Knitting cables shouldn't be that difficult...they aren't...I know they aren't. Just simple mathematics consisting of two stitches: knit and purl, sometimes held in front, sometimes in back, and twisted. Yes, twisted. Cruel and twisted. Somewhere along the cables I was blissfully knitting in the twilight hours just as the sun was setting this weekend, enjoying the pink, purple, and blue hues in the sky, enjoying no mosquitoes, enjoying the simplicity of a quick hat in yummy alpaca, I lost one stitch. I counted again. I squinted in the failing light (like I was gifted with better vision if I looked real close and narrowed my vision to devote all my energies into finding that stitch, that error). I was careful. I had counted out-loud. I had ignored conversation with my DH. I'm a visual person so I got out the graph paper and pictorially drew out the last several rows of stitches to compare with the disaster I had on my lap. Nope. Nothing. I counted the number of purls then knits then purls on the graph paper, compared it to the directions again to confirm correctness. Then compared stitch by stitch with my hat. Zip. Nada. Still missing one stitch. At this point I had put in over an hour of work and frustration because I was avoiding the inevitable...I had to take out my last row. Why couldn't it have been a row that was only straight-forward knit purl, no cable? So, here it sits on Wednesday, three days later, the hat still sitting in my basket looking just as luscious as I know it to be except it has been meticulously tinked back, stitch by stitch for three rows. Three, you question? Well, even though only the last row was *foo-barred* I managed to mess up the other two in the process. Lessons: don't knit in the dark and it takes less time to just rip out a big section of knitting than try to save each stitch. Too much love can be a dangerous thing.
Da Vinci gets brushed at least three times a day, more if he can beg his way into it. This is a good thing (that he likes to be brushed) since his long, dense fur is prone to felting on its own. In just a few short days, the brush fills up with his und
ercoat. Humm...I wonder if it can be spun into yarn? If I combine that with the dust-bunnies--well, more like dust-buffaloes--that seem to multiply and spread into all the corners of my house each week, I could have a nice side business. Too bad there are those poor people who are allergic to cats. I pondered this thought to my DH, the civil engineer nerd who is usually so practical and keeps me on track even though he doesn't really fit into the "engineer nerd" mold. He got this "I can't believe what I just heard" look on his face, those gorgeous hazel eyes that are normally a green hue turning a grey (from fear I think), like he knew I was really going to do this. Wow. I was just communicating. 
Although... What do the spinners out there in blogland think? Surely spinning long cat hair has been bantered around in small closed door meetings?
ercoat. Humm...I wonder if it can be spun into yarn? If I combine that with the dust-bunnies--well, more like dust-buffaloes--that seem to multiply and spread into all the corners of my house each week, I could have a nice side business. Too bad there are those poor people who are allergic to cats. I pondered this thought to my DH, the civil engineer nerd who is usually so practical and keeps me on track even though he doesn't really fit into the "engineer nerd" mold. He got this "I can't believe what I just heard" look on his face, those gorgeous hazel eyes that are normally a green hue turning a grey (from fear I think), like he knew I was really going to do this. Wow. I was just communicating. 
Although... What do the spinners out there in blogland think? Surely spinning long cat hair has been bantered around in small closed door meetings?
5 comments:
That's one good lookin' cat! I often say I could make a new cat out of the hair from Reggae's brush, and he has medium lenght fur! yes, it can be spun. :-)
Sorry you had to tink your hat. :-(
Yes maam, cat fur can be spun. I've never done it, but know someone who collected a significant amount over a great length of time. It was knit into a delightful intarsia sweater if the shape of...a cat. The sweater was VERY warm and the yarn was carded with wool. The long-ish staple was spun in a way that allowed it to bloom (which I think might be "loosely"). There is more published about spinning with dog hair.
You DH should be afraid, very afraid. :)
cat hair yes, dust bunnies probably not! You should try it though and then see if it sells on e-bay! I had the same problem with a cabled scarf, and after about 10 goes of it, I finally quit, folded it in half with good intentions of making it a purse, and ultimately I'm going to frog it to use the yarn. I don't like cables!
Check this out:
http://www.randomsoftware.com/kshaw/tahkli.html
Sharon
OMG DaVinci is beautiful. I did a commissioned project with a dog breeder's Wheaten Terrier fur that had been kept in boxes for literally years. It was rather ewwie. But, I sent it off to my processor to be all cleaned up and blended with very nice wool. It came back absolutely wonderful in every way....you can spin anything especially if you're open to blending.
Thanks for the note on the blog! The market here is dead, dead, dead. I get a good laugh from the weekly feedback from the showings - typically just stating the obvious like "looks a bit dated" it's 15 years old, and "upon second showing decided the yard would be too much maintenance" it's over a third of an acre in a convenant controlled area...yup, you have to care for it and the ad states the size, so why did it take two visits to figure it out? sigh.
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