Monday, April 28, 2008

Phoebe and Mercedes Socks

My friend C had two Devon Rex cats, Phoebe and Mercedes. Last year she had to put Mercedes to sleep because she had many many health problems that hit her all at once--a result of severe in-breeding. Before C even got her, Mercedes had to have one of her eyes removed because of an infection. C loved that cat and was absolutely crushed when she had to put her to sleep. When I saw the pattern for the Cat's Face Lace Socks from JenLa's website, I knew I had to make them, and how cute they would be with one minor modification....

Here are the socks with a photo of the cats (I made the "cat couch" in the photo!):


One sock is the exact pattern for Phoebe:


And the other sock has one-eyed cats for Mercedes:


A lady at Stitch-In dyed the yarn for me (thanks Heather!), which is KnitPicks superwash wool. I gifted them to my friend C today, which by an incredible coincidence, is what would've been Mercedes' birthday!

P.S. Phoebe is still alive and well, and has a little sister, Pandora.

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Third time's the charm!

So, last night was the Michael Buble concert in Green Bay. We made the four-hour trip, then had dinner with my aunt at Margarita's restaurant--which was playing all Michael Buble songs, I noticed--then went to the show. His opening band was "Naturally 7", and they were actually very good. They all could sing, plus they each had an instrument they could mimic, so they sounded like an entire band. Here is a clip of one of their songs:


Then it was time for the main man to take the stage! Michael never disappoints; his shows are always fantastic. He has the best sense of humor, so in between songs everyone's laughing. At one point, when all was quiet, this woman screams out "We love you Michael Buble!!", and without missing a beat he says "I love you too stranger in the dark!"

He did perform a "new" song, that will be on his next album:


And here he is doing his Elvis impersonation, which I think is great:


Towards the end of the evening, Michael stopped to say how grateful he was, with the economy being what it is, for all of us that shelled out our hard-earned money to be there, which was so touching. He really appreciates his fans from the bottom of his heart and gives so much of himself at each and every concert. I read on his forum that he was sick the few shows before Green Bay, but he went out each night because he didn't want to disappoint anyone. He was drinking tea during the GB show, but his voice was at 100%.
The best part of the night was when he started singing "Save the Last Dance", and he let people come up to the stage. I of course was up there like a shot, even though we were in the 9th row. You can never be too close! He was spending a lot of time at the other end of the stage because there was a camera guy there filming him for the jumbo screens, but he finally made his way towards where I was at, and before I knew it he was right in front of me! I threw my hand up the air, and I almost couldn't believe it when he held out his hand to me! I grasped it and stood there transfixed. He let go so he could touch some of the other girls standing next to me, so I put my hand on his knee (he was squatting down on stage to reach us). Then I finally came to and took a few photos before he walked away. Yay!!!!! Sir B and I went around to the tour buses after the show, but a guy back there said Michael wouldn't be coming out to sign autographs, which was a bummer. During the show he said he has a bunch of family in Green Bay, and a group of them were there at the show, so that was probably why he didn't come out afterwards. Maybe next time!

Photos (click to make bigger):


Throwing cheesehead hats into the audience:



This is my favorite shot of the night:


Introducing some of the band using a Packers foam finger:


Close close close!





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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Another sock

I love this yarn....I only wish it wasn't hand wash. It's Melody yarn (I found it in the Patternworks catalog) in colorway Duet:


The pattern is the "Baby Cable Rib" from this book (in the 4 stitch ribbing patterns section).

And here is the start of the Susie Hoodie. I'm using Cascade 220 in a yellow-green heather, which is VERY hard to photograph correctly:

A closeup of part of the cable:

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Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Another FO!

Some cool stripey socks in Regia Landscape yarn, color Caribbean.

It's nice to make a project that only takes a few days. Most of the things I knit go on and on and on and on and on.....

Last weekend Sir B and I went to Rockford for dinner, and ended up at the bookstore where these two gems followed me home:

The patterns in More Big Girl Knits are so much better than the first book! You can kind of see all the little flags sticking out of the top of the sweaters I want to knit.
But this one went straight to number one on the list. I should be getting the yarn on Friday. WEBS is having a sale on Cascade 220, so I got that in a pretty green:

Mmmmm, cabley goodness!
The sock book is fantastic, I like how each chapter is different patterning size (four-stitch patterns, five-stitch patterns, so on). You get the basic sock recipe for that size (some are toe up, some cuff down) then a bunch of different patterns you can choose from.


The queen was laying in the sun, and wanted her portrait taken:

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Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Hoarding

As much as I love to knit, sometimes I go through a spell where all I want to do is find project after project I want to make, even buy the yarn for them, but not actually get much knitting done. I started a sock last week and just ripped it out the other day (it was too big). I haven't made socks in awhile, and I really want a project in my arsenal that I don't need a pattern for, just find some yarn, get out the needles and knit. So I'm learning from the master, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and her "Original Sock Recipe" in her book Knitting Rules. I have high hopes, plus I haven't bought yarn in a very long time, so I got enough for three pairs of socks...two pair of "regular" socks, and one pair of fair isle socks I saw in the Patternworks catalog. Now I'm thinking of ordering yarn to make a Lady Eleanor stole (which I started making once, but didn't like the yarn color I was using) because a woman at my knitting group is making one and I still really want to make it. Plus I should be getting back the yarn a friend is hand dyeing for (more) socks in a few weeks. I still have to start the cardigan for my husband (have the yarn), and I started the mittens but haven't gotten past the cuff because I'm bored with the idea of making mittens right now.

Can anyone say knitting ADD?
:)