When The Cats Aren't Wrestling the Rug

They often wrestle each other.

Sometimes it looks rather alarming, but so far, no hisses or growls, and so far no one's been hurt.

This is what I found when I came downstairs

Again.

For some reason, the cats find it absolutely imperative to wrestle the hearth rug into submission at least once a day - usually more.

What I found when I went downtown was this


Bad picture, but lovely new coffee shop, the "Pecatonica Grapevine". Actually, it opened last Friday, so I've already been in twice, once for coffee and once for a bottle of wine. (The wine is in the back room, which isn't as shady as it sounds, very charming display area actually). I'll get a better picture sometime after the Christmas decorations go up (probably tomorrow).

That storefront had been empty for a couple of years, so I'm grateful to Christine for opening her shop, and plan to give her as much business as possible.

Good Thanksgiving Wishes to All

My Wild Footie

Since trying to tone down the yellow yarn didn't work so well, I decided to go all out for bright.



I like it.

I also decided to make a slipper sock to wear over other socks in the house, particularly in my knitting room. It's directly over the garage, and the floor gets really cold.

And since I was being wild, I put the "gusset" decreases at the top of the foot. The toe decreases start at the center top and center bottom, move toward the sides and finish in the "regular" position. Why? Just for the hell of it.

Now I need to make the other one.

Meh!

Time to face facts,



I'm not feeling the love for this combination of yarns.

I've ripped this back, and will try combining the yellow-orange yarn with a different carry along.

Slow News Day on the Knitting Front

I've been plugging away on the lattice looking scarf, but no new picture because the bit I did yesterday looks pretty much identical to the bit I did last week.

I did finish the new toes for my old socks.

So what next? I have most of a 100 gm ball of Opal 6 ply left (used part for heels and toes). Its a color that reminds me of Goldenrod copier paper - not too crazy about it, but I bought it because it was deeply discounted. So maybe I can tone it down a bit by holding it together with the Regia on the right.

Together they will be pretty thick, but winter's coming. Thick socks are good. Will there be enough, considering that I've already used up two heels and two toes worth? A little suspense keeps the knitting life interesting.

Well, will you look at that!

I pulled out most of the Nasturtium vines nearly a month ago, after the frosts had turned them to mush. A few little green leaves remained snugged right up against the house.

Yesterday as I was coming back from the Post Office, something caught my eye.



Well bless its heart. A Nasturtium in November.

Two Purrs

Bob, seen here in his Cheshire Cat manifestation, has a loud and assertive purr.




He revs up the engines before he hits your lap and you can hear him coming. It gets louder as he attempts to climb up to your shoulder and purr directly into your ear. There are times when it gets, quite frankly, just a little annoying. More than once I've pushed him off with a "That's enough, Bob!"

Merlin, on the other hand, is more reserved.

He is social in his own way, will follow you from one room to another, then settle down a few feet away. If he is relaxed and in the mood, he will accept a scratch under the chin or around the ear, and his purr will start silently. You can feel it before you hear it, and it never gets very loud. I find myself seeking him out, trying to coax one out of him.

There's something to be said for playing hard to get.

Aw

Someone knit their kitty a witch hat.


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As I Suspected

I did a quick "on the needle" wash of the swatch scarf. As anticipated, the pattern stitch did open up, indeed rather more than I had anticipated.



It makes a rather cool lattice look, and I think I'll go ahead and finish the scarf (despite the somewhat ragged looking edges). But for a blanket I would definitely drop the needle size.

Moral of the story: always wash and block your swatch. Which I did. Because this is the swatch.

Since You Asked

Hi kmkat! This what the back of the scarf looks like. Different than the front, but not bad.



I'm working on Size 10 needles (a tighter knitter would probably get the same gauge on 13s). The fabric has a reasonable drape and nice elasticity in both directions. The garter borders are rather loose at this tension, but I think will be presentable when washed and dried. I could see going down a needle size and still getting a fabric that isn't too stiff.

Like magnusmog, I think it would make a cozy blanket.

Sometimes a Swatch is a Scarf

This is pretty much the same pattern stitch that I used on the little crochet looking hat, except I went up several needle sizes and worked only one plain round (instead of two) between pattern rows - and of course, worked it in a single color.

Here's the pattern stitch (multiple of 3 plus 1):

Row 1: k1,* yo, slip 1, k2, pass the slipped stitch over the two knit stitches; rep from *
Rows 2 & 4: purl
Row 3: *slip 1, k2, pass the slipped stitch over the two knit stitches; rep
from *, end k1.

Slip stitches purlwise with yarn in back. Watch that the yarn overs don't get ahead of the slipped stitches. Otherwise easy as pie. I find this one simple enough to be relaxing, but requiring enough attention not to be totally boring.

I added a 3 st garter border at each side. It's still attempting to curl a little, so maybe I should have gone to 4 or 5 sts. We'll see if blocking helps. I'll be curious to see it it stretches out much after washing - I'm using Cascade 220, so it might.

I think this pattern could make a nice baby blanket, or work well in cotton for a market bag (I'm not planning on making either one in the near future, but you never know.)

Sometimes a Swatch is a Hat

Over the weekend there were still some stitch pattern variations that I wanted to try, but I was getting tired of making little non-functional tubes. None of what I'd done so far really grabbed me as having potential for socks. So I switched to worsted weight yarn and made hats.

I sort of like the way the one at the lower right almost looks as if it were crochet.