Knitamazoo(tm)

I had this wonderful plan in my head for a nice relaxing weekend. My kitty, Cosmo, had other ideas. It all started innocently enough Saturday night. Hubby and I were holed up in the rec room knitting and watching a hockey game. (Well, I was the only one knitting but that’s not important to the story.) Around 8:30 we decided that we wanted to have some ice cream, so we paused the game (gotta love TiVo!) and went upstairs. I got the ice cream out of the freezer to soften up a bit. A couple of minutes later we scooped out the ice cream and were getting ready to return to the hockey game when we noticed lightning and thunder. Hubby went to the front door and stepped out on the front stoop to watch the show. I didn’t want to step outside because the front stoop looked wet and I was wearing my fuzzyfeet. So I cracked the door opened and stood in the opening to block any escape attempts by the cats. We stood there for a few minutes and for some reason hubby looked down and the next words out of his mouth were, “The cat’s outside!” I never felt the cat go by my legs. As hubby bent down to grab Cosmo, he took off into the neighbor’s yard. I whipped off the fuzzyfeet and grabbed a pair of shoes from the kitchen and took off after the cat. This is not the first time he’s escaped, and his usual MO is to head for the neighbor’s back yard and hide out under their deck. Of course I couldn’t see him under there as I neglected to grab a flashlight but I knew he must be there. Then the rain started to fall. So I ran back inside our house and started to cry. Poor kitty is out in the rain, poor kitty will get hungry, poor kitty is going to get hit by a car, poor kitty is all alone . . . and it’s all my fault! Hubby just sat there while I blubbered and tried to tell me that the cat would come home. No way, I said, he’s free now. He won’t want to come back. By this time the rain had let up and I decided that I was going to go look for the cat again. So back outside I go, calling him like you would a dog expecting him to come running to me. What was I thinking? Hubby came out into our backyard with a flashlight and we’re looking for this cat. I hear something rustling in the leaves along our back fence and I’m sure it’s Cosmo. I tell hubby to shine the light back there and what do I see . . . a possum . . . walking on the top edge of the fence not more than 3 feet away from me. I hear the rustling again and it sounds like it’s coming from the back corner, so I tell hubby to shine the light there and what pops out of the leaves . . . a rabbit . . . his eyes turn red in the glare of the flashlight and he proceeds to charge right at hubby. (Later, hubby told me he felt the rabbit go right past his leg.) As hubby swung around to watch the rabbit I caught a glimpse of Cosmo in the neighbor’s driveway under their SUV. I yelled at hubby that I found the cat and he told me to run around the front of the house and he would chase the cat towards me. As I rounded the corner to the front, I saw the cat on the front stoop with his paws up trying to get in the front door. I cautiously approached but he spotted me and jumped down into the bushes along the front of the house. I tried to trap him between the bushes and the house but he was too sneaky (read: fast!) and managed to get by me. He took off around the side of the house, paused to look at the kitchen door, looked back and saw me gaining on him, then he bolted towards the backyard. As I rounded the house, I saw him on the little porch to the four-season room on the back of our house. I had him trapped but I knew he could easily squeeze through the railing. He looked at me and then at the railing. He stopped to think about whether or not he would fit through the opening and I pounced. I snatched him up and hauled him in the house, yelling to hubby that I had captured the cat. So he was home safe and sound, my white sweats had streaks of mud from his paws, and my ice cream had turned to soup. But the cat was home where he belonged!

Now on to the less stressful part of my weekend. After being tossed into the “attitude adjustment pile” for a couple of days, I pulled out my bed sock to see if it would behave. I compared it to the first one I made and wouldn’t you know it, I knit way too far on the foot before starting the toe decreases. I carefully figured out (read: guessed) how far back I would have to frog. I ran a lifeline, frogged, slipped the stitched back on the needles and finished up the sock in no time. AND it actually is the same size as the first one I made. I must be a good guesser!

I also worked on Kepler for awhile this weekend. I love making the cables! I finished one cuff and started the second one. Here’s a closeup of the cable pattern. The color is a little off in the picture but the cable pattern shows nicely. Once I get the cable bands done then it’s just a stockinette sweater. Hopefully that will make for some good tv knitting. I have to concentrate a little too much on the cabling to do it while I’m watching tv. It’s more of a throw in a movie that I’ve seen a thousand times and knit away.

I also purchased some new yarn Friday right after work. I finally had enough money in the “yarn fund” to get this yarn I’ve been drooling over for the last couple of weeks. So as soon as work was over on Friday, I zipped right over to the LYS and purchased three hanks of this yummy Artful Yarns Jazz in this lovely autumn colorway. It makes me think of changing leaves, apple cider and all things fall. The yarn is 50% alpaca/50% wool. It’s soft and warm and I’ve loved working with it so far. Oops! I guess I just admitted that I cast-on yet another project. And just what is this scrumptious new yarn going to become . . . why Clapotis II. I love the first one I made and this is great mindless tv knitting. It’s already to Kong Thong size but I will spare you the picture until it gets beyond that stage.

So, now before I bore you completely, I will stop rambling. Happy knitting!