GET FELTED - Day 29

Kim's Cat Chubby
Originally uploaded by sockhoppers.

***GUEST PET: Meet Kim's cat Chubby: "This is our other cat. (Actually, our first cat chronologically speaking!) Chubby has claimed my DD as its person . . . sleeps with her, waits for her to come home from school, etc. We got Chubby from a farmer friend. She was the runt of her litter. We didn't want to take her for fear she would die and our two little ones (2 and 5 yrs old at the time) would be heartbroken. But my daughter insisted. And she insisted the little might of a thing be called "Chubby." Well, she's now the sole survivor from her litter and 10 years old. I'm not sure she's chubby, but she IS pudgy! And has plenty of 'cat'titude!"

I think Chubby's ready for the cover of Vogue . . . (or Cat Fancy, at the very least!)***

Life has been chaotic around here to say the least. I hope your lives are calmer, quieter, and a whole lot easier to navigate. We did manage a great Thanksgiving with lots of turkey, lots of movies, and lots of knitting.

In fact, I may have overdone it on the knitting front. I made (and felted) 4 bowls. Worked up a pair of Knitty's Fetching wristers. I-corded and felted the first of the two Perfect Pouches I had ready to go. (Pictures in the very near future.)

Unfortunately almost everything I worked on was 100% wool and once again I was reminded of exactly how much my skin despises wool. I am still paying for my folly. My skin developed a raging case of hives from head to foot. My left eye swelled shut. My mouth swelled on the right side only. (I sounded like a gangster.) My hands itched until I was ready to go clean out of my mind. I finally got smart (talk about a "duh" moment) and took an antishistamine and got it under some semblance of control but it was awful. So much for believing I can cure this with mind over matter. No dice.

I'm not so sure how I feel about the Knitty Fetching pattern. It was easy enough to knit but there's something I just don't care for and I can't quite put my finger on it. The picot bind off? Maybe. I hated working the thumb. I don't know why I invariably have trouble with anything involving waste yarn but once again I found myself without stitches where I should have them and with stitches where I shouldn't. There's clearly some crucial understanding of this very simple process that's eluding me and it's driving me crazy. I mean, how simple is this: Knit the first 7 stitches onto waste yarn. Return them to the left needle. Knit stitches with working yarn and continue in pattern. Later on you go back and remove the waste yarn, sliding seven upper stitches and six lower stitches onto your needles then knitting four rounds. How hard is this? Well, for me, it's plenty hard. I removed the waste yarn and was instantly plunged into the darkness of a hellish tangle of goofy-looking loops and mindless ripples that should have been stitches but wheren't. <-- See that? What kind of word is "wheren't"? Maybe it's time to activate Ye Olde Spellcheck.

Anyone have any suggestions or explanations for me? I'm lost here in ugly-thumb land!