Thank you

Thank you to everyone for your comments and kind thoughts. I've tried to respond individually where possible, but blogger comments usually don't have emails.

Yesterday afternoon we took a long walk by Ponkapoag Pond, in the Randolph/Canton segment of the Blue Hills. I have a few photos that I need to put up. It's a really beautiful, peaceful place, are we were able to get some much-needed physical exercise.

I also finished my sock last night and cast on for the second one.

I don't know what we would do right now without Ken. He and I just spent some time together. I started brushing him, and he crawled up on my lap and purred. I think he may be one of the "comforting" cats, like Zelia was.

I don't have much more to say. The comments here and on the knittyboard brought tears to my eyes. The only IRL person I've mentioned this to was my mom -- I just don't feel like having a two-way conversation with someone at work about this right now. After Zelia died, word got around the office and lots of people came over to offer their condolences. I appreciate it, and it was really nice, but every time it happened I would start crying again. I really want to wait until the rawness gets scabbed over a little before telling people.

An old friend just IMd me and I told him. So much for not telling people. Well, online is better than in person, right?

Solvie 1999 - 2007

The lymphoma won.



Solvie had been doing poorly the past week. She lost even more weight, so was probably about 4 lbs. She was still eating lots, and was trying to jump up in her usual places, but hadn't the strength to do so.

I don't feel like saying much more. I want to remember her how she was before lymphoma -- sweet, silly little blorange kitty.

More WIP photos

First off, thanks to everyone for commenting on my little venting of the spleen there. It should be noted that my post wasn't in relation to anyone or any event in particular. I've just been noticing a trend there, and want to not be part of the trend. There's just too much negativity, and too much "i'm going to vent about every little annoyance that happens to me today". It's just been feeling less happy and more spleeny, and I don't want anyone else's spleen juice on my knitting.

Now that that is out of the way, on to the knitting.

Monday night:



Saturday morning:



Progress has been a little slow, but, I have started the toe decreases! That's got to be worth something, right? I should be done pretty soon. Maybe tonight.

I think about knitting and talk about knitting more than I actually knit, you know. The same goes for spinning. Oh, I really have to get my spin better. But that will take time. Right now, I like spinning, but I hate plying, so I must learn how to ply better.

How about some cute cat pictures? Ken approves of the felted cat bed:




Ken and Solvie approve of each other:



Ken approves of yarn:



I need to be careful of my yarn.

WIP-ing it out!

Today I am going to show you what is on my needles. . .

First up, is a pair of socks, with two different progress photos.

Photo 1, taken Friday at about 6:00 p.m.:



Photos 2 and 3, taken Saturday at about 4:00 p.m.:





The yarn is the KnitPicks Bare that I dyed a few weeks ago. Remember when I hinted that I was going to try to design something? Well, it's not going to happen with this yarn. I tried to incorporate a lace pattern from a stitch dictionary, but that stitch on this yarn just looked like deep fried ass on a stick. So I put it aside and thought about it. Then ZMrK got me the Magic Loop book, and I got some 32" circular needles, and I started looking at patterns again. I saw the Basketweave Rib pattern in Sensational Knitted Socks and said, "Ah, yes! That's it!". I think I was right. It looks awesome, if I do say so myself. I just finished the cuff and am about to start the heel flap -- this pattern has a "princess sole", which is knit side inside, purl side outside. It's* supposed to feel smoother on your sole. We'll see.

The other WIP is a lace project. This is certainly a risk, as it is a vintage pattern with bamboo. I'm not 100% certain it is going to work but I'm having fun doing it.



I do have another WIP from July 2006. It's* the lace camisole from Vintage Knits. I'm really close to being done but I fucked up the front and am afraid to pick it up again. I've also read comments about the FO being kind of boxy, and I don't really need that. I really should just finish it already. Or frog it. I may move towards finishing it, but if it makes me look like a lavendar barrel it's* going to get frogged. I think I could find another use for 8 skeins of Rowan Cotton.

You know what is fun? Cat mouths. Cats have hiliarous mouths. Look at this picture of Solvie and Ken, eating side by side:



Solvie looks like she's smiling, and I caught Ken mid-lick. Yes, that is a piece of food on his tongue, not his tooth. Kinda gross. There's also a crumb of food next to his dish. He finished his food, and when Solvie walked away without finishing hers, he went at it. This morning, he didn't finish his food (which was Gerber Baby Food Chicken and Rice -- hey, he wasn't eating for a few days, and we were trying different things), and Solvie finished it for him. They seem to be getting along pretty well.

Ken also likes yarn:



We have a wooden back scratcher, that has a ribbon loop at one end so it can be hung up. Zelia loved that ribbon more than any other toy. At one point, we attached a length of yarn to the ribbon, and Zelia didn't like it so much. But Ken loves it! He likes yarn a little more than I am comfortable with. He also likes the cords on circular needles. I need to find a way to discourage this, and swinging around a piece of yarn for him to play with is probably not the best thing to do.

But what was it I said about cats' mouths being hilarious?



I have to share something. . . the internet is killing my brain. I just had the hardest time with the possessives and plurals in that sentence! I originally wrote it as "cat's mouth's". I'm also having trouble with "loose/lose", which is another common mistake I see on the internet. I am at the point where, if someone writes "I don't want to lose my place", I have to look at it to make sure it is correct, because so many people write "I don't want to loose my place" that the incorrect word is almost becoming the standard. I feel that's happened with the misused apostrophe. So many people -- and not just people, but businesses, in their ads -- are misusing apostophes (or apostrophe's, as they use it), that it seems to be the standard now. I think I may have to take some basic grammar classes again, and take them from a strict teacher like the ones I had in school. I realized that I have also forgotten my proper penmanship. I know that doesn't matter as much, but I did LEARN how to properly write the letters of the alphabet, but I have been writing in my own style (a mixture of writing and printing) for so long, that I have FORGOTTEN how to properly make an H, for example. This is beginning to trouble me. Please tell me I am not alone.

*Here's an exmaple: did I use the apostrophe correctly here? You use it before the s if you are writing "It is", but you do NOT use it in the possesive form of "its", right? Example: "It's funny that the cat has food on its tongue". Is that correct? Argh! Am I overthinking this? Where are the grammar police when you really want them to come around?

FO: Licorice All-Sorts Hat

I started and finished an object this week!

Details on Ravelry!

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Jus' kidding, folks! Would I do that to you? No, I won't ditch my blog for Ravelry, and I won't ditch the knittyboard for Ravelry. I plan to mostly stay on-topic on Ravelry (i.e., my knitting), and stay within the rules on knittyboard (no religious or political posts, and "play nice"), but, on my blog, anything goes and I'll snark on people if I want to, or talk about my political views (which, by the way, lean towards the "liberal" side), or talk about my religious views (which I don't really have. I guess if pressed I could say I seem to worship nature and karma most of all). But you know what? All that shit is boring! Y'all don't come to my blog to read about me hugging some fucking trees, now do you? No, you come for the knitting and the cats!

So, here's the knitting:









I realize my decreases look a little wonky. They always do. At least you're not seeing the back of the hat, where the stripes jog. Also, my pom poms always come out kind of pathetic looking. I don't think I wrap the yarn around enough (I wrapped the yarn around my row counter. . . ).

The pattern is "Candy Cane Hat" from Susan Anderson's "Itty-Bitty Hats". It's supposed to be in red and white, but I like to sub colors and used pink and black, which reminds me of two things: Good n Plentys (but they are white and pink candies with black insides) and Licorice All Sorts (one of my favorite candies). Thus, this is the Licorice All-Sorts Hat. These are for my grand-niece-to-be, and my niece luckily appreciates the goth/punk aesthetic. You should've seen how I dressed *her* up as a toddler. She loved to wear my chuck taylors and my Siouxsie and the Banshees t-shirt. I think her favorite song was Ministry's "Cold Life". She used to sing it.

The pattern for the booties is from Kris Percival's "Knitting Pretty", which is the first knitting book I bought. I've made 3-4 pairs of these. They take a couple of hours, and it's fun to use different colors. This is the first time I used ribbon through the eyelets -- I thought it went well. I was initially going to make little knitting Chuck Taylors, but couldn't find a pattern and was too lazy to make up one. You can do lots with this pattern though -- they can resemble little combat boots or KISS platform boots. You decide.

I used Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton in pink and black. It's not the organic cotton, although I'd love to use that. The yarn is really soft next to the skin and the only reason my hands hurt is because I was doing so much knitting the past few days. Hey, I was knitting with a 17-lb. black cat next to me. It was enjoyable!

Speaking of. . . someone made himself comfortable really quickly:



That was taken last evening, after he had "discovered" the couch for a few hours. He also "discovered" under the bed, and, during the night, sleeping on the bed. He's a pretty affectionate cat, but has his moments of grumpiness. He's not thrilled with having his stomach touched, and wasn't thrilled when I moved him so ZantiMisterKnit could sit down to eat dinner. Yeah, he growled. And hissed a little. He also growls and hisses at Solvie, but she stands her ground and pretends he's not there. She's doesn't sleep with us -- never has -- so I don't think she feels too put out by him sleeping with us.

This is as close as they got to each other:





I like how big she looks in that second picture. She's not -- she's under 6 lbs, and he is about 17 lbs! (I weighed him this morning.) If he had shown any aggression to other cats, we wouldn't have adopted him. He could probably flatten her. I think both cats are generally aloof to other cats -- I know for a fact that Solvie is. She's aloof to everything except food. Ken seems to be aloof to other cats, but affectionate to people, with his moments of aloofness.

The macro button also loves him:



Here's a nice blurry shot for ya:

Introducing Ken!!!

Ken is the latest addition to our family. He's a 6-year-old (approx.) neutered male cat. We got him at the local shelter.

Isn't he handsome?




He's a pretty big boy, especially compared to our petite, 6 lb. Solvie. Speaking of Solvie, she's handling it pretty well:



I'm amused that you can see the glow of hatred in her eyes on the hardwood floor.

They're doing well together, really. There hasn't been a single hiss. Ken was housed in the "community room" at the shelter, and coexisted peacefully with the other cats. I think Solvie is fine, as long as he doesn't get too close to her.

He looks a LOT like my cat George (1991-2000). He also likes to open doors, like George did. Hopefully he won't have the tendency to beat up other cats, like George did. I think George only loved Zelia.

Here he is doing his best Terminator impression:

Spinning, Knitting, Dyeing. . . and WIPs and Yarn Pr0n

I'm being a little bit of a bit of a fiber artiste at the moment.

First up, spinning. I spun my merino tencel into singles, and have slowly been trying to ply it. When it works, it works, but it doesn't work for long. Here's what I've got so far:



This is about 16 yards. The thickness is very uneven, but like I said. . . when it works, it works. Here are some closeups:





(click on the photos to go into flickr, then hit "all sizes" and choose "original" to see these really big. . . if I post them like that here some folks have trouble getting my blog to load.)

Here's about 7 yards of the same thing. I keep snapping the yarn, so I think I'll get dribs and drabs.



I got some really good advice on the knittyboard, which I'm going to heed. One being to practice on a naked bobbin, to get my wheel going in the opposite direction (necessary when plying). Another being to try using my opposite foot to treadle. Yet a third being to practice plying with some of my commercial yarn. All simple ideas that I didn't think of, but I will try!

This is what the merino/tencel started as:



And here is it spun single ply:



I know I showed y'all before, but I figured I would again in case your memory is like mine.

Now for some knitting!



Those are my socks! I don't remember when I started them, but it was a while ago. I showed some progress but then didn't because I thought that would be boring. The yarn is the 2nd installment of the sock club at Mind's Eye yarns. I love it and I love the socks, even if they are a little loose in the ankle and tight in the calf. (Note to self: decrease at the ankle, increase at the calf!)

I made some attempts at dyeing yarn today with Kool-Aid:

Here's a boring on-the-kitchen-table shot:



Here's a lovely in-the-sun shot:



Here's a in-the-pot shot:



The first two pics are of Knit Picks 100% merino sock weight "bare" yarn. I dyed it with grape, cherry and berry blue Kool-Aid, using a pour-on method, which of course all ran into each other so there is barely any blue (and it is a gorgeous brilliant blue too!). I'm disappointed in myself for doing that, but it is my first time dyeing yarn so I've learned from it!

The last pic is Jacob Wool 2-ply worsted weight yarn from Stoney Acre Farm. I got the yarn at a fiber fest last fall in Sherborn, MA (I think?), with the intention of trying some dyeing. I used the leftover cherry and grape for this, and tried handpainting it with a sponge. It's done, and it's rinsed and is in the sink. I learned about pooling now, too -- I must have had a heavy hand with the cherry, because there are spots of blood-red pooling on what was probably the bottom side. Again, live and learn.

I also learned that I don't really like the color of the grape kool-aid. It's dull. The cherry and berry blue are awesome, however.

I also learned that I really should wear gloves. I did for the pour-on batch but not for the handpainted batch --- duuuuuuh!!! It looks like I just dyed my hair, except my hair isn't dyed. I used to not wear gloves when I dyed my hair, and ended up with reddish-purplish-brown fingers. Big duh.

So, that's my spinning, knitting and dyeing of the past few days. Well, the socks were finished over a week ago, but I'm just getting around to posting pics of them now. I've made ZMrK two hats -- one can be seeing as a WIP around my beer bottle in the picture with my socks -- since finishing those. The WIP shown is in Rowan Calmer, which may be my new favorite yarn. It's cotton/acrylic and feels awesome and has a nice stitch definition. I found that ball of it in the sale bin at Grafton Yarns. I want to get more and make myself lots of sweaters with it, except it's crazy expensive so I won't unless I find it on a good sale. But I don't really need to do that, because I have an overflowing yarn hutch and really need to do some stashbusting.

So, here's a WIP.



What do you think it is? Is it a sombrero, like Solvie seems to think?

Oh, and what did I say about not needing any more yarn?

We were in Waltham the other day, and stopped by Island Yarns. There was some Skeintilly Clad sock yarn, and I thought I'd support a local yarn shop, and a local yarn dyer by buying some:



This color is called "Into the Blue". I might make my mom some socks out of it, or maybe not. I remember that this yarn is very soft and prone to pilling, so it needs some special care.



This color is called "blaze!". ZMrK picked it out. I have some worsted weight yarn from another local dyer, Woolarina, that is almost the same colors. I may have to make some sort of matching set.







So, that's it. The start of my vacation. We have no big plans; just stick around the house and relax. How does that sound to you?

A Couple of Drawings

I made these a while ago, when I was bored at work.



I made sure to get all of the white freckles on her upper lip. Pretty cute, huh? I'm wondering how this will look, beefed up, as a tattoo.



I don't know if you recall, but Solvie lost her right canine last November when she decided she had had quite enough at the vet, thankyouverymuch.

So, should I try to redo these in pen and ink? Should I get a Hello Zelia tattoo?