Mossy Cottage Knits

I Now Know How the Persian Felt

Over the five years that I’ve been blogging, I’ve had the pleasure of posting many photographs but few have given me as much pleasure posting as this one (taken by LindaK and originally posted on Janine’s site from whence I hoisted it, with permission).

This is me, at Ferals, hugging all 44 squares that have been submitted for the ULOA (Unauthorized Leave of Absence) Blanket. For the record, I was hugging the squares and resting my chin cozily on them well before the picture was taken. It’s possible a little bit of mugging is going on for the camera, but everything else about this picture is candid; this is exactly how I was sitting and exactly what I was doing before LindaK got jiggy with her camera phone. If you submitted one of the squares, this picture is for you, and I heart you all. (And this is why I’m glad I know about the blanket now, so I can enjoy the squares as they come in.)

A little bit about the squares. Simply put, they're not just, you know, squares—personality-challenged blocks of garter stitch. They are of every color and of every possible stitch under the rainbow. They are variegated, self-striping, solid, even a brown one deliberately provided by The Twins to offset all the other colors they knew would be used. One has a dragonfly on it, one has a heart, one has my name, one has been embroidered with flowers and ladybugs. Some have cables, one is entrelac, some are moss stitch, some slipped stitch. Every single one is bursting with personality. I love them all. (Incidentally, Janine says she is still accepting squares so, if you want to jump on the ULOA bandwagon, you can email her for details.)

Obligatory cat story, since I behaved myself on Monday: We all already know about Benny jumping off the ceiling, yes? Well, this weekend, I went up to my loft for an innocent grub-around in my stash, and found Joon hanging (deliberately, not in the accidentally garroted sense) by all 18 claws way up at the tippy top of the tapestry that serves as my headboard. (Remember those Velcro walls that were a fad for a while that people splatted themselves onto while wearing a suit made out of the other half of the Velcro? That’s what she looked like: wide, splayed and very affixed.*) When she was done having a casual look around, and when she was good and ready, she jumped off again.

They are lovely, sweet cats but, oh, they are insane and fearless. It doesn’t help that Benny likes to jump onto the loft half-wall. On one side of the wall, it’s a three-foot drop; on the other, a 20-foot drop, and I don’t think he’s smart enough to figure this out. Unless he’s as smart as my washing machine, in which case he is an advanced life form, and I am completely outnumbered.

Which reminds me of a story. A boss of mine a loooooong time ago had a two-story townhome with very steep stairs leading to a big landing. A half-wall similar to mine (three feet on one side, 20+ feet on the other) divided the landing from the stairs. She also had a cat—an obnoxious, fluffy, white, spoiled Persian, which makes this all the funnier—who liked to jump up on the half-wall from the landing. Apparently, he miscalculated one day, which is why, on the high, non-foyer side of the wall, you could see a long trail of deep, panicked claw marks running down the wall. (Cat was fine.)

Speaking of which, does anyone local know a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, good professional cat sitter? I got the cats and then, wouldn’t you know it, a buttload of lovely trips came up—that, without sounding horrendously self-indulgent, are a legitimate and important part of my regaining my mental health—and I’m in need of someone who can cat-sit regularly. Please email me if you know of someone!

*Cute Velcro-wall video, which should give you some idea, only she was facing the other way

Posted by Ryan at July 30, 2008 10:30 AM