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.
I’m not sure you’re are confounding Murphy’s Law. Maybe squaring it or finding the cube root or something.
Hannibal is pretty sure Lucy is a dog. Bear used to be very cat-like in personality. I love the image of New-Cat moving closer only when Old-Cat looks away. There is a video on the web of a cat that moves closer to the camera only at certain times, just like that.
Btw, Twine is looking mighty fine. I haven’t seen a photo of the FO, so the expected result is beyond my imagination. So far, so good, though…
I happily lived with a huge canine cat for 14 years, his name was Sinbad. He was a full blooded Chow-Chow, everyone who met him said the dog is a big cat. Now I have 2 smaller dogs, imagine my suprise when I learned what a dog is supposed to act like. Eating compost, racing thru the house like crazy animals, barking, tearing things up, you name it, bad dog behaviour, mine do it.
When we introduced our NewCat, OldCat spent the ensuing two weeks almost entirely under the couch, crying and hissing whenever one of us (human or feline) approached. By that standard, your OldCat is doing quite well!
Gosh, I love those giant cables in the middle of the picture. Small cables are one thing, but cables that involve the entire fabric are just mesmerizing.
Playing Red Light, Green Light with cats makes me howl with delight!
Hopefully more Red Light, Green Light than Blink, although Blink is possible with a cat. So how is NewCat exhibiting cat behavior? Just for comparison’s sake.
Yarn will not be mocked. I’m just sayin’.
BTW, feel free to send me your rug. Gorgeous.
I had one OldCat who was a one-person cat and disliked everyone but me, including other cats. He was less than thrilled when Ophelia (NewCat) arrived.
Ophelia fully believes everybody loves her–why wouldn’t they? She adores Everyone. She kept trying to befriend Vince (OldCat) but he wasn’t having any of it and snarled something fierce.
One day, Vince was sound asleep on his side on the couch, all stretched out. I watched with great amusement as Ophelia sized up the jump, leaped to the couch, and moving verrrry verrrrry slowwwwwwwwly, she eased herself into the space beside his belly and verrrrrrry sloowwwwwwllly snuggled in, moving so slowly snails could have passed her. She did it with such stealth he didn’t even stir.
By the time he woke up and realized she was there, it was too late. After that, they were lifelong friends.
I literally squealed out loud when I read your story! I love it! SO CUTE!
Ditto, Jeanne B! She Who Will Be Loved Will Not Be Denied…..