He's Lucky He's Cute.

The other day, after putting on my makeup, I walked into the other room to see this:





Thankfully, the yarn isn't any sort of super-special yarn. It's some sort of acrylic/fake-mohair/blend that I purchased on eBay years ago when I was buying tons of yarn on eBay. I should make something with it, someday, but I'm not 100% certain how many yards I have. I'd say, not enough for a full scarf, but too much for just a hat. Maybe I'll make a neckwarmer and see what's left.

The night before Luciano did this, he got at my wheel and pulled off the unspun fiber hanging off it, running around with blue wool sticking out of his mouth. He did that again this morning. So, the wheel has to be kept in a room with the door shut (which it is anyway, from the days when Ellie used to chew on the band).

Otherwise, he's still a good kitten. Sure, he does try to climb up on us to get certain foods (peanut butter is a favorite of his -- who would have thought that?). The abundance of cat toys in the house really helps us out there, plus Ellie is the ultimate kitten toy.

It's all worth it for shots like this:



Although I think I prefer his "gangstah" pose:



On to knitting -- I do still knit, you know. I finished one of my floral lace anklets:





The Regia Silk is awesome. Have I mentioned that before? It's so soft and luxurious feeling. I want to wear them all the time, yet I'm afraid of wearing them out quickly. That's the rub with socks, I guess. I wore out many pairs this past winter, and can't knit fast enough to make more.

I haven't worked on the Lacy Waves Top since I posted my frustration on the lace insert. I should go ahead and finish it, then see what it looks like post-blocking, but I'm afraid it may fall victim to being the wrong yarn for this project. Le sigh.

I also haven't worked on the Swallowtail Shawl for a while, mostly because of the attention span involved and because of working on lace with a kitten around may be too distracting. I can't work lace at a knitting group -- I just can't talk or listen while doing it without screwing up.

Much of it may be put on the wayside for the South End Knitters' latest group project -- the Annual Knit-a-Thon to benefit the Pine Street Inn! You can learn about the Pine Street Inn's mission here. My page is still a work-in-progress, and I have yet to cast on for my first square, but I set up a page here. I've never done any charity knitting (mostly because I'm not the Fastest Knitter in the West, or the East, or the Northeast even), so I'm a bit nervous about getting anything done. At least I have until November to do it, and it would make a great commuting knitting project. I've been collecting as many afghan square patterns as I can, and one of my friends has a pretty one on her blog. She makes gorgeous patterns as well; I see a different sweater or tanktop on her every time I see her.

I'll leave you now with Ellie's centerfold shot:

WWKIP!

Yesterday, was WWKIP (World Wide Knit in Public Day), and, for the first time, I took part in some group activities.

ZMrK and I got up really early to arrive in the South End by 9 a.m. See, I recently started meeting on Thursday nights with a group called the South End Knitters. They have been responsible for a few pieces of knitted graffiti around the South End. They were underway with a special tag to hang outside of the Animal Rescue League of Boston. I didn't contribute to the tag, but I was happy to help (and offer Mike's -- hey, let's get rid of this ZMrK stuff, he blogs as Mike and that's his name! -- height to the cause).



(That's Tara, not me! Although my hair has been that color before, you weren't fooled, were you?)



There I am! Concentrating!



Looking a little worried here -- I was working along for a while, sewing away, and then it was pointed out that the sides weren't properly lined up and it was going on crooked. I noticed that it was more of less happening since I took over the sewing. Oops! How embarrassing! It was a really fixable error, though, so it wasn't the end of the world.



I love these black cats (of course!!!). It's a free chart on Ravelry, and I'm hoping to use it for just about everything.



Beth and Amy help me get things straightened out.



Group shot with the finished product!

We also gave them a group donation of over $250. The ARL has an anonymous donor who will match any donation over $250, so that's great news since they are a privately funded organization.

Afterwards, a bunch of us went to Copley Square to participate in WWKIP Day. I saw a few familar faces there, and sat and knit for a while:



Around noon, I was getting hungry and antsy, so Mike and I went to get lunch and ice cream, and got home around 3 p.m. It was a good day.

Now, for an abrupt change of topic, here are some kitty pictures.













Yup, they're getting along.

I don't know what it is about the ribbon on the end of our backscratcher, but it has made almost every cat we have had go insane:







After all that hard playing (all of the above pictures were taken within the same 60 minutes), both cats had a nap attack:





Funny how that works!