The Cat and the Fan

There's been a cat problem here for the last couple days. I've been gone a lot, taking care of Mom, and I think the cat, Pesto, is needing some attention. As soon as I settled in she started pestering my snake basket, wherein resides the Picovoli in Progress. This is unusual for her, but I shooed her away, so she immediately gets into the gift box sent by my Secret Pal 7. Bad move, Kitty! I played with the curious kitty for a while, flying a feather butterfly around on a stick and a string. But I need to knit! So I resorted to...the fan! I tied a feather to some yarn and attached it to the ceiling fan and turned it on low. I must confess this is not the first time I have used this method of calming the wild cat. I was able to knit while Pesto got dizzy chasing the feather that was spinning around by fan power. Dizzy kitty has now retired for a nap. And the Picovoli grows! And she grows much faster and with less frustration now that I switched to a brand-new Addi Turbo needle. What a difference! No more dropped stitches when the joint comes apart. I almost frogged the whole thing, but my family talked me out of it. Now that things are going more smoothly, I can live with all the imperfections. I still love my Denise needles, but this is just not the time to use them. Yesterday I put the Pico on a string before working the decreases to see if she fit, but really hated to do it again now that the decreases are done. Basically, cuz I'm lazy. So I came up with a brilliant idea. I knit from the Addi to the Denise needle with a 40 inch cable. Now all I have to do is knit back to the Addi. No stinging! Here she is in my brand-new chair, which is not real pretty, but it is oh, so comfortable compared to what I was sitting in before. Now I can rock or recline as I knit. Heck, I can even sleep in this chair, but I won't until after the UFOlympics are over. I'm going to add some more decreases and a little more length to her and she'll be done -- about 7 inches to go. We are going on a motorcycle trip next weekend, so I have to finish early or I won't make it. Thank goodness I have the week off. When I got home late last night, I found yet another package on my porch. I am truly feeling spoiled! My Secret Pal 7 sent me wonderful goodies. There were two kinds of yarn -- three balls of Nobo, which is so soft I want to sit and pet it and a gigantic skein of Plymouth wool. I love the colors of both yarns. Check out the cute rainbow gummi frogs. Yum. And the Felting on the Go book that was on my wishlist. I love these little books that can be carried around easily. But wait a minute...did you see it? Peeking out of the yarn? What the heck? Here he is close up. How cute is that! What a fun package. Thanks so much to my Secret Pal 7. I have been anxiously waiting for this package, which took its sweet time in the postal maze. It was well worth the wait. I enjoyed every bit. Now I need to get back to the knitting. I am squeezing out every minute I can to work on Pico. I was even able to forgive all the funky stitches the last time I tried it on and started to like it. It is an amazing fit. I absolutely love the shaping. It feels downright sexy. Off I go...happy knitting to all.