ISN'T SHE LOVELY...

Well, time has passed, and we felt we were ready to adopt a new feline member into our family. I had told everyone that the next cat would be 3 legged, one eyed and missing a tail. One out of three isn't too bad! Some caring soul had found her with a badly injured, infected eye. Her official name at the vet's was "Kaleidoscope", but, being a bit of a mouthful, I named her "Shelby" for her tortoise shell markings and after the Shelby series of Mustangs. She does motor around the house at top speed, but otherwise, a beautiful and delightful kitty!


MULTIPURPOSE KNITTING:
I knit a convertible cowl/hat with Knit One, Crochet Too's Geologee. I used 2 skeins of the same colorway, but alternated balls every two or so rows so my striping was completely random.
I worked an eyelet row near the end so I could run an i-cord through to pull it closed. I really like how it turned out. It seems I never really have too many knitted things of my own to were when the weather turns cold! I bet that's true for a lot of knitters, eh?


Here is a woman's hat for our Church Christmas bazaar, knit with 2 different variegated shades of Red Heart Collage. The colors separately seemed very muted and blah, but were more pleasing to me when knit together. It's a warm hat. Perhaps I can knit a pair of mittens to go with it.


Slowly and carefully I am piecing together each motif block for our knitting Ministry's group project. It will be a beautiful afghan! It's a Bernat pattern adapted from a very old ivory counterpane pattern that I believe is floating around free somewhere on line.


Just a simple Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth for a breast cancer survivor friend. I always try to send her a little something pink every October.

Some cloths for a very nice neighbor. Saving for Christmas. Three months away, don't you know!

My latest pair of socks. Knit with a very old ball of Opal that I purchased from Astrid's Sock Obsession years ago before the shipping for orders from the Netherlands got ridiculous IMHO! I'm swearing off the sock yarn for the remainder of the year because I possess two completely stuffed dresser drawers full of sock yarn! No brag, just fact. I'll be casting on pretty soon for a pair for Shaun for Christmas. I still knit away on his secret Wallaby with the hope that I'll be done by October 15, his birthday. With a knit and a prayer...

I decided to forgo Stitches East this year. Saddened that they changed the venue from Baltimore. And, really, I am having a real difficult time justifying any more yarn purchases when I have an actual Yarn Room chock full of the stuff. All the more reason for my start up Etsy Shop. I simply need to reduce the mother lode of yarn stash. Maybe make someone happy by creating something lovely with yarn that I love working with? Are folks buying anything this year with this awful recession?

My Beginners Knitting Class began a few weeks ago at our local community college and I adore all 11 of my students! They are true blue knitters in their souls! It gives me so much joy to be able to teach others the skills to do something that might bring them some happiness. I'm excited to see their homework next week!

Happy knitting!