Gratuitous Cuteness!!

And now you understand the title of this post. I took this last night, as I finally added Maureen's Blankie as a project on Ravelry. And I can't have a picture of Blankie without Little Miss, now can I? 

So here she is, Miss Maureen age 18 with her Blankie which, as well as I can remember, was knit back in October 1998. It's actually the oldest FO I have on Rav! 

I've updated the Patterns page so all the web-based patterns now have links directly to them :) And I've updated the blogs and other websites in the sideboard too. Busy morning!!

And with that, I'm off to continue with the designing of a certain bag pattern; around 1:15am NDT today, I think I hit upon the right way to do what I hope to do with this pattern.

TTFN

An FO and some ruminations

Woot! Another FO to report for 2016 :) I knit a pair of "Hidden Gusset" (Mone Drager, knitty.com) between Friday and Saturday. Love them! So quick to do and they look pretty good. They're in my Rav projects under "Mitties"

And I'm happily organizing my projects for the June KAL in Rosemary Hill's Rav group. I'm taking another run at "Alcyone" in a more tonal yarn (Knit Picks Hawthorne Kettle Dye in Delphinium) to not obscure the pattern and thinking about "Verdigris" (Rosemary Hill, knitty.com) as well.

I really liked the first set of fingerless mitts I knit, and with walking with my cane, I find my hand gets chilled easily. I'm quietly amassing a bit of a sub-queue of fingerless mitts! lol Not a bad thing, I'm thinking.

The weather seems to getting Spring-like here in Newfoundland :) Not overly sunny today but definitely warming up after the past couple days of rain.

In kitty news, we're gearing up for a big birthday on Saturday. Miss Maureen Mavourneen turns the big 1-8!! I can't believe it, my ghirlie will be old enough to vote! (And she's probably smart enough to, given the general state of the electorate)

And the Ravellenic Games 2016 organizing is apparently underway :) Thread started a month ago; I found it today lol August is shaping up to be a good time :) Can't wait to see what teams are in this year and what events I can participate in. Gonna be fun!! :)

TTFN

So Much for Spring

Big storm hit last night and still nasty winds today. Thank goodness it's my weekend; I've stayed inside with cups of tea and my knitting.

And my knitting has turned back to designing. I got inspired when I saw that someone knit my "Pyewacket" on Ravelry :) I've had this piece in progress since not long after I moved here. Time to breathe some life into it. And it's going well too. It's a bit quirky and I'm thinking of submitting it to Knitty. Actually it's going so well, I just composed the pattern blurb and designer profile a la Knitty lol Feeling optimistic in the face of not losing power last night I guess!

In kitty life, we're celebrating Charlie's 11month birthday today :) He's turned into such a distinguished looking cat! Maureen's doing well here in her new home, I'm happy to report. And Jake is a bundle of fluffy, energetic kitten cuteness. First pic is Maureen and Jake on my bed. Second is Charlie on yhe back of the couch :)

That sums up the day. I'm off to brew another cup of David's Tea 'Toasted Walnut' and get back to this piece of lace ;)

TTFN

Bye-bye 2013

Here it is. The final day of 2013. And here I am, lying on my bed with an attack of tendonitis in my left shoulder listening to "Mrs Crandell's Boarding House" by the Irish Rovers. My musical taste never really changed passed age 12 lol

What will happen in 2014? I can tell you what I hope to accomplish anyway.

Knitting Resolutions:
Gotta confess: these last couple years have been sadly lacking in the FOs. 2013 has netted me 3. Seriously. That's just sad. So, to start 2014 I'm determined to finish up my "Daydreams in Lace" (Brooke Nico; Rav project Majestic Dreams) and my "Ardrum Scarf/Wrap" (Aisling Doonan; Rav project Kinelea Lace). After that I have the yarn ready and waiting for Annie Modesitt's "Corset Top". That might be my Ravellenic Games project; more on that later. I want to complete at least 5 projects in 2014.

Dance Resolutions:
Although still residing in the middle of no-where in regards to dance, I'm determined to get off the couch and do something. Maureen, my darling 15.5 year old cat, gave me both Jean Butler's Masterclass and Colin Dunne's Celtic Feet for Yule/Christmas. I might not have a teacher pointing out my bad back foot turnout and my failure to kick my butt on my treble-hopbacks but at least I can move in a more proper Irish dance manner again. My resolution is to spend one morning a week in the company of one or both of the dvds.

Weight Loss Resolutions:
On April 1st, 2013, I started using the My Fitness Pal app on my phone. My goal was to lose 60lbs by April 1, 2014. As of December 27, I've lost 43.6lbs; less than 20lbs to go :) I'm quite proud of myself despite some setbacks recently. But I'm determined to make my goal in three more months. (And I think my Dance resolution will help with this too ;) )

General Resolutions:
I've covered the important things but knitting and dance and my weight goals aren't, unfortunately, my entire focus in life. What else do I want to do in 2014?
For starters, I need to find a new job. Much as I like my co-workers, the job itself is starting to feel soul-sucking.
That being said, the Roomie Sis and I have been discussing the merits of moving to Pretty City. A different job is pretty well guaranteed if we can make the necessary preparations.
What else? I'm not happy where I'm at in terms of being single far-longer than I care to admit. So I'm resolving to be more open to letting someone in again; not every guy on the planet is an asshole. I need to remind myself of that more often.
Thanks to the lovely website, Dress911, I've discovered the joys of vintage style dresses. Counting the lovely lavender one I bought the other night (due to arrive Jan 8th:) ), I now have 4 little  numbers for when I need a little pick-me-up. I'm resolving to wear them whenever I feel like it, not save them for an occasion. Any day can be an occasion in a nice dress! Now I need to learn how to do something with my hair... ;)
I resolve to buy more shoes. This girl does not have enough pairs of heels ;)
I resolve to listen to music every day. I used to; I'm not quite sure what happened. I have a piece on my wall that says: "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"; how true is that? My soul is dusty; turn up the tunes and blow it away!
Maureen would like me to add her resolutions to the post:
nap more
thump Charlie hard enough to make him stop biting me
con Mommy out of more goodies
look cute and innocent
act surprised on my 16th birthday
enjoy more sun beams
signed, Maureen Mavourneen T_____

My wish is for everyone to find Peace, Love and Luck in 2014 :)
Happy New Year from Newfoundland, everyone!!