Three

Today was quite stressful. It was our annual voyage to the vet. Rebel and Napoleon were due for their vaccines. This is always an event to behold. It is a day filled with suspense, drama, action and adventure. First I do my prep work. I find the carriers, and leave them out so that the cats can familiarize themselves with their mode of transportation. This is the easy part. Napoleon even climbs into and naps in his.


When he is not resting, he is living as his alter, Demon Kitty.


Rebel remains elusive. There is no photographic evidence to be had of his familiarization.

The next day, appointment day, is filled with battle and intrigue. Every year, I try different methods to make this as painless as possible, (for me). The best I have found is to load Rebel first. I bring the carrier to him and hope for the best. It always ends the same. A lot of fur flying, screaming, (mine) and hissing, (Rebel's). After all is said and done, I have to change my clothes. It looks like I have been in a bar fight. Once Rebel is safely tucked away, I work on Napoleon. He is a little easier as he is normally found playing in his carrier.


I sort of imagine their dialogue to go something like this:
R: What are you in for?
N: I'm not sure. I'm not going to admit anything until I narrow down the offenses.
R: I bet it's for chewing through the cable cord again.
N: You think so? I was leaning towards hiding the remote control.

Today's visit brought us amazing news. Over the past year, Rebel has slimmed to a lean and mean 25lbs. That means he lost 3lbs. I'm one very proud mom.


This couldn't have been possible without the help of his personal trainer.


Unfortunately, Napoleon is still a little dazed and confused. He does not do well with his vaccines. They make him quite sleepy and grumpy. He should be back to normal tomorrow.

Way to go Rebs!! We are so proud of you.

When we arrived home again, I worked on a little sweater for a special person. Baby Om is finally complete and none too soon as the new owner arrived on March 11, 2009. :D.

All I need to do now is block it and ship it.
Front view:


Back view:


In our travels on Friday, we came across a great sushi place. We had one in our town which was totally awesome. The food was always prepared so well and was so tasty. I find with sushi, it can be really good, or plasticy. Unfortunately, that location is no more. We have been on the hunt for a substitute for quite some time. I believe we finally found one! The name of this super cool place is Daiichi Japanese Restaurant. Their presentation is almost as good as the food they offer.


I hope you are all enjoying the week end. I'm off to watch another movie and see if I can settle down to sleep a little. Have a good night everyone.

S A T U R D A Y night

It's Saturday night. Big Smile over here at Chez L. I do not have any plans. I just want to hang out with my family, watch movies and knit. I've been working steady on the SKP socks, Salida. I am now past the heel point and working on the foot. I will just call the first few cast-ons practice. I'm liking how this is turning out. I know it is not quite finished, but it is really shaping to be a comfortable sock. I was thinking that with all the little twists it may prove to be tight. This is thankfully, not the case.

I do have some sad news in terms of knitting. A favourite pair of circs has managed to become decapitated. I was just cruising along, listening to AC DC, patiently waiting for the first aid course to start when I felt it give way.


A closer look at the misfortune:


I'm wondering if I wrote to the kind people of Addi, if they would do something about this. This is the first time that a pair of circs have actually fallen apart and Napoleon has an alibi:


Baby Om is coming along nicely. Tomorrow I will finish the seaming and then get it prepped for transportation.

Speaking of transporting:


It is just a simple manipulation of yarn overs and purling two together. I like the effect. It gives me an idea for something............

The last of the traveling scarves is complete. When I go for my walk tomorrow, I will send it home to it's owner. I'm sure she is anxiously waiting its return as much as I am mine.

I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday Night:

Have a great week end everyone :D

I Strongly Dislike This Time of Year

Just when I get used to the idea of seeing the sun when I leave work, the greater number of society has decided to play a game with my mind and move the time and space continuum ahead one hour. That is just plain mean.
Enough of that now.

Another lesson was learned this week end.
This:


equals this:


Someone, and I am not naming any names cannot dabble in the spirit and follow a chart. It is a good thing I enjoy this little hobby of mine, or I would be persuaded to freak out a little bit.

I do however, have a success story to share with all of you. A little sweater is almost off the sticks. I just need to get to some seaming! Now that I have procured a tapestry needle, this should be finished any day now.



I'm off to try and settle down a bit so I can attempt to sleep. I hope the rest of you were not put out by the time change. If it is any consolation, Spring has almost arrived, maybe.
Good night everyone.

A New Venture?

I was involved in a discussion in a chat room type of thing a few days ago. The topic gradually switched to art. This was a very nice change as some of you who frequent chat rooms can well imagine. To make a potentially long story short, a gentleman was looking for people to draw their interpretations of the constellations. I chose Andromeda, The Chained Maiden.

Lesson 1. Be very specific when you are googling for information.



This is my very rough draft of my concept. As you can see, she is lacking a hand. There is also a weird stain by the leg.
Lesson 2. Make sure coffee is out of reach of cat.

Napoleon was closely supervising the work detail. There is progress. This time yesterday, she did not have a head.
I also spent the better part of the day taking pictures of my foot to help me gain a perspective on proportion. Which brings us to:
Lesson 3. Enlist the help of a photographer for my next picture.

Hunnnnnyyyyy.........Heellllllpppp!!

We never discussed any monetary value for this work. If the gentleman likes my work, then cool. If not, then that is OK too. I will call it a practice run to get myself back into my craft. I noticed my pencils were dusty and that saddens me. I need to draw more.

I have also been working on my sock for the SKP International group on Ravelry.


I am really loving this. It appeals to my need for instant gratification. The pattern is already evident and I am looking forward to see how the heel will work with it.

Did anyone watch the premiere of America's Next Top Model? I cannot tell who the possible winner for this cycle will be. I was a bit disappointed with who they sent home. I was routing for another young lady to go home. I won't say who because I do not want to spoil it for anyone. I know there are a lot of people out there who watch television very similar to me, long after the fact.
I'm going to head bed now. I'm not feeling 100%. It must be my body telling me to pay attention and take better care of myself.
So, good night everyone. the week end is almost here.

Where Did It Go?

That was a very quick week end. It was also a chilly one. Just think.....another month and maybe we can start thinking about dressing in less layers. Until that time comes, I will have my woollies to wear.
It was a busy little week end for us. Napoleon tried to accompany the husband to the gym. I think he is a brave little cat to take up residence in there:


I also caved and bought some tapestry needles:


I have some finished projects to show as a result of said purchase:
The Mod Mitts:


And my bordello Sea Wool Socks:


I cannot just walk into a yarn shop and come home with only tapestry needles, so this sort of jumped into my arms as well:


We watched a few movies this week end.One was Sex Drive with Seth Green. The other was The Orphanage, a Spanish horror film.

To go with the films, we shared a bottle of wine:


Today we were off to a late start,well, OK, I was off to a late start. When I was finally sorted, we walked over to the parents for a nice supper.
My sneakers going out for a walk:


We had a very good appetizer of cheddar, cracker, and hot pepper jelly. It's my favourite. Actually, anything with cheese is my favourite.


It was a very chilly walk home. Even our shadows are chilled.


My sneakers finally had a chance to rest and watch the in home version of animal planet.





I don't even want to know what they do when we are not at home.

Happy March everyone. It is time for me to settle down so I can try to sleep before work.

Night.

Thank You

I just want to say thank you. You are my best friend. I tell you absolutely everything. Perhaps too much sometimes :)
You make me feel strong. You make me feel like I can do anything. You know all my secrets. I know all of yours. There have been stressful difficult times, but they are hugely outweighed by all the cool experiences. I would never ever trade any of that away. You're stuck with me. :D

Napoleon Loves Broccoli

I was not really aware of that fact either. I just thought I would share the weirdness that is my family. I tried to preserve the moment, but Napoleon is rather quick on the uptake.

Sadly all that is left are crumbs. Does broccoli leave crumbs?


Rebel was on hand to explore what super cool things arrived in the mail on Friday. I finally penciled in some time to open the delights.
Lo and behold,


More scarves!!!!


This delivery means that my scarf is starting the voyage home. I can't wait. Well, yes, I can. I have to. I can't very well hijack the post office vehicle. I will have to patient.

I have been working on a little sweater for a special little someone to be. This is called Baby Om created by Fawn Pea.
This is the front:


Here is a closer shot of the little symbol of a lotus in the center.


This is turning out quite well if I say so myself. And I do, so it is ;)

We watched some very good movies this week end. By good, I mean the stress of the week just melted away. First we watched Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Don't let the title freak you out. It was funny. It was written and directed by Kevin Smith. For those of you familiar with his works, this is pretty much along those awkward lines. A request from all of you, if anyone knows of existing patterns of the knit wear that the two main characters sported throughout the film, I would greatly appreciate a heads up to the right direction.
The other film we watched was The Gene Generation. A Sci-fi flick with a very hard core ass kicking female lead. I loved the boots the heroin wore throughout the film.

Also, (yes it was a busy week end at Chez L), we stumbled upon this little gem:

Was anyone else aware of a possible third season for Dead Like Me? I loved this show when it was on the air. I would schedule my life around this television show so I wouldn't miss any episodes. I won't spoil it for any other fans out there. I will say that I did enjoy this portion. It does however leave me feeling a little sad that no more will be following.

And what is a week end without a little wine:

Most of the wine I select is based on the label. If it has an interesting image or cute character, I'm hooked. Sometimes my methods prove true. This is one such case. It went well with our chicken and veg tonight.

I didn't make it to the gym this week end, but I did manage to do 35 minutes on our elliptical here in the comfort of my home. It goes way better when I have something fast and upbeat moving through my headphones. Coincidentally, broccoli is apparently not enough to stave off Napoleon.





He will also devour wiring. Ergo the new addition for my ipod:


Napoleon is now issuing nap time.

So while we settled for bed, I leave you with a tune that I cannot get out of my head. I don't actually mind this tune. It is catchier than the Mario Brothers Theme Song that I thought was taking up permanent residence all week. O_O.

Phenomenon by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.