Emptyknitster

  It came to me  that every time I lose a cat  they take a piece of my heart with them, and every new cat who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough  all the components  of my heart will be cat, and I will become as generous and loving as they are.   -Anonymous Nikko  July 17, 1996 to May 3, 2014

I'm so into knitting socks! They take as much time as a sweater but are more portable, can be as challenging as one chooses, and are loved by my family! Socks are worn daily by everyone and yet are not fashion statements being hidden under a pair of pants, so a knitter can make even the most conservative recipient happy. I started these while on vacation and forgot about them when the knitting needle broke! Stranded, I put them in their bag in the suitcase and promptly forgot about them until I began looking for a lost item in April. Currently I'm down to two Half Finished Objects, both sweaters for myself. Frankly, this year I'd just prefer to knit sock after sock!   Pattern: My friend, Jeck by Regina Satta (love this vanilla sock pattern!) Yarn: Patons North America Stretch Sock Colorway: Olive Amount: 2 skeins Needle Size: US Size 1 I've already started on pair number eleven!

It has been two weeks since we've had any news about our new little kitty and then we were surprised with video and a photo! Just look at how her spots and stripes are beginning to show up! The kittens are now six weeks old and had their first solid food. A step closer to the kitten coming to her forever home!  I think Hubby might just like the name Polly Pickett!

I've been working on the mitered square project since August. When I first saw and heard about this blanket I swore I'd never think of starting it, the completion would take a lifetime I thought. But this afghan just kept resurfacing in discussion after discussion. Finally, I was tempted and I thought I'd just "try" a few squares - perhaps knit a small pillow or two. I fell down the rabbit hole and after eight months, taking one month away for vacation, here is where I stand: Each square takes about 45 minutes to complete. At the end of each month I weave in the loose ends, and this takes about 3 hours to complete. My goal has been to knit one square a day or 30-31 a month. I was going great guns until last month and didn't make my goal. I knit 19 for a total of 257. So, thus far I spend approximately 192 hours 45 minutes knitting the squares and 24 hours weaving in ends for a total of 216 hours and 45 minutes! (It's about 20% done) All and all I...

I started these socks in January and just finished them Sunday. I wanted only to do vanilla sock knitting while on vacation and these  ARE NOT vanilla knitting. I added 8 stitches to the pattern (one pattern repeat) and am glad I did. These will be firm fitting socks but if I hadn’t added the stitches they would have been for a granddaughter! After finishing the FLKHeel I changed to size 2 needles for the cuff. A very nice fit, negative ease on the foot and nice fitting cuff. I picked them up again the second week in April and were much easier than I had remembered. Pattern: Binsenkorbchen Socks Yarn: Cascade Yarn Heritage Solids Sock, Knit Picks Sock Blank Colorway: Turquoise, Poolside Bitch Amount: 2 skeins Needle Size: US Size 0 and 1 Because the yarns are carried for the entire sock these will be very warm socks next winter.

It looks like this household will be getting a new kitten in the next couple months. Hubby has been researching Bengal cats and is ready to make the change from Manx cats to Bengals. A friend has a Bengal kitten produced from his Mom's Bengal cat "Mama" which may have been the reason this whole adventure started. "Mama" had a litter on March 19th and we have been told we could have the pick of the litter! It has been so much fun to receive photos and videos of these little guys. Over the years we have developed a list of must for a family cat: *female *short haired *tailless So at this time it looks like we will be getting the little kitten on the right of the bottom photo. Female, short hair and a plump little girl!!

Friday the men went into town with only one item on their list of things to buy: A sack of candy. (They came back with 15 pounds of candy!)  The kiddos were thrilled!