In Which We Went for Vegetables and Came Home With a Kitten
or
The Bathroom Goblin

We have a vegetable share, and ever Saturday we head to to the organizer's garage to pick them up. There were three kittens romping in the garden, and I overheard the yard's owner complaining that he didn't need more animals, and that these were strays. He also wasn't feeding them. (Completely against my sensibilities.) So, as we had toyed with getting another cat as a companion to our grey kitty, I thought I'd take a closer look.

The little black and white one seemed a bit of a runt, with the other ones picking on her a bit. I walked over to test her friendliness. The other two scampered under the plants, but the little black and white one stayed and let me come over to her. After a little hand sniffing, I picked her up and she was extremely happy to be held and petted. She was also extremely skinny.

My Mom and my husband took their turns holding the squirming purring kitty and with very few arguments against, we asked the owner of the yard if he wouldn't mind us taking the kitten home with us. He sort of blinked at us with bleary eyes (too much sun perhaps?) and said they were just strays, and he had too many animals already. I took this as his agreement to the proposal.

After thinking about it, I wonder why he didn't just take them to an animal shelter rather than let them starve in his backyard.

She's terribly cute, and very vocal and friendly. She lives in our bathroom while she's being dewormed and quarantined, though grey kitty is already beginning to warm up to her. A few liver treats at the bathroom door didn't hurt either. The yet to be named kitten isn't particularly happy with this arrangement, and protests with some of the most unusual patterns of determined meowing I've heard.

The picture is her first trip out of the bathroom. Grey kitty was in the front bedroom, so we shut the door and took her out to play with her. She was just a little freaked at first, which is what you see in the picture, but she was kneading and purring even while her hair stood on end.



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Now playing: Boccherini, Luigi - Fandango
via FoxyTunes

Towel is neat after a day of use. I think it will get really soft over time. It's pretty absorbant too, which I'm surprised about.

Specs on the towel:

It's about 10 inches wide and 27 ½ inches long. I could have gone a few more rows, but I didn't want to run out of yarn and have to rip out.

I did 6 rows of seed stich as a bottom border, and then a seed stitch border of 6 stitches on either side of the j-walker pattern. You might increase the bottom and top borders by a few rows, because they get a little lost and seem smaller than the side borders. There are three repeats of the j-walker pattern with 8 stitches between increases/decreases.

I used size 5 needles, but if I were to do it again, I might decrease that to 4 as it's a little on the loose side. The yarn itself called for 3s, but the Mason-Dixon pattern called for 5s, so that's what I went with. Obviously you'd get a smaller towel if you might increase the border widths or something to make up for it.

The mystery of what to do with the linen yarn has been solved!

It came unexpectedly. I was even about to start the second toeless sock (take 2) for my Mom.
I was looking through my newly purchased Mason-Dixon Knitting when I stumbled upon their knitted linen handtowel patterns. It took one skein of linen yarn. Ah ha!

I ran to my yarn stash in the guest bedroom to see if my skein of pretty brown and blue yarn would do, and it was perfect! I started on the moss-stitch checked pattern and after a few inches into the pattern I thought that the verigatedness of the yarn totally hid the texture of the pattern.

What to do?!

Something that would highlight the pretty colors and verigation was needed. I discovered a serious deficiency in stitch pattern books. (Note to self: Rectify this problem in the near future.)

At this point I had a brainwave. J-walker socks! They make nice use of verigated yarn, making it interesting without muddling the pretty colors. The j-walker towel was born!

Of course there will be no walking with this towel, unless it is to the laundry. Maybe it should be called the j-toweler?

It was even nicer after it was washed. The colors faded ever so slightly, but it picked up this soft fuzziness. There is nothing like drapey linen. I love the heaviness of it, and the way is hugs what it is draped on so tightly. I'd love a sweater out of it. I am really uncertain though that I could knit it myself. I found the stiffness of this a bit of a struggle to work with. My hand is glad it's done, as it can cease its cramping and get back to easy sock knitting.

Argh, so busy lately... and I don't even work! (well not for pay...) So many pictures still on the camera, so many projects done yet to be photographed... I'm lamenting the lack of photograph worthy daylight at 1:30am. Suddenly a few projects are calling me from the other room requesting their image be afixed to the pseudofilm in my camera. I realize that daylight at this hour would not be practical, and should it happen, I'm certain that some sort of catastrophe would be at hand rendering my desire to post pictures of socks rather inconsequential. Ah well.
Pictures soon, I promise. (though who this promise is to, I can only guess.. something tells me that I'm the only one who reads my little blog as of yet...)

Wow! Two more scarves and three sets of socks later, I'm finally 'in between' projects. I really want to start a pair of toeless socks. I'm thinking of a mishmash of a couple different patterns that I think will look good on varigated yarn. Hummmmmmmmmmm.



Husband loved his new socks, he's actually wearing them! (I find this amazing! Noone ever likes what I make for them =D)
Doesn't he make a nice sock model? hehe I was really pleased with the heal and toe of this sock. it's the french toe and german heal from Knitting Vintage Socks: New Twists on Classic Patterns.

Of course as pleased as I am, the next sock I tried was a toe up sock, and I may have found my preference. I swear these are quicker. This pair I knit my Mom are out of Regia yarn. They feel a little rougher to knit with, but they're still comfy on. I anticipate they'll wear well.

the lucious yarn turning into a scarf...It didn't turn out quite as long as I hoped, though it's sooo soft. I may have to unravel it and use it for something else. I instead bought a ball of Alchemy Pagoda,

and I don't know if there's just not enough variation in value, but it didn't knit up as nice as I had hoped. I wanted those triangles to be obvious, dangit! Better picture coming later.

Now for the tangent. It's been frickin' hot here. I know many people would complain about how we've had such a cold spring (except for those few days back in March) but sheesh, 86 in April?

Percival (my greyhound) almost caught a rabbit this afternoon! He's so quick it's crazy. He and I were tossing a kong around the yard (well I was doing more tossing, he did the chasing and refusing to bring it all the way back to me) when he startled a rabbit hiding in the brush pile in the corner of the yard. Now our yard is not that big but Percival was nowhere near the rabbit when it started to run, but by the time it got to a little hole in the fence the dog had almost caught it. I'm surprised he didn't lose his tail on the way under. Poor bunny hehehe.

I got my first bento box yesterday! I'm so excited. Now to figure out what to put in it. So many possiblilties! It's pretty tiny, maybe it's decieving. Pictures later!

On my quest for lunch today I found THE coolest tree. I was taking a meandering route though a local neighborhood when I found this huge burr oak, with a sign saying it's 300 - 400 years old. Amazing! We used to have a tree very similar behind the house I grew up. I think this one was even older. Moss on the branches, little knobbies coming out all over the place.. squirrel eyeing me suspiciously from a little ledge-perch the tree had made almost for the purpose. I definately need to go back with a camera.

I'm about to finish the purple sweater. I have it all done but the neck. The neck had to wait for the pomatomus socks, which were undoubtedly more important. I'm not sure I'd use this yarn again, Lion brand Homespun. We'll see how it wears/washes.

Hm sweater or City of Heroes..... CoH is awfully tempting... =D