My Opinion On Cotton

With emphasis on *my*!

I've been working away on this -

"Peace", by Kim Hargreaves. Don't get me wrong, I love Kim Hargreaves, I always have. And this is a lovely design. It's knit with Rowan Handknit cotton. I mentioned in the previous post that I actually don't mind this cotton too much. I'm normally not a fan of working with cotton, but I found the Rowan Handknit to be quite nice, and the stitch definition is lovely. It's good quality cotton, without a doubt.

Where I lose it? Finishing. Finishing is just part of the process, and I neither like or dislike it. However, with cotton? It drives me *mental*. I was ready to chuck the thing, or start using it as a rag to clean my windows. No matter how hard I tried, it was near impossible to get a half decent seam! It looks bumpy, increases/decreases stick out like a sore thumb, and the yarn piece used for seaming "pulls" if you so much as tug on it. The seam looks crooked, regardless if I used mattress or backstitch. Cotton has NO give. At all. OK, I'm sure if I were to work a bit more in cotton, things would be better. But I'm a wool girl. Wool is flexible, forgiving, and in my opinion, softer. I love my wool, *sigh*...

So. This is being done for someone else, but this will be the end of my cotton experience. I think I may have to go through my stash and see what I have...

Stick to what I'm comfortable with...wool! Look here -

A lovely shot of Amphora, basking in the lovely spring sunshine. Her sleeve is coming along nicely. I worked on her yesterday, but didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. You know how there are days when you're just all thumbs?! Yeah. That was me.

OK. I have a bit of a confesion to make. Nothing serious. I do not own an air conditioner. It gets hot here in the summer. And, my main sitting/TV room faces west, and can get VERY hot in the late afternoon/evening as the sun begins to set. Every year I get through the summer, and say - next spring, get an air conditioner, you dummy! And every year, I forget. But not this year! I'm getting one - primarily so I can keep working with my beloved wool. Oh, and the cats will be more comfortable. And me. But mainly for the wool. I love you, wool.

Priorities.

Reason #1085 To Love Atticus

I lay down the other day for mid-afternoon snooze, and left the bedroom door open so the Little Dudes could come in and snooze on the bed if they wanted to. Normally, Gandalf will, Mae will creep in sometime during the night, but Atticus? Hardly ever. Just the way the little man is, and always has been.

I tend to get nightmares, I have for most of my life. I'm not sure why - anxiety, stress, an over-active imagination? Probably all of them. On this particular occasion, I was having a doozy of a dream. I know I was in the half-awake, half-asleep zone. In my dream, I kept telling myself that this was so weird and creepy, I knew had to be dreaming, but when I would try to wake myself up, I'd find myself to already BE awake. In my dream. OK.

I started feeling someone poking at my head. Poke. Push. Poke. Push. Push. I finally woke up, a bit confused, to find Atticus on the bed next to me, trying to wake me up.

"Meeerrrooorrrwwww Mom?"

I got up, and he jumped off the bed, looked back at me, and went back to his sleeping spot, and just fell back asleep. He didn't want to be fed, didn't want to play, or want attention. He just wanted to wake me out of what he must have sensed was a bad dream.

*sniff*

I challenge anyone who does not think animals possess the capacity for love and caring, or can sense beyond what we allow ourselves to see and feel in this plastic world of ours, to spend a day with Atticus. He'll change your mind.

"Aw shucks Mom! You would have done the same for me!"