by popular demand - 78% more cats

So friggin' cute.

Yesterday was uber-geek day.  First, I went birding at Big Lagoon State Park and then headed to Pensacola for some yarn shopping at Yarnside Gathering. 

I have been to Yarnside before. Its about 35 minutes from our house on Ono.  The gal who runs it is extremely nice and helpful.  I have one gripe though that may sound weird.  The lighting is terrible.  They have overhead harsh fluorescent lights that do nothing for the yarn.   The colors and textures are all gray blue and flat.  I know its probably rented space but I am sure the landlord wouldn't mind an upgrade of the light fixtures. Even an addition of some halogen spots along with the fluorescents might help.   My other very minor complaint is they did not have any silk yarn.  None.  In a  yarn store in Florida.  In the Spring.  Yes, I know it's expensive stuff but its a very sale-able fiber for customers who live and knit in such a hot climate. At least for me, it is. But it's not right for me to make a fuss over it since I am not a regular customer.

Anyhow, I bought some Classic Elite Premiere to knit a shrug to wear with my Kentucky Derby dress.  I wanted silk, but found this since they didn't have any.  It's nice and soft and a bit shiny. It is made of tencel and cotton.

It looks like mathematical gymnastics will be required to get my shrug pattern down from a gauge of 24 sts x 34 rows in dk yarn, as written, to my worsted gauge of 20 sts x 24 rows.  The stitch gauge is a piece of cake but the row gauge is a big pain in the ass.


Big Lagoon Park is awesome. Even though spring break is supposedly going on almost no one was there.  They views are amazing, the beach is white sand, and the trails are extremely easy and likely good for birds. I didn't have much luck for the same reasons as yesterday and it was about 1030 in the morning.

Here is my list of new ones for the weekend:

Fish crow
Eastern blue bird
Clapper rail
Blue winged teal
Osprey (eating a fish)
Tufted titmouse
Black capped chickadee
Pileated woodpecker
White crowned sparrow
Ruby crowned Kinglet

I finished out the day by cruising over to Pirate's Cove and Shucker's at the Wharf for drinks.  Steve's got the boat humming along so summer is already looking good.  All of the dogs are back at the Cove.  Whoever made a stink with the health department must have died or something because at least a half dozen dogs were relaxing on the deck while the band was playing and they have taken the doggy gates down.  Perfect. I love drinking with dogs.

very promsing and very disappointing

In the "promising" department: my design of cup holder for the Adirondack chairs that sit on the dock. I am sure these chairs had cup holders in the holes in the arms but likely a storm blew them out. Alas! Where to place my beer? I decided to design a knitted replacement with some left over cotton yarn complete with button attachments. I have not really been taking notes but I borrowed a pattern from this lovely and talented gal and added the necessary straps. Once done I will post.



I tried it out in the chair and found that the top strap just needs a button hole and the bottom strap needs to be bound off. The remaining straps can all be the same length as the one still on the needle.

In the "disappointing" department: my coffee mug cozy for a friend (more specifically a work colleague and long-time friend) with an oddly shaped mug. I decided to wing it with almost no planning on my part. Because I would like to surprise her with it, periodically I have been stealing her mug off her desk taking it home to try on the cozy-in-progress and then returning it to her desk. All this without her noticing. My husband keeps asking me why I don't take measurements. I think I did at one point but then lost them.



Anyway, it appears that despite my best effort this will be frogged. I might give it one more try though because I am high from the promise of my cup holder for the Adirondack chair.



SeyMo says "this sucks - fix it."

scrub bags for hand made soap

These are not an original idea but I have always wanted to try to make little soap bags to be used as wash cloths with the nice spa type soap inside. After screwing around this is what I came up with.



Cast on 38 stitches with Lion Cotton worsted or similar. I used size 6 straight needles.

Knit 4 rows stockinette.

Then start a stitch pattern that is open and bumpy for the exfoliating effect. I used a bramble pattern in one and an open cross stitch in another so the suds can flow out. Leave a knit st on both sides of the row as selvage for sewing up.

Continue in the pattern for about 3 inches (or enough to cover your soap bar.)

Knit a row.
Purl a row.

Next row: K1, *K1, K2tog, yo. Repeat * to last stitch (ish. doesn't have to be perfect) k1.

Next row purl.
Next row knit.
Next row purl.
Next row cast of with a picot cast off. I used a two stitch picot: Cast on two, bind off four. Repeat.

Sew up the side seam. Sew the bottom seam with the side seam centered in the back of the bag.

I made i-cord with a small US4 double point. I made the cord just long enough to tie around the top of the bag.