Thursday, May 29, 2008

Knitting with Sybella

I went to my LYS yesterday to sign up for a Beginning Lace class where I will, once again, make a triangular shawl. What I'm excited about, however, is that I'll finally learn how to read those lace charts that I always skip over. Yes!

So I signed up and browsed the store for a good thirty minutes, trying to find the required DK or fingering weight yarn. I wish we could use lace weight but the teacher wants us to start with something that will knit up quicker - and I have no objection to that. So I browsed....and browsed. I can never find anything in this store and now I know why. I don't go into a yarn store thinking, I need red yarn. I go in, wanting to find something that feels wonderful. Therefore, you can see my problem when I enter a store that is organized almost entirely by color. I can't find anything! Plus, since the shawl requires 700-1000 yards, nothing I found was cheap. Arrrg!

I got a little knitting done on Tuesday night. I worked on the Ripple Blanket until Sybella drove me crazy with her whining. Seriously, that cat wants to play 24/7! It's non-stop! Yesterday, as I sat working on the computer, she started whining in the living room. I came out and she was in the process of dragging her favorite toy into the study! And then, as I was trying to sleep last night, she did it again! I called her and she came into the bedroom, jumped up on the bed, and began her nightly self-cleaning ritual. Thankfully, I was able to sleep after all that.

Maybe, even though she's fixed, she still has hormones each month and these cause her to get antsy. That's my only guess. I never had this type of problem with Louis.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Dishcloths and Pics

I took some pics the last time I was at my parent's place and thought I'd share them. The wildflowers were out and everything was green and beautiful!


The field was covered in orange, white, and purple flowers.


Mom's roses are going to town!


Are these irises? Maybe? I don't know but they were pretty in mom's flower bed.

In other news, I'm finishing up my last dishcloth for my mom - it'll be a late Mother's Day gift. I had one to give her on the big day but couldn't quite get this one finished. Maybe after these quick ones, I can try a more complex dishcloth. Fun!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Sookie's Back!

On Friday, I received a much anticipated package from Barnes and Noble: a box containing Charlaine Harris' next Sookie Stackhouse book, From Dead to Worse. I spent all weekend - with breaks, of course - reading it and Harris did not disappoint.

I don't know how to classify the Sookie series. At first glance, they seem to be paranormal romances, especially the first few books. But as the series has matured, so has it's heroine, the telepathic barmaid, Sookie (in fact, there wasn't so much as a steamy kiss in this book!). No longer is her fate dependent upon the men in her life. Now, she makes her own fate and makes decisions in the fates of others.

In From Dead to Worse, Sookie is brought into the messy political spheres of the were community and the vampire world. Both of her exes, Bill and Eric, play prominent roles and keep up the romantic suspense. And that's all the real romance there is. Her boyfriend, Quinn, has mysteriously gone missing but Sookie is not alone, thanks to her new roommate, Amelia and the cat, Bob. In the end, however, Sookie will once again feel betrayed by someone she loves and her brother, Jason, will cause even more heartache. But for the first time, Sookie discovers new relatives who give her hope and support. Slowly, she is coming into her own and though I love a happy ending, Ms. Harris always provides us with enough real life to keep us grounded - which keeps me from bemoaning my own non-happily-ever-after situation.

This was the perfect book for my weekend. I can't wait until HBO finishes the series True Blood, which will bring these characters to the little screen. However, I am weary - Anna Paquin is not my idea of the perfect Sookie Stackhouse but I'm trying to stay hopeful.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

FCS3 Package!

Last night I got a package from Australia - from my FCS 3 pal, Kerin! See all the goodies.....


Included were tons of handmade stitch markers (which Kerin made herself, though she's not a knitter) with cute kitties, three awesome Australia magnets, the cutest stuffed kitty ever (he's black and it's hard to see in the picture), some kitty stickers for scrap booking, chocolate (yum! - Cadbury but made in Australia), a little black kitty to sit on my desk, and a koala book marker! I always forget that other chocolate (not from America) is less sweet - very yummy though. It makes it much more easy to digest! Thank you so much, Kerin! You are too sweet!

And now a funny story featuring the stuffed kitty and Sybella. I set up all the stuff to take the picture on the couch and left it there for an hour or so while I made and ate dinner. Then I played with Sybella; she chased her mouse around like a crazy cat. She jumped up on to the couch to grab the mouse and froze. She saw the stuffed kitty! Her tail went up and fluffed out like crazy! I'd never seen a cat do that before! She crept towards the stuffed kitty very stealthily and sniffed it. She seemed satisfied that he was not alive and turned her attention back to the mouse. Seriously, I've never seen anything so funny! Who would have thought??!!