Redshirt Knitting

Another Pair of Socks Bites The Dust

By Erika, on January 26th, 2012 |

Hand-knit socks have a pretty hard life at my house. I wear them exclusively, every day, and I’ll be honest with you: these days, I always machine wash them.

During “wood stove season” (roughly October through April) I hang them up to dry. In the months when I’m not heating my house, there’s no point trying to air-dry anything, so I run them through the dryer, too.

This morning I put on a pair of knit socks and it took me a surprisingly long time to figure out what was going on down there. At first I thought I had stepped in something damp, and that’s why there was a cold spot. What can I say? I hadn’t had my coffee yet.

This was a pretty good pair of socks. Although in the last six months or so, they had become so worn that the fibers itched between my toes by the end of the day.

I knit them back in 2007 and look how much more vibrant the colors were! Five years of hard labor will do that to ya.

They were Lisa Souza “Sock!” yarn in the colorway Mombassa. (Lisa later left me a comment clarifying that she had once met a lion named Mombassa, and that the colors of the sock yarn were modeled after the colors in his mane.)

Also, I finally decided that the slime puddle below the tree was a blob of tree sap from an infection. Tree pus, basically. And, wow, I had completely forgotten about how much I loved “24″ at first.

Goodbye, socks. You did good!

(Oh, and thanks for the compliments on my living room rug! It’s a hand-me-down from relatives with far better decorating taste than my own. I love it!)

And The Winning Cat Name Is…

By Erika, on January 25th, 2012 |

10 comments

I took a few days to let it settle in, and it seems to fit: Cinnamon. Because she has those reddish brown tones in her coat, and because she is a little bit spicy (but only a little bit). It’s also a name from the C generation of Alphabettis that sorta stuck with me.

I think Kimble is happier sharing a house with a cat that he hates, versus being The Only Cat.

I can’t really point to any specific thing to back up this assertion, it’s just a gut feeling.

Cat Names That I Seriously Considered,
Before Ultimately Rejecting

1. Dr. Girlfriend

This one just never quite clicked, but I love the idea of it.

2. Dr. Mrs. The Kitty

This seemed a little too forward. I don’t want to put too much pressure on their relationship. I mean, beyond my constant urge to mash them together and tell them to “Start cuddling!!!”

3. Leslie Knope

In the end, I decided this would be better on a light-colored (i.e. blonde) cat. And/or on a cat with a more cheerful and well-behaved nature. (Who is Leslie Knope?)

4. Assistant District Attorney Sweetums

I thought that “Sweetums” is what Leslie Knope would name her cat, if she had one. And then Jessica pointed out in email that Leslie Knope would give her cat a title.

After experimenting with several, I decided “Assistant District Attorney” had just the right combination of gravitas and silliness. P.S. I may still call her this on occasion, just because it amuses me.

5. Barnacle

Why Barnacle?

That’s why Barnacle.

(The rear end is facing the camera. I tried plucking her tail out, so it was more obvious what you were looking at. But she immediately tucked it back against herself, so I left it that way.)

Envy Sock The First

By Erika, on January 24th, 2012 |

6 comments

Once again I have failed to take photographs in a timely fashion. But rest assured, all of the evil icky nasty snow has melted, and we are back to a typical January in western Washington: 46 degrees and showery, with acres of lovely bright green grass.

And I remembered my fall-back of fall-back plans: the scanner! Last year I bought a replacement printer, the first nice printer I have ever personally owned. It’s just a Brother combo printer/scanner/fax/copier, but gosh it’s so much nicer than my last printer, the Lexmark “Best Printer You Can Buy At Walmart For Under $20″ special.

Unfortunately, my most recently knit sock doesn’t quite fit on the scanner bed, as you can see.

This is more Red Heart “Heart And Sole” sock yarn, but in the “Green Envy” colorway. I like it a lot!

As to Carrie#K’s question about my statement that NewCat is so much more cat-like than I’m accustomed to. One thing is the “love bites.”

If you give NewCat more than, say, three or four pets, or if you pet her further back than the shoulders, she will grab your hand in her little paws and bite with her teeth and KICK KICK KICK with the bunny feet. (Actually, her mouth is so small, it can rarely get purchase. I have learned to tuck my fingers into a fist, so she can’t get at them.)

And when her tail is switching, do not approach!

Also, she is an inconsiderate sleeper. Last night I woke up and she was basically using my face as a chaise lounge. I was lying on my side, and she was propped up on one elbow on my cheek, her backside weighing down my jugular vein, purring to beat the band, doing her best to dislocate my jaw as I slept.

But I don’t mean to make her out as a vicious attack cat. She just gets overwhelmed with emotion. I have also learned that, when she is draped on my shoulder (as she often insists), it’s best to keep my face turned slightly away. Because she drools with happiness, and it sometimes makes her sneeze. Very wet sneezes too, I might add.

Confounding Murphy’s Law

By Erika, on January 23rd, 2012 |

8 comments

This gets a little complicated, but I think it’s hilarious.

The background: I’m working on Twine, from Sweet Shawlettes, which requires three shades of yarn. I decided to knit it in a different yarn than the one called for. A yarn which works up at a somewhat smaller gauge.

Then the following events occurred:

1. Without really thinking about it, I ordered the same amount of yardage called for in the original yarn. This means that I am destined to run out of yarn.

2. Before I had knit very far, I realized my mistake. Typically when you go down in gauge, you need more yarn. Before I knew what I actually needed, I hastily ordered more of all three colors. This means that I am destined not to need more.

3. But! On the day the yarn arrived at the post office, the snow fell and kept on falling and I was snowbound for an entire week. And I kept on knitting. This means that I am destined to run out of yarn.

And when we open Schroedinger’s box, what do we find? One of each.

I needed one more skein of dark brown, had just the right amount of tan, and had an extra skein of white. The lesson being, if you tempt fate, be sure to tempt it back and forth several times in quick succession, just to even things out.

In cat news, NewCat’s hobby is “slowly closing the distance to OldCat.” OldCat is the one who always starts hissing or growling first. NewCat is slowly, patiently narrowing the Hiss Boundary. She moves a little bit closer each time.

Sometimes she follows him around, moving forward only when he looks away. It’s like a feline game of Red Light Green Light. (Or like the creepy statues in “Blink.”)

What will she do when she finally gets all the way there? Is she planning to attack? To shoulder him out of the way, thus establishing dominance? To snuggle? Any of these things are possible, and neither OldCat nor I know which one it is.

NewCat is very… cat-like. She often surprises me with her cat-ness. It turns out that for the last fifteen years, I have basically been living with small cat-shaped dogs with vertical pupils. Not cats.

NewCat, on the other hand, is definitely a cat. Which means that she can sometimes be quite unnerving.

Sims Sunday: All The Little Creatures

By Erika, on January 22nd, 2012 |

13 comments

You know what the problem is with having elderly people as bandmates? They die. In fact, we have had complete turnover in the band this week. The new bandmembers are:

1. Coreopsis’ sister Cagney.