Challenges of a New Feline

Raising a new feline meant that I would need to adapt another cat to my knitting ways. The majority of the stash is already tucked away in bins that the cats cannot go frolic in, but I've been particularly lucky that Gypsy hasn't shown much interest in wool beyond occasionally wanting to sleep on it and/or chasing yarn while I'm actually working on it. Even that's pretty rare though, she's happy usually to curl up next to me and sleep while I'm knitting. 

Pyewacket, on the other hand, is a nearly four month old kitten who thinks all dangling things must be captured and destroyed.  Having a kitten LAUNCH herself at you and cling to your leg because you made the mistake of retying your sweater belt is a pointy-tipped surprise every time.  

In general though, Pye hasn't paid too much attention to the knitting. There's a lot of it around but most of it is just part of her world.  There seem to be two exceptions:

1) Wool Socks.  Pye really likes wool socks. She likes licking my feet when I'm wearing them (maybe she thinks that's my artificial fur?) and she carries them around when I've left a pair on the bedroom floor. I keep finding random socks in the middle of the bed, the livingroom floor, etc. She doesn't appear to be chewing on them, so no harm is being done but it's strange. 

2) The Lorna's Laces Solemate.  I don't know what Beth and team put into that yarn but my kitten thinks it's fantastic. I hadn't noticed that the skein was missing off the kitchen table until I was getting dressed the other morning and realized I could see yarn sticking out from under the bed.  Not leftovers, such as I occasionally hand over for feline cobwebbing around table legs, no, this was new yarn that was not yet wound into a ball. I fished it out from under the bed, gave thanks that they tied the skein in several places, twisted it back up and shoved it in a drawer while continuing to get dressed. [What? You mean there isn't yarn in your dressers? It was morning, I hadn't had coffee.] You can imagine, then, my surprise to come home 24 hours later and find the yarn, untwisted again, in the middle of the kitchen.  I hope she talked Gypsy into opening the drawer, I didn't think she's strong enough to do that by herself. 

I know that what needs to happen is I get all the WIPs caught up and tidied away and there isn't yarn laying all over Chez Hedgehog. I also get highly amused reading that last sentence. 

Me vs. Kitten, hopefully I win. 

Found the Camera

One of the challenges of knit-blogging is that it's best done with photographs.  While podcasters the world over have an amazing capacity for telling us about a specific yarn, I find that when I'm scrolling through the RSS feeds, I still want to see pictures of finished objects--and that I'm clicking links those podcasters provide to see the ooh-shiny.

I realized about a week ago that I wasn't sure where my trusty little Canon was.  It wasn't in the current knitting pile, on the kitchen table, stashed in my work bag.... Finally, last night, I found it in a knitting bag that was stashed in my office.

I tend to avoid spending too much time in my office in the winter.  The wall that keeps it from being out of doors is at best lightly insulated, so it's always at least 10 degrees colder in there than in the rest of the apartment. When the option is to keep that door shut and keep the heater from running quite so much, I do try to take it, but that means if I've put something in there it's a bit like putting it in a dark hole.

But having found it means I could take pictures!

I do not have a picture of the black socks. Imagine black socks that look a lot like these here, only one sock is done and the second sock is about an inch from turning the heel.

I do have pictures of my socks from Hawaii!



These are Blue Moon Fiber Arts in My Blue Heaven. My standard vanilla 2x2 rib, 48 stitches on size 2 needles. I made the legs a little longer than usual, mostly because I always end up with a fair chunk of leftovers.  This colorway striped a little but  They're still waiting to go into rotation but considering that most of my wool socks need to get a bath, that should be pretty soon.



Fortunately, my stash of BMFA Mediumweight is not fully depleted yet, and the Coppertree socks are coming along nicely.



I've got another inch or so on these before the heel flap, they need to be tall enough so that they reach the top of the Philosopher's boots, I'm told. Once I get through the heel flap, I'm going to stop and make him try them on so that if I'm dealing with too small or not right I can fix it before I get through another 1.5 socks. I know you can clearly see the gray stripe here but I promise it's much less obvious in person. I really like how this yarn is turning out.

I wish Tina at BMFA had a wish list feature on her site so I could park colorways that I know that I want. I have a lot of sock yarn to get through though before I need to be thinking about buying more. I'm so glad that yarn doesn't have an expiration date (as long as there are no moths).

And when I'm not knitting socks I'm working on the hat/mitts for a Northwestern Fan



It's a Sockhead hat made out of The Loopy Ewe Solid series  in the Purple colorway. The base is nice, though I was surprised that there isn't nylon in it. It feels like a blend. I haven't washed the hat yet so maybe it will soften up a little more. It's long enough he should be able to flip up over his ears twice to keep warm in our chilly Decembers.

Reduced to Bullet Points

Happy After-Thanksgiving!! And for the curious, I have managed to resist the very excellent sales that all of the various yarn companies and stores have been offering. It's very very difficult, let me tell you. 30% of here, free shipping there, and so on and so forth. 

Today is all about bullet points because a) I have no pictures and b) I need to write out lists to get my head on straight. 

• Deadline Knitting: 
• I agreed to knit a blanket strip for a cousin who is getting married. This is done in bulky wool so it really just requires an evening or two with a few movies or TV shows.  The Philosopher and I have started watching Warehouse 13. That deadline is coming up super fast so that should go on the needles very soon. 
• What I really Should be Knitting: 
• Philosopher's Belt. He's been waiting so patiently. 
• One of the two afghans that are lurking half finished around the living room. I will gain a lot of yarn storage space by finishing them, though I'll have to find somewhere to put finished blankets. Might give one of them away just from defensive blanket storage. 
• Rust and Stone Cardigan. All it needs is ribbing and sleeves. I've been actively avoiding it, mostly because knitting it requires thinking.  
• Squish Cowl. If I'd just giving it one good evening of knitting it'd be done already. There was snow this morning, I'm going to need cowls very soon.  
• Currently and actively on the needles
• Hat and Mitts for Klock. We're swapping, he's getting woolly things, I'm getting mead. 
• Socks for the Philosopher. I cast on some really beautiful BMFA in Coppertree and it's blending beautifully. Surprisingly it isn't striping.  I'm starting to run low on how much BMFA Medium Weight is in my stash. I'm trying to be strong and work through other sock yarn before going nuts on the Blue Moon site again but it's so hard. The yarn is so lovely. 
• Pair #16--Black Socks knit in approximately the Incredibly Patient Mother size. First sock finally got finished (we'll discuss the disaster that was the first toe some other time) and I'll cast on sock 2 on my way to dinner tonight.  
• I still owe you pictures of
• The Glowing Mystery Shawl. It's done, blocked, and has been worn a couple of times. I still think triangular shawlettes are a little odd as scarves but since I can't figure out what else to do with them, I'll wear them.  
• The Socks I knit in Hawaii. Nothing too exciting about them, my usual 2x2 rib pattern. But they're pretty....
• Hawaii. Right, there was a vacation wasn't there. 
• The Big Purple Shawl. I've been wearing it a fair amount and people love the color. I love how warm it is and the fact that it loops all the way around and I can tie it in the front of me. If I can figure out how to persuade myself through another one, it will be a good thing. 
• New Stash
• I did get a skein of the new Lorna's Laces Solemate, which is supposed to keep your feet both warm and cool, depending on the weather. It's very soft and I almost have the sense it will be drapey, which isn't the best for socks but we'll see how it knits up.  

Feline Update: Cuteness and Cones

My brain power over the past month has been limited pretty much to 2x2 rib, garter, and stockinette. Fortunately, those three things can pretty regularly turn into a pair of socks. Here's the only knitting picture I have for you at the moment.

Monet Socks

Size: 8.5

Knitted on: Size 0 needles

From: Intentions Yarn, Clarity

Thoughts: The yarn was splitty and I was done with these socks long before I actually finished them.

Since that's all the knitting, you'll have to bear with me while I talk about my cats for the next couple hundred words. 

First the good news: I adopted a new kitten! A friend of mine has been on the lookout for me for about six months now, his mother often ends up with stray cats who need a good home and I indicated interest in a female, preferably no more than two years old. When she rounded up a batch of kittens (and the mama), and when those kittens came to Chicago while his mom was out of town, it was an opportunity not to be missed. 

There were four kittens: two mostly orange, white, and light brown tabbies and two orange and black handpaints. All were female and despite a polydactyl heritage, everyone had the normal number of toes. Apparently there's some new genes in the bloodline.  In visiting with the kittens the Philosopher and I identified "The Shy One," "The Starter Kitten," "The Worried One," and "Pumpkin." I tried to imagine which one would be the most appropriate with the gray princess who already has shed all over everything I own. 

Ultimately, I decided on "The Worried One."  She was the second biggest of the group.  Before we left her sisters behind, she was dubbed Pyewacket. 

We got a lift home and introduced her to Gypsy, who was nonplussed and some hissing ensued. 

Pyewacket spent the first night in the bathroom, the first time she'd ever been alone. She also had to spend the next day in the bathroom while I was at work--mostly because I wasn't sure she was making the transition to pine litter and I really didn't want to come home to Crouching Gypsy, Hidden Pye AND kitten potty accidents on carpeting. The sound of pitiful meowing and a small black foot reaching under the bathroom door was one of the saddest things I've had to deal with in a long time. Gypsy sat outside the bathroom, keeping watch.

Fortunately, within about 72 hours the hissing had considerably decreased, Gypsy seemed rather more accepting of the bouncing black furball, and Pyewacket had figured out where the litter box was!



Due to a death in the family, the Philosopher spent the weekend with the two of them and he texted pictures of cats snuggling, so I'm encouraged that everyone will do just fine. She's growing like a weed, I noticed already that she is bigger than when I took these photos.

But that brings us to last night and the bad news, when I flipped Gypsy over to rub her belly and found a rather large cut on her back inner thigh. It wasn't bleeding but it was raw, so at 9:30 p.m. it was off to the Emergency Vet, where she got three stitches and enough sedation to make her really loopy and snuggly. She also went nose first into my food when we got home; she's not usually quite that brazen.

Gypsy is doing just fine, she's not in pain from what I can tell, she's eating, moving around, not favoring the leg at all. Antibiotics this morning were no fun and we get to repeat that every day for the rest of the week but I'll take that over the fear that there's something wrong with my cat. I'm not sure where the cut came from, we can't find any blood in the apartment and it doesn't appear to be from tussling with Pye--they're still just fine. Gypsy had been cleaning it assiduously so hopefully we just need to wait for time to heal.

That, however, also means she's wearing a cone (or was when I left the house this morning, I assume she didn't figure out how to take it off yet).



She's very put upon and really really wants her ears scratched.

**Cat Info cross posted to Hedgehog Librarian 

Dear Self: Don't Feel Guilty

Of late, everything has been dog piled on and it's showing. I'm stretched thinner and thinner, which sends me off in fits of fury or tears a lot more easily. Every time that I sit down when I'm not actively having to get something done, I'm falling asleep.

As you can imagine, this means there's not been a whole lot of knitting progress at Chez Hedgehog. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't feel guilty about this, that I have a lot going on and it's okay to not kill myself working on a craft project that is supposed to be my relaxing hobby when I'm already tired. It's hard though.

One must occasionally admit unrealistic expectations, or at least temper your expectations when change comes, which it always does and will.

I did sit down the other day and break out the large purple shawl.  I've gotten a couple of podcasts back into it and I have made some progress, I'm finally on the third skein of Lorna's Laces.  The Philosopher claims it's a large triangular blanket, not a shawl. I disagree.  I'll be warm in it though.  It's going with me to a football game today, Northwestern is playing and it's bright purple. If I can just find a seat (away game, we'll be at a pub), I might be able to whack out a good chunk of skein 3.

The Philosopher also built me a Roku box for my birthday!! It's an Apple Mini loaded with Plex Online software. I can stream Hulu, YouTube, Netflix and lots of other things on it.  My favorite find thus far though was PBS.  I can now stream Antique Roadshow! I may never get up from the couch ever again.  I'm absolutely thrilled.

I did finish the first of the Monet Socks...did it make it home from work? Let me go rummage in my work bag.

*Rummaging*

 Ah-ha! Success.  This got finished during a phone meeting and I had left it at work. Sock 2 has about six rows done, though now that I've brought home the 9" circular needle, it's a smidge more portable. Might take that to the pub as well.  I might finish the shawl, you know. I only have another 100 or so rows....

Then there's the sweater. I made a huge amount of progress on it when I was in New York last month and if memory serves I'm ready to start the ribbing on the back before continuing the points on the front.  It continues to be a great pattern and fits well, but it requires paying attention, which is why it hasn't seen much love since I got back. I'm thinking about taking it on my trip to Hawaii next week, if I can get down to sleeves before then.

 
I really like the slipped stitch detail running up each side that is in place of a side seam. It still looks seamed but it's all one piece.  It also is surprisingly more apparent in photos than I feel like it is in real life.  I'll be asking the Philosopher to take some photos of me in it when I'm done.

Several other things on the needles, nothing getting much love.  But I'm getting back to my knitting without feeling guilty about it.  At least I'm not hurting the wool's feelings. :)

Rust and Stone (or Cake) Sweater: Part 1

I got permission to blog about the sweater, so I can show you how things are going!

It's a top down cardigan design, with first sweater tabs cast on and then the back and shoulders and fronts knit from there. It took me a couple of readings through the pattern to really understand what was going on but once I'd done that--things have been going quite smoothly.



That's where I'd gotten to at the end of the first skein of yarn, which is about 150 yards of Plum Cake Elizabeth Bennet Yarn Love merino/silk/bamboo. I'd just gotten past splitting the sleeves onto spare needles (I'd ended up buying way too many size 2 circulars but I suppose eventually I'll be using them all.) and was starting down back shaping and increases in the front.

It was rather gratifying to get the sleeves onto their own needles and get to actually try the sweater on as though it was clothing:



I will of course be making the sleeves but it's a cute cap sleeve right here...

Now I'm most of the way through another skein and 20 rows from being done with the back shaping.



As you can see a little clearer in this picture, there's a mock seam running down the side created by slipped stitches.



The yarn isn't pooling too much, it created a rather strange X shape, sort of like houndstooth in the swatch and I was hoping that would appear here. Instead I'm getting some miscellaneous little stripes. The yarn is also a little more splitty than I'd like and what I'd recommend for this project. I did end up with a couple of extra stitches when I was doing the back increases but those seemed to be user error rather than an issue with the pattern numbers.  I'm going to have a lot of ends to weave in once this is done and blocked.

Gypsy thinks I should be paying more attention to her.

In the Planning Stages....

News! I finally broke the 5K mark on how much I've knit this year! Considering last year I knit 13K and we're in September and I don't have a lot of Christmas knitting on the needles, I really don't think the 20K this year is going to happen. That makes me a little sad, I really did want to get a lot of stash used up and instead, as is more usual, I added a ton of stash and didn't use much up. But it's my hobby and I'm using yarn that I bought and it's cheaper than many hobbies I could have....

I spent over an hour winding yarn the other evening for projects that should be in the queue in the near future. I also went through some of the stash and pulled out an entire bin of sock yarn that should be wound or pulled from when next I'm needing some socks to knit. That bin is full, so you'll get to see lots more socks.  Also, now that I know approximately how long a couple of other people's feet are, I can just make socks longer if I choose so they'll get some new socks as well.



So, what's in here?

The large grey ball and the darker blue at the bottom are both skeins of Eco Wool. I want to make city shawls out of them, one for myself and one as a very belated gift for a friend. Those, I recall from last year's marathon, take about six hours each to make. Very manageable over a weekend with a television or during a football game at a friend's house. (Game is easily 3 hours, plus tailgating time!)

The smaller gray ball is alpaca that needs to turn into a scarf/shawl.

The three skeins of green/aqua yarn are for me. I decided that when I saw the sale (50%) that I wanted a matching hat and scarf set. If there is enough, I'll be doing mittens as well, might be striping that with some of the leftover black yarn from the #13 socks--it's all Cascade Heritage 150 if I don't have quite enough yarn. I wear a black wool coat or a white down coat in the winter, so it's time for some bright and cheerful accessories.

The unwound skein is from Stitches. That will hopefully turn into a scarf for the Philosopher if I can get things rolling. Underneath that and nearly hidden is a skein of dark blue Bugga that I'd like to turn into socks.  There are also two skeins of STR in there--the fall colors are for the Philosopher and the blue will be for me or for someone near and dear, haven't decided yet.  Finally is the light gray sock yarn which is Three Irish Girls Adorn. Again, probably socks for me.

Oh right--that purple skein. That's the final skein for the purple blob of a shawl that I keep working on. I'll get back to that just as soon as I get through the sweater that I'm on deadline for....