Hopping along

First of all: news on the bunny front. Diva - aka Bunny #3, the Diva-licious Bunny-girl - is, so far, doing very well. With no trace of the Myxomatosis that Pepper had. Whew! We are keeping lots of fingers and toes crossed. I will be thrilled when we make it through this weekend. And then, I am going to search down a vet who can vaccinate for that awful disease, because apparently, though bunnies are the absolute best, I haven't yet found a vet around here that knows much of anything about them. Wish me luck!

And :drumroll: Katanya is released! Simple and lovely, she was a Pins & Lace Club (still one more pin and yarn/pattern options left for 2012!) summer pattern now available to everyone. Katanya is a variety of heirloom watermelon, and the shawl was designed to echo the shape of a melon wedge. The funny thing is I had been looking at her smaller parts so long, trying to show the different patterns in her, that this picture from Brandy in a darker color completely took my breath away when I saw it.

I often don't take blocking pictures, but Brandy's pic shows Katanya so much better than my close-ups like this one:

and this one.

And the yarn! Wow. I am in love again.

And better yet? The muse is upon me once more! After a time when I couldn't seem to complete anything, I am now flying along. Log jams have shaken apart, ice has been broken. Onward and upward! Here she is, almost finished; the muse that has cleared my mind and gotten me going.

She's almost finished, and I love love love the texture. I probably could have finished her sooner, but I keep stopping to admire the way the yarn makes the stitches pop.

Alisha is amazing. And I predict great and wonderful things for her.

I've started another, too, using Colourmart cashmere in a fingering weight. It feels like string because of the spinning oil still on the coned yarn. I can't wait to wash it! Isn't it amazing how different the muse looks in this yarn?

I can't wait to wear it!

And now? Back to work with me! I want to block the small version and finish up a little something else!

My cheatin' heart

...is at it again. I had to cast on another Muse. That makes three I am working on at once. Plus my second Buttonwillow. This latest muse is all about elegant texture. And is fitting my mood of late.

The color is incredible. It's from Alisha Goes Around, but she told me once that the color name marked on the skein was incorrect. I have to find out from her again what it is because everyone who sees it wants to steal it!

Love the stitch definition.

It's going to be perfect to take to the swim meet this weekend.

Yep. Swim meet weekend and I will be trying something new! Tomorrow morning (October 15th) at 9 a.m., the rest of my Pins & Lace Club spots open up. I have everything all set up to take it live on my iPhone! How cool is that?! I have an ftp app. I'm hoping it works properly and I won't have to run to the nearest Starbucks. :)

But probably what you really want to see is...the winners! Right? The randomly chosen winners of the two digital copies of Bambeanies are Marlie and Megan, and the winner of the signed hard copy is Fara! Congratulations! Please email me with your contact info at romi(at)designsbyromi(dot)com.

Today was a very sad day at Chez Romi. We lost #1 Son's bunny a little over a week ago and then The Bear's bunny became ill a couple of days ago. We had to have him put down today. Pepper's eyes were swollen, and at first I was so hoping it was sunburn or allergy, or something of the sort. Those of you with bunnies are now saying to yourselves: "Oh, no. It's not sunburn!" No, it wasn't. Between the two of us, Mr. Romi and I determined it was Myxomatosis. We don't usually diagnose our critters, but I have to say the vet was really not qualified to look at a rabbit. Our bunny was presenting classic symptoms and the vet had absolutely no clue when she looked at him Tuesday. Lesson learned. If you are going to have rabbits, you need a vet who knows how to treat them. In the case of Myxomatosis, treatment is almost completely futile, and we didn't want our poor little bunny to go through the end stages of the disease. So now we are watching our little Diva bunny very very closely. If she gets through next week without swollen eyes, I think we will be ok. Fingers are crossed.

In which Chez Romi is adopted

...and the bunny runs away with the yarn.

7 Small Shawls: T - 38 days and counting down.

Last Friday night there came a pitiful mewing at the window. I thought it was a neighbor's cat in heat, so I really didn't pay attention. But then it continued through dinner and well after dinner. And finally, unable to help myself any longer, I opened the front door. There, I met the new mistress of the house, all six and a half pounds of her. She was hungry and thirsty, but I didn't want to let her in because I was afraid she might give the house rabbit (more on her) something. I ran into the house and came back out with some water and roast beef cut into small pieces. I had been afraid she might have despaired of me and started to wander off to find another easy mark person to feed her and love her, but no! She was waiting patiently. We were all smitten, so Mr. Romi and I decided that, if she was still with us on Monday, we would take her to the vet and get her checked out.

Well.

She was still here.

And she had quite taken over all of our hearts.

And Mr. Romi's shop.

So Monday I called around and asked if any kitties of her description had been reported missing (no!), and then I took her to the vet: no microchip, no viruses, a slight case of ear mites (now cured), no pregnancy. Yay! We have now been officially adopted. I think her name is Musetta, but the boys differ. Mr. Romi wants to call her Friday, #1 Son wants to call her KittyKitty; only the Bear agrees with me (or is good at sucking up; one or the other). She is the absolute sweetest, purr-iest little thing. We had just been talking about our old kitty Emma the weekend before. She was the best kitty ever in the entire world, and when you are lucky enough to be owned by the best kitty in the entire world, you feel that you should just quit while you're ahead. We're pretty sure Emma was listening in to our conversation, disagreed, and sent Musetta.

Sadly, other animals in the house were not so wonderful. Rabbits: another good reason to have interchangeable needles.

And yes. She chewed what was on those needles too. You can just see the little bits of Timothy hay in the Malabrigo.

:sob:

By coincidence, I was swatching the same pattern in another yarn (Jamaica Farewell from Royale Hare) and had just decided that I liked the Malabrigo better.

:sigh:

But! There was more goodness! I got an iPhone. Yes! I have joined the 21st Century (well, almost). After waiting and waiting and waiting to upgrade from my POS old phone, I finally made it to November 20th and we all piled in the car and headed down to the AT&T store to get my iPhone! It's fabulous. And there are kitteh pics on it. :)

I love it!

This, that, and the other thing

7 Small Shawls: T - 215 days and counting down. Last day to purchase at lower price of $16! When I release Merope on June 1st, the price of the eBook will be re-set at $20. (There will still a few hours on June 1st morning day before I release the pattern, I'm sure, to purchase for $16).

We spent a quiet Memorial Day today, with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice on our minds.

#1 Son made blueberry pancakes and then we finally got down to planting our tomatoes. I always try so hard to get them in the ground earlier! But April and May are full of activities: swim meets, last minute school work, the Fair.... And this year it rained and rained. So today we set about to getting them in the ground.

We're very lucky, I know, that the growing season lasts a long time in this area. Usually, we are still getting tomatoes into October. So I'm crossing all my fingers!

I've been talking and talking about the fair, I know, and haven't had any pics up at all. Well, here's #1 Son and his market rabbit project.

And Bear with his show rabbit, Pepper, a Himalayan.

#1 Son has a show rabbit (Dart - a Rhinelander), as well. They're great bunnies.

The market rabbits are auctioned off at the end of the fair, which I think has been more difficult for me than #1 Son, although he doesn't always show all his feelings on the matter. All I can say is this: at one point in my life, I was able to order rabbit in a restaurant and enjoy it. Now, the very thought of it makes me ill. Our show bunnies, Dart and Pepper, and Diva the house rabbit are permanent fixtures. Thankfully, the meat rabbit breeds do not tend to have as much personality and intelligence as the breeding (show) rabbits. But still....

No knitting has been done today at all. It was sacrificed for a much needed nap. But I do have some nice eye candy from Zen Yarn Garden. This is 14k

and this is Margarita.

YUM! I'm planning on using 14k in the eBook. Margarita is going to be a different design. Maybe I should do an ebook in green, eh?! ;) Roxanne calls this lace yarn, but it isn't lace weight yarn. It's really a light sock weight yarn - much heavier than her other lace yarn. Yummy and perfect for my book. :)

Well, I'm off to format the rest of my first pattern release for 7 Small Shawls. I'm excited for you all to have it. :)

Lace, Wabbits and Thanks

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your answers to my lace question! Thank you thank you! And Kerry gave me an idea. I will have a contest when I reveal what that yarn is. :)

In answer to Tora, who asked about how to keep track of the lace chart. Here's what I do.... I, like Tora, use a magnetic board for larger lace pattern repeats. The magnet strip stays at the top of the row I am working, and I highlight each row with a highlighter as I finish it. I also highlight the lines between repeats on the chart and use stitch markers that correspond to the highlighted line. I often count stitches between markers on the purl row when I knit patterns that are not lace on each row. This is all important because I have two smallish kids and a rabbit that is obsessed with me (more on that later). I can always find my way back to where I left off when the kids started yelling. :)

Have any of you had experience grafting lace? I am pretty sure it was absent from the list of things you would all want to learn. Did you find it easy? Difficult? Too frightening to start? ;)

And now for the obsessive rabbit. Since the weather is a little summery these days, I've been wearing shorts. And, um, the Diva seems to like my legs. If I sit down at the dining room table, she runs around my feet and through my legs in figure eights, nips at my ankles and scrabbles at my legs. I cannot get her to stop. I try picking her up (the Toymaker says she just loves me a lot) but she wants up and down and up and down and...you get the idea. I have to wear long pants in the kitchen, and she needs to be put away during meals. If I am walking around the kitchen (she is not allowed to leave the kitchen/dining room), she constantly does figure eights through my legs. I have to shuffle my feet to keep from stepping on her. It is very bizarre. Here is the older son trying to keep her away from me:

but it doesn't last. She didn't even finish her parsley (her favorite food) before she was back. Younger son put out her book - right under my chair. That worked for a little while.

("Mo-oommmmmm, the rabbit ate my homework!") And then she was back.

I hope she gets less obsessive as she gets older.

Is it Friday yet?

Note to self: rabbits like Addi Turbo needles.

Addi Turbo needles, however, do not like rabbits.

:sigh:

If Only She Were Angora...

...I think I might be able to teach her to spin her own fur. :)

Lookin' cool.

"Oh hai!"

"Mmmmm. Smells like parsley."

"Dang! Hold. Still."

"Chomp!"

The Other Woman

Got your attention, didn't I?! But first, Galaneia asked this question about the Ice Queen pattern (sorry, I don't know how to contact you!):

"The instructions say to cast on 156, but also says that the pattern repeats 6 times per round. The chart is 24 stitches across at the base. 156 doesn't divide evenly by 24, 156/6=26. Is there something I'm missing about the pattern? I'm feeling very confused."

The first row of the chart is a decrease row, but it is difficult to tell unless you count the number of decreases and the number of yarn overs. For each repeat, there are eight decreases, but 6 yarn overs, hence a decrease of two stitches per repeat. So you start with 156 stitches, but end with 144 stitches (which is what the chart shows for that first row). Hope that helps!

And now...on to the Other Woman.

After being decidedly in the minority around here, I've recently acquired a confidant. Or so I thought. Really, she has completely stolen my husband's heart away. Here she is:

He named her Felicity, and then her other side came out:

So now her name is Felicity Diva, or FeliciDiva for short. She is a Rhinelander, but is brindled rather than having the markings to be a show rabbit. In fact, only one or two of each Rhinelander litter does have the proper markings. She's what our local breeder calls a harlequin Rhinelander. Did I mention that she's totally adorable? And that she's stolen my husband's heart? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that she grooms his eyebrows when he holds her. That's hard to resist, you know.

Llama llama bunny

Lorraine won't let me sing llama llama duck, so I have to improvise, you know? ;)

First, isn't this just the perfect llama promotional shot? I mean really.

And before we get into the llama obstacle course at the Harvest Fair, I have to show you a couple of cute kid shots. Here are #1 Son and Mr. Cool:

And Mr. Cool checking out the height on this llama!

Okey doke. Please forgive the blurriness of these pictures. Really, it's difficult to hold a camera when your jaw has dropped on the ground.

First we have the door on the advanced obstacle course. The contestants had to back their llamas through it, like this:

and this.

They had to side step back and forth over logs like this:

and this:

and then they went over to the ring.

The humans had to go first, which, in one case, presented a problem.

Some llamas refused to go. Of the ones that went, I tried to catch one in mid air, but alas, my reflexes had also been affected by my jaw dropping on the floor. This one had just jumped through.

They were amazingly fast! After the ring, they were off to go across a wobbly platform, up a ramp and down stairs and through a tunnel. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it! It was very very cool. :)

Now, of course, no post could be complete without a picture of the new bunny that Mr. Cool won in the rabbit show raffle. So, without further ado, here he is:

Pepper the bunny, caught while having a little snack. :)

Be well everyone!

Bunnies!

First, thank you all so much who left comments on my Monday's Musing! I so enjoyed reading what you all said! And some of the stories brought to mind other great stories. You rock. Big time.

--------------------

This past weekend we went to the Sonoma Harvest Fair (early in the morning!) so that #1 Son and Dart could participate in the rabbit show. And there was much bunny eye candy to be had! :)

Here's an angora being blown dry.

It was so funny to watch, because the rabbit just sat there patiently! Now if this had been Dart, who is a Rhinelander, he would have been in the next state by the time anyone went after him! But not this mellow guy.

Here is angora breeder Betty Chu with some of her handspun. Soft does not begin to describe it!

Here is one of Betty's angoras after beautification. Yes, I think there are some eyes in there. Somewhere.

And for the main show, here's #1 Son and Dart.

Dart did very well, coming in as 2nd place Rhinelander buck in the first show and Opposite of Breed in the second show.

Opposite of Breed is one of those terms that made me stare dully when I first heard it. But then I got the lowdown and here's how it goes on the rabbit show circuit: the best doe and best buck of the particular breed compete against each other for Best of Breed. Then the second place rabbit is Opposite of Breed. Got that? :g:

So then what happened you ask? Mr. Cool, the child formerly known as Dr. Destructo, won a rabbit in the raffle. Yep. A Himalayan named Cosmo, who was almost immediately renamed Pepper and spoiled rotten with homegrown carrots. He is now livin' the life of RileyRabbit.

Pics of Pepper to follow next post, along with the llama obstacle course. Now isn't that worth coming back to see? :)