Bits and Pieces, Odds and Ends

Before yesterday, I had two of these lovely Miss Babs sock yarn samples. Now, I have one. And the label for the second.

Did I make something out of the absent ten yards of sock yarn?

No, I did not. But Baxter, who apparently has very good taste in yarn (he seems to prefer 100% merino), did. He made a snack out of it.

I was re-organizing my yarn stash because it was taking up the entire floor of a closet where I also keep gift-wrapping supplies. I used to keep my stash in baskets out in the open, but Baxter found that easily-accessible stash of yarn too tempting to resist. So into the closet it went.

While I was putting the yarn into a hanging sweater holder, I heard a gagging sound and turned around to find just the tag from one of the samples hanging out of Baxter's mouth. GAAAAKKK!

The previous time Baxter ate yarn, I called the vet and he said that I needed to watch Baxter for signs of depression. In a cat???? How????

He said a depressed cat doesn't play and doesn't eat.

So I have given him several doses of Petromalt, a vegetable oil diet supplement, which is supposed to help the cat either barf (or otherwise extrude---I don't want to know how) hair and (I hope) yarn balls.

In the meantime, he is VERY active, and VERY interested in food. My fingers are crossed...

And now, for knitting-related news of the non-disgusting variety:

I finally finished both of the Flap Happy Hats for my two older granddaughters but I really need to learn to consider the consequences of my decisions. The four-month-or-so project that was my Sasha skirt comes to mind, and now these hats come to mind.

I didn't even put all the pom poms and tassels on these hats that the pattern called for because I got very impatient with all the fiddly bits.

But I did at least make them different: different colors, different numbers of pom poms and tassels. Now the girls will have no reason to argue over which hat is whose.

I can hear their mother laughing already.

A Coven of Cowls? A Covey of Cowls?

One Cowl

Two Cowls Three Cowls

Will there be four???

Probably. They are too much fun to knit and the yarn (Malibrigo Rasta) is too gorgeous to not knit more.

So stay tuned!

Scenes from Los Angeles

I just returned last night from LA where I had a great time visiting younger daughter.
Thank you, S!!!

Here are random scenes from the beautiful Left Coast:

This is taken from an outdoor table at the In and Out Burger joint near the airport. One of the runways was built so close to downtown that the planes fly in scary-movie close to the businesses in the area. Another unusual LA business---for those people so desperate for nicotine that they don't have time to park and shop for it.

Random art:

Scary, those hipsters...

???




The Pacific! We had beautiful weather and so a trip to the beach was perfect.
It's November! And the flowers are blooming!
A beautiful day at the Flea Market.

A very crowded day at the Flea Market.

And as Arnold would say, "I'll be back..."

The Weekend

First of all, older daughter ran in the New York City Marathon. This is her after she finished, and she is holding her medal. YAY hokgardner!!!: This is my nephew and his wife after their beach wedding in Florida. dH and I flew down to attend and it was lovely. Don't they look happy!!!

And I must share this, the cake topper. The bride's favorite toy when she was a child was Legos, so her mother surprised her with this Lego bride and groom. And the cake was layer after layer of cupcakes, four different flavors, with a large cupcake on top.

And now for my learning experience, courtesy of the TSA.

Going through security - for the last THREE of four flights - I have been groped uh, inspected by a TSA agent. Every %^&*() time I go through the whatever-it-is we all have to walk through, the alarms go off.

The first time this happened, about a month or so ago, the TSA agent eventually decided, after getting to know me a little tooooo well, that the cause of the machine's alarm was a garment I was wearing that had....underwire in it.

YUP. Underwire. Very, very dangerous.

I thought that this was just a fluke. A very sensitive machine perhaps.

Then it happened again. Same conclusion.

Then it happend AGAIN. I even told the agent what the cause was. No matter. I must go through the groping enhanced security.

Yesterday, it happened AGAIN. The first agent had me take off my bracelet. I did. And on my second waltz through the machine, I turned just a wee bit sideways, and made it through. No bells. No buzzers. Whew.

Now you might think that I should be a faster learner, and maybe I should be. But silly me. I just think that my underwear, which is worn UNDER my clothing, is my business. No one else's.

But apparently I am wrong. Apparently it is TSA's business.

So to avoid this happening every.freaking.time I fly, I must buy undergarments that will pass the oh-so-stringent TSA standards.

I know I feel so much safer now. How about you???

Knitting

Suddenly I have several finished objects!

The Shaelyn shawl (in Creatively Dyed Yarn, Beaches, Miami color).....and the October Leaves fingerless mitts (in Plymouth Yarn Alpaca Prima, color 401).

And Susan B. Anthony's Flap Happy Hat (in Cascade 220)!

I have the pom poms and tassels left to make for the second hat and then that will be finished.

The fingerless mitts and the shawl have yet to be blocked, although I see no reason to block the mitts, and I only want to slightly block the shawl.

Brrrrrrr.....

It is COLD out here in Georgia!!!!

Well, OK, it's 56 degrees....but it's windy so I think the windchill factor makes the temperature closer to -56 degrees. Can this be far behind?Probably not.

I'm just whining.