Socks and Shoes

Yup.  My feet are in 'em.

Hear that faint voice?
That's my muffled toes trying to yell "No!  No!  Not 8 months of foot wear again!"

 As much as I dislike colder weather necessitating socks and shoes, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the autumn colours!  I swear I could die this winter and go out with a smile on my face thinking "it was the most beautiful autumn ever"!

That's my morning bus ... waiting for me!
LOVE the colours behind the bus shelter!

Just look at the amazing colours running down the centre of the avenue!  Same kind of tree, but each one unique!

And the size of the wild rose hips!  Wow!

It's been very foggy the past 10 days or so.
This was a fairly clear day - some days it's been like pea soup, you could barely see beyond your own nose!

The last rose(s) of summer?
Even these roses are spectacular in colour!

 On an entirely different topic, I thought I lost Miss Boots this past week!  Let me tell you, I was just HEART SICK!  I just plain do NOT want to imagine life without Miss Boots!

This is our balcony railing.
Those are the frozen remains of a late Morning Glory vine on the right.

This is our balcony railing ... and the balcony railing belonging to the apartment next door to us. 
That stucco wall between the two railings is 10 inches thick.
That's like ... um ... 25 centimeters in Metricspeak?

 You need to remember that our apartment is 3 floors up ... as in a LONG WAYS DOWN should you happen to fall!

You also need to remember that Miss Boots is an indoor kitty who has regular "manicures" to keep her claws short and my furniture in one piece.

Miss Boots and I were both out on the balcony about 8:30 pm, enjoying a last cup of tea and surveying "The Queendom" to make sure all was peaceful for the night, when my phone rang.  It happened THIS fast ... 3 steps inside to pick up the phone and I heard a frantic scrambling ... turned my head and NO CAT!

I grabbed my flashlight and peered over the balcony railing ... expecting to see a broken kitty lying on the ground ... but NO CAT!  So I ran downstairs (in my jammies and flip flops), around to the back of the building, thinking she was so scared that she just RAN in whatever direction she landed, and thinking about the pair of fox and the bear that frequents the green belt behind our building that would enjoy a quick snack of domestic kitty!

I spent an entire hour (in my jammies and flip flops) peering into every bush, every clump of grass, calling and calling ... and NO CAT!  Finally, with frozen toes and tears, I headed back in.  The hopeful part of me thought MAYBE she didn't fall, that she was still on our balcony, maybe hiding under the BBQ, so I shone the flashlight up the side of the building ... AND HEARD A VERY PLAINTIVE LITTLE meow.  It took a while, but I finally caught the reflection of her big green eyes in the balcony next door ... so I raced back upstairs, out onto our balcony, and CLIMBED ONTO OUR BALCONY RAILING.  No, I wasn't THINKING ... I was on adrenaline "must rescue kitty" mode!  I know, I know!  No lectures please!

She was crouched back against the wall, and NO amount of calling or cajoling was convincing her to come anywhere near the balcony railing!  Naturally, or maybe fortunately, the neighbours were not home ... and being Canadian Thanksgiving, might not be home for several more hours.  I didn't know if she was hurt, but I knew I couldn't leave her there.  Eventually, I managed to swing one of my dining room chairs over onto the neighbouring balcony and then coaxed her up onto the chair.  Once on the chair I could reach around that 10 inch stucco wall to grab her and bring her back.  Then I had one heck of a time retrieving my chair!  It was about that point that I realized I was hanging off my balcony railing (in my jammies and flip flops) 3 floors above the ground!  And I'm scared of heights!

"Not going out there.  Nope.  Not EVER again!"

 A week has gone by, and Miss Boots is still rather uninterested in the balcony.  She wasn't seriously injured ... just one scraped paw pad, probably from trying to catch a grip on the stucco.  No hu-moms were injured either.  Phew!

Since Miss Boots became an EVEN MORE INDOOR cat this past week, she decided the best place to be was in the hu-mom's lap.  And what can be better than a hu-mom's lap?  Why, a hu-mom's lap underneath some cozy knitting!  With her ... ahem ... "assistance", we finished this 72 inch long kid mohair and silk shawl.  It's hanging over a curtain rod in this picture ... I spritzed it generously to block it and bring up the fuzzy halo of the mohair.  I've already given it away, but I think I want one for myself now.

Have a great week y'all!  Enjoy the autumn colours ... and keep your cats safe!

Thanks

Thank you to you bloggy-reading folks who commented or emailed or phoned to say KEEP BLOGGING!  Okay ... I get it!  I might be boring now and then, but overall, y'all think my blog is worth reading, or that my cat is entertaining, or that I occasionally share a good recipe, or that I have "unfinished business" with y'all in the knitting department, or that I share the odd bit of humor.

It's like this:  I get unsettled now and then.  When I'm feeling unsettled, I start doubting the validity and benefit of whatever I'm currently doing.  Such as blogging.  And current furniture arrangements.  And hair styles (used to be hair colours). 

Do YOU ever feel that way?

It's like an itch you can't quite reach to scratch.

Fall is the worst time of year for that for me.  I know, it's not quite fall yet ... but summer rolls right into fall before we can say "Jack Spit" in this part of the world.  September is like New Year's for me.  I want to start NEW things in September.  I get really itchy to GO BACK TO SCHOOL in September.  Unfortunately, neither current bank account, job commitments, nor personal energy levels are up to embarking on too many new things in September.

Part of the reason that I'm feeling unsettled right now came from a surprise visit this past week.  My first Douglas College instructor.  It's not everyday that someone from a couple of decades back walks into your office and says "Hi!  Remember me?"  She was here in PG in a totally different capacity from college instructor, but we managed a few minutes for a quick catch-up.  As always, she "nailed the nail right on the head" with her observation that I'm missing academia and "you should be writing, you know!" 

Yes, I know.  I KNOW!!!

Trying to sort out what's going on in my unsettled head is a little like ...

 ... taking a basket full of odds and ends of wool and making something useful out of it.  In a timely and organized manner.  Above are my "fall" mittens ... minus one thumb ... knit up from current odds and ends in my knitting basket.  They look quite "fall-ish" to me.

I prefer mittens over gloves as my fingers always feel cold in gloves.  For "winter" mittens, I knit them double-layered or "thrummed" with bits of wool fleece inside.  Besides, I can tuck things down inside mittens that won't fit in gloves ... such as my bus pass.  Or keys.  Or tissues.

Knitting mittens helped "settle" me a bit.  My balcony garden didn't help.  It usually does.  Usually I'm content to just sit out there and enjoy ...

... all the little green tomatoes.

 My radishes are done.  They were in boxes on the balcony railing.  Here are the last of them, bolting.  Radishes get woody and tasteless when they start to bolt, so they have now been pulled and consigned to the compost bucket.  I haven't replaced them with anything yet.  Can't decide what to put in there.

I have lots of little hot peppers too.

See?  I'm still a little scattered, but coming back together again! Thanks again for your encouragement!  Y'all are GREAT bloggy-readers!

Trying hard to post more often

And now that I've typed in that title, MY MIND IS BLANK!  Maybe my mind is still in work mode ... and it was a busy work day ... or maybe it's just blank!

What do YOU blog about when your mind is blank?  Or do you wait until you have something brilliant to share?

I have absolutely nothing brilliant to share other than it rained a bit today, my potato is outgrowing my Norfolk pine and my tomatoes are sizing up nicely on my patio.  Miss Boots hasn't done anything remarkable yet today -- no horked up hairballs or unexpected claw swipes -- and I'm not reading anything in particular at the moment.  I'm not even knitting anything in particular at the moment -- am between projects.

Perhaps this is the MOST BORING POST EVER? 

Perhaps this is a sign that I should get rid of my home Internet service and thereby put an end to blank minds and boring posts?

Come with me to my balcony ...

Good morning!  It's a fine sunny Monday morning.  My hu-mom is getting ready to go to work, so I thought I'd show you what's happening on my balcony. 

 Well, OUR balcony ... cuz I share it with my hu-mom.  When she's good.

This is my view when I look out from my living room.  It's sure nice to see green things growing!  My hu-mom tells me those big bushy things up high are radishes and that I won't like them.  She gets all bothered and excited when I jump up on the balcony railing to check them out, so I guess I'll let her think I don't like them.

 I REALLY like lettuce though!  Fortunately, it's growing down where I can help myself whenever I feel like it.  For a long time this spring, my hu-mom got excited about me eating the lettuce faster than it could grow, but now it's growing faster than either of us can eat it.  I'm not too wild about Rhonda and Rhoda the flamingo twins ... they whir their wings in the most annoying manner when I least expect it!

 Here are two more things I REALLY like ... peas and spinach!  My hu-mom stuck those plastic pole things in there to keep me from nibbling on the peas and spinach.  Ha!  They don't really stop me ... but don't tell her, ok?

 My hu-mom is all happy because her tomato plants have flowers.  I have no idea why she's happy about that ... I tasted one, and it was YUCK!

 She's also happy because her hot pepper plants have miniature peppers starting.  They are up high so I can't taste them.  Hmmm ... I wonder what hot peppers taste like?

 Earlier this morning, my hu-mom was sitting in her chair on my our balcony and doing her knitting.  She is knitting a fuschia sock.  I don't think it's for me.

 She told me that she is thinking about adding a fold-down cuff to hide the ribbing, but can't decide what kind of pattern to put on the cuff.  The pattern for this sock is her own design.  It didn't come out of a book.  (My hu-mom thinks she's rather clever when she invents her own design ... silly hu-mom!)

Maybe you bloggy readers have a pattern suggestion for her?  She really hates to have unfinished socks around cuz they tempt me.  What!?!?  Why wouldn't I play with unattended knitting?  Doesn't she realize I'm a CAT?

Enjoy your Monday!

Monday Morning Blu - u - u - ues ...

I went to a party on Friday.  It was a sad party ... a good-bye to two special friends who are moving away.  Consequently, I've been thinking about friends I've lost track of over the years, and feeling a bit blue.

It's going to be a blue day ...

The Creative Colours of June

Here are some pix of the colourful things I've been playing with lately ...

 

Mo the Moose got a makeover ... unfortunately, the sun was shining really bright so you can't see the "PEACE" sign on his left antler and the "FLOWER POWER" sign on his right antler!  He also has bright pink lipstick under that sexy little mustache!  I add a little more "colour" to him every evening ... when I've had enough, I'll give him a clear coat of something to protect him from the weather.

My balcony garden is looking very GREEN.  Yes, that's KALE overflowing it's pot.  And it's very delicious!

 

For some odd reason, my green onions are leaning north ... or maybe trying to lean toward the ground ...

And my pot of potatoes almost need hilling up!

Here's the "nutty" colourful sweater I've got going ... it's worked from the neck down.  I started with white, changed to black and added white "streamers" and "popcorns".  Then yellow and black hound's-tooth pattern.  Then a row of reddish-brown squirrels holding brown "nuts" (popcorns).  Not sure how to transition to ribbing at the bottom ... I'm thinking some red popcorns against the yellow, then back to black and white ribbing?  Suggestions?

I'm contemplating making each sleeve of the above sweater different ... or do you think that would be just too "nutty"?

Here's Miss Boots helping me look at the beginnings of another pair of socks ... very BLUE "Arabesque" by Regia.  It's my "stay sane on the city bus" project for this week.  I can finish a sock in a week just in the time I spend going to and from work on the bus.

I've also been painting Tetley Tea tins ...

Here's a finished one.  Sorry, the pix is a bit over-exposed.  It's flowers and dragonflies on a white background.  Cute for keeping little odds and bobs.

I've also been experimenting with these ...

... cuz they make mighty fine silk scarves!  Seriously!  You just DOODLE on a white silk scarf (but put some protective plastic on your table first) ...

You can doodle on two thicknesses at the same time if you doodle slowly cuz the ink bleeds right through.  (10 mm china silk scarf with hand-rolled hems ... check out www.dharmatrading.com/ )

Once doodled to your satisfaction, spritz gently with rubbing alcohol.  Seriously!  Rubbing alcohol form the drug store in a cheap spray bottle!

If y'all know me at all, y'all know that as soon as I get the hang of some new creative project, I'm out there teaching other people to create it too.  Here's part of a group of senior ladies learning how to doodle on silk ...

 And here's the group modelling their finished scarves!  (It's a great group project cuz folks LEAVE WITH A FINISHED SOMETHING!)  Yes, that's yours truly on the right (the lady with the love handles ...).

 I think my motto for June is MORE COLOUR!  Here's a scarf that I doodled on with the Sharpies ... but I didn't iron it before washing, so my doodles faded out.  Yes, this was on purpose!  (Of course it was!  Uh huh!)  Who needs a washed out pastel silk scarf ... so I doodled some more ... with Shiva PaintStix (check out www.dharmatrading.com/  ... I bought a sampler set of 3 stix)  gold and bronze leaf rubbings in the palest / whitest areas.

 Shiva PaintStix are like oil pastel crayons ... let set for 24 hours then iron to make permanent. This turned out so cool that I'm thinking about adding some glitzy beading to the two ends.  What do you think?

Following Gus . . .

Have you read this book?

I watched the TV series ages ago ... twice ... and thought the book might be a good read (although I don't go for 10 pound books too often!).  Couldn't do it the other way around I'm sure.  Read the book first, start picturing and hearing the characters in my mind, and I'm sure to be disappointed by someone else's "vision" on the TV or movie screen.  I was NOT disappointed with this book.  In fact, having enjoyed Robert Duvall's version of "Gus" Captain Augustus McRae ...

... it was easy to enjoy the book hearing that smooth-talking southerner in my head!  I give this book 5 stars out of 5.  Great long rainy weekend reading!  It is a 10 pounder, so you might want to read it on your E-reader instead of actually carrying around a heavy book.

I guess it was an "entertain LD" kinda weekend ... I took myself out to see this at our local movie theatre ...

Not the 3D version though.  It was plenty exciting 2D.  Since I've been a "Trekky" since the 1960s (used to watch the original Star Trek with my Dad), there's seldom a Star Trek ANYTHING that doesn't make me happy!  And this latest movie did not disappoint.  Only thing that bugged me was the appearance of - and subsequent death of - Captain Christopher Pike.  I REMEMBER what happened to the original Pike, and this shift in story line was a bit irritating.  The younger version of Spock was FABULOUS!  We even get to see him SHED A TEAR!  Oh, and kiss a female officer!

As mentioned above, it was a rainy and chilly weekend, not very conducive to balcony gardening.  I didn't get my balcony composter built ('cuz I was a little busy reading Lonesome Dove and going out to a movie ...), so that task has been put off for next weekend.  I can, however, report that my radishes are up ...

... and the lettuce I seeded is up ...

... and my kale is hail and hearty! 

Okay, I cheated a little on the kale having put out bedding plants instead of seeding it.  Can't wait!  It's going to be a grand salad soon! 

I did a bit of knitting too.  Sorry, no pix of that.  Over the last couple of years, I have accumulated a bunch of Cascade 220 wool as I usually buy an extra skein in addition to however much I actually need for a particular project.  Every so often, I HAVE TO dream up some kind of project to use the "extras".  Sometimes, I just cast on with one colour and let imagination take its course.  That's what I'm doing this time ... I cast on with off-white, switched to black while sitting in a crappy meeting, worked some off-white "snowballs" into the black, then switched to a bright yellow and black herringbone pattern ... oh, I guess I'll just have to take some pix to show y'all!  My buddy took a look at this project and proclaimed "Why that sweater is just plain NUTS!" ... which gave me the idea of working in some squirrels holding NUTS (knitted snowballs or popcorns).  It's a sweater that will always make me laugh!  I suspect you'll laugh too when I post the pix.

Have a GREAT week y'all!

New knitting trick

So I picked up this book . . .

. . . having read reviews about it in two different knitting magazines. After I paid for it, I sat down in the coffee shop part of my favourite local book store and did a quick scan through. The first thing that caught my eye was this cool trick for casting on stitches . . . a perfect way to begin a sock from the toe . . . with NO SEAM!  Pix not the greatest as I took them with my cell phone while Mizz Bootz was doing her best to HELP, so bear with me, please, while I try to explain this great new trick.

First, you cast on 1/2 of the stitches you want in your first circular row . . . in this case 6:

 Then you knit once in the front AND ONCE IN THE BACK of each stitch across . . . thereby DOUBLING the number of stitches on your needles:

 Then you PULL OUT THE NEEDLE!  Scary, I know, but it's part of the magic . . . with a little squeeze, 6 of the stitches will magically line up in one direction and 6 of the stitches will line up in the other direction:

 Then you re-insert your knit needle in the 6 stitches lined up one way . . .

 . . . then insert another knit needle in the 6 stitches lined up the OTHER way.

 At that point, you can start KNITTING IN THE ROUND . . . around and around and around without changing direction.  I increase 1 stitch at each end of each needle every second row to shape the toe of my sock.

 After a couple of rows, you can divide the stitches on each needle onto 2 knit needles so that 4 needles are holding your work.

 That's my favourite way of knitting socks . . . 2 needles for the front and 2 needles for the back.  I keep increasing 1 stitch on each side of the front and increasing 1 stitch on each side of the back until I have a total of 64 stitches . . . or 16 stitches on each of the 4 needles.  That's my calculation for fingering weight yarn on size 2.25 mm knit needles to fit my size 9 feet.

 Eventually, it turns into a sock:

 Well, there is the whole HEEL TURNING thing, but that's a different post!  I had so much fun with this new trick that I knitted a second pair of socks in less "spring-like" colours (it's still winter in this part of the world).

Good way to entertain myself last weekend, eh?  Now . . . WHERE ARE MY NEW SOCKS???

(In Mizz Bootz bed!)