Cold weather arrived last week so the Mother of Cats has been hanging out indoors. We cats prefer to sleep in her cozy bed, but she has been disrupting the peace doing Christmas stuff. Crazy! She didn’t even talk to us about it first.
All these lighted things got dragged out of their hiding places and put outside. This is so unfair – we didn’t get to go outside at all because she said subzero temperatures weren’t good for cats. Why don’t we ever get to vote about these things?She dragged in a tree from outside and hung these shiny balls and lights all over it.Best cat toy ever!!
Then she settled down to spend the rest of the week binge watching Gilmore Girls and knitting on the last of the Christmas presents. Lots and lots of knitting! Lots and lots of Gilmore Girls. Hey, that’s another thing. Why don’t cats get to go to Harvard or Yale? I think that I would be a wonderful addition to the Independence Inn. Michel would like me for sure; we have almost identical attitudes!
Did I mention that she ate Christmas cookies while she knitted. Hey, these aren’t cat cookies! What was she thinking of?Finally she got these boot liners finished for her DIL. Did I mention that they are cashmere, silk and merino? Check out the cushy stitches. These are just wonderful to sleep on. Would you believe that she took them away from me and wrapped them in paper? Oh. Wait. Crackly paper. Yellow Boy lives for crackly paper. We both love to climb into the pile of presents to play with the bows. Why does the Mother of Cats get upset with us?
At last all the knitting gifts were done. Did she stop knitting to pay attention to me? Maybe feed me cat cookies? No!! She pulled out more yarn and unfinished knitting projects. Evidently there are more Gilmore Girls episodes to watch. Rory is now in Yale, and who knows what will happen next? I think that it would be nice if Rory got a cat.
Now we’re knitting on some socks for her. I like this color of yarn, don’t you?
It has finally gotten warmer outside and Yellow Boy and I are running through the snow in the backyard during the afternoons. Yellow Boy keeps hoping to find a bug, but so far they seem to be hiding. That sorry squirrel still hangs out in the trees of the yard; annoying creature! He should come down to play in the snow with us. We’ll give him a chase he won’t soon forget…
In a few days Christmas finally arrives. The Mother of Cats will make lasagna and cheesecake and all the kids (and the grandkid) will be over here showering me with attention. I will get to chase ribbons. There will be piles of paper. Yellow Boy will hide the whole time so I’ll be the star of the show. I love Christmas.
I’m all ready for the big day.
I’m such a good boy.
Can I have some cookies now?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
The boot liners are the Savannah Boot Liners by Pam Powers. Ravelry notes here.
I was surprised to wake up a couple of days ago to find that Sharon of Creativity and Family had received the Liebster Blog Award and had nominated me to receive it also. For those of you who don’t already know what this award is, it is one that is designed to recognize and draw attention to smaller bloggers (in terms of the number of followers) who produce sites that you (the nominator) find helpful/entertaining/meaningful and would like to share with others. At the end of this post I will pass the baton to some of the sites that I follow and really enjoy. Sharon, thank you so much for nominating me. I’m really flattered that you thought of me.
As part of accepting the award I am asked to answer some questions that Sharon sent to her nominees in her original post. I get to pick 5 or more of her questions. So, with no further ado, here are her questions that I have selected and my answers.
What is your favorite crafting tool?
My knitting needles!! I have gone through a lot of needles in my time, but my absolute favorites are now Chiaogoo lace tip needles. I have a set of interchangable needles that I bought extra tips and cables for, several sets of cable needles, and and a set of double-pointed needles to match them. If I am just knitting a sock or mitt I use my Kollage Yarns square double-point needles. I love them so much I bought a set (or two) in every size I commonly use. I have zip-up Chiaogoo cases for them that I treasure.
It really is the little things that count. I love these needles!! The cables of the ChiaoGoo are wonderfully flexable and the square needles are so easy on my hands I can knit for hours without my hands tiring.
2. What is your favorite craft book
That’s a hard call. I went to the book shelf and hunted for the book that was the most worn and tattered. Here it it.
This book is my go-to source for patterns when I need to make a hat, or mitten/glove. It is especially nice as it helps me use my handspun yarn.
3. Do you have a project that you have made time and time again?
I have made the same sock pattern so many times that I have it memorized! It is the Chouwa sock from the book Knitted Socks East and West by Judy Sumner. No matter who I make this sock for, it fits!! I tried to make my sister something else last year and she just demanded another Chouwa. So there. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. 🙂
4. What is your favourite handmade gift that you have received from somebody else?
My cousin Cathy sent me a handmade quilt that I just treasure and use everytime I stay over at my son’s house. Next time I get hospitalized (knock wood) I’m going to have it brought to me because it makes me feel so happy!
5. Where do you sit to do your creating? If possible could you share a photo?
This is the knitting chair! It is so big I can sit cross legged in the chair and during the winter I snuggle under a blanket while I work. Notice the nice big (cat-suitable) arms; the cats still insist on sitting on me (chomping yarn) or on the leg rest while I knit.This is the sewing table and off to the right is the cutting board. Cats sit all over all of this too.
6. Have your creative hobbies changed over the years or do you stick to the same ones?
Knitting has been a constant for me ever since I learned around 8 years old. I’ve added in spinning, weaving, quilting, card-making and some bead work over the years, but the vast majority of my time is spent knitting. My spinning wheel resents this…
7. What do you store your wips and take out projects in?
I live it fear of wool moths. Every time I attend a workshop lately I am warned that there are, indeed, wool moths in Colorado. I have a lot of fiber coming through my house…
and I wage a constant war to keep the animal fur in the house under control.I now store all my projects in these plastic snap top storage boxes. There is enough room in there to include scissors, patterns, extra needles, etc.It’s really easy to stack and store them too!
That is it for my questions. It is now my great pleasure to nominate some of the blogs that I follow and enjoy. Please don’t feel obligated to accept the award, but if you do, there are some requirements that I have listed below. I hope that you will because I like your blog and I think that other people will to.
Acknowledge and accept the Liebster Award by leaving a comment on the blog where you were nominated.
Copy and paste the Liebster Award medal (logo) onto your own blog.
Link back to the blogger who awarded you and give thanks.
Answer the questions put to you by the person who nominated you. This is a great way to get to know the people behind the blogs. The number of questions have vary from 5 to 11 depending on who is asking.
On your blog nominate and link to your 5 favourite blogs(or more) that you enjoy but have a small readership (the rules have varied from less than 200 to less than 3000 readers). It could be that they have only been blogging for a short time or have a niche interest but are worthy of gaining more attention in the wider blogging world. That means the blogs of large, commercial enterprises are not eligible for nomination; nor are blogs that are well publicised in a variety of media and established with tens of thousands of followers.
List your questions for your Liebster Award nominees on your blog.
Inform your nominees by leaving a comment on their blogs.
Some of the blogs that I nominated are written by people with serious crafting addictions (and not enough time to get to all of them…), others are blogging about their lives with serious medical conditions, and some blogs are by people with both of these things going on in their lives. 🙂 I tried to make questions that will fit the bill for people in either group; pick 5 or more of the questions that appeal to you.
Why did you start blogging?
Why did you chose the name of your blog?
What are three of your very favorite books?
What are the biggest challenges in your day-to-day life and how do you deal with them?
What does your work (crafting) area look like? Pictures, please!!
Are you hoping to make gifts for Christmas this year? Share!! (Please do this one. I need ideas…)
What is your favorite (handmade) gift that you have received from somebody else?
Where do you get your best ideas?
Where do your creative energies go? What craft or activity is the most important to you?
Have your creative hobbies changed over the years or do you stick to the same ones?
Yarn, Books & Roses 