The Knitting Pirate

He really is the upside-downiest cat of all time.

No paparazzi! No paparazzi!

Finally, this sock that’s been traveling around with me since Thanksgiving is finished. (Now I have to knit its mate. Such is the way of socks.) I wanted to do a toe-up sock, but the usual short-row heels don’t fit entirely right, so I went looking for different methods. This pattern from Wendy Johnson has a gusset and an interesting heel shape. It fits pretty well, though I’m not sure about the thick stripes on the heel section. This pattern would probably look better with a semi-solid or variegated yarn. I made the socks quite tall – almost too tall, as the ribbed cuff is stretching to fit over the bottom of my calf muscle. Once they’re washed they’ll probably be just perfect.

I used a figure-eight toe with sixteen loops, which has worked well, but on my next toe-up socks I’m going to experiment and try fourteen loops for a slightly longer toe with a wee bit more tapering. One change I made to the pattern was to extend the length of the gusset, and I’m glad I did. I snuck in six extra rounds during the gusset increases to accommodate my extra-long feet. The socks would have been too short otherwise, and probably too tight over the instep. I’m glad it worked out well; I would have been grumpy if they hadn’t fit right and I had to rip out the whole heel and gusset section!

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the sock perched in the redbud tree. This is the only one in my yard, but I see them everywhere and I love them. Maybe this year I’ll take some cuttings from my tree and try rooting them! Having a line of redbuds in the yard would be beautiful. I could alternate them with forsythia for the best spring colour ever. We’re supposed to have nice weather this weekend; perhaps I’ll put in some time outside working on the flowerbeds… when I’m not working on the second sock. I’d like to go for a walk too, or maybe get back on the bike. Lots to do!

Spring on the mountain is just so pretty.

Go away, I’m sleeping.

Can’t you see, I’m all curled up and sleeping.

Come on, really? I was sleeping…

The topics for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2012 have been released! You can see them all at Eskimimi Makes.

Some of this year’s topics are going to be tough! Day Two is a challenge to be as unique and imaginative with photography as possible. Day Five is called “Something a Bit Different” and it’s a day for being experimental and super-creative. The grand prize for Blog Week is going to be awarded to the Day Five post nominated and voted as most creative, so we all have lots of incentive to push the boundaries!

This weekend was mine to do whatever I wanted to do. On Saturday after the niecelets’ birthday party I cleaned the house, ran laundry and stayed up very late watching movies and playing with the cats, and on Sunday when I got tired of watching cooking shows I went up to my room to see what craftsy thing I felt like doing. I turned around in circles and the wheel caught my eye first, so I oiled it up and sat down to spin.

I put in two or three hours over the course of the day, and the bobbin was almost full by bedtime. I haven’t weighed the remaining fibre, but I don’t think I’m even halfway through it yet. I started spinning this stuff back in 2010 for Spin in Public Day and while I admit I’ve not kept to a regular spinning schedule, it seems like I spin and spin and spin, and the pile of unspun fibre never grows any smaller. I know I’m not the only spinner who feels this way, and that eventually it’ll be done… but meanwhile, it’s taking forever!

I’m planning to chain-ply these singles to maintain the striping in the finished yarn. I have another full bobbin of orange and yellow rambouillet singles in about the same weight that’s also destined to be chain-plied. And then, perhaps, instead of putting them away in my basket of handspun yarn, I’ll list them for sale in my Etsy shop.

The fibre is eight ounces of merino pencil roving from Pucker Brush Farm that I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool in 2010. Most of it drafts very smoothly, but some of the darker sections are matted and felted. I’m not even trying with those, I’m just pulling them out and discarding them. They’ll be good stuffing if I ever make any amigurumi or cat toys.

Unfortunately this morning I woke up quite stiff and sore across my back. I’m going to have to be careful to watch my posture when I’m back at the wheel tomorrow! Following the Yarn Harlot’s example, I’m going to set Tuesday as my day for spinning. While I doubt that an hour or two a week will make for very productive spinning, I’ll certainly get more done than if I just don’t spin at all. I’d like to finish this merino, ply the rambouillet, and move on to some of the other fibres in my stash.

One evening I was sitting on the porch, enjoying the warm spring weather, when I noticed a movement behind me. It was Kipling, staring at me through the window, looking very much as if he wanted a headscritch or two. “Do you want to come outside?” I asked him, and he chirped back at me. That must mean yes, right?

I went inside, got the harness, and put it on him. He didn’t argue about it at all, so I thought that perhaps he’d been on a harness before, and would be fine. He tried walking backwards out of it, and slinking out from underneath it, but after a few minutes seemed to forget it was on. (This bodes well for next winter, when I will try to put a sweater on him. He was so cold this past winter that he learned to roll himself up in one of the couch blankets. Cute, but probably not so comfortable. And he’s extended the trick to burrowing under the bed blankets when I’m trying to sleep.)

We went outside together. First he looked around a bit. So far, so good. I thought he might be so distracted by birds and other wildlife that he would forget his apprehension and enjoy the breeze as much as I was.

Then he cowered under a chair and made unhappy noises. I hate to laugh at him, but he sounds as if he’s crying “woe!” and it’s really quite funny to hear. Laughing only made him cry more, so I tried to hold it in to save some of his dignity. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t fooling him at all.

Floyd was brought outside as well, hopefully to be a calming influence. It worked the last time the cats had to go to the vet, but it didn’t work so well today. (Perhaps the heavy doses of pre-vet catnip helped more?) He produced the most pathetic mewing when he first set paw on the deck.

Floyd doesn’t like the Big Room With No Walls very much at all, and after a quick sniff at Kipling he made a beeline back to the door.

He’s a smart cat.

His short stature and lack of opposable thumbs seem to be a constant source of frustration for him.

Kipling, on the other hand, had trouble figuring out how to go through a glass door.

He looked this way and that way.

No amount of encouragement could convince him to look around the door to the inside of the house. His small brain couldn’t quite comprehend the glass.

Finally he wailed, “I just don’t understaaaaand!” It’s a good thing he’s cute, because he’s certainly lacking in the intelligence and courage departments.

I tried going inside to see if he would follow me, but he was still confused and probably too scared to move anymore. Eventually I had to go out, pick him up, and carry him through the door.

It was dinnertime for the cats, and I thought feeding them would be a positive reward for their good behaviour with the harnesses and going outside for a little while. I would love to spend a good chunk of my summer reading books on the front porch with the cats keeping me company. Unfortunately Kipling was still so nervous about his experience that he ate his dinner and promptly yarfed on the kitchen floor. I don’t think I’ll try taking him outside again if he’s going to react like that – who’s training whom, here?

There is a big change happening at Up Mountain, one that’s been in progress for quite some time, but is finally happening: Pirate-Husband is moving out. We’ve had a good run together, but it’s time for both of us to move on. It’s a bittersweet thing for us, but we’d rather end the marriage so that we can be friends, instead of hanging on and growing more and more resentful of each other.

…so we bought lottery tickets, because winning the Mega Millions would solve our remaining problems. :)

I’m looking at this as an opportunity. I’ve never lived on my own – I went from my parents’ house to university to an apartment with him – and I’m excited for the chance to do everything my own way. Over the past few years I’ve been putting quite a bit of effort into remaking myself to become the person I really want to be, and this is the final stage. When I look back on it, I want to be proud of what I see.

April is going to be a big month for me. I work well with schedules, so I want to get myself into a healthy routine of exercise, keeping the house clean, and working on my creative projects.

Here’s to new beginnings!

It was recently pointed out to me that my house is the sort of place that creative people might rent in order to escape from the world and write the Great American Novel or paint a series of landscapes. I’m so lucky to live here, and I want to make the most of what some of my friends refer to as “their mountain vacation house.” It’s a beautiful place, and there’s lots of inspiration to be had just from living up there. Then another friend (Hi, Monica!) wrote, “what if I thought of EVERY day like that; just a vacation with some mandatory stuff thrown in?”

She hit the nail on the head. I look at life as an adventure: some parts are more difficult than others, some challenges seem as if they may never be overcome. All in all, though, almost every little thing in life can be made good and exciting, and I try to look for ways to make everything into a quest or a challenge or a mission. It’s turning life into a fun game instead of a dreadful series of boring responsibilities like going to work and paying the bills.

Instead of thinking of the house as just a house, it’s become the exclusive Up Mountain Bed and Breakfast. Instead of having to run errands, I go on missions to restock the pantry with the best food I can find (and then there’s the challenge of keeping to my grocery budget). Exercise isn’t just having to work out, it’s a part of Operation: Badass. Everything can be turned into part of the fun and the game.

Lately I’ve been feeling as if all my projects are crawling along slower than a turtle, so I started thinking of ways to rekindle my excitement about them. Keeping on with the vacation home metaphor, what do resort vacations have? Scheduled activities. I’ve always done well with schedules and routines; they help keep me from procrastinating. “Oh, I’ll just check a few things on the internet” turns into “now I’m too hungry to exercise, I’d better make dinner,” to “this show I want to watch is on,” and the next thing you know, I’ve stayed up too late doing nothing at all. Then I feel guilty when I realize that I’ve wasted my day putting off the things that I say I want to do.

So I’m going to try an experiment for the month of April, and plan out my time after work to make the most of everything. I’ve written out a schedule which includes the new start to Operation: Badass, enough time to cook and enjoy good food, an hour of a specific creative activity every weeknight, and also time for the slightly more mundane stuff like cleaning the house. I’ve even remembered to give myself some free time to do whatever I want.

As I get more done, I should have more to blog about as well. Now that the days are getting longer and there’s more light in the afternoons, I should be able to take more pictures. I’m going to keep my camera close by so I don’t miss any opportunities. I’m really excited about turning over this new leaf, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading about my adventures – and please do cheer me on, because that will definitely help me stick with it!

Last week I visited my kitten dealer Dawn and her husband John. There is no way I’m getting another kitten, but they had a foster mama and three babies with them for a few days. When Dawn offered me the chance to come over for a little bit of kitten therapy, I couldn’t turn her down! (Not to mention the chance to hang out, have dinner and a few drinks, catch up, and play games. That part was fun too.)

This little girl was only three or four days old when I took her picture. Her eyes and ears are still shut, and I didn’t get to hold her long before Mama Cat was chirping for me to return her. I would have been happy to let her sleep in my hand all night, but she needed Mama’s warmth and milk, not to mention the companionship of her brother and sister. While Mama Cat is mostly a solid gray, all three kittens were tabbies. The two girls had stripes and white chests, and the little boy had a classic tabby swirl going on. All three kittens were (of course) absolutely adorable.

At one point I shifted her around in my hand and she fell asleep upside-down. When we gave her the tiniest of bellyrubs with just the tip of one finger, she squirmed and waved her little paws around, and opened her mouth as if she were giggling. I’ve never seen a ticklish kitten laughing before. It was the cutest thing ever! As soon as we stopped, she fell right back to sleep.

It’s coming up on kitten season, and I’m looking forward to helping Dawn “torture” the little ones with lots of snoogling, paw-touching, and ear-rubbing. The more kittens are handled when they’re really young, the better they’ll be about it when they grow up. Floyd doesn’t like when I trim his claws or clean his ears, but he doesn’t put up any arguments about it. Kipling seems to have missed out on his early torture sessions and is touchy about letting me touch his paws… though he doesn’t mind having his tail pulled.

The Third Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is only a month away! From April 23rd through 29th, lots and lots of knitters and crocheters from all over the world will post using set daily topics provided by the wonderful Eskimimi. I’ve taken part in the first two Blog Weeks, and not only was it a ton of fun, but I got to read bunches of new blogs that I might never have otherwise found!

The daily topics for this year’s Blog Week will be released on April 2nd, which gives participants time to write their entries in advance and queue them for publication on the proper day. We’ll use specific unique tags for each day’s post (and never type them out anywhere else), which will make it easy to find other people’s daily posts. If you’re curious what the topics are like, you can check out my previous posts at the Blog Week category

This year, there is something new about Blog Week: prizes! Some will be awarded for things like “most creative post” or “most imaginative photography”, but there are lots of prizes that will be randomly awarded simply for taking part in Blog Week. As if the fun of blogging wasn’t enough incentive on its own!

As you can tell, I’m quite excited about Blog Week. I had such a great time doing the first two, and I’m so pleased that the tradition is continuing on. More details, an image of the tags we’ll be using to mark our posts during blog week, and pictures of some of the magnificent prizes that readers have donated can be found here.