I think I’ve (finally!) matured as a quilter. that or I just care enough about the FO to behave myself.

Tonight I finally started my BOTM quilt that’s going on my bed (eventually). (it’s the gold one mentioned about halfway through this post here.) the first block was in September, which I bought in late Oct/early Nov. It’s a bitch measuring things constantly, but so far my square in a square in a square (which will be the center of the quilt) looks pretty darn nice.

(I’ll post pics when I finish the square.)

in knitting news, I went to my friend Kim’s yesterday and we had a Harry Potter movie marathon in anticipation of the new movie coming out this week. since the last time we tried this we only made it through the first two movies, Emilea and I decided to start with the third movie. and as is usual for me, I fell asleep during the fifth one. anywho, I took the intarsia bag (started back in March ‘05) and managed to figure out where I left off (row 5 of the chart) and managed to get through the chart and beyond. I stopped at the part where I have to miter the bottom of the bag cuz I started overthinking things.

I’ve been trying to focus on the WIPs. I keep sort of joining ‘focus on the WIPs’ type groups on ravelry, but my knitting enthusiasm has been kind of low lately. at any rate, I’m sort of participating in the WIP Wrestling group - the intarsia bag has had good progress, and I’ve also been working on the Harry Potter book scarf this month. and I really want to get all the things that just need the ends woven in finished. we’ll see how I do.

in spinning news, I signed up for the Tour de Fleece - the goal being to spin every day with the Tour de France. I started out good, but haven’t really done much spinning since last weekend. so much for spinning a little every day. and the grand plans I came up with for the month. ah, well. at least I’m being crafty.

in other news, Kashka’s been sick the last week and a half or so. I took her in to the vet, and it’s either a tumor or just some really badly infected teeth. she’s been on antibiotics, and she seems to have improved a little bit. (the greatest evidence being her enthusiasm at chasing and pouncing at a moth that she and Wolfie found in the apartment. she’s been pretty lethargic since she’s been sick.) at any rate, she’ll be going in to have surgery soon to either figure out if it’s a tumor (I hope not) and, if not, have her teeth sorted out (cleaning, removal, etc). so if you’re so inclined, healthy kitty thoughts would be appreciated.

I have been knitting lately, just seems pretty boring working on the eternal WIPs. I’ve been heading down to Burnsville on and off the last few weeks to knit with Nancy & Rina and whoever else happens to be there. I went to Drunken Knitting Night at Merlin’s Rest with Kim and Becky from dance (and we encountered Dave, also from dance. He was one of the musicians, not knitting.) oh, and I knit ’round the campfire at my cousin’s fall gathering last weekend, where I was told that the two petals of the flower washcloth looked more like a bra or bikini top. hadn’t realized that, but he was oh-so-right.

Projects I’ve been working on lately have been the Positive Energy Stole (mostly at Burnsville), seaming the HP POA scarf, the flower washcloth, the short-row scarf of doom (aka Sea Lettuce) and the Zucca blanket. I bought a few needles for needle felting and a bit of blue fiber (I haven’t made anything more than a couple blobs yet) - I blame my sister for that. (ever since she got interested, I’ve had it in my head that I need to copy her. I figure I’ll add some designs to a felted bag or something in the future.) In spinning news, I finished the Miss Babs fiber and have started one of the Seawools from Creatively Dyed.

In non-knitting news, I wandered (well, drove) around the Twin Cities today for a quilting shop hop.
This is what I got:

and this is what the finished quilt would look like:

I only got the fabric for the squares right now (I can buy a kit with all the fabric for the borders and such to finish it up), and I only have 6 of the squares. (missing the yellow & green square in the center right and the green one with the red X in the center top). I’m thinking I might make a table runner or something instead of the quilt as shown.

I also fell in love with one of the shops (located next to All About Yarn) Block of the Month quilts:

It’ll be queen sized when finished - which is perfect since that’s what size my bed is (which is also good cuz the kitties try to crowd me - usually one on either side of me). It started in September (with the medallion in the center), so I’m not too far behind.

and, in parting, some kitty pics…

Wolfie napping (or attempting to, before I found him and grabbed the camera) on the treadle of my wheel

dinner time. Wolfie weighs nearly twice as much as Kashka. though most of him is still fluff.

after a rather long hiatus (I think the last time I actually spun on the wheel was early August), I resumed spinning up the Miss Babs wool/silk that I bought at Midwest Folk & Fiber back in July. the black’s been spun up for a while, the green was in time-out (it broke. I get frustrated when it breaks mid-spin and sometimes have an impossible time rejoining things)

This is what I’m spinning:

(I realize I never posted about my overindulgence in fiber at Midwest Folk & Fiber. If you’re on Ravelry, you can see the loot here. um, yeah. I may have gone a bit overboard.)

I think I spun up about half of the green tonight (so around 1 oz). my ‘pinching’ finger is giving me grief now. I need to remember to not overdo it - especially after such a long break.

in good news, Wolfgang doesn’t seem overly interested in the spinning or the fiber. he sat on the arm of the sofa for a while supervising, but didn’t try to play with anything. good to know. he did, however, decide that the alpaca-shaped WPI tool would be a good toy - for all of two seconds until he knocked it off the sofa and into a knitting project bag…

oh, and yes, the kitties are still getting along pretty well. see:

(that’s actually from mid-September. I need to get a better pic of them)

I did good - wore gloves while actually using the dyes (mixing & putting it onto the fiber)
then I steamed the fiber and let it sit a while.

just rinsed it:

bamboo/wool blend fiber bit from The Fiber Studio. dyed in leftover Peacock (Cushings) from last month’s dye session

I think the dye on my fingertips is actually from the main chunk of fiber I dyed - most likely from removing the saran wrap, since the water wasn’t too colored while rinsing it.

so, here it is post-rinse:

the pink spot is leftover from last month too - it’s the Rose Cushings, diluted a bit.
the other dyes are diluted Green (Cushings) on the ends and Teal (Jacquard) in the middle.

I can’t wait to see how it looks dry.

I’ve got some Punta wool soaking for more fun with dyes tomorrow.

DSCF6378, originally uploaded by criosa.

The second half of the Duo.

I started this Sunday during spinning at The Fiber Studio and finished it up tonight.

While I’m not usually a red/pink fan, I absolutely love how this spun up.