Hi I’m MacKenzie.
This year the Mother of Cats began to panic really early. She began digging through the yarn stash and tossing skeins of yarn through the air before we had even made it to Turkey Day. (Turkey. I love turkey!! Every year I get to chow down on all the turkey that I can eat, so I remember this!) “Must knit this year, must knit this year,” she kept muttering. Really strange, Mother of Cats. More strange than usual.
Must have something to do with the new furnace that I didn’t get to play with while the worker-men were busy in the crawl space under the house. This is how mean the Mother of Cats is… SHE LOCKED ME INTO A BEDROOM!!! while the furnace was being installed. I love playing in the crawl space. Why is the Mother of Cats so mean to me?
Anyway, now we have a new furnace, and the Mother of Cats has turned into a knitting machine. She is completely out of control. She is neglecting me. She has more projects started than she can count. There are bins of yarn all over the downstairs work room. She made a spreadsheet to figure out her knitted Christmas presents.
Some of her presents are hidden away and can’t be shown off yet, but here are the ones that she will let me show off because a couple of them will go into the mail tomorrow.
All of this crazy knitting, and I am sad to tell you that the Mother of Cats has not put the pumpkins away yet, and the Christmas tree is still in the CRAWL SPACE. I would be happy to go down there to find it for her, but no, does the Mother of Cats ever let me do anything that is fun? No. She does not! I want the tree. Best cat toy ever!
Tonight we are going to work on that shawl some more and maybe cast on another couple of projects. The Mother of Cats seems to think that if she starts knitting something it is like it is already done. Silly Mother of Cats!
I’m such a good boy.
Can I have some cookies now?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
- The project notes and the pattern that I used for the mitts are on my Ravelry Project page.
- The Hat is the Sockhead Slouch hat. Wow. This is the first time that I have made this, and I am struck with the need to have one for myself. I need to do some more stash shopping to find a yarn for myself that is a soft as the one I used for my sister. Project notes are here.
- My sister just relocated from the San Diego area to Oregon. It’s not really an extreme winter there, but I think that she will have to deal with below freezing temperatures and some nasty weather, so the hat and mitts are flying west to here tomorrow.
- The shawl is Close to You. Hey, this pattern is free, easy to knit, and really nice to wear. My project notes are here.
- I have 5 more WIPs going at the moment. Slowly, but surely, the pile of finished Christmas knitting is growing…
- October was pretty darn expensive for me. I put the license plates onto my new car, had the cedar fence replaced, and then bought a new furnace. The good news is that I don’t have to worry about my car break breaking down, or the fence blowing over, or the furnace failing. Peace of mind comes at a cost, but is nice all the same. I hope that everyone loves their homemade presents!
- The book that I need to finish in the next few days is The Nest by
Yarn, Books & Roses 
as always, your projects all look so lovely. i am sure you are going to make your friends and family super happy!
Thanks. Thank heavens for the yarn stash… this year it is really coming in handy.
🙂
MacKenzie: I’m sorry to hear you were sentenced to solitary confinement. I’m sure it was for your own safety. Myles has endured the same when work is being done here. An extra tasty treat usually makes up for the humiliation:)
The knits are lovely! We had a streak of buying major purchases. It’s hard when it happens but really worth the peace of mind:)
MacKenzie: What are you talking about? Me? Get in trouble with the furnace, ductwork and new wiring? Why do people think this about me?
Me: I’m waiting for the refrigerator to quit! Last night a windows salesman tried to talk me into replacement windows and I just laughed at him. Maybe next year. I am happy with the decisions and the peace of mind, but my yarn spending sprees are over for awhile. 🙂
hi there, I don’t think I ever commented to you before but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your postings.. I love the cat and was saddened on the loss of yellow boy, I am an animal lover too. this has been a challenging year for me as my family went thru the sadness of losing my dad in feb, my mother in law in april, a favorite aunt in may, a close cousin in oct and my mother in oct. I am looking forward to the new year. knitting has kept me grounded and I admire all that you do while going thru your illness. I love the makenzie stories and all your beautiful knitting! keep up the great work and please keep posting! thank you
Thank you so much for your nice feedback. It means a lot to know that what I write can bring some enjoyment to someone else.
I am so sorry to hear about your year of grief. How hard, how very hard it is to stay afloat when the bad times just keep rolling in. I hope you have the support you need around you. Hugs!
I know what you mean about knitting keeping you centered; I view it (and the cats) as my grief management system. Knit on, my friend, and I do hope that this coming year will be better for you and yours.
A spreadsheet for your knitted gift projects? That’s genius! MacKenzie is lucky to have such an efficient and thoughtful mom.
Ha! I had so many ideas going I was just drowning in creativity. The spreadsheet helps me get the chaos under control. 🙂 It was becoming apparent that I was coming up with multiple ideas for each person so the spreadsheet helps with that too. I have the yarn and the pattern in there too…
What nice and cozy gifts ! I am sure your sister will use and appreciate them. I am making my first pair of fingerless mitts but think that I am going to need to rip back and go up a needle size or two. I use this size for my socks but in the mitts the fabric feels too stiff/dense, if that makes sense. I recently knit the Close To You Shawl as well. It is a nice knit. Good luck with making your self imposed deadline😉
I feel for you on the necessary expenditures, though. Tough to swallow especially at holiday time! Happy knitting!!
I used the same size needle for the mitts that I do with socks, but I’m pretty sure that once she wears them they will soften up as they had yak fiber in them. Let’s hope, anyway.
All the patterns I used were free. That was the best part. I am so into saving money mb e right now, but I am warm. 🙂