Booga J

I've decided that in order to decrease my pile of WIP's, I need to finish 2 projects of every 1 that I start. So, here is the second completed item of the week -- Cascade Fixation short socks. I just took a regular sock pattern and instead of making a regular length cuff, I did K2P2 ribbing for about an inch. I think I have enough yarn left over to make a pair for my 2 1/2 yr old.

So, what should I start next? I'm thinking that I might need to swatch my Dale Svale top. Or should I start the socks for Maddie? Or maybe the Broadripple socks. So many choices!

And this came in the mail!! This is the Lorna's Laces roving in Gold Hills that I got from ThreadBear! Isn't it pretty? I haven't had a chance to start spinning it yet, but I'm hoping that will happen later today.

Happy news first. I finished the Mountain Colors Treasure Pouch and it was a lot of fun to make. I highly recommend it as one of those instant gratification projects.

And now for the sad new. It all started innocently enough. Pete and I have been wanting a LitterMaid Litter Box for quite a while. So we splurged and bought one last week. It arrived, I set it up and all three cats used it happily enough. Apparently the next morning the kitten (Fancy -- she's the one in the above picture) saw the thing activate and FREAKED OUT! She was so disturbed that she ran into the bedroom and peed on our bed. I was totally distraught (still am). So, I washed all the bedding twice with bleach and used the enzyme stuff on the bed. Soaking up any extra with a box full of baking soda (I researched all this on the web). When Pete got home it was dry and didn't smell, so we flipped the mattress over and made up the bed. The kitten ran in the room and peed on the bed again within minutes. At this point I was in tears. At midnight we were dragging the mattress out into the garage. Luckily we had an extra queen mattress, but I'm sick about throwing out all that bedding and that mattress. And I loved sleeping with our kitties. No more of that now. And I still haven't seen the kitten use the new box -- or the old box that was in the laundry room the whole time. She was locked up in the bathroom all night with a litter box and she used it then.

Cat owners/lovers please give me advice. I have been on cat patrol since this happened and I need some peace. I can't watch the kitten all the time. How do I re-train her?

I did a little dyeing last week, with yarn this time instead of roving. I used some Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in Frost White and lanaset dyes. This was made using the cold pour method. (I couldn't find a good link for this. Next time I'll document and create a "dyeing instructions" page.) I really like it! But what will it become?

Speaking of hand dyed yarn, take a look at Rob's Blog to see the yarn that Matt dyed. Very pretty! You can also check out the Koigu version of the Broadripple socks. I got my Fixation in the mail yesterday, but more on that later.

I also got to work on the Mountain Colors Treasure Pouch and all it needs is a handle. Hopefully I will finish that up today. Maybe pics tomorrow -- it is cute, fast and fun. This was one impulse purchase I was gald to make!