She Knits By The Seashore

I Said I Wouldn't, But...

...I caved and started to knit some beaded ornaments as gifts.

Once I pre-string the beads, they knit up quickly. You can find the pattern details on Ravelry here. Are you making any Christmas gifts? How are they coming along?

How are your holiday preparations going? This past weekend, I was feeling so far behind. Normally we put up our faux Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and the other house decorations shortly after. But this year, we wanted a real Christmas tree (I love the smell of pine!) and decided it was best to wait a few weeks so the tree wouldn't dry out and lose all its needles by Christmas.

Yes, those are trash bags under the tree, skillfully clothespinned to the base to keep Tim out of the water bowl. Cats! The tree skirt will go on over them tomorrow.

The plans were all set to get the tree on Friday night, but it rained. Thankfully, we had a dry spot on Saturday to pick one out, and by Sunday night, I had the lights on. Tomorrow night we hope to finish decorating it, and then we'll address our Christmas cards. At least the shopping is finished. I like to start early so I have time to enjoy everything. I'm not sure what happened this year.

The minilights have been a real challenge. I used to be able to swap out the dead bulbs and make the light strings work. But in the past year or two, I've had whole sections of lights go dark, and changing the fuses does nothing. I found a website on how to repair the lights -- I'll spare you the details -- but generally it seems they are designed to fail and be replaced. I'm now researching other options; there are C7 and C9 lights that look like modern versions of the old, iconic lights people used to use in the 1950s-70s. The individual bulbs screw in and out, and the set looks sturdier than the minilights, especially for outdoors. Have you tried these sets -- do they last more than 1-2 years?

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As you continue to enjoy the season and all its fun with your family and friends, please don't forget the animals this Christmas. I know we are barraged with requests for help; there are so many deserving children & families, soldiers, and medical charities that it can be overwhelming to know what to do. But if you have a pet, or your life has been touched by an animal, I hope you can donate a bag or a few cans of dog or cat food, a few toys, or even some used towels and pillowcases for your local shelters. Many also need laundry detergent, dish soap, and paper towels, which cost next to nothing. Rescue groups in the NY/NJ area are in desperate need of supplies; shelters were destroyed, and many animals were found homeless after Hurricane Sandy. Thank you in advance for anything you can do to make a difference for these wonderful pets.

This girl is clearly spoiled now, but we think it will be Lexy's first real Christmas this year. Last year, she probably spent Christmas outside, huddled under a bush somewhere. The Santa Kitty has got her back, and he'll be giving her a huge pack of toy mice to play with...shhhhh. 

 

Pecan Pie Scarf

The first week of hospital knitting is done. We'll have a week-long rest, and then my family member will be admitted for three weeks for the second half of treatment. I'm already through the first of the two balls of the pecan pie yarn:

Our Lexy, doing her very first knitting blog modeling. In the four months since she adopted us, she's already reached her full-grown size. She's still my little bean.

I remember why I dislike the yarn. There are long sections with no loops.

In all fairness, this may be because when I tried to frog it last time, I pulled too hard, and those tiny white threads popped. I let the untextured sections hang, then cut them off, and wove in the ends. But other boucle yarns I've knitted were more easily frogged, and didn't have that annoying white thread showing through. Thankfully, the scarf is still looking good.

Miss Molly, waiting for winged visitors

My dad gave me this beautiful Miss Molly butterfly bush. Both of us try to make our gardens hospitable to butterflies, birds, and bees, with plants they love. It must be working; I saw a gorgeous yellow swallowtail on the bush when I left the house this morning to do an errand. The orioles, on the other hand, are completely ignoring my orange slices and grape jelly!

White sail + blue sky = summer heaven

Chris enjoying the ocean air

On Sunday, some friends invited us to sail with them. I love being out on the water; though my family never had a boat, it's something I've always been drawn to. Riding up and down on the waves beneath those huge white sails is so freeing and relaxing, a little bit of heaven on earth. I savor every moment. What did you do this weekend?

Little Gull Island Lighthouse

P.S. It's hurricane/tornado/brush fire/extreme weather season here in the U.S. I've posted an article on emergency preparedness for pets, and I hope if you live in an area where evacuation is a possibility, that you'll read it and gather necessities for your pets and yourself soon.

 

Not the Project I Thought

I finally chose a project for upcoming hospital knitting, when I'll be visiting a family member. It's not any of the projects I'd been considering.

During my cleaning and organizing, I saw two skeins of yarn that I purchased several years ago for a Christmas gift, boucle mohair from Farmhouse Yarns in Pecan Pie. When I first got them, I knit a swatch and discovered this yarn is not froggable. No ripping back if you don't like your sample (or make a mistake). Also, I discovered that a white thread runs through the yarn, forming the curls of the boucle, and it is noticeable in spots. I don't know why this white thread wasn't dyed to match the yarn itself?! Since I was feeling less confident about what I wanted to knit with it, and there were other things I wanted to finish, I put it away and moved on.

But now, the idea of a garter stitch scarf, where the yarn texture does the work and I won't have to follow charts where I can't concentrate on them, really appeals. I can crank out lots of rhythmic rows with lots of interruptions, and at the end, have a simple gift completed. I'll choose a more exciting, complex project after that.

The color is perfect for the recipient, and matches my cat Tim too. How are your summer projects going?

I had to pay up with a lot of treats after this photo was taken.

 

 

I discovered that a white thread runs through the yarn, forming the curls of the boucle, and it is noticeable in spots. I don't know why this white yarn wasn't dyed to match the yarn itself?!I discovered that a white thread runs through the yarn, forming the curls of the boucle, and it is noticeable in spots. I don't know why this white yarn wasn't dyed to match the yarn itself?!I discovered that a white thread runs through the yarn, forming the curls of the boucle, and it is noticeable in spots. I don't know why this white yarn wasn't dyed to match the yarn itself?!

Knitting and a New Kitty

My birthday was already a month ago. I wanted to write about our long weekend in Cape Cod, the cozy bed and breakfast where we stayed, and the fun gifts I received, but with so many different things happening at once, I don't know where the time went.

One of the gifts Chris gave me is this book:

 

If you want to knit a gift for yourself or someone else, or memorialize a beloved pet, or just love cats, this is a must-have. There is a companion book with knitted dogs too.

I also treated myself to The Principles of Knitting, second edition, by June Hemmons Hiatt. If you've got a copy, I'd love to know what you think of it. I've only flipped through it here and there so far, but it looks like it has a lot of information on techniques I've not tried before. The cast-on and bind-off techniques alone are going to be a great help, as I always seem to pick projects that require something unusual.

The funny thing is, I don't need to knit my own cat...we have two real ones that we love very much, Rosie and Tim, and we (well, mostly Chris) wanted to stick to just two. But sometimes love walks into your life when and where you least expect it.

Two weeks ago, Chris dropped me off at the front door of our large legislative office building (if you open the link to see the photo, the front door is on the opposite side of this view) in downtown Hartford, when out of the little row of bushes pops this tiny tortoiseshell cat. She's on her back legs, pawing at the coat of the woman just in front of me, asking for affection and food, and I am dying. It's rush hour in the middle of a city, and the closest residential area is across five lanes of traffic.

I get down on my knees to see this girl, and the security guard comes outside to check it out, tells me "she's been here for a while." Meanwhile, Chris puts the car in park and comes over to see what's going on. I'm trying to think fast; where could we put this kitty to keep her safe until we finish work? No way am I leaving her outdoors one more minute. Can we get her some food and a litter box nearby? Should I call a local rescue? How fast could they get here? And then my amazing husband just scoops her up and says "I'll take her home" and off he goes with her to drive the hour back to our town, to set her up in the basement until we finish work...I love this man. I truly do.

Two days later, after a vet visit to confirm she isn't contagious with anything that would harm Rosie and Tim, we finally take a deep breath of relief and know that we can keep her nine-month-old self. Meet Alexandra, nicknamed Lexy:

 

She has already taken over our hearts, though her takeover of our home is still in progress, due to her spay surgery recovery and some intestinal problems we are still working on. For long-time readers of this blog, yes, we may have cat #3 with IBD. We seem to have a calling here. I like to think that Charlie and Rainy, up in cat heaven, knew that this little girl needed a sympathetic home, and sent her our way. Knitted cats may be a lot easier to medicate(!), but there is nothing better than the contented purr of a happy kitty who knows she's found a safe and warm forever home at last.

 

Pedal for Paws 2011

Despite the gloomy forecast, eighty riders joined us for Pedal for Paws last Saturday. I was disappointed to see the early morning rain, but I'm never disappointed in the stories that come out of the ride.

I hope these photos give you a taste of the event, and what it means to me to do this for our shelter.

Hurricane Irene took out the town's calendar by the highway off-ramps, but two days before the ride, I saw this up in front of the The Kate, our local theater. It made my week.

We have no budget for the ride, so fancy signs like the ones sponsored by companies for the local breast cancer walk are out of the question. But I like to think our paw print directional signs give our ride a certain je ne sais quoi. Logo = everything. Chris and I, and our local bike shop owners, divided up our route and went out in the cars to hang signs the day before.

This one just tickles me. Some rides use spray paint on the roads, but those markings look no different than the phone and gas company etchings...I just know people would get seriously lost without our paw prints to follow.

Registration morning. White spots on camera = rain. I try not to cry. MB and Mrs. SDC sign up our first riders.

Our not-quite-set-up-yet table, where riders could view just some of the beneficiaries of the ride, and buy a T-shirt too.

One of our SAG (support and gear) drivers' cars. They scour the route to make sure no one is lost, hurt, or has a flat tire. I tell them to decorate the vehicles so they will be recognizable...

R and S and D did an awesome job of assisting our riders. R had to pick up one poor rider who missed a turn and got lost twice, but she had a good sense of humor about it.

A group finishes the first 10 miles and is off to finish the next 25.

A family of three starts their ten-mile loop. These kinds of things always make me want to get out the box of kleenex.

Story #1 -- me and Julie. Julie emailed me to say that she was coming FROM IDAHO to ride. She brought a bunch of friends with her that she was visiting with in Rhode Island during the weekend of the ride. She works in rescue in Idaho, and showed us photos of her foster kitty and kittens back home. Instant bonding, I tell you. But that wasn't all...

Story #2 -- A mom and her two children showed up at the registration table. The mom didn't have a bike so at first we were kind of puzzled what to do. Then she explained that she was sponsoring them to ride around the parking lot, and for every lap they did, she would donate $2 to the shelter. We promptly signed them in, gave them wristbands, and off they went. The boy did 10 laps and the girl did 6.  They earned their ride T-shirts. You are never too young to make a contribution. I will never forget their commitment to ride for the kitties, and I hope they know how inspiring they were to all of us.

Our local girl scout troop staffed rest stop #2. These young ladies are awesome, as is SDC (second from left) who does the magic with the insurance and makes this all possible.

Post-ride, Chris, his teammates, and friends sample the goodies. Our ride is earning quite the reputation for the baked goods.

The Sawtelles entertained us during lunch. If you love cool indie music, you need to listen to their music now.

Sylvester braved the weather and came out to cheer on the riders. Not many rides have a mascot like we do!

Because I was on the phone a lot, trying to get drivers to riders who needed help, I didn't get all the photos I wanted to, including a photo of Kristen and her husband who came out to ride too. It made me so happy to see a knitting friend enjoy herself on our pretty roads, and I only wish I was able to join her and D.  

We were all pretty exhausted by the end, and we still had to go out and take down all the paw print signs. But everyone was already talking about next year, and I have to admit I'm looking forward to it too. I want to top those 200 riders from our first year, and with a warm, sunny day, I know we can do it.

Please do not feel obligated, but if you'd like to contribute to the fundraiser, you can send donations to Forgotten Felines, P.O. Box 734, Clinton, CT 06413 and mark them "Pedal for Paws." Every donation goes to the feeding, shelter, and veterinary bills for our rescued cats.

I like to think she is proud of us. She trained us well. I still miss her like crazy.

August Musings

Thank you so very much for your kind words about Rainy. We still miss her terribly -- the house is quiet, so empty without her. But memories of her are interwoven in everything we do, so she's still close in spirit. We can't take a water bottle out of the plastic case without remembering her wanting us to pour some in the bottle cap for her. She's missing from the desk top as I type this. We're still getting used to having rugs on the floors again. And every time it Rains...

I've received emails that two of my favorite RI knitting shops are going out of business, Knitwits in Westerly, and Sakonnet Purls in Tiverton. So sad! But with the slow economy, and everyone knitting from their stashes (or moving on to sewing), I can understand why. I haven't purchased any new yarn myself, other than the few skeins I bought on the RI Yarn Crawl in April, and haven't touched my shawl at all. I've been working on my skirt; I think I'm about 20 rows from the top, and then all I have to knit is the foldover waistband. The only time I have to knit right now is in the car, or while watching Midsomer Murders, so it's slow-going.

I'm so thrilled Cadel Evans won the Tour de France. He's come in second twice, so this year, it was his turn. He's known for being a reserved guy, not terribly good with the press, and so I'm extra pleased that a fellow introvert was able to win the maillot jaune. In one article I read, his team director asked what he needed in order to be able to win this year, and he told them "a half an hour of time by myself every day." They gave him an hour. Love that.

 

Chris is still racing, though his season is slowing down. We love the "Tuesday Night Worlds" as they are called, the local races in Hartford where everyone meets to train. The end of the month promises an extra special race, the first on Cape Cod!! You know that we visit there quite often; it's always been one of our favorite getaway places, and Chris has forever wished for a criterium race in downtown Hyannis. This year, it is going to happen!

 
 The back side

We visited the previous Thursday for the day, and were able to go to Truro, to one of our favorite lighthouses, Highland Light. I have never been up inside a lighthouse before, and so, I wanted to take advantage of the pretty day and the tour. We climbed 69 old wrought-iron steps up to the top, and oh, what a view! You can see the ocean for miles and miles, and Provincetown, the tip of Cape Cod, with the Pilgrim Monument. I found out after we got home that once a month, they offer Full Moon tours -- can you imagine being inside a lighthouse looking out at the ocean lit up by a full moon? The starry sky that goes on forever, not blocked by tall trees or buildings? That would be a slice of heaven to me. I only wish our lighthouse, Saybrook Light, was open for tours too.

 

This is about half way up.

 
The top door that opens to the ocean. But we went up all the way to where the light shines through the windows. The tip-top.

 
Path to the observation deck, where you can wave to Portugal!

I have so many books to write about, but I will do that in another post. I hope you are enjoying your summer (or having a mild winter if you are in the southern hemisphere!), and spending lots of time reading and knitting by the beach or at the pool.

 

Back on the ground, near the observation deck. This is what I think heaven must look like -- well, to me anyway.  All Cape Cod photos by Chris.

I Miss My Girl Like Crazy

My sweet Rainy passed away last Monday.

 

Never in my life have I loved and missed a kitty so much. She was at least thirteen years old, and we only had her for three and a half years. We're not really sure what happened, though she went downhill fast over the last weekend, losing her appetite, barely moving, and weighing maybe five pounds despite all the medications for her multiple health issues. We had a mobile vet come to our home, who told us that she felt a mass in her abdomen, and agreed that "it was time." That would make two cats we've lost to IBD-intestinal lymphoma.

She was a proud little tortie who loved us fiercely. She refused to drink out of a bowl, and so we gave her a pet fountain. She loved drinking out of Poland Spring water bottles too. She slept in cardboard boxes, some with wires and nails in Chris' basement tool area, and loved nothing more than being a part of his Thursday train nights, or his bike workouts.

 

In those rare moments when she would sit on my lap (I was the medicine lady, after all), I felt like the most blessed woman in the world.

 

 I am glad she is no longer suffering, and that we gave her the very best life we could, more than she maybe ever hoped for when she was first rescued, soaking wet, dehydrated, and only four pounds, on a very rainy night Oct. 2007. She brought us so much joy, laughter, comfort, and companionship, as well as being a challenge to everything I've ever learned about cat care. Yes, sometimes I got so frustrated with her "accidents" that I just wanted to put my head in my hands and cry. But I would do it all again in a heartbeat if we could have her back.

Here's to heaven, where there is no more cancer for pets or people, and no more goodbyes.

 

 

The Writing Life: Hartford Cat Care Examiner

For a long time, I've been wanting to get back to writing. My college undergraduate degree is in journalism, though I don't tend to use those reporting skills as much anymore.

About a month ago, Examiner.com posted a request for freelance writers for their Hartford edition, and I signed on to be the "Hartford Cat Care Examiner." I'm thrilled to have an excuse to choose my topics, take photos, research, interview, and write to my heart's content. The fee per article is, well, not enough to keep my own cats supplied with canned food for a few days, but I am hoping that the new publishing credits will lead to other writing opportunities. The library journal articles I used to write are probably not appealing to anyone outside the field.

One of my passions is education. I feel as if I'll never have enough time in one life to learn all the things I want to explore, and I love sharing what I learn with others who are interested. I love when they teach me. Writing for the Examiner allows me to interview people to learn more, and gives me a format where I can share that information in an easily accessible way. And you all know that one of my biggest passions is humane education.

Working at a shelter for over three years has given me more exposure to cat health and behavior issues than you can possibly imagine. My own crew has trained me quite well, but the shelter cats take up the slack. I've met lots of amazing people that work in rescue, and people that work on a legislative level for animal protections, and sometimes I get so fired up thinking about it all I can't sleep. So I am hoping that as I write about all different feline subjects, that readers will find helpful insights, and share their knowledge with me too.

Here is my first article: http://www.examiner.com/cat-care-in-hartford/connecticut-votes-for-animals-promotes-animal-friendly-legislation-hartford

My next article, coming shortly, will be more generic, about cats and vacation plans. Please consider subscribing to my page, and share with your cat-loving friends. Thank you!

  

This means we get even less playtime and attention. But maybe I can convince her to write a review of cat treats...I'd be happy to serve as the taste-tester!

P.S. I apologize for taking so long to reply to emails and comments. Life has been a bit crazy-stressful with some job issues and a weird schedule, but I don't ever want to appear rude or seem like I'm ignoring anyone!

Meow! Cat Hat

Because it's never too early to start humane education!

 

Pattern: Meow! Cat Hat by Adrienne Enriquez, available as a download from knitpicks.com. The pattern was well-written and easy to follow, and a chart is provided for the embroidery. It can be knit from infant through adult sizes.

Yarn: 1 skein Comfy Sport in Whisker, small amounts of Comfy Sport in Black for ears and face. This is machine washable, so good for the mom & baby.

Needles: Size 3 circular and dpns. I knit the entire hat on the dpns because my hands were too cramped with the 12" circular needle. Crochet hook in D size to assemble ears, or you can hand stitch them with a tapestry needle.

This hat is for my friend S's new grandbaby. She and I volunteer at the cat shelter together, and her grandson will be born a few days before my birthday at the end of this month. I had a bit of a learning curve crocheting the ears together, and doing the embroidery. The whiskers shift around a bit; it was hard to keep them straight for the photos.

 

Rosie contemplates the snow and wonders what we're going to do if we get anymore!

 

I owe her big time for this photo.

 

This was only my second attempted at knitted embroidery, and I wasn't sure if there is a good/better/neater way to fasten off the knots. If you know of one, please let me know!

I have a post half-written on some books I've read recently, and I hope to share that soon. I'm making good progress on my purple sweater, too, and should know within a few rows if my latest fix is working.

What are you doing to cope with the winter (or hot summer) weather??

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have hit a wall with my purple tweed sweater, Forever Tweed by Wendy Bernard (Knitscene, Spring 2009).

 

The schematic says that the collar is to be 7 1/2" long. It is. It also says that from where the collar attaches to the body of the sweater, to the underarms where you separate for the sleeves, the length is to be 8". Though my gauge is correct, the length from collar to underarm is actually smaller than the length of the collar itself.

I checked for errata on Knitscene & Ravelry, and re-measured three times (you increase every other row for a total of 30 rows to make the shoulders) and then gave up and took it to the LYS. The usually helpful saleswoman was also stumped, photocopied the pattern with my notes, and offered to call if they could figure it out. No calls yet. What to do? If I keep going with the increasing, the arms will be too big. If I don't, I'll lose the nice diagonal of the raglan design. Does anyone have any ideas?? Maybe I am missing something.

 

Last weekend we went on another used bookstore trip, this time to Brattleboro, Vermont. It's only about 2 1/2 hours by car from our home, and our friends Dorothy and Hobgoblin joined us. I always feel better book shopping with them, because Hobgoblin finds more books than I do! I made up for our last bookless trip by coming home with six mysteries, one new and five used. I might just make it through winter now!!

In the finishing department, I enjoyed Lorna Barrett's Murder is Binding, the first book in the Booktown Mystery series. Trisha, newly divorced and beginning the next phase of her life as a mystery bookseller in Stoneham, New Hampshire, is horrified to discover her store neighbor, Doris Gleason, murdered one night in The Cookery. Doris was not well-liked by any of the other shopkeepers or villagers, but for some reason, the sheriff seems intent on charging Trisha with murder. Further complicating matters is Trisha's sister, Angelica, who has decided to relocate to Stoneham. Trisha and Angelica have never gotten along, and to Trisha, the thought of her sister living in the same town is unbearable.

Despite their differences, the sisters team up to solve Doris' murder, and the solution was believable and satisfying. The strength of this series, however, is its characters. Some mystery series have stock characters who are not well-developed or even interesting as people, and are there to move the plot along. In this case, the elderly Mr. Everett and Ginny, who work in the bookshop, are people I want to know more. Angelica is a person clearly trying to overcome her past, though she still occasionally offends Trisha with her old habits. I've started book #2, Bookmarked for Death, and I'll see how their lives unfold.

Most of you know that I volunteer at our local no-kill shelter, giving out medications to the cats, providing transport to the vet, and helping with the seasonal newsletter. Occasionally, I do a bit of rescue too. If someone calls the shelter about a stray cat in their neighborhood, I might be asked to pick it up and take it to the shelter.

Last Sunday night, a stray cat came to us. We had friends over, and one of our cats made that special growly noise they do when someone is on their property. Sure enough, when I looked out onto our back deck, I was greeted by a tiger cat with glowy light green eyes.

I borrowed a hav-a-heart trap from the shelter, tempted our stray with some tuna in the trap, and the next night, we discovered her waiting for us. Though covered with ticks, she didn't seem too worse for the wear of being on her own outside. Meet Ashley:

 

I took her to the vet today (Wednesday) for her exam and vaccinations, and she's ready for adoption into a new home. I'm so thrilled to know that her hard life outdoors is over, and thankful that from now on, she'll be warm inside with plenty of people to fuss over her at the shelter until she finds a new family.

This is the second cat this year that's come to our home needing rescue. I'm beginning to wonder if we have a sign on our door alerting them to our safe house??

And with that, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving -- warmth, good food, and plenty of people to fuss over, family and friends.