Ampersand reclining on a project that took forever to complete and which pleases me to no end. It's a simple garter stitch triangle (CO 3 stitches; sl 1, inc 1, k to end until desired length/width - I got sick of knitting at 200 stitches with a gauge of 4st/in unblocked. BO, block the heck out of it.) inspired by the wonderful, airy Morehouse designs and knit from some of the oldest yarn in my stash - two skeins of crewel wool that I'd bought at the Women's Educational and Industrial Union back when they had a store and were phasing out their needlework department. I'm calling it Wedgewood. (Stitches in more detail here.)
Though I realize that the spare bed is technically her territory, driving that point home by pretending to sleep on wet wool seems a bit silly.
7 comments:
Isn't it amazing how cats automatically get to own the spare bed and then use whatever suits them? Pixel's the same ... except she's rather sit on me most of the time (she won't sit on Ali at all!).
B x
Knitting blogs are full of kitties "modeling" knitted projects in various stages of completion for their humans - isn't it kind of them? I'm glad Ampersand is part of this very important kitty-human knitting relationship! (It's a miracle our projects come out as well as they do - maybe the heat, weight, contentment and purr factor of the kitties have something to do with it - have to test it on Tootsie!)
Dr Bob: I'm happy that Ampersand actually feels comfortable enough to take up space. She was pretty sorely abused before she ended up in my hands and it was a rough period of her cowering, hissing and sometimes outright attacking me before calming down. Is scared to death of the other two cats, so I have to keep her locked in my room at all times. She claws stuff every now and again, but aside from that isn't too bad.
As for people preferences: she deals well with me now, but is hopelessly, deeply, eperduement amoureuse du Frenchie. The spark in her eyes when he's here is something to be seen.
***
Marcia: Should have taken a picture of the yarn for the project I'm working on right now. It's very slippery and all three of the little perps see it as Pink Spaghetti for Cats. Have had to cut the cord a couple of times to detangle and re-ball.
I don't understand people who are cruel to cats. Pixel was a rescue cat, too -- she still claws (has destroyed the carpet in the hallway) - however, since she's an old lady and we don't expect to have her much longer, we decided that the odd carpet or two was fair exchange for her company!
Part of the reason why my housemate has leather furniture is because the cats won't touch it. (He's got two, both rescues as well. Saw what *my* cats did with *my* furniture.)
I'd take in more animals if I didn't live in the city, I could manage time-wise to take care of the more needy ones (dogs come to mind) and I knew a bit better what I was doing in the near future.
My girl cat was just a nightmare when I first got her. Sweet as anything to males, but so awful to me that I had to sleep with my door shut and locked the first few months otherwise she'd claw me in my bed. She's come around a lot, but still has some issues - for example, doesn't like her back paws/legs touched. (Hip dysplasia is a problem with coons) and she doesn't like to be brushed so it's a constant battle to keep her from matting (often a losing one, too - we had to go at her with the scissors and beard trimmer the other day).
She's old, though not as old as Mamasan was when he passed (He was a few months short of 19. She's going to be 16 in September.)
My Mum's cat Dino is a Coon and for the past year has been going to the groomer for semi-annual "lion" cuts. At first he was terrified but now he actually purrs through the whole procedure. He was terribly matted and had to go to the vet for an emergency trim so Lesley and I finally strong-armed Mom into the procedure. She freaked (despite being unable to see him). He was very funny to look at first but he was so proud of his swishy tail that he swaggered around the place oblivious to his lack of fur. He was so soft.... Now we do it regularly and tell mom to calm down whenever she squawks about it "The poor cat will freeze to death...." He's so fat there's no way he's gonna freeze... He's been much friendlier since he's hair stylin' Believe me I keep Ruby's long guinea pig hair trimmed cause we aren't gonna let her live with the pain and shame of matts - yucka! Guinea pigs do not make good knitting models - unless you want the project shredded by tiny nails and sharp teeth! (See how I brought it back to knitting!)
Part of Ampersand's crankiness has to do with the mats pulling her skin. She was a terror when we were shaving her, but now she's much happier. When I take her to the vet (this is going to be fun), I will ask about a groomer. She mats much more than Tony (orange coon) due to maybe finer hair and the fact that she's got awful dandruff.
How's that blanket coming along? Found in my stash pile an attempt at learning how to use a drop spindle. Washed it and set it out to dry. Is definitely going to be a "novelty yarn." Am thinking of making either a cravat or a stuffed toy from it. (will talk about knitting, dying, whatever till the cows come home!)
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