Kuh nitt tang? Wha's dat?

Oh my word, I bet you all are sick and tired of my posting pictures of the new townhouse, Harvey, Harvey in the new townhouse... etc. Well, since Mom took Polly Gizmo away, I have had some free time to knit! Don't even try to knit with a small kitten in the house. It won't end well.

Well, here I go - knitting something for me! and pretty too! I have bitten the bullet and taken the plunge and all those other bold metaphors and started something for myself. :) Gifts can wait.

Pattern: Plymouth Yarn, Galway Worsted #1574, "Jacket" (more a cabled cardigan, really)
Yarn: Cascade Venezia Worsted, 70/30 merino/ silk blend, color 161 (teal / peacock blue)

The early stages. The left picture is fairly accurate on color.

Look, Ma, I made a vest!

1 - I LOVE THIS YARN! It is so pretty and so nice to work with. The silk adds a little shine to the material and makes it look extra fancy. (Side note: KnitWits had a sample of this in the original Galway wool, and I don't think I am being modest when I say that mine is prettier. The wool made it a rough jacket, and mine is a sleek cardigan.)

2 -I apparently am incapable of knitting a pattern exactly as it says. Is that a bad thing? Well, for this one, I was in-between sizes, so I needed to alter the cable pattern a little as I only needed to add a few stitches and not a whole pattern repeat. Then, I wanted to make it all in one piece (minus the sleeves of course) to minimize seaming at the end. So what does your dorky friend do, but pull out an Excel spreadsheet and "knit" up the sweater on the computer so she can see where to add stitches and how to do the shaping in one piece. I am such an over-achiever, but I REALLY did not want to seam this whole thing together. Afterthought: I might have made it harder for me, but see the previous sentence. :)

Screen-capture of my Excel knitting graph

3 - Sleeve #1 is about to be finished! I am just working on the shoulder cap now. And to go with thought #2, I made the sleeves long-sleeves rather than that weird 3/4 length. I like 1/2 sleeves and long sleeves, but 3/4 always is weird to me. I am hoping that the school's air conditioner goes into overtime shortly so I can wear my new sweater when I am done! Yay!

Misc Randomness

Random artistic butterfly from my old college camera (it's amazing what you find when you are moving)


Harvey explores the new dressers as we clean the drawers


Harvey moving. I don't know why, but he eventually settled on the center console of my car when we were moving him and the last load of stuff to the townhouse (yes, his back end was sitting on the cupholders)


Bowling score: 139! Take that!
(mutter mutter, full disclosure, mutter, playing with little kids and using the bumpers, mutter)

Trip to Tally in Photos

I mentioned the whirlwind trip down to Tallahassee over July 4th weekend to haul away furniture, but I don't think I posted any pictures from it. Recap: Mom had been visiting/ cleaning all week, and I flew down on Friday, we packed the Uhaul on Saturday, then we drove home Sunday.

Mom looking exhausted and the contents of the truck to show why

Katy was "helping" her dad pack the truck (Thank you again, Mike!!)


Contents of 40yr old attic: one random, gorgeous dress that it too small for anyone in our family anymore, and one REALLY over due book (I think the University of Tennessee has forgotten about this one by now though)


Random artistic, under-the-leaves shot :)

Too funny!

At what point should you stop something when you know it is not right, but you don't really want to because it is too cute?

Wait, wait, wait! Before you condemn me for dressing up my cat, hear me out! Harvey has been scratching himself for weeeeeks now, and has not responded well (read: at all!) to the antibiotics and steroids from the vet. I finally got sick and tired of him licking his skin off, that I made a little jacket/ tube for him to protect his skin. Well, that lasted a few solid days before he unintentionally learned how to wriggle his way out of it. The scratching still continued, so I made a visit to Petsmart to get him something with a neck that would stay on.

The prototype

Now, the really bad part starts. Since no one is crazy enough to dress up their cat, the only pet-sized shirts were in the dog section (wait, it gets worse) And the only one in his size that didn't say "Daddy's Little Princess" said .... "Alpha Dog." So, yes, my cat is running around in a t-shirt that says "Alpha Dog." We are interpreting it to mean that Harvey beat up the alpha dog and stole his shirt because cats are so much better than dogs.

You can see how much he has scratched just his head in the left-hand picture. His back and ribs are worse than that :(

Strangely enough, Harvey doesn't seem to mind the shirt. Every once in a while he will try to jump out of it (Scene: kitchen floor, action: cat randomly leaps forward then walks away calmly as if nothing happened), but other than that, Harvey really hasn't protested. Back in the day when Mr Frank was first licking his fur off, the vet said that those anti-licking collars are pretty traumatic for pets, so we should try a little shirt first. So there is valid medical statements supporting the abject humiliation of my fluffy boy.

But isn't he adorable in his little shirt?!?!!?

Back to School

Oofa! The Summer Program finally ended and we have survived the first week of the new school year! I think medals and prizes should be delivered. (Since my job is during the school year, we run a Summer Program Day Camp type thing to keep the kids busy and out of trouble throughout the summer. If you have never worked a summer camp before, count yourself lucky. We provided transportation all day, served two meals, planned all the activities ourselves, as well as supervised all the usual craziness. Whew! It all made for very long days... very good paychecks, but very long days!)

This summer was so crazy between the Summer Program for work and getting the new house straight; I feel like I am still sleep deprived! Though, my move over to the Elementary School for part of the summer has become permanent and I am now over with the 3-5 graders instead of the high school. People ask what's different, and I say that the behaviors are pretty much the same, you just tell yourself that the 10yr-old doesn't know better yet. (Sad but true!) So we will see how working with the little guys works out for me. (fingers crossed)

Also coming up new, I will be re-applying for a salaried position here at the Agency so more of my fingers are crossed. We don't divide into "part time" and "full time," but into "hourly" and "salary." Basically, you do the same work but get paid less and don't get benefits because you don't have the experience / education to warrant them paying you more. Don't get me started; I am really bitter about living on what I am currently making. So, here's hoping that this application will be accepted now that I am reaching my one-year mark with the Agency. (more fingers crossed)

AND we are still waiting for out $8,000 new home-buyer tax credit. I mailed my amended return in July, and the help-line said I still need to wait 4-6 weeks. (John actually owns stuff, so we filed using my tax return since it would be much easier.) Ohmmmmmm.... I am seeking patience and serenity while waiting for a large chunk of money. (meditating)

Other than that, not too much is going on now. John and I are getting into habits and routines with the new house and are pretty much settled here. :)

R is for...

R is for reupholstered chairs! In the category of "furniture begged from the families," we got a lot of chairs and such from the Tallahassee grandparents since they have recently down-sized into an apartment from their giant, raised-a-family-in-it house. However, both in the interest of cleanliness and of fabric choices, John and I wanted to reupholster the chairs.

John's mom had a connection that hooked us up with a great upholsterer (upholstererererer... I sound like an engine trying to turn over!) who did a fabulous job on everything! We just got the last piece back on Friday and I am love them all!

The goose-neck rocking chair that our mothers have a weird fascination for. John's mom tried to steal it a few times, and my mom keeps saying it's good for rocking babies as if she is hinting at something. :/ (Before on left, new on right)

We initially weren't going to redo the rocker, as the fabric wasn't terribly bad; we just sent it off to be cleaned. But, the upholsterer said that he couldn't take the fabric off to tighten up the wood frame without destroying the fabric. Our options were redo the fabric or have a "display only" chair with the old fabric. I instantly had flashbacks to Jamestown and Williamsburg tours where all the chairs were period antiques and were not allowed to be sat upon. Do you know how traumatic it is for a small child with bad knees to be dragged all over creation, then paraded in front of chairs she can't sit on?!!? Needless to say, we redid the rocker so the frame could be tightened and strengthened.

The living room chairs, before

This fabric is shiny and doesn't photograph accurately. In real lighting in our house, the color is somewhere between these two pictures. This was my fabric choice that went out on a limb since it's a little weird. I wasn't exactly sure how the sea-foam/ teal color would be on an entire chair. But I think it turned out fine. (and yes, I know that each chair matches the loveseat and the rocker, but they do not match each other. We are still figuring out placement, possibly going to move one chair down to the basement.)

This red chair is my favorite! John says it looks like an executive's power office chair. :) When we were picking fabrics, this was the only one I was sure I wanted. AND, John says it's mine since he doesn't like wingback chairs! woot! (The fabric is "railroaded" with the stripe, having about as much texture as corduroy)

This loveseat was the problem child of the bunch. The cushion was nonexistent and and support underneath was pretty bad, too... AND I have always disliked this fabric. The silk is pretty, but you slide right off of it when you try to sit down! What good is a chair that you can't sit on? (I feel like I can express these opinions because Grandmother said the exact same thing to me the other day. She never liked the silky couch either!) John was worried about the button-tucks, too, and how much trouble they would add. We eventually picked a cream, linen-looking fabric since any pattern would be lost in the buttons.

After! Doesn't it look so much better?! There's just enough shine in the fabric that it still looks like the old silk, but it is ten times better to sit on! :)

Continuing ABC lateness

P is for Polly! Or as we still call her, much to Mother's chagrin, Polly Gizmo. She's now a 4lb chunker! When I went home a few weekends ago, I kept laughing because she is growing into that classic sleek feline look. I got so used to her chubby baby face that she looks odd as a grown kitty. :) Though ask Mom, and she is still a crazy kitten tearing around the house! Evidence: when I entered the door, I was greeted by a stray pencil, pen, lipstick, and chap stick on the floor. Kitten likes to knock rattly things off the table and push them around the house. Silly kitty.

Polly agrees with Harvey that the cord on my camera is the best thing EVER!


Even though she goes tearing around the house like a madkitty, she still needs cozy spots to cuddle. (Apparently a basket is comfy for a tiny cat)

Harvey also taught her how to talk when she was living with us. Funny story: Mom and I were eating at the kitchen counter one night, and Polly kept hopping up on the half-wall to get on the counter with us. (She has a weird fascination with people food and gets really pushy if you don't share with her.) So, as Tiny Cat would step out onto the counter, I would "ah-ah" her off. And she would pull her paw back and say, "brrmt?" each time. Like, "darnit, why won't you let me get on the counter. I do not approve of these restrictions!" Mom was cracking up because Polly kept looking at me like the evil step-mom who wouldn't let her play.

Q is for quilt! While in Tokyo, I got a packet of fat quarter squares that I thought might be neat to play around with. And by "play around with," I mean "send to my quilting grandmother and see what fabulous thing she makes with them." :) Love you, Grandma!

Well, I think she outdid herself this time! She took my squares (the plain ones) and mixed them with a fancy pattern she found. I think it looks absolutely gorgeous! And you can get analytical and argue that it shows how the opulent Japan is so often mixed with the simple Zen Japan in everyday life. (haha, I was an IB kid, remember? I learned how to obfuscate!) Or you can just sit back and look at the pretty. :)

I think my favorite part is the black-on-black fabrics that Grandma used for the background and backing. I love those "not black" and "not white" fabrics! They add such depth and texture to the piece.

Catching up on ABCs...

L is for Lego Batman. Now I know this game came out last year, but it is still much fun. (We also have Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Star Wars; I would recommend all three) If you aren't one of those crazy gaming people, the Lego games are a good buy. They slip jokes and references into the games, the game mechanics aren't too hard, it's good family fun for all, and how can you resist being Lego?

The game Lego-fies everything (characters, scenery, and props) so it really is like playing with the blocks yourself. I like when you are defeating bad guys, you hit them and they break apart into their base Lego bits! (yes, I have a mean streak in me)

I will laugh in a few days when we get Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is VERY dark and Gotham-y. Then our two Batman games will be Happy Lego Batman and Dark Crazy Batman. (Don't worry, Lara. We played the B:AA demo already, and Kevin Conroy does the voice acting! fan girl squeeeee! The game mechanics look too hard for me, but I told John I am quite content to sit back and listen. mmmmmm)

And how can you resist Nightwing in Lego, spiky hair and all?! eeeee! too cute!

N is for New Townhouse. In case you missed the last few months, we moved into a house of our very own! Yay! It has been a slow process, but we painted everything and got in new carpet upstairs, begged for furniture from family members, and found internet service. We've officially been here several weeks now and are getting the knack of things. Harvey still loses us when we "rapidly" change floors without telling him, but other than that he is doing fine.

new kitchen, new carpet!

O is for OMG! I can't believe it really happened in my lifetime! Now, if you are unfamiliar with pack rats, you might not understand the full meaning of being able to park a car in my grandparents' garage... but if you know ANYone (even that person in your mirror) who has difficulty throwing things away, then seeing this car inside will amaze and astound you.

The grandparents' garage reminds me of the ending scene in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark... you know, the one with the giant warehouse where things get lost forever? Except in the garage, there were no neat rows of boxes, just stuff. Now, not to be cruel, the grandparents were always able to go out and find exactly what they were looking for, but it was a lot of stuff out there for anyone else. I remember when I was a child, you could carry a big cooler up the center aisle... then as I grew, you had to turn sideways with the cooler... then you had to go to another door with the cooler and walk carefully in the garage by yourself. :( But, the family has done a few major cleaning sessions and wrangled the garage into submission. When Mom and I visited over the summer, there was room for a car! I had to take a picture to prove its existence (kind of like Bigfoot or Nessie).