Nearly there

The cabled v-neck vest is nearrrrrrrly there. Just waiting for it to come off the blocking board and see what’s what.

Gotta love those chunky knits. Yesterday about 3pm it looked like this:

Today about 10 am it looked like this.

(The real color is somewhere in between). Then it was dunked, spun out, and waited for the sun to do its duty. FO post next!

Now I’m getting back on the giftie wagon. Which is also nearly there. Such a relief!

If you haven’t heard, the IK Winter preview is up. I like few items, but no “must knit right now” patterns jumped out at me. As others have noted, the Climbing Vines Pullover is incredibly similar to a popular Phildar pattern (Ravelry link) from a about a year ago. And Harvard Square Caps is nice, but reminds my alot of Odessa. I realize at some point all ideas come full circle or are inspiration for other designers, so these are more observations than commentary. It makes me again realize what a bounty of pattern possibilities we enjoy!

It’s been an interesting week with several varied and sundry things to share.

But first, the fires. Oh my lord. I’m shocked at the destruction. So many homes. Every year there are terrible fires, in terms of size, but the heroic firefighters seem to miraculously fight them back with a surprisingly low amount of destruction. Yes, many homes have been lost in the last several years, but it often seems like it could have been so much worse than it was.

Yesterday N and I spied the sun setting while we were in Monrovia, and you could strongly smell the fires by that time:

What a sight, sad though the reason was.

We were in Monrovia to visit Unraveled. This lovely LYS has taken quite a hit in this economy and they sent out a kindly worded SOS (Save Our Store) message to email/mail list members. Supporting my local stores, be they yarn, independent bookstores (yay Vroman’s), or others is very important to me and I was glad to pop out and nab a few beauties.

A skein of Malabrigo and a skein of Koigu (because who ever has enough of these?), some Hana silk ribbon for a knit-request from my neice, Sirdar has some good pattern booklets (surprise surprise), and a beaded necklace. I’m particular about my jewelry, and this piece perfectly bridges the gap between too casual and too dressy or gaudy for me. It’s a great length and this shade of green will coordinate with about a third of my wardrobe! Love unexpected finds like that!

I was indeed surprised that Sirdar, which I think of as a “Michael’s” brand, had some great pattern booklets. Sort of like Paton’s I suppose. This one (No. 324) is aimed a babies and young children, with each pattern sized from newborn through 8 years, and a good selection of classic but interesting boys, girls, and unisex styles.

This Wednesday I got to shamble around the Long Beach Hilton, all fancy shcamncy:

(Take with my phone – sorry it’s a wee bit crappy). I was there was a day-long seminar on LID, Low Impact Development. Interesting stuff. This is my second seminar, actually, as I help to keep my “group” at work up to date on it. I was rather taken with the carpet. For a chain hotel, although a fancy chain to be sure, I thought it was particularly non-corporate and lovely.

Then, on Thursday my super comes into the office with a 3-week-old kitten she’d adopted the day before. Eeeeekkkk! The cuteness. She was at a business meeting on a project site, a regional park, and an SPCA truck had arrived to collect a stray dog. In the SPCA vehicle, K (my super) and her group heard a high pitched mewing that could not be mistaken as belonging to anything but a little kitten. The SPCA person explained that it was a pre-weaned kitten and because they did not have the ability to bottle feed animals (takes alot of time and supplies) it would be euthanized! But the SPCA person was very smart and brought out the furry ball of cuteness, and sure enough, one of the group took him home.

Named Whittier after the park where he was found, by his new owner anyway:

I got to bottle feed him twice! Once was on Friday when N came in to see him, he held him and I held the bottle. Thank goodness we know we have zero room, as N and I both had kitten fever.

He has clear eyes, no fleas, a good appetite, and a loud voice! Even just from Thursday to Friday the change in alertness and strength was noticeable. He definitely seems to be between 3 and 4 weeks, based on his teeth and walking ability ( or not as the case may be). It can be touch and go at this age, but he seems to be doing very well. The third pic I took while he slept for almost 2 hours in my lap while I worked. He was wrapped up like a burrito and just poked his head out and snoozed away!

Last weekend I attended a, what to call it, audio art performance I guess is the best name. It was in a multi-use gallery building and on the frig in the performance room there was this funny take on Obama’s “Hope” design penned by Shepard Fairey:

It’s not so much that I agree with what it says, but that I enjoy seeing creative expressions on current events, especially tongue in cheek ones. And remembering that I live in a Country where we are free to have such expression, even when I don’t agree with all its policies.

On that note, hope you are all safe and having a good weekend. If you have been affected by the fires, my heart and thoughts go out to you!