What's a girl to do...

with a week off of work.   Well, I'm working on my Tea Leaves Cardigan...  Madelintosh Vintage.  Julie is now carrying some of Madelintosh yarns in her store.

I'm actually past the armholes already.
I'm working on Miss "P's" poncho, but it's on hold till I dye up a contrasting skein of  yarn in blue as requested by the little princess herself.  I'm much farther along on this also.

and, I've been trying my hand at dyeing up some self-striping yarn.  You may just see some of this in the shop real soon.

I really don't like having this many things on the go at once, so I better stick to one and get it done.

My first....

I had a really crappy day at work yesterday, but when I got home I found a package in my own mailbox.
One of Wandering Cat's favorite blogs is Smoking Hot Needles.  I've actually been reading Monika's blog before we even got into dyeing our own yarn, and she has since become one of our favorite customers.
Well now the tables have turned, she has opened her own shop to sell her hand spun yarn.  I've been such an admirer of her spinning and maybe some day I'll give it a whirl myself, but until then you can find her gorgeous hand spun here, and I must say I absolutely love this yarn, and will treasure it for a long time.

I even think I've found a pattern to do it justice.  So if you love eye candy, and just some good old stories about 2 silly dogs pop on over to her blog and check it out.
Thank you Monika, I LOVE it.
I almost forgot the kids came for Thanksgiving turkey on Sunday and Miss "Robo" modeled her gorgeous sweater for us.

Another long weekend coming...

and guess what we have!   Barn Cat. 

These are just a few lovelies we'll be putting in the shop on Saturday.  I'm not quite sure what time yet but you can check here or on our Rav group as soon as we know.

September..

I had been wanting to do this pattern for a long time, and what a perfect time of year.
Septembertuch

Yarn:  Wandering Cat Yarns Slinky Fingering in Peacock
When I dyed the yarn, the first thing Boss Cat and I said was "Julie".  So I knit this for her, to thank her for all the wonderful things she does.

What happens at Knit Camp.............

stays at Knit Camp.  Apparently this is rule one.  I heard someone say that at dinner.
But I can share a few moments with you:
I took 2 classes with Jared Flood (aka:  Brooklyn Tweed)  What a gracious man. He taught us new techniques and gave us so much information I had no time to take many pictures.
I did sneak a shot of him sitting with one of our knitting ladies.

 My other class was with Elise Duvekot from Knit one Below.

 and here's a shot of all of us on the last evening.

It's really hard to come back to reality after such a great weekend.
You can see more pictures on Julie's blog. I would just like to say  what wonderful hostesses she and her sister Beth are. They make the whole weekend worth it.  Thanks Ladies.

Just in the nick of time....

I finished the project for Julie just in the nick of time.  The Fair is tomorrow. Whew!!
Here it is.....Scarf-Neckwarmer by Filtura Di Crosa

Pattern: Scarf-Neckwarmer
Yarn:  Filatura Di Crosa Cincilla and Zara
Needles: 6mm

Totally snuggly and warm, and talk about an easy pattern..............can you say garter stitch.

Labour Day weekend....

We had a small update today, I'm sorry I didn't post about it earlier, it's been a very busy week-end.
We had a short visit with the girls yesterday, actually I did, while Grampa and Daddy went fishing.

I did get some knitting done, I'm on a dead line for Julie, and I'm more than half way there.  The KW Knitters fair is this Saturday, so I have a couple more days to finish.  Good thing it's garter stitch. I'll post all the details when it's done.

My Rowan.....

I finished Rowan's Helena this week.  I really love this pattern, it's the second one I knit for the same little lady.  The first was when she was a baby and now she's 2yrs old and I think it will look awesome on her.

I knit it with our Stray Cat sport yarn and when I first dyed this up, Rowan went right for it and kept saying Rowan, Rowan, so Rowanberry was born. It's very hard to photograph the beautiful undertones of colour, but you can definitely see it up close.
I had the girls for the week, and they certainly kept this old gramma busy, I forgot what it was like to have 2 young ones underfoot.

They're back at home now, and I really miss them, but I think Lady dog misses them more.

We should be back to the dye pots this weekend, we have some new colours to test out, so we'll keep you updated when they will go in the shop.

Day 4.....

Gramma is still alive and kicking, and so are Miss "P" and Robo baby.

Unfortunately, all I seem to be doing is laundry and emptying the potty.  At least there has been no wet floors or underpants, so that's a good thing.

Miss "P"s first attempt at dyeing yarn. We got some chunky yarn from Knitpicks and when Robo baby went down for a nap we slipped downstairs to the studio.


Gramma's proud. Tired but proud.


We also went to visit Julie's House (as Miss "P" calls it) to drop off the longest ever knitting assignment I think I have ever done. Not because it was hard, but I was just having trouble getting into it.

Update

I can't find the "Boss Cat"  so I'm going to make an executive decision and update everything we have dyed in the past couple of weeks.  We have a couple of dozen skeins of sock yarn, and if I don't put it in the shop now, I'm just going to keep it all for myself.

I've also put all of our Fat Cat DK, Stray Cat Sport and Big Cat Worsted on sale at 10% off.  And don't forget about the free shipping on orders of $100 or more.
I'm off next week, but I have 2 young house guests coming to stay with Gramma so the only dyeing going on will be Miss "P" trying out her skills on some Chunky Monkey yarn, that she'll be knitting up herself.  There will be photos, I'm sure.

Old but new...........

We have another yarn added to our clan.  Introducing Fluffy Cat in Lace weight.  This is the same lovely make up as our Fluffy Cat fingering, 70/20/10 Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere but in a 2 ply lace weight.

The only thing is, this will be a limited edition yarn for a short time and when it's gone, it's gone.  There will be a new base replacing this at a later date, but we'll talk about that another time.
We're hoping to get in the studio this week-end to dye up some more, but in the meantime in honor of our Civic Holiday this week-end we're giving free shipping on all orders over $50.
Boss Cat and I would like to clear out the old stock and we'll be putting in new stock very soon.

Ding, Dong...............

Well we arrived back home safe from the "Sound".   It's the first time I actually took some photos that weren't yarn.  I really enjoyed this new experience.
Congratulations to Ron & Jenn, and my 2 lovely girls.

What a perfect spot for a wedding.  You can see more photos on Boss Cats blog. 
There's nothing quite like our "robobaby" to provide the entertainment.

And during our drive home today, I got to knit for hours.........................pictures later.

Busy, busy, busy........

Today is for catching up. Mr. "D" has gone fishing for the day, and I did all my housework yesterday, so I could spend the day in the studio dyeing.
I finished up some custom orders (mostly Slinky Cat) and I did up a couple of skeins of House Cat just to use up the leftover dyes. I'll have pics of them when they're dry.

I finally have all the pieces of Julie's pullover done and ready to put the collar on this week, and I actually found a zipper yesterday that will work nicely.

So on to my knitting, Robo baby's Helena is moving right along. The body is done and I've started the sleeves. I'm into the second skein now, and I'm so pleased with the way they matched up, I can't even tell the difference.

And just when I thought I would get back to monogamous knitting, I started a shawl/scarf with our Slinky Cat in Peacock.  We've had so many requests for this colourway, I though I better knit it up so everyone could see what it actually looks like. 
Personally, I just love looking at in the skein.

Weekend update.....

No, not a shop update, just life update.  I'm almost done the second sleeve of Julie's sweater, the back is blocking, the front will be blocked tomorrow.

I took a few minutes to start a new sock with our mcn Top Cat, I've had this skein in my stash for a long while.  It was a good excuse to try out my new Blackthorn needles.  Very sharp and pointy, and they feel pretty sturdy.

And yes, I did dye up a few skeins of Slinky Cat for our next update.

Canada Day weekend update....

Looks like Boss Cat and I have enough yarn dyed up to have an update tomorrow Sunday July 4th at 2 pm.  And in honor of our holiday and our neighbours across the border, we're offering free shipping on all orders over $75.  We have Top Cat, Alley Cat, Fluffy Cat, and some House Cat.  Here's a little sampling.....

Time goes too fast...

This weekend just flew by. Between getting orders ready to go out tomorrow and laundry and house cleaning, I did manage to get a little knitting done.
Boss Cat came by on Saturday with several quarts of strawberries, so the jammin' was on.

We made 3 batches of strawberry jam and still have several quarts left to freeze down for over the winter.

So it's back to work tomorrow with the holiday on Thursday, so that seems to be a good day to dye up some more yarn (Mr "D" is planning on going fishing). We have an order of Slinky Cat and Fluffy Cat coming, and we'll have some more lace back in the shop very soon.

Update....

Well, it looks like it's time for an update. We'll be introducing a new member to the WCY family....."Barn Cat".  This base is similar to our House Cat 100% SW fingering, except there's nylon added. It's an 80/20% Merino/Nylon SW fingering weight with the same 2 ply twist as the House Cat.

Why "Barn Cat", because it's a little tougher than our House Cat, and more twisted than our "Alley Cat".

Here's a preview of some of the colours that will be going up on Friday, sometime in the afternoon.

Winner...........

We have a winner... Splinderella (rav name) is the winner of our anniversary contest. Congratulations, we hope you enjoy the pattern and yarn. 

Today was just one of those days, when I just wanted to sit and knit, but everything else caught up to me. Laundry, vacuuming, dusting, sweeping and mopping.  But it's done now.

Boss Cat did little bit of dyeing while I did mostly administrative work (and a little guidance and motherly opinions thrown in).  We'll have some more stock going up in the shop over the next couple of days so keep checking in.
And in WCY news, we'll be introducing "Barn Cat", it a 80/20 SW merino/nylon blend. It's tougher than our "House Cat", and a little more twisted than our "Alley Cat".

On year giveaway........

On June 19 Wandering Cat Yarns celebrates one whole year of throwing dye at yarn and feeding your (and mostly our) fibre habit!To celebrate (and thank you all for helping us reach this milestone) we are holding a contest!

First the good stuff - the prize:
A copy of Boss Cat's newly released Daenerys pattern
....and two lovely soft skeins of Top Cat (80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon) in Vampire's Kiss to make it!

To enter:

Leave a comment here, or on Boss Cat's blog - it's as easy as that!

Extra entries:

Buy yarn - Each skein of Wandering Cat Yarns purchased (within contest timeline) will earn you an entry.

Tell others(and let us know you did) - Post about it on your blog! That earns you an entry too!

Join in - Join our new Ravelry group for another entry (current members will automatically get one entry)

Rules:
The contest is open now until Midnight on June 19th. Drawing will take place on June 20th through the magic of the random number generator!

Good luck!

One year already....

Boss Cat and I realized we are coming up on our 1 year WCY anniversary.  Boy has it gone by too fast.  Right now we're in negotiations for a celebratory giveaway contest, and we'll let you all in on the details very soon.

In the meantime, I'm on my last couple of days of vacation and it back to work.  I have managed to do a lot of what I planned and absolutely no housework (except maybe the laundry).  Yesterday Mr. "D" and I went to the Bay of Quinte fishing, which meant lots of knitting time in the truck. I managed to get half a sleeve done on Julie's project, but unfortunately I got nothing knit in the boat because we had a very successful fishing day.

Perfect weather, picnic lunch, and a very well behaved dog.

I love fishing.

And to finish off my vacation week I have my Cascading Leaves Socks (rav link) done with our House Cat Superwash.  I love this yarn, and we're going to try some with nylon in it.

I'm hoping to finish up the rest of the knitting for Julie's sweater too, but I must re-skein some Fluffy Cat for the shop first.