3 dishcloths

A new thing for me, simple, brain dead knitting!

Rather than keep using a sponge in the kitchen and adding waste to landfills when I throw them out, I realized I could make dishcloths and WASH them.   And have the satisfaction of using something I made, which gives me smiles.

Each of these took one evening, sitting on the couch with my cats.  Relaxing and easy.  And I’m using up cotton yarn bits.

Time to make more!

Finally, after 6 froggings and just getting really bored with these, they’re done!

I started them toe-up using a small square which I knit off of, increasing around to make the toe.  As I got close to the instep, I added a small gusset of about 6 stitches total-3 each side, inserted a marker for the after-thought heel, and kept going.

Getting bored out of my mind, I went back and put the heel in then on the leg I decreased a few stitches, did some knit 2 purl 1 ribbing and used a simple crochet ruffle for the edging.  I had tried several loose bind-off methods but didn’t like them.   So tried a silly crochet edge, which I actually was surprised I like.   And rather than weave in the 3 loose yarns, I just braided them and left them out.

At several places I had to rip back and adjust, so many times I actually got so it didn’t bother me anymore!

I learned a lot on these simple socks and look forward to starting a pair of short-row “Rainbow” socks from a free pattern I found on Ravelry.

Or maybe just do a plain cotton dishcloth as a breather from all this scratchy yarn.

OR finish my Blue Moon socks!  They’re mostly done, will post a photo soon.

2 Styles-Woven and Printed

Just a quick post here….I got my new labels!

2 styles, from 2 different sellers on etsy.  The first style is woven or embroidered so the colors are bright!

The second is printed and as you can see, the colors are not so bright.  Nor is the printing as big, even tho’ they used the same 300DPI JPEG.

Still, these will be the labels for my new bench block pads.

And I’m coming up with a surprise!  A local award winning artist has agreed to do a few limited edition pads, one of a kind pads, with his signature cat cartoons, very cool!

As soon as I have some, I’ll post photos and have them on etsy.  A portion of the sales of these will go to the local help-the-cats organizations.  Of course, a portion of the sales already goes to these places, that’s one reason I sell on etsy.  To give more to the local shelters.

Thanks so much!

Over at Ravelry on the Socks That Rawk group, they started a “Once in a Blue Moon” cast on, taken from the Blue Moon fibers web site and sale.  Started December 31, a blue moon day.  2 full moons on the same month.  To be finished by the time the next blue moon comes around, August 2012.

So, since I am the proud owner of just 2 skeins of this yarn and their book (see previous post)  I decided to join this KAL. Never done a KAL before, but it’s a great way to START a project and with others following, maybe I’ll finish before the deadline of 2012.  Which is the next Blue Moon.  Did I say that already?

I’m using the Fair Isl charts from the book but doing toe-up socks and will just knit them as I go, no pattern.  I’d like to try a heel flap instead of my usual ‘after thought’ heels.  Since I get bored easily, I thought I’d make these positive and negative of the same patterns.  Which to keep my interest, will be decided as I go.  ADD in action!

A side note, I really like the way this yarn handles, it’s soft and doesn’t fall off of the needles (Brittany Birch DPs size “0″)

So, along with other stuff, I’ll be posting about these as I get them done.

And Larry is coming along, will post some recent photos soon.  He’s still skinny but getting full enough to turn his nose up at food he doesn’t like.  Instead of eating 12 full meals a day.

I’d rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I’d rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are.
Milton Berle

2 Skeins Strange Brew & Rocktober plus

Close up

So here are my first ever skeins of Blue Moon Socks That Rock, medium weight yarn.  And their book ‘Fair Isling On Blue Moon’.

I’m going to do them, one pair on one circular needle, magic loop, toe up.  I have to divide each skein into 2 balls and it took me a bit to figure out how to do it low tech.  I counted the rounds of yarn in each skein, surprisingly they’re the same, 192 each.  So divide that by half, 96, and I wound off the Strange Brew into to balls.  I draped the skeins over my knees as I sat on the couch and every time I unwound a round, I counted out loud.  Up to 96.  Cut the yarn and wound the second ball.  Much better than working from either end of the same ball.  I’ve done that and while it might not be really noticeable that the pattern is opposite, I know it.

So this should work.  I’ll have more news as I get them started.

Update on Larry, he had a couple days of not eating but is back to 5 meals a day.  Down from the 12 he was eating.  He still looks bad but his strength is coming back and he’s more active.  And his eyes are filling up the sockets and you can see them in his profile, which you couldn’t before.  He loves to be held and purrs and smiles at us.  And he seems to be able to hear more than we thought, so that’s a plus.

I gotta get more photos of him and post them……

Second full day, I’m going to chronicle Larry’s progress in photos here.

We have cats that we’ve rescued and never got ‘before’ pictures so it’s hard to remember how awful they started. So Larry will be a first. Just for reference, his belly is round in these shots, when we got him it was sunken in. So these photos reflect a full alimentary system.

He’s still eating as much as the other 12 put together and getting more busy during the day. He doesn’t sleep as much as he did the first day. Digesting food is hard work and he must be getting a bit stronger. And I notice his heart beat is getting stronger and is regular, not chaotic like it was on Day 1.

My son, Derek (my partner in cat-rescue) noticed that Larry has balance problems, not surprising considering his injuries and level of starvation. Maybe that will improve as he gains muscle mass. If he gains much at his age and condition.

Larry has just had a bit of catnip in these shots, he seems pleased.

Here’s a photo of a cat we rescued yesterday morning. Actually, he looks a lot better in these photos, taken late yesterday - after he had eaten several meals. His eyes were so sunk in you could see the inside of his eye sockets, they’re much better already, even in these photos.

He was hanging around a neighborhood in the next town, since last summer and a woman called to tell me she got him inside. She had seen him for months and last week decided to start feeding him…why she waited I don’t understand…anyway, we went and picked him up. Last night was an awful night, cold, sleeting and wind gusts over 60 miles an hour. I shudder to think of him out on that….

He’s the poorliest cat I’ve ever seen, just skin and bones. He’s been abused in the past, evidence of broken ribs, head damage, his right eye is damaged and his tail has recently been broken. But he’s so gentle and he’s eating well, using his litter box and his bladder and bowels seem to work okay.

So we took him to the veterinarian’s today and Dr. Ken said “Larry” -that’s what my husband calls him- is an old guy who’s had a very hard life. He’s got cataracts, he’s deaf, got arthritis and an upper respiratory infection but he’s so gentle and he has the will to live. So we’ll give him plenty of TLC, soft foods (his teeth are almost non-existent) -home made- proper vitamins, his round of antibiotics and we’ll see how he does. Ken said his tail will probably mend and be fine. As he is, Larry is in no shape to have tail surgery anyway, so we’ll have to wait and see.

He spent the day washing up his dirty face and body and eating and sleeping. And sitting on our laps, purring and smiling. And using his litter box. Also sitting on his blanket looking out the window.

He’ll live out his life, however long it may be, in warmth and comfort with a full belly and lots of love. And some occasional catnip.

We’ll keep him in quarantine for a while, at least a week, then carefully introduce him to the rest of the family. Or maybe he’ll be our ‘upstairs’ cat.

I’ll be posting on Larry’s progress, with photos, so stop back and see how he’s doing.

Pardon the stupid picture, I couldn’t resist!

Simple, easy lemon cookies, sandy style, no eggs. Makes about 5 dozen small cookies. Or just eat the raw dough, it’s so good…

You need: 350 degree, preheated oven and parchment lined baking sheets.

1 pound (yes) of butter, room temp

1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar, not packed

4 cups of flour, I use King Arthur

pinch of salt

1 tsp baking powder

and here’s the flavor maker, use 2 tsps or more of Boyajian Pure Lemon Oil. I got mine at our local health food store but it’s available on Amazon. Comes in 5 ounce bottles and goes a long way.

Mix the butter and sugar till well blended and a bit fluffy, add salt, flour and lemon oil, mix well. The dough will be very soft but not sticky.

Use 2 teaspoons, one to pick out a bit of dough about 1 inch around, the other to scrape the dough onto the baking sheets. I carefully rolled the dough bits into balls with my hands and very slightly flatted them. You can also roll them in turbinado sugar or sanding sugar. But we like them better not so sweet.

Or chill the dough and roll out for cut-out cookies.

They spread a little bit so don’t crowd them.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, till a bit brown around the edges. If you bake them too little, they’re cooked but fall apart. If you let them go till they’re really brown, well, they’re okay if you like really brown cookies. Medium is about right.

These are great dunkers in cold milk. They don’t quickly get soggy and fall in your glass.

Now about the Lemon Oil…I haven’t tried yet but probably vanilla would work, too.

Better for you than store bought junk, even with all that butter. I had 3 with breakfast, yummmmmm!

We have 3 kittens, nearly 3 months old, who have what appear to be colds.

The little black one, George, is getting better after 5 days of snotting, sneezing, coughing and just feeling poopy. The vet said just treat him like a child who has a cold, so we’ve been running the vaporizer (with a dash of salt in the water), giving him lots of chicken broth and greasing his chest with a small amount of Tiger Balm. Also using homeopathics and vitamins and herbs.

Today the 2 girls, Tilda and Jean Louise are shivering and sneezing, so we’ll keep the vaporizer on till they’re better. And do the same for them we did for George.

This photo shows the kittens with Uncle Harry, who is 14 years old and keeps watch over the babies. And he’s usually such an old grouch! Harry and the rest of the older cats haven’t got this bug so I guess they’re immune to it already.