tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40948481966884382412012-01-09T20:15:40.720-05:00A home for knittery, nerdery, and feline tomfooleryPurrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-83571462598677135532012-01-09T20:15:00.001-05:002012-01-09T20:15:40.813-05:00

I’m trying to turn over a new leaf this year, with a much more consistent attempt at recording finished projects. There was a burst of productivity at the end of last year, so I’ve got lots of catching up to do to help me along! First, though, was my very successful rehabbing of an old radio cabinet. Last time I think I had successfully removed the odd bits of plywood and new wood that someone

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-19743812605545262302012-01-03T23:13:00.001-05:002012-01-03T23:13:44.925-05:00

I love my cats dearly and wouldn’t change or trade them for anything, but I  always thought Portia would be the cat that would drive me to drink. She has it out for all yarn, and has learned to open my closets in order to get to any possible secret stashes. Every time I work on a project, I am guaranteed to have a guardian with a helping paw or four. When I'm sewing, I always have to remove the

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-1898425968581274732011-08-18T12:53:00.004-04:002011-08-18T13:06:36.724-04:00

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Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-34491905821590424112011-06-05T23:19:00.003-04:002011-06-14T22:26:07.829-04:00

(Note, I’ve had this blog post in progress for almost 2 months! I never meant this to be an every day recording of crafting progress, but I had hoped to post more frequently that once a quarter. I’m just having too much fun crafting!) My first commissions! I’ve made a lot of things for other people over the years, and I love passing on a little bit of homemade love to people I know will

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-81534033659992634172011-02-17T22:55:00.001-05:002011-02-17T23:29:48.534-05:00

I’m once again catching up with finished projects. With a recent, much-needed upgrade of my computer to Windows 7 (Goodbye Vista! Won’t miss ya!), I’m hoping to update more frequently. To start out with, the oh-so-fun hats for my nephews and niece: and with a little help from Chris Moose: These hats, once I got over my unfortunate rookie mistake of misreading the needle requirements, were

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-62453514400551910852011-01-03T12:14:00.009-05:002011-01-03T12:59:48.067-05:00

I love being an aunt. I have four nephews and one niece, and they are all amazing. A few weeks ago I was talking on the phone with my middle brother about Christmas ideas for his four kids. Their family has started using an online wishlist, to help keep all the ideas together, so I was going over some of those ideas with him. In the background I suddenly heard his oldest boy pipe up with “

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-33654278565465525032010-09-29T16:30:00.008-04:002010-09-29T16:50:23.543-04:00

What now feels like ages ago, I finally made it to my first fiber festival. It’s really only been a few weeks, but with the way that this summer (now fall, ugh!) is going, it could have been a different year for all I know.I took an embarrassingly small number of pictures, and completely missed the sheep I almost put to sleep – turns out sheep really like getting their chins scratched! Who knew?

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-20228573493508556392010-08-25T12:44:00.004-04:002010-08-25T13:05:53.452-04:00

Well, that’s what it feels like lately in what has been a massive bit of productivity. So without further ado, the beginning of the FOs: Slip Stitch Heel Basic Socks by Wendy Johnson, aka the Rainbow Socks. (NB - it is really not easy to take pictures of your own feet!) Yarn: Regia Hand-dye Effect, in what I think is the Sodalith colorway (ball band has vanished on me) Needles: US 1 –

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-22506701257647533622010-08-04T21:38:00.002-04:002010-08-04T21:44:35.322-04:00

It's dangerous to be on WEBS's mailing list, because now I want all of this (Madelinetosh Prairie) yarn. Actually, anything in the Madelinetosh line, and any of the colors. I would knit happily for the rest of my life.

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-73595082918930602602010-07-14T23:02:00.005-04:002010-07-14T23:26:54.581-04:00

How often is crafting an experiment? Often you don’t know quite how a project will turn out, because it’s always a new combination of variables. If it’s something you’re knitting/crocheting, there’s always a unique combination of needle/hook, yarn, and pattern. Even if those three are constants from another project, there’s always the intangible amount of tension – how is the humidity affecting

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-47592444457971078302010-07-08T12:43:00.004-04:002010-07-08T12:57:56.527-04:00

Yarn yearning – I’ve got a bad case of it. I ended up taking a bit of a break with knitting, right around the time it started getting hot. Yet now that we’ve been in the 90s for what seems like way too long, all of a sudden I just want to do nothing more than play with yarn.Projects on the needles right now:Rainbow socks – about 85% done. I pretty much just need to figure out how tall they need

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-80603101256129098032010-05-04T15:01:00.004-04:002010-05-04T15:17:22.635-04:00

If you're like me, books are your friends. The sight of a familiar spine sends an entire storyline straight to your brain. You can flip through a few pages and remember everything in a rush. This year I'm challenging myself to keep track of what I read, and to read what's ready and waiting for me on my giant to-be-read pile (now approaching its own bookcase). So far I'm at 42 books, or 12,095

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-72168302092714078242010-05-03T10:27:00.004-04:002010-05-03T10:38:56.776-04:00

Have you ever been waiting for news about something, and then when you finally hear – hopefully good results – the sense of relief is just exhausting? What usually gets me is that I didn’t realize I was so worried. It’s just boom, the elephant is gone, and I feel like I fizzle out for a bit. In various points in my life I’ve been tested for skin cancer. Even with pretty much every major risk

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-3464919682597772192010-04-14T16:38:00.005-04:002010-04-14T17:04:05.919-04:00

So, I’ve been productive lately. No, really, I have—just not on here. Last week I got the proverbial kick in the behind, when a not so mini maelstrom of craziness hit my life.First, my car stalled when I was going 70+ mph down the highway, trying to get home from Easter at my parents’. Somehow I managed to muscle the steering wheel to the right (dead engine means no power steering, yay!) and I

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-31962441368953976142010-03-15T14:34:00.007-04:002010-03-15T14:56:58.214-04:00

Somehow a couple of weeks escaped and we’re in mid-March now. How did that happen? (Long post alert, I have some serious catching up to do!) The Ravelympics really made February speed by, and I realized I never posted that I finished my shawl! It was just in the nick of time, as I cast off just as the closing ceremonies were starting, but it’s finished!Last night I finally got brave and blocked

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-56436245365647215362010-02-24T17:03:00.003-05:002010-02-24T17:05:18.505-05:00

I’ve been a knitting fiend lately. Every spare minute after work has been taken up by yarn. I need to keep knitting, as fast as possible, because I have 5 days left to finish this current project. Why 5? Because I need to finish before the end of the closing ceremony of the Olympics. When I started following the Yarn Harlot and read a bit about the Knitting Olympics, I was inspired (as I

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-32464136649868658022010-02-05T13:52:00.003-05:002010-02-05T14:14:44.808-05:00

I tend to be a keeper. As a part-time historian (I say that because my interests in lit and history are usually 50/50), I keep anything that has a memory attached to it - because stuff has a history behind it and I honor that history.But this backfires, frequently. I have stashes of pictures and postcards, touristy type guidebooks and drink coasters from several different countries, t-shirts from

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-60149985383033635802010-02-03T12:58:00.004-05:002010-02-03T13:33:35.117-05:00

I went to the yarn store yesterday at lunch, and a couple of things just happened to follow me out and come home with me: While my wallet is a bit lighter, they are so worth it. The green, or Zauberball from Schoppel Wolle in colorway 1966 ombre, first caught my eye in a yarn shop across the state. I had investigated Ravelry to see if anyone was swapping or selling some of these magic balls (the

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-14899716381257386032010-01-29T10:28:00.002-05:002010-01-29T10:31:47.119-05:00

Today I’m trapped with a blistering headache that won’t go away and isn’t letting me work (darn weather systems and bad ex-dentists – my ongoing battle with a bad root canal and crown from my old dentist is a snarky post for a different day). So I’m hoping that if I post the partial inspiration that I had yesterday, it may chase some of today’s cobwebs and craziness away and let me get going on

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-2639073976748804852010-01-25T11:30:00.002-05:002010-01-25T11:39:56.259-05:00

So, I should be working right now, but it’s almost lunch and it’s Monday and my brain is fried. Last night was a long night of untangling some yarn and some thoughts, and today I’m playing an unfortunate catch-up game with consciousness. So blogging it is =) One of my last catch-up FOs are these awesome fingerless gloves, made to help a friend stay a bit warmer in her freezing apartment.

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-39145370142681787872010-01-18T22:25:00.005-05:002010-01-19T09:08:31.130-05:00

I'm a bit behind on updating, and have a stack of finished projects to post. Trying to get more into the fun knitting lingo, the last of the Christmas break FO's was Dotty Dog, another lovely toy from Zoe Mellor's Knitted Toys. Can you tell I like this book?Yarn: Tatamy Tweed in Purple, Lime, Burgundy, and Carnation Tweed with a bit of Sea Blue thrown in for good measure. The pattern calls for a

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-10196533348441518642010-01-04T22:15:00.004-05:002010-01-04T22:52:39.505-05:00

Christmas project number three was Snappy Crocodile from Zoe Mellor's Knitted Toys. I've used this book several times, making Cheeky Monkeys (three different ones) and a Big-Foot Bunny, and I find Mellor's patterns easy to follow and fun to make. The first monkey I made was my first non-scarf knitting project, and while I had to remind myself how to purl (and that was a process in and of itself),

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-6444302013098695252010-01-03T21:32:00.002-05:002010-01-03T21:58:15.879-05:00

Happy (belated) New Year! I'm a bit behind in posting about projects - there were two things finished just in time for Christmas, and two more belated Christmas projects that I'm just finishing up now. But for now, I'm mostly absorbing the difference that this new year brings in comparison to last year. Last year, it was all I could do to make it to January 1, 2009. So many things happened in

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-47743087182600658622009-12-16T12:24:00.004-05:002009-12-16T12:51:11.635-05:00

The tree got moved this morning.This whole escape with Portia was charming, until I got up this morning and stepped in the giant water puddle forming around a drowned sheep ornament. Now, it's on.To rewind a bit, yesterday after I got home from work I followed a trail of downed ornaments. Portia had decided to skip the fourth and fifth day and leap straight into day six. Two ornaments were in the

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-38155132258931247092009-12-14T20:28:00.002-05:002009-12-14T20:55:32.459-05:00

Saturday morning, when I woke up and was coming out of my bedroom, I noticed something on the floor in the dining room. Late last week I put up my tiny little Christmas tree and decorated it with ornaments that I figured were mostly cat safe. In my family, when my dad's side of the family got together for Christmas, instead of bows we used to put Christmas ornaments on presents we exchanged. So I

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-14043583619360214862009-12-10T23:28:00.003-05:002009-12-10T23:55:15.262-05:00

Today I put the finishing touches on my first sweater, the Jasper Diamond Hoodie. Yarn used is Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton in sage; sizing is for a 12-18 month old. A friend from undergrad, who started as my supervisor when I was in a work study program, just adopted a beautiful baby boy and this sweater is for him. The pattern can be found in Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren. Rengren

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-8857287402094288762009-11-28T22:33:00.002-05:002009-11-28T22:56:51.711-05:00

I live with a yarn thief. The thief is stealthy, small, and can fit into tight spaces (as all thieves are wont to be and do). However, this one has four feet and has recently figured out how to get into my closets. For the past two years, I've known not to leave yarn unattended at any time when it's out in the open - Portia has tried to make off with yarn that I'm actively knitting with, no

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-49314973000199654212009-11-22T21:08:00.003-05:002009-11-23T08:51:32.410-05:00

Over the weekend, I was able to finish the first of four (so far) Christmas projects. Since this one has already been given, in time for what might be an interesting winter, I can post about it freely. It's following the Herringbone Scarf pattern. The pattern is fairly easy, once you get the hang of it and consistently remember to slip off stitches (I forgot a couple early on, as my fingers were

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-28909806076040458372009-11-16T20:36:00.008-05:002009-11-17T09:12:04.230-05:00

Introducing the feline members of this blog:Nico, aka Captain Scaredy-Cat, and Portia, aka the Destroyer of Toys. Both cats are rescues, and while they aren't siblings, they were born within a week or two of each other and are both three years old. Most of the time they get along famously, and Portia mothers Nico quite well.One of the dearly loved cat toys here is Frankenmouse - actually,

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4094848196688438241.post-86495394552281909052009-11-16T14:21:00.002-05:002009-11-16T14:38:40.130-05:00

So purrlings, where did that come from?Well, I knit, and therefore purl. My cats do a lot of purring, and bestow many a purrling upon me. Add in a bit of nerdy humor, and you've got me in a very small nutshell. Of course there's a lot more to me, and hopefully this site, but we'll get to that. I can't promise frequent postings, but you'll be able to see and keep track of projects I'm working on

Purrlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01835850641183676148noreply@blogger.com0