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...To the detriment of house cleaning, that's for sure! The cats have me so frazzled, all I can do is knit. Likely excuse, I know.
My plan was to show you lovely pictures of lovely knitting and bad sewing, but all I have are crummy pictures.
Here is my version of the Equinox sleeve. The colors are a little different, but I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Also, I recounted the stitches in the body. It seems my original count was wrong, and I do, in fact, have the correct number of stitches.
This is a horrid picture. One color is off and it is throwing the whole thing out of whack. The background for the bands of pink petals ("peeries", according to Meg Swanson) should be a very pale green, not tan. Oh well. This is the one bit of knitting that hasn't been giving me fits lately.
And here is a crummy picture of my first sewing project since Junior High Home Ec. The seams are crooked and don't match up, the handles are slightly different lengths, one is a bit tilted, and the lining shows more than it should. But here's the thing: it isn't going to fall apart, so I'm putting this in the Success column.
And it has a pocket inside. Sweet!
It doesn't take much to please me these days.
Thanks, everyone, for your comments. This is definitely one of the more challenging feline situations I've had. We have a litter box in the bathroom which is helping a lot, and Happy Kitty Nerve Gas is spewing through the house (apparently it can take 4 weeks to take effect).
It isn't all doom and gloom Chez Feline Central.
Fred shoved herself into a shoe box, then she took a nap. Look at that little face -- she is so worth all the pain (Judy is, too, it's just harder to make a case for her).
Then Fred and Gwen took in a little cat TV. By the way, Gwen is not a large cat, she's about 9 pounds, but a good portion of that is pudge, otherwise she is pretty short. She is quite neurotic, but in an interesting, quirky way (as opposed to a Kill-the-Kitten way), I'll be interested to see how she reacts to the nerve gas.
First of all, it isn't as though I've been having a truly bad year -- others I know have been dealing with roll over accidents, floods, house fires, illness, wrongful arrests and chipped teeth. I know quarreling cats and bad knitting don't measure up, but it is my blog so I'm going to go ahead and whine.
The cats are still at it. We got anti-anxiety drugs for Judy, but we can't get her to take the pills. The first night I stuck one in some wet food and she ate it, but she's gotten wise to that trick. She either won't eat the food at all or eats around the pill, breaking it up does no good because she can taste or smell the medicine. She acts as though we are trying to poison her. I'd be more willing to let Judy's anger play itself out, but there are two issues. One is that Judy was a little anxious and shy as a kitten, but rather than getting better she has gotten worse, so I have no reason to think she will eventually accept Fred since she doesn't now. The other big problem is that because Judy attacks her, Fred seems to have given up on the litter boxes altogether. I'm concerned if this continues much longer, Fred won't ever use the box.
Our next step is to try the Happy Kitty Pheromone Diffuser (I don't think this is the official name). This isn't an inexpensive solution (and will affect all of the cats), but maybe it will chill Judy out enough that we can give her the pills. If it doesn't work? Does anyone want a massive, foul-tempered calico? She comes with a bottle of anti-anxiety drugs and a bunch of diffusers. You'll need them.
Knitting is a mixed bag. I've restarted the Fair Isle Cardigan. The only reference I can find to this is from April, obviously I have derelict in my blogging duties since I've just started the gusset and haven't been giving you a stitch by stitch update. I don't even have a picture. You will have to trust me when I say it is pretty and I haven't (so far) screwed it up, despite my best efforts.
The Frost Flowers and Leaves continues to be problematic. I thought I fixed the problem in row 51 (missing decrease), but I can't get row 52 to work correctly. I looked at the 6th printing of Gathering of Lace to see if I could figure it out (I have the first, error-riddled, printing), but it doesn't look like the publishers (insert swearing) fixed row 51? I will need to take that row out and re-do it, I haven't worked up the energy yet.
Equinox. Betty, a reader who kindly sent an e-mail when she couldn't comment, remembered Alice Starmore's technique of sewing or tacking steeks down, and that may be a reasonable way to deal with these. I don't have the particular book in which Starmore explores this technique, but last night I was reading Handknitting with Meg Swanson (oh c'mon, you read knitting books in bed, too!), and she also discusses a couple of ways to tack down steek stitches.
But I have another problem: leaving the steek stitches aside, the number of stitches I have on the needle doesn't seem to bear any relation to the number of stitches I should have, it looks right now like I have about 10 too many for the Large and 12 too few for the XL. {sigh} I've decided to knit the sleeves to the point that they get added in and see what happens. I should be ok if I have (or can get to) a multiple of 8 (that of the color chart for that section). I think.
My head hurts. I think I'm going to crawl under my desk and take a nap.
I left work on Thursday tired and crabby (some people might say that is my usual way of being, but I am ignoring them). I took Friday off and laid low all weekend, which was helpful, but dealing with the cats and continuing knitting problems ended up really bumming me out (man). So it was so lovely to come back to work yesterday and discover that Valerie had given me a You Make My Day Award, and it has left me verklemft. I'm very fond of Valerie's blog, so it is, indeed, an honor.
I know some people find these sorts of things burdensome or irritating, but as Sharon expressed so well in her post, they can be a terrific way of creating an online community, which is at least part of the reason we create blogs in the first place. Plus, I always appreciate an opportunity to yammer away about stuff I like. However, I'm going to try to make this a list of blogs I find inspiring for reasons other than knitting, mostly because I always find knitting inspiring.
So, in order of appearance in my Bloglines subscription (er, alphabetical):
A Dress A Day. Just what it purports to be. I love dresses, Erin's writing is wonderful (her "Secret Lives of Dresses" series is not to be missed, they can be found in her sidebar), and while she is giving the not-so-secret desire to sew dresses of my very own, it is not necessary to enjoy her blog.
Farmgirl Fare and In My Kitchen Garden. I'm counting these as one since the same blogger writes both; IMKG, in which the author mainly discusses her extensive vegetable garden, is an offshoot of FF, which is about her life on a Missouri farm. And food. Her Basic White Bread is fabulous.
Fashionist. Located in San Francisco, Mai takes pictures of people whose clothes catch her eye. I particularly like this blog because she is so positive, it has changed the way I see people on the street. I'm much more apt to see people whose style I like, though I have to admit to still shaking my inner fist at kids in mini skirts and Uggs, or flip-flops when it is 40 degrees and raining, or slippers (seriously? you couldn't find shoes?)
Manolo for the Big Girl. Manolo (a great Shoe Blog, but not the great Blahnik) has spun off into several different subjects -- brides, kids, men, food, etc. -- this one I identify with most closely. Part fashion, part You Go Girl, with the occasional book and movie review, Francesca and Plumcake's writing is funny and refreshing. This post is a great example of what they do best.
Matt Callow's Livejournal. Callow is an Ypsilanti based photographer who specializes in pinhole and crappy cameras. Amazing stuff.
Miss Information. A crabby, annoyed library clerk. Even though our patrons are faculty and phd and master degree candidates, I often know just how she feels.
NPR's This I Believe. Not a blog, but it is in my feeds, so I'm counting it. I love these essays, after hearing or reading one (or more) I feel reassured that we aren't necessarily headed for hell in a vapid handbasket. I'm particularly fond of Be Cool to the Pizza Dude and Always Go to the Funeral (which I first read during a time I seemed to be going to an awful lot of them).
Tales from the "Liberry". A small town library employee dealing with the crabby, the smelly, the "innanet crowd" and the bathroom challenged. Huh. That could describe my house!
Waiter Rant. I haven't ever waited tables (thank god), but I find this blog completely fascinating. His writing is stellar -- he is funny, bitter and often deeply empathetic.
yarnstorm. Her pictures are lovely, and her writing is so very British, this blog is a pool of calm. Jane Brocket has a book, The Gentle Art of Domesticity, out in the UK, and I understand it is to be released in the US.
By the way, it seems that the Anonymous Comment function was working here. Please know, this was not intentional and should be fixed now.
On Monday I said I would report on the Tilted Duster buttons (as well as a hilariously unsuccessful sewing attempt). Obviously, that did not happen and I know you are on the edge of your seat. As if.
Here is the collar as it stood (heh) last week. It was big and rather overwhelming, so I ended up taking about an inch or a little more out (which really means I ripped it to about an inch below the first buttonhole, since they needed to be repositioned). I'm much, much happier with the way it looks.
Unfortunately, this is the only sort-of-nice picture I have of the duster with buttons, you will just have to trust me when I say it looks really nice. I was a little worried because the ribbing was very puffy before washing, but I suspected a good soaking would tame the stitches. Luckily, I'm not always wrong and it behaved just as I thought. The fit is a bit larger than I would like, but not nearly enough to feel like it's a problem. Overall, I'm very pleased with how the sweater came out, and I think I will get a lot of use out of it.
Roadblocks:
Sewing has a bit of a learning curve. Whenever I sit down at that machine, I start out with a tangled, knotty mess. I've managed to get through it, but I don't know how. Knowing how I'm getting past the knotty mess would go a long way towards avoiding the problem in the first place. Frustrating.
Frost and Flowers has been problematic as well. I got to a point that I just couldn't make the stitches work out. I checked and re-checked (several times) and I have enough stitches, but I just couldn't get it to work out. Finally I remembered. I have a first edition of Gathering of Lace and it is riddled with errors (insert swearing here), and when I checked the online errata, sure enough, the line I am on has a missing decrease (which I was expecting, but I wasn't sure of the placement). Now if I can just remember to take those pages home, I'll be all set.
But wait! There's more! In April, I started a version of the Equinox Pullover from Interweave Knits. I decided I would prefer a cardigan and that the whole thing should be knitted in the round and steeked (cut apart, for you non-knitters). So I casted on, knitted away, then put it aside when warm weather hit. I picked it up again a few days ago and it seems I've learned a few things about stranded knitting in the intervening months. The Dale of Norway baby sweater was a huge learning experience (funny for such a wee little sweater). Here's the problem: I casted on and have been knitting seven steek stitches (the stitch that gets cut, plus some extra just-in-case-it-unravels stitches). I don't remember why I have seven, but now I'm concerned that it's too many. I knitted facings for the Dale sweater which cover the raw edges, with such a large number of stitches to cover the facings will be very wide. Also, I'm concerned that the button plackets will need to cover much too wide of a space. The bottom and cuff ribbing are just three rows, the plackets would need to be at least double and that could easily offend my sense of balance. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Feline Roadblocks:
Judy hates Fred.
Now that she has decided to rejoin the posse, she's around to beat up on the wee little bugger. Judy is three times the size of Fred, but Fred has been able to defend herself very well. I'm more concerned with Judy's emotional well being, she is so unhappy. We're thinking about checking with our vet to see if anti-anxiety drugs would be helpful, since therapy isn't an option.
Plus, I haven't being feeling all that well for the last few days. It finally hit me that the symptoms I'm experiencing are exactly my allergy symptoms: sore throat, oogy stomach, run down. Fred seems to have pushed me over the edge of what my allergy medication can handle. {sigh}
The booties are from Saartje's freaking adorable pattern (which, once I worked through my bone-headedness, is perfectly clear and easy). The hat I made up on my very own (based on a hat pattern in some book I have).
I knew I wanted bright blue buttons (I sometimes pass a bright orange house with a bright blue chair on the porch and have often thought that it is such a nice little detail). I figured I would make-do with plain round buttons, but found these flowers instead. What could be more perfect?
So perfect, that I decided they deserved repeating on the hat.
I found the buttons at Threadbear on Saturday, where I got to meet and have my picture taken by a very delightful Franklin of The Panopticon fame. I am pleased to report that I did not make a complete ass of myself (at least I don't think I did). Nor did I break the bank on yarn, despite being lined up next to the lace weight (very unfair).
I also found buttons for the Tilted Duster, which I will report on tomorrow, along with my unsuccessful attempts at sewing. At this rate, MICHMash, I will be ready to help you with your pajama pattern in about 5 or 6 years.
Tuesday night I pulled out three balls of yarn (er, Cleakheaton Country something something, discontinued), light pink, lavender, and dusty rose, and was promptly lost in a storm of indecision. I liked the colors together, I didn't think I would, but they were rather soft and pretty. However, as you are looking at orange and red rather than pinks and lavender, I think you know which way I went.
So. Cleakheaton something or other, DK weight, superwash wool. Each ball was about 50 grams. The instructions I've read say to use 1 packet of kool aid per ounce of wool for saturated color. Um. Yeah, I increased that a bit. I used 10 packets for 1.75 ounces. That was a bit extreme, since it didn't soak up all the dye, but it sure is saturated! I then spent most of yesterday evening knitting and ripping a bootie, not because anything is wrong with the pattern, but I seem to be a bit dim (unlike the yarn). I should have at least one bootie to show tomorrow.
Unlike Stef, truly minor.
Fred, who is delightful in so many ways, has developed a very bad behavior: she pees and poops in inappropriate places. We think this is because she is afraid of Judy, who has not reacted well to Fred's presence. At. All. Her hiding place is next to the litter boxes. We've put another box upstairs, but the only appropriate place is also a regular Judy hideout. The really rotten bit is that she ruined my copy of Atonement, which I have not finished.
In the very minor, but what in god's name was she (whoever she is) thinking, category: someone cut her hair in our bathroom at work. There are shreds of it all over the sink and clumps on the floor. Who would do such a thing? I can imagine a moment of bang despair, wherein she just could not contain herself (I've had those moments, but have, to this date, managed to suck it up until I got to my own private bathroom at home), but to not then clean up after herself? Very rude, and kind of gross (especially because this is a very small bathroom).
My drive to work today was shockingly bad. This winter has had plenty of snow, ice, fog, sleet and rain, but never have I seen so many cars having slid into each other then off the highway. It's as though drivers randomly decided that it is no longer winter, and that is not less true just because there is snow and ice on the road. Thus, we crawled into Ann Arbor at a whopping 20 miles per hours. Slow, but very safe.
I went to find yarn yesterday and came up with this:
Once I started knitting (a Baby Surprise), I decided there is too much tan and the self-patterning yarn does not work in garter stitch (which not have been a surprise, but, well, you know. It was.) Ugh. As I was lying in bed, stressing a bit, I remember that I have a couple of very pale pastel balls of washable DK weight wool, which I could dye with kool-aid. I can't remember if I have two or three of these and I'm just feeling very indecisive about the whole baby-sweater-in-less-than-a-week endeavor. I went to another shop at lunch. Nothing. I have decided (I think) to make a pair of booties (Saartje's booties, in fact) and a wee hat (which I'll make it up as I go). Kool-aid dye tonight, knitting tomorrow. If that doesn't work, watch this space for my exploding head.
I am pleased to report, despite a rather busy Saturday, I managed to finish the Tilted Duster:
Simon is pleased. I added a couple of rows of garter stitch to the bottom of the expanse of stockinette, since I can't help but think it will curl, even with severe blocking. I had enough of the green to do the collar, but decided to stick with my original plan to use the mauve, which I think adds some extra interest.
It still needs buttons (I'm going up to Nirvana=ThreadBear* this weekend and will, I hope, find some). It also needs to be blocked -- the sweater fits but lays a bit oddly, the knitting really needs a good soak to relax some, which should fix that issue. I may also end up ripping the collar and re-knitting it, since it is a bit on the tall side for me.
Next up in knitting: I need to make a quick baby sweater, for a shower-lunch thing next Tuesday. I went shopping in my rather substantial stash and didn't come up with anything inspiring. I do have some very light gray wool, which I may dye with kool-aid. It isn't washable, though, and I hate the idea of subjecting someone with a new baby to hand washing. Seems mean. I'll decide before leaving work.
And in the "Have You Lost Your Ever-Lovin' Mind" category:
Yes. Sewing. Never mind that I haven't sewn a dang thing since junior high school Home Ec., or that I have my hands full with the knitting and the weaving and the baking and the cooking and the cleaning. Not to mention the stupid beads. I need something else to do like I need a hole in the head. However, I do have a sewing machine -- bought specifically for the purpose of steeks -- and it does seem like there are certain things that make more sense to make than to buy (e.g. a simple little bag). I resisted for quite a long time before I caved.
But cave, I did. Then I fell for some cute flowers.
And who can resist dots (with the requisite cat hair)? Certainly not I. I blame angry chicken. It is her book after all.
I got all of the pieces cut out (badly, I'm sure), but it all came crashing down when I couldn't find the manual for the sewing machine to review how to wind a bobbin, which shows just how little experience I have. I downloaded the manual today, so I'm good to go. Or I should be. Now, if I could just download some sanity, I'd be happy.
*I don't really need an excuse to go, but they are hosting Franklin Habit of The Panopticon fame, as part of his 1,000 Knitters project. Yes, I am a sheep (of the stupid follower variety, not of the bad pun type). But I also haven't had a decent picture taken of me since my high school senior pictures, and I am interested in how a professional would do.
I have only a little to say about not very much, so a totally random list it is:
1. I continue to be in a very blah mood. Lack of sun? Too much bizarre weather? It's typical of Michigan, but always disconcerting. Depression?
2. Judy is sleeping with us again. She still hasn't forgiven us for taking her to the vet, and we still don't see her otherwise (unless she is running away), but for the last two nights, she has slept on our bed. Weird. We are supposed to take Simon, Gwen and Judy back to the vet this weekend for booster shots, I doubt we'll get Judy back up there.
3. Fred continues to be completely delightful.
4. I seem to be on track to finish the Tilted Duster by the end of this weekend. Crazy. Aside from baby sweaters, this is the fastest I've ever knit a sweater.
5. Election rant: I haven't decided whether I am voting in the primary today. The national Democratic party is not seating any delegates from Michigan and all but Clinton and Kucinich pulled their names from the ballot. And I will not vote in the Republican primary, since I dislike all of them equally. I was sick of the election about 3 minutes after it began, which was like 5 years ago. Wake me up when it's over. Seriously. Is there any substance? I have this vague memory that Edwards, Clinton and Obama released health care plans, but that was a long time ago. We get a lot of "I was against the war before you were against the war"/"No, I was" blah blah blah. Has any of them given a realistic answer as to what they would actually do about it? What are the steps any one of them would take to help stabilize the Middle East? Was there ever a time when presidential candidates actually said something? The decision about who will be our next president should be the most important decision I make today, but I can't help but believe that decision will have been made by someone with a great deal more money than I long before I step into a voting booth. Feh.
6. I'm reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. I love it. I haven't seen the movie, I've heard it is very good, but I cannot, for the life of me see how the book could be translated to a movie.
7. That is all. Here is a pretty picture:
I know y'all have been wondering if I'd ever post pictures of knitting again (I kind of doubt that), and here it is, evidence of knitting:
Frost Flowers and Leaves. It doesn't look like much, nor will it until it is blocked, but knitting lace is such a pleasure. The yarn is alpaca lace weight from Henry's Attic, which I bought more than a year ago (I think) with this project in mind.
I can't wait to get it on the circulars. The corners where the double points are ugly (blocking will be my friend, I hope).
Drifting Pleats: two sets of pleats have drifted. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, in Garnet, I'm using size 4 needles for this.
Closeup of the pleats, with bonus cat hair.
The Tilted Duster, looking more like a sweater than a green blob. While I don't think I will ever convert to large needle knitting, there is something to be said for starting a sweater and being able to wear it in short order. I'm not there yet, but I don't think this will take more than another couple of weeks.
The ribbing part of the pattern has a 9 row repeat (increasing at the sides, decreasing at the front), which is repeated 10 times. Rather than a row counter and marking repeats on the pattern, I decided to attach 10 removable markers to the knitting. When I finish a 9 row repeat, I take one of these markers and attach it to the last row of the repeat.
I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure I will manage to screw this up. For now, though, it is working very well, and I haven't gotten lost yet.
Gratuitous cat shot: Fred loves knitting.
My mood is quite foul. I've been indulging myself, and wallowing in it a bit, but it is getting old and about time to shake myself out.
I have knitting to show off, but haven't taken any pictures (of knitting) recently. I promise to take some tonight. So in photoless knitting news: I've finished two repeats of the Drifting Pleats and continue to be stunned by the genius of this pattern. I'm finding the instant gratification of the Tilted Duster kind of thrilling -- I've finished the back, fronts, and two sleeves. The back and fronts are sewn together and the skirt is picked up and knitted down, I am about 5 inches into the skirt. I've developed a failsafe way to keep track of where I am in the increase/decrease repeats, I'm sure enough of my boneheadedness that I will find a way around that system and screw up. Like I said. Foul mood. I've also started Frost Flowers and Leaves from Gathering of Lace. More on that when I have pictures.
The fifth and final season of The Wire started last night. If you haven't seen this, get a hold of the DVDs and catch up. This is simply the best that television has to offer (link goes to Pajiba review).
A bit more on Fred: she does have her claws, I have scratches to prove it (from a bit of roughhousing, on my part). We fall squarely in the Pro Claw camp, though I certainly can understand why someone might be in the Anti Claw camp (Simon and Gwen destroyed the vinyl upholstery on a chair of Len's, I'm a little afraid to find out how much it will cost to replace). Fred was a character on Angel, a TV show that spun off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Len and I both have huge crushes on Fred, a character who, even though she didn't possess any superhuman strength, could still kick some serious ass. At the end of the series her body was taken over by a sort of god, and she did get superhuman strength, plus blue skin, a form fitting leather outfit, and a serious lack of moral compass. Bless her heart. Yep, we do love us some Fred at our house. Of both varieties.
In order to not leave you completely without pictures, here is one I took on January 1st:
I have a couple of black and white versions on Flickr, but I think I like the color version better. It is now close to 60 degrees outside and all that snow is gone.
I'm back. The best I can say about the holidays is that they are over. The less said the better.
Cats, on the other hand, they are keeping our lives interesting. It's a long story, full of scratches, bites, tears, and recriminations. And that was just Judy. But. Everyone got vaccinated and we got our new baby, What's Her Name (Stella? Clara? ???) and Len did not get an infection from the cat bite.
So cute! She took over the house immediately. Simon started playing with her within a day or so. Gwen. Well, she's been less accepting. She pooped on the bathroom floor several times a day, for several days (and a couple of times in the bedroom). It's been tense, but she's working through her issues. Ha! Judy finally joined us last night, after hiding in the basement for a week, and discovered the newbie. She wasn't amused.
And our friends, C & A had a baby a week ago. I got to see her on Tuesday, an auspicious beginning to the new year.
Yes, I am sitting at work. I can't say as I'll get much actual work done in the half day I'll be here, but there is something calming about a practically empty library.
Drifting Pleats update: After much head scratching, gnashing of teeth, and ripping of yarn, I finally have a sense of how the scarf is knit. I love it. This is knitting you have to think about, it's complex without being difficult, and it is so different from anything else I've done. Figuring this out reminds me of when I finally got how to knit stranded knitting with both hands: I had a very hard time getting it, but finally a light bulb went off and my hands suddenly knew what to do. This has that same feeling.
I took these pictures this morning before coming to work, so everything is a bit wonky. Two of the four pleats have "drifted" to the right edge of the scarf.
Here's how it looks from the back.
In other, completely unrelated, news:
Len and I are getting perilously close to Crazy Cat Couple territory. This is "Zoebelle" (a name she will not be keeping for long). We went to the Cascades Humane Society on Saturday, Len had hoped to find a tiny kitten, but we found her instead. She's about a year old, and warmed up to us almost immediately (unlike Judy, who hasn't done so after two years).
We have to get the three other buggers their shots, then we will bring her home on Wednesday. Why are we getting a fourth? I don't have a good answer. Probably because Judy isn't really our cat, she is Simon and Gwen's cat. And Simon and Gwen are more my cats (Simon's affections are pretty evenly divided between us, but I came with him). This isn't a rash decision, we've been thinking about it since this summer. So there you are, on Wednesday, we will have a new kitty.
So. I'm off to the land of slow dial-up and aside from cleaning out junk e-mail, will not be checking in for the next week. Everyone have a lovely Whatever-You-Celebrate (even if it just a day off) and a Happy New Year!
Drifting Pleats kicked my rear end up and down the block this weekend (and I live in the country, it is a very long block). The pleats are easy enough, it doesn't take long to see what she is getting at, the drifting was giving me trouble, though. Mostly because I am very dim. It seems that just because it doesn't look like stitches have moved, they have. This is knitting you really have to think about, it isn't so complex, it is just so different. I'll try to get it together to take pictures, you know, when there is something to show.
Instead, here is a pretty little glass reindeer. This is my favorite ornament (until I look at all the others on my tree), it is so elegant. The reindeer (along with a few others on my tree) belonged to my mother's Aunt Alice. To my great regret, I never met her -- my impression is that both of my parents were very fond of her. I did know two of my mom's other aunts -- Bernie (who had a classic green jello salad, which is really quite good) and Margaret (who was a pill). Why yes, I am very sentimental!
What I was going to say, before I was so rudely interrupted:
This is Gwen. She's not that smart, and she doesn't pretend to be. Several years ago she had some sort of liver disease, I believe one of the medications we gave her messed up her eyesight -- her pupils are over-dilated and it takes a couple of tries for her to find a partially opened door. Sometimes she runs into things, and she can be sort of timid about jumping down from the couch.
Gwen has a very bad habit. She pees on things. Only on soft things left on the floor or bed, like clothes*, towels, or our expensive-to-clean down comforter. We're pretty laid back, so that isn't a capital offense, but she is not allowed into our bedroom without escort (she does not do it when we are around, she is shy. Or something.) The problem is, because most of our heat comes from the wood stove in the living room, with the door closed, our bedroom is not heated, which makes bedtime very uncomfortable.
We decided the perfect solution to this problem was to put up a baby gate. The other two cats would have no problem jumping over it, but they don't have the Bad Habit. We thought there would be no way Gwen would be able to jump the gate, being pretty dim, timid and having little eyesight. So I borrowed one from a co-worker and Len installed it.
It took her two days.
Curses!
*Personally, I would think this might be good incentive for Len to keep his dirty clothes out of the living room, but no. She doesn't pee on them often enough.
Stef has pointed out that Blogger doesn't seem to allow those without Blogger accounts to attach their URL to comments they make. I finally did a bit of research and it seems the Blogger people have made a dastardly change to the Comment system. I keep trying to figure out how to explain it in a way that makes any kind of sense, but I cannot because it makes no sense. This is what Blogger says:
Blogger has removed the URL field for unauthenticated comments. Instead, we're rolling out support for OpenID, a technology for "signing" your comments with your own URL. OpenID lets you comment with the URL you want, while preventing others from impersonating you. Blog admins can turn on OpenID now on Blogger in Draft. Learn more. —
So, Blogger removed the URL field but didn't replace it with anything else. The Blog Owner (that's me, in case you are wondering), has to figure out there is a problem, find out that she has to turn something on in someplace she has never heard of (what is Blogger in Draft anyway? And why to I have to implement a "draft" of something? In my little corner of the world, that means UNFINISHED!) And then what is turned on? OpenID. I don't even know, I don't know how you sign in using it, I don't know how it works, and I can't test it since I don't have another account to use. Stupid Blogger.
I don't like having to think about my blog this much, it's supposed to be fun, not work. For you and for me.
I had a very funny How-My-Really-Stupid-Half-Blind-Cat-Outsmarted-Two-Grownup-Humans story to tell, but now I am too pissed off.
I thought of a very clever title on my way to work this morning, but alas, it is lost in the fog and freezing rain.
I (finally!) finished the baby pants on Thursday night, or more specifically, Friday morning at 12:20 (which made 6:30 Friday morning interesting and rather confusing). I brought them into work with me with the intention of subjecting them to a photo session, but ended up buried in work. Nor did I, I'm sorry to say, have time on Saturday and by that night they were gone, taken to await the arrival of the baby recipient. I did take a quick picture to prove their doneness, so we shall have to make do with that one.
The picture is a bit of a yawner, but I find the pants quite adorable. I also couldn't be more pleased that they are done.
I immediately casted on the Tilted Duster from the Fall 2007 issue of IK, using the green RYC Soft Tweed. Since I doubt I have enough yarn, I'm thinking that I will do the collar in the mauve. No pictures, it is just a blob at this point, but since I'm using big needles, it is an instant gratification blob.
Last night I started playing around with...I don't know how else to describe it but knitting architecture. I got Lynne Barr's Knitting New Scarves a few weeks ago. I cannot express how exciting this book is, but here is a peek at the contents. She is truly thinking in three dimensions.
This is the beginning of Drifting Pleats. This isn't the yarn I'm planning to use, but I thought it would be useful to play around with the pattern a bit before using the real yarn. Isn't that the coolest thing ever?
Simon thinks so.
This is the yarn I'm planning to use. Unfortunately I was too addled to remember to bring a tag with me, so I'm not sure what it is, except an alpaca/silk blend. When I went shopping for yarn, I had 3 factors in mind, and a fourth was adopted fairly quickly: color, drape, gauge and yardage was quickly added. I couldn't find anything that fit all of the criteria -- yardage was added because I did find a couple a balls that would have fit the first three, but there weren't enough. I went with this yarn because I love the blood red, and the drape will be perfect; I figured I could deal with the gauge problem. After last night, I know I will be able to add a pleat and all will be well.
Simon isn't really interested in the knitting, he just wants to knead the yarn.
No, the pants aren't done yet. The knitting is, but there is still a bit of finishing. I don't do Christmas knitting because the deadlines and the need to concentrate on one thing (that I don't even keep to keep!) make me crazy.
I haven't been reading as much as usual, but I did finish Anne Tyler's Amateur Marriage a little while ago. Sharon wasn't kidding when she said it is a bleak book. It struck me that these could have been my parents, had they stayed together -- while my mother was not nearly as nutty as Pauline, she is emotional and vivacious. My dad, on the other hand, was very much like Michael, stoic, not as expressive (I think this has changed some in the last few years). They weren't very well suited to each other and had they stayed together their marriage could well have become just as damaging. Not that divorce is a barrel of laughs.
After that most cheerful book, I started (and am currently reading) Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America. I've read many of his very funny books, and I am pleased to see that I have not exhausted his catalog. My favorite, so far, is A Walk in the Woods, his account of hiking the Appalachian Trail.
I am also still reading Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963. It is very interesting and well written, but because it is so dense it's been slow going for me. I've just finished the section on the Kennedy-Nixon presidential race which is especially relevant. It's very interesting to see that race from a civil rights perspective: their civil rights planks were very similar and blacks were quite divided on who to support. It is a very complicated story, but because John F. Kennedy telephoned Coretta Scott King while MLK was in prison and Robert Kennedy called the judge in the case, the black vote swung to JFK, and may have been the deciding factor in the race. It was all kept hush-hush, the phone calls were publicized by pamphlets handed out at churches, since the Kennedy campaign didn't want to upset Southern whites. What was so interesting to me about this section of the book was how packaged the candidates were, that just as happens now, everything Kennedy and Nixon said and did or didn't say or do, was calculated to maximize public opinion. So little was genuine. True then, true now, sad to say.
First, I have to announce that the baby pants now have two legs, so A can go ahead and have a two-legged baby. I'm sure she will be relieved. They aren't actually finished, but I should be able to get them done tonight. Crummy pictures tomorrow (I hope).
Len and I got our Christmas tree this weekend. The tree is a big deal to me -- setting it up, putting on the lights and ornaments is my favorite part of the season. I can't really explain why, but it's so hopeful. The first two years we lived in Grass Lake we got our trees from some old coot (with a mean dog) down the street. They were exactly the kind I like: big and wild. Last year he was only selling potted trees, so we ended up going to one of the big-business tree farms where the trees are insanely expensive, small and perfect cones. Feh. I told Len that if that is our only choice, I thought we should just buy a fake tree and be done with it.
But, we found a guy. He has a big farm out in the middle of nowhere, the trees are exactly the ones I like, and instead of a mean dog, the guy hands out chocolate and crazy hologram glasses. In between dealing with an old boiler crisis and a jammed up sewer line (not our's), Len helped pick out a tree, lug it home and set it up (he recognizes it's importance to me, but he isn't that excited about it, himself). I put lights on last night.
This thing is 8 feet tall (after cutting off the top) and almost as wide. And those glasses he hands out?
This is what happens when you put them on. So cool!
Once I've finished a few other projects I will have more time to devote to weaving. For now I only managed to get the treadles tied up, a bunch of bobbins wound and one stripe woven.
The nice thing about these pictures is that you can't see how crummy my edges are (however, you can see the distortion that is inherent in a point & shoot camera at the bottom of the two closeups, my weaving is not that bad!). Hopefully, I will be able to figure out what is going on with them before I go further with the weaving.
There were actually three birds, I couldn't get good pictures of the male and female cardinals.
