Oh, hi everyone! Um, its been forever. Anyone still reading?

I have this theory. I think when I’m unhappy and lonely, I write much more. I’ve been really really happy these past few months, and so, no urge to write. I haven’t been writing for Yelp, my LiveJournal, anywhere really.

But, this blog is sad and lonely, so post time!

First off, I did finish the Drunken Bees socks.

I love how they turned out - I used a french heel and toe.

Let’s see… what else is going on?

Woah! Who is that? It’s none other than Kevin’s (New Kevin, not Old Kevin, yes I somehow fell in love with someone with the same name as my ex. WTF?) and mine new kitten!

We decided that Hunter needed a playmate. Some folks down the street from him had kittens, and he was the last one. He has a harelip, and folks would come, look at him, and decide not to take him. Its not a big deal - he can eat and drink just fine. The vet says his palate fused, so while he’ll try to close it up a bit when we neuter him, its really just cosmetic at this point.

He’s totally,totally cute. He’s a huge bundle of energy - he and Hunter have been happily chasing each other around for the past day or so. Katie is like “EEEEEH”, but she’ll get over it.

His markings are totally awesome. He’s a squirly kitteh!

Kevin’s son is completely convinced that its HIS kitten. He played with him non stop for 3 hours. We haven’t named him yet, but they keep calling him Super Dude. I’m resisting it, but he is pretty awesome and bouncy.

Yes, its time for the WOW! Selection for September (and August cause we’re slow).

First up, August. I selected some lovely Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Crazy Color 6-ply / 6-fädig that I had bought at Little Knits when they put it on sale for like 10 cents a ball or something cruel like that. I was worried that with the low yardage and the sport weight yarn I’d be making anklets for everyone, so I used Kim Salazar’s Pine Tree Sock pattern, because it was toe up. As you can see, I had more than enough yardage to make a very nice pair of size six hobbit feet socks.

Hunter is not impressed with the regia. He didn’t try to eat it once! I was lazy and did an Estonian Cast off on the cuff, which is why they are so wavy. But they are good and stretchy, unlike my first “normal” cast off. (Yes, Barb, you were right. :)) I’m not sure its actually called Estonian Cast Off, but I learned it in a Nancy Bush class about Estonian Lace.

Now on to September! In August, a group of friends bought me this skein of totally awesome Socks that Rock Lightweight in the very very very very wanted Oregon Red Clover Honey colorway. Why?  Because I rock.  *preen*  Hee.

I cast on for Drunken Bees in September, which meant it was stashed for a few days, so it TOTALLY COUNTS as a WOW! selection.

Henri Emile Rat says it ought to be called Rat Colorway, cause it matches him. Here’s a close up of the sock.

I so love Socks that Rock.

At long last, I have a picture of my Japanese Flower Shawl.

It’s done!   Yes, that’s Hunter’s head.   He’s been trying to eat it, since its made from 6 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed.

This was a pretty quick knit - the pattern came from a Japanese Knitting book (Couture Knit 11 Elegance Knit), and it wasn’t at all hard to follow the chart.

Here’s a close up of the flower motif:

I also finally uploaded some new submitted patterns to the Island Of Misfit Patterns - go check out the Socks section in particular!

I realize you all haven’t actually seen any of my knitting in a very long time.    So, with great pride, I introduce…

Dottie Dog!

She came from Knitted Toys: 25 Fresh and Fabulous Designs by Zoe Mellor.   I love this book - all of the animals are adorable in it.   I used Elann’s Sonata  instead of the Rowan Handknit Cotton the pattern called for.  Talk about an expensive puppy if I had knit it out of Rowan.

It worked out beautifully - Sonata has a huge color range, so it was easy to substitute.  In the book, Dottie is blue, but since Dottie is going to live with a girl baby, I made her pink.

She’s actually going to live with the boyfriend’s coworker’s daughter, and the boyfriend requested pink.   I’m clearly in love, since I hate pink.   But I love how Dottie Dog turned out, even if she did get into all our food at Panera.

I only used 1 and a half skeins of the pink, but I bought 3 skeins.  So, I have plenty left over.   Her orange nose comes compliments of Monica, because I bought the wrong color of orange from Elann.

Thanks everyone for all your words of support.  And for being totally rude about Evil Kevin, or as my mother now refers to him as, “Asshole”. 

So, before I finally move on and never mention him again, I thought I’d tell one story about him.

Asshole had food issues.   As in, he was the pickiest eater I ever, ever knew.  He would only eat beef, bacon and selected vegetables.   No fish.  No poultry in any form.  No shellfish.  No pork beyond bacon.  He pushed 300  pounds on a fairly regular basis, as you’d expect for someone who only ate red meat and carbohydrates.  Now, his weight never bugged me - I like my men beefy.   The new guy is nice and beefy.  Especially since it means I get to feel all small and delicate while wearing their t-shirts.   Speaking of which, new guy is always having me wear his t-shirts, including totally cool ones with cats and corporate logos.   Asshole only let me wear TWO of his oldest, rattiest, ugliest t-shirts.  I did steal his old style US Customs t-shirt (which I still wear), but I only managed it because it was way, way, way too small for him.  I still walk around the apartment going “Respect mah Authoritah!”

But, that’s not the point.   Now, I love to cook, and I love trying new foods and recipes.   This was pretty challenging, given his dietary limitations, especially since he was also often doing Atkins.  So, I’d resort to using recipes that had one of the “banned substances” in them, but hiding it.

My favorite ingredient that flew under the radar for 4.5 years?   Chicken Broth.  That’s right.   Chicken Broth was in TONS of stuff.  Stuff he actually really liked.   He’d ask what I put in the couscous or rice, and I’d be like “Oh, water and some spices”.   He’d recoil in horror at the thought of the evil chicken broth, but hah, he ate it.  Muahahaha.

Yes, I was very evil and at the time I felt vaguely bad about it, but you try cooking for someone like that.  Plus, now I can evilly cackle about it.  And I’d never do it to a vegetarian or to someone with a real dietary issue, of course.

Now, on to better subjects!   Monica visited two weekends ago, and she brought me these socks!

If the picture looks familiar, its because Monica sneakily posted them on her blog, and I never did figure out that they were all for me!  The pattern is Whitby from Knitting on the Road, and she used Mountain Colors Weavers Wool in Wilderness.   They fit perfectly.   She said they were thanks for test knitting her sock patterns.  So, not only do I currently have a pair and a half of awesome sockness I knit on my own, now I have a full pair of Special Monica Socks!