I've Knitted My Way Through This Summer...

...and Other Stories While I've Been Gone!

I've been gone a while, I know this. I'm sorry, I truly am. I have been working so hard my next eBook and the trio of shawls that it will contain that I didn't think I had much to share. Looking over my pictures I realized I had plenty to share and it was about time I got to it. Real quick before I forget, Sexy Spines Volume 2 will be out in the next few days. I'm so excited and I hope you are too!!! That means pics to come soon along with the release and the stories behind them.

Let me start with the most recent fiasco. Miss Fluffypants. Princess. Miss Cat. Take your pick, she doesn't care. Remember when you were a kid and when you got in trouble your parents called you by your WHOLE name?! 

 

Lets just say for the remainder of this post, this long haired tuxedo cat who has taken up residence in our house for over a year and a half is Miss Audrey Grace Donnelly. She is no longer in trouble, but she was. Let me set the stage for you. My  Aunt and Uncle from California popped in for an impromptu visit about a week ago on their way to Ohio to visit with family. They are hauling a cute little Casita trailer in which they camp in every night along the way. When they arrived they just set it up in our driveway and stayed here Saturday and Sunday night. Sunday night both my Aunt and Uncle had had their showers and were ready to call it a day. My Aunt was folding some laundry she'd done earlier in the evening. My Uncle headed out before my Aunt. As my Aunt was going to the front door my Mom was right behind her chatting along the way. The door opened up and they chatted for a few. (I'll come back to this later). Next thing you know.....ZOOM! Out runs Audrey Grace Donnelly at top speed. I was in bed when the whole thing happened. I hear my Aunt come in and tell me that she needed me up because she was out they needed my help to try and coax her back in. Speaking words of very, very strong power, I grabbed her treat box and took it with me outside. I began to shake it and shake it and shake it. Nothing. I went onto the back patio and did the same thing. She came 2 feet from my hands and then bolted....like lightening. Seriously. This was totally out of character for her. I had already taken my night time meds and couldn't stay up if I tried. Mom pulled an all-nighter right there at the kitchen table in case she came home. I had also just read somewhere on Facebook that if your cat goes missing put out their litter box as they can smell it a long ways away. We did that. We opted to not put out food or water in the hopes that when she was hungry she'd come home. When I woke in the morning she still wasn't back but Mom said that she had seen her in the night and there was no question that she knew which house was hers. She was confident she would come back when she was ready. Meanwhile, I couldn't knit. I just laid on my bed staring out the front window with the hope that I might see her. Around 5:45pm that night she came wandering back onto the back patio like nothing had every happened. I was elated. I couldn't deal with the thought that she might not come home. Like, I just couldn't deal with that at all. She was oily and greasy and had all kinds of leaves and muck stuck to her. She desperately needed a bath. Only I'd never bathed a cat in my life. That's sort of built into the package if you know what I mean. I called my friend Sidney who bathes her cats regularly. She came over and we gave her a first go around. It helped to get a lot of the leaves out but that was about it. She suggested some of the spray on waterless shampoo that you can get at the pet store. Okay. Tried that. Audrey Grace just looked pathetic. Then, while at knit night, it occurred to us as we were talking to a friend.....USE DAWN DUMMY. Dawn cuts the grease!! So Audrey had a third bath and this is the one that brought her fluffypants back to life. We were so worried and scared that something might happen to her. We live next to an arroyo and there are coyotes out there. Bottom Line, shes okay and we're okay after a great big scare. Let me go back to that open front door. I have constantly reminded people NOT to linger in the front door. If you wanna chat, either come in or go out. Lingering in the front door is what caused this to happen. I don't blame Mom and I don't blame my Aunt. Its just something that happened. I am damn sure we all learned from it too.

Some very sad news happened while I was away. I guess its okay that I didn't write about until today, I couldn't before. I just couldn't. This oh, so familiar scene at Village Wools....

...that would happen every Tuesday from about 3 - 5pm? Well, its doesn't happen there anymore because Village Wools, our LYS closed its doors after 44 yrs in business. I was devastated with the news and couldn't handle it. What were we going to do?! Well....we've turned it into Road Trip opportunities to Santa Fe to shop at Yarn and Coffee, our favorite yarn store in Santa Fe. We recently took a trip and ended up in Taos for the afternoon at Mooncat Fibers, our favorite place in Taos for yarn shopping. Every time I'm in Taos I cannot help but to get pics of the church there. Its the most famously painted church in the country. Georgia O'Keeffe liked to paint it......often from this angle...

...the back side of the church. I love this church from any angle....

I picked up some yarn from Michelle Berry of BCY Yarnings from Mooncat Fibers in a colorway called Plum Dandy! I love it!! 

Because our LYS has closed and it requires a planned road trip to get to Santa Fe, we have now turned to the internet for a lot of our yarns. I have picked up a lot recently. I picked up a colorful skein of Freia Hand Painted Yarn at discount in a colorway called 'Dusk.' I LOVE IT. I bought it specifically to make the Be Simple Shawl. This is the shawl that Yarn and Coffee has on display in their shop to sell the Freia. Its a simple asymmetrical shawl that shows the color changes very well. Here's the skein...

and you can check the shawl pattern out here. I'm still working the dark purple but cannot wait to see the next color change!

On Facebook I stumbled across a link for a yarn company called Savvy Skeins. The colorway being advertised was called 'Tattooed Lady.' I had to have some. So I bought some!

Isn't that just plain SEXY?!?! I love the speckle dyed yarns. They're so different. Its the combination of these colors for me though....pure awesomeness from the owner of Savvy Skeins, Ali Telfer.

Because I am a knitter and designer, a lot of the forums and feeds I subscribe to on Facebook at knitting related. As such, many of the ads I receive are knitting related too. Like those ads from Zen Garden Yarns. I have caved twice now. Here's what I've acquired from them....

I love this colorway and think that it will be even better when its knitted up. There isn't too much variegation to interfere with stitch definition or anything like that, I think it will be fantastic!! And the cashmere in this yarn is oh.so.incredible! 

The other Zen Garden I bought was from their Art Walk Series. They choose a painting and then dye yarn to bring in all the tones that are in the painting. This one is 'Strawberries' by Renoir.

Last but most certainly not least is the next set of yarn I acquired from Adella Colvin of Adella's Crochet Cottage. I had been wanting this colorway 'Steam Punk' since she first put it out. It is so nice. The blues, purples and teals in it are extravagant...

She must've known me from another life because this is the button that she added as a little gift to my package...

It has been a fulfilled summer. I think the high light of it was when my Mom knitted my 'To Whom It May Concern' scarf for a good friend of hers who is battling her way through Breast Cancer. She could've chosen any pattern out there....but she chose mine. 

Please check back with me tomorrow. Probably late afternoon or early evening. I will have news to share about upcoming my trunk shows! YAY!!!!!! Until then, stay calm, cool, and relaxed and Knit On! I'll leave you with a beautiful New Mexico Sunset pic...I love you guys!