Feline Addicts

Do your cats smoke crack?

I'm convinced that mine do. In fact, I'm also convinced that Bonnie has a crack production operation under our house complete with rat mules for distribution and a network of tunnels through our metropolis.

Now, I really know nothing about crack production, distribution, or use.

Feline crack smoking appears to manifest with sudden wide eyes, snapping tail, and jumping about at apparently invisible things. I have confirmed with friends who live with felines and the behavior seems to be consistent cat to cat. Mine have suddenly 'turned on' and jumped about on the furniture...springing from spot to spot diving under pillows or reaching down between the cushions. WITH NO APPARENT OUTSIDE STIMULUS! Thus my theory that they smoke crack.

I haven't found any of their paraphernalia, but I am pretty darn sure Bonnie, being the personality that she is, has a manufacturing plant beneath our house. Bonnie P. is always thinking. She is one of those individuals in which you can see the wheels turning...only if she wants you to see them of course...otherwise she has that feline squint going on that says, "Eff you Momma."

I did my best in raising her, I really did. I tell her frequently that there may be a 12 Step Program out there for her and that she is not alone. Her only response to me is to pop her tail and throw an "Eff you Momma" look over her shoulder. Sigh....you do your very best for these children and this is what you get...

Clyde, I believe, goes along for the ride. He occasionally smokes crack, but mostly he seems to drift through things always looking for trouble. I think he's Bonnie's enforcer. He is soft at his core however and always comes home for Momma's kisses.

Raising children is certainly a mixed bag.

I'll be off now to work some more on my Pi shawl and to watch an adorable movie called, "Schultze Gets the Blues." Ta Ta

Home From Knitting Lesson

What a wonderful afternoon...truly a success.

Anthony took to knitting like a fish to water! I cast on three stitches and he cast on the rest with minimal coaching. I then knit one row, turned and handed it off to him...and off he went. We had a lovely afternoon watching trash television and then the majority of "Wall E." What a delightful movie!

Bella, the mini-Dachshund and Otto, the Chihuahua were initially quite a lot of help, but soon settled in to knitting assisted somnolence. As I was leaving it started to rain, but it's warm out. Lovely to have spring in the PNW.

I finished the small yellow ball on the Pi shawl and started on the green. Still at the 288 stitch phase, but not far from the next increase. The concentric holes every six rows are a wonderful addition.

Bonnie is madly working at a cupboard door so I had better focus on what she needs.

When Life Gets Messy

When life gets messy for me, I find two things very helpful:
1. Return to the classics
2. Organize

Yesterday I started my first Pi shawl...now this certainly isn't a classic for me, but it is a classic in the knitting community. This particular shawl is a lot of mindless knitting in the round. Around and around with a bit of variation every several rows, but basically around and around knitting. All knitters start with the knit stitch. Once you learn the knit stitch you only have one more stitch to learn (purl) so you are halfway to expertise.

Today we went through the chore of sorting the mail and paying the bills. Blech. We don't sort the mail very often...who wants all that bad new that often? As I sorted I came upon a sympathy card from RCVH. They sent it to me after Lessa's passing. It was a kind thought for sure. One of the signers was Dr. Tom. I've known Dr. Tom as long as I've known the clinic, or nearly so. He wrote that Lessa was one of the true originals. She sure was.

Lessa kitty crossed paths with me in 1989 or 90, I think. She was a barn cat with a badly fractured leg. I was a newish tech and hadn't been around long enough to have filled my house with rescues. When I opened the cardboard carrier, I knew she was meant for me. Before we even took xrays, I told David that, "if they pull the plug on this cat, I want her." That was the beginning of a 19 year relationship.

This morning before we commenced with the household stuff, I drank my coffee while knitting on my Pi shawl and enjoying another classic, "Harold and Maude." I have enjoyed this movie for 25 years or so. What a gift to the world is a good movie. I enjoyed the Cat Stevens sound track as well as the familiar Maude quotes: "Oh don't be officious. You're not yourself when your officious. That's the curse of a government job. is one of my favorites.

So, the classics were out of the way for this messy day.

On to organize.

I went through all of this accumulated mail. Shredding and putting to the recycling. Writing checks while husband muttered and swore over trying to put the protective shield on his Droid. Why won't he just pay BestBuy to do it? Well, that's a question with no answer and a subject for a different kind of blog. When the bills were done, I moved on to organizing myself by taking a shower.

Refreshed and ready for the day, albeit late in the day, but it's Sunday after all, I went through my Naked Sheep knitting bag putting the contents away. When I had to quit knitting last July, I gave the bag to Mom because she agreed to finish some socks for me. It finally made its way back to my house, but I'd not done anything with it. So, this morning I did.

Now I'm ready for another movie and to knit some more on the Pi shawl. Anthony is to call when he's ready for his lesson.

Around and around the knitting goes...

Pi Shawl: End of Day One

Okay, so this could definitely be considered obsessive...I've knit all day. Also not good for the not as yet had surgery hand.

I couldn't figure out the Emily Ocker cast on. I did make multiple attempts. Finally I improvised and I'm pleased with the results.

I've knit all of the small red ball and am well into the small orange one. I'm at the 288 stitch/48 rows stage. I've taken one of EZ's suggestions and every sixth row is a YO, K2tog row to add some concentric circles.

My mind did spin a bit on going for the more complicated pattern, but sanity won the day.

On to a movie and to rest.

Pi Shawl: Day One: The Sorrow and the Pity: Or: Let's turn that frown upside down...

The yarn arrived last Wednesday. After some fondling, oohing, and ahhing, I brought it home and resisted the urge to fondle again until last night. The work week was finally done and I was set to use the new swift and wind this lovely, lacey. gorgeous stuff into balls in preparation for starting to knit today.

First a few words about the yarn. I bought it from Knit Picks...see http://www.knitpicks.com/ for it and more wonders. The yarn is called Gloss Lace. It is lace weight 70% Merino Wool and 30% silk. It's hand wash/dry flat...I usually avoid such things and it's gorgeous. It's soft and the colors are vibrant. The colors are a rainbow spectrum: Fiesta/Carrot/Dandelion/Peapod/Ultramarine/Cyan/Lilac. Each skein is 440 yards/50 grams. It's spun beautifully and perfectly.

Last night after dinner I set up the new swift and set about the first task. The winding went well. I've never used a wooden swift. Previous swifts have been organics (husband or anyone else I could talk into it). This worked pretty darn well. I must say the swift looks perfectly placed attached to the blue dresser. (Mom: Can't wait for you to see it.) As I hoped, I was able to get one large and one small ball from each skein. My intention is to make Elizabeth Zimmerman's basic Pi shawl and have the smaller amounts of color radiate out to the larger ones.

The winding commenced under terrorist observation. Now, Momma has been around a while, so she knew what to do when she completed the winding....put the yarn balls away. So, I did just that. I secured them, in order of use, in a plastic bag and put the bag in a drawer that so far terrorists are unable to access. I went to bed with a clear head and enjoyed a nice night of sleep.

Today, after taxes were done (ugh!), we went by The Naked Sheep (http://www.thenakedsheepknitshop.com/) to purchase the right needles for the project. I arrived at home to begin the project.

Horror....there was a terrorist attack in the night! Apparently the small carrot ball of yarn did not make it into the secure location and therefore homeland security was no help. The small ball of carrot was in three pieces and several snarls on the floor of my room...stretching out the doorway. After stomping and yelling, I set about making it right. It's been wound up into a ball again after being tied together. Not the way I wanted it, but it will do.

We are now on vomit watch in case some was ingested. Damn.

So, I'm ready to start again. One terrorist is perching on the back of my chair; the other is not in evidence....but then Dad has been painting in another room....

EZ take me away.

The New/Old/As Yet Unfinished Project AKA The Companion Year Long Scarf to the Year Long Hat(s)

The re-arranging in my room certainly has it's benefits as well as dust bunnies. I've come upon some 'missing' yarn.

A couple of years ago, my friend Juls commissioned me to make knitted hats for her and her mother.

I don't do very well with knitting project deadlines, however I cannot say 'no' to a knitting project. Back to my story...

My dear and sweet friend Julie asked me to knit a hat for her mother. Julie's mom had recently survived chemotherapy and needed a warm hat for her cold head. I happily agreed. We rendevouzed at The Naked Sheep Knit Shop here in North Portland where Julie picked out yarn and a pattern. Along the way she asked if I would knit her a hat as well and with the same pattern. Again, I happily agreed. Julie is dear to me and by extension, so is her mom.

As I stated previously, I don't do very well at all with knitting project deadlines. I won't go into the gnarly details, but suffice it to say, it took something like a year for me to knit both hats. I must be clearly indicate that I knit plenty of things in that year, but I lolly-gagged around with these hats. Eventually they were complete. The yarn was beyond lovely....a baby Alpaca soft dream to touch and knit. The mom hat was a beautiful lavender and the Julie hat was a rich cream. Somewhere along the line a scarf was discussed. The mom had made it to the mom in time for a holiday visit. The Julie hat was complete in time for her business trip to Europe. The scarf, well the scarf went nowhere, life continued and last July, knitting stopped for me completely, but that is another story.

A year later I'm sorting through my room and re-arranging and here I find the scarf yarn. The rich creamy baby Alpaca is a delight to touch. I've been mulling over the last few days, since I found the yarn, just what pattern to use, what size needles, etc. I had actually started and ripped back this scarf multiple times, but nothing seem to feel right. I have learned to put a project away if it doesn't feel right.

My current lavatory reading is "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting" something like that....it's an okay book, but I won't subject you to a review at this time. That being said, in the finishing section, there were instructions on how to prevent an edge from curling by creating a selvage. Turns out I've done this on every heel flap I've made and not noticed that this simple slipping of the first stitch prevents the sides from curling it. EPIPHANY! I instantly knew what to do with this new found knowledge...the scarf.

So I've cast on the scarf and ripped it out once and cast on again. The scarf is knit in the same pattern of the hats...basic garter stitch with a contrasting column every seven stitches. The big question now is, will it take me a year to finish this scarf? I hope not. Julie, don't hold your breath dear friend.

Enough blogging digression, off to knit some more creamy baby Alpaca.

Taking the Plunge

I did it! Finally!

I've purchased lace weight yarn. Specifically a rainbow sampler of Gloss from Knit Picks. Truly a rainbow with all six colors represented. For months, perhaps a year isn't it Mom?, I've been toying with knitting a Pi shawl.

My intrest grew when I listened to Kelley Petkun talk about Pi shawls years ago on her Knit Picks Podcasts. I've done some research and looked at Pi shawls online...amazing lace creations. I have no inflated inspiration to do anything but a basic Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi shawl. Such a simple pattern is ideally suited to colorful yarn. There is nothing special about the stitching as it's a very simple lace made of knit stitches and yarn overs, knit in the round. It will start with an Emily Ocker special cast on.

I've also ordered a yarn swift. I've been drooling over these handy devices for a few years too as they are pretty handy for winding hanks into usuable balls. Knit Picks just so happens to have swifts on a reduced price for one week only. So, I had to, right, a gift from the knitting gods, right?

All of this after reading the Yarn Harlot last night and her futile attempts to manage her stash and resolve to finish projects before starting anything new. I was resolved this morning to blog all about how bored I get with my current projects and how I'm afflicted with 'startitis' as the YH is every spring. It was perhaps an ambitious, but weak willed attempt to have some control in my life??

At any rate, that all went out the window when I opened an email from Knit Picks.

I'm sure that Bonnie and Clyde will be as delighted with the swift as I.

On to morning knitting and coffee....

Pile Driver vs Stealth Bomber

Bonnie and Clyde differ in their approaches to the human body. No, they don't dispute over some fundamental physical anatomy philosophy. They differ in their techniques of arrival ON the human body.

Clyde is a relentless pile driver. He will walk up the length of the human form pressing 1000 psi with every step. It can be like some kind of prisoner-of-war-torture technique. The steps are bad enough, but when he pauses....ouch! It's as iff all of his very being and all of the gravity on our planet, and then some, are pushing down on my body, all in the two dimensional space taken up by the bottom of his paw. If he wants to lean forward and say, sniff my eyelid, all of this pressure is doubled because he is careful to put both forefeet tightly side-by-side. No amount of writhing by the human victim seems to shift his stance. A shove with an arm or hand will dislodge him, but that is only the begining. He is relentless. The walking will begin again....up the full length of the body with pauses along the way as he deems appropriate.

Bonnie is a stealth bomber: she appears out of nowhere dropping her payload with a targeted vengeance. Bonnie is a powerful girl in a little package. She really does arrive out of nowhere. Her mis-matched hind legs are deceptively powerful springs. Only with the incredible skill of the feline does Bonnie leap from a standstill and up and on to whatever she desires. This results in a surprise attack I'm not prepared for. She may be small, but she is compact, and when she lands it is inevitably followed by a whoosh of air and a grunt out of the human. Once when they were still pretty little, I had just settled down with an Amy's vegetarian pizza. It had been a long day, I was tired, this little pizza was what I had looked forward to. I sat down in my chair, pulled the lever to recline and umph! Bonnie landed in the middle of my pizza. All four feet and a surprised look on her face and there she was looking at me as if to say, "Hi Momma, how's your dinner?"

Last night I slept relatively unscathed by my feline terrorists, but when the alarm went off this morning...Bonnie landed beside my head (not on my head thankfully) and Clyde walked up from about the knees.

Good Morning Momma...