Capping it off

Tux says thank-you for all the sympathy.  He was properly pathetic all day, and insisted on spending most of it in my lap.

But that meany I had plenty of time to knit. And as a result...

We have one completed sleeve cap.

I've done lots of top down sweaters, but all have been raglans or round yokes, so I was really curious how this one was going to work.  Once you get the hang of it, it's really easy. Stitches are picked up around the whole arm hole, then you work to just past the top centre, and start short rows, working back and forth until the sleeve cap it complete. Pretty genius. I've already got plans of my own for a design using this method.

But first, I have to get this one off the needles, of course.

Bath time for BooBoo Cat

I was hoping to have at least a partially completed sleeve to share with you all by now.

But unfortunately, I've caught the sick. When I've gotten home from work, all I've had the energy to do is veg. Not a stitch knit.

And doubly unfortunately, I'm not the only one feeling under the weather here. I came down this morning to an accident in the hallway, and poor Tux, laying a few feet away, a little sticky and stinky. (Sometimes it's hard to balance on those three legs, especially when the tiles are wet).

So. Into the tub he went.

I think the only thing more pathetic than a wet cat, it a wet three-legged cat. Especially now that he's lost so much weight.

Despite the fact that I'm running a fever, I cranked the heat, and put a big warm, fluffy towel in his favourite cat bed and finally convinced him to settle down there.

"I really hate you right now."

And even though he's all wrapped up, snug as a bug in a rug....

 "Seriously. You're not my friend."

But don't worry, as soon as I moved from the couch to the computer to write this post, he got his revenge. He vacated the towel and stole my warm spot and is quickly turning it into a damp spot.

And someone else got a brilliant idea....

"I'm on a towel with sad-face too! Give me love!!!"

Knit Meme

Here I was, trying to find something to blog about when Kathy posted a meme...

Perfect timing, so here goes...

Do you have a bad habit?

Oh yeah... I'm a nail biter. I also drink too much Coca Cola. I love sugar....

Do you have to hide your knitting from your pets.
Do I have to? No. Should I? Probably. I have no problem with Peno or Tux, and never had. But every once in a while, Rocky gets it into his head to toss a wool salad. He's especially fond of really sheepy sock yarn.

Do you cheat when you cable?
Nope. I count rows religiously. And I rarely cable without a cable needle. I find my tension goes all wonky without it.

Do you not really listen to your family when you are knitting intensely? Or blogging? Or buying yarn online?
It entirely depends on what he is talking about....

Do you fall for Knit kits?
I do, but I never have the money to buy them. Except for once.. when I first started knitting. I bought a beatiful afghan kit. But it was full of mohair and in the end, to itchy for me. It ended up becoming a very expensive cat blanket.

And since no post is complete without a picture...
My pretty little cabbage in the snow...

Flying

The holidays have allowed me to make great progress on my Mary Mead cardigan

The body is already done. I can hardly believe it myself.  It is a cropped cardigan, so that helps too. 

Today it's back to work, so progress will slow. But with just the sleeves and bands left, I'm guessing I'll be wearing it before the month is up.

New year, new goal.

Okay, I have to say it... I really flopped on 2015's goal. Despite only choosing six projects to complete, I only managed to make two of them:

Colour Affection

and the Sherlock cardi

Now, I'm not going to beat myself up about this too much, because the real goal was mostly just do more knitting on projects with multiple colours.

And I did a fair bit of that
There was Dad's Deer Hat

And his pillow square

The was Grandma's colourwork beret

and even the broken seed stitch socks

So that's not too bad...

This year, in keeping with my decluttering (which is far from finished), I think I'm going on another stash down and trying to use up a good chunk of what's already in the house.

I'd like to say I'm not going to get any new yarn at all, but we all know that won't happen. Instead, I'm going to limit myself to only buying it if I need it for a specific project...

... and, if I happen to travel this year.... souvenir yarn. (I totally can't rule out souvenir yarn.)

I'll be taking stock of the stash soon, so hopefully, this year I'll be able to put a pretty good dent in it.

Peaceful little New Years

Dave and I kept with tradition and rang in the new year together at our favourite lake

Dave had been there all week, and I drove up thursday afternoon to join him. I had to make sure I got there before dark so I could stop at the beach and check out the water

It was quite a bit warmer, and calmer than last year. 

There was no ice on the bay at all, and at the lake, I was able to walk right up to the water's edge as the waves rolled in

 Just like last year, we celebrated with Chinese food, a fire, wine and champagne. I definitely think this is going to become a standing tradition.

Friday Felines

It's a new year, and he's still here

Two days from now, we mark the anniversary of his surgery. I wasn't sure he'd make it through a whole year, and here we are at two. Here's hoping for at least one more.