I started a lot of projects last week and then went out and bought a tons of yarn. What a week I had. The weather is finally warming up, birds have come back to Colorado, the first green shoots have appeared in my garden, and the cats and I are spending afternoons outside.
My long-haired cat Morgan, bought to be a companion to my over-active and complex cat MacKenzie, has decided he now wants to be a lap cat. He is also shedding like there is no tomorrow. Everything I am knitting is getting covered with blond hair and some of it is now knit into the fabric. Of course this is interfering with my knitting zen, but the weather is so nice and Morgan is so sweet I’m just kind of dealing with it and am knitting a midst the cloud of cat down.
I finished my fingerless mitts on Friday, and that evening I got through the first clue of the shawl that I am knitting. This shawl, called Edith’s Secret, was originally a MKAL meant to be knitted during Downton Abbey this season. Because it was a MKAL the pattern is organized into seven clues. With a thrill of accomplishment at the end of a fabulous Friday night knitting marathon I picked off as much cat hair as I could from the shawl, and counted my stitches to make sure everything was on track.
Oh, no!!! Almost 30 stitches off from where I should be. Morgan was dumped off my lap, I laid out all the pages of the pattern (yep, another battle with the cat and the pages of paper on the floor…) and started making a diagram with little boxes and stitch counts to figure out what had happened. Seriously, how was it possible to mess up this seriously? I blame the cat, of course!!
Everything was frogged. Both cats thought this was a new game. I calmly reminded myself that ripping out my own hair wouldn’t improve matters, and finally got everything back into two balls.
Hey, that grey ball doesn’t look big enough. Maybe I should check the label again… Are you kidding me? The yardage is 50 yards too short!
Suddenly the cat is back in my good graces again. Wow. If I hadn’t made soooo many mistakes that I ended up frogging this shawl I would have had a crisis down the road when I ran out of that yarn. And besides, there is a silver lining to all of this: I get to go back to the yarn store!!
Back to the yarn store I went Saturday afternoon. I took several yarn candidates with me with the hopes of making a good match with a contrasting yarn that would work for the shawl. It was a great visit, I found the perfect yarn, connected with an old friend while I was there, and bought even more fabulous yarn!! I got the new shawl yarn wound at the store, came home, bribed Morgan with kitty treats, and cast on again.
Wow, what a difference. I’m really happy with how this looks, I’m positive that I have enough yarn, and Morgan and Mackenzie have been running around outside so I’ve been able to concentrate on the pattern while I was knitting. What a great ending to a frogged project. I definitely need to give Morgan some more kitty treats!
Oh, the color of the grey yarn that I bought to go with the purple handpaint from my stash?
It’s called Silver Lining.
You are making great progress. As for the cat hair, have that problem myself so I don’t feel any sympathy. Nope. My life could come with the caption: Covered in Cat Hair.
Isn’t that the truth!
I really like those gloves; they’re so nice and simple. Think I need to make myself some. But mine will be knitted with dog hair, instead of cat hair.
I just updated the project page on Ravelry with the weight and circumferance of the mitts. I would love feedback if you make them.
Happy mistakes!! The silver lining definitely improves the shawl! One thing I love about crochet is that the mistakes are easier to hide than in knitting!! I still wish I could knit well enough to make some socks though!! Sharon x
Our black rescue kitty is currently shedding his weight in fur too. >.< There are fur balls every where in the house, I have to vacuum at least twice a day to keep up with it! I love the color of the shawl!
I bought a new vacuum that is made for animal hair control just because of this kitty. The hair is everywhere! I have to brush furniture clean daily. But he is such a good boy. 🙂
I’m happy with the new color too. Today I’m going bead shopping.
I feel like we may have to do the same hehe…
Dyson Animal vacuum changed my life. 🙂