A day in the life of Yarnkettle

So the problem with taking picture and organizing things a bit it that I have more than enough blog fodder but I seem confused and overwhelmed by it all. Now I want to tell you everything in one huge blog post.

I don't think any of us want to see that so I will try to limit and organize today's post by telling you about today. I know a day in the life of Yarnkettle seems as interesting as the Russian book. (A Day in the Life of Ivan Ivanovich.) Well I don't think it is going to work that way but it is way too early to tell.

We started dance classes again. We had taken 4 or 5 sessions of dance class through community education a few years ago, then D started graduate school and he was way too busy. I was happy to stay home and knit. You can really get a lot of knitting done when you are a school widow or golf widow or bike widow. But now he is back to having more free time for us and we jumped at the opportunity to try dancing again. We will never be Fred and Ginger but we can do better than looking like we are attempting to kill each other on the dance floor. We have our issues but I think we are more resolved to be ourselves and not worry about what others think. I have what I refer to as 'the anti-rhythm.' There is no help for it we just work around it. I also have problems with being lead, turns out I am a total control freak on the dance floor too. So to combat it I close my eyes, hard to try to lead when I can not see where I am going.

But after a few years off I am happy to report that the first dance lesson went better than I thought it would. I think we were both happy to be doing it again and that makes for a much more enjoyable time. Oh I still hate the Foxtrot but I will enjoy the swing portion. Who knew walking backwards would be such a big problem for me, oh yeah you do it in time to the music, that will get me every time.

I have talked a friend into taking a knitting class with me. We are off to the yarn shop tomorrow to sign up and make sure we do not choose the same yarn. Hey that is a real possibility with my knitting soul mate. We were married in the same year, her in NY and me in SD we picked the same dress. Of all the wedding dresses they make how likely is it to meet a person that wore the same style as you a month later? Since she gave her wedding dress away and I kept mine I have offered to let her daughter wear mine. Don't worry she is just over a year now I have some time to get used to the sharing idea. She may not want to feed her too many veggies since I am shorter than Mommy so she may need to stunt her growth a bit.

So I really like the color of the sweater I am knitting for D now, would it be wrong to make a sweater for me in the same color? It would be a different style, does that help?

My cats have taken to cuddling with me when I am knitting. Gus to my left and Jack either on me or to my right.

Jack even crawled into D's sweater as I was knitting the sleeve. Everyone in the family loves Mom's wooly goodness.  You can conserve many BTUs wrapped in wool next to a knitter.

That red thing would be my upside down cup cozy on Jack's head. Wool is warm and never goes out of fashion. Words to live by people, words to live by.

I'm trying not to be catty

I realize I talk more about Gus than Jack here, even though I think of Gus as D's cat and Jack as my cat. It is just the things that Gus do are so very personal. I've never had a cat nag me like Gus. Or tell me it is time to go to bed like him. And I have never had a cat bring me yarn in the middle of the night like Gus does.

I really think he gets the French-Russian accent we have given him. Last night he went in to the yarn bag from Rhinebeck and brought me the Rambouillet yarn, get it? It is a yarn from French sheep. He cracks me up with the things he does.

Part of it is that he is such a standoffish cat till he needs you then HE NEEDS YOU! And let me tell you it is like when two men are caught in the woods and need to cuddle to survive. It never happened and we will never talk of this again. Except that I do, I tell everyone how cute he is when he's needy.

The other thing is that he is an excellent observer (when he's awake). He turns into the comfort cat on the drop of a hat. He always knows when something is wrong and is willing to stay with you till it is right again. He took on this role when we had to put Bitsy down. He took one look around the room and realized why Mom was crying and transformed into Comfort Cat. He's a very good cat even if he never wants to talk about it.

Jack on the other hand is my kitten. In some ways he never grew up and that is a good thing. He will be the perpetual younger brother. I never laugh as hard as I do when I watch him chase his tail. Yep that is right my cat likes to chase his tail. The truly funny thing is when he slows down and sits looking back over his shoulder and slowly flicks his tail. You can see the irritation with the tail start to rise in him. Stare, flick, stare, flick, Attack!

He got the nickname "Jackie Chan" when he was racing around the apartment and hit the patio door with all four feet while his body was parallel to the ground. It was like for an instant he was standing on the glass door. This led to the comment that he is like the real Jackie Chan he does his own stunts.

Jack is my heat seeking missile which also makes him a comfort cat at times. Jack likes to be warm. He will burrow under blanket and cuddle without shame. When I'm aching Jack usually knows just the right spot to cuddle up against to lull me to sleep.

Those are my boys, I would not know what to do without them.

My weekend

This is the unusual harmony I walked in on this weekend. Granted they are sleeping instead of fighting but I think that is my point. Jack, black and white, usually pushes Gus, grey, out to get a warm spot but I think Gus was unwilling to give up the spot he had worked on all day.

I have new yarn!

 

The first is Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a heathered army green color. It called my name and I brought it home. The second is a new sock yarn I found last weekend but forgot to buy in all the new sweater yarn excitement. It is Wisdom yarns Poems sock yarn. It is sort of a plumish/grey color. It looks like it fades from one color to another instead of definite stripes. I will keep you posted as to how that one is working out since I have been dreaming of this coloring method of sock yarn for a while now. I hope it looks as good in reality as it does in my head now.

Next up is my current knitting project and how it rolls around the house with me. My new sweater in progress.

  

The yarn is my first foray into Cascade 220 the so called work horse yarn of many knitters. They claim its qualities to be: inexpensive, consistent quality, great colors and softness. I figure this sweater cost me around $50 to $60. Not bad when you figure in a month's worth of knitting entertainment for me, to boot.

Did you notice the sign of my husband's love for me in the second picture. My super bright knitting bag that he earned for me by riding 50 miles in the Diabetes Tour de Cure this last June. He was gracious enough to let me have it when I started eyeballing it and saying it would make a great everyday knitting bag. It is not something I would have thought of myself but once I picked it up I knew my yarn would love it. The only problem is that Jack thinks it makes an ideal napping surface. A smooth crinkle bag filled with insulating wool, why would that be such an attraction to a cat? Because it comes with its own side car of a knitter?

My Hubby, the sacrifices he makes for us. Although I do pay him back with tea and scones. And eventually another sweater for him to love. That is my current problem trying to choose a yarn for his sweater. We sat down tonight and discussed somethings to see if I am really understanding what he likes or just putting my own spin on things. I think if I can keep it in the family of colors he likes I will be OK. The hard thing for me was nailing down what he likes. I think it can be condensed down into; wine, pine and chocolate. If I can find a yarn in one of those colors it will be good.

I think I am figuring out some of the questions I need to ask in order to understand people better. Specific questions are good as long as you keep them to a minimum. What do you like about that color versus this color. I guess I learn by comparison. Why do you like this and not that? To me they are very similar but one could be just a touch on the pink side of the spectrum.

I try to ask myself the same type of questions at times. Usually when I find myself drawn to something out of the norm for me. I don't like orange and yellow, but I find myself drawn to a burnt orange color. So orange with a hint of dark brown is good for me. I still have not found a yellow that I can live with. These are the types of things I am learning to ask about if I want to eventually knit for other people. Because if I knit for others I am going to want them to like it and want to use it, not just bury it in the back of the closet.

And now I am off to see if I can entice a cat off a half finished sweater.