Hi. I’m MacKenzie.
The Mother of Cats has been a severe disappointment for just weeks and weeks. She caught some kind of cold early in December, carried on like a baby for over a week (nasal spray, salt water gargling, boxes of tissues… Yellow Boy and I became quite concerned about her mental health…) and COMPLETELY ignored our needs. As if that wasn’t enough, when she finally got over the virus, she then became even worse. She slept for hours and hours, stayed in her bed even when she was awake, and totally failed to deliver our cookies on time. SHE DIDN’T EVEN DO CHRISTMAS!!! which is totally our favorite time of the year. Hello… Christmas trees = world’s best cat toys. How could she have failed us this way?
She said she was in a flare. Whatever.
When she was awake she worked endlessly on these socks for her cousin’s Christmas present.
The Turkish Hell socks were packed up last week and mailed out. On Saturday, the last day of Christmas they arrived safely in their new home. They had better behave themselves and last for years and years; I would hate to travel all the way across the state to whack them into shape!
I’m such a good boy.
Can I have some cookies now?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
These socks, called Classic Kilim, are from the book Around the World in Knitted Socks by Stephanie van der Linden. The socks were supposed to have tassels and embroidery; that so did not happen!!Here is the info on Ravelry with more info about the book. My notes on Ravelry are here.
On December 1st I got my pneumonia vaccine even though I had been struggling a little that week. That night my youngest son became ill with complications of diabetes and was rushed to the ER . I spent the next 2 days/nights at the ICU with him. Yep. About the time my son returned to work and I moved back home I was sick; my autoimmune diseases flared while I was fighting through the viral illness. My Sjogren’s symptoms have been off the chart and crushing fatigue and brain fog appeared along with them. This week I am better and have been knitting up a storm and planning blog posts. Hopefully I’ll be online again in a couple of more days.
Happy New Year everyone!
Yarn, Books & Roses 
So sorry you have had to become a carer, MacKenzie. I do wish your Mother well, so she can be spinning yarns again.
MacKenzie: Thank you. It was hard to give up cookies, but she is better now are we are playing with yarn again.
🙂
Those socks are amazing.
Wishing you a 2018 filled with health, happiness and lots of finished projects!
Thank you. As soon as the socks were done I cast on four more projects! I’m planning on knitting like crazy for awhile with no color work!
MacKenzie you are a saint! I don’t know how you and Yellow Boy do it. Caring for a human is such hard work:)
The socks are gorgeous!! What an amazing gift.
I hope your son is well (both actually). How scary to have him get sick! I hope you feel better soon too.
MacKenzie: Thank you. I’m so glad that someone understands what a burden the Mother of Cats can be sometimes. Still, we love her. And then there’s cookies…
My cousin loved the socks and they fit!!
My son is now working closely with a major diabetes clinic and received a high tech glucose monitor that is worn like an insulin plump and gives real time glucose reading to a hand held unit. Game changer!! It alarms if his glucose goes too high or low. Isn’t technology grand! My older son is cancer free but still recovering from his chemo.
Technology is amazing! I’m glad both of your sons are on the mend:)
I’m sorry you had to miss out on the holidays, but it sounds like you got the rest you needed. Will look forward to your 2018 posts! Kudos to McKenzie for being the constant companion.
We had a quiet Christmas at my older son’s house as I just couldn’t manage the meal this year. It was still nice and the kids did a great job. My younger son did the driving.
Mackenzie is still my constant companion and purr machine. He used to wake me up early but continues to let me sleep in. I’m still sleeping 10-12 hours a night, but thankfully I’ve stopped napping half the day. Good kitty!!
Oh my gosh, this was NOT your season. I am glad you are feeling better and I am absolutely AMAZED at the beauty of those socks, especially knowing what you were going through while knitting them.
Thank you. I think that it was probably good that I had a project with a deadline as it kept me focused and going between naps. It felt great to accomplish a notable project too.
Love your post! I hope 2018 only gets better for you:)
Me too. My energy has surged with the new year and I’m slowly catching up on things. MacKenzie is relieved to have me return to normal.
I bet!!
I’m sorry your holidays were full of worry and sickness. These socks are extraordinary. I love the expressions of your cat.
MacKenzie: Thank you. I’m amazingly photogenic, aren’t I?
Thanks. I was so pleased with how they came out.
I think you are amazing to go through all that and come out of it with such an awesome pair of socks.
Well done on your nursing care McKenzie 🙂 🐱
Actually, I had just been thinking of you the past couple of days as it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen a post from you in a long time. So so sorry to hear of the maladies you and your son dealt with in December but am glad to hear that you and your sons are doing better. Those socks are A.Ma.zing! I am so impressed. I have yet to attempt much in the way of color work. I hope you and your sons have a very healthy New Year.
I’m certainly hoping for a much smoother year! The sock are really nice now that they are done. I’m tempted to (almost) make a pair for me.
Oh, nooo! I’m so sorry for you, MacKenzie, and for your mom. It’s wonderful to hear that Mom is on the mend!!! Exquisite socks!!! Please tell her!
MacKenzie: Thank you for noticing how stressful this was for me. Meh. The socks were okay, but Yellow Boy and I want her to make us a big alpaca shawl. Maybe an alpaca cat bed. Is that too much to ask? Look ast how good I was!!
Beautiful socks. So glad to hear you are doing better.
Thanks. I am feeling a lot better. Next week should be really productive. 😼
Happy New Year! The socks are beautiful!! You are the embodiment of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s quote: “Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises”!
I often think of that quote. It goes with another one from the movie Bridge of Spies when the spy on trial is often asked why he doesn’t worry. “Would it help?”, he replies. In that movie the same character paints beautiful oil paintings. I knit. 🙂