March 31

Just a quick snapshot of a corner of my desk. Why? Well, because it is the 31st of March. Last day of Project Spectrum's Red/Pink phase. Today's calendar page seemed to want to get in on the fun.

Doin' the Happy Dance In My Tiger Socks!

FINISHED A COMPLETE PAIR OF SOCKS AND IT ONLY TOOK ME FIVE MONTHS!!!
I'm ecstatic, in case you couldn't tell. They fit, and they're both the same size (I know the top one looks smaller but that's because of camera angle)
Things I have learned about sock knitting:
1. One sock is only 50% of a pair. Acceptance of this may be the key to my sock knitting happiness.
2. Make lots of legible notes while knitting Sock I, so that it can be easily duplicated.
3. I need a row counter! For pity's sake, why haven't I bought one yet?
4. Casting on for the second one immediately would be a really really good idea.
5. Second Sock Syndrome is real.
6. It is definitely worthwhile to buy the fun and exciting yarn. It's the only thing that kept me going on this thing for the last 20 rows.
7. No matter how tiny the gauge is, if you knit a little every day you WILL eventually reach the toe. Sometimes I wasn't sure.

"The Four" Meme

Thanks for the tag, Leah, I love memes. :)

4 jobs I've had:
1. Pet Shop Girl ~ clean cages, walk puppies, catch wayward cockatiels
2. Pier One ~ setting up merchandise for a new store
3. Jewelry store ~ bookkeeper
4. Telecommunications co. ~ bookkeeper

4 films I can watch over and over:
1. Goblet of Fire
2. Prisoner of Azkaban
3. Chamber of Secrets
4. The Sorcerer's Stone
See a theme? Hee. I don't usually watch films over and over except for Harry Potter movies because they make superb knitting-background movies for some reason. Atmosphere, perhaps. The rain, the wending train through the countryside, the drafty old castle, the snow, who wouldn't want to knit?
Oh, and when I was a kid I saw Return of the Jedi about 12 times.

4 tv shows I love to watch:
1. Knitty Gritty (when they're new)
2. The Dog Whisperer
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. Angel
I had trouble remembering this one because I haven't watched TV in months!

4 places I've lived:
1. Orlando, FL
2. Ft. Pierce, FL
3. Titusville, FL
4. Floridana Beach, FL

4 places I've been on holiday:
1. Curacao
2. The beach
3. Busch Gardens
4. Disney World

4 websites I visit daily:
1. Cute Overload
2. Craftster
3. Metacrawler
4. Dog of the Day

4 fave yarns:
1. Opal sock yarn (current obsession: Rainforest Collection)
2. LionBrand Fishermen's Wool (for Koolaid dyeing)
3. Handpainted variegated dyed wool from various places
4. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport

Celtic Horoscope: I Am A Fig Tree

You Are A Fig Tree

You are very independent and strong minded. A hard worker when you want to be, you play hard too. You are honest and loyal. You hate contradiction or arguments. You love life, and you live for your friends, children, and animals. A great sense of humor, artistic talent, and intelligence are all gifts you possess.

What is Your Celtic Horoscope?

Good Together Sunday

I'm delighted to have been tagged for a meme from Leah ~ I will post that tomorrow! :D

In sock news: I managed to drop a dpn off the side of the bed, where it landed on a curved piece of paper, rolled down said paper like a skateboard ramp, and shot off under my desk. It is not a moveable sort of desk, so some time today I have to get my Swiffer and try to retrieve it. That may lead to general floor mopping, who knows?

This pic isn't from this morning, this morning I am having oatmeal and juice like a sensible person. But I remember it fondly.

Proof

Proof that there is knitting going on. Every day! I am just slow at sock knitting. Also, the sock is inside out in the picture, which is just how I knit with dpn's (on the far side...lol). I tried to change, but that's how I learned and that's how it's going to be ~ it's easier to flip the sock around at the end than to re-train the knitter. Oh, and I knit English, too. I'm a thrower!

Butterfly Socks on the Way!

OK, so I try to use free patterns as much as possible and save my money for yarn. But today I came across some reeeeally cute socks with little lacey butterfly designs. I ordered them, along with a pattern for a nifty crochet sweater. Both of these seem very Spring!
Butterflies and Blossoms

Crochet Cardigan

On Tiger II: it continues. Am I just a really slow sock knitter? It seems like people whip these things out so fast. I think I need another project going on bigger needles just for some variety.

Tiger II ~ Rolling Along

This is my favorite part of knitting a sock. (well, besides finishing it, of course) Where decreasing for the gusset begins. I like that point where I'm halfway across the instep, and all four needles are in full use, and I'm on a 'knit even' row. The scary picking up of the stitches part is over (my least favorite part of sock knitting) The high-concentration heel turning, while exciting, is over. The sock is well and truly underway and it's straight-ahead from here.

Project Spectrum: PINK

The pink flowerpot. This one gave me a time, I'll tell you. But the china was exquisite. Here's a close-up of one of the wavy, scalloped edged pieces. The others (in the middle section) were a soft, delicate, petal pink, they looked very 50's.

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Here is a study in grout contrast for you. I grouted it in white, and my design pretty much disappeared.

So out came the trusty "Nutmeg" paint. (I use that color so often it's amazing.. it's good for everything from gingerbread to giraffes!)

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Much clearer.

I don't know what kind of flowers those are in the planter, I want to say "Dianthus" or "pinks" but I'm too tired to go Google it. Whatever they are, they're sweet, the edges look like they've been trimmed with pinking shears by diligent little fairies.

Oh, and by the way, I've been misspelling the name of the photo hosting place. It's Flickr, not Flicker.

White Westie

Pattern: Scamp the Dog from Jean Greenhowe's MacScarecrow Clan

Mine turned out to be a girl, so instead of Scamp, her name is Noelle. The flowers are from the lady's hat in the Little Dumpling Dolls book, though I added some loops around the petals to make them frillier. The leaf pattern was really fun, simple but clever ... and that's the lime green Red Heart yarn I bought the other day. (I knew it would come in useful!) I also added a tongue because it just seemed like she needed one.

I'm thinking Noelle needs a sister named Holly, done in black yarn, with appropriate embellishments on her collar.

Project Spectrum: RED

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Cow Creamer with Gerber Daisy

Project Spectrum: RED

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In Progress pics, with all the accompanying accessories: the tiles, the Weldbond glue, the pretzels, the half pair of knitted socks........

Story of a Flowerpot: Once upon a time, I ordered 2 sets of tiles from an ebay seller, and it was one of those deals where she could get 3 in the envelope for the same postage, so I ordered these red, white, and black tiles with pawprints and hearts and dog related themes. And there they sat in the stash, month after month, year after year, until one day Project Spectrum came along, and I said "Hey! I have red tiles in there!" So I found the tiles, and some cute red rounds from Mosaic Basics, too, and voila. One trip to the hardware store for fresh grout and a salvia, and here it is. I am so happy with how it turned out. I even found a heart shape to paint with my Porcelaine markers and make into a plant stake. (I'm making a flowerpot for 'pink', too, should be ready to grout soon)

I was playing around with tags on Flicker last night. Still not entirely sure how those work, but I found quite a lot of Project Spectrum folks out there by trying different combos of the following tags: projectspectrum spectrum project red march ~ and quite a few here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/project_spectrum/pool/

Lessee, what else..... I've started a Second Sock-along on Craftster so I can finish the mate to the tiger sock (which happens to be in the thumbnail above). I finished Scamp the dog, pics coming soon. And Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Project Spectrum: PINK

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Cow Creamer with Bougainvillea

Good Together Sundays

A quiet Sunday morning here at Chez Squirrel. I'm currently knitting Scamp the dog, and making my plans for Project Spectrum. (see the pretty button in the sidebar!) I think I will do two a month ~ one simple and one more involved. The simple project will be a photo of flowers in my beloved cow creamer, which will be posted around the beginning of each month, and the second will be a mosaic planter, which I will give myself to the end of each month to finish. March is for RED so I'm off to find appropriate glass and tiles from The Other Stash!

I'm in love.

Here is my cute little dog, he's a mere 4 inches high! The pattern's called Rascal, but mine is named Fiddle, and like the dog in the book, he enjoys a good jam-tart now and then. :)

All items made from Jean Greenhowe's Little Dumpling Dolls (Part One: The Village Ladies) (except the jelly roll which came from Jean Greenhowe's Toy Collection)

Jean Greenhowe is a Genius

I made a tiny little dog today from one of her books, I am completely enchanted with him. First thing in the morning, I plan on taking pics. I've also been making tiny little donuts, and a tiny little teapot from the same book, and I'm just fascinated with the designs.

I found Joanne's! Wouldn't you know that as soon as I post about not going back there - they send me a coupon. So I called and found out where they were. The new place is HUGE. I bought (big surprise) yarn: 1 skein of bright lime green Red Heart (see, I told you I wasn't a yarn snob ... lol ), some rainbow colored Caron Simply Soft, two little skeins of some fancy stuff ~ one rainbow and one greeny-peacock colors. I used the coupon on this little beauty:

I know the picture is dark and does not convey the full glory that is this yarn. It's furry and tiger-striped and there should be enough here to make a tiny little tiger.

Bell Pepper ~ Fun with OfficeJet

Marvelous Mohair

Good Morning! Here is the mohair I ordered, isn't it BEAUTIFUL?? It's in a colorway called 'Fire'. It is going to be Ginny Bear. I also went to Walmart yesterday, at long last, and bought some red yarn to make Ron Bear, and even found the right yarn there to make the other half of Hermione Bear. Joanne's moved their store a couple months ago, and do you know I can't find the place? I drove by on another long-distance errand and did a quick look in the vicinity I know it's supposed to be, but didn't see it. I should just call and ask, but you know, they're so far away now I'd just as soon go to Walmart for the day-to-day stuff, and order online for the fancy stuff. I refuse to buy yarn from the other tiny local craft store (which will remain anonymous) ever since they stopped carrying any brand but Red Heart. That's right. A whole wall of nothing but Red Heart. Now, I'm not a yarn snob, but I sure didn't appreciate not being given ANY creative choice whatsoever, so I walked out.

But anyhow, back to the excitement of new yarn. I've never made anything with mohair, I looked it up on the net, and apparently it is made from GOAT hair. Cute, huh? I'm very fond of goats, they've always been friendly to me at the petting zoo. :D

Oh, while I was at Walmart, I picked up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on DVD. This is the first DVD I've ever bought, I'm pretty excited about it. Had to get a little DVD player, too, so today I have to figure out to install the thing and then I will be able to watch this movie to my heart's content. :)

Boonays

I bought these today for no other reason than that they were cute. Well, and the chocolate will be a nice bonus, of course. :) Also there was French on the labels, indicating what kind of chocolate they are. So we have Bunny Blanc and Bunny Noir. :D

:)

Just got home from the pet-store, bought my baby a new bangle for her collar:

Rosie Says "Hi!"

Dog Pic today! My darling girl.

I got an email from the ebay lady saying she's mailing my mohair today! I am so curious as to what it's going to look like, feel like, how it will knit up. I have such wonderful plans for it!