Bubbles

I hadn't tried bubbles on the cats in quite a while. Mo really thought they were fascinating. He chirped and snapped away at them. Eva watched from under the table, but really wasn't that impressed.

Dryer Woes

We've had one problem after another with the dryer. Our dryer started taking a really long time to dry. We cleaned the vent as much as we could, and even added an oval to round adapter, but it didn't help. An appliance guy came out and immediately went up to the roof. I guess in new homes they put these fine mesh guards up to keep the birds out of the dryer vent. Unfortunately it was keeping the lint from getting out. Ick! We haven't had any trouble since it was removed.

New Toys

Mo was temporarily fascinated by his new toy. He could almost stick his head in it, and there were other holes for his paws. Unfortunately the fascination was short lived, and he's not terribly interested any more.

fingerless gloves

fetching-gloves
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I knit these using Knitty's Fetching pattern. It was the first time I knit a thumb, so that was cool. Since these aren't as bulky as my other fingerless gloves hopefully I'll get to wear them a bit more.

Placemats

placemat-with-napkin-ring
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I made these from the Knitting Loves Crochet book. I started them last summer, and it took me awhile to knit the two placemats since the cotton was hard on my hands. I encountered some errata with the pattern, but got a quick reply from the publisher.

Elegant Placemats errata
Bobble Pattern Stitch on p. 160, delete “leaving a long tail for attaching”

On page 163:
Round 2 Work *(1 sc, 1 Bobble Pattern Stitch, 1 sc) in next chain-space, ch 4, skip 1 chain-space; rep from * around placemat. End with slip stitch to first sc. Change to a single strand of CA.

Delete Round 3 as it is in the book. Round 4 becomes Round 3.

Cat toys

felt-mouse
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I hadn't made any toys for Mo or Eva in ages, so I whipped up a mouse to felt using a KnitWhits pattern. It's such an easy and clever pattern to follow. The cats like it. I also made a couple of fun fur mice, but they weren't as impressed with them.

Felted Bowl

large-felt-bowl
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I've had the yarn and pattern to make this felted bowl for some time. It was a bit of a pain winding the yarn so that you could get the colors to match up. The yarn had to be doubled to be thick enough. I really like how the colors meld and swirl. Once the yarn was sorted out, it was a quick easy project. The yarn and pattern are from Knitpicks. I made one bowl about 4" tall and another about 2" tall from one skein.