Wendy Knits

Here are all the license plate suggestions I got. Thank you for playing — there are a lot of really cute suggestions here!

And the winner is (selected using a random number generator):

Sara Ellis, who sent in:

Sara wins the Knitty license plate frame and bumper sticker. Congratulations to Sara, and thanks to everyone who played.

(Sara, I emailed you Friday night — email me your snail mail addy and I’ll get your prize to you asap.)

Aran Catnip Mouse Knit-along

Wow! I’m so happy that so many of you want to join in on this and make a gift for your furry friends. Lucy is psyched about it too!

Okay, here’s some preliminary info on the catnip mouse.

I’m going to design my own mouse. I’ve been knitting catnip mice for my kitties since I was a teenager, and they were always gratefully received, so I’m an experienced Mouse Knitter.

I always use wool (because every cat I’ve known loves wool), but if your cat shows a marked preference for a certain yarn, by all means use it.

For this knit along, I’d like to use a worsted weight wool, so we’ll all be on the same page and not have to re-figure the design for a bunch of different gauges. After you make your initial mouse, you can experiment with different yarns and gauges.

Although we’ll be using worsted wool, we’ll be knitting it at a tighter than usual gauge. This is to make the mouse more durable, as it is likely to become your kitty’s favorite toy and we’d like it to last longer than a few days!

My plan is for a mouse with a center cable running the length of the body, with seed stitch panels on each side. We can all pick different cables for the center motif — during the course of the project I’ll offer some cable suggestions.

So for today, we can talk about yarn and catnip. I’m going to use Brown Sheep Naturespun worsted. I’ve got some left over from other projects . You only need a little bit to knit a mouse — this is a great way to use up small leftovers!

As for the stuffing . . . I’ll use some catnip I bought at PetsMart, but really, any catnip will work. I know Lisak has some killer weed — she stuffed the mouse she sent to Izzy in January with it and I can attest to it’s potency! If you’ve got home-grown, use it!

Official St. Moritz Photos

For L-B, who asked very nicely, we did the St. Moritz photo shoot. Photos are on the official St. Moritz page.

But here I am in the elevator, on the way to the photo shoot!

Lucy

Lucy had a great weekend. She now has her daddy wrapped around her paw. Here she is, in Ian’s lap:

And of course she wants you all to see her pretty blue eyes:

She also met her “grandparents” this weekend, my mom and dad. I think she was in my mother’s lap, purring, within 90 seconds of meeting her. And she proved once again what a remarkable kitty she is: she quite obviously understood when my dad spoke to her in Swedish!

Last but not least . . .

Roscalie.

We had a really busy weekend, but I managed to do a bit of knitting. I’ll discuss Roscalie and how I think it differs from the colors used in the original design at more length tomorrow.

In no particular order:

A huge thank you to Marit, who created my wonderful new blog button and banner, featuring the lovely Miss Lucy.

And an equally huge thank you to Catherine S., who made a donation to the Montgomery County Humane Society in Izzy’s name. I got a card from the Humane Society yesterday letting me know. I love that you have honored her memory in such a wonderful way.

Some Sock Talk

Cheryl had some toe-up sock questions in yesterday’s comments.

First, when you undo the provisional cast-on, don’t you end up with one less stitch? Or do you automatically make an extra stitch while picking up?

Yes you do end up with one less stitch. and yes, I always automatically make an extra stitch whe picking up.

Second, some people recommend using a reinforcing thread (I know some sock yarns come with this), especially for toes and heels. Do you do this, and if you do, does it make a difference with wear?

I don’t use reinforcing thread. I think the sock yarns I use all wear pretty well, because they are all approximately 20% nylon. But I give all my socks away, so I can’t give you a personal report on their wearability. Anyone care to comment on this?

Last, do you swatch when using a new sock yarn or do you go by the recommended gauge? Some toe-up patterns claim that gauge doesn’t matter because you can adjust as you knit.

I am the Queen of No Swatching. I do have a pretty good idea what my gauge will be so can easily estimate the number of stitches for a sock. If I’m unsure of the width of a recipient’s foot, I’ll do the sock in a few more stitches and do a rib pattern — that way if I’ve over-compensated, the rib will pull it in for a snug fit.

Ebony Needle Tragedy

The other night I was ready to switch to my larger needle while knitting Roscalie. Imagine my horror when I whipped out my 80cm 3.25mm (US 3) ebony needle and discovered that there is a chip out of the tip of the needle. I have absolutely no idea how this could have happened. I last used the needle for the body of Hank 8 and put it away carefully as soon as I was done with it. I tried to use it, but the chip bothered me too much, so I sadly put it away and am using a Crystal Palace bamboo instead.

What makes matters worse is that no one seems to make the ebony or rosewood needles in size 3.25mm anymore. The sizes jump from 3.0 to 3.5 mm.

I suppose I could grind down the tip of the needle and make a new point . . . assuming I had the ability to do that. I don’t think sanding it with an emery board is going to get it done in my lifetime.

*whimper*

Roscalie

Lucy’s being a big help with Roscalie.

Her fur does look lovely knitted into the pattern.

A close-up:

Speaking of Lucy, does she look like she’s settling in?

Some more about my new kitty friend.

(Sorry guys — not a whole heckuva lot of knit content today, but if you’ll bear with me, there’s a knitting bit at the end!)

I found Lucy online, at a local rescue shelter, through Petfinder.org.

Her original name, by the way, was Grace. I renamed her because I had a Great Aunt Grace who Would Not Have Liked Having a Cat Named After Her. Why Lucy? She’s slightly cross-eyed. Get it? Her full name is Lucy Liu. Besides, it suits her.

This poor little kitty found herself in a shelter because her previous owners had her declawed and let her outside. She was attacked by a dog and was badly bitten because she couldn’t defend herself. Her owners didn’t want to pay her vet bills after the attack, so gave her up.

(Note: I’d like to find these people and put them in a cage of hungry tigers so they could see how it feels to be defenseless against a larger animal with teeth and claws.)

I emailed Lucy’s foster mom about her, and we made arrangements for me to meet her at an adoption event at a local pet store the weekend before last. Of course I fell in love with her as soon as I laid eyes on her. The adoption was finalized Sunday night when a volunteer brought her to my home for a combination home visit/delivery.

The organization I got Lucy from is Capital Animal Care, in Arlington, Virginia. Their list of pets available for adoption is here. If you are in the Washington DC area and thinking about adopting a pet, I encourage you to check out their listings. They have beautiful cats and dogs, and some smaller furry animals too. And you couldn’t deal with a nicer group of people. Lucy’s foster mom, Barbara, was wonderful throughout the process, and her love for, commitment to, and bond with the animals is obvious.

When the volunteer brought Lucy to me, she came out of the cat carrier readily enough, did a perimeter check of the room, and climbed in a bookcase. But fifteen minutes after he left, she was in my lap, being brushed, and purring in ecstacy.

She has gotten over a lot of her timidity, though she still looks concerned if she hears a noise outside my condo. I’m pleased to report that she ate some food last night and while I was getting ready for work this morning, I saw her stroll into the kitchen and eat some more. She spent most of the night curled up at the foot of my bed. I think she’s decided she likes this place.

She has a shaved spot on her side — she went back to the vet to have her bite wound checked recently and was shaved then. I can see how badly she was bitten, the poor little thing! She is still taking some antibiotics (and she even lets me give them to her!) but the wound has healed well and should cause no further problems.

You can see that her fur is uneven where she was shaved in this photo.

Sorry the photos aren’t the best — she’s been on the move, checking out her new home!

Knitting Content Here

See? Toldja there’d be some!

I did a wee bit on the bottom facing of the Roscalie Cardigan. Lucy seems quite taken with the Hebridean 2-ply wool, rubbing her face against it happily. So said WIP is being carefully put away in a zip-top knitting bag when I’m not around. Don’t want Lucy knitting on it without me! But she doesn’t seem overly concerned with me knitting — doesn’t seem inclined to chase the yarn.

Hopefully I’ll get into the pattern by the next blog entry, but I wouldn’t count on it. Not when I have such a cute little fur-face to play with!