I’ve been working on two projects this week and those two projects exclusively.

I’ve made so much more progress on “A Good Bias” shrug. More progress than I expected to make this quickly. Mattie mentioned that this is a project of instant gratification. It’s knitting up quite quickly, especially since I’m making myself knit a complete lace repeat before I put the project away just in case my sticky note on the chart falls off. I noticed that I completely missed a row of the chart in my second repeat but I’ll just make the same mistake on the second side. I emailed my sister the small photo from the last photo and she loved it. I think she’s a bit anxious to actually get the shrug.

My new Retro Rib socks are coming along nicely too. I was afraid that the pattern would be lost in the striping of the yarn and it is a bit, but the socks are looking really great (if I may brag a bit). I am more than 2/3 of the way through the cuff on the first sock. I plan on turning the heel this weekend and then working on the foot. I’m sure the foot will be even quicker knitting than the cuff because the Retro Rib is only on the top of the foot.

At my beginning class last night, one of my students kept commenting on how much she loved the socks – she loved the color and she loved the pattern. She decided that she wants her first project to be a pair of socks. There is a scarf they make as a project in class. Considering the fact that I showed her the knit stitch, then she went and just did it without me walking her through it, which really amazed me, I’ll think she’ll finish the scarf pretty quickly and be rearing to go on a pair of socks. My class last night was really amazing to me. I had only two women show up and it was amazing, I had them stand behind me as I was demonstrating the knit stitch and they just both did it without my having to walk them through it or even break it down step-by-step into baby steps. The purl stitch was a bit different, but they were working stockinette within an hour and a half of picking up the needles for the first time. They were both teachers and they told me that it helps, I’ll take their word for it. I don’t remember when the last time was that I had such a relaxed first class of a beginning knitting class.

George says hello, he is sitting on my lap with a paw and his head resting on my arm. He looks so sweet. He still thinks it’s great that you all sent him birthday wishes.

My aunt sent me photos tonight of a family birthday party that was held over Easter weekend in Kansas. Bryan and I weren’t able to be there. I noticed that my sister was dressed well as always, but she wore a special accessory that I had to post. (That’s my grandfather in the photo. A few years ago he started to sign his emails “G-pa” so we’ve started calling him G-pa.)

It’s the scarf that I made for her in late February/early March out of some Manos yarn that she had bought for another scarf over a year ago.

This weekend was quite a knitting weekend.

On Friday evening, I finished the second Bonkers sock. I haven’t sewn in the ends but they are finished.

It’s a bit warm for knee socks right now, so if it cools off a bit soon, I’ll wear them. I am totally in love with the nice spring weather we’ve had in the last few days. I’m sure it won’t last.

With the Bonkers sock finished, I gave myself permission to start a new project. On Saturday, I got up with the intention of starting “A Good Bias” lace shrug for my sister. As I was looking for the yarn in one of the plastic bins, I found some pink and blue sock yarn that I’ve loved since I bought it. It’s the same type of yarn that I’m using for the Crazy Green sweater, it’s Shelridge Farm’s hand-painted yarn. I bought it with the intention of making socks with the yarn. When I saw the Retro Rib socks in the Winter 2004 Interweave Knits I knew I wanted to make the socks and when I found the pink yarn, I thought it might work for the Retro Rib socks. I asked Bryan’s opinion and he thought they would look great in the pink yarn. Instead of starting the shrug, I wound the yarn and started the socks.

I am making my first pair of socks using the 2 circular needles method. It’s a lot faster than using dpn’s and my hands didn’t cramp up like they can with the dpn’s. I have to get over my little issue of feeling like I’m cheating by not knitting socks on dpn’s. I’m really kind of bummed about these socks. The cool rib pattern is not showing up with the yarn and I didn’t expect the yarn to “stripe” as much as it is. I guess that’s just a chance you take with hand-dyed or hand-painted yarn. I know I could probably correct some of the “striping” if I alternated balls of yarn but I honestly don’t want to bother. I’ll definitely make these socks again as I really like the rib pattern. It’s very simple too, which helps.

Later in the afternoon my hands were a bit tired of knitting the socks. So I decided to start “A Good Bias” shrug. I finished about 4 lace pattern repeats that night. Then yesterday I knit about 5 more repeats and then this evening worked 4 more repeats.

(Of course, George had to check out the lovely lace on the floor.)
I can’t believe how quickly this shrug is knitting up. Once I got the lace pattern down I just needed to refer to the chart for one row but I’m even starting to memorize that row.

Yesterday, my hands were bothering me a bit. So while watching the Simpsons I thought I would knit on something that didn’t require a lot of thought and I thought would help unstiffen my hands a bit (don’t you love it, curl sore hands with more knitting). I worked on the Crazy Green sweater and am four rows from shaping the armholes for the first piece. Since it’s a straight neck sweater there is thank goodness, no neck shaping. And it’s looking more and more like water with plant life than before.

Today was one of those days. I don’t think anyone had a good day. There were a lot of people at work that seemed to be having one of those days, maybe it’s the time change. I also noticed a lot of other bloggers mentioned that they weren’t having a good day either, I hope we all have a better day tomorrow.

Bryan’s dad is doing well. He is home from the hospital. His new heart valve is working just great. I don’t know if they gave him a date as to when he’ll go back to work but I would guess it will be at least 6-8 weeks from now.

We didn’t do a lot this weekend. It was a very unscheduled weekend, which is really nice. Besides knitting, we went for a walk at the forest preserve yesterday and ran a few errands. It was nice to just spend some time together and not have anything specific that had to get done, except for the grocery shopping.

George appreciated all of the birthday wishes too, he and Chloe celebrated with some yummy, smelly canned food. :)

Btw, I don’t feel like I thank those of you that comment on my blog enough. I really appreciate all of your lovely comments. I love reading them and if you have a blog I visit yours just to find out who is reading my blog.

It’s really interesting how this blog thing works. I don’t mean that I post something, you read it. What I mean is I started the Midwest Knitters Blog Ring in mid-March with the idea that I would be lucky if I had 20 members ever. Well, all of the people that have joined we’ve exceeded 20 members in about three weeks of existence. It’s so cool. And what I meant is how there are so many hundreds of knitters linked to each other through the various blog rings and how many fellow midwesterners I’m linked to just through the Midwest Knitters blog ring. I love reading knitting blogs, there are some that I have to read everyday because I feel like I know some of the fellow bloggers so well and I’ve never met any of them in person. I’m really starting to enjoy seeing what my fellow midwesterners are up to, I feel some sort of special bond with them because of our geographic location.

A few people recently have written why they blog. Some of have said that they do it for themselves, while others have said that they do it to keep track of their projects. This blog started out nearly three years ago as a way for me to write about my projects. I thought it would be fun to write about my knitting projects instead of just posting photos. I had no idea it would evolved into what it is today. At one point, I was writing a bit more personal stuff than just knitting but I found myself in a position that I didn’t really like so I cut out the personal stuff, except for the day-to-day stuff. I didn’t want to have anything come back to haunt me so I’ve tried to stick with knitting as much as possible. I love reading my old posts from April 2002, they are so funny and the blog page looks a bit sparse compared to what it is now. But all in all, I do this for myself and a little bit for others. That doesn’t mean that I don’t love the comments, as someone mentioned in the comments of another blog, we’re all comment wh*res even if we hate to admit it. I find myself checking at least a few times a day just to see what comments you’ve all left me. I love reading them and they sometimes give me that little kick in the butt that I need to finish whatever I’m working on.

So I say to all of you good night.

Eight years ago today, I woke up knowing I was going to get a cat that day. I didn’t go to bed the night before with the intention of getting a cat the next day, but when I woke up I knew I would get a cat that day. I hadn’t felt well that morning so I called in sick to work at the bagel shop that I worked at. I made the call to the vet and scheduled an appointment for later in the afternoon, I was going to get a cat that day. Early afternoon, I decided to go to the local shelter. I thought it would be cool to get a black cat but I wasn’t specifically looking for any cat. When I walked in I saw a black cat. I went through the cat room and met and petted all of the cats. The black cat was very vocal, he was meowing loudly when I I walked into the room and he was meowing loudly the entire time I was there. The first cat I met I instantly fell in love with, she was a an older kitten (about 9 months old) who had just been fixed the day before, she was a cute little calico kitty. When I finally made my way to the black cat’s cage and went to pet him, he decided petting wasn’t enough, he needed to climb out of his cage onto me and show me that he was the cat I really wanted. He was very sweet but I felt I should meet the other cats first. There were a few other cats that I really liked but they were six and seven years old, the same age as my Milly at my parents’ house. I wanted a younger cat. As I was meeting the other cats, the black cat would not be quiet, it was like he was saying, “Take me home, you know I’m the one you want to take home with you. Stop this nonsense just take me home now.” After meeting all of the other cats, I thought I should pet the black cat again just to see if he really was the right cat. He climbed on me again and I realized at that moment, he was going to be my cat. I walked out to the front desk of the shelter and told them that I know which one I want. I told them that the black cat picked me.

On the way home from the shelter, the black cat and I talked. I asked him what his name was and he didn’t respond to some of the names that I said. When I asked him if his name was George, he meowed really loudly. So George it was. I had been thinking about names and thought George would be a perfect name for a cat. Curious George has always been a favorite book of mine and I thought that I would name my cat after Curious George. If the cat that picked me didn’t seem like a George, I was open to suggestions, but I had no idea that the name George would fit the cat so well.

When we arrived at my apartment, I let him out of the carrier and he just had to check out every corner of the apartment. I realized then that George was the perfect name for this cat, he was more curious than Curious George.

Until the vet appointment, George sat on my lap in the chair and I just petted him. When it was time to go visit the vet, I put him in his carrier and off we went. I felt like a proud mother walking into the vet that day. He had his first check-up with a few minor health problems that nearly every shelter cat has.

That evening, I sat in the chair with George curled up in my lap. For three and a half months, everytime I sat in the chair George was in my lap. He also slept curled up next to me in bed every night like he was my little black teddy bear of a cat.

During that time, I was working at the bagel shop, working an internship, working as a receptionist and going to school in the evenings two nights a week. The sad look of “you’re leaving me again” on George’s face when I left broke my heart every day. There were days I would come home and he would be sleeping by the front door, I suspect that some days he was there all day.

In July that year, I decided that George needed a companion. I found Chloe and they have been the best of friends ever since. My sweet lap kitty was no longer once Chloe arrived. They were too busy chasing each other, roughhousing and, of course, cuddling.

George does like to cuddle, unfortunately, it’s in a way that is not comfortable for his human. He wants to be right up in your face or curl up on your lap as you are trying to either knit or type.

That meow that told me he had picked me for his human is still the same meow that Bryan and I hear when he’s irritated about something, hungry or just telling us all about his day. He makes his presence known and you should feel privileged to be in his presence, if you’re not, he’ll make sure of it.

He and Chloe wake Bryan up every morning at 5:30am to be fed. They have a perfect sense of time, they know when it’s time to eat and if we say “George, you have 20 more minutes” before they are fed, he goes away and at 20 minutes exactly he’s on the arm of the couch or right at your feet waiting to be fed.

George was the inspiration for my knitting kitty on my main knitting page. One day, I thought it would be fun to take photos of George with some yarn and needles. Here are the photos – 1, 2, 3, 4. A recent moment he would prefer to forget was his brief stint as a kitty model.

His favorite sleeping spot is on top of any pair of shoes on the floor.

And he loves to play a foot game with Bryan, he’ll only play the game with Bryan.

As for curiosity, it’s still a very strong characteristic. As I type this, he’s attempting to crawl into the closet and sit amongst the yarn stash.

He is still the craziest and sweetest boy kitty I’ve ever met.

Happy birthday, my Georgie cat!

George would like you all to read his short bio. He realizes it’s a bit out of date, but he says he hasn’t changed that much.