Lots to Tell

Let me update you all on what's been going on over the last few days.

First of all, here are pictures of 3 pairs of the socks I've made!













Hope you can see the tubular cast-on in the second photo. Time consuming, yes. But also, SO worth the effort!

More!













More!











These striped kind of weirdly, but whatever. The balls were from the same dye-lot, so I have no idea why they look so different. I still like them, though!





Saturday 4/4: Awesome Pysanky Day at Beth's

Saturday was a super day that started with learning how to make Pysanky, Ukrainian decorated eggs. Thanks to Beth's excellent instruction and vast variety of supplies, my very first pysanky was a success. Here are a couple photos of the finished egg. Note: my digital camera is NOT cooperating at all. I took these with the Photo Booth application on my MacBook.











This is an oak leaf and acorn pattern. All aspects of the egg's design I drew on first in pencil, then again in the WAX. OMG I was so nervous when I applied that wax for the very first time. I think this went through 6 different waxing and color dipping processes. First was yellow, then green, orange wash, orange, brick, and black. It was so cool to see the egg come together at the end with the final black dipping. I still need to apply some sort of clear high-gloss sealant. I'll get around to it...eventually. Again let me apologize for the craptastic pictures.














Sunday 4/5: Sakura Sunday

An extremely fun day with may friends in Fairmount Park at the Japanese House and Garden and the Horticultural Center. The weather was absolutely fabulous, too. Here's a picture of me that Katie took.

Come on now, you know I HAD to have one of those hats....


Tuesday 4/7: A Heartwarming Surprise

First of all, I had my weigh-in on Tuesday and I am happy to report that I am down another .8 pounds. So this brings the total to almost 12 pounds. S.L.O.W. but at least it's coming off, right?

It also happened to the first Tuesday of the month, which is one of our scheduled knitting nights at the Barnes & Noble in Exton. I hadn't been at one of these meetings in quite a while. In fact, I think the last time I had seen anyone was back on Groundhog Day! So I was really looking forward to knitting with my friends.

Once a nice group of us had arrived, Pat announces that they have a little gift for me --- a sort-of "fuzzy hug" from all my friends. My lovely knitting comrades noticed that I've been a little sad as of late, particularly since the loss of Mr. Chesterfield back in November. When I opened the bag I was greeted with a divinely gorgeous hand-knit scarf made from Noro Silk Garden and a card signed with a sweet personal message from each person. Every one who signed the card knit a part of the scarf! I think this is the most thoughtful gift I have ever gotten. I love handmade things and this fantastic scarf really was knit from the heart from all my dear friends.

And I have been more than a little down in recent months. This scarf was truly a testament to the power of real friendship and how important it is to never forget those who really do care about you. Some photos:




This is probably the best representation of the colors.






I wore it today (all day) at work and received many compliments, naturally. It is absolutely stunning. I really enjoyed telling everyone how all my friends made it for me.

Week of Love, Images

Happy Valentine's Day









To commemorate Valentine's Day and continuing in my Week of Love blog celebration, I'd like to present to you some of my photos that have special meaning for me and that I really love.


Here's little Aubrey looking like a tiny, delightful, garden sprite. I took this picture of her back in December during the week I took care of her.



Here's a funny profile picture. No, it's not Alfred Hitchcock. Gotta love those cheeks.




Here's my friend Katie (Katie, please don't kill me), who does an uncannily accurate impression of a Hummel figurine, evidenced by this photo. She also happens to smell fantastic, is an expert knitter, and can sing like the loveliest songbird you'd ever want to hear. Anyway, I couldn't get through life without people like Katie and the rest of my knitting buddies. I love you guys.


Devotion to Felines

Ah, cats. I have many cats in my life at the moment. I think it might not be an exaggeration to say that I know more cats than people. Why, I have 6. My parents have 2. My sister has 3---that's Neko right there to the left, one of hers. Most of my friends have a cat or 2 or 11. What is it about cats? Every cat I've ever known has has its own distinct personality. The brood of 6 currently residing in my home proves this point to a T. I love them all: my silly, soft, beguiling, fuzzy children.









Here is Titus I, posing for heads of the royal coin of Catopia. An impressive animal he is.

Here's my favorite picture of Sophie, taken when she was still an only child!

And here's a bunch o' cats on the bed. Let's see, here we have (clockwise from the top) Hercules, Sophie (who always sits either right against my pillow or ON IT), Luna, and Fi Fi.






And here's my sweet gentleman, Mr. Chesterfield. One of the smartest, loveliest animals you'll ever meet. EVER.



Oh my goofy, wild Hercules.







One of my parents' cats, Honey. She's as sweet as her name implies.








Here's my little Ophelia, who isn't so little anymore. But when we found her, she was a tiny little baby, weighing less than a pound. Fi Fi always has a very "concerned" look, a look she's donned she was 1-month-old. See?




Ye Olde Tyme Cats

Everyone asks me how I got this photo to look this way. I assure you, it was by accident. It's from my cell phone, of all things. I came home from the grocery store one day and was greeted by this trio in the window. That's Fi Fi on the left (see how very concerned she is?), Herc in the middle and Titus on the right (football head).

Little Luna. My sweet, silver doll.

Japan

I don't recall talking too much about my trip to Japan on this blog, if at all. Suffice it to say, we had a great time there and will be going back at some point.
Here are some of my favorite photos.




Me in a gift shop that sold only cat-themed items. You'd think I would have had enough of them in my every-day life!








A LATE dinner at a restaurant in Ginza with friends. Left to right: Hanae, Scott, Mutsumi, me, Todd.

Here's Todd and I outside a Kabuki theater. It was closed for renovations, so we didn't get to go to a show. Next time!

This is the Hie-Jinja shrine. This shrine was very close to the hotel where we stayed. All the shrines in Tokyo are quiet, peaceful places. Even when we were at a particularly crowded one (this one was not crowded at all), there was this gentle, serene beauty about the place. I liken it to the feeling of being in your grandmother's house: warm, welcoming, with a lot of things to see and do, clean, unconditionally accepting of you and so glad you came to visit.



Mutsumi and I in kimonos, which her grandmother made. Believe it or not, we were standing in the hotel's gardens. Yeah. It was a lovely hotel, the New Otani. The gardens are centuries old, actually. They actually built the hotel around the gardens to preserve them. Something to think about. Here's something else to think about: Mutsumi's grandmom took to making kimonos for a living because she was widowed in WWII. It's so eye-opening to realize that losses in WWII happened everywhere. No matter the "side," people died, families suffered. The pointlessness of war just really slaps you in the face.





Dinner with our friend Yuko and her parents. One of the great highlights of our trip. That's Todd and I in the front, of course. So Yuko's mom made her own plum wine. Yeah, just take one look at me and you'll know how awesome it was. :-)







More Photographic Love

I had a professional photographer at my wedding and she took some wonderful pictures---and a lot of them. However, my most favorite photo of my wedding is this one that Mutsumi took. Can you believe it? She came all the way from Japan to be at our wedding!







This last picture is just a special memory for me of the fun times I had with Kathleen. We were at Todd's friend Dan's home for a Fourth of July barbecue. Great memories.






I hope you enjoyed seeing some special photos that I love. I'm sure this collection will keep growing and growing thanks to all my friends, family and CATS. :-)