Cats Knit and tango

Le Roi est mort

2010-06-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

Brutus
1995?- June 14, 2010

"For ever, and for ever, farewell, Brutus!
If we do meet again, we'll smile indeed;
If not, 'tis true this parting was well made.

Why, then, lead on. O, that a man might know
The end of this day's business ere it come!
But it sufficeth that the day will end,
And then the end is known. Come, ho! away!"

Julius Caesar, Act V, Scene I

Find three cats

2010-06-01T09:55:00.001-07:00

Working in the rain today

2010-05-27T12:41:00.001-07:00

The moss loves it; I won't melt.

Willing to pay

2010-05-20T11:13:00.001-07:00

in order to have "instant" trees.

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2010-05-18T17:28:00.001-07:00

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2010-05-12T11:28:00.001-07:00

Back in the saddle/salt mines...

2010-04-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

Spirit

2010-04-28T12:40:00.001-07:00

In the wing about Lindbergh was his diploma from the same flight school that my father attended (10 years later) at Kelly Field.

Grrrr

2010-04-28T12:37:00.001-07:00

Leftover architectual oddments

2010-04-28T12:36:00.001-07:00

History Museum in Forest Park

2010-04-28T12:35:00.001-07:00

Part of 1904 World's Fair exhibit. A gorgeous building; most were demolished after the Fair.

No title or description needed

2010-04-24T13:45:00.001-07:00

Full disclosure: I bought only one skein of yarn.

Waiting for the bus to Loopy central

2010-04-24T11:06:00.001-07:00

Swatches...yes, yes, lots of swatches

2010-04-24T10:23:00.001-07:00

Anne's Sweater-Fitting class

2010-04-24T10:22:00.001-07:00

Jared's Sweater Class

2010-04-24T10:20:00.001-07:00

A little worried about the food supplies in St. Louis

2010-04-22T17:12:00.001-07:00

This is half the group (about 60) all crammed into Casa Gallardo.

Our numbers are expanding

2010-04-22T13:53:00.001-07:00

This is half the room. About 85 knitters, all on a sugar high. (the Cupcakery delivered the cupcake order)

Spring Fling begins

2010-04-22T12:07:00.001-07:00

Tiny group of knitters at lunch at St. Louis Bread Co. Definitely scaring the muggles, though at least no one has asked me if I am doing embroidery, which is the question I was asked while waiting at my daughter's dentist office yesterday. (I was knitting a sock, just for the record)

That time of year again

2010-04-06T10:59:00.001-07:00

This wisteria is now three years old; the fragrance is divine, and it is full of happy bees.

Loaded

2010-03-22T10:17:00.001-07:00

The pear tree is absolutely loaded with blossoms this year. (Fingers crossed) there should be a great harvest this fall.

Chuncho socks, paired

2010-03-03T13:20:00.001-08:00

Finished the second one! Love this pattern, it begs to be made again; really well written in lots of sizes, all the details for the puntas cast-on very clearly explained. Amazing what a few rainy days do for knittng output.
Bunny-cat says "I have cold feet too!"

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2010-02-28T14:05:00.001-08:00

Sweater for a rainy day

2010-02-23T17:40:00.001-08:00

Sweater for a rainy day
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

I realized as I was weaving in the last few ends on this sweater today, this is my fifth anniversary of (re-)learning to knit. I'm loving it, a day without knitting is rare, even if it's just a few rows. Sometimes I fall asleep thinking about projects or resolving problems or issues with a current project. I'm sure a few genius ideas that happen at those moments have slipped through the cracks.
Knitting has definitely opened me to colors I never would have considered wearing in the past. I have never owned anything brown in my life, not even shoes! This is Sanguine Gryphon's Bugga! sock yarn, colorway is Oak Timberworm; four full skeins, which I think works out to about a mile of yarn. My gauge was 7 stitches an inch, which I think works out to about 430,000 stitches.
Knitting has also given me a huge, extended family of fiber friends all over the world (hi all of you out there!), who inspire, enable and help me every day in real life and on ravelry.com.

Here's to many more years of lovely yarns, knitting, and sweater weather.

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2010-02-17T13:14:00.001-08:00

The two oldies

2010-02-11T14:58:00.001-08:00

The two oldies
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

Bunny, on the left, 17, a sweet-salty girl, and Brutus, 15-ish, a salty old man-cat, have finally discovered the warmth benefit factor of cuddling. After 8 months of peaceful co-existing, they curled up together for a nap the other day. I can guarantee this will not happen with any of the other girls, Zoe Godzilla and Brigid.

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2010-02-08T12:13:00.001-08:00

Socks flying off the needles

2010-02-06T16:31:00.001-08:00

IMG_2797
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

Gorgeous, well-written pattern, Chuncho, by Sue Grandfield. The yarn is Wolmeise twin, in Spice Market and Zarte Knospe. I can't decide if I want matchy-matchy socks, or whether to switch and use turquoise for the contrast color in the second socks. Once again, the siren song of socks has lured me away from other projects already on the needles. The Lightweight Pullover is a few increase repeats away from dividing for the sleeves. All those miles of dizzingly boring stockinette. Several lace thingies have been in hibernation, and occasionally I hear their voices accusingly from the basket where they snooze. I need to get started on a secret lace project...but...socks! socks! I love you, socks! Socks or death! no wait, that's cake or death:

Li'l Dude

2010-02-04T14:45:00.001-08:00

Li'l Dude
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

He is missed. Sweet little dog, that adopted my future daughter-in-law and my youngest son. Gone over the Rainbow Bridge this morning, in his sleep.

Rolling breakers in the rain

2010-01-23T10:15:00.001-08:00

Rolling breakers in the rain
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

This is north of Monterey, past Del Monte Beach, where there is a beach webcam, for those of you wanting an almost live view of the ocean:
http://home.comcast.net/~georgek92/
The coast is acively eroding here, lots of "Danger- Keep Out!" signs.
Very overcast and raining intermittently yesterday, with long rolling breakers, and big booming close-outs. Eventually there was a faint double rainbow

and pelicans crusing above the breakers.

I finished the Waves scarf, this is a shot before blocking. When it's dry it will get mailed to my daughter, hopefully she will still have some cooler weather to wear it.

Storm surf pounding shores of Pt. Lobos

2010-01-20T12:35:00.001-08:00

Storm surf pounding shores of Pt. Lobos
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

We actually worked a bit today, between storms. The tide was quite high, there was no beach whatsoever, at Carmel Beach. The heavy surf had churned up mountains of foam (from the alginate in the kelp) that was blowing back all over the shoreline.
We saw a tiny sea otter, very close to shore, eating his breakfast, and diving every few seconds to escape a pounding by the surf.

January Storms

2010-01-19T13:27:00.001-08:00

January Storms
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

Finally we are getting some of the El Nino storms we were promised back in October. Last night there were great flashes of lightning followed by long, rolling thunder and buckets of rain pouring down. Tomorrow promises an even bigger storm, with high surf. Hopefully better pictures (the best today featured someone's finger over the lens).

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Last time for this old year

2009-12-31T12:57:00.001-08:00

With best wishes for the new year to come for all.

Chicken Pho

2009-12-16T13:19:00.001-08:00

Fresh basil, mung bean sprouts, sliced hot peppers, and chicken in to-die-for broth. Divine.

Actually the other dish was 5 Spice Chicken, not Lemon Grass.

Lemon grass chicken noodle bowl

2009-12-16T12:24:00.001-08:00

Waiting at the gates of heaven

2009-12-16T12:15:00.001-08:00

AKA Noodle Bar. Fabulous, fresh, cheap, delicious Vietnamese food. Pho so delicious and healthy, it will cure whatever ails you.

beautiful day

2009-11-27T10:08:00.001-08:00

silvery sky and ocean, misty overcast, fresh crisp air. good day for window cleaning.

Finished

2009-11-26T15:18:00.001-08:00

Royal Bloodlines Socks
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

and decorated. Bunny-cat shows her approval by decorating (everything I own) with dainty white cat hair.
Royal Bloodlines sock pattern by Tobi Beck. Wollmeise Twin sock yarn in Schwartz and Wilder Mohn. Size 2.0 and 2.5 mm needles. A really interesting and fun pattern, took exactly two weeks of spare-time knitting, the fit is perfect and they are soft and toasty warm.

Some days it's the view

2009-11-24T17:32:00.001-08:00

IMG_0772
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

and some days, it's the company I keep that makes my job so interesting.

(Sorry it's so blurry. I was a little excited, since I had just reached down to pick up my water sprayer when I discovered my hitchhiker)

True Love

2009-11-19T15:39:00.001-08:00

Royal Bloodline sock
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

or is it just obsession?
One sock finished. Stranded sock knitting, yes, it's my current obsession. This is Royal Bloodline, by Tobi Beck, done in Wollmeise Twin sockenwolle, Schwarz and Wilder Mohn. I cannot wait to wear this...the other foot can be bare, I don't care.

November beach

2009-11-13T10:27:00.001-08:00

No time to blog. Must knit socks.

2009-11-10T13:05:00.001-08:00

Aack! When will this obsession leave me? There are sweaters and hats and mittens calling me too. Not to mention tiny little cat booties for the tiny little white feet that managed to sneak into this photo. That Bunny-cat! She has the coldest feet when she insists on getting under the covers at 2 a.m.

my Halloween costume

2009-10-31T15:27:00.001-07:00

A good thing

2009-10-22T17:10:00.001-07:00

Harika Sock
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

One of those days today. So hot and tired from work I could cry...but I have a reason to live waiting for me...the second sock to this Harika, which I just finished last night. Stranded colorwork, how did I live before I met you? (I know, I know, it's one obsession after another, that's how) I still remember my famous last words of three years ago "what me, knit socks? Never!" closely followed by "what me, knit colorwork? Bah! Never!" Harika, by Stephanie Van der Linden, from Twist Collective, was so satisfying and fun to knit, very well written. I'm trying to decide whether to reverse the colors for the second sock, or make it match. The teal is a solic from Cherry Tree Hill, the shifting gold is Eidos from Sanguine Gryphon, in Agathon colorway.

We did have a nice lunch break between jobs today, there was big storm surf at the beach:

The air was thick with mist from all the pounding waves. Quite a treat.

And here's the view from the last job, as the fingers of fog were working their way back in to Carmel Bay

Another day in paradise.

2009-10-21T12:34:00.001-07:00

I have to remind myself occasionally to turn away from the dirty window I am scrubbing and take in the view.

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Must be fall

2009-10-17T16:41:00.001-07:00

Although it's been 80 & muggy all week. Just awful for all us "manual" laborers.

at work

2009-10-15T14:06:00.001-07:00

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Toy boats

2009-10-10T13:04:00.001-07:00

Not much of a picture, it's so overcast today, but there were about 100 tiny boats out in Monterey Bay today.

For contrast, yesterday was a gorgeous, clear, typically autumn day. We worked down the coast and had spectacular views like this:

During a break, we used binoculars to look at birds on the cliffs, and discovered two non-winged life forms:

return

2009-10-02T10:19:00.001-07:00

Carcass of a seal, de-molecularizing. Returning, as we all shall.

(me) and my shadow

2009-10-02T10:14:00.001-07:00

Take Your Daughter to Work Day

2009-09-30T12:14:00.001-07:00

Last week my daughter came to visit, and we put her to work one day on window-cleaning jobs!

We also spent several sessions knitting together. Rachel is just beginning her knitter's journey.

We drove to our favorite beach view spots, watched otters, went for walks, cuddled kittehs (who were thrilled with one extra lap to fight over), savored everything at the Farmer's Market, whether it was edible or not,
She was also pressed into duty modeling finished knitting objects:

Two Dragon Hats done in delicious String Theory Caper Sock yarn. This stuff is like liquid velvet, makes incredible socks and was perfect for these hats. I'm thinking there's a sweater's worth in my future. This was my first colorwork project; I did the green one on the right first and learned a lot about contrast and value... I consider it a "fail" since the dragons are practically invisible. The pattern is an easy fun knit, and the hats are really cozy warm, with the stranding essentially forming a second layer of fabric.
Her visit was an inspiration to start sorting through ten years' accumulation of stuff, as well as the distillation of 50 years of my parents' stuff that I kept when my mother died ten years ago. This includes 62 years of my father's unlabeled slides, from all over the world. Fascinating and baffling. I hope to have them whittled down (there are 1000s and 1000s!) soon, and will have them scanned and put onto DVDs.
It's a great feeling, but also dismaying, to reduce the mass and volume of possessions. Yarn doesn't count.

Happy 1st day of Fall

2009-09-22T18:02:00.001-07:00

IMG_0686
Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

Sharing the Farmer's Market with my daughter, tasting everything. This is a tradition when any of my kids come to visit. We had a knitting lesson today too, and took more closet gleanings to the thrift store. And brushed cats, since there's plenty to go around, what with main cats, auxiliary cats, spare cats, and "enough room to swing a cat" (extra points if you can name the movie reference that quote is from).
Bought some squash blossoms and quince and several pounds of grapes of every color. Ahh!

Art

2009-09-18T12:11:00.001-07:00

All the walkways and borders are edged like this.

SSDD

2009-09-17T11:34:00.001-07:00

Same spot, different day

Finished!

2009-09-06T17:31:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by tangocatmum

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Having doubts

2009-09-04T16:40:00.001-07:00

Is this little sniblet of yarn going to be sufficient enough to bind off? I don't want to have to tink back, especially since I didn't think to put in a lifeline on the last row. Do I risk the time & effort continuing the casting off?

More math. I measured off ¹yard of the working yarn ahead of my current stitch. I put in a stitch marker (since I know I cannot count!), and proceeded with casting off until I reached the ¹yard measure. I counted how many stitches remain to be cast off. Then I counted again, since I cannot be trusted. Then I measured how many yards of yarn I have left. 270 stitches left to cast off. 15 yards of yarn left. 30 stitches cast off take ¹yard. I just might make it. Unless I've counted wrong.

Hello from the top of the world

2009-09-04T12:35:00.001-07:00

migraine again

2009-09-02T16:47:00.001-07:00

I'm never sure why I keep tackling lace projects, nor whether it's the lace that gives me migraines. Probably not, since I have had them since before I could talk, and I've only been knitting lace (or trying to) for three years. Still.

This is Ysolda's Ishbel, which everyone seems to be knitting. Here on my lap, in all it's glory, complete with lifelines, stitch markers, cat hair, illegible notes, math, and plenty of help from my Ravelry knit-siblings.

The yarn is a prize I won. And what a prize. Buffalo Gold's Luxe...buffalo, silk and cashmere. Don't forget the cat hair.

I'm keeping my eye on you

2009-08-26T15:12:00.001-07:00

Bunny-cat, who has lived her whole sixteen-year life as an indoor cat, loves being out on the decks. Up safe where she can see everything, and catch some rays, she's the happiest cat. She has shown no interest in venturing any further out into the world, which is fine with us. It is a bad old world for cats.

She does, however, love to sleep in the dirt of the planter boxes.

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2009-08-26T10:12:00.001-07:00

glory days

2009-08-25T11:46:00.001-07:00

Slowly

2009-08-24T15:38:00.001-07:00

Slowly recovering from Sock Summit... I don't want the afterglow to fade, actually. I've been working on, mostly socks, planning to do my first colorwork socks.

Also I've been working on... knitted snails.

Inspired by my visit with a friend living in Portland, who is an artist, and a work of art herself.

The pattern is a free one from Anna of Mochimochiland and she posted a photo I shared of my little starter herd of snails so far, in the wild. She gots some great patterns, and knitting tiny things is very satisfying.

That time of year again

2009-08-13T12:28:00.001-07:00

The roads are lousy with amazing, rare, $$$ cars for the Concours.

oh, and also big forest fires all around California. We came out of the house to go to work & it is snowing ash all around us. The skies are an ugly brown.

It's that time of year.

I was lucky to be there

2009-08-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Knitters attempt to break Guinness World Record

The party's over

2009-08-11T12:25:00.001-07:00

but what an amazing and inspiring confluence Sock Summit was.

Knit grafitti

2009-08-10T18:37:00.001-07:00

You have to love a city where you see this.

luminous Luminary Panel

2009-08-09T17:35:00.001-07:00

unbelievable gathering of knitters & our cosmic idols on the 99th birthday anniversary of Elizabeth Zimmermann's birth... midwife to all of this

Foucault's Pendulum in the convention center outside my class

2009-08-09T11:33:00.001-07:00

turn turn turn, like the socks I knit

even the Bob is here (in spirit at least)

2009-08-08T20:01:00.001-07:00

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we're here!

2009-08-08T19:00:00.001-07:00

on the Max going to the Ravelry party at the Forestry Center

2009-08-08T18:39:00.001-07:00

Sock Summit rocks and rolls along

Socks- 2-at-a-time taught by Melissa Morgan-Oakes

2009-08-08T11:21:00.003-07:00

I have done this on my own, but with "issues.". Really fun class & really helpful.

Unfortunately the person sitting next to me is sick. Coughing sneezing blowing constantly style of sick. And says, in between bouts "I can't cover my mouth because I'm holding my knitting."

oh yeah

Socks- 2-at-a-time taught by Melissa Morgan-Oakes

2009-08-08T11:21:00.001-07:00

I have done this on my own, but with "issues.". Really fun class & really helpful.

made my day!

2009-08-08T08:00:00.001-07:00

A group of us got on the Max last evening to go to Powell's bookstore for a book talk by two authors with new knitting books. Also getting on was a mob of folks on their way to the Sock Summit sock hop, most of them dresses to the 9s. I was strap-hanging, and one of the most colorful riders noticed my Sock Summit-inspired bracelet, and was very complimentary; she loved it! Picture vivid magenta & indigo hair, matching clothes, carrying a large knit chicken bag. yup. Lucy Neatby! Then the person in front of me turned to examine it, and also exclaimed with delight & praise. Cat Bordhi! Wheeee!

A day of extremes

2009-08-07T14:06:00.001-07:00

Working on the world's largest sock-in-progress

knitters as far as the eye can see

2009-08-07T12:52:00.001-07:00

At Sock Summit 1600 kniiters knitting at one time for the Guinness Book of Records

Kinnear-ing the Kinnear-er at Sock Summit

2009-08-06T20:00:00.001-07:00

Stephanie trying to cheerfully hold off the hordes of wool-pigs in the last seconds before the Market opened.

#socksummit Market frenzy building. lining up now for opening

2009-08-06T19:55:00.001-07:00

I've never used both hands & two colors before

2009-08-06T15:08:00.001-07:00

My brain & fingers & world are on fire!

At dim sum lunch

2009-08-06T12:45:00.001-07:00

25 hungry sock knitters descend on Fong's for dim sum.

They will never be the same.

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what a delight!

2009-08-06T11:42:00.001-07:00

Turkish socks with Anna Zilboorg

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Not currently active

2009-08-05T18:47:00.005-07:00

I hope

Mt. Sock

2009-08-05T18:47:00.003-07:00