Useful knitting resouces

I have a number of sites that I consider to be good knitting resources, and here they are, in no particular order:
KnittingHelp.com
Knitty
Ravelry
KnitPicks Community
Learn to Knit at Lion Brand Yarn
Creative Knitting Magazine

Of course, I think the best resource is your Local Yarn Shop. There you will find knitting (and the occasional crocheting) enthusiasts who will gladly answer any questions you have. I have found my LYS, Off the Beaten Path, to be an amazing place. I've made friends with the owner and all the people who work there. They share in my joys as I complete a project and listen as I carp on about life or whatever. Of course, I'm not always as loyal as I could be. Sometimes I buy yarn at the other local yarn shops. This past weekend, I visited Lakeside Fibers and bought some yarn for making a tee shirt.

Caffeine can ease asthma symptoms

My friend, Chris, a fellow asthmatic, swears by drinking coffee when his asthma is acting up, in addition to his regular medicines, of course. Apparently Chris is onto something. A couple of scientists in the UK studied how caffeine affects asthma, and they concluded that, "Caffeine appears to improve airways function modestly in people with asthma for up to four hours." I need all the help I can get, bring on the coffee!

Caffeine for Asthma.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Refracted Moments.

Organized Yarn Closet

I organized my yarn closet this winter. I'm thinking I did this back in January, but I hadn't gotten around to posting the picture until now. Inspired by my local yarn shop's yarn displays, I bought a bunch of black metal cubes at Target. Although they have recommendations on the box, you cal really arrange the cubes in any way you see fit or in any way that will make them fit! The other part of the system is a black metal shelving unit that I think I bought at Menards. I'd used it to store plants at our previous home. I sorted the yarn mostly by color, and the projects are in bags on the black shelving unit. The two yellow suitcases are filled with afghan projects that I inherited. There are other non-yarn things in here too such as my jewelry-making supplies. I like this system because it makes it easy to find what I'm looking for and to see what I've got at a glance.


The second picture is of one of my new toys that I also bought this winter. It's a ball winder and yarn swift. I don't like umbrella swifts, so I got something a bit different. I ordered it on ETSY from a carpenter in IL, and I love it!

The rest of the crafting things you see on and around my drafting table are my scrapbooking/rubber stamping supplies.

Falcoon brushes his teeth

Maine Coon cats are particularly susceptible to gingivitis, so it's good to brush their teeth. I know that in humans, there is a connection between gingivitis and heart disease. My husband's dentist explained this to him when he was diagnosed with gingivitis. He had his special extra-painful deep cleanings and has been flossing 2x daily. He's almost entirely reversed his gingavitis. With the cat, though, I figured we'd just try to prevent it in the first place as much as possible.

I decided to train Falcoon to put up with having his teeth brushed, and I honestly anticipated bloodied hands from the attempt. However, the training went a lot easier than I anticipated, namely because Falcoon had already been brushing his teeth. I just didn't know about it until I caught him using my husband's soniccare toothbrush!!!

One day, I went to Walgreens for something else and saw that they were having a sale of buy one get one free on toothbrushes, so I bought Falcoon his very own toothbrush so he'd stop using my husband's! I did replace Craig's toothbrush btw. We don't use toothpaste, but Falcoon just loves brushing his teeth. He sits on the cat tree, and I hold the toothbrush for him while he brushes it around his mouth. He's a very oral (read bitey) cat anyway, so for him this is just great fun. It's his special game that he gets to play with me. And he gets cleaner teeth in the process!

I finally managed to snap a picture of Falcoon brushing his teeth this morning! At our last checkup, the vet said that his teeth and gums looked very nice.

Green Socks

This is my first pair of lace socks. I'm quite pleased with them. :) I made these from Lanette sock yarn. It's tough to find a good, solid color sock yarn, but this stuff is great, very soft. Also I have been wanting to make a pair of green socks for a long time now but had been having trouble finding a yarn that I liked. I used a pattern from the book, Socks, Socks, Socks that I reviewed over at Universal Book Reviews.

Fair Isle Socks

These are one of the pairs of socks that I am working on currently. My first Fair Isle socks was a pair of slipper socks that I made for my mom for Christmas. They have hearts on the heels. These are a lot tougher though because the pattern is more complex. I'm enjoying making these socks, but they are definitely challenging.

Perking the Office

Yay! Craig gave me flowers. I brought them to work so that my cat, Doc, wouldn't eat them or knock them over. Plus, I wanted to look at them while I was at work. The plant in the foreground is a grafted cactus.