If you are reading this and haven't voted yet, Go out and vote! Especially if you vote like I do. ;-)

my first fair isle

Lillehamer is finished. I was very nervous about it being I messed my first colorwork project up big time. This was knit on size 5 needles using Knitpicks telemark in black, charcoal heather and bayberry.

This is also the project that I discovered the true magic of blocking. It was pretty lumpy and bumpy not to mention looking like it would fit a toddler at best and not a grown man with a full head of hair.

I made this for Chip. A long time business associate, for lack of a better term, of my family. He's like a version of my Dad, but more grown up with a full time job. I got word that he was retiring from my Uncle and cried and then made a hat. He is an avid skier and I thought that in his retirement he could use a new hat to do more skiing in. Turns out my Uncle is crazy and he is not retiring. With a fibbing family like mine, I need a Chip in my life. At least for another year or so.

final summer of yarn love package.

My secret pal was Joanne, who was oh so good to me.

woops I messed up the Uh Ohs.

uh oh 2, originally uploaded by kimmiecashie.

I finally felted something publicly. he way felted items feels gives me the creeps. J thinks I have Synesthesia but I just have texture issues. I don't hear colors I just don't like the way chenille and felted goods feel. I don't really like how broccoli tickles the roof of my mouth and I definitely don't like o be surprised by tapioca balls in bubble tea. Are you supposed to chew them or just swallow?
Anyways, I made this piece for baby K. When finishing up these guys, I really saw the top nubs as ears and not arms. Then I looked at some others on ravelry and they are definitely arms. And then I looked at the pattern. Yeah, they are arms. I was abut to rip out the stitches and then I remember that baby K doesn't know the difference between and ear and an arm.

dog thursdays & announcement

I am going out of town for a bit for some fun and then to give my support to my Dad & Uncle. Not exactly sure when I'll be back but will post something knitting related in the near future.

I realize I"m way overdue for a blog post. Truth be told I"m in a knitting funk. I started a coffee cozy from a blog pattern that was too small. So that will take some tweeking that I'm just not in the mood for. Not that I need a reason to be a grump, but my Aunt Charlotte recently passed away and my Grandpa probably has a few more days of life. I've been downloading patterns like nobodies business. Mostly knitted toys which I've never had any interest in. The number of babies in my life has grown exponentially with the birth of Jameson, Kyla and the recent Jack Dangerfield in the last 6 months. Mostly the pattern downloading is I just like a fresh start when I'm sad, or bored. So next post I hope to have something more interesting and knitting related to post.

check out the loot I scored

I found this on my doorstep Sunday. It's a beautifully wrapped from my pal from the summer of yarn love swap. In the box I found a cute little skein of o-wool in a tweedy pink. Not sure what I'll make with it yet. Any suggestions?

I also scored some cow corn holders, chocolate, incense, candles, a kooky food book, a Mamas and papas CD and the scariest jelly bellies evah! Thanks secret pal for a very summer themed gift.

the boys love laundry day

destashing .

***WARNING***The following photos may break some yarn addicts hearts***


My friend Bill rescued Beau after his former owners threw him in a dumpster. Beau doesn't know he is dumpster kitty. He only deserves the best in life...or else. Or else, he will find a basket of squishy yarn to pee in.




One of the things I was looking forward to when I moved into the house was putting the dreaded litter box in the basement. Whenever I had company coming over, nature called for Beau. So annoying! My cat is also a fancy-pants. I have always changed his litter once a week. Not even the scoop thing...a complete change. Now that the box is in the basement, I let it slip and hadn't changed it in 2 weeks.










So I had some necessary destashing to do. Fortunately, nothing too valuable was ruined. Beau didn't get get returned to a dumpster but he was put in the basement for 2 hours until I cleaned up the mess and soothed myself with a couple episodes of the Office.

In the meantime, honeymoon cami is going smoothly. Just waiting for more yarn to come in. The last ball needed was pissed on by you know who.

scary things everywhere

scary cat, originally uploaded by kimmiecashie.

Last time I went home, I saw a little something that was just part of the scenery when I lived at home. With some time and space I can see how creepy it is. I'm sure everything from my childhood home that seemed normal is indeed creepy and wrong. So now I give you creepy handmade ceramic kitty in a dress. Siting next to a bunny in a dress. Goo!

I made food!

Yesterday I made a pizza with a banana pepper FROM MY GARDEN! Yipee! I have actually veggies growing in my garden. By the way isn't that pic very american gothic. Not meant to be that way but still funny. The beans I started them from seed in my basement. I'm tickled by my teeny tiny tomatoes too! I had no idea how satisfying a veggie garden could be. I want to make sauce from my roma tomato plant. If anyone knows how to do that, let me know.

I do have a gardening flop though. I neglected my basil plant and it flowered like crazy and I have some bitter basil on my hands. Fortunately, I have another plant.

Supposedly, food taste better from your own garden. I'll be honest. That pepper tasted fair and my strawberries are very tart. But I'm still so excited that I actually grew food.

indecesive

I can't ever seem to decide on a paint color until I slap a trillion samples full of paint on a wall. I"m still not sure. It is either the first one on the bottom or the third one on the bottom. I'm trying to get the guest room right for when 2 friends a baby and a dog come to stay. I think I need a guest cabin.

It's finished!

It is finished and good ol' fed ex has it on the way to Burdett, NY. where the men are men and they sheep run scared.

Thanks SP!

I'm pretty late in posting this but I couldn't find my camera cable to upload the photos. So, at this point, the chamomile and cat greens seeds SP gave me have already been planted and are sprouting. My summer of yarn love swap pal has been super good to me and super sneaky! The president of our neighborhood association hand delivered a beautifully wrapped package. My pal contacted her about being the go-between. I'm surprised she was cool being the delivery person, but as it turns out she is also a knitter. My package had tons of goodies. She or he went above and beyond. I was spoiled with funky keys, some dark chocolate, rowan summer tweed in a pretty blue, A matching one skein wonders pattern book, some scone mix and lemon curd which was enjoyed this weekend at a gals brunch. I had some smores ingredients. The marshmallows in there are to die for! They melt perfectly in hot cocoa. There are the most gorgeous cloth bird hanging. Both Beau and Albert are intrigued by it. Secret Pal also remembered the critters with some cat greens and dogie doughnuts. Bertie loved the treats! There are too may goodies in this package to list. Thanks again SP!

Gotcha day

It's official. Okay I'm officially late but Albert and I have been friends for one year (and some days). Albert is close to memorial day and the cat's gotcha day was labor day.

inheritance

When I bought this house a few months ago I signed a sheet of paper that for a dollar I acquired the following household goods.
-All kitchen appliances
-Pool equipment

Never in my life has a dollar bought so much.
In the garage I've inherited...
-What A believe is the oldest ice axe in the western world.
- a patio set
-one utility glove
-a ladder circa 1957
-an empty bucket.
--spare aluminum pieces
-All the original light fixtures,
-Several light fixtures from the seventies.
- a bag of mulch.
-something that smells like fertilizer.
-some pool equipment
-At least a hundred bricks

In the basement...
-A washer and dryer (score!)
-several miscellanous tiles
-paint
-2 turntables
-some speakers
- a broom
-a bucket of rags
- several sponges

I've also inherited some bad plumbing, creepily nice neighbors, lots of space, lots of future projects, some home equity or at least the opportunity for it, and freedom to do what I want to this dwelling.

PS the color of my walls and my gross pipes match.

reunited

Last week my cat ran away. Six days, 3 shelter visits, countless phone calls, 300 hundred flyers and fourty dollars in postage later he decided to saunter back on the deck. He is real skinny and dirty but happy to be home. The dog was so excited he kept running in circles and licking the cat. I'm super grateful to my neighbors who took to searching for Beau without making me feel like a cat lady. I'm also grateful to Jenny who helped me make and address flyers and al my friends who were uber supportive.

Moderne Baby Blanket WIP

Lion brand cotton ease
70% complete

summer of love yarn swap

Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?Knitter all the way! 3.5 years.

Do you spin? What type of spinning? nope.

What are your favorite yarns/fibers? What are your least favorite yarns/fibers?cashmere, merino, wool, cotton. No love for acryllic but I have been known to make a mean cat toy with it.

What are your favorite colors? What are your least favorite colors? Favorite colors: Almost any blue except baby blue. Indigo-purple, blue-red, all pink grey, turquoise and most greens.I love jewel tones! Earth tones are nice but don't look good on me.

Are there any yarns/brands that you are dying to work with but never have? hmm,not sure on this one.

What is/are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet? I love to knit hats. I also love to hate knitting baby blankets.

What are you currently working on? Anything you plan to work on this summer? I am currently working on the moderne baby blanket, the honeymoon cami.

What is your favorite FO? (Post a pic if you would like.) Probably the chevron scarf.

What is your oldest UFO? A giant blanket. Every winter I work on it a little bit and it is not so much a portable project. It's been on the sticks for 2 winters now.

Are there any techniques that you want to learn? intarsia, entrelac

Are you on Ravlery? What's your ID? frogit

Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I'm not a sock knitter. I don't even know how to measure my foot. Does this mean length? in that case, 9 inches from heel to toe.

Do you collect anything? yarn

Do you have a yarn winder and/or swift? yes

Do you love sweets? What are your favorites?Indeedy! chocolate and refined sugar.

What are your favorite scents? vanilla, coffee, jasmine

Where do you keep your needles/hooks? Considering that I just moved in all sorts of boxes.

Do you have a wishlist (Amazon, Etsy, etc?) Nope but I"m a big supporter of etsy.

Having a birthday this summer? No, just had one.

Are you allergic to anything??? Please let your pal know! Softice cream, please don't send any.;-)
Posted by Amy at 9:06 AM

I heart hype.

One of my favorite parts of the knitting hobby is aquistion of yarn. Especiallythe ungettable gets. I don't know of a more ungettable yarn than yarntini. I check ebay for yarntini everyday. I found my favorite colorway (sigh...vintage) in a (double sigh) cashmere. I stayed up way past my bedtime bidding only to lose the auction. The selling price went way past my budget. In the sanity of morning light, I almost pitied the a-hole that paid 50 big ones for a skein of yarn. Fourty bucks was my limit. It retails for$33. A fifty-one percent mark up is ridic no matter how ungettable.
I did eventually score some yarntini in cherry cordial. Beautiful, but certainly no vintage. Here's the thing. I'm not a sock knitter. Now that I had m fix what would I knit. i tried a chevron scarf and it looked like poo. So I tried alternating it with some brown merino wool and it also looked like poopie. So the truth be told I wanted yarntini case I couldn't have it. So with my disappointing yet coveted skein I think I will make this.

Happy Belated Mothers Day

In honor of Mothers Day, I'm going to share one of my favorite things my Mom has done for me. When I was a a little girl I went through a ridiculously clumsy stage. I was always stubbing my toe. I must have gotten it good one day and was crying. To quell my fit, Mom told me that my big toe must keep running into things cause it needed glasses. Without hesitating, she got out a sharpie and drew some glasses on my big toe. Every time I stub my toe, I fight the urge to draw some specs on my toe.

Speaking of mothers, I received the mother of all invitations yesterday. The 10 year reunion. Good God! I don't want to go, but I do. I didn't know I was this shallow but I want to lose 10 poundss and get a more fabulous life before July 11th. I almost thought about joining a real gym. Considering that watching Under The Tuscan Sun 5 times made me feel better about buying a big house by myself, I put Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion at the top of my Netflix queue.

motion sickness and empathy in Tennessee

* * * WARNING: Contains descriptions of public vomiting at high altitudes.

I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't worked on the house, seen friends or even knit in a couple weeks. I haven't done much of anything except gain a dependency on ibuprofen and massive amounts of sleep. I had a crown made with new fancy pants (not yet perfected) technology. I'm sure some people have great experiences with CERECbut I"m not one of them. The camera got the borders all wrong resulting in a headache for 3 weeks and more dental work and finally, a destruction of said expensive crown. Now That I'm still in pain and my face has swollen I'm looking at a root canal. I'm this close to getting the pliers out and pulling it myself.

When I was little my Dad would pull my loose teeth with pliers. I grew up thinking this was 'normal.'

I've been some killer Augmentin antibiotics that require me to eat at every dose which is something a person with tooth pain doesn't want to do. I was on my way to the airport at 5 AM to see my sister graduate from college. I ate a granola bar and swallowed my antibiotic, and tylenol, ibuprofen cocktail without much thought.

A few hours later, I was nauseous and made a run to the airport restroom and vomited. No biggie. I found my seat with my dignity still intact. Just as were about to land I really have to make another rest room stop. Completely prepared to break the rules of leaving my seat during landing, I realize the flight attendant is happily sitting in the jump seat blocking the lavatory door. " no problem, I'll mind over matter it. " I said to myself. I reassured myself that I haven't vomited anywhere but in a toilet since I was seven. Well, That's not counting the tequila shot Jack Daniels night in college. Mind over matter didn't work at all. and I was scrambling for one of those stupid bags. Can't find it anywhere.Turns ut it was stuck between some magazine pages. I end up vomiting on my jacket like a an incompetent jack 'A'. I have probably never been more embarassed. Fortunately the flight was over at this time and everyone acted as if nothing had happened.

I thnk I have a new most embarassing moment. I have funnier ones like losing my wrap skirt while working at a JC Penney and walking around the store in pumps, undies and a twin set. But this is more embarassing for some reason. I'm always surprised when patients are embarassed of bodily functions. I forget that I'm a decent nurse but I'm a terrible patient. I'm a grump when I'm in pain and it has been a good lesson in empathy. But I'm all done being in pain. Scheduling my root canal tomorrow.

THe trip was quite interesting. I forgot my camera so I have no picks to share but it was great to see Missy Graduate; difficult to coordinate anything with my family and hilarious to hang out in the grossest hotel I've ever stayed in. I will say this, Tennessee is s o green and beautiful this time of year. The weather was perfect and it was great to hang out with my brother. He is so good at helping us take ourselves a little less seriously.