Monthly Archives: August 2008

New yarn from Taos Sunflower

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Taos Sunflower is closing their retail store to focus soley on their web store. They’re putting a lot of yarn on sale! Laura and I drove out to add to our stash.

We both bought the same brand of yarn-Schaeffer Nancy yarn. Here’s mine:

Schaeffer Nancy yarn

I love handpainted yarn. This skein is 600 yards. We also got a free pattern for a shawl using this yarn. A close up:

Schaeffer Nancy yarn

I also bought two Noro pattern books-Noro Knits and Pure Noro.

Noro pattern books

If you live in Taos I say check out the sale. I got good deals.

After petting my yarn I played with Sieben. He’s over 70 pounds now.

Sieben playing with stick

Gifts, Prana and knitting

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The week Prana got injured was a horrible one. My phone was out, my internet was out and there were other little problems that added up to a huge amount of stress. Abbey made me some knit gifts-cable headbands:

Cabled headbands

The beige is cotton and the green one is wool. Headbands have been on my to knit list for at least a year. I’ve just never gotten around to them. When she gave me these I laughed so hard I cried. They made me feel so much better.

Speaking of Prana he’s doing a lot better.

Prana playing with toy.

Though he’s getting bored since he isn’t allowed outdoors yet. His head still tilts a bit but not nearly as much as it did.

Sieben has been really gentle around him. They even snuggled some! One day I’ll manage a picture of them together.

In knitting news I’ve started the Seascape Bolero from the Knitter’s Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes. (This is a brilliant book that I highly recommend.) I’m using Noro Silk Garden which is amazing yarn. The colors are breathtaking:

Seascape Bolero

The pattern is an easy and makes for a relaxing knit.

Noro socks frogged

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I was making good progress on my Noro lace socks.

Noro lace socks

After I turned the heel something seemed wrong. The sock seemed too small. I tried it on and it was extremely tight. So tight I thought I might have to actually frog it off my foot. I managed to get it off but damn.

Noro lace socks

I knit the medium and have medium sized feet. Trouble is the
Socks Socks Socks book writes patterns in one size only. I got the book off Amazon. If I had known they wrote the patterns in one size only I wouldn’t have bought it.

Eventually I’ll pick up the Noro and knit socks with it again. I may even keep the lace but I’m definitely chucking the rest of the pattern. For now the yarn (and the damn book!) is sitting in time out.

Prana in recovery

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Prana sleeping

I’ve had a tough week. Most distressing was that Prana had a fall. At first we thought a rattlesnake bit him. Turns out he fell and got a kitty concussion. How did he fall off the roof? We suspect he was going after a bird but I guess we’ll never know.

We were prepping the car for a town day when Thebes found him on the ground meowing weakly. I held him in my arms and Thebes drove to the vet. Thank the gods we were still home. He was barely moving and I feared he’d die in my arms.

We took him to Taos Vet because they have emergency service. The vet gave him steroids and suggested a head injury. He stayed at the vet during the week.

Thankfully Prana’s home now. The vet gave him a good diagnosis. For now we have to keep him confined to the house. He’s already woken us up with he protest meows. I take it as a very good sign that he’s already bitching. He still has sign of a head injury. His back legs are a little wobbly and his head still tilts a bit. But he’s back and I can give him love and tuna.

Various bags

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I’ve been meaning to make these bags for awhile. First up is a knitting notions bag. My old one was too small.

Knitting notions bag

It’s made out of upholstery samples. Years ago I got a company to give me all their fabric samples from the previous season. I’ve made so many bags from them. The inside is lined with linen and I used velcro instead of a zipper.

Knitting notions bag

Next I made a grocery bag out of some upholstery fabric. This will be the last bag out of the samples because I’ve now used them all up.

Blue grocery bag

Prana inspects my work.

Blue grocery bag

Shortly after I made my Che Purse I realized Che’s face was starting to distort from stretching. I handfelted the purse and it turned out great. It’s a bit smaller of course but Che’s face and the dude holding the gun no longer stretch so my work is preserved.

Before felting the purse I knit some swatches to practice handfelting. I put them in my fabric stash planning to make a coin purse one day. The outside:

Felted coin bag

I lined it with linen and went with a velcro closing. It seemed too small to put in a zipper. It now lives in my Che purse since it matches.

Felted coin bag