Lions and Tigers and Yarn, Oh My!

I have a lot to report today, I'm happy to say.

Today, Shawn, Jem and I headed to the Los Angeles Zoo. Every year, usually starting around Thanksgiving they have what they call the "Reindeer Romp". They have reindeer, arts and crafts and on the weekends Santa comes for a visit. Jem had a blast coloring reindeer antlers and he even wore them all day! This year they had some sets put up around the zoo for photo ops. I bribed him and won!

And while he knows that Santa isn't "real" he still sat on his lap and took a picture with him!

I have an annual pass to the zoo, so we go as often as we can. Over the summer though, the heat really bogs down our trips. And the animals as well. Last time we went the lions weren't even in their compound. The tigers were sleeping in the shade. The otters and seals weren't to be seen. So it was a relief that today, the animals were out in full force. We caught the lions being a little naughty. Finally the female decided she'd have no more of this wooing and thought that chasing her tail and biting her back leg was much more entertaining. It was quite a site to see a lion chasing their tail! And we thought only dogs did that!

And my favorites! The tigers! Well worth the hike up the hill! (Damn construction detours!) There are two tigers at the zoo now, which is a nice change of pace...for the tigers I'm sure. They need love too! This pose reminded me of Dalton. Dalton definitely descended from the big cats of Asia/India!

And here was the other kitty cat sitting on a tree stump taking in the humans!

I didn't get as much knitting done as I would have liked though. Not because I didn't want to, but because I haven't been feeling very well. This pregnancy is really taking a lot out of me. With all the walking I did today, I've pretty much had to sit or lay down for the rest of the day. Even then, I'm tired. My stomach is like a big pimple, ready to explode any minute. Walking hurts my pelvis and hips. Trying to roll over at night? Oh that's a feat in itself. Shawn usually has to help me off the couch. What's worse is that I'm really not that big (or so everyone compliments me). It's just a lot of extra added weight and I no longer have a center of gravity to speak of. *sigh* I just keep telling myself: January 16th, though in all honesty I don't think she will wait that long. I think she will be here well before that.

Anyway, after taking my mother back to the valley yesterday morning, we went to Michael's. Shawn says he wants a blanket for Christmas, though he knows he won't get it til his birthday, (January 28th). Since Michael's had their usual Black Friday Turkey Bucks ad in the paper I was able to get a pretty good deal on Paton's Classic Merino Wool. At first there wasn't enough grey and he was going to go with black, (not the best choice since Scarlett has a lot of white hairs), but as we turned down an aisle or two we found a bin full of Paton's Wool and I grabbed 8 skeins of the grey. I will probably need more, since Shawn is bit tall, but I decided to go with 8 and see how long I could go. The only modifications I made was to add 25 stitches more to the 135 so I could get another 8" or so. He wants to be able to curl up. (And I'm a little selfish in that I don't want to share my afghan. Get your own!)

The pattern comes from Leisure Arts' "Best Baby Afghans" and is called "Blue Tranquility" though you can see, I'm not using blue. I've done this pattern two other times and it's a pretty easy 5 stitch repeat. And as you can see, it's a pretty quick knit. I cast on lastnight and already I have about 30 rows. Shawn loves it already. So maybe I can focus enough and get it done for him by Christmas. I'd like to have it done and make him think that I haven't gotten far.

I also have a little stash enhancement though it won't be staying in the stash for long. Yesterday I received two skeins of this beauty:

It's a handpainted yarn from Scouts Swag. It's the yarn I'll be using for the taping of "Knitty Gritty" that I will be on. Apparently the original designer that was supposed to be on the show backed out last minute and this is what replaced her. Well she's missing out lemme tell you! This colorway is called Orchids. Gorgeous isn't she? The only problem is it really reminds me of Christmas. I feel like I have to do something Christmas themed. Anyway, my biggest problem is that I don't know what to make of it. We are allowed to do any project, just as long as we have something on the needles for the show. I be they'd make a lovely pair of socks...if only I could knit socks. There are 350 yards of this Superwash merino wool in each skein, so if you have an idea of what I could do, please, lemme know!

Other than that, I finished reading "Knitting for Peace" and was very touched by the book. Though I've heard of many of the charities, there were a number that I hadn't heard of. And the patterns are wonderful. But I think out of all the charities to knit for that were mentioned I am going to knit for The Mother Bear Project which makes handknit teddy bears for African children, especially those affected by AIDS. So I'm gonna get my (knitting) shit together and make some teddy bears!