Picture spam! (Mariposa, knitting, rats)

[oyceter]

I think it's been forever since I've posted picture spam, especially of my knitting! Giant pictures under all the cuts!



The dessicated, dead lizard Mely found in the window.




Rachel took the following ones of the scenery, so I'm not exactly sure what or where everything is.




This is the back of the house, and you can vaguely see the penthouse to the right.




Sakura of DOOM?






Wow, the sky is absolutely gorgeous. The weather was great when we were there, despite Rachel's warnings that it would be cold.




Little wildflowers




This really neat tree that has a coppery bark.




More wildflower




Even more wildflowers!




The insane mohair lace project I finished last year and have yet to seam! Er. At least the blocking's out of the way now?




The Liesel scarf I made from a Classic Elite silk/wool blend. It's gorgeous, and actually a darker, richer red-purple. My flash washes things out.




My Jeanie wrap! It's much smaller than the pattern calls for, since I'm using two lace-weight yarns held together, one pink and one grey. I've mostly stopped knitting it now, though I was very good for a few months. I love the reversible, openwork cables, even though I still hate cabling.




A Koohaas hat in yummy Malabrigo merino. Gah. I am so in love with that yarn, and I love the way the pattern looks, even though, as mentioned before, I hate cabling.




Yoon's completed tatami kimono!




Yoon's Flow Motion socks! The construction is so weird! There is no gusset! Cat Bordhi is wonderfully insane. Also, I suck at sewing up the picot edging, apologies to Yoon.




My completed Firestarter socks, made with Socks That Rock medium weight in one of the colors from last year's sock club. I'm not crazy fond of the striping, but I've found I like it much better than I thought I would when I first saw the skein.




I have been making progress on my Peacock Feathers shawl! Again, the color is washed out by my flash. Also, I think the shawl will be tiny, as I went down four needle sizes because I like more contrast between the yarn-overs and the stitches. I am now hoping it won't be too embarrassingly small. On the other hand, I'm not that tall, and I didn't really want an 88-inch shawl either.




umadoshi's tatami kimono, blocking! I LOVE my new blocking wires so much! Yay to little sisters who give Christmas presents even when they have no idea what they are. ("Did your present arrive? Oh yeah, what is it?" After showing her: "You made me buy you wires for Christmas?! You are so weird.")




Giant close-up of Ren. Rat whiskers! Rat nose! Rat ears! Rat paw!




The rats, all in a lump at Mariposa, where they were spoiled and petted by many people (oh Ruki, I miss you).




Three rats in a row!




Bya on Yoon's lap. We were trying to show how large he is, since apparently no one believed what they saw in my pictures and thought it was some sort of obstacle illusion. So I will have people attest to how large he is! He is very large and very round and resembles a softball or Mokona.




Bya, looking like a vampire attack rat. Alas, the more boring truth is that he is licking me and not nefariously planning on eating me.




Bya the giant blob!




Awwwww Ruki in a hammock.




Ren and Ruki in hammocks!




I stacked them on top of each other because I am evil like that.




Bya, once again demonstrating his resemblance to a ball of fur.




Three rats on top of each other!

Comments

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Ohhh Malabrigo merino. I am saaaadly addicted to that stuff, despite its price. My windowpane blanket that is my icon at ravelry is Malabrigo, this great chartreuse/blue variegated stuff.

Currently I have three skeins of a purpley/green color, which I have not decided what to do with. A shawl might not be a bad idea. (I always work in heavier weights, so it would totally not be weird for me to adapt a fingering-weight pattern for use with worsted weight.)

[sophia-helix.livejournal.com]

There was a three-month period last fall/winter where I refused to make anything that didn't involve Malabrigo. Now that it's spring I'm making pretty socks, but I still look longingly at the fantastic, squishy Irish Hiking scarf I made in an autumn-colored variegated shade.

And Oyce, you've done so much knitting! *is impressed* I fear the Bordhi, but they look very cool, and omg, so much hate re: picot edging. The coppery tree, btw, is a manzanita.

[oyceter]

Mmmmmmmmm! I should try to make a Malabrigo throw, although I eep at the yardage required. And... I am not sure how useful it will be in California. But it's just so wonderful to work with!

Clearly I need to find more friends who need Malabrigo scarves...

[cofax7]

So pretty! Cute rats! Beautiful knitting projects!

The first set of wildflowers look like Indian paintbrush: I don't know the latin name. The coppery-barked tree is a madrone.

[oyceter]

Ooo, people who know plants! Thanks for the info!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

It's not Indian paintbrush, though it does look similar; I'm not sure what it is.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

::drools at knitting:: Man, I wish I had the patience for that. You make beautiful things.

So much that's lovely here. Thank you for sharing!

[oyceter]

Thank you! I am at the point right now where I need to find more TV so I can knit more! Am determined to finish Peacock Shawl at least!

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

Yay pics! I love all the colors you're using in the knitting projects.

[oyceter]

Eee, yay! I love the Malabrigo especially! I am not usually a fan of orange, either, but... so fall-like! Also, the awesome thing was one of the hats and the scarf were on a friend's request, so I managed to "persuade" her that she wanted really nice yarn...

[fannishly.livejournal.com]

Awwwww, the rats are SO CUTE!

[oyceter]

Aren't they just? Even though Bya resembles a softball more than a rat... That is ok. He endlessly amuses me by trying to clamber up my leg, slipping down while gripping at the fabric with all his might, then landing on Ren.

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

Dude, you are a knitting rockstar! I am inspired to go work on my two scarves in hopes of actually finishing something and starting something new. :)

Oh why can't it be easier to take pictures of knitted things? Mine never come out the right color, especially if it's purple or red.

I love Malabrigo excessively. Ooh, I just looked at their web site, and they have silk/merino blend, too! I must try that. Or maybe the lace, to make the leaf lace scarf in my Ravelry queue.

[oyceter]

Eee! I am making that scarf too, only in orange silk for vom_marlowe! And I added slip stitches to the side and converted the separator columns to pure purl so the backside would have small stripes of stockinette.

Silk/merino? Wah! Want!

[keilexandra]

Oooh, your house is so rustic and pretty! And eee rats!

[oyceter]

Oh, sorry! Not my house... it's Rachel's parents' place up in Mariposa. But it's very lovely up there, and the ground are gorgeous as well!

[la-vie-noire.livejournal.com]

*dies at rats cuteness and fatness*

[oyceter]

They are so cute and squishy!

Also, Bya makes a really funny "WHUMP" noise now when he jumps down from the hammock.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Oh the cuteness of the ratties! Now i want to hold them again.

Gorgeous shots outside the house.

[oyceter]

Awwww! I am sad it is hard to bring them to LA because of Rachel's cats, but happy so many people got to see them in Mariposa!

Rachel gets all credit for the lovely nature shots.

... and the dessicated lizard shot, of course!

[hysteriachan.livejournal.com]

So much awesome knitting! *^^*

I had the husband come in and look at the photo of the tatami kimono being blocked, and then the photos of rats, and then he directed me to this article on Boing Boing (http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/13/rats-are-ticklish.html), if you haven't seen it. ^^

[oyceter]

Awwww! I've seen the article, but not that particular video. The baby rat! So cute!

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Wow, the lizard looks so much more gruesome in close-up.

[oyceter]

Rachel was very amused that so far, you seem to be the only one who's commented on the lizard!

Er, the literal lizard, that is, not Ara.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Vampire Bya! So cute!

[oyceter]

I know! His other secret talent is getting hair all over my black pants.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Stacked rats! Vampire Bya!

Awesome knitting!

I especially loved the socks.

[oyceter]

I love the socks too! I didn't think I would, because I'm usually not an orange person, but I grew to like it a lot more while knitting.

[makaidiver.livejournal.com]

Oo! pretty photos. Bya sure is huge!

The plant with the red berries is nandina, or heavenly bamboo.

[oyceter]

I know, Bya is ginormous! He is now having problems scrambling up my leg, which leads to hilarity when he scrambles up, then slooooowly slides back down as gravity gets a hold of him.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Yay ratties. And Bya is HUGE!

[oyceter]

He really is!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

A sock with no gusset? That's crazy talk!

And the rat pictures! And that scarf is so pretteh. And clearly you hate finishing as much as I do. Heh.

[oyceter]

I know! The patterns are so brain-breaking!

I loooaaathe finishing. So much!