Wednesday, September 27, 2017

I’ve been checking Gumtree for cats roughly every twenty minutes all day. In fact, there was a distinctly good one at the top of the list (=most recently posted) when I first logged in yesterday. It didn’t seem quite right, to find a new Hermione so easily – and by now, of course, she’s gone.

There are a great many “ragdoll” cats on Gumtree, at considerable cost. The vast majority of the others are black or black-and-white or ginger. That’s what I don’t want. I’d be happy with a nice tabby. They’re surprisingly rare. This cat (I hope it reproduces well), fully three hundred years old, shows that the design I have in mind is well-established.



I have gone on working on the Soutache, partly because it’s fun; partly because I am afraid I will forget everything I have painfully learned, if I stop for a day. What a remarkable achievement is Nancy Marchant’s, to have devised all this! Carol Sunday (designer of the Soutache) gives her full credit in the pattern notes.

The difficulty is that every increase and decrease must involve two stitches (or four). I am finding increases easy, but haven’t yet settled down with the basic decreases, left and right, which are so easy in ordinary knitting once one has learned that the stitch the needle enters first is the one that winds up on top. I think I should get it soon, and then all should be plain sailing.

I find myself much drawn – and especially, perhaps, at this time of year – to the idea of communal knitting, KALs and subscriptions to yarn packages . I know it would be folly. I have more than enough to do without new self-imposed targets. But…

Carol Feller’s about-to-begin Camira Cardigan is a particular temptation.


Greek Helen has whizzed back to Edinburgh for a mosaic conference, largely organised by herself. She agrees with Perdita, that we don’t need a kitten. I’m afraid I’m too deeply committed emotionally to take her advice.

8 comments:

  1. What the heart needs is rarely logical

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  2. Would there be any value in contacting the people who had Hermione, to ask if they might produce more kittens in the future? Then you could ask to put your name at the top of the waiting list for a female of the right pattern. It could be a MKAL (Mystery Kitten ALong)...

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  3. When I followed the link to the Carol Feller KAL, I realized your purpose - not to succumb alone! What gorgeous sweaters. I plan to at least shop around for yarn, as the current worsted weight pattern and the lack of huge swathes of stockinette are very tempting.

    The Mystery Kitten-A-Long is easier to resist, but it is an idea I am filing away. Moorecat's idea to ask for a future cat is brilliant. I am invested in your second cat, and hope to see it happen.

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  4. Anonymous4:05 PM

    The white-orange-black coat color of the cat in the painting is called "calico". (Orange-and-black cats with little or no white are called "tortoiseshell"). Tabbies, on the other hand, are the familiar striped cats: silver tabbies (grey w/black stripes), ginger tabbies (red on red), etc. Btw, Perdita's coloring, white-beige-grey, is what the cat-show people call "dilute calico". Not a cat-show person myself, just fascinated by the range of coat colors among domestic cats.
    -- Gretchen (aka stashdragon)

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  5. Oh, I forgot to give you a link to the mosiac lace book. Sorry! It's been a bit crazy around here the past few weeks. Also, sorry on the kitten, but hopefully you'll get the perfect one!

    http://mosaicandlace.com/

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  6. Anonymous12:24 AM

    Saw a pure white cat in our neighborhood yesterday with a dark grey and beige striped tail. No white in the tail at all. It makes you wonder how that happened. Chloe

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  7. It finally dawned on me yesterday (while looking at a photo spread in the Guardian on a rabies vaccination drive in Kenya) why it must be that cats (and possibly dogs?) are such a hot commodity in your parts. The UK is relatively small and an island and you have a strict quarantine to keep rabies at bay.

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