Today is
Perdita’s second birthday. She is not an entirely satisfactory cat – my husband
would very much prefer someone who would sit on his lap and talk to him; but
she is a valuable third personality to have in the house and by now she is a
member of the family, like it or not, satisfactory or otherwise.
I finally
finished that sleeve cap. The Tannehill is knit, except for the neck ribbing –
but it remains to be seamed. I got the shoulders done, and even pinned the
first sleeve in place. Pic tomorrow.
How long has
it been since I set in a set-in sleeve? What was I thinking of, to do it this
way instead of a good old EPS raglan? The answer to that second question is
easy: I wasn’t thinking. The first sleeve seems to fit well into its socket:
that’s something.
The general
impression at the moment is that this sweater is going to be really good, and fulfill
its intended purpose to something like perfection.
It leaves
me, just now, with nothing to knit, until the seams are done and I can start
that neck ribbing. Uncharacteristically,
I don’t even have a pair of socks on the go. I could wind the skeins I bought
at the EYF and cast on Mary Lou’s “Pollywog Popover” from “Drop Dead Easy Knits”
– it's going to be next anyway – just for something to knit in the dead
hour at the end of the day when mindless television and mindless knitting are
all that spirit can manage – certainly not,
the setting-in of a set-in sleeve.
But I am
afraid, if I do that, that the Tannehill might lie about in
the form of disjecta membra forever.
No, I must press on.
Miscellaneous
Flipboard
seems to have given up trying altogether in its “Knitting” category. Alas,
again, for the death of Zite. Does anyone have a suggestion?
Poor Susan
Crawford is trying to work, but finding her mind clogged with “chemotherapy-induced
cognitive dysfunction”. It sounds thoroughly unpleasant.
I've been a reader/follower for awhile now, just been a bit afraid to comment, not sure why. Anyway, I so agree with you feeling that once an animal comes into the home, it is part of the family, and for better or worse, it's there to stay. One of our cats started life as a barn cat and never quite got the hang of a litter box. She was with us for 20 years. We could no more give her away than give away one of our daughters. People who adopted a pet then give it away, or worse yet drop it off in the country drive me crazy! Sorry I got a bit carried away. Anxious to see a picture of the Tannehill.
ReplyDeleteI had a rescue cat some years ago who had been badly treated in the past and, although she eventually learned to trust me, she spent most of her time behind the sofa. Not very satisfactory either but, as you say, a member of the family. I do enjoy your blog Jean, it's the first thing I turn to with my early morning cup of tea. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOur current two cats were a bit of a disappointment (good job they can't read this) after all our last ones. Laurel and Hardy (we get our cats on pairs) were part Siamese and had personality, then Silver and Tigger were Burmillas ("breeders rejects-wrong colour, so relatively cheap) and had personality AND intelligence. These habe neither, in comparison, but have eventually become more friendly and interactive as the years passed. I agree; having got them, all those years ago, we would never "exchange" them and our efforts have been worthwhile. (Burmillas next time, if possible!)
ReplyDeleteSo there's hope that Perdita will mellow in time!
I've an "easy" project on the go for when even plain knitting is beyond me; I make strips of tunisian crochet on an ordinary 6mm crochet hook using 1 ball of lovely yarn bought on holiday to eventually turn into a blanket.
I found myself in the position of having nothing at all on the needles that was ready to just knit a few weeks ago. My socks on the go were at work, where I leave them for 'emergency knitting.' I started the blanket from Drop Dead Easy Knits, log cabin squares, so I could have something to pull out and muddle through. It was quite a surprise that there was nothing else going on that didn't require thinking or planning or winding. Sewing in sleeves isn't difficult, as you know, but needs some time and good light for sure.
ReplyDeleteWe have a tortoiseshell cat:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoiseshell_cat
who is aloof and doesn't particularly like being petted. But she is funny and basically well behaved even though she is very energetic. We would never think of giving her away, although I long for our former Siamese who loved lapsitting and would have long conversations with us.
Torties are known to be skittish and a bit wild and are related to Calicos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_cat.
This is probably more information than you needed at the moment.
I enjoy reading your posts and the comments.
Oh my cat personalities certainly a topic that can carry on for hours. My current tow could not be more different. They are the latest pair after several sets. The first lived to 13 and 16. The next not quite as long. These are step siblings being of the same mother and different litters. Emil is almost all Siamese and Isolde is short hair black domestic. Emil is very vocal and male and rules the roost. Isolde is nothing like her namesake but a sweet cat who had a rather dramatic personality change recently. I do believe in nine lives now. It's a long story but in short she had a series of fits that once subsided and she recovered her personality has changed. Previously she was skittish and not prone to cuddling or being held or petted and would leave the room when o went to bed. Now she cuddles and sleeps glued to my side, she will come and meow to be picked up and held like a baby and has a bed next to my desk in my study. I of course am happy with this change. But find it amazing. My very first cat was of similar temperament so it's quite poignant for me. Emma was my favorite ever and lived to 16 and died in my arms. Ah well memories.
ReplyDeleteOur current two cats are both boys, Harvey and Artie (short for Artemis the hunter). Harvey is ostensibly my older son's cat, but he definitely loves me the best - he sits on my knee in preference to anyone else's. He's super affectionate and has the loudest purr. Artie is my younger son's cat and very much a one-boy cat, he follows my son round the house, he used to sit on the doormat and yowl after my son had gone to school. He would give up after a while, but he'd be back on the doormat when alerted to school finishing time by the voices of the children coming up the road. In contrast to his brother (they were litter mates) Artie's purr is barely audible, but he has the plushest, softest fur I've ever felt on a cat.
ReplyDeleteA belated "miaou" to Perdita
ReplyDeleteWe used to have a long haired cat, the late lamented Paws. I went to the rescue to adopt a kitten to be a friend to our other kitten, I came back with a 15 month old tom cat that had been neutered (and shaved, wormed, and de-flead) just the day before. He had been surrendered to the rescue because he was "boring". Well, I can only imagine his past owners were thick as mince because once Paws was brave enough to come out from under the book case he had a personality as big as the house, he was big, affectionate, chatty, purry and liked to sleep across the top of my OH's pillow at night and dribble on him affectionately. The kitten adored him on sight, they bonded really well. He died aged about eight from heart failure but he still stands out in our memories as a superior cat.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the comment about your kitty. Pets are like children in that we don't really get to choose them. They choose us:) - not an entirely bad thing! After all, if it were not for family, how many of us would have anyone who loved us unconditionally?:)
ReplyDelete