Spinalcat's Crafty Adventures

2 Cats in Kitty Pi Beds , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion .

Rocky , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . We adopted Rocky and Ziva last Thursday from Pacific Siamese Rescue . They are 10 months old, and littermates. Rocky looks like your average traditional Siamese seal point, and Ziva is solid black. Rocky's got some white hairs around his eye from being a little sick ("fever coat"), but they should grow back in dark eventually. Ziva is full of energy, and wants to play all the time. Rocky was pretty shy when he first got here, but he is getting a lot braver! Ziva is very chirpy, but Rocky is really quiet unless he wants food. I think Bryan's happy about that. Yum Yum almost never shut up!

Kitty Pi Beds , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Pattern - Kitty Pi (free online) Yarn- Rowan Colourscape Chunky and Lamb's Pride (blue) or Rowan Cocoon (green) We were supposed to pick up our new 10 month old kittens on Saturday, but we've had a plumbing "situation". Now everything is fixed, but we're still sleeping in the dining room until the carpet can be put back down and cleaned (probably Tuesday). Anyway, we'll be bringing home the cats by next Saturday if not sooner. The blue bed is for Rocky/Rocket, a seal-point boy. The green one is for his sister Ziva, who is solid black with green eyes. You can see them if you go to this site and scroll down. They are so awesome! I miss them already. Here's a link to the blog where I got instructions on modifying Mermaid to do the collar all in one piece. I also used her tip for keeping the other color from showing through on the i-cord bind off. I highly recommend it! I've starte...

Mermaid Body Complete , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I'm about to walk out the door for work, but the i-cord bind off is finished! Also, we got approved by Pacific Siamese Rescue!!!

Hand-dyed Lace Scarf Class Sample , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Here's the scarf from the yarn I dyed with the Culinary Colors kit. The yarn is a really nice mohair/silk blend ( Douceur et Soie ). There's only 1 pattern row to remember, and 3 plain rows in between. That makes this a really great first lace project. There's enough yarn to make 2 of these scarves, or one triangular shawl. You'll also have plenty of dye left over for other projects. I love this kit! Check out the Yarndogs schedule for the class days and times. I'm really excited about teaching it, in case you can't tell!

Mermaid Body Before Blocking/Seaming , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Here's what it looked like before blocking and shoulder seaming. Since then, I've picked up stitches across the back of the neck and put the provisionally cast-on stitches back in action. I'm doing the collar portion all in one piece to avoid a seam at the back neck, and also to do the icord bind-off in one piece. I just have 10 ridges left, but the rows are long! Then it's sleeve time! I'm going to do a provisional cast on for those, too. That way I can do a 3-needle bind off. I love provisional cast ons so much! Below is what my Mermaid looked like folded and blocked, ready for shoulder seaming. I also finished a hat for Bryan and I'm really happy with it. I'm not posting pics yet, since I haven't decided what to do with the pattern. The biggest thing I learned on that project is that ripping out in the opposite direction of the knitting is really hard when purl...

Handdyed Laceweight Mohair/Silk- Culinary Colors Kit , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I'm going to teach a class on this- dye yarn with food dyes, then knit a lace scarf (2, actually) or a shawl. This is the Fruit Sorbet colorway. The kit is from Knit One, Crochet Too and is available at Yarndogs. The yarn included is Douceur et Soie. Really nice!