Hi. I’m Mateo, the CoalBear.
I was trapped in the house for days and days while the Mother of Cats played on her computer, cleaned out some files in her office, and made hats on her knitting machine. Usually I like the knitting machine, but I HAVE NEEDS!!! OUTSIDE!!!! NOW!!! Finally, the Mother of Cats relented and let me out. Yay!!
I have lots of fluffy fur and it is even on the bottoms of my feet. I went out every day this week; Hannah, that wimp, did not go out even once. She is kind of a baby about the cold. Okay, she doesn’t have the fur on the bottoms of her feet like I do, but still, she could try, right?
As the Mother of Cats worked on her hats this week she started to notice dropped stitches in the knitting. It happened a few times, and then it started to happen with every single hat no matter how careful she was. Then she realized that the yarn feeder had been worn down by the yarn and that it couldn’t catch correctly anymore… poor Mother of Cats… she was cranky and sad at the same time… what should she do with herself…
Luckily the Mother of Cats found a replacement yarn feeder for her Sentro machine for sale on Amazon and it is already on the way. There is even a YouTube video that shows how to replace it so she won’t even be needing my help. Unfortunately, the part won’t be here until the middle of next week, so in the meantime, she is back to knitting on some arm warmers that she is making to match her Scrunch Socks.
So, that was the week. Today the snow has returned, it has gotten really cold outside, and I’m trapped indoors while the Mother of Cats completely ignores my needs. It’s like she doesn’t even remember that I am a SNOW CAT at heart, even if I look like a little CoalBear.
This is the CoalBear SnowCat, signing off.
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
- The armwarmers are on 2.25 mm needles (Size 1) and I cast on 72 stitches for the top of the arm and then slowly decreased 16 stitches as I worked towards the wrist. To mimic the rolled knit top of the sock/armwarmer pattern I bound off with 4 stitch I-cord.
- I’m seriously fighting the need to buy more yarn for a new sweater. It’s cold, there is this cute-beyond-all-words new sweater by Caitlin Hunter that I want, and I’m pretty sure that I totally deserve it after two weeks of cold and extreme weather changes. I want squishy mail!!!!
- My knees basically hate me today after yesterday’s huge air pressure change. Look at what happened!
- I think that this is another reason why I deserve that yarn to knit a new sweater!!
- What do you guys think about these colors?
These colors are (left to right) Dirty Panther, Elizabeth Taylor, and Elven Dark. I’m kind of set on Dirty Panther (MC) and Elizabeth Taylor (CC) because that resulting sweater will have the most flexibility in my wardrobe, but the Elven Dark is really tempting… All of these yarns are Tosh Vintage worsted weight yarn.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
Ylva used to have fur between her toes, ideal for snow but not so much the wooden floors. I don’t blame Hannah for staying in and having treats instead. I love that jumper pattern, I must resist as I already have some striped jumpers in my queue I’ve purchase. Definitely you knit it and I can enjoy it vicariously. Love the colour choices.
I need to take a picture of Mateo’s paw… the fur is long between the toe beans and then folds over them. He is really light on his feet and doesn’t seem to slip on hard surfaces, but I had another cat that would slip and fall off the counter because of the fur on his feet.
I still want that sweater, but now I’m going to go stash shopping and maybe do a Sea Glass first, I have some big expenses coming up (the registration for the new car, my taxes, the power bill for the cold snap…) and a sensible person would take care of those first, right? The fit of that sweater is kind of perfect, tho, and I would love to have it right now in the cold weather.
Working from the end backwards !!! – nono, Elizabeth Taylor and Elven Dark, Marilyn !!!
Those air pressures are astoundingly horrible: you sure you shouldn’t be living somewhere else ???
CoalBear has fur under his toe-beans ??? – I didn’t know that about Maine Coons !!
You’re now in danger of being demanded to supply a photo of the matching socks and arm-warmers IN SITU !
That plastic knitting-machine: why doesn’t someone manufacture them in a more long-wearing material ? – hang on, don’t tell me: they like that most people just buy another one – right ? But they’re not prepared for clever people like you. [grin]
Gorgeous studio portrait of the elegant Hannah. Well done you !!
And back to the SnowBear … Love the kitty-prints.
Whew !!!
The most votes are coming for Elizabeth Taylor and Elven Dark. I guess those are the colors, but I’m going to hold out until some bills are paid and then maybe I’ll visit some yarn stores before I buy online.
The Sentro machine is a really light weight one that is for hobby crafting and not very expensive. There is a much better machine that costs 4x as much that much (the Addi machines), but they don’t knit light weight yarn well. I have this stash full of fingering yarn that works well on the Sentro, so that is what I’ve been cranking while I”m using up the stash. I’ve made 150+ hats on the machine, so it was a good buy, and it is pretty cheap to repair it. In truth, it would also be cheap to replace it, but I’m going to try the repair first. I am hoping to get another 150 hats done this year too.
I finished the arm warmers tonight, so I will have to get the picture for the next post.
Hannah and Mateo sent kitty hugs.
Honoured …
I hope Amazon deliver early, as they often do with us
We have a fulfillment center in town so I can get same-day delivery for a lot of things, but this one is going to take a few days. Hopefully I’ll be back up and running next week.
Good luck. Our boiler is not working.
Yikes! That is kind of an emergency! I hope that you get it sorted out quickly!!
Cute Snow Cat story, especially the bit about the hairy paws. Reminds me of something that might be part of a Cat Deliverance movie, complete with caterwauling banjos.
I love the sweater design you picked out; however, I couldn’t handle the bold stripes: looking at them in the picture made me slightly dizzy. I’d pick a solid color for sure, if I were making it. Your dark wool choices are lovely, as are your wrist warmers.
I’m excited for my family living in coastal Texas. The 7 inches of fine, dry snow from the other day is almost melted, and tomorrow’s temp is forecast to hover in the 70s. Back to short-sleeves again. I hope you all see the end in sight for your snow, except you probably need the late spring snow run-off to keep your summers fire-free.
Mateo: I could totally do a Cat Deliverance movie!! Imagine the background music as I stalk and run down bunnies in the night…
After your comment I’m considering stripes that will have less contrast. Don’t want any dizzy people!!
It snowed last night and today it all melted off or just evaporated. That’s one of the good things about Colorado… it is really dry and the bright sun makes the snow just vanish. I was shocked by a trip back east to learn that the snow stays on the ground all winter, frozen hard and dirty. Ugh!
Funny Mateo! He’s a natural A-lister-to-be.
Don’t mind my sensitivity to pattern and color! Knit/wear what makes you happy.
You’re right. Snow in the northeast can be yucky. Outside the school where I taught when first out of uni, heavy fall/winter/spring snow meant the custodian had to plow the playground and deposit the snow in one distant corner of the schoolyard. As winter progressed, a gray-layered hill became a dirty-looking Mount DumpMore. The kids loved to watch the big, yellow caterpillar push snow up the steep slope and then rumble back down with its wide plow raised. By February/March, the dirty mountain was nearly two stories tall. Though greatly reduced in size, it was often still there in May, leaving a wide moat of melting snow.
It is really unusual for our snow to stay on the ground, especially if the sun shines on it. I have this cute phenomenon in the back yard: there is snow along the fence where it is shaded, and everything else is snowless.
Mateo: I would be StarCat!!!!
A bucket of fresh fish heads for Star Cat! May he enjoy the catio minus the snow.
That is a cute sweater! I think if you use Liz with either of the dark yarns, it will turn out beautifully.
Surviving the snow and cold – definitely deserve squishy mail! Congrats on finding a replacement part and a Youtube video on how to make the replacement. The Elven Dark would be really pretty but if it wouldn’t get worn much then Dirty Panther is the better choice.
I’m tending to think that the Elven Dark and the Liz Taylor are perfect, but I plan to visit a couple of yarn stores first to see what I can find.
I like the Elven Dark – no surprise there. And the Elizabeth Taylor. And thanks for the chart on the Pressure – we just got a new weather station that shows Pressure and it was 29.7 here! Love the pattern.
There is an app on my phone that I use to track the history and forecast of the air pressure called https://barometricpressure.app that is fun. It helps me plan outings and of course it helps understand why my breathing and joints suddenly act up. Selma is using it too now and you may be able to select a location that is good for your side of the mountains.
Thanks for the app – I looked and the closest city to me is ABQ. Wishing you a marvelous Monday!
The same low pressure spike set me off, too. Knees, wrists, fingers, and a knot between one shoulder blade and my rib cage. Plus exhausted and stupid (to which I am unaccustomed).
Cody isn’t all that available on the weather app, but tracks pretty close to Denver, so I use that.. It’s nice to be able to show evidence when I blame things on the weather…
The day that happened I woke up in pain and I was literally unable to bend one knee because it was so swollen. The pressure app helps me too as this seems to be so random when it happens, and I would be going crazy wondering what set it off (what did I eat… did I make a mistake walking to the mailbox…did I forget my meds…), when it wasn’t anything that I did. Gosh, I love Voltaren!!
You definitely deserve so new yarn for all of those reasons, and that is a super cute sweater pattern! Dooooo it! (Peer pressure 🙂 ) Also, hope your knitting machine spare part shows up quickly and you can work on your hats again.
Snowcat, even though you are majestically floofy, it gets too cold outside for little coal bears! Stay in and enjoy the warm.
I repaired the machine today and it works great! Now I need new yarn, right?!!
It’s been warm this week (40s and 50s) so that SnowCat is having himself a great time outside!!
Yay for warmer weather for you and the kitties! Celebrate with a few skeins of new yarn! You have to start rebuilding your stash, right? It’s your valentine to yourself.
Yes, you definitely do! So glad SnowCat can burn off some energy outdoors 🙂 I bet you and Hannah are glad as well!
It has been a relief to let him out the door. Hannah still won’t go outside.
I don’t blame her – too cold out for sensible kitties 🙂
I love those yarn colors! Squishy mail (well, squishy fiber mail) is the best kind, isn’t it? (Squishy mail that’s not supposed to be squishy is not so good.)
Now I’m thinking of all the now so good squishy mail possibilities. You are right, I absolutely deserve squishy mail!!
LOL! Good squishy mail could also be new clothes, just fiber in a different format. 😉