My first knitting goal for 2007 is to finish the current projects In The Knitting Bag. Jenn of KnitnLit has a great knitalong to help with this, called "It's Not a Gift." The idea is that after all the holiday gift knitting, we take some time to knit or finish knitting something for ourselves. I don't feel quite worthy of this KAL -- Jenn and others had huge lists of presents they completed, and I only had the knitted kitties. The motivation from the KAL, however, is most appreciated!
When I last posted about this at the end of Oct, there was a mistake in the pattern and at least ten rows had to come out. A knitting teacher friend of mine helped with that, and I'm now re-knitting those rows. I'm finishing the 5th of 6 repeats before the border rows, but if I finish the 6th repeat and still have lots of yarn left, I'm going to add an additional repeat, as I'd like this to be as wide as possible, more of a wrap than a scarf.
In the "why buy your pets fancy beds and toys, when they like your things better?" dept, Tim found a box that had come in the mail last week, and he claimed it for his afternoon naps. I felt so bad that he was sleeping on the scratchy carboard packing paper, that I put my his blue shawl in the box. He promptly squashed that down to make himself a nest, and is in there again as we speak (click to enlarge). Tim, unlike Charlie, was never homeless a day in his life, so I am mystified as to why he has taken to this box!
I've been catching up on episodes of Lime and Violet, a knitting podcast. Violet is having medical tests and procedures done for a suspicious lump she's found [I am not sure if the test results were announced yet, as I'm an episode or two behind]. Lisa Souza has a special colorway of sock yarn called Violet's Pink Ribbon available to help offset medical costs. If proceeds exceed Violet's medical bills, I believe they will be donated locally to help other women being treated for breast cancer. So, if you are looking for special sock yarn, or cannot stand knitting from your stash another minute and want to take advantage of that sock yarn loophole and have a splurge, please go on over and support Violet and other women facing the possibility of cancer.
The stole is looking good. I can't wait t see it finished.
I love the photo of your cat. My parents' cat is just the same - recently she started sleeping in a large terracotta plant pot.
Posted by: Kendra | January 08, 2007 at 04:55 PM
That's a really good idea for a KAL.
You know I had a really hard time finding the cat, he really matches the box quite well.
Posted by: Rebekah | January 08, 2007 at 05:34 PM
Isn't Tim cute. Guinness has his own bed but it is made more comfortable by one of the throw pillows from our couch and an old sweater of mine that he drags around with him! (Luckily the sweater was in the to-be-given-to-charity box before G chose it!)
Posted by: Meg | January 08, 2007 at 07:14 PM
I think all cats have a box gene - both of our cats love them - in fact, Mom & Dad keep a box in the dining room for them to hang out in. (And they don't like when it is put away when company comes over) :)
Posted by: Amy Artisan | January 08, 2007 at 09:22 PM
It's good to knit for yourself. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
I love Lime & Violet - they crack me up! V hasn't announced any results though, I hope she'll be OK.
Posted by: tiennie | January 08, 2007 at 11:57 PM
Elly had a cardboard box once. She had it for years until she threw up on it. I wasn't a good enough mommy to want to clean up the box (Wash a 4 year old cardboard box? Give me a break!) So I bought her a cat bed to replace the box. She liked the bed for awhile and then quit using it.
Posted by: Laura | January 09, 2007 at 09:51 AM
My kitties all love a good box, or basket. I recently found one of the squished, and I mean squished, into a shoe box! It was the funniest thing.
Posted by: Julie | January 09, 2007 at 02:51 PM
The stole is looking good. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. My cat will even sleep on her cardboard scratching thing. It seems awfully uncomfortable but she likes it there.
Posted by: Sydney | January 09, 2007 at 07:31 PM
Well he looks quite comfortable in there. I'm sure the shawl made it just perfect. :)
Glad to hear you are doing well again with your wrap. Now...if I could just get myself going on mine!
Posted by: Karen | January 10, 2007 at 08:15 PM
I hope you have a wonderfully relaxing weekend! How true that we get too busy for our own selves. JR and I were noticing we have three gifts certificates to use from a year ago! And one of them is for a wonderful romantic overnight! Something is terribly wrong when we can't even find the time to use a gift certificate for dinner!
Posted by: Lynne | January 11, 2007 at 04:34 PM