A Frog, a Leopard, a Lion (plus, So Long, Audrey)

We said so long to Audrey and her friend Spike this week; we were sad to see her go, but putting Spike in the mailer bag with her made me feel better about sealing her up. She's on her way to spend some time with Diva Kitty and the Fluffies in California, where she'll be walking in the Susan B. Komen Three-Day Walk for the Cure in San Francisco. In honor of the event, I knitted her a little pink scarf.

I had considerable frogging to do on this because of a miscount, but now I'm back on track. This is "A Parrot, a Leopard, a Lion," by the Scarlet Letter. Edited to add: I'm stitching it with AVAS on 40 count navy bean Lakeside, over two. And I'm not tent-stitching the background (yikes), which is optional.

Yesterday I stopped by the LNS to pick up my copy of the 2010 Ornie Issue of JCS (my favorite is the little Blackberry Designs snowman). This had arrived as well--such a cutie!

Here are the bunnies, wishing Audrey and Spike good luck on their journey.

Happy week ahead!

Sampling

Look! A self-portrait! ("Sweeping Cobwebs" by Prairie Schooler on 45 count legacy, using NPI (my conversion), and planning some Kreinik embellishment).

It was a busy weekend. Yesterday we went to sample oysters at the 17th Street Market Shockoe on the Half Shell in Richmond, only there was a line for shucked oysters, so we crossed the street and had a crab omelet and oyster shooters at LuLus. (Bloody mary mix, vodka, extra horseradish, raw oysters.) Personally, I prefer my raw oysters plain with just a squeeze of lemon.

Then we viewed the James River from Oregon Hill. There were tons of people on the shore and wading in the water; it was hot in spite of the ever-so-slightly-turning-to-fall colors and haze.

I visited the Yarn Lounge where I have signed up for my fair isle hat class and purchased supplies. I really, really want to do this hat and bought the book ("New England Knits: Timeless Knitwear with a Modern Twist") The very nice and tactful sales woman at the yarn store talked me out of doing it for class because it's knit of fingering yarn on size 0 needles in four colors. Too time-consuming to be able to start and finish it in three weeks unless you can knit all day, so I'll do the two-color hat in a worsted weight yarn, get the technique of changing colors and then knit the more challenging "Whale Watch" hat here. Actually, wouldn't it be a great pattern on a throw or a scarf?

While I dithered over yarn, BF was across the street at Cancan Brasserie having a beer. When I joined him, I was thirsty, and the bartender wandered by with one of these for someone else. It looked so intriquing that I had to order one: It's called a Coco Noir: Ciroc coconut vodka, ginger syrup, blackberry puree, and a splash of champagne, served very cold. It has occurred to me that the entire summer has passed without my posting a picture of a homemade cocktail, and now I really am going to have to get a bottle of Ciroc and try some of the recipes on their website.

Off I go to bed while the bunnies snuggle their way into sleep. Good night and happy week ahead!

Bits and Pieces

Just a quick post today, as I have a few non-stitchy things to finish this weekend. I was heartily sick of all of my frequent WIPs, so I took out a few things I hadn't worked on in a while. I actually got a fair amount of stitching time in, but it's pretty spread around, so I don't have tons of progress to show.

Sous le Soleil de la Lune, by Reflets de Soie. AVAS on 40 count maritime white Lakeside Linen.

Charlotte Clayton. This is a restart. NPI on 40 count Lakeside (navy bean?)

Birth of Jesus, by the Stitching Parlor. NPI on 36 count natural something-or-other linen. My favorite part of it is the sheep, which is stitched in Wisper fiber, and the tiny brass stars that are affixed to the trees when the stitching is complete. I'd love to finish this up in time to frame it for Christmas.

Elizabeth Savilles. Crescent Colours on 40 count Lakeside (maritime white, I think). I love the sherbet-y pink.

"Did someone say 'Pink?'"

This has been a tough couple of weeks in rabbit blogging: our bunny blogger friends, Bunny Lady and Rabbits Guy lost a dear bunny named Baxter.


And Patti, the leader of the pack of rabbits at Bright Eyes Sanctuary, lost little Earless Glenna Bun. I met Earless Glenna at a pet adoption and fund-raising event at Bark! in Maryland back in April. She lost her ears to frostbite when some horrible person decided they didn't want the responsibility for a rabbit and just turned her loose.


And close to home, my sister lost her lovely Lab companion, Gracie, a few weeks ago.

Binky free, little guys, and Gracie, no chasing the bunnies, and stay out of the shrimp bowl!

Hanging Out at the BOA

I carpool to work with someone who starts work half an hour before I do; she was worried I'd mind and wouldn't want to carpool with her since I'd have to leave earlier and would have an extra half hour to kill once we got into Richmond. Put your hands up if you think I have a problem killing time! This is the cafe at the Bank of America building. You don't have to buy food to sit here, although generally I at least buy something to drink and a bagel in the morning. I love this room--it's like a glassed-in patio and the stitching light is the best. There's also an outdoor patio that has lots of trees and flowers and good views of the city. Generally I have the cafe to myself in the morning, and when I am not working out at the Y across the street, I have lunch here too. It's never crowded and no one even casts a glance my way when I pull out my needlework. I love this space so much and I'm so grateful to the Bank of America (my own office is too crowded to find a nook for stitching) that I'm thinking of switching my bank account over to them.

Here's a little more on Ann Smith. I have to admit my attention is wandering. That's just about right--it's been about 4 weeks. Time to move on to something else for a while.

So I picked up Catharine O'Neal and worked on the thistles on the top right.

I have signed up for a three-week knitting class at the Yarn Lounge in October. The project will be a Fair Isle hat by Mission Falls. Here's the project I've chosen. As a knitter I'm an advanced beginner or an intermediate. I'm good at some things--knitting, purling, cabling, increasing, decreasing--but not others, including changing colors. This class will teach me to do that. The following month is a three week class in mitten-knitting which I will sign up for if I like the hat class.

I do adore my handicrafts. For years I have wanted to learn woodworking, and Richmond has a place where I can indulge my curiosity and take classes. I am going to be investigating that also. One beginner class teaches the students to make a small shaker table. Other classes teach wooden bowl making or pictures frames.
Peaches: "I like crafts too; I deconstructed this timothy tunnel in no time at all!"

I'm off to steam some crabs for dinner. Happy week ahead!