Jewel's Purls

Post-Thanksgiving Events

Our Thanksgiving weekend has been busy and productive.  As is the tradition chez Purls, we go to San Francisco the day after Thanksgiving to buy our annual Christmas tree ornament.   This year we held true to the tradition with a few extra stops along the way.

We started by taking the train into The City.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect.  It was warm and sunny and I didn't even need the sweater I had stuffed in my back pack.  We first stopped at Pier 39 and had some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.  I cannot go to San Francisco without having this.   Yes - I know I can get it at Boudin's that is in the mall a few miles from where I live, but it's just not the same.  It needs to be enjoyed on the wharf.

   <<<

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow - nearly a whole month since the last post? 

Well, today is Thanksgiving and I'd like to wish all my friends out there in blogland a very happy Thanksgiving.  I have much to be thankful for including my family, yarn, pets, yarn, health, and yarn. 

Today has been a day that I've thoroughly enjoyed.  I've spent time with the kids, we've watched movies, ate, and cooked.  Here are some of the pre-turkey goodies.   Cheese and fruit, olives, and Chex mix. 

Of course, what would Thanksgiving be, without pumpkin and pecan pie?  The pumpkin pie did not make it's appearance in this photograph, but the pecan one did.  It appears that a small mouse sampled the pie.  Okay, maybe the mouse wasn't so small.  I apologize. 

Here are the kids waiting for the turkey.   Don't they look famished?

Of course the cats want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.  

 Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Halloween

The cats chez Purls would like to wish you a very happy Halloween!  Don't they look excited?

       

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

halloweenmeems.jpg

Rock n Roll

Last night at 8:04 we had an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6.   It started with jolty movements and then went into rolling back and forth.  The cats ran for the garage and didn't come out for an hour.   We didn't have damage but I'm glad that the china cabinet and book shelves were bracketed to the wall.  Also, I'm so glad I put the sticky stuff (can't remember what it's called) on the bottoms of my grandmother's crystal  glasses and dishes as it's almost certain they would have tipped over and broken.   Ahhh... life in California.

Buzzing Right Along

I have really been feeling the love with the Honeybee Stole.   The pattern has been fun and the yarn is so yummy - just like honey.  I've just finished the Beehive pattern and have now started on the Swarm.   I have found this pattern to be just challenging enough to keep me going yet not terribly difficult. 

And while I've been knitting this weekend, here is a sample of what Mia and Zippy the Pinhead have done. 

This post is short, but sweet.  Just like my weekend.  :sigh:

P.S.:  Mia says, "Gandalf thinks I'm a hottie!"  :swoon:

Got Bohus?

As a matter of fact, I do!!  Here is the yarn for the Wild Apple Bohus:

I guess I got all excited about having a Bohus, I may have got another one.  I mean, after all, I would have eventually purchased another, so why not save on shipping and packaging since they were sent all the way from Sweden!   If I would have purchased another it would have been this:

Okay, that does look a little like my dining room table.  Yes, this is the Rose Collar Bohus.  Apparently the pleural of Bohus is Bohai.   That means I'm guilty of Bohaism.  :-)

The entire weekend was spent with family.  I was able to spend the entire day yesterday with my daughter, Kellie.   She got creative with the candy corn:

Ahhhh... a face only a mother could love!

Because I’m Crazy

Sometimes we do things for no other reason than we're crazy.   For some of my readers, you may remember the demise of Henry VIII.  That was one year ago.  I've only mentioned to a select few what I ended up doing with it, but I'll fess up to the rest of you. 

I managed to wash Henry to get rid of the stank of kitty business and was successful.  However, it felted in some areas.  (This is where the crazy part comes in.)   I then managed to unravel the whole thing where I could and had no choice but to cut out the areas that felted.  Of course, this left me with bits and pieces of many colors of yarn.  Being that this Henry VIII was done in all the original colors, the only ones that I cried about were autumn and marjoram.   I mourned for a year.  I recently acquired more marjoram and autumn which gave me the push to dig out the bits and pieces of Hank. 

There was much craziness this weekend as I changed this autumn:

Into this autumn:

I also put all the majoram back together again too:

Spit and splice is my friend.   When the men in the white coats come and take me away, will I still be able to knit?

Knitting up a Swarm

I've started a new stole this weekend.  It's the Honeybee Stole and I'm knitting it with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Oregon Red Clover Honey Laci.  It certainly is the most challenging lace I've knit so far mainly because there is more than just a purl row on the wrong side.  However once I got into the rhythm it has gone pretty quickly.  Here I am, about finished with two repeats of the beehive pattern, eight to go!

This is the first time I've knitted with this lace yarn and I have to tell you it's a delight.  It's so much fun to watch the honey color bathe each row.

I must be going.  I'm addicted.

The OTHER Cats

Just to warn you, this post is about cats.  It's not about knitting as my blog title suggests so if you're not into cats, I suggest you come back tomorrow.

When I married hubby he had two cats, Popcorn (Poppy) and Tiptoe (Tippi).   They were cute as cats go but over the years I noticed they wanted nothing to do with me.  Sure, if the food bowl was empty they loved me, if only for a fleeting moment.   

 One day I told hubby that I wanted my own cat.  I went through Towncats to find someone to adopt and went to one of the adoption fairs they were having.  I looked around and found a few that were cute but nothing that really grabbed me.  Then I noticed this little black kitten was following me everywhere.  Once she got my attention she demonstrated she knew how to use the scratching post and litter box.  She meowed at me and when I picked her up it was instant love.  She was the one.  She was mine.  Mia. 

This weekend is the first chilly and rainy weekend we've had in a very long time.  I came out into the living room yesterday and found this.  Here is evidence that we have three cats:

  Here's a pile of cats!!  The peach/cream lump is Poppy, Mia at the top left, and the other lump to her left is Tippi.

 Of couse, there's only one Mia, and she graciously posed for another photo:

So there you have it.  We really do have three cats, but only one of them is mine.  Mia.