossCat, she's the writer in the family.  It's usually just the same old same old.  Work, dye yarn and a little knitting occasionally.
So we have a little dyeing:

and we have a little knitting:

I promise, there will be more soon.

New Year............

New yarn!  Introducing Continental Cat.  This new base yarn is a 6 ply light fingering/heavy lace weight yarn of 100% Superwash Merino.   It's 6 beautiful plys with a smooth twist and the best part is there is 750 yards on each skein. That means you only need one skein for a perfect little shawl.
We've only put a few in the shop at the moment but we'll be dyeing up some more in semi-solid shades.  I think mine will be purple or maybe pink or maybe grey........

A big thank you...........

BossCat and I would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year. All the best in 2012.
We've enjoyed seeing all of your projects in 2011 and can't wait to see what you knit up in 2012.

We'll be offering a 15% discount on everything in the shop from now until midnight December 31st in appreciation of all our customers.  Just use the code YREND11 at the checkout. 

Crazy busy....

I haven't been much of a blogger of  late, work has been more than I care to talk about.  I've managed to do a little knitting, a little dyeing and little else.  Hopefully after Christmas I'll be back on track. I have a million and one things I want to knit, and probably thousands of skeins (and yes, I am exaggerating).
I'm trying to finish up a hat for Miss P, and a couple pairs of socks for gifts, but other than that my thoughts are of all the cardigans I want to knit.  More on that later.

So tomorrow we'll be updating the shop with with some Twinkle Cat in DK weight. This is so scrumptous. 75% Merino and 20% Silk and 5% sparkly.  Perfect for cowls and mitts and specials scarves.

A little warmth...

was needed.   I finished my Taygete several weeks ago, and I was instantly in love. This design by Romi has to be one of my favorite knits.  I knew I wanted to do it in our yarn and in one of my favorite bases, Stray Cat.
And as BossCat can tell you I want something in every base in her signature colourway "Misty Highland".
This project would have flew off the needles if I hadn't put it aside to finish other stuff, but alas it took a little longer than expected.

Then one day at work I found out that a very sweet co-worker of mine's sister has been stricken with colon cancer.  She and her sister are very close, and I feel so bad for her to have to go through this.  She has made ribbons in the signature colours of blue and brown to show support, and a light bulb went off. My shawl was blue and brown.  Obviously a sign, I handed her the shawl to give to her sister in hopes it would give a little bit of support and warmth when needed.
This isn't the first time one of my shawls have been passed on, and even though it makes me very happy to pass on a little joy to someone who really needs a hug,  it also makes me a little sad to see it go.
Now I'm off to decide what shawl to make next................

I'm still here

I haven't been much in the mood to blog lately, with work and dyeing yarn and knitting, and Ravelry, my blog seems to get left on the back burner.  So I'll just do a little catch up this week while I've got a few more days off work.
I finished a few projects up, first up my Lacy Edge Cardi that was sitting in a basket with just the lace bands to do.  BossCat finally lit a fire under my butt and I got it done.
I had a small issue with it once I went to block it.  Like several other ravellers the yarn bled so bad I thought I would loose all the tweedy effect of the yarn.

So I persevered and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed, and finally got it blocked and put together.
Wavy Lace Edge Cardigan

I did write to Sirdar and let them know about the yarn, and they told me that sometimes this happens when the yarn is processed.  I'm not sure I trust that because I know about dyeing yarn and yes sometimes you get some bleeding but if it's processed properly and checked and rinsed there should be very little.  I think this batch was missed.  Anyhow they sent my another bag of yarn to replace it. I picked a different colourway and fingers crossed that I don't have the same problem.

What's new...........

"Little Nicky"  and I are getting acquainted this week.

It's been a great way to start getting through my mounds of sock yarn.

It's nice to finally see some of these knit up instead of sitting on the shelf being admired from afar.  And don't worry there will be lots more.
As always we have some new yarns in the shop.......

There is also some lovely Twinkle Cat drying as I write.  Stay tuned, I have one more week off work.

Inspiration and Relaxation......

I always feel rejuvenated once I get back from camp.  I seem to get pumped up about finishing up forgotten projects so I can get started on some new ones.  Most of this is from looking at my basket overflowing with WIP's, so now is the time to get down to business.
I did take some time to play with my CSM and knocked off a couple pair of socks.  These are very gratifying just when I feel like I'm getting no where.
I followed a suggestion from a friend and cranked out a sock blank then dyed it up.

Then I re-knit it on my CSM and this is how they turned out.  I love them, but I have a funny feeling BossCat may try to snitch them on me.   All the details can be found on my project page on Ravelry.

 The second pair.

 

The third pair are hand knit and I finished them at Camp.  This is one of our own self-stripers in Alley Cat, colourway is Desire.  I have to say that Alley Cat is one of my favorite bases.

 

So now it's back to that basket, hopefully they won't take too long, because I have lots of things I need to get down on paper.

Letters from Camp...........

It's nice to be home but man I didn't want to leave camp.
We had a room with a view.

Unlimited knitting.

Classes with some awesome instructors. (Fiona Ellis)

 Delectable desserts.

 Goodie bags for all.

Daring escapades.

A little bit of nature.

 and lots of wild & crazy knitting women.

Thank you Julie and Beth. We had an absolutely wonderful time.

Update.........

We'll be updating the shop Friday morning around 11am with our Wicked Series Self Striping yarn just in time to send out for Hallowe'en knitting.

Then BossCat and I are off to Knit Camp for the weekend, and if we're not having too much fun, we'll post some pictures.

So what's new........

Things are going well in the dye studio, BossCat came yesterday and dye up some yummy stuff.  One I will definitely be keeping for myself.
I took a giant step forward and dye a sweater quantity of Top Cat DK for myself and I am totally in love.  I don't think anyone can have too much gray.

My Magpie shawl is almost finshed,

 I just got a little side-tracked with "little Nicky".

My first pair of completed socks, with a couple of minor boo-boos, but hey, I'm learning from my mistakes.

And last but not least, 2 more weeks to Knit Camp, I can't wait.