Finally the twins grew into teenagers. Here, Pelikan is waiting for the adults to stop talking so that she can blow out her candles.

As they chat, their guest is thinking about getting a new computer, while Klango is thinking about himself. Eerie how true-to-life this game can be at times.

I wanted to buy a few things that are only available in China, like the martial arts training dummy. I sent Olivia off on vacation so that we could buy them. I tossed Klango in there with her at the last minute, because he never gets to go anywhere. He has the “Stir Crazy” moodlet more or less permanently.

The first thing Olivia did, upon entering the Forbidden City, was go for a swim in this pool.

Is that okay? I mean, it doesn’t even look like a swimming pool. Pretty sure it’s only there for decoration. But no one came to arrest her, so I guess it’s okay.

The next day, I sent them both off to the martial arts academy for some training.

Once he was finished training, Klango plunked his ass down and read a book.

Then he went back to the hostel to shower up. He finished off the night by eating ice cream straight out of the carton.

Seriously guys, this is starting to look like one of MY vacations. (I had to travel to Las Vegas for work September before last. Spent pretty much every non-work minute holed up in my hotel room, eating take-out, watching House re-runs, and knitting. It was THE BEST!)

By the second day of their three-day trip, Olivia had a “Return Home” wish. (Metoo.) As soon as they got home, she had to check the sink to make sure it was okay.

DEFINITELY just like one of my vacations.

Tags: Sims Sunday

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I’m actually only faking it in this picture – I hadn’t yet attached the buttons or woven (weaved?) in the ends.

For this one, I used twisted rib (ktbl, p) throughout. I like the look better, and I think it will help it stand up better when worn.

I also skipped the stretchy sewn bind-off. Instead, I simply bound off in pattern. I have a terrible time keeping stretchy sewn bind-offs from being too loose and ruffling. They work great when you’re binding off a pair of socks, because socks fit tightly with the negative ease. For a cowl? I don’t think stretchy sewn is the right choice.

Just my opinion, not a declaration of war or anything.

Tags: FOs, Thermis

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I finished the Newfoundland chiengora fur hat last weekend. Here it is in its tubular glory, along with the neighbor’s cat. (Oh but Brady is outraged when the neighbor’s cat stops by. Much less if I’m outside petting it. I was in BIG trouble when I got back inside.)

And here it is cuffed for wear.

The dog fur yarn has no bounce or memory, so I knit it held together with a strand of Cascade 220 to give it some body. This is my Easy Hat except that I did more decreases at the top and drew it together with the yarn tail like a drawstring. Next time I would do the second set of decreases every round, because it ended up a little pointy, but whatever.

Once the spinner (not me) washes the oil off the fiber, it doesn’t smell a bit like dog. Even when it’s wet! Crazy, right? Dog fur yarn is really warm, but frankly I’m not terribly keen on the texture. It’s almost identical to mohair, which isn’t my favorite fiber.

In fact, turns out I’m allergic to dog fur yarn the same way I’m allergic to mohair. It’s a problem with the little bits of fiber that come floating off when you knit it. They make my fingers itch, and my eyes swell up.

My solution in this case – since I had already promised to knit it by the time I realized the fiber was a problem – was to wear a pair of safety goggles. I had to wash all the sawdust off them, because I use them when I work with the alligator lopper chainsaw, but they worked well!

Tags: chiengora, dog fur, FOs

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I usually try to post something on Monday evening, to bump Sims Sunday off the top of the page. I feel bad when Sims Sunday stays longer than that. Is there anything sadder than a “Sunday” post still sitting there on a Tuesday? It’s like a Christmas tree lingering through Easter.

But life has just been whizzing by this month, and Monday was no exception. The knitting has been whizzing by, too. But before we get to that, I HAVE TO SHOW YOU THIS.

I have a policy against blogging either gifts or purchases. I’ve seen knitting blogs that are nothing but “Look at this beautiful thing I bought” and “Look at this wonderful thing someone sent me,” and I find it tedious as hell.

But in this case, I think you’ll understand when I make an exception.

This is the Deathflake Chart [non-Ravelry link], which a local knitting friend knit up in dishcloth cotton for me. I use it as a coaster (as you can see it already has a coffee stain, BAD ERIKA).

It makes me really happy, and some day I plan to make a Deathflake Hat or a Deathflake Sweater, or something awesome like that.

GO FORTH AND DEATHFLAKE.

Tags: DEATHFLAKE

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Another odd painting by Klango.

This week was all about whipping my little Sims to make money, so that I could continue building their house. With Olivia working at the science lab, Pascal climbing his way to the top of his musical career, and Klango painting a masterpiece every day, we were getting a pretty steady income.

But with the toddlers in the house, waking everyone up to be fed and changed, and their demanding schedules, everyone was getting stressed to the breaking point. Pascal couldn’t even stay awake long enough for the girls’ birthday.

Things got a lot better when the girls grew out of the toddler stage. The night after the party was everyone’s first decent night’s sleep since the babies were born.

With the kids going off to school all day, Klango had enough free time to start working on the garden.

He needs to grow more Life Fruit, because we ran out! And I don’t have any other way to keep him alive. I sent him back to the old Alphabetti house, to see if there might be some Life Fruit still growing in the garden.

Only Nick is left, and he is old. There wasn’t any Life Fruit growing, but he let Klango harvest sacks of money from the Money Tree that Mandy had cultivated, back when she was alive.

I had Klango prepare a nice Lobster Thermidor for dinner, as thanks.

But Nick took exception to Klango’s use of the kitchen, and kicked him out of the house. Whatever!

Back at home, construction is coming along nicely.

The kitchen is looking good, even if someone did leave a plate of rotting food on the island.

The entryway, with the dining room on the far side.

You can’t build a wall alongside stairs in Sims 3, which annoys me. It should have a solid wall on the far side of the stairs, not another railing. Oh well.

I’m pretty happy with the way the living room is going, as well. (I wonder if it’s starting to look familiar to anyone?)

Tags: Sims Sunday

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