Sunday, October 05, 2008

Oh, to Be a Cat

Cats really know how to relax. In the hustle and bustle of my life, they remind me of the beauty of curling up for a nap. I wish sometimes that I were as relaxed as they are, but doing stuff is much more fun.I was inspired by Debra's closet cleaning to get a bit more organized. I'd been keeping a lot of my jewelry in a jumble in milk glass bowls in the bathroom, but the damp isn't good for metals. I saw this idea on the net for storing and displaying pins. Take an old embroidery hoop, stretch a piece of wool in it, trim, put your pins in it, and hang it on the wall. I put mine up in the closet, where I'll be able to see it when I get dressed.
Last week Michael and I picked blackberries. We've been corrected about calling these blackberries, apparently they're Himalayan black raspberries. They're a real treat and this is the season when they ripen. We picked a couple of gallon buckets of berries, and I brought them home, washed them, and then froze them on parchment paper-covered baking sheets. Once they're frozen you can store them in plastic bags. They make killer jams, pies, and cobblers.
I've taken some stray balls of yarn and started a hooded vest. I bought this curly oatmeal colored yarn a long time ago in my early knitting days, and I never found a use for it. I recently realized that I can combine it with other yarns in order to knit larger-gauge items.
We'll see how this comes out. It's pretty thick, so it may not be the most attractive thing I've every knitted.
Allie finished knitting a Harry Potter scarf, and Susan wanted to see a picture. It's knit in a big tube in stockinette stitch, and then you sew up the ends. It's huge, but she stuck with it, even knitting in the dark at the movies. This is a Gryffindor scarf, and I guess she hasn't had enough, because she cast on for a Slythrin scarf in green and silver. She got the pattern here.

We've been busy bees here, despite the good example of the cats.

4 comments:

Judy S. said...

What a great and attractive way to corral your pins! I always forget to remove them and find them ages later on whatever I last wore....

That's a nice yarn combo. Is that pattern in the current Vogue magazine?

As for cats, I'd also like to be as agile. Ginger leaps onto the windowsill from the floor, no problem...not that I do a lot of leaping onto those surfaces!

allie aller said...

That daughter of yours has so much attitude. I love it!
Also your pin collection...it is fun to see your taste in jewelry, and yes, I like all of it!
You guys and all your knitting just might pull me in yet... ;-)

Debra Dixon said...

Great pin idea! Do you have a good one for necklaces?

Susan Elliott said...

Tell Allie I think her scarf is GREAT and thanks for the pattern too. I might get that wool out of my closet and cast on just to have it underway. I was going to knit mine in exactly the same way as a big tube so I am very grateful for a real pattern so I don't have to start from scratch. I can't wait to see her Slytherin scarf. We're big Harry Potter fans around here. Hope you get to nap with your cats soon...

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