I’ve been napping on the new sweater as much as possible.
The Mother of Cats has continued to knit like crazy on her new sweater. I’ve been giving her tons of help, but she doesn’t seem to appreciate me the way she should. She continues to freak out every single time that I put a claw on her sweater; she always grabs my paw and WON’T LET ME TOUCH THE SWEATER WITH MY PAWS!! I do not understand why she is acting this way. So selfish, the Mother of Cats!
Look at what she did to me!!
The Mother of Cats is so unstable and difficult to work with. After I snagged her knitting only a couple of times she grabbed me and CUT MY NAILS!!! Can you see the damage in the picture?
After my nails were cut she started letting me sleep on her knitting. Ah. So much better. This sweater is so, so comfy.Tonight she finished the sweater and put it on. NOOO!!! What will I sleep on now?
The Mother of Cats pulled out a lot of yarn this evening and started knitting on new projects, lots of new projects, lots of new yarns. She let me help and I got to chomp at least three different colors. One has cashmere… my favorite!! Wait until I get to show that yarn off.
I’m such a good boy.
Can I have some cookies now?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
The sweater is Sturgill by Caitlin Hunter. My project notes on Ravelry are here.
I finished the sleeves before completing the body as I was worried about running out of yarn and was considering options. I completed only a couple of inches of sleeve ribbing and paced the stitches on holders so I could match to the body of the sweater later (see below).
The sweater is knit with DK weight yarn, but I ran out of the main color (dark grey) before I finished the body of the sweater. I had a skein of fingering in the same colorway (Man in Black by Stitch Together) so I blended that yarn held doubled with the DK by alternating rows for several rounds and then completed the body with the doubled fingering. It was a great match.
Here is a close-up of the ribbing showing the doubled fingering mixed with the DK weight yarn. Don’t those colors look good?! All the ribbing on the body and most of the sleeve ribbing was done with the doubled fingering yarn.
Once the body of the sweater was completed I did the same blending trick with the sleeve ribbing and then added another 4″ to the sleeve ribbing to get a total of 6″ ribbing. Sleeves fit perfect!
After wet blocking the two weights of yarn look identical in the sweater. Win!
MacKenzie has already gotten over the cutting of his claws since it allowed him to plant himself constantly on my knitting…
As far as MacKenzie is concerned the new sweater is a bed for him…
Now that I’m done with all of my current WIPs it is time to go crazy and cast on lots of new projects. Wait until I can show off the next wave of knitted yumminess.
The Mother of Cats spends all of her time knitting and knitting on her new sweater, and she will NOT let me play with it the way she should!! Every time I put a paw on it she grabs it and moves it OFF THE SWEATER! She won’t even let me touch it. Sure, she gives me the ball of yarn and little scraps to play with… who does she think she is dealing with here? I want the sweater!!! Why are my needs always ignored!! I deserve all of the attention, all of the time!!
Wait. What is this?The Mother of Cats got me a mouse!! A real mouse!! My very own mouse!!!
The Mother of Cats says that this is a hamster and that it is not a mouse, but I don’t care. THIS IS MY MOUSE!!! Finally I have a little friend to hang out with me that belongs just to me. I talked it over with the hamster-mouse and we have decided that her name is Little Miss Pitty-Pat. It’s just an accident that her name rhymes with “Kitty-Cat”.
I’m such a good boy.
Can I have some cookies now?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
my sweet boy
MacKenzie has never really recovered from the loss of Yellow Boy last summer. It has been clear that he needs a companion, but he is too old for a kitten, too savvy to have a bird, and not at all interested in fish. This hamster, selected after consultation with employees of my local PetSmart, is a long-haired Syrian hamster, a very calm and large breed. She comes right up to the wire to check out the cat and runs in her wheel endlessly while MacKenzie watches her: this hamster is so calm she ran in her wheel all the way home in the car! MacKenzie has made no effort to smack at the hamster through the wire or to get into the cage; she is just great cat company and entertainment for him. He checks on her several times a night while she is most active.
Here’s the big change in my life: I’m sleeping great with the new pet in the house! MacKenzie doesn’t wake me up at night since the hamster came home, and the noise of the hamster running her wheel is like “white noise” helping me sleep. MacKenzie is already eating more food at mealtime and seems calmer. Who knew we needed a hamster this badly!!
I woke up this morning to a warm, sunny day and a cell phone full of alerts. Well, look at that! A weather alert had been declared overnight for my area.
But in sunny California my KNITWORTHY niece is rocking her new mitts that I made for her. Did you ever see a happier recipient of a knitted item? She posted the picture to Facebook last night and my phone was also full of reactions to her picture. That’s what I’m talking about! Knitworthy.
The panic was in full swing when I looked at my phone. The schools were already closed for tomorrow. The city was advising that I get essential supplies and that I should plan on staying home tomorrow. There was a note about taking care of animals and checking the furnace. The county sent a message warning that they would try to keep “snow route” roads open, but they couldn’t make any guarantees. By the afternoon the National Weather Service had put out a blizzard warning, and by this evening the weather forecasters were talking about a possible “bomb cyclone“.
Cats do not like snow!! They aren’t really sure what “bomb cyclones” are, but they can’t be good. Cats dislike “bomb cyclones” and blizzards even more than they dislike snow.
All right then… not a moment to spare! I sprang into action and hit the road. Essentials for the storm include: gas for the car, groceries (including salmon and avocadoes… I believe in civilized snow emergencies!), a blood draw at Kaiser, and books from the library. I grabbed a Starbucks latte for a treat and headed home to get shovels and other gear ready for the storm. I now have yummy food, lots of projects, and good books to keep me company. Bring it on, Mother Nature, I am ready to go. MacKenzie, not so much, but that is the way it is for cats, I’m afraid.
MacKenzie and I have been working on my Sturgill sweater while watching the weather reports, and it is looking good!See. Looking good! I’ve taken the body off the needles and am knitting the sleeves right now because… yarn chicken worries. Once the sleeves are done I can blend the remaining yarn artfully to get the length I want.Tonight all is still calm and the storm is still just a dream waiting to happen…
I’m knitting like crazy on the sweater this evening and have several shows queued up for me on the DVR. I’m thinking that I’m in for a few days of prime knitting weather.
Yippee!
You all be safe out there!
PS: Did you wonder what I had to do with the shovel to get it ready for the snowstorm? Why, bring it inside, of course, so it would be warm when I spray it with Pam later for no-stick snow shoveling. We knitters are canny about spring snow storms…
Do you see how innocent I look? I ran out the front door when an Amazon package arrived, forced the Mother of Cats to chase me down in her bathrobe, and then informed her that I needed cookies. What? Cookies are for cats!
A few week ago the Mother of Cats lost control of her stash and cast on project after project. There was an explosion of WIPs. The project bags and plastic containers were everywhere. I was constantly in trouble for knocking things off the table. So excitable, the Mother of Cats. I don’t think that she has her priorities aligned correctly. Cats are first, always. Everyone knows this!
This week she pulled herself together and got things done. Look at this!
I helped myself to a little yarn chomping while she tried to finish the sleeves of her sweater. I kind of like this thick Brown Sheep yarn because you can get a good chomp on it!Monday the Mother of Cats weaved in all of the ends and the sweater was done! Mohair and wool: perfect for cat naps. The Mother of Cats is thinking of knitting me a little blankie from the extra skeins.Tuesday she finished her new cowl.By Wednesday the cowl was blocked and finished. I think it looks better on the bear, don’t you?Wednesday she concentrated on getting a sock done and I once again helped myself to some chomping. This thin yarn isn’t as fun to chomp and the Mother of Cats actually YELLED at me to stop. What is wrong with her? Yarn (and cookies) is for cats, right?Tonight they came off the needles and she did the finish work. Look! Here they are… done!!
Wow. Suddenly the Mother of Cats needs to clean up the coffee table by her knitting chair. There are empty needles, knitting patterns, project bags, and yarn scraps everywhere. I can hardly get to my bed with all of this chaos around it. Why does the Mother of Cats lack balance? She should learn from me. It is best to spend the day sleeping, eating, chomping cookies, causing trouble (umm… I might have eaten part of a baby rose bush…), and chasing yarn.
Tomorrow she plans to clean up and to get her last two WIPs finished off so she can WIND MORE YARN!! Oh, I really like to wind yarn. That is about my favorite thing in the world. The Mother of Cats would struggle to get things done without me.
I’m such a good boy.
Can I have cookies now?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
The sweater is the Daelyn Pullover and will be a great cold weather sweater for me. My project notes are here.
The Cowl is the Dissent Cowl; I knit it with MCN in a DK weight from Western Sky Knits. It is very soft, sturdy and warm. Another cold weather star. My project notes are here.
The socks are my own pattern to match my new Clinkerbell Cowl by Casapinka. Project notes are here.
I have to get a pair of mitts and my thrummed mittens finished. Next week! Tomorrow I am going to wind the yarn for a new sweater!! Sturgill, here I come!!
Look at how far away from the knitting I am! The Mother of Cats is being mean to me.
The Mother of Cats and I have been making really good progress on her new red sweater. I’m in charge of her yarn while she works because the sweater is getting so big that it whaps me in the face while she is working. I think that the Mother of Cats should just be more careful. She is hard to train, but I keep working with her because… cookies!
Do you see how much progress we have made?I try to supervise her closely, but frankly all this red is kind of exhausting.
It is kind of hard on me to never be able to sit on the Mother of Cats lap while she is working. This yarn is not as soft as some of the others that she uses, and she says that knitting with this yarn makes her wrists hurt. What a whiny Mother of Cats! She needs to toughen up some more. Maybe she could catch me some mice in the garage… that would make her wrists feel better. Nope. She won’t even consider getting me some fun mice, but she did look around for some other projects for knitting breaks.
I reminded her of this really soft roving that her BKB Deb gave her.
That roving is really soft. It would make a great bed for me. Maybe a new cat blanket?! Did she use it for that? No. She did not!
She used little scraps of the roving to start making these mittens.
The inside of the mittens will have scraps of the roving to make them really soft and warm. She says these are called thrums. I want this for my bed! Why doesn’t the Mother of Cats do what I want? So difficult, the Mother of Cats!
The Mother of Cats then got bored and started on these wild mitts for her knitworthy niece in California. She wanted to experiment, she said, and needed to work on smaller needles.Ha! There is no way she can keep me off her lap while working on these. There are two balls of yarn! Maximum yarn chomping opportunities!
The Mother of Cats is getting ready to do the thumb for the wild colored mitts, and decided to take a break to plan the knitting on her computer. She says she is thinking. She is just lazy. She hasn’t been petting me and giving me cookies as much as she should. Lazy.
Do you see what she did last night when she should have been catching me a mouse or getting the cookie container out? She started another knitting project! This one is a cowl. Thank heavens it has two yarns. You know how I feel about yarn chomping and extra balls of yarn.Don’t forget, she still has these socks going. She takes them with her in the car to work on when she to sit around in doctor offices.
So that is what happened this week. There are so many projects going I can’t keep them all straight. There are more projects than I have cat toys!! Crazy! Completely unacceptable. She needs to go out and get me some more toys, or at least some premium cat nip, or a live mouse at the least. I really want a mouse! Why can’t I have a mouse!!
I don’t think that the Mother of Cats loves me. She should stop knitting and get me that mouse right away!!
I’m such a good boy!
Can I have some cookies now?
>^..^<I
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
I just couldn’t help myself. The yarn for the new Daelyn sweater is hard on my wrists and the ends of my fingers are getting sore. It is wonderful yarn, but not superwash and I think that the mohair is making is a little rough on my fingers. Never mind, I told myself, just cast on another project for a break.
Things immediately got out of control:
The thrummed mittens will be fabulous. The Ravelry project page is here.
The colorful mitts for my niece (Which I blogged about a few weeks ago) are being invented using a booklet from Blue Moon Fiber Arts and another knitter’s project for inspiration. I’m working out the Fair Isle chart for the thumb on my computer now. My project notes with all of that information is here.
The socks are being made using the patterns in the Clinkerbell Cowl. Think of them as little clinkerbells for my feet. 🙂 My project notes are here.
The cowl is the Dissent Cowl. The minute I saw it I knew that I had to start knitting it. Right now the US government is experiencing a partial shutdown, and friends and neighbors around me are struggling because of it. I am also a child of public servants who spent her entire work life working for her community as a medical researcher and teacher, and I dissent!! I absolutely dissent! I plan to wear this cowl as much as possible and hope I don’t have to head off to public demonstrations in the street, but if it happens I will be sporting this fabulous knitted replication of RBG’s dissent necklace. My project notes are here.
I only managed to use up one new skein of yarn this week, but I’m just knitting on and should get some of these projects done eventually. There should be a big jump in the skein count then. Woohoo! Crazy knitting, a serious case of castonitis and stashbusting at its best. It must have been the super blood wolf moon. That’s my story and I am sticking to it.
MacKenzie has slept through most of the knitting this week, so I am going to have to post my progress in my own “voice” this week.
Actually, the only time that I have been able to knit this week has been while he was sleeping.
I think that it is the weather. It snowed over the weekend and the days were gloomy. I had to do errands this week which left him home alone for too many hours; ocicats do not tolerate alone time well. He still misses his brother Yellow Boy. Anyway, when he was up it was all “pet the cat!” all the time. He had absolutely no interest in the knitting or yarn chomping; instead he just climbed on me, head butted my hands to make me pet him and ran his purr engine on high. He is so cute about it the knitting went away each time he showed up at my knitting chair. So, no knitting with cat pictures this week.
In spite of the needy MacKenzie I did get a lot accomplished over the week. Check this out!
I cast on and started on a Clinkerbell Cowl for myself over the weekend. This MCN DK yarn (another Western Sky Knits score from the Estes Park Wool Market this summer) is just a joy to knit with.By Tuesday I had the cowl done and steam blocked. I just love, love, love this piece and plan to take it out shopping in the snow this afternoon. My Ravelry project notes are here.
I also pulled out a languishing WIP and got knitting on it again. I have several skeins of Brown Sheep yarn that I have had stashed for over 10 years. Now that I am attacking the stash I have pulled myself together and am knitting steadily on this sweater to get it done while it is still cold outside.
This is a single ply wool/mohair yarn that is going to be a workhorse for me in this sweater. Can’t you just feel the cushy warmth coming right at you through the picture? You can, can’t you! That’s what I’m talking about.Look at how far I got this week!
This sweater is the Daelyn Pullover by Isabell Kraemer, and the second one that I’ve made so I know that it is going to be the perfect warm sweater for casual wear. Okay, let’s be honest. That is just about every day for me these days as I am all about layered wooly comfort that will keep my Raynaud’s under control. This sweater is going to be seeing a lot of wear for sure, hopefully for years to come. My Ravelry project notes are here.
So how am I doing on the 2019 yarn stash challenge? I used up another three skeins of yarn this week!! I am now up to a grand total of 6 skeins for the year; only 44 more to go.
Do you see how sad I an? I was placed into time out for sleeping in the Mother of Cats new shawl. I just kneaded it with my claws a little bit…It is a wonderful shawl! Soft and so warm. This shawl has cashmere and silk in it with the merino. Perfect for a little cat nap, but the Mother of Cats was all NOPE!! and took me off. Why is the Mother of Cats so mean to me?Do you see those nice colors? They are just perfect with my fabulous coat of fur.I guess it looks okay on a human, but it is much better as a bed for me, don’t you think?She also had this last little shawl to finish from Christmas…Nice, Mother of Cats. A little late, don’t you think? Typical human laziness. She should have devoted more time to me since she was going to be late anyway.
It is snowing outside today and the Mother of Cats and I have been working on her plants and have started some new knitting projects. I can’t wait to tell you all about what we have been up to.
After a nap.
And some cookies!
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
The first shawl is called Color Study and it is knitted with two different yarns from Western Sky Knits. This is the softest shawl that I now own; the knitted fabric is just fabulous! You can find my project notes here.
The Christmas colored shawl is another Close to You and the yarn is made from Brew City Premium Draft Sock in the colorway “Silver Bells” . Fast, easy, simple pattern that I’m love wearing for a little warmth in the cold weather. My project notes are here.
These two projects used up 3 skeins of yarn. Only 47 left to meet my goal for the year.
Things have just gotten out of control here. The Mother of Cats has been knitting night and day for way too long here. She keeps rushing off to the yarn stash for more yarn (I always help her with that!), printing more patterns off the computer, and casting on new projects. I’ve tried and tried to slow her down, demanded cookies, petting breaks, and trips outside, but she just goes right back to the knitting as soon as I wander off for a nap. I chomp yarn and dragged one project off to hide under the Christmas tree, but she continues to persist. She is determined to knit herself a little Christmas this year.
I asked her to fill this one with catnip, but nope. She put it on the mantel where I can’t reach it. Why is the Mother of Cats so mean to me?
So far she has knitted 4 cowls, 2 hats, 2 shawls, a pair of fingerless mitts and this cute little Gnome that she WON’T LET ME PLAY WITH. Almost everything that she knitted has been mailed away, but the gnome is still here. I haven’t quite figured out how to get my claws into it, but I’m still plotting…
Sigh. Is it Christmas yet? I’m being neglected something awful.
I’m such a good boy.
Can I have some cookies now?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
I am so happy with the gnome and can’t wait to make another one. The pattern is Here We Gnome Again by Sarah Schira. So addictive. The pattern is linked to instructional videos that show you how to do the twisted cables without a cable needle; after a few minutes on YouTube I was doing them like a pro. Here is my project page on Ravelry.
The cables are what makes the pattern so special. This is the hat; don’t my stitches look great? The great support with the pattern made that happen. 🙂
I’m knitting the last cowl (a brioche baby that is taking me forever!) and shawl now. I think I’ll make it. Sure, I can get this done. No problem. Move along. Nothing to see here…
This evening I downloaded another pattern: chubby mice that will be catnip stuffed toys for MacKenzie and the other kitties in the family. I can polish off some little mice. How long can they take? I just added catnip to me shopping list.
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.
Do you see how out of control she is?
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.
These are little mitts for her sister who just moved to a colder climate. Do you like that yarn? It is yak, silk and wool, and is really yummy for chomping…This hat matches the mitts. The sister of the Mother of Cats has never lived in a place with snow before, so this hat should keep her ears dry. The sister should try walking in snow with cat feet!This little shawl is being knitted in Christmas colors for the Mother of Cats to wear to her book club next week. Knit faster, Mother of Cats! Book club is next Thursday. Have you started your book yet?
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!
Except let me eat turkey. She did let me have more of that tonight.
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 Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. I’ll let you all know what I think about it. I have been reading a lot, and when I take a break from the knitting I should tell you all about them. I’ve really been scoring some good reads lately.
I’ve been hanging out with the Mother of Cats for days working on our new sweater.
This sweater is really nice. The yarn that the Mother of Cats is using is part cashmere and silk: my favorite to take a nap on. Every time she puts it down I move right in for a quick nap!
But she always get cranky and chases me off. Why does the Mother of Cats act like this? She is so inconsiderate and possessive of her things.
I must say, even though she puts the knitting down pretty often (nap time!), we have been making pretty good progress. Look at where we are this morning…
Ta-da!! We are now working our way down the first sleeve!
I’m really not a fan of the sleeve knitting: every time the Mother of Cats turns the knitting the whole sweater whaps me in the head. It really gets a little old after a while. She should be more careful, don’t you think? Still, this is a really nice sweater, even when it is whapping me in the head instead of being left on the couch for me to take a nap on. Here are some of my favorite details:
Look a this lace yoke and the strip of colorwork.The body of the sweater has this funky X-stitch pattern. The Mother of Cats followed the directions and learned how to knit this without the cable needle.
This afternoon the Mother of Cats plans to do some binge watching on Netflix while she continues on the sleeve. Drat. Maybe I will spend my time watching for birds and the enemy cat in the back window. My poor head is getting really tired of all the abuse. As soon as she gets up to make dinner, though, the sweater is mine! Cat naps will be happening again.
I’m such a good boy.
Can I have some cookies now?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
This sweater is Zweig by Caitlin Hunter. The yarns that I am using and other information can be found in my project notes on Ravelry.
I blended the skeins of yarn together using helix knitting for about 2 inches at the transitions. This is the video (posted by Pepperly) that I used to figure out how to do the changes, and I actually knitted an entire round with each yarn and then just made the switch and tensioned the way she described it in the video. Worked great, the switch is smooth, and the knitted fabric feels great.
I started this sweater on the first day of fall. I hoped to get it done before the first snow, but that happened last week before I even got to the bottom of the sweater’s body. It is nice and warm today, and with some luck the sweater will be done before our next serious cold snap.
Yarn, Books & Roses 