October 23, 2009
In Search of the Blogworthy
When you’re a blogger, you tend to look at life through the lens of The Bloggers' Eternal Question: “Is this blog-worthy? Is this? Is this? Is this? Is this? Is this? Is this? Is this? Is this? How about this? Or this?” Occasionally you luck out and aliens zap your dish-washing bucket, your cat ricochets off the kitchen ceiling, a climbing rose tries to lobotomize you, or you find a ball of yarn sitting on your fence. But lately, for me, the answer to the Bloggers’ Eternal Question has been, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no and no. Not that either. Or that. Or that. Or that.” Even the cats have been behaving, although Benny has been beating the all-holy hell out of Joon and I don’t know what to do about it, especially when she screams as if she’s being savagely dismembered and three seconds later she’s scampering after him doing the Happy Kitty Trot on Happy Kitty Toes with the Happy Kitty Arch in her tail (cat owners will know what I’m talking about). They fight at night but the big beat-down usually happens in the early a.m., when they’re waiting outside the bedroom door for me to wake up. It plays out something like this:
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
[A loud, fat, furry, thump against the door, a signal the beat-down has begun.]
Joon: HISSSSSSSSS! ROOOOOOOOWWWWRRR!!! HISSSS!! SQUEEEAAALLLLLL!!! HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! ROOOOOOOOWWWWRRR!!! HISSSS!! SQUEEEAAALLLLLL!!! HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! HISSSSSSSSS! ROOOOOOOOWWWWRRR!!! HISSSS!! ROOOOOOOOWWWWRRR!!! SQUEEEAAALLLLLL!!! HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! ROOOOOOOOWWWWRRR!!! HISSSS!! SQUEEEAAALLLLLL!!! HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
[silence]
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Benny: Meow.
Joon: Meow.
Me: Shut up, already! I’m getting up!
A potential blogging-material bumper crop arrived in the form of a recent getaway to the shores of the Olympic Peninsula with friend Gail but it, too, played out quietly, thanks to rain and a plan for it to be a mellow trip from the get-go. I can, however, liven things up with a few photos.
Me, trapped in the corner by slavering hounds:
In defense of the dogs, although they were more than willing to play along, this is strictly posed. I had actually been lounging in the middle of the kitchen (while, granted, the dogs milled about hopefully and expectantly) when I thought, wouldn’t it be funny if…
Boo actually spent most of his time doing this:
Ambience:
More ambience:
Yet more ambience:
While not being cornered by slavering hounds or taking photos of ambience, in keeping with the theme of "quiet," I knit the fool-proof simplest of the simple, a k2p2 ribbed scarf (Blue Moon heavyweight, merino, colourway "Puck's Mischief"):
Work on this halted temporarily last night while I considered what to do with this...
...an issue with production which wouldn't be too bad if it didn't result in two inches of stiff-as-cardboard, will-barely-wrap-around-the-needle yarn. Before I cut and try spit-splicing it, anyone know how well merino felts? Posted by Ryan at October 23, 2009 05:49 PM
crinkle, crinkle, ping, ping, ping, rowr, rowr, rowr, rowr. Pax and Pie miss you and would like to invite you over for an equally disturbed night of sleep (or attempted sleep).
Posted by: Elaine on October 23, 2009 07:57 PMI've enjoyed your stories about Benny and Joon since you got them. Then we got sibling kitties, Jack and Adele. Now I, too, know the sound of one kitty whaling on the other. Lord love 'em, though: I don't know how I'll ever again have cats who *don't* sleep on top of each other. These cats are great.
Posted by: Bether on October 23, 2009 08:00 PMMerino felts extremely well, except for the fact that BMFA Socks That Rock is superwash, so it won't felt (or shouldn't, at least). The scarf looks really nice!
Posted by: Josiane on October 23, 2009 08:30 PMJosiane, your comment made me get off my lazy butt and figure out exactly what kind of Blue Moon yarn I had because I knew it wasn't sock yarn. Turns out it's a skein of their "Twisted"--which is two plies of regular merino plied with one ply of superwash. Now what?
Posted by: Ryan on October 23, 2009 08:47 PMRussian join?
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oCmosL-Ggc
Lovely photos!
Posted by: Kathleen C on October 23, 2009 09:12 PMBoo looks like a pharaoh hound? At least you got to spend your time with your sight hound. And no wonder most of the time was spent sleeping. With mine, it goes between sleeping and craziness. Nothing in between. Well, cuddles too. That is cute.
Great ambiance!
Silly me; I should've said. Boo is an Ibizan hound, Laurie.
Posted by: Ryan on October 23, 2009 09:54 PMNice ambiance!
Posted by: ccr in MA on October 24, 2009 07:47 AMHere's what I do in this situation (the yarn situation, that is, not the lack of blog fodder or the slavering dogs situations): I break (not cut) the yarn either side of the offending spot. I un-ply the yarns back several inches (in this case, given that these aren't strong felters, I'm talking 8 inches--the length depends on the number of stitches per inch you are getting--I like to involve 5 stitches at least). I break off 2 of the 3 plys, one at 8" and the middle one at about 5". I do this on both ends. I then match the two yarn ends together, dampen my hands, and use a movement I call Light a Fire with a Stick. This will result in a joined yarn that is strong enough to knit with. It won't be truly felted--you can certainly pull it apart. You are counting on the knit stitches to do the final holding together.
Posted by: Janine on October 24, 2009 10:06 AMDude. I don't even have slavering hounds of which to post photos. My blog has tumbleweeds rolling across it. I'm even thinking of setting the kitchen on fire again so I have something to blog about -- well done!
Posted by: Rabbitch on October 24, 2009 10:45 AMSmashing scenery!!
Posted by: Caro on October 24, 2009 02:27 PMThat photo of the bikes is ART, dahling. Beautiful.
And merino felts like a bat.
Posted by: Caroline on October 24, 2009 04:22 PMOooo, the ambience!!
Benny and Joon have obviously been taking lessons from Priscilla and Sophie, who were just having a smackdown in the kitchen a moment ago.
Posted by: Kristen on October 24, 2009 06:36 PMat our house it happens in the living room around 11 pm (hubbie's asleep for 3 hours by then, so i'm usually the only witness). the funny part is it's the skinny cat that's kicking the dickens out of the fat cat (who is, admittedly 5 years older)
then i find bits of fluff on t he floor. sigh.
Posted by: minnie on October 24, 2009 08:43 PMI understand cats sleep about 20 hours a day. I think it's the balance needed so they can be ABSOLUTELY RAVING MANIACS RUNAROUND THE HOUSE AT CEILING LEVEL for bursts of 2-5 minutes, and always, ALWAYS at 4am, or one hour before your alarm setting, whichever comes first. Something to do with being predators in the chain of life, sigh.
Posted by: Bobbie on October 26, 2009 12:51 PMI love all of your blog entries no matter how mundane you may think they are. I've even passed along your URL to friends who have also become avid fans.
Re: Splicing yarn... yes, merino felts very easily but the superwash is a bit more stubborn. A trick that never fails for me (on wool and wool blends) is to fan out the ends that need to be joined about two inches, overlap them making sure the fibers are parallel. Then, put a small dab of soap and water on the join and gently rub in the direction of the twist until the fibers are lightly felted together. At this point, you can untwist it a bit and "fluff" up the yarn until it is the right diameter and angle of the ply. (In a pinch, and you did NOT hear this from me! you can spit on it if no one is looking and it works almost as well.) I have used this technique for years in spinning and knitting and seldom have the tedious task of weaving in loose ends.
Thank you so much for the on-going entertainment!
Posted by: TheSpinningWench on October 29, 2009 04:41 PM