This hat is for my brother-in-law...he saw the baby hat I made for the shower and really liked it, so I told him I'd make him one. :) I'm using my handspun...the dark brown is a Corriedale X and the green is a 70/30 Merino/Viscose blend. The yarn is bulky, so it's knitting up very quickly. I ran out of the brown, so tonight I'll be spinning a little bit more. I'll post a photo of the hat when it's completely finished...and hopefully someone will model it for me.

Here they are....the booties and hat that I knit for my brother-in-law's girlfriend's baby shower. She's having a girl and is due the end of November. The yarn is a really soft Merino, Targhee and Rambouillet blend that I dyed with Cushings dyes, then spun. The trim is Moda Dea Dream.

Sad news....the tailless kitten died yesterday. Cara found it when we got home from visiting Grandma's. I think it had an infection of some sort....not positive though. It had some yellowish stuff coming out of it's mouth.

It's buried in my flowerbed along with another kitten and a hamster.

DAY 1 - August 26

I will be taking a couple photos of the kittens every evening and posting them here so we can track how much they grow each day. All four are very strong and get around well...especially when hungry! ;)

SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

Look who has arrived!!!

4 beautiful kittens arrived this afternoon!

I've numbered the kittens according to who came first, etc. The first kitten was huge...I had to play vet and help Gracie get that one out. She didn't clean them off right away(except for the last one), so I had to get the sac off each one quickly so they could breathe. They are all very active and were mewing loudly!

The first kitten looks like this one above, but has white paws(with extra toes just like mom) and chest...and very big! Gracie howled trying to get it out....I felt her pain(having delivered three children naturally with no pain meds at all!)

As I was cleaning off the second kitten, I came across quite a surprise....no tail! Just a little stub! This kitten and the last kitten are about the same size...and they have almost all gray backs. The kids have already chosen which kitten to keep....number 4! They're already thinking of names... :)

Mom and kittens are all resting....their bellies are stuffed. Gracie is purring non stop...just makes me smile!

It was funny this morning...I just knew Gracie would have them today or tomorrow. Caitlin and I woke early and Gracie followed us around everywhere, purring loudly. She climbed in Cara's toy boxes, then finally decided to use the bottom drawer of my plastic rolling yarn bin! It's in my closet, probably the quietest place in the house. They'll stay there until they start to climb out, then they'll be moved down under the stairs. I'll either put up the baby gate or ask my husband if he would build a simple solid gate so they can't climb it.

I'm bushed...and ready for bed! What a day! My grocery shopping trip had to be put on hold...but we won't starve. :) I'm going to sit in my new spinning chair and finish knitting a CUTE hat made with my handspun....photos of that and matching booties will be posted after Sunday. (Have to wait until after the baby shower!! )

Until later....keep checking back for new photos of the kittens!

I just love these hats...they're both knit. The hat on top is for Caitlin and it's made using a Debbie Bliss yarn...maybe Cashmerino. The trim is a super soft fussy eyelash type yarn...I love the contrast!

The other hat is for Cara...it's made with Red Heart acrylic and the trim is Moda Dea Dream...very soft!

I'll have to remember to get photos of these hats on the kids....

It's tough to take photos of Caitlin...she's always in motion!!! I'm very thankful for the action option on my camera....my favorite photo is of her on the slide. She would go down quickly without hanging on and just drop straight down on the ground in a sitting position...which was almost 2 feet from the end of the slide!!

The latest photos of Gracie....she's getting wider! When she's laying still I can see the kittens kicking. I'm guessing she has 5 or 6 kittens....we'll see very soon!

And here's my little guy, Brendan with his friend at the park near our home. They have a blast together! Brendan will be starting Kindergarten......

Here's Cara...she's going into 2nd grade in 2 weeks! Hard to believe this summer is almost over.

I finished this yarn up last night...it's a very soft merino blend that I dyed with Jacquard and Cushings dyes. This yarn will be knit into booties (and possibly a hat) for my husband's and my niece who will arrive in November.

Here is the photo I promised...Toby the Tibetan Terrier's hair spun! I just love the color! This skein ended up being 61 yards, 3.9 ounces and 6 wpi.

The blue, green and white yarn on the bobbin is Merino from Winderwood Farm. I adore their colorways! This yarn will be made into a crocheted vest. My good friend is having her third, a boy, in just a couple months. I'll be sure to post pictures of my progress!

The skein on the bottom is 100% llama from Winderwood too. I spun the whole batch and ended up with 4.5 ounces and 127 yards (11-12 wpi). This skein is for sale for $12.00. It's not very soft...so my first thought for this skein is a pretty purse with felt embellishments...and maybe some fun fur yarn?? If interested in this skein, please e-mail me.

Isn't this little guy cute?? My 9-year-old neighbor requested this mouse....it's from an amigurumi pattern found online on this website. I had plenty of leftover Sugar n Cream cotton yarn....he's about 4" long. The eyes are large glass beads....she wanted big eyes!

And here she is...Gracie, our escape artist...pregnant and loving it! Belly rubs are a daily occurence now! :) I know she just waits for them...as soon as I touch her belly, she drops and is purring. The night I took this photo I must have pet her for 20 minutes....I felt the babies move too!! My guess is that she'll have them around the very end of August or very beginning of September. I'll keep you posted with more photos....

This is a bobbin of Tibetan Terrier dog hair in the process of being spun. I'm slowly but surely working on this order...I have 2 pounds to card and spin. The carding is taking the most time. I have to pull apart the balls of fiber by hand, then card a small amount at a time with slicker brushes to weed out any knots or matts or foreign matter, then run it through my carder to straighten all the fibers for ease of spinning.

It's being spun bulky weight...the yarn will become a small blanket! When this skein is dry, I will post a photo of it.

Isn't this flower pretty? I think it's a mum...my mom gave me a little bouquet last weekend. It reminds me of the sun.

I found this new colorway in Sugar n Cream yarn...it's called Swimming Pool. These two bibs are for our new neighbors...she's due for her third boy(5th for the family!) the first week of September, but she'll probably go early.

The smaller bib is knit in garter stitch from a pattern found online. It has three button holes to adjust the length of the strap.

The other bib is crocheted in single crochet with slip stitch ties. I made this one up as I went...no pattern. I just love how cotton works up so evenly....

Zinnias are so pretty...just loaded with petals to brighten anyone's day! I bought this bunch at our local farmer's market last Saturday. I was planning on growing some this year, along with Cosmos, but it just didn't happen. But two Cosmo seeds made it through the winter and popped up in my yellow flowerbed!! :)

Jackson

This is Jackson, my sister's new puppy! Isn't he adorable??!! He's a miniature chihuahua and he'll be no bigger than 3 pounds. He's almost 4 months old.

A gooey visitor to our basement!

As I was walking around the basement taking care of our two bunnies and the pair of ferrets we are petsitting, I came across this HUGE slug slowly making it's way across the floor. It was thicker than my thumb and stretched out, maybe 7 or 8 inches. Those antennea just fascinate me...though I think their eyes are at the ends...so don't touch them...it probably hurts them!

The floor is quite dry, so I had him crawl onto a piece of shiny newspaper and took him outside. I think he/she was much happier in the damp grass! :)

Sunflower Oddity! Do you see how a small sunflower is growing out of the middle of the large one? The big sunflower is about a foot wide. You can see the leaves growing behind the small one...just so weird! Has anyone seen anything like this before??