Christina Bunny

Christopher Bunny Kit from Barrett Wool Company

Pattern by Susan B. Anderson.  Very clear instructions.  A tad bit fiddley in places but well worth it!

Modified for a girly girl

Happy Holidays 2025 mini fridge gang

 

Where are my Widgets?

 Don't know where they've gone.  This blog is so neglected.

Lahaina is Gone

 My mom spent most of her childhood in Lahaina, the child of immigrants.  Her father came from Korea espcaping after losing many of his family during the occupation.  Her mother came from Puerto Rico, where her family had immigrated from Spain.  She went to Kamehameha 3 school and Lahainaluna for a few years.  While her home was already long gone in Lahaina, she has memories of the harbor and banyan tree.  Her dementia has hidden the loss of the town from her despite the devastation shown on tv and in the newspaper.  Kamehmeha 3 School was completely burnt to the ground.  The Maria Lanikila Church where her baby sister is buried remains standing.  A small mercy.  

It's hard to fathom the grief the survivors are facing and the seemingly impossible task of going forward.  

There continues to be a great outpouring of support and donations, while the grim task of finding and identifying the missing continues.  Friends have inquired about how they can help.  If you don't already have a charity you contribute to in times of disaster, there are two on Maui that you can consider.

Maui Strong Fund

Maui Food Bank

Mahalo

July, Trigger Thumb, What's a girl to do?

 Sigh.  Here it is July.  I knit like a madwomen in the last year and I'm now paying the price.  Carpal tunnel, lateral epicondylitis, cervical radiculopathy and trigger thumb.  I stopped knitting completely for 6 weeks now, splinted everything and started my NSAID.  I got it down to very mild symptoms, but the thumb is still triggering.  I have an upcoming appointment for the shot.  Hope that will be the cure.  

So no Tour de Fleece for me.  In fact I've been toying with the idea of giving up spinning as I have too much yarn as it is.  I went crazy on Noro purchases and have a project lined up when the trigger thumb resolves.  I have watched the Knit Star's episode on ergonomics by Carson Demers, and will try some of his techniques for preventing overuse injuries.  I promised myself.  

On the Kiko scene, she is back sleeping on the "bed" I made for her on my bedroom floor.  You should see the looks she gives me when I have to wash it.  No more jumping on the bed.  I invite her and she looks tempted, but no go.  

I rewatched most of Star Wars and have caught up on all the animated series and spin-offs.  I am now rewatching the orginal series to see how the pieces fit together.  Rogue 1 and Mandalorian are still my favorites. I also enjoyed The Expanse, and Stranger Things.  Most things are on hiatus now, so You Tube is filling in with Hoof Trimming and Seal Rescues in Nambia and also Endeavor on PBS.  Who knew hooves could be such a problem!

So the only projects I have managed besides a little stash organization and cleaning is some jewelry and luceting.  The example is Koigu sock yarn.  I am also using my Kreink Custom Corder to make twisted cords.  I have used them as drawstings in bags, booties and for wrapping packages and treat boxes.  

The lovely walnut lucet is from RightWorkWoodshop on Etsy.  

I learned to make twisted cords from my knitting teacher Tubly.  The custom corder allows me to make the cords faster by myself.  The length is limited by my already short stature sitting in my wheelchair.  Making them is rather addicting and it's fun to see how the different yarns twist up.  

I am reading Fiona Hill's book.  I found out Echo will read it to me and I'm rethinking the audio book thing.  It sure is a help for my carpal tunnel to not have to hold my phone to read.  

The Kiko Saga so far

 I inherited my mom's cat, Kiko, when mom broke her hip and could no longer care for her since she is an indoor cat.  Dad chose Kiko at the shelter even though he was only going to look.  Her predecessor, Lovey, was a friendly, cuddly cat, and it's hard not to compare.  Kiko spent may hours sleeping with my dad in the four years before he passed.  She sat next to his urn as if she knew.  

Kiko is an unusual cat compared to Lovey and all the Siamese cats I grew up with.  She only allows 3 pets then she bites.  She is not big on brushing although allows a few brushes.  She would only sleep curled up near my legs.  She was a finicky eater and a vomiter. The vet had seen her several times for this problem and everything was aok.  

When she came to live with me she had a protracted vomiting episode and was diagnosed with cholangiohepatitis and mild colitis.  My son and I try as we could could not get her to take her oral medications.  I watched numerous you tubes and all those cats loved to take medications.  Luckily for me she responded to the parenteral antibiotic without side effects.  During this time I tried whatever the Pet store had in the way of foods and snacks, trying to entice her to eat.  I tried all the novel proteins like her first vet recommended.  She tasted but then refused.  Finally she would eat Hills roasted chicken, but spit out the carrots.  I found out cats are obligate carnivores but the pet industry thinks cats should have carrots or pumpkin or brown rice.  Fiber you know.  When she refused that, I switched to Sheba since the feral cat next door loves her Sheba.  Kiko liked the chicken, whitefish/tuna and salmon shrimp.  They all smell bad.  ick.  She also went back to eating her kibble and some days she only wants that.  So life perked along.  She had one vet adventure with an abscess that healed nicely with drainage and the parenteral antibiotic shot.  

A few weeks ago she suddenly became afraid of me.  She abandoned me for the upstairs room with the rug.  The downstairs has no carpet because it's easier for me to get around with my walker and wheelchair.   My son lives up there and he took videos of her rolling on the rug, trying all of them include the one around the toilet.  At first I was worried, but she clearly is not physically ill.  She is not a total cave cat, because she continues to come down to eat, drink water and use her kitty litter.  She likes to sit by the front door.  She creeps around my room, but started "speaking" to me in demanding tone, as apparently she can't stand the sight of an empty food dish.  I'm ignoring her until she get's bored with upstairs.  It's kind of nice not to worry about her vomiting on my bed.  

I did crochet her a cat pod, which she has ignored so far.  I love how it turned out.  Maybe it's too small?

Pattern:  Cat Pod/Cave by Alley Cats and Angels of NC

Yarn:  Megaball Aran, by Hobbii

I put her blanket in it and my son took upstairs to the carpeted bedroom and she poked her head in it when he scratched it on the outside.  Oh well, I should be glad she is not a cave cat, as according to the Cat Whisperer, there is nothing more sad then a cave cat.  

So that's how it stands.  I will fess up and say I have bought cat junk food for her.  Not sure what Greenies have in them that makes her love them so.  I'm limiting her to 3 a day!  Well maybe 4.  

Besides the catpod, I crocheted Astri Throw.

Pattern:  Astri by Arne and Carlos.  

Yarn:  Rainbow Cotton 8/8 from Hobbi.  This is 100% cotton and comes a wonderful springy colors.  It made for a heavy throw.  I meant to make it smaller but making the flowers was so addicting!

The flower are similar to the African flower since it ends up being a hexagon.  Thus my final throw is and elongated hexagon.  The geometry still blows my mind.  Why can't a hexagon make a square, lol.  Pythagoras would know.  

Finally for fun, Mint Chocolate Chip, or Chip for short, from a galaxy falr away.  

Pattern:  Baby Yoda by Kim Konen

Yarn:  Rainbow Cotton for body and Vanna's choice for his garb.  I made him a bit smaller since Rainbow cotton is more of a DK weight, and used to size 4 needle to knit him.  I also knit a base and put some polybeads in the bottom to give him a bit more weight.  Shorted the ears by a few rows, and gathered the back of the shawl to fit him better.  

Blue Hats for Hat not Hate

 All acrylic all the time

Pattern and yarn details on Ravelry.  I tried some crochet patterns and enjoyed the bucket hats but found out HNH prefers beanies.  I'll find somewhere else for the buckets and newsboy caps.  Crocheting was so fast, but it is not as stretchy.  

The other hats, not blue and not beanies.  The last hat is the Oslo Hat with a a 3 thickness brim.  Unfortunately it is a little small and too hot for Hawaii. It will be in limbo for awhile.  

So far the carpal tunnel isn't too bad with all the knitting and crocheting.  I got new braces just incase.  The plan is to get the spinning wheel out in March.  In the meantime, in a bit of stress-induced shopping shop therapy yielded some patterns from Arne and Carlos and some new yarn to start an afghan.  I also have a megaball of black and white from Hobbii which may become hats with a skull theme.  I also bought a few crochet hooks from this Anniesgottacrochet on,Etsy.  The owner will be retiring and has her stuff on sale.  

Marrietta's Halloween

 After being Judge Ginsberg for quite awhile, Marietta decided to dress up for Halloween.  She has a new shawl and hat.  

The shawl is a shortened version of Skull shawl/Döskallesjal by kungen och majkis.  It doesn't show up that well on her, but she needed something to tone down the purple T.  I used a size 3 metal crochet hook and some very ancient, thrifted crochet thread.  it bled a lot when I soaked it.  

The hat is made of felt.  I followed How to Make a witch hat for any size doll on Lomi's Playground on You Tube.  Math was involved and it was also metric.  Minimal hand sewing was involved.  I had some black wire ribbon in stash and attempted a bow.  I used some left-over green scrubbie cotton.  It is a sorry decoration.  Hope I get more ideas later.  

After shopping for the proper pin, I found a cat pin in a drawer labelled Pins.  Thank Marie Kondo for that, lol.  I'd forgotten I had such a drawer.  I suspect this came from mom's stash.  

On the knitting scene, another Musselburgh is happening with a lovely blue yarn hand-dyed by Nanea of the now closed lys, Aloha Yarns.  I really miss that place and it's lovely vibe.  

Such an exciting life I lead.  

Random Thoughts in Time of Covid

 It ain't over yet.  Darn you Delta (not the airlines)

Life is in a little valley.  Thank goodness they aren't as deep as they used to be.  I owe it to age in which I have become better at drama mitigation.  

I'm struggling with Noom.  Like every other "diet", it's success or failure depends on me.  In Hawaii, there are so many ethnicities.  My barrier is the food diary.  Many foods I eat do not conveniently come up in the food list, so I either have to calculation everything in the recipe or "estimate".  My perfection issue causes guilt when I estimate.  One step into the valley.  

I have used up some brain cells wondering about that cotton ball that used to come in pill bottles.  They seemed to have disappeared one day, never to return.  From what I can glean from the Net, there were contamination issues, and since pills became more travel proof, cushioning was no longer needed.  I thought it was more recent, but seems like it was in the late '90s when drug companies abandoned cotton balls.  Of course by then, cotton balls were replaced with synthetic materials.  

Which reminds me of a story mom told about her dad growing up in Lahaina.  He used to pick the cotton from the bush and kept it in a jar in the bathroom for them to use.  I remember dad (a doctor) used to make his own "Q" tips with a cotton ball and stick.  He would break off the used tip and make a new one.  Now sanitary standards wouldn't allow this, but heck you can do it at home.  

I did not know there was a native cotton, ma'o.  I do know that a project to grow Sea Island cotton commercially on the side of  Punchbowl failed.  That's the plant growing in may yard.  I have not kept up with spinning.  The birds like it to put in their nests, which is better then plastic.  

Life is so exciting that I track packages like it's a job.  My shirt traveled through 7 states and made 4-5 stops in some of them.  It is more traveled then some people I know.  

I did what any Noro loving knitter does, when the going gets rough, knit some Noro.  

I can't imagine anyone I know who would wear these colors but I certainly enjoyed knitting them.  I had one partial skein of Taiyo #32 when I started the scarf and used up 2+ skeins for the scarf.  I used the partial skein for the hat and had one skein left.  Yarn math.  So another hat is underway.  At least the new yarn was on closeout at Webs.  

My life isn't really rough, just in a small valley.  I have much to be grateful for.  

Still no Spinning Mojo

Still no spinning mojo.  This hasn't stopped the browsing and lusting for support spindles.  So far I have been successful in holding off.  Kiko the cat was diagnosed with cholangiohepatitis and generated some vet bills.  I felt so sorry for her, she looked so sick and couldn't eat.  She was strong enough to reject her medicine, even with the Landcaster helping me.  I watched the videos of how to administer medicine to a cat and all the cats in the demo held still, did not bite and in fact just sort of lay there. Kiko was able to tuck her chin down and jerk her head back and the medicine was sprayed everywhere.  Too bad it can't be absorbed through fur and whiskers.  One of the medicines, metronidazole is reported to be one of the most evil tasting ones.She is now on a long-acting injection, which may not cover all the bacteria that can infect the bile ducts. How she is improving and seems like a happy cat now. Always the finicky eater, she looked at her usual food and walked away as if to say, "How dare you feed me that stuff that made me sick!!"  I went to the pet store and bought an assortment of cat junk food to try.  She would eat Greenies.  Then found a wet food she would eat, although not with gusto.  Then discovered Instinct Raw mixers.  If I sprinkle this on her food, she goes crazy.  Blood test in a week or so.  Fingers are crossed.  

I had a sweater's worth of Beaverslide in Glacier Shadow.  I was thinking Starmore's St. Brigid.  The more I though about knitting a sweater, living in Hawaii, with global warming and all, I thought hats, maybe to donate to somewhere in the frigid north.  I used up six skeins so far.  List clockwise

1.  Lake Reed by Asita Krebs from Sidispinnt.   I love this pattern and have made several

2.  Palm readers, New Moon inspired Alice Cullen fingerless mittens by Nancy Fry from Vampire Knits.  These have gone off to my sister in the frigid north.  

3.  Bellevue Mittens by Elizabeth McCarten, Ravelry.  I struggled with these for some reason.  

4.  Merry by Amanda Schwabe from a k n i t i c a.  If you like cables, this was a fun knit.  I have pompoms to add yet.  

5.  Hat Not Hate Hat by Lion Brand Yarn from Lion Brand Yarn Website Patterns.  I practiced Norwegian knitting for this project learning from Arne and Carlos.  

6.  Another Bourbon by Thea Colman from Baby Cocktails.  Another fun cably hat from Thea Colman.  

7.  Beshert Chapeau by Jill Horwich.  This a fun, easy crochet stitch.   From Yarnover Chicago Downloads

I've now started on my Advent Christmas Balls from Arne and Carlos.  Arne says he can knit one in one hour.  I take longer, and have to perfect my two color knitting.  My first three are less then perfect and I still have to steam and stuff them.  

As if the pandemic, contentious election, and California burning were not enough, my 96 yo mom got sick and was hospitalized for 5 days. It was was strange not being able to visit.  She was so confused and sick.  She finally came home and has 24 hour care.  This was a good decision for her as we could still visit her.  She had her birthday on Thanksgiving Day,  and I'm so grateful for that.  She has had a wonderful 24 hour team watching over her and my worry level has decreased.  Not covid, and I'm grateful for that too.  

Stay safe everyone.  

Sept. 2, 2020 and Still no Spinning Mojo

 Tour de France changed their dates due to the Covid Pandemic and I was going to to start spinning August 1.  Well that never happened.  I am cancelling my Tour de Fleece until the spinning mojo returns.  

Stay safe.  I wear a mask.  It's seems the least I can do. 

Stashbusting Hats

1.  Classic Beanie by Woolly Wormhead.  Tangier by Cascade Yarns ®

2.  Night Caps, 11pm by Thea Colman from Baby Cocktails. Cascade 220® Heathers by Cascade Yarns ®

3.  Jason's Cashmere Hat, by Melissa Thomson from Sweet Fiber Yarns. Worsted

by Malabrigo Yarn.

4.   Night Caps, 10 pm by Thea Colman from Baby Cocktails. Cascade 128 Superwash, by Cascade Yarns ®

5.  Classic Octopus Hat, by Molly Kent from Molly Kent's Ravelry Store.   Cascade 220® Heathers by Cascade Yarns ®

6.  Lake Reed by Asita Krebsnfrom Sidispinnt.  Shelter by Brooklyn Tweed.  Colorway buttonjar :)

7.  Night Caps, 10 pm by Thea Colman from Baby Cocktails. Cascade 220® Heathers by Cascade Yarns ®.  Mods due to running out of yarn.  Strip3 with heathers in gold and buttonjar Shelter.  

8.  Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague from Ysolda.  Tosh Sock by madelinetosh

9.  Ribbed Watchman's Hat by Channah Koppel from Channah Koppel Designs.  Shepherd Worsted Solid by Lorna's Laces

10. Ribbed Hat & Scarf (Hat) by Lion Brand Yarn.  Wool-Ease Thick & Quick

by Lion Brand.  

Long Time No See

Strange times right now. 

Corona-virus pandemic since the beginning of the year, started here in March.  We are now up to 800 cases, with 18 deaths.  Small numbers compared to elsewhere, but being an island economy the prospects of a surge are especially scary as the resources can easily be overwhelmed.  We are entirely dependent on shipping by land and sea to survive.  The economy is pretty much dependent on tourism and people travel not knowing the are ill, or even worse when they are ill.  I can only hope our state figures out a way to mitigate the influx of new cases.  Meanwhile all I can do is self-isolate, wear my mask and wash hands frequently.  I only go out for groceries when I need them.  There was a brief moment when Hawaii Farm to Car, the perfect solution for me, existed.  They have moved the pick up location to an inconvenient time and location. (sad face)

The political scene.  I have a friend who kept telling me 45 has dementia.  I didn't believe it thinking his odd way of speaking with very little vocabulary, hunting for words, and not actually answering point blank questions was a personality flaw or educational issue.  After I saw his interview with Oprah in 1988 I saw that the comparison of the man then and the man now was dramatic, the diagnosis is obvious.  Something has happened.  It's scary to think he is supposedly manning the helm.    There are so many issues that are pressing,  Black lives matter, police violence, gun violence, health care crisis, immigration, women's rights, LGBT community issues, relationships with allies and the world.  It's a lot for any person, especially one who is impaired.  Hopefully he won't be 46, and whoever that person is, they will surround themselves with the best people to help solve these problems and not fire them willy nilly.  

There is some drama going on Ravelry...a disturbance in the Force! I bet I visit Ravelry more then once a day.  I don't do any business on Raverly other then buy the occasional pattern.  It has been a wonderful place to spend time.  One day without warning, it looked different.  I read the explanation and understood the reasons behind changing certain things, but was sure glad when Classic Ravelry became an option.  A group of designers that I follow said they had disabilities that made the new design dangerous for them, causing migraines and seizures.  Wow!  What will come of it?  Hope they can make the site stop jiggling.  It may be an optical illusion, but everything seems smaller to me.  

My friends and I talk about how lucky we are to be in a stage of life where we don't have to go to work, have health insurance and income to meet our daily needs. friends and family to weather these trying times.  Of course, the eyes and ears are going, and the aches and pains...haha.

I am have been thinking about personal commitment lately.  I avoid certain types of commitment because I am afraid to fail and once I make a commitment it's all or none.  A good example is that when I joined Noom briefly, I was able to make some changes, like weigh daily and do a food diary.  A difficult thing was tell the world about my Noom journey so they could support me.  If I did not lose weight, I would be a failure and the world would know.  I know these are irrational thoughts.  So I'm taking a chance and putting this out there.  

Since I have Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy, and I am not physically able to march or demonstrate, I will knit a hat a month for the rest of year.  What my family in the frigid north do not take a fancy to, I will donate, problably to Friends of Pineridge.  Something small, but very doable.

Here's May.  Classic Beanie, Cascade Tangier

Here's June.  Musselburgh, Madeleine Tosh Sock, color way Thunderstorm. 

July should be Tour de Fleece but I'm holding off until August.
The July hat is another Lake Reed, in Shelter

by Brooklyn Tweed

Projects

I have mostly been successful on the yarn diet because I stopped knitting for awhile.  I tore my left TFCC and then the right.  I finally broke down last year and got a steroid shot which helped a lot, but then the right one started to act up.  The TFCC (The triangular fibrocartilage complex)  cushions the wrist bones  on the baby finger side of the wrist.  I wore wrist widgets all the time which helped a lot.  I finally got the right one injected and this had a steroid flare which demoralized me for a couple of days.  Luckily with ice and some NSAIDS I was better in two days.  Since I use a walker/AK prosthesis or wheelchair, I rely on my arms a lot and the drama princess was very sad, scared and in pain.  Mostly better now.  Yay!

I managed 3 skeins of yarn during and after The Tour de Fleece.  The small skein is Shetland, chain-plied and a bit of a mess.  The singles were way over-plied and I never really got the chain ply rhythm.  The colorful skein is a two ply merino, bamboo, nylon fiber, and the dark skein is "charcoal" baby alpaca, also two-ply.  

Then out came the beads.  I actually fed this stash and have to stop now.  They are addicting! I made two rosaries for friends, a bracelet using some cross links made by Cathy Dailey and a bunch of shamballa-type bracelets.
I used overhand knots between the beads and a sliding knot.  I put my Thread Zap II to good use with the nylon cord.  I found a cool video on how to use it.

I finally found a great fabric for  Marietta's Jedi cape.  Now I just have to locate the rest of the costume.  Pattern:  Read Creations Galactic Warrior Robe  Fabric:  Raw silk from Silk Fabric Etsy store.

Notes on the Hand quilt-look Machine Stitch

The hand quilt stitch by machine is another technique I don't use enough to remember.

I have a Janome Horizon 7700. the red one.
1.  Stitch selection: 94
2.  Bobbin:  red dot if using fine thread (Isacord Polyester, 40 wt) and blue dot if using regular thread (didn't work that well for me)
3.  Needle thread: Wonderfil Invifil, 100 wt
4.  Stitch length:  lengthen to get the desired look (3.5-4)
5.  Sewing speed, low or middle.
6.  Needle:  14 if using regular thread so the bobbin thread can be easily pulled to the top through the hole.  
7.  Needle Tension:  increase if bobbin thread not coming upSew swatch!

My invisible thread breaks often. 

Janome Life
Janome

Chatterbox Quilts

Scrap doll quilts all done.  Benartex and Kona cotton.  Heart leftover from Tenderhearts quilt.

Tutorial from Missouri Quilt Co. 

The Difference Between Roving and Top

From Judith MacKenzie:  Teach yourself Visually Handspinning
"Pull the fiber apart.  Top pulls apart in a straight line; roving leaves a rough, triangular-shaped edge."
She showed me this in a class at Madrona, why can't I remember it? 

Combed fibers make top.  Spinning top (usually short forward or backward draw) makes a worsted yarn.  The fibers are all lined up. 

Carded fibers make roving which makes woolen yarns.  The fibers go in many directions and can be spun with a long draw.  Variations include pin roving, pencil roving and sliver.  Batts are basically roving which comes right off the carder in long sheets. 

Now I hope I'll remember 'cuz I wrote it down. 

Braided Edge You Tube Video by Knit Whits

Catching up on projects

Iphone Bags.  I needed a little pocket for my iphone and essentials for quick jaunts.  I finally found a great tutorial on YouTube, by CollenCherry.  I used some shibori pieces from a class I took a while back at Kuni's Island Fabric.  What a lot of fun that was!
Mods:  I added pellon, non-fusible interfacing.  I also placed the strap at 4 inches and left off the closure.  I hate not having closure, but then I digress.  I may add a grommet to one of them since the big blue space seems bare, and add some dangles.

Marietta as Rey
Pattern Galactic Girl, by Pixie Faire.  Staff from American Girl Ideas on YouTube video .  Purchased boots from Karen's Kreations Etsy Store.
I used scrap fabric for everything.  She looks a bit "clean".  The scarf was gauze that I tea dyed.  Her belt, bag and bracelet are ultrasuede.  Found out that the my machine needs a jeans needle to sew the ultrasuede.   Her staff strap is folded grosgrain ribbon and the attachments are fused jump rings and clasps.  I used the hot glue gun and duck tape to attach the rings.    I made good use of my Wonder Tape to hold stuff together so I could sew those tiny things.

The Great Quilt Refurbishing Projects

I had the interior of my house painted over the holidays and it still has not recovered.  I did find some quilts that needed a bit of TLC.

Baby's basket needed sewing back on.  This quilt was made by my aunt for the boys when they were little.  It has otherwise held up very well.

I made these two Irish Chain pattern quilts when the boys were small too.  It was tied and I used a sheet for the backing.  There were some spots and the sheet had shredded.  I removed the backing, used up my stash of Strawberry Shortcake flannel. and machine quilted it.  The roses are free-motion quilted.  I'm getting better at it as long as ya don't look too closely, lol.

I tried some 20-mule team Borax with my regular washing soap to see if the stains would lighten. It helped a bit.  I used fray check on the holes where the quilt ties were removed.

The impulse buy of the holidays, was the Janome CoverPro 900cpx.  It is the older model that only has two needles.  I have tried out a few projects.  There is definitely a learning curve.

The political scene has been troublesome and difficult to avoid.  I find myself listening to the blues.  Always a bad sign.  At least the weather has been great so this too shall pass.

A New Year

The holidays were put on hold due to house painting and a family member canceling a trip due to cataract surgery.  Yes it sucks to get old. The interior of the house was painted so a lot of stuff had to be moved and it's still not all put away.  I added on a floor and the blinds will have to wait as it takes awhile for stuff to be shipped here.  It's amazing how shabby things like rugs and cabinets can look after the walls become all sparkly white.  Not surprisingly I found I have too much stuff.  The sewing machine room table is still not done, so my huge fabric stash is filling up more then it's usual space.  The table will happen in two days, the same day I have a house guest.  (one of those crazies who actually enjoys running 100 miles at time)  After discovering that the boy bathroom upstairs which is shared with the guest room still looks a bit awful after multiple scrubs, I will have to offer the little used one in the sewing room.

I've been without my TV, DVR and Roku and watching TV on the 'putor is not as much fun.

I found a couple treasures including a 1944 penny which is lost already and the giant rubber cockroach that may be doomed for the donate box.  

So of course there is little crafting.  I finished a very simple baby blanket for the new baby next door.  I found the cutest giraffe fabric and flannel on Maui so I went with that.  I had two pieces of batting in stash, but alas they both pinned out too small.  So I just went with fabric and flannel for a light weight blanket.


I finished the Peace Cowl since I used bulky yarn and then missed several days while I was on Maui.  I had yarn for the Peace Hat, top-down.  I adapted the stitch pattern from the cowl.  The cowl and hat have gone off to Denver to live. 

Then there was the Koigu Peace socks.

Pattern:  Vanilla is the New Black by Anneh Fletcher
Yarn:   Koigu KPPPM colorway P529
Mods:  none
This heel construction was not one I'd tried before.  There are no stitches to pick up! 

The heel stitches look cool.  There is more room in the ankle area, but this was not a problem for me.  The Koigu is so nice and squishy.  I loves me some Koigu!

The last project is a Gator-pus for my Florida Gator, cephalopod-loving  (and blogless) friend the Dive Doctor.

Pattern:  Octopus by Hansi Singh from hansigurumi: Knitting the Peculiar
Yarn:  Cascade Superwash and Plymouth Encore.
This is such a clever pattern.  It is a bit fiddly but comes out so cute.    I stuffed mine with wool and used buttons for eyes since there are no children around.

I returned to Senior Fit to find the class is one hour later and has a new teacher.  This one drives us all a bit too hard and talks a lot, so I'm not sure how long I'll last.  Hopefully long enough to work of the holiday cookies.

Update 1/12/2017:  I decided to go with a hat for the gator logo.

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2017!

Mochi Machine