Snuffly Head Cold= Slow Knitting Progress

I am down with a cold this week. Knitting has been rather slow because of that. But I didn't want to bypass the opportunity to pop in and say "hello". So, Hello my friends!

Between drinking mint tea, blowing my nose, and resting on the couch, I did manage to pick up my knitting needles a few times. I am working on a new design. Not sure if this is one I will release for free, or save for selling at a later date. I wish I could share a sneak peak with you but not only is my camera dead(still), but it will also be a Christmas present. It does seem to be growing by leaps and bounds, which makes me very happy. I am still on the first skein and that makes me very happy as well!

The sweet fern mitts progressed by about 4 rows. Maybe I'll get some more done on them tonight, depending on how this cold of mine progresses.

I thought I'd share these beautiful pictures of some old-fashioned roses with you. I took these earlier this summer. It is a nice, final splash of summer sweetness. Autumn is right around the corner. Today was cool, & overcast, with that chilly fall nip in the morning air.

And I think I have said this before, but I am quite prepared to enjoy autumn. Normally I am all about warmer weather. But right now I am really looking forward to everything that cooler weather brings. Gorgeous fall colors, crisp crunchy apples, a steaming cup of tea, hayrides, and not to forget, warm & woolly handknits!

And then there is winter.... but I'll wait to expound on that until the season is a little closer. :)

Okay, it is time to snuggle down with a cup of tea and some knitting, and recover from this cold.

Until next time!

Sadie, My Siberian Forest Cat

My camera is out of commission right now, it needs some serious fixing before I can take pictures with it again. I'm not sure what happened, it simply quite working one morning.

No, I didn't have any recent pictures of my current projects on my memory card. So here we are, halfway thru September and I am finally putting up a blog post!

I never told you about my "new" cat, Sadie! She was given to me this past February, and I always meant to get around to blogging about her. Unfortunately I only have a few pictures to show you right now, but I'm sure there will be lots more coming in the future, now that you have been introduced to Sadie.

Sadie is a purebred Siberian Forest Cat, 4 years old. Siberians are not full grown until they are 5 years old, and they can have kittens even up to 10 years old!

Siberian Forest Cats are thought to be hypo-allergenic. Many people who suffer from allergies to cats can have a Forest Cat and never be bothered by allergies. I don't have allergies to cats, but my sister-in-law does. I don't think Sadie has ever bothered her, but I am not sure how much time she has spent around her either, so I can't prove that theory. :)

The Siberian Forest cat is the national cat of Russia. They are a medium-long haired cat, with a triple fur, water resistant, coat. Siberians are very muscular cats, they like high places, and are powerful leapers. Having had a Siberian for 8 months we have found that they are very playful, and have amazing personalities.

Sadie loves to try and cram herself into little places, boxes, cubby holes. And anything new that comes into the house she has to sit, or climb on it, be it suitcases, bags, or toilet paper!

She is the most inquisitive cat I have ever seen!

And yes, like all cats, she is fond of taking naps. Favorite nap places being on the bunk bed, in a box under my bed, up on the wardrobe, under the dresser, on the chair, in baskets.... pretty much almost anywhere!

Oh yes, and in the window!

She also listens better than many dogs, for example I can tell her to stay on my bed and she will stay until I come back. She is a darling little cat, the only down side being that, like all long haired cats she sheds fur all over. At night she does her exercise, which consists of thundering around the house like an elephant at 2am, running top speed into the dining room and then seeing how far she can slide on the wood floor, and also wrestling with herself on the couch and leaving gobs of fur all over the cushions.

Well, I could go on about my cat for ever, but I will spare you all until another time. :)

In the world of handcrafting, I have been doing a lot of knitting. But mostly christmas presents which I can't talk about until, gasp, January! Good thing I don't have my camera, 'cause I might be tempted to take photos anyways. But it wouldn't be fair to ban certain people from my blog for he next 3 1/2 months! Sigh.

I am working on a couple pairs of Sweet Fern Mitts. One pair being for me, and I don't know what I am doing with the other yet. I found two mistakes in the pattern (it was out of the knitter's Book of Wool) which was disappointing, but I corrected them and love the pattern now.

I did do a session of hand-painting with my friend. We each did 8oz of merino wool. I have my first 4ounces spun up into singles. Now I just need to ply it, I might start on that tonight.

The colors for the first 4 ounces were variations of reds and greens. The 2nd 4 ounce ball which I am spinning up right now is orange, peach, red, green ,and yellow. It is my favorite by far, and sooo beautiful!

I can't wait to show you some pictures. Sometime soon. Just keep hanging in there.

Take care my friends, until next time.