Archive for the 'Woodrow' Category
Melissa and I have no shortage of good-looking cats.
Here’s Damian, engaging in one of his regular pastimes…
…admiring that handsome cat in the mirror. You can just hear his inner monologue: Who is that good-looking fellow? My but he keeps his whites white! Such a noble jaw! Being him must be nearly as delightful as being me! Why doesn’t he come over for a visit? I bet we could have lively times together.
Sparky is growing up to become quite the handsome tom.
Even as a kitten, he was quite the matinee idol.
Just look at him curled up with his brother Woody.
Those boys were absolutely devoted to each other: side-by-side all day and sound asleep in each other’s arms every night. I’m not sure they realized they were separate entities. I think each of them thought of himself as an eight-legged, four-eared, two-tailed creature, oddly able to move in multiple directions at once.
February 12 2008 | Cats and Damian and Spartacus and Tuesday Mewsday and Woodrow | 3 Comments »
Do you recognize the models for these Blogiversary Raffle buttons?
Here’s Beatrice, blending mysteriously into the fabric of the time-space continuum.
That’s her patented just-because-you-feed-me-doesn’t-mean-I-trust-you glare.
And this is our dear, departed Woody, doing his bit to help out the kitties who haven’t yet crossed over the rainbow bridge.
This picture is a detail from one of Melissa’s lino-block prints. While hiking across northern Spain during the fall ‘06, she drew a little sketch of what she imagined life would be like with me along on the journey: a knapsack full of yarn and playful kittens bounding about alongside me. (If you win the print part of the drawing, the full picture is one of the three you can choose among. Meanwhile, you can see it here.)
Do help yourself to a button (or two!) if you’d like. If you want to link back to the Blogiversary Raffle rules, use this address
http://www.whatifknits.com/?page_id=250
February 05 2008 | Beatrice and Blogiversary Raffle and Cats and Tuesday Mewsday and Woodrow | No Comments »
Just in time for the Day of the Dead, Melissa picked up this wonderful tile for me at Alma Gifts and Culture, one of my favorite local shops (1705 Mission St., in case you’re in Santa Cruz and are interested).
I’ve hung this beside my bed in memory of Woody. I love to imagine that when nothing remains of me but bones the skeleton-me will be slipping treats to the skeleton-Woodrow every day.
After a hiatus, Lydia’s blog, Dropped a Stitch, is back on line. I enjoy both her writing and her patterns, the latest of which is a lovely tam with just a bit of openwork. Check it out!
Also, if you’re a dishcloth knitter, you’ll enjoy this new “Vortex” pattern from through a transitions lens, darkly.
October 30 2007 | Cats and Tuesday Mewsday and Woodrow | 2 Comments »
Thanks to all of you for your kind words about Woody. It still doesn’t quite feel real, and it certainly doesn’t make sense. Sparky has been sticking close by, and we are comforting each other. I think he’s a little uncertain what to do without his sidekick.
Here’s a photo of my first sock.
Number two is on the sticks. I’ve finished the leg and need to get going on the heel. I love the amount of texture in this pattern (Retro Rib Socks from Favorite Knitted Socks)—and, wow!, is that rib ever elastic. I could fit Sparky in that sock with room to spare, if he were willing to sit still through the indignity of it all.
As I’ve noted before, I’m just wild about this particular yarn and this particular colorway. Skacel is discontinuing it, and Little Knits is selling it for half price. So, I went all knitter-looney and ordered a dozen skeins (but at least I’m paying directly for it and not charging).
April 03 2007 | Cats and Socks and Spartacus and Trampoline Stretch and Woodrow | 3 Comments »
On Saturday night, Woody was hit by a car and killed.
Sparky and Woody
Melissa took this picture of the boys napping together on Saturday afternoon. She and I spent the day at home, doing a bit of spring cleaning, listening to the ballgame, and just relaxing. When we took a quick nap, the boys were right there with us. We finished the cleaning late and went out around eight to get some dinner.
When we came back, there was a message on the phone. We picked up his (not so) little body and drove out to the emergency vet, where we had a chance to say goodbye in a quiet, private room. There was a lot of blood on him, but no obvious external injuries and his claws were intact, so I think death must have come very quickly. I’m having him cremated, which seems excessive and first-world in a way, but I want that little box of ashes to keep with me.
I’d known in the back of my mind that this was a possibility: he’d become such a wanderer and, while I live on a quiet street, some of the nearby streets are busier (and it’s on one of those streets that he died). But I still hadn’t really expected to lose him. He was just a year old, bursting with energy and life, switching back and forth between full-throttle play and rock-like sleep the way young cats do.
I’m deeply grateful that I was home this weekend and that Melissa was with me. I’m also grateful for that phone call, hard as it was to receive. I know what happened; I didn’t have to spend nights awake worrying about him; I didn’t have to wander the neighborhood calling for him and posting signs.
I miss him like crazy.
April 02 2007 | Cats and Woodrow | 8 Comments »
As I work on my first pair of socks and go back to playing with some children’s knits I started quite a while ago, I’m simultaneously nursing the washcloth addiction, squeezing in four rows here, eight rows there. The results…
These ones are mostly for Melissa, whose bathroom features a sparkley-blue-and-cement decor. (When you’re living in an artist’s loft, pretty much every room has a something-or-other-and-cement decor.) Pattern info, left to right: “Windowpane Stripes,” found on p. 58 of Barbara Walker, vol. 1; “Yvonne’s Double Flower” from page 3 of the Washcloth Botique (I worked the last two rounds in solid blue to give it a border); “Bramble Stitch 1″ worked in two colors, from The Harmony Guide, vol. 2, p. 32; “Three-and-One Tweed,” found on p. 53 of Barbara Walker, vol. 1; and S. Turner’s “Diamond Edge Circular Facecloth” from page 1 of the Dishcloth Botique—although the cloth knit up doesn’t match the picture posted with the pattern (the cloth has rounded tips with a sort of “donut” motif inside each curve, not points).
And here’s one more washcloth that’s my favorite of the circular patterns I’ve tried.
This is the “Lacy Round Cloth” by Rhonda K. White, whose web site is KnittingKnonsense. She’s the author of Spa and Bath Sets to Knit.
I’m planning to cast on sock number two this afternoon, once I take care of taxes and a couple letters of recommendation. I’m quite pleased with number one. I wasn’t sure whether I had quite enough yarn, so I switched to a plain grey wool for the toe, which looks nice with the variegated yarn the rest of the sock is done in. I made the foot one-half inch shorter than the pattern calls for because I like snug-fitting socks, but the sock is still a bit loose. Once number two is done, I’ll carefully play with washing and blocking to see if I can tighten them up a bit. (If you have advice on this process, now would be an excellent time to offer it.) After that, I’m thinking I’ll try knitting up the same pattern on size 1 needles to see how that affects the fit. I’ve got a lovely ball of Trekking XXL in color 101 lined up for that.
This Sunday, I’ll be going to monthly yarn tasting number four at Article Pract. On the menu—Prism Hand-Dyes. Check out their coloways! I’m going to try to remember to take Melissa’s digital camera this time so I can share the fun with all of you.
On the non-knitting front, I’m trying to get an exercise routine established before spring quarter starts next week. Now that the weather’s warming up, my friend Ellen and I are going to a deep-water running class twice a week. If you’ve never tried this form of exercise, you should give it a go—it’s both a great workout and silly fun, sort of cardiovascular fitness designed by otters. You “stand” vertically in deep water with the help of a flotation belt, then jog/sprint around the pool using a variety of hand and leg motions. Since you keep your body upright, you work against significant water resistance, using your full body. You can also add underwater presses with foam “barbells” to increase the workout.
And… not only are my “boys” good at taking off their collars, they also have a real case of the wanderlust. This past week I’ve had two collars returned to me by not-so-near neighbors: one from across the street and around the corner, the other from around the block (I’m hoping Sparky and Woody got there via back yards).
March 29 2007 | Cats and FOs and Socks and Spartacus and Washcloths and Woodrow | 4 Comments »
You’ve met the Oakland cats. Now I present to you the Santa Cruz contingent.
Ladies first! This is Beatrice, full name Beatrice Grasshopper Schwartz-Noir, aka Mighty Bezoar. It is difficult to do photographic justice to her thick fur and brilliant green eyes, not least because she is convinced that the digital camera may prove to be a weapon of mass destruction. (”Just because my people haven’t turned on me and ripped me limb from limb yet doesn’t mean it won’t be on their agenda today.”)
Bea really does have a right to be paranoid. Early on she lived in a car with a homeless man, another kitten, and two large dogs. When the man wasn’t present, the dogs turned on the kittens, killing Bea’s sibling and biting through her femur. She was taken in by my vet as a charity case just when I was looking to expand my feline family, so I lucked out. The vet put a pin through what was left of her femur, and Bea made a miraculous recovery. For the first month Bea lived with me, she had hot-pink, Frankenstein-style stitches running up one leg and had to be kept in a cage that limited her movement, so that her leg would heal properly. During that time she was cuddley and lovey as all get-out, but once she left the cage, she took off at top speed and has been an independent gal ever since.
Sparky and Woody, the “kittens,” are also rescues who came to live with me via my vet. She literally picked the boys up on a street corner, where a man with a box of kittens was trying to hand them off to passing motorists.
Sparky, full name Spartacus Eugene Keeper, has matinee-idol good looks and what appears to be trace of Abyssinian.
Sparky likes to sit near me in the evening while I knit. In general, he manages to control himself, but every so often the temptation is too much for him and he snatches my ball of yarn and races off through the house with it in a stash-weasel frenzy.
Of course, I have to forgive him. Who could resist this sweet boy?
Woody, full name Woodrow Mycroft Keeper, has taken most of the last year to grow into his nose (an excellent, hunting-tool sized nose like a Jaguar’s, he’ll have you know).
While Sparky is my evening companion, Woody prefers a cuddle in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. He likes to begin his evenings under the bed (aka The Diogenes Club). Then, he moves to the top of the bed once everyone else has fallen asleep.
Woody began as the runt of the pair, but has grown into a rugged young fellow and now outweighs his brother by a pound or so.
And there you have it—all cats present and accounted for.
March 21 2007 | Beatrice and Cats and Spartacus and Woodrow | 3 Comments »
Ok—this time instead of telling the knitting purists to go to the end of the entry, I’ll start with some quick knit news and then ramble.
This weekend I got two more splint covers knit up for my niece in lacier patterns. The one that worked best began with four rows of K2, P2 rib, then switched to alternating rows of K2, YO, K2tog and YO, K2tog, K2, ending with four more rows of rib. This produced a sturdy, but lacey diagonal mesh.
I knit most of another face cloth as well, this time using Rhonda K. White’s Lacey Round Cloth pattern. It’s quite pretty with its mix of garter and eyelets. I’m also delighted with the zig-zag border. This business of connected wedges turning into circles interests me. I want to keep knitting up patterns like this until I get to the point that I can design my own. (The “what if” questions: What if I adapted this technique to a shawl? To a hat? Could I maintain the laciness while working on a larger scale or would everything just go all clunky?)
By the way—if you’re like me and can only find Sugar ‘n Cream, but not Peaches & Creme in local shops, you can order this yarn directly from the maufacturer. Peaches & Creme has a much wider color range and is reasonably priced, even with postage, if you order one-pound cones.
And that is all the knitting.
This morning when I woke up, Sparky and Woody lay curled in one another’s arms at the foot of the bed. Sparky was completely zonked, and Woody had his eyes open the littlest squinty bit and was giving Sparky’s left ear a very thorough washing. They used to sleep together like this all the time, but have grown more independent now that they’re “big boys.” (Big is right—each of them looks as if he’s swallowed a small cannon ball.)
Then Woody woke up a bit more, decided to groom himself, and—to facilitate grooming, no doubt—sat down right on top of Sparky and got to work on his own hind foot. This brought Sparky out of his stupor, and we had a few minutes of “Woody must die! No!—Sparky must die! No!—Woody must die!” before things settled down again.
This little skirmish made me think of my favorite columnist, Jon Carroll, who not only writes great political and thought pieces, but also can conjure up a cat column extraordinaire. (See here and here and here for a few examples.)
And thinking of Jon Carroll cat columns made me think of my mother, who brings great joy to my life by providing me with a custom clipping service. (This, of course, is only one the myriad ways she brings joy to my life, but it’s the way I’m focusing on at the moment.) I don’t get a paper daily paper. Instead, I subscribe to the New York Times on line, which provides good general news coverage, runs twenty automatic, customized searches a day for topics of interest (my choices range from Church and State to Supreme Court to Patriot Act to Lemurs), and allows me to create my own database of materials in areas of interest, which comes in handy for my teaching.
So, by using the NY Times and other sources (particularly NPR), I get my daily news, but I don’t get a daily paper. This is where my mom comes in. Every single day, she goes through both of the newspapers she and my father receive and clips every item that might be of interest to me. (She actually does this times three, as she also sends clippings to my brother and sister.)
Articles on new dinosaur species? Check.
Articles on any kind of fossil at all? Check.
Pieces on educational innovation? Check.
All things knitting, quilting, embroidery, and sewing related? Check.
Geology? Check.
Astronomy? Check.
Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary? Check.
Retirement planning? Check.
Political cartoons on education? Check.
Cat Care? Check.
Crossword puzzles? Check.
Mutts? Check.
Get Fuzzy? Check.
Rhymes with Orange when it’s got cats in it? Check.
and
Every single column Jon Carroll writes? Check.
Once or twice a week, I get a wonderul, fat envelope full of these clippings. They make for great just-before-bed or soaking-in-the-tub or sitting-in-the-yard-on-a-beautiful-day reading. Kittens to Jon Carroll to Mom. It’s a perfectly logical chain of thought.
March 19 2007 | Cats and FOs and Patterns and Spartacus and Splint Covers and Washcloths and Woodrow | 1 Comment »
Here is the bulky tam pattern I designed, based on Kathryn Connelly’s beret pattern in One-Skein Wonders. She’s generously allowed me to publish this version of the pattern. There’s now (or will be at any moment) a One-Skein Wonders web site. The link is here. Though I haven’t had luck getting there yet, I expect it will be working soon (and I’m looking forward to seeing all the patterns it offers). Kathryn works at Hilltop Yarn, which has both a web site and a blog.
Bulky Tams in Chache by Moda Dea
Bulky Tam
Yarn: Moda Dea Cachet or similar bulky weight yarn, approx. 110 yards
Needles: 16″ US 10.5 circular and double points
Note: This pattern produces a small woman’s size hat. If you would like a larger or floppier/more dramatic hat, simply add 1 or more additional decrease/increase sets and knit the body to 4.5″ inches before beginning decreases.
Abbreviations:
Kf&b: Knit into stitch twice, first from the front, then from the back
K2tog: Knit two stitches together
Cast on on 72 stitches, place marker, and close circle to work in the round.
Work three rounds of K2, P1 rib.
Work increases as follows:
Round 1 (and all odd rounds): K
Round 2: *Knit 7, Kf&b*
Round 4: *Knit 8, Kf&b*
Round 6: *Knit 9, Kf&b*
Round 8: *Knit 10, Kf&b*
Continue knitting around until piece measures 4″.
Work Decreases as follows, switching to double points when needed:
Round 1: *K10, K2tog*
Round 2: K
Round 3:*K9, K2tog*
Round 4: K
Round 5: *K8, K2tog*
Round 6: K
Round 7: *K7, K2tog*
Round 8: K
Round 9: *K6, K2tog*
Round 10: K
Round 11: *K5, K2tog*
Round 12: K
Round 13: *K4, K2tog*
Round 14: *K3, K2tog*
Round 15: *K2, K2tog*
Round 16: *K1, K2tog*
Round 17: K2tog around
Trim working end of yarn to 6″ or so, run it through the remaining stitches on needles and remove needles. Weave in ends.
On a completely different note, Sparky and Woody, the kittens, had an unfortunate breakthrough in the middle of the night. They are both quite interested in Bea, the adult cat who shares their home and who finds them both inconvenient at best and more often loathsome. Bea had worked out a sort of a truce with Woody, but was having a more difficult time with Sparky who’d become enamoured of her and followed her about chirping and rolling and waving his paws.
Well, last night the boys realized they could approach her as a pair, rather than individually. Horrors! We had any number of rounds of Bea backed into various corners or under different chairs, growling louldly while Sparky and Woody approached her from opposite sides. They played the innocents: “We’re not touching her. We’re just sitting here… and here. Why shouldn’t we be able to sit?”
At one point I put them out into the rain—which is not as cruel as it seems, as they have their own entrance and could just run around the corner and back in again—but this did nothing to cool their furry little jets. This morning when Melissa and I headed off to breakfast Bea was hiding under a nightstand and the boys were watching her from up on the bed. I’m afraid the boys won’t tire of this game for quite some while.
February 10 2007 | Beatrice and Bulky Tam and Bulky Tams and Cats and FOs and Patterns and Spartacus and Woodrow | 8 Comments »
